NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garafolo are joined by Jane Slater to break down the Cowboys’ voluntary workouts and the presence of Micah Parsons as he eyes a new deal. The crew also discusses Shedeur Sanders' upcoming visit with the Raiders and which teams are most likely to target him in the draft. QB coach John Beck stops by to talk about working with prospects Jaxson Dart and Dillon Gabriel, while Marc Ross weighs in on the strength of the 2025 quarterback class and how teams approach drafting for need versus best available. Plus, Cam Wolfe reports from New Orleans as the Saints kick off workouts, and Lance Zierlein pounds the table for several prospects ahead of next week’s draft.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Im reallyan for Michael Parsons, but the Cowboys star is
back at the Star as offseason workouts began under a
new regime. What exactly does it mean for parsons future
in Dallas? Jane Slater will be here with the latest
on the All In Parsons project and Dak Prescott's recovery.
Shador Sanders is on a plane to Las Vegas right now.
(00:33):
Why did you be watching the show? So Hi shouldur
Thanks for coming on last week, but.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Is he really in play for the Raiders at number six?
We will tell you what we know about the stock.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
One of this draft's most polarizing prospects also could be
in play for the Saints at number nine, especially with
Derek Carr's future up in the air as the veteran.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Ponder's shoulder surgery.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Cameron Wolfe will join us with the latest on big
decisions in the Big Easy.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Perhaps Bobby A Bear is available. Welcome inside with.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
The Insiders alongside Judy Batista and Mike Garafolo.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I am Tom Pelisiro.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
We got John Beck for NFL quarterback kurk QB coach
to a couple of the top prospects in this year's draft.
He's going to join us in just a little bit
talk about Jackson Dart among others. Ten days from right now,
we can now say the NFL Draft will be about
to kick off in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As a short
time ago, we also know who is going to be
attending that draft in Green Bay. As first announced on
(01:33):
Path to the Draft, seventeen prospects attending this year's NFL Draft,
including cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Ashton Genti, and others. Right
about now, they will have walked the carpet. They'll be
in their tuxedos. They'll be realizing maybe they should have
warned something more comfortable instead of the fanciest thing. But
these three guys right here should not have to wait
very long in that green room. The Saints, meanwhile, are
(01:56):
back to work first offseason workouts under their new head
coach Kellen More. You can see a lot of quick
shots of the Mario Davis and Cam Jordan and others.
It's going so fast it looks like they're getting in
a lot of reps. Cowboys also back to work today,
the first day of offseason workouts under Brian Schottenheimer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Early bird gets the worm.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
You heard that, well, probably not since your grandma sent
it to you twenty five years ago. But that didn't
set the Cowboys Social team from creeping everybody out as
they entered the building. Michael Parsons was not scared off.
He is there, He's got a large water bottle, he's
got some sweats with the Cowboys logo on it. Good
signs for guy who has not always been around at
a time he's looking for a new contract. Here's what
(02:36):
one of his top teammates had to say.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, I mean me and Mike have talked in the
locker room.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Leave that as locker room talks.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
But very confident that guy and what he can't do,
who he is and what he wants to do is
as important as anything. And that's in being a leader.
And the contract. I mean, that's I don't have the
full answer for it. God of mine would have been
done a lot earlier.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Than they were.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's for him just to stay positive and yeah, understand
and make sure that his team knows what he wants
and what he believes.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It's welcome in r Jane Slater, who is down there
in Dallas, knows this team better than anybody. Jane, when
I talked to Brian Schattenneimer at the league meeting a
couple of weeks ago. Here's that same phrase with this
is opportunity for Micah to show leadership. What did it
say to you that day one of these voluntary offseason
workouts Mike is in the build.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
Well, I think when you're hearing players reiterate what some
of the things that their coaches are saying, it says
to you that maybe the message is resonating. I mean,
I think it is a big deal that Micah Parsons
has showed up to the facility. Keep in mind the
last two off season voluntary workouts he's chosen to work
away from the building. Michah Parson finds himself back in
(03:50):
there participating. And remember the Cowboys are working on, albeit slowly,
an extension for their edge rusher who's now entering his
fifth year option of that rookie contract. Now, Jerry Jones
did make it a point at owner's meetings, you know
this Tom, to highlight the importance of having Parsons at
the voluntary OTAs Parsons himself said he would be here
this week, recognizing how important it is and how imperative
(04:13):
is for him to build chemistry. Right now, it's with
some of the free agents, and then here soon it'll
be with the rookies. Leadership is a word that has
consistently come up when you've talked about Micah Parsons. He
says all the right things, but perhaps the knock on
him in recent years has been maybe he hasn't done
the right things, like attending some of these voluntary OTAs
(04:34):
to show that leadership edge.
Speaker 6 (04:36):
But as you were hearing Dak Prescott.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Talk about it, it sounds like maybe Micah Parsons is
taking a lot of that in. Dak didn't exactly hold
out or not show up during some of these at
times contentious negotiations. But as Dak knows, and I think
Mica knows, this contract is going to get done, and
the longer the Cowboys wait, the higher that number goes.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
We also saw Dak Prescott entering the Building Gene at
the time that he's coming up off of another fairly
significant season ending injury. Here's what he had to say
about that at that same event.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, I'm composed to where I want to be. I
don't want to put a percentage on it. I know
we've got team activities coming up. Imagine myself being involved
in some sort, if not all, but then again understanding
right my age, what I had, what I've went through
is it's about getting getting to the fall and being
my best in the fall. So not rushing anything, but
I'm where I want to be.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I was also hoping for yeah, and if you're a
Cowboys player, and a lot of to wait for that
until a little bit later. Jane the Dak Prescott, what
you heard from him right there? What do you make
of what the Cowboys expectations are for Dak coming.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Off this injury.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I love seeing the maturation of players around here, Tom
because they learned that eventually over time, if you're not
careful with your words, they won't get spun into something.
So he's sitting here saying he's not putting these elevated
expectations on his return right now. What he is saying
is you're seeing the workout videos. He looks fit, he's
in shape. When I asked someone in the bulding how
(06:00):
they looked, said looks pretty great to me. You know,
this was a hamstring injury last year that saw in
this nine games. After the Week eight game in Atlanta,
Prescott has been on the record lately saying he will
be an active participant in these off season activities, but
he's also being smart knowing that it needs to be
ready in the fall. One aspect it sounds like he
is focused on is strengthening the legs during the rehab.
(06:22):
There's been maybe some concern that not strengthening those legs
has led to some of those handy injuries. But after
finishing the season seven to ten, listening to Dak Prescott
and a lot of these Cowboys players, a lot of
them are seeing an opportunity here to flip the script.
Despite the fact all these prognosticators out there are looking
at some of their opponents in the East like the
Eagles and watched it and saying they certainly have the
(06:44):
roster to go far.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
The Cowboys have.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Innate belief that they think they can turn things around,
but it does certainly start with a healthy Dak Prescott
and also having a guy like Micah Parsons back in
the buildings. Again, these are voluntary OTAs, but I think
that there is something to be said about being in
the building and building that chemistry, something that was a
little bit locking last season.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Jane, thank you very much. Look forward to chatting with
you again soon. Big big options for the callous Cowboys
as we head into this NFL draft, as they try
to get things right up both sides of the ball.
Pre draft visits also are now winding two. A close
top ed rusher Abduel Carter visiting with the Patriots earlier today.
He already visited the Giants last week after a prior
(07:27):
meeting with Brian Dabel. Meanwhile, Chador Sanders is flying to
Las Vegas tonight to visit the Raiders. Now, this is
certainly an interesting one here, Mike, because the Raiders in
the saufseason, just traded for Geno Smith said, a third
round pick to Seattle for him, gave me a slightly
upgraded contract. In your mind, is this a fit, Mike
(07:48):
Garafalo for Shadur Standers.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Is it a fit? Yeah, possibly it's a fit. I
mean Geno Smith, I was just going through old emails
the other day. It was like from twenty thirteen or
something like that. It was like Smith transcript with the Giants.
I'm like, man, this guy's been around a long time, right,
It's just you don't look at him if you're trying
to reset things with the Raiders and say, oh, this
is our quarterback of the future. But Pete Carroll is
(08:11):
at the point of his career and certainly Gino Smith
is as well. So at some point the Raiders and
new general manager John Spytek are going to have to
find that franchise quarterback of the future. Is it you,
Door Sanders, We shall see. I do feel like there
are other needs up top for the Raiders that I
don't know if I see it at that point. So
the question is if that's the case and the Giants
don't take them at three, how long does this slide? Right,
(08:33):
Because now we're looking at the Saints at nine, who
suddenly have a need for a quarterback. But I just
feel like as we go through this, and I had
this conversation with a personnel guy today, as you get
closer to the draft, the teams that like a guy
are less willing to say that, right, And the teams
that don't like a guy and hey, we're not going
to take them up top anyway, are willing to. It's
(08:55):
not so much like people think, oh, they're putting this
stuff out there because they want a guy to drop.
It's just no, they're just more willing to say these
things because they're not worried about getting a guy at
that point of the draft. So I just think, like
the negative voices, the criticisms are getting louder for she,
and there's plenty of them, but there's getting louder as
we get closer to the draft. Reality will finally said
in next week and we'll see where he's gonna land.
(09:16):
But this notion of like he's going to slip out
of the first round, I'm just not seeing that.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
Well.
Speaker 8 (09:22):
I don't know about going all the way out of
the first round, but like it is hard to see
if he gets past the first three, which are the
teams that need the quarterbacks most urgently, where is his
best landing spot?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Then?
Speaker 8 (09:34):
Is it the Raiders as you pointed out, I mean,
Geno Smith is there, but there's still no long term solution.
But would you draft him at number six and put
him on the.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Bench for a while.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
That seems unlikely when as you said, Mike, there's certainly
other needs there. The Jets seem to be committed to
justin fields. They committed money to him, and they seem
very high on him, so it doesn't appear like it
would be the Jets. So would it be the Saints,
who now may have a real cour situation with Derek
Carr's shoulder injury. Could it be the Saints that would
(10:04):
take Shad or Sanders? Again, there's an awful lot of
murkiness here. If you get past those top three teams,
those are the teams that need the quarterbacks the most.
If he gets past them, who stops the fall? Where
is the best fit for him? Dion Sanders himself said recently,
you know, sometimes it's better to go later in the
first round because those teams are better. That's certainly true.
(10:26):
But part of the reason that those teams are better
is they often have settled quarterback situations. So we will
see how this shakes out for Shador Sanders. We've only
got another ten days to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
There's one man who has never wavered on his evaluation
of Shador Sanders. That's our guy, Bucky Brooks, who has
consistently had Shador Sanders in his top five quarterbacks at
number one, ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Of the probable number one overall pick in cam Ward.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Take a look at Bucky's latest ranky distill Chador followed
by cam Ward, then Jackson Dark Jaylen Milroe and Kyle
McCord checking in at number five. There's also has been
a feeling within the league this is not a good
quarterback class, certainly not on par with last year's. As
to that, Seahawks general manager John Syer said this week
that the best.
Speaker 9 (11:12):
Yeah, I'd be careful when you when you hear people
say this isn't a great jet.
Speaker 6 (11:16):
It's been said by kind of every bit.
Speaker 9 (11:18):
Yeah, I mean yeah, everybody knows every team that's been
out there talking about on national television, right. Yeah, No,
I think it's it depends on the team. How of
you the player of the quarterback again, how you're gonna
acquire them, where you're gonna acquire them? Uh, but you know,
bring him through the building is another. It's it's just
it's really about, Okay, more time. We need more answers.
(11:39):
We need more time with this player based on the
questions that we need answered in terms of the vision
we see for this player on the fit. It's not
necessarily like that's it's it's separate from how you can
acquire the player on the draft weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Let's bringing r Mark Ross to the conversation, in part
because he speaks fluent front office. You hear what John
Schneider is saying right there, Mark, you know how these
valuation processes go. What do you make of this class
and the way that Schneider right there is describing it.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Well, first I thought he was just taking a little
subtle shout.
Speaker 10 (12:11):
At the draft pundits by saying, oh, well, of course
all the teams are saying stuff. But yeah, then he
started talking about the process of Yeah, like, all quarterbacks
aren't made equal. All teams when they get a quarterback
isn't equal. It's all about the circumstance, your need that
the player that you really like, and if he's available,
if you can move to get him. Overall, I do
think the beauty's in the eye of the beholder with
(12:33):
these quarterbacks every year, and there's always a potential to
be a star. But overall, I do not see this
as a strong class. As really evidence by most years,
we see a lot of movement to get to the
top to get one of these quarterbacks, much like we
saw last year, a bunch of trades to get those guys.
So we haven't seen that this year. And John Schneider
can really show us if he really feels that way
(12:54):
because he can go draft one of these guys, much
like he did when they signed Matt Flinn is a
big freezing out of the Packers and then drafted Russell
Wilson the same year Josh Schnyder.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
As he had detailed before on The Insiders, he knows
he's only drafted two quarterbacks. Ever, it's not for a
lack of the evaluation. Russell Wilson. I'll give you Mark
until a couple of blocks FROMNW to remember the name
of the second one. More from you in just a
little bit. Kenny Pickett was the loan first rounder in
another down quarterback class several years ago.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
He's now on his.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Third team, a member of the Cleveland Browns, and he
told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review while he was at the
pit Pro day this past week.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'm not going there to hang out.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I want to go play right now, Mike, you got
Joe Flacco on a one year, four million dollar contract,
You got Kenny Pickett, and he got a Browns team
that's got five hundred five picks in the top one
hundred and change.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
What do you make in the situation right now in Cleveland? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (13:51):
For those watching at home, staying well, Deshaun Watson's still
on the roster. I mean between the Achilles injury and
what Jimmy Haslam said at the league meetings, which is
that we took a swing and a miss when we
went after Deshaun Watson. I think what Tom's breakdown, there
is fair two quarterbacks right now, which means that potentially
we could be adding another one via the draft, even
(14:11):
if it's not at that number two overall pick. Position
could be as Judy alluded to later in the first round,
if the Browns want to come back into the first
round or at the top of the second round, perhaps
do some maneuver in whatever they have to do to
get in position for that. So I would expect more
competition Kenny Pickett. But as it stands right now, again,
I don't see Watson as a quarterback for the Browns
(14:31):
in the long term. Joe Flacco was certainly not anywhere
as a quarterback in the long term term given where
he is in his career. So right now he's got
the best shot to make a statement to be a
quarterback for the Browns for a long period of time.
He got pushed by Tanner McKee in Philadelphia which is
why the Eagles were comfortable trading away Kenny Pickett. So
this is a different kind of competition for Pickett now
in Cleveland.
Speaker 8 (14:50):
Well, first of all, what else would you hope Kenny
Pickett would say? What else should Kenny Pickett sey except
to say I want to go play, I don't want
to go sit around. That's number one. Look, Deshaun Watson,
let's set that aside. This is Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
And it seems to me that the Cleveland Browns have
done something similar to what the Giants did, which is
they got quarterbacks on the roster to give themselves some
(15:13):
breathing room so that they don't have to force the
quarterback pick early in the draft if they don't like
what they see at that part of the draft, so
they can still take a quarterback later in the draft,
just like the Giants could. Theoretically, to me, what Flacco
and Kenny Pickett on the roster means it makes them
less likely to take a quarterback at number two. They'll
(15:34):
go elsewhere. And to me, the big question is what
does this mean for our potential Kirk Cousins trade. Does
it make it less likely that they make a trade
for Kirk Cousins now that they have Joe Flacco on
the roster, is the asking price simply too high for
a trade for Kirk Cousins. Presumably, if kirk Cousins were
on the Browns roster, he would beat out Flacco and
(15:57):
Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Presumably.
Speaker 8 (16:00):
But you do wonder if, now that they've got those
guys in there as stopgap measure, if that is not
going to be a kirk Cousins landing spot either.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And that Kirk Cousins straight if and when it materializes
something that could take place during next week's NFL Draft.
That's right, it's next week that that draft kicks off
in Green Bay. And until then, we got a little
crossover action happening.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
This week.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You'll see a bunch of NFL Network personalities on ESPN.
You will see ESPN personalities here on NFL Network, including
the Man, the Myth, the Legend, mel kiper Junior on
The Insiders tomorrow night, seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
What a time to be alive.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Not so much perhaps for the New Orleans Saints, and
certainly have a big quarterback question dropped onto their plate
on the first day they're in the building. For off
season workouts. So how is Derek Carr's injury situation impacting
their plans at number nine overall? Cam Wolf and Mark
Ross will be back to discuss that in just a
little bit. First, though, one man is training Jackson Dart
and Dylan Gabriel for the twenty twenty five draft. He's
(17:01):
trained a whole lot of quarterbacks in the past. John Beck,
former NFL quarterback now a coach, is going to help
us break down these guys and also his former pupil,
JJ McCarthy being the man in Minnesota that's next on
the Insiders. Jackson Dart was a playmaker at Ole Miss,
(17:22):
now preparing for the NFL Draft with one of the
most accomplished and prolific quarterback coaches around, former NFL quarterback
John Beck. You can see the list of quarterbacks he's
worked both with, both past and present. Now, John's here
with us on the Insiders. Tom Pilaicero and Mike Garrifola
with you.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
John.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Let's start right there, Jackson Dart putting them numbers at
All Miss. We've seen other quarterbacks do that. It's a
relatively simplistic type of system. Lane Kevin does a really
good job putting those guys in position to succeed. When
you look at Dart's skill set and what he knows,
what do you make m as an NFL draft prospect.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Well, I think the first thing is just he has
a compere seitiveness that really fuels him and so he's
going to attack this next step in the journey with
everything that he's got. And so I think as he
kind of has to grow into some of the things
he's going to be asked to do at the NFL level,
it's somebody that's going to attack that and he's going
to be able to go through the little bumps and
the learning things you have to go through, but he's
(18:18):
going to do it with the competitiveness. I think Jackson
has a lot of confidence in himself going into this
next step, and I think when you're working with young quarterbacks,
they have to have that if they're going to go
through this initial journey and the bumps of the first
couple of years, they have to do it with that
competitive edge, and I think Jax has that.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
You know, I heard Tom say about you know the
system in all miss and there will be a bit
of an adjustment to the NFL. John but I've seen
the people that have broken down the film say, you know,
he can get through his progression. He has gotten through
his progressions. You have any doubt that that ability will translate.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
To the NFL. Well, like I said, the way that
he attacks it.
Speaker 11 (18:55):
So we get a chance to see him actually in
this very meeting room I'm sitting in, and he goes
through all of his re what he's being asked to do.
I think, as you see what some other Old Miss
quarterbacks have done in the past, and I've set it down.
You know, I had a former Old Miss quarterback that
I went through the draft process with, and then you
sit down with Jacks. You've seen some of the things
that he's doing that are different from what the other
(19:16):
guys have done, and what Lane is asking him to do,
and some of.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
The stuff that Jacks has become really comfortable with.
Speaker 11 (19:21):
And I think getting through progressions not having just a
ton of half field reads, but full progressions, understanding how
to get to the other side of the field by
canceling off one side of the field knowing I'm off
of one right now, all of those things are going
to serve them well. And if ever there's something that
he hasn't done. Jackson is very good at finding something
that can kind of be relatable. Oh, it's kind of
(19:42):
like this, I've done this. I can bring that into
what I'm now being asked to do, and I can
really quickly become comfortable with it. And so to me,
now it's just taking it from what he sees on
the you know, the meeting room, a TV, a whiteboard,
and now putting it out to a live NFL field
when he gets the opportunity to be selected and getting
somebody's training like rookie camp.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Let's tide about Dylan Gabriel. I think everybody saw him
play a lot in his college career. He's really accurate.
He was obviously very productive. He's also not very big.
There are going to be some systems in the NFL
that are more built for shorter quarterbacks. Thing about Arizona
in Miami, how do you see the fit for Gabriel
and how equipped is he to overcome what he lacks
(20:22):
in terms of the ability to have vision in the pocket.
Speaker 11 (20:25):
Yeah, I think he's done it at the collegiate level
because of experience games played, and I think that very
thing is what we've seen in the NFL in recent
years with guys like bo Nix.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
And Brock Purty, games played right.
Speaker 11 (20:36):
Brock is a smaller guy, played in a lot of
football games in college, has come and had a lot
of success at the NFL level and finds a way
right with limited height. Maybe he doesn't have great vision
on everything, but he's played in it before. He recognizes
that this is the level he's playing from in terms
of vision.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
I think Dylan brings a lot of that.
Speaker 11 (20:53):
Just football experience to the way that he moves through progressions.
And I'll use the Senior Bowl as an example. He
went out there in an All Star game like setting
where you don't get to be around a lot of
guys you've been around throughout the year, and he got.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Through his progressions. He was very smart.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
A lot of the things of feedback that I got
from coaches was wow, to put him in this setting,
to like install an offense and have him go out
and see him get through the progressions. That shows how
heavy of a football player it is. It shows the
experience that he has, and really that's how you overcome
what some people say maybe limiting heights. Okay, call it
limiting height, but we've seen. We have a lot of
players right now in the NFL that have had success
(21:28):
at a very similar height, and it's because of the experience.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
Is there anything you can do or you try to
do to say, okay, well we can sort of compensate
for that a little bit. I mean, is there something
mechanics wise make them stand up a little taller? I mean,
I did hear that about Bryce Young coming out that
he's a little short, but he doesn't squat down. He
kind of stands tall and that helps a little bit
with that.
Speaker 11 (21:49):
I mean, I think a lot of it is just
nowadays the number of under center snaps that you take.
Go look at guys like Mike Pennicks from Atlanta right,
very comfortable in a gun pistol type offense coming from
washing and he's not asked to be in the gun
a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
I mean, sorry, under center a lot.
Speaker 11 (22:04):
And now he's not shorter like Dylan, but a lot
of teams are saying, hold up, do we have to
go under center in the run game? Can we get
in pistol? Can we run all of the stuff that
we want to run from a gun?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Look?
Speaker 11 (22:15):
Can that help the quarterbacks on the little bit smaller side?
And if you have to break a tendency because oh
you know, ninety five percent of the time we go
under its run, you can break it. You can break
it with keepers, you can break it from quick games.
So I think wherever you see Dylan, the fit is
going to be formationally. Let's keep him already back five
yards and that's not like, let's not ask him to
(22:35):
get under center. And as he drops back, he's got
six ft four to six foot five linemen in his face.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
But from a.
Speaker 11 (22:39):
Mechanical standpoint, you know, there's nothing where I ask him, hey,
be taller, do this or that. He I think has
played from that vision level for so long. He just
knows how to play the game from it, and it's
going to stay that way.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You mentioned Michael Pennix in there. You worked with the
two guys last year who played the least is rookies
Panis and of course JJ McCarthy missed his entire rookie
season because of niscus surgeries. You just look out at
those two guys. We are their first opportunity to be
the guy in the NFL. What do you anticipate and
what's the key to them having success as NFL starters.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
I'm excited for both of them for different reasons.
Speaker 11 (23:13):
I know that this last year was really hard for
JJ to not get to play.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That kid just loves ball, loves competing.
Speaker 11 (23:20):
And so I'm really excited that he gets his opportunity
to now come out be healthy and they want him
to be the starter. Right with the Sam going to Seattle,
this is now JJ's team to go out there, and
they're going to do everything they can to prepare him
to be successful. And I love the head coach, a
quarterback guy. He's going to do everything he possibly can
to develop JJ. But it's going to be fresh right.
(23:40):
He hasn't even been on the sideline patted up yet
for like a course.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Of a season. This is going to be the first
for everything for him and that's why I'm excited.
Speaker 11 (23:48):
But now on Mike, Like I love that Mike got
opportunities to play there at the end of the year.
I know how much that staff is excited for him,
and I know his capabilities.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
There's so much talent and so many things that Mike
can do.
Speaker 11 (24:00):
And I think, you know, you look at how Atlanta
built their team at the beginning of the season, it
was for who they went out and got in free
agency and Kurt Right, they went and paid him.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
It was built for that.
Speaker 11 (24:09):
Now they get a chance to build this team around Mike,
They get a chance to really design it for the
things that he's going to excel. And so I just
got to see those, you know, those few games he
played at the end of the season, some of the
really strong and good things that he did, and he's
going to get to take all that experience and the
things that he can do better and now jump into
it with that staff really building for him.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
John great stuff as always, I look forward to and
I am sure we will be doing this again next year.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
We appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah, you guys are welcome.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Could Jackson Dart end up being the new quarterback for
the New Orleans Saints. They might have a need depending
on the decision by Derek Carr on whether to undergo
shoulder surgery. The latest on car and the Saints plans
at the most important position. When our guy Cambin Wolf
joins us. Next on the Insiders, you right.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
Now or did we finish talking about Shadoor Sanders? Then
our very own Tom Pallisero and Ian Rappaporter who's not
even on the show today, had a little bit of news,
a little bit of intrigue. The Giants are going to
work out Shadoor Sanders privately this Thursday, so one week
before the draft begins. The Giants have already done an
(25:19):
awful lot of work on Shadur, They had a big
contingent at the Colorado Showcase, and now there is going
to be a private workout just for them on Thursday
as we head into the draft. Meanwhile, in New Orleans,
the Saints began their off season program, their first under new.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Head coach Kellen Moore.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
One very notable person who was not their quarterback Derek Carr,
who was dealing with a shoulder injury that could jeopardize
his entire twenty twenty five season. Surgery is a possibility.
Let's bring in our Camwolf and returning Mark Ross to
discuss the situation with the Saints.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Cam.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
First of all, bring us up to date.
Speaker 8 (25:58):
What is new with the Derek cars situation?
Speaker 7 (26:01):
What a curveball for new head coach Kellen Moore to
start OTAs with with the Saints. His veterans starting quarterback
not only won't be there, but may not be there
all throughout the season. Look, the Saints have done extensive
homework on this quarterback class, but they were going into
this season at least a month ago thinking Derek Carr
was going to be the twenty twenty five answer. And
I'll get to the draft options in the second, but
(26:22):
as they start in OTA's a lot of spotlight will
be on their two young quarterbacks, spend Spencer Rattler and
Jake Hayner, who they've drafted in the mid rounds the
last couple of years. Kellen Moore talked about Spencer Rattler
effusively at the league meetings. I was sitting there as
he talked about all the tools he had. He said
he scouted him when he was in Philadelphia as the
offensive coordinator coming out of South Carolina. Say he was
(26:44):
in a lot of unideal situations, but thought that year
two he could make that jump. And maybe the Saints
make that decision that we're going to roll with the
young guy and do Spencer Ratler in twenty twenty five
and maybe look towards twenty twenty six were Arch Manning
or other quarter could be coming out of that draft.
What's interesting about the Derek Carr situation is that they
(27:05):
guarantee his contract, they moved his cap hit into twenty
twenty six, and it makes it really difficult for them
to go out and splash on a Aaron Rodgers or
Kirk Cudgins. And so whether it's Jake Hayner, whether it's
Spencer Radler, or whether it's a Shador Sanders or Jackson Dart,
who they've done a lot of homework on, this Saints
team seems to have to go young and potentially start
this rebuild a little earlier than maybe they wanted.
Speaker 8 (27:26):
Mark Mark, Let's look at the front office perspective here,
because obviously, when a development this big happens this close
to the draft, it has the potential to change the
draft plan significantly.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
How would you approach this, Well.
Speaker 10 (27:40):
It only changes significantly if you had those quarterbacks that
Cam talked about, Chador and let's say Jackson Dart rated
as top ten picks. For them to take out that
ninth pick, it's not all of a sudden, Well, Derek
Carr is hurt, and we had these guys in the
second round. But now let's look at them up here
at nine. They better have had those grades on those
players already but it does change the fact of Okay, well,
(28:02):
maybe we were thinking we've got car and Spencer Ratler
and we'll work with that, But well, I'm Kella Moore.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
I'm the new head coach.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
I just won a Super Bowl with with with a
young man, Jalen Hurts, who is the MVP?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I want that?
Speaker 10 (28:15):
Do I want that next guy to be my guy
there that I build and grow with. Do I want
my legacy tied to whoever I have at that ninth pick,
or do I have the resources to say, you know what,
We'll go through this year with Spencer Ratler, take somebody
maybe the second and third round, and hope Derek Carr
comes back. But that's the bigger question to me is Okay,
we're talking about just this year for Derek Carr, but
(28:37):
this could be a long term effect and not getting
any younger and older and older and hurt.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Is not a good combination.
Speaker 10 (28:43):
So I think they do seriously have to look at
the future of the franchise at this quarterback position in
this draft.
Speaker 8 (28:50):
Such an interesting curve fall so late in the process.
All right, Cam, you look like you had a lot
more fun this weekend than most of us. You went fishing,
tell us about it.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Yeah, I was out on the water in Fort Lauderdell
is part of the Sports Fishing Championship the Catch, and
I got to ride in a boat with James Cook
a bunch of NFL players coming out there, and it
was like little kids again. They're catching fish or doing
something they probably hadn't done in years, and it was
this is Alvin Kamara, this is Zay Jones. These are
guys grabbing fish out of the ocean like this is
(29:19):
the happiest day of their lives. And it was cool
just seeing some of these pure joy moments, you know,
the wrangling back and forth with fish into the into
the ocean. And I want to take you on to
my boat a little bit because me and James Cook,
the bills running back, we wrestled with the shark at
one point that we didn't know what shark was a shark.
We spent about an hour trying to wrangle you see
Cook there trying to fight it, fight it through.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
And the buzzword in our boat was patience.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
I told James Cook, I'm not sure if you got
more patience as a running back, wrestling the shark or
waiting for the bills to give you your money for
this big contract, and he jokes at all of it.
I think this is a cool event you guys will
see in May when they come out with it. But
it's just an opportunity to see experts in fishing on
our boat kind of teach experts in football how to.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Go through it.
Speaker 7 (30:05):
I got a chance to catch my first sailfish. As
you see here James Cook is tagging the fish that
we ended up catching.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Is catching release.
Speaker 7 (30:12):
You don't bring the sailfish on the boat, but I
got to put that on my mark. They told me
as we were leaving off the tradition is to jump
in the water where you caught the sailfish. Luckily we
were leaving as I heard that news, and so I
did not jump in the water. And secretly, I probably
was not going to jump in the water anyway, because me.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
And sharks don't really vibe.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
I don't think they're very understanding creatures.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
So if that was my first and last salesfish, that's
the way it was meant to be.
Speaker 8 (30:40):
I kept looking in the background to see if we
could see baldy in the ocean, because that's the shot
I am used to seeing baldy swimming around on the ocean.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Anyway, Guys, thank you very much.
Speaker 8 (30:49):
We will see you again shortly on the Insiders. But
when we return, our lancesour line is going to join
the show to talk about players we should be pounding
the table for, like maybe LSU's Braden Swinston for example.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
When we return, almost time for these guys to be drafted,
which means it's almost time for personnel guys and coaches
who have spent months evaluating prospects to start pounding the table.
That is one of the phrases you hear around draft time.
Here's our guy, Charles Davis giving you some guys that
(31:24):
he would pound the table for. To get the full
story on this, go to NFL dot com slash Davis.
Lance Zerline and I were just talking before he came
on the air about Willie Lampkin, the center from North Carolina,
fight for ten. But Charles says, that's big enough to
pound the table for it. Do you have a table
in front of you, Lance, I hope you do start
passing it.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
I've been padding the table for Willy Lampkin for about
two months, like since before the Senior Bowl. So Charles
had a good list. There's a good list. I like
about six of those guys. I'd probably pound the table
for about six of those guys. But I got my
own guys too.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yes you do.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
And that's what we're gonna do right here. To start
with a defensive lineman that you want to, I'll pound
the table for you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
That table, I'll pounding the table for Braidon Swintson.
Speaker 12 (32:06):
This is a guy from LSU, kind of a late bloomer,
has come on physically a little bit later. He's got
long arms, a pretty good length, He's got big hands.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
But what he is is he is a pocket disruptor.
Speaker 12 (32:17):
He has a great ability to read and react to
what the offensive lineman is doing. So if the tackle's
over setting, he can beat him inside. If the tackle's
late with his hands, he can beat him with his hands.
It he's all over the place. And the game he
had against Ole Miss, he was on top of Jackson
Dart almost the entire game. It was really something to behold.
I think Brayden Swinson is a player who has natural
(32:38):
pass rush abilities and instincts, and he's not really but
he's not polished, so he's still got some upside to go. So,
if I'm going to pound the table for a player,
I want to take a player that I'm projecting to
be better than where we're going to draft him.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
I think he gets drafted in the fourth and.
Speaker 12 (32:51):
I'm gonna pound the table because I think Brayden Swinson's
gonna end up being a good pass rusher on the
next level.
Speaker 6 (32:57):
Yeah, when you get to positions like edge rusher, he
can disrupt the game. That's when the pounding really becomes love.
This table, by the way, is tempered glass. I once
picked up a coffee table top to move it and
it shattered in my hands. So I'm gonna lightly tap
this table from now on. You can do the pumping.
Where are we linebackers? I believe Lance who we've pounded
the table for that pisode, Well.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We're gonna go.
Speaker 12 (33:16):
RJ Mickens, he's actually a safety, but he tackles like
a linebacker. That's one of the reasons I like him.
Is Daan Ray played in the NFL for the Jets.
RJ Mickens to me, people are sleeping on this guy.
I love his tape and I think, you know, look,
is he going to be a deep safety? That makes
a lot of plays on the back end. He did
on that, he did on that you know rep, but
that's not who he is.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
What he is, he's a.
Speaker 12 (33:37):
Guy who can play down near the line of scrimmage.
He can play some split safety, he can play over
the slot. He plays a lot of his own. He's
got good pre snap recognition and very good post snap instinct,
so he has a good feel for where route breaks
are going. But what I really love about him is
he's a great tackler. In this day and age, there's
so many players coming into the league that don't tackle
well and RJ. Mickens is the guy that really tackles
(33:59):
well and he's got NFL bloodlines. So for me, I'm
going to pound the table for that combination there with
r J Mickens from Clemson.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Yeah, I've been paunding the table so hard and screwed
up my notes here. I think we're on the wide
receiver now if I've got this correct, lance.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Are we are?
Speaker 12 (34:13):
Jalen Royals, You're right, and there's a few of my
I can pound the table for me. This is one
of my favorites right here. Pound that table for me.
Just don't break the glass. Jalen Royals is a big,
physical slot receiver who catches everything. He had a good
testing day at the Combine. He's got physicality when it
comes to contested catches. He just is a professional player
(34:34):
like he plays the game like a professional already out
of Utah State, and I think he's going. He's going
on Day three. The question is is he going the
second round or does he go on to third round?
But he is the guy that I feel is one
of the safest wide receivers in this draft because of
how he plays the game. He plays it like a
pro with contested catches, with hands, and with his ability
to be efficient with his route running. So I'm pounding
(34:56):
the table for a Day two wide receiver. In Jalen Royals.
Speaker 6 (35:00):
Lance, you're around your father who is in the league
at the college. Have you ever seen an actual table
get pounded by a guy trying to make a case
for a player.
Speaker 12 (35:09):
But funny, he didn't pound the table for a player
he liked, and he let Butch Davis draft the guy
from Miami that he's like a ill just let him
have his guy.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
And then my dad learned a valuable lesson. You better
pound the table for guys.
Speaker 12 (35:20):
You like, because the other guy may end up playing
and he may get the quarterback sacked a lot of times.
So pound the table for guys you like, like. For example,
Jacory cross Crosskey Merit. I've been trying to get him
on the show for about a month now, and we
finally have videos so I can show you. Ja Cory
Krossky Merit is a problem for people. He's got four
to four to one speed, big vertical leaps. It shows
(35:42):
he's explosive in his lower half. He only played one
game this year for Arizona. There was questions about his eligibility.
Arizona didn't want a chance, so they say they said,
look one game he went for over one hundred yards,
We're not going to chance it. He goes to the
Shrine game, he wins the MVP at the Shrine Game.
He tests out of his head. He is powerful through content.
As you can see, he's got breakaway speed. Jacorey Krossky
(36:03):
Merrit is going to end up going on day three
and he's going to be a steal. You gotta go
get this guy.
Speaker 6 (36:09):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 11 (36:09):
I beg you.
Speaker 12 (36:10):
If there's general managers listening, please draft Ja Cory Krossky
merit and do your offensive favor.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Fifth round probably's where he is.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Grab him around early if you want to, I promise
you he's gonna come through.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
Last time I felt this way was last year with
the Tyrone Tracy from Purdue.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
I pounded the table for Tyrone Tracy.
Speaker 12 (36:27):
It's the same kind of vibe I'm getting from chakr
Crossky Merrit from Arizona.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
Kind of Tyrone Tracy. Tyron Tracy over a thousand yards
combined as a rookie along with Malik Neighbors the Giants,
the first duo to do that since the Saints back
in two thousand and five, I believe was the year.
So look, the beauty is I don't have to pound
the table for Lance Aerline because everybody knows what he brings,
so they want to have him in the show anyway.
Never have to make the case for him, Lance, Love you, bro,
(36:52):
Appreciate you. Yeah, this is going to be the crossover,
the ESPN NFL network crossover. Here this week we traded
Kai Brandt and DJ in exchange for mel kiper Over
the next two days. Did we win that one by
a landslide? Who's to say it's just a crossover people
just for a couple of days. All right, everybody out there,
(37:14):
take a breath. I'll do a Carter could find himself
in a position where the Giants have to weigh, well,
do we want him at number three? Like it's not
necessarily a need but the best of it. Hey, look,
it's that time of year to debate need versus best
player available, and we're gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
After the break on the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
New tonight, we got just a little bit more intrigue
with the number three overall pick. Is he and rapport
and I reported a short time ago the Giants plan
to send a contingent to Boulder, Colorado to conduct a
private workout with Colorado quarterback Shuder Sanders on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
They've already done a ton of work they would.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Ever practice every game now headed back to campus just
one week week out from the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, another
top prospect, Abdul Carter, visited the New England Patriots.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Today they're sitting at number.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Four, probably hoping that the Giants take shaanor Sanders at
number three. New York also had Abdul Carter in their
building for a visit earlier this month, after previously also
having another meeting with him as we bring our Mark
Ross back into the show. Mark, this is the classic
situation right now with your old team, the Giants. Do
(38:29):
you take the guy who fills the biggest need in
Shador Sanders or do you take possibly the best player
available in Abdul Carter?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
How do you sort through these things?
Speaker 10 (38:38):
Well, Tom, you know we're going to go on twenty
five drafts in the road next week where every single
team miraculously picks the best player on their board. Right
we're hearing every time after every pick, best player on
the board. Look, it's a combination of both. That's why
you have months of draft meetings. That's why your scouts
put in so much work. That's why you meet with
the scouts and the coaching staff because you absolutely talk
(39:00):
about what you need on your team and how you
can get better on your team. But what you don't
want to do is is overvalue players because of the need.
So when you set up your draft board, you right
the players best to worse. But it's almost as if
you have groupings of players that are the same value
at different positions. So if you're coming upon a pick
(39:20):
and you talk about these things in your draft meetings,
you have a certain value and say on a corner
and a receiver and a dtackle, But if you really
need that dep tackle, then you're going to take that
d tackle over the corner and the receiver. But you
don't want to jump guys over a bunch of players
you have over them who are much higher value just
to get a need. So the best teams match what
(39:42):
they need with the value in those certain brackets that
they have and don't overvalue players because of that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Our real quick Mark, you ran a lot of drafts
in your time. You've done all the work, you've been at,
all the practices, all the games. You send a contingent
in one week before the draft, does that read you
like very very elaborate smoke screen, Or we really might
take this guy three.
Speaker 10 (40:02):
They may have the bar and restaurant they love and
Boulder to go there, and the whole group wants to
go to because they should. They already know now whether
they want to take through door Sanders or not. There's
nothing they're going to get by going in there once
again to say, you know what, we do like this
guy to take him at three.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Mark, Thank you very much, a lot more from you,
Over the next ten days leading up to the NFL Draft,
we also got the first golf major of the season
in the books and now JJ Watts out there trying
not to look like Donkey.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Kong swinging a club. We'll explain more after this on
The Insiders.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
If you were wondering the answer to the question, would
Rory McElroy secure the career Grand Slam where the Cowboys
go back to an Nancy Championship game.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
First, you now have your answer.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Congratulations to Rory McElroy taking home the Master's title on
Sunday in thrilling and heart wrenching and agonizing fashion. Back
in twenty ten, when he had a lot less hardware
in the case, he posted, Yes, if I had to
follow a team, that would be the Jets. But I
just enjoy following NFL and there was I checked it.
No context to that tweet, not a reply, just in isolation,
(41:12):
wanted to go head away. In Welcome back to the Insiders,
Tom Pila Sero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garrifolo, there was
another familiar face back on the course in Augusta today,
and it was Bryson D.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Chambeau. Excuse me, it's JJ Watt.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Who was out there earlier. Today, they wear the same
size polo shirt. Do you believe this score, Garifolo?
Speaker 11 (41:32):
I do?
Speaker 6 (41:32):
He set his over under the day before at like
one fifty two and a half, which was really insane.
I mean, I know it's a hard course, but this, Yeah,
I believe it.
Speaker 8 (41:41):
I totally believe it, because you assume he can drive
it as long as he wants to drive it. Yes,
pretty good round for JJ Watt.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
That is a scary sight. JJ Watt holding really anything.
We'll see you tomorrow, Simbiam Easter
Im reallyan for Michael Parsons, but the Cowboys star is
back at the Star as offseason workouts began under a
new regime. What exactly does it mean for parsons future
in Dallas? Jane Slater will be here with the latest
on the All In Parsons project and Dak Prescott's recovery.
Shador Sanders is on a plane to Las Vegas right now.
(00:33):
Why did you be watching the show? So Hi shouldur
Thanks for coming on last week, but.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Is he really in play for the Raiders at number six?
We will tell you what we know about the stock.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
One of this draft's most polarizing prospects also could be
in play for the Saints at number nine, especially with
Derek Carr's future up in the air as the veteran.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Ponder's shoulder surgery.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Cameron Wolfe will join us with the latest on big
decisions in the Big Easy.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Perhaps Bobby A Bear is available. Welcome inside with.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
The Insiders alongside Judy Batista and Mike Garafolo.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I am Tom Pelisiro.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
We got John Beck for NFL quarterback kurk QB coach
to a couple of the top prospects in this year's draft.
He's going to join us in just a little bit
talk about Jackson Dart among others. Ten days from right now,
we can now say the NFL Draft will be about
to kick off in Green Bay, Wisconsin. As a short
time ago, we also know who is going to be
attending that draft in Green Bay. As first announced on
(01:33):
Path to the Draft, seventeen prospects attending this year's NFL Draft,
including cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Ashton Genti, and others. Right
about now, they will have walked the carpet. They'll be
in their tuxedos. They'll be realizing maybe they should have
warned something more comfortable instead of the fanciest thing. But
these three guys right here should not have to wait
very long in that green room. The Saints, meanwhile, are
(01:56):
back to work first offseason workouts under their new head
coach Kellen More. You can see a lot of quick
shots of the Mario Davis and Cam Jordan and others.
It's going so fast it looks like they're getting in
a lot of reps. Cowboys also back to work today,
the first day of offseason workouts under Brian Schottenheimer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Early bird gets the worm.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
You heard that, well, probably not since your grandma sent
it to you twenty five years ago. But that didn't
set the Cowboys Social team from creeping everybody out as
they entered the building. Michael Parsons was not scared off.
He is there, He's got a large water bottle, he's
got some sweats with the Cowboys logo on it. Good
signs for guy who has not always been around at
a time he's looking for a new contract. Here's what
(02:36):
one of his top teammates had to say.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, I mean me and Mike have talked in the
locker room.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Leave that as locker room talks.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
But very confident that guy and what he can't do,
who he is and what he wants to do is
as important as anything. And that's in being a leader.
And the contract. I mean, that's I don't have the
full answer for it. God of mine would have been
done a lot earlier.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Than they were.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's for him just to stay positive and yeah, understand
and make sure that his team knows what he wants
and what he believes.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
It's welcome in r Jane Slater, who is down there
in Dallas, knows this team better than anybody. Jane, when
I talked to Brian Schattenneimer at the league meeting a
couple of weeks ago. Here's that same phrase with this
is opportunity for Micah to show leadership. What did it
say to you that day one of these voluntary offseason
workouts Mike is in the build.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
Well, I think when you're hearing players reiterate what some
of the things that their coaches are saying, it says
to you that maybe the message is resonating. I mean,
I think it is a big deal that Micah Parsons
has showed up to the facility. Keep in mind the
last two off season voluntary workouts he's chosen to work
away from the building. Michah Parson finds himself back in
(03:50):
there participating. And remember the Cowboys are working on, albeit slowly,
an extension for their edge rusher who's now entering his
fifth year option of that rookie contract. Now, Jerry Jones
did make it a point at owner's meetings, you know
this Tom, to highlight the importance of having Parsons at
the voluntary OTAs Parsons himself said he would be here
this week, recognizing how important it is and how imperative
(04:13):
is for him to build chemistry. Right now, it's with
some of the free agents, and then here soon it'll
be with the rookies. Leadership is a word that has
consistently come up when you've talked about Micah Parsons. He
says all the right things, but perhaps the knock on
him in recent years has been maybe he hasn't done
the right things, like attending some of these voluntary OTAs
(04:34):
to show that leadership edge.
Speaker 6 (04:36):
But as you were hearing Dak Prescott.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Talk about it, it sounds like maybe Micah Parsons is
taking a lot of that in. Dak didn't exactly hold
out or not show up during some of these at
times contentious negotiations. But as Dak knows, and I think
Mica knows, this contract is going to get done, and
the longer the Cowboys wait, the higher that number goes.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
We also saw Dak Prescott entering the Building Gene at
the time that he's coming up off of another fairly
significant season ending injury. Here's what he had to say
about that at that same event.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, I'm composed to where I want to be. I
don't want to put a percentage on it. I know
we've got team activities coming up. Imagine myself being involved
in some sort, if not all, but then again understanding
right my age, what I had, what I've went through
is it's about getting getting to the fall and being
my best in the fall. So not rushing anything, but
I'm where I want to be.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I was also hoping for yeah, and if you're a
Cowboys player, and a lot of to wait for that
until a little bit later. Jane the Dak Prescott, what
you heard from him right there? What do you make
of what the Cowboys expectations are for Dak coming.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Off this injury.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I love seeing the maturation of players around here, Tom
because they learned that eventually over time, if you're not
careful with your words, they won't get spun into something.
So he's sitting here saying he's not putting these elevated
expectations on his return right now. What he is saying
is you're seeing the workout videos. He looks fit, he's
in shape. When I asked someone in the bulding how
(06:00):
they looked, said looks pretty great to me. You know,
this was a hamstring injury last year that saw in
this nine games. After the Week eight game in Atlanta,
Prescott has been on the record lately saying he will
be an active participant in these off season activities, but
he's also being smart knowing that it needs to be
ready in the fall. One aspect it sounds like he
is focused on is strengthening the legs during the rehab.
(06:22):
There's been maybe some concern that not strengthening those legs
has led to some of those handy injuries. But after
finishing the season seven to ten, listening to Dak Prescott
and a lot of these Cowboys players, a lot of
them are seeing an opportunity here to flip the script.
Despite the fact all these prognosticators out there are looking
at some of their opponents in the East like the
Eagles and watched it and saying they certainly have the
(06:44):
roster to go far.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
The Cowboys have.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Innate belief that they think they can turn things around,
but it does certainly start with a healthy Dak Prescott
and also having a guy like Micah Parsons back in
the buildings. Again, these are voluntary OTAs, but I think
that there is something to be said about being in
the building and building that chemistry, something that was a
little bit locking last season.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Jane, thank you very much. Look forward to chatting with
you again soon. Big big options for the callous Cowboys
as we head into this NFL draft, as they try
to get things right up both sides of the ball.
Pre draft visits also are now winding two. A close
top ed rusher Abduel Carter visiting with the Patriots earlier today.
He already visited the Giants last week after a prior
(07:27):
meeting with Brian Dabel. Meanwhile, Chador Sanders is flying to
Las Vegas tonight to visit the Raiders. Now, this is
certainly an interesting one here, Mike, because the Raiders in
the saufseason, just traded for Geno Smith said, a third
round pick to Seattle for him, gave me a slightly
upgraded contract. In your mind, is this a fit, Mike
(07:48):
Garafalo for Shadur Standers.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Is it a fit? Yeah, possibly it's a fit. I
mean Geno Smith, I was just going through old emails
the other day. It was like from twenty thirteen or
something like that. It was like Smith transcript with the Giants.
I'm like, man, this guy's been around a long time, right,
It's just you don't look at him if you're trying
to reset things with the Raiders and say, oh, this
is our quarterback of the future. But Pete Carroll is
(08:11):
at the point of his career and certainly Gino Smith
is as well. So at some point the Raiders and
new general manager John Spytek are going to have to
find that franchise quarterback of the future. Is it you,
Door Sanders, We shall see. I do feel like there
are other needs up top for the Raiders that I
don't know if I see it at that point. So
the question is if that's the case and the Giants
don't take them at three, how long does this slide? Right,
(08:33):
Because now we're looking at the Saints at nine, who
suddenly have a need for a quarterback. But I just
feel like as we go through this, and I had
this conversation with a personnel guy today, as you get
closer to the draft, the teams that like a guy
are less willing to say that, right, And the teams
that don't like a guy and hey, we're not going
to take them up top anyway, are willing to. It's
(08:55):
not so much like people think, oh, they're putting this
stuff out there because they want a guy to drop.
It's just no, they're just more willing to say these
things because they're not worried about getting a guy at
that point of the draft. So I just think, like
the negative voices, the criticisms are getting louder for she,
and there's plenty of them, but there's getting louder as
we get closer to the draft. Reality will finally said
in next week and we'll see where he's gonna land.
(09:16):
But this notion of like he's going to slip out
of the first round, I'm just not seeing that.
Speaker 7 (09:21):
Well.
Speaker 8 (09:22):
I don't know about going all the way out of
the first round, but like it is hard to see
if he gets past the first three, which are the
teams that need the quarterbacks most urgently, where is his
best landing spot?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Then?
Speaker 8 (09:34):
Is it the Raiders as you pointed out, I mean,
Geno Smith is there, but there's still no long term solution.
But would you draft him at number six and put
him on the.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Bench for a while.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
That seems unlikely when as you said, Mike, there's certainly
other needs there. The Jets seem to be committed to
justin fields. They committed money to him, and they seem
very high on him, so it doesn't appear like it
would be the Jets. So would it be the Saints,
who now may have a real cour situation with Derek
Carr's shoulder injury. Could it be the Saints that would
(10:04):
take Shad or Sanders? Again, there's an awful lot of
murkiness here. If you get past those top three teams,
those are the teams that need the quarterbacks the most.
If he gets past them, who stops the fall? Where
is the best fit for him? Dion Sanders himself said recently,
you know, sometimes it's better to go later in the
first round because those teams are better. That's certainly true.
(10:26):
But part of the reason that those teams are better
is they often have settled quarterback situations. So we will
see how this shakes out for Shador Sanders. We've only
got another ten days to talk about it.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
There's one man who has never wavered on his evaluation
of Shador Sanders. That's our guy, Bucky Brooks, who has
consistently had Shador Sanders in his top five quarterbacks at
number one, ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Of the probable number one overall pick in cam Ward.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Take a look at Bucky's latest ranky distill Chador followed
by cam Ward, then Jackson Dark Jaylen Milroe and Kyle
McCord checking in at number five. There's also has been
a feeling within the league this is not a good
quarterback class, certainly not on par with last year's. As
to that, Seahawks general manager John Syer said this week
that the best.
Speaker 9 (11:12):
Yeah, I'd be careful when you when you hear people
say this isn't a great jet.
Speaker 6 (11:16):
It's been said by kind of every bit.
Speaker 9 (11:18):
Yeah, I mean yeah, everybody knows every team that's been
out there talking about on national television, right. Yeah, No,
I think it's it depends on the team. How of
you the player of the quarterback again, how you're gonna
acquire them, where you're gonna acquire them? Uh, but you know,
bring him through the building is another. It's it's just
it's really about, Okay, more time. We need more answers.
(11:39):
We need more time with this player based on the
questions that we need answered in terms of the vision
we see for this player on the fit. It's not
necessarily like that's it's it's separate from how you can
acquire the player on the draft weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Let's bringing r Mark Ross to the conversation, in part
because he speaks fluent front office. You hear what John
Schneider is saying right there, Mark, you know how these
valuation processes go. What do you make of this class
and the way that Schneider right there is describing it.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Well, first I thought he was just taking a little
subtle shout.
Speaker 10 (12:11):
At the draft pundits by saying, oh, well, of course
all the teams are saying stuff. But yeah, then he
started talking about the process of Yeah, like, all quarterbacks
aren't made equal. All teams when they get a quarterback
isn't equal. It's all about the circumstance, your need that
the player that you really like, and if he's available,
if you can move to get him. Overall, I do
think the beauty's in the eye of the beholder with
(12:33):
these quarterbacks every year, and there's always a potential to
be a star. But overall, I do not see this
as a strong class. As really evidence by most years,
we see a lot of movement to get to the
top to get one of these quarterbacks, much like we
saw last year, a bunch of trades to get those guys.
So we haven't seen that this year. And John Schneider
can really show us if he really feels that way
(12:54):
because he can go draft one of these guys, much
like he did when they signed Matt Flinn is a
big freezing out of the Packers and then drafted Russell
Wilson the same year Josh Schnyder.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
As he had detailed before on The Insiders, he knows
he's only drafted two quarterbacks. Ever, it's not for a
lack of the evaluation. Russell Wilson. I'll give you Mark
until a couple of blocks FROMNW to remember the name
of the second one. More from you in just a
little bit. Kenny Pickett was the loan first rounder in
another down quarterback class several years ago.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
He's now on his.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Third team, a member of the Cleveland Browns, and he
told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review while he was at the
pit Pro day this past week.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'm not going there to hang out.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
I want to go play right now, Mike, you got
Joe Flacco on a one year, four million dollar contract,
You got Kenny Pickett, and he got a Browns team
that's got five hundred five picks in the top one
hundred and change.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
What do you make in the situation right now in Cleveland? Yeah?
Speaker 6 (13:51):
For those watching at home, staying well, Deshaun Watson's still
on the roster. I mean between the Achilles injury and
what Jimmy Haslam said at the league meetings, which is
that we took a swing and a miss when we
went after Deshaun Watson. I think what Tom's breakdown, there
is fair two quarterbacks right now, which means that potentially
we could be adding another one via the draft, even
(14:11):
if it's not at that number two overall pick. Position
could be as Judy alluded to later in the first round,
if the Browns want to come back into the first
round or at the top of the second round, perhaps
do some maneuver in whatever they have to do to
get in position for that. So I would expect more
competition Kenny Pickett. But as it stands right now, again,
I don't see Watson as a quarterback for the Browns
(14:31):
in the long term. Joe Flacco was certainly not anywhere
as a quarterback in the long term term given where
he is in his career. So right now he's got
the best shot to make a statement to be a
quarterback for the Browns for a long period of time.
He got pushed by Tanner McKee in Philadelphia which is
why the Eagles were comfortable trading away Kenny Pickett. So
this is a different kind of competition for Pickett now
in Cleveland.
Speaker 8 (14:50):
Well, first of all, what else would you hope Kenny
Pickett would say? What else should Kenny Pickett sey except
to say I want to go play, I don't want
to go sit around. That's number one. Look, Deshaun Watson,
let's set that aside. This is Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
And it seems to me that the Cleveland Browns have
done something similar to what the Giants did, which is
they got quarterbacks on the roster to give themselves some
(15:13):
breathing room so that they don't have to force the
quarterback pick early in the draft if they don't like
what they see at that part of the draft, so
they can still take a quarterback later in the draft,
just like the Giants could. Theoretically, to me, what Flacco
and Kenny Pickett on the roster means it makes them
less likely to take a quarterback at number two. They'll
(15:34):
go elsewhere. And to me, the big question is what
does this mean for our potential Kirk Cousins trade. Does
it make it less likely that they make a trade
for Kirk Cousins now that they have Joe Flacco on
the roster, is the asking price simply too high for
a trade for Kirk Cousins. Presumably, if kirk Cousins were
on the Browns roster, he would beat out Flacco and
(15:57):
Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Presumably.
Speaker 8 (16:00):
But you do wonder if, now that they've got those
guys in there as stopgap measure, if that is not
going to be a kirk Cousins landing spot either.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And that Kirk Cousins straight if and when it materializes
something that could take place during next week's NFL Draft.
That's right, it's next week that that draft kicks off
in Green Bay. And until then, we got a little
crossover action happening.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
This week.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You'll see a bunch of NFL Network personalities on ESPN.
You will see ESPN personalities here on NFL Network, including
the Man, the Myth, the Legend, mel kiper Junior on
The Insiders tomorrow night, seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
What a time to be alive.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Not so much perhaps for the New Orleans Saints, and
certainly have a big quarterback question dropped onto their plate
on the first day they're in the building. For off
season workouts. So how is Derek Carr's injury situation impacting
their plans at number nine overall? Cam Wolf and Mark
Ross will be back to discuss that in just a
little bit. First, though, one man is training Jackson Dart
and Dylan Gabriel for the twenty twenty five draft. He's
(17:01):
trained a whole lot of quarterbacks in the past. John Beck,
former NFL quarterback now a coach, is going to help
us break down these guys and also his former pupil,
JJ McCarthy being the man in Minnesota that's next on
the Insiders. Jackson Dart was a playmaker at Ole Miss,
(17:22):
now preparing for the NFL Draft with one of the
most accomplished and prolific quarterback coaches around, former NFL quarterback
John Beck. You can see the list of quarterbacks he's
worked both with, both past and present. Now, John's here
with us on the Insiders. Tom Pilaicero and Mike Garrifola
with you.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
John.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Let's start right there, Jackson Dart putting them numbers at
All Miss. We've seen other quarterbacks do that. It's a
relatively simplistic type of system. Lane Kevin does a really
good job putting those guys in position to succeed. When
you look at Dart's skill set and what he knows,
what do you make m as an NFL draft prospect.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Well, I think the first thing is just he has
a compere seitiveness that really fuels him and so he's
going to attack this next step in the journey with
everything that he's got. And so I think as he
kind of has to grow into some of the things
he's going to be asked to do at the NFL level,
it's somebody that's going to attack that and he's going
to be able to go through the little bumps and
the learning things you have to go through, but he's
(18:18):
going to do it with the competitiveness. I think Jackson
has a lot of confidence in himself going into this
next step, and I think when you're working with young quarterbacks,
they have to have that if they're going to go
through this initial journey and the bumps of the first
couple of years, they have to do it with that
competitive edge, and I think Jax has that.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
You know, I heard Tom say about you know the
system in all miss and there will be a bit
of an adjustment to the NFL. John but I've seen
the people that have broken down the film say, you know,
he can get through his progression. He has gotten through
his progressions. You have any doubt that that ability will translate.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
To the NFL. Well, like I said, the way that
he attacks it.
Speaker 11 (18:55):
So we get a chance to see him actually in
this very meeting room I'm sitting in, and he goes
through all of his re what he's being asked to do.
I think, as you see what some other Old Miss
quarterbacks have done in the past, and I've set it down.
You know, I had a former Old Miss quarterback that
I went through the draft process with, and then you
sit down with Jacks. You've seen some of the things
that he's doing that are different from what the other
(19:16):
guys have done, and what Lane is asking him to do,
and some of.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
The stuff that Jacks has become really comfortable with.
Speaker 11 (19:21):
And I think getting through progressions not having just a
ton of half field reads, but full progressions, understanding how
to get to the other side of the field by
canceling off one side of the field knowing I'm off
of one right now, all of those things are going
to serve them well. And if ever there's something that
he hasn't done. Jackson is very good at finding something
that can kind of be relatable. Oh, it's kind of
(19:42):
like this, I've done this. I can bring that into
what I'm now being asked to do, and I can
really quickly become comfortable with it. And so to me,
now it's just taking it from what he sees on
the you know, the meeting room, a TV, a whiteboard,
and now putting it out to a live NFL field
when he gets the opportunity to be selected and getting
somebody's training like rookie camp.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Let's tide about Dylan Gabriel. I think everybody saw him
play a lot in his college career. He's really accurate.
He was obviously very productive. He's also not very big.
There are going to be some systems in the NFL
that are more built for shorter quarterbacks. Thing about Arizona
in Miami, how do you see the fit for Gabriel
and how equipped is he to overcome what he lacks
(20:22):
in terms of the ability to have vision in the pocket.
Speaker 11 (20:25):
Yeah, I think he's done it at the collegiate level
because of experience games played, and I think that very
thing is what we've seen in the NFL in recent
years with guys like bo Nix.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
And Brock Purty, games played right.
Speaker 11 (20:36):
Brock is a smaller guy, played in a lot of
football games in college, has come and had a lot
of success at the NFL level and finds a way
right with limited height. Maybe he doesn't have great vision
on everything, but he's played in it before. He recognizes
that this is the level he's playing from in terms
of vision.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
I think Dylan brings a lot of that.
Speaker 11 (20:53):
Just football experience to the way that he moves through progressions.
And I'll use the Senior Bowl as an example. He
went out there in an All Star game like setting
where you don't get to be around a lot of
guys you've been around throughout the year, and he got.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Through his progressions. He was very smart.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
A lot of the things of feedback that I got
from coaches was wow, to put him in this setting,
to like install an offense and have him go out
and see him get through the progressions. That shows how
heavy of a football player it is. It shows the
experience that he has, and really that's how you overcome
what some people say maybe limiting heights. Okay, call it
limiting height, but we've seen. We have a lot of
players right now in the NFL that have had success
(21:28):
at a very similar height, and it's because of the experience.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
Is there anything you can do or you try to
do to say, okay, well we can sort of compensate
for that a little bit. I mean, is there something
mechanics wise make them stand up a little taller? I mean,
I did hear that about Bryce Young coming out that
he's a little short, but he doesn't squat down. He
kind of stands tall and that helps a little bit
with that.
Speaker 11 (21:49):
I mean, I think a lot of it is just
nowadays the number of under center snaps that you take.
Go look at guys like Mike Pennicks from Atlanta right,
very comfortable in a gun pistol type offense coming from
washing and he's not asked to be in the gun
a lot.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
I mean, sorry, under center a lot.
Speaker 11 (22:04):
And now he's not shorter like Dylan, but a lot
of teams are saying, hold up, do we have to
go under center in the run game? Can we get
in pistol? Can we run all of the stuff that
we want to run from a gun?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Look?
Speaker 11 (22:15):
Can that help the quarterbacks on the little bit smaller side?
And if you have to break a tendency because oh
you know, ninety five percent of the time we go
under its run, you can break it. You can break
it with keepers, you can break it from quick games.
So I think wherever you see Dylan, the fit is
going to be formationally. Let's keep him already back five
yards and that's not like, let's not ask him to
(22:35):
get under center. And as he drops back, he's got
six ft four to six foot five linemen in his face.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
But from a.
Speaker 11 (22:39):
Mechanical standpoint, you know, there's nothing where I ask him, hey,
be taller, do this or that. He I think has
played from that vision level for so long. He just
knows how to play the game from it, and it's
going to stay that way.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
You mentioned Michael Pennix in there. You worked with the
two guys last year who played the least is rookies
Panis and of course JJ McCarthy missed his entire rookie
season because of niscus surgeries. You just look out at
those two guys. We are their first opportunity to be
the guy in the NFL. What do you anticipate and
what's the key to them having success as NFL starters.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
I'm excited for both of them for different reasons.
Speaker 11 (23:13):
I know that this last year was really hard for
JJ to not get to play.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That kid just loves ball, loves competing.
Speaker 11 (23:20):
And so I'm really excited that he gets his opportunity
to now come out be healthy and they want him
to be the starter. Right with the Sam going to Seattle,
this is now JJ's team to go out there, and
they're going to do everything they can to prepare him
to be successful. And I love the head coach, a
quarterback guy. He's going to do everything he possibly can
to develop JJ. But it's going to be fresh right.
(23:40):
He hasn't even been on the sideline patted up yet
for like a course.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Of a season. This is going to be the first
for everything for him and that's why I'm excited.
Speaker 11 (23:48):
But now on Mike, Like I love that Mike got
opportunities to play there at the end of the year.
I know how much that staff is excited for him,
and I know his capabilities.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
There's so much talent and so many things that Mike
can do.
Speaker 11 (24:00):
And I think, you know, you look at how Atlanta
built their team at the beginning of the season, it
was for who they went out and got in free
agency and Kurt Right, they went and paid him.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
It was built for that.
Speaker 11 (24:09):
Now they get a chance to build this team around Mike,
They get a chance to really design it for the
things that he's going to excel. And so I just
got to see those, you know, those few games he
played at the end of the season, some of the
really strong and good things that he did, and he's
going to get to take all that experience and the
things that he can do better and now jump into
it with that staff really building for him.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
John great stuff as always, I look forward to and
I am sure we will be doing this again next year.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
We appreciate the time.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Yeah, you guys are welcome.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Could Jackson Dart end up being the new quarterback for
the New Orleans Saints. They might have a need depending
on the decision by Derek Carr on whether to undergo
shoulder surgery. The latest on car and the Saints plans
at the most important position. When our guy Cambin Wolf
joins us. Next on the Insiders, you right.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
Now or did we finish talking about Shadoor Sanders? Then
our very own Tom Pallisero and Ian Rappaporter who's not
even on the show today, had a little bit of news,
a little bit of intrigue. The Giants are going to
work out Shadoor Sanders privately this Thursday, so one week
before the draft begins. The Giants have already done an
(25:19):
awful lot of work on Shadur, They had a big
contingent at the Colorado Showcase, and now there is going
to be a private workout just for them on Thursday
as we head into the draft. Meanwhile, in New Orleans,
the Saints began their off season program, their first under new.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Head coach Kellen Moore.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
One very notable person who was not their quarterback Derek Carr,
who was dealing with a shoulder injury that could jeopardize
his entire twenty twenty five season. Surgery is a possibility.
Let's bring in our Camwolf and returning Mark Ross to
discuss the situation with the Saints.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Cam.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
First of all, bring us up to date.
Speaker 8 (25:58):
What is new with the Derek cars situation?
Speaker 7 (26:01):
What a curveball for new head coach Kellen Moore to
start OTAs with with the Saints. His veterans starting quarterback
not only won't be there, but may not be there
all throughout the season. Look, the Saints have done extensive
homework on this quarterback class, but they were going into
this season at least a month ago thinking Derek Carr
was going to be the twenty twenty five answer. And
I'll get to the draft options in the second, but
(26:22):
as they start in OTA's a lot of spotlight will
be on their two young quarterbacks, spend Spencer Rattler and
Jake Hayner, who they've drafted in the mid rounds the
last couple of years. Kellen Moore talked about Spencer Rattler
effusively at the league meetings. I was sitting there as
he talked about all the tools he had. He said
he scouted him when he was in Philadelphia as the
offensive coordinator coming out of South Carolina. Say he was
(26:44):
in a lot of unideal situations, but thought that year
two he could make that jump. And maybe the Saints
make that decision that we're going to roll with the
young guy and do Spencer Ratler in twenty twenty five
and maybe look towards twenty twenty six were Arch Manning
or other quarter could be coming out of that draft.
What's interesting about the Derek Carr situation is that they
(27:05):
guarantee his contract, they moved his cap hit into twenty
twenty six, and it makes it really difficult for them
to go out and splash on a Aaron Rodgers or
Kirk Cudgins. And so whether it's Jake Hayner, whether it's
Spencer Radler, or whether it's a Shador Sanders or Jackson Dart,
who they've done a lot of homework on, this Saints
team seems to have to go young and potentially start
this rebuild a little earlier than maybe they wanted.
Speaker 8 (27:26):
Mark Mark, Let's look at the front office perspective here,
because obviously, when a development this big happens this close
to the draft, it has the potential to change the
draft plan significantly.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
How would you approach this, Well.
Speaker 10 (27:40):
It only changes significantly if you had those quarterbacks that
Cam talked about, Chador and let's say Jackson Dart rated
as top ten picks. For them to take out that
ninth pick, it's not all of a sudden, Well, Derek
Carr is hurt, and we had these guys in the
second round. But now let's look at them up here
at nine. They better have had those grades on those
players already but it does change the fact of Okay, well,
(28:02):
maybe we were thinking we've got car and Spencer Ratler
and we'll work with that, But well, I'm Kella Moore.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
I'm the new head coach.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
I just won a Super Bowl with with with a
young man, Jalen Hurts, who is the MVP?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I want that?
Speaker 10 (28:15):
Do I want that next guy to be my guy
there that I build and grow with. Do I want
my legacy tied to whoever I have at that ninth pick,
or do I have the resources to say, you know what,
We'll go through this year with Spencer Ratler, take somebody
maybe the second and third round, and hope Derek Carr
comes back. But that's the bigger question to me is Okay,
we're talking about just this year for Derek Carr, but
(28:37):
this could be a long term effect and not getting
any younger and older and older and hurt.
Speaker 4 (28:42):
Is not a good combination.
Speaker 10 (28:43):
So I think they do seriously have to look at
the future of the franchise at this quarterback position in
this draft.
Speaker 8 (28:50):
Such an interesting curve fall so late in the process.
All right, Cam, you look like you had a lot
more fun this weekend than most of us. You went fishing,
tell us about it.
Speaker 7 (28:59):
Yeah, I was out on the water in Fort Lauderdell
is part of the Sports Fishing Championship the Catch, and
I got to ride in a boat with James Cook
a bunch of NFL players coming out there, and it
was like little kids again. They're catching fish or doing
something they probably hadn't done in years, and it was
this is Alvin Kamara, this is Zay Jones. These are
guys grabbing fish out of the ocean like this is
(29:19):
the happiest day of their lives. And it was cool
just seeing some of these pure joy moments, you know,
the wrangling back and forth with fish into the into
the ocean. And I want to take you on to
my boat a little bit because me and James Cook,
the bills running back, we wrestled with the shark at
one point that we didn't know what shark was a shark.
We spent about an hour trying to wrangle you see
Cook there trying to fight it, fight it through.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
And the buzzword in our boat was patience.
Speaker 7 (29:44):
I told James Cook, I'm not sure if you got
more patience as a running back, wrestling the shark or
waiting for the bills to give you your money for
this big contract, and he jokes at all of it.
I think this is a cool event you guys will
see in May when they come out with it. But
it's just an opportunity to see experts in fishing on
our boat kind of teach experts in football how to.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Go through it.
Speaker 7 (30:05):
I got a chance to catch my first sailfish. As
you see here James Cook is tagging the fish that
we ended up catching.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Is catching release.
Speaker 7 (30:12):
You don't bring the sailfish on the boat, but I
got to put that on my mark. They told me
as we were leaving off the tradition is to jump
in the water where you caught the sailfish. Luckily we
were leaving as I heard that news, and so I
did not jump in the water. And secretly, I probably
was not going to jump in the water anyway, because me.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
And sharks don't really vibe.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
I don't think they're very understanding creatures.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
So if that was my first and last salesfish, that's
the way it was meant to be.
Speaker 8 (30:40):
I kept looking in the background to see if we
could see baldy in the ocean, because that's the shot
I am used to seeing baldy swimming around on the ocean.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Anyway, Guys, thank you very much.
Speaker 8 (30:49):
We will see you again shortly on the Insiders. But
when we return, our lancesour line is going to join
the show to talk about players we should be pounding
the table for, like maybe LSU's Braden Swinston for example.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
When we return, almost time for these guys to be drafted,
which means it's almost time for personnel guys and coaches
who have spent months evaluating prospects to start pounding the table.
That is one of the phrases you hear around draft time.
Here's our guy, Charles Davis giving you some guys that
(31:24):
he would pound the table for. To get the full
story on this, go to NFL dot com slash Davis.
Lance Zerline and I were just talking before he came
on the air about Willie Lampkin, the center from North Carolina,
fight for ten. But Charles says, that's big enough to
pound the table for it. Do you have a table
in front of you, Lance, I hope you do start
passing it.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
I've been padding the table for Willy Lampkin for about
two months, like since before the Senior Bowl. So Charles
had a good list. There's a good list. I like
about six of those guys. I'd probably pound the table
for about six of those guys. But I got my
own guys too.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yes you do.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
And that's what we're gonna do right here. To start
with a defensive lineman that you want to, I'll pound
the table for you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
That table, I'll pounding the table for Braidon Swintson.
Speaker 12 (32:06):
This is a guy from LSU, kind of a late bloomer,
has come on physically a little bit later. He's got
long arms, a pretty good length, He's got big hands.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
But what he is is he is a pocket disruptor.
Speaker 12 (32:17):
He has a great ability to read and react to
what the offensive lineman is doing. So if the tackle's
over setting, he can beat him inside. If the tackle's
late with his hands, he can beat him with his hands.
It he's all over the place. And the game he
had against Ole Miss, he was on top of Jackson
Dart almost the entire game. It was really something to behold.
I think Brayden Swinson is a player who has natural
(32:38):
pass rush abilities and instincts, and he's not really but
he's not polished, so he's still got some upside to go. So,
if I'm going to pound the table for a player,
I want to take a player that I'm projecting to
be better than where we're going to draft him.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
I think he gets drafted in the fourth and.
Speaker 12 (32:51):
I'm gonna pound the table because I think Brayden Swinson's
gonna end up being a good pass rusher on the
next level.
Speaker 6 (32:57):
Yeah, when you get to positions like edge rusher, he
can disrupt the game. That's when the pounding really becomes love.
This table, by the way, is tempered glass. I once
picked up a coffee table top to move it and
it shattered in my hands. So I'm gonna lightly tap
this table from now on. You can do the pumping.
Where are we linebackers? I believe Lance who we've pounded
the table for that pisode, Well.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We're gonna go.
Speaker 12 (33:16):
RJ Mickens, he's actually a safety, but he tackles like
a linebacker. That's one of the reasons I like him.
Is Daan Ray played in the NFL for the Jets.
RJ Mickens to me, people are sleeping on this guy.
I love his tape and I think, you know, look,
is he going to be a deep safety? That makes
a lot of plays on the back end. He did
on that, he did on that you know rep, but
that's not who he is.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
What he is, he's a.
Speaker 12 (33:37):
Guy who can play down near the line of scrimmage.
He can play some split safety, he can play over
the slot. He plays a lot of his own. He's
got good pre snap recognition and very good post snap instinct,
so he has a good feel for where route breaks
are going. But what I really love about him is
he's a great tackler. In this day and age, there's
so many players coming into the league that don't tackle
well and RJ. Mickens is the guy that really tackles
(33:59):
well and he's got NFL bloodlines. So for me, I'm
going to pound the table for that combination there with
r J Mickens from Clemson.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Yeah, I've been paunding the table so hard and screwed
up my notes here. I think we're on the wide
receiver now if I've got this correct, lance.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Are we are?
Speaker 12 (34:13):
Jalen Royals, You're right, and there's a few of my
I can pound the table for me. This is one
of my favorites right here. Pound that table for me.
Just don't break the glass. Jalen Royals is a big,
physical slot receiver who catches everything. He had a good
testing day at the Combine. He's got physicality when it
comes to contested catches. He just is a professional player
(34:34):
like he plays the game like a professional already out
of Utah State, and I think he's going. He's going
on Day three. The question is is he going the
second round or does he go on to third round?
But he is the guy that I feel is one
of the safest wide receivers in this draft because of
how he plays the game. He plays it like a
pro with contested catches, with hands, and with his ability
to be efficient with his route running. So I'm pounding
(34:56):
the table for a Day two wide receiver. In Jalen Royals.
Speaker 6 (35:00):
Lance, you're around your father who is in the league
at the college. Have you ever seen an actual table
get pounded by a guy trying to make a case
for a player.
Speaker 12 (35:09):
But funny, he didn't pound the table for a player
he liked, and he let Butch Davis draft the guy
from Miami that he's like a ill just let him
have his guy.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
And then my dad learned a valuable lesson. You better
pound the table for guys.
Speaker 12 (35:20):
You like, because the other guy may end up playing
and he may get the quarterback sacked a lot of times.
So pound the table for guys you like, like. For example,
Jacory cross Crosskey Merit. I've been trying to get him
on the show for about a month now, and we
finally have videos so I can show you. Ja Cory
Krossky Merit is a problem for people. He's got four
to four to one speed, big vertical leaps. It shows
(35:42):
he's explosive in his lower half. He only played one
game this year for Arizona. There was questions about his eligibility.
Arizona didn't want a chance, so they say they said,
look one game he went for over one hundred yards,
We're not going to chance it. He goes to the
Shrine game, he wins the MVP at the Shrine Game.
He tests out of his head. He is powerful through content.
As you can see, he's got breakaway speed. Jacorey Krossky
(36:03):
Merrit is going to end up going on day three
and he's going to be a steal. You gotta go
get this guy.
Speaker 6 (36:09):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 11 (36:09):
I beg you.
Speaker 12 (36:10):
If there's general managers listening, please draft Ja Cory Krossky
merit and do your offensive favor.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Fifth round probably's where he is.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Grab him around early if you want to, I promise
you he's gonna come through.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
Last time I felt this way was last year with
the Tyrone Tracy from Purdue.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
I pounded the table for Tyrone Tracy.
Speaker 12 (36:27):
It's the same kind of vibe I'm getting from chakr
Crossky Merrit from Arizona.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
Kind of Tyrone Tracy. Tyron Tracy over a thousand yards
combined as a rookie along with Malik Neighbors the Giants,
the first duo to do that since the Saints back
in two thousand and five, I believe was the year.
So look, the beauty is I don't have to pound
the table for Lance Aerline because everybody knows what he brings,
so they want to have him in the show anyway.
Never have to make the case for him, Lance, Love you, bro,
(36:52):
Appreciate you. Yeah, this is going to be the crossover,
the ESPN NFL network crossover. Here this week we traded
Kai Brandt and DJ in exchange for mel kiper Over
the next two days. Did we win that one by
a landslide? Who's to say it's just a crossover people
just for a couple of days. All right, everybody out there,
(37:14):
take a breath. I'll do a Carter could find himself
in a position where the Giants have to weigh, well,
do we want him at number three? Like it's not
necessarily a need but the best of it. Hey, look,
it's that time of year to debate need versus best
player available, and we're gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
After the break on the Insiders.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
New tonight, we got just a little bit more intrigue
with the number three overall pick. Is he and rapport
and I reported a short time ago the Giants plan
to send a contingent to Boulder, Colorado to conduct a
private workout with Colorado quarterback Shuder Sanders on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
They've already done a ton of work they would.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Ever practice every game now headed back to campus just
one week week out from the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, another
top prospect, Abdul Carter, visited the New England Patriots.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Today they're sitting at number.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Four, probably hoping that the Giants take shaanor Sanders at
number three. New York also had Abdul Carter in their
building for a visit earlier this month, after previously also
having another meeting with him as we bring our Mark
Ross back into the show. Mark, this is the classic
situation right now with your old team, the Giants. Do
(38:29):
you take the guy who fills the biggest need in
Shador Sanders or do you take possibly the best player
available in Abdul Carter?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
How do you sort through these things?
Speaker 10 (38:38):
Well, Tom, you know we're going to go on twenty
five drafts in the road next week where every single
team miraculously picks the best player on their board. Right
we're hearing every time after every pick, best player on
the board. Look, it's a combination of both. That's why
you have months of draft meetings. That's why your scouts
put in so much work. That's why you meet with
the scouts and the coaching staff because you absolutely talk
(39:00):
about what you need on your team and how you
can get better on your team. But what you don't
want to do is is overvalue players because of the need.
So when you set up your draft board, you right
the players best to worse. But it's almost as if
you have groupings of players that are the same value
at different positions. So if you're coming upon a pick
(39:20):
and you talk about these things in your draft meetings,
you have a certain value and say on a corner
and a receiver and a dtackle, But if you really
need that dep tackle, then you're going to take that
d tackle over the corner and the receiver. But you
don't want to jump guys over a bunch of players
you have over them who are much higher value just
to get a need. So the best teams match what
(39:42):
they need with the value in those certain brackets that
they have and don't overvalue players because of that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Our real quick Mark, you ran a lot of drafts
in your time. You've done all the work, you've been at,
all the practices, all the games. You send a contingent
in one week before the draft, does that read you
like very very elaborate smoke screen, Or we really might
take this guy three.
Speaker 10 (40:02):
They may have the bar and restaurant they love and
Boulder to go there, and the whole group wants to
go to because they should. They already know now whether
they want to take through door Sanders or not. There's
nothing they're going to get by going in there once
again to say, you know what, we do like this
guy to take him at three.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Mark, Thank you very much, a lot more from you,
Over the next ten days leading up to the NFL Draft,
we also got the first golf major of the season
in the books and now JJ Watts out there trying
not to look like Donkey.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Kong swinging a club. We'll explain more after this on
The Insiders.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
If you were wondering the answer to the question, would
Rory McElroy secure the career Grand Slam where the Cowboys
go back to an Nancy Championship game.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
First, you now have your answer.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Congratulations to Rory McElroy taking home the Master's title on
Sunday in thrilling and heart wrenching and agonizing fashion. Back
in twenty ten, when he had a lot less hardware
in the case, he posted, Yes, if I had to
follow a team, that would be the Jets. But I
just enjoy following NFL and there was I checked it.
No context to that tweet, not a reply, just in isolation,
(41:12):
wanted to go head away. In Welcome back to the Insiders,
Tom Pila Sero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garrifolo, there was
another familiar face back on the course in Augusta today,
and it was Bryson D.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Chambeau. Excuse me, it's JJ Watt.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Who was out there earlier. Today, they wear the same
size polo shirt. Do you believe this score, Garifolo?
Speaker 11 (41:32):
I do?
Speaker 6 (41:32):
He set his over under the day before at like
one fifty two and a half, which was really insane.
I mean, I know it's a hard course, but this, Yeah,
I believe it.
Speaker 8 (41:41):
I totally believe it, because you assume he can drive
it as long as he wants to drive it. Yes,
pretty good round for JJ Watt.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
That is a scary sight. JJ Watt holding really anything.
We'll see you tomorrow, Simbiam Easter
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