February 19, 2026 • 20 mins
Mike, Matt, and Max give a first look at their 2026 NFL Mock Draft
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the premiere edition of on
the Clock, brought to you by up MC.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We are here to get you as ready as.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You can possibly be for the upcoming NFL Draft. We
are going to have a slew of programming here on
Steelers dot Com and the Steelers social media platforms to
get you ready for the aforementioned draft. A quick reminder
before we introduce the Illustrious Panel. The opinions you are
about to hear are the opinions of the Illustrious Panel
(00:39):
and not repeat, not the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now let's get
to the rest of our happy group. I'm Mike Pursuda,
joined as always by Matt Williamson and new to our
crew this year, Max Starks. Guys, how are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Doing well? Doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
We are going to start things off by presenting our
first round of the NFL Draft Mock one point zero
is the cool kids call these type of things these days,
and the way we're gonna do it this year is
the way we did it last year. We will give
you the first ten picks mine, Matts, Max's. We'll kind
of flip it around, go eleven through twenty, and then
(01:21):
the bottom third of the draft, and guys, Max, let's
start with you. I notice in looking at the advanced
copy that all three of us are in agreement. Fernando
Mendoza is the first overall pick and Ruben Bade Junior
is the fourth overall pick.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
And I think this is one where you kind of say,
for the Raiders, for Clint Kubiak, don't mess it up.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
This is all you need to do.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
You need to get somebody in there that's gonna excite
this fan base and try and start the process of
rebuilding what is the Las Vegas Raiders, And he's the
clear cut favorite at the quarterback position. You have a
very distressing need at the quarterback position, So why not
take advantage of this and don't get cute and try
(02:12):
and trade out of the first pick and try and
stockpile all these things.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Get the quarterback right now.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's keep excuse me, Max, let's keep it with you
and take a look at the entirety of your picks
one through ten. Anything that particularly interests or excites you
about what you came up with here.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, I think I think the number three spot we
kind of looked at the Arizona Cardinals. There's a lot
of different ways that they could go with Lafleura being
the head coach and an offensive minded coach, but I
think the one thing was kind of clear. Offensive lineman
was a need for both Matt and I and where
we went at that, whether it's Fano, whether it's Malinoah,
(02:51):
it was the same thing. I know, you went with
the local, homegrown product, which would excite the fan base
in Jordan Tyson move from ASU over there.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
But I really.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Think that offensive line was such an issue when you
think about whether it's Kyler Murray, whether it's Jakobe Brussat,
or whether they're going somewhere else to fill that quarterback position,
that offensive line has to be worked on, specifically the
right side.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And I think the attention last year was defense.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
So they got to put some more attention in whoever's
going to be the QB and keeping him upright, and
I think that's one that I kind of looked at
was a very interesting one for me. I went offensive
lineman heavy early in this draft because I think that
that's a premium position.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Wide receiver a little bit.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Deeper, so you can get into the weeds and kind
of delay a little bit. But I feel like the
tackles they're going to run and go off the board,
and then it becomes a second tier really quickly on
who you're getting in that top ten. So I kind
of went a little bit heavy on offensive line needs,
just because those teams in the top ten have glaring
needs aging offensive linemen and pending free agents, and so
(03:55):
they need to restock that position group.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Let's take a look at Matt Williamson su picks one
through ten now and Matt, in addition to us being
in agreement on Mendoza and Baine in the exact spots
that they're in, we all have April Reese, Jeremiah Love,
David Bailey, and Spencer Finot as top ten selections, and
(04:19):
only Max was in disagreement on Kelvic Falk the edge
from Auburn. Max has him at twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So far pretty close to top ten.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
But is this first top ten as relatively obvious as
it seems.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
It's just a matter of order.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
I think some things can be sorted out obviously next
week at the combine. One thing I wanted to mention,
you know, this is our first one of the year.
I think this draft, even two through ten, is lacking
blue chip talent compared to previous years. So to Max's point,
I think, when in doubt you take offensive tackles, they're
just too hard to find. You don't want to be
shopping for them in the free agent market, so you
(04:57):
lock them up in the draft. It's interesting, Well, I'm
gonna stick with the division with my top ten. Here
too is you look at the Brown situation for their
top offensive linemen are hitting free agency and they're aging,
and it wasn't a good unit to begin with. And
then the Bengals once again could go with what I
did here and take a project edge rusher. That seems
(05:19):
like that they just keep going back to the well
over and over in that market because Tray Henderson's probably
not going to return.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Let's throw up my picks one through ten now and
again relatively similar in terms of the names Max mentioned.
I like the Arizona State kid Arizona. I know that's
you don't make a first round pick just based on that,
but when it works out, it works out, and I
think that could work out for the Cardinals. I hope
I'm wrong about number six because I look at Cleveland
(05:47):
as offensively challenged and general quarterback challenged in particular wide
receiver challenge, but combining Love with Judkins, the back out
of Ohio State last year, or Cleveland might just run
the ball and play defense and be a lot better
than it was a year ago. Also, Max have three
Ohio State guys in the top ten. That's probably about
(06:11):
his biggest surprise. As you going heavy on offensive tackles.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Listen, listen, there is talent, and you have to say,
this is a back to back playoff team, so the
talent is there. I mean, Caleb Downs arguably one of
the best players overall in this When we talk about
the blue chips two through ten, that's one of the
few blue chips that you can argue can fit on
(06:37):
all thirty two teams. You will find a way to
get him on the field, and so that's why I
think you had to go with him.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Arvelle Reeves as well.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Pass rush is a premium for a lot of these
teams that are up there. So when you're pass rush
starved and he's a star, you can argue whether he's
up top or whether you like either of the Miami guys.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We'll see at the combine.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
You'll find whatever you want to argue that, but I
think that's where you kind of settle. They got those guys,
and they have them every single year, year in and
year out. But yeah, Ohio State still has some good,
some good talent there. The coffers are not run dry.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let's take a look at Matt Williamson's eleven through twenty
and Matt, one of the things I found interesting about
this middle section of the first round. We all have
Jermal McCoy, cornerback from Tennessee in this group, and he
(07:33):
didn't play this year, right, you got him thirteenth, Mack says,
the sixteenth.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I have him eleventh.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
This guy must be pretty good.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
The film was before and now he's got some injury
stuff obviously, and this upcoming week the combine will be
absolutely crucial for him, you know, make sure he can
check those boxes.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Of course.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
I also have another Ohio State guy going here pretty high.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
No one another one Styles.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Is really really impressive as an off the ball linebacker.
It's a good class of off the ball linebackers and general.
Another note, it's teams like Dallas, Washington, Cincinnati. I almost
think they have.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
To go defense.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
I mean, some of the there's a couple of these
teams are just way stronger on the offensive side of
the ball.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Tell me a little bit about your fourteenth overall pick,
because I just want to hear your pronounce his name.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Well, I've been calling him Vega, so we'll go with
that as early in the process.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
We will stick in the division.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Since I talked to Bengals and Browns earlier, I thought
their guards.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Were a weakness a year ago.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
And then the guy in between, Tyler Linderbaum, is set
to hit free agency, so the interior.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Their O line might need a massive facelift.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Turning down to Max Stark's picks eleven through twenty, I
see Max finally getting around to jumping on that Ohio
State bandwagon with the fforementioned Caleb downs. Max, what did
you find particularly interesting about this portion of the draft?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, I thought this was one that when you look
at kind of the value, this is where we also
start to see teams are going to be first of
their double dips. Right you're thinking about where the Falcons
and the Rams making an early entrance here a team
that's going to be drafting later in this first round,
like what they can do, Like what's the priority? Am
(09:14):
I gonna go you know, in a decision where I'm
gonna go defensive early, and I thought, right here was
a perfect opportunity.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You know. I know a lot of speculation has been.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Made about whether they'll take a quarterback at the end
of the first round or not, but defense being the priority.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
They have a lot of free age.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
They got three defensive backs going into free agency against
a very good defense. So I feel like you kind
of have to replenish the Kaffers because you're not going
to get all three of those guys back, So you
got to take your first stab. And that's why I
went with Terrell from Clemson. I thought he's also one
of those guys you could argue Delane Terrell McCoy in
some type of mixture there that are going to be
(09:51):
the top corners off of the board. And so I
looked at this being a prime opportunity for the Rams
to really attack and get a top flight cover corner
to go with the Rams, because you look at that division,
you got the Super Bowl champs in there, San Francisco's
in there, and I feel like San Francisco's pick is
gonna be one of those that you're gonna need a
guy that can go defend because they're gonna look to
replace their wide receiving core with all their departures. So
(10:14):
I thought this was a very defensive saturated portion of
the draft.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Max you also, as I do have Lemon from USC
down closer to twenty than ten. Do we have that right?
And is that at all intriguing that that guy would
be around that long?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
See, I think the biggest thing on that mike is
because wide receivers so deep, I think teams are gonna
tend to overlook that and look for the lesser available position.
So I think that will depress And here's the thing.
It could be Lemon, it could also be Jordan Tyson,
like like if the Cardinals, like you had the Cardinals
(10:55):
taking him at three, if you like Carnel Tait.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
You know, there's Denzel Boston case conceptsi.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
On Like, there's a lot of different receivers that you
can go and I feel like whoever goes one, there's
going to be a lull because they're like, well, we
have a lot of receivers to choose from. So I
think that's what's gonna push down whoever that second or
third receiver is into that area and honestly be really
good striking zone for the Steelers. They'll have a couple
of options available to them. It's not like they're gonna
(11:22):
have to jump or worry that the receiver position is
going to be run dry early in the first round.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
If that's the direction that they're.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Going, so, I think it kind of is indicative of
that there's so many defensive needs and there's only so
many tackles, and I think those groups are going to
be kind of absorbed early and then you're gonna see
that defensive group kind of fill in the niche spots
with free agency, whatever happens and doesn't happen with free
agency for a lot of these teams.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Turning two, my pick's eleven through twenty a significant difference.
At sixteen, second pick of the first round for the
New York Jets, I'm going quarterback. I don't know if
Tyson is the next Joe Namath or Port Starr out
of Alabama, but I know quarterbacks are the premium and
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
The Jets have one.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I think a lot of times Matt in the draft,
it doesn't come down sometimes as much as how good
the guy actually is, as much as it does how
badly you need one.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
There's no question about it.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
And I have Simpson go into the Rams with their
second pick because we weren't allowed to do trades. But
I could see a team that's down on their lock
like the Jets, you know, kind of like the Jackson
Dark situation last year. Moved from the end of the
second or early second round back into the first round
to get a guy like Simpson. And you know, Chambliss
looks like he's going back to Ole Miss, so there's
(12:46):
there's not many to pick from him, so you better
jump on him if you like him.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I also notice, Matt that you guys did not pick
a quarterback in this particular.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
No, no, I waited for a while. Simpson did not
finish his career Bama in glorious fashion, but rose first
eight games or so strong.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
But we'll see.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Yeah, I'm not exactly sold yet, but I think there's
a really good chance. But the second one ends up
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Okay, Now, let's get to what everybody's been waiting for
the bottom third of the draft, which includes twenty first overall,
the Pittsburgh Steelers and guys were in agreement.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Again.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Everybody's got a receiver. We just have different receivers. Max
tell us about yours.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
So I went with Carnel Tate.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I think Carnalta can run the entire routree and this
is one that you have to pick somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And so, like I said, that top.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Three is all about fit, whether it's I would love
Jordan Tyson here, but I think Jordan Tyson might be gone.
He's my favorite receiver in this draft, but teams might
not see it that way.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
They might like Cardinal Tait.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
A lot of people have Cardinal Tate mocked as the
first receiver off the board, and Makai Lemon's another one
that you think.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
So I think if you get to.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Any amalgamation of either three of those guys, we're in
a good place because I think those are truly the
top three, and I think one.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Of those guys will be here.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
It's just a matter of what those teams before us
decide they like. And you know, we have a lot
of wide receivers in this first round of this draft,
and I think when you look at all of them,
there's something that you can like about each of them,
whether it's even a Denzel Boston or a Casey Concepcion,
who I have a little bit later drafted.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
You're okay.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The top five receivers in this I feel like are
all kind of bunched up in the same category.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I think whichever one the Steelers land on is going
to be good.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
It just so happens that in my list in this
first round, that's where Carnell Tait was slotted as my
third receiver.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Matt, you have Lemon from USC And I was hinting
a moment ago that maybe that's a guy you trade
up to go get, but in your world you don't
have to.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Yeah, and Max mentioned this earlier. It is an unusually
deep wide receiver draft. We can fight about who the
best guy is. There isn't really a Jama Chase like
prospect that just blows everybody away. But I can see
as many as a dozen going in the top two rounds.
So maybe they will fall, which could really help the
Steelers if they are targeting one in twenty one, or
(15:12):
maybe a lot of these teams just decide I'm just
gonna wait for the second round and grab them. There's
been a lot of successful rechievers in the round two.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Another thing I found interesting guys about this bottom three,
and Max, We'll start with you here because I keep like,
I keep bringing up Ohio State guys to you because
I'm trying to convert you to the Church of the
Big ten. But Caden McDonald, I got them at thirtieth. Overall,
you have them at twenty second, and Matt Williamson has
(15:40):
him at twenty fifth. He played three years at the
Ohio State University. He has three sacks. It's not what
you would call a pass rusher, but he stuffs that
run pretty well. And there's we're finding more and more
there's still place for that guy, isn't there absolutely?
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I think, And I think when we look at just
last year alone, like let's just take the Steelers, how
many top five running backs at whatever point in the
in the season they were did we face back to
back to back to back and and the wide receiver
I know, and the quarterback passing numbers are great, but
those numbers I felt were depressed this year because.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Of the advent of the run game.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
You saw James Cook, you saw Davon Ah Chain, right,
you saw Jonathan Taylor, you saw all these running backs
kind of having this kind of renaissance year with running
the football and the attention of how many times did
we have guys called for a six eligible offensive lineman
into the formation to run the football.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So the intent to run is there, and that's.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Where I figure you've got to put like the Caleb Banks,
the Cayden McDonald's, These bigger, beefier d tackles that can
take on double teams are going to be at a premium,
especially in divisions where you know it's run the football,
it's outdoor, inclement weather, and late in the year, you're
gonna need those big bodies to absorb space. So I think,
you know, Aide MacDonald, Caleb Banks or both of those
(17:01):
guys will kind of fall in the bottom of this
first round and be really prized commodities where teams that
are just looking to kind of pinch and put smaller
pieces together because if you're drafting in this part of
the round, you've made the playoffs, nucleus has already set,
so you want to add a little bit more caveat,
a little bit more depth on the defensive line position.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And mike along those lines too.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
If you look at the teams that went really far
this year, they had great defensive tackle pairings and I
think it's becoming more important than ever to Max's point two,
because teams like Seattle won the Super Bowl, they want
to stay in nickel no matter what the situation. And thus,
when you deal with heavier sets like Max mentioned with
the extra O lineman, your D tackles have a lot
(17:48):
more responsibility and a lot more importance.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well, guy, I wanted to ask you both about Maxwell.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Start with you.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Caden Proctor to tackle from Alabama. He's in my bottom
third of the row to twenty fifth. Both you and
Matt liked him more than I did. You've got him
at fourteen, Matt had him at seventeen. Did I underestimate
his past catching capability?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
No, I don't think you did.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
I just think that the priority Cayden Proctor is one
of those curious prospects.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
He tracks his either guard or tackle, and I think that.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Flexibility when you're talking about depth and a potential plug
and play starter, that's where his value was especially, and
I had him going to Baltimore because I look at
Linderbaum Ballele potentially being free agents in the interior of
that offense. You're gonna have to get one in free
agency and draft another to fill those two potential spots
(18:44):
if you don't bring either one of those back.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So I kind of hedge my bet in that. And
I think that's what Caden Procter brings.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He can play tackle, but I think he tracks as
a guard as well, and so that type of flexibility
as a starter capable player is a little more value
in this draft. And when we talked about offensive lineman
kind of being at a premium, he's straight. He tracks
in there because he's a two position flexible player.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well maybe three if you count the tight end skills.
If he scores, if he scores on that tackle eligible pass,
does he jump into.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
The top ten.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I actually had the same thoughts as Max. I sent
him to Detroit to play guard. Now, maybe kick out
the left tackle when Decker retires, you know, down the
road and moves on. The Thing about Proctor is I
want to see his weight next week. Yeah, I mean
he's a big fellows after that. Yeah, yeah, if he's
three eighty ish.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I got a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
You know, I sent him to Chicago because if anybody's
gonna throw to an offensive it's gonna be Chicago.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
That's gonna do it for us.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I want to remind everyone that there is a bunch
more of this stuff coming, so uh keep checking it out.
We're gonna start going through our position reviews one by one,
our top five of ease position. We're gonna go back
into a further review at each position. We'll be sprinkling
the mock drafts in as we go along. She gonna
want to stay with Steelers dot Com and all the
(20:08):
Steelers social media platforms, and when you do, remember these
opinions are ours, not those of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Until
next time for Max Starks and Matt Williamson, Mike Pursuda.
This has been on the Clock brought to you by
up MC. Thanks for watching, everyone,
Hello everyone, and welcome to the premiere edition of on
the Clock, brought to you by up MC.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We are here to get you as ready as.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You can possibly be for the upcoming NFL Draft. We
are going to have a slew of programming here on
Steelers dot Com and the Steelers social media platforms to
get you ready for the aforementioned draft. A quick reminder
before we introduce the Illustrious Panel. The opinions you are
about to hear are the opinions of the Illustrious Panel
(00:39):
and not repeat, not the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now let's get
to the rest of our happy group. I'm Mike Pursuda,
joined as always by Matt Williamson and new to our
crew this year, Max Starks. Guys, how are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Doing well? Doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
We are going to start things off by presenting our
first round of the NFL Draft Mock one point zero
is the cool kids call these type of things these days,
and the way we're gonna do it this year is
the way we did it last year. We will give
you the first ten picks mine, Matts, Max's. We'll kind
of flip it around, go eleven through twenty, and then
(01:21):
the bottom third of the draft, and guys, Max, let's
start with you. I notice in looking at the advanced
copy that all three of us are in agreement. Fernando
Mendoza is the first overall pick and Ruben Bade Junior
is the fourth overall pick.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
And I think this is one where you kind of say,
for the Raiders, for Clint Kubiak, don't mess it up.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
This is all you need to do.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
You need to get somebody in there that's gonna excite
this fan base and try and start the process of
rebuilding what is the Las Vegas Raiders, And he's the
clear cut favorite at the quarterback position. You have a
very distressing need at the quarterback position, So why not
take advantage of this and don't get cute and try
(02:12):
and trade out of the first pick and try and
stockpile all these things.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Get the quarterback right now.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's keep excuse me, Max, let's keep it with you
and take a look at the entirety of your picks
one through ten. Anything that particularly interests or excites you
about what you came up with here.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, I think I think the number three spot we
kind of looked at the Arizona Cardinals. There's a lot
of different ways that they could go with Lafleura being
the head coach and an offensive minded coach, but I
think the one thing was kind of clear. Offensive lineman
was a need for both Matt and I and where
we went at that, whether it's Fano, whether it's Malinoah,
(02:51):
it was the same thing. I know, you went with
the local, homegrown product, which would excite the fan base
in Jordan Tyson move from ASU over there.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
But I really.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Think that offensive line was such an issue when you
think about whether it's Kyler Murray, whether it's Jakobe Brussat,
or whether they're going somewhere else to fill that quarterback position,
that offensive line has to be worked on, specifically the
right side.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And I think the attention last year was defense.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
So they got to put some more attention in whoever's
going to be the QB and keeping him upright, and
I think that's one that I kind of looked at
was a very interesting one for me. I went offensive
lineman heavy early in this draft because I think that
that's a premium position.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Wide receiver a little bit.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Deeper, so you can get into the weeds and kind
of delay a little bit. But I feel like the
tackles they're going to run and go off the board,
and then it becomes a second tier really quickly on
who you're getting in that top ten. So I kind
of went a little bit heavy on offensive line needs,
just because those teams in the top ten have glaring
needs aging offensive linemen and pending free agents, and so
(03:55):
they need to restock that position group.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Let's take a look at Matt Williamson su picks one
through ten now and Matt, in addition to us being
in agreement on Mendoza and Baine in the exact spots
that they're in, we all have April Reese, Jeremiah Love,
David Bailey, and Spencer Finot as top ten selections, and
(04:19):
only Max was in disagreement on Kelvic Falk the edge
from Auburn. Max has him at twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So far pretty close to top ten.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
But is this first top ten as relatively obvious as
it seems.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
It's just a matter of order.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
I think some things can be sorted out obviously next
week at the combine. One thing I wanted to mention,
you know, this is our first one of the year.
I think this draft, even two through ten, is lacking
blue chip talent compared to previous years. So to Max's point,
I think, when in doubt you take offensive tackles, they're
just too hard to find. You don't want to be
shopping for them in the free agent market, so you
(04:57):
lock them up in the draft. It's interesting, Well, I'm
gonna stick with the division with my top ten. Here
too is you look at the Brown situation for their
top offensive linemen are hitting free agency and they're aging,
and it wasn't a good unit to begin with. And
then the Bengals once again could go with what I
did here and take a project edge rusher. That seems
(05:19):
like that they just keep going back to the well
over and over in that market because Tray Henderson's probably
not going to return.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Let's throw up my picks one through ten now and
again relatively similar in terms of the names Max mentioned.
I like the Arizona State kid Arizona. I know that's
you don't make a first round pick just based on that,
but when it works out, it works out, and I
think that could work out for the Cardinals. I hope
I'm wrong about number six because I look at Cleveland
(05:47):
as offensively challenged and general quarterback challenged in particular wide
receiver challenge, but combining Love with Judkins, the back out
of Ohio State last year, or Cleveland might just run
the ball and play defense and be a lot better
than it was a year ago. Also, Max have three
Ohio State guys in the top ten. That's probably about
(06:11):
his biggest surprise. As you going heavy on offensive tackles.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Listen, listen, there is talent, and you have to say,
this is a back to back playoff team, so the
talent is there. I mean, Caleb Downs arguably one of
the best players overall in this When we talk about
the blue chips two through ten, that's one of the
few blue chips that you can argue can fit on
(06:37):
all thirty two teams. You will find a way to
get him on the field, and so that's why I
think you had to go with him.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Arvelle Reeves as well.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Pass rush is a premium for a lot of these
teams that are up there. So when you're pass rush
starved and he's a star, you can argue whether he's
up top or whether you like either of the Miami guys.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We'll see at the combine.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
You'll find whatever you want to argue that, but I
think that's where you kind of settle. They got those guys,
and they have them every single year, year in and
year out. But yeah, Ohio State still has some good,
some good talent there. The coffers are not run dry.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Let's take a look at Matt Williamson's eleven through twenty
and Matt, one of the things I found interesting about
this middle section of the first round. We all have
Jermal McCoy, cornerback from Tennessee in this group, and he
(07:33):
didn't play this year, right, you got him thirteenth, Mack says,
the sixteenth.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I have him eleventh.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
This guy must be pretty good.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
The film was before and now he's got some injury
stuff obviously, and this upcoming week the combine will be
absolutely crucial for him, you know, make sure he can
check those boxes.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Of course.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
I also have another Ohio State guy going here pretty high.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
No one another one Styles.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Is really really impressive as an off the ball linebacker.
It's a good class of off the ball linebackers and general.
Another note, it's teams like Dallas, Washington, Cincinnati. I almost
think they have.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
To go defense.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
I mean, some of the there's a couple of these
teams are just way stronger on the offensive side of
the ball.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Tell me a little bit about your fourteenth overall pick,
because I just want to hear your pronounce his name.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Well, I've been calling him Vega, so we'll go with
that as early in the process.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
We will stick in the division.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Since I talked to Bengals and Browns earlier, I thought
their guards.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Were a weakness a year ago.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
And then the guy in between, Tyler Linderbaum, is set
to hit free agency, so the interior.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Their O line might need a massive facelift.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Turning down to Max Stark's picks eleven through twenty, I
see Max finally getting around to jumping on that Ohio
State bandwagon with the fforementioned Caleb downs. Max, what did
you find particularly interesting about this portion of the draft?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, I thought this was one that when you look
at kind of the value, this is where we also
start to see teams are going to be first of
their double dips. Right you're thinking about where the Falcons
and the Rams making an early entrance here a team
that's going to be drafting later in this first round,
like what they can do, Like what's the priority? Am
(09:14):
I gonna go you know, in a decision where I'm
gonna go defensive early, and I thought, right here was
a perfect opportunity.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You know. I know a lot of speculation has been.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Made about whether they'll take a quarterback at the end
of the first round or not, but defense being the priority.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
They have a lot of free age.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
They got three defensive backs going into free agency against
a very good defense. So I feel like you kind
of have to replenish the Kaffers because you're not going
to get all three of those guys back, So you
got to take your first stab. And that's why I
went with Terrell from Clemson. I thought he's also one
of those guys you could argue Delane Terrell McCoy in
some type of mixture there that are going to be
(09:51):
the top corners off of the board. And so I
looked at this being a prime opportunity for the Rams
to really attack and get a top flight cover corner
to go with the Rams, because you look at that division,
you got the Super Bowl champs in there, San Francisco's
in there, and I feel like San Francisco's pick is
gonna be one of those that you're gonna need a
guy that can go defend because they're gonna look to
replace their wide receiving core with all their departures. So
(10:14):
I thought this was a very defensive saturated portion of
the draft.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Max you also, as I do have Lemon from USC
down closer to twenty than ten. Do we have that right?
And is that at all intriguing that that guy would
be around that long?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Well?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
See, I think the biggest thing on that mike is
because wide receivers so deep, I think teams are gonna
tend to overlook that and look for the lesser available position.
So I think that will depress And here's the thing.
It could be Lemon, it could also be Jordan Tyson,
like like if the Cardinals, like you had the Cardinals
(10:55):
taking him at three, if you like Carnel Tait.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
You know, there's Denzel Boston case conceptsi.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
On Like, there's a lot of different receivers that you
can go and I feel like whoever goes one, there's
going to be a lull because they're like, well, we
have a lot of receivers to choose from. So I
think that's what's gonna push down whoever that second or
third receiver is into that area and honestly be really
good striking zone for the Steelers. They'll have a couple
of options available to them. It's not like they're gonna
(11:22):
have to jump or worry that the receiver position is
going to be run dry early in the first round.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
If that's the direction that they're.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Going, so, I think it kind of is indicative of
that there's so many defensive needs and there's only so
many tackles, and I think those groups are going to
be kind of absorbed early and then you're gonna see
that defensive group kind of fill in the niche spots
with free agency, whatever happens and doesn't happen with free
agency for a lot of these teams.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Turning two, my pick's eleven through twenty a significant difference.
At sixteen, second pick of the first round for the
New York Jets, I'm going quarterback. I don't know if
Tyson is the next Joe Namath or Port Starr out
of Alabama, but I know quarterbacks are the premium and
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
The Jets have one.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And I think a lot of times Matt in the draft,
it doesn't come down sometimes as much as how good
the guy actually is, as much as it does how
badly you need one.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
There's no question about it.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
And I have Simpson go into the Rams with their
second pick because we weren't allowed to do trades. But
I could see a team that's down on their lock
like the Jets, you know, kind of like the Jackson
Dark situation last year. Moved from the end of the
second or early second round back into the first round
to get a guy like Simpson. And you know, Chambliss
looks like he's going back to Ole Miss, so there's
(12:46):
there's not many to pick from him, so you better
jump on him if you like him.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I also notice, Matt that you guys did not pick
a quarterback in this particular.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
No, no, I waited for a while. Simpson did not
finish his career Bama in glorious fashion, but rose first
eight games or so strong.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
But we'll see.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Yeah, I'm not exactly sold yet, but I think there's
a really good chance. But the second one ends up
in the first round.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Okay, Now, let's get to what everybody's been waiting for
the bottom third of the draft, which includes twenty first overall,
the Pittsburgh Steelers and guys were in agreement.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Again.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Everybody's got a receiver. We just have different receivers. Max
tell us about yours.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
So I went with Carnel Tate.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I think Carnalta can run the entire routree and this
is one that you have to pick somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
And so, like I said, that top.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
Three is all about fit, whether it's I would love
Jordan Tyson here, but I think Jordan Tyson might be gone.
He's my favorite receiver in this draft, but teams might
not see it that way.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
They might like Cardinal Tait.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
A lot of people have Cardinal Tate mocked as the
first receiver off the board, and Makai Lemon's another one
that you think.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
So I think if you get to.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Any amalgamation of either three of those guys, we're in
a good place because I think those are truly the
top three, and I think one.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Of those guys will be here.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
It's just a matter of what those teams before us
decide they like. And you know, we have a lot
of wide receivers in this first round of this draft,
and I think when you look at all of them,
there's something that you can like about each of them,
whether it's even a Denzel Boston or a Casey Concepcion,
who I have a little bit later drafted.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
You're okay.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The top five receivers in this I feel like are
all kind of bunched up in the same category.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I think whichever one the Steelers land on is going
to be good.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
It just so happens that in my list in this
first round, that's where Carnell Tait was slotted as my
third receiver.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Matt, you have Lemon from USC And I was hinting
a moment ago that maybe that's a guy you trade
up to go get, but in your world you don't
have to.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Yeah, and Max mentioned this earlier. It is an unusually
deep wide receiver draft. We can fight about who the
best guy is. There isn't really a Jama Chase like
prospect that just blows everybody away. But I can see
as many as a dozen going in the top two rounds.
So maybe they will fall, which could really help the
Steelers if they are targeting one in twenty one, or
(15:12):
maybe a lot of these teams just decide I'm just
gonna wait for the second round and grab them. There's
been a lot of successful rechievers in the round two.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Another thing I found interesting guys about this bottom three,
and Max, We'll start with you here because I keep like,
I keep bringing up Ohio State guys to you because
I'm trying to convert you to the Church of the
Big ten. But Caden McDonald, I got them at thirtieth. Overall,
you have them at twenty second, and Matt Williamson has
(15:40):
him at twenty fifth. He played three years at the
Ohio State University. He has three sacks. It's not what
you would call a pass rusher, but he stuffs that
run pretty well. And there's we're finding more and more
there's still place for that guy, isn't there absolutely?
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I think, And I think when we look at just
last year alone, like let's just take the Steelers, how
many top five running backs at whatever point in the
in the season they were did we face back to
back to back to back and and the wide receiver
I know, and the quarterback passing numbers are great, but
those numbers I felt were depressed this year because.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Of the advent of the run game.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
You saw James Cook, you saw Davon Ah Chain, right,
you saw Jonathan Taylor, you saw all these running backs
kind of having this kind of renaissance year with running
the football and the attention of how many times did
we have guys called for a six eligible offensive lineman
into the formation to run the football.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So the intent to run is there, and that's.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Where I figure you've got to put like the Caleb Banks,
the Cayden McDonald's, These bigger, beefier d tackles that can
take on double teams are going to be at a premium,
especially in divisions where you know it's run the football,
it's outdoor, inclement weather, and late in the year, you're
gonna need those big bodies to absorb space. So I think,
you know, Aide MacDonald, Caleb Banks or both of those
(17:01):
guys will kind of fall in the bottom of this
first round and be really prized commodities where teams that
are just looking to kind of pinch and put smaller
pieces together because if you're drafting in this part of
the round, you've made the playoffs, nucleus has already set,
so you want to add a little bit more caveat,
a little bit more depth on the defensive line position.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
And mike along those lines too.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
If you look at the teams that went really far
this year, they had great defensive tackle pairings and I
think it's becoming more important than ever to Max's point two,
because teams like Seattle won the Super Bowl, they want
to stay in nickel no matter what the situation. And thus,
when you deal with heavier sets like Max mentioned with
the extra O lineman, your D tackles have a lot
(17:48):
more responsibility and a lot more importance.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Well, guy, I wanted to ask you both about Maxwell.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Start with you.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Caden Proctor to tackle from Alabama. He's in my bottom
third of the row to twenty fifth. Both you and
Matt liked him more than I did. You've got him
at fourteen, Matt had him at seventeen. Did I underestimate
his past catching capability?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
No, I don't think you did.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
I just think that the priority Cayden Proctor is one
of those curious prospects.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
He tracks his either guard or tackle, and I think that.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Flexibility when you're talking about depth and a potential plug
and play starter, that's where his value was especially, and
I had him going to Baltimore because I look at
Linderbaum Ballele potentially being free agents in the interior of
that offense. You're gonna have to get one in free
agency and draft another to fill those two potential spots
(18:44):
if you don't bring either one of those back.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So I kind of hedge my bet in that. And
I think that's what Caden Procter brings.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He can play tackle, but I think he tracks as
a guard as well, and so that type of flexibility
as a starter capable player is a little more value
in this draft. And when we talked about offensive lineman
kind of being at a premium, he's straight. He tracks
in there because he's a two position flexible player.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well maybe three if you count the tight end skills.
If he scores, if he scores on that tackle eligible pass,
does he jump into.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
The top ten.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
I actually had the same thoughts as Max. I sent
him to Detroit to play guard. Now, maybe kick out
the left tackle when Decker retires, you know, down the
road and moves on. The Thing about Proctor is I
want to see his weight next week. Yeah, I mean
he's a big fellows after that. Yeah, yeah, if he's
three eighty ish.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I got a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
You know, I sent him to Chicago because if anybody's
gonna throw to an offensive it's gonna be Chicago.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
That's gonna do it for us.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I want to remind everyone that there is a bunch
more of this stuff coming, so uh keep checking it out.
We're gonna start going through our position reviews one by one,
our top five of ease position. We're gonna go back
into a further review at each position. We'll be sprinkling
the mock drafts in as we go along. She gonna
want to stay with Steelers dot Com and all the
(20:08):
Steelers social media platforms, and when you do, remember these
opinions are ours, not those of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Until
next time for Max Starks and Matt Williamson, Mike Pursuda.
This has been on the Clock brought to you by
up MC. Thanks for watching, everyone,
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