JB's Sports Podcast
JB's Sports Podcast
Sports Talk Solo: March Madness, NFL Moves, and Mock Draft Analysis
In this candid solo episode, I take on the sports world while my brother and co-host is away, delivering insights on the biggest stories in sports right now. March Madness provides the backdrop as I analyze the tournament's ups and downs, from Michigan State's dominance over Bryant to the inconsistent play that's characterized many games.
The heart of the episode focuses on the NFL's most compelling offseason narratives. Aaron Rodgers visited the Steelers facility but left without signing, leaving Pittsburgh fans increasingly frustrated with the waiting game. As Cam Heyward bluntly put it: "Do you want to be a Steeler or don't you?" I explore the psychological toll this uncertainty takes on a fanbase and whether the potential drama Rodgers brings is worth the on-field improvement.
The Cincinnati Bengals made waves by signing both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to massive extensions, sparking debate about salary cap management. My perspective? Joe Burrow made a calculated decision to keep his elite weapons rather than gamble on the Bengals' ability to draft defensive talent. It's the bird in hand versus two in the bush – a fascinating case study in team-building philosophy.
The episode concludes with a detailed breakdown of Todd McShay's latest mock draft, analyzing each first-round pick and how recent free agency moves have shifted team needs. From Cam Ward at #1 to James Pearce Jr. at #32, I offer insights on fit, value, and team strategy for all 32 selections.
Whether you're a die-hard NFL fan tracking free agency moves, a college basketball enthusiast enjoying March Madness, or just love thoughtful sports analysis, this episode delivers something for everyone. Like, subscribe, and share with any sports fans in your life who appreciate honest, unfiltered takes on the games we love.
welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is saturday, march 22nd, and we're back for another pod. And I say we real weak because it's not really weak, because usually it's me and my brother doing this. Obviously, if you've been listening for a while, for a myriad of reasons we weren't able to get it get together to do this podcast this week uh, for things outside of both of our controls. So, with all that being the case, it's just me here, so hopefully you don't hate that all that much. I'm gonna try to not make this too long of a podcast where you're just listening to one person just kind of sitting here talking. But you know, if I get into a soliloquy or a side quest here, it is what it is. So I'm going to go ahead and talk about all the things I wanted to talk about. I guess we could start with March Madness. That's the kind of thing going right now.
Speaker 1:We're in day three of March Madness. So far I don't really include like the first day where you have like the uh, the play in games going on Cause, like who really cares about that? Especially this year where it was like it almost felt like at the end of the college basketball season. It was like they were trying to look for a team to be worthy of those play in spots. Instead of having too many good teams. It was more of like hey who, instead of having too many good teams, it was more of like hey, who can we give these spots to? Because, kind of like, everybody's playing bad at the end of the season, at least everybody at that kind of level um of potentially getting into the tournament. So thursday, first day, so now we're on to saturday. Uh, I think we're still before the first game start. Honestly, ohio state's not in it. Um, jace has had michigan state. That's still in the tournament.
Speaker 1:He was watching the game last night. I think that was between Michigan State and who was that game between? It doesn't really matter, they were playing. I think it was like, oh, dang it, now I gotta look, cause now, as soon as I said that Now I have to look Um scores, let's do Friday. They were playing Bryant last night and for the first half the game was very close. And then Jace kind of texted me last night saying, hey, if we as Michigan State, as 2C, lose to Bryant at the 15, I don't think you're going to see me tomorrow, like pretty much saying he's going to hurt himself. But I'm sitting there like man. It's fine. Things like this happen in turn all the time, but I think you should be fine.
Speaker 1:Michigan State's one of those teams where they should. You know, tom Izzo being one of the longest standing head coaches in college basketball, I think it should give them the benefit of the doubt. And then the second half Michigan State goes and blows out Bryant 54-34 in the second half to end up winning 87-62. It was just. Michigan State doesn't necessarily have a star-laden team, but they have a very deep team. So, just like, as that game went on longer and longer, michigan State was able to just keep pulling out bodies and all of them just keep playing good basketball, while Bryant just kind of got. You know, they started losing gas in the second half and that's just how it goes. Michigan State took advantage of it.
Speaker 1:But other than that, I'm like watching a lot of basketball casually. Man, I'm betting on games here or there. Uh, I'm just trying to watch good basketball whenever I can. There's been a lot of a decent amount of bad basketball at times, like not necessarily that like one team's a lot better than the other. Obviously it happens when you have some of these higher seeds playing the very low seeds, but more of like, like the long stretches of like where nobody can make a basket, and I I guess you can look at it on two different ways that, hey, maybe it's just a defensive battle. I guess you can look at it on that way. But from what I have seen, it's been less of defensive battles, more of just not great offense and not very good shot making. That's kind of what I look at.
Speaker 1:But you know, it's still. It's still basketball and the idea of March Madness that makes it so great, especially over the first three, four days or so, that you could pretty much just go on the television or on your phone or whatever and there's like multiple games to be watching. Potentially that that could be interesting and you can just flip between them as soon as one game kind of stops being all that competitive is a great cool thing to happen because, honestly, a lot of people that watch college basketball like more, a lot more people care about March Madness than the actual regular season itself. So but but to have this type of finale where you have all this going on at once, you have all these, all these games going on and some upsets like you have on all the drama, like you have all these things going on all at the same time. I think it just makes for a great spectacle maybe not the greatest actual sport, like being played from on a gaming game out basis, but the spectacle of it, all of all these things kind of happening all at once, is like a is a huge deal. And I think I have to, I, anybody that watches any bit of it, can probably kind of understand what I'm coming from.
Speaker 1:There, where I'm coming from, is probably what I wanted to say, but but no, it's, it's, it's very cool. Um, I'm gonna keep watching games, I'm gonna keep betting on games. So I've been doing I'm losing a lot more bets than I've won, um, but you know, it's just a very fun time. I'm trying to have fun with it. I'm doing it very casually. I do have one bracket that's like still like 97 percent right so far, um, through the bracket as we, as we're going through right now. So you know, maybe I have a nice bracket by the end of it. Okay, it never, never, truly happens. Things kind of blow up somewhere, but to anybody out there still rooting for a very good bracket. All the luck to you. But uh, but yeah, it's all the fun of it.
Speaker 1:I'm very happy to be watching basketball right now. Um, and you know it's it's spectacle and I have to. I have to appreciate the spectacle, if nothing else else, but again, there's some good basketball you have to keep looking for and you'll find some decent games going on. So let's get out of that because, honestly, we don't really talk about college basketball for the most of the year. It would be disingenuous to sit here and talk about act like I truly care and like see a lot of these teams and like not care, but like I'm truly invested in a way to start really like breaking down teams and all that. So let me get to the things that we truly are invested in, and that is mostly going to be, and I guess, nba. There really is not a lot to talk about. Honestly, I really haven't followed a lot of NBA ever since the college basketball and then before that I just kind of I go in little spurts, I like start caring about NBA a lot and then I'll drop off. It is what it is.
Speaker 1:But there is one thing that I truly do care about and it doesn't really change and that is the sport, that is the NFL, and if you're in the United States, obviously the NFL is the biggest sport as by far. I'm not like I need to tell you, but it's still. Stuff is still going on. You have about how many days until the draft it's I think it's like 30, something, right, 33 days until the draft come is is going to be here. I do have a mock draft I want to react to today. It'll be a little bit less on without Jays here, but I'll try to just run through it, have some thoughts and all that. Don't make it too long, too big of a deal.
Speaker 1:But before I get to that, I wanted to speak on some of the stuff that's been happening over the little bit over a week now, with some moves that have been made in the NFL. I think the biggest move I don't want to say the biggest, I'm not going to say surprise Is it a surprise? I guess on one hand you can say it was a surprise because a lot of people weren't really expecting it to happen, especially with the team that it happened with. But let me get to some of the smaller things and I'll get to the bigger thing, the news as of yesterday, jameis Winston is going to be going to the New York Giants on a two-year $8 million deal. I don't think this keeps them from going and drafting a quarterback. I think that makes it that much more likely that they're going to try to draft somebody.
Speaker 1:I don't think anybody wants Jameis to start the season to be their number one quarterback going into the year. So I think this is a move to be Jameis to be their backup quarterback and then if you potentially need him to start a few games, it's fine. But you do not want to start and end a season with Jameis Winston as your quarterback. I think he's very well proved that throughout his NFL career he can be a guy. Come and give you a spark for a couple games. But the longer you let him sit there and play games, the more you'll get more of the reason why Jameis hasn't been an NFL starter his whole career. And I think if you've been watching Jameis at all, you'll understand Because, heck, last year, the first few games it was fun and then, as the season wore on for the Browns it just kind of got worse and worse and worse and so, heck, the Browns had to bench him even without having a true guy behind him to really replace him. But I think it was partially Jameis not playing well. But I think also the Browns wanted to make sure they weren't getting any type of good quarterback play so they can get a decent draft pick. So Jameis going to the New York Giants cool. Next thing oh, I guess this part does suck for me.
Speaker 1:Aaron Rodgers Currently listen to the podcast for a while. My team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are in the potential Aaron Rodgers business. As of right now, as of the last time we were recording, you had the Steelers, you had the Giants and then you kind of had Minnesota dropping in from the clouds as the three teams kind of like looking, looking around at Aaron Rodgers, see what they can do with him. Obviously Aaron Rodgers was making the Steelers and the Giants wait to potentially go to Minnesota. Do I blame him? No, doesn't make me annoyed very much. So, um, I get it why you'd be waiting for Minnesota. You have those great wide receivers. You have Justin Jefferson, one of the top two wide receiver in the NFL. You have Jordan Addison on the other side. You have a pretty good back in Aaron Jones. You have an offensive head coach, your defense is. The defense for the Vikings was very good last year.
Speaker 1:I could see why that would be a very appealing spot for Rodgers to want to go play out his one to two last seasons of his career. Let me look at it from both sides here. So, rodgers, it makes sense, perfect spot. Offensive line is kind of bad. They're not necessarily all that strong. And if you're an Aaron Rodgers that doesn't really move around a lot, they're not necessarily all that strong. And if you're an Aaron Rodgers that doesn't really move around a lot and like you want Aaron Rodgers sit back there and just be a point guard and distribute the ball around the field, he has the arm but he doesn't necessarily have the athleticism when it comes to getting out of the pocket and making those plays like that that he once did, so that you want him to be sit back there and be a point guard.
Speaker 1:And I think the Vikings offensive line is what kind of got Sam Darnold into trouble last year? Like Dave, sam Darnold breakdown and kind of go back to what he he once was at the end of the year last year. The last two weeks, last two games he played last year for sure, but I also think you have to say that he only got like that because the offensive line really did take a huge dip. It's like, especially as that season went along that led for him. It like, especially as that season went along that led for him, led for him to do that. He didn't have the protection so he started playing outside of himself and that's kind of what happened.
Speaker 1:And I think if you have Aaron Rodgers in there and the offensive line doesn't get a lot better, like you're gonna have, he won't be able to do as much as Sam Darnold did in that offense, like when it comes to extending plays and all that. So if he's gonna sit there and get in, aaron Rodgers has made it very clear he is not going to sit under the barrel and like get, take a shot to be able to make the big play down the field. He won't do it. So like that would potentially still be an issue. But for Aaron Rodgers I can see why, with having all of those things kind of going his way weapons, coach, defense being pretty good I could see why he'd want to go there For the Vikings side. I don't understand why that would even be an option I get.
Speaker 1:Last year. Jj McCarthy got hurt before the season even started, in preseason, and you already had Sam Darnold as a backup. He kind of just kind of slides right in, he plays great last year and he ends up going for a little bit more money than you would like to pay him and he ends up going for a little bit more money than you would like to pay him and he ends up going to Seattle. Cool fine, but if you're not willing to pay him and Daniel Jones is on your roster and you weren't willing to pay him the $14 million that he got guaranteed from who did Daniel Jones go to the Colts? Why would you sit there and potentially pay Aaron Rodgers let's just throw a number. We haven't really heard a and potentially pay Aaron Rodgers? Let's just throw a number. We haven't really heard a number for what Aaron Rodgers is looking for to go play for a team. But let's just say $30 to $40 million.
Speaker 1:If you weren't willing to pay Sam Darnold the one year I think Sam Darnold's really only guaranteed a one-year $30-something million If you weren't willing to pay him that money that he got because obviously it's a lot of like Fugazi contract stuff to make it look like a two or three year deal, but it really is just a one year deal with guaranteed money, and you weren't willing to pay the 14 15 million that Daniel Jones got from the Colts. Why would you pay 30 to 40 to Aaron Rodgers, potentially for the next two years, for him to come play for you when you have JJ McCarthy that you just drafted before last year? So the way I look at that is that okay, maybe JJ McCarthy's injury I think he tore a tendon. I'm not sure what injury he had, but he tore something in his name. Maybe the injury he isn't progressing as much as you would like. Maybe he won't be ready for the season Okay, injury, he isn't progressing as much as you would like. Maybe you won't be ready for the season? Okay, maybe.
Speaker 1:But then you hear other things that, like, people are talking about how jayden mccarthy really slimmed down, he's not keeping his weight up, he's getting really thin and, like you have your worries about that. Okay, but you drafted him. You knew potentially these would be the issues. Or maybe they are losing faith in him being able to, like, go and be their starting quarterback, or maybe it's just very simple that they feel like they have an opportunity right now and they don't want to hand over the offense to a young rookie, well, second year guy that hasn't played in any NFL ball, and you're not willing to go down with a ship if he starts making mistakes for your team and you feel like you have an opportunity to win right now. Maybe that's, maybe it. Maybe it's just that simple. Maybe it's more complicated than that, but I just don't see why Aaron Rodgers would be the option that they would want to go for.
Speaker 1:Because what makes the rookie having a rookie quarterback so great is getting that rookie quarterback, especially if you can get very good play out of him on the rookie contract. That's where the sweet spot is. That's where you get. If you can get very good play out of your rookie quarterback, that can look like a good starter in the league and then you can kind of load up and kind of like strike while the iron's hot before you have to pay that quarterback. That's. It's such a valuable four or five years of a quarterback's career Because once you pay them, it makes that calculus of fitting a team around a top tier paid quarterback guy gets a lot more difficult.
Speaker 1:So why wouldn't you want to start that now? But again. Maybe it's just as simple as you. Just, they just want to try to win now. They have a team that can win now and they just they just want to do that, potentially with an Aaron Rodgers. But let's get out of that fact, the news that come out during this past week that the Vikings were not going to be. They want to keep the door open on Rodgers potentially, but they're not as hot on the idea as potentially Rodgers would like or what the NFL media was making it out to be. So what does that mean now for Rodgers would like, or what the NFL media was making it out to be? So what does that mean now for Rodgers? Rodgers came to this, went to the Steelers facility yesterday. He had a meeting, talked with the coaches and the GM, omar Khan, talked to Mike Tomlin and all that, and he left the Steelers facility yesterday without a contract done, without a deal in place. Apparently the news is going on right now is that money has not been an issue. The the offer has been extended from the Steelers to Rodgers camp for a while now and all all they're waiting on is for Rodgers to make his decision whether he wants to play, whether he wants to retire, whether he's waiting for Minnesota that that door potentially open for him.
Speaker 1:Where does this leave the Steelers and the Giants? I already mentioned the Giants that already signed Jameis Winston. So that's your deal. But again, I already mentioned he's going to be a backup. Then I would expect them to be the starter. So if Rodgers chose them, it wouldn't stop them from signing a guy like Aaron Rodgers. So what do the Giants potentially get out of that?
Speaker 1:Honestly, if they get a guy like Rodgers, it signals that maybe the Giants don't think they have an opportunity to get either Cam Ward or Shador Sanders, or maybe it shows that they potentially don't want either of those two guys to be their starting quarterback. Because I think they're drafting at three and obviously it looks like Cam Ward's gonna go one to Tennessee for sure, and then the Browns looks like the Browns are looking more and more like the Browns may take Shador at two. So maybe the Giants don't think they have an opportunity to get one of those top two guys and then they don't believe anybody behind them. Or maybe it's just that, like because they're not close to being a winner, I don't think Aaron Rodgers takes this team into being a team that, like in the NFC, can be like very good. Like they're not going to be better than the Eagles if they add Aaron Rodgers to that roster, like they still have so many things and so many things they need to add.
Speaker 1:Like you have Malik neighbors, a very good wide receiver, as their number one, but really like they still I think they have Darius Slayton, um, the other wide receiver. It's still very good, is it Darius Slayton? I think so, um, and then you have Wandale Robinson and you needed they probably need a running back, but like I just don't think with what they have right now, this takes like aaron rodgers, makes this team a contender or anything like that. So why would you take a guy like aaron rodgers? I get it. Maybe they want to stay relevant, but I just don't know how aaron rodgers fix the issues for them, like me, well, I guess, other than the idea that the gm and the coach day ball and I forget the GM's name maybe they're like, hey, if we don't have a good season this year, we're fired anyway. So we may as well try to make ourselves as good as possible for one year, even if it doesn't take us to go win a Super Bowl or even the playoffs.
Speaker 1:I'm like okay, fine, but it still doesn't make sense to me because I'm sitting there like the last we saw of Rodgers. He was like he was a good start, like he started playing well at the end of last year, but like the start of last year he was awful, like maybe you can say he was getting better, coming off the injury. But like when's the last time we've seen elite Aaron Rodgers? We haven't seen that elite guy for like potentially five years or so. So you're hoping for mediocre quarterback play, or at least starting level quarterback play out of him. I just don't know what that does for the Giants, for the Steelers, it makes a little bit more sense.
Speaker 1:This is where my frustration comes in for my fandom, for my team. I think in my heart of hearts that the Steelers really wanted Justin Fields to be their guy. But I think Mike Tomlin what he did to Justin Fields in the middle of the year last year, after Fields had gone 4-2 as a starter, after Mike Tomlin benched him for Russell Wilson, where what I've always maintained is a short-term gain, that won't get you what you think you're going to get I don't like that. I never thought that replacing Fields for Wilson was going to lead the Steelers to a Super Bowl or even multiple playoff wins. I never thought that. So my whole, my claim I always made was if, why not give Justin Fields the opportunity to be that guy for you I? That's the part I didn't understand.
Speaker 1:And now it comes into where it gets to the first week of free, like the first day of free agency. I think the Steelers really thought Justin Fields is going to stay with stay there, and I think they didn't. They did not foresee how spurned Justin Fields is going to be around that situation and I think the reports were that the Steelers offered a similar offer to Justin Fields and he took the Jets' offer, even though it wasn't like they gave him a bunch of money. They gave him like $20 million per year for like two years and I think the Steelers were willing to give him that. But I also think that he has new opportunity. I think the Jets were willing to give him that, but I also think that he has new opportunity.
Speaker 1:I think the Jets were willing to give him that. They're willing to give him the opportunity. They're willing to tell him hey, you're going to be our starter for this year. Because I I truly don't think the Jets truly feel like any quarterback is really going to help them this year. I don't think they really want to draft anybody. They weren't really really in an opportunity to and they definitely weren't going to get the top two guys in this year's quarterback class draft wise, and they don't believe anybody behind them. So, like they gave him the, hey, we're gonna stick with you for the next two years, live or die, we're gonna go by what you do the for the next couple years.
Speaker 1:I just think that he was spurned so much by the Steelers he wasn't going to trust them, even if Mike Tomlin himself went to Justin Fields and said, hey, you're going to be our guy for the next year or two. I just don't think he was ever going to trust Mike Tomlin and we, we pay the piper for that. So now the Steelers are in, this little we're. Aaron Rodgers has the Steelers by the balls because when they go and get DK Metcalf and pay him all that money, you need to have a quarterback to throw him the ball. And now we are under the thumb of Aaron Rodgers and all of his madness.
Speaker 1:Now it got to the point where Cam Hayward on his podcast they were asking about hey, what would you do to try to recruit Aaron Rodgers to be the quarterback of the Steelers? And Cam Hayward is like I don't want to do none of that shit. He's like do you want to be a Steeler or don't you? And that's the only conversation we need to have and just make your decision to be done with it. And I think that's where a lot more and more Steeler fans are going to by the day. Do we understand that Rodgers may be the best shot for the Steelers to have decent quarterback play now, especially since all these other quarterback dominoes have fallen? Yeah for sure. But I also think with what madness Aaron Rodgers brings you, is the juice worth the squeeze? And I think the longer this goes, I think the more that the fans are starting to realize maybe it's not. And that's where I've been.
Speaker 1:As long as this goes, I'm like, hey, fuck it, let's just go with something else for the year, maybe draft somebody, let's just take the pill. Because this Aaron Rodgers thing is just like I don't feel good by the day with all this going on. I just don't feel good about it. I don't feel good about any of it, and I think the Steelers fans are kind of starting to go that way too, even though we all realize that he may be the best physically, he might be the most capable guy to run the offense we need to run this year if we want to potentially be able to win multiple playoff games instead of just getting in the playoffs and losing in the first one. I get it. We all understand that. It's getting messier and messier by the day and it's starting to annoy the fuck out of me. Yeah, and I honestly don't believe in a lot of the quarterbacks coming out this year either. My perfect scenario is, hey, we go ahead and lose a lot of games this year and then go into a 2026 draft class with a lot better potential quarterbacks to draft to be our next franchise guy. But again, I think we all know, if you watch the NFL at all, the Steelers are not a team that will be willing to do that and, with that being the case, they have to be a little more creative, and I it sucks that we are being held captive by the Aaron Rodgers and that just kind of sucks. All right, let's get out of the Aaron Rodgers situation here. Let's go into a couple other small things here.
Speaker 1:Saints, they signed Brandon Cooks on a two-year deal the reuniting of those two guys. The Saints are like one of the weirdest teams in the NFL because they are in cap hell. They are still paying off a lot of their sins from pushing money back during the Drew Brees era. So they're dealing with a lot of cap issues. But again every year it seems like they keep kicking the can down the road more and more to try to keep their team competitive, when I think the Saints are just needing a true rebuild and the fact that they have Derek Carr as their head guy is like the biggest detriment on this whole thing for them. I truly don't think they even want Derek Carr to be their guy, but it just money-wise doesn't make sense to get rid of him because that's more money that's now out of your pocket that like you can't use. So like they're going to try to probably stick with Derek Carr for the year hopefully he can win them a few games and then, going to next year, drop Derek Carr potentially try to do something else, going into next year but going into the season after this upcoming one.
Speaker 1:But Saints are just a weird one um, texans, they add a couple offensive linemen. Um, they added Trent Brown, a tackle for them to a one-year $3 million deal, and I think they added somebody else too, trent Brown. Who else did they add? I think they added another offensive lineman too. The Houston Texans are a weird one because their offensive lineman was probably their biggest weakness last year for them and I think that really kept CJ Stroup from being able to play the way that he was able to play his rookie year for them, and I think that really kept CJ Straub from being able to play the way that he was able to play his rookie year for them, not to mention the wide receiver starting to get hurt Like he. The whole wide receiver core really got hurt as well.
Speaker 1:So the way I look at it is that they took a weakness that they had and then traded away both of their tackles that that were like potentially. I guess why am I forgetting that guy's name, the tackle for them that they traded to that they traded there? Hold up, crap. I got to think of his name. No, what was his name? Houston Offensive Tackle Trade. Oh, they also signed Ken Robinson. That was the other guy that they signed to take over one of the tackle positions.
Speaker 1:But who did they trade away? Nope, nope, larry Tunsell. That was their former left tackle that was still considered one of the better left tackles in the NFL. They ended up trading him to the commanders and they ended up getting rid of their other tackle and they got a bunch of picks. So you took a weakness that you already had and made a little bit worse. And now they're trying to start adding kind of like patchwork things together to kind of help it again.
Speaker 1:And I think they're trying to do two things at once. I think they're going to go into this draft like just going offensive lineman, no matter what happens, at least for a couple, at least a few of the picks in this upcoming draft, and then they're trying to add these veteran guys and hopefully they're going to try to piece it together and maybe get better for CJ Stroud. But I'm like it's a weird spot. I understand that having one of the highest paid offensive tackles in the league doesn't help when you're going to end up having to pay CJ Stroud at some point. You're going to end up having to pay a couple of other positions when you have the defensive end on the other side. See, I was remembering names so well earlier on in the podcast and now I'm starting to forget names. Defensive end Heck. They just paid Derek Stingley Jr so they had to pay him to a three-year like $90 million deal. He's now the highest paid cornerback in the NFL history. Will Anderson that's the other. They're going to end up having to pay Will Anderson top-of-the-league money when he ends up having to get paid. I think the idea is they're trying to get cheaper at other spots so they can have the money to go and pay a CJ and pay a Will Anderson when it's time. They've already paid Derek Stingley, but I just think they're walking a tightrope here that I don't. That's a very high chance that they fall fall to their death. So they're playing with fire here. Hopefully it doesn't burn them Cause again, I've made this very clear I'm going to root for CJ forever.
Speaker 1:He's a Buckeye. He's probably my favorite Buckeye quarterback I've ever watched as a Ohio State fan, so I'll be rooting for him forever. I don't care if he wins the next 10 Super Bowls under the Steelers watch. I want to see him succeed that much. So I want the Houston to get things together so he can shine in the NFL like he's supposed to. That's my want for him and I just think that they're they're playing a little bit of a game here to try to make it happen. But, um, I'll. I just hope for CJ's sake that they make it happen.
Speaker 1:Um, and then I don't have a Debo, debo Samuel for the chart um commanders. He got traded there from San Fran. The commanders made his contract pretty much. He had no guarantee money left on his like he had he's on the last year of his deal. So they made all this money on on his remaining contract money. They made it guaranteed. I think they made it $17 million of guarantee money that he's going to get paid for this year and then he can add another $3 million in incentives to potentially get paid up to $20 million for this one season. So I just think they're just trying to give him the opportunity to not necessarily be disgruntled Coming to a new team. They're going to guarantee his money potentially get the best you can out of Debo Again.
Speaker 1:Debo hasn't necessarily been his best self for the last couple years or so. You can out of Debo Again. Debo hasn't necessarily been his best self for the last couple years or so, but I think they're trying to make a case that if he can get close to what he once was for one year in a magical scenario that he can be on the other side of Terry McLaurin and you can have a very Heck. They already had a special season last year where they got all the way to the NFC Championship game. But I think a little bit of luck kind of landed on their side. Are they really as good as to getting all the way to the NFC Championship game? Probably not. So they're trying to make upgrades where they can. They got the offensive line upgrades. They're adding weapons to their offense. So they're probably going to go into this draft drafting a lot of defense to kind of help that side of the ball out.
Speaker 1:So, with all that being the case, I think they are trying to make a lot of moves to make it potentially again, like I said, cash in on having a rookie quarterback playing very good football on cheap money. Jaden Daniels had an amazing season last year and I think if they can potentially get a Super Bowl or at least an appearance out of him before they potentially have to pay him over the like in the next three years, that is the point of having that is the, the magic of having a such a good quarterback on a rookie contract, not having to pay him, because once he has to get paid it becomes an issue to kind of put a team around him. So we're getting off of that and oh so the big thing I've kind of laid it long enough. The bangles they have. They kind of made the splash, the biggest move last week, this past week, in signing their, their wide receivers man they had. They came into this offseason with three main guys and joe burrow said it best that he made it very clear that he wanted the Bengals to keep Jamar Chase, tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson. He said, hey, we can make it work, we can pay all three of them, we can keep all three of them with this team and that's what I want them to do. I'm willing to do my contract differently. The Eagles have made it work, why can't we? The borough has made it very clear that is what he wanted the Bengals to do during this offseason and I think for so long while this offseason was happening.
Speaker 1:Once the new league year started a couple weeks ago, everybody was wondering what are the Bengals doing? And they were making a lot of small moves, nothing really major. We're like hey, the Bengals like they had a down year last year. How are they going to get back to being one of the best teams in the AFC and getting to the Super Bowl, like because Joe Burrow played so well last year and that offense played so well last year and got let down by their defense? How are they going to change this defense in order to help him out? And are they going to be able to pay Chase like they need to pay him? Are they going to be able to keep T? Are they going to trade him? Everybody was waiting for the Bengals to do something on that front and they finally did it.
Speaker 1:Let me get the numbers here. Bengals Wide receiver deals. So, and the news came out during the week this past week that they ended up signing both Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. So let me get the deals here and T Higgins. So let me get the deals here. Jamar Chase got Chase's deal has an annual average of 40.25 million. $40.25 million a year. Um, and that's a new money. I'm not going to go down the whole new money slash like what it is. So what they did was they pretty much added, had an extension on his, his current deal, and so they gave him a new extension of four years 161 million to make him the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL history. It ends up being a little bit less than that, with new money comparatives into old money. If you actually do the whole five-year now five-year contract with him, it ends up being like $36 million not necessarily $40 million, but again, it doesn't really matter at this point. So he ends up getting paid his money that he wanted to get paid.
Speaker 1:They also managed to pay T Higgins to a three. What is it? What was his deal? I'm trying to find it. Hold on, what is it A? What was his deal? I'm trying to find it. Hold on, give me a second here. Um, let me see here. Come on, just give me T Higgins deal, I'm trying to find it. Higgins contract. So T Higgins contract. So T Higgins signs a. That's not what I want. I want the actual contract here, so I'm not looking stupid.
Speaker 1:So we signed a four year $115 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, including 40.9, $40.9 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $28.75 million a year. So in 2025, he'll earn a base salary of $13.8 million and a roster bonus of $5 million, and then. So he ends up getting paid too. He'll be there for like the next four years or so. But here's the problem with the. I think the problem more with the Higgins deal. Right, he signed a very team-friendly deal with them and I think, from what I read, that he actually has like $30 million. That's truly guaranteed to come his way, and the rest of the contract is mostly incentives. So he signed a very team-friendly deal to stay with the Bengals. I think that's if you look at the, if you end up looking at the numbers like it's not necessarily great, like if he were to play out this one season under $26-27 million. It was like $25 or something like that.
Speaker 1:If he were to play out the franchise tag this year and then go into true free agency next year, you have guys getting paid. Is he worse than DK Metcalf? Is he all that much different than what DK Metcalf gives you? That just got paid 33 million dollars a year by the Steelers. Like he'd be getting close to. He'd be getting like around 30 million dollars a year on his contract, like guaranteed money, not just a one year guarantee and then everything else goes by the wayside, but like he'd be getting millions and millions more if he were to go and play and like, go to true free agency and get paid by another team.
Speaker 1:But what I think him signing this deal shows is that he wanted to be with the Bengals and I have to give him this credit. He has true loyalty to Joe Burrow, to Jamar Chase, that they have their three guys, that they wanted to stick together. That's what they wanted to do. And I think Higgins just wanted a little bit more guarantees for the next, for multiple years, that he'd be able to get a decent amount of money and not necessarily have to worry about only having one year guarantees and getting hurt Cool Fine, getting hurt Cool Fine. But he gave up money to do that and I think that it wasn't necessarily the best choice for him.
Speaker 1:And they still have hendrickson sitting out there. Like hendrickson is making it very clear that if he doesn't get signed, he's willing to potentially sit out the year again. That's a lot harder said. It's a lot easier said than done like, because once they can start finding you and doing all that, how much you really want money willing to lose to make this point and that's going to be a much different scenario. But, like hendrickson is doesn't want to play for the bangles if they're not willing to pay him and he wants them to trade him.
Speaker 1:And I think multiple teams have made it clear that they're willing to, willing to pay hendrickson what he wants to get paid, but they're not willing to meet the trade demands that the bangles are willing to, that the bangles are putting out there in order to trade him. So this is where teams can kind of put you in a bad spot, because when the Browns, like with the Myles Garrett thing, myles Garrett was making the claim he wanted to get traded, but the Browns are like, hey, we're not willing to, but we're not willing to pay you what you want. That's where the Bengals are making that mistake. At least the Browns, for all the mess that they are as an organization, when Myles Garrett wanted to get traded, they're like, hey, we don't want to trade you, but at least we're willing to throw a nice big stack of cash in front of you to make it a little bit easier for you to stay. And it doesn't seem like the Bengals are willing to do that. The Bengals are willing to say, hey, that's fine, you could try to get traded, but if they're not willing to meet our trade demands. You just have to stay with us.
Speaker 1:They're willing to make it messy. They did not make it messy, they even made it messy for multiple scenarios. They made it messy for Chase, they made it messy for Higgins, but apparently Joe Burrow was able to massage that and make it work to where the mess was not going to keep them from being able to keep those three guys together. But when it comes to Hendrickson, it's still staying messy and nobody knows when the end will come in sight. So if Hendrickson stays 10 toes down on this, how is this going to freaking end? I don't know. It's a tough scenario and it's not like the Bengals have a ton of money left on their salary cap. I think they have about $30 million left on their cap. Let's see here Cash total. Come on, I just want another cap Cap. There we go. They have about $20 million left in cap space and that's about $10 million less than what some of the top defensive ends are getting paid this around this time of year. Um, so if that's what henderson's looking for, at least close to that, they don't have the money to do so. So I don't know how this is going to work out, but I just don't think it's necessarily come out very clean. But again, I didn't think the henderson had the the chase and um higgins deal were going to end up going well. So maybe they can prove me wrong once again, but it's just with all the facts kind of going their way and at least they got the two guys signed to help out Joe Burrow. I just think this may be the one thing that Joe Burrow may be willing to not stand 10 toes down about. Maybe let them play a hard ball with Hendrickson, but it's a very, very precarious position. So this is what I wanted to get to right.
Speaker 1:When the deals happened, they were announced, everybody started going crazy because everybody thought it wasn't going to happen. But one of the main talking points that came out of this whole thing was why would you sign both of them? That is not a good way to manage your cap. You you already know that your defense was the biggest problem of your team last year. How does you keeping all three of these guys paying all this money that when they're going to be eating up 50 of your cap? How it like 40 to 50 of your cap? How does this make your team better? And I think when I talked to jace about this, I think he had the same sentiment. How does this make us better? And maybe not.
Speaker 1:I think what, what making those, what the making those deals did, was guarantee that the Bengals are going to have to get a hell of a lot better at drafting defensive players and developing them. Because, honestly, when's the last time they really they drafted and really developed a defensive player to like be a real difference maker for their team? And again, this is what would be nice if jace was here to say so. But like I can't, like, really off the top of my head, as of recently, ever since they got Joe Burrow, who have they gotten Like? Who have they really drafted and developed? And like like everything to play outs like play either up to their potential first round pick, like they haven't, like they haven't been a great defensive drafting team, but now, with how their, their, their salary cap is structured their salary cap is how it's all divided up, with it being so offensive heavy. Now they're going to have to make great upgrades to their defense by using the draft and using it on good players. That will be able to make good impacts for them, and you can't really believe that. So I get the idea that this doesn't make their team better. Again. It keeps what the offense side of the ball to like at a good spot, which is fine, but the weakness was their defense and they haven't done anything to help that. And, heck, it may get even worse if they end up trading hendrickson or he ends up not playing the year because he wants to get paid like. It only gets worse. So they're gonna have to draft a lot better and be able to um, to coach people up to play better.
Speaker 1:So one of the main talking points coming out was also was if you were Joe Burrow and you're one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL, do you need all of this help Does? Is this something like this? Something that like people are making a case that this is what people do for, this is what teams do for quarterbacks that aren't of Joe Burrow's level? Joe Burrow doesn't need a two top flight wide receivers. He can do with just Jamar Chase and then getting another guy in there, maybe a little bit cheaper. May not be a superstar wide receiver because he's that good and they're making the case like, oh, maybe Joe Burrow doesn't believe in himself or maybe the Bengals don't believe that Joe Burrow is that type of guy, and that's where I had an epiphany moment. Maybe not, maybe this probably isn't an original idea, right, but I think if you're Joe Burrow, it's like one bird in the hand, two in the bush.
Speaker 1:Okay, if you are Joe Burrow and if you are anybody that watches Joe Burrow, I have no doubt that if they just signed Jamar Chase and then traded T Higgins for draft picks and then drafted players, that they could potentially get their team to be a lot better for sure, potentially. And I've already made the claim that you can't really trust them, but I'm getting to that. Let me not go cart before the horse here. If I'm Joe Burrow, I have a very one of the probably the best dual wide receivers in the NFL right now on my team, as long as we sign them, that's what I'm looking at, that's what I want. And then I have Henderson on the other side. That's like one of the better defensive ends in the league, but like our defense is not getting much better, okay, and I don't can I really trust. So let's just say Joe Burrow is okay with trading Higgins. Okay, cool, we trade Higgins, we get cool. We trade Higgins, we get another wide receiver.
Speaker 1:Potentially later on in the draft I can have a superstar wide receiver and then I can have another guy on the other side where we can just kind of develop guys and hopefully get some nice play out of the number two wide receiver and have a still maybe not top five offensive league, maybe top 10, top 15 offense in the league and hopefully our defense can get better. But if I'm Joe Burrow, based on my whole career with the Bengals so far, can I trust that if they trade Higgins and get those defensive picks, get those picks in the draft, can I trust the Bengals to use those picks on good defensive pieces that'll help my defense actually get better? If I'm Joe Burrow, why would I believe that the Bengals are going to be able to use those picks the right way and actually do what they're saying they're trying to do? So what my whole thought about this is that if I'm Joe Burrow even though I know that I could probably make it work with just having Jamar Chase and then getting another guy to be my wide receiver too why would I do that if I can't trust that my team is going to be able to go and use those draft picks that they would get for trading T on good defensive players that will actually help me out in the long run to go win a Super Bowl. Why would I trust them to do that if I have, if I know, what I have right now is the top wide receiver duo in the NFL and I can keep at least doing that and then hopefully I could just cross my fingers, hope that the Bengals get lucky and are able to draft some good defensive players to help out the defense. Why would I give up on something that I know that I have in my hands right now on the hope of the Bengals doing something they haven't done so far? In my career as an NFL quarterback, that's what I've come to.
Speaker 1:I think Joe Burrow has made the bet that he'd rather bet on himself and bet on those two guys being his two guys to go to a wide receiver. He'd rather bet on that and hope that the Bengals can make some good defensive picks rather than give one of those guys up on the hopes of them having more bites at the apple to go and get the defensive players they say they want to try to get and try to make that defense better, but you have no real proof that they can draft good defensive players and really develop them to be the guys you need them to be. That's where I think Joe Burrow has made his bet. And I think Joe Burrow is more than capable of having only one great wide receiver and making it work offensively. But I think he knows that he has two really good wide receivers one top five in the league and the one that's like potentially like a top 10, top 15 guy like I know I have that I'd rather just bet on having that when we have them in our system already and I give Joe Burrow credit for that, because I just think the Bengals are so cheap in so many different ways that I just don't know, even though Joe Burrow strong on them into making this decision, but they're gonna make them pay, they're to not like.
Speaker 1:This Higgins thing is being sorry. This Hendrickson thing is not going to go over cleanly. I don't think. I really don't. I think this ultimately may end up with him not being there or not playing the season. I really do believe that Henson's done with not being compensated in a way that respects what he brings to that team, like he really is their only solid, like reliable defensive player and they don't treat him that way. So I think Henderson's not going to be willing to take a discount, like T Higgins did, to stay with that team. He's not. I don't think he's even close to doing that, and they just had Sam Hover retire from that team, so like they're only getting worse.
Speaker 1:So I I just think that this burrow thing. I'm as much as I'm happy for higgins and that I I'm happy for my brother, jace, that he at least gets to see the offense that he has grown accustomed to seeing. He'll at least be able to see that. But I also get why, when I talk to him he's like have we really truly gotten better? And I just I don't. Obviously, obviously they haven't, and I think they're probably going to go down with a ship that they're in Joe Burrow they trust and I think Joe Burrow more often than not will be able to show up and play very good football and he'll keep them believing in him. That is like, can they believe in the Bengals organization to be able to get the guys on the defensive side of the ball angles organization to be able to get the guys on the defensive side of the ball to really make them a true contender again.
Speaker 1:In the afc, where you have all these great teams, the chiefs are only getting. Like the chiefs like with what they have done with like they traded tyree kill away and they've rattled off two superbowls since then. Like when they got rid of their best offensive weapon outside travis kelsey, they made it count. They use all those picks. They got rid of their best offensive weapon outside Travis Kelsey, they made it count. They used all those picks they got from Miami to go and draft great defensive players that have made their defense one of the best in the league for the past few years. That's what they have done. They made that sacrifice and they got better for it.
Speaker 1:I just don't think that if you're Joe Burrow in his situation that he can trust the Bengals will do that if he makes that sacrifice by getting rid of a guy that he loves in T Higgins, and I just think that I respect him for that and I understand it. I truly understand it, because the Bengals are all that owner is always going to be the same, like he's been that way for so long. Heck Carson Ballmer got in the same situation, like he got to a point where he wasn't willing to play there anymore because he wanted to try to play winning football and the Bengals weren't willing to do so. Palmer was so down for it. He retired for a year or so and then came back and then ended up going to the Raiders and having some real good football ahead of him. He ended up playing some very good football at the end of his career, but he wasn't willing to do it for the Bengals anymore because he realized that he wasn't. He had no chance to win there.
Speaker 1:And I think Joe Burrow has made the best of his situation to try to at least try to change the Bengals organization a little bit to help him by keeping guys like Chase and guys like Higgins, but like at their core they're still the same organization that wants to be cheap. I don't know how much Joe Burrow is really going to change them in that fact, but he has at least got them to acquiesce a little bit to at least keep his guys around and hopefully that'll get Burrow what he truly wants and these Bengals fans and again, as much as I would hate to be a Steelers fan when the Bengals go and win the Super Bowl or do a lot better than us. Like I would at least feel happy for my brother that he would have that opportunity because, heck, as much as I would definitely didn't want to see him win a Super Bowl when they got to the Super Bowl that time. Like I like like to be so loyal. These fans are like you have to. I respect that right. I respect that to a point where, as much as it would suck for me, I can respect the idea that they would win a Super Bowl because of their loyalty. Bengals fans have been loyal, they're loyal to Joe Burrow and Joe Burrow is trying his best to try to get that team to where they can potentially be, get back to where they once once were getting to the Super Bowl again. And, um, I, I respect it. Man, I don't know and I've gone long enough on this, but I just really had to have that thought because I'm just like as many people were poo-pooing this move as they as they were. I just think if, if you really think about it from Joe Burrow's point of view, you like you had to keep what you had because can, can you trust the Bengals to really make those moves, to really make getting rid of a guy like Tee Higgins worth it and I just don't think he like. It doesn't make sense to trust the Bengals to do so. So I don't know that's about it.
Speaker 1:On that, let's go ahead and go on to something else here. Let's go to the draft, the mock draft here. So we've done this before the last time I did it with jace. But we have one more mock draft to react to this week and this is a recent one that was done based off of the what has happened in free agency so far. Draft that was done based off of the what has happened in free agency so far. So Todd McShay, a draft guru and all that we react to his mock draft 1.0. He has now made a mock draft 2.0 based off of what has happened in free agency so far, what he's hearing in the NFL, what he's hearing in league circles, and he pretty much comes out with a mock draft based on his information and what he does, based off of being a draft guy for however many years he's been doing it. So I just want to go through this draft and just kind of go through the mock draft, make some claims like say what the picks are, have my reactions to them if I have one at all and that'll be about it. To end us with the podcast here. We're about close to an hour in, so I don't want to go too much longer past that. Let's go ahead and get to it. We'll just go through and talk about this mock draft here, mock draft 2.0.
Speaker 1:Let's start with pick one. We've got Tennessee Titans taking Cam Ward QB Miami. Like I already mentioned earlier, it really starts early on in the draft process people were believing that Tennessee would potentially want to trade out of this pick um to try to help their team get better. But the there is a lot less noise around that now as there was weeks ago. And with what moves Tennessee has made with their offensive line like help, like they signed multiple offensive linemen and what moves they have made in free agency, it just kind of leads itself for people to believe that they're probably going to go Cam Ward.
Speaker 1:Cam Ward is obviously the guy to pick if you're going to take a quarterback there. I think Cam Ward has separated himself as the quarterback to take in this draft. Did you really want a guy that can be a franchise guy for years to come? Cam Ward's obviously kind of separated himself in that way and I think the Tennessee Titans are going to take that chance and try to go for Cam Ward to potentially be their franchise guy for years to come. It's a smart move for them because you know they have a lot Like. Their team needs a lot of work, but if you don't have a quarterback, none of that other work you do is really going to matter. Heck, like they proved, will Levis has been so bad over the last few years, even with them having decent parts on their team. He has been a huge eyesore for their offense. So hopefully taking a guy like Cam Ward will at least have them take a step in the right direction towards getting back to relevancy in winning division and potentially getting to the playoffs.
Speaker 1:Pick two cleveland browns uh, chador sanders, like I mentioned this one before too, with the, with all the moves that the browns have been making and I I'm not sure if I mentioned this a lot on the last pot or not, but but with everything the Browns are doing and the situation that they're in with paying Deshaun Watson a ton of money and him not playing again this year because he had to redo his surgery on his knee, so he's not going to be playing this year either and they have to pay him so much money and they're locked in. It's all guaranteed money. There's no getting out of the money they have to owe him and they keep restructuring his contract to kind of kick the can down the road. So they're trying to make it better for this year and maybe next year, but they can't get rid of him because of how much dead money they're going to have to take if they try to do so. So what can get them out of this hell that they are in as an organization?
Speaker 1:One of the only things that can really help them out in the situation is getting a quarterback on a rookie deal and then try to rebuild your roster that way with even even though you have such a huge, big pile of cash that's not really helping you at all into Sean Watson sitting on your roster. Getting a rookie quarterback on a rookie deal is the best way to do it. They gave Myles Garrett all that money and when he goes and talks to the media after he signed his contract to make him the highest paid defensive end in the NFL, they ask him you said that you wanted to get traded because you wanted to try to go win somewhere. He makes a claim that the Browns have given him a plan that he believes that they can act on to get a starting quarterback to help them become the team that they want to be, and they haven't made any moves in free agency. They haven't done anything like that.
Speaker 1:So the only thing that makes sense is that they're going to try to draft a quarterback in this year's draft class and, with them having the number two pick, the most ideal guy to take is Shador Sanders. He is the number two quarterback in this year's draft class and, as much as I don't believe in his actual physical gifts, he can be a guy to sit there in the pocket and make plays and do it that way and, luckily for the Browns their head coach, kevin Stefanski. What has he done the best with? Quarterbacks that don't do a lot of moving outside the pocket Kirk Cousins, baker Mayfield he has had quarterbacks that do not do a lot of moving, that are just sitting there in the pocket, processors of the offense, making the right play, and he has made that work. And guess what? Shador Sanders is very good at all of those things.
Speaker 1:Shador Sanders is not a great athlete. He is not a guy that's going to be able to make a lot of extension. Like um make make a lot of pocketed. Like play extending dry? Like he's not gonna make a lot of um. What? Like play extending dry? Like he's not going to be able to make a lot of um. What is this saying? Extending the plays and stuff like that? When it comes to running outside the pocket and making a lot of acrobatic plays? Like he's not going to do that. He's a guy that sits in the pocket, looks down the barrel and makes the play with when necessary and takes hits when he needs to. That's exactly what the Browns are very good the Stefanski is very good at coaching quarterbacks that way and it seems like it fits too easily and their only way to get out of this hell, if they're in, is getting a quarterback on a rookie deal. And even though a lot of people, a lot of teams, truly believe that Shador Sanders is not a first round type of quarterback, this may just be one of those scenarios that he is the perfect fit for this Browns team that is in a spot where taking a quarterback on a rookie deal is their only way to get out of the hell that they're in right now. So, even though a lot of teams wouldn't do this, it seems like this is the perfect situation for the Browns to make this move in for Shador Sanders, and I think I'm pretty close to saying that this is a lock, to be totally honest with you, because it just makes too much sense. There's too many signs pointing towards this happening and I just think that that's where the Browns are at and that's probably the move they're going to make.
Speaker 1:Number three Giants, new York Giants, taking Travis Hunter Makes total sense for them. He can be at wide receiver. He can be one of the better wide receivers in the NFL. He's very explosive. If he was in a wide receiver class like last year, would he be the top guy? Probably not, but in this year's class, with not a lot of wide receivers that are guaranteed very hot commodities, travis Hunter as a wide receiver is very explosive and as a corner he's very good as well. The only problem is what is the plan for him going to the NFL? Is he going to play mostly wide receiver or mostly corner? Is he going to play both ways? They're going to keep on the one side. That's the only potential issue. But I think if Travis Hunter truly chose one side and really stuck to it. He can be a special, very special player and I think the Giants are at a spot where they they're not probably not get the quarterback. They probably want to with those top two guys and I just think they have to take the best guy available and hoping to potentially get a quarterback later on in the draft or something like that. That'll probably be their best way to get out of this. They have Jameis Winston to be a backup for them. I think the pick just makes sense. The Giants are a team that has a lot of pieces Not like game-changing pieces but they have Malik neighbors. Their defensive line is very good. Their offensive line is building and playing better and better. So if they cannot get the quarterback right now, getting out like Travis Hunter is definitely a huge help for this team.
Speaker 1:Pick four Patriots. Abdul Carter Makes sense. Abdul Carter is looked at as probably the best player in this draft, pound for pound, and I think he is a very good end rusher. And I think, with this Patriots team, would they like to take a wide receiver or an offensive lineman to help out? Drake May? Yeah for sure, but I just think at the spot they're in at number four, I think it would be perfect for them to take to like, like to take one of those type of guys, but there isn't a guy of that caliber that is that is worth it to get drafted right here at the four spot. So taking Abdul Carter to help out that defense, to be the stalwart defensive end to get after the quarterback for them, is definitely a huge deal, like it would make a huge difference for them. I think the Patriots are in a spot here that whatever guy falls in between Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, they'll just take that guy, because they're a team that has so many needs that just taking the best player on the board is probably where they're going to go and I think the Patriots are in a good spot either way. As long as those top two teams take a quarterback, like everybody's saying potentially will happen the Patriots are going to be in a spot where they're going to get a good player either way, no matter what happens at three with New York. So out of quarter just makes sense. Team with a lot of needs. It's like I said, good pick.
Speaker 1:Jaguars five, mason Graham. They just need help with the defensive line spot. Mason Graham is considered the best defensive tackle in this year's draft. He's very good, awesome plays the run well, can get after the passer. He just does everything you want and he's he gets. He has a huge, a big motor and I just think it's a very good pick for this Jaguars team that you know they have so much invest in their offense already with Trevor Lawrence. Maybe getting a guy like this that can kind of be the stalwart, their defense side of the ball, would definitely be a big, big help for them.
Speaker 1:Six Raiders this mock draft has them taking Ashton Denty. It seems like a luxury pick. You have Brock Bowers. They quarterback wise. Do they really have somebody? No, but I think with them being at six, like, do they really have somebody that they can? Are they able to jump up and get one of those top two guys? Probably not. Um, is there a quarterback will like that's make sense to draft right here? Probably like, probably not either. So with them at this spot they could take a lineman to kind of help out their offensive line. But take a guy like ashen genti with pete carroll, um to pete carroll is one of those guys that likes to run the football a lot. If you can take a guy like ashen genti to be the guy to be able to run the rock you have brock powers is like one of your, one of the probably the best tight end, if not one of the best tight ends in the NFL going into next year. Like I think it would be a huge deal for them to be able to have these great offensive pieces, even if they can't get the quarterback that they necessarily want um going into next year. But Ashton Gentry one of the best probably that is the best running back in this year's class um, but it's just a very good running. Do I believe he's like a very, very special running back? Like like on the Saquon levels and stuff like that being a top 10 big? Probably not, but like he showed so much at Boise State where I can't blame a team for looking at that and being like, hey, if I get five or six years of this, we'll be a lot better football team. I can totally agree how a team can look at him and how he's played at Boise State and believe that. So it makes sense.
Speaker 1:New York Jets 7, armand Membu off the tackle Missouri. He's probably the most physically talented tackle in this draft. The Jets are a team that don't really have an offensive line. They have their quarterback in Justin Fields for the next couple years. They have a wide receiver in Garrett Wilson. That's their number one guy. Their defense is preloaded when it comes to players. So being able to draft a guy like this to put on their offensive line to be one of the tackle spots, definitely a huge deal to try to help them out and become a better football team.
Speaker 1:Carolina at 8, jalen Walker. Walker edge Georgia um, it's a good pick. They need defensive pieces to kind of help out their team. He has a very good edge rusher that can kind of get after the passer and make some plays against the run. Um, I think he is definitely. He's a little bit a smaller guy when it comes to what you would like at like he's not a prototypical defensive end size-wise, but at Georgia he made himself a versatile defender that can do a lot of things and I think that it's definitely a player that can help out this.
Speaker 1:Carolina Panthers team Number nine pick nine we got New Orleans Saints, a team that needs a lot man. They are probably closer to a rebuild than they are anything else, but with at number nine they can just probably take the best player possible and Tyler Warren probably fits that spot. Tyler Warren, tight end from Penn State, very good player. You can use him in a lot of spots he can be. You can kick him out to be a pretty much a bigger slot receiver. He can play tight end and block very well. He can be a guy that can run the ball to the backfield and make big plays there. He did all of that at Penn State and more so. Getting a guy like this to help out Derek Carr and potentially try to win games this year would definitely be a huge deal for them, even though, does Tyler Warren make them a much better team? No, but they're in a spot where they can just take the best player available and just kind of figure it all out later. And tyler warren counts as that chicago bears at 10 amari and hampton, running back from north carolina. This spot right here.
Speaker 1:I feel like it makes sense because what the bears did in free agency they signed and traded for a bunch of offensive linemen to help out kayla williams as their quarterback and with them having um why am I forgetting the coach's name? Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator from the Lions. What was one of the stalwarts of that offense was having a two-back system in Jameer Gibbs and nope, it's not time to forget his name um Lions and David Montgomery was having that two back system of having a Thunder and Lightning, sonic and Knuckles, if you will, at that position to be able to kind of have a very good running game to kind of help out your quarterback and if you're off the line, it's pretty much set up, is kind of set up already for this, at least for this year, and they have wide receivers that they've already put a lot of talent into. They already have guys that are wide receiver. Taking a guy like this makes a lot of sense. Marion Hampton is like a very good bell cow back that if you could have him on the other side of DeAndre Swift and having a two-back system to really help out Kayla Williams and kind of take the offense off his plate of him not having to be everything and they can run the football effectively and do it that way, would definitely be a huge help to that Bears offense and to Kayla Williams in general. So if they believe in the office alignment that they have and they don't want to take a tackle here, o'meara and Hampton makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:Number 11, the Niners take Jadae Barron from the cornerback from Texas. It makes a lot of sense. They don't really have a lot of corners that they've had in recent years. They kind of let them all walk out the door. Their defense probably took the biggest hit when it comes to getting rid of players and kind of getting cheaper that way. So taking a guy like Jaday Barron corner like he's a very versatile guy that can cover a lot of different types of wide receivers and he has the speed to kind of keep up with it Makes a lot of sense. It'll make their team better.
Speaker 1:12 Dallas Cowboys Matthew Golden, wide receiver from Texas. This pick just makes too much sense. If Ashton Gentry does not fall to this spot, I feel like they need another wide receiver to kind of be on the other side of CeeDee Lamb. I don't know why I forgot his name for a second. I had a little bit of a stroke. Having a wide receiver on the other side of CeeDee Lamb, that can be a big weapon for them, would be a definite help for their offense. You already have Dak at that position. He's going to be there for years to come. You already paid CD Lamb. You don't really have a running game. You need probably better running backs, but this is a very deep running back draft so you don't necessarily have to go for a running back here if one of those top two guys Hampton and Jenty don't fall to you Tane Gallagher. Matthew Golden, a wide receiver, that is fast. I think he ran a 4-3 at the combine. He's fast, he can run good routes. He's not necessarily the biggest guy but he's a very versatile wide receiver that you can use inside, outside, runs very good routes. Makes a lot of sense for them to kind of add another piece to their offense. That can be a guy that defenses have to worry about, because outside of DAC and CD they really didn't have a lot last year and adding a guy like Matthew Golden would definitely be a huge help.
Speaker 1:Miami Dolphins Will Campbell, off tackle from LSU. He's a very short arm guy, I think he's. They said he has like 32, like 32 and five eighths inch arms, which is like very short when it comes to what a prototype, prototypical tackle has in the NFL these days. Because think about it, if you're trying to keep a 250-pound man off of you, what would probably help if you're an offensive tackle, having longer arms to kind of keep the guy away from getting into your body and be able to do something with you that way. So there are some issues with that in the NFL, but when it comes to the Miami Dolphins they need a lot of help with the offensive line. I think Will Campbell, even with his short arms, was able to play very well at LSU. So it may just be one of those things where you're hoping for him to be an outlier to be able to kind of get by in the NFL even with the shorter arms. But even if he doesn't work out at tackle, maybe in the NFL, even with the shorter arms, but even if he doesn't work out at tackle, maybe you can kick him in at guard and he can play some good ball.
Speaker 1:So Miami Dolphins need so much help on their offensive line to kind of protect Tua. So I just think it makes a lot of sense for them 14, the Colts take Colson Loveland tight end from Michigan. It makes sense, man. I just think if they can get their quarterback situation cleaned up either between they brought in Daniel Jones as a guy to potentially fight with Anthony Richardson to potentially be their starter for this year, if they can get that figured out. They have a couple of wide receivers that they already have that are very good. Obviously they have. They're running back. Why am I forgetting his name? Now see, I suck here. Um colts running back, jonathan taylor. They have already have a very powerful and electric running back and jonathan taylor, adding a guy like colson level, would be a huge, a huge add to their offense. Having a guy that can block, can play very good, he can be a very big weapon for them catch the football and he's a very explosive tight end. I think it would be a huge deal for them. I think he's easily the second best tight end in this whole class. So having another pass catcher to help out whatever quarterback that they do choose going into next year would definitely be a huge help for them. Help out whatever quarterback they do choose going into next year would definitely be a huge help for them.
Speaker 1:Number 15, atlanta Falcons Mike Green, edge Marshall. They need edge help. They do. Defensive ends are just not really explosive enough to really get after the quarterback and with some of the quarterbacks they do have to face in the NFC South, I think this is a huge help for them. This has been one of their biggest weaknesses of their defense and I just think this, this pick, just makes way too much sense. And Mike has been one of their biggest weaknesses of their defense and I just think this, this pick, just makes way too much sense. And Mike Green one of the better defensive ends in this whole class. Just it, just you know. Um, what is the saying here I'm looking for doesn't really matter. Um, if the shoe fits, wear it. And I think this is the perfect fit for Atlanta.
Speaker 1:Number 16 Arizona Cardinals. Jahad Campbell, a linebacker from Alabama. He's an off-ball linebacker. It's a little bit, it's a lot. Of teams don't like taking off-ball linebackers earlier on in the draft. He'd be a little bit rich. He is coming off of I think he has a torn labrum or something like that, so he's going to need a surgery. So as long as the Cardinals can look at that injury and like, look at the surgery and kind of be cool with that, he's a very good linebacker from Alabama. He can rush, get after the passer, he can cover. He can cover uh like tight end stuff like that on the outside like he can, and he can run from side to the sideline. He's a very fast guy that can make a lot of moves on the defense. I feel like it'd be a very good versatile weapon for the Cardinals staff because they really don't like they have Buda Baker on that defense, the versatile guy that really does a lot for them, but you could have another guy like Jihad Campbell would be a very nice help to that defense 17,.
Speaker 1:The Bengals, like I said, they need defense, defense, defense, and this mock draft has them taking Mike Hill Williams the edge out of Georgia. It would be a huge help for them, especially if they're not going to pay Hendrickson. Mikel Williams can kind of be plugged in at the defensive end spot Like he's not necessarily he is a safe pick for them, right? Because I think Mikel Williams, everything that he is coming out of Georgia, he's huge, he has the body, he has the production at Georgia. He doesn't have like, let me think how do I say this? He doesn't really pop off the screen as much as the other defensive end. Um, who was that? Let me get his name again. He doesn't pop as much as jaylen walker. Jaylen walker's like the undersized but he's like has so much of the. He pops on the defensive, he. When you watch georgia. He just pops so much he you could just tell he makes a huge difference. But michael williams, he has the body, he does everything he needs to do, he has some product. He like had a little bit less production last year because he had an ankle injury, but he is just a very safe pick and for the Bengals that need a lot of defensive help, it just makes too much sense to have another guy. If you get Hendrickson back, this can be a guy on the other side of Hendrickson. That's to make your defensive line a lot better. But if you do get rid of Hendrickson, you need a guy that can be your number one defensive end on your team and Mic, a guy that can be your number one defensive end on your team, and Michael Williams can fit that. So it's a very good pick for the Bengals. They just need defense, defense, defense. I just don't think there's going to be a second guy in the secondary that is going to make a huge difference for them in year one at this spot. So it makes sense to go with Michael Williams, the edge out of Georgia, seattle.
Speaker 1:Nick Imanwari, the safety from South Carolina. This guy is just that. He has the height he has, the weight he has, the speed, he has everything possible. He actually tore it up at the combine To be at his size, to be able to run his fat. He ran a 4.38 at 6'3" 220 pounds, 438 at 6'3" 220 pounds. The fact that this guy at this size no-transcript being at that size to be able to run that much faster than even a guy like Kyle Hamilton everybody knows if you watch the NFL, how special a player a guy like Kyle Hamilton is and if you can get an even more explosive version of that at that size, it makes a lot of sense, especially with their head coach, mike McDonald. He was the guy that was the defensive coordinator with the Ravens that had a guy like Kyle Hamilton. So giving him a guy of that of that body type at that spot he knows what to do with, I just think it makes too much sense. But especially with their safeties kind of being underwhelming over the last few years, I think this is a perfect spot. Maybe he needs a little bit more seasoning. He won't be necessarily great from year one but as they get him more and more snaps he will only get better and better because he has all the physical tools necessary to be an absolute freak at the NFL level.
Speaker 1:Pick 19 this is the spot where some of the weird things go on here. So Todd McShay has the Giants in this mock draft trading up from pick 34 to now pick 19. In the first round they end up giving the Buccaneers, who originally had this pick at 19, their pick at 34 and 65, and then also sending them a 2026 third rounder to kind of jump back into the first round and take Jackson Dart, the quarterback from Ole Miss. This would be a help, a fix for them if they don't get a guy like Aaron Rodgers and they have to take a quarterback, if they believe that they can get a quarterback to kind of help them for the long term, for the future. Um, this they would have to do that. They would have to go up that many picks to kind of, because they don't have another first round pick, so they would have to trade up for their number 34 spot early on the second round. So you're gonna have to give up a few other picks to kind of jump up this much so he has them kind of trading up. If they like Jackson Dart, you're going to have to do so and not to mention a lot of teams. If you like a quarterback, don't like waiting until the second round because you lose the opportunity to have that fifth year option to kind of keep that quarterback on a cheap deal longer. So, with that being the case, I'm not sure if I think you should give up that much to trade up for a guy like Jackson Dart at this point in the draft. But you know it was a choice that this guy made in his draft, in his mock draft. I think this Jackson Dart would. I don't necessarily don't believe in Jackson Dart as potentially a first round pick, but I just think giving up this much to jump back into the first round from where you're at in the second to get him is just a lot to give it lots of uh trade for a guy that may not even start for you in year one. I don't know again, I'm not, I don't know a lot about the shit. I'm just kind of saying shit as I go. So and I've watched a bunch of football and Jackson Dart played very well at Ole Miss, but it's just, it seemed like a lot to give up to try to jump back into getting but who knows, 20 Denver Broncos they take Travion Henderson.
Speaker 1:The Broncos need a very versatile weapon of Travion Stasher. He's not necessarily the biggest guy but he is, oh my God, very, very quick and if you can have another running back on the other side of him to kind of have a two back system, kind of limit his carries. I've heard people say that, like Jameer Gibbs, would be the archetype for a guy like Travion and the way Travion played last year alongside of Quinshawn Judkins at Ohio State, it makes total sense when Ohio State had Quinshawn Judkins kind of be like the big, the big burling back that can kind of get you tough yards and you can have Travion as more of the change of pace guy. He can be very efficient, he can be very explosive, he can catch the ball out of the backfield very well, he can do everything you need. If you are a Broncos team that already has your quarterback, already has some wide receivers on the outside, being able to get a guy like this at the running back position that could be so lethal and can be a one big play type of guy, definitely a huge help for a team like that.
Speaker 1:21, pittsburgh Steelers. Take Derek Harmon defensive lineman from Oregon. I'm not sure. Okay, we have put so much into our defense when it comes to picks, when it comes to money, when it comes to all that. We still have Cam Hayward for another year or two, they said. I watched a podcast he was on recently. He was thinking about retirement after this past season, but he decided to come back.
Speaker 1:I just think that at this spot, what you need to help your team more is probably offensive pieces. If you're not going to take a quarterback here, taking a wide receiver would be awesome here to get a guy like you know, the guy I've been talking about this whole time, mekke Ibuka, would be huge for that offense. To kind of add to it, add a slot receiver to kind of help out the two guys on the outside DK and Metcalf. And oh man, why am I freaking using another? This sucks, oh no, oh, no, man, why I'm freaking his name out? This sucks, oh no, oh, I'm, oh no, nope, nope, I suck, uh, I'm freaking my own wide receiver, george pickens. I don't know, I don't know why I even tried to look it up george pickens. So having a guy like george pickensens and DK on the outside to be able to add a guy like Emeka Igbuka to be the slot guy that can run good routes. Be an adult in the room would definitely be a huge help and if not that I could help, I could be okay with taking a quarterback here.
Speaker 1:But again, in this scenario, a guy like Jackson Dart's already been drafted by the Giants a couple of picks earlier. A guy like Jackson Dart's already been drafted by the Giants a couple picks earlier and honestly, at this point I'm kind of stunned. Not stunned, I've been hurt by the Steelers taking a running back in the first round. But I will say but again, all the running backs in this scenario, in this whole draft, have been taken. So if a running back falls to them, I wouldn't be mad. One of those top three guys, um Gentry's not falling to them, mario Hampton's not falling to them, but maybe like a guy like Travion Henderson, if he falls to the Steelers, I wouldn't be mad at that pick I would like to take a guy like Mecca Buka would also be a good pick.
Speaker 1:Taking a guy like Derek Harmon, again, he's a very good player. He's a interior defensive lineman. But you have Cam Hayward, so like it seems like you're loading up on a position that is already has already has a lot of dudes that they've been picking in the in prior drafts, like they already have a lot of dudes. But again, maybe you're just trying to get your next star after after he, after Cam Hayward leaves. But like I would even take a corner at this spot, like I would take a safety, like I would take there's if you're, even if you're going to the defense side of the ball. I'd rather take two other positions that we need a lot more help in than the interior defensive line here. So I don't necessarily agree with this pick, but I can see what his thought is when it comes to take a guy like this to take over for Cammy Hayward after he's done. But it's just. I just think there's other spots where the Steelers have a lot more need. But who knows, pick 22, chargers take Donovan Ezeriku I think that's what his name is the Edge from Boston College.
Speaker 1:Take an edge rusher Makes sense for them. They need a lot of help when it comes to rushing the passer. Joey Bosa's gone, so being able to get a guy like this to kind of plug in at the defensive end spot would definitely be a huge help for that team that needs a little bit more guys getting after the passer. Pick 23, green Bay Packers Will Johnson Makes sense at this spot because they are potentially going to trade Jire Alexander. Be able to draft a cornerback to kind of plug in to be their number one guy would definitely be a huge help. Will Johnson not necessarily the fastest corner out there, but he has everything else. He knows how to read an offense, he knows how to play the wide receivers and he's long and he can make a lot of plays. So it just makes a lot of sense for a team like Green Bay. They're already very kind of set offensively, so being able to pick up like this, especially if they're going to trade jr alexander, would be a huge, huge help for them.
Speaker 1:Um 24 minnesota vikings malachi starks safety from georgia. That makes a lot of sense. Heck, I would. I wouldn't be mad if the steelers picked up malachi starks like this. This guy isn't the fastest guy, he. He doesn't necessarily like he did. He's a great safety to kind of sit in the backfield, make plays on the football, get some, get some picks. Like he's a great ball hawk to sit back there, even if he doesn't necessarily have the great speed as he, as he would like. Um, minnesota is always already very good at defense, but they've been doing it a lot with Lesser parts. So if you can add a guy like Malachi Starks that's been doing it at the highest level at Georgia For the past few years, would definitely be a huge help for that defense. To kind of add a superstar to kind of help out their Back end of their defense.
Speaker 1:Pick 25 Houston Calvin Banks Jr from the offensive tackle from Texas. This would be a huge pickup for them. Like I said, they already got rid of their tackles that they had during last season. They picked up a couple older guys To kind of fill in that spot in free agency. But being able to pick up a guy like Calvin Banks this guy is huge, he's a big guy and he doesn't necessarily have the lightest of feet. He's definitely more of a right tackle than he is left tackle. But be able to have a guy of this stature that's been that's played big boy football at the sec level and can he kind of get beat up by beat by faster defensive ends for sure, but to be able to have a guy of that stature kind of add to their, their office, to offensive line, would definitely be a huge get for this Houston Texans team that needs a lot of help with the offensive line. I feel like this this is like one of the easier picks in the draft because you just know of all the needs that Houston Texans have, like offensive line is the like big red flashing light to be. That's the need for them, so definitely makes total sense why they'd make that pick.
Speaker 1:Number 26 Rams. Take Maxwell Harrison, one of the like. He is a corner from um Kentucky, I believe um very fast. He ran a 4-2-8-40. He ran the best 40 in the whole class so he's very fast at his spot. He's a little smaller but he's going to be able to play a lot of great defense, especially zone coverage. He's going to play very good Heck. He played a little decent man too while he was at Kentucky, so he can do both. He's very fast, he can make a lot of plays and it definitely helps out of Rams defense that they already have a lot of young talent there anyway. But with them having so much on the offensive side, being able to add a corner like this that can potentially be their number one guy would definitely be a huge help for that Rams team.
Speaker 1:Pick 27,. Baltimore Ravens Ted Arroyo McMillan, the wide receiver from Arizona. Sorry, this pick makes sense. The Ravens don't necessarily have a lot of great wide receiver depth and honestly, when you look at what their offense is as of right now, zay Flowers is a small kind of more gadget guy so he's not necessarily a guy that can kind of win you one-on-one matchups all that often. But if you can get a guy like Tyrone McMillan, that isn't necessarily the fat like apparently he ran like a 4-4, like a 4-4-8 at his pro day recently so maybe he's faster than I thought Like. So he's a very big physical wide receiver, kind of in the Drake London type of archetype. So if he can be that in the NFL for this Ravens team it would be a huge help for Lamar Jackson to kind of have a big one-on-one type of wide receiver that can go and win those type of matchups, definitely be a big help for them because they're kind of avoid that they're not really great at drafting wide receivers. So to have a guy like this that has the prototypical size to be a number one type of wide receiver would definitely be a help for that Ravens team.
Speaker 1:Number 28,. Detroit Lions taking Shamar Stewart edge out of Texas A&M. Shamar Stewart's one of, like, the bigger question marks of this whole draft because he has the height, weight, speed that you would want, right, he has all of that and more, right, but they said he had like one sack. He had one and a half sacks in 2024. So if you were a guy of that stature at Texas A&M playing in the SEC, you have everything you need physically but you only have one and a half sacks in the whole season last year and it wasn't like the SEC had a bunch of great offensive lines he was going against. But the lack of production is a big question mark, but when it comes to his physical ability, he has it all. So I can see why a team like Detroit, a team that already has a number one defensive end, would look at a guy like Shamar Stewart, would be like to be like oh, this could be a guy that, if we can develop him, could be a great number two alongside what we already have. It would make a lot of sense. They would make a move like this, but they could still probably use some help on their defensive secondary. But again, probably some of the better guys in the draft that are kind of like back-end safeties. Safeties and corners have already been taken, but taking a guy like Shamar Stewart would definitely be a huge help for that team if he ends up working out in the NFL and playing a lot better playing to what his talent is.
Speaker 1:Coming out of Texas A&M, a couple picks left Washington Commanders a pick for 29. Azaria Thomas, the cornerback out of FSU, this is another pick I would see the Steelers taking. That would make a lot of sense. He has the height, he has the weight, he has the speed, he has everything you want. He is a good one-on-one corner that you can kind of add to your team and kind of play some good ball. He played pretty good at FSU and this would also be. This obviously for Washington would be a huge help because their secondary is one of their bigger weaknesses in their team and to be able to add a guy like this to their secondary to kind of be there I think they did get um Marshawn Lattimore. They traded for him from the Saints in the middle of the year last year so be able to add a guy like Azaria Thomas to kind of be their number two corner for now until Marshawn Lattimore ends up moving on, or they drop or they he ends up retiring. He would be a good guy to kind of start your number two and then being your number one if he ends up working out in the NFL. Definitely a good pick for them because again, they already added so much. Their offensive side defense is the way to go and their secondary is their weakness. So definitely a good pick.
Speaker 1:Pick 30 Buffalo Buffalo Bills. Kenneth Grant. Defensive tackle from Michigan. Kenneth Grant is probably the more physical freak between him and the other defensive tackle from Michigan and that being Mason Graham. He's the more physical freak Kenneth Grant is but he doesn't have the production that Mason Graham did and I think that's because maybe a little bit of a lack of motor comparison. But I just think if you are the Buffalo Bills and you saw what the Eagles did to the Chiefs in that Super Bowl, what is going to be the thing that is going to help you out the most is having a great defensive line that has multiple guys that you can sub in and kind of come in and get a lot of pressure on Patrick Mahomes without having to blitz him. And again, I say this when it comes to Patrick Mahomes because he's been the biggest kryptonite for this Bills team over these past few years and if they're going to try to build a team similar to the Eagles that has a great defensive line that can get after him, get after a guy like Mahomes without blitzing, getting a guy like this would definitely be a huge help. They did get Joey Bosa in free agency so they signed him to like a one-year $12 million contract, something like that. So they're definitely putting a lot of work and trying to get the defensive line up to snuff to try to be able to get the same effect that what the eagles got against that that chiefs team. So makes a lot of sense. Good pick by the buff for the buffalo here.
Speaker 1:Pick 31 the chiefs go. Gray's able the officer guard from north go to state. The chiefs need a lot of help on their offensive line. They did sign a tackle, um, to that team I think it was the backup offensive tackle from San Fran. I believe to be their left tackle. But they still need some guys at guard because they traded away Joe Tooney to the Bears. So being able to get a guy like this to kind of help out their offensive line and kind of help protect Patrick Mahomes, especially after what happened during that Super Bowl against the Eagles makes a lot of sense for them. They could go wide receiver here to try to help out their wide receiver core. But with what they have coming back, I think offensive line is probably their bigger need. So it makes sense they would get a guy like this to be a big guy to play at guard to help protect Patrick Mahomes for years to come Makes total sense.
Speaker 1:And then pick 32. What do we have it? You have the Eagles coming off the Super Bowl and they have everything that they have on their team. They have they didn't really lose a lot. They. They have a team.
Speaker 1:There are a team that can pretty much take the best player available and just be cool with it. Right, and how fitting would it be with the defensive line that they have? They lost a couple defensive line pieces. What would they do in this draft? Take the best defensive edge guy available for them and for that guy to be James Pierce Jr. The edge out of Tennessee would just be fitting, because James Pierce is a special type of defensive end. He isn't necessarily on the same high end as Abdul Carter, but this guy being like as physically talented as he is to be able to be able to go to the Eagles and not necessarily have to be the number one defensive end right away for them. It's going to be a huge help, not only for him but for the Eagles. Like the Eagles don't have to take this guy and expect him to be their number one defensive end from day one, but he can kind of grow and become better throughout the year and potentially be the number one for a couple years from now. It would definitely be a huge help. This Eagles team has always taken defensive ends and offensive linemen in the first round and just taking the best guy available and just see where that goes, other than last year where they took the Quinion Mitchell the corner. But like they usually take the at the offensive defensive lines, usually where they really take, put a lot of these picks in in the high draft picks and taking out James Pierce Jr would be definitely a huge deal for them picks and taking out james pierce jr would be definitely a huge deal for them. And that's the whole first round of mock draft there.
Speaker 1:Again, that probably wasn't the most fun again to be a little bit more with uh jace here we can kind of talk back and forth. This is just me kind of talking out a wall here for a little bit. We'll talk to you guys, hopefully if you're listening this far, so hopefully you're able to get through that without being too bored. If you did, did. If you didn't, I totally understand, but this is something I just really wanted to talk about and, uh, if you didn't listen to it, that's full, that's cool. Hopefully you listen to the first half of the podcast without much issue, but, uh, that's about it on that. So I don't think really have anything else to talk about here.
Speaker 1:Back to be able to talk sports. There probably won't be as much going on next week, mostly just college basketball and like little news nuggets throughout the NFL. But that's pretty much it. Man, that's all I got. So if you've been listening this far, I definitely appreciate you and hopefully you'll be able to join back in when it's back to me and Jace being able to do what we usually do on a week in, week out basis. So this is about it for the pod. If you're uh been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now joining on, hopefully you like us and enjoy us to want to stick around and on this journey of listen to us talk about sports in the dumbest way possible.
Speaker 1:If you, um, if you have been listening and you keep want to keep listening to us, if you could do a couple things for us, we would appreciate if you could like our podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us. We're pretty much available everywhere, um, when you listen to your podcast. Share our podcast with friends, family, enemies, anybody you feel like could enjoy the podcast we put out on a weekly basis. We would love if you could do that. And then, last but not least, follow us on twitter and or x. Um, I think. At jb sports pod is the podcast handle. At giovanni boozer is my handle, at jace Boozer, one is Jason's handle. And then there's I can't hand it over to Jason to finish off the pod. So thank you guys for listening, thank you guys for always listening. We appreciate you. Have a great day, have a great night, enjoy the March madness and we'll see you guys next week. Bye y'all.