Myles Garrett Trade Conspiracy and the Best/Worst Drafting Teams

19:40Gregg Rosenthal:The left instead of the right.

19:41Patrick Claybon:And I don't see any opposing edge being like, all right, we got Panetta, right? I'm going to move over there. Right.

19:47Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. You got me. I mentioned the league annual meeting is coming. I will be there. Jordan's leaving for it over the weekend. And Patrick and I will be recapping. There's a lot of news that comes out from those coaches breakfast. So we'll have some early shows. With the shots of the orange juice in there. Do you remember that time I called? I FaceTimed you guys into the show from the beach. That was beautiful. Try to get a nice. It's the desert this time. I'll look for it. I'll look for a good backup. That is a very nice facility that they're having at. I have been there. I don't know if you can get that shot, but the pool is very nice there.

20:24Gregg Rosenthal:I'm going to try to position myself right in front of. Remember Mark Caboli on the Steelers beat fell asleep next to Tomlin. I'm going to try to position myself right there and just FaceTime you guys in from that scenario. I do remember that Arizona owners meeting. Actually, I went to a couple there, but one where, yeah, I really admired the media members who felt comfortable enough to go in the pool while there's NFL owners around. Usually it's like one of our coworkers, because I don't know. That's next level. That's next level. Let's give a quick preview, which is just they're expected to announce and confirm that Vegas will be the Super Bowl in 2020.

21:06We actually don't have the Super Bowl just two years out, which is pretty interesting. We also don't have a date for next year's Super Bowl, which has Mike Florio speculating that they're trying to push the 18-game season that quickly.

21:18Gregg Rosenthal:Listen, it's just proper planning. There's a lot up in the air in the world right now. Fair. They're going to not talk about the Tish Bush. We mentioned the draft pick stuff, which I think is cool. I actually think let's give teams different opportunities to build their team however they want. I don't think it's crazy to allow teams to trade draft picks five years out instead of three years out. I like that. And they have some stuff, which we have in the rules, proposals, to get ready for the potential referee strike. We have not mentioned any potential referee strike. Like, nobody cares about the ins and outs of, like, labor negotiations.

21:57I do.

21:57Gregg Rosenthal:I was going to say, I kind of care. I know, but the listeners, like, the nitty gritty. But the fact that they're bringing this up at this point. I'm a pro worker. I mean, like, I don't want to be reporting on it on a day-to-day basis. Let's get it when the big headlines are coming, not that they're prepping for it. But the fact that, like, they literally might be voting on rules shows us this could be something we are talking about a lot in September if they don't get this thing done.

22:20Patrick Claybon:And we have ownership, at least the particulars making the decision. We've lost some since the last notable incident of a labor disagreement between the officials and the league. But the lasting memory of that being the fail Mary and being closer in a lot of people's minds, I think, gives them a little more power in this. And I am a noted person who's critical of referees. But, you know, they are workers.

22:48Gregg Rosenthal:This is interesting for you because it is referees, and I agree, we're pro-labor. So now it's like the Venn diagram of it is also the referees.

22:58Patrick Claybon:Yeah, no, they're not cops. They're actual workers who perform a job. And I stand in solidarity with them. I hear everything you're saying, and then I think back to the fail, Mary. And you know what that was great for back at the time? What's that? Content. Like NFL.com. This is true. I feel horrible for our country. Thank you. I don't know if I've, I actually am pretty sure about this because I used to be pretty in on the numbers of it all. I wouldn't be surprised if the night of the fail Mary was the most red night in the history of NFL.com. I definitely never, because I remember being up late that night and just continuing to write different versions of those stories.

23:44And I would guess that that was my all-time night of metrics. Just people could not get enough of the fail Mary. Everything that came together. People love to hate on referees. They love drama. It's all combining. I'm not saying this is good for football, but it might be in the back of their mind. This is not going to hurt us. Well, not anymore. I'm not writing, but I want the NFL.com shout out to David Ealy and Kevin Patrick and Shook to keep it going.

24:11Patrick Claybon:And 10-950 West Washington Boulevard. All the things that happened back during the the fail Mary time. But the thing that I remember about it the most is normally with officiating discussions, there were, there were arguments about, was the call right? Was the call wrong? There was a little bit of that, but because the disagreement was so immediate, the only thing was, Hey, there's a work stoppage and we've got outrage. We got, we got to get this figured out. Well, that's, that's the, that's the key to social media. Just, just focus on outrage.

24:39Gregg Rosenthal:And just to remind the listener, and that was who are probably some of whom were probably quite young at the time. that was the replacement refs. Yes. So this was obviously the... That ended their strike, essentially. Yes, they could not come to terms on their contract. Now this contract is up again, and they're trying to avoid another situation where there are replacement refs. But so far, the officials have accused the NFL of not coming in good faith to the arguments. This is the first time the refs have actually spoken up about the state of the negotiation. So high drama in store for next week.

25:11Great context. And yeah, I believe that was week three. And that was when I was working for the NFL from New York, from my apartment. And then every Halloween costume that year was replacement refs. A couple other quick items. I noted that NBA Hall of Famer George Girvin is planning to battle Caleb Williams over his plan to trademark the nickname Iceman. apparently that is the nickname Caleb Williams enjoys is going with is called already I wasn't aware of that thoughts on Caleb William as Iceman and if it's okay for current players to take a very famous nickname from a player that most 20 you know somethings have never heard of but

26:01Patrick Claybon:it was a pretty pretty iconic nickname yeah copyright law can be an interesting aspect I think of Val Kilmer when I think of Iceman. Good call. And I think I can also think of Caleb Williams. I hope everybody gets what they deserve.

26:14Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. Money. That's what they're looking for. Also, I think one thing I do appreciate about this, it's the fan base gave him the nickname. He didn't just assign it to himself. It wasn't like a pro football reference thing either. It was literally like the fan base after watching some of those incredible fourth quarter comebacks and particularly the – Iceman. Especially some in the cold and the snow and all that stuff. They have given him this.

26:38Patrick Claybon:Gary Payton did that with the glove. He just told people to start calling him the glove. And also, you know, Black Mamba for Kobe came just straight up from Nike. That was nothing. You can call yourself. Shout out to George Gervin, by the way. Just pulling him up here on Pro Basketball. Yes. A four-time scoring champ. One of the best ever. MVP, 12-time All-Star. So, shout out to him. And while we're talking other sports, let's go to break and let's just look up at a picture. We're taping this on opening day of baseball. It'll come up on Friday morning. And I just want to give a shout out to the Mets, David Stearns, who broke out the quarter zip under a zip combination, which is new ground for the quarter.

27:27Gregg Rosenthal:Over a button down. Over a button. I feel like I've seen Joe and Troy in the quarter zip under a zip up. I don't know. It's like a quarter zip and a half zip. Our friend Jackson Bevan's pointed this out. It does zip all the way to the bottom. So the jacket over the quarter zip is not two quarter zips. But I think someone needs to just go full double quarter zip. Make it a half zip. Just a thought. Let's take a quick look.

27:49Patrick Claybon:Wait, you want another level? I want another level. Oh, I want a quarter zip over another quarter zip. If we're going to go this way, I feel like he is caught in the matrix right now. And I love it.

27:59Gregg Rosenthal:There's a lot of texture happening here. he's listening intently though could have had a shacket Greg it is an audio medium so that's a problem

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30:52Patrick Claybon:First down in 10-I formation with Komet Wright. Snap. Caleb. Clayfake. Looking to throw. Going deep. Searching for DJ Moore. Over the shoulder. Catch. Made. Touchdown Bears! It's over at Soldier Field. The Iceman cometh. The Iceman taketh. A 46-yard spiral to the end zone to DJ Moore. What a strike. Ben Johnson going for the big ball. And it's Captain Crunch time.

31:24Gregg Rosenthal:Caleb does it again. Oh, man, Jeff Joniak. The Iceman cometh. The Iceman taketh. I love that. And, yeah, I guess I should have remembered that the Iceman was happening in the same stretch of games that DJ Moore was happening. It really is amazing to think of the drama that DJ Moore added, not only to the Chicago Bears franchise, but the end of that season with two iconic catches and then one iconic bad route that also ended their season in a bad way. And he also lent some really amazing drama to the start of the Gregular season, too. Love us some DJ Moore. Love us Iceman. The Iceman for everyone.

32:05All right, we've got a very serious, important draft today. We are drafting the teams we trust the most when it comes to the 2026 NFL draft. Basically, the organizations that we trust will do the right thing for their franchise. Draft good players, make good trades, make good decisions. Basically, the front offices we trust the most specifically for the draft. And we're also going to do some teams we trust the least. Now, in an extremely complicated and contentious off-camera procedure. Only because it was you two. Sure. Jordan will be choosing first. Patrick chose to choose second after winning the lottery.

32:49And I will be choosing third. So you get to start us off, Jordan. Who is the best, the team you trust the most?

32:56Gregg Rosenthal:The delight on the space. I didn't want to, I just didn't want to lose the off-screen competition. I am going to plot twist a little bit because I think I know what all the listeners think that I'm going to pick right now. But I'm going with the Seattle Seahawks. OK. As the team that currently I trust to draft the most. When I was sort of doing these trust the most in the draft, the upcoming draft. This was a lot of thought about this exercise overall was a lot of thought about continuity. how much of an advantage continuity can be in a front office when the language of evaluation is understood not just within the scouting and talent identification departments, but also between the GM and the coach, between the scouts and the head coach.

33:44Gregg Rosenthal:I think with Mike McDonald in this position has really shown a high skill level in communicating specifically what types of players he wants and how to build a complete puzzle with those players and not just draft to Firefly to traits or to need, but to also look at some sort of intersection between the players we need, the players who would best help us quickly, and the players that absolutely can be maximized by this coaching staff. So that right now, I think that for John Schneider, what a turnaround, some questionable draft decisions in recent years, free agency decisions, contracts, but has been consistent and has continued to sort of rebuild these teams without ever totally tearing the roster down.

34:31Gregg Rosenthal:That means that they draft well. If you can do that, it means you draft very, very well or consistently. And so I think the consistency and then the ceiling of this means that I pick the Seahawks first. It brings up a larger conversation here in general, which I could have prefaced this whole exercise. Like, is there such a thing even as good drafting teams? Because over a long enough timeline, usually go through dips and lulls and you speak to that for Schneider was once on the hot seat. And yet since 2022, and this is when this is still with two years left of Carroll, no one's been on a heater like him.

35:03He gets the Charles Cross, Mafé, Kenneth Walker, Abe Lucas, Kobe Bryant, Rick Wolland draft back in 22. Then he follows that up with the best two first round picks in the same draft. I think of any team this decade so far. I mean, do we have anything topping Devin Witherspoon and Jackson Smith and Jigba? I don't think so. And then two very solid drafts after that. You had Eamon Worry and Zabel. That's even better, obviously, than solid. And we'll see if anyone else contributes. Had a lot of picks last year. Tori Horton looks OK. And even the year before, which wasn't as star-studded, Byron Murphy and A.J.

35:38Barner are two great starters there. So that's the McDonald era, you know, the last two years. And it does get me thinking, though, like as I did this exercise, I kind of thought about, do we believe that like, obviously drafting is like the most important thing you can do and continuity is really important. And yet the numbers will tell you that over a long enough timeline, it's almost impossible to find teams that are better at drafting than other teams. And that you could have no scouting department whatsoever and just draft off the consensus board and someone with a basic knowledge of their team needs like me or something.

36:12And you might still be in the middle of the NFL in terms of drafting. You'll probably have teams that are better and teams that are worse than you.

36:18Gregg Rosenthal:This is a lane in the profession and in the sport where a 35 to 40 percent hit rate is considered successful. And it's not even high quality starters. It's just contributors. So keeping bearing that in mind to have one or two players who fit into a larger puzzle per year, in my mind automatically makes you a good drafting team versus a bad drafting team where they rank in between that I think is a matter of preference which is why this is kind of fun today because it's our preference right if you can get two solid starters I think that's a good draft if you can get a great starter and a solid starter and a contributor then it gets to another level when you go beyond that that's that's the epic stuff all right you got number two yeah and we

37:04Patrick Claybon:have to be so results oriented when it when it comes to this because people talk about hitting and baseball being the most difficult thing in sports and around that hit rate of 300 is idyllic. But in this, the pitches that you see, you don't even play a role in determining that. There's so much randomness that goes into drafting in the first place and your team need and retirement and all of these other things that lead into it. So I have to consider the total apparati of these organizations. That's going to be the second time. I don't even know if I've said that word exists. Ask Greg.

37:34Gregg Rosenthal:He's the answer. It works. I like that. It sounds good. That's the most important. And that's where I go. You can include trades, by the way, like draft day trades in terms of your analysis.

37:44Patrick Claybon:And so in that, like I have to evaluate because this is where I made a mistake. Last year, famously, in the GM rankings, total organization. That was your Ty Simpson over Mendoza was taking poor Terry Farnham. I'm not going to go there because I think the Atlanta Falcons have some talent. You had them ninth and they were like the 16th best team. That's fine. I will be overly predictable and go with the Philadelphia Eagles. I think you have to have a cohesive team that makes these decisions. There needs to be a plan and a structure within making those decisions. A lot of the people who are kind of flailing about to try to keep their jobs, they're in that situation because of ownership.

38:24Patrick Claybon:But also, if they had performed better, they would not be in that situation. So they will be a little bit lower. But as far as the Lurries and Howie Roseman, they will be my number. And another option, by the way, for two first round picks in the same season would be the same year as Devin Witherspoon and JSN. It would be Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. I wouldn't put that. I take the Seahawks duo, but that's pretty good from nine and 30 because you have to consider where they're drafting to. They got the defensive backs in 24. That's why in general, they they take they have a system, which is they take big guys and they take big talented and they also take talented guys that fall a little further than you're expecting.

39:04They didn't like like a Devante Smith that didn't exactly fit their mold. And yet, yeah, you look at the top of their drafts and that's where they excel. I think I probably would have had them first, too.

39:13Gregg Rosenthal:One thing that matters to me is they're often, especially recently, picking later in the first round and they still manage to find value there. And then what I really like is how when they do have an above average scheme last year, certainly was not offense, but defense. they've had it for a couple years when it has been offense as well, they've really been able to find really good players that they can attune to that scheme or that really can be really mutually compatible within that and lift the ceiling. And that's what happened with those secondary players, Quinone Mitchell and Cooper DeGene.

39:45Yeah, I think they also trade more than just about anyone. I think they've been really good about being patient, and that's where ownership and continuity helps too because they often trade into the future. and get great value out of those trades. I was looking at the drafts, though. It's like with anyone, though. You can find years where they slumped. They took Jalen Rager, famously, over Justin Jefferson. And that's where the consensus board would have won that year. Justin Jefferson was very underdrafted, was expected to go ahead of Jalen Rager. They needed a slot guy, which was what people thought of Justin Jefferson at the time.

40:22They took Jalen Rager. But they also, in that draft, got a little creative, pissed everyone off. and took Jalen Hurts higher than everyone expected. That worked out fantastic. But they had like an Andre Dillard, Ortega Whiteside, Miles Sanders year, which, you know, not great. Even the best teams. All right, number three. This is tough. A lot of good teams on the board.

40:46Gregg Rosenthal:It's a snake draft, right? No, it's not a snake draft. Now we go. You go to you. I want to see how long... you will try to just push against what you think the listeners are expecting in terms of taking the Rams. And so I won't take the Rams just to put you on the spot for the next spot because this is very scientific. Greg's always doing the most. You know, I wanted to take Detroit, but I don't quite believe in it. This is for the three spot. So do what's right for the three spot. No, I will do what's right for the three spot. Bucs fans will be shocked, but they have been an extremely consistent drafting team.

41:34And if you go to some of these models that are out there, and I did, I don't think it's cheating. Like there's a way to do it. Steve Patton put this out, but it's using kind of the approximate value on pro football reference over expectation for draft picks since 22. Number one on the list is actually the Rams who get a huge benefit from the fact that they've been drafting later and hit big. The Bucs are number two on that list for approximate value over expectation over the last four years. But one of the reasons I will go with Jason Light is that because I think it's been consistent throughout the years.

42:09I don't think he has a lot of big misses. He maybe hasn't had quite as many high level, like, wow, these are just absolute home runs. Those are hard to find. But man, he had singles and doubles and he is absolutely consistent. So I'm going to take the Bucs number three. just to put you on the spot.

42:25Gregg Rosenthal:No, I love that because they're up super high for me as well. You know, I've always spoken highly of how they do things when we're on this show. And like that's so, I like how you put that. First of all, I love that study with the value over position, the estimated value over expected of the picks that Stephen Patton did. That was a really cool chart. I will say I appreciate it too. He talked about where some of the maybe blind spots were, which it was not weighted by position, for example. So I think you do factor that in. Yes, approximate value from pro football references. It very flawed stat in general, but it's just a good overall.

42:58I liked it.

42:59Gregg Rosenthal:It was a great exercise, and it also helped show how many picks, because volume picking is really important, too, when you have such a low success percentage possible from draft picking that volume picking is awesome. I love it because their floor is so high with how they pick. Like you mentioned it, Greg, it's not too many egregious misses or outside of process misses. It's always like we have a formula. We understand the players that we want. We understand how we scout those players. And they don't second-guess themselves much. And they build complete groups. Their receiver's room is about as complete as any in the NFL, even though it's not always the sexiest.

43:40Gregg Rosenthal:Their offensive line is one of the more complete offensive line groups. Their defensive line, yes, they need pass rush help, but especially on that interior, it's one of the most – they just build complete groups. They understand how to build complementary skill sets. They have for years, and I really like that about the Bucs. Yeah, Abuka is a huge hit at 19. Graham Barton, I don't think people realize, is a massive hit at 26. Kalijah Canty is a hit at 19. A lot of their second-round picks, like Cody Mock, and I like the defensive backs they took. Even the year they didn't have a first-round pick, okay, Logan Hall doesn't work out great at the top of the second round, but then you get Gedeke, Rashad White, K-Dot, and right after that.

44:20It's really just Tryon, Shoyanka, Kyle Trask draft that didn't work out for them. But the one right before that is Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield, just very consistent, hitting singles, hitting some doubles, finding some later guys like Jalen McMillan, Bucky Irving, just a really solid drafting team. I did punish the Rams slightly. It's not their fault. Maybe I shouldn't for not having these first-round picks because they have used them so well in the trades that they've made. So maybe that should be counting. but I was thinking a little more about draft classes. Maybe that was my own bias.

44:52Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I think thinking in totality of team build, certainly hard to knock them for. All right, so you're going to take them.

44:58Patrick Claybon:I think ultimately I did ding some teams because of the circumstance of being in a bad spot, put them in the place where they could draft the quarterback, and if not for being able to have Jared Goff as the number one overall pick, then we never would have gotten Matt Stafford on the Rams. And so, like, I did kind of insert that into the. I think that's fair. Sure. And like, I don't give, it's like the Patriots. We're going to do worse drafting teams. The Patriots, I thought about, you know, in terms of teams I trust the least, because in the Elliott Wolf two years, it hasn't been great. We'll get to him.

45:28Because I'm not giving much credit for Drake May. I think 32 teams out of 32, like any of us could have, would have, should have taken Drake May there and your team the year before, which they didn't have anything to do with, but I'm not going to give them that much credit. All right, you're up. You're up with pick four. We're going to go through three times, but we're going to speed it up now.

45:44Gregg Rosenthal:Yes, absolutely. And again, I might surprise you here, Greg. Oh, no. Because, and I do think the Rams should be in this group. So much Rams talk before the Rams are up. If they're not, it would be egregious. And there's only that talk because I know that's what everyone expects me to pick. But here, like, I'm picking the Detroit Lions here. And part of that is because I give them personally, this is subjective, a significant bump for the level and scale of rebuild that they had to do and specifically doing that through the draft after making that trade that helped bring them in extra picks in the Matthew Stafford trade that brought them in extra picks so that they could undergo that rebuild.

46:22Gregg Rosenthal:Brad Holmes can be a little bit of a wild card with his value. He comes from a background of being an NFS scout, which means that he has a very strict standard of how he evaluates positions. And so sometimes it doesn't necessarily look the same as what we see on the draft boards. And so they pick in volume, especially in the top 50. They have 13 top 50 picks over the last six seasons. And when they did start rebuilding this with the first three classes, they had Panay Sewell, Aleem McNeil, Amon Ross St. Brown, Aiden Hutchinson, Kirby Joseph, Jameer Gibbs, Brian Branch, and Sam Laporta, among others, that really helped reset a core foundation of what this franchise was going to be.

47:02Gregg Rosenthal:The significance of that rebuild and turning this franchise into an incredibly high floor, high ceiling organization at this point to me is a direct credit to how they've drafted and developed these players. And so I put them as my number four team. Yeah, I thought about them hard at number three because, yeah, the last two years haven't been as productive for them, but I'm looking at the total big picture. They have had a lot of dip on their chip, though, with trading some future high picks for like Manu to Slaw was was kind of like a lot like they've taken some swings, but ultimately I trust in the process.

47:37But it is crazy. One thing I learned from this exercise looking around and just like almost every fan base is unhappy with how their GMs have drafted. Even the best teams and the best drafting teams, the Lions I'm thinking about specifically, are like not happy with Brad Holmes right now. It's like, calm down. Let's calm down.

47:54Patrick Claybon:Only one team gets to hoist that trophy. You get to watch Jameer Gibbs. Bucs fans are really unhappy with Jason Light. It's like, calm down. Alright, number five, you're up. Yeah, I'm going to take the Green Bay Packers in this situation where I understand that last year's draft, there was a significant fall off over like the Van Ness, Musgrave, Tucker Craft, Jaden Reed, like that type of talent they were bringing into Green Bay. But continued success in the collaborative capacity, which we know that I am a fan of, a community-owned football team. And so, yeah, let's do that. I like that. And I thought it was interesting to them.

48:32they are the team that has added the most value just specifically not over expected uh of any team in the entire league because they've had i think it was the the fifth or sixth like value of the picks that they've had they've made a lot of picks yeah they value those picks they don't give them away it was actually the packers and the seahawks are the two highest and just in terms of total draft value they've gotten out of their guys they've been they've gotten very good at drafting like receivers specifically, Watson and Dobbs being in the second and fourth rounds, Musgrave and Kraft. I think of Kraft as a receiver ultimately in the second and third round, getting Edger and Cooper in the second round, Evan Williams in the fourth round.

49:14They haven't been as good at the very top as some of the other teams.

49:19Patrick Claybon:But they're not they're not picking. Yeah, but I even mean their first round picks like Jordan Morgan, Van Ness, Golden is is an even Quay Walker is not a great four year stretch. Eric Stokes. So Jordan Love took some doing, but the fact that they've been maybe the best team in the middle of the rounds makes them a good pick here. I will take the Rams here. Let's just do it. I won't make Jordan do it. We've kind of already mentioned, I mean, their creativity, the fact that Jared verse is their only first round pick in this entire era, unless you're counting like the, the less need arrow with Jeff Fisher, which would also include Jared Goff way back in the day to get as many hits as they've had with verse fisk i you could even say like quorum uh steve avula byron young kobe turner just hitting in the middle rounds kobe durant kyron williams that's where i think you can say that my whole thing i just said about the consensus board and like the average person with instead of spending millions and millions and millions of dollars on an entire scouting department, you could spend nothing and maybe get a creditable team.

50:29What the Rams have done, and obviously it shows what other teams do too, of really picking the right players for their system that fits what they do is why you get paid.

50:40Gregg Rosenthal:It's another team that understands how to build a complementary picture. I had knocked the Giants earlier this year about, I think they draft well in terms of traits and finding above average to elite players in certain spots, but they don't all seem to fit all together. all the time. And so they draft with complimentary traits. They, they do this very methodically. They, they redesigned it over the years, especially when they, you know, had to thrive off of those really insanely valuable 2023 and 2024 classes. I did some napkin math coming in this morning, 18 of that 30 draft pick in three years sort of situation was, were starters or key contributors during the 2025 season.

51:22Gregg Rosenthal:So a 60 % hit rate in an area where 30 to 40 is considered insane success. Their last year's class was not as good, but they also were sort of a full roster. So they're drafting more for depth. Konate Mumfield and Josiah Stewart were where I think the gems of that class. DJ would probably agree with me on Josiah Stewart, but I got to see them do it again. They're now in their, their model has shifted. I think team building models are a big part of this too. Their model has now shifted once again to all in picks for players after rebuilding through the draft in such rapid fashion. So I'm very interested to see how that changes the way that they draft.

52:00I'm not giving up on my Terrence Ferguson stock. It takes tight ends a little time. I mean, any guy that moves like that, he's going to be okay. All right. Your last pick of the best drafting teams. I've got some high picks. We're going to do nine picks of the teams that we trust the best, the most. So you're up here with pick number seven.

52:18Gregg Rosenthal:This is really tough for me to decide because there's a lot of really great candidates here. I actually am going to go with the Kansas City Chiefs here. That would have been my pick, too. Yeah. Oh, nice, guys. Thanks. I had the Rams and Chiefs very high. I had them both in the top four. I'm like flinching ahead of time. So they're consistently picking near the end of the first round. In their dynasty years, they've had six top 50 picks in the last six drafts. I love that they have nine and 29 this year and they pick at 40. So that's three top 50 picks all in one swing and they're consistent. They really are consistent.

52:54Gregg Rosenthal:They understand their quarterback. They understand where I would, I would like to see them invest a little bit more in, in different types of receivers. But at the same time, you can't argue with a lot of the the moves that they've made on offensive line on defense. They really find guys that match their coaches very well. And again, like I have a broken record, but I really like teams that can draft with complementary traits, and they certainly do that. They have some blind spots, surprisingly, for a team that has Andy Reid as the coach and Patrick Mahomes as the quarterback. McCole Hardman in the second round, Sky Moore in the second round, Rasheed Rice in the second round, and Xavier Worthy at the back end of the first round is not a great overall group.

53:38I would say Rice on the field has lived up to that and more, But the risk that every team knew about Rasheed Rice coming into it has kind of borne out. We'll see about Worthy. I haven't given up on him, but so far, a little underwhelming. So they haven't been great there. But, man, they find good value, including Josh Simmons last year. All right. Let's go with your number eight overall pick here, Patrick. Your last team.

54:02Patrick Claybon:My number eight overall pick would be the Denver Broncos. Okay. The Denver Broncos in this particular spot collectively over the course. I know the, in terms of finding a quarterback, that's the big thing. And I valued highly the fact that the Chiefs, when they did get Patrick Mahomes, because this is, you know, that same, it's not a, oh, well, this is the guy here at one. So we take the guy and being able to find Bo Nix in that spot and pair him up with Sean Payton. They continued success after the Zertan draft to kind of add in that secondary. I like the Broncos. Well, I wasn't sure. And I think you are right to do it.

54:37How deep to give George Payton credit. Because remember, Sean Payton inherited George Payton, who was part of the whole Russell Wilson fiasco.

54:47Gregg Rosenthal:He also fixed it in a season. Yes. In part by how he drafted. Did he draft Patrick Sertan? I'm trying to think. When was he hired? It was. Yes, that was his first draft. It was Patrick Sertan. So that was a great draft. You got two all pros. You got Patrick Sertan in the first round and Quinn Miners in round three. And oh, by the way, a very excellent, excellent seventh round pick. One of the best seventh round picks of the decade, Jonathan Cooper, even Baron Brownie in the third round. So George Payton came out swinging and has stayed solid. Was not on my long list, which makes my last pick. The Broncos weren't on your list?

55:23Gregg Rosenthal:No way. Well, I just thought, you know, they haven't had high picks. And the last few years, yeah, it's kind of, they would have been in my middle of the pack. I see what you did there. I think I have a bias. stir pot stir pot well since I'm last I can mention who the honorable mentioned types are I think more rules I think the well I'm going to get to my my overall I'm going to get you know the day Darren Mugey is kind of one for one they were pretty good last year actually the Jets I'm not going to give it to not enough data yeah I'm not trusting not enough data I wanted to make a case for Brandon Bean because there's actually multiple like advanced metric ones.

56:05The approximate value one is very kind to the bills. There's other ones which are similar. They have found contributors pretty significantly. But then I looked at the number, you know, the last three or four drafts have been just not good. So, but I think they were giving him credit for, for previous years. So maybe he can get it, get his mojo back. Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson has been quite a combination so far, one for one, but Poles in general, like he started with that brisker Kyler Gordon draft. Other than the Chase Claypool trade, I think overall, he's been quite a good drafter. Darnell Wright was a good pick.

56:41In general, they've been good, but I am going to settle on Nick Casario, the misunderstood Houston Texan head. And look, I'm going to give an assist here to D 'Amico Ryans because most of these picks are on defense, but if you're rebuilding a team without a lot of high draft picks, he inherited a tough situation. And I was thinking, why didn't they not have picks back then? It was because of the Laramie Tunsil and Kenny Stills trades that Bill O 'Brien made back in the day. So he inherited a team that did not have a lot of high picks. And yet in his very first draft, he finds their long-term backup in Davis Mills in the third round, which I think was a good pick.

57:19And then Nico Collins in the third round, which is one of the best third round picks of the decade. And then after that, you get Stingley and Jalen Petrie in the next draft. You also have a huge swing and miss at 15 overall in Kenyon Green. You get CJ Stroud and Will Anderson in that bold move up. You also get To 'o To 'o and Tank Dell in that draft. You don't have a first round pick the next year, but you still get Kamari Lassiter and Caden Bullock. Like that is awesome. And then last year, I'm pretty high on the Jaden Higgins, Aronte Ursary, Woody Marks overall, and some of the other guys. So overall, it's the combination of Ryan's coaching, but they found the right guys for his system.

57:56I think he's been pretty solid. You can't really find a bad draft that Nick Casario's had.

58:01Gregg Rosenthal:Texans were in my top five. Yeah. It's really high ceiling, high floor drafting. I thought that would be more controversial. Good. They should let D 'Amico have some say on the offensive side of it. I mean, maybe he does. He probably does. I don't know. He probably does. They would be third in the total value that they've added, but they've also had really high picks. So in terms of adjusting it for where they're at, they didn't rank quite a side, but good job, Nick Casario. Another GM I think the fans aren't that happy with. Let's take a break. It's going to be a super-sized show going into the weekend.

58:33And let's come back with Jordan's favorite part of a busy week, her drafting first teams that she trusts the least.

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1:00:47Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention. Work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list. Your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. And the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed, too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half.

1:01:20Gregg Rosenthal:And yet, when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%, nearly 100 % for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now. Pay the girls some attention. head to yourattentionplease.com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis. Back on NFL Daily. Tight shows all week. Until today. What do you mean? I'm loving it. I feel like I'm just hanging out with you guys.

1:02:03Gregg Rosenthal:It's nice. That's it. It's nice. That's the podcast. and wait HR can I can I get HR get him soon in a surprise move without her even knowing there actually has been a change in the draft order I have made a trade with Jordan Roderick and I'm going to draft first overall with that you get the honor of getting to go to the NFL annual league meetings as paid for by the Athletic but we won't get into specifics you're going to have the second pick I'm going to take the Browns as the team I try there we go I just didn't want to give you the out I was more curious who would you go with if it wasn't the Browns would have you taken the Browns I guess you'll never know Greg this feels like a really unfortunate show you may be able to control the structure Greg but you can't control what's inside my mind No, that's true.

1:03:05And honestly, you could look at last year as a great process year for Andrew Barry. You get the defensive rookie of the year. You get Harold Fannin. This draft saved his job. I really believe that. Quint John Jenkins obviously looked fantastic while he was out there. And that was about trading back. It was like all the principles you want to see. But I guess I guess maybe I'm being overly punitive for the Watson trade, kind of including that, but also not finding a lot of wins outside the first round, like some of the teams that have not had their first round picks.

1:03:40Patrick Claybon:And everything that you felt great about, you had a guy that's going to the Hall of Fame, set the sack record. You had the defensive rookie of the year. And then it ultimately transpires where your defensive coordinator gets mad at something and ultimately leaves. like the structure of which you look in the draft room during the draft, and there's Kevin Stefanski, there's Andrew Barry, and Jimmy Haslam is 17 inches away from them, literally looking over their shoulders, where you're asking me what I trust? I don't trust that. Yes, that was where I came to, because even though I would find the non-draft moves probably more regrettable, I'm so into the message that you send with your first ever draft pick and your first draft.

1:04:21It's why we probably always knew Questy was not long for that job. One of the worst first drafts anyone's ever had, unfortunately for him. Traded back and ended up with two bus. Andrew Barry's first pick, Jedrick Wills, at 10 overall. Just didn't work out for him. And then after that, Greg Newsom's then his first pick. Emerson's been okay. Cedric Tillman. These are third-round picks. Michael Hall, who has some off-field issues.

1:04:46Gregg Rosenthal:I don't trust their process. That's really as simple as that for me. It's inclusive to the ownership stuff and how involved he's getting in the 11th hour. Like, I just don't trust their process. I know we hear all the time, and I have no reason to believe this is true, that they've got some really interesting things that they're doing, analytically speaking, and studies that they're running, whatever. But where is that showing up in the actual process? I'd like to know, and I don't see it. So that's, I just don't, I just don't trust it. You know what's really funny? they have drafted one pro. Oh no, they've drafted two because, uh, Jeremiah Owusu, Coromoa, uh, made a pro bowl.

1:05:23Uh, but their second pro bowler was actually drafted in the 2025 draft pro bowler, Shadrish Sanders. All right. You are up, uh, with your second overall pick here. We're only going to do six teams here in the worst, the worst drafting team.

1:05:38Gregg Rosenthal:Yes. The show is, it's a meaty show. They, um, I, a lot of this was based on the unknown. So I, I think it's easy in hindsight, and fair in a lot of ways to criticize Kwasi Adolfo Mensah for the bad drafts. They were the worst team in approximate value of expectation for draft picks since 2022. At the very bottom, the Minnesota Vikings. I'm not going to hold a person who is no longer there accountable for future drafts, obviously. But for me, a lot of this, like I mentioned at the top of the show, a lot of this has to do with continuity as well. There are still a lot of people in that building who preceded his regime who are still there.

1:06:17Gregg Rosenthal:So it's also like a lot of the same people who are also contributing to making these decisions are still there through the draft and they don't have any official actual GM. So I've got to put them in second to least trustworthy for me and certainly actually would have been my first pick because I did like the Browns draft last year. So this, for me, I would have put the Vikings number one, in large part because I don't even know what direction they're going to be taking at the GM position. Rob Brzezinski has been with the team since 1999, 27 seasons, and was as high as VP of football administration all the way back in 2001, EVP football.

1:06:58Gregg Rosenthal:It's also Ryan Grigson has been there too. So these guys proceeded, then were there, and then now are still there. So it's like these are it's not just one person in a vacuum making these decisions. Right. I mean, that is that is that is like the Dennis Green era Vikings when he arrived. So, yeah, it's confusing. The coaching staff will probably have a bigger say this year. What do you got, Patrick?

1:07:18Patrick Claybon:Number three for my number three team. I am going to go. I took my other number three team off the board because I've developed a relationship and a kinship with the fans of the Arizona Cardinals. So I, you know, I stand in support. We're trying to be nicer to the Cardinals. With you. I've still got to ding the Las Vegas Raiders. I think you get to this place where it's pretty much consensus in those awful destroying the planet market betting circumstances where it's pretty obvious that Fernando Mendoza is going to be the number one overall pick. You kind of get into that situation. The guy wins the national championship and the Heisman Trophy.

1:07:58Patrick Claybon:We expect him to do great. Love what they've done thus far in free agency. but I can't like look away from what actually happened last year and how weird and nonsensical it was. This was foresight, not hindsight. And then everything that transpired since then, all love to Ashton Gentry, who I think is a great player, can be a great player. You got to have a football team and I'm going to need to see it before I feel good about it. Yeah. It's called trust. And I think that's fair because at this point they don't have a track record that you can believe in. And then if you're thinking about above the GM, is Tom Brady trustworthy?

1:08:36Like as a football operations guy? I mean, like if I speak, he, I mean, he couldn't even with that caveat, he couldn't get any people to go see some of the best football players in the world in Los Angeles for that flag football thing. And then Mark Davis, like the front offices under Mark Davis have not worked out. I'm going to go to another organization where ownership has been an issue over the years. Now, back in the around the NFL days, we would kind of defend Duke Tobin because when he came along with the Bengals, it felt a little bit like a new day. He didn't get the GM title, but he was on a heater pretty early on with Marvin Lewis.

1:09:11And they really did improve where they were at. But I'm going to be a victim of the last four years and it hasn't been good. And then you start to think about the lack of infrastructure and spending that you hear about in terms of their scouting department and how that is married up with what the coaches have wanted. And maybe him and Zach Taylor not really having the right vision, because the fact that they're they love these young linebackers, Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, despite what they saw on the field last year. And then Shamar Stewart and Dylan Fairchild, that was a rough first year from that rookie class.

1:09:45And then you think back, Amarius Mims was a good first-round pick, but the rest of that draft class has not really borne much fruit. Jermaine Burton is in the mix. Miles Murphy was their first pick the year before. Really hasn't contributed much. Got Chase Brown deep into that draft, but not a draft where DJ Turner might turn out okay. And then they've taken a lot of defensive backs. Daxton Hill, Cam Taylor-Britt. They haven't all been misses, but they haven't been hits either. And overall, it's pretty inconsistent to pour over the last four years. And so knowing that and I considered ownership and I considered just the Zach Taylor, all of it, them being a little bit on the hot seat.

1:10:24Like, I'm not trusting what's going on there right now.

1:10:27Gregg Rosenthal:I think that's fair because when I think of the word trust, can we trust their process? That's really a lot of what the untrustworthy teams were to me. And year over year, and they've delegated and there's a couple of high ranking, like an assistant GM. There's like a triumvirate of assistant GMs there now that, you know, have a good reputation around the league. But at the same time, like I just their process, I don't buy it. It hasn't worked for him thus far. And they're sort of still coasting off of the got Joe Burrow, got Jamar Chase, got Tegan kind of situation that's lifted the floor of what this team looks like, at least on paper, for quite some time.

1:11:06Patrick Claybon:And that's the circumstantial aspect of the evaluation where this group of kids in Baton Rouge has the best offensive season in the history of college football. Are we even like are we even considering not having them in the bottom? If not for those two guys, like knowing each other and playing well with each other? Their process used to be to just draft like the biggest, most famous guy from a major school. Like when they're up, that was that was always worked for him in that circumstance.

1:11:34Gregg Rosenthal:It worked for a while. Sometimes you land. I don't know if John, like there are some clunkers here that I'm including too. Jonah Williams, the offensive lineman, Billy Price and John Ross in a row. That came before Burrow. And so I'm including Duke Tobin and his offensive line picks. All right, you're up with number five. Number five, I'm going Washington Commanders here in terms of the lack of trust. So I'm just going to, so they hit, they nailed it on quarterback. Jaden Daniels is sensational. Hopefully he bounces back from this injury and then a little bit of down play before he had the injury.

1:12:11Gregg Rosenthal:So hopefully this is a really positive, strong season. I'm just going to read the last two draft classes from Adam Peters and company. Johnny Newton, who since the injury recovery has showed some some promise. Mike Sanders still Benson, not Brandon Coleman, Luke McCaffrey, Jordan McGee, Dominique Hampton, Javante Jean-Baptiste. Josh Connerly, Trey Amos, Jalen Lane, Kane Medrano, and Ja 'Cory Kroski Merritt, who we love, Bill Merritt. But it's just not inspiring to me. Outside of the quarterback, it's just not inspiring to me. They haven't had a ton of draft picks to work with either this last class, their first class they did.

1:12:51Gregg Rosenthal:And when we talk about trust, I don't fully trust that they even know where they're at in their team build. Because if you're looking at where they, what they could have really decided was say hey this is most a mostly tear down minus the quarterback and a couple of guys along you know in certain positions like this is mostly a tear down but you also need a lot of draft picks to be able to do that they haven't had those and then they have not in my opinion maximized their draft process where they could well i think they had a huge opportunity in the jayden draft and that's the draft if they hit that you talk about for years to come as the draft that changes everything because they had about as much draft capital in that draft as almost any team has had in any draft.

1:13:32Three seconds and two-thirds. You're hoping to get the core of a team. And right now, Sandra still is definitely a contributor. Although, even though he was good as a rookie, he was not great last year, which kind of slipped under the radar. And then you just have a lot of question marks. I think Trey Amos, their second round pick last year, is going to work out. But, yeah, not great.

1:13:53Gregg Rosenthal:Six top 100 picks that year. Right. You need that to hit, especially if you're going to draft, like, the son of a guy you're super close to. It actually didn't help him out because it's like, we know your buddy's with Ed. You know, and this puts a little bit of a target on Luke's back. All right. Wait, is this the last pick?

1:14:14Patrick Claybon:Yeah, this is my last pick. It's a chance for me to get weird in an off-season front office evaluation. I'm going to put the Buffalo Bills in my bottom. I thought about him for my top 10. I know you did. And here I will make the case because it's a sense of trust. And yeah, there are some absolute hits. But in the last two years, in terms of win adjusted value, do you know who the most valuable player they've drafted is? Keon Coleman. So let's ask the Buffalo Bills how they feel about their ability to draft players by the way that they're absolutely submarining one of the players that they took in this situation where you had the defensive minded head coach who was able to facilitate a certain type of player, a certain type of veteran that they could get for a low cost and allow them to invest even more resources in the draft that they never necessarily took advantage of where they're in a situation now where they have to trade for DJ Moore in the first place.

1:15:04Patrick Claybon:Less than 365 days after screaming at people on the radio about the insistence to need to acquire a wide receiver. Like, I would like to ask, I would like to ask Sean McDermott how much he trusts the situation and how he was treated and the way things ended in Buffalo. So like in terms of, do I believe, I think maybe the front office is flailing. I think maybe ownership is also flailing when you've got a situation where we have one of the best quarterbacks that we have seen. And in my time watching football and not being able to take advantage of that is a failure. And yeah, the other team that I like very much would also be in this situation as well.

1:15:39Gregg Rosenthal:Damn fire. Who says the worst team draft isn't going to be a lot of fun at the back end. No, you're right. I think ultimately nobody said that. Eric thought the worst would be as fun, so shut it. So, you know, maybe make it a little shorter. Eric said it. You're right. And you know what? It's a good reminder about the Keon Coleman of it all. Keon Coleman, it's easy to forget now, 67 catches, 960 yards, eight touchdowns in his rookie season. That's not just like a solid rookie season. That's a great rookie season. Now, I think that was a little misleading in terms of like, is that going to be translatable skills year after year?

1:16:22But he also was, you know, a second round pick top of the second round. And maybe the Keyon comeback is back. I don't know.

1:16:31Gregg Rosenthal:For them still or for another team? Well, he just showed up to that state fair or whatever at the last second in our last episode as written by Oscar winning screenwriter Eric Robbins. What a fun week. I like this one. I didn't think I would, Greg. Oh, why wouldn't you think you would? I knew that. I knew that. I'm just pushing your buttons. Patrick will be back with me on Monday. Let's hit that music. And we are going to have a relatively early show because we're going to be reacting to those coaches' breakfasts. Who ate what? Yeah, that's what happened. Who had food in their teeth? Got to do a food record.

1:17:14Who answered the questions? No, there's a lot of news that comes out of that. Looking forward to that. Looking forward to talking to Jordan. That'll be on Tuesday. Enjoy your trip to Phoenix. We will see you then.