Latest / NFL Now / Will Levis at Pro Day, Ezekiel Elliott's free agency, & an interview with Clark Phillips

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Will Levis at Pro Day, Ezekiel Elliott's free agency, & an interview with Clark Phillips · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio. Will Levis in the spotlight, Bucky Brooks's fifth
0:21
Speaker 1: ranked quarterback prospect in this year's NFL draft class, Daniel
0:26
Speaker 1: Jeremiah's twelfth rank prospect overall, showing off that cannon in
0:30
Speaker 1: front of scouts and executives from around the NFL. Much
0:35
Speaker 1: more on that in a little bit. Welcome into NFL Now.
0:38
Speaker 1: I'm Omar Reese in the NFL Network newsroom. It's not
0:41
Speaker 1: unusual to see the Kentucky Wildcats in the spotlight here
0:44
Speaker 1: in the middle of March, but it's not coach Caliperry's Wildcats.
0:48
Speaker 1: It's Will Levis and the football prospects. Will have much
0:51
Speaker 1: more from Lexington in just a little bit. We also
0:54
Speaker 1: have major prospects working out at the University of Notre
0:57
Speaker 1: Dame and Penn State. Much more from those sites and
1:00
Speaker 1: a little bit. We'll also here from Mike Garifolo with
1:02
Speaker 1: the latest on Lamar Jackson. What's going on there. But
1:05
Speaker 1: we take you back to Lexington, Kentucky, where we found
1:08
Speaker 1: Will Levis trying to build off that performance he had
1:12
Speaker 1: at the combine where he showed off that cannon showing
1:15
Speaker 1: off the guns there with a sleeveless look. All kinds
1:18
Speaker 1: of different executives, head coaches like Frank Reich, who the
1:23
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers own the number one pick. We also had
1:26
Speaker 1: our own set of stars there in Lexington, Stacy Dale's
1:30
Speaker 1: no Stranger to March Madness, as well as David Carr,
1:33
Speaker 1: no stranger to the number one overall pick. Stacy David?
1:37
Speaker 1: How did Will? Look? What's up? Omar? Welcome inside to
1:42
Speaker 1: the Nutterfield House here in Lexington. Will you answer? You're
1:46
Speaker 1: you're the quarterback. You got a good workout in Yeah,
1:49
Speaker 1: sweating when he sat down. I'm not sitting in the
1:51
Speaker 1: same chairts over there now de sanitizing, but like you
1:54
Speaker 1: put in a ton off. We're talking about that even
1:56
Speaker 1: before the workout, were like, we want to see these
1:57
Speaker 1: guys that put in the effort and actually care about this,
2:00
Speaker 1: and he definitely did, maybe care a little bit too much.
2:02
Speaker 1: At the end, some of those deeper throws didn't come
2:03
Speaker 1: out how I wanted it, But I thought I thought
2:05
Speaker 1: he showed everything that you would want to see if
2:07
Speaker 1: you're a team that's in the market for a guy
2:09
Speaker 1: like Will, a guy that could be physical, run the football,
2:11
Speaker 1: especially in this era with the quarterback being involved in
2:14
Speaker 1: the run game so much, create those one on ones
2:16
Speaker 1: in the outside. He can sure rip it from that
2:17
Speaker 1: fifteen to thirty yard range. I was talking to him
2:19
Speaker 1: earlier about it. It's fantastic, man, He just it just
2:22
Speaker 1: jumps out of his hand. It's very effortless. And then
2:25
Speaker 1: now it's just about scheme fit. Honestly, he's sitting in
2:27
Speaker 1: a great spot because Stacey's not like one of the
2:29
Speaker 1: top two guys. Yeah, so it's really going to be
2:31
Speaker 1: any team that wants to grab him come up and
2:33
Speaker 1: grab him. Like he's in a prime position to be
2:36
Speaker 1: in a really good place as far as like a
2:38
Speaker 1: team from his damp. Yeah, there's no question he's so
2:41
Speaker 1: dialed in. I think that's one of the things. Yeah,
2:43
Speaker 1: you've talked to you know, personnel here with the Kentucky
2:46
Speaker 1: Wildcats and just the preparation that he has put into
2:49
Speaker 1: this pre draft process. David has been really immaculate when
2:52
Speaker 1: you consider the focus, I would say, and the intention
2:58
Speaker 1: in terms of the workout. We just saw. That's what
2:59
Speaker 1: they talked about it all the you guys, all the
3:01
Speaker 1: staff here, they say that everything he does is for
3:03
Speaker 1: a reason. I think even messing with us about putting
3:05
Speaker 1: Mannies in his coffee and eating whole shrimp jokes, like,
3:08
Speaker 1: it's all jokes. Everyone relaxed. He doesn't do that. Crazy
3:12
Speaker 1: people do that, don't do that at home, and he doesn't.
3:14
Speaker 1: He just does it for fun. He likes to push
3:16
Speaker 1: people's buttons. But he's an interesting guy and I think
3:18
Speaker 1: that's he's also an interesting quarterback. Yeah, so I think
3:21
Speaker 1: it's going to be really fun to see as we
3:23
Speaker 1: head up to the draft where he lands. Yeah, he's
3:26
Speaker 1: just so intense. It was interesting to talk to his dad,
3:28
Speaker 1: Mike earlier, who is one of his biggest heroes because
3:31
Speaker 1: he also played football. He was a tight end. And
3:34
Speaker 1: he told me earlier this morning, David, that it was
3:36
Speaker 1: probably the nervous, the most nervous that he has felt
3:40
Speaker 1: in terms of this process with his son. But he
3:42
Speaker 1: also said, hey, he's a softie. He's got three younger sisters.
3:45
Speaker 1: There's a sensitive side. So for as intense as he is, yeah,
3:48
Speaker 1: there is that side of him. I thought, what was
3:50
Speaker 1: really interesting here, Okay, we had Carolina contingency of about
3:54
Speaker 1: ten personnel. They met with him, had dinner with him
3:56
Speaker 1: last night. He also met last night with the Raiders
3:59
Speaker 1: YEA and a decent contingency there with the head coach
4:03
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels. The Seahawks had a bunch of people here.
4:06
Speaker 1: I didn't see anybody from the Indianapolis Colts. I'm not
4:08
Speaker 1: sure if I missed somebody, well, I don't know. I
4:10
Speaker 1: mean that's interesting because like, as a player, we were
4:12
Speaker 1: talking with that a little bit before. It's like, I
4:14
Speaker 1: remember everyone that was in my pro day. Wow, I
4:16
Speaker 1: was I was the guy that was probably going to
4:19
Speaker 1: go number one, and but but I remember specifically the
4:21
Speaker 1: teams that were there, and I think that you made
4:23
Speaker 1: a great point off the air. It's like Willa notices
4:26
Speaker 1: that too. Like so for the Coults not to be here,
4:27
Speaker 1: that's interesting. Maybe they do stuff more private like you.
4:29
Speaker 1: I think they do. I think they spend a little
4:31
Speaker 1: bit more time, you know, whether they have those guys
4:34
Speaker 1: come in or go over to see that. They do that.
4:37
Speaker 1: But I'm still I think as a player, you yeah,
4:40
Speaker 1: you see Frank Reich right behind, like he was literally
4:43
Speaker 1: standing behind Will Levis. They have the number one pick overall,
4:46
Speaker 1: they need a quarterback. They're doing their due diligence. It's right.
4:49
Speaker 1: I think they're just comparing. Yeah, yeah, they're still there
4:52
Speaker 1: and that makes you feel good as a player. So
4:54
Speaker 1: good on the Panthers in those teams in the show.
4:55
Speaker 1: Here's here's a super weird question for your quarterback guys,
4:58
Speaker 1: we are can you throw the ball too hard? Because
5:01
Speaker 1: every time the ball comes out of his hand, some
5:03
Speaker 1: of these receivers, he I wanted to throw them into
5:06
Speaker 1: space today. I know that talking to Jordan Palmer, who
5:08
Speaker 1: he's been working with, But how do you tailor that
5:10
Speaker 1: back when you have as powerful an arm as he
5:13
Speaker 1: does we're talking earlier. It's like the guy that throws
5:15
Speaker 1: one hundred off the mound. It's hard to tone that back,
5:18
Speaker 1: you know, to tell him, Okay, throw ninety three and
5:20
Speaker 1: throw on the edges, and it's like, I don't really
5:22
Speaker 1: do that. So you can see when he would miss one,
5:23
Speaker 1: he'd kind of go back to, like, okay, let's throw
5:25
Speaker 1: him into space. He'd kind of go back to what
5:27
Speaker 1: Jordan has been talking. So that you just get him
5:29
Speaker 1: with a good staff, a good coaching staff, a good
5:32
Speaker 1: offensive porting you're a good quarterback coach that can kind
5:34
Speaker 1: of train that into him. It's gonna take him a
5:36
Speaker 1: little while to be that precise pocision guy. And maybe
5:38
Speaker 1: he won't always be that guy, but he can do it.
5:41
Speaker 1: You've seen just through the work that he's done with Jordan,
5:43
Speaker 1: he's able to do that. He's always going to default
5:45
Speaker 1: to the fastball and that and being physical and being tough,
5:48
Speaker 1: and like, you got to you gotta lean into that
5:50
Speaker 1: a little bit if you're a coaching staff, and then
5:51
Speaker 1: you gotta make the decision. He's gonna put himself in
5:53
Speaker 1: harm's way. He's gonna be physical, Like, we got to
5:56
Speaker 1: make sure that our system is tailored to kind of
5:58
Speaker 1: protect him from himself sometimes. Yeah, well, we have our
6:01
Speaker 1: interview with will Love is coming up. But you know what,
6:03
Speaker 1: you don't come to Kentuck, you guys without acquiring bourbon.
6:08
Speaker 1: I'm gonna David, I'm gonna give you this. This actually
6:11
Speaker 1: came from Well, I didn't check a bag. The head coach.
6:14
Speaker 1: I can't take it home. The head coach of the
6:16
Speaker 1: Kentucky Wildcats. Here he is the longest, he's he's the
6:19
Speaker 1: winningest coach in program history. Mark Stoops. He has a
6:24
Speaker 1: bourbon company, guys, and he gave us bottles so Ian's
6:28
Speaker 1: rappaport has already taken one. You're gonna take one home.
6:31
Speaker 1: I'm going to take one home. And by the way,
6:33
Speaker 1: his best advice is, like, coach, do I want it
6:36
Speaker 1: on the rocks if I like bourbon? Or do I
6:37
Speaker 1: want to make a Manhattan? He said a little more
6:39
Speaker 1: ryan it, so you probably want to go with a Manhattan.
6:42
Speaker 1: So coach Stoops, I got you, bro Kentucky, Lexington. You
6:47
Speaker 1: have been wonderful to us both on NFL Plus and
6:51
Speaker 1: NFL Network. We've been thrilled to be here, David. He
6:54
Speaker 1: got a plane to catch, Yes, I got a flight
6:56
Speaker 1: to catch Omar back to us. An amazing day. One
7:00
Speaker 1: of those bottles. Okay, there's a fight. They're got a
7:06
Speaker 1: fight for it back there. You know where I live, Stacy,
7:08
Speaker 1: expect one here to watch the best of March Madness
7:11
Speaker 1: with Stacy David. Thank you very much, very thoughtful and
7:14
Speaker 1: thorough report there at the University of Kentucky. Thank you
7:17
Speaker 1: very much. Meanwhile, new right now into NFL Network, we
7:20
Speaker 1: have news with Mike Garafolo about Ezekiel Elliott, one of
7:25
Speaker 1: the biggest names still available there. You see head coach
7:29
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor saying, we like our team where it's at
7:32
Speaker 1: right now. But Ezekiel Elliott, former Dallas cowboy great is
7:38
Speaker 1: on the market. And there you see Bourbon curious Bourbon
7:44
Speaker 1: Rooke Garolo who frequently curious him On instagran you'll see
7:49
Speaker 1: him constantly texting about his trains. What do you think
7:53
Speaker 1: about that? Mark Stops, Stacy Dales and Mark Stoops. You know,
7:58
Speaker 1: holler at your boy, That's all I'm saying, front and
8:02
Speaker 1: center on his display there, look at that. Yeah, maybe
8:05
Speaker 1: Mike anyway, Yeah, Stacy's you know, yeah, Stacey's singing to
8:12
Speaker 1: you know, best way to my heart for all it's
8:16
Speaker 1: worth there, Yeah, yeah, anyway, Ezekiel Elliott the best way
8:19
Speaker 1: at his heart. A nice contract and maybe one of
8:22
Speaker 1: three teams that was thrown out there, the Bengals, Jets
8:25
Speaker 1: and Eagles. Boy, it made it sound like he was
8:27
Speaker 1: narrowing down his list and he was gonna choose from
8:30
Speaker 1: those teams and signed with one of them in the
8:31
Speaker 1: near future. And all the teams involved are kind of like,
8:35
Speaker 1: we really aren't negotiating with him. I don't know what's
8:37
Speaker 1: going And Zach Taylor, the Bengals coach, made it clear
8:40
Speaker 1: that sounded like he was the first he had really
8:42
Speaker 1: heard of it when that got out there, says he
8:44
Speaker 1: likes the way the team is currently constructed. They still
8:47
Speaker 1: had Joe Mixon on the roster there when I spoke
8:50
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. They said, we're not actively negotiating with Zeke,
8:52
Speaker 1: so we'll continue to monitor potential options for Ezekiel Elliott.
8:55
Speaker 1: But it does not sound like that there's an imminent
8:58
Speaker 1: decision based on those three teams as his finalists, whatever
9:02
Speaker 1: you want to call them. So we'll keep watching it
9:04
Speaker 1: for you. Omar nothing right now they indicate he's going
9:06
Speaker 1: to sign with any of those teams as of right now.
9:08
Speaker 1: If we're looking for a little clue, he tweeted yesterday
9:10
Speaker 1: that he wants his fifteen back, of course, with the
9:12
Speaker 1: number he wore at Ohio State, has worn twenty one
9:15
Speaker 1: throughout his productive career for the Cowboys. I don't know, Mike,
9:18
Speaker 1: stay right there. We want to get Mark and Jim's
9:20
Speaker 1: thoughts in just a moment. You look at the numbers
9:22
Speaker 1: there for Ezekiel Elliott the last couple of years in
9:25
Speaker 1: the red zone, twenty two rushing touchdowns. That's tied for
9:28
Speaker 1: the most of the NFL. With Austin Eckler, James Conner
9:31
Speaker 1: right there, so still productive inside the five, inside the twenty,
9:36
Speaker 1: Jim Trotter and Mark Ross back with us now and
9:39
Speaker 1: Mark will start with you. What left do you think
9:42
Speaker 1: Ezekiel Elliott has left to offer to an NFL roster? Well,
9:46
Speaker 1: I just put his career with Ezeka. That was pretty
9:48
Speaker 1: much a specialist that he does that well as a
9:50
Speaker 1: short yardage goal line specialist. At one point he was
9:53
Speaker 1: the best running back in the NFL. But this is
9:56
Speaker 1: what happens with the running backs. We see it time
9:58
Speaker 1: after time. You can go from being the best back
10:00
Speaker 1: of the NFL to being a backup to being out
10:03
Speaker 1: of the league. Todd Gurley, here you are. We can
10:05
Speaker 1: go example by example. So Zeke Elliott he still thrives
10:10
Speaker 1: in the shirtyardage can goal line because he still has
10:12
Speaker 1: outstanding instincts. He's got short yardage power, and he's got
10:16
Speaker 1: great feel down there. We saw that last season. If
10:19
Speaker 1: he's in a rotation, that's what you want. If he
10:22
Speaker 1: can accept that role like he did last year, that's
10:24
Speaker 1: what you want out of Zeke Elliott. At this point,
10:27
Speaker 1: he is not in a position to say, here are
10:29
Speaker 1: my teams, and I'm going to choose where I want
10:31
Speaker 1: to go. At this point, teams are really looking at
10:34
Speaker 1: the free agent market and saying, Okay, we've got a
10:36
Speaker 1: choice of a bunch of guys, and Zeke Elliott is
10:38
Speaker 1: a backup rotational player for us, and you'd have to
10:41
Speaker 1: use him for his strength. So at this point in
10:44
Speaker 1: his career, unfortunately, that explosiveness that he once had is
10:47
Speaker 1: not coming back. That speed, that big playability, that's just
10:50
Speaker 1: not there and Zeke Elliott anymore. But if he's willing
10:53
Speaker 1: to accept that role and a team wants him in
10:55
Speaker 1: that role, that's where he really would fit in best. Jim, Yeah, Mark,
10:59
Speaker 1: you you nailed it. I mean, that's what it is.
11:01
Speaker 1: If I could provide a little more context in terms
11:04
Speaker 1: of the numbers of being a specialist in a short
11:06
Speaker 1: yardage guy, think about this. Zeke had twelve touchdowns last year.
11:10
Speaker 1: Seven of them came from a yard out, another came
11:13
Speaker 1: from two yards out, another from four yards out, another
11:16
Speaker 1: from six yards out. So from that standpoint, it shows
11:19
Speaker 1: his capabilities down at the goal line and the value
11:21
Speaker 1: he can bring to a club. And as you said too,
11:24
Speaker 1: he is a veteran who has been through a lot.
11:26
Speaker 1: He could be good in a locker room in terms
11:28
Speaker 1: of leadership and helping a young back come along. We
11:31
Speaker 1: no last season there were no issues sharing time with
11:34
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard. So from that standpoint, again, Zeke Elliott would
11:38
Speaker 1: be a good fit in that way, but as you say,
11:39
Speaker 1: it's a tough market for running backs and for now
11:43
Speaker 1: he's simply going to half to wait. Yeah. On top
11:46
Speaker 1: of that point, Jim, for years, as big of a
11:47
Speaker 1: superstar as as Zekiel Elliott became, was always considered good
11:51
Speaker 1: in the locker room, and like you said, a good
11:52
Speaker 1: teammate for Tony Pollard perhaps can be in a similar
11:55
Speaker 1: role in twenty twenty three, Mark, Jim, thank you both
11:58
Speaker 1: very much. Meanwhile, we welcome back Mike Garofolo with much more.
12:02
Speaker 1: In this Lamar Jackson situation, I think maybe has taken
12:05
Speaker 1: center stage away from Aaron Rodgers here as the dominant storyline,
12:09
Speaker 1: at least recently of the twenty twenty three off season.
12:13
Speaker 1: What's going on with Lamar? His negotiation, non negotiation, who's
12:17
Speaker 1: allowed to speak for him? What's the latest there, Mike?
12:20
Speaker 1: Are we still you know during free agency if we
12:22
Speaker 1: get a call and we've been waiting on it like
12:24
Speaker 1: we take it. Are we still in that mode? I
12:26
Speaker 1: guess we're not, because you kind of have to have
12:28
Speaker 1: Ian and Tom with me so one of them can talk.
12:30
Speaker 1: So I guess I gotta just put on hold call
12:32
Speaker 1: after we're done. Yeah, the frenzy's over, Mike, We'll see
12:35
Speaker 1: the frenzy is over. We aren't back in NFL now
12:38
Speaker 1: mode where we're talking about Lamar Jackson and a memo
12:40
Speaker 1: from the NFL Management Council that went out the team
12:42
Speaker 1: saying that a man by the name of Ken Francis
12:45
Speaker 1: had been contacting teams to perhaps engage in negotiations also
12:50
Speaker 1: potential trade talks for a Lamar Jackson Now. Jackson then
12:54
Speaker 1: retweeted our Tom Pellasero when Tom put out the entire
12:57
Speaker 1: memo and he said, stop lying. That man never negotiated
13:00
Speaker 1: for me. Francis also denied that he's negotiating on behalf
13:03
Speaker 1: of Jackson, But that memo went out because the NFL
13:06
Speaker 1: was made aware by teams that Francis was contacting them.
13:10
Speaker 1: Now was he trying to sell some gym products to them?
13:13
Speaker 1: The reason I say that is if you missed this yesterday.
13:15
Speaker 1: Lamar then turned around and said that Francis is his
13:17
Speaker 1: business partner and they've got a gym product that's coming
13:20
Speaker 1: out over the next couple of months. But as it
13:23
Speaker 1: pertains to the negotiations of his contract, as he's currently
13:26
Speaker 1: on the franchise tag, teams were notified that if you
13:28
Speaker 1: do engage with mister Francis and you come to an agreement,
13:32
Speaker 1: that that offer sheet could be deemed null and void.
13:35
Speaker 1: So that was the warning sent to teams yesterday. Lamar,
13:39
Speaker 1: I don't know if he commissioned Ken Francis to call it.
13:42
Speaker 1: I don't know if Francis called in his OT. We
13:43
Speaker 1: don't know for sure, but that is something that teams
13:46
Speaker 1: have been told do not engage in that. If you
13:48
Speaker 1: want to talk contract, you got to talk to Lamar
13:50
Speaker 1: Jackson because he currently does not have an NFLPA certified agent. Yeah,
13:54
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure that it wasn't a big marketing
13:56
Speaker 1: thing for his entire gym that you just mentioned that
13:59
Speaker 1: he put out on social media yesterday. Lane Johnson been
14:02
Speaker 1: a centerpiece of the Philadelphia Eagles marketing camp in the
14:05
Speaker 1: last ten years ago, still considered by many one of
14:08
Speaker 1: the best tackles in all of football. What's the latest
14:10
Speaker 1: on his contract situation. Well, the Eagles have now made
14:13
Speaker 1: it official since we talked about this last hour. It
14:16
Speaker 1: is a one year extension for Lane Johnson through twenty
14:19
Speaker 1: twenty six. Now, the money on this, according to a source,
14:21
Speaker 1: is what you're seeing right there, thirty three point four
14:23
Speaker 1: million dollars with thirty guarantee. Now, I'm talking to the
14:26
Speaker 1: rest of the offensive tackle market. When you go to
14:29
Speaker 1: negotiate an extension with your team, you can't really say
14:31
Speaker 1: that the going rate for the top of the market
14:33
Speaker 1: is thirty three million dollars. That's not how it works.
14:35
Speaker 1: Because this is something where Johnson had three years left
14:38
Speaker 1: in his deal. It's a restructure to help the Eagles
14:40
Speaker 1: with their salary cap. His twenty twenty three salary cap
14:43
Speaker 1: number is going to drop almost ten million dollars as
14:46
Speaker 1: part of this deal, So it gives the Eagles some
14:48
Speaker 1: cap space in that regard, but it also spreads the
14:51
Speaker 1: money throughout the remaining three years that we're already on
14:54
Speaker 1: his deal plus one more years. The Eagles are looking
14:56
Speaker 1: at it saying, well, he was due forty seven million
14:59
Speaker 1: dollars over three years. He's now due eighty over four
15:02
Speaker 1: which is a twenty million dollars average. It's hard to
15:05
Speaker 1: calculate what the real value is going to be because
15:07
Speaker 1: we don't know how long Lane Johnson is going to play.
15:10
Speaker 1: He had indicated two more years and then we'll go
15:12
Speaker 1: from there. But it's a raise, and it's much more
15:15
Speaker 1: guaranteed money than he had before, and it's well deserve
15:18
Speaker 1: for Lane Johnson, who has battled through that adductor injury,
15:21
Speaker 1: as well as so much more for the Philadelphia Eagles.
15:24
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Eagles, a former Eagles wide receiver and
15:27
Speaker 1: Nelson Agilar, just signed a one year deal or agreed
15:29
Speaker 1: to a one year deal with the Baltimore Ravens a
15:31
Speaker 1: base value of three point two five million plus three
15:34
Speaker 1: million dollars more in incentives. On top of that. The
15:37
Speaker 1: Ravens have had trouble in recent years getting top of
15:40
Speaker 1: the market free agents to come to Baltimore. Some say
15:43
Speaker 1: it's because of Lamar Jackson. I think it was more
15:45
Speaker 1: because of Greg Roman trying to play to Lamar Jackson's
15:48
Speaker 1: strengths and receivers really didn't get a lot of opportunities.
15:50
Speaker 1: But Nelson Aguilar will be headed to Baltimore, hopefully getting
15:54
Speaker 1: more opportunities in new offensive coordinator Todd Munkin's offense. Elsewhere
15:59
Speaker 1: on the free agent wide receiver market, DJ Chark agreeing
16:03
Speaker 1: to a one year deal with the Carolina Panthers after
16:06
Speaker 1: being in Detroit. Now, the Lions did try to come
16:09
Speaker 1: to an agreement with Chark to bring him back on
16:11
Speaker 1: a one year deal. Those talks didn't really get to
16:14
Speaker 1: the point where Chark was considering accepting it, so he
16:17
Speaker 1: went and visited Carolina recently. He left there, but the
16:19
Speaker 1: Panthers said, we're still working through it. He's got some
16:22
Speaker 1: health issues in the recent past, but the indications are
16:25
Speaker 1: that he should be good moving forward. That's in a
16:28
Speaker 1: memo that he sent to all teams before the start
16:30
Speaker 1: of free agency saying his foot, ankle, whatever was bothering him.
16:33
Speaker 1: They feel like is going to be better going forward.
16:36
Speaker 1: Carolina obviously agrees, so they agree to that one year
16:38
Speaker 1: deal with DJ Chark. Who will be on the receiving
16:41
Speaker 1: end of passes from a quarterback to be determined Omar
16:45
Speaker 1: And that is why the Panthers are out at these
16:47
Speaker 1: pro days right now try to decide who's going to
16:49
Speaker 1: throw the ball. But at least they know Chark will
16:51
Speaker 1: be on the receiving end of some of them. Yeah,
16:53
Speaker 1: another veteran to add to that receiving group along with
16:56
Speaker 1: Adam Thielyn. They have the number one pick. They have
16:59
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton. And it also sets up my favorite nugget
17:02
Speaker 1: of the day, Mike, from our great researcher Lafon Jones.
17:05
Speaker 1: DJ Chark has played for the LSU Tigers, the Jacksonville Jaguars,
17:09
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions, and now the Carolina Panthers. Yow, yeah,
17:15
Speaker 1: too bad, too bad. He's never gonna play for the
17:17
Speaker 1: San Jose Sharks. Do there? You go? We got the
17:22
Speaker 1: little kids at home. Definitely that. By the way, now
17:25
Speaker 1: you're gonna have it to suck in my head, Mike, Well,
17:28
Speaker 1: when your kids are gonna have it stuck in your
17:30
Speaker 1: head later anyway. But I don't know if he likes it,
17:32
Speaker 1: but I know like in the past, I was waiting
17:33
Speaker 1: for him to do the end zone and he just
17:35
Speaker 1: resisted it. People have tried to get him to do it,
17:37
Speaker 1: so he doesn't embrace it. For maybe this is the year, Mike.
17:40
Speaker 1: They're with the Carolina's down in Charlotte. All right, thank
17:43
Speaker 1: you very much, still to come here on the NFL.
17:46
Speaker 1: Now we are taking you out to South Bend, Indiana,
17:50
Speaker 1: where star tight end Michael Mayer showing off his move
17:54
Speaker 1: just both in the past game and the block game.
17:57
Speaker 1: That's next on NFL now. Defensive lineman Isaiah Foski one
18:09
Speaker 1: of the big name performers at the University of Notre
18:12
Speaker 1: Dame Pro Day. Consistent player eleven sacks in twenty twenty one,
18:17
Speaker 1: eleven sacks in twenty twenty two, plus fourteen tackles for
18:22
Speaker 1: loss that Ted Hendricks Award finalist to the nation's top
18:26
Speaker 1: defensive end. Meanwhile, Michael Mayer, tied end is the top
18:31
Speaker 1: ranked tight end prospect according to Bucky Brooks. He was
18:34
Speaker 1: a first team Associated Press All American. He too a
18:40
Speaker 1: consistent performer both in the run game and the pass game.
18:44
Speaker 1: Here is our own Sherry Buris with Michael Mayer. Well
18:49
Speaker 1: here at Notre Dame Pro Day with Michael Mayer. He
18:51
Speaker 1: owns every tight end record in the program. How do
18:55
Speaker 1: you think today went? I think I went pretty well.
18:57
Speaker 1: I went pretty well. Sam Hartman thrown to me, had
19:00
Speaker 1: a couple of times this week where we threw together
19:03
Speaker 1: and try to start making that action and things like that,
19:06
Speaker 1: and I think my times were pretty good and I
19:08
Speaker 1: had to get a good bench in so I was
19:10
Speaker 1: happy with how today win. I'm excited for the future.
19:13
Speaker 1: Also saw you do so offensive lineman drolls there. Why
19:15
Speaker 1: is it important for you to show these NFL scouts,
19:18
Speaker 1: even a GM your versatility. Well, I think they got
19:20
Speaker 1: to know I can move, I can move my hips,
19:22
Speaker 1: I got quick feet, things like that, and I think
19:24
Speaker 1: that's one of the things we were doing out there.
19:26
Speaker 1: And you know, as a tight end, you got to
19:28
Speaker 1: be able to do everything, so they want to see it.
19:30
Speaker 1: This is a really deep tight end draft class. Are
19:32
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks, as you readed as the top guy in
19:35
Speaker 1: your position that just being released, what is going to
19:38
Speaker 1: help you stand out from the group? I think just
19:40
Speaker 1: being me, I think that's gonna what's gonna help me
19:43
Speaker 1: doing what I can do, catching the ball block and
19:47
Speaker 1: things like that. I just got to be myself and
19:49
Speaker 1: kind of show these teams the type of person I
19:50
Speaker 1: am and how much I love football. You did, tight
19:53
Speaker 1: end you, George Kittle, Travis Kelsey, what's the biggest takeaway
19:56
Speaker 1: from you that you can learn from those guys already
19:58
Speaker 1: in the NFL. The one thing that I loved when
20:00
Speaker 1: I went there is how good of people all the
20:02
Speaker 1: tight ends were when I went there. You know, they're
20:04
Speaker 1: worth a lot of They're great players at football. And
20:07
Speaker 1: just kind of be able to go there and have
20:08
Speaker 1: some people take me under their wing and show me
20:10
Speaker 1: around and kind of teach me a little bit was awesome.
20:12
Speaker 1: And so you know, I aspire to be somebody like
20:14
Speaker 1: that one day. When you think about the end of April,
20:16
Speaker 1: the upcoming draft, what are the emotions for you? Excitement,
20:22
Speaker 1: I'm ready to roll. It's been a long process and
20:25
Speaker 1: I'm ready to kind of like find my city, find
20:27
Speaker 1: my home and start working. All right. Thank you, Sherry,
20:31
Speaker 1: Thank you Michael. That new home. According to Daniel Jeremiah's
20:34
Speaker 1: mock draft in New Orleans, it's going to be a
20:37
Speaker 1: new target for Derek Carr there at number twenty nine
20:40
Speaker 1: overall in the first round, one of the top prospects
20:43
Speaker 1: in the entire draft class. For more on that, we
20:46
Speaker 1: welcome back are Mark Ross and Mark. When you look
20:49
Speaker 1: at Michael Mayer as a tight end prospect, what comes
20:51
Speaker 1: to mind for you, Well, he settled, solid, consistent, you know,
20:56
Speaker 1: that's kind of his trademarks there omar where you evaluate
20:59
Speaker 1: him and nothing he does really jumps off the film
21:02
Speaker 1: for you. It's like, man, that's super exciting or dynamic.
21:06
Speaker 1: But everything he does is really good. And he is
21:09
Speaker 1: a good route runner, he's got really good hands, he's productive,
21:12
Speaker 1: he's a good blocker. You know, all those things together.
21:16
Speaker 1: He's a solid teammate, a worker. So all of those
21:19
Speaker 1: components put together for Michael Mayer is really what is
21:23
Speaker 1: intriguing about him. He's here in the draft. They're sort
21:26
Speaker 1: of flash hear guys or more risky guys, but then
21:29
Speaker 1: you have those solid, safe picks or the guys that
21:32
Speaker 1: you were like, you know what, they're gonna make the team,
21:34
Speaker 1: They're going to contribute, they're going to be good NFL players,
21:36
Speaker 1: And he kind of fits into that mold of more
21:39
Speaker 1: of a safer pick because you kind of know what
21:41
Speaker 1: you're getting out of him. His skill set is kind
21:43
Speaker 1: of easy to see and identify, and that'll be good.
21:46
Speaker 1: That'll be intriguing for a team to get in there
21:48
Speaker 1: in the mix is a number one tight end to
21:51
Speaker 1: provide that solid stability and consistency as a pass catcher
21:55
Speaker 1: and as a run blocker, and as a teammate and
21:58
Speaker 1: a leader off the field. Omar I just love the
22:00
Speaker 1: consistency with him. Sixty seven catches, eight hundred nine yards
22:04
Speaker 1: and nine touch ns this past season. In twenty twenty one,
22:07
Speaker 1: seventy one catches, eight hundred forty yards and seven touchdowns.
22:11
Speaker 1: You could say the same thing about Isaiah Foski eleven
22:14
Speaker 1: sacks both in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty one.
22:17
Speaker 1: What do you make about him as a prospect? Yeah,
22:20
Speaker 1: that sports information department of Notre Dame is just lining
22:22
Speaker 1: it it up. They didn't do any work. They said,
22:24
Speaker 1: let's just cut, cut and paste the stats each year
22:26
Speaker 1: for those two guys. Now you talk about dynamic. Now
22:29
Speaker 1: he shows Foster. When you watch him, he shows some
22:32
Speaker 1: explosiveness and dynamic ability getting off there's edge rusher. The
22:36
Speaker 1: get off is number one, and he can get off
22:38
Speaker 1: the ball two. It's the power and explosive this and
22:41
Speaker 1: you see the power coming off the edge whether he
22:44
Speaker 1: tries a bull rush, hit gaps or get around the edge.
22:47
Speaker 1: And he plays hard. Oh Mar, you see out in
22:49
Speaker 1: space where he ran a fast forty and you want
22:51
Speaker 1: to see it. The correlates, but yes, you see that
22:53
Speaker 1: on tape. Once he gets out in space with his
22:55
Speaker 1: pursuit and his speed in closing. So you gotta love
22:59
Speaker 1: that in an edge player, to get off the explosiveness
23:02
Speaker 1: and then the effort and speeds to close. So that's
23:06
Speaker 1: what she loved about Fotsky in the run game. He's
23:09
Speaker 1: got some power and leverage in his upper body. Joe
23:12
Speaker 1: just got to get a little bit stronger, consistent in
23:14
Speaker 1: that anchor. But very very intriguing pass rush player. We're
23:17
Speaker 1: always looking for pass rush omar. He's a very intriguing
23:21
Speaker 1: guy for NFL teams because of his explosiveness. Yeah, a
23:23
Speaker 1: lot of upside for Fotsky, who went to high school
23:26
Speaker 1: at Day La sal the legendary high school program in
23:29
Speaker 1: northern California where Maurice Jones Drew are very own went
23:33
Speaker 1: to high school as well. Hey, that's the PAC twelve
23:39
Speaker 1: Defensive Player of the Year. Cornerback Clark Phillips, the third
23:43
Speaker 1: who was working out at the Utah Pro Day yesterday.
23:46
Speaker 1: He was unanimous All American also a finalist for the
23:49
Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe Ward as the best dB in the nation.
23:52
Speaker 1: He was impressive on the field yesterday and as I
23:56
Speaker 1: found out in Salt Lake City, Clark he had a
24:00
Speaker 1: great combine. Another solid workout here at year pro Day.
24:03
Speaker 1: What did you want to prove to the scout here
24:05
Speaker 1: in this workout? Man, I'm a great football player, and
24:08
Speaker 1: you know, I just want to continue to play football
24:09
Speaker 1: as much as I can. And I had another opportunity
24:11
Speaker 1: in front of me, and I wanted to showcase my
24:13
Speaker 1: abilities or speaking the opportunities. You've gone in your career
24:17
Speaker 1: against two of the top quarterbacks in this year's draft
24:19
Speaker 1: class CJ. Stroud Anthony Richardson. You've also gone twice last
24:23
Speaker 1: season against Jordan Addison, who many people consider the top
24:26
Speaker 1: receiver in this year's class. How would you evaluate how
24:29
Speaker 1: you performed against those other top prospects. Man, First off,
24:32
Speaker 1: those dudes are great players, fun to compete against, you know,
24:35
Speaker 1: the top level. Whenever you get that opportunity. Jordan Addison,
24:38
Speaker 1: you know, I think he's my top receiver for sure.
24:40
Speaker 1: I do that. I was, you know, took probably in
24:42
Speaker 1: covering a dude that I you know, watched a lot
24:43
Speaker 1: of film to make sure that we won that game.
24:45
Speaker 1: And I'm just grateful that we came out on top.
24:47
Speaker 1: And good luck to them with this process. You know,
24:49
Speaker 1: I saw you had an interception off CJ. Stroud don't
24:51
Speaker 1: love me so well? Now you held more than held
24:53
Speaker 1: your own. How do you evaluate evaluate yourself amongst the
24:56
Speaker 1: other top corners in this year's draft. Man, I think
24:59
Speaker 1: I'm the best guy. I think I have the most versatility,
25:01
Speaker 1: and I just think I showcased that day in and
25:03
Speaker 1: day out, game in, game out, whoever it is the
25:06
Speaker 1: matchup from inside, from outside, everywhere, and I'm just grateful
25:10
Speaker 1: that my coach is trusting me. You know, every single
25:12
Speaker 1: year I've been here to be on that island and
25:14
Speaker 1: be an inside as well. You developed a reputation for
25:16
Speaker 1: being a shut down quarterback cornerback, yet you still had
25:19
Speaker 1: six interceptions this year. How did you make the most
25:22
Speaker 1: of those opportunities? Man? Great questions. So it came down
25:25
Speaker 1: to just film study. It came down and meet trusting
25:27
Speaker 1: and you know my abilities trusting in God. The year prior,
25:30
Speaker 1: I made a lot of PPUs, I made a lot
25:32
Speaker 1: of tackles, and so wanted to take that next step.
25:34
Speaker 1: You know, the guys that get paid at the next
25:35
Speaker 1: level and get those big contracts, So the guys to
25:37
Speaker 1: take away to rock and so who wanted to put
25:38
Speaker 1: that on showcase and put that on film? This last season,
25:41
Speaker 1: and I feel like I did that, not only did that,
25:43
Speaker 1: but took them back for touchdowns. I read that you are.
25:46
Speaker 1: Your philosophy is R. S N. The relentless smart, nasty
25:52
Speaker 1: ball hawk, relentless smart ball hawk. I think that speaks
25:55
Speaker 1: for itself. What's the nasty part of your game? So
25:57
Speaker 1: the nasty part is just doing everything with the purpose,
25:59
Speaker 1: doing everything at a high level and not not having anything,
26:02
Speaker 1: you know, be not just strength. So for examp Apple,
26:05
Speaker 1: I wanted to get better at certain things. I wanted
26:06
Speaker 1: to take the ball. So I was going to approach
26:08
Speaker 1: that with a nasty attitude. Every single spring practice, every
26:11
Speaker 1: single fall camp. If I could give my hand on
26:12
Speaker 1: the boss, gonna be a pick out a pew. What's
26:14
Speaker 1: the last thing impression you want to leave with the
26:16
Speaker 1: teams here as we head into the draft. I love football.
26:19
Speaker 1: There's nothing I'm not gonna do, you know, to be
26:21
Speaker 1: the first corner off that board. NFL Now is a
26:34
Speaker 1: production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For a
26:38
Speaker 1: more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
26:41
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.