The OTP | Draft Week with Rhett Lewis

You are my second favorite rat and I'm thrilled to have you on the OTP. Thanks for the time, Mike, thanks so much. I am used to being everyone's second favorite rhet because usually everyone's most favorite rhet is, of course, Rhet Butler. But I will, I will take number two. And how many people call you Brett? So many, so many that I stopped correcting. It's that's it's just fine with me at this point. Whatever you want to call me, that's what we do to Rhett Brian. We refer to

him as Brett Ryan. Many so many people get it wrong. We're just like that. That should be what you change your name to. But anyway, names aside, names are the story of the week as we're about to draft some players in the NFL. And you've been on every show on NFL Network for the past two months. You've been a host, you've been a panelist, you've been a guest. You are the utility man for the Dodgers in terms of what you're doing for draft coverage. How hard has

it been? So here's the thing, Um, I love this time of year. So I grew up a tortured Saints fan. Okay, down in New Orleans, Mike, So like draft time was our super Bowl. Like I used to skip class, you know, in fifth and sixth grade, meet my friends in the library and we'd be filling out mock drafts. So this

is what I love, the hopefulness of this time. Everybody's got a chance right now, Mike, and these thirty two picks of the first round are going to be big pieces to continuing that hope into the summer and into the fall for so many of these teams. So I love college football. I love learning about these players, learning about their stories, and I love projecting them where they're going to go. Your dad is a legendary figure among the Saints. He was the longtime trainer. He's been saving

care of the Saints for seemingly a hundred years. Right. He was thirty two years with the Saints. He got two with the Washington Commanders now and then eight with the Detroit Lions, so just over four one years. Yeah. Wow, we're a football family, Mike, you are a football family. Indeed, let's talk a couple of names, and I want to talk mas Jim Wyatt, who writes for the Titans at Tennessee Titans dot com. We referred to him as the

legendary Jim Wyatt. Of course, he took thirty five maks on Monday Day of Draft week, and he does this wide scale. So five of the mocks had the Titans at number twenty six, taking Johan Dotson from Penn Steak. Four of the mocks had the Titans taking wide receiver Treylan Burke's Arkansas, offensive tackle Bernhard Ryman, Central Michigan offensive tackle Tyler Smith Tulsa. Three of the mocks had the Titans taking linebacker Nakobe Dean Georgia, guard Kenyon Greene, Texas

a and m linebacker Devin Lloyd Utah. Two of the mocks had the Titans taking edge rusher Jermaine Johnson from Florida State and guard Zion Johnson from Boston College. And then one of the mocks, Apiece had the Titans select cornerback Andrew Booth Clemson, tight end Trade McBride, Colorado State, cornerback Trent McDuffie, Washington quarterback Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh quarterback Desmond Ritter, Cincinnati wide receiver Christian Watson North Dakota State, and wide

receiver Garrett Wilson Ohio State. Which one are you of the thirty five? So, Mike, that's a lot of different names there for jay Rod to choose from on Thursday night. So here's here is my thought, because there's a lot. I feel like there is a lot of different ways to go, and those final ten picks of the first round always such a wild card, right because these are better teams that don't have glaring needs, and the Titans certainly fit that in my eyes. So I went with

quarterback Desmond Ritter. So and just take a breath, Titans fans, let's just play this out here for just a second. Ryan Tannehill is your starter in twenty twenty two. The fit with Ryan Tannehill in this offense, I think is as good as we've seen from a from a player coming at that position, coming to a new team and excelling.

He's been great. But at some point you do want to think about the future here, and look, Ryan's gonna be thirt five going into the twenty twenty three season, going to be coming up on the need for a new contract at that point. As well, with the way that salaries are going, you know, you have to wonder, you know, we're talking about thirty five mill, We're talking about forty forty five million for quarterbacks here? Is it

more pragmatic? Is it more financially responsible to think about a younger quarterback down the line here, one that you have up to five years of relative cost control on. I think Desmond Ritter is a guy that's comfortable being a future face of the franchise. I don't know that he's ready to step in and start, which is why I think that Tennessee could be a spot where he would make some sense to sit there behind Ryan Tannehill.

He's got the athleticism that we love about Tannehill, and I think he's got to work on his consistency with his accuracy in different spots around the field. But I think there's a lot of upside there. I really like that one. I don't know if that's going to happen, Mike, but I do tell you what, there's choices that I would love to see. Zion Johnson interior offensive line is one that I would love right there. I think would make a lot of sense, a lot of positional versatility.

Same with Tyler Smith. But you know, I know the Titans don't have a second round pick. I think he's more of a second round player. And then look Traylan Burkes, Mike, I'm telling you, there's like five different ways where he can give you a touchdown Totans. Oh, well done. So sorry sorry in the in the face of legendary company here that I shouldn't have even attempted. But no, that

was great. Yeah, So like those are my thoughts there, those three guys, those three positions, all right, So that's who you picked on NFL Mock Live on NFL Network, Yes, Desmond Ridden and another of the mocks you had somebody else for the Titans though, Yeah, so that was a different um. That was a I did a mock draft using the Pro Football Focus mock Draft simulator. So we were using PFF's rankings of the players, and we did we did the simulator, we adjusted the simulator for me,

and we went through all thirty two picks. So you know, they using PF's needs for each team, they picked the best player that fit those needs. Then we just did a separate one looking at only best player available regardless of the need. And so PFF is a little bit lower on Jermaine Johnson of Florida State. I think he's going in the top ten all day long on Thursday night, and for some reason he was available there for the

Titans at twenty six. Is the best player available? Look, if that happens, thank your lucky stars rushed the card up to the front, and feel great about it because you've got another edge rusher to add to that talented front. That ain't gonna happen. No, I don't think there's anyway because as you get to this process and see if you agree with this statement, I don't think the information on guys who are dropping is good because I think there's a lot of skull duggery going on with that.

I think there are teams who want bad stories in the eat, of course, because they want guys to full I do think that the truth in advertising, so to speak, is when you're hearing guys are going up. I do think that oftentimes ends up being true. And Jermaine Johnson is a guy that we're consistently hearing is going up. Yeah. I put him at number three in my latest mock draft of Houston Texans because there's there's a lot of folks out there that feel like he is a step

ahead of Cabon Thibodeau as an edge rusher. And if you're considering an edge guy up in the top three and they went Hutchinson Walker won two, then you know, would that be something that Texans would consider. You know, they could certainly go offense to support Davis Mills too, you know, as you look there within the AFC South in that division, Mike. But I think Jermaine Johnson is

a guy that has been kind of steadily rising. And he also it's kind of interesting because he gives us a glimpse of perhaps what Trayvon Walker's production might have been outside of Georgia's defensive scheme which kind of pushed everybody in the little tighter Jermaine Johnson, Remember, wasn't George Bulldogs Jets from to Florida State, And in that one year they started using him in those wide nine alignments, and man, he pinned his ears back and he was

getting to the quarterback at a great clip and was acc Defensive Player of the Year. I think that's kind of Trayvon Walker could have that kind of production at the next level if used in that kind of way. So that's the other part about this thing. It's how are they used in college and how do we kind of translate that into how we want to see them

used at the next level. Who's the number one pick in this draft today, Tuesday, April twenty sixth I really don't know how the Jaguars see it, but I will tell you right now if I am trip Bulky, I've already got Aiden Hutchinson's name written down on the card and I'm just waiting for the commissioner to put me on the clock. This mike is a three hundred yard t shot straight down the fairway at TPC sawdress Like, let's put this thing in play, Let's keep it right

down the middle of the fairway. Let's not pass on a sure thing, and I think Aiden Hutchinson is the biggest sure thing in this year's draft. We've seen the production, we know about the makeup of the man, we know so much about how integral he was to a programs success last year at Michigan. We know he can make the biggest plays in the biggest moments, as we saw in that Ohio State game. Like, there's so much to

like about this player. And the last thing I'll say about Hutchinson is that I want everybody to be careful when we use the phrase he's a safe pit, because that does not mean that he is a lesser athlete, or it does not mean he is not an elite talent, because he is. He's got one of the best three cone drill times of any edge rusher in this class, Mike, and that is one of those things, one of those metrics that we use to forecast edge rusher success at

the next level. He's got great banding, great explosion. He's a great athlete and a safe pit. Daniel Jeremiah with Bucky Brooks on the Move the Sticks Podcast, talked about what he's hearing out of Jacksonville, and that is new coach Doug Peterson wants Ikey Aquanu, the offensive tackle from NC State, and Bucky makes the point, if that's who Doug Peterson wants, that's who he's going to end up with, because right now in the building, he's the dude with

the Jews. If they take Ikey Aquanu at one, or they take Evan Neil at one, if they go tackle at one, does that surprise you very much a little bit because we saw them go and give Cam Robinson a second straight franchise tag, and there's been some talk about trying to work out a long term deal with him.

So if you do take a tackle number one, it does give you some flexibility if the contract negotiations don't work out with Cam and he goes on his way following the season, You've now got the next guy to step in at left tackle. But also keep in mind that they drafted Walker Little in the second round last year out of Stanford played some for them down the

stretch last year. I think it, you know, probably wasn't his best effort, but he was a rookie and guy had barely played the last two years of Stamford due to injury and COVID, so his best football I feel like he's still ahead of him. They got Joan Taylor over there too. They've spent some resources on tackles, you know, in the high draft pick range, you know, set those second rounds in the last couple of years, so that

part of it would be a little bit surprising. But then think back to win Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl at Philly. Who were the tackles Jason Peters on the left side, Lane Johnson on the right side. If that's how you want to build this thing up in front of Trevor Lawrence, then it makes sense, especially with the Titans and the Colds rushing the passerata the way they can in that division, and with the fact that you figure Houston is going to end up with one

of their two first round picks with an outstanding age rusher. Yeah, makes a ton of sense. Speaking of tackles, a lot of talk about Trevor Pinning from Northern Iowa, and certainly Titans fans have interest in that because there's some thought that he could fall to twenty six. Do you think there's any shot of that? Do you think of Penning?

I really like Penning. I love his mentality, I love the nasty in his game kind of reminds me a little bit of the way Taylor Lawan plays the game a little bit on the edge, you know at times, and he will make guys pay, and he plays through the echo of the whistle. And look, you I know Titans took Dylan Ratin's in the second round last year, so you know, it's a matter of how does that maturation process move for him. Are we counting on him to demand that right tackle spot, you know, next year.

I think that's part of what you think about. You can never have too much depth along the offensive line, but you know, I feel like interior would make a little bit more sense, especially a guy with positional versatility like a Zion Johnson who's played all over the offensive line at Boston College, or Kenyon Green, who I think teams are kind of sorting out a little bit of a knee issue on the medical With Kenyon Green, he's done some of that at Texas A and him to

tackle guard interior on the outside, So that to me would make a little bit more sense. Plus, I think Trevor Penning has gone. I don't think he gets past the second Saints pick at nineteen if they don't take a tackle at sixteen, So that's kind of how I don't see him getting out of the top twenty. Stranger things have happened, though. Okay, So let me ask you something towards your Saints knowledge. They have not taken a quarterback in the first round of an NFL draft since

Archie Manning fifty years? Is this the year with the two number ones that changes. They've certainly got the opportunity too. And that's kind of the sweet spot for the quarterbacks in terms of how we see value with this class. And you know, people want to people really want to discount these guys in this group of quarterbacks, and I don't know, man, I'm not here for that, Mike. I'm here to tell you, like, let's look and see if we can find ways where this guy can succeed for us,

rather than telling you what he can't do. And I think there's a lot to like about, you know, all the quarterbacks. So that's why I'm mock Desmond Ritter and at twenty sixth of the Titans earlier, I think there's a lot to like there. Same for Malik Willis, like maybe he's in that sweet spot there, either at sixteen or at nineteen for the Saints, there's traits that you love and you know, like look in the Titans case. You know, you got one of the one of the

great quarterback coaches in the NFL and Pad O'Hara. So like you've got to look into your coaching staff if you're the Saints, and you know, think about the guys that you got, Like think about the ability to develop young players. You know, the Saints haven't had to do that in a while, right, I mean, like they had Drew Brees for you know, fifteen years. Jamis Winston was

an older player by the time he got here. I guess we could talk about how they you know, worked Taysom Hill into the quarterback rotation, but that project seems like it's ending now and he's booming a tight end. So I think you got to look at that part of it, like what's your development strategy for a young player? Does your staff fit that. That's all a part of this, But I could certainly see quarterback being in play there.

Although when they did go out and sign Andy Dalton recently, it's like, all right, you got Andy, you Jamis, you drafted Ian Book last year in the fourth round feels like the ends getting a little full there. At quarterback, I feel like they're a better suitor to go tackle and wide receiver. At sixteen and nineteen, Who are the underrated players that you think are going to have a chance to sneak into the back end of the first round. Ye have two or three to jump out to you

certainly do. Tyler Linderbaum from Iowa, I think is a guy that's getting nick picked to death over his arm length. And all that dude did was dominate interior defensive linemen in the one of the best conferences in college football his entire career. He's the best technician, he might have the best fundamentals of any offensive lineman regardless of position upfront.

And honestly, if Ben Jones wasn't back for Tennessee, I feel like that would make a ton of sense right there at twenty six two other guys on the back end, you're looking at some of the edge rusher group there. You're talking about guys like boy A Mafe from Minnesota I think is firmly in that final five to seven picks of the first round conversation there look at can A City with one of their back to backs at

twenty nine and thirty. He's got a great story. He's a phenomenal athlete with his best football very much still ahead of him. Look at a guy like Arnold Eba Katy out of Penn State that could sneak into the back end of the first round as well. I think edge rushers, you know, like so many of them, Mike, are going to go in the top ten. I think

four go in the top ten. That teams are gonna maybe get some guys who we might have originally thought of as second round picks kind of jump into the first round just because of the way that they dominated that position, dominated the first ten picks. So boymfe Arnold Eba Katie. And then you're looking at some of the corners like Kyler Gordon from Washington in that range out there, Andrew Booth from Clemson coming off I think a core

muscle surgery, So corners, edge rushers. I see that kind of being one of those spots at the back end of the first round where we could kind of see some different names in there. Now, you were a college wide receiver, so I know you followed that position closely. The first six seemed to be pretty set but there's a lot of discussion about who's seven. Is it Christian Watson, Is sky More a guy out of Western Michigan who

has an unusual skill set? Is it George Pickens from Georgia who has never quite reached the potential five stars? And some people think if it all goes right for him, it blows up in the NFL? Who's seven for Rhett Lewis of NFL Network at wide receiver. Yeah, Mike, that's a that's a really good question. I think you're right. I think it's pretty much set with you know, Wilson, London, Olave Burke's Dotson and Williams is the first six, and

then at seven. It feels like the buzz is building for sky More out of Western Michigan to be the seventh, you know, not necessarily the biggest dude out there, not necessarily the fastest of this bunch, but man, is he a fun football player to watch. He gets open, he makes circus catches, a lot of the same stuff we talk about with Johan Dotson in there too. Kind of feels like some of the same things that that sky More does. I tend to favor Christian Watson, you know,

he's got a he's got a terrific story. He was a guy that was overlooked his entire high school career. He's kind of a late bloomer into the body that you've seen now at six foot four and two hundred and ten pounds. By the way, he runs four three forty like ridiculous athlete. But guys were going, you know, college coaches were going over there to recruit Wap Fillure, who ended up in my alma mater in Indiana. Shout out Nick Westbrook as well. I had to find a

way to figure to fit it in there. You are the president of the Nick Westbrook Akada Fan Club. That's okay, we love that. I love Nick. He's such a great player. I'm so so happy for him carving out a niche there in Tennessee. But yeah, Christian is a guy who was overlooked there found his way to North Dakota State because one recruiter was like, I see all these other guys, but like, who's this dude over here, who you know is a little gangly, you know, it's like a little tall,

little skinny. But man, I feel like his best football is ahead of him. And I could see if he doesn't go in the first round. I think he's gone within the first five just seven picks of the second round. All Right, we know you love the draft, and we know your experience with your dad being a longtime NFL trainer most of the career with the New Orleans Saints.

So I want to wrap up our conversation with this, from your experience with your dad, how much of a factor is the training staff and the medical staff as we get to not only Thursday, but especially Friday and Saturday with that medical information that comes from the combine. If you'd lay out for us just an overview of how much bigger that is than what we probably know, I'd be interested to hear. Yeah, Mike, that's a great question.

And I'll start it off by kind of relating back to some of the names you mentioned earlier, because you know, Archie Manning was one of my dad's first quarterbacks there in New Orleans, and Archie was my dad's best man at his wedding. Like Archie went once his kids got

old enough. Once Peyton and Eli were looking at colleges, and he would tell them that without question, two of your most trusted allies, friends and people you can count on when you get to college and you get to the NFL, will be the equipment manager and they'll be the trainer. And that's how it was for Archie and Peyton will tell you the same thing. Eli will tell you the same thing as well. Trainers are the guys that can get you the reservations at the best restaurants

on the road. They're like the concierge. But they also mike, to your point, deep dive on all of these players and all of these prospects. And while gms have books on players and they have you know, they've got their notes on players and the way that they play on tape, and they've got a whole book on those guys, that's what the trainers do. And that's the research that they do with the combine when they're and they go out

there and they call the college trainers. They get the inside scoop from from all the schools and the universities on the players that are going to be there. And I mean so much of this thing, like I know, gms and inside draft rooms and talent evaluators that they think, you know, all right, we got this guy, we want to fill out this card. Hey, let's check with Dean. Let's just make sure Dean we we good on the medical I mean, like that's how important it is because

this is an investment. These are we're talking about, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars that we're going to invest in these prospects. This can't be a deal where we miss something. The medical team missed something in this guy's background and he can't you know, he can't play beyond two years or three years. Like it is big business trying to figure out the medical background of all these players.

And there's so much that goes into it, Mike. I mean, like the last story I'll tell you is like at the combine, you know, when my dad was going every year. I mean, like every MRI machine in Indianapolis is essentially reserved for the NFL Combine and the three hundred and thirty prospects that end up going, and all of them are getting MRIs And I mean, like it's there's so much background and research done on this because they can't

miss anything. And it's the reason that so many NFL football people are desperate for the NFL Combine to stay in Indianapolis. Yea, even if it may not be the best business move for the league. They could take it elsewhere.

It's the best. It's the best set up because the medical information is the second most valuable part outside of the actual tape, Absolutely right, And some could argue it's it's the most valuable because if you've got a guy that you're taking off your board, you know, like that's that's that's because of medical A lot of times, you know, some of it's because of you know, off the field stuff, but um, you know, like there's there's probably you know,

teams that have taken guys off their board a month ago just because of what's transpired in the medical Rhet Lewis NFL Network. Thank you so much for the time. And I know how busy you are, but fun to get your viewpoint and to hear all about the mocks and everything go on go on. For those of us who work in the league, it really is the best week of thea It is so much fun. Um, Mike, and take so much for having me on. Appreciate it

and go tight. Presented by far Bureau Health Plans, this is the oh telcome to the big Show where the legends go. Everybody knows it's our house fighting, Though Tennessee making history, greatness is meant to be