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Ep.7 Grades · Football Junkies podcast

0:00
All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, folks.
0:03
I have finally done the grades for the draft.
0:09
Yes, I have finally done it after thinking things over,
0:14
after praying things over,
0:16
after getting the emotions out of the way.
0:18
We have finally done the grades for the NFC.
0:24
We're gonna talk about it more on this seventh episode
0:27
of the Football Junkies podcast.
0:30
I'm your host, Kale, your GM.
0:33
The GM that has produced seven all-pros,
0:37
10 first-ballot Hall of Famers and six Pro Bowlers.
0:41
Let's get it.
0:43
All right, folks, now, you're probably wondering,
0:47
why are we talking about grades?
0:50
The draft is, you know, it's been a few weeks.
0:53
Well, my fellow junkies,
0:56
I have decided to give myself some time
0:59
to think things over, to just look at what they did,
1:03
look at their needs,
1:04
compared to how did they draft all of those different things.
1:08
So let's start.
1:09
We're gonna start with the NFC East.
1:11
Of course we are.
1:12
Of course we're gonna start with the East, okay?
1:15
So with the East, of course,
1:17
the East is composed of the Cowboys, Eagles,
1:21
Commanders and Giants.
1:23
The Cowboys team needs were Tackle, Interior Offensive Line,
1:27
Detackle, Y Receiver, Running Back.
1:30
The Eagles team needs were Corner,
1:32
Interior Offensive Line, Tackle, Receiver, Safety.
1:36
And the Commanders, of course,
1:38
was the, was Quarterback, Tackle, Edge, Corner and Receiver.
1:44
Okay, cool.
1:46
Now, let's go over the Cowboys.
1:49
Yes, we're gonna start off with the Cowboys first.
1:52
We're gonna start this off on a good, no, on a good foot.
1:56
All right, let's get it.
1:58
So the Cowboys draft picks were Tyler Guyant
2:02
in the first round, Marshawn Nealon in the second round,
2:05
Cooper Beebe in the third round,
2:08
Maris Lawafu, I apologize for butchering your name
2:13
in the third round as well.
2:16
Kaelin Carson in the fifth round,
2:18
Ryan Ful, I don't know how to pronounce that last name,
2:23
so I'm not gonna try it.
2:25
Nathan Thomas and Justin Rogers.
2:27
Now, me personally, and I'm not giving out this grade
2:31
for my disdain for Cowboys and Cowboys fans,
2:35
I'm not doing that.
2:36
I'm basing it based off of their needs
2:38
and were they able to accomplish a majority of their needs,
2:42
some of their needs or none of their needs at all.
2:45
Now, with that being said, I gave them a C plus.
2:48
And the only reason why I gave them a C plus was,
2:53
Tyler Guyant, although he is a great tackle prospect,
2:57
he's still very rough around the edges, right?
3:01
And what the Cowboys need right now
3:03
is someone that you can instantly start plugging
3:06
from week one, that's what you need.
3:08
And so what you have with Guyant is,
3:11
it's gonna take him a while to really get
3:15
into the swing of things.
3:17
However, at the same time, he did go
3:20
into the right situation only because the Cowboys
3:23
have had a rich history in developing great offensive
3:28
linemen.
3:29
They have produced good offensive linemen,
3:32
they have produced average offensive linemen,
3:35
and they have also produced elite offensive linemen.
3:38
When you look at, for instance, when they had
3:42
an offensive line that composed of Travis Frederick,
3:45
Zach Martin, Tyron Smith, and Leo Collins,
3:50
all of those guys were pro bowl
3:54
or all pro offensive linemen.
3:57
So he's going into the right position possible.
4:01
Now, when you look at Cooper Bebe on the other hand,
4:03
Cooper Bebe, who wasn't really talked about
4:08
as much leading into the draft, and even during the draft,
4:12
he is a very good guard prospect,
4:15
simply because he has a lot of playing time.
4:17
So you have a lot of tape and you can see exactly
4:21
what you're getting with him, okay?
4:24
Now, when it comes to the other draft picks,
4:26
don't really like them the most.
4:29
They really, to me personally, I feel like
4:31
they really didn't address as many positions
4:35
that they really need, honestly speaking.
4:38
Maybe they're gonna try to see if they can try
4:40
to fill in some other holes during the second round
4:45
of free agency or trade or whatever the case may be,
4:49
but honestly speaking, I'm just gonna give them a C.
4:52
Now, moving on to the Eagles, okay?
4:55
And again, I'm going, this is based off of
4:59
analyzing how they did in the draft, okay?
5:02
So for the Eagles, they drafted Quinean Mitchell,
5:05
Cuba Dejean, Jalen Hunt, I think, Jalen Jalex.
5:11
I don't know how to pronounce your first name,
5:12
I'm sorry, sir.
5:14
Will Shipley, they also drafted Anaya Smith,
5:18
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Trevor Keegan, Johnny Wilson,
5:22
and Dylan McMahon.
5:24
Now, for them, I gave them an A,
5:27
then give them an A plus, then give them an A minus.
5:29
I just gave them an A only because Quinean Mitchell
5:34
was regarded as either the best or the second best corner
5:41
in this draft class, okay?
5:42
When you're talking about someone who is a balanced corner
5:46
who can play both man and zone coverage,
5:49
who can basically eliminate your number one receiver option,
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that is Quinean Mitchell, okay?
5:57
If you have not seen Quinean Mitchell play before,
6:00
go on YouTube, look at his highlights.
6:03
This is a very polished cornerback prospect, okay?
6:06
And for them to be able to get Cuba Dejean
6:09
in the second round, not in the first round,
6:12
but in the second round, that says a lot, okay?
6:17
The Eagles do need another safety as well,
6:20
even though they do have CJ Gardner Johnson.
6:24
They still need another safety, okay?
6:25
Not to mention, Cuba Dejean can also play
6:29
in the nickel as well.
6:31
So kill two birds with one stone.
6:34
When you look at Jeremiah Trotter Jr.,
6:37
you're looking at a very good athletic middle linebacker
6:42
who can definitely stuff the run,
6:44
can also play in coverage if need be,
6:48
following the footsteps of his father
6:50
because his father did, as we all know,
6:53
play for the Eagles as well.
6:55
The only pick that I'm really scratching my head on
6:58
is Johnny Wilson.
6:59
And the only reason why I say that is because Johnny Wilson
7:02
to me personally, I don't think he's a receiver.
7:06
I feel like he will probably play tight end.
7:10
I just feel like personally,
7:12
if he was to switch to tight end,
7:15
he would have a better chance at actually making the roster
7:18
compared to just being a receiver, okay?
7:21
He has the body and frame and built to be a tight end,
7:26
a very productive tight end, especially in the Eagle system.
7:30
It's just a matter of can he block
7:32
and can he still do the things that he did
7:35
when he was receiver at FSU?
7:37
Can he do that if he was to switch over and be a tight end?
7:41
Now, moving on to the commanders.
7:44
I gave them an A plus, okay?
7:47
Now you're probably wondering,
7:48
why would you give the commanders an A plus
7:51
and not the Eagles?
7:52
Well, my fellow junkie, I'm going to tell you
7:55
why as your fellow GM, okay?
8:00
When they, with them drafting Jaden Daniels,
8:03
then they drafted Jurzan Newton, Mike Sandstrell,
8:07
Bensonot, Brandon Coleman, Luke McCaffrey, Jordan McGee,
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Dominique Hampton and Javon John Baptiste.
8:15
This was a really good draft,
8:16
a really, really, really, really, really good draft.
8:19
And I say that because you have a very athletic quarterback
8:24
and Jaden Daniels, who he sort of gives you
8:27
a Lamar-esque type of vibe.
8:29
You're talking about someone who was a dual threat quarterback
8:32
who can launch it down the field,
8:36
who can break your ankles,
8:37
who can basically do it all, okay?
8:39
You have Jurzan Newton, who was regarded
8:43
as one of the best e-tackles in this draft class as well.
8:47
You got him.
8:48
And on top of that, you got Mike Sandstrell.
8:51
Now, for people who don't know who Mike Sandstrell is,
8:53
Mike Sandstrell is a really good corner.
8:56
You'd want to talk about a good blitzing corner,
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that's Mike Sandstrell, okay?
9:01
For all my Steelers fans out there, Mike Hilton,
9:04
that's all I'm gonna say, moving forward.
9:07
For them to get Brandon Coleman, really good guard,
9:09
very productive guard, honestly,
9:12
they do need it to address the offensive line,
9:15
so not surprised that they did that.
9:17
And for them to get Luke McCaffrey as well,
9:20
that's really good, really good.
9:24
They do need receiver help.
9:26
I mean, although they do have Terry McClure,
9:28
and they do have Jahan Dotson,
9:30
they do not have a productive wide receiver number three.
9:34
I'm just being completely honest with you guys.
9:38
And then as well as the other picks,
9:42
I do feel like they could be productive players.
9:47
It's just a matter of, will they be able to understand
9:51
the system, because Dan Quinn's system
9:54
is a little bit weird, it's a little bit funky,
9:57
might take them a while to really understand his concepts,
10:01
but they are in, honestly, the best position possible
10:05
for being real here.
10:06
Now, moving forward to the Giants, okay?
10:09
So the Giants, they drafted Malik neighbors,
10:11
of course, Tyler Neubin, Andrew Phillips, Theo Johnson,
10:16
Tyron Tracy Jr., and Darius Musassu.
10:20
I'm sorry if I butchered your last name,
10:23
didn't mean to do it on purpose.
10:25
With them, I have been teetering between giving them either
10:30
in A or B.
10:33
And the only reason why I say that is because, yes,
10:36
they did get the receiver in Malik neighbors,
10:39
which is great.
10:41
They got Andrew Phillips, who also is a very good corner
10:44
who can play both inside and outside.
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He's a very underrated corner
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that not a lot of people are talking about, which is great.
10:52
But as far as the other picks,
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I just wanna try to understand
11:00
how things would fit moving forward, okay?
11:05
Because the defense with the Giants
11:09
isn't as strong as it should be.
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And they've lost some people due to, of course, free agency.
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And so you want to try to patch up those holes
11:20
as best as possible because let's be real here, folks.
11:24
The Giants offense is not really gonna win them games.
11:29
So what's the best way for them to counteract
11:32
Division Rival games when you're going up against
11:34
the Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Eagles?
11:36
You have to have a bona fide defense, okay?
11:39
With them losing Saekwai,
11:42
you have to literally buff everything else
11:46
around that team because now you're really gonna see
11:51
is Daniel Jones really the guy or not?
11:53
Because now you have Jalen Hyde,
11:55
you had Darius Layton as long as they figure out
11:58
what they're gonna do with his contract,
12:00
and now you have Malik neighbors, okay?
12:03
You have another tight end,
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and Theo Johnson, which is great.
12:06
And so now you just have to figure out,
12:08
is this gonna work or not?
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And if it does, great, if it doesn't,
12:12
well then somebody's gonna lose their job, okay?
12:14
Cool, moving forward.
12:17
So with the next Division, we're gonna do the NFC North
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that is composed of the Lions, Packers, Vikings, and Bears.
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Yes, the Bears.
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Now, the Lions team needs, we're a cornerback,
12:33
edge, safety, tackle, receiver.
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The Packers team needs, we're a detackle,
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linebacker, tackle, corner, and safety.
12:40
Vikings, of course, was quarterback,
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interior offensive line, edge, receiver, detackle.
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Bears, of course, was the quarterback,
12:51
receiver, edge, tackle, detackle.
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Now, with the Lions, okay, we're gonna start with them first.
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So they drafted Tarion Arnold,
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they also drafted Anise Rickstraw, Giovanni Manu,
13:04
Sian Vaki, Makai Wingo, and Christian Mahogany, okay?
13:11
This is what I will say.
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The Lions definitely hit on-corner, for sure,
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because they needed to fill in that void
13:20
with the whole ongoing situation with Cameron Sutton.
13:24
And they definitely got a true number one corner
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in Tarion Arnold.
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Tarion Arnold is a number one corner, okay?
13:32
You were talking about someone who he isn't
13:36
the most athletic corner that it just pops out
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when you look at his first highlight,
13:45
but when you look at someone that is productive,
13:48
that gets the job done, that can be effective
13:51
in the run game, that can be effective in the passing game,
13:53
that can tackle, that can do it all,
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that is Tarion Arnold, okay?
13:59
For the longest time, leading into last year's
14:02
college football season, there were a lot of debates
14:04
on if Tarion Arnold was better than Kule or vice versa.
14:09
Me personally, I felt like Tarion Arnold
14:11
was a better just technician
14:14
when he came to his craft, personally.
14:17
Anise Rickstraw, another corner from Michigan,
14:21
really productive corner, really just all around
14:25
type of player, honestly speaking here,
14:28
he was one of the people that I had on my board,
14:33
only because to me, I feel like he was either gonna get
14:38
taken in either the second or first round,
14:41
just because of his skill set and what he brings
14:45
to the field.
14:46
Now, when we look at all the other ones,
14:48
Seon Vahki, you have someone who can play
14:51
both safety and running back, I know that's weird,
14:54
but hey, more is less, less is more,
14:58
whatever the saying is, he was regarded as one
15:02
of the best safeties in this draft class.
15:05
You're talking about someone who can hit you.
15:11
He's a thumper, he's a thumper, all right?
15:13
He is a thumper, he can also play good in coverage as well.
15:18
Apparently, he does have experience also
15:22
playing as a running back, I don't know if that's really
15:26
gonna really help him secure a spot on the team,
15:30
I don't know, only time will tell, so I gave them a B.
15:36
Now, moving forward to the Packers,
15:39
the Packers drafted Jordan Morgan,
15:41
Edger and Cooper, Javon Bullard,
15:43
Marshawn Lloyd, Tyron Hooper, Evan Williams,
15:46
Jacob Monk, Keaton Aladapo, Aladapo, Aladipo,
15:53
I'm sorry if I put you your name, Travis Glove
15:56
and Kaelin King as well as Michael Peratt.
16:00
So I wanna give them a B as well,
16:04
only because they did have a good draft.
16:07
It was a good draft, it wasn't this blockbuster draft
16:10
that what's gonna change the entire face of the Packers
16:17
organization, not saying that, but they got some really
16:20
good players that you can instantly plug them in
16:23
and they can get the job done, okay?
16:25
Now, the only question that I think I really do have
16:28
leaning into this season is exactly where are they
16:32
gonna put Edger and Cooper?
16:33
Because Edger and Cooper is athletic enough and
16:36
rangy enough to where you can either have him
16:39
at midlinebacker or you can keep him at edge.
16:42
Me personally, I think I probably will keep him at edge
16:46
simply because you could use him as a quarterback spy
16:48
and he's done it very well when he was in college.
16:52
So, he definitely has a lot of upside with this game.
16:56
Now, when it comes to, for instance, them drafting
16:59
Kaelin King as late as they did, Kaelin King tested
17:05
pretty bad when he came to the combine as well as
17:08
his pro day.
17:10
He, to me, I feel like he is a project player.
17:13
It's gonna take him a while to really see if he can
17:17
really do it or not.
17:18
Me personally, if I was him, I probably would move
17:22
to maybe safety possibly simply because he's not that fast,
17:28
but he is athletic and long enough to where he probably
17:35
could be more effective as a safety compared to a corner
17:38
because let's face it, you're in a division where you have
17:42
receivers like Amon Ross, St. Brown, Justin Jefferson,
17:45
now Roma Dunze and Keenan Allen and company.
17:50
Kaelin King is gonna get burnt.
17:52
He's gonna get burnt by some of those receivers, okay?
17:56
Then getting Michael Pratt, Michael Pratt was definitely
17:59
a pretty good quarterback.
18:01
Me personally, I felt like he was gonna get drafted
18:04
and maybe the third or fourth round.
18:08
Only because of just what he brings to the field.
18:12
I mean, he's a really good quarterback.
18:14
He's a good backup quarterback in my mind.
18:18
Honestly, I thought the Steelers were gonna take him,
18:21
but apparently they didn't.
18:23
And so here we are.
18:26
Now, moving on to the Bayers, that's right, the Bayers.
18:33
I decided to give them an A, okay?
18:36
It's not because, oh, you're giving them an A
18:38
because they got Kaelin Williams.
18:41
No, I am not.
18:42
No, I am not.
18:43
I am not doing that.
18:44
I am not doing that.
18:46
So with their picks, they decided to draft Kaelin Williams,
18:49
of course, Roma Dunze, Kaelin, I do not know
18:53
how to pronounce your last name.
18:54
I am so sorry, I'm not going to butcher your last name.
18:57
Tori Taylor and Austin Booker, okay?
19:03
What is there to say about the Bayers?
19:06
The Bayers definitely hit on their first two picks.
19:09
Well, yeah, their first two picks, they definitely hit.
19:13
They are going to be starters.
19:15
They are going to get the job done.
19:17
You now have a receiver that can build chemistry
19:21
with a rookie quarterback and grow with that rookie quarterback,
19:25
which is just phenomenal, honestly speaking here.
19:29
Moving forward to the Vikings, okay?
19:33
The Vikings, I just, I'm torn between giving them a C or B,
19:40
but I'm probably going to lean more towards giving them a C.
19:46
I will give them where credit is due for their move
19:49
to get J.J. McCarthy because leading up to the draft,
19:53
a lot of people were under the impression
19:56
that they were either going to draft
19:57
J.J. McCarthy or Michael Pennix,
19:59
which I mean, two great prospects, honestly.
20:03
And so they were able to get J.J. McCarthy.
20:06
And then they were able to get Dallas Turner,
20:09
Kari Jackson, Walter Rouse, Will Richard, Michael Juergens,
20:14
and Levi Drake Rodriguez.
20:17
Honestly speaking, after J.J. McCarthy,
20:19
well, honestly, after Dallas Turner,
20:22
that's when things get a little bit shaky.
20:25
Kari Jackson, although he is a six-three corner,
20:29
he just, he lacks the transitional speed
20:34
to continue to keep up with receivers,
20:38
especially route runners, me personally.
20:39
I feel like he's a little bit stiff
20:42
when it comes to his hips.
20:43
When you look at the elite corners,
20:47
the one thing that they all have in common is their hips.
20:50
Okay?
20:51
You're probably wondering,
20:52
what does that have to do with their hips?
20:54
If they have a lot of, when you have a lot of flip,
20:58
not flip, hip fluidity, sorry,
21:01
you're able to transition more, more smoothly.
21:05
So you don't lose, you don't lose a pep in your step
21:08
compared to if you have very tight hips
21:13
and you don't have a lot of hip fluidity,
21:15
it's gonna be a little bit difficult for you
21:17
to continue to keep up with certain,
21:22
you know, certain types of receivers.
21:24
That's why sometimes when you see a corner
21:27
it doesn't have a lot of hip fluidity.
21:29
Sometimes they will sort of like angle themselves
21:34
to the side compared to just, you know,
21:36
facing them straight up and down, you know, with a receiver,
21:40
but enough with that talk.
21:42
Now, moving on to the NFC South.
21:45
We are just breezing by this, honestly,
21:48
I did not expect this.
21:49
So with the NFC South,
21:50
they have the Bucks, Saints, Panthers and Falcons.
21:54
So with the Buccaneers,
21:55
their draft needs are the Edge,
21:57
Interior Offensive Line, Corner Safety, Linebacker,
22:01
Saints is Tackle, Receiver, Corner Detackle, Linebacker,
22:05
Panthers is Receiver, Tied-In, Corner Edge, Detackle,
22:09
and Falcons Edge, Corner Detackle, Safety, Cornerback.
22:16
Man, man, oh man, oh man,
22:18
this is not going to be good, folks.
22:21
It's not gonna be good.
22:23
So with the Buccaneers, they decided to draft
22:26
Graham Barton, Chris Bazwell, Tyki Smith,
22:30
Jalen McMillan, Bucky Irving, Elijah Klein,
22:33
and Devin Culp.
22:36
With them, I would give them a B minus, okay?
22:40
The Buccaneers for a while now
22:44
have been trying to find the replacement
22:48
for Ryan Jensen, who unfortunately
22:50
had to medically retire after suffering a injury
22:56
during training camp about two years ago, okay?
23:03
I like Graham Barton, I do,
23:06
I just, I just gotta see it.
23:09
You know, I just gotta see how is he gonna do things
23:14
as a center?
23:15
Because leading into the draft,
23:17
a lot of people were under the impression
23:19
that he could probably go to a guard
23:22
or maybe stay as a tackle or a center, okay?
23:28
Graham Barton is one of those prospects,
23:31
especially as an offensive lineman,
23:33
who is, who can potentially be elite
23:37
in a lot of different areas, okay?
23:39
You're talking about someone who,
23:43
when you look at the RAS scores,
23:45
if you was to put him at guard,
23:47
he would be considered elite.
23:50
Even if you put him at center as well,
23:52
he would be considered as elite.
23:55
But I think he is walking into a good situation,
23:57
especially with that offensive line.
23:59
He'll be surrounded by some veterans
24:01
that can help him along with this process.
24:04
And I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Jensen
24:06
helps him out as well.
24:09
When you look at other prospects that they drafted,
24:13
for instance, Ty Keesmith.
24:15
Ty Keesmith, as I've said before,
24:18
in all those previous episodes, he is a dog, okay?
24:24
You wanna talk somebody that is going to go after somebody
24:29
and is gonna try to get the tackle, to get the pick,
24:33
whatever the case may be to get the stock,
24:36
that is Ty Keesmith, okay?
24:38
He is a bona fide dog.
24:41
If you don't believe me, look at the highlights,
24:44
the highlights don't lie, folks.
24:46
Listen to your GM, the highlights do not lie, okay?
24:50
We look at Jaylen McMillan as well.
24:51
Jaylen McMillan was a very productive receiver in college.
24:56
Just wanna see how he falls with Mike Evans
25:01
and Chris Gowen on the team.
25:04
Just wanna see how is that going to develop.
25:08
But I do think he is in the best situation possible.
25:12
Now, moving forward to the Saints, okay?
25:16
The Saints drafted Talwees Fouwaga,
25:18
unfortunately, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Spencer Radler,
25:23
Bump Means, Jaylen Ford, Christian Boyd, and Josiah Ezra.
25:29
For the Saints, I decided to give them a B plus, okay?
25:34
And the reason why I gave them a B plus is because
25:38
with them drafting Talwees Fouwaga,
25:41
that definitely patched up the major outstanding need,
25:46
which was the right tackle, okay?
25:49
With right tackle, Ryan Ramcheck,
25:52
who is pretty soon going to medically retire,
25:56
this is definitely a great pickup, honestly speaking here.
26:00
Kool-Aid McKinstry, to me, I felt like
26:06
he wasn't going to be drafted until maybe later
26:11
into the draft.
26:12
And the only reason why I say that is because
26:17
when the medicals came out during the combine,
26:20
that he suffered, that he had a foot injury,
26:24
if I was his agent, I would have instantly told teams
26:30
we're not running, we're not running,
26:33
we're not doing any 40 times,
26:34
we're not doing anything like that.
26:36
But instead, he decided to do it at his pro day,
26:40
and in doing so, it affected probably his draft grade, okay?
26:47
When you have a corner who has a foot injury
26:51
the way that Kool-Aid did,
26:53
you want to try to make sure that whatever time
26:57
that they had previously before the report came out
27:01
that he got hurt, that you want to keep that,
27:04
you want to hold on to that.
27:05
Because if any person decides to try to run again,
27:11
and you can see that they are significantly slower
27:16
than what was shown prior to that,
27:18
guess what's going to happen?
27:20
GMs are going to be like,
27:23
I don't know we should draft him anymore,
27:25
I don't think we should draft him as high as we draft him.
27:27
Because originally, leading up to the draft, again,
27:32
a lot of people were giving him a first round grade,
27:35
me personally, I just didn't see it, I didn't.
27:40
I just felt like Tarion Arnold was a much better prospect
27:46
all around compared to Kool-Aid.
27:49
But he definitely goes to a team
27:52
that definitely needs corners,
27:54
especially with all the speculation going on
27:56
with Marshawn Lattimore.
27:57
So we'll definitely see what happens with that moving forward.
28:02
Now, with the Panthers, okay?
28:05
The Panthers drafted Xavier Leggett, Jonathan Brooks,
28:10
Trayvon Wallace, Jitavion Sanders,
28:13
Charles Smith Wade, Jaden Crumdy, and Michael Barrett.
28:19
I just decided to give them a seat.
28:21
Now you're probably wondering,
28:22
Kale, why in the world are you so tough on these teams?
28:26
The reason why I'm so tough,
28:28
especially for a team like the Panthers,
28:30
is although you drafted Xavier Leggett in the first round,
28:35
and you definitely have made some moves
28:39
leading up to the draft,
28:41
the one position that you have not addressed properly
28:45
and you should have addressed is offensive line.
28:48
And you're probably wondering,
28:50
why do you keep on emphasizing offensive line?
28:52
Because offensive lines make sure
28:56
that your quarterback stays clean.
28:58
If you want your quarterback to have a very lengthy career,
29:02
then you have to have a good offensive line.
29:04
Now, I'm not saying your offensive line
29:06
has to be composed of first rounders and all pros and whatnot,
29:11
but you need to have a decent,
29:13
a average to above average offensive line,
29:17
especially depending on what division that you are in.
29:21
You have to have that.
29:22
Otherwise, your quarterback is gonna get beat up,
29:25
and then your quarterback is gonna be like Andrew Luck,
29:27
who doesn't wanna take any more hits,
29:29
and then decides to retire.
29:32
Okay, now that that run is over, let's get back to this.
29:36
Me personally, I just feel like the Panthers
29:39
should have addressed offensive line completely,
29:42
especially when you have Bryce Young,
29:44
who is a smaller quarterback, okay?
29:47
A smaller quarterback who took a lot of hits last season.
29:51
Okay, that's, you don't want that to start a cycle.
29:56
Instead, you wanna try to knit that in the bud,
29:59
and you wanna try to build around him
30:02
so that, yes, he will have weapons,
30:05
but at the same time, he will have the protection.
30:08
Because guess what?
30:09
You can have all the protection in the world,
30:11
but that doesn't guarantee
30:12
that you're gonna be able to throw it to them.
30:14
Better yet, you can't throw it to them.
30:16
You can't throw it to them
30:17
if you don't have any protection.
30:19
You can't throw it to Deontay Johnson
30:21
or Xavier Laguerre or Adam Thielen
30:24
if by the time you say hike,
30:26
somebody's already in your face.
30:28
It just doesn't work.
30:29
It doesn't.
30:31
Now, moving on to the Falcons.
30:34
I know this is controversial, but hear me out, okay?
30:38
So of course, they drafted Michael Pinnick's.
30:41
They also drafted Rook Oroho,
30:46
Braylin Trice, Brandon Dorlis, JT,
30:51
what is his last name, Bertrand,
30:53
Jace McClain, Kasey Washington, and Zion Loke.
30:59
Now, to all of my Falcons fans,
31:02
what I'm about to say,
31:03
I wanna try to break it down to you as best as possible.
31:06
And the only reason why my decision has changed
31:11
is because of a clip that I saw.
31:14
Shout out to the podcasters
31:17
that I was listening to that showed it.
31:22
Let's be real here, folks, okay?
31:25
Kirk Cousins is at a stage in his career
31:31
where he has more years behind him than ahead of him, okay?
31:36
He is coming off of a major injury
31:39
with him tearing his Achilles last season.
31:43
And so the Falcons GM was thinking,
31:46
okay, we need to immediately address the future now
31:51
then later on down the road when something crazy happens,
31:56
which I understand that however,
31:59
you could have done it later into the draft
32:03
rather than to get Michael Pinnick's in the first round, okay?
32:07
Whenever you draft a quarterback in the first round,
32:12
most likely that is signaling
32:15
that they are going to be a starter, okay?
32:19
When you draft a quarterback, I wanna say it again,
32:21
when you draft a quarterback,
32:23
well, not even a quarterback, any position,
32:25
a majority of positions in the first round,
32:28
that means they are the long-term answer
32:32
and could possibly be a day one starter
32:36
leading up to that season, okay?
32:39
And so the Falcons GM was basically making sure
32:44
that he has a safety blanket.
32:47
And honestly speaking, that's a great idea
32:49
because Michael Pinnick's can sit and learn
32:53
from Kurt Cousins, okay?
32:56
Kurt Cousins for the things that,
33:00
for all the memes and arguments that people make,
33:02
he is a good quarterback.
33:04
He's definitely a good quarterback
33:06
that you will want your rookie quarterback to sit under
33:09
because Kurt Cousins is gonna drop some gems.
33:12
He's gonna drop some gems.
33:14
He's gonna show him exactly
33:16
what to look for, what to look out for,
33:20
how to see if this is a different coverage,
33:23
if that's a different coverage, whatever the case may be.
33:27
He's going to do that, okay?
33:29
However, as I've said before,
33:32
there is a way that you go about addressing the future, okay?
33:38
You have to have a conversation
33:40
when you draft someone in the first round,
33:43
especially a quarterback,
33:45
when you just paid your number one quarterback,
33:48
your veteran quarterback, $100 plus million.
33:53
There has to be a conversation and there wasn't.
33:56
And so now you just created drama
34:00
and a locker room that doesn't need.
34:03
Honestly speaking here,
34:04
the Falcons should have drafted a defensive player
34:06
because they needed that defense to get worked on.
34:10
That's what they needed.
34:11
The offense is in a good place.
34:12
You don't have to worry about the offense.
34:14
It's the defense that's going to give that team problems, okay?
34:19
Now, moving on to the final division, the NFC West,
34:25
composed of the Niners, Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals.
34:29
Now, the Niners' team needs were cornerback,
34:32
interior offense and line, tackle, receiver, linebacker.
34:37
The Rams' team needs were detackle, edge, corner,
34:40
tackle, kicker.
34:42
For Seahawks, it was detackle, linebacker,
34:45
interior offense and line, edge, tight end.
34:47
And of course, for the Cardinals,
34:49
it was receiver, corner, edge, running back,
34:52
interior offense and line.
34:55
With the Seahawks, I decided to give them a B.
35:00
Yeah, yeah, I decided to give them a B.
35:05
And the reason why I gave them a B
35:06
is although they got Byron Murphy, who is regarded as,
35:10
if not the best defensive tackle in this,
35:14
in the draft class, he was considered
35:16
the second best defensive tackle in this draft class.
35:20
He is a good, he is a really good detackle, okay?
35:24
He is going into probably one of the best situations possible.
35:29
Okay, that defense is young, it's hungry,
35:32
and they got studs, okay?
35:33
When you have a Devon Weatherspoon,
35:35
when you have a Tyreek Wulin, okay?
35:37
When you now have a Byron Murphy,
35:42
you got Leonard Williams, you got pieces,
35:45
you got pieces that you can build around
35:47
and that you can really plug them in
35:50
and really see a difference, okay?
35:53
That's what you have in this draft.
35:57
But the only problems that I have with the remaining picks,
36:02
especially their six round picks,
36:06
DJ James, Michael Jarrell, and Satoha Lumea,
36:13
I don't know if they are Dev pieces,
36:16
I don't know if they're gonna be able
36:19
to make it to the roster, I just don't know,
36:21
honestly speaking here.
36:24
But, you know, time will tell once again,
36:27
and we'll just have to go from there.
36:29
Now, moving on to the Niners, yep, that's right folks,
36:33
the Niners, this is gonna be a big one,
36:37
this is gonna be a crazy one, okay?
36:40
So with them, they drafted Ricky Piersol,
36:42
Renardo Green, Dominic Pune, Malik Mustafa,
36:46
Isaac Garondo, Jacob Colvin, Jared Kingston,
36:51
Sanusi Kane, this is what I'll say, okay?
36:55
Me personally, I feel like the 49ers should have addressed
37:01
the defense more compared to the offense, okay?
37:04
The offense is in a good spot, it is, let's be real here.
37:08
You have George Kittle, Trent Williams,
37:10
Chris McCaffrey, Debo, Brandon I.U.A,
37:12
this person, that person, blah, blah, blah,
37:14
you got all these people, right?
37:16
But when you look at the defense,
37:17
the defense lost a lot of people,
37:20
whether to trades free agency,
37:23
or just being flat out released for cap purposes, okay?
37:27
That defense needs to get retooled and needed to,
37:31
honestly speaking here, when you release Eric Armstead,
37:36
and you don't really have a replacement for him in place,
37:41
when you lost Chase Young to free agency,
37:44
when you're losing people left and right
37:47
to free agency and to trades,
37:49
and so you have to retool that in the draft,
37:53
because if you don't, you're gonna be in a position
37:56
where you're gonna be trying to figure out
37:59
if you can pull off a trade later into the season,
38:02
just to try to see if you can make a strong push
38:06
to the playoffs and ultimately the Super Bowl.
38:10
Me personally, Ricky Perisall,
38:12
I definitely thought he was one of the best
38:14
receiver prospects, his ability to create separation,
38:19
his catching ability was just amazing.
38:22
He was an all around receiver at Florida.
38:27
However, I just felt like getting him in the first round
38:31
was definitely a reach, I really did,
38:35
but at the same time, as I've said before
38:38
in previous episodes, how are things going to go?
38:43
When you have a receiver room that is composed of,
38:48
Brandon Ieyuik, Debo Samuel, Juan Geniks,
38:50
now Ricky Perisall, that's gonna be weird,
38:54
and there's only one ball, only one ball, okay?
38:58
So someone is gonna get the short end of the stick
39:03
and on top of that, when you also have
39:06
the speculation going around that either Debo
39:09
might get traded or Brandon Ieyuik might get traded,
39:13
just things can get a little bit muddy.
39:16
So me personally, if I was their GM,
39:19
because I am a GM right now without a team,
39:22
if you're looking for a GM, I'm right here,
39:26
I just feel like going after Ricky Perisall
39:29
was definitely not the move.
39:30
Now, Ronaldo Green, that was a good pickup.
39:33
That was a really, really, really good pickup.
39:36
He is a feisty corner, can get the job done,
39:40
very physical, he was one of the few corners
39:44
that actually gave, it was either Brian Thomas
39:47
or Malik Neighbor's problems, okay?
39:50
If you haven't seen it, go on YouTube once again,
39:53
look it up and you will see it for yourself, okay?
39:58
Now, with them, of course, I gave them a B
40:00
if I didn't say that previously.
40:02
Now, moving on to the Rams, okay?
40:06
With the Rams, of course, I decided to give them a B as well.
40:10
With them, they drafted Jared Verst, Brandon Fisk,
40:14
Blake Korn, Cameron Kitchens,
40:17
Brennan Jackson, Tyler Davis, Joshua Cardi,
40:20
Jordan Wittington, Bo Lemmer, and KT Lepston, okay?
40:27
Honestly speaking here, folks,
40:29
the Rams are one of the very few teams
40:32
who they have produced great players later into the draft,
40:38
okay?
40:39
This is the first time that they have had a first round pick,
40:43
I think, since when the same year
40:45
that they drafted Jared Gough.
40:47
So that's a while, it's been a while.
40:51
Do I trust that a lot of these picks are going to hit
40:56
and they're going to be starters on the team?
40:58
Yes, for sure.
41:00
Is it gonna take time?
41:01
Of course, everything takes time,
41:03
but I do feel like players like a Bo Lemmer,
41:07
a Blake Gorm, a Jared Verst, a Brandon Fisk
41:10
are definitely in the right position possible.
41:13
Simply because the Rams, for the longest time,
41:17
they've been trying to sort of tap back into their run game
41:22
and I feel like going after someone like a Blake Korn
41:24
was definitely a really, really, really good pickup.
41:27
And then Jared Verst and Brandon Fisk,
41:30
continuing to beef up that defensive line,
41:32
which of course you want to do,
41:35
especially with the retirement of Aaron Donald as well.
41:40
So kudos to them.
41:41
Now, the final team, the Cardinals,
41:44
decided to give them an A.
41:46
Now, you're probably wondering,
41:48
why would you give them an A?
41:49
That's not fair just because they got Marvin Harrison,
41:52
Junior, that's not fair.
41:54
Relax, relax.
41:56
Okay, relax.
42:00
When you really break things down,
42:02
honestly speaking here,
42:03
Marvin Harrison, Junior, okay,
42:07
was a bona fide number one receiver
42:12
two or three years prior to him being eligible
42:15
to declare for the draft, okay?
42:17
Marvin Harrison, Junior,
42:20
and I'm not saying this just to say it,
42:22
but he is probably the best receiver
42:25
since Larry Fitzgerald, okay?
42:29
Collin Mary has been in need for a true, a true number one
42:34
receiver since going to the Cardinals, okay?
42:39
Now, the question is,
42:41
and it's a question that we probably all are probably asking,
42:46
how long is Marvin Harrison, Junior,
42:49
gonna stay with the Cardinals, okay?
42:51
Because let's be real here, folks,
42:53
the Cardinals are in a situation right now
42:57
where it's gonna take them a good,
42:59
you know, five to six years
43:02
to really get where they need to get.
43:04
It is.
43:05
And so is Marvin Harrison, Junior,
43:08
gonna wanna stay that long through this entire process?
43:12
Only time will tell,
43:14
but you know, Collin Mary now has a weapon.
43:19
When you look at the other draft picks that they made,
43:22
Darius Robinson and Max Milton,
43:25
both of those in my eyes,
43:28
I feel like those are gonna be day one starters,
43:30
especially Darius Robinson.
43:32
Darius Robinson was a very, very, very, very good
43:38
pass rusher coming out of Mizzou, okay?
43:41
Shout out to all the people at Mizzou.
43:45
You're talking about someone who, you know,
43:47
he has a technique in place,
43:48
he can get to the quarterback,
43:50
he has some speed to him,
43:52
he has some athleticism to him.
43:54
I would definitely be surprised
43:56
if he is not starting week one.
43:58
And then you have Max Milton,
44:00
a rangey corner who basically ran a 4-3
44:05
who can play both inside and outside, okay?
44:08
So honestly speaking here,
44:11
those first three picks,
44:12
Marvin Harrison, Junior, Darius Robinson and Max Milton,
44:15
my expectation is that they will be starting week one, okay?
44:19
There is little to no roadblocks
44:23
for them to not start a week one with the Cardinals.
44:27
And so I'm basically gonna end this episode now.
44:30
You guys are probably, you know, tired of hearing my voice,
44:33
but these are my grades for the NFC.
44:35
We're gonna be working on the AFC.
44:38
We're gonna try to see if we can shoot for
44:40
either tomorrow or Friday.
44:42
I'll keep you guys up to date with that.
44:46
But as always, thank you guys so much for listening
44:48
to another episode of the Football Junkies podcast.
44:52
If you would like to comment, let me know.
44:55
Let me know if you think your team, you know,
44:57
had a good grade, had a bad grade.
44:59
Let me know your thoughts about my grades.
45:02
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45:06
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45:07
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45:12
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45:15
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45:18
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45:21
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45:23
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45:26
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45:28
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45:33
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45:36
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45:39
I wouldn't be able to do this.
45:41
And as always, peace of love, I'm out.