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TABLE TALK: NFL Post-Draft Analysis · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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All right, everybody, you're listening to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports
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Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Phillies sports podcast show in the world.
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That's right, ten years strong. We have got a great, great
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discussion coming your way. You know why, because the NFL Draft is over.
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The NFL Draft was quite the spectacle that we saw over this past weekend.
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My goodness. There are moves that were made, the team building that
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was done around the league. We've got to get into it this week on
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our Table Talk show. We have got a great guest. Let's dissect the
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NFL Draft right now. It is great to have back on the podcast to
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get into this NFL draft coming to us from a disease sports down into Nashville,
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and he also has for many years covering the Tampa Buccaneers, were certainly
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good beginning of that team. In this discussion, we've got the one and
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only Evan Winter. How are you doing, Evan, I'm great, jeff
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Man. You know, post draft, you know, first like twenty four
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to thirty six hours, it's always kind of a comdown. But then you
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know, yeah, you started looking back on just everything, especially this draft,
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how crazy it was. But you know, you really start diving into
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everything, and you know, and then the trajectory starts coming back up in
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terms of excitement. So I couldn't be better, honestly, And man,
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what a weekend is like. The just all the movement and all the picks
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is crazy, man, absolutely crazy. It really was crazy. Actually read
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a tweet right before I came, you know, on the Zoom call here
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with you with regard to the players selected by position in this draft. You
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talked about the movement that went on in this in this NFL draft, and
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just how crazy it was. Listen to this cornerback. There were thirty eight
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cornerbacks taken, thirty two wide receivers, thirty linebackers, twenty defensive tackles,
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nineteen defensive ends, nineteen running backs. Of course other positions as well,
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but those are the top positions taken in this draft, and you think to
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yourself, you know, this league over the years has changed, but we
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really are seeing the cornerback position really being focused on within this draft, with
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thirty eight of them being taken, you know, by the thirty two teams.
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It shows what's happening within this league, how this league is continuing to
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grow. Man, you know, and it's also because everybody wants to play
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receiver, you know, So that's the one, you know, that's you
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know, you hear it all the time among coaches and stuff. They everybody
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wants to play receiver, but we need corners. So if you know,
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if you maybe not as good a receiver, but a better corner, to
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lean into your corner abilities and trades and go that route. But yeah,
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it's and that's such a hard position. You know. Everybody always talks about
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quarterback, and obviously quarterback is an extremely hard position. I not gonna take
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anything away from that, right, but just imagine having to backpedal, stop,
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start, go forward, you know whatever with while you're moving backwards and
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while processing and everything like that. And obviously quarterbacks are moving backwards, they've
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got the drop backs and stuff, but they eventually come to a stand still,
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you know, to process, whereas a cornerback is just always moving and
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just the slightest mistake it's over. So yeah, it's an extremely hard position
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to play. So it makes sense, you know, especially like you're saying,
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with the NFL evolution and just the need you know, teams aren't taking
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as many swings at the plate as possible. The Philadelphia Eagles took a cornerback
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in this draft. In fact, actually they got ended up getting two after
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this draft one and as an undrafted free agent. But I wanted to start
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off by talking about the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, we're a Philly based
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podcast here, So with regard to this Eagles draft, like, not only
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did they have seven picks as we know, but they ended up acquiring eight
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players, which includes DeAndre Swift from the Lions. Plus they're able to you
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know, secure some amazing defensive talent in the future and Jalen Carter Smith.
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So I'm wondering, as somebody who kind of is on the outside, you
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know of really the Philly sports world to an extent, Evan, I'm wondering,
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in your opinion, how did the Eagles fare in this draft when you
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kind of look at it from the outside. It's Howie Roseman's world and we're
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just living in it right now. Man. I mean, that's that's that's
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how it goes. Like I just the amount of thought and the amount of
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obviously research and everything they do is just incredible. I mean, but the
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amount of thought that goes into navigating this like Okay, well, it was
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a day two trade or day three trade for DeAndrea, I can't remember off
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top of my head. Ye yeah, oh yeah yeah. So so like
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just to have that thought process of Okay, the board is following this way,
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these running backs are gone, these running backs are left. But oh
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hey, wait, there is a former second round pick out there, pretty
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high second round. I think he's like thirty fourth overall or something. But
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either way, maybe that's just his number I'm thinking of. Either way,
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but I know he was a singing around pick. But hey, there's this
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second round pick out there that's unhappy, that has a lot of potential that
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you know, has had some injury issues, but overall just really hasn't had
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that full chance. I mean, let's be real. He's played for the
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Lions for the last three years, you know, until last year. You
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know, I mean, let's just be real. But who has never really
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had that chance to just just dominate or just be an NFL player for lack
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of a better word, um, you know, just to have that foresight,
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man, and to go into it and make that move. But then
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obviously you got Jalen Carter. You know, you got the Georgia pipeline.
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Now, which is just one of the wild Like if you would have told
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me, you know, three years ago that Philadelphia was going to be you
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know, Georgia North or something. I just just one of the wilder developments.
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But it's still really cool to see how it's really cool to see how
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all that's working out and shaking out. But yeah, you know, you
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look at the defensive side of the ball, think what like five or six
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of their eight picks or five five or six of their seven picks were on
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the defensive side. And then you know, they picked up Tyler Steen,
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who you know, I think he's gonna be more of a guard than a
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tackle. And then obviously Henry McKee because you just don't know what the Ian
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book. But yeah, I mean it was clear that they they had a
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vision, they knew what they wanted to do, and they executed it on
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top of making a savvy move like DeAndre Swift. So I mean, you
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gotta absolutely love and the best part about all of this is they're loading up
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at premier positions. Now, obviously they still got James Bradberry and Darius Slay,
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but that you know, that's probably gonna change next year to an extent
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um they're still loading up on premium positions like you know, defensive tackle,
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uh, you know edged last year, you know, stuff like that.
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To where they're really maximizing, Jalen Hurts is they were maximmising the rookie contract
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and now they're maximizing his more expensive contract. And I say, the only
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reason I say more expensive is because when you look at the cap hits,
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it's really not that bad over the next four to five years. Um,
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So they're they're just they're revolving all around, Jalen Hurts, whether it's on
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the field, whether it's players, and whether it's contracts, like that's just
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how you run an organization, man. You center, you centering around your
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best players. You come up with moves and you do you do your due
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diligence. And that's exactly what Roseman and co. Are doing right now.
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And it's it's absolutely you know, Tampa Bay, Philly, they've got that
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history. But even as a Bucks guy, even as a Bucks guy,
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man, it's fun to watch it. It's a lot of fun to watch.
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It's definitely fun to watch as a Philly sports fan, as an Eagles
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fan, for sure. But and what's interesting is the Eagles actually do finally
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have their quarterback of the future. We're certainly going to get into, you
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know, what your Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done within this draft, but first
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and foremost talking about the quarterback position. When we look at the top three
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qb is taken in this class, Chase Young, CJ. Stroud, Anthony
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Richardson, Like, what's interesting about these quarterbacks, I think is that they
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all have first year head coaches with the ability to really absorb their ups and
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downs. Young is going to have, I think a really good defensive line
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and a head coach who has decades of experience with the quarterback position. So
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I think he may actually be in the best spot of the three to thrive
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early on. So I wanted to get your thoughts with regard to these top
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three quarterbacks and who do you think may have landed in the best spot to
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really start their NFL career. It's a really good question because I'm a huge
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fan of Frank Reich. I think he was dealt a really bad hand in
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Indie And obviously, you know, it all started with the surprising retirement of
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Andrew Luck and in this kind of snowballed and then like the things that you
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read about Shane steike In, you know, coming from the coltspeet writers is
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he can work with any quarterback. It doesn't matter what the quarterback strings are,
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what system best fits them. He will find a way to mold his
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offense around any quarterback. That's what a lot of the buzz is coming out
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of Indie when it comes to him. And so you look at those two,
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and I'm leaving the Texans out on purpose because I think C. J.
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Strout is at third out of third in this in this scenario. Yeah,
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but you even though he's got Laramie Tons, Yeah, still he's still
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three out of three. M But but you look at these two and yeah,
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the Panther's offensive line is gonna be really good. You know they could.
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They drafted Jonathan Mingo in the second round, who I think is a
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really really underrated receiver aspect. And then you also look at the backfield and
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then just overall, Reich's ability to coach an offense and call plays and put
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his quarterbacks in the best position. I gotta give it to Right just because
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it's gotta give it to Bryce Young and right just because it's a non product.
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And obviously with Shane Siken and Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson's not a known
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product. You know, he's gonna be considered more of a project guy.
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Whereas Bryce Young, you know, you know what you're getting. He's just,
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you know, a magician when it comes to processing and making plays on
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the field. I gotta go Bryce Young and Frank rich just because it's more
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of a known product and we know that if we know how good those guys
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are when they're on their game, Rich and Young, and if they can,
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you know, get to that level together, it's gonna be it.
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As a Bucks guy, I hate to see it, but it's gonna be
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fun. It's it's it's gonna it's gonna work out pretty well well. Talking
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about another offensive position that I think is extremely interesting, and we saw a
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lot of intrigue during this twenty twenty three NFL draft, Evan is you know
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with regard to the running back position, I mean, we're to point in
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the NFL where running backs don't really in my opinion, when you divisions or
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any real titles for that matter, much like they kind of you know,
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did you know many decades ago, look at Ezekiel Elliott with the Cowboys,
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where he was drafted when he came into the league. You know, look
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at Nick Chubb, look at Jonathan Taylor. Here great great football players.
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Don't get me wrong, I don't want to take anything away from them at
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all, But I cannot understand why Detroit drafted Jamir Gibbs at number twelve,
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the Falcons picking Bijean Robinson at number eight. You know, there's so many
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Philly sports pundits saying that Bijean Robinson may have been going to the Philadelphia Eagles,
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and the Philadelphia Eagles were We're wanting to pluck him perhaps out of the
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top eight or so, which I thought was absolutely insane given what Howie Roseman
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has done in his history of building through the trenches. Getting back to this
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running back position. Here do you, or I should say, how do
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you assess why teams decide to go running back so early in a draft class
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with a lot of talent at the running back position. I honestly don't believe
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that Detroit or the Falcons needed to do this right there at that moment in
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the first round, when there was such special talent. Not again, not
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taking anything away from Bejean Robinson, not taking anything away from Jamir Gibbs,
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But why there's other talent they could have gotten, perhaps Day two, even
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perhaps Day three, that would have provided many of the same or you know,
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maybe maybe just about the same results that these gentlemen would on the field
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too, because once it gets to the NFL it's a different level. I'll
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stop pontificating here. What are your thoughts with regard to the running back position
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and how it all played out in this draft? Yeah, I'm right there
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with you, man. I sure Jean Robinson, you know, could have
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arguably been the best player in this draft. He or top five at worst.
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And then Jamir Gibbs obviously not on the same level as Bijan, but
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a good player. However, you know, it's the mentality of these two
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teams. It's now and I'll get to the general landscape of the NFL in
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general here in a second. But in terms of these two teams in specific
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and the Falcons, Arthur Smith, I mean what, they were the one
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team last year who ran the ball more than fifty percent of the time.
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I think it was like fifty six percent of the time they ran the ball
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last year. And that's just always been his m O, especially you know,
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coming from Tennessee with Derreck Henry, and honestly, I think that's what
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he's trying to do at the end day. I think he's trying to find
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his Derek Henry, you know, his guy that can just absolutely dominate where
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you can just hand the ball off not have to worry about it. The
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only thing with that is Derek Henry was a second round pick, right,
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so he wasn't a top ten pick. Derrek Henry was a second round pick.
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Yeah. So. And then with Jamir Gibbs, again, it's the
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Lions. You know, we saw last year how much they want to run
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the ball and how much their offense is predicated around running the ball. The
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one thing that should give Lions fans some comfort is I believe it was Tom
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pell Sero on Saturday said that there were multiple teams that were thinking about taking
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Jamir Gibbs in the teams as that something he was gathering throughout the week.
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And there are even a couple of teams that we're thinking about trading up in
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the teams, but the Lions traded back, still got their guy. And
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even then he said the Lions were thinking about taking Gibbs at six. Crazy.
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Yeah, so, yeah, so kudos to them. At least they
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traded back, you know, and didn't take him at six, which would
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have been crazy. Like if if he goes over, then yeah, I
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mean there's a bad decision right there if that happens. And trust me,
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man, I watched Jamir Gibbs. He's a good player. But yeah,
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you don't do that. You just don't, you know, trust your board.
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But I don't know about that much. But anyways, um, yeah,
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So when it comes to those two teams, I think it's just their
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specific mentality. When it comes to the NFL in general, you know,
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I think a lot of teams are moving away from valuing running backs, Like
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I mean, obviously they are moving, but I think they're moving away more
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and more, um from you know, holding running backs that high and the
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teams that the teams, unless it's a special athlete like Beijan, the teams
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that do put a decent draft pick into these rookie running backs. I think
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the mentality with that is we're just gonna run the crap out of them as
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long as they're good. You know, they're not costing us games, but
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we're just gonna just use them for these four years five years if it's a
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fifth round pick and they get the option, and then we'll just see what
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happens when it comes for the next contract. But even then that feels a
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bit counterproductive and counterintuitive in my mind, because if you spend a first round
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pick on somebody, you want that player to get a second contract. I
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mean, granted, yeah, they could have a really good they could they
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could have a good career with you for four years and move on and because
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maybe they just price themselves out of them or whatever. But in my mind,
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if I if I have a first round pick, I want that guy
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around for ten years, you know, at minimum. So I just yeah,
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the whole process with valuing these running But and the crazy part with the
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Lions too is it had a good running back in Jamal Williams on their roster
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already, who was a fan favorite, great guy, played well, led
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the NFL in rushing touchdowns with what seventeen last year or whatever the number was.
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Yeah, so and then they let him go to the Saints and I
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can't remember his deal or off top my head, I'm looking at it up
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right now, but um, it was a bizarre move to make. I
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was very surprised by that when you have a running back down at the goal
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line, it's able to get your seventeen touchdowns in one season. Holy freaking
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cow, I don't know you. I would have kept him on the roster.
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Yeah, yeah, and so, and he signed a three year,
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twelve million dollars deal, so it's not like he's getting paid eight ten million
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dollars a year. And he had a thousand yard season last year. So
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and like I said, he's a really good guy, a really good glue
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guy, really great teammates, so on and so forth. So yeah,
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you know, at the end of the day, I did not like.
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I did not like either move. I thought the Falcons should have went Christian
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Gonzalez at eight, pair him with AJ Terrell, and all of a sudden,
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your back end is just, you know, on fire. And then
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I thought, I thought the Lions should have taken an interior rusher at twelve
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because they're they're right now, like their nose tackles position is just not good
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or in their three tech um. But yeah, either way, man,
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it's a it's a really strange thing that happened, but it happened. And
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here we are. Yeah, absolutely again, folks talking to Evan winter from
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A to Z Sports. Check out everything they're doing on the interwebs out there
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a to Z sports dot com. You can follow Evan on Twitter at Evan
16:14
Underscore a tow Z. He's a great, great follow. Let's get into
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a team now, Evan, that you have been following for a quite some
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time. You've been a fan of them, and that's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Boy, talk about a team with a lot of ups and downs over these
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past few seasons. This is a team, I think, going into this
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draft who really needed to hit on some picks and hit on picks early as
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they really are kind of looking at a rebuild or perhaps a retool as some
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would like to say. And they certainly went with talent in the trenches with
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their first three picks, which I think was very smart for any team looking
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at this rebuild retool like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So wanted to get your
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first impressions of, you know, how did this Bucks draft go? And
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should Bucks Nation be happy with the talent that they acquired during this draft?
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I thought it went really well. And the biggest takeaway from this is so
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last year really showed us that while the Bruce Arians offense won them a Super
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Bowl and you know, it was one of the better offenses for the last
17:15
you know, eight ten years in the NFL. Is outdated and it needs
17:18
to be changed. It's it's too much one on one matchup based. You
17:22
know, when beat your guy, when you know, make your block whatever
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when These days, the best NFL offenses are all about disguise, scheme,
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you know, getting your blayers in the best spot. And a lot of
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it too, is running a lot of the same plays just out of different
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looks in different formations. And that's exactly what the Bucks offense is going to
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do. And the fact that they hired Dave Canalis from Seattle a couple months
17:45
ago shows that they are moving away from the Bruce Arians just identity that was
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starting to crumble over that we saw last year. And the thought was when
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they hired Canalis that that was the thought. But you always have to wonder,
18:00
you know, is a team is gonna make one move and then content
18:03
just on the surface to make it look like, you know, like how
18:04
much are they actually gonna follow through with thrice? Yeah? And sure enough,
18:07
man, the one thing they needed on defense, on the defensive line
18:11
was a guy that can get after the quarterback penetrate the backfield. Because even
18:15
though Todd Bowls's defense isn't a true two gap scheme, he does expect his
18:19
defensive lineman to mostly eat up blocks. He doesn't really want pass rushers.
18:22
Well, they did not do that. In the first round. They got
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Kali Jucansi, who is an absolute monster in terms of quickness, athleticism,
18:30
speed. I mean, his own coach called him a demon defensive tackle the
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other day, and an interview with Peter Report, he's him lining up next
18:37
to Vita Vea. Man, Oh my god, that is gonna be so
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much fun to watch. And he's the perfect compliment because he can get after
18:44
the quarterback. And again it goes against the previous philosophies that this team was,
18:48
you know using that started to crumble. And then you look at Cody
18:52
Mauk, which is interesting with him because Jason Light said he's going to start
18:56
off at guard and he could eventually become a tackle. But that really beefs
19:00
up their interior offensive line. Now they've got you know, not only just
19:03
great competition and some good starting candidates, but they also have a lot of
19:07
depth. And then that also signals that Tristan Worfs is going to move to
19:11
left tackle, Brandon or Brandon Luke Geticki is going to get his shot at
19:15
right tackle. Um. But either way, if the drafting of mauc was
19:18
again more investment in that zone scheme, that they're about to start running into
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their running game and then yah yah yabi, Holy crap, man, that
19:26
is my favorite pick of the draft. I actually mocked yeah, I actually
19:29
mocked him to the Bucks in my Day two mockum that I did once Round
19:33
one was over. The dude is an athletic freak. He ran a four
19:37
five one as an edge rusher, and he is powerful. He's got speed
19:42
to power, he's twitchy, he's just got he's just raw and he just
19:47
needs some time. But you know, when you look at the Bucks outside
19:49
edge rushers, you know, Shaq Barrett is coming off the torn Achilles and
19:52
you know, shout out to him and just the news that came out with
19:55
him recently. I just condolences to his entire family. Just awful. Yeah,
20:00
hope for nothing but the best for them. But then you've got questions
20:03
round Joe try On Schwenka. He has not lived up to his first round
20:06
building and then Anthony and Nelson is a good player, but he's more of
20:07
that edge three in the pass rush rotation, and he's a little bit better
20:11
of a rundefender. So ya YadA y Abbi has an excellent shot to come
20:15
in here and earn some snaps, especially early on. Shaq Barrett says he's
20:18
gonna he expects to be ready by week one, but there's obviously a difference
20:22
between him being ready and returning to form right, so it's gonna be interesting
20:26
to see how long that takes. But man, you want to talk about
20:30
a guy like now, the Bucks did draft Jts a couple of years ago.
20:33
He's more the athletic guy, whereas they're looking for more like power rushers
20:37
on the edge with Jason Pierre Paul and then of course Shack Barrett. But
20:40
now they're going after athletes on that edge. So I love the ya yadi
20:45
Abbi pick Man. And then one other pick they had was paying Durham the
20:48
tight end I think in the fifth round, and he should form a nice
20:52
one two punch with kay Dott and down the line. And then their last
20:55
pick of the draft home Jose Ramier is out of the Eastern Michigan. He's
21:00
a guy who could really surprise as well. So the biggest takeaway from this
21:03
draft was, Yes, they are ushering out the Bruce Arians era and they
21:08
are bringing in what they want to remake as their own identity and just for
21:14
to see them stick by that, and it's something they needed to They needed
21:18
to be faster, they needed to be more physical on both sides of the
21:19
wall. Yeah. Again, you know, I don't know how this season
21:25
is going to turn out, but I am certainly feeling a lot better than
21:29
I was a couple of months ago. Absolutely, it really does seem like
21:30
a foundation is being set for the future in Tampa Bay for sure. And
21:34
you know, as we analyze, look at and digest what this draft really
21:40
was, Evan, I next want to get into some under the radar picks
21:45
actually because I think there were a ton of them throughout the league. And
21:48
for me, I love that the Jaguars drafted offensive tackle Anton Harrison out of
21:52
Oklahoma. I think that's a pick that really is going to help Trevor Lawrence
21:56
for sure, you know, once he has developed up a little bit more.
22:00
And even Buffalo picking tight end Dalton Kincaid, you know out of Utah
22:06
was also a move that I really liked. We saw a lot of tight
22:07
ends going in this draft, and for good reason, because the league is
22:11
changing in a lot of ways offensively. And Kincaid, I mean, I
22:15
remember he had that sixteen catch game against USC last season, and I think
22:21
he is going to give the Bills that offensive spark that sometimes they were missing
22:26
this past season. So those are a couple of the picks. I like,
22:29
what are a couple of your under the radar picks that you really liked
22:32
from teams you know around the league? Arius Rush in the fifth round I
22:37
think the second overall pick in the fifth round the Colts. He's a pro
22:41
bowler, man. I mean, I like, you can ask my co
22:45
workers. We have the slack chalets how we all communicate. And every round,
22:51
like or almost after every other pick in like round the late round three
22:55
towards when he got picked, it was just like, why is he still
22:57
on the board? What is going on here? Inside? Outside? Guy?
23:02
He could also play safety if he needs to. He's a hard hitter,
23:04
He's got a great head on his shoulders. He tested well, a
23:08
lot of production in college. Like that, dude, I'm telling you he's
23:11
gonna be a pro bowler. He's a little bit different of a player than
23:15
Tarik Woolin is up in Seattle, you know, last year's defensive Rookie of
23:18
the Year. But I expect him to have that same exact impact for the
23:22
Colts this year in terms of what he will do in twenty twenty three.
23:26
And then the other one. This this guy was a huge draft crush of
23:30
mine, the Dolphins sixth round pick of Elijah Higgins out of Stanford. Played
23:36
wide receiver at Stanford, but he's gonna be more of like a move tight
23:40
end in the NFL, kind of tight end wide receiver hybrid, you know,
23:41
like a big slot guy. An offensive mind like Mike Daniel getting a
23:47
player like this, he's essentially gonna be what they wanted Mike Gasecki to be
23:51
but never became. And he was a first round pick. So so I
23:56
mean, he's he's raw. You're gonna have to work on him, and
23:59
he's obviously gonna have to do his end to get to where he goes.
24:03
But just how like we're talking about how the NFL is moving these days,
24:07
just how you get these freak athletes in there at tight end and just these
24:11
big guys who can also move and catch Elijah Higgins man um if, like
24:15
I said, if he holds up his end of the bargain, that's gonna
24:18
be a steal. I wanted the forty nine ers to take him just because
24:22
I thought that'd be such a fun matchup. I even want the Bucks to
24:23
tell you him because Dave Canalis comes from kind of that Shanahan tree, a
24:29
little bit more than McVeigh tree. But obviously they comes from and blah blah
24:32
blah blah. He begat, he begat, they begat. But yeah,
24:37
Darius Rush and Elijah Higgins ban those those two guys for sure. I like
24:41
those two picks. I like those a lot. So to close us out
24:44
here, Evan, I'd really love to get in terms of, you know,
24:48
again, after we've dissected the draft, here kind of a two parter
24:51
here for you. We're gonna go three teams you think became better after this
24:55
draft and three teams you think really didn't help themselves too too much. So
24:59
let's start with the three teams you think became better after the NFL Draft.
25:03
Yeah, so excluding the Bucks and Titans, because obviously that I would be
25:06
cheating on my part. I dude, I absolutely love what the Bears did.
25:11
You want to talk about what a different yep, what a what a
25:14
difference a year makes? Yeah, I mean, you know, I've I
25:18
didn't think they were the worst team in football last year, even though they
25:19
finished with the worst record, because if you watch their games, you can
25:22
you can see the flashes like you could especially with justin fields, but just
25:26
as then as a whole with the team when they were playing well, you
25:30
can see what this team is going to look like in terms of Luke Getzi
25:33
and Matt Eberfluce's vision um, and it's really exciting. Like there's a lot
25:37
of misdirection, a lot of play action, you know, zone runs,
25:41
you know, just a lot of big play capabilities. But man, when
25:45
you look at the offensive line last year to now, it's it's sewn up.
25:48
They've got to figure out what they want to do at center. But
25:49
it's not because they're missing people. It's just because they have two really good
25:52
guys who can play center, um that, and so they need to figure
25:56
out what to do there. You look at the defensive line, I think
25:57
they need to add more edge rushers, but they bulked up on the interior,
26:00
and Matt Eberflus has been super adamant about how important the three tech is
26:03
in his defense, so that helps. They added a big corner entireeks even
26:07
since, and now their secondary looks a lot better. And then obviously the
26:11
receiver room with the Dj Moore acquisition. And then they also drafted Tyler Scott
26:15
at a Cincinnati who was another big draft crush of mine. I almost put
26:18
him on my previous list, but I I like Russian Higgins a little bit
26:22
better. But Bears definitely number one, Steelers number two. They really needed
26:26
a guy like Roger Jones who can come in there and move people around,
26:27
helps solidify that offensive line. And then I love the Nick Air big pick.
26:32
And then the Colts man. It seemed like on day three the Colts
26:36
were just every single pick was hidden out of the park. You know,
26:40
they had added Tommy Ada Ada boare they he fell to the fourth they got
26:44
him, obviously. I talked about Darius Rush in the fifth, and then
26:48
you just look at their other picks as well. Um, I thought those
26:49
three teams really really improved their stock. All right, Well, I absolutely
26:53
agree your Bears and in the Steelers pick as much as I hate say,
26:57
I'm a Pennsylvania guy. Of course an Eagles fan, I do not want
27:02
the Steelers to succeed never ever. But guess what, they had a fantastic
27:04
draft, and I think you're absolutely right. What are three teams you think
27:08
really didn't help themselves too too much in this draft? So I'm gonna get
27:11
them a little bit of slack here. The forty nine ers. Granted,
27:15
they they didn't really have a whole lot of picks, you know, they
27:18
had like a bajillion They had like a bajillion comp picks, um, you
27:21
know, so you really got to put it into context where they were picking
27:23
and stuff. But they they kind of surprised me in terms of the players
27:27
they took. Um. Granted, they can be useful and stuff, but
27:30
especially the Jake Moody pick at ninety nine. Yeah, if i'm if I'm
27:34
zangen zallis the kicker they traded for from the Pan threes a couple of months
27:37
ago. I'm pissed right now because it teams when they take a kicker or
27:44
a specialist like that that high, they're gonna give the job to him unless
27:48
he just completely flames out over the summer, like unless he just absolutely bombs
27:52
the job is one zangon Zalls is a dead man walking actually used that in
27:55
my headline on my roster reset the other day. But he had a jet
28:00
shot To compete in Carolina, they brought in Eddie Piniero, who was the
28:03
Bears field goal kicker last year, who actually cost them like probably three games
28:07
because he missed some extra points and it's snowballed. You know, things got
28:10
out of hand after that. But like if he would have made those extra
28:12
points, the Bears could have won those games. But obviously glad they didn't
28:15
because things worked out for the best. But yeah, Gonzalez had a good
28:18
shot, and he's coming off a career year last year. He was hurt
28:21
last year, but he was also coming off a career year where I think
28:23
he made over ninety percent of field goals and pats. So if I was
28:27
and find him, I'm I'm heated right now and I'm asking for a trade.
28:30
But either way, taking Moody at ninety nine and really sunk that and
28:34
then Washington, I think Emmanuel Forbes, even though I love his ball production,
28:37
I think he's a big, big risk. He's never gonna do anything
28:41
but play outside corner and yeah, you know, outside corners or outside corners,
28:45
that's what they're supposed to do. But you can't ask anything extra of
28:48
him because he's too damned small. Like if you ask him to go into
28:49
the box, he's gonna die. I say that, you know, hyperbole
28:53
obviously, but you know, I mean, you just there's he's limited,
28:57
man, Yeah, I just I can't get past the side. And then
29:00
the Chargers. I thought the first round pick of Quinton Johnson was an absolute
29:04
reach. I am, and grant there's a little bias behind that. I'm
29:07
just I wasn't a big fan of just his evaluation in general, you know,
29:11
reading and looking at some of his film stuff like that. I think
29:15
he's a clunky receiver who's going to take a couple of years to develop.
29:18
And you know, maybe he does, and maybe, I you know,
29:21
et Crow, I'll be more unhappy to do that, and good for Quinton
29:23
if that happens. But just thought that they really reached with that pick,
29:26
and then you look at some of their other picks and they're just kind of
29:30
at best. So the Commanders almost called him the Redskins. The Commanders the
29:34
forty nine Ers and the Chargers are that my three teams on the other end
29:38
of the spectrum. Good picks, good picks for sure. We gotta let
29:41
him go, folks. But again, Evan Winter from A to Zase Sports
29:45
a do zase sports dot com. Foll'm on Twitter at Evan underscore A to
29:48
z He's a great, great follow buddy. Thank you so much for taking
29:52
the time to jump on our table talk showed this week. Absolutely love talking
29:56
to you all the time. Come back, We'll have some more great NFL
29:59
discussions for sure. Hell yeah, man, sounds like a blast. You
30:02
know, I'm always down. We would love to know who your winners and
30:06
losers are from this NFL draft. Of course, most of you who are
30:10
listening to this are probably Philadelphia Eagles fans, and yes, the Eagles did
30:15
a fantastic job within this NFL draft, not just with the seven picks that
30:19
they had, but with actually gaining an eighth individual as well in DeAndre Swift
30:26
from Detroit. Look the NFL Draft every year, it's that starting point of
30:32
the upcoming season where it gives so many teams, clubs and fans hope,
30:37
hope that a new beginning is on the horizon. Hope that a foundation is
30:41
being set and for as Philadelphia Eagles fans, we know that the foundation is
30:45
already there. How can the Philadelphia Eagles keep this momentum going in the future
30:49
certainly remains to be seen. And whether or not these picks are really going
30:53
to be a part of that process, which I do think more than a
30:56
few of them will be. That being said, it was great talking to
31:00
Evan. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the NFL,
31:03
when it comes to the draft, what teams are doing around the league,
31:07
and just want to thank him again for joining us here on Table Talk this
31:10
week. That's gonna do it for us, Folks, Philadelphia Sports Table dot
31:14
com. Check out all of our podcasts over there, especially if anything happens
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31:30
We'll catch you next time.