Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / SATP Ep. 33 Part I feat. Jim Wickens(The Draft Professor)

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SATP Ep. 33 Part I feat. Jim Wickens(The Draft Professor) · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

0:26
Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
0:28
Twisted podcast. We have a special guest in here
0:31
today and he's here to talk about the draft.
0:34
Jim Wickens, welcome. Just let the world know what you
0:37
do and everything else. Yeah, So my name's Jim.
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You can find me on X at NFL Draft Fanatic.
0:45
No Iron Fanatic. It's the same channel on YouTube
0:49
as well as X Witter and we do daily draft content.
0:53
So guest appearing here. Then have two draft podcasts
0:57
tonight. We'll have two more tomorrow
1:00
night and then we have a really big eighteen hour 32 team seven
1:06
round mock draft Thursday, Friday, Saturday, six hours of
1:09
podcasts each night. So I find ways to stay busy.
1:15
That's awesome, man. I never see, I never heard that.
1:18
That's crazy. 18 hours, man. But we're we're excited to have
1:22
you, man. We're excited to talk about the
1:24
draft and you know, it's a very interesting draft coming up.
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So we're excited to talk about that.
1:29
And and we're we're just honored that that you that you agreed to
1:33
do the show today and, and we're happy to have you.
1:36
So let's let's talk some draft stuff.
1:39
Oh absolutely. It's great to be here, so thanks
1:41
for having me. Of course, and I know you're a
1:44
Bills fan too, just for the record, so I would like all of
1:47
us so. And go Bills, Yeah.
1:50
Go bills, all right. All right.
1:52
The first question that we want to ask you here is how would you
1:57
classify this upcoming draft class which is happening on
2:00
April 24th? What would what would be the
2:03
strengths, what would be the weaknesses, and how would you
2:06
personify this year's draft class?
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So that's a loaded question, but it's a good one.
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So first of all, this draft is a draft about starters.
2:17
So if you expect your team to draft all pros, that's probably
2:23
not going to happen. But if your team needs four or
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five starters, you can probably find them in every position
2:31
that's not quarterback. So from that standpoint, it's
2:36
it's actually a really deep draft.
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It's not a fantasy football draft.
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This isn't going to be a draft where you're going to be finding
2:45
that wide receiver one for your fantasy football team.
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But there's going to be some really good starting NFL wide
2:51
receivers coming out of this draft.
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But it's probably going to be more of the wide receiver 2 wide
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receiver three types, not the wide receiver one type.
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So if you're into team building, you got to love this draft.
3:03
So that's kind of how I would kind of set the table on that.
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What are the strengths? I would say the strength of this
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draft are definitely on defense. I think every defensive position
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in this draft is loaded. Even for example, like
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linebacker, typically we might see maybe 6 linebackers go in
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the top 100. I could see that number being
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higher this year. Typically we see like 4 to 5
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safeties go in the top 100. We could see up to 8 go this
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year. So no matter what the position
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on defense, this draft has a starter that's going to help
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your team. You just kind of have to be able
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to sift through and know you know what types of players your
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team wants. The edge in the defensive line
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of this draft is something we haven't seen in a really long
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time. There are potentially 4 guys who
4:04
go to number one in the draft between do you got your Travis
4:08
Hunter, Cam Ward, should there Sanders, Abdul Carter's?
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In your opinion where do you see those 4 falling and who could
4:17
who? Who in your opinion would go
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number one? Who should go #1 and who do you
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think will go #1? Cam Ward is going #1 he should
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go #1 and there shouldn't be any doubt about that.
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He's been one of the premier quarterbacks of this class for
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three or four years. So if the media was late
4:43
covering him, that's that's not the problem of of draft media,
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right? Draft media has been watching
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Cam Ward for the last four years or longer.
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So we've known Cam Ward was in this class.
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If you would have talked to us at this time last year, he would
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have been a candidate to be the top quarterback of the class.
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And very early on in the last college regular season, he
5:08
clearly positioned himself as the best quarterback in this
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class. So number one overall is Cam
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Ward and just proof that that's going to be the pick.
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The Titans canceled their pre draft visits with Travis Hunter
5:24
and Shudur Sanders. So they, the Titans chose not to
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meet with them after they had already scheduled meetings.
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So that should tell you that it's Cam Ward going #1 And then
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as far as how to stack up Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter and
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Shudur, I definitely think Hunter and Carter are the next
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two best players, but quarterback is the most
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important position in all of sports.
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So going back to what we said a few segments ago, this draft is
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about getting starters and Shudur Sanders is going to be an
6:04
NFL starting quarterback. You may not like the fact that
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he is your, he could be your team's starting quarterback.
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But if you look around the league, you know Andy Dalton can
6:18
start games in this league. A quarterback like Chad
6:21
Pennington would probably start for like 10 teams in this
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league. And if you comp Sanders to like
6:28
Pennington or Dalton, that's who he is.
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And it's OK to draft a starter like you need to be happy if
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your NFL team has a viable starting quarterback that your
6:40
GM and coach can build the team around.
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So I, you know, I, I think that the tough part with Shudur is
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knowing the landing spots. And what I mean by that is so
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the Giants have signed 2 quarterbacks.
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So if Shudur doesn't get drafted by Cleveland, would the Giants,
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with a coach on the hot seat, draft a quarterback?
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I don't think they will, right? So it then it becomes about fit.
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So I can't see Sanders getting by the Raiders.
7:13
I couldn't see him getting by the Saints, right.
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Like it's like those teams need a a viable starting quarterback
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or a, let's say, a solution beyond 2025.
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I have a hard time imagining should do or falling, but I'm
7:32
not in an NFL front office, so there may be a situation where
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Cleveland takes Travis Hunter and then trades back up with a
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team like Atlanta and takes Shudoor.
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I could see that. I could see that being the case.
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So I, I there's a lot of things that are possible.
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Right. I want to ask you a question
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then. If that's the case, like is
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there a team that could trade up within the top five if in any
8:03
possible need for for a quarterback like Shoulder
8:06
Sanders? I know that Shoulder Sanders was
8:10
visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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I know they're looking for a quarterback.
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So that's that's why I think that there's a chance.
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But what are your thoughts on that?
8:22
To a team trading up specifically to get Shadur
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Sanders. I it's it has to be possible,
8:33
right? It because we I'm not going to
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sit here and say never. I'm not the type of person that
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speaks and absolutes. So I think it's possible.
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I don't think Pittsburgh is trading up to get it right like
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Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh I think is in on
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Milro and I think Milro is going to be there 21 unless somebody
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trades ahead of Pittsburgh to take Milro.
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So and I I actually think that's the game that Cleveland is
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playing. So if Cleveland doesn't take
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Shudur at 2, it's probably because somebody's going to
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trade up to get him. That's my instinct.
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And here's why Cleveland needs a quarterback.
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The quarterback right now is Kenny Pickett.
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So Cleveland needs a quarterback.
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And if it's not Shudur for Cleveland, it's Mill Row.
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And the reason why we know that is Melrose, former college
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coach, is on Cleveland's offensive coaching staff.
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And Cleveland has met with Milro.
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So Cleveland would have to trade ahead of Pittsburgh to get
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Milro. And that's an expensive trade
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up, right? So Cleveland has picked 33.
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They could trade up to get in, you know, to 20 to 19 to 18 to
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take Milro, but that's going to be an expensive trade up.
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And I don't like, I'm not a fan of giving up a pick next year.
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Next year's quarterback class we've already podcasted on it is
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going to be stacked. So I would be, if you're a team
10:15
that needs a quarterback, I'd be very weary of giving up next
10:19
year's first to go up and get Sugar Sanders.
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If you can trade draft capital this year to go up and get them,
10:25
it's a good move. But I wouldn't give up next
10:28
year's draft capital, next year's draft at the top.
10:32
It's looking like a really good draft already.
10:36
So I as far as landing spots, I could see Shudur going to the
10:42
Raiders, to The Jets, to the Saints.
10:48
I was in a conversation about would Shudur go to the 49ers
10:52
earlier this week? I don't think that'll happen,
10:55
but I've had some conversations with, you know, some draft
10:59
friends of mine. I could see Shudur going to
11:03
Dallas. I could definitely see him going
11:04
to Miami, right? So like I could just start
11:08
picking and like, how far would he fall?
11:10
I can't see him getting by Seattle at 18 kind of thing.
11:16
Like cuz just you look at the teams that need a quarterback
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and it's a quarterback needy league, I don't think we're
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going to see the drops of a Aaron Rodgers.
11:32
You know, what happened, You know, like at that point, I
11:34
guess it's like 20 years ago. And the reason for that is that
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I think teams now are more aggressive to trade up and get a
11:42
quarterback. The issue is, I think your
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question was would somebody trade up into the top 4?
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And that I don't see that. I don't see trading up in the
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top 4 is really expensive. And there's not a lot of teams
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that have the draft capital this year to move up.
12:00
And other than the Giants, I can't think of any of those
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quarterback needy teams where the GM is on the hot seat,
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right? Like the, you know, the Saints,
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it's a new coach in GM and I'm looking at the draft order right
12:16
now. Seattle, relatively new coach
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and GM. They have time.
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They're not like they could wait a year meet my implications.
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They could wait a year to get their guy if they had to.
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So I I don't know, predicting trade ups to me is really
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difficult to do. I don't.
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There's not a lot of teams that have a lot of, let's say, second
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and third round picks. Like Chicago and Buffalo each
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have two second round picks and I think Cleveland is 2/3, the
12:49
49ers have 2/3, Jacksonville might have 2/3.
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So there's a couple teams that have a couple of thirds, but you
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need those second and thirds to trade up in round one to get
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into that top five or top 10. So that's expensive, especially
13:09
in the draft that's loaded with starters.
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Do you want one starting quarterback or 4 starters at
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other positions? And I think in this draft you
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want 4 starters at other positions.
13:21
Yeah, you kind of, you kind of answered the question I was
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actually gonna ask because you brought up Cleveland and their
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need. Like we've known they've needed
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a quarterback for for years. And I get they, you know, they
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gave all that money to to Deshaun Watson.
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But I was just going to ask if you thought it was a mistake to
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passing a guy like like Sanders or passing a guy like or Yeah,
13:47
yeah, passing a guy like Sanders and, you know, take Travis
13:51
Hunter, you know, instead. But you kind of answered it when
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when you said about they could be waiting on a guy like Milro.
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So but yeah, would you think that that would be viable?
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Like, like you said, next year's class is, is is very, very elite
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in the quarterback department. So you think waiting a year is
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is is a possibility for them or do you think they target
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somebody later on if they don't take chader?
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Well, they have to take a quarterback.
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There's no doubt the Cleveland that's to take a quarterback,
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you're there. They only have Kenny Pickett,
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right? So we know Cleveland is taking a
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quarterback. The question is what round and
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who is it? But taking a quarterback this
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year shouldn't prevent you from taking a quarterback next year,
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right? Like, I mean, the Panthers one
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year drafted Jimmy Clausen in round two, and the following
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year they took Cam Newton number one overall, right?
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Yeah, right. So so my opinion is like you're
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not going to pass on a Garrett Nussmeyer because you have
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Shudur Sanders or Jalen Miller, right?
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Like you're not going to pass on a Drew A law if you have Jalen
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Miller, because if Nussmeyer and Alar were in this class, neither
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would get by pick six and seven, right?
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Like if, if, if Alar and Nussmeyer were in this draft
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class, I, I think, I believe there was documentation that the
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Giants were in on Nussmeyer and that may have, you know, for all
15:38
we know, maybe that was the reason he went back to school.
15:44
But but there, there was evidence that there were some
15:47
teams that really like Nussmeyer.
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Alar may have been a little bit further down the boards, but all
15:53
four of those guys between Sanders, Ward, Nussmeyer, Alar,
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we're probably going to go in the top 20 kind of thing.
16:02
And I I could, I could justifiably say they would all
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go in the top 7 as I'm looking at the draft order right now.
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Yeah, I I think DJ Legway's poised to make a jump next year,
16:15
too, from Florida. What are your thoughts on him
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for next year's class? Oh, him.
16:22
I like the guy that transferred to Wisconsin was Billy Edwards
16:25
Junior who's thrown to Ty Felton.
16:28
And we have a we have a long list and like I'm so engrossed
16:33
in this draft class, right. I added the names when I added
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the quarterbacks for next year to the list.
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I did add them, but that doesn't mean I remembered what all their
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names were like Dust, Meyer and Allar.
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I remembered because they were in this draft class until they
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chose to go back to school. Right, right.
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So. OK.
16:54
All right, so the next question I want to ask you is about
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Travis Hunter and the Commissioner of Football.
16:59
Rodger Goodell stated that Travis Hunter should classify as
17:04
both a defensive back and a wide receiver.
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Could that translate to the NFL playing to position?
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Well, Deion Sanders. Did it?
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Yeah, Sanders did it, I think. That's true.
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That's true, yeah. And so, yes, I think it's going
17:24
to translate. The question will be what's the
17:28
snap count, right? Because most wide receivers
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don't play 100% of the snaps anyway, right?
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Like like for Buffalo, like their top receivers play 75% of
17:41
the snaps, right? That that kind of thing.
17:44
So even if even when Deion Sanders was playing offense and
17:50
defense, he had a specific package on offense and whether
17:54
that package was 10 plays or 20 plays, there was a series of
17:59
plays that Dallas would run when he was in the game.
18:02
The biggest issue is that that may tip your hand a little bit,
18:07
meaning that you may want, you may want the player to get 5
18:09
touches, but you want him to be on the field for 20 snaps so
18:13
that they don't know which five of those 20 snaps he's getting
18:17
the ball right. But I, I think Sanders is going
18:22
to play both ways. I think ultimately the
18:25
collective bargaining agreement, I, I, I'm interested to see how
18:31
this plays out five years from now.
18:34
Because if a fifth year option on a corner and a fifth year
18:37
option on a wide receiver are not the same salary and the
18:41
franchise tag is based upon position.
18:44
So if he gets franchise tagged, the position that he's labeled,
18:49
that will impact his salary. And like a great point of
18:55
reference to the I believe the Broncos had a tight end, Julian
19:02
Thomas. He was catching passes from
19:04
Peyton Manning. And there was an there was an
19:07
argument over was Thomas a tight end or a wide receiver?
19:11
Because the Broncos were franchise tagging him and he
19:15
wanted the money of a wide receiver, not the money of a
19:17
tight end. And I could I I'm foreshadowing
19:21
that to the Travis Hunter. I like if, if there's ever a
19:25
contract issue about what position is he?
19:28
I'm curious how the collective bargaining agreement handles a
19:32
player that has two positions. Because it's like, I think
19:36
Goodell had to come out and say that to be able to be friends
19:41
with the players union because the players union realizes that
19:44
they have a player like Travis Hunter and they may have not
19:47
negotiated into their language. What happens if somebody plays
19:52
both positions? And how should they get paid
19:56
right? Should it should it be wide
19:57
receiver plus corner? Should it be the highest of the
19:59
two positions? I could, I could, you could sell
20:04
me on it. Anyway, I'm fascinated to see
20:07
the discussion in five years when Hunter goes for a second
20:11
contract. Laramie Tensa was with the
20:17
Texans until he ended up being treated to commanders for
20:22
assets. The the Texans are restructuring
20:26
their O line. Is it possible they can fix it?
20:29
And who would be the best offensive tackles, slash
20:32
offensive lineman available in this draft?
20:36
That's a great question. So if it were up to me and I'm
20:41
fixing the Texans offensive line, the best tackle for me is
20:48
Josh Simmons from Ohio State. So if he somehow falls into the
20:55
20s, I would be surprised to see the Texans pass him up.
21:00
Now the problem with Simmons is that he has an injured knee so
21:04
he may not be ready for the beginning of the NFL season, but
21:10
he was. Josh Simmons was going to be a
21:14
top four pick in this draft before he got hurt.
21:19
So he's he's the best tackle and if it's not Josh Simmons, Armand
21:26
Membu would be in my opinion the next best tackle.
21:30
But I could see him going Ariante Ursari or Josh Connerly
21:36
based upon scheme fits. Ursari and Connerly are not the
21:40
same type of tackle so but I I think there's definitely going
21:45
to be tackles that are there when the Texans are picking in
21:49
round one. I don't expect there to be a
21:54
high supply of tackles when the Texans picking Round 2.
21:59
So if the Texans go any position other than offensive tackle
22:02
round one, that would be one of the well, that would definitely
22:06
be a surprise for me. Even if they're staring a wide
22:12
receiver in the face because they need some wide receiver
22:15
help too. I the the the number of
22:20
immediate help offensive tackles in this draft can be counted on
22:26
one hand. I think I've mentioned their
22:28
names, but it's Josh Simmons, it's Ariante Ursari, it's Armand
22:32
Membu, it's Will Campbell, and it's Kelvin Banks.
22:36
And my opinion is you could, if it was a multiple choice answer,
22:41
it would be one of those five guys is going to be the Texans
22:44
pick. Now as far as the interior, this
22:48
is a pretty good class for interior offensive line.
22:54
I like Donovan Jackson from Ohio State is probably my highest
22:59
rated interior offense blind and he took over for Josh Simmons,
23:05
who I just mentioned when Simmons got hurt.
23:08
So he's a guard that has played left tackle at the highest level
23:12
of college football. So that would be a really good
23:16
move for the Texans. Like if they could get both Ohio
23:22
State offensive lineman, I think that's a really good move for
23:25
the Texans. It might even be a good enough
23:28
move that the Texans would give up like a second round pick next
23:33
year to move up and get Donovan Jackson because I don't think
23:37
Jackson lasts to the Texans round two pick.
23:42
But getting both Ohio State left tackle, left guard I think would
23:46
go a long way for the Texans. But then there's Tyler Booker,
23:50
Gray Sable, Marcus, Beau, Tate Ratledge, Jonas Savinea, Wyatt
23:54
Milam. Those would be other interior
23:58
offensive lineman that I think could really help the Texans.
24:01
So you talked about the the offensive tackles here.
24:04
Who are the other ones that we haven't talked about or who's
24:08
been very underrated in this year's draft class?
24:10
Like I could mention about Armin Mambo, Will Campbell, Josh
24:14
Connolly, Kevin Baxter. You're like, what are the other
24:17
guys you would say could be a possibility that could be
24:19
drafted, that could be an impact in this year's draft?
24:23
Yeah, well, we don't have an hour and a half, but we actually
24:26
did a podcast on this. Right.
24:29
A little while ago and the challenge that I gave to the
24:34
guys that were putting the content together, as I said,
24:36
you're not allowed to use the word guard.
24:38
So we're going to podcast on the guys that we know are truly
24:42
offensive tackles and there's definitely going to be some
24:46
guys. They're going to be taken in
24:47
rounds 2 and 3 that we give these guys a year and I think
24:52
we're going to like them. Ozzy Trapillo from Boston
24:56
College, Jalen Travis from Iowa State and I'm scrolling through
25:06
the list right now so bear with me.
25:11
Anthony Belton from NC State and Holland Pierce from Rutgers.
25:19
Those are some day 2 names I would watch it.
25:22
Offensive tackle. Some of those guys are not your
25:28
normal offensive tackles. And what I mean by normal is a
25:31
few of those guys go like 360 lbs.
25:34
Like Anthony Belton is a large human being so he may not be the
25:40
offensive tackle of choice for every team, right?
25:44
If if like a team like Buffalo likes their offensive lineman to
25:47
move, Anthony Belton would not be an offensive tackle for
25:51
Buffalo, right? He just he doesn't have the
25:55
movement skills that Dawkins or Brown does.
25:57
So that's not his game. Whereas like a player that I
26:03
mentioned like Jalen Travis, this is actually a pretty good
26:06
name from Iowa State. So we covered Jalen Travis I
26:10
think for the first time in November and the guys are
26:15
recovering them were like, well, he's got the arm length, he's
26:18
got the mass like he's got he checks all of the boxes.
26:21
So the film isn't the best, but in a draft where we're screaming
26:27
for a tackle, when they covered him in November, they said, ah,
26:31
he's around six or seven guy. And now we're saying Jalen
26:35
Travis is around 3 or 4, right? So like as they initially graded
26:39
him, the grade may have not came back that well.
26:42
But in a weak tackle class, if what you're just looking for is
26:46
like a ball of clay that you got to work with, I'm looking
26:50
forward to seeing where Jalen Travis ends up.
26:53
That's again, it's a project tackle.
26:56
You're not getting somebody you want to start year one, but you
27:00
get a you get somebody with the right offensive line coach and
27:04
they can usually coach a player up.
27:06
And like, you know, I'm a huge fan of Aaron Cromer and Buffalo
27:09
because he knows what type of player he wants.
27:14
And we have a lot of examples in Buffalo where a UDFA offensive
27:20
lineman one year makes the roster one or two years later.
27:26
And that to me is what an offensive line coach is supposed
27:30
to do. So a lot of these guys, you just
27:34
need to get them with the right coaching.
27:35
I think one other player's name to give a shout out to would be
27:38
Carson Vinson from Alabama A&M. So small school, HBCU school
27:45
played at the Senior Bowl. Again, that's a large human.
27:48
I interviewed him at the Senior Bowl and I'm not short, but
27:52
Carson Vinson is taller and larger than me.
27:56
So I think, I think Vinson might project more to guard at the
28:02
next level. But he would be another
28:05
interesting player like cuz you know, if he goes to a team like
28:09
the Patriots, which need guards and tackles, I think that would
28:14
be a good situation for him. Because if you if New England's
28:18
just trying to start their best 5, he'll probably be one of the
28:21
best 5 and be able to slot in a guard.
28:24
The running back class in this in this year's this year's class
28:28
is one of the deepest positions in the class.
28:31
Who do you think could rise the occasion of being, you know,
28:35
that guy in this class that could, you know, like you said,
28:39
it's a it's a position, it's a class, it's a sorry, it's a
28:43
class full of starters. So who are some guys that you
28:46
feel could be could be starters for their respective teams that
28:51
draft them? OK, so I'm going to be a smart
28:55
ass here and I'm going to say whoever Dallas drafts is a
28:59
starting running back, whoever the Bears draft is a starting
29:02
running back and whoever the Raiders draft is a starting
29:05
running back. And I know that was not the
29:06
question, but like if if you're listening to this for fantasy
29:10
football purposes, when we did our fantasy football podcast on
29:15
the draft, basically there was there was several buckets for
29:19
the running backs. And the first is pay attention
29:22
to the teams like the Chiefs, the Commanders, the Rams, the
29:27
Texans, the Vikings, the Steelers, and then I, I, the
29:35
Bengals and I'm sorting to the draft order, maybe the
29:38
Cardinals, definitely the Cowboys, the Bears, the Raiders,
29:43
the Patriots, because all those teams need running backs.
29:46
And actually I think the Browns do too.
29:48
So they, those teams need running backs.
29:50
So whichever running backs those teams draft, take them in
29:53
fantasy. OK, it, it doesn't matter
29:56
whether it's Ashton Genti or somebody further down the list,
29:59
whoever those teams take, draft them.
30:02
Now let's start talking about some guys.
30:04
So Ashton Genti seems to be running back 1 and I don't want
30:09
to make it sound like seems to be he's running back one.
30:12
I think the the the biggest knock on Genti is going to be
30:15
pass receiving. And what did he do against the
30:21
best competition he faced because he doesn't play in the
30:26
strongest Football Conference in the country.
30:29
But right behind him, Ohio State has two backs, Trayvon Henderson
30:34
and Quinch on Judkins. And the issue is those two guys
30:39
are both Ohio State running backs.
30:40
They're both very good, but they're very good at different
30:42
things. So Trayvon Henderson is the name
30:46
in my opinion to watch because he is going to be a three down
30:49
running back. He can catch, he can run, he can
30:53
block. So whatever team's getting him,
30:55
you know that you're getting a three down running back.
30:58
And if Henderson had came out last year, he would have been
31:00
running back one right? He chose to go back to school.
31:04
A lot of us question that decision.
31:06
If you're running back one that nil money must have looked
31:09
really good, right for him to pass up being the best running
31:13
back last year. So if Henderson gets to an
31:19
offensive coordinator like Sean Payton or Andy Reid, that's
31:24
actually going to be running back one for me in fantasy, even
31:28
over Gente, even if Gente is a Cowboy, I would still take
31:33
Henderson at the Broncos or Henderson to the Chiefs simply
31:39
because he's not going to come off the field unless the coach
31:44
decides he has to come off the field.
31:46
He doesn't need to come off the field on passing downs, for
31:49
example. But other guys, other guys I
31:53
like, I definitely like a Marion Hampton.
31:56
There's talk that Hampton could go in round one.
32:00
So there could be a situation where 3 running backs go in
32:03
round one. And the the reason why I say
32:07
that is that Hampton feels like he is running back too.
32:13
Most people I talked to have Hampton in their top five.
32:17
Not everybody I talked to has Henderson in their top five.
32:20
However, I could see Henderson going to the Chiefs at the end
32:24
of round one if they know that they need a running back and
32:28
that Henderson would fill a starting void.
32:31
I could see Henderson being the third running back going in
32:34
round one to the Chiefs at the back of of that.
32:39
I don't think that's what the Chiefs would do, but I could see
32:44
it being a possibility. Other guys I like, I like Dylan
32:49
Sampson from Tennessee, very athletic and explosive running
32:53
back. I could definitely see Dylan
32:56
Sampson as a Cleveland Brown, right?
33:00
So I'm even going to give you a couple of pairings here.
33:04
There's a running back named Woody Marks from USCI.
33:07
Like Woody Marks, he's going to be a day three guy.
33:11
But when you watch him, oh, like Bills fans will remember a name
33:16
like Thurman Thomas. And what I loved about Thurman
33:19
Thomas is that he set up his blocks so he knew when he was
33:24
running where to run so that his blockers would have an easier
33:29
block. Marks does that.
33:31
Marks is not Thurman Thomas, but Mark sets up his blocks quite
33:35
well. So I love Woody Marks, but he's
33:37
going to be more of a third down back at the NFL level.
33:41
Kyle Menong and I from Rutgers like him.
33:46
A very interesting name. Rashard Smith from SMU.
33:52
So Rashard Smith is a converted wide receiver to running back.
33:58
And if somebody says, well, Jim, Tyrone Tracy did that last year.
34:03
So Tyrone Tracy was a running back that was playing wide
34:08
receiver. Like when you look at Tyrone
34:10
Tracy, you don't really see him as a wide receiver.
34:14
He's just a big running back. Burchard Smith is the opposite.
34:20
He's a wide receiver body, right?
34:23
You know the five 10195 LB type wide receiver, right?
34:28
But he plays running back. So if Brashard Smith gets to a
34:33
guy like Andy Reid or Mike Shanahan where you can throw to
34:39
the running back, that's going to be a lot of fun.
34:44
It's a lot of fun. And then another running back
34:48
who plays in the same state that I would say the same thing about
34:52
as Jayden Blue. I have I have a a good spell on
34:57
Jaden Blue. So like I would mention him on a
34:59
podcast. Then I would watch college
35:01
football on Saturday and Jaden Blue would have like an unreal
35:05
touchdown catch. And then we talked about Jaden
35:07
Blue two or three weeks later and he had another unreal
35:11
touchdown catch. So if I talk about Jaden Blue
35:14
today on a podcast, something good is going to happen to Jaden
35:18
Blue in the next day or two. It it just it just that's the
35:22
way it happens. So again, blue probably more of
35:27
a third down running back or A1B to A1 AI don't know that he's
35:33
ever going to be your 75% of the carries feature back.
35:39
But if your backfield has blue in it, I think you're going to
35:42
like it. Another player who's probably
35:45
not going to get a lot of PR, Jacori Kroski Merritt from
35:49
Arizona. This is a guy that got a raw
35:52
deal. He red shirted a year, but then
35:58
somebody played a game with his uniform number, so they credited
36:03
him with playing even though he didn't play.
36:06
So he had to sit out last year. He hasn't played football in a
36:11
really long time. But if you turn on the tape from
36:15
2023, that's a running back that you're going to like.
36:20
So I don't see Cross Key Merritt going probably before round 5.
36:27
But whoever gets them, you're getting a really good football
36:30
player. So those are some and we could
36:35
we could talk about the running backs like all day long.
36:39
Like Devin Neil haven't even talked about him.
36:41
Cologne Mullings haven't talked about him yet.
36:43
Mario Anderson from Memphis, DJ Giddens from Kansas State,
36:47
Damian Martinez from Miami, RJ Harvey from UCF, facial Tootin
36:52
from Virginia Tech, and the list just goes on and on and on.
36:56
And I haven't even mentioned Cam Scatible from Arizona State yet.
36:58
Cam Scatible is good, yeah. Yeah, I like him too.
37:02
So, so I think there's going to be between 25 and 30 running
37:09
backs drafted. Historical average has it at
37:12
about 22 or 25. I think we're going to exceed
37:16
the average and I think we're going to see a lot of running
37:20
backs go off the board in round four like, and there's going to
37:25
be teams trading up to get their running back of choice in round
37:28
4. So, and the reason why I say
37:32
that is that running backs is a devalued position, but you still
37:35
need one because one of the things that makes running back
37:39
unique is that usually there's only one of them on the field at
37:43
a time and you only have three of them on your roster, maybe 4.
37:49
So you, you tend to, you tend to when there's 3 running backs on
37:53
your 53, all three of them dress on Sundays and they have
37:58
different roles for special teams in the offense and 3rd
38:00
down packages in kickoff returns and stuff like that.
38:06
But when your team, like if you're a Kyle Shanahan, you need
38:09
a specific type of running back or when you're, you know,
38:13
Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott for the Buffalo Bills, they're
38:17
likely going to want a specific type of running back.
38:20
So they're going to have to go get the guy that they want, but
38:25
as soon as they play 4 years, you're done with them.
38:28
So you don't want to take them on day one or day 2, you want to
38:32
wait till day three. And that's why I say there's
38:34
going to be a run on running backs in round 4.