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Welcome back to Hate Sports. I'm your host, Carter, and it is the most wonderful time of year for a football fan. It is draft week. Now, whether you're a fan of a team who hasn't had the best luck lately, or your team just won the Super Bowl, the draft week is for everybody. And I think that's something that makes it one of the best weeks, one of the most unifying things in all of sports. Everyone comes together with optimism and hope and belief that this is their year, that they are one piece away from going to the next level, and morale is just at an all-time high. And I'm here to break it down for you guys. But before we get there, do want to talk a little bit of sports. This is hey, it's sports, not hey, it's football. NBA playoffs are going on right now, hockey's going on right now, and man, it's just such a good time in sports. I'm of the belief that sports is at its best when football is being played, but of all the time that football's not being played, I think this is like the best time of year. Like I said, you have the two sports that are in playoffs. You got the NFL draft. I'm not a golf person, but golf is pretty hot right now. Baseball's really getting into gear. It's just a really good time. Um, and so I want to talk some NBA real quick. Most of the series have played either one or two games. Um, nothing really too shocking so far. Uh as I'm recording, the Sixers are actually up on the Celtics. So keep an eye on that as we as we progress, halfway through the second quarter. Again, nothing really popping out too too much right now. It's still early. We'll we'll hit more on that next week, maybe. Uh, Victor Wimanyama wins defensive play of the year, first ever unanimous defensive player of the year. Really, no competition. I don't think anybody's really surprised by this. Usually you see somebody get a sympathy vote, but Vic was just so dominant this year that he he ran away with it. Uh I'd I'm wondering, I wonder if anyone's ever won two different awards unanimously. Because Vic's done it with Defensive Player of the Year, and now he's also done it with Ricky the Year a couple years ago as well. So, man, he's really living up to his hype. I'm interested to see how how high he continues to grow. Uh did an episode with Samuel about a month ago, but that episode got lost somehow, unfortunately. And we did a segment called Wimby or, and I threw a bunch of like assets at Samuel and said, Hey, would you rather have Wimby or would you rather have Blank? And I mean, everything I threw at him, he took Wimby, and I can't disagree. The sky's the limit for him. I think he's gonna continue to progress, continue to grow, and become a top five player if he isn't already. I'd probably say he is. Um, but yeah, he's still only what 23 maybe. He's young. It's scary hours for the for the Spurs. Here's a gripe I have. Why do they announce this at like three o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon? Like, this is something that should be built up, right? Like, like in the NFL has an entire award show for their awards, right? And and hockey does the same thing. And but it just kind of got thrown out there, like, oh hey, by the way, Wimbi won unanimous defensive player of the year, first player to ever do that. And it's just like there's no anticipation, there's no build, it just kind of is out there, and then you know, fortunately he's on a playoff team, and so like they'll get to celebrate that with his crowd tonight or tomorrow whenever they play again. But I don't know, it just kind of makes it less and less uh not less impressive, but like less important almost, just to kind of be thrown out there as like there's the the hourly headline, but I digress. It doesn't, I guess it doesn't super matter at the end of the day. Hockey's going on as well. Buffalo Sabres, man, first time making the playoffs since 2011, and their game, my gosh, they were down two goals with like 10 minutes left in the game, and they went on and fired off four goals in six minutes to take the win in game one. Man, I if you don't watch hockey, playoff hockey might be the time to try it. Give it a try because it's electric, man. Even if you don't know what's going on, even if you can't see the puck all the time, it is electric. The crowd is there, the the stakes are there, the the tension is there between the teams. It it is so good. I just give it a try. You know, it may not be for you, but I if you're just fiending for sports, just give hockey a try. You know, it may surprise you by how much you enjoy it, especially if you liked the USA game against Canada, which I know I've talked to a lot of people that aren't necessarily hockey fans that watched that game and enjoyed it. It's not quite to that level, I would say. I mean, we are still just in round one, but it's not far off. So give it a try. Okay, it's time to get into the bulk of this episode. The draft, like I said earlier, it's one of my favorite things in all of sports because it it has something for everybody. You know, you play into the the fandom side of like franchise altering decisions are being made, whether it's making drafting the right player, drafting the wrong player, making a trade, you know, whatever it may be. But then there's also this sort of like almost like sappy side where you get to see these these players who their dreams are being fulfilled. You know, if you're listening to this, you probably at one point in your life had aspirations of being a pro football player or you know, pro-baseball player, basketball, whatever sport. Like that was probably your dream at one point. And so it's just really cool to see the 1%, right? Like these top of the line athletes getting to live out their dream and hearing their name called and getting to share that one with their family. And like it's just it's a really special time. So what we're gonna do today, I'm gonna give you my official mock draft, and then as we go throughout, I'll uh kind of give some extra insight as well, give you um what I think is gonna happen, maybe some alternative routes teams could go, that kind of thing. And so buckle up and let's get into it. I want to preface by saying I don't when I did my mock draft, I didn't necessarily like try to predict trades. That's a little too complicated for me. Um I think there will be trades, I think there will be a lot of trades. That's something that really gets tossed around every year. It's like, oh, this year's gonna be so many draft day trades. Like, and then most of time it doesn't happen, but it really seems like this year it's something that could happen. Um, also, I went with what I think each team is gonna do. I have my opinions on who I think is better than other players, but I'm going off of you know, draft history, I'm going off of what executives and insiders are saying, and I'm doing my best to try to predict what each team is gonna do. Now, let me say this: another thing that makes the draft kind of cool is like it's kind of like Marge Madness. Like there are so many different ways that it can go, and like one pick changes the trajectory of the entire first round. I know that that sounds obvious, but like like we'll see pretty quick. The like depending on who the Cardinals take at three is gonna is gonna um determine what the next six picks are because like they're they have a swing, what I would call like a swing pick or like an anchor anchor pick. So it's so fun to try to predict and like piece together and like put your put your uh analyst hat on and just see what you think is gonna happen. Yeah, I'm I'm so excited. I love the draft. I I'm excited if you can't tell. It's gonna be so good. I have four things that are very interesting to me, that like the headlines that I'm watching on Thursday. And only doing one round, by the way. I'm uh uh after round one, it the the hype kind of dies down and uh interest kind of drops. So we're just gonna stick with one round today. But there are four trends I'm watching. Number one, Mikhail Lemon. So if you don't really know college ball too well, Mikhail Lemon won the Blitnikov Award, which is given to the best receiver in college football. And so, you know, by that metric, he should be the number one receiver. I am very interested to see where he goes because he's number wide receiver like three or four on my big board. Um, and his playstyle is very like distinct in that it doesn't match well with certain receivers that he could be playing with. And so I think that kind of hurts his draft stock. And so Mikhail Lemon is a player that I'm I'm interested to see who pulls the trigger on next. CJ Allen, linebacker out of Georgia. He's one of my favorite, like mid to late first round prospects. I think um he is somebody that if he continues to fall, I think you see a team jump on him. Uh, I would love, love, love for the Bills to snag him at 26. I don't think he's gonna make it that far, but he's just a good, good leader, good um kind of glue guy. He's very his football IQ is at through the roof. And uh he's just a great player. Started two or three years at Georgia, one of the few players in this whole draft class to do that, to start multiple years at an SEC school. Next, offensive tackle pecking order. So what you're gonna see in the late teens to early 20s is a long run of offensive tackles. And I know that's not the most intriguing position, but it's a very important position, whether you whether it's flashing or not. And so there's about four or five different players that teams are going to, it's just gonna be chaos. Like, I don't know how else to put it. Like that this is where all the trades are gonna happen, I think, because you have teams like the Texans who are in the late 20s. If they don't do anything, they're gonna miss out on all those tackles, and they really need one. You know, even like the Chargers at um the Chargers at 22, like that even might be a little too late. And so we're gonna see. I have my idea of of ranking of like who's the better one and who's who's not as good, who I'm less high on. But I think this is something that like in real time, teams are gonna get desperate, teams are gonna try to jump in. Chaos will ensue. That's my bold prediction. And then lastly, Kenyon Sadiq, tight end Oregon. He is probably, in my opinion, second or third best like pass catching prospect in this draft. You know, that's that's accounting for receivers and tight ends. But man, there's only like two teams that I'm looking at that could use a tight end, like that would be willing to spend that on a first round pick. And he's someone who could really fall. Like, he has top 15 talent in my opinion, but I mean he could he could he could fall out of the first round, in my opinion, as well. And so those are four things that I'm looking at. I'm interested in watching for to see what happens. Um, see we'll see how I how I think it plays out as we go through the mock draft. Well, without further ado, let's just get right into it. Now, I did two different mock drafts. I just kind of tried to you know just play around, see what could happen. They're pretty similar. There's a few different things that I kind of um change. Obviously, I would have just done the same thing twice. But the number one overall pick, the Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza. This is like the clearest first overall pick in recent history. The Raiders are a quarterback-needing team. There's really no other quarterbacks worth taking in the entire first round, let alone number one overall. And honestly, not that I think Mendoza is like just the best prospect. He's tough, he can make throws, but man, I think a lot of his success was banked off the fact that Indiana ran a lot of RPOs, a lot of quick hitting things, and you know, the four or five times a game he needed to make a big throw, he could do it. He doesn't have the best running ability, he doesn't have just the most accurate throws. He's a little undersized. I think his ceiling is honestly like a Brock Purdy. Jared Goff somewhere in there. That's that's kind of a bit of a range, but I think he's just kind of the by default pick here. Um, we're not gonna spend too much time on that, though, because that's like literally everyone knows that's what's happening. Number two, the Jets. Jets have a lot of holes on their team. I think it's pretty obvious they're gonna go one position here, and that's Edge Rusher. And really, it's between two guys. We have David Bailey out of Texas Tech, and we have Arvell Reese out of Ohio State. Two guys that they play the same position, but I think they're very different players. David, you have David Bailey, who is like pure pass rusher. He led the country in sacks last year. He's super fast, doesn't really waste much movement. He can get his hands on somebody and rush the quarterback very well. And then you have Arvell Reese, who, you know, he's a good pass rusher in his set in his own right, but really I see him as more of like a linebacker. As great as he is, how high do you draft a linebacker? Like I when's the last time you saw a linebacker go to number two? I struggle with seeing him be being good enough and even really being big enough to play edge full time in the NFL. You know, think like a uh a Nick Benito, a Brian Burns kind of guy who he can pass he can pass rush. I think he's more of a uh edge that can kind of do it all. David Bailey, man, he's my honestly, he's my favorite prospect in this draft. I think that his pass rushing ability is second to none out of this draft class. And so I this is a hot take if you um are in the uh mock draft space, but I have David Bailey going number two to the Jets. And as a Bills fan, that quite frankly scares me because man, go watch his highlights. He it didn't matter if he was playing like you know, bum squad or if he was in the coshwall playoff against Oregon, like dude's a game wrecker. Like I my comp friend was Aiden Hutchinson. Like every play, he was chasing down Don Timor for against Oregon, and they couldn't do anything about him. They tried doubling him, they tried, you know, picking him. Like he he had his way, you know, and the knock on him is um his ability to stop the run. But man, when you have someone as as good as pass rushing as he is, you don't really care. You he can figure out the run blocking. Like, but like guys like Miles Garrett, like Max Crosby, these aren't people that are you know known for their run defense either. They're at they're both top 10, top 15 players in the league, just strictly off their pass rushing. And I think David Bailey could join that group of players. My pick is David Bailey. Be on the lookout for Rvell Reese there as well. Next, the Cardinals at three, again, another team that has a lot of holes. In my opinion, the Cardinals kind of like look, I know I talked about like all the optimism and like franchise altering people. It's very, very tempting to sort of jump the gun here, right? The Cardinals, again, a lot of holes. And there's a player who a lot of people would consider him to be the best player in this draft, Jeremia Love, at running back. You don't draft a running back before you have everything else, right? Look at what happened with Ashton Genty. Second place in the Heisman coming out of college, like could score almost every time he touched the ball, and then he gets an NFL, and what happens? He doesn't really play with the same level of just taking over the game as he did in college. Obviously, there's gonna be a drop-off the NFL. You're playing better teams, better defenders, bigger athletes. But, and I've said this before, you could have Barry Sanders back there. If you don't have an offensive line, it does not matter. And the Raiders do not have an offensive line, and Genty suffered because of it. And I think if the Cardinals take Jeremiah Love, I think you see a very similar thing. And then what happens? He gets labeled as a bust, right? He they say that his game doesn't translate to the NFL and like this is why you don't take running back so high. It's not really fair to put all that on him when you're you're in a position that is so dependent on other people. Uh, but we'll talk more about Jeremiah Love here in a little bit. I don't think they take Jeremiah Love. Honestly, I see them trading back. There's been a lot of uh people saying that the Cardinals are trying to trade back. I think it's really down to two guys. I think they go best available and draft Arville Reese, or my opinion, the smart pick is to draft a lineman. And the best lineman in this draft is Francis Malagoa out of Miami. Dude is a just absolute beast. If he gets his hands on you, it's over. And he's really good at getting to the second level, getting on those linebackers, even on the defensive backs, just someone who could be an anchor for your offensive line for the next 10 years. And you know what? They don't have a quarterback right now. They're starting Jacoby Brissett. Why why rush? Like, let's let's build our team up so that way when we get ready to draft a quarterback, he has something to work with. Right? How many times do you see teams kind of rush the process and draft a quarterback before everything else and just not worked out? Right? Look at the 49ers. Like, obviously Brock Purdy was the last pick in the draft, but like they had everything they needed, and then they got the quarterback to where, even if it wasn't Brock Purdy, I mean, I think you could have a lot of quarterbacks just go into that system and and make it work. You know, and I think Brock Purdy is a pretty good quarterback on his own, but when you go into a situation like that where everything's kind of in front of you, it helps a lot. And so if you're the Cardinals, like drafting no matter who you draft, like it's not going to make you contender or anything close to that. And so you I think something that teams don't do a lot is kind of plan for the future, like plan years in advance. And I know there's a lot of uncertainty as well, and so it's hard to always do that, but why not get someone who again can anchor your offensive line for 10 the next decade and you know, next year in a quarterback heavy class, you you can have your pick of the litter, you know, because you're not gonna be very good. You're gonna have a top five pick again unless something crazy happens. But yeah, give me Francis Malago at three, and then at four, the Titans can't you know it's a trend. Like these are the the first picks for a reason. Like a lot of holes on these teams, right? Jeremiah Love, this is where he goes. I don't see him falling past four. The Titans, like, I I don't think it's a good idea. Like, I don't think they should. I think the only way they don't go love is if obviously the Cardinals take him first or if somebody trades up to get him. If that happens, if if the Cardinals do go Jeremiah Love, I think that the Titans go with Arvell Reese or whoever the Jets don't take. Here's my problem with Jeremiah Love. And look, there's not a lot of people saying bad things, and I think that's fair. But here's here's my hesitancy towards him as a player. He is the clear and away best running back in this class, but his teammate, Jadarian Price, is the second best. I have not seen anything that tells me that Jeremiah Love can be a workhorse running back in the NFL. He has split carries his whole time at on at uh Notre Dame. Uh his his production is very good, but he's never had to carry the load. And I think that is something that is important, especially in NFL, when you play for a team like the Titans, who you're gonna take some hits, you're gonna get tackled a lot, like you're gonna your legs are gonna be taken out. Can he carry the load and be a lead workhorse back? I don't see anything that says he can. Maybe they maybe Ty J Spears or uh they still have Tony Pollard, maybe they can kind of be a one-two. I mean, it's the same thing with the Cardinals. Like, when you have this many holes, you can't go running back first. Like, I think that's a one of the last pieces you should add because again, it's so dependent on the people around him. But at the same time, I understand you have a generational talent, a prospect this good. It's hard not to take him. So I really think this is the lowest that he falls, is to the Titans at four. Next is the Giants, and the Giants are a very compelling team. So obviously, you know, they trade one of their best players, Dexter Lawrence, to the Bengals for the 10th overall pick. And what that did is really open up their options. There's a lot of people saying they could trade this pick, trade number 10. From what I've seen, I think they go one of two players here, and that's between Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs. Sonny Styles is another one of my favorite prospects in this draft, just a super good linebacker, like old school linebacker. But again, it's kind of the same thing with Arvell Reese. Like, how high are you willing to draft a linebacker? He's a really good open field tackler, he he's good in running lanes and hard to block. He can cover pretty well. I think like a Bobby Wagner in his prime. If I had to pick between the two, I'm going Sonny Styles. Be on the lookout for Caleb Downs as well, though. I do think they go defense. If not, maybe they take a receiver. I think that's a little high. I don't think there's any receivers that really blow me away in this draft class, but my pick, Sonny Styles, but again, be on the lookout for Caleb Downs and potentially a receiver as well. Next is the Browns. So I mentioned how like earlier picks really help determine what other people, other teams are going to do. I think if the Browns could have anybody at this spot, I think they would want Francis Malagoa, the tackle from Miami. I think it's 50-50 if the Cardinals take him or not. And so in my official mock draft, I have them taking Carnel Tate, receiver out of Ohio State. If Malagoa is there, I think they should take him. If not, I think they go Carnel Tate. Carnel Tate is the consensus best receiver in this class. I firmly disagree. He has played alongside one of the best receiving prospects in recent history and Jeremiah Smith. Go watch his highlights. So many of his plays, there's not a defender within 20 yards of him. It's just wide open streaks. You know, he's he's got good deep ball catching, but when you play against a guy or you play alongside a guy like Jeremiah Smith, who's taken so much attention, you're gonna get wide open. Like I'm telling you, he just doesn't impress me. I'm not saying he's a bad player, but I'm just not high on him at all. You know, he's not a wide receiver one, I don't think. I think he I think his ceiling is like a Devontae Smith. I know Devontae Smith's a good player, but are you gonna draft someone like that with a six overall pick? I don't think you should. But that's just my opinion. But if I'm if I'm doing my my best to try to guess who the j the the Browns would take in this spot, I am going Carnell Tate. I think that's who they go with, just off of what I've seen. Next, the commanders. This is where my Arvell Reese slide officially comes to an end. You'd be hard pressed to find many mock drafts out there where he falls to seven, but this is just kind of where I see it. If Arvell Reese is not available, I think Carnell Tate falls into their lap. Cardinal Tate or Arvell Reese, it's one of those two Ohio State boys for me. In my mock draft, I'm going with Arville Reese. I understand it's probably a slim chance that he is there. Because honestly, if he does fall this much, somebody's probably trading up to get him. You know, you see like a maybe like a Chiefs or a Cowboys trading up to go get him, not predicting trades. And so I will take uh Arville Reese at seven for the commanders. Next up is the Saints. Saints are a very enticing team here. They they they intrigue me, if you will. A lot of Saints fans listening to this, I'm sure. Well, not a lot. I don't get a lot of viewers, and that's okay. Do it for the love of the game. If you're a Saints fan, there is definitely tr trends in the draft, and that is Offensive and defensive linemen. The Saints, man, they never go flashy pick, right? Every year it's like, man, they could get this guy, and then they draft a line, somebody on the line. You know, it hadn't super worked out for them. Uh their offensive line is pretty good right now. Their defensive line is lacking. And so there's a flashy pick available in Jordan Tyson, who in my opinion is the best receiver in this class. I'm going to give a comp that may turn you off to him. But he really reminds me of like a Khalil Shakir in that he's really shifty. He's really good after the catch. He has really good body control and ball tracking skills on those deep balls. And he draws a lot of fouls. Like if you watch his highlights, like you see, he'd have a lot better stats if he wasn't getting interfered with like on so many plays. The one knock on him is he seems scared of contact and doesn't bode well if you're trying to play football. You know, I still think he's the best receiver in this draft. He's really trended up lately, too. So he could be gone by this point. Like the the commanders could very well take him, but I think he's available at eight for the Saints, but I think they go with Ruben Bain, the edge out of Miami. Ruben Bain is, I say David Bailey is my favorite prospect. I'd probably say David Bailey, Sonny Styles, and then Ruben Bain's my third favorite. I again go go watch his his highlights in the playoffs. This dude has unreal speed, match with great power. Like when I first started, I doing my like research and my analysis for all this. I said he was the best player in the country. The one up that he has on David Bailey is he actually is really good against the run as well. But there's one knock on him called the Will Campbell effect. He has short arms and teams really get turned off by that kind of stuff. And so I think he falls a lot later than he should. But if you're a Saints fan, I think you should be over the moon excited about this pick. He is someone who could come away as being the biggest deal to draft, even though he gets drafted as high as eight. Because I mean, if his arms were three inches longer, he's he's the number two overall pick, and it's not much of an argument in my opinion. So give me Reuben Bain, but be on the lookout for Jordan Tyson as well. Even maybe like a Mansour Delane as well from LSU. The Almighty Chiefs, as good as they've been, like they've got some holes on their on their team as well. You know, they traded away like maybe not traded away, they lost like almost their entire secondary. They have they lost pretty much all their defensive backs. They they signed some in free agency, but nowhere near the level of play that they've had in years prior. And defense was definitely one of their big holes. But they have some other holes as well. Receiving, uh Xavier Worley hasn't really looked like he's been what he was maybe projected to be. I wasn't super high on him in the first place. I think if he hadn't broke the record for fastest 40 time, we wouldn't really be talking about him a whole lot. But, you know, as as good as he was this rookie year, he didn't do a whole lot last year. Or Shea Rice, I mean, if he can stay out of jail, he's good, but you know, that's up in the air right now. And then you have uh Taekwond Thornton, they lost Hollywood Brown, and so receiver is a hole in their team, not the biggest hole, in my opinion, a hole nonetheless, and then of course offensive line. Something that Andy Reid came out and said is that he he is uh he's tired of dealing with offensive line problems. Could be on the lookout for that as well. There's a lot of different ways the Chiefs can go, but at the end of the day, I think where they go is largely dependent on what the Saints do. I think if Jordan Tyson is there at nine, I think the Chiefs take him. That's my pick here. Jordan Tyson, wide receiver, Arizona State. Be on lookout for offensive linemen as well. I'm thinking like Monroe Freeling, Spencer Fano, those kind of guys, or even they could go with Caleb Downs as well, uh, Mansor Delane as well. So there's a lot of ways the Chiefs can go. This is one of the first like really picks that really like could go a lot of different ways, and it's gonna really affect the teams behind them. I could also see them trading up. They've been um heavily speculated to be looking to trade up as well, moving up to like the five or six range to go get a really good player. So be on lookout for the Chiefs to maybe do some dealing on draft night. Number 10, the New York Giants. I think they uh I go back and forth on whether they won or lost this trade. At the end of the day, Dexter Lawrence requested a trade. And so, you know, if you're the Giants, like you have to trade him. Like, as good as he is, like if he's requesting a trade, making it clear he doesn't want to be there, you're not gonna get the best version of him. And so you may as well move on from him and uh just get as much as you can for him. So the 10th pick, honestly, this draft class isn't the most loaded. It's got like the top six guys, and then there's really not there's really a big drop-off for the rest of the first round. Whether they go downs or styles with the fifth pick, I think they go line in with this pick if they don't trade it. This is another pick that could very easily be traded. I in fact, one of my locks, I think this is an offensive lineman. The need is at guard. One of my favorite prospects, one of the more underrated guys, in my opinion, is Vega Ioane from Penn State. And the Giants have a hole at guard. Their tackles are okay. They they need a right guard, bad. Evan Neal people thought he was gonna be a dang stud coming out of college, but he has not really lit up to his hype. Just a nasty player in Vega, really compliments what they're trying to do right now. You know, help Jackson Dart, those kind of things. He's another guy. Like he you he gets your hands on you like you're just done. And he's he's won. He's got his good feet, super strong, good IQ, all those things. So a lot of drop, a lot of drafts have him going late teens. I think I think the Giants could scoop him up here just because he's he fits what they need really well. Uh being maybe could go Spencer Fano. He's a tackle, not really high on him, honestly. People see him maybe as the best lineman in this draft, but to me, he's just he's undersized. I think the draw for him is his versatility. Like he he was predominantly a tackle at Utah, but he could play all three positions. He could play tackle guard or center. So he was really good against speed rushers, but the power rushing was not something he was able to control very well. And you know, the further inside the line you go, the the more prevalent that'll become. And uh obviously playing for a team like Utah who's very run-heavy didn't really bode well for him either. So my pick would be Ola, I'm not gonna try to say his name, Vega Ioane, guard, and state. You know, if slim slight chance they go, you know, receiver first at five, then look for Caleb Downs, look for Sonny Styles here. That's what's so interesting, is like both of the players that I think the Giants are looking at at five could very well be available at ten. And so maybe they trade one of their picks. I don't know. There's been a lot of cat and mouse. Like, first they were saying like Sonny Styles was their favorite prospect, and then it was like, no, they don't like him anymore. Now they're back on him. I think Sonny Styles is the way to go. I think he's one of the more underrated players in this whole draft. And same with Vega Ioane. I think if they if the Giants come away with Sonny Styles and Ioane, I think they win the draft. I think those are two solid, solid pieces that complement well. They fill voids on the in the um on the Giants roster, and then you know you can go find your receiver in the late rounds, in the second or third round. So that's what I have for the Giants. Next up, the Dolphins. Man, fall from grace. Am I right? Dolphins have a lot of holes. They need a receiver, they need defensive backs, they need linemen. So this is kind of where my Mikhail Lemon debate starts. He's a good player, don't get me wrong. But he's little, he's not fast. I'm just not high on him. The plus side to him is he can kind of line up wherever you want him to. He can be in the slot, he can be out wide, but he's not fast. He's quick, he's not fast. And, you know, speed is something you can hide in college, you can't hide it in the NFL. I know he was Blitnikoff, I know he was the best receiver in the in college last year, but I think his playstyle doesn't match what the what the Dolphins already have. Now, if they draft him, he'll be their best receiver. He'll be better than Washington and whoever else they have. And so, you know, you just signed Malik Willis, maybe you you draft you draft somebody for him to throw to. Like, I could see that happening. I don't think they take him. I think they go biggest need and best available, and that is Caleb Downs out of Ohio State. Just an absolute stud. Like coming in to the season, he was probably the one of the top two or three prospects, and then you know, it's not like he got worse, it's just so many other guys stepped up, and safety's not the most um you know, prominent position to be drafting early. But just an absolute dog. True free safety. He can roam all over the field, he can play in the box, he can play too high, he can cover. He's so good in zone, he can stuff the run. I I think a comp for him is like a Derwin James. Like he can cover, but man, he can he can fill a hole too, pause, um, and do what he needs to do. So I think if if the dolphins got to hit Caleb Downs at 11, I think that's an absolute win for them. Especially because they lost Miga Fitzpatrick, and so you're kind of looking for somebody to replace him. He's really the best defensive back in this draft class, in my opinion. If the Giants take downs at five, I think you just pick the next best available defensive back, which would be Mansward Delane. Um maybe Reach for a Jamad McCoy, but his stock's kind of fallen. It's Downs or Delane for me. If and if it's not either them, if they really just really want to go offense, then maybe they go Mikhail Lemon, but I don't think that'd be a wise choice. So give me uh give me Caleb Downs for the Dolphins. And the biggest losers for that is the Cowboys. Reached out to my Cowboys fan friend, shout out Andy. I asked for who he was looking at for the draft. He's had Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs. I don't think either of them are gonna be here at 12, unfortunately for him. I would love Sonny Styles to see Sonny Styles at in Dallas. I think Dallas really needs a good linebacker. As much as I don't like Dallas, like I'd be happy to see him there because I think he could fit well there. But I don't think he's gonna make it. And I don't think Caleb Downs is gonna make it. Maybe the Dolphins go corner over safety and draft Mansword Delane, but I don't see it. I think I think uh Downs is just a better player. Really, that speaks more to Downs than Delane, because Delane is far and away the best corner in this draft class to me. He is, my gosh, I mean, there's so many times where he just ran routes for the receiver. Like he just can he can play wide, he can play in the slot, he can play zone, he can play man. I mean, like this is like Derek Stingley reincarnated LSU. Transferred from Virginia Tech, came in, became the best corner in the country like immediately. Really was one of the better corners last year. And then LSU could playing somewhere like LSU really boosts your draft stock because of how highly touted they are and the competition. And he, as up and down as LSU season was, he was like one of the constants. Um, and so my comp for him, like I said, Derek Stingley, even like a Christian Benford, like can line up all over the field, can cover ball hawk, just clean, crisp, like raw prospect. He's so good. I think for him to fall at 12 to the Cowboys, I think that is just about best case scenario as it gets for them. Next is the Rams. Again, Mikhail Lemon just does not fit for me. I think he really limits Puka because they kind of do the same thing, right? Just whatever shifty, like acute route you can run for Puka to get open, like bubble screens, like little crossing routes, like whatever. That's what Mikhail Lemon needs. And if you have two guys doing that, I think that kind of hurts Puka. And the last thing you want to do if you're a Ram is to limit Puka Nakua, the top two receiver in the league. But you know, wide receiver seems to be the consensus here for the Rams. In my opinion, I think that offensive line is just as much of a priority for them. And so that really opens up their draft board for me. If Jordan Tyson's available, they're picking Jordan Tyson. I think he really compliments Puka. He can play wide, he can uh stretch the field for Puka, but I don't think he's gonna fall this far. I really think that their line needs help because Stafford is getting less and less mobile, and so you have to have a better offensive line to compensate for that. Again, the consensus if they were to go line would probably be Spencer Fano. I just am not high on him. I'm really not. I'm much more of a fan of Munro Freeling out of Georgia. Uh just more more polished, better uh, better size, better technique, better skill. He's someone who really boosted his draft stock over the course of the season. He wasn't really on anybody's radar, and now he's you know projected first-round pick. So if it was if I'm choosing, I'm taking Munro Freeling over Fono here for the Rams. And then I have Fono going 14 to the Ravens. So the Ravens, you know, they lost Linderbaum. They have they had one of the worst starting guards in the league who doesn't play for them anymore. And then really their entire right side of the line is just abysmal right now. And so this is where I think someone like Fono with his versatility could really be appealing for them. You know, they also need a receiver, and I'll say it one more time. Uh Mikhail Lemon just really doesn't fit what they got. He's just another Zay Flowers for me. Uh, you really don't need two Zay Flowers on your teams. They do the same thing. Really don't need one Zay Flowers, but you know, they got that. And so I think to draft Mikhail Lemon would be pretty redundant unless you're just looking to move on from Zay Flowers. But gimme Spencer Fano. I think he fits more, I think he fills more of a gap that the Ravens have right now on the offensive line. And again, that versatility, like that's his to me, his biggest, his best like attribute is the fact that he can pretty much play anywhere on the line. So gimme Fono for the Ravens. If they don't go Fano, look for Kenyon Sadiq. They got rid of Isaiah Likely, Mark Andrews is heavily on the decline. Sadiq is far and away the best tight end in this draft class. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go there either. But I have him going 15 to the Buccaneers. So if Sadiq doesn't go, this is why I said Sadiq was kind of interest intrigued me as a prospect. If he doesn't go 14 to the Ravens or 15 to the Bucks, I don't see where he goes. There's just not a lot of teams that just super need a tight end right now. You know, it's it's kind of one of those things where like there's not he has a wide range as far as like how people view his skill. Some people say he's he's overrated, some people think he's one of the better players in the entire draft, you know. Not someone that like is the most sure prospect, and like you don't super like know what you're gonna get out of him, but the Bucks don't have a lot of holes on their team, you know, they just have really bad injury luck, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And so, you know, they could go with like a uh CJ Allen, you know, a corner, but I think they go Kenyon Sadiq, I think he's the best available for some for positions they need. But my CJ Allen watch starts here at 15 for the for the Buccaneers. It kind of feels like no matter what they do, they're reaching. I I haven't really seen a whole lot of buzz about them trading this pick. It's just gonna, I think they just go best available. If the board falls the way it's shaping up for me, I think that's Kenyon Sadiq. The Jets, when you're the team like the Jets and you just drafted David Bailey, who again is my favorite prospect in this draft, I think you just continue to do the same thing and go best available. And at this point, the best available is Mikhail Lemon. He is someone who compliments Garrett Wilson better than some of the other teams, number one receiver. Uh, he could be that kind of playmaker, open space kind of player. And when you have the Jets, you just don't have a lot to look forward to. And so having someone like Mikhail Lemon could be a bit of a spark, someone that, you know, entertain entertainment factor, like playmaker kind of guy, and take some pressure off Garrett Wilson. There are a lot of people saying that this could be where Ty Simpson goes. I just don't see it, man. Like he gets a lot of hype, and but he just doesn't really move me. Um, it really feels force at this point, but be on the lookout for Ty Simpson, if not Mikhail Lemon. Next up, the Lions at 17. This is where the potential of the offensive line, offensive tackle uh chain starts that I mentioned earlier. I'm higher on Caden Proctor out of Alabama than most people are. Um, so I think that's something you kind of look for here. Possibly. I'm not gonna quite pull the trigger just yet, though. I think they go edge. I I think they go Akeem Mesador out of Miami, guy who's really overlooked because he played on the same team as Ruben Bain. Didn't get near as much attention as he did, obviously. But he's still a really good player. Definitely the best edge that's available at this point. I really like CJ Allen for them too. Again, there's a lot of different places I could see him go in, but I'm gonna hold off just a little bit longer and go with Akeem Mesador, but be on the lookout for CJ Allen, look out for Caden Proctor here, really any of those tackles to go here. But with Hutch on the other side, I think having somebody to take pressure off him is is big, and he's someone who can get to the quarterback. Next is the Vikings, they're kind of in a boat where it's either edge or defensive back. None of the edges at this part of the draft really move me a whole lot. And so I think they go safety, their heartbeat, their captain, whatever you want to call him, over the past decade. Harrison Smith is more than likely going to be retiring this year if he's not already going to retire before the season even starts. And so having someone to replace him, even learn under him for it, sit under him for a year, I think could be really good. And so I'm gonna go with Dylan Thieneman out of Oregon. This dude is, again, a very underrated player, in my opinion. Just a really good coverage safety. He's a ball hawk. He had a lot of interceptions for Oregon, um, plays the ball very well in coverage, doesn't have a lot of fouls. He's just a super um clean, like really good technique kind of player. He's not necessarily like the same archetype as Harrison Smith. Like he's not gonna lay anybody out by any means, but he's someone who can be a good coverage safety, who can line up against a receiver kind of guy. So give me Dylan Thieneman here. They could also go edge, uh maybe like a Keldrick Falk, a Cassius Howell as well. Just, you know, there's not there's not a lot for the Vikings here. Next up, the Panthers at 19. So this is somewhere that I am reaching for them. I think the best player for them to take at this position is Kaden McDonald. He is a defensive tackle for Ohio State. That Ohio State defense had five or six first-round caliber players, and so Caden McDonald really got overlooked. But first team All American, first team all Big Ten, all these things. Really good at just taking up space. And, you know, at 330 pounds, he had a really good movement, had 65 tackles at defensive tackle, which is a lot. Three sacks, just really good eating up blocks, think like a Jordan Davis for the Eagles. He would definitely be a reach for the Panthers, but I think he fits what they have so well. I think they have a really good secondary. I think they have good edge rushers, not good edge rushers, but uh serviceable edge rushers. And so um definitely a reach, but give me Caden McDonald. Also, possibility of Omar Cooper here out of Indiana. They could draft an edge player. Give me Caden McDonald. That's that's my uh that's probably my hottest, boldest take, boldest prediction, but I I like that for them a lot. So give me that. Cowboys at 20. This is where my CJ Allen slide officially ends. Man, if you miss out on Sonny Styles, but you're able to get CJ Allen, I would take that as an absolute win for the Cowboys. He's obviously not as good as Sonny Styles, but man, he is just a the kind of guy who can just be a leader, has super high IQ, uh almost maybe to a fault. He's not like he's not a kind of guy who's gonna just super lean on his athleticism to get to where he needs to be and to do what he needs to do. He is a little undersized, but he can he can get to his spot just as a matter of can he execute. Uh he's a leader, he's a play caller, he he fit, he checks all the boxes for me. And so having him go to somewhere like Dallas who is just defense desperate, uh, I think is good for them, and something that um helps fill a hole in their team. At 21 is the Steelers. The tackle chain doesn't start with the Lions, it starts here. This is where I have Caden Proctor. He's just like a I can't explain it, but if you know, you know, like he's just a Steeler. Like he fits the mold, he fits the playstyle, he's just a good player who going into the season last year, consensus best lineman in the country. He didn't have the best year, I think, just playing with Alabama, all the all the Alabama guys as a whole, their stock sort of dropped because they didn't really live up to expectations. But dude is a unit, he can move, he can pass block, he can. Run block. He checks all the boxes for me. He's one of my favorite prospects. And I think if he falls to twenty at twenty-one, that's a steal for the for the Steelers. So give me Kaden Proctor. I see somebody trading up for him. Like if I were to predict trades, someone's trading up at like the 16, 17, 18 range and getting Caden Proctor. But no trades here. We're just going straight at it. And I'm taking him at 21 for the Steelers. And if it's not him, it's probably a different tackle because their offensive line is really bad. Next, 22, Chargers. Here's the issue for the Chargers. Yes, offensive line was bad, but both of their tackles were injured. Like season ending injuries early on. And so a lot of these tackles that are available at the end of the first round aren't really guys that you're looking at sliding into guard. Um, I've talked about this before, but to some people, maybe that's not big much of a difference, but trust me, it is. Guards and tackle, even though they're very close in proximity, that's kind of the same position. Like you're blocking two completely different people, and it's two completely different skill sets, it's two completely different sizes of people. And so it's not as easy to move from guard to tackle or tackle to guard as it may seem. Guard to center isn't that much different. Um, that's a lot more common, but tackles are are kind of like tackle only. You know, it's rare you see someone like Fono who can play both. The guard, the interior offensive line, guards and centers, that's what that's what the chargers really need. There's really not anybody that super fits that well at this point of the first round. Really the only first round talent at the guard slash center position is Ioane, but I have him going at 10. So unless the Chargers try to trade up, I don't really see him fall into them. Next best thing, next biggest hole, give me Denzel Boston out of Washington. Again, I'm not really high on all these receivers. I think Jordan Tyson can be good, but other than that, like I don't see a lot of just anything that blows me away receiver-wise. But he's a big body player. He um has really good footwork, he can catch. He's like Mike Evans made over, in my opinion. Uh tall frame, he can be a red zone threat, and that's something that the Chargers and Justin Herbert really need. They have lad McConkey who can play slot and kind of get open over the middle, and then they have the deep threat and Quentin Johnston when he's not dropping all his balls. And so having a guy like Denzel Boston out wide with his big frame to make those contested catches, I think that really opens up the offense for the Chargers. And so, unless they try to force a lineman, I think Denzel Boston is really the best pick for them here. They could go edge, their edge needs a little bit of help. They have Khalil Mack, who's really good, but coming off, you know, being old. Keldrick Falk is still available, Cassius Howard's still available, maybe even like a um a Peter Woods, who's not an edge, he's more of an interior defensive lineman, but could see him here as well. But give me Denzel Boston for the Chargers. Eagles at 23. Again, in my opinion, another layup. The Eagles have one of the best offensive line coaches in the league. And so I think them drafting a guy like Max, let me try this. I'm I think for them drafting the tackle out of Arizona State, this is a guy who is a very, very raw prospect. Like he has a lot of upside. He's not near where I would consider to be like his peak. But it's because he's relatively new to football, he hasn't played for very long, and so when you have that, someone who's not been in the in the game for very long, they're not gonna have the best technique. But power, speed, agility, like those things he's got. And so you have a guy like Jeff Statland, the line coach for the Eagles. I think if he gets to work with him, I think that he turns him into a very, very good player. He's someone who's higher, who I've hired than um a lot of people as well. Like a lot of people have him going in the late 20s, but I think he's somebody that, you know, Lane Johnson, I don't think is retiring yet. And so give Max a year to learn and to kind of hone in on what he needs to learn to be better, and this could be dangerous. I think this he could become a staple for the Eagles offensive line. And then at 24, I have the Browns. So obviously, this pick is going to be very determined on what they do at six. If Francis Malagoa is available at six and the Browns decide to take him there, then you know it seems kind of redundant to take another tackle. And so maybe they go receiver here. In my mock, I have them taking Carnell Tate because Francis Malagoa is not going to be available. And so I have them picking up their offensive lineman here and Blake Miller. Blake Miller is like the exact opposite of Max. He is like super polished, like he's he has a lot of experience. He started for three years for Clemson. Um, great technique. It's just he lacks in power and strength. He gets bull rushed a lot, but technique is there. And so that's something that the a team like the Browns would probably need, like, where the coaching isn't going to be as as good as the Eagles, have a more polished prospect who can uh start day one. Like that's that's kind of the kind of guy you're gonna get in Blake Miller tackle for Clemson. At 25 for the Bears, there's another team that, like, man, there's just nothing really here for them. Um, you're gonna be reaching on something unless you trade back. You find a team desperate and trade back. I don't feel good about this at all, but I'm gonna have them slotted to take Emmanuel McNeil Warren. He's a safety out of Toledo. The Bears, like, out of nowhere, don't have a whole lot of holes in their team, but safety is one of them. I don't love him as a prospect. I think he's not nearly as good as Thineman. He's injury prone, he isn't like the best tackler. He's really like just a straight coverage safety. Like he has good ball tracking skills, he plays the ball well, but that's really it. He doesn't, like I said, he doesn't hit he doesn't tackle well, those kind of things. And so I don't feel great about it, but there's really just no one here for the Bears. I'm like, oh yeah, that makes sense. If not him, maybe they reach for a defensive tackle, maybe like a Caleb Woods, or maybe like a Peter Woods or a Caleb Banks, but I'll I'll stick with EMW for now, I guess. Next, the Bills. So Bills traded for DJ Moore, which takes the pressure of drafting a receiver out. I really think they go edge here. I would love, love, love, love for CJ Allen to fall here because we lost, we don't bring back Matt Milano this year. Terrell Bernard has kind of lost his step, unfortunately. So having a guy like CJ Allen to be that interior linebacker is ideal for me. I don't think he's going to be here, though. So give me Keldrick Falk out of Auburn. I think he's the best edge available at this point. I think we go edge regardless. Um, I've seen a lot of Malachi Lawrence, I've seen a guy out of Clemson, TJ Parker. But if Keldrick Falk is here at 26, I'm happy with that. I think he could go earlier from one of those uh edge-needing teams like the Chargers or maybe even the Eagles. I'll slot him here for the Bills at 26. Just please no receiver. Please do not draft Omar Cooper. Please don't draft somebody who was the third best receiver on his team. Even if it was the national champions, please don't draft him. Brandon Bean. Next, 49ers. This is one that has pretty much been confirmed. Like if Caleb Lamu is there, tackle from Utah, the 49ers are taking him. Uh that's that's their their coach's guy. That's who they're they're hot on, that's who they want. Uh they just extended Trent Williams, but you know, in two years he's gonna be done. And so even if he just they just draft and stash for a couple years, like I think that's good for them. Next up, the Texans, again, another team that I really could see trading up. But if they don't, we're just gonna assume they don't, they miss out on all the tackles. Give me Peter Woods, a guy who was a top 10 prospect going into this season, and then he really similar to Alabama, like all their all the Clemson players just kind of dropped because they played so bad as a team this year. So if I had to like if I had to really predict, I think they try to trade up and go get a tackle, um, or maybe someone like Max out of Arizona State falls this far. I'm gonna go with Peter Woods. I think that as good as his defense was, the one maybe weak spot would be the defensive tackle position, and he's someone who is val he's his value is a lot higher than 28. It's just the way that it fell for me. Next, the Chiefs. So honestly, I really think the Chiefs should go Caleb Downs at nine. I don't think they do it because they're the Chiefs. I think that they make the flashy pick, kind of opposite of the Saints, and they go with Jordan Tyson. But because they miss out on the defensive back at nine, I think they pull the trigger here at 29 and go with Jramal McCoy out of Tennessee. Jamal McCoy, two years ago, one of the best corners in the country. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL towards the end of two seasons ago, and so he was out all last season. Actually came out today that he might miss all of this season, too. And so he really could fall even more. He's more of like a sauce gardener to me, like just coverage, boundary corner. He's the kind of guy that you'll never notice because they just don't throw the ball to him. I think it's something really good for the Chiefs, who just like the Texans, could trade up, try to get off tackle, but if not, I think they stay put, go with Dramad McCoy at 30. So the Dolphins, in my opinion, would love Jordan Tyson. I don't think he fossted them at 11, but they miss out on their receiver at nine. They're not going to miss out at 30. They take Omar Cooper Jr., a guy who fit well with what the Dolphins have. Another guy to look out for who has early 20 potential is KC Concepcion from Texas AM. I actually don't have him in my first round. That's probably a hot take as well, but um, he doesn't really fit what the Dolphins need to me. Uh, he just is, again, the same as Mikhail Lemon, just that speedy quick receiver. I think you need somebody with a bigger frame who can uh make contested catches. And so gimme Omar Cooper at 30 for the Dolphins. At 31, again, it's insane how many teams need a tackle. Uh, the Patriots. They miss out on the sweepstakes unless Max falls again. If not, gimme Caleb Banks out of Florida, one of the best defensive tackles in the country. He was injured last year, but before that, he was really, really, really good for the Florida Gators. The only way that really that there's a tackle here is if Philly goes receiver due to uh the AJ Brown trade, that is heavily likely to happen. Uh if you miss that, AJ Brown all but confirmed to be a post-June 1st trade to the Patriots. And so if that happens, maybe Philly goes receiver. If not, I think they go tackle to replace Lane Johnson after this year, and the Patriots go de-tackle with Caleb Banks. It's a position that really could always use more depth at. And, you know, Patriots don't have a whole lot of holes on their roster, and so why not go with uh depth there? If not, them look for a guy like Keelan Rutledge out of Georgia Tech. He's a guard. Similar to Blake Miller, just super polished, super uh technical, really good mechanics. I actually think he's a better player than Blake Miller. I think I may be in the minority on that. TJ Parker, if they went, if they wanted to go edge, could go him. There's a lot of different ways they could go with this pick. And so that was kind of hard to predict. And then lastly, the Super Bowl champs, Seattle Seahawks. A lot of people speculating that the other running back from Notre Dame, Jadarian Price, goes here. I don't see it. I think there's not much of a drop-off between him and like the next three or four good running backs in this draft class. And so I think they hold off on running back, go corner and go with Avion Terrell out of Clemson. They could go edge if they wanted to, but I think corner, they lost they lost some secondary pieces in the free agency period, you know, got paid that Super Bowl tax. Do your best to try to replenish those spots, go with a really good corner and Tyrrell. So there's my mock draft. I can't wait to see how much of this I get wrong. Probably all of it. That's just how it goes. Again, like one pick changes all of it. And so it's hard to predict. You know, if if you've been scouting yourself, let me know who you hope your team drafts. Check us out on Instagram. But yeah, those those first few picks, the Cardinals, um, the Giants, the Saints, and the Chiefs, I think those are the four that like kind of determine what everyone else does because it's a butterfly effect, right? Like, it'll be fun to watch. I love the draft. I don't know if I've said that yet, but it's gonna be fun. Be sure to check us out on social media, Instagram, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Be on the lookout for some World Cup content. I know we may not have that many soccer fans that listen, but you gotta get up for your uh for your Americans, right? It's in America, America's in it. Going all the way this year. Sign off, pay it sports, and go builds.