Latest / NFL Now / Calais Campbell with the Falcons, Cowboys Draft Needs, & De'Jahn Warren joins the show

Transcript

Calais Campbell with the Falcons, Cowboys Draft Needs, & De'Jahn Warren joins the show · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio. Happy Friday and Welcome into NFL Now, presented
0:22
Speaker 1: by IKEA. He's Steve whichaimom Race in the NFL Network
0:26
Speaker 1: news room. Steve, we're less than a month away from
0:28
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft starting tomorrow. We can say the draft
0:31
Speaker 1: is this month. What are your thoughts setting in Well,
0:33
Speaker 1: I mean, the Carolina Panthers will officially be on the clock,
0:36
Speaker 1: but who's our quarterback going to be? You know, we're
0:37
Speaker 1: gonna have more on that discussion because I don't think
0:41
Speaker 1: it's actually settled yet as it continue to hit every
0:44
Speaker 1: Pro day. And same with the Seattle Seahawks. We're picking
0:47
Speaker 1: at five. Talk to the head coach Pat Carroll at
0:49
Speaker 1: the league meetings and he made it sound like they
0:51
Speaker 1: are very much in the quarterback market. We can't wait
0:53
Speaker 1: to show you some of those highlights from those interviews
0:56
Speaker 1: where we're going to start with some veterans making their
0:58
Speaker 1: way through free agency. New right now into NFL Network,
1:02
Speaker 1: it is official. Class Campbell sign a one year deal
1:06
Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Falcons. He's heading into his sixteenth season
1:11
Speaker 1: at five and a half sacks last year with the
1:13
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens. According to our and if ON network insider
1:16
Speaker 1: Ian rappaported, so one year deal for seven million bucks
1:18
Speaker 1: could be nine million with incentives. In Buffalo, Taylor Rapped,
1:23
Speaker 1: the former LA Ram, has signed a one year deal
1:27
Speaker 1: with the Bills. He started every game the last couple
1:29
Speaker 1: of years, full time starter, part of the Super Bowl
1:32
Speaker 1: Championship winner there with the Rams. A former second round
1:35
Speaker 1: pick in twenty nineteen. Speaking of former second round picks,
1:39
Speaker 1: te Higgins is heading into the final year of his contract,
1:43
Speaker 1: of course. A twenty twenty second round pick of the
1:45
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals, he has been nothing short of a spectacular
1:49
Speaker 1: a consistent performer for Cincinnati, but he is heading into
1:53
Speaker 1: that contract year. He addressed that with Pat McAfee yesterday.
1:58
Speaker 1: You're going into your contract year, and obviously we are
2:01
Speaker 1: another situation in Cincinnati. Where's your mindset? Where's your head
2:05
Speaker 1: going into the year? Obviously, contract years normally everybody's best year,
2:09
Speaker 1: and obviously it's a great time to prove to everybody
2:12
Speaker 1: how great you are. Would you have done in an
2:15
Speaker 1: weapon littered offense over there in Cincinnati? Where's your mind
2:19
Speaker 1: friend going into the season? What are you thinking? About Yeah,
2:22
Speaker 1: right now, I'm just preparing for the season. I'm not
2:24
Speaker 1: really worried about the contract. Obviously, I want to get
2:27
Speaker 1: a deal done, but I'll let my agent handle that,
2:30
Speaker 1: and you know, right now just for me to get
2:32
Speaker 1: my body right for next season. We are now joined
2:35
Speaker 1: by Mike Garifula with the latest on that t Higgins contract.
2:38
Speaker 1: A lot to sort through, Mike, with those superstars waiting
2:42
Speaker 1: in the wings with Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. Like
2:44
Speaker 1: I talked about, what is the latest on the te
2:46
Speaker 1: Higgins contract situation. Well, there's no question that the Bengals
2:50
Speaker 1: value te Higgins because any notion of a possible trade,
2:53
Speaker 1: remember that was the talk leading up to the combine.
2:55
Speaker 1: Duke Tobin, the Bengals executive, squash that and said, I'm
2:59
Speaker 1: not in the business of making other teams better. Te
3:02
Speaker 1: Higgins as an integral part of what we're doing with
3:04
Speaker 1: the Bengals. It's paraphrasing what he said there. So if
3:07
Speaker 1: that was the notion toward a possible trade, you know,
3:10
Speaker 1: in the end, the Bengals would love to keep Higgins
3:13
Speaker 1: under contract and keep him for the long haul. Now,
3:16
Speaker 1: we talked about and have talked about how much business
3:19
Speaker 1: they have to do, including the quarterback, so this is
3:22
Speaker 1: going to be a piece of that. Joe Burrow also
3:25
Speaker 1: going to be a piece of that. So I just
3:27
Speaker 1: I don't sit here in sense that there's any rush
3:29
Speaker 1: to get either of these deals done. They want to
3:31
Speaker 1: get them done at the right price and at the
3:34
Speaker 1: right pace as well. Now, both sides not really divulging
3:37
Speaker 1: anything on Burrow. Katie Blackburn of the Bengals made it
3:41
Speaker 1: clear at the league meetings that they're not going to
3:43
Speaker 1: talk about anything either side of the Borough discussion until
3:46
Speaker 1: there's really something to discuss. But I expect that one
3:49
Speaker 1: to take some time as well. So a couple of
3:51
Speaker 1: orders of business that will continue to track for the Bengals,
3:53
Speaker 1: but a couple of orders of business that the Bengals
3:55
Speaker 1: themselves would love to get done before the start of
3:58
Speaker 1: the season. Yeah. Meanwhile, the Eagles dealing with a similar situation.
4:01
Speaker 1: They have a superstar quarterback heading into the final year
4:05
Speaker 1: of his contract with Jalen Hurts. Where do things stand there, Mike,
4:09
Speaker 1: The Eagles and Jalen Hurts continue to work on a
4:12
Speaker 1: deal there, try to get that thing done. The Eagles
4:15
Speaker 1: got Carson Wentz done sometime in the spring when they
4:18
Speaker 1: did that extension. So I'm sure that that is a
4:21
Speaker 1: rough timeline in which they would like to get this
4:23
Speaker 1: Hurts deal done. But they have conducted business the last
4:26
Speaker 1: couple of weeks knowing that this Hurts extension is coming.
4:29
Speaker 1: They've had to make some tough decisions. Ce J Gardner
4:31
Speaker 1: Johnson was one of them. They wound up bringing back
4:34
Speaker 1: some players that maybe they thought we're going to go elsewhere,
4:36
Speaker 1: so they brought him back. Now, when you have to
4:38
Speaker 1: pay a quarterback, that makes it tough to bring all
4:41
Speaker 1: of those players back. So some guys had to go,
4:43
Speaker 1: and some guys had to accept the lower price or
4:45
Speaker 1: move on. But that's what Howwie Roseman has made clear
4:48
Speaker 1: that they can't rebuild. They retool in the market of Philadelphia.
4:55
Speaker 1: Excuse me, Omar, remember a couple of years ago when
4:57
Speaker 1: they retooled, got themselves some draft pick capital as they
5:01
Speaker 1: were moving on from Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts emerging. That
5:05
Speaker 1: was a retool, not a rebuild. If there was a
5:07
Speaker 1: rebuild for the Eagles, it was a couple of years ago.
5:09
Speaker 1: It's certainly not what's happening now. It is a retool.
5:12
Speaker 1: You can't do that in Philadelphia. I agree with Howie
5:15
Speaker 1: Rose would never be accepted that way. And you're right
5:17
Speaker 1: the rebuilding year that they had there in twenty twenty
5:20
Speaker 1: one was a nine and eight playoffs season, if that
5:22
Speaker 1: speaks to anything about the demands of the Eagles fans.
5:25
Speaker 1: As for the Steelers, they made a move to add
5:27
Speaker 1: to their defense yesterday. Tell us about that Keyan O'Neill
5:31
Speaker 1: coming over to the Steelers on a two year deal. Now,
5:33
Speaker 1: if you remember, he visited the Eagles recently, and then
5:37
Speaker 1: the Eagles wound up signing Terrell Edmonds from the Steelers.
5:40
Speaker 1: So now Keian O'Neill goes over to the Steelers. A
5:42
Speaker 1: bunch of moving parts here when it comes to free
5:44
Speaker 1: agency and the start of the league year. But Neil
5:48
Speaker 1: got a two year deal here, and got a legit
5:50
Speaker 1: two year deal from what I'm told here. It wasn't
5:53
Speaker 1: just a minimum base salary deal that I'll see a
5:55
Speaker 1: lot of guys signing for right now. No, this is
5:57
Speaker 1: going to be a legit deal with some upside for
6:00
Speaker 1: him to make some decent money in the first year.
6:02
Speaker 1: So the veteran Keyan O'Neill who's bounced around the league,
6:05
Speaker 1: change position safety, linebacker, safety. He's gonna be a safety
6:08
Speaker 1: for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not quite signed yet, but his
6:11
Speaker 1: agent David Kenner announced that the deal has been agreed to. Yeah,
6:15
Speaker 1: t J. Watt came here. Hey, we're getting a new
6:17
Speaker 1: friend back there on that Steeler defense, Mike Carofolo, Thank
6:20
Speaker 1: you very much. Meanwhile at Ohio State, CJ. Stroud kicked
6:25
Speaker 1: off the pro day circuit with those big four quarterbacks
6:29
Speaker 1: of course, all thirty two teams, several big name GM
6:33
Speaker 1: head coaches in attendance to watch. CJ. Stroud, potentially the
6:38
Speaker 1: number one overall pick in the draft, of course, met
6:41
Speaker 1: with the Panthers there. Here he is, in his own words,
6:43
Speaker 1: a part of our first draft series. Strout fires deep
6:49
Speaker 1: down to the zine and it is grande Ohio State touchdown.
6:53
Speaker 1: A solid play is free c free flowing but discipline
6:59
Speaker 1: dynamic playmaker clob Geter Wow is kind of letting WHI
7:05
Speaker 1: the game comes to me. I'm not forcing anything, but
7:07
Speaker 1: still making sure that my footpayer gets put in the
7:10
Speaker 1: game to make play and then show my gut gaming
7:11
Speaker 1: talented touch down. J Strout CJ. Stroud the Ohio State
7:16
Speaker 1: University quarterback. I'm from the Inland Empire of California, about
7:22
Speaker 1: an hour east of LA Definitely appreciate where I come from.
7:26
Speaker 1: When we grew up there, you have to be really tough,
7:28
Speaker 1: and that's something that I'll probably myself on its my toughness.
7:30
Speaker 1: Strout fires up the right sideline at its cart. My
7:33
Speaker 1: first time ever played football wasn't I was five years old.
7:35
Speaker 1: I remember seeing a football field and a whole bunch
7:37
Speaker 1: of kids out there playing. Look like they're having fun.
7:39
Speaker 1: I was like, Dad, I don't want to play. They're like,
7:41
Speaker 1: what physician do you want to play? My dad said,
7:43
Speaker 1: say quarterback. And I love Michael Vick and my dad
7:45
Speaker 1: used to always making me watch Michael Vick. And I
7:47
Speaker 1: was like, I want to win number seven. And I
7:49
Speaker 1: got to play with the s y Fail in Snoop League.
7:51
Speaker 1: And when I played with them, that was kind of
7:52
Speaker 1: where I got that dog into me. That's when I
7:55
Speaker 1: learned how to play free flowing and elusive CJ. Strout
7:58
Speaker 1: shook off multiple defenders man touchdown at the coach and
8:02
Speaker 1: coach Tojo who kind of taught me how to play
8:03
Speaker 1: quarterback because I would always try to run and he
8:05
Speaker 1: was like, no, you're gonna stay in the pocket. You're
8:07
Speaker 1: gonna be paid millions to do this one day. And
8:09
Speaker 1: he told me that at seven years old. I thought
8:13
Speaker 1: he was just talking, but he probably knew what he
8:14
Speaker 1: was talking about. So shout out, cust tell Joe honestly
8:18
Speaker 1: who kind of motivates me to do well? And it's
8:22
Speaker 1: a multiple people, but really my mom seeing her sacrifice
8:26
Speaker 1: and really doing anything she could to put food on
8:29
Speaker 1: her mouse and close on her back and it wasn't
8:31
Speaker 1: easier all the time, but she got up every morning
8:33
Speaker 1: and go to work and never complain about it and
8:36
Speaker 1: definitely try her best to make sure that we were
8:38
Speaker 1: successful as kids and growing up to be not only
8:41
Speaker 1: good sons and daughters, but great people in our community
8:44
Speaker 1: and great men and women of God. And that's something
8:46
Speaker 1: that my mom set the foundation on. So shout out
8:48
Speaker 1: to my mom. Drive Day will be a wonder her experience.
8:55
Speaker 1: It's been a long time coming. I'm during about day
8:57
Speaker 1: really since I've been five years old. So just to
9:00
Speaker 1: hear my name called and well across that stage and
9:02
Speaker 1: seeing my mom's face, I know she's gonna be yelling
9:04
Speaker 1: and imaming. I don't know how I'm going to hear,
9:07
Speaker 1: but I know that I'm excited and really give him
9:09
Speaker 1: all aware of our goal. We take a look at
9:13
Speaker 1: the mock draft projections out there. Quoting NFL dot Com,
9:16
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah has c J. Stroud going second to the
9:20
Speaker 1: Houston Texans, but Bucky Brooks, Charles Davis, Eric at Holm,
9:25
Speaker 1: and Cynthia Freeland all have him landing as the top
9:29
Speaker 1: pick to the Carolina Panthers. Here's Panthers head coach Frank
9:33
Speaker 1: Reich on how he's evaluating these quarterbacks. For me, you know,
9:37
Speaker 1: having been in that process, there's a lot that's similar,
9:40
Speaker 1: but it's not all similar. It's tweaked a little bit.
9:44
Speaker 1: Just going through that process and knowing to be patient.
9:48
Speaker 1: You know, you might see a throw, or you might
9:50
Speaker 1: sit down with guys a while. I love this guy.
9:52
Speaker 1: Just finish the process. Just be patient, be patient. You
9:55
Speaker 1: got time. We don't have to make this decision today.
9:58
Speaker 1: Stay stay true to the process. A lot of it
10:01
Speaker 1: was confirmation because our stouts do such a good job
10:04
Speaker 1: on the front end, right and all these guys at
10:06
Speaker 1: the top are worthy of being in this discussion, some
10:10
Speaker 1: for different reasons than others. You know, some are the same,
10:13
Speaker 1: but those things I think get confirmed. That was Frank
10:17
Speaker 1: Reich at the NFC head Coach's breakfast at the annual
10:20
Speaker 1: meeting earlier this week. Steve, you were there. What are
10:23
Speaker 1: you hearing about the Panthers and the number one overall pick? Yeah,
10:25
Speaker 1: pretty much. The company line that you heard Frank Reich
10:27
Speaker 1: say there is that they're not set on exactly who
10:30
Speaker 1: they're going to take, and I think there's a lot
10:32
Speaker 1: of truth to that. I mean, they've done their homework
10:34
Speaker 1: on all four of these top quarterback prospects. I did
10:38
Speaker 1: have somebody from the organization and telling me that it's
10:40
Speaker 1: it's really two that they're focused on. And we know
10:43
Speaker 1: that CJ. Stroud, who we just saw, and Bryce Young,
10:46
Speaker 1: the quarterback from Alabama. Those are the two top players. Now.
10:50
Speaker 1: The one thing that the Panthers have done this is
10:52
Speaker 1: where whoever goes there is in such an ideal situation.
10:55
Speaker 1: Not only do they have just a large amount of
10:59
Speaker 1: great offensive mind starting with Frank Wrich, Jim called Well,
11:03
Speaker 1: Thomas Brown, John McCown, I mean, just all of these people.
11:06
Speaker 1: They signed Andy Dalton, right, the veteran quarterback. Now, if
11:11
Speaker 1: they come out and say, hey, you know we're gonna
11:12
Speaker 1: let us bring our guy around slowly. No one's gonna
11:15
Speaker 1: want to hear that about the first overall pick. But
11:17
Speaker 1: having Andy Dalton there to be in a quarterback room
11:19
Speaker 1: to help a young quarterback and to have that type
11:22
Speaker 1: of staff. We always talk about young quarterbacks going to
11:25
Speaker 1: the right situation, regardless of who it is. Going to
11:28
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers, they have really built a nice cocoon
11:32
Speaker 1: for this rookie quarterback to land in and learn from.
11:36
Speaker 1: An important to note about Andy Dalton there, he knows
11:39
Speaker 1: that he's there to be a mentor. He's been open
11:42
Speaker 1: about playing that role there with the Carolina Panthers. And
11:44
Speaker 1: let's not forget this is a team that won seven
11:47
Speaker 1: games last year. It's not a three fourteen total rebuild.
11:50
Speaker 1: Bested in the offensive line. They added Miles Sanders at
11:53
Speaker 1: running back. I think they will strengthen some things a
11:55
Speaker 1: wide receiver. But the defense is also there too. So
11:58
Speaker 1: this is a team that's ready to make a move
11:59
Speaker 1: in a division where there's been nothing but quarterback turnover. Yeah,
12:03
Speaker 1: and NFC South, the entire thing has been turned over. Well.
12:07
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Florida Gators, Anthony Richardson had his pro
12:11
Speaker 1: day yesterday, but also oh Cyrus Torrance drawing a lot
12:15
Speaker 1: of attention. Six foot five, three hundred and thirty pound
12:18
Speaker 1: offensive guard was a transfer from Louisiana rage In Cajuns
12:23
Speaker 1: and now a Florida Gator. Are Tom Pellicero caught up
12:26
Speaker 1: with him at his pro day yesterday. How did you
12:30
Speaker 1: feel about your pro day? I feel great. I feel
12:33
Speaker 1: like I camera here, put on a good showing. I
12:34
Speaker 1: camera here, and me and my teammates had one one
12:37
Speaker 1: of last good workout together, and I feel like we
12:39
Speaker 1: all did good. When you're a big man in this setting, like,
12:43
Speaker 1: what are the things you're trying to put on display? Oh?
12:45
Speaker 1: Just my athleticism, my mobility, like my feedwork, my hills,
12:49
Speaker 1: like things someone that I can move and not just
12:51
Speaker 1: moving fast and moving fluid at the same time and
12:53
Speaker 1: showing that I could be from point A to point B.
12:55
Speaker 1: Really yeah, speaking of feetwork, put your shoe up for
12:58
Speaker 1: a sec. I want people to see what size is
13:01
Speaker 1: that shoe right there? Size eighteen? Where do you get
13:04
Speaker 1: to size eighteen shoe? I gotta imagine, even for a
13:07
Speaker 1: program like Florida that you gotta go on Google then
13:10
Speaker 1: type of size eighteen shoes for sale there just first
13:12
Speaker 1: ones that Papa gotta heard him and get him for that.
13:14
Speaker 1: Somebody else bown got you got raging several years there,
13:17
Speaker 1: you got Florida Gators. On the other one, we were
13:20
Speaker 1: talking to Billy Napier about your journey here. Just just
13:23
Speaker 1: tell me about tell me about the progression and coming
13:25
Speaker 1: near to Florida. Um, the progression it was. It was smooth.
13:28
Speaker 1: I mean I came here to compete and like get
13:30
Speaker 1: the looks that you would get an SEC level, but
13:32
Speaker 1: also just to better myself and my career as a player.
13:35
Speaker 1: Like I knew, like the difference of playing a SEC
13:37
Speaker 1: to why I was it, and then like the opportunity
13:39
Speaker 1: that I had to come in and pay on the
13:40
Speaker 1: coach Apier again the same system. Just was this opportunity
13:43
Speaker 1: I knew I couldn't pass up and what it would
13:45
Speaker 1: do for my career. And as it show at this
13:47
Speaker 1: protey that was packed out, I mean I feel like
13:49
Speaker 1: it did hit. It did one just for it, and
13:51
Speaker 1: I'm glad I made the decision to come here. We
13:53
Speaker 1: just watched Anthony Richardson put on a show out here.
13:55
Speaker 1: In his throwing says, just just tell me about that
13:58
Speaker 1: guy both as a player and a dude. Him as
14:01
Speaker 1: a player is you know, he's a great player, Like
14:03
Speaker 1: I enjoyed he may he may my time here even
14:06
Speaker 1: more like in job or there, and without originally thought
14:08
Speaker 1: because of him being my quarterback, like knowing here in
14:10
Speaker 1: the backfield anything crazy it might happen, like he might
14:13
Speaker 1: see a goal of taking fifty yards like happened a
14:15
Speaker 1: few times. So just him being my quarterbasis and made
14:17
Speaker 1: my job a little bit easier, honestly because like he
14:20
Speaker 1: was gonna break the first talk or that somebody tried
14:21
Speaker 1: to get on him. So it's just made my job
14:23
Speaker 1: easing him as a person, like he just the way
14:25
Speaker 1: he approached it every day, his leadership, the way the
14:29
Speaker 1: system changed from the new coaching stuff came in. But
14:31
Speaker 1: he was one of the ones that didn't complain, Like
14:32
Speaker 1: he didn't he didn't question anything. He just accepted the
14:35
Speaker 1: processing and like took lead and like led the team
14:38
Speaker 1: to the year we had. And like I can't thank
14:40
Speaker 1: him enough for that because it's our last year and
14:42
Speaker 1: just you wanted to have it as best you can
14:44
Speaker 1: and probably didn't win as miss games as we did.
14:46
Speaker 1: But the camaraderie and the brothers ship and the things
14:48
Speaker 1: that we was able to build, like it gonna last
14:50
Speaker 1: with me for a long time. So I'm just glad
14:52
Speaker 1: about all that. We saw Anthony do some freaky stuff
14:54
Speaker 1: in games. What kind of scept would you see from
14:56
Speaker 1: on a daily basis and practice? Just the throw he
15:01
Speaker 1: did in Utah, I've seen that like five times before
15:02
Speaker 1: he did it in Utah. So just just stuff like
15:04
Speaker 1: that words, you look like you're playing, but he's really trying.
15:07
Speaker 1: It didn't like it's really worker. So it's like you
15:09
Speaker 1: can't they say that yell and I'm to tell him
15:11
Speaker 1: not to do it because it's working. So it's like
15:13
Speaker 1: it just it just comes with the territory with him,
15:14
Speaker 1: and it's just exciting to see him and he's just
15:16
Speaker 1: not somebody you want to miss plan when he's playing. So, yeah,
15:19
Speaker 1: you're widely projected as a first or second round pick
15:23
Speaker 1: right around there. Give me your pitch right to the camera.
15:25
Speaker 1: Give me the pitch why Cybo should be a first
15:27
Speaker 1: round draft pick in the NFL because on the most
15:30
Speaker 1: dominant interior guard interior office alignment in the draft. And
15:33
Speaker 1: I feel like any team that gets me gonna get
15:34
Speaker 1: a day one start and somebody who's coming ready to play,
15:37
Speaker 1: somebody who's gonna take it like a pro, or somebody
15:39
Speaker 1: who's just gonna come in and give you all you got.
15:41
Speaker 1: Thanks Lovespo, appreciate it. Dion Sanders, the Colorado who had
15:48
Speaker 1: football coach and former Jackson State coach twoting this out earlier,
15:51
Speaker 1: praying for all our guys competing at pro Day which
15:54
Speaker 1: was Monday at Jackson State. Relax and exercise the gifts
15:57
Speaker 1: that God gave you. You have what it takes now
15:59
Speaker 1: to take what you have and do your fang. God
16:02
Speaker 1: bless all of you. Hashtag proud coach Prime, love you
16:06
Speaker 1: all to life. Hashtag truth. One of those players that
16:09
Speaker 1: was there, de John Nugget Warren who joins us now,
16:12
Speaker 1: Deshaun How did you get that nickname? Nugget? So? Back
16:17
Speaker 1: in high school, I was a smaller guy. I went
16:18
Speaker 1: to high school in Super Maryland, and basically I was
16:21
Speaker 1: trying to earn a spot in the ninth grade as
16:23
Speaker 1: a freshman. So, um first, I started off as special
16:27
Speaker 1: team so I was returning to punt and practice, and
16:29
Speaker 1: what I did was I scored a touchdown on the
16:31
Speaker 1: starting punting and my coach he asked me what my
16:34
Speaker 1: name was. So, as me being the other guy, the
16:37
Speaker 1: first thing I thought was first impression, best impression to
16:39
Speaker 1: give maricouta. So I ripped off my helme. Ever was fast,
16:42
Speaker 1: and I said, coach, my name is the Dejoon Warren.
16:45
Speaker 1: So back then the head a little hat top feet
16:47
Speaker 1: with a blonde pass right here. So he looked at
16:49
Speaker 1: me and he laughed and he said, I'm gonna call
16:50
Speaker 1: you nuggets. So every since they just stuck. All right,
16:54
Speaker 1: Well I love it. So y'all, look, you know, besides junior,
16:57
Speaker 1: think last season, the last couple of seasons at Jackson State.
17:00
Speaker 1: You know, we saw you at the HBCU Combine and
17:02
Speaker 1: the HBCU Legacy Bowl for whatever it is, only the
17:05
Speaker 1: only postseason bowls you went to. How much did those
17:08
Speaker 1: exhibitions springboard you, you think into more of the consciousness
17:13
Speaker 1: of NFL teams and NFL scouts. Um, I say, I
17:17
Speaker 1: would like to say, first, before I came there, I
17:19
Speaker 1: got a lot of I had a lot of competition
17:21
Speaker 1: and practice. So I say that those moments prepared me
17:23
Speaker 1: for the celebration vote because it was a lot of
17:26
Speaker 1: competition there as well. So I guess that's going harder.
17:29
Speaker 1: That's going hard every day and that's all given one
17:31
Speaker 1: hundred and ten percent. It is preparing me. That's the
17:33
Speaker 1: showcase with God gain the ability to do so. You
17:36
Speaker 1: know at the Legacy Bowl, the All Star Game in
17:39
Speaker 1: New Orleans where you really did your thing, I mean
17:40
Speaker 1: a lot a lot of teams were talking to you there.
17:42
Speaker 1: You had your Pro day Monday. Have you heard from
17:45
Speaker 1: some teams along the way in this process? Um, the Raiders,
17:49
Speaker 1: The Raiders service starts to my ease, and he told
17:51
Speaker 1: me that they're very interested. But I know, coming into
17:54
Speaker 1: the pro day, one thing I really wanted to work
17:55
Speaker 1: on with my ball, my ball skills and my disp
17:58
Speaker 1: so a boy me doing those things, those blessed me
18:00
Speaker 1: to be able to talk to someone guys today and
18:03
Speaker 1: you know there's a week going. Hey, nugget your teammate
18:06
Speaker 1: last year at Jackson State, James Houston was drafted in
18:09
Speaker 1: the sixth round last year to the Detroit Lions. Has
18:12
Speaker 1: a great season there in his rookie year eight sacks,
18:16
Speaker 1: second in the entire league in terms of rookies with sacks.
18:18
Speaker 1: Seeing one of your teammates do that coming out of
18:21
Speaker 1: Jackson State, how much confidence does it give you to
18:23
Speaker 1: make an impact in the NFL? Man, I was moning
18:27
Speaker 1: decided to see James do what he was blessed to
18:29
Speaker 1: do because I got to see that every day, like
18:31
Speaker 1: day in and day out. So just to be able
18:33
Speaker 1: to see him doing on the next level, I knew
18:34
Speaker 1: he had an in them. And as I've been going
18:36
Speaker 1: through this process, I've been reaching out them, picking up,
18:39
Speaker 1: picking his brain a little bit so I can know
18:41
Speaker 1: how to kind of move around this time. So day, John,
18:44
Speaker 1: we're talking about you possibly getting to the NFL, but
18:46
Speaker 1: your path to get to this point, he's been absolutely incredible.
18:49
Speaker 1: You know, coming out of high school, going to lack
18:51
Speaker 1: of Wana Junior College, being the top rated corner coming
18:55
Speaker 1: out of Lackawanna, committing to Georgia after getting offers from everybody,
18:59
Speaker 1: but then you opting to go to Jackson State and
19:02
Speaker 1: then at Jackson State because you talked about the competition
19:05
Speaker 1: there earlier. You know, we don't see a ton of starts,
19:08
Speaker 1: we don't necessarily see a ton of stuff that shows
19:10
Speaker 1: up on the stat sheet. Yet here you are under
19:14
Speaker 1: the microscope to go play football in the NFL. What
19:17
Speaker 1: about that journey and why can't people just look at
19:20
Speaker 1: the stats from Jackson State and get a true evaluation
19:23
Speaker 1: of you. One thing my grandmother always told him is
19:26
Speaker 1: the stock and shine no matter where is that so
19:28
Speaker 1: everywhere I want to always had that mentality that no
19:31
Speaker 1: matter where you are, you can you can make it,
19:33
Speaker 1: no matter no matter what's your circumstances are. So coming
19:36
Speaker 1: into Jackson State, I just kept that mentality and like
19:39
Speaker 1: I said before, God he just gave me an opportunity
19:41
Speaker 1: to showcase that. And now you guys are able to
19:43
Speaker 1: see that I am who I am even in high school.
19:46
Speaker 1: Ugget you had to overcome some academic adversity. It would
19:50
Speaker 1: have been very easy for you to quit at that point.
19:53
Speaker 1: What caused and fueled all the perseverance you've shown to
19:57
Speaker 1: get to this point now, a month away from the
19:59
Speaker 1: NFL draft. I say the one the one main thing
20:03
Speaker 1: it taught me. It humbled me a lot because it
20:05
Speaker 1: showed me that in order to be after you gotta
20:07
Speaker 1: be a student first. You can't do nothing without the grades.
20:09
Speaker 1: And it had a lot of good a lot of
20:11
Speaker 1: good people in my corner as well, because it was
20:13
Speaker 1: times I wanted to give up. And it's times I
20:14
Speaker 1: almost hand gave up. But it was just the people
20:17
Speaker 1: I had around me. Man, they got me out of
20:19
Speaker 1: the house. They kept my mentality strong. And one friend
20:21
Speaker 1: he used to he had an ID for the military
20:23
Speaker 1: base and basically they got a free gym as long
20:26
Speaker 1: as you get the correct paperworking, you know whatnot. So
20:30
Speaker 1: every day we'll go to the gym and we'll just
20:32
Speaker 1: work out all the way uprom those two all the
20:34
Speaker 1: way until it was time for me to go to
20:35
Speaker 1: lackom On to college. Also, my younger siblings that just
20:40
Speaker 1: pushed me. That just pushed me the most because I'm
20:41
Speaker 1: the oldest out of all my siblings. I got four
20:43
Speaker 1: brothers in one system. I just wanted to show them like,
20:46
Speaker 1: no matter how hard things you can always make way. Man.
20:49
Speaker 1: I mean, these are great things to hear. I mean,
20:50
Speaker 1: you're inspirational and you know, I'm sure the story is
20:53
Speaker 1: not hardly finished. I want to ask you quickly about
20:56
Speaker 1: a couple of year Jackson State teammates. You're linebacker Aubrey Miller,
20:59
Speaker 1: your fellow corner Isaiah Bolden. I mean, these are guys
21:02
Speaker 1: who are all show on on too NFL team's radars
21:04
Speaker 1: espec Arrey Miller, the way he played in the Senior Bowl.
21:07
Speaker 1: What can you tell us about those two teammates, viewers,
21:10
Speaker 1: I say, those two teammates, they're awesome guys owning off
21:13
Speaker 1: the field, those are two guys I used to always
21:15
Speaker 1: come to four of vices will because you know the
21:17
Speaker 1: way I came up, I really gonna have much football spreads.
21:20
Speaker 1: But luckily I was able to have a dB as
21:21
Speaker 1: a e boding that he had a lot of experience
21:23
Speaker 1: and his father he was in the n the field's wheel,
21:25
Speaker 1: so he had a lot of tips that I can take.
21:27
Speaker 1: And him as a person, he was awesome, awesome teammates.
21:30
Speaker 1: Like if I had if I needed some help with
21:32
Speaker 1: a playbook or something, or if I wanted no different coverages,
21:35
Speaker 1: He'll talk to me like with respect and we'll just
21:39
Speaker 1: move from there. Army Miller heck of a dude. Heck
21:41
Speaker 1: of a dude on in order to feel love's football,
21:44
Speaker 1: loves contact, love being physical. And he's a questionnaire as well.
21:48
Speaker 1: Like anything that he made not know one hundred percent,
21:51
Speaker 1: he will get to know one hundred percent so he
21:53
Speaker 1: can take on a leadership bro. Both two awesome guys
21:58
Speaker 1: Nugget Warren from Jackson State Corner. You're a likable guy.
22:02
Speaker 1: Look at that smile. You're an easy guy to root man.
22:05
Speaker 1: We're gonna be pulling for you at next month's draft
22:07
Speaker 1: and look forward to following your NFL career. And I
22:11
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys to having me as well, though this
22:13
Speaker 1: means more than ya, more than you guys knowe. Yeah,
22:16
Speaker 1: we appreciate you, Nugget. We'll hopefully speak to you down
22:20
Speaker 1: the road. Best of luck still to come. Here on
22:22
Speaker 1: NFL Now presented by IKEA Dallas Cowboys post Ezekiel elliott Era.
22:30
Speaker 1: We'll have a discussion with Jane Slater next NFL Now.
22:38
Speaker 1: Cowboys finishing twelve and five and twenty twenty two, second
22:41
Speaker 1: year in a row, they had at least twelve wins,
22:43
Speaker 1: first time they've done that since the dynasty days of
22:46
Speaker 1: the nineties. They want a playoff game, first under Mike
22:49
Speaker 1: McCarthy and now going into twenty twenty three, Mike McCarthy
22:53
Speaker 1: will be the offensive play caller now that Kellen Moore
22:56
Speaker 1: has moved on to the Los Angeles Chargers in that
22:59
Speaker 1: same role. For much more on the Cowboys, we welcome
23:01
Speaker 1: in Jane Slater, Jane, we've seen them make some moves
23:04
Speaker 1: to add to their defense. How might that affect their
23:07
Speaker 1: draft plans heading in the next month's draft. Well, given
23:12
Speaker 1: the fact they've addressed so many positions on defense through
23:14
Speaker 1: free agency and brought back a number of their guys omar,
23:17
Speaker 1: I expect that they're going to lean heavily on offense
23:19
Speaker 1: this time around. In the last couple of years, they've
23:22
Speaker 1: really seemed to address that defensive side the ball, and
23:24
Speaker 1: it's shown when you look at the box score at
23:26
Speaker 1: the end of some of these games. Offensively, though, Mike
23:29
Speaker 1: McCarthy wants to put his stamp on this team, and
23:33
Speaker 1: we've seen the departure of guys like Dalton Schultz, who
23:35
Speaker 1: of course went to the Houston Texans, and Ezekiel Elliott,
23:38
Speaker 1: who's still working to see where he's going to land
23:40
Speaker 1: next year, although Jerry Jones didn't quite close that door,
23:43
Speaker 1: did he at owners meetings. They are going to need
23:46
Speaker 1: to find a running back. They're gonna need some tight
23:48
Speaker 1: in depth, although I think Peyton hinter Shot Jake Ferguson
23:51
Speaker 1: are going to be pretty good at that spot for
23:53
Speaker 1: them this season, and then they're going to need some
23:55
Speaker 1: offensive line help their Tyrant Smith is projected to be
23:58
Speaker 1: their left tackle again this year. He played at right
24:01
Speaker 1: tackle last year, but they're going to need to shore
24:03
Speaker 1: up what they're going to do in the future because
24:05
Speaker 1: I don't know how many more years you're going to
24:06
Speaker 1: have Tyrn Smith in the building, you know, center, they
24:09
Speaker 1: could use some backup there, and I think swing tackle
24:11
Speaker 1: would be important for them as well. So I think
24:14
Speaker 1: when we look at this draft, that's going to be
24:15
Speaker 1: an area need not to mention wide receiver just because
24:18
Speaker 1: they addressed it with Brandon Cooks in free agency, and
24:21
Speaker 1: they've got CD Lamb and they of course have Michael Gallup,
24:24
Speaker 1: who they hope will bounce back a little bit quicker
24:26
Speaker 1: than they did last year from the Acyl injury. I
24:28
Speaker 1: fully expect wide receiver to also be a position of
24:31
Speaker 1: need that they address in the draft. Interesting you mentioned that, Jane,
24:33
Speaker 1: because I was at Tennessee prode yesterday and Cowboys wide
24:36
Speaker 1: receiver coach Robert Prince was one of the coaches leading
24:40
Speaker 1: Jalen Hyatt and Cedric Tillman through those positional group workouts.
24:44
Speaker 1: So something to watch here heading into next month's draft.
24:52
Speaker 1: NFL now is a production of the NFL in partnership
24:55
Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio. For more podcast from my heart Radio, visit
24:59
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.