Dante Moore's NFL Draft stock up, Drew Allar's down after Oregon-Penn State tilt

0:03Dane Brugler: Welcome to another episode of Building the Beast. I am your host, Dave Helman. We've got a loaded show. As always, my buddy, Dane Brugler, our athletic draft guru, joins me as we seek to put together, build the 2026 version of the Beast, his phenomenal annual draft guide. We had a loaded college football weekend, Penn State, Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, a couple other huge matchups to get to examining all the big winners coming out of those games, as well as maybe some not so big winners, some puzzling developments covering every angle of that. And on top of that, Dane put together his all rookie team for the first month of the NFL season, taking a closer look at some of the guys who have really gotten out to a hot start in this year's rookie class, a phenomenal episode.

0:53Dane Brugler: Looking forward to y 'all hearing it. So let's get into it. Let's go.

1:01Dane Brugler: All right, Dave, really busy week for you on both fronts, because obviously we had the jam-packed week five slate of college football, but you're also publishing your all-rookie NFL team for the first quarter of the NFL season. So I'm guessing you in the film room had a busy start to your week this week.

1:21Dave Helman: A lot of NFL film this week, which is, I mean, just my Sundays are usually watching NFL. It's got a couple of screens in the background while I'm looking at college tape. So I'm keeping track on everything NFL wise, but really diving into the film on some of these rookies was really interesting, really fun. It's essential just not only to talk about these guys, but for my own purposes of knowing what to scout for, what's working in the NFL, what's not, what are teams doing? What are the trends, all that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of chalk, right? I mean, a lot of first round players are the ones that are playing well in terms of what this rookie class looks like, the early results.

2:03Dave Helman: But and that's to be expected that these are the guys getting the chances. But yeah, overall, I thought it was pretty eye opening with some of these rookies are doing.

2:12Dane Brugler: We're going to dive into that in a little more detail later on in the show. So I want to pick your brain about it, too, because I'm watching NFL in college all season, but with a little distance from you other than what we get to do on the show. And obviously, most of what we talk about is college football. So I'm curious for your thoughts on some of these NFL guys. But we are here to build the next beast more so than ruminate on the previous beast. So obviously, we're going to start with the big week five that we spent all week previewing heading into the weekend. And there's plenty of places you can go when you've got as many big time matchups.

2:52Dane Brugler: But if we're handing out game balls, I think we got to start where we started the preview, which is Oregon Penn State. And specifically, we said this was a game going to be defined by its quarterbacks. And nobody was it because I want to talk about Dante more. Like where else are you going to start after that performance in Happy Valley with the white out with the, all the stakes, Dante Moore, definitely the, we can't call him a newcomer to the conversation because you and I have been talking about him all season long, but really planting his flag as a piece of this 2026 quarterback class, provided he even wants to come out.

3:35Dane Brugler: But for the purposes of this, I thought it was a hell of a, of a big time impression.

3:40Dave Helman: No doubt. And yeah, we set up this game as something that would be a very revealing look at these two quarterbacks and look, body of work matters, no doubt, but how the quarterbacks responded on this stage should be weighted differently. And more was fantastic to go on the road and that, on that environment and play like you did 75 % completions, 85%. If you account for the drops and the throwaways, three touchdowns, no turnovers, A lot of the throws were just underneath throws. You know, he's taken a profit, but he also had several big time throws down the field. And he was working from the pocket.

4:17Dave Helman: I loved how he was working outside of structure. He did a nice job on quarterback draws, design runs. But he also showed that, hey, I can escape, keep plays alive, improvise. He had a nice one, Sadiq, down the field. He had another one to the freshman, Moore, where he made a great catch. but bought time, found him, put the ball in a place where only he could get it. In overtime, I loved how he showed that that body malleability on the boot so he could avoid Dennis Sutton and then fire a strike that turned out to be the game winning touchdown. So, I mean, how can you not be optimistic about more the way he's played, just the presence that he has never getting too high, too low in the way he was playing out there?

5:01Dave Helman: he had answers for all of the other problems that that they were putting out there for him so the game plan the coaching and the quarterback play was was all outstanding and it took all of that to get a double overtime win but it's the type of performance you're going to look back at and say all right this is the if i'm going to bet on one of these quarterbacks show me the quarterback that has this type of tape and you know that that's the guy i want to lean towards so more's got it

5:30Dane Brugler: I love the word presence to describe him. And I think that could apply in a variety of different ways. Like it can apply to moments in the game, right? Like you go up 17 to three, you watch that lead evaporate as the game winds down. How do you respond to the environment? How do you respond to the stage? And then like within plays as well, how do you respond to the touchdown that you mentioned in double overtime is perfect because how do you respond to having a guy in your face like that essentially right away and the answer every single time was poise making the right play even if it wasn't a splashy play we talk so much about guys in these situations how do you handle those those factors and how does it weigh on you it didn't look like a big deal for Dante Moore at all in

6:21Dave Helman: this setting yeah he was comfortable really the entire game and you know I think uh again a big part of that is game plan and so the coaching I think they're what they wanted to do the ways they wanted to attack um that deserves a lot of credit no doubt but the quarterback has to be it's he's still the engineer of the offense he still has to make the right decisions the right calls in the moment and he did that consistently kept them out of mistakes um yeah this is this is a check the boxes for this quarterback and so the big question okay he he played well over the first few weeks of the year but it was against lower level competition how would he do on the road against this type of opponent and this this was huge because you look at oregon's schedule moving forward they don't have ohio state maybe until the big 10 championship game potentially uh but you know they don't have you know they they play indiana but indiana is more offense than defense they got to go to Washington later in the year, which is never easy.

7:20Dave Helman: But this was a big one for Dante Moore to show what he could do as a prospect, but also a team that's kind of full, full steam ahead. I mean, Oregon looks like one of the top three teams in the country right now in college football.

7:37Dane Brugler: Another thing I loved about this, and it's not Dante Moore specific, but you mentioned game plan. I loved how Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff trusted him to put them in good situations. I counted four times in this game where Dante Moore made a play on third down that put them in position to go for it on fourth down. And I'm not I'm not comparing him to Jalen Hurts. And I'm you know, they didn't run the tush push in this game. But it reminded me of the Philadelphia Eagles where it's like, hey, all four downs are available to us if we can put ourselves in position to take advantage of them. And then once you get to fourth down, you've got a quarterback who can make the play.

8:20Dane Brugler: They go five of seven on fourth down. I mean, that's silly. And when you are able to extend drives that consistently, you're stealing possessions like you're stealing the game from your opponent and that they trusted Dante more to put them in those situations. I thought it spoke volumes.

8:36Dave Helman: no doubt trust is the key that's the key word there and in the post-game uh interview they did on the field i mean dan lanning uh clearly was emotional and the first thing out of his mouth was talking about how about that quarterback you know because it just it is not easy to go into that type of environment and play even keeled for four quarters plus overtime uh but that's exactly what what uh dante moore did so again this is a as we look towards the 2026 draft and we are still very much open-minded about what quarterback one is going to look like. Dante Moore filled out his application, turned it in, and he's looking like a viable candidate.

9:16Dave Helman: Now, he's a player that is really a one-year starter. He had, what, I think five starts for UCLA two years ago. We can count those as, you know, maybe he's a one-and-a-half-year starter. So ideally, Really, you know, you want your quarterbacks to be a, you know, three year starter. At least you want them to have 30 plus starts. If Dante Moore comes out after this year, he won't have that. But the way that he has played, he looks like a veteran. He looks like a guy that's unflappable. And so that's something that will help him throughout the process.

9:49Dane Brugler: We said this matchup was going to be defined by the quarterback. So the flip side of that coin is. Drew Aller is the other guy in this game, and he's the guy with the. I mean, with the, with the profile and the, you know, he's the senior, you mean, you talk about a guy that's played plenty of college football, it's Drew Aller. And I just, I came out of this game exactly how I expected to come out of this game, which was that it was a Drew Aller game, which if we're trying to take the step forward and be the guy that gets drafted ahead of everybody else, I, I don't think it's good for a Drew Aller game to be something that happens in a home loss, but that's, that's how I felt about it.

10:29Dane Brugler: I was like, yeah, like the talent is clearly there. He made one or two sick throws. He can, he can do some really good things with his feet. He's like, he's not a bad football player, but the pick at the end of the game is obviously the highlight. That's going to get replayed over and over again. And I just, I, I want to see more growth from a guy that's had plenty of opportunity for it.

10:51Dave Helman: Yeah. I mean, you didn't, nothing that you just, of what you just said, I disagree with. it's a tough conversation because there's there's just so much that looks broken about the Penn State offense I don't understand the design of what they're doing I it didn't make sense I I thought it was what Oregon was doing on defense a lot of Tampa too a lot of zone and I don't know what Penn State was trying to do not only did I I don't think it was a good game plan it just did it doesn't fit the strengths of the quarterback and so and I'm not trying to make excuses for because the lack of rhythm in his game makes it tough to watch the footwork, his eyes, the release.

11:30Dave Helman: It's just it's messy and we're not seeing improvement. And that's the big thing is, OK, he clearly looked better last year than 2023. Could he take another step? Well, he has it based on the first few games. It didn't look like he he was going to. OK, were they holding stuff back? Were they just not putting foot to the pedal? Wanted to hold stuff back for the Oregon game? OK, well, it doesn't really seem like they're doing that either. We didn't see improvement in that game. He what we saw from Drew Aller against Oregon looked like what we saw again from Drew Aller against Ohio State last year or against Oregon last year against Penn State or against Notre Dame last year in in the playoffs.

12:11Dave Helman: So, yeah, I coming into the season, I had a second round grade on Drew Aller as a developmental quarterback with down the road starting potential. There are reasons not to jump off the ship completely. That deep post touchdown was beautiful. Like you said, he used his legs a lot more in this game. And it's it was, you know, he's not someone that you're going to mistake with Josh Allen. Like he's not that type of athlete, but he could he can follow his blocks and he's not a slug. He can move around a little bit. So enough to move the chains. But overall, you know, that second round preseason grade is more likely to go down than up into the first round based on what he's put on film the first month of the season.

12:55Dane Brugler: This was one of my most burning questions to ask you heading into this show. And I agree with you on everything you just said, but I'm just so curious. And I think I think this is something that comes out of this game where you turn it on. you you want to be wowed by a guy like Drew Aller and you're just not at least not on a consistent basis but we talk so much about the talent and just the natural ability of a guy like this and when you talk about the issues with the Penn State offense combined with the success stories that we've seen with development in the NFL recently and it's fine if you don't have a definitive answer to this question because all 32 teams are different but I'm so curious how teams might view that and how scared they are by his lack of development or if this is still a guy that could get drafted pretty highly based on talent alone when you say pretty highly are you talking like top 20 top 50 when i say pretty highly i'm talking first round like or yeah like top top 20 top 25 like where jackson dart got drafted at least right and that's and and with all quarterbacks you know

14:07Dave Helman: Jackson Dart's a good example because what he was asked to do in Lane Kiffin's offense, very different than what he's asked to do in an NFL offense. And so you're kind of making a projection, right? OK, it was kind of be similar with Drew Aller, because a lot of what they're doing in that Penn State offense is just not what he's going to be asked to do in the NFL. So, yeah, you do have to make a projection. But I go back to the lack of rhythm in his drops and his reads. and it's just i i want to see the ball his back foot hit the ground at the top of his drop ball eyes up ball up and out of his hand you know i want to see the better timing better rhythm and he's just he i don't know it looks like he's afraid to make a mistake and then as the walls close in it's like oh shoot i gotta make a play he you know that's when he's like okay you know i'll just get rid of it and sometimes he's able to make a play sometimes he's not so you know i I there are reasons to be encouraged.

15:06Dave Helman: There's no doubt. But I think that when teams look at Droula as a prospect and they go on draft night, it's going to be more similar to how teams looked at Will Levis, where it's like, yeah, this guy's got a lot of talent. This guy, you know, there's a lot to like, but there's something missing. It's just it's not connecting. And until he shows us otherwise, why should we believe it's going to change? and all it takes is one team to say, you know what, let's roll the dice. And so he could be the 25th pick in the first round. And I don't think that'd be shocking because teams are willing to bet on, on talent at the position.

15:44Dave Helman: But if Drew Aller falls to day two, that's not a surprising either based off of what he has put on tape so far. So yeah, I mean, I think it Levis was a former Penn state quarterback.

15:56Dane Brugler: I was going to say, I was, I was debating whether to bring that up or not, But yeah, I can't help but notice the the symmetry there.

16:03Dave Helman: Yeah. So a guy that's super talented and very likable as a person, you know, like the intangibles. There's a lot to like there, but there's just something missing. Something's not connecting where you are taking that next step as a quarterback. And maybe you're capped, you know, some that that happens with a lot of these quarterbacks. And you can't you can't always blame the receivers. We can't always blame the coaching. We can't always, you know, it's it that's sometimes there is definitely context is required. You know, it's not just about what the quarterback's doing. There's so much around the quarterback that affects how the quarterback plays.

16:40Dave Helman: But at a certain point, you have to see him put it all together on film. And we just haven't seen that yet from Aller.

16:46Dane Brugler: Real quickly, before we move on, I mean, this was just such a big game with so many prospects. Was there was there anybody else outside of the quarterbacks that really caught your eye once you got to sit down with it?

16:57Dave Helman: um yeah i mean we all the attention that we've been given these left tackles uh we talked about that was a big one coming into this game um i thought the best offensive lineman for both oregon and penn state was on the interior um number 71 for penn state left guard uh yo one a uh he was awesome i think he he might be the best player on that penn state offense he's a junior so he'll have a decision to make after the year about coming out or not but i he's one of the best guards i've watched so far in this draft class uh or at least guys that are draft eligible and then the center for Oregon I thought he was fantastic the communication the execution was was awesome um the left tackles I it was it was rough um Shelton's touch and go there a little bit yeah I drew Shelton for Penn State he was fine for the most part um he got off caught off balance a few times the run blocking I thought was really inconsistent I didn't think he played like a first round pick um and neither did Isaiah Worlds for Oregon who man it just looks sloppy um like billy madison lunch lady extra sloppy that level of sloppiness and pass protection um like the tools are there right you can see the tools the movement skills the the what he does with his frame but the timing the hands just all over the place and so he gave up multiple pressures he was called for a holding got away with several other holdings uh holding calls so worlds just didn't look like he was up for the challenge it was i thought by far and he hasn't played great this year but i thought that against penn state was by far his probably worst game uh

18:28Dane Brugler: with the ducks i know nittany lion fans are still outraged about uh some of the technique we'll say that isaiah world displayed in that game but a big win for the ducks yeah they were they were

18:40Dave Helman: missed i mean i i don't think it decided the outcome but yeah they absolutely i mean i and i get it if you're a penn state fan like that almost fumble that happened and some of the holding calls that weren't called. Yeah, maybe it does change the game. I don't know, but it is what it is.

18:56Dane Brugler: I'm going to pose our second game ball. I'm just going to pose as a question. You are the expert. I value your opinion so much. How excited should I be about Alabama quarterback, Ty Simpson, because Alabama gets the big win in Athens in the other marquee game of the weekend. And man, I'll just, I got excited and I watched it back on Monday just to make sure it wasn't just in the moment. But I got pretty excited and I just want to know if you think that's justified. I mean, I always think of you as a closet Alabama fan, so I'm not surprised to hear that.

19:34Dave Helman: That hurts. First drive, Ty Simpson had that gorgeous deep shot to Ryan Williams right down the seam and it just dropped. Unbelievable. yeah i mean i ryan williams drop rate is it's rough yeah that's that's not a conversation we

19:52Dane Brugler: need to have because he's not eligible but um but but i'm i'm putting it in my notes somewhere to

19:58Dave Helman: circle back to at some point his body type like he's just he's an undersized player and the the amount of focus drops is something that is uh it's a legit concern um but ty simpson on that play like he saw the safety he was leaning he knew he had it as just it was in that type of environment you're on the road against georgia you have a touchdown on a perfect pass and it's dropped like those are the type of mistakes that you you can lose because of mistakes like that in a close game like this and credit to ty simpson like your star receiver drops it he comes back and continues firing later in the drive three-step drop back foot hits the grass fires a touchdown on the slant to Jeremy Bernard.

20:40Dave Helman: A lot of what Ty Simpson was doing, it was kind of what I wish Drew Allard would do, where everything's on time. Everything just looks in rhythm. I think, and that's what I loved about most about what Simpson put on that tape. It was all in rhythm. The drops from either shotgun, mostly shotgun. And then with the way the ball came out of his hand, Georgia played a lot of zone. They tried to drop an umbrella over the offense where you're keeping everything in front. but when the quarterback is consistently on time with his reads and with his throws you're going to give up yards and that's exactly what happened Simpson I thought that he was seeing things really well pre-snap and so he knew exactly because when you see things well pre-snap it cuts down on the reading you have to do post-snap and so that's exactly what we saw from Ty Simpson he was able to find the backside dig he was able to find that whole shot in between zones where he's not you know he's not having to wait for it to come open.

21:37Dave Helman: He's anticipating and understands the timing of the play. So was he perfect? No. I mean, the ball placement on some of his throws were, were, were a little bit off. Some of those throws would sail on him. The touch could be better. There were a few times where he bailed on, on some clean pockets, but it also gave us a chance to see that, that functional mobility and the chance to make plays on the move. And he just consistently made, made throws. And so the conversation with Simpson is, it's kind of similar to Dante Moore, you know, where the sample size, it's very small. We have literally four starts with Ty Simpson.

22:11Dave Helman: And so what do you, you know, it's hard to like go all in, put all your chips in with four starts. But what he's putting on tape, he belongs in the early round discussion. And can he keep this up all year, this level of play? I mean, remember last year against Georgia, how good Jalen Milrow looked? And we were talking, hey, maybe this quarterback won because of how good he played against the Bulldogs. but with Ty Simpson, we have to remember, this is a five-star guy. I mean, he was ranked really high. He was actually ranked higher than Drew Aller was as a recruit coming out, and he waited his turn behind Bryce Young and then two years, Jalen Milrow.

22:49Dave Helman: I'm not ready to say that Simpson is definitely this or that, especially when we just have four starts, but he played outstanding at Georgia in a tough place to play. He just deserves to be talked about more, deserves more respect, And because he's already four years into that program, he's a graduate, he's older, he could be one and done. So Simpson, we have to keep close tabs on him moving forward. If he keeps up this level of play, yeah, he'll be someone we're talking about as, you know, potentially one of the top three quarterbacks in this class.

23:22Dane Brugler: I think there's a natural tendency to think less of a guy who waits his turn, because if you were that good, then you would take somebody else's job away from him. but I don't think that's fair. And, and yeah, I don't think Ty Simpson deserves to be overlooked by any means. And yeah, I, I hear you on the accuracy and, and like, yeah, he didn't, he didn't play the best game of his life. I mean, Alabama didn't score in the second half of this game. Like, you know, I think it over time it, it settled down, but man, the confidence that he was ripping the ball, the, the way he was seeing, seeing the, the guy, like seeing his targets and having the confidence to rip it to them.

24:05Dane Brugler: I thought his, his arm talent looked really good. His, like, I know he had some nice gains with his feet, but like just his, his mobility, just as a passer, like moving around in the pocket, resetting his feet when he did have to get away from rushers. Like he had, he had one throw where he had to like reverse field to get away from a free rusher and he like flipped his hips and reset his feet and i was like man to do that and then throw a strike on the road in a place like athens against a team like georgia it like i said it got me really excited i thought it was really impressive

24:43Dave Helman: if you could look like like the way mac jones looked at alabama from the pocket but then also give more of a running element where you're can escape the rush you can keep plays alive um yeah that that's going to be something nfl teams are interested in because and i i think that like the physical tools aren't amazing um i think the the arm is good it's not it's not great um and he can just get a little bit better with some of those touch throws but i i think that comes with experience um just just feeling it but the fact that he he knows what he's pre-snap he He understands what defense is doing.

25:19Dave Helman: He knows where the throw is going to be. And everything was on time. And that's that's when it boils down to it. That's such a big part of playing quarterback. I don't care what level we're talking. So, yeah, I mean, you have my attention. Ty Simpson and a guy that if he continues this level of play, because, again, I mean, Alabama playing the SEC, we're going to see some other big time games at Alabama. Alabama plays, uh, Simpson's going to be along with Dante Moore and a few of these other guys, someone that belongs at the top of the list.

25:51Dane Brugler: And maybe not surprisingly, we can hit on this really quickly. Ty Simpson got a nice game from his left tackle, which Caden Proctor, we've talked about not having, not having the most, um, amazing start to his 2025 season, but he showed up in a big way. And I'm guessing that had an effect on his quarterback as well.

26:13Dave Helman: I mean, all he needed was to be featured in the passing game, get a target and kind of woke him up a little bit because, yeah, it was fun. That was fun. It officially goes down as a rush, not a catch. But it was something that I hope we see again this year because, man, trying to tackle that guy. Good luck. So, yeah, I thought this was this was by far Proctor's the best he's looked all season. he didn't allow a sack didn't allow a pressure he was he was much better with the timing of his hands with his landmarks you saw him really lean in that the power element because that that's a guy that size he has the power that that should be his his superpower and you saw him snatch dispose of defenders this this was good proctor now why did we have bad proctor against wisconsin against Florida State.

27:04Dave Helman: I don't know. But hopefully this can be like a turning point for him where, especially because we're going to see, I think they've got Missouri coming up, Tennessee, South Carolina. Those are three teams with better pass rushers than what Georgia has. And so we're going to see plenty of tests for Proctor throughout the month of October, November, that'll hopefully give us a better idea of who Proctor really is. because when he plays like this, he is every bit the top 10 pick that he's kind of been billed as.

27:37Dane Brugler: Really quickly, one last game ball, and I don't know how much we take away from it. Arkansas's defense is a mess, and I don't think it's a surprise that this performance got Sam Pittman fired on Sunday afternoon. But we highlighted not just Jeremiah Love, but Dane, you made the call. You said, hey, keep an eye out for Jadarian Price, the other guy in the Notre Dame backfield. And boy, if he didn't show up, I mean, they both did. Jeremiah Love had 127 scrimmage yards to go with four touchdowns. Jadarian Price, 121 scrimmage yards, led the team in rushing 86 rushing yards, two touchdowns of his own.

28:15Dane Brugler: It kind of looked like they were playing flag football at times in this game. But it was it was nice to see the Irish running backs show off what they were all about.

28:24Dave Helman: yeah price he's just uh he's not the athlete that love is obviously few people are but he does a lot of the running back things uh better where you know keeping his pads squared a line of skirmish division the patience the tempo um it's the run balance at contact like it's it's all there with him and he's not a bad athlete by any means so uh yeah i mean he is it really is a formidable one-two punch and with love i what i loved about what he did against arkansas was in the passing game uh last year he had more than four targets just once uh in 16 games last year had more than four targets once this year six targets against miami six targets uh in the a &m game and then five targets against arkansas notre dame smartening up and leaning on their best offensive weapon in different ways and last year it was all screens and this year uh i wrote about in my running back preview let's get creative with the way we're using him and they're finally starting to do that uh this year we saw him against arkansas he was in the slot motion to the slot ran a uh he's part of the combination route combination ran a i think it was a corner route um but you know whether it's a throwback screen or, you know, whatever it just get him involved, let him catch the ball and go be an athlete in space, because that's what makes him special.

29:51Dave Helman: I Jeremiah Love is there's so much to like about him as just a ball carrier. He can make guys miss. He was so much stronger than you would expect for a guy that's 208, 210 pounds. Jen Lada with ESPN had a great piece on him at college game day i would encourage people to check out about his upbringing and how just he was always different um but he kind of football and competition allows him to be himself and how that really how that helps him um you know really shine is awesome but yeah jeremiah love is he is a fun player and i might be the best skill player offensive skill player in this draft and someone that I can tell you right now, the debate about, oh, is he, where is he with Ashen Jensi?

30:43Dave Helman: Where is he with B 'Juan Robinson? Where is he with Jameer Gibbs? Like that's going to be talked about ad nauseam throughout the draft process about, okay, where exactly he is in that pecking order.

30:52Dane Brugler: I can't wait to see the range that he gets drafted in. I didn't have any doubts, even like nothing about the slow first game or so concerned me, but it is, it's always better and more fun to see a guy of that caliber putting up numbers like that. And that's exactly what he did. That does it for game balls, but we've got some stock to check in on with some of the top prospects on the other side of this break.

31:20Dane Brugler: All right, Dane, we call it top 50 stock watch. And I want to start with a guy who I love it when it, I love when a plan comes together, dude, because we set up Indiana, Iowa as a big test for Fernando Mendoza coming off of a huge Illinois win. Maybe he didn't have to do a ton of hard stuff. Maybe the tape wasn't as impressive as the box score looked. Well, we theorized that Iowa might give him an opportunity to do that and definitely not as impressive of a stat line, but I came away from this win that Indiana had against Iowa I at least came away more impressed, but at the very least we got, we got some very useful information on Fernando Mendoza in this game.

32:10Dave Helman: Yeah. And Indiana was lucky to come away with the win. I mean, it took a missed field goal late by Iowa. Um, if Mark Kronowski doesn't get hurt late in the fourth quarter, um, there's a good chance Iowa wins this game, but yeah, credit to Indiana and Mendoza this, and I didn't, I didn't watch any of this game live on Saturday. My focus This was on other games. And so Sunday morning, this is one of the first games I wanted to watch on the film. And I did a live thread on Twitter with maybe the eight most important plays that Mendoza had. The good and the bad, you know, painting a full picture. And I had a really specific plan.

32:47Dave Helman: It was we're going to pressure this guy. We are not going to let him sit back and just pick us apart. So zero blitz after zero blitz, you know, cross dog blitzes, blow up the A gap, simulated pressures. they were throwing a ton at Mendoza and they were mixed results. There were times where Mendoza didn't get to the read in time and got hit or the pass was just off. He did throw his first interception late in the game that looked like he was going to set up the game winning field goal for Iowa. But they they end up missing it. But it was on a I think that was a zero blitz. And he held the ball as long as he could, let it go and forced it.

33:23Dave Helman: and it was a bad throw interception so he this was not a perfect game by any means for Francisco Mendoza but Fernando Fernando Mendoza of course I mean Francisco is fun to say but yes Fernando Mendoza um he this was like I said not a perfect game but he made plays when his team needed him to they Indiana really wanted to establish the run so they ran the ball a ton but when they did dropped back um he was able to pick them apart uh for the most part so this was this was a really fun game to watch that iowa again should have won but they made enough mistakes and mendoza made

34:00Dane Brugler: him pay for it the seam ball that he threw uh to elijah surat with a guy just about to smash him i mean it made the rounds on twitter over the weekend i mean he was yeah no he got crushed and yeah yeah that's I mean that's big boy quarterbacking so like when when you do that and the the cover to hole shot that he had for 30 whatever yards earlier in the game just a couple like I said I mean I'd I'd rather you make some mistakes and have some bad balls and put some shit like that on tape that make me sit up in my seat I'd rather see that than than what we got against Illinois where it's like, yeah, like this all looks nice, but what am I truly learning about you as a prospect?

34:44Dane Brugler: Like, I feel like I learned a lot against Iowa.

34:48Dave Helman: During draft season, when we see Mendoza highlights, a lot of them are going to be from this game getting smacked right in the face when he knew it's coming, holding on to the ball into the last second, getting it, getting rid of it. Yeah. That whole shot against cover to where you're backed up in your own end and you have to make a perfect throw to down the sideline 35 plus yards um just sneak it past the corner before the safety gets there that that is big boy nfl stuff that will get the attention of teams and so there was a third and six where he had to use his legs something we talked about last week where it's not about being the best athlete out there but having enough functional mobility to go get the yards if they're there.

35:33Dave Helman: So just forcing defenses to respect that Mendoza is not going to blow you away with the physical traits. The arm is good, not great. It's, it's more based off of his mind and the way that he sees the field that really sets them apart.

35:48Dane Brugler: If I feel like I know more about Fernando Mendoza, I'll tell you what, buddy, I don't feel like I know anything about Garrett Nussmeier. I think that's another, that's another game that we wanted to hit. And I say that tongue in cheek, but yeah, it's a weird situation for LSU. Obviously they lose 24 to 19 to old miss on Saturday afternoon. And I feel like the, the talk coming out of this game is whether or not Garrett Nussmeyer is more hurt than people know. And Brian Kelly, I mean, Brian Kelly said going into the game that he's dealing with a torso injury. He said after the game that Garrett Nussmeyer's healthy, Garrett didn't want to talk about it.

36:32Dane Brugler: And now LSU goes into a bye week where I don't know. Teams do things during bye weeks. They tinker with what's not working. They self-scout. I'm curious to see what comes out of LSU's bye week because I've watched Garrett Nussmeyer's entire career. And even if you lose to Ole Miss, I mean, LSU loses to Ole Miss plenty of times. That's not crazy, but he just he doesn't look like the player that I was excited to watch and people were excited to scout. And if it if it's injury or if it's not injury, I don't know the answer to that. But I just I come out of this confused by how it's even if he's not better than he was last year, he just doesn't look like the same football player for one reason or another.

37:18Dave Helman: He's not healthy. I mean, clearly. I mean, and whether you like Garrett Nussmeyer as a quarterback or you don't, like you can see that he's something is off and it's it is tough to watch that offense because there's no run game. The offensive line has been, is it fair to say, below average? That's I think that's generous. I think below average would be generous.

37:42Dane Brugler: Yeah.

37:42Dave Helman: So and again, we're not making excuses for Garrett Nussmeyer. This is there's so much more to the problems that LSU can't move the football than just the quarterback. And yeah, Nussmeier, you know, he's it's it makes it tough to get a full evaluation because he's clearly not healthy. And it's you want to see him out there to show what he has. But right now it's just it doesn't look right. And so something to monitor the rest of the year. you know it's another situation where I'm not even sure what to do with like the tape against Ole Miss because it's not like you're okay well he's trash now we're just we're gonna drop him he's we're not gonna talk about him again like he's clearly not healthy and he's pressing and it's the ball doesn't have the same life you know it's there's a lot going on with that LSU offense that makes it difficult to talk about at this point I think the the play that's going around

38:44Dane Brugler: rightfully so you know he had a he had a go ball to i think it was chris hilton who had like two steps on his guy and like if if you've seen garrett nussmeyer throw even like he doesn't even have the craziest arm talent but he throws that in his sleep last year and he like he put his whole body into it and couldn't get it there from like 40 yards out and then on top of that the interception that he throws in that game i mean it's a bad decision because he throws it into triple coverage. It's a terrible decision, but also it, it looked like a duck, like it didn't have any velocity on it. So not only is it a bad decision, but you're not even throwing it hard enough to have the chance to make yourself right because you're just talented.

39:28Dane Brugler: And those two throws, I was just like, all right, man, I don't know what's going on. And if LSU doesn't want to talk about it, that's, that's fine, but something's going on. So yeah, I mean, LSU is off this week And I'm curious to see if if anything shakes loose in the next few weeks about Garrett Nussmeier. But I guess we'll have to see.

39:49Dave Helman: I say you have to imagine they're going to they have to address it in some shape or form, whether it's I don't do you shut them down for a few weeks? Do you I mean, because it's you're not helping anybody by being out there. You're not helping in terms of your own personal draft stock as a prospect, but then also the team. So, yeah, they need to figure out something on this bye week.

40:11Dane Brugler: One last guy I wanted to bring up in our stock watch, and I love the way you framed it in our production meeting where officially after an 11 catch 151 yard to touchdown day, uh, Makai Lemon of USC is he's letting it be known that this is not like a one horse race for wide receiver one. He looked awesome.

40:36Dave Helman: he he's been awesome this whole year but especially against illinois i mean he he he just you want to draft receivers that when they're targeted good things happen and that's the easiest way i can sum up mckay lemon because he's so dang reliable um in terms of settling down in space he's an outstanding zone route runner and then what he does at the catch point and then maximizing what he can get after the catch as well he's so good snatching the football putting it away and then making a guy miss to create that yak that is, you know, those hidden yards that maybe other receivers aren't getting.

41:13Dave Helman: So we saw it consistently. This guy is he's dependable. You know, if you are trying to defend USC, I don't know how you don't treat him like Jeremiah Smith and bracket him and just force you. USC has other ways they can go, but force those guys to beat you. Don't just let them target my Kyle lemon all game because again, when he's targeted, good things happen. So I, it'll, I'm not sure exactly what the testing is going to look like in terms of 40 yard dash and all that kind of stuff. All I know is the tape says good things happen when he's targeted that that's, that's a good place to start.

41:50Dane Brugler: It was a big weekend for a lot of your favorite wide receivers. Cause Jordan Tyson balled the hell out on Friday night. He's, he goes eight for one 26 and two in Arizona state's big win against TCU. And your guy, Chris bell had himself a nice day with 10 catches for 135 and a touchdown in Louisville's win against Pittsburgh. So not, not a bad Saturday or weekend. I should say since Jordan played on Friday.

42:17Dave Helman: Yeah. I think the receivers that we're excited about coming in, they all played well. I mean, Carnell Tate had a few nice catches too for Ohio state. even you know they didn't throw it around a ton but when they did carnal tate was a good player so yeah it was i mean chris bell for again it just comes down to that size you're 227 pounds and to be as explosive as you are uh to create that type of separation that's you can see why he's getting teams excited even if it's not always consistent um and then you know jordan tyson he's so fluid and that fluidity as a route runner uh it's able to create his own separation and it's he he is a lot him the connection him and sam lavett have is a lot of fun to watch uh because he will create his own separation and then he will go make plays down the field so i right now i mean jordan tyson i still you know feel comfortable saying his wide receiver one and he was all summer he is still is a month into the year he has done nothing to relinquish that crown but the way McKay lemons playing, Chris Bell's playing well too.

43:22Dave Helman: And this is a, it's at least going to make it a fun wide receiver race as we go on the rest of the season.

43:29Dane Brugler: I'm going to take this opportunity to introduce a new segment that I came up with. I think is it's really going to put you in your wheelhouse day. And I'm going to call this while you were busy. And I had this thought on Saturday. I mean, there's so many headline marquee games and we talk about them plenty for good reason, but obviously there's going to be stuff that slides beneath the surface on a day like Saturday. So while you were busy worrying about Oregon, Penn state, or wondering what the hell's wrong with LSU, there's a lot of other stuff going on. And I'm, I'm just going to throw it to you for a couple of players that we want to make sure to highlight.

44:09Dane Brugler: And really the goal here just to introduce as many names as possible? Because obviously there's just an ungodly amount of college football happening on any given Saturday.

44:22Dave Helman: Yeah, and so the Ohio State-Washington game was, I thought, a lot of fun. I mean, just any time to watch that Ohio State defense, Arvel Reese, Caleb Downs. I actually tweeted yesterday and people got upset at me that don't be surprised when Arvel Reese is the first Buckeye drafted in April. Oh, you put that out there. I put it out there. I mean, let's go, Dane. When you look at the way NFL draft safeties and then you look at the talent, the R.L. Reese's 6 '4", 240, and he spied Williams, the Washington quarterback, most of the game and just really contained him in a big way. The ease of movement and the length for R.L.

45:08Dave Helman: Reese, it's just, it's awesome. I could talk all day about him, but I want to give a shout out to Caden Curry, the defensive end for Ohio State, who had a career game. I mean, he tied the Ohio State record with I think it was five tackles for a loss. What do you have? Three sacks. I mean, he he was while our Vila Reese was doing a spy in and kind of sitting back. Curry is one of the guys where you just kind of wind him up and let him go. And eventually that motor is going to get him home. He entered the year as kind of like a PFA borderline draft pick. um six two two fifty five uh under 31 inch arms so like the size doesn't wow you uh but the motor man this guy does not quit and even though he has those short arms he will get into the chest of blockers and he's so physical with his hands that he will move guys and so it's not going to look that easy against nfl blockers as it did against washington's blockers but he's a fun watch because he does not quit and so this he played like a guy that wants to get drafted and he did not get a lot of draftable grades over the summer but when teams throw on this tape uh and not just what he did against washington but you go back watch the ohio tape and go back watch texas he is playing like a guy that wants to be drafted and he's gonna find his way into rotation that way three sacks is a

46:28Dane Brugler: i mean that's an amazing game and it's gonna get all the headlines but i thought when i went back and watched he like very active and fun as a run defender too like he made a really nice play down on the goal line as a run guy just I mean yeah the awareness yeah that goal line play head

46:46Dave Helman: there's another one I mean the run game awareness was outstanding and they'll line them up inside it's not just on the edge they'll line them up as a nose over the center they'll line them up as a as a as a four eye or a three technique so they can move him all over the place because he is so physical and he the fact that he just doesn't quit is kind of his superpower that separates him

47:11Dane Brugler: the other guy we wanted to highlight in while you were busy it's actually ohio state's next opponent what can you tell me about golden gophers d lineman anthony smith who had a big day against

47:21Dave Helman: Rutgers yeah I think it was seven pressures two sacks um and he he's had a good season as a whole um while Caden Curry is a little bit undersized and that's kind of holding him back in terms of his NFL evaluation Smith is the opposite he is 6 '6 285 another guy that can line up up and down the line of scrimmage uh really long player and sometimes that length works against him um he'll miss some tackles in the backfield because he's just late to break down, collect his feet and finish. But he he can win in different ways. He has that inside quickness. He has the length where he can bench press guys off him.

48:02Dave Helman: And a Smith is a guy that we knew about coming into the year. It's not like this is a big surprise, but he didn't make my top 50. Whereas the way he's been playing, he's making at least a run to be considered in that mix as a guy that should be, I think he was already kind of in that day two range. I gave him a third round grade over the summer, but he's making a run for why he should be considered even higher than that.

48:27Dane Brugler: Like I said, big opportunity for him coming up. Do the Gophers, is that, yeah, that's this coming weekend. So Saturday night, yeah, Saturday night in Minnesota gets a shot. Oh, Ohio State fans finally get a night game in the shoe. How about that? Good for them. All right. That does it for week five of the college season. I did say we're going to take a look at Dane's first month, all rookie team on the other side of this break.

48:55Dane Brugler: All right, Dane, this week you published your all rookie team for the first month of the NFL season, went through every position. Obviously it's, it's early. It's a small sample size, but a ton of fantastic performances from this rookie class already. I think I saw Bill Barnwell tweeted on Tuesday that the the rookie running backs in this year's class accounted for 700 plus rushing yards in week four of the NFL season. Something crazy like that. Obviously, when you have Ashton Gentry and Omari and Hampton going off the way they did, RJ Harvey had a really nice night for Denver on Monday night football.

49:37Dane Brugler: I mean, I knew I could have guessed they had a good week, but like that it's an impressive amount of production. So there's, there's plenty of exciting stuff to look at here. Although I think we got to start with quarterback and I'm grimly amused. I'm grimly amused at how differently this would have gone last year when you put this team together, when you've got Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels, what he did last year and Drake made a choose from. And this year, uh, Cam Ward is obviously the selection, but I think it's pretty much by default. Would you say based on how the first quarter of the season has gone?

50:15Dave Helman: That's the thing. Maybe this is a cop out, but we don't have a sample size yet of any of these other quarterbacks besides Cam Ward. So by default, yeah, I mean, Cam Ward is the pick at quarterback. now Jackson Dart led the Giants to a win in his first start but I don't know we didn't see enough from Jackson Dart in that game to definitively say oh yes he's been the best rookie over the first quarter of the season where with Cam Ward yeah the numbers don't look great he's completing just over 50 percent of his passes two touchdowns two interceptions like in just watching that offense everything looks hard but I mean can can the guy get some help like again not we're not making excuses for the quarterback but it's just everything that looks like they're doing it just it looks like sabotage uh they're not giving his quarterback any help the offensive line looks terrible uh now I know they're banged up um the run game has been one of the worst in the league uh the receivers I mean they're just not getting open um and then some of the some of the play calls, it just, it's hard to fathom what they're doing.

51:22Dave Helman: So I don't know. There's a lot going on in Tennessee that when I put on the tape, but just very confusing. And I don't know how any quarterback, whether it's a rookie number one, overall pick or a 10 year veteran, I don't know how you're finding success in that type of environment, but yeah, out of default, Cam Ward is the, is the top quarterback, uh, two, four games.

51:43Dane Brugler: I will gladly make excuses for Cam Ward. and I don't care if he's the number one overall pick in the draft. And, and I don't say this in a condescending way. I promise you. I like, I like, I'm like, you can go do this yourself. Go find, find the all 22. It's as readily available as it's ever been. Think you can get it on NFL plus watch the Titans and tell me what more cam Ward is reasonably supposed to do. Like, yeah. Does he hold onto the ball too long? Sometimes. Sure. does he stare down receivers sometimes absolutely does he like does he need to change up the velocity on some of his throws and maybe make some of these balls a little bit easier for his receivers to catch I'll even say yes even knowing that the Titans have dropped like eight passes this year and Calvin Ridley has done nothing to help this guy out I'll even say like yeah he doesn't need to throw it 105 every single time Cam Ward's got plenty to work on but go watch this Titans team and tell me what he's supposed to do with the drops and the performance of the offensive line.

52:50Dane Brugler: I mean, just the O-line gets caved in every freaking week. And if the O-line's not getting caved in, the play calling's not doing anybody any favors, whether you want to talk about the route combinations or I lost my mind, Dane, when I rewatched Tennessee got shut out by Houston the other day and like one drive into the game and Tennessee changed their play caller during the week, the new play caller who Brian Callahan handed the reins to like first series, knowing everything we know about the Titans, we're calling slow developing flea flickers against Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter. And like, like I know JC Latham hurt is hurt, but they paid Dan more, a lot of money to play left tackle and he's just getting used as a turnstile by Daniil Hunter and Cam Ward barely has a chance, man.

53:41Dane Brugler: Like he certainly has a hand in why the Titans look this bad. I wouldn't even put him in like the top five reasons why. And on top of that, he still does like four really fun things a week. Like Cam Ward can be a good player, but it ain't going to happen in this situation. Okay.

54:02Dave Helman: Yeah. Yeah. And you're, you're making me feel better about, um, having cam word there. Cause

54:06Dane Brugler: it's, you have no, you should feel no shame. Like honestly, I'll say it again. Like if you're super down on cam ward, that just tells me that all we're watching is red zone. Like that's, that's all we're seeing of cam ward. If you think he sucks. Cause he just, I just don't buy it. Yeah.

54:22Dave Helman: Now by mid season, you know, when we have four or five games of Jackson dart, you know, I, then

54:29Dane Brugler: And it'll be Jackson Dart. I mean, for that to be his first game against a good Chargers defense, I thought was so impressive. And he could absolutely, you know, have something to say next time you do a check in like this. Yeah.

54:43Dave Helman: Especially with the Eagles coming up twice in the next four weeks for the Giants. They play them like two weeks apart. It's weird. So we'll have a better. Idea of what NFL Jackson Dart looks like.

54:59Dane Brugler: It's not a criticism at all, but I mean, this, I think one, one month into the season, it's a very chalky all rookie list because the big time picks are the guys who get the opportunity. I mean, Omari and Hampton, uh, I think it's like Omari and Hampton hasn't had a game as amazing as what Ashton Gentile did against the bears, but Ashton Gentile, it's been a little bit of a slow start up until that game against Chicago. I think that makes perfect sense. uh and then i mean it's very it's very fun but go figure emeka buka and tet mcmillan are balling the hell out it's it's very fun that they both hit the ground running as quickly as they did but not really surprising when you're putting a team like this together well emeka buka was

55:43Dave Helman: as pro ready as you get um you talk about a guy that does everything on the football field blocking can line up uh xyz wherever you want him in the formation he can do it he's so smart he's he already feels like a veteran it is no uh it's not a surprise at all that he has hit the ground running with tampa bay especially with again opportunity uh mike evans banged up chris godwin banged up finally maybe getting him back so you know he's getting those targets in that offense from Baker Mayfield. So, yeah, not surprising that he and I would even call him. I don't know. Is he the favorite for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year?

56:22Dave Helman: Right now. Right now. So, I mean, I mean, it's early, but definitely. Absolutely. I mean, we're just talking with what we've seen on film so far. Yeah. And credit to Ashton Jensie for the game he had. I mean, he's one of the best pass catching backs that I've evaluated. And, you know, they're finally starting. You know, he had two catches, two touchdowns on Sunday. So, hey, maybe keep doing that. uh las vegas maybe that's something you should look at um what about tight end i i think that uh you know this was a a tight end class where we had a couple guys go early and the way tyler warren's been playing man um i kind of like a buka where it's this is a ready-made player uh a guy that's ready to hit the ground running and boy man that's exactly what he's done i i think about

57:09Dane Brugler: the show we did it before the season every time I watch the Colts because you mentioned Tyler Warren as like a sneaky offensive rookie of the year candidate and I kind of I don't know if I laughed it off but I was just like what are the odds that a tight end actually pulls that off and I I still think it's unlikely that a tight end does it but man Tyler Warren it's not just that he's a good player but I love that the Colts recognized what a like what a diverse player he is like it would be such a shame if you just use tyler warren as like a big slot sort of receiving tight end and that's not what the colts do like they they used him as a lead blocker and as like a wildcat rusher against the rams the other day they they get him on the move in the screen game like they they've got him running routes from every part of the formation it's very fun when you recognize that a team had a plan for a player and the Colts clearly had a a great plan and they are executing it to perfection with this guy week after week

58:15Dave Helman: well the last few seasons we've been talking about hey what would a premier playmaker look like uh at tight end in this offense you know if Brock Bowers were to follow to them in the first round two years ago they couldn't pass on him you know what that would mean opening everything up um in this past year we talked all off season about hey okay this is a good tight end class let's get one of these guys into that offense and what the impact it would have on everybody else they get a little bit lucky that tyler warren was still there at uh what 14 overall there's a good chance tyler warren could have gone earlier but he falls the 14th pick and it's a perfect fit for this offense so you know there's a lot of targets to go around in that offense but tyler warren has shown what he deserves uh you know a good percentage of those targets i love watching him play and i i liked him in college but seeing him do it in the nfl uh i don't know it maybe it

59:12Dane Brugler: hits different i don't know whatever the kids say but i'm really enjoying watching him in that

59:16Dave Helman: offense yeah he was wrapped in clear wrapping paper as a prospect like you know what you're getting with tyler warren like if you don't value taking a tight end top 10 fine i get it that's that's that's different but as a player as you know someone that is all the ways they use him in college at penn state all the ways that you could use him in the nfl how reliable he is at the catch point you know exactly what you're getting with him so i'm not a surprise that all these kind of had this type of impact this quickly do you want to use this spot to do your

59:46Dane Brugler: semi-regular soapbox about armand membu or yeah i mean this feels like the offensive rookie of the year um i mean in a just world that would be a valid conversation i gotta see it to believe it but holy crap dude and even like monday night against the dolphins like one of the first few plays of the game he just pancaked the shit out of a guy like he just mauls people it's very fun

1:00:13Dave Helman: his contact balance and finishing strength um for a guy with those movement skills it's just it's I don't know how you can watch him and not get excited um and he's 21 years old this and he doesn't turn 22 until like March this is a young player who hasn't been playing tackle very long and he's figuring things out very very quickly um it just doesn't look too big for him so yeah Armand Membu um you know I think you know we talked about this um during our live show but when the Browns moved back uh traded away from Travis Hunter I thought oh at five that that would make a lot of sense for them they have a lot of offensive line uh issues uh they go mason graham which has been fine um but armand membu to fall to the jets it feels like they've got a cornerstone especially if olu fashinu continues to play well they've got their tackles for a long

1:01:04Dane Brugler: long time it's it's a little hard to feel great about the jets because they're oh and four and they're they're one of the most like undisciplined teams in football but besides that uh the offensive line whips ass like the like the vision as a Jets fan like if the vision for the Jets at least in terms of like offensively like running the ball incredibly well mauling people at the point of attack at least giving Justin Fields a chance to make plays like you see flashes of it obviously it's it's not good enough to make the Jets a good team but I'm if I'm a Jets fan looking for copium it's probably that this offensive line looks like it can be a strength moving forward

1:01:47Dave Helman: and it'll be fun the rest of the year to compare contrast membu and will campbell because will campbell had that rough debut in week one but since then he has been really really good he's getting better and better like you would expect from a top five tackle who still young still figuring things out but it'll be fun to watch these two guys um the rest of this season to see if can will campbell catch membu can do we see clear separation between the two are they going to be on the same level so you know just like a marion hampton ashen genti um you know a couple of these position battles uh of rookies campbell and membu a tackle is going to be a lot of fun

1:02:28Dane Brugler: i don't think anybody would be surprised to hear that abdul carter and mason graham are your top defensive lineman abdiel carter flashed in a huge huge way um against the chargers in week four i have to note at least some of that is probably due to joe alt leaving that game but he still he still looks the part he looks very explosive he looks like he's gonna be causing plenty of

1:02:55Dave Helman: disruptions for for a long time to come well and that's after he played mostly off ball linebacker the week before and then they move them back to edge in this game and it's like okay like this

1:03:08Dane Brugler: isn't hard like i get it maybe maybe the uh maybe the it's funny again another penn state guy where like we micah parsons did the off ball thing and occasionally still does but maybe let's let's bump those edge snaps up as much as possible please and you know i get it they want to get

1:03:26Dave Helman: the best players on the field like you want to get brian burns and thibodeau and i mean you want to get all these guys on the field at the same time but if abdul carter is not rushing the passer you're doing things wrong you this is why you drafted him second overall so i this is part of the feeling out process but i think the giants know that um i i do think it's a little bit by default like i don't think any of these other pass rushers have really jumped out all that much um they flash no doubt we'll see how if that changes throughout the year same thing with defensive tackle mason graham kind of wins it out of default he has not been consistent but you know, especially in that green Bay game, you know, he showed enough flashes that he gets it at least for now, but he better play better if he's going to hold onto it all season.

1:04:13Dane Brugler: I do think this is, this is a good conversation. And I can't say I'm surprised because I know how you feel about the guy, but Carson, Carson Swessinger edging out Jihad Campbell for the linebacker designation, which I don't, I don't know that there's a wrong choice here. Um, that's fair. It's, it's been fun to watch both of these guys. What is it about Swessinger at this? I'm just setting you up to gush about this guy, but what is it about him that sets him apart for you in the first month?

1:04:45Dave Helman: Uh, I mean, well, he leads all, uh, rookies and tackles leads the Brown Browns and tackles. Um, he's making plays all over the field. Um, the closing burst, uh, down when he's allowed to work downhill and the big kind of knock on him by by everyone me included was he's not a necessarily super physical at the point of attack when he's attacking line of scrimmage that hasn't really been an issue for him this year he is playing really well working off blocks not getting contained um that that was the area he had to work on the instincts the speed that's what really set him apart um so you put it all together and he's doing really well in coverage as well i mean he hasn't allowed to catch over 10 yards so um campbell he's he certainly has a case he has an interception is a little bit of a gift from baker mayfield but he does have the interception on his resume um i both these guys hit the buy button because i think it's only going up from here i mean these these guys are and it's funny they were drafted two spots apart one was the Late first round, early second round.

1:05:54Dave Helman: So, you know, it doesn't feel like they were drafted close together, but only two spots apart in the overall draft order. And so it'll be fun to watch these guys move forward.

1:06:05Dane Brugler: It's it's a part in terms of the amount of guarantees you get. I'll tell you that much. You're not wrong. I do. What I think is interesting here, and I'm not trying to say that Swessinger is bad in coverage, but the, you know, typically when we talk about a young linebacker, It's like, oh, he's so good finding the football and getting involved in the run game and making tackles and all that good type of stuff. And it's typically coverage where a young linebacker needs to develop as a player. And like linebackers who cover well are so valuable and so rare. Jihad Campbell is excellent in coverage.

1:06:43Dane Brugler: Like right out of the gate, he has been so good and so fun. And I know he had he had the lapse that led to a bust on a touchdown against Tampa the other day. But for the most part, and he redeemed himself later in that game with an interception like he has been a plus in coverage, which it is. It's rare to say that about a rookie linebacker, even if he is a first round pick.

1:07:08Dave Helman: Yeah, for his size and speed and his comfort working out in space. It's yeah, Campbell's awesome. And he needed to get better in terms of seeing things in the box. And I think he's doing a better job of that. He's still it's still a work in progress. But in terms of the read react when everything's happening so fast in front of him, he is. I think you can see him getting better as the season goes on. And both these guys, Schlesinger and Campbell, starters from day one. So they're getting every opportunity to go out there and they're putting more and more on their plates each game.

1:07:44Dane Brugler: Two a little less chalky selections to wrap this thing up. If we're looking at DBs, I was pumped to see you highlight Tampa Nickel, Jacob Parrish and Falcon safety Xavier Watts. Two third round picks who have just been fantastic in the first month of the season. I've I've been you highlighted it like Watts gets the football. That's what he does. So it's fun to see him doing that at the NFL level. and you know the the bucks took a gamble i guess you could call it like they drafted dbs in back to back rounds with the hopes that they'd kind of be able to remake their secondary and you can't always count on that working and it is only one month but after one month it looks like it's working for the buccaneers it's been fun to see yeah and benjamin morrison the the corner they

1:08:33Dave Helman: drafted in the second round he's been banged up a little bit but when he's been out there it's been he's been an asset for that team. So if he hopefully he can stay healthy, that was one of the big issues with him coming out of Notre Dame was, could he stay healthy? Hopefully he, he stays on the field here the rest of the year, because he could be in contention to be the top corner this year. Will Johnson had that great start for the Cardinals, but he, again, the question with him, could he stay healthy? That's why he fell to the second round. And he, he missed the last two games, but he was so good.

1:09:04Dave Helman: The first two games that he deserves to be talked about. But yeah, Jacob Parrish, I think he just him fitting in as the nickel in that secondary for the Bucs really just helps that team get the most out of everybody else. It's kind of the completion of the puzzle in a way. And so Parrish, how aggressive he is working downhill, how fluid he is in coverage. There's just there's so much to like about him moving forward. I was shocked he fell in the third round. I thought he'd be a second round pick all day. But I think that they got a steal. And same thing with the Falcons getting Xavier Watts almost at the end of the third round.

1:09:45Dave Helman: Shocker. But the guy that had 13 combined interceptions the last two years at Notre Dame, turns out he can get the football, like you said. And he's the only rookie so far that has multiple interceptions. He's got two of them. Probably could have had a third. But yeah, he's a guy that the range, the ability to the ball instincts to go get the football. I'm shocked he fell as far as he did so not surprising that he has become a starter and that he's making plays of the ball hey you could be the best ball hawk of all time in college

1:10:17Dane Brugler: it still matters to translate that to the NFL and uh to to do it two weeks into your rookie year I mean what I think the interceptions were against JJ McCarthy as well as Marcus Mariota so we'll see if you uh we'll see if you can keep it up against uh stiffer competition but i mean this is the nfl i don't mean to diminish it because to translate it into the pro game as quickly as as he is it's impressive no matter who you're picking off all the guys we mentioned was there any other

1:10:49Dave Helman: rookies that you've enjoyed watching um over the first uh four weeks of the year any any any or any any favorites you had during the draft process that you've been um excited to check out that so

1:11:01Dane Brugler: far this year oh man i mean we we've talked about a lot of them because like you said it is it is a super chalky start to this thing let me i'm i'm digging through this i'll throw out one while

1:11:14Dave Helman: you're looking through it i jamari caldwell um you know that oregon defensive line was so good last year loved eric harman went the first round should have went in the first round um and as he gets healthy i think he'll be a really big asset for that stealers defensive line but jamari Caldwell being a real part of that Chargers defensive line is been a fun development both as a run stopper a guy that gives him a little bit of juice juice rusting the pasture so Jamari Caldwell is a name that I think was liked them a lot during the process easy guy to root for and it's really good to see him have a little bit of success with the Chargers I can give you a

1:11:53Dane Brugler: couple. I mean, this is a guy that I talk about a lot, but even with the expected ups and downs of being a rookie, like Josh Simmons is, is doing exactly what you hoped he would do in Kansas city. And, and that looks like it's going to be a long-term great decision for, uh, for Kansas city. And then I know, uh, I know Tampa wasn't his finest performance, but again, over the first month of the season, Andrew McCuba has been, has been very fun and a very nice pickup for Philadelphia. I think if, if that's what you're getting over the first month of his rookie year, that is, that's a great place to be for the Eagles, even if he did struggle against the Buccaneers.

1:12:36Dave Helman: Just the fact that you're seeing a snap count go up and the amount of trust that Vic Fangio has in him, um, that speaks volumes. So yeah, I mean, I was not the biggest McCuba a fan I don't I really don't I usually don't love undersized safeties but guys that are um as versatile as he can be and as smart and fearless as as they are as a guy like this is um yeah those are guys that usually find some type of success and so not surprised that he's been a big part

1:13:09Dane Brugler: of what the Eagles are doing here so far on defense I'm just looking I'm looking through the draft class now i mean yeah there's there's guys worth i mean and they're not making like weekly contributions but like woody marks had a little bit of a breakout game for the texans on sunday like all all up and down isaac tesla has like three catches but two of them are the most jaw-dropping things you'll see all year so yeah there i mean this this has been a fun first

1:13:36Dave Helman: month even if it has been a little chalky yeah that's the tesla thing will be fun to watch because that Arkansas could not get him to football consistently. And, but then he tested like a primo athlete. The interviews are off the charts. The lions took him a lot earlier than I think most teams thought he would go. And, uh, you know, I, that he hasn't necessarily gotten the opportunity yet, but it feels like at some point here, uh, he's going to play a factor in what this lions offense wants to be.

1:14:09Dane Brugler: we will make sure to keep checking in on this as the season goes i just i can't wait to see who winds up mattering by the end of the year who we're just not even thinking about right now i like history suggests that that's going to be the case so we'll keep an eye out before we get out of here week six definitely not as loaded as week five was um i'm gonna be basic dane i'm gonna be the basic man that i am and say arch manning and texas are going to the swamp to play florida I don't care what Florida's record is. They have NFL talent and the swamp is a tough place to play. I'm absolutely going to be watching to see what he looks like in an environment like that.

1:14:48Dane Brugler: Miami, Florida state is also, I'll just, I'll keep it all Florida located. Miami, Florida state is a big one for, for all the pro guys we've talked about there. That's, that's what jumps out to me. What do you think?

1:15:01Dave Helman: Miami, Florida state is definitely one I I'm eager to watch, see if Carson Beck can continue to play at a relatively high level um florida state coming off the loss uh to virginia they got upset last friday so what do they look like in a game that's they're probably playing a opponent that's better than they are um so can they get up and and beat the hurricanes i think hurricanes probably favored by four or five in this one um in terms of prospects daryl jackson for uh florida state i want to see he's going to be such a big part of because miami wants to run the ball. Carson Beck has done a nice job, but Miami wants to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage.

1:15:40Dave Helman: Daryl Jackson will be a big part of determining whether or not they're able to do that with what he brings on the Florida state defensive line.

1:15:48Dane Brugler: I am curious. Speaking of that, I don't think we've said this guy's name to this point in the season. Do you have any thoughts on Francis Maui Noah and what, you know, is that a guy to be watching in a matchup like this?

1:16:02Dave Helman: oh no doubt um right tackle for the hurricanes he's played outstanding i mean i thought because he's not he has more of a guard build and so it kind of looked like a guy that we're gonna be kicking inside to best position will be at guard and ultimately his best position might be inside but there's no reason we have to move him he's playing outstanding outside of tackle um he stays square um you know he's not going to be the longest he's not going to be the quickest, but his timing and his, his balance has been terrific out in space. So yeah, I think he is like coming into the year, he was a, maybe my fourth tackle and he has not done anything to, you know, say he should move down from that.

1:16:44Dave Helman: He's only moving up.

1:16:46Dane Brugler: I'm very, okay. That's the conversation that will be had as we go, because you already, I think there are going to be differing opinions about guard or tackle for him. And I mean, I'm interested to hear your stance on it and how that compares to other people and how that evolves as, as the draft process goes on.

1:17:04Dave Helman: Well, in this tackle class is not over the summer, we were talking about how much promise it showed. Proctor hasn't been great. Like we talked about the two Utah tackles have been good, but not, not, they're not separating themselves as, Hey, you know, we're definitely top 10 picks. They've been good though. You know, chaplain at Auburn has not lived up to that level. We talked about the Oregon left tackle, the Penn State left tackle. So the promise that we talked about with these tackles has not lived up to what we were hoping to see at this point. But yeah, Miami's right tackle has certainly been maybe the exception, a guy that's exceeded what we thought, even if just a little bit.

1:17:46Dane Brugler: Alabama also hosting Vanderbilt this weekend. Interesting for me to see how they respond to a big win against Georgia. we we've said it all year like this is not your older brother's Vanderbilt this is a really good Vanderbilt team undefeated they beat Bama last year so what does it look like in Tuscaloosa this weekend that's definitely something to watch I yeah those are those are the three games I've got circled and unless you're unless you've got one I'm forgetting about no I think that yeah we

1:18:15Dave Helman: mentioned Ohio State Minnesota there's a couple Minnesota prospects worth watching that you know we can hit on next week, how they perform in that type of atmosphere, but definitely a lighter week than what we just had this past Saturday.

1:18:28Dane Brugler: Be that as it may, we will have plenty to talk about next week. There is no doubt in my mind until then. We appreciate y 'all so much for watching, for listening. Dane, I'll chat with you soon, man. And we will talk to all of y 'all next week.