Draft Talk with Daniel Jeremiah

my daughter Ellis to most of them. I think at some point I finally realized there was one where, um, you know, jello shots and I think hard drugs were like introduced to the mix, and I was like, okay,

no more, no more Ellis coming to these. But I you know, I always had to drive home from from Marina del Ray, so it wasn't it sounds like I was getting too wild in West's memory, Mark, can you step in and clarify the hard drugs comment about around Westlemania That was not something that I don't know if I'd call that a tent believe me, but Creig West would have nothing to do with it. But there were narrow do wells. West had a very open policy of

who wants to come and who doesn't. And I can definitely confirm, Um, some people were bringing in some things. West may have no idea about it, and they may have been an NFL employees. They may still be uh like the dark side of these parties that Greg was eyeing with his it was like it was like the three in the afternoon. It's like right lately on you, Greg, like you you you're at your third WrestleMania Westlemania. You know, we all know what out and what they devolve into.

And you continually bring small children. And I viewed it as a wave too, as an escape hatch to get out of there. I mean, of course she's going to see crazy stuff. So I don't know what. Well that was round two and three of that. Uh see, I would disagree. The first couple were pretty family friendly, especially

during the afternoon, and then it got wild later. That was this whole thing that there were actually a lot of kids at the first Westlemania or two, and you're right, once we got to three, Uh, there was no it used to be there was like a two to five pm or twelve to four pm pocket where it was a little tamer and then you get out of there with the kids. But but by three, um, these individuals

they weren't waiting around. They were they were gonna hit it, running right out hard drugs like people just like knotted out in the corner. Um knowing those parties and the characters involved always kept the children far away. But you know, it's it's it's tough being parents sometimes sometimes the kids got to come when you can't. It was either that or not go. You know, there was like an infinite home and I wasn't. I wasn't allowed to leave the

older one. You know, it's a tough spot. Welcome to the show. We have. We are approaching the draft now and and yes it pains me to say this, but you know, Daniel Jeremiah is kind of the guy in terms of the NFL Draft and the walk up to it. Uh, so we did. We booked him. We booked him on the show today and he's gonna be on today's episode. We're gonna dive deep on the draft. Nice conversation I

look forward to having with DJ. We can maybe hopefully move past our issues, uh and have a civil conversation.

Uh to look forward to that also, you know, as we are kind of in the afterglow of the Sam Donald trade UM, and that happened in the middle of our recording on Monday, in fact, right after it, and we you know, did some surgery on the show, and so it all was happening very quickly, and I was just like the last couple of days, I've had a chance to reflect on it a little bit because as you guys know better than anyone that UM had a lot invested in Donald, as did all Jets fans, And

it is kind of shocking that it's over, that the Sam Donald is over in New York. And Joe Douglas spoke UM to the media the day after the trade to the Panthers, and he said as much that it took a lot of things to fall into place for it to end after three years, and that's just the way it happened, whether the regime change, the timing on his contract, where they were picking in the draft, and

it's just kind of hard to believe. And and I still do believe Donald can be better and even good in an environment that that where it gives him a real shot. But I have to say it is a relief no longer having to ponder the chicken or the egg nature of his entire career in the NFL. That is now something the Panthers fans have to work through and figure out because it was very it was extremely stressful.

So while I I wish him well and I think he can do well, that's as a fan that was exhausting and it's off my plate and I feel good about that. I mean, one of the factors was, um, he didn't play well. I mean, and and then it was that there is a huge chunk of the media in general that turns around and I think has protected Sam Donald because of the environment he was in as much as any quarterback in the league. And so he's is that fair unfair? I Mean, you can look at

Donald from a couple of different viewpoints. But the hardest thing as a Jets man, I think was defending bad quarterback play from a guy that everyone felt should be so much better and making the team better, right, I mean, it was tough on Dan. He had for a while he was trying to convince us like Sam Donald was super good looking, Like that's how much he was bump bumping him up. He is. I think he is a handsome He's fine, He's fine, but he's no Zack Wilson,

who's like a young Efron zac Efron. I feeling even better about the Zac Efron slash Zach Wilson. But if you if you like your men like little boys, you know, you know, I think we're just getting old. But he looks like he's like fourteen years old, so I think we are certainly getting old. Speaking of Sam darn in the end of the road, I think this is a good time to check in with Keith hanss Now. His name is Keith Dan. He'll doubt about it. He's a

big Jets fan. Well is he gondaillpen game to day? Well? Does he go? Will happen game today? The Sam Donald era is over. I thought Sam Donald was the kind of player that I think teammates probably appreciated. He played through pain, and he seemed to try hard, uh and didn't seem to put throw people under the bus or anything of that regard. But as far as the way he progressed in the three years he was with the Jets, I you know, had lost faith in him as a

Jet fan. I don't think he was gonna change much. I agree he didn't have the team around him the coaching around him. But I seeing other young players in recent years that have been drafted on other teams come up with not the greatest teams and have put up some great numbers. Where Sam Sam Donald, with all the publicity he was getting and a claim, he just never seemed to improve and as a matter of fact, just

went down. As we all know, last year was ranked dead last among all active quarterbacks UH in the ratings. And just hopefully the Jets cel um in the draft will come up and the quarterback that they pick UH will become the quarterback that they can work with. I think it was a good move by the Jets. Good luck Sam. Disclosure, my dad was always out on Sam Donald. This past year or so. There was no on the fence. I'm on the fence and I'm just trusting management to

get this right. Keith was ready to roll on the Donald era and move on. So I hope he's right. I hope he's right. Gonna analysis is always though Anton Panthers don't hope he's right. Um. I think that was the thing that would think the thing that Donald is We're just such a quick football like COGNISCENTI to move on like we didn't need to wait to move on

to from Dayne Haskins and Josh Rosen. And I think when you really look at it, that's that's the that's the company Donald was keeping even when he was protected and and and things went well on a certain play. That's that. It's like, we've done this long enough to like assume anything. If Matt Rule can fix him up nice and fancy, he could be average there. And I think there's a ceiling and I'm not a bit I'm not really buying this um, but you know, maybe he

can be average. There is a bit of an irony here by the way, as I say, I'm passing Donald off to another fan base. Uh, and there was a lot of stress to it. I'm kind of passing it off the Sessler who's the president of the Matt Rule Dynasty fan club. He's now kind of your quarterback in a lot of ways. Yeah. And I think actually, like he goes to a really one of the best, you know, scenarios you could have picked for him. And if Joe Brady is as brainy as they saying creative, I think,

you know, it'll help. And I think that's good for Sam Donald. I wouldn't want him. See him go somewhere where he was in a word, like a Jared Goff type landing spot where things seem to fall apart even further once you get there. Um. But I don't have any great faith that Sam Donald's like a great quarterback, that's all. I just want to see it. I don't

have to have that he could be a backup. I would be very interested if they drafted someone at quarterback, I kind of, I think, and this is something I thought about more. I'm convinced they were in on mac Jones and between striking out with Stafford mac Jones potentially and Watson, um, then Donald kind of became this fallback land. But who knows, maybe mac Jones doesn't get taken, or maybe they maybe tray Lance falls and they decided to

take a shot. Who knows. And speaking of the Panthers, Teddy Bridgewater, by the way, is now allowed or has been given permission, to engage with trade partners, So I know you would floated the he might still be in the mix of the Panthers. The Panthers are done with Teddy bridge want They're gonna They're gonna take a financial uh semi Bath to move on considering the investment they made with him, which wasn't small. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. Then they're gonna kind of hit

the reset here. And I'm with you, just like I thought. Ryan Fitzpatrick would have been a lot of fun in Denver. Uh, the Broncos job. If you were a quarterback trying to figure out where you land in the landscape and you're still looking for work. Uh, and there aren't many quarterbacks in this category. Now with Teddy, you gotta get up to Denver and take on Drew lock with that good offense, uh and really strong team all around. Um. All right,

lots to get to before we get to DJ. And we'll talk to DJ about some jet stuff at number two because we know his connection to Joe Douglas. Let's hit the news. Could you believe a pick in? It's funny boys. That's uh the agent of Ben Roethlisberger at the two thousand four NFL draft, um Lee Steinberg. Lee Steinberg and one of the more famous agents in NFL history. And uh that pops up every once in a while. Stephen Ruey's who does really good work. Uh. Over at four,

the Win. He's their lead writer. Uh he really he put he floated that back up onto Twitter. Uh this week, and it's a whole behind the scenes breakdown of the two thousand four draft, following all the top picks everywhere there they were mike them up at the draft tables, and it just got me thinking how disappointing it is that as the draft since in those fifteen years twenty years has gotten bigger, Uh, the access has gotten tighter

and tighter and more and more controlled. Wouldn't that be great if we had this every year and then you can look back on this stuff instead? Uh, you know, you just get this recycled every year so on social media, which I appreciate. But at the same time, I wish we had this for this draft or the Baker Mayfield Sam Donald draft, like all that stuff. Uh No, that's not how it works anymore. I prefer less access, um, more sterile coverage, more robotic, less insight. That's what I'm

so we're going. We're heading in the right direction. Plus I feel like there's more. Maybe maybe this is not true, but uh, like that draft as Roethlisberger was fallen, you really like you didn't you weren't expecting that going in necessary. You know, you really didn't have a good feel of what was going to happen to Rivers and Roethlisberger in

that draft. You kind of knew what, you know, probably what was happening with Eli, but like as he's falling, that was great drama in real time, just like Aaron Rodgers when he was in the in the draft room. And Lee Steinberg, by the way, is one of four hundred agents who believes Jerry McGuire was made about him. That's like a thing and behind the scenes in agent world,

they all think it was about them. Also invites me to his Super Bowl party every every year, by the way, and uh, I went to one many many years back, and it's still conflicted with other things that we were doing. But um, he's continually nice enough to send the invite because I think he knows he and I could really chop it up if we were to get in a room together. Look at Greg's face, he's continue still eating lemons, lemons and limes. All right, let's get to the news,

and we'll start with sobering bit of news here. Two of the twenty two women who have accused Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and harassment and separate lawsuits publicly publicly spoke out on Tuesday detailing their experiences with the Texans quarterback. During that news conference, Ashley soulis the first woman to file a suit against Watson. Um spoke up about her allegations against the all pro. Here's a little bit of

what she had to say. No longer practice the profession that I love the most without shaking your decision, my handshake whenever I pleased the one client, and I'm a session short. If you only knew how heartbreaking that is to me. I got into massagist therapy to heal people, to heal their minds and bodies, to bring peace to their souls. The Shaun Watson has robbed me of that. He took that away from me. He tainted a profession

in which I take enormous pride. Lashes of Watson space rushed to me in the moment I'm in counseling as a result of Shaun Watson's actions. I hope he knows how much pain he's affected on me emotionally and physically, and I hope he knows how much pain he is unlifted on these other survivors. The NFL released a statement on Tuesday saying they are continuing to closely monitor all

developments in the matter. My Carefolo of the NFL Network reported the League office has been a contact UH with Tony Buzby, the attorney involved of this UM And finally, the Houston Police Department said last week it isn't investigating Watson UM after a complaint filed with them last week. So the story continues to develop. Very tough to see UM one of these UM accusers step up and speak out UM, and it really adds um a level of

humanity to the situation. A tough watch it was. You know, it's been a I think an important week in the in the Watson story, with these women coming out and then also kind of the business community around Watson starting to pull back from him. He's lost multiple endorsements, UH, including with Nike and in the NFL sending out another statement on Tuesday, I think was significant just because of

the wording they used. They did compare their first statement about Watson, which was very business like and this one, which which was of course as well, but they you know, they did use the words how the allegations were deeply disturbing, how serious they take it. And um, Stephanie Stradley is a really good follow for Texans fans always, but she's also a lawyer, and she sort of wrote a frequently asked questions about the Watson case that I found really informative.

Part of it was, you know, don't don't know Pine on it. It's very hurtful. It's it's very um difficult thing for non lawyers or really anyone to talk about. So but I do think it's important we just follow this story. It's it's so significant, and I do think I think the NFL statement was was telling and that he's going to be in a holding pattern here for

a while. I think the question, you know, just in terms of football is just like, will he played football in two thousand twenty one is very much an open question. I think, Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything you said, and it right now it's looking like Tyrod Taylor, you know,

gets closer and closer to being starting quarterback. But all that is sort of just I don't know, like when you go and watch these when you listen to these voices, and um, it's not just names or a number of names or how many, and you listen to what they say. I mean, I just think it brings a whole different wave of reality to it. And uh, you know, Deshaun Watson,

who knows what what will happen here? But I I think the league and all of us and everyone didn't know quite what to do with it a month ago. Um it's changing now, Yeah, it certainly is. In other news, the Boston Herald reports it's doubtful that Julian Edelman will be able to play a full season. In the reports, I say, source familiar with the Edelman situation. He's got an a knee issue and it's a type of situation and he could undergo surgery on the knee, but it's

only a temporary solution. He only played six games last season. And Greg, you are a Boston's sports fan, it does make me think another underdog, little critter that you were your your fan base as a fan of Dustin Petroia of the Red Sox, similar situation, a guy that was beloved by fans um and had a knee issue that just would not get better. Uh. Edelman seems to have a similar situation here, and it puts the Patriots in

a tough spot because he is a franchise legend. Let's face it, right, I started wondering, why is Julian Edelman still on this roster, just knowing the Patriots? And then and I looked and I realized he only has a two point eight million dollar base salary this year, and and that was the answer. Last year he was still making kind of big money. Now they have all this cap space. They obviously love Edelman, and so they're just

not in a hurry. I kind of buy the conspiracy theories that I know is happening among Patriots fans though, that a report like this is maybe getting put out there because he wants to get released. Like I could buy that, you know what I mean, Like this is this is what kind of market does Julian Edelman have? Not not much probably, but you know, he might like to choose, you know, where he plays next Tampa, you know, four oh, he wants to replace Antonio, who knows. I

kind of buy it, though, I kind of. I also buy that he won't be healthy, so that it's not like I think it's it's wrong. He's thirty five years old and no one at his size. I've I've never seen take a pounding that he has throughout his career, from the first from his first year. I was always amazing to me um that he's lasted and been as

durable as he has until this point. In other news, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that multiple teams have contacted the Atlanta Falcons about acquiring the number four pick in draft. Schefter added that the team is open to moving out of that spot as we know the way the draft board is set up and almost certainly will play out with QBS going one, two, and three. The Falcon don't have an immediate need at quarterback with Matt Ryan, but he uh is in his mid thirties. They could use

a guy that's the future. But also makes sense Mark that they would potentially trade away the pick if they got a big time godfather offered, because it looks like that's the highest available pick. Uh. The Niners, Jets, and Jaguars aren't going anywhere. Yeah, I mean, I guess like why not take the calls? I mean there were other whispers of the Falcons internally sort of felt like, well, if we're going to take a quarterback of our own, assuming that you're gonna be at number four every year

is not the way you do business. So maybe that's um there, They're in a valuable space themselves. The only thing I think about if it's not quarterback, because you've got the Bengals at number five, who obviously have their quarterback. And if the Falcons um took a quarterback of their own or someone else did, that number five spot becomes the first place where Cincinnati can pick one of the

incredible skill position players, uh, the best available. And so would someone ever want to hop scotch Cincinnati knowing they're gonna do that, um to get a wide receiver of their choice or fill in the blank. That's all I mean. I'm assuming it's quarterback. It's just a safe way to think, UM, and that could be a number of teams. But with this kind of stuff, like am I going to be up at three in the morning, um, pondering this and you know, fretting over it. Now, let's just see what happens.

You know, we'll know more a couple of weeks from now. It is the It is kind of the intrigue with this draft, I think, because I guess there's a chance San Francisco doesn't take Matt mac Jones, but it looks

like the intrigue. And you know, there was a report I'm was surprised by this that the GM Chris Mortenson said, the GM of Atlanta kind of likes Trey Lance, I believe, you know, or is looking at quarterback, whereas Arthur Smith is kind of all in a like he's down with Matt Ryan and and so they're trying to figure that out.

Them taking mac Jones at three really would be wild because I think in according to Chris Charlie Castlele's poll of like executives and then our friend DJ was coming on, Trey Lance and Fields are ranked way ahead of those guys. In most people's eyes. DJ has those two in the top eight of all of his players. So if you're a team like the Lions or the Panthers or the Patriots, certainly you've got to be looking at this like where do I need to move up to get Fields or Lance?

If if I like those guys. Very intriguing. In other news, the Rams uh there general manager less Need said he believes Matthew Stafford, their new quarterback, is going to be there anywhere between five and eight years. Seems nice. Thirty three years old, Stafford is I mean if he if he if he went on the long side of U Sneed's uh projection, he's the quarterback in his forties, which this assumption that all quarterbacks now could play in their forties just seems kind of silly to me. Also silly

the idea of what the team. What's the famous John Lennon quote, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. The assumption here that Matthew Stafford will stay healthy enough and his body will cooperate. That what it comes down to. I think he'll he has the skill set to thrive, and I think he will in this Sean McVeigh system. But any thoughts that he's a long term solution, you're not gonna know until that

body where he's had back issues, he just had thumb surgery. Um, is that going to hold up in the long term. It's a it's a dicey proposition and and Snead really bet his job on it here. I think by bringing in Stafford, I mean I would just say this though, in terms of like how you really want to create like a stunning headline. What if they traded multiple picks in the third round pick and their starting quarterback for Matthew Stafford and less Snee said, we think he'll start

here for two years like people would go nuts. So it's like over projecting and saying he's got he's our guy, um deep into the future. We've made the right choice. Like you know, of course he's gonna tilt towards the longevity. I mean it is a two year deal. He's he they inherited two years and forty three million on the contract, right, But you know that feels like what the NFL is now. Everything is just two year projection and then you reevaluate. I'm just you wouldn't pitch it that way to the

to to a like a a frisky reporter. I mean, they re something else with it or or and I'm sure that's what they're hoping for, or to you know, season ticket holders. They're trying to sell some tickets. Uh, you know they want to think of Stafford as their long term going. I'm sure that's what they want. I mean they also said Jared Goff was there forever quarterback like a lot that they that that McVeigh and Goff were tied a hip. The only thing with like thinking

guys can play great into like their late forties. Fitzpatrick is an exception, but the other guys who have done all that are all time greats. It's like, yeah, Tom Brady and Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are aging well, but they were incredible. They were like coming off of an incredible spot. Like you can't expect the suping that all these guys. I mean, do you could even make the case that if you were building a roster of all time goods, Matthew Staffords might be that quarterback? Like

so I think he is. He's proven over his the first eleven twelve years of his career that he's, you know, rock solid, franchise started quarterback. But is he one of the great players in NFL history? Well not yet anyway. UM. In other news, Peter King's Monday Night UH Monday Morning Quarterback column, he wrote about, uh some of the uh new wrinkles to the schedule after the c B A was signed, sealed and delivered and the new TV Dale

new TV deals came together. Uh this year. That second game in Week one on Monday Night is history, the one that famously had for some reason, throwing Chris Berman a bone and they were. They were having him in the booth here and a big bowel bottom and not knowing who anybody was. Um that second game is off

the books now. But for ESPN, who always hosted those games, it's a win because what they did was there's a Saturday Week eighteen double header that ESPN gets, and I believe those are flexible games, which means they will have playoff ramifications. And that feels like a big w because it's good for us. You're in California. But that second game on Monday night in week one was starting at like ten fifteen at night for people on the East

coast exactly. I always I liked them, but I A you also were if it wasn't a good game, you would you would feel the effects, you would feel the effects of the previous day and a half. And you're like, you know, I've been waiting all off season for one game, and now it's like I'm just you know, it's too it's almost too much. That Saturday night though, mid January. That sounds fun. That sounds pretty good that that that end of the season, Slate's gonna be challenging. Um an interest,

like it's just gonna be a lot of Saturdays. That's where NFL Network is gonna get in the mix too. You know, some of the international games, but also the Saturday games, but this little Saturday night doubleheader. Get ready, Mark, say goodbye to your family. I mean, I've been doing this for long enough where I presume that there's a massive chunk of every year that is UM oriented towards one thing football and football is family. They tell me.

I could argue that it's not always that um, but it's a it's a massive upgrade because a lot of times, if you look at what the second Monday night game has been, I think they know to your point that half the country is, you know, getting to bed at that point, that they've not been marquee scenarios, but that's Saturday scenario will be used to make it into two

contests that no one can steer their eyes away from. Finally, in the news, this from the New York Post, Daniel Jones this week, along with several Giants offensive players, wide receivers, tight ends, and even a few linemen, travel to Phoenix for a few days of throwing sessions. The Monday to Friday workouts organized entirely by Daniel Jones will be the

first unofficial work on the field in advance. Yeah, baby, that's also our first trope alert offseason trop let trot the trope alert, and this one is a well worn uh the veteran quarterback on maybe shaky ground organizing a throwing sessh uh and making sure the media knows about it to show that he's a leader on the rise and everything is fine. I mean, isn't that technically Giants West?

If they were gonna name Jets camps that happened west of the Missisipi Mississippi Jets West for all those they trademarked that the Giants couldn't touch it. It was two. It was too perfect. That's not how Jets Giants things work. But I like it when there it's like a quarterback competition.

This isn't the case in New York, but when there's the starting jobs up for gaps of one of them does the the off season thing like that's a power move, and then the other quarters because it decides, like when it was Santez Tebow. Tebow could just show up, but you know when it when it's two guys are someone equal, then the backup the other quarterback has to be like, shoot, do I have to show up at this guy's quarterback thing? I guess I do? Or else, like the guys do

you have to organize my own? And if I realize my own will like, well, Darius Layton come to mine. And then you've got to pay for it. The quarterback pays for a lot of this stuff. So that's that's why that's the sneaky hidden value of signing Mike Glennon as your backup. You know he's not throwing any camp. It's like Mike will see you in July or whatever.

And just if you if you're new to the podcast or you know, just starting to understand how the off season works when we get to because it's gonna we're gonna have a return of O t A s. It looks like in traditional UH mini camps and rookie camps and then of course training camp in July, uh and August. Some training camp tropes to look out for Draft bust

X looks like he's ready to turn the corner. New quarterback wide receiver tandem display, undeniable chemistry player X. I'm better now than I was before devastating lower body injury. Second year player X, the game has slowed down for me, soft soft spoken star ready to take on recently vacated leadership roles. That's just a tease of what's to come and what to keep an eye out on. And my job to you, the listener, is to make sure all of it is documented ahead of season. You can count

on me. That's what's happening in the news. Alright, Time for our special guest. And you know, listen, here's the thing. It's not just that he knows it's his time of year. He knows that we know it's his time of year. And that's what hurts the most. Daniel Jeremiah. We really we're happy to have you. Well, Dan, I'll tell you what. It's great to be with you. Uh, Cessler, it's great to see if Pal. I do appreciate Greg waking up three minutes before this segment started. Greg, it's great to

see you as well. Pal. I've been here the whole time. I've been you know, way in sharpening my knives. I've been ready for this for a year. This is this is Greg. This is either like this Hollywood style, you know, gesle neck influenced hairstyle you're going with or it's I just woke up five minutes ago and I think I'm leaning towards the ladder. I showered. I wanted to be here for your like last appearance on NFL Network before you you know, you follow Mike Mayock out the door.

A lot of speculation, a lot of speculation about DJ and and that goes back when Joe Douglas got hired as jam as of the Jets. It was all over the place and DJ had to come out and say no, no, no, no no, no no. I love my job at NFL Network. I love working for the Chargers. But that you know, on that subject on Joe Douglas, and let's get into it here, D j M. Because you do have a

relationship with Joe Douglas. You worked in football circles with him, your buddies, and he just made a huge move in this draft where maybe he didn't make a huge move,

and there's a lot of ramifications there. Trade Sam Donald, You're at number two, and I have I have to ask this because you don't make this trade, right, DJ, of Sam Donald and then most likely to stay at number two and less you're pretty sure Zach Wilson or the quarterback you're gonna take probably Zack Wilson is a can't miss prospect because on the other side of it, DJ, this is like a once in ten, once or twenty years leverage situation in the draft in terms of where

he was. How hard do you think this decision was to stay it too, if that is indeed what ends up happening. Well, I don't necessarily think it was hard, because when you have conviction on a player at that position,

there's really you're not gonna be swayed. I mean to me, it would have taken a monumental hall of picks, uh, much more than even we saw take place with that San Francisco Miami trade to consider getting out of number two if you believe in the quarterback, because not only do you feel like you've got somebody with tremendous talent coming in, you restart, you reset the clock, and financially

it's such a boon. And it would be one thing if the Jets, you know, just had their seven picks in this draft and seven picks in next year's draft, and you say, man, look at all the holes on this roster, how are we ever going to fill all of them? But they're in a situation due to to the trades. And you look at Jamal Adams and Leonard Williams, some of the trades they've made. The hall of picks, I think it's twenty one picks over the next two years,

so they can get the quarterback at two. Uh. Now you move on from Sam Donald and you've got a ton of picks where you can fill in around him. And I always like to, you know, point out when we're talking about Sam like he did not get a fair shake there. I'm a Sam Donald believer. I loved him coming into the draft. You guys know that, um and I still think he's got a chance to be successful. But he didn't have the infrastructure in place to succeed

with the Jets. And I think the focus for the Jets is to make sure that that is in place for the next quarterback who who you know, I really believe it's gonna be Zack Wilson. All right, So DJ, let's just say that you were a GM, or let's say you were inside the body of John Lynch the GM, and I would love that. I would I would swap.

I used to work out with John Lynch when I was in college, when he was in the NFL, John Lynch was there, Tony Boselli was there, and I can tell you that was the peak of my athletic existence. Um and uh, I would say, John Lynch right now, after you know, going into the Hall of Fame and been retired for several years, it's still light years ahead of where I was at my peak. So if you want to swap me out with John, I'm happy to

do that. It's still a little weird, though. Now that's DJ's way of always been working in that he was a QB one of a D one program. He gets it into every segment he does, got even get it. But if I'm almatching the lower third, really be impressed. I'm thinking, like, you want to be inside John Lynch's body, Like, I don't know, that just seems weird. Be happy with

who you are. I think in this case, let's say you control his brain, all right, and we we've got Trevor Lawrence going to Jacksonville, Zack Wilson with his nice little hair going to the Jets, and then we've got number three. What do you do do? What? Who do you pick as the forty Niners quarterback? Who is the third best quarterback in this draft. To me, I think it's a it's a close call um for me personally, between Trey Lance from North Dakota State and Justin Fields

from Ohio State. Um, those to me are the next quarterbacks in line. And I would have Mac Jones five. Now in terms of who I would take, well, I have I have Trey Lance one spot ahead of Justin But they're gonna be, you know, afforded the luxury I don't have, which is to spend a ton of time with these two kids, uh, to see you know, who they're most comfortable with. I I don't know that there's a wrong decision between those two because the upside is

so tremendous. And if I'm if I'm Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, I want to take my offense from where it is and take it to New heights. And in order to do that, I've got to get somebody that can expand what we do. To me, that would be one of the one of the two options between those two guys. But everything we hear is everything points towards

Mac Jones. And that's how I know do mock drafts and and uh, and that's what you hear around the league is the expectation is that will be Mac Jones with the third pick, which I'll throw it back to you guys because, uh, Dan, I know you've heard this a million times. How many times you heard the cliche if it's you know, it's about the Jimmy's and Joe's not the exs and ohs, Well, this is a decision. If they take Mac Jones, that is the exact opposite.

This is all about their offense and their system versus the talent of the player you're gonna select. To say you shouldn't do though, are just supposed to take the best out player and all that. Yeah, yeah, I I That's what I would do, and that's how I was brought up with with the Ravens way of doing business. But you look at a team like the you know, Greg's team, You look at what happened in New England.

They just draft players that fit them. And if they take a guy in the second round that the rest of the league thinks is a sixth round pick, they don't care because they feel like he fits what we do and he's gonna be able to do what we ask him to do. So um, it's a little bit of that thought process. I don't agree with that. It to me, I just want to get the most talented people, and we're gonna work around what they do and not be quite as married to everything that I've traditionally done. Um.

But that's that's how they operate. It's partly why I don't totally want to believe it. Like I don't want to kill the forty niners for this pick or think about it until I see it. We still have another Justin Fields pro day. Um, Trey Lance seems like you doing with Trey Lance too right. I think they'll he would kind of be perfect in that system, especially for a for a situation where maybe you play Jimmy garoppolo for a year or see how that goes, and you

have trade. Let you have four quarterbacks in your top eight, I mean, and Mac Jones is nowhere near that? Does it? Does that mean in at least the years you're doing this, this has to be the best quarterback class you've ever seen. I can't imagine you've ever had four quarterbacks in your top eight. It's not like you think Trey Lance and Justin Fields are interesting. You think you're that you think there are two of the top eight players in this draft. Yeah,

I think they're really talented. I think all four of these guys at the top are are tremendously talented. Now it's a little bit of a different year, Greg and that you look at some of the other positions, like we don't have you know, the edge rushers that you would see, you know, typically eat up spots in the top ten. We don't have that this year. We've got some good corners and some good tackles, but in my opinion that the tackle group is not what it was

last year with that group. So um, those are the positions that usually you know, secure spots in the top ten and without those this year, to me, you look at you see a bunch of quarterbacks, you see a bunch of wide receivers. That's just kind of what this draft has given us. But yeah, I think these four quarterbacks and and pretty much any draft year would would be highly coveted because the again, the ceiling is so high, because these guys are so athletic and uh and just

big time arm talents. So um, yeah, that to me, mac is is behind those guys. But if you know, four and irons don't care what I think. They don't

care what the other thirty one teams things. They're just trying to find the guy that best fits them, and everything you hear seems to be pointing towards mac So moving off the quarterbacks for a moment here, So you have right now Kyle Pitts the Florida tight end uh going at number five, and it seems like the way you wrote it up on NFL dot Com, if the Bengals don't take them at five, the Dolphins makes a lot of sense at six. And then he do that

research and and I'll just name them right now. These are the first round tight ends in the last ten eleven years. T J. Hockinson, Noah Fan, Hayden Hurst, O. J. Howard, At, Evan Ingram, David and Joku, Eric Ebron, Tyler Eifert, Jermaine Gresham, who has taken twenty one picks ahead of Grunk in two thousand ten. The one thing they all have in

common is none of those guys are stars. And I guess my question to you DJ, with pits a a a hot draft prospect and a unicorn and all that is like, how come there's no can't miss tight ends or there hasn't been in a long time. Well, I would answer that a couple of ways. First of all, if you're uncomfortable looking at that list of tight ends, fine just put w R next to his name and draft Kyle Pitch is a wide receiver, you play m at wide receiver, you'd be happy with him at wide receiver.

Is a top fifteen type player. Uh. Second point I would make is I have a higher grade on him than all those those tight ends that you mentioned so to me, and it's not even close with with where he is in terms of the talent that he has. And I would the third point that I would make in Sessler, I know you can probably back me up on this um and I know life has taken a

terrible turn for this person. But if you go back and somebody who wasn't doing popping leaves in a in a strip mall parking lot as a tight end, we wouldn't be talking about that type of impact of taking a tight end in the top ten. Because this kid is to me, he's he's a better receiver and route runner uh than Kellen Winslow. Kell Winslow maybe a little bit better blocker, but he was to me he would have had a phenomenal career until everything went way off course.

I mean, you remember that one season that Winslow had, and that's an interesting comparison. I have a little bit of an off the radar question for you. I just was thinking about this. You're in touch with everyone. Have you had like a one on one phone conversation with Bill Belichick or is he is that remained an untouchable territory for you? No? Well, first of all, if I had, I mean, I'm sure I would not be allowed to

divulge that I had, But honestly, I haven't. So, Uh, the only talks I've ever had with Coach Belichick is when he's coming to the booth at the Combine, usually to give Rich a check for St. Jude, and uh, we visited a little bit, but that's uh, that that's about it. So I've been fortunate to make a lot of you know, new friends and new contacts since they went over the media side. But Coach Belichick is still he's still outside of arms reached for me here, So

I'm bummed about that one. But you're kind of wearing like a Belichick inspired outfit here, just like a T shirt and like an open and like, are you going to work out later or what's going on here? Uh? You know, Ricky Schroeder, I don't know. I mean, do I go getta workout in later? Maybe? Um, but I didn't cut the sleeves off. If I would have cut the sleeves off, maybe I could go with that. But um, you know, Look, Gregg does the stylus, by the way,

just to clear that up, he doesn't. He didn't well, he didn't even give you. Remind Gregg. I want to remind Gregg of one thing, Dan. The structure has a thirty day return policy, so if the jacket doesn't feel great, you still have a few more days where you can return it. I was gonna say classic, classic DJ wholesome Zinger. They're using a reference from like an eighties sitcom that that no one except DJ and his his twenty seven children. He had a train that went around the family room.

A great show, A great show. Greg wasn't even playing that. Don't worry about it. I call I called DJ the wholesome Assassin for takedowns just like that. And he didn't even let you go with Ricky Schroeder, Greggy or Rick Schroder with his NYPD Blue Days, he ding down the Silver Spoons, Ricky Schroeder in the biggest some of Alfonso Rivero's greatest work. By the way, this is not just like an America's Funniest Home Videos and Jason Bateman on

that show where it started. Jason Bateman, correct, All right, let's move back into the two thousand twenties. What out mark? You got something else for DJ I would look at when you look at guys like a J. C. Horne and as Sante Samuel Jr. Are we do these players get too much attention because their legacies, their sons of great players, or are they actually like I am annoyed, for instance, when the Browns passed up on Clay Matthews and when they passed up on like J. J. Watts's brother.

It's like, shouldn't something about their DNA tell us they're just gonna be ready for action? And on top of it, if you were the son of a pro player, you know the life, like why does some of these teams pass up on what I think would be more home run prospects? Or am I just out and left field with that concept? Well? Not not to go back to the eighties, before dj answers. But remember jose Consaco. There was Ozzi Conseco too. I know it doesn't always work out.

I would go father's son, more of the Navy brother brother. So it's I'm glad you guys brought that up because that Ozzi Consaco's name has come up in the draft room where we were talking about a player who had who had a successful brother father. Can't remember exactly what it was, and this, and somebody in the draft room was making the case. You know, it's the genes. You know,

these guy's got the jeans da da. And one of the other scouts in the room said, look, this guy is a little more Azzi Consaco than he is Jose Can And then another guy in the room piped up and said, yeah, this is more Randy Quaid than Dennis Quaid. Let's not get carried away here. I'm gon take no offense. Be cousin. Eddie was a great role, but I just think the acting Chops is a little different. Yeah that's there, that's fair. But you're but you're a fan of these corners.

You're a fan of these corps. I like them. Got it right to me. Yeah, I look if if it's close. That can be something that's a tiebreaker between a couple players, because I know this guy's he's just been taught how to be a professional. You know, since he was a kid. He's been around it. I think it's not specific just a football you know, you see it in baseball with

a lot of the great players who are sons. I think you have Vladimir Carrero Jr. You've got tattoos Um, You've got Bishett, You've got b g O. Like, there's all these sons of players now that are in the major leagues, and I think you see the same thing in the NFL. Um So, these guys, to me, they've

been around it, that there'll be a pro um. The other thing I would point out is I think it's fascinating some of the advice I've always tried to give young players, like high school players going to college is every year in the draft, we have a wide receiver list. It's it's a million names long, and you're trying to cut off the list at some point time, like there's just a million of them, and the DV list, the corner list. We're trying to create guys to push them up. Um.

So if you've got the option. As a high school athlete, you're a five star athlete, you've got a choice. Go play defense. Man, it's a it's an easier route to travel if you're a big, tall athletic kid. Get out of that long line in the wide receiver group and go over to to the corner group. And all these sons of athletes. You notice they're not dumb. They're not They're not asking their kids to play wide receiver. Go play corner um. And we're seeing him come out and droves. Mmm.

That's why I'm teaching my son Walker at the beach. He likes playing cornerback too. I don't know if he's gonna be tall, but he could be feisty, he could be mean. Now that's like I'm getting like a nickel Robie Coleman vibe here. Greg. I think that's what we're working with. And that's great, man, let's do it. I would take that, you know, nice NFL career. Help his dad retire, that would be terrific. There's like a lot of small cornerbacks wide receivers rather in this class too.

I'm sort of struck by how maybe the same physical requirements aren't the same at the position. You know, we know DeVante Smith, but even Jamar Chase is a guy who has talked about as sort of a can't miss I don't know about generational, but kind of the guy in this class. And yet he's not a guy necessarily

that you think is big and tall. He's definitely strong or is definitely gonna run like a fast Bardy And really, this entire class, it seems like a lot like how is that position and especially the top how do you separate these guys when maybe they're not as physically dominant as some top receivers in the past. Yeah, it's a good point, I mean, and normally when you have guys go in the top ten, you're talking about some heightweight, speed, guys you know, big time check all those boxes and

prototype size. When you think of DeAndre Johnson's, the Larry FitzGeralds, that Calvin Johnson's, uh, those type of players. And uh, this year we have a bunch of really good receivers, but we don't have many of the big guys. I mean even last year you go back, you know, outside the first round, you saw Michael Pittman, Uh, we saw Claypool, you had Tee Higgins. Like we had a MEM's there was a bunch of those bigger, power forward type receivers.

Um this year, it's more about speed and quickness, and Jamaar Chase is unique to me because even though he's a six footer pound guy, he plays big like he goes up and gets the football um and plays above the rim, and then you get the route running and the run after catch stuff that comes along with it. So while that's not traditionally what we see go in the top ten, to me, he's he's a little bit of an outlier in that regard and he's gonna come

off the board real quick. And then after him you get kind of the debate between the Alabama guys with Wattle and Smith. You know Smith, much is made about the frame um, But to me, when you look at the way the games played right now at the NFL level, with the lack of you know, contact in the middle of the field, it's not as big of an issue. And people say, oh, how's he gonna get off pressed he's not a big strong guy. Well, you can't really get your hands on him either, because he's so quick.

He's a real sliddery type athlete. So he just there's not a lot of surface area to press. Um, so I think he'll be fine. And then Waddle is somebody that's gonna get over the top, and somebody that's he's the fastest guy in college football. So when you look at all the GPS numbers that the teams have in terms of wide receivers, I should say his GPS numbers

were at the top of the list. I have a little, tiny, one word a question that will require a one word answer, like what you you grind through this tape at an impressive degree? Um? Is there one position group? Because I know when I've watched all twenty two sometimes I'm just being real here. It's like I gotta turn some music on because it will send me right into dreamland. If you're if you allowed to go on for too long? Is there our position group that puts you to sleep

more than any other? But you're just saying this is not as enticing and engaging to watch. He only gets a one word answer on this, so well, I mean I don't want to you know, I don't know how long the segment is. You can answer as long as you want. The time is valuable. He's gonna start charging us per minute. Pretty soon you're hilarious. Uh me, it's different for everybody. Everybody has a different position that they

don't enjoy. For me, it's safety, um, and really more so over the last ten years when you were first, when you first start scotting, I started, oh three, there was a little bit more of traditional offense in college, so you had a better you just had a better sense. You saw a lot more things developing down the field, um, and you could see these guys read and react well.

The college game now you see so much rpo game, You see so many slants and bubble screens that you can go through three games on a safety and you're like, I don't know what this guy can do. He's you know, fourteen yards deep and it's just a bunch of slants and bubble screens. Like and it literally you start rolling through these guys and until I got the ability with you know, with the technology to be able to sort cut ups where I can look at every play they're

involved in. So instead of just watching three games, I can see every time they were kind of in the vicinity of the football over an entire season. Um. It makes it easier, but it still feels like to give myself a I think this would be a nineties reference, maybe early two thousand's. You remember the eminem video where there's just all the Eminem's like, you know, walking around

and stuff. Yes, once you get outside the first two rounds and you start watching safeties, like after the seventh one, I'm like, what's the difference between this guy and the previous four guys that I just watched? Uh? I gets little challenging, that's fair, and and thank you so much of your time, DJ before you go. I just want to because you are the son of a preacher and you're the wholesome assassin and all that, But just be

real with us. Would you rather got thirty two for thirty two in your mock or have keyper or Mixshaye go o for thirty two? Just be honest? Oh wow, Uh you know what I would say? I would I would I would rather go thirty two for thirty two. But the real answer is I just don't care. I really don't care about the mock draft and people get so worked up about it. That's why I just kind

of laugh. Man, Like I miss on players and we have fun with them all the time of the guys that I miss on in terms of my evaluation and and you know, okay that that's like, okay, I need to learn and get better from those mistakes. But like mock drafts whatever. Yeah, if you're listening to executives like that, that sounds like a guy that might be doing his

last mock draft. And I'm just saying, uh no, you can want and turn into a pumpkin man once we get through with this draft, not worried about mini camps and sweating it. Whether this guy picked in the first round is gonna come in here and look like a ball im I'm going on vacation. Yeah, we won't see DJ until he's in the booth at the stadium in Inglewood. All right, you can watch DJ and the entire NFL Draft on NFL Network starting Thursday, April night at eight

p m. Eastern. Yeah it hurts, but it made the show better. DJ. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate It's always great to be with you guys and Greg. Don't forget it also comes with a coupon for Express With that Jackets will get your wife something nice. Good to know. Well, thanks DJ, There he goes. D J said it all even though Structure they rebranded and Structure became Express for men. UM. But you know, Greg, it was on his radar some of your style. Let's just

put it that way. Yeah, I always I always worry, could you know we're gonna place some of that on on the around the NFL broadcast. People should check out our show on Fridays as always. And you know, I always wonder, like how how are those clothing? You know, insults gonna pop on a on a podcast. But I guess it's just a sign that DJ doesn't really understand the medium. You know, he's not a podcaster. Well, maybe

one day he will be. Yeah, it'd be good, it definitely. Um. We received a flurry of texts from Greg after about the whole thing, so he was a little annoyed. I think he can go to your skin a little bit maybe and vice versa. I'm not sure. Maybe are you being serious? Not at all? Not, We're not being serious at all. Everything that we were discussing off the show is now part of this show. UM. And I will say keep in mind that maybe DJ knows that referencing

how you looked. Greg won't play for the podcast because he's secretly trying to destroy. Yeah, look at that too, because he's the son of the preacher. He's the wholesome assassin, but he is a killer man. He that's why he's the wholesome sense. He's competitive too, and that's why you know, coming in you know, second or third place behind us in terms of like audience, that the NFL, it kills him year after year. It's why I think it's gonna be his last year. Listen to Greg sharpening the dagger

is returning fire on DJ. I think it really did get to him a little bit. Now. I think, you know, I can't there's nothing I can add u there to what Greg has just said. I think it's, you know, he's it's so hard to get under gray skin. It's it really is. I can, like I can count a few times I've done it, but like, even if you do, he doesn't show it. Typically, I tend to think that DJ and I get along well because I'm of zero threat to him. That's how I start to see it.

So maybe he feels threatened by all these other I think DJ sees me as a as a kindred, wholesome assassin spirit. Yeah, you just you started the show by telling us you bring your children to drug dens. Well, I didn't know it was gonna be that way. The first Westlemania two was was pretty take in Hey, Ricky, get in here, Get in here a second? Do you think do you think DJ got under Greg's skin at

that during that segment? You know him? Well, you just did your gentle Nick Rosenthal, vanity projects, a live show and everything. You know Greg very well, yeah, yeah, he seems uh, pretty pretty agitated today. I'm not gonna lie. I don't know if there's other stuff going on behind the scenes, but you know, Greg, you you do seem pretty uptight. Mm hmm. Interesting. Well, I'm gonna need me to Greg, so you're not. It's not just you Greg? You know, um I noticed that as well. Mark. You

seem pretty piste off. What's up? Guys? You want to talk about it? Both seemed really uptight. I don't know, um. I mean, we don't have two more hours to get into it. So all right, who doesn't have anything to do with us? Smart? Yeah? Are you mad at? No? No, no, no, no no not it doesn't not not our little group here, not this foursome now, okay, are you mad at? It's it's the foresome Now I'm not mad at anyone. All Right, that's good, Okay, that's good. All right, Well I'm glad

we settled that. Yeah, alright, good. We gotta get a get rolling because our NFL network hit is on UM every Thursday, check it out on NFL Now with Andrew Siciliano or whoever is in that host chair. We do a live hit UM and like Greg alluded to, uh NFL network, We're back on Friday at a later time, actually, I believe. So check out your local listings and please DVR the show. Give us a support on that end of things, and of course, on this end of things.

If you we haven't asked for this in a while, if you can leave some comments, some five star ratings, that would that's always a big deal. We're trying to win a sole award. What is it? What's the word? A Sony award? You you bungling the name show after show kind of indicates it's not right on top of our price Cyclops Award. We're trying to win a Cyclops. That would be an awesome trow Remember imagine if you won this award and it was like a head, like

a Cyclops with a big. I like, you know one of those characters Ricky what is the name of the award, one of those characters the sign ops you don't know it either wants this is making me feel better? All right, good, yeah, so make sure you check that out and then we'll be back Monday. And remember, yes, we're going multi times a week, two times a week with the podcast and then the network show. Um right now, but we'll be five days a week draft weeks, so look forward to

that as well. All Right, that's it, everybody. We're almost of the weekend. M but maybe'll take the rest of this day. Maybe we all drop off the radar, we take a deep breath, and we come back tomorrow for the network show. Feeling great. That's a good plan, A good stuff, all right. This Dan had the signing off for a quiet storm the old boss Ricky Hollywood behind the virtual of glass. Be good to each other. Everybody heat the call, m M m HM six