Rookies That Will Make An INSTANT Impact | This Is Football

0:04 All right, Jordan Reed is here.

0:07 He is one of our favorite guests.

0:09 He might be our most common guest.

0:11 We need to do a ranking, a power ranking.

0:13 There's a bunch up there.

0:14 Uh, but he always does great draft work.

0:16 That's where we have him on.

0:17 What's going on, Bubba?

0:19 Hey, man.

0:19 Just trying to decompress.

0:21 The draft is over now and getting into 2027 stuff.

0:24 The way too early my draft already came out, so that's out of the way.

0:29 But, you know, we're going to spend some time with the family

0:30 here over the next month or so and then dig deep into 2027.

0:34 You know how it goes.

0:35 11 month process for 3 days.

0:37 People are really mad about the quarterbacks already.

0:41 Yeah.

0:41 For next year.

0:42 Yes.

0:43 That's that's all anybody really cares about

0:45 honestly with the way too early mod drafts,

0:47 especially what happened after last year with having

0:49 so many quarterbacks that went inside the top 10.

0:52 And well, we only got one in the top 10 this year

0:54 and he wasn't even in my way too early my draft last year.

0:57 So quarterback's always tricky.

0:59 You never know how that's going to go.

1:00 You You never do.

1:01 And also, you can't even

1:05 like Nate Ty, I don't know if you saw this.

1:06 I think he said CJ Carr was a third or fourth round pick.

1:10 Oh, really?

1:10 And Yeah.

1:12 Now, now now I mean like like like just looking at him now

1:16 and Notre Dame fans are killing him and it's like

1:19 there we just have way too much of a runway.

1:23 First of all, Nate Ty was on Mendoza really

1:26 early when he was coming out of Cal, okay?

1:28 So, like that's a feather in his cap.

1:30 Nate Ty knows ball, but also there's just too

1:33 many guy we I'm just so over I've been probably,

1:38 you know, we've been watching drafts for 25 years at this point.

1:41 I'm just so over like, oh, this next draft is going to be generational.

1:45 I've been hearing that my entire life.

1:47 Like Marvin Harrison is supposed to change the league and he hasn't changed.

1:52 I didn't want to curse on the show.

1:53 He hasn't changed much.

1:55 And so it's like I I'm done being angry about Draftseeker out

2:00 and I'm going to take Nate Ty's word for it over Irish Domer,

2:05 you know, Irish Domer, whatever whatever whatever you want to call it.

2:10 So that's where I'm at right now.

2:12 Um and listen, maybe CJ Carr is first round pick.

2:15 We we got a lot Well, we got a lot of golf left, as they say.

2:18 Yeah, I have a four to the Browns, so hopefully Four.

2:22 Ty has him as a fourth as fourth round.

2:24 You got him four overall.

2:26 Let's do it real quick.

2:26 So you have I'm Can I guess?

2:28 Can I guess?

2:28 I haven't seen it.

2:29 I haven't seen it.

2:31 Okay.

2:31 Uh Arch one.

2:33 Yep.

2:33 Okay.

2:33 Jeremiah Smith 2.

2:36 Yes.

2:35 Okay.

2:35 Dante Moore 3.

2:37 That is correct.

2:38 CJ Carr 4.

2:40 Dylan Stewart five.

2:42 NO.

2:42 AH.

2:44 NO.

2:44 I I GOT I got cocky.

2:46 I wasn't going to guess a five.

2:48 Hold on.

2:48 Uh Colin Simmons five.

2:51 No.

2:51 All right, I have to bleep bleep that out.

2:53 Uh, just tell me.

2:56 Honestly, I have TO LOOK BACK.

2:58 OH, [groaning]

2:59 BUT I think they I had I think Stewart was nine.

3:04 Okay.

3:03 And Simmons was 10 if I'm not mistaken.

3:06 It might have been 10 or 11.

3:06 One of those.

3:07 But yeah, I always like to push the quarterbacks up in the way too early

3:10 my drive just because it's all about I

3:12 use it as like to introduce names to people.

3:15 I've never Yeah.

3:16 Yeah.

3:17 I've never used it as saying, "Hey, yeah,

3:18 this guy's going to be bonafide." to the Raiders.

3:21 To the Raiders

3:23 and [clears throat] attack the tackles when I believe was after that.

3:25 Jordan Seat.

3:28 Mhm.

3:28 Once again, introducing names.

3:30 I don't agree.

3:30 I don't agree with you on Jordan.

3:31 Just introducing names.

3:32 I know.

3:33 I don't agree with you on Jordan Seat.

3:35 We'll play this game.

3:36 I'm going to do this real quick.

3:37 All right.

3:38 You have Colin Simmons 11.

3:42 Mhm.

3:42 Stone.

3:42 I think David Stone is too high.

3:44 Here's too high.

3:46 Jordan Jordan Seat.

3:47 It's your rankings.

3:48 Jordan Seat number seven's too high.

3:49 Once again, it's just an introduction of names.

3:51 David Stone 12's too high.

3:54 Uh Oklahoma State, Drew Mesa Maker, I think is probably too high.

3:58 14.

3:59 Hey, he's the wild card.

4:00 Don't count him out.

4:01 I know.

4:02 Um you have Damon Wilson and Ahmad Motton going 15 and 16.

4:07 The Miami Dline.

4:09 People want everybody's I may be low on Motton.

4:12 I love Motton.

4:13 He's a dude, man.

4:15 I love Motton.

4:17 Uh, we need we're going to need to see

4:18 more run defense progress out of Damon Wilson.

4:22 I'm not going to put it on my too high bucket because I'm a homer, but

4:28 he's on too high watch.

4:29 He's on my too high watch list.

4:34 Um, come on Lacy, man.

4:36 22.

4:37 Oh, I love him too.

4:38 I love him, too.

4:40 This running back class is funny.

4:41 You know what's funny?

4:42 You know what's funny, though?

4:43 I was about to say you got to be so

4:46 good to be a first round pick at running back.

4:49 Darian Price, you know, I don't I don't think I I think he's really good.

4:54 I just don't think he's generational.

4:56 And look at him sinking in the back of the first round.

4:58 So maybe maybe we're there.

4:59 Charlie Becker maybe too low at 23.

5:03 I'm watching.

5:04 I agree.

5:04 I'm watching that.

5:05 He was one that I tried to push up,

5:07 but I just couldn't find a spot that I really liked for a receiver.

5:11 I think Dallas is so perfect because of the picking situation.

5:14 So like you're mark that for receiver, but like that wide receiver three spot,

5:18 it wouldn't be surprised if it's Becker without question.

5:21 He's he's a really really good player.

5:22 You know what's interesting about Ryan Coleman Williams,

5:25 formerly Ryan Williams Alabama.

5:29 I agree.

5:29 31 is a good split the difference thing,

5:32 but I think he's either going to be like eighth or like 58.

5:37 There's no there's no in between.

5:39 You know what I'm saying?

5:39 like he's either going to get back right where I did

5:42 or he's just gonna KJ Balden 26 the Eagles classic Georgia pick to the Eagles.

5:47 Have I ever told you the KJ Balden uh recruiting story?

5:52 Yes, I believe we talked about it a couple of pods ago.

5:54 I tried tried try tried to thought about going

5:56 as recruitment was I drove past this is weird.

5:59 You can't be you can't be once you're if you don't have a thing to do,

6:04 you can't go to a kids announcement unless you have a work thing to do.

6:09 Otherwise, you're too into recruiting.

6:10 Um, all right.

6:11 Let's do what we're actually here to do.

6:13 Uh, which is not go through your mock draft

6:15 and say too high or too low on certain people.

6:18 Um, we're doing instant impact guys.

6:20 Guys who are going to help a team this year and listen,

6:25 there's a lot of them to varying degrees.

6:28 And I don't think that, you know,

6:31 we need to necessarily debate whether or not Fernando

6:33 Mendoza is going to have a huge impact year one.

6:35 This is about teams are going to be tangibly helped by their draft pick.

6:38 I do think we overrate guys impact in year one a lot where we just we kind

6:43 of pencil them in as um immediate impact guys

6:48 and normally it takes while especially at certain positions.

6:52 Um, like cornerback is typically one where

6:55 we overrate what a rookie quarterback can do.

6:57 We overrate rookie quarterbacks typically all the time.

7:00 Trench guys, I think after the first month tend

7:03 to tend to figure it out a little bit.

7:05 Um, but it's it's an interesting debate every

7:09 single year how much these guys these guys matter.

7:11 Um, and so uh you have the floor.

7:14 Your first instant impact guy, Jordan Reed, who?

7:17 Man, I got a lot written down right here.

7:19 There we go.

7:20 There was a lot of there was there was a lot of good spots

7:23 for rookies this year.

7:24 U my first one is Caleb DS to the Cowboys.

7:28 Uh I I think that's an obvious one.

7:30 And that's not to say that even though he

7:32 was my number two player on my big board,

7:34 I just think it's such a perfect match and Christian Parker's defense

7:37 and Dallas gave up so many explosive plays last year in the secondary,

7:41 their secondary was a mess last year.

7:42 Like miscommunications, coverage bus,

7:44 giving up explosive plays down the field, missed tackles everywhere.

7:48 I just think Caleb's floor and his communication ability

7:52 is going to limit a lot of that stuff.

7:53 Now, they're still going to give up big plays here

7:55 and there just because that's the nature of offenses in the NFL.

7:59 But the most underrated aspect about Caleb that I think going into the draft

8:03 process was he played in two of the most complex defenses in football history.

8:08 Nick Sabin's defense he mastered as a true freshman.

8:11 Matt Patricia's defense who comes from Bill Bich Disciple and Principles.

8:15 He mastered that one as well and played in so many different positions.

8:19 I just think it's such a great match

8:20 in that fangio scheme that Christian Parker is going to run.

8:23 He's not just going to play I know they're putting him at nickel primarily

8:27 or they're labeling him as that, but he's

8:29 going to be able to play strong safety.

8:30 They're going to blitz him off the edge.

8:31 He's going to play sparingly at free safety.

8:33 He's going to play so many different areas and his level and his leadership is

8:38 going to raise the floor of so many different people in that secondary as well.

8:42 So Caleb down to the Cowboys was an obvious one for me.

8:45 All right.

8:45 So he was on my list too.

8:47 I I got a bunch of these guys so I can I can pivot.

8:49 But I want to ask you this.

8:50 So I think there's a natural and they're

8:54 different players but there's a natural inclination to say

8:56 okay the Nicki Monroy effect you can play

8:59 Caleb DS a million different places on the field.

9:02 I think he had he had 43 snaps as like a defensive lineman last year,

9:05 like a legitimate defensive lineman.

9:07 And then obviously you you put him

9:09 at every level of the defense, all that stuff.

9:11 And so and then Kyle Hamilton is everywhere

9:13 for for the Ravens and and was as a young player.

9:15 So I'll put it to you.

9:16 Just having watched so many of his snaps,

9:19 what can he do like September of this year?

9:23 What can he be really good at?

9:24 Exact roles.

9:25 I know you mentioned the nickel thing, but like exact roles like, hey,

9:28 we're going to use him here and maybe he can't play every

9:30 level of the defense immediately on September 10th or whatever it is,

9:34 but like he can do three or four things like what's

9:36 he going to thrive at early people are going to notice.

9:39 I think just the splash plays with him as a nickel defender.

9:42 Um, and I think that's where they're primarily going to play him.

9:46 That's where you're going to see him the most just because

9:48 I don't think he's going to be able to hold up.

9:50 If you use him as a free safety, that's not really his game.

9:52 He could play there sparingly as I mentioned and then strong safety.

9:55 They're going to use him there quite a bit as well.

9:57 But as that nickel overhang guy,

9:59 you're going to see him really physical when teams try to run at him.

10:02 He's really good at disengaging.

10:03 And then he's a great tackler as well, which is a big problem in Dallas.

10:07 One of they had some of the highest miss tackle rate

10:10 and explosive plays given up rate last year among all defenses.

10:13 So just the ability to finish plays as a solo tackler,

10:18 I think that's something where he's going to shine.

10:20 He's going to be able to take the ball away quite a bit as well.

10:22 He's really good at forcing fumbles and then he has good ball skills as well.

10:26 Even though the interception totals weren't super high,

10:29 I think when he gets the opportunity,

10:30 he's going to be able to create some turnover worthy plays, too.

10:33 So, there's going to be a lot of splash plays with him early on.

10:36 I think that's where he's going to shine primarily as a nickel, though.

10:38 All right, love that.

10:40 Great one.

10:40 That was my number one, too.

10:41 I also just think he changes that Cowboys defense.

10:44 And that's that's a take I've been giving on TV over and over again

10:46 is they need to be average in order for them to compete because their offense

10:50 is so good with Pickkins and Lamb and Dak and and and I think

10:53 Shottenheimimer actually did a really nice job

10:55 in year one which which surprised me.

10:58 You just need you have Caleb DS, you have Quinnon Williams,

11:00 you have Rashan Garry, you're getting to average.

11:03 And Caleb DS in that secondary,

11:05 he is an eraser at every level of the defense to the point that he can he

11:09 can tangibly help the passing game in the way

11:12 that and maybe they couldn't got him at 12,

11:15 but if they get Monsour Delane, okay, yeah,

11:17 you take out one side of the field as a quarterback,

11:19 whatever, but you can't move him around.

11:21 You can't play him at linebacker.

11:22 You can't tangibly change the passing game

11:25 in the way that that that the Caleb DS can.

11:28 Year one.

11:28 So, I'm I'm extremely high on him.

11:30 Um, I want to go off the board a little bit

11:34 because I think we're we'll do a bunch of high draft picks.

11:37 We'll probably do some late first round guys.

11:39 I want to talk about Kaden McDonald who slips to 36.

11:44 And what I like about this pick, Jordan,

11:47 he's just a huge run stuffer and plays just die when you go near him.

11:54 And what I like about it is the the knock on him.

11:57 The reason he drops a 36 is he doesn't get interior pressure very much.

12:00 First of all, that can come, especially the way he's an athlete.

12:03 But also, guess what on that Texans defense, you don't need it.

12:07 They're in the backfield every single play.

12:09 He's just a huge guy you can play week one.

12:12 Just spread your arms.

12:14 Hey, running backs, come on in here.

12:16 And he doesn't have to be great because of the talent on that defense,

12:18 the guys you can cover on the back end.

12:20 He can come along slowly, but I actually think he can do one thing really well.

12:24 Instant impact on that Texans defense.

12:27 I think that the other thing about it is from a team building standpoint,

12:30 the best teams don't stop when they have a problem solved.

12:34 And I think everybody would say, "Oh, the Texans," and by the way,

12:36 they got a great guard Rout from Georgia Tech in the first round,

12:40 but they solve that problem in the interior

12:41 offensive line and they say, "You know what?

12:43 Our defensive line, even though we have the Monstars, let's just keep adding.

12:46 Let's just keep adding." And so I love that strategy from Nick

12:49 Cacerio and I think that the Texans defense getting even better.

12:53 I call it building a strength on the strength.

12:55 Their defensive line was already really good along the edges,

12:58 but if there was one area on the defense where they were

13:01 a little bit deficient and would it be defensive tackle and I think

13:05 Ken McDonald is exactly what they needed and I think he's really

13:09 underrated as a uh person that finishes plays behind the line of scrimmage.

13:13 He had nine and I think nine tackles for loss last year.

13:15 So he's not just this big space eater that's just freeing everybody up.

13:20 He's not only a space eater, but he's finishing plays behind the line as well.

13:23 So one thing I love about the Texans defense is that anybody

13:27 that they put on it just immediately gravitates towards their identity.

13:31 And I think a great example of this is Kayn Bulock.

13:35 Kaylin Bulock was one of the worst safety tacklers

13:37 that I've ever seen like that I've ever graded.

13:39 Like he just completely avoided it.

13:41 but he gets drafted by the Texans and like he's a great tackler now.

13:46 So, I just think the identity of the team,

13:48 it really helps rookies evolve and they

13:51 really take on the identity of the defense

13:53 and we got to interview him for ESPN radio and he was great.

13:56 Um, you know, everybody knows that he thought he was going to go on day one,

13:59 showed up to the draft, didn't go,

14:01 stayed there for day two just because he wanted to shake

14:03 the commissioner's hand and hold up the jersey that everybody does.

14:06 He was great.

14:07 But he said, "The one thing that I know that I'm going to be able to do right

14:10 away is free up those dogs off the edge."

14:12 And he was talking about Denil Hunter and Will Anderson.

14:15 Like his face lit up so much when being able to talk about both of those guys.

14:19 So I think you're right as far as you're maybe

14:21 not going to feel his presence in the stat sheet,

14:24 but when you turn on the tape and just

14:26 see how he's freeing up everybody on that defense,

14:28 just like what he did at Ohio State,

14:30 I think he's going to have a very similar effect on that Texas defense.

14:33 You know, it's funny.

14:33 I was saying this the other day watching the playoffs

14:36 and they were talking about block shots and they were saying whoever

14:40 the analyst was was saying everybody looks at block shot numbers

14:44 and they don't look at the most important thing by far.

14:47 It's not whether or not you get three blocks or four blocks.

14:50 It's whether or not and a lot of this has to do with fouling and not fouling

14:55 but it's whether or not your offense just completely

14:59 changes because you you're going to get your shot blocked.

15:02 And I think a lot of that were like run stuffing DTS where it's like it's not

15:05 about whether or not they get like uh

15:07 the you know PFF does stops and stuff like that.

15:10 Well, guess what?

15:10 It's a lot of great run stuffing tackles that get

15:13 no stops because people just don't run in between the tackles.

15:17 They just don't do it.

15:17 They say, "All right,

15:18 we're going to go do something else." And I think that that is what happens.

15:21 you talking about stat sheets like that's you just

15:24 see it on tape where it's like hey teams just

15:26 aren't going to run at you if you have

15:27 an elite defensive you know you see that with uh

15:30 with Carolina with Derek Brown guys just don't want

15:32 to go anywhere near him um and that's that's

15:35 the better uh mark than any sort of analytics

15:39 or or stats when you talk about run stuffing defenders.

15:42 So that's where we're at.

15:44 Um all right uh who's your next one?

15:48 Um so you went off the grid a little bit.

15:50 I'll go off the grid on this one.

15:52 And this team's not gonna be very good next year.

15:55 Um, I am going to go with Jacob Rodriguez, the Miami Dolphins.

15:59 I don't know if you had that one.

16:00 Mine.

16:00 Okay.

16:01 Good.

16:01 Good.

16:01 Go ahead.

16:02 I don't know if you had that one.

16:03 I did not.

16:04 I did not.

16:04 Okay.

16:05 I was I was going to do another team that was going to be bad next year.

16:08 That's why I was worried you were going to steal mine.

16:10 Go ahead.

16:11 Now, the impact is not going to be seen in the win loss record,

16:14 but for a team that's trying to set

16:16 a quote unquote culture or establish their identity,

16:19 I think Jacob Rodriguez is perfect for what Miami is trying to do,

16:22 just because great story of him being a former

16:24 quarterback at UVA and then coming over to Texas Tech,

16:27 transitioning to linebacker.

16:29 Everybody says he's the heartbeat of that defense.

16:32 And I think that's exactly what Miami needs.

16:33 They haven't had that guy in the middle

16:35 for a very long time outside of Jordan Brooks, who's a really good player.

16:38 We'll see if he's even even there.

16:40 I'm having my doubts be even is even going to be there during week one.

16:44 But with Jacob Rodriguez, I just think he's perfect for what they

16:47 needed just because they're trying to establish that identity.

16:50 They're a long way away from being who

16:52 they want to be from a roster rebuild standpoint.

16:55 But when you insert somebody like Jacob Rodriguez,

16:57 he's going to set the standard right away.

17:00 You know, he's going to work his tail off to be the best player that he can be.

17:03 He's going to make those splash plays.

17:04 It seemed like he had a forced fumble

17:06 every single week of the season this past season.

17:08 And so he's going to make those splash plays

17:09 that we talked about a little bit earlier with Caleb DS.

17:12 And even though they don't have the personnel

17:14 that they want right now from a roster rebuild perspective,

17:18 you want to see some positive moments

17:19 from the players that you did draft this past season.

17:22 When we're talking about those big moments and we're making

17:24 a highlight reel of the 2026 Miami Dolphins on defense,

17:27 I think you're going to see him flash quite a bit.

17:30 Is there a I mean it's an I guess it's considered a non-p premium position.

17:36 And it drives me nuts.

17:38 Right after he gets picked, every draft analyst on earth says,

17:42 "This is this is Zack Thomas.

17:43 The Dolphins got their new Zack Thomas." [laughter]

17:46 And I go nuts and I just go, "Well, if Zack Tom I heard once some somebody

17:50 said he's a more athletic Zack Thomas." Well,

17:54 Zack [clears throat] Thomas jacket.

17:56 Yeah, he's an old jacket.

17:58 And a more athletic Zack Thomas is like maybe the best linebacker in history.

18:02 Okay.

18:03 So, let's let's relax here.

18:06 But I guess the question is like

18:09 why why is did the league let him get to 43 if he is that level of player?

18:16 Is that the position?

18:17 Is that how they view it?

18:18 Or does he actually have holes in his game that we haven't really talked about?

18:23 Well, I think a lot of people knew that the run

18:25 on linebackers was going to happen at some point in the second round.

18:28 So he really was at really the starting

18:30 point of where that run on linebackers really started.

18:33 So I think that was a big reason a lot of people were kind of waiting

18:35 around to see when that linebacker run

18:38 really started and it really started with him.

18:40 So if the Dolphins didn't take him,

18:42 there's no doubt in my mind that he would have

18:43 went probably really quickly after that just because I think like

18:46 CJ Allen went a couple a few picks after him

18:48 and Anthony Hill went a few picks after that as well.

18:51 So that run on linebacker started.

18:53 Yeah, Troder.

18:54 Yeah, he was another one that was in that mix as well.

18:56 So everybody knew that run on linebackers was going

18:59 to start somewhere in that 40 to 45 overall pick range.

19:03 It's just a matter of when exactly it was going to start.

19:06 So I mean with him I think I think he's a terrific player though.

19:09 Man,

19:09 there was a kid in that linebacker run who was the first

19:13 player off the board I did not know who he was.

19:16 Do would you like to guess who it was?

19:19 Um was it the Jaguars pick?

19:21 No, it was Jake Gold from Cincinnati.

19:24 I was I was watching I was watching I

19:26 was asking video and I announc I said hand up he's a 51

19:31 I do this young man is not on my radar he went to the perfect place

19:35 for where he needs to develop with Flores

19:37 just because he actually played on the FCS level he was a defensive end then

19:41 he transitioned to Cincinnati transition to offball

19:44 linebacker 6'4 250 pounds really good athlete

19:48 Flores is probably going to use them interchangeably

19:50 between defensive end and linebacker I'm interested

19:53 to see exactly where he does play primarily.

19:56 Um, but I think he went to the perfect defense to maximize his skill set.

19:59 So, he's one I definitely think he's going to know

20:02 within like the second or third year of his career.

20:04 He's now more famous for my book because I don't know who he [laughter] is.

20:08 He's a good player.

20:09 I'm looking I want to see the next guy that I didn't that I didn't know.

20:13 Romelo Height I definitely knew.

20:14 All right, I'm I'm going down.

20:16 AJ Holly I definitely knew because he was in the portal.

20:18 Zack Branch, Jacobe Lane, Regis.

20:22 Oh, I didn't know who Ted Hurst was from Georgia State 84.

20:26 Oh, man.

20:26 Yeah, he was really good at the Senior Bowl.

20:28 I wasn't there.

20:30 There you go.

20:31 Maybe I'll go next year.

20:32 I got I gotta coach you up somewhere next year.

20:33 Yeah.

20:33 No, I don't know.

20:34 51 or 84.

20:36 Coach, that's on me.

20:37 That's on me.

20:38 I don't know.

20:38 51 or 84.

20:39 Next year.

20:40 Um, wasn't there a guy?

20:43 Do you ever seen the clip from years ago where where they

20:46 took a guy and no one knew who he was except Mel Kyper?

20:50 Do you know this?

20:50 They didn't have a tape on him.

20:51 You ever seen that clip?

20:52 I gotta find it.

20:53 It was basically like the truck didn't know, you know, whatever.

20:57 This is like 20 years ago.

20:59 Mel Kyper just goes, "All right, 64 240." Like, it was amazing.

21:02 It was like 2003.

21:04 I I I I gotta look this up because I'm sure somebody else remembers it.

21:07 And Kyper was just on it.

21:08 Um, all right.

21:10 So, I like that one.

21:12 Let me give you uh let me give you another uh good player on a bad team.

21:15 Casey Conception.

21:17 Here's a guy that got open all the time with So, there was a lot of debate.

21:23 I'm cur we did not talk about this.

21:25 There was a lot of debate about Mai Lemon versus Casey

21:28 Conception because they were going to be drafted at similar spots.

21:31 They're both speedy guys.

21:35 The tiebreaker for me,

21:36 especially when you consider they both did really well downfield,

21:39 the tiebreaker to me is that Conception had worse quarterback play,

21:43 far less consistent quarterback play.

21:45 And I don't maybe that's unfair to to Lemon,

21:49 but they they they if you just look at their downfield stats,

21:52 you're talking about and again they're different players.

21:53 I'm talking about who who should come off the board first.

21:56 I think Inception is going to be awesome.

21:58 Great year at Texas A&M.

22:00 Uh dominated at at NC State in every level of the field as a freshman.

22:04 Had a down season in the second year.

22:06 Uh was the bell in the ball in the portal this time last year 14 months ago.

22:10 I just think on a Browns team that's going to need completions.

22:14 And and by the way, if Shidar Sanders is the guy, his one problem,

22:19 his biggest problem last year was he held on the ball too long.

22:21 Just dump it off to Casey Conception and let him go down the field.

22:24 Maybe it's not going to be the 40 yard throws immediately.

22:26 Although he, by the way, shooter did show that he can he can do that.

22:30 But it's also with Conception, I think he can be a volume shooter,

22:33 and I think he's going to have instant impact, instant success.

22:36 I mean, that's what he was at Texas A&M.

22:38 They used him.

22:38 He was a three-level threat.

22:39 That's what I like to call it.

22:41 He can run really good deep.

22:42 Uh he's really speedy.

22:43 I mean, watch the South Carolina game.

22:45 He torched CE the entire game.

22:48 There's plenty of others that you could check out as well.

22:50 He was really good in.

22:51 But where he's different from Lemon to me is just the after the catch dynamics.

22:56 I think he's more dynamic of an athlete.

22:58 And that just comes from his ability as a return specialist,

23:01 and both of them have experience as far as being return specialists,

23:04 but I just think he's a little bit looser and dynamic than what Lemon was.

23:07 was and Lemon's a terrific player, but I just think KC brings a different type

23:11 of explosion than what Limon did consistently to the table.

23:15 And that's what the Browns need, man.

23:16 Like, they need somebody that can create those five yard dump

23:20 off passes that Shador loves to throw into 60 yard touchdowns.

23:23 And that's what he was able to do consistently for Marcel Reed,

23:26 who, you know, I mean, we could be honest,

23:28 he was really inaccurate this past season,

23:30 but his saving grace was the catch radius of Casey Conception.

23:34 Does he need to clean up some of the concentration drops?

23:38 Mario Craver as well.

23:39 Very similar.

23:40 We'll be talking about him plenty in this upcoming draft as well.

23:42 I hate I honestly hated leaving him out of my way too early mod.

23:46 But with KC, he just brings a different type of dynamic ability

23:49 and that's exactly what they don't have in their receiving room right now.

23:53 And the only two weapons that they have are Harold Fannon and Jerry Judy.

23:57 So Casey brings a different type of dynamic.

23:59 And I mean I like Denzel Boston.

24:00 I think he was a great addition to the room.

24:02 I like the Browns draft overall.

24:03 I thought they did a hell of a job.

24:06 Real quick, Nate Boracher, Texas&M,

24:09 we didn't mention him with the with the uh the Texas&M targets.

24:16 Mhm.

24:16 Is he good?

24:18 He's solid.

24:19 I mean, I think I had uh I think I had a fourth round on him.

24:24 But so here's the thing about the Rams, the Jaguars, the whole less knee tree.

24:30 Their draft board is always going to be different.

24:32 It was always what we used to say about, you know,

24:33 Bichc and them only having 75 players on their draft board.

24:38 The Rams and the Jaguars, they're very unconventional.

24:41 They don't send anybody to Allstar games, the combine,

24:44 everything is just um data entry with them

24:48 and just going off of feel a lot with them.

24:51 There's not a lot of eye test with them.

24:53 That's not what Lesnie has traditionally believed in and that's

24:55 trickled down to everybody that's been under his umbrella.

24:59 So with them, their board is always going to be considered

25:02 a lot of reaches and going against the consensus board because one,

25:06 they're only going to have 100 to 125 guys on their board.

25:10 And historically, the Rams under Lesne needed have always drafted

25:14 players that are ready to come in and play right away.

25:17 And that's exactly what the Jaguars have done under James Gladstone.

25:20 And Lesne has continued to do that as well.

25:22 So that's why we're always talking about their rookie classes

25:25 making instant impacts every year just because they take these players.

25:29 They avoid projects and they take these players

25:31 that are ready to play right away.

25:32 And that's what if you go back and look at the Jaguars draft from last year

25:35 and this year they just take these players that are ready to step in right away.

25:39 even if even if it's a round or two earlier than

25:42 what the consensus board or what mem fielder whoever had them graded.

25:47 It's I I said that about the Ner's draft in particular all the criticism it got

25:51 is the NerS are trying to address different

25:55 needs in the draft than the Browns are, right?

25:58 Like I mean that's it or the Dolphins are.

26:00 They're just they're trying they're they're

26:02 the Niner and that's actually why I was

26:03 disappointed in the Ty Simpson pick for the Rams is like it's at 13.

26:09 Go win a Don't get me started on that.

26:11 Go win a Super Bowl with pick 13.

26:13 Go ahead.

26:14 And like the Niners, say what you will,

26:16 but it's clear that they're trying to win

26:18 a Super Bowl with their with their draft picks.

26:20 And so it's a different it's a different need.

26:23 Um and that's just kind of how I would I would couch that.

26:25 All right.

26:26 Uh give me some of the other guys that we didn't name.

26:29 All right.

26:29 So, let me pull up my list.

26:30 Sorry.

26:31 Um, another was Sunny Styles in Washington.

26:36 My favorite player in the draft.

26:36 I think he's end up being the best player in the draft.

26:39 I wouldn't be surprised.

26:40 He would be my front runner for defensive rookie

26:42 of the year if I had a way too early prediction right now.

26:46 Um, I mean, I've said this plenty of times on this podcast.

26:50 In my eight years of doing this professionally,

26:52 he's one of the best prospects I've seen up close,

26:55 just like from a stature standpoint, passing the eye test.

26:59 uh football IQ coach is speaking very highly of him.

27:02 You ask every single player at Ohio State who was one player I

27:06 think I hate I can't give credit to whoever said this but in there

27:09 was one team that asked every single Ohio State defender not named Sunny Styles

27:13 if they could take one player off that defense with them as their teammate.

27:17 All of them listed Sunny Styles.

27:19 They said Sunny Styles.

27:19 So that just goes to show you his football character, his leadership as well.

27:24 And this is what Washington needed in the middle of the defense.

27:26 They needed that young guy that they can build around under Donte

27:29 Jones who I have a world of respect for a Brian Flores disciple.

27:33 He needed that guy in the middle and just building around Sunny Styles.

27:36 I think that's he's going to be a superstar in Washington.

27:39 Totally agree.

27:40 What the most fascinating thing to me is

27:43 he grew into being a linebacker and yet he's so physical he didn't miss a tackle

27:47 in the regular season in the Big 10 championship game.

27:49 Like that just says it all about what

27:52 not only did his size increase, but the physicality was always there.

27:55 I I just I just think the world of them and he's able to play

27:57 in space and also we know what kind of value those guys can have.

28:02 Um it's we talked about being an eraser

28:04 in the passing game if you can get to every

28:06 level of the field and just and just wreak

28:09 havoc and you can take away the underneath stuff.

28:11 you can take away a lot of the stuff

28:12 that these offenses want to do like that, you know,

28:15 the the uh um Mina used to joke that the best part of the 49ers

28:20 brilliance is that the best guy to take away Kyle Shanahan is Fred

28:23 Warner and he has him and it's like get get you a Fred Warner

28:27 type who can get there and just erase what those offenses want to do.

28:30 And I think you're going to see that pretty

28:31 early partially because he played in Ohio State,

28:34 he played in a ton of big games, ton of big reps.

28:35 It's not like he's got to go up a level or anything.

28:38 Also, the athleticism is such.

28:41 I mean, if you look at it,

28:42 his his athletic testing numbers are more similar to Julio

28:44 Jones and Calvin Johnson than they are other linebackers.

28:47 So, he's not going to be out of place.

28:48 He's going to be the best athlete on the on the Commander defense day one.

28:52 He's going to be the best athlete on the field most

28:54 of the time if you just look at the testing numbers.

28:56 So, I I sky's the limit for him in year one.

28:59 And I mean, Adam Peters was in the building when they drafted Fred Warner,

29:03 so he knows exactly what it looks like and he wanted that on his defense.

29:06 All right, that's it.

29:07 Thank you, Jordan.

29:08 We will see you soon.

29:09 I'm sure you're one of our favorite guests.

29:10 Appreciate you.

29:11 Talk to you soon.

29:12 Check out that mock from a couple weeks ago and then check

29:14 out the mocks in late summer when college football revs up again.

29:17 I can't wait.