December 18, 2024 • 42 mins
John Schmeelk and Tony Pauline discuss the Heisman Trophy nominees and winner, talk about the underclassmen who are declaring for the NFL Draft, and preview the College Football Playoff.
:00 - Heisman Trophy
8:47 - Players returning to school
18:33 - Recent declarations for the draft
30:32 - College football playoff
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Draft. It is now officially open. This is Draft Season
presented by Moody's. Hello everybody, I am JOHNS. Shpell, joined
by as always Tony Pauline from sports Kita. Tony, we
are to the end of the regular season of college football.
(00:23):
It is bowl time. It is playoff time.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Absolutely is a few bowl games already already done and
completed this past weekend. And you know, the first round
of the college football playoffs coming up this coming weekend
should be exciting. We'll get into those games a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Absolutely. Draft Season is presented by Moodies. As I mentioned,
Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity. Learn more at Moody's dot com.
All right, Tony, we'll do first things first. We have
a lot of dexclarations. We have our college football preview.
But first let's start with the big college football news
over the weekend. That was the Heisman Trophy, which was
one of the close first place vote contests in quite
(01:04):
a long time, and it goes to Travis Hunter who
just eats it out over Ashton Genty, who could both
be potential Top ten picks this year.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Now, well, I would have voted for Ashton Genty. I
thought he deserved it. It's understandable why Travis Hunter won
the award. He got most of the headlines. Plays offense,
plays defense, also plays on the team that you know
plays afternoon football on Saturday, plays early games, you know,
seven thirty games, where Boise State is usually starting nine
(01:36):
to ten o'clock at night. So I think the wider
Eastern voters did not get to see Ashton Genty. Both
guys are going to be top ten picks. I liked
Ashton Genty because Travis Hunter is a phenomenal player. But
I think even if you take Travis Hunter off the
Colorado team, they're still a very good team. They still
(01:56):
have three other outstanding receivers for Shad or Sanders to
throw the ball to. Maybe they lose a little bit
on defense, but they're still an eight to nine win team.
I think if you take Ashton Genty off of Boise State,
there's no way they're getting a buy in the first
round of the college football players. They may not even
make the college football playoffs if Ashton Genty's not on
(02:18):
that team. So I think that Ashton Genty just meant
more to Boise State than Travis Hunter meant to Colorado.
That's not to demean Hunter. That just shows the sort
of impact that Genty had him. Remember, I mean he
had a great game against the number one team in
the nation Oregon. Boise State only lost that game by
(02:40):
three points.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Now, I'm with you one hundred percent. I think I
would have voted for Genty two better team plays for
a better team, you know, as a buy in the
college football playoffs. And I think it's all about how
much do you want to credit Hunter for being a
two way player, right, because I think Genty's probably a
better player at what he does, but he doesn't do
(03:01):
as much as Travis Hunter does. Like this, from a
draft perspective, there's no doubt Genty's the top running back
in the draft. If Travis Hunter was just a wide receiver,
I don't think I would pick him over Ted McMillan.
I don't know about you, Tony. I'm not sure I would.
I probably would make him my top corner over Will Johnson.
I think that's a closer conversation that we can have
over the next few months, and I'm sure we will.
(03:23):
But I think it's just a matter of how much
you want to boost him because he plays two positions.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, you bring up. You may bring up a good point.
I mean, the difference between Ashton Genty and the next
cornerback all it's going to be selected in a draft,
whether it be a Marion Hampton of North Carolina whoever,
is almost a full round.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, next running back.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Okay, when you look at Travis Hunter compared to the
next receiver, it's a few picks. Travis Hunter next to
the next cornerback, it's a few picks. But I think
that it was Travis Hunter twenty four to seven throughout
the entire college football season, and for those voters who
(04:04):
were not dedicated to college football watchers didn't stay up
and really followed Travis follow Ashton Genty. I think that
heard him. I think it also hurt him the fact that,
you know, the Big twelve is not a great defensive conference,
but it is still a better defensive conference than the
Utah States of the world, the unlvs of the world,
the Colorado States of the world, who Ashton Genty was
(04:26):
playing against week after week. Listen, I love Ashton Genty
as an NFL prospect. People kind of downgrade the running
back position as we've seen. I think there is no
reason this guy should not be a top ten pick. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think especially in this year's draft class, right, Tony,
where you don't have you know, dominant players at dominant
positions like you had last year, right with all the
offensive tackles, with all the wide receivers guys like that.
You don't have guys at those premium spots this year.
So I would be more than William this year to
move genty up board, especially if you're a team that
you feel like you have a pretty good offense in
(05:03):
place so already. And then the way I've kind of
come around these running backs, Tony, is that running back
is something that you want to add to an already
burning fire fire. It's kind of like lighter fluid, right,
If you have lighter fluid, you throw it on some wood,
but there's no flame, it's not going to do anything.
But if you already got something cooking and it's going well,
you throw the running back on like Darrek Henry with
the Ravens, Gosh Jacobs with the Packers, Saquon Barkley with
(05:26):
the Eagles. Then the flame blows up into rupts, right,
and you're really rolling. So I think if you have
an offense, like if you're the Bears, for example, Right,
you've got Caleb Williams, you got a couple of really
good wide receivers. Now, I think they need to address
their offensive line. But just in terms of skilled position guys,
you throw a running back into that mix, I think
it kind of makes everything else better.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Or even the Dallas Cowboys, I mean, for that matter's
got a decent offensive line. I think that, especially with
the questions at the quarterback position, the quarterbacks, you're going
to be overdrafted. But I think Ashton Genty as a
running back and as a prospect, is a pretty safe pick.
I think that he can fit a variety of systems.
I think you can you know, he's a guy who
(06:06):
can turn the perimeter, run on the inside, good pass catcher.
So he's a pretty safe pick, which he often don't
find that they're running back position.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
And I stole that lighter fluid analogy from Robert May's
over with the athletics, So I have to give Robert
credit for that, But I've always kind of felt that way.
You don't want to start the running back, you want
to end with the running back, and kind of and
then he's kind of super charges what you already have so,
And by the way, I think we both think Travis
Hunter will get picked before Ashton gend He's a great
fal and he's going to be a really good pro.
We're not trying to downgrade Travis Hunter here. He's fantastic
(06:39):
and I'm still leaning towards Tony wherever he winds up.
If he wants to play both ways, there's no way
you can do both. I've talked to you guys in
the Giants locker room here off the record, just say
do you think that's possible? Guys, could you play both?
And they all kind of laughed, like there's no chance
in hell. That guy is a full time player on
two sides in the NFL. So there's a lot of
reasons for that. You know, the meetings are all at
(07:01):
the same time. You can't learn both spots, you can't
practice at the same time to both spots. But just
you know, you can't really be a full time wide
receiver and a part time corner. I think you can
be a part time wide receiver and a full time
corner though. So if I was drafting Hunter, my plan
for him would be put him at corner, let him
(07:22):
be in every down. Corner and then find the fifteen
to twenty most important offensive plays every week that you
want him on the field. Maybe you have some custom
design stuff for him that you want him involved in.
That's when you put him out there for offense.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Even fifteen to twenty plays is gonna be you know,
it's a lot, pretty tool, pretty tall order. You just
better be, you know, pretty firm that his ball skills
are established and there's gonna be no breakdowns because while
I agree with you, a mishap or a mental lapse
or you know, just just something where he misses an
(07:55):
assignment or doesn't transition well can lead to big play
for the opponents when he's in the defensive backfield versus
the receiver. It's gonna be an interesting debate moving forward.
I think it could be a situation. We talk about
left tackles here all the time. Do they project to guard?
And I always feel if a guy's got, you know,
(08:18):
decent arm length, even if it's a little bit shorter,
put him at left tackle until he proves he can't
play left tackle, then maybe move him inside. It may
be that sort of situation with Travis Hunter for a
team that wants him at cornerback, We're gonna put him
at cornerback until he proves that he can't be a
you know, a number one or number two cornerback out
on the flanks, and if need be, well, then flipping
(08:38):
the receiver.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
That's THEO. Look, cornerbacks fail going into the pros. It's great.
I think what adds to is dialing. Right, So if
you get at the year two and you're like, oh,
this corner thing's not working out, you can just slide
him at receiver and you might still a really good
player on your hands. That's a good point.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Right now, I'll put him at receiver and then you
use them rather than a full time cornerback, maybe it's
a nickel or a dinback.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, absolutely, all right. So the other thing tracking now,
we'll get to the college football playoffs in a little bit. Now,
we're having all the underclassmen declare for the NFL. There
is a deadline here so if they want to participate
in college all star games. The soft deadline of January
sixth has been added to give players an opportunity to
submit their petitions for special eligibility to the league sooner
(09:19):
and initial list of names will we released. NFL teams
in the public on January seventh. Players will have until
January ninth to revoke their submission. The traditional hard deadline
from their classmen to submit a petition to the league
is January fifteenth. A list of names will we release
the NFL teams in the public on January twenty On
January sixteenth, players will have until January eighteenth to revoke
(09:39):
that submission. So there's also a special championship deadline of
January twenty fourth exclusively for the teams that are participating
in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and those
players will have until January twenty seventh to revoke their submission.
So it's kind of three different deadlines here for those
that are in the Shrine and Senior Bowl, those that
are in those that are in the championship game of
(10:01):
the College Football Playoffs. So these things are coming Tony,
You're in the know, You're talking to a lot of
agents and such. How is this process going for players
this year as they make this determination as to whether
or not they're going to come out in the draft,
with the College Football Playoffs, the All Star games, with
all the other class and being eligible and knowing they've
been eligible since the summer. How's this process kind of
playing itself out this year.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Well, the only variable in the process are the nil deals.
You know, I will talk about that with some of
the players that have decided to stay. I mean, that
is the variable that teams and agents don't know about
because players who were on the fence, players who are
even more leaning towards entering the draft. If all of
(10:43):
a sudden, the school comes back with a massive nil deal.
There is one player who's supposed to go to the
Shrine game who I know his team is as college
is offering a million dollars to come back at a
very ordinary position. That is the You know that that
is the variable that can change whether a player is
going to enter or not enter the draft. The interesting
(11:07):
thing is, you know you talk about how there's that
three day period where the player can put his name
in to enter the draft and he's got three days
to pull it out. In the past, the player was
able to pull his name out of out of the
being eligible for the draft if he had not signed
with an agent. I don't know if they changed those rules,
because most of these guys have agents to negotiate their
(11:30):
nil deals, so that is an interesting variable. But the
thing that people don't know about is you know that
these guys you're leaning towards entering the draft, and the
school comes with a very large nil deal that could
sway the guy, that could sway a certain player to
come back. And I'm sure that's what happened with Jewel
are yes.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So let let's get to it. We'll talk out with
the players that declare it in a second. But two
quarterbacks Tony that we have been discussing as potential quarterbacks
coming out, maybe not first round picks, but for early
second rounders, late first rounders perhaps Jular Penn State and
garrennus Smeyer of LSU. Both those players, I think both
of us agree making the smart decision to go back
(12:09):
to school.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
And the interesting thing is I wrote an article at
sports Skida last month where everybody at Penn State was
saying that they expected a law to answer the draft.
He now turns around and he says he's staying that
was the right decision for him and Nussmayer, especially for
Alar because we expected so much from him after that
true freshman season where he looked like he was going
(12:32):
to be the next great quarterback prospects or one of
the next great quarterback prospects, and his game's kind of
leveled off. I mean, he's been up and down. He's
been very streaky. We saw that throughout the season. So
now he goes back and you know, you look towards
twenty twenty six where he will. Now, if he has
a good campaign in twenty twenty five, he's gonna find
(12:52):
to be probably be quarterback number one and a very
early pick if he's able to elevate his game, if
he's able to overcome the incomes assistencies that he's shown
really the past two years. And there are a lot
of inconsistencies there. I mean, at times I like to
say he looks like a world beater, and then he
looks like an egg beater. You're wonder where he's throwing
the ball. And it's also great for Penn State from
(13:13):
a college football point of view. You know, you look
at Oregon, the number one team in the nation. You
look how much talent they're going to lose at the
end of the season. You look at Ohio State, They're
going to be a completely different team in twenty twenty five.
So now Penn State, with Alar coming back and a
lot of other players coming back. Now all of a sudden,
right off the bat, they're the number one team of
the Big Ten, and in the preseason they're going to
(13:35):
be very highly rated. I also think for nas Meyer,
I mean, I was not big, I was not enough
Meyer Bandwagon. People were already projecting him as a first
round pick, and I think we both said we need
to see a larger body of work, so for him
to go back as well as a lat I think
they both made the right decision, especially in the year
where there are so many questions at the quarterback position,
(13:57):
and you know, except for maybe cam Ward and should
Do or Sanders, no one really established themselves as very
early picks, top ten picks in the draft, and even
those guys have questions.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, look and it says. I think both those guys
believe next year they could if they played better, beating
the first round picks right, and I think their best
borderline this year. What does this do overall? In your opinion,
Tony two, this year's draft classic quarterback? I think, you know,
we also think cam warden should or Sanders will probably
be the top two guys off the board and We're
still waiting on Jalen Milroe this year, what he decides
(14:30):
to do. And then you get into the you know,
Day two guys, Day three guys, the Carson Becks, we'll
see about quin yours. We'll see about Beck two right once,
what his injury situation is. With the college football playoffs,
We'll see Jackson Dark. You know, I think we all
expect he's gonna come out, but he's gonna be maybe
an early Day three pick. So how do you now
see this classic quarterback seeing who's coming and who's going,
(14:54):
and what do you think? Have you heard anything on
mill Roe? Just to kind of add to that conversation.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I would I'm thinking mil So. The belief is now
that Milroll is very likely to enter the draft about
fifty to fifty right now. Again, that Nio package could
sway him. I would be shocked if quinn Ewers goes
back to Texas. I think he is all in to
enter the draft. And I think that is the guy
who you know, we talked about this before with some
(15:21):
of our past guests. How these college football playoffs or
for an extended season where some of these players, if
they play lights out, that's what people are going to
remember and it could help their draft stock. I'm not
a big fan of really elevating a guy on a
game or two, but you know, a guy like Quen
you Weres, if he plays really well, you know, throughout
(15:43):
through the college football playoffs, he happens to lead Texas
into the finals. I think the fact that a law
and enus Meyer pulling out and a guy like Quin
you Weres, assuming he plays well, it's really going to
help his stock because you know, as we know, you
get into the late part of round one and then
a team that needs a quarterback, you know that didn't
(16:04):
take one at the early in the early part of
round one, early pick portion of the draft, they will
hop back into the late part of round one and
get that quarterback and Quinn viewers can be that guy.
As far as Carson Beck's concerned, you know, you touched
on something we don't know about that elbow injury. I
talked to a couple of people who think that he
could be really bad. So Carson Beck with the elbow injury,
(16:27):
with what is a terrible season, I mean, there's no
way the guy's gonna go top top forty five. He
could do a hot we could fall out the second
round after the season he had. Now he's got the
elbow injury, so he's got a decision to make as well.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, and we'll see how that works out and what
that top of the draft class is. And neither one
of those quarterbacks, cam Warder Shore Sanders are in the
college football playoffs. Shore Sanders says he will play in
Colorado's bowl game, so that'll be interesting to see. And
cam Ward I believe he was also going to play
a Miami's ball game.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Correct, I believe so. And I actually it's funny you
mentioned that because I wrote a story about that at
Sports Skeeter, and the basis of the story is, you're
probably gonna see a lot less opt outs in this
year's ball games because you remember in the past, it
used to be your early picks that would opt out,
and then the past couple of years, guys who were
(17:19):
seventh round picks were opting out of bowl games because
they wanted to prepare for the draft, and the rosters
for those ball games were completely reshaped. The article I
had at Sports Sketa center on the fact that a
lot of these nil deals they end on December thirty,
first the last payment to these guys, to these players
(17:40):
is in late December, and that last payment is usually
the largest payment. So in order for the a lot
of these players to get that last check, that last
nil check for the contract that they signed, they have
to play in the ball game.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I love that, Tony. That's great. I did not know
that was the case. That's great insight from you. It's funny.
I'm planning a renovation on the basement. I have a
friend that works in contraary. He said, John, here's what
you do. Make sure you never pay everything up front. Yeah,
you've a decent amount of the payment until after the
work is done, to make sure everything is done to
your satisfaction. That's how you make sure you get everything
you want out of the deal. It's the exact same conversation,
(18:18):
which is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And again go back to the article I wrote. It's
you know, a lot of these checks are twenty to
fifty thousand dollars to basically play one or two games
in December. You know, that first week in December. Maybe
if your team's in the conference championship game, that's the
second game, but the ball game, so they're really not
playing that much football in the month of December for
what ends up to be their biggest paycheck of the
(18:42):
college football season.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That's funny. All right, Let's go through some of the
guys that have declared. Tony Travis Hunter, the wide receiver
corner out of Colorado. He said he's coming out. We
already talked about him. Don't need to do that anymore
if you do. Jugal Aali, who's the transfer from Clemson
now Florida State quarterback coming out day three, the party
free agent. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I mean, I understand why he came out. You might
as well see where your football career is gonna go
at this point. I mean, remember Ugulele he played those
two games for Trevor Lawrence in twenty twenty when he
was a freshman because Trevor Lawrence had tested positive for COVID.
This was during the COVID season, and it was like wow,
I mean, Clemson is not going to miss a beat
going from Trevor Lawrence to Uguileley. Trevor Lawrence becomes the
(19:27):
first pick of the draft. Everyone's expecting a lot from Uguleley.
It was a dog, it was a doug for two
years of Clemson. He goes to Oregon State. You know,
he shows some good things. He transfers back, he transfers
to Florida State. I'm sure he wants to get his
revenge against Clemson. It's been a disaster. He's a disaster
for Ugulele. He's been a disaster for Florida State. He's
got nothing to lose. I think he's got more to
(19:48):
lose going back to college because if he doesn't turn
it around, he could go and be undrafted. He's got
a lot of physical skills, there's just a lot of
staring down the primary target, some accuracy issue.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Then you have Iowa running back Caleb Johnson coming out.
He's really climbed. I think a lot of the running
back ratings and it's gonna be a fierce competition. I
think for who the second running back in this class
is gonna be a lot of really good players. Another
one's gonna be up in this segment a little bit
later on, what do you think of Caleb Johnson? I
know it took you a little while to warm to him.
(20:20):
What are you hearing on the street about him? And
could he be the second running back off the board?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Possibly again? Marrion happening. There's a couple of other names there,
but he's I think he's gonna be a second round pick.
He's an explosive back. You know, a lot of these
iore running backs that have come out in the past
are basically straight line backs. But you watch Johnson. He's
fast as explosive. He's also got some jiggle. He's got
some wiggle in his running. He can make defenders miss
on the inside. He's got the speed to hit the
(20:46):
home run. Had a terrific campaign I'm hearing right now.
Will battle with the rest of the guy with the
other second tier running backs after Ashton genty to be
the second running back selected. Unlikely he gets out of
the top sixty.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Any chance the second running back goes at the end
of the first round, Tony, you think, because it's so deep,
teams are gonna wait.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I think there's an opportunity. I mean, you know, you
get into those late picks in round one. As we've
seen in the past San Francisco last year with the
receiver from from Florida. You know, strange things can happen.
So it wouldn't shock me if in those last five
to six picks where we sit right now, a second
running back goes in the first round after Ashton Genty.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
The other running back that declared is Ali Gordon, the
running back out of Oklahoma State. He's a guy that
know some people had in their top three or top
four before the year. I haven't heard much as much
hype on him over the course of the year. I
watched him in the summer a getting ready for the year,
and nothing really jumped out of me. He didn't seem
all that explosive to me. What you heard about Gordon
(21:47):
on the streets comes off. It comes off coming off
a bad season. Maybe third round, more likely early fourth round.
Had some very productive seasons at Oklahoma State, who had
a terrible campaign year.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
The thing about Gordon is he's got some He's got
a good burst, he's got some quickness. Runs with a
very upright style, which is not good for a running
back yep, because because that leads to a lot of
big hits, potential fumbles. He's gonna have to change his
running style. You're gonna have to be comfortable with that
running style. If you take him within the first one
hundred picks. I think right now you're looking at more
(22:23):
fourth round area.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And you could be upright if you're Dereck Henry because
he weigh two hundred and fifty pounds, but not if
you're Allie Gordon. A little bit different. All right, let's
go to Dion Walker. Tony he's a guy. Preseason I
thought he could be a top ten, top fifteen pick.
Now people were talking more second round for him. But
with his size and athleticism, why do you think people
have cool on him a little bit as part of
the Kentucky defense that actually has done a pretty dark
(22:46):
good job this year.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, I mean, he is a big guy. I understand why.
I think it's a good move that he came out.
I think the conditioning, the fact that he kind of
wears down over the course of games is a concern.
You know, people on paper, they think that these three
hundred and fifty three hundred and sixty pounds players or
you know, they don't grow on trees, doesn't always translate
(23:08):
well to the next level. So he's going to have
to get that weight down. I think, if you know,
if he's focused on football, there's gonna be a lot
of intense questioning at the combine about that. How dedicated
is he to off the field off season training. If
a team is comfortable with that, I could see him
jumping into the back end of round one because of
what you said. He's not just a big guy that
(23:29):
takes up space and occupies blockers. I mean, he makes
plays on the ball. He's got a burst, he's got
a closing burst, he can rush the passer. But the
overall size is a bit of a concern right now.
That's going to have to be answered by him in
the postseason.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, we saw dev Andre Sweat last year. He had
some off the field stuff that obviously Dean Walker does not,
but similar size and athleticism profile to Walker, and he
was picked in the second round. So without the off
field stuff, I could easily see Walker surpassing that, especially
in a draft class that's so polarizing. Guys just don't
grow on trees under that big and Sweat is having
(24:06):
a pretty dark good rookie year.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
He's played well, sure, and he was a good player
in Texas, but the but the issue was I mean,
he was reportedly close to three hundred and ninety pounds
at the senior ball. I think he got it down
to just under three seventy at the combine and you
know you're gonna have to be comfortable with the guy
that big. You know that he's not going to go
into balloon over four hundred pounds. You know, we're here
(24:28):
in New York. We remember what with McKay Beckton granted
the other side of the ball, but after his rookie
year he was upwards of four hundred and fifteen pounds.
It has never been the same player. You've got to
be comfortable that that guy is going to be go opposite,
gonna lose weight, gonna get a little bit smaller rather
than balloon up, which would just ruin his football career.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Will Campbell the offensive attack of LSU coming out of
Tony first offensive limen off the board. You think right
now or do you think guy like Kelvin Banks might
go ahead of him?
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I still think it's gonna be Will Campbell. Obviously, people
talked about his arm length. If it's you know, thirty
three and a half or over, people be comfortable with
him at left tackle. He's been up and down. I
think early in the season he was a little bit soft.
He turned it on late in the year. I mean,
you could say he's the best pure left tackle in
this year's draft class. Kelvin Banks is very good. Kelvin
(25:18):
Banks is better blocking in motion. But Will Johnson got
better size, he got better length, He's got better growth potential.
I do think he'll be the first offensive tackle taken
unless people are turned off by his early season film,
where to me, he just played a little bit soft.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
All right. There we are three Michigan players. Tony Colson
Loveland the tight end, Bason Graham the all world defensive
tackle who I would feel great about picking him in
the draft no matter where I'm selecting, and then Will
Johnson the cornerback. Those three guys, I want to focus
it on Campbell a little bit ton because I watched
him a little bit the last couple of weeks. It's funny,
and I went back to my notes from him over
(25:56):
the summer, and I didn't look at those notes before
I made notes of this year. And when I looked
at him, they were exactly the same. Not a lot
of plays on the football, a lot of off coverage,
a lot of stuff caught in front of him in
soft coverage. I don't think he's gonna run a sub
four four five forty. I know, maybe like a four
to four eight guys something like that. I know he's long,
I know he's big. I just wonder when you actually
(26:20):
watch his play without the traits. He reminds me a
little bit about a little bit like Jeffrey Okuda coming
out of Ohio State a few years ago, where a
lot of off coverage, a lot of stuff in front
of him, same type of deal. And I don't know,
I can't get there with him as like a top
five pick just watching him on tape, like he doesn't
look like Saust Garden to be you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Well, the thing is that, is that the scheme or
is that the player when he's playing off coverage and
there's a lot of things in front of because to me,
he looks like he'd be best in man coverage and
bump and run coverage, and if they're playing him, you know, you.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Know him that way though, you know what I mean,
he's not. He's not doing it much.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
They did as a freshman. His freshman year film was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
You think last year in this year, I don't watch
his freshman stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
He could flip his hipsters in transition, he runs down field,
he gets his head back around a lot of times
they were just not throwing in his direction, which led
to not a lot of players, but not a lot
of opportunities. I think a lot of it will go
to what the coaches say about it. Ironically, his defensive
coordinators within Martindale, you know, was that the design to
play him off backed off man off coverage and keep
(27:25):
the action in front of him as opposed to bump
and run coverage. He's gonna play. He's gonna play whatever
the scheme is. You know, he's gonna play within the scheme.
And you know, overall, I think when you had some
the injury to the Notre Dame kid, Notre Dame cornerback,
I think Will Johnson I still think he's gonna be
a very early pick. Is he the first cornerback selected? Well,
(27:45):
it depends on what you're drafting Travis Hunters or you're
drafting Travis Hunter primarily as a corner or primarily as
your wide receiver. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Absolutely. Hey, look I'll have to go back, and it's
funny to wait. Plays a lot of he played a
lot of press man in the Pro, so I'm curious
as to why there wasn't as much there for Will Johnson.
The other two guys Mason Grant, We've talked about him
a ton I think he could be a top five
pick this year, maybe even top three or four pick.
I think he's that good compared to other players in
the class, and then Colson level and the tight end Tony.
You think he's gonna seek into the first round.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I think he's gonna be the first tight end selected.
I think he's a perfect fit for a team like
the La Chargers, where he goes back to his former
college coach. They need a tight end. There was talking
to them potentially taking rock hours. He's not brock Hoers,
that's for sure. I'm told you know he doesn't look
like a fast guy on film, but I'm told he's
gonna run pretty well in workouts and combine workouts for
(28:40):
the workouts, potentially for six's four fives. I absolutely think
he'll be the first tight end to selected in the
first round, the bottom third round one, maybe the final
ten picks.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
All right, then you have Ohio State offensive tackle Josh
Simmons dealing with an injury. But if teams are Jackson
Frump side Tony, you could argue he might be the
first offensive tackle off the board.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Terrific in twenty twenty three. I thought he played well
early in twenty twenty four. It was an early injury.
There's two ways to look at it. The injury occurred
during that Oregon game, which was I believe the beginning
of October, which means he should be back sooner than later.
But he's Gabe really doesn't have a lot of game
film from last year. But yeah, he showed a lot
of showed me a lot of ability and I wrote
(29:22):
about it at Sports skied a fundamentally sound moves well,
real good pass protection, uses his hands exceptionally. Well, it's
just the team's got to be comfortable with the injury,
and they got to be comfortable. They got to figure
if you're taking him at the end of round one,
you have to figure that he's going to be your
starter at least midway through the season. You've got that.
(29:44):
That is the dynamic there, and any team that you
asked him has got to be comfortable with that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And then finally two Texas A and M players, Nick
Gordon and Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, both big defensive line. I know Scorton's your guy.
He was a defensive line. Sorry, pass rushes Scrton was
your guy, makes a lot of Purdue transfer, makes a
lot of plays in the backfield. And Shamar Stewart is
a bigger guy. He's got some growth potential. He's very athletic, unpolished.
(30:15):
Scort and I could see going late in round one.
I think Stuart' will maybe a quarter of around later
than that.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, we haven't seen the production bump from Scrton this
year that I would have hoped, but I think actually
might be Scourton. I've heard somebody called him Scourton. I'll
have to double check and confrom the pronunciation on that,
but yeah, those are the guys that have declared. We'll
keep tracking that for you right here on Draft Season,
So stay tuned as we continue to do that throughout
the draft process. Right here. Draft Season is presented by Moody's,
(30:45):
a proud partner of the New York Giants, uniting the
brightest minds to bring to turn today's risks into tomorrow's opportunities.
Learnmore in moodies dot Com. All right, Tony, let's jump
over now to the college football playoffs they get going
this weekend. First, let's begin with Indiana Notre Dame, the
winner of that game, will take on Georgia. Curtis Rourke,
(31:06):
the quarterback for Indiana, was a transfer, came over with
the head coach, and then you like him voting against
Xavier Watts, the safety for Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I mean Indiana. Who would have a year ago?
Who would have thought that Indiana, who would be in
this position? I mean, Kurt Signetti is the best college
football coach in America Pro or College just won the
EIGHTP Coach of the Year, well deserved. I mean, you
look at the Indiana roster. They don't have great talents.
I mean they got maybe one or two guys that
are going to be drafted. One of them is Curtis
(31:35):
Rurk and he is a great game manager, twenty seven
touchdowns to just four interceptions. Had thumb surgery in the
second half of the season, came back and played. He's
the leader, he's smart, he protects the football. You know,
now they're going against Notre Dame. They played the Michigan
and they played Michigan well. Indiana. He played well, although
(31:56):
that offensive line kind of tired at the end of
the game. They lost a bad game to Ohio State,
but that was due to special teams. Zevir watched the
safety from Michigan five interceptions and eight PBUs pass breakups
this year. Those are great numbers for safety. That is
gonna be an interesting matchup to watch. You know the
thing that I want to know and people should watch
(32:16):
with Curtis wark Is, does he have the downfield arm?
Does he have a vertical arm to get the ball
downfield with the speed? If he does, I think he's
gonna turn a lot of people on in the postseason,
especially with what he's done at Indiana with not great
talent around him.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, absolutely, well to see how that goes. And then
Xavier Watts, the safety for Notre Dame. Also of Howard
Cross the third on that defense too, Benjamin Morris in
the corner. He's not playing in the game obviously he
got hurt earlier in the year. But another guy that
should be drafted high. So tell you about Watson, then
give me give me some love on Howard Cross is
my colleagues here son, Howard Cross, the third who decided
(32:53):
to go back to school last year.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, watch is a nice size safety, excellent ball skills.
Like I said, five interceptions apbus. Not a guy that's
a straight line safety makes a lot of plays when
the ball is in the air, So Curtis Wark is
gonna have to be wary of him, Gonna have to
find out where he is and maybe go to the
other side of the field. Howard Cross real good player,
more of a three technique, one gap type of lineman.
(33:17):
Very explosive off the snap, great first step, excellent change
in direction. I think he's a guy who's going to
be a later round guy. But if you've got a
four man front and you need one of those one
gap defensive tackles that can rush the passer that is
penetrates the line of scrimmage, you're looking towards Howard Cross.
(33:37):
Howard Cross the third.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Yeah, only on two hundred ninety pounds. Not a big lineman, Tony.
They've hasen to play nose guard, which is the funny
thing in that system. But I agree, I think in
the league he's much more of a three techniqu I'm
with you on that, all right. Game number two, SMU
taking on Penn State. I'm sure at the start of
the year, all of a sudden, this would be one
of the college football playoffs matchups. Tony. The winner of
this game will take on Boise State under the Timosh
(33:59):
everyone knew will be rocking and rolling. Drew Lord obviously
the quarterback for Penn State. He's going back. But Tyler
Warren is tight end. We all believe he's coming out here.
So talk about them going against some of those defenders
for SMU.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yeah, I mean, Tyler Warren's the due all tight end, right.
I had insane production last year as a pass catcher.
He's a really he's a solid blocker, played some center
this year, so he does everything. And I think if
you watch Penn State, Dreweler looked towards Warren almost to
a fault because he was so reliably and he missed
(34:34):
open all the receivers, although Penn State doesn't have great receivers,
so you want to watch Warren. As far as the
SMU is concerned, they don't have a lot of talent.
They're son of them like Indiana, keep an eye on
their safety. Isaac Noah Kobia ninety six tackles this year,
three interceptions, three PBUs. He's a guy who makes place
(34:57):
all over the field and underclassman hold. He's considering entering
the draft, but again that nil deal may come in
and keep him in the SMU. He's a bigger guy
who goes sideline to sideline, great against the run, good
against the past. There's gonna be a lot of matchups
between between No No No KOBEA and Tyler Warren. Gotta
(35:18):
keep that an eye on that because that is the
next level matchup.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And there are other PennState players too to keep an
eye on. Tony, I'm gonna three. You can talk about
them or anyone else you want to discuss. You guys,
your man at dual Carter the pass rusher. You have
Kevin Winston Junior, the safety. Then you have running back
Nicolas Singleton as well, who has had some production this year.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, I think the one guy I'll mention is that
Carter ken SMU stop him. I mean, are they are
they going to game plan around They have a quarterback
and RPO quarterback who's good running the ball, passing the ball,
and get out of the pocket make plays, And that's
something they're probably gonna have to do because I don't
know that the SMU offensive line is gonna be able
to contain a dual quarter.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Let's go to Clemson in Texas. Barret Carter, a player
we talked about during process, right he came back to school.
He's gonna come out now on the linebacker for Clemson.
And you like the match up against Gunner Helm from
Texas well.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
We talked about Gunner Heilmer, or some of our guests
have talked about Gunner Heilm, the tight end from Texas.
He's had a great year. He's had a real good year.
I don't know he's a great prospect. I think he's
more of a Day three type prospect. He's good pass catcher,
He's a good blocker, not a great athlete. I'm not
expecting great testing times. Barrett Carter is your prototypical week
(36:28):
side linebacker in the days where weekside linebackers in the
four to three were valued. He's a running chase linebacker.
He's very athletic. He covers a lot of area on
the field. It's gonna be sort of a mismatch because
Gunner Helm's probably got three to four inches if not
more on Barret Carter, so he's gonna have that height advantage.
And I'm sure that Quen You is gonna be looking
(36:50):
his way often throughout that game. I think it's gonna
be a tough game for Clemson. I mean, they just
don't match up well against Texas, who's got terrific talent
on the offensive line, on their defensive, defensive line, in
their secondary. They did a great job beating SMU in
overtime with that fifty six yard field goal to sneak
into to get into the uh get into the that
(37:12):
get that final spot of the college football playoffs. But
I think this is this could be a big blowout
in Texas's favor because they just thought Clemson just does
not match up.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, well, Clemson doesn't have to figure out a way.
And I think it'll be a good test for the
Texas offensive line. Right if if this Texas offensive line
dominates this game and you know, yours are sitting back
there and he's not pressure and this could go south.
So I think it's a good test to you know, Clemson,
They're they're good upfront on defense. They've always traditionally been
a good defense there. So curious to see if Texas
gets one more shot for these offensive line in the
(37:43):
show that they should be drafted high.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And you know we don't we don't mention
them too much. But John Dave Barren, the cornerback from Texas.
He's an opportunistic guy without standing ball skills. Could give
that Clemson offense a very tough time when they try
and put the ball in the air.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Whenever that game will take on Arizona State Final game
this weekend Tony Tennessee and Ohio State. This to me
is the premier game. You get some really good players
in this matchup, and you like the Tennessee defensive line
and going against that banged up Ohio State offensive line.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Well, you know, if you watch the Michigan Ohio State
game with Mason Graham and and Kenneth Grant up front,
they basically had their way with the Michigan. With the
michig with the humps are the Ohio State offensive line.
Tennessee's got three real good players on the inside that
are going to be Day three picks to keep an
eye on. They're not as talented as the Michigan defensive front,
(38:42):
but they're intense that they're very explosive, and they keep
on coming. So unless Ohio State changes their game plan,
if they go into this game with the same sort
of let's run the ball on the inside, I think Tennessee,
you know, has got a real chance at this game,
and when you look at it from appropriate prospect point
of view, you've got to keep an eye on that
(39:03):
that the interior of that Tennessee defensive line. Everyone talks
about James Pierce, the pass rusher who in August and
July people were projecting his top five picks. He hasn't
had the season that a lot of people expected, but
those defensive tackles have which has helped carry that defense.
And when you flip it around, you know the the
(39:25):
Ohio State cornerbacks Denzel Bark and the other kid, David
not even gonna try and pronounce his last name, have
had difficult years. You look at the Tennessee quarterback who
is an underclassman not eligible for the drift, Nicolay. He
is a big play quarterback. So you're gonna have to
(39:46):
watch those Ohio State cornerbacks to basically keep that vertical
passing game from Tennessee in check because they are prone
to the big plays down the field. And as we've seen,
the Johanna State cornerbacks this year are prone to lapses
which results in big plays for the opposition.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Yeah, and finally, it's one more look at Dylan Sampson too. Right,
the Tennessee running back. I know some people having the
mix of that second running back off the board day
two pick for sure. What are your thoughts on Samson?
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Very explosive. I don't think he's gonna be the second select,
the second running back selected, another real good Tennessee back
running back. I think he's more of a third round pick.
This will be a good challenge, terrific challenge for him
because the strength of that Ohio State defense is that
defensive line Tyleek Williams on the inside. You got Jack
Sawyer and too many Lowa on the edges. So you
(40:38):
know what, Ken Dylan Sampson, you know, be productive against
the real good unit for Ohouse State. I like Sampson
is more of a third round pick. We talked about
Caleb Williams. Sampson is explosive, he's fast, but he doesn't
have that same wiggle, that same ability to make defenders
miss as a Caleb Johnson. Caleb Johnson, Tony, what do
you cook.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
It right now? In sports? Key to that fans and
check out well.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Obviously we've got breakdowns of all the games, all the
college football games. We'll have a couple of mock drafts
up soon and all the breaking news on the underclassmen.
We talked about three of the Mission guys entering the draft,
Mason Graham, Well Johnson, and Colston Leven. I'm told that
the four Kenneth Grant is also very likely to enter
the draft.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
He's your first mock draft up yet or still are
not yet.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
We had one right after Thanksgiving. And what we're gonna
be doing what I would be asked to do, which
is gonna be interesting because I've never done, is We're
gonna do team by team mock draft. So we're gonna
go team by team, probably five to seven rounds right
after Christmas.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
I have the seven rounds challenging.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yes, it is time.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Consume me God's speed. Sorry, Tony, good stuff man, And
we will catch up with you guys right before Christmas
Eve next week where react to all the college football games.
We'll get that up before the holiday, so in case
you're driving around and you need to you know, you
want to get some college football and draft breakdown on
your holiday travels, that's great. And then the following we're
gonna be on Thursday that week because you want to
(42:03):
come on after the second round of the college football Playoffs,
which is taking place on New Year, so we'll come
with you on Thursday the following week, and my gosh,
it's twenty twenty five. Who would have thought it? Tony,
good stuff, my friend. Talk to you soon and talk
to you next week and enjoy the college football playoffs.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Absolutely, John, you as well. Same to the viewers.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
That's Tony Pauline from sports Keta. I am John schmelt
That was Draft season brought to you by Moody. He's
a proud partner of the New York Giants. Decode Risks,
Unlock Opportunity, learnmro Moodies dot com. For Tony Pauline, I'm
John Smelk. We'll see you next time. Everybody, Happy holidays,
Draft. It is now officially open. This is Draft Season
presented by Moody's. Hello everybody, I am JOHNS. Shpell, joined
by as always Tony Pauline from sports Kita. Tony, we
are to the end of the regular season of college football.
(00:23):
It is bowl time. It is playoff time.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Absolutely is a few bowl games already already done and
completed this past weekend. And you know, the first round
of the college football playoffs coming up this coming weekend
should be exciting. We'll get into those games a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Absolutely. Draft Season is presented by Moodies. As I mentioned,
Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity. Learn more at Moody's dot com.
All right, Tony, we'll do first things first. We have
a lot of dexclarations. We have our college football preview.
But first let's start with the big college football news
over the weekend. That was the Heisman Trophy, which was
one of the close first place vote contests in quite
(01:04):
a long time, and it goes to Travis Hunter who
just eats it out over Ashton Genty, who could both
be potential Top ten picks this year.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Now, well, I would have voted for Ashton Genty. I
thought he deserved it. It's understandable why Travis Hunter won
the award. He got most of the headlines. Plays offense,
plays defense, also plays on the team that you know
plays afternoon football on Saturday, plays early games, you know,
seven thirty games, where Boise State is usually starting nine
(01:36):
to ten o'clock at night. So I think the wider
Eastern voters did not get to see Ashton Genty. Both
guys are going to be top ten picks. I liked
Ashton Genty because Travis Hunter is a phenomenal player. But
I think even if you take Travis Hunter off the
Colorado team, they're still a very good team. They still
(01:56):
have three other outstanding receivers for Shad or Sanders to
throw the ball to. Maybe they lose a little bit
on defense, but they're still an eight to nine win team.
I think if you take Ashton Genty off of Boise State,
there's no way they're getting a buy in the first
round of the college football players. They may not even
make the college football playoffs if Ashton Genty's not on
(02:18):
that team. So I think that Ashton Genty just meant
more to Boise State than Travis Hunter meant to Colorado.
That's not to demean Hunter. That just shows the sort
of impact that Genty had him. Remember, I mean he
had a great game against the number one team in
the nation Oregon. Boise State only lost that game by
(02:40):
three points.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Now, I'm with you one hundred percent. I think I
would have voted for Genty two better team plays for
a better team, you know, as a buy in the
college football playoffs. And I think it's all about how
much do you want to credit Hunter for being a
two way player, right, because I think Genty's probably a
better player at what he does, but he doesn't do
(03:01):
as much as Travis Hunter does. Like this, from a
draft perspective, there's no doubt Genty's the top running back
in the draft. If Travis Hunter was just a wide receiver,
I don't think I would pick him over Ted McMillan.
I don't know about you, Tony. I'm not sure I would.
I probably would make him my top corner over Will Johnson.
I think that's a closer conversation that we can have
over the next few months, and I'm sure we will.
(03:23):
But I think it's just a matter of how much
you want to boost him because he plays two positions.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, you bring up. You may bring up a good point.
I mean, the difference between Ashton Genty and the next
cornerback all it's going to be selected in a draft,
whether it be a Marion Hampton of North Carolina whoever,
is almost a full round.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, next running back.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Okay, when you look at Travis Hunter compared to the
next receiver, it's a few picks. Travis Hunter next to
the next cornerback, it's a few picks. But I think
that it was Travis Hunter twenty four to seven throughout
the entire college football season, and for those voters who
(04:04):
were not dedicated to college football watchers didn't stay up
and really followed Travis follow Ashton Genty. I think that
heard him. I think it also hurt him the fact that,
you know, the Big twelve is not a great defensive conference,
but it is still a better defensive conference than the
Utah States of the world, the unlvs of the world,
the Colorado States of the world, who Ashton Genty was
(04:26):
playing against week after week. Listen, I love Ashton Genty
as an NFL prospect. People kind of downgrade the running
back position as we've seen. I think there is no
reason this guy should not be a top ten pick. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think especially in this year's draft class, right, Tony,
where you don't have you know, dominant players at dominant
positions like you had last year, right with all the
offensive tackles, with all the wide receivers guys like that.
You don't have guys at those premium spots this year.
So I would be more than William this year to
move genty up board, especially if you're a team that
you feel like you have a pretty good offense in
(05:03):
place so already. And then the way I've kind of
come around these running backs, Tony, is that running back
is something that you want to add to an already
burning fire fire. It's kind of like lighter fluid, right,
If you have lighter fluid, you throw it on some wood,
but there's no flame, it's not going to do anything.
But if you already got something cooking and it's going well,
you throw the running back on like Darrek Henry with
the Ravens, Gosh Jacobs with the Packers, Saquon Barkley with
(05:26):
the Eagles. Then the flame blows up into rupts, right,
and you're really rolling. So I think if you have
an offense, like if you're the Bears, for example, Right,
you've got Caleb Williams, you got a couple of really
good wide receivers. Now, I think they need to address
their offensive line. But just in terms of skilled position guys,
you throw a running back into that mix, I think
it kind of makes everything else better.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Or even the Dallas Cowboys, I mean, for that matter's
got a decent offensive line. I think that, especially with
the questions at the quarterback position, the quarterbacks, you're going
to be overdrafted. But I think Ashton Genty as a
running back and as a prospect, is a pretty safe pick.
I think that he can fit a variety of systems.
I think you can you know, he's a guy who
(06:06):
can turn the perimeter, run on the inside, good pass catcher.
So he's a pretty safe pick, which he often don't
find that they're running back position.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
And I stole that lighter fluid analogy from Robert May's
over with the athletics, So I have to give Robert
credit for that, But I've always kind of felt that way.
You don't want to start the running back, you want
to end with the running back, and kind of and
then he's kind of super charges what you already have so,
And by the way, I think we both think Travis
Hunter will get picked before Ashton gend He's a great
fal and he's going to be a really good pro.
We're not trying to downgrade Travis Hunter here. He's fantastic
(06:39):
and I'm still leaning towards Tony wherever he winds up.
If he wants to play both ways, there's no way
you can do both. I've talked to you guys in
the Giants locker room here off the record, just say
do you think that's possible? Guys, could you play both?
And they all kind of laughed, like there's no chance
in hell. That guy is a full time player on
two sides in the NFL. So there's a lot of
reasons for that. You know, the meetings are all at
(07:01):
the same time. You can't learn both spots, you can't
practice at the same time to both spots. But just
you know, you can't really be a full time wide
receiver and a part time corner. I think you can
be a part time wide receiver and a full time
corner though. So if I was drafting Hunter, my plan
for him would be put him at corner, let him
(07:22):
be in every down. Corner and then find the fifteen
to twenty most important offensive plays every week that you
want him on the field. Maybe you have some custom
design stuff for him that you want him involved in.
That's when you put him out there for offense.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Even fifteen to twenty plays is gonna be you know,
it's a lot, pretty tool, pretty tall order. You just
better be, you know, pretty firm that his ball skills
are established and there's gonna be no breakdowns because while
I agree with you, a mishap or a mental lapse
or you know, just just something where he misses an
(07:55):
assignment or doesn't transition well can lead to big play
for the opponents when he's in the defensive backfield versus
the receiver. It's gonna be an interesting debate moving forward.
I think it could be a situation. We talk about
left tackles here all the time. Do they project to guard?
And I always feel if a guy's got, you know,
(08:18):
decent arm length, even if it's a little bit shorter,
put him at left tackle until he proves he can't
play left tackle, then maybe move him inside. It may
be that sort of situation with Travis Hunter for a
team that wants him at cornerback, We're gonna put him
at cornerback until he proves that he can't be a
you know, a number one or number two cornerback out
on the flanks, and if need be, well, then flipping
(08:38):
the receiver.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
That's THEO. Look, cornerbacks fail going into the pros. It's great.
I think what adds to is dialing. Right, So if
you get at the year two and you're like, oh,
this corner thing's not working out, you can just slide
him at receiver and you might still a really good
player on your hands. That's a good point.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Right now, I'll put him at receiver and then you
use them rather than a full time cornerback, maybe it's
a nickel or a dinback.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, absolutely, all right. So the other thing tracking now,
we'll get to the college football playoffs in a little bit. Now,
we're having all the underclassmen declare for the NFL. There
is a deadline here so if they want to participate
in college all star games. The soft deadline of January
sixth has been added to give players an opportunity to
submit their petitions for special eligibility to the league sooner
(09:19):
and initial list of names will we released. NFL teams
in the public on January seventh. Players will have until
January ninth to revoke their submission. The traditional hard deadline
from their classmen to submit a petition to the league
is January fifteenth. A list of names will we release
the NFL teams in the public on January twenty On
January sixteenth, players will have until January eighteenth to revoke
(09:39):
that submission. So there's also a special championship deadline of
January twenty fourth exclusively for the teams that are participating
in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and those
players will have until January twenty seventh to revoke their submission.
So it's kind of three different deadlines here for those
that are in the Shrine and Senior Bowl, those that
are in those that are in the championship game of
(10:01):
the College Football Playoffs. So these things are coming Tony,
You're in the know, You're talking to a lot of
agents and such. How is this process going for players
this year as they make this determination as to whether
or not they're going to come out in the draft,
with the College Football Playoffs, the All Star games, with
all the other class and being eligible and knowing they've
been eligible since the summer. How's this process kind of
playing itself out this year.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Well, the only variable in the process are the nil deals.
You know, I will talk about that with some of
the players that have decided to stay. I mean, that
is the variable that teams and agents don't know about
because players who were on the fence, players who are
even more leaning towards entering the draft. If all of
(10:43):
a sudden, the school comes back with a massive nil deal.
There is one player who's supposed to go to the
Shrine game who I know his team is as college
is offering a million dollars to come back at a
very ordinary position. That is the You know that that
is the variable that can change whether a player is
going to enter or not enter the draft. The interesting
(11:07):
thing is, you know you talk about how there's that
three day period where the player can put his name
in to enter the draft and he's got three days
to pull it out. In the past, the player was
able to pull his name out of out of the
being eligible for the draft if he had not signed
with an agent. I don't know if they changed those rules,
because most of these guys have agents to negotiate their
(11:30):
nil deals, so that is an interesting variable. But the
thing that people don't know about is you know that
these guys you're leaning towards entering the draft, and the
school comes with a very large nil deal that could
sway the guy, that could sway a certain player to
come back. And I'm sure that's what happened with Jewel
are yes.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So let let's get to it. We'll talk out with
the players that declare it in a second. But two
quarterbacks Tony that we have been discussing as potential quarterbacks
coming out, maybe not first round picks, but for early
second rounders, late first rounders perhaps Jular Penn State and
garrennus Smeyer of LSU. Both those players, I think both
of us agree making the smart decision to go back
(12:09):
to school.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
And the interesting thing is I wrote an article at
sports Skida last month where everybody at Penn State was
saying that they expected a law to answer the draft.
He now turns around and he says he's staying that
was the right decision for him and Nussmayer, especially for
Alar because we expected so much from him after that
true freshman season where he looked like he was going
(12:32):
to be the next great quarterback prospects or one of
the next great quarterback prospects, and his game's kind of
leveled off. I mean, he's been up and down. He's
been very streaky. We saw that throughout the season. So
now he goes back and you know, you look towards
twenty twenty six where he will. Now, if he has
a good campaign in twenty twenty five, he's gonna find
(12:52):
to be probably be quarterback number one and a very
early pick if he's able to elevate his game, if
he's able to overcome the incomes assistencies that he's shown
really the past two years. And there are a lot
of inconsistencies there. I mean, at times I like to
say he looks like a world beater, and then he
looks like an egg beater. You're wonder where he's throwing
the ball. And it's also great for Penn State from
(13:13):
a college football point of view. You know, you look
at Oregon, the number one team in the nation. You
look how much talent they're going to lose at the
end of the season. You look at Ohio State, They're
going to be a completely different team in twenty twenty five.
So now Penn State, with Alar coming back and a
lot of other players coming back. Now all of a sudden,
right off the bat, they're the number one team of
the Big Ten, and in the preseason they're going to
(13:35):
be very highly rated. I also think for nas Meyer,
I mean, I was not big, I was not enough
Meyer Bandwagon. People were already projecting him as a first
round pick, and I think we both said we need
to see a larger body of work, so for him
to go back as well as a lat I think
they both made the right decision, especially in the year
where there are so many questions at the quarterback position,
(13:57):
and you know, except for maybe cam Ward and should
Do or Sanders, no one really established themselves as very
early picks, top ten picks in the draft, and even
those guys have questions.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, look and it says. I think both those guys
believe next year they could if they played better, beating
the first round picks right, and I think their best
borderline this year. What does this do overall? In your opinion,
Tony two, this year's draft classic quarterback? I think, you know,
we also think cam warden should or Sanders will probably
be the top two guys off the board and We're
still waiting on Jalen Milroe this year, what he decides
(14:30):
to do. And then you get into the you know,
Day two guys, Day three guys, the Carson Becks, we'll
see about quin yours. We'll see about Beck two right once,
what his injury situation is. With the college football playoffs,
We'll see Jackson Dark. You know, I think we all
expect he's gonna come out, but he's gonna be maybe
an early Day three pick. So how do you now
see this classic quarterback seeing who's coming and who's going,
(14:54):
and what do you think? Have you heard anything on
mill Roe? Just to kind of add to that conversation.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I would I'm thinking mil So. The belief is now
that Milroll is very likely to enter the draft about
fifty to fifty right now. Again, that Nio package could
sway him. I would be shocked if quinn Ewers goes
back to Texas. I think he is all in to
enter the draft. And I think that is the guy
who you know, we talked about this before with some
(15:21):
of our past guests. How these college football playoffs or
for an extended season where some of these players, if
they play lights out, that's what people are going to
remember and it could help their draft stock. I'm not
a big fan of really elevating a guy on a
game or two, but you know, a guy like Quen
you Weres, if he plays really well, you know, throughout
(15:43):
through the college football playoffs, he happens to lead Texas
into the finals. I think the fact that a law
and enus Meyer pulling out and a guy like Quin
you Weres, assuming he plays well, it's really going to
help his stock because you know, as we know, you
get into the late part of round one and then
a team that needs a quarterback, you know that didn't
(16:04):
take one at the early in the early part of
round one, early pick portion of the draft, they will
hop back into the late part of round one and
get that quarterback and Quinn viewers can be that guy.
As far as Carson Beck's concerned, you know, you touched
on something we don't know about that elbow injury. I
talked to a couple of people who think that he
could be really bad. So Carson Beck with the elbow injury,
(16:27):
with what is a terrible season, I mean, there's no
way the guy's gonna go top top forty five. He
could do a hot we could fall out the second
round after the season he had. Now he's got the
elbow injury, so he's got a decision to make as well.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, and we'll see how that works out and what
that top of the draft class is. And neither one
of those quarterbacks, cam Warder Shore Sanders are in the
college football playoffs. Shore Sanders says he will play in
Colorado's bowl game, so that'll be interesting to see. And
cam Ward I believe he was also going to play
a Miami's ball game.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Correct, I believe so. And I actually it's funny you
mentioned that because I wrote a story about that at
Sports Skeeter, and the basis of the story is, you're
probably gonna see a lot less opt outs in this
year's ball games because you remember in the past, it
used to be your early picks that would opt out,
and then the past couple of years, guys who were
(17:19):
seventh round picks were opting out of bowl games because
they wanted to prepare for the draft, and the rosters
for those ball games were completely reshaped. The article I
had at Sports Sketa center on the fact that a
lot of these nil deals they end on December thirty,
first the last payment to these guys, to these players
(17:40):
is in late December, and that last payment is usually
the largest payment. So in order for the a lot
of these players to get that last check, that last
nil check for the contract that they signed, they have
to play in the ball game.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I love that, Tony. That's great. I did not know
that was the case. That's great insight from you. It's funny.
I'm planning a renovation on the basement. I have a
friend that works in contraary. He said, John, here's what
you do. Make sure you never pay everything up front. Yeah,
you've a decent amount of the payment until after the
work is done, to make sure everything is done to
your satisfaction. That's how you make sure you get everything
you want out of the deal. It's the exact same conversation,
(18:18):
which is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And again go back to the article I wrote. It's
you know, a lot of these checks are twenty to
fifty thousand dollars to basically play one or two games
in December. You know, that first week in December. Maybe
if your team's in the conference championship game, that's the
second game, but the ball game, so they're really not
playing that much football in the month of December for
what ends up to be their biggest paycheck of the
(18:42):
college football season.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That's funny. All right, Let's go through some of the
guys that have declared. Tony Travis Hunter, the wide receiver
corner out of Colorado. He said he's coming out. We
already talked about him. Don't need to do that anymore
if you do. Jugal Aali, who's the transfer from Clemson
now Florida State quarterback coming out day three, the party
free agent. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I mean, I understand why he came out. You might
as well see where your football career is gonna go
at this point. I mean, remember Ugulele he played those
two games for Trevor Lawrence in twenty twenty when he
was a freshman because Trevor Lawrence had tested positive for COVID.
This was during the COVID season, and it was like wow,
I mean, Clemson is not going to miss a beat
going from Trevor Lawrence to Uguileley. Trevor Lawrence becomes the
(19:27):
first pick of the draft. Everyone's expecting a lot from Uguleley.
It was a dog, it was a doug for two
years of Clemson. He goes to Oregon State. You know,
he shows some good things. He transfers back, he transfers
to Florida State. I'm sure he wants to get his
revenge against Clemson. It's been a disaster. He's a disaster
for Ugulele. He's been a disaster for Florida State. He's
got nothing to lose. I think he's got more to
(19:48):
lose going back to college because if he doesn't turn
it around, he could go and be undrafted. He's got
a lot of physical skills, there's just a lot of
staring down the primary target, some accuracy issue.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Then you have Iowa running back Caleb Johnson coming out.
He's really climbed. I think a lot of the running
back ratings and it's gonna be a fierce competition. I
think for who the second running back in this class
is gonna be a lot of really good players. Another
one's gonna be up in this segment a little bit
later on, what do you think of Caleb Johnson? I
know it took you a little while to warm to him.
(20:20):
What are you hearing on the street about him? And
could he be the second running back off the board?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Possibly again? Marrion happening. There's a couple of other names there,
but he's I think he's gonna be a second round pick.
He's an explosive back. You know, a lot of these
iore running backs that have come out in the past
are basically straight line backs. But you watch Johnson. He's
fast as explosive. He's also got some jiggle. He's got
some wiggle in his running. He can make defenders miss
on the inside. He's got the speed to hit the
(20:46):
home run. Had a terrific campaign I'm hearing right now.
Will battle with the rest of the guy with the
other second tier running backs after Ashton genty to be
the second running back selected. Unlikely he gets out of
the top sixty.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Any chance the second running back goes at the end
of the first round, Tony, you think, because it's so deep,
teams are gonna wait.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I think there's an opportunity. I mean, you know, you
get into those late picks in round one. As we've
seen in the past San Francisco last year with the
receiver from from Florida. You know, strange things can happen.
So it wouldn't shock me if in those last five
to six picks where we sit right now, a second
running back goes in the first round after Ashton Genty.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
The other running back that declared is Ali Gordon, the
running back out of Oklahoma State. He's a guy that
know some people had in their top three or top
four before the year. I haven't heard much as much
hype on him over the course of the year. I
watched him in the summer a getting ready for the year,
and nothing really jumped out of me. He didn't seem
all that explosive to me. What you heard about Gordon
(21:47):
on the streets comes off. It comes off coming off
a bad season. Maybe third round, more likely early fourth round.
Had some very productive seasons at Oklahoma State, who had
a terrible campaign year.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
The thing about Gordon is he's got some He's got
a good burst, he's got some quickness. Runs with a
very upright style, which is not good for a running
back yep, because because that leads to a lot of
big hits, potential fumbles. He's gonna have to change his
running style. You're gonna have to be comfortable with that
running style. If you take him within the first one
hundred picks. I think right now you're looking at more
(22:23):
fourth round area.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
And you could be upright if you're Dereck Henry because
he weigh two hundred and fifty pounds, but not if
you're Allie Gordon. A little bit different. All right, let's
go to Dion Walker. Tony he's a guy. Preseason I
thought he could be a top ten, top fifteen pick.
Now people were talking more second round for him. But
with his size and athleticism, why do you think people
have cool on him a little bit as part of
the Kentucky defense that actually has done a pretty dark
(22:46):
good job this year.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Yeah, I mean, he is a big guy. I understand why.
I think it's a good move that he came out.
I think the conditioning, the fact that he kind of
wears down over the course of games is a concern.
You know, people on paper, they think that these three
hundred and fifty three hundred and sixty pounds players or
you know, they don't grow on trees, doesn't always translate
(23:08):
well to the next level. So he's going to have
to get that weight down. I think, if you know,
if he's focused on football, there's gonna be a lot
of intense questioning at the combine about that. How dedicated
is he to off the field off season training. If
a team is comfortable with that, I could see him
jumping into the back end of round one because of
what you said. He's not just a big guy that
(23:29):
takes up space and occupies blockers. I mean, he makes
plays on the ball. He's got a burst, he's got
a closing burst, he can rush the passer. But the
overall size is a bit of a concern right now.
That's going to have to be answered by him in
the postseason.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, we saw dev Andre Sweat last year. He had
some off the field stuff that obviously Dean Walker does not,
but similar size and athleticism profile to Walker, and he
was picked in the second round. So without the off
field stuff, I could easily see Walker surpassing that, especially
in a draft class that's so polarizing. Guys just don't
grow on trees under that big and Sweat is having
(24:06):
a pretty dark good rookie year.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
He's played well, sure, and he was a good player
in Texas, but the but the issue was I mean,
he was reportedly close to three hundred and ninety pounds
at the senior ball. I think he got it down
to just under three seventy at the combine and you
know you're gonna have to be comfortable with the guy
that big. You know that he's not going to go
into balloon over four hundred pounds. You know, we're here
(24:28):
in New York. We remember what with McKay Beckton granted
the other side of the ball, but after his rookie
year he was upwards of four hundred and fifteen pounds.
It has never been the same player. You've got to
be comfortable that that guy is going to be go opposite,
gonna lose weight, gonna get a little bit smaller rather
than balloon up, which would just ruin his football career.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Will Campbell the offensive attack of LSU coming out of
Tony first offensive limen off the board. You think right
now or do you think guy like Kelvin Banks might
go ahead of him?
Speaker 2 (24:57):
I still think it's gonna be Will Campbell. Obviously, people
talked about his arm length. If it's you know, thirty
three and a half or over, people be comfortable with
him at left tackle. He's been up and down. I
think early in the season he was a little bit soft.
He turned it on late in the year. I mean,
you could say he's the best pure left tackle in
this year's draft class. Kelvin Banks is very good. Kelvin
(25:18):
Banks is better blocking in motion. But Will Johnson got
better size, he got better length, He's got better growth potential.
I do think he'll be the first offensive tackle taken
unless people are turned off by his early season film,
where to me, he just played a little bit soft.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
All right. There we are three Michigan players. Tony Colson
Loveland the tight end, Bason Graham the all world defensive
tackle who I would feel great about picking him in
the draft no matter where I'm selecting, and then Will
Johnson the cornerback. Those three guys, I want to focus
it on Campbell a little bit ton because I watched
him a little bit the last couple of weeks. It's funny,
and I went back to my notes from him over
(25:56):
the summer, and I didn't look at those notes before
I made notes of this year. And when I looked
at him, they were exactly the same. Not a lot
of plays on the football, a lot of off coverage,
a lot of stuff caught in front of him in
soft coverage. I don't think he's gonna run a sub
four four five forty. I know, maybe like a four
to four eight guys something like that. I know he's long,
I know he's big. I just wonder when you actually
(26:20):
watch his play without the traits. He reminds me a
little bit about a little bit like Jeffrey Okuda coming
out of Ohio State a few years ago, where a
lot of off coverage, a lot of stuff in front
of him, same type of deal. And I don't know,
I can't get there with him as like a top
five pick just watching him on tape, like he doesn't
look like Saust Garden to be you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Well, the thing is that, is that the scheme or
is that the player when he's playing off coverage and
there's a lot of things in front of because to me,
he looks like he'd be best in man coverage and
bump and run coverage, and if they're playing him, you know, you.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Know him that way though, you know what I mean,
he's not. He's not doing it much.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
They did as a freshman. His freshman year film was outstanding.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
You think last year in this year, I don't watch
his freshman stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
He could flip his hipsters in transition, he runs down field,
he gets his head back around a lot of times
they were just not throwing in his direction, which led
to not a lot of players, but not a lot
of opportunities. I think a lot of it will go
to what the coaches say about it. Ironically, his defensive
coordinators within Martindale, you know, was that the design to
play him off backed off man off coverage and keep
(27:25):
the action in front of him as opposed to bump
and run coverage. He's gonna play. He's gonna play whatever
the scheme is. You know, he's gonna play within the scheme.
And you know, overall, I think when you had some
the injury to the Notre Dame kid, Notre Dame cornerback,
I think Will Johnson I still think he's gonna be
a very early pick. Is he the first cornerback selected? Well,
(27:45):
it depends on what you're drafting Travis Hunters or you're
drafting Travis Hunter primarily as a corner or primarily as
your wide receiver. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Absolutely. Hey, look I'll have to go back, and it's
funny to wait. Plays a lot of he played a
lot of press man in the Pro, so I'm curious
as to why there wasn't as much there for Will Johnson.
The other two guys Mason Grant, We've talked about him
a ton I think he could be a top five
pick this year, maybe even top three or four pick.
I think he's that good compared to other players in
the class, and then Colson level and the tight end Tony.
You think he's gonna seek into the first round.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I think he's gonna be the first tight end selected.
I think he's a perfect fit for a team like
the La Chargers, where he goes back to his former
college coach. They need a tight end. There was talking
to them potentially taking rock hours. He's not brock Hoers,
that's for sure. I'm told you know he doesn't look
like a fast guy on film, but I'm told he's
gonna run pretty well in workouts and combine workouts for
(28:40):
the workouts, potentially for six's four fives. I absolutely think
he'll be the first tight end to selected in the
first round, the bottom third round one, maybe the final
ten picks.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
All right, then you have Ohio State offensive tackle Josh
Simmons dealing with an injury. But if teams are Jackson
Frump side Tony, you could argue he might be the
first offensive tackle off the board.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Terrific in twenty twenty three. I thought he played well
early in twenty twenty four. It was an early injury.
There's two ways to look at it. The injury occurred
during that Oregon game, which was I believe the beginning
of October, which means he should be back sooner than later.
But he's Gabe really doesn't have a lot of game
film from last year. But yeah, he showed a lot
of showed me a lot of ability and I wrote
(29:22):
about it at Sports skied a fundamentally sound moves well,
real good pass protection, uses his hands exceptionally. Well, it's
just the team's got to be comfortable with the injury,
and they got to be comfortable. They got to figure
if you're taking him at the end of round one,
you have to figure that he's going to be your
starter at least midway through the season. You've got that.
(29:44):
That is the dynamic there, and any team that you
asked him has got to be comfortable with that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
And then finally two Texas A and M players, Nick
Gordon and Shamar Stewart.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, both big defensive line. I know Scorton's your guy.
He was a defensive line. Sorry, pass rushes Scrton was
your guy, makes a lot of Purdue transfer, makes a
lot of plays in the backfield. And Shamar Stewart is
a bigger guy. He's got some growth potential. He's very athletic, unpolished.
(30:15):
Scort and I could see going late in round one.
I think Stuart' will maybe a quarter of around later
than that.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, we haven't seen the production bump from Scrton this
year that I would have hoped, but I think actually
might be Scourton. I've heard somebody called him Scourton. I'll
have to double check and confrom the pronunciation on that,
but yeah, those are the guys that have declared. We'll
keep tracking that for you right here on Draft Season,
So stay tuned as we continue to do that throughout
the draft process. Right here. Draft Season is presented by Moody's,
(30:45):
a proud partner of the New York Giants, uniting the
brightest minds to bring to turn today's risks into tomorrow's opportunities.
Learnmore in moodies dot Com. All right, Tony, let's jump
over now to the college football playoffs they get going
this weekend. First, let's begin with Indiana Notre Dame, the
winner of that game, will take on Georgia. Curtis Rourke,
(31:06):
the quarterback for Indiana, was a transfer, came over with
the head coach, and then you like him voting against
Xavier Watts, the safety for Notre Dame.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I mean Indiana. Who would have a year ago?
Who would have thought that Indiana, who would be in
this position? I mean, Kurt Signetti is the best college
football coach in America Pro or College just won the
EIGHTP Coach of the Year, well deserved. I mean, you
look at the Indiana roster. They don't have great talents.
I mean they got maybe one or two guys that
are going to be drafted. One of them is Curtis
(31:35):
Rurk and he is a great game manager, twenty seven
touchdowns to just four interceptions. Had thumb surgery in the
second half of the season, came back and played. He's
the leader, he's smart, he protects the football. You know,
now they're going against Notre Dame. They played the Michigan
and they played Michigan well. Indiana. He played well, although
(31:56):
that offensive line kind of tired at the end of
the game. They lost a bad game to Ohio State,
but that was due to special teams. Zevir watched the
safety from Michigan five interceptions and eight PBUs pass breakups
this year. Those are great numbers for safety. That is
gonna be an interesting matchup to watch. You know the
thing that I want to know and people should watch
(32:16):
with Curtis wark Is, does he have the downfield arm?
Does he have a vertical arm to get the ball
downfield with the speed? If he does, I think he's
gonna turn a lot of people on in the postseason,
especially with what he's done at Indiana with not great
talent around him.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Yeah, absolutely, well to see how that goes. And then
Xavier Watts, the safety for Notre Dame. Also of Howard
Cross the third on that defense too, Benjamin Morris in
the corner. He's not playing in the game obviously he
got hurt earlier in the year. But another guy that
should be drafted high. So tell you about Watson, then
give me give me some love on Howard Cross is
my colleagues here son, Howard Cross, the third who decided
(32:53):
to go back to school last year.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, watch is a nice size safety, excellent ball skills.
Like I said, five interceptions apbus. Not a guy that's
a straight line safety makes a lot of plays when
the ball is in the air, So Curtis Wark is
gonna have to be wary of him, Gonna have to
find out where he is and maybe go to the
other side of the field. Howard Cross real good player,
more of a three technique, one gap type of lineman.
(33:17):
Very explosive off the snap, great first step, excellent change
in direction. I think he's a guy who's going to
be a later round guy. But if you've got a
four man front and you need one of those one
gap defensive tackles that can rush the passer that is
penetrates the line of scrimmage, you're looking towards Howard Cross.
(33:37):
Howard Cross the third.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Yeah, only on two hundred ninety pounds. Not a big lineman, Tony.
They've hasen to play nose guard, which is the funny
thing in that system. But I agree, I think in
the league he's much more of a three techniqu I'm
with you on that, all right. Game number two, SMU
taking on Penn State. I'm sure at the start of
the year, all of a sudden, this would be one
of the college football playoffs matchups. Tony. The winner of
this game will take on Boise State under the Timosh
(33:59):
everyone knew will be rocking and rolling. Drew Lord obviously
the quarterback for Penn State. He's going back. But Tyler
Warren is tight end. We all believe he's coming out here.
So talk about them going against some of those defenders
for SMU.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Yeah, I mean, Tyler Warren's the due all tight end, right.
I had insane production last year as a pass catcher.
He's a really he's a solid blocker, played some center
this year, so he does everything. And I think if
you watch Penn State, Dreweler looked towards Warren almost to
a fault because he was so reliably and he missed
(34:34):
open all the receivers, although Penn State doesn't have great receivers,
so you want to watch Warren. As far as the
SMU is concerned, they don't have a lot of talent.
They're son of them like Indiana, keep an eye on
their safety. Isaac Noah Kobia ninety six tackles this year,
three interceptions, three PBUs. He's a guy who makes place
(34:57):
all over the field and underclassman hold. He's considering entering
the draft, but again that nil deal may come in
and keep him in the SMU. He's a bigger guy
who goes sideline to sideline, great against the run, good
against the past. There's gonna be a lot of matchups
between between No No No KOBEA and Tyler Warren. Gotta
(35:18):
keep that an eye on that because that is the
next level matchup.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And there are other PennState players too to keep an
eye on. Tony, I'm gonna three. You can talk about
them or anyone else you want to discuss. You guys,
your man at dual Carter the pass rusher. You have
Kevin Winston Junior, the safety. Then you have running back
Nicolas Singleton as well, who has had some production this year.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, I think the one guy I'll mention is that
Carter ken SMU stop him. I mean, are they are
they going to game plan around They have a quarterback
and RPO quarterback who's good running the ball, passing the ball,
and get out of the pocket make plays, And that's
something they're probably gonna have to do because I don't
know that the SMU offensive line is gonna be able
to contain a dual quarter.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Let's go to Clemson in Texas. Barret Carter, a player
we talked about during process, right he came back to school.
He's gonna come out now on the linebacker for Clemson.
And you like the match up against Gunner Helm from
Texas well.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
We talked about Gunner Heilmer, or some of our guests
have talked about Gunner Heilm, the tight end from Texas.
He's had a great year. He's had a real good year.
I don't know he's a great prospect. I think he's
more of a Day three type prospect. He's good pass catcher,
He's a good blocker, not a great athlete. I'm not
expecting great testing times. Barrett Carter is your prototypical week
(36:28):
side linebacker in the days where weekside linebackers in the
four to three were valued. He's a running chase linebacker.
He's very athletic. He covers a lot of area on
the field. It's gonna be sort of a mismatch because
Gunner Helm's probably got three to four inches if not
more on Barret Carter, so he's gonna have that height advantage.
And I'm sure that Quen You is gonna be looking
(36:50):
his way often throughout that game. I think it's gonna
be a tough game for Clemson. I mean, they just
don't match up well against Texas, who's got terrific talent
on the offensive line, on their defensive, defensive line, in
their secondary. They did a great job beating SMU in
overtime with that fifty six yard field goal to sneak
into to get into the uh get into the that
(37:12):
get that final spot of the college football playoffs. But
I think this is this could be a big blowout
in Texas's favor because they just thought Clemson just does
not match up.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Yeah, well, Clemson doesn't have to figure out a way.
And I think it'll be a good test for the
Texas offensive line. Right if if this Texas offensive line
dominates this game and you know, yours are sitting back
there and he's not pressure and this could go south.
So I think it's a good test to you know, Clemson,
They're they're good upfront on defense. They've always traditionally been
a good defense there. So curious to see if Texas
gets one more shot for these offensive line in the
(37:43):
show that they should be drafted high.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And you know we don't we don't mention
them too much. But John Dave Barren, the cornerback from Texas.
He's an opportunistic guy without standing ball skills. Could give
that Clemson offense a very tough time when they try
and put the ball in the air.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Whenever that game will take on Arizona State Final game
this weekend Tony Tennessee and Ohio State. This to me
is the premier game. You get some really good players
in this matchup, and you like the Tennessee defensive line
and going against that banged up Ohio State offensive line.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Well, you know, if you watch the Michigan Ohio State
game with Mason Graham and and Kenneth Grant up front,
they basically had their way with the Michigan. With the
michig with the humps are the Ohio State offensive line.
Tennessee's got three real good players on the inside that
are going to be Day three picks to keep an
eye on. They're not as talented as the Michigan defensive front,
(38:42):
but they're intense that they're very explosive, and they keep
on coming. So unless Ohio State changes their game plan,
if they go into this game with the same sort
of let's run the ball on the inside, I think Tennessee,
you know, has got a real chance at this game,
and when you look at it from appropriate prospect point
of view, you've got to keep an eye on that
(39:03):
that the interior of that Tennessee defensive line. Everyone talks
about James Pierce, the pass rusher who in August and
July people were projecting his top five picks. He hasn't
had the season that a lot of people expected, but
those defensive tackles have which has helped carry that defense.
And when you flip it around, you know the the
(39:25):
Ohio State cornerbacks Denzel Bark and the other kid, David
not even gonna try and pronounce his last name, have
had difficult years. You look at the Tennessee quarterback who
is an underclassman not eligible for the drift, Nicolay. He
is a big play quarterback. So you're gonna have to
(39:46):
watch those Ohio State cornerbacks to basically keep that vertical
passing game from Tennessee in check because they are prone
to the big plays down the field. And as we've seen,
the Johanna State cornerbacks this year are prone to lapses
which results in big plays for the opposition.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Yeah, and finally, it's one more look at Dylan Sampson too. Right,
the Tennessee running back. I know some people having the
mix of that second running back off the board day
two pick for sure. What are your thoughts on Samson?
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Very explosive. I don't think he's gonna be the second select,
the second running back selected, another real good Tennessee back
running back. I think he's more of a third round pick.
This will be a good challenge, terrific challenge for him
because the strength of that Ohio State defense is that
defensive line Tyleek Williams on the inside. You got Jack
Sawyer and too many Lowa on the edges. So you
(40:38):
know what, Ken Dylan Sampson, you know, be productive against
the real good unit for Ohouse State. I like Sampson
is more of a third round pick. We talked about
Caleb Williams. Sampson is explosive, he's fast, but he doesn't
have that same wiggle, that same ability to make defenders
miss as a Caleb Johnson. Caleb Johnson, Tony, what do
you cook.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
It right now? In sports? Key to that fans and
check out well.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Obviously we've got breakdowns of all the games, all the
college football games. We'll have a couple of mock drafts
up soon and all the breaking news on the underclassmen.
We talked about three of the Mission guys entering the draft,
Mason Graham, Well Johnson, and Colston Leven. I'm told that
the four Kenneth Grant is also very likely to enter
the draft.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
He's your first mock draft up yet or still are
not yet.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
We had one right after Thanksgiving. And what we're gonna
be doing what I would be asked to do, which
is gonna be interesting because I've never done, is We're
gonna do team by team mock draft. So we're gonna
go team by team, probably five to seven rounds right
after Christmas.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
I have the seven rounds challenging.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yes, it is time.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Consume me God's speed. Sorry, Tony, good stuff man, And
we will catch up with you guys right before Christmas
Eve next week where react to all the college football games.
We'll get that up before the holiday, so in case
you're driving around and you need to you know, you
want to get some college football and draft breakdown on
your holiday travels, that's great. And then the following we're
gonna be on Thursday that week because you want to
(42:03):
come on after the second round of the college football Playoffs,
which is taking place on New Year, so we'll come
with you on Thursday the following week, and my gosh,
it's twenty twenty five. Who would have thought it? Tony,
good stuff, my friend. Talk to you soon and talk
to you next week and enjoy the college football playoffs.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Absolutely, John, you as well. Same to the viewers.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
That's Tony Pauline from sports Keta. I am John schmelt
That was Draft season brought to you by Moody. He's
a proud partner of the New York Giants. Decode Risks,
Unlock Opportunity, learnmro Moodies dot com. For Tony Pauline, I'm
John Smelk. We'll see you next time. Everybody, Happy holidays,
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