Our next guest is a good friend of the show from Suomer Sports. It's always fun to welcome in Sam Brockhouse onto the program on a Wednesday afternoon. Sam, Happy Wednesday, Man, how you doing.
I'm doing good. We're what less than a round twenty four hours until the NFL Draft, and people still have no idea what's going to happen. So I'm super excited to be on the Summer Sports Show tomorrow on YouTube on the Summer Sports platforms, and super excited to talk about the draft right now.
For sure, Man, I appreciate the time. But before we get into the draft, my producer informs me, as you know, we are the home the University of Utah. We are broadcasting well about a mile mile and a half away from Risco Stadium. We had our spring game on Saturday, and so you fans kind of got their first look at Devin Dampierre. I wonder what you make of the new quarterback here in Salt Lake City? What should you fans know?
Look, so, when we were grinding through the transport portal, Devin Dampier was someone who really popped up as a guy who may have an ability to make a major impact at the P five level, and I'm glad he went to Utah because this guy has a superpower, and rarely in college do we see guys at the G five level have a absolute superpower that is better than everyone else and that will almost surely translate to the
next level. Using frame by frame analysis, which means we're looking at every single millisecond of a play, we noticed that Devin Dampier is one of the best sack avoids in the NCAA, and I would expect him to continue
to be so at Utah. What does that mean? Thing about the Denver Broncos for example, this year, a lot of people had a lot of questions about bo Nix, but Sean Payton kept saying over and over again that this was a guy who avoided negative plays, and a lot of people who had watched him at Auburn, for example,
didn't know what he was talking about. He came in and he was absolutely elite at avoiding sacks, and that allowed that offense to get the offensive line going, the screen game going, guys like Devon Veley going at the wide receiver position. If Devin Dampier is able to translate that one hundredth percentile so and so, and you can even go look at the number of sacks that he had.
They were so minimal, especially for a small player. I think that there's really going to be a special sauce to the Utah offense this year, which I was really excited to come on here and talk.
About love that. Let me ask you one follow up question, because his numbers last year at New Mexico on the ground were elite from the quarterback position, but he had twelve touchdown passes and twelve picks through the air, And I don't know, Sam, if he's going to be able to duplicate his ground attack as he translates to the Big twelve, but through the air with his arm, twelve touchdowns, twelve picks in a lesser division, if I could be
kind and not being disrespectful, does that concern you about what he'll be able to do against Big twelve competition week in and week out.
So it's an excellent point, and I think further analysis is needed, especially once he gets in a uth Jersey, about what those interceptions mean. And given he a guy, as you mentioned, in the team that was not superpowered and overachieved a little bit, I wonder how much that comes from the surrounding cast. For example, he was doing a lot of running around behind a poor offensive line, trying to avoid sacks and just trying to make plays.
My expectation is as he adds a little bit more structure, his accuracy will increase, his decision making will increase, and it'll keep playing off the back of those eliminating negative plays on a play by play basis through his sack avoidance, and then the negative plays through the air, which you know typically are a little bit more random and frankly, especially if they're on third or fourth down when you're just trying to make a play, don't kill you as
much as a first down sack would. We're going to see more consistency in his play. That's something very key to look at in weeks one and two, and I'll report back to y'all on what we end up seeing about his accuracy and decision making scores. But those definitely have to be improved, but I think they will on a more talented youth team.
Love it sham stuff. I will move over the draft. Of course, It's an exciting time for pro football fans and we are the home of the NFL Draft. Here in Salt Lake. So we'll have it on our radio station, and we'll start with what is probably an easy question, But because I've been doing this for a long time, I know that sometimes smoke screens are sent out. Does it feel like it's just a consensus that Tennessee is going cam Ward? Is there any any sort of intrigue at the top.
It feels like it's lock tight. You look at the betting markets, you look at the prediction markets. Feels like that's the way that they will go. The only way that I think this could get shaken up a little bit is if someone just absolutely gives them a godfather offer. For one, here's a quick little note. A lot of people have said that cam Ward would have gone quarterback four, five six last year. That indicates to me that he has what scouts call a green grade on him. So
he's not a blue chip player. And if that's the expectation as well, you look at the data in some of the consensus mock draft, typically Shador Sanders is were in that you know, ten to twenty spots below him. That would also indicate that Shador Sanders or Jackson Darter or some of these guys may also have a green grade. If that is true, the Titans have a green grade on him and maybe have a green grade on somebody else.
It would indicate that if someone gave him a god father offer for one, you probably would take that and expect that you get another quarterback down the line. I think that's extremely low probability for the Titans, because you know they can just go ahead and take him before a team like the Browns or the Giants, or the Jaguars or even the Raiders for example. That may mean a ton, especially given some of those teams need quarterbacks.
So I think the Titans are selecting cam Ward. I think that calculus about trading back applies a lot more to the Browns the Giants than the other teams.
Now, I'll ask a follow up. If they go cam Ward, Sam, do you agree with the selection? Do you think that's the right move?
I think it is. I think that really all three of the teams at the should be considering a quarterback selection. The positional value of the quarterback is just so much more than every position that it kind of indicates that if you have a premium pick, you should either select a quarterback or try to drum up as much demand in the trade market for a team that does need a quarterback so that they can go up and get him and you can get some value elsewhere. That's the
old school, nihilistic data scientist view on it. Obviously, there's more in play. There's politics, there's divisional rivalries, there's you know, the reality of who you have on your roster, and so there's all kinds of other dynamics that go into it. But that's what I view. I think it's probably the correct pick.
Andrew Berry, Brown's general manager, came out and said they view Travis Santra primarily as a wide receiver, but also had some other things to say that led a lot of people to draw a straight line between his comments and yes, that's who they're taking. And as you reference a bunch of reports that they're also few building calls at two. But I guess if we're in a space where it feels like it consensus that one that Cam is off the board, the draft starts at two, what do you think the Browns do?
So as it stands now, I think they go with Travis Hunter. I think that Travis Hunter is certified the only can't miss prospect in this draft. When you look at those same frame by frame, millisecond by millisecond AI grades that we at Schumer Sports called summer scores, he's elite both in coverage and receiving. Frankly, you're never going to probably see that ever again. I think Travis Hunter is the only can't miss prospect, and I think they're fine if they go ahead and select them. But here's
a note. As I said, the positional value at those positions is not the same as the quarterback position. By definition. I don't even think they're actually betting on their evaluation of a guy like Shador Sanders or like Jackson Dart. I think they are solely betting on their availability models. There's only only a couple of teams that really need quarterbacks.
It seems like the Giants aren't interested. It seems like the Saints are not interested, and if their models are showing that, perhaps they can wait until they're pick at thirty three to get a quarterback. I think they may go ahead roll the dice, pick Travis Hunter positional value to the wind, and start playing a little game of Roulette quarterback Roulette, and hope that Shador Sanders or whatever
quarterback they like very analytical organization. The Browns are. I believe they're doing a lot of research into consensus big boards and into their scouting grades as well. It it'd be difficult for me to believe, just given what is public, that they have anyone else other than Shador Sanders at two. So I think they're really rolling the dice and seeing if they can get a quarterback down the line in the late first, trading back in at late first or in the second round.
Every time Travis is asked about his NFL future, he's very specific about his desire to play on both sides of the ball. How do you think the Browns use him? What do you think that looks like?
Look, I think you got to do it, and I think in the data sphere you just want more information. And when you have a player who can play both sides of the ball, let the snaps tell you where he's best at. I think you got to play him on both sides while he's still young, because if you have someone who can contribute on both sides, that's literally of one of one, maybe one of the best players of all time. By year three, perhaps he might be able to go just three years And if he does that,
he may be a Hall of Famer right there. If not, you can simply just stop playing him on defense or stop playing on him on offense, and he can still be an elite player on either side of the ball. I am of the mind personally that you just get all the information you can as quick as possible and let.
Him do both, all right? Going to number three now, as you referenced earlier, a lot of conversation about the Giants also fielding calls. And it's interesting because the Giants are one of those teams and Sam, as I've told you before, I'm a lifelong suffering fan the New York Jets. And we'll get there. But when you have as many holes as the Giants have, I mean, maybe you just go ab dual Carter. Maybe you don't think about it. There's some noise about Shador. They were out this way.
The Giants were out in Colorado watching should or work out last week. But I would completely understand if they wanted to trade down and then get a heavy more picks to try to fill a bunch of holes. But what do you think the New York Giants do at number three?
So first I think they evaluate their team, Abdul Carter will be the best player on the board, at least as the consensus is concerned. Here's an interesting bit about the Giants, though they had one of the better fronts in the league last year excellent sac rate, Brian Burns played well when he was healthy, Dexter Lawrence played well, Okerke played pretty well at the linebacker position, and they
had Kevan Thibodeau who played all right. You know, he's one of the better defensive end two's in the league, and so I think that's where the analysis starts coming in. If you look at the expected value for an edge, historically for defensive ends, it's really about around Kavan Thibodeau. So you probably have in terms of expected value. Again, maybe they know a little bit more than me, but I'm just looking at the historicals. You have two players that you can project over the next two or three
years to be pretty similar in terms of production. One will be much cheaper than the other, but there's a much more uncertainty when it comes to drafting a player. So here's the gamble that they're going to make. If they take Abdol Carter. They're basically saying, we would rather this year, have three good edge rushers, and the next year, let Kavan Thibodeau walk and have a cheaper version again on average than Kavan Thibodeau. If they decide to go
elsewhere trade back. They're basically saying, we know what Kavan Thibdeau is, there's not a ton of uncertainty there, and we would rather recoup value. And we don't really know if we're ready to compete. Maybe we don't know if Abdol Carter will make us a winning team year one. And I think those options are fairly clear. I think you probably lean to the more conservative way to do it if I'm the Giants, which would just be selecting Carter as one of the best players in the draft.
But I, as an analyst, would certainly, you know, fight hard for trading back and trying to get more value because I just don't know how much Abdol Carter is going to help this team become a playoff team.
So a little bit of a non sequorer here, but I wanted to ask you because we are high speed ahead. We're about, let's see, twenty six hours and fifteen minutes away from the draft, and zero trades have been made. Involving first round picks, which isn't isn't all that normal? Typically there have at least been, you know, a dealer or two by now. Are you anticipating a busy night concerning the trade market? Do you think we're going to
see a lot of movement? Jerry Jones came out yesterday they've got number twelve and they've got ten picks, and he's I don't know, maybe he's just Jerry being Jerry, but he said they're trying to make a bunch of deals. Do you think we're going to see a lot of trades go down tomorrow?
So? I think there's two items that are or really three, I guess there's three items that are probably going to control this. Number one, what happens with the quarterbacks. If the Browns don't select a quarterback and the Giant don't select a quarterback, I think the heat is going to be on teams that either want to trade back in like the Giants or the Browns, or teams like the Steelers who sit at twenty one and may not be
able to wait to get a quarterback. So I think that's option one that could be probably one, maybe two. In the back half of the first round. If people start getting hot on a guy like Jackson Dark, that could potentially be two trades, and on average draft day there's typically about three to five trades. So I'm trying to fill this up in my head. The second item ash jin genty. People have him as one of the
best running back prospects in years. I've been hearing a lot of noise about James Gladstone and the Jaguars selecting him at five. I think that may be smoke, and I think if we get around five, a team who really wants to go get a running back, thinks they have the offensive line to support it, and think they can have a safe Jwan Barkley or Jamier Gibbs like player may want to go ahead and trade up to five before a team like the Raiders in particular could
use them. A team like the Bears certainly seem like they could use them. I think that's probably a third trade. And then finally, in the middle of the rounds, I think a lot of people are going to get excited about edge rushers and tackles. Not a lot of guys who are certified edge rushers and tackles will be selected
in rounds two and three. I think as you get to the middle to the end, you'll start seeing some of the teams that performed really well, like the Commanders, the Eagles, the Bills trade out of their spots to allow teams that need tackles or need edge rushers back into the first round, and then they'll snag their guys there.
So that's kind of my expectation to the three to five trades that could happen, starting at about five with Ashton gent getting into the back half of the top ten with the quarterbacks, and then finally throughout the middle talking about jumping back in to kind of reach on a quarterback or select an edge or often s attackle I think that's the way it's going to break down.
Jackson Dard played his high school football about eighteen nineteen miles as the crow flies from where we're talking, you know, it's been fun to watch him kind of evolve throughout his career after starting at SC and then transferred to a miss good kid, good family. Certainly a guy that is getting a lot of attention depending on who you asked or you talked to, Nobody really knows where he'll go. But what's the buzz on Jackson Dart and what's a good fit for him Sam.
Here's the summary. If he hits his first read, he's going to be immensely productive after that, which you can go check this on Summer sports dot com. We have it color coded to show you where he ranks among players in the NCUBA last year after that first read. He loves to scramble. One of the highest scramble rates in NCUBA last year. And also he was very productive, one of the highest EPA expected points added per rush
guys last year. The problem is, you can do that in college, really difficult to do that at the next level. When you got Miles Garrett, when you got some of these Eagles rushers, Durrance Armstrong, Michael Parsons, all these excellent edge rushers pearing after you at four or five speed, you don't really see that game the game in college. Really difficult to rely on the scrambling that much. Now.
We saw Jayden Daniels do that pretty well last year, even though his profile changed a little bit as he settled into that offense. But that's a real real question mark for Jackson Dark. I think settling in with an offensive coordinator who puts him in a place to succeed, particularly on those first and second reads, which then further allows him to develop down the line. Is something that's good, and frankly, I don't know if it's the best fit. I'm a Saints fan. I think Shedor Sanders is probably
a better prospect in terms of accuracy this year. But it makes sense for a guy like Kellen Moore, who had Jalen Hurts last year with a very similar background, a guy who wanted to hit his first read, especially given that was aj Brown and Devonte Smith, and then he was going to use his legs to make plays, and that took them all the way to the Super Bowl, even though their passing offense did struggle. Coached by Kellen Moore, it appears that the Saints are interested in Jackson Dort.
I could see that being a pairing that makes sense, even though it might break my little Saints van heart fair enough.
And since you brought up Shadoor, there's a lot of buzz around Shador of course, because of well, he's really good, and also he's Shador Sanders, he's Deon's kid, and obviously we are a PAC twelve former PAC twelve market now Big twelve Market in Colorado is a school that we're all familiar with, and we've seen Shador and Travis up close. So you reference the Saints, there's a lot of noise Saints at nine if he doesn't go off the board
of nine to the Saints. Are we in danger of watching this kid fall?
I think we are. I'm putting together my mock draft tonight for tomorrow. I think I'm going to have him dropping a little bit again. I don't think this is necessarily a showing of his evaluation in our data. He's one of the most accurate quarterbacks in recent memory all across the field, and we've confirmed that on my Draft INFM podcast with a couple of guys who chart every single throw eye test scouts. They understand that he's immensely accurate as well. Downside is sacks and the opposite of
Devin Dampier when we talked at the top. Those down to down sacks can really kill drives. As a result, I think the drop, frankly is probably occurring more due to the huffing and hawing about the Horts and Pony Show coming to town and Sanders talking real loud and all this stuff. I don't like all that. I don't think it shows anything about his evaluation. I get upset that he's probably dropping for that reason. Do I understand it because of the politics, Maybe so, but it is
what it is. I think the Steelers at twenty one are probably the red zones for him. But I could see us being shocked of him maybe being selected third, or someone trying to ump up if people start getting a little antsy about getting a quarterback in the first round.
All right, Sam, with the remaining a few minutes we have, I'm gonna ask you about teams specifically. We are a market without an NFL team, but we are a market with a lot of NFL fans, and it depends on you know, there are pockets of fans of the Broncos because of the proximity. But I want to ask you
about the Niners. We have a lot of Niners fans here and that's really because of Steve Young, who played his college ball at Brigham Young and a lot of people continue to cheer for San Fran here in the market, and it's a big draft for them. They've got to think, what like eleven picks, and they've got number eleven in the first round. So how do you think san Fran approaches this draft process and what are the holes they need to plug.
So going into this, I thought a hidden need of theirs might actually be the quarterback position. Brot Perty has said that he wants to be the highest paid guy, or at least very close to it, and we've seen them move on from Jimmy Garoppolo in the past. I thought maybe that was a hidden need for them. It seems as if they're working at out. No big news has come out, but it seems like he's going to go to OTAs. So I think in the face of that, in the face of him getting a deal, you probably
want to rebuild that offensive line. They let Aaron Banks go last year. I think they want to have Christian McCaffrey in a spot to succeed as he begins to age, and perhaps invest in a good offensive lineman Kelvin Banks. I think if he's available, makes a lot of sense there. There's going to be a ton more offensive lineman the first, second, and third rounds that perhaps they could go grab. But also on the flip side, I think adding a second edge rusher could be a good use of resources. They've
lost a lot. Frankly, they've cut a lot from that team, a lot of I guess you could say fat as they viewed it. They let go in free agency. So there's a bunch of different spots that can go. But I expect offensive line to be the highest probability, even though there's a lot of other places that could be addressed.
I mentioned the Broncos, and for the first time in a while, Bronco fans have a reason to be optimistic after rookie season with bow Knicks. They get all of their offensive lineman back, including former Yuke Arett Bowles, Courland Sutton, Marvin Mims who emerged as a wide receiver to come back as well. Feels like running back might be something they look at. They've got seven picks, including twenty in the first round. Not twenty picks in the first round.
That would be ridiculous. They have number twenty. But what do you think? What do you think Denver does throughout this draft process.
I think the target is running back, and I think the target is a pass catching running back. Here's the question. Though, me, as an analyst, would recommend that they go with a premium position in the first round. If you draft a guy in the first round who's a running back, you better expect that he's going to be a top ten, top five player. That's a lot to ask given the historicals on the draft. However, looking at the specific running backs, this is believed to be an excellent running back class.
A lot of people think it's between Omarion Hampton and Trey Henderson. I think Omarion Hampton is probably the better runner. I have questions about this pass protection ability and his receiving ability. Traveon Henderson maybe less of a runner, carried less of a workload last year sharing the backfield with Quinn Shawn Jenkins at Ohio State, but has a better pass blocking pedigree and a better pass catching pedigree. I
think it's probably going to be between those guys. I'm leaning Trevion Henderson right now.
Kansas City Chiefs their head coach is Andy Reid byu Alum and you know, obviously this is a team that doesn't necessarily have the same amount of worries that some others do. They're still going to be in the mix as they are every year with fifteen hunderd center. They have eight picks, they have number thirty one in the first round. What do you think Kansas City needs to come away with during this draft process.
I think they got to address the left side of that line. Joe Tooney is now a Chicago Bear, a lot of questions at the left tackle position. They drafted Kingsley Suing Matia last year to try to be that guy. Seems like it didn't work out. Perhaps he'll start at left guard this year. We're able to get a guy from the forty nine ers, but it seems like they're going into this year with two backups last year at
the left guard and left tackle position. Luckily, they're in a spot where they should be able to snag a guy that could be a tackle, particularly if there's some fallers. But like I mentioned, expect trades up four tackles. I think they may be in that zone. They did it
last year to try to grab Xavier Worthy. I wouldn't be shocked if they trade up to grab a guy like Simmons out of Ohio State, the tackle, Josh Connerley the tackle out of Oregon, or maybe even a guy like Gray's Abel, a swing guy who played tackle at North Dakota State but will probably project to be a guard at the next level. I'd expect that to be the thought process, perhaps trading up to try to get a certified tackle at the next level.
All right, before I said you loose, this didn't used to be the case. But proximity wise, the closest pro football team of Salt Lake City now resides in Las Vegas with the Raiders and Pete Carroll their new head coach. I feel like every time I read a Raiders draft primer, it's all about Ashton genty. But of course they may need a trade up if they're going to grab them. But they do have six and they've got I think
nine total picks. What do the Raiders need to come away with from this draft process?
As I mentioned, I think Gent at anywhere. Really, any running back in the first round could be a reach. I think if you're going to reach, it would be Gent. I question their defensive backfield. I think Will Johnson could be the answer, even though he's beginning to have injury rumors as of late. And I think really they could address a whole suite of things. Wide receiver could be an example. Maybe Tech McMillan falls to them. Five and six Jaguars and Raiders is a big question mark for
me right now. I'm trying to figure it out. I'm trying to evaluate all the data, but it seems like tech McMillan, Ashton Gent or perhaps you know a cornerback like Will Johnson is the direction that they should go right now?
All right, Sam, where can people go? Get all your work? And obviously you'll be busy over the next four or five days.
Yeah, check us out at suomer Sports on Twitter or at Summer Sports on YouTube. You will be having a live draft show. Pull us up if you want to have data insights from me GM A guy who has sat in the seat, Thomas de menro Off, our president, will also be on in studio. He will be breaking down what it actually feels like the pressure. I think we're probably the only place that you can get that. We'll also be having Sean say Ed, who comes on this station quite a bit, breaking down the schemes, and
Lindsey Rhodes will be driving the bus for us. It's going to be an excellent show. I ask you to tune in tomorrow during the draft second screen with us.
Good stuff Sam and joy it Okay, we'll chat soon. Appreciate you sam Bruckauzoomer Sports stops by today courtesy of IFA Country Stores, and he drive to the basket begins with the first step on the court. That's the ultimate power move IFA Step one. Crabgrass Preventor and their lawn Food is the first choice to give your yard the healthy green look you admire. The neighbors will be green with envy. You can shop VIFA online at IFA dot co Op or stop by one of their neighborhood stores today