The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's your name on somebody that you find most interesting in this latest head coaching.
Here, it's Liam Cohen.
He took this job in Jacksonville and he burned all the boats to Tampa.
And yeah, what I mean by that is he said he's coming back to Tampa.
Agreed in principle, and then under the guise of like the Mayflowership, went and go met with the ownership at Jacksonville and they said, well, we're gonna give you this amount of money and you can basically hire whoever you want. He's like, I'm sorry, Tampa, i gotta go. And he did, and it rubbed a lot of people wrong, and maybe
it was done in a clunky fashion communication wise. That said, he becomes the head coach of Trevor Lawrence, who has won a playoff game before in a division that is down. And besides, Houston really has three rebuilding teams in that division, between the Titans, the Jaguars, and of course you've got the Texans and then the Colts. So I look at Liam Cohen, young, fresh offensive mind with a quarterback that we thought was gonna be the best product to come
into the NFL since Andrew Luck. So let's see what we got, and let's see if Trevor Lawrence can work with them and they can make actual magic happen. The Raiders have a giant void at quarterback unless you think Adan O'Connell's the guy, which I'm not sure they do, which leads me to the question of if you're a Stafford or a Rogers or a Cousins, when you see that Raiders logo, is that retirement village last stop on
the tour? Or is there a legitimate chance that you can potentially compete with Sean Payton and bow Nicks, and with Justin Herbert and Harbaugh and of course Mahomes and Reid.
It's a very hard division.
It's an uphill battle, but there are a lot of veteran quarterbacks, and the carousel's going to be going around. Someone's going to end up in Vegas unless they draft someone like Shador or cam Ward. Anytime I do speak on the Rams, and specifically on Stafford and McVeigh, like ears perk up, and I want everyone to listen in that those guys actually have a fine relationship. This was nothing that is between them personally, and this is a This is a money issue, and Matthew Stafford wants to
be paid what he thinks he's worth. He wants to be paid more than fifty million dollars. They've given the agent, Jimmy Sexon, one of the best agents in all of football, both college football with the coaches and.
Of course in the NFL with coaches and players.
They've given him the freedom to go seek out what might be some teams that would be of interest and if those teams would pay him. And guess what, there are teams that are willing to pay him more than what the Rams are currently willing to pay him. The question is does Stafford want to go to those teams and what are those teams willing to give up. It's all very awkward because McVeigh and Stafford may end up together and it's just like, well, that was water under
the bridge, that was business. We got to keep the emotional side separate from the business side.
Here.
Truth of the matter is, Matthew Stafford was one pass away from playing an NFC champion game at home against the Washington Commanders this year.
That guy can steal ball. And if you don't think he's.
One of the top nine quarterbacks in the NFL currently, well, then you're thinking he's not worth fifty million dollars. And that's really where we're starting that number. Fifty million. Last year, the Rams borrowed money from future years.
To pay him a pay bump. They're not going to do it again this.
Year, and they are currently paying him less than fifty million dollars. So you look at the teams, and you look at the options for the Rams, say you trade him to the Steelers. Are the Steelers willing to give a first or second round pick and pay Matthew Stafford fifty plus million dollars? And it's Stafford willing to go play in Pittsburgh in the cold weather, and it's Kelly and the four girls. Are they going to want to
go move out to Pittsburgh? How about the Giants? Giants, they're not giving up the third overall pick, but would they be willing to give up the thirty fourth overall pick and pay him fifty five million dollars? If that's the case, does that make sense? The Raiders are an option? Who knows you can go down the list. The issue with this year for Stafford is if they do trade Matthew Stafford, there are quarterbacks who would likely love to play for the Rams. Aaron Rodgers lives in Malibu in
the offseason. You don't think he'd want to just mix it up for a discounted price and play with Sean McVeigh for a year. Of course he would. So who has the leverage here? Where are they gonna go? Jimmy Garoppolo? They could pay ten million dollars and McVeigh by think I could.
Win games at Garoppolo.
It's a really tough, awkward situation because there is a real friendship, they have a Super Bowl championship together, and there's no real bad blood at the moment. But the longer this thing proceeds, the ugli ric could get.
I don't know if I.
Could envision a world where the Rams go on without Stafford. I think everyone would love Stafford to come back, But I don't think the Rams are gonna break their back to pay Matthew Stafford top dollar.
And if he's okay with.
That, to go pursue a super Bowl fine, And if he's not, no shame in that, go get the money.
You think you deserve.
You've got now a solid two three week span where teams are gonna look to find their free agent pieces, and then you have another solid two to three week span where they build their draft board that it's the draft, and then you got your roster and you're good to go. And as Tom said, there are so many unresolved issues, specifically at the quarterback position.
The team that I'm looking at as.
A team that seems to get to the playoffs every year and has a giant question market quarterback, that's the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pittsburgh Steelers decided to Jennison Kenny Pickett last year and said, Okay, we're gonna cut bait On on a twentieth overall pick and we're gonna go with the Justin Fields Russell Wilson do Well. It was great to start off, they were ten to three, and then the season hit the skids.
And what happened in the end, Well.
It was the same Steelers that we have seen every time they've been in the playoffs since twenty seventeen.
They ended with a loss.
Take a look at how the Steelers seasons have ended once they've reached a postseason. The last several years twenty seventeen lost, twenty twenty lost, twenty twenty one lost, twenty twenty three lost, twenty twenty four loss.
And now you don't have.
A quarterback under contract going into combine that includes Justin Fields, that includes Russell Wilson, and of course Kenny Pickett is.
Over in Philly.
Now, so I look at this Steelers team, what are you? Are you a team in transition? Are you in rebuild mode?
Or are you a team that has TJ.
Watt on one side, Alex Heidsmith Alex Taisman on another side? And the ability to say, are we the team that's gonna go and get Matthew Stafford, Are we the team that's.
Gonna get Aaron Rodgers?
Are we the team that's gonna get Kirk Cousins.
Are we the team that's gonna get Derek Carr?
There are so many viable veteran options out there. They did this dance last year. They decided on Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. But with the twenty first overall pick and what I would say is an underwhelming quarterback class, I would think they're gonna go veteran again. Or do they bring back Fields and say we're four and two and we decided to throw in Russ or do they bring back Russ?
Steelers are fascinating.
A good team, not a great team, but that's been their story for nearly a decade in Pittsburgh salary cap gymnastics. Here we go, and it's Duke Tobin, the guy in charge of all that, capable and ready to do whatever he can to make this work. I think all three players they would love to have back. All three players are elite players in the NFL. And if you start ranking them, and I really give Judy a lot of credit for not saying, Okay, here's the most important, here's
the second most, and here's the third one. Because you can make the argument that Trey Hendrickson, with their team MVP last year, led the NFL in sacks on a team that had defensive woes everywhere. He was the star of the shining bright star. I would imagine they figured it out with Jamar Chase. I would imagine they figured out with Trey Hendrickson. Then what about t Higgins that is a number one wide receiver. They put themselves in this position by not finding a way to get this done.
Going into this offseason, but it's not too late. If they can go three for three, it would be miraculous and it would be a heralded offseason for the Bengals. I will say this last year, at this point, we were going into the Combine and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had Baker Mayfield up. They had Mike Evans up, and they had Levonte David up, and they had Antoine Winfield up.
They got all four of.
Those guys back and they were able to figure it out how to do it financially.
There are ways, There is an ability.
You just have to be creative and you have to have an open dialogue with the players.
Yeah.
Look, Aaron Glenn came in yesterday at this podium and he was all business in a way that I don't think Jets media or Jets fans have seen a new coach b There's no hey, let's wait and see.
This is a process. He's like, no, we're looking to win now. Every day. I'm looking to win now.
But they also was not going to suffer any fools and do this Rogers thing, and both he and Darren Moosey were like, we're moving on. We already told Aaron we're good with Aaron. We're moving on. Question is where are they going? You know we're talking about the Giants in the Stafford conversation. We haven't heard the Jets being linked to that Sam Donald played for the Jets. Does it make sense for the Jets to make a big free agent offered a Sam Donald.
I don't know if that's even in the cards.
So the question to me is we did all this, We got the coach, we got the GM, we got the new OC, we got the new DC.
See he got all this. Who's playing quarterback?
And does it start here where they have the seven overall pick? And I saw mel Kiper has Door Sanders going to the Jets. Are we going rookie or is this going to be another deal where it's let's kick the can a little bit and try to find a veteran to get it done. Remember Tyrod Taylor very well liked in that room, but in his mid thirties. Is Tyrod Taylor the best option to be the quarterback one for the Jets? And does that get the fan base going?
I'm not sure that's the answer. So a lot of positivity out of the Jets brass and a lot of positivity from Jets fans about how the Jets brass has been speaking, but they still have a giant hole at quarterback at the moment.
There's a big push to get it down, no pun intended.
There's a lot of people around the NFL, and one of the things we keep hearing is that it's because of player safety, But we don't have the data, and I've talked to folks at the league off like, there's no data that shows that.
More players are getting hurt because of the Toushbush.
Now, the potential to get hurt, obviously when you have someone pushing someone into a line of players is great in your head and you imagine, But so far, all the times we've seen it, the data doesn't prove out that there has been an increase in injury.
So it's hard to stand on that.
Second part of it is this not So Philly and like so plays into their entire mantra that the entire league is against us and everyone wants them and only if you want to BRT Bannett, how about you stop it. I love that Sirianni was as bold as he was there and I think it speaks to Jeff Stoutlin their offensive line coach.
It speaks at Jamel Singleton, their running.
Backs coach, and it speaks to all of those players who line up for the Philadelphia Eagles that this is not just one year, this is not.
Just two years.
This is four years that we have seen the tush push be used and it still has not been stopped. And yet other teams try it and other teams don't execute it as well. So I personally don't have any opinion on it. I don't love seeing it aesthetically. I have much more in favor of a beautiful game and some of the different ex's and o's that the coaches can draw up than just hey, lower your shoulder. But there is a skill to this, and that skill has to be appreciated.
It's almost like.
Brawn over beauty. I'm in the beauty business. I like seeing beautiful football. I like seeing long passes. I like seeing my face on TV. There into Lebron. They're into the physicality of it. I stay away from all that. Let's get started with the top ten combined prospects going into the combine.
It's my list.
There are plenty of others out there. Take with this what you will, but let's get excited about some of these guys, and let's go to Ann Arbor for number ten guy who missed a bunch of games this year but still is viewed as one of the top defensive backs to come out of the college game in quite some time. It's number ten Michigan defensive back Will Johnson.
Will Johnson has that size.
Guys six foot two, two hundred and five pounds, has the range, and in their national title season in twenty twenty three, was first team All Big Ten Conference, a dominant player.
Where's that?
Charles Winson number two? The ultimate compliment for a Michigan corner, has the size, has the ability. Missed a bunch of games this year, so there are some questions on that is he going to be the same player he was in twenty twenty three as he would be in twenty twenty five. The answers, Yes, he was a freshman and he was the Big Ten freshman player that he was All American as a freshman. Goes On has the national
title in twenty twenty three. Last year, plays in Wink Martindale's all out blitz defense where he was the man to watch out in the backfield. Will Johnson has the physical build, and he's been one of these guys since the second he walked on campus in ann Arbor that everybody has been talking about.
As the next dude.
He is number ten on the list. Look for him to go in the first round. Of course, in April's draft, number nine, I'm staying in ann Arbor and I'm going with another player out of the University of Michigan.
Number nine is tight end Colston Loveland.
If you want to talk about a different types and body shapes and body forms, different types of players that we get at tight end, there are guys who are more like Grunk in this draft, and then there's Colston Loveland, who I think as complementary a high bar.
As you can set. Is compared to Travis Kelce.
In the way that they use him and the way that he can move. Brock Bauers as well, more of a receiving tight end. Six foot five, two hundred and forty five pounds, runs and moves like a receiver.
There's a guy who led the.
Team with fifty six catches, five hundred and eighty two receiving yards and five touchdowns this.
Year and miss time as well due to injury.
First team All Big ten last year and is one of those players that you circle when you're talking about.
The next level. We're now at.
Ten and nine and they both are out of the same school. How about we go for a rapid departure from cold and arbor and go to Sonny Tucson for number eight. I am higher on this player than I think any of my fellow draft pundits are. But my number eight prospect is Arizona wide receiver Tenoroa McMillan. I'm gonna call him t mac and he is out of Hawaii, and I am sure my boy Mantaiteo has a little
knowledge on this guy. First Team All American, first Team All Big twelve, and he has set a school record with three thousand, four hundred and twenty three career receiving yards. He is my number one wide receiver.
In this draft.
He is six foot five, two hundred and fifteen pounds. I watched this guy these late night games going up here against Kansas State, and of course what he was doing before that when they were in the Pac twelve. This is a player that has been over different coaching stats, started with Jed Fish and of course has been there now the last year with a different coaches have and it's just always produced.
Reminds me of Drake London.
That is the body size, six foot five basketball body, can get everything and was playing on an Arizona team that surprised a lot of folks in twenty twenty three and had a big year in twenty twenty four. That's ten, nine to eight, number seven. I know he might go first overall, but cam Ward is my seventh overall prospect in this draft.
I'll tell it like it is, folks.
This is not a draft where the quarterbacks are one through five. As far as prospects go, there are far better depth and talent at the defensive line, at the tight end spot, and guess what the running back spot this year.
So cam Ward he might go first or.
Second overall, but coming into this thing, I've got him as my seventh best prospect. Loved watching him at Washington State and of course when he transfers over to Miami and did the things he did last year set an NCAA record with one hundred and fifty eight passing touchdowns in his career over three different school started at Incarnate Word, went to Washington State, where he was a standout and then came into Miami as a one year guy and absolutely blew everybody away.
Led FBS with thirty.
Nine passing touchdowns last year, the most ever by a Miami Hurricane in a and of course was the ACC.
Player of the Year. Great kid as well.
But if I'm gonna be honest, I don't know if cam Ward is in the same conversation as a Kayla Williams. I don't know if cam Ward's in the same conversation as a Jaden Daniels. I don't know if he's in the same conversation as a Drake may as they were entering the league last year. Of course bo Nix and Michael Pennix would both get time, and JJ McCarthy's going to play as well. I was asked recently where I have cam Ward if he was coming out last year, said,
I'm not sure he's in that top tier. Probably in that next year, but I'm not even sure about that. So cam Ward great prospect. We'll be an NFL starter next year and will be a top five, top ten pick, no doubt. But I've got him at seven, not as number one in this prospect list.
Number six. I go defense again, and.
I go to a place where it's been an absolute factory of pass rushing talent. That is Georgia and that is Jalen Walker, who this year won the Buckets Award for the best linebacker in all the land. To part, he's everything on that defense. He's everywhere on that defense. It was a third team All American but led the team with ten and a half tackles for a loss, led the team with five sacks. But here's the thing, this is last year. He was a bench player last year.
So his big year came this season where he popped off the screen and.
Was all over the place. I've got him as number six on.
This list, and guys, he was a reserve in twenty twenty three. Think about all these different Georgia pass rushers over the last several years. Obviously, the Eagles have about a dozen of them, and Nolan Smith and Jordan Davis and of course Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean, all those guys in the front seven. But Green Bay has a couple also with Kway Walker and what they've got up front there with Wyatt, Like this has become a factory. And if there's one thing you can say, you can
trust these Georgia pass rushers. You can trust these Georgia front seven guys.
They come in and they make an impact in the league.
Alen Walker is not listed as like a top five pick on any other mock drafts, but I got him as number six right now going into the combine. I think he's going to be an outstanding performer, and I think his stock will rise, both the pedigree and the performance.
This is not everybody's list.
It's different than the herd mentality is I always say I don't always have what everyone else has.
There's no there's no glory in.
Copying someone's mock draft and saying here's is it from calls and some discussions going into the combine and they're my guys here at six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Of course today we're going to go five through one, and we had two Michigan men at ten and nine yesterday.
How about another Michigan man at number five?
Mason Graham is the number five prospect for me going into this combine week.
Mason Graham wearing number.
Fifty five, just like Brandon Graham out of Michigan. But this guy's on the inside of the defensive line and one of the top players in all of college football. Had a career year in twenty twenty three and they won the national title.
He started thirteen.
Games for the national championship team and then followed it up by being a first team All American this year, two time First Team Big Ten Conference and dominant inside. Now there's been critiques about his body. Does he have long enough armed? I don't want to hear it. He dominated the Big Ten, dominated the Big Ten. He is a top five pick and I wouldn't be shocked if he goes even higher than that. From a personal note,
our show has a connection to him. He went to the same high school as Tea Mac who was the wide receiver at of Arizona. They both could go in the top ten if you're talking about two guys who went into high school together and they went to a school out there in Anaheim. Now, guess what our researcher on the show, Blake Blake, was a math teacher at this school when they were both there at the same
time in Anaheim. So I love that team Mac Mason Graham, and of course our guy Blake in research the school itself.
Let me get on the phone here because I gotta give it love.
I'm here, I am, I'm trying to do all this stuff it is called.
And at the school.
Here, Servite High School, we see you Servite in Anaheim, churning out NFL content and churning out churning out NFL research.
Gods our guy blink.
So there we go.
That's number five. Yeah, number four. We go to Boise State, where I think Ashton.
Gent is one of the top running backs in this draft and will obviously be a.
First round pick, number two in the Heisman this year.
Did it all at Boise A product, of course, out of Florida. He's a Jackson of Florida kid, five foot nine, two hundred and fifteen pounds, won the Dope Walker Award, is a nation's top running back. Why see led college football? We get this number, guys, twenty six one hundred rushing yards in one season. Twenty six rushing yards in one season, and that's major college football.
That's not Division three, that's not Division one.
Double a two time AP All American, and he two time Mountain West Conference Offensive.
Player of the Year. The sigh is the speed. He's got it all.
Unfortunately, he's already said he's not going to work out at the Combine.
But if you watched him do any of the.
Stuff he did at the Super Bowl, he did a lot of media. He is a big personality and he is very confident that he can bring it to the next level. I have seen some teams tell me. I've had conversations like he might just be the best player in this draft.
It's a running backs. We're not sure where that goes, but I've got him at four on this list.
Number three is my favorite player to watch in all of college football this past season. He's out of Penn State. He's the tight end who has number forty four. Mister Tyler Warren. If you watch any of these Penn State games, this guy does it all. He was a high school quarterback who plays HVAC and plays tight end, and he is an absolute machine. He's got a Mechanicsville Virginia finish seventh in the Heisman this year. That is the highest eight tight end has finished since Notre Dames Ken McAfee
finished third in nineteen seventy seven. He was the do it all player on this Penn State offense. Won the John McKie Award as the.
Nation's top tight end.
Was tied for second in all of college football, not amongst tight ends, among all players, with one hundred and four catches, First Team All Big Ten, Fiesta Bowl MVP, where he had two touchdowns and six catches, and of course was that dominant force in that Penn State offense. Kyle Brant likes to do angry runs like this guy might win it every single week, plays with a fury out there.
Again a high.
School quarterback, so he's a superior athlete, bulked up at Penn State.
Where's that sea on his chest? As a captain? Unbelievable player.
Ty Warren, I think he might go as high as top five. He will not escape the top ten. We already had Lovelades the one tight end out of Michigan. I've got another tight end in Warren, and he's as high as number three. I've got a friend, my friend Eric Ziff, who sees all this football. Two years ago, he put me on to Tyler Warren. I have been watching this guy for the last two season and he has gotten.
Better and better and better.
We'll see where he goes in the draft, which leaves two players left. And I think these two players have been batted around as the top two non quarterbacks in this draft. Number two, I've got Tyler Warren's teamate at of Penn State. It's for Abdul Carter. Abdul Carter did it all for Penn State this year. And what a lot of teams love was that he did it ball while he was hurt in the biggest of games.
Yes, abduall Carter.
Of course he comes out of this thing, and you look at what he did at Penn State.
The numbers tell the story.
He led all of college football with twenty three and a half tackles for a loss. He was the Big Ten Conference defensive player of the Year All American six three, two hundred and fifty two pounds out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania gets hurt in that last semifinal game against Notre Dame and still found a way to dominate that game.
Anti Tao, I know you were watching it. Number eleven was all over the field.
Many people believe, if he'll be the first pick in this draft, Abdul Carter will just go number one to Tennessee.
You call it like that. It's easy. He's your Miles Garrett, he's your TJ. Watt.
You put him in there. You're set for the next ten years. He is that good of a prospect. I've got him number two on my list because for number one coming into the NFL Draft and coming into the Combine, I've got to go with the player that I watched every single week the past two seasons, and I watched him dominate on both sides of the field. I've got Travis Hunter as my number one prospect out of Colorado. Played corner, played a wide receiver, and he won the
Heisman this year. I just don't think there's another player like him that we have seen in college football in some time. I actually don't think I in my lifetime I've seen a player do it as much as he did on both.
Sides of the ball.
You're talking about a guy who plays one hundred and twenty snaps a game and doesn't get hurt, doesn't complain, doesn't demand the ball, and was an elite wide receiver and.
Was an elite defensive back.
The fact that we are already here at the Combine and there are still teams split on how they would use him tell you just how special a player he is. Travis Hunter six' one one to Ninety Heisman trophy, winner two Time first Team All. American he was The big Twelve Defensive player of The year this, year but he was also a first Team All Big twelve wide. Receiver he averaged one hundred and twelve snaps per game last year and this year you're talking about the rarest of.
Breeds you're talking about a pure, unicorn and to, me the best player.
In college football and the best football player entering this combine. Period, NOW i don't know if he's working out at defensive, back wide, receiver or none of it, all because we don't have that information yet here at the. COMBINE i will say, this he has been with the defensive backs group going through that as far as interviews and measurements
and all that. Goes but don't be shocked if AN nfl team drafts him and uses him both at corner and wide, receiver something we have never seen in this, league and that Includes Charles.
Woodson Deon. Sanders all these guys to come out of.
College and be used that way just doesn't. Happen Chuck bednarik our last true two way, player and that was the nineteen Sixty. Eagles Could Travis hunter be the next? ONE i love NEW i love precedent breaking. Players Travis hunters that. Guy here are my top, five including the top ten prospects of the twenty twenty.
FIVE Nfl scouting comment just my. Lift you can argue that's. FINE i like. That let's, debate let's have.
It i've Got Travis hunter at, One Abdul carter, Two Tyler warren, Three Ashton jente at, Four Mason graham at. Five then you saw six through ten. Yesterday The season With Peter schrager is a production of THE nfl and partnership With. iHeartRadio for more podcasts From, iHeartRadio visit The iHeartRadio, App Apple, podcasts wherever you get your.
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