March 24, 2020 • 53 mins
Jared Smith and Dane Martinez discussed the implications of the NFL not hosting the draft and what it means. They also discussed the NFL free agency and shared their thoughts on team with new QB's. Lastly, they talked about some of the top players to look for in the draft and what teams may select them.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
Welcome back to the grid. If you want the ed
get on the grid. We're back at the window. Dame
Martinez and Jared Smith. We've been here holding you down
through these crazy times. We've been talking a lot about
the NFL, Jared, and how they are sort of conducting
business as usual, but there's changes to all of those things. Right.
We've talked previously about how free agent signings business as usual,
(00:45):
but how are guys gonna clear physicals or actually travel
from meetings and things of that nature. And we're seeing
some of the same things, Jared. With the NFL Draft.
We've been talking about it and know the draft is
not being postponed or canceled, but first we heard that. Listen,
the crowds won't be there, it won't be this event
for the public. There won't be no fashion red carpet
(01:07):
across the loggio, right, which I was kind of looking
forward to me. Yeah, but we are now getting word
more recently from Roger Goodell that they're not gonna hold
it in Vegas anymore. Right, Vegas is by all accounts
shutting down. The strip looks eerie at night. And what
they're gonna do instead is producing like a TV show.
And we know the NFL can do this, right. So
(01:29):
they'll have a host and they'll have you know, teams
from their war rooms with their staff you know, ten
or less, I guess announcing their own picks. And when
you think about this, Jared, you and I know about
production elements required to put on a show, It's got
everything they need to make the draft happen, right, Yeah, No,
I mean, I don't see why an entity, a multibillion
(01:51):
dollar entity like the NFL can't set up a zoom
conference with thirty two teams, uh and just link everybody together. Uh.
There obviously needs to be some protocols in place. The
timing of the draft obviously is important. I don't know
yet if they will tweak those rules in terms of
how many minutes you get in between picks. How the
picks are sent in is usually a very uh connected process,
(02:11):
meaning you have a direct line to like the bat
phone at Draft h Q, and the teams will call in.
They will call in with trades. There are usually two
people manning the phones, one line and like there's usually
a backup line and and and a mainline. And if
there's a trade that happens, the team that's picking will
call the main line, and a team that is getting
traded to we'll call the backup line and they will communicate.
(02:31):
So there needs to be some protocols in place. But
we have a month until this happens, actually one month
from this week, so you know there's time to get
these logistics in place. And again, it's a multibillion dollar company.
We do zoom conferences all the time, we do meetings
all the time online. I don't see why a company
and an entity like the NFL can't set this up
(02:51):
and can't make this work, because, let's be real, Dane,
we are hurting for this content right now. We want
to know this information. We want to know how these
teams are going to prove throughout the off season, and
the draft is such a key aspect of that, it's
vital that it goes off. Yeah, absolutely, and and listen,
to be quite honest, I'll make a bold prediction. I
think this year's NFL Draft will be the highest rated.
(03:16):
Come on, when you think about it, there will be
no NBA playoffs going on. At the same time, there
will be no first month of the Major League Baseball
season or anything else going on. And now hundreds of
thousands of people who would die hard enough fans to
go to the draft will also damn sure be in
front of their television sets. So we are in that time.
(03:38):
Listen Jared of when you know the combine did in
fact happen right earlier this month, and now this is
the time when teams would have their pro days, right
when when when players would be needing and and taking
visits with specific teams to kind of interview with coaches
and things of that nature. What do you think at
a big picture level before we dive in, what we
(04:00):
think is the impact of that portion of the calendar
not being in place, Say there is no Alabama Pro
Day for two to throw at, right, we don't get
the chance of, oh that one player who had a
character concern being able to go and meet with the
head coaches and prove that he's got his mind on football.
Things like that. What do you think are the big
(04:22):
picture implications of not having this part of the draft
season calendar. I think it's all about and again we
we we have discussed in prior segments continuity, certainty, and
and again it's it's funny because I think the teams
that are going to be the most successful during these
times are the teams that are logistically sound, meaning the
teams that have a really good tech guy that can
(04:44):
connect these coaches, you know, in a in a in
a seamless way. It's very difficult to communicate during this process.
How teams communicate in this offseason is going to dictate
how quickly they can get up to full speed when
the season starts later this fall. And I know that's
sound silly, but if you don't have a good tech
guy right now, if you don't have a good business
operations staff to help connect people, and if there is
(05:07):
not constant communication from the coaches all the way down
to the assistance down to the scouts, to everything, there
has to be a protocol in place for these types
of emergencies. This is a national emergency that we are
going through. These teams are not operating at their same
level that they are used to. So to have the
backup protocols in place, to have a really good zoom
(05:29):
conference system where every day these coaches meet, the staffs
are able to meet, everyone is able to figure out, Hey,
I like this guy here. We'll have you had a
chance to talk to this guy. No, I've only seen
him this. The communication level is paramount here. So teams
that communicate well and again we don't know. I mean,
it's very hard for us as better as to handicap
that market because we've never been asked to handicap that
market before. So it will be interesting to see which
(05:51):
teams come out on the other side of this. They
have all their ducks in a row and they're ready
for the draft. It is going to be a fascinating
draft because of the unknown elm it with the logistics
involved with doing something like this, not only at the
NFL level, but at the individual team by team level. Two.
They need to be organized. If they're not organized, it's
gonna look really bad come drafting. Yeah, and another thing
(06:12):
I point out, you know, we know how for example,
Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have a relationship in place already, right,
so Bill can hop on the phone and be like, Hey,
these Alabama guys, I'm watching them on tape, tell me
a little bit more about them, you know what I mean?
And I think teams that have some kind of relationship
or open window or phone line to some of these
(06:34):
college staffs as well, because that may be I mean,
everyone always does their due diligence in that way, but
you may even have to put more stock into the
reports you're getting from some of the college coaches as well.
But I turn our attention because there's no shortage of
ways to bet the draft, right Jared. And and one
of the things I think of first, because we all
(06:55):
always talk about the quarterback market over on Fandel, Jared,
you can bet right now the total number of quarterbacks
that will go in Round one, and they've hung four
and a half as the number. And I think this
is very, very interesting, Jared, because of the juice that's
on it. What if I told you, Jared that under
four and a half right now is minus three eight,
(07:19):
but over four and a half is plus two seventy.
I gotta tell you something. We should play this out.
You know we like to play games with each other here, Jared,
we should play this out. I actually think that the
over might be a good bet because history tells us
teams will always jump into the first round or trade
up to get their guy. And I'm seeing plus two
(07:40):
seventy as the juice for over four and a half.
We can itemize it line by line and try to
figure it out, and we will. But Jared, overall, do
you think over four and a half quarterbacks if we
go in round one? I don't think it could. I
don't think it will happen, but it certainly could. And
and what I'm seeing in the market place over the
(08:01):
last week or so is Jordan's loves position continue to increase,
and he is the fourth quarterback on the board. We
know Burrows going one, we know too, and Herbert will
go in the top ten. We thought originally that Love
would be a back end first round pick. Right now
I'm seeing his position in the mid first round. That's
where kind of the odds are saying. So if you're
(08:23):
telling me that the fourth quarterback will be taken, let's
say at fifteen, and there's seventeen more picks in the
first round, yes, I do think it's very possible that
someone says, hey, I really like this Hurts kid. Hey,
I really like this Eastern kid. He showed me something
at Washington. Hey, I'm gonna take a chance on the
Georgia kid because you know, hey, we just't know. We
just don't know in the sec when these kids are
really going to fully develop. Because of the type of
(08:45):
offenses and because of the defenses that they're going up against.
I don't see any reason why you should lay minus
three eight at something that you could literally be sweating
out fifteen to twenty picks. Uh if if if Jordan's
love does go in the top fifth team, which it
does look like he is going to do so. And
I'll tell you what is interesting here. The Patriots sitting
(09:06):
at twenty three, and I've been preaching this for quite
some time. I I am convinced. I don't know if
it's gonna be a twenty three, but they've got five
or six picks. I think with some compensatories in the
third round, between round one through three, I would be
shocked if one of those five picks is not on
a quarterback. Now, could they use some of those picks
package it get back up into the first round at
the end of the first round. Sure, so I I
(09:28):
think that is a very valid bet. Plus two seventies
a nice price. That's the only position I'd be willing
to take that bet. On any other position. I think
teams will be willing to wait, especially at wide receiver,
considering how deep this draft is. A wide receiver, I
think teams say, hey, I'm not gonna trade up for
a wide receiver. I can get one on the second
or third round. That might be a starting level talent.
At quarterback though, as you know, Dane, different animal. If
(09:50):
a guy, if a team likes their quarterback, they're gonna
go up and get him. Yeah. Absolutely, And we've seen
this before. And here's the other layer I'll put on this, Jared.
And and it goes back to the a the NFL
is conducting the draft this year. You talked about it
with the phone lines buzzing off the hook and having
the bat phone to one team or another. You've seen
it time and time again, Jared, or at least in
(10:11):
years past. The first round happens on Thursday. Then you
wait an entire day to do the second and the
third round. And when we get to the back end
of that first round. There are teams left and right
that are kind of recalibrating, for lack of a better term,
right and saying, oh, wait a second, these guys are
still available. Maybe I didn't think that, or maybe and
(10:33):
then they start to ride get on the horn. It
happens every single year. Lamar Jackson was a quarterback that
was traded up right into the back of the first round.
You know, we talked about the year where Mitch Trabsky
went number two, then Bears traded up to get him,
Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, even the Jared Goff and Carson
went here. Both the Rams and the Eagles traded up
(10:55):
to get their guy. So I completely agree with you, Jared.
All it takes is one person to fall in love
with a quarterback. I think you've outlined, you know, the
guaranteed for in my opinion, right you connect the dots,
it's Burrow to Cincinnati, you got to you got Herbert.
I personally think that they're gonna be in Miami and
with the Chargers, we'll see. We know that Jordan's love
(11:18):
is getting all sorts of love. Pardon the punt and
the question, maybe you know who knows who, you know
which team falls in love with him. But then we're
left with the rest you've identified easan from and maybe
Jalen Hurts. Now what I'd like you to do, Jared,
is let's connect the dots to some teams. For example,
(11:40):
I'm gonna throw two out there, sitting at thirteen and fourteen, Jared,
are the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Tampa, well,
we know they've got Tom Brady, but we know that
Tom Brady is not the long term solution for the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wouldn't that be a place where, oh
my goodness, you draft Jordan's love or one of these
(12:01):
quarterbacks and you give him a year or two to
learn under the greatest of all time. That could be
an option the Indianapolis culture on a similar position. I mean,
you've talked about how we've talked about how maybe Dracobi Brissette,
they keep Brissette, they might move Brissette. What does that
mean fiscally? One thing I'll tell you, Philip Rivers is
not a long term answer in Indianapolis. So right there
(12:24):
in the middle of the first round, I see teams
like Tampa and Indie, maybe because they have aging veteran quarterbacks,
albeit new to their uniform, who still need to look
for the future. I think Tampa Bay is definitely a
cannondate to take a quarterback early, especially considering what we've
seen from Brady in the past. Where You're right, I mean,
(12:44):
two years is is quick, and wouldn't that be great
for a young quarterback to be able to learn from
Tom Brady. The culture an intriguing situation. From everything I've
been reading, the Colts are actually probably going to keep
Prisette on the roster this year from everything I'm seeing.
Granted that could change because his cap hit is so high.
I think they end up keeping Brissette on the roster
(13:06):
this season. So I think the Colts might be the
team I wouldn't put into the category of drafting a
quarterback in the higher stages of the draft and the
lower stages of the draft, teams will take a flyer
on a guy, and I think that is a fair bet.
I I do think Brissette will be an Indie next year.
I think it will be a two headed monster quarterback
for the Colts. It's only a one year deal for
Rivers so it's very short. And I think Bursset's a
(13:28):
guy who still is at the stage of his career
where he's improving. So I I think he was a
late bloomer anyways. Out of NC State and even in
New England, he still was figuring things out. He doesn't
have a lot of tread on the tires. He hasn't
started a lot of games. He was a backup for
the majority of his career. So I think Prissette might
be a guy that they keep, and they might just
swallow his deal this year. Uh. The Tampa Bay is
(13:49):
a great that that's a great I could really see
the Bucks being a little bit aggressive with the quarterback position.
It's obvious that Jamis Winston will not return in a
backup role. He has already said his farewell to the
Tampa area, So Tampa Bay needs to have somebody else
in the fold. Uh. And it makes sense why you
would want a young quarterback paired with Brady, because not
only are you bringing that quarterback along for the ride,
(14:09):
but you also have some decent protection. So Tampa Bay
in the middle of the first round, they could be
a team that could steal Jordan's love. I think Jordan's
Love is the trigger in this draft on how teams
really dictate the rest of the quarterback market. If everything
we're seeing is true and Love goes in the top fifteen,
there's gonna be some teams that are gonna get aggressive
in the bottom of the first round and reach for
a quarterback. Perhaps we've seen quarterbacks get reached for before,
(14:31):
and again that's the position that you make your move
and you're aggressive with. So if Love goes early, that
could set the table for the rest of this quarterback
market to get a little bit of a boost in
terms of their draft stock. So when we're talking about
the old under on who we get to five, I
think you're absolutely correct, Jared, right, because if Love does
go in the first half of the first round, we're
talking about another fifteen opportunities for whether it be one
(14:55):
of these teams that draft from the back half, and
teams that draft in the back half are generally good
teams that have less holes to fill. I want to
move up to the third a couple out here that are,
you know, in the back half and may fit the bill.
You tell me if you like any of these ideas
(15:17):
or have any other ideas on who could be that
fifth quarterback needy team at the level of first round
capital to go get their guy, whether it's Hurts, whether
it's Eastan, whether it's from who could be that fifth guy.
I look at teams, Jared, with you know, aging quarterbacks,
quarterbacks that we know are kind of on their last legs.
For example, we've talked about the quarterback room in New
(15:40):
Orleans for a long time, Jared, and they're sitting there
at number twenty four. You know, you've got breeze. We've
talked about kind of the concerns of like, are they
gonna let Taysom Hill truly be a quarterback and what
that means. So New Orleans is at four. I see
the Green Bay Packers at pick number thirty. Aaron Rodgers.
(16:01):
You know, you don't think about it, but after this
wave of the true elder Statesman, Aaron Rodgers is really
kind of a guy who's been in this league and
has not finished what half of the last four seasons healthy.
So if you have a team that's ready to roll,
maybe you need to steal to think a little bit
earlier about that secession planned the Green Bay Packers come
(16:21):
to mind, and then honestly, yard, another team that's early
in round two that may decide to hop back up
into the end of Round one, like we've seen teams
do before. For me, what about the Detroit Lions. You know,
Matthew Stafford has been kind of you know, there's been
buzz about his future Detroit for the last couple of years.
(16:43):
And this is a guy, don't get me wrong. I
love the way he grits it out, but you know
he's had injury concerns as well. Whether it's those three
that I just brought up or another one you can
think of, who might that candidate be as a team
to go get a first round quarterback. I'll tell you
who I think might need to address this issue are
the Chicago Bears. And I know that they just took
(17:04):
you know, they just traded for Nick Foles and that's great,
but you know that's another guy that's massive injury concerns.
They obviously have lost faith in Mitchell Trabiski. So this
is a team The Bears don't pick in the first round, remember,
you know, you know, they they've they they've got some
draft issues. They do have two second round picks, so
that could be something where they maybe move up and
take Eastern or Hurts or if they like one of
(17:26):
these guys, uh that that so they're not in contention.
I think to get a Jordan's Love. But I think
they could get that fifth quarterback. Maybe they could package
their second round pick this year and another second round
pick next year, move up ten spots, get to get
into the end of the first round and go take
Jalen Hurts. Or maybe it's not the first round. Maybe
it's just they package their two second round picks and
(17:47):
they move up five to ten spots and they get Hurts,
so they get eastn or they get from one of
those kids that they like. You know. As the puzzle
pieces continue to come into focus, Jared and I will
be here to break it all down and anticipate and
see if there's up ttunities to get you a little
bit of cash. It's at the window right here on
Sports Grade Jane and Jared. If you want the edge,
get on the grid bad sports grid dot com betting
(18:16):
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at Day, Martinez and Jared Smith touring you across what
(18:40):
you need to know for the NFL Draft. Jared, we
talked about it. It's gonna be a TV show instead
of a live event, but that doesn't matter. Teams are
still going to get the guys they want. And that
applies mostly for the quarterback position. We say it all
the time. Teams trade up. You know, I would say
over half of the quarterbacks who have been drafted in
the first round over the last five years where actually
(19:02):
traded up to get them. You know, Sam Donald included
Danny Dines. You know, everybody is trading up to get
their quarterbacks. And what that means for me is you
get the guy you want. And there's been a lot
of talk about to a type of the law and
who in fact wants him. We've said before here Jared
that with a guy with injury concerns like this. You know,
(19:25):
we had the hip injury and went down at the
beginning of the middle of that Alabama season last year.
The question is who's gonna take that risk and invest
that level of draft capital, likely a top five pick
to get a guy with you know, maybe some red
flags and still injury concerns. I know, Jared, when you've
been digging in a little bit, you're not entirely sold
(19:48):
onto us. It's not that I'm not sold on him.
I think he's gonna be great. I just think it's
too risky at this stage to give up future picks,
and that's what the Chargers or Dolphins would have to do.
So right now that those two teams are in an
arms race, they both have plenty of picks, which is
kind of ironic that the two teams that want to
move up have plenty of draft capital to do so.
(20:09):
It's very much Cold War esque where one team says
I'm trading the third pick, and then oh, well, maybe
we'll trade for the second pick. I think Miami is
in the best position, obviously, because they're a pick ahead,
so they would have to give up the least amount
of capital to move up. I am hearing that the
Chargers do want to move up and take to that
is what they want to do. The question is can
they get from six all the way to two? And
(20:30):
then the question remains, well, if you're the Redskins. Do
you think a trade is worth more than taking Chase
Young at two? Who? In my opinion, Chase Young is
the best player on the board. So when I look
at that Fando prop to a tackled by Looa and
and the books really did a good job with this one.
They made it really expensive to make this bet. I
still think it's worth the money over under two and
(20:50):
a half draft position for two over, meaning he's going
to be taken third or later. So that means you're
betting the over. You don't think Too will be picked one,
or pick too. I don't think he's gonna be picked one.
I think Burrow to Cincinnati is going to be the case.
We're seeing the odds dictate that exclusively. Yeah, I mean,
it's basically a virtual lock at this point at two.
(21:13):
That's where things get a little bit murky, and the
Redskins are gonna have to weigh Ron Rivera and company
are going to have to weigh is to a tag
Leevy Lowe's draft price worth enough to get out of
that too pick. You're not gonna get Chase Young, but
you might get another really good defensive player. Maybe you
get the Okuda kid out of Ohio State. Personally, I
(21:33):
think the most known commodity in the NFL is pass rush.
Right now, there is one clear cut player in the
draft that is the best player, not only at that position,
but I think on the board completely. So for the
Redskins to pass on that, meaning they trade out of
that two spot, I don't think that is something that
is plausible. I don't think that the Redskins are going
(21:55):
to get enough back to feel it is worthy to
do that. I think too, uh. I think the Lions
are an intriguing case. At three. I don't think the
two spot is going to be up for grabs. I
think Chase Young will go second, and that means to uh,
the sweepstakes will begin, and I think the Lions phone
is gonna be ringing off the hook. But I do
think he will go third or later. So to me,
(22:17):
that pick over under two and a half, I know
it's a big price. It's minus three right now, but
I think it's a worthy price, and I think there's
value there because I do not think the Redskins are
willing to give up Chase Young. So you're right, and
it's minus three bills right now, So you've gotta pay
a lot if you think that's the case, And I
think you've accurately kind of organized what it is. In
(22:38):
essence for me, Jared, it's a prop that will the
Washington football team trade out of number two? Right, that
that's really what it comes down to. I agree with you,
Joe Burrow to Cincinnati, those dots have pretty much been connected.
I agree with you as well that Miami and the
Chargers are the teams to watch, and I like how
you framed it as a cold war of sorts, right
(22:59):
because listen, Miami at five the Charges at six. One option,
Jared is for them to both stand pat at five
and six. I can see Chase Young an offensive lineman,
Akuday is, Hey Simmons, these guys right being if it
goes according to plan, and when you see mock drafts,
all those teams actually stay in those places. If that
(23:21):
was the case, Jared, I think both Miami and the
Chargers will then take their pick of two Ah Herbert
if one of them liked Loves and however the chips fall,
both of these teams would get their franchise quarterbacks. The issue, though,
is because anybody else that's out there, whether it is
the Chargers, who you know, think Miami's gonna pull the
trigger on to A and they love to more than
(23:43):
the other options, and they know they have to hop
Miami right or any other team they know they would
have to hop Miami at five in order to get
first crack at the apple. You talk about Detroit at three,
the Giants at four. I think those guys are gonna
have their phones ringing off the hook for teams that
(24:04):
want to go ahead and have the first DIBs at
one of these guys. You raised the idea though, of
Washington at two. The way it goes is, let's say
you trade with Detroit up to three, you are still
not certain that you'll get the quarterback you want. Washington
is still the wild card. New head coach Ron Rivera,
new defensive coordinator Jack Dale Rio. I think they are
(24:27):
gonna be absolutely happy to have by many accounts, the
best football player in the draft, Chase Young on the edge,
fall to them at number two. And I personally think
they're happy to do that and don't even need to
trade down. The question is will anybody blow them away?
What do you think, though, Jared, like, will it be
(24:48):
Detroit homos or would Detroit really like one of these
guys as well? For example, Detroit was the thirty second
ranked Path defense Jared in the entire NFL, and not
only that, they decided this week to trade. So you're
the worst path defense in the NFL, you trade away
(25:08):
your number one corner. I see a guy like Jeffer
Couda there and maybe they're like, he's our guy at three,
or they think they can, you know, flip flop with
Miami and still get that guy at five. The other thing,
I'd say, Jared, and we've seen this before. The Chicago
Bears were sitting at number three and they traded with
(25:29):
the San Francisco forty Niners who were at two, literally
to swap one spot right to go out and get
Mitchell Trabinski. The Niners then ultimately drafted Solomon Thomas. They
loved it because they got the guy they were going
to the Bears even though they were there. To them,
it was worth it to move up one spot just
to be certain that no one else could hop them.
(25:51):
That's what you would have to do if you truly
wanted to get to or you'd have to go all
the way up to two. Personally, though, Jared, I don't
think Washington is moving. I think Washington is gonna be
happy to have Chase Young. So that means I'm with
you minus three hundred. But later than pick two, I
totally agree, and I'll take it one further. On your
on your on your alliance take their dame. So not
(26:15):
only did the Lions trade away Slay, and they had
the worst past defense in the league, which would lead
me to believe that they would want a Kuda the
fourth pick. The Giants, there are two all stud offensive
tackles right there, Willis and Earths, the Iowa kid the
Alabama kid. The Sciants offensive line wasn't exactly a brick
wall last season. So you are talking about two teams,
(26:37):
the Lions and the Giants that are holding these these
these cards of of these teams to trade up, but
the players that are available in those spots fill direct
needs for what these teams need. So these gms have
to weigh, all right, we could trade back in the draft.
We could get a you know, we could pick up
an extra first round pick, we could pick up an
extra second round pick. But are we foregoing selecting an
(27:01):
all pro type of player in a position of need?
In order to acquire draft capital. That is the decision
that these general managers are going to be faced. And
if you were going to ask me, as someone who
is very close to this giant situation, there are two
stunned offensive tackles available. Are you really going to give
up taking one of them just so you can get
(27:22):
an extra second round pick at the end of the
You know, I mean to me, that's why I do
think that both of these teams, Chargers and Dolphins are
going to make a strong push for two and Herbert
move up for their guys. But at the end of
the day, is the juice worth the squeeze? I can't
answer that question. Only the g ms of the respective
teams can. If you were gonna ask me, I would say, yes,
(27:44):
there's a chance that one of them moves up a
spot or two spots, But I lean on the error
of Okay, these teams have needs, these players fit these needs.
Let's just slop them in and we'll see what the
Dolphins do with their fifth pick. Right, Maybe the Giants
don't want to get too cute because they know maybe
they have a franchise left tackle in the making at
(28:06):
number four right um and one thing I would say, though,
I'd love to get your opinion on it. You said
there are two stud offensive tackles. I've been reading as
many as four that are viable, like top ten caper pick. Okay,
I'm talking Andrew Thomas out of Georgia, I'm talking Wills
out of Alabama. You mentioned the kid works out of Iowa,
(28:27):
and there's also Beckton out of Louisville. So what about
the fact, you know it's a supply and demand thing, right, Jared? So,
how far Let's say the Giants do want to trade
down because their phone is buzzing off the hook, and
you know they like a package that a random team
is offering, right, whether it's Miami who has a ton
of picks, Temple who wants to move up because they
love love, the Chargers who feel the same way about
(28:50):
a quarterback as the Dolphins, whatever the case may be, Right,
it's a supply and demand game, Jared, So what about
the fact that there may in fact be four top
off team pick offensive tackles that they can kind of
slide down and take their chances that at least one
of them will still be on the board when they pick. Like,
how cute do you get when you're thinking about trading down, Jared,
(29:12):
it's a very good point, you know. And and and
the more we discuss it, the and this is why
not only do I love working at Sports Group, but
working with the people that we work with, because sometimes
I'll come into a segment, I'll come into a thing
having a take, and then when we discuss things, you
see different sides of it. And I'm definitely not, uh,
you know, to too man enough to admit, all right, well,
(29:33):
that looks interesting. If the Giants feel that one of
those other two guys, Beckton or the or the you know,
or the Georgia kid exactly, if they think that one
of those kids is good and it's gonna fill that need,
then yes, I'm sure the Giants would be willing to
trade down and to move back a couple of spots.
And it's an also intriguing case here thing because if
(29:53):
if like say, the Chargers put together a nice package
to move from six to four, you might still get
one of the worst kids, or you know, one of
the top you know, the top one or top two
guys at six. So I do think that there's a
there's a very strong chance that one of those one
of these teams moves out. The question is, we don't
really know. The talk behind the scenes is is Miami
(30:16):
confident that they have enough to move up from five
to four? But do the Chargers think they can move
from six to three? So again, it is kind of
like an arms race, who is going to be the
first domino to fall. Both teams might end up staying
pat because maybe the Chargers really like Herbert and the
Dolphins really like to and the Dolphins are gonna take
two at five anyways. But then there you're right. But
(30:39):
then there, of course, could be another one of those
wild card teams that moves up into the fall. Personally,
I don't think there's gonna be a mystery team for
two or Herbert. I think it's Herbert to you know, Herbert,
and too I think will end up in l A
or Miami in some capacity. I don't. I haven't seen
any mystery teams. But I have heard a couple of
rumblings that l A might make a big push and
(31:00):
try to move up to one and get Burrow. But
I I but that to me is a long shot.
But again, we've seen these types of long shots happen
on draft night, and I still think Burrow will be
taken one. He just might not be taken by the Bengals.
So again, we have a whole month of this. There's
gonna be tons of stories that come out. Just stand
(31:22):
stick to your guns. If you think a guy is
gonna be taken in this spot and you have reason
to believe it, trust your instincts. I don't think two
is gonna be taken first or second. That's why I
like that profit. Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Jack,
And to be quiet honest, the kind of vision you
outline is ultimately the way I think it's going to go.
I think there's gonna be a lot of smoke screens,
(31:42):
a lot of talk, a lot of rumor, But when
it comes down to it, I don't think Washington is
gonna pass on the opportunity to get a generational pass.
Rusher and Chase Young reports of that this kid is
better than either one of the Boza's at Ohio State,
and you see what they are now doing in the
league Detroit and New York. Yeah, it could be open
(32:02):
for business, but is the drop and what they get
in quantity as much as what they could get in
quality By staying with the top five. Jared, we only
got a couple of minutes left in the segment. But
you've mentioned also offensive linemen, right, And here's what I
think is interesting. Look at the teams inside what I'll say,
at the top eleven that have been mocked in one
(32:23):
way or another to an offensive lineman. I think there's
four kind of studs that we've talked about, right, Thomas,
Will's Worths and Beckton. Okay, you've mentioned the New York
Giants at four. I've seen the Arizona Cardinals mock an
offensive tackle at eight. You look at Cleveland at ten,
you look at the New York Jets at eleven. These
(32:46):
teams I've seen mock draft where they all go tackle
or offensive line in the first round. And Jared, what
is the consistent thread among them all? They all have young,
developing quarterbacks that they need to protect. A lot of
people want to say, like, Jared, I'm a Jets fan,
and a lot of people are saying like, Oh, could
it be Ceedee lamb Uh to go to the Jets?
(33:08):
Oh could it be Jerry Judy to go to the Jets.
I'm gonna tell you right now, I don't want a
first round wide receiver. If there's fifteen or twenty or
so guys that are supposed to be quality in this draft,
I'll spend rounds two or three or even round six.
We found Robby Anderson as an undrafted free agent. Okay,
but Joe Douglas, do your thing and get one of
(33:29):
these offensive linemen to protect Sam Donald. What do you
think about that, Jared. These teams that have young quarterbacks,
it's nice to get shining new toys on the outside,
but they gotta keep them upright. I totally I couldn't
agree more. I mean, don't get me wrong. As a
Jets fan, I'd love to see another Plexico Burrust type
of quarter or type of receiver out there, you know,
in terms of the guy that's tall and ranging and
(33:50):
can do everything. In round two. There you go, and
again we talk about consistency and continuity. The offensive line,
to me, is the quickest way to rebuild a team,
and the defensive line as well, but the offensive line
is the quickest way to rebuild a team. I like
what jo Douglas has done in free agency. He's kind
of nibbled at the offensive line. He hasn't had the
big you know the big move. Yet he got a
(34:12):
couple of guys who are, you know, borderline starters, who
should be starters, but they're not Pro Bowl starters by
any stretch. You have a chance at eleven to maybe
get one of those guys. Now, we'll see where the
rest of the draft falls. I'll tell you what if
the first five picks are all quarterbacks and defensive players,
well there's only four. There's four offensive linemen. So you've
(34:33):
got a pretty decent shot to get one of those
guys at some point. Something tells me there's gonna be
some teams that do reach for these wide receivers. We'll
see who does, but I think there's gonna be a
couple of teams that reach because this is such a
deep wide receiver class. There's gonna be a team that says,
I want the best guy in the best class. So
we'll see who it is. I hope it's not the Jets.
(34:53):
I would love to see Worth Sir Beckton and one
of those guys go to the Jets, because then all
of a sudden, they're offensive line is ready to roll.
But I have a feeling that other teams are gonna
notice that as well, and I think by the tenth
or eleventh pick, all four of those linemen are gonna
be gone. Yeah, I can't agree with you. I just
hope one of their is still left there for Joe
Douglas at eleven, Jared four and a half quarterbacks. Is
(35:16):
the total six and a half lineman to the total
you work ference the wide receivers fan duels hanging a
total of five and a half. We'll dig into the
wide receiver market for the draft and try to connect
with some of those dots when we come back on
the other side of the break it, Dane and Jared,
We're at the window sports grid dot Com. Betting insights
and entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the
(35:39):
most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive
betting models, expert picks and more. Want the edge, then
get on the grid sports grid dot Com. All right, everybody,
welcome back at the window here on sports Grid where
you're giving you the edge on the grid. Dame Martinez
and Jarre and Smith, we're looking mostly at the NFL
(36:02):
Draft today right because we've realized that it's been turned
into a studio television production, which is fine. Everyone's still
gonna watch it. I'm gonna watch it, Jared, I know
you're gonna watch it, and we're gonna absolutely cheering for
our teams to augment themselves. One thing, uh, that we
do have to mention before that, because we've been talking
(36:23):
about the wide receiver market a bunch, Jared, you played GM.
I know, I know what priorities you care about in
the wide receivers. Robby Anderson, Sorry, Devin Funcious, I'm sorry,
but some of those names have come off the board
since we last spoke. Two of them, specifically, one the
Las Vegas Raiders have gone ahead and signed Nelson Aghalor Jared,
(36:45):
you know who you kind of had at the bottom
of the list, but he got himself a job. And
what I think the big one is is Manny Sanders
does in fact get signed by the New Orleans Saints
on a two year, sixteen million dollar contracts So a
million a year for a guy like that seems to
be the going rate. Robby Edison, Perryman, Devin Fungus, you
(37:07):
need to recognize. But what do you think about this move, Jared?
We have identified the Saints as a team that really
needed that strong number to opposite Michael Thomas. They now
get it in Emmanuel Sanders. Yeah, and what I love
about it, you know, obviously New Orleans I would I
would classify their offense as very versatile. I don't think
(37:27):
they have one specific like rotation of guys that are like,
all right, this is how it's gonna go. They like
to move pieces around the chessboard. Sean Payton's proven that.
I mean, look how they you tay some hill in
the past. So what they get in Sanders is a
veteran who can pick up an offense quickly, who can
move into the slot, who can play on the outside.
They can put him in the backfield. They can do
(37:48):
all types of different things. And I think he's even
thrown a pass in his career as well. They can
do all kinds of things with Emmanual Sanding. And he's
a guy that's been to the Super Bowl, he's been
to the top of the mountain. He knows what it's
like to win. I love the move. I think it's
a great move. The price was right, and you're right,
Paraman Anderson bunches, you're not gonna get double digit million
(38:10):
dollars at this stage. You missed that boat. That vote
is now come and gone. Now, Granted, like we said,
there could be some wrinkles in free agents or in
the in the in the pre draft process, in the
mini camp process. If there's some injuries in preseason, that
could open the doors for some of these players that
have not yet been signed that maybe they get a
big of a bit of a boost in their salary
(38:32):
than they normally would because of need. But what we're
seeing today Dane a guy like Emmanuel Sanders to get
that price. That's kind of the market for these free
angent wide receivers right now. I think New Orleans made
the necessary move and they all of a sudden get
a little bit deeper because we know they lost Teddy Bridgewater,
so how much is Taysom Hill gonna be utilized? And
now they add someone to the mix who can be
(38:53):
another Swiss Army knife at wide receiver. I think it's
a great move. I think Drew Brees is gonna really
like Emmanuel Sanders. We already saw me at rapport with
Jimmy Garoppolo and Emmanuel Sanders early on. They did very
well in the early stages of that of that San
Francisco experiment. He got hurt a little bit down the stretch.
That Hamperger's productivity. But if he stays healthy, he's a
guy that can help the Saints win some wins and
(39:14):
football games. Yeah. Absolutely, And let me tell you something.
Maybe the Saints saw Emmanuel Sanders value because against the
Saints with the San Francisco forty niners, he put up
a seven for one fifty seven and a touchdown and
that crazy game that you remember, what was that? Like
you said, in that game he threw a thirty five
(39:34):
yard touchdown, passed the right he most. You got Drew Brees,
you got Taysom Hill, you got Manny Sanders. I wouldn't
be surprised if Alvin Kamara is in the gym right
now throwing. You know, you never know, like you just said,
write a very diverse, multiple and creative offense in New Orleans.
They get healthier, they get better, and listen, Drew Brees,
(39:58):
the window is obviously closed. Thing, so the time is
now to get him the weapons we need or that
he needs. Jared, we talked a little bit, you know,
as it related to Robby Anderson, as it related to
Brashad Perriman that maybe some of these teams don't want
to go ahead and spend whether it's seven million dollars
or ten million dollars for a wide receiver, and they
(40:19):
don't have to because there are so many wide receivers
that people like coming up in this year's draft, which
it's about to take place in a month in a
television studio. For the most part, the over under on
this one, Jared is five and a half. That means
we could probably come up with five wide receivers right
(40:39):
now that maybe hearing their names called in round one
will play the game of trying to connect the dots
to which teams. But first off, for people who have
not really dove in yet to the college game, and
who these wide receivers are. Who are some of these
first round talents that should expect to get their names
called in round one. I've heard of the names of
(41:00):
you know, Ceede Lamb and Jerry Judy, But who are
some of these other guys that are gonna be first
round picks. Well, we saw two of them battle each
other in the National Championship Game, and and and that's
the Higgins kid from Clemson and the Jefferson kid from LSU.
Those are the two kids that stand out to me
as those next level guys. You've got two players on Alabama,
which is fascinating because we don't think of Alabama as
(41:22):
this wide receiver factory. Granted, you know, Julio Jones certainly
has has has kind of changed that dynamic, but Alabama
has been much more known for their running backs with
Henry and Ingram and those guys over the years that
have kind of made their hey in the NFL. Now
they are becoming this wide receiver factory. We've got rugs
uh and and and we've also got Judy as the
two studs to come from from Alabama. You mentioned Ceedee Lamb.
(41:46):
We went back and forth during our little pre show chat.
We were kind of on different sides of that coin.
I would lean Lamb right now is my top guy.
You like Judy, but I think they're both can't miss prospects.
I think they're both gonna go very close to each
other in the draft. I don't know which one's gonna
go first. I think that's a matter of subjectivity with
some of these gms, but my guess is when one
(42:07):
of them gets taken first, the next one will be
very close behind. Because that is when we probably will
start to see a run of wide receiver talent. My
guess is the quarterbacks, the lineman and of course so
Kuda are gonna be your top ten somewhere in that capacity.
Then once you get into eleven, twelve, thirteen, that's when
I think some of these wide receivers are gonna come
(42:28):
off the board. Judi or Lamb are gonna be right
at the top. Then Rugs Ruggs could surprise. Rugs could
jump one of these guys because I think they love
his speed. He has the game breaking speed. He's the
fastest wide receiver in this draft. And then I think
you'll see Higgins and Jefferson also in the first round.
So there's five right there. There's a couple of other
names that are interesting. The kid from Colorado Chivaults ranked
(42:49):
very high. I think the Arizona State kid Brandon Iook
also has a chance to be in the draft as well.
And of course my favorites, of course kJ Hambler of
Penn State, who has a little bit more of a
dyany amic player. He doesn't have the size that some
of these other guys have at I like in him too,
more of a Tyreek Hill. So he needs to be
in a right system, in a right fit in order
(43:10):
for somebody to take him in the first round. I
do think there's gonna be a team at the back
of the draft in the first round that does take
a chance on Handler because he has elite game breaking ability. Again,
needs to fill out his body a little bit, but
I like in his I like in his kind of
electricity to what Tyree Hill brings to the table. I
think there's gonna be someone that takes a chance on
Hamdler at the end of the first round. Yeah. Absolutely,
(43:32):
And I like the way you just frame that, Jack.
Remember if you brushed up on American history earlier in
the week, I told you about the X Y Z affair, right,
and when you see some of these wide receivers Judy
for example, te Higgins for example, there you're kind of
prototypical tall, bigger bodied guys. Right then you mentioned a
kid from Penn State Rugs as well, with kind of
(43:53):
game breaking speed. So not only is it just these names,
but the kind of role they need to fill, whether
it's an ex outside guy or a guy that can
you know, run great routes in both ways from the slot.
So it's just not the name, but it's about the
fit and how it meshes with the rest of the offense.
But I think you're right, those are some of the
(44:14):
names wide receiver needy teams need to look for, Jared.
Now let's try to connect these dots and this is
where we have some fun. The first team, I'm gonna
tell you I think is a lock to get a
wide receiver. They sit right now at number twenty five
and that's the Minnesota Vikings. So yeah, Jared, they just
(44:34):
I think they showed their cards in trading Stefon digs away, right.
They knew that they didn't want to pay them in essence,
So how do you replace you know, some of that production,
some of that talent on the cheap. Well, it's with
a rookie you just you know, extended kirk cousins. Adam
Heeling is on the wrong side of thirty and had
injury concerns. I know about Dalvin Cook, but you need
(44:57):
someone else to add some dying namic potential to the offense.
I think the Vikings are it's em in need of
a wide receiver that may use it may go there
in round one? What say you? I think that's I
think that makes total sense. I mean, not not only
do they have, but they just got the twenty second
pick from Buffalo for that's the Fond Biggs deal. So
they have two picks in a in an area of
(45:19):
the first round where you would think there's gonna be
one of these big name wide receivers, one of the
five we just mentioned, maybe even one of the other
kind of off beat ones that is going to be
there at twenty two at five. And if you're Minnesota,
how do you not replace your best playmaker, your best
outside playmaker with an immediate need in a position of
(45:41):
strength in this draft? I mean, you're right. They literally
gave us the blueprint for what they need to do.
I think they need to improve their secondary as well.
They got a little bit thin in the secondary. I
think their defensive line is solid. They got one of
the best offensive lines in the game. They have to
improve in the back of their situation secondary, why receiver,
their game breaking positions need to get deeper. They've got
(46:04):
two opportunities to do so at two and twenty five.
I would be shocked. In fact, I tweeted this out
over the weekend. If I could make any bet in
this draft, right now there'd be two of them that
I'd make. One of them would be that the Patriots
take a quarterback and rounds one through four. The other
one is that with their first round pick, one of
their two first round picks, the Vikings take a wide receiver.
(46:25):
In my mind, it's one of the biggest locks of
this draft, with the exception, of course, of the Patriots
also taking a quarterback. To me, those are the two
things that I am almost certain will happen in this
year's draft. Yeah, and you make a good point now
that Minnesota does actually have twenty two and twenty five,
and I think you're right where they may go, not
only wide receiver. I'm seeing a lot of mock drafts
with the Vikings getting a cornerback, maybe C. J. Henderson
(46:46):
out of Florida for example. Jaed, I'll give you another
team that I think is gonna play in the wide
receiver game, and another team that has multiple picks in
the first round, Jared. I'm talking about the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jared pick at number twelve and that number nineteen, not
to pick from the Bears that they got from the
Khalil Mack trade. Now, listen, the Raiders have been looking
(47:08):
to solve a wide receiver issue for years. Right. They
even tried the Antonio Brown route. We know how that
worked out. Last year they signed Terrell Williams. He had
some injuries. He's a I think he's a good number
two kind of wide receiver. There's a lot of buzz
about the Raiders making moves for wide receivers that are
named O'Dell and others. You know, so we know they
(47:29):
are in the wide receiver market. If none of those
big names come to Fruition, I can see Las Vegas
making a move. They got picks at twelve and nineteen. Yeah,
and they also signed Nelson Aguilar and I consider him
more of a like a three even I wouldn't even
put yeah, I I would put him in the three.
They also have had a run for who I like
(47:50):
a lot, and he's not a one either. He's kind
of a kind of a swingman. I would put him
more where you can kind of put him in the slot.
You can do a lot of different things with him.
Do you think Roll Williams is a one? No, And
I think the Raiders with the twelve pick can get
their one. The Raiders with twelve, I think they if
you were gonna ask me a team that is going
(48:10):
to start the run at wide receiver, I think at
twelve they could set the market for it and they
could say, Hey, I'm gonna take Lamb at twelver. Hey
I'm gonna take Rugs at twelver. I'm all right, know,
I like Judy the best. You know, We've seen Las
Vegas get a little bit unique with kind of their
their their sets. We don't know who's gonna play quarterback
for them next year. Is it gonna be Mariota, Is
it gonna be Car? Is there another player that's gonna
(48:31):
be entered into that situation? So I think who plays
quarterback might dictate what kind of receiver they want. Car
is more of a guy that probably likes throwing to
a hunter Rentfrow. Maybe Mariota needs a little bit more
of a game breaking wide receiver with more of an
elite athleticism to to to to to get some separation.
So I think who plays quarterback might actually dictate who
they take in the wide receiver draft. But I would
(48:53):
be shocked. You're right, They've got two picks in the
top twenty. I think one of them is gonna be
a white out. Yeah, listen, you know you talk about
the uh having renfo already, He's already a slot kind
of guy, the role that aguil Or could play, the
role that Tyrell Williams could play. I think this screams
to me, honestly, at number twelve, I would not be
surprised if they are calling the name of Alabama wide
(49:14):
receiver Henry Ruggs the third Jared, you talked about the
game breaking speed and could that be the piece of
the puzzle that the Raiders need given the rest of
their wide receiver room. Terrell Williams is six three six four.
Renfo is your slot guy. Remember you have Darren Waller
as well at the tight end position. You already filled
the running back need with last year of Jason Witten
(49:35):
now too, and you have Witten as well. The final
ingredient to this grooten offense as they moved to Vegas,
could in fact be a guy, a speedster like Rugs. Jared,
do you have any other teams? I've got one more
that I think would be smart to address it. But
I first want to turn the attention to you, because
you are so plugged into this. What other teams are
you connecting the dots to the wide receiver position. I
(49:58):
certainly think Denver could use one, you know, based on
based on what their situation is at the wide receiver position.
You know, we we Yeah, what's that? You don't believe anymore?
I do, But it's it's Sutton and it's Hamilton's and
and that's really it. I mean, you know so, I
I I pull up their depth chart right now, but
(50:19):
I'm pretty sure that the rest of the wide receivers
in their situation are Yeah, Tim Patricks their number three.
You're telling me that you can't. Now. I like Courtland
Sutton a lot. I like Dave Shawn Hamilton's a lot.
They're very young, they're very unproven. I think when you
have young wide receivers, depth is the key, because the
more you have in the mix, the more versatile you become.
(50:41):
If you lock Dave Shawn Hamilton's into that number two role,
he has to go up against the number two corner
every single day. But if you draft someone and all
of a sudden, you get a little versatility. With Hamilton,
Hey we can move in him into the slot. Now,
hey we can maybe move him outside a little bit
and run him in two wide receiver sets with Sutton
and then have the y on the other side of
the field. It gives you a little versatility. And right
(51:02):
now I don't trust Kim Patrick and any you know,
and and the the Broncos picked fifteen. They've addressed some
of their other needs in the off season. I don't
think they've addressed the wide receiver position yet. I like
what they have, but I think this is such a
deep class. Every single team that has any question of
depth issue at this position has an opportunity to improve
(51:23):
here and Denver, as much as we like what they've done,
they've got Melvin Gordon coming into the mix as well.
The more wide receivers you have to flank him, the better. Yeah, absolutely, Jared,
you know, and that's why the total on Fandel is
five and a half in the first round. A lot
of teams will have the opportunity. How many of them
actually do it. I'll throw out one last one all
(51:43):
the way down at pick thirty, Jared is the Green
Bay Packers. Okay, and listen, if we're talking about the
window for Drew Brees starting to close, that's why they
went out and got Manny Sanders. What about the Green
Bay Packers. You have Davante Adams, and here's the thing, Jared.
Last year in free agency and the raft, they went defense, defense,
defense and really improved their defense. Now is the time
(52:06):
to get that second weapon opposite Davante Adams and give
Aaron Rodgers a chance. You like their running game, like
their offensive line. How many more years does Aaron Rodgers
have at the top of the heat. I don't know.
And they haven't gotten it done with Geronimo Allison, Marquez
Valdez Scantling, Jake Kumero and the like. I think they
(52:26):
turned their attention actually get the playmaker to add the
last ingredient to that Packers offense. Alright, good to keep
an eye on for you fantasy players and for your
draft knicks out there. I'll tell you what, Jared and
I will continue the conversation here on at the window
that does it for us today, tune in tomorrow. Will
be right back at it, Dame Martinez and Jared Smith
giving you the edge here on the grid at sports
(52:48):
grid dot com. See you tomorrow, sports grid dot Com
setting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our team
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Enjoy the show, and thanks so much for listening. Everybody.
(00:21):
Welcome back to the grid. If you want the ed
get on the grid. We're back at the window. Dame
Martinez and Jared Smith. We've been here holding you down
through these crazy times. We've been talking a lot about
the NFL, Jared, and how they are sort of conducting
business as usual, but there's changes to all of those things. Right.
We've talked previously about how free agent signings business as usual,
(00:45):
but how are guys gonna clear physicals or actually travel
from meetings and things of that nature. And we're seeing
some of the same things, Jared. With the NFL Draft.
We've been talking about it and know the draft is
not being postponed or canceled, but first we heard that. Listen,
the crowds won't be there, it won't be this event
for the public. There won't be no fashion red carpet
(01:07):
across the loggio, right, which I was kind of looking
forward to me. Yeah, but we are now getting word
more recently from Roger Goodell that they're not gonna hold
it in Vegas anymore. Right, Vegas is by all accounts
shutting down. The strip looks eerie at night. And what
they're gonna do instead is producing like a TV show.
And we know the NFL can do this, right. So
(01:29):
they'll have a host and they'll have you know, teams
from their war rooms with their staff you know, ten
or less, I guess announcing their own picks. And when
you think about this, Jared, you and I know about
production elements required to put on a show, It's got
everything they need to make the draft happen, right, Yeah, No,
I mean, I don't see why an entity, a multibillion
(01:51):
dollar entity like the NFL can't set up a zoom
conference with thirty two teams, uh and just link everybody together. Uh.
There obviously needs to be some protocols in place. The
timing of the draft obviously is important. I don't know
yet if they will tweak those rules in terms of
how many minutes you get in between picks. How the
picks are sent in is usually a very uh connected process,
(02:11):
meaning you have a direct line to like the bat
phone at Draft h Q, and the teams will call in.
They will call in with trades. There are usually two
people manning the phones, one line and like there's usually
a backup line and and and a mainline. And if
there's a trade that happens, the team that's picking will
call the main line, and a team that is getting
traded to we'll call the backup line and they will communicate.
(02:31):
So there needs to be some protocols in place. But
we have a month until this happens, actually one month
from this week, so you know there's time to get
these logistics in place. And again, it's a multibillion dollar company.
We do zoom conferences all the time, we do meetings
all the time online. I don't see why a company
and an entity like the NFL can't set this up
(02:51):
and can't make this work, because, let's be real, Dane,
we are hurting for this content right now. We want
to know this information. We want to know how these
teams are going to prove throughout the off season, and
the draft is such a key aspect of that, it's
vital that it goes off. Yeah, absolutely, and and listen,
to be quite honest, I'll make a bold prediction. I
think this year's NFL Draft will be the highest rated.
(03:16):
Come on, when you think about it, there will be
no NBA playoffs going on. At the same time, there
will be no first month of the Major League Baseball
season or anything else going on. And now hundreds of
thousands of people who would die hard enough fans to
go to the draft will also damn sure be in
front of their television sets. So we are in that time.
(03:38):
Listen Jared of when you know the combine did in
fact happen right earlier this month, and now this is
the time when teams would have their pro days, right
when when when players would be needing and and taking
visits with specific teams to kind of interview with coaches
and things of that nature. What do you think at
a big picture level before we dive in, what we
(04:00):
think is the impact of that portion of the calendar
not being in place, Say there is no Alabama Pro
Day for two to throw at, right, we don't get
the chance of, oh that one player who had a
character concern being able to go and meet with the
head coaches and prove that he's got his mind on football.
Things like that. What do you think are the big
(04:22):
picture implications of not having this part of the draft
season calendar. I think it's all about and again we
we we have discussed in prior segments continuity, certainty, and
and again it's it's funny because I think the teams
that are going to be the most successful during these
times are the teams that are logistically sound, meaning the
teams that have a really good tech guy that can
(04:44):
connect these coaches, you know, in a in a in
a seamless way. It's very difficult to communicate during this process.
How teams communicate in this offseason is going to dictate
how quickly they can get up to full speed when
the season starts later this fall. And I know that's
sound silly, but if you don't have a good tech
guy right now, if you don't have a good business
operations staff to help connect people, and if there is
(05:07):
not constant communication from the coaches all the way down
to the assistance down to the scouts, to everything, there
has to be a protocol in place for these types
of emergencies. This is a national emergency that we are
going through. These teams are not operating at their same
level that they are used to. So to have the
backup protocols in place, to have a really good zoom
(05:29):
conference system where every day these coaches meet, the staffs
are able to meet, everyone is able to figure out, Hey,
I like this guy here. We'll have you had a
chance to talk to this guy. No, I've only seen
him this. The communication level is paramount here. So teams
that communicate well and again we don't know. I mean,
it's very hard for us as better as to handicap
that market because we've never been asked to handicap that
market before. So it will be interesting to see which
(05:51):
teams come out on the other side of this. They
have all their ducks in a row and they're ready
for the draft. It is going to be a fascinating
draft because of the unknown elm it with the logistics
involved with doing something like this, not only at the
NFL level, but at the individual team by team level. Two.
They need to be organized. If they're not organized, it's
gonna look really bad come drafting. Yeah, and another thing
(06:12):
I point out, you know, we know how for example,
Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have a relationship in place already, right,
so Bill can hop on the phone and be like, Hey,
these Alabama guys, I'm watching them on tape, tell me
a little bit more about them, you know what I mean?
And I think teams that have some kind of relationship
or open window or phone line to some of these
(06:34):
college staffs as well, because that may be I mean,
everyone always does their due diligence in that way, but
you may even have to put more stock into the
reports you're getting from some of the college coaches as well.
But I turn our attention because there's no shortage of
ways to bet the draft, right Jared. And and one
of the things I think of first, because we all
(06:55):
always talk about the quarterback market over on Fandel, Jared,
you can bet right now the total number of quarterbacks
that will go in Round one, and they've hung four
and a half as the number. And I think this
is very, very interesting, Jared, because of the juice that's
on it. What if I told you, Jared that under
four and a half right now is minus three eight,
(07:19):
but over four and a half is plus two seventy.
I gotta tell you something. We should play this out.
You know we like to play games with each other here, Jared,
we should play this out. I actually think that the
over might be a good bet because history tells us
teams will always jump into the first round or trade
up to get their guy. And I'm seeing plus two
(07:40):
seventy as the juice for over four and a half.
We can itemize it line by line and try to
figure it out, and we will. But Jared, overall, do
you think over four and a half quarterbacks if we
go in round one? I don't think it could. I
don't think it will happen, but it certainly could. And
and what I'm seeing in the market place over the
(08:01):
last week or so is Jordan's loves position continue to increase,
and he is the fourth quarterback on the board. We
know Burrows going one, we know too, and Herbert will
go in the top ten. We thought originally that Love
would be a back end first round pick. Right now
I'm seeing his position in the mid first round. That's
where kind of the odds are saying. So if you're
(08:23):
telling me that the fourth quarterback will be taken, let's
say at fifteen, and there's seventeen more picks in the
first round, yes, I do think it's very possible that
someone says, hey, I really like this Hurts kid. Hey,
I really like this Eastern kid. He showed me something
at Washington. Hey, I'm gonna take a chance on the
Georgia kid because you know, hey, we just't know. We
just don't know in the sec when these kids are
really going to fully develop. Because of the type of
(08:45):
offenses and because of the defenses that they're going up against.
I don't see any reason why you should lay minus
three eight at something that you could literally be sweating
out fifteen to twenty picks. Uh if if if Jordan's
love does go in the top fifth team, which it
does look like he is going to do so. And
I'll tell you what is interesting here. The Patriots sitting
(09:06):
at twenty three, and I've been preaching this for quite
some time. I I am convinced. I don't know if
it's gonna be a twenty three, but they've got five
or six picks. I think with some compensatories in the
third round, between round one through three, I would be
shocked if one of those five picks is not on
a quarterback. Now, could they use some of those picks
package it get back up into the first round at
the end of the first round. Sure, so I I
(09:28):
think that is a very valid bet. Plus two seventies
a nice price. That's the only position I'd be willing
to take that bet. On any other position. I think
teams will be willing to wait, especially at wide receiver,
considering how deep this draft is. A wide receiver, I
think teams say, hey, I'm not gonna trade up for
a wide receiver. I can get one on the second
or third round. That might be a starting level talent.
At quarterback though, as you know, Dane, different animal. If
(09:50):
a guy, if a team likes their quarterback, they're gonna
go up and get him. Yeah. Absolutely, And we've seen
this before. And here's the other layer I'll put on this, Jared.
And and it goes back to the a the NFL
is conducting the draft this year. You talked about it
with the phone lines buzzing off the hook and having
the bat phone to one team or another. You've seen
it time and time again, Jared, or at least in
(10:11):
years past. The first round happens on Thursday. Then you
wait an entire day to do the second and the
third round. And when we get to the back end
of that first round. There are teams left and right
that are kind of recalibrating, for lack of a better term,
right and saying, oh, wait a second, these guys are
still available. Maybe I didn't think that, or maybe and
(10:33):
then they start to ride get on the horn. It
happens every single year. Lamar Jackson was a quarterback that
was traded up right into the back of the first round.
You know, we talked about the year where Mitch Trabsky
went number two, then Bears traded up to get him,
Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, even the Jared Goff and Carson
went here. Both the Rams and the Eagles traded up
(10:55):
to get their guy. So I completely agree with you, Jared.
All it takes is one person to fall in love
with a quarterback. I think you've outlined, you know, the
guaranteed for in my opinion, right you connect the dots,
it's Burrow to Cincinnati, you got to you got Herbert.
I personally think that they're gonna be in Miami and
with the Chargers, we'll see. We know that Jordan's love
(11:18):
is getting all sorts of love. Pardon the punt and
the question, maybe you know who knows who, you know
which team falls in love with him. But then we're
left with the rest you've identified easan from and maybe
Jalen Hurts. Now what I'd like you to do, Jared,
is let's connect the dots to some teams. For example,
(11:40):
I'm gonna throw two out there, sitting at thirteen and fourteen, Jared,
are the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Tampa, well,
we know they've got Tom Brady, but we know that
Tom Brady is not the long term solution for the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wouldn't that be a place where, oh
my goodness, you draft Jordan's love or one of these
(12:01):
quarterbacks and you give him a year or two to
learn under the greatest of all time. That could be
an option the Indianapolis culture on a similar position. I mean,
you've talked about how we've talked about how maybe Dracobi Brissette,
they keep Brissette, they might move Brissette. What does that
mean fiscally? One thing I'll tell you, Philip Rivers is
not a long term answer in Indianapolis. So right there
(12:24):
in the middle of the first round, I see teams
like Tampa and Indie, maybe because they have aging veteran quarterbacks,
albeit new to their uniform, who still need to look
for the future. I think Tampa Bay is definitely a
cannondate to take a quarterback early, especially considering what we've
seen from Brady in the past. Where You're right, I mean,
(12:44):
two years is is quick, and wouldn't that be great
for a young quarterback to be able to learn from
Tom Brady. The culture an intriguing situation. From everything I've
been reading, the Colts are actually probably going to keep
Prisette on the roster this year from everything I'm seeing.
Granted that could change because his cap hit is so high.
I think they end up keeping Brissette on the roster
(13:06):
this season. So I think the Colts might be the
team I wouldn't put into the category of drafting a
quarterback in the higher stages of the draft and the
lower stages of the draft, teams will take a flyer
on a guy, and I think that is a fair bet.
I I do think Brissette will be an Indie next year.
I think it will be a two headed monster quarterback
for the Colts. It's only a one year deal for
Rivers so it's very short. And I think Bursset's a
(13:28):
guy who still is at the stage of his career
where he's improving. So I I think he was a
late bloomer anyways. Out of NC State and even in
New England, he still was figuring things out. He doesn't
have a lot of tread on the tires. He hasn't
started a lot of games. He was a backup for
the majority of his career. So I think Prissette might
be a guy that they keep, and they might just
swallow his deal this year. Uh. The Tampa Bay is
(13:49):
a great that that's a great I could really see
the Bucks being a little bit aggressive with the quarterback position.
It's obvious that Jamis Winston will not return in a
backup role. He has already said his farewell to the
Tampa area, So Tampa Bay needs to have somebody else
in the fold. Uh. And it makes sense why you
would want a young quarterback paired with Brady, because not
only are you bringing that quarterback along for the ride,
(14:09):
but you also have some decent protection. So Tampa Bay
in the middle of the first round, they could be
a team that could steal Jordan's love. I think Jordan's
Love is the trigger in this draft on how teams
really dictate the rest of the quarterback market. If everything
we're seeing is true and Love goes in the top fifteen,
there's gonna be some teams that are gonna get aggressive
in the bottom of the first round and reach for
a quarterback. Perhaps we've seen quarterbacks get reached for before,
(14:31):
and again that's the position that you make your move
and you're aggressive with. So if Love goes early, that
could set the table for the rest of this quarterback
market to get a little bit of a boost in
terms of their draft stock. So when we're talking about
the old under on who we get to five, I
think you're absolutely correct, Jared, right, because if Love does
go in the first half of the first round, we're
talking about another fifteen opportunities for whether it be one
(14:55):
of these teams that draft from the back half, and
teams that draft in the back half are generally good
teams that have less holes to fill. I want to
move up to the third a couple out here that are,
you know, in the back half and may fit the bill.
You tell me if you like any of these ideas
(15:17):
or have any other ideas on who could be that
fifth quarterback needy team at the level of first round
capital to go get their guy, whether it's Hurts, whether
it's Eastan, whether it's from who could be that fifth guy.
I look at teams, Jared, with you know, aging quarterbacks,
quarterbacks that we know are kind of on their last legs.
For example, we've talked about the quarterback room in New
(15:40):
Orleans for a long time, Jared, and they're sitting there
at number twenty four. You know, you've got breeze. We've
talked about kind of the concerns of like, are they
gonna let Taysom Hill truly be a quarterback and what
that means. So New Orleans is at four. I see
the Green Bay Packers at pick number thirty. Aaron Rodgers.
(16:01):
You know, you don't think about it, but after this
wave of the true elder Statesman, Aaron Rodgers is really
kind of a guy who's been in this league and
has not finished what half of the last four seasons healthy.
So if you have a team that's ready to roll,
maybe you need to steal to think a little bit
earlier about that secession planned the Green Bay Packers come
(16:21):
to mind, and then honestly, yard, another team that's early
in round two that may decide to hop back up
into the end of Round one, like we've seen teams
do before. For me, what about the Detroit Lions. You know,
Matthew Stafford has been kind of you know, there's been
buzz about his future Detroit for the last couple of years.
(16:43):
And this is a guy, don't get me wrong. I
love the way he grits it out, but you know
he's had injury concerns as well. Whether it's those three
that I just brought up or another one you can
think of, who might that candidate be as a team
to go get a first round quarterback. I'll tell you
who I think might need to address this issue are
the Chicago Bears. And I know that they just took
(17:04):
you know, they just traded for Nick Foles and that's great,
but you know that's another guy that's massive injury concerns.
They obviously have lost faith in Mitchell Trabiski. So this
is a team The Bears don't pick in the first round, remember,
you know, you know, they they've they they've got some
draft issues. They do have two second round picks, so
that could be something where they maybe move up and
take Eastern or Hurts or if they like one of
(17:26):
these guys, uh that that so they're not in contention.
I think to get a Jordan's Love. But I think
they could get that fifth quarterback. Maybe they could package
their second round pick this year and another second round
pick next year, move up ten spots, get to get
into the end of the first round and go take
Jalen Hurts. Or maybe it's not the first round. Maybe
it's just they package their two second round picks and
(17:47):
they move up five to ten spots and they get Hurts,
so they get eastn or they get from one of
those kids that they like. You know. As the puzzle
pieces continue to come into focus, Jared and I will
be here to break it all down and anticipate and
see if there's up ttunities to get you a little
bit of cash. It's at the window right here on
Sports Grade Jane and Jared. If you want the edge,
get on the grid bad sports grid dot com betting
(18:16):
insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers
the most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds,
predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want the edge
than get on the grid. Sports grid dot Com. Welcome
back here to at the window. Here on Sports Grade
at Day, Martinez and Jared Smith touring you across what
(18:40):
you need to know for the NFL Draft. Jared, we
talked about it. It's gonna be a TV show instead
of a live event, but that doesn't matter. Teams are
still going to get the guys they want. And that
applies mostly for the quarterback position. We say it all
the time. Teams trade up. You know, I would say
over half of the quarterbacks who have been drafted in
the first round over the last five years where actually
(19:02):
traded up to get them. You know, Sam Donald included
Danny Dines. You know, everybody is trading up to get
their quarterbacks. And what that means for me is you
get the guy you want. And there's been a lot
of talk about to a type of the law and
who in fact wants him. We've said before here Jared
that with a guy with injury concerns like this. You know,
(19:25):
we had the hip injury and went down at the
beginning of the middle of that Alabama season last year.
The question is who's gonna take that risk and invest
that level of draft capital, likely a top five pick
to get a guy with you know, maybe some red
flags and still injury concerns. I know, Jared, when you've
been digging in a little bit, you're not entirely sold
(19:48):
onto us. It's not that I'm not sold on him.
I think he's gonna be great. I just think it's
too risky at this stage to give up future picks,
and that's what the Chargers or Dolphins would have to do.
So right now that those two teams are in an
arms race, they both have plenty of picks, which is
kind of ironic that the two teams that want to
move up have plenty of draft capital to do so.
(20:09):
It's very much Cold War esque where one team says
I'm trading the third pick, and then oh, well, maybe
we'll trade for the second pick. I think Miami is
in the best position, obviously, because they're a pick ahead,
so they would have to give up the least amount
of capital to move up. I am hearing that the
Chargers do want to move up and take to that
is what they want to do. The question is can
they get from six all the way to two? And
(20:30):
then the question remains, well, if you're the Redskins. Do
you think a trade is worth more than taking Chase
Young at two? Who? In my opinion, Chase Young is
the best player on the board. So when I look
at that Fando prop to a tackled by Looa and
and the books really did a good job with this one.
They made it really expensive to make this bet. I
still think it's worth the money over under two and
(20:50):
a half draft position for two over, meaning he's going
to be taken third or later. So that means you're
betting the over. You don't think Too will be picked one,
or pick too. I don't think he's gonna be picked one.
I think Burrow to Cincinnati is going to be the case.
We're seeing the odds dictate that exclusively. Yeah, I mean,
it's basically a virtual lock at this point at two.
(21:13):
That's where things get a little bit murky, and the
Redskins are gonna have to weigh Ron Rivera and company
are going to have to weigh is to a tag
Leevy Lowe's draft price worth enough to get out of
that too pick. You're not gonna get Chase Young, but
you might get another really good defensive player. Maybe you
get the Okuda kid out of Ohio State. Personally, I
(21:33):
think the most known commodity in the NFL is pass rush.
Right now, there is one clear cut player in the
draft that is the best player, not only at that position,
but I think on the board completely. So for the
Redskins to pass on that, meaning they trade out of
that two spot, I don't think that is something that
is plausible. I don't think that the Redskins are going
(21:55):
to get enough back to feel it is worthy to
do that. I think too, uh. I think the Lions
are an intriguing case. At three. I don't think the
two spot is going to be up for grabs. I
think Chase Young will go second, and that means to uh,
the sweepstakes will begin, and I think the Lions phone
is gonna be ringing off the hook. But I do
think he will go third or later. So to me,
(22:17):
that pick over under two and a half, I know
it's a big price. It's minus three right now, but
I think it's a worthy price, and I think there's
value there because I do not think the Redskins are
willing to give up Chase Young. So you're right, and
it's minus three bills right now, So you've gotta pay
a lot if you think that's the case, And I
think you've accurately kind of organized what it is. In
(22:38):
essence for me, Jared, it's a prop that will the
Washington football team trade out of number two? Right, that
that's really what it comes down to. I agree with you,
Joe Burrow to Cincinnati, those dots have pretty much been connected.
I agree with you as well that Miami and the
Chargers are the teams to watch, and I like how
you framed it as a cold war of sorts, right
(22:59):
because listen, Miami at five the Charges at six. One option,
Jared is for them to both stand pat at five
and six. I can see Chase Young an offensive lineman,
Akuday is, Hey Simmons, these guys right being if it
goes according to plan, and when you see mock drafts,
all those teams actually stay in those places. If that
(23:21):
was the case, Jared, I think both Miami and the
Chargers will then take their pick of two Ah Herbert
if one of them liked Loves and however the chips fall,
both of these teams would get their franchise quarterbacks. The issue, though,
is because anybody else that's out there, whether it is
the Chargers, who you know, think Miami's gonna pull the
trigger on to A and they love to more than
(23:43):
the other options, and they know they have to hop
Miami right or any other team they know they would
have to hop Miami at five in order to get
first crack at the apple. You talk about Detroit at three,
the Giants at four. I think those guys are gonna
have their phones ringing off the hook for teams that
(24:04):
want to go ahead and have the first DIBs at
one of these guys. You raised the idea though, of
Washington at two. The way it goes is, let's say
you trade with Detroit up to three, you are still
not certain that you'll get the quarterback you want. Washington
is still the wild card. New head coach Ron Rivera,
new defensive coordinator Jack Dale Rio. I think they are
(24:27):
gonna be absolutely happy to have by many accounts, the
best football player in the draft, Chase Young on the edge,
fall to them at number two. And I personally think
they're happy to do that and don't even need to
trade down. The question is will anybody blow them away?
What do you think, though, Jared, like, will it be
(24:48):
Detroit homos or would Detroit really like one of these
guys as well? For example, Detroit was the thirty second
ranked Path defense Jared in the entire NFL, and not
only that, they decided this week to trade. So you're
the worst path defense in the NFL, you trade away
(25:08):
your number one corner. I see a guy like Jeffer
Couda there and maybe they're like, he's our guy at three,
or they think they can, you know, flip flop with
Miami and still get that guy at five. The other thing,
I'd say, Jared, and we've seen this before. The Chicago
Bears were sitting at number three and they traded with
(25:29):
the San Francisco forty Niners who were at two, literally
to swap one spot right to go out and get
Mitchell Trabinski. The Niners then ultimately drafted Solomon Thomas. They
loved it because they got the guy they were going
to the Bears even though they were there. To them,
it was worth it to move up one spot just
to be certain that no one else could hop them.
(25:51):
That's what you would have to do if you truly
wanted to get to or you'd have to go all
the way up to two. Personally, though, Jared, I don't
think Washington is moving. I think Washington is gonna be
happy to have Chase Young. So that means I'm with
you minus three hundred. But later than pick two, I
totally agree, and I'll take it one further. On your
on your on your alliance take their dame. So not
(26:15):
only did the Lions trade away Slay, and they had
the worst past defense in the league, which would lead
me to believe that they would want a Kuda the
fourth pick. The Giants, there are two all stud offensive
tackles right there, Willis and Earths, the Iowa kid the
Alabama kid. The Sciants offensive line wasn't exactly a brick
wall last season. So you are talking about two teams,
(26:37):
the Lions and the Giants that are holding these these
these cards of of these teams to trade up, but
the players that are available in those spots fill direct
needs for what these teams need. So these gms have
to weigh, all right, we could trade back in the draft.
We could get a you know, we could pick up
an extra first round pick, we could pick up an
extra second round pick. But are we foregoing selecting an
(27:01):
all pro type of player in a position of need?
In order to acquire draft capital. That is the decision
that these general managers are going to be faced. And
if you were going to ask me, as someone who
is very close to this giant situation, there are two
stunned offensive tackles available. Are you really going to give
up taking one of them just so you can get
(27:22):
an extra second round pick at the end of the
You know, I mean to me, that's why I do
think that both of these teams, Chargers and Dolphins are
going to make a strong push for two and Herbert
move up for their guys. But at the end of
the day, is the juice worth the squeeze? I can't
answer that question. Only the g ms of the respective
teams can. If you were gonna ask me, I would say, yes,
(27:44):
there's a chance that one of them moves up a
spot or two spots, But I lean on the error
of Okay, these teams have needs, these players fit these needs.
Let's just slop them in and we'll see what the
Dolphins do with their fifth pick. Right, Maybe the Giants
don't want to get too cute because they know maybe
they have a franchise left tackle in the making at
(28:06):
number four right um and one thing I would say, though,
I'd love to get your opinion on it. You said
there are two stud offensive tackles. I've been reading as
many as four that are viable, like top ten caper pick. Okay,
I'm talking Andrew Thomas out of Georgia, I'm talking Wills
out of Alabama. You mentioned the kid works out of Iowa,
(28:27):
and there's also Beckton out of Louisville. So what about
the fact, you know it's a supply and demand thing, right, Jared? So,
how far Let's say the Giants do want to trade
down because their phone is buzzing off the hook, and
you know they like a package that a random team
is offering, right, whether it's Miami who has a ton
of picks, Temple who wants to move up because they
love love, the Chargers who feel the same way about
(28:50):
a quarterback as the Dolphins, whatever the case may be, Right,
it's a supply and demand game, Jared, So what about
the fact that there may in fact be four top
off team pick offensive tackles that they can kind of
slide down and take their chances that at least one
of them will still be on the board when they pick. Like,
how cute do you get when you're thinking about trading down, Jared,
(29:12):
it's a very good point, you know. And and and
the more we discuss it, the and this is why
not only do I love working at Sports Group, but
working with the people that we work with, because sometimes
I'll come into a segment, I'll come into a thing
having a take, and then when we discuss things, you
see different sides of it. And I'm definitely not, uh,
you know, to too man enough to admit, all right, well,
(29:33):
that looks interesting. If the Giants feel that one of
those other two guys, Beckton or the or the you know,
or the Georgia kid exactly, if they think that one
of those kids is good and it's gonna fill that need,
then yes, I'm sure the Giants would be willing to
trade down and to move back a couple of spots.
And it's an also intriguing case here thing because if
(29:53):
if like say, the Chargers put together a nice package
to move from six to four, you might still get
one of the worst kids, or you know, one of
the top you know, the top one or top two
guys at six. So I do think that there's a
there's a very strong chance that one of those one
of these teams moves out. The question is, we don't
really know. The talk behind the scenes is is Miami
(30:16):
confident that they have enough to move up from five
to four? But do the Chargers think they can move
from six to three? So again, it is kind of
like an arms race, who is going to be the
first domino to fall. Both teams might end up staying
pat because maybe the Chargers really like Herbert and the
Dolphins really like to and the Dolphins are gonna take
two at five anyways. But then there you're right. But
(30:39):
then there, of course, could be another one of those
wild card teams that moves up into the fall. Personally,
I don't think there's gonna be a mystery team for
two or Herbert. I think it's Herbert to you know, Herbert,
and too I think will end up in l A
or Miami in some capacity. I don't. I haven't seen
any mystery teams. But I have heard a couple of
rumblings that l A might make a big push and
(31:00):
try to move up to one and get Burrow. But
I I but that to me is a long shot.
But again, we've seen these types of long shots happen
on draft night, and I still think Burrow will be
taken one. He just might not be taken by the Bengals.
So again, we have a whole month of this. There's
gonna be tons of stories that come out. Just stand
(31:22):
stick to your guns. If you think a guy is
gonna be taken in this spot and you have reason
to believe it, trust your instincts. I don't think two
is gonna be taken first or second. That's why I
like that profit. Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Jack,
And to be quiet honest, the kind of vision you
outline is ultimately the way I think it's going to go.
I think there's gonna be a lot of smoke screens,
(31:42):
a lot of talk, a lot of rumor, But when
it comes down to it, I don't think Washington is
gonna pass on the opportunity to get a generational pass.
Rusher and Chase Young reports of that this kid is
better than either one of the Boza's at Ohio State,
and you see what they are now doing in the
league Detroit and New York. Yeah, it could be open
(32:02):
for business, but is the drop and what they get
in quantity as much as what they could get in
quality By staying with the top five. Jared, we only
got a couple of minutes left in the segment. But
you've mentioned also offensive linemen, right, And here's what I
think is interesting. Look at the teams inside what I'll say,
at the top eleven that have been mocked in one
(32:23):
way or another to an offensive lineman. I think there's
four kind of studs that we've talked about, right, Thomas,
Will's Worths and Beckton. Okay, you've mentioned the New York
Giants at four. I've seen the Arizona Cardinals mock an
offensive tackle at eight. You look at Cleveland at ten,
you look at the New York Jets at eleven. These
(32:46):
teams I've seen mock draft where they all go tackle
or offensive line in the first round. And Jared, what
is the consistent thread among them all? They all have young,
developing quarterbacks that they need to protect. A lot of
people want to say, like, Jared, I'm a Jets fan,
and a lot of people are saying like, Oh, could
it be Ceedee lamb Uh to go to the Jets?
(33:08):
Oh could it be Jerry Judy to go to the Jets.
I'm gonna tell you right now, I don't want a
first round wide receiver. If there's fifteen or twenty or
so guys that are supposed to be quality in this draft,
I'll spend rounds two or three or even round six.
We found Robby Anderson as an undrafted free agent. Okay,
but Joe Douglas, do your thing and get one of
(33:29):
these offensive linemen to protect Sam Donald. What do you
think about that, Jared. These teams that have young quarterbacks,
it's nice to get shining new toys on the outside,
but they gotta keep them upright. I totally I couldn't
agree more. I mean, don't get me wrong. As a
Jets fan, I'd love to see another Plexico Burrust type
of quarter or type of receiver out there, you know,
in terms of the guy that's tall and ranging and
(33:50):
can do everything. In round two. There you go, and
again we talk about consistency and continuity. The offensive line,
to me, is the quickest way to rebuild a team,
and the defensive line as well, but the offensive line
is the quickest way to rebuild a team. I like
what jo Douglas has done in free agency. He's kind
of nibbled at the offensive line. He hasn't had the
big you know the big move. Yet he got a
(34:12):
couple of guys who are, you know, borderline starters, who
should be starters, but they're not Pro Bowl starters by
any stretch. You have a chance at eleven to maybe
get one of those guys. Now, we'll see where the
rest of the draft falls. I'll tell you what if
the first five picks are all quarterbacks and defensive players,
well there's only four. There's four offensive linemen. So you've
(34:33):
got a pretty decent shot to get one of those
guys at some point. Something tells me there's gonna be
some teams that do reach for these wide receivers. We'll
see who does, but I think there's gonna be a
couple of teams that reach because this is such a
deep wide receiver class. There's gonna be a team that says,
I want the best guy in the best class. So
we'll see who it is. I hope it's not the Jets.
(34:53):
I would love to see Worth Sir Beckton and one
of those guys go to the Jets, because then all
of a sudden, they're offensive line is ready to roll.
But I have a feeling that other teams are gonna
notice that as well, and I think by the tenth
or eleventh pick, all four of those linemen are gonna
be gone. Yeah, I can't agree with you. I just
hope one of their is still left there for Joe
Douglas at eleven, Jared four and a half quarterbacks. Is
(35:16):
the total six and a half lineman to the total
you work ference the wide receivers fan duels hanging a
total of five and a half. We'll dig into the
wide receiver market for the draft and try to connect
with some of those dots when we come back on
the other side of the break it, Dane and Jared,
We're at the window sports grid dot Com. Betting insights
and entertainment at your fingertips as our team covers the
(35:39):
most important topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive
betting models, expert picks and more. Want the edge, then
get on the grid sports grid dot Com. All right, everybody,
welcome back at the window here on sports Grid where
you're giving you the edge on the grid. Dame Martinez
and Jarre and Smith, we're looking mostly at the NFL
(36:02):
Draft today right because we've realized that it's been turned
into a studio television production, which is fine. Everyone's still
gonna watch it. I'm gonna watch it, Jared, I know
you're gonna watch it, and we're gonna absolutely cheering for
our teams to augment themselves. One thing, uh, that we
do have to mention before that, because we've been talking
(36:23):
about the wide receiver market a bunch, Jared, you played GM.
I know, I know what priorities you care about in
the wide receivers. Robby Anderson, Sorry, Devin Funcious, I'm sorry,
but some of those names have come off the board
since we last spoke. Two of them, specifically, one the
Las Vegas Raiders have gone ahead and signed Nelson Aghalor Jared,
(36:45):
you know who you kind of had at the bottom
of the list, but he got himself a job. And
what I think the big one is is Manny Sanders
does in fact get signed by the New Orleans Saints
on a two year, sixteen million dollar contracts So a
million a year for a guy like that seems to
be the going rate. Robby Edison, Perryman, Devin Fungus, you
(37:07):
need to recognize. But what do you think about this move, Jared?
We have identified the Saints as a team that really
needed that strong number to opposite Michael Thomas. They now
get it in Emmanuel Sanders. Yeah, and what I love
about it, you know, obviously New Orleans I would I
would classify their offense as very versatile. I don't think
(37:27):
they have one specific like rotation of guys that are like,
all right, this is how it's gonna go. They like
to move pieces around the chessboard. Sean Payton's proven that.
I mean, look how they you tay some hill in
the past. So what they get in Sanders is a
veteran who can pick up an offense quickly, who can
move into the slot, who can play on the outside.
They can put him in the backfield. They can do
(37:48):
all types of different things. And I think he's even
thrown a pass in his career as well. They can
do all kinds of things with Emmanual Sanding. And he's
a guy that's been to the Super Bowl, he's been
to the top of the mountain. He knows what it's
like to win. I love the move. I think it's
a great move. The price was right, and you're right,
Paraman Anderson bunches, you're not gonna get double digit million
(38:10):
dollars at this stage. You missed that boat. That vote
is now come and gone. Now, Granted, like we said,
there could be some wrinkles in free agents or in
the in the in the pre draft process, in the
mini camp process. If there's some injuries in preseason, that
could open the doors for some of these players that
have not yet been signed that maybe they get a
big of a bit of a boost in their salary
(38:32):
than they normally would because of need. But what we're
seeing today Dane a guy like Emmanuel Sanders to get
that price. That's kind of the market for these free
angent wide receivers right now. I think New Orleans made
the necessary move and they all of a sudden get
a little bit deeper because we know they lost Teddy Bridgewater,
so how much is Taysom Hill gonna be utilized? And
now they add someone to the mix who can be
(38:53):
another Swiss Army knife at wide receiver. I think it's
a great move. I think Drew Brees is gonna really
like Emmanuel Sanders. We already saw me at rapport with
Jimmy Garoppolo and Emmanuel Sanders early on. They did very
well in the early stages of that of that San
Francisco experiment. He got hurt a little bit down the stretch.
That Hamperger's productivity. But if he stays healthy, he's a
guy that can help the Saints win some wins and
(39:14):
football games. Yeah. Absolutely, And let me tell you something.
Maybe the Saints saw Emmanuel Sanders value because against the
Saints with the San Francisco forty niners, he put up
a seven for one fifty seven and a touchdown and
that crazy game that you remember, what was that? Like
you said, in that game he threw a thirty five
(39:34):
yard touchdown, passed the right he most. You got Drew Brees,
you got Taysom Hill, you got Manny Sanders. I wouldn't
be surprised if Alvin Kamara is in the gym right
now throwing. You know, you never know, like you just said,
write a very diverse, multiple and creative offense in New Orleans.
They get healthier, they get better, and listen, Drew Brees,
(39:58):
the window is obviously closed. Thing, so the time is
now to get him the weapons we need or that
he needs. Jared, we talked a little bit, you know,
as it related to Robby Anderson, as it related to
Brashad Perriman that maybe some of these teams don't want
to go ahead and spend whether it's seven million dollars
or ten million dollars for a wide receiver, and they
(40:19):
don't have to because there are so many wide receivers
that people like coming up in this year's draft, which
it's about to take place in a month in a
television studio. For the most part, the over under on
this one, Jared is five and a half. That means
we could probably come up with five wide receivers right
(40:39):
now that maybe hearing their names called in round one
will play the game of trying to connect the dots
to which teams. But first off, for people who have
not really dove in yet to the college game, and
who these wide receivers are. Who are some of these
first round talents that should expect to get their names
called in round one. I've heard of the names of
(41:00):
you know, Ceede Lamb and Jerry Judy, But who are
some of these other guys that are gonna be first
round picks. Well, we saw two of them battle each
other in the National Championship Game, and and and that's
the Higgins kid from Clemson and the Jefferson kid from LSU.
Those are the two kids that stand out to me
as those next level guys. You've got two players on Alabama,
which is fascinating because we don't think of Alabama as
(41:22):
this wide receiver factory. Granted, you know, Julio Jones certainly
has has has kind of changed that dynamic, but Alabama
has been much more known for their running backs with
Henry and Ingram and those guys over the years that
have kind of made their hey in the NFL. Now
they are becoming this wide receiver factory. We've got rugs
uh and and and we've also got Judy as the
two studs to come from from Alabama. You mentioned Ceedee Lamb.
(41:46):
We went back and forth during our little pre show chat.
We were kind of on different sides of that coin.
I would lean Lamb right now is my top guy.
You like Judy, but I think they're both can't miss prospects.
I think they're both gonna go very close to each
other in the draft. I don't know which one's gonna
go first. I think that's a matter of subjectivity with
some of these gms, but my guess is when one
(42:07):
of them gets taken first, the next one will be
very close behind. Because that is when we probably will
start to see a run of wide receiver talent. My
guess is the quarterbacks, the lineman and of course so
Kuda are gonna be your top ten somewhere in that capacity.
Then once you get into eleven, twelve, thirteen, that's when
I think some of these wide receivers are gonna come
(42:28):
off the board. Judi or Lamb are gonna be right
at the top. Then Rugs Ruggs could surprise. Rugs could
jump one of these guys because I think they love
his speed. He has the game breaking speed. He's the
fastest wide receiver in this draft. And then I think
you'll see Higgins and Jefferson also in the first round.
So there's five right there. There's a couple of other
names that are interesting. The kid from Colorado Chivaults ranked
(42:49):
very high. I think the Arizona State kid Brandon Iook
also has a chance to be in the draft as well.
And of course my favorites, of course kJ Hambler of
Penn State, who has a little bit more of a
dyany amic player. He doesn't have the size that some
of these other guys have at I like in him too,
more of a Tyreek Hill. So he needs to be
in a right system, in a right fit in order
(43:10):
for somebody to take him in the first round. I
do think there's gonna be a team at the back
of the draft in the first round that does take
a chance on Handler because he has elite game breaking ability. Again,
needs to fill out his body a little bit, but
I like in his I like in his kind of
electricity to what Tyree Hill brings to the table. I
think there's gonna be someone that takes a chance on
Hamdler at the end of the first round. Yeah. Absolutely,
(43:32):
And I like the way you just frame that, Jack.
Remember if you brushed up on American history earlier in
the week, I told you about the X Y Z affair, right,
and when you see some of these wide receivers Judy
for example, te Higgins for example, there you're kind of
prototypical tall, bigger bodied guys. Right then you mentioned a
kid from Penn State Rugs as well, with kind of
(43:53):
game breaking speed. So not only is it just these names,
but the kind of role they need to fill, whether
it's an ex outside guy or a guy that can
you know, run great routes in both ways from the slot.
So it's just not the name, but it's about the
fit and how it meshes with the rest of the offense.
But I think you're right, those are some of the
(44:14):
names wide receiver needy teams need to look for, Jared.
Now let's try to connect these dots and this is
where we have some fun. The first team, I'm gonna
tell you I think is a lock to get a
wide receiver. They sit right now at number twenty five
and that's the Minnesota Vikings. So yeah, Jared, they just
(44:34):
I think they showed their cards in trading Stefon digs away, right.
They knew that they didn't want to pay them in essence,
So how do you replace you know, some of that production,
some of that talent on the cheap. Well, it's with
a rookie you just you know, extended kirk cousins. Adam
Heeling is on the wrong side of thirty and had
injury concerns. I know about Dalvin Cook, but you need
(44:57):
someone else to add some dying namic potential to the offense.
I think the Vikings are it's em in need of
a wide receiver that may use it may go there
in round one? What say you? I think that's I
think that makes total sense. I mean, not not only
do they have, but they just got the twenty second
pick from Buffalo for that's the Fond Biggs deal. So
they have two picks in a in an area of
(45:19):
the first round where you would think there's gonna be
one of these big name wide receivers, one of the
five we just mentioned, maybe even one of the other
kind of off beat ones that is going to be
there at twenty two at five. And if you're Minnesota,
how do you not replace your best playmaker, your best
outside playmaker with an immediate need in a position of
(45:41):
strength in this draft? I mean, you're right. They literally
gave us the blueprint for what they need to do.
I think they need to improve their secondary as well.
They got a little bit thin in the secondary. I
think their defensive line is solid. They got one of
the best offensive lines in the game. They have to
improve in the back of their situation secondary, why receiver,
their game breaking positions need to get deeper. They've got
(46:04):
two opportunities to do so at two and twenty five.
I would be shocked. In fact, I tweeted this out
over the weekend. If I could make any bet in
this draft, right now there'd be two of them that
I'd make. One of them would be that the Patriots
take a quarterback and rounds one through four. The other
one is that with their first round pick, one of
their two first round picks, the Vikings take a wide receiver.
(46:25):
In my mind, it's one of the biggest locks of
this draft, with the exception, of course, of the Patriots
also taking a quarterback. To me, those are the two
things that I am almost certain will happen in this
year's draft. Yeah, and you make a good point now
that Minnesota does actually have twenty two and twenty five,
and I think you're right where they may go, not
only wide receiver. I'm seeing a lot of mock drafts
with the Vikings getting a cornerback, maybe C. J. Henderson
(46:46):
out of Florida for example. Jaed, I'll give you another
team that I think is gonna play in the wide
receiver game, and another team that has multiple picks in
the first round, Jared. I'm talking about the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jared pick at number twelve and that number nineteen, not
to pick from the Bears that they got from the
Khalil Mack trade. Now, listen, the Raiders have been looking
(47:08):
to solve a wide receiver issue for years. Right. They
even tried the Antonio Brown route. We know how that
worked out. Last year they signed Terrell Williams. He had
some injuries. He's a I think he's a good number
two kind of wide receiver. There's a lot of buzz
about the Raiders making moves for wide receivers that are
named O'Dell and others. You know, so we know they
(47:29):
are in the wide receiver market. If none of those
big names come to Fruition, I can see Las Vegas
making a move. They got picks at twelve and nineteen. Yeah,
and they also signed Nelson Aguilar and I consider him
more of a like a three even I wouldn't even
put yeah, I I would put him in the three.
They also have had a run for who I like
(47:50):
a lot, and he's not a one either. He's kind
of a kind of a swingman. I would put him
more where you can kind of put him in the slot.
You can do a lot of different things with him.
Do you think Roll Williams is a one? No, And
I think the Raiders with the twelve pick can get
their one. The Raiders with twelve, I think they if
you were gonna ask me a team that is going
(48:10):
to start the run at wide receiver, I think at
twelve they could set the market for it and they
could say, Hey, I'm gonna take Lamb at twelver. Hey
I'm gonna take Rugs at twelver. I'm all right, know,
I like Judy the best. You know, We've seen Las
Vegas get a little bit unique with kind of their
their their sets. We don't know who's gonna play quarterback
for them next year. Is it gonna be Mariota, Is
it gonna be Car? Is there another player that's gonna
(48:31):
be entered into that situation? So I think who plays
quarterback might dictate what kind of receiver they want. Car
is more of a guy that probably likes throwing to
a hunter Rentfrow. Maybe Mariota needs a little bit more
of a game breaking wide receiver with more of an
elite athleticism to to to to to get some separation.
So I think who plays quarterback might actually dictate who
they take in the wide receiver draft. But I would
(48:53):
be shocked. You're right, They've got two picks in the
top twenty. I think one of them is gonna be
a white out. Yeah, listen, you know you talk about
the uh having renfo already, He's already a slot kind
of guy, the role that aguil Or could play, the
role that Tyrell Williams could play. I think this screams
to me, honestly, at number twelve, I would not be
surprised if they are calling the name of Alabama wide
(49:14):
receiver Henry Ruggs the third Jared, you talked about the
game breaking speed and could that be the piece of
the puzzle that the Raiders need given the rest of
their wide receiver room. Terrell Williams is six three six four.
Renfo is your slot guy. Remember you have Darren Waller
as well at the tight end position. You already filled
the running back need with last year of Jason Witten
(49:35):
now too, and you have Witten as well. The final
ingredient to this grooten offense as they moved to Vegas,
could in fact be a guy, a speedster like Rugs. Jared,
do you have any other teams? I've got one more
that I think would be smart to address it. But
I first want to turn the attention to you, because
you are so plugged into this. What other teams are
you connecting the dots to the wide receiver position. I
(49:58):
certainly think Denver could use one, you know, based on
based on what their situation is at the wide receiver position.
You know, we we Yeah, what's that? You don't believe anymore?
I do, But it's it's Sutton and it's Hamilton's and
and that's really it. I mean, you know so, I
I I pull up their depth chart right now, but
(50:19):
I'm pretty sure that the rest of the wide receivers
in their situation are Yeah, Tim Patricks their number three.
You're telling me that you can't. Now. I like Courtland
Sutton a lot. I like Dave Shawn Hamilton's a lot.
They're very young, they're very unproven. I think when you
have young wide receivers, depth is the key, because the
more you have in the mix, the more versatile you become.
(50:41):
If you lock Dave Shawn Hamilton's into that number two role,
he has to go up against the number two corner
every single day. But if you draft someone and all
of a sudden, you get a little versatility. With Hamilton,
Hey we can move in him into the slot. Now,
hey we can maybe move him outside a little bit
and run him in two wide receiver sets with Sutton
and then have the y on the other side of
the field. It gives you a little versatility. And right
(51:02):
now I don't trust Kim Patrick and any you know,
and and the the Broncos picked fifteen. They've addressed some
of their other needs in the off season. I don't
think they've addressed the wide receiver position yet. I like
what they have, but I think this is such a
deep class. Every single team that has any question of
depth issue at this position has an opportunity to improve
(51:23):
here and Denver, as much as we like what they've done,
they've got Melvin Gordon coming into the mix as well.
The more wide receivers you have to flank him, the better. Yeah, absolutely, Jared,
you know, and that's why the total on Fandel is
five and a half in the first round. A lot
of teams will have the opportunity. How many of them
actually do it. I'll throw out one last one all
(51:43):
the way down at pick thirty, Jared is the Green
Bay Packers. Okay, and listen, if we're talking about the
window for Drew Brees starting to close, that's why they
went out and got Manny Sanders. What about the Green
Bay Packers. You have Davante Adams, and here's the thing, Jared.
Last year in free agency and the raft, they went defense, defense,
defense and really improved their defense. Now is the time
(52:06):
to get that second weapon opposite Davante Adams and give
Aaron Rodgers a chance. You like their running game, like
their offensive line. How many more years does Aaron Rodgers
have at the top of the heat. I don't know.
And they haven't gotten it done with Geronimo Allison, Marquez
Valdez Scantling, Jake Kumero and the like. I think they
(52:26):
turned their attention actually get the playmaker to add the
last ingredient to that Packers offense. Alright, good to keep
an eye on for you fantasy players and for your
draft knicks out there. I'll tell you what, Jared and
I will continue the conversation here on at the window
that does it for us today, tune in tomorrow. Will
be right back at it, Dame Martinez and Jared Smith
giving you the edge here on the grid at sports
(52:48):
grid dot com. See you tomorrow, sports grid dot Com
setting insights and entertainment at your fingertips as our team
covers the most sport topics in sports wagering, real time odds,
predictive betting models, expert picks, and more want the edge
than get on the grid. Sports grid dot com m
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