Ep. 161: Talkin' Draft with James Foster

Stoney Keeley welcomes James Foster of A to Z Sports Film Room onto the show to dig into the upcoming NFL Draft. The two talk quarterbacks, blue chip prospects, where this draft is the deepest, where the good positions to value shop are, how the presence of Bill Callahan impacts draft strategy at offensive line, and of course, there's some Colton Dowell special teams talk.

Subscribe to A to Z Sports Film Room on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AtoZSportsFilmRoom

Follow James on X: https://twitter.com/NoFlagsFilm

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
From Sobros HQ and Nashville, Tennesseeto wherever you're cheering on your Tennessee Titans.
The Sobros Network presents the Unofficial TitansPodcast. Welcome back for another episode

(00:31):
of the Unofficial Titans Podcast right hereon Sobros Network. Mind's right ass is
tight as we tackle today's show foryou. It's your boy, big Natural
Stony Keeley flying solo at least fora few minutes while I introduced my guest
here. You can follow me onTwitter at Stony Keeley, follow us collectively
at Sobros Network on all major socialmedia platforms. It's officially Draft season and

(00:57):
we are going to be talking tothe man, the myth, the legend
himself, James Foster a is eSports Film Room on YouTube. He is
at No Flags Film on Twitter.Great follow You got to be keeping up
with his work during draft season becausehe's one of the best in the game
right now. You didn't hear fromme last week. Some communication issues breakdown.

(01:19):
You know, I had some coolstuff planned, fell through, didn't
quite get things in at the deadline, so to speak, and so it
didn't happen and it was too lateto kind of rush a show. So
I just took the week off.You guys haven't heard from me since the
Senior Bowl, And honestly, let'sbe real, if you've been keeping up
with my coverage of the Senior Bowlover on Stackingtheinbox dot com, then you

(01:45):
already know that that week is abit of a grind. It's a bit
of a it's you know, Idon't want to compare it to hard labor,
but we're out there, you know, paving rhads. Baby, We're
out there in the heat, steamrollingstuff, all right, So it takes
you a little bit not to mentionthe fact that I'm drinking like eight beers
a day down in Mobile, Alabama. Beautiful, beautiful Mobile Alabama. So

(02:08):
it's been a couple of weeks,but I'm happy to get back into the
swing of things, and especially totalk to James Foster on this show,
who was kind enough to give mean hour of his time, which you
know, when I first sat downwith him, I'm like, okay,
let's get thirty minutes and I'll giveyou your evening back. You can go
on and go on about your day. And then I'm thinking, you know,

(02:30):
I'm gonna hit all the Titans news, the Titans updates for the week,
record a solo intro, news andupdates, and then we'll get into
the conversation and maybe get an hourlong episode. No, it didn't didn't
happen. James and I sat thereand talked about the draft for an hour.
He's one of the best in thegame because he puts in the work
that it takes to be one ofthe best in the game. And you

(02:51):
guys know me. I've talked aboutit on this show. I've talked about
it on Sobro's network. I don'tknow how many times. Trust and authenticity
are two big things for me.I always want to be that way with
you guys that are listening to thisshow, and that's something that I value.
When I'm consuming a creator's content.When I'm listening to somebody reading,

(03:12):
somebody watching somebody, I want toknow two things. I want to know
One that they've done the work toform a valid opinion on whatever they're talking
about. And two, I wantto know that they're not just saying shit
to get clicks, to try torile me up, to try and drive
social media engagement. None of that. And from getting to know James Foster
over the last year or so,learning about his process a little bit,

(03:35):
learning about how much he's done tostudy the game. Like we're not just
talking about the draft and how toevaluate an offensive lineman or how to judge
a cornerback or anything like that.We're talking about broad schematic things in football.
The work that he's put in toget the knowledge base that he has.
I appreciate that. It's one ofthe main reasons I like him and
I go to his stuff before alot of other people is because I know

(04:00):
from talking to James that he's putin the work to do it. And
I also know that James isn't gonnasay something that is just, you know,
trying to drive clickbait or anything likethat. So he's got my seal
of approval. If you guys aren'tfollowing him already, you need to go
to Twitter and go to at NoFlags Film, give the man a follow,
a to is E Sports film room, scouting reports, Senior Bowl coverage.

(04:21):
He's got a fun conversation with MikeRenner up there. The man puts
in the work, and you knowhere at the Unofficial Titans Podcast, game
always gonna recognize game. So withoutfurther ado, let's bring in James Foster
and dive into Travis Glover, delMar Glaze, maybe even a little bit

(04:43):
of Isaiah Davis on the Unofficial TitansPodcast talking draft back here on the Unofficial
Titans Podcast, We've got James Fosterwith us on this fine Thursday evening at
a to Z Sports Film Room onYouTube. James, how you doing,

(05:04):
my man? I'm doing great,man. Excited for the combine. Just
got confirmation that I'll be up inIndie, so yeah, excited to sit
in silence and watch some forty times. That's that's always fun. That's always
fun. Have you worked through allof your your Senior Bowl stuff at this

(05:25):
point, because, like I've I'vestill got notes that I'm I'm still combing
through trying to put together evls,but I'm I feel like I'm way behind.
Yeah, I've still got some guysthat I need to go back and
watch that Like that impressed me atthe Senior Bowl that I hadn't watched heading
into it. So like Dejon Edwardsyeah, Georgia Yeah, and Travis Glover,

(05:49):
the offensive tackle from Georgia State,are two guys that I need to
that I need to watch. Butyeah, I've been I've been working on
a mock draft that's been taking upmost of my time. I keep every
new mock draft I do, Iadd around. So I'm up to a
four round mock draft, which fora video ends up being so yeah,

(06:13):
are you gonna eventually get to aseven rounder with that? But I think
by draft Day I'll be up tolike MLB Round sixteen. Yeah, we'll
need to take a day off fromwork to just sit and watch it.
It's like our own version of MarchMadness here right. Yeah, it'll be
longer than the actual draft itself.I'm glad you mentioned Travis Glover. It's

(06:35):
like the first name we're going totalk about, just right off the bat,
like welcome to the show. TravisGlover the most pre eminent name in
the twenty twenty four NFL draft.I liked him a lot. At the
Hula Bowl, I was watching him, and I kept saying, like,
the Titans don't need another developmental lefttackle. I don't need to waste my
time watching undrafted free agent left tackles. But I kept watching him because he

(06:59):
was so good, And then Ithink I was I was sitting next to
you in the bleachers when he cameout for practice. I think it was
day two of the Senior Bowl,and I'm like, oh man, Jeremy
flex is looking great today. Thisis you know, I thought he was
hurt. I didn't realize he couldeven play. And then I get probably
like two hours into the practice,which is not possible because the practice only

(07:24):
last two hours. So an hourinto the practice and I'm like, oh
wait, that's not a Kentucky helmetand I'm scrambling to figure it out.
It's Travis Glover. So it's funnyyou bring him up. I don't know.
My knowledge of him is is likebased off of eight one on one
reps and then a handful of timesthat I saw him in seven on seven,

(07:45):
So I don't want to speak toodefinitively about him, but like he
has a good length, good size, seems to be able to move around
the pocket pretty well. Like dida good job against an inside spin move
I noticed, and then in theseven on seven and in the actual game,
like he's looks like a mauler asa run blocker. So I would

(08:09):
expect, you know, unless hisfilm is just a complete disaster compared to
that, I would expect to havea draftable grade on him, and he
would be someone that I'd like tosee the Titans target in the later rounds.
Yeah, me too, I'm withit. I I completely forgot what
I was just about to say.I don't know what I'm gonna have to
do to get the Georgia State Alltwenty two, but you know, we'll

(08:31):
just have to figure it out.You know, there's nothing, nothing's beneath
me when it comes to acquiring filmin the at least, like at least
with o line like you can watchbroadcasts as a last resort. That's true,
that's true. Yeah, Corners,Corners, you gotta go kind of
you might have to do something,something a little unsavory. We don't have

(08:56):
to get into that, James.Well, as much as I'd like to
keep talking and breaking down Travis Glover, I do want to get to the
real reason we had you on theshow this week, which is to break
down Colton Doll Special Teams tape.Yeah. Man, I watched when I
heard that he was making some noisein Special Teams. I watched like one

(09:20):
game of Special Teams, which isprobably like eight plays, and I was
like, Yeah, this is enough. I'll take their word for it.
He's I hope that my stupid dumbtweets about Coltondal did not compel you to
watch Special Teams all twenty two,And if it did, then I would

(09:41):
like to formally, in front ofeverybody listening, just apologize to you for
that, because I know your timewas valuable, all the work that you
put into this. It could havebeen your tweet, but I know you
definitely weren't the only one, andI think it was it was honestly what
Vrabel said, like that he was, you know, really like what he's
doing on Special Teams and like that'swhy he was active over Kyle Phillips.

(10:05):
So yeah, I had to gocheck it out for myself, but I
didn't watch enough to really really figureout what it was. All right,
let's talk about this twenty four classfor real this time. How many blue
chip players do you have in thisgroup? So I don't have like a
specific designator for blue chip, butI think the closest thing to that would

(10:31):
be a top ten grade, whichis what I call it, and I
have eight players that you know,I guess I would I would consider blue
chip. So I'll just go throughhim in order. One Drake May two
Caleb Williams three, Marvin Harrison Junior, four, Joe Alt, five,
Jaden Daniels, six, Molik Neighbors, seven Brock Bauers, and eight Roman

(10:52):
Dunese. And then I think Olufashanuis would be right on the cusp,
Like I could consider calling him ablue chip, but I would say,
you know, eight and a half. So how do you feel, like
odds wise, the Titans sitting thereat seven? Obviously, I mean you
never say never, but I wouldthink we're safe to assume they're not going

(11:15):
to take one of the quarterbacks inthis draft. But how confident are you
that one of these guys will bethere for the Titans to pick at seven?
Yeah, I'm pretty confident. Ithink, like, worst case scenario,
Olufashan who's there? To me,the dream best case would be Joe
Alt. Yeah, I think thatwith it seeming like the NFL is a

(11:39):
lot higher on JJ McCarthy, Ithink that, you know, there's a
chance the Vikings or Broncos. Maybethe Broncos don't have a lot of draft
capital, but there's a chance thatsomeone tries to trade up into the top
ten and if you end up gettingfour quarterbacks that go top top eight or
top ten, like that's out standingfor the Titans. But yeah, I

(12:01):
would probably say like a seventy fivepercent chance that one of Olu, Joe
alt or Moleak neighbors is available forthe Titans to pick. What do you
make of the brock Bowers at sevendiscourse that has kind of taken Titans Twitter
by storm the last week or so, all because he said he wanted to

(12:22):
play here. So yeah, Ithink the funny thing is I think he
just wanted to like play in theSouth, like close to home. Yes,
just a few hours he said somethinglike, uh, you know Tennessee
close to Georgia, so it isclose to Georgia. Yeah, that is

(12:43):
technically true. I think that wouldbe a pretty bad pick, honestly.
You know, I think he's Ithink he's a really good player and you
know, definitely qualifies as a bluechip for me. But I just think
there are to me, like offensivetackle is just not a position that is

(13:09):
very easy to find outside of thefirst round, and I think it's a
lot easier to get a slot receiver, which is basically what brock Bowers would
be as like a slot receiver thatcan block. I think it's a lot
easier to get that in second orthird round. And so I'm still on

(13:30):
the board that I think you gottado your best to get an offensive tackle
with that first pick. Although basedon what it seems like like, I
haven't had firsthand conversations, but Iknow there were some people talking to some
Titans people and it seems like theTitans are leaning towards drafting a receiver.

(13:50):
Yeah, in the first round.So yeah, I mean, I think
that brock Bowers would be the worthreceiver that I would target for the Titans,
behind Marvin Harrison, Malik Neighbors,Roman Duneza. If those if those
guys are off the board, andif Olu and Joe Alder off the board,

(14:13):
it might be time to just endthe Will Levis experiment and take Drake
may On before I would take brockBauers. That's uh, that's pretty spicy.
That's pretty spicy. I like that. Or you could just you could
take brock Bowers at seven and TravisGlover on day three, and you set,
you solved your tap. You takebrock Bowers, you take Ethan Driscoll,

(14:33):
get in that backup power forward inthere. Get Travis Glover. That's
an offensive line. That's an offensiveline. Yeah, that's that's all you
need. So we're kind of dancingaround one of the other questions that I
wanted to ask you, because Ihad phrased it as what would have to
happen for as far as like thethe quarterbacks go, Like, how would

(14:58):
things have to shake down for teamto want to trade up to number seven
to get one of the quarterbacks?And do you think that's worth worth it
for the Titans to kind of slideback and maybe pick up some draft capital
or are you of the opinion thatthey've got to get one of these blue
chip players to be the cornerstone oftheir franchise. So I don't really,

(15:22):
I don't see a huge gap betweenOlufushanu and like Amarius Mims or J C.
Latham. I would I would,honestly. I mean I know that
Titans fans would hate to get anotherGeorgia right tackle. Yeah, but if
like looking at it from the nonhelmet scouting perspective, I think Amarius Mims

(15:45):
is a great prospect and so ifyou were to trade down to like I
mean, really, when you lookat the draft order eleven through fourteen.
Could you could imagine them trading upfor a quarterback? Vikings, Broncos,
Raiders, Saints. Probably wouldn't besmart for the Saints or I think the

(16:06):
Broncos to do it, but youknow, I could definitely, like see
one of those teams wanting to tradeup for JJ McCarthy or if Drake may
Fell trade up for Drake May.I was looking at historical draft trades last
night, and so in twenty eighteen, trading up from twelve to seven costs

(16:29):
to cost two second round picks,And yeah, I mean if it's if
it's Olufushanu versus Amarus Mims and twosecond round picks, I would I would
take Mims and the picks for sure. That's uh yeah, that's pretty tasty.
Where where do you stand on tallyFuaga? Is he in that next

(16:52):
tier of guys for you? Orare you a little bit lower on him
than the consensus? Yeah, I'mI would have him as like I go
back and forth because I view himas as probably a top twelve player as
a guard, but as a tackle, I have more questions. I think
when he truly gets tested with speedaround the edge, like he has to

(17:17):
fully open up his hips and chaseand at the college level you saw some
losses and also just like some hangingon by a thread wins. And I
think that his hand usage in passpro is. I think he has like
naturally talented hand usage, but there'ssome technique stuff that he has to fix.

(17:41):
There's a lot of tackles, itseems like that in college that just
like throw their outside hand and thenlet it get swiped down and they don't
have the recovery ability to protect thecorner. And that that was a major
issue for Tulise Fuago. But Ithink if you move him inside where he
has to cover less space and youjust let him be a maller, he's

(18:06):
already going to be have you know, he has the rock solid anchor.
I just think I think his skillset fits perfectly into guard. But like
he's in that he's in that tierof players where, you know, so
like Peter Scarnsky, I would say, I'm not even really like heading into
the heading into his rookie year,I'm not even really trying him at tackle.

(18:27):
I just view him as a guard. With Telis Vuaga, I would
at least try him at tackle,even though I think guard is his best
spot long term. But yeah,I mean I have him at sixteen on
my board, and I you know, like twelve through eighteen for me is
almost identical grades, and so theykind of are shuffling back and forth every

(18:48):
time I update my rankings. Butyeah, he's in the twelve to sixteen
range for me. Talking about thisquarterback class before we move on to another
position, I just want to getthis question is And because I've I feel
like I've written evaluations, I wouldn'tsay I'm done with my tape study.
I've watched at least three games oneverybody that I've written about so far,

(19:11):
like ten quarterbacks at this point,and I just don't I'm not in love
with this quarterback class. Like Idon't have any of these guys as bona
fide blue chip players, and Ican see a pretty I don't think the
path for them to not pan outin the NFL is really that hard for
them to go to. Sorry ifyou just heard a loud boom, my

(19:33):
cat just pulled my notebook off mydesk. I don't think it's it's completely
unforseeable for none of these guys toreally pan out at an all pro level.
Am I am I crazy in thisbelief? Or like if I am,
what am I missing on this quarterbackclass? So yeah, I'm definitely

(19:53):
higher on the quarterback class than you. I've got three quarterbacks in my top
five. I have five quarterbacks inmy top twenty eight with I've got Bonix
at fifteen, I have JJ McCarthyat twenty eight, and then Michael Pennix
is down at forty seven. Ithink that Drake May and Caleb Williams,

(20:21):
they each have like one or twokind of major concerns. So for Caleb
Williams, it's the fact that he'snot that big and he fumbles constantly.
Yeah, and then he also eventhough the flashes where he does have more

(20:41):
NFL concepts and he isn't playing heroball, like I see the ability to
work with instructure and throw over themiddle of the field, but he just
didn't do that consistently. I thinkit was sort of a situation where he
was playing hero ball by choice,not because he was like skittish and can't

(21:02):
you know, can't read over themiddle of the field or anything. So
you know, he's kind of likehe's a blue chip top five prospect to
me, just with a couple blemishes. With Drake May, it's just accuracy,
ball placement, and like they bothhave a tendency to kind of force

(21:25):
things into tighter windows than maybe theyshould. I view that not necessarily as
a positive, but as less ofa negative, Like I'd rather have someone
that you've got to reel it backin a little bit as far as the
aggressiveness as opposed to like justin fieldswhere you've got to beg him to throw

(21:48):
a wide open dig route over themiddle of the field. So yeah,
those are those are kind of mybig knocks on the top two quarterbacks.
I think that Jaden Daniels, mybiggest negatives for him are just slender build,

(22:10):
takes a lot of irresponsible hits.I comped him to a pair of
shoes in the washing machine, andI think like there's a lot of discourse
about Jadeen Daniels not throwing over themiddle of the field, which I don't
think is true. I felt likewatching all of their tape, like he

(22:30):
was one of the best in thisclass at hitting backside digs and working through
his progressions, staying calm in thepocket. It's easier for him to stay
calm because he got pretty good protectionat LSU and obviously was throwing to a
star star studded receiver receiver cast andthen like bo Nix is just aggressively above

(22:52):
average in every regard. Like Idon't I don't know that I see him
being a top ten All pro typeof player, but I really like his
fit for like Sean Payton's offense,just needing someone that can come in and
kind of steer the ship. JJMcCarthy, I'm I'm still like, I'm

(23:18):
still on my original take about JJMcCarthy, which is that he's a project
and the upside isn't as high asa lot of people are making it out
to be. Now that all thesereports are coming out about how the NFL
loves JJ McCarthy, if you've noticed, like everyone in draft media has gone

(23:40):
back to the tape and like,oh wow, actually, yeah, now
that now that I went back tothe tape, I actually see the vision
with JJ McCarthy. Yeah, reallyinteresting. But yeah, I'm still I'm
still like a late twenties on McCarthy. I think he's he's inaccurate, constantly
hitting receivers out of stride, haslike good mobility. He has good arm

(24:03):
strength in terms of his ability togenerate velocity, but he just can't throw
with touch. If he's got aloft it over a linebacker over the middle,
it's like it's just a line driveand they're gonna intercept it. And
when he has to throw with touchdown the sideline, you see it,
the ball will lose a lot ofdistance. He's consistently underthrowing like sideline whole

(24:26):
shots go routes. So I don'treally see him as having elite arm talent.
And he's like he's unpolished, andthe final product I don't really think
is anything that special. And thenPinnix is inaccurate, very inconsistent processing,
got the injury concerns, He's old. I'm not a huge Michael Pennocks fan.

(24:51):
What what do you make of histhrowing motion? Because I've watched some
of his games and it makes myshoulder hurt watching the way he throws sometimes
where like it's almost like his feetare pointing in two different directions and he
just like Torques every joint in hisbody with everything that he's got to get
the ball down the field. Andfor pinis, yeah, for Pinis and

(25:14):
with an injury history like his,I'm watching it just like watching a baby
deer run for the first time,like this, this guy's gonna get hurt
if he's not careful. I reallynoticed it in the Boise State game is
where I actually jotted that note down. You know. That's it's funny.
That's the one Michael Pennox game thatI didn't watch really. Yeah, but

(25:37):
so I didn't have a major concernwith his throwing motion, although, like
I do know what you're talking about. I think that if you with left
handed quarterbacks, I don't know ifyou've ever seen those videos where people will
like flip it to make it looklike they're throwing right handed. Yeah,

(26:00):
I don't know. I've never reallyhad a major issue with Like I always
see people post those videos and it'slike, oh, this this makes it
look so much different, and liketo me, it just looks it looks
kind of the same to me,Like, I've never had a big just
like I don't even know what theword is, like a big issue with

(26:22):
the throwing motion of left handed quarterbacks. The one thing I will say with
Michael Pinnox is he has a prettylow release point. So there's a lot
of batted passes. That would bemy one issue with this throwing motion.
But now that you say that,I mean I can kind of see how
it looks like he's it looks likea dislocated shoulder waiting to happen. Yeah,

(26:42):
I don't know. I mean,I'm not saying I have any I'm
not talking like analytics or anything.I'm not into predictive human performance. I'm
just the eye test. I'm watchinghim throw this ball, and I'm like,
dang, if I did that inmy in my backyard, we have
to be taking me to the emergencyroom afterwards. So yeah, he puts
heat, he puts heat on it. Yeah yeah, Well it sounds like

(27:04):
you just need to go back andreview the tape on JJ McCarthy, and
when you do, you might seea top ten prospect. That's all that's
all. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, Well, you know what I'll do
is I'll let me wait for thedraft to happen and then all the players
to go higher than I expected.I'm going to go review the tape,
aka watch their highlights on YouTube.Yeah yeah, and then you know,

(27:27):
maybe I'll have some different opinions.There is one more quarterback that I wanted
to ask you about Michael Pratt outof TWU Lane. I thought back in
the summertime he was a guy thathad some really interesting traits. I think
he's got some buckets on his tape, and I'm a sucker for a quarterback
that can throw buckets. I thinkhe's got some underrated maneuverability, and I

(27:49):
kind of thought that he might bethe one in this crowded quarterback class that
with a good season, good setof tape for twenty twenty three, and
a good process going to the SeniorBowl, he might be a big riser
this draft season. But it ithasn't really happened that way. I thought
he was okay at the Senior Bowl. But where do you think he's at

(28:10):
and does he have a shot tostart somewhere? Do you think I think
that Michael Pratt is I'm with you. I was high on him from his
tape. I mean high, likeI had a third round grade on him.
I think that he has a verynarrow range of outcomes compared to other

(28:32):
quarterbacks in the sense that I don'treally ever see him being a top ten
or fifteen guy. But I thinkhe kind of has a high floor.
So he's someone that I think you'retaking in the mid rounds if you need
just a band aid starter, someonethat can be like either a backup or
just a plug and play guy.Like if the Patriots decide to go Marvin

(28:57):
Harrison Junior and punt on quarterback,Like that's that's what for my mock draft,
that's what I had them doing,is like, I'm not going to
take Jayden Daniels, put him behindthis terrible offensive line with no receivers to
throw too, So let's build upthe surrounding cores. And then you get
to the late third round and it'slike, well, we need a starting
a quarterback that can start for cheap, so we'll take Michael Pratt. That's

(29:19):
kind of how I view him.I don't think he has like really any
elite traits. He's kind of justlike a I've said this with other players,
but he's like a seventy five overallno badgers, just like, you
know, kind of one of thoseguys at the end of the bench on

(29:40):
the All Star teams. If youever played NBA two pay where like they
only generated seven players or something.Yeah, yeah, like point guard number
twenty one. All right, We'rewe're thirty minutes in and we've talked about
the quarterbacks. We've talked about BrockBoers, and we've talked about Travis Glover.
So like, nothing that the Titansactually need so far. Let's shift

(30:03):
gears a little bit. I wantto ask you what positions do you see
as the strongest and the deepest inthis upcoming class. So I think the
strongest position in this class would bereceiver. I have seventeen receivers in my
top one hundred, and that's aposition where it's like everyone that I watch.

(30:32):
I was, I think I wastelling you about this at the Senior
Bowl. I had to kind ofI have to remind myself that, like,
this could just be a really stackedclass, and don't get fatigue,
Like, yeah, there might justbe another mid fourth round receiver grade that
you have. So yeah, that'sI think the uh pretty clearly the strongest

(30:52):
class. I think strongest in termsof top end talent and depth. I
think offensive tackles very strong as well. I've got twelve offensive tackles in my
top one hundred and nine in mytop fifty. So yeah, I mean
for the Titans, this this isthe class the Titans want to be picking

(31:17):
in if only they had more draftpicks. Yeah, that's I don't know.
That's where I feel like every yearthe easy thing is just, oh,
trade back and get more picks,but we know it takes two to
tango, so it's you know,you can't really plan on that. I
think this team, this roster isin such bad shape right now that the

(31:37):
way I phrased it on stacking theinbox on this show as well, that
this this team is going to beforced to value shop somewhere because they have
so many needs. So I likethe value at running back this year.
I think there's like a wealth ofDay three fringe draftable guys that could probably
get on a roster and make somenoise. To compliment TAIJ. Spear,

(32:00):
Like you said, the wide receiverclass is incredibly deep, and then I
think it's a I think it's agood good year to get a center late
in the draft as well. Ithink there's some intriguing guys that are probably
going to be Day three picks aswell. But as far as what you've
scouted so far, which positions doyou think are the best to value shop
at? In this draft, Yeah, I think so to hit on the

(32:24):
three that you said, I thinkreceiver is very deep as far as like
small slot guys. Yeah, whichis why I think early in the draft
I wouldn't be if I'm the Titans, I probably wouldn't be looking to target
like a Lad McConkey, Xavier Worthy, Roman Wilson, like that type of

(32:52):
receiver. I'm trying to get anAdy Mitchell, you know, Xavier Legette.
If it's like, if it's thanthirty eight, get someone that can
play X. And then in thelater rounds you can look at you know,
Maleik Washington out of Virginia, IsaiahWilliams out of Illinois. You got

(33:15):
Jacob Cohen out of Arizona. Evenlower on the board, guys like a
Naias Smith out of Texas A andm Jakwan Jackson out of Tulane. I
think that's really where there's a justa ton of guys in the later rounds
and there aren't as many players thatI think really could project as a as
a high quality X. So Ithink it's receivers deep at certain receiver positions

(33:39):
fair enough. Running back I seesimilar to linebacker, which is another need
for the Titans, where I don'tthink it's a great class. There are
players on that I have Day threegrades on that I like, and so
it's basically just hoping that one ofthose guys falls and like, if they

(34:02):
do, then great. I thinka perfect fit for for the Titans.
A running back would be Isaiah Davisout of South Dakota States as a bigger
running back that can kind of carrythe load, do more goal line work,
early down type of stuff. Youknow. Bucky Irving is one of
my favorite running backs and like that. There's a lot of Titans fans that

(34:23):
want to take him. I thinkthat's pretty redundant. With ty J Spears,
to be honest, He's like TYJSpears if he couldn't pass block.
Yeah. So another guy is likeDylan Johnson out of Washington, I think
is pretty underrated as well. Ido too. Man, every time I've
watched him this year, I've justbeen thinking, like, this guy's like

(34:45):
steady Eddy. This guy is justreliable and plays plays a good style of
ball, and I'm like, whywhy is this guy projecting as a Day
three pick. I looked at himat one point and he was projected as
an undrafted free agent on mock draftdatabase or whatever it is, and I'm
like, where's where's the love forDylan Johnson. Yeah, I don't.

(35:07):
I don't get it. He uhhe has had he didn't have a single
drop last year. He's only hadone drop in the last two seasons and
that's on seventy seven targets, reliablecatching the football, doesn't fumble just like
you know, he's not doesn't havecrazy upside or anything. But I think

(35:28):
the name of the game for theTitans that running back is just don't overspend
on something like I don't. Idon't think they need to be blowing major
draft capital on their on their backuprunning back essentially. And then center.
I think ideally the Titans would takecenter or would sign a center in free

(35:49):
agency. There's a lot of likeTitans fans that I see wanting to take
a center in the second round.They're like, oh, it sucks that
Jackson powers Johnson's draft stock is raisingbecause now we can't get him in the
second round. I don't think that. I don't think really they can afford

(36:10):
to be with spending you know,top three round draft capital at center.
Not that it's not an important position, but it's a position that you can
find in free agency or on Daythree, unlike offensive tackle. But yeah,
there are a lot of Day threecenters that I think are interesting.

(36:31):
Kingsley, Aguukhon, We've talked aboutbo Limmer out of Arkansas. I like
Matt Lee out of Miami a lot. Well, I haven't watched him yet.
I'm gonna have to make a note. Yeah, yeah, check him
out. He's he's Yeah, Titansfans are gonna hate to hear this,
but he's like undersized. Oh good, Like yeah, he's He was too

(36:53):
eighty eight at the Shrine Bowl,which is weird because he doesn't look that
small. Yeah. So, butso that kind of limits how high I
would take him, But he's aninteresting player. Charles Turner out of LSU
I'm not a big fan of,but I do think that Hunter Norzod out

(37:15):
of Penn State is interesting. Hejust he can't pick up a stunt to
save his life, but I likepretty much everything else about him. So
yeah, there's some good options onDay three center. But I do think
that ideally they would get like aTyler Biadesh in free agency, so they
just don't have to worry about it. In the draft. There is a

(37:36):
player I wanted to talk to youabout and it feels like this is a
good spot to insert him in.Is Dominic Pooney? His stocks rising?
I mean, I've seen him likea top one hundred player right now,
so I think he is kind ofgetting into that territory of do you invest
the draft capital on what would bekind of a luxury pick for the Titans.
But he's a guy that they putat center at the Senior Bowl.

(38:00):
They had him at guard, hegot some reps at tackle, really versatile
guy. You and I have talkedabout how his tape is just kind of
this weird thing that somehow makes hima really difficult prospect to evaluate from that
standpoint. But I liked what Isaw from him at the Senior Bowl.
And he was a guy that Ididn't have on my radar as a center

(38:22):
until I saw him getting reps atthe Senior Bowl, and then I was
like, wait a second, theymight have something here. The way he
was tracking movement in front of him, moving laterally, good with his hands,
all that stuff. Man, whatdo you think about his draft stock?
Is he going to even be therefor the Titans to consider? On
day three, do you think,Yeah, I don't see him lasting to

(38:44):
day three at this point, Ihave him as my sixty third rank player.
Seeing him look so comfortable at center. I mean he won. I
think he lost like it might havebeen. It was one of the first
one on one reps on the firstday of the Senior Bowl that he lost
at tackle, but then he wonpretty much every other rep and he was

(39:06):
working at guards, center and tackle. So yeah, his Senior Bowl was
very impressive to me. The tapeat Kansas where they're just running the triple
option was really difficult. I mean, he takes, like we were talking
about it, he takes some ofthe widest sets that you'll ever see.
It's like they've got their protection planwith their other four offensive linemen and then

(39:29):
Dominic Pooney, it's like, yeah, man, just go out there and
block, do whatever, widing outseven yards, go out to the hashes,
just hang out with them, andlike he makes it work. But
it's kind of difficult to evaluate.What I've felt watching him was like they
told the other four offensive linemen,you guys, you guys go block this

(39:50):
half of the field, and Dominicyou're on your own with this other entire
half of the field you've got.Yeah, yeah, all five of these
players over here, they're yours exactlykind of similar to Roger Rosengarten for Washington.
They have like a similar play stylewhere they just they don't really take

(40:13):
consistent sets, which kind of bugsme. But you know, it's really
interesting that he's listed, or thathe weighed in at three hundred and twenty
three pounds. He looks he lookslike he has really skinny legs. I
don't know if you notice that,but kind of a kind of a weird
build. He's built like an unclealmost. But yeah, I mean I

(40:37):
like Dominic Pooney. My comp formis Billy Turner, And yeah, I
think that in the scenario that theycan trade back and get some third round
picks, I think he would bean excellent choice there. Probably not someone
you want to take it thirty eight, but because I don't know if he
has quite those athletic traits. Butyeah, I also I don't really see

(41:00):
him falling to day three. Yeah, that's that's kind kind of where I'm
at with him. I felt likehe made himself a bit of money at
the Senior Bowl there, so definitelyyou talked about the linebacker linebacker class.
And I mean, I'll admit Ihaven't watched a whole lot of these guys
outside of what we saw at theSenior Bowl. But and I know,

(41:22):
I don't remember who Zach and Iwere talking to, but we were talking
to somebody. It might have beenyou. You might have been the one
to tell me this. But likethe agents of linebackers do not want them
in these All Star games because it'sreally hard for a linebacker supposedly allegedly whatever
to show their skill set in theseone on one drills and game situations,

(41:45):
practice situations like this. But Ididn't feel like anybody really stood out throughout
the week in practice. There werea couple of guys that I felt looked
pretty good during the game. ButI think I'm kind of at a similar
position with running back and center whereI don't think the Titans. I don't

(42:06):
think there's anybody in this draft classthat is going to be such a big
difference maker that the Titans should sacrificeneeds at other positions to give up the
draft capital to go get one ofthe top linebackers in the class. So,
who are some of the guys thatyou like on day three, that
might be there might be realistic optionsor I mean, would you just avoid

(42:28):
it all together outside of an undraftedvalue add and try to get a guy
in free agency. Yeah, Linebackeris a tough position this year. I
think that, you know, Itrust Brad Spielberger at PFF with his contract
projections. He does a great jobwith those and has a pretty good track

(42:51):
record. He has a ziz AlShaier making seven million, which is a
little bit too rich for me.Although seeing the options in this draft class,
I could definitely see them just bitingthe bullet and bringing him back because
at least like you know what you'regetting, as you know, with some
stability at that position if they wantedto target linebacker on day three. So

(43:19):
my hot take would be that theyshould draft Jeremiah Trotter Junior on Day three
because that's the grade that I haveon him. But he might not make
it that far. But my compforum is jay On Brown. He's kind
of just like an undersized, notthat fast, but really smart linebacker.
That was I mean, I waslooking at like I was looking at preseason

(43:42):
draft rankings and PFF had him atthirteenth on their preseason board, which is
crazy in retrospect, but probably morerealistically, I think Jalen Ford out of
Texas is an interesting option. He'sgot that prototypical size and length. He
can shed blocks, just not agreat cover linebacker and doesn't have elite speed.

(44:07):
He he's okay moving sideline to sideline. I also like Tyron Hopper out
of Missouri. He's someone that haskind of that that thumping like run defense
mentality and size, but he actuallyplayed a pretty complex coverage role at Missouri,

(44:30):
Like you'll see him running with steamroutes in Tampa two and stuff like
that. And then the other guythat I would say for a mid round
linebacker is Trevin Wallace out of Kentucky, and he he might not make it
to day three. He's like he'sa Feldman's Freaks List guy. Supposedly is

(44:53):
is gonna run crazy fast and havegood jumping numbers. I think thirty eight
and a half inch vertical is whatthey had for him, but I have
him as a top one hundred player. I comped him to Troy Anderson out
of Atlanta from Montana State. Heis someone that I think the tape just

(45:19):
like in terms of recognition and youknow, fit recognition and run defense with
him was a little bit underwhelming comparedto my expectations, just knowing how good
of an athlete he was, hedidn't really play up to that in college.
But I think he's got a lotof upside so he could be more
of a developmental guy. On daythree, I thought he was the okayist

(45:42):
of the bunch at the Senior Bowl. Throughout the practices, I liked him
a little bit. Have you watchedany Tyres Night, the kid out of
Utah. I have not. Yeah, I know Zach brought him to my
attention, and I can't remember thestats. This has been several weeks ago,
but I know he's got some prettygood advanced stats and what have you.

(46:07):
But didn't really pop at the SeniorBowl. And then I put on
his game against Florida International. Ithink I found on uh on YouTube.
They have it cut up where it'slike all of his plays, and I
just it's so funny. The reasonI'm so interested in him because they're clearly

(46:31):
like every play, he's like thefastest player on the field during this game,
but then he just completely whiffs ontackles and stuff. I'm just like
this guy's really raw, but somepeople are really high on him. I
didn't know. I was just justseeing if you had watched any of them.
Yeah, I've heard some people thatare high on him. Another guy

(46:51):
that I've heard people like that Ihaven't gotten to yet is Cedric Gray out
of North Carolina. Yeah, Ihaven't. I haven't watched him yet,
but I know there's some Cedric Grayfans out there. Yeah. I was
kind of hoping that, knowing wherethe Titans were at at linebacker, that
maybe you know, they'd go downto Mobile and somebody would separate themselves as

(47:15):
like a good or you'd at leastsee some hope from the class, like,
oh man, these linebackers, there'sgonna be plenty of value there on
Day three, and I ultimately didn'tdidn't feel that way about him. So
let's talk about the offensive line alittle bit. We talked about the team's
need to tackle, and I thinkyou and I are in the same boat

(47:37):
if I don't let me misspeak foryou, but it's kind of Joealt or
bust for me at seven if theystay there, and you're a fan of
Joealt, I feel at least confidentin saying that, Ye, does the
addition of Bill Callahan make you feelbetter about potentially missing out on Joe Walt

(47:57):
or if they trade down and endup with like Quinon mis or something and
then taking a tackle at thirty eightthere maybe even maybe even later, maybe
even rolling with whatever they have atday three, the Travis Glover rolling with
Travis Glover, Does Bill Callahan makeyou feel better about that? Or do
you think that the talent deficit isjust so great for this team that they've

(48:22):
really got to make it a priorityto get a left tackle. Yeah.
I still think that Joe All isthe best case scenario at seven, but
the addition of Callahan definitely makes memore confident in their ability to get something
out of a more developmental prospect ifthey have to go that route now taking

(48:45):
Quinnon Mitchell I would like regardless ofwhat they do at tackle, I would
still be against that. But ifthey decided to attack tackle in the second
round and they went with someone likeKaran Amagaji out of Yale, I'm a
big fan of him, and Idon't even know how developmental he is because

(49:09):
the issue with his Yale tape isthat he's just not going up against anyone
that can threaten him at all,so you don't really get an opportunity to
see any of his potential issues popup. But yeah, if they decided
to go with less of a surething, even like someone like Blake Fisher
in the mid rounds the right tackleout of Notre Dame, I think it

(49:32):
could be an interesting option. Yeah, there's a handful of guys where if
they took them, If they tookthem without Callahan, I would be kind
of pessimistic. But now with himon the coaching staff, I feel a
lot more confident that they could getsomething out of him. I don't think
it's like a magic wand that isjust gonna, you know, throw him

(49:54):
anyone with thirty five inch arms andhe'll make them a starting tackle. But
I do think that he's he's likea true weapon as a coach. So
the Titans still have some interesting developmentalguys if you will, Jalen Duncan,
Nicholas Pettit Frere, Dylan Raiden's JohnAjukwu, that caliber of offensive lineman,

(50:16):
the addition of Bill Callahan in mind, are you giving up on any of
those guys just yet or do youthink that maybe there's something there that he
can work with. So let's see. I would say that Dylan Raidin's I

(50:36):
thought had a very good end tothe season, And you know, I
don't know that he has this crazyupside where he's going to be like a
true plus starter, but I feellike he's kind of on the path to
being fine and if Callahan can justget him a little bit stronger anchor,

(50:59):
you know, I actually think thathe could be a decent right guard.
So if you would have asked melike week twelve, I would have told
you I'm completely out on Dylan Raidin's, but a little bit more optimistic on
him. Nicholas petite Freere. Ithink he has, you know, all
the traits, but just such sloppyplay every time he's on the field,

(51:22):
and I do think that that's probablya long shot at this point that he
develops into anything. A juke wuI was my favorite of the UDFA additions.
Didn't like he played like one gamethis year, right yeah, and
he was like they had him windup at tight end basically, right yeah.

(51:45):
They were using a tackle at tightend towards the end of the season.
So yeah, my opinion of adjuke wu is pretty much identical to
what it was heading into the headinginto the season, which is that you
know, he's kind of a longshot, but I think has some traits.
And then who is the other guy, Oh, Jalen Duncan. Yeah,

(52:07):
yeah, Jalen Duncan. I don'tI don't really have much confidence in
Duncan. I he's got good movementskills, so like he can get out
on the move on pinpoll and screensand stuff, but he's just he has

(52:28):
really short arms and his hand usageis terrible. He lets guys into his
frame so easily. Uh, justdoesn't really have great natural anchor or contact
balance and from an assignment standpoint,like he does not know when to climb
to the second level come off ofa double team. I think with Jalen

(52:50):
Duncan, you're you're starting. Youwere starting from square one when you drafted
him, and you are still atsquare one. So there we are.
There are two two offensive tackle prospectsthat well, I should say two offensive
line prospects because I know you disagreewith with one of them. But Patrick

(53:12):
Paul pretty polarizing guy. What doyou what do you make of him?
Because I've heard everywhere from Oh,there's tons of promise there. You get
him with the right guy, theright fit, like he's going to be
a stud left tackle. And I'vealso heard this guy stinks he can't play
at all. Where do you Wheredo you rest on Patrick Paul? I
think that Patrick Paul is probably someonethat you want to take in the late

(53:37):
second round. You know, hehas really long arms, they're over thirty
six inches, but he doesn't reallyuse that length to his advantage because he's
consistently so late with his punch andjust really like at this point he has

(53:58):
no ability to hold up against along arm because he lets guys into his
frame and then it's six foot seven. If you're not establishing early contact,
you're gonna get walked back into thepocket. And I forget what I was
listening to, but I was listeningto something this week, and they're making
the point that, like, hislength actually is a detriment because having those

(54:21):
longer arms there, they have tohe has to travel more distance to replace
his punch when he misses. Andyou see that a lot with every year.
There's there's a few guys that arekind of later round guys basically just
because they have long arms like obinaEzy out of out of Memphis or did

(54:42):
he transferred him? U? Hetransferred somewhere anyways, like obina Ezi,
uh, the North Dakota guy,Matt will Let's go who went to the
Cowboys? Like, there's guys thathave really long arms and just don't know
what they're doing with their hands,so they basically just dangled them out there,
don't put up any resistance to theirpunch, and then it's like,

(55:02):
Okay, what's even the point ofyou having such long arms. It would
be better if you just had likethirty three inch arms and you could just
all you had to do is justquickly shoot your hands inside. Yeah,
So there's a little bit of thatdynamic going on. Although he has shown
a lot of improvement. I thoughtfrom last year to this year, I

(55:22):
was I remember watching him a littlebit for last year's Klaska. I thought
he was going to be in it, and looks a lot better with his
hands this year on tape. Butyou saw those issues pop up at the
Senior Bowl. I don't think he'sa great run blocker either, not really
a consistent finisher in that area.So yeah, he's a late second round

(55:44):
guy to me, elite frame,He's got really good movement skills and pocket
range and everything, but the techniqueis still something that needs to work on.
The second guy I want to askyou about has tons of experience at
offensive tackle, a season at lefttackle, a see it right tackle.
I heard you say at the SeniorBowl that you're you're kicking him into guard

(56:05):
or you like him as a guard. Delmar Glaize out of Maryland. I
wanted so badly to be like,yes, I have found my value left
tackle in this draft class. Andthen I saw him taking reps at left
tackle at the Senior Bowl, andI don't know how to explain it,
James. It was like when hewas setting, he was setting to spots
where the defensive end had just runpast, so a little bit behind,

(56:31):
put on skates, a little bitby some of the speedier, twitchier edge
rushers. And I'm kind of withyou at this point in that evaluation of
him. But is there any hopethat you know, did you see anything
you could latch onto with this guywhere you say, hey, at least
give him a shot at one ofthe tackle spots. No, he's he's

(56:52):
firmly a guard for me, Ireally the first game I watched of his
was Ohio State, which I thoughtwas excellent. Yeah, thinking like,
okay, this could be the stealof this class. And then you watch
the Penn State game and he reallygot exposed just with his lack of pocket
range. I think everyone everyone alwaystalks about the length arm length cutoffs for

(57:13):
tackles. To me, a muchbigger, you know, reason that someone
would move inside is just you can'tprotect the edge and block speed rushes.
And I think that's the case withdel Mar Glaze, although I do really
like him as a as a guardprospect. All right, last question for
you, do you have any tapethat you would say has been the most

(57:35):
fun to watch this draft cycle?And for example, like I go,
you gave me the tip to watchKingsley Agua Khan against Tennessee from twenty twenty
two. I love the game.I really like Jordan Morgan against UCLA from
this year. Any any games likethat that come to mind for you.
Okay, So when you send thisquestion, I just off the top of

(57:57):
my head didn't like, look atyou know, pa or anything. These
are just the let's see eight eightbest most impressive performances. Individual performances from
this class. All right, I'lljust fire him off right here. We've
got Amarus Mims versus Ohio State intwenty twenty two. I think it was
the playoff game. Yeah, Iwish I wouldn't have recommended him doing this,

(58:21):
but I would have loved to seehow high he would get drafted if
that was the only game he startedin college. And he was just like,
all right, that's it, becauseit was it was that impressive,
you know. I think there werea lot of people that had him as
like a top ten player heading intothe year based off of that game.
J C. Latham versus Texas Aand M was like, he's just that

(58:45):
Walter Nolan guy who is the numberone overall recruit, and whatever his class
was, he's like a sophomore orsomething. He was getting bullied. I
think probably the best individual performance fromthis class was Talise Fuaga against Washington State.
It's like every wreck he's flattening someonein the run game. Johnny Newton

(59:09):
Illinois defensive tackle against Wisconsin was anelite performance. He actually got kicked out
of the game. He like hitthis. I think it was probably a
cross chop or something and then wenthelmet to helmet on the quarterback somewhere in
the fourth quarter. But yeah,probably like definitely his most dominant performance.

(59:30):
Austin Booker Kansas Edge against Texas.Just a masterclass in block deconstruction in that
game. I've got Oregon cornerback KyrieJackson against Colorado. So I watched that
game live like probably everyone did,and he immediately stood out as like,

(59:51):
oh, this could be a firstround guy. If that's the first game
that you watched like it was forme, you're gonna be disappointed. Not
that the rest of his tape isterrible, but like it's nowhere near as
good as that. But yeah,that was that was a great performance.
I think he had like three orfour pass breakups. Christian Mahogany, Boston
College guard against Virginia. He isjust like it was almost so dominant that

(01:00:14):
I had to got to a pointwhere I'm like, Okay, these Virginia
defensive tackles must just blow like Igotta. I maybe shouldn't take this that
seriously. And then for like aone on one matchup, that was a
good back and forth. I wouldsay Graham Barton for Duke against Jared Verse
for Floridas. Oh okay, Ilike that. Yeah, that's a that's

(01:00:37):
a heavyweight fight, right there?Is that it? Do we make it
through your list? That's it allright? Yeah, we're about to time
out on this recording too, sothat's perfect, perfect timing. James,
thank you so much for joining metoday. A is E Sports film room
on YouTube. What are you workingon? Where can these people find you
on social media? Yeah? No, Flag's film on Twitter. Just working

(01:01:00):
on as many scouting reports as Ican get done before the draft. Check
out my pen tweet. I've gotmy draft board up there on az E
Sports. There you have it.Thank you guys for tuning in, rate
review, subscribe all that stuff whereveryou take in your podcast. The Unofficial
Titans podcast is out there. Weain't too hard to find in these internet

(01:01:21):
streets. We'll talk to you nextweek, but until then, you stay
classy Titans fans