2026 NFL Draft First Round Recap of EVERY Pick

25:45Well, I think it's really interesting because I see these two players, Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper specifically, as guys who travel well. And what I mean by travel well is they will be really friendly to Geno Smith and they will be really friendly to whatever quarterback comes after Geno Smith. They're just that type of players. No, actually, Geno's going to be their starter for the next six years. For the next six years. That's the plan. I just think these are guys. It's also going to be such a yards after the catch. heavy offense now and I'm like oh exciting and then I went and I remembered that it's Frank Reich who's the offensive coordinator there now which is not necessarily a bad thing I just don't think of like one of these scheme heavy yards after the catch offenses when I do think of Frank Reich however these two players these young playmakers are going to be so good with or without the ball in their hand the blocking is outstanding too for both of these players and so all of those skill sets combined to me means that these are two guys who you expect and hope will carry this offense and carry you from one quarterback era into another, which is what the Jets have to be planning for.

26:53So you're watching if you're checking us out on YouTube, by the way, thank you to everyone who is joining us live. And thank you to everyone who's listening to us in your ears. And you can check out the footage if you want on YouTube the next day, whenever it is. Cooper is great after the catch, but he's not like a create plays for him like a Debo Samuel type. I think he's just more of a really rock solid receiver, which in some years might go middle of the second round, whatever it is, but a high floor, intelligent gamer, that type. Sadiq, I love the swing because, and I thought the Ravens might take it at 14, but Ioane ended up being on the board for them at guard.

27:33Sadiq just moves crazy. Look at this seam ball here against USC. It's electric. His production was not that crazy, but he was next to a tight end who might get taken in the first round in next year's draft class. And I think that impacted his production. He could be special. I don't want to go gold jacket, but I want to say like, if you're taking a guy in the first round, you want to have the hope he could be an all pro. And in terms of the ceiling, I think it's right there with any of the receivers in this class, including Carnell Tate. And I think what's important with him compared to some of the tight ends in this class is the effort is there with the blocking.

28:11He is not going to be an inline guy, but you can keep him on the field as your wide tight end. And I think you're going to teach him how to block and you're going to have him there every down. So he is an every down player. I'm really excited about him. Yeah, I probably watched every Oregon game this year randomly. And I just, every time he touched the ball, something exciting was going to happen. and it's interesting you talked about Gino Smith and yes I think obviously these are players for the the present and the future with Gino specifically this is whenever Brock Bowers was on the field and not injured which was a very small sample size for for Gino that was the electric connection and I'm not saying it's one-to-one at all between Brock Bowers and Kenyon Sadiq I don't want to do the player comp thing like that but in terms of having that like really physical, massive presence that can just roll through a seam like that and be a friendly target for a quarterback who does like to take risky throws and a quarterback who probably would want some zone defense breakers as Kenyon Sadiq would be.

29:15I think that this is an outstanding match. I love those picks. I thought taking David Bailey was a mistake. I think the quote-unquote CV on him was all wrong, which was, well if you want someone to step in day one and be like help you in the pass rush he's more ready to do that than arville reese i think he's a boomer bus player i mean i think his comp is nick benito you know and did you see nick benito's post by the way what did he say this this was from not today but he said something about how some of these player comps you guys do are not even close i don't know if this is a subtweet i just when you said nick benito i just thought of it was Is there another Bonito comp that's just like this first step demon?

29:56I mean, his first step is so special that it was going to get him taken in the top 15 of any draft. But I think there's a scenario where his run defense is a problem, where it just doesn't translate as easily. I think Arvel Reese actually had a higher floor and a higher ceiling. I think that was a mistake to take him there, but he fits Aaron Glenn's system. They kind of knew who he was going to be versus our Arbel Reese, where they maybe weren't really sure how he was going to fit. They just want someone who can get up the field and go. And that's going to be David Bailey. We'll see if I'm right or if they're right.

30:29Jeremiah Love goes next. Shout out to our guy. He's going to be joining us on Friday evening. We're going to be going live, by the way. I don't know if our producers know this. After round three, Nick Shook and I. How about a couple weeks ago when no one was talking about Jeremiah Love to the Cardinals? I promise you when Nick Shook put it out there on his mock, he got a lot of blowback. Let's listen to Shookie. I go Love and I got a lot of hate from Cardinals fans and just critics online, as is the case with anything that you write. Because the Cardinals have already bolstered their running back room this offseason, right?

31:05They have James Conner coming back from injury. You go and you sign Tyler Algier. You also have Trey Benson back there. None of that makes me feel super excited about this offense, though. And that's no disrespect to any of those guys. Well, it is disrespectful to say that you're not excited about the players that are there. But I never bought the fact that, oh, Tyler Algier is there. How could you possibly sign a running back? That's not the reason to not sign him. There could be some reasons to not take him three overall. Do you think there were legitimate reasons to not take him three overall?

31:35What do you think about this pick? Well, I mean, he is one of, if not the best offensive prospect in this draft class. He's one of three. So if you're really going to argue best player available, sure. At the same time, it sort of makes my inside shrivel just a little, just thinking about running backs taking super high. Now they can work out. Jeremiah Love sounds and looks like a player who will be a franchise cornerstone for them. That's exactly what this era, this new Cardinals sort of half era needs. Monty Asimfort kind of felt like he needed to make a splash with one of these picks. The Cardinals have kind of gone from or gone, fallen into the slump of being the fourth most talked about team in their own division.

32:23And how about like the 31st most on the team on the back foot in a lot of ways. And, you know, combined with Mike LaFleur, Mike LaFleur, a lot of people don't know that when he came back to Los Angeles, the reason he did was because the Rams wanted to install what he knew about Kyle Shanahan's run game into their own offense. And also some of the gap and counter and some of the inside stuff that the Rams then started running to great success across the league. So it does make a lot of sense to me to see Mike LaFleur specifically pick up a running back, a player who does give them this electricity in their offense.

33:02Now, they could have gone a lot of different directions. And Greg, talking to some league sources, nobody really knew. I think the chatter kind of got out there a little bit late in the down here. But nobody really knew what the Cardinals were going to do. And a lot of possibilities hinged on the player that they were going to pick. There was so much talk about them possibly trading down. And they took the pick pretty early while they were on the clock. Now, they might just have had no calls. But normally, if you want to trade, you wait the now eight minutes on the clock. It didn't seem like there was as much interest maybe as we thought.

33:34Maybe the teams like the Chiefs who wound up trading up were thinking more trading up just a few spots. My issue with the pick are the reports and the suggestions of the process. Right. That are all the economy suggested, you know, maybe ownership is getting involved. We are reading between the lines of other reporters. hey, there's someone with some real say in that building who kind of late in the process went and put their finger on the scale. And so you're talking about Monty Asenfort, who's a GM who just got to hire his second coach despite the first one not going well. And like, who's making the picks here?

34:10That part of it worries me. And when you're hearing some insiders and some of the conversation almost buoying this pick before it even happens that, hey, this team doesn't have a lot of juice or attention and they need to sell seats and get the fans excited. That's not good process. I think Jeremiah Love is Cardinals proof. I think he's going to go in the Cardinals ring of honor someday. So in the end, even if it's a bad process, I think he's going to be great. He's that good. And yet, I don't know if this coach and GM are going to be the ones who enjoy his best days because they might not survive it.

34:47Yeah. Here's the layer that, you know, this is of course cannot and could not be a legitimate reason why Michael Floor would be interested in picking him at three, knowing the Titans led by Robert Sala, the guy who fired him in New York, who is very close with his brother, Matt LaFleur, but who did fire Michael Floor when things were starting to go really sideways. It is interesting the way the picks fall here, where I think Titans fans really wanted Jeremiah Love and instead they go in a different direction and Arizona gets Jeremiah Love. Arizona needs, listen, the buzz is what it is. I think there's real accuracy in what you're saying about that.

35:31However, man, the Cardinals need someone. They need someone to hang the franchise hat on. They've had legendary players. Wouldn't be surprised. I forget so much, and I'm surprised I remember this, that they passed on Adrian Peterson for Levi Brown back in the day. I remember that, Greg. Yeah, maybe that was haunting the ownership group there. Ian Rappaport also reported it was a relief for Jeremiah Love, who got a report at the combine of an abnormal EKG on his heart. But it ended up being something that was checked out, obviously, by the teams and everything looked great. And I'm talking a little out of both sides of my mouth because when Shook brought up that number three overall pick, and I swear he was the first one to say, I think this could happen.

36:20And then it became almost consensus by the end of the process. I said, I don't think that's that crazy because I think he's such a safe, explosive pick. He is so good. It's so obvious. It's just this is a team that has so many other massive needs. And he's now the highest paid running back in the league. And you have to at least consider that. You know how it's never really about where you're going. It's about who you're going with. Like, the destination could be totally average, but if the right people are there, it becomes a great memory. Toyota really gets that. Toyota designs vehicles around real life and real people.

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40:08Next day? Wow. GrandAppliance.com, right? That's it. My family's shopped there for decades. Shop Grand Appliance. Appliance experts since 1930. So with love off the board, the Titans surprise everyone and go Carnell Tate, Ohio State wide receiver at fourth over all. Very interesting because if the reports were right, that love was the apple of their eye, and we won't ever really know, it's interesting that they pivoted not to Arvel Reese or Sonny Stiles, who I thought might go to Tennessee, would be a good fit for Robert Sal, but instead to another offensive player. What does that tell you? Well, it tells me they were going to go offense the whole time.

40:51That's what it seems like to me. And certainly you can look at these two players. I mean, Cardinal Tate is receiver one in this class, and you can look at those two players as two impact playmakers. We're going to talk about what the rest of the Titans did when they came back into the first round at the very end. It seemed like they got a player for Brian Dable and a player for Robert Sala. Keldrick Falk, the 31st overall pick from Auburn. Yes, they traded up just a few spots. It's a nice little compromise between two guys, two former head coaches who are now in their respective roles here doing it again, trying to get this right the second time around.

41:29I really think that there's some good bookending picks here. Cardinal Tate's an awesome pick for Cam Ward. As much as I love Jeremiah Love, and again, in terms of pure power and footwork and explosive ability, there aren't many prospects since Adrian Peterson with that kind of ability, of just big playability. And he's a great third down guy. And yet, I think Cardinal Tate is a better pick for Tennessee. Not just because they have an okay backfield. It's not about Tony Pollard. It's about the fact that they need receiver badly. And I think it was a little undersold because, yeah, they took a couple mid-round guys who looked okay last year.

42:07And they kept Calvin Ridley. And they signed Wondell Robinson. They had the drops of the year. I remember we were having a coronary here in the middle of the season. watching Cam Ward throw to these receivers and they were just dropping passes. You know what Wondell Robinson looks better as? Your number two slash three receiver. And that's what he'll be now. And we'll see if Ridley stays on the team. But either way, I like the energy from Carnell Tate, the suit he had on. Nice suit. But with kind of the undershirt underneath, it was just, that's the kind of energy I want out of my first round pick out of my number one wide receiver.

42:43He might've won the night for me, just in terms of vibes. On that alone, I feel more confident about him at the next level. Yeah, he clearly, I really liked the, it was a cropped suit jacket, but he went with like a textured layers underneath. Like it was good. Titans fans get it. Any tips, send them our way. Yeah, Titans fans get excited because I think you just needed to do everything and obviously they're not done to help Cam Ward out this offseason as you possibly could. We'll see what they do with their offensive line. We'll see what they do in terms of other weapons. I wasn't a big Keldrick Falk guy.

43:13I did mock him to San Francisco thinking that's their type of guy, although they drafted one kind of like him last year. Robert Salas type of guy. And then it turns into Robert Salas type of guy. More of a run stopper, more of a rotational guy with, I think they'll hope in the long run, some pass rush upside at 31. All right. We've gone through those four. We talked about the Giants who went 5-10. Let's now go up to the Chiefs who make the first big trade of the night. They send a third round pick and a fifth round pick, number 74 and 148, to jump over the Saints and Commanders. I thought when they did it, I was like, for Reuben Bain?

43:57No, Reuben Bain ends up falling all the way to 15. So that was way off. For Mansoor Delane, the number one cornerback in this class, really interesting. A couple things with this trade. do you think they knew for sure Arvel Reese was gone when they made the trade like was it possible that they were hoping Reese was there because just the timing of how it played out in the broadcast and what was announced it seemed like I don't think the number five pick was made so that's interesting but this all happens this all happens several minutes before the broadcast picks right but I even I even mean like in terms of the pick was in it's sort of beside the point they would only make the trade if they want to make the trade for either Reese or Delane.

44:39Really interesting that they thought the commanders or the Saints could take Delane and that they valued a cornerback that highly. The whole MO is like, oh, Spags can find corners in the third round. Maybe they won't even take one with either of their first round picks. Instead, they trade up for the number one cornerback in this class. Yeah, I think it just took what we already know to be true about them, which was that this was going to be a position they absolutely, certainly would draft and then also depend on Steve Spagnuolo to help develop these players and to scheme them up for success and just amplified it magnified it to where it was a greater need probably internally than even it looks like watch looking at their roster on paper and certainly a position that was a priority and then if you fall in love with a player you know if you're a team and you really want a player and you understand that like he's also going to excel in your system and your maybe your defensive coordinator is pounding the table for him and your scouts are pounding the table for him.

45:35And then also it just so happens that he could be a great addition to two other teams that are ahead of you. Then, yeah, I would say that you could leapfrog over. I don't think the Saints would have taken him. That would have really surprised me. Although they need cornerback. LSU? Yeah. It's possible. I think they were in on Tyson. Good history with the Saints in an LSU corner. That's absolutely right. And look, Delane, the more I got into this process, I think was a higher ceiling player than he was originally given credit for a true number one corner. And when we found out that teams were not valuing Jermon McCoy, who maybe his tape at LSU the year before was even better than Delane in some people's eyes.

46:17Maybe he would have been the top corner, but that his injury concerns knocked him all the way out of the first round. That means the drop from Delane to whoever was cornerback two in this class was so great. I think maybe that informs it a little bit too. Now, the Chiefs, they become very Chiefsy late in the round, and they take Peter Woods from Clemson, which is just very much an Andy Reid pick. Total boomer bust. Incredibly physically dominant, and yet not a lot of people's favorite players. His 24 tape was really exciting. His 25 tape was not great. Some people question the motor every single play.

46:59Like, where is the playmaking for a guy that should be this talented? And that's just Andy Reid's type. We'll see if, and Steve Spagnuolo's type. We'll see if they can make that work. So that's their 29th overall pick. Let's move on to the seventh pick. That's the Commanders. At this point, Sonny Stiles had fallen a little further. I was beginning to think he might be the story of the first round. Because if he got past this pick, just because of the teams that were drafting after him, and I thought the Cowboys were more likely to take downs, and that is what happened. We'll get to Caleb Downs.

47:27I was like, who's going to take Sonny Stiles? I didn't see a fit, but Dan Quinn, he made the fit happen, which is good. I like it when the best players get taken at the beginning like they should, and that was Sonny Stiles, Ohio State linebacker. Yeah, I was getting a little worried because Sonny Stiles would be a value to any team basically above these teams that picked in front of the commanders. I like this because his comp was Fred Warner, right? His comp in terms of the physical skill and his football IQ and his captain material and all of these things. and it's Adam Peters who's making the pick who used to be one of the executives in San Francisco it's a player that a lot of people matched potentially with Robert Sala a few picks higher because of that reminder of Fred Warner because of that player comp but then also Dan Quinn was Robert Sala's mentor Dan Quinn had some really really good linebackers on his old Seattle teams that he was the defensive coordinator for and also he he had a really good some really good hybrid linebacker safeties that really started some of these trends in the NFL to cycle around again a decade and a half later that's what I'm saying he's like you know I'm not I'm not making this come but when I think of Dan Quinn saying this it's like okay yeah I see Fred Warner but also what a little camp chancellor in there too and what would camp chancellor be like in 2026 he'd probably be a little closer to like a linebacker than he would be a safety there was some immediate criticism.

48:51I saw that, man, for this team, a quote unquote non-premium position, you added Leo Chanel in free agency, although he's not an every down player. You have Frankie Luvu, who is going to play a different role. Played really out of position, it seemed like, last year. I would push back on that. To me, Jordan Tyson was probably the other pick here, or you think about offensive line. I think these are picks. You think about Caleb Downs, I think that's a fair guy to think about there. But you don't want to be picking this high so far. If you're Adam Peters, you have to assume you're there in three years.

49:27You take guys that can be with your franchise for eight, nine years, and Sonny Stiles is just a really special player. Best player available. Best player available and a good team, a regime that deserves to be there, will find a way to use a really good player. And if they can't, that tells you everything you need to know. It's kind of like Jeremiah Love. The player is so good, it's hard to criticize the pick too much, especially here at seven for the Commanders. I like that pick. Jordan Tyson, Arizona State wide receiver, eighth overall, your alma mater. You mentioned to me. Nothing has ever gone wrong when you pick an Arizona State receiver.

50:05Never in the history. No. Jordan Tyson's an awesome player. He's awesome. I love this. A little risky, though. I love it, though. A little risky. I love it. He's immediately 1-2 with Chris Olave, and he's got Tyler Shuck, your favorite quarterback in the entire NFL. I mean, you keep saying how I don't like Tyler Shuck. My draft analysis of him was wrong. At this point, it's totally out the window. The second that you see him play in the NFL and do the things that I didn't think he was going to do, then you just own the L and you move on. Like, we'll see if he can stay healthy. I hope he can. But he is an exciting young quarterback.

50:38And I did think Jordan Tyson's emotion going up to the stage. He takes the knee. He's crying on stage. I thought the most emotional thing of the night was his spittle actually flying. Come on. The air. Just a little, just a little saliva. I can imagine the thing that people are knocking him for through the entire pre-draft process is something he really had no control over. And it was just the injury history and, and just having, I mean, it's, it can be a really freak thing. And so I think that's where you heard about a lot of, a lot of people, a lot of teams that had interest, whether that was agent-driven conversation or team-driven conversation or smoke screen or whatever, you did hear a lot of teams were interested in him as a top 12, top 15 player.

51:26And this just happened to be a team that can really – Kellen Moore really, really wants as many receivers to add dimension to this offense as possible. And it's year two of Kellen Moore kind of figuring out who he is as a head coach and what he wants his offense to be, and he has a quarterback. so now he wants to get players for that quarterback and this makes a lot of sense to me maybe I just missed on him and I think he's a guy it depends which game you watch I think what happened with the hamstring injury is that it affected his play so much he played through it yeah and he just didn't look like that an explosive of a player it wasn't an effort thing it was just more of a health thing but a soft tissue injury makes you worried Patrick yelled at me about this I I should get more excited for Jordan Tyson.

52:11But look, the Saints have two wide receivers who can do everything. And at their very best, that's an electric one, too. I think the ceiling is very high for that receiver group. And the floor is low just because of the injury history for both players. But they don't go offensive line and they don't trade up. And I think for longtime Saints fans, both of those feel good. Sure. Mickey Loomis, every single trade he's ever made in the draft, 25 of them, All 25 are trades up. My favorite stat. Not one trade back. The Browns, who have traded back a million times in the Andrew Barry era, were on the other side of that Chiefs trade.

52:50And they go back to nine overall. And they take Spencer Fano from Utah. A lot of people thought the Chiefs with the Andy Reid connection was going to take him. He's supposedly personally close with Fano. Instead, it's the Browns. He ends up being the first tackle off the board. but the latest tackle to be drafted first since 2019, which somehow had no first round tackles, which is just a wild thing to think about. It started a run. Like we thought the tackles were going to come off fast, none in the first eight, and then six of the next 13. And then the Browns, they get to basically have their pick of the litter at nine.

53:28They come back around late, stick and pick for my guy, Casey Concepcion. What do you think about what the Browns did? holistically. I like it. And I also appreciated that Jimmy Haslam wisely got himself out of the out of the camera shot this time around instead of the camera shot heard around the world last time around of him sort of standing over the shoulder of Andrew Barry and Kevin Stefanski. I think that this is a great pick. There's some reporting out there that the Browns would have picked him at six and then saw the board falling to where he would be available to them. I buy that. That was where a lot of mock people had him taking him.

54:05I buy it too. He could play left tackle or right tackle. He really fills in. This is a Browns team that let all of their offensive linemen, essentially their contracts expire, and did not draft to replenish any of them last offseason. And so really, I really hoped that they would start drafting guys who can compete immediately for them and then also play a part in the future. I love the idea of him blocking downfield on screens and some of these sweeps for Harold Fannin. I just I'm excited about that. I'm going to avert my eyes that whoever's throwing the ball will see who it is. I hope that it works out for them at the position because I'd like to see this offense reach its potential.

54:44Haven't you heard Shader Sanders first snap team drill? I love that. Football is back. Good for him. That's awesome. And I feel like this is this is a great pick. And they also added another layer to their passing game because they needed to. They had to add another receiver who could do the things that Casey Contextion can do. So the question with them at six and 24 was always, okay, they're going to go receiver tackle. Everyone said that throughout. If they cover the Browns, they said that if they don't cover the Browns, they said that it's exactly what happened. I think you have to look at the board.

55:13They were there at six. Carnal Tate's already off the board. It might be a different decision. If Carnal Tate is available once he's off the board, they essentially are choosing whatever wide receiver is behind door number two. and we get to pick any tackle that we want in the draft and get an extra selection by moving back. Luxury, wealth. It's a really good process by the Browns. I have to give them credit. And I've said Casey Concepcion is my favorite player in the draft. I've been asked for an official statement for Concepcion Nation if we are worried about this situation. The answer is no.

55:53The nations, like Geno Nation, we stand strong. He's probably going to lead that team in targets. He's going to be wide open. I think he is going to be Browns-proof, just like our guy Jeremiah Love is going to be Cardinals-proof. And it might not be this year with the quarterbacks, but ultimately he's going to get open. I think it was a great choice. And look, they had their choice between him and Omar Cooper and Denzel Boston. So I think it was an idea of knowing the board, and I think they did a really good job with their first two picks. So I'm giving the Browns a lot of love here. Let's talk about the Dallas Cowboys.

56:28So if we're going in order here, we just passed the 10th pick with the Giants. I already spoke about them. They moved down, or they moved up rather, to the 11th overall pick and traded a couple, what was it, late fifth rounders, compensatory picks to the Dolphins to get to 11, and they take the Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. Doesn't matter what the year is. if you hear that some guy is going to be a future all pro safety, he goes later than he should in drafts. And Caleb Downs, he ultimately went earlier than Kyle Hamilton, and he went earlier than Derwin James. But this draft I don't think is as strong, so it's kind of like the trend basically kept up.

57:08And I think the Cowboys did a great job. You got to love it. I absolutely love this. I turned to Greg in the middle of this as they were picking, and we were really trying hard not to tip picks here in our studio today. I gave up about halfway through on that. And I said, I just turned to Greg without saying anything else. And I said, I'm turning into a person I never thought I would become. And that is, I think I'm going to ride with the Cowboys this year. Because I already liked what they did on offense last year. I thought they were really fun to watch on that side of the ball. Their defense was a disaster until the end of the season.

57:40It improved a lot, especially with Quinnen Williams coming over. And now Christian Parker has a player who is absolutely the most perfect fit you could possibly think of for the Vic Fangio hybrid subset offense that he is going to run a coach who just spent the last couple years of his career coaching Quinion Mitchell, Cooper DeGene, Zach Bond, all of these guys in the back half of that defense and in their secondary as well devising development plans and getting these guys mathematically situated to really attack offenses versus the other way around. I absolutely love this fit. If anyone is going to pick up this defense incredibly well, immediately, it usually takes a couple of years.

58:25It's going to be Caleb down. It's gotta be, it's gotta be on everyone's just favorite picks list. We're going to do so much. I love it so much. I won't even hide it. I hate myself a little for becoming this person, but I, I absolutely, I love this pick. The Cowboys have either made the best picks of the last 15 years, some of the best picks. Will McClay, man. Good for him. Or some of the biggest groaners, to be honest, and some of the bigger surprises. The last two years of Tyler's, we'll see. But so far, it hasn't been great with Tyler Guyton and Tyler Booker. Yeah, there wasn't a Tyler at this pick point.

58:58Right, not available. But what I love is, okay, they move up. They were obviously a little worried that Miami could take him at 11 if you're going to move up one pick, or you're worried some other team is trading into that spot potentially, and you just want to make sure. And they trade a couple late fifths. But what do they do later in the draft, Jordan? They actually back up three picks to go from 20 to 23, knowing that Malachi Lawrence was still going to be there. I wouldn't say a shocking pick. Once we actually got to draft day, some people were connecting both the Cowboys and the Bears to Malachi Lawrence, ECF prospect, who got talked about a lot on NFL Daily late in the process.

59:37But initially, a lot of people had him outside like the top 50 overall players. Really talented edge rusher. They figured he's going to be available and they pick up 114 and 137. So they actually get better, better picks than they gave. Right. To move back. And they get a really exciting player that was was kind of one of Daniel Jeremiah and Ollie Connelly, two of my favorite analysts, favorite players in this draft was Malachi Lawrence. I think a lot of people looked at Malachi Lawrence and looked at David Bailey and said like You know, is there that big of a difference between these two players in terms of profile, in terms of pass rush juice?

1:00:13That's what they're looking for. Well, I love it, too. He's versatile, you know, and I think that he just really they're piecing together, following the loss of one of the best pure pass rushers we've seen in a very, very long time, perhaps ever. Voluntary loss. And a voluntary, yes, a voluntary loss. And I said this earlier this offseason, Greg, that it's basically them being self-aware without actually admitting to their mistake or that they even made, potentially made a mistake. And rebuilding this pass rush plan in the aggregate, right? And that includes shoring up the interior as well. I really like that they went defense with both of these picks.

1:00:54They had to, honestly. I don't think it would have been acceptable for them to do anything different. They also got good George Pickens news about this year, at least, that probably helps them not veer toward a skill player. He signed his franchise tag, which Adam Schefter immediately followed up with. That means they can trade him at any time. Felt a little bit like, hey, anyone want to trade for him? Now, our guy in Rappaport said the plan is to keep George Pickens. But I think him signing that deal, locking him in, maybe at least gave some flexibility, which I have a feeling George Pickens and his agent would not mind.

1:01:32Ian Rappaport said they had a conversation, his agent. He's represented by the same agent, David Mulligata. Yeah, who Jerry Jones very much insulted last offseason because he didn't know his name, didn't talk to him. And also didn't want to speak to him during the Michael Parsons because negotiations, he wanted to speak to Micah directly. And Ian described that conversation as cordial. I was like, man, that does not sound great, cordial. So if you're George Pickens, the Cowboys are already on record saying they are not going to give George Pickens a long-term contract. He is playing under the franchise tag this year if he's on the Cowboys.

1:02:10Okay, sign us because we would love a trade because a new team will give us a new contract. And so I don't think the Hay is totally out of the barn there. If you told me that tomorrow the Cowboys draft a wide receiver and George Pickens is part of some blockbuster, like I'm not going to be stunned. I'm giving the odds on that at one in 4.5. Wow, that's very specific. That was what I wanted to do. By the way, they also added Rashawn Gary this offseason. And so Rashawn Gary, Donovan, Hezeraku, Malachi Lawrence. Okay. Quinn Williams. Sam Williams is still there. He brought him back. Not bad. I'm loving this new world that we're in that the Cowboys are making us fans.

1:02:54So the Dolphins move back one spot. Nice trade for them. Good order of business. Who is going to be the statement of intent pick for the new Miami Dolphins? I would even say the statement of intent picks because they have two in the first round. And they move around the board and move up for their second pick, who winds up being Chris Johnson from San Diego State at cornerback. I'm leading with that one because I like it just a little bit more than tackle Caden Proctor with the 12th overall pick from Alabama. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is this is your statement, first pick of the draft.

1:03:33And what do you do? You do do a very Packers thing. I was going to say, it's so Packers, right? John Eric Sullivan, you remember where you came from, man. but the Packers always had a history of taking these massive guys who sometimes were knocked a little bit for like, you know, you didn't see it on tape every single snap. It kind of went up and down. Hayden Proctor's weight kind of went up and down in his career. Nick Saban on the broadcast for ESPN today who had him, you know, as his player was like great player, works really hard when he's there with you. Sometimes you got to be a little worried about him.

1:04:08I know he's a college player. I did see some added context shared that that was Nick Saban talking about him when he was like an 18-year-old who first came into the building. It's absolutely fair. Big player might be moved inside to guard. I can see it. Kind of similar to Maui Noah. They'll probably try him at right tackle where they have Austin Jackson, but he might not be long for the Dolphins. Well, flip Austin Jackson, flip him somewhere. He has position flex because, remember, he was their left tackle for a while. He could play inside. They have their left tackle in Patrick Paul. Yeah, and he's played inside in the past as well.

1:04:40So I could see a lot of movement on that. Just like a little risky, which is why I like why they came back and moved around a little bit, came up for one of your favorite connections and players, one of Mina Kimes' favorite players too in the draft, Chris Johnson, who just looks like a 2026 cornerback, if that makes sense. Just a guy who fits in today's NFL. I just love it, and I love the fit in Miami. You know, we joked that one of the other first picks the Packers ever made of the Brian Gutekinst era, of which John Eric Sullivan was one of the executives also in that building, was a corner. Now they traded around a lot to get there, but offensive line corner, position for the short term and the long term, and a premier position, and also a player who I think is great, like you mentioned, one of my favorite players in this draft class in Chris Johnson.

1:05:28And it just makes sense to me. Again, we've seen the Packers do stuff like this and be successful with it, And it just makes sense that it's being reapplied. I also really absolutely think that building around an Aaron Brewer, for example, at center is a really good idea to build guys that complement what you are, a force that you already have, anchoring the middle of that offensive line. I wouldn't be surprised if they dipped in again, if the right player fell to them. They got five more picks in the next two rounds. But I also think that, as we have noted, the sprint rebuild that they're in, they're going to have to pay incredible amount of attention to the defensive of side, especially with some of those premier players and picking up a corner, one of the better corners in this class is great, in my opinion.

1:06:10I love that. And that two pick combo actually reminds me of one of my favorite nuggets from the night. I forgot to say you mentioned how Joe Shane, yes, got to take two players in the top 10 for the second time in his career, which is absolutely insane. And he took the exact same positions in the same order as he did, because what was it five years ago? He takes four years ago, Kayvon Thibodeau and Evan Neal. And then this year, you know, he takes the past rusher hybrid, Arvel Reese, and then Maui Noah at 10. You know how it's never really about where you're going? It's about who you're going with.

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1:10:24let's go to the Ravens who made all the mock drafters happy. One of the only picks that everyone had seemed to be Venga, Juane, the guard, everyone's top guard on the market. 14th overall thought they could consider Kenyon Sadiq there. And they chose not to, and they kind of take the meat and potatoes lineman. They really needed that for the running game and for their passing game. Very exciting. They also picked up the fifth-year option for Zay Flowers. Maybe just a get-back-in-the-flow pick there by the Ravens. I like it. Yeah, kind of surprised he even lasted this long. I understand, though, that this board kind of shook out in a very interesting way once two and three happened.

1:11:07I would have liked him for the Dolphins better. So if I'm going to be a little critical about the Dolphins, I should say who I would have traded. I would have taken Ioane personally. I love this for a couple of reasons. One, he can absolutely grade the road for Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. He is just an outstanding run blocker. He is tough. He is, you know, nasty parentheses complimentary. And he also can just he's a player who there's actually been some chatter about bumping him over to center as well. Now, that's a that is a huge, huge thing to ask a guard to do. Obviously, playing center is one of the most difficult positions on the field.

1:11:44but the football IQ and the way that he can just play in the interior and just shore up the interior. I mean, you have to at least talk about it. They have a gaping hole at center now minus Tyler Linderbaum. Yeah, I love the pick, and I don't think you need to get too cute when you're the Baltimore Ravens right now. You are in your window, and I think somewhere Jim Harbaugh was not happy because I could have imagined where the Chargers traded up for Juana. could have traded up for Ioane if he fell a little further down the border, at least hoped he fell all the way to them like he did in Daniel Jeremiah's mock draft, where I was really surprised he fell all the way to 22.

1:12:26So Ioane goes there. The Buccaneers select Reuben Bain Jr. We haven't mentioned Reuben Bain's name yet because he hasn't gotten taken, but of all the projected top 10 picks, he had the longest slide. You know, Jermad McCoy was in a lot of people's top tens for a while, but not going into the draft. In the end, he only falls to 15. And it's ironic, I guess, that Hakeem Mesidor, his teammate, was projected by just about everyone to the point where I'm pretty sure the insiders knew that the Bucs really liked Hakeem Mesidor, the Miami edge, who was kind of the Robin to Reuben Baines Batman, as their 15th overall pick.

1:13:08And I think they were pretty confident he was going to be on the board and that was going to be the pick. Maybe they'd even trade back for him. Instead, they get his teammate, Reuben Bain Jr., who just by the tape is right there with David Bailey as the best pass rusher in this class. I don't even think it's like that much of a question. I know the arm length thing needs a little different dimensions. You know, he had the incident that our colleague Ali Connelly reported about, and I don't know if that, you know, cause teams to think differently of him. To be clear, they were aware of, you know, the citation that he had had.

1:13:44He was involved in an accident where a young woman died a year and a half ago. And then another citation. All the teams were aware of that. So it wasn't all he's reporting that I think would have changed how teams viewed. They already viewed him that way. But whatever the case may be, Bain is an incredible player and exactly what the Buccaneers need. And this seems to happen to Jason Light. Like the right player just falls into his lap. Gotta be good to be Jason Light, man. Just draft and develop these guys, pay them early, and keep churning them out. Like, that's the thing. It was like the worst kept secret in the NFL draft process that, like, the Bucs were going to pick an edge.

1:14:21Yes. You know, it was just like, all right, well, which one? Like, you just knew that they were going to go after it. First of all, it's a position of need, but then the pick point that they're at, absolutely you knew at least one of these guys. They weren't going to be a tackle team. They weren't going to be a wide receiver team. That was kind of who was there. And he's been really good, Jason Light, of doing the thing that seems like the obvious thing to do, but not all GMs do that. And still just gets, like, everyone just, like, forgets, oh, yeah, Jason Light's coming up. Oh, wow, yeah, that's definitely the player he's going to pick.

1:14:51It's early. I really like Bain as a player. I think he could turn out to be one of the best players in this class, and it's early. But I have a feeling whatever the Bucs win total is, I'm going to be over. I think I'm just I'm going back to big on the Bucs. Welcome. Yes. Last year did not work out. We're happy to have you. Did not work out well for people believing in the Bucs. I want to believe in the Lions. We'll see. They take Blake Miller 17th overall. You had that as the pick. Yes. In your what we should do mock draft, which you it wasn't supposed to be predictive, but you wiped the floor with me.

1:15:28These teams were watching our what you should do mock draft. and they were saying, well, if Jordan says we should do that, we're going to do that. Blake Miller, Clemson, tackle. One of many of your picks that they agreed they should do. He's a dirt dog. That's what you call them. I said dirt bag. Parentheses, complimentary. There's a lot of things that the Lions could have done. They did the thing that makes sense. Yes. Which in years past, maybe they haven't always done the thing that just makes total sense. And that can be fine if those players go and contribute at a high level, which many of them have.

1:16:06But this just made sense. His personality, the way he plays, the position of need, it was like their favorite player fell to them on the board in the correct way. It just really fell right into their hands. To me, this is not one you overthink. They didn't have to overthink this at all. And teams apparently were higher on Blake Miller than I think the mock draft consensus was. Teams loved him. I think he was getting taken in the next couple picks if they had not taken him. And there was a very real possibility that they would have to trade up to get the tackle that they wanted. Maybe Proctor going 12th overall, which a lot of reporting said was maybe their top choice and that it might have been a two tackle class for them that they really loved those two.

1:16:55Maybe Ihanachor from Arizona State, but they got the guy that they wanted and I just love when they show the Daniel Jeremiah comps one of my favorite things in the draft and the comp which he wrote you know months ago is Taylor Decker and it just happens that way how about that now unfortunately Taylor Decker is like doing interviews where he's not happy with how the Lions have treated him and he still wants to play football I hate for that to be the way his Lions career ends if that is how it ends because it seems like they don't need him back when you got his comp um love that pick for them Minnesota makes one of the most surprising picks of the entire draft.

1:17:30Caleb Banks, defensive tackle from Florida. When I thought about teams that were just going for it in this draft, the Jets came to mind and then the Vikings came to mind because, look, he was the 51st player on Daniel Jeremiah's board. If you watch, man, what was the tape? Was it the LSU tape? I forget. There's one tape from 24 where, I mean, he looks like the number one overall player in the draft. He is that special for someone that big to move like that. And you saw it at the combine too. It was just freaky. I'm like, how is this guy not going to be taken early? Well, it's because of a foot injury that's going to be a problem.

1:18:08And even when he was on the field this year, like he didn't look like himself. So it's, he even was up and down on the field, like in 2024 was probably affected by the foot, but they're just going for it. They're like, we might have a top five player or it might be a bust. Kind of seems like what Questy did. Yeah, and the team brass, which includes obviously Kevin O 'Connell and then interim general manager Rob Brzezinski, they said that they really trusted the medical staff's clearance of Caleb Banks. They did a lot of medical research on him and that foot specifically. I almost wonder, you know, because of the way that he was moving at times last college season and then into a really physical training program, you need to do a lot of things to specifically train for the types of drills that they want to do at the combine.

1:18:54I almost wonder if we don't find out like maybe a few days from now, as, as the team start to talk to their beat reporters, that maybe the medical staff found something that had been hindering him a little bit that caused him to drop down some of these boards that was beyond maybe this foot injury at the, at the combine that stuff just tends to get up to 18. I think they had, they cleared him big time. Yeah. The report from Ian Rappaport that there was an extra, some sort of medical clearance that Kayla banks is agents and people sent to him that he passed. I forget the details now like this week within the last two days that actually did make teams feel better about a recent checkup and maybe that gave them the confidence to do it so they went for it the the Panthers take Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling 19th overall I do like that they showed his draft party he's from South Carolina it's a little little bit of a local connection you're celebrating you're a big Freeling girl I I love this for the Panthers the Panthers did something that was smart and made sense.

1:19:55I wanted them to take Concepcion because I'm a simple person who's like, oh, well, they've already got Rasheed Walker there and Ekonwu will get healthy at some point. I'm just a dummy who was like, get a weapon for Bryce Young, but obviously offensive line is a weapon. I wondered, now here's some interesting, like just first round and teams trying to figure out what other teams are doing, machinations, right? So the Eagles trade up right after this pick to go get Makai Lemon. We'll get to that in a minute. I do wonder if everybody, I wonder if Philadelphia thought that the Panthers were actually going to take Makai Lemon and saw and learned that he wasn't, loved him.

1:20:35I do know that the Eagles love Makai Lemon as a pick, trade up for him and see that the Panthers are taking Freeling, who, by the way, is a great pick for the Panthers because not only is left tackle, I know they signed Rasheed Walker, but there is no guarantee. Yeah, and there's no guarantee that he was even going to be there full-time starter in the coming season. So Monroe Freeling can obviously play on the left side. He is a player that needs more development. He's got great traits. He's got great lengths. And he's really a good mover and has good balance. And just the way that he can manipulate space and find leverage is really solid.

1:21:11There's a lot of upside there. And he can also play on the right side. He has played both through his college career. And Taylor Moton is the Panthers' Ironman, but has played there. My gosh, he came in when Christian McCaffrey came in. Can't play forever. Can't play forever. And so I feel like this is just a really, really solid pick for the Panthers for the short term and the long term. And once again, goes back to what we've been saying is they are building everything around, trying to make absolutely sure on their quarterback before it's too late. Right. I think the strength of the draft at that point was tackle or receiver.

1:21:45Take one. They'll both help. And obviously tackles are harder to find, especially in this draft. There was only a couple more on the board, and then it was going to be a big wait. So you mentioned the Eagles. They trade up with the Cowboys. We mentioned that trade earlier. Makai Lemon, according to our NFL Network reporters, was on the phone with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was going to become a Pittsburgh Steeler. Now, Steelers-Eagles as a rivalry is pretty overstated. You'll hear from their fans. It's like, yeah, they're six hours apart, and they're in a different conference. It's not really a thing.

1:22:18But to know that Philadelphia, who's been a lot better than Pittsburgh for a while now in the NFL, won a couple titles, that they end up taking Makai Lemon. They can't get through to Makai Lemon because he's talking to the Steelers. But no, it's them who get him at 20th overall. Howie, I believe, has been chasing the mistake of drafting Jalen Rager over Justin Jefferson ever since it happened. This draft was giving me flashbacks because Makai Lemon's like an interior player, slot player, who people think, oh, maybe the ceiling's not that high on him. And I swear, if you go back to the draft coverage of the Justin Jefferson year, even though everyone thought that was a bad pick even at the time, Rager over Jefferson, the logic was, well, Rager's more of a playmaker.

1:23:04Jefferson's more of a low ceiling guy who's probably going to have to play inside mostly as a pro. One of the worst evaluations that the consensus has ever made. maybe the Makai Lemon will make up for it either way a very solid pick for Jalen Hurts I just I just love this I absolutely love this Makai Lemon was one of my favorite players and certainly one of my favorite offensive players in this draft class because he just he's so friendly for the quarterback and especially coming out of the slot he creates space even though yes I know everyone talks about like the 40 time and all these things play speed is there getting open is there strong at the catch point is there does not drop the ball is there and he he obviously he opens up to me having somebody who can work that space on the inside can really open up the perimeter jalen hurts loves to throw to the perimeter the problem is they've added a bunch of guys over the middle of the field for a quarterback that you know doesn't really throw that well over the middle of the field but i hear what you're saying but it all opens up if we if we are to believe all of this reporting and all of the you know watch what happens after june 1st and the reports the talks are yeah that talks are going to resume right like like that we that it's going to happen that the inevitable nfl network was talks are going to resume just before yeah so okay with all of that in mind you're thinking about davante smith now is the one obviously in this offense and you're thinking about all the ways that davante smith can truly affect their perimeter and will be the volume target in this offense.

1:24:35Well, you can't have him bracketed or doubled every time. You have to have multiple of these other guys, especially in Sean Mannion's offense. He is taking the 2017, 2018, 11 personnel, Rams, some of the Packers stuff that they did. And he's basically saying you need two sifting receivers in the middle of the field and then a guy you can get shots to on the perimeter. That's exactly the math. As simple as that as what this is. Steelers then quote unquote settle. I'm quoting myself for another Arizona state guy, uh, Max, uh, the Hanator 21st overall. I know it was settling, but it could turn out to be a great pick, a really high ceiling tackle that a lot of teams were really interested in.

1:25:20I think the last really high ceiling tackle wouldn't have surprised me if the Patriots, uh, Ollie Connelly, you know, reported was really interested in maybe a guy. I don't know if they were going to trade up for him, but certainly their dream would have been to take him. Has only played the position for a few years. Again, I go back to I'm not scouting nine tapes of this guy. But when you watch him move, he looks like an NFL left tackle in a way that almost no one in this class does. He's just massive, massive, agile, and has a lot of room to grow. And so you got to be confident in your development plan.

1:25:59I think this could work out that he ends up being an even more important player than Makai Lemon would have been. So either way, it's a nice consolation prize for the Steelers. Man, knowing what we know about the Steelers pulling in some of these yards after the catch players to recoup for the loss of Kenny G, and then watching just now that escort block that he just hit to launch a yards after the catch play, like it's just, it's, yeah, it's good. There are some teams that are just don't outsmart themselves and they take big guys. The Eagles are usually one of those teams. They take big guys or receivers.

1:26:32The Steelers are often one of those teams. And again, big guys or receivers. And then the Chargers are one of those teams. And they quietly had an edge need this offseason because, look, Khalil Mack can't play forever. Tuli Piloto is going to be around. But Joey Bosa is long gone. Akeem Mesidor comes in as kind of a youthful guy that they can bring in. the Bucs seeing Ruben Bain fall to them actually I think works out well for the Chargers because otherwise I think he would have been off the board and I think this is a premium position of need for the Chargers I think they would have loved Juane but I think Mesador is a really good position I don't know like it was right at the cutoff where I'm starting to get a little less excited about the edges Malachi Lawrence goes next to the Cowboys he's super physical and he's super high effort.

1:27:22And so, okay, Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh is going to be out on the field, like slapping his hands against his pads and all that. The other thing is they did extend Khalil Mack, you know, on that, on the contract, they adjusted the contract extension for him. And so it does not surprise me at all that they want to go cost control here. They told you that they wanted to go cost control when they did not retain Odafe OE. So the combination of this three-man rush that worked really well for them last year, they still have that. It's just more cost controlled now because they didn't extend O.A. and then now they brought in Mesidor through the draft.

1:27:53I forgot to mention the O.A. factor of it all. And I think like Mesidor could be a more complete player than O.A. who for most of his career with the Ravens was not like thought of as much of a run stopper. Mesidor also only one year younger than Tuli Pelotu. Like he is more of a finished product even though he just converted from nose tackle. What a weird... I know you were telling me about that. He weighed so much more. I don't know what he weighed exactly, but the fact that he was playing nose tackle and then was this good at edge makes you really excited. But yes, a 25-year-old prospect. Another guy who was well-traveled.

1:28:29We're into the 20s now. We're passing the Browns since they took Concepcion. The Bears take Dylan Thienemann with the 25th overall pick. This was a popular mock pick to the Vikings who surprised everyone earlier with that Caleb Banks pick. They do not take a Harrison Smith replacement. Instead, Dennis Allen takes the Kevin Byard slash John C. Gardner-Johnson replacement, whatever you want to call it. Has to replace multiple players, obviously, because of the departures they had in free agency. If they were going to address the secondary, this just fits to me. He's a player who can do a lot of things, sees the field really well, and will contribute with them, probably will start for them immediately.

1:29:10And the Denison's being on, as we've established, It'll be interesting to see what he does with him in this defense. There is something just funny to me. He just feels very like Dennis Allen will be very happy about this. Like ever present in our NFL. He didn't go, he left New Orleans and yet here he is just affecting, you know, one of the most popular prospects in this class. Like they're taking him for Dennis Allen and he had a great year last year as a coach. You know how it's never really about where you're going. It's about who you're going with. Like, the destination could be totally average, but if the right people are there, it becomes a great memory.

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1:33:05Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC registered advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. The Texans end up moving up in the draft a couple spots with the bills to take Keelan Rutledge, a Georgia Tech senior, who late in the process, it was thought, you know, could be a first round pick. The second guard off the board, Chase Basantis, is still out there.

1:33:37And so they decide they need to move up. Apparently, they thought maybe San Francisco was going to take him. That's the only reason you would move up two picks. San Francisco did trade out of their pick after this trade. So maybe they had some good intel. They said that the table get launched or something. You know, like and he does because it's D 'Amico D 'Amico from the Shanahan. You know, of course they have intel. He seems like a brawler Shanahan type of guard, and they definitely need a guard. He seems like a Nick Casario. Okay, let's take the Georgia Tech senior that just like we, he loves like the five-year captains and every, he loves the off the field stuff in the positive way, Nick Casario.

1:34:16And they take these wild guys, whether in New England and here, and Kalen Rutchledge, they have attacked this offensive line with aggression. Gotta love it if you're CJ Stroud. They had everyone in the first half. There was a little panic in the first half as free agency began that maybe this was not going to be a priority for this team, but I think they've turned it into something really interesting. And there is some chatter that he could play, that Kalen Rutledge could pop into center if needed. I think right now he's probably their center, but I don't know if they've talked about that. Wyatt Teller is at guard, Ursary at left tackle.

1:34:51They signed Braden Smith. They brought back Trent Brown. They brought back Ed Ingram. I like the vision there for the Texans. So we mentioned Chris Johnson at 27. Here is where the Patriots took the final tackle. It's funny how predictable the tackles ended up going off the board. They went in roughly the consensus order, and kind of the one question was, okay, will there be seven tackles or six? Caleb Lomu is probably going to be the seventh, and he's probably going to be right at the end of the first round if he goes. That's exactly what happened. And one of the reasons, you know, he was a redshirt sophomore.

1:35:27So he's a young prospect and they don't necessarily need him to replace Will Campbell right away at left tackle. That'll be next year. No, that's a mean joke. That is what that is what Greg foresees and hopes will happen. He could have position flexibility. Morgan Moses was talking about retirement. So at most one more year with the Patriots. So it could be a right tackle. He's someone who could play at different positions. And look, they need they need linemen. And I think they were maybe a little disappointed with how the board fell, but happy to get Lomu. Not too shocking. He's someone I thought we talked about him as maybe a possible 49ers guy who could fit with them for the short term and long term.

1:36:06Understanding he could slot in at a couple different places early on as needed, but then also could develop into an eventual left tackle replacement. So we got to talk about the Mike Rabel press conference. While we're at New England, what a wild day for Mike Vrabel. More reporting comes out related to Diana Rossini and Mike Vrabel. More pictures come out. But the bigger thing from a football perspective, we had already learned the night as the draft is starting, East Coast time, it's already draft day, the Patriots announced that Mike Vrabel will not be with the team for day three of the draft to undergo counseling and focus on his family on day three of the draft.

1:36:52He's going to be with his family. Of course, he spoke just two days ago about that he needs to make things right with his family and with his team. The surprising part of all this, first that announcement was obviously surprising, but then that he decided to call a press conference right before the draft started. Let's listen to Mike Vrabel. Can you explain how over just the last two and a half weeks we go from your original statement about any insinuation, the photos or anything other than this? It was laughable to your comments Tuesday to now deciding to go to counseling. What is that process?

1:37:26Well, that's a private and personal matter. I don't think that those comments, I think that that was always an attempt to protect your family. and I would never be dismissive. But I think my family and this football team are the most important thing, and that's what I plan to do. And I'm excited about the challenge with both of those things. I'm excited about the challenge with both of those things when he's referring to his family and his team. That was the fourth question that he took from the media. Initially, I didn't think he was going to be taking questions, just make a statement. Before he came out, I was only thinking the only reason for him to come out and make a statement, I was just speculating to myself, was maybe a leave of absence.

1:38:14Like, what else would this be? And then kind of exit stage right. Maybe it was just that he wasn't going to be speaking to the media again for the rest of the draft. And he just wanted to own it as much as possible. Again, a very apologetic tone. Again, talking about how much he needs to make it up to his family specifically. Again, speaking with regret. I included that question because it was the toughest question. And it was the question that got to the heart of the matter is basically what changed between your first statement that you made to the New York Post and the last two times you have spoken to us in a more apologetic tone.

1:38:47And he said that initial statement was his way to try to deflect attention away from his family, which based on everything we've learned since checks out. Just a wild couple of days there for the Patriots. But, you know, he went out of his way. He even spoke to fans to just say, look, Elliot Wolfe's got this draft on lockdown. In general, it is Elliot Wolfe and the personnel's staff's draft, and they're going to be continuing on and they'll continue without Mike Rabel for the third day. He also made it clear he will be communicating with the team for the third day. Didn't say if he'd be away from the team any longer than that, but didn't indicate any particular that he would.

1:39:27All right. So we mentioned the Chiefs and the Titans. I'm just going to move on to our final pick of the first round. We did it, Eric. I know we've been honking a lot. And that pick was another one that you, did you nail this one? Janarian Price. No, you had him with the Jaguars. Yes. But you did nail a lot of these picks. And this actually was one of the buzzed about picks. And I didn't think it was going to happen because John Schneider told us he was going to trade out of the first round. Why didn't you trade out of the first round, John Schneider? Maybe nobody had a price that he was willing to take.

1:39:54Well, the Titans traded back into the first round. The Jets traded back into the first round. I guess that was it. Sometimes when you win the Super Bowl, teams do not want to trade with you. Fair. And Janarian Pice is an exciting, I wouldn't say he's similar to Zach Charbonnet, but in the way that I think he does everything at a high level, like BB plus level, and is going to be good on passing downs. It's kind of a good compliment. And he was behind Jeremiah Love at Notre Dame and has less tread on his tires in that regard. Very few touches. He is a really exciting player. In fact, I know of a couple of teams that were kind of eyeing him at the top of the second, potentially trying to maneuver even into the bottom of the first to see if they could potentially target him.

1:40:41And the price is just maybe not there. And you have to make those decisions in accordance with what you have and what you're offering and all of those things. And he was a player on day two that really was, to me, somebody who was like getting a lot of buzz to the point where I think it was Daniel Jeremiah may have mentioned this, that would not have been surprised to see him pop back up into the bottom of the first round. You wouldn't have been surprised if he would have gotten up into the first round, if someone traded up for him, which is really... I thought it was going to happen. I really did.

1:41:10And look, he went in the first round. I love it. This is a... He is, to me, he is RB2 for a reason. He's an awesome player. I think he fits them really, really well. You know what he is for the Super Bowl freaking champions? He's RB1. Yeah. I mean, Zach Charbonnet is coming off the tourney seal. I was saying he's RB2 in the class. No, no, I know. I'm just saying it's crazy that he is immediately going to step right in. The rich get richer. To a big role. I think he's going to be a guy a lot of fantasy leaguers are into. And the heat's already off him. Somebody took a running back way higher, so they can't get heat for drafting running back in the first round.

1:41:43We're wrapping up here. I mentioned, yeah, I thought the Vikings, the Jets, were two teams that took some huge swings. We had that tackle run. I think the Carnell Tate pick is going to really stand out to me as one that kind of changed the draft. I love what the Giants did. Do you have any just favorite picks? I mean, we've talked about them, but what are your favorites? Yeah, absolutely. I loved the Mekhi Lemon to the Eagles pick for all the reasons that I said when we were talking about it. Caleb Downs of the Cowboys, to me, has magical potential, honestly. I can't wait to see. He gives you a mathematical advantage anywhere you put him, and that is all about what Vic Fangio's defense is.

1:42:25with which Christian Park will be running in terms of creating leverage advantages and breaking tendencies, breaking rules, quote unquote, from an offense. That is what he's going to be able to do. Blake Miller to the lions. It just was one of those. I would really love Dan to like, just get like, listen in with him and Dan Campbell, just having a conversation. Kneecap biter. If I've ever seen, why are you calling him a dirt dog? Dirt dog. That was what they called the 2004 Boston Red Sox. I believe. And I mean, when they won the world series, shout out to, I was too young to remember that. Yeah, you really are.

1:42:58I like the Ioane pick by the Ravens, in part because I can imagine him being an important part of a team that wins the Super Bowl, contends for the Super Bowl. There's only so many of those picks. Like a guy who could be one of the best starting players on a team that's winning 12, 13 games. Like that's special. Sonny Stiles, I think, is going to be a great fit with those two linebackers around him. Just going to be like, for me, really fun to watch. And then I'm going to give the Browns just some love for their two-pack of players. If you're going to take my player, Concepcion, I'm going to like you.

1:43:28My least favorite was probably Simpson. I think Caleb Banks was a huge swing. I just hope it goes well for them. It's interesting with Kevin O 'Connell as the guy that if you think about Questia Dofomence's first draft, it was a fiasco because he took two players in the secondary that were big risk players. Both of them were kind of injury plague. Both of them stayed injury plague, did not work out. What people keep forgetting is that the Kwesi Adolfo Mensah brought over very few support staff with him. It was all the same people contributing to making those picks that are still in the building now.

1:44:05So it doesn't actually super surprise me to see them go in this direction. I hope it works out for them. I would love to see a successful Caleb Banks in this defense, truly, because at his best, it actually could be really, really exciting. However, I just, people really are forgetting that. Yes, but then again, you just said in this defense, and I thought, man, with every favorite defensive player I had in this draft, all I thought was, I hope he lands on the Vikings. Like CJ Allen, if he goes to the Vikings in round two. Yeah, I really, I would love that. I would love that. If Thienemann went to the Vikings, I was like, oh, they'll really know how to use him.

1:44:39If Cassius Howell goes to the Vikings, like that, it's like, okay, well, make it work with Caleb Banks. Like, Flores will have a vision for him, and I trust that vision. All right, and yeah, Ty Simpson, if nothing else, It's going to just if Sean McVay was losing any motivation, all the hate that he's going to get for Ty Simpson, having to prove himself right for the next five to 10 years with Ty Simpson will be plenty of motivation. Let's talk about any just favorite off the screen moments or just anything else as we say goodbye. I'll start. How about seeing Daniel Jeremiah and Mel Kuyper on the set together?

1:45:13there. That was cool. Before the draft, there was a moment where on my computer, I thought I was about to watch Mike Vrabel, like take a leave of absence from the Patriots on one screen while I saw Daniel Jeremiah and Kuiper on ESPN on the other. And I'm like, what is 2026? This is a strange time we're living in. But yes, seeing on NFL Network, all like the ESPN Mike flags, because they're sharing, you know, the sideline reporters in this case, just interesting times. I mine are, you know, it's always prospects with their families and their moms, especially. I think it was Mesidor who had a really nice moment with with his mom.

1:45:48That was really, really sweet. I also love just like the just like the in the moment interviews that Laura Rutledge was doing tonight. Like she always does such a great job with those. And it always really gets right to the right to the meat of the of the moment that they're trying to communicate. and you could tell whether a player is really, really excited or overcome with emotion. I like how all the prospects who haven't been picked yet high-five and celebrate the ones who are walking down the tunnel or out of the green room in order to succeed. And Greg, I really liked watching the draft in here with you.

1:46:23Oh, that was too nice. And kicking your ass. I hope that's true. Yeah, you did wait. Well, first of all, we said that was a should draft, but here's the... Well, you didn't let me do a mock. Here's the sad truth. Your mock was the official mock. My mock was even worse. the predictive draft so it was all bad i'm retiring with an oh and two record in mock draft um no uh it's funny with the espn thing i saw their their pr put out a tweet of ian rapaport just smiling into the camera day one of in the books i'm just like what what is this this weird world peter woods had the best what's the word for it aura but just like scene design i mean set design his outfit and his family's outfit and him like sitting among it um just find the picture on twitter it was absolutely we need room raider to step in incredible i don't know i liked uh i like the mansoor delane that was just more of a pick that that really stands out to me of like the chiefs um just making it happen all right who didn't get taken and yes we'll be covering everything on day two after the draft me and nick shook uh jermon mccoy projected to go in the top 10 for a lot of uh this cycle because of his injuries emmanuel mcneil warren talented safety uh that daniel jeremiah had in his top 20 colton hood the the cornerback from tennessee denzel boston good receiver from washington not many crazy guys that like fell though mccoy was probably the most noteworthy, the guy I'm most curious about.

1:47:56Because I thought the Patriots might take him. I thought the Seahawks might take him. Just teams that feel like, we could just take a swing on a top eight talent. Yeah, kind of reminded me of Will Johnson last year. Yes. And look, Will Johnson ended up playing a decent amount in his rookie year. Played well. It was up and down, but also had injuries, to be honest, in his rookie year too. TJ Parker, Caden McDonald, good nose tackle. But yeah, not a lot of crazy names. Avian Terrell. Great first draft with you. Yeah, we've been doing it in this room now for a minute here. And I know this was nice.

1:48:31How is it nice being off the Rams beat? This would have been a doozy to be. Oh, man. Can you imagine if I had to write a column tonight? Holy cow. This is easier. Just honking. Thank you to everyone who watched us live on YouTube. Thank you to Sam, to Sean, to Eric, to Chris Babona behind the scenes, everyone who helped us out. We will see you on Friday night. Good job by Pittsburgh, by the way, showing up in full force. Underrated city. We'll see you Friday.

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