Draft Season | The Athletic’s Dane Brugler on 2023 top prospects

The Draft Season crew is joined by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler to chat about the 2023 top ranked prospects, discuss the deepest position groups, and break down the quarterback class. SUBSCRIBE: Apple | Spotify | Google | Stitcher | iHeartRadio 00:41 - Ranking top players 04:46 - Best position groups 18:21 - Looking at Quarterback Class 25:47 - Florida QB Anthony Richardson 33:24 - Clemson prospects

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
No officially open. Welcome to a new episode of Draft Season.
I am John Schmilk. It's all brought to you by
Tommy He'll figure, a PVH brand and an official partner
of the New York Football Giants. I Am John Schmilk,
Eric Crocker, Tony Polino, U Joe Suspects, and with the
first part of the show, will be joined by the
great Dane Brugler, of course, covers the NFL Draft for

(00:25):
the Athletic Dane, how are you enjoying the first month
or so of the college football season. So far so good?
You know, we've uh it's shaped up to be a
really interesting draft class. Uh. The quarterbacks are a little
bit better, so it's a lot more fun to talk
about those guys. But yeah, so far, so good. It's
gonna be a fun season. Yes, and I'm gonna bury
the lead. We're gonna get to the quarterbacks last with Dane.

(00:47):
Before we get started. I'd like to get your take
on this. To Tony and you, two croc Is guys
that kind of rank these prospects more than me during
the year, what's your process here, Dane? Do you have
like a almost like a running power rankings thing with
like your top fifty, where you're adjusting the list every week.
Eek is, guys, you know, do more things and you
learn more about these guys. Tony Eric, same thing for you.
How do you guys just continuously track where you have

(01:08):
these guys in related to to the class overall? Dame
you first, Well, yeah, for me, it starts in the
summer where I build a database. Um, you know, I've
got an Excel spreadsheet where you know, thousands of thousands
of players based off of talks with scouts, my own evaluations, Um,
you know, rank these guys, and then you know that
that's your base. You go into the season with already

(01:29):
having expectations for what these players are and what they
could be. And then as we go through the college
football season, that's when you tweak it. That's when uh,
you know the terms risers, follers, That's where it's really relevant.
During the season, you're watching the tape, You're figuring, Okay,
are these guys playing up to their potential? It says
there's something going on with these guys, and so you

(01:50):
you adjust the rankings from there. For me, I did
a top fifty in August before the season started, and
then I probably won't do an updated Top fifty at
least for another month or so. Try to give get
more tape, get these guys at least, you know, uh,
seven eight games of the college season before we start,
you know, making these declarative statements, so he's jumping up

(02:10):
around or you know, all that kind of stuff. So
it's it's definitely a process about you. Yeah, I mean similar,
I watched game film throughout the summer. In fact, I'm
I'm still watching last year's game film on the small
school guys, and that's how I get my list and
my quote unquote rankings, or at least I like to
consider rankings, I mean my grades on my guys, And
at this point in time, I'm usually more conservative with

(02:32):
my grades because I like to see a degree of
progress in a player's game, a degree of improvement. I
really don't start watching this season's film, the two thousand
twenty two film until November, because you know, you need
some sort of foundation, you need something to build up on.
And I think the worst thing that people do is
they go gaga over a guy based on a single

(02:54):
game performance. You know, I will write about risers and
sliders and I always said he, well, he has the
potential if he keeps hitting in this way, because we're
so early in the season, and you know, once in
a while, there'll be a guy that will come out
of Nowhere's They even Collins a couple of years ago.
You know, people look Tyler Smith, Thomas Smith was pretty
good as they uphmore as well. But you know, you
always got to keep your ear to the ground for

(03:15):
those names that others are talking about scouts in the
league that may not have made that initial list over
the summer um. But you know, you always I try
and be more conservative at this point at point in
time because I want to see these guys improve. If
they don't improve or if they regress, it will be
reflective in the grids, how about you. Yeah, I look

(03:37):
at other guys list, So I'll check out you know,
Danes or Tony's and some other lists around and I'll see, like, okay,
who do people think the top guys are? And every
every once in a while I go to Twitter as well,
and I'll say, hey, you know, who are you guys
watching film on? And I kind of do that over
the summer where I kind of that's kind of how
I build my database of who's who, and then just
throughout the season, I'll take note on different things I'm watching,

(03:59):
Like you know, we'll get to some of these receiver prospects,
but like a T. Perry right and I'm watching them
aginst Clemson and kind of what he's doing to the
defense and coming his strengths and weaknesses and whatnot. But
as far as like really diving into a twenty two
film of the twenty three class, that's probably later, like
really kind of more towards uh Senior Bowl, kind of

(04:20):
in that range where I have a data base where
I can just kind of really go in and watch
four or five games, three or four or five games
of a guy and then come away with my thoughts.
But initially it's going off of other guy's list and
just getting my initial thoughts on what I'm seeing from
a player. All right, So then let's start here. How
is this class shaping up? If you want to talk
about overall strength, that's fine. What position groups seem to

(04:42):
be emerging, It seems that it's it's a strong trenches
draft on at least on the defensive side of the ball.
How do you see this class kind of slowly forming
in your eye as we've gotten through about a month
of college football. Yeah, definitely, a few positions are really
standing out. I think corner has a lot of potential.
Running back. We should see you to four running back
straft to top fifty this year. Uh. And I think

(05:03):
interesting quality depth in the mid rounds quarterback, no doubt,
you know, like I said, anything would have been enough
grade over last year's class. But uh, teams are really
intrigued with some of these underclassmen. With Bryce Young and
c J. Shroud, Will Levis is a top senior. There's
a handful of uh, interesting senior quarterbacks after Levice that
could be in that mid round mix. But yeah, I

(05:23):
mean you alluded to it. It all starts with the
defensive line, both on the edge and an inside of
defensive tackle. I think a lot of people would maybe
argue the top two players in this class or on
the defensive line with Alabama's Will Anderson Georgia's Jalen Carter,
uh and maybe not necessarily in that order. Uh. There's
some debate there, but it doesn't end there. There's plenty

(05:43):
of interesting pass rushers in this class. Defensive tackle last year,
you could argue was the worst position UH in last
year's draft, but it's the potential to be one of
the better positions this year, especially with these underclassmen Brian
Berz at Clemson, uh Eka At at bail Or Von
Dexter at Florida, Marzi Smith. If he's gonna play like

(06:03):
he did against Maryland this past weekend, UH, If he's
gonna play like that every week, he'll be in that
mix as well. So plenty of names on this defensive
line who will be talking about a lot the next
few months. Is that how you see a two tone? Well,
I think Missy Smith and we talked about this last
show when we have Bruce Felman on. I mean, Moszy
Smith right now is a top twenty player for me

(06:25):
based on the last year's film, because, as I said,
the last show, everybody was talking about a Jabu and
I and Hutchinson, but when you really watched the film,
it was number fifty eight in the middle of that
mine that was commanding double teams and collapsing the pocket. UH.
And I just think that people are gonna fall in
love with my Massy Smith. I'm not as high as
the on the cornerback class. I think it does have
some potential, but I don't know that I see any

(06:47):
of MyD Gardeners and Derek Stingley's right now. I think
one of the other guys that's gonna be left out
of the conversation is Miles Murphy or it is not
being talked about enough, is Miles Murphy. I would agree, though,
I think that this parallels last year's draft, and every
one is gonna be wanting want to search for the quarterback,
and we do have some potentially very good quarterbacks. Is
Day mentioned, But I think right now, when you look
at it, the top of the draft, the best prospect

(07:09):
short in the defensive front seven. How about your croc.
What do you like out of this class so far? Yeah,
the same thing, And I mean go back to the
quarterback class. This is definitely much more intriguing than last season.
I think, you know, two thousand and twenty two draft,
you were thinking, Okay, there's gonna be a Spencer Rattler
or Sam how some of these other guys that people like.
And then you know, you go through the season and
you're watching these guys and you're evaluating them, and guys

(07:31):
are getting benched and we've seen some of that early
on already with Tyranth Van Dyke uh and some of
these guys. So it's been intriguing for me to kind
of see how everything plays out at the quarterback position.
Dan anyone that has really stepped up in any spot
here and you think really helped themselves with how they've
played so far to start this year. Oh yeah, definitely
a few names, uh. Guard of Cyrus Torrence, who could

(07:52):
have stayed at Louisiana UH and still would have been
a day to draft pick. He follows Billy Napier to
Florida and he's been playing at a high level against
better competition. He's a people mover on the run game,
gets the job done in pass pro U. We've seen
Louisiana developed some of these offensive linemen in the last
few years, but torrens he's the best of the group.
And he's better than Robert Hunt who was drafted top

(08:14):
forty a couple of years ago and now showing what
he can do in the SEC that's putting him in
the round one mix um. So he's a name that's
really helped himself. Another one another transfer Florida States Jared
Verset coming over from FCS Albany. He's been sidelined the
last few weeks with an injury, but he got off
to such a hot start. His energy off the edge

(08:35):
is exactly what NFL teams are looking for. And then
you you'll need a bear with me. I need a pump.
Two of my guys, two players that I ranked really
high in the summer, and so far I think they've
lived up to it. SMU receiver Rashi Rice. He was
my number one senior receiver in the preseason based off
of what he did last year. So far, he's played
like he he leads the FBS and receiving yards, a

(08:56):
very high first down rate. He's a ball winner, body control,
hand eye coordination, uses his length really well. I'm not
confident he'll be the first receiver senior receiver drafted. I
still think Tennessee centric Tillman uh is probably the favorite there,
but Rice has more than lived up to the hype.
And then one of these corners that I really liked
this year, Oregon's Christigan zal Is. He was in the

(09:18):
top my top ten of my preseason top fifty. That's
how high I think of him, and I think he's
he's lived up to that long athletic, he can run
right there. NFL teams are interested. But then you see
his coverage skills, his awareness that he's getting better every
single week. Gave up a touchdown in the opener against Georgia,
but he's been a lockdown player ever since that game,
So trades skill set. I absolutely believe he's in that

(09:43):
CB one conversation Tony I. So you know, not in
your head when he mentioned Rice, anyone else jump back
to you. Well, the thing about Rice is you gotta
remember he's the man now in that SMU offense. I
mean they had two damn good receivers last year. One
was taken in the third round, the Owen Robertson was
probably a a mid round pick, but the medicals pushed
him out of the draft. Now he's the guy at

(10:04):
s m U. He doesn't have those two other guys
to kind of take the pressure off of him, and
he's really elevated his game. He has played lights out.
He was I believe a Week two riser on my
list because he's played so well. And again, you know,
look the progress in this game. Look where he is
this year compared to a year ago, which is what
I really like you know one guy you talk about
a Houstate, everyone talks about c J. Stroud to talk

(10:25):
about Paris Johnson, the guard who moved to left tackle.
I love their center, Luke Luke Whippler. I mean, watch
that guy. Because Ohio State has always produced good centers,
They've always had a lot of good interior a linement.
I think Whippler is gonna be the best center to
come out of Ohio State since Nick Nick Mangle. And
this guy is that good. I have him rated higher
right now than the Paris Johnson, who's still learning, in

(10:48):
my opinion, to play that left tackle position. But Whippler
is strong at the point of attack and he's mobile.
He gets on the second level. He devastates linebackers in
motion and players in that uh in that second third level. One.
I was watching the Ohio State Wisconsin saved yesterday, and
that I mean c J. Stroud. The receivers are right.
It's easy to uh, you know, fall in love with
the guys that are touching the ball. But you're absolutely right, Tony.

(11:10):
The offensive line was just amazing. And that game and
Keanu Betton, the nose tackle w Scott you even know
he was playing and Whippler is a big part of that.
So the guard, Uh, he's a true sophomore. We'll be
talking a lot about him. Uh in a few years
here to one Jones at right tackle. So yeah, that
Ohio State offensive line is as much a reason for
the success as anybody else on that offense. And that

(11:32):
was a huge matchup, the Kiana Benton with Whippler matchup,
and Whippler went out more times than not. I mean
that that game was over early in the first quarter,
so you really couldn't get your your finger on the pulse.
But early on Whippler was getting the better room. And
Benton is a very highly rated defensive tackle. Is croc
or anyone early in this year jumping out to you,

(11:53):
you can go anywhere you want. Yeah, I think I'm
going to the running back position. And I think a
lot of people knew, you know, Bigan Robinson and kind
of what he can do and uh gives over there
at Alabama and those were kind of two of the
top names. But man Blake horm And I know he
had a huge game against Maryland, but just what it
looks like, you know, just understanding how to you know
you lize is blocking run off of guy's bust, the

(12:14):
explosiveness you're trying to You're starting to see that long speed,
contact balance, all those things that you like to see.
How running back and I'm not sure exactly where he'll
go and if he can continue to stack those type
of games, but so far, I mean watching him against
Maryland and some of his other appearances, I'm like, okay,
can you continue to get not thirty carries a game
like he did against Maryland, but you know, more than
what he had gotten early in the season, no question

(12:37):
about it, Dane, who needs to show more? You know,
you and Tony talked about you guys watched the film
from the year before, So you set expectations for yourself, right,
anyone for you and then Eric Tony, I'll get your
take on this too. Has not met maybe some of
the expectation that you have for them heading into the year. Well,
I think the low hanging fruit answer would be Florida
corter of Anthon Richardson. He was so good and ty

(12:59):
game against Utah and the opener um and then you know,
since then it's a little bit bound hill. Now he
played okay against Tennessee, but you know he's just he's
so gifted uh as gift as Cam Newton physically, except
he's probably faster um, but he's just so young as
a passer in terms of recognizing what the defense is
trying to do. Uh, just being able to settle himself

(13:20):
down complete passes. So what he does the next few
months will really determine. Okay, we're gonna be talking about
him in draft or more likely draft, so UH tv
D with him. Uh. And then on defense, I think
Iowa State senior Will McDonald UH, he's never going to
be a high level run defender and that that's always
a concern, but you better be a high level pass

(13:42):
rusher if that's the case. And I just I don't know,
I want more from him. I expected more from him
the season so far. He's averaging only two pressures per
game so far this season in four games. That's not
going to cut it. There was definitely chatter amongst scouts
in the summer about him maybe sneaking into the back
end around one because the last two years he's had
double digit sacks. He's a guy that can get to

(14:03):
the backfield, but you know, he's just struggled to make
much of an impact for the cyclone so far this year.
I think part of the problem with McDonald is he's
out of place. I mean, they play a three man line.
He's five pounds, he's you know, if he's gonna play
it with his hand in the ground, he's gotta be
in a four man line. Even better, better yet standing
up over tackle because when you're watch him, he's very athletic.

(14:23):
You drop off the line and make place in space.
So you know, I agree with you. You know, one
of those guys you expected more, he wanted to see
some development is game. I think really in the early
part of the season. As far as guys you expect more,
you just gotta stay on the quarterback team. I mean
Spencer Rattler sadly is proving that in my opinion, where
that two thousand and twenty was the exception to the rule.
As Kroc was saying before a year ago this time

(14:45):
we were talking about Spencer Rattlers being a top five pick.
He was having troubles at Oklahoma. Evidently eventually found the bench,
just can't seem to get it back into gear. You know,
you mentioned Tyler van Dyku. I was never very high
on Tyl A. Van Dyke. I like the upside, I
like the potential, but the inconsistency just drove me nuts.
At a position where you can't be very inconsistent. I

(15:08):
would like to see more from Jaden Daniels at l
s U as a passer. He's a good college quarterback,
he's a good all character. But I really want to
see him or hope that he can elevate his skills
as a passer, which will help his draft stock. I
don't know that he's gonna do it on the Brian
Kelly at l s U because Kelly's never seemed to
be able to develop quarterbacks when it was a notary game.

(15:29):
That was his a kryptonite, if you will. I like
that you brought up Jade Daniels because I'm gonna go
to Keshan Boote, who has kind of been a little
bit of a disappointment. And you know, okay, the quarterback situation,
it's a little up and down with the aggrescy and whatnot.
But can you be a receiver that helps out your
quarterback right? Because even at the NFL that was not
always gonna be perfect. You gotta go out there, you
gotta make plays, and I've seen Keshan to have opportunities

(15:52):
to make plays and make his quarterback look good and
he's not coming down with it. Now, maybe we're spoiled
by you know, playing at L s U and what
we've seen from guys like Mark Chase and what it
looked like with him and Joe Burrow. And I'm not
saying Daniels is Joe Burrow at all, but Joe Burrow.
I mean the connection with him and Jamar Chase was
he I'm going to throw the ball in the area
of him, He's gonna come down with the ball. He's
gonna make me look good or make me right even

(16:14):
when I'm wrong. And right now I mean Cashwan Boute.
I mean, this is probably as bad of a start
to the season as he could have had. And I
don't think it's all because the quarterback position. There's been drops,
there's been opportunities for him to make plays over defenders,
and he's not doing that part. So I mean a
guy who people have ranked and you know, to ten

(16:34):
of this draft class to kind of start the season,
and I think we gotta pump the brakes a little
bit on that and see if eventually he can turn
into that guy. But I've been disappointed with what I
was expecting to see from him and kind of the
return on that right now, and along those lines, when
we talked about the defensive line being to strengthen this
draft wide receiver, you know, it's relative to the past

(16:55):
few years, it's it's one of the weaker positions in
terms of high end talent. Last year we had six
receivers go top twenty. Several of those guys have you know,
shown out already at the NFL level. Uh, this year
we might not have a receiver drafted in the top twenty.
I mean Jackson Smith and jigb is a good player.
I think he's gonna be a good pro I think
Twitter likes him a little more than NFL teams do.

(17:16):
Uh K m Boute, who you just talked about maybe
not living up to the potential of what what we
think he can be. He's just he has not been
a clean prospect so far. So uh. And Jordan Addison,
you know, that transfer to USC's helping him show how
electric he is, but he's not a loft to go
top twenties. So uh, the overall position at receiver, uh,
just you want to seem a little more out of

(17:38):
some of these guys to justify drafting them very high
in the draft at face value. I agree with what
Dane saying, but I'd say be careful only because at
this point in time last year, the receiver class really
didn't look very good. And I say that, I'd say,
I bet you one hundred dollars and gave you ten
to one odds at this point last year that six

(17:59):
years severs we're gonna go to the top twenty two draft.
You were taking that bet because you would said there's
no way sit receivers are going. So we don't know.
I agree with what what what it seems like on paper, um,
And again last year we were at this point in time,
a lot of us were falling over the tight end class,
which kind of petered out at the end there. So
I agree, but again, this is why we're in the

(18:19):
early stages at this point. All right, we kind of
pitter padded around the quarterback. So let's kind of dive
into it, guys, Dane, we know about Bryce Young and c. J.
Stroud as anyone else entered that conversation with those two
at the top of the classes. Let us there or
is it really a two man or maybe you think
it's a one man conversation of who the top quarterback
is going to be this spring. I don't know that

(18:40):
anything has happened so far this year that's really changed. Um,
you know what we thought going in. I think brace
Young has been If Bryce Young had were a bigger quarterback,
he'd be the clear cut quarterback want I think, Um,
But he's so he's very much an outlier. Uh. It's
not just his height, you know. It's not Russell Wilson,
Kyler Murray, those guys thicker. Those guys had some meat

(19:01):
on the bones. Brace Young is going to be, you know,
under two hun pounds and that's something that is going
to be a big deal when teams staff these players
and and consider drafting a quarterback high. But brace Young
has so much that translates to the next level in
terms of his awareness, his ability to improvise whether he's
in the pocket, outside the pocket, very accurate thrower. So

(19:24):
brace Young there's so much to like as long as
you can as long as you're okay with the size
C J. Stroud. Uh, it's a lot of fun to
see him operate in that offense. The way he can
layer to the ball down the field. Um. But he
still has a few areas where he needs to get better.
And he's he's a red shirt sophomore. I mean, it's
not a surprise that he's not a finished product just yet.
And then with Will Levice, Uh, physically he might be

(19:46):
the prototype. The size, the play strength, the arm strength, UM,
the athleticism that he brings. But again, he's still making
some decisions he shouldn't. And that's something he's the only
a second year starter, even though he's just your fifth
year senior. It's been around a while. This is only
a second year and you factor in new offensive coordinator,
you factor in no more one Dale Robinson. He's dealing

(20:07):
with the new cast around him. They lost three guys
on the offensive line. Uh. He hasn't had Chris Rodriguez
out there, who's been suspended. He'll be back here this weekend.
But there's a lot of things in that Kentucky offense
that I think it's it's a moving situation, and I
think how we feel about these quarterbacks now might change
over the next two months and might ultimately decide, Okay,
how early these quarterbacks gonna go. What's the exact order

(20:30):
so now it's still a little too early to tell,
but you know that all three of those guys have
fans across the NFL. Yeah. I think the thing that
young is every time you want to try and kind
of them out or you want to try and put
him down, you watch him against Texas and he methodically
just surgically moves the team down the field, gets the
ball on the end zone. Uh. And I agree with Dane.

(20:52):
I mean, the the issues will be the physical aspects
of it. He's not big, he doesn't have a really
strong arm, especially compared to c. J. Stroud. Uh. But
you know those mental and tangibles, the way he sees
the field, the way he reads the defense, the way
he uses all his targets, his accuracy, his pass placement. Uh,
quick release too, man, he quick who I mean, it

(21:13):
is just so appealing. Will Levis kind of scares me.
I mean, yeah, he's got all the physical skills and
he makes some beautiful passes, but there are times the
ball is all over the place, and that sort of
inaccuracy at at the quarterback position does kind of scare me.
I I be shocked unless he goes to like the
senior senior ball or even the Shrine game and has

(21:33):
three days of knockout practice where someone's gonna fall in
love with him. I think Will Levis is far far
below the top two guys. I think the one guy
that is intrigues me, and he's someone who doesn't have
the prototypical size that I like is Grace and McCall
of Coastal Carolina. Guy who's just been a winner. Guy
who's accurate, Bryce Young like in the sense that he

(21:55):
sees what's happening, he knows what's going on in the field.
He's reads a terrific uh. He's very accurate, does a
great job placing passes where only his receivers can come
away with the ball. But again, it's not the biggest guy.
He doesn't have the strongest arm, so you're gonna have
to design a system around him. I think a guy
that people aren't really talking about, and maybe I pay

(22:17):
a little bit more attention to him because I am
in the natural state of Arkansas, but kJ Jefferson over
there and kind of what he's doing. I think when
you just watch him, especially from what I saw from
him before, it's like, man, have balls all over the place.
You see some ability but I think this year he's
kind of honed in a little bit, hasn't been asporadic
with the accuracy he's able to make plays. He kind
of reminds me a little bit of like the Mississippi

(22:38):
State Dak Prescott, where he's not super athletic, but he
can utilize his legs. You see enough armstrain and ability,
and I think he's continuing to kind of put it together.
Maybe the loss to text saying them last week doesn't
help maybe how he's perceived, but I think overall, I've
seen him doing a really good job and continuing to
improve him. I think he'd even be further along if
they would have elected to play him his freshman year

(23:00):
over Felipe. Frank's right, not just that, like it's kind
of a throwaway year. It was a COVID year, play
the young guy and let him kind of developed. Last
year he started to come along. I think this year
he's continuing to get better. So we'll see if he's
a guy that potentially enters the draft. But I've seen
him progress each year. Well that's in week to week.
You want to see, Okay, a tough loss against a

(23:21):
n m uh, you know, It's an up and down
game for him. Wasn't great, wasn't bad. But now he's
got Alabama coming up here this weekend, So how does
he respond against a really good defense against you know,
not he's not facing off against Bryce Young, but Brayce
Young on the other side. That that'll be a big
test for him. How does he mentally come back from
that tough loss against a n M No time to

(23:42):
think about it, You got to prepare for the Alabama defense,
and so very eager to see how he performs this
weekend day. Want to just follow up on one thing
before we say goodbye on Bryce Young. At some point
is it going to be held against him that maybe
he doesn't have those weapons outside that the mac Jones
had that two a half, So maybe in the end
those numbers might not be as spectacular as maybe some

(24:04):
of these guys before because he's not running out of
Davante Smith and Jerry Judy, you know all those guys.
You know, his Alabama's receiving corps isn't what it was before.
Do you think that might catch up with him at
some point this year? Well, I think we already have
seen that it has in the text that that's exactly
what it was. But you know, let's scouts know that.
You know that, that's why the rule of scouting his

(24:25):
trades over production. Uh. You know, if he has Heisman
like numbers again this year, great, but teams are focusing on, uh,
you know, the fact that the game just it's not
too fast for him, the way he can process, the
way he he just has really good rhythm in his body,
so he can make things happen. And so the fact
that he's lifting his team where they have questions at

(24:45):
wide receiver. The offensive line has not played well, got
a got a good running game, but you know, Cameron
law To, his tight end has been in and out
of the lineup because he's been hurt. So there's a
lot of things working against brace Young they're still winning
football games, and so we'll see how that continues here
the rest of the SEC schedule. But I think what
has happened up to this point has only helped race

(25:06):
Seawan in terms of how to how scouts view him
and how he'll translates to the next level. Dane, good stuff, man.
Tell everybody where they can find your stuff and keep
track of your college football and NFL draft musings during
the year, like find everything on at the Athletic um
and you can follow me on Twitter at dp Brugler.
Do a film room every try to do a film
room every Tuesday where I take the film from the

(25:28):
weekend from the college games, you know, which really stood out,
and do that kind of stuff. So a lot of
a lot of draft content over at the Athletics, so
hopefully people go check it out. Dane, great stuff. Always
good to see a man. I know we're not heavy
in the draft season yet we will be shortly. It
comes fast. Enjoy the season. We'll talk you down the road,
right brother, all right, thank you guys, take care. We
thank Dane Brewer from the Athletic for joining us on

(25:51):
draft season. Once again, it's brought to you by Tommy
He'll Figure, a PVH brand and official partner of the
New York Giants. Guys were on the quarterbacks here, so
I guess let's stick with them. Dane mentioned Anthony Richardson before.
I thought he played pretty well against Tennessee, but the
couple of games before that, the ball is kind of
all over the place. He I guarantee you we're gonna
get to to to January here, if he decides he

(26:11):
wants to declare, some team's gonna fall in love with
the tools and say we're gonna figure this out. But
he right now is is your classic high risk, high
reward picked for me. Uh, Looking how he's playing this year,
and I think it'll be really important, Tony, to your point,
watching how he improves and develops during the season as
he gets more playing time, because he just really hasn't
been a very experienced quarterback yet. If he improves, you know,

(26:34):
you got that improved. I mean, listen, he's more athlete
than he is quarterback at this point. He's more thrower
than he is passer. You know, he's very electric making
plays with his legs. But you know, so much of
this is projecting to the next level. And as far
as him being an NFL passer, he is light years away.

(26:55):
And you're right, someone's gonna fall absolutely fall in love
with him and probably really overdraft him unless there was
a massive up swinging his game throwing the ball, with
the accuracy, with with the passing fundamentals, the reading of
the defense. I think it's very premature for him to
come out and it's gonna be a huge learning curve

(27:15):
at the next level, we'll see what happens. I like that, Dang.
You know he brought up what it looked like between
kJ Jefferson and Bryce Young in this upcoming weekend's game. Well,
last week we got to watch two guys and just
kind of what it looked like and potential uh NFL
draft prospects. But you have DJ google le leg all
right and Sam Hartman, and you know they were both good.

(27:39):
They I mean, obviously, like that was an extreme game
for DJ as far as what we've seen throughout this year,
but they were both really good in different areas. I
thought Sam Hartman did a really good job of just
maneuvering through the pressure, being able to step up in
the pocket. I thought he worked the pocket extraordinarily will
throwing the ball downfield, dropping the ball in the bucket
to the only place where his receiver can get it

(28:00):
and away from the defender. I thought he was acting.
He made plays on the move. I think the only
knock that might be on him right now is, you know,
what's the arm strength look like? Because there were some
balls that kind of floated a little bit, and I'm looking,
I'm like NFL guys, they are really closing on those
type of passes. And then on the other side by
the ball, we had DJ and you know, I'm watching

(28:20):
him and I was just waiting for that that big game.
I'm watching him each weekend. It looks a little all
over the place, and sometimes it looks like he doesn't
know what's going on. Then you see a big time play.
I thought this was a game where he was giving
guys opportunities. He's throwing, you know, over the shoulder outside
of the defender only places receiver catch the ball, giving
guys opportunity back shoulder throws in the red zone where

(28:42):
I thought, we're kind of NFL location type throws, and
we see the ability, we see the big arm, and
I think he has enough athleticism, but he's been all
over the place. I thought that was the most consistent
throughout the game that we had seen him, especially as
the game went on, because even early on started off
a little weird for DJ, but then it started kind
of getting comfortable, getting in the groove, and he got
better as the game went on. So those are two guys.

(29:03):
Was interesting to see how they are different and their
skill sets are different, but they both had extraordinary games. Yeah,
Hartman is a tough guy not to love. I mean,
you watch him. He's a resilient quarterback. He doesn't have
great talent around him at Clemson. I mean that Clemson
offensive line was pretty much overmatched by that great uh,
the wake Forest I'm sorry, the wake Forest offensive line
was just overmatched by that great Clemson defensive line. But

(29:25):
Hartman found the way to getting done. But he's done
that at the past three years. That's the thing about Hartman.
But it is, you know, as Crocs said, I mean,
he's got the biggest guy in the world. He doesn't
have a howitzer. He's gonna be, I believe, a Day
three pick, and he's gonna be one of those guys
who's a terrific number two quarterback apart time starter Bogle Lailey.
I mean, if you remember, you go back to the

(29:46):
COVID season when Trevor Lawrence would tested positive for COVID
and his heisman candidacy went out the window because he
missed two games. Boga Llely came in and played phenomenal.
I believe one of those games against Notary Dame off
the top of head and they were high expectations from him.
Last year and he failed to live up to him.
He's got the physical skills. Hopefully that Wake Force game

(30:07):
from this past Saturday is a turning point because he
had a really good game. It's just that Sam Hartman
was a little bit better. Yeah, no question about it.
The guys, we do have anything on the quarterbacks that
we missed that you guys want to touch on her
ad based on what we talked about so far before
we move on, maybe Hindon Hooker or a guy who
you know you see athletic says I'm play making abilities

(30:28):
making throws again. Another guy that you want to see
be more of a was how did how did? How
did Tony phrase it? A passer and not a thrower
or a thrower not a passer throwing out a pass? Yeah,
you know you want to see him be more consistent
in that area. But I think he's a guy, you know,
I can't wait to see. I believe he'll be at
the senior ball as well. Right, I think he's a
Senior Bowl watch quarterback. Yeah. I mean two guys. Number one,

(30:50):
Aidan O'Connell of Purdue. Some scouts love this guy. They
thought he was a day to pick. I was a
little bit cooler on him, but you watched that Syracuse
game two weeks ago and he was phenomenal. He was
Bryce Shawn precision, like I mean the way he moved
for due down the field. They lost the game, but
Aidan O'Connell was been fantastic. And you talk to some
people in this kind of community and they absolutely love him.

(31:11):
You know one name when I was talking about quarterbacks
that have failed to live up the expectations this year,
Phil Jerkovic of Boston College, and Jerko makes one of
those guys where thrower more than a passer. Big arm quarterback,
big bodied quarterback with a huge arm, but you don't
know where the ball is going. Coming off the injury
which you halted his two thousand twenty one season in

(31:31):
the middle really has never has never gotten it back
into gear. And as far as I'm concerned, he's the
guy that he throws the ball but you don't know
where it's going, and he makes his receivers work too
hard to come away with the reception. And I think
he's the guy that has really failed to live up
the expectations this year. Yeah, and you know all there's
still something out about Levice we touched on him briefly.

(31:54):
You know, you watch he and this is the best
way I can explain it. You watch him played quarterback,
and he does have all the physical traits. He's big,
he's got a strong arm, he can run. But it
looks like you took a guy that played a different
position his whole life and said, all right, now you're
a quarterback. It just doesn't look fluid and natural to me.
Like he's like you watch Bryce Shila, looks like he's
played in a million of those seven on seven tournaments, right,

(32:15):
we're just flinging the ball around, blah blah blah. It
just looks a little bit different with Levice. It looks
like there's a lot of work still would be done
to get him comfortable in that spot. That's why that's
what I thought about DJ where he looks like the
kid who is the biggest, strongest, biggest arm on the playground.
And they were like, you know what, let's just put
you out a quarterback because you have this arm where
you can throw a hundred yard field right um. And

(32:36):
then you see him out there and he looks like
he's kind of struggling the process, defenses and whatnot. He's
just going out there just throwing the ball around. That's
what I said. Levin scares me, He really does, because
he you know, he looks he's appealing to the eye,
with the size, with the arm strength. You know, he
stands out in that area and he makes some beautiful
downfield throws on it game. But you go back to

(32:57):
last year, if you if you watch the two thousands
money one film, and there were times where he's leaving
his you know, he's stringing his receivers out to get
to get smacked. You know, he's missing wide open receivers.
Needs a lot of work in his game. But again,
if he goes to a postseason All Star Games, Senior Bowls,
something like that, and he has three days of knocking
out practice, teams will fall in love with him. Yeah,

(33:19):
when you have the tools and then you show, you
know in person to these scouts, people will tend to
do that, no question about it. Um a couple of
things I want to touch on here. Guys, I don't
believe since they haven't had a really big matchup yet
at least that we talked about on our first show.
We even talked about many of the guys that clems
in yet in terms of prospects. They have a big
game coming up against NC State. UM so I figured
this might be a good time if you guys have

(33:39):
any you know, takes or thoughts, are opinions on some
of the guys that clems in this year, that that
you've liked what you've seen as we move ahead here
in the college schedule, any you guys can take this
just run with it. Well. Obviously Brise had that whole
issue where his sister sadly passed with cancers, so that obviously,
you know, has been just a fible interruption in his season.

(34:00):
Uh he was, he got injured last year. But he
is a big time player, as is Miles Murphy. I
mean Miles Murphy's out on the edge. He is a
he's you know, your typical athletic, explosive pass rusher from
Clemson who can line up and come out of a
three point stands, can stand over tackle. He's not just
good of the field, he can flatten off the edge

(34:22):
and chase him backside pursuit. He can play off the
line on zwe Blitz. I love both of those guys.
I think both of those guys are outstanding. I also
like There two other guys their tackle who are projected
guard Jordan McFadden, who I have as a third round pick,
and Trenton Simpson, who is a slightly undersized linebacker about
two twenty pounds, which is okay these days in the NFL.

(34:45):
Phenomenal athlete, goes sideline to sideline, covers a lot of
area on the field, forceful up the field on the blitz. Again,
he's probably more second round material, but they've got some
high end guys, Tyler David. Even Tyler Davis who is
injured last year, doesn't get the same type of pub
pub as breeze A, but he's still a very explosive,

(35:08):
almost a three technique type of tackle, one gap tackle
on the inside. Very good player. They've got a lot
of uh, They've got a lot of talent. There, a
lot of next level of talent after breeze A that
I think people are missing. People don't talk about CROC.
You can hit Clemson, or you want to hit another team,
you can do that too, whatever you want to do. Well. Yeah, Clemson.
They have Joseph not A. He's a big receiver. I

(35:29):
paid attention to him because I coached against him when
he was in high school out there in folks in California,
and I waiting for him to take that next step.
He's a guy who can play above the rim. He
has a lot of ability and talent. He has a
little brother that's is talented. I'm pretty sure he's had
one of these Division one schools as well playing running back,
and I've been a little disappointed with what I've seen
from him. And it might be one of those Jane

(35:50):
Daniel uh Jayden Daniels Casian bout things where it's like
the quarterback up and down and maybe that makes a
receiver a little inconsistent. But help your guy out, man.
I haven't seen him take his again to the next level.
So I'm I'm really excited to kind of watch him
this weekend and see how he progresses throughout this year.
You're not you look at not. I mean he played
pretty well against wait for US, thirty three inch arms,

(36:12):
hands that over ten inches, so with all those physical
demand and he's not a slow guy. I mean he's not.
He's not a he's not a second gear stretched of
meal typic guy, but he's not a big, slow receiver.
So uh yeah, I agree with that. I think He's
sort of like the receiver version of Will Levis, if
you will. You know, he looks the part and you see,

(36:32):
you see the physical dimensions. But there's just a lot
of questions about him. You know, we touched on this
with Dane and you know, I don't even think I
asked about I think he just brought up with his
own that he thought this. You know, relative to pass classes,
the wide receiver class might not be as strong. And
this has been continuous, right the last three or four years,
the wide has just been endless. You know, ten receivers
in the first two rounds, you know, just a ton

(36:54):
of these guys. You know, what are you guys watching
in terms of receivers. I know we touched on some
of the guys, like you know, Bote, Addison's up like that.
But Carl, why don't we start with you here? Receivers
that have kind of jumped out at you that you're
keeping an eye on that you think as the season
goes along year to Tony's earlier point might emerge as
we get closer to the draft process. Yeah, you know,
we talked about at Perry and over there, I wait

(37:14):
for us and kind of what he did this weekend.
But seeing a guy that has around six ft five
and can play above the rim the way he can,
you know, we're not seeing a lot of those guys
come out every year right where it's just tall, athletic
gray ball skills. So, uh, that's a guy who's now
on my radar, and I'm gonna continue to kind of
watch him and see how he does throughout the rest
of this year. But it has been a little bit underwhelming.
You know, other guys what I expected to do extremely well.

(37:36):
A guy like Jermaine Burton, where is he at? You know,
we talked about Alabama and not having the type of
receivers that they've had in previous years. He's supposed to
be the guy there and transferring over from Georgia and
just haven't seen it yet. Yeah, and again at the
point I brought up was a year ago, we were
not talking about, you know, six receivers in the top
twenty the NFL draft, So it can change. But I'm

(37:59):
I'm a little higher on Smith Najibba. I think that
he is absolutely top fifteen material. I mean he is,
He's gotta stay healthy, but I think he's an explosive guy,
good on the new receiver, terrific vertical receiver. Uh, you
want to look talk about a bigger body receiver. Cornelius
Johnson of Michigan is a real good player. Someone who
is is a quick possession receiver if he will wins

(38:22):
out for the contested throw. And Kentucky's got a guy
by name Otavian Robinson who played a Virginia Tech to
prior two years. He was really good. He's an explosive
game breaker. Uh, made a nice catch Saturday night by
down the field from Will Levis under six ft tall,
but a legitimate four or four high, four three guy.
He's somebody to keep an eye on moving forward. And
obviously you know Rahi Rice so we talked about earlier.

(38:44):
So Jokeywing out of Arizona. That's another receiver. I've watched
a lot of him this year catching the back to
a smaller guy is gonna play in the slot. But
he's been extremely dynamic. He's kind of carrying in Arizona
office right now. You te transfer. The question with Caling
is how fast is he gonna at the at the
combine or in the postseason. He's more He's one of
those guys who's more quick than fest which is okay.

(39:07):
You know, he's a good route runner, he separates through
his routes. He's tough to cover. But if he doesn't
run in the low four four is the high four three,
which I don't think he's going to, it kind of
just reduces his attractive attractive his come draft weekend doesn't
mean he's not gonna be a good NFL player, Right,
all right, why don't we jump in here a little bit, Guys,
to the pass rushers we talked Dane talked about of

(39:28):
the defensive tackles and edge guys, and Tony you said
the same. You know, really the strength of this class
upfront on defense. You know, we touched on a few
of those guys, but not a ton Tony, let's start
with you on this one. Who are some of the
pass rushers that have really jumped out to you that
you think we'll be talking about top ten, top fifteen,
top twenty one round when we get to April. One
guy i'd liked the past two years, I don't know
that he's gonna be top fifteen. Well, you know you've

(39:50):
got Will Anderson of Alabama. I like Miles Murphy, Nolan Smith,
although he's more of your traditional linebacker. We talked about
Will McDonald, who's not having the UH the year people
all he would And one thing about Will McDonald is
the scouts that concerned you may not be able to
put him in a very complex defense. You may have
to keep his responsibilities to a minimum. Kind of falls
off there for that. I'm a big fan of Kolby

(40:11):
Wooden of Auburn, have been the past couple of years. Again,
a smaller one gap ad dresher, maybe stand up over
mind backer type of guy. You can drop them off
and use them in space. Isaiah folk Sky of Notre Dame.
These guys I believe were more, They're not right now.
I don't have much top twenty picks. I think they're

(40:31):
more if they are first round picks. It's later, first round,
second round, uh Folksy. And then Tyree Wilson of Texas Tech,
who scouts love a lot, a lot, love a lot,
and he fits them all. He's one of those guys
that uh six five and a half, two and seventy pounds,
runs in the four sevens, very athletic, makes those splash plays.

(40:52):
But I don't see Wilson being a consistent force on
the field the way a lot of scouts would like
him to be. Yeah, I mean those are two has
that kind of you know, jumped out of me lead
to me when you look at you know, high weight ability.
I think folks Key looks to be more of a
guy that's gonna fit more of a three or four
outside linebacker type scheme, more of a stand up type
pass rusher, but has the length, uh that I think

(41:14):
a lot of teams are covered. Those are the pass rogers.
How about the defensive tackles you know we talked about
We mentioned Jalen Sonders. I don't think we've talked much
about him though, Tony, So why don't you touch on
him and any other the big defensive tackles and guys
inside that have impressed you heading into the year based
on their tape last year and how they've done in
the first month. There's a Jalen Carter. Jalen Carter, I'm sorry,

(41:34):
j Yeah, I mean Carter is the guy who's played
very well. Obviously, if you watch Georgia this year, just
like last year, they just rotate those guys because they've
got so many of them and why not. And Carter
is very very athletic. I don't think he's the same forceful,
powerful guy as Mozzy Smith, who from Michigan, who I've
I've obviously fond over a couple of times on this

(41:54):
show because he's so big and as we you know,
Bruce Felban told us, he's incredibly letic. Uh. Keanu Benton
of Wisconsin, who we spoke about earlier, didn't have a
game good game against the Ohio State, although nobody from
Wisconsin had a good game against Ohio State. It's going
up against the terrific center and Luke Whippler, but he's
very athletic. Uh. Siaki Eka of Baylor bigger, more nose

(42:18):
tackle type guys six ft four three d fifty five pounds.
Not really a playmaker you're looking in that day two
uh type of area. Tyler Davis of Clemson. KeAndre Colburn
of Texas is an interesting guy, six one and a
half three hundred thirty pounds. UH. Guy who can play
one gap, can play two gap. He's exclusive, He's gotta
be He's got to condition himself better because he seems

(42:40):
to wear down very easily, as you would imagine at
six one and a half over three hundred thirty pounds.
But he's a forceful guy's very quick. He's also athletic.
He's not someone who just occupies the gaps. You can
change direction to get down the line and make plays
outside the box as well. Probably, uh, guy that kind
of you know, I want to mention Zach Pikins on
a South Carolin line and there's a lot of bad

(43:01):
going on there, but he's a guy to play in
the interior. I don't think it's a Day one type guy,
and he's hoping that you could be in a potential
Day two typ guy. But that's another guy to kind
of keep an eye on. Yes, scouts do like do
scouts do think that Pickings could be a second round,
third round type of player. I haven't read a little
bit lower want to see a bit more playmaking ability
from him. But there are some that scouting community who

(43:22):
are our same mind of prop that he's a Day
two type of prospect. Oh, guys, we do a few
minutes here left if we want to touch on any
other topics, anything that's kind of struck you guys watching
these prospects matchups this weekend. Any players that have either
got you pumped up or we haven't touched on, or
maybe have you a little questioning the common conventional wisdom.
I will open the floor either one er of you go, uh,

(43:47):
you know, I don't I don't know about conventional wisdom,
because what is conventional wisdom at this point? You know? Winner, Yeah,
well that's where I was going. You know, people seem
all in love with a guy like I who talked
about earlier based off one performance, and it's gradual build up.
You know, you got you got the season, you've got
the postseason, you've got the combine, you've got the workouts.

(44:07):
So I mean, you know, don't don't get crazed over
any one person, any one player at based off of
a single game. I'll tell you one guy that has
surprised me, and I was not very high on him
coming into the season, and I've been pleasantly surprised by him.
Is Ben Bryant, the quarterback of Cincinnati, who I thought

(44:28):
he's played reasonably well transfer from Eastern Michigan to Cincinnati.
He's done a good job leading that Uh, he's gotten
better as he's gotten more acclimated to that system. There
are some scouts that believe that Ben Bryant, who is pounds,
was kind of a running quarterback at Eastern mission could
be a day to pick. I was. I had him

(44:51):
more in the fifth round, but I'm starting to warm
up to that because I thought he's been played very well.
I think for me, a guy that kind of you know,
I'm curious to keep watching his Bryce Ford Wheaton out
of West Virginia, big tall, athletic guy and UH watching
him on the big stage against you know, on ESPN
against UH Pittsburgh. I thought he was a guy who

(45:12):
made a ton of players. Now, one of the knocks
on him is the drops, and we saw a huge
dropping that game that resulted in an interception return for
it touched him. But as far as playmaking ability, being
able to play above the rim and being one of
those taller guys, and again, I think college football, NFL
is kind of moving away from the six three two
twenty five pound type receivers, and I think he kind
of brings that element of it. So I'm curious to

(45:34):
continue to keep watching him. You know, you were talking
about the Clemson playing and nc stayed this weekend. Clemson
has NC State's got a quarterback that a lot of
scouts like and Devin Learry War. Again, I go back
to this, your Bryce Young type, not the biggest guy
in the world, doesn't have a rifle arm, but very precise.
You know, his reads are right on, dissects the defense,

(45:58):
very accurate with outstanding pass placement. And again one of
those guys where you're gonna have to kind of dismiss,
if not ignore the fact that he's not the biggest guy,
doesn't have the strongest, strongest strong and look at the
mental and tangibles. One other guy to look at when
he goes up against dj uger Leiley uh from North
Carolina State. Someone who I've like loved for the past

(46:20):
three years is Isaiah more the outside linebacker from North
Carolina State. It's gonna be a Day three pick, but
he's got all the physical skills, he's got the mental acumen.
He understands what's happening on the field. He's got great instincts. Uh.
They use him up the field on the blitz, play
him off the line in space. I right now have
him as a fifth round pick. Scouts a little bit

(46:42):
not as a little bit cool around him. Why, I
don't know, because the guy has been a three year
starter's been very productive, except for a small port last
year when he was out of the UH on the
sidelines with injury. Let me throw onely the name out
of you. I've watched a couple of a little bit
of LSU last few weeks. You know, is he's odu
aious here with the Giants and out of you know,

(47:02):
edge player. His brother b J six three two fifty
pound junior at l S who's wearing number eighteen for them.
For the people that know, that's you know, a big deal.
And he's had some production, Tony, what are people saying
about b J? Is he a guy that could be
a Day two guy? I mean, we've got to find
out what his true hight, height, weight speed numbers is.
It is is actually kind of fun to watch and
hear that name constantly mentioned over and over. But right

(47:25):
now day two is possible. You want to see consistent
improvement in his game. Got to find out what his
real height, weight speed numbers are. But he's playing very well,
and you know, every time his name pops up, you
think of his brother's playing with the Giants now. And
it's funny watching richardson Um with Florida. I keep watching
a t N s younger brother. I realize he's not

(47:47):
draft eligible yet, but he's been a heck of a
running back for them, and you know, I know he's
he's on the show. I think he's only five nine, right,
but he's over two d and ten pounds, so he's thick.
He's a guy in a couple of years I think
wouldn't be talking about is as one of the better
running acts in the draft class. Well, his brother wasn't
that at all? I mean brother, you know, sort of
that Swiss n Swiss army knife type of player that
can do a lot of a lot of different things.

(48:09):
I'm sure FIDA fans like Ali that they like a
t M two. I'm sure they wished your team was
winning a little bit more with almost talent on the field. Man,
you talk about guys that aren't draft eligible yet and
you start to look at next year and even the
receiver class here, right, We're like, this year, uh might
be Dale, we'll see how it progressive throughout the year.

(48:29):
But next year, man, I mean you look at Marvin
Harrison Jr. You look at the Rande Gadson that's a
big receiver over there with Syracuse. You know his dad
played in the league, and then Xavier are worthy over
there at Texas. Man, I think that's gonna be a
big time class. All right, Tony, one of them, I'm
gonna throw at you. Just because of another connection with
the Giants, Howard Crossed. His son played no tackle for

(48:49):
Notre Dame. Undersized, he's only like two j eight pounds,
but he's had some really productive games, double digit tackles
in the game. And it's funny. We had Howard on
one of our shows the other day and he goes
and I warn him, you're getting all these tackles. Something
gonna sto double team and he's like, Oh, it's gonna
be fine. Then last week they're throwing two and three
guys out. If he didn't do a whole lot. Uh
your thoughts on on Howard cross junior. He's a red

(49:10):
shirt junior, so he doesn't necessarily have to come out.
Your thoughts on on what you've seen from him. Yeah,
three technique type of guy right now, unless he gets
a little bit bigger and stronger athletic. Your dad was
a tight end, so obviously the bloodlines are there. He's
just gotta develop his game. He's gonna just physically mature,
get a little bit bigger, get a little bit stronger,
and you know, I mean it's not been a good

(49:31):
season for Notre Dame. Uh, and it would folksy out there.
He should have his opportunities on the inside, or he's
gonna help create opportunities for folksing with those double teams
that he's commanding. I finally, let's let's do a little
watch list. I mentioned the one game coming up this weekend, uh,
Clemson uh taken on NC State. Any of the games

(49:52):
that you guys are really excited to see him maybe
matchup for things that are on your agenda this weekend.
That if fans are tuning into college football days some
free tim free time on Saturday, that these are the
games they should be tuning into. And why, Tony, whant
we start with you? Well? L SC plays Auburn, that's
always a good game in the SEC. Two teams that
in the SEC that aren't playing all that well. I
mean the Auburn coach has got one ft out the door,

(50:13):
but still Colby would and I mentioned him before, he's
a terrific pass rusher. They've got some real good players.
Let me pull up my list here real quick on
the defensive side of the ball. At Auburn, Colby would
and they got another uh pass rusher my name and
Derek call Over and Popo who was an explosive undersized
linebacker goes sideline to sideline. They got a real nice
cornerback Pritchett. When he goes up against Boute, that will

(50:35):
be a good, uh good matchup to watch. So Jane
Daniels against those Auburn prospects that you know, our day
to day early day three guys have been playing in
the league. That's a good matchup to watch Saturday night.
How about you crop any games you're keeping an eye on?
Oh man, I'm locked in. I might even go to
the Arkansas Alabama games. So I think that's a big

(50:58):
one over here in these parts. That's terrific. Man. But
any any chance that Arkansas can fully upset there? Oh man?
You know we'll see teams have played Alabama tough. Now
obviously you know Vanderbilt, and I actually trained a cornerback
for Vanderbilt. All right, my guy Jeremy Loose seen and
that they had a rough outing against Alabama. I think

(51:19):
Arkansas is gonna be a little bit better and we'll
see im again. Texas Alabama. Hoot at that game would
come down to the last second drive. And we've seen
Bryce Young have to really battle do at Versity has
been really good to see. But Man, Arkansas, I think
it'll be a good game. I love the baby picture
in the background, by the way, Croc, that's new, right.
I don't think I've noticed that one before. Is that

(51:40):
that's my that's my daughter, Pickle. That's my daughter Pickle.
Uh she's six years old now, so not not so
much a baby. But yeah, wife did that for me.
I love it. I think it's great. Al Right, guys,
let's reconvene in a few weeks. Why don't we do
something mid late October. Then we'll reconvene again during the
Giants bye week just because well we've got nothing else
at ak about as the Johns around a bye week.

(52:01):
So we'll try to pick it on maybe once every
three weeks now instead of once a month. And we'll
get a few more shows in before the Sea before
the college season is up, and we uh really get
heavy into two draft season. Guys. Good stuff. Good to
talk to you. We'll talk to you in a few weeks,
all right, look forward to it all. All right, that's
draft season. We thank Dame Breuger for joining us, and
again it's brought to you by Tommy. He'll figure a
PVH brand and an official part of the New York Giants.

(52:21):
And of course make sure you check out our other
Giants podcasts like the John Huttle podcast, Big Blue Kickoff Live,
and everything else we do here with the New York
Football Giants, on the Giants app, podcast platforms, everywhere in
the giants dot Com slash podcast. This is Draft season.
We'll see you next time.