February 3, 2025 • 46 mins
John Schmeelk and Tony Pauline discuss every position group at the Senior Bowl, talk about some surprising standouts, and discuss players who helped their draft stock at those practices.
:00 - Overall draft class
4:54 - Offensive prospects
29:34 - Defensive prospects
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Draft. It's now officially open. This is Draft Season presented
by Moody's, a proud part of the New York Giants.
Decode verus unlock opportunity. Learn more in moodies dot com.
All Right, joined by Tony Pauline has always with sports
Keda dot com. I am John Schmelt and folks, if
you're just joining us, maybe you're new to draft season.
(00:24):
We're really getting into the meat of quote unquote draft
season now. Even though this is a Giants podcast per se,
this is not a Giants topical podcast. We do all draft.
We might do some couple of Giant things here or
there based on who they might draft, but this is
an overall draft podcast. So if you're not a Giants fan,
stick with us. We'll carry you through the next three
(00:44):
months or so as we get closer to the draft
at the end of April, and of course then we'll
be back. We do shows from August to January every year.
Tony and I just got back a few days ago
from Frisco, Texas and Mobile for the Shrine Bowl and
Senior Bowl. And Tony, I mean, we got the best
weather we've ever had in I don't know if you've
ever seen better than that. But it was seventy and sunny.
That was as good as it gets.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My friend, yeah, a couple of years ago, I think
it was like eighty degrees. Two or three days in
a row, which was very nice because I came home
with a tan. But you know, the fact is this,
it was it didn't rain, which was great. Last day
was a little bit overcast, which is fine because you know,
you don't want to get on a plane for a
four hour trip home all sweaty and stuff. But you know,
(01:25):
it was three It was actually six very busy days
at the Senior Bawl. I know, I had a couple
of people come up to me talk about the They
watched the podcast religiously. They told us how much they
enjoy it. Thank you for that. It was great seeing
those people. And you know, it's it's long days. It's
you know, it's one practice after another, so you've got
anywhere from three and a half hours to four hours
(01:47):
of practice. You're trying to watch one hundred different guys
and get as much out of it as you can.
And then there's the writing and they're mingling with people
and trying to get notes. But It's always fun, you know,
but you look forward to it when you start off
and by the end of the week you want to
get home, so it's worth.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It, absolutely. Yeah. I started early every day. I was
on Radio Roll from six am to eight and a
m every day. If you guys want to hear or
see those player interviews, by the way, and again it's
more of a it's not really Giants specific stuff on there,
so I go to the Giants on the podcast. I
have literally five different episodes, two from Shrine, three from
Senior Bowl. I probably did over one hundred player interviews.
If you want to get to know these guys a
(02:23):
little bit, go check those out. You can find that
on the Giants app, Giants dot com, Slash podcast, or
just search for Giants Huddle. And then Tony of course
works the bars at night. I mean, no one is
out more in Mobile and shrining than Tony, you know,
talking to people, you know, getting the inside scoop. So
before we get to the game itself, Tony, what's maybe
one thing you learned about the draft class or the
(02:44):
draft from people while you're in first Go and Mobile
that you maybe weren't so sure about when you got
down there.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, what I learned when I was in Frisco is
it's almost down to a person that Kim Ward's gonna
be the first quarterback selected. They think right now, if
the draft was held with held today, the Titans would
take cam Ward with that first pick. We'll have to
see what goes on through the rest of the process.
Obviously they're not infused about the early part of the
(03:14):
first round, but they love the quantity in this draft
in a sense that you know, they invite three hundred
and twenty five players to the combine, there's actually probably
closer to four hundred players that deserve an invitation to
the Combine, and two hundred and fifty five players will
be drafted, and it's probably in excess of three hundred
and fifty players that have draftable grades and should be drafted.
(03:38):
And that's because of the fact that we're at the
end here of that extra COVID year that the NCAA
gave to all athletes in twenty twenty. That's sort of
running out. So what you're gonna have now is you're
going to have a very deep Day three of the draft, all.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right, Tony, Before we go position by a position of
that set. We're going to break this down. We're focusing
on Senior Bowl today. If you guys want to go
check out what are what our response and take was
to the Shrine Bowl practice we were out last Saturday
and Sunday. You can go check out our previous draft
season episode. The audio version has our reaction to those
(04:16):
two practices. So, Tony, before we go position by position,
give me a handful of your fastest risers, Guys that
you think did the best that helped their stock from
this week.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'd say Jalen Nowell, the receiver from Iowa State. Who
will get into Gray Zabel, the offensive lineman from North
Dakota State. Although with Femi o Ola Daju edge rusher
from UCLA, David Walker, the edge dresser from Central Arkansas,
(04:48):
and az Aria Thomas, the cornerback from Florida State, we'll
get into all those guys. But I think those are
the players whose draft stock really improved after three days
of Senior Bow practice.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I'm with you on all those all right, but let's
start with the quarterback position.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Tony.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You got four guys you want to highlight here from
these two teams, there were seven quarterbacks in total, immobile.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Some good, some bad. We'll start off with really the bad,
and that was Jalen Milroe. I mean he looked out
a short say, he was holding the ball too long,
he was staring primary targets down, which he does on film.
He was inaccurate with his passes. I'm a Jalen Milroe guy.
You go back to one of our first podcasts in August,
I was on the Jayleen Milroe band wagon. It hasn't happened.
(05:31):
It didn't happen during the season, it didn't happen during
the Senior Ball. I still think he's gonna be a
first round pick because of those incredible physical skills. There's
no doubt about it. He absolutely did not help his
draft stock and.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Tot I want to add on that real quick before
he jump to the next guy. We know he has
a big arm, but he didn't like if you never
watched Ilomill before, you just watched Senior Bowl practice, as
in the Senior Bowl game, you would have no idea
that Jill mn Minroe has a big arm, Like he
didn't even show that off over the course of three days.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Always going to the checkdown receiver because that's the safe
you know, it's a save throw. It's safer to throw
the ball ten to fifteen yards than to hurl it
down forty five yards down the field and try and
hit a receiver and strider or accurately hit a receiver,
which he struggled doing on film. Overall, and you're right,
a lot of quarterbacks do that. It was disappointing that
Milroe went that route rather than show off his big,
(06:25):
big time army.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
All right, take us to the rest of the QBS
you want to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, Jackson Dart very efficient, accurate in the short to
intermediate range passing, didn't show a big arm and that's
what I wanted to see, what from Jackson tought. I
wanted to see if he could drive the ball downfield.
You know. He got passes downfield, but they would kind
of flutter, they would float. The receivers would be slowing
up waiting for the ball to get to them. So,
(06:49):
as far as I'm concerned, Jackson Dart did not answer
that question. I think on the scoreboard one day they
said he had the longest throw of any quarterback, which
was fifty six yards. But there's no speed to the passes,
which is an issue. You know, could be a very good,
rock pretty type of timing passer. There are people talking
about him as a mid first round choice. I never
had him as a mid first as a first round prospect.
(07:12):
I don't think he showed first round ability during Senior
Bowl practices.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I agree Dylan Gabriel. Another guy, Tony, I know you
want to touch on and look, he's just not a
big guy. Five ten and a half, small frame. You
stand next to him, he's small, like he's small than
Bryce Young was right, he's just not a big kid.
But I thought he was on time and accurate, like
for what his tools are. I thought he showed, Look,
he knows how to play the quarterback position. He's going
to be a backup in the league for a long time.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Great accuracy, great timing. And remember these are receivers that
he basically just met off the bus. These aren't guys
that he's been he's been practicing with. But really from
the get go he knew where his receivers are. He
had the ball to them as they were leaving routes.
Doesn't have a big arm, doesn't have a big body,
but he's got it going on between the ears and again,
an excellent timing passer in the intermediate field. As far
(08:01):
as I'm concerned, Dylan Gabriel was the best quarterback at
the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
How about our Canadian friend Taylor Gurzmu had his.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Moments big time. Army's a tall, thin kid. He's gonna
add a little bit of bulk. You can see the
arm strengthens there. He basically did what Jackson Dort wasn't
able to do. Drive the deep passes with speed, excellent
velocity on the outs, not overly accurate. There's some things
he's going to have to work on, but I think
he absolutely did enough to get Day three consideration.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I'm with you. I'm gonna throw Tyler Shook out there
as well. And the good thing about the best thing
about the Senior Bowl to only I'm learning all these
pronunciations now, so I'm figuring out all these names. And
we've been butchering Tyler. We've been saying show or shall
and nope, Tyler shook so that or shucked. So, you know,
I think for a guy that's an interesting player, used
to be a five star recruit, right, big kid showed off.
(08:55):
The arm has all the physical attributes a team might want.
I think the meetings teams have with him. See how
smart he is, See how he figures out defenses. See
you know why, you know, all the transfers, the injuries
too for him over the course of his career. If
you get sort all that out, he's got the tools
to be a good quarterback. Now, we saw some mistakes.
Who saw some inaccuracies. He threw a pick in the
(09:16):
game on Saturday as well, thrown up behind the receiver.
So I think there's some stuff to work out there.
But at least tools wise, I mean, I can make
the argument Tyler Schuck might have been the you know,
the guy with the best tools as a thrower that
was at that game.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Because Jaylen Milroe didn't show his tools as a thrower.
But yeah, I agree that the inconsistency has been a
big problem for Shook. You know, you come into the season,
maybe he's this late seventh round pick. But he showed
enough during the season and during the senior ball But
now you're thinking second half of day three, no doubt
about it, good quarterback coach. Now he doesn't have, you know,
(09:51):
a big time frame in the sense that he's a
seventh year senior and he doesn't have. What that means
is he doesn't have great upside. You're getting what you
see with Tyler Schup versus a Jaylen Milroe. But still
I think if you can, you can get iron out
some of the fundamentals and improve the accuracy. He's a big,
impressive looking guy, and you watch him on film. He's
(10:13):
not an immobile pocket passer. But he's done a great
job literally from the beginning of a season leading Louisville
and had at least three solid days of practice at
the Senior Bowl where he was able to show some
really good traits.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, team's gonna see six five, two twenty in a
big arm and they'll be like, I can figure that out.
Let's go, I can figure it out. All right, Let's
stump to the running back position. Tony, you had four
guys you want to touch on. Then I had four
others I wanted to touch on. It was a stacked
running back group.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, absolutely. Quin Allen not an outside runner, but a
strong interior ball carrier and a tremendous pass catcher. I
mean was made. You see it on film. I saw
at the Senior Ball really a good, big body running
back pass catcher. It's what he showed for three days
for Shard Smith. Again, other terrific pass catcher. I mean
we're going to talk about this, but in the one
(11:04):
on one drills, all the linebackers except for one were
left twisting in the wind by the tight ends and
the running back in the coverage shrills. I mean, these
guys are terrific and they were also good catching the
ball in scrimmage. Marcus Yarne, who we spoke about a
couple of times in the lead up to the Shrine
and the Senior Ball, very creative, very you know, is
(11:27):
able to multi multi cut ball carrier. Again, another real
good pass catcher out of the backfield. I think he's
gonna be a real good late day three picks as
a third down back. And by Shuel Touton, I mean,
this guy is just explosive. He is fast, He's able
to cut back against the grain without losing momentum. He
has a burst through the hall. And the thing I
(11:48):
found out about Tooton was he was dealing with a
significant ankle injury all throughout the season. He played on it,
and despite everything that he showed last week, which was
really good, he's still only about ninety percent. So watch
Tuton and we'll speak about this as we get closer
to the combine. Touton is a back, he goes about
two hundred and nine pounds. He's probably gonna run in
the low four threes. And he showed that speed on
(12:11):
the field.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, he was a guy told me that I was
not familiar with heading down to mobile and multiple times
during practice I'll see a run. I look, I'm like,
who is that guy? And I look at it and
it was tooting like three or four different times. So
he's definitely a got to me that that kind of
showed out. All right, I want to throw out a
couple other guys for you. Ali Gordon was voting practice
player of the Week for one of the teams at
running back position. The suddenness, none of that stuff gets
(12:33):
He's just a really big dude. I mean Ali Gordon
for this game, weighing at two hundred and thirty three
pounds at six to one, he's a big bruising between
the tackles back. I'm just not sure there's enough juice there.
Tony RJ. Harvey, on the other hand, he's all juice right.
He's quick, he's fast, he's explosive, he likes to bounce
stuff outside a little bit. Not the biggest guy, but
he has some juice. And then Devin Neil was boring
(12:54):
but good like you watch him, nothing, no trait, really
jumps out at you, but he he gets where he
needs to go. I think he reads the defense well.
He's got pretty good feed in the hall in the
hole when he runs the football waited at five to
eleven two twenty good measurements for a running back. So
those are guy that jumped out to me. And then
Donovan Edward just wanted to bring him up. He's a
guy we've talked about a lot on the show over
(13:15):
the past two years. Again, the juice he had in
twenty twenty three, I don't know what happened to it,
but again in practice, you just don't see that juice
with him having any sort of burst or long speed.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Cut the ball relatively well in practice, but you know,
seems to have lost confidence. I mean, really should have
been that number one back at Michigan, but he wasn't.
He basically was second fiddle to Khalail Mullins who was
at the senior ball who did reasonably well. And you know,
Donovan Edwards draft Stock has taken a big hit, not
only because of the Senior Bowl, but because of his
(13:48):
senior season. Want to go back to Ali Gordon. Here's
the problem with Ali Gordon. Is you mentioned he's six
foot one. He's a tall running back who runs tall.
If you ever watch him, he doesn't run good lead,
he doesn't run behind his pants. He runs tall. And
when you hear that, when you're that big of a
down a ball carrier between the tackles type of runner
and you're running tall, that's not a good thing. That
(14:10):
leads to a lot of crushing hits, potentially the ball
being knocked out of your hands. So I think Oli Gordon.
I think it was kind of a surprise that he
entered the draft after the season he had, But maybe
he's just done with college football. I think Oli Gordon
was a guy who just a couple of years ago
we're talking about. Maybe is the top sixty pick. I
think he's gonna fall deep into Day three. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
He just note on Mullings, the Michigan running back, the
second one he had an injury, so he did not
practice over the course of the week, just to note
on him. All right, let's go to the wide receivers. Tony,
you mentioned Jalen Nole. Another guy figured out it's actually
Jayalen Nole. It's not Noel. Now in typical Iowa fashion,
I interviewed him, introduced him is Jalen Noel. He did
not correct me, so he does not care. I feel
(14:51):
bad that I was. You look at it, it looks
like it well, but apparently it's Jayalen Knowle. You want
to lead off with him in terms of what wide
receivers you thought did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Smaller guy, very quick, has a burst, was basically uncoverable
and caught everything that was thrown in him. I mean
he is fast. He is one of those guys who
really delivered more than I expected. I mean I thought
I actually had his teammate, the bigger guy, Higgins rated
a little bit higher, but Noel really showed a lot
of ability, as did Tez Johnson of Oregon, a guy
(15:23):
who's even smaller. I mean, what did he come in at.
It wasn't even one hundred and sixty pounds if I
remember miss Johnson.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
I'll give you the measurements five nine two, so that's
five to nine and one quarter inch one hundred and
fifty six.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But he is explosive, I mean, and he's a real
good pass catcher. And the great story I believe that
you you interviewed him for a while. It's a great story.
You should listen to that interview because he's a very
likable guy. You know. The thing is the lack of
size and the lack of growth potential is an issue.
But he's just so fast and so explosive. Somebody's gonna
(15:59):
draft him and find place for him, whether it be
in the slot, whether it be you line him up
backed off the line of scrimmage to keep him away
from press coverage. Obviously, the lack of height, the high passes,
but man, you get the ball in his hands and
watch out because he can create.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No question about it. And then you two of the
wide receivers, Jack Besh, who had the game winning score
in the game. Of course, for those who know the story,
his brother was killed in the terrorist attack in New
Orleans and he kind of played this game and dedicated
his performance to his brother. And then ty Felton Tony,
and I agree with you. Those two receivers I believe
were on the American team, correct. I thought they were
easily the two best receivers on that team. You know,
(16:37):
Besch is a guy. I don't think he separated great,
but he catches everything. Great body control, great hands, big
strong kid too. I mean he weighed in at two
hundred and fourteen pounds at six to one, so he's
got some bulk to him. He's gonna block. And then
I thought Ty Felton just frankly, they trouble covering him short, intermediate, deep.
I thought he was open for much of that week.
(16:57):
I thought those two guys did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Felton, my opinion, is one of the most underrated receivers
in this shrift. He's going to run in the low
four to fourths, potentially four threes at the combine. He's
six foot one. He had a monster campaign this senior
season at Maryland, really took it off, really took off.
And he's a good, very article receiver, never mind being
able to catch all the underneath routes. I think he's
(17:19):
gonna go Day two as far as best is concerned.
If you watch that touchdown reception to win the game,
that was what he did all week. I mean, he
would grind it out, he would out muscle defenders. Like
you said, he's not quick, He's not fast, doesn't separate well,
but just competes and fights to come away with the ball,
as you saw at the end of the game when
(17:41):
he made that reception to win the game two.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Otherwise, a couple of the wide receives I want to
mention Tony. I thought Kyle Williams out of Washington State,
he had the fastest GPS at least one of the
days for the wide receivers.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Fast quick.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I thought he did a good job getting open. I
thought he was impressive. You mentioned Jadan Higgins. I want
to see how he runs at the combine. I think
that's gonna be a really big number for him. He
weighed in at this game at six three and three
quarters two seventeen, so if he can somehow break four
five and get in the high four fours, that would
be huge for him. We'll see where he how he runs.
(18:14):
And then Arian Smith out of Georgia. You know a
bit of a one trick pony. He's got speed and
he showed it up. He was running by people deep.
I thought for a lot of those three days. I'm
not sure you know how varied his rout tree is
gonna be, but he definitely showed up his ability to
get deep.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
She's gotta learned a hold on the ball because he
had a lot of drops during the season when Carson
Beck was throwing the ball last year at Georgia. Go
back to Higgins. You know, he is estimated to run.
Coming into the season, he was estimated as a four
to five to one guy, So it's not all that
reasonable to think that come combine time, he can run
in the mid to high four fours. And with that body,
(18:52):
that big bait frame body, and the way he catches
the ball, that will be another check mark on his
draft stock.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
What tight ends do dou to your tone?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, I mean Elijah roy Elijah Royer literally looks like
a big receiver playing the tight end position. I mean
he got down the field, he made some spectacular catches.
He made the ordinary catches regularly, and he catches the
ball with solid fundamentals. Does the body catch, extends his hands,
looks to pass in. He's a good booking athlete. Really,
(19:23):
no winebacker could stay with him. The safety struggled with
staying with them. They were always playing catchup when he
was always making a lot of receptions down the field.
And that's what he does on the film. Not much
of a blocker, but they never really asked him. The
block really didn't stand out in those blocking shows, but
I thought he really helped himself, as did Thomas Fedoni
of Nebraska. Fidoni entered the draft because coach Matt Rule said, listen,
(19:44):
you're a great player, but you just don't fit our offense.
Either transfer or into the draft. He decided to enter
the draft. He is a big body, athletic guy who
catches the ball exceptionally well, show some ability as a blocker.
I think he's gonna be under I don't know if
he gets in the third round, probably more of a
fourth round guy. But really, when you put him into
(20:05):
a system that's tailored for his talents, I think for
Donnie's gonna be a real good player, as he showed
at the senior ball.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
All right, two tight ends. I want to bring up
real quick Tony. I thought Terrence Ferguson and of Oregon,
UH sixty five. I thought he had a nice week,
good athlete, big got open, caught the ball extremely well,
had a nice one handed catch at one of these
competition drules, and then on one of the practices, and
then I want to ask you about Mason Taylor. All Right,
the Jason Taylor son at LSU, good solid all around player.
(20:33):
I watched him before I got there. I was like,
all right, he's a good player, you know, late day
two type of guy for me. You know, I don't
know if it's the pedigree. And again I talked to
Mason Taylor's sweet kid, smart. I think he's gonna be
a good all around tight end. You know, people coming
out of Day one like he's a huge winner.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
He was dominant.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Did I miss something?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, no, I agree with you. I mean he was.
He was fractional compared to Royal, especially with the Royal speed,
eat and ability to get down the field. He caught
the ball well, like you said, plays with good body control.
But there's nothing that really stands out. There's nothing that
wows you, or at least didn't wow me about Mason Taylor.
I mean, he's very good and he's going to be
(21:13):
a good, very good starting tight end. When you compare
him with some of the guys like a Wrier, you know,
you like to use that word juice. I didn't see
a lot of juice in his game. With the ability
to get downfield as far as terrorce Terrence Ferguson's concern.
Real good in all aspects, but not great in any
single aspect. So I think what that means is he's
(21:35):
going to be a solid Day three pick and will
be a very good number two tight end that is,
a three down player at the position third and short.
You can put him on the line as an in
line blocker, or you can send him out on a
four to five yard route for the for to catch
the ball and he'll do a good job for you.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah. Agree, All right, Let's go to the offensive line, Tony.
And given the strength of the defensive lines in this group,
I thought the offensive line were then held their own
over the course of three days of practice. I think
a lot of these guys helped themselves.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
This was probably my favorite group, and it's my favorite
group because when I go to the senior ball, you know,
I come in with these expectations and if the guys
deliver more like I said with Jalen Noel, that is
what is impressed. That's what impresses me. And it was
this these groups that did it, and it was the
smaller school guys that did it, not just the small
(22:25):
school one double a FCS guys, but the smaller one
A guys. Gray Zabel was fantastic. We talked about him
early on when they North Dakota State played a tough
game against or played a tight game which they eventually
lost to Colorado. I believe it was week one of
the college season, and Zabel really stood up. He was phenomenal,
and he played multiple positions. Guard, played guard, played center,
(22:46):
and he did a terrific job. And these guys are
playing against Dean Walker, they're playing against Walter Nolan. They
weren't playing against inferior talent. And Zabel I thought was phenomenal,
as was Jackson Slater, the big, stocky broad guy from
Sacramento State. He's tough, not as much of a zone
blocker compared to Gray's label, but a terrific small area
(23:09):
power blocker who held his own at both guard and center.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
They don't make three hundred and twenty pounds centers anymore.
If he could play center at three twenty, that's really
good size.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Jacob Bayer of Arkansas State. I'm sorry of Louisiana. He
held his own all week again against Dion Walker. Here's
a guy who's probably giving up forty pounds fifty pounds
to Dion Walker, and he's controlling the point of attack.
Solid fundamentals. A Day three pick, Clay Webb out of
Jacksonville State, I thought played exceptionally well day in and
(23:43):
day out. He was winning every snap in those one
on ones, and then look good in the scrimmages. There's
some off the field character things that concerned a couple
of teams about the Clay Web, but still, I mean,
you go to the senior ball, You're like, Okay, maybe
this guy as a very late pick late in the
draft and he has a performance like that, it just
(24:06):
does nothing but help us draft stocks.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Clay Webb is also a five star Georgia transfer, so
he definitely had the pedigree as a guy even though
he is a Jacksonville State gap.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I thought Anthony Belton of North Carolina State did a
terrific job at left tackle. Here's a guy who two
years ago scouts thought he's a potential first round pick,
did not play that well in twenty twenty three, made
the right decision, came back, played as played in twenty
twenty four for the wolf Pack, had a real good year.
He's a phenomenal athlete. He's three hundred and forty five pounds.
(24:38):
He's gonna run in the four nines of the combine.
He's going to test exceptionally well. Consistency and basically confidence
has been a problem for Belton, but I think he
got that all figured out. Two college tackles from the
Big twelve whore I thought did very well at guard.
Caleb Rodgers from Texas Tech played guard and center. Problem
(24:59):
with him is he got short arms, so he's definitely
an interior guy. I think his arms were like thirty
one and a half. And then Wyatt Millam I thought
played very well at guard throughout the week. I heard
from some people that said they thought he was exceptional
during the game. And you know a lot of people
talk about Wyatt Milim as a first round tackle. I
never bought into that. He's definitely affirmed himself as a
(25:22):
second round guard.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I like that. And you have Emery Jones on your
list too, you want to touch on them, Tony. I
was impressed by his team min Miles Frasier. I thought
it Miles Fraser had a really good big of practice.
I was not impressed with Emery Jones. That's why he's
on the list, and the thing is, Emery Jones really
has been on a downslide, you know, since the beginning
of season a La Jaylen Milrode Emory Jones coming into
the season was graded just slightly below his teammate Will
(25:47):
Campbell by scouts who great underclassmen, and it's been all downhill.
You can see the ability there, you can see the
strength and the power, but there's a lot of inconsistency.
There's a lot of poor mentals on too many snaps.
Doesn't set with a white bass. Bend's at the waist,
and I think it's really going to go. We're at
(26:08):
the situation where every Jones, who everyone thought would be
a first round pick entering the season, you're looking at
barely a third round selection right now. Yeah, he had
a couple of good one on ones with Baron Sorel
at the end of one of the practice as a competition,
I mentioned Fraser as a teammate a guard. I thought
he did a pretty good job. Tony Miles, Fraser, your guy,
Josh Connelly. I know only the only thing people are
gonna remember about him is the bad Repiet against the
(26:32):
Marshall Mike uh that I got blasted on Twitter, but
I thought he was pretty good. Played mostly left tackle,
had a couple of snaps on the right side, which
he really hadn't done before. Marcus Bow, I think you
saw his athleticism and his traits, but you also saw
what he has to work on. He did mostly right tackle,
(26:52):
he did a little bit of right guard. At the
end of the week, he did what I think he
took one or two snaps at left tackle, where he
really hasn't played a ton. So I think Bow was
a guy that will go one day two that people
will pick as a developmental tackle. His measurements ended up
being really good. I'll give him for the folks, six
zero four three ten thirty three inch arms. That's why
some people might see him even though he's tackle for
(27:14):
a feet for a tackle arms of a guard. So
we'll see where he fits in there. And then one
guy who I thought started off slow Tony is the
Boston College offensive tackle Ozzie Trappolo. I thought he ended
up having a really good last couple of days at
offensive tackle. Big kids, six seven and a half three
twenty thirty three and a half inch arms. That was
a guy that you know going in I had him
(27:34):
in the expectations for but I thought he played really
well the last two days of practice.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Absolutely, I would agree with you. Go back to bow.
I spoke with some of the some of the edge
rushers who went up against him, and they said, we
know he's light, we know how to exploit it. We're
just gonna basically bull rush him off the ball. Getting
back to that play where a Green demolished connorly and
it's all over the internet. I spoke with a couple
of scouts who were down there who said Connelly didn't
(27:58):
look like he was ready. It was as much the
fact that Connolly was not set on that play as
it was a good play by Green. But it's out
there and everybody's you know, falling over Green and saying
Connolly stinks. Not the same sort of opinion in this
in the scouty community.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, Connolly tried to short set him to get on
him quick, and before he even got his feet down,
Green was on top of him. It was just a
bad combination of factors and look bad for Connolly. But again,
it's one on one reps. It's one rep and obviously
the advantage goes to the defense in those reps.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So, and I think, I think what people are looking
at is, you know, the issue with Green is the
size and the strength. And then all of a sudden
he bull rushes, you know, a big ten offensive tackle
form pack twelve offense offensive tackle back into the apocket like, oh, well,
he's strong enough. You know he's got he proved it
right there. That's not the case.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, and he's your guy, Tony. I think Connolly showed
that he can play offensive tackle. He's gonna get drafted
as a tackle and teams are going to try him
there first.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
So what was his arm like, you have his arm
like that?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I think it was thirty four flat, I believe, which
is more than long enough. Let me get that exact number.
Four thirty four flat six oh four three thirteen thirty
four in charms, good night.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I mean, there are a couple of guys who measured
Tailler and had Membo who didn't play or played one day,
and I think he had food poisoning.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah he has a eurodays yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Membo
never got out there. He had food poisoning, never never,
never practiced.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
He had some impressive, pressive measurements and that and that's
one of the things that you see you want to
look for, is you know, when the season begins, the
scouts come out with their grades, with their measurements, and
you see how it matches up. Or these guys bigger
than what they were or what they were reported to
be in over the summer, or they shorter, and some
of these guys I think really did well on the
(29:44):
on the measurements.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Perhaps season is presented by Moody's, a proud part of
the New York Giants, uniting the bright minions to turn
today's risk into tomorrow's opportunity. He's learned more at Moody's
dot com. All right, Tony, let's jump over to the
defensive side of the ball. Here the defensive line. We
knew he was a good group coming in, and they
did not disappoint.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
They didn't. But it wasn't the big name guys that
we expected to really dominate. Who did. I thought it
was the lesser name guys. I thought Josh Farmer of
Florida State was really good. He's quick, he's explosive, he's
got good size, he's got some strength. He was very
up and down the past two years at Florida State.
Where you know on one play, you know, he would
(30:23):
just dominate and then he would disappear. He was dominant
during the senior ball and I think he really helped
his draft stock. Terrific first step plays with great head level,
shows some power, shows some good hand movements. Yeah, I
thought Darius Alexander of Toledo had his moments. A quick,
three technique, one gap type of tackle who plays with
(30:45):
great leverage and pad level. I like Jamari Caldwell of Oregon.
I know everyone's in love with Derek Harmon. I understand that,
and Colwell's gonna go much later in the draft. But
he is explosive. He moves relatively well for a big man.
Like to see him some more power in his game,
uses his hands well, did very well or most of
(31:05):
the times, did well in those one on ones and
was able to exploit the blocker he was up against.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
No question, I'll throw a couple of names out there
for you, Tony. I thought Junior Tifuna and a You
guys some really good reps the last two days. You know,
you watch him play and he plays with such power
where he just drives guys backwards. But he's just six
three three h three, so He's not the biggest guy,
but he plays I think with great strength. You mentioned Farmer.
I agree with you. Darrek's Alexander to me like six
(31:32):
three and a half three or four thirty four inch arms.
He checks so many boxes physically as that big, long,
lean defensive tackle. I'm with you. I thought he played
particularly well. And if you're looking for, like, like a
big guy, that that's gonna be a plugger for you.
You know Tim Smith out of Alabama. You know he's
not the most athletic guy, but he's six four three eleven.
I thought he played with a pretty good power. There
are a couple other guys who wanted to mention in
(31:53):
this group.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Yeah, well are guys who I think disappointed. I mean,
Walter Nolan was good in spots, but he also got
handled by the clay Webs and the Gray's Abels of
the world. He was not as dominant as I expected
him to be. I thought this would be a big
platform for him to really move into the middle. Round
One didn't see it from him, and I thought it
was just a terrible week for Dion Walker from Kentucky.
(32:17):
I mean, his draft stock continues to slide down. Did
not have a good campaign in twenty twenty four. He's overweight.
I mean, we both saw it. He's wearing a cut
off not even a cutoff shirt. He's not as a
shirt tucked in, raises his arm. You see his stomach
flapping around. And he was just getting handled by lesser opponents,
by the clay Webs, you know, by the Jacob bayers,
(32:39):
by the Jackson slayers, or at least guys you think
that he should have dominated, and he never did. Didn't
even come out for the last day of practice.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All right, let's jump over to the I want to
mention Ty Robinson very quickly. He's a guy that I
thought we might see a little bit more from too, Tony.
I thought the last day he woke up a little
bit and was getting some penetration, but he wasn't getting
up field as much as you saw on tape. He
and one good tackle for loss in the game on Saturday,
but I was spent and I talked to him, Brick Kidd,
I was expecting a little bit more out of Robinson.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah. I spent some time with him, and I would
agree with you. And I'm a Robinson guy just like
I'm a Jalen Miro guy. That last day sort of
redeemed himself for me. But the first two days you're
absolutely right. I mean he was basically non existent.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
All right, let's go to the edge players, Tony and
uh Ola fami Oladejo. I'm with you. He's the first
guy in your list. I've rewatched some of the one
on ones this morning. You lint him up outside, you
line him up inside. Just his power, his punch, his burst.
He just seemed to have. Every offensive lineman he went
up against was on the defensive the whole time, and
(33:41):
he made them uncomfortable. This is the first year in
his career that he played the edge. He was an
inside linebacker and they made they moved him to the
edge to make room for Swessinger, who was there middle
linebacker UCLA this year. He came at six h two
and three quarters two sixty one thirty three and a
half inch arms. That guy, I was the best edge
(34:02):
rusher there, and that's understanding. There's some potential first round
picks there. All. Dejo was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
I got to spend an extensive amount of time with
him on Wednesday evening. He's an interesting guy. Talk about
his play like you said, there was a couple of
times on Thursday where they're laying lined them up over center.
Now he was standing up. They lined them up over center,
and he destroyed the center. He destroyed him on the outside,
He destroyed him on the inside. He was the guy
that told me that when he went up against Bow,
(34:31):
he knew that Bow was a little white and he
knew how he could beat him, and he did. And
he showed a variety moves, primarily standing up over tackle.
Just a super interesting guy. He's not you know, when
I would say something that I didn't like about, not
necessarily him something else. It wasn't even about football. He
wanted to know why I didn't like it. He wanted
me to go into detail. We actually went out to
(34:53):
dinner and were leaving the restaurant because I was going
to drive him back to the player's hotel, and he
stopped and spoke with every scout that he interviewed with
that he spoke with over the course of the week,
and he would go up to them and start speaking
with them. Point being, is you saw what you are.
You saw the film, If you saw the practices, you
(35:14):
saw him dominating the practices. He comes across as a
great personality, as a guy who's really good. He transferred
from Camel so you know, getting the cal he's got
to be kind of smart, and he shows those smarts.
Just a real interesting, very likable guy. And you know,
hands down, this was my big winner from the senior ball.
And here's the guy who you know, in start season starts,
(35:35):
people are looking at him a six round pick. Season
goes on, he's playing much better. You're thinking maybe, you know,
late day two, I think probably if he's got some
if he puts in some good numbers of the combine,
you're looking at a second round pick.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
I'm with you. You know, he he outplayed the the
two big edge players. There are three big ones here
that came to the game, and we'll touch on them now.
Mike Green Well, I thought I had himself a really
good week left after two days because he you know,
Jeris agents like, nope, you're blue upout social media, get
out of here. So he got out of here. But
I thought Oladijo was better than Princely Yuman Mialen who
(36:10):
was there from Ole miss And I thought Donovan Azarak
who had a good week too. But I thought the
UCLA player was better than he was over a couple
of days.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Every time he, you know, lined up for one on one,
you turned your head because you wont the you know,
you wanted to see what was gonna happen next. She
knew he was going to win. Was it gonna be
an outside rush? Was he going to be an inside moved?
They had got on him up on the inside.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Washed Tony. He was so strong at two sixty he
was man handling bigger guys.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And it was consistent. It was consistent. You know, some
of these guys, as we've seen in the past, they
have one good day of practice. This guy was good
every single day.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
And he was a talker too. By the way, when
he beat you, he lets you know about it. Like
he was definitely one of the guys. I was having
fun out there, all right. I'm gonna throw David Walker
out there, Tony, but I'm gonna be honest with you.
I had no idea who David Walker is before I
walked into Mobile. I feel bad about that. He's from
Central Arkansas. He's also just really weirdly shaped, all right.
He's just over six feet tall, six foot half inch,
(37:08):
only two hundred and sixty seven pounds with thirty one
and three quarter in charms. He's kind of stumpy, like he's.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Short, he's squat, he's kind of thick.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
But they could have blocked him whether he was on
the edge or when he moved into three technique. This
guy was unblockable and guys just didn't seem to know
what to do with him.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Very explosive plays with great head level, gup leverage on opponents,
showed a variety of moves. I think those measurables are
going to keep him out of Day two. But what
you're looking at now based off of his workout, but
based off of his Senior Bowl performance, and like Ola days,
you he was good every single day. It wasn't like
(37:46):
he was good on Tuesday, and he was good every
single day. In fact, I texted people who had left
mobile on Thursdays like Walker is blowing it up. But
with those measurables, what you're looking at right now is
a Day three selection. Who's going to be a past
rush specialist, special teamer on Sunday at the next level.
But there's no doubt about it. You go from Central Arkansas,
(38:09):
what a Division two school with those measurables, and then
you can't be stopped every single day. Absolutely came out
of the Senior Ball as a winner. All right. Who
else on the edge drew your attention? Well, you know
we talked about Mike Green. No, no, no reason to
go any further than that, very explosive, incredibly athletic. Forget
about to play with Connolly. I still think he's got
to get a little bit bigger and stronger so we
(38:30):
can hold up against the run. But Josiah Stewart of
Michigan also had also had a couple of nice days
of practice. You know, he is what he's He's got
those funky measurables like David Walker's a little bit taller
than Walker, but he's very explosive, incredibly quick, and again
not just an edge rusher who was able to beat
guys to the inside and show a variety of moves.
(38:52):
And that's very important. You got to show that you're
not just a one trick pony.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
And I'm gonna throw two other guys out there, Lannon Jackson,
the big kid out of Arkansas. Again, you're looking for
a bigger you know, not just pass rushing edge rusher.
Six h five and a half two seventy three thirty
three and a half in drums. Really big kid, right quiet.
The first two days, Day three, he was really good
and then he had stripsack in the game. He had
(39:18):
another pressure in the game. I thought he came on
late in the week.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
He's a guy who I don't want see. He's an overachiever,
but he plays better than you expect. And he's not
just a pass rusher, you know, as you mentioned, he's
a bigger guy. You watch the film, he gives effort
against the run and he does a nice job shutting
down the run.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Last guy I want to bring up Tony is Savion Jones.
So I gotta be honest with you. Like the practices
during the week, He's not somebody that I was like,
Oh wow, Savian Jones, don't loo can block him six
y five two ninety thirty three and a half inch
arms In the game they line them up over the guard.
He'd be Gray's able like three times in a row.
And you mentioned Zabel was great all week. They put
(39:57):
Jones a defensive tackle with that three technique in the
game on Saturday. He was in the backfield that whole game.
So that was an interesting watch for me.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Well, maybe they found the spot at the next level
because you know, he was a guy who when I
watched the film, when I watched the games during the season, Lsu,
I would wait for him to make plays, wait for
him to make plays, and he never really did make plays,
just like he mentioned during a practice. So you know,
that's the one thing about the senior ball. You know
you mentioned Gray's Abel College tackle moved them inside the guard,
(40:27):
used them at center. Caleb Rogers of Texas Tech College
tackle moved them inside the guard. That's the beauty of
the senior ball. As they moved these guys around, they
see if they got versatility to be used at different positions.
Maybe Samanon Jones found Sunday spot.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yeah, no question about it. All right, let's jump over
to the linebacker position, Tony, who are the three guys
that jumped out of you?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Justin barn of Syracuse was the only linebacker who showed
well in coverage shrills. He was the only guy, whether
it was running backs, whether it was tight ends, would
be able to stay on the pass catcher's hip and
make plays on the ball. That's what he is on film.
He's an athletic guy. He's fast, slightly undersized, but I
love the athleticism and I love the ability to make
(41:12):
plays by Baron when the ball was in the air.
The only linebacker who in three days of Senior Bowl
practice on either team was able to do it on
a consistent basic basis. I thought Jeffrey Bossa, I like
him a lot, tough, hard working guy, very athletic. Leads
by example, was going sideline to sideline making plays. I
thought he had a couple of nice stays of practice.
(41:34):
And Smail London of Georgia. Again, smaller guy, but goes
sideline to sideline and makes as many plays with his
head and instincts as he does with his sheer physical talent.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Yeah, I'll throw two guys out there. Jack Kaiser from
Notre Dame. He was an elite ad. I thought he
was all over the field. He had an interception in practice,
he had a couple of pass breakups. I thought he
played particularly well. I had a chance to talk to him.
Really smart guy. And then Demetrio's Knight. I thought it
was another player that's just kind of all over the
he saw the sideline.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
He hits Carolina very very active, Yeah, very very plays
with a nasty almost violent sort of temperament to his game.
You know, likes the physical contact, was making a lot
of plays in pursuit and out to the out to
the flanks.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
When you watch them defensive backs, Tony, I didn't think
this was one of the groups that was really jumped
out of me at least. But who did you like
at that? Cornerbacks, by the though, you mentioned one of
them off the top. Yeah, as a right Thomas of
Florida State.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Here is a guy. When I watched him on film,
he was up and down, but I thought he had
three really good days of practice. He's a bigger cornerback.
He's a physical cornerback. What really impressed me about him
was his ability to get his head back around and
track the pass in the air rather than faceguard. I
was very impressed with him, you know, I remember, I
(42:50):
mean I sent you the email about guys to watch.
I really didn't see it in him on film. Absolutely
so during senior bal practice, I thought he was terrific.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Say, they don't put him on Ted Johnson anymore. That
is not a good matchup for him. He got led
up on Ted Johnson way too many times.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Dorian Strong of Virginia Tech had two really good days
of practice before he left. I think he had a
hamstring issue. Brandon Adams of Central Florida, another bigger cornerback
who showed flashes, wasn't consistent. I didn't think overall the
defensive backs on either side were a good group. Well.
Brandon Adams did show a lot of ability. I thought
Jonas Sanker, the safety from Virginia, played very very well.
(43:30):
Came into the season granted as a low level of
a free agent. I thought he played well last year
for Virginia. And I thought he made a lot of
plays in coverage because he's a safety, and what you
want to see what these safeties are. How do they
do in coverage? How do they do in the one
on ones? How did they do in scrimmage? And I
thought Sanka made a lot of nice plays in coverage,
both both in full scrimmage the team jills as well
(43:53):
as the one on ones.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah, two other safeties that the Dante Trader had some
moments over the course of the week. And I thought
Dan Jackson out of Jorge, kind of a big hitter.
I thought he had a big hit in the game
to separate a receiver from the ball. He also had
a big hit on Jack Besh in a red zone
drill to separate him from a ball over the course
of practice. Then at corner, I thought Quincy Riley and
Darien Porter, both on the national team, I thought they
(44:15):
had decent days in coverage. Both guys want to play
man to man. Porters a bigger guy, uh six seven.
And then I thought Max Haston at a Kentucky was
also pretty good at the cornerback again, kind of a longer,
lighter guy that wants to be press outside. Those are
the corners that kind of jumped out of me.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah, Hashton, I would agree with you, Hashton. Like quarter
were up and down. There was no sheer consistency. There
was no Ola days used in the secondary group from
either team. That guys that just dominated day after day
after day. Most of these guys had their moments, but
they also got beaty times.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
All right, So Tony and I have kind of our
schedule is set up now between now in the combine.
I believe the older Tony, We're gonna do your top
ten at different positions next week, right then we're gonna
have a mock draft, and then we're gonna do our combin.
I appreciate Breck te other folks would you have coming out?
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Well, we'll have updated rankings at the Sports Skieda, especially
with the mock Draft simulator. You like that mock draft simulator.
It's now starting to be populated with scouting reports. So
if you go there the end of this week, the
end of this week being you know, February nineth or so,
before the Super Bowl, the mock Draft simulator will be
updated with updated rankings which will also be able to
(45:23):
be found as well as scouting reports. Don't have the
big conferences yet, just have the one Double A guys
and the Conference USA, Sun Belt, AAC those sorts of conferences.
But we're starting to move into where we will have
four hundred plus scouting reports in the mock Draft simulator,
which is always fun to play. Be careful, it's addictive, Yeah,
(45:44):
yes it is.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
And then Tony will have a Monck draft coming out
next couple of weeks. We'll talk about that on the show.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
We'll do our.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Updated top ten rankings at each position or Tony will
have is and then I get to pick them apart
a little bit, which is always fun. And then we
have our combine preview, then we're off to the combine,
so make sure you check all that out on Draft
Season over the course of the next few weeks. For
Tony Pony from sports Keta, I'm John Schmulk. That's Draft Season,
brought to you by Moody's, a proud partner of the
New York Giants. We'll see you next time. Everybody,
Draft. It's now officially open. This is Draft Season presented
by Moody's, a proud part of the New York Giants.
Decode verus unlock opportunity. Learn more in moodies dot com.
All Right, joined by Tony Pauline has always with sports
Keda dot com. I am John Schmelt and folks, if
you're just joining us, maybe you're new to draft season.
(00:24):
We're really getting into the meat of quote unquote draft
season now. Even though this is a Giants podcast per se,
this is not a Giants topical podcast. We do all draft.
We might do some couple of Giant things here or
there based on who they might draft, but this is
an overall draft podcast. So if you're not a Giants fan,
stick with us. We'll carry you through the next three
(00:44):
months or so as we get closer to the draft
at the end of April, and of course then we'll
be back. We do shows from August to January every year.
Tony and I just got back a few days ago
from Frisco, Texas and Mobile for the Shrine Bowl and
Senior Bowl. And Tony, I mean, we got the best
weather we've ever had in I don't know if you've
ever seen better than that. But it was seventy and sunny.
That was as good as it gets.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
My friend, yeah, a couple of years ago, I think
it was like eighty degrees. Two or three days in
a row, which was very nice because I came home
with a tan. But you know, the fact is this,
it was it didn't rain, which was great. Last day
was a little bit overcast, which is fine because you know,
you don't want to get on a plane for a
four hour trip home all sweaty and stuff. But you know,
(01:25):
it was three It was actually six very busy days
at the Senior Bawl. I know, I had a couple
of people come up to me talk about the They
watched the podcast religiously. They told us how much they
enjoy it. Thank you for that. It was great seeing
those people. And you know, it's it's long days. It's
you know, it's one practice after another, so you've got
anywhere from three and a half hours to four hours
(01:47):
of practice. You're trying to watch one hundred different guys
and get as much out of it as you can.
And then there's the writing and they're mingling with people
and trying to get notes. But It's always fun, you know,
but you look forward to it when you start off
and by the end of the week you want to
get home, so it's worth.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It, absolutely. Yeah. I started early every day. I was
on Radio Roll from six am to eight and a
m every day. If you guys want to hear or
see those player interviews, by the way, and again it's
more of a it's not really Giants specific stuff on there,
so I go to the Giants on the podcast. I
have literally five different episodes, two from Shrine, three from
Senior Bowl. I probably did over one hundred player interviews.
If you want to get to know these guys a
(02:23):
little bit, go check those out. You can find that
on the Giants app, Giants dot com, Slash podcast, or
just search for Giants Huddle. And then Tony of course
works the bars at night. I mean, no one is
out more in Mobile and shrining than Tony, you know,
talking to people, you know, getting the inside scoop. So
before we get to the game itself, Tony, what's maybe
one thing you learned about the draft class or the
(02:44):
draft from people while you're in first Go and Mobile
that you maybe weren't so sure about when you got
down there.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, what I learned when I was in Frisco is
it's almost down to a person that Kim Ward's gonna
be the first quarterback selected. They think right now, if
the draft was held with held today, the Titans would
take cam Ward with that first pick. We'll have to
see what goes on through the rest of the process.
Obviously they're not infused about the early part of the
(03:14):
first round, but they love the quantity in this draft
in a sense that you know, they invite three hundred
and twenty five players to the combine, there's actually probably
closer to four hundred players that deserve an invitation to
the Combine, and two hundred and fifty five players will
be drafted, and it's probably in excess of three hundred
and fifty players that have draftable grades and should be drafted.
(03:38):
And that's because of the fact that we're at the
end here of that extra COVID year that the NCAA
gave to all athletes in twenty twenty. That's sort of
running out. So what you're gonna have now is you're
going to have a very deep Day three of the draft, all.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right, Tony, Before we go position by a position of
that set. We're going to break this down. We're focusing
on Senior Bowl today. If you guys want to go
check out what are what our response and take was
to the Shrine Bowl practice we were out last Saturday
and Sunday. You can go check out our previous draft
season episode. The audio version has our reaction to those
(04:16):
two practices. So, Tony, before we go position by position,
give me a handful of your fastest risers, Guys that
you think did the best that helped their stock from
this week.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'd say Jalen Nowell, the receiver from Iowa State. Who
will get into Gray Zabel, the offensive lineman from North
Dakota State. Although with Femi o Ola Daju edge rusher
from UCLA, David Walker, the edge dresser from Central Arkansas,
(04:48):
and az Aria Thomas, the cornerback from Florida State, we'll
get into all those guys. But I think those are
the players whose draft stock really improved after three days
of Senior Bow practice.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I'm with you on all those all right, but let's
start with the quarterback position.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Tony.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You got four guys you want to highlight here from
these two teams, there were seven quarterbacks in total, immobile.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Some good, some bad. We'll start off with really the bad,
and that was Jalen Milroe. I mean he looked out
a short say, he was holding the ball too long,
he was staring primary targets down, which he does on film.
He was inaccurate with his passes. I'm a Jalen Milroe guy.
You go back to one of our first podcasts in August,
I was on the Jayleen Milroe band wagon. It hasn't happened.
(05:31):
It didn't happen during the season, it didn't happen during
the Senior Ball. I still think he's gonna be a
first round pick because of those incredible physical skills. There's
no doubt about it. He absolutely did not help his
draft stock and.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Tot I want to add on that real quick before
he jump to the next guy. We know he has
a big arm, but he didn't like if you never
watched Ilomill before, you just watched Senior Bowl practice, as
in the Senior Bowl game, you would have no idea
that Jill mn Minroe has a big arm, Like he
didn't even show that off over the course of three days.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Always going to the checkdown receiver because that's the safe
you know, it's a save throw. It's safer to throw
the ball ten to fifteen yards than to hurl it
down forty five yards down the field and try and
hit a receiver and strider or accurately hit a receiver,
which he struggled doing on film. Overall, and you're right,
a lot of quarterbacks do that. It was disappointing that
Milroe went that route rather than show off his big,
(06:25):
big time army.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
All right, take us to the rest of the QBS
you want to talk about.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, Jackson Dart very efficient, accurate in the short to
intermediate range passing, didn't show a big arm and that's
what I wanted to see, what from Jackson tought. I
wanted to see if he could drive the ball downfield.
You know. He got passes downfield, but they would kind
of flutter, they would float. The receivers would be slowing
up waiting for the ball to get to them. So,
(06:49):
as far as I'm concerned, Jackson Dart did not answer
that question. I think on the scoreboard one day they
said he had the longest throw of any quarterback, which
was fifty six yards. But there's no speed to the passes,
which is an issue. You know, could be a very good,
rock pretty type of timing passer. There are people talking
about him as a mid first round choice. I never
had him as a mid first as a first round prospect.
(07:12):
I don't think he showed first round ability during Senior
Bowl practices.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I agree Dylan Gabriel. Another guy, Tony, I know you
want to touch on and look, he's just not a
big guy. Five ten and a half, small frame. You
stand next to him, he's small, like he's small than
Bryce Young was right, he's just not a big kid.
But I thought he was on time and accurate, like
for what his tools are. I thought he showed, Look,
he knows how to play the quarterback position. He's going
to be a backup in the league for a long time.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Great accuracy, great timing. And remember these are receivers that
he basically just met off the bus. These aren't guys
that he's been he's been practicing with. But really from
the get go he knew where his receivers are. He
had the ball to them as they were leaving routes.
Doesn't have a big arm, doesn't have a big body,
but he's got it going on between the ears and again,
an excellent timing passer in the intermediate field. As far
(08:01):
as I'm concerned, Dylan Gabriel was the best quarterback at
the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
How about our Canadian friend Taylor Gurzmu had his.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Moments big time. Army's a tall, thin kid. He's gonna
add a little bit of bulk. You can see the
arm strengthens there. He basically did what Jackson Dort wasn't
able to do. Drive the deep passes with speed, excellent
velocity on the outs, not overly accurate. There's some things
he's going to have to work on, but I think
he absolutely did enough to get Day three consideration.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I'm with you. I'm gonna throw Tyler Shook out there
as well. And the good thing about the best thing
about the Senior Bowl to only I'm learning all these
pronunciations now, so I'm figuring out all these names. And
we've been butchering Tyler. We've been saying show or shall
and nope, Tyler shook so that or shucked. So, you know,
I think for a guy that's an interesting player, used
to be a five star recruit, right, big kid showed off.
(08:55):
The arm has all the physical attributes a team might want.
I think the meetings teams have with him. See how
smart he is, See how he figures out defenses. See
you know why, you know, all the transfers, the injuries
too for him over the course of his career. If
you get sort all that out, he's got the tools
to be a good quarterback. Now, we saw some mistakes.
Who saw some inaccuracies. He threw a pick in the
(09:16):
game on Saturday as well, thrown up behind the receiver.
So I think there's some stuff to work out there.
But at least tools wise, I mean, I can make
the argument Tyler Schuck might have been the you know,
the guy with the best tools as a thrower that
was at that game.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Because Jaylen Milroe didn't show his tools as a thrower.
But yeah, I agree that the inconsistency has been a
big problem for Shook. You know, you come into the season,
maybe he's this late seventh round pick. But he showed
enough during the season and during the senior ball But
now you're thinking second half of day three, no doubt
about it, good quarterback coach. Now he doesn't have, you know,
(09:51):
a big time frame in the sense that he's a
seventh year senior and he doesn't have. What that means
is he doesn't have great upside. You're getting what you
see with Tyler Schup versus a Jaylen Milroe. But still
I think if you can, you can get iron out
some of the fundamentals and improve the accuracy. He's a big,
impressive looking guy, and you watch him on film. He's
(10:13):
not an immobile pocket passer. But he's done a great
job literally from the beginning of a season leading Louisville
and had at least three solid days of practice at
the Senior Bowl where he was able to show some
really good traits.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, team's gonna see six five, two twenty in a
big arm and they'll be like, I can figure that out.
Let's go, I can figure it out. All right, Let's
stump to the running back position. Tony, you had four
guys you want to touch on. Then I had four
others I wanted to touch on. It was a stacked
running back group.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, absolutely. Quin Allen not an outside runner, but a
strong interior ball carrier and a tremendous pass catcher. I
mean was made. You see it on film. I saw
at the Senior Ball really a good, big body running
back pass catcher. It's what he showed for three days
for Shard Smith. Again, other terrific pass catcher. I mean
we're going to talk about this, but in the one
(11:04):
on one drills, all the linebackers except for one were
left twisting in the wind by the tight ends and
the running back in the coverage shrills. I mean, these
guys are terrific and they were also good catching the
ball in scrimmage. Marcus Yarne, who we spoke about a
couple of times in the lead up to the Shrine
and the Senior Ball, very creative, very you know, is
(11:27):
able to multi multi cut ball carrier. Again, another real
good pass catcher out of the backfield. I think he's
gonna be a real good late day three picks as
a third down back. And by Shuel Touton, I mean,
this guy is just explosive. He is fast, He's able
to cut back against the grain without losing momentum. He
has a burst through the hall. And the thing I
(11:48):
found out about Tooton was he was dealing with a
significant ankle injury all throughout the season. He played on it,
and despite everything that he showed last week, which was
really good, he's still only about ninety percent. So watch
Tuton and we'll speak about this as we get closer
to the combine. Touton is a back, he goes about
two hundred and nine pounds. He's probably gonna run in
the low four threes. And he showed that speed on
(12:11):
the field.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, he was a guy told me that I was
not familiar with heading down to mobile and multiple times
during practice I'll see a run. I look, I'm like,
who is that guy? And I look at it and
it was tooting like three or four different times. So
he's definitely a got to me that that kind of
showed out. All right, I want to throw out a
couple other guys for you. Ali Gordon was voting practice
player of the Week for one of the teams at
running back position. The suddenness, none of that stuff gets
(12:33):
He's just a really big dude. I mean Ali Gordon
for this game, weighing at two hundred and thirty three
pounds at six to one, he's a big bruising between
the tackles back. I'm just not sure there's enough juice there.
Tony RJ. Harvey, on the other hand, he's all juice right.
He's quick, he's fast, he's explosive, he likes to bounce
stuff outside a little bit. Not the biggest guy, but
he has some juice. And then Devin Neil was boring
(12:54):
but good like you watch him, nothing, no trait, really
jumps out at you, but he he gets where he
needs to go. I think he reads the defense well.
He's got pretty good feed in the hall in the
hole when he runs the football waited at five to
eleven two twenty good measurements for a running back. So
those are guy that jumped out to me. And then
Donovan Edward just wanted to bring him up. He's a
guy we've talked about a lot on the show over
(13:15):
the past two years. Again, the juice he had in
twenty twenty three, I don't know what happened to it,
but again in practice, you just don't see that juice
with him having any sort of burst or long speed.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Cut the ball relatively well in practice, but you know,
seems to have lost confidence. I mean, really should have
been that number one back at Michigan, but he wasn't.
He basically was second fiddle to Khalail Mullins who was
at the senior ball who did reasonably well. And you know,
Donovan Edwards draft Stock has taken a big hit, not
only because of the Senior Bowl, but because of his
(13:48):
senior season. Want to go back to Ali Gordon. Here's
the problem with Ali Gordon. Is you mentioned he's six
foot one. He's a tall running back who runs tall.
If you ever watch him, he doesn't run good lead,
he doesn't run behind his pants. He runs tall. And
when you hear that, when you're that big of a
down a ball carrier between the tackles type of runner
and you're running tall, that's not a good thing. That
(14:10):
leads to a lot of crushing hits, potentially the ball
being knocked out of your hands. So I think Oli Gordon.
I think it was kind of a surprise that he
entered the draft after the season he had, But maybe
he's just done with college football. I think Oli Gordon
was a guy who just a couple of years ago
we're talking about. Maybe is the top sixty pick. I
think he's gonna fall deep into Day three. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
He just note on Mullings, the Michigan running back, the
second one he had an injury, so he did not
practice over the course of the week, just to note
on him. All right, let's go to the wide receivers. Tony,
you mentioned Jalen Nole. Another guy figured out it's actually
Jayalen Nole. It's not Noel. Now in typical Iowa fashion,
I interviewed him, introduced him is Jalen Noel. He did
not correct me, so he does not care. I feel
(14:51):
bad that I was. You look at it, it looks
like it well, but apparently it's Jayalen Knowle. You want
to lead off with him in terms of what wide
receivers you thought did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Smaller guy, very quick, has a burst, was basically uncoverable
and caught everything that was thrown in him. I mean
he is fast. He is one of those guys who
really delivered more than I expected. I mean I thought
I actually had his teammate, the bigger guy, Higgins rated
a little bit higher, but Noel really showed a lot
of ability, as did Tez Johnson of Oregon, a guy
(15:23):
who's even smaller. I mean, what did he come in at.
It wasn't even one hundred and sixty pounds if I
remember miss Johnson.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
I'll give you the measurements five nine two, so that's
five to nine and one quarter inch one hundred and
fifty six.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But he is explosive, I mean, and he's a real
good pass catcher. And the great story I believe that
you you interviewed him for a while. It's a great story.
You should listen to that interview because he's a very
likable guy. You know. The thing is the lack of
size and the lack of growth potential is an issue.
But he's just so fast and so explosive. Somebody's gonna
(15:59):
draft him and find place for him, whether it be
in the slot, whether it be you line him up
backed off the line of scrimmage to keep him away
from press coverage. Obviously, the lack of height, the high passes,
but man, you get the ball in his hands and
watch out because he can create.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No question about it. And then you two of the
wide receivers, Jack Besh, who had the game winning score
in the game. Of course, for those who know the story,
his brother was killed in the terrorist attack in New
Orleans and he kind of played this game and dedicated
his performance to his brother. And then ty Felton Tony,
and I agree with you. Those two receivers I believe
were on the American team, correct. I thought they were
easily the two best receivers on that team. You know,
(16:37):
Besch is a guy. I don't think he separated great,
but he catches everything. Great body control, great hands, big
strong kid too. I mean he weighed in at two
hundred and fourteen pounds at six to one, so he's
got some bulk to him. He's gonna block. And then
I thought Ty Felton just frankly, they trouble covering him short, intermediate, deep.
I thought he was open for much of that week.
(16:57):
I thought those two guys did pretty well.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Felton, my opinion, is one of the most underrated receivers
in this shrift. He's going to run in the low
four to fourths, potentially four threes at the combine. He's
six foot one. He had a monster campaign this senior
season at Maryland, really took it off, really took off.
And he's a good, very article receiver, never mind being
able to catch all the underneath routes. I think he's
(17:19):
gonna go Day two as far as best is concerned.
If you watch that touchdown reception to win the game,
that was what he did all week. I mean, he
would grind it out, he would out muscle defenders. Like
you said, he's not quick, He's not fast, doesn't separate well,
but just competes and fights to come away with the ball,
as you saw at the end of the game when
(17:41):
he made that reception to win the game two.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Otherwise, a couple of the wide receives I want to
mention Tony. I thought Kyle Williams out of Washington State,
he had the fastest GPS at least one of the
days for the wide receivers.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Fast quick.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I thought he did a good job getting open. I
thought he was impressive. You mentioned Jadan Higgins. I want
to see how he runs at the combine. I think
that's gonna be a really big number for him. He
weighed in at this game at six three and three
quarters two seventeen, so if he can somehow break four
five and get in the high four fours, that would
be huge for him. We'll see where he how he runs.
(18:14):
And then Arian Smith out of Georgia. You know a
bit of a one trick pony. He's got speed and
he showed it up. He was running by people deep.
I thought for a lot of those three days. I'm
not sure you know how varied his rout tree is
gonna be, but he definitely showed up his ability to
get deep.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
She's gotta learned a hold on the ball because he
had a lot of drops during the season when Carson
Beck was throwing the ball last year at Georgia. Go
back to Higgins. You know, he is estimated to run.
Coming into the season, he was estimated as a four
to five to one guy, So it's not all that
reasonable to think that come combine time, he can run
in the mid to high four fours. And with that body,
(18:52):
that big bait frame body, and the way he catches
the ball, that will be another check mark on his
draft stock.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
What tight ends do dou to your tone?
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Well, I mean Elijah roy Elijah Royer literally looks like
a big receiver playing the tight end position. I mean
he got down the field, he made some spectacular catches.
He made the ordinary catches regularly, and he catches the
ball with solid fundamentals. Does the body catch, extends his hands,
looks to pass in. He's a good booking athlete. Really,
(19:23):
no winebacker could stay with him. The safety struggled with
staying with them. They were always playing catchup when he
was always making a lot of receptions down the field.
And that's what he does on the film. Not much
of a blocker, but they never really asked him. The
block really didn't stand out in those blocking shows, but
I thought he really helped himself, as did Thomas Fedoni
of Nebraska. Fidoni entered the draft because coach Matt Rule said, listen,
(19:44):
you're a great player, but you just don't fit our offense.
Either transfer or into the draft. He decided to enter
the draft. He is a big body, athletic guy who
catches the ball exceptionally well, show some ability as a blocker.
I think he's gonna be under I don't know if
he gets in the third round, probably more of a
fourth round guy. But really, when you put him into
(20:05):
a system that's tailored for his talents, I think for
Donnie's gonna be a real good player, as he showed
at the senior ball.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
All right, two tight ends. I want to bring up
real quick Tony. I thought Terrence Ferguson and of Oregon,
UH sixty five. I thought he had a nice week,
good athlete, big got open, caught the ball extremely well,
had a nice one handed catch at one of these
competition drules, and then on one of the practices, and
then I want to ask you about Mason Taylor. All Right,
the Jason Taylor son at LSU, good solid all around player.
(20:33):
I watched him before I got there. I was like,
all right, he's a good player, you know, late day
two type of guy for me. You know, I don't
know if it's the pedigree. And again I talked to
Mason Taylor's sweet kid, smart. I think he's gonna be
a good all around tight end. You know, people coming
out of Day one like he's a huge winner.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
He was dominant.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Did I miss something?
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, no, I agree with you. I mean he was.
He was fractional compared to Royal, especially with the Royal speed,
eat and ability to get down the field. He caught
the ball well, like you said, plays with good body control.
But there's nothing that really stands out. There's nothing that
wows you, or at least didn't wow me about Mason Taylor.
I mean, he's very good and he's going to be
(21:13):
a good, very good starting tight end. When you compare
him with some of the guys like a Wrier, you know,
you like to use that word juice. I didn't see
a lot of juice in his game. With the ability
to get downfield as far as terrorce Terrence Ferguson's concern.
Real good in all aspects, but not great in any
single aspect. So I think what that means is he's
(21:35):
going to be a solid Day three pick and will
be a very good number two tight end that is,
a three down player at the position third and short.
You can put him on the line as an in
line blocker, or you can send him out on a
four to five yard route for the for to catch
the ball and he'll do a good job for you.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah. Agree, All right, Let's go to the offensive line, Tony.
And given the strength of the defensive lines in this group,
I thought the offensive line were then held their own
over the course of three days of practice. I think
a lot of these guys helped themselves.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
This was probably my favorite group, and it's my favorite
group because when I go to the senior ball, you know,
I come in with these expectations and if the guys
deliver more like I said with Jalen Noel, that is
what is impressed. That's what impresses me. And it was
this these groups that did it, and it was the
smaller school guys that did it, not just the small
(22:25):
school one double a FCS guys, but the smaller one
A guys. Gray Zabel was fantastic. We talked about him
early on when they North Dakota State played a tough
game against or played a tight game which they eventually
lost to Colorado. I believe it was week one of
the college season, and Zabel really stood up. He was phenomenal,
and he played multiple positions. Guard, played guard, played center,
(22:46):
and he did a terrific job. And these guys are
playing against Dean Walker, they're playing against Walter Nolan. They
weren't playing against inferior talent. And Zabel I thought was phenomenal,
as was Jackson Slater, the big, stocky broad guy from
Sacramento State. He's tough, not as much of a zone
blocker compared to Gray's label, but a terrific small area
(23:09):
power blocker who held his own at both guard and center.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
They don't make three hundred and twenty pounds centers anymore.
If he could play center at three twenty, that's really
good size.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Jacob Bayer of Arkansas State. I'm sorry of Louisiana. He
held his own all week again against Dion Walker. Here's
a guy who's probably giving up forty pounds fifty pounds
to Dion Walker, and he's controlling the point of attack.
Solid fundamentals. A Day three pick, Clay Webb out of
Jacksonville State, I thought played exceptionally well day in and
(23:43):
day out. He was winning every snap in those one
on ones, and then look good in the scrimmages. There's
some off the field character things that concerned a couple
of teams about the Clay Web, but still, I mean,
you go to the senior ball, You're like, Okay, maybe
this guy as a very late pick late in the
draft and he has a performance like that, it just
(24:06):
does nothing but help us draft stocks.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Clay Webb is also a five star Georgia transfer, so
he definitely had the pedigree as a guy even though
he is a Jacksonville State gap.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I thought Anthony Belton of North Carolina State did a
terrific job at left tackle. Here's a guy who two
years ago scouts thought he's a potential first round pick,
did not play that well in twenty twenty three, made
the right decision, came back, played as played in twenty
twenty four for the wolf Pack, had a real good year.
He's a phenomenal athlete. He's three hundred and forty five pounds.
(24:38):
He's gonna run in the four nines of the combine.
He's going to test exceptionally well. Consistency and basically confidence
has been a problem for Belton, but I think he
got that all figured out. Two college tackles from the
Big twelve whore I thought did very well at guard.
Caleb Rodgers from Texas Tech played guard and center. Problem
(24:59):
with him is he got short arms, so he's definitely
an interior guy. I think his arms were like thirty
one and a half. And then Wyatt Millam I thought
played very well at guard throughout the week. I heard
from some people that said they thought he was exceptional
during the game. And you know a lot of people
talk about Wyatt Milim as a first round tackle. I
never bought into that. He's definitely affirmed himself as a
(25:22):
second round guard.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I like that. And you have Emery Jones on your
list too, you want to touch on them, Tony. I
was impressed by his team min Miles Frasier. I thought
it Miles Fraser had a really good big of practice.
I was not impressed with Emery Jones. That's why he's
on the list, and the thing is, Emery Jones really
has been on a downslide, you know, since the beginning
of season a La Jaylen Milrode Emory Jones coming into
the season was graded just slightly below his teammate Will
(25:47):
Campbell by scouts who great underclassmen, and it's been all downhill.
You can see the ability there, you can see the
strength and the power, but there's a lot of inconsistency.
There's a lot of poor mentals on too many snaps.
Doesn't set with a white bass. Bend's at the waist,
and I think it's really going to go. We're at
(26:08):
the situation where every Jones, who everyone thought would be
a first round pick entering the season, you're looking at
barely a third round selection right now. Yeah, he had
a couple of good one on ones with Baron Sorel
at the end of one of the practice as a competition,
I mentioned Fraser as a teammate a guard. I thought
he did a pretty good job. Tony Miles, Fraser, your guy,
Josh Connelly. I know only the only thing people are
gonna remember about him is the bad Repiet against the
(26:32):
Marshall Mike uh that I got blasted on Twitter, but
I thought he was pretty good. Played mostly left tackle,
had a couple of snaps on the right side, which
he really hadn't done before. Marcus Bow, I think you
saw his athleticism and his traits, but you also saw
what he has to work on. He did mostly right tackle,
(26:52):
he did a little bit of right guard. At the
end of the week, he did what I think he
took one or two snaps at left tackle, where he
really hasn't played a ton. So I think Bow was
a guy that will go one day two that people
will pick as a developmental tackle. His measurements ended up
being really good. I'll give him for the folks, six
zero four three ten thirty three inch arms. That's why
some people might see him even though he's tackle for
(27:14):
a feet for a tackle arms of a guard. So
we'll see where he fits in there. And then one
guy who I thought started off slow Tony is the
Boston College offensive tackle Ozzie Trappolo. I thought he ended
up having a really good last couple of days at
offensive tackle. Big kids, six seven and a half three
twenty thirty three and a half inch arms. That was
a guy that you know going in I had him
(27:34):
in the expectations for but I thought he played really
well the last two days of practice.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Absolutely, I would agree with you. Go back to bow.
I spoke with some of the some of the edge
rushers who went up against him, and they said, we
know he's light, we know how to exploit it. We're
just gonna basically bull rush him off the ball. Getting
back to that play where a Green demolished connorly and
it's all over the internet. I spoke with a couple
of scouts who were down there who said Connelly didn't
(27:58):
look like he was ready. It was as much the
fact that Connolly was not set on that play as
it was a good play by Green. But it's out
there and everybody's you know, falling over Green and saying
Connolly stinks. Not the same sort of opinion in this
in the scouty community.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, Connolly tried to short set him to get on
him quick, and before he even got his feet down,
Green was on top of him. It was just a
bad combination of factors and look bad for Connolly. But again,
it's one on one reps. It's one rep and obviously
the advantage goes to the defense in those reps.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So, and I think, I think what people are looking
at is, you know, the issue with Green is the
size and the strength. And then all of a sudden
he bull rushes, you know, a big ten offensive tackle
form pack twelve offense offensive tackle back into the apocket like, oh, well,
he's strong enough. You know he's got he proved it
right there. That's not the case.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, and he's your guy, Tony. I think Connolly showed
that he can play offensive tackle. He's gonna get drafted
as a tackle and teams are going to try him
there first.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
So what was his arm like, you have his arm
like that?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I think it was thirty four flat, I believe, which
is more than long enough. Let me get that exact number.
Four thirty four flat six oh four three thirteen thirty
four in charms, good night.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I mean, there are a couple of guys who measured
Tailler and had Membo who didn't play or played one day,
and I think he had food poisoning.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah he has a eurodays yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Membo
never got out there. He had food poisoning, never never,
never practiced.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
He had some impressive, pressive measurements and that and that's
one of the things that you see you want to
look for, is you know, when the season begins, the
scouts come out with their grades, with their measurements, and
you see how it matches up. Or these guys bigger
than what they were or what they were reported to
be in over the summer, or they shorter, and some
of these guys I think really did well on the
(29:44):
on the measurements.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Perhaps season is presented by Moody's, a proud part of
the New York Giants, uniting the bright minions to turn
today's risk into tomorrow's opportunity. He's learned more at Moody's
dot com. All right, Tony, let's jump over to the
defensive side of the ball. Here the defensive line. We
knew he was a good group coming in, and they
did not disappoint.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
They didn't. But it wasn't the big name guys that
we expected to really dominate. Who did. I thought it
was the lesser name guys. I thought Josh Farmer of
Florida State was really good. He's quick, he's explosive, he's
got good size, he's got some strength. He was very
up and down the past two years at Florida State.
Where you know on one play, you know, he would
(30:23):
just dominate and then he would disappear. He was dominant
during the senior ball and I think he really helped
his draft stock. Terrific first step plays with great head level,
shows some power, shows some good hand movements. Yeah, I
thought Darius Alexander of Toledo had his moments. A quick,
three technique, one gap type of tackle who plays with
(30:45):
great leverage and pad level. I like Jamari Caldwell of Oregon.
I know everyone's in love with Derek Harmon. I understand that,
and Colwell's gonna go much later in the draft. But
he is explosive. He moves relatively well for a big man.
Like to see him some more power in his game,
uses his hands well, did very well or most of
(31:05):
the times, did well in those one on ones and
was able to exploit the blocker he was up against.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
No question, I'll throw a couple of names out there
for you, Tony. I thought Junior Tifuna and a You
guys some really good reps the last two days. You know,
you watch him play and he plays with such power
where he just drives guys backwards. But he's just six
three three h three, so He's not the biggest guy,
but he plays I think with great strength. You mentioned Farmer.
I agree with you. Darrek's Alexander to me like six
(31:32):
three and a half three or four thirty four inch arms.
He checks so many boxes physically as that big, long,
lean defensive tackle. I'm with you. I thought he played
particularly well. And if you're looking for, like, like a
big guy, that that's gonna be a plugger for you.
You know Tim Smith out of Alabama. You know he's
not the most athletic guy, but he's six four three eleven.
I thought he played with a pretty good power. There
are a couple other guys who wanted to mention in
(31:53):
this group.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Yeah, well are guys who I think disappointed. I mean,
Walter Nolan was good in spots, but he also got
handled by the clay Webs and the Gray's Abels of
the world. He was not as dominant as I expected
him to be. I thought this would be a big
platform for him to really move into the middle. Round
One didn't see it from him, and I thought it
was just a terrible week for Dion Walker from Kentucky.
(32:17):
I mean, his draft stock continues to slide down. Did
not have a good campaign in twenty twenty four. He's overweight.
I mean, we both saw it. He's wearing a cut
off not even a cutoff shirt. He's not as a
shirt tucked in, raises his arm. You see his stomach
flapping around. And he was just getting handled by lesser opponents,
by the clay Webs, you know, by the Jacob bayers,
(32:39):
by the Jackson slayers, or at least guys you think
that he should have dominated, and he never did. Didn't
even come out for the last day of practice.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
All right, let's jump over to the I want to
mention Ty Robinson very quickly. He's a guy that I
thought we might see a little bit more from too, Tony.
I thought the last day he woke up a little
bit and was getting some penetration, but he wasn't getting
up field as much as you saw on tape. He
and one good tackle for loss in the game on Saturday,
but I was spent and I talked to him, Brick Kidd,
I was expecting a little bit more out of Robinson.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah. I spent some time with him, and I would
agree with you. And I'm a Robinson guy just like
I'm a Jalen Miro guy. That last day sort of
redeemed himself for me. But the first two days you're
absolutely right. I mean he was basically non existent.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
All right, let's go to the edge players, Tony and
uh Ola fami Oladejo. I'm with you. He's the first
guy in your list. I've rewatched some of the one
on ones this morning. You lint him up outside, you
line him up inside. Just his power, his punch, his burst.
He just seemed to have. Every offensive lineman he went
up against was on the defensive the whole time, and
(33:41):
he made them uncomfortable. This is the first year in
his career that he played the edge. He was an
inside linebacker and they made they moved him to the
edge to make room for Swessinger, who was there middle
linebacker UCLA this year. He came at six h two
and three quarters two sixty one thirty three and a
half inch arms. That guy, I was the best edge
(34:02):
rusher there, and that's understanding. There's some potential first round
picks there. All. Dejo was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
I got to spend an extensive amount of time with
him on Wednesday evening. He's an interesting guy. Talk about
his play like you said, there was a couple of
times on Thursday where they're laying lined them up over center.
Now he was standing up. They lined them up over center,
and he destroyed the center. He destroyed him on the outside,
He destroyed him on the inside. He was the guy
that told me that when he went up against Bow,
(34:31):
he knew that Bow was a little white and he
knew how he could beat him, and he did. And
he showed a variety moves, primarily standing up over tackle.
Just a super interesting guy. He's not you know, when
I would say something that I didn't like about, not
necessarily him something else. It wasn't even about football. He
wanted to know why I didn't like it. He wanted
me to go into detail. We actually went out to
(34:53):
dinner and were leaving the restaurant because I was going
to drive him back to the player's hotel, and he
stopped and spoke with every scout that he interviewed with
that he spoke with over the course of the week,
and he would go up to them and start speaking
with them. Point being, is you saw what you are.
You saw the film, If you saw the practices, you
(35:14):
saw him dominating the practices. He comes across as a
great personality, as a guy who's really good. He transferred
from Camel so you know, getting the cal he's got
to be kind of smart, and he shows those smarts.
Just a real interesting, very likable guy. And you know,
hands down, this was my big winner from the senior ball.
And here's the guy who you know, in start season starts,
(35:35):
people are looking at him a six round pick. Season
goes on, he's playing much better. You're thinking maybe, you know,
late day two, I think probably if he's got some
if he puts in some good numbers of the combine,
you're looking at a second round pick.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
I'm with you. You know, he he outplayed the the
two big edge players. There are three big ones here
that came to the game, and we'll touch on them now.
Mike Green Well, I thought I had himself a really
good week left after two days because he you know,
Jeris agents like, nope, you're blue upout social media, get
out of here. So he got out of here. But
I thought Oladijo was better than Princely Yuman Mialen who
(36:10):
was there from Ole miss And I thought Donovan Azarak
who had a good week too. But I thought the
UCLA player was better than he was over a couple
of days.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Every time he, you know, lined up for one on one,
you turned your head because you wont the you know,
you wanted to see what was gonna happen next. She
knew he was going to win. Was it gonna be
an outside rush? Was he going to be an inside moved?
They had got on him up on the inside.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Washed Tony. He was so strong at two sixty he
was man handling bigger guys.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
And it was consistent. It was consistent. You know, some
of these guys, as we've seen in the past, they
have one good day of practice. This guy was good
every single day.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
And he was a talker too. By the way, when
he beat you, he lets you know about it. Like
he was definitely one of the guys. I was having
fun out there, all right. I'm gonna throw David Walker
out there, Tony, but I'm gonna be honest with you.
I had no idea who David Walker is before I
walked into Mobile. I feel bad about that. He's from
Central Arkansas. He's also just really weirdly shaped, all right.
He's just over six feet tall, six foot half inch,
(37:08):
only two hundred and sixty seven pounds with thirty one
and three quarter in charms. He's kind of stumpy, like he's.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Short, he's squat, he's kind of thick.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
But they could have blocked him whether he was on
the edge or when he moved into three technique. This
guy was unblockable and guys just didn't seem to know
what to do with him.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Very explosive plays with great head level, gup leverage on opponents,
showed a variety of moves. I think those measurables are
going to keep him out of Day two. But what
you're looking at now based off of his workout, but
based off of his Senior Bowl performance, and like Ola days,
you he was good every single day. It wasn't like
(37:46):
he was good on Tuesday, and he was good every
single day. In fact, I texted people who had left
mobile on Thursdays like Walker is blowing it up. But
with those measurables, what you're looking at right now is
a Day three selection. Who's going to be a past
rush specialist, special teamer on Sunday at the next level.
But there's no doubt about it. You go from Central Arkansas,
(38:09):
what a Division two school with those measurables, and then
you can't be stopped every single day. Absolutely came out
of the Senior Ball as a winner. All right. Who
else on the edge drew your attention? Well, you know
we talked about Mike Green. No, no, no reason to
go any further than that, very explosive, incredibly athletic. Forget
about to play with Connolly. I still think he's got
to get a little bit bigger and stronger so we
(38:30):
can hold up against the run. But Josiah Stewart of
Michigan also had also had a couple of nice days
of practice. You know, he is what he's He's got
those funky measurables like David Walker's a little bit taller
than Walker, but he's very explosive, incredibly quick, and again
not just an edge rusher who was able to beat
guys to the inside and show a variety of moves.
(38:52):
And that's very important. You got to show that you're
not just a one trick pony.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
And I'm gonna throw two other guys out there, Lannon Jackson,
the big kid out of Arkansas. Again, you're looking for
a bigger you know, not just pass rushing edge rusher.
Six h five and a half two seventy three thirty
three and a half in drums. Really big kid, right quiet.
The first two days, Day three, he was really good
and then he had stripsack in the game. He had
(39:18):
another pressure in the game. I thought he came on
late in the week.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
He's a guy who I don't want see. He's an overachiever,
but he plays better than you expect. And he's not
just a pass rusher, you know, as you mentioned, he's
a bigger guy. You watch the film, he gives effort
against the run and he does a nice job shutting
down the run.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Last guy I want to bring up Tony is Savion Jones.
So I gotta be honest with you. Like the practices
during the week, He's not somebody that I was like,
Oh wow, Savian Jones, don't loo can block him six
y five two ninety thirty three and a half inch
arms In the game they line them up over the guard.
He'd be Gray's able like three times in a row.
And you mentioned Zabel was great all week. They put
(39:57):
Jones a defensive tackle with that three technique in the
game on Saturday. He was in the backfield that whole game.
So that was an interesting watch for me.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Well, maybe they found the spot at the next level
because you know, he was a guy who when I
watched the film, when I watched the games during the season, Lsu,
I would wait for him to make plays, wait for
him to make plays, and he never really did make plays,
just like he mentioned during a practice. So you know,
that's the one thing about the senior ball. You know
you mentioned Gray's Abel College tackle moved them inside the guard,
(40:27):
used them at center. Caleb Rogers of Texas Tech College
tackle moved them inside the guard. That's the beauty of
the senior ball. As they moved these guys around, they
see if they got versatility to be used at different positions.
Maybe Samanon Jones found Sunday spot.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yeah, no question about it. All right, let's jump over
to the linebacker position, Tony, who are the three guys
that jumped out of you?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Justin barn of Syracuse was the only linebacker who showed
well in coverage shrills. He was the only guy, whether
it was running backs, whether it was tight ends, would
be able to stay on the pass catcher's hip and
make plays on the ball. That's what he is on film.
He's an athletic guy. He's fast, slightly undersized, but I
love the athleticism and I love the ability to make
(41:12):
plays by Baron when the ball was in the air.
The only linebacker who in three days of Senior Bowl
practice on either team was able to do it on
a consistent basic basis. I thought Jeffrey Bossa, I like
him a lot, tough, hard working guy, very athletic. Leads
by example, was going sideline to sideline making plays. I
thought he had a couple of nice stays of practice.
(41:34):
And Smail London of Georgia. Again, smaller guy, but goes
sideline to sideline and makes as many plays with his
head and instincts as he does with his sheer physical talent.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Yeah, I'll throw two guys out there. Jack Kaiser from
Notre Dame. He was an elite ad. I thought he
was all over the field. He had an interception in practice,
he had a couple of pass breakups. I thought he
played particularly well. I had a chance to talk to him.
Really smart guy. And then Demetrio's Knight. I thought it
was another player that's just kind of all over the
he saw the sideline.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
He hits Carolina very very active, Yeah, very very plays
with a nasty almost violent sort of temperament to his game.
You know, likes the physical contact, was making a lot
of plays in pursuit and out to the out to
the flanks.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
When you watch them defensive backs, Tony, I didn't think
this was one of the groups that was really jumped
out of me at least. But who did you like
at that? Cornerbacks, by the though, you mentioned one of
them off the top. Yeah, as a right Thomas of
Florida State.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Here is a guy. When I watched him on film,
he was up and down, but I thought he had
three really good days of practice. He's a bigger cornerback.
He's a physical cornerback. What really impressed me about him
was his ability to get his head back around and
track the pass in the air rather than faceguard. I
was very impressed with him, you know, I remember, I
(42:50):
mean I sent you the email about guys to watch.
I really didn't see it in him on film. Absolutely
so during senior bal practice, I thought he was terrific.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Say, they don't put him on Ted Johnson anymore. That
is not a good matchup for him. He got led
up on Ted Johnson way too many times.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Dorian Strong of Virginia Tech had two really good days
of practice before he left. I think he had a
hamstring issue. Brandon Adams of Central Florida, another bigger cornerback
who showed flashes, wasn't consistent. I didn't think overall the
defensive backs on either side were a good group. Well.
Brandon Adams did show a lot of ability. I thought
Jonas Sanker, the safety from Virginia, played very very well.
(43:30):
Came into the season granted as a low level of
a free agent. I thought he played well last year
for Virginia. And I thought he made a lot of
plays in coverage because he's a safety, and what you
want to see what these safeties are. How do they
do in coverage? How do they do in the one
on ones? How did they do in scrimmage? And I
thought Sanka made a lot of nice plays in coverage,
both both in full scrimmage the team jills as well
(43:53):
as the one on ones.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah, two other safeties that the Dante Trader had some
moments over the course of the week. And I thought
Dan Jackson out of Jorge, kind of a big hitter.
I thought he had a big hit in the game
to separate a receiver from the ball. He also had
a big hit on Jack Besh in a red zone
drill to separate him from a ball over the course
of practice. Then at corner, I thought Quincy Riley and
Darien Porter, both on the national team, I thought they
(44:15):
had decent days in coverage. Both guys want to play
man to man. Porters a bigger guy, uh six seven.
And then I thought Max Haston at a Kentucky was
also pretty good at the cornerback again, kind of a longer,
lighter guy that wants to be press outside. Those are
the corners that kind of jumped out of me.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah, Hashton, I would agree with you, Hashton. Like quarter
were up and down. There was no sheer consistency. There
was no Ola days used in the secondary group from
either team. That guys that just dominated day after day
after day. Most of these guys had their moments, but
they also got beaty times.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
All right, So Tony and I have kind of our
schedule is set up now between now in the combine.
I believe the older Tony, We're gonna do your top
ten at different positions next week, right then we're gonna
have a mock draft, and then we're gonna do our combin.
I appreciate Breck te other folks would you have coming out?
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Well, we'll have updated rankings at the Sports Skieda, especially
with the mock Draft simulator. You like that mock draft simulator.
It's now starting to be populated with scouting reports. So
if you go there the end of this week, the
end of this week being you know, February nineth or so,
before the Super Bowl, the mock Draft simulator will be
updated with updated rankings which will also be able to
(45:23):
be found as well as scouting reports. Don't have the
big conferences yet, just have the one Double A guys
and the Conference USA, Sun Belt, AAC those sorts of conferences.
But we're starting to move into where we will have
four hundred plus scouting reports in the mock Draft simulator,
which is always fun to play. Be careful, it's addictive, Yeah,
(45:44):
yes it is.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
And then Tony will have a Monck draft coming out
next couple of weeks. We'll talk about that on the show.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
We'll do our.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Updated top ten rankings at each position or Tony will
have is and then I get to pick them apart
a little bit, which is always fun. And then we
have our combine preview, then we're off to the combine,
so make sure you check all that out on Draft
Season over the course of the next few weeks. For
Tony Pony from sports Keta, I'm John Schmulk. That's Draft Season,
brought to you by Moody's, a proud partner of the
New York Giants. We'll see you next time. Everybody,
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