February 18, 2026 • 39 mins
Join Seth Woolcock and Derek Brown as they break down 5 rookie prospects that the dynasty community is currently sleeping on.
They're breaking down why the market is too low on Ja'Kobi Lane (USC) despite his Terry McLaurin-like upside, and why Ted Hurst (Georgia State) might be the most undervalued slot weapon in this class. The boys also discuss why Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana) is a contested-catch cheat code, examine Cole Payton (NDSU) as a high-upside Superflex stash, and identify Kay'ron Lynch-Adams (UMass) as the late-round running back value you can't ignore.
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Top 5 Rookie Prospects - 0:01:16
Dynasty Youtube Channel Promo - 0:01:31
DBro's Challenge @1000 Dynasty Subscribers - 0:02:01
No. 5: Ja’Kobi Lane (WR - USC) - 0:03:19
No. 4: Ted Hurst (WR - Georgia State) - 0:07:31
Hard Rock Bets Promo - 0:13:54
No. 3: Omar Cooper Jr. (WR - Indiana) - 0:15:56
No. 2: Cole Payton (QB - North Dakota State) - 0:21:12
Fantasy Pros Dynasty Youtube Channel Promo - 0:30:38
No. 1 (Most Underrated Prospect): Mike Washington Jr. (RB - Arkansas) - 0:31:18
Outro - 0:38:37
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show.
With the general public still catching up on some of
the biggest names in this class, the Fernando Mendozes, the
Jeremiah Loves of the world, We're diving deep into the
top five rookie prospects that you're too low on.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm your host, Seth Wilcock Backrock and.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Rolling with a man who puts nearly every single bald
man across his beautiful nation to shame. He's somewhere between
the Rock and the Van Diesel. That's where you get
dare from de bro. How fired up are you to
jump into the rookies today?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
My friend?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Very fired up. That's a very extremely high praise. I
was expecting somewhere between Robert Salah and I don't know,
butter Bean, considering based off the day or the year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I'm in the giving mood, so you know, nothing like
in Clayton you go a little bit coming into the
Sleepers episode.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Say I'm just getting buttered up like a biscuit here.
This isn't real.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh, you'd fit on.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You fit in very nicely on the Tennessee Titans coaching staff.
I don't know if you've seen their I have.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
If I said there are they actually it's funny. Friend
of the show, Alfredo Brown put out the something about
that and I said, oh. Sponsored by Manscape.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
As noted on today's program, we're gonna be giving you
our top five rookie prospects from the twenty twenty six
NFL Draft class that the world needs to know about.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This is a list of some of Derek's favorite prospects.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I also put him onto one of these guys as
of late as well. And before we drop in like
those Olympic skiers do down the hill, shout to everyone
watching us either on the brand new Fantasy pros Dynasty
YouTube channel or the audio feed the Easiest Freeway Sport Us,
please give this video a thumbs up and make sure
to subscribe to that new channel as well if you
haven't already. This is the new home base for all
(01:48):
the Dynasty content that we need your help to grow it.
And we're on the street is that when we get
to one thousand subscribers, we're gonna be dropping a video
at Derek Brown attempting to ski downhill and giving some
sleepers along the way. So a little rookies rising up
and down the slope. Deep bro, what you say, man?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Can I change that? Okay? So changing this on the fly.
First of all, we're at seven hundred, but we're touching
almost seven hundred subscribers right now. And second of all,
I will happily do that. If I can only have
one condition met, if it's not skiing, instead, can I snowboard?
If I can snowboard, I will go down the Black
(02:26):
slopes and I will do.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
It the Black diamonds.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Okay, are you much of a winter sports guy there?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Grown up in the South?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Low key, I got snowboarding skills, dude. I skateboarded a
lot when I was growing up. I could go hop
on a snowboard and get some things done these days.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, Well, I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
There's always a Fantasy pros Company ski trip every single season.
It's usually right kind of in the smack dab of
the rookie content starting. But maybe one of these years
we'll even do a little content ski trip and get
out there. I'm also heading up to the slopes here
in the next week or so, so I'm looking forward
to that very very much.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So nobody's on the snowboarding man, I got it.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, too too much, too difficult for me on snow
I need two.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Skis man, it's too many moving parts.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Need that's all you need. French Fries brother.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Nah.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Let's let's go ahead, though.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Let's jump into Derek's five favorite underrated prospects and it
starts with Jacoby Lane, the wide receiver out of USC
Because everyone's talking about mkay Lemon right b Linda kaf
Award winner, but Jacoby Lane actually might be a player
who can translate just as well, if not better, to
the NFL. He's already been a steady piece in that
Lincoln Riley offense has produced a ton of good wide
(03:42):
receivers over the years.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
For the last two seasons here and as a sophomore
he had twelve receiving touchdowns top five nationally. That should
tell you the type of impact this guy can make
for a playmaking standpoint. And then as a junior he
certainly had the touchdowns dip down to four, but the
overall production jumped up actually forty nine, seven hundred and
forty five yards, and we saw really take a bigger
role between the twenties, more of a move the chains
(04:06):
type of player as well, and when USC need conversion,
it felt like Lane was there consistently. He's six foot four,
two hundred pounds, former four star recruit, long arms, massive
catch radius. But can he went off the line? Derek Brown?
Is the release package good enough? That's what I and
I think a lot of the people out there want
to know about Jacoby Lane.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
It is good enough, dude. And looking at a player
that over the last year he was fifty second in
yards per route run and I know again we talk about,
you know, per route metrics versus counting stats and stuff.
Two point four to two yards per route run checks
a box for me. And if you turn on the
film into as well. I mean my conferend was Kenny Galladay,
and I look at Jacoby Lane as being a player
(04:48):
that's not getting nearly enough love, especially when you compare
you know how much people love and just fall over themselves.
And I'm not saying it's not warranted for Mikhaile Lemon,
but Jacoby Lane gets lost in the conversation. Dude. It's
like he's a big, perimeter wide receiver, can get downfield.
The thing that stands out for me is are there
some physical limitations with as far as like d acceleration
(05:10):
his hips and stuff like that. Sure, okay, there's a
ceiling with the player we're talking about here, but I
think he has the upside to if we turned over
the cards in three years and we said, Okay, Jacoby
Lane has been a guy that's had anywhere from eight
fifty to one thousand yards in multiple seasons. He's sniffing
anywhere from like six to eight touchdowns per year. Would
(05:32):
I be surprised by that? No, not at all. And
as a wide receiver to in an NFL offense, absolutely not. Man,
And I think the thing that kind of gets lost
in the sauce with him is the route running man Like,
he does have the ability and he adds all those
intricacies into his route running where he's inviting indecision in
a cornerback's head. And that's how you create separation outside
(05:55):
of just raw athleticism and footwork. And to me, the
guys that go to the end and they are better
tech technicians than maybe some other players. Like sure, we
could have a conversation of floor and ceiling and maybe
Lane is more of a cat player in that aspect,
but nobody could tell me that he doesn't also have
the bells and whistles, and he does the small things
(06:16):
that where we talk about, you know, artistry and playing
the wide receiver position. Yeah, this dude can paignt The.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Thing I love about Jacoby Lane is it felt like
when he was going up against high, high level competition,
it wasn't too much for him. I mean I can
remember specifically back to that Oregon game that I mean
huge college football playoff implications in that on Derek and
when Jade Mayeva needed.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
An out too.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, it was Jacobe Lane was the guy who's fining
right six for one oh eight in that game in Oregon.
They have a bunch of young, very good, rangy cornerbacks
that have given teams very very much troubled this season.
We're gonna probably actually talk about one of their prospects,
I would imagine in the next year or two, because
they just have a great secondary in Jacoby Lane. It
(07:02):
didn't matter where the ball was. He was someone who's
just gonna go get it right, Like he's not afraid
to put his body in harm's way. I think he's
better over the middle than people are giving him credit
for as well. So Jacoby Lane like right now, Derek,
I think you can get him for an easy second
round price tag in Dynacey rookie drafts a late.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Second and a lot of pass wich in the.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Third in a lot of spots, I think too and
I think it's too late. I think it's too Yeah,
I absolutely think it's too late. So I'm here with
you on Jacoby Lane, Derek Brown. Let's move forward to
another wide receiver that you think the world needs to
know about, and it's Ted Hurst, the wide receiver out
of Georgia State. And the reason you might not have
heard of Ted Hurst much or even Georgia State has
(07:43):
a program is because they were one of the absolute
worst FBS programs in.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
The country this past season. Like there was Sam Houston
State and there is Georgia State. Like that's really the
type of level they were on here. They went one
to eleven and twenty twenty five, cycled through five different
quarterbacks in the past two It's been absolute chaos down there.
And yeah, Herst one hundred and twenty seven catches nearly
two thousand yards fifteen touchdowns across that span six three
(08:09):
So he's a long, lean X receiver type of role
made that Bruce Feldman, Freak List, Blentakoff watch List, First
Team All Sunbelt. For all those JMU fans out there,
they know what I'm talking about there, and uh, he's
really been known for the contested catch, his ability to
separate on these deep breaking routes. The major concern though, Derek,
the play strength at that weight is that something that
(08:31):
scares you off?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Ted Hurst?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Hell, No, I love this kid. I absolutely love him. Man.
Like I watched this film and I was texting with
friend of the show, Brett Whitefield, and he goes, is
this gonna be hear this year's Jalen Coker? And I
was like, he might be, Man, he's freaking And it's
just it's effortless speed. It's the play strength at that frame.
And I know he weighed in a little bit higher
than I was. I thought he was going to be
(08:54):
at the Senior Bowl to mobile and but you see
the play strength in his routes at this frame and
you marry that with the speed. Dude, like he he's
going to get drafted higher than people think. I really
believe that, man, Like, I think he's gonna be a
player that like when we come out of the combine
and stuff, and we going through the process. He's going
(09:14):
to inject himself higher into these conversations, especially if he
goes and he balls like I think he can at
the combine because the talent is there for days on film. Man,
It's not only the fact that he plays. His play
strength is better than you would think for a player
of his frame. It's also the immediate influid speed this
dude can fly. I won't be surprised if he runs
(09:35):
in the four threes. Now am I projecting that? He's
probably more of a four to four guy? And depending
on you know, we saw last year and Indy a
lot of guys ran a little bit slower than we
were expecting and stuff. They changed out the turf. How
that looks for this year? Does he run there? Does
he runs a pro at his pro day? But Hurst
is a guy that could be rising up boards magically
(09:55):
throughout the process and where a lot of people that
are in the nowhere have already watched this kid, Like
I'll say he's a riser man, but I've had him
high in this class from the very beginning. And for
everything we talk about with context and metrics and stuff
like that. Yeah, Like dude. The other thing about this
is we talk about at his the way that he
was utilized at Georgia State and looking at a player
(10:17):
that had a twelve point six A dot, So he's
getting more of his targets downfield. It's incredibly impressive that
also you marry with that downfield role with also a
wide receiver that amongst all FBS wide receivers last year
that these fifty targets, this dude was twenty fourth and
miss tackles four. So the play strength also shows up
(10:41):
in the analytics. He's a baller on film again that
I think he's gonna go. I won't be surprised if
he goes like because of the small school aspect is
gonna bump him down a peg as far as draft
circles and stuff to an extent, just because if he would,
if he'd gone somewhere like a Georgia and SEC SC
or bigger program, like, he would get more respect put
(11:03):
on his name. I won't be surprised if you hear
his name called in the third round and everybody's like,
who the heck is this guy? And again everybody that's
already watched him and in the know is like uh huh,
you better believe it. He deserves that.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
The interesting thing about ted Hurst is five ten years ago,
before the transfer portal Derek, it was pretty common to
see elite wide receivers come from these small schools.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Everyone remembers DeVante Adams at Fresno's stay. We've seen Tyreek Hill,
Western Alabama even going back like Antonio Brown, Matt Guy,
Deontay Johnson, Matt Guy, right like, we've seen good wide
receivers even.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Exactly even yeah D two.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And nowadays it's even harder to find that though, because
usually what happens with these top G five performers is
they break out as a freshman or a sophomore, they
get a huge deal to go to a.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Powerful conference, and then the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Right, ted Hurst is one of those interesting ones, kind
of like a junior vander Cross who will potentially come
out next year who just transferred from Toledo that you know,
it's just putting up really really good numbers and doing
it in historic fashion at a small school like Georgia State.
So I think that's the interesting dilemma people are gonna
have with someone like ted Hurst. But look if Jalen
(12:19):
Koger can make it in this league, and he came
out of Holy Cross, which is a Division two program.
You look at Tyson Bagent for the Bears. My my
college I up Division two program played them regularly in
the College Football National Title Game in Final four. So
so you're you're gonna you're gonna get those rights. But uh,
it's just something you kind of have to take with
a grain of salt, and it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Again. All FBS football to me is still good football.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
It really is, and even like some of the top
FCS programs are playing at a high level these days.
So I agreed just because, like you know, it's a
reminder that like back in the day, Derek, you could
really have like Georgia and Alabama, they could stack their
roster with four or five star guys all the way
through the depth chart. Now they can't do that because
these players want to play, and whether it's at Georgia
State and going there and having good production rather than
(13:06):
just sitting on the bench at Georgia like Ted Hurst did.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I think it's a good move.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'm grinning ear to ear because in that entire soiloquy,
I also did catch that you gave some love to
the FCS, which dramatic foreshadow and we're going to talk
about an FCS player here in a little bit, So
I do appreciate that you are giving some love to
the FCS.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Seth a little bit, a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
There's still one hundred and thirty six plus programs actually
North Dakota State.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Well, here we go, here we go, here we go.
Now now walk back. I gotta walking back for a reason.
They're going see.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
For everybody at home, this is the walking back process
of you know, he didn't he didn't mean to say
the good thing. So I guess we'll just keep the
program moving. It's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And to keep it moving, we're gonna remind you that
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Speaker 2 (15:56):
Next, we're going to a state where our rock bet
is legal. Indiana.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Hoosiers Omar Cooper Junior, the wide receiver coming out of there.
He's been with Indiana really his full run there, three
year starter been with the team for four years. Was
really that deep ball threat early in his career when
we saw Curtis Rourke former Ohio another Matt guy transferred
there and had really success with Kurt Signetti in his
(16:21):
first year, holding twenty eight receptions nearly six hundred yards,
seven touchdowns with Curtis Rurik, and then really Derek became
just such a more complete player playing with Fernando Mendoza,
the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, grabbed sixty one balls, eight
hundred and forty nine yards, twelve touchdowns, third in the country,
and he was an absolute weapon down the stretch man.
There's some big time catches in that National Championship game,
(16:43):
specifically in the beginning when things were a little dicey,
so undersize a bit right, six foot, two hundred pounds,
nothing crazy there. The athletic profile definitely in question, and
I think, like Jacobe Lane, people are wondering, can this
guy get off press at the next level. Does he
have that Chris's route tree that.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Can really get him open?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What do you think, Derek Brown, on your time that
you've spent with mister Omar Cooper Junior.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Very impressed with this film, very impressed. One of the
best catches you will see in all of college football.
You already know where I'm going. Come on your state, Lions, Baby.
One of the best catches you will see in all
of college Just go out there, get on the YouTube's
and Google art the Google search Omar Cooper Penn State,
(17:26):
and you will see one of the best catches you've
ever seen in your life. The toe tap or the
back of the ends on that body control that plays
Todays I had to just rump the salt in the wound.
Seth had the whole family over, we are all watching
the game.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
It was my brother's birthday.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
We were going to the surprise party in a couple hours,
and that's how we start off the day.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Dere dude, That's one of those catches where you're you're
honestly like, holy crap, did he catch it? Did he
come down? He got both feed in. No, there's no way,
And then they show the replay and you're like, oh,
he did, Hey did it?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I never like that, how he was not how you'd
not put the front of his foot down first, Like
I just it was crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It is crazy. But this all goes back to the
talent is real for Omar Cooper man, and I know
the counting stats haven't been there over the last few
years and stuff. Again, we go back to the per
route metrics and the fact that like, fine, okay, he's
never had a thousand yard receiving season in college. I
don't care about that. I also don't care about the
fact that, Okay, like you go back nine thirty seven,
(18:28):
five ninety four, two sixty seven on a per route
basis Omar Cooper two point five five, two point five
two and two point one four yards per route run.
And the reason that I bring these things up is
because the counting stats they're not always it, dude, Like,
amongst all FBS wide receivers over the last two years,
that would put him thirty seventh and thirty eighth in
yards per route run. And we're also discussing a player
(18:50):
that has played multiple roles, like you discussed in that offense,
where over the two previous years prior to twenty twenty five,
eighty three ninety percent of his snaps as an out
wide ride receiver and then he turns into a power
slot for Indiana in the final year. So he's showing
you versatility with the skill set, he's showing you per
route efficiency. Oh and by the way, amongst all FBS
(19:14):
wide receivers last year, seth fourth and mistackles forced. So
again you're seeing all of these different parts or pieces
with the skill set and making up a well rounded
wide receiver. That dude, if he goes into the NFL,
and much like his counterpart who did play on the
outside last year, Elijah Surratt, if he is going to
(19:35):
be a power slot in the NFL, sign me up, dude,
because he's got the route running, he can break tackles
with it with like his play strength, and he does
have a thick lower half so like he can break
arm tackles, he can produce after the catch. Is he
a wowing player like athletically on a per route basis
where he's doing all these things that he's burning corners
(19:56):
with like four to three speed? No, can he still
get open? His a good route runner? Is does he
have fluid hips? Can he break tackles? Is he a
red zone threat based off of the body control and
the size? Yes, So I'm work shopping this take. I'm
not there yet because I still need to finish my
tape evaluation for Omar Cooper. Okay, but if anybody wants
(20:19):
to stand in front of me today and say I
fully believe Omar Cooper is a better prospect than Elijah Sarratt.
I'm not gonna fight with I'm not honestly not going
to fight you, and at the end of this process,
I'm probably gonna be standing with you. Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
There you have it, folks.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Super interesting discussion on Cooper because as you mentioned Derek,
he really was playing the outside and like you go
back to Illinois game earlier this season and it's just
like deep shot to Cooper, deep shot to Cooper, and
that's what he was known for. And then they've really
started using this young buck, Charlie Becker, who is Fernando
Mendoza's roommate in college. They're great friends, and they had
(20:57):
this chemistry they developed very early on, and they started
to make him the deep shot guy and put Cooper
into the slot and then we really saw him excel.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So I'm excited for him. We'll see what he can
do in India.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I think it will be a big, big mile marker
for him. Next up, let's get out in the boxing gloves,
because there's no more polarizing prospect in this class than
North Dakota State quarterback cul Peyton dole threat FCS product
with one year of full time starting experience in twenty
twenty five. The numbers are twenty seven hundred passing touchdowns,
(21:30):
sixteen touchdowns, nearly eight hundred rushing yards, thirteen scores on
the ground. As well, two seasons prior, he was used
more as a wildcat option, totaling over six hundred yards
thirteen touchdowns. So I'm not going to debate that the
athletic profile is not there, because it absolutely is.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Here's where I struggle with it, folks, is he has.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
One year of starting experience, and historically FCS quarterbacks have
not translated recently unless they had elite passing traits. And
if we're taking shots on like former FCS quarterbacks, I
said this online the other day, give me Iowa quarterback
Mark Gronowski, who four years of a starter at South
Dakota State, he won two national championships, then transfers to Iowa.
(22:11):
Sixteen rushing touchdowns played against Big ten competitions, So I
actually thought Gronowski was pretty good, but apparently not even
good enough to get to get a dang invite to
the Combine. So Derek, please tell me why someone like
Cole Payton deserves a spot in Indianapolis, while someone like
Mark Gronowski And I hate Iowa fans, I hate Iowa's
a program, but I still think you deserve the spot there.
(22:35):
Why do you think it's Peyton over someone like Bronowski,
who similar background, similar track records.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Why do you hate tight end you so much? We've
had so much, so many great prospects coming out of Iowa.
Like I firsonal bias is just I mean, flooding the
show right now, Seth, I thought I need a life
jacking for this. Bro.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Listen when you beat Penn State and you go online
Saints here because the biggest men in franchise or program history,
and you beat us with an interim head coach and
a backup quarterback in his first start.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, that's why I hate Iowa. Sean Clifford.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
A couple of years ago, when we're in a top
ten battle in Iowa and we're just blatantly taking out
our starting quarterback shots to the Dome, I can't can't
be here for it. Sorry, sorry, Hawkeye Foil.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I mean you can honestly make a better case that
they might have been better off without Sean Clifford under
center for a different day, in accurate quarterbacks, you know,
revolting Rejoice soliar social media. But anyway, yeah, yeah, but anyway, dude,
I think in a down quarterback class, we are not
(23:39):
giving enough love to Cole freaking Peyton. And you talked
about yes, are there concerns here both in the jumping
competition from from FCS to the NFL. Absolutely sure. There
is all of the parts and pieces that you want
to see from an NFL quarterback are there in Cole
Peyton's film. It's there. He has the arm talent, he
(24:03):
has the easy arm strength. Like this dude's ripping forty
yard outs like it's nobody's business. He's dropping balls in
the bucket on perimeter go routes. He's showing you reps
and everybody was like, okay, it's a gimmicky offense. Yeah,
there are parts of that offense that were sure. They
used a lot of RPO, they booted him out a
crap ton to utilize his legs. There are also a
(24:24):
lot of spots where he is in shotgun, he's reading
the field, he's going through progressions, He's throwing with anticipation,
Joey and I broke down some of those moments on
the film session on Twitch, and it's like you talked about,
it is the arm talent there for Cole Payton, absolutely,
and I will punch back against anybody that says otherwise, dude,
(24:44):
and for everything, Like people want to talk about quarterback
prospects and stuff in this class and I'm like, oh,
it's a down class. It's down class. Da da da
da Oh the competition. I didn't hear anybody having a
problem when we discussed Trey Lance. In previous years, we
discussed Carson Wentz, we discussed Josh Allen, discuss all these
other quarterbacks that have gone immensely high in the NFL draft,
And it feels like for an NFL landscape that cares
(25:08):
so much about size, athleticism and traits and coveting those
things in players, why in the ever love and hell
is Cole Payton not being talked about enough. Now we're
putting this out and we're ahead of the curve here
because I fully believe after the combine and if Cole
Payton goes out there and does what I think he
(25:28):
can do at the combine and he runs in the
four to six range. He gets out there on the
field and he laces a few of these deep throws,
and he looks really good. I think the consensus is
going to come around to Cole Peyton. I think he's
gonna be talked about in a very different light. Are
there concerns because of the competition he faced the end
(25:52):
where he's coming from. Yes? Do I want to see
Cole Peyton drafted in the first round and dropped into
a situation where he's asked to start. No. I want
Cole Payton to be able to sit for at least
a year and to get acclimated to the NFL, go
through an NFL playbook, get up to speed with the
(26:12):
NFL game. I want him to learn and grow as
a player in the background before he is possibly shoved
into the limelight. But dude, this guy has everything that
an NFL team would want. And I've said this before
and I'll say it again right here. There is no
way in hell if I was an NFL GM, I
would be drafting freaking Diego Pavia over Cole Payton ten
(26:37):
times out of ten, ten feet down, ten toes down.
I would absolutely be drafting this kid over Diego Pavia.
I don't know why Cole Payton didn't get the nil money,
didn't get the money to go transfer and go to
another program, considering what he did is one year as
a starter and everything on, all the parts and pieces
to his game, it didn't happen. Dude, he can play
(26:58):
in the NFL, and I think he's going to surprise people,
and I think the conversation is massively going to shift
in a down quarterback class after the NFL Combine.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I just worry about the one year started because.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
It's a concern. It's a concern, especially when you talk
about the jump of competition. It is a concern. I'm
not going to say that it's not.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
That's why, like, like to me, I just don't get
why someone like Gronowski's just being super overlooked ry because like, look.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I'm I'm a stupid dude. They do this every year
with not inviting kids and not and not allowing players
from different backgrounds and programs and what have you to
shine and compete and show what they can do. I
fully agree with you, like I think the combine list
should be larger than what it even is and to
(27:49):
not extend invites to some of these kids is absolutely criminal.
I don't disagree with you at all.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, I guess it's more just a shift in my
philosophy now because I've been the guy on Trey Lance,
I've been the guy on Anthony and Richardson, and I've
been the one who's been hesitant to click the button
and draft someone like Tyler Shuck or draft someone like
Bonix who's been around for a long time.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So I guess these days, like love it or hate it,
I know sometimes you know, we think these college quarterbacks
are just hiding in the collegiate levels because they don't
want to compete at the NFL level. Well, hey, they're
making so much money now, man, it's a smarter play.
You and I talked about this when when discussing Trinidad
Chambliss to stay in college, right, So yes, yeah, So
(28:32):
I just kind of starting to prefer that a little more.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
No, And the other thing about this, and I preach
this yearly, is this that the echo chamber of the
NFL Draft consortium gets really really loud, and they they
take things and they run with it. And whether that's
crapping on certain prospects or trying to hoist other guys
up the podium, it gets very loud, and it gets
(28:57):
very ridiculous. And to just point this out with a
guy you mentioned, last year, we entered the NFL draft
process and people go pull the receipts. I thought I
was going to be above consensus on freaking Tyler Shuck
last year. I liked him. I really liked him a
lot man people, And again this is not me pulling
or making a BS. Go back and watch last year's
(29:19):
QB episode for the NFL Draft show. I like this kid,
and I caped up for him, and then the conversation
around him went absolutely ridiculous, where people are like, oh,
he's QB one of this class, He's better than Jackson
Dart And I'm like, okay, I don't care if y'all
are blackout drunk. You're just getting ridiculous now, Like this
is just making takes to make takes. But again, going
(29:41):
back to the echo chamber, everybody clowned on Tyler Shuck
last year because of his age and because of all
these parts or pieces, and while there was a large
consortium of people trying to pump him up the board
and being the most in on Tyler shuck of anybody
out there. There was also the equally loud people on
the other side of the aisle saying, oh, he's old ah.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Justin Herbert tweets and we're gonna make fun of this
and dah da da da, and trying to knock him
down the.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Board when the reality of it was somewhere in the middle.
If not, you should have been higher on him than consensus.
So this is all just about do your own homework
or listen to voices that you trust out there that
are putting out content for the NFL Draft and prospects
and stuff like that, because the echo chamber gets loud
and the takes get stupid, and people want to be
(30:28):
the loudest person in the room, when the reality is
a lot of times the smartest person in the room
isn't the person kicked up to eleven, and it's not
the person with the biggest microphone.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
And where you can find those voices that you trust
is on the New Dynasty YouTube channel for Fantasy Pros.
That's right, Fantasy Pros. Dynasty is here. So if you're
listening on the audio version, we're bringing you Rookie Ranking,
super Flex Strategy, Startup Draft and trade advice all year long.
So if you're building for the future, this is the
(30:59):
channel for you. Just search Fantasy Pros Dynasty channel on
YouTube and hit subscribe. We really appreciate all your guys'
help and make sure you're checking out everything we're doing
on the original Dynasty podcast with Fits with Worm and
Bogman of course, and then everything we're doing here at
the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show. Derek Brown, we have
(31:19):
one more sleeper for you, and it's Arkansas running back
Mike Washington Junior, six foot two, two twenty three built
exactly how the NFL teams won their early down running backs.
This dude was a two star recruit from Northern New York.
No hype, no spot like whatsoever. Starts at Buffalo, another
maxin type of guy, transferred to New Mexico State, then
(31:42):
finishes at Arkansas and it is one season in the SEC.
He finished fifth in rushing with over one thousand yards
average six point four yards per carry, second best in
the conference. And he also very good at generating explosive
runs at one of the highest clips in the conference.
And he did that behind an Arkansas line that ranked
(32:02):
near the bottom of the sec in run block win rate.
So to me, I was really excited to see him
at Mobile. We didn't get that opportunity, Derek, but we
did see a lot of clips of him routing up
some linebackers. You showed me one of those when we
were in New Orleans. I was like, Okay, that linebacker
didn'tven look like he was trying. So where are you
What have you taken from someone like Mike Washington's game
(32:24):
so far? What did you make out of what you
were seeing on the all twenty two from Mobile? And
what can we really expect from the rest of the
process and maybe even potential Day two, day three pick?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What are you kind of seeing from dude?
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I love his kid and everybody. And to your point
about the line that he ran behind amongst oh, let's
let's see here one hundred and thirty six collegiate programs
Arkansas's line and I know this, you know they're not
the end all be all, But to give a small
smidge of context here seventy fifth and run blocking PFF
(32:56):
grade whichf grades Say what you will, but just trying
to give a little bit of context around this.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Well, that's in the SEC when you're going to against
some of the best defensive front too, Like you can't,
Like you were very, very underclass at that point, Like
it's just a true mismatch.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Behind that offensive line. Mike Washington thirty third amongst all
FBS running backs in yards of to contact per attempt,
seventeenth in breakaway percentage. And it all shows up on
the freaking film. Like you want to talk about size, speed,
tackle breaking ability, and the ability to add his size
seth to hit home runs. You don't see that all
(33:36):
the time, man, Like you don't see that. And there's
all these other guys in this class that people are
going to talk about, you know, the Adam Randalls of
the world and stuff like that, where they're just like, oh,
the size and the speed, and he doesn't translate to
the film into the field, and they don't convert the
athleticism to power and speed and plays and Washington does
for days. And the reason that he makes my top
(33:58):
spot on this show, oh, is because he's not being
given enough freaking love. Dude, he's the most underrated guy
in the running back class. Because you hear the people
are hyping up they'll talk about obviously, Jeremiah Love. There
is a high riginarium price. There's a high for Jonah Coleman.
There's a high for him at freaking Johnson. Where's the
Mike Washington Junior High? Where's that? I mean, I guess
(34:21):
it's here, baby, because we're buzzing about it as it
should be. And this guy deserves love because at his
size and the speed and the testing numbers that I
think he can put up. Now, is he gonna test
really well in the short area agility stuff? Like his
hips are a little bit stiff, but they're not terrible. Sure,
but at his size, what are you expecting He's not
gonna have the same type of short area agility as
(34:42):
a running back that's five nine, five ten, five eleven.
It's not gonna be the case because of the bill
that he has. But the thing that is awesome about
him is that he is not being discussed in the
same conversation at the top four running backs of this clas.
You won't hear him discussed even in the same conversation
(35:03):
as somebody like a Nick Singleton. And I think it's blasphemy.
I think it's honestly just straight up ridiculous. You want
to talk about everybody wants to talk about and I
know I'm giving some shade to your guy Singleton, and
this isn't so much shade, but everybody. All the things
and parts of pieces that people talk about with Singleton,
and they talk about the big playability, the ability as
a pass game weapon, and to be a three down
(35:25):
back in the NFL, transpose all those pros in the
conversation for Singleton, And when it's really the reality of
it is is that Mike Washington Junior should be getting
all of those talking points and all of that love
that people direct in the way of Singleton, it should
be going to Mike Washington Junior as a player that
(35:45):
he is firmly in the same talent air as the
other four running backs that are in the conversation at
the top of this freaking class. Now, is there a
giant divide between them and Jeremi Love. Sure, you can
make it case for Mike Washington as high as the
RB two of this class. Is that where he's going
to end up in my final rankings? I don't know.
(36:07):
I'm still sifting through these guys. You can make a
case for all of these guys, but I think the
fact that he is not firmly in that conversation and
mentioned in the same breath as the other three guys
above him, whether you want to talk about in general
ADP on NFL mock draft database and stuff. It's an
honest travesty that he's not in that same conversation, because
(36:29):
the dude freaking deserves it.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Seth Yeah, and that's pretty much exactly what we're seeing, right.
You're seeing on mock draft database Jeremiah Love projected top
ten pick. Then you're seeing kind of this late half
of round two type of players, the Jenderium Prices, the
Jonah Coleman's, Emmett Johnson, they've kind of separated themselves, and
then in like a late round three pick, you're seeing
Mike Washington. Now he has actually leaped guys like Nick
(36:54):
Singleton with the injury and k Tron Allen, but still
kind of very much a gap between him, EMMITTT Johnson,
Jonah Coleman, Jendering Price, kind of that three pack of players.
Does that sound about right to you, Derek, that he
could be a third round pick, maybe he sneaks into
round two, maybe little RG Harvey type upside, And that
was one of your boys last year as well.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I think he'll go in round three. I think that's
what that's a good spot. I think that's where he
should go. I think he's gonna get clustered and all
these guys. But I think that you're seeing the consensus
come around to there. There's there is no way on
this planet that Mike Washington Junior should be in the
same conversation as freaking k Tron Allen. He is a
(37:36):
tier above him man. And I think the way that
I'm looking at this class right now, Jeremiah Love stands
alone and a tier by himself, and the tier two
guys are Jendarium Price, Jonah Coleman, Emma Johnson, and Mike Washington.
And order them however the hell you want. But that's
tier two.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Okay, you know what we need to have?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
You do? Have you ever seen do you remember, like
maybe three or four years ago, there was that trend
around like high schoo seniors who would say what school
they're going to, especially in the South. They'd be like
Derek Brown, Arkansas, will.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Pig suy Yeah, and then the hat they're like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
We need that, we need you. You're doing one for
your favorite prospects. Mike Washington Junior Arkansas will pig silly babe.
I don't know what that means. We pig silly bat
I do.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
I don't either. Some of the Arkansas fans are gonna
have to hop hop in our missions. Uh and then
let us I like it, give us a lineage to
do us a history here, because dude, I'm from Louisiana
and it's right next door to Arkansas, and I don't
freaking know. Man, go Tigers.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Well, there you have it, folks, go Tigers.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
As Derek Brown says, that's gonna do it for us
on this episode of the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show.
Please use a quick favorite smash that like button if
you enjoyed it, and don't forget subscribe both to the
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(39:00):
dynasty and redraft fantasy football manager.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Or Derek Brown, I'm Seth Wilcock take care of y'all.
Speaker 7 (39:06):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Dynasty Football Podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
If you love the show. The best freeway to support
Speaker 7 (39:12):
Us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts
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Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube
dot com slash fantasy Pros.
All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show.
With the general public still catching up on some of
the biggest names in this class, the Fernando Mendozes, the
Jeremiah Loves of the world, We're diving deep into the
top five rookie prospects that you're too low on.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm your host, Seth Wilcock Backrock and.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Rolling with a man who puts nearly every single bald
man across his beautiful nation to shame. He's somewhere between
the Rock and the Van Diesel. That's where you get
dare from de bro. How fired up are you to
jump into the rookies today?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
My friend?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Very fired up. That's a very extremely high praise. I
was expecting somewhere between Robert Salah and I don't know,
butter Bean, considering based off the day or the year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I'm in the giving mood, so you know, nothing like
in Clayton you go a little bit coming into the
Sleepers episode.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Say I'm just getting buttered up like a biscuit here.
This isn't real.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh, you'd fit on.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You fit in very nicely on the Tennessee Titans coaching staff.
I don't know if you've seen their I have.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
If I said there are they actually it's funny. Friend
of the show, Alfredo Brown put out the something about
that and I said, oh. Sponsored by Manscape.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
As noted on today's program, we're gonna be giving you
our top five rookie prospects from the twenty twenty six
NFL Draft class that the world needs to know about.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
This is a list of some of Derek's favorite prospects.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I also put him onto one of these guys as
of late as well. And before we drop in like
those Olympic skiers do down the hill, shout to everyone
watching us either on the brand new Fantasy pros Dynasty
YouTube channel or the audio feed the Easiest Freeway Sport Us,
please give this video a thumbs up and make sure
to subscribe to that new channel as well if you
haven't already. This is the new home base for all
(01:48):
the Dynasty content that we need your help to grow it.
And we're on the street is that when we get
to one thousand subscribers, we're gonna be dropping a video
at Derek Brown attempting to ski downhill and giving some
sleepers along the way. So a little rookies rising up
and down the slope. Deep bro, what you say, man?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Can I change that? Okay? So changing this on the fly.
First of all, we're at seven hundred, but we're touching
almost seven hundred subscribers right now. And second of all,
I will happily do that. If I can only have
one condition met, if it's not skiing, instead, can I snowboard?
If I can snowboard, I will go down the Black
(02:26):
slopes and I will do.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
It the Black diamonds.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Okay, are you much of a winter sports guy there?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Grown up in the South?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Low key, I got snowboarding skills, dude. I skateboarded a
lot when I was growing up. I could go hop
on a snowboard and get some things done these days.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Okay, Well, I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
There's always a Fantasy pros Company ski trip every single season.
It's usually right kind of in the smack dab of
the rookie content starting. But maybe one of these years
we'll even do a little content ski trip and get
out there. I'm also heading up to the slopes here
in the next week or so, so I'm looking forward
to that very very much.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So nobody's on the snowboarding man, I got it.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, too too much, too difficult for me on snow
I need two.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Skis man, it's too many moving parts.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Need that's all you need. French Fries brother.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Nah.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Let's let's go ahead, though.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Let's jump into Derek's five favorite underrated prospects and it
starts with Jacoby Lane, the wide receiver out of USC
Because everyone's talking about mkay Lemon right b Linda kaf
Award winner, but Jacoby Lane actually might be a player
who can translate just as well, if not better, to
the NFL. He's already been a steady piece in that
Lincoln Riley offense has produced a ton of good wide
(03:42):
receivers over the years.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
For the last two seasons here and as a sophomore
he had twelve receiving touchdowns top five nationally. That should
tell you the type of impact this guy can make
for a playmaking standpoint. And then as a junior he
certainly had the touchdowns dip down to four, but the
overall production jumped up actually forty nine, seven hundred and
forty five yards, and we saw really take a bigger
role between the twenties, more of a move the chains
(04:06):
type of player as well, and when USC need conversion,
it felt like Lane was there consistently. He's six foot four,
two hundred pounds, former four star recruit, long arms, massive
catch radius. But can he went off the line? Derek Brown?
Is the release package good enough? That's what I and
I think a lot of the people out there want
to know about Jacoby Lane.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
It is good enough, dude. And looking at a player
that over the last year he was fifty second in
yards per route run and I know again we talk about,
you know, per route metrics versus counting stats and stuff.
Two point four to two yards per route run checks
a box for me. And if you turn on the
film into as well. I mean my conferend was Kenny Galladay,
and I look at Jacoby Lane as being a player
(04:48):
that's not getting nearly enough love, especially when you compare
you know how much people love and just fall over themselves.
And I'm not saying it's not warranted for Mikhaile Lemon,
but Jacoby Lane gets lost in the conversation. Dude. It's
like he's a big, perimeter wide receiver, can get downfield.
The thing that stands out for me is are there
some physical limitations with as far as like d acceleration
(05:10):
his hips and stuff like that. Sure, okay, there's a
ceiling with the player we're talking about here, but I
think he has the upside to if we turned over
the cards in three years and we said, Okay, Jacoby
Lane has been a guy that's had anywhere from eight
fifty to one thousand yards in multiple seasons. He's sniffing
anywhere from like six to eight touchdowns per year. Would
(05:32):
I be surprised by that? No, not at all. And
as a wide receiver to in an NFL offense, absolutely not. Man,
And I think the thing that kind of gets lost
in the sauce with him is the route running man Like,
he does have the ability and he adds all those
intricacies into his route running where he's inviting indecision in
a cornerback's head. And that's how you create separation outside
(05:55):
of just raw athleticism and footwork. And to me, the
guys that go to the end and they are better
tech technicians than maybe some other players. Like sure, we
could have a conversation of floor and ceiling and maybe
Lane is more of a cat player in that aspect,
but nobody could tell me that he doesn't also have
the bells and whistles, and he does the small things
(06:16):
that where we talk about, you know, artistry and playing
the wide receiver position. Yeah, this dude can paignt The.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Thing I love about Jacoby Lane is it felt like
when he was going up against high, high level competition,
it wasn't too much for him. I mean I can
remember specifically back to that Oregon game that I mean
huge college football playoff implications in that on Derek and
when Jade Mayeva needed.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
An out too.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, it was Jacobe Lane was the guy who's fining
right six for one oh eight in that game in Oregon.
They have a bunch of young, very good, rangy cornerbacks
that have given teams very very much troubled this season.
We're gonna probably actually talk about one of their prospects,
I would imagine in the next year or two, because
they just have a great secondary in Jacoby Lane. It
(07:02):
didn't matter where the ball was. He was someone who's
just gonna go get it right, Like he's not afraid
to put his body in harm's way. I think he's
better over the middle than people are giving him credit
for as well. So Jacoby Lane like right now, Derek,
I think you can get him for an easy second
round price tag in Dynacey rookie drafts a late.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Second and a lot of pass wich in the.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Third in a lot of spots, I think too and
I think it's too late. I think it's too Yeah,
I absolutely think it's too late. So I'm here with
you on Jacoby Lane, Derek Brown. Let's move forward to
another wide receiver that you think the world needs to
know about, and it's Ted Hurst, the wide receiver out
of Georgia State. And the reason you might not have
heard of Ted Hurst much or even Georgia State has
(07:43):
a program is because they were one of the absolute
worst FBS programs in.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
The country this past season. Like there was Sam Houston
State and there is Georgia State. Like that's really the
type of level they were on here. They went one
to eleven and twenty twenty five, cycled through five different
quarterbacks in the past two It's been absolute chaos down there.
And yeah, Herst one hundred and twenty seven catches nearly
two thousand yards fifteen touchdowns across that span six three
(08:09):
So he's a long, lean X receiver type of role
made that Bruce Feldman, Freak List, Blentakoff watch List, First
Team All Sunbelt. For all those JMU fans out there,
they know what I'm talking about there, and uh, he's
really been known for the contested catch, his ability to
separate on these deep breaking routes. The major concern though, Derek,
the play strength at that weight is that something that
(08:31):
scares you off?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Ted Hurst?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Hell, No, I love this kid. I absolutely love him. Man.
Like I watched this film and I was texting with
friend of the show, Brett Whitefield, and he goes, is
this gonna be hear this year's Jalen Coker? And I
was like, he might be, Man, he's freaking And it's
just it's effortless speed. It's the play strength at that frame.
And I know he weighed in a little bit higher
than I was. I thought he was going to be
(08:54):
at the Senior Bowl to mobile and but you see
the play strength in his routes at this frame and
you marry that with the speed. Dude, like he he's
going to get drafted higher than people think. I really
believe that, man, Like, I think he's gonna be a
player that like when we come out of the combine
and stuff, and we going through the process. He's going
(09:14):
to inject himself higher into these conversations, especially if he
goes and he balls like I think he can at
the combine because the talent is there for days on film. Man,
It's not only the fact that he plays. His play
strength is better than you would think for a player
of his frame. It's also the immediate influid speed this
dude can fly. I won't be surprised if he runs
(09:35):
in the four threes. Now am I projecting that? He's
probably more of a four to four guy? And depending
on you know, we saw last year and Indy a
lot of guys ran a little bit slower than we
were expecting and stuff. They changed out the turf. How
that looks for this year? Does he run there? Does
he runs a pro at his pro day? But Hurst
is a guy that could be rising up boards magically
(09:55):
throughout the process and where a lot of people that
are in the nowhere have already watched this kid, Like
I'll say he's a riser man, but I've had him
high in this class from the very beginning. And for
everything we talk about with context and metrics and stuff
like that. Yeah, Like dude. The other thing about this
is we talk about at his the way that he
was utilized at Georgia State and looking at a player
(10:17):
that had a twelve point six A dot, So he's
getting more of his targets downfield. It's incredibly impressive that
also you marry with that downfield role with also a
wide receiver that amongst all FBS wide receivers last year
that these fifty targets, this dude was twenty fourth and
miss tackles four. So the play strength also shows up
(10:41):
in the analytics. He's a baller on film again that
I think he's gonna go. I won't be surprised if
he goes like because of the small school aspect is
gonna bump him down a peg as far as draft
circles and stuff to an extent, just because if he would,
if he'd gone somewhere like a Georgia and SEC SC
or bigger program, like, he would get more respect put
(11:03):
on his name. I won't be surprised if you hear
his name called in the third round and everybody's like,
who the heck is this guy? And again everybody that's
already watched him and in the know is like uh huh,
you better believe it. He deserves that.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
The interesting thing about ted Hurst is five ten years ago,
before the transfer portal Derek, it was pretty common to
see elite wide receivers come from these small schools.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Everyone remembers DeVante Adams at Fresno's stay. We've seen Tyreek Hill,
Western Alabama even going back like Antonio Brown, Matt Guy,
Deontay Johnson, Matt Guy, right like, we've seen good wide
receivers even.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Exactly even yeah D two.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
And nowadays it's even harder to find that though, because
usually what happens with these top G five performers is
they break out as a freshman or a sophomore, they
get a huge deal to go to a.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Powerful conference, and then the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Right, ted Hurst is one of those interesting ones, kind
of like a junior vander Cross who will potentially come
out next year who just transferred from Toledo that you know,
it's just putting up really really good numbers and doing
it in historic fashion at a small school like Georgia State.
So I think that's the interesting dilemma people are gonna
have with someone like ted Hurst. But look if Jalen
(12:19):
Koger can make it in this league, and he came
out of Holy Cross, which is a Division two program.
You look at Tyson Bagent for the Bears. My my
college I up Division two program played them regularly in
the College Football National Title Game in Final four. So
so you're you're gonna you're gonna get those rights. But uh,
it's just something you kind of have to take with
a grain of salt, and it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Again. All FBS football to me is still good football.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
It really is, and even like some of the top
FCS programs are playing at a high level these days.
So I agreed just because, like you know, it's a
reminder that like back in the day, Derek, you could
really have like Georgia and Alabama, they could stack their
roster with four or five star guys all the way
through the depth chart. Now they can't do that because
these players want to play, and whether it's at Georgia
State and going there and having good production rather than
(13:06):
just sitting on the bench at Georgia like Ted Hurst did.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I think it's a good move.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I'm grinning ear to ear because in that entire soiloquy,
I also did catch that you gave some love to
the FCS, which dramatic foreshadow and we're going to talk
about an FCS player here in a little bit, So
I do appreciate that you are giving some love to
the FCS.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Seth a little bit, a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
There's still one hundred and thirty six plus programs actually
North Dakota State.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Well, here we go, here we go, here we go.
Now now walk back. I gotta walking back for a reason.
They're going see.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
For everybody at home, this is the walking back process
of you know, he didn't he didn't mean to say
the good thing. So I guess we'll just keep the
program moving. It's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And to keep it moving, we're gonna remind you that
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Speaker 2 (15:56):
Next, we're going to a state where our rock bet
is legal. Indiana.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Hoosiers Omar Cooper Junior, the wide receiver coming out of there.
He's been with Indiana really his full run there, three
year starter been with the team for four years. Was
really that deep ball threat early in his career when
we saw Curtis Rourke former Ohio another Matt guy transferred
there and had really success with Kurt Signetti in his
(16:21):
first year, holding twenty eight receptions nearly six hundred yards,
seven touchdowns with Curtis Rurik, and then really Derek became
just such a more complete player playing with Fernando Mendoza,
the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, grabbed sixty one balls, eight
hundred and forty nine yards, twelve touchdowns, third in the country,
and he was an absolute weapon down the stretch man.
There's some big time catches in that National Championship game,
(16:43):
specifically in the beginning when things were a little dicey,
so undersize a bit right, six foot, two hundred pounds,
nothing crazy there. The athletic profile definitely in question, and
I think, like Jacobe Lane, people are wondering, can this
guy get off press at the next level. Does he
have that Chris's route tree that.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Can really get him open?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What do you think, Derek Brown, on your time that
you've spent with mister Omar Cooper Junior.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Very impressed with this film, very impressed. One of the
best catches you will see in all of college football.
You already know where I'm going. Come on your state, Lions, Baby.
One of the best catches you will see in all
of college Just go out there, get on the YouTube's
and Google art the Google search Omar Cooper Penn State,
(17:26):
and you will see one of the best catches you've
ever seen in your life. The toe tap or the
back of the ends on that body control that plays
Todays I had to just rump the salt in the wound.
Seth had the whole family over, we are all watching
the game.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
It was my brother's birthday.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
We were going to the surprise party in a couple hours,
and that's how we start off the day.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Dere dude, That's one of those catches where you're you're
honestly like, holy crap, did he catch it? Did he
come down? He got both feed in. No, there's no way,
And then they show the replay and you're like, oh,
he did, Hey did it?
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I never like that, how he was not how you'd
not put the front of his foot down first, Like
I just it was crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
It is crazy. But this all goes back to the
talent is real for Omar Cooper man, and I know
the counting stats haven't been there over the last few
years and stuff. Again, we go back to the per
route metrics and the fact that like, fine, okay, he's
never had a thousand yard receiving season in college. I
don't care about that. I also don't care about the
fact that, Okay, like you go back nine thirty seven,
(18:28):
five ninety four, two sixty seven on a per route
basis Omar Cooper two point five five, two point five
two and two point one four yards per route run.
And the reason that I bring these things up is
because the counting stats they're not always it, dude, Like,
amongst all FBS wide receivers over the last two years,
that would put him thirty seventh and thirty eighth in
yards per route run. And we're also discussing a player
(18:50):
that has played multiple roles, like you discussed in that offense,
where over the two previous years prior to twenty twenty five,
eighty three ninety percent of his snaps as an out
wide ride receiver and then he turns into a power
slot for Indiana in the final year. So he's showing
you versatility with the skill set, he's showing you per
route efficiency. Oh and by the way, amongst all FBS
(19:14):
wide receivers last year, seth fourth and mistackles forced. So
again you're seeing all of these different parts or pieces
with the skill set and making up a well rounded
wide receiver. That dude, if he goes into the NFL,
and much like his counterpart who did play on the
outside last year, Elijah Surratt, if he is going to
(19:35):
be a power slot in the NFL, sign me up, dude,
because he's got the route running, he can break tackles
with it with like his play strength, and he does
have a thick lower half so like he can break
arm tackles, he can produce after the catch. Is he
a wowing player like athletically on a per route basis
where he's doing all these things that he's burning corners
(19:56):
with like four to three speed? No, can he still
get open? His a good route runner? Is does he
have fluid hips? Can he break tackles? Is he a
red zone threat based off of the body control and
the size? Yes, So I'm work shopping this take. I'm
not there yet because I still need to finish my
tape evaluation for Omar Cooper. Okay, but if anybody wants
(20:19):
to stand in front of me today and say I
fully believe Omar Cooper is a better prospect than Elijah Sarratt.
I'm not gonna fight with I'm not honestly not going
to fight you, and at the end of this process,
I'm probably gonna be standing with you. Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
There you have it, folks.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Super interesting discussion on Cooper because as you mentioned Derek,
he really was playing the outside and like you go
back to Illinois game earlier this season and it's just
like deep shot to Cooper, deep shot to Cooper, and
that's what he was known for. And then they've really
started using this young buck, Charlie Becker, who is Fernando
Mendoza's roommate in college. They're great friends, and they had
(20:57):
this chemistry they developed very early on, and they started
to make him the deep shot guy and put Cooper
into the slot and then we really saw him excel.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
So I'm excited for him. We'll see what he can
do in India.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I think it will be a big, big mile marker
for him. Next up, let's get out in the boxing gloves,
because there's no more polarizing prospect in this class than
North Dakota State quarterback cul Peyton dole threat FCS product
with one year of full time starting experience in twenty
twenty five. The numbers are twenty seven hundred passing touchdowns,
(21:30):
sixteen touchdowns, nearly eight hundred rushing yards, thirteen scores on
the ground. As well, two seasons prior, he was used
more as a wildcat option, totaling over six hundred yards
thirteen touchdowns. So I'm not going to debate that the
athletic profile is not there, because it absolutely is.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Here's where I struggle with it, folks, is he has.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
One year of starting experience, and historically FCS quarterbacks have
not translated recently unless they had elite passing traits. And
if we're taking shots on like former FCS quarterbacks, I
said this online the other day, give me Iowa quarterback
Mark Gronowski, who four years of a starter at South
Dakota State, he won two national championships, then transfers to Iowa.
(22:11):
Sixteen rushing touchdowns played against Big ten competitions, So I
actually thought Gronowski was pretty good, but apparently not even
good enough to get to get a dang invite to
the Combine. So Derek, please tell me why someone like
Cole Payton deserves a spot in Indianapolis, while someone like
Mark Gronowski And I hate Iowa fans, I hate Iowa's
a program, but I still think you deserve the spot there.
(22:35):
Why do you think it's Peyton over someone like Bronowski,
who similar background, similar track records.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Why do you hate tight end you so much? We've
had so much, so many great prospects coming out of Iowa.
Like I firsonal bias is just I mean, flooding the
show right now, Seth, I thought I need a life
jacking for this. Bro.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Listen when you beat Penn State and you go online
Saints here because the biggest men in franchise or program history,
and you beat us with an interim head coach and
a backup quarterback in his first start.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, that's why I hate Iowa. Sean Clifford.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
A couple of years ago, when we're in a top
ten battle in Iowa and we're just blatantly taking out
our starting quarterback shots to the Dome, I can't can't
be here for it. Sorry, sorry, Hawkeye Foil.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I mean you can honestly make a better case that
they might have been better off without Sean Clifford under
center for a different day, in accurate quarterbacks, you know,
revolting Rejoice soliar social media. But anyway, yeah, yeah, but anyway, dude,
I think in a down quarterback class, we are not
(23:39):
giving enough love to Cole freaking Peyton. And you talked
about yes, are there concerns here both in the jumping
competition from from FCS to the NFL. Absolutely sure. There
is all of the parts and pieces that you want
to see from an NFL quarterback are there in Cole
Peyton's film. It's there. He has the arm talent, he
(24:03):
has the easy arm strength. Like this dude's ripping forty
yard outs like it's nobody's business. He's dropping balls in
the bucket on perimeter go routes. He's showing you reps
and everybody was like, okay, it's a gimmicky offense. Yeah,
there are parts of that offense that were sure. They
used a lot of RPO, they booted him out a
crap ton to utilize his legs. There are also a
(24:24):
lot of spots where he is in shotgun, he's reading
the field, he's going through progressions, He's throwing with anticipation,
Joey and I broke down some of those moments on
the film session on Twitch, and it's like you talked about,
it is the arm talent there for Cole Payton, absolutely,
and I will punch back against anybody that says otherwise, dude,
(24:44):
and for everything, Like people want to talk about quarterback
prospects and stuff in this class and I'm like, oh,
it's a down class. It's down class. Da da da
da Oh the competition. I didn't hear anybody having a
problem when we discussed Trey Lance. In previous years, we
discussed Carson Wentz, we discussed Josh Allen, discuss all these
other quarterbacks that have gone immensely high in the NFL draft,
And it feels like for an NFL landscape that cares
(25:08):
so much about size, athleticism and traits and coveting those
things in players, why in the ever love and hell
is Cole Payton not being talked about enough. Now we're
putting this out and we're ahead of the curve here
because I fully believe after the combine and if Cole
Payton goes out there and does what I think he
(25:28):
can do at the combine and he runs in the
four to six range. He gets out there on the
field and he laces a few of these deep throws,
and he looks really good. I think the consensus is
going to come around to Cole Peyton. I think he's
gonna be talked about in a very different light. Are
there concerns because of the competition he faced the end
(25:52):
where he's coming from. Yes? Do I want to see
Cole Peyton drafted in the first round and dropped into
a situation where he's asked to start. No. I want
Cole Payton to be able to sit for at least
a year and to get acclimated to the NFL, go
through an NFL playbook, get up to speed with the
(26:12):
NFL game. I want him to learn and grow as
a player in the background before he is possibly shoved
into the limelight. But dude, this guy has everything that
an NFL team would want. And I've said this before
and I'll say it again right here. There is no
way in hell if I was an NFL GM, I
would be drafting freaking Diego Pavia over Cole Payton ten
(26:37):
times out of ten, ten feet down, ten toes down.
I would absolutely be drafting this kid over Diego Pavia.
I don't know why Cole Payton didn't get the nil money,
didn't get the money to go transfer and go to
another program, considering what he did is one year as
a starter and everything on, all the parts and pieces
to his game, it didn't happen. Dude, he can play
(26:58):
in the NFL, and I think he's going to surprise people,
and I think the conversation is massively going to shift
in a down quarterback class after the NFL Combine.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I just worry about the one year started because.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
It's a concern. It's a concern, especially when you talk
about the jump of competition. It is a concern. I'm
not going to say that it's not.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
That's why, like, like to me, I just don't get
why someone like Gronowski's just being super overlooked ry because like, look.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I'm I'm a stupid dude. They do this every year
with not inviting kids and not and not allowing players
from different backgrounds and programs and what have you to
shine and compete and show what they can do. I
fully agree with you, like I think the combine list
should be larger than what it even is and to
(27:49):
not extend invites to some of these kids is absolutely criminal.
I don't disagree with you at all.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, I guess it's more just a shift in my
philosophy now because I've been the guy on Trey Lance,
I've been the guy on Anthony and Richardson, and I've
been the one who's been hesitant to click the button
and draft someone like Tyler Shuck or draft someone like
Bonix who's been around for a long time.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So I guess these days, like love it or hate it,
I know sometimes you know, we think these college quarterbacks
are just hiding in the collegiate levels because they don't
want to compete at the NFL level. Well, hey, they're
making so much money now, man, it's a smarter play.
You and I talked about this when when discussing Trinidad
Chambliss to stay in college, right, So yes, yeah, So
(28:32):
I just kind of starting to prefer that a little more.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
No, And the other thing about this, and I preach
this yearly, is this that the echo chamber of the
NFL Draft consortium gets really really loud, and they they
take things and they run with it. And whether that's
crapping on certain prospects or trying to hoist other guys
up the podium, it gets very loud, and it gets
(28:57):
very ridiculous. And to just point this out with a
guy you mentioned, last year, we entered the NFL draft
process and people go pull the receipts. I thought I
was going to be above consensus on freaking Tyler Shuck
last year. I liked him. I really liked him a
lot man people, And again this is not me pulling
or making a BS. Go back and watch last year's
(29:19):
QB episode for the NFL Draft show. I like this kid,
and I caped up for him, and then the conversation
around him went absolutely ridiculous, where people are like, oh,
he's QB one of this class, He's better than Jackson
Dart And I'm like, okay, I don't care if y'all
are blackout drunk. You're just getting ridiculous now, Like this
is just making takes to make takes. But again, going
(29:41):
back to the echo chamber, everybody clowned on Tyler Shuck
last year because of his age and because of all
these parts or pieces, and while there was a large
consortium of people trying to pump him up the board
and being the most in on Tyler shuck of anybody
out there. There was also the equally loud people on
the other side of the aisle saying, oh, he's old ah.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Justin Herbert tweets and we're gonna make fun of this
and dah da da da, and trying to knock him
down the.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Board when the reality of it was somewhere in the middle.
If not, you should have been higher on him than consensus.
So this is all just about do your own homework
or listen to voices that you trust out there that
are putting out content for the NFL Draft and prospects
and stuff like that, because the echo chamber gets loud
and the takes get stupid, and people want to be
(30:28):
the loudest person in the room, when the reality is
a lot of times the smartest person in the room
isn't the person kicked up to eleven, and it's not
the person with the biggest microphone.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
And where you can find those voices that you trust
is on the New Dynasty YouTube channel for Fantasy Pros.
That's right, Fantasy Pros. Dynasty is here. So if you're
listening on the audio version, we're bringing you Rookie Ranking,
super Flex Strategy, Startup Draft and trade advice all year long.
So if you're building for the future, this is the
(30:59):
channel for you. Just search Fantasy Pros Dynasty channel on
YouTube and hit subscribe. We really appreciate all your guys'
help and make sure you're checking out everything we're doing
on the original Dynasty podcast with Fits with Worm and
Bogman of course, and then everything we're doing here at
the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show. Derek Brown, we have
(31:19):
one more sleeper for you, and it's Arkansas running back
Mike Washington Junior, six foot two, two twenty three built
exactly how the NFL teams won their early down running backs.
This dude was a two star recruit from Northern New York.
No hype, no spot like whatsoever. Starts at Buffalo, another
maxin type of guy, transferred to New Mexico State, then
(31:42):
finishes at Arkansas and it is one season in the SEC.
He finished fifth in rushing with over one thousand yards
average six point four yards per carry, second best in
the conference. And he also very good at generating explosive
runs at one of the highest clips in the conference.
And he did that behind an Arkansas line that ranked
(32:02):
near the bottom of the sec in run block win rate.
So to me, I was really excited to see him
at Mobile. We didn't get that opportunity, Derek, but we
did see a lot of clips of him routing up
some linebackers. You showed me one of those when we
were in New Orleans. I was like, Okay, that linebacker
didn'tven look like he was trying. So where are you
What have you taken from someone like Mike Washington's game
(32:24):
so far? What did you make out of what you
were seeing on the all twenty two from Mobile? And
what can we really expect from the rest of the
process and maybe even potential Day two, day three pick?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What are you kind of seeing from dude?
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I love his kid and everybody. And to your point
about the line that he ran behind amongst oh, let's
let's see here one hundred and thirty six collegiate programs
Arkansas's line and I know this, you know they're not
the end all be all, But to give a small
smidge of context here seventy fifth and run blocking PFF
(32:56):
grade whichf grades Say what you will, but just trying
to give a little bit of context around this.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Well, that's in the SEC when you're going to against
some of the best defensive front too, Like you can't,
Like you were very, very underclass at that point, Like
it's just a true mismatch.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Behind that offensive line. Mike Washington thirty third amongst all
FBS running backs in yards of to contact per attempt,
seventeenth in breakaway percentage. And it all shows up on
the freaking film. Like you want to talk about size, speed,
tackle breaking ability, and the ability to add his size
seth to hit home runs. You don't see that all
(33:36):
the time, man, Like you don't see that. And there's
all these other guys in this class that people are
going to talk about, you know, the Adam Randalls of
the world and stuff like that, where they're just like, oh,
the size and the speed, and he doesn't translate to
the film into the field, and they don't convert the
athleticism to power and speed and plays and Washington does
for days. And the reason that he makes my top
(33:58):
spot on this show, oh, is because he's not being
given enough freaking love. Dude, he's the most underrated guy
in the running back class. Because you hear the people
are hyping up they'll talk about obviously, Jeremiah Love. There
is a high riginarium price. There's a high for Jonah Coleman.
There's a high for him at freaking Johnson. Where's the
Mike Washington Junior High? Where's that? I mean, I guess
(34:21):
it's here, baby, because we're buzzing about it as it
should be. And this guy deserves love because at his
size and the speed and the testing numbers that I
think he can put up. Now, is he gonna test
really well in the short area agility stuff? Like his
hips are a little bit stiff, but they're not terrible. Sure,
but at his size, what are you expecting He's not
gonna have the same type of short area agility as
(34:42):
a running back that's five nine, five ten, five eleven.
It's not gonna be the case because of the bill
that he has. But the thing that is awesome about
him is that he is not being discussed in the
same conversation at the top four running backs of this clas.
You won't hear him discussed even in the same conversation
(35:03):
as somebody like a Nick Singleton. And I think it's blasphemy.
I think it's honestly just straight up ridiculous. You want
to talk about everybody wants to talk about and I
know I'm giving some shade to your guy Singleton, and
this isn't so much shade, but everybody. All the things
and parts of pieces that people talk about with Singleton,
and they talk about the big playability, the ability as
a pass game weapon, and to be a three down
(35:25):
back in the NFL, transpose all those pros in the
conversation for Singleton, And when it's really the reality of
it is is that Mike Washington Junior should be getting
all of those talking points and all of that love
that people direct in the way of Singleton, it should
be going to Mike Washington Junior as a player that
(35:45):
he is firmly in the same talent air as the
other four running backs that are in the conversation at
the top of this freaking class. Now, is there a
giant divide between them and Jeremi Love. Sure, you can
make it case for Mike Washington as high as the
RB two of this class. Is that where he's going
to end up in my final rankings? I don't know.
(36:07):
I'm still sifting through these guys. You can make a
case for all of these guys, but I think the
fact that he is not firmly in that conversation and
mentioned in the same breath as the other three guys
above him, whether you want to talk about in general
ADP on NFL mock draft database and stuff. It's an
honest travesty that he's not in that same conversation, because
(36:29):
the dude freaking deserves it.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Seth Yeah, and that's pretty much exactly what we're seeing, right.
You're seeing on mock draft database Jeremiah Love projected top
ten pick. Then you're seeing kind of this late half
of round two type of players, the Jenderium Prices, the
Jonah Coleman's, Emmett Johnson, they've kind of separated themselves, and
then in like a late round three pick, you're seeing
Mike Washington. Now he has actually leaped guys like Nick
(36:54):
Singleton with the injury and k Tron Allen, but still
kind of very much a gap between him, EMMITTT Johnson,
Jonah Coleman, Jendering Price, kind of that three pack of players.
Does that sound about right to you, Derek, that he
could be a third round pick, maybe he sneaks into
round two, maybe little RG Harvey type upside, And that
was one of your boys last year as well.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I think he'll go in round three. I think that's
what that's a good spot. I think that's where he
should go. I think he's gonna get clustered and all
these guys. But I think that you're seeing the consensus
come around to there. There's there is no way on
this planet that Mike Washington Junior should be in the
same conversation as freaking k Tron Allen. He is a
(37:36):
tier above him man. And I think the way that
I'm looking at this class right now, Jeremiah Love stands
alone and a tier by himself, and the tier two
guys are Jendarium Price, Jonah Coleman, Emma Johnson, and Mike Washington.
And order them however the hell you want. But that's
tier two.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
Okay, you know what we need to have?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
You do? Have you ever seen do you remember, like
maybe three or four years ago, there was that trend
around like high schoo seniors who would say what school
they're going to, especially in the South. They'd be like
Derek Brown, Arkansas, will.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Pig suy Yeah, and then the hat they're like, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
We need that, we need you. You're doing one for
your favorite prospects. Mike Washington Junior Arkansas will pig silly babe.
I don't know what that means. We pig silly bat
I do.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
I don't either. Some of the Arkansas fans are gonna
have to hop hop in our missions. Uh and then
let us I like it, give us a lineage to
do us a history here, because dude, I'm from Louisiana
and it's right next door to Arkansas, and I don't
freaking know. Man, go Tigers.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Well, there you have it, folks, go Tigers.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
As Derek Brown says, that's gonna do it for us
on this episode of the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show.
Please use a quick favorite smash that like button if
you enjoyed it, and don't forget subscribe both to the
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have great tools everything you need to become a better
(39:00):
dynasty and redraft fantasy football manager.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Or Derek Brown, I'm Seth Wilcock take care of y'all.
Speaker 7 (39:06):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Dynasty Football Podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
If you love the show. The best freeway to support
Speaker 7 (39:12):
Us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts
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Hosts And Creators
Pat Fitzmaurice
Scott Bogman
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