On today's episode of Ticket to the Draft Podcast, we have a full draft recap and we talk about the master class that AP put on, and we go through every single pick. And it's so fun doing this post draft Jason, because we get to see all those little nuggets that make these guys commanders football players. It all starts right now. Welcome to Ticket to the Draft Podcast.
I'm Logan Paulson here with just a guy, Jason, who's really more than just a guy at this point, say you watch two hundred guys, You're more than just a guy.
Anybody can watch two hundred games just a guy.
And as always represented by Sea Geek. This summer, See Geek has your ticket to the best live concerts in the DMV at Northwest Stadium. Seekeek the official primary ticketing partner of Northwest Stadium.
Can I say something real quick? So, yeah, I quote unquote watched two hundred and eight guys right. That means I turned it on and I watched it right. I saw them play college football in some capacity. Now, I want to be clear about something. There is some guys said I watched way more than others that I have way better feeling of sure, So I didn't even write notes on some of the guys. It's just like I quickly watched them and went, okay, I have a feel for you. This is so I can try and have
recall if someone brings them up. As far as like actual evaluation, I'm probably in the one seventy five range, kind.
Of in that same buff park. Because I was talking to something the other day who had watched Now they work for a team, they watched five hundred guys, and he'd written a report. And if you're working for a team, that means you're watching at least three games and sometimes six games if it's a dB so like, and I just was like, oh, yeah, I've watched about a game on a game, maybe two on about one hundred and sent five guys, and I've written a report on those guys, So a little different ball of wax.
Yeah, and their report is more than like the three sentences I write.
On a guy.
So I've seen my agent sometimes like when he gets clients, they'll pass me a thing and be like, what do you think? And I'll watch film with a guy, and usually an NFL draft report is got the round grade at the top. Wait number of colleges they were at and then it is a significant write up, yeah, strengths, weaknesses, overall review and it sometimes scheme fits. Sometimes it's two pages, and so you're kind of like, oh, like this is not just like let me whip this up real quick
in five minutes type of deal. And it's and they'll have the games watched at least at a minimum of three and sometimes it'll have like a little tab for like situations watch like two minute versus blah blah blah. We're all targets for if it's a receiver or all sacks given up, you know, if it's an offensive lineman. So it is a you know, like we talk about talent evaluation, like it's just a different level of stuff that these NFL teams are.
Yeah, that's why it's a full time job.
I think that sometimes like people get confused, especially with national media pun ins and like people that do this, including I'm going to include myself in it. We're like this is seasonal right as it is, this season ends and for us was a little later this year is when I can start to kind of dive into this and then I can only watch so much. I only have time for so much. Now granted, I'm putting an
effort into it. I'm trying to learn. But there are people like you say that work for teams, scouts and whatnot, that this is what they do all year round. And there are some national people that do this too, like Trevor Sikima is a great example. Like him and Conna Rodgers won't beff two summers scouting. They'll start already looking at tape for guys for next year. Like that is
part of their gig, is that? But like for me personally, like that's why I'm just a guy, is like I'm doing what literally anybody that's listening to this out there can do. If you can find a couple hours in a day to go watch a couple of YouTube cut ups, find some all twenty two of these guys, watch every target. If you're like psychotic enough to do that, then you can do what I just did. I'm just a guy, right, I'm not a professional scout. I'm not involved in I'm
not involved in going to see them. I'm not involved in the interview process. Like there are a few things that working for a team kind of helps me with, Like we get to go to the combine, see them live there and the Senior Bowl and things like that. But yeah, so when you say like, I'm not just a guy, I'm absolutely just a guy.
You're just a guy compared to NFL people, but compared to the most people, you're you're starting to move up in the world a little bit, right Like. And it's funny, even like Trevor Sigama, who we have a lot of respect for on the show. We have them all the time.
He's really smart dude. I think there's also just a difference between like the level of stuff that he's watching, like in terms of how deep he's going, and also like the actual scouting stuff, like when you talk to an NFL scout, like they know they know the prospect in a different way. And I know we've mentioned that before, but I just think it's an important thing. As we kind of conclude our Ticket to the Draft season here, we got this episode and one more. It's just to
kind of it. It always I always find it helpful to reflect on, you know, Like when a fan comes up to me, it's like, oh, man, I think they're really missed out on so and so right the player X and I having watched the film, I'm like I know why just from the film and then sometimes I've like talked to people and I know a little bit of inside baseball, but just these teams, and we've talked about a nauseum. They are in a different stratosphere of
distilling information. They're watching way more film than most people. Like I said, this guy was watching at least three games, sometimes six games on prospects. He goes back and rewatches prospects right, and then in conjunction with that element, there's
also like investigative information on prospects. Right, He's talked to prospects like it's really next level, you know what I mean in terms of what these teams are doing, and you mean you still need to make good decisions with that information, but it's just it's so much more comprehensive than anything that we could do. And I think even like Trevor Sikamo, who's doing it year round, could do just because their access to the athletes is so much different.
It's so hard.
That's why there's not one guy on an NFL team that's doing this. There a lot of scouts, there's a GM, there's the assistant GM, there's heads ahead of scouting departments like there's a ton and they're all getting together. Because there's so much that goes into this, it's really really hard for one person to do all of it, even
year round. The other thing I wanted to mention and then we can get off of this and do Commander's draft recap is that when we do this or when I do this for this pod, and then when a lot of people do this naturally, like the mel Kuipers, the field Gates, whoever, right, Todd mcshay's, when they do it, they're doing it with a zoomed out NFL lens, and
teams don't always look at prospects that way. They zoom in and go scheme matters, personality, mat like things that you look at when you're looking at it, as can this guy make it in the NFL quote unquote. Other teams are looking can they make it here in this situation, in this scheme, with our coaching, with our culture, and those are all things that we don't look at. I
don't look at that go into the evaluation process. And there could be a player that is uber talented and people are going nuts on TV on the broadcast.
Why is this guy falling? Oh my god, he's my best available.
He's going so far down and it's like, yeah, but there are things that maybe he doesn't fit in with teams that are would look for him. And that's not just personality, that could be scheme, just straight up scheme. He doesn't fit in what we're trying to do. So why would we bring him in and try and put a square peg in a round hole. That's not going to be good for him, It's not going to be good for us.
Yeah, one hundred percent. And I think the other thing that I would just kind of piggyback on that with is as you move down the draft, there's a reason that you see projected. You know, if I try to project the top one hundred, that's relatively easy because you're just saying these are going to be the top one
hundred players in the draft. But as you get down into like that like one to two fifty kind of range, it becomes really hard for the reason that you're talking about, right, because people are going to say, oh, we like cornerback, We like the fifteenth quarterback better than the tenth cornerback because we think he fits what we want to do
defensively a little bit better. So all of a sudden all that feels like a each but it's like that's where the stylistic elements of the team become like they're projected on full display. And you're still trying to draft good football players obviously, but I think, but I think that's something to consider. Like as you move down the draft board, like the tiers get wider, there's more people per tier, and it becomes harder to kind of identify what the league's valuing at that moment of the draft.
Are they looking for, you know, a third down running back, Are they looking for a special teams guy? And I think those decisions, those those those decisions can be tough. So with that in mind, I think we should do our draft recap. And you know, I kind of I consume a fair amount of draft content, Jason, And one of the things that sticks out to me is it seems like kind of nationally, the Commander's Draft is very well supported, very well like kind of across the board.
CBS Sports gave it an A minus, AP News gave it a B plus, Sports lillitat to give it a B. NFL dot Com B p f F P plus, The Ringer B and there's a couple things I want to touch on there. One, I think and a low volume draft to get a B grade at a minimum is pretty good. And then you couple that there's a I forget the publication, but they basically aggregate all of the all of the mock draft data put in an an algorithm and then compare it to who was actually drafted.
And the Commanders in that model were the second highest graded team. So obviously there's a lot of value in this draft, and that's pretty exciting.
Yeah, So let me let me start off by saying that this is really cool. We love it last year when we got a bunch of a's across the board, and I think, though, we're getting b's here, which is good.
That's above average, Right, that's a solid draft.
Right. I think these grades sometimes vary on the sexiness of the draft as well, right, Like, it's hard to like not give an A to a team that drafts
like a potential game changing quarterback. But the other thing that I wanted to say about this is none of this matters, right, Like, these grades they're cool, Right, I'm glad that the everybody thinks that this is a good draft for us, and that everybody's happy about this draft naturally, like that's cool, that's great, it makes me feel better, but also like, these guys haven't played a down of football in the NFL yet, so we don't know how
any of this is going to fall. And I have seen sometimes here sometimes other places draft grades of c's and d's and it ended up being a great.
Draft for that class.
So this is not to say that we're going to be worse than an A A B plus a B, but we could be better than this. This could end up being two back to back drafts that are fantastic for this organization.
Yeah, And I think the thing that sticks out to me piggybacking out that point is that, like after me doing a big board, me doing a horizontal board, and like really kind of working through the process of the first one hundred picks specifically, it gave me a much stronger appreciation, quite honestly, for how Ap handled the draft. Right. He kind of just took these players that had like really high floors, that were very that were very safe,
very safe picks. Like the confidence level in Josh Connery is extremely high. And I was talking to someone this morning about, you know, like what about Josh Shimmons. And I think you and I both from the tape had higher grades on Josh Shimmons, Like he was he's a freak, right, He's like this athletic unicorny moves really well.
But he might not play football.
He might not play football this year because he got he's got he's got the torm potella. There's some you know, behavioral stuff off the field that I don't know. I don't not privy to what exactly that is. So is it him you know, watching too much TV or is it anything? Yeah? And then the other element too is like the consistency of play when he was on the field. He only played six games. You see the athletic flashes.
But when you compare the consistency of play to Josh Connelly for example, who we picked at twenty nine, Connery was incredibly consistent. And I think that's something that's extremely valuable is knowing the floor of a player, to me,
especially when you're picking high, is extremely extremely important. So you know, like just to kind of flesh out this discussion fully, it's like, you know, Will Johnson that comes out that he's got some type of serious knee issue that was that limited him last season and could limit him moving forward. Yeah, he slips in the draft, and then obviously Mike Green, then he slips in the draft.
The sexual assault allegations, which he acknowledged. He talked about them at the combine, apparently talking with a couple of scouts and a couple of gms, Like didn't handle those interviews super well. So again, if that's going to be like a little bit of a red flag, like why not go with a player like Connory? Who you know? And I think the other thing about Connory that is so important to understand and in the landscape of those other names that we just mentioned, is he is an
athletic freak. So not only is does he have a very high floor, like a very consistent methodology of play and is excellent value at twenty nine, but his ceiling is also tremendously high. Right, he's six', five he's three, eleven so little bit on the slender side for an offensive. Tackle he's only twenty one years, Old he's going to continue to. Grow it's got thirty four inch, Arms like that's meeting all those threshold numbers that we talked about for.
Tackles and he ran a five flat forty with one of the fastest tens of the combine and a tremendous First SO i just look at, That i'm, like this dude has the athletic makeup to be significantly, better, like you, know move up into that kind of top, twelve top fifteen range of offensive linemen while also having a very
high floor and very good. Character AND i think obviously we're going to talk about these guys individually as we, go BUT i think understanding that dynamic Around Josh connery makes it kind of paints a really beautiful picture for WHAT ap did in this draft and what the whole staff. Did they just, said we want guys that we know that we have very high confidence, in and that can be more because of the athletic.
Profile the other thing THAT ap, did And i'm going to steal a take From Jeremy, green friend of the pod, HERE i texted.
Him after the.
DRAFT i was, like just give me your, thoughts and he said something that stuck out THE i was, like oh my, GOSH i didn't even think about, that and that was if if you look at your For, jeremy it was his personal one mind matched up a little bit where it was like our personal big board and tier, right you have A tier one kind of offensive, lineman and they were gone by the time you get to pick twenty.
Nine and Then.
Ap takes the. First for, me it would have been the first out of the next tier of offensive linemen in.
Connery so then you see after.
That in the end of the first and into the beginning of the second, round more offensive linemen start to drop. Again so What Jeremy green said is Like ap was the trendsetter, here, right he got on it Before you're not panicking and, going oh my, gosh here comes to, RUN i need to jump on the. Train he's the one driving the. Train he's the one driving what the trends. Are so he saw that when picked twenty, Nine, okay
we're already in the next. Tier so let's get the best out of the SO i don't have to panic and feel LIKE i have to trade, UP i have to get a guy, here or it's letting the draft fall to, you but also realizing you need to be one step ahead of other. Teams and that's what he Would that's what he. Did it looked like that's what he. Did and when he When jeremy said that to. ME i went back and looked at my board AND i was,
like oh my. Gosh he did that For, connory he did that For, amos and he did that For Jalen lane a little bit, too when you get into that. Area so like he was the one leading the charge when it came to, oh here comes a. Run, yeah it was started by the commanders when you go back and look at.
It. Yeah AND i think that's a great point brought up by you And jeremy and that like if you're looking at guys that were going to be fringe first round, players so Like connorly to me was like that tier, four so like you can go at, thirty you could go at. Fifty there's kind of that nice range of where he could. Go but Like connorly to me is in that cluster of first round players like kind of rite on that teetering, board and so getting him there
is tremendous. Value and THEN i think the next offensive lineman Is Ossie, tripelle who to me is in a distinctly different, category, right kind of to your. Point and then you Get Anthony, belton who's kind of in That trpillo, category, Right and then you Go Charles grant From william And, mary who's more of a developmental guy Than, okay that's three guys right, there and then there's another drop off
To Jalen, travis who's kind of in that next. Year and so if you, said, hey we really needed to get an offensive tackle in the, draft you're looking and, saying, well, shoot Like Anthony Belton Jalen travis are kind of the next. Like so one of those guys will probably be at the bottom of the, second high, third one of those guys will be at the bottom of the, third early. Fourth we're not picking again until one twenty, eight you, know after sixty. One we're not picking into one twenty.
Eight and so if you dropped An Anthony belton at sixty, one that's a, reach you know WHAT i. Mean that's and so. Understanding you. Know Dan quinn said this when we did the interview with, him you know, Me Brian, colbert we talked to him before the. Draft he, said one of ap superpowers is understanding the layout of the, landscape like understanding where the value resides and like so he, said, like as a, COACH i get to watch the players AND i love all of, them So i'll come to
him and be, like, MAN i really love PLAYER. X i JUST i can't get enough of. Him and THEN ap, says, oh that's good to. Know BUT ap knows like he is going to be picked in the fifth, round so doesn't need to be a first round. Player but we can kind of wait and find this guy That Dan quinn loves later in the. Draft and, that to me is one of the hardest things to, do is being able to separate your big board from what you perceive the league's big board to. Be AND i think you
just did a really excellent job of. That and Again connorly kind of exemplifies. That.
Yeah, Absolutely and just to put that into, perspective we were watching the draft together AND i had a hard time getting out of my own head and my own biases for players THAT i, liked And i'd sit there and, go, OH i really want this.
GUY i really want this. GUY i really want this, guy and he would go two rounds, later and, like that's not a knock my. Evaluation that's a great.
Point it's just That i'm sitting here thinking only of myself and my big, board And i'm not thinking, that, well do The titans need a player like. This SO i didn't sit there and, go, OH i can just. Wait i'm just sitting there looking at my. Board i'm, like, oh he's right, there he's right. There he's right, there not considering what other.
Teams want or, need.
Want, need or have history of, doing.
How they prioritize stuff like it's and when you think about it in that, way it makes it even more, impressive like having gone through this. Process and again it's it's a fraction of what they, do as we talked about at the top of the, show but it's it's just for draft. Nerds AND i count myself as THAT i account you as that it's an impressive thing to be patient to take best player, available predict where the
draft's going to, go and make some of these. Decisions and like you, said it doesn't mean they're going to be great, pros but it leads to great value throughout the. Draft AND i think that leads us really nicely to
tray a most quarterback From Old. Miss and there was a lot of other good football players on the, board Like Shavon novel was one THAT i know a lot of fans were kind of climbing For fred mentioned him on the show and the thing that stuck out to me about him was when you Compare Shavone revel to Tre amos as an, example Tree, amos you know you get him. More he's a better player right. Now revel is more of a projection right and there are, people
there are teams that draft strictly on. Projection like if you look at The Arizona cardinals, draft there's a lot of Like Walter Nolan birch like, that we think these guys could be high, ceiling high, ceiling but there's also a relatively low floor Trey, amos high, floor high ceiling. Prospect and If i'm A, gm, like that's WHAT i. WANT i want some level of security and That i've seen him do it year on, year multiple different. Programs
i've seen him play, Man i've seen him play. Zone i've seen him be A he's not a great, tacker but a willing. Tackler he's got the ball skills we.
Want as An ALL sec first team, sixteen pass defense has led THE sec last, year so THE sec known for their defense against good.
Offenses he shared.
It, yeah and you compare that To revel and. EVERYONE i Love revel, Right but it's important to remember. That And i'm going to talk about learning something from making my, Board like the certainty of What Tree amos is is more valuable than the what if of What Shavone revelt could. Be even THOUGH i think they're both going to be good, players or they have the potential to be good, Players i'm way more confident That amos is going to, be
at least in year one a better. Player BUT i think then you look at the, profile and this is Something ap said when he came in and talked to us after The connolly. Pick he, said you know the coaches were, aligned the you, know the front office was, aligned the scouts were. Aligned AND i think this is one THAT i don't think about, enough is the analytics department was. Aligned like he fit the physical profile from a production a movement skill set that means he can be a good.
Pro, yeah if you look at it like a spider, graph you know those like expand, out the spokes go, Out it's almost Like amos hits all those that are out, there so it's your most well, rounded, Right AND i don't want to harp on this too, much but again we're talking about Revel amos was. There there's a couple other cornerbacks that were there that could possibly. Go this is a, tier and now you're at the point Where ap is picking the one that he wants out of the.
Tier he's not waiting for the run to. Start and then HE'S i don't want to say, stuck but he's kind of forced to pick out of a group that maybe he didn't.
Want.
Right want's a wrong, word but you know WHAT i. Mean they're pulling items out of the grocery basket and so it's, like, oh, well instead of carrots and, BROCCOLI i have to choose between. That it's, like oh, NO i got peas in. Here BUT i don't know WHY i use vegetables as an, Example but that's the. Point is like before that quarterback run from this tier, Went AP's grabbing the one that he, wants right BECAUSE i.
Think because IF i remember, CORRECTLY i Think revel And Benjamin morris that's. It, yeah benjaminas all went after. Right you, know so a.
Good players all in that, round, right and they they all could be great, players, right and who knows of those is going to be quote unquote the best out of? Them but the commanders in ap was able to grab the one that they. Wanted they weren't forced in any.
Direction, yeah, Absolutely and, again LIKE i think that's one of the REASONS i get so excited about the draft is, like SOMETIMES i Think i've told you this. Before Sometimes i'm watching the team's draft or another team THAT i am a fan, of for, example and a name will come up on the. Board i'm, like, AH i hate. THAT i hate, That like that doesn't feel like the right kind of fit for, here, Right, Yeah AND i didn't feel that way with any of the, Picks like
some of them were surprising to, me Like Jalen. Lane will talk about him in a, second like they're a little bit. Surprising but when you, think like WHEN i went back and looked at my, NOTES i was, like he's a good football, player go watch him. Film you're, like he's excellent at what he. Does sense for, Here, yeah it makes sense for what we're doing. Here AND i think that the reasoning and the logic behind all
the picks really. Important you were talking about runs and this is one of the more interesting moments in the draft for me because obviously they're picking out one twenty eight With Jalen lane and right before, that there's, LIKE i want to, say four edge rushers that go off the. Board it Was David, walker it Was sorel From texas the edge. Rusher there was two other guys THAT i was very high on at the moment that they get.
Drafted Jalen travis is the guy at won twenty seven of The, colts and you're kind of, like, oh AND i remember, looking you, know Because i'm kind of following on my phone and checking my board at home While i'm. WAITING i was, LIKE i don't, know there's no edge rusher here THAT i would, take you, Know and so what becomes the? Priority AND i love the fact that they Drafted Jalen lane because of this tremendous athletic. Profile but,
again the profile is, good but the film supports. It you guy who catches the football, well who's, competitive who's, tough who's a confident football, player he'll, block he's the son of a, coach you, know like all those things kind of stack up and you, say, wow like this is the right fit for The. Commanders he fits, that especially teams. Nee BUT i also think he fits a role in the, offense like getting a guy who can push the top off or stretch you horizontally open up
windows quickly for this passing. Game The Cliff kingsbury cultivates is pretty. Cool so that's.
Exciting, yeah if you want to hear more About, Connor lee And amos are two previous pods before, this we deep dive into.
Them, yes but we're going.
To deep dive in the lane here in the next two. Picks So Jalen, lane the wide receiver From Virginia. Tech you were talking about all the things that he can. Do do you have his measurables in front of you that you can BECAUSE i think he was four to three.
Four fourty four three. Four he had eleven foot broad, Jump he had a forty one inch. Vertical he had A i think it was a one five oh ten yard, split which is very. Fast he had a sub seven like a significantly under sub seven three, cone which is kind of the standard, there kind of like you're if it's under four five as a forty that's kind of
the same. Mark he had a four one two twenty yard, shuttle so you're five to ten, Five so all those numbers are, tremendous really really, tremendous and you're looking for, again like in the fourth round to get a guy who Profiles like we were talking on The Command center podcast about how closely that comped To, santana you, know pretty.
CLOSE i think it was a bit more first.
Round but, yeah, Yeah santana WAS i think it was a four to three to, one but he had the four three six that he ran to so they averaged the times or. Whatever so obviously he's you, know three hundreds off the time.
He's had a four to. Eight by the, way let's not, them.
Sorry, yeah but. Nobody so they the way they did, it they averaged his two. Times, yeah and so they gave him a four to three to one or. Whatever it was the final mark that he, got which is incredibly. Sissy and then he had like a little bit over a FORTY i think it was a forty three inch vertical. Jump his, story the way he tells it is like he you, know like they didn't have enough rungs on the.
On the they discussed.
It, yeah and he didn't do a broad jump because he doested so. Well but that's kind of the athlete here you're talking. About they move a little bit. Differently you. Know tanna was elite from a suddenness lower body, Standpoint but there is a little bit of that Too Jalen lane in terms of how he breaks, tackles his ability to. Accelerate he doesn't look fast like his turnovers on, fast but you can see he's a very, powerful strong runner moving down the.
Field one of the things is, like, well if all of this is true about, him why did he fall to where he, did why was he taken back here instead of the first or second or third?
Round and why did he get back into the fourth? Round and one of the.
Things THAT i like about taking players like this is that sometimes you can get caught up and watching film about realizing what the context is of the player you're, Watching and one of those Is Virginia tech, itself, Right so, like that's tough being a wide receiver out Of Virginia.
Tech you mentioned this on The Command center show that everyone can check out On, Thursday but talk to me a little bit about What Virginia tech did and how this could have played a little bit into a sneaky pit For washington where they.
Go, YEAH i definitely think it's kind of. This it's a strange offense to watch because it's like they kind of want to be a running have their quarterback run the. Football he's not a great, passer you. KNOW i think he's actually coming in for mini. Camp but he's a tremendous. Athlete he's six,' three he's. Two twenty he ran us a four. Five forty he's got a forty. Inch vertical he like he might, play receiver. YOU know, i mean
like that's like how athletic. He is but they didn't really have a. Strong identity, it's, like here we're gonna run a. Little harpo we're gonna run all of this jet run stuff to. The perimeter the backside receiver is just. Gonna chill and it just it wasn't very well constructed or. Thought OUT and i think it was obviously if you're a running Back Like, basil tooton like you're gonna be
very productive there because they're kind of a run. First TEAM but i think some of the stuff that suck out to me was it just did not provide a great opportunity to let the receivers. Be successful like there was another guy THAT that i think, It, was uh there's another receiver THERE that i, was WATCHING and i, just like it's so hard to quantify what you are because you're not getting that. Many opportunities you're not on the field, that much like you're not involved in the play.
That MUCH but i will SAY when i was watching these other this, other receiver like the guy that took out to me was Was. Was lane because he's, he's willing he's willing, the block, he's physical he makes great catches down, The field he's got good, body CONTROL and i do think his route running nuance was way under sold At At virginia tech and hopefully gets to show.
MORE that I actually i'm going to go back and Watch His senior bowl TAPE because i think he had some bunch of one on ONES and i just didn't register that he. Was THERE like i Remember watching Tesla And pat bryant and, you know all these different, You Know, kyle williams all these different receivers that were getting more national Narrative PUB and i think that's the OTHER thing i just want to point out, here too Is we
JASON and i are beholden to like. National lists so Like If jalen lane's not on the main list that we're, looking at LIKE the pff LIST Or espn top, YOU know i think it's top TWO Fifty Nfl.
Daniel, Jeremia, yeah like we.
Have a hard time tracking these. Guys DOWN so i tracked this guy down kind of, by accident, you know because he wasn't on. The LIST but i just he's still a really good, football player and just because he wasn't in the national dialogue as much as some of these, other guys it wasn't. A story don't let that diminish what he is as a. Football.
Player yeah the other thing is that sometimes we miss these guys because you're going to be a part of the team in a way that isn't necessarily the way that we look at it. Right away and the best example of that is. Special, Teams right he's going to be a special teamer here and he's going to be good. At, It right like twenty twenty four last Year the all acc third team as a, return, specialist right so he was electric with the ball in. His hands tanna talked
about It because tanner was a. Return specialist talked. About, him yep they did some returns IN. The nfl and one of The things tanna talks about on McMann, center pod which is out, right now is, that look coaches say to you catch, the ball get to miss and we want a first down or even to get some missing ten or that's what, he says ten or, twenty Yards, right like that's what we want out.
Of you flip the.
Field position even if we go three, and out you're benefiting us in the. Return game that's what this kid. Can do and one of THE reasons i know we drafted him for, this reason not just, this reason but this reason being a key part is THAT when espn was doing, their broadcast they, cut away you know sometimes hear their draft room and on this cutaway in. This pick you can check. This out you can watch it. On YouTube, Izzo Man, larry izzo our special. Teams coach he.
Was excited how often do you see the special teams coach in a draft room in the fourth round dapping people up with a huge cheese on, his face just like excited as all. GET out i bet you he's in this, room saying this guy is going to do something good for us immediately. Right away he's going to add to that special team's threat that. We have because, Guess what washington was great at special teams. Last year it was a big part of why we.
Were, Successful yeah i'm really excited to see that role and again just to get more dangerous and those fats of the game is going to be. Extremely, important yeah, you Know. Be mitch it the same thing, about him like he gets north and south. Right now and you watch that he had a Return versus marshall that was. Really incredible he kind of like caught it in traffic and then, you know broke a tackle and then you
see the lower body strength and you see. The Speed, so heah obviously he's got to earn that job and show that he can do it AT the. Nfl level but.
But getting that, in here even, that mentality the know how of this is special teams is Important and i'm going to contribute to it in the Sense of i'm coming in here knowing.
It's important i'm going to grind.
For it and again Back, to tanna, he, said like, you know somebody that catches the ball like that gotta have a little, Screw loose like it's a certain mentality that you got to have to play that position as a return and and he's.
Got, it no.
That's RIGHT and i just go back to like do you remember his family when we were at the at. The combine do you? Remember them so he ran his forty and there was a section of fans like directly to. Our right, oh shoot that. Was him that. Was him, OH yes i remember going. Crazy, excited yeah it looks like, a brother maybe. An uncle we're standing up and just.
Remember there let's go eight three and just so passionate, about him and if he has a fraction, of that like we've got an absolute STETT and i think, we do so that he's a really, exciting pick especially at one. Twenty eight and then let's move On To caine madrano Right from. UCLA's ruined that's. Exactly RIGHT and i was really high, on him very very high. ON him i
think he was like my third linebacker or. FOURTH linebacker i don't remember EXACTLY where i had him in my top, one hundred and so let's talk ABOUT why i had him in my top one hundred and, so basically he.
Plays linebacker he's a converted wide receiver now. Plays linebacker and one of THE things i look FOR when i evaluate linebackers now More than i've ever looked for, them before is this their ability, to move like, their, movements skills like their ability to open, their hips, run, cover, flexibility dexterity and coverage because now so many teams just try to stress the linebacker positions so much with these
throws over the. Middle field so to get Guys like sweesssinger who was who was a thirty third, pick overall and You know kane on the same team and watching them cover. Was tremendous so his coverage, skills early like he can cover. Wide receivers he kind of lines up in the slot as that star. Linebacker position he can carry. Receivers vertically he does a great job in zone coverage of kind of feeling. The space you can see his like receiver background because he kind of understands concepts and
where the ball should. Be going he played middle linebacker, for them like when they were kind. Of working ola femi oldeisio back to defensive end in. Certain roles he played defensive end in certain roles like At The. Shrine bowl he had a couple interceptions in one. On ones he had a couple of sacks as a. Pass rusher he's got this kind of crazy suddenness and flexibility that reminds me a.
Little bit let me double click real quick one the interceptions in one on ones From The. Shrine, bowl yeah because we talk about this when we were down At The. Senior, bowl yes when you have in the one on one drills with linebackers and, running backs it is impossible almost for a linebacker to cover the running back because they line the running back lines up right in.
The middle of.
The field he can go.
Any direction there's no, leverage help you have no idea what route that's gonna this guy is, gonna run and he.
Has a whole field in front. Of him it is.
Nearly impossible and what you're looking at we talked, about this what you're looking for with a linebacker in this position is just can you how are?
You, moving yeah more, than anything we don't expect you to make a. Play here my guy, made.
Plays, made plays and it was like and the usually when the linebacker makes, an interception there's like a bad pi like they're pulling the running. Backs down his feet and his hips were. So good he didn't touch. The back he just undercut the. Ball TWICE and i just, was like oh, My gosh like that's, that's incredible that's incredible. Skill set like we were watching a clip For The command center show which comes Out on thursday on the, YouTube channel where their offense IS RUNNING gt so guard.
Counter pull he's the. Left linebacker he's fitting on the guard that's pulling the kick. Him out they end up pulling the ball and throw a screen to the offensive or to the defensive right, excuse me on the very Far hash so he's like one of the farthest guys away.
From thirty five.
Yards, away yeah he's engaged in. A block so there's a corner or, a safety, a linebacker, defensive end a, defensive tack two d, defensive tackles and probably other safety that are close to the ball. From him and he tears out of there like a streak of lightning and is the first guy TO the i don't know how HE got i don't know how he got there that fast and tries to punch the. Ball out he had three first he had three forced fumbles or two forced
fumbles and two interceptions something. Like that great ball production gets the.
Ball out, so yeah you really got to check out the Breakdown On command center because it's something.
TO see i think when we were.
Watching it when The show fred even goes where did he? Come from you are not. Expecting it it's like like the flash out of the side of the frame comes out.
Of, NOWHERE yeah i don't know how he. DID it i want to see the all twenty.
Ten and so that's that's the athlete, you're, Seeing right, and again he ran the fastest forty for a linebacker at, the combine so four. Four seven and think, about This Like jeremy chin was like a four. Four five, you know he had the fastest three cone for a linebacker on. The combine it was like six nine six, nine five so. Sub, seven again that's like a lead pass rusher, three cone like he just and it all tracks with what he does on. The field that all tracks with what he
is on. THE field i think the thing is that he's a converted. Wide receiver so even though, he's physical like taking, on blocks he uses his. Hands well he undercuts stuff like when he's playing. Defensive end you can tell he's a problem for offensive lineman when he has. To tackle it's a little bit hit. Or miss it's a little bit. Or miss and so, You know craig's still work on.
His, form yes.
That's actually right in short. Of it and if there's a place to work on. Your form It's With, Bobby Wagner With, bobby wagner it's With dan Quinn Ye Ken. Norton junior like all those dudes know how, to tackle and they're going to get. Him right and, You Know Ken nortan junior coached him our linebacker coach here coached HIM, at ucla so he knows him. Really well he knows
what that. Kid's about and, you know just kind of a. Cool story like apparently ten picks before they, Selected him caine Texted coach norton and, was like come get me on, the pick and here, He is AND so i love it. The, Connection again he's got to work on, his tackling got to get a little bit more physical as a as a space. Tackling player but and he's he's in his first time is going to be. ON teams i FEEL like i had TO say i hype him up all. This way his first time is going to be. On
teams he's going to be excellent in. That role but, holy cow man does he do a great Job of like his ceiling is.
Incredibly, high yeah he just needs to become best Friends With Bobby. Bobby wagner he carry's luggage around, He, needs oh would you like?
Some?
Chipotle, right like whatever, you, Need like i'll run and get it. For you Just Shadow bobby wagner and get that form that technique because the onet to, is, there right the, desires there the grit, is there the athleticism.
Is there he was.
The all he was part of the, All Ten all, Big ten, sorry defense when thirteen kid knows how to. Play defense he had seventy two tackles. Last year eleven of them were for. A loss he had one point. Five sacks but here's here's where it. Gets fun on three, forrest fumbles one, fumble recovery four, pass breakup so he's easily could have.
Been INTERCEPTIONS and i think.
He had two interceptions for return. For, touchdown yes so what do we always?
Hear, here yeah ball, is, Life right protect the ball, on offense go get the ball. On defense we got a guy here that just seems having that for going after. That ball so that adds what they want. To hear and then the other thing that we saw a lot of last year that we get with him. This year, team, Captain right it's that type. Of mentality he was twenty twenty fourteen CAPTAIN. For ucla so you're bringing in a guy that, Loves.
Football yeah loves ball, and leadership leadership yet love, and again who knows what he's going, to be but the ceiling is. SKY high i think the floor is. VERY high i think he could be a specially seams contributor. Right away but him in Like that jeremy chin roll like where he's kind of just like that kind of moving all over the defense is going to be.
Really, interesting yeah let me just bring that up real, quick too because he is kind of a tweeter right when his like is gonna be safety is you're gonna be kind of a linebacker and.
A little bit of it like?
Who, Cares right because we're getting to that point NOW where nfl offenses are running these guys that they can line up as anything. Your debos you don't know if they're coming out of the backfield catching, the ball like you're getting tight ends that are built different than they used. To be they can they break out for wide receivers
then come in a block like. You're getting your offenses are trying to Have A swiss army knife on there where it's hard for the defense to match up, to them and they're trying to move them and put them in positions where the defense gets all confused because there's. A mismatch you put a Guy like kane, out there and there's, your, answer right, he, Is like i'll. Shadow, whoever right it doesn't matter if this tight end is going to run a rout or he's going to stand
in block or he's going. TO run i can, handle, It, right like that's. My answer i'm kind Of a swiss army knife.
And defense and it's weird because now they've got a bunch of guys, like that, you know They've got they've got, You Know, Tyler owens They've Got, Dominice campton They've Got, ben nickel who WAS a udfa last year who's like, this big long safety. Type guy They've, got kin and They've got harris who they brought In From new orleans and. Free, agency like they've just got a bunch of dudes who could. Do that and it's flexible in.
The field you don't have to worry about substituting in, that, Way, right, like oh here comes, a package we got a substitute.
Real, quick no you got guys that can handle.
Any, Situation yeah so it'll be interesting. TO see i really can't wait to watch him when he gets on the. Grass here how they like what his role is, because AGAIN like, i said he played a little bit of, edge rusher played, middle linebacker played, will linebacker. Played star so where's his best. Best usage i'm really curious where he Finds us forever home.
And our last pick for us in the twenty TWENTY Five nfl draft was ONE that i, didn't watch to, be honest really didn't. WATCH him i didn't watch. Him before you want to talk About.
H Yeah Jacorey, crosskey merritt running Back from arizona really probably better known for his Time In.
New mexico he played only one Game, for arizona.
And, so interesting interesting. To watch so obviously watched the one Game. From arizona and you see a guy who it's hard to, Articulate this i'm gonna try my best to. Do it who just gets how to play your running, Back right so like there's sometimes you watch running Back and i'm gonna run. To darkness i'm running in to the back of the. Offensive line unless the hole is, Right there i'm not going to make. THE cut i lose some creativity at the second level and he just. Gets.
It man his ability to press to the front side kind of snake it back against, the grain find the whole. Push vertical he's got great moves, in space not like going a jitterbuggy, to death but like kind of a one. Cut slash he's strong enough to. Break tackles and again played one Game, in arizona but rush for over one hundred yards in. That game he WAS The MVP offensive mvp Of The. Shrine bowl he had the best deceleration metrics from the LIKE the gps and the pads At The.
Shrine bowl and then he was an over a thousand yard Rusher At new mexico and had a lot of. Explosive runs so, TO me, i know he's maybe not not everybody watched, him obviously but he has this tremendous. Skill set he ran a one to five to, oh ten which is like, Insanely fast like that's what, you know, Crazy burst That's What jalen, lane rang you KNOW what?
I mean like. The burst he's got a forty inch vertical for a guy who's over two, hundred pounds two hundred and almost two hundred and, Ten pounds like, it's crazy and his running style is so it's he's such a. Good runner he's such a. Good run he's got to work on his protection a, little BIT but i just think about him getting touches and he has the ability to maximize. Dirty runs and so even though he's a seventh, round pick he does feel like a guy because he's
so skilled at running. The football, his vision, his burst his explosiveness through the whole seems like he's like kind of a dark horse handed it to make the team and play.
Some, minutes yeah in twenty, twenty four like we, were saying only one Game, With arizona there's wasn't.
An injury. That's why that's not why you.
Didn't play THERE'S some NC double a like eligibility STUFF that i don't know all, the details but it wasn't like he.
Was injured he's not the kind.
Of messed them up too because he he, was eligible and that was the problem is he apparently. Was eligible they kind of made. A misruling too bad, for him.
But great, FOR us. I guess but so he only played. One game that one game was against this former Team In. New, mexico yeah thirteen carries one hundred and six yards and. A touchdown that's eight point two yards. Per carry pretty darn good in. His, debut again you said he was At The shrine bowl one game in the last year and he comes out and, He's like i'm the best, player here which has been.
It's crazy to, think about like how hard that? Would.
Be, Yeah absolutely but The reason i'm bringing that up IS because i wanted to talk about the mentality of, this Kid, right like these are things that we are not privy to and we don't get to talk about until this time of. The year but how much you bet in an interview process, with him or when our scouts talked to, his friends, family members coaches that, they went this guy has been sitting on, the sidelines itching to get. Out there it's been eating. Them up but,
guess what he. Loves it he, stays ready, he's working he's getting better even though he's not touching.
The field he. Loves football and what does that sound like?
To you, COMMANDER man a commander right, like fully a command like ready. To Go so i've been, hurt before missed a lot. Of time it is incredibly incredibly hard to, stay motivated and so for him to play the first game and then not play again for the rest of the year and then come out In An all star game and.
DO that, I mean i think you also Are The all star.
Could we could give all sorts, of stats but that to me speaks volumes about how this kid. Is wired and when you go Watch The new, mexico tape like he's a, special runner he's a. TALENTED runner i.
Feel like this guy.
Probably IS if i had graded him just on twenty twenty three and watched, IT previously i probably would have had him in the third or.
Fourth round that's what it. Feels, like yeah that's what it.
Looks like, but yeah so twenty twenty Three In, new mexico when he did play, twelve games he played there over one. Thousand yards this was. What's insane that. Stands out. Seventeen touchdowns that's a nuts number for. Twelve games, so yeah you're getting an athletic playmaker who is, a grinder who's fault had the fight for where he. Is here
so he's got that mentality won in. The room, and yeah like the, seventh round you're not saying that they're going to make the, team necessarily but you feel like he's got a good.
Shot and all the last, four picks, you Know, So Tremos, Jalen Lane, cane maderno And Uh Tory krosskey merritt all had some big adversities in. Their career, so like, You know tremos Transferred From Middle tennessee State to, Tennessee Right Uh Jalen, uh, No, SORRY trey I said tremos Or so tremos he Went To Raging, cajun alabama old, Mess Right, Jaylen Lane Middle tennessee State To. Virginia tech so like guys that had to work and fight to get where.
They're At kane maderno had a, position, Switch right like what are you? Talking about like he. Switched positions he's a linebacker now he's becomes, team captain like was a.
Wide, receiver, yeah big, big.
Switch unbelievable and then the merits adversity to go from a small school try to move up AND before i think he was out of School Before. New, mexico also, so guy they looking, at that there's four dudes right there that, love football that want to be. The best AND that's i think what's cool, About, This right.
They're probably, self motivators are probably. SELF starters, i mean look Back. At jaden it's one of the reasons They love jayda like the adversity he had to GET to lsu two Be the, heisman, Winner right like that was part of what they loved, about him was, the mentality how he matured, through it and that they know that he's coming in with a commander, tag, one right they talk.
About it and then every time we do these drafts now the last, two YEARS and i look at these LISTS and i hear, Their stories, i'm, LIKE man I wish i had known all this with reactively because all of this makes so, much, sense right it just makes sense.
For HERE and i think the one criticism of the draft is that it's only got. Five picks, but like if you look at who their fifth round, pick Was it's Steve, bo. Samuel right if you look at who, they.
Are because that's what you're, trading, Away right and then you.
Look at, You Know marshall lattimore with your, third, Pick Right, LARAMY tunsaw i think, next, year. Yeah whatever it is so like when you add when you add those names, into this, you're, like oh this is like, super sick you KNOW what, I mean we've got an offensive playmaker the.
Talent upgrade look at the town defensive.
Player we can. Build about we've got a Franchise left like that's crazy to say franchise. Left tackle and it's all because Of How adam peters allocated. Draft, capital really like it's think about. Draft cattle capital is a way to acquire. Good players and he, traded some he. Drafted some and when you make when you put the class together, like that with those names, in there, you're Like Dang josh Connolly And larry tenseil, pretty, Wild Right jaal Lane And,
Deebo samuel it's like it's kind. Of unbelievable And so Tramos And, Marshall latimore like it's it's crazy to think about how much more talented this draft class made this team if you include those other draft picks that were used in.
Free, agency yeah so we're gonna have one more podcast.
Next week we'll touch on the ud fas that are a year in, the building because there are a lot of good players that went undrafted are going to be here that are going. To contribute we had some of them last year when this team undrafted. And contribute we got a guy sitting right here, with us undrafted contributed for ten years IN.
The nfl, Pretty, Good, lillian yeah.
Pretty good and, you know THE more i do this, draft stuff THE more i realized like HOW lucky i was to. Do that, you know like you got to have got to be a little, bit lucky little, bit good a little, bit talented and it all kind. Of HAPPEN and i hope that these guys we talk about on, next week some of them are. Super talented so can't wait to talk about those GUYS because i have a special place in my heart for. That group but as of,
right now that's going to do it for. Today's show please make sure you like and subscribe and listen wherever you get, your podcasts and check out other stuff On the commander's. YouTube page. That's it, this summer seekeek has your ticket to the best live concerts IN the Dmv At. Northwest Stadium seek geek makes it easy to catch world conquering tours and high wattage performances from your favorite artists all. Summer along sea gek has the best seat your seat
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