Post-Draft Questions for EVERY AFC Team

18:51Gregg Rosenthal:Had me in the first half. I'm not going to lie. In general, I can see this with a lot of teams. That hasn't always worked because the team you had the year before isn't the same. And I think Sean Payton was getting at that a little bit when talking about we got a little lucky how many close wins we had. But you mentioned it. They've prepared well, for instance, for a guy like Jonathan Franklin Myers to leave. A lot of depth everywhere on both lines. Although their lines stunk in the AFC Championship. To be fair, that was maybe their biggest concern. Jordan, Chiefs, you're up. The Chiefs went really defense-focused, which I like.

19:22Gregg Rosenthal:They needed to because they needed to lean on one of the best cornerback identifiers and talent developers in the NFL in one Steve Spagnuolo. These two corners, Mansoor Delane and Jaden Canopy, have just spags ridden. He must be beaming from ear to ear right now, thinking about what he can do with these players. And I like the chiefs draft overall because they traded up to get Mansour Delane, which you can debate the merits of trading up or trading back. It sounds like two teams were going to potentially pick him if he fell to them. And he was the player that they IDed as the guy that they wanted to get after their secondary basically went to the LA Rams last this past off season.

19:59Gregg Rosenthal:So I really liked that. My big question about the chiefs still, it's usually the question I have about the chiefs is did they do enough at receiver? And then I look at the running backs that they drafted, uh, you know, Emmitt Johnson out of Nebraska, and then they brought in Ken Walker, obviously, in the offseason. And to me, that speaks to potentially Andy Reid counting them in the passing game because of what we knew Ken Walker can do with the ball in his hands. Emmitt Johnson, similarly so, was lauded through the pre-draft process for his hands and his ability there. So I do think that maybe he's counting that because otherwise they're still a little bit questionable or too thin a receiver.

20:33One thing you said before the draft, which is so dead on, which is the teams tell us how they think about their own team in the draft. And I think the Chiefs told us that they're good at receiver and they're good on the offensive line. And a lot of people thought those are two positions they would address. I think Rasheed Rice, learning that he's not going to face any more further punishment from the NFL, informed that, like that they can expect him week one. I think their pass rush guys that they drafted are going to be absolutely crucial to this season. R. Mason Thomas, early second round pick.

21:03The R stands for nothing. Right. It's about as important an early second round pick because they just need juice. and Peter Woods, who's a late first-round pick at defensive tackle. Again, they need juice, and those are two guys that they're hoping add a little juice to their defense. It's been about three years since they've had a great draft when they had him with McDuffie. They could really use for this to be like that.

21:22Patrick Claybon:And that's why having the ammunition that they had for the first time in forever to come up and get Delane to kind of solve, to pick out the spot of, well, what is the most difficult spot for us to add young talent here relative to what's available? And so they're able to go up and do that with the lane and then kind of filter in guys like Peter Woods on the interior defensive line. It's going to take time. It's probably not going to be like one of those situations where, Oh, instant impact with Peter Woods, but you don't necessarily need that instant impact. You need,

21:55Gregg Rosenthal:you need to occupy at least one extra per one person. So that Chris Jones has less. If you don't know, if you don't get instant impact though, like you need me, me, our Mason Thomas to do it or Ashton Jalati from last year. like their pass rush was an abomination last year. They need Chris Jones to be like a little better than he was last year too. So.

22:15Patrick Claybon:And that's why you draft on the traits of a guy like Peter Woods, where it's like, okay, maybe your hands aren't where they're going to be in year three, but big fast guy run hard. Also Patrick Mahomes, Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeyer. That's a weird QB room. I love it.

22:31Gregg Rosenthal:Patrick and I are really respecting the honking. I just want to throw that out in the universe. Okay. That's my last honk of the day. Patrick, you're up with the Chargers.

22:39Patrick Claybon:All right, so the Chargers take Mesador after three tackles go in the previous five picks. They eventually come back and get Jake Slaughter out of Florida, the center. The speedster, Brennan Thompson, out of Mississippi State for Mike Mack to scheme up. So that's fun. They come back and go the other direction in measurables to get the largest player in the draft. And Travis Burke, Logan Taylor, the guard, and another guard, Alex at 206. So late in the draft, they go quantity on the offensive line. but the quantity pick that they had early on goes to an edge that would have to either supplant a Hall of Famer or a guy who had 13 sacks last year.

23:15Patrick Claybon:Did the OA departure actually put the Chargers in a position of need to take Hakeem Mesidor in the first round of the 2026 draft?

23:23Gregg Rosenthal:I think yes, because they were rushing three a lot. And so and it was super productive for them when they were doing that last season. And so I do think that this was something they considered to be their biggest need. and also offensive line depth. They got killed for, and they had a position catastrophe at both tackle spots, obviously. But even before that, they just got totally killed for not having enough developmental depth on the interior offensive line. And now they do. Sounds like Jay Slaughter, which is a badass name, by the way, could play center or guard as well. So I know, again, we don't want to move people around too much, but it is something where they, This was kind of a self-aware draft by the Chargers, in my opinion.

24:05Gregg Rosenthal:I always appreciate when teams draft with some self-awareness. And it was very like Harbaugh gets his guys and Mike Mack gets his guys. And it was a very identity kind of draft as well. Yeah, they just went volume on the offensive line, hoping that they can develop some of these later guys. It's a risk. Jake Slaughter was a lot of people's number one center in the class. You would have to imagine they are going to move him to guard as a rookie and cross-train him because they signed Tyler Beata. who's never played a different position. I think long-term, though, having a guy that can play center, Biotis might be a one, two-year guy.

24:39You have him on a rookie contract. It all makes sense. The entire offensive line is going to be different than it was a year ago. Now, after Joel got hurt. Obviously, the two tackles got hurt, but all five starters will be different than the five starters that were playing in the playoffs.

24:56Gregg Rosenthal:I'm trying to just find out if the Chargers offensive linemen collectively, if their group of last names is more of like a detective, a detective show title. Slaughter, Beatish, Cole, Strange, Joe Alt. Or if it's a series of Pokemon. You know, Strange, Beatish, Slaughter. I could see it. Strange and Slaughter itself is a buddy cop film. It's sick. They need your guy from a year ago, Trey Harris, to kind of step up at receiver. They didn't go receiver, but I think the guys they drafted last year could step up. And to answer your messador question, Yeah, I think the answer is yes. And also, Cleo Mack's very year-to-year.

25:34He thought about retirement. So I think they think of that position as three starters, and they got one.

25:39Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, and again, it was highly productive for them last year. So I can see at least the process behind that.

25:48I'm up next. It's the Raiders. I love that John Spitek is back to being everyone's favorite. They're so deep. at Edge, our buddy Drew Christensen, before we taped 40s and free agents, the Raiders fans, he's like, did they even need Kieran Crawford in the third round? Like, we got too many pass rushers. I mean, talking about the Raiders having too many pass rushers, I thought that was a good pick. There was a big gap maybe between him and who was coming next. Trayden Stooks in the second round can play safety for you. They added four players in the secondary between rounds two and five. So I think they told us a little bit what they thought about their roster was that the defense, especially the secondary, actually still needed more work on offense after Mendoza.

26:34I mean, they had a million picks. Trey Zunes, an offensive lineman in round three and Mike Washington, kind of a big play running back in round four. My question is, are they setting up Fernando Mendoza for success? The number one wide receiver right now on the roster is probably Jalen Naylor.

26:53Gregg Rosenthal:It's the tight end. Sure, but I'm saying wide receiver. well yeah and I know they got banged for not like focusing more high round pick attention on that they needed more dimension in my opinion and I say that you know not to sound like a broken record a lot of teams I think suffer from this where they get too many guys that are the same guys or they they kind of go and fall into these patterns or habits Malik Benson I know he's a six-round pick super late pickup but he's a burner like he's fast fast he can get behind a defense so we'll see if that works out. I like that they address the quarterback development plan in free agency.

27:30Gregg Rosenthal:I think that's where you do it. If you are going to spend that type of draft capital, the number one overall pick on a quarterback, you need to set up infrastructure for him around him, the Linderbaum signing and then bringing in Kirk Cousins to sort of help in that bridge. Like, I just think that they've already done their quarterback development plan. And now it's about, okay, we really need to figure out there's a, the rest of the roster exists also. And I'm sure they had, there was a scenario where they take a receiver earlier, but yeah, that guy didn't fall to them. They didn't want Denzel Boston.

28:02I thought there were so many like Ted Hurst and Chris, but there were so many of these third round dart throws. I wouldn't, and they had so many picks. I would have thought they would have done a receiver a little earlier, but no. Yeah. Or Surratt, give Surratt to his old college QB Mendoza.

28:15Patrick Claybon:I think we could take away from that, you know, their comfort with regards to what they did do in the plan. which calls 2025 into question once again, like what exactly was that? Because you clearly are looking into this Kirk Cousins thing, and I don't think it's going to be Kirk Cousins all season. I think eventually the number one overall pick is going to have to play because playing is how you improve, and I don't know how much watching is going to do for Fernando Mendoza. And to be honest, I think good. But, you know, if he goes out there, you know, has the slings of an arrows of outrageous fortune, you know, things can work.

28:55And they got Javad McCoy in the fourth. It's a good offseason for Rob Leonard. And for the 99 percent of the people out there listening who don't know who Rob Leonard is, that's the defensive coordinator of the Las Vegas. Don't think that many people are familiar, but man, they loaded up some picks for Rob Leonard. Once again, I did go over the honking limit, but let's take a break so we don't honk anymore. We will be back with AFC South on the other side. We're moving. We're moving well.

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30:38back on NFL Daily. I just shook it up and randomized how these divisions would go. AFC South, I feel like, has to wait till the end. A lot of the times we're going second with AFC South and one of the premier teams in the NFL, the Houston Texans.

30:54Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. Do you guys ever feel like Texans GM Nick Casario is one of those sort of like mild-mannered guys who walks around the office in like his fleece quarter zip vest and then in his non-work hours, he's in a fight club. Because I feel like he and D 'Amico Ryans just keep finding absolute ass kickers to add to this defense. And if there's one thing I'm starting to really, really trust, it's that they will find guys who can not only at times contribute immediately, but will just continue to make this an absolute defensive factory. This time, it's Caden McDonald, the defensive tackle out of Ohio State, who's going to contribute right away, should give their run game an immediate boost.

31:35Gregg Rosenthal:Also, like, really loved that moment for him when he did get drafted because he was super emotional about it. And they didn't have much else to do on defense in terms of starters. That was a need for them, sort of a quiet one after for agency. And they didn't they needed some safety depth as well. And so they always are looking for those guys and also linebackers as well. So they paid attention to those spots in the draft. I also like that they continued to address their offensive line. Like this was a team that maneuvered its offensive line quite a bit in the offseason, some departures and also a couple of additions, but also needed to get younger at certain positions to Kaylin Rutledge.

32:12Gregg Rosenthal:It was a popular pick for them. So I really like this draft. And my biggest question is, what can this offense itself specifically look like in year two under Nick Cayley? I don't have any remaining questions about this defense right now and probably in the future. But I do have questions about year two of this system. How will they add in help for C.J. Stroud? And who will C.J. Stroud even be? I'm not worried about C.J. Stroud, but it is obviously a big question for them, for him to regain the sizzle I think he had as a rookie. because it's less about the disastrous playoff game and more about the uneven regular seasons that he's had the last two seasons, where I think they haven't been as bad as people think, but also they haven't been as consistent.

32:59The weirdest rumor, you know, report throughout this whole thing was that Nico Collins was potentially available. They have a lot to sort out, Patrick. That's what worries me with Kaylee, who didn't seem like he sorted out. Yeah, you have all these offensive linemen, but you have a million to sort out. And then after Nico Collins, you kind of have a weird receiver group to fill out where it's like we don't know what the roles are.

33:18Patrick Claybon:Yeah, we don't know what the roles are, but we know that there's talent there. Yep. Like top to bottom. And we consider a team that was so gifted, so explosive, so good on defense. And it's like, we just got to fix the offense. And you look position by position, and you're like, wait, okay. So they got those two rookies from Iowa State. They were pretty good at wide receiver, plus one of the better wide receivers in the game. Tight end, they at least have one. You get Tank Dell back this year too. We'll see. Turn of Tank Dell. So it's like position wise, I want to look at this heavily defensive draft and be like, oh, wow, why aren't they addressing the need?

33:50Patrick Claybon:It's got like Keelan Rutledge, Nick Haley, CJ Straub. They got to figure it out.

33:55Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. And don't forget, they addressed already. David Montgomery is on the team with Woody Marks now. And I really so I really like this build. They just have to do something with it at this point. The with a stick. The Colts build has been fascinating to me over the last handful of years, especially this offseason. This is your team, Patrick.

34:12Patrick Claybon:Yes, the Colts get one of the better interior linebackers in terms of the draft where they're able to kind of build on the need there. The questions kind of go out to edge where it's, you know, a lot of it was related to what players were actually available when they did make the picks. But in terms of, you know, filling out this this need, where's that necessarily coming from? And then also with the the trade request and I'm blanking on one of the better corners. Sauce Gardner? No. Kenny Moore. Yes. Kenny Moore, who's again, you know, it is age 30 season. You do get sauce, but you have, in my opinion, a need at cornerback where there's still spots on this team that are massive areas of need that haven't necessarily been addressed.

35:05Patrick Claybon:And my question with the 2026 Indianapolis Colts, obviously the status of dimes and his availability coming back from the Achilles is there. Are there enough pieces to facilitate a successful dime season even after he came back? Yes. To me, they're one of the biggest boom or bust teams. Like if everything goes right, I think it's just barely yes. although they could use another wide receiver. Alec Pierce is coming off a surgery, and their third receiver right now is Westbrook-Akine. People love Deion Burks, who was a seventh-round pick. You can't even expect that guy to make the team, but Daniel Jeremiah loved him.

35:41People love Deion Burks, so maybe he could help, but they're really trying to thread a very short needle, whereas some of these teams that are good, like the Rams, obviously, we'll get to, where you can't see starters out of the class. The Colts didn't have a first-round pick, and they're definitely starting CJ Allen and they're almost certainly starting AJ Halsey, their third round pick who people loved. And some of their later guys also, I think, are going to have a chance to play right away. So high risk, I think, approach.

36:10Gregg Rosenthal:CJ Allen picked a team match, one of my favorite ones in this entire draft, because he immediately, you know, they parted ways with Zaire Franklin and it was probably time at that point. And they needed to get a day one starter, Captain Green Dot material in that building to shore up the center of their defense that had a lot of issues last year. And so I like, you know, you've talked a lot about statements of intent, Greg. This was one of them for them. No first round pick, so you're not going to probably draft an edge rusher. You're not going to reach on one in the second round. So you're going to go take other areas of your defense in the second and third round that are super, super important to that group.

36:48Gregg Rosenthal:And that's C.J. Allen and then A.J. Halsey at safety, like you mentioned. I think that they really, I like this draft class. And I think it works based on where they're at. I also don't think they necessarily added like a premier receiver with a high pick because they also have Tyler Warren, and they've sort of declared him as one of those mismatched receivers. So they're building out these layers, but you're probably looking at him as like a volume one or two and receiver three, essentially.

37:15Patrick Claybon:And they go volume at edge at five and six with Gumbs and Curry. But you hope one of those guys hits. They have to. They sort of do. I like that my guy, TJ Allen, getting the first round treatment. Whenever you're the second round pick, but they didn't have the first rounder, you get the first round treatment, and he deserved it. One of my favorites. The Jags also did not have a first round pick because of the Travis Hunter trade. They angered a lot of the draft nicks because they went so far off the consensus board with a lot of their picks. The thing that got a little lost in the shuffle afterwards was how James Gladstone talked about it.

37:51And he said, we continue to just place a higher priority on the intangible elements of the. So when people, I think almost unfairly, like, hey, you think you're smarter than the rest of the NFL? When he's saying that we're focusing on intangibles, I do think he's telling you, yeah, like we're trying to look at things differently. We'll see if they're right. The only problem with like taking, you know, Borker in the second round, people were shocked about the tight end. and it started this tight end run is like, if all these tight ends and Marlon Klein was another crazy one with the Texans, if all these tight ends were worthy of second round picks, like why, why didn't these tight ends in free agency get paid more?

38:30Like Kate Otten's a$20 million player. If you're taking, if you're taking Burke or in the second round,

38:35Gregg Rosenthal:they didn't get paid more because they were coming in the draft. Right. Like it helped. These are teams capitalizing on a surplus. Right. And I think the, the argument would be like, we'll see they're, they're projecting a lot in an older player who's not necessarily going to be like a big blocker, but Albert Regis, Jalen Husky, Wesley Williams, all these guys that they, they were taking like a risk on. Do you believe that there is a way Jordan to find intangibly rich players better than other teams? I guess we'll see, you know, I mean, I've done a lot of work on scouting and process and all that type of thing.

39:13Gregg Rosenthal:I think a lot of teams think they are, they have a good process of doing that, but you just don't know, right? Like, I guess we'll have to see. He said like, that's kind of their focus to the point where they will ignore, I think, some of the other more traditional stuff like combine numbers. Yeah, because I will tell you, I will tell you too, just knowing that building, they're not ignoring the consensus board. Like they probably have a bigger built out consensus board. like they're using like our friend Arif Hassan like they are using these things that they are aware of them but they're choosing to go in a different direction and that is really I don't want to say strange but it's intriguing to me like I'm curious to know more about why they did that I love it but they also didn't get almost any production out of their rookie class last year so they need that class to step up and they need these guys to play because then if you go a couple years like that then it gets really worried

40:00Patrick Claybon:and I think eventually you will need to tell people what aspects you are using to evaluate these guys

40:05Gregg Rosenthal:I would like to know.

40:06Patrick Claybon:Yeah, because saying intangibles, it doesn't mean anything. Like, what is it? Well, Casario talks a lot about he wants captains. He wants guys who are married with, like, kids. He wants responsible, like, young men.

40:17Gregg Rosenthal:And he wants them to join his fight club. Right. I don't know. I don't think that's what the Jaguars are doing, but that's what Casario talks about. Well, yeah, the married with kids things is preposterous. Yeah.

40:26Patrick Claybon:It's incalculably vapid. But the whole intangibles thing. Yeah, like, James, let us know what the thing is. because saying intangibles, like you couldn't evaluate based on intangibles. That's proprietary information. Because they're intangible.

40:41Gregg Rosenthal:I'm going to find out. How can you evaluate on something that's intangible? Wait, did you say incurably vapid? What did you say? Incalculably vapid. Incalculably vapid. That's a winner. That is what the Tennessee Titans will hope not to be this year. Basically, do not be the incalculably, I can't say that word, vapid team. Amazing. You gave it a creditable attempt. Thank you. Yes, I have the Tennessee Titans. excuse me, not even halfway through last season, we at this desk were all collectively tearing our hair out about all of the drops and inconsistency that Cam Ward had along his receiver during his rookie season.

41:18Gregg Rosenthal:Now he's got a new best friend. Yes. Arnold Tate, who the Titans really surprised everybody by drafting him at number four. But it was pretty clear with all the hype around them potentially picking Jeremiah Love that they were going to go offense. And I really liked what they started doing in this draft because they had some fun with pairing. I think players, their head coaches were going to like. Now they have two head coaches in the building, our former head coaches, one currently the head coach and Robert Sala. And they also have Brian Dable. So it really felt like - Assistant GM Brian Dable?

41:48He's doing great.

41:50Gregg Rosenthal:It really felt, it really feels like they're kind of getting, they each got like their guy guys because later in the first round, Keldrick Falk really does feel like a Robert Sala player who traits that he would like to develop and a player who he can really kind of see a vision for. So I like the intentionality that they went through. I like that in the offseason that they rebuilt their defensive line. It looks completely different now with Falk and then also Jonathan Franklin Myers being there next to Jeffrey Simmons. My big question that remains, what does success actually look like for the Tennessee Titans this season?

42:24Kim Ward playing more consistently and having a productive offense. Obviously, you don't want Salah's defense to fall, like to be terrible, but they don't even matter that much to me. They could be anywhere from like 24th to 10th. It's not going to change how like...

42:40Gregg Rosenthal:Great seat if you're Salah, you know? And Dable, like think how different this entire roster would be if Dable wasn't there. He has so many ex-Giants. But yeah, if this works out, and Tate is only the second number one over, or third number one overall pick to have a receiver drafted the very year after. Good history here. Joe Burrow got Jamar Chase the next year and David Carr got Andre Johnson the next year. So let's hope let's hope it works like that. Yeah. If he's Jamar Chase or Andre Johnson, that absolutely works out.

43:11Patrick Claybon:I think success for the Titans looks like road wins in like two of three in Indianapolis, in Houston, Jacksonville. They get those. They get two out of three of those wins against pretty good teams. They're all playoff contenders where you can say, all right, they've arrived. They are within the division. They're having success there. If they get that, I think we can project long-term success. They kind of remind me a little bit of the Saints last year or a lot of that division. The jump from three wins to six or seven is actually one of the easiest jumps you can possibly make in the NFL. That's success.

43:50Just getting to like, not great, but okay. But especially on offense.

43:54Gregg Rosenthal:That's all I care about. improving on offense and showing you're building an environment for your future franchise quarterback is going to be the end all be all goal here and it has to be and so that's why I like about what they did in free agency combined with picking Carnell Tate you're just giving the quarterback more tools I love that tape pick the more the more I sat with it and I'm surprised some people don't they're dumb the bills they're up Patrick Claibon is going to talk about him

44:20Patrick Claybon:Yes, and the Buffalo Bills are able to use their draft capital to address multiple spots where you get TJ Parker out of Clemson and you're like, wait, this feels like a McDermott pick in terms of the type of player there, but they address needs. They address needs in the secondary as well, and the Buffalo Bills also get a wide receiver in terms of what they can do in this draft where they've got a unit, a group of guys who haven't necessarily had success where they bring in the veteran edge rusher. So they address needs there. In terms of trying to stay healthy, I think Brandon Bean would like to get into the postseason where they say, okay, these are the guys we can count on and rely on to play and rush the passer.

45:14Patrick Claybon:it's just a typical question of was enough done right I don't I don't see the vision on defense I do worry about it they've added people this year I don't know if I necessarily see them as like Jim Leonard people that was you know we that was how they talked about really taking this group over like we have a vision for the whole team I don't know if I see it yet on defense we'll

45:37Gregg Rosenthal:see I expand on that please because Ollie was like pretty fired up on the winners and losers podcast that you guys did recently. And I thought it was super interesting because when you look at this draft on paper, it does look like they've addressed their defense yet. When you go, you know, pop the hood a little bit and Ollie was, was pretty solid talking about this. He says that these are not scheme fits to what he knows that Jim Leonard, well, does Jim Leonard want to live?

46:03Patrick Claybon:Jim's Jim Leonard's scheme. Really? We think it's going to be more of, you know, the Vance Joseph guys in multiple positions, a lot of posts, that move, a lot of like versatility. And that's not necessarily what they've focused on this offseason and it is interesting to see. We're taping this in the studio. We got the nice graphics up if you're checking it out on YouTube and it says how the Bills eliminated by the Broncos and Jim Leonard's team last year. It just makes me think, man, that's another Super Bowl appearance they really should have had. They should have won that freaking game. They were playing well.

46:31They would have beat the Patriots. I think they probably would have lost in the end, but yeah, that's like two Super Bowls they were robbed by. Sorry. That's just a distraction from the larger point. Skyler Bell could be like a future Khalil Shakir.

46:42Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. Partner where he does some similar things and Josh Allen likes to use him. Yeah. I like his, his upside in terms of just like he, he, we want to talk about versatility. I do think that he's a versatile player. He's kind of like toolsy. He's physical, like all of that. But, but I also think I'm higher Patrick to answer your initial question. Did they do enough on offense? I'm just, I'm higher. I think than most on the DJ more edition. I think he plus the tight ends, you know, Brandon being alluded to this and I know he says it every year, but he alluded to this a little bit more, Greg, with us in our very brief interview we did with him at the Combine, actually committing to getting a little bit heavier in terms of the personnel, not using the extra tackle, doing more things with the tight ends.

47:23Gregg Rosenthal:And I think that this, you know, getting their guys healthy will be important, but I like DJ Moore's fit with that type of plan. The roster, even though I think it's got some problems on defense, not as bad as I I thought once I went through it, still Super Bowl contender. The Dolphins are not. Maybe the worst roster in the NFL. I love this draft. Right now? I love what they're doing. I think when you have so many picks, you're going to have ones that are popular. Chris Johnson, the cornerback at the end of the first round, was great. Jacob Rodriguez was an interesting pick that they chose him kind of over CJ Allen and some of the other inside linebackers.

48:02But he sets a tone. Chris Bell is a third round pick with a really high upside from Louisville. But Caleb Douglas was a guy that people were stunned went that early. We'll see. I mean, their number one receiver right now, potentially, is Greg Dulcich, third tight end. I mean, they have no... I can't remember a worse wide receiver edge combination. Their top edge is Chop Robinson, who hasn't been able to stay on the field. So they didn't really get to address those positions with anything. Sure. Like, I like the draft. Fine. But do you think this is the worst roster in the NFL, Patrick? That's what I settled on after going through 32 hour lads groups.

48:42Patrick Claybon:No, I don't. I would give the edge to a different team. Who? If the Arizona Cardinals have to play Gardner Minshew.

48:50Gregg Rosenthal:He finally came back around. Yeah. The Arizona Cardinals have an awesome offense other than quarterback, actually. I've kind of settled in on that. But that's another conversation.

49:00Patrick Claybon:Yeah. No, I mean, it's Jacoby dependent. to me there. But yeah, I wouldn't say it's the worst roster in the NFL, but I mean, it's in the discussion. This is what rebuilds look like, though. I'm not killing them for that. I think some of these picks will work out. Some of them don't. You said you really loved it. What made you love this class?

49:18Gregg Rosenthal:I loved it because they followed exactly what this build is supposed to be. They have established who they're now. John Eric Sullivan is calling them pillars. Previously, they've been known as weight-bearing walls. he's established who they are and then picked in volume on the other side of that movement in free agency and I think that that's important because a lot of these guys are going to play right away and they're gonna they're gonna have to see kind of what they can be and what they can contribute and I think if they get you know if they even hit on 40 percent uh contributors key role players in this class that is a successful draft and I like that they had they picked 30 they had 13 picks the most of any team.

50:00Gregg Rosenthal:And I appreciate picking in volume when you are going through a rebuild, a decimation of their defense. That's that significant. And I absolutely think that, you know, a guy like, um, uh, Chris Johnson is a, is a cornerstone type of guy who you can build around. I appreciated this draft because it, to me, it's really part to whole sets. It really is in sync with their overall plan, not a sprint rebuild, just a, it's a sprint. Same old rebuild. I maintain that. Caden Proctor's got to work out. You passed on Caleb Downs. I do think them and the Giants, I'm going to keep an eye on those two for passing on Caleb Downs.

50:34Gregg Rosenthal:Talk to me in 20, in 2027. Right. After, you know, as, as 2027, like halfway through the season, get, get to me at the midway point because these are the exact same things that people were saying about the 49ers, the Bucks, the Rams. But those teams were previously good and had like great players. All teams that decimated their roster and then overhauled it in rapid fashion by taking on a lot of dead money and then picked in volume on the other side. I think, yes, they were coming from a position where they didn't have like the longest playoff drought, you know, winning, in terms of getting a win in the NFL.

51:06That's the problem. They're building really from the start. You got the Patriots who felt like they were in a similar position last year and then ended up in the Super Bowl. What do you think?

51:16Gregg Rosenthal:I appreciate it. Again, like I just mentioned with Miami, I appreciate when a team has a lot of draft picks and then things kind of make sense with their decision-making. Caleb Lomu might have given us the best intro video of the entire draft and one of the best I've ever seen. I like that they went that direction with their first-round pick, and then they grabbed another tackle later on in Demetrius Crownover, also a great name. I like that they hit the other side of the line of scrimmage. Is it Yakis? Yakis, Gabe Yakis. Yeah, Gabe Yakis, who is a fast and aggressive pass rusher. He fits kind of in with what they need to really desperately add on that side of the ball.

51:53Gregg Rosenthal:They had a tight end need as well. They went with one with their third pick, Eli Raritan out of Notre Dame. He's more of a blocking tight end, but it really balances well if teams are wanting to put multiple tight ends on the field at once, which they are. Really fits in. Again, piece of a larger puzzle. You could see the strategy. And first and foremost and most importantly, it began with continuing to add to their offensive line, continuing to add to their pass rush. Those are going to be needs for them, I would say, again, in the coming year as well. They just were decimated. They just needed so much help.

52:24Gregg Rosenthal:But I think this is a really, really great addition to what they built last year along those lines. Yeah, Yakis is kind of a rugged power player. That's their type, and they needed to get younger. It was an old, pretty slow defense, still pretty slow at linebacker. It would be interesting if Lomo possibly plays left tackle for them. like if they do consider playing will campbell inside but it gives them some flexibility i think

52:50Patrick Claybon:that's part of the advantage of that pick yeah and they have the the options right and once you you know it's it's better to have the options than to not and it's you know not to say you're forced into a situation where the guy you took in the top five uh to play tackle has to play tackle uh but they would be able to to move off of that i think like when we consider all of the other things that they've done this offseason including the one thing that has yet to be done that we're all projecting that they're going to do. AJ Brown? Yeah. It's hard to evaluate everything until that thing actually happens.

53:21Let's predict what they give up for him. Anyone have any thoughts?

53:26Gregg Rosenthal:A first and a second. Whoa. That would be... A first and a fourth. A problem for me. Howie Roseman. Next year's 2028. First and a fifth. I think like first in Kayshawn Booty. How about that? But a first is rich. It might be a couple years out there was one report, like that it could be a 28 first. I don't know why the Eagles would want a receiver back in the equation after doing what they've done to their receiver's room over the last. Just a different style than the types of guys that they have. I guess Stowers kind of plays a Keishan Booty role, but maybe more just like, why not? But yeah, I mean, I would, that probably isn't really changing the equation too much, Keishan Booty.

54:04He's just a nice little throw-in. Nice little booty.

54:07Gregg Rosenthal:As a Patriots fan, what did you think about their draft? It was fine. fine. I don't have hot takes on Lomu. I like the flexibility. My big question about them was on paper, and especially factoring in the potential of this AJ Brown trade, on paper, they look like they got better. They're also going to have a tougher schedule this year, so what will this team actually be? I worry that they're giving up future picks to get slower in general for a team that I think was a little slow, but I like AJ Brown obviously. You're up with the Jets. Is this the last team in the

54:41Patrick Claybon:AFC well and and that's the thing about the Patriots schedule getting tougher the Jets got better not only do they get the court you know the parallels uh Dan Campbell in the turnaround with Aaron Glenn there they get Aiden Hutchinson well here's David Bailey they get Sam Laporta well here comes Kenyon Sadiq they get a couple of national champions and Omar Cooper and D 'Angelo Pons on both sides uh of the ball there where you you see the vision for the way that this is going going to work in this edition of the Aaron Glenn era. But the question comes back to a couple of guys that have seen and played and done a lot of football and Frank Reich and Gino Smith.

55:22Patrick Claybon:Is that the recipe for success still? Like even after this draft, which I do feel great about in the year of our Lord, 2026. I'm, I'm more worried about Reich in a weird way. Cause I think, I think Gino, we kind of know who he's going to be. Let's say in a better situation, he's going to be like a high level backup bridge starter type ish. But can Frank Reich provide that? We'll see Sadiq. I think there's questions of like, how do you see using him? You know, Mason Taylor is going to probably have to bulk up and be a little bit more of that wide tight end and do the blocking while Sadiq is, is running up the seam.

55:58Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I could totally see that. You know, it was funny. It was like the jets were almost like listening to all the conversations of people's favorite players in this draft. because it's Kenyon Sadiq, who is a lot of people's favorite player. It's Omar Cooper Jr. is a lot of people's favorite player. D 'Angelo Pons, which was really a nice moment when Pons, who got the Aaron Glenn comp, goes to Aaron Glenn and Aaron Glenn watching him like, you know, like a proud dad, watching him on the screen. It's hard to fault this draft. It's also hard to say, okay, the Jets. The Jets, right? Right, like on paper, their roster looks okay.

56:35Now they have eight new starters on defense. I think it's a big test. Can Aaron Glenn actually coach defense well in this modern NFL? He's kind of using some of the old Parcell stuff. It didn't work great at the end of the Detroit run. He has a lot of new players, including the number two overall pick in the draft and pond. So I think he's got to make it work. I think Darren Mugey though has set himself up. Well, it's hope season. The fact they have three first round picks next year. I think he's kind of insulated himself from any.

57:04Gregg Rosenthal:he's built he's built himself a castle he that any changes that go on do you think Aaron Glenn can get it done with all these new guys in free agency in the draft I hope he gets a chance

57:13Patrick Claybon:we've already saved Aaron Mugey's job with hypothetical picks I would like I would like Aaron Glenn to have and he had to lose Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner to get it but that is a difference I think between let's say the Dolphins rebuild and the Jets rebuild is that the Jets are really selling hope with these three picks next year and that's the advantage in the GM coach dichotomy is it's easier for the GM to sell the future than the coach because the coach has to sit there and answer questions every time after Sauce Gardner and, you know, Quentin Williams are making plays for other teams.

57:44Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if they are better than expected on defense this year. The safety that they picked up, the corners, I really – it's good on paper. I mean, I like their line. Yeah. I think it was a great week for Geno. Geno Nation, we are so back. We thought it was over. But I'm a Jets fan, at least for 2026. We did it around the AFC. We did it all week, all 32 teams. I think we've accomplished a lot, and I appreciate your friendship. And most importantly, what you contribute to NFL Daily. Friendship comes and goes. This show's forever. Yes. In reverse order, that's your hierarchy.

58:27No, it's not. We will be back one more time this week. myself and Nick Shook talking about some of the veterans that were impacted by the draft. And then I think that finally wraps up our 2026 draft coverage in the offseason really starts. See you then.

58:46Gregg Rosenthal:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.