January 23, 2025 • 49 mins
On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk chats with Jeff Risdon, from Draft Wire at USA Today, to preview the Shrine and Senior Bowl and talk about the top prospects attending each event.
:00 - Offensive prospects at Shrine
11:07 - Defensive prospects at Shrine
14:18 - Offensive prospects at Senior Bowl
32:03 - Defensive prospects at Senior Bowl
37:52 - QBs at Senior Bowl
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hut's go, Let's go,
Let's go, Giants do. Get out of my Giants bubbling,
give me some job. Part of the Giants Podcast Network.
Let's roll. Welcome to another edition of the Giants Little Podcast,
brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
I am John Schmelk. Next week, grash I we're recording
this the week prior, so coming up, we're gonna have
(00:22):
these Shrine and Senior Bowls a little bit later this week.
I'll be at Shrine over the weekend and first go
then I'll head down to Mobile for Senior Bowl the
following week and joining us in front of the program
to talk about it. He's Jeff Risdon Jeff, what's going on, man?
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great. It's I love this time of year.
It's my time to get out of the snowy winter here.
And I will be going to my sixteenth Senior Bowl
this year, so that it's always fun to talk some
draft to get into it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Absolutely, And I know you're busy with the Lions as well,
with a lot of the playoffs stuff going on, and
that's always a good problem to have. So tell the
folks where they can find everything you're doing right now, Jeff.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, I am the managing editor for the Lions Wire
and Draft Wire at USA Today, and for once those
two jobs titles don't intersect. This year, it's been a
happy problem to have. Normally, I'm creaking out a lot
of content that applies to both. This year, I'm kind
of separate. So my draft prep unfortunately, is not where
(01:21):
I want it to be at this point. But I
have been watching as many guys as I could, and
you can find it at a Lion's Wire, Draft Wire,
and if you want to do the Lions side and
hear us yap about our playoff team, that's really good.
We're at the Detroit Lions podcast as well. So thanks
for that.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Awesome. No problem, all right, Jeff, So let's do you
want to start Shrine or Senior Bow. You tell me
where do you want to start?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Let's go Shrine to say go first.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
All right, let's go Shrine. So we'll go in chronological order.
I don't want Eric Galco to break through the wall
here like the kool Aid guy and get mad at me.
But I love Rick. Yeah, we love Eric. He's great.
He was on our show last week, but they had
some guys signed and they have since flitted over to
Mobile and the Senior Ball. So with the guys on
(02:05):
the list, and I guess, why don't we start with
the big name, right? Everyone's going to go there to
watch it Door Sanders. We don't know how much he's
going to do there, but let's start there, Jeff, how
locked and you think people are going to be with
Shador where I do think this is a prospect where
people probably do want to see him close up from
a physical perspective. How big is he? How does the
ball come out of his hand? And things like that.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, and I think ball velocity coming out of his
hand is going to be something that's big for him
because there are questions about his arm strength and the
consistency of it. In that regard, It's sort of like
when Baker Mayfield came out. You know, he was known
as a guy who could put some mustard on the ball,
but it was sort of like a full body experience
to do it. And Chador is incredibly accurate, He's very cerebral.
(02:51):
I think he's a very good quarterback prospect. He's my
number one quarterback. But you know, I think seeing him
in an in an offense that in a coaching situation
frankly where his dad isn't there coaching him and being
on the sidelines, although I kind of think Diana will
be on the sidelines, it's uh, it's gonna be one
of It's gonna be Uh. It's gonna be interesting to
(03:14):
see how he responds to that. I like shod Doer
a lot. I think his personality is something that that
I think NFL teams are going to appreciate. He's got
a maturity and a confidence to him. Uh. And and
the fact that he can make anticipatory throw sort of
sets him apart a little bit in this Now he
doesn't always do that, but just you know, throwing one
on ones. I'd love to see him get at least
(03:36):
one day in you know, throwing to the guys that
he's not familiar with, because that's always it's always fun
to see how quickly quarterbacks can adapt to the receivers
that are out there. You know that they're in a
wine over there, and he just met these guys a
day before, and now you're throwing the ball to him. Uh.
It's it's a good test for the quick processing skills
of a quarterback, and she Doer has done a pretty
good job of doing that in my opinion, so I'm
(03:58):
curious if that would would translate well done.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So as of this, it doesn't sound like cam Ward
is going to be at either game. That can obviously
change over the next you know, ten days when when
we actually head down there. I know, I promise this
would be a Senior Bowl trying preview, but Giant fans
care about this stuff. So I'm gonna ask you, what's
the main driving force for why you have Shador ahead
of cam Ward on your quarterback ranking list?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
There? The biggest thing is being able to throw the
ball down the field, and Ward might have a better arm,
but his accuracy down the field is rough. He misses
a lot of throws that should be made. And the
other thing is, you know, he's come from a spray
and prey type offense. I know it's it's cliche to
say that, but you know I did watch him at
(04:41):
Houston Baptists now Houston Christian. He got a lot better
at things that I need to see him get better
at at Miami. But the downfield accuracy, the ability to
throw anticipatory throws, you know, over the middle, hitting an
eight yard out on time. I think she knows better
at all those things right now. Kim Kim's he's tough
(05:05):
because he did see the growth that you wanted to
see from him in moving into his third offense in
four seasons at Miami. But there's a lot of things
with him that are like little annoyances and as they grow,
I just don't view him as highly as should work.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Fair enough, all right, not the only quarterback, by the way,
So why don't we just do the quarterback group first
year at Shrine. Tom McCord, who I know a lot
of people are like, boy, this guy cost O House
in a national championship. He stinks. Then he goes to Syracuse,
has a great year. Those were over four thousand yards
I think right thirty touchdowns, had a great year. Curtis Rourke.
(05:43):
I doubt he's going to do anything with the leg injury, unfortunately,
but he's going down there doing interviews and such. Your
thoughts on McCord and the rest of the quarterback class
down there are truy.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So McCord is very interesting because I thought he took
a big step forward in what he needed to do
at Syracuse this year, they played a little bit of
a lighter schedule also that that has to get factored in.
And he had a great tight end on or Rodney Gatson,
who I'm sure we'll talk about. But I liked what
I saw. You know, you always want to see when
when the guy moves to a different program to sort
(06:12):
of make it his own. And by the way, his
replacement in Ohio State did a good job with that too.
I like where McCord's at, you know, of the later
round quarterbacks, so I think he's a Day three guy.
He's probably the one that intrigues me the most. That's
going to be down in in Dallas. And first go,
you can't say Dallas. They don't like that.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
No, they don't, they don't. That is true. And we'll
be in We will be in North Texas this year
as well. We will not be at the Ford Center.
So just something else to keep in mind. All right,
really good running back last, Jeff, I think we're gonna
in one of the best running back classes and wh
it's a lot of fun and some good running backs
here as well, led by Raheem Sanders from South Carolina Rocket,
who's a big guy that can run a little bit.
(06:54):
You know, two years ago, last so two summers ago.
I guess a lot of people thought last year he
could be a Day two pick, had a really rough year,
transferred and really bounced back this year. Talk about him
in the rest of this running back group.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And one of the things with running backs, when
you go to the All Star Games like this, and
especially for a guy like him who wins with some power,
you don't get to show that in the practices. It's
very difficult to evaluate off ball linebackers and running backs
other than in the passing game. And you're not going
to draft a running back for the passing game. Well,
you might draft a running back for the passing game,
(07:28):
although Tyrone Tracy did a pretty job pretty all with that.
So I think, you know, I want to see how
well he can run routes, pass protection pickups. That's that's
something that's big in these things. You know, he's he's
a very impressive back, and you know there's a lot
of There are so many good running backs in this
one and for for so many to stand out is
(07:50):
what you're looking for. You know, the list is there.
Show me, show me that you can take you can,
you know, pick up a dog of a of a
linebacker litztening for the linebackers. Show me that you can blitz,
Show me that you can get off the block, show
me that you have some creativity other than running really
fast and really hard into a running back and trying
to blast through them. That's sort of really all you
(08:10):
get with the running backs and linebackers and the ultra game.
It is an unfortunate format. But he is a guy
that you certainly have to watch it. And like you said,
had a lot of buzz a couple of years ago
and then sort of faded away a little bit. And
now that's a good chance for him.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And then the wide receiver group headlined by the three
Colorado guys, anyone else in that group gets you excited?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. Kaden Prather from Maryland is a guy that I like.
He and ty Feltoner both and time will be at
the Senior Bowl. Guys that are I think underappreciated because
they played it at Maryland. I think if especially Praither,
with his size and the way that he gets used,
he's a guy that I think can stand out.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Here all right. I will keep an eye on him
for sure, tight End another group that's kind of been
maligned the last few years. We haven't had great classes,
though of course we didn't have brock Bowers last year.
This is a pretty good and deep class. It looks
like Eli Stowers is going to go back to Vanderbilt,
so I'm i'd be surprised if he's there. You mentioned Gadsden.
(09:08):
You know, whenever you see an Iowa tight end you
have to raise your eyebrows. Those guys are always good players.
So who from this group it at try and gets
you excited?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, Luke Lache from Iowa is certainly one that that's
interesting for me. Huh, yes, hours going back. Uh this
guy from I'm looking I'm looking at my notes here
because I can't ever remember his name from Auburn.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Auburn is a Rivaldo Fairweather. Excellent name, great name.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, and he played really well. I have not watched
a lot of Auburn yet this year. In the two
games that I did watch him, I put a circle
around his name. So he's somebody that you can watch
as a guy who let's see if he can move
more than what Auburn did with him? Is where I'm
looking at.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
There any offensive lineman and uh, jump out at Shrine
this year. Jeff. It's not a quite offensive line class
that we had last year, so uh, this might be
a bit of a tough go well more guys at
the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think, yeah, definitely, and I was I did a
quick cursory look over it there. So there's a couple
of small school guys that I'm interested in Minnesota Duluce,
Aidan Williams. I say that because my uncle was a
professor at University of Minnesota Duluth and he always typed
up his bulldogs and he passed away this fall. So
I'm looking forward to to, you know, uh seeing how
(10:23):
that goes for Aidan Williams. Small school guys. The Shrine
does a really good job of bringing those guys in.
And then they have another guy. I know he is
not technically alignment, but a long snamper from the Colorado
School of Mines. They just find these guys. Texas State
has a guy that's there. I think they're I think
they're actually in the sun Belt now, So there's look,
(10:45):
you're looking for somebody to stand out in one on ones?
Can you stop a pass rush? Because again, the one
on one is the pittrol is all you're really looking
for here. And I'll be honest and looking over this
list this morning before we did this, I don't think
there's a guy on this list that gets drafted. But
maybe somebody stands out and shows you something that says, hey,
(11:06):
I'm worth a six or seventh round, you know, Stash
me on a practice squad for a year, sign me
right after the draft, and see what I can do,
you know, get me into the rookie mini camp and
see where it fits. Because it's not an impressive list, unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
All right on the defensive side of the ball, what
position group stands out to you?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
With Trian Jeff So cornerbacks are always good, and there's
a couple of guys that love. I love Noel Williams
from California. I think he's a guy that the more
people watch him and you're gonna see him next week,
and I think scouts are gonna get a look at
him in person. Very good cornerback, can play off ball,
can play outside, can play in the slot, does a
lot of things very well. He is certainly very interesting.
(11:44):
Melo Dotson from Kansas is a guy that has shown
a lot this year who's the other guy going through
my list here? Jamar Muhammat from Oregon was a guy
that I expected him to be in Mobile. Actually, so
I saw Oregon at Michigan this year. Muhammad played very
well in that game. So I'm looking forward to seeing
(12:05):
you know, what you see in person, and how does
it translate, you know, when they're playing against other people
when you're playing the one on ones. I think he's
gonna do very well in the one on one drills.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Very good. Defensive line is a spot that Giants are
interested in. Defensive tackles specifically, it is another deep draft
at that position, Jeff, where I think you're gonna have
guys going into Day two and day three. Anyone up
front that that impresses you in this Shrine game.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, So h Horsley from Boston College as a guy
that his look, he's not gonna get you sacks. He's
gonna he's gonna do things that help other guys get sacks.
And I'm always interested in guys like that. And again,
offensive line versus defensive line. Show me something in a
pit drill that you can win. Show me a swim move,
show me a pin poll, show me something that grabs
(12:52):
my attention. That makes me want to draft you. You
guy from Georgia. Tech Biggers is another guy that played
very well in the game against Georgia that that intrigues me.
So again another you're looking at a lot of guys
that probably aren't going to get drafted, but maybe maybe
seventh round, maybe priority free agent where they click with
the coaching staff. And you know, you do have coaches there.
(13:14):
They're gonna be watching these guys. Maybe they click with
the coaching maybe they mesh. That's that's one of the
big things. That's one of the reasons why it's great
to have the coaches there.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And we'll see if, if how much and if he
goes Kenneth Grant from Michigan he's still on that list.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Too, no doubt doubt he does much.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yes, great player, Yes, totally agreat Anything else from Shrine
that you want to highlight before we move on to
senior ball.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Just a couple of the edges because I didn't I
don't really cover them. Tyler Baron from Miami as a guy,
Antoine Powell Ryland from Virginia Tech led the nation in
sacks and I'm sorry, pressures very good intriguing player. Let's
see what he can do when he's out of their
defensive scheme, which basically just let him pin his years
back and go. I want to see him. He's a
(14:02):
guy that I think can sneak in the D two
with good football player, and I think this is a
good environment for him to show what he can do.
So keep an eye on Paul Ryland out of Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
There, hoddle up, get in here. If you're lined up here,
you gotta go over the middle with at the score great?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
How do we make that happen? I don't know, Bud.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Citizens does makes sense of your money with Citizens, Official
Bank of Eli Manning. All right, let's jump over to
the Senior Bawl. But first a reminder of the Johnsttle
Podcast is brought to you by Citizens, the official bank
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of every moment with Citizens. Learn more at Citizens bank
dot com slash Giants. All right, let's go to the
(14:46):
Senior Bowl, Jeff, and this, I think we might set
a record this year. Last year, I think there were
ten first round picks at the Senior Bowl, and I
think the nature of this draft class, where I don't know,
maybe twelve to fifteen true first round grades maybe depending
on who you talk to, a lot of guys are
motivated to go show out to earn that first round,
(15:08):
you know Moniker this year, and to get picked in
the first round. So I think so many guys are
playing in this game that maybe in the past wouldn't
And I think we have a lot of really good
players and we might get more than ten of these
guys go in the first round.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, And it's interesting because I think this year, after
the top five or six picks, it's really unsettled. Like
I was looking at some of the mock draft that
are out there this week, and Dane Brugler from The Athletic,
who's the guy that we both respect a lot, he
had a lot of names in that first round that
I'm like, Wow, didn't have him there. I didn't think
he was going to be that high. And when people
(15:43):
look at the mock draft that I'm working on, it's
going to be out to mart a draft wire, you
can be like, hmmm, didn't think he was a first rounder.
So I think there's a lot of guys that can
prove themselves. Guys like Mike Green out of Marshall is
a great example. How does he handle playing you know above,
Marshall very good against Ohio State. Let's see what he
can do in one on.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Once he's I don't know this is official yet, I
have I have heard rumblings that there might be an
injury issue there. I hope that's not true, but I
have heard that.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I've Yeah, And that's that's all. And you always
wonder about the validity of the injury of a guy
that played late in the season. But like you don't
want to say that about in Green in general here,
but just in general, the guys that played at the
end of the season and didn't have an injury, and
now they do. You know, you've been enough of the
(16:33):
the they don't do him any more publicly, unfortunately. But
uh when Jim Naggy and uh when do the wags
at Senior Bowl and he talked about the guys that
were injured and everybody, you know, went grumbling. I don't
think he's hurt again, it's not directed might greed, but
there's always those guys. Yeah, So it would be great
to see him get out there though.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, so let's do some of these groups. And
I want to start the group that I think is
frankly the best group. You know, everyone gets all excited
about the one on ones and it's always the corners
and the wide receivers that people get psyched about. Well,
it's gonna be the one on ones this year, but
it's gonna be upfront because this defensive line group and
edge group, and you know, jim Kin is on his
roster on the website kind of has them lumped together
so we can do the same. But look, I could
(17:15):
see any one of these guys being first round picks.
Landon Jackson, Josiah Stewart, Ty Robinson, I mean, Walter Nolan,
I'm gonna butcher the name princely, um Mila, I'm of
oh miss heck. I could even see Donovan as aakau
who get consideration. Dean Walker with his size and athleticism.
(17:37):
You know, these are all guys are gonna be top
fifty picks, let's say, and they're all playing in the scheme.
I dodn't even mention Schamar Turner, Shamar Stewart, They're gonna
be here. Nick Scourdon's gonna be there. Kyle Knard, I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
There are names.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Man, It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah. The the like picks twenty through seventy five on
the defensive line are incredibly well represented here. All the
guys that you mentioned in the OD We talked a
little bit before we went on the air about the
Texas A and M guys who sourced themselves out of
that who's the better Shamar, I mean, got options there.
(18:14):
It's gonna be gonna be fantastic. This is gonna be
one of those things. Typically I spend one day watching
the pit and one day watching the skills. It's gonna
be hard for me to get out of the pit
this year.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
No, I'm with you. Who from this group maybe? Do
you think, Jeff is you talked about how you know
you get through the top ten eleven. It's gonna be
very different from you know, Scout to Scout analyst to analysts.
Who are some of the guys in this group that
you particularly like?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You know, Nolan is the guy that I think stepped
up a lot. Nommaleen is a guy that transferred from Florida,
will Miss It took him a little bit to get
acclimated to the new style, but Ole miss that they
had some mes that can bring it. Sanders Canard to
the South Carolina guys or guys I watched them early
in the year and I did not watch South Carolina late,
(19:00):
so I'm kind of curious playing catch up a little
bit and seeing, you know, where they're at, because I
think both those guys are top fifty talents. Yeah, that's
It's just a great group. And you know, scouting from
from Texas, A and M guy who played at Purdue.
I actually saw him play in person at Purdue, and
I'm like, wish he was twitchier, and I want to
see that in person if that that's held true, if
(19:21):
he's matured a little bit more physically. But Owayne and
Jackson is the guy just as you know I do
cover the Lions. He's a guy that's going to get
a ton of projections of the Detroit Lions that wherever
they're picking between twenty eight and thirty two. Hop poullayt
thirty two and he absolutely fits that. But he's the
guy that another guy. I want to see some twitch
out of that dude because I just don't see it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So you know, yeah, can he really good size, really
good length, but he isn't like that crazy bursty of
field bendy pass rusher type.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, it reminds me a ton of wint and Copels
from back in the day from the Jets side of
the ball in New York. But yeah, that's want to
see guys that can win in more than one way,
and I think all these guys are gonna have an
opportunity to do that. And there's a pretty good offensive
line group here that's gonna be going up against them too.
It's gonna be a fantastic time down the wheel.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yes, Scourt is interesting because he's so big, like he's
two hundred and eighty pounds. He's not one of these
like two hundred fifty pound guys. So I think what
people expect, like the burst in twitch out of them.
I think people have to remember that dude's too eighty,
he's not too fifty and he doesn't look too eight
either when you look at him. He carries the weight
really well. So I'm with you. And that's the other
(20:32):
guy I'm excited about.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Too, and he is one and actually both Schamar's from
Texas A and M and even the South Carolina guys, says, well,
what are they weigh in at? How long are their arms?
You know, the measurements are something that I think are
gonna be key for a lot of these guys because
you don't really trust the ones that coming out of
college and Texas A and M especially is notorious for
(20:54):
fluffing arm length and weight. So what are these guys
really at chance to get ahead of that before they
get to Indianapolis of the combine where I'm looking important
seeing you down there too?
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, absolutely, no question about all right. You mentioned the
offensive line, and I think this is a huge week
for the offensive line A because they're going against such
a good group, right, And I do think you know
we're not going to see Calvin Banks down there. I
I'm not sure if he's a guard tackle, to be
honest with you, let's talk about.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Him real quick, because I don't see his game translating
to guard at all. I think he's a tackle in
a guard's body.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Why do you say he does not look like or
move like a tackle to me? And that's a problem
for me.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, he's a tough one. He's he's very dangerously falling
into the dreaded tweeter and a guy who winds up
playing both as like your six offensive lineman for a
long time. And you don't typically draft those guys high.
But I'm sure some team's gonna fall in love with him,
you know, in the fifteen to thirty range and try
him at guard. And I just don't see the power
(21:59):
in his game at all. He sets up too high,
his hands are consistently too high. He worries me as
a guy that I think is gonna get overdrafted, but
I could be wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, I have not finished. I'm trying to focus
on the All Star Games guys yet. So I watched
him a little bit. I think I'm going off my
summer scatting with him. I haven't done much the last
couple of months, but I'm with you. I think the
LSU tackle looks much more like a tackle. I worry
about his arm length and power, but he looks like
a tackle for me. But where I was going with
that is that I think some of these guys like
(22:30):
Jonas Savanaa, for example, at Arizona, does he a guard
or a cackle like he is? To figure that out,
you know, Emery Jones is a big guy, how does
he hang a tackle against some of these edge rushers?
Does he have to move inside? Because he had a
lot of issues in pass pro this year. So I
think it's gonna be a good Gray's able. Right, this
big North Dakota Steak guy, how does he handle speed
rushers outside? Is he a guard? So these guys not
(22:53):
just how good are you? But what position are you
going to project at? I think that's gonna be really
interesting to watch.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, and why have my own from West Virginia is
another one great tackled about one sack in three years.
As as West Virginia's left tackle. They run a pro
style offense, got thirty two and a quarter inch arms.
Is a team gonna be willing to leave him out there?
How well does he handle you guys screaming off the edge?
Now it's interesting because I think he'll do very well
(23:19):
in one on ones against the power guys because he's
he's got some anchor to him. But that's another guy
that you're looking at, by the way, the North Dakota
State kid. There are some teams that I know project
him as a center. Yeah, exactly, So you know, does
he get any chances to play some center down amobile.
The center group down there is not strong, so maybe
(23:39):
maybe I'll get a shot to do that. They have
not been afraid to mix things up like that. That's
where we saw Cody Barton transform into a center. You're
gonna get some movement there. And how often do these
guys line up at guard and in the pit drills
when it's you know, two on onees thing three on twos,
things like that. That's something to pay attention to.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Yeah, Josh Connelly's another guy, right. I think he's really
awesome collegeball. I don't know what to do with him,
but where does he go? And that's another guy I
want to watch, you know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, there's so many of those guys that they could
be tackles, that could be Garsovnae is another great example
of a guy, and you know he comes from a program.
Arizona had one of those guys last year, Jordan Morgan,
who proved that he's a right tackle and the Packers
took him in the first runt. Unfortunately he got hurt,
but played played acceptably at right guard interestingly enough. Just yeah,
(24:31):
finding where these guys are, and you know, I always
love interviewing the offensive lineman too. That's one of my
favorite parts of going down there. They tend to be
the smartest guys in the room, and you get some
interesting answers from those guys, and you know the motivations,
and you know, I love finding out did you wrestle?
Did you throw shot? Did you play basketball? One of
(24:54):
the guys from Texas last year, Christian Jones, He's like,
I didn't play football until I was a junior hotblab
a soccer player, and it shows in his footwork and
you kind of put those things together and watch it.
When he told us that one morning, I went out
and watched him that afternoon, I'm like, wow, his feet
really are pretty good. Hands were great, But so little
things like that are what you kind of, you know,
(25:16):
tie together. When you see all these guys in person
and again playing with unfamiliar coaches with unfamiliar guys around them,
I think is a very good crucible for how well
they're going to adapt to the NFL.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Now, two guys I'm sure are tackles that I'm looking
forward to watching armand Membo from Missouri, who I don't
think people talk about enough. I would be very comfortable
picking him into the first round. Beginning of the second
in this draft class. And oh yeah, oh yeah, right,
tackle starter, let's roll. I'm good with that. And then
Marcus Embo from Purdue is a guy that I think
(25:47):
is a little bit more raw, but he can move.
That guy is an athlete. He is some things to
figure out. But if you're looking for a long term tackle,
I think he's a guy that could be very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, he is a draft and stash guy. You take
him day two. I wouldn't take hi day one. There's
certainly a whole lot of athleticism and tools to work
with there. And I don't want to denigrate the boiler
Maker program, but I'm not sure he was well coached.
So let's let's see what happens when he gets into
a different coaching scheme and program, because I think there's
(26:18):
a lot to work with.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
There, lots of issues with hands with him. He doesn't
get his hands in the right spot and all that stuff.
So just you know, he has some stuff to work
on with that. I agree with you. All right, let's
jump over to back. Why don't we stick on offense?
Is an offensive line they'll be blocking for a running
back group, and you talked about it practice and whatever.
So yeah, you can't see a lot. This is when
(26:39):
the game matters though, right you get into the game
on Saturday, that's when the running backs get to do
their thing. And you know, Cam Scattaball was on this
list originally. It doesn't sound like he's gonna go now.
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I don't think he's gonna be there. So I hope
he shows up for interviews just because he's gonna be
somebody that everybody wants to talk to you after what
he did against Text that was fantastic game.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Now he's one of the guys that probably legitimately has
gotten the you know what beat out of him over
the course of the season. So I get that. I
get that.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, he left that game. He was throwing up on
the sidelines. He's he's one of those guys that he's
a gamer, and I'm not I don't want to upset
this category of fan base, but I'm not sure he
translates super well to the NFL. But dang, he's fun
and he needs storylines like that.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Doesn't he just feel like a Jim Harbar running back
to you, that guy like, oh absolutely, And I could
always see the Chargers taking him on day two and
be very very happy about it.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But that doesn't does have great receiving skills, So.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
That's true, that does not mean this is not a
great group. That's still here.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
R J.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Harvey, who was ridiculously explosive and productive. I think he
bounces too much sometimes, but he's fun. Uh. Marcus Yarns
out of Delaware, I think is a really good third
down back. He's little.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I haven't seen him yet, so that's one of the
one of the guys that I've got circle I haven't seen.
I haven't seen any Bluepans football yet.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
He's funny, he's fun, a little skinny. I'm not sure
how much of a pound that he could take. He's
a little bit at little lanky, but really explosive. Devin
Neils super productive at Kansas. Damien Martinez, big bruiser out
of Miami. Then you have Oli Gordon, who was supposed
to be the top three running back heading into the year.
He had a slow year and.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It looked like he got inflated. Yeah. And Khalil Mullings
from Michigan as a guy. You know another guy that
I think Michigan's offense this year and I saw them
Live four times.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Unfortunately, holl was against Ohio State, Jeff, it was not.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
I just see him play against Oregon. So as a
quick background, I'm from Ohio. I buried into a Michigan family.
My dad is a bluck Eye. My father in law,
Reci Peace, was a Michigan Wolverine. So we have the
house to buy this, even though I don't really root
for either team. So it's Mullings though, was a guy
that I think we all projected was a little bit
(28:58):
of a fullback, and all of a sudden, Wow, he
outshown the competition in that backfield. So and Donovan Edwards.
So there's a guy He's gonna be funnest between the
tackles back. But again, that's the way you can there's
the way you see in these caves, and Oli Gordon
is the guy. I hit him pre season top fifty.
I loved what he did at Oklahoma State. It looked
like he was either out of shape or dealing with
(29:21):
nagging injuries, or just kind of disinterested. I don't want
to dog him like that, but show me show me
some fire down here, man, because there's a lot of
talent there. At least there was, and he's been heavily used.
Maybe that has something to do with it too, but
he's the guy that I think needs to redeem himself
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Yeah, I think Devin Neil is one of those just solid,
you know, early day three, late day two guys. You
can plug him in and he could be a part
time guy for you. But I think I think Harvey's
the guy that people are gonna leave mobile talking about
just because of his explosiveness.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah, and I'm looking forward to I haven't seen UCFN
a bit, so I'm looking forward to that one too.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh he's fun. Now, we usually get this like Dyna
unbelievably great wide receiver group at the Senior Bowl. It's
just not that type of wide receiver class. It's not
fault uh. But the guys that he has, I think
some of their interesting Xavier verstrepo. Maybe not like you're
flashy guy, but he's like such a pretty job done
(30:17):
slat player, good route runner, tough blocker, all that stuff.
A little undersized. But then I think the guys outside
that could be fun. Tesz Johnson got a lot of speed,
Jaylen Noel of Iowa State's a good player, and uh
Elic I am an ore from Stanford. I think it's
also going to be a pretty fun guy to watch
out there.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And he's the guy that has some definite buzz going
about him. Stanford did not have a good offense, he
was not asked to do NFL things, and I think
the ability to see him win some one on ones.
He's not fast or quick, but he's got just enough
of both that I think he's gonna he's gonna do
some impressive.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
And he's big. He's a big body too, so he is.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
A big dude. The big guy for me there. Type
Felton out of Maryland is the guy that I love
much higher on him than most people. I think he's
going to run around a four to three flat. They
didn't use him that way. They sort of he was
kind of like, Ay, they shoveled him passes that I
don't think you have. He's he has the legitimate downfield
(31:18):
threat of a Jamis and Williams guy that I watched
in Detroit. He's that kind of receiver, and I don't
think Maryland used him that way. I'm not sure they
had the quarterback to do it either. But he's a
guy that I think is gonna really shine down there.
It's a guy that I have circled as a guy
who's going to be one of the big winners, assuming
he plays the way I think he does. I think
he's a Day two guy, an early Day two guy,
(31:40):
and I don't think he's getting that kind of buzz.
So Ty Felton is a guy I like a lot. Also,
the guys from Virginia Tach too are interesting to watch
because I'm not sure they had the best quarterback play either.
I always liked seeing receivers that were I felt were
held back by quarterbacks, and again respect to the hookies,
(32:01):
and they did find them late. But I want to
see these guys with better quarterbacks throwing chill.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Yeah, that's Daikwon Lane and Jillen Lane and Daquon Felton
part of me. So, guy from Virginia Tech, if you
want to know how to manage two minutes of crunch
time football, I'm your man.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
But if you're wondering about a long term financial plan,
you should talk to citizens. Hey, I can also talk
long care. I'd like to learn about an miliar team.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Yes, I knew I could help make sense of your
money with citizens. Whatd what corners are you excited to
see those guys go up against them one on ones.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
So corners go through. I get these guys transposed with
the guys that are the shrines.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
That's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Uh who we are here? We had a couple of
guys I think so dar Darian Porter stands out as
a guy Iowa State, like I'm not even sure he
started at Iowa State all the time. Good player has
some HANDLM scouting buzz. I know, I know a lot
of teams went to Ames that's here to go watch him.
So we'll see on that.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
And a lot of people are excited about the Florida
State corner as a Ray Thomas.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I know I'm still learning how to say his name,
but yes, he's a guy.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
I'm not right. I'm sure I was wrong, so don't
copy me, please.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
He's he's the guy that the more I watched him
and I binged on Florida State a couple of weeks ago,
good player could sneak into the first round with his skills.
And he's the guy that I think is gonna thrive
because he plays the receiver instead of the ball. And
that's you know, the talented guy, the guy from Oklahoma
(33:39):
bowman is a guy. Yeah again, Oklahoma's defense wasn't all that,
but he played very well in the game where he
needed to when they beat Alabama. So again I'm playing
major catchup on a lot of these guys, just because
again it's a happy problem to have that lands are
(34:00):
still playing.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Trust I get it, and I haven't watched him yet.
I'm gonna try to watch the DVS next couple of days.
Maxwell Harriston from Kentucky is another guy.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Knows some point, yes, and he's actually not on the
list of the Haffter, but he's he's a player I
like a lot. I did watch Kentucky. I watch their
their big dudo front two. They're they're big boy in
the middle, can really play. So Harrison is the guy
that I think can sneak into that top forty range.
He's gonna be gether. Athletic testing is very important for
(34:31):
very smart, very plucky corner. I have a I have
an affinity for corners that play bigger than they are,
and he is certainly one of those.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
All right, let's go over to the tight end position.
This is gonna be fun louted and the best part
you are the top two guys here. The kid out
of Michigan, the kid at of Penn State. But Harold
Fannon is unbelievably productive. I don't know how well he's
get a test, but he knows how to play receiver,
bringing stools pretty good. Mason Taylor's kind of a combo
blocking receiving guy. He could be a late day two
(35:05):
guy in my opinion. I know some people like him
more than that. Gunner Helm I think has something to
him as a lanky wide receiver. Then Elijah Royo, who
doesn't have a lot of production in four years in Miami.
He's probably the fastest of this tight end group.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, he's a very intriguing This is a great group.
Gunner Helm is a guy that I think he's gonna
be one of those guys that doesn't necessarily like rock
your world and you look up at the end of
the season and he's got fifty catches for six hundred
yards and five touchdowns. Knows how to position himself, can
play in line, can flex out. Fano is the guy. Look,
(35:38):
I'm a Mac guy. I'm going to Ohio. Bobcat he
was a massive problem for us. He was a massive
problem for Penn State. He was a massive problem for Serracu,
every time he's been asked to play against a good defense,
he has thrived. He's not he gets compared to Evan Ingram,
the former Giant a lot. I don't think he's that
kind of an athlete, but he's certainly he does a lot.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Of the same things and does the body type two.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, I'm curious what he's going to weigh in at.
Is he to forty like bowling green listen, I think
he's probably closer to two thirty to thirty five maybe agreed.
Very talented player, great player after the catch and creativity
and again he did that against the big boys, not
just running around against you know, the Kent States and
Acrons of the world.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Good route runner too, I think. So I'm with you.
I think this tight end group will be fun, the
two groups, and I'll put these guys together because I
have trouble with safeties too and linebackers at these All
Star games, because that posin is all about reading and
reacting and in practice you can't really see much of that.
But who from the safety and or linebacker groups at
the Senior ball or really guys you're pumped up about seeing.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
And one of the things that you're looking at here
for the guys that are playing safety specifically, is how
quickly they get to the outside from a center high position.
And in the game do they read runner pass, do
they bite on play action things like that, and you
know linebackers them on the list here bringing this out
(37:04):
like six days ago might.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Be this question from UCLA. Is one guy that I
know people are thank.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You yeah, and he's a very talented player. I think
he's under appreciated. I think he's a Day two guy.
Schmeil Mandon from Georgia is another guy the production doesn't
always match the traits and the skills. I think he's
the guy that can seek him the top one hundred
or late day two. But he's show me something as
a pass rusher here because he's another one of those
(37:32):
guys you know I talked about earlier with the Shrineking. Guys,
show me that you can do more than just run
hard into a running back or a titan that's trying
to pick you up. Show me that you have some agility,
show me that you can use your hands. That's another
guy that I don't think did a great job at
that at Georgia. But again, you want to see them
Kenny turn and run Hower's hips and coverage because the tighten,
this tight end group is nasty good down there. They're
(37:55):
going to they're going to expose who can cover and
who can't. So my eyes are open him for somebody
grab my attention to show me something in those one
on ONTs.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
All right, Well, we started with quarterbacks, let's end with quarterbacks.
Tier nice little group. You might not have a first
round pick among them, though maybe you might. I don't know.
We'll see. I'll roll through it for the fans. We
can't even touch on these guys. We could even touch
on these guys individually if you want. Jaylen Milroe, Tyler Shao,
who I think is actually really interesting out of Louisville,
Riley Leonard, will Howard, who people know very well, Jackson
(38:26):
dor out of all miss Dylan Gabriel of Oregon, he
was a Heisman guy. Really nice group of quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, and uh so I wish I wish Louisville. I
wish he was younger. He's he was high school class
with twenty seventeen. He's bounced around a lot like For
for some weird reason, I watched every single Louisville game
this year, and he never ceased to impress me. I
think he's a very good player. But you're looking at
the guy that's probably a career backup, and I think
(38:54):
that's also the case with a couple of other guys
that you know. Okay is the guy that's interesting for
me because I think he is better than what most
of the collective draft media thinks he is. I don't
want to say that he could be the next Boon Nicks,
who was. I'll see it as a you know, player
for the Broncos this year as a rookie, and I
(39:15):
know people dog got him because he played Lane Kiffin's offense,
and I get all that. I like the kid. He's
got a good arm, he knows how to throw the
ball down the field, he knows how to spot the ball,
he knows how to lead guys, open, doesn't throw hospital balls.
You know, there's a lot to like about him. Manages
the offense very well. I think of the guy that's
(39:36):
there aside for Milroe, I think he's the only one
that you can draft and say this guy can start
for me, maybe not as a rookie, but in a
year or two. Like I like him at Milroe to
me is fast. I'm fascinated because can he throw a
short pass? Yeah, he's great, fifteen to twenty five yards
(39:56):
down the field, swing bast of the running back. You
don't know where that ball's going.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
That has to be fundamentals with footwork and stuff like that,
and that stuff you can kind of figure out.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
I hope, so I really do, because there's some juicton
he's a little bit smaller than you want. He doesn't
always make the best decisions on when to run and
went to throw or make them fast enough and won't
necessarily get a picture on that. But just can he
connect with guys on you know, show me a simple
eight yard slant And it goes back to Malik Willis
(40:27):
when he was done there a couple of years ago
at the Sea Bowl, he threw a couple of simple
outruns that hit the brick wall on the bottom of
the stadium, Like take something off the ball, dude, like
ken Ken Milroe, vary his approach and things like that.
So yeah, that's gonna be understand when Dylan Gabriel is
the guy that I saw in person Oregon at Michigan
(40:49):
this year, Surgical Precision and he works the middle of
the field very well. There's not a lot of upside
with him. He sort of is what he is, but
a guy that I'm I want to see him show me,
you know, can he transcend? What what was that Oregon?
Because Oregon guys, ro was burdened by the way shock
what started there from Louisville back in the he he
was justin irbers back up for a year, believe or not.
(41:11):
So there's, uh, there's a lot to like there with
with Gabriel, but I want I want to see can
he gun the ball in because even at Michigan where
he played a great game, there were a couple of
throws where it's like, ah, his receiver had to wait
a little bit and they you know, they have a
couple of wide receivers that are, you're, very impressive, that
are going to get drafted, and he kind of under
threw them a little bit. So I want to see,
(41:31):
you know, can he leave guys? Can he really push
the ball down the field?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I could see Miroe, with his athletic package, being somebody
that missed out on that first wave of quarterbacks in
the top ten might invest in him, maybe trade up
into the back end of the first round to get
the fifth year option. Doing that, I don't think Jackson
Dart's going to get into the first round look to quarterbacks,
(41:55):
I see him more as a you know, probably mid
to later day to round two, maybe beginning a round
three type of guy.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Myself. Yeah, I think he's playing to show whether he's
second round or fourth round, and I think that's one
of the things that a lot of people are gonna
come away from that. I do like Dart again more
than most people do. He's not a first round quarterback.
He's not a guy that I would take in the
top fifty, but maybe he shows enough that you get there.
So this quarterback class, it's tough, man, because there were
(42:25):
so many good ones last year and this year. Like
wide receiver, last wide receiver was was incredibly loaded last year.
I'm not sure there's a top twenty wide receiver in
this draft. We'll see if some of these guys show out,
you know, whether it's d n is interesting. And Mecca Agbuka,
(42:45):
who's unfortunately not gonna be in an ultra game, is
also another guy I think can sneak into that. But
it's not a great year for a number one wide
receiver when there were so many of them last year, Malikighbors,
you know, Brian Thomas included it, so so many good
receivers last year. And that's one of the things where
if you're a team that didn't get one last year
(43:05):
or didn't get a quarterback last year and this was
pretendos of the Giants, of course, do you force it
because oh man, we missed last year, we got to
try this year? Or can you can you be patient?
Can you play your board the way that you need to.
That's there's there's a few teams that are in that
boat this year, and I wonder what's gonna happen with
with guys like Milroe and dart Will Howard is another example.
(43:28):
Do they get overdrafted relative to where they are because
the thirst is there and the supply and demand just
the case they have.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
To Yeah, I know he's in the games when you
brought him up. McMillan's a guy that to me, testing
will be important. How fast does he run? He reminds
me of a much more polished t Higgins when Higgins
came out, because he runs a much wider route tree
to me, But he has that type of size and
just the way he plucks the ball out of the air.
(43:56):
I think he's an extremely safe pick. Like, there's no
way he's a bus Is he going to be a star, No,
but he is going to be a very good NFL
player one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think that. But
because he doesn't have that super high ceiling, does he
go top ten because some teams despent for a wide
receiver with some size, or does he fall into the
fifteen to twenty five range, which in this.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Class he did the top ten last year, he wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Have Oh yeah, last year, I don't think he was
the first rounder just because of the depth of that.
I mean, Brian Thomas went what twenty second? Fantastic guy,
Like he's going to be one hundred catch fifteen hundred
yard guy next year, assuming that Jackson Loillgan is a
good coach. Yeah, there's again with the wide receivers here.
(44:41):
Ty Felton's a guy that I brought him up earlier.
He's the guy that I think can really show out
and make himself a lot of money. This week or
Shrine Bowl week, a Senior Bowl week, they're confluencing in.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
My head, But I think do you think Quinn Yours
might make a late appearance in one of these All
Star Games? Or now?
Speaker 2 (44:58):
I hope he does.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I think it would help if he did. To be
honest with you.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
It can't hurt. I don't think he's draftable like it
felt like he was such a governor on the Texas offense,
like they had a lot more talented with it. Every
time they put arch Manning in a green horn like that.
Obviously he's got an incredible pedigree. If I like their
offense was better, I just don't. I don't see it
with yours. I would love to see him get into
(45:22):
one of these come for a couple of days. Throw
the guys, Do you have an arm? Can you make
it into theatory? Throw? Are you gonna get sacked in
a one on one situation? Like it's tough man. He
just reminds me of a lower end Canny Pickett, And
I don't have any interest in drafting that.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Don't you think he's going to be like a third
round pick though, what all said and done, I do.
Speaker 2 (45:44):
I think he's going to get drafted just because he's
he's Quin Yours. You know, he's Texas. He won. Did
they win because of him?
Speaker 1 (45:53):
I think so got it all right? Any other All
Star Game or draft thoughts draft that you want to
get out there before we say goodbye.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
Just there are a couple of games that are going
on this weekend, and I'm always interested in the guys
to get promoted from the Tropical Bowl from the Colusion
alls right for yeah, google Bull. Last year, a guy
who's a wide receiver Coker for the Panthers, worked his
way up from Bowl to Bowl to the Bowl, proved
he belonged every time, still didn't get drafted. He was
(46:22):
a top one hundred talent in that draft. Who's the
guy that steps up this year? I'll tell you what.
There's there's an offensive lineman from Western Michigan who's playing
his way up this year. I want to see what
he happens. A local guy for mean, I can't think
of his name. I actually know his asient. I talked
to him this sport. Feel bad about that, But watch
those guys who get promoted from those weeks because most
(46:44):
of the time they prove that they deserve it, that
they just didn't get the spotlight or whatever. So keep
an eye on those guys when they get called up
to the Shrine, and I think the shrine has some
room for some of those guys too.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
All right, final question and we'll wrap with this. I've
been trying to do more of these kind of rapid
fire questions. Give me your rank your top three position
groups at the Senior Bowl. You could start at three
and count down to one. Which would be your best.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
I think I think defensive back, offensive line, and tight end. Uh,
tight end is incredible. Wide receiver blogs in there too, though, probably.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
The line man. We talked about that group.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, yeah, it's good Senior ball. It really is. Again,
you don't have because the quarterbacks aren't there. You don't
get the sizzle of like when when Baker Mayfield and
Josh Allen were there or Justin Herbert was there. But
the trenches, man, it's gonna be it's gonna be a fun,
fun pindrill down there.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
All right, I'm gonna follow up. Then give me your
give me your top three prospects that are top five
prospects you're most excited to see in Mobile.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
So Felton is one, Scarleton is one, Schimar Turner is one.
From Texas, A and M. Again, we're trying to Ferret,
Which which which one's better?
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Jamar Stewart learn the name girls.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, Bo is one from Purdue Membo. I like Membo
a lot. I think he's gonna do really well down there,
so he put him up there.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Yeah, I like it. Jeff, good stuff, my friend. I'll
see you down there. Look forward to it in a
couple of weeks, and safe travels.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
I'm just hoping that the weather's warmer. I'm looking out
my window right now. I live on the west coast
of Michigan. I look across and the Illinois in Illinois
Wisconsin border is straight across the water. It's currently twenty
six degrees and we're expecting to get twelves at eighteen
inches of snow this weekend with a high temperature of five.
I hope it's above fifty down there when it getsbile,
because I'll be the guy in shorts.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
I can't promise you it's going to be warm. I
can promise you it won't be colder than what you're
going through right now, So.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
That's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (48:52):
I think you'll be okay. That's this episode of the
Gizontal Podcast, brought to you by citizens Official Bank of
the Giants for Jefferson, I'm jodsh Bulk. We'll see next time, buddy,
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hut's go, Let's go,
Let's go, Giants do. Get out of my Giants bubbling,
give me some job. Part of the Giants Podcast Network.
Let's roll. Welcome to another edition of the Giants Little Podcast,
brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
I am John Schmelk. Next week, grash I we're recording
this the week prior, so coming up, we're gonna have
(00:22):
these Shrine and Senior Bowls a little bit later this week.
I'll be at Shrine over the weekend and first go
then I'll head down to Mobile for Senior Bowl the
following week and joining us in front of the program
to talk about it. He's Jeff Risdon Jeff, what's going on, man?
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm doing great. It's I love this time of year.
It's my time to get out of the snowy winter here.
And I will be going to my sixteenth Senior Bowl
this year, so that it's always fun to talk some
draft to get into it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Absolutely, And I know you're busy with the Lions as well,
with a lot of the playoffs stuff going on, and
that's always a good problem to have. So tell the
folks where they can find everything you're doing right now, Jeff.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, I am the managing editor for the Lions Wire
and Draft Wire at USA Today, and for once those
two jobs titles don't intersect. This year, it's been a
happy problem to have. Normally, I'm creaking out a lot
of content that applies to both. This year, I'm kind
of separate. So my draft prep unfortunately, is not where
(01:21):
I want it to be at this point. But I
have been watching as many guys as I could, and
you can find it at a Lion's Wire, Draft Wire,
and if you want to do the Lions side and
hear us yap about our playoff team, that's really good.
We're at the Detroit Lions podcast as well. So thanks
for that.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Awesome. No problem, all right, Jeff, So let's do you
want to start Shrine or Senior Bow. You tell me
where do you want to start?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Let's go Shrine to say go first.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
All right, let's go Shrine. So we'll go in chronological order.
I don't want Eric Galco to break through the wall
here like the kool Aid guy and get mad at me.
But I love Rick. Yeah, we love Eric. He's great.
He was on our show last week, but they had
some guys signed and they have since flitted over to
Mobile and the Senior Ball. So with the guys on
(02:05):
the list, and I guess, why don't we start with
the big name, right? Everyone's going to go there to
watch it Door Sanders. We don't know how much he's
going to do there, but let's start there, Jeff, how
locked and you think people are going to be with
Shador where I do think this is a prospect where
people probably do want to see him close up from
a physical perspective. How big is he? How does the
ball come out of his hand? And things like that.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, and I think ball velocity coming out of his
hand is going to be something that's big for him
because there are questions about his arm strength and the
consistency of it. In that regard, It's sort of like
when Baker Mayfield came out. You know, he was known
as a guy who could put some mustard on the ball,
but it was sort of like a full body experience
to do it. And Chador is incredibly accurate, He's very cerebral.
(02:51):
I think he's a very good quarterback prospect. He's my
number one quarterback. But you know, I think seeing him
in an in an offense that in a coaching situation
frankly where his dad isn't there coaching him and being
on the sidelines, although I kind of think Diana will
be on the sidelines, it's uh, it's gonna be one
of It's gonna be Uh. It's gonna be interesting to
(03:14):
see how he responds to that. I like shod Doer
a lot. I think his personality is something that that
I think NFL teams are going to appreciate. He's got
a maturity and a confidence to him. Uh. And and
the fact that he can make anticipatory throw sort of
sets him apart a little bit in this Now he
doesn't always do that, but just you know, throwing one
on ones. I'd love to see him get at least
(03:36):
one day in you know, throwing to the guys that
he's not familiar with, because that's always it's always fun
to see how quickly quarterbacks can adapt to the receivers
that are out there. You know that they're in a
wine over there, and he just met these guys a
day before, and now you're throwing the ball to him. Uh.
It's it's a good test for the quick processing skills
of a quarterback, and she Doer has done a pretty
good job of doing that in my opinion, so I'm
(03:58):
curious if that would would translate well done.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So as of this, it doesn't sound like cam Ward
is going to be at either game. That can obviously
change over the next you know, ten days when when
we actually head down there. I know, I promise this
would be a Senior Bowl trying preview, but Giant fans
care about this stuff. So I'm gonna ask you, what's
the main driving force for why you have Shador ahead
of cam Ward on your quarterback ranking list?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
There? The biggest thing is being able to throw the
ball down the field, and Ward might have a better arm,
but his accuracy down the field is rough. He misses
a lot of throws that should be made. And the
other thing is, you know, he's come from a spray
and prey type offense. I know it's it's cliche to
say that, but you know I did watch him at
(04:41):
Houston Baptists now Houston Christian. He got a lot better
at things that I need to see him get better
at at Miami. But the downfield accuracy, the ability to
throw anticipatory throws, you know, over the middle, hitting an
eight yard out on time. I think she knows better
at all those things right now. Kim Kim's he's tough
(05:05):
because he did see the growth that you wanted to
see from him in moving into his third offense in
four seasons at Miami. But there's a lot of things
with him that are like little annoyances and as they grow,
I just don't view him as highly as should work.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Fair enough, all right, not the only quarterback, by the way,
So why don't we just do the quarterback group first
year at Shrine. Tom McCord, who I know a lot
of people are like, boy, this guy cost O House
in a national championship. He stinks. Then he goes to Syracuse,
has a great year. Those were over four thousand yards
I think right thirty touchdowns, had a great year. Curtis Rourke.
(05:43):
I doubt he's going to do anything with the leg injury, unfortunately,
but he's going down there doing interviews and such. Your
thoughts on McCord and the rest of the quarterback class
down there are truy.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
So McCord is very interesting because I thought he took
a big step forward in what he needed to do
at Syracuse this year, they played a little bit of
a lighter schedule also that that has to get factored in.
And he had a great tight end on or Rodney Gatson,
who I'm sure we'll talk about. But I liked what
I saw. You know, you always want to see when
when the guy moves to a different program to sort
(06:12):
of make it his own. And by the way, his
replacement in Ohio State did a good job with that too.
I like where McCord's at, you know, of the later
round quarterbacks, so I think he's a Day three guy.
He's probably the one that intrigues me the most. That's
going to be down in in Dallas. And first go,
you can't say Dallas. They don't like that.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
No, they don't, they don't. That is true. And we'll
be in We will be in North Texas this year
as well. We will not be at the Ford Center.
So just something else to keep in mind. All right,
really good running back last, Jeff, I think we're gonna
in one of the best running back classes and wh
it's a lot of fun and some good running backs
here as well, led by Raheem Sanders from South Carolina Rocket,
who's a big guy that can run a little bit.
(06:54):
You know, two years ago, last so two summers ago.
I guess a lot of people thought last year he
could be a Day two pick, had a really rough year,
transferred and really bounced back this year. Talk about him
in the rest of this running back group.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And one of the things with running backs, when
you go to the All Star Games like this, and
especially for a guy like him who wins with some power,
you don't get to show that in the practices. It's
very difficult to evaluate off ball linebackers and running backs
other than in the passing game. And you're not going
to draft a running back for the passing game. Well,
you might draft a running back for the passing game,
(07:28):
although Tyrone Tracy did a pretty job pretty all with that.
So I think, you know, I want to see how
well he can run routes, pass protection pickups. That's that's
something that's big in these things. You know, he's he's
a very impressive back, and you know there's a lot
of There are so many good running backs in this
one and for for so many to stand out is
(07:50):
what you're looking for. You know, the list is there.
Show me, show me that you can take you can,
you know, pick up a dog of a of a
linebacker litztening for the linebackers. Show me that you can blitz,
Show me that you can get off the block, show
me that you have some creativity other than running really
fast and really hard into a running back and trying
to blast through them. That's sort of really all you
(08:10):
get with the running backs and linebackers and the ultra game.
It is an unfortunate format. But he is a guy
that you certainly have to watch it. And like you said,
had a lot of buzz a couple of years ago
and then sort of faded away a little bit. And
now that's a good chance for him.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And then the wide receiver group headlined by the three
Colorado guys, anyone else in that group gets you excited?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah. Kaden Prather from Maryland is a guy that I like.
He and ty Feltoner both and time will be at
the Senior Bowl. Guys that are I think underappreciated because
they played it at Maryland. I think if especially Praither,
with his size and the way that he gets used,
he's a guy that I think can stand out.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Here all right. I will keep an eye on him
for sure, tight End another group that's kind of been
maligned the last few years. We haven't had great classes,
though of course we didn't have brock Bowers last year.
This is a pretty good and deep class. It looks
like Eli Stowers is going to go back to Vanderbilt,
so I'm i'd be surprised if he's there. You mentioned Gadsden.
(09:08):
You know, whenever you see an Iowa tight end you
have to raise your eyebrows. Those guys are always good players.
So who from this group it at try and gets
you excited?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, Luke Lache from Iowa is certainly one that that's
interesting for me. Huh, yes, hours going back. Uh this
guy from I'm looking I'm looking at my notes here
because I can't ever remember his name from Auburn.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Auburn is a Rivaldo Fairweather. Excellent name, great name.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, and he played really well. I have not watched
a lot of Auburn yet this year. In the two
games that I did watch him, I put a circle
around his name. So he's somebody that you can watch
as a guy who let's see if he can move
more than what Auburn did with him? Is where I'm
looking at.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
There any offensive lineman and uh, jump out at Shrine
this year. Jeff. It's not a quite offensive line class
that we had last year, so uh, this might be
a bit of a tough go well more guys at
the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
I think, yeah, definitely, and I was I did a
quick cursory look over it there. So there's a couple
of small school guys that I'm interested in Minnesota Duluce,
Aidan Williams. I say that because my uncle was a
professor at University of Minnesota Duluth and he always typed
up his bulldogs and he passed away this fall. So
I'm looking forward to to, you know, uh seeing how
(10:23):
that goes for Aidan Williams. Small school guys. The Shrine
does a really good job of bringing those guys in.
And then they have another guy. I know he is
not technically alignment, but a long snamper from the Colorado
School of Mines. They just find these guys. Texas State
has a guy that's there. I think they're I think
they're actually in the sun Belt now, So there's look,
(10:45):
you're looking for somebody to stand out in one on ones?
Can you stop a pass rush? Because again, the one
on one is the pittrol is all you're really looking
for here. And I'll be honest and looking over this
list this morning before we did this, I don't think
there's a guy on this list that gets drafted. But
maybe somebody stands out and shows you something that says, hey,
(11:06):
I'm worth a six or seventh round, you know, Stash
me on a practice squad for a year, sign me
right after the draft, and see what I can do,
you know, get me into the rookie mini camp and
see where it fits. Because it's not an impressive list, unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
All right on the defensive side of the ball, what
position group stands out to you?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
With Trian Jeff So cornerbacks are always good, and there's
a couple of guys that love. I love Noel Williams
from California. I think he's a guy that the more
people watch him and you're gonna see him next week,
and I think scouts are gonna get a look at
him in person. Very good cornerback, can play off ball,
can play outside, can play in the slot, does a
lot of things very well. He is certainly very interesting.
(11:44):
Melo Dotson from Kansas is a guy that has shown
a lot this year who's the other guy going through
my list here? Jamar Muhammat from Oregon was a guy
that I expected him to be in Mobile. Actually, so
I saw Oregon at Michigan this year. Muhammad played very
well in that game. So I'm looking forward to seeing
(12:05):
you know, what you see in person, and how does
it translate, you know, when they're playing against other people
when you're playing the one on ones. I think he's
gonna do very well in the one on one drills.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Very good. Defensive line is a spot that Giants are
interested in. Defensive tackles specifically, it is another deep draft
at that position, Jeff, where I think you're gonna have
guys going into Day two and day three. Anyone up
front that that impresses you in this Shrine game.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, So h Horsley from Boston College as a guy
that his look, he's not gonna get you sacks. He's
gonna he's gonna do things that help other guys get sacks.
And I'm always interested in guys like that. And again,
offensive line versus defensive line. Show me something in a
pit drill that you can win. Show me a swim move,
show me a pin poll, show me something that grabs
(12:52):
my attention. That makes me want to draft you. You
guy from Georgia. Tech Biggers is another guy that played
very well in the game against Georgia that that intrigues me.
So again another you're looking at a lot of guys
that probably aren't going to get drafted, but maybe maybe
seventh round, maybe priority free agent where they click with
the coaching staff. And you know, you do have coaches there.
(13:14):
They're gonna be watching these guys. Maybe they click with
the coaching maybe they mesh. That's that's one of the
big things. That's one of the reasons why it's great
to have the coaches there.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And we'll see if, if how much and if he
goes Kenneth Grant from Michigan he's still on that list.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Too, no doubt doubt he does much.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yes, great player, Yes, totally agreat Anything else from Shrine
that you want to highlight before we move on to
senior ball.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Just a couple of the edges because I didn't I
don't really cover them. Tyler Baron from Miami as a guy,
Antoine Powell Ryland from Virginia Tech led the nation in
sacks and I'm sorry, pressures very good intriguing player. Let's
see what he can do when he's out of their
defensive scheme, which basically just let him pin his years
back and go. I want to see him. He's a
(14:02):
guy that I think can sneak in the D two
with good football player, and I think this is a
good environment for him to show what he can do.
So keep an eye on Paul Ryland out of Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
There, hoddle up, get in here. If you're lined up here,
you gotta go over the middle with at the score great?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
How do we make that happen? I don't know, Bud.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Citizens does makes sense of your money with Citizens, Official
Bank of Eli Manning. All right, let's jump over to
the Senior Bawl. But first a reminder of the Johnsttle
Podcast is brought to you by Citizens, the official bank
of the Giants. From game day celebrations to your everyday
financial needs, Big Blue fans can get the most out
of every moment with Citizens. Learn more at Citizens bank
dot com slash Giants. All right, let's go to the
(14:46):
Senior Bowl, Jeff, and this, I think we might set
a record this year. Last year, I think there were
ten first round picks at the Senior Bowl, and I
think the nature of this draft class, where I don't know,
maybe twelve to fifteen true first round grades maybe depending
on who you talk to, a lot of guys are
motivated to go show out to earn that first round,
(15:08):
you know Moniker this year, and to get picked in
the first round. So I think so many guys are
playing in this game that maybe in the past wouldn't
And I think we have a lot of really good
players and we might get more than ten of these
guys go in the first round.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, And it's interesting because I think this year, after
the top five or six picks, it's really unsettled. Like
I was looking at some of the mock draft that
are out there this week, and Dane Brugler from The Athletic,
who's the guy that we both respect a lot, he
had a lot of names in that first round that
I'm like, Wow, didn't have him there. I didn't think
he was going to be that high. And when people
(15:43):
look at the mock draft that I'm working on, it's
going to be out to mart a draft wire, you
can be like, hmmm, didn't think he was a first rounder.
So I think there's a lot of guys that can
prove themselves. Guys like Mike Green out of Marshall is
a great example. How does he handle playing you know above,
Marshall very good against Ohio State. Let's see what he
can do in one on.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Once he's I don't know this is official yet, I
have I have heard rumblings that there might be an
injury issue there. I hope that's not true, but I
have heard that.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I've Yeah, And that's that's all. And you always
wonder about the validity of the injury of a guy
that played late in the season. But like you don't
want to say that about in Green in general here,
but just in general, the guys that played at the
end of the season and didn't have an injury, and
now they do. You know, you've been enough of the
(16:33):
the they don't do him any more publicly, unfortunately. But
uh when Jim Naggy and uh when do the wags
at Senior Bowl and he talked about the guys that
were injured and everybody, you know, went grumbling. I don't
think he's hurt again, it's not directed might greed, but
there's always those guys. Yeah, So it would be great
to see him get out there though.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, so let's do some of these groups. And
I want to start the group that I think is
frankly the best group. You know, everyone gets all excited
about the one on ones and it's always the corners
and the wide receivers that people get psyched about. Well,
it's gonna be the one on ones this year, but
it's gonna be upfront because this defensive line group and
edge group, and you know, jim Kin is on his
roster on the website kind of has them lumped together
so we can do the same. But look, I could
(17:15):
see any one of these guys being first round picks.
Landon Jackson, Josiah Stewart, Ty Robinson, I mean, Walter Nolan,
I'm gonna butcher the name princely, um Mila, I'm of
oh miss heck. I could even see Donovan as aakau
who get consideration. Dean Walker with his size and athleticism.
(17:37):
You know, these are all guys are gonna be top
fifty picks, let's say, and they're all playing in the scheme.
I dodn't even mention Schamar Turner, Shamar Stewart, They're gonna
be here. Nick Scourdon's gonna be there. Kyle Knard, I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
There are names.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Man, It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah. The the like picks twenty through seventy five on
the defensive line are incredibly well represented here. All the
guys that you mentioned in the OD We talked a
little bit before we went on the air about the
Texas A and M guys who sourced themselves out of
that who's the better Shamar, I mean, got options there.
(18:14):
It's gonna be gonna be fantastic. This is gonna be
one of those things. Typically I spend one day watching
the pit and one day watching the skills. It's gonna
be hard for me to get out of the pit
this year.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
No, I'm with you. Who from this group maybe? Do
you think, Jeff is you talked about how you know
you get through the top ten eleven. It's gonna be
very different from you know, Scout to Scout analyst to analysts.
Who are some of the guys in this group that
you particularly like?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You know, Nolan is the guy that I think stepped
up a lot. Nommaleen is a guy that transferred from Florida,
will Miss It took him a little bit to get
acclimated to the new style, but Ole miss that they
had some mes that can bring it. Sanders Canard to
the South Carolina guys or guys I watched them early
in the year and I did not watch South Carolina late,
(19:00):
so I'm kind of curious playing catch up a little
bit and seeing, you know, where they're at, because I
think both those guys are top fifty talents. Yeah, that's
It's just a great group. And you know, scouting from
from Texas, A and M guy who played at Purdue.
I actually saw him play in person at Purdue, and
I'm like, wish he was twitchier, and I want to
see that in person if that that's held true, if
(19:21):
he's matured a little bit more physically. But Owayne and
Jackson is the guy just as you know I do
cover the Lions. He's a guy that's going to get
a ton of projections of the Detroit Lions that wherever
they're picking between twenty eight and thirty two. Hop poullayt
thirty two and he absolutely fits that. But he's the
guy that another guy. I want to see some twitch
out of that dude because I just don't see it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
So you know, yeah, can he really good size, really
good length, but he isn't like that crazy bursty of
field bendy pass rusher type.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, it reminds me a ton of wint and Copels
from back in the day from the Jets side of
the ball in New York. But yeah, that's want to
see guys that can win in more than one way,
and I think all these guys are gonna have an
opportunity to do that. And there's a pretty good offensive
line group here that's gonna be going up against them too.
It's gonna be a fantastic time down the wheel.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yes, Scourt is interesting because he's so big, like he's
two hundred and eighty pounds. He's not one of these
like two hundred fifty pound guys. So I think what
people expect, like the burst in twitch out of them.
I think people have to remember that dude's too eighty,
he's not too fifty and he doesn't look too eight
either when you look at him. He carries the weight
really well. So I'm with you. And that's the other
(20:32):
guy I'm excited about.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Too, and he is one and actually both Schamar's from
Texas A and M and even the South Carolina guys, says, well,
what are they weigh in at? How long are their arms?
You know, the measurements are something that I think are
gonna be key for a lot of these guys because
you don't really trust the ones that coming out of
college and Texas A and M especially is notorious for
(20:54):
fluffing arm length and weight. So what are these guys
really at chance to get ahead of that before they
get to Indianapolis of the combine where I'm looking important
seeing you down there too?
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, absolutely, no question about all right. You mentioned the
offensive line, and I think this is a huge week
for the offensive line A because they're going against such
a good group, right, And I do think you know
we're not going to see Calvin Banks down there. I
I'm not sure if he's a guard tackle, to be
honest with you, let's talk about.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Him real quick, because I don't see his game translating
to guard at all. I think he's a tackle in
a guard's body.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Why do you say he does not look like or
move like a tackle to me? And that's a problem
for me.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, he's a tough one. He's he's very dangerously falling
into the dreaded tweeter and a guy who winds up
playing both as like your six offensive lineman for a
long time. And you don't typically draft those guys high.
But I'm sure some team's gonna fall in love with him,
you know, in the fifteen to thirty range and try
him at guard. And I just don't see the power
(21:59):
in his game at all. He sets up too high,
his hands are consistently too high. He worries me as
a guy that I think is gonna get overdrafted, but
I could be wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, I have not finished. I'm trying to focus
on the All Star Games guys yet. So I watched
him a little bit. I think I'm going off my
summer scatting with him. I haven't done much the last
couple of months, but I'm with you. I think the
LSU tackle looks much more like a tackle. I worry
about his arm length and power, but he looks like
a tackle for me. But where I was going with
that is that I think some of these guys like
(22:30):
Jonas Savanaa, for example, at Arizona, does he a guard
or a cackle like he is? To figure that out,
you know, Emery Jones is a big guy, how does
he hang a tackle against some of these edge rushers?
Does he have to move inside? Because he had a
lot of issues in pass pro this year. So I
think it's gonna be a good Gray's able. Right, this
big North Dakota Steak guy, how does he handle speed
rushers outside? Is he a guard? So these guys not
(22:53):
just how good are you? But what position are you
going to project at? I think that's gonna be really
interesting to watch.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, and why have my own from West Virginia is
another one great tackled about one sack in three years.
As as West Virginia's left tackle. They run a pro
style offense, got thirty two and a quarter inch arms.
Is a team gonna be willing to leave him out there?
How well does he handle you guys screaming off the edge?
Now it's interesting because I think he'll do very well
(23:19):
in one on ones against the power guys because he's
he's got some anchor to him. But that's another guy
that you're looking at, by the way, the North Dakota
State kid. There are some teams that I know project
him as a center. Yeah, exactly, So you know, does
he get any chances to play some center down amobile.
The center group down there is not strong, so maybe
(23:39):
maybe I'll get a shot to do that. They have
not been afraid to mix things up like that. That's
where we saw Cody Barton transform into a center. You're
gonna get some movement there. And how often do these
guys line up at guard and in the pit drills
when it's you know, two on onees thing three on twos,
things like that. That's something to pay attention to.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Yeah, Josh Connelly's another guy, right. I think he's really
awesome collegeball. I don't know what to do with him,
but where does he go? And that's another guy I
want to watch, you know.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, there's so many of those guys that they could
be tackles, that could be Garsovnae is another great example
of a guy, and you know he comes from a program.
Arizona had one of those guys last year, Jordan Morgan,
who proved that he's a right tackle and the Packers
took him in the first runt. Unfortunately he got hurt,
but played played acceptably at right guard interestingly enough. Just yeah,
(24:31):
finding where these guys are, and you know, I always
love interviewing the offensive lineman too. That's one of my
favorite parts of going down there. They tend to be
the smartest guys in the room, and you get some
interesting answers from those guys, and you know the motivations,
and you know, I love finding out did you wrestle?
Did you throw shot? Did you play basketball? One of
(24:54):
the guys from Texas last year, Christian Jones, He's like,
I didn't play football until I was a junior hotblab
a soccer player, and it shows in his footwork and
you kind of put those things together and watch it.
When he told us that one morning, I went out
and watched him that afternoon, I'm like, wow, his feet
really are pretty good. Hands were great, But so little
things like that are what you kind of, you know,
(25:16):
tie together. When you see all these guys in person
and again playing with unfamiliar coaches with unfamiliar guys around them,
I think is a very good crucible for how well
they're going to adapt to the NFL.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Now, two guys I'm sure are tackles that I'm looking
forward to watching armand Membo from Missouri, who I don't
think people talk about enough. I would be very comfortable
picking him into the first round. Beginning of the second
in this draft class. And oh yeah, oh yeah, right,
tackle starter, let's roll. I'm good with that. And then
Marcus Embo from Purdue is a guy that I think
(25:47):
is a little bit more raw, but he can move.
That guy is an athlete. He is some things to
figure out. But if you're looking for a long term tackle,
I think he's a guy that could be very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, he is a draft and stash guy. You take
him day two. I wouldn't take hi day one. There's
certainly a whole lot of athleticism and tools to work
with there. And I don't want to denigrate the boiler
Maker program, but I'm not sure he was well coached.
So let's let's see what happens when he gets into
a different coaching scheme and program, because I think there's
(26:18):
a lot to work with.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
There, lots of issues with hands with him. He doesn't
get his hands in the right spot and all that stuff.
So just you know, he has some stuff to work
on with that. I agree with you. All right, let's
jump over to back. Why don't we stick on offense?
Is an offensive line they'll be blocking for a running
back group, and you talked about it practice and whatever.
So yeah, you can't see a lot. This is when
(26:39):
the game matters though, right you get into the game
on Saturday, that's when the running backs get to do
their thing. And you know, Cam Scattaball was on this
list originally. It doesn't sound like he's gonna go now.
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I don't think he's gonna be there. So I hope
he shows up for interviews just because he's gonna be
somebody that everybody wants to talk to you after what
he did against Text that was fantastic game.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Now he's one of the guys that probably legitimately has
gotten the you know what beat out of him over
the course of the season. So I get that. I
get that.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, he left that game. He was throwing up on
the sidelines. He's he's one of those guys that he's
a gamer, and I'm not I don't want to upset
this category of fan base, but I'm not sure he
translates super well to the NFL. But dang, he's fun
and he needs storylines like that.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Doesn't he just feel like a Jim Harbar running back
to you, that guy like, oh absolutely, And I could
always see the Chargers taking him on day two and
be very very happy about it.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But that doesn't does have great receiving skills, So.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
That's true, that does not mean this is not a
great group. That's still here.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
R J.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Harvey, who was ridiculously explosive and productive. I think he
bounces too much sometimes, but he's fun. Uh. Marcus Yarns
out of Delaware, I think is a really good third
down back. He's little.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
I haven't seen him yet, so that's one of the
one of the guys that I've got circle I haven't seen.
I haven't seen any Bluepans football yet.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
He's funny, he's fun, a little skinny. I'm not sure
how much of a pound that he could take. He's
a little bit at little lanky, but really explosive. Devin
Neils super productive at Kansas. Damien Martinez, big bruiser out
of Miami. Then you have Oli Gordon, who was supposed
to be the top three running back heading into the year.
He had a slow year and.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
It looked like he got inflated. Yeah. And Khalil Mullings
from Michigan as a guy. You know another guy that
I think Michigan's offense this year and I saw them
Live four times.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Unfortunately, holl was against Ohio State, Jeff, it was not.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
I just see him play against Oregon. So as a
quick background, I'm from Ohio. I buried into a Michigan family.
My dad is a bluck Eye. My father in law,
Reci Peace, was a Michigan Wolverine. So we have the
house to buy this, even though I don't really root
for either team. So it's Mullings though, was a guy
that I think we all projected was a little bit
(28:58):
of a fullback, and all of a sudden, Wow, he
outshown the competition in that backfield. So and Donovan Edwards.
So there's a guy He's gonna be funnest between the
tackles back. But again, that's the way you can there's
the way you see in these caves, and Oli Gordon
is the guy. I hit him pre season top fifty.
I loved what he did at Oklahoma State. It looked
like he was either out of shape or dealing with
(29:21):
nagging injuries, or just kind of disinterested. I don't want
to dog him like that, but show me show me
some fire down here, man, because there's a lot of
talent there. At least there was, and he's been heavily used.
Maybe that has something to do with it too, but
he's the guy that I think needs to redeem himself
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Yeah, I think Devin Neil is one of those just solid,
you know, early day three, late day two guys. You
can plug him in and he could be a part
time guy for you. But I think I think Harvey's
the guy that people are gonna leave mobile talking about
just because of his explosiveness.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah, and I'm looking forward to I haven't seen UCFN
a bit, so I'm looking forward to that one too.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh he's fun. Now, we usually get this like Dyna
unbelievably great wide receiver group at the Senior Bowl. It's
just not that type of wide receiver class. It's not
fault uh. But the guys that he has, I think
some of their interesting Xavier verstrepo. Maybe not like you're
flashy guy, but he's like such a pretty job done
(30:17):
slat player, good route runner, tough blocker, all that stuff.
A little undersized. But then I think the guys outside
that could be fun. Tesz Johnson got a lot of speed,
Jaylen Noel of Iowa State's a good player, and uh
Elic I am an ore from Stanford. I think it's
also going to be a pretty fun guy to watch
out there.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
And he's the guy that has some definite buzz going
about him. Stanford did not have a good offense, he
was not asked to do NFL things, and I think
the ability to see him win some one on ones.
He's not fast or quick, but he's got just enough
of both that I think he's gonna he's gonna do
some impressive.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
And he's big. He's a big body too, so he is.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
A big dude. The big guy for me there. Type
Felton out of Maryland is the guy that I love
much higher on him than most people. I think he's
going to run around a four to three flat. They
didn't use him that way. They sort of he was
kind of like, Ay, they shoveled him passes that I
don't think you have. He's he has the legitimate downfield
(31:18):
threat of a Jamis and Williams guy that I watched
in Detroit. He's that kind of receiver, and I don't
think Maryland used him that way. I'm not sure they
had the quarterback to do it either. But he's a
guy that I think is gonna really shine down there.
It's a guy that I have circled as a guy
who's going to be one of the big winners, assuming
he plays the way I think he does. I think
he's a Day two guy, an early Day two guy,
(31:40):
and I don't think he's getting that kind of buzz.
So Ty Felton is a guy I like a lot. Also,
the guys from Virginia Tach too are interesting to watch
because I'm not sure they had the best quarterback play either.
I always liked seeing receivers that were I felt were
held back by quarterbacks, and again respect to the hookies,
(32:01):
and they did find them late. But I want to
see these guys with better quarterbacks throwing chill.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Yeah, that's Daikwon Lane and Jillen Lane and Daquon Felton
part of me. So, guy from Virginia Tech, if you
want to know how to manage two minutes of crunch
time football, I'm your man.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
But if you're wondering about a long term financial plan,
you should talk to citizens. Hey, I can also talk
long care. I'd like to learn about an miliar team.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Yes, I knew I could help make sense of your
money with citizens. Whatd what corners are you excited to
see those guys go up against them one on ones.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
So corners go through. I get these guys transposed with
the guys that are the shrines.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
That's fine.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Uh who we are here? We had a couple of
guys I think so dar Darian Porter stands out as
a guy Iowa State, like I'm not even sure he
started at Iowa State all the time. Good player has
some HANDLM scouting buzz. I know, I know a lot
of teams went to Ames that's here to go watch him.
So we'll see on that.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
And a lot of people are excited about the Florida
State corner as a Ray Thomas.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I know I'm still learning how to say his name,
but yes, he's a guy.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
I'm not right. I'm sure I was wrong, so don't
copy me, please.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
He's he's the guy that the more I watched him
and I binged on Florida State a couple of weeks ago,
good player could sneak into the first round with his skills.
And he's the guy that I think is gonna thrive
because he plays the receiver instead of the ball. And
that's you know, the talented guy, the guy from Oklahoma
(33:39):
bowman is a guy. Yeah again, Oklahoma's defense wasn't all that,
but he played very well in the game where he
needed to when they beat Alabama. So again I'm playing
major catchup on a lot of these guys, just because
again it's a happy problem to have that lands are
(34:00):
still playing.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Trust I get it, and I haven't watched him yet.
I'm gonna try to watch the DVS next couple of days.
Maxwell Harriston from Kentucky is another guy.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Knows some point, yes, and he's actually not on the
list of the Haffter, but he's he's a player I
like a lot. I did watch Kentucky. I watch their
their big dudo front two. They're they're big boy in
the middle, can really play. So Harrison is the guy
that I think can sneak into that top forty range.
He's gonna be gether. Athletic testing is very important for
(34:31):
very smart, very plucky corner. I have a I have
an affinity for corners that play bigger than they are,
and he is certainly one of those.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
All right, let's go over to the tight end position.
This is gonna be fun louted and the best part
you are the top two guys here. The kid out
of Michigan, the kid at of Penn State. But Harold
Fannon is unbelievably productive. I don't know how well he's
get a test, but he knows how to play receiver,
bringing stools pretty good. Mason Taylor's kind of a combo
blocking receiving guy. He could be a late day two
(35:05):
guy in my opinion. I know some people like him
more than that. Gunner Helm I think has something to
him as a lanky wide receiver. Then Elijah Royo, who
doesn't have a lot of production in four years in Miami.
He's probably the fastest of this tight end group.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, he's a very intriguing This is a great group.
Gunner Helm is a guy that I think he's gonna
be one of those guys that doesn't necessarily like rock
your world and you look up at the end of
the season and he's got fifty catches for six hundred
yards and five touchdowns. Knows how to position himself, can
play in line, can flex out. Fano is the guy. Look,
(35:38):
I'm a Mac guy. I'm going to Ohio. Bobcat he
was a massive problem for us. He was a massive
problem for Penn State. He was a massive problem for Serracu,
every time he's been asked to play against a good defense,
he has thrived. He's not he gets compared to Evan Ingram,
the former Giant a lot. I don't think he's that
kind of an athlete, but he's certainly he does a lot.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Of the same things and does the body type two.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, I'm curious what he's going to weigh in at.
Is he to forty like bowling green listen, I think
he's probably closer to two thirty to thirty five maybe agreed.
Very talented player, great player after the catch and creativity
and again he did that against the big boys, not
just running around against you know, the Kent States and
Acrons of the world.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Good route runner too, I think. So I'm with you.
I think this tight end group will be fun, the
two groups, and I'll put these guys together because I
have trouble with safeties too and linebackers at these All
Star games, because that posin is all about reading and
reacting and in practice you can't really see much of that.
But who from the safety and or linebacker groups at
the Senior ball or really guys you're pumped up about seeing.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
And one of the things that you're looking at here
for the guys that are playing safety specifically, is how
quickly they get to the outside from a center high position.
And in the game do they read runner pass, do
they bite on play action things like that, and you
know linebackers them on the list here bringing this out
(37:04):
like six days ago might.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Be this question from UCLA. Is one guy that I
know people are thank.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You yeah, and he's a very talented player. I think
he's under appreciated. I think he's a Day two guy.
Schmeil Mandon from Georgia is another guy the production doesn't
always match the traits and the skills. I think he's
the guy that can seek him the top one hundred
or late day two. But he's show me something as
a pass rusher here because he's another one of those
(37:32):
guys you know I talked about earlier with the Shrineking. Guys,
show me that you can do more than just run
hard into a running back or a titan that's trying
to pick you up. Show me that you have some agility,
show me that you can use your hands. That's another
guy that I don't think did a great job at
that at Georgia. But again, you want to see them
Kenny turn and run Hower's hips and coverage because the tighten,
this tight end group is nasty good down there. They're
(37:55):
going to they're going to expose who can cover and
who can't. So my eyes are open him for somebody
grab my attention to show me something in those one
on ONTs.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
All right, Well, we started with quarterbacks, let's end with quarterbacks.
Tier nice little group. You might not have a first
round pick among them, though maybe you might. I don't know.
We'll see. I'll roll through it for the fans. We
can't even touch on these guys. We could even touch
on these guys individually if you want. Jaylen Milroe, Tyler Shao,
who I think is actually really interesting out of Louisville,
Riley Leonard, will Howard, who people know very well, Jackson
(38:26):
dor out of all miss Dylan Gabriel of Oregon, he
was a Heisman guy. Really nice group of quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, and uh so I wish I wish Louisville. I
wish he was younger. He's he was high school class
with twenty seventeen. He's bounced around a lot like For
for some weird reason, I watched every single Louisville game
this year, and he never ceased to impress me. I
think he's a very good player. But you're looking at
the guy that's probably a career backup, and I think
(38:54):
that's also the case with a couple of other guys
that you know. Okay is the guy that's interesting for
me because I think he is better than what most
of the collective draft media thinks he is. I don't
want to say that he could be the next Boon Nicks,
who was. I'll see it as a you know, player
for the Broncos this year as a rookie, and I
(39:15):
know people dog got him because he played Lane Kiffin's offense,
and I get all that. I like the kid. He's
got a good arm, he knows how to throw the
ball down the field, he knows how to spot the ball,
he knows how to lead guys, open, doesn't throw hospital balls.
You know, there's a lot to like about him. Manages
the offense very well. I think of the guy that's
(39:36):
there aside for Milroe, I think he's the only one
that you can draft and say this guy can start
for me, maybe not as a rookie, but in a
year or two. Like I like him at Milroe to
me is fast. I'm fascinated because can he throw a
short pass? Yeah, he's great, fifteen to twenty five yards
(39:56):
down the field, swing bast of the running back. You
don't know where that ball's going.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
That has to be fundamentals with footwork and stuff like that,
and that stuff you can kind of figure out.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
I hope, so I really do, because there's some juicton
he's a little bit smaller than you want. He doesn't
always make the best decisions on when to run and
went to throw or make them fast enough and won't
necessarily get a picture on that. But just can he
connect with guys on you know, show me a simple
eight yard slant And it goes back to Malik Willis
(40:27):
when he was done there a couple of years ago
at the Sea Bowl, he threw a couple of simple
outruns that hit the brick wall on the bottom of
the stadium, Like take something off the ball, dude, like
ken Ken Milroe, vary his approach and things like that.
So yeah, that's gonna be understand when Dylan Gabriel is
the guy that I saw in person Oregon at Michigan
(40:49):
this year, Surgical Precision and he works the middle of
the field very well. There's not a lot of upside
with him. He sort of is what he is, but
a guy that I'm I want to see him show me,
you know, can he transcend? What what was that Oregon?
Because Oregon guys, ro was burdened by the way shock
what started there from Louisville back in the he he
was justin irbers back up for a year, believe or not.
(41:11):
So there's, uh, there's a lot to like there with
with Gabriel, but I want I want to see can
he gun the ball in because even at Michigan where
he played a great game, there were a couple of
throws where it's like, ah, his receiver had to wait
a little bit and they you know, they have a
couple of wide receivers that are, you're, very impressive, that
are going to get drafted, and he kind of under
threw them a little bit. So I want to see,
(41:31):
you know, can he leave guys? Can he really push
the ball down the field?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I could see Miroe, with his athletic package, being somebody
that missed out on that first wave of quarterbacks in
the top ten might invest in him, maybe trade up
into the back end of the first round to get
the fifth year option. Doing that, I don't think Jackson
Dart's going to get into the first round look to quarterbacks,
(41:55):
I see him more as a you know, probably mid
to later day to round two, maybe beginning a round
three type of guy.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
Myself. Yeah, I think he's playing to show whether he's
second round or fourth round, and I think that's one
of the things that a lot of people are gonna
come away from that. I do like Dart again more
than most people do. He's not a first round quarterback.
He's not a guy that I would take in the
top fifty, but maybe he shows enough that you get there.
So this quarterback class, it's tough, man, because there were
(42:25):
so many good ones last year and this year. Like
wide receiver, last wide receiver was was incredibly loaded last year.
I'm not sure there's a top twenty wide receiver in
this draft. We'll see if some of these guys show out,
you know, whether it's d n is interesting. And Mecca Agbuka,
(42:45):
who's unfortunately not gonna be in an ultra game, is
also another guy I think can sneak into that. But
it's not a great year for a number one wide
receiver when there were so many of them last year, Malikighbors,
you know, Brian Thomas included it, so so many good
receivers last year. And that's one of the things where
if you're a team that didn't get one last year
(43:05):
or didn't get a quarterback last year and this was
pretendos of the Giants, of course, do you force it
because oh man, we missed last year, we got to
try this year? Or can you can you be patient?
Can you play your board the way that you need to.
That's there's there's a few teams that are in that
boat this year, and I wonder what's gonna happen with
with guys like Milroe and dart Will Howard is another example.
(43:28):
Do they get overdrafted relative to where they are because
the thirst is there and the supply and demand just
the case they have.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
To Yeah, I know he's in the games when you
brought him up. McMillan's a guy that to me, testing
will be important. How fast does he run? He reminds
me of a much more polished t Higgins when Higgins
came out, because he runs a much wider route tree
to me, But he has that type of size and
just the way he plucks the ball out of the air.
(43:56):
I think he's an extremely safe pick. Like, there's no
way he's a bus Is he going to be a star, No,
but he is going to be a very good NFL
player one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yeah, I agree with that, and I think that. But
because he doesn't have that super high ceiling, does he
go top ten because some teams despent for a wide
receiver with some size, or does he fall into the
fifteen to twenty five range, which in this.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Class he did the top ten last year, he wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Have Oh yeah, last year, I don't think he was
the first rounder just because of the depth of that.
I mean, Brian Thomas went what twenty second? Fantastic guy,
Like he's going to be one hundred catch fifteen hundred
yard guy next year, assuming that Jackson Loillgan is a
good coach. Yeah, there's again with the wide receivers here.
(44:41):
Ty Felton's a guy that I brought him up earlier.
He's the guy that I think can really show out
and make himself a lot of money. This week or
Shrine Bowl week, a Senior Bowl week, they're confluencing in.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
My head, But I think do you think Quinn Yours
might make a late appearance in one of these All
Star Games? Or now?
Speaker 2 (44:58):
I hope he does.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I think it would help if he did. To be
honest with you.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
It can't hurt. I don't think he's draftable like it
felt like he was such a governor on the Texas offense,
like they had a lot more talented with it. Every
time they put arch Manning in a green horn like that.
Obviously he's got an incredible pedigree. If I like their
offense was better, I just don't. I don't see it
with yours. I would love to see him get into
(45:22):
one of these come for a couple of days. Throw
the guys, Do you have an arm? Can you make
it into theatory? Throw? Are you gonna get sacked in
a one on one situation? Like it's tough man. He
just reminds me of a lower end Canny Pickett, And
I don't have any interest in drafting that.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Don't you think he's going to be like a third
round pick though, what all said and done, I do.
Speaker 2 (45:44):
I think he's going to get drafted just because he's
he's Quin Yours. You know, he's Texas. He won. Did
they win because of him?
Speaker 1 (45:53):
I think so got it all right? Any other All
Star Game or draft thoughts draft that you want to
get out there before we say goodbye.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
Just there are a couple of games that are going
on this weekend, and I'm always interested in the guys
to get promoted from the Tropical Bowl from the Colusion
alls right for yeah, google Bull. Last year, a guy
who's a wide receiver Coker for the Panthers, worked his
way up from Bowl to Bowl to the Bowl, proved
he belonged every time, still didn't get drafted. He was
(46:22):
a top one hundred talent in that draft. Who's the
guy that steps up this year? I'll tell you what.
There's there's an offensive lineman from Western Michigan who's playing
his way up this year. I want to see what
he happens. A local guy for mean, I can't think
of his name. I actually know his asient. I talked
to him this sport. Feel bad about that, But watch
those guys who get promoted from those weeks because most
(46:44):
of the time they prove that they deserve it, that
they just didn't get the spotlight or whatever. So keep
an eye on those guys when they get called up
to the Shrine, and I think the shrine has some
room for some of those guys too.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
All right, final question and we'll wrap with this. I've
been trying to do more of these kind of rapid
fire questions. Give me your rank your top three position
groups at the Senior Bowl. You could start at three
and count down to one. Which would be your best.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
I think I think defensive back, offensive line, and tight end. Uh,
tight end is incredible. Wide receiver blogs in there too, though, probably.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
The line man. We talked about that group.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, yeah, it's good Senior ball. It really is. Again,
you don't have because the quarterbacks aren't there. You don't
get the sizzle of like when when Baker Mayfield and
Josh Allen were there or Justin Herbert was there. But
the trenches, man, it's gonna be it's gonna be a fun,
fun pindrill down there.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
All right, I'm gonna follow up. Then give me your
give me your top three prospects that are top five
prospects you're most excited to see in Mobile.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
So Felton is one, Scarleton is one, Schimar Turner is one.
From Texas, A and M. Again, we're trying to Ferret,
Which which which one's better?
Speaker 1 (48:02):
Jamar Stewart learn the name girls.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, Bo is one from Purdue Membo. I like Membo
a lot. I think he's gonna do really well down there,
so he put him up there.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
Yeah, I like it. Jeff, good stuff, my friend. I'll
see you down there. Look forward to it in a
couple of weeks, and safe travels.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
I'm just hoping that the weather's warmer. I'm looking out
my window right now. I live on the west coast
of Michigan. I look across and the Illinois in Illinois
Wisconsin border is straight across the water. It's currently twenty
six degrees and we're expecting to get twelves at eighteen
inches of snow this weekend with a high temperature of five.
I hope it's above fifty down there when it getsbile,
because I'll be the guy in shorts.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
I can't promise you it's going to be warm. I
can promise you it won't be colder than what you're
going through right now, So.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
That's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (48:52):
I think you'll be okay. That's this episode of the
Gizontal Podcast, brought to you by citizens Official Bank of
the Giants for Jefferson, I'm jodsh Bulk. We'll see next time, buddy,
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