2023 NFL Draft Special: NFC Draft Grades

Join Thor Nystrom and guest Chad Reuter (@chad_reuter) from NFL Media as they evaluate each NFC team's performance in the 2023 NFL Draft. They highlight the best picks, questionable choices, and surprising moves across the conference. After a head-scratching first round, did the Lions redeem themselves with their Day 2 and 3 picks? The Pros will tell you!

Timestamps:

ARI - 0:00:43 ATL - 0:04:08 CAR - 0:07:15 CHI - 0:10:43 DAL - 0:17:35 DET - 0:21:28 GB - 0:27:48 LAR - 0:32:18 Check out our Dynasty Draft Kit - 0:36:29 MIN - 0:37:06 NO - 0:42:42 NYG - 0:45:31 PHI - 0:48:05 SF - 0:52:37 SEA - 0:55:00 TB - 0:58:59 WAS - 1:01:46

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to a very special episode of the Fantasy Pros
NFL Draft Special. I am your host, Thorne Eistrom, and
today I'm going to be grading the NFC's draft classes
with my good friend Chadwriter of NFL dot Com. You
can find Chad on Twitter at Chad Underscore Writer. Chad.
Have you decompressed from draft weekend yet?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Uh? Slightly. I've gone into reflective mode at least at
this point, you know, writing a couple of articles and
just kind of thinking about what happened, because you know,
in the moment it's hard to all right, It's just
all a blur, you know. But yeah, I'm getting there,
Getting there, brother, getting there.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah. Now that we have the draft classes for each
one of these teams, let's dive in and see what
we thought. We'll go in alphabetical order today with the
NFC and so we'll just knock them out one by one.
Let's start with the Arizona Cardinals. Chat. What grade did
you give the Cardinals and how did you think they
did overall? Uh?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I thought they did pretty darn well. In fact, they're
one of my top five teams in this uh, you know,
in the draft because I think they got a lot
of a lot of value. I'm trying to pull up
the grade right now. So if it sounds like I'm stalling,
that's absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
What I'm doing right now.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
So just hanging play with me for a second because
my computer is being paid. But no, I loved what
they did. I absolutely love that they get a future pick,
you know, out of the Paris Johnson the trades earlier,
o Julari in the second great move, love Garrett Williams
as a second round player with a third round pick
just because of the injury Keetroll Clark later in the draft,

(01:37):
Owen Peppo later in the draft. I mean, they did
a lot of really good things.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, so like you you're mentioning, they got Houston's first
round pick next year, and and you know in that
first trade where they trade down from the third slot
with the Texans, that's obviously a good move. Next year's
class of Caleb Williams, of drag Man at the top,
that pick is going to be very valuable. Even if
you're gonna roll it forward with Kyler Murray. You can
just trade that thing for me, assuming that the Texans

(02:02):
are bad next year, which fully expect them to be.
Certainly the Cardinals will too, so their own pick is
gonna be valuable as well. They also during Draft day
trade picked up Tennessee's third runner next year, and they
got Phillies fourth rounder next year. That tampering deal or whatever.
Finishing out that transaction, they pick up them three picks,
the picks him in the slots they did. I was
a little bit lower on it than you like the

(02:24):
you know, they trade up to go and get Paris
Johnson at six, and you like the new administration moving
down the board, moving up the board. You know, you
like to see that. But like was my only question
with that was was the difference between let's just say
Paris Johnson and Broderick Jones. Was that worth what you
gave up in that trade to go and get Paris Johnson.
He better be appreciably better than Broderick Jones in the

(02:47):
NFL for that trade to work out. Arizona obviously a
team that has holes all over the roster, and then
like some of the like Garra Williams, that thing is
all going to be health dependent. Right, like you mentioned,
he was available on the discount. Obviously his knee needs
to be okay, and stuff like that their favorite pick
that they made from my perspective, was Michael Wilson in

(03:08):
the third round. I was a big fan of that kid.
You don't see that combination of deceleration into a route
break and then the acceleration out of it from a
receiver as big as Michael Wilson. The senior ball they
do the tracking, there only two players regardless of position,
finished top twenty in max speed by the Zebra tracking
and top five and deceleration regardless of position. The only

(03:32):
so is Michael Wilson was one of them. The other
own is Terry Palmer, who's a physical freak. So I
love Wilson's ability to slam on those brakes, cut the
clean corner he consistently, and then accelerate out of that
break consistently open up the throwing windows for the quarterback.
I was a little bit lower on at Chad. You know,
I grade on the curve, so I give out some
of the lower grades. I gave Arizona a D plus

(03:52):
just judging their picks in the slots that they got them,
but you have to add in the fact that they
got those picks for next year. Not really included my grade,
But you know, you tick them up a little bit
for that, and they will be enormous players in next
year's draft. I think they have the most equity in
it right now. So that's something to watch out for.
Chad moving to the Atlanta Falcons, what was your great
for them? And how do you think they did?

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I gave them a minus. I really really liked their
first four picks at least, and I thought Bijon. You know,
it's funny people were putting Bijon in the twenties and
you know, mock drafts a month ago, two months ago,
and I'm like, no, I'm not doing that. He's too good.
I know the positional value of a top ten pick

(04:36):
at running back. Some people will scoff at that, and
I get it. But he's, you know, a great playmaker.
I think he's going to be a fantastic pro. And
I talked, you know, a couple of weeks before the draft.
I was telling people that Atlanta was going to have
interest in him just because they they're taking the players
that can make their offense the best it can be,
and I think he was it at that position, and

(04:58):
they weren't going to take Jalen Card So I think
I love that pick. I love Bergerron in the second round.
I knew he would be the guy that somebody would
trade up for in the second round because of his versatility.
Zach Harrison is exactly like the kind of Saints defensive
end that that you know would bring over to and
Clerk Phillips. You just put him in the slot immediately

(05:20):
and he's gonna start start day one. So love those picks.
And overall, I thought the Falcons did do a really
good job.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
The Falcon stole Clark Phillips in round four, Like you know,
I mean, yeah, I mean you understand that the frame
and the athleticism was just you know, okay, yeah, but
like that kid on tape is one of the best
corners in his class, and yeah, you're gonna have to
play him in the slot. Good luck getting away from him,
NFL slot receivers, you're not shaking that kid.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, he was gonna be a fourth the whole time
just because of those you know, physical limitations. We see
it every year. But he's he's clearly, he's clearly an
excellent player that won't back down from anybody, and he's
he's gonna make plays. He's instinctual. Again, and you know
de Olfd is not going to be able to keep
him out of that slot job.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah for sure. Yeah the Bijon pick, like I had
him seventeenth on my big board. They took him et
but obviously he's one of the best prospects to come
out of that position in last decade. So you get
that I digged him a little bit for that. You're
not an enormous criticism of mine, and certainly as we're
gonna get back to this with the Detroit Lions, but
like there was other teams that were interested in taking

(06:25):
him in the top ten. The Berger round pick, I
thought that, So this is one where you got to
bake in the context because I thought they went just
a little bit above his import like I had him
fifty three. But with Bergier on you mentioned the versatility,
which is a really good point because like, if he
doesn't hack it at right tackle, you can fail him
down the spectrum. He's going to be a good guard
in the NFL if not tackle. And then the other

(06:47):
thing was that offensive line class was about to drop
off a shelf, so you almost had to do that
and they did. And then I loved what you said
about the next two picks. I was a fan of
Zach Harrison ridiculously long, like he's got the inspect their
gadget arms, and he's got some skill as well. I
camped him Clellan Farrell, who a couple of years ago
went way way higher in the draft, and then Clark Phillips. Obviously,

(07:09):
I thought Atlanta did an above average job in this draft,
so I ended up giving them a C plus. Moving
on to the next one, Jack Carolina Panthers, what do
you think about what they did?

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Well, I'm glad they took Bryce Young and not Will
Levis to start off, man, so they made the right
call there, Mingo the merciless. I think second Rolf pick.
That's put the value I had on him the whole time,
So that was a good pick. DJ Johnson, I'd waited
on him a little bit more. I think he's more
of a project. But you know, look third round ed

(07:39):
Drusher's kind of tailing off a little bit in terms
of value at that point, So I get it. Savall Man,
I love Sabal I was I didn't trust myself enough
on that evaluation. It's so hard when nobody else is
talking about a guy to really stick with it. But
I thought, honestly, he's like the Day three version of
Zion Johnson. He really is, and I think he he's

(08:00):
going to compete for playing time early in his career.
And then Jamie Robinson the fifth round. I get it.
Not the most explosive athlete, whatever, Dude, he's going to
play in the league for ten years. I mean, he's
just a talented guy. So very good job for them,
And you know, you have to, you know, you you
have to think about the trade and how much value

(08:20):
did they give up and things like that, and did
they you know, getting rid of They only end up
with five selections, so some of their other trades didn't
really work out, so kind of have to bake that
into the grade. I ended up giving them a BE
you know, pretty pretty average among the above among teams overall.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, so I gave them a B minus brace young
pick that. Like you said, they made the correct call
and I loved their last two packs. I'm with you
on that. Zavala. There was some whispers about his medicals,
like we don't get all that information, but assuming that
his body holds up in the NFL, that kid's a start.
And it's funny like one of the reasons he got
overlooked earlier in his well. First of all, he didn't

(08:57):
start at NC State, he had transfer up or whatever.
But then when he when he was at nccate, he
was playing next to one of the best offensive linemen
in the nation, a guy named Ikamikwanu, who's not gonna
be playing next to in Carolina. And those guys, by
the way, were two sticks at dynamite. Every single snap
they would just blow out that side of the line
of scrimmage. So I think it's really cool that those
guys are hooking up again. And then Jimmy Robinson, I

(09:19):
totally agree with that, Like, I love that kid's game. Obviously,
there were some of those physical limitations that are going
to depress your value a little bit, push you dow
on the board. I thought the NFL went a little
bit too far with that. But on the other end
of the spectrum, one of the quibbles that I had,
Jonathan Mingo like, yeah, I mean he gets he obviously
skyrockets late in the process. His testing was really good.
He had a solid senior, but everything like that on film,

(09:42):
he doesn't move quite as well as he tested, And
that's one of my questions with him is like, you know,
Jackson darts stunt last year and like, you know, so
it's like you can give him some contextual the contextual
benefit of the doubt on a couple of different levels.
But like there was inconsistencies his entire college career, never
had the dominant season. That's what that's what you'd be

(10:02):
hoping for. And for me, didn't move around like that
athletic freak that that he was forwarded as by his
pre draft testing. But this was a bad receiver class
and that's going to yank guys like that up.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
So like a lot. I liked him a lot more
than the guys the teams moved up for last year
in the mid second round. So I thought that, you know,
the overall for a team that really desperately needed a
physical guy on the outside, I think, you know, because
that's not really DJ Shark and you know these other guys,
I think that that makes a lot of sense. So yeah,

(10:34):
pretty good, yep.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
And so few boundary receivers in this class, so like
if you had a conviction on Jonathan Mingo, you almost
had to take him there, regardless of what my opinion is.
Moving on to the Bears. Uh, very interesting class by
the Bears, that new administration of theirs. They have their
own takes on the project. They don't really care what
the rest of us think. We'll see how it works
out in the end. But what did you think about

(10:55):
this class in particular?

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Well, look, if the Bears didn't have a good draft,
they'd being really if if this draft class doesn't work out,
they're going to be in a lot of trouble because
they had all the opportunities with the trade down with
the Panthers, with all the top picks and all the drafts,
and of course they gave away Chase Claypool or they
you know, gave gave a second round pick for uh,
for Chase Claypool, which was a mistake, but uh, it

(11:19):
was a mistake at the start, not not even retroactively talking,
but you know, overall, they they made the trade. They
made two trades down to get future picks obviously, which
works in their favor. They still got the right tackle
they needed. Darnel Wright was out standing senior season and
really became a player. Dexter and Pickens. They really needed
to get stronger than defensive line, so they met that

(11:41):
need early, probably took Pickens a little bit earlier than
I would. But in terms of their you know, needs
for the team and potential in those two guys, they're
more potential than than polished right now. But I think
in their scheme, they'll they'll be part of a rotation
and they'll give them the explosion off the snap and
limited snaps that they need. Trek's Davidson's going to start
for him, I think right away. I think that's that

(12:04):
was an easy pick for them. Rashawn Johnson was you know,
he was he was a guy that he was so
he was called underrated so many times that he kind
of became overrated. But but he's a talent and I think,
you know, being next to Bijon, you're gonna get overlooked.
Uh And I think I think he's a power Tyler
Scott in the fourth round is right right value. He

(12:26):
got pushed up for a little bit, but at the
combine it was clear it was he wasn't as smooth
a mover as sometimes he looked like on film, like
against lesser competition at the times. So I think they
got good value there. I think he could become something
for them as an after the catch guy, deep threat guy.
So that was a good pick. I love Noah Suwell
maybe nobody else does, and that's fine, But look that
guy got asked to do a lot of different stuff

(12:48):
at Oregon that he probably shouldn't have been doing because
they didn't have anybody else to do it. If you
put him in the right spot and ask him to
go to the ball, get downhill, go to the ball,
he's gonna play for you. So Treyll Smith good pick
as well. Kendall Williamson sort of one of these guys
that didn't get a lot of talk but just does
everything well. I was gonna play special team smart guy.
So overall I thought they did a pretty good job.

(13:11):
And you know, they took a shot on Travis Bell
from kind of Saw because of the athleticism, but you know,
I don't know if he'll turn out. But overall they
did pretty well. But honestly, like, if this class doesn't
turn out with all the value they had, it's gonna
be rough goal for these guys in the future.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, I gave the Bears a D. And but like
conceding they did. They did. They added a lot of talent,
but like in the slots that they did, in my opinion,
they pulled some guys up. It started at the beginning
with Darnell Right and I like Darnell Right enough. I
had him sixteenth by taking them with a top ten
pick because I don't think he can play left tackle
in the NFL. If he proves me wrong my rankings wrong.

(13:47):
But like you know, I do think he's going to
be a solid right tackle or a very good guard.
What we'll see how that goes. But the bigger reaches
for me Gervin deck Year with the next pick. I
thought Stevenson was a little bit of a re uh. Well,
I guess those are probably my two biggest ones. Girvin
deck Scher, he could be like he has all he
has all the physical traits, like you know, in terms

(14:09):
of the physical dimensions, in terms of the athleticism, different
stuff like that. But he's weird because he comes so
slow off the ball and then he can pop up
sometimes and stuff like that. So like he's too physically
gifted to give away the start of every rep. It's
like you're in a race and Girvin Dexter is like,
I'll let you have a ten yard head start, and
it's like Gervin, can you just start at the same

(14:31):
spot on the block as the guy you're running against,
like and and you know he talked even about this
during the pre draft process, Gervin Dexter did about like,
I know that's a problem of mine, Like I need
to get better at it. So, you know, self awareness,
that's the first step to fixing the problem.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
So so I honestly, and honestly, you can get away
with that at the high school and even the college level.
But he's gonna find out quick that you can't. And
so he's it's gonna be sink or swim for him.
But I think him and Pickens both they both kind
of have, you know, inconsistencies of their game. But in
terms of look, this was not a great draft. It
just wasn't. And so I think I had Dexters a

(15:06):
mid second. I had Pickens in the third or early
fourth so and Stevenson I had in the mid second.
So to me, they went pretty much where they were
going to go. And and you know, Dexter is definitely
more of an upside pick, but you know, so is
Austin Johnson. So is some of these other guys that
get picked in the second round that maybe weren't as
consistent scouts. I've heard many times over the years from

(15:27):
NFL scouts about not being as worried about inconsistency, inconsistency
and things that can can be fixed on defensive linemen
because they're going to be part of a rotation. They're
not playing, you know, seventy eighty snaps a game, and
you work with them when they're young and get them
to really maximize their potential. So that's I think where

(15:48):
they're at for sure. Yeah, and I will say I
like their day three more. I think I think Roadturant's
going to start for them from day one, Like what
is Khalil Herbert going to keep them out of there?

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Is Deontay Forman gonna keep him out of there? Like
for me, he's like Damian Piers from the last class
where his touches were sort of artificially deflated in college
because of things outside of their control. And now you
go to the NFL, You're you're gonna pick it up
pretty quick. You're going into a really good situation where
you're gonna play right away. I agree with you on Sewell.

(16:19):
Suwell was absolutely misused by Oregon, And yeah, if you
just use him as the downhill thumper guy. That's what
he's awesome at.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
So just let him do that.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Just let him going and be a war daddy and
going knockcats. That's what he likes to do. My favorite
pick from the Bears was Rrell Smith, the corner from Minnesota,
and a part of the reason he got knocked down
was because prior in his career, the first four years
he was on campus whatever, he was this just like
disparate set ball of clay of athletic trades. But he

(16:47):
just hadn't figured it out, Like the light hadn't gone
on for him. So even though he was like a
stud athlete, you could still burn him. Last year, like
in the offseason, that light went on because last season
he was awesome on the field. He goes out and
the athleticism that we all knew that he had. So
I think he'd went like in fact, he went almost
one hundred spots lower than I had him on my board,
Like I'm really he.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Thought a Minnesota guy was was underdrafted.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
I even had some Wisconsin guys in the second round
on my board. Chat you would have been surprised. But yeah,
I know, like if you're because if you go just
last year and then the athletic trades, if that's all
you're considering with this corner class, Turell Smith needs to
be way up there. Yeah, right, like it's just before
it was the inconsistent But I think you fixed that stuff.
We'll find out at the next level. But yeah, at
that price point in my opinion, So jump into the

(17:36):
Dallas Cowboys next, Chad, this was one of my least
favorite classes in the NFL. What did you think about it?

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yeah, I mean I understand why you think that. I
think Mazzie Smith in the first round. I wouldn't have
done that. I mean, for what they want, you know,
in a in a guy he's to me, he's sort
of like the Dan Williams or you know some of
these guys that go later in the first round. So
I wouldn't have made that pick. But Shoemaker is uh,

(18:04):
you know, coming off the injury probably got pushed up
because of the kind of the run on tight ends
and the inflation of tight well and to be honest,
the lack of receivers. You know, the tight ends basically
filled in the blanks where the receivers were supposed to
go and so you know, so not great and then
uh but I mean, look, both those guys are going

(18:25):
to contribute for this team right away. So I didn't
kill him, but you know, on the on that but
he's gonna play Overshown's gonna play for him. And he's
kind of that Giron Curse kind of guy in which
they have at safety. He's gonna play that and he's
gonna play inside as well when whichever of their linebackers
get hurt, you know, in Week three again this year,
so that's going to get there for Hooko. It was
an interesting an interesting pick for them because you know

(18:50):
he can play edge. But at two hundred eighty five pounds,
are they gonna move him inside? It's it's gonna be
interesting to see how they use him. I love to
see Richards. I think that do is gonna play for
them because when Tyrone Smith gets hurt again, you know,
are they gonna move Tyler Smith again outside? I hope not.
I hope they put in Richards in stat at left tackles.
I think he can play there, and you got to

(19:11):
keep Smith at left guard. I mean, and if they
move Richards to left guard, fine, But but Richards is
like basically the Jamai Sallier you know of this class,
and I think he's he's gonna play for him. Eric
Scott I thought would actually go a little earlier. I
know he was liked by teams for his athleticism, length
and all that stuff. So and then uh, Ducevaan, I
just love duce Vaughan. I mean, seventh round, who cares

(19:34):
Jalen Brooks, I don't really get. I would have waited
for a free agency on him. But yeah, overall, I
thought they did fine. And you know, the early picks,
I know you're gonna rip them, and and you know
I can't. I can't blame me for him.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, this was one of my f grades and in
the draft, and like, so you're you're going in early.
We knew that they were gonna take a tight end
pretty early. What what surprises me is like you mentioned
that a normal tight end run in round two, which
we knew was coming, and the Cowboys had to know
that was coming. And yet at the end of the
first round you end up taking Mozzi Smith over the

(20:09):
title like Mayor Data Laporta. You know, all those guys
anyone outside at don't get kid, you could have had
and instead you take Mazzie Smith there. I thought that
was a bit of a reach, and now all of
a sudden you're on the back end of that tight
end run. And I thought they pulled Schoonmaker up like
I would have preferred, for instance, Tucker Kraft, you know,
even Darnell Washington, if your medical team's okay with with

(20:30):
the foot, you know that that was the report of
reason why he fell down. But like Schoonmaker, like he's
one of the so like you know, in his defense there,
he's a true inline guy in a class that didn't
have as many of those where you can actually count
on the blocking from the inline position. And then we
didn't get to see him as much as a receiver
at Michigan. They just didn't use him like that, right,

(20:52):
Like I think last year had like thirty receptions out
by far the most he had. But like he had
the frame, he has the athleticism. So in this draft,
spot else is clearly banking on, like we're gonna turn
them into a receiver, you know, But that's sort of
it was a bit of a leap of faith for me.
Although interestingly, Chet, You're gonna enjoy my comp for for
Luke's schoonmaker before the draft, comping the Dalton Schultz and

(21:13):
the reason he was drafted here was because Dalton Schultz
is out the door and you desperately needed a tight end.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yep, yep, yep.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Yeah. So, like, you know, just overall, like they obviously
addressed their needs. I just thought they pulled some guys up,
so I did kill them for it. Yeah, let's move,
speaking of pulling, speaking.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
Speaking of reaching a little bit.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yeah, that's a professional segue. The Detroit Lions. What did
you think about that chat?

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, I mean Gibbs and Campbell in the first round,
good players just picked too early, you know, in comparison
of value, you know, and in the end they'll always say, well,
if they're good players, then it doesn't matter, And of
course we know that's not always true. Sometimes it works,
but you know, over over time, you're gonna lose if
you if you you know, significantly straight from from consensus

(22:00):
value on these guys. So you know, it's funny Jack Campbell,
I wanted to compare him to Layton vander esh because
but theain I didn't want to do that because obviously
that pick has not worked out in the first round.
So anyway, I just thought they reached their laporta. I
would have taken Michael Mayer, Brian Branch, great pick. I'm
curious to see if Green Bay is gonna regret not

(22:22):
taking him instead of trading out Hendon Hooker. Absolutely. I
knew that the Lions would pick a quarterback in the
third round, so that made a lot of sense since
he was there. Broderick Martin. They gave up a whole
bunch for Projerck Martin, which I didn't understand, but look,
he's I liked him as a fourth round pick. He's
got a lot of potential as an athletic nos but
didn't get it. Kooby Soresdol I liked him as a

(22:43):
top one fifty pick, so that that one made a
lot of sense to me. That's where I had him
in value. And green I thought was a pretty good
seventh throne pick, just as a you know, MVS type,
deep threat kind of guy that'll give you something, you
know late in the draft, so you know later in
the draft they did pretty well. I thought, you know,
the first three picks, I would have gone another direction.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, I was ready to destroy Detroit. They were the
heavy front runner to get the f after Day one
for me, one of the two s's I get about.
But they did sort of pull up the plane from
the nosedive that it was in. Like like I'm a
huge fan of Samuel part I was banging the drum
for in the entire process just a broken tackle. God
at the at the tight end position was stranded in

(23:23):
this terrible offensive environment. Chat as you would know as
a big ten fan, I always had just the most
brutal offense the past couple of years. And then I
don't understand how Brian Branch fell to forty five, Like
how do you get access to a guy like Brian
Branch at forty five, especially with a safety class.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
I don't know. I just think the workout well they really,
I mean, they played they worked him out at the
combine with the cornerbacks, which was, you know, terrible because
he would have looked a lot better against the other safeties.
And he's one hundred and ninety pounds. Some teams don't
want one hundred ninety pound safety. But honestly, I'd take
that guy any day of the week. I thought for sure,
like New England or somebody would move up for him,

(23:59):
and it was Detroit that dead it New England West.
I guess they're trying to be this year. And and
like I said, it's gonna be interesting to see if
Green Bay regrets that move.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, you know it's funny, Like you know, I killed
him for the Gibbs pick. And and I didn't understand
why you have this, Like they're sitting in the sixth
slot right and everyone is saying, Atlanta loves Bjeon. Atlanta
loves Jeon two spots behind you. And if you're like,
you know, the idea taking Gibs, it seems like they
were sitting dead right on taking the running back. Why
don't you just stay in the six slot and take Bijon?

(24:31):
And I know in that trade down they were they
acquired the pick where they got Sam Laporta. Like I said,
I love Sam Laporta, But would you rather have Bijon
or would you rather have Gibbs and Laporta? And you
could have had, in my opinion, more than Gibbs and
Laporta by trading down, if that's what you wanted to do.
They said they weren't getting any offers for the Jack
Campbell pick. But like if if that's true, and there

(24:53):
was no market for any of the picks in the
late teens and the twenties. Well, Detroit, you've picked up
the thirty fourth pick. You have an enormous amount of
draft equity. Later, why aren't you being the one that's
trading up for one of those picks. Then they're like,
they can't claim there was nothing else they could have done.
I don't believe that, whether it was trading down, if
that's not there, trade up. You have one of the

(25:14):
highest picks in the second round. But like, you know,
disagreed with the first round. Although I love Jack Campbell,
but you know, he was thirty six on my board.
But like, he's gonna be a great NFL linebacker.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
He had second round picks where they could they could
have got him. I mean, and if and if Dallas
and if Dallas like goes with another linebacker. Again, look,
he's an off the ball linebacker. I like Jack Campbell
as much as the next guy, but look, he's an
off the ball linebacker. You can get those guys later
in the draft. This is not you know, he's not
gonna be superstar ray Lewis. You know, he's that's just

(25:45):
not what he is. He's a really good player. But
you know, I think you wait on the off the
ball guy. Lord knows they could use like Collidge, you
cant si they could use. I mean, there's a bunch
of different guys they could have taken at that spot
and and improve that team.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
So anyway, yeah, yeah, no, But it's interesting because like,
so I love Brian Branch. I ad Am thirteenth overra
on my board, Like I don't care about the size
thing because he comes up and he helps against the
run like no problem, right, Like he has no fear
coming down, and he doesn't miss tackles over crazy volume.
He's one of the most reliable tacklers we've seen from

(26:19):
the dB position come out in.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Years and years ago. Player on that he was he
was the best player on that defense, and it had
Will Anderson on it, so like it was he was
the best. He was a first round player with a
second round workout and or a third round workout, and
and he went in the second round. And I projected
that all the way until the end because I knew
he would be a second round pick, and it just
it's you know, but a lot of second round safeties

(26:43):
turn out to be pretty good and I think he's
gonna be one of them.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
I ended up giving them a C because I thought
they salvaged the value later on. If you just switch
Brian Branch and the Jamior gibbslot, it jives on my
board because it's funny because they took Gibbs twelve, I
have branched thirteen. Your Gibbs forty five. They took Brian
Braange from the forty five five.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
So it's you know, that argument, and I've made that
same argument over time, and I slapped myself for it afterwards,
because you can't assume that these other dudes are just
gonna fall into your lap. So when you jump the
board like that, yeah, you may get lucky in another
one of your guys falls into your lap, but like,
you can't live on that, you know, you first can't.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
So these these yeah, whether it was trading down, whether
it was waiting until eighteen on Gibbs, or you know,
whether it was going the other way trading up, I
totally agree with that. I didn't understand the wonkiness in
day one, but I did think that they, like I said,
improved on day two and three quite a bit. Yeah,
let's talk about your favorite now let's yeah, Now we're
gonna get fun. We're gonna kick it to the Wisconsin

(27:46):
based Chad Rider to talk about the Green Bay Packers.
You're out, Chad. What did you think about what the
Packers did?

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Well? You know, it just made me so happy to
see them pick five pass catchers because you know, somewhere
in a room, Aaron Rodgers is like, why, I mean,
they picked three receivers three times with Rogers on the roster,
so it's not like they didn't try to give this
guy receivers, but it was just kind of funny they
used three day two picks, and look, I liked, this

(28:13):
is one of those situations where they took Jayden Reid
at fifty, who I would have taken at seventy eight,
and then I would have taken Tucker Craft at fifty.
You know, it's like you're talking about. So in the end,
the three guys they got on day two were great.
I love Lucas van Ness. I think he's gonna be slight,
so you know, I you know, a great job there.
Kobe Wooden is a perfect fit as a five technique.

(28:34):
He was He's not a he's not a basselined but
as A five technique. That's where he belongs and that's
why they got him. So that made a lot of
sense to me. Same with Carl Brooks from Bowling Green,
a guy that I think fits there. I'd rather not
talk about the Sean Clifford or Anders carlsonfick. But but
you know, you know what, Anthony Johnson junior in the

(28:55):
seventh round, that dude may start. He may start for them,
and and I think that's gonna be one of those
Cameron Curl kind of picks that people are like, oh,
they got him in the seventh round. Huh. I mean,
so I like that pick a lot. But yeah, I
know you're gonna talk about Clifford and Carlson, so go ahead,
Well I did.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, this is so I will say. I actually gave
the Packers the highest draft grade in the NFC North,
So wow, it was a C minus that that division
did not draft very well this year, but they had
sort of the Bizarro to Detroit Lions draft, where like
I thought, the Packers did great in round one, Lucas
van Ness was absolutely worth that slot. I had them
eleventh on my board. Round two, I didn't really know

(29:36):
what they were doing with those first two packs. Musk
Grave I thought was overrated. It's just based on trades
and the blood lines, like we just haven't seen it.
Like he started like thirteen times in college and maybe
he would have had the breakouf season last year. The
first two games were got but then he gets hurt again.
Durability is another problem with that kid. But he does
have the athleticism and I do like his game downfield,

(29:57):
but he's not gonna block for you. He doesn't create
separation in the inner and he doesn't break tackles. So
let's just see about that. And it was funny like
when they took him, I was like, you idiots, there's
a better receiving tight end on the board, and you
took Musgrave over and then they get that guy thirty
six picks later with Tucker Kraft. I think Tucker Crafts
can have a better career for the Packers than Musgrade does.

(30:17):
Jaden Reid I didn't get that pick. Like I know
he had fans in their draft community, but like it
felt like he gets pulled way up just because this
receiver class stunk and just in comparison to the other guys,
and the Packers were like, we got to take a
receiver here, we got to help out Jordan Love, but
it just felt like reaching up a little bit for him.
We'll see if I'm proven wrong on that.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, I think he's a guy. Honestly. I liked him
again more than the guys that got pulled up in
the mid second last year. And I think he Look,
he played at Michigan State. Okay, I mean, let's put
that guy on a team that has, you know, a
really good quarterback, and I think you would have seen

(30:59):
like an Elijah More kind of situation. I think he
would have seen a lot more from him because I
think after after that balls in his hands, he is amazing.
He is amazing after the catch. So for the Packers,
especially looking for a slot, I think I think that
guy is going to really fill that bill for him. So,
like I said, I probably would have gone third round

(31:20):
on him, but I understand it a little bit more
then like I said last year, some of the guys
I got pulled up.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, let's put him on a team of Sean Clifford.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
I knew. I knew Sean Clifford would get drafted. I did.
I did. I knew it because he's got all the
things that teams look for in that backup quarterback and
happens every year, the Trace, mcsorles, the all these guys
that get picked, and then there was that big run.
And I think he was only a fifth round pick
because of the big run in rounds four and five,
although he would have he would have been a six

(31:54):
or seven.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Crazy quarterback.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
I mean, there's no other way around. They had to
draft a quarterback. He was what was left and they
just got to hope they can get him to find
the broadside of a barn more consistently and become the
best of what he can become. And that's that's all
I'm gonna say about that.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
Well, at least one coaching staff thinks he's better than
lil Levis, so he's got that going for him.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
Moving to the Los Angeles Rams, they didn't have a
ton of draft equity check as a previous trades. What
do you think about what they did with what they had?

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Well, they made the trades down that they needed to,
and I think that was key for them because they
just have no I have an article coming out in
a couple of weeks about Day three starters, and like
three of these guys at least are going to be
starting for them, you know, because they just don't have
bodies in a lot of positions. So the draft class is
going to look great because they're gonna have a lot
of games played and a lot of starts. But you know,

(32:48):
it's kind of strange to me that they started with
an offensive lineman. Nothing against steel a Vila. I mean,
he's a fine player, but I thought that was a
little odd. But the value there, that's fine. I guess
I'm an offensive line guy. So if you want to
start their fine. They got the edge rushers they needed
Byron Young, Nick Campkin, Hampton could both be their starters
this year. Yeah, Stetson, but you know, Stetson Bennett is

(33:11):
probably gonna play this year because Matt Stafford she had
the last to last four years. You know, he's missed time.
So Stetson Bennet's gonna play, and I'm gonna really enjoy
seeing what he can do because he anyway, It's gonna
be a lot of fun. Davis Allen not a great athlete,
but you know, solid tight end pick. Pukinnakua, I think

(33:33):
is one of the more underrated players in this class.
Was I was very glad to see him, and I
think he's gonna be one of these guys that's going
to start for them by the end of the year.
I really like him. Zach Evans is much third round talent,
but there are so many questions about him that getting
him in the six and cam Akers better stay out
of the doghouse because this kid's gonna take his job otherwise.

(33:54):
I really like I think Zach Evans is going to
be a good player. For him, I'm not going to
get into Ethan Evans, you know, good for him that
he got drafted. Jason Taylor I thought was a really
good value late. I like him as a safety. I
think he's a good player. So overall, I thought they
did pretty well and they made the moves to get
the depth that they needed. So that's really that's really
what they did. And the funny part is, like the

(34:15):
twenty twenty four draft, if they have another poor year
and they actually have some picks, these guys are gonna
end up backing up the next draft class or two.
It's gonna build good depth. I mean, you know, in
a couple of years, this team is going to be
pretty pretty built because they did decent with the picks
that they had.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Yeah, I thought, you know, it seemed like their strategy
was sort of to buy the higher floors as opposed
to use all these picks to just shoot them. But
you know, later on, when you're shooting the moon on
athletic trades, very low chance of hitting. They obviously know
what their roster situation is what it is, and so
they bought guys that they knew could hang on the roster.
And I agree with you they have this enormous class

(34:55):
of these light on guys. I think most of them
are making the team. Yeah, for sure, it is start.
Their roster is going to be heavily comprised the guys
from this draft class. I was lower on Zach Evans
than than most in the media, but like they where
they got him, that's that's a good value, like objectively,
like he was a five star kid, like right, and
and he you know, he played throughout his career, et cetera.

(35:15):
I totally agree with you on Jason Taylor, felt like
that was a steal. Late totally agree with you on
Pooka Nka. I thought he was one of the more
undervalued receivers and he can do so many different things.
And it's funny when they they call Pooka, Like I
always love watching the I'm a sucker for this stuff,
but like I love watching it when they put on Twitter,
when the coaches and the GM call and then they're
like talking to the guy, like right when they're about

(35:36):
to draft him, and like you could tell the rams
were jacked to get Pooking a cool where they did,
and the receiver coach specifically looked like he was over
the moon, Like it looked like one of his you know,
his first child had just been born, and he was
telling Pooka like we're gonna use you in all these
different ways, and you know, YadA YadA. It's like they understood,
I Pooking the court discount d ball. Like obviously he

(35:58):
doesn't have the athletic profiles as the but like the
ways that he can win different spots of the alignment,
but also the things he can do.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
There right, Like he runs through contact. He's not the
fastest guy. That's why he's a Day three guy because
he's not the fastest guy, but he's very tough runner.
He's a he's agile, he has the vision to make
things happen in the open field. And so, yeah, he's
really gonna be a fun guy to watch. And look,
you know Ben Skarnik. I mean, is that who's gonna
start for him all year? I don't. I don't think so.

(36:27):
So I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he
can do.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
I totally agreed. Yeah, so I give the I give
the Rams uh C minus. And before we get to
the our favorite team in the NFC North, Chad, level
up your game with the Fantasy Pros Dynasty Draft Kit.
At Fantasypros dot com slash Dynasty, you'll get Dynasty startup
and rookie rankings, trade targets, position primers, and in depth
rookie analysis for free. Premium subscribers can view exclusive strategy

(36:52):
articles and enter our vibrant Discord community, which provides direct
access to analysts through amas and stages. Don't miss visit
Fantasypros dot com slash Dynasty today and build your winning
Dynasty team. All right, Chad, let's get to the show.
This is the reason everyone's tuning in, Cheah. What do
you think about what the Vikings did?

Speaker 2 (37:11):
They did? All right? I think I like some of
their guys. I thought they got good value in some spots.
You know, Jordan Addison at twenty three. I'll take that
all day long. They needed it badly. I saw you
on Twitter Thor pumping the table for receiver in the
first round, and people will give you a hard time
about it, but I was on board with you in that,
and just because the corner, the corner market was not

(37:33):
great and the value was much better at Addison, so
so you had to make that pick. I think getting
black men in the third round. I like him, you know,
and a lot of people too. He's not big, he's
not the fastest, where he just covers dudes and he
just sticks to him and he can be the play
when the ball comes. So again, that's what the job is.

(37:54):
So I thought they did well. Jay Ward. I think
for them they could use a guy like that, a
versatile defensive back. So for them, a little higher than
I would have taken them, but I get it for them,
Jack and Roy. Look, I could have easily seen him
going late third round, easily just because he's one of
these guys. It isn't going to be a great pass rusher,

(38:15):
but he can do enough to disrupt offensive lines and
he's got plays with great leverage. Even though he's not
the biggest or even the shortest guy on there. So
I think in the fifth that was a good pick.
Jaron Hall has a lot of starter traits. I think
he's among the developmental guys in the in this group,
I liked him probably the most, Yeah, maybe the most.

(38:40):
And you know he's got stuff to work on. But
that's why he's a Day three pick. And McBride, you know,
in the seventh, I don't know much more value you
can ask for at that position with all the questions
about Delvin Cook and you know Madison coming back, I know,
but like look in the seventh I thought that was
a really good pick.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
So yeah, so I I you know, I had to
break the hearts of the Vikings fans and give my
Vikings a deep plus. I do agree that early on
it I liked what they did and with Addison, so
I had Addison thirtieth on my board. There was some
cornerbacks that I had hired that Joey Porter significantly higher
than that and Deontay Banks, but like, it's not in
a vacuum. No draft decision is in the vacuum decision,

(39:20):
and like I thought, they made the correct three dimensional
decision by you know there's the four consensus wide receivers.
The three have just gone ahead of you and there's
one left, and after that, the receiver class drops off
a shelf. Whereas the cornerback class, it was one of
the deepest, if not the deepest position in this entire draft.
The Vikings knew they didn't have a second round pick,

(39:42):
you have to wait till the third round. They want
that starter across from Justin Jefferson to disincentive by his
defenses from bracketing and doubling Jefferson every single time in
the third round, You're not gonna get that guy right
Like at Perry would probably have been your best option
for that at that point. So it's like, would you
rather have Joey Porter and at Perry or Ordinatison and
Makai Blackman. In terms of that, I thought they made

(40:02):
the correct decision. Day three was where I disagreed with them.
Jay Ward. Is he versatile or is he a tweener?
It's a it's a very fine line with him. Is
any of the different things he does, is it ever
gonna be the best on your roster at that specific thing?
That was my question with him, Like we got to
start there, right, Like if he's an if we're gonna

(40:23):
start him as a nickel, he got to be the
best nickel on the roster, right or he's got it,
you know, he's got to do something better than everybody
else or else. He's just like you know, always gonna
be sort of in this tweener land, and he needs
to figure out where he can cover, like which which
spot in the alignment? Is he gonna be good in coverage?
I love his aggression. I love how he comes up
and sticks people in the run game, but in coverage

(40:44):
he struggled throughout no matter where they put him. And
so in the NFL, like I think maybe if you
try in just a one spot and like Jayward, we're
gonna develop you here and then if he can cover
that spot, whether that's a nickel, whether that's deep, then
the rest of it then you you know, if you
know you can move him you want after that point,
But you.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Got the day two pick. I you know, I agree
with you. Like if you're a day two pick and
you're you're not sure about that, then but on the
day three pick a guy like that, I mean I
get it a little bit more. It's not again I
thought he'd go a little bit later than that too,
so I get you.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, And and the Jack it's the Vikings press team
put it out that it's like Jack Quelin. So I've
been mispronouncing his first name for years, but I'm I
don't even I don't even remember how the real one,
so I just got to call him Jacqueline. Uh, Jacqueline
right is really interesting where if he just reverts to
the twenty twenty one Jacqueline right right, this is a
really good pick. And like he hurt himself by declaring

(41:39):
after his true junior season, which was way down. If
he had gone back to LSU and then he'd just
been like he wasn't twenty twenty one, he would have
been a Day two pick.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
But like so so the VI.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
You know, theoretically you get a discount on him, but
like Kenny bounce back to that, we'll see. I liked
how you set that up with him. Like the pass
rushing thing. He needs to learn more moves, he needs
to have a different plan because it's the same thing
is with him in the run. He's just coming forward
and you love the power, like he might have the
most powerful or maybe not the most but like top three,
top five most powerful hands in this interior defensive line class.

(42:11):
Like it's not just with the offensive lineman controlling them
and then shedding when he gets any sort of jersey
of the ball carrier. Doesn't even matter. If it's just
like you're coming back with.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Him, that's an ankle or whatever, it doesn't matter. He's
he's bringing you down. And again for what if the
Vikings are using him, you know, on the one technique
or on the nose or whatever, you know, and he's
a really active note, he'll be a really active nose
for them. So you know, I think that's a that's
a good fit for them.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, and needed one with Delvin Tomlinson heading out the door.
Next one Chad New Orleans Saints. What do you think
about what they did?

Speaker 2 (42:46):
The Saints did an okay job. I you know, there's
a there's an injury risk with Breezy in the in
the first round, and you know I had to include
the bad train aid from last year where they gave
up a future first in order to get a mid
round pick last year. I don't understand that move. Don't

(43:08):
understand that move. So didn't understand that. Uh, you know,
Fosky is, you know, it's gonna be interesting to see
if Keon White is actually a better NFL player than
because I think that's a real question mark. And uh,
and then he kind of reminds me of Trey uh
Tavin Bryan, So like, I don't know about that pick,

(43:31):
but but Condrey Miller I think could turn into something
for them, and certainly they needed to get a running
back given the Kamara situation. Stovari I loved in the
fourth round. He's gonna play this year because you know,
Pete or Ruiz is gonna get hurt again and they
needed a guard and I think he can be a
pretty good guard for him. Hainer was like the perfect
David Carr, Derek Carr, excuse me, back up? So that

(43:56):
pick I saw that coming. Yeah, your Howden pick in Minnesota.
I knew you'd be happy about that. At Perry is
very inconsistent. I thought he would be more this year.
He just didn't turn out to be more, and so
later in the draft that's fine, But you know, I
wasn't as huge of a fan as he could be.
If he figures it out, turns it back on again,

(44:18):
like he did a couple of years ago, then then
maybe he you know, that becomes a really good pick.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Yeah, I gave them a C Breezil, you know obviously
or Brazil. Brazil is going to inform whether how good
this class is, and you can go either way with that.
Like he was this awesome recruit coming out. He played
well as a true pression. He's had all the injuries
and the health problems ever since. It's hard to get
on the field and stay on the field whatnot. When
he's fully healthy, he puts pressure on the quarterback and

(44:44):
he gets into the backfield whatnot. But he his profile
reminded me a little bit of Jerry Tillery. But I
had him twenty ninth on my board and they took
him twenty nine, So I'm not going to kill him
for that. I thought they reached a little bit for
Kendriy Miller in terms of the depth of this running
back class. But you know, I'm not gonna kill him
too bad for that. But I love this all the
very pick with the first pick of Saturday. Also like

(45:05):
that the Jay Kayner picked in terms of like you
mentioned in the guy that will hold the clipboard initially,
but if you have disaster with the injuries. He can
come in and move your offense.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
You know what these guys get. These guys took Ian
Book in the fourth round a way better relatively speaking.
That was like an A plus move for them.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
Very true, and ja Kander tested that as two things
the NFL cares about. Just like brock Perty did. He
has about the same physical dimensions. Moving to a team
that I thought did a better job in this draft
of New York Giants, what do you think about them?

Speaker 2 (45:35):
Chad? Uh, Yeah, I mean I thought they did they
do well. You know, they're in my a group. I
think Banks was a you know, he was a fluid mover.
You know, I don't He's got some work to do
in his technique. He's got to be more consistent. But
they hope they can turn him into something. I wasn't

(45:56):
as high on high on ym as some. You know,
you could have put John Michael Schmids into to Giants
before the draft, you know, or whoever was available, so
that that pick made a lot of sense. Obviously Hyatt
a lot of issues with Hyatt's game, understandably, you know,
teams were not buying the volunteers offense obviously in this draft.

(46:16):
But look, his ability to get downfield is something that
several teams in this draft could have used, and he
can do that in that role, I think he could
be pretty good. So I understood that pick as well.
So and then Eric Gray solid pick, and Dreias Owens
I really thought coming out of Houston, I thought he
could have been a fourth or fifth rounder, So that

(46:38):
was good value to me. Ryden and Hawkins are fine,
you know, nothing special, I don't think, but that's why
they're picked late.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
So I like the Giants discipline in this draft. We
all knew that they needed a wide receiver pretty bad,
but the circumstances happened what they did. Yeah, before consensus,
guys go right in front of them. Some teams will
panic at that point, take Jonathan Mingo or you know, yeah,
someone way up the board. They didn't right like they
knew somebody would. I thought somebody would panic and take Hight.

(47:07):
I really did, and I'm very glad I was wrong
that they didn't panic on Levis or they didn't take
Levis as early as I thought somebody would. And they
didn't take high Itt as early as.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
I thought somebody would. So good for good for teams,
for you know, having that discipline.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
For sure, and with the Giants, so you take the
value in the first round with Deontay Banks. And then
the second round they didn't pull up for a receiver either.
They filled one of their other enormous holes with John
Michael Schmitz, who they were connected with all through the process.
If they'd taken him at twenty four, no one would
have bat it Ni he falls down to him in
the second round. You wait till the third round to
take the receiver. I was a little bit lower on

(47:40):
Jalen Hide for the context that you already gave, but
like in the third round for a receiver desperate team,
I'm okay scratching that inch at that point. Also thought
Eric Gray was a really solid picks. He's a guy
that grows on anymore that you watch him, like, not
the biggest, not the most athletic, but he has that
really well rounded skill set. I comp him to Clyde
Edwards D Laire. Well, a couple of processes go erroneously,

(48:00):
but still it was a first round pick.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Yeah, yep, agree.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
So the next team, and it hates me the NFL
let him do it again. But I thought the Philadelphia
Eagles had one of the best draft classes in the
NFL again this year. What do you think check?

Speaker 2 (48:14):
Yeah, I thought they had the second best draft. And
the only reason I docked them a little bit on
the first round is there is risk tailing taking Jalen
Carter in the top ten. There just is. You can't
get around that. And is he super talented? Yes? Yes,
Did I think he would go out of the top ten? No,
there was no chance he was leaving the top ten.
But you just have to be aware of that risk.

(48:38):
And that's really the only reason to do grades at
this point is really to evaluate at the time what
everybody thought, who was what they're talking about thought about
these players at the time, So you can go back
in three years and say, Okay, why did we miss
on that evaluation. It's not like this guy's going to
be awesome, this guy's going to suck, none of that.

(48:58):
It's really about the team. You know. A lot of
people will say, like, that's like drading grading a drafts,
like you know, giving an exam on the first day
of school. I'm like, no, your draft, You're these draft
grades are grading the teams, not the players, not the players.
So anyway, so Carter, Yes, you know, some risk, they're

(49:18):
obviously talented. Nolan Smith at thirty, great pick. I you
know teams didn't like his size for an edge player.
I wouldn't care about that at all. I would say,
I play him off the ball, I play him on
the edge, I move him around. If teams haven't figured
out what the Cowboys have done with Micah Parsons by
now and the Eagles with the son Reddick by the way, also,

(49:40):
you know that's on them. So I thought that was
a good value. I love Sydney Brown. Thought he would
be a second round pick. I think he's going to
be this year's you know, sub five ten safety who
just goes up and beats up on people and as
just a solid player makes the tackles. A really good
Tyler Steen, he's gonna play guard for him, could to tackle.

(50:00):
Thought that was another really solid pick. Keithy Ringo in
the fourth round. I don't even care that they gave up.
You know, they gave up a fourth round next year,
not a third round next year, if I remember correctly,
and that's you know, that makes more sense to me
than doing this. Let's trade up around to get a guy.
I think they did the good job. I like doing
the seventh round and giving up the future fourth and

(50:22):
I think that made more sense for a guy like that.
They picked a quarterback, which you know what every team
should do that, you know, no matter what, even if
you just signed your quarterback to a big deal, get
another quarterback and a Joemo at the end of the
I mean, he's going to be a three tech for him,
he could have easily gone in the fourth or fifth round.
So really good value there.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Yeah. I like a Joe mo Yeah, he's one of
the like I like those guys who have the unorthodox
builds and Joe Moo. Yeah, he's a little bit on
the smart side, but he has those crazy long arms, right.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Yeah's three tech And for you know, for for this
team in particular, I mean Milton Williams, you know, I
mean all these guys that just fits their their scheme.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
One thousand percent. And and like we knew they loved
Jalen Carter. They were able to get Jaalen Carter for
a very cheap pres you know, in terms of the
trade up with Chicago. Chicago obviously wanted to stay in
the top ten. Grab the taco they like. We also
knew the Eagles love Nolan Smith. He just falls right
into their lap. And then the value picks just kept
coming after that, including even outside of picking. They were
able to buy low on DeAndre Swift, who the Lions

(51:25):
are just tanked his draft value a couple of days
before by taking Jamior Gibbs at twelve. Everyone knew they
wanted to get rid of him. Howie Rosevean's like, hey,
come on down and we'll give you a future day
three picks.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
Like you said, man, it's amazing to me how how
teams just keep feeding the beast in Philadelphia. And look,
not every not every move that how he's made you know,
I'll just say the words Jalen Regor. Look, it doesn't
always go their way, but but when you have when
you hit on the quarterback, this is why you take
quarterbacks every other year at least. Yeah, when you hit

(51:59):
on that guy, it covers up so many mistakes and
it allows you to do so many different things. When
you've got that in place, you could take risks, or
you can trade back and accumulate picks and just see
who turns out. I mean that that opens up so
many possibilities for you. So they're taking advantage of it
right now in Philly they are.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
Yeah, So I ended up giving Philly an A plus.
I usually only give out two A pluses, but like
I had the two that I that it was the
cal A spoiler alert, but the Colts and the Steelers
and the Eagles at and A. But it's like, man,
they destroyed it this year. Like I just couldn't find
any reason to quibble, So I had to bump them
up to an A plus. But now that we've we've
praised the team in the NFC, we're about to go

(52:38):
the other dirty. Yeah, with the San Francisco forty nine ers.
What do you think about this one?

Speaker 2 (52:42):
Yeah? One of my least favorite drafts. Well, first of all,
you know you have to count for the trade lance trade,
which doesn't look like much right now, but we'll see
there's still time on that. I can't blame them for
using the picks on Christian McCaffrey, though, I really can't.
He's been going to be good for them. He was
good for them already. So good Gyr Brown I thought

(53:06):
was okay. I knew he'd be a third round pick.
He's not Takwan Brisker in terms of an athlete, but
he's a solid player and you know, maybe he'll start
for him. Moody in the third round. Didn't get it,
don't understand it. Moody was my favorite kick kicker in
this group, but you know, fifth round is where I
would have taken him at best. Cameron Latto overrated a

(53:29):
little bit or taken too early because of the tight
end runs. That was a reach down the board a
little bit deep Winners might be my favorite pick of
this in the sixth round. Be honest, and Ronnie Bell
is a tough guy. I would never bet against Ronnie Bell,
so you know, grabbing him before it becomes a free
agent makes sense. So overall, probably one of my least

(53:49):
favorite drafts.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
Yeah, me too. I gave the forty nine ers an half,
and it wasn't because of the lack of equity. Like
there's other teams that i'd lack of equity that I
gave solid grades to because they were picking good guy
in their slots or good values. The forty nine ers didn't,
and it seems like they were just making luxury picks
more or less like the Moody pick, Like you mentioned,
no one else thought he was gonna go like on

(54:11):
day two, maybe a fourth round guy. If they hadn't,
maybe he falls to the fifth like you mentioned, but
they pull up for him a lot too. It seemed
like that's both the tight end run like you said,
but also that the forty nine ers really valued the
cognitive test whatnot. Lat too was one of the highest
tight end scorers on the Y S T whatnot. But
on the field, like we've seen that kit plenty. I

(54:33):
don't know, I just didn't, you know, I just thought
he's sort of a mediocre talent. You brought up both
the names on day three, the two picks that I liked,
I didn't like the rest of them, But I thought
d Winners is a solid value, thought Ronnie Bell is
a sawid value. But they made was it two four?
They made six picks on day three. The rest of
them could have could have left. So they got one
of my f grades this year. Move into another team

(54:54):
in their division that did a little bit of a
better job. They had way more draft equity, But I
thought they did better job with the picks that they made.
Seattle Seahawks, Yeah, what'd you think about them?

Speaker 2 (55:04):
You know they got the top You can argue the
top I might have gone Christian Gonzales over Witherspoon, but
that's me. But regardless, a cornerback that they needed desperately
in Witherspoon, Smith and Jigba is going to be the
best receiver in the class, I think so. I think
that was a good pick. I knew he I figured
somebody might trade into that twenty spot to take him

(55:27):
if if Seattle didn't take him. So he went right
where I thought he would end up in the end.
And Derek Klea thought it was a little bit of
a push up the board. But you know, he's not
like he's not a good player. Obviously he is, but
I thought he was more of a third round value,
late second, early third. Charboney. I like Zach Charboney as
a runner, but like the team taking running backs back
to back second rounds, I didn't understand that at all.

(55:50):
My favorite picks were the next to Anthony Bradford, who
I think had started guard for them this year. I
was a little surprised he can go in the third
round and Cameron Young in fourth round. They needed they
needed to bulk up that defensive line. He's gonna play.
He's good potentially start. I mean they may resign al
Woods and he may end up starting, but Young is
gonna be a perfect fit for them. I really like.

(56:12):
So those are the two guys that I really liked
in that draft. And honestly, like if Kenny mckett. Look,
there's a lot of things about Kenny McIntosh's game. He's
not a great athlete and all that stuff, but like,
if you're asking me who the better Kenny McIntosh in
the seventh round, I mean, if they would have not
taken Charbonna and done something else and then taken Kenny

(56:32):
McIntosh and another guy on day two, I would have,
I think, appreciated that more thousand percent.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Yeah, Like I love Devin Witherspoon, like god him as
a top three defender like overall in this class. So
I'm cool with them taking taking them like being bullished there.
Love that Jackson's been and jig Ba pick like Seattle,
they have the two really good boundary receivers. They needed
a slot. Dwayne ms Gridge does not panned out. And
now you got that right, So now you're souped up
on offense everything like that. I agree with you. They

(57:00):
pulled haul little up the board. They might have gotten
skittish because of that that edge run. Maybe if it's me,
like you know, whether it's that pick or the cherbone
a pick, like you got to look at the interior line.
I would John Michael Schmitz was right out there, like,
you know, like for me, that's the direction I would
have gone with one of those picks. Sharbon Ay, I
agree with you. I love Zach Sharbonay. I ranked them

(57:20):
slightly ahead of Jumior Gibbs on my overall you know
rankings whatever, But like it's just weird that Seattle took them.
And then they explained, like on Friday night after the
drafts done, They're like, oh, yeah, you know, we had
to improve our screen game. And it's like, well, yeah,
Zach's Charbona is certainly a better in the past game
than Kenneth Walker is. But it's like, you're not gonna
take that guy in the second round for the screen game.

(57:41):
And then they took the screen game running back with
the pick two thirty seven the applementary Kenny McIntosh. So
I don't know what they're doing at the running back position.
I do love them.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Part of me wonders, part of me wonders if there's
not more to the Kenneth Walker situation than they're letting
on if they're doing that. So I mean that we
that could be the thing, and if that turns out
to be the case, then we'll we'll see that.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
But yeah, it was very interesting.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
By the way, on the interior offensive line. I thought
there was some reaching going on in late day two
and early day late day two, especially at center and
the fact that they got Olo with Teamy when they
did yeah to play center. Uh, you know him and Bradford.
They played two star rookie tackles last year and they
may played two rookies on the interior line this year,

(58:26):
so maybe, you know, I think I think that turned
out for him pretty well.

Speaker 1 (58:30):
Yeah, Olo a team. He was awesome in college at
two different conferences over the years. Yeah, so like yeah,
I mean, like I know, he's a little bit on
the smaller side. He's not like the most powerful pivot,
but like super smart, super reliable, doesn't blow blocks and Bradford,
I totally agree with you. Like I had Bradford one
of four on my board, just a little bit above
the slot that they took him in. Fabulous athlete, like

(58:50):
one of the best athletes of the interior line class,
so absolutely worth the dart throat there. I ended up
giving Seattle a C plus and migrates Chad. Moving on
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what do you think about
their class?

Speaker 2 (59:02):
I love Clide, you canci. I'm not gonna apologize for it.
I I really love that dude, I think. I mean, look,
he's not Aaron Donald, but I don't care. I if
he's Jonathan Allen, then he's pretty damn good as far
as I'm concerned. So I liked him. Cody mock to
me's first round pick all day, team's totally slept on him.
So I like him as a guard. I think he

(59:23):
can play tackle too. I don't care about his arm
length at all. I think he's a guy that's going
to step in for them immediately and contribute, and you know, honestly,
like you know, even if the left tackle situation gets
a little murky nowadays, I think I think they can
play market left tackle. I really do.

Speaker 1 (59:40):
So.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
I thought that was a great pick. Uh, Dabby was okay.
I mean I think they needed an edge maybe a
little early, a little bit of a project there, but
he's got potential. Dennis A typical Tampa Bay undersize aggressive
linebacker Payne Durham. Payne Durham is one of these guys.
He's ry Cameron Braid, I means very Cameron Braid. So

(01:00:02):
I think for what they wanted, the athleticism, lack of
athleticism doesn't matter. Trey Palmer, if he catches the ball, great,
you know you take a chance on him, like again,
like Valdus Scantleen coming out. If he figures out how
to catch the ball, then you know he might have
something later and then he gotta love Jose Ramirez. Shout
out to the Highlander movie fans out there with Ramirez.

(01:00:25):
I love that dude as an edge. You know, late
round edge is gonna come out, doesn't need a pass rusher,
and then you know see what happens after that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
Yeah, I totally agree that. I'm a big fan of cant.
I thought that's a solid slot to take. Cody Mak
one of my favorite offensive linemen in this class. Like,
awesome athlete to play, attitude, like the way he plays
the game, whatnot, Like how can you disrespect that?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Like him better than Trevor Penning. I've liked him better
all year, and I like Trevor Penning, so like, I
don't get the second round stuff, but anyway, for.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
Sure, Like I had Moke thirty third on my board,
I comped him to Cole Strange because I do think
he's inside, but like cold Strange obviously was a first
round pick. So yeah, Like I like Tampa's class. I
gave them a B minus. I like the late rounders too,
the flyers, Like you're totally right with Trey Palmer. He's
this ferrari of an athlete, but like the ball skills
aren't there. He reminds me so much of Jalen regor

(01:01:16):
A coming out of TCU. But Regor they take him
what was twenty first pick or whatever that year, like
with the price point that you get Trey Palmer one
ninety one, Like yeah, I mean, if it works out,
it works out. If not, who cares? And then Jose
Ramirez was super productive at Eastern Michigan and he also
has the agility. Obviously he's unorthodox. He a little bit smaller,

(01:01:36):
but you just see what you got there, Chad. Last, last,
but not least, let's hit the Washington Commanders as we
close out the NFC. Not as good of a class
on the way that I've seen it. But what do
you think about Washington then?

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Yeah, I mean Emmanuel Forbes. I have issues when you
take a cornerback based on interceptions because interceptions are fickle. Yeah,
a lot of Innes interceptions. He did a great job
grabbing the ball when it was tipped and all that stuff,
But look, that's not going to happen all the time
in the NFL. And so one hundred and sixty six
pound who had to work himself up to one hundred

(01:02:09):
and sixty six pounds, by the way, is kind of
worrisome to me. It didn't bother me with DeVante Smith
coming out of you know, as a receiver, because you
know he's fine. And the thing about Forbes is he's tough.
It's not like he's contact shy, He's he's tough. So
that but that was higher than I would have taken him.
Chartavius Martin Fine Stromberg one of these guys that got

(01:02:31):
pulled up a little bit. I think in this draft
at the center position, Braydon Daniels actually was a better value.
I think. I think he's the injury kind of kept
him under the radar, so I would have rather taken
him in the late third. Same with kJ Henry. I
would have taken him a little bit later, even though
he's not, you know, an elite by any by any stretch,
but I think he gives you enough versatility. He you know,

(01:02:53):
he can he can stand up, he can go down.
I think he's a he's a guy that could contribute
for them this year. Andre Jones. They had to get
another edge rusher two because they're just lacking people there.
And Rodriguez is a is a battering ramp so overall
not the best. You know, he was in the probably
among the bottom third or so of the drafts this here.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
That's certainly where I had him. Washington got a D
minus on in my grades. The like I'm okay like
getting me in, you know, for I'm okay being bullisher
on that, but you're totally right. Like the interception number
was fluky. Four of the six interceptions he had last
year were on reps. He was beaten, whether the receiver
felt down, whether the ball clanged off the receiver's hands
and just popped into the air, all of them were flukes.

(01:03:37):
Like they're the four of the six reflukes whatnot. And
so you know you have the ball production but yeah,
he's on the smaller side. I know he has the
length and the athleticism to help mitigate it. I like
the way he plays the game, but like it's, you know,
just in a vacuum, a reach. But I thought it
became even more egregious because of the circumstances. Washington just
didn't read the room tight ends and cornerbacks, and like

(01:03:59):
the NFL, looking at how deep those classes were, they
artificially deflated the value of every tight end and cornerback
who had a first round grade if their name wasn't
Devin Withers. But the rest of those guys got pushed
down because teams that were making the decision in the moment,
they're like, yeah, we're just gonna take one of these
other positions we have a need in the first round,
and we'll save tight end in cornerback till day two

(01:04:20):
because we know that we're gonna get an immediate started
there because of how good these classes are, and Washington's.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Gonna be better than Joey Porter. I don't know, I
don't think so, I don't.

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
Know, I don't think like I wouldn't have taken those two,
you know, straight up, I certainly would have taken Joey Porter,
but especially when you know the context of like and
you you already know it, right because like Christian Gazzalez
fallen down the board, Porter's falling down the board. Banks
has fallen down the board. It's not like they were
picking second and they didn't know it was going to
go down. They didn't engage it in advance, and then
they just didn't watch what was right in front of

(01:04:50):
their eyes. And at sixteen you reach for Emmanuel Fords
where they could have taken him later, like, especially when
you know the circumstances, they could have traded down to
the end of that round at least and gotten him.
So I questioned that one. I like Kwan Martin, but
they pulled up for him too. They pulled up for
Stromberg like you were mentioning. I did really like the
Bradon Daniels pick, Like, you know, he's you know, for

(01:05:13):
a tackle, he's a little bit on the smarter side,
but he has the athleticism, he's got trades, he's got
versatility for me guard.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
It's not like he hasn't played. I mean, he's that's
where you know, honestly, they could have taken Cam Smith
in the second round with their with their second round pick, right,
So it's not you know, I don't and.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
They you know, speaking of like the depth of these
classes and not sort of like circumstantially getting it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
They needed a.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Tight end, in my opinion, and this is one of
the deepest tight end classes that we see in years
and years. Here they didn't use any pick out of
tight end. It's like, guys, come on, what are these picks?
You can't use a pick on the tight end.

Speaker 2 (01:05:49):
Yeah, but it's interesting with that because and I'm just
I just want to see because you know, it's funny.
I thought they kind of needed a tight end coming in.
But I think I you know what was interesting on
their rosters AARMANI Rogers and oh yeah, if you think
that guy is gonna become a number two guy and

(01:06:11):
you've got Baits and Turner as your number three guys,
then I can get it a little bit more. I
So I kind of I kind of backed off that
a little bit in the end because you know, a
lot of the you know, the I don't know, I
think we've been talking ourselves that this is a great
tight end press, this is a great tight end class,
and in the end, you start comparing these guys with

(01:06:32):
some of the other prospects that are, you know, like
the the younger guys in the league that are already
on rosters, and maybe, you know, maybe we're better off
staying with the guys that we have on our roster
that we know instead of taking that you know, guy
on day three. Obviously I'm not talking about Michael Maher
and those guys, but so anyway, I thought about that

(01:06:52):
and then I just kind of backed off that a
little bit. So, yeah, they probably liked the guys they
got as Day three guys, so I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:58):
Yeah, they love those usition converts at tight end. Maybe
they should have tried to sign harder Cephas Johnson and
the udif fairs and then welcome all up a little
bit and become a tight end or something like that.
But Chad, this was a lot of fun. That's all
the time that we have for today for my buddy
Chad writer of NFL dot Com. I'm Thorneisram. Thank you
for being with us and tune in later this week

(01:07:19):
as I run through the AFC draft grades with another
special guest. Thank you for listening to the Fantasy pros
Football Podcast, Follow us on Twitter

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
And Instagram at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to your YouTube
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