Combine: Day One Breakdown and ESPNs Field Yates | Ticket to the Draft Podcast | Washington Commanders - podcast episode cover

Combine: Day One Breakdown and ESPNs Field Yates | Ticket to the Draft Podcast | Washington Commanders

Mar 01, 202458 min
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Episode description

Logan Paulsen is at the NFL Combine and gives instant reactions to all the action from day one in Indianapolis. Plus, Field Yates from ESPNs First Draft Podcast with Mel Kiper Jr. joins the show to pitch who he would take at #2 overall. Host: Logan Paulsen Guest: Field Yates Producer: Jason Johnson

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Welcome into the Ticket of the Draft. On today's episode, Man, we got some excitings up. We are at the combine. It's late, we're recording this, but this is the most up to date, most comprehensive combine recap of day one that you're going to get at the drill work. We're excited. We got linebackers, defensive line, defensive ends. They did a

great job. We go through everybody, give you names. You know guys are performingly well and guys you might not have heard of, guys in the later rounds that you can keep your eye on at home. Maybe you check out the film on your own, do something like that. And we've got a very very special guests Field the Eights of the First Draft podcast with mel kiper Junior is on and he tells us who he thinks we should take at number two. That all starts right out.

Welcome into the Ticket of the Draft, presented by A Sekik, the primary ticketing partner of the Washington Commanders. I am Logan Paulson here with just a guy Jason sitting in his hotel room. Because we love providing draft content at the highest level. What time is it, Jason?

Speaker 2

It is currently nine to nineteen pm.

Speaker 1

And where do we just come from.

Speaker 2

We just came from the combine. Every single drill.

Speaker 1

We watched it, every single drill.

Speaker 3

And I just want to say I'm not salty about it. But there were a lot of people that were media that was here, that was producing content, some podcasts, radio hits, a lot of them talking about the combine that did not enter the combine to watch any drills or stay the entire time. People were funneling out through the day. But because we love our commanders fans, you want to give them the absolute best. I made Logan stay in his seat for the entire time. It started at one o'clock.

Speaker 1

It did one o'clock, and we were there until nine o'clock.

Speaker 2

Five.

Speaker 3

Yeah, we got back to the hotel at nine and here we go. So we're going to be we may be the last podcast out today, but we're going to be the one, the first one that have complete coverage of what happened in the combine Day one.

Speaker 2

So well, if I want to talk about something before we get into that, Okay, what do we got?

Speaker 3

Okay, something that came out It seems like a long time ago because it was earlier today, but big news about the combine. Yeah, all right, So Adam Schefter put out a tweet. Here was his tweet. Yeah, he said, attending his first combine as the Washington Commander's owner, Josh Harris has sat and taken a part of each of the six interviews that the team has conducted with the top quarterback prospects in this draft. Most owners don't attend

the combine. Harris is not only in Indianapolis, but he's a part of the quarterback interview process.

Speaker 2

That was from Adam Schefter this morning.

Speaker 1

That language by Adam Schefter is like a little bit. I think it's like it's trying to paint a picture that I'm not sure he knows is accurate. Like he's in the meeting room. Is he asking questions? Like that's my thing. Like if he's just in there, I have no problem with that. If if he's just kind of facilitating, then if he's just in there observing the interview, getting a feel for the player, I think that's one hundred

percent right. Like this is his first year as an owner, first year head coach, first year GM, not first year, but you know what I'm saying. Further Commanders, those guys are in their.

Speaker 2

First time, the first time they're all together.

Speaker 1

And I want to kind of see the process in acquiring the biggest piece of the franchise moving forward, which is the quarterback. And so I don't have any problem with him being in there. Obviously, if he comes don draft Day and is like Dan, I think you should take so and so, because I think he interviewed well, I think that's an overstep. But I don't think Josh Harris has done anything in this process to indicate that he would go in that direction.

Speaker 2

Yeah, he's even said things that he's not going to do that, correct.

Speaker 3

He just wants to be involved. I have a question for you, Yeah, would it be different if that was Magic Johnson?

Speaker 1

I think fans would probably differently because he's a sports guy, right, He's got about He's played sports, he's coach teams, he's he's been more hands on than Josh Harris. And I think Josh Harris does have a very wide array of experience with regards to sports. But I think the perception is that he's a little bit farther removed, which I think is probably how he would like it to be perceived,

because I think that's what he wants. But I do think if it's if it's Magic Johnson, it probably feels a little bit differently.

Speaker 3

Yeah, it just comes across. But I want, I don't know, I love it. I like that he's in the room.

Speaker 1

I mean and again like this, and it to me it's probably not it's there's probably different ways to do it. You know, there's certain guys that want to be in

the room. But I think it's like if I was a young man, if I was Drake May, if I was Jaye Daniels, if I was you know, Panix, if I was Nicks, if it was any one of these guys and the owners in there, I understand that this is a very serious opportunity, right, and that they're taking it very seriously, and that I need to make sure that I am presenting myself in a way it represents the franchise correctly. And I think it adds a little bit of gravitas, a little bit of impact to the meeting,

which I think is important. And I think, you know is that does every team do it that way? No? But is it okay that they're doing in that way? Is it okay that he gets to be there and be a part of that interview process and hear what the coaches are asking and get to understand and know that young man. I think that's entirely appropriate.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 3

Absolutely, And I also would say I'm not saying Adam Schefter is wrong any stretch, but what you said, like he worded it, interesting.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it was kind of an interesting We were walking.

Speaker 3

Over today to the stadium. We saw a Cowboys bus go by.

Speaker 1

Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 2

That looked an awful lot like something Jerry Jones would arrive in.

Speaker 1

And Jerry Jones is always he's always at the combine. It was the bus was here last year of us.

Speaker 3

The notion that owners aren't there and this is a unique thing we've seen with our eyeballs there and likes, it's just not true. Owners are involved.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and again like this is the given the precedent that's here, I think it's it's totally fine that he's involved. It's just like you don't want him involved, I guess, in making decisions, but I think here, I think he can form an opinion and give his thoughts on leadership. I think that's another thing too. Man. He's been a very successful developer of businesses and teams, and I think he understands and has a good feel for what leadership looks like. So I if I'm Dan and I say, hey, man,

what's you think of that guy? This is all well, I think how he commanded the room in a way that I liked. I take that input well because I think that that is he's had experience in that area.

Speaker 3

So yeah, absolutely, And speaking of quarterbacks, because that was what they said with six quarterbacks. Speaking of quarterbacks, we have a special guest on this podcast, so everybody listening, stick around.

Speaker 2

It will be at the end.

Speaker 1

It is Field Dates Field Yates from ESPN, which is very exciting.

Speaker 3

From the ESPN podcast First Gist Draft with with Mail Kuiper Junior.

Speaker 1

Which is really exciting. If you guys are into draft stuff, which we obviously are, it's very exciting to have a guy with that connection. And again, I don't know if you've listened to First Draft, but he does a great job with his own takes and has some really interesting stuff to say about one quarterback in particular and gives a very fleshed out thought on it.

Speaker 3

For Yeah, so stick around to hear that absolutely all right, before we begin breaking down our prospects that we watched today, which was the defensive line and linebacker. Yep, that's who went on the first day. You're gonna use some terms. We're going to use some terms that we're just gonna say. We don't know if everybody understands what we mean by them, and they're kind of universal in the scouting world. But just a guy, like before I started this process, I

didn't know what they meant. Sure, like I guessed at what they meant, but I want you to kind of tell me what these terms mean that we're going to.

Speaker 2

Be using throughout the week. Yeah, let's do it all right, So I'm gonna start off with it. You're gonna hear a lot that guy's twitched up twitchy. What does that mean?

Speaker 1

So twitschy is an interesting term because it kind of is a catch all for some terms we're gonna describe later. It just means that they are like wired in an explosive or athletically explosive way. So a twitched up guy is gonna have a nice vertical jump, a nice broad jump. He's going to have a nice five ten yard split, excuse me. In the drill work, he's going to come in and out of his breaks quickly. He's got a snap, a decisiveness, a dexterity that is characterized by the explosiveness

of his movement which shows up. And so you'll Sirills has that guy is super twitchy. And it's just basically saying like, it's kind of I'm trying to think, like, you know, Santana Moss is twitched up. He's wired in a very specific athletic.

Speaker 2

Of great comp for that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, So that's that's one. And I think it's it's a term that I use a lot because I like when you know it. It's like when you see it, you say it. And that's kind of how I feel about that term because it catches kind of a movement style that I think is important and it can be applied to defensive lineman receivers offensive lineman too. And you're looking, and I personally am looking for guys that have a certain element of twitch to them, fast twitch, muscle fibers

and other thing that you might hear. So that's kind of what you're looking.

Speaker 2

It's a lot in their hips, their legs.

Speaker 1

Legs for sure, like yeah, legs hips and really just like like how they like how it's to me, it's almost synonymous with explosiveness, but there's a more of a speed component to it.

Speaker 3

I would say, yeah, which is great. You said explosiveness, because that's the next one. We're gonna say explosiveness and burst. Yeah, we're gonna say that. So what's the difference between twitchy? Right, move that into explosiveness and then a burst. So that's got a good burst.

Speaker 1

So I think twitchy kind of applies to I don't want to say all movement, but you can be a twitchy runner. You can be twitchy kind of with your chain of direction. That's kind of how I characterize it. And burst is kind of how you start. And so there are guys that are more bursty, like coming out of their break, coming out of like of a cut, just exploding out with powerful, big steps and the stride. Lenk's going to look a little bit different, right, like

a powerful athlete. And I'm trying to think of a good comparison, like Miles Garrett for example. You know, he doesn't have the greatest foot speed of all time, but he kind of takes these big explosive strides and he covers all this ground. To me, that's an explosive guy as opposed to a twitchy guy. You know, I mentioned Tanna being twitchy, kind of being able to pick those

feet up put them down real quick. Like it's almost like the ground's got a little bit of a trampoline in it when Tanna runs, right, when Miles Garrett runs, it's like he's pushing a truck, but he's moving it really fast, right, these big, powerful, explosive steps, And that to me is more of like that kind of what was the term we use there? It's like get off burst bursts is what we're talking about there.

Speaker 2

All right, So bursts an explosive kind of the same.

Speaker 1

Very similar, And I think one of the things like, you know, when you talk to scouts and when you read their reports, like you have to find ways to say different stuff, say the same thing differently, so like it's boring, right, And it's kind of like, so, for example, you're writing a report, you know, we we've done our little things on defensive lineman and it's very perfect that we're doing it today, and you kind of look at

player X and you say, oh, he's twitchy. But then you look at player why and it's like he's twitchy, but it's in a different way. So how do I come How do I convey that that he's I like his athleticism, but it's different. So might say twitchy for this guy. He's bursty or explosive, or he's powerful for this other athlete. Right, And you got to kind of think aways again to categorize into your mind where it's not like if you say everybody's twitchy, you kind of

lose them in the sauce, right. You kind of got to give them different descriptive terms. And that's part of this process is kind of fit figuring out what is the best way to characterize the guy. You know, Like like Robinson from Missouri, what's his first name, Darius Darius Robinson, Right, you know, not the most twitchy guy, but is a very powerful athlete, a very explosive athlete, and that shows

up in his play style. And so like that's how I remember what he is, right because on the film, I say, oh, he's got great hands, he's got strong, heavy hands. Right. It's not that he's dexterous with his hands, right, It's not that he's very accurate that they that's like he's throwing bricks at you with those hands. And again those subtle adjectives kind of help paint a picture of who the player is compared to, you know, the kid

from udub the defense trice, thank you yes. So it's it's just a nice way to kind of again put them in boxes because they're both power players, but there's a different style to their power. For example, Yeah.

Speaker 3

And then one that we're going to use a lot today because the nature of these positions with defensive line is going to be.

Speaker 2

Bend yeah versus stiff.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

When you say, oh, he's got nice bend to him, he's bendy.

Speaker 1

What do you mean? So for me, bendy it comes in like multiple stages, right, But usually you're talking about bend around the ankles, So like how do they kind of how do they move their center of mass from their feet, so like it looks like in some wayss like they're almost leaning against a wall because they've got these really nice bendy ankles. And if you got bendy ankles,

you need to have kind of bendy hips. And if there's a stiffness, you'll see kind of a segmented movement, right, so like your back will move separately from your legs and when you're really bendy, they kind of move in unison to accommodate the movement you're describing.

Speaker 3

Right, it's almost like dancing bendy person normally a good dancer, the stiff person not. Their shoulders are connected to their hips. They just do the.

Speaker 1

Yeah, we're going to talk about like Chop Robinson two a little bit later, and like CHOP's a extremely explosive athlete. I think probably wins the combine for today, you know, in terms of his explosive measurements, but when he does some of the field work, you see some of the physical restriction that he has, specifically in his upper back, and you say, oh, that limits his ability to be an elite bender as opposed to some other guys we're going to talk about as well.

Speaker 3

Well, let's jump right into it. You just mentioned Chop Robinson. Let's go defensive ends. Let's start with defensive ends. Yes, they were the second group to go today, but they're the most fun to talk about.

Speaker 1

They are very fun at talking about.

Speaker 3

So you mentioned Chop Robinson. Yes, so Chop Robinson ran in the second group. Okay, so there's a weird thing that happened. They were the third group was supposed to be linebackers, but Dallas Turner ended up being in that group, same with Chris Braswell. This is weird, which is weird because they're definitely ends like sedges. Yeah, yeah, edges. So I'm not sure why they ran with linebackers and did

linebacker drills. But if you chop, Robinson was the fastest forty time in the second group with all the ends or edges with a four to four eight, But Dallas Turner ran in the third group with a four to four six. So those were the two fastest forty times.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and we knew both those guys were gonna test really well, like all you know, like when you watch and I think this is the important thing about the combin understand like when you watch Dallas Turner, when you chop Robinson, you understand that they're like explosive physical freaks, right, And one of the things that comes out of today

is you see some again Chop. I think he jumped really well, he ran really well, his ten yards split was great, but then when you get to the field work, you see some of that restriction and then you compare that athlete, for example, to a guy like Lattu, who was incredibly bendy, like when they do they time the figure eight drill they do, which is where they put these two big hula hoops on the ground right that are about you know, probably five yards across, fifteen yards

in diameter, and they run circles around them, and so.

Speaker 3

They have to grab a pick it up, set it down on the other end while they're running, so they're bending down, up and down like a roller coaster.

Speaker 1

And they did. So they did a great thing in terms of like the broadcast where they had a lot to doing his rep and he doesn't lose speed. He kind of maintains about ten miles an hour throughout the thing. Then they have Chop come up and Chop while having a better total miles per.

Speaker 2

Hour twelve or thirteen or something.

Speaker 1

Well on the current on the turns drops into like that six range right, And it's because to me, he doesn't have that elite bend to his game.

Speaker 2

That last does slow down the getaway.

Speaker 1

And it's the same thing with like Jared Verse, who again, like Jared Vers, absolutely murdered today. And I think it's interesting. I think it's very one of the things when you watch the drills like one after another, Like the varsity football players, those kind of first three round guys kind of come to the forefront like they test the best,

they move the best in the drills. But one of the great things about getting these guys back to back to back to back is you can say Jared Verse explosively dynamic, right, and that shows up on his film, like he's this great power profile rushier, heavy hats, heavy hands. But I've always like, when you watch this film, has

a hard time turn in the edge. So when you watch some of the fieldwork stuff today, for example, you watch the figure eight drill, you watch the bag drills, you see some of that restriction in his hips, and it poses a question, I think when you watch him despite all these tremendous explosive measurements, where it's like, will he be able to turn the corner consistently consistently against an NFL offensive lineman, because that NFL offensive lineman is

going to eat that bull rush like if you only got one trick, even if it's a good trick, they're going to figure out real quick. And are you too stiff to work to the perimeter? When you watch a Lot two again, didn't test physically as well. Right, he ran like a four to six five. He jumped okay, then he jump thirty five inches something like that. Right, do you have it in front of you.

Speaker 2

I don't have to jump. He ran a four six four and then a four to sixty five.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and so like that for him is excellent because everyone thought he was going to be this kind of subpar athlete. But I think for what you're working on and what you're looking for there is it kind of fits with how the with his with his skill set, which is this dynamic, super bendy, super skilled pass rusher.

Speaker 3

So let's use Chop Robinson, who ran the second fastest time with a four to four eight, which is very good. With Leyatu Latu ran up four to sixty four. Now the talk is Leatu Latou will probably go higher, maybe even in the top ten, or Chop may fall to the second round. He could be a target for the commanders in the second round.

Speaker 2

Ye, So wait a minute.

Speaker 3

If this guy is super explosive, as you were saying in Chop Robinson and runs a four four eight and just flies, why is he.

Speaker 2

Falling to the second round.

Speaker 3

And then you have a guy like layoutu latu, who's running a four six four four six pedestrian not bad, but pedestrian.

Speaker 2

But he's gonna go top ten. Wait why?

Speaker 1

Yeah? So I think that's a really good question. And edge rushers are probably, honestly, of anybody in the combine, the easiest to evaluate because there's a very simple formula to follow. One is do they meet athletic thresholds? So like, for example, with lat two, like, that's not the fastest forty of all time, but well within kind of the normal variants you see for the position, right, Like, for example, there's guys that are run slower than them. Those guys are gonna run faster than him.

Speaker 2

He's kind of like he's right in the middle of that belly.

Speaker 1

You're back in the middle, right, That's okay. Right. The other element of defensive endplay, and in addition to meeting athletic thresholds is production on the field. It is incredibly The correlation between production and college and production in the

NFL given athletic thresholds is incredibly high. So a good example is Walker from who got d justed by Jackson Bill who played at Georgia last year two years ago, was the first was the first pick overall over Adon Hutchinson, right, he was the freakiest guy ever at the Combine and he ran a four or five at two seventy as

el drill was insane, His vertical jump was insane. But his college production wasn't there, right, because there is a an art to understanding kind of the positioning and leverage of you as a pass rusher in relation to the offensive lineman, despite my size, despite my length, And that's why you see guys who are freakish of proportion and athletic profile not be productive in the NFL. So a Lot Too has maybe the best production film of anybody

in this draft class. So he just needed to kind of come in at a very minor be here, Does that make sense what I'm saying? Yeah, And he met that physically. His film's excellent, so put that in there. He answers all the questions. He's probably a top ten pick, right, maybe top fifteen, the top fifteen for sure.

Speaker 3

The other thing that the Combine does is these drills that they run after their measurables help you support what you're seeing on film. So we'd chop, for example, very explosive in the measurables. Right, and then like you said, with the hoop drill, the figure eight drill, slowing down, speeding up. Right, So when you look at his film, you say he's got one trick. It is a fantastic trick.

But he a fast and furious hit zero to sixty as fast as you can live in his life, a quarter million a quarter mile at a time.

Speaker 1

Right.

Speaker 3

But if he can't use that burst and explosiveness, he doesn't have enough bend and he doesn't have the hand movements to get around and make something else happen. Where's leati Allatu? His film shows, Yeah, he's not going to be as exposed as I drop off the line, but his hands are like Jean Claude van dam Ye right, he's just and he's got all these different pass rush moves. He keeps maintaining his speed. He can super bad.

Speaker 2

You said it.

Speaker 3

He looks like water running over a book, right, Just how smooth he is. And so that's why he's going higher than Chop because he doesn't have these measurables, but good lord, he can make. He has so many weapons in his arsenal that it's hard for an offensive lineman to figure out what this guy is gonna do.

Speaker 1

He definitely has the artistry of the position, you know, and I think that's like what makes him special. And then again you compare him to Jared Verse, who again, Jared Verse, I think is a very productive college player, Like he checks that box and physically does some other stuff.

But there when you watch the drill work and you want when you watch the film that there is a restriction in his hips that make you say, can he kind of progress to this phase two of being a pass rusher and then to kind of bring it for a circle? You compare that to Dallas Turner, and Dallas Turner is I think probably he probably tested the best

of any defensive end. I mean he ran the four four four seven, four, four to six, He had a forty inch vertical, He had a ten eight broad jump he had I think it was a one to five

seven ten, like absolutely murdered the combine physically. The thing about him that's fun and I think it kind of interesting, is that his film supports that athletic profile and it supports the bend and then you watch the drill work today and the drill work says, Okay, that's who he is on film, so like, there's no question, and I.

Speaker 2

Think like supplementing what you're seeing.

Speaker 1

So I think like in terms of the evaluation, given what we saw today, right, like, Dallas Turner is who he thought he was. He was going to be a freak. He's bendy, he's athletic, he's very raw from a technical standpoint, but he's such a freak athlete that he was able to be productive in college show. The production elements there a lot too, again kind of compared to the other guys, kind of a medium level athlete, but has the artistry in the and the kind of genes si quab the

position to kind of move him up boards. And then that's why today, honestly, i'd probably bump Jared versus down one right, just because the tightness and restriction you saw, despite the athletic measurables, make me uncertain about his progression. And then you compare that to Chopp again, who has kind of average college production with an elite athletic profile,

and to me that adds at of doubt. Given the history of evaluating the defensive end edg rusher position, he's going to be kind of maybe into the first round, high second round type of pick and I think that's totally justified based on this performance today, coupling that with his tape.

Speaker 3

Yeah, and that's the point of the combes, right. The combine is not going to move somebody into a second round or first It's not going to well it might, but it's not.

Speaker 2

Going to be a major mover.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

Right. What I mean by that is you're not suddenly going to be a mid second rounder and then move into the top ten based on a combine. It's supposed to support what you saw on film and be like, Okay, this validates my scouting report, or something surprises you and you say, oh, I need to go back and see if I missed something on him.

Speaker 2

That's the point of the combine.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Like A really good example of that, I think is the defensive tackle. You know, Makai Wingo from LSU, Like he crushed the combat today. He looked great in all the drills and you're like, man, did I I miss this guy? Like what's going on? And then you go back and you watch a couple of games in between when the defensive tackles leaving the edg rushers come.

Speaker 3

Out here, which is what Logan did by the way. That's how devoted he is to this. We were in break from one group to the other and he goes that Wingo Kid's good, pulls out his phone, pulls up the tape, and just starts watching tape on the.

Speaker 1

Gay Yeah, and so that is so. Then I thought, man, I missed this guy. Didn't It didn't hit him my evaluation or whatever. And you see that all of the athletic stuff that you think would make him special at LSU, he didn't have the the artistry that a guy like Klaijah Kansi had last year, where he's got these incredible hands and feel for his distance between the rusher. He's just an athletic guy with good bend that hasn't really

put all together yet. So it was it was so again it made me go back with this specific player and say that I mess this up. And then you say, oh no, like, actually, my film was right. You see some of the movement skills, but the consistency of that artistry element isn't there for him in the way that it is for the other players we just described.

Speaker 3

Yeah, And I want to be clear, it's not like we're saying that the people that test well here it's like, oh, okay, well if.

Speaker 2

The film doesn't support it, then this doesn't matter at all. We forget it.

Speaker 3

No, Like a guy like Chop Robinson, like you're saying the productions gup, but you like looking at what he's got there, and you can say, if we get a good coach with him, if we get a good program, now we have intangibles or not intangibles, actual things we can measure that. Like you we can't teach you can't teach his speed at his size, So you can say, well, we can teach him a couple of pass rush moves, we can teach him how to be dissiple, or just.

Speaker 1

How we're going to utilize him like on stunts and loops and all this kind of stuff. And so again, I still think CHOP's a good player. It's just the other players we talked about are really good, right, like because they.

Speaker 2

Have those things and they've shown production.

Speaker 1

That's exactly right. And again, other guy, like another guy that didn't test super well today was Darius Robinson from Missouri didn't run fast, right, But I think the other thing is like I didn't expect him to run fast. Dude's two hundred ninety pounds.

Speaker 2

And that's not the style he plays.

Speaker 1

He's not expecting. He plays with this tremendous power. So when he does the gauntlet drill and he's running through the bags like it's like he's throwing, like you know, George Forman Haymakers, because that's like, what do you expect from him.

Speaker 2

He's got sledgehammers, arms, He's.

Speaker 1

Got good enough movement skills. He's he jumped thirty five inches, so obviously there's an explosive element to his game that didn't show up in the forty. And the other thing about the forty that gets a little bit dice. He is guys like track guys run forty's better. So that's why you have those other jump measurements to kind of say, hey, didn't he didn't show his explosiveness in the forty. But he jumped thirty five inches, he had a plus ten

foot broad He's an explosive athlete. It just didn't show up in this specific level of testing. So again, like that's where you kind of weigh in. He was very productive, showed these explosive measurements were good. He is the style player in terms of drill work that we saw on tape, So it doesn't really change my evaluation too much. I hope other people change their evaluation because I hope he slides, and hope he's there at thirty six when Washington fis

because I think that'd be awesome. Yes, but I don't think after today, I don't think it changes anything in terms of his Heay, he stays played.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, we know what he is. He's a good football.

Speaker 3

Player, absolutely, and uh okay, So we've talked about a lot of the top end guys, first round guys, and like you said, guys that may not be there all right, So what I want you to do is a couple of guys that the combine made you say what we saw today? You go, oh, raise an eyebrow. Maybe that's a guy the Commanders can target even in these later rounds.

Because that's the thing about the combine is like there could be fourth round, fifth round talent here that the combines make you say, oh, okay, there's something I can work with here.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so one hundred percent. Then I think the guy that I just kept talking about every time he was up was Marshawn Keelan from Western Michigan. And he's a guy that I liked at the Senior Bowl. I liked his tape a lot, very raw from a production standpoint, but plays with a tremendous motor and again didn't test crazy. I think he ran like a four to seven at

two seventy five. So big guy, but the way he bent and moved and the athleticism that he showed, like they threw him a pass today and he jumped up and caught it with one hand, and you're like, this guy's two seventy five, and so just that kind of again, the non explosive athleticism, the kind of that subjective, the bend, the sinking of the hips, the change of direction, the kind of dexterity with your feet. I just was like, man, this guy just keeps flashing and showing up at a

really really highlight high level. Mohammad Karma, I think, is how you say his name from Colorado State is a guy that shows tremendous burst when he's rushing the passer at Colorado State showed tremendous birth burst. Here ran a four or five eight. I think it was the third fastest forty times.

Speaker 2

He even bumped it down a four or five seven.

Speaker 1

Yes, he was cooking and it was It's awesome to watch that guy because again, smaller school guy showed something on film that gets you excited and what the thing I love is. For example, there's a guy from from Kansas, I'm not gonna say his name, who everyone thought that was going to measure and test. Is this crazy explosive pass rusher didn't quite get it done today, but Comra comes out and does it and says, Oh, all that stuff I saw on film that burst here it is jumped,

well moved. Well, love that. And I think the other one is the guy from Texas Tech. What's his name, Miles Cole, And Miles Cole is a as project as projects come. But he's six ' five, he's two to eighty, he's got thirty seven inch arms, and he ran a four to six eight. So you just can't like talk about stuff you can't coach and people you might want to take a flyer on. Again. His tape's okay, it's fine. He plays like a five technique in college, so he plays head up over the over the of the tackle,

which is a tough spot to be productive fun. I'm sure if you gave him a simpler set of instructions and said, just run as hard as you can at this offensive lineman and get a sack. You might get more production from him, But the way he moved for that size, I'm like that talk about stuff you can't coach that. It for a value pick, like in the fourth their fifth round. You're just like, it's going to be too good to pass up because there's only a couple of people on the face of the earth that

look like that. Now, is he going to develop? I don't know, but I'm gonna well, that's why he's a fourth letter, But I'm gonna bet on that. But I'm gonna bet on that guy in terms of a guy that you could say, hey, let's let's get him in the building with a good d line coach, in the right system, the right culture, and let him develop and become something special.

Speaker 2

All right, anybody uh in the linebacker crew.

Speaker 1

The linebacker crew, let's start tackle or are we just talking?

Speaker 3

Yeah?

Speaker 2

Yeah, let's talk detackle.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

So I was gonna say linebacker only because we had the weird thing with a Turner.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah. Obviously Turner crushed it like he was fantastic and braswell. But I think Braswell is going to be a late first early secondround pick. So I don't think he helped to hurt himself. I think he's exactly what you thought. I think Turner made an argue for argument for himself today to be the first defensive player selected. We'll see what tyran Onnold has to say about it. And there was a defensive tackle I thought who also made a really good claim.

Speaker 2

Well, let's talk about detach. Who is that?

Speaker 1

So the guy that I thought had had the day on the defensive tackle side was Byron Murphy, the defensive tackle from Texas. And again, this is one of those guys much like much like Dallas Turner, who when you watch the film, is dynamic. He's a dynamic defensive tackle right. He's explosive, he's a penetrator. He's got a great feel for when to sink against pressure. He looks different than

anybody else when he's running drills. He's kind of this big muscular dude, but he's got these athletic kind of feet and he's just he's a special He's a special guy. And he showed that he's a special athlete today. And then when you get him in all the drill work, the way he bends, the way he moves, the way he changes direction, You're just like you're just a cut above. And I think like that's the type of guy that

becomes the first defensive player selected. But you know, other guy, Brandon Fist from Florida State ran the fastest forty at two hundred and ninety five pounds. I think he around a four seven five or four seven four, and again that's supported by the film. A guy whose motor never shuts off. Explosive, dynamic, aggressive, relentless, and that shows up and everything he does. He was always finishing farther than he should, smacking the bags. Just the footwork and the

athleticism was off the chart. Now his production was a little bit down this year at Florida State, but I think after seeing these measurables and a guy that works that way, you kind of want to bet on him and say that's the guy you want to bet on it. And then the guy that nobody was really talking about was Chris Jenkins from Michigan. I think he ran a four nine four eight something four eight nine and he's the son of an NFL guy. Four nine one, Thank you for nine to one and he's a big hoss,

big back, big arms, run stopper. But the way he ran and the way he moved, You're like, this guy has the potential to be something more, And I think that's pretty exciting for a.

Speaker 3

Little bit of context, just a little bit. A sub five is pretty darning for the size of these guys. So I know, like four nine to one, like some people go, but for this because they're not they don't see right, these are big boys, dud big.

Speaker 1

Dudes, and so yeah, so for those numbers, and they all tested extremely well. So those kind of feel all of a sudden like those will be your first three defensive tackles. There's other guys we can talk about. I think you want to talk about your guy probably demandre sweat right.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I'll get him out of the way. Yeah I can't. You said it once.

Speaker 3

It's like when you see something that shouldn't be you can't not look at him.

Speaker 2

So yet, he's huge.

Speaker 3

We've talked about him in the Senior Bowl. Stuff you can eat. We walked into the stadium. He's what one hundred and fifty yards away from where we are, and you can immediately tell that's him.

Speaker 1

He's the biggest, biggest dude out there.

Speaker 2

And he weighed in.

Speaker 3

He didn't weigh in ato Senior Bowl, which is wild when he already when he was listed on his college site as three sixty five, right, and he's like, I'm not weighing in because you all just guess, just guess what it is. But he weighed in here, and my guy put in work because he weighed in at three sixty six, only one pound over.

Speaker 1

Yea.

Speaker 2

Then what they said on his sheet, which I think and he.

Speaker 3

To be honest, he looked a little thinner, which is why so I love that.

Speaker 2

Though I love it.

Speaker 3

He was like, look, I got from the Senior Bowl until the Combine. I need to put him work to weigh a certain way. And that shows me me Jack Jason, with my analysis, that is just this guy just decided to lose weight and stuck to it.

Speaker 1

And that's a hard thing to do for a big guy.

Speaker 2

Yeah, for a big guy.

Speaker 1

But I think like to just kind of flush that out because I think he might be a first round player. And again because when you're three sixty six and the way we're going to use a couple of words here for how powerful he is, for how much Bendy has, like it's pretty spectacular, and then again that's supported by his film. And the only concern I have is conditioning.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's it. That's what it is. There's no doubt about it. He went, he ran his forty, He ran a five to seven, which is good for three hundred and sixty.

Speaker 3

Six pounds when he's done that, just yeah, you needed you could tell that was that took a lot out of him, which is fine because that's his superpower is being as explosive and as bendy as he is for his size.

Speaker 2

Absolutely right, that's a superpower.

Speaker 3

And he's going to make a team very happy.

Speaker 1

It's a specific role.

Speaker 2

It's a role he's gonna have. So maybe his first round, I don't know.

Speaker 3

I think because of his conditioning, he can't be out there all the time.

Speaker 2

I feel like if you ask him to lose.

Speaker 3

More weight than play is superpower, right, So he is what he is. He's a run stopper. He's he's gonna clog something up and he's gonna come in every now and then. So maybe I think I think he'll probably slide just because he's going to be a very neut roll.

Speaker 2

But he's going to be very good at that neut role.

Speaker 1

No, I totally agree. So I think those those are probably your four I don't know winners for today, I think. And then there's a couple guys that I think deserve shoutouts as kind of athletic freaks, and you want like project guys, maybe third, fourth, fifth round guys. Ruke a row Is. I think that's how you say the same No, you want a good book John. Yeah. Right, there's another Rorow there, but.

Speaker 2

He is tough to say, but he.

Speaker 1

Is very raw, very technically raw. But in terms of athletic profile, athletic measurables, he's a guy that you're like, yes, like long arms, ran fast, good ten yard split, explosive measurables at a guy at close to three hundred pounds deserves a shout out. Another guy that people will probably talk about is Mason Smith. And so Rouke is a very interesting prospect because I think you see that athletic profile on film. Right. Yes, Mason Smith is a huge

man from LSU. He's six six, I think he's three twenty, and he ran pretty good. I think he ran he ran a five flat forty like really moving, like big, big old hoss. But the problem is the film does not support that athleticism. So someone will take a shot on him because he's big and he moves well.

Speaker 2

He's got those unteachable things.

Speaker 1

And he's got small hands. That's the other thing you got to watch out.

Speaker 2

I don't know why does that matter.

Speaker 1

Well, so like for me, like when I look at when I when I think about offensive lineman, when I think about defensive linemen, and just strength athletes in general. So like Strongman, you watch guys on you know TV. One of the number one drivers for strength and play strength is script strength. And big hands have big grip, and so you know if you've got those eleven inch hands and you can just rip someone's chest plate off

because your hands are so strong. And again he had eight inch hands, which doesn't seem right eight and a half or something like that. Nine and chance for such a big man. So that's a little bit of a red flag and the weirding in the weird scouting world that I live in. But I think the bigger red flag is that the film does not support the powerful file that you saw today. And I've watched that a couple of times, So I don't know if that's coaching.

I don't know if that's just not him. He's you know, is coming off an injury in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2

But had a good day, but had a.

Speaker 1

Really good day, So someone will take a shot. Gabe hal ran Fast is tall, little stiff, but I think if you can get him in a role and feel good about it from Baylor, that's a guy that kind of, you know, I would circle. And then I already mentioned our guy what's his name, Mackay Wingo had a fantastic day, but again the film not quite there for me on him, but again a guy that deserves a shout out as having those athletic traits that gets you excited.

Speaker 2

All right, let's do linebackers.

Speaker 1

Linebackers, So linebacker is tough man because the linebacker to me is kind of like evaluating quarterbacks. And so what I mean by that is this is a position that you need a certain physical threshold, no doubt. But the problem is so much of what you're going to be asked to do at the NFL level is mental. So the interview process is so incredibly critical for this, and we don't have access to that information. So I think this group tested in general better than I thought they would.

But you need to be you have a guy who's smart and kind of can do do the things above the neck. Like I was talking to a scout last night when I was out to dinner, and one of the things he said is like linebacker, he said, he said, linebackers like quarterback. And I don't physical stuff's important, but I need to know you've got the mental side, and

we just don't have access to that. So guys that did well obviously, Wilson Wilson from NC State absolutely, Peyton Wilson, Peyton Wilson from MC State absolutely crushed the combine today. He I think he ran a four point four four or four point four three four four three, which is crazy, and that shows up, that shows up on film, like that dude is running down receivers, he's running down running backs, he's getting the sacks, like he.

Speaker 2

Sub four six for this group is good. So he's four four to three is great.

Speaker 1

And he's like two thirty. I think he's six ' four, Like he's a big old dude. And you know, the one criticism I've having him on film as a think sometimes he relies too much on his athleticism and his injury history is extensive, but I think given the injury, his history, and given how I've performed today, given the film, he feels like a guy that if Washington was looking for a kind of a difference maker at linebacker, I could see, honestly them taking him with one of those second round packs.

Speaker 2

It seems like he'd be good you said for the Will, right.

Speaker 1

I think so linebacker spot, because he's got like a tendency not to like take on blocks. His arms are a little short, they're thirty in charms, and again, this is one of those things that you know, football scouting nerds freak out about. Is the reason it's important is that when I'm going up against an offensive lineman who's got thirty four inch arms, and he can just envelop

me kind of regardless of my arm length. So he has a hard time, So he tries to jump around stuff a little bit more than I was attacking.

Speaker 2

He's trying to shuffle and juke his way around correct.

Speaker 1

But if he's playing WILL linebacker, that's okay because they don't have to take on blocks the same way as like a MIC or a SAM linebacker, so.

Speaker 3

He would just real quickly Will means weeks, So like a Mike means.

Speaker 2

Middle and a Sam means strong side. Yes, just real quickly is yes, so like tchnology that's.

Speaker 1

Yeah, like a will linebacker is going to be he's going to out leverage the first double team in most fronts, so it's easier for him to take on the block because he's just forcing it. Back to the mic, A SAM or a mic, you have to take on a double team where you are going to be out leveraged, and therefore the collision of the block and block destructions a little bit more important. Yes, So he's a guy

that absolutely crushed today. You want to talk about your guy, my guy, So like I was going to talk about have two of them, I got two guys, but I'm gonna talk about Jeremiah Trotter real quick. And he did not run today, but I thought looked good moving around and I wish, yeah, he didn't do it to do his forty, but he did his five ten five. I don't know if he jumped either, but I think on

the field he looked good. And the thing about him that's frustrating for me is he's obviously a smart football player, like in terms of having it above the neck. I think he's got it, but there is a minimum athletic threshold for the position. And I just wanted, I really wanted, of all the people, I wanted to see him run because I question how fast he is. I think he's again a very smart guy. He's got that box checked.

But can he run with Christian McCaffrey. Can he do some of these things he's going to be asked to do. Can he carry that number three vertical over the middle of the field like Lendon Fletcher always complains about that he had to do with Hazlet here. Yeah, I don't know, and again like he'll do it at his problem. London was very fast. London ran up four to three. But I think that's a guy that you kind of say,

you know, like where are you physically? And so yeah, that was another guy that was kind of in the top, the guy from North Carolina. Where's his name? I can't find him on here, but he is a guy that I thought did have a nice job today, did a good good job. And when he talked to scouts, yeah great, that's right. When he talked to scouts, a lot of them like him better than Wilson, just as a point of comparison because he takes on blocks a little bit

more physically. So those are kind of the three top guys from the group that weren't edge rushers, so not Dallas Turner and not braswell.

Speaker 2

So you had two, I did have two.

Speaker 1

I did have two favorites.

Speaker 2

And it was weird so.

Speaker 3

How you were saying it, Like you didn't look at their number anything, Like you didn't see their number, their name wasn't up on the screen. You were just like, Oh, that's yeah, that's I'll say. I'll say it for you. That was John Tree Hunter from Georgia.

Speaker 1

State, Georgia State.

Speaker 3

And you're like, oh, that's that's Hunter. That's because you could tell by the way he was moving you liked it.

Speaker 1

And I did like it. And I think the thing about it is it wasn't I liked, you know, I think he ran. I don't know if he ran even but like in the drill work, in the drill work, he's not slipping, he's not putting his hands down, he's not taking wasted steps. And with linebacker, you know, we talked about bending a lot with defensive line edge rushers and explosiveness. I just felt like he was always in control, but he was always moving fast, you know, And I

think that's something that I like to see in my linebacker. Right, He's got to be smart, he's got to be dexterous. And I think when I watched his film at Georgia State, I liked it, and so it was nice to see that that athletic profile, that kind of composure and awareness of your feet showed up for me and in the drill work. And then the other guy that I liked a lot today was Liam Eichenberger. Not Liam, his bunny, Tommy, his brother's Liam, Tommy Tommy, and Tommy is a guy

that didn't run. I have some questions about his athleticism, but everything looks smooth for him, much like it did for Hunter. And I just I like the way he caught the football. I like the way he did his drops. I like the way he moved, and that to me, also shows up on tape. And so if you're looking for a linebacker's linebacker and I've made this mistake the past couple of years, so maybe I'm over correcting. Just to be totally candid, is I've gone after athletic traits

at the position a little bit more. I thought that's more important. But when you look at the guys that have been successful, the Nick Boltons of the world, I forget the guy's name who but he plays in New Orleans at the moment, they're not these athletic freaks freaks, but they're smart, physical football players. And I think both of those guys kind of meet that billing. So if you want a linebacker that's gonna pop up maybe later in the draft that I think could add a lot

of value. And I'm talking later. I think I think i can Burg will probably be a third or fourth round pick, and then Hunter, I think will probably be like a fifth, sixth, seventh round guy. But I think a guy that has an athletic profile that adds. Another guy that I also wanted to bring up was the guy from you Dub Gosh, what's his name? You Dub, you Dub, you Dub. He's got some crazy name. Can you find it for me, Jason, because you're a beast.

But test it off the charts, like test it absolutely, like off the charge forty inch vertical around four to five was awesome, But in some of the drill work.

Speaker 2

Looks I am talupa fatigue the other one.

Speaker 1

There's two of them. Now there's two you Dub guys. But but test it off the charts, say yes, say go for it. That's why I don't want to say.

Speaker 2

It Edo farm yep Yla Fashio.

Speaker 1

I don't know if that's right, but that's close enough.

Speaker 2

We have our pronunciation.

Speaker 1

You dub guy tested crazy. But sometimes you don't see that athlete on the field, and that's something that always makes me a little bit nervous about the combine. And then linebacker. To me, it's like quarterback. It's really really hard hard to find the right guy. But those are some names I just wanted to kind of put on fans radar as guys that I liked, some guys I didn't like, but the athletic profile works. So just to kind of give everybody some food for thought there on that position.

Speaker 3

Okay, I can't find his name on the pronunciation sheet right now. I promise he needs his flowers. So next next podcast tomorrow, I will I will make sure that we shout him out and get his name right.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Sorry, that was the last minute add there for me.

Speaker 2

Yeah, no no problem, no problem, looking all right. So we did it.

Speaker 1

We did it.

Speaker 2

That was today. That happened up everything we watched.

Speaker 1

Also, who is your guy? You had a guy, the Notre Dame guy with the with the cornrows.

Speaker 2

Yeah, he was pretty good.

Speaker 1

He's big guy, big old his name, very smooth, Yeah, very smooth. One. Let's see, I got it right here, let's go.

Speaker 2

But his film doesn't support it.

Speaker 1

Doesn't support it. But again, right, but but he looked good to long arms, thirty four inch arms, ran well, looked super smooth in all the drills. But yeah, that's another guy there, go right here, So Maurice say that, but he's the other guy. That's four guys.

Speaker 2

There so many names, so many, so many.

Speaker 3

Yeah, that's the thing is like it's hard for me, who's like, this is my first time getting involved in this process with you of trying to remember these are like three hundred guys to try and.

Speaker 1

To recall them on I think there's three hundred and tough.

Speaker 3

It's so I try and keep my notes organized to try and find it really quickly, because these guys deserve it. They're they're yeah, they're doing a good job. They deserve to be called out correctly, and so that's a mistake on my end. But I'll make sure that we get flowers for that guy from you dub tomorrow.

Speaker 2

I okay, we did it.

Speaker 3

Tomorrow, we're going to have another pod. It's uh, we're gonna have some fasts forty times tomorrow because it's going to be it's the dba's, the DB's and then the tight ends your group, right, So expect perfect evaluations from Logan Paulson on the tight ends. But yeah, tomorrow is gonna be great. There are a ton of DB's, a ton of them. I think it's like the record for the most dbs and invited out to.

Speaker 1

The car and we and just to be perfectly candid, I've had a hard time getting through all the DB's because we don't have access to all. They're all twenty two because we've had to kind of beg, borrow and steal to get the limited stuff we've had. So we're into our best tomorrow. Give you the best insight we can on the drills and give our insight on the guys, but just know we're behind the apall a little bit there.

Speaker 2

Yeah, we're super I'm super excited for it. There are a lot of good.

Speaker 3

Corners, I think, Yeah, and this is really going to help with us, like what you said, like with finding film and whatnot and supplementing the film. This is going to help us like pick some people out and prioritize them for who we need to get jump on the.

Speaker 1

Kind of like we did with the linebackers too. Like those names that kind of pop up, you're like, oh, this guy should go back and watch him. Like that's why another reason why I enjoy this process.

Speaker 2

So our fans should be doing this too.

Speaker 3

If they're watching the combine one there and some guy looks good to them and they haven't heard that name before.

Speaker 1

I watch them.

Speaker 3

Go YouTube that guy, see his highlights, see is some of his every snap or whatever, and like that's how you learn who these potential guys in the fourth, fifth, sixth round are gonna be. Because the national media picks about one hundred people and one hundred guys and that's who they talk about. So you're not gonna hear these names later. But trust your eyes. See somebody on TV you like runs a good forty time, looks good in the drills.

Speaker 1

Check it out.

Speaker 3

Go check it out for yourself, right, Like, trust me, you're most people's eyes that watch football, Like you may not know how to articulate it, but you're gonna see it like this, see it.

Speaker 1

This is something that I think is really interesting is when you most scouts don't know football the way coaches know football, but they know athletic traits, they know those things. Then you say this will work on some level, and you can tell almost right away when you're watching somebody Like I was talking to a scout. He's like, it takes about forty plays, And I think that's true. If you're really dialed in on it, it'll take about forty plays. You'll have a good feel for the guy. I like

to watch more than that, obviously. I like to watch a couple of games on each guy, just to give them the benefit of the doubt. But it's it's it's crazy how quickly be like, I don't really like this guy, right, like this one thing this guy does, and.

Speaker 3

Yeah, trust yourself, you don't. You're exactly right. You don't have to be a savant, yeah, to be able to look and be like, hey, that looked explosive.

Speaker 1

That's right there.

Speaker 3

Okay, So we had field Yates for PM. He's coming up right now. He tells us who he thinks and gives some pretty good reasons.

Speaker 1

His argument was very compelled, very.

Speaker 3

Compelling on who we should take at number two? That's coming up, win.

Speaker 1

Right out, all right. Very special guests joined the podcast today Field Yates, host of the First Draft Podcast, and man like I feel like I'm sitting next to Royalty a little bit here because you get to work with the guy, right, mel Kiper Junior.

Speaker 4

Right, I've got the Kuiper Deyodor around right?

Speaker 1

Yeah? How is that working for you? How is it working with him? Like? What's his what's like? What is that show like with him best?

Speaker 4

I'm not trying to be a match. I'm not trying to sound like, you know, a company man or whatever, but I mean this sincerely. There might not be a more genuine, thoughtful person at ESPN. And mel Kiper Jr. I don't think you have forty six years of draft coverage and I think thirty eight at ESPN without being a very good at your job but also treating people

the right way. What I love about Mail is that Mail has every right, based off of his history, to ignore anything that I say it doesn't align with how he feels about a player, and yet the opposite is true at him and I go back and forth on a player, and I see the player one way and he sees the player a different way. His stance is not you're wrong, I'm right. His stance is that's interesting. I might go back and look at a couple of

those things and you brought up. Meanwhile, I'm going to go back and think about some of the stuff that Meil brought up as well and say, what the heck did I miss on this guy? But Mail has been such a gracious teammate for so many years, and doing the show over the past few years and this year in the specific capacity that I am, has been nothing short of a.

Speaker 1

Blast and obviously been very gracious with mel and he deserves that respect. But you know, I listen to the podcast every single week, and I think you do a fantastic job with your evaluations. You just had your mock draft come out. Yeah, Daniels at two right, that's right to Washington commanders, what is the sell? If you're selling Jadan Daniels to me? Are are fans? Why is that the case?

Speaker 4

So the most important dynamic that I think has to be laid out when you're discussing any of these three quarterbacks. But let's operate under the idea that Kille Williams goes.

Speaker 2

First.

Speaker 4

Of the mirrors is that you're not selling Jaden Daniels over Drake May. You're selling Jaden Daniels independent of Drake May. In this regard, I don't have this incredibly strong belief that one of those guys is decidedly better.

Speaker 1

Than the other.

Speaker 4

It's almost like you're looking at two like pristine houses in the same neighborhood, and it's just choosing between, like which few amenities you like more in one house versus the other. If I'm making the Jaden Daniels case, I'll start here. There's nothing that a player could have done more during a college football season this year than Jaden Daniels did. Everybody knows about the rushing. I don't have to sit here and tell you all about this rushing ability.

But back to back season rushing out for one thousand yards obviously brings a dynamic that is incredibly difficult to account for, and it forces defenses into a bind because he's such a gifted thrower as well. You know, recently

our ESPN sets an information group. I started to kind of chew into this draft process a little bit more and I've started supplying some numbers and I got giddy this past weekend when they sent me the profile on Jayden and it just basically confirmed everything that you saw when you watch Jaden. It changes the way that you can play defensive changes the numbers. Specifically, they dove in on the how he fared when defended in zone coverage

and it was astounding. So the idea, obviously, the idea in zone coverage is we don't want to let Jaden Daniels beat us with his legs. We're going to kind of space things out, like if he can pick us apart with his arm, so be it right. Seventy seven percent plus completion percentage, seventeen touchdowns, zero picks when facing

zone covers this year. Then against the pressure, so when you bring pressure when you have you know, more than four rushers as defined by ESPN, and they have a variety of so they track that same deal like twenty touchdowns, zero interceptions, seventy one percent completion percentage. So if you say to yourself, hey, we're going to bring pressure because we wanted to get the ball out quick and we

don't think that he can. You know, his receivers are good enough to beat me on coverage, or we don't think he's precise enough of as a passer to throw balls into buckets. That's not the case as well. So Jaden was just remarkable this past season and the last thing at all point to him. And there are a million things I aut point two for either of them, But in the case here for Jaden Daniels is clutch production is a quarterback trait that I value a lot.

It's how do you perform when the games on the line? How do you perform and god to have the situations, how do you perform when the moment is biggest? And out this past year that no player was better amongst these sort of big six quarterbacks, if you will, but certainly these big three quarterbacks when the game was kind of on the line. You go back and watch games this past year, and I'm not going to tell people that LSU doesn't have a lot of talent.

Speaker 2

They do.

Speaker 4

Defensively, though they were, This was one of the worst LSU defenses in a long time. They changed their entire staff. Jayden needed to put up thirty five forty points a game for this team to go nine to three. Length They did Jaden Daniels against Missouri, a team that was awesome this past year and also has at least four guys on defense that are going to be drafted. Two of them might go in.

Speaker 2

The first round. Got to have a situation.

Speaker 4

Is the fourth quarter on the road, a place that was more hostile than it's been in a long time, Third and eighths, third and sevens, third and nine's backed up inside his own five yard line. Has gotta have a situational awareness This past year in execution I thought separated him from every other quarterback in the class in that specific metric or that specific trait. I think it speaks to the idea that I guess every quarterback can be read a little bit. It's pretty freaking hard to

rattle Jaden Daniels. The pressure does not get to him like I think it does a lot of other quarterbacks.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and I think I agree with Evan you said. I think that's fantastic. One of the things I would point out, though, pressure to sack ratio pretty high, doesn't throw over the middle of the field very well. Like, what do you say to people that bring that up to you, Because obviously the things you mentioned are why he's amazing, but there are issues to his game, and what do you say to people who bring that up.

Speaker 4

I think the fundamental reality of any quarterback that has as much athletic ability as Jaden Daniels is that you have to coach that player to understand. And I think this is a coachable trait. By the way, the difference between the value of the layup that's available in the passing game versus the opportunity to use your legs and either create a home run with your own legs or buy yourself a little bit of extra time and potentially hit that home run down the field, that to me

would be where with your Jade and Daniels. If you're coaching Jaden Daniels, it's sometimes you see it, you grip it, you rip it if that means you get a sixteen yard pickup, and the alternative reality is that you might have broken the pocket and rushed for a fifty five yard gain. Over the course of a full season, those sixteen yard pickups that you're hitting consistently might actually outweigh the occasional nothing play that turns into something play. So

I think it's a coachable trait. I do I think that the body armor for Jaden is probably one of the biggest question mark, given the fact that there's not a huge track record of guys at two hundred and five or so pounds. But I think some of that is, like I think at all two hundred and five pounders are created an equals sure, and it's also hard to hit something you can't catch.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and as we all know, I think that je Nail's excellent football player. That's what we're gonna do or that was just you think the team should do it too. In terms of that second round, there's a lot of draft capital there for the Commanders thirty six and forty. Yeah, anything you think they're like in terms of guys that you really really like in that range, maybe tackle ed rusher or someone.

Speaker 4

Like, Yeah, I was gonna say tackle with the spot that I think just is just crystallize to me, because I think the fact that like opportunities to get younger and also restock the depth overall are important and aligned with the board, we could see six, seven, eight first round offensive tackles. If a couple of those guys get pushed down the board just a little bit, wouldn't surprise me.

If we see you know, three or four go in the first half of the second round that have what I was saw call quote unquote day one grades or the potential to be Day one starters.

Speaker 1

This might be a you know.

Speaker 4

Maybe do a little Paul Brothers reunion, that would be nice from Patrick Paul, the younger brother of Chris.

Speaker 1

That name always to come up there, he does.

Speaker 4

I mean, it's probably the little hugging for it, right, But just that's an example of those guys that's in that probably thirty five to forty five ish range. Kingsley Suamataia from BYU pig dancing bear of an offensive tackle. There's there's a handful of guys, you know, if a Jordan Morgan and Marius MAM's, guys like that are available at the top of the second round, I think that's sort of the sweet spot for a player of that caliber.

Speaker 1

Awesome man, thank you so much. I really appreciate Thank sure, thank you. Riding

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