NFL Draft Triple Take (Mock Draft), March 22, 2023

Matt Williamson, Dale Lolley and Mike Prisuta do a mock draft of the 2023 NFL Draft in the episode of NFL Draft Triple Take

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the NFL
Draft Triple Take, brought to you by UPMC. I'm Mike Pursuited,
joined by Dale Lally and Matt Williamson. We're here today
to update our initial mock draft Fellas. Some things have
happened since Mack won, So today we're here to bring
you mock two and we can beat a sound marrier twice. Yes,

(00:31):
there's a lot to get to before the draft in
Kansas City in late April. But Matt, before we get
to the particulars, did you just make a tweak here
and there or major surgery? Major surgery? I mean we
had a big trade obviously, you know. I mean the
Panthers moved up to one. That kind of shakes things
around a little bit, and players stocks have changed. I
mean we've been talking about this a lot. Then. I

(00:52):
think there's ten to twelve players in this draft that
are pretty much sure fire first round picks, but then
the next forty could kind of go anywhere, so it's
a little bit of a cluster after that. Yeah, that's
really the thing with this draft. I think it's not
as top heavy as some other drafts. Usually you get
fifteen to twenty guys who would be a first round
pick every year. I don't know if this this draft

(01:13):
is quite that deep in terms of the top end talent,
but man, there's there's a lot of guys that could go.
I think it even goes maybe sixty guys that could
if they went in the first round. You go, oh, okay,
I get that. Yeah, yeah, and convers there's gonna be
a bunch of guys are getting a second and third round.
Any think, boy believe we're gonna hear a lot of that. Well,
let's let's get to it day. Let's start with your

(01:35):
top of the first round in your second mock here
and oh surprise, a quarterback going to Carolina number one.
What else did you find intriguing about this goal? Round
one through ten? Well, you know, I think Carolina trading
up the number one. I still think Bryce Young goes
to number one. He'll he'll throw today at his Alabama
Pro Day. But I bumped Anthony Richardson up with Bryce

(01:58):
Young off the board. I know CJ. Strott had a
great combine Richardson din as well. Houston's they're not in
it to win it this year. Necessarily. You can take
the time to develop that guy. And then I have
Christian Gonzalez at three to Arizona, but I don't think
I think he ends up in Arizona. But I don't
think that Arizona is going to be picking at three.
I still have Christian Gonzalez as my top cornerback in

(02:20):
this draft, but I think somebody's gonna trade up to
get Stroud, if if, if things would fall this way,
and then you got Jalen Carter going down to five,
you know, he's he's kind of now the guy that
you look at, where does he go? And of course
Jean Robinson at ten? Where does he go? Those are
two of the kind of the guys in this draft
to kind of swing everything wild cards X factors if

(02:42):
you will that. Let's take a look at your picks
one through ten. No surprise quarterback to Carolina or your
goal with the other guy. Yeah, I'm gonna disagree with
the a little bit. I think Stroud not that he's
separating himself, but I do think he's the favor to
go one, and I think he's the target for the Panthers.
Anderson at three again, that could definitely be a trade

(03:03):
out spot. There's no doubt about that. I mean, maybe
the Raiders move up. I mean there's multiple teams that
could be interested in getting into three. I like the
fit with Richardson going to the Colts. I mean, if
you think about it, they're coming over from Philadelphia. I
mean you could just put the Jalen Hurtz offense in
for Richardson. That makes all the sense in the world.
I think Carter's the best football player in this draft,

(03:25):
and what a building block he'd be for Seattle, who
has two first round picks. So that makes a lot
of sense to me as well. And like Dale, I
also had Paris Johnson going to Chicago. I mean they
did a lot obviously in free agency, but one more
tackle would go a long way. Yeah, I kind of
made that unanimous. If we could throw my one through
ten up there, I've got Paris Johnson also going to

(03:45):
the Chicago Bears. I jagle Calrter going to the Chicago
Bears when the Bears were possession of the first overall pick,
but that shakes I like Strout among these quarterbacks. I
think if I had to pick a quarterback, I would
pick Anthony Richardson. But I think it's gonna take a
little time. Uh, he's gonna need a little bit of
an adjustment period to the NFL. And unlike you guys,

(04:08):
I watched enough Big ten football to know that Devin
Witherspoon is the best cornerback in this draft. And I
have him appropriately trying to have about him Mike, because
he hasn't been able to work out at all throughout
this process. It's a little uh annoying, let's say, or
I don't want to say concerning, because I think it's
that that big a deal. I believe he's got something
schedule on April the fifth, which is gonna be his

(04:29):
third shot to run for the evaluators didn't do it
at the Combine, didn't do it at the Illinois Pro Day.
Some of them sure thinks Tyree Wilson will Anderson in
this draft of boy, could be a lot of guys.
Those two gots, they're gonna go high. And I've got
the defensive tackle from Clemson going to Philly up Previously

(04:50):
I had b Jehan Robinson going there, but there's been
a little uh departure on that defensive line. So the
Eagles are gonna go with Matt say that name for
me one. Thus, Brian brus say, I've heard it many
different ways. I'll trust your judgment on that, man. Let's
stick with you and go uh picks eleven through twenty. Okay,

(05:12):
I kept Peter Scronsky going to Tennessee. Their Lyne pretty
much needs a little bit of everything, and so he's
going to fit in a tackle, he's gonna fit in
a guard and maybe even center. Who knows. Yeah, does
it all affect his value that we don't know if
he's a tackle or a guard ye? Or do we
just think he's going to be real good at either one.
I think he'll be adequate at tackle, but he could

(05:33):
be an elite guard. I mean, I bring up Zack
Martin a lot from the Cowboys coming out of Notre Dame.
Very similar prospect, tremendous at what he did, but just
not prototypical traits for tackle. M Witherspoon I'm a big
fan as well. We just talked about him a minute ago.
But they took a corner last year and Stingley. That
could be a heck of a combination for a long
time there. Um. I still think the Patriots need a receiver.

(05:57):
I have him taking Addison. He's not my favorite receiver
in this draft, and my favorites to Jackson Smith and
the Jigba who goes to Green Bay. That would be
not what the Packers do. I mean pretty much, in
the last ten years, their only first round pick that's
been on offense has been Jordan's Love. So they might
have to buck that trend a little bit. Would be
somewhat ironic if they picked the wide receiver in the

(06:17):
first round this year without the day. Let's take a
look at your eleven through twenty. Yeah, I have a
Tennessee taking Smith and Jigba. You know, I think they
could use everything, and I think he's the best player
in terms of a guy who scores touchdowns and that's
something that they need. They need to score more points.
Scronsky then goes at twelve again, is he at tackle?

(06:39):
Is the guard? Doesn't doesn't really matter because they need everything.
H you know, the Jets end go tackle, like Matt.
I have the Patriots taking a wide receiver, just a
bigger wide receiver. I think somebody outside the numbers would
help them there. Uh and then you look at it.
It's I got Will Levis falling down to nineteen. Tampa
Bay buck in years again, I think that would be

(07:02):
an ideal situation for them. I don't know that their quarterbacks,
and I know they signed Baker Mayfield, but wouldn't you
like to have a young guy to absolutely kind of
kickstart that at this point? Yeah, I got a faller
as well, and my guy is unfortunately what there's two
of them. B Jean Robinson I have going nineteen to Tampa.
I think he's certainly not the nineteenth best player available

(07:24):
in this draft, not even close. He might be in
the top five, top three, but it's running back, and
you know, I'm most certainly one of those top twelve players.
It would be a first round draft pick no matter
What's tough to find him at home, and just ahead
of him Richardson, I think Detroit has a short term
solution that's working right now and seems to be acquiring

(07:46):
enough of everything else that the Lions with their draft capital,
can afford to grab Richardson and red shirt him, so
to speak, and then move on eventually. I have Green
Bay taking Ryan Branch. I'm fascinated with Brian Branch. Oh
love him. I mean, I think he's a great football player.
He would fit him well there too. I think we

(08:08):
both are all three of us had brought with Jones
going to the Jets or at least two of us
and the wide receivers just no matter what you like.
I really like Jordan Addison. They could use them. I
mean they need some firepowers. Dale mentioned, I mean their
passing game was lacking last year as they leave, let's
wrap it up now by getting the bottom third of

(08:29):
our three mock drafts here, Dale, why don't you take
us from twenty one to the end. Yeah, this is
where things get a little crazy here, because again you
can look at these, these these last eleven picks here
and say, okay, there could be thirty guys that could
be in these picks, So, you know, looking at it,
I think Deante Banks to the Ravens just makes a
ton of sense. He's a Maryland guy. You know, they

(08:53):
keep him in State's. He's exactly what they want at cornerback,
a big, physical, you know, guy that can run. I
also have Cam Smith another cornerback. He's my number five
in the board. Brian Branch falls a little bit. He
didn't have the greatest combine, but then you watch his
tape and he just does everything well. Um, Joe Tipman
to the Cowboys is an interesting one. I think he's
he's my top center prospect in this draft. The guy

(09:15):
is massive. He could play him at guard. You could
play him at center, I have, and I think you
could even set him higher than the Minnesota guy I
do from the Big ten the Big ten, but I
think Tipman Tipman at six six could even kick out
to right tackle if he wanted them to do that.
I just he got pigeonholed at center at Wisconsin because
it's Wisconsin and they've got seventeen you know guys that

(09:40):
he was really good at it. All that stuff the
Bills with with Zay Flowers, I think makes a lot
of sense. They could use some more help there at
the receiving position. And then you know, the Bengals get
Kaylee Ringo out of Georgia and again lost both of
their safeties in free agency. Is Ringo of safety? Is
he a corner? Doesn't matter? He just you just add
him to that secon And Darry, I want to ask

(10:00):
you about your first selection there in this in this
grouping Nolan Smith Edge Chargers, I'm starting to think of
him as an off the ball linebacker. Yeah, we talked
about a Yeah, we talked about that a lot. I
had to imagine itially and I'm I'm gonna put him
in the other group now, Yeah, I mean I think
you can look at him both ways. Um, he was
what two thirty five to thirty eight right now, you

(10:22):
got the combine, So he's on the edge of being
big enough as it were in the edge. Um, you know,
but he ran so well at the combine. It just
is a really uh, you know, a high caliber guy
in the locker room. You could do a lot of
different things with him, And I think if you're a team,
you could look at him the kind of as a
you know, just a chip that you can move around
a little bit. Matt. Let's take a look at your

(10:43):
picks twenty one through thirty one. Uh, what I see,
You've got Darnell right to tackle from Tennessee. At the
start of this grouping Dale had him thirty one. I've
got him thirty one also spoiler, but yeah, I wasna.
I mean, Kansas City would love to get hold of them.
I'm sure they look both their tackles and brought in one.
They might probably need to get another. I think it's

(11:05):
gonna work out for them. The way it did when
they got Clyde Edwards Hilaire, Okay, that's exactly what they needed.
I don't know how the Chargers pass on him, though,
I'm pretty confident right does go in the first round.
Right tackle was a huge problem for them. Johnston might
be gone by twenty two, but I think he fits
the Ravens really well, and that he's a big bodied guy.

(11:25):
He's very very good at blocking, willing blocker as much
as they run the ball, that should matter to them.
I have Branch going twenty five to the Giants, and
maybe he's gone before that. There's so many landing spots
he could end up because he is such a good
football player that you guys said Green Bay Jacksonville earlier.
But the Giants play with more defensive backs on the
field than any team in the league, so he'll just

(11:47):
fit in somewhere. I mean, there's a ton of dime.
There's a lot of seven defensive backsets with those. That's
the beauty of that guy. Right. They could play him
in the slot, you could play him a deep safety,
he could play in the box. There's just all kinds
of things you can do with him. Yeah, and Frankly
I'm believably infatuated with this tight end class and I
have three going at the end of the round. There,
what if you could put Musgrave behind Kelsey for a

(12:07):
year or two to learn. I think that's phenomenal. And
the Bengals lost the tight end this year, you know,
and the Bills need another weapon as we talked about. Yeah,
I'm with you on the tight end things interesting. You've
got Keyon White and Osiris Torrance in your bottom ten
of this group of thirty one. I've got him higher.
You've both got a first round. It's just a matter

(12:28):
aware and I think there's a kind of guys that
PERSONI fight just how speculative this is going to be
and how much it's going to depend on what specific
teams really like or need as opposed to the perception
of pecking order under scent. And I don't know if
he gets the thirty or not when it's all said
and done. I mean, he's a plug and play guard.
But if you look at the Eagles offensive line, they've

(12:49):
always had a very small, super athletic center and why
they get away with that a little more than others
as well. Kelsey's phenomenal, but they have two huge guards.
Well this year they're gonna have to play with Cam
Jurgens is one of those guards who's really the Kelsey replacement.
So I think they'd love to get a big body
of Guarden for the future. Looking at my picks twenty
one through thirty one, h not totally dissimilar. I still

(13:12):
like Cody Mak going to Buffalo because he's just a
Buffalo type of guy. I mean, there might not be
fits an environment more. Yeah, yeah, I like Johnston going
to Baltimore as well Matt and then Banks to the Vikings.
Van ness intrigues me again. Big ten guy. Uh, probably

(13:33):
we'll have more production in college or in the pros
than he did in college, just circumstantially. Jamar Gibbs going
to the Cowboys at twenty six. The running back room
has changed there a little bit, and I like his
uh ability to contribute in the run game as well
as the past game. I think he's a good fit
for Dallas U and Darnel Washington going to the Eagles

(13:57):
at number thirty. He's one of my favorite players in
the draft, but I figured you can be another offensive
lineman for Philadelphia until he learns how to be a
pass catcher. They're okay with that because they're gonna run
the ball a little bit. Yeah, yeah, it's it's uh,
you know, you look at it some of some different
names in there, Like you know, Matt and I didn't
have much in the you know, our first round, but

(14:18):
I could see him going there. Uh. You mentioned Gibbs
is another guy that you know, he wasn't in our draft,
but you can see him going in the first round.
It's it's such an interesting draft in that. Hyatt, I think,
is another guy that I don't think made it into
Matt and I's a first round both like him. But
you know, it's just all about the fit. Okay, that's
gonna do it for MAC two. This is not the

(14:40):
last time we will be previewing what we think is
gonna happen on the first round, so you've got that
to look forward to. And in the meantime, we will
be doing our round two of the position previews as
we continue getting you ready for the NFL Draft in
Kansas City in late April. Until next time, I want
to thank you for finding us. However, and wherever you

(15:02):
found us this time, keep looking at those Steelers social
media platforms. And keep up with the NFL Draft Triple Take,
brought to you by upmc for Matt Williamson and Del
Laliam Mike Pursuita. Thanks for tuning in