December 21, 2022 • 37 mins
John Schmeelk and Tony Pauline discuss the latest declarations for the NFL draft, preview the college bowl games, and finish up with Heisman trophy talk. 00:00 - Start 00:29 - Underclassmen Declarations on Offense 14:15 - Tight End Declarations 19:09 - Defense Declarations 27:26 - Bowl Game Previews 31:34 - Mike Leach 35:06 - Heisman Trophy
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
No officially over, it's draft season. Well it's definitely coming quick.
John Schmilch, Tony Pauline with you are. Partner Eric Crocker
is on the move back to California to celebrate the
holidays with the family. Will be back with us next week.
So just a two man crew today. It's all brought
(00:24):
to you by Tommy Hill, figure a PVH brand and
an official partner other New York Football jihants. And of
course this is an NFL Draft podcast, So even though
I work for the Giants, this is just about the
draft here, folks. So if you're into the draft, makes
you go subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Tony, how
are you, man? I'm okay. I hope everybody's well, getting
(00:44):
getting ready for the holidays. I guess Honika started this weekend.
Happy Honka everybody. And Christmas is right around the corner.
So exciting time. And then you know, we come down
to the end of the NFL season. It also means
that we're getting out. It's bowl season on the college schedule,
and a lot of college declared, a lot of underclassmen
you're gonna sit out these games and uh and prepare
for the combine pro day workouts and things of that sort. Yeah,
(01:07):
no question, I got to celebrate the first one of Fonka.
I'm not Jewish, so I didn't really celebrate. But getting
three hours of sleep coming back on a train from Washington,
d C. After a Giant's wins. Always coming good coming
back after a win. But if they seem a little
bleary eyed is because uh, two of my three hours
of sleep came on the cold floor in my office.
So bear with me, folks, I ask you kindly. Um,
(01:28):
All right, Tony, So let's go through this first. You
talked about lot of on the classmen declaring coming out
with the draft. Let's start with two guys that didn't declare,
but we know they're gonna come out, but they said
we're gonna play in the Sugar Bowl, and that's Alabama.
Bryce Young and Will Anderson both gonna play in the game.
We expect them both to declare shortly thereafter. They haven't yet,
so we're not gonna go into his prospects. But those
(01:50):
are the two of the guys that a side. Look,
we're gonna play in this bowl game even though they're
not in the college football playoffs. Very interesting and I
guess they look at his unfinished business. I mean, you
expect Obama to be in the college football playoffs, if
not the national championship. That's not gonna happen this year.
You know, Nick Saban. Nick Saban, he does a good
job with his players because he doesn't try and always
(02:11):
rerecruit the players he gets. He tells the players, you know, listen,
if you're gonna be a top fifteen pick in the
NFL draft, you gotta go. And both Royce Young and
Will Anderson are gonna be top fifteen picks in the
NFL draft. So you know, good for those Good on
those guys. Good for Nick Saban. I think it's the
way he runs the program. I think they feel is
a bit of unfinished business across your fingers. Just hope
(02:33):
everybody comes out of the game healthy. Uh. These are
you know, these are not trend setters. These guys are
the exception to the rule. As we're gonna see as
we move towards the end of December and through the
beginning of January. Yeah, we expect both those guys to
likely be top five picks, at the very worst, top
ten picks. Uh, certainly in the draft this year. So
we're gonna go through these early declarations. We're gonna go through,
(02:56):
you know, some of the minor balls that have already
happened if a couple of guys jumped out one of us.
We'll look ahead to some of the bowls next week.
We're gonna stop short of the college football playoffs and
maybe a couple of the major bowls over the over
that weekend because we're gonna have a show next Wednesday
that will cover that. So we'll kind of cover the
all the games heading into you know, that Wednesday night
(03:16):
before um, before we do our next show next week. So, Tony,
we've had a bunch of declarations. Let's kind of group
the wide receivers together first. But I feel like these
underclassmen are sitting there like, Wow, this is a pretty
open wide receiver class. We better declare. We could be
the first guy taken. And I think it's really up
in the air. Don't start with Jalen Highland, who obviously
had a monster year for the volunteers and in Tennessee.
(03:38):
I went back. I watched a lot of his tape
heading into this podcast to get ready for it. You know,
he is speed and that's the best thing. I can say.
He's fast, he can run away from people. I don't
see a really well rounded game quite yet. In my opinion,
you don't see contested catches. Is not a you know
he does, He's not really Son at the top of
his raft that you expect the speed, sir, debate, but boy,
(03:59):
straight line, he runs by everyone. Very unpolished. But a
home run a home run hitter at the position. And
I mean he continually delivered for Tennessee in that fashion.
And when you look at the receiver position, it's not
very strong. There's a good possibility Jalen Hyatt could be
the first receiver selected somewhere middle late part of round
one because it's really bare. I mean, Quentin Johnson's gonna
(04:23):
enter the draft. I'm sure he'll compete for that number
one receiver spot. Kashawn Booty has announced that he's going
back to l s U or another year. Good on
him because he did not have a good season. I mean, really,
the door is wide open. And I think with Jalen Hyatt,
you know he's gonna have to work on his routes.
You know, you're gonna have to develop a route tree
because he doesn't have he's gonna have to work on
(04:43):
his footwork in and out of routes, keeping that speed
into and out of breaks, you know, so he can separate.
But still, as you said, I mean, he's a home
run hitter. He's the type of guy that defensive backs
are gonna have to move a step or two back
to safean he's gonna have to keep an eye on
him when he stepped to the line of stre image
and in what looks like a very weak receiver class,
(05:04):
I mean, he's got the speed. He's got the home
run hitting at Billy, and he showed it weekend and
week out when he wasn't even expected to be the
number one receiver. And excuse me for Tennessee coming into
the season. Yes, six ones is a hundred eighty pounds.
He's kind of leggy. He's got very long legs, which
might have to do with his ability to come in
and out of those breaks. Very sharply tony, but he
(05:25):
certainly has that speed, man, And you're right, he's gonna
be competing with some of these other guys we're gonna
talk about shortly for the top wide receiver taken. And
he's all I think, you know, I had written down
I'm having in front of me with fifteen touchdowns this
year high eighteen touchdown something that's ridiculous. He's he's he's
been living in the end zone and in big moments too.
I mean it wasn't like, you know, fifteen touchdo it
wasn't like five touchdown six touchdowns against Austin Pe. I
(05:48):
mean he performed the big spot for Tennessee. Yeah, no question.
All right. Let's go to another wide receiver. That's Claire.
This one we talked about a couple of weeks ago, um,
but I went deeper into his tape from last year.
He's only played I think, oh gosh, probably less than
a hundred snaps this year. That's Jackson Smith and Jigba
the wide receiver for Ohio State, six pounds. You know,
(06:08):
he was very productive last year when he was on
the field with Olava and Garrett Wilson. He had you know,
eighty something catches over thousand yards that year, maybe I
think catches maybe even really productive year head the Monster
Bowl game. Obviously, I was surprised when I looked back
at his tape because I didn't watch him closely last year. Tony.
You know, this guy was exclusively a slot wide receiver.
(06:29):
He barely played outside at all. Um. I thought he
had pretty decent suddenness at the top of his route,
but I didn't think he was as good at that
Garrett Wilson in that regard, for example, you know, good
not not not as fast as Chris olav good not
great speed. I think a good, solid slot wide receiver,
but I didn't see rare traits when I watched him
on tape. They didn't need to play him outside in
(06:51):
two thousand, two hundred one at a State because they
had a lot and had Garrett Wilson, had a couple
of other guys. Yeah, I like him a lot. The
fact is this is he was c j Strous's number
one in the target last year, and teams knew the
ball was going to be thrown to him because the
Lava because Stroud wasn't looking at the other receivers, especially Lava,
and it couldn't stop him. Yeah, he needs a lot
of polish in this game. I think. I don't agree.
(07:13):
I think he made a mistake entering the draft. You know,
missed most of the season because of the hamstring issue.
Some people told me that he basically tuned out of
playing this year. In September, it was basically given at
that time. Very difficult. Sometime doesn't work when you get
a guy who's on the downside, when you get a
guy who hasn't played his best football coming off a
(07:33):
bad year, coming off a year like that with a
hamstring injury to get him back to where he was,
and again, you know, we're not talking about an ankler
and he we're talking about a hamstring injury for a
thinner receiver who's got decent speed, that's a concern. I
think what's gonna happen was if he had gone back
and had a big year, he would have been the
first round pick. I think right now you're looking at
(07:55):
Day two for him. Yeah, and you know, I probably
think he's a world well more well rounded receiver than High.
To be honest with the if I was picking between
the two, I would probably pick Smith and Jigbo. At
this point, High it's gonna outest him at the combine.
That's gonna be a factor. He's probably gonna be a
you know, a sub four or four guy. I would
guess on his forty yard dash. So we'll see. He'll
have some work to do. But it'll be a good
competition for that first wide receiver off the board. But
(08:16):
the thing is this is, you know, hamstring injuries and
receivers quick receivers, that that's not a good combination. So
there's gonna be a lot of questions asked of him,
and there's gonna be a lot of questions asked of
the medical staff at Ohio as to exactly what went on. Yeah,
and both high and Smith and Jigbo, by the way,
both said they're not gonna play him there in their
bowl games. So something to keep in mind here as
(08:39):
we move ahead. You know, Tony one guy I was
not that familiar with, and I was very excited to
watch him. Josh Downs out of North Carolina, smaller guy
listed at five one seventy five, which tells me he
was probably closer to five eight one six paste at
how college programs list their hight and weight. His his
way in at the combine will be essential. But boy,
he plays a lot bigger than a size on tape.
(08:59):
He's contested catches, he's physical with the catch point, he's sudden.
Talk about Son's at the top of the route. This
is your guy. I loved what I saw on tape,
and if not for his measurables, Tony, he was the
best wide receiver I watched out of all these guys
that declared very reliable, very dependable. Another guy who like
Highatt came up in the big spot for his team,
(09:20):
you know, fade routes and the corner routes and in
the end zone he come away with the catch, ran
good underneath routes, was in tune with his This quarterback
knew how to separate Foule the quarterback across the field
much better player in two thousand twenty two than he
wasn't two thousand twenty one. And he was a good
receiver in two thousand one. All the signs you're pointing north.
(09:43):
But as you said, I mean, if he doesn't measure
five ten, where does he end up in the draft.
Doesn't mean he's not gonna be a good player. Just
means that, you know, there's not a big market for
receivers that are under five ten in the draft. You're
gonna have to develop plays for him, developed position, his form,
you know, gadget plays you talked about, you know, Smith
(10:04):
and Jingba being basically a slot receiver. That's what you're
looking at and downs gonna be a very good NFL receiver,
I believe if he used correctly. But again, you're looking
at a day two choice, you know. And another guy
that declared out of merrill at a meryl antoni Riki Jarrett.
You know, I watched him and I was surprised that
that he declared to be honest with you. In that offense,
he just wasn't asked to do a whole lot. It's
(10:25):
a lot of just get it to him in space,
let him make run after the catch, And there weren't
a ton of big yards after the catch plays, even
though they tried to set those up for him. So
I think he's looking at early day three at best,
late day two type of pick round. Okay, and a
guy like Kim Jarrett, you gotta see what is what
is testing results are because you know he will be
(10:49):
helped if he runs fast and he's shown some deep speed.
He's good, but he's not great. He's not special. There's
nothing that really stands out about him. It's had a lot,
he made a lot of good plays for came up
consistently for Maryland. But again, you know, there's nothing that
separates him from everyone else. I guess I'm not surprised.
I don't know that he was gonna improve that much.
I had him coming into the year as a sixth rounder.
(11:12):
I moved him up to a fifth rounder. If he
tests better, I may move him into the fourth round.
You know, but he is what he is, and what
you're looking at is maybe a number four, number five
receiver at the next level. And then Tony I've been
washing yet, but I know you're excited about Tyler Scott,
wide receiver at a Cincinnati Yeah. This guy, he reminds
me a bit of a Baja Moore and he is
a big play receiver. You want to talk about Jalen
(11:32):
Hide his big play ability, watched Tyler Scott. The difference
between Tyler Scott and and Jalen Hyad is Tyler Scott
places for Cincinnati. So at three thirty, he's not on
network television. Now he's not on ABC, or he's not
on CBS. He's on ESPN two or ESPN You But
this guy, I mean, he is a terrific pass catcher.
He catches everything inside. He's smart, he's got great intuition
(11:55):
on the field, and he's got home run hitting speed.
I've been told that he has running the fourth whose
previous at timing Cincinnati, even if he runs on the
low four three. But again, he's like Josh Downs, it's
probably not even going to measure five ft ten when
he steps on the scale at the combine, which is
going to kind of devalue his draft stock. I absolutely
(12:16):
think Tyler Scott, who no one's talking about now, they
will be talking about. Remember the combine, it's gonna be
a day to put, will also help out as a
return specialist, big time home run hitter who comes up
a little bit shy from the measuring stick. All right, Tony,
before you go to another position, give me our ten
thousand foot view. You only to mentioned players if you want,
but just take this wide receiver crew as a whole
(12:38):
and compared to what we've seen in the last couple
of years, it's way down, way down. I mean you're talking.
You may have a couple of first round picks. You
may have guys who squeak into the first round, players
who reach in the in the first round. It's basically
day two and Day three type of guys. You're looking
at number two receivers, number three receivers, number four receivers.
Not a lot of guys that no, Garrett Wilson's in
(13:00):
this year show nothing close to Garrett Wilson in this
year's draft. Far to say, if you took this class
combined to it last year's draft, Tony, you know, the
guys this year are probably going fifth, six, seventh, like
like that, like that type of area, a couple of
third rounds. But yeah, basically it's late day, two, day
three type guys. Absolutely, it's if your team needs a receiver,
(13:22):
you better get one of free agency because there's not
a whole heck of a lot in the draft. Yeah,
no one's going like, these guys aren't going over Jake London.
They're not going over Garrett Wilson. They're not going over
Jamison Williams. Uh they might they might have. They're not
going over Chris Olave. You know, maybe John Dotson. I
think that's probably where the conversation starts, but the way
Dotson is playing maybe not so. Look, I'm with you.
I just think it's it's a deal where teams are
(13:44):
gonna pick him in the first round. Teams are gonna
pick wide receivers in the first round because they need
wide receivers. That doesn't necessarily mean that these are you know,
number one X style wide receivers here and even Johan
Dotson he didn't have the great speed, but it was
a tremendous rout runner. He knew how to separate, he
knew how to get opens site. I mean everything in sight,
which you don't really see any of these, even Rashi Rice.
(14:06):
I did my Rashi Rice. Uh film working machime. Rice
is good, but there's just that there's not that extra
about his game that really gets excited. But he's a
good player. All right, Let's let's stick on the offensive
side of the bow, Tony. But before we head over
to the defense. Uh. Michael Mayer from from Notre Dame,
the tight End declared, I went back and I watched him.
The impressive thing to me, like, this is the tight
(14:27):
end that they plucked out of the late eighties orly nineties. Tony.
He's six four, he's two sixty five. He'll block if
they ask him. He's not Mark Bavariat, but the guy
knows how to block. Um. He's a really good route
runner for a guy his size. He's quick out of
his brakes. Boy, if you want a two way tight
end and if you want to put a lot of
twelve personnel, Boy, he's a guy that I think every
(14:49):
team is gonna be targeting in and he's the first
round pick. He could he could be top fIF team.
Last year we did I compared him to Mark Mark
Bervoir because he is that type of two way tight end.
You know, he's not the scene stretcher that teems like
these days. He's not, you know, the oversized receiver playing
the tight end position. But he's really good at everything
he does. He's got to pick up his blocking a
(15:10):
bit a bit, but they really asked him a block
all that much. And to day because he was so uh,
he was such a weapon in the passing game, gets
up in the crowd, comes down with the ball. Uh,
consistent pass catcher, big body guy, you know, a Gronkowski
type of big body guy that will carry defenders for
yards after the reception. But again, you know, he is
(15:33):
your sort of throwback tight end. As you said, what
we saw in the eighties and the nineties, that's not
what people are looking for. Let's not what people want
these days. Still gonna be a lot of value. You know,
one other tight end that I want to touch on
an underclassman who has already announced his Tucker Craft of
South Dakota State. This guy, to me is is go
(15:54):
dirt plus some Tucker Craft. If you go back and
you watch the two thousands twenty one film, or I
should say coming up coming out of the summer. This
year summer after doing the two thousand one film, Tucker
Craft of South Dakota State was my number one rated
non Division one player, non FBS player. He was my
number one rated small school player. He's a phenomenal pass catcher.
(16:17):
Played well against Iowa in the first game in the season,
but hurt his ankle missed the next six games. This
guy is a dominant pass catcher. He is that oversize
receiver at the tight end position. A lot of people
some people say he's he's very He's got a confidence
about himself to the point where some people say he's arrogant.
But he's outstanding. And South Dakota State won their uh
(16:39):
beat Montana State this weekend in the Division No. One
Double A f c S semifinals. They're now playing North
Dakota State. I believe it's the day before the national
title game that is going to be a game to
watch Tucker Craft, the tight end, the junior tight end
from South Dakota State, who's already announced he's entering the draft.
I think he's an early day to choice. Well, you
(17:00):
don't see many FCS players declare earlier. He's got to
be talented if he's If he's doing that, all right, tony,
funny game. What what do you think the odds that
a tight end gets selected before a receiver as the
first player off the board in this year's draft. Uh,
we've got to see what the order is in the
you know, with what the order in the in the
first round is. But I think it's you know, it's
(17:20):
a distinct possibility. I think with with Mayor of note
you dame, there's not allowed downside there, there's not the
great upside. He doesn't need as much work on his game,
and say a Jalen Hyatt, he doesn't have the the
you know, the concerns is say Smith and Jimba of
Ohio State, who basically hasn't played this season. So it's
a distinct possibility. All right, Let's go to our last
(17:43):
offensive player here, the other player on the touch here
on offense, um Peter Scronsky from Northwestern, the offensive tackle
Tony Um. He declared as well. Uh, we talked about him,
I think one of our first episodes, and at that
point he was kind of considered the top tackle in
the class. I think he's been overtake in by Paris
Johnson of Ohio State at this point. But look, he's
as solid as a rock, don't Maybe it was you
(18:06):
that reported or we were somebody else. I've been told
he might not measure much longer than thirty two in arms,
So I think a lot of teams might be looking
at him and as a guard at some point. You know,
he kind of reminds me of was like a Jonah
Williams type of player, where some people might see him
as a guarden instead of a tackle. Right, but he's
gonna be a first round pick and he's gonna be
a good offensive lineman or wherever he winds up. You
may not even be six ft four either, so you
(18:26):
gotta wait and see what happens there. He is the
top guard on my board. I have him on my
guard board now. When you watch him at left tackle,
he's a premier pass blocker and a terrific footwork. Agile
is able to not be a pass rushers from their
Anglo attack. Good good in motion gets out to the
second level. But the fact this is he may not
have those great left tackle mesuables that team wants, which
(18:48):
which will push him inside the guard? UH, real zone
blocking type of guy who you can put him in motion,
you can get him out on the second level, you
can pull him across the line of scrimmage, and it's
gonna do a good out for you again. Another player
who was good in two but really up this game
in two thousand twenty two. I think he's gonna go
somewhere in the middle around one. All right, don't forget folks.
(19:11):
Go download the Giants TV app. It's a Giants official
streaming television app. You can find it for free and
Apple TV, Roku and all your other UH streaming services.
Go check that out. All right, Tony, let's go to
the defensive side of the ball. A couple of Clemson
players declared early, let's first go to the linebacker position.
Trent Simpson had a Cleanson one of these classic speed
undersized linebacker six three two pounds. Look, he runs like
(19:35):
you got him in space here, run he'll chase. He
can go sideline to sideline. Uh, he's you know, he's
willing to be physical, but he's just not that big
of a guy. You like, what you see is gonna
be a first round pick, but he's one of these
guys that you have to scheme around because he's not,
you know, gonna meet these you know, he's not gonna
do with these old school linebackers used to do, you know,
meet and shed offensive lineman running power right at him,
(19:56):
sort of your classic four three week side linebackers. Definitely
a will coverage drop him off the line, can cover
the tight end downfield, can cover the running back outstanding
in pursuit. You know, a guy who you may run
some design bulitz is on, but you're not really gonna
ask him to uh get a lot of force up
the field. Obviously, you're gonna have the test well because
(20:16):
you want to see that those forty times in the
shuttle times match what you're seeing on film. If it doesn't,
it's gonna hurt his draft stock, and you want to
see what his measurables are. You know, he's small at
six three, two thirty is not really not you know,
you see you do it in the in the bar
at six thirty. You're not saying he's small, but he's
very good. I mean he's very athletic. He plays athletic football. Uh,
he's very explosive. I have him right now, late first,
(20:40):
early second with the underclassman. You really want to see
what their measurables are. I'll be redundant saying that, and
when I do, you'll put a final. I'll put a final.
Grand Simpson a real good football player, There's no doubt
about it. Though A similar linebacker at least size at
six thirty two, Drew saying, there's that of Arkansas another
he's he's he's a little bit tall, he's a little
bit leggy. You know, he's he's long, he can run.
(21:02):
He's an explosive tackler. Now he's missed a few, you know,
too many tackles from my taste, but very explosive at
at at at potto, at point of contact with other guys.
And he has the tools you would want because of
his length and coverage. Really good athlete, really interesting background.
I think his dad and what I think is I
think his dad is an is an arm wrestler or
something like that. I think that's him, right, So you know,
(21:23):
just real interesting background, and I think he's gonna be
interesting player that team is gonna be excited about. Because
what a good athlete he is. Alabama transfer who came
off a career year, had what over a hundred tackles
this year, was constantly around the ball, making players, Really
was not much of a name in the scouting community
before the season began, and just blew up and just
kept playing better and better and better. I think that
(21:44):
you know, somebody like him. Don't know that he's gonna
get into a game like the senior boat because I
don't know what his graduation status is. But with somebody
like that, you want to see, you know, how he
does in the coverage drills. You know, is he smooth
and fluid pedaling in reiversaries? A guy that's basic lead
in the boxing sideline to sideline. I think right now
you're looking at day two with Sanders coming off a
(22:05):
great year, understand why he entered the draft. I mean
it's gonna be difficult for him the top his performance
in two thousand twenty two. You might as well strike
while the iron is hot. You no question, I got
his background confused with another player. His dad was a
high school coach um for a very long time. So
he's a smart kid. Um knows what he's doing, and
just someone to keep an eye on here as he
(22:25):
moved forward. Let's stick here, Tony in Clemson, Miles Murphy
and you want to you know, we talked about Michael
Mayer's being an old school tight end. Well, this guy
is an old school four three defensive end. He on
the bigger side. Um, he's a good pass rusher. He's
quick for a side. He's not gonna be one of
these you know, stand up guys in a three four
(22:46):
that's you know, gonna rush the passer and be afraid
to you know, come after in the run game. Uh
six five to seventy five. I think he's gonna be
a fit for any four three scheme, and just because
of his physical traits and then of course is his
his power, his ability, is athleticism, all that stuff. He's
he's gonna be a top ten pick in this year's draft.
He's and he's always been on my board. I mean
(23:06):
I wrote about him over the summer. He you know,
I had him rated slightly higher than Brian Breeze. I
like Murphy so much. I love his pass rushing ability,
his speed off the edge, he's able to bend off
the edge, plays with great balance, plays with great body control.
It's got to get a little bit stronger. A couple
of times this year he's getting blown up the ball,
especially late in the games on running downs. So he's
(23:27):
gonna have to improve his anchor and improve his play
in run defense. But still, you know, in a foreman line,
you put him in and put his hand in the ground.
He's a terrific pass rusher. And in the passing league,
you gotta get a pass rush, you gotta get it.
You gotta get quarterbacks. You got the guys up there
that can harass the passer and sack the passer. And
that's what Murphy has done very well the past two years. Yeah,
(23:48):
no question about it. He's just a really, really, really
good player. Um all right, let's go to uh the
other edge rusher that's coming out that we're gonna talk
about here, Tony, and that's b J. Lari younger brother
who was ez Olari who's with the Giants. And you know,
I watched him and I saw a lot of hiss
O glari in um Um. He can kind of dip
and rip off the edge. He's got good good speed
(24:10):
and good burst. I thought his length was really impressive,
allowing to play that run a little bit better. He's
more of your stand up outside rushier in a in
a base three four that's gonna go after the passer.
But I think he's ability to be a two way player.
You know, he one number eighteen for LSU, which is
a big deal down there for the people that follow
that program. And I think he's gonna be another guy
that's gonna be highly sought after as a pure pass
(24:32):
rusher off the edge in this year's draft, in the
versatility that maybe Miles Murphy doesn't have, in the sense
that you can stand him up over tackle, you can
put him, you put his hand in the ground, Haven
come out of a three point stands, shows a lot
of athleticism in his game, shows the ability to backpedal,
move move laterally. Obviously, I don't think he's as polished
as Murphy as far as his pass rushing skills are concerned,
(24:53):
but he's got a tremendous amount of upside. He's only
get stronger as he as he physically matures. He gets
into an n A felt weight training program, he has
that athleticism. I always liked his brother at Georgia. I
think this old oj Arry probably has more upside. UH
could absolutely see him going in the bottom half or
middle of bottom half a round one. By the way,
(25:14):
Tyson badgen Is is the player the Division two out
of Shepherd, the quarterback um that has his father, that's
the arm wrestling champion. That's where I got those two
confused there and Tonyano before we moved on, and we
move on to some of the Bowl stuff. I know
you wanted to talk about Ohio State in Michigan. They
really haven't had their early declarations yet, and you wanted
to talk about maybe which one of those players might
(25:36):
end up declaring. And based on what you're hearing, well,
you know, if we go back to our show after
the Michigan Ohiouse State game, you stated about how Ohio
State has got so many more NFL prospects than Michigan
and Michigan pounding them because they play better team ball.
What I'm here from Ohio State is it's gonna be
a floodgage once they lose, whether it be in the
semifinal game to Georgia, if they if they're lucky enough
(25:57):
to make it UH to the final game. Everyone's coming out.
There was talk that, you know, had the playoffs, had
l House State not made the playoffs, c J. Strild
would have already announced that he's entering the draft, and
he went to play in the playoff game. We talked
about Smith, n Jimba, Paris Johnson I'm told is going
to enter the draft. There's a good chance lou Paras
Johnson the left tackle, very good chance. Luke Whippler the center,
(26:20):
is going to enter the draft. Steel Chambers, that's a
guy to keep an eye on. Uh. The uh the
linebacker who's a lot like Trenton Simpson in the sense
that he's very athletic. He's a good pursuit mind backer.
And their tight end, Cage Stover, I'm told this also
going to enter the draft. What I'm hearing out of
Michigan is their top guys or their top defensive guys.
(26:41):
DJ Turner, the cornerback, has already decided on representation for
the draft. He's gonna enter once Michigan is out of
the playoffs, whether it be the semifinals championship game. Mazzy
Smith also very likely to enter, so is Mike Morris,
the uh the past rusher, the edge rusher who has
done a terrific job this year, both standing up out
of a three point stance. B J. Ocean Arry type
(27:03):
of player goes. Three guys from Michigan. I'm told expected
to enter the draft once Michigan ends their run in
the college football playoffs. All right, we'll keep an eye
on that. Of course, stay in the draft season. We'll
probably some word on that once you get through some
of these college playoff games as well. And then at
some point we're gonna go through all the senior Bowl
stuff too, and you know, the Shrine game. We'll talk
to some people about some of the players going to
(27:24):
those events as well. Hi and Fansy got one more
home game to go, Giants taking on the Colts on
New Year's Day. Go to Giants dot com slash tickets
to find that your game and secure your seat. And Tony.
As the NFL kind of wraps up their regular season here,
all the scouts are out looking at these bowl games.
We already had a group of bowl games. None of
the monsters, some smaller schools and stuff. Anyone over the
(27:44):
last week worth of games caught your eye. That you
think fans should keep an eye on. You might be
one their bowl game. I believe it was what Friday played. UH.
And they have two players who are going to the
Shrine game. One of them is the quarterback ster Sterling.
The other one is are left tackle to Deean Telford,
who really impressed me this season. Telford is a massive
(28:05):
offensive tackle six a thirty two pounds. He is a
dominant run blocker. He is a right tackle prospect in
the NFL. He's the guy who came back for a
second senior season. He could have entered last year, but
he rolled the dice. He came back. He played much
better in two thousand and twenty two than he did
in two thousand and twenty one. I think he's got
to shed a little bit of weight. I think he's
(28:26):
the type of offensive line he's got to learn to
bend his knees and do a better job blocking with
proper pare level. But Conde Telford of u AB who
played on Friday in the ball game, it is an
at definite late round possibility. I think if he shines
at the UH at the Shrine game, UH, he really
helped his draft stock And I think He's a legitimate
next level prospect, a guy you're gonna get in the
(28:49):
late rounds, could develop him down the road as a starter,
could be a swing inexpensive swing tackle based on his
experience at Alabama Birmaham playing a left tackle. All right,
look ahead, now, Tony unless of someone else do want
to touch on? Feel free? Uh for the games that
already took place, We've got a few bowl games coming up.
I'll I'll just list a bunch of them and you
could pick out anybody that jumps out to you. Uh,
(29:10):
Monday Night Marshall, Yukon at Eastern Michigan, San Jose State,
Liberty Toledo. On Wednesday, Western Kentucky, South Alabama. Then you
get some of the bigger names here, bail Or Air
Force in the Lockeed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, you get
wake Forest, Missouri in the Whole Mortgage Bowl, Louisiana and Houston. Uh.
Then you got you know, into them into the weekend
(29:33):
here in early next week, New Mexico Bowling, Green Um, Wisconsin,
Oklahoma State. Anybody from those games that really jump out
at you, that that you think or we're talking about
the floor is yours. Well, you know, The problem is
a lot of the top guys have already opted out.
You know, you look at Florida State Oklahoma, you look
at that great would have been a great matchup between
(29:54):
Alex Verst the pass rusher from Florida State, who I'm
told is going to enter the draft against Anton harris
in the left tackle from Oklahoma who's already entered the draft,
and he's out on the West Coast right now training
for for the Combine. So unfortunately, that kind of ruins
those matchups. Eastern Michigan placed San Jose State. Eastern Michigan
has got a terrific pass rusher by the name of
(30:15):
Jose Ramirez, another guy who went back for a second
senior season, played really well this year. I think he's
a late round pick. You look at UH wake Forest
against Missouri. I haven't heard about Chris Abrams drained the
cornerbacks from Missouri, but he has expected to draft. I
have not heard that he's not going to play in
his game if he does. Sam Hartman, the WA wake
(30:38):
Forest receivers against Chris Abrams drain of Missouri, who's expected
to be a day to pick once he enters the draft.
That is a matchup to watch. NC State has got
a terrific linebacker who who has had an injury history
in the past. Um, his name escapes me right now.
Hang on, Sorry, Tony has his spreadsheets, folks. He is
(31:01):
everybody in his Spreadcheez, He's just gotta find him. That's
at Peyton Wilson. I'm sorry. Peyton Wilson from North Carolina State.
He's athletic, he's explosive. When you watch him as a player,
he is legitimately a Day two linebacker. But when you
look at the medical history, which is multiple shoulder issues,
he's more of an undrafted free agent. So that's a
(31:22):
guy to watch in the ball season. Very good. So
check that out and again we'll be back next Wednesday
within the episode and you can, of course, uh, we'll
go deeper into some of those ball games and we'll
hit up the first round of the college football playoffs
as well. Two more things, Tony before we say goodbye.
Mike leach Uh tragically passed away last week. Still no
details and all the reports are that it was a
hard issue. Um, but just a big loss for for
(31:45):
college football. On the sport, you can't find anyone with
a bad thing to say about the guy as a person. Obviously,
you know, you watch his press conferences. You know what
a worldly guy he has. He has a lot of
opinions about a lot of subjects. But more importantly from
the next is an old standpoint, Tony. He changed college football,
and he changed high school football, and he's in it's
in the process of changing NFL football. What he did
(32:08):
with that a rate system has leaked into everything everyone does.
And he's an innovator and he deserves all the credit
in the world for doing that. Yeah, I mean, it's
just one continuation. I mean, the colleges take the kids
that they recruit from high school and the bigger athletes
which used to be uh you know, the on the
defensive side of ball or now put it receiver or
(32:28):
now put a pass catchers, and that affects what the
NFL does. I mean, Leach took that Texas Tech program
that was down and he really built it up. He
then goes to Washington State, which was for the longest
time the seller dwellers in the Pac twelve, and he
got them into the Bowl Uh Bowl seen after basically
that their season was over before it began, and then
they was doing good things at Mississippi State, and you know,
(32:51):
developed a lot of players. Basically they weren't great players,
but he put the he developed the system and put
them in a system where they could really succeed, and
they did a great job. And you know, you mentioned
the type of personality is he was a fun guy
to watch because he was able to make fun of
everybody and anybody, especially himself. And I mean it was
(33:15):
fun to watch. I was told that it was a
situation where he was told during the season that he
wasn't feeling well and then he should take some time off.
But he was just a workaholic and he loved football
and he love coaching, and he didn't want to stay away. Yeah,
those are a poor from somebody that covered him for
a long time down there that said he was suffering
basically from heart failure um over the course of the year.
(33:35):
So UM, it's just that it's a shame to lose
such an innovator. And you know, he's a guy that
you know, you look at you know, Click Kingsbury's a
coach in the NFL right now, right he has basically
taking that system and you know, he kind of mastered that.
You know, I was listening to the interview he did
with the Move the Sticks podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and
Bucky Brooks, and he talked about the importance of, you know,
(33:58):
not doing hundred things once, but doing one thing a
hundred times and just mastering a few specific things. And
that's kind of what he focused on. Just execute a
few things really well and that's gonna help me be successful. Yeah,
and then there's there all the personality point of it.
I mean, he was just a fun, fun guy. I'm
sure people have watched the uh the reruns of the documentary,
(34:22):
the short documentary, and the fact that he is secure
enough that he had that picture of the George Costands
a type picture with his head on it. People who
know what I'm talking about, they saw that documentary. I
think just speaks volumes about him as a person. It's
a shame. It's a shame for his family, it's a
shame for the team. And you know, I know we're
talking about Mike Leach, but it's already affecting some of
(34:42):
the Mississippi State players and their next level decisions. Some
guys were planning to go back for a second senior season.
They're already saying Listen, we're gonna go to the NFL
Draft with I want to deal with another coaching change.
And then there's the quarterback there Will Rodgers. I mean,
is he gonna answer the draft? There's talk he could transfer.
So it had a really big impact. We talked about
it from the outside looking in, but from the players
(35:04):
that he coached, it's really affected them as well. Yeah,
and the last thing we'll touch on here Tony is
the Heisman Trophy. Uh Kayla Williams out of USA. You know,
just uh, you know, go out there, play for that coach.
If your quarterback, you got a really good chance of
of Linkeln Riley, you got a really good chance to
wiliing the Heisman Trophy, it seems. And you know, krac
pointed out and think you the last show of the
(35:24):
show before how Kayla Williams had some traits that reminded
of Patrick Mahomes. That went back and I did a
really quick watch. He's not coming out this year. He'll
be you know, in the line for the first over
pick next year. And I see it. You know, different
arm angles, very creative, he can move really good arm.
He he just has some real, real special traits that
if you get him with the right coach, like an
Andy Reid, you could turn those you know that ability
(35:48):
into an excellent NFL quarterback. And that's the key, getting
in with the right coach because he's a good quarterback prospect,
but you're gonna have to get a coach that can
harvest it and put him in the right right situation
uses all his targets can make all the throws very athletic.
A guy who's a great leader. I mean, he was
just a tremendous leader, uh, both at Oklahoma when he
(36:08):
when he took over in two one and at USC
And for what it's worth, my wife is a big
fan after watching his Heisman Trophy speech because she thought
he did such a great job. So, uh, he seems
to be that not only, you know, a great leader
on the field, but a leader off the field as well.
I'm gonna have to start making a Tony's wife draft board,
and I'll start with Kayleb Williams. I'll see who else
(36:29):
gets on that board. Tony, Tony, anything else want to
add before we say goodbye? That's it. I mean, happy
holidays to everybody, and uh we're getting closer to uh
obviously the Super Bowl in the National Championship, and a
lot of football in in the coming of weeks during
the week not just on the weekends. No question. For
those celebrating Hanaka, you're in the middle of it. Enjoy, celebrate,
(36:51):
Enjoy the Festival of Lights. Christmas coming up, Enjoy that
Merry Christmas. Everybody. Will be back again next Wednesday with
an episode of Draft Season. Eric Crocker should be from
California and back in the mix with us on next Wednesday.
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Draft Season.
It's all brought to you by Tommy He'll figure a
PVH brand, an official partner of the New York Football
Giants for Tony Pauline. I'm John Schmalk. We'll see you
(37:13):
next time. It's Draft Season.
No officially over, it's draft season. Well it's definitely coming quick.
John Schmilch, Tony Pauline with you are. Partner Eric Crocker
is on the move back to California to celebrate the
holidays with the family. Will be back with us next week.
So just a two man crew today. It's all brought
(00:24):
to you by Tommy Hill, figure a PVH brand and
an official partner other New York Football jihants. And of
course this is an NFL Draft podcast, So even though
I work for the Giants, this is just about the
draft here, folks. So if you're into the draft, makes
you go subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Tony, how
are you, man? I'm okay. I hope everybody's well, getting
(00:44):
getting ready for the holidays. I guess Honika started this weekend.
Happy Honka everybody. And Christmas is right around the corner.
So exciting time. And then you know, we come down
to the end of the NFL season. It also means
that we're getting out. It's bowl season on the college schedule,
and a lot of college declared, a lot of underclassmen
you're gonna sit out these games and uh and prepare
for the combine pro day workouts and things of that sort. Yeah,
(01:07):
no question, I got to celebrate the first one of Fonka.
I'm not Jewish, so I didn't really celebrate. But getting
three hours of sleep coming back on a train from Washington,
d C. After a Giant's wins. Always coming good coming
back after a win. But if they seem a little
bleary eyed is because uh, two of my three hours
of sleep came on the cold floor in my office.
So bear with me, folks, I ask you kindly. Um,
(01:28):
All right, Tony, So let's go through this first. You
talked about lot of on the classmen declaring coming out
with the draft. Let's start with two guys that didn't declare,
but we know they're gonna come out, but they said
we're gonna play in the Sugar Bowl, and that's Alabama.
Bryce Young and Will Anderson both gonna play in the game.
We expect them both to declare shortly thereafter. They haven't yet,
so we're not gonna go into his prospects. But those
(01:50):
are the two of the guys that a side. Look,
we're gonna play in this bowl game even though they're
not in the college football playoffs. Very interesting and I
guess they look at his unfinished business. I mean, you
expect Obama to be in the college football playoffs, if
not the national championship. That's not gonna happen this year.
You know, Nick Saban. Nick Saban, he does a good
job with his players because he doesn't try and always
(02:11):
rerecruit the players he gets. He tells the players, you know, listen,
if you're gonna be a top fifteen pick in the
NFL draft, you gotta go. And both Royce Young and
Will Anderson are gonna be top fifteen picks in the
NFL draft. So you know, good for those Good on
those guys. Good for Nick Saban. I think it's the
way he runs the program. I think they feel is
a bit of unfinished business across your fingers. Just hope
(02:33):
everybody comes out of the game healthy. Uh. These are
you know, these are not trend setters. These guys are
the exception to the rule. As we're gonna see as
we move towards the end of December and through the
beginning of January. Yeah, we expect both those guys to
likely be top five picks, at the very worst, top
ten picks. Uh, certainly in the draft this year. So
we're gonna go through these early declarations. We're gonna go through,
(02:56):
you know, some of the minor balls that have already
happened if a couple of guys jumped out one of us.
We'll look ahead to some of the bowls next week.
We're gonna stop short of the college football playoffs and
maybe a couple of the major bowls over the over
that weekend because we're gonna have a show next Wednesday
that will cover that. So we'll kind of cover the
all the games heading into you know, that Wednesday night
(03:16):
before um, before we do our next show next week. So, Tony,
we've had a bunch of declarations. Let's kind of group
the wide receivers together first. But I feel like these
underclassmen are sitting there like, Wow, this is a pretty
open wide receiver class. We better declare. We could be
the first guy taken. And I think it's really up
in the air. Don't start with Jalen Highland, who obviously
had a monster year for the volunteers and in Tennessee.
(03:38):
I went back. I watched a lot of his tape
heading into this podcast to get ready for it. You know,
he is speed and that's the best thing. I can say.
He's fast, he can run away from people. I don't
see a really well rounded game quite yet. In my opinion,
you don't see contested catches. Is not a you know
he does, He's not really Son at the top of
his raft that you expect the speed, sir, debate, but boy,
(03:59):
straight line, he runs by everyone. Very unpolished. But a
home run a home run hitter at the position. And
I mean he continually delivered for Tennessee in that fashion.
And when you look at the receiver position, it's not
very strong. There's a good possibility Jalen Hyatt could be
the first receiver selected somewhere middle late part of round
one because it's really bare. I mean, Quentin Johnson's gonna
(04:23):
enter the draft. I'm sure he'll compete for that number
one receiver spot. Kashawn Booty has announced that he's going
back to l s U or another year. Good on
him because he did not have a good season. I mean, really,
the door is wide open. And I think with Jalen Hyatt,
you know he's gonna have to work on his routes.
You know, you're gonna have to develop a route tree
because he doesn't have he's gonna have to work on
(04:43):
his footwork in and out of routes, keeping that speed
into and out of breaks, you know, so he can separate.
But still, as you said, I mean, he's a home
run hitter. He's the type of guy that defensive backs
are gonna have to move a step or two back
to safean he's gonna have to keep an eye on
him when he stepped to the line of stre image
and in what looks like a very weak receiver class,
(05:04):
I mean, he's got the speed. He's got the home
run hitting at Billy, and he showed it weekend and
week out when he wasn't even expected to be the
number one receiver. And excuse me for Tennessee coming into
the season. Yes, six ones is a hundred eighty pounds.
He's kind of leggy. He's got very long legs, which
might have to do with his ability to come in
and out of those breaks. Very sharply tony, but he
(05:25):
certainly has that speed, man, And you're right, he's gonna
be competing with some of these other guys we're gonna
talk about shortly for the top wide receiver taken. And
he's all I think, you know, I had written down
I'm having in front of me with fifteen touchdowns this
year high eighteen touchdown something that's ridiculous. He's he's he's
been living in the end zone and in big moments too.
I mean it wasn't like, you know, fifteen touchdo it
wasn't like five touchdown six touchdowns against Austin Pe. I
(05:48):
mean he performed the big spot for Tennessee. Yeah, no question.
All right. Let's go to another wide receiver. That's Claire.
This one we talked about a couple of weeks ago, um,
but I went deeper into his tape from last year.
He's only played I think, oh gosh, probably less than
a hundred snaps this year. That's Jackson Smith and Jigba
the wide receiver for Ohio State, six pounds. You know,
(06:08):
he was very productive last year when he was on
the field with Olava and Garrett Wilson. He had you know,
eighty something catches over thousand yards that year, maybe I
think catches maybe even really productive year head the Monster
Bowl game. Obviously, I was surprised when I looked back
at his tape because I didn't watch him closely last year. Tony.
You know, this guy was exclusively a slot wide receiver.
(06:29):
He barely played outside at all. Um. I thought he
had pretty decent suddenness at the top of his route,
but I didn't think he was as good at that
Garrett Wilson in that regard, for example, you know, good
not not not as fast as Chris olav good not
great speed. I think a good, solid slot wide receiver,
but I didn't see rare traits when I watched him
on tape. They didn't need to play him outside in
(06:51):
two thousand, two hundred one at a State because they
had a lot and had Garrett Wilson, had a couple
of other guys. Yeah, I like him a lot. The
fact is this is he was c j Strous's number
one in the target last year, and teams knew the
ball was going to be thrown to him because the
Lava because Stroud wasn't looking at the other receivers, especially Lava,
and it couldn't stop him. Yeah, he needs a lot
of polish in this game. I think. I don't agree.
(07:13):
I think he made a mistake entering the draft. You know,
missed most of the season because of the hamstring issue.
Some people told me that he basically tuned out of
playing this year. In September, it was basically given at
that time. Very difficult. Sometime doesn't work when you get
a guy who's on the downside, when you get a
guy who hasn't played his best football coming off a
(07:33):
bad year, coming off a year like that with a
hamstring injury to get him back to where he was,
and again, you know, we're not talking about an ankler
and he we're talking about a hamstring injury for a
thinner receiver who's got decent speed, that's a concern. I
think what's gonna happen was if he had gone back
and had a big year, he would have been the
first round pick. I think right now you're looking at
(07:55):
Day two for him. Yeah, and you know, I probably
think he's a world well more well rounded receiver than High.
To be honest with the if I was picking between
the two, I would probably pick Smith and Jigbo. At
this point, High it's gonna outest him at the combine.
That's gonna be a factor. He's probably gonna be a
you know, a sub four or four guy. I would
guess on his forty yard dash. So we'll see. He'll
have some work to do. But it'll be a good
competition for that first wide receiver off the board. But
(08:16):
the thing is this is, you know, hamstring injuries and
receivers quick receivers, that that's not a good combination. So
there's gonna be a lot of questions asked of him,
and there's gonna be a lot of questions asked of
the medical staff at Ohio as to exactly what went on. Yeah,
and both high and Smith and Jigbo, by the way,
both said they're not gonna play him there in their
bowl games. So something to keep in mind here as
(08:39):
we move ahead. You know, Tony one guy I was
not that familiar with, and I was very excited to
watch him. Josh Downs out of North Carolina, smaller guy
listed at five one seventy five, which tells me he
was probably closer to five eight one six paste at
how college programs list their hight and weight. His his
way in at the combine will be essential. But boy,
he plays a lot bigger than a size on tape.
(08:59):
He's contested catches, he's physical with the catch point, he's sudden.
Talk about Son's at the top of the route. This
is your guy. I loved what I saw on tape,
and if not for his measurables, Tony, he was the
best wide receiver I watched out of all these guys
that declared very reliable, very dependable. Another guy who like
Highatt came up in the big spot for his team,
(09:20):
you know, fade routes and the corner routes and in
the end zone he come away with the catch, ran
good underneath routes, was in tune with his This quarterback
knew how to separate Foule the quarterback across the field
much better player in two thousand twenty two than he
wasn't two thousand twenty one. And he was a good
receiver in two thousand one. All the signs you're pointing north.
(09:43):
But as you said, I mean, if he doesn't measure
five ten, where does he end up in the draft.
Doesn't mean he's not gonna be a good player. Just
means that, you know, there's not a big market for
receivers that are under five ten in the draft. You're
gonna have to develop plays for him, developed position, his form,
you know, gadget plays you talked about, you know, Smith
(10:04):
and Jingba being basically a slot receiver. That's what you're
looking at and downs gonna be a very good NFL receiver,
I believe if he used correctly. But again, you're looking
at a day two choice, you know. And another guy
that declared out of merrill at a meryl antoni Riki Jarrett.
You know, I watched him and I was surprised that
that he declared to be honest with you. In that offense,
he just wasn't asked to do a whole lot. It's
(10:25):
a lot of just get it to him in space,
let him make run after the catch, And there weren't
a ton of big yards after the catch plays, even
though they tried to set those up for him. So
I think he's looking at early day three at best,
late day two type of pick round. Okay, and a
guy like Kim Jarrett, you gotta see what is what
is testing results are because you know he will be
(10:49):
helped if he runs fast and he's shown some deep speed.
He's good, but he's not great. He's not special. There's
nothing that really stands out about him. It's had a lot,
he made a lot of good plays for came up
consistently for Maryland. But again, you know, there's nothing that
separates him from everyone else. I guess I'm not surprised.
I don't know that he was gonna improve that much.
I had him coming into the year as a sixth rounder.
(11:12):
I moved him up to a fifth rounder. If he
tests better, I may move him into the fourth round.
You know, but he is what he is, and what
you're looking at is maybe a number four, number five
receiver at the next level. And then Tony I've been
washing yet, but I know you're excited about Tyler Scott,
wide receiver at a Cincinnati Yeah. This guy, he reminds
me a bit of a Baja Moore and he is
a big play receiver. You want to talk about Jalen
(11:32):
Hide his big play ability, watched Tyler Scott. The difference
between Tyler Scott and and Jalen Hyad is Tyler Scott
places for Cincinnati. So at three thirty, he's not on
network television. Now he's not on ABC, or he's not
on CBS. He's on ESPN two or ESPN You But
this guy, I mean, he is a terrific pass catcher.
He catches everything inside. He's smart, he's got great intuition
(11:55):
on the field, and he's got home run hitting speed.
I've been told that he has running the fourth whose
previous at timing Cincinnati, even if he runs on the
low four three. But again, he's like Josh Downs, it's
probably not even going to measure five ft ten when
he steps on the scale at the combine, which is
going to kind of devalue his draft stock. I absolutely
(12:16):
think Tyler Scott, who no one's talking about now, they
will be talking about. Remember the combine, it's gonna be
a day to put, will also help out as a
return specialist, big time home run hitter who comes up
a little bit shy from the measuring stick. All right, Tony,
before you go to another position, give me our ten
thousand foot view. You only to mentioned players if you want,
but just take this wide receiver crew as a whole
(12:38):
and compared to what we've seen in the last couple
of years, it's way down, way down. I mean you're talking.
You may have a couple of first round picks. You
may have guys who squeak into the first round, players
who reach in the in the first round. It's basically
day two and Day three type of guys. You're looking
at number two receivers, number three receivers, number four receivers.
Not a lot of guys that no, Garrett Wilson's in
(13:00):
this year show nothing close to Garrett Wilson in this
year's draft. Far to say, if you took this class
combined to it last year's draft, Tony, you know, the
guys this year are probably going fifth, six, seventh, like
like that, like that type of area, a couple of
third rounds. But yeah, basically it's late day, two, day
three type guys. Absolutely, it's if your team needs a receiver,
(13:22):
you better get one of free agency because there's not
a whole heck of a lot in the draft. Yeah,
no one's going like, these guys aren't going over Jake London.
They're not going over Garrett Wilson. They're not going over
Jamison Williams. Uh they might they might have. They're not
going over Chris Olave. You know, maybe John Dotson. I
think that's probably where the conversation starts, but the way
Dotson is playing maybe not so. Look, I'm with you.
I just think it's it's a deal where teams are
(13:44):
gonna pick him in the first round. Teams are gonna
pick wide receivers in the first round because they need
wide receivers. That doesn't necessarily mean that these are you know,
number one X style wide receivers here and even Johan
Dotson he didn't have the great speed, but it was
a tremendous rout runner. He knew how to separate, he
knew how to get opens site. I mean everything in sight,
which you don't really see any of these, even Rashi Rice.
(14:06):
I did my Rashi Rice. Uh film working machime. Rice
is good, but there's just that there's not that extra
about his game that really gets excited. But he's a
good player. All right, Let's let's stick on the offensive
side of the bow, Tony. But before we head over
to the defense. Uh. Michael Mayer from from Notre Dame,
the tight End declared, I went back and I watched him.
The impressive thing to me, like, this is the tight
(14:27):
end that they plucked out of the late eighties orly nineties. Tony.
He's six four, he's two sixty five. He'll block if
they ask him. He's not Mark Bavariat, but the guy
knows how to block. Um. He's a really good route
runner for a guy his size. He's quick out of
his brakes. Boy, if you want a two way tight
end and if you want to put a lot of
twelve personnel, Boy, he's a guy that I think every
(14:49):
team is gonna be targeting in and he's the first
round pick. He could he could be top fIF team.
Last year we did I compared him to Mark Mark
Bervoir because he is that type of two way tight end.
You know, he's not the scene stretcher that teems like
these days. He's not, you know, the oversized receiver playing
the tight end position. But he's really good at everything
he does. He's got to pick up his blocking a
(15:10):
bit a bit, but they really asked him a block
all that much. And to day because he was so uh,
he was such a weapon in the passing game, gets
up in the crowd, comes down with the ball. Uh,
consistent pass catcher, big body guy, you know, a Gronkowski
type of big body guy that will carry defenders for
yards after the reception. But again, you know, he is
(15:33):
your sort of throwback tight end. As you said, what
we saw in the eighties and the nineties, that's not
what people are looking for. Let's not what people want
these days. Still gonna be a lot of value. You know,
one other tight end that I want to touch on
an underclassman who has already announced his Tucker Craft of
South Dakota State. This guy, to me is is go
(15:54):
dirt plus some Tucker Craft. If you go back and
you watch the two thousands twenty one film, or I
should say coming up coming out of the summer. This
year summer after doing the two thousand one film, Tucker
Craft of South Dakota State was my number one rated
non Division one player, non FBS player. He was my
number one rated small school player. He's a phenomenal pass catcher.
(16:17):
Played well against Iowa in the first game in the season,
but hurt his ankle missed the next six games. This
guy is a dominant pass catcher. He is that oversize
receiver at the tight end position. A lot of people
some people say he's he's very He's got a confidence
about himself to the point where some people say he's arrogant.
But he's outstanding. And South Dakota State won their uh
(16:39):
beat Montana State this weekend in the Division No. One
Double A f c S semifinals. They're now playing North
Dakota State. I believe it's the day before the national
title game that is going to be a game to
watch Tucker Craft, the tight end, the junior tight end
from South Dakota State, who's already announced he's entering the draft.
I think he's an early day to choice. Well, you
(17:00):
don't see many FCS players declare earlier. He's got to
be talented if he's If he's doing that, all right, tony,
funny game. What what do you think the odds that
a tight end gets selected before a receiver as the
first player off the board in this year's draft. Uh,
we've got to see what the order is in the
you know, with what the order in the in the
first round is. But I think it's you know, it's
(17:20):
a distinct possibility. I think with with Mayor of note
you dame, there's not allowed downside there, there's not the
great upside. He doesn't need as much work on his game,
and say a Jalen Hyatt, he doesn't have the the
you know, the concerns is say Smith and Jimba of
Ohio State, who basically hasn't played this season. So it's
a distinct possibility. All right, Let's go to our last
(17:43):
offensive player here, the other player on the touch here
on offense, um Peter Scronsky from Northwestern, the offensive tackle
Tony Um. He declared as well. Uh, we talked about him,
I think one of our first episodes, and at that
point he was kind of considered the top tackle in
the class. I think he's been overtake in by Paris
Johnson of Ohio State at this point. But look, he's
as solid as a rock, don't Maybe it was you
(18:06):
that reported or we were somebody else. I've been told
he might not measure much longer than thirty two in arms,
So I think a lot of teams might be looking
at him and as a guard at some point. You know,
he kind of reminds me of was like a Jonah
Williams type of player, where some people might see him
as a guarden instead of a tackle. Right, but he's
gonna be a first round pick and he's gonna be
a good offensive lineman or wherever he winds up. You
may not even be six ft four either, so you
(18:26):
gotta wait and see what happens there. He is the
top guard on my board. I have him on my
guard board now. When you watch him at left tackle,
he's a premier pass blocker and a terrific footwork. Agile
is able to not be a pass rushers from their
Anglo attack. Good good in motion gets out to the
second level. But the fact this is he may not
have those great left tackle mesuables that team wants, which
(18:48):
which will push him inside the guard? UH, real zone
blocking type of guy who you can put him in motion,
you can get him out on the second level, you
can pull him across the line of scrimmage, and it's
gonna do a good out for you again. Another player
who was good in two but really up this game
in two thousand twenty two. I think he's gonna go
somewhere in the middle around one. All right, don't forget folks.
(19:11):
Go download the Giants TV app. It's a Giants official
streaming television app. You can find it for free and
Apple TV, Roku and all your other UH streaming services.
Go check that out. All right, Tony, let's go to
the defensive side of the ball. A couple of Clemson
players declared early, let's first go to the linebacker position.
Trent Simpson had a Cleanson one of these classic speed
undersized linebacker six three two pounds. Look, he runs like
(19:35):
you got him in space here, run he'll chase. He
can go sideline to sideline. Uh, he's you know, he's
willing to be physical, but he's just not that big
of a guy. You like, what you see is gonna
be a first round pick, but he's one of these
guys that you have to scheme around because he's not,
you know, gonna meet these you know, he's not gonna
do with these old school linebackers used to do, you know,
meet and shed offensive lineman running power right at him,
(19:56):
sort of your classic four three week side linebackers. Definitely
a will coverage drop him off the line, can cover
the tight end downfield, can cover the running back outstanding
in pursuit. You know, a guy who you may run
some design bulitz is on, but you're not really gonna
ask him to uh get a lot of force up
the field. Obviously, you're gonna have the test well because
(20:16):
you want to see that those forty times in the
shuttle times match what you're seeing on film. If it doesn't,
it's gonna hurt his draft stock, and you want to
see what his measurables are. You know, he's small at
six three, two thirty is not really not you know,
you see you do it in the in the bar
at six thirty. You're not saying he's small, but he's
very good. I mean he's very athletic. He plays athletic football. Uh,
he's very explosive. I have him right now, late first,
(20:40):
early second with the underclassman. You really want to see
what their measurables are. I'll be redundant saying that, and
when I do, you'll put a final. I'll put a final.
Grand Simpson a real good football player, There's no doubt
about it. Though A similar linebacker at least size at
six thirty two, Drew saying, there's that of Arkansas another
he's he's he's a little bit tall, he's a little
bit leggy. You know, he's he's long, he can run.
(21:02):
He's an explosive tackler. Now he's missed a few, you know,
too many tackles from my taste, but very explosive at
at at at potto, at point of contact with other guys.
And he has the tools you would want because of
his length and coverage. Really good athlete, really interesting background.
I think his dad and what I think is I
think his dad is an is an arm wrestler or
something like that. I think that's him, right, So you know,
(21:23):
just real interesting background, and I think he's gonna be
interesting player that team is gonna be excited about. Because
what a good athlete he is. Alabama transfer who came
off a career year, had what over a hundred tackles
this year, was constantly around the ball, making players, Really
was not much of a name in the scouting community
before the season began, and just blew up and just
kept playing better and better and better. I think that
(21:44):
you know, somebody like him. Don't know that he's gonna
get into a game like the senior boat because I
don't know what his graduation status is. But with somebody
like that, you want to see, you know, how he
does in the coverage drills. You know, is he smooth
and fluid pedaling in reiversaries? A guy that's basic lead
in the boxing sideline to sideline. I think right now
you're looking at day two with Sanders coming off a
(22:05):
great year, understand why he entered the draft. I mean
it's gonna be difficult for him the top his performance
in two thousand twenty two. You might as well strike
while the iron is hot. You no question, I got
his background confused with another player. His dad was a
high school coach um for a very long time. So
he's a smart kid. Um knows what he's doing, and
just someone to keep an eye on here as he
(22:25):
moved forward. Let's stick here, Tony in Clemson, Miles Murphy
and you want to you know, we talked about Michael
Mayer's being an old school tight end. Well, this guy
is an old school four three defensive end. He on
the bigger side. Um, he's a good pass rusher. He's
quick for a side. He's not gonna be one of
these you know, stand up guys in a three four
(22:46):
that's you know, gonna rush the passer and be afraid
to you know, come after in the run game. Uh
six five to seventy five. I think he's gonna be
a fit for any four three scheme, and just because
of his physical traits and then of course is his
his power, his ability, is athleticism, all that stuff. He's
he's gonna be a top ten pick in this year's draft.
He's and he's always been on my board. I mean
(23:06):
I wrote about him over the summer. He you know,
I had him rated slightly higher than Brian Breeze. I
like Murphy so much. I love his pass rushing ability,
his speed off the edge, he's able to bend off
the edge, plays with great balance, plays with great body control.
It's got to get a little bit stronger. A couple
of times this year he's getting blown up the ball,
especially late in the games on running downs. So he's
(23:27):
gonna have to improve his anchor and improve his play
in run defense. But still, you know, in a foreman line,
you put him in and put his hand in the ground.
He's a terrific pass rusher. And in the passing league,
you gotta get a pass rush, you gotta get it.
You gotta get quarterbacks. You got the guys up there
that can harass the passer and sack the passer. And
that's what Murphy has done very well the past two years. Yeah,
(23:48):
no question about it. He's just a really, really, really
good player. Um all right, let's go to uh the
other edge rusher that's coming out that we're gonna talk
about here, Tony, and that's b J. Lari younger brother
who was ez Olari who's with the Giants. And you know,
I watched him and I saw a lot of hiss
O glari in um Um. He can kind of dip
and rip off the edge. He's got good good speed
(24:10):
and good burst. I thought his length was really impressive,
allowing to play that run a little bit better. He's
more of your stand up outside rushier in a in
a base three four that's gonna go after the passer.
But I think he's ability to be a two way player.
You know, he one number eighteen for LSU, which is
a big deal down there for the people that follow
that program. And I think he's gonna be another guy
that's gonna be highly sought after as a pure pass
(24:32):
rusher off the edge in this year's draft, in the
versatility that maybe Miles Murphy doesn't have, in the sense
that you can stand him up over tackle, you can
put him, you put his hand in the ground, Haven
come out of a three point stands, shows a lot
of athleticism in his game, shows the ability to backpedal,
move move laterally. Obviously, I don't think he's as polished
as Murphy as far as his pass rushing skills are concerned,
(24:53):
but he's got a tremendous amount of upside. He's only
get stronger as he as he physically matures. He gets
into an n A felt weight training program, he has
that athleticism. I always liked his brother at Georgia. I
think this old oj Arry probably has more upside. UH
could absolutely see him going in the bottom half or
middle of bottom half a round one. By the way,
(25:14):
Tyson badgen Is is the player the Division two out
of Shepherd, the quarterback um that has his father, that's
the arm wrestling champion. That's where I got those two
confused there and Tonyano before we moved on, and we
move on to some of the Bowl stuff. I know
you wanted to talk about Ohio State in Michigan. They
really haven't had their early declarations yet, and you wanted
to talk about maybe which one of those players might
(25:36):
end up declaring. And based on what you're hearing, well,
you know, if we go back to our show after
the Michigan Ohiouse State game, you stated about how Ohio
State has got so many more NFL prospects than Michigan
and Michigan pounding them because they play better team ball.
What I'm here from Ohio State is it's gonna be
a floodgage once they lose, whether it be in the
semifinal game to Georgia, if they if they're lucky enough
(25:57):
to make it UH to the final game. Everyone's coming out.
There was talk that, you know, had the playoffs, had
l House State not made the playoffs, c J. Strild
would have already announced that he's entering the draft, and
he went to play in the playoff game. We talked
about Smith, n Jimba, Paris Johnson I'm told is going
to enter the draft. There's a good chance lou Paras
Johnson the left tackle, very good chance. Luke Whippler the center,
(26:20):
is going to enter the draft. Steel Chambers, that's a
guy to keep an eye on. Uh. The uh the
linebacker who's a lot like Trenton Simpson in the sense
that he's very athletic. He's a good pursuit mind backer.
And their tight end, Cage Stover, I'm told this also
going to enter the draft. What I'm hearing out of
Michigan is their top guys or their top defensive guys.
(26:41):
DJ Turner, the cornerback, has already decided on representation for
the draft. He's gonna enter once Michigan is out of
the playoffs, whether it be the semifinals championship game. Mazzy
Smith also very likely to enter, so is Mike Morris,
the uh the past rusher, the edge rusher who has
done a terrific job this year, both standing up out
of a three point stance. B J. Ocean Arry type
(27:03):
of player goes. Three guys from Michigan. I'm told expected
to enter the draft once Michigan ends their run in
the college football playoffs. All right, we'll keep an eye
on that. Of course, stay in the draft season. We'll
probably some word on that once you get through some
of these college playoff games as well. And then at
some point we're gonna go through all the senior Bowl
stuff too, and you know, the Shrine game. We'll talk
to some people about some of the players going to
(27:24):
those events as well. Hi and Fansy got one more
home game to go, Giants taking on the Colts on
New Year's Day. Go to Giants dot com slash tickets
to find that your game and secure your seat. And Tony.
As the NFL kind of wraps up their regular season here,
all the scouts are out looking at these bowl games.
We already had a group of bowl games. None of
the monsters, some smaller schools and stuff. Anyone over the
(27:44):
last week worth of games caught your eye. That you
think fans should keep an eye on. You might be
one their bowl game. I believe it was what Friday played. UH.
And they have two players who are going to the
Shrine game. One of them is the quarterback ster Sterling.
The other one is are left tackle to Deean Telford,
who really impressed me this season. Telford is a massive
(28:05):
offensive tackle six a thirty two pounds. He is a
dominant run blocker. He is a right tackle prospect in
the NFL. He's the guy who came back for a
second senior season. He could have entered last year, but
he rolled the dice. He came back. He played much
better in two thousand and twenty two than he did
in two thousand and twenty one. I think he's got
to shed a little bit of weight. I think he's
(28:26):
the type of offensive line he's got to learn to
bend his knees and do a better job blocking with
proper pare level. But Conde Telford of u AB who
played on Friday in the ball game, it is an
at definite late round possibility. I think if he shines
at the UH at the Shrine game, UH, he really
helped his draft stock And I think He's a legitimate
next level prospect, a guy you're gonna get in the
(28:49):
late rounds, could develop him down the road as a starter,
could be a swing inexpensive swing tackle based on his
experience at Alabama Birmaham playing a left tackle. All right,
look ahead, now, Tony unless of someone else do want
to touch on? Feel free? Uh for the games that
already took place, We've got a few bowl games coming up.
I'll I'll just list a bunch of them and you
could pick out anybody that jumps out to you. Uh,
(29:10):
Monday Night Marshall, Yukon at Eastern Michigan, San Jose State,
Liberty Toledo. On Wednesday, Western Kentucky, South Alabama. Then you
get some of the bigger names here, bail Or Air
Force in the Lockeed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, you get
wake Forest, Missouri in the Whole Mortgage Bowl, Louisiana and Houston. Uh.
Then you got you know, into them into the weekend
(29:33):
here in early next week, New Mexico Bowling, Green Um, Wisconsin,
Oklahoma State. Anybody from those games that really jump out
at you, that that you think or we're talking about
the floor is yours. Well, you know, The problem is
a lot of the top guys have already opted out.
You know, you look at Florida State Oklahoma, you look
at that great would have been a great matchup between
(29:54):
Alex Verst the pass rusher from Florida State, who I'm
told is going to enter the draft against Anton harris
in the left tackle from Oklahoma who's already entered the draft,
and he's out on the West Coast right now training
for for the Combine. So unfortunately, that kind of ruins
those matchups. Eastern Michigan placed San Jose State. Eastern Michigan
has got a terrific pass rusher by the name of
(30:15):
Jose Ramirez, another guy who went back for a second
senior season, played really well this year. I think he's
a late round pick. You look at UH wake Forest
against Missouri. I haven't heard about Chris Abrams drained the
cornerbacks from Missouri, but he has expected to draft. I
have not heard that he's not going to play in
his game if he does. Sam Hartman, the WA wake
(30:38):
Forest receivers against Chris Abrams drain of Missouri, who's expected
to be a day to pick once he enters the draft.
That is a matchup to watch. NC State has got
a terrific linebacker who who has had an injury history
in the past. Um, his name escapes me right now.
Hang on, Sorry, Tony has his spreadsheets, folks. He is
(31:01):
everybody in his Spreadcheez, He's just gotta find him. That's
at Peyton Wilson. I'm sorry. Peyton Wilson from North Carolina State.
He's athletic, he's explosive. When you watch him as a player,
he is legitimately a Day two linebacker. But when you
look at the medical history, which is multiple shoulder issues,
he's more of an undrafted free agent. So that's a
(31:22):
guy to watch in the ball season. Very good. So
check that out and again we'll be back next Wednesday
within the episode and you can, of course, uh, we'll
go deeper into some of those ball games and we'll
hit up the first round of the college football playoffs
as well. Two more things, Tony before we say goodbye.
Mike leach Uh tragically passed away last week. Still no
details and all the reports are that it was a
hard issue. Um, but just a big loss for for
(31:45):
college football. On the sport, you can't find anyone with
a bad thing to say about the guy as a person. Obviously,
you know, you watch his press conferences. You know what
a worldly guy he has. He has a lot of
opinions about a lot of subjects. But more importantly from
the next is an old standpoint, Tony. He changed college football,
and he changed high school football, and he's in it's
in the process of changing NFL football. What he did
(32:08):
with that a rate system has leaked into everything everyone does.
And he's an innovator and he deserves all the credit
in the world for doing that. Yeah, I mean, it's
just one continuation. I mean, the colleges take the kids
that they recruit from high school and the bigger athletes
which used to be uh you know, the on the
defensive side of ball or now put it receiver or
(32:28):
now put a pass catchers, and that affects what the
NFL does. I mean, Leach took that Texas Tech program
that was down and he really built it up. He
then goes to Washington State, which was for the longest
time the seller dwellers in the Pac twelve, and he
got them into the Bowl Uh Bowl seen after basically
that their season was over before it began, and then
they was doing good things at Mississippi State, and you know,
(32:51):
developed a lot of players. Basically they weren't great players,
but he put the he developed the system and put
them in a system where they could really succeed, and
they did a great job. And you know, you mentioned
the type of personality is he was a fun guy
to watch because he was able to make fun of
everybody and anybody, especially himself. And I mean it was
(33:15):
fun to watch. I was told that it was a
situation where he was told during the season that he
wasn't feeling well and then he should take some time off.
But he was just a workaholic and he loved football
and he love coaching, and he didn't want to stay away. Yeah,
those are a poor from somebody that covered him for
a long time down there that said he was suffering
basically from heart failure um over the course of the year.
(33:35):
So UM, it's just that it's a shame to lose
such an innovator. And you know, he's a guy that
you know, you look at you know, Click Kingsbury's a
coach in the NFL right now, right he has basically
taking that system and you know, he kind of mastered that.
You know, I was listening to the interview he did
with the Move the Sticks podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and
Bucky Brooks, and he talked about the importance of, you know,
(33:58):
not doing hundred things once, but doing one thing a
hundred times and just mastering a few specific things. And
that's kind of what he focused on. Just execute a
few things really well and that's gonna help me be successful. Yeah,
and then there's there all the personality point of it.
I mean, he was just a fun, fun guy. I'm
sure people have watched the uh the reruns of the documentary,
(34:22):
the short documentary, and the fact that he is secure
enough that he had that picture of the George Costands
a type picture with his head on it. People who
know what I'm talking about, they saw that documentary. I
think just speaks volumes about him as a person. It's
a shame. It's a shame for his family, it's a
shame for the team. And you know, I know we're
talking about Mike Leach, but it's already affecting some of
(34:42):
the Mississippi State players and their next level decisions. Some
guys were planning to go back for a second senior season.
They're already saying Listen, we're gonna go to the NFL
Draft with I want to deal with another coaching change.
And then there's the quarterback there Will Rodgers. I mean,
is he gonna answer the draft? There's talk he could transfer.
So it had a really big impact. We talked about
it from the outside looking in, but from the players
(35:04):
that he coached, it's really affected them as well. Yeah,
and the last thing we'll touch on here Tony is
the Heisman Trophy. Uh Kayla Williams out of USA. You know,
just uh, you know, go out there, play for that coach.
If your quarterback, you got a really good chance of
of Linkeln Riley, you got a really good chance to
wiliing the Heisman Trophy, it seems. And you know, krac
pointed out and think you the last show of the
(35:24):
show before how Kayla Williams had some traits that reminded
of Patrick Mahomes. That went back and I did a
really quick watch. He's not coming out this year. He'll
be you know, in the line for the first over
pick next year. And I see it. You know, different
arm angles, very creative, he can move really good arm.
He he just has some real, real special traits that
if you get him with the right coach, like an
Andy Reid, you could turn those you know that ability
(35:48):
into an excellent NFL quarterback. And that's the key, getting
in with the right coach because he's a good quarterback prospect,
but you're gonna have to get a coach that can
harvest it and put him in the right right situation
uses all his targets can make all the throws very athletic.
A guy who's a great leader. I mean, he was
just a tremendous leader, uh, both at Oklahoma when he
(36:08):
when he took over in two one and at USC
And for what it's worth, my wife is a big
fan after watching his Heisman Trophy speech because she thought
he did such a great job. So, uh, he seems
to be that not only, you know, a great leader
on the field, but a leader off the field as well.
I'm gonna have to start making a Tony's wife draft board,
and I'll start with Kayleb Williams. I'll see who else
(36:29):
gets on that board. Tony, Tony, anything else want to
add before we say goodbye? That's it. I mean, happy
holidays to everybody, and uh we're getting closer to uh
obviously the Super Bowl in the National Championship, and a
lot of football in in the coming of weeks during
the week not just on the weekends. No question. For
those celebrating Hanaka, you're in the middle of it. Enjoy, celebrate,
(36:51):
Enjoy the Festival of Lights. Christmas coming up, Enjoy that
Merry Christmas. Everybody. Will be back again next Wednesday with
an episode of Draft Season. Eric Crocker should be from
California and back in the mix with us on next Wednesday.
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Draft Season.
It's all brought to you by Tommy He'll figure a
PVH brand, an official partner of the New York Football
Giants for Tony Pauline. I'm John Schmalk. We'll see you
(37:13):
next time. It's Draft Season.
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