LISTEN | Jets Draft Countdown - Ep. 6 with Brian Baldinger & Dane Brugler

and round three. And then Olivia Land has caught up with Brian Baldinger, who, of course he's infamous for his Baldi's breakdowns, and they talked some Jets drafts, some Jets free agency. But first things first, A in terms of Bruegler's draft board, somebody that he thought could be available in round two because of some medical concerns, but would be a quote unquote steal for the Jets. That's Colorado receiver Levisca Chenal. Wow, he's a big guy, right green

six ft two, twenty seven pounds. I wonder if he's gonna play a toe on the next level. He led the Buffaloes and receiving the last couple of years and the seventh wide receiver. What in school history of the eclipse of thousand yard mark in a single season. Um. But what comes to mind with him, like a lot of these guys who have dealt with some injuries, is where did teams think of la Visca Chenult now following

his core muscle surgery in March? Did debt hurt his stock and potentially made teams benefit from that because listen, he might drop just a little bit and you might have fined tremendous value there because this dude was a productive receiver out west in the pack. I think it's that's not the case for just Chanalt, but every receiver that's been banged up in this pre draft process, and real quick about chin Alt, the thing that stands out to me, fifty percent of his total receiving yards at

Colorado have come after contact. To your point, big dude, two twenty seven pounds of physical receiver. Here he is Dane Brugler of the athletic Dane. Let's take a look at another scenario here, probably the most popular one in the mock draft circuit. That would be the Jets going

offensive tackle at eleven. And we know about the big four between Jeddrick Wales and McKay, Beckton Tristans and Andrew Thomas, But if you were Joe Douglas and all four guys were on the board at eleven, who would you pick for the Jets and Y? Personally, I would go with Jeddrick Wills from Alabama. I think he's a great fit. Um. He's a muhler in the run game, uses that natural strength, the heavy hands where he can just steam roll whatever

is in his way. Uh, and then in pass protection he has the hip flexibility, the feet he can hold his own. He played in thirty nine games at Alabama the last three years, gave up one sack. So this is a guy with a lot of ability. UM. He's known more as a run blocker, but he also has uh the movement skills where he can hold up in pass protection. I think when you look at it, the biggest question might be can he play on the left side?

Dating back to high school, he's been a right tackle only, and so when you look at an Alabama scheme, it's it's important to note that he was protecting to his blind side. It's not like they had to pigeonhole him only on the right side because that's only where he could play. UH. They wanted him at in that scheme with two of being a lefty, they wanted him at

right tackle to help help there. So it's a little bit of a projection if you're gonna put him at left tackle, But all the talent that he has is suggests he should be able to make that move um, And it will be interesting to see if some teams how they weighed that, because you look at McKay Beckton, he has experienced left side right side. The same thing with Andrew Thomas, who played right tackle as a freshman before taking over for Isaiah Winn moving to left tackle

the last two years. And in Tristan Worse's who was a right tackle but he only played left or right tackle because the left tackle couldn't and so they wanted to get the best guys on the field. And then when the left tackle was hurt, Worst moved over to left tackle and look looked just fine. So, uh, he is the only one of those big four that really

has that position question. But I think he's the best of the group and I would have no problem projecting him that left tackle and feeling strongly that he could fill that spot at left tackle just fine. So let me ask you this, if he were in fact a day one starting right tackle for the Jets in this scenario, do you think the eleventh pick is too rich for a right tackle or do you think, you know what,

he's the best offensive lineman. The way the game's going, it doesn't really matter what position you play up front, as long as you're a good player. I don't people get too caught up in the left tackle right tackle thing. Uh. You know, a lot of defenses are gonna put their best pass rusher against the right tackle. Uh. They're they're looking for matchups so that you know, you have to have your two tackles be very good pass protectors. It's not like it was twenty five years ago, where you

had the more athletic blocker on the left side. You had more of your your bigger guy, your run blocker on the right side, and that's kind of where you would uh filter the runs. It's just things are different in today's NFL. And so when von Miller is going up against your right tackle, uh, you know, and you can't really make that switch in game. Your left tackle is gonna stay there, your right tackle is gonna stay there.

You need someone who can hold up. So with a guy like Jeddrick Wills, I think you feel really comfortable with what he can do at right tackle, but again I would have no no problem moving to the left side and feeling very confident he could hold that down and get better as type goes on. Okay, So in this hypothetical scenario, Jets addressed tackle in round one and then very popular opinion here going receiver in round two.

So who are some guys that you think could be on the board at fourth eight and who makes sense for the Jets. I'm looking at Lavisca Chenal. I think he's one of the most talented receivers in this draft, and this could be you know, the Titans last year got a really good second round value in a j Brown. This could be the Jets version of that in the second round. He's at his best with the ball in his hands. He can make defenders miss. He accelerates really well,

so it throws off suit angles. Uh in coverage. I think he has a physicality where you can break tackles. That's kind of the double edged sword with him, though. That physicality is a ball carrier that also leads the more punishment on his body, and that's one of the reasons why he could be available for the Jets in

round two is just the durability questions. So if he can mature as a route runner and stay healthy, Chenal, It's gonna end up being a steal in the second round due to the versatile package of skills that he offers, the natural instincts when the ball is in his hands. I'm a big fan of Lavisca Chanal, and I think that would be a great fit in round two for the Jets. Isn't Chanalt another guy that had an if he combine, it doesn't really have an opportunity to prove

himself because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yeah, and again that's why you know, we talked about the in last week's segment, how that could hurt a guy like Brian Edwards or Van Jefferson and how they could be available in the third Lavisca Chenalt's a first round talent, but why he would be available in a second is because, uh, just like you mentioned, he did run at the combine, didn't run very well, but he also had a core muscle injury that he had surgery for right after the combine,

And so even if the pandemic weren't going on, they probably weren't wasn't gonna be able to work out before the draft. But without having the medical rechecks, that is one of another one of those reasons why you know, we probably you know, he could fall to that mid second round range because we won't have necessarily updated medicals. Now to agents and players, they can send independent medical information to these teams. But you know, if you're a team,

it's not your medical staff that's looking at him. You know, you're not looking for the same things. It's you don't know how independent that doctor truly is, And so you have to take it a little bit with the grain of salt and have uh, you know, you have to kind of look at it with a little bit of apprehension. But there's still a lot to glean from that, and I think Viscastionel is just too talented to fall too far in the second round. That mid second round range

would be great value there day. So if the Jets go tackle and then receiver in rounds one and two, if you were to probably define the jets is four needs entering this offseason, you'd say tackle, receiver, edge, cornerbacks. So if the Jets decide to address the defensive side of the ball in round three, they have two picks in the third round. Where would you go, Yeah, and I think you're you look at the corner position and a guy that really stands out for me in that

third round range a Meek Robertson from Louisiana Tech. He might be the poster prospect for why you just you don't judge a book by its cover, because it's just looking at him standing there in the sidelines. Not very impressive. He's five a buck eight seven. It doesn't look like much. But the ball skills, the instincts, they're elite. And in three years at low Tech, ridiculous ball production. Forty eight passes defended, fourteen interceptions and three of those he returned

for touchdowns. And his coaches, they speak really highly of his football character. They call him an ack nighter on the field and off the field, and what he does for that team. The size, I get it, it's it's gonna worry you at times. He's gonna maybe give up a little bit too much spacing because he loves debait throws and try to make plays. But the ball production, I think it's going to translate to the pro game. And he can tackle so you plug him inside, he

can compete with Brian Pool. Uh, you let him compete on the outside. He's gonna add immediate depth to your cornerback depth charts. So I love that fit. If you decided to go look more towards the trenches, look on for an edge rusher in the third round. Bradley and I. I think it's really interesting a guy that did not test overly well at the combine. Not that it was very surprising. Uh. He wins with his first step, he wins with his hands. He's got a lot of savvy

to him. Uh, there's a lot to like about him as an as an edge rusher. And again talking about third round, you know he's going to have his warts. There's gonna be things that you worry about with him. But the production that he put up at Utah talking to the pack twelve blockers, Uh, you asked them, who who is the best offensive tackle you face this year? Who's the best blocker? More than they're gonna mention Bradley and I because he is just a menace off the edge.

So third round range that that's great value for him. Two part question here one about Robertson. Do you believe that he can play on the outside given his side. And then in terms of a NYE like where is he come the first week of the NFL season. Is he a contributor, as he a situational pass rusher, and what kind of tools does he bring to a defense. I think a NYE is he's gonna start as your sub package guy. Um, you bring him off the bench, He's gonna lay on nickel situations. UM. You know, he's

gonna be part of the rotation. And as he as he works his way into the that rotation, I think we'll see a snap count increase. UM, see more chances they get on the field, maybe include a few starts in there, and so you just you sprinkle him in and then see how much he can take. Uh. And then with the Mike Robertson, you know, I think ideally you're gonna play him inside because he has a toughness to do it, he can tackle, UM and just the short area burst that he offers I think can really

match up well. But I don't think you have to pigeonhole him as only a slot guy. I think he can also play outside. Uh. He's just gonna give you that immediate cornerback depth uh, and a guy again who's smart, he's tough, the energy that he brings and the ball production more than anything, the instincts that he offers. And this is a guy you know people look at law Tech and say, oh, well, he had great production there. He had offers at l s U, it offers at Texas,

but he went to Louisiana Tech. So this is a guy who, uh, even though he doesn't look like much, he plays with the chip on his shoulder and he has more than just a production. The film matches up. So I think a Meek Robertson somewhere in that third round that would make some sense. So just to recap here, Jeddrick Wills at eleven, Lavisco Chanal at forty eight, and then the Jets doubled down on defense with a Meek

Robertson and Bradley and I in the third round. And Dane thanks a lot and we'll talk to you next week. All right, thanks, Ethan. What do you think about that order and how realistic it is in terms of going receiver in the second round, edge corner in the third round, but up top you take a well, of course that's realistic. I mean everything right now, if you're the Jets and

you're Joe Douglas is on the table. And what I keep on going back to in terms of the tackles is, does Joe Douglas have those top four guys ranked very closely together? Because just because one of the pundits the pronosticators say, hey, the Jets have a need there, they gotta take tackle. Well, if you're Joe Douglas, you don't take a tackle there unless you think the value is there. The other thing to keep in mind with the tackles, and we continue to talk about this is where is

Josh Jones gonna wind up? Where's Austin Jackson gonna wind up? And then you just talked to Dane about Lavisca Lavisca Chanault. Oh my god. The receivers. The names here is just incredible. I feel like we've been talking about this for so long, but I think that's the way you probably view the draft. Hey, can we get a receiver? Oh, can we get the tackle, Can we get the corner? Can we get the edge. And we'll have to see if that plays out that way.

In terms of those first four picks, again, how does Joe Douglas have those guys ranked, and how is the board gonna fall before eleven? And is a trade back I don't want to say a likely scenario, but how much more does it become realistic depending on how the board falls, because the Jets could benefit from moving back. It'll be very interesting to see how this all plays out. And just under a couple of weeks Now and Olivia caught up with Brian Baldinger, who, of course is a chameleon.

Like I said, he covers the NFL when it's in season, he covers the draft and really he's known for his Baldi's breakdowns. And here he is, Brian Baldinger of NFL Network. Brian, how are you doing? Thanks so much for joining us today. Well, it's it's a crazy period obviously for everybody around the world. We've never experienced anything like this. So you know, the people that are out there in the front lines helping they get they get to be the rock stars right now.

They deserve it. But we do have a draft coming up here in Olivia and just over two weeks and it's gonna happen. And teams, I mean, I love the draft, we all do. And I think America actually wants to really pay attention to what's going on because I think it's the one time of the year where it really

gives teams hope if they can get it right. Like I remember Olivia three years ago, the Saints drafted you know, they drafted Marshawn Lattimore, Ryan Ramcheck and a running back that just happens to be all world, you know, with the first three picks, and it changed their entire fortune. They've been in the playoffs, keeping the playoffs three straight years in a row, and you can you can look directly at that draft and how they have turned things around.

And that's what any team can do if they get it right. Absolutely, And like like you mentioned, the draft is coming up only a both weeks away. It's still going on. A lot of people at some point were like, is it going to happen? What are the next steps? It is going to be a virtual draft, So the draft is still going on, which means teams are still making that prep. I want to dive a little bit deeper into the Jets specifically, Brian, you have followed the

team for a very long time. Joe Douglas in his first year as a general manager for the Jets. When you look at this draft, even though it's going to be a very different approach this season, what does Joe Douglas need to get done in those three days. Well, I think you know, he spoke last week, you know, in one of these type of conferences, and he was

very clear. In fact, it was covered by all of the newspapers the following day, but it was very clear that he told Sam Donald's parents, I'm gonna get Sam protected. He's not going to be a sitting duck back there. And I think he did a lot free agency, as we all know right now, but I think he has a lot more to do. And I think he comes from really two organizations. He's spent a year in Chicago, but two organizations at Baltimore in Philadelphia where he's been

a big part of winning Super Bowls. And in both those teams, they had tremendous depth on the on the offensive line. They invested in the offensive line, they spent resources on the offensive line. When they lost one player, they were replaced by a player of almost near quality. And I think you know, Joe's looking at this draft and there's some top end offensive tackles and offensive linemen in this draft, and I think it's gonna be hard for Joe to ignore, regardless of what he has already

signed both last year and this year in free agency. Brian, you talked about depth when you look at this draft and some of the positions that the Jets might need to fill holes in what are going to be some of the most valuable in deep positions for the Jets to take a look at, and maybe some of the least valuable and the least amount of depth that they don't really need to take a look at right away. Well, I don't think there's a lot of depth of cornerback

in this draft. Top end cornerbacks, you know, guys that come in and make Pro Bowls right away, like Marshawn Lattimore. Right I mean, there's there's maybe two, possibly three uh in Acuda out of Ohio state, uh C. J Henderson out of Florida, and you know Jalen Johnson right now out of Utah. I mean, there's maybe three guys that could go in the first round. That's probably as few

as we have seen in a long long time. And so I think if you want to try to get one of those players right now, you're gonna have to spend a top flight first round pick to get them. Um. Now, they could drop depending on how the quarterbacks go. Uh, you know, how a couple of the top end defensive players go, and how some of these top end offensive tackles going. We can see those guys pushing maybe some of the corners down, but corners, there's not a lot

of depth. There's tremendous depth, and not just depth, but a variety of depth at wide receiver, maybe as wide a variety and is deep a variety as we have ever seen. If you want, you know, if you want slot wide receivers, small, shifty, fast, quick, they have those. If you want big, you know, big game changing type wide receivers on the outside, we have those. If you want a guy like you know, Henry Ruggs, that's you know, as fast as Tyreek Hill, if not faster, game changer

with one touch, there's those type of players. It's as deep a wide receiver draft as we have seen. Now. There are some guys at the very top end of this that are better than others, but it's a very deep draft and wide receiver. It's it's a good draft for offensive tackles in the first round. It's not a great draft for offensive lineman. If you're looking for interior offensive lineman. Um. You know, in the middle rounds, there is not allow of depth there right now, so I

mean wide receiver, corner or shortage. Um. There's some great defensive tackles in this draft, top end defensive tackles, and there's three linebackers that are really interesting to study and watch and all the different things that they could do that could be easy first round picks. Bran, you already mentioned free agency. We know that Joe Douglas made a couple of moves to add more players on the offensive line.

When you look at the draft, do you believe that he could still add pieces on the offensive line or is it more of a free agency move from here now? I think free agency, you know, I think if they you know, if they lined up and played week one tomorrow, they can line up and play right now. But I think he feels, you know, he has coached Andy, but he's been around, and he's been around two Hall of Fame left tackles, you know, and Uh in Baltimore and

Jason Peterson in Philadelphia. And so that's his standard is to have a Hall of Fame left tackle. Now, George pant will provide um. You know, he's still very young, he's still raw to a degree, but he's played a lot of games and he's played well. Played well against Cleveland last year. Um did very very well against some you know, really marquee players there. But I think you know, when Joe looks at an offensive line, he's looking at anchoring it with a near or Hall of Fame type player.

And there might be I mean, you can't predict those kind of things before the draft, but there might be those level of players in this draft, and if Joe has a chance of getting one of them, he's not going to turn that down. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Brian, you study the draft a ton. You were already talking about how you and NFL Networks Daniel Jeremiah have you know, long talks about this draft. Who stands out to you specifically in this draft that might

make a good fit for the Jets. Well, I think you know, Monkey Beckton from Louisville to me is we just haven't seen a player that size move like that and just literally it's you have to orbit the sun to try to get around him, to get to the quarterback and nobody can go through it. He's just too massive. Now, I don't know. I mean, everybody wants to stack basically

four offensive tackles. There's basically Beckton, there's Jeddrick Wills from Alabama, There's Churston Worse Worse from Iowa, you know, and there's uh Thomas from Georgia. And you can kind of, you know, everybody sort of has a different way of sort of evaluating him and what they're looking at. But to me, Beckton is the best of these four. If somehow he is there at number eleven or he's there at nine, I can see the Jets with their eight picks making a move to go get it. And I think you

plugged a playm at left tackle. And you just tell Sam Donald, here's your newest best friend. Get to know him, go out to dinner, right to work every day, walk on the practice field. Um, wherever you go, Sam Beckin is gonna go with you. I mean, I can see that happened. I can see something like that happening, and I can see Joe making a move. But Geddrick Wills is an excellent player. He's he's the most ready offensive

tackle in his draft. He's been excellent Alabama. He's played right tackle, but he showed everybody that he could play left tackle. I think, and then Churston Wills worse is a guy that athletically we just haven't seen many guys at three twenty pounds forty and test and run and

jump the way he did at the combine. And you know when you look at when you look at Iowa and the history of Iowa offensive lineman, I mean, nobody has ever started at Iowa over the last twenty two years as a as a freshman, and worst did he started Week one at I was an eight year old freshman. He went up against Nick bosa uh and and shut Nick pose it down when he was a freshman. I mean, he's he's an elite talent. I think he's got work to do. He needs still to be coached. I think

there's some things that he can certainly improve upon. But there's three guys there that if you're they're hanging around at nine and Joe feels like somebody could grab him at Tanner jump in front of him, he might pull the trigger and make the move. Joe, get one and secure one of those players. I have to ask to you, do you know who your next who the subject is going to be? Or what of your next Baldy's breakdown or do we have to tune in to see? I did one. I did a couple last night on some

college players to a Tongua Bay law. I did one on Antoine Winfield Jr. Um at the University of Minnesota. I mean, the kid is a phenomenal player. He stayed healthy for the first time in his college career this year, and he had seven interceptions. He hits everything that moves. He's a great tackler, just like his father. I mean, I think somebody's gonna steal him in the second round. He's gonna end up in a starting safety in this

league for a long time. I did those two and I I, you know, it could be a football type of breakdown. I couldn't be. I could do something about how the Pelicans are just attacking the fish right here, and I could show you just how the Pelicans are the world's best fisherman. I it really remains to be seen. Whatever hits me, Olivia. That's that's what I really love about Baldi's breakdowns is you never know what you're gonna get. You keep us on our toes. So thank you so

much for your time. I really appreciate it, and good luck during this draft and hopefully we will talk to you soon. I hope so too, Olivia. I look forward to it and always always great to join you. Thank you. Perhaps my favorite thing about Baldy's breakdowns is when he takes them, and he does them for things that aren't necessarily in terms of football. I know that he's an outdoors man and he loves going in the water, but he's crazy sometimes. Listen. He's a guy who's lived life

to his fullest, and I love Baldi. He's got such a positive way about him self off and he takes advantage of every opportunity that comes his way. Well traveled man. You know once we'll all we'll be traveling again. You know that he'll be all over the place. But he breaks down football as well as anybody in the National Football League. That was another edition of the official Jets podcast Trap Countdown series presented by Verizon E and I coming at you next week the Draft just around the corner.

E A. Have a nice weekend, all right, man? One week away