Back On The Air: Football Frenzy Return

A two-hour return filled with fire: we unpack Indiana’s improbable 16–0 title run, argue NIL and eligibility, relive razor-thin NFL championship swings, preview Seahawks vs Patriots, and deliver a no-trades mock draft picks 1–15. We rant about “take the points,” praise defensive versatility, and call out coaching ego when it costs wins.

• Indiana’s blueprint of experience, coaching continuity, and fourth-down courage
• Miami’s defensive stars and the passing of the torch across the sport
• NIL, transfer portal, and why cohesion beats headlines
• NFL title games decided by red zone choices and situational discipline
• Super Bowl 60 preview: Seattle’s balance vs New England’s narrow path
• Senior Bowl risers and draft board shuffles
• Mock draft 1–15: trenches, edges, and a rare can’t-miss safety
• Why offensive line and pass rush still win February

Check us on all podcast platforms, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, subscribe for free, listen and leave reviews

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Transcript

Return, Banter, And Setup

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Oh my god. It is February 1st, 2026. Did you miss us? Did you miss us, people? We're back. We are back. Early 2026 special. It is that off week between the AFC, NFC Championship games, and the Super Bowl. I believe we have the Pro Bowl. What is that today? Um, got a lot of things going on today in the chat. Flag football, yeah. Same thing. Jaboy Dillon Guts back with you. Joined with me as always from Oney, Maryland. Soon to be a different location. Question mark. Uh, is Mr. Cruz.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Guts. It's good to be back. It's been a long time. A lot's happened, personally wise, for both of us. We've been working, we've been grinding with changes happening. But we're finally back to talk about some sports, and goddamn, does it feel good? Hopefully, y'all missed us. We got a big recap, two-hour special today. Should be good, should be fun. Um, and you know, get back on the wagon and uh yeah, let's let's let's get into it, man. Uh, first of all, uh, how have you been? How's life? How are things?

Weather, Life Updates, And TV Sports Check

SPEAKER_03 1:40

I'll tell you what, it is sunny and in the 50s here um in the mile high city, unlike the east coast, is just getting blasted with Arctic fridges and ice and snow and cold temperatures. I mean, I mean you got you guys, you guys are barely cracking like above freezing.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yeah, right now, no, I think we're 20 degrees right now. It's been uh in the teens for the past two weeks. Uh we got about 10 inches of snow, but it really was more like six inches of snow and then like four to five inches of ice. Oh so you know, it's it's it's been fun, it's been great, you know, especially since I work outside, mostly a new HVAC and everything like that. Residential being out in that has been super fun. It's made my days very enjoyable. And uh I am ready for at least ring time. Uh, we're supposed to be getting a little bit of a break coming up this week. Um, it is supposed to get up to 30 degrees, so just below freezing. That'll help. But you know, other than that, yeah, yeah, yeah. At least you got a nice 50 degrees sunny and a place where it's supposed to be fucking cold.

Tennis Headlines And Father Time Talk

Senior Bowl Standouts And Draft Stock

Coaching Carousel Across NCAA And NFL

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Listen, man, I'm not I'm not gonna blame it on anything in particular. It's just nice that winter has not really hit us yet. Now we could also get a blizzard in April. Who knows? Uh, that is also the mystery of the Rocky Mountains um as your backyard. But um this city was on fire up through last week, um, which we will get into last week's uh championship game uh results and breakdown there. Um, and that came crashing down uh pretty quickly for us. But I got golf on the TV, got the final round of the farmers assurance open from San Diego. You got women's basketball on right now, UConn beating the piss out of Tennessee, was tied at the half. Now they're up 18 going into the fourth. You got LSU and Kim Mulkey's team beating the piss out of Alabama at home. Now that game's wrap up shortly. You got uh Australian Open early this morning, Carlos Alcaraz wins the Aussie Open, completes the Grand Slam feat at just 22 years old, already has seven single men's titles. That is ridiculous nature going on right there. Um Djokovic and Joke and Djokovic, 38 years old, gets to the finals, gets to another major open final. Um I mean, really just beating Father Time in that sport and really just and beating the young guns to get there as well. But um I think he will I don't think he'll get to 25. I think he will stick at 24. Um, he'll probably get to at least the semifinals for the the other three majors this year. Um, I think he'll get to probably one more final, but you know, Yannick Center, uh, Medvedev, Zevrev, Alcaraz. I mean, to it's just it's just passing at the torch. And to see uh Nadal there today, uh, watching it happen for Alcaraz is it's a cool sight to see there. So um, but we are doing good over here in Denver. We we are grinding grinding away at the gym, grinding away at work, you know, grinding away uh with clients at school. Uh we are staying busy over here. Um and it is good to get on these airwaves again and two hour special. Buckle up. This will get you through at least a day and a half of your time. So uh anything and everything, we we will get to it. Um, we're gonna go back to go back a week or so. Um, so senior bowl uh finished off yesterday down in uh Mobile, Alabama. Obviously, that's where players who are declaring for the draft uh coming out of school, they go to Alabama for a week of you know specific trainings, one-on-ones, drills, um, and then they do a senior bowl, uh kind of like the Pro Bowl, but for college, but it's a lot more kind of intense and in depth from an analysis standpoint. And obviously, you got the NFL draft company up coming up in April. Um, so you had that kind of finalized a lot of players, uh made some additional money kind of moving up at the draft draft boards. Um, some, you know, some sleepers that if you didn't know them, you definitely knew them at the end of this week. Um, Garrett Nussmeyer, former LSU quarterback, senior bowl MVP. It was actually good to really see him kind of back and slinging the ball the way that he was able to do. He had a core abdominal strain injury for damn near the entire season that didn't need surgery. Not really sure how it got triggered and hurt, but he could not. He sucked, he flat out sucked this year comparatively um to the year before. So it was good to actually see him back to what he's capable of. Um, obviously, you had guys from the national championship game, which we'll get into here from uh Miami with uh Bain and Mesador down there. You had uh you know, first round talents, you know, Jacob Rodriguez. Um, I think David Bailey sat out, Caleb Downs sat out of the senior world practices and whatnot, but a lot of moving parts of the college football world. You've got obviously Lane Kiffin um coming to LSU as the new head coach. Um Brian Kelly out, Lane Kiffin in. You've got Kyle Winningham, uh was at Utah for I think two decades, give or take. Uh takeover from Michigan with the Sharon Moore um issues going going on and about there. Um there's a whole lot with Sharone Moore in the Michigan debacle there. You've got uh, you know, just the coach of Carousel every year that we see NFL. You got Tomlin that's stepped down, Mike McCarthy comes in, Jim Harbaugh gets let go, Jesse Minter comes in there. You got Mike McDaniel becoming OC uh for the Chargers. I mean, uh and they Harbaugh Harbaugh goes to the Giants. Like a lot, just a lot of moving parts. It's a great time of the year. The free agency hasn't even kicked off yet. So I mean that that's even better. But imagine how that's gonna be. It's gonna be fucking insane. And then uh the commanders, they they got a new they got a new DC and they got a new uh OC. David Blau, I think it was your OC, right?

Platform Plugs And Topic Roadmap

SPEAKER_00 8:04

David Blau, yeah. You know, the commanders, if you look at their past like uh during the 2010s, uh a lot of coaches we let go that have had success has had coaches in the NFL, Mike McDaniel, Kevin O'Connell, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVeigh, just uh Matt LaFleur, just to name some. Not to mention some OCs and DCs that are in the league thriving as of right now. Um pretty much the only thing that I'm thinking of right now is that hopefully this is one we didn't let get away, at least just yet. Um David Blau, he's used to Jaden Daniels, too. There's still a relationship there. He knows what works, he knows what doesn't. And hopefully there'll be less fucking bubble screens. You know, that's that that'd be great. You feel about that too, with your offensive play call, which we'll get into later. But, you know, David Blau, he knows what works, he knows what doesn't. He's a young, innovative offensive mind, and that's pretty much the trend right now in the NFL is finding one of those. Um defensive-wise, we got a pass game, uh, defensive pass game coordinator from uh Brian Flores' coaching tree out in Minnesota. You know, I could just hope, you know, Brian Flores is a brilliant defensive head coach. He's a brilliant defensive mind. Hopefully, a little bit of that can be brought to the defense, especially the defensive backs who have been let's just say abysmal with the coaching that they had last year. Only Bright's brought the man really had was Mikey Sandersville. And, you know, he was not utilized correctly last year. You can see that in PF if you want to take PFF into consideration, but you can mainly see it in his stats as well. But you know, there's a lot that's been happening, a lot of moving parts. Can't wait to get into it. Now, where would you like to start, Mr. Gods?

National Title: Indiana’s Historic Run

SPEAKER_03 9:48

I think a lot. Um, so let's say this. First of all, of course, you can check us on all podcast platforms, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, subscribe for free, listen and leave reviews. Um appreciate the support and listening in advance, uh, kicking off the airwave. So check us out there. Um, download any device. I think we're gonna go, let's go back to the national championship game for college football because I think I think it's a great place to start. Um, and also Bill Belichick's not a first battle hall of famer. You can just throw that in there real quick, which is just but it's bananas, whatever, it's bananas. I don't care.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

It was a fuck up. It was a fuck up, plain and simple. People thought that he was gonna get in regardless, so they voted for other people, or you can sit there and you could and you could drop it down to Spygate or Deflate Gate or any of the other scandals that he had while he was head coach of the uh New England Page.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

His former quarterback was also there, too.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

That's crazy, and that's what we were talking about in the group chat with the boys, is that if you're gonna hold Bill Belichick to that standard, then you gotta hold Tom Brady. Got to Krowski to that standard, but they're not going to.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

Also correct.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

They're not going to. And you know, it's it's just more like fucking bitter voters for one reason or another. That I mean, if if Bill Belichick, with the most Super Bowls of all time, is not a first ballot Hall of Famer, then I don't I don't know what a Hall of Famer is.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Like I it's like a catch. What's a catch?

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Like, like that's the thing, but I can see he did have a lot of controversy at New England, especially with Robert Kraft. Who allegedly just popped up on the Epstein files.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Alleged, allegedly, allegedly, we don't, we don't, we don't make these accusations. We don't make these accusations on this.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

But crazy shit, especially has been happening in 2026. It's just, yeah, it's we had to come back for it, man. We had to come back for it. A lot to talk about, a lot to debate, a lot to ponder over. But let's get back to the Indiana Hoosers. Hooters winning the national championship one of the loosenest programs of all time beats Carson Beck.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

But love how you sing about Carson Beck in that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I'm sorry, but Carson Beck just has a history that follows him of losing the game on the final throw. He did just it seems to follow him in every big time game, in every meaningful moment. He does not deliver. Homie's what, 28 years old? Okay, that's a stretch. But like he's he's in his sixth year of eligibility, seventh year of eligibility. And it came out especially during the press conference uh leading up to the game. Homie graduated two years ago.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Get a fucking job.

SPEAKER_03 12:51

He's just he's just seven million balling, probably he's making.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Yeah, if if I could do that, I would do it as well. But that's fucking insane. MCAA's got to make big changes to either the transcript portal, which I would love to talk to you about, and as well as eligibility when it comes to these players.

Miami’s Stars And Passing The Torch

NIL, Eligibility, And Transfer Portal

SPEAKER_03 13:12

Yeah, I think the the eligibility piece really needs to be clamped down, I think, as much, if not more, than a transfer portal. Just because I like at one point, uh we're we're about to hit the the end of the road of like the COVID year extension and and this, that, and the other. So I I think I think that standpoint is really gonna taper down a little bit. Um, the transfer portal is just is out of this freaking world. But look, if I'm Carcel Beck and I'm getting paid six, seven million dollars a year, six, seven. Um, and I'm banging Kavanaugh twins left and right and freaking just slinging the ball in the football. Look, you know what? That's a great it's a great life for a 26-year-old. I don't blame him for staying as long as you can at this point, especially with the NIL money. But I think you gave the stat that I think you went 30, I think it was 39 and 6, I think, uh, in his collegiate career, and four of the six losses were the last pass was a pick. I mean that, I mean, that is yeah, I mean, six, I mean, two two-thirds of your losses comes down to the final drive, and you throw a pick. I mean, that that is history that that carries with you, unfortunately. But it was a great game. Let's call it, it was it was a fantastic game, especially in the second half. Um, Ruben Bain, Hakeem Mesador absolutely did work on the defensive line side of the ball, um, which you know you could probably guess are gonna be top 10 picks, top 15 picks if I had a five foreshadow um in the future. Malachi Tony, the freshman receiver, um, also a baller from Miami. I mean, he is he had over a thousand yards um as a freshman. I think he had I think he had seven or eight touchdowns, had 124 yards and 10 catches in a touchdown in the national championship game. I mean, what a what an absolute beast they found in him. And I'll be curious to see if he he stays at the U. Um and really starts to you know really make a bigger name for himself there. Um, obviously the game was played at their home stadium as well. So it was a home game for Miami. But the sort the the the story is since it's it's Indiana, it's Kurt Cignetti, it's Mendoza, it's Sarrat, Charlie Becker, Hemby, Black, Cooper, all those guys. I mean, that program to come in like Kurt Cignet did from JMU, and you know, his first press conference has just said, I win, Google me. And you're like, okay, you know, whatever, whatever, dude. You won a JMU. Like, like you're cut you're coming to Indiana, you're in the Big Ten now, like figure it out. Great, great year last year. Got to the playoffs, I think won 11 games. Um, and then of course, you know, you run into run into you know, ventral champs in um either Michigan or Ohio State the last two years. Big Ten is just tough, especially in the playoffs. And then this year, I mean, he's 27-2. They go 16-0. It's the second school in history um in all college football to have a 16-0 season, the first one being Yale back in like 1894. I mean, the the the immense turnaround, and it's not like he brought over 35, 40 players, he only brought over like 13 to 15 players um when he got to Indiana two years ago. So it really goes to his ability to kind of like have that eagle eye of talent and being able to find those type of guys and pluck them in and make it work. He's had great consistency with I think his coordinators and coaching. They they've been with him for like the entirety of his run, um, uh like head coaching. So you have that continuity. So that you talk about the trust and and you you haven't seen Netty. You go out and find your quarterback. Last year, they you know, they got to number two in the rankings, I think had a home game against Ohio State. They got bludgeted um by that team. You know, Curtis Rourke was nice, and then you get this guy, you know, Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza from Cal comes over, has a brother, Alberto Mendoza as well. Um, you know, they they had the scare but also ridiculous finish at Penn State earlier in the year. That really kind of kicks that really a great game, really kind of kickstart that program to just bulldoze people. You go to Oregon, you beat Oregon by 10 on their home field. I mean, and you're you're starting to think, okay, they're they're doing this, they're doing this, they're doing this. And the one team they hadn't beat yet was Ohio State, right? That's what it comes down to. And you get to the Big Ten championship game, they went 13 to 10, you're like, okay, cool. Slay the dragon, won the Big Ten, second year in, that's amazing. And then you get to the playoffs, and then they just then they just beat the piss out of everybody in the playoffs. I mean, dismantling Bama. You beat Oregon by 32 points. Dog, it was like 49 to 14 in the four.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah. And it's crazy too, because what Kurt Signetti has done, it's obviously come with controversy because to take a team that, like we stated previously, is the most losingest program in like Division I history, FBS history.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Coming into this year, too, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, and like to in two years to transform them into national championships and to go, what was it, like fucking like 25 and 2 in that time frame or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

27 and 2.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

27 and 2. And the thing is, is that fake he doesn't have a single five-star recruit on his team. He has like what, like three, four stars, or like six, four stars on his team, and the rest are threes and twos. But what he goes for is he goes for experience. He has a lot of people that are over the age of like between 22 to 24-year-olds on the team that have been in the college system for a while that know what it's about. And, you know, a lot of what comes with that is, you know, there are cheating allegations that are starting to pop up about oh, they're doing this, oh, they're doing that. Nah, man. Like, I just he he has this era, he has this aura, I should say, about him. And he's just one of the next great coaches to come from Nick Saban.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

And it's it's it's crazy to see. I felt like there was a coaching tree about everybody that came from Nick Saban, and it's like all the top coaches right now. It's every single one of them. It's the Nick Saban effect.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

And you know, it's it was it's crazy to see the playoffs were I'll I'll just say this: between college football and NFL, this year's playoffs were better than what I can remember in recent memory. Every single game, besides like maybe three, we're down to the last minute, we're down to the last second, we're down to the last drive, except for like when Indiana just blew out Oregon and beat Alabama. Like it was it was insane. And, you know, it's not not to give nothing to Miami. Miami, Saban called it before the playoffs started that nobody wanted to see Miami in the playoffs, especially with the defense, high-powered offense, like a ventured, experienced quarterback in Carson Beck, no matter how much we jest. Like, Miami had a hell of a year as well, man. And I I don't take credit away. Like you said, Ruben Bain, big game in the national championship. Like he had a sack and two two and a half tackles for loss. He balled out. He's gonna be a top ten pick for sure.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Uh, not to mention other players, and it's it's it's it's it's just what a good time to be a sports fan right now. And I I hate the fact that like now we're going into like basketball and baseball being the only thing on. That's that's just me. That's just me.

Rivalries: Why College Football Hits Different

SPEAKER_03 21:49

I'm gonna get I'm gonna give Cruz a a lot of credit here. He he has come around on being more invested in college football. Yes. Than than as long as I've known him. And I and I don't know what it is, but he this man is more locked in on college football Saturdays and is plugged in, which I love because I love college football to me more than the NFL, and I watch both, but I love college football.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

It's just different, man. The passion is much more real. The fans, the atmosphere. What the games actually mean because the NFL is kind of straight away. We've even talked about this in the group chat, but the NFL is kind of strayed away from true passion, especially when it comes to rivalries, especially when it comes to like big games. Yes. Everybody they don't want to get hurt. They don't want to leave it all out in the field because that's money they're leaving on the table. And they're starting to wise up to that. Everybody's getting bigger, faster, stronger. Understandable. If like, you know, it's the end of the year, you know you're not gonna like make the playoffs. You're probably not gonna go to the Pro Bowl. You're not gonna want to hurt yourself leading into next year, especially if it's a contract year. Uh the college football is starting to teeter on that too, especially with NIL. But it's different. It's different the way the game's played, the way it happens, it's just electric and it's fun to fucking watch, man. Yeah, like I'm if I were to consider myself a fan, it would be from the Miami Hurricane, strictly from their like 90s, 2000s run. Like, they just the players that they've developed, it was really cool to watch.

SPEAKER_05 23:27

But it's so great.

Indiana’s Season, Key Wins, And Heisman

SPEAKER_03 23:47

It's so great. You're froze there, Cruz, so we lost you there momentarily. But you're back now. You're back now. It's it's okay. Um, yeah, I mean, look, the the the the rivalry week in college football is just I mean you don't have that rich tradition in history and hatred in a lot of different areas than you do with the NFL. The NFL, it's it's down to you could really call it a handful uh of rivalries, right? You got basically you got Bears, Packers, you got Cowboys, um, Washington, you know, you've got Pittsburgh, Baltimore, I guess, kind of sort of, but like the but those teams from you know the you know from the beginning, essentially. College football, I mean, it's just I mean, it's schools there next door, like Alabama, Auburn. I mean, I mean, the the the Iron Bowl, for for example, you got you got the in-state rivalries, you got Ole Miss in Mississippi State, you know, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech. I I mean, it's just the atmosphere is completely is a hundred percent much better. The games are much more electrifying, especially in the playoffs. I mean, the Ole Miss Georgia ending, I mean, my god dog, and then and then the Miami Ole Miss ending, like yeah, just it's just I don't know, it's just different. I I love that you're more invested. I to me, it is to me the last weekend of August when it's week zero, and it just starts to begin. There's to me, there's nothing else like it. Um I'm excited, but yeah, I mean that this this Indiana team, you know, I I don't know what it looks like next year. Um, you know, Alberta Mendoza, Fernando's brother, transferred out of Indiana, which is good for him. You know, he's go be quarterback elsewhere, go make a name for yourself elsewhere. You know, your brother is gonna be an immortal um on the Indiana campus, winning the Heisman, bringing national title. Um, do that. Signetti is just a help of a coach from the statement tree. You know, you got Dan Lanning, coach of Oregon, you've got Kirby Smart, Georgia, Ryan Day, Ohio State. I mean, just a sleuth of just the top top guys in the in the freaking planet doing what they do. And the you know, of course, the play of the game, not everyone's going to remember outside of the Carson Beck pick, um, was the quarterback draw that's in Netty called him, fourth and eight.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Fourth and fourth. It wasn't eight, I thought it was four, my bad.

SPEAKER_03 26:31

No, actually, I think it was fourth and five. Um from like their from like Miami's 12-yard line in the fourth, and just a B line up the middle, got one block, took a took a tackle. It was a John L. Way helicopter spin to the Super Bowl, but he took a hit and he took a dive and he fucking stretched out, and it was I mean, that still shot of him stretching over the goal line is exactly what's gonna be framed all over Indian's campus. So I mean, what a great, what a great ending. Um, I mean, it's absolutely 100% the the biggest turnaround story in all sports, given the time frame, given the results, given the competition, and just given how you stacked up with all your your experience and two three-star guys versus the likes of an Oregon, an Ohio State, a Miami, an Alabama, just dismantling the majority of them. So it was great. I can't wait for next year. It's gonna be fantastic. Um, all right, we're gonna switch to we're gonna switch to the NFL. Um, so Super Bowl is next week. You've got the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Ugh, yuck. Um again. Again, for Super Bowl 60 at Levi Stadium. Um, all right. Recap of the recap of the playoffs to get an idea how we got here. So it was the Patriots and Texans um at New England. CJ Stroud sucked ass. Um he's regressed since his rookie year. Patriot Patriots just steamroll the Texans. Um Seattle, I believe. God, who the hell they steamrolled? Um 49ers. They steamrolled the they steamroll the 49ers. I think beat them like 41 to 6 at Seattle. Wasn't even close. Then you get to uh Bills and Broncos. Um, what a great back and forth second half of that game was going into overtime. Uh it was an interception. I don't fucking care what anyone says at this point. Like, whatever. Don't care. They lost. They lost. I don't care. They lost. They lost. Call what you will. They lost. Don't care. Broncos beat the Bills at home. Don't care. They missed the holding call in the end zone, uh, which should have been called, but it wasn't. But you know what? We're not gonna talk about that anyway. Um, Bone Niggs broke his fucking ankle on the basically second to last play of the game. Um by the way.

unknown 29:10

Great play call.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

On a just an absolute bone-headed on just a bone-headed, dumbass play call. So Bo Nicks misses the AFC Championship game. We're go we're gonna go to the AFC Championship game. We're gonna save the Broncos for for last year. So 49 uh Rams, Seahawks at Seattle. What a great game that was. Um from start to finish. Sam Darnold, 334 yards, three touchdowns, no picks. Jackson Smith and Jigba was a beast. Kenneth Walker had a resurgence game with Charbonnet tearing his ACL. Um, Matthew Stafford, I mean, did everything he fucking could under the sun. Puka Nakua bought out as normal, but Seattle holds on to advance. Cruz, what was your takeaway from the NFC title game? Do you give the Seattle credit, or was it McVay's gamble and the Rams defense really just ruining Matt Stafford's performance?

The Iconic Fourth-Down QB Draw

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yeah, so one of the things, especially we're gonna touch on uh with the upcoming draft, because the Rams do have a pick within the top 15 via Atlanta. Um the one thing about the Rams is no matter how good they are, no matter how down their run game can be with Blake Corum and um and Williams, no matter how Puka and Cup can perform, and no matter how much Higby can bail out for the tight end position for an experienced Matt Stafford, no matter how good their front seven is on the defensive side of the ball, their defensive backs let up. 7.6 yards per pass attempt. And that was top five in the NFL. Now, granted, they made it to the NFC Championship game. I'm not saying that they're a bad team whatsoever, but it showed against Seattle. It showed against Seattle. The defense did not deliver when they needed to.

SPEAKER_04 31:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Seattle's a scary team, dude. Seattle is scary being led by eighth, what, eighth year vet?

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Sam Darnold. Sam Darnold. From the 2018 class that included Sam Darnold.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yes. That was drafted third overall by the Jets. From that Sam Darnold. USC.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Now, that being said, I'm pretty sure he's like the first USC quarterback to make it to a Super Bowl, too.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

You know how crazy, you know how crazy that stat is, by the way?

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Like that that's crazy. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

But, you know, I don't want to take anything away from Seattle because they've been the team to beat this entire season. They were 14-3. Offensive and defensive-wise, they're fucking they're they're lightning. They're lightning. I think they let up only what was it? Let me see.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

I think it's 17.4 points per game or something like that as a defense.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Yeah, yeah. And they average about 28.4 on offense. Yeah, that's pretty good. But like that that's pretty fucking good. Now, the thing is, and and and it and it has to be with both the NFC and AFC championships. Yeah, when it comes to games like this, you have to take the points.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

Gotta take points. Got it. No, got you got you gotta take points.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

You have to take the points when they're available because of reasons just like this. Now, if if the Rams would have gone ahead and not gone for it, especially late in the game, to go ahead and go up, if they would have gone ahead and kicked a field goal, and I remember I was watching it with my fiance.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

By the way, I got engaged. Hey, hey, Cruz and Fiance, that's right. Sure did.

Transition To NFL Playoffs Picture

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Yes, yes. Um, but we were watching it, and I told her right then and there, and I was like, they should have kicked the field goal, and she's like, Why they would still be down? And I was like, Because you apply pressure at that point, you apply pressure, especially if it's like a two-point game, you apply pressure, the threshold of messing up just becomes that much smaller. You take the points. Something Sean Payton as well should have done is take the points.

SPEAKER_03 33:49

Okay, listen. Talking about the NFC right now. We're talking about McVeigh. We're not talking about the other Sean.

NFC Title: Rams vs Seahawks Breakdown

SPEAKER_00 33:58

I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it. But it was prominent in both games. You take the points when they're available. It was a gamble that didn't pay off both sides. And you know what? If he would have made it, if Peyton would have gotten it, they would have been toted as heroes. If they didn't, and they picked the points and they would have not been able to stop them on the rebuttal, they would have been called idiots and scared. It's it's all just how it plays out. It played out the way it did. Seattle, they deserve to be in a super bowl. They do. They do. I'm sorry. That on top of the fact that they have the easiest, the easiest road to the fucking Super Bowl. And their offense has been non-existent in the Super Bowl. It fucking blows my mind. No. They've scored like 18 points a game, but they've only let up 8.7. That's why they're in the Super Bowl right now. They went up against Justin Herbert in the playoffs with the worst offensive line.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

No, no, we're not. No, we're not doing no, we're not doing this. We're not doing if man, if man, coming through now.

unknown 35:34

No, no, no, no. It matters.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

Okay, we six years in. Keep telling me this. CJ Stroud.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

CJ Stroud with five turnovers.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

He was ass.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

And then a burless Broncos. Now, don't get me wrong. Bo would have became 10 for a better chance. But Sean also fucking threw that game.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

We win the game. We win the game, Bo Nicks. Plain simple. Plain simple.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

It's a lot. It's it's no.

SPEAKER_03 36:04

We win the game.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

I don't know how it can be closer than 10-7. No, like and then I'm sorry. Sean Payton is having the craziest fucking crash out from his own doing.

SPEAKER_03 36:18

Alright, so let's let's get let's let's get let's get to the let's get to the FC championship game then. Since we're just gonna spearhead it. Alright, so Broncos got the number one seed, went 14-3, got caught frauds all year, beat the Bills at home, got the Patriots coming in. First half, Jared Sinham playing backup, um, because Bo next again broke his ankle uh to end the completion with a 53-yard bomb to Marvin Mans Jr. By the way, by the way, be beautiful, beautiful fucking ball to Marvin Marvin Mans. That like if if Bo could harness that touch that Stinnum had, it things would look a lot better, but he hasn't yet. Um Broncos go up 7-0. The defense played out of the living ever fucking mind for basically the entire game. And then Stinnam threw up on himself for whatever benowned reason. But anyway, alright, so Broncos go up 7-0, Patriots can't do anything, Broncos moved down the field again. This is before snow flurries, and the weather changed in like five minutes to be a goddamn blizzard on the field. It's a fourth and one inside like the 12-yard line. And what pissed me off all year is I said this over and over again, is two things. Take the points if you're just if you're moving along down the field methodically, play by play, just getting yards, getting this, getting that, and then you get stalled in the red zone. From there, I'm okay with taking points. What up what the other crash out that would happen is like that big play to Marvin Mims. You get down with inside like the seven to five yard line, and then this team would fucking stall out and do some crazy bullshit trickery, and then they kick a field goal. Distinctions here. Alright. They capitalized on the touchdown of sudden, um, which is great. Needed at. And then you get to this fourth and one play with a backup quarterback, and you don't take the points. And you got a play call?

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Wasn't it like a fucking like like a pitch or something like that?

SPEAKER_03 38:35

It was it looked like it was gonna either be a pitch to the right, which was not fucking blocked whatsoever, or it was it was gonna be like a little rollout to the right to find either the running back um or or the flat for the first down, neither of which uh were open. So they didn't get the fourth down. Defense still played out of their mind, by the way. Still held the Patriots to nothing. Drake May was ass that entire game.

unknown 39:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:06

86 yards passing. I think he had 65 yards rushing.

Take The Points: Game Theory Rant

SPEAKER_03 39:10

He had 65 yards, he had six, he he had he he killed them with the legs every third down in the second half, every goddamn third down in the second half. I mean, the the fucking ocean Moses parted in the middle of the field, and there he goes for 10 to 12 yards. I didn't understand why Vance Joseph didn't put Dre Greenlaw on him as a spy. Singleton is just a little too old. He he was getting beat, it just annoyed the hell out of me.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

But Singleton also balled out that game.

SPEAKER_03 39:39

Singleton Singleton balled out him and Hu Funga were uh the absolutely amazing. But yeah, but um Pat Surtain held down Kevin Bourne or Steph Andiggs the entire game, nothing. Riley Moss held his own. You don't take the points to go up 10-0, which given how the game, given how the rest of the game turned out, would have been enough because the defense was doing their part tremendously. And then the second half comes, and you get the stone, you get the blizzard, and then Jared Stenham. For whatever reason, I don't understand why any veteran quarterback, and when I say veteran, at least you gotta at least have four years under your belt in the NFL, which he does. He's been a Sean Payton system for like the last three years alone. Why do quarterbacks not throw the ball away? Why do quarterbacks not get rid of the ball altogether? I don't get what what are you being told? What is going through your head where you're like, man, shit has broken down. I'm gonna just continue to back up but throw it away. We see it all the fucking time, and it dri it drives me insane. How do you play that much ball? Everything's contained, you've got no protection, and you just run you run backwards and pump fake. You can't run, okay? Like, I don't know why you're pump faking thinking that they're gonna fall for it, and then you do this ugly duckling like push pass. I thought it was a forward pass, whatever. You call it what you will.

unknown 41:22

I thought it was a forward pass.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

I thought it was a forward pass. I thought it was a forward pass, barely. I thought it was a forward pass barely.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

First of all, they called it a forward pass, then they didn't, and then they defade it, and then they didn't. Which I mean, to me, it it was if I it looked like a forward pass to me.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

To me, it was a forward pass.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

I think I think that was the get back for the week previously for the interception.

AFC Title Setup And Denver’s Defense

SPEAKER_03 41:44

Okay, whatever. What what the fuck ever. Whatever, whatever you call it. But Sinham just throws up the ball. It's a fumble within like inside their own 20-yard line. The Patriots score, the Patriots score a touchdown 7-7, and then both teams do nothing in the second half because of the weather, and then field goals were missed fucking left and right. Will Lutz missed two field goals. One was partially blocked, the other one was just bad. Um Broncos fucking lose at home 10-7 in a game that they should have won 10-0. And you take the points because you have a backup quarterback, you take the points because your defense, who had 75 fucking sacks on the year, by the way, it was just getting after the quarterback and putting pressure. Your secondary was locking down everybody. You're you you go off 10-0 in that situation, knowing the weather's incoming, you're forcing them to be a one-dimensional team, and then all it took was one bad quarter and one bad drive for the defense to throw up on themselves, and they just fucking gashed them every single play: five yards, six yards, seven yards, five yards, whether it was with fucking Ramondre Stevenson and fucking Drake May. And I just don't get how you don't adjust in the second half, but the game falls on Peyton because his ego has always got in the way and tried to be the smartest person in the building. It is a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Yes, you have Jared Sinem going to the Super Bowl, regardless. At the end of the day, you were going you're going to the Super Bowl with Jared Sinnem, okay?

SPEAKER_00 43:34

I just think of Rich texting you and being like, I don't want to see that quarterback in the Super Bowl. Yeah. You got what you wanted.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Yeah, yeah. So so he won the Patriots, it's fine. But you so you go you go to the Super Bowl, Jared Sinnem. Fine, whatever. Okay. You have more time to prep. But you took the opportunity away for no fucking reason. For no reason. No reason. And it just it just pisses me off as a fan. Because all I heard all week, by the way, you know what, by the way, you guys disrespected my team the entire fucking week in the AFC Championship game. Josh Alley got screwed. The Bills got screwed. And then all I fucking see. Who are the Ravens? Who are the Ravens hirings the head coach? Who are the Ravens bringing it for candidates? Who's Washington to bring it for DC? My team. My team is going to the AFC championship game while both y'all bum asses are sitting at home and no one in the chat is talking. No one's talking about the game. And my team. It's everything else, but what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 45:02

This is the first time I've heard from you, Simpson. I knew this was balling.

SPEAKER_03 45:06

I knew this was the disrespect was real because once Bo's ankle fucking threw up and shattered, it was oh god, Jared Sinnham. And then and then Rich tried to be slick and say steady time, but then he doesn't want Sitham in the Super Bowl. No, all I fucking heard is about every other goddamn team, but mine. But mine.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

I mean Jared Stidum was the quarterback, man.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

Hey, where's your quarterback? Where's his two-time MVP quarterback at home?

SPEAKER_00 45:46

Two-time? Isn't he? Oh yeah, he is two-time. It's not three time.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

Not three time.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Um they think he should be. But uh yeah, man. I mean it's the way the cookie crumbles.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

The team was in the position to win the game with Jared Sinn, and their head coach fucking blew it. Plain and simple. Plain and simple.

unknown 46:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

And then let's go for let's go for a stupid ass fucking screen on second and 12, late in the fourth, when you have to drive down the field. And then you throw a prayer ball to Marvin Mims for no goddamn reason. Um, and Christian Gonzalez gets the easiest pick in the world. And now all of a sudden, this Christian Gonzalez hype is coming out of nowhere, uh, saying how great he is. He's not Pat Surtain level. He ain't Pat Surtain level. Let's calm down. Okay, we get that he's not Pat Show. Calm down.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Let's not act like he hasn't been a fucking baller since he's entered the league. He's been good since he's entered the league, besides the one year he got hurt. Like, I mean, it it's just say that he's a baller, like like, whoa, it came out of nowhere.

The Stidham Fumble And Missed Kicks

SPEAKER_03 46:54

That that's a big no can't no no it came out, it came out of nowhere because it came no, it came it came out of nowhere because the pay because the Patriots have the easiest cupcake schedule, to your point. If they weren't 14 and 3 and they were 3 and 14, we wouldn't be hearing dick about this Christian Gonzalez guy. Pats or Tain won defensive player, Patzer Tain won defensive player of the year, and they barely went above 500 last year. What are we talking about? That's a wild card.

SPEAKER_00 47:29

That they still made it to they still had success. You're not seeing I mean, to be fair, this is an outlier. Miles Garrett is probably gonna win defensive player of the year as you should make the sack record. As you should. Any other time, you're not hearing of a defensive player of the year that isn't on a team that did not make the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 47:53

I mean, I mean, Miles Garrett, I mean, we hear about Miles Garrett actually every year. But he he is the outlier.

SPEAKER_00 47:59

He's an outlier, that's why he's a first ballot.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

Here's what I do know is that Sean Payton is having a crash out of his lifetime after Cal see his team trip to the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

Dude, how are you gonna how are you gonna fucking fire the offensive coordinator when the offensive coordinator doesn't even call the fucking plays?

SPEAKER_03 48:16

I mean Joe Lombardi was pretty ass um with some of these plays, but it it is Sean Payton calling the place. I get it.

unknown 48:26

It's not his place.

SPEAKER_03 48:27

I understand. So how does Joe Lombardi shit with it? I mean, I wasn't really it wasn't a good hire to begin with. I mean Lobardi hasn't done a whole lot as OC, let's be honest. Yeah, because he doesn't have the opportunity to. Yeah, again, I know. This is the egomaniac of Charles Payton is what drives everyone fucking insane. It's the only re it's why he only has one Super Bowl appearance because he fucking does it to himself. Davis Webb, leave him alone. Leave Davis Webb alone, everybody. Leave Jim Letter.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

At least he's not going. Yeah, he's not going. Well, Jim Letter is still up for discussion.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

He is still up for discussion.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:09

But yeah, leave leave Davis Webb. Make Davis Webb OC. Let Davis Webb call the place. And for the love of God, of everything that is holy, get me two receivers that can catch the goddamn ball. We had the second most drops in the entire NFL this year, and you know we had that game. Fuck it drops. Court Sutton, gone. Get rid of him. Can't fucking catch anything that's that's usual and normal, it should be day one stuff. And then he makes ridiculous grabs when you need him to. He's only available on third downs. They have nobody got separation outside of Mims. Everything was a fucking bust. Get rid of him too while we're at it. I mean, give me hands, people. Give me hands at receiver. JK Dobbins. I think they're bringing back.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

This is Davis Webb's career if he stays with the Broncos.

SPEAKER_03 50:03

Okay, that's that's that's uncalled for. That's uncalled for. Well, what whatever. Whatever. It's fine. We'll be we'll be back next year. Um, all right. Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Your boy Cam Newton said that once.

SPEAKER_03 50:22

Yeah, well, Cam Newton also got decimated by the Broncos twice. Broke broke his career, broke his pride. Um, all right, Super Bowl preview. Seattle Patriots. Drake May, second year quarterback. Rabel, first year head coach at New England, Seattle, Mike McDonald, second year head coach coming from Baltimore, Sam Darnold for surgeons here, having a great two-year run. I'm at quarterback. You got JSN, Kenneth Walker, you got that defense. You got Stefan Diggs, you got that defense of New England. Um Cruz, who you leaning for Super Bowl 60.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

Seattle. It's not a question for me right now. I mean, they're a four and a half-point favorite right now. Um, to me, the only reason why is because that offense has been completely fucking stagnant for the Patriots.

SPEAKER_04 51:28

Yeah.

Blame, Ego, And Broncos Offense Woes

SPEAKER_00 51:28

They have not been what they were. Drake May is missing on deep balls. They are realizing what it's like to play a team with a winning schedule. Uh, to your point, what you said before, they have had one of the easiest schedules of this season. They have played lesser teams, kind of like what the commanders experienced last year when they made it to the NFC Championship, and then they played a team that fucking knew about it. And, you know, I think that, like you said, if Bo was there, Denver would be in the Super Bowl, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 52:03

Um the thing is, is it's any given Sunday. I realize that. Their defense still is stout. They've that's what they've been known for since Brady has left, is their defense. Uh especially with Mike Verbravel, defensive-minded head coach. He's completely switched around and turned around that system that they got going on over there.

SPEAKER_04 52:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

But it's enough. Seattle is firing on all cylinders, and the only way Seattle loses is if Seattle makes it so. That's the only way they lose. And I see them winning by at least 10 points, if I'm being honest. Unless Drake May and Trevion Henderson and Ramondre Stevenson, Max Hollins, and Stefan Diggs, if they can't go off, it's it's gonna be a it's it's gonna be a hell of a hell of a game for them and a long game for them.

SPEAKER_03 52:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:00

Seattle wins. Seattle wins.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

I I mean, just the the the cast of characters that you just announced like Mac Collins, fucking Stephon Diggs, like like uh now now granted, you know, Seattle has guys like Jake Bobo and you know, uh a Cooper and a Cooper and a Cooper Cup, uh, you know, or older Cooper Cup. Um but JSN is is just diabolically insane. Um as as as a dog. He's a dog. He's probably gonna be offensive player of the year. And I I think Seattle wins as well. I think I think Ken, I think Kenneth Walker needs to have a pretty good resurgence game. It's gonna be tough against the Pats defense, but I think I think this team is definitely more complete Um from an offensive and defensive perspective. Um I think I think Seattle could definitely win um by probably six points. Um I think Drake May was good throughout the regular season. Everyone thought he should be MVP. He shouldn't. It's gonna be Matthew Safford. Um he has not had a he has not had a great playoffs. He's been absolutely abysmal in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_05 54:38

It's been terrible.

Patriots’ Path And Defensive Identity

SPEAKER_03 54:39

It's been terrible, yeah. And I mean, and you played two games at home and you still were abysmal, by the way. I mean, it it's it doesn't bode well. I think I think the trade for Rasheed Shahid that Seattle did was clutch. I think that was a great move for them to bring in a second guy as a as a number two, especially with that speed. And you know, losing Charbonnet as that one-two punch uh hurts, especially with Seattle's kind of history of running backs of Chris Carson, Rashad Penny. Uh, you know, post-Marshawn Lynch has not really been great. Kenneth Walker has been okay, I would say. Um he's been he's been good at times, he's been really good at times, but you know, Charbonnet is definitely that inside the tang guy. Um kind of on the screens, I really get you down there in the field as well. You can see Kenneth Walker in the in the screen game too, but um, I I think this is where I think that this is where experience even though Sam Darnold has not been great career-wise, I think I I think the I think the experience of being able to play against good defenses, can he get oh can he get over his can he get over his seeing ghost against the Patriots? Because if he can, it's over. And I think I think this is this is a game where Darnold could be uh I think Darnold could be Super Bowl MVP. I think he does enough, two touchdowns, no turnovers, throw for about 250, uh really keep that game of control. Clint Kubiak is a great offensive coordinator, which by the way it looks like he's gonna be going to the Raiders as the next head coach. And you know, I think this I think the Seattle team is definitely built to win. I think they're going to win. I think they avenge uh the loss from about 10 years ago when you threw it on the one instead of handing it to Marshawn Lynch. And you know, I think I think the yeah, I just think I think the Patriots need, I think unfortunately they'll be back. Um, do I think they'll be back next year? I don't know. You know, it could be it's hard to get back to the playoffs. Um, it's even harder for a team that wins or loses in the Super Bowl to get back to the playoffs. So I mean AFC is gonna get tougher. NFC is gonna be tougher. And also, you know, shout out shout out guy shout out post-Washington commander guys, Manny Forbes and uh Cam Curl. They they've had a resurgence in LA, right?

SPEAKER_00 57:29

You know, they see see you think you're doing a dig right now, but I agree with you. I agree with you. Just saying I I uh Emmanuel Forbes. We should have taken Chris McGonas before him, but we didn't. And you know what? I just think we have the clean slate, especially from the Ron Ray era. I'm pretty sure there's like nobody still on the team from his tenure there. Um uh but the thing is is Cam Curl, we should have paid him. He's a dog, he's proven that he's a dog, and he's gonna always be the dog until he starts declining health-wise. And Emmanuel Ford, I mean, he got beat a couple of plays against Seattle. He's still better than what he was when he was with us. I'm happy for him. And if we're gonna go ahead and take it that way too, Casey Young has had a career with Surgeon since joining the Saints. I'm happy for him there.

SPEAKER_02 58:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:23

Actually, loving football again. Washington does do that to you. It takes the love out of it. Uh, but you know what? All these players that have left Washington, I am happy for them because they are doing better. You're you're trying to play mind games, and it's fine, but you know, no, no, I'm just no, just just observations. You know, like we both got the bubble screens going on for us.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

Fucking hate them. About abolish bubble screens and abolish halfback toss plays from the playbook.

SPEAKER_00 58:56

Halfback tosses don't even they only worked in college and they don't even work in college anymore. No, they don't work in that's still in a playbook is fucking ridiculous. But uh yeah, so you know what? And a couple of friends of ours really want, especially our my old offensive coordinator who does nothing but call fucking screens and bubble screens and tosses and all that shit for their offensive coordinator. Good luck. Good luck if that's the case. But no, wait, no, no, no, no, no, no. They they signed an offensive coordinator, didn't they?

SPEAKER_03 59:28

Talking about the Ravens?

SPEAKER_00 59:29

Ravens, yeah.

Super Bowl 60 Preview And Picks

SPEAKER_03 59:31

I'll look it up right now. You know, I think look, I I'll I'll I'll say this in regards to uh to Kingsbury and um and Jane Daniels. Obviously, not a great second year for Jaden. Obviously, you know, battle injury. Yeah, I mean it's look, it's hard, it's hard, it's hard when you miss the three to four games at a time and then you come back and then you get hurt. I will say this though. I think I think I I I've said this. I I think it's that it was definitely more Kingsbury's offense did not evolve, and the tape was really easy to figure out this year compared to last year with the rookie quarterback. And and I think Jaden is 100%. I I love Jaden Daniels. I think he's super talented. I think you guys, I think that's your franchise guy, but I think a year of seeing kind of that system in play and the skill set that Jaden Daniels has, I think I think it just got exposed, it got contained. And at that point, I mean, there's not a lot of of room to grow.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:33

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what happened when he was a head coach with uh at Arizona with Kyler Murray. Like they were hot for half a year, and then everybody kind of got wise to it. Yeah, people knew how to defend it, and that's the thing. He's hot, and then afterwards, all he is is uh a buff par run game with bubble screens. And once people learn how to defend that, kind of stagnant.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Uh Declan Doyle is the Ravens offensive coordinator.

unknown 1:01:03

Fucking who?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

Fucking the boys in the chat are gonna be like, Why do you not know Declan Doyle?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:12

Ryan Lewis when Ryan Lewis was uh breeding. This this guy, Ray Lewis, man.

unknown 1:01:25

Go home.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:27

Their offensive coordinate their offensive coordinator is 29 years old.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:32

Oh, that's right. He is young. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:35

That that's absurd. He was he was the Saints' offensive assistant from 2019 to 2022. Uh he was the Broncos tight end coach from 2023 to last year. And then he was Chicago's. He did some of the Chicago's. Their offense, but their offense was made was a big improvement this year.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:01

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:02

Um but yeah, they've uh they've got Declan Doyle as their as their OC. Alright, we got it is mock draft season. It is upon us. Senior bowl is done. Everyone is uh committed as declare for the draft. And now we just gotta wait for the for the combine to get here, and then we got the NFL draft. So what we're doing today, typically, typically we do the first full round, but this time we're gonna we're gonna break it.

unknown 1:02:33

Right?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:33

We got do the intro. I'll be right back. Give me like two minutes.

Seattle’s Weapons And Matchups

SPEAKER_03 1:02:38

We've got the we typically do the entire first round to get we usually uh we usually do the this show together, um, in person, but um we're gonna break it up this year. Obviously, with the Super Bowl next week, that'll conclude. Um, so we'll have the entire draft order um from one to 32. First 15 picks are locked locked up. The first 30 picks are actually locked up as well. So what we're we're gonna do the first half of the 2026 NFL mock draft. Uh, today we're gonna do picks one through 15. Once the Super Bowl is concluded, we're gonna come back and we're gonna do 16 through 32. Um, this year we're doing no trades. Obviously, trades can happen um in the NFL draft, but at the end of the day, we're gonna keep it simple. We're gonna analyze where teams need, what they need, where they're picking from, who they're gonna pick, why we think it's a good fit. You know, if you've seen the mock draft, you know what a mock draft is, and ultimately uh I'm excited. Excited we can get uh at least the first 15 done. And we have uh we got the commanders on this on this board here, we've got the ravens on this board here. Free agency hasn't started yet, so obviously this is what we think of February before things get really hectic and we get more trades and and some signed players off the books. Um through the draft order, we got the Raiders at one, Jets at two, Arizona at three, Titans at four, Giants at five, Cleveland at six, commanders at seven, saints at eight, Chiefs at nine, Bengals at 10, Dolphins 11, Cowboys 12, Rams are 13 via the trade at Atlanta. Baltimore picks at 14, and then the Buccaneers pick 15 to wrap up part one of the 2026 mock draft. Uh Mr. Cruz, I hope you've got your you got your prep work and your your picks and all the all the all the Mel Kuiper insight over there. I see you right there. Yep, see you right there. He's got it, he's ready to roll. All right, on the clock, the head coachless Las Vegas Raiders. And well, they signed Geno Smith last year, and well, he was awful.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:07

Pretty bad, man. Out of the 28 qualified passer ratings in QBR, he was 27. He threw 17 picks in 15 games.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:17

Yeah, but it was pretty bad. Yeah, but uh don't write him off.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:24

I I mean that's gonna be well, uh but uh only because somebody bought his jersey, not because he actually went. Clarify that.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:34

Right, good clarification here.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:37

I I I kind of feel like we're both on the same page here, and we think the Oakland Raiders should not go with this pick, but they will go with this pick. And it's kind of a no-brainer that they're gonna take Heisman winner, Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback out of Indiana. Um, don't get me wrong, the Raiders they need everything but tight-ended running back right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:58

They need offensive line, they need quarterback, they need wide receiver, they need quarterback, they need line, somebody go across from Max Crossby to give them incentive to stay after signing that big contract extension and not seek out a trade. But they're gonna go ahead and take Fernando Mendoza, and Fernando Mendoza, unfortunately, with what he's got, is going to underperform, and then he will be under scrutiny next year. But they're gonna take Fernando Mendoza, number one overall.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:26

Nana Mendoza number one overall. He's 6'5, by the way. 6'5, 225. It's a good, it's a good build for Mendoza.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:35

41 touchdowns with six interceptions last year, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

It makes sense, I guess, but you would like to have a better supporting cast around him.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:44

Definitely need a supporting cast around him. Look, he he's got the size for QB1. He's got good arm talent. He's accurate at all levels. He's got really good calm pocket presence. He's not that big of a runner. So can he can he take all that studying and evaluation that he, you know, he is known to be doing and really pick it up and process from an NFL level in the disguises that come with it. You know, next year's quarterback class is going to be absolutely banana bonkers loaded with Dante Moore coming back to Oregon. Um who would have been probably contestant's number two overall pick. Uh, you got Arch Manning coming out next year. You're gonna have Lonore Sellers coming out, probably DJ Lagway, he transferred to Baylor coming out. I mean, the the Sorsby for Texas Tech is gonna come out. Like, there's just gonna be a bevy of quarterbacks coming out next year. So I agree. I don't think that's the right pick for the Raiders this year. But you can't can't start to move forward if you don't get a franchise quarterback and be the face of the the Las Vegas Raiders. And you know, all glory to God, get Fernando Mendoza in Vegas. Tell me what's the worst that could happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:58

I mean a lot I'm gonna let the fucking Raiders. I feel like the first the first four teams here, they could literally go any direction. There's a lot of talent that they could automatically pick anybody that they needed to, and they would be immediate impact players, yeah, changing the way that they like went ahead and they were last year. But Fernando Mendoza is the number one overall pick, regardless of how strong his highs mid season was compared to others. Um but yeah, no, for Fernando Mendoza is definitely gonna be the pick. And number two, the Jets' biggest needs right now are linebacker, wide receiver, quarterback, and cornerback. Now, again, it's kind of like the Raiders. They can go anywhere here, and they will have somebody who will definitely make their team better day one.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:49

Um they went ahead and they had the they were ranked 31st in sacks. Oof. They were abysmal. They had one player that was above four sacks this season. And I think that was uh I think it was like Will Johnson the fourth or something like that. Jermaine Johnson's up for free agency. Uh Quincy Williams is up for free agency. They traded away Sauce Gardner. I'm pretty sure they had no picks this season. What do you got them taking? Where do you got them going? Because I'll tell you right now, they took Arville Reese linebacker out of Ohio State.

Mock Draft: Format And Order

SPEAKER_03 1:09:24

They also traded Quinn and Williams to the Cowboys. Um, and they loaded up on draft picks. So this will, I mean, they're gonna use the Bebby of draft picks for probably next year's draft and really get that quarterback too. Um, they got they they also got no interceptions this year as a defense.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:40

So yeah, they had no picks, no picks this year as a defense. Trust me, like they could go anywhere here and immediately get better besides like maybe looking for a wide receiver one or a running back, depending on what Brees Hall does this offseason. Yeah. The thing is, especially with Eric Glenn being a defense defensive-minded head coach. Arvell Reese is climbing up, like you know, like he's a lot of people have been talking about him being number two overall. I kind of feel like he's kind of like a Swiss Army knife out of Ohio State. I think it kind of makes sense. I don't know, he's got that like top-end, like fucking middle run defender speed. Like I don't know. I don't know. A lot of people if Dante Moore was still in the draft, they would be going Dante Moore.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:29

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:29

And Ty Stimson isn't worth a number two overall selection.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:34

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:35

Even though I do believe he will be taken in the first round, it will be a reach.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:40

100%.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:41

No, it's gonna be a reach. 100%. Don't get me wrong, he's not worth it, but he will be taken in the back half of the draft. Uh Jets hopefully don't do that move here, and they just try to get a defensive cornerstone, especially with Quincy Williams going possibly in the free agency, unless he decides he wants to stay. I don't think he will. They gotta share up one position one way or another. I could see uh uh David Bailey, I could see even an offensive lineman like uh Maui Moiga, like I don't know, the offensive tackle out of Miami.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:19

Maui Maui Oa.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:21

Maui Oa, yeah. You know, he could go ahead and he could reunite with his brother there if he's already playing there, but you know, I feel like I feel like he's going to be the first out of many Ohio State players picking the title.

Picks 1–4: Mendoza, Reese, Trenches

SPEAKER_03 1:11:34

Yeah, so I also have Arvell Reese going number two to the Jets. Um he's he's 6'4, him and Sonny Styles um on that on that line of Ohio State this year was just menacing and wrecking everybody. Uh Jets do lead defense first. Um I think he's a he's a three-down linebacker, he's got ability, he's got length, he's got range, he's got explosiveness. Um, I think he's got better coverage upside than what people anticipate. Um if Dante Moore was still in the draft, he would go too. But Arvo Reese, you could argue, is you know, top three overall best players in the draft. Um, I think they they go defense, they rebuild that that defense with pass rushers, especially in the especially in just that division alone where you play Josh Allen twice a year, then you're you're gonna play the Patriots twice a year. Uh, really want to get after those guys. And I think uh I think the only thing initially you have to kind of work on is um if you're gonna drop it back into to zone, he's gonna get antsy. Um, and some of that discipline needs to be more locked down and more consistent. Um, especially if you want to pretend he's gonna blitz and then put it back as like a spy um against those more mobile quarterbacks. But you know, just need a lot of help. They also need a lot of like coaches and coordinators. Um, they have a lot of people, players uh and and staffing for hire. So uh yeah, we're two for two. I think R. R. Reese goes there. Um, I I think I think Ty Simpson should have stayed in Alabama as well. I think he is going to be a stretch and a big reach. Um, he had a good for probably eight to nine games, and then he just fell apart at the in the back half of the year. But you know, we'll we'll see. I mean, Alabama quarterbacks have not bevied well in the NFL. Let's just call what it is. Um and a lot of quarterbacks who have you know 15 or less starts in college also haven't bowed well in the NFL. So Kennedy Richards. He's one that comes to mind. Trey Lance comes to mind. It's a couple guys. Um, all right. So number three, uh, Arizona Cardinals. Uh listen, we don't know what they're gonna do at quarterback. Um, Kyler Murray, the the the feeling is that he's he's gonna be gone somewhere. Um it has not been as fruitful in Arizona as people want it to be, as probably he would have liked. Um I also just don't think he's as good as some people still think he is for whatever reason. I'm not I'm not really sure where this love for Kyler Murray is. I mean, yeah, I for the money he's being paid, he sure as fuck ain't worth it. You got they they have some needs as well, obviously quarterback being one. Um I think they go defense here, especially in that division alone against the Seahawks, the Rams, and the Niners. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna have to get it after the quarterback, and I think this is where Ruben Bain uh from Miami comes off the board. Um, I think he's an organic pass rusher. I think he's got power. He can collapse the pocket pretty well. We saw it throughout the playoffs. We saw him national title game. I mean, he's got speed, he's got power, he's got ability to stop the run. Uh, you know, he's 6'3, 275, but he's a lean 275, and I think his ability um to be more versatile and to really move him across um and drop him back as needed is going to be huge for Arizona. And you know what? For Arizona's sake, I I hope they I hope they get it right with drafting a defensive like pass rusher guy um early in the draft. You know, Isaiah Simmons is the guy that comes to mind to me that they drafted top 10, who I loved coming out of Clemson. And he and he jit like he just didn't flourish as much as I thought he would. So I'm gonna go Ruben Bain.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:44

Yeah. Okay, you know what? I don't hate that pick. Ruben Bain definitely is one of the best players in this draft. Um, they like I said, but the first four picks, honestly, any of these teams could go any direction, it'll probably be an upgrade. Um, I went ahead and I went offensive-wise, you know, I don't think that they need quarterback just yet. Kobe Brissett played better than everybody expected.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

They do they do still have Brissett. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:15

Yeah. I mean, they have Bursett. No matter what happens with Kyler Murray, Kyler Murray's probably gone. Uh, Brissett can give them an above-average year one more time at quarterback. So what I'm thinking is, especially with such a deep quarterback class coming out next year, that they want to go ahead and they want to make sure they can stand upright when they go offensive tackle out of Miami.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:36

Francis Maui is his last name? Mauiola.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:40

Mauiola, yeah. Francis Mauiota. He's 6'6, 3'15. They have, I think, two starting offensive linemen that are up for free agency this year. So, you know, depending on if they can keep both, that'd be great. They're probably gonna lose at least one. He can solidify the right tackle position. And you know what I'm saying again, Jacobi Percent balled out with what he had for the situation he had. He could do it one more year, be that bridge quarterback, and then sit there as a veteran president to go ahead and like bring up an Arch Manning or Lenore Sellers or something like that. So I think they sure up the offensive line with number three and they get that offensive tackle.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:23

Yeah, I I don't I don't think it's a bad pick at all. I mean, you could go, you go Maui Maui Oa there, you go Spensafano from Utah. Um, I mean, they they need support on both sides of the ball um on the line. And I think if you can at least establish a good system in place for a rookie offensive lineman to be ready, get a year in the system, and then bring in your quarterback of the future, hopefully. Um it's a good pick. I think you can't go wrong either way.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:52

Yeah, honestly, like I said, literally these first four teams are gonna go any situation and pretty much be better off. Now, fourth, we have the Tennessee Titans.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:01

Yep. Got Cam Ward last year.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:04

Originally, they have the number one overall pick Cam Ward last year. Originally, I wanted them to take a wide receiver in Jordan Tyson or Cornell Tate. I've switched up since then. I've switched up since then. All right, all right. I think they take David Bailey out of Texas too.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:23

Whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:26

David Bailey had a 20 and a half pressure rate for the year.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:31

I know. For the year. It's ridiculous.

Picks 5–8: Giants’ Protection, Saints’ Spark

SPEAKER_00 1:18:35

Robert's Robert Sowell is the new the new head coach. He's a defensive minor. Now you tell me the only player that has earned their keep on the Tennessee Titans right now is Jeffrey Simmons. He's a dog. Yep. He is in essentially the Miles Gary of the Tennessee Titans. David Bailey had, along with the 20 and a half pressure rate, also had 23 tackles for loss last year. He was a dog. He was a dog. If you pair him up with Jeffrey Simmons, that defensive line gets a whole lot scarier. And that goes ahead and that takes pressures off the linebackers, takes pressures off the defensive backs. Now, granted, Carnell Tater or Jordan Tyson would be great here. Give Cam Ward somebody to throw to, somebody that would get fucking open instead of him just scrambling for his life because he has nobody open and coming up with these crazy passes. Like, don't get me wrong, Cam Ward surprised me this past year. He has been putting glitter on dog shit the best way he can. I just I think that this pass-catching class is so deep that they can afford to focus on defense first. So I I do think that they go David Bailey, fourth overall. Now, in my draft, they could go David Bailey, Ruben Bain. I feel like these are two players that are can't miss. But for right now, I have David Bailey outside linebacker out of Texas tech going.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:09

So that's a little it's a little shakeup, but I mean look, that that Tennessee front has always been consistently a pretty good defensive front against a run, especially. Um you know, going to Yeah, David Bailey. I mean, I I know he he bought out all fucking year. That entire Texas tech defense bought out the entire year, um, except in the playoffs. But um I I'm going Cardinal Tate for the Titans, the receiver of Ohio State.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:44

I I think what I originally had.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:47

Yeah, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go Cardinal Tate, 6'3, 191. He he he he waited for his time at Ohio State behind those behind that wide receiver room and played alongside Jeremiah Smith this year. He was 6'3, he's 191. He he the Titans need a true number one wide receiver. Calvin Ridley.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:12

I don't mean to interrupt you, but it has just been announced on NFL via Instagram, via Michael Rappaport, that the Cardinals are expected to hire Rams offensive coordinator, Mike LaFour, as their new head coach.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:26

Whoa!

SPEAKER_00 1:21:28

Mike LaFleur looks like he is going to be the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:33

Going to a division rival. Oof. Crazy, isn't it? Oof.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:41

That is Ben Johnson 2.0.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:45

Well, have you seen that Arizona cast? I mean, I don't know about that yet. But um Trey McBride's a dog, Marvin Harrison Jr. is a mystery right now, and Jacoby Brissett is well, Jacoby Brissett. So we'll see. Uh that that's bread. That is breaking news right there, indeed. Yeah, I think I think Titans need a true uh a true number one wide receiver. I think you pair Carnel Tate with with Cam Ward. Uh Cam Ward's arm and the ability to make things happen outside the pocket. I think it's gonna help stabil stabilize the offense. I think I think his red zone and his size is gonna be really nice for Ward to throw back shoulder fades to or 50-50 balls. And I think his ability to just track the ball and to really just make the catches is really gonna be critical for him. Um I would like to see him get a little bit more separation um in the routes, especially at the at the top of the route when it comes to whether it's a comeback or an in-breaking route or even a double move. Um, but I think that is where you know being 6'3 is gonna be is gonna come to your advantage as a as a receiver. You want a quarterback who wants to be able to at least trust to test the defense and throw it deep from time to time. Uh, I I like Jordan, I like Jordan Tyson more if uh between the two wide receivers.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:11

He's gotta stay healthy, that's the thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:13

He does gotta stay healthy. I will say this about Jordan Tyson, and I I I um found this stat really interesting. So not this not this season that just wrapped up. Last season, I believe his his drop rate was like 15%, 15.2%. Not great as a wide receiver. This year, his drop rate went from 15% down to 1.2%. I mean, you won't talk about just a just just the ball machine, just grinding and really and just getting it right as a receiver. That is a guy that you could trust to throw the ball to. Um, yeah. So I'm I'm interested to see how he does. I like I liked him at Arizona State. He was he's got speed, he can't he could catch. Um, he definitely is able to catch a lot more this year than last year, um, even with a healthier quarterback. But uh, yeah, I'll go I'll go Cardinal Tate here, though. I think we're gonna see the trend of uh Ohio State wide receivers getting drafted to top 10, um top five, and Jeremiah Smith, when I assume he comes out next year, is also gonna join that list. Um, number five, New York Giants. Uh Harbaugh comes in, new head coach, Jackson Dark, Camp Scataboo were kind of the the one two punch last year and really the highlight for that team before they got hurt. Obviously, Malik Neighbors tore his ACL at the beginning of the year. So you're gonna have all three guys healthy, ready to roll, um, going into Harbaugh's first year. I think I think this is just gonna be protect your guy. And I think they go, I think they go Spencer Fono, tackle out of Utah, 6'6, 302. Look, the Giants have got to fix the offensive line. Um, I think Fono, he's a high floor, he's a plug-and-play tackle from the beginning, he's got good balance, he he's really versatile in the schemes of the play calling. Um, his hand timing is really good. Um, where he's not gonna get uh he didn't get caught a lot or dinged for for holding calls. Now, I think the only thing that's really gonna test him is you know some of that pass rush and some of that brute strength, like the Eagles defensive line, for example, with the Jordan Davis or with the Jalen Carter. Like, how is he gonna hold up against those guys? Um, is he gonna get bulldozed or is he gonna be able to hold his own and kind of be that stability like a Joe Alt was in LA for the Chargers before he got hurt or uh like a Rashawn Slater? But you got to protect Jackson Dart, and you got to be able to continue to create uh good lanes for Scataboo. Um you could argue get a wide receiver too to go from League Neighbors, but like you said, the receiver class is deep, and I think they're gonna be able to make those those necessary draft um picks and address those needs in the first three rounds, but I think you secure that offensive line. You wanna you wanna have a good balanced attack with pass and run. Your quarterback can run it as well, so you want to be able to create lanes and protect him, especially the blind side. Um put Fono on the left. Um go Spencer Fono from Utah to protect your Jackson Dart quarterback.

Picks 9–12: Chiefs Edge vs RB, Cowboys WR/CB

SPEAKER_00 1:26:47

So I was gonna go Spencer Fono as well, but then I switched it up. And I know that I went ahead and I said that the wide receiver class is deep. Don't get me wrong, it is, but I really do like Jordan Tyson as well. Now, the defensive side of the ball, they could obviously they could use a safety like Caleb Downs, they can go linebacker, or I mean uh cornerback out of LSU.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:11

Um Menor Delane.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:14

Menor, yes, exactly. And they can take him, who is arguably my number one cornerback in the draft this year. Um they could definitely do that, but their front young offensive defense or defensive line, I'm sorry, is young, fast, stout, root degrow between uh between Kayvon Thibodeau, Dexter Lawrence, between uh Abdul Carter and Brian, what's his name that they got from the Burns Panthers? Brian Burns. That's nasty. It is one more year together. I definitely think that they can go ahead and they can put it together and they can fully eat, especially in that division. I think that iron only sharpens iron. You take that defensive line constantly working against the offensive line, the offensive line is bound to get better. I think the one thing you need is a number two receiver for Jackson Dart, especially with middle Malik neighbors coming back off of an ACL tear. You know, yeah. Dislocating his his ankle. A lot of injuries have happened to key players already. Jaff Siddhartha's already in kind of like concussion trouble, if you want to sit there and you want to say that. There's a lot of injuries that have happened. Jordan Tyson, wide receiver out of Arizona State. He's explosive. He like it's it's a real good spot for him to kind of solidify that offense for the next three to four years. But the offense has key positions in place. The defense has a young, stout defensive line. They need maybe one linebacker and one defensive back, and they could be close to a complete team. The Giants are in a real good spot for picking number five overall. Like they I said it last year. I like Jackson Dark coming out. Them taking Cam's Gadaboo was a steal for me in the draft, and it's been proven right. Yeah. You know what I mean? Um the Giants, if they don't fuck it up, if they get somebody to take the pressure off Malik Neighbors, especially if they come back after an injury, it'll make a world of difference for Jackson Dart, especially because he didn't have Malik Neighbors for like pretty much the entire year. You have Malik Neighbors, another true number one wide receiver, a number one bruiser running back, and then you have a young defensive line that's a recipe for success, no matter where you are in what division. I think that you go ahead, you solidify that offense first, before you go ahead and you add other pieces into the pot. And then we have at six, the Cleveland Browns.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:07

Can you tackle, wide receiver, inside line, quarterback, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:15

Yeah, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:17

And this is where I decided that Spencer Ifano should go.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:22

I think that he goes ahead. He's played 37 games, started 36 of them. He's got that experience. He's only left four sacks in his career while playing. And, you know, he could also play either side of the ball, left tackle, right tackle, even in guard, because both Robinson and Coughlin are up for free agency this year. Both their starting tackles. They go, they're gonna need, again, depending especially with their cap situation, after paying Miles Garrett, after all these like stud rookie players are set to get paid soon. They're gonna have to start thinking about that. I think right near here is where Spencer Fondo goes. Off to the tackle out of Utah.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:05

Yeah, so um this is where I go. Francis Maui Oa. Uh just because yeah, so I mean, we're we're we're we're we're on the same path wavelength um as far as so far the first six. I think, yeah, I mean yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean yeah, except for Tyson. But you know, Maui Oa 6'6, 335. Listen, they they they got a great stud in Quinchon Junkins last year at running back. Yeah, for sure. And being it and being able to put in uh Maui Oa here is just really really gonna reinforce the trenches um with Cleveland's physical kind of like style of play. He's a physically dominant tackle, he's got power, he's got length, um, he he's got discipline for the run game. You need to protect your quarterback. He's up and ball. You you need to protect your quarterback, whoever it may be, right? Whoever it may be. You need to protect your quarterback, and I think um kind of that that one-two punch of Juckins and um, you know, they Shadur Sanders or whoever the quarterback is breaks out of the pocket. You're you have some some protection there, but um, I think it's simple here. I think you know, Cleveland, you gotta get you gotta get your first round pick right, and I think it's pretty easy to go here with um Maliola. Number seven.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:32

Also, another one just wrote by Ian Rappaport. 49ers are hiring former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris as their defensive coordinator.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:42

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:44

Raheem Morris goes to the NFC West.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:51

This is breaking newsrogen. Loving it. That's a great hire for San Francisco. Now, if they could just have their players healthy with Raheem Morris, you know, they'd be okay.

unknown 1:33:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:03

That's a great that's a great yeah, that's a great hire for NFC. All right. Washington Commanders at number seven. To me, it's two players. It's either Jacob Rodriguez linebacker from the Texas Tech, or it's Caleb Down safety from Ohio State. Jacob Rodriguez had an unbelievable week at the Senior Bowl week. He was he got, first of all, led the country. It was seven force fumbles, had four picks last year, was just unbelievable. And just had another great week this week. He had a fumble and a pick.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:47

And he had to destroy the running backs and everything.

Picks 13–15: Rams Secondary, Ravens Front, Bucs Pass Catcher

SPEAKER_03 1:33:50

He destroyed the running backs, he can cover. I mean, he he just he has it all. He is he's in that to me. He's in the Bobby Wagner, Luke Keekly realm.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:04

I agree. I agree. I I 100% agree with that.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:09

Here's my problem though. Is I just don't think the commanders are going to let Bobby Wagner or Frankie Louvu go yet. And I think and I think and I think they have slightly a bigger need at safety, and you go Caleb Downs out of Ohio State because he is just he is a chess piece who's just going to elevate your entire secondary from tackling to instincts to range to play recognition. He is one of the few can't miss players in the draft. You guys haven't had a safety since R.I.P. Sean Taylor, let's be honest. And the one year Landon Collins was like eh. He had a lot of tackles, great in the run game, but like he was ass um in the passing game. Yeah, I think I think Adam Peters and Josh Harris, I think you don't overthink it. I think you take arguably the best player in the entire draft class, Caleb Downs at number seven. And that's it.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:31

No, no. So I would love that pick. I've I've told the group chat, I've told you guys ever since.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:39

Not taking Kyle Hamilton.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:41

We we we were we were well yeah, we had the chance to take Kyle Hamilton and Christian Gonzalez, and and when it came to Kyle Hamilton, we took Jamin Davis, that's his name. Jamin Davis, linebacker, and net linebacker out of was it Kentucky or something?

SPEAKER_03 1:35:59

Yeah, he no longer there.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:01

Yeah, and then when it came to Christian Gonzalez, we took Emmanuel Ford, and he's no longer there either. And mind you, that was like two or three years ago. Yeah, that wasn't a long time ago. Yeah. And I've told you guys since the beginning the two players that I want, Jacob Rodriguez out of Texas Tech and Caleb Dan Caleb Downs out of Ohio State.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:25

These are two can't miss players I've seen every single game I've seen, they are pro-ready. They are making the right reads, they're making the right plays. Jacob Rodriguez was the standout of probably one of the most stout Texas Raiders, Red Raiders defenses we have seen or will ever see. He was a baller on a team that had David Bailey on it. Like, I mean, he he he he's a dog. And for some reason, the scouts have yet to pick up on that. A lot of people have him going in the later rounds. I don't understand that.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:08

For me, I would take either one of those players in a heartbeat. I don't think that's what they do. I I don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:17

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:19

If it was me, Jacob Rodriguez or Caleb Downs are the players that I want them to take. Okay. I I want to make that, I want that to be known. I want them to take it. But at least in my mock draft, you still have a guy named Ruben Bain still available.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:36

You in your mock draft, you do still have a guy named Ruby Bain.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:39

Mock draft. In my mock draft, there's still a guy named Ruben Bain. Defensive band out of Miami still available. He had 17.5 tackles. He had a sack and two and a half tackles, like I said in the championship game. He had nine and a half sacks on the year. Our leading sack player was Von Miller at nine. And he's 37 years old. He's gonna be 37 years old. Now he signed throughout next year. He signed throughout 2026.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:11

But our pass rush was fucking abysmal. And at this point, I still think Ruben Bain is a swell-acampus guy. Now, granted, I would much rather have Jacob Rodriguez, because again, Bobby Wagner is getting up in that age. And Caleb Downs, to me, is like a Kyle Hamilton. He's a Swiss Army knife. He had 44 snaps on the defensive line in 2025. He had 146 snaps in the slot. He had 241 in the box and 240 snaps deep. Dude's a fucking Swiss Army knife. Dude can play wherever, whenever, however, and he can sit there and he can be an impact player. Caleb Downs to me would be the right move. Jacob Rodriguez will be that Luke Keekly, Fred Warner type lurking backer that could just solidify a young front core. But at this point, the scouts haven't given Rodriguez his just desserts and what he deserves. So maybe we can squeak out in a second or third and get him. And Caleb Downs, although I think he's the better player, I think Ruben Bain makes more sense. Because to be honest, anybody on defense we could use. Like anybody on defense, we can use our defense was fucking invisible.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:38

And you know, again, our leading stack guard is gonna be third seven. So I think we go Ruben Bain, like you said. He's 6'3, he's 275, he can be anywhere on the defensive line. He's lean, he's got great power, speed, and bend. So I think we go Ruben Bain junior defensive end out of Miami. Oof at number seven.

Wrap Up, Schedule, And Sign Off

SPEAKER_03 1:39:59

Unfortunately. Chase Young 2.0.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:03

Chase Young. Well, yeah, tech, yeah, almost.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:06

I look, look, look, look, listen, what one of the one of these guys is gonna slip farther than Dan expected. Right. We see it every year. It's just it's just about it. Is it gonna be Bain? Is it gonna be Messidor? Is it gonna be R.R. Reese? Is it gonna be Downs? Like, which guy is it gonna be?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:23

Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:24

I would be sh I would be shocked if you all if Ruben Bain.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:28

Yeah, if he gets that far.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:29

If he gets that far, I wouldn't be shocked if you all didn't take Caleb Downs.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:33

Caleb Downs just makes a lot of sense, dude. I think him, the the can't the two defensive can't miss players to me are Jacob Rodriguez and Caleb Downs. Yep. I remember I got in a fight with people online, at least comment-wise, because I said Jacob Rodriguez is the guy we should draft at seven. Everybody's like, oh, he ain't even projected in the top six rows. Have you seen this kid play?

SPEAKER_01 1:40:58

If you watch ball.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:59

Like, what?

SPEAKER_01 1:41:00

Like what?

SPEAKER_00 1:41:01

Tell me you don't watch ball without telling me you don't watch ball. Dude's a fucking he's gonna be a cornerstone of whatever defense he gets drafted to. Both of them, Caleb Downs for at least the next six years, and Jacob Rodriguez for at least the next eight. Like, that that's just the way it is, and the only reason I'm saying that is because of position. Yeah. Because it's position. And it's just, you know, I would I would love getting Caleb Downs. I would I would absolutely love that. He would bring a spark back to the deep box of the defensive backs that we haven't had since he said since we had uh yeah, Sean Taylor. I mean, you want to sit there and you want to talk about LaRon Landry too, but he was just fucking jacked up on Royds the entire time. And Jacob Rodriguez could bring solidity to that young front seven. Yep. But I do think also our pass rush is mainly where it killed us. I think the pass rush, the front seven on both sides of the ball is where it all begins. It just is on offense and the defense. If you don't have stout there, the rest falls apart. And if we can get Reuben Bain at seven, then we get Reuben Bain at seven. Now we're at the Saints.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:16

Saints.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:17

The Saints at number eight. Now, with the Saints at number eight.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:22

Tyler Schupp.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:24

Tyler Shuff. He proved everybody wrong this year. He was fucking accurate.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:31

He's kind of the truth. He's kind of the truth.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:34

He he did everything right. He made every play he needed to. The only thing is that they traded away his number one weapon in Rashid Shaheed to Seattle? It was Seattle.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:49

Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:52

We gotta get Homie, who's super fucking accurate, another another weapon. And this is kind of where I flip-flopped my Titans pick. Originally, I went with Cardinal Tate and I switched to Haley. I'm taking Carnell Tate to the Saints right now, especially with Chris Olave possibly leaving in free agency. He also has a lot of injury history with concussions. He's also missing a lot of games. You need to get your rookie quarterback who's hot out of nowhere. You need to get him a receiver. You need to get him a target. You could go uh, what is it, Shadiq?

SPEAKER_03 1:43:29

Uh Kenyon Sadiq. Kenyon Sadiq. Tight end Oregon.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:34

You could go there. Young quarterback's best friend is always gonna be a tight end. But I think Carnell Tate, if he falls to the Saints at this spot, you you gotta take him. You gotta take him. He's a canvas player. Um, and yeah, I mean it's pretty kind of cut at that point. I think Cornell Tate had 895 receiving yards and eight touchdowns or something like that. Yeah, pretty good. I mean, not not bad, not bad, especially when you're not the number one receiver on that team. That's really not that bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:05

No, it ain't. It's not bad. You know, I I'm gonna go offense as well for for the Saints, and you know, they definitely need uh a lot of help. You know, I I could definitely see like a Jordan Tyson go here or Cardinal Tate go here to go uh pair with Tyler Shaw. Um I'm gonna go a little bit different direction. Um Jeremiah Love. I am gonna go Jeremiah Love for the Saints. Here's why, because Jeremiah Love, he's a three-doubt running back, he's a pass catcher as well in Notre Dame. He could do it, he could do it all. Alva Kamara ain't gonna be there forever. Um, I think it really creates a nice one-two punch like you have with the Trayvon Henderson Ramondre Stevenson in New England. Um, like you had or like you had once upon a time with um you know Kareem Hunt and Clydes Edwards uh Hilaire, the one year in Kansas City. Um, you know, I think there are still some teams who really rely on kind of rotating running backs and using them for the running past. Kamara could do both. Um, and I I think it's gonna bring a nice spark to the Saints offense. Um I don't hate going tight end or or receiver here, especially if they don't bring Chris Olave back, who's clearly their who's clearly the number one guy. Train Shahid really hurt, but but I think I think that I still think the receiver class is is really deep where you could still get a nice one, maybe uh number one or even number two receiver. Um I think if you go like a Denzel like a Denzel Boston for Washington as an example, you could go there. Um you could go like a Barry and Brown from LSU or Aaron Anderson uh to pair him there as well. I just think there's still gonna be a lot of talent in the in the first three to four rounds that you could you could give pieces with. Um tight end class. You could go Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt in the third round if you wanted to, Kenya Sadiq's gonna be the number one tight end to take off the board, but Stowers is is right there. So yeah, I think I think they go Jeremiah Love. Um and also Kansas City picks a nine, and I really don't want the Chiefs to go with Jeremiah Love, is is also what it comes down to. But uh speaking the speaking of the Chiefs, Chiefs picking nine, obviously down here. Mahomes stores ACL, so obviously Minshew is gonna be the quarterback next year for at least a little bit, at least half the year, give or take, you would think. Um I think they go Keldrick Falk, edge out of Auburn, 6'6, 270. I think you pair him with an aging Chris Jones, uh Carloftis, Bagnola, still the D-coordinator there. Um, they still have um is it it's not McDuffie. It's their other fucking corner they have. Um, their number one guy. I forget his name off the top of my head, but um I think you you increase that pass rush. I think they just go premium here. He's long, he's he's a disruptive edge defender, he's got length, and I think if you can rotate him in with Karloftis on the outsides, um, take some of the pressure off Jones to get more one-on-one action. Um, I think there's still gonna be an opportunity to get a good quality running back in in the second or third round or fourth round. You're gonna get a you're gonna get another receiver piece um with just the you know, you got Rasheed Rice and all these other guys. You we we don't know what they're gonna what's gonna happen there. Travis Kelsey, he may or may not come back. So you could go tight end um if he makes a decision and go with an Eli Stars or Kenyon Sadiq here as well. But I think for now you have to win with your defense with Mahomes out, and you're gonna have to win that with any pass rush, and I think you I think you go edge here.

unknown 1:48:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:48:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:17

Oh, there we go. There we go. All right, you're back. Okay. No, okay, so yeah, that that's that's a good pick. I don't hate it, you know. But my pick is one that you're gonna hate, and I have the Kansas City Chiefs who only average 4.2 rushing yards a carry.

SPEAKER_03 1:48:35

God damn it, you got Jeremiah Love coming here.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:38

Only had 44 rushes of 10 plus yards. Yes, I had the 132 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns, versatile tailback of Notre Dame going number nine to Kansas City Chiefs, because both Hunt and Pacheco are gonna be free agents in this upcoming offseason. And who knows what's gonna happen there. You go ahead and you possibly take pressure off Mahomes once he comes back. Yeah. An impossible Travis Kelsey less Chiefs.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:10

You know, the rushing game definitely helps there. I hate seeing it, but I think it's the right move, especially with my mock draft with Jeremiah Love still around. Take him.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:21

God kill me now.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:28

Cincinnati Bengals in two of the past three years have allowed the most yards per play.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:35

Whew on defense. Their defense is ass.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:39

Their defense is fucking terrible. They went ahead and they tried to get Stewart out of Texas fandem last year. That was fucking abysmal. They had fucking Sam Hubbard, I think it was, retire because he just didn't want to fucking deal with it anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:53

And then Trey Hendrickson.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:55

Trey Hendrickson is probably gonna be gone in free agency. You know, there's a lot of places they go here, but I think the player that both you and I believe are is the best defensive player in the draft goes here. And I think they take Caleb Downs out of a house. They can start backwards and come their way in. You know, like I said before. He had 44 defensive line snaps last year, 146 in slot, nine at corner, 141 in the box, and two or 241 of the box and 240 deep. He can play wherever they need him to play at this point. And God knows that they need it. God knows that they need it. So I think no matter where they go on defense, they get better. But at this point, Caleb Downs is hands down the best player available. Yep. It just so happens that it will be at a position that they desperately fucking need.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:02

I mean, if they get Caleb Downs, that will be a home run pick for them. Plain and simple. I think they go defense as well. I think they go, I think they go corner because they got to be able to survive just the passing attack in the AFC and they need a boundary corner. And I think they go with who I thought was the best defensive player on the LSU Tigers defense last year. That was Mansor Delane. Corner 6'1, 187. He's bigger than what the size says. He's got length. He could play man and zone. His his ball skills and just ability to break up the passing pick is just ridiculous last year. I think he really spearheaded how great that defense was for the first half of the year. And then and then everything just kind of fell apart with the team. But I think they they need defense no matter what. If they get Caleb Downs, that's a home run. I think you could argue, you could argue Delane's the best corner. You could go Dramon McCoy from Tennessee. You could go Chris Johnson from San Diego State. I mean, there's different directions they can go, but you know, they're gonna they're gonna have to get kind of their own true lockdown corner that they just haven't really been able to have. Um and I I think they go Delane here um for Cincinnati. And I think they continue, I think they're simply gonna go pretty defensive heavy first, um, given that all their money has been tied up in well, their offense. So uh I think they go Delane for corner. Uh then we go to the Dolphins at 11, who obviously Mike McDaniels is out. Tyreek Hill, we don't know what he'll look like next year. Jalen Waddle's still there. Two at Tagabay Loa basically got benched for Quinn Ewers. So there's a lot of moving parts. Deep quarterback class next year. Dolphins are going to eat 90 million dollars one way or the other this year. So um, do you just eat it this year, find a training partner, and then draft your new quarterback next year? Probably. Um, I think they I think the dolphins also need, I think they go defense. I think they need a true um, I think they need a true corner as well. You know, they they had or still had or have uh no, they had Ramsey in makeup Fitzpatrick. Traded them away. I think they rebuilded the secondary. Um I think that I think this is where you go, Dramon McCoy, corner out of Tennessee. Um, also six foot, 194. Um, I think he'll just be a true outside corner to really help support uh a really speed-based defense. I really wants to get after the quarterback and attack up front. Um his ball disruption and the ability to mirror receiver's movements and footwork is really gonna allow him to take away a good portion of the field. I'm not gonna say he's gonna be a shutdown like a Ramsey was at his prime. Um but I I think when you look at the again, when you look at the AFC East, you're gonna have Josh Allen's a quarterback to go up against. Who knows? Who knows with the Jets what you're gonna work against? But you know, you're gonna play guys um like a Lamar, you know, the Broncos when Mahomes comes back, you're still gonna play really good competition just in your confidence alone. And you know, if McCoy can kind of be a step down to what Christian Gonzalez is to New England, I think that's a major win um for the Dolphins, for the Dolphins. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:05

Okay. Okay, you know, I don't hate it, and you know, I'm kind of in the same mindset, but you know, at 10, you have this player going, I have him going at 11, and that's Mansor Delane.

SPEAKER_05 1:55:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:14

Quarterback at LSU to Miami. I mean, Miami led up 29 passing touchdowns last year. All right, uh he had six picks and eighteen pass breakups just in the past two years at LSU. He is my number one corner in the draft. And you know, I mean, it's one of their biggest positions that they need. I mean, they could go offensive tackle, they could go wide receiver, quarterback. I feel like again, you do wait until next year because it's just so deep.

SPEAKER_04 1:55:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:41

You know what I mean? Wide receiver they can get later. Um, so I go ahead, go cornerback, mentor Delane. Dallas Cowboys now or here. Their defense allowed 31.5 points per game. They traded Trevion Dix and Bland. They traded Micah, and Daron Bland is coming back off of a foot injury.

SPEAKER_03 1:56:05

And they got Quinton Williams.

SPEAKER_00 1:56:08

They got Quinn Williams. Their defense kind of shaved up once they got Quinn Williams. They started kind of coming back together. Uh too late, too little, too late at that point. Yep. I think they go Deron McCoy, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:56:25

I think that they need to go ahead and fill that spot opposite to Ron Bland, especially with Radio Kicks on. You know what I'm saying? I think that their offense is just fine. I mean, they could use another running back to help with Javante Williams. Their wide receivers seem stout if they re-sign George Pickens. You know what I mean? They got a tight end, they got Dak Prescott for whatever you want to say that he is. He he he does it. Uh I think their defense is the only side where they go for it. I mean he's coming off four interceptions and two and nine pass breakups in 2024. Now, I think he had didn't play at all in 2025 because he had an injury or something like that. So I think as far as ACL, he's had a full year to recover. But no matter what, he could be easily a number two fighting for a number one cornerback slot in that defense. It'll definitely help that they desperately need. I think they go McCoy, cornerback, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_03 1:57:31

Okay. Um, I think rebuilding the secondary is is definitely a good way to go. You could even go, I mean, you could even go linebacker here, like at Jacob Rodriguez, for example, if he's just sitting there at I fucking hope not. At you know at 12. Um people not sorry. The networks need the Dallas Cowboys to score points. They just do. They they don't want the Cowboys to be a defensive team. They want the Cowboys to sling it and to score. I don't think they're gonna re-sign George Pickens because of Jerry Jones's well history uh of his ego and his history of not re-signing you know players that should deserve to get paid. The George Pickens trade pickup was an absolute home run for them. But I think I think they let him go. And I think they I think they draft wide receiver Casey Cassemzion from Texas AM. Um, I think what really helps here is he is quick. His ability to just create space in any route um is gonna really help Dak when it comes to just having that separation and just the yards after catch to really keep the offense on schedule. Um he's 5'11, 190. Not the biggest guy in the world, but again, with CD kind of being the everything guy from possession to yards after catch to deep ball, you know, they have Ferguson and Schoonmaker at tight ends. Javante Williams had a really good year for Dallas in the running game. Offensive line is gonna get continued to clean and shape up. Um I think they I think they save money. They go, they go receiver here. I think Katsempsion, when he is on, I mean, he is definitely gonna separate himself uh from the defenders and really make a good impact for Dak. And again, the networks want to see Dallas score 25 to 40 points a game. Um, they do not want them, they do not want them to be held under 20, and they don't want their defense to be the primary focus, let's be honest. So um, because that's just gonna draw eyeballs in revenue there. Um last three picks, we got the Rams trade via Atlanta. So they have Atlanta's first round pick. Um I think they go D-line here. I think they go in the nose. I I think you gotta Aaron Donald's gone. You gotta be able to have a new guy kind of in the in the trenches there. Obviously with Jared Verse and Braden Fisk. Um, they're two studs that they drafted, what, two years ago now? Um, on the outside has been really good for them. I think McVeigh and this and uh Les need is in this organization really know how to draft and get good players in. Um I think they go Peter Woods, D-line from uh Clemson, 6'3, 315. Clemson had a Clemson had a bad year. Okay, let's call what it is. And you could and you could go you could go with you go TJ Park in a linebacker if you wanted to. Um, but I think I think putting that third guy in there who can really disrupt the flow of the offensive line, especially in that tough division, um, I think they're gonna rebuild from the inside out. Um, he's got power, he's got great first first step quickness, he can really contain the run and suffit. Um, I think the only thing that's really gonna come to play is his conditioning needs needs some work. Um and you need him in the bigger moments, um, in the big in the big situations late in the game, which is what separated Aaron Donald, amongst a lot of other things. Um, but just knowing that he's gonna be there from start to finish, um, I think it helps clean up that pass rush. I think if they were able to pass rush Sam Darnold a little bit better, um it's really disrupt his flow in that title game. Um, obviously you had the botch punt, which resulted in touchdown, but you you give up one less touchdown to Sam Darnold, you go to the Super Bowl. I mean, that that's also that's what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_00 2:01:45

Yeah, no, no, I I I definitely agree. And you know, I don't hate the pick, but I kind of brought it up earlier when we were talking about the NFC Championship game is that the the Rams they let up 6.7 yards per pass attempt.

SPEAKER_01 2:02:00

Yeah, they did.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:01

They their defensive backs were definitely the weak point of their defense. Like you said, they have Jared Verse, they have Fisk that are on the defensive line that have just overperformed like crazy, you know. I and it might be a reach, some people might say, but I think they take another Clemson player.

SPEAKER_03 2:02:26

AJ Terrell's brother, if I recall correctly.

SPEAKER_00 2:02:29

Yes. Now, pretty much the Rams took had the fifth highest allowed pass protect this season. This guy broke broke up nine passes and forced five fumbles in 2025 as a cornerback. He fucking sticks. He's a hell of a fucking man coverage quarterback. Yeah, he sticks. And I'm telling you, the the Rams are just missing that true number one cornerback. They're missing that one guy. I feel like Avian Perrell is that guy, at least there. He is the third quarterback in a row that I think gets taken between Miami, Dallas, and Rams. Cornerbacks start flying off the board at this point. And I think that he is an immediate plug-and-play player. Like, don't get me wrong, I love Emmanuel Forbes. I'm happy that he's doing better. He's not the guy there, he's not the fix there. Terrell definitely gonna be that support at that point. I think everywhere else the Rams are pretty stout. Yep. One thing that was good that was pass defense.

SPEAKER_03 2:03:40

That's uh, I mean, that that is that is an interesting pick. Could it be a reach? Probably. But like I said, Clemson, Clemson had a bad year this past year, but a but Avion Terrell is like fucking dog on the outside.

SPEAKER_00 2:03:56

Yeah, I mean, it could be a reach, but you know what? They're run offense or defensive coordinators to able to get the most out of their cornerbacks, and if they can get the most out of Avian Terrell, it it it could be it could it could be nice. It could be like a Quinyon Mitchell type play for Philadelphia last year, the last year and a half.

SPEAKER_03 2:04:16

So hey, listen, so listen, again, just like some players fall farther than expected, there's gonna be a couple players that are gonna get picked higher than expected as well. All right, so all right, this pick 14. Someone called this the meat and potatoes, the the the the talk, the talk of the episode. I guarantee is what is what the takeaway is gonna be here. The Baltimore Ravens.

SPEAKER_00 2:04:41

Now, do you remember who they said they wanted both the boy, the homies, and the chat?

SPEAKER_03 2:04:48

They they fuck they fucking won everybody. They won everybody because apparently the apparently the NFL is just the Ravens. There's no other team out there, there's no other organization out there, they just won everybody. Um one of them wants uh the wide receiver from Navy or some bullshit like that. Um it's that they could bitch that Lamar doesn't have a first-round wide receiver, yada yada yada, no weapons when he fucking chokes in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 2:05:12

But Dave Flowers just fumbles and drops the ball whenever he's needed. Um I we gotta be honest, if we're seriously talking about the Ravens, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_05 2:05:24

We can sit there and this man this man froze.

SPEAKER_03 2:05:39

Give him a second, he'll come back here in a moment.

SPEAKER_00 2:05:43

For Lamar Jackson. They can go inside linebacker because you know, I mean inside linebacker, inside offensive line, because you know, one of their players wasn't the best last year, and that's the only reason Lamar didn't play as good. So his name is uh Falalalala. Um, you know, he probably won't be starting for them this upcoming season because John Harbaugh just had a kink for Daniel Falele. Um but their main focus, I think, should be on the defensive line.

SPEAKER_01 2:06:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:06:19

Once Matabuke went down, and his future is completely up in the air right now. There's a lot of rumors saying that he's already retired, that he's gone, he's moved, he's done. They can go a lot of different places. Now, this is where I throw a curveball in it.

SPEAKER_01 2:06:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:06:40

And I don't know where a lot of people will follow me. But I feel like this guy has the top end of what Isaiah Simmons should have been. That's sunny style. He is six five sunny style. Six five, two hundred and forty-three pounds. He started his career at safety at Ohio State. Yeah, and he transferred to linebacker, gained weight, gained muscle. In his career, he has nine sacks and 22 and a half tackles for loss. Over the past two years, he's had 132 defensive line snaps in both years, not combined, in both years. He's had 132 defensive line snaps. And just last year, he had 456 in the box. This dude and 65 in the slot, he don't get me wrong, just because he's 243 pounds doesn't mean he's lost his step. He's quick, he's fast, he's strong. And if you want somebody to be at edge, to be a true edge in the NFL, he has the size, he has the strength, he has the speed. Now, granted, he started at safety, he played the rest at linebacker, this dude could be a fucking dog. He has the frame, he has the intangibles, he has the experience, he has almost two, he has over 250 snaps at Ohio State on the defensive line where he could sit there and he could wreak habit. Now, inside defensive line, if Matt Bucket doesn't come back, will probably be a bigger need. But regardless, you need somebody to get after the quarterback. This guy's it. A lot of people probably wouldn't take him. Even at this position, they probably see him as like uh, I guess what would you say? Um a Jamal Adams type, like play him in the box, play him deep.

SPEAKER_04 2:09:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:09:04

No, that's not how I see him. His size does not say that to me whatsoever. His intangible does not say that to me whatsoever. He is a baller. He balled out in the past two years at Ohio State, especially since he got 10 and a half tackles for loss just not last season, but their NCAA championship winning season. He got six and a half tackles for loss this year, nine sacks. He can get after the quarterback. He can be whatever the Ravens need him to be. And I think that Sonny Styles can completely transform that defense.

SPEAKER_03 2:09:39

It's not a bad pick with Sonny Styles. He he and Arvell Reese are definitely gonna go, I think first round. It's just gonna be a matter of when Styles gets picked. Um listen, I I'm not I'm not gonna spend a lot of time talking about the Ravens because I hear about it enough every day. Um I'm I'm gonna go one of his teammates um on the true kind of interior defensive line. I'm gonna go Caden McDonald uh from Ohio State. It's a classic Ravens pick. Um it's gonna bring death in the trenches. You can rotate him through. He's gonna be physically dominant. He's got size, he's got strength, he can really stop that run, um, really be the anchor there. Um he's 6'3, 326. Um, I think if you're looking for, I mean, he'll be good on the pass rush, but if pat, but if specifically more pass rush ability and availability to kind of get home to the quarterback, I think this is where you could find like a David Bailey fucking sitting there, and they take him specifically for the the speed to the outside and the ability to kind of disrupt the pass. Um, but I think McDonald, teammate of Arval Reese, Stanley Styles. I think those three guys, they played a lot of ball together. I think they they're they're disciplined, they're coached well. And I I think with Matabique, uh, very unknown here. I think you got to be able to disrupt up front and really limit some of that pressure off of your secondary um in the linebackers there. So I I I think I think we're both in the right ballpark. They go from Ohio State, they go defense. It's just gonna be a matter of uh which one they they go. Yeah, inside or outside.

unknown 2:11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:11:33

That's her. That's her.

SPEAKER_03 2:11:35

All right. Last but not least, number 15, the Bucks. Um Baker was ass the second half of the year. I don't know what the hell happened um to that team, but they fell apart. And Meka Ubuka was a stud, probably the first six weeks of the season, tapered off. And then it can't kind of came alive. Um I think there's a couple different places you could go. You you could go you go offensive line for deaf, you could go, you could go pass rush. Um their linebacking core is is getting older. There, there's a lot of different ways they could go. Um I think they go, I think they go receiver for two reasons here. I think Mike Evans is old and hurt. Let's call What it is. Um Chris Godwin, also older and hurt.

SPEAKER_00 2:12:35

Like Ted Johnson, too, but like, you know, he's on that level.

SPEAKER_03 2:12:40

Yeah, yeah, Ted Johnson, he's he's not the Abuka level. Um, I think they go Makai Lemon out of USC. I think his his route running, his his yards after catch threat, and his ability to just have that true separation that Baker would love to just throw to. He's 5'11, he's 195. Um, his contested catches aren't that great, but you have a Buka who's a little bit bigger in size to make up for that. And of course, you still have Mike Evans for those 50-50 balls into the red zone. But I think you put you put Evans on the outside and Buka on the on the outside, and you put Mikai Lemon in the slot and then bring in Chris Godwin and rotate out. Um, if you go four receiver formation or even three bunch with a tight end, I think, I think just it's a younger game. Your division is still not it's not tough. Let's just call what it is. It's it's it's always up for grabs. Um Baker likes to sling it. They've got the good running back combination with uh Bucky Irving and Rashad White. Um but but they lost because Baker completely fell apart at the end of the day. Um but and I I think I think Mikad Lemon's gonna bring an additional spark um early on. And you know, Tez Johnson's a good is a good bench piece, but I think you get I think you get younger at the receiver position, I think you really start to transition post Mike Evans era, um, and you lean into the buca Lemon uh tandem with your running game.

SPEAKER_00 2:14:23

I I like it. I like it, and I kind of feel like we we kind of went the same direction uh over the pass passing game option. Um you know, they need linebacker, they need edge, they need quarterback, and could be another wide receiver. Um my thing is is that both Cade Otten and Mike Evans are free agents at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_04 2:14:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:14:48

Um Mike Evans is 32 and he's coming off an injury, he's banged up, broken collarbone, fucking hamstring issues.

unknown 2:14:58

Dude, he's falling apart.

SPEAKER_03 2:14:59

Falling apart.

SPEAKER_00 2:15:02

This is where I think we will see the one and only tight end take it. Oh I think if Kopen goes ahead and he walks in free agency, I think that their wide receiver room is deep enough to not waste a pick in the first round. I wouldn't say waste, that's that's not fair. Uh, to use a first round pick on a wide receiver.

SPEAKER_04 2:15:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:15:30

I think they go. It's a deep tight end out of Oregon.

SPEAKER_03 2:15:34

Kenyon's deep.

SPEAKER_00 2:15:36

Kenyon's a deep. He's 6'3, he's a matchup nightmare. He had 51 catches for 560 yards and eight touchdowns. 245. I think he just is an explosive threat, especially at the tight end position. I think he can make an immediate impact. I think he's young. And one of the main things that I've always said throughout this podcast, throughout this channel, and everything is that a quarterback's best friend is a tight end.

SPEAKER_04 2:16:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:16:06

At the end of the day. And I feel like I mean, Baker fell apart. That's what he does. He's hot the first half of the year, second half of the year, people figure it out, and he can't figure it out himself until he gets the wild card. He makes the wild card, then he falls apart after that. Yeah. That's just what Baker does. Give him more options, give him more young talent, and he will be able to hopefully figure it out. You know, I just I I agree with the receiver aspect. I just think it's a bigger receiver. I think it's Kenyon Sadiq tied in out of Oregon.

SPEAKER_03 2:16:44

I think I think it's good, I think it's a good pick. I think Kenyon Sadiq could go anywhere from probably 7 to 22, give or take, um, in the first round. He he can be that security blanket that I don't want to say Trey McFr. I'm not gonna say he's gonna have like 115 fucking catches for a tight end, but I think Sadiq is gonna be one of those guys where he can have 65 to 80 catches a year and and really be that security blanket you talk about for for Baker. Look, if his if his if if he can if he can get his maturity in check a little bit and and just like hit his mental lapses right and keep the emotions where they need to be. I mean, from a player standpoint, he is. He was a he was a matchup nightmare that Dante Moore loved to throw the ball to. And he can wreak havoc and and fight for those one-on-one balls and and box out linebackers and make possession catches. He's got everything to be a great tight end, but he's gotta be, he just he has to be able to put it together consistently and to just continue to continue to look forward and be the guy that Baker would want him to be.

SPEAKER_00 2:18:01

For sure. I mean, this this offseason's it's it's gonna be fun to watch, but you know. And then yeah, I think that's the last one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 2:18:14

Yeah, first 15.

SPEAKER_00 2:18:16

There we go.

SPEAKER_03 2:18:17

Yeah, first, first 15. We got you, we got you two hours and 18 minutes of content entertainment, laugh out, laugh out loud moments. Um, as always, you can check us out for free on any podcast platform. Subscribe for free, leave reviews, listen and enjoy. Um, sources tell me that's the first episode since May. Um, that's what the group chat was telling me here. So um almost a year. Almost almost a year. We're we're we're back back on the airwaves, though. Um we appreciate the support and listening here. Appreciate the the two hours and change crews you you gave to me to come back on here for this. And you know, we're gonna get to the Super Bowl next week. Um, we'll do we'll do picks 16 through 32 um for the first round in the next week or so. Recap the Super Bowl. Um, either some more college football news is gonna come out or or NFL stuff's gonna come out. I think all the head coaching jobs should probably be filled, I'd say, after the Super Bowl, especially if Clint Kubiak, um Seahawks OC potentially going to the Raiders. Um five stars for the win. Let us know what you think. Have a wonderful Sunday to kick off February. Uh by the way, Justin Rose is up eight shots with seven holes to go. Um, so that's a that's a winner there. Hope you took it, Cruz. Told you. But this guy. This this this this fuck is fucking. Trying to buy a house, man. That's what he does. Yeah, I gave I gave you a winner. I gave you a winner's what I gave you. I mean, uh this could be a winner, yeah. This is gonna be two this is gonna be two and oh golf plays to start off the season, by the way. Two and oh winners. Um third one is gonna be missing. Yep, exactly. So that's fine. We'll cross that bridge Thursday when we get to it. Um have a great Sunday afternoon and evening. Glad to be back. Turn the power turn the power off. We will be back next week. Mr. Gots, Mr. Cruz, enjoy your Sunday. We will talk soon. Bada bang, bada boom.