March 28, 2025 • 10 mins
Senior Writer & Editor Scott Smith and Staff Writer/Reporter Bri Dix discuss the potential prospects of interest leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. This week, they talked about their latest Mock Draft prediction and run through their reasoning for a selection on defense.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back. I'm a staff writer reporter Breed Dix here
with senior writer and editor Scott Smith. We're in the
Buck Studio presented by Ticketmaster for this week's edition of
To the Draft.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is the mic draft I just put up yesterday. Yes,
and I'm glad you're here because you did one the
week before, so we can kind of compare notes a
little bit as we go along. So two weeks earlier,
I was still pounding the drum on the Titans are
gonna sign a veteran starter, They're gonna take a generation
of talent and worry about the quarterback of the future
next year. That has become increasingly clear that that's not true.
(00:35):
They have not signed any veterans starter. They're not even
apparently trying. They're clearly set on cam Orton. I think
you'd find nobody that disagrees with that at this point.
So cam Or to the Titans to start the draft.
Is that what you did as well?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes? Okay, I feel like there's not a whole lot
of consensus in this draft, but it seems to.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Be this one is now Caim Moore, yes, is going
to Nashville now, eagle eyed observers would think that we
have our board wrong here, because you know, the Browns
are two and the Giants are three. But in my
most recent draft, I made a trade with the Browns
trading up one spot to the Giants to make sure
no I mean the Giants trading up on spot to
make sure nobody else jumped them because they wanted to
(01:13):
get quarterback should Or Sanders. You know, it's the ever,
it's the always truism of the draft that the quarterbacks rise,
and you've seen Shoulder sanders supposed draft stock go up
and down in recent weeks, but it only takes one
team to really want him, especially at the team near
the top that really needs a quarterback. Now, I made
this trade, full disclosure, right before they did the Russell
(01:37):
Wilson signing. They already had. They already had James Wilson,
They already had James Winston, but he signed for what
is clearly backup money. But then Russell Wilson signed. He's
obviously going to be their starter this year, and so
that might make me a little less sure they're going
to trade up a spot. But I still think that
neither of those signings takes them out of the quarterback
of the future conversation because Russell Wilson's only under contract
(02:02):
for one year and it's middling starting money, so he's
clearly a bridge quarterback. I can still see them going
for the quarterback of the future and the Browns trade
down and get Abdulla Carter. Okay, okay, So filled in
some of these others. I wanted to point out number
six because I think this is becoming I've done it
two drafts in a row, and I think he's becoming
a popular pick. Ashton Genty, Boise State running back, really
(02:24):
dynamic talent, right like, one of the best, maybe the
best running back prospect to come out since Saquon Yeah,
depending on how you feel about John Robinson. This is
a team that got their new quarterback in Geno Smith.
They've got some nice weapons, they have Brock powers, but
they had the worst running rushing attack in the league. Yeah,
so you apparently had a slightly unusual pick.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I did, right, Mine was a little bit of unorthodox,
but I kind of similar with what you did with
the Giants. I went ahead and still did Sedor Sanders
going to the Raiders after the Yes, but Geno Smiths
thirty five years old. I think, you know, they have
to look at the future, and I think it's been
kind of noted and well documented Tom Brady's relationship and
(03:08):
kind of been that mentor to Sanders. So if Pete Carroll,
if John Spytech like his ability, and I think he
can kind of be that developmental prospect. So I still
like him going to.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
The Well, then where did you put Ashton Genty?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I had him going to the Bears at number ten.
I think they have kind of bulked up the interior
of the offensive line. Should get a guy to kind
of take some of that pressure off Caleb Williams and
kind of reinvigorate.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
All Right, I can see it. I really could see
Ashton Genty going to a whole lot of different places
in this range. Right here, I think his stock is now, yeah,
that's the most common one, right but I think at
this point a lot a lot of mincrafts are having
him go before Dallas, even as a shot. The reason
I wanted to highlight Dallas's pick is because I gave
them g had Campbell, Ghid Campbell, the Alabama linebacker, And
(03:57):
the reason I point that out is I think that's
a guy that the Keneers would be interested at nineteen,
but I have not done a draft in weeks where
he's still available at nineteen. So and what did you
do here for the Cowboys?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I had the Cowboys since Gent was already off the board,
I had them taking Luther Burdon, ok, kind of adding
another target for DK Prescott. And I think Missouri kind
of used him their offense to kind of build off
of his yards after catchability. And I see the Cowboys
kind of diversifying his usage a little bit, and I
think he could be a good compliment to Ceedeland.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Right, Okay, cool, moving on down a little bit. The
reason I wanted to point out this pick, this is
another trade we had to trade in my MIC draft.
We had to trade here, so you'll see those two
aren't in the normal order. The Cardinals seeing Will Johnson
fall a little bit trade up to make sure they
get their guy. And here the Rams traded from twenty
six with Seattle up to eighteen, and they want John Barron.
(04:53):
And to me, I think the reason being there is
after Will Johnson and Johnny Barron and Travis Hunter, if
you count him as a quarterback, I think there's a
gap between that and the next group of cornerbacks, and
so they make the bold move to move up here
to get the guy rather than wait for whatever falls
to them. I think Jahday barn is a great player,
and I point this out because that's a guy I
(05:13):
would love to see the Buccaneers get at nineteen. But
well they don't hear because and I honestly, the Rams
or any team that is trading up to eighteen to
take a guy like Johddy Baron is probably thinking, hey,
he could go at nineteen. So that's why I think
that would happen. And now we get to the Bucks pick,
and that is for me Donovan as a rock up
(05:33):
Boston College ed rusher, I love the idea of us
getting an edge rusher in the first round, particularly if
Johnny Barn and Jihad Campbell are already off the board.
This is a guy with lots of production and if
it gets down to it, if you ask me Todd Bowles,
Jason Light, all of their people working for them, when
it comes to the idea of production versus like raw skills,
(05:55):
like a Shamar Stewart kind, I think they would tend
to lean towards reduction. Now we know that Mike Green
had seventeen and a half sacks. He had sixteen and
a half sacks last year, twenty one tackles for lost
three force fumbles. This is a guy that had the
production and then he went to the combine, and he
did quite well at the combine, particularly in the three
cone drill and the short shuttle drill, and those are
(06:19):
measuring both like your acceleration and your change direction and
your quick you know, short space speed, which is what
you need out of a pass rusher. Right, So that's
why I think you look at him. He's six two eight,
he says he can probably get up to two fifty
five and still play the same. There may be a
little bit of a question about how well he sets
the run against the edge against the run, but you know,
(06:39):
in our rotation, we already have a couple of guys
that do that well, like yai Ya Diyami, right, and
Anthony Nelson. I'm talking about the edge guys, okay. So
if you could throw a guy in there that maybe
need to work on his run defense a little bit,
but he's a pure pass rusher, I think there's room
for that in the Buccaneers edge roch rotation. Now you
add him, you got Hassan Redick, and you've taken what
was as Todd Bowles himself has pointed out a couple
(07:02):
times already since the season, they need to get more
pressure off the edge, specifically and when only rushing four.
So you've taken a spot that was a bit of
a weakness for the Bucks last year and now maybe
you can turn it into a strength. There's I always
loved the idea of these double dips at positions or
in free agency in the draft. So you got Hassan
Reddick and now Donovan as a Rock. Now you had
(07:22):
a draft a week before. Who did you guess?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So I kind of had the same theology when I
did mine. And I don't think you can have too
many edge rushers. And I don't think necessarily getting your
son Reddick having Anthony Nelson, I don't think that prohibits
you from getting and edge. And I just think this
draft particularly is so deep at the edge position. So
in terms of value, I really liked in mind mckel
Williams was still there at nineteen and I think he's
(07:45):
a guy that you know, Todd Bowles has talked a
lot about wanting a guy that finishes plays, gets to
the quarterback, but also disrupts, whether that's getting stripsacks, whether
that's getting the batted passes. And that is exactly what
makes Tell Williams has done throughout his tenure. And again
he doesn't have a huge sample size, but you have
(08:06):
the explosion you have to speed.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Over.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Thirty percent of his tackles resulted in a loss. He
finishes through the whistle, and I just think he's kind
of a Todd Bowles and Jason Light.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Type of player. Well, as you can see in my
MIC draft, he was already off the board. Yeah, so
they would have to trade up to get him in
Fit one. So in this case, he's gone, We go
with him. And I wanted to point out one more
pick after us, and that's the Steelers, because I gave
them Jackson Dart, the old most quarterback in I think
there's a lot of quo. I think there's a bit
of divisiveness about him. Is this a guy you take
(08:38):
in the high second round or is somebody going to
move on him in the first round. And again, quarterbacks
tend to rise. Pittsburgh needs a court. They may or
may not get Aaron Rodgers. They clearly need a quarterback
and a quarterback of the future. I think this guy
has impressed a lot of people with his skills. So
who did you put here? At twenty one?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I had him taking Jean de Baron, so I had
them going more of the veteran QB route as well.
So obviously when I did mine, Russell Wilson was still
in play. So you have potentially Aaron Rodgers. But I
just think Johnny Barron just kind of seems like a
Steeler's kind of guy's physical nickel. He can cross train
at safety, great kind of mitigating the middle of the field.
(09:23):
So I think I could see him having success in Pittsburgh.
But I mean he's a guy that honestly could go
a lot higher. He seems to be rising, could be
a guy that the Bucks also go go for. At nineteen.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, so you put Jadday Baron here, as means he
was on the board when you took the Ed Rusher here.
I have to admit that in my miccraft, if Jadday
Baron had made it to hear, I would have taken him.
But I'm always the you can't have too many corners guys, right,
So yeah, that said, you can watch, you can look
at the rest of it here you can read on
buccaneers dot com or on the app about you know
why I think these picks went as they did, and
(09:58):
you know, we've still got a little bit to so
we'll do a few more of these. But that's where
we are right now.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, And that does it for this week's episode of
Road to the Draft, and stay tuned next week for
a closer look as we get closer to the Draft
at the end of April.
Welcome back. I'm a staff writer reporter Breed Dix here
with senior writer and editor Scott Smith. We're in the
Buck Studio presented by Ticketmaster for this week's edition of
To the Draft.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is the mic draft I just put up yesterday. Yes,
and I'm glad you're here because you did one the
week before, so we can kind of compare notes a
little bit as we go along. So two weeks earlier,
I was still pounding the drum on the Titans are
gonna sign a veteran starter, They're gonna take a generation
of talent and worry about the quarterback of the future
next year. That has become increasingly clear that that's not true.
(00:35):
They have not signed any veterans starter. They're not even
apparently trying. They're clearly set on cam Orton. I think
you'd find nobody that disagrees with that at this point.
So cam Or to the Titans to start the draft.
Is that what you did as well?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes? Okay, I feel like there's not a whole lot
of consensus in this draft, but it seems to.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Be this one is now Caim Moore, yes, is going
to Nashville now, eagle eyed observers would think that we
have our board wrong here, because you know, the Browns
are two and the Giants are three. But in my
most recent draft, I made a trade with the Browns
trading up one spot to the Giants to make sure
no I mean the Giants trading up on spot to
make sure nobody else jumped them because they wanted to
(01:13):
get quarterback should Or Sanders. You know, it's the ever,
it's the always truism of the draft that the quarterbacks rise,
and you've seen Shoulder sanders supposed draft stock go up
and down in recent weeks, but it only takes one
team to really want him, especially at the team near
the top that really needs a quarterback. Now, I made
this trade, full disclosure, right before they did the Russell
(01:37):
Wilson signing. They already had. They already had James Wilson,
They already had James Winston, but he signed for what
is clearly backup money. But then Russell Wilson signed. He's
obviously going to be their starter this year, and so
that might make me a little less sure they're going
to trade up a spot. But I still think that
neither of those signings takes them out of the quarterback
of the future conversation because Russell Wilson's only under contract
(02:02):
for one year and it's middling starting money, so he's
clearly a bridge quarterback. I can still see them going
for the quarterback of the future and the Browns trade
down and get Abdulla Carter. Okay, okay, So filled in
some of these others. I wanted to point out number
six because I think this is becoming I've done it
two drafts in a row, and I think he's becoming
a popular pick. Ashton Genty, Boise State running back, really
(02:24):
dynamic talent, right like, one of the best, maybe the
best running back prospect to come out since Saquon Yeah,
depending on how you feel about John Robinson. This is
a team that got their new quarterback in Geno Smith.
They've got some nice weapons, they have Brock powers, but
they had the worst running rushing attack in the league. Yeah,
so you apparently had a slightly unusual pick.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I did, right, Mine was a little bit of unorthodox,
but I kind of similar with what you did with
the Giants. I went ahead and still did Sedor Sanders
going to the Raiders after the Yes, but Geno Smiths
thirty five years old. I think, you know, they have
to look at the future, and I think it's been
kind of noted and well documented Tom Brady's relationship and
(03:08):
kind of been that mentor to Sanders. So if Pete Carroll,
if John Spytech like his ability, and I think he
can kind of be that developmental prospect. So I still
like him going to.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
The Well, then where did you put Ashton Genty?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I had him going to the Bears at number ten.
I think they have kind of bulked up the interior
of the offensive line. Should get a guy to kind
of take some of that pressure off Caleb Williams and
kind of reinvigorate.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
All Right, I can see it. I really could see
Ashton Genty going to a whole lot of different places
in this range. Right here, I think his stock is now, yeah,
that's the most common one, right but I think at
this point a lot a lot of mincrafts are having
him go before Dallas, even as a shot. The reason
I wanted to highlight Dallas's pick is because I gave
them g had Campbell, Ghid Campbell, the Alabama linebacker, And
(03:57):
the reason I point that out is I think that's
a guy that the Keneers would be interested at nineteen,
but I have not done a draft in weeks where
he's still available at nineteen. So and what did you
do here for the Cowboys?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I had the Cowboys since Gent was already off the board,
I had them taking Luther Burdon, ok, kind of adding
another target for DK Prescott. And I think Missouri kind
of used him their offense to kind of build off
of his yards after catchability. And I see the Cowboys
kind of diversifying his usage a little bit, and I
think he could be a good compliment to Ceedeland.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Right, Okay, cool, moving on down a little bit. The
reason I wanted to point out this pick, this is
another trade we had to trade in my MIC draft.
We had to trade here, so you'll see those two
aren't in the normal order. The Cardinals seeing Will Johnson
fall a little bit trade up to make sure they
get their guy. And here the Rams traded from twenty
six with Seattle up to eighteen, and they want John Barron.
(04:53):
And to me, I think the reason being there is
after Will Johnson and Johnny Barron and Travis Hunter, if
you count him as a quarterback, I think there's a
gap between that and the next group of cornerbacks, and
so they make the bold move to move up here
to get the guy rather than wait for whatever falls
to them. I think Jahday barn is a great player,
and I point this out because that's a guy I
(05:13):
would love to see the Buccaneers get at nineteen. But
well they don't hear because and I honestly, the Rams
or any team that is trading up to eighteen to
take a guy like Johddy Baron is probably thinking, hey,
he could go at nineteen. So that's why I think
that would happen. And now we get to the Bucks pick,
and that is for me Donovan as a rock up
(05:33):
Boston College ed rusher, I love the idea of us
getting an edge rusher in the first round, particularly if
Johnny Barn and Jihad Campbell are already off the board.
This is a guy with lots of production and if
it gets down to it, if you ask me Todd Bowles,
Jason Light, all of their people working for them, when
it comes to the idea of production versus like raw skills,
(05:55):
like a Shamar Stewart kind, I think they would tend
to lean towards reduction. Now we know that Mike Green
had seventeen and a half sacks. He had sixteen and
a half sacks last year, twenty one tackles for lost
three force fumbles. This is a guy that had the
production and then he went to the combine, and he
did quite well at the combine, particularly in the three
cone drill and the short shuttle drill, and those are
(06:19):
measuring both like your acceleration and your change direction and
your quick you know, short space speed, which is what
you need out of a pass rusher. Right, So that's
why I think you look at him. He's six two eight,
he says he can probably get up to two fifty
five and still play the same. There may be a
little bit of a question about how well he sets
the run against the edge against the run, but you know,
(06:39):
in our rotation, we already have a couple of guys
that do that well, like yai Ya Diyami, right, and
Anthony Nelson. I'm talking about the edge guys, okay. So
if you could throw a guy in there that maybe
need to work on his run defense a little bit,
but he's a pure pass rusher, I think there's room
for that in the Buccaneers edge roch rotation. Now you
add him, you got Hassan Redick, and you've taken what
was as Todd Bowles himself has pointed out a couple
(07:02):
times already since the season, they need to get more
pressure off the edge, specifically and when only rushing four.
So you've taken a spot that was a bit of
a weakness for the Bucks last year and now maybe
you can turn it into a strength. There's I always
loved the idea of these double dips at positions or
in free agency in the draft. So you got Hassan
Reddick and now Donovan as a Rock. Now you had
(07:22):
a draft a week before. Who did you guess?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So I kind of had the same theology when I
did mine. And I don't think you can have too
many edge rushers. And I don't think necessarily getting your
son Reddick having Anthony Nelson, I don't think that prohibits
you from getting and edge. And I just think this
draft particularly is so deep at the edge position. So
in terms of value, I really liked in mind mckel
Williams was still there at nineteen and I think he's
(07:45):
a guy that you know, Todd Bowles has talked a
lot about wanting a guy that finishes plays, gets to
the quarterback, but also disrupts, whether that's getting stripsacks, whether
that's getting the batted passes. And that is exactly what
makes Tell Williams has done throughout his tenure. And again
he doesn't have a huge sample size, but you have
(08:06):
the explosion you have to speed.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Over.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Thirty percent of his tackles resulted in a loss. He
finishes through the whistle, and I just think he's kind
of a Todd Bowles and Jason Light.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Type of player. Well, as you can see in my
MIC draft, he was already off the board. Yeah, so
they would have to trade up to get him in
Fit one. So in this case, he's gone, We go
with him. And I wanted to point out one more
pick after us, and that's the Steelers, because I gave
them Jackson Dart, the old most quarterback in I think
there's a lot of quo. I think there's a bit
of divisiveness about him. Is this a guy you take
(08:38):
in the high second round or is somebody going to
move on him in the first round. And again, quarterbacks
tend to rise. Pittsburgh needs a court. They may or
may not get Aaron Rodgers. They clearly need a quarterback
and a quarterback of the future. I think this guy
has impressed a lot of people with his skills. So
who did you put here? At twenty one?
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I had him taking Jean de Baron, so I had
them going more of the veteran QB route as well.
So obviously when I did mine, Russell Wilson was still
in play. So you have potentially Aaron Rodgers. But I
just think Johnny Barron just kind of seems like a
Steeler's kind of guy's physical nickel. He can cross train
at safety, great kind of mitigating the middle of the field.
(09:23):
So I think I could see him having success in Pittsburgh.
But I mean he's a guy that honestly could go
a lot higher. He seems to be rising, could be
a guy that the Bucks also go go for. At nineteen.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, so you put Jadday Baron here, as means he
was on the board when you took the Ed Rusher here.
I have to admit that in my miccraft, if Jadday
Baron had made it to hear, I would have taken him.
But I'm always the you can't have too many corners guys, right,
So yeah, that said, you can watch, you can look
at the rest of it here you can read on
buccaneers dot com or on the app about you know
why I think these picks went as they did, and
(09:58):
you know, we've still got a little bit to so
we'll do a few more of these. But that's where
we are right now.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, And that does it for this week's episode of
Road to the Draft, and stay tuned next week for
a closer look as we get closer to the Draft
at the end of April.
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