Draft Season | 2025 Rookie Class Review

The guys review the 2025 NFL rookie class through eight weeks of the season and discuss this past weekend’s college football games.

:00 - Alabama vs South Carolina

5:15 - Ole Miss vs Oklahoma

7:40 - Day two wide receivers

12:45 - Rookie quarterbacks

17:40 - Rookie running backs

22:35 - Rookie tight ends

26:15 - Rookie wide receivers

32:20 - Rookie offensive linemen

34:30 - Rookie defensive linemen

35:45 - Rookie edge rushers

38:20 - Rookie linebackers

41:25 - Rookie defensive backs

47:15 - Upcoming college games

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's now officially open. This is Draft season. Hello everybody.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's all brought to you by Moody's a proud sponsored
the New York Football Giants. I am John Schmilke, joined
by Tony Pauline, Tony Hyabi sar Okay.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
I mean, some interesting games on the college front last week,
some interesting games on the NFL front as we moved
to the midway point of the NFL season. Some big
games on the college front coming up but this year.
But you know, a lot of close calls last week
in college football, but no real upsets. Yeah, did see
some good performances.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes, we're in the Hacken Sagra Maary Health podcast studio.
Keep getting better and we're doing a little bit different
this week when we do our same review of last
week of college football, look ahead the next week in
college football, kind of two sleepier weeks as we kind
of slowly lead up towards you know, and the conference
play conference championships stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
So we'll talk about that.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
But also it's about midway point of the NFL season.
There isn't really a true midway point anymore because there
are seventeen weeks, but eight weeks are in the books.
We thought this would be a good time to talk
a little bit about what the twenty twenty five rookie
class has done so far in the National Football League.
Tony and I spent so much time talking about these
kids leaning up to the draft. I think it's important
for us to look at what they've done and maybe

(01:21):
learned some lessons from our evaluations last year who's done well,
who hasn't, and kind of see if that influences how
we think about next year's class. But Tony, let's start
with last week in college football, and you had a
couple of quarterback matchups that you want to focus on, well.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Quarterbacks who played against each other. I mean Lenora Sellers
against Alabama and Ty Simpson. And you know, I mean
Ty Simpson is really developing into an outstanding quarterback. He's
making a lot of NFL type throws. He's making a
lot of good decisions. He got to like his game.
You gotta like the development of his game. But I'm

(01:56):
still concerned about the you know, the lack of the
small body of work. He's a what an eight nine
game starter. The Laura Sellers, the physical skills are there.
He just makes some incredible plays. But there's no consistency.
I mean, he'll make an outstanding throw and then there's
two or three plays, a two or three series where
you wonder what he's thinking, what he's doing. I think

(02:18):
he's hurt by the fact that when you look at
that Alabama line up, obviously their offensive line and the
weapons at ty Simpson's disposal are significantly better than what
Lenora Sellers has I think they failed him in that matter.
But I don't think Lenora Sellers has really improved his game.
And I'm going to say this. You know, people talk
about Mendez. We had Mike Runn around last week who

(02:39):
talked about Mendoza potentially being the first pick of the
draft in New York Jets. You know, I like Mendoza,
but ty Simpson really looks more like an NFL quarterback
at this point. I mean, he's making more NFL throws,
NFL plays, He's being asked to do more and more
and he's doing it well. And the question with ty
Simpson if he enters the draft, how high? How high

(03:00):
do you select him? You know, there's that Matt Jones's
memory kind of come into play, where the guy was
a one year starter. Nobody of work. Are you willing
to roll the dice on him?

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, Tony, and I think that's the thing, and I
agree with you.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
I think if I had to pick a quarterback in
this class first overall, right now, I think I probably
pick Simpson just because I think he gives you the
best odds of hitting the lottery right in terms of
his upside. You know, you talk about mac Jones Simpson
and in terms of the experience, but Simpson has more
physical talent than mac Jones. He's got a cannon. I mean,
he is an absolute cannon. He can make all the throws.

(03:35):
I think he used to work on getting some touch
on the ball and some throws. Everything seems to be
a bit of a line drive, like JJ McCarthy was
a couple of years ago, but he has it. To
your point, though, the lack of experience worries me. You know,
a lot of the old Bill parcels issms they don't
really apply anymore. But I think one that does is
that you want guys that have started thirty games in
college football right and throw next number of passes. That's

(03:58):
a real thing. And the NFL, and Dan Brugler says
this all the time, it was with us about a
month ago.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
The NFL is not a developmental league, Tony.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
You know, Anthony Ridgess got picked two years ago and
Trey Lanz what four years ago now, And the point
was they didn't throw all out of passes in college.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
They need time, they need development.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Well guess what in two years both teams that attracted
those guys like not, we're out, we can't wait, sorry,
we're done, finished, We're moving on, We're done. So I
hope Simpson gets a boatload of money and goes back.
And by the way, to your point, he's in not
an NFL style offense, but his offensive coordinator was the
offensive coordinator for the Seahawks last year, and Ryan grumber
so and Calen de Boord has a downfield passing attack.

(04:37):
We saw that when he was in Washington with Pennix
and all those wide receivers that came out of the
Huskies program.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
So I mean they have I mean, yeah, I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
If I had to pick a quarterback first, and I
would not feel good about picking a quarterback first overall
this year for the record, I think it would probably
be Ty Simpson for me right now.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Well, and the missing the thing that you kind of
skipped over there is his offensive coordinator was the conferenceive
coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks last year. Prior to that,
where was he he was in Washington? Who did he develop?
Michael Pennix? Y Oh? I think he came to Alabama
a year too late for Jaln Milroe and now Todd
Jimpson is reaping the rewards of that. So there is,

(05:16):
you know, a significant advantage for him to return. Obviously
there's going to be a significant financial advantage for him
to return. And then the other game was the Mississippi
Oklahoma game where we talked about John Mattier. We both agree,
you know, and Dame was on. We all agreed he's
playing much better than anybody expected. There were some concerns

(05:38):
about his game, but he got out played by Trinidad
Chamblis of Mississippi, who we remember before he started, before
he came in because the starter was injured. You know,
no one knew of him. And I said, you know,
scouts like this guy's that has a potential Day three pick.
He's playing better than a Day three pick. I mean,
he is a tremendous RPL quarterback with great arm tunt.

(06:00):
This guy can make all the throws. He's making good decisions.
The problem with Trinidad Chambliss is he's probably not even
gonna be six foot tall. But he significantly outplayed John
mckere on Saturday, and he keeps getting better and better
and better, and if nothing else, that's gonna be a
story to watch. Trinidad Chambliss is not going to be

(06:20):
a top sixty pick. I don't think he's gonna be
a Day two pick because of the size, but he
is developing at a rapid rate against real good competition.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, if you could just add three inches and twenty
pounds to Trinidad Chambliss, I think we'd be talking about
him in the same category as as Ty Simpson. To
be honest with you, but he's just you know, he's
a Division two quarterback, right, and that's what Division two
quarterbacks look like.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
But he's playing really really.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, all right, incredible well, yeah, incredibly well, And you
gotta give him credit again in the end, we'll see,
you know, Ole Miss sets up their quarterbacks extremely well.
We saw that with Jackson Dort last year and now
we got to see Tony. If the coach is gonna
stay at Ole Miss. He's been rumored for Penn State,
He's been rumored for LSU. I mean more more for
LSU and Florida. But there's a lot of open big

(07:07):
time college programs spots right now, I think this offseason
and and we'll get to the twenty five draft class
in a second. This is gonna be very interesting to
see how the whole college landscape gets shuffled this year
with all these coaching changes.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
And there's probably gonna be more before the season's over.
You got to look at the Florida State situation. You
got to look at Wisconsin. Luke Fickle, surprising to me,
has not done a good job there. Does Luke Fickle
make it to December? I don't know the way things
are going at Wisconsin. So there's still there's gonna be
additional big time jobs that are still going to open
up before the season's over.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, exactly right.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
And there'll be a lot of people writing a lot
of checks and promising a lot of money around college football,
that's for sure. Draft Season is presented by Moody's, a
proud partner of the New York Giants. Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity.
Learn more, in Moody's dot Com. All right, Tony, before
we get to the twenty twenty five draft class, you
have some Day two wide receivers that you're excited about.
And I'll be honest with the only guy I really

(08:04):
watched extensively in this group is Chris Bell out of Louisville.
We talked about him last week with Mike Renner. Kind
of has a very AJ Brown feel to him. I
think he's lacking some of that explosiveness that AJ Brown has.
I still see him with you. Some people talking about
him as a Day one guy.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
I don't. I think he's a Day two pick like you.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
But talk about him and these other receivers that have
really caught your eye.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, not just day two, Day two and Day three guys.
I mean, there is no definite number one receiver as
of right now. You like, you like the kid from
Arizona State. I like Grazzle from Tennessee. But where are
they going to fit in?

Speaker 2 (08:39):
I mean, Toy, I'll be honest with you. Brazzl's growing
on me. He's very impressive, very impressive.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
And the Arizona State kid is constantly having injury issues,
which true to be concerned. He's not a big body receiver,
So really, how many first round receivers are there going
to be? Are there going to be any first round receivers?
So you got to start to look at Day two,
Day three. You mentioned Chris Bell. We spoke about him
last week when Mike Renner was on the show. He's
a bigger guy, but he's not just a possession receiver.

(09:06):
He's a pretty quick guy. He's got great first in
that first five to ten yards, which allows him to separate.
He catches everything that's drawn to him. Goes about six
foot one, two twenty pounds. He's really improved this year.
He was good last year. I had him as a
third round pick coming into the season. I don't think
he's going to be a first rounder. I would agree
with you, but I think definitely top sixty somewhere in

(09:27):
that second round. A couple of guys, Casey Concepts, she owned,
a Texas A and m You talked about the LSU
job opening up. Well, Casey Concepts she owned helped open
that LSU job. Helped that LSU job open up with
his performance on Saturday Night. He's a smaller guy, but
he's very explosive. Thirty six receptions, seven touchdowns this year,
is averaging fifteen yards per catch. Also brings something to

(09:51):
the return game. I have him as a maybe a
second round pick right now. He's a third rounder, but
he's a speed guy who catches the ball extremely well.
Eric McAllister of TCU, now you're getting into your day.
Three receivers thirty seven receptions, seven hundred and twenty seven yards,
eight tds, nineteen point six yards per average for a

(10:12):
guy that goes about six foot one, two hundred five pounds,
catches the ball well. The critics say he's a little
bit soft, but when I watch him, he's always fighting
for the contested throw. I think he's a potential, very
good number three receiver on Sunday, and you're gonna find
him probably available, maybe late third round, beginning a part
of round four. Then you got too small. A couple

(10:35):
of lesser known guys. Jase Brown of Kansas State, another speedster,
thirty six receptions for five hundred and seventy seven yards.
He's more of your slot guy, somebody you got to.
You gotta line him up, backed off with a lot
of scrimmage because he's a smaller guy, but he's forty fast,
and he's football fast. Ted Hurst of Georgia State five

(10:56):
passes caught, five passes for one hundred and ten yards
with two tds again against South Alabama last week. Forty
seven receptions for six hundred and eighty nine yards in
eight games this year. He's a bigger possession guy who's
got really good playing speed. You're looking somewhere in the
middle of Day three ted Hurst of Georgia State. Georgia
State is one and seven. They're in a terrible season.

(11:17):
Their offense is not good. But when the balls in
the air, more times than not, it's going to ted
Hurst and he always makes the reception. A local guy
for U and I. Skyler Bell of Yukon came into
the season with mid Day three grades from scouts. Has
played to that level. He's a guy who is the
man in the Yukon and the surprising Yukon offense. They're
having a good season this year. Sixty eight receptions, eight

(11:40):
hundred and forty five yards and eight tds already this season.
More of a possession type will though he's got some quickness.
Not a bad route runner. But again, Skyler Bell of
Yukon a Day three pick and in a year where
you know it's not top heavy at the receiver position,
you're going to be looking for those gems light in
Day two, on Day three, those guys like Skylar Bell

(12:03):
of Yukon, Tedhurst of Georgia State, Jase Brown of Kansas State,
and Erica Callister TCU, those are guys to keep an
eye on.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, Tony.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Every year, you know, you always say that there's gonna
be wide receivers in the draft. But coming into this year,
we had a lot of questions.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
About this class.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
But as few players that many positions have emerged in
this class and said, maybe some guys at edge and
maybe some guys inside on the offensive lineus tackles get
moved inside. I feel like we're gonna have a lot
of wide receivers in the first sixty picks of this draft.
Again just because they're frankly or not that many impressive
players that are their positions and they just throw a

(12:39):
lot in college football, and these wide receivers always tend
to emerge every year.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
And it's a need position. I mean, it's a passing league.
You need the quarterback, you also need the pass catchers,
and you know you don't need just two bass catches.
Now you want three or four pass catchers.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
No, you're right, all right, So let's get to it.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Speaking of it being a passing league, let's talk about
the twenty twenty five draft class, Tony. I think we
have to start at the quarterback position, and I'm going
to start locally here with Jackson Dart. And I think
it's fair to say Jackson Dart has been the most
impressive rookie quarterback in the National Football League this year.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
It's not even It's not even close. I mean, hands down.
You know, if the New York Giants, who's ever game
the rest of the season, But Jackson Dart continues to
play at the level he's playing, if not better, It's
a successful season for the New York Times. I mean
despite the wins and losses, because you got your guy
at quarterback. And it's not just the way he's playing,

(13:31):
it's his aura. I mean, you watch the guy, the
body language. He wants to get out there, he wants
to compete. He's making good decisions. Except for that New
Orleans Saints game. I mean, you watch that Denver game,
which is back and forth. In that fourth quarter, he
takes him to a huge early League Denver comes back.
He wants to get back on the field. You see
his bideline. He wants to get out there a fight.

(13:52):
And he's making good decisions. He's making terrific passes, he's
seeing the field. The game is not going to a
million miles an hour for a rookie quarterback who didn't
start until a few weeks into the season. And again,
I mean he continues to play this level. This season
has been a successful the New York Giants because they

(14:12):
have their quarterback move forward.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
And now let's go to the Tennessee Titan Sody, and
I agree with you, by the way, and I think
Dart has shown a lot of some high level skills.
The pocket movement, the ability to throw on the move.
He keeps his eyes up when he moves up in
the pocket. Now, I think there are some fundamental things
the art of playing quarterback, getting through your progressions, not
dropping your eyes when the first guy's not there. I mean,
he held the balls. Average time to throw last week
was over three point six seconds. That's obviously way too long,

(14:37):
but that stuff that rookie quarterbacks learn as they go.
I think he's shown a lot of intangibles so far.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
This year.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
That have to give Giant fans a lot of hope
that as he learns two play quarterback and kind of
all the mental stuff of playing quarterback in the National
Football League, that he has the tools to be a
starter for a long time.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
I'm going to give him a pass on holding the
ball a little bit too long. He's doed. It's not
my leak neighbors now. Yet he doesn't have the league
gabers most of the season. I mean they don't. They're
not deep at the receiver position. They've got solid tight ends,
but they don't have that dominant number one tight end.
He loses scatable last week in the game, So I
mean that wasn't a persistent problem in college given the

(15:17):
state of the Giant receiving corps. I'll give him a
I'll pass on that.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
No, I think that's fair.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
And then you have Cam Warred Tony and has been
as it has been too often with first overall quarterbacks
over the years. He's already gonna have a second head
coach and second offensive coordinator. And in two years, which
you never want to see, his stats are underwhelming. Fifty
eight percent sixteen hundred yards is pretty good. Five touchdowns,
six picks, and he's only rushed at sixteen times for
forty yards. So the stats underwhelming, but I think we've

(15:44):
seen enough flashes that I think both of us are
still pretty high on what cam Ward ten become.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
If he gets the right coaching staff in there.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
You better have a new offensive line too, especially a
left tackle, because they signed I believe Dan Moore to
a pretty big contract in the ufseason. He's been terrible.
They can't protect him, the running games and the receivers
aren't great. So yeah, you know, I think he's done
well considering what's going on. You mentioned the change in
the coaching staff, but they really better fortify the pieces

(16:13):
around them, especially that offensive line. Jac Latham has been
okay moving to his more natural position to right tackle.
You draft the quarterback early and it constantly happens. You
better start to invest in the pieces to protect him
and then build from there. So again, I think he
hasn't been great, but he hasn't been awful. But you
got to look at the situation around him, which is

(16:34):
not good at all, and I think you gotta like
cam Ward for the future.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Now you have a couple of building blocks in that line.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Right, you have Latham Scoronsky plays inside on that line too, correct,
So I think those are two players that you feel
good about.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
To killer though that last side is killing him.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
No question. I'm with you one hundred percent. And then finally,
Dylan Gabriel Tony. He's the other quarterback that that's gotten
some run here, and he kind of looks like what
I thought he would look like like he he processes
pretty well.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
He just isn't super talented.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
He's got an okay for a guy his side, but
it's not top top tier, and the stuff going around
him in Cleveland isn't great either. So I think he's
been pretty much exactly what I thought he was gonna be.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
I think he's playing what we all thought he would be,
like a nice backup quarterback, exactly the starting line up.
And I mean, you know, you said he's there for
his grains, for his ability to see the field. The process.
I just don't know, and I don't believe, to tell
you the truth that you're gonna put a franchise on
his shoulders and you're gonna basically build an offense, build

(17:37):
a team around them, because I think at best he's
a number two quarterback.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, I don't know what's going on with Tudor Sanders there.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
He was inactive last week in favor of Belly Zappy,
So something's going on there behind the scenes, Tony, I
don't know what it is, but that's something we'll have
to figure out as we move forward here. The running backs,
it was a good class last year and we've had
some very productive running back play.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
Tony.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
I think they've met their expectations despite the fact that
the Raiders have been maybe the worst team or the
second worst team after the Jets in the National Football League.
Jenty is over four yards, are carry just four hundred
and forty five yards. I think you'd like a little
bit more production there, but given what's going on around him,
I think we get it. Quinchawn Jenkins, despite only playing
in seven games and really only being a full time

(18:17):
running back for I think five of those almost five
hundred rushing yards already five touchdowns. And then you know,
Cam Skattabu is the other guy in this category that
I want to touch on before he hit kind of
the next two he has. He was leading rookies in
scrimmage yards before he got hurt last week, so he'd
over four hundred rushing yards and two hundred receiving yards.
So those guys have all I think met expectations. And

(18:39):
by the way, i'll throw one of the guy in
this group with Marion Hampton. Before he got hurt, he
was playing really well with the Chargers. So I think
all four of those guys, which again you look at
their body types, Tony, they're two hundred and twenty pounds,
they're bigger guys. These are the guys that I think
teams are more willing to kind of give a lot
of touches to because they think they can kind of
handle them a little bit.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
You know, go back to us about Cam Warred protecting him.
We knew coming into the season there are gonna be
questions about the Raiders offensive line. Those questions have grown.
I thought they were going to be better off taking
Armond Membo. They take genty. You see the ability. But
if you know, this isn't Saturday football, this is in
college football, where he's just gonna be able to create
the orders when nothing's there because the players are so

(19:20):
big and fast, He's got to get some help up
up front. Jenkins has been a battering ram with all
that off season stuff and he wasn't in training camp,
and then that situation got figured out where there was
no legal charges against him. He's come in and that's
what we saw from him, especially down the stretch last
year at Ohio State. He is a violent runner. He

(19:41):
is a guy. He has the agility to get to
get around in the corner, but he turns it upfield
and watch out Camp Scatibo. You know we said this
when he was drafted by the Giants. He was gonna
be allegend. He was gonna be a legend for Giant fans.
It's sad to see the ankle issue. I'll let you
go on go about him on further about but he
was good catching the ball as well as running the ball.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
And he was pretty good in pass protection too, Tony.
He was doing a good job picking up the blitz.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
I mean he bays. He came in as a polished prospect.
You knew what you were getting from him. I think
the upside was that great. He's because he's big. He's
not super fans, but you knew what you were getting
from him, and he's produced. I think Cory Krusky merit
of the Commanders, a guy who barely when he played
two games as a senior because of the eligibility issues.

(20:30):
We saw him at the Shrine Bowl. I think he's
done a good job. And Woody Marks has done a
terrific job as well as a ball carrier and pass
catcher this season.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Absolutely, And just to add on scataboo, Tony, I wondered
whether or not the ability to break tackles and run
with power at his size, because he's not the biggest guy, right,
He's kind of just stocky and very He's like a
bowling ball, but it's playing man. He breaks tackles in
the NFL too, And again you hope that he can
bounce back from this injury, and he looks like the

(21:01):
same guy, obviously a very serious one. He's been released
from the hospital corning to the Giants after having surgery
after the game with that ankle injury, So hopefully he
bounces back.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
You know, Tony, you mentioned Will Marks.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
And that's a guy that we saw as like a
hybrid type of player coming out right, kind of a
third down back. You know the three guys that were
also picked in the draft, two of them early.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
RJ.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
Harvey has had moments for the Broncos, but I think
with the emergence of JK.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
Dobbins there, he hasn't gotten quite as many touch as.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
We would have thought, and Trevion Henderson has had trouble
getting a lot of rumbers. Romondre Stevenson has played well
and you know, one of my favorites, so I have
to bring him up for Shard Smith in a very
small role for the Chiefs has been good as a receiver,
but they don't seem to trust him as a runner,
so I think, and this is why I brought it
up earlier. With kind of those four guys we led with,
they're all kind of bigger backs. These are all smaller backs,

(21:52):
and I think you're seeing NFL teams trying to figure
out how to use them because I don't think they
see him as guys that can be their bell cows
in the running game.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
You know. The funny thing is R. J. Harvey. We'll see,
I mean, he had a breakout game on Sunday. We'll
see if they keep the momentum going and if they
keep going back to him. We knew that, you know,
he was a Sean Payton type of back, so you know,
is the future now for him or do they continue
to rotate to him and Dobbins, who was a terrific
run up except for all the injuries that he's had.

(22:21):
And it's funny that you mentioned that the bigger backs.
Are we going to see running backs? Bigger running backs
starting to be taken earlier in the NFL draft? You know?
Is there a return to that bigger two hundred and
twenty pound feature runner with the success these guys are having.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
Remember, teams are playing a lot of two safeties deep now, Tony,
gap scheme, duo power run game is back in style,
so I think we are, but we'll have to see
how that goes when we get there this year. All right,
let's jump to the pass catches here, Tony, and let's
start with the tight ends, because how about this number, Tony.
Three of these tight ends are about to talk about
in terms of rookie players receiving yard leaders their third, fourth,

(23:01):
and fifth in the National Football League this year. Tyler Warren,
or On the Gadsden and Harold Fannon are third, fourth,
and fifth in receiving yards by rookies in the NFL.
And all three of those guys have certainly showed what
they did in college was no Fluke. And I know
you're loving the Gadson thing because you were all over
him coming out in the draft last year.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
So I was right on here to do with Gadston.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
Start with Warren. I mean I wrote an article before
that Warren was gonna have a big year because he
was going to be more of a dink and dunk
type of offense with the Colts. They didn't have any
downfield threats. Well, he's turned out to be more than that,
and he's starting to stretch the field a lot of
yards after the catch. We're getting what we thought from
from him or saw from him at Penn State, and

(23:48):
he's delivering a little bit more as far as Gadson's concerned. Yeah,
I mean, I said prior to the draft last year
that I thought that the best tight ends in the
end from the twenty twenty five draft would not come
from the first route, would come from the middle rounds.
And I mentioned Elije Arroya, who's had moments at Seattle,
has n't been consistent at Ronde Gatson, and it just

(24:10):
bottled my mind really through the entire twenty twenty five
draft process, how Gats him, who was a two hundred
and twenty pound receiver at Syracuse turned tight end. And
then we saw him at the Shrine Bowl in excess
of two hundred and forty pounds, yet he was moving
like a two hundred and twenty pound receiver.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
And apparently Tony he apparently he's up to two fifty
now for the Chargers.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Catching everything inside. He's got the blood lines. Why this
guy was being so ridiculously underrated? And yeah, I mean
I love seeing it because I thought he was underdrafted
and I knew he had the potential. You're not gonna
use him much as a blocker. I'm sure he'll learn
how to block. But you know, you got a two

(24:54):
hundred and fifty pound tight end basically who's a former
receiver and he and he's proving it and fat and
I think Fannon has done much better than I ever
would have thought. I agree. You know, you were right
on the money with that one. And you know, we
knew he was a downfield pass catcher, had huge production
of bowling green and he's been able to, you know,

(25:14):
transition out to the NFL where now it looks like
the Browns may try and move Nadjoku because they don't
need them. They get something in return. They got their
tight end not only for the present but for the
future in Fannin.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, no question about it. They've done no good job.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
And then one of your favorites, Coast and Loveland hasn't
quite gotten off to Schneid yet.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Tony deal with some injuries.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
Well that's the problem. I mean we knew that coming
into the draft. I mean, he had that ac shoulder
injury last year which kept him out of most of
the season at Michigan. He did no testing for the draft.
I was told, yeah, he's healthy, he's healthy. Obviously he's
not been healthy. It was I don't want to say
it was a risky pick for Chicago to take him
at ten. Right now, it seems like one. But with

(25:56):
all these other tight ends that we just mentioned doing
so well, the first tight end of the drafts selected
in the first end picks really sitting on the sidelines.
He's got to get on the snide real quick. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
And by the way, and you mentioned Elijah Royo.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
He's been basically playing almost half the snap, so he's
been on the field for Seattle. They run a lot
of two tight ends. That's him and A. J. Barner,
and I think he's gonna be good. He just hasn't
quite broken out yet, which by the way, I remember
he barely played in college. He was hurt the first
few years of his career. So he's the guy that
needed a little bit more experience, I think to kind
of get going a little bit. All right, let's jump
to the wide receivers here, Tony, I'm going to start

(26:30):
off with Ted McMillen.

Speaker 3 (26:31):
Here.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
He's second in terms of receiving yards among pass catchers
that are rookies thirty seven catches, five hundred and twelve yards,
two touchdowns, second in receiving yards, and I think he's
been exactly his advertised.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Both of us loved him coming out.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
We didn't understand why he wasn't talked about as being
a higher pick. And look, we'll see what it looks
like now with Andy Dalton in there for Bryce Young,
But the Panthers needed a number one type receiver and
I think he's going to be that guy.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Well, it wasn't that even talked about as being an
earlier pick. He wasn't early pick. It's just that people
were talking about him in the middle of the first round,
the second half of the first round, you know, and
he was the go to guy at Arizona for two years.
He caught everything, and I think the guy liked d
Alton in that offense, which is hit and miss. They
like to run the ball and they do a good
job running ball. Wants that bigger possession, consistent, reliable receiver,

(27:21):
and that's what McMillan is. And again, you know, it's
great to see him doing as well as he did
considering the disrespect that he was receiving outside the scouting community.
Because obviously the scouting community liked him so much that
they took him as a top ten pick, but the
way people kind of dismissed him, which I never understood.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Yes, correct, Yeah, I should have talked about how the
pre draft fake fall that people were talking about with
him never made a whole lot of sense. Now, then
you have two receivers in Tampa Bay. You know, tam
Bay drafted these wide receivers. We sat, They're like, yeah,
how much opportunity is a Mecca Buka going to get with,
you know, Chris Godwin coming back, Mike Evans there and
all in the whole, both those guys are hurt, so
a Mecca. Buke is all automatic the number one wide

(28:01):
receiver for Tampa Bay Tony. He's made the most of it.
Leads all rookie's in receiving yards with five hundred and
sixty two on thirty four catches, and he has been
a down field threat for them.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
He's been great.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
He's been fantastic until he got hurt. He had a
hamstring issue which kind of slowed him up. But he
was not only a downfit thread. He was a big play,
big impact guy that would come away with important catches.
And you know, Baker Mayfield's the kind of guy and
the kind of quarterback guy. If he doesn't like you
or he doesn't think you're not gonna be able to
do the job, he's not gonna throw the ball to you.
And he is when those guys were, when Evans and

(28:34):
Godwin were on the sidelines, he had all the faith
in Abuka and he was throwing the football in big spots.
And Abuka was coming away not only with downfield catches
but without standing contested catches up until the time he
heard his hamstring. And he's still producing, not at the
level he was. But and again when they made this

(28:55):
pick Tampa, a lot a lot of eyebrows were raised.
Why are they taking another receiver when you look at
the guys they have on their depth chucks for as
long as they haven't Why didn't they take a pass rusher?
Why didn't looking in all the direction? And it looks
like they've hit a home run with this selection.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
And you also had the second year wide receiver out
of Washington too coming back for them, and he tours
ACL in the offseason, so they really had a lot
of wide receivers and he's now had an opportunity to
do it. And I had to tip my cap Tony
because this was one of my guys in the draft
last year, Tedes Johnson. He's got an opportunity now with
all those injuries we talked about, Tiny did not test
well at all, but if you watched him on tape,

(29:30):
nobody could cover him. Nobody could cover him all year
for Oregon last year. So for me, I'm so happy
to see the job that Tess Johnson has done, the
opportunity he's gotten. He's played a couple of games, fifteen catches,
two hundred and thirteen yards, two touchdowns, and he seized
the opportunity, and he's going to be a player in
this league for a long time now.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Making a lot of difficult receptions. You know, you mentioned
didn't test well. Everyone thought he was a fourth free
guy at that size. He ran in the four to fives,
which is why he dropped. But he's a good pass catcher.
You just got to line them up right, You got
to lose them off the line of scrimmage, put him
in the slot, keep them off of press coverage, move
him around the field. And again you know the fact
that Baker Mayfield is throwing him the ball. Getting the

(30:12):
ball to him, I think says a lot about Tess Johnson.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
And elic Io Mannor He's done a nice job too.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Tony Calvin Ridley has not done a great job this year,
and Ileo Manner has picked up the slack thanks.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
That, and I'm sure cam Ward is very happy. I mean,
Iron Manner is a guy that didn't have a big
body of work, wasn't a great route runner, big body guy,
long arm, soft hands, and is doing that in Tennessee.
So that is one of the building blocks that they
can go with.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
All right, let's talk about Travis Hunter now, and I
think we always. You know, the big question that we
talked about endlessly last year Tony was how would he
be drafted, what would he be drafted as? And how
is he was going to be used? So so far
this year I broke it down. He's taken three hundred
and twenty three snaps on offense. He's taken one hundred
and sixty two snaps on defense. Both of us thought

(30:58):
it'd be a lot easier to be a full time
defender and a part time receiver. The Jaguars that have
done this the opposite way. Now, there's been some issues
with the Jaguars in their passing game in general this year.
Hunter does lead them in receptions with twenty eight two
hundred ninety eight yards in a touchdown, but they seem
to be struggling to figure out how they want to
use him as a receiver. Brian Thomas Junior the same way,
who has not had a good second year, but he's

(31:21):
on the field a lot.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
He's making an impact, but I still.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Feel like the Jaguars are feeling out how to best
utilize his skill set on both sides.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
Well, they better figure it out soon. I mean, they
gave away a ton of draft capital to move up
what three spots to select this guy. I think you're
doing a disservice to him by spreading him out so much.
I always liked him as a receiver. Develop him as
a receiver, put him in dying packages on occasion. Let
them develop at one position and take it from there.

(31:51):
You know, they said from the beginning, we're gonna use
him on both sides of the ball. I know, was
his selling point or not? I mean, I think Lawrence
he's not developed the way many of us thought he would.
He looked good early in his career, he kind of seen.
It's been a bit of a rocky ride for Trevor Lawrence.
You know, all those snaps on defense, just leave them

(32:14):
a receiver, let them develop a receiver, occasionally put them
on defense. You know, you got to develop a team here.
They're not a winning organization. And I don't think you know,
fans made like seeing Trevors Hunter on both sides of
the ball. I don't think it's good. I don't think
it's good for the Jaguars.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
All right, Tony, Let's jump to the offensive line now,
and surprisingly, I feel like the tackles have been better
than the guards so far. I know the tackles are
drafted higher, but usually that's a tougher position to play.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
But you look at some of the highest drafted tackles.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Tony, Will Campbell's been good, Armont Membo has been good,
Calvin Banz has been good. Those are three hits there
in the first round of the offensive tackle position. And
by the way, I think the Cowboys are pretty pretty
happy with Booker Reguard as well, even though he's had
some injury issues.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
They are now. Campbell started off very rocky. He didn't
have a good preseason. Early on in the season he
did not too well. He's really starting to turn it on,
as are the Patriots. And you know, we knew going
in you want to develop Drake May, you better get
a blindside tackle to protect him. The better Will Campbell
has played, the better Drake May has played. I mean

(33:19):
Drake May playing lights out because he's able to stand
up right. And Will Campbell, as he's developed and gotten
better and better and better, has been a big factor
in that. Armand Membo he's a little bit up and down.
That first week against Pittsburgh, I was like, Wow, he
was just destroying everybody on the opposite side. Of the
line that Pittsburgh put in front of him. He's had

(33:40):
a three problems with the penalties off illegal motion things
like that. Overall, though, I think the Jets have got
to be happy with him. And then Kelvin Banks. I mean,
we talked about it before. How many times have the
New Orleans Saints selected an offensive lineman early in the draft.
They keep doing it. It looks like they hit with
Kelvin Banks again at the all important left tackle position.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
I agree. How about the interior guys, Tony, who have
you liked so far?

Speaker 3 (34:06):
I think Gray's Abel's done well. You look at its
overall game, you look at the fact that they're really
struggling on the interior of that offensive line in Seattle,
I think he's done very well. Tate Ratledge of Detroit
has had his moments. He's definitely a Dan Campbell type
of offensive lineman. I think Donovan Jackson, who's been a
week since a starter since week one, has also done

(34:27):
relatively well in the Vikings offense that's been up and down.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
Agree.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
Don't forget Moody's is a crowd part of the New
York Giants, uniting the brightest minds that turn Today's riskinst
Tomorrow's opportunities. Learn more at Moodies dot com. All right,
let's go to the defensive front here, Tony. These are
guys that play up on the line of scrimmage, and
we've had some really good players get drafted and I
think have done a pretty good job. I think this
the early returns on those rookie class Tony have overall
been pretty positive. Let's start with the two guys inside

(34:54):
you want to focus on. Mason Graham has thirteen pressures
this year, coring the Pro Football Focus. He's done a
nice job for Cleveland. And then Jeroi Calmwell, who both
of us liked as a.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Mid round pick.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
He's been fantastic because both the run stopper and a
pass rusher for the Chargers.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
All Well had the size, he had, the athleticism, he had,
the quickness. I questioned his play strength. That seems to
have worked itself out, and I think the Chargers really
got to steal with this guy because he's elevated his
game from the college level. He's got great size, he
plays with leverage, and he's really starting to put it together.
Mason Graham has been a consistent horse, really since Week one.

(35:31):
He's not dominant, but I think he's got good returns
to the fact that you look at the overall picture
with Cleveland. They were able to trade down get a
first round pick in next year's draft, and still take
Mason Graham, who's having an impact on the defensive line.
I think that's a major win for Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (35:46):
I still wonder if they could have traded down again
from that spot Tony and got even more picks, But
Mason Graham is a good player, so you can't argue
with that. The two edge players I believe though the
first two edge players taken, if I'm not mistaken correct,
Abdul Clarter obviously number three to the Giants, almost double
the number of pressures of any other rookie, only a
half the sack, which is disappointed Tony, but you know

(36:08):
Saxson coming bunches. It doesn't necessarily, you know, define how
well you're playing. He's certainly been in the backfield a lot.
He's a good game last week. He consistently leads the
Giants and pressures, or at least he does from week
to week. Brian Burns also having a really good year,
so it is Keevon Thibadeau and then Mike Gott Williams
a very different type of edge player for the forty
nine ers, he was slow going as a pass rusher.

(36:29):
This year, he's been good against the run all year round,
which is what we thought he was going to be
with his size in his length. But he's coming on
as a pass rusher too. Is the Niners down need
him too with all their injuries they have on defense.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
Well, it's funny you say that because Michael Williams is
getting the opportunity because of the injuries and he moves
into the starting row where Abdul Carter is really rotated
in that three man rotation and is not a consistent starter.
And that may be good for Ablul Carter keeps some pressure,
doesn't put all the pressure on his shoulders, and allows
him to develop his game. But I mean, both of
these guys I think have come in and helped, especially Williams,

(37:03):
as you said, with all the injuries, and I think
Williams I'm happy because I think he was unrefined and
there was more upside than there was say production on
the college level as opposed to Carter. But he's starting
to put the pedal to the metal now and he's
turning that great athleticism and that great potential into production

(37:23):
and into productive play.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
And I want to mention a couple other guys told
me that you didn't have hear that. I want to
bring up.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
I think Donovan Azaraku one of my guys coming out.
I think he's done a nice job for the Cowboys.
He has seventeen pressures and nine quarterback sets, which is
the most quarterback hits of any rookie and the second
most pressures after Abdul Carter. And he's had seventy fewer
pass rush snaps than Michael Williams. He's done it in
fewer snaps, but he's been pretty productive for what otherwise
has just been a.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
Terrible Cowboys defense.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
And then the Falcons, I think their defense, even though
they didn't do two well last week, for the most
part this year, they've done a pretty good job. And
I think they got to be pretty happy with a
Jalen Walker and James Pierce has given them member. They
traded up for Pierce back into the first round to
pick him, they picked Walker as well. I think they
have to be pretty happy with what they've gotten out
of those two guys.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
Walker I believe is now dealing with an injury. Yeah,
so we'll see what happens with that moving forward. And
the Cowboys you're gonna need as a rock. What do
you mean if they have any whatever hope they have
of making the playoffs, they need help on the defensive line.
So maybe he gets more snaps now unless they make
a trade before the deadline.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
All right, off ball linebackers, Tony and two guys have
really jumped off the tape. And then I'll let you
hit on the other two you want to talk about too.
But Carson Sweesssinger. This Brown's draft class, by the way,
despite the fact that the quarterback situation is extremely messy,
it's gonna be a pretty good draft class. We already
talked this is the third round that we're talking about.
We talked about Quinn Jahn Jenkins, we talked about Mason Graham. Well,
here's their third pick in this draft, and that's Carson Swesssinger,

(38:49):
who's been phenomenal. He's been all over the place. His
play strength has been better than what I thought it
was gonna be. And then Jihad Campbell for Philadelphia. The
Kobe Dean missed earlier in the year, so he was
an in linebacker ness.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
The Zach Bawn.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Now that Dean is back, they're putting him on the
edge with all the injuries the Eels have had. On
the edge he's played while there, he covers, he stops
the run, he rushes the passer. Both those two guys
I think have been fantastic.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
Well, actually, Swassengers the fourth round we talked about because
you forget Harold's fanning.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
Oh I forgot about.

Speaker 3 (39:18):
And junk and so I wrote an article right before
the season about how in love the Browns were with
Carson Swessenger and how people were talking. If he stays healthy,
he could be the defensive rookie of the year. And
literally through the first eight games, he's played better than that.
He's been more consistent, played better than any rookie in
the defensive rookie that was selected in the twenty twenty

(39:41):
five draft. Now we suffered a high ankle screen. We'll
see how much time he misses or how he does,
But as far as I'm concerned, he was. He's the
best off wall linebacker we've seen this this year from
the rookie class, no doubt about it. You can cover
the pass. Tackle numbers are off the charts. I hope
gets back on the field soon. As far as Jahid

(40:03):
Campbell's concern, it's kind of been up and down recently.
We'll see what happens. But I mean credit to Howie Roseman,
and I know Giant fans don't want to hear that,
but there was a lot of injury concerns, a lot
of red flags with Jahat Campbell. Harry rose said the
hell with it, and he's done this before with Alabama kids.
You remember Landon Dickerson with all those knee injuries. People

(40:23):
thought he was gonna fall. Roseman took him in a
second round. It's worked out well. He takes Johid Campbell,
moved up a spot to get Jahide Campbell actually wanted
to move up even further to ensure or that he
gets Johad Campbell. And Campbell has been what we all
expected him to be be. But he's been healthy and
that was the big question about him. As far as
the other two guys, Teddy Buchanan out of Baltimore, the

(40:48):
guy who came from Cal big fierce pursuit linebacker, goes
sideline to sideline, a ton of tackles this year and
Barrett Carter Cincinnati. The Bengals actually have two rookie linebackers,
but Harder has played so well that some of the
veterans are now asking to be.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
Traded Logan Wilson because.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
They're not going to get their jobs back as he's
been a consistent starter and he's got great upset. And
we knew this about Barret Carter. I mean, Barreck Carter
coming into the twenty twenty four season, we thought he
was gonna be a first round pick. He did not
play well as senior season at Clemson, fell in the draft.
But if you go back and you watch him as
a sophomore in the junior at Clemson, he had first

(41:28):
round potential. He's playing like a top linebacker now.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Yeah, no question about it.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
All Right, let's go to the defensive back to here,
Tony and Trey Amos has been probably the best secondary
player on Washington teams this year. Their safeties had been rough.
Marshaun Lattimore has been rough. They whipped on the Emmanuel
Forbes that two years ago.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
Now right and years ago, but yeah, whatever, it was.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
No, I think yeah, and then Trails has been great.
I mean he's been starting outside for them. He's big,
he's fifth goal, and I think he's going to be
a good man cover corner for Washington for for quite
a while.

Speaker 3 (42:06):
The thing about Amos that you gotta like is the
consistent development. I mean, going back to his college years
at Louisiana, then at Alabama, then at Mississippi, and now Washington.
He seems to get better and better and better. And
he's got great size. He's got outstanding length. As we
talked about in the lead up to the draft, he's
one of those cornerbacks that does a great job getting

(42:28):
his head back around and making plays with his back
to the ball, and he's transitioned that and he wasn't
a first round pick, so you know, dan Quinn's got
to be loving what he sees from. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
Two other corners, Tony will Johnson again he had some
injury issues, but he's back now he's playing outside and
starting for Arizona. And then Jacob Parrish in the slot
for Tampa Bay has been their slot corner all year long,
and he's done a really nice job in a secondary
that otherwise has been pretty banged up.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Been an outstanding nickel corner for him again, you mentioned
Cleveland with the four guys. Tampa a guy has had
a real good dud as of getting a lot of
productivity from their draft class. I don't know that Parish
is going to be anything other than a nickel in
his NFL career, but they are, you know, just as
important as you're outside corners. He's done terrific and Will
Johnson Listen, Will Johnson did not play well in twenty

(43:17):
twenty four. There were injury issues, but you go back
in his during his early Michigan career, he looked like
a first round corner and when he's healthy and he's
on the field, he is a terrific shutdown cornerback. It's
just a matter of can't he stay healthy or are
those injury flags that pushed him out of the first
round you know, going to rear their ugly head throughout

(43:38):
his career.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
All right, now, let's touch on the safeties.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Tony Andrew mcoba has basically been a starter for Philly
all year long.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
He's had some flash plays.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
He had some rough moments a couple weeks ago against
the Giants two, but he certainly is shown to be
a playmaker. Jonas Sanker has been fantastic. When I was
preparing for the Giants Saints game earlier this year, I
thought he played was playing really good football. And you
have marked down here smart and Steady. Well, he's a
big plays, he has a couple of picks. He plays
plays on the football, playing tight ends man on man.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
He's done a nice job.

Speaker 2 (44:05):
And then Xavier Watts again, he's been starring for the
Falcons at safety. They have a young defense that's played
pretty well this year, and I think he's been very,
very solid, which to me is not a surprise. I
thought he should have been a second round pick. He dropped,
and I think the Falcons got great value with him.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
Yeah. Absolutely good to mccooba. I mean, the Eagles have
needed his safety for the longest time. They get when
mccouba was what a third round pick, so they get
a start. He's safety in the third round. And you
know he was good in Texas. He's better than Philadelphia Sanker.
What reason I said smart insteady is he didn't have
great testing numbers. You know, he wasn't a guy who
tested off the George prior to the draft. We saw

(44:40):
him at the Senior Bowl. He was really good at
the senior ball has really transitioned that those instincts and
that consistency into the NFL, and wats is what he is.
I mean, he's just a tough, consistent not a guy
that is going to wow anybody with his athleticism, but
he's just out there in every down making positive plays.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
All right, Tony, So I want to wrap this up
here by saying this, and I want you to remind
me of this when we're doing shows in February in
the beginning of March. Don't care so much about combine numbers.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
You know.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
You look at some of these guys here that have
played the best football Tony. Donovan Azeraku he did not
test out of the to test crazy. Mason Graham did
not test crazy. Michael Williams did not test crazy. You
look at the wide receivers and wasn't a great tester.
Ted McMillan wasn't a great tester. E look, Iomanner was
not a great tester. Tes Johnson was a terrible tester,

(45:35):
all right. You look at and with Cam Scattabo not
a great tester. Quin John Jenkins was fine. He didn't
test off the charts. So you look at some of
these guys, well, Johnson not a great tester. Some of
these guys that did not test great, they're just good
football players. Worry about the tape. Let what happens at
the combine. Inform what you saw on tape. But always

(45:56):
go back to that type of football players these guys are,
because that really is the most important thing. And you're
seeing the guys that are succeeding early are the guys
that played the best football in college, not necessarily the
guys that tested the best.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Go back to the North sellers at the top. Some
people are absolutely in love with his receiver, Nick Harber,
the six foot five track and field sprinter. But when
you watch Nick Harbor South Carolina, he's attractive field guy
struggling and become a football player, struggling and become a receiver.
That's your perfect example there. And I think the other
problem with the combine guys are the guys who test

(46:29):
off the charts, put up the Olympian numbers is you know,
sometimes it's the teams that's the coaches. They'll see a
guy who's six for four, two hundred and forty five pounds,
he runs in the low four fives. He's a linebacker.
They say, we're gonna turn this guy, We're gonna coach
this guy to be a football player. And he doesn't
have the instincts of a Jonah Sanker. You know, he's
not the steady player of a Macuba or a Carson Swessinger.

(46:53):
So yeah, it's the film, like you said, and more
times than not, it's what goes on between the ears.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Yeah, and look, you're always gonna have thresholds.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
But look, even look at Kamari Lassiter, Tony, he were
almost a four to six as a corner and he's
been playing great football. Tess Johnson almost ran a four
to six as one hundred and sixty pound wide receiver.
He's productive. So look, you don't want to draft exceptions,
but again, worry about how good foot. If the guys
are going to football player, he's gonna figure out a

(47:22):
way to succeed more likely than not. All right, let's
look ahead to this week, Tony, and let's start here
a game that at the beginning of September we thought
could determine who's gonna win the Big Ten and potentially
get to the college football playoffs, Ohio State and Penn State.
The luster's off that matchup a little bit, but it's
still an interesting game with a lot of prospects on the.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
Lines of scrimmage. And we've talked about the Ohio State
defensive line a couple of times. Guys like Kenetta Jackson,
Caden McDonald, Cayden Curry. Their senior pass rusher. This year's
sort of Jack Sawyer type. Those guys are developing at
a quick, quick clip, and they've really helped their draft stock.
You look at Penn State. We talked about la vega
Ione last week with Mike Runner. Keep an eye on him,

(48:03):
the inside guard. He's a big, strong, tough guy. How
is he going to match up against Cayden McDonald of
Ohio State who's having a great year. They're left tackle
Drew Shelton against KENYAA. Jackson of Ohio State. Shelton was
an athletic guy. He blocks with great fundamentals. He just
hasn't shown that wow factor yet. Took over for for
Shanu and has done a solid but not a great job.

(48:26):
And they got a nice little center there in the middle,
Nick Dawkins again, watch him against Caiden McDonald. You look
at the Ohio State guys, Kenyetta Jackson, and Caiden McDonald
the day two picks if they if they entered the draft.
Drew Shelton has Day two ability. He's probably fallen out
ione if he talked to Mike rennerd We've watched the
show with Mike Renold last year. He had him as
a top fifty pick. I think he's more fourth round

(48:49):
type area. But they're all NFL prospects. All right.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
Let's go on to USC Nebraska, a classic Big Ten
matchup Tony that everyone looks forward to every year. But
USC has a couple of wide receivers. Makayle Lemon's been
good this year. I think he concussion two weeks ago
or something like that, but I think he's back. I
think he's a little bit of an injury, but he's
been great this year. And then Nebraska has some dbs
you're excited about.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Well, the USC, he's got two receivers, Makayle Lemon, who's
the quick downfield threat, and Kobe Lane, who's the bigger
position type receiver. And you know, Nebraska doesn't have a
great roster. They don't have a lot of guys that
our Day three picks, never mind Day one or Day
two picks. They've got some dbs to keep an eye on.
Sierra Wright, who last year against USC had a career

(49:33):
game against the Trojans. He actually transferred to Nebraska from USC.
He's a guy that some people like. In the middle
of Day three, you gotta watch him. Watch him. He's
good in press coverage, but when he plays backed off
the line or he's got to give a cushion in zone,
he kind of struggles. So that's going to be interesting,
especially if he's going up against mkayle Lemon. Malcolm Hertzog

(49:54):
the other corner is a solid player. And Deshaun Singleton,
who first they thought he was gonna enter the draft,
he was actually got an invite to the Shrineball. He's
your typical downhill, take your head off type of run
defending safety who's good in coverage between the numbers.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
All right.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
And finally Virginia, who by the way, escaped by the
skin of their teeth last week against North Carolina and overtime.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
They're taking on cow and that was.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
A week after they beat Washington State in the last
a couple of seconds. If you if you remember two
weeks ago of Virginia is a great story you consider
where that program was a couple of years ago with
that tragedy. They're one of the best teams in the ACC.
They're playing great football. They've got the third best rushing attack,
uh in the ACC. Watch the cow linebacker Kate Oluvier.

(50:41):
I would have bout him at sports in a couple
of weeks ago. You know, we talked about some of
the top rookie linebackers. Teddy Buchanan, who's also from cal
Barrett carter Yula Leavy is just like that. He is
a smaller but fierce, lays like his hair's on fire,
pursuit sideline to sidelineline backer who really seems to enjoy

(51:02):
contact and really goes after the ball carriers. Going up
against Virginia's running attacks, it's going to be a big
challenge for him.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Everybody, thank you so much for being with us.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
That's a little time we have for draft season, presented
by Moody is a proud partner of the New York Giants.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Tony, you got anything going on you want to let
people know about?

Speaker 3 (51:18):
No, I mean risers and sliders and uh, just a
lot of watching college football.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
And make sure you follow Tony on Twitter. He gives
all his great insights on there as well.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
For Tony Pauline, I' John Schmuck from the Hackensacker Money
Health podcast udio Keep getting Better, don't forget. You can
find Draft Season on your favorite podcast platform if you
prefer video, I mean, who wouldn't want to stare at
these two handsome bald men talk about college football and
the draft. You can find us on YouTube and giants
dot Com at the Giants app as well. For Tony Pauline,
I have Josh Weelk will be back next week with
another additional Draft season. We'll see you that