February 22, 2025 • 17 mins
Mike, Dale, and Matt review their 2024 Draft predictions and give a first look at their 2025 NFL Mock Draft
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the NFL
Draft Triple Take, brought to you by up MC. I'm
Mike Pursuda, along with Dale Lawley and Matt Williamson. Matt
and Dale are your Terrible tag team on the Drive,
which you can find on the Steelers Audio Network Steelers
(00:27):
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. All three of
us are contributors to Steelers dot Com and the Steelers
various social media platforms and guys. We talk a lot,
and write a lot and say a lot about a lot.
But the object of this exercise is the Draft. We've
been doing this for a couple of years now. We
get together, we break down the positions, we do mocks.
(00:49):
We try to get you as up to speed as
you can possibly get in advance of the NFL Draft
in late April, and it's time.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
To do so again.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
But before we kick off this year's pre draft bonanza,
I just want to remind everybody that the opinions expressed
on these programs are the opinions of myself, Dale and
Matt and not the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yes, and as you'll see a lot of different stuff
out there, especially at this time of year, and that's
why it's fun. You know, there's there's just so many
varying opinions, so many different ways this can go.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, and I'm excited to dig in. You know, Dale
and I have been talking draft now for about a month,
you know, pretty much post super Bowl. We've got the
combine right on the horizon, right lots to dig into.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Let's go, well, we're.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Gonna we're gonna get to that in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But to kind of kick things off this year in
dynamic fashion, we wanted to take a look back at
last year and see how we did in our first
round mock and then sort of fast forward to the
first first round mack of this year, which will not
be the last. But Dale, you were kind enough to
do the math and you know, check the pluses and minuses,
and as.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
A collective we did okay.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I mean, you know, if here's the thing about
the first round of the draft. If you get the
right pick in the right spot, you're going really good.
And even at that you're probably gonna be you know,
somewhere about a quarter of them. It's the number how
many how many guys did you actually have in the
first round that went in the first round.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
That's the That to me is the key. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
I mean, hey, we were seven for our first seven.
That's not a bad start. And you know the Falcons
sitting there at eight.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
They screwed the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, they screwed the whole thing up. They just signed
Kirk Cousins and they go use the first round pick
on a quarterback. Nobody saw that coming.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And you know, one of the funny parks about grading
a draft is you can't do it one year later.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Five years from now, we may look back and say, hey,
maybe the teams were wronged and we were right.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And as evidence of that, you look no further than
number twenty three on your draft. Morgan, Minnesota taking Iowa
quarterback Cooper Dougie got I probably should have been a
first round pick after further review.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, up, on further review, he was pretty darn good.
He was one of my favorite players in the draft.
Same with for Matt and turned out to be a
really good football player for the Philadelphia Eagles and helped.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Them win a championship.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I bet there's a lot of teams on that list
that would swap their guy out for the gene right now.
In the first round pick. He was at a heckler
rookie year.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Eagle said, a pretty good first round pick getting a
starting cornerback, and in the second round when they got
the Gene, they got a starting slot cornerback. The right
draft can impact things quickly.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Yeah, and we nailed the Eagles taking a corner but
Mitchell was already off the board the way that we
had it work out. But we had some nice picks too.
I mean, Brian Thomas had an awesome rookie year and
went much later than number ten. I'm sure some teams
were loved to take in him early. We nailed all
the tackles going, you know, as early as they did
in this draft, and even Geiiton went earlier than that,
(03:42):
and Mims went earlier than that. And we also kind
of nailed the wide receiver run at the end of
the first round. That was that came to fruition.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
One thing we did not nail was Atlanta doing what
it did now with Michael Pennix Junior and Denver doing
what it did with bow knicks. But I guess the
moral of the story, if you think the quarterbacks the
right guy, you can't take them too high.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I remember I made that pick of Bowers, who
was a real wild card for me because I looked
at like the Jets. He ended up inevitably falling to
the pick after that, and the Raiders are quite happy
with it. I mean, then nobody would have been disappointed
with brock Bauers. But we didn't have knicks in the
first round. Maybe there's a lesson we had there that
went in doubt put the quarterback in the first round
if you're not sure.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Yeah, and he was a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
You know, I had mocked to Denver a lot in
the lead up to the draft because I just thought
he'd fit the scheme there.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
And as it turns out, that was the case.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And you know, Sean Payton went on he wanted a quarterback,
he got a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I did not have Nis ranked as a first rounder,
but I was sold on him.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I recalled her bring a lot of questions.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
He was kind of so so for three years at
Auburn and then he was lights out for two years
at Oregon.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
And one of the things we do throughout this series
of shows that we produce every year is we'll do
position rankings and pick our top five and a sleeper
at every position, And when we did the quarterback position rankings,
I had bon Nix's the fifth quarterback, but I summed
them up as follows.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Do we really need.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
To overthink Nick's having completed an NCAA record seventy seven
point four percent of his passes with forty five touchdowns
and three interceptions in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The answer is we did not need to overthink it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So, Matt, you know the former personnel guy among us,
is production that's so profound enough of a sell on
its own?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Or do you still need the rest of it to
fall into.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
You need the rest of it?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
But I mean he's also a very good athlete. I
mean he's a plus passer, and there's a lot to
like about bon Nicks. And I think one thing that
it's also true with Pennix, it's also true with Daniels
that being quote overaged or a six year player isn't
a negative anymore. These guys come in the league pretty
mature and ready to go.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
As a perfect example at the.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Quarterback position, quarterback, you know these guys that have forty
plus career starts, that's a plus in their category.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Now in helmet experience, I hear that's a big deal.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
A big deal.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Let's transition out to this year's draft, the first round,
twenty twenty five and the way we've kind of broken
that down for each of us. Did a mock, very
early mock. I reserve the right to change it many times.
In fact, I probably will. I'm sure you guys feel
the same way. But looking at it, picks one through ten, guys,
just starting it off, Dale, you've got cam Ward going
(06:28):
to Tennessee, Matt Travis Hunter, and I went with Abdul Carter.
Did you pick the best quarterback? And did we pick
what we think is the best player?
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
I mean I think a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Honestly, I don't think the Tennessee Titans will be drafting.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Number one overall.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I think they have so many needs that I think
they end up trading back in this draft. Somebody's going
to want to come up to get one of those quarterbacks,
and I think the Titans are more than one year away,
so I think that they just acquire some extra picks.
I just think somebody else is going to be picking
in the number one spot.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, I didn't have a quarterback going with the first
two picks, just because I think the state of those
teams right now, you kind of have to build the
landing spot the nests, I like to say, for the quarterback,
as opposed to thrusting them in a really difficult situation.
And to Dale's point, I do think Tennessee will shop
that pick. Maybe they even signed a Sam Darnold or
something along those lines too, and aren't and get themselves
(07:23):
out of the quarterback market.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I just played the percentages with the Browns taking a quarterback.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Yeah, I hear you good a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
It gets interesting sooner rather than later. And one of
the things that got my attention through our first ten picks.
You get down to Vegas at number six and Dale
You've got Will Johnson from Michigan the quarterback, Matt You've
got Sudhar Sanders the quarterback from Colorado, and I went
with Ashton Genty running back Boise State. We have not
(07:51):
just three different players, but three different positions.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Kind of gives you an idea of where the Raiders
are at right now. Though you get a head a
new coaching staff coming in New GM, they kind of
need to start building from the foundation up with what
they've had. I think for a lot of years they
were just kind of, well, we're going to try to
compete in the in the AFC West, and that just
wasn't realistic with with you know, some of the other
teams there. And so now it's time to you know,
(08:16):
rebuild this franchise.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I get why they did.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That with the move to Vegas, like they wanted to
try to we're going to sell tickets. Now we can't
be rebuilding, you know, after moving the team. But now
it's time to start building up. And I think that's
why they also hired Pete Carroll.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, and along those lines, I want to stick with
your pick, Mike of genty going to the Raiders, and
you mentioned Carol, maybe that's his Marshawn Lynch, you know,
and maybe they've.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Already added a quarterback. Who's to say.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
And I think they've been pretty aggressive and Genti's We've
had this conversation with Bijon. I mean, if we go
back Saques and that that situation where just a rare,
rare running back prospect that might be the best player
in the draft, but we know that they always have
a hard time finding landing spots. And it's a great
running back draft. You know, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Do you think those guys are more in style now?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Given the ones that changed hands maybe at the NFL
level last season and had such a profound effect on
their new teams, starting but not stopping with say Qua Point.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
And obviously Derrick Henry, you know his Steeler fans software
stand three times too, is a big impact player that
changed teams. I mostly agree with that, but I also
think the running back in those situations is more of
a cherry on top.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
You know, of an.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Already well established football team to put you over the top.
And I'm not saying gent he couldn't do that for
the Raiders, but I would think Pete Carroll would be
really attracted to that.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
We look at the New York Jets.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
None of us took a quarterback Carolina another one of
those wide receiver edge cornerback. Dale am way too high
on the Texas cornerback after he covered a freshman wide
receiver from Ohio State who's not.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Going to be drafted for a while because I mentioned
he was a freshman.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Jeremiah Smith's good a college player as I have seen
in years, and this kid from Texas covered up in.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
The college from I love John Ay Barron. He's one
of my favorite players in this draft. The tough thing
is where do you slought him at? Because well, is
he just is he a slot? He's played outside, he's
played safety. Uh, you know, he's played in the slot.
Where do teams view him right now? I like him,
you know it kind of a Brian Branch Cooper Dejene
type player. Maybe his best position in the in the
(10:28):
you know, in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Is a slot. But those guys are starters now.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Yeah, It's kind of like the question you just asked
about the running back position is all of a sudden,
slot defenders can bring the room together on defense, and
he's that type of guy. Dale and I talk about
barn a lot on the drive and they're quite high
on it.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Brings the room again.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, but I also wanted to ask you about your
pick for Carolina. There Jeel Walker, Edge Georgia. These Georgia guys,
and this has happened for a couple of years now.
You don't necessarily draft these guys on numbers too, because
there's too much dividing up with the numbers, so many players.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And they'll just tons of talent.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Nobody dominated statistically.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Yep, very rarely. And again there's that Eagles theme where
they have Georgia defenders in their front seven like crazy,
and it's working out pretty well for them. And back
to Carolina. Wisely, they really addressed offense to make Bryce
Young's life a little easier. I think this will be okay.
Now we've got to address a defense.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Shifting gears to picks eleven through twenty, and I found
it funny at fourteen with Indianapolis, we all not only
picked the same position, we picked the same guy.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And I'm gonna go out on a live here Dale.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
There might not be a player that appears more suited
or destined to play for a pro team than Penn
State's Ty Warren does for the Colts.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah, and I like Ty Warren a lot. I think
he can do a lot of different things for you.
I know, he has the team next to his name
and he does block, but I just look at him
as an offense weapon. I think that's how Penn State
used him last year. There were one hundred catches there
and that would be a nice landing spot for him.
You know, if they're gonna go with Richardson again at quarterbacks,
(12:10):
which they probably will He would have a tough time
overthrowing Tyler Warren.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, and get richardson some layup throws. It would go
a long way.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You think he also does the wildcat thing as he did.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Probably, I mean, I think that they'll use him in
a wide variety ways and he's a pretty good blocker.
Maybe he doesn't even make it the four team. There's
a lot of spots, a lot of teams that could
use him.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Arizona has some interesting options. At sixteenth Dale. You went
with Texas A and m Edge Shamar Stewart. That's the
anti production production guy. He doesn't necessarily pile up the stats.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
But what's the first guy off the bus.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, he's more disruptive than productive, but disruptive is good.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yeah, And I think he's going to be a guy.
He's kind of a puppy, still growing into his paws
a little bit. And I think the production teams are
gonna look at this. I think he's going to blow
up the combine next week and you know, we'll see
where that goes with him when he gets on the
field there.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
But you know, just size, speed, the only thing lacking
is the production.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So you know, you kind of project what this guy
can be at like six and ninety five pounds, can
he be a productive player at the NFL.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
And Mike, we were talking about trends in the league,
and you just look at the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
They draft defensive line traits. You know, maybe they aren't
the most productive guys, but you bring them along and
they bring in a lot of them. A guy like
Stewart could benefit from that trend.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Let's get to the bottom third of the draft now,
and particularly number twenty one. The Pittsburgh Steelers were all
kind of in the same church here, if not the
same pew Dale. You go with Kenneth Grant of Michigan.
Matt went with Walter Nolan of Mississippi. And in this scenario,
(13:51):
I've run, I'll admitted a few bocks. I've gotten on
the simulator already, and when a Mecca Abuka of Ohio State,
the really talented wide receiver, is there, I want to
take him, but I can't if Walter Nolan's on the board.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, and we mentioned the depth of the running back class.
This would be a great class for the Steelers to
maybe get Cam Hayward's replacement or a nose in the middle.
I mean Grant from Michigan's more that nose style, because
the defensive tackle group is outstanding and deep, and do
you want to go fishing in those waters?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (14:27):
And I mean the only reason I didn't take No.
One was because I had him already. He was already gone.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
He's already gone. You know, I do like him more
than Grant. But I do think that the Steelers would
find a use for Grant. You know, they did get.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
In the in the playoff game.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Adding a guy like that and you know, to the
middle of your defense would make a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
It's not as great a draft for wide receivers reportedly
as it usually is, but usually.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It's immensely good, not great.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Defensive tackles unheard of good. So is the drop off
from the top couple guys? Where is it more severe?
At wide receiver or at the tackle?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I would say wide receiver. I mean, I think well,
through all of Day two, maybe into the fourth and
fifth rounds, you can find pretty intriguing defensive lineman, which is.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Rare, especially if you're looking for a nose type. You know, yeah,
they can get those guys a little bit later. I know,
I took one in the first round here, but that
was because the other guys that I liked at the
position weren't available to the guys that would be ends.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
If you can get the best nos one, I'll get
the best nose.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
But you know, I do think that there's going to
be It's the same question teams have to answer every year.
Do I take a guy who I perceive is the
best at what he does versus something that's.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Maybe a better a bigger need. And I'll get back
to this right in a subsequent round.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I think on the defensive line this year, you can
find guys who are who are capable in the rounds
three and four and even five on the defensive line.
I don't know that you're gonna do that necessarily pass
round three at the wide receiver position.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's going to do it for us to get things
started with our pre draft coverage here on Steelers dot
Com and the Steelers social media platforms.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
But don't forget.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
There's a lot more where this came from.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
We're gonna be coming at you fast and furious, giving
you position breakdowns, giving you mos, giving you revised position breakdowns,
giving you revised mox.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
If it has anything to do with the draft.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
We will probably talk about it in some way, shape
or form on all of the Steelers social media platforms,
so you're gonna wanna keep it here, and you're also
going to want to keep in mind that the opinions
expressed here are ours, not necessarily anybody else's. But hey,
it's fun to talk about, so we intend to talk
about it for Matt Williamson and Dale Lawley, Mike Pursuda.
(16:48):
Thanks for finding us, however and wherever you found us
until the next time. This is the NFL Draft Triple Take,
brought to you by UPMC
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the NFL
Draft Triple Take, brought to you by up MC. I'm
Mike Pursuda, along with Dale Lawley and Matt Williamson. Matt
and Dale are your Terrible tag team on the Drive,
which you can find on the Steelers Audio Network Steelers
(00:27):
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. All three of
us are contributors to Steelers dot Com and the Steelers
various social media platforms and guys. We talk a lot,
and write a lot and say a lot about a lot.
But the object of this exercise is the Draft. We've
been doing this for a couple of years now. We
get together, we break down the positions, we do mocks.
(00:49):
We try to get you as up to speed as
you can possibly get in advance of the NFL Draft
in late April, and it's time.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
To do so again.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
But before we kick off this year's pre draft bonanza,
I just want to remind everybody that the opinions expressed
on these programs are the opinions of myself, Dale and
Matt and not the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yes, and as you'll see a lot of different stuff
out there, especially at this time of year, and that's
why it's fun. You know, there's there's just so many
varying opinions, so many different ways this can go.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, and I'm excited to dig in. You know, Dale
and I have been talking draft now for about a month,
you know, pretty much post super Bowl. We've got the
combine right on the horizon, right lots to dig into.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Let's go, well, we're.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Gonna we're gonna get to that in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But to kind of kick things off this year in
dynamic fashion, we wanted to take a look back at
last year and see how we did in our first
round mock and then sort of fast forward to the
first first round mack of this year, which will not
be the last. But Dale, you were kind enough to
do the math and you know, check the pluses and minuses,
and as.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
A collective we did okay.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I mean, you know, if here's the thing about
the first round of the draft. If you get the
right pick in the right spot, you're going really good.
And even at that you're probably gonna be you know,
somewhere about a quarter of them. It's the number how
many how many guys did you actually have in the
first round that went in the first round.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
That's the That to me is the key. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
I mean, hey, we were seven for our first seven.
That's not a bad start. And you know the Falcons
sitting there at eight.
Speaker 5 (02:24):
They screwed the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, they screwed the whole thing up. They just signed
Kirk Cousins and they go use the first round pick
on a quarterback. Nobody saw that coming.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And you know, one of the funny parks about grading
a draft is you can't do it one year later.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Five years from now, we may look back and say, hey,
maybe the teams were wronged and we were right.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And as evidence of that, you look no further than
number twenty three on your draft. Morgan, Minnesota taking Iowa
quarterback Cooper Dougie got I probably should have been a
first round pick after further review.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, up, on further review, he was pretty darn good.
He was one of my favorite players in the draft.
Same with for Matt and turned out to be a
really good football player for the Philadelphia Eagles and helped.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Them win a championship.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I bet there's a lot of teams on that list
that would swap their guy out for the gene right now.
In the first round pick. He was at a heckler
rookie year.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Eagle said, a pretty good first round pick getting a
starting cornerback, and in the second round when they got
the Gene, they got a starting slot cornerback. The right
draft can impact things quickly.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Yeah, and we nailed the Eagles taking a corner but
Mitchell was already off the board the way that we
had it work out. But we had some nice picks too.
I mean, Brian Thomas had an awesome rookie year and
went much later than number ten. I'm sure some teams
were loved to take in him early. We nailed all
the tackles going, you know, as early as they did
in this draft, and even Geiiton went earlier than that,
(03:42):
and Mims went earlier than that. And we also kind
of nailed the wide receiver run at the end of
the first round. That was that came to fruition.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
One thing we did not nail was Atlanta doing what
it did now with Michael Pennix Junior and Denver doing
what it did with bow knicks. But I guess the
moral of the story, if you think the quarterbacks the
right guy, you can't take them too high.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
And I remember I made that pick of Bowers, who
was a real wild card for me because I looked
at like the Jets. He ended up inevitably falling to
the pick after that, and the Raiders are quite happy
with it. I mean, then nobody would have been disappointed
with brock Bauers. But we didn't have knicks in the
first round. Maybe there's a lesson we had there that
went in doubt put the quarterback in the first round
if you're not sure.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
Yeah, and he was a guy.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
You know, I had mocked to Denver a lot in
the lead up to the draft because I just thought
he'd fit the scheme there.
Speaker 5 (04:31):
And as it turns out, that was the case.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And you know, Sean Payton went on he wanted a quarterback,
he got a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I did not have Nis ranked as a first rounder,
but I was sold on him.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I recalled her bring a lot of questions.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
He was kind of so so for three years at
Auburn and then he was lights out for two years
at Oregon.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
And one of the things we do throughout this series
of shows that we produce every year is we'll do
position rankings and pick our top five and a sleeper
at every position, And when we did the quarterback position rankings,
I had bon Nix's the fifth quarterback, but I summed
them up as follows.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Do we really need.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
To overthink Nick's having completed an NCAA record seventy seven
point four percent of his passes with forty five touchdowns
and three interceptions in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The answer is we did not need to overthink it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So, Matt, you know the former personnel guy among us,
is production that's so profound enough of a sell on
its own?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Or do you still need the rest of it to
fall into.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
You need the rest of it?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
But I mean he's also a very good athlete. I
mean he's a plus passer, and there's a lot to
like about bon Nicks. And I think one thing that
it's also true with Pennix, it's also true with Daniels
that being quote overaged or a six year player isn't
a negative anymore. These guys come in the league pretty
mature and ready to go.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
As a perfect example at the.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Quarterback position, quarterback, you know these guys that have forty
plus career starts, that's a plus in their category.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Now in helmet experience, I hear that's a big deal.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
A big deal.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Let's transition out to this year's draft, the first round,
twenty twenty five and the way we've kind of broken
that down for each of us. Did a mock, very
early mock. I reserve the right to change it many times.
In fact, I probably will. I'm sure you guys feel
the same way. But looking at it, picks one through ten, guys,
just starting it off, Dale, you've got cam Ward going
(06:28):
to Tennessee, Matt Travis Hunter, and I went with Abdul Carter.
Did you pick the best quarterback? And did we pick
what we think is the best player?
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
I mean I think a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Honestly, I don't think the Tennessee Titans will be drafting.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Number one overall.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I think they have so many needs that I think
they end up trading back in this draft. Somebody's going
to want to come up to get one of those quarterbacks,
and I think the Titans are more than one year away,
so I think that they just acquire some extra picks.
I just think somebody else is going to be picking
in the number one spot.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, I didn't have a quarterback going with the first
two picks, just because I think the state of those
teams right now, you kind of have to build the
landing spot the nests, I like to say, for the quarterback,
as opposed to thrusting them in a really difficult situation.
And to Dale's point, I do think Tennessee will shop
that pick. Maybe they even signed a Sam Darnold or
something along those lines too, and aren't and get themselves
(07:23):
out of the quarterback market.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I just played the percentages with the Browns taking a quarterback.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Yeah, I hear you good a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
It gets interesting sooner rather than later. And one of
the things that got my attention through our first ten picks.
You get down to Vegas at number six and Dale
You've got Will Johnson from Michigan the quarterback, Matt You've
got Sudhar Sanders the quarterback from Colorado, and I went
with Ashton Genty running back Boise State. We have not
(07:51):
just three different players, but three different positions.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Kind of gives you an idea of where the Raiders
are at right now. Though you get a head a
new coaching staff coming in New GM, they kind of
need to start building from the foundation up with what
they've had. I think for a lot of years they
were just kind of, well, we're going to try to
compete in the in the AFC West, and that just
wasn't realistic with with you know, some of the other
teams there. And so now it's time to you know,
(08:16):
rebuild this franchise.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I get why they did.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That with the move to Vegas, like they wanted to
try to we're going to sell tickets. Now we can't
be rebuilding, you know, after moving the team. But now
it's time to start building up. And I think that's
why they also hired Pete Carroll.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, and along those lines, I want to stick with
your pick, Mike of genty going to the Raiders, and
you mentioned Carol, maybe that's his Marshawn Lynch, you know,
and maybe they've.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Already added a quarterback. Who's to say.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
And I think they've been pretty aggressive and Genti's We've
had this conversation with Bijon. I mean, if we go
back Saques and that that situation where just a rare,
rare running back prospect that might be the best player
in the draft, but we know that they always have
a hard time finding landing spots. And it's a great
running back draft. You know, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Do you think those guys are more in style now?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Given the ones that changed hands maybe at the NFL
level last season and had such a profound effect on
their new teams, starting but not stopping with say Qua Point.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
And obviously Derrick Henry, you know his Steeler fans software
stand three times too, is a big impact player that
changed teams. I mostly agree with that, but I also
think the running back in those situations is more of
a cherry on top.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
You know, of an.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Already well established football team to put you over the top.
And I'm not saying gent he couldn't do that for
the Raiders, but I would think Pete Carroll would be
really attracted to that.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
We look at the New York Jets.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
None of us took a quarterback Carolina another one of
those wide receiver edge cornerback. Dale am way too high
on the Texas cornerback after he covered a freshman wide
receiver from Ohio State who's not.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Going to be drafted for a while because I mentioned
he was a freshman.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Jeremiah Smith's good a college player as I have seen
in years, and this kid from Texas covered up in.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
The college from I love John Ay Barron. He's one
of my favorite players in this draft. The tough thing
is where do you slought him at? Because well, is
he just is he a slot? He's played outside, he's
played safety. Uh, you know, he's played in the slot.
Where do teams view him right now? I like him,
you know it kind of a Brian Branch Cooper Dejene
type player. Maybe his best position in the in the
(10:28):
you know, in the NFL.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Is a slot. But those guys are starters now.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Yeah, It's kind of like the question you just asked
about the running back position is all of a sudden,
slot defenders can bring the room together on defense, and
he's that type of guy. Dale and I talk about
barn a lot on the drive and they're quite high
on it.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
Brings the room again.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, but I also wanted to ask you about your
pick for Carolina. There Jeel Walker, Edge Georgia. These Georgia guys,
and this has happened for a couple of years now.
You don't necessarily draft these guys on numbers too, because
there's too much dividing up with the numbers, so many players.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
And they'll just tons of talent.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Nobody dominated statistically.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Yep, very rarely. And again there's that Eagles theme where
they have Georgia defenders in their front seven like crazy,
and it's working out pretty well for them. And back
to Carolina. Wisely, they really addressed offense to make Bryce
Young's life a little easier. I think this will be okay.
Now we've got to address a defense.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Shifting gears to picks eleven through twenty, and I found
it funny at fourteen with Indianapolis, we all not only
picked the same position, we picked the same guy.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
And I'm gonna go out on a live here Dale.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
There might not be a player that appears more suited
or destined to play for a pro team than Penn
State's Ty Warren does for the Colts.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Yeah, and I like Ty Warren a lot. I think
he can do a lot of different things for you.
I know, he has the team next to his name
and he does block, but I just look at him
as an offense weapon. I think that's how Penn State
used him last year. There were one hundred catches there
and that would be a nice landing spot for him.
You know, if they're gonna go with Richardson again at quarterbacks,
(12:10):
which they probably will He would have a tough time
overthrowing Tyler Warren.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, and get richardson some layup throws. It would go
a long way.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You think he also does the wildcat thing as he did.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Probably, I mean, I think that they'll use him in
a wide variety ways and he's a pretty good blocker.
Maybe he doesn't even make it the four team. There's
a lot of spots, a lot of teams that could
use him.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Arizona has some interesting options. At sixteenth Dale. You went
with Texas A and m Edge Shamar Stewart. That's the
anti production production guy. He doesn't necessarily pile up the stats.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
But what's the first guy off the bus.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yeah, he's more disruptive than productive, but disruptive is good.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yeah, And I think he's going to be a guy.
He's kind of a puppy, still growing into his paws
a little bit. And I think the production teams are
gonna look at this. I think he's going to blow
up the combine next week and you know, we'll see
where that goes with him when he gets on the
field there.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
But you know, just size, speed, the only thing lacking
is the production.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
So you know, you kind of project what this guy
can be at like six and ninety five pounds, can
he be a productive player at the NFL.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
And Mike, we were talking about trends in the league,
and you just look at the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
They draft defensive line traits. You know, maybe they aren't
the most productive guys, but you bring them along and
they bring in a lot of them. A guy like
Stewart could benefit from that trend.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Let's get to the bottom third of the draft now,
and particularly number twenty one. The Pittsburgh Steelers were all
kind of in the same church here, if not the
same pew Dale. You go with Kenneth Grant of Michigan.
Matt went with Walter Nolan of Mississippi. And in this scenario,
(13:51):
I've run, I'll admitted a few bocks. I've gotten on
the simulator already, and when a Mecca Abuka of Ohio State,
the really talented wide receiver, is there, I want to
take him, but I can't if Walter Nolan's on the board.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
Yeah, and we mentioned the depth of the running back class.
This would be a great class for the Steelers to
maybe get Cam Hayward's replacement or a nose in the middle.
I mean Grant from Michigan's more that nose style, because
the defensive tackle group is outstanding and deep, and do
you want to go fishing in those waters?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (14:27):
And I mean the only reason I didn't take No.
One was because I had him already. He was already gone.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
He's already gone. You know, I do like him more
than Grant. But I do think that the Steelers would
find a use for Grant. You know, they did get.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
In the in the playoff game.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Adding a guy like that and you know, to the
middle of your defense would make a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
It's not as great a draft for wide receivers reportedly
as it usually is, but usually.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It's immensely good, not great.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Defensive tackles unheard of good. So is the drop off
from the top couple guys? Where is it more severe?
At wide receiver or at the tackle?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
I would say wide receiver. I mean, I think well,
through all of Day two, maybe into the fourth and
fifth rounds, you can find pretty intriguing defensive lineman, which is.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Rare, especially if you're looking for a nose type. You know, yeah,
they can get those guys a little bit later. I know,
I took one in the first round here, but that
was because the other guys that I liked at the
position weren't available to the guys that would be ends.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
If you can get the best nos one, I'll get
the best nose.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
But you know, I do think that there's going to
be It's the same question teams have to answer every year.
Do I take a guy who I perceive is the
best at what he does versus something that's.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Maybe a better a bigger need. And I'll get back
to this right in a subsequent round.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I think on the defensive line this year, you can
find guys who are who are capable in the rounds
three and four and even five on the defensive line.
I don't know that you're gonna do that necessarily pass
round three at the wide receiver position.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's going to do it for us to get things
started with our pre draft coverage here on Steelers dot
Com and the Steelers social media platforms.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
But don't forget.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
There's a lot more where this came from.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
We're gonna be coming at you fast and furious, giving
you position breakdowns, giving you mos, giving you revised position breakdowns,
giving you revised mox.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
If it has anything to do with the draft.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
We will probably talk about it in some way, shape
or form on all of the Steelers social media platforms,
so you're gonna wanna keep it here, and you're also
going to want to keep in mind that the opinions
expressed here are ours, not necessarily anybody else's. But hey,
it's fun to talk about, so we intend to talk
about it for Matt Williamson and Dale Lawley, Mike Pursuda.
(16:48):
Thanks for finding us, however and wherever you found us
until the next time. This is the NFL Draft Triple Take,
brought to you by UPMC
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