2026 NFL Draft Day 2 Recap!

20:00Nick Shook:He's able to get up and get after it outside. And I mean, what more can you ask for? It's a round tree projection. A guy that can run more routes. That's the thing. They love these guys. That's what you got. You got Pearsall and you got Evans and you got Kirk for it. It's a very well-balanced receiving core. I like it. You can teach him stuff later. That's fair. And Kyle Shannon, who's kind of a receiver guru, and I think likes these projects of teaching these guys. Some have worked out over the years. Some have not, to be fair. They've, you know, David Bell, they've had the, not David Bell, rather the thing even third round pick of a couple of years ago.

20:31that was a Browns player. They've had these third round picks that haven't necessarily worked out. This is a high two. I wasn't high on the Iuke pick at the time. And then this one, like, again, you just don't see many different routes on his tape. People comparing him to Devo, that, man, that's a high bar. It's like, they have a type. They've made it work. We'll see if it works this time. They also traded Dee Winters, their linebacker, to the Dallas Cowboys. What did you think about that move for a fifth round pick?

20:58Nick Shook:That was a little confusing to me. Yeah. I know that you have Fred Warner. I know you got Drake Greenlaw, but I think you learned last year that you need depth. And I'm not entirely certain why they did that unless there was, it was like one of those players where they're just thinking, all right, we're going to move on from him before long. This is now the best time that we could capitalize and get something back. I think you wanted more money. Yeah. That's usually what happens, right? Is we're going to, we're probably not going to see eye to eye and we're going to move on from him. So let's get something for him.

21:25Let's talk about the Cowboys that now, because they add D winters to a position that they absolutely need. He becomes probably the best off-ball linebacker. Well, they have Damarviad Overshaw. I should take that back. When he's healthy, he's a dynamic piece that kind of moves around. But those are two really fun players. Winters had his injury problems too last year. But then they draft one of Ali's favorites. I'm looking forward to talking winners and losers with him on Sunday. I'm going to guess the Cowboys are going to be part of the winners because this draft class has been awesome, including the only pick that they made i believe on friday which was jay sean barham uh from michigan third round pick really fun player good value so they double up at linebacker and it just continues what i i think it's been an awesome couple of days for the cowboys yeah not a lot

22:14Nick Shook:of picks but it shows that quality can matter more than quantity i think here you go get your guy first off they lucked into getting caleb downs at 11 i mean that was a home run right of a pick you got to trade up one spot to go make sure you get a guy who probably should have been going in the top seven go do it you're going to be happy you did in the end and it was a position of need it's defense defense defense and it's only three picks but go look at their depth chart like just take a quick scan of their depth chart they have depth now like an unbelievable depth that i never expected to see on the cowboys depth chart because of what they've done this offseason you acquire d winners he's listed behind overshown right uh if you like maris leofau he's behind Shamar James, Malachi Lawrence listed behind Azuraku, and Barham listed behind Gary.

22:55Nick Shook:You have a two deep that is strong, and you also have a developmental two deep, whereas when Gary or you move on from some of these other guys eventually, you've got guys right behind them. You can slide in that you've been developing this whole time, and we know how injuries affect teams. The Cowboys couldn't afford to get hurt last year because their defense was already so bad. They are preparing for that. I don't give them a lot of credit when it comes to front office decisions because they wait too long to re-sign guys and they make things weird and it's annoying. But they've done a really good job through the first three rounds of this draft.

23:22Thank you, by the way, to everyone who has joined us live on YouTube on Friday. We know a lot of people are listening over the weekend. And the most important question in the chat right now is, where's Cade Clubnick going? No. The quarterbacks did not go off as high as we thought. It's crazy because if you look, you know how people do mock drafts the week after or the day after the actual draft? Oh, for next year? If you look at last year's mock drafts the day after, there was a lot of Cade Clubnick in the top 10.

23:53Nick Shook:I went to the EA event last year for college football 26 or 25, right? Yeah, the current game. Clubnick was there. I guess one of the guys to talk about the game. And I'm thinking in the back of my head, I was like, this is a projection right here. I don't know. You had Ryan Williams, who was on the cover with Jeremiah Smith, and Cade Clubnick. And I was like, okay. I've college football these days. Everyone wanted a quarterback. You just got to find one to pick. They went they went with the wrong horse. They could have gone with Carson Beck. That would have been a weird one, too, although he was playing in the national championship.

24:27The Cardinals went with Carson Beck to start the third round. I thought it was an interesting quote after the draft. Monty Ossenfort said, we didn't have to draft a quarterback. We didn't come into this draft saying that we had to take one. But since Carson Beck fell to us at 65th overall, it just made sense to. I mean, were you expecting him to go earlier? I mean, I know Tom Pelissero said he could go in the first round, but this was earlier than I ever expected. And I think the only reason why he even went this early is because Ty Simpson already got yanked by the Rams, so the Cardinals couldn't take him.

25:09I don't know if anyone else was taking Carson Beck at 65th overall. If you play out Carson Beck's future career, like to me, in the top 10 percentile, I would say, 20 percentile of it would be have Jacoby Brissett's career. You could maybe one day become Jacoby Brissett. I think that's not a bad comp for him. That's my Shador comp. It's like, what are we doing here?

25:30Nick Shook:You can't steal my sugar comp. Come on now. What are we doing here? No. Okay. So look, I agree because I think that we went into the last college football season and looked at Carson Beck as not a failure, but a disappointment. And then he goes to Miami and they get off to a kind of a strange start. You know, they beat Notre Dame. He plays well in that game for the most part. You know, we see the emergence of some young stars on that team, right? Both on offense and defense. And then they eventually make the playoff. They get in, you know, by the edge, you know, by a nose over Notre Dame and they take full advantage of it.

26:03Nick Shook:And nobody took more advantage of it, I think, than Carson Beck. I mean, the kid delivered repeatedly in the playoff, whether it was against Ohio State, Ole Miss, and even that loss against Indiana in the national championship game, that touchdown run right there on YouTube that we're showing, that was one of those plays that stuck in my mind. Yes, it was wide open. Yes, it was just get out of the pocket and find the end zone. But that was the type of play that he consistently made throughout this playoff. And I think he rehabilitated his reputation over the course of that playoff run that then pushed him into consideration of round three.

26:31Nick Shook:Now, before he left Georgia, the previous season, when he was coming into his second season at Georgia, everybody was like, oh, he's going to be a future first round pick. And it all fell apart. He had an elbow injury. He declared for the draft, then decided against it, went to Miami, right? I think this is the right spot for him. And I think Arizona can justify it by both pointing to the fact that they don't have a long-term project. They don't have an answer beyond this year. They got two veterans in Bursette and Minshew. And also I thought Ian Rappaport made a good point right after they drafted Carson Beck, which is that Jacoby Bursette wants a new contract and isn't showing up to workouts.

27:03And I was like, hmm, that makes a little bit more sense.

27:07Nick Shook:Not that they're not going to get that done, but that does make a little more sense why they would take Carson Beck there. But it's all just bad process how you got to this point. Like you're having to give up money to get rid of Kyler Murray, who's still way better than anyone that's actually on your roster, that you had re-signed at the last second before you even hired your last coach. So this GM had to inherit him. And it all comes back to ownership, I believe, who also, according to some reports, had a part of that Jeremiah Love pick. And yeah, Jeremiah Love's a great player. Congratulations.

27:38Thank you, Bidwell. That you know how to, like, that you can take a good player at third overall. But the process, to me, is bad because you didn't pick up any extra picks. They only have their picks at the top of each round. And then you're burning a very valuable top of the third round pick when you have so many needs on your roster in a guy that, like I said, the odds are in a good scenario, he'll have a journeyman quarterback career. And to me, it's like, but you're in year four of your operation. It's just, there's no plan here. I did like the Chase Besantis pick to start the day. They had the 34th overall pick, a good guard.

28:15Yeah.

28:16Nick Shook:I thought that was the right response after drafting love, by the way, because everyone was like, well, where are you going to put them behind? What, what, you know, what's around them? They have so many needs. And I agreed with that. So you go get a guard that I'm a big fan of who can help create lanes for him. Right. Good climber. A guy, a guy with, you know, mobility that I think is actually going to be, you know, somebody that surprises a lot of people in the way that he can get to the second level. I think that that's going to look like a really good pick. I agree with the process, but we're forgetting the fact that they're operating with a new coach.

28:39Nick Shook:It's like a half reset where like you reset the timeline to a degree. They're not addressing their defense. They don't have linebackers right now. Like they could certainly use more upfront. Mack Wilson disagrees. Upfront. It's, it's just like, it's, it's just a lot. Hey, look, you're not going to turn this around overnight. I understand what you're saying, but I do like their offensive line, by the way, people were saying like, who, who's he possibly going to block for? I would say that could be the strength of their team. Paris Johnson at left tackle, Sam Alu at left guard, Froholt when he's healthy at center is a very good center.

29:13and now Besantis at right guard. That's four-fifths of a good offensive line. So I think they'll be able to run the ball. Shout out to Sam, who let us know it's past 4.30 in the morning in the UK, and there's nothing he'd rather be doing than watching me and Nick break down some day two picks. All right, let's talk Drew Aller. People were asking, what about the Steelers picks? I mean, before every pick, the sticks comes out. And this was not the Steelers' first pick of the night. It wasn't their last one either, which was fun. That was Jennings Dunker. What a great way to end the night, the guard.

29:45But yes, Drew Aller, the Penn State quarterback, goes in the middle of the third round, maybe about a round earlier than people expected. And not a team, I think people expected to take a quarterback because they kind of had their mid-round developmental guy in Will Howard. Mason Rudolph's on the roster. We're assuming Aaron Rodgers is coming back. Maybe now Mason Rudolph is up for a trade, according to Ian Rappaport. But it's just interesting that McCarthy wanted his own guy to develop and they take Drew Aller, another one who at one point people thought could be like a top 10 type of pick.

30:17Nick Shook:Yeah, so in Steelers circles in the weeks leading up to this, they've been preparing for a trade with Mason Rudolph because they've kind of been expecting that the Steelers would take a quarterback at some point. In fact, I think a lot of them wanted Beck in this range, so they end up with Aller, which made me laugh because this is the franchise that spent a first-round pick on Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh guy. Now they get the Penn State guy in Aller, right? It also made me laugh because just a weird aside here, Drew Allers from Medina, Ohio. Grew up a diehard Browns fan. Went to almost every home game from elementary school through high school.

30:47Nick Shook:His family's had season tickets since the 60s. And he gets drafted by the Steelers. Like, that's just hilarious to me. But when it comes to the player, I think you're right in that McCarthy wants a guy that he can develop and make his own. And prides himself on being a quarterback developer. And Aller is the measurables guy at the position in this class. if you're targeting that sort of, you know, physical attributes that you can mold into an effective professional quarterback. Do I believe it's going to happen? No, because the measurables have always been there and he's never quite lived up to it.

31:20Nick Shook:Now, you can't take this most recent season into account because he got hurt and lost half the season. And you can look to the point that they made the college football playoff semifinal two years ago and think, OK, well, he got them there. But against good defenses, he was never able to become an effective quarterback throughout his collegiate career. It's kind of the unfortunate story of a lot of Penn State quarterbacks. And so I think taking him in day two is aspirational. And you think that somebody else is going to snag him. And maybe the Carson Beck selection motivated you to spend that pick on him.

31:48Nick Shook:It also points to you can't believe teams when they're banging the drum for their day three quarterback they took last year. We love Will Howard. We love Will Howard. And then they go draft this guy. Don't believe teams. They'll have a chance to he'll have a chance to compete there with Aller. You know, they entered this draft. Omar Khan, it was a big week for him. A bunch of extra picks. We'll see how they work out. They actually use an extra fourth to trade up for Jeremy Bernard because I think they thought they were running out of possible receivers, the Alabama product. Of course, they got swiped when they tried to take Makai Lemon in round one.

32:29And so Bernard is kind of the consolation prize. Maybe panicked a little bit, gave up an extra fourth just to get a very solid. I like Jeremy Bernard. I think he's like an NFL player. He'll be solid for them in a way that Roman Wilson has not been as a high pick. Then in the third round, they take Georgia cornerback Daylon Everett, who, you know, don't have don't have a huge take on. John Ledyard, who I really respect, thinks the tape just isn't there for Dalen ever. But they kind of a big swing there. And then they trade up again. They give up another pick to move up to take Jennings Dunker. So they took these extra picks they had.

33:07And Jennings Dunker is a guard from Iowa who has a chance to play sooner than later. And it's just going to be kind of a show me draft for Omar Khan and these Steelers teams. And I always say, take a quarterback every year until you get one. Yeah, and that's fair. So I guess I got to stand behind it. They're living up to it.

33:25Nick Shook:You stand on that with Carson Beck, too. This Steelers draft, I don't mean to sound like a hater because you got to let all this play out. It feels like a draft that has unfolded with them chasing, missing Makai Lemon. Like, you know, pivoting to Ian Ocher from Arizona State, who's one of my favorite tackles, but you already had a right tackle and he is a right tackle. And where do you fit him in? Are you going to move, guys? What happens with Broderick Jones and Troy Fatanu? Like, it doesn't make a lot of sense. And it seems like they've been scrambling ever since then to try to, like you come back and get Bernard, who, like you said, pro player, but a receiver almost to make your fan base happy because you didn't get one in the first round.

33:59Nick Shook:And then it just cascades from there. So we'll see. Hopefully they can round it out and it ends up looking better than it does right now. I like all the international viewers in the chat. It's 5.37 in the Netherlands, according to one. And it's now Saturday afternoon in New Zealand. It's 3.30 in the afternoon. I'm just having a casual Saturday. The future is bright.

34:48and team fits to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built cap space contracts and all the tough decisions included you got quarterbacks on the move we got teams rebuilding it's hope season yeah absolutely it's hope season we'll tell you what's real what's noise and what it means for your favorite team smart analysis real conversations every week i don't know about the smart but definitely analysis listen to 40s and free agents on the iheart radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's talk about the Texans. This was the pick that I had mocked correctly, but in the wrong round, I had them taking Caden McDonald, the nose tackle at 28.

35:31Instead, they end up taking him from Ohio State at 36. Some trade chicanery to make this all happen. No one trades more literally than Nick Casario. Every single pick, and they have a ton that they're making in these, I think, seven rounds has been traded at some point except for one. Caden McDonald, a really nice image of him during the draft. He was the only guy in the green room in Pittsburgh tonight, immediately crying like the second he got drafted. And that continued really for a while, all the way until he got to the stage. And you just saw the relief and the emotion of his lifelong dream finally being realized.

36:15And he said he thought he was the best player of the draft and that everyone made a mistake passing on him. I guess including the Texans who passed on him once. That's confidence, Nick, for a nose tackle that wasn't a starter, not much of a pass rusher. But man, I liked him in the first round to the Texans because I thought this team doesn't need that much. But what they do need is a run stuffer. So when you're this good, you can kind of get a little esoteric with your picks, and he was the best run stuffer in this class.

36:43Nick Shook:Yeah, it didn't rise to relative prominence until this past season, but that's also a product of playing on the best defense in college football over the last couple of years. I thought Matt Patricia used him really well and kind of, you know, expose some of his strengths, which then elevated his draft stock. But I also felt like he lost a little bit in Indianapolis and from there on out kind of falling out of the first round. However, it's a great pick for the Texans because like you said, they can get a little esoteric with it. They can just kind of target niche needs because they really don't have any defensive needs.

37:09Nick Shook:And they also love interior defensive linemen from Ohio State. Tommy Togia is on that roster. One of my favorite names that most people don't know, but who makes a difference. Throw in Caden McDonald too. Just throw in more Buckeyes there. I love that pick for them. I think they've done a pretty good job so far. I do as well. I thought it was interesting at the top of round two, we heard a couple things about the Giants. Number one, despite a report from our, well, by our, I mean NFL Network's new colleague, Adam Schefter, but we're not NFL Network, so I don't know what we are. we're on NFL. Our friends.

37:44Those are our friends. We'll just say our friends. He reported Kayvon Thibodeau. Oh, they're not looking to trade him. And then there was reports to start the night. They are looking to potentially trade him with the saints, a specific team who has engaged in conversations. Nick Underhill of new Orleans football ended up backing that up saying those conversations have been going on since February. So we'll see if something happens. Day three would probably be when it happens. Cause I don't think he was going to go for a day to pick. And so that's interesting to think about. And then they continue to take defense.

38:16Colton Hood, who Daniel Jeremiah had in the top 25 at cornerback, young player, redshirt sophomore, uneven tape, but kind of fits the profile of what you're looking for from an NFL cornerback in the second round. They also take Malachi Fields, Notre Dame big kid at 74th overall. He was someone who had diverse opinions, I would say. Was not a player that the draft Knicks particularly loved, kind of a guy who does not really get that much separation. But the Giants continue to take guys, you know, in terms of Colton Hood, Maui Noah, and Arvel Reese. Like, those are three of DJ's top 22 players, something like that.

38:56And they have them all on their team from this draft.

38:58Nick Shook:Yeah, I actually really like what they've done in this draft so far. And now it's funny because if you look at them over the last few years, you would think the way that they've drafted and the way that they've built their defense, you would guess that this has been different GMs, but it's been the same GM. He just continues to throw picks and capital at the defensive front seven. And as soon as they took Reese in the first round, you thought, like you start running through the depth chart and you think, all right, Brian Burns and Arvel Reese and Abdul Carter. And if you're like me, for a moment, you forgot that Kayvon Thibodeau was on the roster.

39:28Nick Shook:So it makes sense that they might try to trade him. That's no knock on him, of course. It's just that's how many guys they've accrued in that position group over the last few years. But I do like the selection of Hood because I think that they were a bit lacking back there. I think they lost a corner or two in the offseason. And if you look at the secondary, the way it's structured now, you've got Javon Holland, you've got Tyler Newvin, who Giants fans are a huge fan of so far. And you added Greg Newsom. You added Paulson Adebo. Now you have Hood. That's a pretty solid secondary. And if this team is going to climb out of the cellar that it's been stuck in for so long, I think it's got to be more on the defensive side.

40:07Nick Shook:I think back to that Broncos game when they played really well and then just fell apart and allowed the Broncos to come back to win. You got to be able to have more guys over there to make a difference. And I think Hood is one of those guys, and it's a great value pick. Getting him at 37, he's 21st on DJ's top 50, and a type of player that I think is really going to match the identity that you're trying to create with all of this investment in the defense with fearsome guys, which is like bully, bully them. This is a guy that's not afraid to play press coverage. I think it's going to be a really good fit in this defense.

40:34So as we continue to get people's different time zones, who's watching, I think we just have a message completely in Japanese, just Japanese kanji. So just shout out to everyone, whoever you are watching out there in Japan. Let's talk about the Baltimore Ravens. Mark Ingram stepped up to the podium. And I got to say, I think he kind of stole Pat McAfee's thunder. It was Matt McAfee's bit to really incite the crowd. And McAfee was up there doing his thing on Friday. But I think Mark Ingram did it, but he did it better. Let's take a listen.

41:08Nick Shook:Pittsburgh, this the hospitality y 'all got for your boy? Oh, boy. This the hospitality y 'all got for your boy? Yeah. Don't worry, don't worry. Yes, it is. Because on behalf of me, my son, these wonderful young ladies, and all the flag nation, we got a special message for y 'all, Pittsburgh.

41:37That was amazing. Right before he introduced Zion Young as the pick. If you use a kid to say it, you know, you can say whatever you want. Yeah, pretty much. That's good parenting right there. Giving that kid that moment. it's a little bit of a stretch to think of Mark Ingram as a as a Ravens legend two two years there

41:57Nick Shook:was a lot with the Saints but a big trust goes a long way he he did have like one kind of magical really really fun season I think it was 2019 or so uh Zion Young was the pick they have a type in terms of their edges that they like and then who did they take in the third run I think it was Jacoby Lane. This is one of my favorite picks of day two. Come on. USC, why? Come on. Because I love Jacoby Lane from his career at USC to his combine workout. He just really flashed at the combine. Like it was an effort thing, but it was also a talent and just natural skills thing where like I'm just furiously writing notes about him throughout it.

42:33Nick Shook:I think he made my all combine team. If he didn't, he was an honorable mention, but I think he made my all combine team. And I was doing an appearance on the Baltimore Suns Ravens podcast last week. And they're talking to me about getting receivers in the first round. I'm like, don't take a receiver in the first round. Let's stop doing this for the Ravens. Take him in day two because you're going to get some value there. And I think the perfect fit for this team is Jacoby Lane. And then they went and took Jacoby Lane. And I was like, yes, this is perfect. Tall receiver, a guy that can fill the role that you never capitalized on with DeAndre Hopkins, fits into this group really well.

43:05Nick Shook:And a player that I think a lot of teams are going to look back on a few years from now and be like, yeah, I wish we would have taken him instead of letting him fall to Baltimore in what was the third round, the 80th overall pick. Interesting. Fluid. I'm interested. He was kind of past my cut line of receivers I was truly excited about. We have a couple coming up, but maybe I'll be wrong. The Bengals made a pick I was excited about, their first pick. And I kind of decided because teams, you know, every team got covered that took a pick on our show. Everyone should check it out. Myself and Jordan Rodrigue from Thursday night.

43:36So the teams who had their first picks tonight, I just wanted to give them a little love. And for the Bengals, it's Cassius Howell, who to me could have been a first round pick. He's not a complete player, but in this class, which was not incredibly deep, man, just in terms of pass rush juice, like off the ball and he knows how to pass rush. I think he's one of the top two or three guys in this class. So you get him at 41 overall, might not even be an every down player, but is that such a bad result if he's a designated pass rusher that gets you off the field on third down. I liked it. I liked what they've done.

44:16And it's great to think they're continuing to focus on their defensive line.

44:20Nick Shook:Yeah. And I'm really proud of Duke Tobin, the GM of the Bengals, because for the longest time he has taken guys based off of measurables. Miles Murphy is an example of that. Guys whose tape did not suggest that they might be super productive at the next level. This is the opposite. This is the legitimate inverse of what Duke Tobin usually does, especially at edge rusher. You got a guy with the shortest arms in like a very long history of the position, but he arrives like a hammer. Like you said, a ton of pass rushing juice, a guy that I would fear if I had to take him in a one-on-one at tackle on the Island, because not only is he explosive and powerful, but he's, he's just quick and he's skilled.

45:01Nick Shook:And I think that this is going to be a guy that you're right, that you can bring him in on third down and just hunt the quarterback because guess what? you don't need him to go start. You've invested in this group enough. I talked about Murphy. You also had that investment in Shamar Stewart, another measurables guy with not a lot of production. You went and got Boye Mafe in the offseason. It all makes sense. Like you now have some depth and some versatility at the position that you lacked before. And if it all goes right, it could solve a lot of their problems. Well, Shamar Stewart never made sense to me.

45:25It was a crazy pick. It hasn't, it looked, it's looked awful through one year. I think Cassius Howell personally, it's going to be a better pro, but we'll see. They also take, who was it? the cornerback in the third round, I believe. What was it from?

45:38Nick Shook:It was Takario Davis from Washington. Washington, my bad. Let's talk about the Dolphins. I knew I wanted to talk about them coming into the day because they had so many picks. I think they had five coming into the day. They traded around, ended up being four. Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech linebacker, goes off the board at 43, ahead of C.J. Allen, ahead of some other off-ball linebackers that went pretty soon after him. A lot of them did get taken in the second round. They take the Texas Tech wide receiver, Caleb Douglas, at 75 before some higher ceiling guys. The tight end, Will Kaczmarek, I mean, there was a ton of tight ends taken.

46:13I forgot to mention Houston also took one that was way lower on the consensus board, and that was true for Kaczmarek, too. Some blocking guys who went earlier. Tight ends flew off the board in day two. And then finally, a receiver, Chris Bell, who is coming off a torn ACL, But I would have taken up in the middle of the third round with that earlier pick from Louisville, who just, if it hits, looks like a real deal mega NFL receiver. And maybe it's not going to work. He's coming off of an injury. But when you saw him on some of those slants and some of the plays down the field, he reminds you a little bit of A.J.

46:55Brown. Like it's just a physical dynamo. And so that's the Dolphins. Like they've had six picks so far. I think these six picks are going to go a long way to how we feel about John Eric Sullivan a year from now, for instance.

47:07Nick Shook:Yeah. And I think where you took Bell at 94 minimizes the risk. Like if you're taking him late second, early third, then there's a little bit higher of a risk. And then you worry, is he going to actually return to form after the injury? You know, the third round, I mean, you're in compensatory pick range. You're fine. That's totally fine with me. Um, tight, the way the tight ends on kind of fell today did not unfold the way I thought it would at all. There were guys that went a round or two ahead of where everybody thought they would go, including myself. And I think you're right. A lot of it has to do with the blocking capabilities as teams start to value tight ends for their blocking more.

47:39Nick Shook:And kind of getting back to the middle between blocking and pass catching. We're pushing really hard toward pass catching and route running in recent years. But I love the Rodriguez pick more than anything because, yes, you took him ahead of C.J. Allen. But I think that in most draft classes, Rodriguez might be linebacker one. And you get him in the second round. You get him at 43 overall and you pair him with one of your pillars, one of the pillars that John Eric Sullivan talked about in Jordan Brooks. I like, I like how they've gone about it so far. I know people were upset with how they let, you know, the Cowboys trade up and take downs and then they take Proctor at 12.

48:09Nick Shook:I would have liked them to take Ioane just because he was the best guard in the class. But overall this picture is starting to become clear and it's making some more sense for a team that needs to use all this capital to rebuild this roster. Jacob Rodriguez and Jordan Brooks together will be menaces. I mean, that is a demonic linebacker duo. I love that. And I love how he'll learn from Jordan Brooks. There's some similarities there. And yeah, the mustache, the neck, Rodriguez is a leader. The tight end, by the way, I was talking about that Houston took was Marlon Klein from Michigan. 59th overall.

48:42Some of these tight end picks were wild. That's not the worst one. Okay, we'll get to the worst one. The most perplexing one. The Falcons brought the Terrell brothers together. This was fun. And Avion Terrell fell a little bit in the second round, and that allowed Atlanta, with their first pick, to draft AJ's brother. Pretty cool to see a brother-cornerback duo. I think Avion Terrell is like a check-the-box type of cornerback. He moves smooth and fluid, maybe not that explosive. Just a guy I think you're going to have out there, maybe play some slot that, like, okay, he's an NFL player. Like, the type of guy you want that you get in the second round, and maybe he's not a super duper high ceiling standout, but that can play snaps for you.

49:24And pretty cool that these two brothers are going to play together. Zachariah Branch, the Georgia gadgety, lightweight wide receiver in the third round. So we start to get a little view of what this new regime in Atlanta wants to do.

49:37Nick Shook:Yeah, they keep a kid that transferred to Georgia in the state of Georgia, which is always nice, right? There's a lot of like local connections with Terrell and his brother and everything else. And that's all fun and games. But I actually think Avion Terrell was one of my favorite corners in this class that wasn't projected to be your traditional perimeter corner. I thought he was the best slot corner in the class. He's a smaller guy. And I wonder where he fits into this secondary, but I don't really worry about where he fits because I think that he's got the skills to overcome the fact that he's not a big corner, to mirror guys, to stay with them downfield.

50:08Nick Shook:He's a fluid transitioner, going from the look at the line of scrimmage and swiveling the hips and staying with guys, which really matters. He's fast enough to stay with guys, the receivers that he's covering. I do think he's just scratching the surface. I know he's played a good amount of football at Clemson, but I do think he's just scratching the surface. And if he's anything like his brother, his peak is coming. And the Falcons will be happy to have both of them. Here's where he's going to fit in. How about opposite his brother? That would be fun. Mike Hughes is starting right now opposite.

50:36They have Billy Bowman at Nickelback. So there's an opportunity to play there either way. I think he's going to be good enough to play earlier than later. That's a fun secondary now.

50:45Nick Shook:Bates, Watts, Bowman, Terrell, Terrell, and Mike Hughes too. I mean, that's a good group. That's a good, and Sidney Brown's back there too. Shout out to Sporting Japan, by the way, at Sporting Japan. The Japanese guy is a Washington fan who really likes the pick so far. So thanks for tuning in. And yeah, we had some news on James Pierce on Thursday night. We didn't mention that there was a report that the felony charges against him could be dropped if he enters a certain program. That does not mean that the NFL will not potentially punish him for the domestic violence charges which he was arrested for and were very serious in fact I personally would expect him to get some punishment from the NFL perhaps very serious but that looks like he could avoid jail time which is was a consideration he of course was the second first round pick that that they traded for last year they gave up a first round pick to the Rams that turned into the 13th overall pick in this year's class.

51:47Let's talk about the Packers, who started the day by giving Jaden Reed a contract extension. Interesting. Three years,$50 million, but it's an extension off his current year. So it's in the end, four for 52, about 18 per year, only$20 million guaranteed. So he basically got Wondell Robinson's contract, but not as good because of the guaranteed money. I would say that's good business for the Packers. Yeah, I don't think it's crazy idea for Jaden Reed to take that money either. He's been injured and you're taking away some years of your prime, but you're locking yourself into kind of a role player, two slash three role.

52:25But I think a good bit of business there by the Packers who've really reformed that room this offseason.

52:31Nick Shook:It's interesting when we think about Matt LaFleur's comments about people and their desire and whether they like the fit or not we've seen players leave you know Dontavian Wicks leaving um how they've kind of tried to settle this group a little bit and deliver more defined roles and I think Reed is that you know role player that you speak of he less than 250 receiving yards last year but I also think that like a lot of these guys battled for targets because they were just in and out like you couldn't really get any consistency outside of once Watson came back that he was healthy and then you're thinking when are you going to get Matthew Golden involved now it seems like there's Less is more for them.

53:05Nick Shook:They're kind of just like figuring out where they're going and getting a good number on Reed who, I mean, look, if he has a Wondale Robinson year, like Robinson did last year, that'd be a great return for the Packers. And so their first draft pick was Brandon Cissé, who's just such a Packers pick. Toolsy, like couldn't even stay on the field to play every snap at South Carolina. So it was a little confusing. 52nd overall. Some people thought he could be a first round type of player. Others weren't a fan at all. They also take a big defensive tackle, Chris McClellan. It's just they have their types.

53:39They take these big physical guys and hope that they can mold them at almost every position, but especially on defense, especially taking big linemen and cornerbacks. We'll see if it works out. Some have not worked out too great. Another thing we see a lot during these drafts is the Lions really believing in their evaluation. Year after year, they have surprises. Blake Miller in the first round, not a surprise. Trading a fourth round pick just to move up a handful of spots to draft Derek Moore, the edge from Michigan, pairing him with another Michigan edge, Aiden Hutchinson. I was surprised by this.

54:12I guess Moore wasn't that low on the consensus board. He was projected to be about a late second round pick, but they're always giving away just extra picks to move around, and then they take a player that... Was Derek Moore really going to go? I don't know. Do you have any thoughts on Derek Moore from Michigan?

54:28Nick Shook:He was a round three projection. Lance's comp on NFL.com is Yaya Diaby, which that's fun. I mean, if you can, if you can match that and, and actually capitalize on that ability, then I'm cool with that, especially opposite Aiden Hutchinson. It gives offenses, you know, opposing offenses, two guys to really worry about because you're always afraid of power. You know, perhaps sometimes more than speed. You can chip speed. You can account multiple people to speed power, sometimes a little bit harder to handle. Right. I thought it was early. It was a little perplexing. I thought his teammate was the better of the two rushers, the one with more juice.

54:59Nick Shook:He went later. But again, why trade up? If you're going to take a surprising pick, this is what Brad Holmes does. This is what he's done over the last few years. And it's worked enough for him that now he has the confidence, all the confidence in the world to continue doing it. That's not a hundred percent, but the batting average is pretty high. So the bucks, I wanted to get into them. They take Josiah Trotter, Jeremiah Trotter, his son, Jeremiah Trotter Jr.'s brother, who's now with the Eagles. And it's a good linebacker class, so I'm not going to pick Knits, that they took him over C.J. Allen.

55:31Our resident linebacker scout, Ollie Connolly, really thought the fit for Trotter for Tampa was actually better. He likes Trotter quite a bit and just thought, like, in terms of the scheme, makes a lot of sense there. He's going to be a run stuffer. And then at 84, they made one of my favorite picks of the night. And, yes, this might be the last Gene Deckerhoff clip, clip at least that's you know taped live that we ever have on nfl daily take it away gene fire them

56:02Nick Shook:cannons welcome to the draft here in pittsburgh thank you pittsburgh fans for being the host of this tremendous draft i'd like to thank the late malcolm glazer and the glazer family for providing me with the opportunity to broadcast not just one but two super bowl championships super bowl 37 Super Bowl 55. And to all Buccaneer fans worldwide, touchdown Tampa Bay! Speaking of touchdowns, Tampa Bay, with the 84th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Ted Hurst, wide receiver Georgia State. Go Bucs! I was hoping we got to fire them cannons. Fire the cannons! Touchdown Tampa Bay!

57:04We missed Gene Deckerhoff. Fire them cannons! Because we didn't know when they won that in hindsight anticlimactic final game whether they would be advancing to the playoffs. Remember that? That was a wild time. They won. And then it didn't matter.

57:24Nick Shook:Fire them cannons. Thank you, Gene. And they look, they got their Mike Evans replacement. Ted Hurst, Georgia State, baby. Let's go. I love Ted Hurst. I don't have much of a take on him other than the fact that he's a long receiver and you need a long receiver to replace Mike Evans. I'm joking about the Mike Evans. OK, they went one and eleven in the Sun Belt. You got to be pretty bad to go one and eleven in the Sun Belt. but you got to be pretty good to get drafted after being on the team that went one and 11 in the sunbelt. You want to have some fun in terms of just like highlight reel stuff.

57:53Go watch some Ted Hearst dunking on fools in the sunbelt. And I know the competition was great. Just a, but a big high upside type of receiver like Chris belt, like Chris Brazel, who we didn't mention earlier, got taken in the second round. Big fan of him by the Panthers or third round, rather just some like high upside players. Brazel's coming from Tennessee. I think for where Brazel got drafted and then where Hurst got drafted, which was like mid third and Brazel was in roughly in the same area. That sounds right. Like it wasn't, it wasn't too early for either of those guys. I might like Ted Hurst like a little bit better, but either way some fun picks, big receivers in the NFC South.

58:34Let's keep it rolling. The Jags, you mentioned the tight end that you thought was a worst pick. Were you taught earlier when we were talking about some tight end reaches? were you talking about the jaguars pick nate borkercher are we yes okay their first pick okay

58:51Nick Shook:the texas a &m tight end who is strictly like a blocking tight end i understand valuing a blocking tight end like i said it's coming back toward more value of blocking than just receiving where they took him was like the 56 overall their first pick of the draft i was like whoa this is kind of crazy but it started this whole tight end thing where everybody just started taking their favorite tight end and out of order of what we expected. I mean, he went before Oscar Delp and I think that's going to, that might age poorly in the, in the larger picture. We'll see. I mean, he has to be a special blocking tight end to make that worth it.

59:27You know, I always just, I'm a little wary and Albert Regis, their defensive tackle from Texas A &M, who is a physical freak with their next pick in the third round. You know, both of these guys were in the one sixties in terms of the consensus board, in terms of where they were expected to get taken. They were viewed as like sixth round pick types. And maybe the league viewed both of them higher than that. And so that's a little unfair, but it's definitely James Gladstone kind of sticking his neck out and maybe being like, hey, we do things a little differently around here. We're going to do things different.

59:57They also take a safety Jalen Husky out of Maryland with the last pick of the night. And then they kind of flip it and take Emmanuel Pregnant, the guard from Oregon, that some people thought that Chargers may take as early as the first round if they like traded back he just seemed like a jim harbaugh type of player and he ends up falling all the way to the middle of the third round and so in terms of quote-unquote value they got a guard that maybe can play right away but yes um

1:00:23Nick Shook:getting bold jaguars that that was their best pick pregnell was the best pick i i was a huge fan of that at 88 i thought that was a mild steal and it's a depth add now that could end up being a starter later good pick for them we're wrapping up soon but uh i do love the saints draft uh Kristen Miller out of Georgia, I think, was a good value. And then his teammate, Oscar Delp, you mentioned, at Georgia. Man, I know he didn't have a lot of production, but when you watch him, he looks like an NFL tight end. Like 30 targets. They never threw him a football. They haven't thrown a tight end. Well, they threw Brock Bauer.

1:00:54Nick Shook:What are you talking about? They made their whole offense out of a generational tight end. This is Zach Branch's year, man. I guess so. But I'm mixed on Jordan Tyson, but I think Kristen Miller, Oscar Delp in second and third round both made a lot of sense. More importantly, the Saints haven't been trading up like they usually do. Appreciate, by the way, the domestic listeners checking in. It's 11.07 in Oklahoma right now, according to... It's 12.08 here in Cleveland. Here in Cleveland. Alright, we'll get you to sleep. Yeah, we flew through some of the interesting picks. I thought the Patriots giving up an extra fourth round pick to just move up a handful of spots for Gabe Jakus.

1:01:34A fourth and a sixth. And a second, you know, just to move up. For Gabe Jacobs, the Illinois edge rusher was a little surprising. We'll see how that works out. There's some interesting players still left. Jermon McCoy, you know, at one point, everyone thought he was a top 10 pick. The knee is clearly a bigger issue. We've seen this with players over the years occasionally that you just didn't know going into the draft, how the league viewed the medical situation. his 2024 tape was probably the best cornerback tape of anyone in this entire class he still has not been drafted and then one of my favorite players keante scott one of my guys from uh the show i did with mina and dj not uh the kind of safety corner nickel hybrid older player he might have some medical uh issues he slid down the board a little bit too hasn't been taken either

1:02:23Nick Shook:what is the most important part of the combine in indianapolis greg the medicals yes and i think I think that when a entirely collectively downgrade slash, I think rejects is a little too harsh, but at least passes on you over three rounds with some teams having multiple picks, that tells me that the medicals probably weren't very good or they're concerning. Oh yeah. That's an enormous, enormous risk. And there's belief with McCoy that his other need is going to another knee that he didn't have the torn ACL is going to need like serious surgery. And that just scares you away. that's the issue is that and that happens a lot when you tear one sometimes you tear the other because usually the i think the theory is is that when you rehab that knee it becomes stronger and then the other one's weaker and that's what ends up happening i think that's why you see players like that who didn't play football the next year and kind of prove that that's not a risk um they end up sliding because the tape from 2024 is so good and his pro day looked good too so that's got to be it you know what pick i forgot about one of my favorites of the very night because of the entire night because he's one of my favorite players the whole night.

1:03:33And it felt like he really fell far. Although now that I look at it, it was just that a lot of linebackers went in quick succession because, you know, Rodriguez went, you know, barely. Oh, I know where we're going. Mid second round. And about 12 picks later, CJ Allen from Georgia goes to the Colts. And I love me some CJ Allen. I did check. You know, there could have been some medical concern for him. I did hear that maybe some teams, secondhand here, there was concern. He might not have been on every single board. But he lands with the Colts. And in the end, when you have players that you really appreciate, you just hope even if they're not in the right spot in the first round, I wanted him to go to Minnesota and Brian Flores, that they land with the right team.

1:04:20Lou Anarumo and that Colts defense is perfect. He's kind of the same build but more athletic than a Jermaine Pratt. and I could see him racking up like 20 tackles and people being like, why did CJ Allen fall to the second round? I like CJ Allen. I think that's a good pick for the Colts.

1:04:35Nick Shook:I love it when teams draft players based on history. Like, we just like this style of player. And when he went to Indianapolis, it was like, that makes all the sense in the world for everything, every reason that you just listed. And it also came two picks after Jake Golday went to Minnesota, which I think also fits exactly what they want at linebacker. So you love it when the fits make sense. Yeah, it was really, you know, going into it, we thought it was going to be a really strong linebacker class. We have not seen linebackers go off the board like this in a long time. Anthony Hill went in what the second round to the Titans as well.

1:05:11And then Golday and Rodriguez and Trotter, like there were players flying off the board. They're back. And who did we talk about? Jay Sean over to the Cowboys as well was a fun pick. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar.

1:05:38Nick Shook:Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team.

1:06:12Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As we're wrapping up here, I sometimes learn some things on the day after the first round. So we're just going to circle back to just a couple little stories that I wanted to put a button on before we go from day one. And we never got to hear Sean McVay on our last show talk about Ty Simpson and how weird his press conference was. We were taping as the press conference was going on. let's listen to just a little of Sean McVay answering questions about Ty Simpson

1:06:55Nick Shook:just very defensive there another question when they asked about what made you excited about Ty Simpson he starts answering the question and then he immediately pivots to make no you know Matthew Stafford is our quarterback. He's our guy. And everyone took this to mean that, like, Sean McVay was somehow not in favor of this pick, that he was upset about a Ty Simpson pick. And to that, I just want to point out, if you guys think that a quarterback being taken by the Los Angeles Rams not only has the okay of Sean McVay, but has, like, full-throated enthusiasm and I would suspect he being the person behind the pick like more than any other person what what kind of organization do you think they're running Sean McVay is the most important person in the organization and he's especially the most important person in the organization when it comes to the first round picks and developing quarterbacks and quarterbacks like that's got to be his guy and then we see an ESPN article from Jeremy Fowler about this and a couple other people hinting about this.

1:08:11And they believed it was a sensitivity to Matthew Stafford and not making him mad. And you got to be worried a little bit about like, how mad is Matthew Stafford about this? He said Matthew Stafford was great about it and had a conversation. I would not expect McVeigh to tell us what that conversation was really like. If I'm Matthew Stafford, I'm probably not very fired up about this whole thing. And this does make me wonder why even bring this into it. And my last thing, I know I'm ranting here. No, you're fine. Is that how did Sean McVay get in trouble with the whole last quarterback changeover?

1:08:47And when he said he learned a lot from it and he made big mistakes, it was by not being forthright and being himself and like being honest with the quarterbacks. And I'm sure like his conversation with Matthews, that was him being honest. But I think he put himself in a situation in this press conference where he almost had to pretend that he was somehow mad or not disrespecting Matthew Stafford. It's just like bad, bad juju. That's what the ESPN article was saying. And that's what many of the reporters like. He was almost trying to overcompensate by say, you know, not being too excited about Simpson.

1:09:19And it just came out funny. Like, he's not a good actor. And just just be yourself, bro. Just be, you know.

1:09:26Nick Shook:Yeah, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, right? But like in in no rational world. Should Matthew Stafford be surprised that they took a quarterback at some point now a first rounder? OK, a little bit. You obviously get the Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love comparison, right? But this is a quarterback in Matthew Stafford, who, yes, is coming off of an NFL MVP season. Phenomenal year. Obviously still has plenty left in the tank, but has also kind of held the Rams hostage with. will I, won't I continue playing over the last couple of years, whether it's going to go to the Raiders or play at all. Now, he didn't do it this year because he immediately said right after he got the MVP that he would be back.

1:10:06Nick Shook:They haven't signed that contract, though, and it does make me wonder. It's kind of interesting. They still got to play the contract game, right? So, of course, the Rams are going to consider an option for when he's done because he's on the back nine. The end is near. It's not tomorrow, but it's closer than, you know, the average quarterback. Of course, they didn't have to reach for a quarterback at 13th overall. I get why he... I agree it's a reach, but maybe they... Maybe there's more going on, though, because, look, he did strongly consider leaving last year. Yeah. And they've been so close, and there's frustration just that they didn't get over the top, I'm sure.

1:10:42But here's what I believe, and that McVay was absolutely truthful about. Like, if Matthew Stafford wants to keep playing and is playing at a high... He didn't say and is playing at a high level, but I'll add that in. Like, of course he's going to still be the Rams quarterback. It just added maybe a little added level of tension you didn't need when you could have been taken. It would be a poor process if they didn't draft somebody. Yeah, here's who you could have drafted. Wenga Ioane or Casey Concepcion. I would like to see him playing. There was a quote that the ESPN article ended with, and here was what it said.

1:11:18It said, to the effect of, well, if Ty Simpson doesn't even play in his rookie contract, that's a win for the Rams because of what that would mean. And I'm thinking, that is the most galaxy brain thinking you're in a whole different galaxy. They also said it was a luxury pick because they can't. No, that was the 13th overall pick of the draft. You only have so many opportunities.

1:11:42Nick Shook:What if it was 30? What if that pick was 30 and not 13? I'd feel better about it. I'd feel better. They got Trent McStuffy. There's your answer. I'd feel a little better. Good players on the board. It was really funny. John Lynch was asked about it. Actually, I won't preface it too much. Let's listen to the Ty Simpson conversation going all the way up to San Francisco. Guys, I know you're focused on your pick, but at 13, your reaction to the Rams taking a guy that isn't going to immediately impact them next year. Well, I think, you know, first of all, I think another team in our division, I mean, they got a player who is going to impact.

1:12:17Nick Shook:And talking about Jeremiah Love, a fantastic player. I just loved like right when the Ty Simpson question started happening for a second. He was unguarded and he just had a John Lynch had a big smile. Just like, oh, those Rams there. They kind of stepped into it. This is interesting. And then he immediately pivots to Jeremiah Love and not didn't want to give an answer. Our trusty producer, by the way, Eric Roberts, tells me Ty Simpson was asked at his press conference on Friday whether he's heard from Matthew Stafford. No, hasn't heard from Matthew Stafford. It was like 16 hours. Let it breathe.

1:12:54I mean, he heard from some other teammates. I think it was Quentin Lake was the one who reached out. But his teammate, Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, texted him on Instagram and welcomed him. And Ted told her to hit her up. I don't know how to take that.

1:13:10Nick Shook:I guess that's the bridge between the two for now.

1:13:16Makai Lemon. Should we talk about that crazy clip of him being on the phone? The fact that this is all captured on camera. I think we have the clip from Good Morning Football. I'm throwing this past blind. Let's see if the no look complete. Here is what it looked like from the player's point of view before we discuss.

1:13:39Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Come on, man. Let's go. Let's go.

1:13:48Nick Shook:Hey, why Philly coming? Because I want to get in. Oh, Philly just traded for you. I love it. This is Philly. They just traded for you. Philly's taking you right now. It's an all-time Jaffa moment. Two phones. Two phones. One for Howie, one for Omar. The agent runs over while he's literally talking to Pittsburgh and says, Philly's taking you right now. Man, that is going to be a moment that's never going to be forgotten. And I really like the Steelers pick, Max Ihanichur. I think he's got a really high ceiling, maybe even as a player higher than Lemon. You might get like a really real deal left tackle, but it's just going to be fascinating.

1:14:33It's obviously not what the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted to do. We talked about that a little earlier. Let's listen to Mantor Delane. I thought him talking a little bit of smack to the Washington commanders of all team. He is the new Kansas City Chiefs number six overall pick, cornerback, and he refers to the Commander's GM, Adam Peters, in this clip.

1:14:55Nick Shook:I firmly believe defense wins championships, especially let alone what's on the other side of the ball with our team and really just now fighting for another chance to go back and compete. But, you know, Mr. Peters is a little too late. But, you know, they made a great decision coming up and getting the dog. Um, that's interesting. Uh, the, the, the thought was, you know, when they traded up Kansas city, that they were maybe preventing him to go to new Orleans. And maybe that was true. Like local product, they need a cornerback, but I didn't think that they were going Mansour Delane. And then there had, there was some reporting and really it sounds like more from Delane himself.

1:15:37He had an idea that Washington was maybe going to go Mansour Delane at seven overall. and instead Kansas City goes up and gets a guy that Steve Spagnuolo absolutely loves. I just love these little day after clips. Shook, there's one more I'm just going to add with this, which is that Brett Veach actually indicated that once Carnell Tate came off the board, we knew Delane was our guy, which is really interesting that more or less said Tate, I think they would have been deciding between those two, but that kind of tells me Tate was probably their pick, but that they really wanted one of those two guys to fall to them.

1:16:14And once one was gone, they were like, we need to go up to get the other, which is just, it's interesting to think about the paths not taken in the draft.

1:16:21Nick Shook:I think that there was a near consensus on where Tate landed on a lot of boards. And the fact that Tennessee took him at four was earlier than most expected. And I think it made a lot of teams call an audible. And that was one of them. But how about a Delane interesting time for a victory lap, huh? I mean, why not? You know, and they came up and took me at six y 'all thought i was going at nine turns out i was gonna go at seven i'm a six overall pick now i i like the way he carries himself on and off gotta be confident i'm looking forward speaking of confident how about reuben bain uh entering the arena that was the draft that was like a wwe moment from him on thursday night you're watching us on youtube to him approaching the stage, just completely walks by the camera where he's going to have his hat, all business, picks it up, keeps it moving, and then just kind of like shaking his arms out as he gets up there and then was very emotional.

1:17:25I'm invested in this young man, Ruben Bain.

1:17:28Nick Shook:Yeah, and I am also a huge fan of him not stopping at the mirror, the one-way mirror with the camera behind it. And look, I understand product placement, everything else, it's all good for the experience, but him just taking it and continuing on, that's the type of conviction I want out of my new edge rusher. And then finally, just going all the way back to the beginning, I missed this the first time around. I just needed to make sure every NFL Daily listener knew that this was Fernando Mendoza's ringtone as he got the call to be the first overall pick.

1:18:05Nick Shook:How you doing? Which is Fitek. I appreciate you calling. I mean, that is the most Fernando Mendoza, Looney Tunes-ass ringtone you ever want. I love it. What am I, bingo with my grandma? No, I mean, that's... How do you silence your phone? Or like a nine-year-old. Like, I loved it. He did something with the NFL where his brother was a talk show host for him. He's an aspiring broadcaster. Check out his brother's Instagram show. I am loving the wholesome Fernando Mendoza era. And he did a press conference on Friday. Look, in the middle of the offseason, that would have been worthy of a whole news topic.

1:18:48But look, we had more to get to. A lot of picks. There's a lot more to come. Thank you, Shooky, for helping out with our day two draft. Happy to be here.

1:18:57Nick Shook:It's after midnight, but I'm happy to be here, baby. It was fun. We move on to day three. Let's get out of here. We will not be doing a show after day three. We want to get everything in order. And then on Sunday, we're going to have a kind of a different timing of a show. Podcast will go up on Sunday afternoon, evening with our winners and losers from the entire draft. That's going to be me and Ollie Connolly. Then around the AFC and NFC next week. I cannot wait.

1:19:34I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal.

1:19:37Nick Shook:I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.