Primrose Paths!

this stat like five times in the last month. Arizona averaged twenty five points per game in their final five or maybe it was six games of last year, so they were getting better. They add a stable quarterback. They add Marvin Harrison and James Connor, who played well last year, but he's aged twenty nine. I mean, the cliff's coming for James Connor. And when it does, there's Trey Benson.

In that season, he became the first collegiate running back in the PFF charting era with a force miss tackle rate over fifty percent. Oh, I love it. That was crazy. And then you combine the last two seasons, Benson was number one out of two hundred twenty six qualifiers in miss tackles force per attempt. Oh. So you have that so sexy an you talk to me like this so hot. You have that aspect of his game where he's breaking the tackles in the first level to get out to

that second level. And once he does, that's where the size speed combination comes in. He was the premier combination of that in this class for three nine wheels at two hundred and sixteen pounds. Guys an absolute stud of an athlete. That's why you saw him a cru so many explosive runs at Florida State. The other thing I would say about him, Mike Norvelu, go back to Memphis.

Remember when the way that he used Antonio Gibson, the way he used Tony Pollard, When he had guys that could multi dimensional skill, guy that could handle this sort of thing, he would he would motion them out to the slot, do interesting receiving things with them, get the blockers out in front of him. He was doing that sort of stuff. With Trey Benson because he's skilled enough

as a receiver. I also liked on Trey Benson's tape the way he would sell play the play action, then work his way through the line of scrimmage, work his way through the garbage, get around that, and make himself immediately available to the quarterback. Got a lot of targets doing that. His hands are good and you get the tackle break in Berserker. After that, all you got to do is get is hit him on the hands eighty six percentile among running backs and miss tackles force per reception.

So that's a side of the other thing we were talking about.

ranked sixteenth by Pro Football Focus. And he's just been playing better than Chewba Hubbard and where Miles Sanders is right now, and those I mean, those guys could be cut candidates for me as far as I'm as far as I'm concerned. What are your thoughts on this landing spot for Jonathan Brooks in Carolina?

made up for it. The first ten games of the season, he was averaging over one hundred and forty scrimmage yards per game. Unfortunately, he tears his ACL against TCU on November eleventh. That was the then that of course wiped out his entire pre draft process. Wasn't able to test everything like that. I love his feet. I like him as a runner. He makes people miss that. That's the part of his game where I mean, I think Caroline is going to give him a metric ton of carries this coming season, the.

receiving element of it. Obviously earlier in his career because of the way that you know, with Beijon there and Rochean, he just wasn't used as much as a receiver, and then those first ten games a lot of the usage was coming as a runner. So I'm not sure about that aspect of his game, but he's gonna get He is going to be the belcow of that Carolina offense as far as the runner immediately, and.

from these like you like you want to. But part of the love here is Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh give us the most run heavy combo in the NFL, right, so opportunity is.

that was the way their offense was set up. It turns out that Kamani Vidal is probably the best pass blocking back in this class, which is going to keep him on the field for passing downs. If not. I think he's a better receiver than he was given credit for in the process. But as a runner, a very very interesting player. And the landing spot here, of course is great Jim Harbaugh. This is his type of running back.

Blake Korham ends up going in the third round to Sean mcvabe, so at least he stays in the same area code as Jim Harbaugh. But I thought it was so interesting that three runs they can have sleepovers. They can sleepovers exactly. But three rounds later he ends up taking Vidal, who is essentially the pointing spider Man give of Blake Koram as a physical package. They're in the same height, they're the same weight. It's just Kamani Vidal is a better athlete. Kamani Vidal ended up testing as

an eighty eight percentile athlete five A two thirteen. You know you have that bowling ball build. Kamani Vidal ran for four thousand yards in the FBS. He did it a different way than Blake Korum, even though they're in the same dimensions. Blake Koram is more your breaking bowling ball on the lane, where he does it with agility, tempo, patience, different stuff like that Kamani Vidal, whereas with him, it's throwing the bowling ball at the pins where it's he

comes forward, the acceleration. He's not waiting for anyone breaking through that line, and it's a different type of a playing style for back that type where a lot of them. Usually you see more of the Korum type, Devin Motor, Singletary, those kind of guys where it's more shaken. Vadal takes the fight to you. And and it's not just that he accrued all these stats against G five teams. They played Kansas State. Kansas State was loading eight man boxing

against Kamani Vidal. He was blowing through into the second third level. The guy that I compared Kamani Vidal to was Jalen Warren, which I got a chance to ask Kamani down in Mobile at the Senior but what he thought of my company, He was starting to laugh, and he compared himself to Maurice Jones Drew. But he did say that he liked my comp of him. The thing with those two guys' games. When Jalen Warren came out of Oklahoma State, obviously he was under sauld the ends

up going undrafted. Warren finished his last season there number two in the FBS and forced miss tackles. This past season, Kabati Vedal finished number two in the FBS and forced miss tackles. I think that that's what he has bringing, that kind of game is what he is bringing to the Charterers. I believe that in his rookie season he upset JK. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to start as a rookie for Jim Harbaugh in that run first offense that they have with Greg Roman.

You know, with new coaching staff, obviously we're you know, we're gonna get year number two for Bryce Young. It's going to be better. It's going to be better for Bryce Young. One hundred percent chance it's going to be better. What are your thoughts about that landing spot for Sanders.

and to play these things up. With his testing. You saw the speed and you saw the burst. The rest of his athletic testing disappointed. That's why he finished fifty seven percentile in that. But he can stretch the seam absolutely, he can absolutely do that, and he can make plays downfield.

The other thing that they would do for him, Sarkeshan would get the defense focusing on Xavier Worthy Adonai Mitchell on the other side of the field and would get Sanders isolated against one of the tertiary you know, linebackers strong safety against Sanders in space one on one hit him on the hands in the intermediate area where he had the opportunity to turn up field and hit the jets.

So you would see the yak yardage there to Chaevian Sanders does not break tackles, but he gets yak yardage because of that and the way he was schemed with that. If Carolina uses him cleverly like that, I think that's where you get the receiving utility out of him at the NFL level. But again I'm curious how they do their offensive usage because you have the three starting receivers now that they had to get to that room.

around where he was on my board. Eric All is very clearly the number two guy at this position group in terms of receiving utility offered to the next level he's been. He was starting at Michigan for the two years prior to when he went to Iowa. Last year at Iowa, when he was on the field the first six games or so, he was one of the better receiving tight ends in college football by the numbers and what was once again a rancid passing offense in Iowa City.

But they had brought him in after he transferred from Michigan in order to step into Sam Laporta's inline spot in their offense. Yeah, when he was at Michigan, he was playing more of the h back, big slot role, move around chess piece, kind of a role that this past year Colson Lovelin filled in Jim Harbaugh's offense. But I love the athleticism with Eric All in conjunction with the receiving skill, and he has ball skills as well. But you can see examples of this even in his

brief time in Iowa City. There was a play last year they hit him on the hands intermediate against Penn State and he ends up turning the corner and Kaylan King was the cornerback who is trailing him. Eric All outruns Kaylan King to the end zone for love fifty yards out. Wow, kaylan King and his pro day ran I believe a four or five to one, So I think eric All would have ran probably in the high four fours had he been able to test Caylen King I'm sorry, four or five to two at Penn States Prode.

But at least on that play in pads, eric All appeared to be faster than him. Washington's Devin culpad the fastest forty time with tight ends that were tested this year at four four seven, eric All would have been challenging him. And then you know Theo Johnson was the one everyone was going nuts about. Was a four or five seven, eric All would have licked him. And again, the route running, the ball skills. We have seen this

going back a couple of years. The only reason he felt the way he did and in the pre draft process there wasn't more talk about him. It's because of that back injury that ended his career at Michigan. There was a disagreement about whether he should shut it down that season and rock for that thirt That's what ends up leading to his transfer goes to Iowa.

one else who would shut him down that season. So because of that and then because he comes back the next season, I'm making a situational assumption, of course, looking into the black box of his medicals which they don't release to us, that it's it doesn't crazy elevate his risk at the NFL level, and obviously that's what the

Bengals have told us. Their read is on it by taking them where they did, but big time sleeper Eric Hall, and at a position, by the way, we've been crying out in the last couple of years for the Bengals to take the pass catching monster at tight end for Jie Burrow. They did it here at his sticker price discon with a guy where if his body doesn't betray him Eric All is going to be a star in the NFL.

very similar. You can play him inline stud blocker who absolutely gets after I think he's number two in this class in terms of that from the metrics last year and then the receiving utility, and in particular I thought, well projected, you know, you have the athleticism, you have the idea of how to run the route. He has really good hands.

Then once he catches the ball there he becomes the tackle breaking berserker. That's where it was akin to Sam Laporta for me in terms of that, I think the name where it's going to be evolkedmore in Washington now that he's going there is Chris Cooley. I think who he's going to remind him of. But yeah, he's going to force his way onto the field one way or another the first season, maybe not the full snaps with him, but I think, you know, with jayde Daniels's evaluation, so

good throwing down the field, such a good scrambler. We had talked about how in the LSU offense they didn't throw into that sector. I was just talking about quite as much. Ben Fennett, I think is being brought in to make Jaden a little more comfortable throwing over the middle the hashes at the NFL level.

each episode and everything fantasy football related. Let's go to the wide receiver position. Keon Coleman drops in. Was it pick two of the second round? First the second round, first pick of the second round, Keon Coleman, Buffalo. This is obviously turned into a position of great need for them with Stefan Diggs gone, gave Davis gone, They're really rebooting the spot, not a lot of competition. Coleman walks in is the probable starter week one here, and he's

got a great quarterback to throw them the ball. So let's you know, Coleman's not a speed guy, so you know, I don't know. You know, Josh Allen's got the big, big arm, so I don't know if that's going to be like bombs away. But you know, Gabe Davis was a speed guy and it never came together in a way that materially helped fantasy players. So what do you think about this landing spot for Keon Coleman and Buffalo.

Keon Coleman doesn't care if you are in his kitchen when the ball is coming, because generally it is down the field. And this is where you know, It's funny when people on Twitter at he ran them four to six one at the combine were like, he's not athletic. I was just chuckling. It's it's like a kid who was on Tom Izzo's basketball team at Michigan State two years ago isn't athletic? Right? Are you kidding me? You know?

And I saw him so often hurtle defenders after the catch, he jumps out of the gym, and that is the utility with him down the field and with Josh Allen in particular, That's what's gonna play up a comment about him last year. At the beginning of the season, he was doing tremendous He lit up LSU one hundred and twenty two yards three touchdowns, lit up Clems in eighty six yards two touchdowns. That through September and October, he was doing great. That's when Keyon Coleman suffered an injury

that the cause him to miss a game. Then he comes back, he wasn't one hundred percent. Then Jordan Travis gets injured, and that brought in quarterbacks that should not have been on a Power five field or maybe even a G five field, and so what ended up happening. People look at his stats and they think he was disappointing.

Last season. Key On Coleman got eighty seven targets. Only fifty five of those were chartered as catchable because of all the bad targets that he got in November when these guys were on the field that shouldn't have been. Of those fifty five targets, Keon Coleman caught fifty of them.

Eleven went for touchdowns, twenty eight others went for first downs. Dang, and he's now about to go from these flotsome guys after Jordan Travis got injured to playing with Josh Allen, who is again the perfect stylistic fit for his game. You chuck it up to Keon cole It's a rebound thing. Yeah, that's what that kid is done, Knox since he was a kid. That's all he does iley higher than you. It's full extension because it's just the box out thing

with basketball, it's all it is downfield. If it's only one guy on Keon Coleman, he is getting higher. He's getting up to that ball and he doesn't drop it either, as he has really good hands. This is a really good fit. Let's go to a player who is really fast.

rat system. It's right. So it's it's kind of crazy that those two guys are going to be duking it out for reps. And then obviously Reynolds is involved with that as you are going to see Troy Franklin on on the field in year one, and he absolutely out of those three guys fighting for two spots, could win one of the starting spots. Immediately he got the NFL was punitive with Troy Franklin because he's skinny. I mean,

that's what it is. Six six, but he's a ninetieth percentile athlete, extremely productive at Oregon three point three two yards per route run last year, and he wins at all three levels. Now, of course, with bo Nicks, there was a lot of screen passes being thrown to the outside. At least with that, Troy Franklin got to show that he can manufacture yards after the catch, including breaking tackles, which was impressive for a player who is on the

skinnier side. But in the instances where he was allowed to go downfield, I saw a better route runner than he was given credit for this process. To me, he is a better prospect than the round four early round four price tag that was put on him. And I like Troy Franklin as a fantasy asset sleeper kind of guy.

they pass on neighbors instead they go offensive line. But then they reinforce this position at the very top of the second round, and you get a player who is hyper productive at Georgia and Ladd McConkie, and he walks into a wide receiver room where he's the best player. I mean, he's better than Josh Palmer, and it looks.

one on that team the second that card was submitted. Now, of course, it is the run first offense. That is the ethos of those guys there. Now, so you're going to run on the early downs. But the thing is, and the reason that they were attracted to Lab mcconki, it is not just to address their terrible wide receiver room. It's also because of the constitution of their entire offensive philosophy, which is, we get closer to the sticks on the early downs. We need the efficiency guys in order to

convert on those third downs. Sure that is Lab McConkie. He will get open. You know the third and fours, they were in the third and fives. They're in the third and six, is you lad McConkie won on one and man coverage is shaking as dude, and then Herbert hitting him on the hands and we're getting the first down. One of the craziest stats that I pulled from this past draft class. Last season, more than eighty percent of the balls that left the quarterback's hands headed in mcconkey's direction.

I'm not talking chartered as catchable. I'm just talking peer balls that were throwing his way eight more than eighty percent of them became completions. And this was not on the spoon fed targets that a guy like Malachi Corley got. McConkie's twelve point two eight out was the exact same as Malik neighbors Is. Last season, mcconkee finished with three point twenty six yards per route run that was number

four among FBS prospects in this class. He plays on the people were tossing, Oh, he's just a slot, He's a slat. No, he wasn't. At Georgia, a team that won two of the last three national titles. He played eighty percent of his snaps on the boundary in a twelve personnel offense. And hello, he is now going to a twelve personnel offense under Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman.

He is going to be an outside receiver. The guy that I compared him to is Jordan Addison, and I think you're going to see a similar sort of a deal. The efficiency thing getting open and then he converts it and by the way, four to three to nine gas for the times where potentially they do want to send him down the field a little bit. You can't just always be trying to play up on him, cause he can get around you if you try to take that away and try to start jumping things. All right, Let's

turn our attention to the Patriots. Two receivers.

having talked to you, you like Baker. You're not as high in Polk, even though they took him in reverse order.

and fourteen touchdowns. Jalen Pol in those games sixty eight catches for twelve hundred and ten yards and nine touchdowns. Jalen Polk was always the clear and distant wide receiver

three when Jalen McMillan was on the field. The only reason he ends up going at the top of the second round was because Jalen McMillan suffered a knee injury against Michigan State in September, which allowed Jalen Polk to finally jump up into the wide receiver two role and he went off in for the five next games where

they were playing these crappy Pac twelve defenses. But when Jalen McMillan came back at the end of the season, Jalen Polk came right back to where he came from as a distant wide receiver three in fact, two of the games down the stretch where they're play and keep in mind Washington was going towards playing in the National title game in full games, Jalen Polk that he played in active zero catches in two of those games down the stretch. Wow. The guy that I really like, though,

is Javon Baker. Javon Baker is the guy that I think will quickly ascend to being the top option in that Patriots passing offense. The wide receiving room there stings

and Jawn Baker can actually play. The reason he felt on the board, it's not because he can't play, it's because some of the evaluators have issues with his personality, which he's not a bad kid, but he It reminds me a lot of stuff on Diggs, another guy who fell down the board, because you know, evaluators thought, is your attitude in the way that you see yourself commeserate to your ability on the field.

The Oklahoma is a twenty two point favorite in that game, UCF was a failed two point conversion at the end of the game for taking that game into overtime, potentially upsetting Oklahoma. The only reason they had that shot was because Javon Baker was going ballistic. Reason he blew the kiss there at the end of the first half was to tell him like, we're here. You're not getting rid of me all this game, And that's why UCF almost rose up in that game. Javon Baker can win it

all through levels of the field. The way they predominantly use him in that offense was the deep shots. But I saw that kid win short, win intermediate, the yards after the catch when he does the quarterbacks, he had a UCF. We're not so good at hitting him on the hands in space, but he can do that stuff.

And then the release package with him is crazy, very very dynamic, bullish on him, and I think he's better than Jalen Polk and like I said, I think he's going to be Patriots wide receiver one at some point his rookie season.

Pickett level quarterbacking anyway in Pittsburgh. What do you think of Roman Wilson in Pittsburgh?

keep in mind with that. I this should have been talked about a lot more during the pre draft process. They talk about his frame so much, but they never brought this up. Visa Vive the no drops with him ever. In an odd genetic quirk, Roman Wilson had what quirk, an odd groenetic quirk. I don't know what that means. He has enormous hands, oh, especially for his size. Roman

Wilson's hands are get this bigger than Roma dunesays. They are one eighth of an inch smaller than Marvin Harrison's and they are the same size as Xavier Lagetze, that guy's receivers that got huge. Yeah. And Roman Wilson never flubs balls, So I feel like that is something that should have been discussed more with him. Very very good out runner, very very reliable last year on the field, number one in the FBS and expected points ated per route run. He was also top ten nationally in quarterback

rating when targeted. All right, love it.

And and to me qualitatively, I did not have him ranked too far behind where I had Jonathan Mingo on my board last year. Wow, Jonathan Male like in the high eighties. I had Jalen Coker in the one twenties, so pretty close. And the rest of the wide receivers there that are backups in Carolina, they're just flats them. Jalen Coker's ball skills are incredible. He has the laid hands,

he doesn't drop anything. He spears things outside of his frame, very very good with and while he lacks the downtown wheels, he ran somewhere in the mid four fives, which you can see that on film. He is super bursty and the acceleration, including in and out of the route breaks. That is also something, interestingly enough, that showed up in his testing. Even with the mid four to five speed, he had the same ten year split as mister at

done Mitchell, who really four three to three? Wow, that's right? All right? Yeah, So Jalen Cocher, watch out for him. I think he's making that Carolina Panthers teams. And for any of our deep Dynasty listeners out there, make sure you grab that guy at the end of your draft and stashum. All right, I love it.