JB's Sports Podcast
JB's Sports Podcast
From Final Four Drama to NFL Draft Predictions: A Solo Sports Roundup
The high-stakes drama of college basketball's championship game, where Florida edged out Houston 65-63, perfectly captures the essence of March Madness in a tournament that saved its best basketball for last. While the defensive showdown might not have delivered offensive fireworks, the contrasting styles between veteran-laden Houston and the more offensively polished Florida created a compelling finale that compensated for what had been a relatively predictable tournament.
Meanwhile, the NBA playoff picture reveals fascinating storylines as teams jockey for final positioning. The Western Conference remains extraordinarily tight with Oklahoma City securing the top seed but seeds 3-8 separated by mere games. Perhaps most telling is the Phoenix Suns' spectacular collapse despite their star-studded roster – a cautionary tale of how the NBA's new CBA makes building around multiple max contracts increasingly difficult. Luka Dončić's emotional return to Dallas provided a genuine moment that challenged conventional narratives about player loyalty, as his visible emotions revealed the human side of business decisions.
As the NFL draft approaches, teams face crucial decisions that will shape their futures. Cleveland's signing of Joe Flacco suggests they might prioritize taking generational talent Travis Hunter with the second overall pick rather than gambling on an uncertain quarterback prospect. The Steelers find themselves at a crossroads with TJ Watt, while draft invitations to prospects like Jalen Milrow – despite significant concerns about his passing abilities – highlight the eternal optimism surrounding raw talent.
From championship moments to draft speculation, this episode navigates the sports landscape at a unique intersection point where seasons overlap and futures are determined. Whether you're a basketball purist, an NFL draft enthusiast, or simply enjoy the human stories behind sports, there's something here that will enhance your understanding of what makes these games so compelling.
What moves will your team make in the coming weeks? Join the conversation and share your predictions as we count down to the NFL draft!
welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is friday, april 11th, and we are back for another podcast. If you've been listening for a while, you know this is I'm not usually the person does the intros on this, usually it's jace, but I'm going to give him, I'm trying to give a little bit of time off so he doesn't have to worry about coming to see me and do this. So I figure I can go ahead and go solo on this one and go ahead and ramble on to you guys, whoever doesn't listen to this pod just about things I want to talk about. So just a few sports here talk about. So just a few sports here. There wanted to give the reaction to the final was it the final four? And then the national championship game for the men's basketball tournament I wanted to also talk about let me see what was the other thing some of the NBA stuff. Just a couple stories here there, and then obviously get back to football, which is like you know, it's funny. It's like the, with the draft being less than two weeks out, like there's still a ton of things happening, not necessarily like fit, like physically things, transactions, stuff really happening, but storyline wise, because everything is kind of culminating into this one day, because there's so many, every team goes into that draft thinking like, oh, we're about to change our fortune for the near or very far future. Like there's just a lot of things that go on, and with that I want to talk about some of the stuff that's going on, some NFL stories here or there. I have a mock draft to react to once again that I want to talk about and then that'll be pretty much it. Hopefully, like the last time I did this one solo, I can keep it pretty lean. But again, like I've always said, if you listen to the solo pods I've done, I can't necessarily guarantee because I do like to ramble and I'll try not to apologize for rambling or ramble too much. Hopefully I'll be able to find a nice little balance of the two and hopefully be able to keep this podcast pretty lean. That'll be pretty much the whole itinerary for the podcast today. If you don't like it, cool, I totally understand. Usually you're going to be here for the brotherly banter and all that between me and my brother that usually do this podcast. If you're still here and you want to listen to me ramble on, totally love, and I hope you like what I'm going to talk about today All right, men's college basketball, I think.
Speaker 1:Like I said, the last two rounds, so final four. Florida beat Auburn 79-73. Houston beat Duke 70-67. Florida-auburnurn two very good teams. I think Florida just kind of came out to be a little bit more offensively. Um, they were just a little bit more polished offensively. So in the first half Auburn got the, got the heads up, got sorry, they got a little bit of a leg up in the first half, out outscoring them 46 to38. And in the second half Florida's able to lock it down a little bit. And then Florida just kind of turned it around them scoring 41 to Auburn's 27. Pretty close game, back and forth affair. Very good game, nothing to really complain about there.
Speaker 1:Houston and Duke diff to a little bit different scenario and it seemed like throughout most of this game it seemed like Duke was in control. At the end of the first half it was 34 to 28, but like it really did feel like Duke was just like a little bit. They were just always ahead. They never really they again, duke did not. They always led in this game, especially at the first half and, heck, in the second half. I don't think Houston actually led into like the final couple minutes of the game, but as the game went along and just waned and things just kind of kept going, it just like, I think, duke I think it was like a dichotomy of two different styles of team that these two teams were.
Speaker 1:Duke was a little bit more of a younger squad. They were more superpower lit, like more uh, star player led, obviously with Cooper Flagg, and then you have who is the other guy's name that they said is gonna be a lottery pick? That's actually pretty good. Um, knepple, he's also a very good, very good player. Like it was a little bit more of a star led, star led, star latent group. Okay, but they're younger. You're going to have like a young Cooper Flagg, like he's a freshman, probably going to be a one-and-done. Knievel is a one-and-done type of guy. So, like Duke, even though they're a very talented team from top to bottom, they really are, but they're a young team. And then you're facing off against a Houston team that doesn't really have a lot of superstar players. Like nobody you really knew before the season started. At least if you're just a casual like myself, nobody you like really like.
Speaker 1:Oh, this is a guy I have to know about right, but as the game went longer and longer into the end it was Duke started making mistakes that Houston wasn't making. Duke was playing a more sloppy style of basketball. They were Duke, or at least in's what we're talking about here. They were the one having the turnovers and the bad mistakes at the end of the game and Houston was the ones that were not necessarily playing it safe. But it's just Houston is the older team from top to bottom. They're like men to Duke having more younger kids when it comes to playing basketball. Because Houston, just Houston just had a little bit more of an older team, just not just a little bit, but by a decent margin, just an older team that's been doing it a little bit longer, playing college basketball, not only together but like just in general, like there's been. They just play a lot more ball and I think that was the difference.
Speaker 1:And and by the time the game ended, it was just and in Houston they had like Cryer had a pretty good game. He scored 26. Like he was like probably like the guy that was like really getting the big buckets for them later on that game for Houston. And then Cooper Flagg he scored 27. He did what he was supposed to do, but like the last two minutes of that game, cooper Flagg just wasn't necessarily as effective, especially defensively. He was kind of giving up some mistakes here or there and then offensively just wasn't a lot of like. There wasn't.
Speaker 1:I think I heard I think I was hearing the Rosillas podcast, something like that is that they don't have a point guard that is just like the elderly statesman, right? Because usually when you're on like a tight game like that and like things are starting to get out of whack, if you have a point guard that really has control of your team and kind of like knows the scenario and they can kind of be the guy to calm down, everything that is like can be the equalizer in these scenarios where, like I think, the saying is, what butts start to get tight, right, your booty gets clenched. That's a weird way to say that. I'm not going to lie to you, that did not sound great, but it felt better in my head when I was thinking it Dang, I'm not going to delete that, that's going to have to stay. But when things start to get tight, there has to be somebody to be able to calm everything down and unfortunately they really don't have that type of presence on that team. And Cooper Flagg, as great as he is, he's a great player, he's a playmaker and all that, but he's not necessarily the point guard that can just kind of do it on his own to kind of keep everything, at least as of yet. I'm not saying he won't grow into that, because Cooper Flagg is a really, really good player and I think he'll be a very good player in the NBA. Maybe he'll start to develop that, but as of right now, him being just 18 years old, he doesn't necessarily have that in his bag yet and I totally understand that.
Speaker 1:I think Houston just took advantage of that. He made a lot of great defensive plays, especially there at the end. Duke couldn't inbound the ball to save their lives there for a little bit Houston was really playing some very sticky defense physical and Houston took advantage of it and they managed to get the win for the game and, I think, for Duke. I think the question coming out of that game was did Houston win the game or did Duke choke the game away? I feel like if you watch that game and you are at least not a fan of either team, can be caught like an observer without really any type of loyalty. Either way, I think you can kind of come to the conclusion that Duke kind of choked it, because Duke had everything they have a better offensive team, they have better players, they have size from top to bottom and, I think, a lot of the mistakes that Duke made. Again, houston did a lot of good things and again, no matter how many mistakes the team makes, if you're not willing to take advantage of those mistakes, it doesn't matter. Houston was really there. They were ready to take advantage of the mistakes Duke was making. But Duke made those mistakes and I feel like Duke had to have felt very down on themselves after that game. They had control of it pretty much the whole game until the final couple minutes. Houston took the lead and that was it. So, with all that being the case, I feel like Houston just did a big thing in that game. With them being a veteran team, they played like it all right and then, coming out of that game, you have the national championship game again.
Speaker 1:I went way too long in that houston duke game, but like it was a, it was a big one. Like it was, it was a good game, but it was like there's a lot of things coming out of that where you're like it was like probably the more coveted game, obviously, with Duke being so good throughout the year, and it felt like it was Duke's championship to win, and then you have a game like that where Duke kind of chokes it away. There's a lot of things coming out of that to have thoughts about. I didn't mean to go that long on that, but this is what it is. So now championship game, florida-houston That'll be on Monday night Game was coming through. It was like way late. It feels like it was an 8 o'clock tip-off or something like that. I just feel like it was super late and I wasn't ready for it. But you know it happened.
Speaker 1:And Florida-Houston, it was a very close game throughout most of it, up until like later on in the second half where it kind of got to a point where Houston Let me see if I can get kind of the idea of where it was let's see. I think there was a couple minutes there at the end of the game where Houston could not buy a basket. Later on in that game it was like See, know, see, you gotta go that way. Is that just the first half? Let's see second half. Okay, yeah, it was just so. In the last few minutes Houston had I think they had like a 10 point lead or something like that. With how much time left there and again, offensively, this game was an absolute, kind of like a stinker. Um, the game ended with 65 63 win by florida.
Speaker 1:It was not necessarily the greatest offensive performance on either side. It was like Houston was never really a big offensive team. They're more of a defensive-led type of team and then Florida is usually known as a better offensive team. But again, when you have players that are good college players but not necessarily looked at as NBA guys, there can be points where things are not necessarily going to be as efficient, and that's kind of how this game turned out. Again, you have to give some credit to houston, houston's great defensive team and that.
Speaker 1:But it was to the point where, like most of the shots houston was putting up, they were really staying ahead for most of the game because they were just out rebounding florida like crazy. Like it was to the point where Houston's players were like shooting the ball up and like almost intending to miss and then Houston's, like guys underneath, would just out rebound Florida like crazy, get the ball back and give you a second chance, third chance at points, in a way that it just didn't seem efficient and didn't seem like it just didn't seem like great offensive basketball. But it was two teams that were really fighting it out. It was very physical, they, a lot of things were happening, but it last few minutes of the game Houston just could not buy a basket whatsoever. And I think in the final like minute or two, like they couldn't even get a shot off to a certain degree and at the end, like the final play of the game, houston has the ball. And at the end, like the final play of the game, houston has the ball. They go up and I think it was who was their like main guy, lj Cryer has the ball at the end of the game, goes up to try to take a shot, realize he doesn't have the shot and then goes, tries to go back down. But the thing is you get an up and down penalty if you kind of come back down with the ball, so he kind of has to like leave the ball and then not necessarily touch it Becomes a defensive scrum. Florida gets the ball and the game is pretty much over, and I think it was a decent game. Offensively it was a little bit of a bummer, but it was a very physical game. Two teams are really battling it out and I think if you are a Duke team, again to go back to Duke. If you are a Duke team, again to go back to Duke. If you, if you're a Duke and you watch this game, go on. You have to feel sick, because I think Duke could have won this game too and I feel like Duke kind of.
Speaker 1:Like I already said about the game they're giving, it's Houston, they sold it and it's just a little bit fitting that they sold that game just for Houston to come around and have a 10 point lead there, um, near the end of the game and then to lose that one. I think was that crazy about them having a 10-point lead at one point? Yeah, they were like early on in the second half like they were dealing with a 10-point lead for most of that game and then they just kind of let Florida chip away until Florida was really back into it and then managed to win it. But like Houston sold that, that game, this game against Florida. So again, florida, all the credit to them. They have to be ready to take advantage of those moments where Houston decides not to be able to buy a basket.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day it was the final four games and then the national championship game was intriguing enough to kind of save the whole type of tournament, because when people go into the NCAA tournament they're looking for big upsets, they're looking for a lot of great basketball to be played, and it wasn't necessarily that there wasn't a lot of fireworks, there was a lot of chalk. If you were the team that was a lot better than the team you were playing. Most of the time you were going to win that game. Because that's kind of how things go. And I don't know if you want to make this an NIL thing and all that.
Speaker 1:But when you have these teams that are able to have these vets that have played a lot of basketball come and play, you don't have a lot of young teams. It's like when you have if you're not going to have the superstar-ladent team like Duke, but you're going to have all the guys that have been playing basketball for a while I think it kind of evens things out a bit, and especially when you have the talent and you have the depth, because a lot of players that would be potentially NBA guys maybe not even make the second round, or our G League guys stay in, stay in college basketball and keep playing. You're going to have a lot, a little more of a senior latent slash like just older team, so you're not going to. It's going to have a lot of like, huge like, what is it? Meltdowns. So when you have these teams that are playing, teams that are they're a lot better than they're not necessarily going to be melting down because they're a little bit older players and they're just going to have a lot of chulk going on, there's not gonna be a lot of stunners going on in the in the tournament and I just think, with all that, the games that we got in the final four games in the national championship game was enough. I would hate to say save, because it's not like they needed saving, but I have to give them some credit that those games kind of made a lot of people feel a lot better about it at by the end of it, if that makes any sense. I don't know if it does or not, but uh, I'm not sure. So what's next on the docket here? Let let's go ahead and do some NBA. I'm not going to say I don't want to. Again, I say I don't want to do a lot on this, but we're getting into the last couple games of this season. We have let me see here standings. We're getting to the last couple games of the season. Here we have Denver firing their head coach and their gm, mike malone I forget the gm's name firing them both well, right before the postseason starts, which again denver's clearly in their fourth seed.
Speaker 1:Right now you have yokich kind of just like being the super powered, like all-star that he is, all-time player that he is, and kind of rest that team. He's kind of dragging them, dragging them as much as he can into the playoffs where, like it's just, they just don't look like a as great as Jokic is. They just don't have a team to match his type of greatness. You have, let's see the Grizzlies firing their head coach right before the postseason starts. Like you just have a little bit of. You just have a lot of drama going into the like the end of the season, going to the postseason that you usually don't think you're going to get. You have Luka going into his first game in Dallas since he had been traded to the Lakers. That just recently happened.
Speaker 1:I have some thoughts on that, but let me go ahead and just talk about the the standings real quick, going into the playoffs for the East, and the East is a little bit more set than the West is. The West are still battling for seating and all of that here, like the last couple games left, but the East is a little bit more kind of just locked into what they're doing. Cleveland has the one seed, boston with the two, new York with the three Pacers at the four seed, milwaukee at the five, detroit at the six, you have Orlando at the seven and then you have the eight nine Is PB Let me make sure I'm not Clutch play in birth and then you have the seven through 10. So you have Orlando with a 7 seed and then you have, with the 8, 9, and 10 all clinching their spots in the play-in, you have Atlanta, you have Chicago and you have Miami with those last three and again, if you've watched any type of NBA ball, you have the play-in tournament that decides the 7 and 8 seeds for who gets in the playoffs. That should be interesting.
Speaker 1:And then you have the West, which has a lot of more things still kind of yet to be determined when it comes to seeding and all that because all these teams are so close. You have Oklahoma City. That's the number one seed by far. They're locked in with the best record I think the best record of the NBA right by three games over Cleveland. You have Houston at the two. You have the Lakers at the three seed. They've pretty much, I think, they're locked into the playoffs. Right, they're clinched into the playoffs, but their potential seeding may change. You have Denver, who is only a game behind them. At the four, you have the Lakers that are only a game behind the Lakers for that three seed. At the five, you have Golden State. That's a couple games out from the three seed. At the six, you have Memphis at the seven seed, minnesota at the eight seed, and those two teams are still viable to have between the three and six seeds, are still viable to have between the three and six teams. They may not have to be in the plane at all. This is how tight the West is in general. And then you have the nine and ten teams being Sacramento and Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 1:Rip to the Phoenix Suns man. I think I have to say this because I've been the guy with all these moves they made, getting Kevin Durant and then getting Bradley Beal. I was the first one to be super excited for that like seed want to see how they play, but it has been an absolute disaster from top to bottom. You have Kevin Durant ending the season hurt, not really playing at all, and everybody's talking about how Kevin Durant and Phoenix are like pretty, pretty dead set on getting him traded to a more of a contending team in the offseason. You have Bradley Beal.
Speaker 1:He was an absolutely awful player like he has the skills to be a very good NBA player, but it's just at every turn he's well overpaid for what he's, what he gives you on an every in, like a night in, night out basis and a lot of times seem like he doesn't care. Like when they made him a role player just a guy all coming off the bench he was cool and I feel like I think I was watching Rosillo and he's kind of made this point that he's just okay getting an NBA check and I feel like he plays like that. You can kind of tell a lot of the time like he's just well, more than okay, just taking his NBA check and going home and doesn't really have any pride about the, about the, what he is putting out on the floor, what type of tape he's putting out there on himself. He's more he's like playing like a made man, where he doesn't feel like he has to prove himself anymore, even though he hasn't nearly been close to proving himself as an NBA guy. It's worth the money he's been given.
Speaker 1:But again, is what it is, that play? That whole place is a mess and to a certain degree, I feel bad for. I feel I feel bad for Kevin Durant to a certain extent because he's made himself a hired gun over the last few years and, like I don't want to say hired guns, he just wants to play basketball like he wants to be competitive. I've never said, I've never questioned him on the basketball court on whether he wants to play like he on a night. When he's out there, he's playing. He wants to win. There is no question about that and I think, to a certain extent, I feel bad for. Uh, why am I? Why am I? Oh, no, this is a bad time trying to forget his name, devin Booker. I feel bad for him. He plays every night. For the most part, he's out there.
Speaker 1:He's the young guy on the team, like he's the guy that should be, like he's in the prime of his career, like he should be. Let's be honest a couple of years ago they were in the finals with him and Chris Paul, and I feel like everybody when, when they, when the sons were able to trade for Kevin Durant, I, among a lot of other people, were fantasizing what those two guys could do together, among a lot of other people, were fantasizing what those two guys could do together. And then getting Bradley Beal has not gone anywhere close to what it probably should have and that team is just ready to be kind of like the nuke, to ready to be hit on that team and then to do a rebuild. But I want to see Kevin Durant go somewhere to have a final shot, to potentially try to go win in the playoffs, potentially get a chip. And I want to see, I want, I want to see him uh, devin Booker as well, because he's still in the prime of his career.
Speaker 1:Like it would suck to see him play out the rest of his days in Phoenix, where the owner is willing to spend money but it's not necessarily doing it the smart way. They're just trying to spend a bunch of money just trying to make some splash plays. And I think, to a certain extent, how the NBA is now with all the second apron stuff, and how hard the CBA has made it for teams to build out very good super teams by restricting what moves you can make around the fringes to help fill out a squad. If you have a bunch of superstar players that are making a ton of money, this is not something you can do anymore and I feel like, with that being the case, this team, like Phoenix, they were trying to spit in the face of what the CBA was and just say, hey, we're just going to keep spending money and just keep think, hoping this goes right, and just rely on our superstars. And I feel like it's been proven that you need a well-rounded team even if you have those superstar guys around them, and I feel like the more big time contracts that you have on your team, it makes it harder to build around them, and Phoenix was a prime example of that. Like most of the guys on our team, I like outside of Grace and Alan like are there real guys to really think like, oh, they're a really good role player for a championship winning team.
Speaker 1:That team was not that, so it was pretty much doomed from the start. And I feel bad. I didn't see that from the get-go. I was blinded by the sheer talent on that squad and it has gone nowhere, and for very good reason. I just feel like that was a team recipe for disaster and it kind of worked out that way. Okay, so got through all the teams saying who's in the playoffs? The play-in is going to be a pretty fun atmosphere. The playoffs the play-in is going to be a pretty fun atmosphere. The west still has a bunch of things to be decided on, so that should be fun to kind of have to see them play out the last couple games of the year.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to get to luca. Okay, luca played his first game in dallas, like I already said, ever since he got traded with the Lakers and they gave him a whole. They made it a Luka night. I think they had shirts that said thanks for everything in Slovenian, and I feel like it was a double-edged sword, Because on one hand, you want to give him that because Dallas, as much as they've made a mess of everything, I don't think that front office can come into that game and make it anything but that because of how in arms their fans have been ever since they made the move to trade him. So I feel like they had to do that and I think he deserved that, because he gave you eight great years of good basketball, no matter what the front office wants to say about what they think his future is going to be.
Speaker 1:He was like I think I heard this somewhere where Dallas was like they have had as a Mavericks fan base. They have had their one player they can really be loved and attached to for their superstar player. For a long time they had Dirk before Luka and then, as soon as Dirk was even before Dirk was gone they ended up drafting Luka. So they have seamlessly had their guy that's been from another country come and be drafted to be the number one guy and the fans have been all in. They loved Dirk Nowitzki, they loved him and he got him the championship and it was a very good relationship that he Dirk still cherishes to this day. He's at games all the time and I think, as they kind of seamlessly went into Luka's stage of being their superstar, that worked out well too.
Speaker 1:Luka with Kyrie just last year got them to the NBA Finals. It didn't work out once they got there, but they got there and it seemed like that team was taking steps to climb. And when the front office did what they did by trading Luka away, they kind of nuked it all. Kyrie got hurt. Anthony Davis came in. Even though Anthony Davis is a good player, he's just not Luka, especially at this point in his career, and the differences in age six years between the two I believe Luka's being being younger, like it was their whole fan base was not going to stand for, not it not being a time to appreciate Luka for what he gave them for eight years. So they gave him a little, the tribute video before the game and you see L again.
Speaker 1:This was like a weird thing because when you have so much access on a game like this, where they have a camera right in his gosh darn face and he's balling, his eyes are bloodshot red, his lips are quivering, he's trying not to have a full-on breakdown with what he thought he felt betrayed by the front office when they traded him. I think you can look at this like Before I get to his feelings. I felt weird watching it Because I don't know how I would feel being at a moment like that where I'm super vulnerable and I have a camera just sitting in my face. And again, this is something that, if you're a superstar in the NBA or a superstar in life, that's probably something you're going to have to get used to. And again, I'm not that so it's something I'm going to have to get used to anytime. But when I was watching it so it's nothing I'm gonna have to get used to anytime but when I was watching it it felt kind of gross. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not, but I felt like I. I felt like I shouldn't be here for this moment. That should be something that he should be able to experience on his own, without necessarily having a camera in his face.
Speaker 1:But the fact that, even with that, he was still so overcome by his emotion that he couldn't even stop himself from having that like he was blood. His eyes are bloodshot red, he was lip quivering, he was crying, like he was really going through it because he really gave his all to that city no matter what the the Dallas Mavericks want to say the ownership about what they thought he was going to be the next five years, or they thought he was lazy. They thought he wasn't taking care of himself competitive-wise to be the guy they needed him to be for years to come. He really felt like he was going to spend his whole career in Dallas in the Mavericks front office Nixed that and took that away from not only the fan base for the Dallas Mavericks but he took it from him. You could tell he cared like again. As much as everybody wants to talk about how players, just the player movement nobody, no player cares about loyalty anymore and all of that. But like Luka was loyal. Luka didn't ask out of Dallas. There was nothing like that going on.
Speaker 1:Dallas made the surprising move to get rid of their best player, even though it made zero sense and I don't think there's really anybody in that front office, even heck freaking Mark Cuban, the guy that sold his majority share to the very rich owner so he can get out of really having to be the majority owner of that team Like Mark Cuban, on that night he was sitting courtside and he was celebrating that Luka night too. When Luka came out and he had to get 31 in the first half and he had 45 for the game. Like Luka, after that big, very, that very emotional moment. He became a celebrate Luka night for everybody in that in that stadium and I think, to a certain degree, like that had to hurt for the team that was the Dallas Mavericks, the actual basketball team, because like, hey, we're still here and it feels like this whole stadium, this whole arena is against us.
Speaker 1:When the game even started because of what the, the freaking the, the ownership group did, because of what the freaking front office did, like Anthony Davis had four points for the longest time that game. He really couldn't get into it. I wonder why? Because it felt like that whole arena was against you and it's just, it's harder to get into it and they're like cheering for Luca and he's having his crazy night, scoring all those points in the first half, and like everybody is cheering and it's like it's takes all the air out of the room for the team that's supposed to be the home team. They instantly became the away team before like before everybody's eyes. So that was a problem. And then you have like for the lucas side of it, he's having his emotional thing and I feel like I've like he showed it on the court. It was like his, hey, I'm gonna get after you and I'm gonna show you that you shouldn't have gotten rid of me, which obviously everybody that knows basketball knows that but it was.
Speaker 1:I think it was a very big showing as to and again, fans don't like to necessarily like, fans don't like to necessarily like talk about this because it's like I'm not sure whether they don't care or whether it's like too deep of a discussion, I'm not sure but the teams are just as disloyal as the players can be and I think maybe the, maybe the, the teams do a better job of painting themselves in a light that, as soon as a player wants to make a decision for himself, that's the best for himself and his family. The teams are very quick to make it a personal thing, to make it a. They are very quick to make it a personal thing. They're very quick to make the player out to be the villain in these scenarios and the player doesn't necessarily paint his own narrative that way. Maybe it's that or maybe it's just that.
Speaker 1:A lot of fans I think NBA fans are probably a little better than most others when it comes to the NFL and when it comes to baseball. There fans a lot more NBA fans that follow players rather than teams, but there's still a lot of teams like fans of teams, that are mad when stuff like this happens. But when it, when it comes to a team like Dallas making this move, I think this is one of those things where the fans are just as mad, like are very mad at the organization. There's no way to blame but them and the fans make sure of that. Like heck, every game that you see of of Dallas. Fans are just as mad, like are very mad at the organization. There's no way to blame but them and the fans make sure of that. Heck, every game that you see of Dallas fans. They're like saying fire, nico chants, like are going on and heck. The GM of the Dallas Mavericks does not even go out and watch games on the floor anymore Ever since that trade happened. He's sitting there in the tunnel with security, like he's not even safe in his own city that he works for because of what he did to that franchise and what he did to those fans.
Speaker 1:And I feel like fans all around the NBA need to understand that when all these players are moving and making, making moves, they make a move like this is possible. It is not foreign like these teams can make that move that can not only get rid of your favorite player from your team but can also ruin your franchise, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't hold them, you can't hold their feet to the fire and fire the owners for making the moves and you can't. I guess the owners can fire the gm, but you're like the nico harrison the guy that made that move is not gone. He's still there and I just feel like like it's just one of those things where it's just like you can just tell how much Luka cared.
Speaker 1:I felt bad for him, I felt bad for those fans and I feel like I I hope that Luka can have the career he's supposed to have for the rest of his career and this only like propels him to being even better, because it is. You could just see how much it hurt him to what Dallas did to him and I feel like if you've ever been in that situation where you felt like you were stabbed, backstabbed and you're willing to give your all to everything and they it wasn't reciprocated and they sent you away it's a very relatable moment and I feel like anybody that thinks that the players don't care anymore and they're just out for it for themselves. Watch that clip, it'll make you have a different thought on the scenario. Like these players still care, if you allow them to, and Luka was at a point where he really felt like he was Dallas and Dallas was him and the Mavericks did not believe so and they got rid of him. So I don't know, it's just a very, very, very weird scenario.
Speaker 1:That just in general, but it was a very it was a very great night. He had an awesome game. Dallas won that. I mean, I'm sorry, the Lakers won that game pretty handedly. It was a pretty close game. For most of it it really was. It was a close game and then by the end of it Lakers was kind of able to pull away because again, dallas doesn't have Kyrie. Ad really didn't play for a good portion of that game and to a certain degree Lakers knows what AD hates the most when it comes to how he's playing and they're probably able to employ that because of how they. They know him as well as they do. And you have, again, dallas just wasn't at full strength. Again, they don't have Kyrie, they don't have some of like Gafford and Lively. They're they're two big centers had just kind of came back. They've been hurt for a good portion of the season. So it was just, it was a weird game, it was a fun game to a certain. It was a, it had a lot of drama to it and it played out that way and it was, it was a. It was a good basketball game to watch Luka to be able to maybe outwork those demons in that big moment where he was able to go back and, you know, play in that, play in that arena again, because I think they said that he hadn't been back to Dallas since he got traded, hadn't even been there, hadn't even been to the state of Texas since he got traded, because he, he was very hurt by the situation and you could tell in that moment with that tribute video that he, that it was and it was.
Speaker 1:You know, players still care, if you allow them to, and I feel like the business can be the thing that ruins it more than the fans or more than the ownership can. But you know, ownerships can kind of uh, the teams can ruin it as well, and I feel like we as fans need to be more cognizant of that and be be ready to take up for the players when necessary, because at the end of the day, why would you root for billionaires when because we're bad at the millionaires that are players? The players put all the put their bodies on the line. They're the ones making all the sacrifice, and you have these billionaire owners that, like, take advantage of that and they do what they want to do and then they villainize the players when, villainize the players when things happen when I think you could equally villainize the teams as well. It's not necessarily as clean as who's the bad guy, who's the good guy. Everybody's a bad guy and everybody's a good guy in these situations. I think fans need to realize that. All right.
Speaker 1:Next, talk about the NBA. Talk about the NFL. Oh, we still have to talk about the NFL. Talk about college basketball, baseball. You know it's the dog days of the baseball season. It's still pretty early on. Yankees are playing decent ball. They kind of cooled off as of late, but you know, you have a lot of teams, a lot of teams playing ball, talk about things, they go on and, uh, you know, is what it is.
Speaker 1:I I don't. I started off the season being very hot in on baseball and really locked in and again I just feel like it's 162 games, just a lot of games to be locked into on an everyday basis. Um, I watch as many scores as I possibly can. I bet, I bet a little bit. I don't do as much baseball because it's a lot to have to keep track of, but I try to keep engaged, little by little and as we have thoughts. Jace too, he does a little. He does Sorry to cough there. Jace is a little more locking in too on baseball. So as the season goes on, we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1:But I just want to get to the NFL stuff, because there's a lot going on that I really want to get into stuff, because there's a lot going on that I really want to get into. Alright, what is that? Nucleic Alright NFL? Obviously, I've been listening to the podcast for a while. That is the bread and butter for what this podcast truly is. It's my favorite, it's Jay's favorite. Probably, if you're listening to this podcast, it's probably your favorite in general.
Speaker 1:Let's get into it. There's a lot of things to talk about. Joe Flacco is going back to a familiar place. He has signed a one-year contract, I think, worth $8 million. One-year $4 million, I think. With incentives it can go up to $8 million, up to $13 million. A one-year $4 million contract worth up to $13 million with incentives with the Cleveland Browns worth up to 13 with incentives with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to talk about this mock draft that I have to react to later. But this is a weird one. Obviously they have Deshaun Watson who's not going to play. He re-ruptured his Achilles before the season, had another surgery, so he's not playing for another year. You now have Joe Flacco, you have Kenny Pickett, who they traded for from the Eagles, and you have the draft coming up and everybody's like, oh, the Browns should really draft somebody. And I think the Browns are in this weird spot where they have the second pick overall and they potentially, because Cam Ward's probably going one. I'm going to talk about the mock draft later, but it's a pretty well-known thing that Tennessee is taking their quarterback at one and it's Cam Ward and it's pretty much a done deal. So the Browns, at two, now have a spot where they can take a guy like Travis Hunter, who's looked at as probably the best player in the whole draft that can play both corner and wide receiver, depending on what you want to do with him, and he's like a supreme athlete. He's looked at as the best player in the draft. Or you can take a guy like Shador Sanders, who not anybody.
Speaker 1:I have listened to a lot of NBA content when it comes to Sorry NFL content, when it comes to the NFL draft, and I don't think there's any consensus on any of these quarterbacks outside of Cam Ward None, zero, zilch, nada. I think Cam Ward is the only one that there's a consensus that he's the number one quarterback. I don't think that he's an all-time quarterback that's really worth a number one overall pick, but he is the closest thing to that. And if you are a team that's high up in the draft overall pick, but he is the closest thing to that. And if you are a team that's high up in the draft that needs a quarterback a la Tennessee, he's the only one good enough that you have to take him, even if you have other things in your roster. Because of how he has the ceiling to be an NFL starter, potentially a star, at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1:Outside of him, nobody else, nobody else is a guaranteed guy. Everybody has their flaws heck, even Cam Ward has his flaws, but he just has so much talent. Outside of him, nobody else is a guaranteed guy. Everybody has their flaws. Heck, even Cam Ward has his flaws, but he just has so much talent that you can kind of see past those things. But not everybody sees the rest of the quarterbacks a la Shador Sanders, jackson Dart as very talented and worth those top picks and, I think, the Browns.
Speaker 1:If you're in that spot, can you take your chance on taking a quarterback that high and leave Travis Hunter to kind of go to the next team? Or do you take Travis Hunter and then figure out the quarterback thing later, either through the draft or just waiting until next year potentially getting quarterback? Then like, I just feel like they have to take the more guaranteed thing because if they mess up this pick with another quarterback it only sets them even farther back. So I feel like with this move I feel like it gives them a floor where they can feel like, hey, between Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett we can at least have some type of decent quarterback play again. I don't know how you could truly believe that.
Speaker 1:I think Joe Flacco gives you a little bit, but like even he at this point he's over 40 years old he is a pure backup in the league that you really can't rely on as a day-in, day-out starter in the NFL. But again, maybe they do feel differently. He's still talented, but it's just his mentality. When I watch him play he looks like he plays like a backup, but I don't know. And then you have Kenny Pickett, who I'm like wow Again, being a Steelers fan, seeing the Kenny Pickett experience in real time for my team it's not great, and I'd feel even worse about going into a season with him as your starter as well if you're a Browns fan. So I don't know.
Speaker 1:I just think this Flacco thing just gives them a floor where it really does feel like they're not going to go Shador with that second pick overall. They're probably going to go Travis Hunter or Micah Parsons Nope, nope, nope, nope. That was terrible. Or they're going to go why am I forgetting his name now? Or they're going to go Abdul Carter, add him, put him on the other side of Myles Garrett and just have an absolutely insane defensive line tandem, at least at the defensive end spots, so like they can. So they're probably going to go with either one of those two Travis or Abdul Carter and potentially go quarterback later on.
Speaker 1:We'll talk about the mock draft later, but like that is a. It's a weird spot and if I'm a Browns fan I don't know how like I again I talked to a few Browns fans being in Ohio and also like they're there's plenty of them here they're not feeling, they're feeling very uneasy about the whole situation. I totally agree. I'm like I totally agree with them being feeling uneasy about all of this and I just don't know. I feel like if Last year's draft they could make it a lot easier.
Speaker 1:But the fact that the quarterback class is very uneasy and not very settled outside of Cam Ward and there's no consensus and not really a lot of guys that everybody can believe will be NFL guys, it's a weird time to need a quarterback. Again I'm talking for me as a Steelers fan. We don't have a quarterback of the future either. We're sitting here hoping for freaking Aaron Rodgers to take us up on a one-year deal so he can kind of be the quarterback of our team to give us kind of like one last shot to potentially go in the playoffs and do something big there. But like we don't have a quarterback of the future either, we're picking at pick 21 so like even in a normal great quarterback draft year we would really be able to pick up the guy we wanted, but there isn't even a guy worth trying to trade up for Again, and I feel that way. A lot of people feel that way, but this is where the fear comes in for me.
Speaker 1:So if Shador Sanders who I watched him a lot in college, especially when he went to Colorado I'm not going to sit here and lie and say that I watched him a lot in college, especially when he went to Colorado. I'm not going to sit here and lie and say that I watched him at Jackson State. I didn't because I didn't care. I thought they were playing teams that just really weren't of their caliber of talent. Heck, shador Sanders was a D1 type of guy before he went to Jackson State. So the fact that he was at Jackson State tearing it up, I'm like okay, he's at a spot where he probably he's better than a lot of those guys. It makes sense that he'd be like productive and playing very well, but he went to Colorado.
Speaker 1:I watched plenty of games over the last two years and I am not sold on the player that he is. I don't really see the NFL arm strength. I really don't.
Speaker 1:I feel like people are very mixed on what he is. Some people say he has enough arm strength to do well in the NFL. Some people say he's lower than average and I don't know. He doesn't really move quick, he doesn't really move great outside the pocket. He is a in-the-pocket passer that's not really going to do anything outside of it. And it makes me scared because, again, what the NFL is going more and more to is having players that can make plays outside of the structure of the offense and play inside structure.
Speaker 1:And I feel like, if you don't really heck, even CJ Stroud everybody looked at him coming out of Ohio State. They say he is a quarter but he is a pocket passer only. But at least you have that moment where he plays in that Georgia game. You can see a little bit of the magic that he can make. Moment where he plays in that Georgia game, you can see a little bit of the magic that he can make. Again, it's not necessarily as fantastical as when Mahomes does it or when Lamar Jackson does it, but he can make those moves outside the pocket to extend plays and get big plays down the field. I don't think Travis Hunter can do anywhere near that and heck, if you just want to take him as like in the pocket quarterbacks. Travis Hunter isn't even close to a guy like CJ Stroud when it comes to arm strength and accuracy and anticipation and having the rifle absolute rifle of an arm. So, like Travis Hunter is like in most drafts at least normal quarterback drafts he's probably a second round pick but because of need and because of what teams want to do, he's probably, he's gonna probably be picked up in the first round.
Speaker 1:This is where I'm scared of, because now, if the Browns aren't gonna pick him up and nobody ends up trading up for him, me as a Steelers fan and I really don't want Travis Hunter I mean sorry, shador Sanders, I really't. There's only one more spot that I know potentially would need a quarterback and it would be the New Orleans Saints. And if they don't make that decision to take him at the ninth spot overall, there's a lot of teams behind them that don't need a quarterback and he will start to fall and it gets from 9 to 20 really fast when you have a bunch of teams that don't need a quarterback and he will start to fall and it gets from 9 to 20 really fast when you have a bunch of teams that don't need a quarterback. And I just have a feeling that if Shador starts to get close to Mike Tomlin when it comes to be able to draft him, I don't think Mike Tomlin's going to be able to help himself. I just really don't do. I think he can be better than Kenny Pickett. Yeah, yeah for sure, I think Shador Sanders could be better than Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 1:But do I think it's a big enough deal to take a guy like that in the first round when he doesn't shouldn't be a first round pick? Yeah, for sure, I think that too. I feel like he's should not be a first round pick. And again, maybe he could work. But will Shador, at his best, ever be what Lamar Jackson is? Will he ever be what Joe Burrow is? Will he ever be Pachma Holmes or Josh Allen like? Would he ever be those guys? And he's just not ever going to be that.
Speaker 1:And if we're talking about taking a guy, a quarterback in the first round, you want to have that lottery ticket, you want to have a chance for them to be special. And I feel like all the quarterbacks that are available that would be available after Cam Ward, travis Hunter, jackson Dart, jalen Bilrell I'll talk about that in a second there are not any truly special quarterbacks that are willing to be that should be taken the first round. I think Jalen Miller might be the closest thing to be able to be that type of lottery ticket, but he has so many problems throwing the football that it's like that is a huge lottery ticket that can really fail quickly. And the idea of taking a guy like that in the first round is like even scarier than taking Shador, because I just don't think Milrow may have the highest ceiling of all these guys to where, if he kind of hits, he can be a very, like a game-breaking type of player in the NFL, but like his floor is so low, so so, so, so low because of his problems as a passer, it's just like it's a very scary proposition. So I'm a Steelers fan and Shador starts to fall. I just don't think Mike Tom is going to be able to help himself and that's that's really scaring me. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Again we're hoping for Aaron Rodgers again. I don't think anything that happens going to keep us, I think, aaron Rodgers coming to the Steelers. I feel like he's making this a very long and drawn-out process because Aaron Rodgers loves the attention of having people have to wait at his beck and will and be at his beck and call when it comes to waiting for his decision, because he's just kind of like he's that type of guy. So I don't think we're going to necessarily need a quarterback for this year, unless Aaron Rodgers truly goes and does the kind of surprising and retires, which I kind of doubt. I really doubt he will do that because I just feel like he still wants to kind of, he doesn't want to go have his last season and be like what it was with the Jets. I feel like he wants to have a better showing, to be his final year, and I just think that he'll play. It's just how painful. Is he going to make it? I don't know, I don't know. Is he going to make it? I don't know, I don't know. Again, I'll mock draft in a second.
Speaker 1:But one more thing I wanted to talk about with the Steelers. Tj Watt made a social media headline in the middle of this week and I'll kind of give my kind of thoughts on this, because when I first saw it, when I first saw on Instagram TJ Watt have this photo of him in a Steelers uniform, pads on and all having the deuces, I looked at it and I was like this is weird, but I didn't really think too much of it, but I did like I had the moment like why would he? Why this picture? Like that was weird, but like I was in the middle of doing something else, like it was kind of like it was in there, it was, it was gone as soon as it was there, like it was a very quick thought, but it was weird when I saw it. And then the days after me, the NFL media started picking up on it and they're like what's going on in Pittsburgh?
Speaker 1:To give some context, tj Watt is going into the last year of his current contract and it's been a going thing that, like TJ Watson, we asked for money, especially asking for more money, asking for a new deal. And when you have players that like miles Garrett that just got $40 million a year, and you have a woman, I'm forgetting his name. No, no, no. This is a bad time for his name. A freaking no, no, this is a bad time to forget his name. Freaking for the Raiders. Why this is a bad time to forget his name? This is bad Dang. Defensive end Dang. I'm insane that I'm forgetting his name right now. That's Max Crosby. Max Crosby's fine for like 37 38 million dollars a year.
Speaker 1:So when you're TJ Watt and I think to a certain I totally believe this that he's better than both of them didn't really show it last year, but like he is, I truly think he's better than both. I don't necessarily blame TJ Watt for like hey, I want to, I'm supposed to get a new deal, I want to sign here, I want to stay in Pittsburgh, but I want to have a nice little pay bumped and kind of be close to where everybody else is, if not better, because I feel like I'm better than them. And when he posts that picture it makes everybody think like what if this is on the same day as the big night out thing with pat mcafee, where everybody was like questioning whether that could be the day that heck me too, including me whether that could be the day that aaron rodgers announced himself to be the quarterback of the next quarterback of the pittsburgh steelers, and it didn't happen. By the way I watched. I watched half of it and then kind of just watched the rest of it in clips as it was coming out on social media and it didn't happen. So that's one thing, but like I feel like that was supposed to happen and then it got a little too hot the story of it and then Aaron Rodgers decided to pull out on that situation because he doesn't want to have anything that everybody expects, because Aaron Rodgers is that type of guy.
Speaker 1:So it was on the same day of that happening and everybody was like what's going on here?
Speaker 1:Is this TJ Watt trying to put the pressure up on the Steelers to try to get give him more money? And or maybe this is him truly thinking like, oh, this, something really might change and he might get traded? And if you listen to this podcast for a while I think I did bring this up on pod that I had this dirty thought that what if TJ Watt, being the guy that he is going to be asking for a new contract and if you don't want to pay, that can't come to an agreement, what could you get in trading him? I had that dirty thought when Miles Garrett got his money that I'm like, hey, what if you can get a first and a second or some type of really like real draft compensation for trading a guy like that? Because, as much as I love TJ, we haven't done anything with him and I think our future is kind of murky. As of right now. We're never gonna be bad enough to go and pick somebody up in the top five picks, at least. I can't say never, but like.
Speaker 1:The Steelers have made it their priority to never be a losing squad. So if I'm looking at parsing this out for the future, how are you going to be able to get the players necessary if you don't have an abundance of draft picks? By trading a guy that probably still has many years left of good football and getting that type of compensation back? Or you have to start losing and getting better draft picks. Which one is more feasible for this Pittsburgh team? As of right now? It's trading a guy like TJ Watt, even if it's hurt, even if it potentially like, is a very bad thing.
Speaker 1:When it comes to like TJ Watt is the Pittsburgh Steelers, he really is. And again, did I truly believe that that's something the Steelers should do? No, but it's a thought I did have so and now, when this happens, I have like a little bit of a, of a. What is it? A divide between the heart and the brain type of thing? You know, my heart says TJ Watt is the Steelers. He's my favorite, favorite player on the team and I'm like, why would we ever get rid of him? It doesn't make sense. But in my brain I'm like, hey, there is some points to be made here to where you could potentially kind of like, really set yourself up for years to come, maybe at the risk of being a worse team right now, potentially have a future where you can really be that team long term, potentially find your quarterback and have draft capital to really take swings at trying to get a guy in the future for your future.
Speaker 1:I didn't know how to feel and I'm sitting here like, with push comes to shove, I want the Steelers to keep TJ Watt. I really do. He's the last thing that really is close to winning football. He is the reason why the Steelers have been as good as they've been over the last few years, ever since Ben left. Offensively, heck, freaking. Najee Harris said it in his press conference with the, with the chargers, when he left like he made, like he made it abundantly clear that without Ben there has been no offensive identity. There has been no real offensive leadership ever since Ben left. That hasn't changed. Going to Kenny Pickett and then going like all this stuff going to the, to freaking Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. We haven't had anybody at the helm offensively. That is like really going to lead this team to where they want to be in keeping a guy like TJ Watt. He has been the only thing close to like the Pittsburgh Steeler way and really being a winning football player. That we have him the guys on defense is the closest thing to that we have and that defense has been the only reason we've been even in the playoffs for the last few years. Heck, we're losing in the first round either way, but like those guys on defense that have really been our superstar players have been the reason the Steelers been anywhere close to being able to call themselves a decent team or playoff bound or you know, over 500, because that's how bad our offense has been for a while now.
Speaker 1:But on the other hand my brain, if they really can't get a deal done with TJ Watt, you have to start asking the question whether it might be worth exploring that type of conversation, as painful as it would be. It really truly, truly would be painful. But at the end of the day, if you're not, if you're really in a place where you're not willing to pay TJ Watt what he wants to get paid the close to $40 million a year, probably that Miles Garrett just got paid, like why? But here's the thing Miles Garrett is a couple years. He's still like 29, 28, 29 years old. Tj Watt's 31. He's a little bit older in comparison to those guys. So I don't know, 31 doesn't necessarily mean what it used to mean like. Here's a lot of players that are like playing a little bit longer into their careers. The age of 30 isn't necessarily a death nail, like it used to be, and I still think TJ Watt has a few good years in him. No matter what last year was. I feel like it was a definitely a little bit of a down year for him, but like I don't think that necessarily means that's what's what's to come or anything. So I'm worried.
Speaker 1:It's a weird scenario and like they have to figure it out. But like they have to figure it out because you cannot not get your quarterback of the future in the draft and have your team be unsettled and then have TJ Watt be a thing after all this. Like you have to figure this all out and I have to give the Steelers credit. They are making some different moves than they usually would make. They went and traded for a guy like DK Metcalf and paid him a bunch of money. They have done some nuking of the quarterback room that I never thought they would. They I was thinking that they would stick with Kenny Pickett until the Cowboys come home. That really didn't happen. Again it's not like the quarterback room has really been anything worth keeping, but again they made the move. I have to give them credit there. But again it was so easy because of how bad it's been, I don't know. It's a very weird scenario to be going on right now.
Speaker 1:I'm very torn on it in general because I can see the benefits and downsides of each side of that thing. If the whole TJ Watt thing doesn't work out and I would totally believe I would what would I be hurt by him saying this? No, but like I would understand if TJ Watt came out and said hey, I want to try to go win the rest of my career, potentially get paid by another team, trade me. I wouldn't be able to doubt him. I wouldn't be able to really again, as much as I love Mike Tomlin, as much as I love the Steelers, we're not in a spot to really go win a championship right now. We're not, especially not without the quarterback situation being tied up.
Speaker 1:And again, I don't even think with a guy like Aaron Rodgers on the team does he make us a Super Bowl winning team? I don't think so. It gets us a little bit closer, I guess. But again, our ceiling as of late has been first round exit in the playoffs. And to be honest, when's the last time Aaron Rodgers has been outside the first round? It's been five, six, seven years now. Aaron Rodgers hasn't been primary Rodgers in a while and I just feel like signing him is not necessarily a guarantee that's going to make our team a ton better than what it's already been. I just don't think so. I don't know. It's. It's a weird scenario. Um, I think the draft only makes this an even bigger thing, because there's like there's these lottery tickets that have yet to be scratched, so like you're waiting for the player to come into your team. That really changes your future and I just feel like all of this is kind of like a. It's a big, it's a big ordeal that I had to talk about any other stories. Let's see before I get to the mock draft.
Speaker 1:Patrick Peterson is going to retire as a Cardinal on Monday. That's huge Patrick Peterson. For a while he had his years where he was that guy as the best cornerback in the NFL, one-on-one corner, played very physical. He was like the Darrell Revis 2.0 is what people were calling him when he was coming out, when he was really on the rise he was a very good player. Injuries and stuff kind of derailed his career. He wasn't really as good as long as long as he probably should have been, but like Patrick Peterson was like a very, very good player at his hate in his heyday. So very congrats to him to be able to go back, go and retire as a cardinal, his original team on Monday. Good for him.
Speaker 1:Um, let's see anything else. Lazard, oh, I want to talk about this. So every year for the draft before I get to the mock draft, every year before the draft, the NFL gives out like 10 to 15 type of invites to players to be at the draft. Be there, take the pictures, do the red carpet thing. When they get drafted they get to go out there, put on the rug hot roger goodell and all that. I think it's maybe more than 15. But like they invite players every year that are going to be drafted, be like, hey, if you're going to be close to a first round pick, we're going to bring you out. Come have your moment, have the cameras on you and all that. There has been one player in particular that got an invite and that accepted. That makes me kind of question things here.
Speaker 1:I mentioned him earlier, jalen Milrow, the Alabama quarterback that is coming out in the draft this year that, if you like listen to any type of NFL draft coverage everybody looks at as being a huge project. He can run the football like crazy. He is an electric athlete when it comes to running the football. But when it comes to his passing, it is a very well-known thing that he is a little bit erratic and if he gets off his first read and then has to read a defense after that, it kind of gets hairy. He's really a one-read-and-go type of guy when it comes to what he's been at Alabama and when it comes to accuracy and his consistency, it's all over the place. When it comes to passing, of course, and he looks at he's like a major project, he's like he's like the ultimate what, like lottery ticket.
Speaker 1:People want to compare him to like Lamar, but I'm like Lamar was a much more successful passer in college than Jalen Monroe is. It's not even close. So he really is. His comparison is Anthony Richardson and that's not a good comparison to be able to make, because Anthony Richardson was a 50% type of thrower in college and throughout his NFL career so far it doesn't look much better. And throw in college and throughout his NFL career so far it doesn't look much better. So the idea that a guy like like that's your comp so far when you're coming into the NFL and again, it's just Jalen Monroe, he is a very talented guy but I don't know how anybody can, with a straight try, to take him in the first round of the freaking NFL draft.
Speaker 1:And I think this has been a thing over the last couple years and it's getting better and better where the NFL has kind of made it more clear that they do not want to invite anybody to the draft to have that very bad draft moment where they fall right and potentially later on in the first round where they thought they weren't going to get, where they had no idea they were going to get like fall that late, so that late in the draft potentially not even be a first round pick. Let's like go back to the will levis thing that happened a few years ago. Will levis was looked at as supposed to be like the top three pick with cj stroud and and bry Young. Was that the year? No, because he was with Kenny Pickett. Yeah, it was the Kenny Pickett year that he was in. He showed up to the draft. Everybody thought he was going to be a first-round pick, a top-five pick, and he ended up falling all the way to the second round and getting picked up by the Titans.
Speaker 1:So the NFL has kind of made it a prerogative to not invite players to do that because, again, if you have too many players go through that, they will be more or less likely to want to come, like future players that are going to be less likely to want to come to the draft because they feel like, hey, I don't want to go and be on camera to be embarrassed like that for four hours during that night where you're like you don't get drafted, when everybody thought you were going to get drafted earlier. So the NFL has made it very clear they are not trying to give out draft invitations if you're not going to be picked in the first round. And I think of last year they invited like 15 players and I think all of them got drafted within the first 20-something picks. So they are making it very clear that they're not going to necessarily try to give out invitationless. They really like there is a reason to truly believe you'll be taken in the first round, and I just don't think Jalen Monroe is worth that type of pick Again.
Speaker 1:I truly think that from what I've seen of him, if his whole career looked like what he looked at like when he played that Georgia game last year, if his whole career looked like what he looked at like when he played that Georgia game last year, if his whole college career looked like that, I would understand. But it hasn't been that. I think more often than not he was getting protected. As the quarterback of Alabama it felt like he was being protected from having to make the terrible mistake of having a bad game. I feel like he was being protected from having to make the terrible mistake of having a bad game. I feel like he was the one being protected by the offense rather than him kind of being the leader of it. So if you can't trust him to lead your offense in college, what is he going to do in the NFL If you can't complete 50% of your. If you're struggling to complete 50% of your passes in college, how is that going to get better in the NFL? It only gets harder. Defense will only get better. The players only get faster. The window is closed a lot faster.
Speaker 1:So the idea that a guy like that is going to get an invitation to the draft which makes you think he might get picked in the first round is absolutely insane. I think he is easily a third or fourth round guy like maybe a second, if you like, really want to. His talent is very rich. Like he has a beautiful like. He has a beautiful deep ball. He's very quick. He can run like he'd be. He'd probably walk onto the NFL team right now and probably the best running back on your team not running back. He'd be the best running quarterback in the NFL if he walked on the NFL team right now. He would. That's how special he is as a runner, but his downsides as a passer are so great that his running would not be able to make up for that for a long time.
Speaker 1:I feel like he truly needs to be a project that sits and learns and really takes some huge strides before he's ready to be out there as an NFL quarterback and that's not a guy you take in the first round, it's just not. But apparently there are teams that are close to thinking that because he's getting an invite to the NFL draft. And heck, now, when you talk about mock drafts and stuff, people are starting to make that move of trying to get him, like teams trading up into the first round and like picking him because they like want to have that fifth year option for him. I'm like I'm feeling nervous about that, but again, we'll see. But it's just, it's a very weird scenario to have that go on and to have him be invited to the draft. It's insane. I just don't think he should be a first-round pick for what we've seen of him so far. But I get it, the talent is immense. But at some point you have to listen to what the tape has given you and I'm not saying you're looking like, oh, I've watched a bunch of tape on him, but I've watched enough Alabama games to understand he is a huge project. He's huge, huge project. All right, that's the NFL, that's the NFL stories I want to talk about.
Speaker 1:Let's go ahead and get to this mock draft, kind of go through the picks, one through 32. I think he has like 34 picks on here. I'll only go to 32. Give my thoughts on them as we go. Hopefully this won't be too big of a drag, but I'm going to try to keep it. Keep it quick, keep it, keep it going. Not necessarily go too long on all of them. So again, I'm not going to not going to. I can try to deliver on that. I'm not going to guarantee it, I'm just not. This doesn't make sense to so. Todd McShay. Todd McShay. Mcshay Report. I paid the four bucks to subscribe to his newsletter where he has all of his draft coverage and all that. So hopefully this isn't necessarily violating any type of copyright laws or anything, but I pay for it. I do what I have to do and I'm just reacting to this draft and obviously we're not that big of a podcast. So I don't think we're not making money or anything doing this. I don't think people are going to come after us and want to sue us. So hopefully, fingers crossed on that. But let's go ahead and go through on this.
Speaker 1:Tennessee Again. If you don't know Tom McShay, he's been doing the NFL draft forever. He was working for ESPN for a long time, got fired. Now he's doing stuff on his own on YouTube. Got fired. Now he's doing stuff on his own on youtube. Very good, watch, with all of his draft coverage. Go watch on youtube. Uh, he has a very good youtube channel. I watch all the time and listen to his podcast.
Speaker 1:So, mock draft time let's go ahead and react. So tennessee titans number one pick cam ward makes sense. It's like I said before, that probably is the only consensus on this whole. In this whole, to be totally honest with you, cam Ward's the quarterback in this draft that can be looked at as an NFL star in a few years. And Tennessee all the moves that they've made in free agency, kind of like shown, all the moves they've made so far throughout this offseason have shown they're just kind of making the way for a young quarterback to be able to drop into that team, be able to try to start the whole thing running. So that's where I think they're going to do and again, this guy thinks he does too and with this mock draft, it's pretty much the consensus at this point.
Speaker 1:Pick two cleveland browns uh, take wide receiver cornerback Travis Hunter makes sense. Like I said earlier, I don't think the Browns are going to want to make, put all their chips in on taking a quarterback, if it's a door, if it's something like that, when you have a guy like Travis Hunter on the board, when people look at him as like the best player in this whole draft. So the fact that Travis can be such a slam dunk prospect for what he is right now, the Browns are going to want to take him and then try to figure out the quarterback position later and I just feel like that is a very, very, probably a safe pick to probably go. If you want to make bets on this pick, this is probably the one to make Because this makes sense. It's either him or Abdul Carter probably the one to make because this makes sense. It's either him or Abdul Carter. And that's the pick for the Browns, because they just need a slam dunk at this point. I just don't feel like any other quarterback that they would potentially draft at this spot would be a slam dunk, like a guy like Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter would be.
Speaker 1:Pick three New York Giants take Abdul Carter. That makes sense for them. I feel like they're in a spot where they could potentially take a guy like Shador Sanders, but do they believe in him. Do they think he has a locked down top five pick? That is a question that remains to be seen. But when it comes to what people are saying, it seems more and more like the Giants are not necessarily in on Shador Sanders and they might want to figure out the quarterback later, either by trading up from the second round back into the first round at least late into the first round and try to pick a guy, or letting the board fall to the fault of them in the later rounds and try to figure out a guy then. But Abdo Carter, everybody looks at him. I don't really think he's a generational type of talent, but everybody keeps calling him that. I think he's a good defensive end. I'm not sure if he'll be the top of the top type of guy, but he has all the talent too. I understand him being a top five pick.
Speaker 1:New England Patriots number four take offensive tackle Will Campbell. This one's weird. The consensus on Will Campbell is not necessarily all that consistent. Some people think Will Campbell, with his short arms, doesn't really have the physical tools to be that number one type of left tackle type of guy that you'd be drafting him at number four to be. Some people think his tape is not necessarily all that consistent. Some people think it's amazing he's the best tackle in the draft. It is not. There is no consensus on this type of guy. Some people think he's that he's like a top five type of guy guy. Some people think he's later on in the first round type of pick who knows?
Speaker 1:But I think the Patriots are in a weird spot where they are hoping to God that somebody takes Shador with a top four pick so they either have Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter fall to them. I really do think that the Patriots would love to have one of those guys fall to him or to potentially trade out of that pick altogether. But the fact is, if you want to trade out, there has to be somebody willing to trade up to take somebody, and it doesn't seem like there's anybody that's really trying to do that right now for any player in the draft. So unfortunately, the Patriots, with a lot of the needs, they'd have to take a guy like Will Campbell, even if, or even Armand Membubu, the guy from uh, I think he's from Texas A&M, missouri. Armand Membu, the offensive tackle, he's more talented. He's only played right tackle in his career so far, so like. Maybe that might be a guy that maybe has a little more physical tools that you can potentially project out to be a top tackle in the draft, unlike Will Campbell who's lacking in a few different areas. But like I think the Patriots are really hoping that either Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter fall to them. That's probably their dream scenario, with a close second being somebody who wants to trade up and they can trade out, get a few pieces of draft capital and then maybe take somebody later on in the draft. But Will Campbell, okay fine. I don't necessarily agree with him being good enough to be a top five pick but again, he's a worthy player in the first round for sure.
Speaker 1:Jacksonville Jaguars pick five taking edge Jalen Walker. People are not necessarily all sold on Jalen Walker. Some people are truly all in on him being a top 10 type of pick type of guy. Some people are like he's a little bit too much of a tweener when it comes to either being an edge. He's not really big enough to be like a dominant edge player, because a lot of guys in the NFL like are defensive ends, are like big dudes like 6'3, 6'4, like 260. Jalen Walker's a smaller guy, he's. He can do some pass rushing. He can do some type of playing and coverage against like other, like tight ends and stuff like that, because he has a speed, but not everybody's all the way locked in on him. But he is a top. I can't say whether I'm for sure he's a top 10 pick or not, but when it comes to some people that really know what they're talking about, you know it's enough. He is a good player, but whether he's going to be able to live up to what he needs to be at the NFL level is a little bit of a question that remains to be seen. But again, it's a lottery ticket. At the end of the day. A lot of these picks are all lottery tickets that you're hoping just hit big. And Jalen Walker has all the talent in the world to potentially be that lottery ticket that hits for them. So it totally makes sense.
Speaker 1:Raiders this one's been a very popular pick amongst people that do mock drafts. Taking Ashton Gentry, the running back out of Boise State, a lot of people look at Ashton Gentry as like the number one running back by far in this draft. Some people think it's a little bit closer between a guy like him and the other running back. Why am I forgetting his name now? Oh, this is bad Omarion Hampton. People think Omarion Hampton is pretty close to what Ashton Gentry is, but Gentry is for sure the number one back and the Raiders having their quarterback already kind of sewn up when they traded for why am I forgetting his name geno smith and the fact that pete carroll is the head coach of this team. He's in his late 70s, so like he's not going to be in for having a multi-year type of uh turnover, not sorry, a multi-year rebuild when it comes to that team.
Speaker 1:So take a guy like genti they already have their quarterback. They probably need wide receivers like they. Gentee, they already have their quarterback. They probably need wide receivers. They need more weapons. They already have their tight end. And Brock Bowers they have two tight ends, but Brock Bowers being their superstar tight end you have. They probably use wide receiver here. But taking a guy like Ashton Gentee, with their offensive line being a little bit better than what people think, that think it is like ash and genti could walk onto this team and really make a statement right away, especially if gino can kind of keep the passing game going. Uh, so like this could be a very big move to like. Maybe he doesn't necessarily make this raiders team like a playoff team, but they are a good enough team to be able for genti to be able to play fast and play right away and be able to play some very good ball and like really produce early on, which I've made this case before, where I heard this like if you are a team that's going to take a running back, especially in the first round, you better have a team that can take advantage of their talent in the best of ways, and I feel like maybe the Raiders aren't necessarily a running back away from doing big things when it comes to winning football games, but at least they'll have the team where Ashton Gentry can come in right away and play some good ball and be able to show off his talent as a running back, and I feel like that'd be a very good pick for both sides.
Speaker 1:Jets at number seven take Armand Membu, the offensive tackle from Missouri that I was talking about earlier. He is probably the most physically dominant tackle in this whole draft. He's 6'4", 332, has long enough arms I think it's like over 33-inch arms that you need to be in the NFL. That is a guarantee. Draft scouts believe that you have the necessary physical tools to be able to produce. He's only 21 years old, he's still a young guy but, like the question is whether he can be a left tackle in the NFL is kind of still the question, but he could play right tackle very well from day one. So, like the Jets needing a lot of offensive line help, they have Justin Fields as their quarterback. Like they could take a quarterback here at seven, but like the fact that they took Justin Fields just makes you think that they're not going to go quarterback, at least at this spot. So being able to have a tackle that can help you sure up your offensive line, either for Justin Fields or for another quarterback here in the near future, is definitely a good pick for them.
Speaker 1:Carolina Panthers a pick eight Mason Graham. Michigan Panthers need a lot of players. They probably need more offensive guys to help out Bryce Young. If they, like Bryce Young at the end of last year started playing very well, so, like if they believe in him to be their their long-term answer at quarterback, they need some weapons to help him out but, like at this spot, they need so much defensive help as well. Mason Graham makes a lot of sense. He'll'll be your day one very good defensive tackle, pass rush type of guy. He can stop the run very well. He is a dominant type of pass rusher Sorry, dominant defensive tackle. That'll do a little bit of everything for you. Mason Graham was like a lot of people were believing he'd probably be the pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars at five, which is where this one, this mock draft, kind of deviates from what most people believe will be when he'll get picked. But again, mason Graham's a top 10 pick for sure. It hurts me to say this as a Ohio State fan saying this about a Michigan player, but like he's a very good, very good player in it. Like it would, he would make a instant impact for the Carolina Panthers Pick nine.
Speaker 1:New Orleans Saints Jackson Dart, ole Miss. This is where Todd McShay has been going for a while when it comes to his mock drafts. He has always maintained that the difference between Shador Sanders and Jackson Dart is not great, and I think he's finally made the case that he believes Jackson Dart will be the better player long-term than what Shador will be, because Jackson Dart has a little better. He has the better arm, he has a little more mobility at the quarterback position and I feel like this is when he's kind of made his, he's pulled the trigger on that whole, on him being able to kind of like start stamping that again. People feel differently about this. Like I said before, there is no consensus on this whole quarterback class outside of Cam Ward. So anything, anything that anybody believes, I totally believe.
Speaker 1:But when I see Jackson Dart I am worried about the offense he's coming from. Because when people talk about the Lane Kiffin offense and how the first read is always going to be open because Lane Kiffin is so good at what he does creating offenses it does make you question if Jackson Dart is going to be able to read defenses in the NFL and be able to kind of do the progression from like do the quarterback progression from from read to read and be able to do what he needs to do. I question his throwing motion a little bit because he kind of is like a whole body thrower. He's not necessarily a guy that can like throw without like. He's not a natural thrower, right, cj Stroud, as much as he is very mechanical with what he does, he is a natural thrower of the football. I don't think Jackson Dart is that and I feel, like with the other issues that he has. When it comes to reading the offenses and all that, he has probably better physical tools than a guy like Shador Sanders does. But it's just with some of the questions about the offenses that he's coming from whether's gonna be able to like, gonna be able to not convert, be able to what is the word I'm looking for acclimate to NFL offenses, as well as if he's gonna be able to like, if his, his passing style is gonna be able to work when you don't have as much time in the NFL is going to be a question for me. I don't know. I'm not feeling great about any of these quarterbacks outside of cam and I just feel like the NFL, the NFL draft people are pretty, are pretty set on that idea as well that all these quarterbacks outside of again, a lot of these quarterbacks aren't firstround picks. But it's just the fact that you have these quarterback-needy teams that need somebody and this just is a year where needing a quarterback is not the greatest. If only they needed a quarterback last year, where you had five quarterbacks that were really worth those picks. So I don't know.
Speaker 1:Chicago Bears pick 10, take Tyler Warren, penn State. He's a very good tight end. He struggles with blocking at times but when it comes to being an elite weapon on day one, he could definitely do that in the NFL, especially when you have. Why am I forgetting the coach's name, ben Johnson, coach for the Bears, now coming from Detroit where they had their amazing tight end that they kind of kept in their offense. Why am I forgetting his name now? Oh no, that's not good. Lions tight end Sam Laporta. Sam Laporta is more of a prototypical tight end. He does the blocking but he's a very, very, very good tight end when it comes to pass catching as well. But when you get a guy like Tyler Warren, he has his, his deficiencies, but when you use him as a weapon in your offense he's going to be very good. Penn state really did show him off when it came to doing that Cause. He was honestly their best offensive pass catch. He was the best weapon on that team offensively for that Penn State team. So Chicago Bears with Caleb Williams, be able to get him a guy like that to throw to, especially when Tyler Warren is not necessarily going to be like. He's going to be closer to the quarterback for the most part when it comes to the pass you're going to be making to him so he can be more of a security blanket for a guy like Caleb, where he has other good weapons. But when it comes to having a guy that can be your security blanket, tight end position, it's nothing much like it in the NFL, like having a tight end you can rely on and Tyler Warren is a very big weapon at that position.
Speaker 1:San Fran pick 11. He has them. Taking Will Johnson from Michigan, san Fran has really turned into a team that has a lot of needs. They need a lot of defensive help. They need guys on offense as well. But again, defense, defense, defense seems like the better position to kind of draft at this point and for them Will Johnson will make a huge deal. Charverius Ward just left them to go to a different team in the offseason. So being able to take a guy like Will Johnson who has the tools, who questions whether he's going to have the speed to be a number one type of corner, one-on-one type of guy is a question, but when it comes to playing the zone and you can kind of just leave him there to potentially be able to see the quarterback be able to make breaks on the ball, he'll definitely be able to do that and I think with the San Francisco 49ers, the way they run their defense a lot of zone, he makes a lot of sense at that spot. He has a lot of good tools when it comes to speed. A little bit of a question Pick 12 Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1:Take wide receiver Tett McMillan, the wide receiver from Arizona. People are a little bit split on Tett McMillan. I'm not feeling great about him either, but again he has this. He's 6'4", 219 pounds. He's not necessarily that fast. Again this just seems like a big thing. Like last year people were talking about Marvin Harrison, how fast he isn't really as a wide receiver and he had his troubles last year with one-on-one coverage not necessarily being able to separate. But Marvin Harrison showed in his college career and heck, in the NFL that he's so big and he's so talent like talented when it comes to running his routes, stuff like that that he can manage that.
Speaker 1:But Ted McMillan, coming out of Arizona, he's like uses physical school skills a lot and when it comes to that's how he made his bread no, sorry, that's how he, that's how he progressed at college is to be able to use his physical tools. But what happens when he gets to the NFL. If you're not going to be running very crisp routes, you're not going to be the type of route runner that you need to be, if you're not going to be able to run by everybody. But Ted McMillan everybody talks about his volleyball background. I feel like that's the hot button thing to talk about when it comes to him, because of how he can track the football and all that, which definitely makes sense. But it's just, he definitely is not a like hands down type of wide receiver that way. He has his, he has his issues when it comes to his route running and all of that. But talent wise he looks like he can be a number one type of wide receiver and to be able to use, put him on the other side of CD lamb and kind of allow CD lamb kind of move around, go into the slot, kind of be the guy that can make a lot of short intermediate routes and you can have a guy like Ted McMillan on the outside, that kind of be that number one that you have to be scared of on the outside. We'll definitely help out that offense because Dallas in general has for a few years now been the DAC to CD lamb show and they don't really have any options outside of that. So getting another option to be another offensive playmaker to kind of help other offense, be great.
Speaker 1:Some people have them taken like a running back in this spot would definitely, you know, taking a guy like um, this would be a bad spot. To forget his name again. Oh no, amarion Hampton would also be a pick to be able to take in this. I think if freaking Ashton Denton kind of fell to this spot, they would love to take him, or Amarion Hampton, potentially that would be a spot. But, like you know, I just feel like it makes too much sense for a wide receiver to be taken here by the Cowboys.
Speaker 1:Pick 13, miami Dol, ivy dolphins edge more. Stewart, texas A&M. Smart Stewart's kind of like a um, a polarizing figure in the draft because he really did nothing when it comes to producing when he was in college. He just had. He only had a sack and a half last year at Texas A&M. So like, even with all the like people call him physically like the Miles Garrett type, like people truly believe he can be that one of one defensive end type of star, but when it comes to how productive he was in college definitely was not the case. But when it comes to how productive he was in college definitely was not the case. So when it comes to how the physical tools and what the tape tells you, that's what you're going to have, the decision you have to make. But when you're a team like Miami that needs a lot of help when it comes to rushing the passer that's one of the bigger weaknesses on their team it definitely makes sense that they would take the chance to make a superstar out of Smart Stewart rather than maybe taking another guy that may not have the physical tools that he does. So again, these picks are their lottery tickets as much as they are players at the end of the day, and Shemar Stewart can pay off big time if he hits, but if not, it could be definitely a disaster.
Speaker 1:Pick 14, colts take Colson level in Michigan. If they have either their quarterback start, either Anthony Richardson or freaking Daniel Jones be their quarterback next year. They have good wide receivers that are out there playing, but they definitely need a tight end that can they can rely on, and Colson level out of Michigan is definitely a can do that. I feel like he can walk into nfl offense right now and pretty much run all the routes in the tight entry. Again, that's hard to say. This is an ohio state guy saying it's about a michigan player, but like he is a very talented guy. He's bigger than you think, he can run very good routes. He's a very sure-handed type of guy and I feel like he's going to make a huge impact right away on an NFL roster.
Speaker 1:And the Colts make perfect sense Pick 15,. He has the Browns actually trading up to get to pick 15 to take Shador Sanders. So they would trade in this scenario they have the Browns sending picks 33, which is what their next pick would be in the second round Picks 33, 67, 67 and a 2026 second rounder to the falcons so they can trade back up into pick 15 and take chador sanders again. Why would you give up that much for chador sanders? I don't know, but again, I've seen the browns make worse decisions deshaun watson. So I'm not going to sit here and say it's impossible, but I just don't know why a team would like give up this much draft capital to take a quarterback that not everybody is sure is even worth the first round pick. I just I don't know it's. It's a weird one, but it makes sense.
Speaker 1:The Browns do need quarterback. Uh, the idea of taking going into the season with freaking uh, the idea of taking going into the season with freaking Joe Flucco and Kenny Pickett as your quarterback to start the year is definitely not necessarily a great feeling. So wanting to kind of make this move to kind of sure that, that sure that the quarterback position for years to come will definitely be enticing. But for a guy like Shador Sanders, I'm just not sure about who knows, but like you know, it'd be a very big move if they managed to make it happen. It's just a lot of picks to give up, to go and trade back into the first round to take a guy like Shador Sanders. I just don't make it, doesn't make sense to me. Arizona Cardinals he has them.
Speaker 1:Taking Matthew Golden, again, that would be a very good weapon to have on the other side of Marvin Harrison, who they took last year with a top five pick. That is where I'm like I'm a little bit iffy on this because again, marvin Harrison doesn't give you the explosive type of big play receiver type of guy, but like where this, where it makes sense, matthew Golden could be a little the faster receiver on the other side. That makes defense have to kind of be worried about getting beat over top. That'll kind of open things up for Marvin Harrison when it comes to the short and intermediate routes. That part makes sense to me. But having this pick right here and having so many other needs on your roster to use that on a wide receiver when you just took a top five wide receiver last year is a little bit of a question to me. But again, I understand the logic behind it. But when it comes to the other needs that you have at this spot where you have a lot of good players on the board that you can potentially pick up, that is where I kind of question it. But you know the talent that is Matthew Golden.
Speaker 1:I totally understand Cincinnati Bengals at 17 takes edge Mike Green from Marshall. This guy is probably the closest thing you're going to get to a guy like Abdul Carter when it comes to a defensive end at that position he's coming from Marshall. So you question the type of talent I mean sorry, the opponents that he had to face to kind of what he did in college. But again he had his moments where he flashed when they were playing better teams that were like D1, obviously Ohio State, some other teams, but Mike Green has all the physical tools in the world. He has some off-the-field issues but again, with a team like the Bengals, we are not sure if you're going to have Trey Hendrickson going into next year. Even if you do have him when you have Sam Hubbard retire over this, like a month ago or so, being able to get a guy like Mike Green to either be your next number one guy or just to be on the other side of Trey Hendrickson would definitely be a huge add for this team, because defense is their biggest issue. They definitely don't need any more offensive players for this Bengals team. So defense is definitely the way to go. Mike Green not a bad pick.
Speaker 1:Pick 18, seattle taking off to tackle Calvin Banks Jr from Texas. This pick makes a lot of sense. They need offensive line help. They need to protect Sam Darnold because if he doesn't have protection he can be very erratic at the quarterback position. They definitely need weapons because outside of JSN they really don't have anybody wide receiver-wise anymore. They do have Kenneth Walker. Nope, yeah, it is, it's Kenny Walker. Uh, they do have the running back, so they do have plenty of running backs at that position to help them out. They definitely need pass catchers, but the fact that they can potentially get a top type of tackle to help out their offensive line would definitely be a huge help.
Speaker 1:Pick 19, tampa Bay uh, linebacker, jihad Campbell. John Campbell is a very talented off the ball linebacker. Again, it's linebacker is one of those positions that's like very under, not undervalued because they're not overvalued. It's like one of those positions that one of those positions that definitely kind of get take a tumble when it comes to what people type, what draft experts really prioritize in the draft, because there's so many of them and it's just their positional value is not necessarily as high. So guys like this usually drop. But Jihad Campbell is so talented that it makes sense. He's a first round pick and if you're Tampa Bay you don't necessarily need to have a lot of offensive needs for what this team is. So take a guy like this. Even with the shoulder injury that he has definitely a big add for that team.
Speaker 1:Pick 20, denver Broncos take running back Amari and Hampton. It makes sense. They have a decent amount of wide receivers already on that team. Their defense is actually pretty good. Last year they already have a top flight corner. They have a lot of guys on that defense side that actually play some pretty good ball and if you can get a guy like Amari in Hampton, that could be an instant weapon for your offense. It would definitely be a huge deal with Sean Payton and helping out why am I forgetting his name now? Payton's offense who is there? Oh, bo Nix, that's what his name is. But helping out Bo Nix would definitely be a huge deal to have a weapon like this in your offense to hand the football off, to throwing the football out of the backfield. He's definitely a huge weapon. That you add to that team pick 21 uh, pittsburgh Steelers, my team. Um, again, I'm glad in this mock draft they're not taking a quarterback, because that would definitely be a huge hit for me because I just don't think there's any quarterbacks really being worth at this spot.
Speaker 1:Taking, uh, he has him. Taking, uh, the safety Nick Iminori, south Carolina. I talked about him a few podcasts ago, how crazy physical that he is and he's a little bit of a project when it comes to what he is, but he is, he can be an in the box type of safety. He has the size, he has the strength, he has the speed to do anything you want him to do. He kind of would be like the Pittsburgh Steelers of Kyle Hamilton, like that's really what he would be and to be able to put him on the other side of no, no, no, don't forget the name, don't do it. Joe, come on, he's one of your best players. No, minka, minka Fitzpatrick.
Speaker 1:To be able to put Nick Imanwuri on the other side of Minka Fitzpatrick, the guy that can kind of like he's like this, he's the wizard for everything in this defense. He kind of covers up for a lot of mistakes. And if you could put Nick Imanwuri on the other side to kind of be a big playmaker and then have Minka kind of be like if you make any mistakes, I got you on the back end, would definitely be a huge help. Edmund Worry is just a very he's a physical freak and as long as he's learning and you have another superstar type of safety to kind of help him learn, would definitely be a huge deal. Again, I do think we kind of need we've put so much into our defense. I would love for the Steelers to take a wide receiver, emeka Igbuka. But if you're going to take a defensive player, definitely don't take an edge when it comes to defensive tackle. You just put so much draft capital and so much money into that position. You have other needs that you can go for and I just think safety makes more sense freaking in, because on the other side of Minka there's been pretty much a motorcade of guys just kind of cycling through and if you can kind of have one person kind of lock down, that the other, the other safety spot would definitely be huge. Or go ahead and take an offensive guy a la wide receiver, a la running back, would definitely be a huge help for our team. So I like the pick, even if I would probably lean going offense.
Speaker 1:La Chargers pick 22 edge. Donovan Ezeraku from Boston College Definitely makes sense. The Chargers released Joey Bosa so they don't necessarily have the number one defensive end that they would need. So taking a guy like this to kind of be their number one guy for years to come would definitely be a huge deal. Ezeraku from Boston College he was very productive in college, very good player Definitely makes a lot of sense to take a guy like that in this spot, especially if because you probably need more offensive weapons for this team but if you don't have a tight end that you really believe in to be a first-round pick at this spot or a wide receiver that you really believe in, it definitely makes sense for you to take a defensive end to kind of replenish that spot without having Joey Bosa, who then left to go to Buffalo, to be their defensive end. About another 10 picks here. We'll try to go through this a little more quickly.
Speaker 1:23, green Bay Packers Edge. Mikel Williams Georgia, I understand, makes a good case. Georgia loves producing defensive linemen, defensive ends, definitely like. If you have to compare him to Mike Hill Williams, to the other defensive end in what's his name? Why am I forgetting his name now? Jalen Walker. Mike Hill Williams is more of the physical. He has more of the physical tools to be a number one defensive end in the NFL than Jalen Walker does. But Michael Williams just needs to be a little bit more polished up when it comes to his pass rush moves and stuff like that. But he has all the traits in the world to be a top flight defensive end in the NFL.
Speaker 1:Pick 24, the Giants. This is a spot where he has the Giants trading up from pick 34 to come up to 24. Take Jalen Monroe from Alabama and in this scenario. He has the Giants sending pick 34 and 65 to the Vikings for pick 24. So this is a spot where I'm like this is weird and this is kind of like like why I don't? It doesn't make sense to me. Again, the Giants definitely need a quarterback. They're coming into this season with uh, with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston as their quarterbacks this year. So I could totally see how they can take a guy like Jalen Miller with the talent that he is coming to the season, understand that he is a strictly sit on the bench, learn at least for a year or two and then try to see what you can get after that, because you have those two quarterbacks at the helm that you can rely on, at least for this season.
Speaker 1:But to trade and give up more assets to take a guy like this is absolutely insane to me. When you can potentially still get him in the second round If you wait till pick 34, I just don't know how you can like say that the other guys ahead of you like that are left in the first round will take him. And that's the big question for me. Like maybe the, maybe the LA Rams, but like that's not a quarterback. That, uh, sean McVay, is it McVay? Right, that's not a quarterback Sean McVay would really go for? And then there's another, another team that really needs a quarterback to end the first round. So why would you trade up to this spot and give up draft capital to come take a guy like this where? Like it doesn't make sense. Doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. But you know, giants definitely could put him on the bench and have him learn. So hopefully that would be a good scenario for him to kind of like be built up from the ground up and not have that pressure on him from day one. But again, at this spot in the first round doesn't make sense. Just wait till 34 and not give up that 65th pick overall and just take him in the second round. But who knows, people like the teams, like having that fifth year option, especially for a quarterback, if you think he's gonna be a long-term answer because that's another year that you have control over him and not have to pay him big money. But again, that only applies if the quarterback is going to be good enough to be worth the second contract. And I'm just not sure if you can necessarily say that about jaylen right now, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Pick 25 houston takes interior offensive lineman gray zabel from north dakota state makes sense. Gray's able to look at, is looked at as one of the better interior offensive linemen in the NFL. The Texans just need a lot of offensive line help to help CJ Stroud, protect him and let him be the freaking assassin that he is back there in the pocket. And if he can be a little bit more secure and feel like he has more protection up front would definitely be a huge deal for them. This is another spot where they could probably go tackle. But maybe this McShay doesn't think there's a tackle that's truly good at this spot or ready in comparison to Gray Zabel who can kind of start from day one for them. But again, offensive line. This is probably the biggest guarantee of the draft that the Texans will take an offensive lineman in the first round at pick 25, if not trade up for somebody who knows. But like the Texans need offensive line help and that's where they're going to go.
Speaker 1:Um, pick 26 the Rams take cornerback John A Bear from Texas. This pick kind of makes sense. Uh, the Rams like to use draft picks on defensive guys, kind of keep replenishing that side of the ball, especially when you have Matthew Stafford at the other side, you already have Puka Nakua, you have Devontae Adams, you have good offensive pieces already and their offensive line is pretty set up already. So if you can take a guy like Jaday Barron to kind of be that one-on-one type of corner for your defense, it would definitely be a huge deal.
Speaker 1:Pick 27, baltimore Ravens take Derek Harmon, oregon. This is definitely a Ravens type of pick. Put a guy like this definitely a big boy, has all the physical tools to be a great interior pass rusher would definitely be a big Ravens type of pick. They have a lot of offense already. They definitely probably could use another wide receiver to come for that team because, let's be honest, even with Zay Flowers they really don't have anybody that's really consistent when it comes to pass catchers. So that would be a help. But again, the Baltimore Ravens they draft one certain way and they like drafting at high-value positions in defense tackle, especially now, getting after the Joe Burrows and the Patrick Mahomes of the world would definitely be a high value position where you can really make a splash, and Derek Harmon, being a pass rushing defense tackle, would definitely be a huge deal to take for the Ravens squad.
Speaker 1:Pick 28, detroit Lions take edge James Pierce Jr. Put him on the other side of oh no Aiden Hutchinson. Aiden Hutchinson is already their number one defensive end. He's coming off the broken leg. Hopefully he'll be able to come back this year stronger and ready to go. But even with him on the roster and healthy, edge is definitely somewhere where they need a lot of help in the Detroit Lions at this spot. Take like James Pierce Jr. He's not necessarily like he has all the physical tools, but they look at him and say, hey, does he have everything kind of like off the field, kind of ready to go, and as is he like all football, and he's gonna be ready to go and kind of be uh, ready to take the next step. To be that type of player is definitely a question, but if you don't need him to be your number one guy, he can kind of be your number two. You definitely don't need him to be the all-star right away. He can kind of grow into it and it just makes sense because they need that type of help anyway. So definitely a good pick for them.
Speaker 1:Pick 29, washington Commanders take safety Malachi Starks from Georgia. Malachi Starks is a very good safety. He was this last year at Georgia was not as productive as the year before, but he can do everything. He can be your deep safety. He can be the guy in the. He can be the guy deep in your pass coverage, be the ball hawk. He can hit you hit, hit you hard. He's not necessarily in the box type of safety but he can kind of do everything. Draft pundits were definitely worried about his uh testing when it came to the combine. He didn't really run all that fast. I didn't say around like a four or five. He's not necessarily a fast safety whatsoever, so it kind of takes away from what you can think he can be on his top end. But like he is a smart football player. He played at Georgia, played a lot of battles against a lot of good players in the SEC, so he's definitely a battle-hardened type of player that'll be ready to go and play some good football In Washington. They definitely need defense. Their offensive side of the ball is definitely already taken care of. So adding a guy to their defensive, especially their secondary, where that's like that was their biggest weakness last year was getting the ball thrown all over them last year. So taking a guy like this would definitely be a help for that team.
Speaker 1:Pick 30, buffalo Bills take cornerback Maxwell Harrison from Kentucky. Maxwell Harrison was the fastest corner in this year's draft. I think he ran like a four, didn't he run like a 3-9 or something like that? Yeah, I think he ran the fastest 40 in the whole draft. So he is definitely a very fast guy. He can do he can do man, he can do zone. At Kentucky he played a lot of good football players at the wide receiver position and kind of showed his worth. And that is definitely a spot where the Bills can definitely use some help, especially with they could probably use offensive weapons too, but like at the end of the day, like there's not really a guy that's really worth being taken right here.
Speaker 1:So the idea that they can take a guy like this to help out their defense side of the ball because again, when they get beat every year it's them getting beat by the you know the Patrick Mahomes, lamar Jackson's like having another great defensive player on that on that side, that kind of help out, especially when they gave up. They let so many defensive players walk from that team before last year started and they still managed to play some very good ball. So infusing that defense with more talent would definitely be a huge help. Even if their defense was struggling last year, but like it wasn't like an instant bad, like it was worse off by the end of the year than it was at the start, but like being able to infuse this team with this, that defense, some talent, would definitely be a huge deal.
Speaker 1:Pick 31 uh, he has the chiefs taking walter nolan, interior defensive lineman from old miss. Being able to add like this their defensive line would definitely be a huge help. Their defensive line is kind of thin, so being able to add him to that defensive line would definitely be huge. Heck, the Chiefs always just do this. They just keep drafting these very good defensive players that just come in and it's kind of just very productive and just keep that defense playing well. Maybe they can use some offensive help when it comes to tight end or maybe wide receiver. But it's just at this spot where the you know, where people kind of look at what the value is, a guy like Walter Nolan would definitely be a lot more value than other guys they'd have a chance to take. So definitely makes a lot of sense. And then pick 32.
Speaker 1:Last but not least in the end of the first round coming off the Super Bowl championship, what else would they pick other than a defensive tackle, kenneth Grant from Michigan. Kenneth Grant was the other defensive tackle for that great Michigan defensive line that wasn't as productive as Mason Graham was. But people look at Kenneth Grant as kind of being maybe the guy that can be the most, maybe be a superstar in the NFL that maybe Kenneth Grant maybe doesn't have the, he doesn't have the ceiling. I think Kenneth Grant has a bigger ceiling while Mason Graham has the higher floor. So but the Eagles with their strength already being at defensive line, the fact that you add a guy like this to be a another guy does the kind of cycle in at the defensive line position which is what really won them that Super Bowl last year because they had so much defensive line depth and talent would definitely be an ode to what the Eagles have already done and what's got them this championship they just got this past season. So definitely be a huge help. They probably could go cornerback as well to kind of help out that, because they have a lot of young guys. But definitely adding some more guys for depth would definitely be a huge help, but again, it would be definitely like the Eagles to take a guy at the defensive line position to help out that team. You know that's what they kind of got them to their championship they just got. So definitely be definitely be a good pick for the Eagles at pick 32.
Speaker 1:All right, so that is the whole mock draft from Todd McShay from his newsletter that he does. It's called the McShay Report. I have to give him some love on that because again, I just got a lot of content out of that. Whether people listen to it or not is a whole thing. I read it every week. Do his YouTube videos. If you are interested at all, go out and watch it. It's very good content and he's been putting out some very good mock drafts. So go ahead, subscribe to his report or just keep listening to me, because I'll definitely have my reactions to whatever he does, especially if it's going to be mock drafts.
Speaker 1:So, a couple weeks until the draft it's just under two weeks now. It's the 11th. Right now the first day of the draft is the 24th, so about 13 days until the NFL draft. I'm very excited for that. We'll definitely have our reactions to that, both me and Jace, when that day does come, but until then we'll be sitting here doing podcasts every week and just doing our thing. So that is about all I have. So hopefully, if you're listening to the podcast still and listening to the whole thing, I definitely appreciate you. Thank you for listening to just me kind of sit here and ramble on about sports the whole time. So definitely appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Next week I will have Jace back on and I want to do like a, a con, like sorry, kind of like a step for like a a little game where we kind of like do for all the NFL teams before the draft and then do the same thing after the draft to kind of gauge what we thought of the drafts in general. So I want to do that. We'll be doing this next week, talking about some stuff as things come along. So hopefully you're going to be here for that and, uh, that's about it. So sign off here. If you've listened for a while, we appreciate you.
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