Episode 2 -Rule Changes, JJ's momentum and an historic O-Line Class?

Chuck Powell and Jacson discuss the NFL’s newest rule changes (1:53), how real the JJ McCarthy momentum is (13:30), and whether this O-line class is truly historic (25:54), before reacting pick-by-pick to Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft (34:46).

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
We're exactly thirty days away from theNFL Draft, and things are heating up.
This week, Chuck and I coverthe latest news, break down the
twenty twenty four offensive line class,and analyze the latest mock draft from Daniel
Jeremiah. Let's light him up.I'm Jackson Bevans and I'm Chuck Powell,

(00:32):
and this is Whitewater Drafting. Welcomeback to Whitewater Drafting. I am Jackson
Bevans and I am joined once againby my friend and fellow draft sicko,
Chuck Powell of KJAR Chuck. Howare you. I'm good. I'm good,
by the way, I've heard alot of good things. People really
like the name, the Whitewater Drafting. Yeah, I've gotten that as well.

(00:55):
That was all you. Yes,yes, people they were into it
because I know you and I were. We had a couple of other couple
other ideas, but I think thethree of us all thought that was the
best one. I'm glad you camethrough with it. Yeah. Well,
you know, maybe we should wearlife jackets on the show. Maybe that
would be an added touch visually forthe audience. I mean, I did
take some time today to actually shaveand shower. Yeah right, Like,

(01:19):
yeah, I look like Nick Noltyon a bender about fifteen minutes ago.
So we cleaned things up for thevisual. For the visual stimulation that we
provide here on White Water Drafting,I just need the life preserver, the
orange life preserver, and maybe sometrail mix. Yeah man, Yeah,
Well, listen, there there isa lot that I'm excited to talk about

(01:42):
on the show, and before weget into it, I just want to
remind everyone listening that white Water Draftingis proud to be sponsored by Seattle Cigar
Concierge and Belvenni Single Molt Scotch Whiskey, two of my very favorite companies out
there. All right, Chuck.We had a little bit of news here
in the last couple of days,and normally rules aren't the most exciting thing,
but there's been a lot of talkabout a couple of approved rule changes.

(02:07):
To start. We've got a banon the swivel hip drop tackle,
which I think important for the conversationis different than the hip drop tackle.
What were your thoughts when you foundout that the league was going to start
legislating that out of the game.Well, here were my thoughts. I'm
like, we got to do adraft show, and now I got to
tear up all of my research becauseI didn't know if Jared Verse does a

(02:29):
hip drop tackle or not, andif he does the swivel version of it,
or if he does a legal versionof it. So it's like we
have to start all over with theentire sport. I cand, of course
I don't know. I mean,you've seen enough evidence of it that it
does look like something that has tobe eliminated, especially when they chop up

(02:50):
one of those videos and they puttackle after tackle. It just looks like
something that you wouldn't want your childto have done to them in the backyard
playing football. So it's something that, yeah, if you can isolate that
and you can convince players that thisis something we won't miss. The only
thing I don't understand about it,Jackson, because you and I don't tackle

(03:15):
other large, athletic human beings fora living, is just how natural a
move that is for them if thereis that ability, is if there is
time on a play to make thatsplit second decision as to whether or not
I have to tackle him this wayor not. I mean, is it
a strategy? Is it a strategicmaneuver that they can actually go into a

(03:37):
play with. That's what I don'tknow. So this is where you know,
you really do have to lean onthe football players to tell you how
fair or unfair this is. Andfor the Players Association, because there are
a lot of offensive players are goingto benefit from this. But the Players
Association comes out strong against this rulingkind of shows you that they have sympathy

(04:00):
for the defensive players in this league. You are really making it hard to
play defense in the National Football League. How much harder they made it,
I can't tell you, but Iam sympathetic to the plight of the defensive
player in the modern nick game.Yeah, you know, I found it
interesting that the Players Association pushback sohard on it too. This was a

(04:20):
unanimous decision from from the NFL owners. I think that the player pushback has
less to do with saying, oh, you know what, we got to
give defense a chance. I thinkit's I don't want them to find us
anymore. Last year, the NFLset an all time record for player fines,

(04:41):
and it was like seven x thefines that the league gave out to
players for in game violations of eventwo or three years ago, and I
think that. You know, you'renot allowed to make any kind of head
contact anymore. You're not allowed togo low. Even they're not flagging this
play, but ball carriers are beingfined forty one thousand dollars for lowering their

(05:03):
head into contact. I mean,to me, this is the players Association
saying, stop taking the money outof our pockets. This is just another
way you're going to do it.To me, I think the fatigue from
a lot of fans. A lotof fans are upset all they're turning this
into flag football. You know,you can't tackle anymore. Honestly, I

(05:24):
hear that, and I feel that. But this is not the rule to
push back against. I think it'sjust because it's the latest one. This
is a dangerous tackle. The studyon it showed that it has a preposterously
high injury rate. It's like twentyfive times the injury rate of a normal

(05:45):
quote unquote legal tackle. And itis important to remember that this is the
swivel action is what this is.You can't grab the player and then swing
around him and land on his legs. You're still allowed to make diving tack.
I know the DK metcalf chase downtackle. The Buddha Baker's been going
around saying, oh, this isa penalty. Now, no it's not.

(06:05):
Diving tackles are still allowed. Butif we want to give defensive players
more of a chance, we gotto take away the like TICKI tack hands
to the face penalties. You gotto give defensive lineman a little bit more
leeway when it comes to the wholelanding on the quarterback stuff. These are
the things that we got to loosenup. But to me, this tackle

(06:29):
is much more akin to the horsecaller. And I don't think there's very
many people. You know, horsecaller was only eliminated a few years ago.
I don't think there's a lot ofpeople who are pining for the days
of the horse caller tackle. Yeah, I think it's very similar to it,
just from a lower perspective. Itis. You know, it's dropping
your hips, it's dropping all ofyour weight, leaving your feet to create

(06:50):
the leverage that you need to bringsomebody down regardless of the position that they're
in. And we've seen way toomany awkward landings. I mean that's that
tackle creates the league leading cringe statamong football fans. It feels like to
me. But I'm with you onthe other stuff. And I'm hoping that

(07:12):
a couple of the other rule changesand we've maybe I don't yet understand them
to the letter of the new law, and maybe I won't quite grasp it
until we actually see games with thenew rules in place, because there are
a lot of them. But anotherone of the rules is, uh,
they're going to start reviewing grounding androughing the passer. And I hope this

(07:34):
is for the defense and not forthe quarterback. I'm not sure, you
man, I'm not sure you canprotect the quarterback anymore than what you are.
And I'm all for protecting the quarterback, don't get me wrong, but
this way too many times where you'llsee like a defensive player have to slow
up because they got their hands onthe quarterback and they're waiting for the whistle

(07:57):
rather than finishing the play, andsometimes the quarterback isn't ready to go down.
And so I like the idea thatwill now be able to review because
that's a really heavy penalty of fifteenyards or a loss of down, or
it's an automatic first down and fifteenyards for just playing football. So I'm

(08:18):
hoping that that's a rule that's alittle counter to this hips whist tackle,
and that maybe defensive players are goingto stand a little better chance around the
quarterback than what they've had the lastfew years. Yeah, I totally agree
with you on that. And youknow the study that they did on this
tackle, they went back and lookedat all the plays from last year.

(08:39):
They found that an illegal version ofthe swivel hip drop tackle happens about once
every one hundred and forty plays,roughly once a game. So this isn't
something where we're going to see ithappening all of the time. And I
think they did a pretty good jobof defining what makes it an illegal tackle.
That yes, there will be aplay or two most weeks where people

(09:03):
are upset about it. That's trueof any penalty, I think. But
I'm with you. I want Iwant to see them lighten the load on
the defensive players for some of theseother calls. But horse caller and hip
drop tackles man or at least theswivel hip drop tackle where you're twisting and
landing on the guy, I'm finewith legislating that out of the game.
On the flip side kickoffs, areback. You know, kickoffs have always

(09:26):
been one of the most exciting playsin football, and we've slowly watched it
get legislated out of the game.And something that I've been being in the
drum for for the last couple ofyears is the XFL style kickoff, which
is back, and for those whoare unfamiliar, or I should say not
back, it's making its debut inthe NFL this year. But for folks

(09:48):
who aren't familiar, the kicker isstill going to kick offf from his own
thirty five yard line, except fornow, his ten teammates are going to
line up on the other team's fortyyard line, and the receiving teams blockers
will line up on their own thirtyfive, so only five yards apart.
They're kind of lined up like RevolutionaryWar armies, and then they can't start

(10:09):
running until the receiver has caught theball. And if you've watched any of
these XFL highlights, you get everythingthat you love about the kickoff without all
the boring touchbacks and bs that isbasically eliminated it from the game. I'm
excited about it. Yeah, andthe dangerous plays because the idea of the

(10:30):
long collision it's the guy they're tryingto eliminate, the guy running sixty yards
in a sprint and hitting a guywho's just starting to ramp up his speed,
and it has been clocked as themost dangerous play in the National Football
League. They've wanted to get ridof it, and the National Football League
wants to protect the foot and footballa little bit and try to bring this

(10:50):
exciting play back to the league.But I do wonder exactly what fan is
it that you think is going tolike the new kickoff rule, because I
think of the old school fan,this probably isn't going to satisfy them,
the one that misses the collisions.And then the new school fan, let's

(11:11):
face it, as a fantasy footballfan, and there's nothing more frustrating in
fantasy football than when you have anoffensive player on a team and they don't
get a possession because there was akick return for a touchdown. Yeah,
you know. So, I don'tknow if I don't know if the modern
football fantasy football player wants to seethe kickoff back in the game, but
I think the league does, andcertainly it's a play that has often registered

(11:37):
as one of the most more excitingin the entire sport. And I know
we're going to get more action Jackson. I'm wondering how much more. I
mean, you know, because it'sso foreign to us. And is Corderio
Patterson They say Corderial Patterson has heldout just for this rule to get implemented
so that his value goes up.Did you see that his guy, Arthur

(12:01):
Smith just brought him in. Hejust he just joined the Steelers. It's
like the day after they institute this, It's like, Bang, that's one
of the more valuable players right now, and and they brought him in.
I mean, d Skridge is gonnabe relevant in Seattle now. That would
be a change. But I didn'twatch enough XFL or USFL to know like

(12:22):
how much their kickoff impacted games,But it looks like it should significantly.
It looks like we should get alot more returns. Is Cordia Patterson gonna
return nine kicks for a touchdown thisyear? I mean, is it overcompensating?
We're gonna find out. Yeah.I mean, just there are a
lot of rule change. I'm gonnatell everybody listening and watching right now that

(12:45):
if you want something done at yourhouse, let's say you've gotten a little
lazy with the garden, or maybeyou've been trying to, you know,
revamp that pool deck. Invite theNFL owners over to your house, feed
them, give them drinks, andput them in a room together because they
make decisions. Man. Is thishas been a very productive owners meeting down

(13:07):
there in Orlando. Yeah, sureseems like it, man. And you
know, I honestly am in favorof both of these rule changes. There.
There's one other one we don't needto spend any time on, but
just to make mention of it,if it used to be you have to
get both of your challenges right toearn a third. Now, if you
only get one of your first twochallenges right, you get a third.
I think that's a good rule too. So I think the owners did something

(13:28):
right this year. However, thisis a draft show, and you know,
last week we talked about the QBSat the top of the show and
we ranked our top five in thedraft, and that generated a lot of
reaction. Since then, the oddsof who will be drafted where behind Caleb
Williams have shifted a lot. Chuck, we know what order you take them
in? What order do you thinkthey'll go in. Oh, I think

(13:50):
that they're going to go one.Yeah, this has been a change here
in the last week for me.I think it will be Williams one to
Chicago. I think McCarthy's going togo too to Assane. To me,
that is just madness. I thinkNew England's going to take I'll say,
I'll go ahead and say it's gonnabe Jade and Daniels, but I'm not

(14:13):
convinced of that. And I dobelieve there will be a trade up from
Minnesota. I don't know if thatwill be to four or to five,
and that will be for Drake May. And then I think the Raiders and
the Broncos are both taking quarterbacks,so I think there's gonna be six in
the first twelve. People think I'mcrazy for that. Six maybe in the

(14:33):
first thirteen because the Raiders are atthirteen. But I'm wondering if the Raiders
are going to trade up. SoI'm gonna I'll go in. I'll say
May five to the Vikings. I'llsay Nicks twelve to the Broncos and Pennix
thirteen to the Raiders. That's howI think they're going to go. I
tell you what, just just aslittle teaser for later in the show.
We're going to go through Daniel Jeremiah'slatest mock draft, and he is one

(14:58):
of the best mock drafters out therebecause of how dialdingan he is to the
actual teams and the agents. Butyeah, man, what you're talking about
is starting to sound more and morerealistic. If Drake May is the fourth
quarterback off the board, because Ithink he's the second best quarterback in this
draft, I think it will justbe a race. We're going to be

(15:20):
seeing number one overall pick type compensationbeing thrown out by these teams to move
up to get Drake May at fouror five. And you know, honestly,
like we've seen the odds change alot since last time you and I
chatted in terms of who's going togo number two, And the biggest charger
is the guy that you pegged.It's JJ McCarthy. And to me,

(15:41):
like, I think he'll be fine. I think if he goes to a
team like Minnesota and he's got KevinO'Connell, who is a bona fide quarterback
whisperer who wants to throw the ballall the time, has three great receiving
options and Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ. Hockinson. We could see
JJ McCarthy be a super successful NFLquarterback, but he strikes me as someone

(16:06):
who has to go to a situationlike that in order to thrive, where
I feel like Caleb Williams and DrakeMay and maybe Jaden Daniels have the natural
ability to elevate their situation. Well, he is definitely the name right now.
I thought Michael Pennix Junior would bethe most talked about name in this
process, and maybe that will stillhappen before all is said and done,

(16:26):
but he's gained est man. Yeah, but McCarthy is definitely the most talked
about guy this week. And youknow, this is the fun of it
all. I gave the description tothe Whitewater drafting folks that may not listen
to my radio show. We dothe draft miss celebration for an entire month
we get ready for the NFL Draft. I kind of liken it to Christmas,

(16:49):
where it's a month long let's faceit, a month long event and
not just something that happens on Decembertwenty fifth. Same with this, not
something that's just going to happen onApril twenty fifth, twenty sixth, and
twenty seventh. This is a monthlong countdown and so we'll be analyzing it
on KJR in the morning's quite thoroughly. So we call it Draftmas well Christmas

(17:10):
kind of. You know, Santahad to deal with snow and fog during
Draftmas season. You know, wedeal with rumors, innuendo, speculation,
and smoke. We like to callit smoke trying, yeah, trying to
figure out Because general managers, coaches, everybody agents, they'll send out information
and it does not have to beaccurate. And the fun for us on

(17:32):
the other side is to try toshould We don't even have to determine,
we don't even have to be rightabout it. We just get to speculate
for fun, whether or not wethink that these this smoke, if it's
smoke, or if it's actual reality. But I've never seen so much smoke
blown than what we saw this week. I mean, Jackson, when's the

(17:53):
last time you saw a couple ofhead coaches from the same division. I
mean Jim Harbaugh and I get this, this is his guy, but basically
saying he's the best quarterback I've everseen, you know, he's you know,
he just put on the best showthat we've ever seen before. I
mean, he's got the fifth pickin the draft. I mean he's obviously
not going to take a quarterback,but I don't know how much of that

(18:15):
is. I just want JJ toget as high as possible because I like
him, or how much of thatis come up to the fifth pick.
That's it, And you nailed itright from me, because nobody's got an
inside track on this guy like Ido, and I'm telling you he's the
best, He's the best ever.And then Antonio Pierce the same and the

(18:37):
same at the same you know,a meeting place is like, I don't
know how that guy doesn't go numberthree. I mean, this is a
team that is screaming for a quarterbackat thirteen, and if they want one
of these guys, if they wanta JJ McCarthy, they're going to have
to move up in the draft.And Antonio Pierce is apparently telling the world
that, man, I'd love tohave that guy. I hope we can

(19:00):
trade up to get him. ButI don't know if he made a mistake,
first year head coach doesn't know howto play the game, or if
he just blew as much smoke ashe possibly could to try to convince other
teams to take McCarthy so that theguy they really want falls to them.
You tell me, I mean tobe honest with you. I think it's
the second thing on both. Ithink this is Jim Harbaugh understanding that he

(19:23):
has historically unique leverage in this situationbecause not only does he have a top
five pick, he has a topfive pick and doesn't need a quarterback.
Not only does he have a topfive pick and not need a quarterback,
he coached the player in question forhis whole college career. So he's not
going to take jj McCarthy. Itis nothing but in his own best interests

(19:45):
to have other teams knowing that McCarthymight be available at number five, throw
the world at him in his returnto the NFL and get him extra first
round pick. Says he rebuilds theLos Angeles Chargers in his own image.
Now, as far as Antonio,who Pierce goes, I don't know.

(20:07):
Yeah, it could be that he'sa new head coach and this is the
first offseason as head coach, andhe's kind of figuring it out, doesn't
really know how the game is played. I think he is also understanding his
leverage. Though I don't think he'sa dummy. I don't think he's naive.
I think that he knows the worldknows that he needs a quarterback,
and my guess is JJ McCarthy isnot his guy, and so he is

(20:32):
putting maximum value on a potential opponent, maybe Denver inside their own division,
given up the world again for anotherquarterback, just like they did a few
years ago with Seattle, to goget somebody that he's not actually interested in.
So yeah, to me, Chuck, I think he nailed it with

(20:52):
the second option on both guys.I think there are teams that are in
love with JJ McCarthy. But Idon't think this is a league wide sentiment.
And it's the but it's the funof it, isn't it. I
mean, that's the just the speculationthat leads into it. I mean,
uh, Minnesota, you know theythey are into that back into that first
round for a reason. They aremoving up big time. They're going to

(21:14):
try to get one of these topquarterbacks here in the draft. And so
the question is, I mean,five makes a lot of sense. I
mean, the Chargers just lost KeenanAllen. They just lost Mike Williams.
They already had a horrible offensive linesituation. I mean, I'm just it's
it's actually sad to watch Herbert play. Sometimes he may beat around, yes

(21:37):
so much so they seem like avery logical team that could drop to eleven
and twenty three and pick up alittle more draft capital and come away with
a receiver and a offensive lineman.It's particularly a tackle uh in the first
round. But then you've got Arizonasitting there at number four, and they've
they're the Lynchens team, man,they are the team in this draft.

(22:00):
They have done a tremendous job inour division direct, you know, acquiring
draft capital here the last couple ofyears. They've been one of the best
at it. And yet there doesreach a point right where you're like,
we need pieces. We now,okay, we've gotten the capitol, but
now we need to identify the pieces. Some star players were in a position

(22:21):
to get one of those pieces.Do we possibly move down and pass on
a chance to get Marvin Harrison justto acquire more draft capital. It might
be time for them to just sticktheir foot in the ground and just take
some player some difference makers since theyare in that fourth spot. Let's you
mentioned that this is a huge partof the quarterback con conversation that I think

(22:41):
has been left out of the maindiscourse. How many quarterbacks are you taking
ahead of Marvin Harrison? Yeah?Well I go three only because there are
three quarterback needy teams and I thinkit's a good year for quarterbacks in the
draft. A couple of guys thatI think are going to be able to

(23:03):
hit the ground running and the NationalFootball League. But there were also some
excellent receivers. I mean, Imean, everything I'm hearing is that Malik
Neighbors might be better than Harrison andRome of doonsay's not too far off that
list either. I mean we mighthave a situation here where the first seven
picks in the draft are quarterbacks andwide receivers. Well, let me ask

(23:25):
you this if you're if you're thePatriots, would you rather have cause And
I'll say this for contacts. Lastyear the Cardinals traded out of what was
the number two or number three pickand then traded right back up to number
six. If you're the Patriots,would you rather have Marvin Harrison or trade
back and have Romadunza plus whatever youwould have gotten or or would you rather

(23:48):
have or would you rather have thequarterback at number three versus you know,
say, Michael Pennix and a RoalMadonzay or something of that nature, Like
is Marvin Harrison that good or isthe quarterback three that good that you're saying,
I don't care what I get forhim. I'm not moving out of

(24:08):
the spot. I think the quarterbackposition is just too important. We talked
about this on the last week's episode. I thought the Seahawks move last year
and I love Weatherspoon, and Ithink Jackson Smith and Jigba had a few
rough times in his rookie year,but I still have an outlook of a
bright future for him. Me too. But last year was their year to

(24:30):
move up and get C. J. Stroud, and they did not get
that done. And that's not hindsight. That was said leading up to our
draft day on our morning show.That's right. So I would say that
when you're in a position top threeand you got a chance to get a
franchise quarterback and you absolutely lack one, it doesn't really matter how good the

(24:53):
wide receiver is. And I thinkHarrison is Randy Moss with a good attitude.
So I really love the player.Yeah, but you have to take
the quarterback at number three, andyou can't play games either. To move
down, Well, maybe if wemove down we can get sure a different
quarterback and something. No, justidentify who you think can be the franchise

(25:17):
quarterback, take him at number three, and let everybody else sort out the
wide receivers behind you. Now that'sI mean, I think that's there's really
sound wisdom in that. You know, for me, there's only two players
that I would take ahead of MarvinHarrison in this draft, and that's Killer
Williams and Drake May And if thoseare the first two that are gone,

(25:37):
honestly, I'm considering bringing that guyin because he's going to make life a
whole lot easier for the next quarterbackwhenever you get him. And I think
that whatever you get in that hall, whether it be from Minnesota or Denver
or Oakland, you're going to havethe ability to take a quarterback at that
spot. But look, I mean, we can talk about quarterback all day
every day, but you know,one of the things that we're doing with

(26:00):
this show is picking a positional groupfrom the draft to really dive into,
and last week we dug into therunning back class. Today we're going to
talk about the big fellows up front, and this is a deep class of
offensive linemen, especially the tackle position. Everyone is saying that this is the
deepest O line draft in years,but some people very connected to the league

(26:23):
are saying that this is the deepestO line class in decades. A lot
of mock drafts have seven even eightoffensive linemen going in the first round.
Now, if you're a Seahawks fan, this is a great year to be
stuck in the middle. Usually themiddle of the first round is a tough
place to be because a lot ofyears most teams they might not have sixteen

(26:45):
first round grades on guys. Butwhen you're a team that needs offensive line,
you're going to see some real talentpush down to the middle of this
round. John Schneider likes to sellus that he's always trying to draft just
the best player available, the bestplayer on their board. But this team
does have needs, and linebacker oneof them. And then they need a

(27:06):
starting offensive lineman. And I don'tthink that they mine for a second Jackson,
that that's a tackle that they couldmove to guard. Your guy that
you brought up last week that Huskyfans know so well, seems like a
real strong candidate at sixteen that youknow, you could start him at guard
for his career Foretanu and then dependingon what happened with Abe Lucas, who

(27:27):
we're expecting to see back this year. We got good news on that front
from John Schneider this week, oreven play left tackle for you in the
future, even though they're certainly investedin cross there. But yeah, it
shapes up well that if they didwant to identify an offensive lineman or a

(27:47):
defensive player, they could have apretty good choice pick there at number sixteen.
Well yeah, and you know wetend to as fans, I think,
look at, well, what doesthe team need and that's who they
should target. But you know,there's opportunity cost to every decision that you
make, and very few places isthat more true than in the NFL when

(28:08):
it comes to roster building. Andso yeah, okay, let's say they
feel good about a Luke's knee.Although Mike McDonald's most recent comments were not
the most encouraging on that basically justyou know, they were all black box
comments were not really sure. Butwhen you have that kind of flexibility.

(28:29):
The thing is a lot of guardsin the NFL were tackles in college,
right, because if you're the bestoffensive lind man on your team, that's
where they're going to put you incollege. But you get to the point
it's like, okay, but justto give an example, right, I
was a decent baseball player, andin high school I was a pitcher.
You're going to face two three guysin a good team's lineup that are like,

(28:51):
all right, I really got topitch around this guy. I got
to college and the nine hitter thatI was facing on every team was the
clean up hit in high school.Right, And so like you magnify that
a thousand times to you know,a lot of guards and centers were tackles
in college because they were the bestoffensive linemen. So I don't even if

(29:12):
you feel good about your two tacklesand they signed George Fant free agency,
you can still draft a tackle thatyou feel has the ability to give you
that flexibility not only in moving themaround the offensive line, but also it
gives you contractual flexibility where you don'tfeel like, okay, you know,
Charles Cross is about to be upfor a new contract, Abe Lucas is

(29:34):
about to be up for a newcontract. Maybe one of them is threatening
to hold out. Now you've gotpotentially your next tackle anyway, that gives
you leverage there on top of thepositional flexibility. But you know, we
can talk in generalities about how deepthis class is. But let's put some
names to this class, because,like I said, I mean most mock

(29:56):
drafts have at least seven offensive linemengoing in the first round, and I've
identified ten that have made regular appearancesin mock drafts. In the first round,
you have Joe alt out of NotreDame. You have Olufashanu from Penn
State, jac Latham from Alabama,Talise Fuaga from Oregon State, Troy Fatanu,

(30:17):
who we've talked about a little bit, Amarius Mims, who I love
out of Georgia. Just absolute gigantorsix eight three forty moves like crazy.
You got Graham Barton from Duke,Tyler Geiton from Oklahoma. Those are all
tackles, and then you may verywell see a center in the first round
Jackson Powers Johnson out of Oregon,and so like, there is a lot

(30:41):
to choose from. I guarantee youthat at least five of these guys are
going to be available to Seattle atsixteen. Graham Barton is a name to
keep your eye on as well.I mentioned him last week when we were
discussing our predictions early predictions for whatthe Seahawks might do at sixteen. Overall,
play guard, he can play center. He is out of Duke,

(31:03):
and he is somebody that I've nowseen recently, just as recently as yesterday,
where people are starting to project himto go to the Seahawks at sixteen.
So it seems a little totally totake a center at that point,
but he does seem like the typeof guy that might be a plug and
play with upside going forward as well. Well. And if you're a Seahawks

(31:26):
fan that is rooting for a tradeback, this is the class, right
because you're going to see because we'reseeing so much emphasis put on the quarterback
position. Right, you talked aboutfive maybe six guys going in the top
twelve or thirteen picks right there,which has never happened before. And then
you're you've got, you know,a top end wide receiver draft class that

(31:51):
rivals any in history. In termsof, you know, the top few
guys coming out of that position.Of course, you're going to have these
tackles going and some defensive players.You're going to see guys who would normally
go in the top ten of thedraft be available at sixteen. And so
if you're John Schneider and there's threeor four guys that are on your board

(32:12):
at sixteen, this is the perfectsituation to try and trade back. Now,
the caveat to that is, yeah, trading back is great in theory,
you have to find someone who isvaluing somebody at everybody else is looking
at too. If you've got fourguys that you think are great still on
your board at sixteen, so dothe teams that are behind you most likely.
But if you can work at tradeback, this feels like the year

(32:35):
to do that without actually sacrificing firstround talent because a lot of times when
you trade back in the first round, we've seen this from the Seahawks in
the past. You trade back inthe first round, you get an extra
pick or two on Day two orDay three, but you might be costing
yourself an actual first round talent.I think there's going to be a real
opportunity to do that this year.If they can find a partner and still

(32:57):
get first round talent when they maketheir first selection. Well, that seems
to be the rub, at leastat this stage in the process for the
Seahawks. So you can stay atsixteen, and there's a chance because of
all this offensive talent and this youknow, this gold rush to get offensive
edge you know, a tackle,a receiver, a quarterback that's taking place
in the National Football League. Youmight have the opportunity to pick maybe your

(33:22):
edge rusher of choice at sixteen,or maybe your interior defensive linemen of choice
at number sixteen, or you cantrade out of that pick, maybe pick
up a couple second rounders, highsecond rounders, and now you might be
able to get your center of choiceor guard of choice or your favorite linebacker

(33:45):
interior linebacker on the board. Soit's kind of what I brought up last
week. So you can either gofor that, you know, one of
those marquee positions that are so valuableright now in the National Football League,
which happened to be either creating abetter pass game or preventing teams from throwing
on you. That's what's really valuable. Right now in the National Football League

(34:08):
versus man just a couple of reallysound pieces that might be plug and play
starters from day number one. Youcould see them going either way. Yeah,
man, I mean for a generalmanager that values flexibility the way that
John Schneider's track record indicates that hevalues flexibility. This is the draft because

(34:30):
typically if you're at sixteen, youare in no man's land, right you
are having to give a bona fide, big time first round contract to somebody
that you may not feel is firstround talent. Like I said earlier,
a lot of drafts, when youhear the scuttle butt coming out from owners

(34:52):
gms, they've got maybe a dozenguys with true first round grades. And
this year I think that we've gottwenty plus players with true first round grades
on a lot of NFL boards.This is a really special class. You
know. I think that we canspeak in the abstract a lot, but

(35:13):
it's really helpful to actually have somethingto anchor to when we talk about who's
going to take whom where. AndI mentioned it earlier in the show.
One of my favorite people this timeof year, and this is not a
unique take, he's excellent is DanielJeremiah with the NFL Network, and he

(35:34):
had his mock draft three point zerocome out last week, and I thought
it was fascinating because here's the thingwith Daniel Jeremiah. A lot of mock
drafts are here's who I would pickif I was this team, and these
are the players available. The waythat Daniel Jeremiah approaches his mock drafts is
here's what I'm hearing, Here's whatI think the teams will do. And

(35:55):
he's connected enough that you can reallyput some stock into it. And as
a result, he refuses historically toincorporate any trades in his mock drafts until
he gets to four point zero.This year, however, he broke that
trend. He has a bevy oftrades in his latest mock draft. And
I want to go through it withyou and Mike, if you could help
us out here, why don't youread us through the first round of Daniel

(36:20):
Jeremiah's most recent mock draft, includingthe trades, and then Chuck and I.
You know, we'll talk about thethings that really stand out to us.
First pick. I think it's ChuckCaleb Williams the Bears. Second overall,
the Washington Commanders, Drake May,though the JJ McCarthy at number two.
Overall rumors have started the surface atthe owner's meetings. Number three the

(36:42):
New England Patriots, which is anotherpivot point of the draft. Jane Daniels
quarterback Lsu who we talked a lotabout last week. Okay, let's let's
stop there. Let's stop there withthese top three guys we got, Williams
May Daniels. That's exactly how Iwould approach it, Chuck, how you
feeling so far? Yeah, ifit went that way, Yeah, I'd

(37:05):
definitely buy that, you know.I again, just to reiterate what I
said earlier, I think it's quarterback, quarterback, quarterback to start the draft,
and then I wouldn't be surprised ifit's not quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.
So if it's not four of themcoming right out of the shoot,
so my expectation, you know,no, no matter how what the preferences
are, that's what we're not privyto. But the quarterback need meeting the

(37:30):
quarterback value. It seems it seemsapparent to me that the first three coming
off the board, and whatever orderis is you know, preferred by the
two the three draft drafters, Ithink that that makes a lot of sense.
To me, got four quarterbacks tostart the draft is insane to me.
I know that a lot of teamsare desperate, but the NFL is

(37:51):
down bad at that point. Thefirst the first trade that comes in is
the Vikings jumping up to number four, swapping with the Cardinals and taking the
aforemen JJ McCarthy out of Michigan.What are your guys' thoughts on this?
For the Vikings, Well, forthe Vikings, I think this is I
think this is a reach. Butyou're also going yeah, I mean you're

(38:12):
in full recruitment mode for one ofthe best players your franchise has ever had,
in Justin Jefferson. And if youfeel like you can sell Justin Jefferson
on JJ McCarthy, maybe you drawup a JJ to JJ marketing scheme and
all that stuff. Maybe I justdon't see it, man, I don't
see the third level. The secondthird level throws. Say what you want

(38:34):
about Kirk Cousins, his primetime record, his playoff record, whatever, that
mother picker can make the throws downthe field. He is an elite tight
window thrower, which is where aplayer like Justin Jefferson really succeeds. I
just don't see it from JJ McCarthy. And I'm not saying he can't do
it. I'm just saying I don'tthink he does do it right now.
And if it's a rough rookie seasonand it's not like that team is loaded

(38:59):
with talent outside of their playmakers,it's going to be a hard sell to
Jefferson moving forward for the Cardinals.I think this is like the best thing
ever. You haven't seen it becauseit hasn't really been shown, but you
know, based off of the combinevice, based off of the Pro Day,
and this is kind of why theydo these things. You know,

(39:21):
it looks like he does have thetalent and the arm strength to make those
throws. He just never was askedto do it. Now. You also
have to keep in mind he playedon a national championship team. There are
a lot of good things to gowith that. But in terms of trying
to project the future, I mean, he's not every game that he played.

(39:42):
He had the best offensive line inthat game, he had the best
defense in that game. He probablyhad the best skill players with him in
that game, and so it won'tbe a situation where he can just manage
at the National Football League, heis going to have to his game up.
But the theory being that he's morethan capable, and with three years

(40:07):
younger than nearly everybody else on thisboard at his position, with the exception
of Drake May and Caleb Williams thatyou know you have, we really don't
have any idea. He's just scratchingthe surface on the kind of quarterback that
he's going to be. I don'tsee it. I mean, I put
him the sixth last week when weranked him because I don't see it.
But obviously there's there's a buzz aroundhim, and it was happening long before

(40:31):
we got to the combine. Peoplewere wondering if he is a top three
pick. Adam Schefter and other insiderswere sort of suggesting that he could be
end up being a top three pick. So is the Minnesota interest is that
the smoke is that that is beingthrowne out there? Do they really want
Drake May? Jackson your guy?Have they gone on this big campaign of

(40:54):
not denying their interest in JJ McCarthyso that the command will take him and
then all of a sudden May dropsto four or five so that the Vikings
can come in from eleven and grabhim. That's the dream scenario for the
Vikings. But in this mock man, they made the move for JJ,

(41:15):
and there's no way they don't dothat without eleven plus twenty three plus honestly
probably twenty five first, and Iwould not do that based on projection on
this quarterback. The stickiest stats incollege football for success in the NFL is
production at the college level. Andlook, I watched a fair amount of

(41:35):
Michigan football, no question, theyhave the most talented roster in all of
Division one. And I'm not thetype listeners of sigar Thos know that I'm
not the type to penalize good playersfor playing with other good players. I've
also seen what Michigan has done whenthey've played the best teams on their schedule,

(41:57):
and when they play Ohio State,when they played Penn State, when
they played Alabama, when they playedUniversity of Washington, they took the ball
out of JJ McCarthy's hands. Sothe projection is huge, Like, yes,
he had great teammates, his coachwho is supposedly calling him, you
know, the best quarterback ever istaking the ball out of his quarterback's hands,

(42:19):
all right. The next trade,the Jets jump up to number five.
Win Now move for Aaron Rodgers.They take Marvin Harrison, Junior out
of Ohio State. Then at numbersix, the New York Giants take Malik
Neighbors wide receiver out of LSU,which leaves Roma Doonsday moving further down the
board. And then at seven wehave our first offensive lineman with Joe alt

(42:40):
Tackle out of Notre Dame's. Let'sstop there for a second. So now
we're now we're seeing the wide receivers. And you know, for a long
time there was a talk, Imean I'm talking months ago Marvin Harrison could
be the first overall pick in thisdraft, and he slowly kind of slipped
back. We are talking about oneof the maybe the most highly touted wide

(43:02):
receiver since Julio Jones, certainly sinceJamar Chase, and for the Jets to
move up and get him, Imean, they better hope Aaron Rodgers makes
it through the next season or twobecause they are going all in on surrounding
him with weapons. The thought ofMarvin Harrison and Garrett Wilson on the same

(43:22):
team with Breese Hall and Aaron RodgersColin shots. I think that this pick
would make them a Super Bowl contenderimmediately, and the Giants have to be
thrilled with Milik Neighbors, which toChuck's earlier point, a lot of people
are putting in on par or maybeeven slightly ahead of Milik Neighbors or Marvin
Harrison. And I love Milik Neighbors, like that's big moves for the New

(43:46):
York teams. And then we weretalking about offensive players earlier. I think
Joe Alt is the best of thebunch, and the Titans in this mock
draft clearly agree. Could you imaginebeing a franchise quarterback vice President of America
and having Marvin Harrison on your team? Oh man, it makes me cringe

(44:07):
how loud his megaphone would be atthat point. I mean, how good
is life going at that point whereyou're just studying film in the Oval office.
A couple other picks in this lastlittle grouping here, I think if
you're the Giants, you absolutely haveto be throwing. Milik Neighbors is wide

(44:30):
receiver one in most classes in thelast twenty years, and you just haven't
found that guy there. So whetheryou're going to try and push forward and
try and resuscitate Dan Jones' career orset something up for the next quarterback,
whether it's someone they take in thisdraft, they trade for free agency next
year, or draft somebody next year. To walk into a Melik Neighbors has

(44:52):
got to be a very attractive situation. And then the Titans, when you
have a young quarterback, the bestbest thing that you can do is to
put the best possible ecosystem around thatguy, because that's going to tell you
if he's good. Everyone is downon Bryce Young, and Bryce Young might
not have it. Nobody is succeedingin the ecosystem that Bryce Young was in

(45:14):
last year. Terrible offensive line,no running game, and receivers that can't
separate. And you know, ofcourse he's small on top of that.
But like he didn't have a chance. I'm not sure that Joe Burrow would
have a chance in that situation.So kudos to the Titans for going out
and getting the best offensive tackle inthis draft. For spending I think way
too much for Calvin Ridley for youknow, trading for DeAndre Hopkins last year.

(45:37):
Like, let's find out if WillEvis is that guy. Well,
every one of these teams. Nowwe're in this range of every one of
these teams that's going to have tomake the decision what is the what is
the thing that will help a quarterbacksucceed more? Is it the weapon in
the passing game, the downfield aerialattack, is that the Jamar chase?

(45:59):
Or is it the protection for theoffense. And so that's those are the
decisions that are going to start beingmade. Whether Arizona trades down from four
to put themselves in a position toadd more draft capital and just more you
know, just fill more holes ontheir team, or do they take advantage
of the opportunity to grab that numberone receiver that every quarterback wants. So

(46:23):
all of these teams are going tobe making one of those three decisions.
Is it time to get a widereceiver one, Is it time to get
more protection for my quarterback? Ordo I move down, you know,
add draft capital for a team thatwants to come up and get a quarterback.

(46:44):
So we're in that we're in thatrange four through seven. Every single
one of those teams are going tobe discussing those three possibilities, all right.
At number eight, the Atlanta Falconstake Dallas Turner, edge defender out
of Alabama, number ninety. It'sa player off the board, and I
think the best defensive player in thisdraft. Okay, Number nine, the

(47:05):
Bears take Romodnze, ending his freefall to pair with Caleb Williams. And
then at ten, after the Chargerstrade down, they select Talifuanga, offensive
tackle out of Oregon State. Sothat's our second O lineman to close out
the lottery. Okay, all right, so there's your top ten. So
first of all, love Dallas Turnerfor the Falcons. They have generated the

(47:28):
least amount of pressures in the NFLover the last three years, so much
of the discourse around that team hasbeen You've used three consecutive top ten picks
on these offensive playmakers and basically justpunted on quarterback. They got Arthur Smith
the hell out of town. Youneed some defense at some point. That's
a very winnable division. You wentall in on Kirk Cousins. You feel

(47:50):
like your offensive set. I love, love, love this pick for them.
And when's the last time you sawthe first defensive player in a draft?
Go number eight overall? I'd bewilling to bet that's never happened before.
But the pick that I love.Here we were talking about the Titans
earlier and building a successful sort ofbiodome around their young quarterback. How about

(48:12):
what the Bears are doing and ifwe're going to take this mock draft as
reality for the sake of the show, how about what they're doing for Caleb
Williams taking him number one overall.They drafted tackle last year, they brought
they traded for DJ Moore, theybrought in Keenan Allen, and now you
add rome with Donsay and let mejust talk because Chuck, I'm very curious
to get your thoughts on in Dunsea. I want to point out one thing

(48:36):
about him that I think is reallyremarkable. There is a gentleman on Twitter
named Matt Harmon who runs the websiteReception Perception, which I think is the
single best grading system for wide receiversthat exists, and he grades every single
prospect on all nine routes. Thereare nine different routes that a wide receiver
can run. In his history ofdoing this, there have been two receivers

(49:00):
that have been considered so they're gradedas red, yellow or green right red
blow average, yellow average, greenabove average. There have been two receivers
that have graded as green in allnine routes. DeVante Adams and Romadonsay,
Yeah, tremendous ball skills. Andthat is through that's not through the prism

(49:23):
of bias, because you know,I loved watching him play for the Huskies.
Just tremendous ball skills. And tothink there was a time prior to
Kaylin de Boor where people wondered ifhe was even any good. Uh,
And then all of a sudden,you get him in the right system,
with the right quarterback and the rightto development, and then watch him showcase

(49:45):
the size and the athleticism. Butthe thing that really stands out to me
about Romadonza is the skill that hebrings to the football field, his ability
to catch the ball, his abilityto run routes, and he just looks
so he just looks so calm outon the football field. So I love

(50:06):
him. If he made it tonumber nine, I think that would be
a steal for the Chicago Bears.And you're right. I mean you suddenly
went from this team has no offensivetalent, and it was a couple of
years ago you were saying that aboutthe Chicago Bears. Where's the offensive talent
to Suddenly you have Caleb Williams atquarterback, DeAndre Swift at running back,
and then you've got a wide receivertrio of Doonsay Allen and more, plus

(50:30):
Cole Comet's a really good tight end. Yeah, man, I mean,
if I was a Bears fan andthis is how this draft fell, and
I'm leaving the top ten with KillWilliamson and Roman Donze, I mean,
this is an unprecedented era of ChicagoBears offense ahead of us. All right,
let's pick up the pace here alittle bit, Mike. Why don't

(50:52):
you read us the next five picksbetween number ten and when the Seahawks are
on the clock. Yep, allright, So the Cardinals down to eleven
and take Jared Verse and Edge outof Florida State. Love that. The
Broncos at twelve take brock Bowers tightend out of Georgia. Thirteen, the
Las Vegas Raiders take Michael Pennix juniorquarterback out of Washington. At fourteen,

(51:16):
the Saints take Olufshanu offensive tackle outof Penna. This is crazy. These
are top ten quality picks that aregoing right now. And then pick fifteen,
the Colts take Quinyon Mitchell, thecornerback out of Toledo. All right,
what sends out to you about thatstretch? Chuck Well Pennis for sure,
And I mean, you guys aretoo young to know this, but

(51:38):
that's such a Raider pick. Imean, they were the team that pretty
much like we just want to throwbombs all over the football field, and
this is one of the most accuratedeep throwers of all time. To me,
it makes the most sense for theRaiders too, who want to win
right now, and they have statedhow they want a champion. I mean,
I know Michael Penis didn't win anational championship, but he had a

(52:00):
pretty good one close yeah there,with the Washington Huskies. To me,
it really makes kind of the mostsense for the Raiders who want to win
right away this year with whoever theytake at quarterback. And yet it will
be excruciating. I would think thatnight waiting for him to fall all the
way to thirteenth if that's the guythat they've circled that they've wanted. But

(52:23):
on paper, it just makes alot of sense. They love to throw
the ball deep. They've got DeVanteAdams, and so why not get the
most accurate thrower in the draft,And like we talked about last week,
I think you and I both agreeon that fact. You know, there's
some things working against Michael Pennix Junior, the lack of mobility, the injury

(52:44):
history, the age, But whenit comes to spinning that football, putting
it where it needs to be withsmall margins for air when it needs to
get there, I think that heis elite at that. And I think
that because a lot of the discoursearound Pennick has surrounded him being a Day
two or a Day three pick.Look, that ain't happening. This dude

(53:05):
is getting steamed up. Right whenthose top four quarterbacks go off the board,
the value of Michael Pennox Junior isgoing to scream to the top of
the draft boards for any quarterback needyteam. And honestly, I don't hate
the pick for the Raiders, andI don't think it's the worst position ever
for Pennix to go into no.And if you're the Raiders and you're sitting
there and you know the Broncos needa quarterback too in your division, and

(53:30):
if you really want Pennix, areyou going to wait for him at thirteen?
I mean I know Daniel Jeremiah can'tmake every pick of trade in his
mock draft, but can you imaginehow excruciating that would be? Oh,
got thirteen? You see the firstfour picks, first four picks of the
draft for quarterbacks, you gotta waitnine more picks, and you know Denver's

(53:50):
in front of you and as aquarterback need and you can't trust anything Sean
Payton has released out there for publicknowledge. I mean, I don't even
think they would wait till thirteen.I think at that stage it would just
be we if that's the guy thatthey would want, and we don't know
if that's the guy they want,but they would they'd have to move up
to. So I mean, maybeit's not six in the first thirteen,

(54:12):
maybe it's six in the first twelve. I think there's a chance that that
could happen in this particular draft.That's just how important the quarterback position has
become. That's right, And andthis latest run of picks puts the Seahawks
on the clock. Mike, whodoes Daniel Jeremiah have them taking? With
everybody that you guys personally mocked tothe Seahawks last week still on the board

(54:35):
at sixteen. The Seahawks select inthis mock draft Troy Fautanu out of Washington
offensive tackle. Who could project couldhave predicted that? Wow, that predicted
that absolutely insane. Hmmm, yeah, you already know. I love the
pick. I will say when withhorrible pickle, when I said, when

(54:59):
I said last week that this wasmy guy, it was because I assumed
that Byron Murphy, the defensive tackleout of Texas and the defensive end out
of UCLA, would be off theboard. Both of those guys are still
on the board in this mock draft, and I would probably take a lot
to here if he was still there. He he of all the guys that

(55:19):
I think is realistic could fall toSeattle at sixteen. He's my number one.
Yeah, if that scenario unfolds,and you already know I'm trading down,
but to play the game, maybeit's Murphy out of Texas kind of
with him at that stage. Yeah, you know that. You know,

(55:44):
I do think, as I saidbefore, I don't I don't want to
sound hypocritical, you know that Ithink that they're more in a mode of
need than what they've been in thepast. They've got some obvious needs to
fill. They've got two starters tofind in this draftft so Fatana would make
sense because that gets you get toplug in your guard before you draft again

(56:07):
late in the third round. Butif I had to take a selection,
just maybe just to play Devil's advocate, it really is an opportunity to get
younger and fiercer on that defensive line. And I do love Murphy, Oh
my gosh, I like him.Penetration ability, that's out of this world.
All right, all right, Mike, why don't you take us home

(56:27):
on the last half of this draft, and then when you're done, Chuck
and I will tell you who stoodout to us. Sounds great. So
at seventeen, the Jags take Terryand Arnold cornerback out Obama. Eighteen.
The Bengals take JC Latham tackle outof Alabama, great get nineteen. The
Rams take Layoutu La tou edge outof UCLA by way of Washington. Twenty.

(56:50):
The Steelers Tyler Geiton, offensive tackleout of Oklahoma twenty one, The
Dolphins Graham Barton out of Duke theguard at twenty two Nate Wiggins corner out
of Clemson twenty three. The CardinalsBrian Thomas junior out of LSU. They
get that they're tried with the Vikings, who moved up to number four,

(57:14):
unbelievable. Twenty four. The Cowboystake Jackson Powers Johnson, the center out
of Oregon. Twenty five. ThePackers take Amarius Mims, the monster offensive
tackle, out of Georgia. Lovehim. Twenty six. The Bucks take
Darius Robinson, an edge out ofMissouri. Twenty seven. The Cardinals take

(57:34):
Byron Murphy. Okay, I'm gonnastop you there. Can we talk about
the Cardinals hall in this draft tradingout at number four? Like, yeah,
you're giving up Marvin Harrison Junior,who you know everybody has mocked them.
But who you leave in this draftwith? Man, I mean you
got it, Brian Thomas Junior.You get Byron Murphy, who I love.

(57:58):
You get Jared Verse, who isdefensive end one for a lot of
people in this draft. Like,it's time to stop sleeping on the Cardinals.
If it goes this way, Oh, that would be a haul.
I think all of the I think, with the exception may be Verse.
I think Thomas and Murphy are goinghigher than that. But it just illustrates

(58:19):
like that, you know, I'msure every Cardinal fan out there wants to
draft Marvin Harrison junior. You knowthey can already picture the jersey. You
know they fan bases and love skillguys. But when you think about what
you might be able to get bytrading out of that spot, and if
it fell that way, I mean, how could you not love that draft

(58:40):
for the Arizona Cardinals. So thenat twenty eight you got Johnny Newton,
a defensive tackle out of Illinois who'sa popular pick for Seahawks fans. After
a potential trade down twenty nine,the Lions take kool Aid McKinstry Corner out
of Alabama, their second dB takenin the first round. Thirtieth, the

(59:00):
Baltimore Ravens Cooper Dejean Corner out ofIowa, thirty one, the forty nine
Ers chop Robinson, an athletic edgeout of Penn State, and then thirty
two. To close out the firstround, the Kansas City Chiefs take Adani
Mitchell. Ad Mitchell, the widereceiver on Texas who did not haul in
the past to win the Sugar Bowlthat sent the Huskies to the National championship.

(59:23):
Sure didn't, Sure didn't. I'mnot an I'm not an Ade Mitchell.
Guy, here's the thing I saidearlier in the show, and I
think it's I think we were talkingabout quarterbacks at the time, but I
don't think there's any position where thisis more true. In fact, it
is statistically viable. The absolute stickieststat for predicting college success to NFL success

(59:47):
for wide receivers is raw production.And ad Ni Mitchell wasn't even close to
being the best wide receiver on hisown team. A bet on ad Ni
Mitchell is that you're betting you're gettingDK Metcalf, because there have been two
wide receivers that have not produced froma pure volume standpoint at the college level

(01:00:10):
in like the last fifteen years thathave gone on to have NFL success,
and it's DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. And like, I get the siren
song of ad Ni Mitchell, killername, blue chip program and a nine
point nine to one RAZ score atthe combine the relative athletics score that means
he's a top one percent athlete atthe most athletic position in the NFL.

(01:00:32):
There are going to be teams thatfall in love with him. I just
don't. I mean Andy Reid andPatrick Mahomes will make it easier on him.
But we thought the same thing forMikol Hardman and sky Moore. I
would if you want receiver there forthe Chiefs, take Mitchell's take Mitchell's teammate
Xavier Worthy, who is tanked Dellwith even more after Burners. I thought

(01:00:54):
it was Lad McConkey is the onethat they are like him too, out
of Georgia to the Yeah, tothe Chiefs. At this point, I
like Mitchell a little more than you. I mean, it's hard not to
fall in love with that size,athleticism combination. But and anybody that goes
to the Chiefs people are going todruel about the possibilities of you know,

(01:01:16):
Mahomes and said wide receiver and whatkind of a combination that they're going to
make. But but I think Chiefsfans, the chief Nation would celebrate if
d Ni Mitchell felt to them atthirty two. Yeah, I think so,
I think so. One last thoughtbefore we wrap up this mock draft,
how do you feel about the fortynine ers taking Chop Robinson, a

(01:01:38):
very decorated edge rusher out of PennState. I don't think we'd like it,
would we? No? I meanhe showed down as well. Oh
big time showed out of the combine, and like they just let Chase Young
walk, who was a number twooverall pick. That just doesn't seem to
quite have it. Man. I'mthinking, like, oh, yeah,

(01:02:00):
you fuckers, you traded your thirdround pick for Chase Young and then let
him go. They get Chop Robinsonon a rookie contract to take his spot
and save a ton of money.I would not love that as a Seahawks
fan. Thunder thighs Robinson, He'sthick. So yeah, yeah, man,
I mean, if that's the wayit goes, I don't know if
any Seahawks fans gonna like the waythe draft fell in the NFC West.

(01:02:24):
So it sounds like all three dyeah through Daniel Jeremiah, thanks a lot,
Jeremiah Jerk, Yeah, DJ jerk. All right, Well listen,
man, very very fun going throughthat mock draft with you. I think

(01:02:45):
that's a really good exercise as wetalk about the draft, because, like
I said earlier, it's it's veryeasy to talk about these things in the
abstract, but when you start liningup the dominoes, then you get to
say, Okay, what would Ireally feel about these different picks being made,
and like I said, Dan Jeremiah, he's someone that you can actually

(01:03:08):
put some real stock into this.Oh yeah, he's great. He's great,
and he's also in the mode whereand it's worth pointing this out because
we are draftnicks. It's worth pointingout that these guys go from truly evaluating.
Daniel Jeremiah was once upon a timein a couple of different NFL front
offices truly evaluating the prospects, andthen all of a sudden, at this

(01:03:32):
stage in the process, they startleaning on what they're hearing. So that's
why they do the updated mocks,and that's why it changes sometimes dramatically because
they have inside sources. So heand Kyper and everybody else are now in
the mode of taking what they believeand marrying it with what they're hearing.

(01:03:52):
There's a literal thousand mock drafts wecould have chosen. There's the reason we
did this one. This is somethingthat we're going to be doing throughout the
show leading up to the draft.But listen, y'all, that is going
to do it for the second episodeof Whitewater Drafting Big. Thank you to
Chuck Big Thank you to Mike.Appreciate y'all being here. This is the
real deal, man, I'm stokedto be doing this show. Yeah,

(01:04:14):
it's blast always is love talking draftand yeah, happy Draft Mess to everyone.
Draft Mess, by the way,starts Monday the first. That's the
first official day of the Draftmas season. So hopefully you have your houses decorated
and you've gone grocery shopping for allof your snacks and Draft miss type meals
that you'll need to prepare from thispoint forward, So enjoy enjoy the holiday.

(01:04:39):
As always, you can find Mike, Chuck and I on social media.
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(01:05:00):
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