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Patriots Draft Prospect Review Wide Receivers and Tight Ends · Patriots Unfiltered

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Speaker 1: This is the Draft Prospect Review podcast on Patriots dot
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Speaker 1: Com Radio. Welcome to the NFL Draft. The Draft Prospect
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Speaker 1: Review podcast is your source for all the latest news
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Speaker 1: and information on the NFL Draft. The New England Patriots
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Speaker 1: like now here to preview the wide receivers and tight ends.
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Speaker 1: The writers of Patriots dot Com time once again for
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Speaker 1: another Draft Prospect Review where we preview absolutely Mike, good job.
0:26
Speaker 1: You start to get it. I'm starting to get it.
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Speaker 1: So it's a it's another edition, and this one's a
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Speaker 1: big one. This one is a big one because it's
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Speaker 1: hopefully it's fun stuff. Yeah, this is fun stuff to
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Speaker 1: talk about the guys who catch some passes, wide receivers
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Speaker 1: and tight ends. Today, we have a full house here
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Speaker 1: in our studios here at Gilette Stadium. We have Mike Diso,
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Speaker 1: Evan Lazar, and the world famous Mattise Bauman. I'm back
0:50
Speaker 1: Tis who had a lot of hits he did. Some
0:53
Speaker 1: might argue we didn't want those hits, but he had
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Speaker 1: a lot of hits in the twenty twenty two draft,
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Speaker 1: so we just had to bring him down here so
1:01
Speaker 1: we can pick on him again. And I'll just do
1:03
Speaker 1: the Mike Greenberg get out of the way and let
1:05
Speaker 1: these guys talk about stuff facilitation, as they like to say.
1:09
Speaker 1: We'll start with wide receivers. There have been a lot
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Speaker 1: of really solid classes in the draft in recent memory.
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Speaker 1: This probably isn't considered to be a high end one,
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Speaker 1: but there are a lot of good players. Maybe not
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Speaker 1: that stud standout that jumps and everybody says you got
1:27
Speaker 1: to get him in the top ten, but there are
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Speaker 1: a lot of really good players here, and some of
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Speaker 1: them have even visited maybe while we speak, as we're
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Speaker 1: recording this very podcast, one local prospect maybe visiting. And
1:39
Speaker 1: I'm surprised Evan Lazar was able to make it into
1:42
Speaker 1: the studio and not just stock him outside. Save flowers,
1:45
Speaker 1: save flowers. Everybody's you know, sort of in love with Yeah,
1:49
Speaker 1: you guys, all I think are an agreement that this
1:52
Speaker 1: is a guy that would look good in the Patriots uniform. Absolutely,
1:54
Speaker 1: I'll just say a little bit because I know, having
1:56
Speaker 1: an old tup he loves them. I mean, I love
1:57
Speaker 1: them too. I just I think that this is the
1:59
Speaker 1: kind of player that Patriots need. And I think the
2:01
Speaker 1: question is just is fourteen worth it at that point?
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Speaker 1: And I mean, Evan, you know, made a good comment
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Speaker 1: on Patriots Unfiltered last week about yes, so no question.
2:10
Speaker 1: I just I've been saying quickness, this is what he has.
2:13
Speaker 1: He's a playmaker in the middle of the field, and
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Speaker 1: I think that that's just a missing element in this offense.
2:18
Speaker 1: Before we get to my gushing and my draft crush
2:22
Speaker 1: of Zay Flowers, I just want to say, from a
2:25
Speaker 1: big picture standpoint, I was just talking to Tease about
2:27
Speaker 1: this about how long are we going to go without
2:31
Speaker 1: the Patriots having enough weapons on offense? Like every on paper.
2:36
Speaker 1: I think we're going on five years now where we're
2:38
Speaker 1: going into the season saying they just don't have enough
2:42
Speaker 1: on that side of the football. And eventually that trend
2:46
Speaker 1: needs to stop that and I think it only stops
2:49
Speaker 1: by changing up your approach at the top of the
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Speaker 1: draft of waiting to invest in that position. I the
2:55
Speaker 1: fiftieth overall pick and Juju Smith Schuster is not enough.
2:59
Speaker 1: That's not enough of an investment, and that brings you
3:02
Speaker 1: two guys like Zay Flowers, who I've talked about extensively.
3:07
Speaker 1: I think the number one thing that you look at
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Speaker 1: with him is that this is a playmaker at all
3:12
Speaker 1: three levels of the offense or the defense, but every
3:14
Speaker 1: way you want to put it. And more importantly, when
3:17
Speaker 1: I watch him on film, he just moves differently than
3:20
Speaker 1: everybody else out there. And that was at the Shrine
3:23
Speaker 1: Bowl too, same thing with NFL talent all around him
3:26
Speaker 1: in Vegas, moving at a different pace. And those are
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Speaker 1: the types of guys that I tend to gravitate towards
3:32
Speaker 1: in general. And you got a guy here that he
3:35
Speaker 1: can take a slant sixty yards to the house, or
3:38
Speaker 1: he can hit you with a double move down the
3:40
Speaker 1: field and go over the top for sixty yards to
3:42
Speaker 1: the house, just as Louisville. You know that he did
3:45
Speaker 1: it multiple ways, multiple times against them last year. And
3:48
Speaker 1: I think that those are the types of guys that
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Speaker 1: translate well into what they want to do. People that
3:53
Speaker 1: can run routes, that have that at extra gear, that
3:55
Speaker 1: extra burst that can create after the catch. He's a
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Speaker 1: tailor made prospect for them, and they'll end up passing
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Speaker 1: on him and breaking my heart. So so t so
4:04
Speaker 1: you are you in on first, not necessarily specifically Flowers,
4:10
Speaker 1: but number fourteen is that worth taking one of these wider?
4:14
Speaker 1: I have two guys I like for fourteen and a short.
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Speaker 1: This is where you learn something that Jordan, Jordan Addison
4:19
Speaker 1: and Za Flowers. I like Za Flowers because he's doing
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Speaker 1: everything you said for those five minutes, but he's doing
4:24
Speaker 1: it on a really bad team, which is what stands out.
4:27
Speaker 1: Addison is just a freak. And my thing with these
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Speaker 1: two guys, so you're taking somebody at fourteen, just take
4:32
Speaker 1: somebody who's good. Like if they take Addison or Flowers
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Speaker 1: and they're a bust, I don't care. You took the bit.
4:37
Speaker 1: You took a whip on the good on the Star. Yeah.
4:39
Speaker 1: We talked a little about that on Patriots on Filter
4:41
Speaker 1: just today. If you really like a prospect, I think
4:44
Speaker 1: that you should stand tall in that conviction and uh
4:48
Speaker 1: and fall in love with them and take them, you know,
4:50
Speaker 1: don't just say, oh I really like that guy, but
4:52
Speaker 1: not not at that pick, not at that price. Well whatever. Um.
4:56
Speaker 1: I like Addison as well. With with Zay Flowers, the
5:00
Speaker 1: thing that teach you just hit on that really stands
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Speaker 1: out is he's the only thing they have. When you
5:06
Speaker 1: can produce like that, when you're the only thing that
5:09
Speaker 1: really opposing Defenser, it's sort of the opposite of my
5:12
Speaker 1: Alabama thing. Well, you know, as much as I love
5:15
Speaker 1: the talent of the SEC and the Alabama and Georgia guys,
5:18
Speaker 1: I'm always wondering, you know, which one of these guys
5:21
Speaker 1: is the one who lives off the other guys. Yeah,
5:23
Speaker 1: Zay Flowers is all they got. Yeah, and they even
5:26
Speaker 1: had a quarterback this year who had success earlier in
5:29
Speaker 1: his career in Jacovic that just kind of fell off
5:32
Speaker 1: the fell off the map bottom and a third string guy. Yeah.
5:36
Speaker 1: So I think that Zay Flowers is a pretty safe
5:39
Speaker 1: bet to be a productive player. I don't know what
5:42
Speaker 1: his high end ability is. Um you know, at at
5:45
Speaker 1: five nine ish, he's not the biggest guy, small frame,
5:50
Speaker 1: but I mean the skills are a parent you know.
5:53
Speaker 1: I know, Evan, you also like Jackson Smith and Jigba. Yeah,
5:58
Speaker 1: a similar kind of you know, Smith and Jigba is
6:03
Speaker 1: I think probably the most polished receiver in this class,
6:06
Speaker 1: who has the highest floor. I am confident that Jason
6:11
Speaker 1: by the time his rookie contract is up, is gonna
6:13
Speaker 1: have a hundred catches in the league in the season,
6:14
Speaker 1: right Like, I just know that that guy's going to
6:16
Speaker 1: be able to get open and catch the football. But
6:18
Speaker 1: he doesn't have that electric play speed Dadza Flowers brings
6:22
Speaker 1: to the table, but he definitely has that steadiness in
6:25
Speaker 1: the slot where he's just going to be able to
6:28
Speaker 1: get quick separation at the top of the route, catch
6:30
Speaker 1: the football, not have any hitches, are fighting at the
6:33
Speaker 1: top of the route really with his hands, and then
6:36
Speaker 1: go with it for at least another couple extra yards,
6:39
Speaker 1: if not more. You turn on that Rose Bowl against
6:42
Speaker 1: Utah and it doesn't take long for you to just
6:44
Speaker 1: be like, oh my goodness, this guy just catches everything
6:47
Speaker 1: he gets open all the time. That he had three
6:49
Speaker 1: hundred yards and three touchdowns in that game against Utah.
6:52
Speaker 1: Those are the types of things that just stand out
6:55
Speaker 1: about his game. The angles, the route pacing, the quickness
6:58
Speaker 1: obviously the translated the combine in the three cone, and
7:02
Speaker 1: just the overall smoothness of his game. Just watching him
7:05
Speaker 1: go out there in Indian and run even just against
7:09
Speaker 1: air in at the Ohio State's Pro day last week,
7:12
Speaker 1: just run routes and watch how crisp and smooth he
7:15
Speaker 1: looks out there. He definitely looks like a very safe bet.
7:19
Speaker 1: I think him and Addison are probably the two safest
7:22
Speaker 1: bets for them in the first round. Zay is more
7:24
Speaker 1: like a fever dream of mine. And plus just a
7:27
Speaker 1: somebody that I think could be a home run pick.
7:29
Speaker 1: But if you're just looking for somebody that is going
7:32
Speaker 1: to come in and do the job and do it well,
7:35
Speaker 1: I would lean towards Addison or JSON for those two things.
7:38
Speaker 1: You know, most of these guys that we've talked about
7:40
Speaker 1: so far kind of similar. You know. They're guys that
7:43
Speaker 1: can play in the slot. They might not be exclusively
7:46
Speaker 1: slot receivers. They probably have some ability, you know, to
7:49
Speaker 1: maybe play outside a little bit. But the one guy
7:51
Speaker 1: who was different in profile is Quinton Johnston. And there's
7:55
Speaker 1: some varying opinions I think on this very podcast on
8:01
Speaker 1: the TCU products. So have at it, you Yeah, I mean,
8:04
Speaker 1: I you know, I'll speak for myself. I just I
8:06
Speaker 1: mean I look at as you know, putting a starting
8:08
Speaker 1: five together, you know, and kind of balancing things. And
8:11
Speaker 1: you know, nothing against Quentin Johnson. I mean, I think
8:13
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of things to like about his game.
8:14
Speaker 1: I just I don't like the long strider and the
8:17
Speaker 1: guys that get down field. Again, Like, I just I
8:18
Speaker 1: feel like they need guys in the middle of the field.
8:20
Speaker 1: I think you've got, you know, some players on the
8:22
Speaker 1: on the team already that you know, maybe not exactly
8:25
Speaker 1: Quenton Johnston, but you know guys that you're looking to
8:27
Speaker 1: make plays with down the field, and you know, whether
8:30
Speaker 1: it's speed, whether it's contested catches with Parker, and you
8:32
Speaker 1: know Thornton's development, So he just doesn't quite fit what
8:35
Speaker 1: I think they need to round out. I'd love to
8:37
Speaker 1: see those other guys, you know, the smaller you know,
8:40
Speaker 1: Addison Smith and and Jink. But you know, we'll get
8:42
Speaker 1: into some of the other guys that that I like
8:43
Speaker 1: just as much. They might not have the pull away
8:45
Speaker 1: speed that Zay Flowers has, like that like that burst
8:48
Speaker 1: when you're watching and you could just tell like they
8:50
Speaker 1: have another gear. Um, But I think Johnson's an outside
8:53
Speaker 1: guy and I don't really see it as a total need.
8:55
Speaker 1: Now that said, they've met with him a bunch. We
8:58
Speaker 1: saw him at their pro day. He told Devan at
9:00
Speaker 1: the Combine that they had a great meeting, So there
9:03
Speaker 1: is some smoke there. I don't think you can totally
9:05
Speaker 1: ignore him. But if I had to pick, I'd go
9:07
Speaker 1: more the other direction. Guys that can play in the
9:08
Speaker 1: middle of the field. Yeah, I think the biggest thing
9:11
Speaker 1: that I have with Johnston is that he basically wins
9:13
Speaker 1: on two routes. He ruins on a vertical, and he
9:15
Speaker 1: wins on a comeback, and that's it. And now he's
9:18
Speaker 1: got better feet than Nikil Harry. I know that people
9:20
Speaker 1: have heard me say that it's too much of an
9:23
Speaker 1: overlap with Nikkiel. I think from a size and profile standpoint,
9:27
Speaker 1: there's a lot of overlap there. Six foot three, two
9:30
Speaker 1: hundred and ten pounds, four to five guy in the
9:32
Speaker 1: forty we're not We're talking about a lot of boxes
9:35
Speaker 1: that are the similar checks as any Bill Harry. But
9:39
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing is with him is that
9:40
Speaker 1: he is more sudden. He's got quicker feet after the catch,
9:45
Speaker 1: like he does have he doesn't run and cement. Okay,
9:49
Speaker 1: like I don't see that with him. Stripes there's big
9:52
Speaker 1: legs churning like it's just he's got a unique style.
9:55
Speaker 1: But it's a vertical receiver that's gonna win at a
9:58
Speaker 1: very simplified route. You're gonna maybe develop him on like
10:02
Speaker 1: a slanter and under or something like that, hopefully down
10:05
Speaker 1: the line to give him some sort of quick you
10:08
Speaker 1: know underneath type of route that he can run, but
10:10
Speaker 1: it's that it's a comeback, it's a vertical and I
10:13
Speaker 1: think those types of guys tend to have issues translating
10:16
Speaker 1: in New England because they don't have that full repertoire
10:19
Speaker 1: of routes at their disposal. And the last thing I'll
10:21
Speaker 1: say about him from a vertical standpoint, he doesn't attack
10:24
Speaker 1: the ball in the air, and that bothers me, Like,
10:26
Speaker 1: if you're gonna just let the ball come into your
10:28
Speaker 1: body and you're not going to really go out and
10:31
Speaker 1: use that six foot three frame to go and high
10:33
Speaker 1: point the football when they target you down the field,
10:35
Speaker 1: that's going to be concerning, I think at the NFL
10:37
Speaker 1: level to translate, because he's not necessarily going to just
10:41
Speaker 1: run by everybody all the time. He's gonna wear some
10:44
Speaker 1: coverage and he's gonna have guys on his back and
10:46
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to be able to make those contested catches.
10:49
Speaker 1: Maybe that's something that he can develop. I think that's
10:51
Speaker 1: one thing about his game that is certainly coachable and fixable.
10:54
Speaker 1: But I think that those are some of the concerns
10:56
Speaker 1: that I have. It's just why it's a definition of
11:00
Speaker 1: sanity to keep trying the same thing over and over
11:02
Speaker 1: again and expect different results. Why would you do that again?
11:05
Speaker 1: Why would you go the Nikkil Harry, Chad Jackson, Aaron
11:08
Speaker 1: Dobson route again instead of going with one of these
11:11
Speaker 1: quicker inside guys. If you take a guy in the
11:13
Speaker 1: first you need production. And what I really I really
11:16
Speaker 1: want to like Quentin Johnson bo I hate about him
11:18
Speaker 1: is in the semi final against Michigan, he put up
11:20
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty three yards and had a touchdown.
11:23
Speaker 1: In the final, he had one catch for three yards.
11:25
Speaker 1: That is unacceptable. That's against Georgia. They're gonna have a
11:28
Speaker 1: bunch of NFL players on defense and you had one
11:31
Speaker 1: catch for three yards. Yeah, the one. I'm much higher
11:34
Speaker 1: on Johnston, probably than Mike and Evan. But the one
11:38
Speaker 1: of the things that really stands out to me is
11:39
Speaker 1: it looks like he's great when he can sort of
11:41
Speaker 1: run free and you know, find zones, find gaps. I don't.
11:45
Speaker 1: I didn't see him get pressed a lot. So some
11:47
Speaker 1: of those things that would worry me about that worried
11:50
Speaker 1: me about Thornton last year, would worry me about Johnston
11:53
Speaker 1: as well. I think he might maybe has a little
11:57
Speaker 1: more versatility to his routes than Evan does. But I
12:00
Speaker 1: like him, like him, and I don't love him. Where
12:04
Speaker 1: I really differ with you, Mike, is I want to
12:06
Speaker 1: get away from the other thing. The definition of insanity
12:08
Speaker 1: to me is to continue to try to flood the
12:10
Speaker 1: middle of the field in the post Brady era and
12:13
Speaker 1: think it's gonna work like when Brady was here, with
12:15
Speaker 1: all these little, you know, five yard passes that are
12:17
Speaker 1: going to result in fifteen yard games. I want guys
12:20
Speaker 1: that maybe can get down the field and play on
12:22
Speaker 1: the outside. I know they have guys that play on
12:24
Speaker 1: the outside. I don't like any of them, so I
12:26
Speaker 1: want new ones so that that's where I would sort
12:29
Speaker 1: of differ there. But um, those are sort of the
12:32
Speaker 1: guys that are like first round maybe early second round
12:36
Speaker 1: kind of guys. There is a laundry list of second
12:39
Speaker 1: and third round receivers in this draft. You know, when
12:41
Speaker 1: you go down to Josh Downs a bootet from you know,
12:46
Speaker 1: my Kashawn Booty guy from LSU who I think is
12:49
Speaker 1: a colossal disappointment. Booty combines you know, Jalen Hyatt, who's
12:54
Speaker 1: one of the guys that that Evan is sort of
12:56
Speaker 1: you know, down on because of you know, because of
12:59
Speaker 1: his last versus and I sort of agree with you
13:02
Speaker 1: on Hyatt. By the way, Um, I want to know
13:05
Speaker 1: your thoughts. We haven't really talked about this guy at
13:07
Speaker 1: all on our Patriots on filtered shows, but uh Rashi
13:11
Speaker 1: Rice from SMU good uh SMU's good wide receiver feeder.
13:16
Speaker 1: It's you know, you know, you don't necessarily think, well,
13:19
Speaker 1: we do you want to get a wide receiver SMU.
13:21
Speaker 1: They've had some good wide receivers in the league, and
13:24
Speaker 1: I think he could be the next one. You guys,
13:27
Speaker 1: you guys, I was. I was. I was based based
13:29
Speaker 1: on the thumbs down. I see you guys aren't his
13:32
Speaker 1: high on him? Well, I went, great, we finally have disagreement. No.
13:34
Speaker 1: I went through a whole process on him because I
13:35
Speaker 1: really liked him early on when I was you know,
13:37
Speaker 1: watching him at the Senior Bowl, and then as I
13:39
Speaker 1: watched more and more of them that were you know
13:40
Speaker 1: a lot of the boxes that I look for, Captain Um.
13:42
Speaker 1: You know, it's like all right, was contested catches, like
13:45
Speaker 1: what's going on? And then I just started to feel
13:47
Speaker 1: like can this guy get open? That was my thing
13:49
Speaker 1: with him, it just started to feel like it's real
13:51
Speaker 1: hard for him to to get away from guys um
13:54
Speaker 1: and that's why he fell down my board a little bit.
13:57
Speaker 1: But Josh Downs, you mentioned him, I just gotta say,
13:59
Speaker 1: I mean, I think between him, we haven't talked about
14:01
Speaker 1: Jaden Reid. He's a lower round guy too, But those
14:03
Speaker 1: two guys are my favorites in terms of just the toughness,
14:07
Speaker 1: the middle of the field kind of stuff. That what
14:08
Speaker 1: I'm looking for. Those two guys. I think in day two,
14:10
Speaker 1: if he could I mean, if he could get one
14:12
Speaker 1: of them. You just love five foot nothing guys. Well,
14:14
Speaker 1: I just like guys who can get open quick. They
14:16
Speaker 1: don't have anybody who can get open quick, you know.
14:17
Speaker 1: I mean I think that they have some promise for
14:19
Speaker 1: some downfield people. I mean, I hear what you're saying
14:21
Speaker 1: about flood the field with guys who can Well, they
14:23
Speaker 1: don't have anybody. They have zero guys that can get
14:25
Speaker 1: open right now. So you know it's great if Tykelon
14:28
Speaker 1: Thornton can beat people down the field or down on
14:30
Speaker 1: Juju Smith Schuster, well, I sold it. That was an
14:33
Speaker 1: upgrade over the guy who eight balls just a little bit.
14:35
Speaker 1: Paul don't you You're pumping it's too much, not that
14:37
Speaker 1: much of an upgrade, Paul, So that that's you know,
14:40
Speaker 1: that's my feeling. Yeah, you're gonna keep throwing big, tall
14:43
Speaker 1: guys who get down the field. Outside gets down the field.
14:47
Speaker 1: But I don't think he gets he needs some development.
14:48
Speaker 1: I think he has some problems with drops at times.
14:50
Speaker 1: But he's not He's not like that. No, I know,
14:53
Speaker 1: he's not an X No. I know. I was sorry
14:56
Speaker 1: yea if I didn't mean that. He's not He's not
14:58
Speaker 1: an outside, not one he can. It's like, where is
15:01
Speaker 1: he going to play? I think that the problem that
15:03
Speaker 1: I have with the Shi Rice is similar to Mike,
15:05
Speaker 1: which is that he bullied people at the collegiate level
15:09
Speaker 1: for his catches, and that ain't gonna work in the league,
15:12
Speaker 1: Like you can't go out there. And when they play
15:15
Speaker 1: the Jets and he's going up against Sauce Gardner, he's
15:18
Speaker 1: not bullying sauce Gardener at the catch point for for
15:21
Speaker 1: eight balls for one hundred and twenty yards, right, Like
15:23
Speaker 1: those are things are not going to translate as well
15:26
Speaker 1: to the NFL. Me and Mike's receivers very similarly. I
15:29
Speaker 1: want guys that get open. You want guys that have
15:31
Speaker 1: no talent and hope that Tom Brady. That's ridiculous. Word, No,
15:37
Speaker 1: that's what. We don't have that guy anymore. How saying
15:40
Speaker 1: that we want Zay Flowers and Josh Downs having guys
15:43
Speaker 1: that have no talent, We just want guys that get open.
15:45
Speaker 1: We want guys to create separation. I don't want to
15:47
Speaker 1: live in a in a volume offense that's rely upon
15:52
Speaker 1: contested catches and possession receivers. Like I just don't think
15:55
Speaker 1: that that's a really great just like those says to me,
15:59
Speaker 1: I don't think this. Maybe Flowers Flowers more so than
16:02
Speaker 1: than Downs, so DWAs has more of ceiling then Down.
16:06
Speaker 1: Downs to me, is like the mac Jones and receivers.
16:09
Speaker 1: He'll be fine when he gets in the league and
16:11
Speaker 1: five years later he'll be fine because that's what he is.
16:14
Speaker 1: Downs Is discounts a Flowers. He brings a lot of
16:18
Speaker 1: the same essumates that's that Za Flowers brings to the table.
16:21
Speaker 1: But I don't think he's quite as electric in the
16:24
Speaker 1: open field as Za is with the football right when
16:26
Speaker 1: he gets the ball in his hands. He doesn't have
16:28
Speaker 1: that that that sixth gear that zay Can and to
16:32
Speaker 1: pull away from the defense. I don't know if we're
16:34
Speaker 1: ready for the Charlie down Charlie Jones discussion yet. He
16:38
Speaker 1: might be a little bit later than so I want
16:40
Speaker 1: to get some chiefs. Two guys. Yeah, because this is
16:43
Speaker 1: where he made his money last year. Well, first of all,
16:45
Speaker 1: I don't get the hate on Jalen Hyatt. My issue
16:48
Speaker 1: is I think he's too similar to Taekwon Thori. Just
16:50
Speaker 1: a burner. Oh, I don't hate, but I agree. I
16:53
Speaker 1: agree with Evans sort of like the most touchdowns in
16:56
Speaker 1: the FBS. Yeah, it's cool. It's because you know, when
16:59
Speaker 1: he's coming off the line of scrimmage, they just set
17:01
Speaker 1: a pick for him in a stack or a bunch
17:02
Speaker 1: and he just runs a straight line really fast and
17:05
Speaker 1: similar to that on my guy Rice. I'll i'll sort
17:08
Speaker 1: of shoot down my own argument, and I'll say I
17:10
Speaker 1: do because I think Tennessee there's something with that system. Yeah,
17:14
Speaker 1: that gets and I think SMU has a little of
17:17
Speaker 1: that too, with that spread and from Tennessee in this draft,
17:22
Speaker 1: let me put you that way. Yeah, I don't love
17:24
Speaker 1: the other guy as much. Tillman. Tillman was far and
17:26
Speaker 1: away ahead of him heading into this year. Yeah, he's
17:31
Speaker 1: got a much easier translation to the NFL. That's but
17:33
Speaker 1: is so you like hy here's my late guy, Marvin
17:36
Speaker 1: Min's junior from Oklahoma. Yeah, man, marvelous man anywhere. He
17:40
Speaker 1: averaged nineteen points his career, long stride, dangerous feed like.
17:45
Speaker 1: I think that's a perfect Day two pick. Also, with
17:47
Speaker 1: the way Marcus Jones plays everything for us, this guy
17:49
Speaker 1: can return punts too, And I don't know if you
17:51
Speaker 1: want Marcus back there all the time. I like Marvin Mims.
17:53
Speaker 1: That's a that's a good call. If I had to
17:55
Speaker 1: make a short list of guys on Day two that
17:57
Speaker 1: I'd feel comfortable with them targeting, He's up there for
18:00
Speaker 1: For me. I think the biggest reason why I like
18:02
Speaker 1: him so much is because he does attack the football
18:05
Speaker 1: down the field, and he's got great, great hands and
18:08
Speaker 1: somebody that if you just pull up a highlight reel
18:10
Speaker 1: if you don't have time to be a nerd like
18:12
Speaker 1: me and watch seventeen games of everybody, Marvin Mims is
18:15
Speaker 1: one of those guys that puts highlight reel catches on
18:18
Speaker 1: film down the field at the catchpoint, like going above
18:21
Speaker 1: the rim and making plays on the football. That doesn't
18:24
Speaker 1: always happen with guys that have his speed and his
18:27
Speaker 1: type of route running vertical route running. A lot of
18:30
Speaker 1: those guys attack the football down the field like he does.
18:34
Speaker 1: I think that that's why I like him so much more,
18:36
Speaker 1: feel more comfortable with him than a guy like Jalen
18:38
Speaker 1: Hyatt is because you can watch Mims beat a press corner,
18:43
Speaker 1: stack him, and then go up and get the ball
18:45
Speaker 1: down the sideline and make a catch on him, whereas
18:48
Speaker 1: with Jalen Hyatt, I'm just feel like I'm watching a
18:50
Speaker 1: hundred meter you know, like you saying, bolt out there,
18:52
Speaker 1: just running track the whole time, no contact, you know,
18:56
Speaker 1: very little NFL translation. So I think you might hit
18:59
Speaker 1: on that, Mike. Do you have a late round guy?
19:01
Speaker 1: Before we move on to tight ends? I mean I
19:04
Speaker 1: mentioned or later around here. I mean I mentioned Jayden Reid.
19:06
Speaker 1: I just I'm really impressed with him, and he's everything
19:09
Speaker 1: you hate Paul. He's that guy. Um but he's five six,
19:12
Speaker 1: Yeah you know he's not maybe not that short, but
19:14
Speaker 1: but he is that guy. But I just I was
19:16
Speaker 1: really impressed with him at the Senior Bowl, watching him
19:18
Speaker 1: in practices, I thought he really played well Um, you
19:21
Speaker 1: know those those two guys are two that I like.
19:24
Speaker 1: Another guy that I'd be curious just to throw out there,
19:26
Speaker 1: maybe for Evan as Tyler Scott, who's a guy kind
19:29
Speaker 1: of I like Tyler Scott. I was going to close
19:30
Speaker 1: up with him some drops here and there. But I
19:36
Speaker 1: kind of found myself writing that a lot you know,
19:39
Speaker 1: two guys, and you know, you sort of read other
19:41
Speaker 1: people's assessments, and sometimes that's dangerous when you don't get
19:45
Speaker 1: a chance to see a guy a lot. You know,
19:47
Speaker 1: like you a drop might not be the same as
19:48
Speaker 1: your drop, you know, but I don't like I don't
19:52
Speaker 1: like them either. But the perfect example was Brandon Merryweather
19:56
Speaker 1: dropped the ball at the end of the Super Bowl
19:58
Speaker 1: forty two. Assante Samuel had ball go off his hands
20:00
Speaker 1: at the end of Super Bowl forty two. You ask
20:03
Speaker 1: one hundred Patriots fans and they'll tell you Santa Samuel
20:05
Speaker 1: drop the ball and cost them the perfect season. He
20:08
Speaker 1: kind of did. Why Tyler Scott love Tyler Scott for
20:12
Speaker 1: like Pittsburgh, right, Like like a team that develops wide
20:16
Speaker 1: receivers at a high level is going to take a
20:18
Speaker 1: guy like Tyler Scott and he's going to be a
20:19
Speaker 1: star in the league. Tyler Scott's way too raw for
20:22
Speaker 1: the Patriots. The guy that I would mention, Charlie Jones
20:26
Speaker 1: from Purdue is a guy that you just absolutely have
20:29
Speaker 1: to talk about with them. This is outside of JSN.
20:32
Speaker 1: The best route runner in the draft. I mean, somebody
20:34
Speaker 1: that just really gets in and out of the break,
20:37
Speaker 1: sinks the hips, gets in and out in three steps efficiently.
20:41
Speaker 1: And you see that on film, that suddenness and that
20:43
Speaker 1: ability to efficiently get through the route break. Nobody runs
20:46
Speaker 1: a better dig than Charlie Jones in this draft. And
20:48
Speaker 1: then he went to the combine and when you watch
20:51
Speaker 1: him on film, he comes off the line with some
20:53
Speaker 1: burst and he can push you vertical a little bit.
20:55
Speaker 1: And I was like, Okay, well does he play fast?
20:57
Speaker 1: And like, is this one of those guys that just
20:59
Speaker 1: kind of looks fast on film? But then we get
21:01
Speaker 1: to the combine and he's a four or five five guy.
21:03
Speaker 1: You're in the low four fours. I think he's like
21:05
Speaker 1: four five four four five four four six somewhere around there.
21:09
Speaker 1: So his speed to push vertical, I don't think he's
21:12
Speaker 1: a vertical threat, but he's got that ability to come
21:14
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage, push it up the field
21:17
Speaker 1: and then cut right. And that's that's hard to do.
21:20
Speaker 1: To be able to stop quickly and then change directions
21:23
Speaker 1: like he can off a vertical stem is not easy
21:25
Speaker 1: to do. Catches everything throwing his direction a huge production
21:29
Speaker 1: at Purdue last year with Aidan O'Connell. I think he's
21:32
Speaker 1: going to be somebody that is their classic mid round
21:36
Speaker 1: guy that turns into a really good player. And everybody's
21:39
Speaker 1: asking three years from now, how did this guy fall
21:41
Speaker 1: to the fourth round. This is a guy that Paul
21:43
Speaker 1: got in my head on because I'm looking at him
21:45
Speaker 1: and I gotta be honest, like I, like I wrote,
21:47
Speaker 1: as I'm watching him, just doesn't have the shaking bake
21:49
Speaker 1: no matter how much he kind of looks like the
21:50
Speaker 1: part of a day three possession receiver. So like, I
21:53
Speaker 1: don't know what I watched it, but I just was like,
21:55
Speaker 1: he looks like what Paul hates is like yep, they're
21:57
Speaker 1: like to me, just you know, it's like didn't really
22:00
Speaker 1: look dynamic to me initially, and then as Evan said,
22:03
Speaker 1: he ran that, and I'm like, what's I need to like?
22:06
Speaker 1: I think, but like that profile of what you're talking about.
22:09
Speaker 1: Hate is a strong word. I just feel like the
22:11
Speaker 1: Patriots and their fans have decided they want four of them. Yeah,
22:15
Speaker 1: you know, like we can't just have Edelman, we have
22:17
Speaker 1: to have Edelman and Amundole. Like. But that's the nother
22:19
Speaker 1: thing I like about Charlie Jones. He's five eleven, Like
22:22
Speaker 1: he's not He's not five eight, right, Yeah, I agree.
22:25
Speaker 1: There's a difference between the little munchkins and you know,
22:28
Speaker 1: guys with a little bit more of a of a
22:31
Speaker 1: body time. He's got some size, but when you watch guys,
22:37
Speaker 1: i'm stunts. Mike didn't bring up. So let's let's move
22:41
Speaker 1: to tight ends here, as this is turning into an
22:44
Speaker 1: addition of Patriots unfiltered um. Patrits made a move with
22:48
Speaker 1: Jono Smith. Uh they were able to trade him. They
22:51
Speaker 1: brought in Mike Kasiki, but only on a one year deal. Uh.
22:55
Speaker 1: Hunter Henry may not be here a long term. This
22:57
Speaker 1: is a position that is widely considered very very strong
23:00
Speaker 1: by most of the experts, and probably a position of need.
23:04
Speaker 1: I don't think that they would go, you know, Michael
23:06
Speaker 1: Mayer in the first round or anything like that, but
23:09
Speaker 1: this is a pretty solid draft class at tight end,
23:13
Speaker 1: and I would just I mean, I see I think
23:14
Speaker 1: that you know, there's some high end guys that are
23:15
Speaker 1: maybe more of that move tight end, but there's also
23:17
Speaker 1: some developmental why types that I think could make a
23:20
Speaker 1: lot of sense. So I think that this is one
23:22
Speaker 1: position where I always I never have a problem finding
23:25
Speaker 1: one that I kind of like because there's just so
23:27
Speaker 1: many of them. I'll I'll just throw Darnell Washington out
23:31
Speaker 1: there to start. I mean, he's just a monster. He's huge,
23:33
Speaker 1: and like, I think he's gonna go, you know, in
23:36
Speaker 1: between the Patriots first and second round picks, So I
23:38
Speaker 1: don't really give them a real realistic shop. But I
23:41
Speaker 1: just I don't know how you can run down for Darnell.
23:44
Speaker 1: I don't know how you can watch it, will watch
23:45
Speaker 1: him and not just be blown away by his size
23:47
Speaker 1: and then what he did at the combine with his
23:49
Speaker 1: athleticism couple you know, one handed catches and stuff. He's
23:52
Speaker 1: just a total freak. Just one of those guys that's
23:54
Speaker 1: really fun to watch. When we do these, I have
23:56
Speaker 1: a feel involved, four of us will feel the say,
23:59
Speaker 1: just think there's a lot of ups there. As a receiver,
24:01
Speaker 1: I think he has the size obviously DeMont blocker right
24:03
Speaker 1: right out of the game, and there's probably some upside
24:07
Speaker 1: he would step in day one and be their best
24:09
Speaker 1: in line blocking tight end, which is something that I
24:11
Speaker 1: think that is getting a little bit overlooked with Hunter
24:14
Speaker 1: Henry and Mike Kiseki being your two top tight ends,
24:17
Speaker 1: is being able to have somebody that can put their
24:18
Speaker 1: hand in the dirt and block, And I think as
24:21
Speaker 1: a rookie, that would be a really nice role for
24:23
Speaker 1: Darnell Washington to be that inline blocking tight end while
24:26
Speaker 1: they really get a little bit more refinement out of
24:29
Speaker 1: him in the passing game and to sort of figure
24:31
Speaker 1: out how to get the most out of him in
24:33
Speaker 1: the passing game because he is such a big target,
24:37
Speaker 1: but he's not necessarily the most sudden or quick athlete
24:41
Speaker 1: in space, so I think you have to use him
24:43
Speaker 1: correctly and figure it out. But I actually have a
24:46
Speaker 1: lot of faith in the guy like Bill O'Brien being
24:48
Speaker 1: able to tap into that potential because he didn't have
24:50
Speaker 1: great production at Georgia right like three hundred yards last
24:53
Speaker 1: year or something like that. But I'm with Mike on
24:56
Speaker 1: this tight end class, I think, and that is they
24:59
Speaker 1: got to come away with one of the these guys,
25:00
Speaker 1: like you could pick out of a hat. Yeah, and
25:03
Speaker 1: I'd be okay with probably pretty much every single name
25:05
Speaker 1: that you pull out. But eventually, but by the end
25:08
Speaker 1: of the fourth round, I want to see one of
25:10
Speaker 1: these guys taken. Hunter Henry's in a contract year, Mike
25:14
Speaker 1: is Sicky signs for one season only, and they really
25:17
Speaker 1: don't have that prototypical in line tight end anyways. I
25:20
Speaker 1: just feel like this is way too deep and way
25:22
Speaker 1: too good of a tight end class to come away
25:24
Speaker 1: with nobody. That's really how I feel. I mean, it
25:27
Speaker 1: was Washington. The guy's a moose. He just reminds me
25:30
Speaker 1: of the later stage ground for his Pat's career, where like,
25:33
Speaker 1: you know, he can't catch too much, but he's really
25:35
Speaker 1: just an extra lineman and like you just can't teach size.
25:37
Speaker 1: He reminds me of Gelannie Woods, who from the Colts
25:40
Speaker 1: is like what sometimes a starter number two tight end.
25:43
Speaker 1: That guy sticks out to me. But also Michael Mayer.
25:45
Speaker 1: I mean he's a first round guy, but he reminds
25:47
Speaker 1: me of Jimmy Graham, like the guy who could play
25:49
Speaker 1: D one basketball. Just slow but looky, just shifty, he's
25:52
Speaker 1: just athletic, He's always there. Evan fell in love with
25:54
Speaker 1: him in the combine, but I think you've followed like
25:56
Speaker 1: you're not quite as hot and bothered by him. I
25:57
Speaker 1: just don't feel like in taking a tight end first
26:00
Speaker 1: round is really the best use of the first round pick.
26:03
Speaker 1: But I think a guy like Mayor I heard a
26:07
Speaker 1: great comparison that I think is really accurate. He's kind
26:10
Speaker 1: of like washed Gronk in the passing game, Like he's
26:12
Speaker 1: not as good as prime Gronk, but like he's one
26:16
Speaker 1: of those guys. Yeah he's gonna he's gonna be in
26:21
Speaker 1: some tight coverage situations, but the dude catches everything and
26:24
Speaker 1: he's a little bit of a matchup problem still even
26:26
Speaker 1: though he's not the fastest in a straight line. And
26:28
Speaker 1: then he can obviously block and he's got some versatility.
26:31
Speaker 1: So I really like Michael Mayer for those reasons. But
26:34
Speaker 1: if i'm gonna go on Day two, which is I
26:36
Speaker 1: think really a great sweet spot for this tight end
26:39
Speaker 1: class because there's just so many to choose from, I'll
26:42
Speaker 1: go two different types of what Sam Laporter from I
26:44
Speaker 1: was just awesome, Like that guy is just a fantastic
26:48
Speaker 1: route runner, really really quick at the top of the route.
26:52
Speaker 1: You know, you can run an angle route, he can
26:53
Speaker 1: run a slant, you can detach him from the formation.
26:57
Speaker 1: He's more of like a move tight end, flex tight end.
27:00
Speaker 1: I think has a little bit of comparable attributes to
27:03
Speaker 1: a former tight end that we don't necessarily say his
27:06
Speaker 1: name around here, but he's somebody the Yeah, he's somebody
27:10
Speaker 1: that has that type of quickness and ability to run
27:13
Speaker 1: with the football. Really really impressed with him. Another one
27:16
Speaker 1: of those guys you know you mentioned was a Flowers
27:18
Speaker 1: that there really wasn't much else in that offense. He
27:21
Speaker 1: was kind of the iowa's entire passing offense last year
27:24
Speaker 1: and basically carried them a bad offense to albeit, but
27:28
Speaker 1: carried them nonetheless. And I think if you're gonna go
27:31
Speaker 1: for more of that inline blocking tight end, I really
27:35
Speaker 1: like Schoonmaker from Michigan. I think that he's got some
27:37
Speaker 1: untapped potential in the passing game as well. Definitely one
27:40
Speaker 1: of the better blockers in this class. But you look
27:43
Speaker 1: at that forty time and then you watch him just
27:45
Speaker 1: burst off the line of scrimmage. You you hit play action,
27:47
Speaker 1: you get those linebackers stepping up and he just runs
27:50
Speaker 1: across a field behind them. He's got some real burst
27:53
Speaker 1: and acceleration coming out of his stance off the line
27:56
Speaker 1: of Scrimmage and Koons. Yeah Coons. Zach Coons is one
28:02
Speaker 1: of one in terms of athleticism, the most athletic tight
28:05
Speaker 1: end that has ever gone to the NFL combine. I mean,
28:08
Speaker 1: that's that's wild. Did this think about that? And he's
28:12
Speaker 1: more like Mike KASICKI to me than a peer, you know,
28:14
Speaker 1: inline guy. But when you have that kind of athleticism
28:18
Speaker 1: and that kind of film, even at that level at
28:20
Speaker 1: old dominion, I still think you have to take notice
28:23
Speaker 1: Douce any of these guys. Uh, yeah, I totally agree
28:26
Speaker 1: on Schoonmaker. Um, I would just throw in Latsu from
28:29
Speaker 1: Alabama is another one. Get Yeah, I mean that's you
28:32
Speaker 1: can't ignore those guys. And I throw Luke Musgrave in
28:35
Speaker 1: there too. I know Evan isn't as high on him
28:37
Speaker 1: as I am. Maybe, um he's more of the move guy,
28:40
Speaker 1: but he's just so athletic. I think there's some potential. Yeah,
28:43
Speaker 1: I like him more than Evan. Two. I don't know
28:45
Speaker 1: if he's haven't you use the like the word the
28:49
Speaker 1: sweet spot, like I'm not sure that he falls somewhere,
28:51
Speaker 1: you know, I maybe third round, fourth round, Um, you
28:55
Speaker 1: might be looking at value there. But if he goes
28:56
Speaker 1: higher than that, because I do think this is this
28:59
Speaker 1: is projection in there for him. There wasn't a lot
29:01
Speaker 1: of production. Um as a receiver, you're sort of banking
29:04
Speaker 1: on you being able to get him in your system.
29:07
Speaker 1: But I do think there's a base athleticism there. Yeah,
29:10
Speaker 1: um with musk Grave that you know, like Dalton Kincaid
29:12
Speaker 1: just pure pass catcher um, you know out of Utah.
29:15
Speaker 1: But a lot of production. I mean it's he's a
29:17
Speaker 1: guy who's just learning too. Yeah. Um. So I do
29:20
Speaker 1: think there's some interesting options depending on what you decide.
29:25
Speaker 1: But I think we're all in agreement. It's it's it's
29:28
Speaker 1: Washington because it's what they don't have. Yeah, And that's
29:31
Speaker 1: and that's why I would say I just I would
29:33
Speaker 1: lean more towards the y guys, the guys that maybe
29:36
Speaker 1: you can develop, like you get a Day three guy.
29:38
Speaker 1: I would throw Tucker Craft in there too, from South
29:40
Speaker 1: Dakota State, who I saw I saw go against right,
29:43
Speaker 1: he's got the name I saw him. Unfortunately, knock that
29:45
Speaker 1: my Holy Cross Crusaders out of the FCS playoffs. But
29:48
Speaker 1: another guy, you know, small school guy but has that size,
29:51
Speaker 1: has the potentials pretty athletics. So see if we can
29:53
Speaker 1: institute the South Dakota State offense. Exactly. I'm glad you
29:57
Speaker 1: mentioned Tucker Craft because that's the guy that'll end up with.
30:01
Speaker 1: Like that's a school that they've picked from already at
30:03
Speaker 1: South Dakota State, and he dominated his level of competition.
30:07
Speaker 1: Like he's exactly like Pierre Strong, Kyle Dugger, Cole Strange,
30:11
Speaker 1: Like those are the types of guys that they've gravitated
30:13
Speaker 1: towards the last couple of years. The only thing I
30:16
Speaker 1: don't like about Musgrave is I just feel like he's
30:17
Speaker 1: a one trick pony. Like I think running the seam
30:20
Speaker 1: is what he does. He does it at a very
30:21
Speaker 1: high level, but I just don't really see him do
30:24
Speaker 1: anything else on film that at an above average rate.
30:27
Speaker 1: So I think you could be any in the NFL. Yeah,
30:31
Speaker 1: I think he's got that has that kind of potential.
30:33
Speaker 1: But again, like I said, just sort of banking on
30:36
Speaker 1: a development there, you like, I can get this guy
30:39
Speaker 1: in my system and he can be this Yeah, yeah,
30:41
Speaker 1: you haven't seen it. He hasn't really done it, so
30:43
Speaker 1: you're sort of banking on potential. Yeah, he's just been hurt.
30:46
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's the big part with him. So yeah,
30:48
Speaker 1: I'm impressed with him. A couple of other you know,
30:50
Speaker 1: little guys I would throw on their Braden Willis was
30:52
Speaker 1: just you know, a special team's jack of all trades,
30:53
Speaker 1: those kind of guys. Seventh round, six round down at
30:55
Speaker 1: the bottom. But I mean, I think we've covered you know,
30:58
Speaker 1: all these guys. I'd be happy with just about any
31:01
Speaker 1: of those names that we mentioned I think could come in.
31:03
Speaker 1: And yeah, this one we don't have a lot of
31:04
Speaker 1: arguing to do because I think I think the Patriots
31:08
Speaker 1: need a tight end certainly, you know, moving forward, and
31:12
Speaker 1: I think there are three, four or five options that
31:14
Speaker 1: I think any of us would be fine with. So
31:17
Speaker 1: tight end is a position to keep in mind come
31:20
Speaker 1: the end of the month. And that's going to put
31:22
Speaker 1: an end to a marathon draft prospect like twelve minutes,
31:27
Speaker 1: you know, I was that was a lot longer than that.
31:29
Speaker 1: I was more of a as I said earlier, Patriots
31:32
Speaker 1: unfiltered esque. So we are not anywhere near close to
31:35
Speaker 1: done though. This is just wide receivers and tight ends.
31:38
Speaker 1: We still have a lot of positions on offense before
31:42
Speaker 1: we even get on the other side of the ball,
31:44
Speaker 1: so we're gonna put a wrap on this one for now.
31:46
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31:50
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31:53
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