What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, And on today's show, we have reached the finish line of the off season capsule series. Up next, up last a position that has more of a need now at the cornerback spot. And since you can never have enough corners, it's always worth exploring this group that I would argue has the most uncovered talent among it within the ball club. That's it for today, all cornerbacks. We'll talk a little bit about
the moves made on Friday. That's it from the Baptist Hell Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Draft Time Podcast. Eye.
I played that SoundBite for Caroline at the hotel we stayed in this weekend, and she was so infatuated by who that voice was. It was like two year old Caroline. She turns five in May. And speaking of that, if you are not from Florida, or if you're new to the area and you're looking for a Florida vacation, might I recommend the Tampa Bay area, in particular Tampa downtown.
What a great city that is.
That was my first time going there outside of our training camp visits when I'm there for work and basically only work, but the tight knit downtown there's no traffic whatsoever. There's tons of space in the surrounding areas and all the suburbs with actual like scenery and open plots where they haven't developed everything. My kids were obsessed with the
trolley system. The chew Choose as we called them. One of the drivers even let both the kids pull the horn and honk the train horn there, whatever you call that, and they were just fired up about that. Really good food as well. Had the best Mexican meal I think I've ever had. It was a Gringo burrito, which is right up my alley. So just obsessed with the with the downtown Tampa, Man, what a cool spot that is.
That was my weekend for the most part.
I also played golf before we left on Friday, and your boy is heating up. Second round of the season carter to seventy seven. But that was a disappointment because we were one over, or rather check that, one under at the turn after a birdie par birdie start and then a birdie on six as well after a bogie on five, so we were one under going into that part of the course and kept it consistent with Pars
the rest of the way. Man, when you're playing really good golf, I told my wife this, like, I played high school varsity sports in baseball and basketball three years each, and I've hit walk off home runs, i have hit massive shots and crowded gyms. I contend that with you and your buddy playing golf in front of nobody else, being red hot on a golf course and putting the golf ball wherever you want is like the greatest feeling you can have in sports. So that was kind of
what I've been up to. We're gonna have a show today on Friday Show. I'm going to get deeper into a general off season overview and kind of talk about the things that we addressed way back in January as things they must get better at, and kind of give you a better crystal ball in terms of who might fit those needs, and just kind of evaluate the general off season as a whole, talk about the positional needs, how much that might cost, and how you can fill
it in. And we'll do a mock off season on that Friday podcast, and then we're gonna have a change in in schedule next week. Couldn't think of that word. Where we're gonna be in Indianapolis. It's gonna be a Tuesday, Wednesday, I think, I think Thursday rundown on the week episodes. Next week, we're gonna have Mike McDaniel on the show that I can confirm will break down his public press
conference as well as well as Chris Grears. I'll get Daniel Jeremiah, We'll get all kinds of NFL network and ESPN talent, and we might get a Dolphin scout on the show.
So just plenty to come your way here the next couple of weeks.
But ma'am, I wanted to put a bow on the off season capsule episodes today and like the series for me for the last you know, eight nine, ten years of doing this consistently as a job, it always takes on the exact same like trajectory. It's always like so excited in the beginning, a little bit of a lull in the middle, then you find a position group that you're all about and it gets you more excited.
But by the very end, like I just can't wait for it to be over, And.
Today it's over, and I'm excited to talk about this draft class, not so much the free agents, but we'll do all of that as well as the incumbents in
just one second. But first off the top, the Dolphins did announce last week the release of Durham Smyth, Kendall Fuller, and Raheem Mostert, three pretty prominent names on the Dolphins' recent rosters in terms of Durham being the longest tenured fin on the team besides Jason Sanders, who now holds that honor, a very well known player for a decade plus around this league, and Kendall Fuller, and then, of course our single season touchdown record holder and a fan
favorite in Raheem Moster. I thought the future of the
tight end room was incredibly clear. I've made no bones about the fact that I thought that Durham Smyth, you know, whether it was fifteen snaps or thirty five snaps, more so fifteen snaps down the stretch, you know, of the season, I thought they were all like indictments of our inability to play off the edge, and why I'm so steadfast on improving that why position with he and Julian Hill take in that the honors this year and Julian did supplant him in snaps and that was one of my
best calls back in training camp.
If you recall that, I thought.
Julian Hill was going to be tight end two behind John news Smith and it did work out that way. But they still want to run, you know, all these tight end groupings with multiple tight ends in the field because John w New in a lot of ways is is kind of a glorified receiver. I thought his ability to play off the edge and the run game in pass pro was was not up to snuff. And a lot of those third down in short issues were because the edge could crash across his face and he would
really offer no resistance to that. So you need a compliment, Henry, Why tight end to him? And that's why I'm so, you know, so gung ho about the idea of Tyler Warren and all the issues that he could fix on your football team. But first things first was it was just time to make this this split. You know, Durham I thought was really rough in the floor as years, and then I thought he had a bit of a bounce back last season as like his best year as
a pro. But then this year it was like, oh this is there's so many reps on tape where it's like eighty one misses a key block, eighty one's assignment doesn't seem clear to him, when it seemed very clear to me based upon the evolution of that play. And so now you cut him and you save a little bit of money in the cap. Same story for all these guys. Raheem was one of the biggest savings. Kendall will carry some dead cap as well. But I think with with Kendall, you look at a guy that had
you know, he's he's thirty, he just turned thirty. He's coming off of a knee injury that you know McDaniel was kind of iffy about and his press conference answer, But I don't put a lot of stock into that because he never gives you anything with injuries, and to me, it seemed like that was a pretty serious knee injury. Especially seeing him walk around, you know, off off the field after that play. That seemed like just a preventative
future a preemptive future issue move. If you give that guy his guaranteed salary for this year, he only played eleven games for you this year, probably doesn't get much
better at age thirty. Not to mention You've got Jalen Ramsey on the other side, who I think is one of the few guys that might be impervious to the whole age thirty cornerback Cliff, especially with his ability to I think transition to that Charles Woodson role at some point, should he want to, should they see that for him, I think he's I think he's really well cut for that.
But I think the move made sense in that sense, although look at this free agent class, I don't think you're going that direction.
I want to say.
I want to believe that it speaks highly of how they feel about Storm Duck and Cam Smith and Ethan Bonner, regardless of how I feel about it. But I don't think you're going to find that cornerback too on the open market.
We could see, We'll see.
I don't know, but I do absolutely love this draft class once again at this position, so that could be a spot to go to for that role, but you're gonna wind up having competition, I think. So the Durham Smith move made all the sense in the world. He was tied in three at best, and I thought you could really upgrade that position even with a you know,
a minimum player at that role Raheem moster. You know, Jalen Wright has to serve more carries for a long time in my opinion, and I would have cut into devon a Chan's workload last year to accomplish that and kept Raheem in the fold even after his fumbles that really cost him playing time after Halloween. But I just thought DeVaughn was better suited for a you know, ancillary
role of doing multiple things. And I thought that's why you would get a Jaileen Wright on your roster, a more you know, between the tackles type of bellcow to help give a Chan more you know, duties outside of playing true running back. But they freaking love him, that's gonna that's gonna be his role. I would be uh, you know, inclined to believe that, or I would be surprised to see it be anything different than that. So I think with with that in mind, like Raheem was,
was a pretty obvious cut to make. Move To make that move, there so two very obvious ones in my opinion, one not so obvious, but I totally get the reasoning. And you know, we've we've only seen a handful of
cornerbacks play really well after their age thirty season. You know, we saw Xavier and Howard's play fall off a cliff when he got to that level, so I don't know, but again just pontificating, I think it says well for cam Smith, Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner and you know, a pretty good cornerback class, and I think there's some guys that could be in play at that thirteenth pick as well. So we'll get more into the cuts and
stuff like that. On the Friday show. Just wanted to get a message across to you guys on those moves because it was, you know, a move that happened last Friday, and we had a podcast already pre taped for Monday, and I was out of town so couldn't get back in there and make those edits. But today on the show, we thought it was worth discussing. So let's go ahead
and pivot now quickly here into the cornerback position. Are incumbents and in general, you know, I say it every year, the improvements that you can best make to help your football team are from in house you know, procedures, in house evaluations, guys that you already have taking their game to the next level, like, for instance, you know, if Tua and Waddle both have their best years, what would be better for the Dolphins or signing a mid level
hit in free agency, Like it's obvious right now. The reason I open with that is I don't think there's a position on this team with more untapped young talent than the cornerback position. Jalen Ramsey is the leader of that group, the decorated veteran with every skill in his bag, and I think his game does transcend his age and experience in terms of any type of dip in production. I also think at a moment's notice, he could flip to safety and be an All Pro there, just like
Charles Woodson did at one point in his career. So until he shows us otherwise, I think you have to classify Ramsey as an all Pro caliber talent. Then cater Co, who had what I would consider his best season pound for pound, the best physical aspect of our perimeter defense. You know, Ramsey puts an argument to that, but Cater's a lot smaller than Ramsey, but he has a real knack for recognizing quick game and screen game in his
area right. He consistently beats those blocks and not only does he put himself in position to you know, help his teammates have a free run of the ball carrier, but he can get off those blocks and make the tackle himself. I thought his coverage was the best of his career this year, especially as the season went along. As a restricted free agent. It seems like a no
brainer move to me. But we shall see. But then you get deep into the unknown, and I think this team really needs competition this summer, and what better way to do that than to pit a former second round pick against a UDFA from a year ago who, by all intents and purposes beat him and the UDFA darling from twenty twenty three and Ethan Bonner out for playing time. Right, I'm talking, of course about Storm Duck taking Bonner and Cam Smith to the wire and winning those competitions early
back in the spring and through the summer. And we'll see if more are added, but I would assume there will be a couple, because well, this position is one where you legit need five or six guys that can play at this level just to get through the attrition of a season and all the weapons opposing offenses have to offer. This doesn't even mention the two guys on reserve contracts that I am quite a big believer in,
and Isaiah Johnson and Jason Matrie. But yeah, I think the Kendall Fuller move signal some confidence a little bit at least in those players. The real indication will be what happens when they're on the clock at thirteen, and of course pending what happens in free agency, but I tend to think they won't spend another like Kendall full sized contract on.
A cornerback too.
But we'll see what happens if Will Johnson and Chavon Ravel are on the board at thirteen, or maybe they trade back and they're looking at Johnny Barron on the board like that could test their allegiances to the young grew we're talking about here. And quite frankly, I tend to think it's like, you know, s or get off the pop time if you will, for Cam Smith not to mention, I mean, you know, Ramsey is at that age where thanks could get Harry quickly, but it's a
very complicated room. And cater I thought had his a you know, a rough summer in an early part of the season finding the football, so this could almost be a trapdoor position. For the Dolphins as much as it could be a strength. That's why I'm so like apprehensive on how to you know, clarify my thoughts on this room. That's kind of the makeup of the team this year. I fear so it's going to be like maybe things bottom out, but maybe it works and you're good.
We'll see.
Let's go ahead and take a break rate there, come back and talk about the incumbent players, the assets in this room, what this room needs, all of that next, as well as the free agents that are out there and what might be attractive to your Miami Dolphins on the Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation, The cornerback Room our final positional capsule before we head out to Indianapolis for the scouting combine, as we revisit
the incumbent players here, starting with number five, Jalen Ramsey. In a lot of ways, he's the straw that stirs the drink in the defense. We had Anthony Weaver this year talk about some of the in game communication. I think it was Indy when coach Matthew Rugio was like, hey, five has been in the nickels six times a day and you haven't blitzed him once, then he blitzed him the next three plays in a row, and he impacted all three of them for a three and out for
our defense. He's a factor on the run game. He can condense inside and cover a slot receiver or Hunter Henry or like Travis Kelcey for instance. Now, Garrett Wilson did get the best of him after he locked him down twenty twenty three, but I thought that was more one off for him. His length, his physicality, his ball skills, his temperament, his tackling, his hitting, his anticipation of the ball skills. He's still cooking employs all over your defense.
Number four Cater Kohu, I alluded to it off the top. I just think that his work as a tackler is often teaching tape, and I like him inside the most, where he can factor in more in that regard, even fitting outside runs that can bang the B gap or you know, cut it all the way back across the grain into the you know the backside B gap or
cutups it runs right out of his direction. I thought his feel and spatial recognition took a big, big jump this year, like almost almost immediately, like around the Bye week because I was pretty down his play in the first part of the season, but to me, it was, you know, a breakout season for him for a player
that was really good right away for us. He's a restricted free agent, so he might be asking yourself, Travis, what the heck is that it's a player with three accrued seasons at least six regular season games in each, which is a UDFA. Contracts typically are those right undrafted three year contracts, but can also apply to a draft pick who's been cut and reacquired. The original team can place a tender on that player and they can select
the roundtender. Then that player can negotiate with other teams. They can bring the offer back to the original team, and if they signed that match that offer sheet, then he goes back to his original team. If they don't make the offer, the offering team can then send you the draft pick that you tendered him with and give him that contract that they offered to him. So that happened with Wes Welker a few years ago when they gave us the second round pick for Wes Welker.
That's what that was. Kendall Fuller number twenty nine.
He was released last week I thought the production was really good for the first like eight games of his year this year, and tape it off towards the end, especially with that big game by the Jets wide receivers down here at age thirty off knee injury. You can see the thinking there Storm Duck number thirty six. I thought he showed you what he showed in his college tape. Consistent strain, willingness to put a lick on a ball carrier, and the length at the last scrimmage to reroute and
play aggressive man coverage. I think there was an area where he lost some reps. It was feeling space and zone, but I expect that to improve and his second year within the system, there's a lot to work with there. There's a lot that you can ask questions about. That's kind of how this entire room is made up right now, and that's probably gonna be the avenue we're cruising on
right now. Number twenty four, Campsmith injuries have really slowed his progress man coming out and throughout camps and practices the way he would, you know, transition his his weight and shift and change gears. And I thought he showed you the stuff that made him a high draft pick. It was exceptional squatting from an off position, driving back down the stem with really good instincts and change of direction. Obviously a massive year for him. They need this guy
to show some bite. I just I don't think it's gonna happen because I thought, you know, Vic Fangio kind of putting him on the non negotiable list was a pretty big indictment as a rookie, and then he plays even less this year. It seems like, I don't know, man. I don't think the mindset is right, and he's gonna have to get it right if he wants to figure out in this league. Ethan Barr number twenty seven. I think the worst case scenario for Barner's career is that
he follows a similar track to somebody like Sarann. We'll talk about here in just one second, his speed and play style. I think we'll always keep him a central part on special teams wherever he goes.
Now. I know he didn't do that this year.
But we were deep at corner and had pretty good health for the most part. So for him, for Cam and for Duck, it's a big year. But I think he has a chance to make an impact this season and if not, then we can talk about alternatives.
Number thirty three Saran Nils a free agent.
He was a big part of a special teams and played a played defense in a pinch, A nice depth piece to have, but to me, these are the kind of players you need to avoid spending millions of dollars on. And where our lack of draft capital or I guess you can just call it hits, it's both on Day three has hurt us. You know, two picks from twenty twenty one to twenty twenty three through the fourth and sixth rounds.
That was Rika Zukama and Elijah Higgins.
So absolutely no return for you in terms of pro production from those spots. And that's how you wind up spending three million bucks a year on a Clayton Fedulum or a Keon Crossing or a.
Saran Neil who are okay.
Saran Neil is good this year, but the other guys on special teams were okay. And then when you got to a point where that had to play on defense, you couldn't do it like you couldn't couldn't have it, couldn't afford it. I thought Neil was to put him in that class is unfair, but it is similar. You need those guys to be hungry, young dudes that are grateful for the role, who will push the starters and
only cost you the minimum rookie contract right now. We did get Kamara and Malikue Washington and Patrick mc morris this year in that range, and I do think at least one of those guys will be an impact player. I would actually wager two of them will be. But that's that's kind of what I'm getting at here, is like you have to not venture in the world of the saran Neils and try to find these guys, you know, in the fourth, fifth, sixth rounds of the draft. What
this room needs is competition. It needs feistiness. It needs someone to battle with Cater Kohu, to battle with Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner and Cam Smith. Perhaps you need a true number two. I just I don't know, man. I felt it's gonna be costly to get that, and this free agent class gives me a little bit of a pause with that. But if we go into camp and it's a second round draft pick, and then it's Storm Duck and it's Ethan Bonner and Cam Smith, like
that's tough. You're gonna feel it not great about that cornerback room. But I guess the Eagles of the exact same thing with Quinnon, Mitchell and Cooper de Gene this year. So I don't know, and I don't think you're paying top dollar. I just kind of wish Kendall was younger and not injured and we can just have this not be an issue. But it is what it is, additional assets.
And this is another thing, like maybe this is more a reasoning why they were confident making that move because I think Isaiah Johnson has a pro career ahead of him, and I think Jason Matrie has a pro career ahead of him. Both those guys are on futures contracts. Let's go ahead and get into the free agents that are gonna be available here in just a matter of a
couple of weeks. And one of the problems I have here with this group, a lot of the attractive skill sets and costs are players that are in that same range as Kendall Fuller that he just was cut from.
In fact, I'm gonna trim the fat like I had I had.
Jonathan Jones thirty one, DJ Reid twenty eight, Carlton Davis twenty eight coming off a serious injury, Rasul Douglas thirty on the list, all those guys, but I removed him because I just don't. I cannot imagine. Can't imagine you would go in that direction after cutting Kendall Fuller. I
can't imagine it. We'll do the same thing with names that I wasn't gonna watch anyways, like Stefan Gilmore who's thirty four, Mike Hilton, who's been awesome for a long time, but he's thirty, Shad Griffin's thirty, Tree Whites thirty one. I mean, if you ever need to sign that, that twenty eight to twenty nine to thirty year mark is the cliff for the cornerback position, just go to the spow track page spot racks bow track.
How you pronounced that?
Like eighty percent of those dudes are on the wrong side of twenty eight years old and it tracks. Speaking of guys that are not on the wrong side of that, Paulson Adebo is like twenty five years old because he's off of his fourth year as a pro and he's ready to be a free agent.
I think this is.
The kind of guy that I look at as our top end potential spectrum, like that's as high as we can go.
Is Paulson the deebo.
I remember him coming out of Stanford as an elite press man cover with exceptional ball skills. But he would undersize at like one hundred and eighty pounds and he fell out of the back of day two. Sure enough, he's been a beast for the Saints. He did break a femur this year and that might be the only reason he won't get cornerback one money. Maybe he will, but he had three picks this year in seven games, after having four picks last year. He's got long speed,
great ball tracking like a true number one cornerback. He's also played inside. He has tackle and fumble production. I like his game spow Track spot Rack says e eleven million dollars apy I would do that. He plays with the real mein streak as well. He's feisty, the kind of player we need. Brandon Eckles from the Jets Dolphins fan should know him well. He's pick six two or twice.
The tape wasn't as good as I remember those times he plays against us, because he always makes a freaking play against us, but he's probably gonna be cheap because of him running fourth fiddle in New York for a couple of years. If you want to adhere to the competition idea and get someone that's going to compete and push guys every single day, then this is that dude.
He's feisty, loves football, played his butt off. There was a game against the Titans where he was he on the final drive they made a stop and then he barfed on the field. He leaves it all out there literally and again can play inside. My conclusion is I tend to think a player like this and a draft pick might be the best way to attack it. Now he's twenty seven, so it's close to that cliff, but
that's still within the prime of his career. I think you might be able to get the best version of him and hungry to show you he's a starter, and I think he could be that, or he could be starter quality on your bench if someone like Storm Duck does show you that he's the real deal.
I don't know.
Maybe someone pullings up for this guy, but I would love to try to offer him on the cheap and if it's you know, Ramsey Echles cater a Day two draft pick, and then all the guys we talked about, Maybe that can work out for us, Byron Murphy, I mean settled to a quarterback one on cornerback, one on
the freegent market. We've seen this team, you know, make some surprising moves at cornerback, I e. The Kendall Fuller move last year or Byron Jones on twenty twenty, but I just can't imagine they do that again this year. This is a twenty million dollar player, exceptional zone field, can press and run with the best players in the league, and one on one coverage, ball production, sound tackler. He's fantastic, top of the market guy out of our range. Assante
Samuel Junior is the ultimate feast or famine player. It was great early on, then bad, but then he sort of evened out as.
A good player.
He's a big time playmaker, just like his pops was. He finds the football and takes it away. He can really sink his hips, has good flexibility in that lower half to pivot and get vertical with the long speed to stay in phase and coverage or down the stem back towards a line of scrimmage. He was a one thousand plus snap player each of the last two years before playing just two hundred and thirty this year because of a severe steinger in his shoulder, which he says
could have long term impacts. So I'm curious to see what that looks like for him. It makes me want to say, like, I don't know, man twenty five, but if you have a banged up shoulder, that's not gonna work at cornerback. So I'm not sure if it's worth spending what it'll probably cost to get him. If we're going to take swings on hurt guys, it should be one year, low cost deals. I think Samuel gets close to, you know, eight figures, and I do love the age,
the break takeout profile, the versatility. I'm a bit conflicted on this player. Brandon Stevens is up next, and Eric DeCosta said he expects Stevens to test the free agent market. And I do think you should sometimes be wary of players from teams that walk, when those teams have proven they know what they're doing, you know, Joey Porter and Mike Wallace down here, a Raven danell Ellerby down here. Ravens fans hate this guy, and I think A change of scenery could be good for him because he's very
sticky in coverage. But he had the same issue that I got on cater early this year for with a total lack of feel at the catch point. He's often late to react. But he is six foot one, he's two hundred and fifteen pounds. He hits, but the ball production stats are an indication that he really struggles to find the football.
My conclusion here is I could see him.
I could see them having an affinity for this player who played for coach Weaver has played on the perimeter, played in the slot, and some safety, but I would think it would have to come in under cornerback to money because he's so up and down. It's tough to gauge a signing that I would be equally concer earned and optimistic about. I'll close you with this to scare
you away and say no, no thanks, Travis. He had the second worst coverage EPA in the NFL this year, four to fifty one out of four hundred and fifty two coverage players. Eric Stokes this last on our list here. It's funny watching these twenty five year olds. He's not last week at one more illied these twenty five year olds compared to the guys at the top of the draft class. Just like Stevens, his feel and ability to find the football is just not there. He's late to everything,
a reactionary player. From what I can tell, he was excellent as a rookie and then it just kind of got off the rails for him. But then wait, you get to the second half of the season and since their bye week, he had the first hit the lowest amount of coverage er yards per coverage snap in the NFL, So it makes for an interesting market. I still see flaws in his game with the stats propped up by some situation and scheme, but he's a four to three
speed guy NFL lineage. Perhaps a low level investment. These are the kind of players we're discussing here right. It hasn't worked out for him. He's still twenty five, hungry with something to prove as a former first round draft pick, but man, the tape just had has not been great. He also lost his job mid season, but did come back and play a lot better down the stretch. So maybe the light did go on for Eric Stokes at some point this year. Maybe you can still a gem here.
Last on my list is a guy that breaks the rule we talked about earlier in Charvarius Ward, a player that is thirty by the time the season kicks off, but he wants out of San Francisco because he and his wife lost a child and he has communicated that he has too much pain associated with the area and he's hungry and wants to go somewhere else, expressing that on social media. I might take that gamble as a cheap cost, but would he because Bochrack spot Rack says
three year, forty five million dollars Gtfoh. Now, I know he's tight with coach, hence the inclusion, but and he's a lockdown corner He's a number one cornerback. But I just I don't care how good he is with the fluidity out of his pedal to flip in either direction, his ball skills, the way he matches up against the league's best week in and week out. I just think he's going to cost a lot more than what Kendall
Fuller was, and we're out of that business. My rankings are him why Ward number one, Byron Murphy number A very close number two, Paulson a debo number three. Then there's a big tier market rate there. I got Brandon Eckles fourth, and this is kind of based upon the cost expectation ratio for these players. Sante Samuel fifth, Eric
Stokes sixth, and Brandon Stevens is seventh. I kind of suck at cornerbacks, like it's my biggest misrate among all positions, so it's hard for me to stack these guys sometimes. So with that mind, there's a good teamser going to stick with us for the last segment evaluating draft ball cornerbacks.
We'll do that next year.
A Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Autnation.
College.
A bunch of cornerbacks that I had a fun time watching, much more so than the free agents we talked about here on the podcast.
And where else would it start?
With the top guy in the class for pretty much everybody but Colorado's Travis Hunter, and the debate will weigh John about which side of the football he should play. But I think you make him a one hundred percent player on defense from day one and then create special packages on offense akin to how they used to do it with a shoot with I can't think of the name all of a sudden, Oh Jack Jones for the Patriots.
Why did I blank on that name? But that's just me now.
When I see him on tape as a cornerback, there is so much confidence from this player. He trust his eyes as well as anybody, and he has the athletic profile to make it go. He can squat, he can drive, he can catch the football off of his frame, he can play from depth, and you can just see all the reps he's had at wide receiver logged in the way that he plays route concepts, not to mention his
ball skills. I think he's pretty clearly cornerback one from this class, and I love the next guy a bunch, but I think the offensive options make him even more attractive as a defender as you look to make him a top five pick, which is where he should go in my opinion, the.
Number two cornerback.
I could easily make a case that he should be the first pick for cornerbacks in this draft. In Chavon Ravel, junior from Eastern Carolina, I will say he challenges Hunter on my board. I'm not sure anybody else will have it that way, but for starters, he's six foot three and that length is just so evident. I cannot wait to watch or to see what his arm measurement is next week in Indy because the hangoff of his body
like freaking vines man. He's high cut, long legged, a little bit thin at one to ninety five at that height, but he plays like he's two fifteen with how he cuts off routes and just out physicals you. It's akin to how Ramsey plays. Quite honestly, I'm bigger and I'm stronger than you, and I'm going to prove it. If you had him here, I think it creates a lot of fun disguise for coach Weaver to institute. I think he could play inside too, at that height, in that size,
I think he can cover tight ends. I think he, you know, at full development, is going to be an absolute lockdown corner. Then you plug in the Michigan tape and watch him whack Colston Lovelin on a split flow run action as the you know, the first round tight end for many folks for a tackle for loss. I just love him now. He tore his ACL in September. Dolphins fans turned the podcast off right there, which probably hurts his stock, But I think he'd be a great pick at thirteen.
He's a stud. I have him in the top fifteen. No further back than that.
Will Johnson from Miss Again was a guy that people thought might be like a top three pick, you know, not that long ago.
I have him as the gambler.
Nobody makes bigger plays than Will Johnson, and no one gives up bigger plays than Johnson. But I think most of it is through like actual film prep and recognition, because I think there is some guesswork there. But for the most part, you know, he gets beat on double moves and he's really sharp. Route runners have hit explosive plays on him. But I do think he is in tune with what he's seeing and he definitely trusts it. But he did get beat deep more than the other
two here in our top three. Now, that's the first thing that stands out on his tape, the yin and the yang of his big playability.
But he's also a stud in many many ways.
Now. I think the reason he can gamble like that like he does is because he's six foot two and two oh five and an outstanding fluid athlete, and that see it, trust it go mentality is not because he's just guessing. He's putting in the work and you can see him fall off of his man and jump into another zone for a big time play all the time. He could easily be the top corner back in four years from now from this class, no doubt about. In
my mind, he too was a top fifteen pick. There's a little bit of a fall off right there, but not by much for me. I think Johnny Barron from Texas is the way I think Revel. Revel opens up a lot of your coverage options. Baron could do the same because of his ability to play inside shoot.
He might be the best slot cornerback in this draft.
And we've heard Weaver talk about the versatility of Cater and Kendall and how that maximized the versatility of Ramsey. I think you have to start there when looking at cornerbacks in this defense. And he's a plus tackler, a blitzer, a ball tracker. He's the kind of guy you try to scheme up play making opportunities in your defense, and those are so few and far between you. You're just
going off numbers here against loaded schedule. Mind you, nine pass breakups five picks did not allow a touchdown this year was tab with two hundred and seventy nine yards allowed in coverage. He plays press so well, whether he turns into trail technique or is on an island in coverage where he doesn't have help over the top and he's not funneling where he has to play both under
and over. Really good change of direction and feel. He might be the best in this class at playing off and then mirroring the route to prevent stemming and stacking. He just like cuts you off and doesn't let you press his toes the way some cornerbacks do. I think Kyle Krabs nailed the comp. He's Brian Branch all over again. So in reality, you could kind of kill two birds with this cat. You know, I keep hearing it's a bad draft class, but every group I watch has studs
all over it. So I like those four guys. I like this next guy too. I got Barren in the first round. By the way, same place, I have a zire oh Man, the Florida State kid man. Those last same is Thomas A z A R E y E apostrophe. H. Come on, man, you're killing your kid's ability to learn proper FINNUCX.
We canna do that I digress.
I feel like, you know, kids these days are better quote unquote pros from an early age, Like I'm watching these five prospects just really having great technique and feel for their position. Maybe I am misremembering this, but it seems like the green or the project players near the top of the class are less and less every single year. This guy's an easy mover who keeps his pad shelf low with excellent start stop quickness, which is pretty key
for a cover corner. You could really see that in his one on one reps at the Senior Bowl, where he could condense inside for a rep play on one side of the man and have the ability to run across the field with him from that backside position or stay in the hip pocket on a corner route back the other way. He's big, six foot two, which makes him,
you know, the movement skills even more impressive. He's exceptional impressed man like then you see him, you know if he takes a false step, he has the recoverability too. He looks like a center fielder tracking the ball down on the gap.
Huge, huge fan of his game.
So you've really got all kinds of flavors here at the top and I think you know Rebel and Thomas are the best press man guys. I think Baron's the best slot safety type of guy who can play the perimeter as well. Johnson's more of the off reactionary cornerback, and Hunter is a little bit of everything with wide receiver ball skills. I have Thomas also in the first round. Then I have a bit of a drop off to Trey Amos from Old Miss, but he's still really damn good.
Stop the record if you've heard this before. His best trait is the ability to play in press man's long He's feisty. His attacking style shows up both at the catchpoint and downhill as a tackler. He was recruited by Sabin at Alabama, and we know how polished cornerbacks are that go there. I thought his feel at Old Miss was tremendous. His angles are exceptional. I love the way he reads the play from you from diagnosing the concept, like you can see him in passing zone in zone situations,
parsing through the routes and not the quarterback. Then he picks it up and gets his eyes back to the quarterback. His recovery and closing speed is very good. He was outstanding in mobile, so much so that he just pieced out on Wednesdays said I'm good for Thursday's practice. You guys can catch him later. Top forty pick all day long. Benjamin Morrison from Notre Dame is my first, like, I don't know about it type of guy. Three year starter,
nine picks twenty two plays in the football. Another pressman reroute type of player. But I think where the difference is between he in the top five is he can be a little bit tighter and slower to react, and that's a big turn off for me. Now that said, he had a hell of a against Jeremiah Smith, getting a fair share of his wins, although Smith did leave him looking silly a few times.
He's a competitor.
He had no issues following his man across the formation on a jet sweep and making the tackle on the other side. He always gets his eyes back to the football. My problem is this is mostly a zone league, and I don't think he has a great feel for zone coverage. I think he's super sticky in the hips and I'm curious to see how he tests. I've got more guys to watch, but the ones I've seen a brief glimpse at like Kobe Bryant from Kansas looks like a stud
to me. Quincy Riley from Louisville can play a little bit, Maxwell Harrison from Kentucky, Jacob Parrish, the Kansas State kid. There is a lot to like here in this class. Like I said, it's gonna be tough to mess up this draft. All right, let's go ahead and call it a podcast right there. Friday, We're gonna put a bow on this entire series and give you a comprehensive look
at the offseason preview this whole thing as well. We'll do that then and then it's all the way to Indy for next week's episodes.
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