April 20, 2022 • 38 mins
The latest edition of NFL Inside Report podcast examines how the NFL Draft is taking shape! Today, host Rhett Lewis is joined by insiders Jeffri Chadiha and James Palmer to look at how the offseason wide receiver trades and contract extensions is having a domino effect. Later, Jeffri and James explore the top NFL draft prospects and Jeffri explains why edge rushers are a top priority. And, with just over a week until the NFL draft, James share information he received while attending the pro day for Alabama and LSU. Check out Jeffri's latest NFL.com piece on the pass rusher.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
NFL Inside Report is a production of the NFL in
partnership with I Heart Radio. I'm Red Lewis and this
is NFL Inside Report. Over the course of the last
couple of weeks, we have reset the rosters in the
(00:27):
NFL and now in less than ten days, teams across
the NFL will be making their additions via the draft
in Las Vegas, and that is where we are shifting
our focus here today. Reminder to subscribe, rate review our
show on the I Heart Radio app on Apple Podcast
wherever you get your pods. We certainly appreciate it. And
with us today a couple of guys that have been
on the ground for much of this pre draft process
(00:48):
here for pro days to combine and essentially anywhere in between.
Talking to James Palmer and Jeffrey Chitta. Gentlemen, great to
be back here with you, and Jeff's got a great
piece out right now. Um on pass rushers as they
try to make this transition to the NFL from the
college game. Will into that here in a little bit,
but I want to start with some of the wide
receiver situations that have gone on recently. Both you guys
(01:11):
cover the Chiefs a bunch the Tyreek Hill move one
of the biggest of the off season, sending him to Miami.
He then gets the big money deal. Right. Davante Adams,
similar situation, leaves Green Bay. It's another huge contract there
in Las Vegas. And now there's like that next round
of guys that are looking for that kind of money. Right.
Forty Niners, Deebo, Samuel Commanders, Terry McLaurin, Titans A J. Brown,
(01:33):
who has made some interesting moves on social media recently.
Let me start with you, James here real quick, just
on on this phenomenon. Are you into or not into
the reading into the scrubbing of social media from a
players are scrubbing of a team and all of their
information from a player's social media platforms. I thought, all
(01:54):
of a sudden the question came out, and I was like,
are we on Good Morning Football? Is this? Like if
you were? I'm not. Again, Do I need a whiteboard
to tell you what I'm thinking about? You know? Is
am I in with this? Listen? This is the generation
that we're dealing with and the generation that is making
up a large portion of the NFL. And this is
how apparently communication is. Uh, this is how you tell
(02:19):
everyone how you're feeling. And I think in terms of
the receiver spot, the more people I talked to, it's
like the Christian Kirk deal is the one that kind
of skewed everything in terms of how this landscape was going.
Not that it was like obviously not the biggest, but
it was like whoa, and then everything kind of happened
a little bit after that. I just think what's happening
is now we're seeing and you know, I live in Denver.
(02:40):
Russell Wilson more or less told the Seattle Seahawks, I'm
gonna play for the Broncos. Let's make that happen. And
players are getting more power, and players are making their
voices known. Jeff like clearer and clear about this is
where I stand. This is where I want something to happen.
But we also have seen you can fix it pretty
quickly with a new contract or everybody we find. Eventually,
(03:00):
it seems to mend itself quickly, even though people like
to floice opinion in terms of social media about where
they stand with where their pleasures are with their contract. Yeah,
I think it's uh. I think it's that, and I
also feel like it's the players can read and they
can see what's coming behind them. They know that this draft,
for example, has got six or seven receivers who are
(03:23):
first round talents. They saw what happened with Justin Jefferson,
they saw what happened with Jamaar Chase. Obviously, they saw
what happened with Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams and those
guys as well. But there's there's a small window here
to make your money, to make that big money out
because if you're a GM and you're talking about paying
a second second, excuse me, a second round pick, a
(03:45):
guy's in the last sums contract now big money. You're
also probably looking at guys like Garrett Wilson or Drake London, uh,
people like that, Chris olav and saying well, I could
just go with this guy, but we just find as well. Yeah,
And and that's part of where I wanted to get
into because James, you saw one of those wide receivers
that could be In that discussion down in Alabama's Road
(04:05):
with Jamison Williams, what was the since you got down
there um about him as a as a prospect that
teams might see, as you know, a high level player
that provides a little bit more cost control than maybe
some of the wide receivers that are established in the league. Yeah,
I had a goal of going down there. Rent I
was like, who in the right mind would want to
leave the Ohio State University thinking? And so now I'm joking,
(04:28):
but that was actually when I talked to evaluators, like
they were kind of curious, going, where's the competitiveness? Right?
Did you not want to beat out Chris Lave, Garrett Wilson,
Jackson Smith and Jigba. It's a it's a huge lee,
crowded wide receiver room. Why did you leave? Right? And
And I kind of heard he didn't really like Ohio State.
That's kind of a bummer, But I didn't have anything
to do when I was down in Alabama finding out
(04:50):
with his competitiveness. And that was one of the things
when I got a chance to talk to Nick Saban
for a little while, was like one of the things
that he said, Jamo's competitiveness is kind of what made
their team special. And I had just pointed out to
me by a couple of teammates about the way practices
would go when he first got there first the first
day of practice he was with them, I was totally
was one versus ones. He catches the ball in the
middle of the field, there's two safeties about I don't know,
(05:12):
six ft apart from each other. He goes through without
even getting touched, And defensive players started asking guys in
the secondary like, are you guys Lofen like you were
going a d percent right, And they're like, yeah, yeah,
we were. He's just that much faster than we are.
And you're talking about a program like Alabama. But what
stood out to Saban and stood out the teammates, And
this is why Saban told me his demeanor is so
(05:33):
unique for the wide receiver to where he wants to
be a gunner on special teams. He wants to play
kickoff like they'd go ones versus once for a period.
And I think we've all known the reputation and the
stories of Alabama practices, right, and how they run and
how hard they work. They would go from that period
and then the very next period is a special teams period,
And I was told by teammates like they've watched him
(05:55):
sprint over to a special teams punt period and he'd
be the gunner coming down on punt immediately after he
was running deep balls with the first team offense and
they are like, jeez, this guy works like that type
of competitiveness, Saban told me is what made their team
kind of special. And I think I learned something about
him as an individual, and he has been going up
(06:15):
boards because the talent is ridiculous. But I think the
way that he in a lot of receivers, right, Jeffrey, like,
don't change the way your team vibes a lot of times, right,
That's not the position you usually look to when you're like, wow,
looks guys kind of holding things together. He has a
little bit of that. Yeah, And again you go back
to the guy that just mentioned Jamaar Chase and Justin Jefferson.
(06:36):
In the NFL, I think that what you're seeing in
the league is people looking for those kinds of talents
at that position now, players who can come and right
away and completely change the complexion of your franchise. I
do have to laugh, though, because he probably want to
be a gunner for Ohio State because if I have
plenty chance to do that job down there with a
lobby and those guys. But I give you credit for
(06:57):
bringing up his his his work, his work ethic. You
guy I do love that left him as a player. Yeah,
look at you two, and you know we're looking at
the Chiefs, who now have you know, two first round
picks right there, back to back as it currently stands,
and if they stick right there, I think they're gonna
be out of luck. Um with maybe the first five
wide receivers could be off the board by that time.
(07:18):
But Jeffrey, do you see that as a place that
they still want to go or do you feel like
they're set with the addition of Markquis, Balda Scantley, Jujue
Smith Schuster in company there in case, I think James
would attest to this. I think that when I look
at the Chiefs going for receiver in the first round,
a lot depends on what's there. I don't think that
(07:40):
as aggressive as Brett beaches, he would go up to
draft a receiver at that spot. I think you'd go
up to get to edge rusher. But I do feel
like they have a certain type of receiver they like
to have there, and so guys who were more like
the Drake London's, the bigger, the six four pound guys,
the trailer burke type guys, even though they're athletic guys,
they just don't fit their mold. I think Jamison Williams
(08:01):
is that kind of player. I think Chris O. Lobby
would be a great player in that in that system
because it was route running and it's just his sophistication
as intelligence, his i q um. But I think that
they'll sit there and see what's available to them, and
if they don't like it, they'll buy trade back and
take one in the second round. Again. All these guys
we just talked about, the Deebo Samuels, the A. J. Brown's,
(08:22):
the people of that nature, Um Terry McLaurin. Those guys
were all second third round picks. And so you can
sit there and find a pretty good player at that position.
You don't have to go up and get just the
big name guys. Right now, Jeff and I were texting
about this yesterday. I think we both in factly believe
that Brett Vach is not sitting there with both those picks.
They're not gonna pick in both of those spots. I
(08:42):
think we talked about this on on NFL now like that,
the need of pass rush with the Chiefs, especially with
everybody else's pass rush in the division is just a
monster monster need um. Chris Alave actually has a similar
mindset to Jamison Williams. I were talking to Terry McLaren
about it this past year because I love to talk
about my buck eyes. So I asked him, you know what,
(09:04):
you stay chat room. Yeah, we're always just you know,
down here at the bus. But he said, he's like,
he's like, he came up the same way I came up.
They're really close, Terry and Chris Lave and and he's
like he did the same things I did. Like and
I remember because I watched every game, like Jeff watches
every Michigan game. I'm surprised that we're able to get
able to watch the Ohio State this year. I watched
(09:26):
some watch on repeat. I watched the last ten years.
I watched the last ten years on repeat. Anyway, Uh, well,
he's like, he's like, Chris did the same things I did.
And he was blocking punts as a freshman, and he was,
you know, on special teams, and he's like, he did
it the same way I did it. And I think
it makes you a better player at the next level.
And James and Williams is kind of the same sense.
(09:47):
Both those guys would fit in Kansas City. Rend I,
I I'm just curious what they're thinking is with both
of those picks. And remember they have two second rounders
and two third rounders, so he has the ammunition to
manipulate and move for anybody that they really see that
as a as a distinct target target for them. Yeah,
and it will get to perhaps some of those edge
rusher possibilities that the Chiefs could see down there at
(10:08):
the bottom of the first round when we get when
we get a little bit deeper into this episode here,
especially with Jeff uh put that piece out on NFL
dot com about the pass rushers. But I didn't want
to get back to Alabama here for a second and
kind of relating back to this situation that the Chiefs
are in, because part of the reason they were in
that Tyreek Hill situation is you had the one year
franchise tag that you had to pay Orlando Brown, Um,
(10:30):
you know, with with where he was at one able
to get the long term deal done in time, and
so you know, you're committed to that number, and and
that's where they were at, and so you know, Tyreek
Hills on his way. Um. Evan Neil is by the way,
you know, one of the top two, if not the
top guy depending on who you ask um in terms
of tackles in this draft class. And you got to
see him down there, in addition to guys that Christian
(10:51):
Harris James, who are gonna be potentially you know early
day two picks. Just your thoughts on some of those
other Alabama prospects down there from your time at Tuscalusa. Yeah,
for Evan Neil is a different cat, and I mean
that in a good way. I mean, I've never seen
a guy go through this whole pro day wearing a watch,
uh the entire time, especially when you're going through all
those past blocking drills and I'm like, He's like, I'm
keeping track of my calories. He told me like, I
(11:12):
just want to see how much I burned during this,
during this lurkout. And he didn't want to do that.
You know that he didn't do any of the drills
at the combine. He wanted to do them all all
down there. And I mean to be six seven three
forty five and move the way he moves and to
play multiple positions at Alabama, very few programs probably would
have a guy like that play different spots in their
career on the offensive line. But what really stood out
(11:32):
to me talking to him, I'll be outside of his
intelligence and the in the type of makeup he has
in terms of character, is he had zero penalties this
past season six total for his three years starting at Alabama.
So I think that to me and Jeff and I
we were talking about this before the podcast started, about
(11:53):
the edge rushers and raw talent and and being a
tactician of your craft. If you don't have any penalties
like that, that that shows you're coming in as a
pretty polished player because you know how to play the position.
On top of the physical attributes that he has. He'd
love to go number one. They haven't had a number
one pick from Alabama I think in seventy four years,
so he would like that to happen. Um, what was that?
(12:16):
What's that? What's that guy? You know? When I was
doing Alabama as a quarterback? Um? Yeah, a long time ago. Yeah,
well I name it was was not NFL. That's it
doesn't technically count if you want to skew the staffs
the way I just did. But um, but yes, there
you go. Did you get that off the top of
(12:41):
your head, you google that or do you still use it?
Just it just took a little. It took a minute
to circle back through the filing system in here. So
I gotta I got it. I got it, and then
the other guy real quick. I think like Christian Harris
and I went to l s U the next week
and people were talking about him. I talked to a
head coach that was like, he's gonna he's gonna play
inside and he's gonna play for an eternity because they
(13:02):
love his makeup, they love the athletic says m he has.
I talked to Harris for a long time Abama. He
was like, dude, I was the safety and a running
back and I'm at a camp and Hugh Freeze pulls
me over to another drill. It's like, hey, play linebacker.
He's like, within a few weeks, I'm getting linebacker offers,
and in two months he has to prep to play
linebacker to start at Alabama and ends up playing for
(13:24):
three years after Hugh Freeze at a camp tells him
to go, hey, let why don't we try at linebacker?
And now everybody is really really around the league. His
name keeps coming up. When I talked to people just
because of his makeup. He's he's just he just gets it.
He's so professional in a sense and just understands kind
of what what would be asked of him. And there's
there's some teams that are would be really really excited
(13:46):
to have him him one day to just an interesting,
interesting kid with the transition he went through in the
way he was able to make that happen so quickly
and then play there's other guys breathing down your neck
in Alabama and just move into linebacker and play for
three years is crazy. You know you mentioned Evan Nel.
When I was at Michigan's Pro day. I was talking
to some scouts there about him and they kind of
(14:06):
mentioned the irony of effect that in a different year
he wouldn't be probably the hands on the odds on
number one pick just because of the talent. Everybody down
there was raving about him. But you look at the
Jaguar situation having Cam Robinson on a franchise tag, Like
I had a couple of personnel guys just telling me
that there's no way they can't take Ade Hutchinson number one,
(14:26):
or that was treybon Walker being to talk. I think
it will still be Hutchinson, but just the feeling in
that camp was that one. This is a weird draft
because you might have ten picks go by without having
somebody touching the football get drafted, which rarely happened. Uh
Lee Willis gets in there, Garrett Wilson. But the fact
that Aid Hutchinson, a guy that a couple of years
(14:48):
ago was just a good player trying to see if
he could play at a high level get into the
first round, might end up being the number one pick.
I mean it's like, as much as he's very as
much as James raid about Ohio State, I would worry
about Michigan now. And the fact that, um, you know,
you talk about d to Send, you talk about Daxton Hill,
you talk about David Ojabo. Obviously a tough story there
(15:09):
at their pro day going down with Achilles tear Um.
The town they have coming into this draft is pretty
impressive as well. One last note on Harris, I thought
this is wild because we always love combine measurements. So
when I was talking to him at the combine, he
his broad jumped with eleven feet right, he runs a
four four four, and Christian goes, dude, I never brought
jumped over ten before the combine. I was like, what happened?
(15:32):
He goes the combine has a measurement line at nine
ft and eleven feet. I thought the eleven stripe was
the ten ft stripe. And he's like, so I was
just jumping for that. It's like, and maybe when the
lights come on, I just played better because he's like,
I also never ran a four or four four in
any of my training. He's so he's like, I was
blowing he we were all blown away by his combine performance.
(15:53):
He was like, I had no idea who's gonna get
any of those numbers because I never measured at any
of those numbers. But it's kind of interesting though, because
that's kind of the discussion that we've been having on
path of the Draft a bunch, and we talked about
it this week, you know, with these off the ball linebackers,
because you know, like you're looking at a guy like
Devin Woydum or maybe a guy like Nikobe Deane from
Georgia um as potential first round picks. But then you
(16:16):
see guys like Christian Christian Harris, Troy Anderson from Montana State,
Chad Movement from Wyoming, and quay Walker from Georgia, Like, like,
all right, can we get like a similar type player
at a better value in the second round? And so
that'll be an interesting storyline, uh to see play out there.
But Jeff talked a little bit about what's going on
in Michigan kind of becoming I think what Aidan hutcheson
(16:37):
his term pass rush you now is that it used
to be they had that that title, right, but they
don't have any They go, buddy, now they've all gotten um,
it's a finess program up there now down there, yet
check out the highest paid dbs three of the top
the top three. We're gonna Jeff sort this thing out
(17:00):
and take a quick break and come right back on
into the port with another look at the pass rushers
in this class. I'm back here with the NFL and
(17:20):
side report. James Palmer, Jeffrey Chadia back here with us,
and Jeffrey has been working on a piece about pass rushers,
especially as they make the transition now from the college
game to the pro game. And look at I've mentioned
this also on Path to the Draft. Like you know,
last year we had the quarterbacks go one to three, right,
and this feels like the opposition party's response to the
(17:42):
state of the Union. Now we might get edge rushers
go one to three and this year's draft, right, because look,
you know those those are the two positions that are
you know, arguably at the at the highest premium in
the NFL. Here at this point of course, there's no
argument about quarterbacks, um, but yeah, the pass rusher is
certainly taken on that level of importance in this league.
Let me just toss talk a little bit about that,
(18:05):
you know, the piece that you got out right now,
and Jeff, like what you learned in your study about
these guys in this position, Well, it started off really
and to be honest with you, started off as a
day withd Ojabo da Fe always story because those two
played together at the Blair Academy in New Jersey and
Ojabo saw the success that Alway had as a player,
decided to play football at the age of fifteen. And
(18:27):
then I went to Michigan's pro day and Ojabo towards
Achilles and that kind of killed that story. So we
were kind of scrambling, and so we started looking at
some of the other players in the draft of that position,
guys like Boya Mafe and Bikte and you know Ojabo,
George Carloftis, and we realized a lot of these guys
picked up football pretty late um or came from the
country is to pick it up. Or you had guys
(18:48):
like Jermaine Johnson who had one big year, And so
we started looking at some of these players and looking
at it always and started saying, well, got man's look,
a lot of a lot of players are coming in
this league without having the typical background or having being
as well rounded at this position, and just talking to
a different personnel people, they agree that what you're seeing
in the NFL nowadays is a lot more passwords was
(19:09):
coming in who were raw, largely because they're putting better
at the position. You're seeing more spread formations and r
p o s and college of the team just saying
go get the quarterback. And what you're getting is guys
like people I just mentioned who are having great success,
who want to skill the defending the run or some
of the other things you want from defensive lineman, edge rushers,
(19:30):
outside linebackers, but have a huge upside to NFL teams
and James you know this year you're in the town
where bon Miller was dominant player for forever. They've just
picked up Randy Gregory and Adam Bradley Chubb. It's just
like the way this league has gone now, with the
way the passing has gone, with what quarterback player has gone,
everything now is about getting after quarterbacks with four down
lineman and making it happen. And these guys that I
(19:52):
just mentioned have a great future because of that. Yeah,
you have you mentioned four down lineman making sure you
get a quarterbacks there. I mean, that's that's the way
the league's becoming. Right, Like we were talking Ravens or
we're supposed to talk Ravens on TV and it didn't
have it. But like they've struggled to get after the
quarterback as you mentioned, like like they've had to blitz
(20:14):
over the last couple of years to get pressure, and
that's hurt them late in games, right, That's hurt them
in close games in the fourth quarter because the quarterbacks
like Mahomes and company can can destroy you when you
have to bring extra pressure. We look at what Cincinnati
was able to do against Patrick Mahomes by getting pressure
and kind of playing the position, playing the pass rush
a little bit differently. It's funny you mentioned where I'm
at in Denver. It's like, I remember the appeal of
(20:35):
Bradley Chubb just five years ago as the number five
overall pick was mostly because he was so skilled at
the position. He had multiple pass rush moves, he had
the ability to come at you with a variety of
things to where he had some things that these other
guys were talking about didn't have because he was coming
in polished. But I think players like Micah Parsons, it's like, Oh,
(20:55):
a guy can just come in that's an unbelievable athlete
and just be like, hey, go get the quarterback and
the sacks NFL quarterbacks like on a regular basis. I
think we have to remember that, like that's not the norm.
But Ratt, Jeff and I were like joking, like it's
it is what coaches think they thinking about quarterbacks to
that's why the same guy's keeping it. Well, I can
fix it because the raw talents there, but I know
(21:15):
how to get to him. And I think that's the
thought of I can get this raw town into my
building as a pass rusher, and then we add the
moves like and we add a variety of moves and
and he goes to the pass Rush summit, like the
von Miller and company put on like and we can
develop it then they have, you know, the athletic ability
to start off with. It's wild how that's kind of
changed in a sense to where it's funny five years
(21:37):
ago Bradley so polished, we need that, and now it's
it's a little bit of a different thinking because of
the athletes. Let me hit Jeff on one piece of
the story you were talking about boy Mafe. Did he
tell you the story or did you find out about
the story about how he got his first scholarship offer
and how he was honoring his commitment to the track
team when his high school football coach had set up
(22:01):
a workout for their football players in front of a
certain college coaching staff or whatever. But the track coach
wouldn't let him out of track practice to go to
that football showcase, you know, for for college. And then
and so he's literally running on the track outside of
the football field right that goes around the football field
(22:22):
while all of their while all the other football players
are doing their workout and the college coaches are all
turning away from the football, this huge kid pass everybody
on the track. He told me that recently. A couple
of got a couple of months ago. Now he is
such an interesting prospect, isn't he phenomenal potential? He's fascinating.
I love his story too, because just like a Jobo
(22:45):
when Nepique, I mean, he's his parents came from Nigeria,
immigrated here, and they had a tradition in their family
of sending every kid there four kids. Every kid had
to go spend the eighth grade in Nigeria at boarding school,
and so he left. He wasn't like you to play
a little peewee football with his buddies, but I think serious.
So he left and he was just like, I'm not,
(23:05):
you know, gonna go out here and see what's gonna happen.
Maybe I'll play some soccer, play a little basketball when
I come back. He was five six when he left.
They came back and he was six four, and before
that wouldn't let him play. He grew alo one year
one year. So he came back and the dad was
that The parents were like, oh my god, I guess
he can play football. Not because he's big enough. And
(23:26):
he's got a brother who played college for small Collus
football in Minnesota and a cousin who played uh small
college football, and they both saw him and they said, man,
you could be you could be at least a couge player.
Maybe the NFL play it with your side and athletic ability.
And he was so wrong when he started playing with
a freshman in high school in Minnesota that it was
like he was playing tag out there. He didn't have
any sense or any instincts. But again with that cousin,
(23:48):
the brother people in his corner, he just blossomed. And
that's the thing, James, It's like you see um in
the NFL nowadays. You see these guys come out of
nowhere and the way the game is being played, it's
so much easier for them to prosper. I mean, this
is a kid who was a three star recruit, didn't
know what he was doing with the fresh in high school.
Now he's about to be a first round pick, be
able to Jobo came here starting to play football and
(24:10):
you know, fifteen, lived in Scotland, grew up in Nigeria,
and there's something about I think, you know, maybe it's
a cultural thing here too. That's what um Uh boys
cousin said, was that Nigeria is such a militant culture,
that football is a militant game. The ability to pick
things up quickly. Sometimes it helps coming from someplace else
and not being caught up in all the hype of
(24:31):
what American football is. Like sure, I'm gonna get that,
I say, I have two quick questions. One, how many
questions do you think his parents asked him to make
sure like the right child came like that size difference
to be like are you my son? Like mind blowing?
And who is this track coach? Like, dude, you coach
(24:55):
high school? Like no, man, we gotta meet Friday. There's
no like have a chance to help your you know,
college prospects by any means, no way you're not allowed,
which is you got the last laugh right exactly. But
to just point too with the way this is trending
in a lot of I have sadly have not been
able to read the story yet, which is a bummer. Um.
(25:18):
But but Saban said this to me, like the game
has played in so much space now right, that that
is such an advantage if you have that athletic ability
and in the technical aspect of everything happening right in here,
isn't maybe his neat because you can play out in
space and you can just find a way to make
a play. It does change the way you look at players.
(25:39):
He told me that it has changed the way my
guys coming out are perceived by NFL guys because of
the way the NFL games playing in space. Is why
he was saying, Christian Harris is a guy that that
NFL teams should really like because in space, without athletic ability,
it's it's it's an advantage. That's what's happening with some
of these other spots too. And we certainly expect the
addressers to kind of dominate the top ten of the
(26:01):
first round. I mean, like you could get minimum four
off in the ten picks, you know, with with Hutchinson,
Trayvon Walker, Cabon Thibodeau and Jeremy Johnson from Florida State
that you all mentioned there, and then maybe another two
or three before the round is over. Like I mean,
it could go in the first round. I think a
pretty good I think someone could pick a flower on him.
(26:23):
Sure he remember what the cowboy cowboys are picking in
the mid twenties. Remember what they did with Jalen Smith
in the second round a couple of years ago, after
the devastating knee injury. Um, you know, and and it
was for them in the near term, right, correct, Thank you?
All right, James, you were also at l s U
Pro Day, which kind of gave you a unique perspective
on on two guys with top ten potential in this class,
(26:45):
but only one of them was actually from L s U. Yeah,
And it's funny because they're very different in terms of
the way they're perceived by all of these evaluators, right.
I mean, Derek Stingley is like Pro Day was maybe
the most anticipated pro day of this offseason, right because
of what happened the last two years, playing just ten
games after two thousand nine, team tape essentially shows him
(27:06):
as a first round pick as a freshman, really and
then you know, there's so many question marks. And this
is what I got being there and talking about there
are teams that are terrified of Derek Ston, that are like,
I'm not gonna touch him. Like there, I can't forget
the two years after. And I tried to dig on
with him a little bit. Uh, he didn't really want
(27:27):
to talk about it, honestly, about the two years and
obviously injuries are part of it. But then there's the
other aspect of it where everybody you talked like the
talent is off the charts, Like the footwork is incredible,
the ball skills are out of this world. I I
just Scout walked by me when he's going through his
drills that Brandon Stanley was essentially like halfway through started
running himself. He was so intrigued by Stanley, like a
(27:49):
Scott just walked by me on a ball that goes
up and he makes a plan. He's like his ball
skills just phenomenal, and I'm like, yeah, Like it's just
he stands out like with the way he moves, it's
so effortless, you know, coming off the list. Frank, we
have to remember though, he like only preparing for these
combine drills and and and stuff for three weeks before
(28:10):
he performed at the pro day in terms of being
cleared to do all those things, and he just like
it was so easy. You know. Everybody has a routines,
like you know, they're they're nineteen different, like our movements
before they jump up and do the birth like all
these different things. He like literally just walked onto the vert,
jumped up and did it, walked over the broad jump
was like ready and jumps and goeses like and he
got every number almost to the inch. Talking to people
(28:33):
close to him that he knew he was gonna get
it was insane, like thirty eight and a half, he
thought he jumped thirty eight. He did tend to in
the broad he thought he'd have ten three, like four
three seven. He thought that's exactly what he was going
to get. The talent is so so they're some evaluators
believe like when the program makes a little bit of
a turn and you played at that high level and
(28:54):
you're at a championship caliber, like sometimes your play can
go down. Is the desire there? Like there's all these
questions that teams are trying to get answered, but they
can't deny Jeff the town that was like the most
you know, I popping aspect of him, And I think
if you just watch him verse Jamar Chase in practice
that tape from twenty nineteen, you're like, okay, like this
is worth the try. I think Clyde Edward Hilaire is
(29:17):
here playing in Kansas City and he was on that
champion team with these guys, and somebody's unearthed some footage
of Joe Burrow talking about the most FREAKUS athletes on
that l s U team. Number one guy was Edwards Hilayer.
Still don't understand how that happened. The other guy, Jathan Jefferson.
Jamar chays that Derek Stingley. It's amazing that that name
(29:40):
was put out there, but not not a slam on,
but just sort of an amazing rebel ation at the time.
But but the point about the cornerback play, you know,
talking to personnel people on the league as part of
the store I was doing the other side of that
whole pass for us. Emphasis is just that it's so
hard to get guys who can excel in man coverage
(30:01):
today who can compete with the Jamaar Chases of the world,
with the Justin Jeffersons, and that it's like teams that
are so they wanted. Even when they get guys who
have that ability, they still want to play off, They
want to play more zone, and they want to do
more things that are more cautious as far as defending
the past, because as we've just said, the quarterbacks are
(30:21):
so good, but there's so many talented receivers out there
nowadays that it got like Derek Stanley, even with the
injury history, even with all the questions here, can still
end up being a top fifteen pick just because of
the potential that the need there. I mean, I don't
want to, you know, get on Denzel Ward here for
the big conducty sign, but my god, they got big
a huge amount of money for being I don't seem
(30:44):
as the same player as Jaylie Ramsey, but what he
can do for a secondary we're talking about here, what
they're extily can do for a secondary. Just give somebody
a chance to win a win on one battle with
a receiver real quick on this. I'm and this is
what I just thought of this now. And I'm not
sure if this is hurting Stanley or not, but like
you look at Sauce Gardner the other top corner with
him and to not allow a touchdown in three years
(31:08):
and starting to go all right, here's one guy that
never took a play off. It appears to a guy
where it's like what happened the last two years. I'm
wondering if the comparison hurts Derek Stingley at all, right,
because of what you're seeing with soft Nur going like, oh,
this is a guy that just every single play. It's
the end of the world for him. There's only um,
(31:29):
you know about four teams that are going to have
to make that decision because it's quite possible that sauce
Gardner is off the board. Um. But but yeah, when
you look at a guy like Trent McDuffie from Washington,
who's you know, like a technician at the position, um,
and you know it's hardly challenged this last year at
Washington cause he's that good, you know, Like, are like,
all right, I've got I've got kind of a what
(31:50):
I feel like it's a sure thing here. But maybe
a guy with a much higher ceiling that is talking
about which right, Like, then everybody should be picking Derek Stanley,
like because the ceiling is is up here for him,
or everyone should be picking Trayvon Walker and the jack
should really be considering Trayvon Walker over Radon Hutchinson. It's
the production, projection and the whole thing. But and there's
(32:13):
enough teams, right, I've talked to their like I think
when he gets to the league, he'll be a superstar
with death all right, last one here, because the head
coach of the l s U Tigers is Brian Kelly Um,
who knows very little about the players that were there
at l s U competing at the pro day. Um,
but you did, being the you know, professional reporter that
(32:33):
you are, really start connecting the dots back to his
time at Notre Dame where he has another high level
prospect in this draft. Yeah, and Kyle Hamilton's. And that's
what I wanted to talk to him about. It was
kind of the chess piece and that that was his
analogy before I got to it. But he was like,
he told me, he's like, he's your rook, he's your night,
he's your whatever you want it to be. Make moves
on the field that nobody else can make. And he said,
(32:55):
you combine that with his off the charts intelligence, it
allows him to be a piece that in really each
game week of preparation, you can use him almost in
a different manner. And he was like, in the NFL game, like,
how is that not needed because of the talent that
comes in, Like one week it's a Travis Kelsey, right Chevan,
the next week it's you know, it's somebody else on
(33:17):
the outside that he might need to help it work.
The way offenses have these these talented chest pieces on
their side of the ball. I'm curious why that position,
like because everybody said, well, don't take a safety that high. Well, like, well,
if these like George Kittle's and Travis Kelsey's are so
unstoppable on offense, why isn't that piece that can guard
(33:37):
them more valuable on the defensive side of the ball.
Because he told me, like the way you can use him,
it could could change each week. So I don't get
why that's not something that teams would absolutely value at
the first half of the first round. Yeah, I think
the only thing about Kyle Hamilton's that that scares me
is the forty time. And that's the thing that everybody
(33:59):
talks about when you're running four or five six or
someone said as slow as four seven, Um that that
that's that's eye popping. And I think at his size,
the best comparison you have with Sean Taylor, who was
a freakish athlete who was like legitimately like a four
or three four four dude who could do all types
of things. And the thing that scares me about Hamilton's
(34:21):
is just you end up having a situation like with
Isaiah Simmons that came out Clemson um a few years ago. Yeah,
position listen can do all these different things, but then
it's like where is the excelling? And I hope that
it works out. I think it has to be the
right scheme. I think it's got to be the right
coach who understands I take advantage of that, because if
it's not, then I could easily see him being isolated
(34:43):
on someone like a you know, like a Darren Waller
and getting taken advantage of. Like it's it's really easy
to take advantage of guys who are not that quick
in this league. And so that's the only thing I
wonder about. But other than that, I think he's a
terrific player. I'll give you guys stand this thing, just
a little sneak peek at the one and only Rhet
Lewis mock draft that next week draft a lot of integrity. Yes, Um,
(35:09):
so you know we we obviously we kick off draft
week with my mock draft on Monday. That's just that's
just like a tradition. Um. So I've got I mean,
I think I'm gonna have Kyle Hamilton's going to the
Houston Texans at the overall pick, just because like I
can't necessarily. I just I have a hard time finding
a home for him in the top ten unless somebody
(35:30):
comes into the top ten to try to get him.
But then I'm like, are people really giving up draft
resources to trade into the top ten for a safety
um and and not to say that like it's not
an important position, but like they are, just I feel
like other need other positions of value, like tackles. I
think you can see teams trade up for edge rushers.
You're gonna see guys trade up for corners. Perhaps it's
(35:53):
it's it's a hard position to be dominated at today's
just because so many people by like too high safety. Yeah,
so many teams are afraid to blitz now. And like
you said, James, that being a chest pieces great, but
you've got to be playing chess so that can work.
I mean you brought up Isai Simmons, like I remember
talking advance shows if their defense coordinator about it, like
(36:14):
he's like, it's it's cool, but it's more work for me,
Like I would have that like that piece and that
that versatility, But then I gotta figure out how we're
gonna use you and then the other ten around you,
how it all fits together. But I do think like
there to have that impact. We were talking about Kansas
(36:35):
City and we're talking about you know, Tyron Matthew and
like Jeff, you and I have talked to enough players
who are like, if he's not on the field, the
defense doesn't work well. If we're talking about importance, there
are some situations and I think that scheme fit exactly
his importance. Like they couldn't disguise what they wanted to disguise.
They couldn't hide him in terms of blitzing and something
it could just because of a specific skill set. But
I think that's you know why these pieces. An addresser
(36:58):
fits everywhere right, like tackles fit every everywhere. Essentially, you
got to find the right fit in find the right fit, flourish.
Don't find the right fit, you're kind of failing. How
do we make Yep, that's just one thought. Um, but
that was we got a sneak peek. Yeah, and so
(37:19):
you know, like maybe I should tease that at the
top of the show back and change, Like Charles Davis
is mock draft, like every pick like you have to
have like people on NFL now like wondering what was
he thinking here? Oh, the other day not the favorite. Yeah,
(37:40):
I like that. What are you thinking here? Charles like, yeah,
I'll show you guys my mentions once that thing drops
on Monday of draft week, so look forward to that.
That'll be a whole episode. Just gonna read mean tweets
to rhet following his mock draft. So that appreciate your insights.
Let me read a couple of them too if I can. Yes,
(38:01):
there's your g MF reference to close it except this,
All right, that's gonna do it for this episode of
NFL Inside Report. Thanks so much for being with us.
Reminder to download, rate, and review our show and the
I Heart Radio app on Apple podcasts or wherever you
(38:23):
get your podcast We appreciate you guys being along for
the ride. For our producers Thomas Warren, Tim Paracca, and
Harrison Sanford. I'm your host, Bret Lewis. We'll catch you
next time. NFL Inside Report is the production of the
NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more official
podcast from the NFL, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
NFL Inside Report is a production of the NFL in
partnership with I Heart Radio. I'm Red Lewis and this
is NFL Inside Report. Over the course of the last
couple of weeks, we have reset the rosters in the
(00:27):
NFL and now in less than ten days, teams across
the NFL will be making their additions via the draft
in Las Vegas, and that is where we are shifting
our focus here today. Reminder to subscribe, rate review our
show on the I Heart Radio app on Apple Podcast
wherever you get your pods. We certainly appreciate it. And
with us today a couple of guys that have been
on the ground for much of this pre draft process
(00:48):
here for pro days to combine and essentially anywhere in between.
Talking to James Palmer and Jeffrey Chitta. Gentlemen, great to
be back here with you, and Jeff's got a great
piece out right now. Um on pass rushers as they
try to make this transition to the NFL from the
college game. Will into that here in a little bit,
but I want to start with some of the wide
receiver situations that have gone on recently. Both you guys
(01:11):
cover the Chiefs a bunch the Tyreek Hill move one
of the biggest of the off season, sending him to Miami.
He then gets the big money deal. Right. Davante Adams,
similar situation, leaves Green Bay. It's another huge contract there
in Las Vegas. And now there's like that next round
of guys that are looking for that kind of money. Right.
Forty Niners, Deebo, Samuel Commanders, Terry McLaurin, Titans A J. Brown,
(01:33):
who has made some interesting moves on social media recently.
Let me start with you, James here real quick, just
on on this phenomenon. Are you into or not into
the reading into the scrubbing of social media from a
players are scrubbing of a team and all of their
information from a player's social media platforms. I thought, all
(01:54):
of a sudden the question came out, and I was like,
are we on Good Morning Football? Is this? Like if
you were? I'm not. Again, Do I need a whiteboard
to tell you what I'm thinking about? You know? Is
am I in with this? Listen? This is the generation
that we're dealing with and the generation that is making
up a large portion of the NFL. And this is
how apparently communication is. Uh, this is how you tell
(02:19):
everyone how you're feeling. And I think in terms of
the receiver spot, the more people I talked to, it's
like the Christian Kirk deal is the one that kind
of skewed everything in terms of how this landscape was going.
Not that it was like obviously not the biggest, but
it was like whoa, and then everything kind of happened
a little bit after that. I just think what's happening
is now we're seeing and you know, I live in Denver.
(02:40):
Russell Wilson more or less told the Seattle Seahawks, I'm
gonna play for the Broncos. Let's make that happen. And
players are getting more power, and players are making their
voices known. Jeff like clearer and clear about this is
where I stand. This is where I want something to happen.
But we also have seen you can fix it pretty
quickly with a new contract or everybody we find. Eventually,
(03:00):
it seems to mend itself quickly, even though people like
to floice opinion in terms of social media about where
they stand with where their pleasures are with their contract. Yeah,
I think it's uh. I think it's that, and I
also feel like it's the players can read and they
can see what's coming behind them. They know that this draft,
for example, has got six or seven receivers who are
(03:23):
first round talents. They saw what happened with Justin Jefferson,
they saw what happened with Jamaar Chase. Obviously, they saw
what happened with Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams and those
guys as well. But there's there's a small window here
to make your money, to make that big money out
because if you're a GM and you're talking about paying
a second second, excuse me, a second round pick, a
(03:45):
guy's in the last sums contract now big money. You're
also probably looking at guys like Garrett Wilson or Drake London, uh,
people like that, Chris olav and saying well, I could
just go with this guy, but we just find as well. Yeah,
And and that's part of where I wanted to get
into because James, you saw one of those wide receivers
that could be In that discussion down in Alabama's Road
(04:05):
with Jamison Williams, what was the since you got down
there um about him as a as a prospect that
teams might see, as you know, a high level player
that provides a little bit more cost control than maybe
some of the wide receivers that are established in the league. Yeah,
I had a goal of going down there. Rent I
was like, who in the right mind would want to
leave the Ohio State University thinking? And so now I'm joking,
(04:28):
but that was actually when I talked to evaluators, like
they were kind of curious, going, where's the competitiveness? Right?
Did you not want to beat out Chris Lave, Garrett Wilson,
Jackson Smith and Jigba. It's a it's a huge lee,
crowded wide receiver room. Why did you leave? Right? And
And I kind of heard he didn't really like Ohio State.
That's kind of a bummer, But I didn't have anything
to do when I was down in Alabama finding out
(04:50):
with his competitiveness. And that was one of the things
when I got a chance to talk to Nick Saban
for a little while, was like one of the things
that he said, Jamo's competitiveness is kind of what made
their team special. And I had just pointed out to
me by a couple of teammates about the way practices
would go when he first got there first the first
day of practice he was with them, I was totally
was one versus ones. He catches the ball in the
middle of the field, there's two safeties about I don't know,
(05:12):
six ft apart from each other. He goes through without
even getting touched, And defensive players started asking guys in
the secondary like, are you guys Lofen like you were
going a d percent right, And they're like, yeah, yeah,
we were. He's just that much faster than we are.
And you're talking about a program like Alabama. But what
stood out to Saban and stood out the teammates, And
this is why Saban told me his demeanor is so
(05:33):
unique for the wide receiver to where he wants to
be a gunner on special teams. He wants to play
kickoff like they'd go ones versus once for a period.
And I think we've all known the reputation and the
stories of Alabama practices, right, and how they run and
how hard they work. They would go from that period
and then the very next period is a special teams period,
And I was told by teammates like they've watched him
(05:55):
sprint over to a special teams punt period and he'd
be the gunner coming down on punt immediately after he
was running deep balls with the first team offense and
they are like, jeez, this guy works like that type
of competitiveness, Saban told me is what made their team
kind of special. And I think I learned something about
him as an individual, and he has been going up
(06:15):
boards because the talent is ridiculous. But I think the
way that he in a lot of receivers, right, Jeffrey, like,
don't change the way your team vibes a lot of times, right,
That's not the position you usually look to when you're like, wow,
looks guys kind of holding things together. He has a
little bit of that. Yeah, And again you go back
to the guy that just mentioned Jamaar Chase and Justin Jefferson.
(06:36):
In the NFL, I think that what you're seeing in
the league is people looking for those kinds of talents
at that position now, players who can come and right
away and completely change the complexion of your franchise. I
do have to laugh, though, because he probably want to
be a gunner for Ohio State because if I have
plenty chance to do that job down there with a
lobby and those guys. But I give you credit for
(06:57):
bringing up his his his work, his work ethic. You
guy I do love that left him as a player. Yeah,
look at you two, and you know we're looking at
the Chiefs, who now have you know, two first round
picks right there, back to back as it currently stands,
and if they stick right there, I think they're gonna
be out of luck. Um with maybe the first five
wide receivers could be off the board by that time.
(07:18):
But Jeffrey, do you see that as a place that
they still want to go or do you feel like
they're set with the addition of Markquis, Balda Scantley, Jujue
Smith Schuster in company there in case, I think James
would attest to this. I think that when I look
at the Chiefs going for receiver in the first round,
a lot depends on what's there. I don't think that
(07:40):
as aggressive as Brett beaches, he would go up to
draft a receiver at that spot. I think you'd go
up to get to edge rusher. But I do feel
like they have a certain type of receiver they like
to have there, and so guys who were more like
the Drake London's, the bigger, the six four pound guys,
the trailer burke type guys, even though they're athletic guys,
they just don't fit their mold. I think Jamison Williams
(08:01):
is that kind of player. I think Chris O. Lobby
would be a great player in that in that system
because it was route running and it's just his sophistication
as intelligence, his i q um. But I think that
they'll sit there and see what's available to them, and
if they don't like it, they'll buy trade back and
take one in the second round. Again. All these guys
we just talked about, the Deebo Samuels, the A. J. Brown's,
(08:22):
the people of that nature, Um Terry McLaurin. Those guys
were all second third round picks. And so you can
sit there and find a pretty good player at that position.
You don't have to go up and get just the
big name guys. Right now, Jeff and I were texting
about this yesterday. I think we both in factly believe
that Brett Vach is not sitting there with both those picks.
They're not gonna pick in both of those spots. I
(08:42):
think we talked about this on on NFL now like that,
the need of pass rush with the Chiefs, especially with
everybody else's pass rush in the division is just a
monster monster need um. Chris Alave actually has a similar
mindset to Jamison Williams. I were talking to Terry McLaren
about it this past year because I love to talk
about my buck eyes. So I asked him, you know what,
(09:04):
you stay chat room. Yeah, we're always just you know,
down here at the bus. But he said, he's like,
he's like, he came up the same way I came up.
They're really close, Terry and Chris Lave and and he's
like he did the same things I did. Like and
I remember because I watched every game, like Jeff watches
every Michigan game. I'm surprised that we're able to get
able to watch the Ohio State this year. I watched
(09:26):
some watch on repeat. I watched the last ten years.
I watched the last ten years on repeat. Anyway, Uh, well,
he's like, he's like, Chris did the same things I did.
And he was blocking punts as a freshman, and he was,
you know, on special teams, and he's like, he did
it the same way I did it. And I think
it makes you a better player at the next level.
And James and Williams is kind of the same sense.
(09:47):
Both those guys would fit in Kansas City. Rend I,
I I'm just curious what they're thinking is with both
of those picks. And remember they have two second rounders
and two third rounders, so he has the ammunition to
manipulate and move for anybody that they really see that
as a as a distinct target target for them. Yeah,
and it will get to perhaps some of those edge
rusher possibilities that the Chiefs could see down there at
(10:08):
the bottom of the first round when we get when
we get a little bit deeper into this episode here,
especially with Jeff uh put that piece out on NFL
dot com about the pass rushers. But I didn't want
to get back to Alabama here for a second and
kind of relating back to this situation that the Chiefs
are in, because part of the reason they were in
that Tyreek Hill situation is you had the one year
franchise tag that you had to pay Orlando Brown, Um,
(10:30):
you know, with with where he was at one able
to get the long term deal done in time, and
so you know, you're committed to that number, and and
that's where they were at, and so you know, Tyreek
Hills on his way. Um. Evan Neil is by the way,
you know, one of the top two, if not the
top guy depending on who you ask um in terms
of tackles in this draft class. And you got to
see him down there, in addition to guys that Christian
(10:51):
Harris James, who are gonna be potentially you know early
day two picks. Just your thoughts on some of those
other Alabama prospects down there from your time at Tuscalusa. Yeah,
for Evan Neil is a different cat, and I mean
that in a good way. I mean, I've never seen
a guy go through this whole pro day wearing a watch,
uh the entire time, especially when you're going through all
those past blocking drills and I'm like, He's like, I'm
keeping track of my calories. He told me like, I
(11:12):
just want to see how much I burned during this,
during this lurkout. And he didn't want to do that.
You know that he didn't do any of the drills
at the combine. He wanted to do them all all
down there. And I mean to be six seven three
forty five and move the way he moves and to
play multiple positions at Alabama, very few programs probably would
have a guy like that play different spots in their
career on the offensive line. But what really stood out
(11:32):
to me talking to him, I'll be outside of his
intelligence and the in the type of makeup he has
in terms of character, is he had zero penalties this
past season six total for his three years starting at Alabama.
So I think that to me and Jeff and I
we were talking about this before the podcast started, about
(11:53):
the edge rushers and raw talent and and being a
tactician of your craft. If you don't have any penalties
like that, that that shows you're coming in as a
pretty polished player because you know how to play the position.
On top of the physical attributes that he has. He'd
love to go number one. They haven't had a number
one pick from Alabama I think in seventy four years,
so he would like that to happen. Um, what was that?
(12:16):
What's that? What's that guy? You know? When I was
doing Alabama as a quarterback? Um? Yeah, a long time ago. Yeah,
well I name it was was not NFL. That's it
doesn't technically count if you want to skew the staffs
the way I just did. But um, but yes, there
you go. Did you get that off the top of
(12:41):
your head, you google that or do you still use it?
Just it just took a little. It took a minute
to circle back through the filing system in here. So
I gotta I got it. I got it, and then
the other guy real quick. I think like Christian Harris
and I went to l s U the next week
and people were talking about him. I talked to a
head coach that was like, he's gonna he's gonna play
inside and he's gonna play for an eternity because they
(13:02):
love his makeup, they love the athletic says m he has.
I talked to Harris for a long time Abama. He
was like, dude, I was the safety and a running
back and I'm at a camp and Hugh Freeze pulls
me over to another drill. It's like, hey, play linebacker.
He's like, within a few weeks, I'm getting linebacker offers,
and in two months he has to prep to play
linebacker to start at Alabama and ends up playing for
(13:24):
three years after Hugh Freeze at a camp tells him
to go, hey, let why don't we try at linebacker?
And now everybody is really really around the league. His
name keeps coming up. When I talked to people just
because of his makeup. He's he's just he just gets it.
He's so professional in a sense and just understands kind
of what what would be asked of him. And there's
there's some teams that are would be really really excited
(13:46):
to have him him one day to just an interesting,
interesting kid with the transition he went through in the
way he was able to make that happen so quickly
and then play there's other guys breathing down your neck
in Alabama and just move into linebacker and play for
three years is crazy. You know you mentioned Evan Nel.
When I was at Michigan's Pro day. I was talking
to some scouts there about him and they kind of
(14:06):
mentioned the irony of effect that in a different year
he wouldn't be probably the hands on the odds on
number one pick just because of the talent. Everybody down
there was raving about him. But you look at the
Jaguar situation having Cam Robinson on a franchise tag, Like
I had a couple of personnel guys just telling me
that there's no way they can't take Ade Hutchinson number one,
(14:26):
or that was treybon Walker being to talk. I think
it will still be Hutchinson, but just the feeling in
that camp was that one. This is a weird draft
because you might have ten picks go by without having
somebody touching the football get drafted, which rarely happened. Uh
Lee Willis gets in there, Garrett Wilson. But the fact
that Aid Hutchinson, a guy that a couple of years
(14:48):
ago was just a good player trying to see if
he could play at a high level get into the
first round, might end up being the number one pick.
I mean it's like, as much as he's very as
much as James raid about Ohio State, I would worry
about Michigan now. And the fact that, um, you know,
you talk about d to Send, you talk about Daxton Hill,
you talk about David Ojabo. Obviously a tough story there
(15:09):
at their pro day going down with Achilles tear Um.
The town they have coming into this draft is pretty
impressive as well. One last note on Harris, I thought
this is wild because we always love combine measurements. So
when I was talking to him at the combine, he
his broad jumped with eleven feet right, he runs a
four four four, and Christian goes, dude, I never brought
jumped over ten before the combine. I was like, what happened?
(15:32):
He goes the combine has a measurement line at nine
ft and eleven feet. I thought the eleven stripe was
the ten ft stripe. And he's like, so I was
just jumping for that. It's like, and maybe when the
lights come on, I just played better because he's like,
I also never ran a four or four four in
any of my training. He's so he's like, I was
blowing he we were all blown away by his combine performance.
(15:53):
He was like, I had no idea who's gonna get
any of those numbers because I never measured at any
of those numbers. But it's kind of interesting though, because
that's kind of the discussion that we've been having on
path of the Draft a bunch, and we talked about
it this week, you know, with these off the ball linebackers,
because you know, like you're looking at a guy like
Devin Woydum or maybe a guy like Nikobe Deane from
Georgia um as potential first round picks. But then you
(16:16):
see guys like Christian Christian Harris, Troy Anderson from Montana State,
Chad Movement from Wyoming, and quay Walker from Georgia, Like, like,
all right, can we get like a similar type player
at a better value in the second round? And so
that'll be an interesting storyline, uh to see play out there.
But Jeff talked a little bit about what's going on
in Michigan kind of becoming I think what Aidan hutcheson
(16:37):
his term pass rush you now is that it used
to be they had that that title, right, but they
don't have any They go, buddy, now they've all gotten um,
it's a finess program up there now down there, yet
check out the highest paid dbs three of the top
the top three. We're gonna Jeff sort this thing out
(17:00):
and take a quick break and come right back on
into the port with another look at the pass rushers
in this class. I'm back here with the NFL and
(17:20):
side report. James Palmer, Jeffrey Chadia back here with us,
and Jeffrey has been working on a piece about pass rushers,
especially as they make the transition now from the college
game to the pro game. And look at I've mentioned
this also on Path to the Draft. Like you know,
last year we had the quarterbacks go one to three, right,
and this feels like the opposition party's response to the
(17:42):
state of the Union. Now we might get edge rushers
go one to three and this year's draft, right, because look,
you know those those are the two positions that are
you know, arguably at the at the highest premium in
the NFL. Here at this point of course, there's no
argument about quarterbacks, um, but yeah, the pass rusher is
certainly taken on that level of importance in this league.
Let me just toss talk a little bit about that,
(18:05):
you know, the piece that you got out right now,
and Jeff, like what you learned in your study about
these guys in this position, Well, it started off really
and to be honest with you, started off as a
day withd Ojabo da Fe always story because those two
played together at the Blair Academy in New Jersey and
Ojabo saw the success that Alway had as a player,
decided to play football at the age of fifteen. And
(18:27):
then I went to Michigan's pro day and Ojabo towards
Achilles and that kind of killed that story. So we
were kind of scrambling, and so we started looking at
some of the other players in the draft of that position,
guys like Boya Mafe and Bikte and you know Ojabo,
George Carloftis, and we realized a lot of these guys
picked up football pretty late um or came from the
country is to pick it up. Or you had guys
(18:48):
like Jermaine Johnson who had one big year, And so
we started looking at some of these players and looking
at it always and started saying, well, got man's look,
a lot of a lot of players are coming in
this league without having the typical background or having being
as well rounded at this position, and just talking to
a different personnel people, they agree that what you're seeing
in the NFL nowadays is a lot more passwords was
(19:09):
coming in who were raw, largely because they're putting better
at the position. You're seeing more spread formations and r
p o s and college of the team just saying
go get the quarterback. And what you're getting is guys
like people I just mentioned who are having great success,
who want to skill the defending the run or some
of the other things you want from defensive lineman, edge rushers,
(19:30):
outside linebackers, but have a huge upside to NFL teams
and James you know this year you're in the town
where bon Miller was dominant player for forever. They've just
picked up Randy Gregory and Adam Bradley Chubb. It's just
like the way this league has gone now, with the
way the passing has gone, with what quarterback player has gone,
everything now is about getting after quarterbacks with four down
lineman and making it happen. And these guys that I
(19:52):
just mentioned have a great future because of that. Yeah,
you have you mentioned four down lineman making sure you
get a quarterbacks there. I mean, that's that's the way
the league's becoming. Right, Like we were talking Ravens or
we're supposed to talk Ravens on TV and it didn't
have it. But like they've struggled to get after the
quarterback as you mentioned, like like they've had to blitz
(20:14):
over the last couple of years to get pressure, and
that's hurt them late in games, right, That's hurt them
in close games in the fourth quarter because the quarterbacks
like Mahomes and company can can destroy you when you
have to bring extra pressure. We look at what Cincinnati
was able to do against Patrick Mahomes by getting pressure
and kind of playing the position, playing the pass rush
a little bit differently. It's funny you mentioned where I'm
at in Denver. It's like, I remember the appeal of
(20:35):
Bradley Chubb just five years ago as the number five
overall pick was mostly because he was so skilled at
the position. He had multiple pass rush moves, he had
the ability to come at you with a variety of
things to where he had some things that these other
guys were talking about didn't have because he was coming
in polished. But I think players like Micah Parsons, it's like, Oh,
(20:55):
a guy can just come in that's an unbelievable athlete
and just be like, hey, go get the quarterback and
the sacks NFL quarterbacks like on a regular basis. I
think we have to remember that, like that's not the norm.
But Ratt, Jeff and I were like joking, like it's
it is what coaches think they thinking about quarterbacks to
that's why the same guy's keeping it. Well, I can
fix it because the raw talents there, but I know
(21:15):
how to get to him. And I think that's the
thought of I can get this raw town into my
building as a pass rusher, and then we add the
moves like and we add a variety of moves and
and he goes to the pass Rush summit, like the
von Miller and company put on like and we can
develop it then they have, you know, the athletic ability
to start off with. It's wild how that's kind of
changed in a sense to where it's funny five years
(21:37):
ago Bradley so polished, we need that, and now it's
it's a little bit of a different thinking because of
the athletes. Let me hit Jeff on one piece of
the story you were talking about boy Mafe. Did he
tell you the story or did you find out about
the story about how he got his first scholarship offer
and how he was honoring his commitment to the track
team when his high school football coach had set up
(22:01):
a workout for their football players in front of a
certain college coaching staff or whatever. But the track coach
wouldn't let him out of track practice to go to
that football showcase, you know, for for college. And then
and so he's literally running on the track outside of
the football field right that goes around the football field
(22:22):
while all of their while all the other football players
are doing their workout and the college coaches are all
turning away from the football, this huge kid pass everybody
on the track. He told me that recently. A couple
of got a couple of months ago. Now he is
such an interesting prospect, isn't he phenomenal potential? He's fascinating.
I love his story too, because just like a Jobo
(22:45):
when Nepique, I mean, he's his parents came from Nigeria,
immigrated here, and they had a tradition in their family
of sending every kid there four kids. Every kid had
to go spend the eighth grade in Nigeria at boarding school,
and so he left. He wasn't like you to play
a little peewee football with his buddies, but I think serious.
So he left and he was just like, I'm not,
(23:05):
you know, gonna go out here and see what's gonna happen.
Maybe I'll play some soccer, play a little basketball when
I come back. He was five six when he left.
They came back and he was six four, and before
that wouldn't let him play. He grew alo one year
one year. So he came back and the dad was
that The parents were like, oh my god, I guess
he can play football. Not because he's big enough. And
(23:26):
he's got a brother who played college for small Collus
football in Minnesota and a cousin who played uh small
college football, and they both saw him and they said, man,
you could be you could be at least a couge player.
Maybe the NFL play it with your side and athletic ability.
And he was so wrong when he started playing with
a freshman in high school in Minnesota that it was
like he was playing tag out there. He didn't have
any sense or any instincts. But again with that cousin,
(23:48):
the brother people in his corner, he just blossomed. And
that's the thing, James, It's like you see um in
the NFL nowadays. You see these guys come out of
nowhere and the way the game is being played, it's
so much easier for them to prosper. I mean, this
is a kid who was a three star recruit, didn't
know what he was doing with the fresh in high school.
Now he's about to be a first round pick, be
able to Jobo came here starting to play football and
(24:10):
you know, fifteen, lived in Scotland, grew up in Nigeria,
and there's something about I think, you know, maybe it's
a cultural thing here too. That's what um Uh boys
cousin said, was that Nigeria is such a militant culture,
that football is a militant game. The ability to pick
things up quickly. Sometimes it helps coming from someplace else
and not being caught up in all the hype of
(24:31):
what American football is. Like sure, I'm gonna get that,
I say, I have two quick questions. One, how many
questions do you think his parents asked him to make
sure like the right child came like that size difference
to be like are you my son? Like mind blowing?
And who is this track coach? Like, dude, you coach
(24:55):
high school? Like no, man, we gotta meet Friday. There's
no like have a chance to help your you know,
college prospects by any means, no way you're not allowed,
which is you got the last laugh right exactly. But
to just point too with the way this is trending
in a lot of I have sadly have not been
able to read the story yet, which is a bummer. Um.
(25:18):
But but Saban said this to me, like the game
has played in so much space now right, that that
is such an advantage if you have that athletic ability
and in the technical aspect of everything happening right in here,
isn't maybe his neat because you can play out in
space and you can just find a way to make
a play. It does change the way you look at players.
(25:39):
He told me that it has changed the way my
guys coming out are perceived by NFL guys because of
the way the NFL games playing in space. Is why
he was saying, Christian Harris is a guy that that
NFL teams should really like because in space, without athletic ability,
it's it's it's an advantage. That's what's happening with some
of these other spots too. And we certainly expect the
addressers to kind of dominate the top ten of the
(26:01):
first round. I mean, like you could get minimum four
off in the ten picks, you know, with with Hutchinson,
Trayvon Walker, Cabon Thibodeau and Jeremy Johnson from Florida State
that you all mentioned there, and then maybe another two
or three before the round is over. Like I mean,
it could go in the first round. I think a
pretty good I think someone could pick a flower on him.
(26:23):
Sure he remember what the cowboy cowboys are picking in
the mid twenties. Remember what they did with Jalen Smith
in the second round a couple of years ago, after
the devastating knee injury. Um, you know, and and it
was for them in the near term, right, correct, Thank you?
All right, James, you were also at l s U
Pro Day, which kind of gave you a unique perspective
on on two guys with top ten potential in this class,
(26:45):
but only one of them was actually from L s U. Yeah,
And it's funny because they're very different in terms of
the way they're perceived by all of these evaluators, right.
I mean, Derek Stingley is like Pro Day was maybe
the most anticipated pro day of this offseason, right because
of what happened the last two years, playing just ten
games after two thousand nine, team tape essentially shows him
(27:06):
as a first round pick as a freshman, really and
then you know, there's so many question marks. And this
is what I got being there and talking about there
are teams that are terrified of Derek Ston, that are like,
I'm not gonna touch him. Like there, I can't forget
the two years after. And I tried to dig on
with him a little bit. Uh, he didn't really want
(27:27):
to talk about it, honestly, about the two years and
obviously injuries are part of it. But then there's the
other aspect of it where everybody you talked like the
talent is off the charts, Like the footwork is incredible,
the ball skills are out of this world. I I
just Scout walked by me when he's going through his
drills that Brandon Stanley was essentially like halfway through started
running himself. He was so intrigued by Stanley, like a
(27:49):
Scott just walked by me on a ball that goes
up and he makes a plan. He's like his ball
skills just phenomenal, and I'm like, yeah, Like it's just
he stands out like with the way he moves, it's
so effortless, you know, coming off the list. Frank, we
have to remember though, he like only preparing for these
combine drills and and and stuff for three weeks before
(28:10):
he performed at the pro day in terms of being
cleared to do all those things, and he just like
it was so easy. You know. Everybody has a routines,
like you know, they're they're nineteen different, like our movements
before they jump up and do the birth like all
these different things. He like literally just walked onto the vert,
jumped up and did it, walked over the broad jump
was like ready and jumps and goeses like and he
got every number almost to the inch. Talking to people
(28:33):
close to him that he knew he was gonna get
it was insane, like thirty eight and a half, he
thought he jumped thirty eight. He did tend to in
the broad he thought he'd have ten three, like four
three seven. He thought that's exactly what he was going
to get. The talent is so so they're some evaluators
believe like when the program makes a little bit of
a turn and you played at that high level and
(28:54):
you're at a championship caliber, like sometimes your play can
go down. Is the desire there? Like there's all these
questions that teams are trying to get answered, but they
can't deny Jeff the town that was like the most
you know, I popping aspect of him, And I think
if you just watch him verse Jamar Chase in practice
that tape from twenty nineteen, you're like, okay, like this
is worth the try. I think Clyde Edward Hilaire is
(29:17):
here playing in Kansas City and he was on that
champion team with these guys, and somebody's unearthed some footage
of Joe Burrow talking about the most FREAKUS athletes on
that l s U team. Number one guy was Edwards Hilayer.
Still don't understand how that happened. The other guy, Jathan Jefferson.
Jamar chays that Derek Stingley. It's amazing that that name
(29:40):
was put out there, but not not a slam on,
but just sort of an amazing rebel ation at the time.
But but the point about the cornerback play, you know,
talking to personnel people on the league as part of
the store I was doing the other side of that
whole pass for us. Emphasis is just that it's so
hard to get guys who can excel in man coverage
(30:01):
today who can compete with the Jamaar Chases of the world,
with the Justin Jeffersons, and that it's like teams that
are so they wanted. Even when they get guys who
have that ability, they still want to play off, They
want to play more zone, and they want to do
more things that are more cautious as far as defending
the past, because as we've just said, the quarterbacks are
(30:21):
so good, but there's so many talented receivers out there
nowadays that it got like Derek Stanley, even with the
injury history, even with all the questions here, can still
end up being a top fifteen pick just because of
the potential that the need there. I mean, I don't
want to, you know, get on Denzel Ward here for
the big conducty sign, but my god, they got big
a huge amount of money for being I don't seem
(30:44):
as the same player as Jaylie Ramsey, but what he
can do for a secondary we're talking about here, what
they're extily can do for a secondary. Just give somebody
a chance to win a win on one battle with
a receiver real quick on this. I'm and this is
what I just thought of this now. And I'm not
sure if this is hurting Stanley or not, but like
you look at Sauce Gardner the other top corner with
him and to not allow a touchdown in three years
(31:08):
and starting to go all right, here's one guy that
never took a play off. It appears to a guy
where it's like what happened the last two years. I'm
wondering if the comparison hurts Derek Stingley at all, right,
because of what you're seeing with soft Nur going like, oh,
this is a guy that just every single play. It's
the end of the world for him. There's only um,
(31:29):
you know about four teams that are going to have
to make that decision because it's quite possible that sauce
Gardner is off the board. Um. But but yeah, when
you look at a guy like Trent McDuffie from Washington,
who's you know, like a technician at the position, um,
and you know it's hardly challenged this last year at
Washington cause he's that good, you know, Like, are like,
all right, I've got I've got kind of a what
(31:50):
I feel like it's a sure thing here. But maybe
a guy with a much higher ceiling that is talking
about which right, Like, then everybody should be picking Derek Stanley,
like because the ceiling is is up here for him,
or everyone should be picking Trayvon Walker and the jack
should really be considering Trayvon Walker over Radon Hutchinson. It's
the production, projection and the whole thing. But and there's
(32:13):
enough teams, right, I've talked to their like I think
when he gets to the league, he'll be a superstar
with death all right, last one here, because the head
coach of the l s U Tigers is Brian Kelly Um,
who knows very little about the players that were there
at l s U competing at the pro day. Um,
but you did, being the you know, professional reporter that
(32:33):
you are, really start connecting the dots back to his
time at Notre Dame where he has another high level
prospect in this draft. Yeah, and Kyle Hamilton's. And that's
what I wanted to talk to him about. It was
kind of the chess piece and that that was his
analogy before I got to it. But he was like,
he told me, he's like, he's your rook, he's your night,
he's your whatever you want it to be. Make moves
on the field that nobody else can make. And he said,
(32:55):
you combine that with his off the charts intelligence, it
allows him to be a piece that in really each
game week of preparation, you can use him almost in
a different manner. And he was like, in the NFL game, like,
how is that not needed because of the talent that
comes in, Like one week it's a Travis Kelsey, right Chevan,
the next week it's you know, it's somebody else on
(33:17):
the outside that he might need to help it work.
The way offenses have these these talented chest pieces on
their side of the ball. I'm curious why that position,
like because everybody said, well, don't take a safety that high. Well, like, well,
if these like George Kittle's and Travis Kelsey's are so
unstoppable on offense, why isn't that piece that can guard
(33:37):
them more valuable on the defensive side of the ball.
Because he told me, like the way you can use him,
it could could change each week. So I don't get
why that's not something that teams would absolutely value at
the first half of the first round. Yeah, I think
the only thing about Kyle Hamilton's that that scares me
is the forty time. And that's the thing that everybody
(33:59):
talks about when you're running four or five six or
someone said as slow as four seven, Um that that
that's that's eye popping. And I think at his size,
the best comparison you have with Sean Taylor, who was
a freakish athlete who was like legitimately like a four
or three four four dude who could do all types
of things. And the thing that scares me about Hamilton's
(34:21):
is just you end up having a situation like with
Isaiah Simmons that came out Clemson um a few years ago. Yeah,
position listen can do all these different things, but then
it's like where is the excelling? And I hope that
it works out. I think it has to be the
right scheme. I think it's got to be the right
coach who understands I take advantage of that, because if
it's not, then I could easily see him being isolated
(34:43):
on someone like a you know, like a Darren Waller
and getting taken advantage of. Like it's it's really easy
to take advantage of guys who are not that quick
in this league. And so that's the only thing I
wonder about. But other than that, I think he's a
terrific player. I'll give you guys stand this thing, just
a little sneak peek at the one and only Rhet
Lewis mock draft that next week draft a lot of integrity. Yes, Um,
(35:09):
so you know we we obviously we kick off draft
week with my mock draft on Monday. That's just that's
just like a tradition. Um. So I've got I mean,
I think I'm gonna have Kyle Hamilton's going to the
Houston Texans at the overall pick, just because like I
can't necessarily. I just I have a hard time finding
a home for him in the top ten unless somebody
(35:30):
comes into the top ten to try to get him.
But then I'm like, are people really giving up draft
resources to trade into the top ten for a safety
um and and not to say that like it's not
an important position, but like they are, just I feel
like other need other positions of value, like tackles. I
think you can see teams trade up for edge rushers.
You're gonna see guys trade up for corners. Perhaps it's
(35:53):
it's it's a hard position to be dominated at today's
just because so many people by like too high safety. Yeah,
so many teams are afraid to blitz now. And like
you said, James, that being a chest pieces great, but
you've got to be playing chess so that can work.
I mean you brought up Isai Simmons, like I remember
talking advance shows if their defense coordinator about it, like
(36:14):
he's like, it's it's cool, but it's more work for me,
Like I would have that like that piece and that
that versatility, But then I gotta figure out how we're
gonna use you and then the other ten around you,
how it all fits together. But I do think like
there to have that impact. We were talking about Kansas
(36:35):
City and we're talking about you know, Tyron Matthew and
like Jeff, you and I have talked to enough players
who are like, if he's not on the field, the
defense doesn't work well. If we're talking about importance, there
are some situations and I think that scheme fit exactly
his importance. Like they couldn't disguise what they wanted to disguise.
They couldn't hide him in terms of blitzing and something
it could just because of a specific skill set. But
I think that's you know why these pieces. An addresser
(36:58):
fits everywhere right, like tackles fit every everywhere. Essentially, you
got to find the right fit in find the right fit, flourish.
Don't find the right fit, you're kind of failing. How
do we make Yep, that's just one thought. Um, but
that was we got a sneak peek. Yeah, and so
(37:19):
you know, like maybe I should tease that at the
top of the show back and change, Like Charles Davis
is mock draft, like every pick like you have to
have like people on NFL now like wondering what was
he thinking here? Oh, the other day not the favorite. Yeah,
(37:40):
I like that. What are you thinking here? Charles like, yeah,
I'll show you guys my mentions once that thing drops
on Monday of draft week, so look forward to that.
That'll be a whole episode. Just gonna read mean tweets
to rhet following his mock draft. So that appreciate your insights.
Let me read a couple of them too if I can. Yes,
(38:01):
there's your g MF reference to close it except this,
All right, that's gonna do it for this episode of
NFL Inside Report. Thanks so much for being with us.
Reminder to download, rate, and review our show and the
I Heart Radio app on Apple podcasts or wherever you
(38:23):
get your podcast We appreciate you guys being along for
the ride. For our producers Thomas Warren, Tim Paracca, and
Harrison Sanford. I'm your host, Bret Lewis. We'll catch you
next time. NFL Inside Report is the production of the
NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more official
podcast from the NFL, visit the I Heart Radio app,
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!