The Mendoza Line: Discussing the QBs and RBs of the 2026 Draft

33:59Nate Tice:You could take four or five throws of his from every game and put together a cut up. That would make me think he's going to be good in the NFL. The problem is the plays in between those throws. It's like a lack of consistency. And the time to throw stuff is interesting because it's like there's some players where I'm like, damn, he's seeing this so well and throwing with anticipation. And there's some where he's really holding on to it way too long, which is how you end up with a much longer time to throw the Mendoza. He was 2.9, which is on the higher end, 54th. Mendoza was ninth in time to throw.

34:29Nate Tice:Some of that, again, is the nature of the Indiana offense. Very RPO heavy. We've talked about that. And then I think I texted you guys this. The weird thing about some of – Simpson has an NFL arm, but he weirdly sails a lot of throws to the flats in a way that I am not enough of a mechanics expert. Do you understand that, Nate? What is going on there? I have a theory on it, yeah. Just talking about Mendoza a second ago, saying kind of like he got creative to get the ball out. um simpson is a great iteration or a great example of how you can access your arm and simpson has to pull a little bit more into it because he has to use his lower body mechanics so to me baker mayfield has this problem so it's like baker has to really get the whole operation to throw the ball and for simpson if he doesn't get that clean operation that's when i say clean operation hitch step throw then that's when the sprays happen when his feet get a little askew that's when it kind of start spraying or he has to push the ball in his feet it's not a perfect pocket or he has to throw it at a weird angle that's when kind of the inaccuracies start really cropping which do crop up a decent amount with him and that's what it always kind of came to my head with him but um i think the best way too long didn't read his ability to access the arm can kind of lead to everything else unraveling yeah i mean more variables most of almost all of his great throws are from a clean pocket clean base so that wouldn't check out um all right so let's get to outlier stuff so danny you alluded to some of this first of all is the inexperienced uh quarterbacks with 15 or fewer starts first round quarterbacks it is a very small group anthony richardson trubisky haskins size to me is the bigger issue though so ty simpson was watching him i texted you guys he was listed at 62 and the first thing i texted you guys i don't know if you remember this i was like this guy in 60 like i just is the running back next to him that's like the same height yeah he measured at the combine at 6 1 and a little bit of change and 208 is what i have um so quarterbacks six foot two under six foot two pardon me and under 215 since year 2000 rolling out i looked at something i looked at something similar to this so yeah Yeah.

36:40Nate Tice:Modern NFL. Okay. Who have more than 16 starts. So have started at least an NFL season. Drew Brees. Yeah. Russell Wilson, who's definitely not under 215 or wasn't for most of that time. But yeah, maybe when he came in. But anyways, Russell Wilson, Mike Vick, Kyler Murray, that one I believe, and Doug Flutie. Right. That was, I, it doesn't feel like modern NFL. Yeah. Putting that at a different time. So if you expand it to 220, by the way, and it's funny because Purdy comes in just above that, you're adding not really any. You're adding Mark Brunel, which is a fun one. Tyra Taylor, Cordell Stewart.

37:20Nate Tice:So the names I just mentioned, I think I feel pretty comfortable saying if you're of this stature in the NFL, you either have to be an elite athlete or Drew Brees. Right. You have to be one of one. Is that a fair assessment to say? Yes. I mean, you used to go for a saint. Oh, yeah. Well, I looked up something similar to this because when I was talking about Jane Daniels when he came out and JJ McCarthy, I was really looking at this. And Bryce Young. These were the guys I keep looking at. Oh, why did I not mention Bryce Young? I don't know why. I forgot to mention Bryce Young. Sorry. Bryce Young.

37:57No, I looked at something very similar to this, though. And I came to the same conclusion. All right. be a freak athlete or if you're including how my parameters were 205 which i think is really i prefer 215 but like let's say 205 um and and really the always the one outlier is like kirk cousins um so it's like it's freak athletes or kirk cousins and so like for me i uh we're including nuts with this like which you only can be fair and that's way 203 at the combine and again that's why i keep going like there's a lot i like a lot nuts but there's a lot of things screaming at me about alarm, red flag, outlier.

38:33Nate Tice:Everything we're about to say about Tyson applies to us, too, in terms of outlier size. I looked since 2002, quarterback since 2002, to be listed sub-205, so I didn't even look at height, and throw for more than 5 ,000 yards in their career. So that's two 3 ,000-yard seasons, 2 ,500-yard seasons. Kirk Cousins drafted round four. Lamar Jackson drafted round one. His weight has also fluctuated a ton in the NFL. Lamar has gained weight, lost weight, gained weight, lost weight. Jeff Garcia, undrafted free agent, went to Canada first. Aaron Brooks, round four. Bryce Young. Other notable names since 2002.

39:07Tim Rattay, Seneca Wallace, Tyler Huntley, Doug Flutie. Two coaches who work with Garrett Nussmeier's dad, Scott Tolzien and Kellen Moore, and Rob Johnson. Yeah, those guys didn't get 5 ,000. They were under 5 ,000, but those are other notable names. And if you go to 1992. Hi, Detmer. Duck Hodges. Yeah, if you go down to there. Gabriel, outlier, outlier, outlier. Eric Kramer, Dave Craig. Shout out Dave Craig. Mike Tomczak, Ty Detmer. Joe Montana is also the one historical outlier. Joe Montana? All right. Yeah. We're cooking. We're cooking with guys now. But if you look at Ty Simpson and how he plays, you're looking at Kirk Cousins and Joe Montana.

39:44Round four, round three. So, even the guys that are the ultimate outliers. Oh, I'm sorry, but they weren't round one guys. There was a reason that the process led to them being drafted where they got drafted. They were outliers. yeah that that to me is the big point is we're talking and what i said about how much are you willing to spend to take this risk take take up make a bet on an outlier feels like a big bet taking him anywhere in the first round um i i would say his most realistic range is probably somewhere in the late first round right like teams trading up sounds like that's what's happening that's what's not yeah but yes i mean like basically the discussion that we're having and when Nate you you alluded to this like your better judgment is telling you not to really put much stock into Nussmeyer either because of all the stuff we're talking about but guess what you're probably going to get him in a third round or whatever right this is a first round pick this is a premium pick um and so to me it's like even if you don't watch any Ty Simpson don't turn on the tape and you just look at you know the the just the measurable things that we know about him his height weight and college starts and and by the way like the height and weight to me it's not just like a plus he's also started 15 games it's like a multiplier he's really small and exponentially he hasn't had a lot of experience um and isn't a freak athlete it's like yeah so to me it's like even if you don't even turn on the tape and you don't even know what he looks like playing you're like okay well that to me is really really risky taking that in the first round so um and then you know obviously like i did watch the tape and it's some highs and some really lows so to me that is like the case if i was a gm i'm not betting on that panning out and saving me my job i would just let someone else do that but you know desperation is kind of what it is and teams are going to look at the positives and um i mean you you guys mentioned all the outliers with regards to his weight like if you look at the outliers with regards to 15 college starts like it's it's the rim even if you can even if you expand it to 25 starts the list is the list is not that good i mean basically it's josh allen you have cj stroud in there at 25 starts in college so that's like maybe something that you can kind of hold on to but obviously right now he's he's going through it he's he's not had a great couple of years

42:03Nate Tice:also not a size outlier and right and had a better and stroud started as a redshirt freshman game one and play two straight years. Let's talk about homes then really quickly. I'm going to throw a bunch of teams and where because most cases you're looking at potential trade back into the first round a la Jackson Dart scenarios. But let me throw out some names and Danny you go first. Tell me which one you think makes the most sense as a potential Ty Simpson destination. We're not saying which pick. I'm just Just focus on the teams. No, exact pick. How much are you paying Ty Simpson, Danny? How much commitment are you showing?

42:44Let me sell the salary chart here.

42:46Nate Tice:The Jets? No. Obviously not going to do that at all. Sorry. The Jets? The Cardinals? The Browns? The Rams? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The Steelers? and that's it right i'm not leaving it that's that's about it okay so just a recap the jets the cardinals the browns the rams and the steelers i guess the dolphins too pardon me that's a team that's been mentioned and the dolphins of those teams danny which one would it's not what ty simpson wants ty simpson should want to go to the rams right well that's yeah that's yeah what do you make the most sense for the team so my kind of my opinion on this it you know obviously it's you said that's obviously what ty simpson wants but i think also it's by far what's best for ty simpson would be to like land in a stable organization that's why i scoff at the jets because i'm just like okay the the big outlier in the draft going to the jets like what could go wrong um and then the other one i guess out um i guess the other one that just kind of stuck out to me is the stealers i don't know how likely they are going to be to do that after what happened with kenny pickett yeah because they kind of it felt like they kind of betted they bet on a late first yeah like a let's go with this guy who's a little undersized and um maybe has some issues but we're betting on kind of like his mental makeup and his polish and things like that obviously he had a really great final season uh with pitt but like and also just for whatever reason he was like in the same building as them so that like helped you know like that didn't have to go far don't make me re rekindle that whole process yeah they love pittsburgh guys let's be really do it i love their answers so to me it it doesn't really make sense for the cardinals to do it at this juncture and their rebuild because they're just going to be putting too much on him and I don't really know how that makes sense in terms of they should just load up and figure out other situations.

44:59Yes, exactly. And that's the same, you can say the same about the Jets because they have a whole bunch of picks. I don't know I forget how many, they have a couple first round picks in 2027. They have a lot of ammo.

45:11Nate Tice:They don't need to take a quarterback. That's why I'm very anti-Jets. I almost want them not to sign Gino just to make sure they stink. Gino might make them too competent. Exactly. so to me it's um today gino's gonna take us to the promised land and people are like which promised land relative yeah uh nate what do you think yeah rams is probably my answer like and that's what's so tough with this because like i just what danny was saying jets i just don't think of that that like teams like the jets cardinals browns even you know stealers are a little interesting i would say you know but it seems like they just want to run it back with Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy, in which I don't want to rekindle on my fifth podcast.

45:52I'm like, talk about that and how insane it is to me. Let's wind him up and go. Oh man. It's yeah. Yenzers are mad at me. No, but it's, it's Rams to me. It was the one that makes sense as far as timeline of player, timeline of team. And I know we're just saying, it doesn't matter what the pick is, but just even where the picks are. Because to me, it's, I'd rather a team like the Cardinals or the jets, or even the Browns take a chance on trading for like Tanner McKee, than selecting Ty Simpson. Because I feel like if you take Tanner McKee with a trade a day two pick, I always say round three, and then Eagles fans go, we're getting around one, and everyone else goes, we're not trading round three for Tanner McKee.

46:29Let's just say round three. But I'd rather them take a chance with that as an extended tryout with a guy that has some vet experience rather than, hey, Ty Simpson, who's kind of projecty, get in there. There's Jacoby Persett and other stuff for the Cardinals. But yeah, so that's where the Rams kind of timeline makes sense to me. The Rams at pick 29 is my, I think, favorite,

46:49Nate Tice:like makes the most sense to me outcome, right? Not 13. 13 they should use to upgrade this very Super Bowl caliber roster because, you know, we didn't talk about Brock Purdy, but you're hoping for a Brock Purdy, right? Well, part of the appeal of Brock Purdy was he was taken later and also Brock Purdy got better in the NFL. But the circumstances that worked for Purdy are similar to the ones in L.A. So you could see that path playing out. I'm not saying it's what I would do necessarily, but it's definitely the one that makes the most sense to me when you look at the team, the situation, all of it.

47:31Well, they traded that pick, though. That's the problem. McDuffie. Yeah, so that was like the big connection. No, no, no.

47:38Nate Tice:The round two pick. Not 29. I'm so sorry. They still have a round two, right? Oh, yeah. They not have a... I'm sorry. I said 29. That's... All right. Hold on. Let me pull up the Rams draft picks. That's my bad. I didn't mean... They probably need to just trade into that. I meant the 29th pick in round two. Sorry. Oh, yeah. Because they have... Let's open up their picks here. Yeah. So pick 61. Yeah. 61. Sorry. That's what I meant. That's ideal range for work. Everybody's going to say... It's not going to happen. Maybe they have to trade that up. but I would not want to. Well, this is the thing too.

48:09It's like, well, quarterback, like, sorry, Mina, but yeah, like we're quarterback just grading too is like, I might consider these guys as day two guys. These guys, meaning Simpson and Nuss and spoilers. I have Nuss just a tad higher. Is that I had, I do. Oh, I thought you guys knew that.

48:23Nate Tice:I can't get there. Yeah. Oh, I can, I can. They're very similar to me. Let's just get, okay, let's just get into Nuss right here. But I was going to say, I had these guys graded higher than Pickett. I had these guys graded higher than Dart. I had these guys graded higher than Penix. These guys graded higher than Knicks. About the same as Knicks. Knicks is about the same grade. Different types of players, but same grade. Those guys went all over the place. Pickett, Dart in the 20s, Panics, Knicks. Whether that's good or bad. And then also a guy in the tier is Dart, Riley Leonard, who went round six.

48:55That's the thing. It's just crazy what quarterback value does and where the range of these guys are.

49:00Nate Tice:All right. Let's hit Garrett Nussmeyer first then before the break because he is. I think you just knew that. I remember you talked. I thought it possible. But so the Garrett Nussmeyer story at LSU in brief, about the same size as Simpson. So he is also a size LR. So everything we just said about Ty Simpson applies to Garrett Nussmeyer. A little bit. He looks a little heavy, isn't he? But in any case, he's short. his 2020 if Ty Simpson is a tale of two halves of a season Garrett Nuss Meyer is a tale of two seasons because and it took me a while to get to it his 2024 tape is quite good and much better than his 2025 tape now that comes with a major caveat that he had pretty serious oblique injury before the season that he then aggravated during the season so he didn't play the complete season and that is going to be a huge part of no no sorry guess my i'm looking at his way is actually easily like the exact same size um the the injury clearly affected him as a player it's going to be a big part of the evaluation for any team that takes him uh similarly to simpson i think he's got like a surprisingly feisty arm at his size uh this is just my read on him uh he is uh i would say a little bit better at making throws on the move arguably than either of the two quarterbacks above him which is the thing that i like um it's a little bakerish not as strong of an arm as baker but stylistically there's a lot of similarities the the thing that is the biggest knock on him is he has the brain of like josh allen at times in baker bayfield's body is how i would put it like 100 he throws very dangerous passes and when i watch him i don't think it's because he doesn't know what he's seeing because he also strikes me as a very smart player i think it's because he thinks his arm is stronger than it is uh nate since you're so high on him you can go first yeah disagree with anything i said like what you know what are your thoughts on garrett not smart and and maybe you can say and danny i'd love to hear this from you where would you take him in the draft okay um yeah it again timing with him like when i talk about mendoza i think nussmeyer too is especially if you watch his throws to the outside where i do think he has a live arm again i in my kind of scouting threshold good is what i would call it um put it as like a standard deviation above average however you want to do it um his timing is just exquisite like it's like that's what really excites me is that he maximizes his arm um i think he's got a nice quick throw motion too like rpos are very live for him and bubbles and screens yeah very snappy um just gets it out quick very catchable ball as well um stuff over the middle like he really throws to space really well and when i was talking about it's kind of different than simpson like i think nuts can really throw the digs and throw the in breakers really well with timing into space that gets him in trouble sometimes because he'll assume things um i i think the best line i could put about nuts and this is what i like the most about him last year he didn't take us i think he only took one sack through like the first 10 weeks he puts a lot and i'm stealing this line from kevin o 'connell and i i love it is that he puts a lot of balls in play he's the josh nailer of quarterbacks well not josh nailer to start this season uh but no just a lot of balls in play where it's just um where it's just a lot of just where it's he doesn't take like a bad play is about to happen the ball gets out and sometimes that ball turns into a not only just like not taking a sack but turns into a first down or more and i think that just sense of not only just timing but just sense of don't make a bad play worse is what i like so much about them especially this year when the infrastructure stunk at lsu outside their monster tight end number 14 um who i'm like very excited about to talk about in a year from now um but he had a high usage role the whole line wasn't great the receivers weren't amazing and it's just like he had to do a lot he changes plays he changes protections he is asked to run a lot of rpos he's asked to do a lot of full field reads and it's just how quick he is as a processor and a quickie is as a thrower in a creative thrower changing arm slots and stuff while also being able to push the ball i think he throws a great deep ball as well i don't know i i think just there's a lot that appeals to me even if there's stuff like age and the weight um injuries crop up for guys like Simpson and Nussmeyer for a reason it's because they aren't the biggest guys and they take a big hit so I just that sense of timing and just that liveliness to him it just gets me so excited Danny before you jump in it is so weird and you to a lesser extent Alabama the Alabama run game and offensive line was a problem this year it is so weird watching an LSU offense without dudes like I'm just watching Nussmeyer I was just like oh my god somebody god make a play all right danny what was your take on gary nussmeyer who is my three if i'm not right same with me i think as nate was talking i just kind of struck me it's surprising there isn't more like hype on him i guess because of especially relative to the ty simpson hype i think because they are closer to each other than maybe some people believe or or think right now um i would i would i've said this on other pod i i would rather have Nussmeyer in the third or even the second than Simpson in the first.

54:27I have a kind of an old inside joke on our podcast about Baker Mayfield that nobody rips passes like Baker. I mean, he just is out here ripping it. He loves ripping passes. He'll be ripping passes until the day he dies. I kind of got that impression with Nussmeyer. He just loves ripping passes. There's nothing better than ripping passes. You're saying like he's smoking cigarettes. Just ripping darts. That's what I'm going for. It wouldn't surprise me if you just see Nussmeyer no-handing

54:52Nate Tice:a cigarette while he rips passes down the field he really reminds me a lot of him yeah the size is also baker that by the way was not mentioned in any of the thresholds we were talking about because baker is a big boy like 225 i looked that up because i was like how big was why is he not showing up yeah um baker played first base in baseball that's what i always like other guys like quarterbacks they're like third base pitcher catcher first base so both simpson and nussmeyer having a Baker arc where it takes some time, right situation, aggression. Because Simpson's pretty aggressive too, Danny.

55:30Nate Tice:Totally. Two things. Number one, how do you grade the coach's son at metric here? Because his dad is an OC in the NFL. I know. Luckily they already took a guy, so we don't have to worry about that whole thing. so you know with both of them for sure it shows up with you know all nfl players but i was just talking joking with um somebody about uh tyson tight tight oh i'll tell you guys about ty hilton's kid and like i met when i did a story on ky hilton when i know we're talking about quarterbacks but it really applies to any position in my mind um when ty hilton was uh when he was with the coles i did a story on him went to indiana indiana spent time with his family and his son who was then eight is now in Wisconsin and I was TY took took me to practice in Miami pardon me because the sun would spend summers there and you watch it for like three seconds I'm like that's TY Hilton's kid it's an eight-year-old one factor than everybody but also like running actual routes at eight like it's just weird like and yeah it just shows up I don't know what to say like Vlad Guerrero's son has the exact same swing as his dad.

56:42That's unbelievable. I talked to an NBA guy that he works for the Nuggets, and he said that that's their number, and he's more of an analytics guy. And he said that's the number one box you can check, be a son of a former NBA player. Yeah, well, certainly NBA. NBA, he said because the locker room's shocked for so many guys once they get that money and they get into that environment. And he said that's why the former players' kids are usually the best. They just act like it's another day. It's another locker room that they're hanging out in. and yeah, Nuss has that appeal though. Like their coaches, that's the thing.

57:15They're going to interview very well because they speak the same language. It's just that kind of, you know, you kind of have that thing to you and I get it. The nepotism thing is the bad side of it. But in this instance, I think it's like more of a positive because it's like there's not gonna be that culture shock of entering the league. I think more for Garrett than Ty because Ty's dad was more college-y. Not that's bad or anything, but Garrett's dad played. So NFL's better, yeah. Duh. No, but Doug played and all that and was very well-liked in coaching circles and all that, too. I think...

57:44Nate Tice:Yeah. But also, he might be maxed out. That's the negative of it. Right. Because it's been... Like, is there more to tap into for an older guy that's been coached up since he was nine years old? Right. Which is a real... That's a real thing. Simpson's funny, right? Because he has, like, limited starts, but he was in the room for so long at Alabama, so it's kind of your weighing compounding factors. Okay. Okay, really quickly. So my take on Esmire is I have him as QB3. I love him as a mid-round dart throw for teams that just need a quarterback in the future. Why not? Like if the Rams don't take Ty Simpson, I would love for them to take Garrett Esmire later in the draft.

58:23Nate Tice:They're beating with him, right? Are they? I think I saw that. The Rams might have been not so big. I'll just say it. I don't want to talk about the other quarterbacks. Yeah. It's slim pickings. I've been trying to scour. I'm looking at Minnesota Moorhead tape. I'm trying to find somebody. Jack Strand, round seven. Let's just do this this way, and I promise the running back conversation will be shorter. I know this has been like an hour. Drew Baller, Carson Beck, Cade Klubnick, Cole Payton, and Taylon Green. Of all of those guys, if you were a team just being like, shoot whatever let's do it throw a dart you know fifth round there later danny you can go first here which one would you be most inclined to just like take a shot on probably beck really okay cool size the musician or

59:24you watching uh drueller he should just go by him i don't know no it's so mean i'm sorry

59:31Nate Tice:watch it be great if he ends up being awesome but oh my god well played he's a frustrating watch he has everything too oh I know everyone just assumed I would love him just show me something and I'm like as soon as his feet have to move off of his original launch point it's dead like the throws go into the ground you can hear his brain like oh it's I want it he really improved last year like our improved so much in 2024 and i was like okay 2025 ride the lightning oh it got worse yeah i know i want to love him but the one i'm out chambliss but then he's not he's not oh i know sorry just give me sorry about that yeah nate you go and then we can keep moving i think just the size arm strength all that stuff you know and by the way like the what you were saying about drew all or in terms of like the next year and everything just fell apart that's why teams like having two seasons of experience plus so they know that it's not just like a small sample outlier or whatever um but yeah i i would probably just take a take a bet on him just because of like the physical makeup and then hopefully he you know because i think some of the question marks have been like maturity and things like that um but yeah and also throwing the ball to players on the other team sure that too yeah who about what about you no but he has tools he does have tools he's way bigger than i realized he was a guy that i've watched for forever uh yeah no yeah beck is just one of those guys it's like as soon as the moment got big he got small and that scares me for a guy that has so much experience um you know day three like again you mentioned all these day three guys and i i was trying to find one like tailing green is a fun dart throw i wouldn't take him to around five and that's maybe around four if we go with the quarterback bump but it's just like and it's he's weird he's more accurate down the field than he is on throws under five yards like i don't know if the stats bear that out but i test he's he has he's what if he has to throw a short throw i have no idea where that ball is going if he has to throw some 15 yards down the field way better accuracy it's weird and we talked about this before the combine even mina because i was like okay he's probably gonna blow it up but it was just he's already worked with bobby petrino so it's not like he worked at like i mentioned josh allen at wyoming with a guy that's never really coached a quarterback.

1:01:54Bobby Petrino actually knows what he's doing, and that's my glass half empty with him. It's like, well, this is all we're getting. But he's an interesting dart throw because he's an absolute freak. Luke Altmyer from Illinois as like a round six, round seven guy, I think is interesting. He's a backup, but there's something to him as just like a solid backup type. And then it's a bit, but it's a serious bit. It's Jack Strand from Minnesota Moorhead. Same thing, round six, round seven guy. The guy's 6 '4", 240, can rip it. and North Dakota State's Pro Day. It was okay. That's why you haven't seen me publicizing it and go like, look at him.

1:02:30It was okay, but his film is a lot more to it. I've watched three games of him now and he actually has a little bit to him. He threw it every down.

1:02:39Nate Tice:Not Cole Payton. Sorry, you said North Dakota State. Oh, Jack Strand. He worked out because Minnesota Moorhead is not going to have a Pro Day. Oh. So he worked out North Dakota State's Pro Day. Cole Payton I couldn't get over the top with. I know. I wanted to because you told me to watch Bryce Lance. A freak? Yeah. I'm trying to go like, what's going on here? I'll definitely get to him as a sleeper when I talk about the skill players. But Peyton, there are some insane throws on tape, but he's just raw. And they run two routes on every pass play. It's very simplistic. Great athlete. That's day three.

1:03:20That's what day three.

1:03:21Nate Tice:elements are just dark throws uh let's take a quick break come back and talk about a player who's very much not going to go on day three uh jeremiah love and then we'll get to the other running backs in the draft but it's really about jeremiah love

1:03:38check engine abs or maintenance light on take the guesswork out of your warning lights with o'reilly veriscan the service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians. And if you need help, we could recommend a shop for you. Ask for O 'Reilly VerisCAN today. Oh, oh, oh, O 'Reilly. Auto Parts.

1:04:08As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify.

1:04:44You know that purple ShopPay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy? That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10 % of all e-commerce in the U.S. from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Shopify gives you a leg up with hundreds of beautiful, ready-to-go templates to express your brand style and forget about the code. Tackle all those important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more.

1:05:21Spread your brand's word with built-in marketing and email tools to find and keep new customers. And did I mention that iconic purple ShopPay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already love it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash network. Go to shopify.com slash network. Shopify.com slash network.

1:05:58Nate Tice:All right. Share my love. here we go again

1:06:05Nate Tice:with the running back top 10 discourse let's put a pin in that and let's talk about him as a player first which I think is important because it kind of feels like people are jumping straight to the running back discourse conversation and treating him as a foregone conclusion that he is Saquon or Bijan or one of those guys and I want to hear your thoughts about whether he actually is. So Jeremiah Love is the lead running back out of Notre Dame. We're going to talk about the other one next. He has your prototypical size frame, six foot. The stats speak for themselves, 6.89 yards per carry. This is one that I grabbed because I thought it would be true.

1:06:56Nate Tice:he averaged 7.3 yards per carry in the second half, which is ridiculous. Second amongst all backs in 15 yard plus runs, top three in just about every metric. The number one attribute of his game, and you will hear this over and over, is how unbelievably explosive he is, particularly when he gets in the open field. It is night-night, and this is a league now where that's something a lot of teams crave. Saquon 2024 is the example that comes to mind, but there's other examples around the league of just super explosive backs um i personally i'll just start here i actually have him below bijon who as a prospect um the difference to me is work inside of a phone booth bijon i just felt had more make you miss as a prospect uh love isn't weak he can run between the tackles and He finishes really well, but he's not a power back.

1:07:53Nate Tice:But more so than that, his shiftiness is best manifested at the second and third level as opposed to, in my mind, in a phone booth. The short area quicks are not comparable. That said, very good pass catcher. I think it's something they can be tapped into more, similar to Bijan. And I think, you know, he wants to pass protect. So he has an all-around back. I really, really like him. I am a little bit pumping the brakes, though, on the generational talk. Like I said, I have him behind Saquon and Bijan as prospects. Nate, why don't you go first? How do you view him? What do you like about his game?

1:08:36First off, yeah, I agree with you. I have him below Bijan. I would have him probably similar to how I graded Jameer Gibbs. But the thing is, I actually maybe even like Love a tad more because you mentioned the patch protection stuff. Gibbs was awful coming in the league, gotten way better at that. And Love is just a tad bigger, you know, and that matters to me. But that is kind of more the tier I look at. I think Bajon was one of the best. I think Ezekiel Elliott's probably, once I've kind of officially scouted guys, is probably my top graded prospect. Bajon's up there. Saquon's up there. Love, to me, is a little bit below that.

1:09:10I like him better than Gentee. Just a little different flavors, but I like Love a little bit more. But a little upright running style. Yeah, he's like a – he runs like a skier. Like it's just like it's very – Yeah, he slums through. He kind of is upright, which is my little worry with him. I would say that's my – so that relates to what you're saying between the tackles. Having said that, can take every touch to the house. Seems like a great teammate. Seems like a great – he's good in pass protection, but didn't always have to do it because the other guy with price can receive the ball. And those are always – those are checking boxes.

1:09:44Legit time speed, sub 4-4. That's how he plays. You can actually see it. And I just think he's just very effective. And I think the name of the game right now is explosive plays. It always is in the NFL, but more than ever now, because of how defenses are playing, call it the Kenneth Walker theory, whatever you like. But I think love has even better vision than Walker does. So that's very appealing. Even if he isn't the bruiser between the tackles, guess what? You can find a guy if you're really worried about that. We're going to talk about one later. Yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about a couple. There's a few of those in this class.

1:10:18But no, Love just checks all the boxes you want. What I consider, what I would call a lottery pick running back. And I'm comfortable taking him high. Now, having said that, that's a different discussion about which teams are picking high and whether they should take him, which I don't think they should. But I do think Love is one of these guys that's worthy, like I said, a lottery pick because he just checks all the boxes that are hard to find at the running back position. Yeah, I agree with all that. I think I would have him slightly below where I had like Gentile last year, I think. And so like, obviously he's a little bit below B.

1:10:52John and Saquon and Ezekiel Elliott in terms of the generational prospects of running back position. I just don't quite, I can't quite get there with him, but I do think again, he's a really good player, really explosive, big plays, home run hitter. And I think the passing game stuff is kind of where he differentiates himself from like a Gentile where he's just much more natural as a route runner as a pass catcher in terms of his hands he has a bigger frame so he has a bigger catch radius um i think you can just do more stuff with him in the passing game in terms of just pure running style i would probably pick genti um in terms of his fluidity and his wiggle and things like that but i mean we're kind of you know this is like parsing little stuff because i think he's a very good prospect um the guy that i comped him to and i actually the two guys that i kind of compared him too and i think this is like a low end and aspiration or whatever but i my first thought when i watched him was travis etn i know that's going to come off and people are gonna be like oh god what but i mean if you look at etn's stats in college he scored like 80 touchdowns super productive yeah and he was really good in the passing game and all that i think i think that jeremiah love will be a better pro than etn has turned into but nate you mentioned it like the upright running style and he he's just to me not quite as fluid as a runner um although he has a great spin move and and that's like something he really utilized he loves to hit it he loves that

1:12:15Nate Tice:he really is like when you watch him his college tape is like a kid playing running back totally

1:12:25especially i mean i okay so like the the vision stuff too is interesting because i think

1:12:31Nate Tice:it shows up again in the open field like behind the line of scrimmage sometimes i'm like a little bit of bouncing you know doesn't see it as maybe as well as like again generational you'd like but then when he gets an open field and he like will set up safety or the limer like he is and he will when he puts a move on them it is over um i think like that his style actually plays really well or is really important for the value discussion, though, because I'm not saying he can't be good behind a bad or even average offensive line, but to me, he is similar to Gibbs, Nate, your prototypical back where if you put him behind a good line, it is gas.

1:13:16Nate Tice:But it's not going to – I don't love it behind a bad line. Great. And not even just – that's true of any running back, but I think his style in particular – Gibbs is a really similar dynamic and that gets us to the value discussion, which I feel like I just need like a three minute video to just hit like, and throw to that. And it's just me doing the same thing over and over every year, but there's a different thing I want. So, so, you know, we talk about running backs and we talk about why teams should be wary to draft them top 10 in the draft or generally. And the first thing is the value, right?

1:13:52Nate Tice:Like the Titans are the team that is being mentioned a lot at pick four. um so just to really quickly hit this your genti is the 13th highest paid running back in the nfl the he makes nine million dollars um the 10th highest paid running backs james cook who makes like barely more than ashton genti meanwhile uh abdul carter who is the top edge taken last year makes 11 million dollars which is 35th uh the 10th highest paid edge makes close to 30 million So the opportunity, the value you get of hitting on a player at a position like pass rusher or wide receiver or offensive tackle is just infinitely more than running back.

1:14:34Nate Tice:This is why a big part of why. The other part is that, you know, when you look at guys taken in the first round of last few years, there are success stories. I would say less so from a team building standpoint than an individual production standpoint. But those success stories almost always happen when the offensive line is in place. Bijan being a good example, right? You know, top 10 running back picks this 2010. Gentry, bad. Bijan, again, team is different, but he, a good line. Barkley with New York, pick two. I think we all look back on that and realize, you know, not the best. Leonard Fournette didn't get his fifth-year option, picked up.

1:15:15Nate Tice:Christian McCaffrey at pick eight. And then Elliot Gurley, Richardson, CJ Spiller. Okay, so this brings us to the teams. CJ Spiller, that's right. He was picked nine. That's right. I knew he was first round. Marshawn Lynch, they traded Lynch to keep Spiller, I think. Yeah, I mean, Spiller was a freak, and I loved him at Clemson, but I forgot he was picked nine. For some reason, I thought he was in the 20s or something. I forgot about that one. So let me just ask you this, guys. Okay, so Gibbs is an example of a success story, but the Lions obviously had a great offensive line already in place.

1:15:48And Montgomery to eat others. And Montgomery.

1:15:50Nate Tice:And, you know, Amon Ross, St. Brown. They had a wide receiver one. Like, when you guys look at the top ten, we'll say top, well, go above the Chiefs because Chiefs are an interesting one. But, well, yeah, okay, let's just do top ten. Let's go above Miami because Miami is the first, like, obvious no-go. And it's not the only, but. Do any teams, based on need, the state of their roster, make sense? Because I keep hearing there's no way he makes it out of the top 10. All right. Danny, you go first here. Do any of these teams make sense to you in the top 10? The only team that I can twist myself in a pretzel to defend here that would actually elevate their team would be the commanders, I think.

1:16:39Because of the quarterback situation, because of what they did two years ago and how everything kind of fell apart last year because of injuries and things like that, I think you could make the argument, the commanders could be good like a really like solid team this year to above average team and therefore a guy like love could augment what's already like a good i i kind of i don't know what the best analogy is but like a running back is kind of like a nitrous oxide booster like if you put it in a already fast car it's going to give you that much more oomph and like you're going to be the fastest if you put it in a toyota corolla it's just going to like rattle and and like fall apart um so to me i guess the only team in that list would the only team i actually like could get behind i think is the commanders any in the top 10 no i i that's what's that's what's hard about it because again they're we we talked we talked about this sometimes but the nuance of it all it's not that i don't think love is worthy of a high pick it's just that in a team building sense i would scream at all these teams and say you have so much more than you need than a running back that i think is a cherry on top to what you have even the guys like that broke out had amazing rookie years like ezekiel elliott that was because of other circumstances of the best high pick an amazing old line with a quarterback at the time romo that turned into dak but yes there was other

1:18:06Nate Tice:things on that team that what that brings i didn't love it but it made sense yeah the the cowboys point brings me to the other thing that I get that gets mentioned a lot which is like well you got to help your young quarterback we are all on this pod cam ward fans titans fans very they all really want your way I've discovered um the when you look back at the young quarterbacks year one or two who broke out and you look at the conditions every single one of them I made a list right now had either a wide receiver one like a legit dude or and this is what you would say with the 2016 cowboys deck prescott an elite offensive line jay and and very few of them had elite running backs to be honest it's it's wide receiver offensive line daniels had mclaurin herbert had keenan allen these teams not had like ekler like who had maybe like i mean um stroud had nico collins kyla murray broke out when they traded for deandre hopkins drake may had neither that's why i got an mbp vote from me um josh allen traded for stefan digs uh joe burrow broke out with jamar chase and higgins uh lamar doesn't count because he is a running game into himself but you could argue hollywood brown's guy for him uh but a great offensive line that great offensive line great point aj brown uh for jalen hurts as well as the offensive line jalen hurts broke out before the Saquon people forget that.

1:19:34Nate Tice:Like it's just not. And then people say, well, he's a weapon. So I sent you guys this, but like, okay, it's not entirely fair to limit this to EPA when you're talking about receiving. But last year, total receiving EPA, Christian McCaffrey ranked 34th expected points added, which is basically looking at every single play and asking how much does it get you closer to scoring a touchdown? It's your most totalistic way to look at value. Christian McCaffrey was 34th behind Parker Washington, who I love. Bijan Robinson was 55th behind Elik Ayuminar. EPA per play, the highest ranked, was Bijan Robinson, who was 85th behind Juwan Johnson.

1:20:12Nate Tice:So, yes, a pass-catching running back is absolutely useful. And if you tell me Kyle Shanahan's coming with him, maybe we'll have a different conversation. But by and large, this is not the best way to add value, not just to a team and salary and all that, But to help your young quarterback, you need receivers.

1:20:34Nate Tice:Tennessee, my dream outcome for them is trade down and get Carnell tape somehow. Or you take one of the edge rushers because they desperately need that. You don't think Wendell Robinson's an ace? You don't think he's number one worth paying$18 million a year? I'm not tight saying that to me. Because he knows Brian Dable's offense? I cannot handle this. His best year. He's basically a running back. He's too small to play running back. I put eight. If I get the eye to eye, he was your wide receiver. He ain't wide receiver one. The dreaded picture. That's the dreaded Mina picture. Don't wear the heels.

1:21:09No, but that's the – Oh, God, don't get me on Wendell Robinson rant because he knows Brian D 'Abel's offense at least. No, but I even looked at – I've looked at those kind of numbers before, and it was basically the best receiving running backs or worth like a solid tight end or like a number three receiver. At best. at best.

1:21:26Nate Tice:CMC is, and stop saying he ain't going to be CMC. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. He's one of one. I do not, I cannot handle people comparing pads catching running backs. Bijan is the better comp who's a great receiving back. Yeah. Elik Iomanor. A mid-range, a middling rookie A blocking rookie receiver that can't catch. Yeah. To me, a guy like Love would be used, it's almost situationally as a receiver. Red zone designs, third down shot play like how James Cook gets used for the bills. Well, you know, like that's how like a good receiving back is typically used like as opposed in screens, of course, as opposed to, oh, we're going five out doing five out every play with honestly, you could.

1:22:08Nate Tice:I think I think the Giants have bigger needs, but I actually think you can make a slightly better case for that because at least they have a wide receiver one and you've got offensive tackles, but they need interior offensive line. They need more wide receivers they need the spine of their defense so i but that is more defensible to me than tennessee um hilariously i threw up dallas which somehow made everyone angry um but that is because they do need defense the situation which i posed dallas like styles was gone the edge rushers are gone so to be clear but that is that situation satisfies what we're talking about which is you got the receivers you got the offensive line pour gasoline on that baby and like that offense would be oh they were supernova Dallas would be insane I'm already loving what Dallas is building on offense anyways like I'm super high on the Cowboys overall this year relatively um but like love going there is more like fan fiction that I can get behind because I'm like well that's just saying we're gonna win every game we're gonna play every game 40 to 34 and I'm all for it is another team that I wouldn't be angry about Danny are there any teams I mean I think we all agree that some team is going to do something we don't like and do this in the first top 10 but are there any always do you like so minnesota and dallas anyone else that there's one that i'm eyeing that is a very insane one i don't know i this is i i've had this conversation before i have a really hard time figuring out where to put jeremiah love in mock drafts because i think in reality he's probably going to go top 10 to some team that is ultimately making a mistake in doing that but um it's just hard for me to like make that i guess like you could point to a team like the buccaneers who need more juice yeah um what about the ravens if they want that's the one i'm like if you want a's gun and yeah hey the new oc he's ben johnson guy he's not opposed to having two backs back there we go um but yeah i think you know to echo everything i've been i'm sure titan fans probably hate me at this point but i'm like if the titans take jerry i love it's such a terrible choice we are trying we care about cam war we want the best for you yeah yeah i just think it holistically and just if you think about it from a defensive coordinator's point of view you're kind of hoping that the quarterback will just check down to the running back right like that's actually that's a win if that's like how you're putting your offense together like That's actually a failure of the rest of your first two progressions or whatever.

1:24:45You know what I mean? And so it does help, technically, to have an explosive runner in your offense. But I don't think with the way that they're built right now, it's not going to be the type of thing.

1:24:56Nate Tice:Do you know how many stack boxes they're going to face with Wanda? We see this every time with these highly drafted running backs that go to bad teams. It just doesn't move the needle. Why I hate the Wandale signing even more, because if they sign Love and they're like, we're going to be a run-first team, he can't block. So we just... Now you're getting a guy that's like... That doesn't make sense. He's too small. Okay, well, we'll see. Really like Love. I just want to put that out. Really like him. I want the best for both, the team and running backs. Just these teams. Even the Commanders, they signed two running backs this offseason.

1:25:30I would have been fine with that room. With Bill Rashad White and Jerome Ford, I'm good with that. Go with that.

1:25:35Nate Tice:I like the Titans and Commanders backfields. One would think New Orleans and Kansas City took them out of the love business with their signings. But who knows? Because apparently just NFL teams cannot help themselves. They can't. All right. Is Jadarian Price, who is the number two running back at Notre Dame, is he your guys? He's my running back, too. Is he also your guys' running back twos? He's two. And then I have like a real close three. But he's two right now. OK, so let's talk about him. also well built little bit smaller than love but very prototypical frame similar to love in some ways in that he is incredibly explosive I mean when he plants his foot he goes he is classic zone running back to me which makes him an interesting fit for a lot of teams not picking in the first round or beginning second whatever the so the explosiveness is the number one thing the long speed absurd the uh pass catching i think the biggest question mark with him is just usage small sample size right um he didn't get a ton of run he didn't get a lot of receiving reps so there's a lot of speculation required he also was not as efficient as jeremiah love i have him at 45th and success rate it's not terrible but so I think there's a little bit of a risk reward here with him Danny you go first here I I I think the reward to me is what makes me think he's worth it naked not in the first round but yeah yeah I do think if you get him in like a good zone blocking scheme he could be really effective yeah I think so too I I bristle at the like people giving him to the Seahawks in round one I'm like oh god I mean I'm not putting in past Schneider at this point, but that would be, I think, a gross misuse of resources.

1:27:29I do like him. I think he's got a natural feel for picking lanes and weaving through the defense, and he has acceleration to beat pursuit angles. He's really good. There'll be a guy that has him dead to rights, and he'll just run around him. So I do like that about him. To me, when he measured in, I think he was 204 pounds or 3 pounds. I was like, that's what? I thought he was a bigger guy than that. I thought he runs like he's a bigger player.

1:27:57Nate Tice:Yeah. The guy, ironically, the guy that kind of came to my mind when I was watching him, and this is not like a great one-to-one comp, but was Zach Charbonnet, where just downhill, hit the gas, and weave through the defense. He's kind of very physical, ups the intensity. He doesn't have a lot of chops in the passing game right now. But, I mean, he also had some kickoff returns. and I don't know. He's a good athlete with a good field space. He is an electric returner. Two touchdowns on kick returns. That's valuable in today's NFL. I think it's valuable and it tells you that kind of natural playmaking feel for manipulating space and finding the right rush lanes.

1:28:45I think that's kind of like what I see when I watch him. So I think he has the potential to be a good early down back i think it's a question mark whether he can be a third down guy like a three down back um but he he just looks to me like a rock solid contributor on you know in the path in the run game and then maybe in the kicking game yep that's that's how i look at him it's like again he kind of checks a lot of boxes even none of them none of them are overwhelming um but yeah i i you kind of were hitting on this a little danny is that it's i I like how he tempos his runs and like, he's really good at setting stuff up and it's anyone that's ever played Madden.

1:29:19This is what they try to teach you to do is you don't hold the turbo until you hit the whole image. Yeah. Yeah. You're supposed to wait and be patient. He's very good at that. Like a slow to the hole and then run through the hole. And I, I think that that's like the stuff that's appealing to me, like where he kept winning me over. It's like, you know, cause I don't think he has any overwhelming aspects of his game. I actually thought he was going to be bigger than he listed it. I think he's gonna be like two 10, He looks big. He looks big, and he runs a little bit bigger than that. He's got good contact balance.

1:29:47Again, he's going to always need another guy in the backfield. That's how I always look at him. But if you have a 50-50 split, he's a good one because he can do so much for you, and then you have another guy with him that's kind of like what he did in Notre Dame.

1:29:59Nate Tice:I have a favorite spot for him. Houston with their second pick in the second round, so it would be pick 59-27. So Marks, Montgomery, and Price, that's a good backfield. I would like that. That's a roster that I think you can hit your more glaring – they don't really have a lot of needs, to be honest. Houston roster is very good, obviously, you know, about the defense. But I think you could address, you know, maybe offensive line in the first two rounds, and then I would love that there. I would love for them to get a little bit of juice to go with Montgomery. I think all the other teams we mentioned make sense, though.

1:30:34Nate Tice:I would also – the Broncos are picking right after Houston. That's another team that would be kind of an interesting one. But yeah, Baltimore, Tampa, Minnesota, the teams we mentioned all make sense to me. I know. 49ers don't pick until 58 in the second round, but like 49ers is a spellback for CMC. That would be really fun. Yeah. Kind of a nice – kind of could do a lot of stuff that they maybe asked for. And also this is like kind of bring up like a running back two – we could talk about those quarterbacks. But running back – like he's running back two, but it's default, the two sweetest words in the English language, that it's like where I look at it and like I was looking at last year and I'm looking at how I rank guys and he would have been one, two, three.

1:31:09He would have been like running back seven for me last year.

1:31:11Nate Tice:Wow. I know. And I was kind of like, yeah, and it's just that's how it goes. It's like that's all. And he's in my top 50, and I had seven running backs. I think I might have eight in my top 50 last year. But I think that's just the differences of classes. And I think teams that didn't get one last year kind of going, I could have had Kyle Monungay or Tootin or one of these other contributors that all these other teams, Woody Marks that all these teams got around in day three. Scadaboo. last year's class was genti travion omarian hampton caleb johnson who didn't work out yet uh quinshawn juckins who looked fantastic he got hurt but dylan sampson basial tootin rj harvey scadaboo uh jordan james guy who ended up with the niners um yeah yeah there's and then all i had devon neal real high other guys like that in today's world planning ahead isn't always top of mind but not having life insurance can leave families facing difficult financial uncertainty during already emotional times.

1:32:09In many cases, loved ones are left managing expenses, debts, or long-term obligations without a clear plan in place. Life insurance is one of those ways to help provide financial security and support when it's needed most. That's where Ethos comes in. Ethos makes getting life insurance fast and easy. And it's 100 % online. You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and even get same-day coverage. There's no medical exam. You just answer a few simple health questions online, and coverage options are flexible, with up to$3 million available and some policies starting at around$30 a month.

1:32:44Ethos has also earned strong customer feedback with a 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot, based on more than 3 ,000 reviews. Help protect your family with life insurance through Ethos. Get your instant free quote at ethos.com slash sports. That's ethos.com slash sports. Application times and rates may vary.

1:33:35milk and vanilla, blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten-free options. Breakfast that delivers, snack that delivers. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivGuardMyWay.com.

1:34:13That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about VivGuard Hattrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. Scatterboos feels like a good transition or segue to the guy who I think Nate is talking about when he says he has somebody at running back three, Jonah Coleman. Yeah. that does hear time out right yeah more more devon neal maybe he's he's the guys that i i'm a sucker for this runner runner type of runner and i try to gauge it properly but again this is this class like he's around three grade for me he didn't make my top 50 but if i went top 75 he would

1:34:47Nate Tice:have made that if that makes okay so let's get into him as running back three um i think after so i have personally love price and then pick your flavor is kind of where i go like it's like what do you want? Coleman is a very specific flavor. He is, you know, your squatty body. He is muscle hamster, five foot eight, two 20 built like my son when he was two, before he started stretching out a little bit. Um, I'm a Huskies fan. So I've watched a lot of Jonah Coleman. Danny is too. He is, he, I sent you guys a clip. I wrote, I can't quit him. It was in the Illinois game. It's third and two and he picks up three yards and I was like, give me this he just bounces off guys and then he just runs right through the edge and uh just lowers his pads and just knocks him over uh he is very different from the two guys we've been talking about he is not explosive uh but i do think he is not as what he's not just a grinder he he's not going to get you 20 but he'll get you 10 and i think he can also catch passes and pass protect so nate what do you like about him why do you have him so high yeah the those last couple things that you just said there is why i really like him i think he's just a complete back um as far as that he can do a lot of professional things and pass protection is one of them and guys can get learn pass protection but the fact that he can do that day one is a tip you know a feather in his cap uh i'm very realistic that he probably runs a four six and that's his biggest negative is that he's not a burner, but he gets on base.

1:36:21And that's the best way I could put it. If it's blocked for three, he's getting you four. He might not get you 14, but he's getting you all of it. And I think he is talking about tempoing runs. That's why these squatty guys that have this vision like this, and he can get to third gear real quick. He's just getting to fourth and fifth gear. But one to three, he has that shiftiness to get that, and he gets that first down. You know, and there's some games like Ohio State, he gets to the edge where you kind of see a little bit of burst, but being realistic. and that's why I consider him a round three guy, but these are the type of guys I like because this is going to be an efficient runner.

1:36:53A team that runs a lot of duo and a lot of downfields. The Rams won't probably take him. They already have a couple guys like this, but a team like this that now the Jags don't need a running back either, so I'm losing my point here. But teams that need a guy between the tackles.

1:37:07Nate Tice:I'm looking at the fourth round or third round. Yeah, third, fourth round for him, I'd be very comfortable. Any pick after 60, I'm comfortable taking him, being realistic that he might not go until round four because the league likes speed. But these guys, he just gets on base. That's my best way I can describe it. And an efficient runner that if you're understanding that he's not going to be a burner, that's fine. Like Manungai last year actually is a decent comparison for him. Manungai went round seven. Coleman had a little more production than that. So, yeah, it's just a skill skit I just always, always like with my running backs because I just think these guys translate to the league really well.

1:37:40It's always funny to watch a running back like him where you look at his body type and you're like, this guy could play exactly one position. You know what I mean? There's no... Really in sports. Ever since he was a little kid, the only position this kid could play is running back. But yeah, I mean, he's... Scataboo is the same way. Oh, that's true. Yeah, that's a good point. But he reminded me of... And this is, again, this might be in the eyes of the beholder. He reminded me of a Bucky Irving type player where Bucky Irving coming into the league, I remember watching him like, this guy breaks a lot of tackles.

1:38:18He's pretty elusive. He's got good vision. He's creative, but he's small and slow. And that is not something the NFL typically likes. And by the way, it's not something that usually works in the NFL. We see both sides of it in his two years. Totally. And last year, he was pretty terrible. Basically, all the metrics you look at, he was awful, but he was hurt. We'll see what happens in year three. but i think the other guy that it kind of reminds me of and this is you mentioned the rams he reminds me of kyron irving uh sorry kyron williams um like a thick version of kyron and i remember kyron coming out it was like you could swap over everything we said just everything you just said he's like yep yeah good in pass pro great protection he's like the best pass protector

1:39:01Nate Tice:in the draft he's good in the receiving game yeah he's just slow not exclusive yeah and it just to To me, it's like Coleman, there's plenty of worlds where Coleman doesn't do anything in the NFL. We forget about him in two years. But if the right coach gets him and really likes him, he's the, you know, he's never, I think he never fumbled in college. He had like one drop in the passing game. He's going to be, if he gets matched up with the right coach in the right scheme, I think he could be a very productive runner in the NFL. But again, it's just kind of like there's a million like versions of this where he just kind of gets buried quickly and never emerges.

1:39:38Nate Tice:The nickname that he gave himself, apparently, was Mr. Unstoppable, which is just an incredible nickname. I mean, he was at the combine. His sound clip kind of went viral because he was like, someone asked him why he takes pass pros so serious. Oh, yeah. Are you serious? Quarterbacks are making 50 million a year and I'm making like two or something. Like, what do you think? What do you think is valuable? I'm like, he knows where his bread is buttered. I also like him as a runner. I'm trying to not let my Huskies homerism bleed into this. because talking about a third or fourth round yeah totally i think he'll probably go fourth round um yeah but i think to me i'm like he's he's elusive he like you mentioned he is really patient where he'll almost like hide again this is the body type thing almost like hide behind his blockers for a second and then kind of squirt through like a spot in the offensive line um i don't know he just to me looks like the type of guy who can be productive in the right system i I don't think he's going to be a superstar.

1:40:34He doesn't have the juice to be like a home run hitter, but he just looks like a good running back to me. Yeah. Doug Martin, who I joked, I used the muscle hamster nickname for Coleman, but that's his original muscle hamster. He was 5 '9", 223, and he ran a 4.55. Yeah. Kind of similar to Coleman a little bit. He hated that nickname. He hated it because it was his girlfriend, I think, had the nickname. And then the teammates then called him that because he defended his girlfriend. She was a gymnast. and then Blake Corham you mentioned Kyron Williams but the Rams have a specific running back style they like Ronnie Rivers was the other guy they had they all run the exact same so yeah

1:41:11Nate Tice:but your point about like yeah duo teams um the league starts running that more and more there's a there's a few teams the Lions need a power back with Gibbs now oh yeah oh that's nice one that's the exact style they like um are there any other backs that you guys particularly like We haven't talked about Emmitt Johnson, who's a race-shifty Nebraska back. Your other fandom? Yeah, yeah. Other fandom, that's right. Mike Washington is the guy who ran a 4.3340 at 6 '1", which is insane. However, tape's just okay to me. I kind of feel that way about all the other backs. There's things about their game I like, but no one else really.

1:41:55Nate Tice:seeing the Penn State backs, Claiborne and Wake Forest. Nate, is there anyone that you would want to highlight that you have a soft spot for? Got to mention Washington just because he has a weird background, you know, from Buffalo, not extremely productive. Then goes to Arkansas, has a big year this year. Him and Taylor Green was pretty fun backfield in the imperfect, but fun backfield. Grew on me the more I watch, but these guys can be confusing for me because there are times he misses a hole. There's sometimes he's not a creative runner. but then there's times where he looks incredible because he's so freaking fast and can just run by everybody and he's big and can kind of maybe run by a safety that bounces off of him um i just kept describing him as a downhill runner i just didn't know else to describe him but um again he's probably gonna make my top 100 but he's more to the back end of that 100 just because i do think there's some running limitations where he does hit the turbo button right away um and doesn't always pace his runs perfectly like i don't really like him on duo i like him in zone schemes though yeah where he can cut and go he has some similarities running wise they are not built the same at all to tevin coleman um coleman was about 200 pounds he was a little skinnier but as far as how they're in a zone scheme where they just cut and just go and get downhill and usually zone guys are better it's vision that opens that up but more it's just about getting north and i think that's why i think washington i didn't really like johnson from Nebraska that much even though he was super productive the yeah the Penn State guys I liked Allen a little bit more but neither I was I loved Allen had some similarities to Rashad White in a good and bad way where he can totally just make that last guy miss ever just a little slow just can never make anyone miss on the second level he gets the five yards I'm like this is my guy there he gets tripped up again there he is stumbling over his feet again and it's like I I only can get so high with him.

1:43:48Like those are top 100. I've already listed though. Like Washington would be my last one. So I maybe have four. All the rest of these guys, I consider day three. Roman Hemby from Indiana is like a round five guy. I kind of like as a tough runner, great in protection. Adam Randall from Clemson is a converted receiver. I think I like as like a day three dart throw can be kind of an interesting kind of, I like the converted receivers to run back archetype, even though like Rashad White actually is one of those that I kind of fall for those guys, but he's actually a lot faster than his time speed as well.

1:44:18Jamari Taylor from Virginia, fun little compact guy that probably will only last in the league for three years because he's too physical and he's not that big. The Freeman. Oh, God. What's the first name? Why am I going to be on Freeman? Yeah, Devontae Freeman conundrum where he runs so physical, but he only lasts for three years.

1:44:36Nate Tice:Devontae Freeman and Tevin Coleman mentioned in one pod. I did the DB pod and mentioned Antoine Winfield Sr. and Antoine Winfield Jr. lack of originality for me but again these guys are all i like don't love any that could get over the top even claiborne from wake forest speedy but not big i just couldn't get over the top with any of these guys yeah i i like the randall shout out i was watching him yesterday and he's kind of like an interesting one again i think this is a indictment might be a strong word but it's an indication of what we're seeing in terms of this draft class where you're taking some some dart throws on day three guys that might be interesting randall is big he's 6 '3 232 um and he i think he has some natural running ability you can tell he's a receiver because some of the ways that he like he's just like truly learning how to be a running back it's you know what i mean and where it's like it just looks a little clunky um but he breaks tackles he's he's big and physical he's not really he's not soft which i like uh you know because receiver you think receiver he's like oh he's not going to be that physical.

1:45:40But I thought he was pretty physical. Emmitt Johnson watching him. The one guy that kind of came to my mind is like a top end comp for him. And this is underselling it maybe a little bit, but like a Kenny Gainwell type of player where useful in the passing game. You know, and he's, he's really shifty in the short area. Like he makes guys miss in a, in a phone booth. Like he'll, he'll get the ball, be at a dead stop, dead to rights. And he'll just juke around a guy, but he doesn't have the greatest long speed. I didn't think just a little bit. Yeah. He's a little skinny or small. Yeah. So he, he's the type of guy.

1:46:13And again, this is kind of like the whole class. If he, if he gets on with a team that really likes his, his skillset and uses him well, like gain, well, it took like five years for him to, or four years or whatever, how long to kind of catch on and do his thing. Um, I could see Johnson being that, in that mold. I like Mike Washington too.

1:46:30Nate Tice:I think this conversation is a big part of why I love his draft stock is being not just the running back class, but the class as a whole. You know, like I think, well, I'll talk about wide receivers next week with Ben, but like Tate, Carnell Tate being wide receiver one, who I really love. However, because folks don't view him as comparable to the top wide receivers of recent years, some of them, it boosts, like obviously the Titans need a wide receiver one. obviously the question is is carnell tate worth pick four and that that is something they're gonna have to figure out we'll get to that next week um yeah so next week uh two bits of programming daniel jeremiah is coming on to do a warm room mock draft that drops monday i will throw in some trades this time for him and then uh later in the week ben and i are going to talk about the wide receivers tight ends and some of the offensive linemen in this draft uh but this has been so fun everybody go check out the danny and nate's podcast where they are both doing draft coverage around the clock guys i feel like titans fans are getting mad at us but that's fine we like cam ward we like we want the best for you yeah uh thank you as always to omaha productions kirsten sebecky owen saylor jack foster tucker tush and also uh if you guys watch the show Paradise.

1:47:55Nate Tice:David Dennis Jr., my friend and I who host at my TV pod, viewer discretion, recapped the Paradise finale. And then next week, next Friday, we are going to start with The Boys, which is a show that I love.

1:48:19Hey, sports fans. The ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network in service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional cost. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN, all in one place. Sign up or activate now.