April 16, 2024 • 40 mins
On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk is joined by Charles Davis from CBS Sports and NFL Network, to discuss what the Giants could do with the 6th pick in the NFL Draft and later round prospects that could provide value.
:00 - QB discussion
9:00 - Wide receivers
20:16 - Running back class
26:16 - Defensive prospects
34:16 - 2nd group of receivers
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hunt's let's go.
Let's go Giants. Giants give me some jokes. Part of
the Giants Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's welcome to another edition of the Giants Little Podcast,
brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I am John Schmelt, joined by front of the program.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Joins us every year around this time, the one and
only Charles Davis.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He of course does games for CBS. He does the
draft work for NFL Network. NFL Network has their covers
of the draft of course next Thursday, Friday and Saturday
from Detroit.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Charles will be a big part of that.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Charles rocking your New York New Pault sweatshirt from your
high school days.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good to see him, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Always great to see you. Tough season last year for
the Huguenots, coming off of a great season the year before.
Hopefully we can get back on the upper trajectory. But
you know something, as we say in New Fault, we're
not Highland. Yeah, by the way, just for everyone, that's
our that When I was in school, that was our
big rival, one town on over. So anytime you had
(01:01):
that one, you know that that's your blood. Feud. Right,
that's your Alabama, Auburn, your you know, your Tennessee Alabama.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
That's your springfield in Shelbyville, if you will.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Thank you, Giants, Eagles wherever it is. That's your big rival.
That was ours, although on the football field during our time,
not much of one anyway, Moving right along, all right now?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Good sadly, Charles.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
The Giants have a very good year last year either,
and they're trying to figure out how to move on
and rebound from that. So before we get into draft prospects,
let's talk about the Giants themselves here and your view.
They like Daniel Jones enough to give him a big
contract two off seas or last offseason. Right, But last
year didn't go well. But it was a really small
sample size, right. You only played in six games. One
(01:45):
was really good against Arizona. You played in halves of
two others. So it was basically like four games that
frankly were bad, but you played against really good opponents. Cowboys,
forty nine, Ers, Dolphins, go down the list. And he
didn't have his left tackle for pretty much all those games.
He didn't have sa Gone Barkley for three of those games.
But the Giants aren't a position here to perhaps draft
(02:07):
a guy that they.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Think is special at the position.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So if you were in the Giants' decision making chair here,
how would you approach this in regards to whether or
not you're gonna either pick a quarterback at six or
even maybe move up for one, depending on what the
situation is.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That's such a great question, John, it really is, because
to me, it's the one that you know when you
start to take a look at Joe Shane general manager,
Brian Dabole, head coach, all the scouting department, right everyone
under Joe Shane, the coaching staff, especially those on the
offensive side of the ball, who have the most decision
making to do, meeting with Brian Dabole and trying to
(02:42):
come to a consensus on what is going on. But
the one piece that I didn't throw in there is
running that up the food Chaine to mister Merrick, because
at a certain point you've got to know, with his blessing,
what your direction is. Okay, listen, guys, if you drafted
order back right there at six, or even move up.
(03:03):
But let's say we decide there's a guy we want,
we're gonna make that move. We're gonna go get him.
Mister Marra's got to articulate what his vision is of
what that means to him, meaning, Hey, if you're gonna
do that, I believe that means that's extra time for
what this program needs in order to get going. Because,
let's be honest about it, the CJ. Stroud effect of
(03:23):
last year with Houston, that's few and far far between,
right John, You and I have been around the block
once or twice, Okay, not as many times as others,
not as few times as some.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Generally rookie quarterbacks don't go to the playoffs charts, they're.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Not going to the Pro Bowl, they're not doing like
Matt Ryan went to the playoffs till eleven and five?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What year was that?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And I'm not saying no one in between. I'm just
saying what hits my head is not readily apparent. Oh yeah,
well you put a rookie quarterback in you guys are golden.
It doesn't really work that way. So that's something mister
Marra's got to be able to articulate about how he
feels about Joe Shane, how it feels about Brian Dave
Bow in the direction of the franchise, the whole deal,
because to me, that's what dictates it. If he's in
(04:07):
that meeting and they go, hey, we're thinking really hard
about doing it this way. And he has said on
record quarterback is something that he would consider and entertain.
But I think you've got to lay out what your
vision is about what that means. Because the flip side
is he may say, you know, I know where you
guys are going with it, but I don't like it.
You better get some players and win me some ball
(04:28):
games this year. That would be a really good idea. Now,
if it goes to that, then you're rolling with Daniel Jones.
You're trying to supplement and fortify around him. And the
one thing we do know, John, in this league, you
can get right a lot quicker than what people think.
We see it all the time. People put some things together,
get on a run, boom, you're off and going. Look
two years ago the Giants that roster should never have
(04:50):
been in the playoffs. I'm sorry, it just never should
have been in the playoffs. But it was.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Exactly and John Mara has said he would if they
want to get a quarterback, he'd be fine with that.
He'll obviously, and this is how he operates, Right, He's
gonna let the general manager and the head coach make
their decision, and he's gonna back what they do. I
guess the way I've been putting at Charles is your
decision as to whether or not you draft a quarterback
almost has nothing to do with your evaluation of Daniel Jones, right,
because you made that decision two years ago. You have
(05:19):
the injury factor, which is why we're having this conversation
at all. Right, And if you think one of these
guys is special, and when I say special, I mean
a guy that you can put on a field with
Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert, and again
not right away. At some point they have the tools
to develop into that guy that can compete with those
(05:41):
superhuman type of quarterbacks, then that's something any team in
the NFL would have to consider that doesn't already have
one of those big time guys.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
So, I guess my question for you is of this
group of quarterbacks, which one of these guys, or more
than one of these guys, aside from Caleb Williams, who
obviously is gonna be off the board, one has it
in them to become one of those superhuman, superstar level
quarterbacks at some point.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Well, I think the one that the league feels and
the one that I've evaluated, evaluating on tape is the
one out at USC and he's not going to be available.
That's Caleb Williams. Now we're getting into the rest of it.
Jaden Daniels, who had an extraordinary season at LSU. Once again,
he's one of those. And you and I have talked
about this for how many years now? Who are these quarterbacks?
(06:30):
They just rose there last year and all of a sudden,
here we are used to be. That wasn't something that
we have dressed and embraced. We used to be very
suspicious of a late rise of a quarterback. Well, Jaden Daniels,
it's not just a late rise. It was three years
in Arizona State, one year at LSU that was pretty good,
and then last year was woosh off he went. So
I thought he was developing all along. That part was cool.
(06:53):
Drake Mays a redshirt sophomore, So we only got two
years on tape, but boy does he look good when
you see you know, as my colleague Bucky Brooks has
taught me, when you evaluate evaluate the flashes, well, the
flashes of Drake mayor really good. Okay, good, I love
that Right now. The JJ McCarthy thing kicks it at Michigan.
(07:15):
Did we see enough of the flashes? Did we see
enough of the things we want to see? Well, guess
what I think we did. It was all on tape.
I'd liken them to CJ. Stroud when we had the
same questions with CJ. Stroud last year. Are the same
type of a player, I don't think so, meaning they
have some differences in how they go about doing things,
But the same questions we asked of CJ. Stroud last year,
we're asking JJ McCarty this year. And remember last year,
(07:37):
it was all there on tape, you just had to
go find it. I think the same thing is true
with McCarthy this year. So all that being said, John,
back to your original question. All of them I think
can be a quarterback for you to carry into the future.
All of them can be your franchise guy, but you
can have to go about it a little bit differently
with each and every one of them. Because you mentioned Mahomes,
(08:00):
those guys, right, you know, the top of the food chain, guys.
Are we ready to put brock Purty there because the
forty nine ers got to the Super Bowl last year
and had their chances to win the Super Bowl last
year with brock Purty, who did things better than we expected.
But are we still thinking to ourselves and is anyone
(08:20):
out there still saying, well, you know something, eliminade, Now
put Purty up there. I think he's a terrific quarterback.
But if I'm saying head to head with Burrow, Mahomes,
Josh Allen, those guys, I'm saying, no, no, he's not
that guy. Everything around him is pretty darn good, and
he maximizes that. Is that who JJ McCarthy is, Is
(08:41):
that who Drake may is? Is that who Jaden Daniels.
That's what the scouts have to determine. That's where it
all comes down because with Daniel Jones, you keep mentioning
that John, and I'm with you, it hasn't been a
true fair sample for him because who has he thrown
to in his time with the Giants, let alone who
protected him in his time with the Giants. That's made
(09:03):
it very, very difficult. I'd love to see him have
a full sample with a roster that you go that's
a pretty good roster. Let's see what happens with Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Now and then at six if you decide not to
go quarterbacks, so let's move on to the next part
of this then right, and then we'll talk about maybe
if you want to attack that on day two we
can have that discussion. You talk about who the guys
he's throwing to, Right, He's got a bunch of guys
in the way I'm looking at this, Charles, you have
Darius Slayton, Jalen Hyde, and Wando Robinson. On the surface,
you're like, all right, those are some solid receivers. But
(09:30):
if you put those three guys around a true number one,
then you're like, oh, well, Jalen Hyatt is like a
second option speed guy that looks a lot better than
him as your primary. Wando Robins is a slot guy
that you can't focus on because you have a true
X out there. Woo that looks really that looks much
better to me, So you have a chance to get
one of the street wide receivers. To me, that's a
force multiplier for the entire wide receiver group and in
(09:53):
the end, the entire offense.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
And I think what you're saying and tell me if
I'm wrong, because I want to make sure I'm getting
this right. John. What you just said there is Kansas
City last year or the last two seasons essentially yeah,
because who the quarterback was. What Kansas City essentially said
over the last two seasons is we may not go
all out receiver wise, we'll get you decent guys. Maybe
(10:18):
some guys intend to do a few things, but we're
counting on you the guys wears number fifteen on his jersey.
You make it all better, You make it all work.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And there aren't many guys that can do that in
this league, by the.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Way, exactly, but that's kind of what they've done. And
what they did was they got better on defense because
you and I. Okay, let's say, tell me again if
I'm wrong on John, because again I hate putting words
in other people's mouths that I don't want you to
just go and surely you'll agree with me. Okay, I
don't want to say that at all, But what I
am saying is, over these last two years, in my opinion,
(10:50):
Kansas City did such a good job of saying, Okay, Patrick,
you take this and fix it. Okay, make it all
work for us, And here's how we'll meet you halfway.
We'll take our defense and take them from playing with
a fourteen point lead to being a defense you can
win with if you play quarterback a certain way. And
they did all right. The last couple of seasons. Ceespagnolo
(11:12):
helped transform that defense from one that's like we'll go
sick them when we're up fourteen because our offense is zooming,
to now our offense plays off of us. Patrick Mahomes
takes a sack instead of trying to make a hero play.
They run the ball on third and eight and pump
the football for field position because our defense is pretty
darn good. Patrick Mahomes says to himself, I'm not throwing
(11:33):
the ball into double coverage, even though I've got the
arm to do it, because I don't want to put
my defense in a tough spot where now they got
to take over on a sudden change on our side
of the field. He played quarterback at a level that
he had never played it before. And I know what
people are saying, the numbers. Never forget the numbers. I'm
not about understanding who your team is, understanding how to
(11:55):
manage a game. Correctly understanding what it's going to take
to win on that particular day you're playing that opponent.
Patrick Mahomes went to Apex Predator as a quarterback last year.
That's what you're talking about doing with different teams and
how you're trying to get around them. Because San Francisco
played to their defense as well, Let's be honest about
the whole thing. Although on offense they put up more
(12:17):
points than Kansas City did.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, and I think if you add that number one
busis Look, not many quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Can do that, right, That what Patrick Mahomes could do.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
And I think to give if you're sticking with Daniel
for this year, to give this Giants offense a chance
to compete, right, I think if you have a chance
to add that number one wide receiver to the room,
it would elevate everything going on around them. How do
you have those top three guys stacked on your board, Charles.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You know, on mine? I love neighbors, you know, but
you know, see what happens is I've got guys who
are to me, the clear one quarterback is Caleb Williams
Marvin Harrison junior at Ohio State. Because we're in that
nitpicking time. Yeah, almost close to coming back around to
Oh yeah, that's right, Marvin Harrison is the top receiver.
We're getting close. We almost to me he's the number
(13:01):
one guy. Neighbors is too, not a monster gap by
any stretch imagination. And right now, let me I'll put
you this way, John, If somehow this gets to my
league Neighbors, he's gonna want to put a cobra clutch on.
He is the you talk about a competitor, and he
sees slights everywhere. And if you tell him he's not
this like he lost a Blittanikop award last year by
(13:22):
like one or two votes or whatever it was, and
my man wanted to just take everybody out and didn't
vote for him. He translates that into on the field play.
So to me, Neighbors is the next guy out of
LSU just a fierce, monstrous competitor. I'm telling you a
belevolent out when he runs routes my next guy's roma
dunes at out of Washington, another monster competitor. Ooher, I
(13:44):
mean just oozes out of him where he wants to
get after it. Not quite as fast, I don't believe
as Harrison and neighbors, but everything else you want. I mean,
we were at the combine, Johnny. I think he's still
back there trying to get his three cone drill on
top of the heights, only because he was competing with himself.
He wasn't competing with anyone else. He's like the best
(14:05):
golfers in the world. You go play the core, shoot
your number and see if anybody can deal with that.
You don't have to play against anyone else because you're
one of a very few people. And that's what a
Duneesa is for me. But there's so many other receivers
in this draft. We'll see how it all breaks down
and goes. But if the Giants want to go at
six and get one of those top guys, I think
the way the board's gonna fall, they may very well
(14:28):
have second pick of the top receiver group, maybe even
first pick, depending on what Arizona does it for. Because
MANI asin for their GM. His phone is wide open
right now, call me, Call me.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
But by the way, I think the Chargers are the
same way right, I could see both of them.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
I know Joe Doorty is a new GM coming in
because they're cap strapped, right he's got to get through
this season cap wise before he can go back and
be the full GM he wants to be. I mean,
why's Keenan Allen not there? You and I both know why.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Mike Williams, same thing.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Right, Mike Williams coming off of injury. Cap again, Joe's
got to get that cap managed the right way. So yeah,
he'd be happy to listen to you if you want
to call him at five. So that's two teams now
that we're talking. Probably people coming up trying to get
to a quarterback area. Well, guess what, you may very
well have first pick of those receivers that are out there,
and the boy, wouldn't that be fun?
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Final question to the top, Charles, I don't think I
actually got your stack. So was it the order you
listened him at? At quarterback Daniels may McCarthy. How about quarterback.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Quarterbacks Williams Daniels may McCarthy. There's a lot of chatter
about McCarthy being the second guy off the board now,
I mean, you're hearing it right.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Crazy honestly, Charles, to me, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I look and I like, I did not think I
was gonna like McCarthy's tape. But when I watched the tape,
I'm like, all right, I see the you know, third
and seven, third and ten, you know, a lot of
stuff over the middle, accurate, but you know, he throws
a bit of a flatball for me. I don't like
the vertical stuff all that much. I just can't put
them up there in the same category as Daniels in May.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I don't see that same.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
To your point, though, I don't see as many flashes
of the super high level play as I do with
the other two guys.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
The flashes are there, You're not gonna see as many
of them. And I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.
I'm just saying, what encapsulating they are all there, You're
not gonna see as many, partly because of how they
went about their business. You know about a whole school offense. Now,
line up and beat you up, Okay, we would just okay,
I just saw Creed two or three or whatever where
(16:41):
he fought Drago's kid and the whole thing, right, and
guess what, I Will break you came up again in
the movie. That's how they went about their business at Michigan.
I Will break you and never in my life, John,
you and I have grown up in the Northeast, did
you ever think you'd watch a Penn State team in
the second half of a Big Ten football game, of
(17:01):
any ball game as someone ran it twenty eight times
and officially through zero passes and beat you on your
home field.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
What they do.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
That's what Michigan did last year, which is one of
the reasons we don't see as many things from McCarthy
as we'll see from other people.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
You love turf, You're good at it, so you start
a turf fiz business grows, your savings grow, become the
most celebrated name in turf.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Are you ready for all that life brings? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
John Sottle podcast brought to you by Citizens, the official
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Learn more at Citizens bank dot com. Push about Michael
Pennock's for you, Charles. We know about the health issues
with him right in the medicals, which we don't know
anything about, so let's kind of push that aside based
on Doctor on TV. That's I I am not, So
(17:55):
let's push that aside. Simply based on what you've seen
on tape. If he had a spotless medical record, where
would you have him and what would be your evaluation
of him in terms of when you think he would
jump off the board.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Spotless medical record. We're in there with the fistfight about
you know, do we have a stack of five instead
of four? Because the last two years have been awfully good. Okay,
I think that when you have a medical question that
comes into play with all the injuries he had at Indiana.
Now his side's gonna say, don't forget the last two
years at Washington answered the bell every single time, and
(18:31):
he did. And last year he played almost an NFL
season because of the College Football Playoff and he answered
the bell every time. Yeah. See, once you start bringing
medical into it, you know what else I think happens.
I think psychologically you start to pick more knits on
the player because you don't want to fall in love
with a medical guy, right, so you try and find
(18:52):
other things. And you mentioned McCarthy and the flat ball
that he throws in your evaluation. How many times you
heard that about Penix?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, he's got a big time ar man.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Who monster arm and the feat don't always have to
be set for that monster arm to still operate. And
I think he showed a lot of poise. I think
he showed a lot of toughness and leadership as he's
gone along. Look, sometimes we we you know, we get
into stuff and and things we will take and put
to the side with some people. Other people will bring
(19:24):
to the fore to the front. I don't think that
we should ever discount this head to head to twice
with bo Nicks last year, big ball games, big games,
and those two went at it and they were really good.
Penix's team won both times, and Penix was a big
factor in doing so. So I don't want to discount that.
You know, he's gonna rise up in the big moments
(19:46):
and play. The medical is going to scare the heck
out of a lot of people. And you and I
both know Donna's team the team because we have Leat Latu,
the great edge rusher who's in it. The University of
Washington wouldn't clear him. He ends up get At going
to UCLA, working with a doctor, pitting cleared and playing
since then, so we've seen this many many times. Each
(20:07):
team has their own risk that they're willing to take
on a medical guy. That's what's gonna be the question
for Pennix, because God, I'm just I'm gonna leave it
at this. He's good enough that he's a first round candidate,
and the way quarterbacks come off the board, he could
very well go. Okay, we see it all the time, right,
Christian Ponder got pushed up to twelve. DJ Manual Win
(20:30):
a sixteen. We can do this all day long. But
there's a big thought in me that says, if it
goes the way it's supposed to go, he goes in
the second round with Bonnicks.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Fair enough, I've had trouble trolls parsing the running back
position in this draft class. I have like six or
seven guys with very similar grades as you know, early
third round.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Type of picks.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Who are the guys you like? Who are your favorites
that that did? You just watch and you go, you
know what? I feel like, this guy is gonna be
a good NFL player.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I'm gonna give you two have a lot of tread
on the tire, but one's coming off of an injury.
And that's what the issue is. Is Jonathan Brooks at Texas
because he had eight career starts in all eight came
last year before he got hurt because he was behind
Bjehon Robinson, Rosehawn Johnson, all those guys. But when he
got his opportunity, he was, he was. He was special
out there, Okay, down the stretch. I think he had
(21:21):
five one hundred yard games in a two hundred yard game,
six games out of eight. Never pretty good, right, gets hurt,
nice come off the acl. We know that that's going
to set him back, probably not going to go as
high in the draft as he should. But I really
like him. The other is Jalen Warren, who didn't touch
it that much at Tennessee. All right, he's not a
bell cow back.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Jalen right, Jalen right right.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Excuse me, Jalen right, Thank you very much. My fault.
The Pittsburgh guy, Jalen.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Warrens the Pittsburgh running back, trust me. I get these
names flopped all the time, too, man, don't worry.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Apologies, especially my apologies, my fellow volunteer. But his yards
per carry last year was like seven, all right. When
he touched the ball, he moved it and got it done,
and he didn't have a ton of carries. So I
kind of like that about him.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I feel like he has some like Devon a chain
in him, a little bit that that type of player.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, now a chain of course when he just hits,
When he hits go, that's frightening, right. More Wright has
a little bit of that in him as he goes.
I don't know if he's quite as sudden as a chance.
That's a whole different, whole, different category. But I like
where the comparison is on that. So those are my
top two in terms of the reasons why I like him.
(22:34):
Trey Benson's another one. Injury at Oregon. Not many carries
goes to Florida State. I asked him how he got
to Florida State. He said, Mike Norvel recruited him part
when he was head coach at Memphis State, and there
was a trust factor. I liked what I liked before.
Come on down here, you'll have an opportunity. Boy, did
he take advantage of that opportunity. I really like him
(22:55):
as a heck of a player. I think once a
running back run begins, be interesting where it starts, because
you mentioned third round. Once it starts, I think it's
gonna go, go, go, go go. But I also have
that feeling that someone's gonna take the back they like
earlier than that, And I don't think it'll trigger the run.
It'll just be this team. Like Jamir Gibbs last year.
(23:17):
Remember when he went at twelve to Detroit. Everybody's like,
oh my god, Well, if you really like a guy,
just go get it. Don't worry about the rest of it.
But those are guys that I like a bunch of.
Bucky Irving's a good back out of Oregon, slight, a
little more of a slight build, quicker than fast as
I discovered it to combine because when I watched him
run John I thought he was like a four to
four guy. He ran like four or five six at
(23:39):
the combine. But the quickness and the change of direction,
it's all there. Those are some of the guys that
I would throw out there. Please throw me some more names,
because you know there's a whole bunch of these running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, there are.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Look. I like Dree Davis at a out of a Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I think he's a guy that you know, nothing jumps
out where it's like, oh wow, that shot, But he
just does everything he does.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
And he's also you're gonna hear this at If you
haven't heard of ad nauseum already, you're written close to
ad nauseum. Thousand yards of three different schools. Correct, but
let's make sure we get it. Let's make sure we
get it right. It's a thousand career yards at three
different schools because he didn't get a thousand yards in
the season at Temple, but he had two seasons there,
(24:23):
so he went over a thousand yards, thousand yard season
at Vanderbilt, thousand yard season at Kentucky last year. And
you know there were some Benny Snell traits there, weren't there.
I remember what they called it at Kentucky when Benny
Snell was there. They called it Benny Snell football because
the stretch they would just grind you and run it.
Plug into Florida tape last year Kentucky, Florida. That was
(24:43):
Ray Davis football with Will over two hundred yards in
that one.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
The other guy. I really liked that.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I think because he hasn't participated in much Charles in
the post draft process because injury. I think Will Shipley
out of Clemson's an awesome running back. He can catch it,
he can I know he's not the biggest guy in
the world. So maybe he's not an eighteen carrier game
type of guy, but he's elusive, he can catch it,
he's quick. I think he's you know, more than fast
enough to pull away. I think Shipley a guy just
(25:09):
because again he's been hurt, is a guy that a
lot of people haven't talked enough about.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Agreed and his style of play. Run between the tackles,
run to the perimeter, catch it out in the backfield,
stand in the pocket, and protect your quarterback. It translates
to me to be a good player in the NFL.
Remember how I was telling you about the guys I
like because there wasn't much tread on the tire. There's
a lot of tread off the tire with will because
(25:34):
he had a lot of use at Clemson. Okay, so
that's gonna be something people are going to be evaluating
and going because you know, one of the reasons Derrick
Henry went in the second round at Alabama was people
were wondering if he could get that four you know,
that big body going fast enough in the NFL to
have an effect, And as we learned, yes, yes he could.
But he didn't have full time running back use at
(25:54):
Alabama till his last year. That's when he got all
his carries. That's when he got in the two thousand yard.
That's what it all have. Prior to that, he was
always with a two or three person rotation system. Will
Shipley hasn't had as much of that at Clemson. When
he's on the field, he's on the field. And again
he's on the field a lot. Like Christian McCaffrey San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You're ready for a change. Payday comes early with Citizens,
so go to that retreat. New you moves to the country.
Now you're raising goats and launching a lifestyle brand. Are
you ready for all that life brings?
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Giant fans? Level winner.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's why I love Citizens named the twenty twenty two
best bank in the US by The Banker as the
official bank of the Giants and sponsor of the Huddle,
Citizens is made ready for fans of Big Blue. Learnmore
at Citizens bank dot com. Joined by Charles Davis here
from NFL Network. You can find them on path to
the Draft over the course of the week the next
couple of weeks. Then, of course, he is part of
their live coverage of the Draft in Detroit Thursday to Friday.
(26:51):
I believe it's April twenty fifth to the twenty seven,
So make sure everybody go and check that out. Charles
Day two guys up front on the The Giants always
trying to show this up to make the big Brian
Burns move last year, but they lose Leonard Williams. Right,
everyone thought this would be a great top of the
draft class at defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I don't think it's turned out that way.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Maybe maybe we'll get two first round defensive tackles, but
I do think there are a lot of choices on
Day two that can play that three technique position next
to Dexter Lawrence. That's what the Giants are trying to
kind of fill here. Who are some of the guys
you like that play that spot on day two?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Well, I'm glad you asked, because I'm gonna go to
my notes on this one.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
No, note it up, let's do it right.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Okay, I'm gonna go to my notes because this is
an open book test. I'm glad you did that for me, professor.
But you mentioned the two first round guys you got
you talk about Byron Murphy at Texas and Big Johnny
Johnny law Johnny Newton at Illinois, Jershon Newton goes by Johnny.
After that, we're starting to get into a whole bunch
of guys. Chris Jenkins out of Michigan. Although he's not
(27:52):
built nearly as big as his father, he's still more
than big enough and did a nice job for the
National champions Inside. Devonre Sweat is your plus plus plus
size defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Plus we plus plus plus plus plus plus right got.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
On the scale of three sixty six and went went
thundering down on the forty, but also shows some movement
skills in there. You know you're not gonna run it
past him on the point of attack if you're looking
for a run stuff for McKinley Jackson at Texas A
and M is kind of to and Andre Sweat light
if you're gonna call three hundred plus pounder light, okay, right, souf,
I'm being being kind of funny with the words there.
(28:27):
I'm gonna give you a guy that I really like
is Braden Fist. I love him out of Florida State,
and it's gonna be very interesting at the bottom of
the first, top of the second, who values what he
brings to the table. Because we watched him all week
at the Combine and he did all the same things
when he went back and watched on tape. The number
of times that you see Braiden fist rush a passer
(28:47):
and then turn and peel and go get involved with
the tackle after a pass downfield or a quarterback run
or whatever it's it's it's unbelievable watching what he does.
We call it retracing for defensive linemen. He retraced is
better than anyone else in this draft. But the extra
hustle and effort to be involved helps him make a
lot of plays. And Mason Smith and it's m Aa
(29:09):
s O n from LSU God making a move in
this draft process as Pete with someone that we like
a little bit more. So we're starting to get into
a whole bunch of guys like that. But I'm gonna
give you one that thinks a third rounder that I'm
really really crazy about, and that's rouke O roural Row
out of Clemson. Because when you pop into tape, you're
there to watch Tyler Davis, his teammate who went to
(29:31):
the senior ball and he's a good player. But number
thirty three just keeps flashing for you keep showing up
guy right in there. And by the way, he's only
going to get better when a defensive line coach gets
a hold of him and add to his pass rushing.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
But he hasn't played He hasn't played football very long, right, No, not.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Very long at all. But I'm just telling you, I
think once you start getting into the third round or so,
I think he's a guy that I would keep my
eye on in a big way.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Now I'm with the one hundred percent Triles and I
know dB play is near and dear to your heart.
The Giants right now now, I don't know who their
second to third cornerbacks are. I guess right now it's
Cordeo Flad and Nick McCloud. I think you can look
to add to that room next to Deontay Banks. And
they didn't really add a safety other than Jalen Mills
to you know, buttress what they have next to Jason
Pinnock with David McKinney Leavin. So you're gonna go through
(30:18):
those two spots again. Reference your notes. You got corner
and safety day two and day three, because look, John's
only two Day two picks and if Lord knows if
they're trading up.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
They're not might not have any Day two picks depending on.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
How this goes, right, So just give me some Day
two and three dbs that really have caught your eye
during this process.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I'll start with the safeties, John, because we're hearing a
lot of chatter that linebacker and safety are not first
round positions. Now, somebody's gonna fool us, right There's always
somebody who likes someone better than what we know, and
they take them and off we go. But right now
those don't seem to be spots of priority for anyone
in the league. My favorite safeties, Cold Bishop from Utah,
(30:58):
love them crazy about, absolutely crazy about. Can he play
the high safety, Yes he can, and if so, he'll
clean up anything that comes through to a spot. But
he really does his best work down low right. He
gets down into the box area, makes a lot of
plays on the ball, knocks the ball free from people,
and by the way, I think he got everyone's attention.
We're in four, four or five at the combine. I'm
(31:18):
not sure how many people saw that part coming. Guess
what add that to the bicks and off you go.
Tyler Nuben out of Minnesota I say this every year.
Whatever they're doing up their PJ. Flack on the defensive
side of the ball coaching the secondary, I want a
piece of it because the instincts of their defensive backs
that come out and how they make plays on the
(31:38):
ball is consistent. When we talk about a Minnesota defensive
back and this year is Tyler Nuban the safety. Another
one who's similar to Antoine Winfield ball magnets as we
like to call them, right he shows up around the football,
makes plays on it, gets into the passing lanes, tackles well.
He would be a guy that I think that you
got to take a good hard look at if you
(31:59):
want us pure strong safety who plays like a buzz
sauce Jayden Hicks at Washington State, this guy is just
zoom zoom, zoom, zoom zoom. You want a guy down
the road that I fall in love with is Malik
Mustafa at wake Forest because this guy just shows up man,
He brings a boom with him, makes plays on the ball.
People may not have him as high as the other ones,
(32:19):
but as you talked about, with only a couple second
round picks, can you get deeper into the draft and
find a guy who can play. I think Mustapha is
one of those guys. Now, if we're getting into the corners,
oh boy, you and I both know there's gonna be
a run on corners. Okay's gonna be a run in
the first round, and we're gonna see it all happen.
But now we got to get into pass that. Who
are the guys you like? Kamari Lassiter at Georgia who's
(32:40):
a borderline first round guy who I think is gonna
get pushed to the second And he's a quiet kid,
but boy knows his stuff, and he's coming out of
Georgia and has been well taught and well coached. And
it's Regstraw, another guy borderline first round. He was in
my last mock draft to go to Baltimore because of
the way he plays the game with an intensity to him,
even though his build is slight. He played like a raven,
(33:03):
as I like to say in my second mock draft.
But again, he's a guy who's borderline who might get
me a push to the second round and go play.
And then right on down the line, you've got a
ton of guys. Chris Abrams drained from Missouri, who's much
more of a slot from me, TJ. Tampa from Iowa State,
Josh Newton from TCU. You know, Shabs Smith Wade from
Washington State is gonna be much more of a middle
(33:25):
round guy. But what's happening, John, is with all the
increase in wide receiver play, you've got to have a counterbalance.
So we've got to get more corners out there. And
I've said it for three four years now, if you're
the third fourth wide receiver on your team, see if
you can backpedal, because you might end up being the
first or second corner on your team with that athletic ability,
(33:47):
and off you go from there. So it's gonna be
fun to watch as it all goes, but there'll be
no shortage of corners that you'll want to take a
look at. In this draft. Safety is not quite as deep,
and that's gonna be the interesting part as Joe, Shane
and Crewe go through it about trying to replace the
Xavier McKinney. Look good. Julian Love is now in Seattle
for the second year. You know, those kind of guys
(34:09):
who gave you such good playback there, you gotta want
to get them because how many times do you turn
on a ball game and you do it, John, and
you talk about that third safety playing as much as
a nickel corner in these days.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, And I got like Javon Bullard fits that right,
who's kind of like part nickel corner, part safety.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
He would be that perfect guy for that spot.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
He would him and Tyke Smith from Georgia as a
collaborative crew. Bullard played more of the high safety, although
he could drop down in there. Tykee Smith played more
of the underneath, that kind of what people call a
star position or whatever each team calls it. But it
was funny because when we were at the combine, both
wanted to do the opposite. The NFL I can do
these things and by the way, they can.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Damn. Bullard's forty times at the combines certainly helped him.
He he broke that four.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Five, got our attention with it, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Absolutely all right, So last question before I get your
prediction at six charls, which I'm gonna hold and you
better be right otherwise I'm never gonna do this to there.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
I know, I know this would be the last time
you speak to me.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
If the Giants go don't go wide receiver at six?
Maybe they go offensive line, maybe they go quarterback.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
The good news in reference to your last answer, is
that there are approximately a billion wide receivers in this
draft that you can draft, and they're gonna be good players. Now,
they might not be number ones, but they can be
a guy that can certainly help your room.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
So if this could be at any point in the draft.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Who are your two or three favorite non top three
wide receivers or even non first round wide receivers that
you think people are sleeping on, And I really have
a chance to outplay where they're gonna get drafted.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Oh man, I knew you were gonna ask that, and
I should have prepared even better. But it doesn't take
me long to get there.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Okay, you're ready, Yeah, I'm ready, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Xavier Legett from South Carolina, big strong, physical kid. I
really like him. And when he ran you know, four
to four a little bit sub for four, Well he
opened up my eyes on that one. Okay. Jamari Thrash
from Louis.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
I like that he can get.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Up and go now all right, And I just think
that he just shows up, plays, makes plays, and continues
to make plays. If you want to get a slot
that I just crazy about. Ricky Piersoll from Florida gonna
play hard in Arizona State to Florida transfer. Yeah, we're
gonna see the spectacular catch over and over and over.
How about the routine catches they just made? The catch,
(36:24):
got up, feel picked up the first down. Has some
toughness to him to be able to go inside and
make plays. It's too easy, But you gotta say, Luke
McCaffrey from Rice, all right, just continues to just show
up and keep thinking to yourself, Okay, I know his bloodlines.
Am I elevating him too high? No? I don't think so.
He's gonna be a good receiver for someone. Javon Baker
(36:44):
UCF and Alabama transfer was in that Alabama receiving room. Tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, Right,
he can get it done and he's a really good player.
We're starting to get into day three. I think John,
he can find out play for You can play in
the slot especially, and if I want to go on
the outside that I'm gonna take a shot at. I
really want to take a look at this kid at
(37:04):
Holy Cross Jalen Cocher, all right, Now he's more sit
seven for me, but he's a big kid on the outside,
has made some plays. Holy Cross is a program to
continue to get better over the last few years. It
got so good their coach ended up getting another job.
I think he ended up going down to James Madison
taking over there. So these are the types of players
(37:25):
that I like catch my eye. I could go on
and bore you with a whole bunch of them all
day long, but.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
There's so many, so many there.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I'm eager to see what people do with Davonte Walker
at North Carolina because I think he and Keon Coleman
both were rated higher as we started to process. But
the sense I'm getting is they're rated lower now, but
they're still really good football players. And I think key
On Coleman has a little more bounce to his game
that maybe he's getting credit for. And Davonte's Walker was
(37:53):
getting nailed for one, you know, a really bad day,
a couple of bad days at the Senior Bowl. But boy,
his production when you put on the tape and it's
time to play, it's pretty darn good.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
And and he didn't drop the ball during the regular season.
That was one thing that I wanted to see him
on routes. He actually did that pretty well. At the
Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
He got old, but he just couldn't catch the damn
thing for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
And sometimes you know, it's like it's like the old
you get on the Merry Go Round and you just
can't get off, And one of those weeks for him,
he just couldn't get off. But you're exactly right. You
turn on the tape and that no one ever came
in their question is And so I rely more on
the tape for him than I do for the couple
of days at the Senior Bowl in terms of catching
the ball.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Our final question, Charles, when all is said and done,
and this is gonna air for another four or five days,
so maybe we'll know more before that, but I'm gonna
ask anyway, what do you think the Giants end up
doing at Sex Because I gotta be honest with you,
I have no clue right now.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
I don't think any of us do. And Joe Shane
and his crew are gonna do another wonderful job and
putting it all together. I just like that organization and
what they do. But I just think that if you're
gonna ride with Daniel Jones. I think you kind of
are right now. I just don't give the sense that
they're gonna go all in on the quarterback because I
think there's gonna be a lot of movement that people
come in ahead of them to try and get those guys.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So the price is going to be really high if
they want to move up.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Ye, it's get really high. And I still think they're
going to settle and go, well, we'll take the fourth
or fifth quarterback. We'll be fine with that and start
over that way. It just doesn't feel that way to me.
I'm gonna go with the kid out of LSU. I'm
going my League Neighbors. I have my League Neighbors coming
to New York.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
And Giants had some success with another LSU wide receiver
that was pretty explosive about his first contract in terms
of his numbers. So hopefully and I think Neighbors it
fits fits that bill perfectly. Charles, this has been awesome.
Promote anything you're up to, anything you're doing.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
That that that you want to get out there and
let the fans know about.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Yeah, nothing for me to promote. I mean, I'm just
a guy just trying to hang in there and keep
up with you, talking ball, trying to keep my notes
going as I continue to move through this thing and
learn some of these kids. It's been fun watching them play,
putting them on, you know, seeing their tape go out there.
And all I'm doing is wishing them the best of
luck going forward, because we'll be you and I'll be
talking about them next year on an NFL field, and
(40:00):
won't that be fun to watch?
Speaker 1 (40:02):
We want all these kids to succeed. Charles.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
We know how much you love this process. We thank
you for joining us every year, your pleasure. We'll talk
to you soon.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. You take care of yourself, John,
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hunt's let's go.
Let's go Giants. Giants give me some jokes. Part of
the Giants Podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's welcome to another edition of the Giants Little Podcast,
brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I am John Schmelt, joined by front of the program.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Joins us every year around this time, the one and
only Charles Davis.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He of course does games for CBS. He does the
draft work for NFL Network. NFL Network has their covers
of the draft of course next Thursday, Friday and Saturday
from Detroit.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Charles will be a big part of that.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Charles rocking your New York New Pault sweatshirt from your
high school days.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good to see him, my friend.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Always great to see you. Tough season last year for
the Huguenots, coming off of a great season the year before.
Hopefully we can get back on the upper trajectory. But
you know something, as we say in New Fault, we're
not Highland. Yeah, by the way, just for everyone, that's
our that When I was in school, that was our
big rival, one town on over. So anytime you had
(01:01):
that one, you know that that's your blood. Feud. Right,
that's your Alabama, Auburn, your you know, your Tennessee Alabama.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
That's your springfield in Shelbyville, if you will.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Thank you, Giants, Eagles wherever it is. That's your big rival.
That was ours, although on the football field during our time,
not much of one anyway, Moving right along, all right now?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Good sadly, Charles.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
The Giants have a very good year last year either,
and they're trying to figure out how to move on
and rebound from that. So before we get into draft prospects,
let's talk about the Giants themselves here and your view.
They like Daniel Jones enough to give him a big
contract two off seas or last offseason. Right, But last
year didn't go well. But it was a really small
sample size, right. You only played in six games. One
(01:45):
was really good against Arizona. You played in halves of
two others. So it was basically like four games that
frankly were bad, but you played against really good opponents. Cowboys,
forty nine, Ers, Dolphins, go down the list. And he
didn't have his left tackle for pretty much all those games.
He didn't have sa Gone Barkley for three of those games.
But the Giants aren't a position here to perhaps draft
(02:07):
a guy that they.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Think is special at the position.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So if you were in the Giants' decision making chair here,
how would you approach this in regards to whether or
not you're gonna either pick a quarterback at six or
even maybe move up for one, depending on what the
situation is.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That's such a great question, John, it really is, because
to me, it's the one that you know when you
start to take a look at Joe Shane general manager,
Brian Dabole, head coach, all the scouting department, right everyone
under Joe Shane, the coaching staff, especially those on the
offensive side of the ball, who have the most decision
making to do, meeting with Brian Dabole and trying to
(02:42):
come to a consensus on what is going on. But
the one piece that I didn't throw in there is
running that up the food Chaine to mister Merrick, because
at a certain point you've got to know, with his blessing,
what your direction is. Okay, listen, guys, if you drafted
order back right there at six, or even move up.
(03:03):
But let's say we decide there's a guy we want,
we're gonna make that move. We're gonna go get him.
Mister Marra's got to articulate what his vision is of
what that means to him, meaning, Hey, if you're gonna
do that, I believe that means that's extra time for
what this program needs in order to get going. Because,
let's be honest about it, the CJ. Stroud effect of
(03:23):
last year with Houston, that's few and far far between,
right John, You and I have been around the block
once or twice, Okay, not as many times as others,
not as few times as some.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Generally rookie quarterbacks don't go to the playoffs charts, they're.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Not going to the Pro Bowl, they're not doing like
Matt Ryan went to the playoffs till eleven and five?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What year was that?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
And I'm not saying no one in between. I'm just
saying what hits my head is not readily apparent. Oh yeah,
well you put a rookie quarterback in you guys are golden.
It doesn't really work that way. So that's something mister
Marra's got to be able to articulate about how he
feels about Joe Shane, how it feels about Brian Dave
Bow in the direction of the franchise, the whole deal,
because to me, that's what dictates it. If he's in
(04:07):
that meeting and they go, hey, we're thinking really hard
about doing it this way. And he has said on
record quarterback is something that he would consider and entertain.
But I think you've got to lay out what your
vision is about what that means. Because the flip side
is he may say, you know, I know where you
guys are going with it, but I don't like it.
You better get some players and win me some ball
(04:28):
games this year. That would be a really good idea. Now,
if it goes to that, then you're rolling with Daniel Jones.
You're trying to supplement and fortify around him. And the
one thing we do know, John, in this league, you
can get right a lot quicker than what people think.
We see it all the time. People put some things together,
get on a run, boom, you're off and going. Look
two years ago the Giants that roster should never have
(04:50):
been in the playoffs. I'm sorry, it just never should
have been in the playoffs. But it was.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Exactly and John Mara has said he would if they
want to get a quarterback, he'd be fine with that.
He'll obviously, and this is how he operates, Right, He's
gonna let the general manager and the head coach make
their decision, and he's gonna back what they do. I
guess the way I've been putting at Charles is your
decision as to whether or not you draft a quarterback
almost has nothing to do with your evaluation of Daniel Jones, right,
because you made that decision two years ago. You have
(05:19):
the injury factor, which is why we're having this conversation
at all. Right, And if you think one of these
guys is special, and when I say special, I mean
a guy that you can put on a field with
Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert, and again
not right away. At some point they have the tools
to develop into that guy that can compete with those
(05:41):
superhuman type of quarterbacks, then that's something any team in
the NFL would have to consider that doesn't already have
one of those big time guys.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
So, I guess my question for you is of this
group of quarterbacks, which one of these guys, or more
than one of these guys, aside from Caleb Williams, who
obviously is gonna be off the board, one has it
in them to become one of those superhuman, superstar level
quarterbacks at some point.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Well, I think the one that the league feels and
the one that I've evaluated, evaluating on tape is the
one out at USC and he's not going to be available.
That's Caleb Williams. Now we're getting into the rest of it.
Jaden Daniels, who had an extraordinary season at LSU. Once again,
he's one of those. And you and I have talked
about this for how many years now? Who are these quarterbacks?
(06:30):
They just rose there last year and all of a sudden,
here we are used to be. That wasn't something that
we have dressed and embraced. We used to be very
suspicious of a late rise of a quarterback. Well, Jaden Daniels,
it's not just a late rise. It was three years
in Arizona State, one year at LSU that was pretty good,
and then last year was woosh off he went. So
I thought he was developing all along. That part was cool.
(06:53):
Drake Mays a redshirt sophomore, So we only got two
years on tape, but boy does he look good when
you see you know, as my colleague Bucky Brooks has
taught me, when you evaluate evaluate the flashes, well, the
flashes of Drake mayor really good. Okay, good, I love
that Right now. The JJ McCarthy thing kicks it at Michigan.
(07:15):
Did we see enough of the flashes? Did we see
enough of the things we want to see? Well, guess
what I think we did. It was all on tape.
I'd liken them to CJ. Stroud when we had the
same questions with CJ. Stroud last year. Are the same
type of a player, I don't think so, meaning they
have some differences in how they go about doing things,
But the same questions we asked of CJ. Stroud last year,
we're asking JJ McCarty this year. And remember last year,
(07:37):
it was all there on tape, you just had to
go find it. I think the same thing is true
with McCarthy this year. So all that being said, John,
back to your original question. All of them I think
can be a quarterback for you to carry into the future.
All of them can be your franchise guy, but you
can have to go about it a little bit differently
with each and every one of them. Because you mentioned Mahomes,
(08:00):
those guys, right, you know, the top of the food chain, guys.
Are we ready to put brock Purty there because the
forty nine ers got to the Super Bowl last year
and had their chances to win the Super Bowl last
year with brock Purty, who did things better than we expected.
But are we still thinking to ourselves and is anyone
(08:20):
out there still saying, well, you know something, eliminade, Now
put Purty up there. I think he's a terrific quarterback.
But if I'm saying head to head with Burrow, Mahomes,
Josh Allen, those guys, I'm saying, no, no, he's not
that guy. Everything around him is pretty darn good, and
he maximizes that. Is that who JJ McCarthy is, Is
(08:41):
that who Drake may is? Is that who Jaden Daniels.
That's what the scouts have to determine. That's where it
all comes down because with Daniel Jones, you keep mentioning
that John, and I'm with you, it hasn't been a
true fair sample for him because who has he thrown
to in his time with the Giants, let alone who
protected him in his time with the Giants. That's made
(09:03):
it very, very difficult. I'd love to see him have
a full sample with a roster that you go that's
a pretty good roster. Let's see what happens with Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Now and then at six if you decide not to
go quarterbacks, so let's move on to the next part
of this then right, and then we'll talk about maybe
if you want to attack that on day two we
can have that discussion. You talk about who the guys
he's throwing to, Right, He's got a bunch of guys
in the way I'm looking at this, Charles, you have
Darius Slayton, Jalen Hyde, and Wando Robinson. On the surface,
you're like, all right, those are some solid receivers. But
(09:30):
if you put those three guys around a true number one,
then you're like, oh, well, Jalen Hyatt is like a
second option speed guy that looks a lot better than
him as your primary. Wando Robins is a slot guy
that you can't focus on because you have a true
X out there. Woo that looks really that looks much
better to me, So you have a chance to get
one of the street wide receivers. To me, that's a
force multiplier for the entire wide receiver group and in
(09:53):
the end, the entire offense.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
And I think what you're saying and tell me if
I'm wrong, because I want to make sure I'm getting
this right. John. What you just said there is Kansas
City last year or the last two seasons essentially yeah,
because who the quarterback was. What Kansas City essentially said
over the last two seasons is we may not go
all out receiver wise, we'll get you decent guys. Maybe
(10:18):
some guys intend to do a few things, but we're
counting on you the guys wears number fifteen on his jersey.
You make it all better, You make it all work.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And there aren't many guys that can do that in
this league, by the.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Way, exactly, but that's kind of what they've done. And
what they did was they got better on defense because
you and I. Okay, let's say, tell me again if
I'm wrong on John, because again I hate putting words
in other people's mouths that I don't want you to
just go and surely you'll agree with me. Okay, I
don't want to say that at all, But what I
am saying is, over these last two years, in my opinion,
(10:50):
Kansas City did such a good job of saying, Okay, Patrick,
you take this and fix it. Okay, make it all
work for us, And here's how we'll meet you halfway.
We'll take our defense and take them from playing with
a fourteen point lead to being a defense you can
win with if you play quarterback a certain way. And
they did all right. The last couple of seasons. Ceespagnolo
(11:12):
helped transform that defense from one that's like we'll go
sick them when we're up fourteen because our offense is zooming,
to now our offense plays off of us. Patrick Mahomes
takes a sack instead of trying to make a hero play.
They run the ball on third and eight and pump
the football for field position because our defense is pretty
darn good. Patrick Mahomes says to himself, I'm not throwing
(11:33):
the ball into double coverage, even though I've got the
arm to do it, because I don't want to put
my defense in a tough spot where now they got
to take over on a sudden change on our side
of the field. He played quarterback at a level that
he had never played it before. And I know what
people are saying, the numbers. Never forget the numbers. I'm
not about understanding who your team is, understanding how to
(11:55):
manage a game. Correctly understanding what it's going to take
to win on that particular day you're playing that opponent.
Patrick Mahomes went to Apex Predator as a quarterback last year.
That's what you're talking about doing with different teams and
how you're trying to get around them. Because San Francisco
played to their defense as well, Let's be honest about
the whole thing. Although on offense they put up more
(12:17):
points than Kansas City did.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, and I think if you add that number one
busis Look, not many quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Can do that, right, That what Patrick Mahomes could do.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
And I think to give if you're sticking with Daniel
for this year, to give this Giants offense a chance
to compete, right, I think if you have a chance
to add that number one wide receiver to the room,
it would elevate everything going on around them. How do
you have those top three guys stacked on your board, Charles.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
You know, on mine? I love neighbors, you know, but
you know, see what happens is I've got guys who
are to me, the clear one quarterback is Caleb Williams
Marvin Harrison junior at Ohio State. Because we're in that
nitpicking time. Yeah, almost close to coming back around to
Oh yeah, that's right, Marvin Harrison is the top receiver.
We're getting close. We almost to me he's the number
(13:01):
one guy. Neighbors is too, not a monster gap by
any stretch imagination. And right now, let me I'll put
you this way, John, If somehow this gets to my
league Neighbors, he's gonna want to put a cobra clutch on.
He is the you talk about a competitor, and he
sees slights everywhere. And if you tell him he's not
this like he lost a Blittanikop award last year by
(13:22):
like one or two votes or whatever it was, and
my man wanted to just take everybody out and didn't
vote for him. He translates that into on the field play.
So to me, Neighbors is the next guy out of
LSU just a fierce, monstrous competitor. I'm telling you a
belevolent out when he runs routes my next guy's roma
dunes at out of Washington, another monster competitor. Ooher, I
(13:44):
mean just oozes out of him where he wants to
get after it. Not quite as fast, I don't believe
as Harrison and neighbors, but everything else you want. I mean,
we were at the combine, Johnny. I think he's still
back there trying to get his three cone drill on
top of the heights, only because he was competing with himself.
He wasn't competing with anyone else. He's like the best
(14:05):
golfers in the world. You go play the core, shoot
your number and see if anybody can deal with that.
You don't have to play against anyone else because you're
one of a very few people. And that's what a
Duneesa is for me. But there's so many other receivers
in this draft. We'll see how it all breaks down
and goes. But if the Giants want to go at
six and get one of those top guys, I think
the way the board's gonna fall, they may very well
(14:28):
have second pick of the top receiver group, maybe even
first pick, depending on what Arizona does it for. Because
MANI asin for their GM. His phone is wide open
right now, call me, Call me.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
But by the way, I think the Chargers are the
same way right, I could see both of them.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
I know Joe Doorty is a new GM coming in
because they're cap strapped, right he's got to get through
this season cap wise before he can go back and
be the full GM he wants to be. I mean,
why's Keenan Allen not there? You and I both know why.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Mike Williams, same thing.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Right, Mike Williams coming off of injury. Cap again, Joe's
got to get that cap managed the right way. So yeah,
he'd be happy to listen to you if you want
to call him at five. So that's two teams now
that we're talking. Probably people coming up trying to get
to a quarterback area. Well, guess what, you may very
well have first pick of those receivers that are out there,
and the boy, wouldn't that be fun?
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Final question to the top, Charles, I don't think I
actually got your stack. So was it the order you
listened him at? At quarterback Daniels may McCarthy. How about quarterback.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Quarterbacks Williams Daniels may McCarthy. There's a lot of chatter
about McCarthy being the second guy off the board now,
I mean, you're hearing it right.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Crazy honestly, Charles, to me, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I look and I like, I did not think I
was gonna like McCarthy's tape. But when I watched the tape,
I'm like, all right, I see the you know, third
and seven, third and ten, you know, a lot of
stuff over the middle, accurate, but you know, he throws
a bit of a flatball for me. I don't like
the vertical stuff all that much. I just can't put
them up there in the same category as Daniels in May.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I don't see that same.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
To your point, though, I don't see as many flashes
of the super high level play as I do with
the other two guys.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
The flashes are there, You're not gonna see as many
of them. And I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.
I'm just saying, what encapsulating they are all there, You're
not gonna see as many, partly because of how they
went about their business. You know about a whole school offense. Now,
line up and beat you up, Okay, we would just okay,
I just saw Creed two or three or whatever where
(16:41):
he fought Drago's kid and the whole thing, right, and
guess what, I Will break you came up again in
the movie. That's how they went about their business at Michigan.
I Will break you and never in my life, John,
you and I have grown up in the Northeast, did
you ever think you'd watch a Penn State team in
the second half of a Big Ten football game, of
(17:01):
any ball game as someone ran it twenty eight times
and officially through zero passes and beat you on your
home field.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
What they do.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
That's what Michigan did last year, which is one of
the reasons we don't see as many things from McCarthy
as we'll see from other people.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
You love turf, You're good at it, so you start
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Speaker 1 (17:29):
Are you ready for all that life brings? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
John Sottle podcast brought to you by Citizens, the official
bank of the Giants from game data. Everyday, Citizens is
made ready for Giant fans and insights, guidance and solutions.
Learn more at Citizens bank dot com. Push about Michael
Pennock's for you, Charles. We know about the health issues
with him right in the medicals, which we don't know
anything about, so let's kind of push that aside based
on Doctor on TV. That's I I am not, So
(17:55):
let's push that aside. Simply based on what you've seen
on tape. If he had a spotless medical record, where
would you have him and what would be your evaluation
of him in terms of when you think he would
jump off the board.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Spotless medical record. We're in there with the fistfight about
you know, do we have a stack of five instead
of four? Because the last two years have been awfully good. Okay,
I think that when you have a medical question that
comes into play with all the injuries he had at Indiana.
Now his side's gonna say, don't forget the last two
years at Washington answered the bell every single time, and
(18:31):
he did. And last year he played almost an NFL
season because of the College Football Playoff and he answered
the bell every time. Yeah. See, once you start bringing
medical into it, you know what else I think happens.
I think psychologically you start to pick more knits on
the player because you don't want to fall in love
with a medical guy, right, so you try and find
(18:52):
other things. And you mentioned McCarthy and the flat ball
that he throws in your evaluation. How many times you
heard that about Penix?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, he's got a big time ar man.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Who monster arm and the feat don't always have to
be set for that monster arm to still operate. And
I think he showed a lot of poise. I think
he showed a lot of toughness and leadership as he's
gone along. Look, sometimes we we you know, we get
into stuff and and things we will take and put
to the side with some people. Other people will bring
(19:24):
to the fore to the front. I don't think that
we should ever discount this head to head to twice
with bo Nicks last year, big ball games, big games,
and those two went at it and they were really good.
Penix's team won both times, and Penix was a big
factor in doing so. So I don't want to discount that.
You know, he's gonna rise up in the big moments
(19:46):
and play. The medical is going to scare the heck
out of a lot of people. And you and I
both know Donna's team the team because we have Leat Latu,
the great edge rusher who's in it. The University of
Washington wouldn't clear him. He ends up get At going
to UCLA, working with a doctor, pitting cleared and playing
since then, so we've seen this many many times. Each
(20:07):
team has their own risk that they're willing to take
on a medical guy. That's what's gonna be the question
for Pennix, because God, I'm just I'm gonna leave it
at this. He's good enough that he's a first round candidate,
and the way quarterbacks come off the board, he could
very well go. Okay, we see it all the time, right,
Christian Ponder got pushed up to twelve. DJ Manual Win
(20:30):
a sixteen. We can do this all day long. But
there's a big thought in me that says, if it
goes the way it's supposed to go, he goes in
the second round with Bonnicks.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Fair enough, I've had trouble trolls parsing the running back
position in this draft class. I have like six or
seven guys with very similar grades as you know, early
third round.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Type of picks.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Who are the guys you like? Who are your favorites
that that did? You just watch and you go, you
know what? I feel like, this guy is gonna be
a good NFL player.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I'm gonna give you two have a lot of tread
on the tire, but one's coming off of an injury.
And that's what the issue is. Is Jonathan Brooks at Texas
because he had eight career starts in all eight came
last year before he got hurt because he was behind
Bjehon Robinson, Rosehawn Johnson, all those guys. But when he
got his opportunity, he was, he was. He was special
out there, Okay, down the stretch. I think he had
(21:21):
five one hundred yard games in a two hundred yard game,
six games out of eight. Never pretty good, right, gets hurt,
nice come off the acl. We know that that's going
to set him back, probably not going to go as
high in the draft as he should. But I really
like him. The other is Jalen Warren, who didn't touch
it that much at Tennessee. All right, he's not a
bell cow back.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Jalen right, Jalen right right.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Excuse me, Jalen right, Thank you very much. My fault.
The Pittsburgh guy, Jalen.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Warrens the Pittsburgh running back, trust me. I get these
names flopped all the time, too, man, don't worry.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Apologies, especially my apologies, my fellow volunteer. But his yards
per carry last year was like seven, all right. When
he touched the ball, he moved it and got it done,
and he didn't have a ton of carries. So I
kind of like that about him.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I feel like he has some like Devon a chain
in him, a little bit that that type of player.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, now a chain of course when he just hits,
When he hits go, that's frightening, right. More Wright has
a little bit of that in him as he goes.
I don't know if he's quite as sudden as a chance.
That's a whole different, whole, different category. But I like
where the comparison is on that. So those are my
top two in terms of the reasons why I like him.
(22:34):
Trey Benson's another one. Injury at Oregon. Not many carries
goes to Florida State. I asked him how he got
to Florida State. He said, Mike Norvel recruited him part
when he was head coach at Memphis State, and there
was a trust factor. I liked what I liked before.
Come on down here, you'll have an opportunity. Boy, did
he take advantage of that opportunity. I really like him
(22:55):
as a heck of a player. I think once a
running back run begins, be interesting where it starts, because
you mentioned third round. Once it starts, I think it's
gonna go, go, go, go go. But I also have
that feeling that someone's gonna take the back they like
earlier than that, And I don't think it'll trigger the run.
It'll just be this team. Like Jamir Gibbs last year.
(23:17):
Remember when he went at twelve to Detroit. Everybody's like,
oh my god, Well, if you really like a guy,
just go get it. Don't worry about the rest of it.
But those are guys that I like a bunch of.
Bucky Irving's a good back out of Oregon, slight, a
little more of a slight build, quicker than fast as
I discovered it to combine because when I watched him
run John I thought he was like a four to
four guy. He ran like four or five six at
(23:39):
the combine. But the quickness and the change of direction,
it's all there. Those are some of the guys that
I would throw out there. Please throw me some more names,
because you know there's a whole bunch of these running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, there are.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Look. I like Dree Davis at a out of a Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I think he's a guy that you know, nothing jumps
out where it's like, oh wow, that shot, But he
just does everything he does.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
And he's also you're gonna hear this at If you
haven't heard of ad nauseum already, you're written close to
ad nauseum. Thousand yards of three different schools. Correct, but
let's make sure we get it. Let's make sure we
get it right. It's a thousand career yards at three
different schools because he didn't get a thousand yards in
the season at Temple, but he had two seasons there,
(24:23):
so he went over a thousand yards, thousand yard season
at Vanderbilt, thousand yard season at Kentucky last year. And
you know there were some Benny Snell traits there, weren't there.
I remember what they called it at Kentucky when Benny
Snell was there. They called it Benny Snell football because
the stretch they would just grind you and run it.
Plug into Florida tape last year Kentucky, Florida. That was
(24:43):
Ray Davis football with Will over two hundred yards in
that one.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
The other guy. I really liked that.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I think because he hasn't participated in much Charles in
the post draft process because injury. I think Will Shipley
out of Clemson's an awesome running back. He can catch it,
he can I know he's not the biggest guy in
the world. So maybe he's not an eighteen carrier game
type of guy, but he's elusive, he can catch it,
he's quick. I think he's you know, more than fast
enough to pull away. I think Shipley a guy just
(25:09):
because again he's been hurt, is a guy that a
lot of people haven't talked enough about.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
Agreed and his style of play. Run between the tackles,
run to the perimeter, catch it out in the backfield,
stand in the pocket, and protect your quarterback. It translates
to me to be a good player in the NFL.
Remember how I was telling you about the guys I
like because there wasn't much tread on the tire. There's
a lot of tread off the tire with will because
(25:34):
he had a lot of use at Clemson. Okay, so
that's gonna be something people are going to be evaluating
and going because you know, one of the reasons Derrick
Henry went in the second round at Alabama was people
were wondering if he could get that four you know,
that big body going fast enough in the NFL to
have an effect, And as we learned, yes, yes he could.
But he didn't have full time running back use at
(25:54):
Alabama till his last year. That's when he got all
his carries. That's when he got in the two thousand yard.
That's what it all have. Prior to that, he was
always with a two or three person rotation system. Will
Shipley hasn't had as much of that at Clemson. When
he's on the field, he's on the field. And again
he's on the field a lot. Like Christian McCaffrey San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You're ready for a change. Payday comes early with Citizens,
so go to that retreat. New you moves to the country.
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Speaker 1 (26:29):
Giant fans? Level winner.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's why I love Citizens named the twenty twenty two
best bank in the US by The Banker as the
official bank of the Giants and sponsor of the Huddle,
Citizens is made ready for fans of Big Blue. Learnmore
at Citizens bank dot com. Joined by Charles Davis here
from NFL Network. You can find them on path to
the Draft over the course of the week the next
couple of weeks. Then, of course, he is part of
their live coverage of the Draft in Detroit Thursday to Friday.
(26:51):
I believe it's April twenty fifth to the twenty seven,
So make sure everybody go and check that out. Charles
Day two guys up front on the The Giants always
trying to show this up to make the big Brian
Burns move last year, but they lose Leonard Williams. Right,
everyone thought this would be a great top of the
draft class at defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
I don't think it's turned out that way.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Maybe maybe we'll get two first round defensive tackles, but
I do think there are a lot of choices on
Day two that can play that three technique position next
to Dexter Lawrence. That's what the Giants are trying to
kind of fill here. Who are some of the guys
you like that play that spot on day two?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Well, I'm glad you asked, because I'm gonna go to
my notes on this one.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
No, note it up, let's do it right.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Okay, I'm gonna go to my notes because this is
an open book test. I'm glad you did that for me, professor.
But you mentioned the two first round guys you got
you talk about Byron Murphy at Texas and Big Johnny
Johnny law Johnny Newton at Illinois, Jershon Newton goes by Johnny.
After that, we're starting to get into a whole bunch
of guys. Chris Jenkins out of Michigan. Although he's not
(27:52):
built nearly as big as his father, he's still more
than big enough and did a nice job for the
National champions Inside. Devonre Sweat is your plus plus plus
size defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Plus we plus plus plus plus plus plus right got.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
On the scale of three sixty six and went went
thundering down on the forty, but also shows some movement
skills in there. You know you're not gonna run it
past him on the point of attack if you're looking
for a run stuff for McKinley Jackson at Texas A
and M is kind of to and Andre Sweat light
if you're gonna call three hundred plus pounder light, okay, right, souf,
I'm being being kind of funny with the words there.
(28:27):
I'm gonna give you a guy that I really like
is Braden Fist. I love him out of Florida State,
and it's gonna be very interesting at the bottom of
the first, top of the second, who values what he
brings to the table. Because we watched him all week
at the Combine and he did all the same things
when he went back and watched on tape. The number
of times that you see Braiden fist rush a passer
(28:47):
and then turn and peel and go get involved with
the tackle after a pass downfield or a quarterback run
or whatever it's it's it's unbelievable watching what he does.
We call it retracing for defensive linemen. He retraced is
better than anyone else in this draft. But the extra
hustle and effort to be involved helps him make a
lot of plays. And Mason Smith and it's m Aa
(29:09):
s O n from LSU God making a move in
this draft process as Pete with someone that we like
a little bit more. So we're starting to get into
a whole bunch of guys like that. But I'm gonna
give you one that thinks a third rounder that I'm
really really crazy about, and that's rouke O roural Row
out of Clemson. Because when you pop into tape, you're
there to watch Tyler Davis, his teammate who went to
(29:31):
the senior ball and he's a good player. But number
thirty three just keeps flashing for you keep showing up
guy right in there. And by the way, he's only
going to get better when a defensive line coach gets
a hold of him and add to his pass rushing.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
But he hasn't played He hasn't played football very long, right, No, not.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Very long at all. But I'm just telling you, I
think once you start getting into the third round or so,
I think he's a guy that I would keep my
eye on in a big way.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Now I'm with the one hundred percent Triles and I
know dB play is near and dear to your heart.
The Giants right now now, I don't know who their
second to third cornerbacks are. I guess right now it's
Cordeo Flad and Nick McCloud. I think you can look
to add to that room next to Deontay Banks. And
they didn't really add a safety other than Jalen Mills
to you know, buttress what they have next to Jason
Pinnock with David McKinney Leavin. So you're gonna go through
(30:18):
those two spots again. Reference your notes. You got corner
and safety day two and day three, because look, John's
only two Day two picks and if Lord knows if
they're trading up.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
They're not might not have any Day two picks depending on.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
How this goes, right, So just give me some Day
two and three dbs that really have caught your eye
during this process.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I'll start with the safeties, John, because we're hearing a
lot of chatter that linebacker and safety are not first
round positions. Now, somebody's gonna fool us, right There's always
somebody who likes someone better than what we know, and
they take them and off we go. But right now
those don't seem to be spots of priority for anyone
in the league. My favorite safeties, Cold Bishop from Utah,
(30:58):
love them crazy about, absolutely crazy about. Can he play
the high safety, Yes he can, and if so, he'll
clean up anything that comes through to a spot. But
he really does his best work down low right. He
gets down into the box area, makes a lot of
plays on the ball, knocks the ball free from people,
and by the way, I think he got everyone's attention.
We're in four, four or five at the combine. I'm
(31:18):
not sure how many people saw that part coming. Guess
what add that to the bicks and off you go.
Tyler Nuben out of Minnesota I say this every year.
Whatever they're doing up their PJ. Flack on the defensive
side of the ball coaching the secondary, I want a
piece of it because the instincts of their defensive backs
that come out and how they make plays on the
(31:38):
ball is consistent. When we talk about a Minnesota defensive
back and this year is Tyler Nuban the safety. Another
one who's similar to Antoine Winfield ball magnets as we
like to call them, right he shows up around the football,
makes plays on it, gets into the passing lanes, tackles well.
He would be a guy that I think that you
got to take a good hard look at if you
(31:59):
want us pure strong safety who plays like a buzz
sauce Jayden Hicks at Washington State, this guy is just
zoom zoom, zoom, zoom zoom. You want a guy down
the road that I fall in love with is Malik
Mustafa at wake Forest because this guy just shows up man,
He brings a boom with him, makes plays on the ball.
People may not have him as high as the other ones,
(32:19):
but as you talked about, with only a couple second
round picks, can you get deeper into the draft and
find a guy who can play. I think Mustapha is
one of those guys. Now, if we're getting into the corners,
oh boy, you and I both know there's gonna be
a run on corners. Okay's gonna be a run in
the first round, and we're gonna see it all happen.
But now we got to get into pass that. Who
are the guys you like? Kamari Lassiter at Georgia who's
(32:40):
a borderline first round guy who I think is gonna
get pushed to the second And he's a quiet kid,
but boy knows his stuff, and he's coming out of
Georgia and has been well taught and well coached. And
it's Regstraw, another guy borderline first round. He was in
my last mock draft to go to Baltimore because of
the way he plays the game with an intensity to him,
even though his build is slight. He played like a raven,
(33:03):
as I like to say in my second mock draft.
But again, he's a guy who's borderline who might get
me a push to the second round and go play.
And then right on down the line, you've got a
ton of guys. Chris Abrams drained from Missouri, who's much
more of a slot from me, TJ. Tampa from Iowa State,
Josh Newton from TCU. You know, Shabs Smith Wade from
Washington State is gonna be much more of a middle
(33:25):
round guy. But what's happening, John, is with all the
increase in wide receiver play, you've got to have a counterbalance.
So we've got to get more corners out there. And
I've said it for three four years now, if you're
the third fourth wide receiver on your team, see if
you can backpedal, because you might end up being the
first or second corner on your team with that athletic ability,
(33:47):
and off you go from there. So it's gonna be
fun to watch as it all goes, but there'll be
no shortage of corners that you'll want to take a
look at. In this draft. Safety is not quite as deep,
and that's gonna be the interesting part as Joe, Shane
and Crewe go through it about trying to replace the
Xavier McKinney. Look good. Julian Love is now in Seattle
for the second year. You know, those kind of guys
(34:09):
who gave you such good playback there, you gotta want
to get them because how many times do you turn
on a ball game and you do it, John, and
you talk about that third safety playing as much as
a nickel corner in these days.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, And I got like Javon Bullard fits that right,
who's kind of like part nickel corner, part safety.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
He would be that perfect guy for that spot.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
He would him and Tyke Smith from Georgia as a
collaborative crew. Bullard played more of the high safety, although
he could drop down in there. Tykee Smith played more
of the underneath, that kind of what people call a
star position or whatever each team calls it. But it
was funny because when we were at the combine, both
wanted to do the opposite. The NFL I can do
these things and by the way, they can.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Damn. Bullard's forty times at the combines certainly helped him.
He he broke that four.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Five, got our attention with it, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Absolutely all right, So last question before I get your
prediction at six charls, which I'm gonna hold and you
better be right otherwise I'm never gonna do this to there.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
I know, I know this would be the last time
you speak to me.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
If the Giants go don't go wide receiver at six?
Maybe they go offensive line, maybe they go quarterback.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
The good news in reference to your last answer, is
that there are approximately a billion wide receivers in this
draft that you can draft, and they're gonna be good players. Now,
they might not be number ones, but they can be
a guy that can certainly help your room.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
So if this could be at any point in the draft.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Who are your two or three favorite non top three
wide receivers or even non first round wide receivers that
you think people are sleeping on, And I really have
a chance to outplay where they're gonna get drafted.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Oh man, I knew you were gonna ask that, and
I should have prepared even better. But it doesn't take
me long to get there.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Okay, you're ready, Yeah, I'm ready, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
Xavier Legett from South Carolina, big strong, physical kid. I
really like him. And when he ran you know, four
to four a little bit sub for four, Well he
opened up my eyes on that one. Okay. Jamari Thrash
from Louis.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
I like that he can get.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Up and go now all right, And I just think
that he just shows up, plays, makes plays, and continues
to make plays. If you want to get a slot
that I just crazy about. Ricky Piersoll from Florida gonna
play hard in Arizona State to Florida transfer. Yeah, we're
gonna see the spectacular catch over and over and over.
How about the routine catches they just made? The catch,
(36:24):
got up, feel picked up the first down. Has some
toughness to him to be able to go inside and
make plays. It's too easy, But you gotta say, Luke
McCaffrey from Rice, all right, just continues to just show
up and keep thinking to yourself, Okay, I know his bloodlines.
Am I elevating him too high? No? I don't think so.
He's gonna be a good receiver for someone. Javon Baker
(36:44):
UCF and Alabama transfer was in that Alabama receiving room. Tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, Right,
he can get it done and he's a really good player.
We're starting to get into day three. I think John,
he can find out play for You can play in
the slot especially, and if I want to go on
the outside that I'm gonna take a shot at. I
really want to take a look at this kid at
(37:04):
Holy Cross Jalen Cocher, all right, Now he's more sit
seven for me, but he's a big kid on the outside,
has made some plays. Holy Cross is a program to
continue to get better over the last few years. It
got so good their coach ended up getting another job.
I think he ended up going down to James Madison
taking over there. So these are the types of players
(37:25):
that I like catch my eye. I could go on
and bore you with a whole bunch of them all
day long, but.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
There's so many, so many there.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I'm eager to see what people do with Davonte Walker
at North Carolina because I think he and Keon Coleman
both were rated higher as we started to process. But
the sense I'm getting is they're rated lower now, but
they're still really good football players. And I think key
On Coleman has a little more bounce to his game
that maybe he's getting credit for. And Davonte's Walker was
(37:53):
getting nailed for one, you know, a really bad day,
a couple of bad days at the Senior Bowl. But boy,
his production when you put on the tape and it's
time to play, it's pretty darn good.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
And and he didn't drop the ball during the regular season.
That was one thing that I wanted to see him
on routes. He actually did that pretty well. At the
Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
He got old, but he just couldn't catch the damn
thing for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
And sometimes you know, it's like it's like the old
you get on the Merry Go Round and you just
can't get off, And one of those weeks for him,
he just couldn't get off. But you're exactly right. You
turn on the tape and that no one ever came
in their question is And so I rely more on
the tape for him than I do for the couple
of days at the Senior Bowl in terms of catching
the ball.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Our final question, Charles, when all is said and done,
and this is gonna air for another four or five days,
so maybe we'll know more before that, but I'm gonna
ask anyway, what do you think the Giants end up
doing at Sex Because I gotta be honest with you,
I have no clue right now.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
I don't think any of us do. And Joe Shane
and his crew are gonna do another wonderful job and
putting it all together. I just like that organization and
what they do. But I just think that if you're
gonna ride with Daniel Jones. I think you kind of
are right now. I just don't give the sense that
they're gonna go all in on the quarterback because I
think there's gonna be a lot of movement that people
come in ahead of them to try and get those guys.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
So the price is going to be really high if
they want to move up.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Ye, it's get really high. And I still think they're
going to settle and go, well, we'll take the fourth
or fifth quarterback. We'll be fine with that and start
over that way. It just doesn't feel that way to me.
I'm gonna go with the kid out of LSU. I'm
going my League Neighbors. I have my League Neighbors coming
to New York.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
And Giants had some success with another LSU wide receiver
that was pretty explosive about his first contract in terms
of his numbers. So hopefully and I think Neighbors it
fits fits that bill perfectly. Charles, this has been awesome.
Promote anything you're up to, anything you're doing.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
That that that you want to get out there and
let the fans know about.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Yeah, nothing for me to promote. I mean, I'm just
a guy just trying to hang in there and keep
up with you, talking ball, trying to keep my notes
going as I continue to move through this thing and
learn some of these kids. It's been fun watching them play,
putting them on, you know, seeing their tape go out there.
And all I'm doing is wishing them the best of
luck going forward, because we'll be you and I'll be
talking about them next year on an NFL field, and
(40:00):
won't that be fun to watch?
Speaker 1 (40:02):
We want all these kids to succeed. Charles.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
We know how much you love this process. We thank
you for joining us every year, your pleasure. We'll talk
to you soon.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. You take care of yourself, John,
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