Latest / Patriots Unfiltered / Patriots Draft Countdown: Travis Hunter and Tight Ends Spotlight Day 3 of Combine, ESPN's Jordan Reid on 2025 Prospects

Transcript

Patriots Draft Countdown: Travis Hunter and Tight Ends Spotlight Day 3 of Combine, ESPN's Jordan Reid on 2025 Prospects · Patriots Unfiltered

0:00
Speaker 1: This is Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light.
0:05
Speaker 2: Welcome to an NFL draft hosted by the writers of
0:08
Speaker 2: Patriots dot com.
0:09
Speaker 3: From now until you here the New England Patriots.
0:12
Speaker 4: Wide, the countdown is on.
0:15
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Patriots Draft Countdown, presented by bud Light.
0:20
Speaker 4: Welcome everybody.
0:21
Speaker 5: We're coming to you from the NFL scouting combine here
0:23
Speaker 5: in Indianapolis at is Thursday.
0:24
Speaker 4: We just heard from the cornerbacks, the tight ends, the safeties.
0:28
Speaker 5: This is Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light, bud Light,
0:30
Speaker 5: easy to Drink, Easy to enjoy, bud Light, the official
0:33
Speaker 5: beer sponsor of the New England Patriots, and Evan. We
0:35
Speaker 5: are just plowing through the days here. It's starting to
0:37
Speaker 5: get a little bit like groundhog Day. But certainly the
0:40
Speaker 5: highlight today Travis Hunter, a player that the Patriots could
0:43
Speaker 5: possibly be in the mix for at the top of
0:45
Speaker 5: the draft. Would you think of him at the podium?
0:47
Speaker 5: I know we had to like weasel in there and
0:49
Speaker 5: try to It was a huge crowd to barely hear
0:51
Speaker 5: this I have of all the time. You know, Look,
0:54
Speaker 5: the quarterbacks are always a big draw.
0:56
Speaker 1: I'm sure when Shador Sanders talks tomorrow, they'll be a
0:59
Speaker 1: giant scrum and front of his podium as well. But
1:02
Speaker 1: in my time coming to the Combine, that was one
1:04
Speaker 1: of the biggest media scrumbs I've ever seen. I mean,
1:06
Speaker 1: we're talking about you had to put that man in
1:09
Speaker 1: an auditorium and you have all the seats or something
1:12
Speaker 1: like that, because this wasn't big at the Convention Center,
1:14
Speaker 1: was not big enough.
1:15
Speaker 5: You got guys who love offense, you got guys who
1:17
Speaker 5: love defense. Everybody's here to watch this. This one exceptional player.
1:20
Speaker 3: It was incredible. It was incredible to watch.
1:22
Speaker 1: And look, I understand that I'm trumpeting this.
1:28
Speaker 3: This is a meat and potatoes offseason for the Patriots.
1:30
Speaker 1: As much as I would love to sit here and
1:32
Speaker 1: say go get the shiny new toy, go get the
1:34
Speaker 1: Heisman winning two way superstar player like Travis Hunter, I
1:39
Speaker 1: think we all feel the same way. Trenches trenches trenches. Now,
1:42
Speaker 1: with that being said, I was really impressed. I mean,
1:45
Speaker 1: when you.
1:45
Speaker 3: Talk about swagger, you talk about a guy that.
1:47
Speaker 1: Can just come in and have that confidence in that bravado.
1:51
Speaker 3: That instant star type of impact.
1:54
Speaker 1: He just oozes with confidence, and I thought that was
1:57
Speaker 1: just very, very apparent.
1:59
Speaker 3: We spoke with.
2:00
Speaker 4: Elliott Wolf yesterday.
2:01
Speaker 5: He told us that they had, you know, they'd written
2:03
Speaker 5: up both scouting reports on him as a wide receiver
2:05
Speaker 5: as well as a cornerback. And it seems like a
2:07
Speaker 5: lot of teams really view him. Some view him as
2:10
Speaker 5: a wide receiver, some view as a cornerback. Still there's
2:12
Speaker 5: no real consensus at this point. It seems like he
2:15
Speaker 5: still would like to play both sides, but he's open
2:18
Speaker 5: to whatever teams might, you know, where they might see
2:20
Speaker 5: him fitting in. But it's just there's so much to
2:24
Speaker 5: talk about with him because there's so much potential on
2:26
Speaker 5: both sides of the ball. Yeah, I think the scuttle butt,
2:28
Speaker 5: as we were just talking about the origin of the
2:30
Speaker 5: scuttle butt.
2:32
Speaker 3: The scuttle butt to me, though, which is.
2:33
Speaker 1: That's interesting, is a lot more teams, some of them publicly,
2:38
Speaker 1: like the Cleveland Browns and Andrew Berry, are viewing him
2:40
Speaker 1: as a wide receiver. And I didn't think that was
2:43
Speaker 1: going to be the popular take here. And I'm not
2:45
Speaker 1: saying it's every team or even consensus, but I would
2:49
Speaker 1: say it's a lot more than what I expected just
2:51
Speaker 1: talking to people around here this week that view Travis
2:55
Speaker 1: Hunter as predominantly a wide receiver, and I think the
2:58
Speaker 1: main reason is that you look at his deduction at
3:00
Speaker 1: that position last year at Colorado, like, how do you
3:03
Speaker 1: not feed the guy that had sixteen touchdowns the ball?
3:06
Speaker 1: Like it's impossible in the league where points are always
3:10
Speaker 1: the number one thing on everybody's mind to say, no, actually,
3:13
Speaker 1: we're going to play that guy just at cornerback when
3:16
Speaker 1: we know that we have a number one receiver also
3:19
Speaker 1: standing there on the sideline while the offense is on
3:21
Speaker 1: the field. So he said that he wants to play
3:24
Speaker 1: both ways. Didn't like you said, he kind of left
3:27
Speaker 1: it up to the organization that drafts him to really
3:29
Speaker 1: hatch that plan of how to make it happen. But
3:32
Speaker 1: I think a lot more people are saying Travis Hunter
3:34
Speaker 1: wide receiver than I expected.
3:36
Speaker 5: So you mentioned scuttle bunts the word of the day.
3:38
Speaker 5: That's what happens here in Indianapolis. A lot of late nights,
3:40
Speaker 5: people talking agents GMS all that that's when talk comes,
3:44
Speaker 5: but also at Starbucks, fights at Starbucks apparently, but also
3:48
Speaker 5: it's when medical testing happens and some things start to
3:51
Speaker 5: come out. Now, the two big names for the Patriots
3:53
Speaker 5: that we've been talking about already. It feels like forever
3:55
Speaker 5: Travis Hunter, and of course Abdul Carter, who we heard
3:57
Speaker 5: from earlier in the week. Some news comes out Abdul
4:00
Speaker 5: Carter's got a bit of a stress factor in his foot.
4:02
Speaker 5: It might take some time for him.
4:04
Speaker 4: Now.
4:05
Speaker 5: Teams have to kind of weigh this, and I think
4:06
Speaker 5: there's probably a lot of Patriots fans.
4:08
Speaker 4: Out there being like, can I just push him out
4:10
Speaker 4: of the top three?
4:11
Speaker 5: Maybe, But I'm gonna say this right now, like, given that,
4:15
Speaker 5: given what we've been hearing a little bit about some
4:16
Speaker 5: of the quarterbacks, it doesn't seem out of the realm
4:19
Speaker 5: that the Patriots might have a chance at Carter or
4:21
Speaker 5: Hunter still might be a long shot, but not totally
4:23
Speaker 5: out of the question.
4:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would agree with that.
4:25
Speaker 1: Just starting with Abdul Carter, I think there is some
4:29
Speaker 1: concern about this being one of those lingering injuries, not
4:32
Speaker 1: to say that it's career threatening by any means, but
4:36
Speaker 1: just one of those things that could maybe linger into
4:37
Speaker 1: his rookie season or into his rookie training camp. So
4:41
Speaker 1: how do you best go about managing that is going
4:44
Speaker 1: to be very interesting, and with all these things they
4:47
Speaker 1: will have thirty visits where their team doctors will get
4:51
Speaker 1: their hands on each player that they bring in.
4:53
Speaker 3: Again.
4:54
Speaker 1: So now at the top of the draft, I'm sure
4:56
Speaker 1: Abdul Carter was going to go to Tennessee and was
4:58
Speaker 1: going to go to Cleveland in New York, in New
5:01
Speaker 1: England anyways, but now it's definitely even bigger to get
5:05
Speaker 1: those medical rechecks in a couple of months to see
5:08
Speaker 1: where he's at physically with his foot injury. Do I
5:11
Speaker 1: think that it knocks him out of the top three?
5:13
Speaker 1: Probably not. I don't think it sounds like it's anything
5:16
Speaker 1: long term that anybody's worried about, but it is another thing,
5:20
Speaker 1: and just in general, looking at this class right now,
5:22
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys that are either hurt opting
5:26
Speaker 1: out of workouts here in Indianapolis more than I can remember.
5:29
Speaker 1: I have no doubta to back it up, but just
5:31
Speaker 1: off a feeling, yeah, like I feel like that's happened
5:33
Speaker 1: a lot more. We just found out this morning that
5:36
Speaker 1: Kenneth Grant, the really talented nose tackle from Michigan, but
5:39
Speaker 1: I thought was going to be a huge tester here
5:41
Speaker 1: at the combine, he's not going to work out because
5:43
Speaker 1: of an injury.
5:44
Speaker 3: We just saw Colston.
5:45
Speaker 1: Lovelin, the other really talented player from Michigan tight end,
5:48
Speaker 1: had his shoulder in a sling like he's got a
5:52
Speaker 1: ac reconstructive surgery. So there's a lot of these guys
5:55
Speaker 1: at the top of the draft that are either not
5:57
Speaker 1: working out by choice or are Yeah, and that's a
6:01
Speaker 1: bummer just for the fans.
6:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, well you mentioned Colston Lovelin. Let's transition.
6:04
Speaker 5: We also heard from the tight ends today, of course,
6:06
Speaker 5: Tyler Warren from Penn State a toop that list.
6:08
Speaker 4: He just seems like a.
6:10
Speaker 5: Country tight end, tough meat and potatoes kind of a guy.
6:14
Speaker 5: You can feel the confidence off of him, which is
6:16
Speaker 5: kind of a theme that you pick up here at
6:18
Speaker 5: the combine.
6:18
Speaker 4: We mentioned it with the Georgia guys yesterday.
6:20
Speaker 5: There are certain guys that just have that presence where
6:23
Speaker 5: you're like, this guy feels like he's.
6:25
Speaker 4: Already in the league.
6:26
Speaker 5: Harold Fan and Junior another guy I think you saw
6:28
Speaker 5: him down at the Senior Bowl who's got a little
6:30
Speaker 5: bit of intrigue to him. Elliott told us yesterday that
6:34
Speaker 5: this is a strong tight end class, and yeah, you know,
6:36
Speaker 5: Patriots Austin Hooper up for free agency. He resigned Hunter Henry.
6:40
Speaker 5: He's going to be around, but could be a need,
6:42
Speaker 5: could be a stinky need and maybe a place that
6:44
Speaker 5: the Patriots could add a weapon if they're not enamored
6:47
Speaker 5: with this wide receiver class.
6:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an interesting conversation of if you're not enamored
6:53
Speaker 1: by the wide receivers and you get to the draft
6:55
Speaker 1: and you have an opportunity, you know, maybe you hit
6:57
Speaker 1: the trenches in the free agency and you feel good
6:59
Speaker 1: about where you are there, do you then go ahead
7:02
Speaker 1: and draft to Tyler Warren or Colson Loveland at the
7:04
Speaker 1: top of the draft. But then there's also the argument,
7:06
Speaker 1: and this is sort of the debates we always get into, Well.
7:09
Speaker 3: There's also depth to this tight end class.
7:11
Speaker 1: So do you have to draft one at four overall
7:15
Speaker 1: or after a trade down or something like that in
7:17
Speaker 1: the first round, or can you wait for a Harold Fannin,
7:21
Speaker 1: a Mason Taylor and Elijah Royo, Tyler Ferguson, you know,
7:26
Speaker 1: those types of players that are gonna be a little
7:28
Speaker 1: bit further down the board the board.
7:30
Speaker 3: I think that there's some.
7:31
Speaker 1: Intriguing talent there on Day two of this draft fan
7:34
Speaker 1: and is more of that physical specimen. I've compared him
7:37
Speaker 1: to like an Isaiah likelier John Smith in the past.
7:40
Speaker 1: Mason Taylor is kind of that prototypical why tight end
7:44
Speaker 1: that can do a little bit of everything. I definitely
7:46
Speaker 1: look at those two guys as potential targets for the Patriots.
7:49
Speaker 3: It'd be great to.
7:49
Speaker 5: Get into developmental guys, somebody who really moves the needle
7:52
Speaker 5: a little bit as a weapon. And you wonder with
7:54
Speaker 5: Lovelan getting that reconstruction. I know you're a big fan
7:57
Speaker 5: of his top half of the first round. Maybe that
7:59
Speaker 5: pushes him down a little bit. So as much as they're.
8:02
Speaker 1: Like thirty eight, you know, it's about thirty eight, Like
8:04
Speaker 1: I just you can't take the chance on the shoulder,
8:06
Speaker 1: got a way.
8:07
Speaker 5: I mean, you're gonna start getting testing numbers too as well.
8:10
Speaker 5: And Levan and I are gonna head over who gets
8:12
Speaker 5: access this year to watch some of the workouts. Yeah,
8:15
Speaker 5: but you get the measurements you get. Obviously we've mentioned
8:17
Speaker 5: the injury issues that pop up that may, you know,
8:19
Speaker 5: push guys down the board, but you also get athletic
8:22
Speaker 5: freaks or are gonna run like crazy times that you're
8:25
Speaker 5: like a man that size should not run that fast,
8:27
Speaker 5: So those guys are gonna rise up a little bit.
8:29
Speaker 4: And I think that's a little bit of what the
8:31
Speaker 4: fun is at the combine that you have. All of
8:33
Speaker 4: a sudden your board gets a little bit readjusted and.
8:36
Speaker 5: Somebody you know, jumps out of the roof, jumps out
8:38
Speaker 5: of the roof of the gym, and he rises up
8:40
Speaker 5: the board and other guy's got a little bit of
8:42
Speaker 5: an inch injury as you he goes back down. So
8:44
Speaker 5: testing starting today, anything you're looking we're starting again. They're
8:47
Speaker 5: a day behind with the workouts. So yesterday we heard
8:50
Speaker 5: from the defensive line and the linebackers they'll be first
8:52
Speaker 5: up testing and then today's guys will test tomorrow, et cetera.
8:55
Speaker 4: So as we head over there and we get going
8:57
Speaker 4: with the.
8:57
Speaker 5: Testing, I know you always do a right up in
8:59
Speaker 5: an analysis of these workouts that the people love. Anything specific
9:02
Speaker 5: you're looking for off the top of your mind.
9:04
Speaker 1: Well, like I said, I'm bumming that Grant's not going
9:06
Speaker 1: to work out because he was one of the guys
9:07
Speaker 1: that I think was gonna just at his size at
9:10
Speaker 1: you know, three thirty three forty was going to kind
9:12
Speaker 1: of put on a show.
9:13
Speaker 3: But I'll give you two at the top of the draft.
9:15
Speaker 1: Shamar Stewart from Texas A and m I think is
9:17
Speaker 1: going to have an absolutely massive workout. You know, he's
9:20
Speaker 1: a freak athlete, a big, long guy. There's some Trayvon
9:24
Speaker 1: Walker comparisons there where he could have an outstanding workout
9:29
Speaker 1: here this week and then that could project him into
9:31
Speaker 1: the top ten of the draft just off of raw measurables.
9:34
Speaker 1: Another similar player, similar position, Mikel Williams from Georgia. I'm
9:38
Speaker 1: really looking to see if he has a similar workout.
9:41
Speaker 3: His production in college isn't really there.
9:43
Speaker 1: Some of that's role in the defense, some of that
9:45
Speaker 1: is a little bit of rawness with you know, his
9:47
Speaker 1: technique and his pass rush plan and all that kind
9:50
Speaker 1: of stuff. But if those two guys really dazzle here
9:54
Speaker 1: today at the workouts, then they could really skyrocket up
9:57
Speaker 1: the board.
9:57
Speaker 5: All right, Well, we're gonna throw it to an interview
9:59
Speaker 5: right now. Levin had an op oportunity to sit down
10:00
Speaker 5: with Jordan Reed. I think was the third year we've
10:02
Speaker 5: we've had the rising start. ESPN Draft guru knows a ton.
10:07
Speaker 4: I let Evan.
10:08
Speaker 5: I just let Evan go because I knew like you
10:10
Speaker 5: guys are just going to nerd out on this stuff.
10:11
Speaker 5: So great interview here with Jordan Reed. Check it out now.
10:14
Speaker 1: We're Jordan Now by Jordan Reid from ESPN. Jordan Underscore
10:19
Speaker 1: read on Twitter. Are e I d though right? Not
10:22
Speaker 1: like the tight end though, which I know you get
10:24
Speaker 1: a lot. So we're gonna talk some draft here with
10:26
Speaker 1: Jordan does a great job over at ESPN covering the
10:29
Speaker 1: draft in college football, and I just wanted to get
10:32
Speaker 1: right into it. You put out a tweet last week
10:34
Speaker 1: that I really thought hit the nail on the head
10:37
Speaker 1: about this draft. At the talent you know from four
10:39
Speaker 1: to twelve in this draft this year is kind of
10:42
Speaker 1: the same. And I feel like this is a struggle
10:45
Speaker 1: right now for Patriots fans as we debate, you know,
10:47
Speaker 1: Will Campbell, Mason Graham, Ted McMillan, whatever is that they
10:51
Speaker 1: you can make arguments for all these guys, and this
10:53
Speaker 1: does feel like a kind of a tough spot in
10:56
Speaker 1: a lot of ways for the Patriots.
10:57
Speaker 2: How do you feel about that?
10:58
Speaker 6: Yeah?
10:58
Speaker 2: It does.
10:59
Speaker 6: And there's only three blue chip guys in this year's
11:02
Speaker 6: draft class to me, and that's Travis Hunter. I'll do
11:04
Speaker 6: a Carter and Mason Graham after that, I think things
11:07
Speaker 6: get really sketchy as far as where you could go
11:09
Speaker 6: in this year's draft class. But the one thing or
11:12
Speaker 6: piece of advice if I was in the draft room
11:15
Speaker 6: with the Patriots this year, is that I don't think
11:17
Speaker 6: they should pigeonhole themselves into drafting, particularly one position. Leave
11:22
Speaker 6: your draft board open, and we'll see what they do
11:24
Speaker 6: in free agency. They have a boatload of money, so
11:27
Speaker 6: the best thing for them is attack free agency with
11:31
Speaker 6: an aggressive plan to address obviously wide receiver an offensive line,
11:35
Speaker 6: which are the two biggest areas of need. So now
11:37
Speaker 6: you go into the draft, especially at the number four
11:40
Speaker 6: overall pick, to where now you can leave yourself open
11:44
Speaker 6: to taking any position.
11:45
Speaker 1: So one thing that perked out for me just now,
11:47
Speaker 1: he said, Mason Graham, you think he's a blue chip
11:50
Speaker 1: player in this draft? I feel like he's maybe one
11:52
Speaker 1: of the more volatile prospects for Patriots fans. What makes
11:56
Speaker 1: you think that he's a blue chip guy. It's just
11:58
Speaker 1: the combination of everything that he does at the position.
12:00
Speaker 1: And if you go back and look at every big
12:03
Speaker 1: time game that Michigan had throughout his career, he was
12:05
Speaker 1: absolutely sensational and all of him, and you know he's
12:08
Speaker 1: not gonna look as good physically as his counterparts in
12:11
Speaker 1: this year's draft class, but if you turn on the tape,
12:13
Speaker 1: he's the most disruptive of all those guys. I think
12:15
Speaker 1: he's firm as a run defender. He can hold at
12:17
Speaker 1: the point of attack, he can stack and shade if
12:19
Speaker 1: you need him to a the point of attack as
12:21
Speaker 1: a run defender. But also he got so much better
12:23
Speaker 1: as a pass rusher throughout his career. And you have
12:25
Speaker 1: to remember, this guy hasn't been playing defensive line for
12:27
Speaker 1: very long. When he got to Michigan, he was just
12:30
Speaker 1: really starting his career as a defensive lineman. So I
12:33
Speaker 1: just think the upside that he has, and then just
12:35
Speaker 1: how good he can be two to three years from now.
12:37
Speaker 1: He's that piece that you can build around at the
12:39
Speaker 1: center of your defense, last one at the top. Then
12:41
Speaker 1: I want to pick your brain about some of the
12:43
Speaker 1: depth guys in this class. It does feel like an
12:46
Speaker 1: ideal scenario might be a trade down for the Patriots.
12:49
Speaker 1: But one thing I've been thinking a lot about is
12:51
Speaker 1: in order to trade down, somebody's got to want to
12:53
Speaker 1: trade up, right exactly, So do you feel like that
12:57
Speaker 1: fourth pick could have value in a trade down this year, Like,
12:59
Speaker 1: do you see that scenario being plausible?
13:01
Speaker 6: I think if one of the quarterbacks are there, I
13:03
Speaker 6: think it's a possibility. Now I think both are gonna
13:06
Speaker 6: somehow end up going inside of the top three, unfortunately
13:09
Speaker 6: for the Patriots. But let's say cam Ward or Showld
13:12
Speaker 6: or Sanders slips to that fourth spot. Now you're talking
13:14
Speaker 6: about the Raiders potentially trading up. You're probably not gonna
13:18
Speaker 6: give a draft pick to the Jets or quarterbacks to
13:20
Speaker 6: the Jets. Yeah, hypothetically speaking, let's say the Raiders want
13:23
Speaker 6: to come up and acquire the quarterback of the future.
13:25
Speaker 6: I definitely could see a scenario like that playing out
13:27
Speaker 6: if one of those quarterbacks slipped.
13:28
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's talk a little bit about wide receivers.
13:30
Speaker 1: That's the other big topic for the Pats right now.
13:33
Speaker 1: As always, it feels like every year we're talking to
13:35
Speaker 1: you about wide receivers. But who are some of the
13:38
Speaker 1: guys because I feel like round one they've talked so
13:40
Speaker 1: much about trenches. It feels like they're gonna probably go
13:43
Speaker 1: offensive or defensive line.
13:45
Speaker 2: Who do you like in round two? For in general
13:47
Speaker 2: and for New England? Yeah.
13:49
Speaker 6: I mean, I think that's where the depth of this
13:51
Speaker 6: class really is. In that second and third round. You're
13:53
Speaker 6: talking about guys like Jayden Higgins out of Iowa State.
13:56
Speaker 6: Jack Betch out of TCU is one that I like
13:59
Speaker 6: quite a bit. Even into the fourth round, somebody like
14:01
Speaker 6: Ricky White out of UNLB. He's another guy that I
14:04
Speaker 6: like quite a bit. So I think where the depth
14:06
Speaker 6: of this year's class is more so in the second
14:09
Speaker 6: through the fourth round. We don't really have those marquee
14:11
Speaker 6: names of those blue chip guys like we have seen
14:13
Speaker 6: eight years past at the top of the draft, which
14:15
Speaker 6: I think is going to work in the favor of
14:17
Speaker 6: the Patriots because now, let's say they take care of
14:19
Speaker 6: the offensive line needs in free agency. Now you can
14:22
Speaker 6: entertain potentially a defensive piece at the top of the draft,
14:25
Speaker 6: and then you could attack receiver in the second or
14:27
Speaker 6: third round.
14:28
Speaker 1: So you mentioned there Higgins, So I really liked it
14:31
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. I think he can play on the outside.
14:34
Speaker 1: But the other guy wanted to ask you about I
14:36
Speaker 1: was Luther Burden, who I feel like some of the
14:38
Speaker 1: mock drafts out there you see recently have him out
14:40
Speaker 1: of the first round. I feel like he's a top
14:42
Speaker 1: twenty talent, but I know there's some other things going
14:44
Speaker 1: on from his season last year.
14:46
Speaker 2: What are you hearing about Luther Burden stock right now?
14:48
Speaker 6: Yeah, so he's probably gonna go in that twenty five
14:51
Speaker 6: to thirty five range. Yeah, I had to guess where
14:53
Speaker 6: he would go right now, And it's just the question
14:56
Speaker 6: marks about what happened last year and then what version
14:59
Speaker 6: of him getting. If I'm getting the twenty twenty three version,
15:02
Speaker 6: I'm with you. I think he's the top twenty player
15:04
Speaker 6: all day. But the player we saw last year, he
15:06
Speaker 6: just was not the same for whatever reason. And I
15:08
Speaker 6: know they had some inconsistent play at quarterback. But the explosiveness,
15:13
Speaker 6: the creativity with him, and then just the route running
15:16
Speaker 6: nuance with him, that's the big question marks out there
15:19
Speaker 6: about Luther Burden there.
15:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you think any of that?
15:22
Speaker 1: Some of the antics on the sideline is the best
15:24
Speaker 1: way I can kind of put it about. Like you
15:26
Speaker 1: see that a lot though with receivers and like guys
15:28
Speaker 1: that are you know, got that little diva alpha in them,
15:31
Speaker 1: and it's like they just want the ball right, And
15:33
Speaker 1: I feel like we make a big deal out of that.
15:35
Speaker 1: Sometimes you know happens that obviously Odell used to do
15:38
Speaker 1: it all the time. DK Metcalf can get pretty fiery.
15:42
Speaker 1: Does that weigh on you at all when it comes
15:44
Speaker 1: to creating these prospects to that kind of stuff.
15:47
Speaker 2: Not really.
15:47
Speaker 6: If anything, I take it as a positive because it
15:49
Speaker 6: shows that they care and they want the ball. You
15:52
Speaker 6: want guys that want the ball want to be in
15:54
Speaker 6: that moment. As long as it's not over the top,
15:56
Speaker 6: like you know, them throwing stuff or slamming their helmet
15:58
Speaker 6: or anything like that. As long as the anti aren't
16:00
Speaker 6: over the top, I'm completely fine with it, just because
16:02
Speaker 6: it shows that they want the ball, which is what
16:04
Speaker 6: you wanted the receiver.
16:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, And let's go back to tackle.
16:08
Speaker 1: Anybody on day two, day early day three that you
16:11
Speaker 1: feel like might have starter potential if they do have
16:14
Speaker 1: to pass on it at the top.
16:15
Speaker 6: So there's three guys for me that I think eventually
16:18
Speaker 6: have starter potential, And the first one I'll say is
16:22
Speaker 6: Jonas Savona. Yeah, I think thought guard slash tackle out
16:25
Speaker 6: of Arizona. He's primarily played right tackle during his career,
16:29
Speaker 6: but he does have some reps for some games I
16:31
Speaker 6: should say at guard. I think he's a guard on
16:33
Speaker 6: the next level I like to take better than I thought.
16:35
Speaker 6: He looked more comfortable there at the Senior Bowl too.
16:37
Speaker 6: Another is Mry Jones, the offensive tackle slash guard out
16:41
Speaker 6: of LSU who's played three games at right guard, and
16:43
Speaker 6: that's where I think his home was going to be
16:46
Speaker 6: on the next level, just because he has some balance
16:47
Speaker 6: issues when he's out on the island.
16:49
Speaker 2: So yeah, he's one.
16:50
Speaker 6: And then the last one who's getting quite a bit
16:52
Speaker 6: of buzz now that I think could go around two
16:54
Speaker 6: is Charles Grant out of William and Mary. The Big
16:56
Speaker 6: He's a bit of a project, but the athleticism that
16:59
Speaker 6: he played with, I don't think we have a tackle
17:02
Speaker 6: that's as athletic as him. Yeah, he does need to
17:05
Speaker 6: gain some weight, but you talk about somebody that has
17:07
Speaker 6: a really nice foundation to build upon. I just think
17:10
Speaker 6: he fits perfectly with the Patriots timeline, especially just because
17:13
Speaker 6: they have some room to grow, they can afford to
17:16
Speaker 6: take a project like a Charles Grant potentially put him
17:19
Speaker 6: on either side right or left tackle.
17:21
Speaker 1: I'm glad you mentioned Emory Jones because when I look
17:23
Speaker 1: at those guys on day two, potentially early day three,
17:27
Speaker 1: I love upside right, and like, even though he had
17:30
Speaker 1: a little bit of a down year last year, it
17:32
Speaker 1: felt like at times maybe there's some questions about him
17:34
Speaker 1: playing tackle or not at the next level. The tape
17:37
Speaker 1: two years ago is really really good, and there were
17:39
Speaker 1: times where I felt like it was good still last year.
17:42
Speaker 1: And if I'm gonna take a chance on one of
17:44
Speaker 1: those guys, it's like LSU tackle high recrew like that.
17:47
Speaker 2: I mean, it's hard to pass up on somebody like that.
17:50
Speaker 6: Well, one thing I will say about Emory and just
17:52
Speaker 6: watching him at the Senior Bowl, is that he wants
17:55
Speaker 6: to dominate whoever is in front of him. Yeah, I
17:57
Speaker 6: think that the root of his issue is just control.
18:01
Speaker 6: And I've always said that I would always love to
18:04
Speaker 6: coach or have an offensive lineman on my roster that
18:06
Speaker 6: I have to tone down their physicality as opposed to
18:09
Speaker 6: one that you're trying to coach physicality into them. So
18:12
Speaker 6: with Emery, I just think it's a matter of control
18:15
Speaker 6: and I think his balance will get better over time
18:17
Speaker 6: when you do slide him inside. But just the physicality
18:20
Speaker 6: that he plays with, He's a guy I would love.
18:22
Speaker 2: To have on my roster.
18:23
Speaker 1: Okay, Tim, more for you everybody in this draft has
18:26
Speaker 1: a running back and a tight end they like great
18:28
Speaker 1: Like you, you can pick from that group who's your
18:31
Speaker 1: running back and who's your tight end.
18:33
Speaker 6: So I'll give you two for running backs, and the
18:34
Speaker 6: first one is.
18:35
Speaker 2: Devin neil I.
18:38
Speaker 6: So I called their game when they went against Illinois
18:41
Speaker 6: this year, which is one of his better games of
18:43
Speaker 6: the year. He's gonna come in at about five eleven,
18:45
Speaker 6: two hundred and twenty pounds. Has that rocked up beauty.
18:48
Speaker 6: Reminded me a lot of Kareem Hunt he was coming
18:50
Speaker 6: out of Toledo. Just the contact balance division, the receiving
18:53
Speaker 6: upside that he has, I think he's gonna be great.
18:55
Speaker 6: And then one of my later round sleepers that I
18:58
Speaker 6: like quite a bit is Brishard Smith out of SMU,
19:00
Speaker 6: who actually originally was a receiver at Miami prior to
19:04
Speaker 6: this year, transitions over to SMU and transition to running
19:07
Speaker 6: back in the same time. So he reminds me a
19:09
Speaker 6: lot of Tyrone Tracy, and we saw what he was
19:11
Speaker 6: able to do last year with the New York Giants.
19:12
Speaker 6: And then a tight end that I absolutely love is
19:15
Speaker 6: Elijah Arroyo out of Miami was finally able to stay
19:19
Speaker 6: healthy this year, only twenty one years old, a bit
19:21
Speaker 6: of that f tight end that you really want to
19:23
Speaker 6: flex out predominantly. You don't want him taking a whole
19:26
Speaker 6: bunch of inline snaps. That's just not where his neighborhood
19:29
Speaker 6: is going to be. But you talk about somebody that
19:30
Speaker 6: has tremendous upside of the position. I'm a bigger Royo fan.
19:33
Speaker 2: I like that.
19:34
Speaker 1: I like those two. Those are two big Senior Bowl guys. Okay,
19:36
Speaker 1: very last one for you, then we're gonna let you go.
19:39
Speaker 1: Travis Hunter, wide receiver, cornerback. Both though he's rare.
19:43
Speaker 6: I mean I've said it every single everywhere I've been,
19:47
Speaker 6: he's my top player in the draft. And he reminds
19:49
Speaker 6: me so much of Champ Bailey. He's coming out of
19:51
Speaker 6: Georgia in the late nineties. Champ actually averaged over one
19:54
Speaker 6: hundred snaps when he was coming out of the draft
19:56
Speaker 6: as well.
19:56
Speaker 2: He's wearing a gold jacket now.
19:58
Speaker 6: But I would play him at corner predominantly, and then
20:00
Speaker 6: I will sprinkle in about twenty to twenty five plays
20:03
Speaker 6: a game with him as a wide receiver, just because
20:05
Speaker 6: I think he's so special.
20:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does. It feels difficult to do it the
20:08
Speaker 1: other way around. And I think that's Brown.
20:10
Speaker 6: Troy Brown is really the only player that I can
20:13
Speaker 6: think of that's been like that.
20:14
Speaker 2: Well he's Jordan Reid from ESPN.
20:16
Speaker 1: Give him a follow if you don't already, And Jordan,
20:19
Speaker 1: thanks for your time, appreciate it.
20:20
Speaker 5: All right, that's gonna do it for us here today
20:22
Speaker 5: on Thursday. We're here for one more day and it's
20:24
Speaker 5: kind of a big day.
20:25
Speaker 4: Tomorrow.
20:25
Speaker 5: We got you know, quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers. I mean,
20:28
Speaker 5: come on, let's let's go. If you're petering out at
20:31
Speaker 5: the end of the week, this is just the position
20:33
Speaker 5: groups that you need to get you back into it.
20:35
Speaker 5: So plenty to digest tomorrow, especially with the wide receivers
20:38
Speaker 5: and the running backs, which we've heard all week really deep,
20:40
Speaker 5: really talented class.
20:41
Speaker 4: So we'll see if the Patriots could tap that position
20:44
Speaker 4: group as well. So stick with us. We'll be back
20:46
Speaker 4: tomorrow with a full recap.