NFL Daily 32: Ranking the Best Edge Rushers

23:23Trayvon Walker was hurt, had a didn't have his best year. And And for a second, it looked like Heinz Allen maybe wasn't at his normal level. And then he finished the season really hot, and it ended up kind of making up for everything. And there's all these different stats of how you're going to measure it. But when you check out pass rush win rate from ESPN, one of the things I like are the guys who are consistent. And they've been doing it for like five years. And Josh Heinz Allen is in the same spot every year. He's somewhere between about 12 and 16 in pass rush win rate, which kind of matches my eye test.

23:57But you combine that with the smarts and a really good run defender, just everything that you could want. And you kind of know exactly who Josh Hines Allen is every season.

24:06Ollie Connolly:Yeah. And of that top group, and I would put him in that that top group, he's the best like pure masher of all of those guys where it's not like Jared Verse, where it's just kind of throwing guys out the club down after down. but in terms of the stunt game the loop game which of these guys is willing to kind of throw their face into the fire to go pick someone else for their teammate if you go through even like some miles garrett that is not miles garrett's highest strength he's kind of waiting for his turn on that stuff or he'll kind of slip around as the looping guy as the second man through as the first guy into the fire go throw yourself into two bodies just create havoc get guys on different levels let your teammate come sweep behind you no one throws themselves into the fire like josh heinz Allen and so to be in that kind of blue chip or right near the blue chip tier and to be willing to kind of subsume yourself to the scheme in that way it's not normal the guys do that Mike is probably the one who's the most willing to go and do that stuff but the rest of the list is guys who they win one-on-one against the great players that's why they're great I think Josh Heinz Allen is a little bit more on the the team concept side but he's willing to kind of turn himself over to the team in a way that a lot of the guys of his talent probably wouldn't do yeah I know there's flashier players out there i suspect you're gonna take one of them right now but jacks fans and josh heins allen i think they're always looking for the respect i'm giving it to him with him going eighth uh what's number nine who's number nine i'm gonna go very slightly off my board because you've made me nervous with how you've built your board out and i'm gonna take a bit of a maybe not a swing but i'm gonna hope this doesn't make me look like a dummy in 12 months i'm gonna take abdul kata wow wow uh you made me i made you nervous with how i'm doing my bed we're just taking guys i like i thought i had carter exceptionally high and it but i had about four four or five more picks here away so i i got a reach great that's good to know um this is betting on the potential of the player and what we saw at the closing end of last season He has one of the best we'll ever see in terms of time to pressure of any rookie, any player in the league.

26:11Ollie Connolly:And that's coming with a volume of a ton of pressures too. So the innate skill is there. He looks exactly like the player I thought he would do coming out of college. He still is not in any way to me piecing it together. I still think it's pure instinct and it's pure athleticism. And there's such a lack of refinement at times. It's almost nauseating because he's so gifted. when you're watching him against Laramie Tunsil he'll hit Laramie Tunsil with two things you've never seen before it reminds you a little bit of Daniel Hunter where it's like I don't think he quite knew what he was doing there it's kind of a hezi then a chop then a spin move somehow he's cleared the distance Tunsil's got no idea what's happening then it's just nothing, nothing, nothing rep after rep but if you look at kind of the volume production with what the high-end reps are if any kind of switch goes on or there's even any kind of improvement he's producing at the level he is now as such a role player which is a little like when Hunter came into the league It's only going to take a tiny little switch to kind of get him to the next tier, I think, of being a truly dominant one-on-one.

27:10Ollie Connolly:We have no idea what we're dealing with here as an offense. It's really not even as bold as I made it out to be. I keep mentioning quick pressures. So quick pressures, according to NextGen stats, defined by 2.5 seconds or less. Abdul Carter, as a rookie, you mentioned the most for rookie. He had the most in the NFL. Like he had more than Micah. He had more than literally everyone. There was only three games by any players all season where someone had seven quick pressures in a game, which is basically like, I have totally taken over this game. Two of those three games were by Carter. The other one was by Micah, not surprisingly.

27:49He was that good and he needs to be able to finish. But you kind of talked about guys who get you a little tingly. I got him. I mean, Carter is that guy who you just watch him on tape and just like people don't move like that. That is just rare.

28:05Ollie Connolly:Yeah, he moves differently. The finishing is the main thing. And the finishing was the thing coming out of college. His contact balance is pretty poor. I don't think he's that flexible in the ankles. When anyone touches him, he goes down. And it often happens when, as he's kind of clearing the tackle, if he gets like a little nudge on the way through, he just hits the floor. So I don't know how a team's going to work around that. Is it flexibility? Is it lower body strength? there are two should be monster sacks on Jalen Hurts when they played against Philadelphia where he gets the lightest touch and falls to the floor after putting together something you've never seen someone do before to get away around one is against guard one's against a tackle so the kind of like in phase stuff and the early push the reps of is absolutely mind-blowing the talent is so off the charts but he does have to finish and I think part of it is that the contact balance I mentioned and he also does I think needs to add some more weight and have a little bit more of a speed power threat all the great guys that aren't benito that we've talked about so far have some kind of speed power threat and carter wants to play that the crafty hezi movement game because he just moves differently to everyone else but even daniel hunter who is built in that mold of i can outthink you you'll never be able to guess what i'm doing can just sit on power for three drives if he wants to and drive you back to the quarterback yeah he also led the entire nfl and in time to pressure.

29:20So it felt like part partially a coaching or not connecting with his coaching staff thing last year. Definitely some maturity issues based on the reporting. I mean, that's something it happens at this position happens at every position, but this position seems to over index a little bit. We're like that rookie year. Okay. Like we've seen it in New York before. I, it wouldn't shock me at all for him to totally lock in. I like that pick. I also like that. You left me Max Crosby. See, I'm getting unpredictable here because I was concerned about the injuries at the top. The surgery is a concern. And some of the overall numbers are a little concerning when it comes to Max Crosby.

29:59Not in the top 40, I think it was, in total pressures, which is crazy last year. Like sub-55 pressures on PFF, which is more generous. And look, he is getting chipped all the time. He is right there with the top players in the league in terms of how much he's getting chipped. And it was partly because there was less opportunities. Not only were the Raiders never ahead, but he didn't play the last few games. There was possibly a little less juice at times. I think that is fair, like the time to pressure. I'm giving some of the negatives, but still a total beast in terms of the running game. Still a maniac.

30:39I still think gets all the respect as he should from the players that he goes against. And I take that into account. And so I am willing to look at last year, a little bit of him playing through that injury and hoping him coming off the injury that it can be improved. And it's Max freaking Crosby. I just didn't want him to fall out of the top 10.

31:01Ollie Connolly:No, I agree that that was the guy I was going to take. He was much higher on the board than I had Carter, but I didn't want to miss out on him. if this was a three-year project i would be a little bit concerned about okay maybe we've we've seen the peak and run kind of the steady part of the decline here but even the high-end edge rushes are able to sustain some part of the decline if they're not just pure speed off the ball type players which he's not and i certainly don't want to go up against a pissed off max crosby so i'm gonna guess that he's gonna come back all kinds of fury all kinds of blurriness if he's still on the raiders which i'm guessing he's gonna be at this point they've so much improved the group around him I think the numbers will skyrocket compared to what they were last year even if he's just the same player even does take some kind of step back it's been so barren for so long and was so barren last season he's carrying as such a heavy burden that it's only natural that at some point we're going to see some kind of slip in the figures and I don't think he looks like quite the same first athlete off the ball as two seasons ago but maybe if he can have a an offseason getting to some degree of 90%, 95 % healthiness, we could maybe see that player.

32:05Ollie Connolly:He makes you feel something though, right? In the football loins. There's a great article as we head to a break. Might be outside the realm of most of the people listening here, but it's by Alina Svitolina about her husband, Gail Monfils, who's about to retire as a tennis player. And the article, it's one of the best pieces of sports writing I saw all year, is essentially about champions come and go. There's only so many different athletes that make you feel something. And it's very germane to what we were talking about. And she was saying that about her husband. I think Raiders fans could say that about Max Crosby, certainly.

32:41Maybe everyone else watching over the last few years. Let's take a break. We got our top 10 done. And we'll be back with the rest of the Edge Rusher list.

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36:34Back on NFL Daily, Olly Connolly is up next with the number 11 overall pick. When they do the War Room documentary about your process, birdies are telling me, I mean, you were considering Abdul Carter as early as number four. That would have been wild.

36:50Ollie Connolly:I was. My inside the war room would look like one of the Ryan Paul's videos where he thinks he snagged a great thing and he's high-fiving the team and all the other GMs just giggling about him on the phone to one another. It's like the Rams when the Patriots took Cole Strange, just that view. Let's go number 11. No, I think you put Carter at a good spot. And never be hesitant to make a bold pick because it's only going to be good for the NFL Daily 32 brand. Okay, I'm in a tough spot here because I think there's about eight names in consideration. I'm just going to take TJ Watt of the Steelers.

37:24Ollie Connolly:I don't feel great about it. I think the decline is really real. I think when you get a, you know, he's such a high profile player and the big plays are so impactful. But he has just become such a boom or bust player relying on one thing from one alignment. And he still creates havoc and he can still create chaos. but when you start to see a player like that decline, I do get worried that the impact just gets deadened and deadened. And there's an argument that of the three guys on his team that play his role, you maybe get more versatility from the other two guys and one is certainly more ascendant than I think where TJ Watt is going.

37:59Ollie Connolly:But it is very best. I think he still has game takeover potential. And I'm just thinking, if you had a slate of Penny Sewell, Tristan Wirth, Trent Williams, and you're going through the names, who do you think could give those guys a tough time i would still even though it's one move and everyone knows it's coming and it's just an outside dip under the shoulder burst the backfield as quickly as possible that he is probably the guy who could get you the must-have-it third down sack ahead of some of the other guys i had in consideration yeah i only had we've stuck to my board pretty closely he was he was gonna be only one other player was ahead of him that that hasn't been taken but if you want the profile i misspoke when i said max crosby was not in the top 40 pressures.

38:41Don't be mad at me, Max. I'm not like a sent from Eric DaCosta to drive your value down or anything. He was not in the top 20 in pressures. It was Watt I was thinking of that was not in the top 40 in total pressures. And so, yeah, the question is kind of how steep the drop off was. Now, he is getting doubled and chipped more. I mentioned how it was Micah and Garrett at the top two in the league. Watt was still third. So he is getting chipped all the time as much as anyone actually since 2018, which is a crazy stat in terms of pure chips.

39:12Ollie Connolly:It's partly because of what his style is, which is a line as wide as possible and you just dip up under the outside shoulder, the chip becomes more effective against that kind of player. Whereas with Micah Parsons, you've got the stab for outside, you could slash back inside. It's not quite as effective as you just know the angle of attack on every single rep. And it's just, will he beat me off the ball or not? Does he time the snap well enough or not? And so for a guy like TJ Watts, similar to Nick Benito you really have to crush people in the quick pressure world and the high quality sack and high quality pressure world it's there's not going to be a huge volume of total pressure I think as his career kind of advances here unless he wants to kind of transform and redefine his game I have a hard time seeing it frankly at this stage of his career he's played this way now for so long it's been so effective but when the quick pressures fall below him being one of the top three guys top four guys in the league which is where he just lives that that as a massive compromising effect, I think, on the rest of the defense.

40:08Ollie Connolly:It's not good enough for him to have these kind of second surge pressures that are kind of extended because his impact comes immediately off the snap or it's not really felt all that much. I think the coaching change will help him just because I don't think it could be worse than it was last year where he's just so static. And I think they could help him out and help the other two guys who are going to be taken in this draft, Herbig and Highsmith, out by, you know, moving, rotating more. But the PFF grades, which are certainly not perfect, I think they're better at different positions than others.

40:40But if you're a T.J. Watt fan, you've always seen these as his were outstanding off the charts. You know, 90 pass rush, 90 run grade every year, as recently as 2024. And last year he was at 75 and 74 for PFF. It was completely different than their grading really for the rest of the time T.J. Watt was in the league. So he's opening up stuff for other guys. I don't think that's fair in terms of the run defense. Even if you just look at the numbers of like when you ran to TJ Watt's side and you ran to the other side, it was much worse on TJ Watt's side. I think he's still great there. And I just wonder about that, that contract,$32 million fully guaranteed next year.

41:19You don't see contracts like that too often. It's very NBA contract, like where you could see him getting traded after this.

41:25Ollie Connolly:You also don't see a team hiring a guy because he likes the local area, even though he's been out the league. Like, no one runs a team the way that you don't see people every year. You got to draft someone because they played in the local area or that mom knows the coach. Like, they run differently to everyone else. On one hand, I'm critical because I don't think it's a smart way to run your team. On the other hand, it is the type of contract that, like, you get in the NBA because you kind of get in the NBA for what you've done in the past. Like, you get rewarded. And T.J. Watt has done all that for the Steelers.

41:55So I actually do get it. He's going to get rewarded with a gold jacket. like do we have to reward him with the contract i get it um jared verse is going to get a monster contract pretty soon he's my pick he is a very particular brand we kind of mentioned people are looking for their benitos i think people are looking for their jared versus because you can find players like that ish um just absolutely rugged blowing up the play if if you want to chart missed tackles. He is going to be up there. But part of the reason he misses so many tackles is he's just back there. And yeah, if he could finish the place, he would be one of the first four guys taken.

42:39And that's why he's not. His total pressures, according to PFF, is at 189 for two years. It's just preposterous. They count the playoff games, too. So he's getting a bonus. But you talked about playing well when it matters. He killed Seattle last year. He was great in those games when Byron Young kind of disappeared. He had seven quarterback hits in the playoffs total. He helped close out that Bears game, if you remember well. He showed up in both plays. I don't know if he improved in his second season, but he didn't really step back. I'm curious what you think. Did you notice the difference between him year one, year two?

43:17Was it just more of the same?

43:19Ollie Connolly:No, I think he is who he is. It's really, really, really rare for a speed to power rusher, which is what he is. It's all just sit on the ball rush. I can kind of big boy everyone. It's really rare for those guys to go from college and not actually carry over to the league where you are just bigger, stronger than everyone else. And even the great ones, you mentioned the Seattle game. If you go up against Abe Lukes or Charles Cross, both those guys struggle with just straight power through their chest. He's the best pure power pass rusher in the league. And the thing I think with him is, I'm kind of interested that you had him in the same vein because I think some people would maybe have him higher because the stats are so off the charts.

43:52Ollie Connolly:And the best plays are just throwing Tristan Wirth to the floor, which you just never see against anyone else that Tristan Wirth plays against. Jordan Mailata has hit the deck against this guy. He's 6 '9", and, you know, almost 400 pounds. That just doesn't happen with anyone else, where he can just get under your pad level and throw you around. So I do think people see that those flash plays and maybe push him close towards the top eight, maybe even the top six. I think that the total pressure numbers, the way those are charted, The power rushes end up encroaching in the space. The quarterback gets charged as a pressure.

44:26Ollie Connolly:It's not always that disruptive to the quarterback. They can slip and navigate around it as opposed to a guy who can win inside, outside. It's a flash of color inside. You've got to bail out the pocket. So I don't think his pressures are quite as impactful as everyone else's pressures all the time, but he has more knockout shots than anyone else in the league. And I'm telling you, the Colts never ever want to see his face again. Tanner Bortolini never wants to see this guy in his life. He has, I thought, the three most holy s*** pass rushes of last season, and they all came in the Colts game, and two of them were against Tanner Bortolini.

44:58That's incredible. It's the second time this week that Tanner Bortolini has come up for being on the wrong side of a pass rush. I brought him up against Jordan Phillips of the Dolphins. Jared Burse might be the guy where the number of pressures between PFF and next-gen stats is the biggest because I think it's what you're saying. And yeah, that's not why he's higher, But again, if it's my team, I love pure power rushers. I've always loved Jadavian. Like, I love that style. It's fun to watch personally. And yeah, and it works in tandem. But yeah, there could only be a couple Parsons and he fits everywhere else.

45:35Ollie Connolly:Yeah, you really can't win a championship without one of them. Like, it's great to have the slinky guys who can do the bouncy stuff or bend around the edge. You go through all the championship teams. They all have at least one of these guys or they make up for it with two great ones on the inside. Every team needs an out in crunch Russia. You can just kind of demolish the pocket in one clean blow. And I think verse right now is kind of the apex predator of the power rushes. He is another guy where if you go chasing that, if you go back to his Florida State film and you see anything similar and you say, OK, we want to get one of those guys.

46:05Ollie Connolly:It's just really tough to come up to the league and be as strong and impactful as Jared versus just a couple of years into his career. Maybe not as versatile, but is there a little bit of James Harrison to him, one of my all-time favorite players? Verse might have a deeper bag, honestly, than James Harrison. But yeah, in terms of you go up against a Hall of Fame left tackle and you just kind of dump truck him, it's almost impossible to do. Harrison could do that and Verse can do that. That's what the normies like me like, just some guy who's going to create a car crash. All right, you're up. I will take Trey Hendrickson.

46:40Ollie Connolly:Okay. I'm betting on the bounce back. I'm betting in that defensive environment. It will kind of help the elements of his game that he has shine. I do think he's a little bit craftier than he's often given credit for. It's more of the swooping type pass rusher. I do think he's got more inside out versatility. I think they're going to move him around more than he did at Cincinnati. Put him over some guards, let him beat up on people inside. So I'm going to bet with Jesse Minter with a different defensive environment, getting him into these two-on-one conflicts where guys aren't sure he's supposed to be blocking and giving him more of a free get off the we'll see at least numbers wise a return to a couple of years ago if he's fully healthy yeah he's getting up there in years but i think it's a great fit what what do you think about the uh run defense accusations you know i think they're accurate i think he's not impactful and i think he asks out far too much for my liking okay all right trey hendrick's in there and uh he deserved to go a little bit out a sight out of mind, whereas, yeah, if he had played even at the end of last season for six or seven games, I probably would have already taken him, but that didn't happen.

47:48All right, let's start taking guys. Just I don't want you to have nice things. I am going to take Nick Herbig now. Let's go for it. I already spent the whole segment on him earlier this week, so I'm not going to repeat myself. But you lead pass rush win rate in back-to-back seasons. I think he is a pretty complete player. Am I crazy? I think he can handle more. They were only using him for about 25, 30 snaps a game towards the end of last year, but I see no reason why he can't play more than that. What do you think?

48:20Ollie Connolly:No, the only concern would be some of the run defense stuff. And I don't think it's his fault why that's the case. It's usually, if Highsmith isn't in the game, Highsmith offsets a lot of their concerns just strictly in how they kind of set up to fit against the run. I think it's really hard to get away with Herbig going to walk together on the field on rundowns because they both do the same stuff, which is gamble. We're going to backdoor everything. We're going to try and shoot everything off the snap. We're here to try and force fumbles. We're here to create chaos. It's just impossible to build a wall with two guys kind of ripping into the backfield off the snap.

48:51Ollie Connolly:And Highsmith is such an intelligent, outstanding run defender that you need to have him on the field on those downs. And so then it becomes, well, do we put a situational pass rusher on the field or do we put TJ Watt on the field? I think that's the difficulty they've had for many, many seasons. he is a sensational one-on-one pass rusher. His get-off is as good as anyone in the league. Bend, as good as anyone in the league. Spin move, as good as anyone in the league. If he played for any of the franchise, he would be a walking one-on-one killer who would be this household name of revere or at least of reverence.

49:21Ollie Connolly:But he's not because he plays the Pittsburgh Steelers. They refuse to do any kind of creative stuff with their defensive front. They've got the old reliables there. Highsmith's really, really good. TJ Watt has been sensational for his entire career that it's just been hard for them to get him on the field as much as he deserves to be. Yeah, it's funny when you try to think of comps for Herbig just as a pure ball of fire. I mean, TJ Watt's not a bad one. They're good at drafting him there in Pittsburgh. And I think there's a lot of people, I'm sure you know this too, that share your opinion on Herbig around the league.

49:52And so I'm curious what kind of, how he handles this contract situation because he does not need to settle for any discount for the Steelers, but then you have to push it to the franchise tag potentially. And just because if he actually could get out there, if they were dumb enough to make that happen, you know, he, you know, preview he's number one on my overall list and he's getting a wild number.

50:15Ollie Connolly:Whatever Jalen Phillips got and then some by a good amount. I think, I mean, I've been crying out for teams to trade for him forever. If these guys aren't going to use him, they're going to value him as a 35 % of the snap type player going off them a second round pick. They'd give him up and he would be an immediate impactful player for almost any team in the league. I think they will use him differently this year. I suspect with the new coaching staff he gets paid more. Do we go back-to-back Steelers three out of five Steelers here in Highsmith next? We do not. Okay. I feel like this is the range that he might go in.

50:48Ollie Connolly:This is the range. I'm going to take Josh Sweat from the Cardinals. Woo! Love it. I think of all the dominant one-on-one pass rushers put them against any person in the league and can they win the rep against the best of the best talent he's the most underrated player in football because i think her big has this kind of online cool fan base which is also the entire steelers fan base who recognize that he's not being played often up josh sweat never ever gets talked about in the elite company that just one on one high-end reps against the best talent he wins as much as will anderson he wins as much as Micah Parsons.

51:25Ollie Connolly:It doesn't always look as blurry, as violent as Micah Parsons does it, but the end outcome, the bag of tricks, the sequencing of moves together, the different variety of moves, he just excels in hand-to-hand combat. He's got the speed, he's got the bend. He's had unbelievable one-on-one wins last season against Trent Williams, Charles Cross, Ikema Quanu. It's like you go through the really tough tackles in the league and he can just clown people consistently. And you go through the Brandon Thorne tracks, the high quality number of sacks per snap. He finished fifth in the league two seasons in a row.

51:59Ollie Connolly:Last year was behind only Garrett Parsons, Hunter, and Chase Young. It's the best of the best. And you cannot go through any part of his game and say that falls short of the elite standard. He's just kind of lost in the conversation consistently. And he went to Arizona from the outside. It looked like, oh, is that an overpay? He's always just kind of been one of the guys in Philadelphia. And then he goes to Arizona, backs it up with that season that you just mentioned, 12 sacks. I said, Abdul Carter, you know, first in time to pressure earlier. Josh Sweat was second in the entire league. And we talked before we started.

52:34Yeah, I wish I could go back and just watch a little more of these guys. I spent a long time prepping and everything, but I couldn't watch everyone. And Sweat was one of those guys because once I looked at the numbers, I just kept pushing them up and up and up on my list. I still not even as high as you and maybe i should have and the thing i wrote was because why i wanted to watch him is just flashier than you think which is backs up i guess what you just said he's fun to watch

52:56Ollie Connolly:he is a all all tingle team player is that you have to get up and go for a walk around going this is too much fun if we're having a great time here watching josh sweat i think it's time for brian burns you know he we talked about quick pressures 23 quick pressures last year, 16 and a half sacks. He's not going to give you those sacks every year. His pressure to sack ratio last year was so high. But what he is every year is pretty much the same player. And the production just popped up like crazy last year. But there's a reason that they gave him the money and that they traded for him because he just gives you what you want.

53:31I think in a maybe less well-rounded way to Josh Hines Allen, I think of them as just like, guys, I know what I'm going to get. And yeah, last year suddenly he has like 15, 16 sacks and 15 quarterback. He gets more attention. He had some unblocked pressures, but he's got that quickness coming off the snap. And at this position in particular, you're saying you want to see a guy who performs in the biggest of spots. He's just been on bad teams, but I do think of him as a very trustworthy player. I know who Brian Burns is, and I'm taking him 16th overall.

54:08Ollie Connolly:Know who he is is fair. Whether he is the best at the thing that you know him to do, I would probably question. Last season's production, I thought, was a bit of an outlier. He has been that same player for a long time. It was a lot of unblocked stuff. It was a lot of schemed up stuff. It was a lot of the attention is going to everywhere else. This Abdelkata guy, you just mentioned, is first in time to pressure by a pretty significant distance. It's like 2.39 seconds or something. I think Abdelkata's time to pressure was. That is so ludicrously fast. So the lightning's coming off one side. You got Dexter Lawrence inside.

54:40Ollie Connolly:Absolutely terrifying to figure out what to do with a nose tackle who can rush the passer. and then Burns just kind of sweeps in off the edge and he was just unblocked so consistently or they would game a fight and kind of swoop him inside with a free run to the quarterback. So I just thought it was a lot more manufactured stuff last season than him just being a really, I don't think he's a dominant one-on-one passer. I put him more in that Benito bucket. I don't think he quite has that getoff that Benito has. No, or else he would have gone further. Now, at one point, the Rams, it's a crazy little sliding doors moment, and tried to give up the farm.

55:13All these picks were Brian Burns, and the Panthers said, no. We don't want your two firsts for Brian Burns, and they end up settling. I wonder what the Rams build would have been like. But he was the type of player to inspire that sort of confidence, and yet, as I said that, I felt like I was trying to convince myself maybe I should have waited a few more spots, but I feel fine with Burns there. What do you got at 17?

55:35Ollie Connolly:I'm going to take Jalen Phillips from the Panthers. when healthy the variety of moves the quality of the movement again going up against the elite competition just because how he moves differently and he can sequence so many different things together you see people like Spencer Brown just their heads are spinning those guys can deal with the best and they go up against Jalen Phillips and he just has a way of nimbly and subtly and artfully I think he's probably one of the peak craftsmen at the position and I really admire that And then I thought when you got to Philadelphia, it was a little bit more streamlined.

56:09Ollie Connolly:And they were just kind of like head down. We get off the ball and go here. And he showed that I can just play, get off the ball and go football. I want to have all the bend. I have all the bursts if needed. But then he also has this secondary trait, which is just the intellect. The wow plays and just really for his size, the versatility are awesome. And the crazy thing is I think he's going to be better another year away from those devastating injuries. To come back from those two season-ending injuries in a row and to be that physically impressive the first season back, I don't think he was even as good or as just athletically impressive last year as he was in, what was that, the 22 season for the Dolphins?

56:54To me, a total freak. So I think if he's healthy, to me, he has the highest ceiling when I wrote him down. And this was in the same area-ish that I had. I have a group of players. But I wrote of this group, I thought he has the highest ceiling of any of this group of players, if it all goes perfectly well.

57:12Ollie Connolly:Yeah, I really thought he was going to be cooked. And he was a player I just adored watching every single weekend and just thought, this is a wrap. The injuries are too much. His game was based on intelligence and craft more than it was the burst. but the burst that gives you access to do all the fun creative things it's a similar conversation with layar to lot who is he quite explosive enough to be able to access all the intellect someone like hunter who has all this imagination can get away with it because you can also just run through your face and you so you gotta worry about that for him to be able to pull these moves together i thought last year he proved that even if he's never back to being the player he was at the peak day peak days in miami he can now work around that he's athletic enough again to then be able to bring all kind of the craft into it yeah there's a couple players here i just feel bad have fallen this far i think it is time by the way for the off-season ride-along presented by toyota you know i mentioned one of them earlier I'm going to take Jonathan Grenard, maybe just because I just took the safe pick earlier.

58:11And I'm going to take someone that to me is a little more fun. Jonathan Grenard now with the Eagles. I think it's probably the most important player they acquired this offseason. It's going to be really important to their team build, being right about that contract, being right about that trait. He is a guy in a different way than verse. Doesn't always finish plays, but is very good. And there's a lot of quick pressure. We've talked about time to pressure a lot on this show. He was fourth in the NFL last year, which was his worst season since he broke out in terms of sacks. But a little like Daniel Hunter, the guy he replaced in Minnesota, just a fun player in terms of I think he's smart.

58:51I think he's got a lot of different moves. I think he's a pro. I think he's going to figure out how to get more production this year, how to make that contract work. So on one hand, I feel safe taking him. And then just with the juice that he has, I do think there's a nice ceiling. It's a good combination. I can see why Howie's betting on him. If Howie's betting on him, I shouldn't feel bad about betting on him.

59:13Ollie Connolly:He has some of the best hand uses in the league. I think the decline in production is greatly overstated. If you just go and watch him, he is inches away from finishing some of these plays. It's not like he's falling off sacks or there's some kind of like problem there. It's just happenstance. Sometimes you're just close enough. Sometimes the ball's out a split second before you can finish it in terms of just like clearing the bodies winning the one-on-one rep he's still doing that the the same level he's did during the his best days with the vikings so i just think he's an incredibly efficient pass rusher i think he can be up on any style of tackle which is something i really cover i think the eagles really covered that that's why jalen phillips was the guy they id was like just any variety of tackle it's not just a verse type play where it's head down we're doing the same thing over and over again we want some more creativity you want some more versatility they know what they've got going on inside they know they've got the kind of howitzers straight down the line power rushes on opposite jonathan granard and so with granard you do get a little bit more of the the versatility and variety that was the off-season ride-along presented by toyota when uh your people are the destination your ride is important learn more at toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people all year next with pick 19 I'm going to take Liatu Latu from the Colts a player who I will admit doesn't matter how long we do this show together one year, ten years, every season we do this thing, I will be taking Liatu Latu in this range, unless there is a breakout that pushes him into the top ten I will never ever quit a player who when you watch him, he is as unorthodox as any pass rusher playing in the league, he doesn't even really play football a lot of the time, it's like he's doing these MMA moves, like some Tajikistan type stuff going on, I don't know where he's learned this it's his complete unique variety of pass rusher just seems and feels impossible to block for prolonged stretches the finishing is probably the concern when he does finish plays it's as mind-blowing as you've ever seen someone do it he's also become excellent in coverage which i think is a boost that a lot of the guys we've talked about don't quite have in their game he's become really gifted in the run game which is not a strength coming out in college I do wonder will he ever have as I mentioned before that initial jolt off the ball to be able to access all the ingenuity that he has in him or will he always just be a really fun player who teams are happy to have out there but will never kind of crack the top 10, top 6 of the position I thought he improved a lot as a second year player I really liked him coming out of the draft he may be a little like Daniil Hunter as a guy with such a deep bag of moves that it takes some time in the NFL to learn when to use them and when not to.

1:01:53I don't know if he faded down the stretch, but I thought he really started last season well. I think he's probably improved as more of like a complete player on rundowns too. And so that one hurt me because he's one of my favorites too. And we're projecting. I thought I projected a nice improvement from him, but not enough. 2026. All right, our number 20 pick in this draft. You can hear me hemming behind. Well, I mentioned Alex Highsmith a while ago. I just feel like, let's respect, I was going to say the old guy, but he's right in the middle of his career. He's 28, 29 years old, and he's an all-around player.

1:02:29Your buddy John Ledyard likes to mention how he doesn't understand why Alex Highsmith is a plus in coverage, but he has a good feel of making some plays even in coverage sometimes, which is pretty rare. Yeah, Liatu Liatu had three interceptions. Not many people are going to do this at this position. The PFF overall grade here, I'm going to use PFF when it suits my needs, because I do think it tells a story about who Alex Highsmith is as a player, because they include run defense, they include tackling. The last three seasons for players hitting a minimum threshold of snaps, 13th last year, 8th the year before, 10th the year before that.

1:03:07And you mentioned earlier when talking about, okay, well, you have Highsmith cleaning up a lot of what they want to do on the run defense. And so you have to, you can't have Herbic and Watt necessarily out there to get, I mean, that to me helps describe why Highsmith is so good. A guy who would fit on every single team is a complete player, is a good pass rusher, is still in his prime. I just don't, I don't see much reason to let him go much further.

1:03:33Ollie Connolly:No, I'm devastated you were able to snag him. Probably should have taken him before a lot too. I had him much. I don't know what it is about Alex. I'm saying that like he's, he should, we should be more excited about him. And yet I think both of us let him fall further than he actually wasn't. I had him like four or five spots higher on my board. That one's going to hurt when I see the graphic because I really love Nick Herbig. And I really do think that if he played for a team that let him play full time, he would have a monster season. It feels a little disrespectful to have him go that far before Alex Highsmith.

1:04:04Ollie Connolly:He's just as an all around valuable player, Nick Herbig does the most valuable thing better than Alex Highsmith, but Highsmith does that most valuable thing at a really, really high level. The quick pressure rate is off the scale. I think he was fifth in time to pressure last season, which isn't really the mainstay of his game. As you mentioned, it's more the all around impact that he has on the defense, but he has been able to really elevate in terms of the high quality number of wins that he has. It's not just this kind of second surge effort-based stuff where what goes flying off one side, then he kind of comes from and Clemens on the other side, he started to become a really good three-way restaurant in his own right.

1:04:39All right, one more break before we let Eric Roberts free from Memorial Day weekend. He's like, well, let's maybe try to make this show a little quicker. We have a mission here, Eric, and that is to provide the Sickos the most in-depth annual rankings. We are doing this every single year, and this is our one chance to give a nice couple-minute conversation about Alex Heisman. We'll be back in a few minutes.

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1:08:40Back on NFL Daily. Yeah, if you're overseas, you might not be aware. Holiday here in the States. Memorial Day on Monday. taking my father-in-law, who's in town from Japan for the first time in many years, to a Dodgers game on Memorial Day. That's going to be fun. We're going to Vegas on Saturday. It's a big weekend. It's a big weekend. I know. I think we're going to take my son to some fancy sushi. Let's go to pick 21. We're doing the top edge rushers. You are up next, Dolly.

1:09:15Ollie Connolly:I'm going to take Yaya Diaby from the books. Eric is beside himself with joy for the 10-minute Yaya Diaby conversation before he gets to Disney. Stop it. Eric loves his job. I'm just poking fun at him. He loves the Diaby talk. Diaby is in that similar Jared Verce mold of the out-to-end pure power Russia. And I thought when Hasan Reddick was engaged for the books for at least those first two weeks, he really wanted to play football for the books for a fortnight. you got to see him in his ideal spot which was from one side you get kind of the press the diagonal push in the pocket and on the other side you got the swoop around the edge and it really showed you kind of the complete elements of DRB's game I think him and Ruben being together is a pretty devastating duo in terms of the the crossover of skill sets he like verse I think has a little bit of that pressure inflation stuff going on where it's a lot of perceived pressure because of just proximity to the quarterback it's not quite as devastating as someone like verse is able to tap into consistently, but it's a really good out to empower Russia.

1:10:15Ollie Connolly:I like those guys. He's a really talented run defender. So I'm going to take the hobby there. I'm annoyed. He's great. Stop it. Like his run stop numbers are terrific and you can just see it. He was on our all underrated team earlier this season. I love how he backed up his breakout. I'm annoyed because you're taking the guys. I feel like are quote unquote, my guys. And yet I'm going to take someone next just to be a little spicy who has never been one of my guys who I suspect is not one of your guys and wasn't going to get taken this high and I just got to give up give it up for Chase Young coming off last season that like getting off the snap last year number one by far uh is Garrett number three uh is Benito like the people that you expect in terms of get off according to next gen stats are all the people you expect Jonathan Cooper is up there that's a great get up you know who's number two It was Chase freaking Young.

1:11:10His pressures, they were quick. Second in quick pressure percentage. Like, the statistical profile, and he didn't have as many snaps last year, was pretty outrageous. I feel like I slept on his comeback season. He is someone that I decided to go back and watch because he was seventh in pass rush win rate. If you just look at the statistical profile, he actually deserved to go even higher in this draft. I couldn't get there. But when I went back to watch, I did think whether it was the injuries, the coaching, just being in the league long enough, he is playing his best football. It's more mature, for lack of a better word, and he's got the juice.

1:11:46He is starting to really live up to the spot where he got drafted. I just want to give Chase Young a little love.

1:11:51Ollie Connolly:I think it's a completely fair pick. My only thing would be that he was more of a situational guy, and not only drafted so far as a situational player. Some of those guys may have more like usage. Herbig is borderline. so it'd be Herbing and Young I think would be the comparison there his last season 75 % of his sacks kill drives there is no one even in the vicinity it's usually 50 % is like the max so he was absurd and I think all around with the Saints we've discussed this on multiple of these shows that other than people I think recognizing nationally that Tyler Shook looked pretty good coming in last season maybe they have an answer they'll find out next season all across the board I thought the development was huge they got themselves the best sub rusher in the league that offensive line is filled with young talent they added a really good veteran so there are really the kind of some green spurts of stuff that isn't just hanging on to the last vestiges of the previous team yeah i wanted to see where the set you know sacks a little fluky or what's happening here it's like they were pretty impressive plenty of them against good players and i i i get it why they brought me you know they brought him in i was a little surprised by that i thought it was a good value the first contract was a little surprised by the second one but mickey mickey's feeling himself let's see if mickey can hit another home run with that contract that they gave chase young all right you're up next i'm gonna take tuli to piloto from the charges a player who i was not on board with at all he's a guy i really went and studied this week i asked the right tack on the league i sent him my board and i said wow who is the guy that i am i who is the guy that i am lowest on and he said to piloto is the most annoying person to block in the league and when you go and watch the film you can see all the numbers which are really impressive he's he has a really funky style where he's small he just kind of barrels himself into the chest of blockers there's not a whole lot of skill going on there's not a whole lot of technique but he has the most explosive disengagement is how i would describe it like there's three phases of a pass rush the first two phases are so so with him the third phase he slingshots off people and just closes like few other people as consistently in the league and he just seems like a nuisance to block down in down out and there are some more moves than I gave him credit for I booketed him slightly in the George Carl Loftus type vein where it's like okay good players around them good scheme maybe slightly inflated production not that great of an athlete and when I went back through on a full rewatch of the study of him I was really really impressed with the development of him that's good to hear and I only had one or two guys left that that it would be ahead of him so this is the same area I had him you know part of the reason he would even be this low is yeah he had the great sack production last year he doubled his career total with 13 in one season and he's not thought of as like a plus run defender you could tell me if if you disagree and that the statistical profile in terms of the time to pressure it is a lot of hustle stuff there is some unblocked stuff in there.

1:14:45But that to me is almost the reason that he's not top 15. This makes sense for me. And someone that would absolutely agree would be Jeremiah, who watches him each and every week. And I think has had a similar evolution to the one that you went through just this week after that right tackle told you that, of just like the more he has watched him over and over, he has really appreciated what his game brings to the table.

1:15:07Ollie Connolly:It's because you're not finding any like A-plus skill. where even you mentioned Chae Shung, like the get off and the strength is like, that looks like the great ones with two Peloto. It's like, it's a lot of B to B plus stuff, but it adds up to the whole is, it's just impactful. And he creates, he doesn't have anywhere near the inline power of Verse or Garrett or the really great players, but limbs just fly everywhere around him. I'm not, I don't even know what it is. He just gets under the pad level. He rocks into people and limbs just fly all over the place. You can watch the Vikings, the Colts, the dolphins just feels like every other rep guys are just chasing the The backfield is just a mess, and it starts with Tupoloto.

1:15:43I'll go with Trayvon Walker at 24. I've got to put my money where my mouth is, saying he's been a pretty underrated player. It wasn't his best season last year. He was definitely playing through injury. It actually impacts my ranking that they gave him that contract off of that season because they don't have any doubt about Trayvon Walker, and so I think you're going to get a better overall season. I think the general consensus on him is right, Like he's just a powerful man that was great against the run and is a dog and is pretty selfless and a guy that you want on your team. He's on my team, Trayvon Walker.

1:16:21Ollie Connolly:Yeah, another one who's excellent in the stunt and twist game. They have probably two of the five best stunt twist players in the league. They play together. It's kind of helpful. And yeah, I think he's just been purely a victim of the fact of where he was selected. He's turned into being a really good player. And a lot of number one overall picks fail miserably or are just so-so. I think he's much better than that. It just so happens that he was taken before Aiden Hutchinson, which is a whiff, but on the trajectory of a lot of number one overall picks, he's had a really good career. And I think if we did the list again next year, he's more talented still than guys like Tui Palotto.

1:16:54Ollie Connolly:He's got a similar profile to someone like Yaya Diaby. I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to group up. This exercise is tricky because we only have, what, eight picks left. You're going to have 25. And you just think of these guys, oh, that's a top 15 pass rusher. That's a top 20 pass rusher. And you realize doing this, there's going to be some good players left off the board. And that's why, you know, when fans, let's say Jags fans, when they've seen Trayvon Walker left off like a top 15 pass rusher list over there, they're kind of mad. Hey, he's underrated. I'm a fan of him. And he still only even gets in here at 24 as a good player.

1:17:27Who are you taking with 25?

1:17:29Ollie Connolly:I'm taking Byron Young from the Rams. Next on my board, too. It's too predictable.

1:17:37Ollie Connolly:Really quick. vicious hands another guy who will sell his soul to the team construct i just love those guys that those guys can play on my team any day similar to walker in that sense can win all three ways inside outside through someone's face uh has good pop on contact i his development arc is a really interesting one probably too long for or boring for this show but how he's kind of fundamentally changed his mechanics to unlock the player he is is absolutely uh is incredibly impressed from the play he was at tennessee to become the play he is in the league and how he wins in the league yeah we're we're at the point of the draft where we got to make sure we pick our favorites now he he quieted down a little bit you said you want a guy who makes big plays in the biggest moments i thought maybe his worst game it just so happens i happen to you know re-watch that one he was just kind of invisible in the nfc championship game so that was a bad final impression for him to leave me.

1:18:34And yet, like if you just look at the numbers, they are outrageous. Like Byron Young is up there like in terms of hitting the quarterback, it's basically Miles Garrett, Hutchinson, and then Byron Young last year. And makes way more plays in the running game last year than he ever had before. For a guy I don't think of as a big guy, he's what, like 250 pounds? You can leave him out there. They leave him out there. He never leaves the field. Since he's been drafted, he's just like out there.

1:19:01Ollie Connolly:and and all of their pressure game stuff and any creativity they do tease off around him because that's just kind of is isolated in what he does so the guy they have the fun and games with is byron young i think that matters yeah almost like a thousand snaps basically every season i'm i'm trying to think of like do i want like the safe player who kind of has earned his spot here do i just want someone that is fun do i just want to go big on the jalex hunt breakout season right now and just why not? Is that me taking him? Is it too early for him? What do you think? Now I'm asking your opinion. I'm just going to take Jalex Hunt.

1:19:35Let's take some fun players. Okay, good. Good, I want to pin you. Another guy, I think I connected in mine because he was right behind Byron Young on that list of how many times did you hit the quarterback per pass rush? He is right back there. I think he's so good that he is going to impact like Nolan Smith's money because he is better than Nolan Smith and Nolan Smith's entering a contract year. Nolan Smith just got arrested for driving 137 miles an hour. That's a news item we hadn't hit on the show. And so you hate to see that, like way too much of that happening. I think Hunt is kind of passing him as just a guy who likes Smith very strong.

1:20:18And man, when he was pushing Trent Williams back a little bit in that playoff game, that's what got me really excited. Just like, okay, what's next for this dude?

1:20:25Ollie Connolly:I feel like I've been leading the hunt hype train since the draft. He's got all the tools to be a superstar. When I start this exercise, I had him at 15. Then I was like, you're kind of high in your own supply there. So I started moving him down and trying to be sensible. And now I'm devastated that you're able to take him here. I would say when you go through him, and I had to take off my glasses of like, I want him to be great because I thought he could be great going into the draft. I didn't want to get caught in my own bias. He's a little bit one note. A lot of stuff happens very slowly for a guy as gifted as he is.

1:20:55Ollie Connolly:that there are levels he can ascend to, which is what I would bet on. And I do think this could be finally like the full breakout to being more of a well-rounded player, but he's still just incredibly raw for a guy who's now playing a ton of snaps. And I would have expected to see maybe a little bit more development in terms of how he gets after it. Even the way he runs is just funky. He's all on his tiptoes. It's really choppy. It's just not loose and fluid. And he's really naturally explosive, but it isn't quite there when you watch the film. It's a lot of false stepping. It's a lot of fitting three steps in where you only need two.

1:21:25Ollie Connolly:And yet when you watch him against some of the mid to lower end tackles, like Rashid Walker, he just annihilated. And so that is like clearing the first check mark for me for a guy drafted where he was small school. And as you mentioned, even against the big boys, he has the skill set to make the afternoon uncomfortable. And I think that he's got the toolbox to be able to go and be, if you were telling me who would crack the top 10, where you'd be like, a guy's going to leap from the bottom third, he would be the guy with better. Cause if he butts it together, he's going to be a complete menace.

1:21:53I mean, how about, how about playing in a big game? He's one of the people I remember most from that Super Bowl, from just being live. They just could not handle his speed and power in that game. That's as a rookie, so that'll always stick with me. You have 27. You're at the point now where it's like, okay, you better take him or else he just might not get taken at all.

1:22:12Ollie Connolly:I'm at the point as well where there's a fan base I already know is getting really offended. But I'm going to take Demarcus Lawrence from the Seahawks. I don't even know who this fan base is. Okay, I'll have to revisit. it he's still one of the smartest passers in the league and demarcus lawrence the get-off is still there probably just the best last season pure edge rushing run defender as an edge player um don't think you it's hard to separate all all the seahawksness of it from the scheme from the interior guys from the the kind of cavalcade of rushes they roll through i still think demarcus lawrence has the juice to be i think this is almost even disrespectful but there's a bit of of projection.

1:22:49Ollie Connolly:I think he's just a better play than to upload to, but if there's got to be some decline, it would probably come this season. Yeah. Just a knack for big plays, you know, the age he was coming off an injury, but just, he just wrecked stuff. And look, he was top 15 in pass rush win rate last year. It wasn't like it was all just, you know, powering people back into the backfield. He was top 15 in PFF. He's another guy who kind of like averse, uh, misses a lot of tackles because he's just there to miss them, but just creates chaos. One of my all-time favorite players. I'm glad. I was going to make sure he went in this draft.

1:23:26Literally, the guy I wrote at the bottom was just like, take him with your last pick if he's not there because I don't want to be part of a draft. He doesn't get taken. All right, the fan base. There's a couple options. Were you talking about the Bears and Montez Sweat? Because I'll take him off the board if not. No?

1:23:41Ollie Connolly:I was not. I think Bears fans understand where they're at. Okay. Actually, I don't want to take Montez. They're having online meltdowns about the fact they didn't draft an edge rusher. Would they be doing that if they were in love with Montez? Then maybe I don't know. But I changed my mind mid-conversation. I'm going to take just a solid player in Greg Rousseau who just finds a way every season to finish in top 20-ish in pressure rate last year. There's not a lot of quick pressures. like it is a slow time to pressure it does mean something to me that he's kind of the same player every year he finished last year well five straight games with at least four pressures like he he ends up getting in the same ballpark of players of very good maybe not great maybe I'm maybe I'm aiming too low here with Greg Russo but I feel like he's earned that respect like when they gave him that contract I was like yeah I'm good with that that totally makes sense to me he's exactly kind of what you want as a second, quote unquote, edge rusher.

1:24:44But then when you look at the list here, and I feel like this is where he deserves to be taken, 28th. Like some teams don't even have a Greg Rousseau.

1:24:51Ollie Connolly:So get them locked up. Every team would love a Greg Rousseau. It's just the value you place in it, I guess. He was the one I was referring to with the fan base because I feel like I've been so critical of the Bills as an organization since I joined this show. The Bills fans are starting to think that I'm not a fan of the Bills when I would love nothing more in my career to cover them lifting the Lombardi. That would be a dream of mine. I want that for them. I want that for Josh Allen. I don't think this regime is going to get it done. Rousseau, the major thing with him is just, is he anywhere near the caliber of just past Russia to be able to be on the list?

1:25:27Ollie Connolly:Honestly, I struggle with that because I think as a run defender, he's absolutely outstanding. It's just the time to pressure, you mentioned it's a little slow. It was 3.43 seconds time to pressure last year. That was 99th of 106 eligible pass rushers. That's just not a little slow. It's just, it's nowhere near good enough. And you stop racking up against either situational sub brushes of Bryce Huff, Al-Khadeem Muhammad. Like he's just not bringing anywhere near the kind of volume or impact you need at the level of speed that you need. I thought he kind of earned his way on the list, but there are a couple of players that, yeah, get me a little more tingly.

1:26:01I don't think Bill's fans will be mad about that. Bill's fans, I believe have crossed over from just being so over the moon that they're back to being real deal contenders. I can't believe our luck from Josh Allen to a little salty and kind of annoyed, like weirdly over it with this build of the like, show us something bills, especially on defense. And Russo is part of that, even though he's been one of their best players, one of their best draft picks. All right, you're up with 29.

1:26:32Ollie Connolly:I'm going to take Jalen Walker from the Falcons. This is a little bit of a shoot for the moon. when I saw him in person I can't remember you weren't at that game right in Berlin I just thought that the movement skills were when you talked earlier about Abdul Khar like he just moves differently to other people he is one of the most special athletes I think at the position now will it ever all come together I think a lot of it will depend on the style of system the Falcons are going to run this season I know they kept Jeff Ulbricht but will it look more like Ulbricht with the Jets where it's very Niners based will it look more like Lascio where it was all the chaos and the blitzing even the numbers last year indicate a play who was so scheme oriented it's all unblocked it's not a lot of one-on-one wins but the talent is so supreme that he could just be a guy who goes from 25 30 pressures and then just launches into a 60 65 pressure season with this this special blend of athleticism and intellect and then just as a run defender he's already one the one the best like end man on the line of scrimmage type head up and hit it type plays in the way someone like a Greg Rousseau is, but you just get this kind of pass or slip side because of the natural juice, I think.

1:27:39Yeah, there are not many run defenders that make me jump out of my seats for the athleticism that they show in run defense. Like he's not, I mean, Micah, who weirdly like would get criticized for his run defense is like that to me. Uh, and Jalen Walker's a little like that to me too. So he and Lawrence, you, you hurt me there. We're the two guys I put at the bottom. I was just like, I want them to be on this list. So So if you had not taken him, he was going to be one of my final two picks. But you took him away. And I'm going to take Boye Mafi, who's always been one of my favorites. And I appreciated that the Bengals contractually backed me up there.

1:28:14Like he passes the eye test. I went back and looked because I thought I remembered Mike McDonald said something about him going into the Super Bowl. And he did. And it was just like, look, of all our pass rushers, he wins the quickest. Like that is incredibly valuable for our total pass rush plan. Now, after he signed that contract, there was some reporting out of Seattle was like, we love Boye, but like not at that level. Yeah, not at that level. So that makes me a little cautious about it. Like his sack production went down from like nine to six to two last year. I mean, that is pretty low. But if you like the pass rush win rate, you know, he's he's gone eighth, 12th, 17th.

1:28:55So actually in reverse order, he was top 10 last year and he's always been a top 20 guy. and that that's what i see like that's that's what i see when i watch him just the movement skills the ability to win quickly like who wouldn't want a guy like that he to me is like that's an nfl pass rusher he's a certain type of nfl pass rusher but he is an nfl pass rusher

1:29:15Ollie Connolly:he is he's one of those one note guys it's all about the get off um which is why i think the seahawks highlighted it there like yeah they you need some initial burst off the balls somewhere across the line of scrimmage and he certainly brings that i just don't think he's that well rounded of a play i really think it's if he doesn't beat you out of the cleats out of the stance then it's it's a little bit of a wrap more than it should be for someone of his like he's so physically imposing you would think there would be this real second surge and kind of dig through and grind through the rep most of the wins are just straight clean wins or it's kind of a wrap okay this is it for you 31 um and i still have the teams i wonder by the way who have not gotten And yeah, one of them I alluded to briefly.

1:29:57Your last pick. And we can mention the after we're done who didn't get drafted, just as a little honorable mention.

1:30:04Ollie Connolly:I have so many players to pick from. And I don't want to be disrespectful to about six players, but I only have one pick left. Then there's a shoot for the moon pick. It's a projection. I'm going to take Reuben Bain. Let's get Reuben Bain in there. Now, this breaks my heart to not have Khalil Mack on this list. and it's going to eat me alive for the next week. So I know that listeners. And when the graphic goes up, don't kill me. But we're projecting slightly here. I thought he was the best pass rush in the draft. I think he's walking into the best possible situation. I think I mentioned before about what it looked like with Hasan Redik and Diaby as a kind of a two-man tandem, the skill sets aligning so well.

1:30:43Ollie Connolly:Ruben Bain is just a better version of that, I think, than Hasan Redik at this phase of his career. So I think he's going to walk in and be an absolute down-in, down-out menace. and we're going to look back at the end of the season and go, why did we not just think he would be in the top 20 pass rush in the league when he walked in as the best pass rusher in the draft? Just because it's such a grown man position. And you can step in and have an impact right away, but we've also seen a lot of the best edge rushers kind of get halfway there their rookie year. Like the second half of the season, they start coming.

1:31:17You can see the vision. Abdul Carter is a good example of it last year. And so, you know, when you're comparing him just for this year against some of the grown men that are on the board, like Khalil Mack, you know, I like it. I like your planting your flag. I feel bad. Mack actually was literally like the last one off of my list too. Should I just take him then? Because I do have Montez Sweat higher. Some other players we could mention. Adafi Owe has not gotten taken.

1:31:47Ollie Connolly:It's probably more disrespectful to put Khalil Mack behind Reuben Bain than it is to just not draft him. No, ultimately, the fact that he played Mack under 500 snaps last year and then in each of the last two seasons, I thought he's played at a really high level, but he didn't maintain it the whole time. And so that, to me, is age a little bit in a way that impacts where I would take him. I've always been a Montez Sweat guy, and this is not like he's not coming off of his best season. His time to pressure is among the slowest. He had to play a lot more in general. He had a lot more run stops because of that.

1:32:25He did play pretty well at the end of the season. He was active in those playoff games for the Bears. I think he's earned his spot here. I've never really been an Adafi away guy. Van Ginkle, I mentioned right at the top, is certainly an option here. But here's the thing with Sweat. I think he could get better still. He's not past the point where he can pop up again. Because if you told me he's how he was two, three years ago, he would be somewhere comfortably in that like 18 to 25 range. And he's still a very good player. Why should I be apologizing for taking Montez Sweat 32?

1:33:01Ollie Connolly:I think Montez Sweat is a good player. I think even very good is overselling it slightly. I think he's a slow burn pass rusher who relies on craft and it isn't all that crafty. it's about three moves um and the great ones lock him down because you can be pretty dialed into what the plan is um strong though like pretty good run defender complete player i don't know complete i think he can be gal after in the run game i think he's really good on the end heavy end i don't bore people with all the details but you just line him up and say we're doubling at you i think he can be worked pretty comfortably okay so who are the people that should have made it or that hurt not to leave it.

1:33:44Adafi always stands out as a good free agent pickup. Tenth in pass rush win rate. I think if pushed game to shove, I would probably take him over sweat. I don't know why I just did that. Ben Ginkle, I mentioned. Any other shouts you want to give?

1:33:58Ollie Connolly:Jonathan Cooper. I'm devastated. We didn't get Jonathan Cooper from the Broncos in there. Derek Hall from the Seahawks. It feels weird to only have one member of the Seahawks in there and it'd be just Demarcus Lawrence. you picked Trayvon Walker, George Carl Laftus we didn't have in there. No, he was close to me. The Jets didn't have anyone. I mean, we could have taken David Bailey. Will McDonald, Jermaine Johnson are all good players. If we were doing a top 45, I think they're all on that list. And so they were one team that didn't have one. You know, I've got my eye on Azaraku for this year.

1:34:32He didn't get close to me to quite making the list, but I do think, you know, it wouldn't shock me. I like Azaraku.

1:34:38Ollie Connolly:I had Azaraku 40th on my board. in case it was like wiped out. So I really like Aziraku, no Rashawn Gary. I think that's unusual for if we'd done the last couple of years. He was close. Dallas Turner is not on this list. Quidi Pei is not on this list. Osai, if you're going deep. But that's for next year's list. We're going to be doing this every year. You're locked in, Alex. Alex Wright from the Browns. Yeah. He's a breakout player. Next year, 32nd, lock it in. We're going with Alex Wright. I'm trying to think of teams that didn't get anyone. The Chiefs then didn't. if Karloftis didn't go. The Patriots didn't have an edge rusher.

1:35:16Harold Landry would, I guess, be the first one from that group. The Titans did not have anyone taken. So all of your fan bases can come at us, especially Ali. That's it. We did it. Let's get out of here. Let's have a great weekend. What are you doing, Ali? You doing any boxing?

1:35:36Ollie Connolly:No boxing this weekend. I am looking after a puppy. It is a hellacious household when you have a newborn puppy. A new dad. I love it. I got to go. I got to go talk with my father-in-law right now. We'll be back Monday. I mentioned a special show Memorial Day. Really excited about this. I'm talking to Chuck Klosterman. One of my favorite thinkers, writers. He wrote a book about football. It's going to be a great conversation that goes on Monday. And then we'll be back to the normal shows on Tuesday with one of Ollie's best friends, Will Gavin. We'll see you then.

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