April 16, 2025 • 29 mins
With the NFL Draft just a week away, Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks discuss what they’re hearing around the league and break down how limited the ideal landing spots are for this year’s signal-callers. Later, they go over Bucky’s top five draft prospects by position and touch on one player they personally value highly, but aren't hearing the same excitement about from decision-makers around the league.
Move the Sticks is a part of the NFL Podcasts Network.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the sticks. DJ, Buck
with you Buck. We are we're closing in.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Dude, I mean we hear DJ.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
The conversations and stuff are coming fast and furious. Uh
is lying season, so you're trying to kind of figure
out what's real and what's fade. But it's an exciting
time because we got less than a week. Well, we
got a week before the draft, and we'll kind of
have all of it put to bed soon.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
In we've got we've got a bunch of ground of
cover day, We've got Bucks Top five, so we're gonna
jump into that. But before we get there, let's kick
things off here. It's time for Hot or Not, brought
to you by with Sabby Hot Cloud Storage. You mentioned
kind of the the rumors and the information that's floating around.
I joked that during this time of the year, I
start my day every day with a cup of coffee
(00:51):
and three lives. You know, like what you're hearing from teams, like,
that's that's kind of where we are. But uh, you know,
but to me, it is interesting, you know, making phone
calls around the league, and you know, the main conversation
that I have with teams is who's going to be
there when we pick, Like that's that's all they want
(01:12):
to know. That's what they're looking to get from us
during this time of the year. And then in return,
like I get some you know, medical character stuff on
guys that could fall could drops, which is helpful as
we get towards the draft, and you kind of get
a sense of teams that are picking in different areas
of the draft, where they think guys outside of their
range are going, and how they have them stacked, how
(01:33):
their coaches viewed them. And one one, I don't say
it's a rumor. I think it's a fact. Buck in
talking to teams. It's somewhat like this in years where
teams have quarterbacks that those teams tend to kind of
pooh pooh the class. But man, I don't remember it
like this, Like there's a lot of teams out there
who think cam Ward is the only first round quarterback.
(01:54):
Like there's a lot of teams and those aren't the
quarterback teams. So take them for what it is.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
So let's let's be real because I think sometimes DJ
we've been doing the media part of it for so
long that sometimes it's easy when we're on TV to
get away from the true ideals and the true values
that we have as scouts. And I'll be honest when
I go through and I look at my grades on
cam Ward Shoulder all those guys, what that would rate
(02:21):
in a in a draft meeting room. Bottom of the
first round grades, That's what it would be. Now, we've
talked about in recent years, like guys get pushed up whatever,
which is more of a media thing or whatever. But
if your team in need of a quarterback and cam
Ward is the best quarterback on your board, you have
to take him whenever you're picking.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
That's just what it is. But in terms of how.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
These guys stack up, how they stack up traditionally over
those guys, I'm gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I don't believe anybody in this class is a transcendent quarterback.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
There's no one that I would have that would that
I would suggest has the wild factor that the elite
of the elite quarterback prospects that we've drafted half.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's just a fact.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
But every year is a year that you have to evaluate,
and these are the quarterbacks in this class. And so
you have to figure out who's the best of the class.
And if I need one and I haven't gotten one
in free agency, I got to take one, and I
got to make it. I got to make the best
out of what I get, meaning I get them, I
got to surround them with the other stuff to allow
(03:23):
him to be successful.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And that's just how it goes.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
But yeah, like I wouldn't say that this is a
class that they hail like the nineteen eighty three class
with you know, Jim Kelly and Elwick.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It's not a class. So that's that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, And though in regards to that the sentiment we're
a little over week out, this is the where we are.
This is everybody that I've talked to, and kind of
looking at the situation, I would feel comfortable saying this.
I believe that cam Ward at this point in time,
is the only quarterback who will be a team's first
(03:58):
pick in this draft, if that makes sense. In other words, Jackson,
dart Shade, or Sanders I think will be a team
second pick. Now that doesn't mean they don't go in
the first round. They could easily teams come back up
and take them. But they're gonna hold up the jersey
and have the press conference with another player first, and
then they're gonna introduce the quarterback they took with their
next pick. Like, that's that's where it looks now a
(04:19):
week out. If that, if that, if you're if you're
tracking with me there.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I'm tracking with you because I think here's the other thing.
And I'm gonna ask you this, DJ, who are the
elites in the draft?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Like?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
How many guys do you think are the elite prospects
in this draft class? I said they were five, but
I said they were five and in whatever order you
want to list them. I had Travis Hunter, Abdua Carter,
I think Aston Genty is there, Tyler Warren, and then
I put Jalen Walker.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Now, and I had Love the only one I had
in that mix with Love one I had.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Okay, So that's six. So so that's that's a reasonable expectation.
So just think about it. In most years we talked
about eight maybe ten being elite. We talked about eighteen
to twenty two first rounders. What that says is this
is a draft that doesn't have like a's and a plus.
It's more of an anus Beef's draft and depending upon
(05:11):
what you need and how it fits. That's how it
works when it comes to the quarterbacks. If we were
doing the vertical board where we're ranking them, so your
top fifty is what we would call a vertical board
where you draft, you just ranking them from one to
fifty based on grade, not worrying about position. Where those
guys listed. Where's kemboard listed on your board?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Hey like, well, to me when this draft, he's like
my eighth or ninth guy. But I mean he, I mean,
that's what this draft say. He's got the same grade.
He's got the same grade. Like to me, if I'm
pulling up, pulled up right now, so like full transparency,
he was, I think I gave him a sixty four. Yeah,
(05:52):
so I gave him a sixty four. And then I
have like put it in perspective, Quinn Shawn Judkins. This
is how like this is the this is the kind
of the parody of the draft. Quinn Shawn Judkins. I
gave a sixty four as a running back. Quin Shawn
Judkins is my thirty eighth player.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
So to me, like that, to me, it's not like
I'm not elevating him over higher rated players. I'm saying,
all of these players in this clump are all graded
with the same grade, which is just like solid starters
solid starters.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
And so what that does is we talked about beauty
being the eye of the beholder, and so you talked
about guys saying, hey, they are the second guy. They're
not the first person that you can present out with
the jersey. They're the compliment to hey, we took this guy.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Oh and were there? Yeah. So, but but that's what
it is.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And for me, Look, I had in my notebook, I
had the same grade Camboard Shoulder Sandus.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I just have him flipped.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And the only reason I have flipped because the controversy
in my top five is like shoulder over cam Ward.
And the only reason why shoulder standards carries that that
grade is I just have these voices of these quarterback
coaches in my ear that have said for years the
only two things I care about when it comes to
quarterback play accuracy.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And decision making.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And so when I look at it, I'm like, well, man,
he's the most accurate, and his decision making on time
is look excellent. And then when you throw toughness in
I was like, Okay, I can rock with him or whatever. Now,
the draft part of it is a beauty patch where
you want all the other things. But in terms of playing,
I think he plays it in a professional manner that
has worked it for years and years on end, which
(07:32):
is why he's first. And we'll see what it plays out.
But that's just why I have should.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Do her first.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Cam Ward has superior traits and tools when it comes
to arm tell and whatever. But I'm gonna lie dj.
He scares me sometimes with the lucy goosey stuff, like
he's so loosey goosey that I'm like, man like, can
he rein it together? So that's the difference is that's
where it is. But when we talk about the draft
and landing spots, Shader saying this could be in.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
For a long day. If cam Ward goes one.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
If the Giants take best player available at three, the
Saints take best.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Player available at nine, there is a long drop.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Then you have the Pittsburgh still is at twenty one
where they go back and do the quarterback thing again.
When they did Kenny Pickett at twenty a couple of
years ago and it didn't work. Out, so you move
them there. The la Rams are at twenty six. Do
they want to take a quarterback of the future with
Matthew Stafford. If they don't, DJ, that's the end of
the first round.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
YEP.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
So I mean that's just what it is. So we
named Giants are won Saints. Still, there's four landing spots.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
All the stuff that we talked about the first round.
There are four landing spots for quarterbacks. And when we
talk about the landing spots, the spot has to match
up with the talent and the grade. And if the
spot is here and the talent is down here, you're
not pulling the trigger because now you're going against all
the philosophies and theories that you had in the draft room.
So that is the dilemma when it comes to Shador
(09:05):
Sanders in company in this draft.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
To me, totally honest, this feels exactly like and they're
different players. I'm not comparing them as players. This feels
exactly like with should the right the week before the
Will Levis draft, where Will Levis was if you remember
it was Colts who were four I believe they were.
(09:30):
They were supposed to be the Levis team so if
not Colts, you couldn't you couldn't connect him to anybody else.
So it was like it sounds weird to say this
guy is going to go four. He could fall out
of the first round. And that's like the Giants with Shadur.
The Giants are the last to me almost like the
kind of the last hope there and if they don't
do it, I don't know where he goes.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Man there's not a spot.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
There's not a spot, And I love him and his dad,
but part of it is being real. There's not a
spot because it's not only the grade is who's available.
It's like catching a cab in New York. The light
has to be on. There are a lot of people
that are buzzing around Manhattan, but the light's not on,
and so if the light's that on, you're not going.
(10:15):
And you can hope that someone wants to move into
the bottom of the first round and all that stuff,
but DJ is still the top of the second round
looks like the first round.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Who is going to move in?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
There's a the limit And the thing that I hate
because like this is what we do, particularly on our side,
and because it impacts the people. The draft picks and
their families. We'll talk these guys up like, hey, you know,
Jackson Dark could go and maybe but maybe not. And
I don't want people to get caught up because we
did this years ago with Malik Willis and that class,
and we tried to put all these guys in the
(10:47):
first round. And when draft they came, the league was like, yeah, no,
we're not we don't see them as that. We don't
see because Kenny Pickett was the Melik Willis draft right, Ah, yeah, yeah,
he was the only one. And they were like, yeah,
we don't see them as that. And I think Desmond
Ridder was.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
In that class too.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So now when we go to it and Desmon Ridder
gets his chance and all this other stuff like, it
doesn't end up working out because the talent is the
talent and ultimately you have to create the talent because
that's how it turned That's how it turns out. And
that's also why we're having this thing little sneak peak.
On the path to the draft, we're talking about, hey,
is it worth taking a quarterback in the second round?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And my thing was how many of those guys have
worked out?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, it sounds great when we're theorizing like, oh, you know,
we can go and get this guy in the second round. DJ,
it's a first round quarterback league. The guys that play
quarterback in this league are first rounders. That's what it is.
I mean, Brock Freddy is an outlier. Jalen Hurst, Dak Prescott,
(11:52):
they're outliers.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
They're not the norm.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
This league is a first round quarterback lead because when
we great quarterbacks first round grade, they check off enough
boxes when it comes to the redeeming qualities to play
the position at a high.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Level in the pros.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And if you don't have those skills to I suggest
that you're not going to play quarterback at a high level.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
That's just what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
You know, it'd be interesting to go back and look
at those guys who have been successful, non first round picks.
Most of them were afforded some patients right, didn't come
in with fanfare. Had another quarterback there. I think a
Jalen Hurts is a great example, Like he didn't have
to step right in, you know, like that was kind
of a process. Carson Wentz. Thing kind of happened and
and then he you know, off he goes. But there's
(12:37):
there's less pressure with those guys, and you're you to me,
like if we're talking about you're taking a quarterback in
the second round and you're hoping he's going to be
your answer like in the near future, Like to me,
that's and when you're talking about a coaches on hot
seats need a guy to come in and play right away,
then you either take one in the first round, or
you probably should wait. You know that's you should wait.
(12:59):
Ye time. If you got time and you're the Eagles,
you can take a flyer on Jalen Hurts. It might
hit it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
But also they come in with less expectations. They also
come in on a different plan in the building. So
the plan in the building for Jalen Hurts when he
stepped into Eagles wasn't to get him ready to start.
It was simply to make him a better play. And
then you look up on the practice field and then
you and I on the side like, hey, you know what, Hey,
Jalen Chance looks pretty good. He's kind of given the
(13:28):
defense some work, Like, oh, maybe it surprises us that
he developed the way that he developed, But it wasn't
the expectation that he was going to come in and
those expectations drive everything inside and outside, because if you
take him and they're saying, oh, we got to get
him ready to play, well, now the fans are like, hey,
we got to get the second round pick on the field,
(13:50):
and you're like, we.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Took him in the second round pick.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Yeah, because he's a developmental guy, not because he's a
finished product. So the expectations and all that other stuff
it can get, it can get out of whack if
you take someone at the wrong position.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, no doubt. All right, Well, there's a little idea
of kind of what's cooking on the on the hot
stove there. That was this week's Hot or Not segment.
Brought to you by with Sabby Hot Cloud Storage, Store
more and do more with your data. Try them for
free at withsabby dot com quick Break and we'll be
right back. All right, buck, let's jam through your top fives.
(14:28):
I want to know your toughest decision in these positions,
so I will give you the floor. Is this your
final Is this the final addition?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know it's the final edition until I wait
the day befront of drivers, say hey, can I put
one more up there? To make sure I get it right, Look,
we had the toughest conversation. So the toughest conversation for
me is one DJ These things run a typical to how.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
We operate in the real world, right, the real scouting world.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
We're not going to continue to keep doing these updates
on updates on updates when it comes to rankings because
there aren't any more games to watch, there's no more
film to so like, what are we doing but to
play along? For this, the toughest thing for me was
one standing firm with the quarterback. Which look, I'm the
outlier in the situation putting Travis Hunter in at wide
(15:12):
receiver officially because my heart of hearts, I believe that
he is better served to be a dB. But I've
come around to the fact that a he wants to
play wide receiver, and two when I rate him as
a wide receiver compared to the other guys, he's the
most intriguing prospect because of what he brings to the table.
So that part is everything. And the more I listen
to him tomorrow fall in love with like how committed
(15:34):
he is to the game. Like I heard you say
on TV yesterday, Man, you just love him. The more
that you hear him talk. He's all about the right stuff,
which is why I'm a big believer. Moving Mason Graham
up to that third spot and saying that he could
be the third tied end to go in the first.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Round to me, taylorson Taylor, Mason Taylor.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, Mason Taylor. Moving him up to the third spot.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
To me, he's intriguing because I gave him the look
over and I was like, man, he's really good. But
now I'm like, okay, at the bottom of the first round,
there's a lot of stuff there. I think he's a
really safe bet to be really productive, and there's some
teams that are gonna be in need of a tight
end in the twenties, so he fits so early on
(16:19):
on offense.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Those are the biggest debate that I had.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah, And you know, it's funny. I was talking to
a team. I'm talking to two teams, and we were
talking about who's your, who's your? We got wiped out?
Pick You've been in there, you know how that is.
It's like, hey, you know, gosh, we're hoping we get
two of these guys, but like, man, if we get
wiped out, like all the guys that we had up
there and they're gone, Like you know who the two
guys are that to me make the most sense, as like, Okay,
(16:45):
we got cleaned out, so I'm comfortable taking this guy,
Mason Taylor this one double off the wall every day
of the week, and tray Von Henderson's the other one.
Oh good character, production, intelligence, all that stuff, like both
I mean and Treyvon Henderson. You might even both these
guys you could hit big. I trust me. I've seen
(17:06):
Ed Reid was viewed as a double and he's get
it right again. So I've seen those guys be more
than that. But to me, like high floor guys, I
think like Mason Taylor Trayvon Henderson, like, hey, we got
wiped out, you can do a lot worse. Those guys
are gonna start for you and be impact players.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And I'm with you on that.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And there's something too that when we're going through the
process and making sure that we have the right guys
and doing those things like.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
That's a part of it. DJ.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
One of the conversations that I've had is I'm on
membun like coming out of the combine looking at the
tabe like just fell in love with him.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But I don't get that same sentiment.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
And when I talk to people in the league, I
don't get the same sentiment that he is viewed maybe
with the same adoration that we that I may have
on this side or whatever. And it's funny because when
you look at someone three hundred and thirty pounds run
what he runs at the combine and you look at
the tape and he's moving, he's his zone buster all day.
He can do all those things.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
There's a lot to like. But man, the feedback I get.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
From some of my buddies, they're like, I don't know
this and that I don't know if he's what you
think buck.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So it it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah, you know, the there's always guys that I have
that There's always one guy that I'm like, I'm too
low on this guy late in the process, right, And
I've heard it, and I you know, I trust what
I saw. I did not I can't unsee it. So
I'm gonna I'm gonna move this player up a little
bit because I've gone back and done more work on him.
But the one player I would say that I'm probably
(18:36):
at the outlier of most odds with people, and I
don't have enough conviction to just completely hold my ground
on this particular player. Is Banks is the is the
tackle from Texas. There's a lot of teams have him
as the top tackle in the draft. Now they might
necessarily be taking one, but he's he's viewed higher than
where I have him. And I've had other people looked
I've had from agents to you know, scouts to is
(19:00):
say gosh, we like him better than you do. Uh,
And I'm like, I get it, but I didn't, you know,
this is what I didn't see it and see a
strain to finish that. I couldn't get the Georgia game
out of my head, and guys got on his edges
and blah blah blah. But at the end of the day,
he's clean character wise, he's big, he's got good feet.
You know, he's young. He's a really young kid. So
(19:21):
he's one of those guys every year there's always like
late in the process where you're like, sometimes you got
to fall on the sword a little bit and be like, Okay, yeah,
you know, I miss you.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So here's the thing, because I have him fourth, but
DJ I have all these guys kind of rate it similar, right,
So I him Josh Simmons and Banks, they all are
right there, right, and Simmons has the kne issue, but
like the talent is crazy, you know. But then when
you look at Banks, like Banks is super talented and
athletic and all that, and I hear you with the
strain to finish and and all of that other stuff.
(19:53):
But then you look at typically man, guys that are
that big, that can move around like that, that have
like the shadow boxing skills or whatever, Like it's intriguing.
And when you start factoring in the character, because we've
talked about this, like, man, this being a year where
there's kind of been more character things on some of.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The old linemen then we're used to seeing.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Normally, those are the safe guys that you know, you
talk about, hey we get wiped out.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Take this guy.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
It's a little different in this class. I can understand
why people would skew towards Banks because he is so
clean when it comes to the character and stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest with you, like I'm
I wouldn't be shocked if Banks was the sixth pick
to the Raiders, just based off of you know, talking
to the people around the league and you know, different things,
so you know, that's not where I have him, But
he'll move up, he'll be in I'll probably get him
up into the low low twenties on my on my
final one, which is still going to go higher than that.
(20:48):
But that's why, you know, it's always it's just at
the end of the process, you kind of get a
sense of where people are and I'm I'm gonna you know,
I'm gonna stick to my guns on the guys that
I have firm conviction on, and you know, I'm fine,
Like to me, Baron, like, okay, Baron could go much
later than where I have. I'm a barren guy. I
believe in it. I've seen I feel like I've seen
this player multiple times over the last few years, and
(21:11):
it translates I'm not I'm not I'm not bumping like
that's fine, you guys take him later. I'll be the
high guy on them what have you. But then there's
other guys where you're like, you know what kind of
you know, it just kind of I either way, and
I'm like, I'm not going to have enough arrogance and
ego to say that I got it right, and the
whole rest of the league got it wrong. This is
what I'm getting.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, No, I'm with you and that.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
And sometimes you pick and choose your battles when to
fight to good fight or not. And I understand that.
And you talk about today Barron. I like him as
a player. I liked it now we've created this new position.
Also love the fact that DJ Nickel corners are getting
paid because it's now, finally, after all these years, it's
justification for putting that twelve position, that twelfth position on
(21:54):
the board before it was kind of a throwaway. Well,
now we have a true nickel position that you can
and say, no, this guy is a nickel, not because
he's too short, not because he's slow, but no, he
has the skill set to play it. Jday Baron kind
of fits the bill in that regard. One of the
things that I have is like the Will Johnson conversation.
(22:16):
I think with Will Johnson, I've been I guess I
would say lenient, and I'm lenient on his grade because
of the Derek Stingly thing, meaning I remember seeing Derek
Stingly as a freshman and seeing like later the one
on ones against the crew from LSU Jefferson and chasing
those things. But he didn't finish it off with the bang.
(22:37):
I still go back to looking at Will Johnson at
his best and being like, man, he is so good
when he's right and he's healthy and he's on the field,
and I know he has a ton of injuries and
little nicks and knacks and stuff, but when he plays
and he's right, he is as good as it gets
at the position, which is why I still hang on
to him with a high grade that I put on.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, no, it's and feel free to do that. I think,
to me, scheme fit is going to be big for him.
You know everything, And yeah, I don't think you want
to press him up leath him alone. But there's a
lot of teams, you know. The best thing for him.
The best thing for him is that they won the
National Championship with a dominant defense, and their defense in
terms of coaches has scattered around the NFL, and there's
a lot of people with proof of concept of like
(23:18):
not only they know the kid individually, but they're like,
I know how this guy.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Will, I know how to use them, I know how
to use them, I know where we play. To me,
and I'm saying like, in terms of the great in
terms of how I expect them to play. But DJ
in a perfect world, him going to the package at
twenty three to me is like the right fit. It's
the right fit in terms of how you played. But
more importantly, you know, we used to do those segments
on TV with instructions. Give them instructures on how to
(23:43):
use them. You put him in Green Bay's defense, which
is a C ball get ball defense, vision and break
playoff look at the quarterback all day. He's an all
day sucker. Play at a high level and a lot
of that. I wish for these guys we could play matchmaker, like,
oh no, let's put him with this team and that team,
and so you can see the best of Will Johnson
for a team like that that that wants to play
(24:04):
off man, he would be great. He also be obviously
would be great, Uh at your team with the Charges,
because not only do they know him, but sitting there
playing the style that they play works.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think that.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I think the Chargers that when I looked it up,
were thirtieth and man coverage percentage last year, So I
mean obviously they play. He's played in that defense, plays
top down with vision and then just go make plays.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So I did not know. Like, here's the trick.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I did not know that they really didn't play man
the man at all. That they're playing that much zone
and keeping it in front and keeping the score down
and and and all of that that is that is
amazing because remember, for some long we quarterback plays too good.
You gotta lock up and take away the easy throwers
and the charges like no, we don't, we don't, We
can't keep them from we rally.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, you can't keep.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Digging and dunking the ball down the field. At some
point you're gonna throw us a bad one, So.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I gup, you will mess it up, all right. Any
other interesting dilemmas you had on the defensive side of
the ball in your top five?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
No, I mean, I think it's the usual suspects.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
I think the linebackers and stuff were pretty clean, the
pass rushers and those things.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I think the d tackles right Like.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I don't think people give enough love to Darius Alexander.
I know you brought him up very very early in
the process, but he is one that I've stuck with.
I dropped Kenneth Grant down a little bit because I
feel like every year doing this process early we value
run stuffers. But then when we get to the draft,
they all come down a little bit because we value
pass rushers over run stoppers.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And that's why I kind of moved him down before.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
But yeah, Darius Alexander to me, like there's ones where
I'm like, I'm probably leaning a little hot or maybe
I'm a little cold, Like I don't like he's my No,
he's my forty seventh player, buck And that's like one
guy telling me that he looks like the forty seventh pick,
Like I like, that's his value.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I don't know. I have him as the fifty tackle.
I look at him on tape and I'm like, maybe I'm.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Off, like because I see him moving, I see all
the athletic.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Stuff, super hot, and I'm like, man, like why can't
he go? Like why can't he a little older?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
But I don't know that anybody cares anymore, like why why.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Can't he why can't he go? Or whatever?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
And then I'm pulling up. I wanted to see when
Chris Jones was drafted because I remember watching Chris Jones
early too.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
He was thirty seventh, he.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Was thirty seventh overall, but DJ, I remember watching him
in Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
State, and he has some other stuff, but like, I'm like, look.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Man, this dude is over here. You don't see big
guys that can move like that. And his movement as
a bigger guy is different at de tackle then Ken
Grant even a little different than Mason Graham in terms
of movement. And I just think we've seen time and
time again they will look at the three.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
And be like, man, how did he How was he
a second round pick? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, no, he's a He is a good football player.
I squeezed him into the back end of a couple
of mock drafts. I think I had him with the
run early.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Because and but I know DJ well enough to know me, like,
hold on, hold on, where's this name come from?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
This name?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
This name is out the blue. It's one of the
first and second mock drafts. I was like, okay, all right,
a little birdie's tipped them off. Let me go in
there and find him.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, well, he just looks different when you're watching the
Toledo tape and you're kind of jamming through all the
dts and you're like, Okay, that looks a little different
than the rest of these dudes. I've been watching. So
now I'm I'm excited for this thing to get here. Dude,
we've we've kind of made it down to the end.
I keep saying the same thing that everybody. My message
to teams is very is very simple. Get you three.
(27:39):
Just go get your three starters in this draft wherever
you can find them. Don't worry about the positions. This year.
You come out of this thing where a starting tight
end running back in DT. You're gravy like they're out there.
Go find them, Go get them.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And then get out because next year is going to
be I'll say.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
You want to know something crazy, yep, I was looking
this up. I gotta confirm it, but I believe Philadelphia
has twelve picks next year.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Twelve.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
All those guys they lost in free agency, they got paid.
You know, the DT got big money with the Patriots.
Milton Williams, you've got a sweat who got good money.
Beckton got a little bit of money, you know. On
and on and on. They lost, they lost some guys,
and so of course Howie Roseman's already locked and loaded
(28:28):
for next year.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
But of course he is.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Of course he's locked and loaded and wants to put
it in So Anyways, all right, we got to run.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
This has been a fun one. We appreciate you guys
hanging with us. We are almost there. I've got my
press conference, a conference call thing coming up, so that'll
be released I think sometime Friday. Maybe it leads into Saturday,
but that's coming up. So that's I don't think this
one's is longbock. The other ones man the first one
we went over three hours, so I'm hoping that's not
(28:58):
the case here.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
It's a lot of a lot of info, a lot
of questions, a lot of random.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Hey DJ, hey, hey, tell me about the dB at Cataba.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Watched a lot of Monmouth tape over the last couple
of weeks.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
By the way, I do love.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
The fact that the Montana State quarterbacks getting some love
because when I did watch him, he is fun. He
ran four three, He's like he's fun.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
The conversation about him kind of being an at h
at athlete, kind of moving around, being an offensive weapon.
I will say this, he dominated for them at that level.
I mean, they were a fun offense to watch. He
was all over the place. Yeah, good player.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
All right, that's gonna do it for its appreciate you hanging.
We'll see you next time. Right here, I'll move the
sticks
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the sticks. DJ, Buck
with you Buck. We are we're closing in.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Dude, I mean we hear DJ.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
The conversations and stuff are coming fast and furious. Uh
is lying season, so you're trying to kind of figure
out what's real and what's fade. But it's an exciting
time because we got less than a week. Well, we
got a week before the draft, and we'll kind of
have all of it put to bed soon.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
In we've got we've got a bunch of ground of
cover day, We've got Bucks Top five, so we're gonna
jump into that. But before we get there, let's kick
things off here. It's time for Hot or Not, brought
to you by with Sabby Hot Cloud Storage. You mentioned
kind of the the rumors and the information that's floating around.
I joked that during this time of the year, I
start my day every day with a cup of coffee
(00:51):
and three lives. You know, like what you're hearing from teams, like,
that's that's kind of where we are. But uh, you know,
but to me, it is interesting, you know, making phone
calls around the league, and you know, the main conversation
that I have with teams is who's going to be
there when we pick, Like that's that's all they want
(01:12):
to know. That's what they're looking to get from us
during this time of the year. And then in return,
like I get some you know, medical character stuff on
guys that could fall could drops, which is helpful as
we get towards the draft, and you kind of get
a sense of teams that are picking in different areas
of the draft, where they think guys outside of their
range are going, and how they have them stacked, how
(01:33):
their coaches viewed them. And one one, I don't say
it's a rumor. I think it's a fact. Buck in
talking to teams. It's somewhat like this in years where
teams have quarterbacks that those teams tend to kind of
pooh pooh the class. But man, I don't remember it
like this, Like there's a lot of teams out there
who think cam Ward is the only first round quarterback.
(01:54):
Like there's a lot of teams and those aren't the
quarterback teams. So take them for what it is.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
So let's let's be real because I think sometimes DJ
we've been doing the media part of it for so
long that sometimes it's easy when we're on TV to
get away from the true ideals and the true values
that we have as scouts. And I'll be honest when
I go through and I look at my grades on
cam Ward Shoulder all those guys, what that would rate
(02:21):
in a in a draft meeting room. Bottom of the
first round grades, That's what it would be. Now, we've
talked about in recent years, like guys get pushed up whatever,
which is more of a media thing or whatever. But
if your team in need of a quarterback and cam
Ward is the best quarterback on your board, you have
to take him whenever you're picking.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
That's just what it is. But in terms of how.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
These guys stack up, how they stack up traditionally over
those guys, I'm gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I don't believe anybody in this class is a transcendent quarterback.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
There's no one that I would have that would that
I would suggest has the wild factor that the elite
of the elite quarterback prospects that we've drafted half.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's just a fact.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
But every year is a year that you have to evaluate,
and these are the quarterbacks in this class. And so
you have to figure out who's the best of the class.
And if I need one and I haven't gotten one
in free agency, I got to take one, and I
got to make it. I got to make the best
out of what I get, meaning I get them, I
got to surround them with the other stuff to allow
(03:23):
him to be successful.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And that's just how it goes.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
But yeah, like I wouldn't say that this is a
class that they hail like the nineteen eighty three class
with you know, Jim Kelly and Elwick.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It's not a class. So that's that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, And though in regards to that the sentiment we're
a little over week out, this is the where we are.
This is everybody that I've talked to, and kind of
looking at the situation, I would feel comfortable saying this.
I believe that cam Ward at this point in time,
is the only quarterback who will be a team's first
(03:58):
pick in this draft, if that makes sense. In other words, Jackson,
dart Shade, or Sanders I think will be a team
second pick. Now that doesn't mean they don't go in
the first round. They could easily teams come back up
and take them. But they're gonna hold up the jersey
and have the press conference with another player first, and
then they're gonna introduce the quarterback they took with their
next pick. Like, that's that's where it looks now a
(04:19):
week out. If that, if that, if you're if you're
tracking with me there.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I'm tracking with you because I think here's the other thing.
And I'm gonna ask you this, DJ, who are the
elites in the draft?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Like?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
How many guys do you think are the elite prospects
in this draft class? I said they were five, but
I said they were five and in whatever order you
want to list them. I had Travis Hunter, Abdua Carter,
I think Aston Genty is there, Tyler Warren, and then
I put Jalen Walker.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Now, and I had Love the only one I had
in that mix with Love one I had.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Okay, So that's six. So so that's that's a reasonable expectation.
So just think about it. In most years we talked
about eight maybe ten being elite. We talked about eighteen
to twenty two first rounders. What that says is this
is a draft that doesn't have like a's and a plus.
It's more of an anus Beef's draft and depending upon
(05:11):
what you need and how it fits. That's how it
works when it comes to the quarterbacks. If we were
doing the vertical board where we're ranking them, so your
top fifty is what we would call a vertical board
where you draft, you just ranking them from one to
fifty based on grade, not worrying about position. Where those
guys listed. Where's kemboard listed on your board?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Hey like, well, to me when this draft, he's like
my eighth or ninth guy. But I mean he, I mean,
that's what this draft say. He's got the same grade.
He's got the same grade. Like to me, if I'm
pulling up, pulled up right now, so like full transparency,
he was, I think I gave him a sixty four. Yeah,
(05:52):
so I gave him a sixty four. And then I
have like put it in perspective, Quinn Shawn Judkins. This
is how like this is the this is the kind
of the parody of the draft. Quinn Shawn Judkins. I
gave a sixty four as a running back. Quin Shawn
Judkins is my thirty eighth player.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
So to me, like that, to me, it's not like
I'm not elevating him over higher rated players. I'm saying,
all of these players in this clump are all graded
with the same grade, which is just like solid starters
solid starters.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
And so what that does is we talked about beauty
being the eye of the beholder, and so you talked
about guys saying, hey, they are the second guy. They're
not the first person that you can present out with
the jersey. They're the compliment to hey, we took this guy.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Oh and were there? Yeah. So, but but that's what
it is.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And for me, Look, I had in my notebook, I
had the same grade Camboard Shoulder Sandus.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I just have him flipped.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And the only reason I have flipped because the controversy
in my top five is like shoulder over cam Ward.
And the only reason why shoulder standards carries that that
grade is I just have these voices of these quarterback
coaches in my ear that have said for years the
only two things I care about when it comes to
quarterback play accuracy.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And decision making.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And so when I look at it, I'm like, well, man,
he's the most accurate, and his decision making on time
is look excellent. And then when you throw toughness in
I was like, Okay, I can rock with him or whatever. Now,
the draft part of it is a beauty patch where
you want all the other things. But in terms of playing,
I think he plays it in a professional manner that
has worked it for years and years on end, which
(07:32):
is why he's first. And we'll see what it plays out.
But that's just why I have should.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Do her first.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Cam Ward has superior traits and tools when it comes
to arm tell and whatever. But I'm gonna lie dj.
He scares me sometimes with the lucy goosey stuff, like
he's so loosey goosey that I'm like, man like, can
he rein it together? So that's the difference is that's
where it is. But when we talk about the draft
and landing spots, Shader saying this could be in.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
For a long day. If cam Ward goes one.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
If the Giants take best player available at three, the
Saints take best.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Player available at nine, there is a long drop.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Then you have the Pittsburgh still is at twenty one
where they go back and do the quarterback thing again.
When they did Kenny Pickett at twenty a couple of
years ago and it didn't work. Out, so you move
them there. The la Rams are at twenty six. Do
they want to take a quarterback of the future with
Matthew Stafford. If they don't, DJ, that's the end of
the first round.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
YEP.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
So I mean that's just what it is. So we
named Giants are won Saints. Still, there's four landing spots.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
All the stuff that we talked about the first round.
There are four landing spots for quarterbacks. And when we
talk about the landing spots, the spot has to match
up with the talent and the grade. And if the
spot is here and the talent is down here, you're
not pulling the trigger because now you're going against all
the philosophies and theories that you had in the draft room.
So that is the dilemma when it comes to Shador
(09:05):
Sanders in company in this draft.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
To me, totally honest, this feels exactly like and they're
different players. I'm not comparing them as players. This feels
exactly like with should the right the week before the
Will Levis draft, where Will Levis was if you remember
it was Colts who were four I believe they were.
(09:30):
They were supposed to be the Levis team so if
not Colts, you couldn't you couldn't connect him to anybody else.
So it was like it sounds weird to say this
guy is going to go four. He could fall out
of the first round. And that's like the Giants with Shadur.
The Giants are the last to me almost like the
kind of the last hope there and if they don't
do it, I don't know where he goes.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Man there's not a spot.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
There's not a spot, And I love him and his dad,
but part of it is being real. There's not a
spot because it's not only the grade is who's available.
It's like catching a cab in New York. The light
has to be on. There are a lot of people
that are buzzing around Manhattan, but the light's not on,
and so if the light's that on, you're not going.
(10:15):
And you can hope that someone wants to move into
the bottom of the first round and all that stuff,
but DJ is still the top of the second round
looks like the first round.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Who is going to move in?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
There's a the limit And the thing that I hate
because like this is what we do, particularly on our side,
and because it impacts the people. The draft picks and
their families. We'll talk these guys up like, hey, you know,
Jackson Dark could go and maybe but maybe not. And
I don't want people to get caught up because we
did this years ago with Malik Willis and that class,
and we tried to put all these guys in the
(10:47):
first round. And when draft they came, the league was like, yeah, no,
we're not we don't see them as that. We don't
see because Kenny Pickett was the Melik Willis draft right, Ah, yeah, yeah,
he was the only one. And they were like, yeah,
we don't see them as that. And I think Desmond
Ridder was.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
In that class too.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So now when we go to it and Desmon Ridder
gets his chance and all this other stuff like, it
doesn't end up working out because the talent is the
talent and ultimately you have to create the talent because
that's how it turned That's how it turns out. And
that's also why we're having this thing little sneak peak.
On the path to the draft, we're talking about, hey,
is it worth taking a quarterback in the second round?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And my thing was how many of those guys have
worked out?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, it sounds great when we're theorizing like, oh, you know,
we can go and get this guy in the second round. DJ,
it's a first round quarterback league. The guys that play
quarterback in this league are first rounders. That's what it is.
I mean, Brock Freddy is an outlier. Jalen Hurst, Dak Prescott,
(11:52):
they're outliers.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
They're not the norm.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
This league is a first round quarterback lead because when
we great quarterbacks first round grade, they check off enough
boxes when it comes to the redeeming qualities to play
the position at a high.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Level in the pros.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And if you don't have those skills to I suggest
that you're not going to play quarterback at a high level.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
That's just what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
You know, it'd be interesting to go back and look
at those guys who have been successful, non first round picks.
Most of them were afforded some patients right, didn't come
in with fanfare. Had another quarterback there. I think a
Jalen Hurts is a great example, Like he didn't have
to step right in, you know, like that was kind
of a process. Carson Wentz. Thing kind of happened and
and then he you know, off he goes. But there's
(12:37):
there's less pressure with those guys, and you're you to me,
like if we're talking about you're taking a quarterback in
the second round and you're hoping he's going to be
your answer like in the near future, Like to me,
that's and when you're talking about a coaches on hot
seats need a guy to come in and play right away,
then you either take one in the first round, or
you probably should wait. You know that's you should wait.
(12:59):
Ye time. If you got time and you're the Eagles,
you can take a flyer on Jalen Hurts. It might
hit it, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
But also they come in with less expectations. They also
come in on a different plan in the building. So
the plan in the building for Jalen Hurts when he
stepped into Eagles wasn't to get him ready to start.
It was simply to make him a better play. And
then you look up on the practice field and then
you and I on the side like, hey, you know what, Hey,
Jalen Chance looks pretty good. He's kind of given the
(13:28):
defense some work, Like, oh, maybe it surprises us that
he developed the way that he developed, But it wasn't
the expectation that he was going to come in and
those expectations drive everything inside and outside, because if you
take him and they're saying, oh, we got to get
him ready to play, well, now the fans are like, hey,
we got to get the second round pick on the field,
(13:50):
and you're like, we.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Took him in the second round pick.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Yeah, because he's a developmental guy, not because he's a
finished product. So the expectations and all that other stuff
it can get, it can get out of whack if
you take someone at the wrong position.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, no doubt. All right, Well, there's a little idea
of kind of what's cooking on the on the hot
stove there. That was this week's Hot or Not segment.
Brought to you by with Sabby Hot Cloud Storage, Store
more and do more with your data. Try them for
free at withsabby dot com quick Break and we'll be
right back. All right, buck, let's jam through your top fives.
(14:28):
I want to know your toughest decision in these positions,
so I will give you the floor. Is this your
final Is this the final addition?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I don't know it's the final edition until I wait
the day befront of drivers, say hey, can I put
one more up there? To make sure I get it right, Look,
we had the toughest conversation. So the toughest conversation for
me is one DJ These things run a typical to how.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
We operate in the real world, right, the real scouting world.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
We're not going to continue to keep doing these updates
on updates on updates when it comes to rankings because
there aren't any more games to watch, there's no more
film to so like, what are we doing but to
play along? For this, the toughest thing for me was
one standing firm with the quarterback. Which look, I'm the
outlier in the situation putting Travis Hunter in at wide
(15:12):
receiver officially because my heart of hearts, I believe that
he is better served to be a dB. But I've
come around to the fact that a he wants to
play wide receiver, and two when I rate him as
a wide receiver compared to the other guys, he's the
most intriguing prospect because of what he brings to the table.
So that part is everything. And the more I listen
to him tomorrow fall in love with like how committed
(15:34):
he is to the game. Like I heard you say
on TV yesterday, Man, you just love him. The more
that you hear him talk. He's all about the right stuff,
which is why I'm a big believer. Moving Mason Graham
up to that third spot and saying that he could
be the third tied end to go in the first.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Round to me, taylorson Taylor, Mason Taylor.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, Mason Taylor. Moving him up to the third spot.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
To me, he's intriguing because I gave him the look
over and I was like, man, he's really good. But
now I'm like, okay, at the bottom of the first round,
there's a lot of stuff there. I think he's a
really safe bet to be really productive, and there's some
teams that are gonna be in need of a tight
end in the twenties, so he fits so early on
(16:19):
on offense.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Those are the biggest debate that I had.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yeah, And you know, it's funny. I was talking to
a team. I'm talking to two teams, and we were
talking about who's your, who's your? We got wiped out?
Pick You've been in there, you know how that is.
It's like, hey, you know, gosh, we're hoping we get
two of these guys, but like, man, if we get
wiped out, like all the guys that we had up
there and they're gone, Like you know who the two
guys are that to me make the most sense, as like, Okay,
(16:45):
we got cleaned out, so I'm comfortable taking this guy,
Mason Taylor this one double off the wall every day
of the week, and tray Von Henderson's the other one.
Oh good character, production, intelligence, all that stuff, like both
I mean and Treyvon Henderson. You might even both these
guys you could hit big. I trust me. I've seen
(17:06):
Ed Reid was viewed as a double and he's get
it right again. So I've seen those guys be more
than that. But to me, like high floor guys, I
think like Mason Taylor Trayvon Henderson, like, hey, we got
wiped out, you can do a lot worse. Those guys
are gonna start for you and be impact players.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
And I'm with you on that.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And there's something too that when we're going through the
process and making sure that we have the right guys
and doing those things like.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
That's a part of it. DJ.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
One of the conversations that I've had is I'm on
membun like coming out of the combine looking at the
tabe like just fell in love with him.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But I don't get that same sentiment.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
And when I talk to people in the league, I
don't get the same sentiment that he is viewed maybe
with the same adoration that we that I may have
on this side or whatever. And it's funny because when
you look at someone three hundred and thirty pounds run
what he runs at the combine and you look at
the tape and he's moving, he's his zone buster all day.
He can do all those things.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
There's a lot to like. But man, the feedback I get.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
From some of my buddies, they're like, I don't know
this and that I don't know if he's what you
think buck.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So it it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah, you know, the there's always guys that I have
that There's always one guy that I'm like, I'm too
low on this guy late in the process, right, And
I've heard it, and I you know, I trust what
I saw. I did not I can't unsee it. So
I'm gonna I'm gonna move this player up a little
bit because I've gone back and done more work on him.
But the one player I would say that I'm probably
(18:36):
at the outlier of most odds with people, and I
don't have enough conviction to just completely hold my ground
on this particular player. Is Banks is the is the
tackle from Texas. There's a lot of teams have him
as the top tackle in the draft. Now they might
necessarily be taking one, but he's he's viewed higher than
where I have him. And I've had other people looked
I've had from agents to you know, scouts to is
(19:00):
say gosh, we like him better than you do. Uh,
And I'm like, I get it, but I didn't, you know,
this is what I didn't see it and see a
strain to finish that. I couldn't get the Georgia game
out of my head, and guys got on his edges
and blah blah blah. But at the end of the day,
he's clean character wise, he's big, he's got good feet.
You know, he's young. He's a really young kid. So
(19:21):
he's one of those guys every year there's always like
late in the process where you're like, sometimes you got
to fall on the sword a little bit and be like, Okay, yeah,
you know, I miss you.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
So here's the thing, because I have him fourth, but
DJ I have all these guys kind of rate it similar, right,
So I him Josh Simmons and Banks, they all are
right there, right, and Simmons has the kne issue, but
like the talent is crazy, you know. But then when
you look at Banks, like Banks is super talented and
athletic and all that, and I hear you with the
strain to finish and and all of that other stuff.
(19:53):
But then you look at typically man, guys that are
that big, that can move around like that, that have
like the shadow boxing skills or whatever, Like it's intriguing.
And when you start factoring in the character, because we've
talked about this, like, man, this being a year where
there's kind of been more character things on some of.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The old linemen then we're used to seeing.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Normally, those are the safe guys that you know, you
talk about, hey we get wiped out.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Take this guy.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
It's a little different in this class. I can understand
why people would skew towards Banks because he is so
clean when it comes to the character and stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest with you, like I'm
I wouldn't be shocked if Banks was the sixth pick
to the Raiders, just based off of you know, talking
to the people around the league and you know, different things,
so you know, that's not where I have him, But
he'll move up, he'll be in I'll probably get him
up into the low low twenties on my on my
final one, which is still going to go higher than that.
(20:48):
But that's why, you know, it's always it's just at
the end of the process, you kind of get a
sense of where people are and I'm I'm gonna you know,
I'm gonna stick to my guns on the guys that
I have firm conviction on, and you know, I'm fine,
Like to me, Baron, like, okay, Baron could go much
later than where I have. I'm a barren guy. I
believe in it. I've seen I feel like I've seen
this player multiple times over the last few years, and
(21:11):
it translates I'm not I'm not I'm not bumping like
that's fine, you guys take him later. I'll be the
high guy on them what have you. But then there's
other guys where you're like, you know what kind of
you know, it just kind of I either way, and
I'm like, I'm not going to have enough arrogance and
ego to say that I got it right, and the
whole rest of the league got it wrong. This is
what I'm getting.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, No, I'm with you and that.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
And sometimes you pick and choose your battles when to
fight to good fight or not. And I understand that.
And you talk about today Barron. I like him as
a player. I liked it now we've created this new position.
Also love the fact that DJ Nickel corners are getting
paid because it's now, finally, after all these years, it's
justification for putting that twelve position, that twelfth position on
(21:54):
the board before it was kind of a throwaway. Well,
now we have a true nickel position that you can
and say, no, this guy is a nickel, not because
he's too short, not because he's slow, but no, he
has the skill set to play it. Jday Baron kind
of fits the bill in that regard. One of the
things that I have is like the Will Johnson conversation.
(22:16):
I think with Will Johnson, I've been I guess I
would say lenient, and I'm lenient on his grade because
of the Derek Stingly thing, meaning I remember seeing Derek
Stingly as a freshman and seeing like later the one
on ones against the crew from LSU Jefferson and chasing
those things. But he didn't finish it off with the bang.
(22:37):
I still go back to looking at Will Johnson at
his best and being like, man, he is so good
when he's right and he's healthy and he's on the field,
and I know he has a ton of injuries and
little nicks and knacks and stuff, but when he plays
and he's right, he is as good as it gets
at the position, which is why I still hang on
to him with a high grade that I put on.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, no, it's and feel free to do that. I think,
to me, scheme fit is going to be big for him.
You know everything, And yeah, I don't think you want
to press him up leath him alone. But there's a
lot of teams, you know. The best thing for him.
The best thing for him is that they won the
National Championship with a dominant defense, and their defense in
terms of coaches has scattered around the NFL, and there's
a lot of people with proof of concept of like
(23:18):
not only they know the kid individually, but they're like,
I know how this guy.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Will, I know how to use them, I know how
to use them, I know where we play. To me,
and I'm saying like, in terms of the great in
terms of how I expect them to play. But DJ
in a perfect world, him going to the package at
twenty three to me is like the right fit. It's
the right fit in terms of how you played. But
more importantly, you know, we used to do those segments
on TV with instructions. Give them instructures on how to
(23:43):
use them. You put him in Green Bay's defense, which
is a C ball get ball defense, vision and break
playoff look at the quarterback all day. He's an all
day sucker. Play at a high level and a lot
of that. I wish for these guys we could play matchmaker, like,
oh no, let's put him with this team and that team,
and so you can see the best of Will Johnson
for a team like that that that wants to play
(24:04):
off man, he would be great. He also be obviously
would be great, Uh at your team with the Charges,
because not only do they know him, but sitting there
playing the style that they play works.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think that.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I think the Chargers that when I looked it up,
were thirtieth and man coverage percentage last year, So I
mean obviously they play. He's played in that defense, plays
top down with vision and then just go make plays.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
So I did not know. Like, here's the trick.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
I did not know that they really didn't play man
the man at all. That they're playing that much zone
and keeping it in front and keeping the score down
and and and all of that that is that is
amazing because remember, for some long we quarterback plays too good.
You gotta lock up and take away the easy throwers
and the charges like no, we don't, we don't, We
can't keep them from we rally.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, you can't keep.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Digging and dunking the ball down the field. At some
point you're gonna throw us a bad one, So.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I gup, you will mess it up, all right. Any
other interesting dilemmas you had on the defensive side of
the ball in your top five?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
No, I mean, I think it's the usual suspects.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
I think the linebackers and stuff were pretty clean, the
pass rushers and those things.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I think the d tackles right Like.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
I don't think people give enough love to Darius Alexander.
I know you brought him up very very early in
the process, but he is one that I've stuck with.
I dropped Kenneth Grant down a little bit because I
feel like every year doing this process early we value
run stuffers. But then when we get to the draft,
they all come down a little bit because we value
pass rushers over run stoppers.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And that's why I kind of moved him down before.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
But yeah, Darius Alexander to me, like there's ones where
I'm like, I'm probably leaning a little hot or maybe
I'm a little cold, Like I don't like he's my No,
he's my forty seventh player, buck And that's like one
guy telling me that he looks like the forty seventh pick,
Like I like, that's his value.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I don't know. I have him as the fifty tackle.
I look at him on tape and I'm like, maybe I'm.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Off, like because I see him moving, I see all
the athletic.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Stuff, super hot, and I'm like, man, like why can't
he go? Like why can't he a little older?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
But I don't know that anybody cares anymore, like why why.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Can't he why can't he go? Or whatever?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
And then I'm pulling up. I wanted to see when
Chris Jones was drafted because I remember watching Chris Jones
early too.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
He was thirty seventh, he.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Was thirty seventh overall, but DJ, I remember watching him
in Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
State, and he has some other stuff, but like, I'm like, look.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Man, this dude is over here. You don't see big
guys that can move like that. And his movement as
a bigger guy is different at de tackle then Ken
Grant even a little different than Mason Graham in terms
of movement. And I just think we've seen time and
time again they will look at the three.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
And be like, man, how did he How was he
a second round pick? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, no, he's a He is a good football player.
I squeezed him into the back end of a couple
of mock drafts. I think I had him with the
run early.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Because and but I know DJ well enough to know me, like,
hold on, hold on, where's this name come from?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
This name?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
This name is out the blue. It's one of the
first and second mock drafts. I was like, okay, all right,
a little birdie's tipped them off. Let me go in
there and find him.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, well, he just looks different when you're watching the
Toledo tape and you're kind of jamming through all the
dts and you're like, Okay, that looks a little different
than the rest of these dudes. I've been watching. So
now I'm I'm excited for this thing to get here. Dude,
we've we've kind of made it down to the end.
I keep saying the same thing that everybody. My message
to teams is very is very simple. Get you three.
(27:39):
Just go get your three starters in this draft wherever
you can find them. Don't worry about the positions. This year.
You come out of this thing where a starting tight
end running back in DT. You're gravy like they're out there.
Go find them, Go get them.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And then get out because next year is going to
be I'll say.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
You want to know something crazy, yep, I was looking
this up. I gotta confirm it, but I believe Philadelphia
has twelve picks next year.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Twelve.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
All those guys they lost in free agency, they got paid.
You know, the DT got big money with the Patriots.
Milton Williams, you've got a sweat who got good money.
Beckton got a little bit of money, you know. On
and on and on. They lost, they lost some guys,
and so of course Howie Roseman's already locked and loaded
(28:28):
for next year.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
But of course he is.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Of course he's locked and loaded and wants to put
it in So Anyways, all right, we got to run.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
This has been a fun one. We appreciate you guys
hanging with us. We are almost there. I've got my
press conference, a conference call thing coming up, so that'll
be released I think sometime Friday. Maybe it leads into Saturday,
but that's coming up. So that's I don't think this
one's is longbock. The other ones man the first one
we went over three hours, so I'm hoping that's not
(28:58):
the case here.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
It's a lot of a lot of info, a lot
of questions, a lot of random.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Hey DJ, hey, hey, tell me about the dB at Cataba.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Watched a lot of Monmouth tape over the last couple
of weeks.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
By the way, I do love.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
The fact that the Montana State quarterbacks getting some love
because when I did watch him, he is fun. He
ran four three, He's like he's fun.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
The conversation about him kind of being an at h
at athlete, kind of moving around, being an offensive weapon.
I will say this, he dominated for them at that level.
I mean, they were a fun offense to watch. He
was all over the place. Yeah, good player.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
All right, that's gonna do it for its appreciate you hanging.
We'll see you next time. Right here, I'll move the
sticks
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
Popular Podcasts
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!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com