First Round Takeaways: Ty Simpson, Jeremiyah Love, and Trades Galore!

23:00Diante Lee:I don't know that I've ever done it. Yeah, I don't think so. You know, dress shirt, maybe. You know, dress shirt I'll do. You know, but at home? No. Dress shirt and slacks is probably about the max that you'll get from me. Yeah, I agree. Maybe I should have thrown one on for this pot. That would have been another reason to do it. All right, so the draft really started at two here, Deontay. And there's been this Arvel Reese, David Bailey, trade down, wild card. What were the Jets going to do? They end up taking David Bailey, and they have a very eventful round one where they take David Bailey there, then they take Kenyon Sadiq with their next pick there, the tight end from Oregon at 16.

23:45Diante Lee:And then they trade back into the first round, number 30, they take Omar Cooper Jr., the wide receiver from Indiana. So three first round picks. They get a wide receiver and a tight end. We know they needed fast catching help to surround the quarterback with. And then they spend their first pick on David Bailey. What did you think of the moves the Jets made and specifically that one for Bailey to go with him over Reese with the second pick? I honestly kind of, by the time the draft started, after all the hemming and hawing that I was doing internally about Bailey or Reese, I kind of just ultimately landed on, I think you're fine either way.

24:24I think it makes a lot of sense either way. They're both going to be guys that win with speed, right? Win with explosiveness, getting off the ball quickly on their first step. I think the upside in theory is higher with Reese. And I've maintained that throughout this process because there's a lot of intrigue about what he can do off the ball. The fact that he only has a limited amount of pass rushing snaps that he was living in the backfield last year in spite of playing this kind of dual role for Ohio State. Whereas David Bailey took a little bit longer to come along in his career, was more of a specialist early in his college days when he was at Stanford.

24:58really took until he got to play with all of these future pros at Texas Tech to get a breakout. So there was some things where if you wanted to find troubling information on David Bailey's profile, it was out there. But ultimately, turn on the tape and you see a guy that could be a Nick Benito-esque edge rusher because of how fast he is, because of how explosive he is, and what he can do when he's a straight line rusher. So I thought that they would be okay no matter what. I think that the Kenyan Sadiq pick later on in pick 16, was actually one of the few times I was like, you know what? Good for the Jets for just doing the common sense thing.

25:33For sitting at 16 and saying, whatever falls to us, best player available, especially on the offensive end, let's just go get a guy that can help us out offensively so that way we're better prepared in the future to bring in a young quarterback. And then to me, trading up to number 30 to go get Omar Cooper was fascinating. And I think it only makes sense if you genuinely believe that the Patriots were going to take him at 31 before they traded out, right? That is the only way to me that that makes sense because I don't think that Seattle was primed to take a guy who is going to profile probably best as a number two or high end number three in an offense.

26:10But again, for the Jets, it's wise to go bring in another playmaker, somebody who can make Garrett Wilson's life easier, somebody who can go work the middle of the field, get you tough catches, go create after the catch. I think that they have built up their playmaking core really well on offense, and they already have one of the better young offensive lines in the league, in my opinion. So I think that the Jets ultimately walk out of the draft feeling like pretty big winners, at least walking out of day one feeling like pretty big winners. And I was really kind of curious to see whether or not they were going to be able to land the plane, both at number two and at number 16.

26:41And I think that most people would say that they did.

26:43Diante Lee:Yeah, I'm with you on number two. I wish I could come on here with a very strong take. Like, no, they blew it. They should have taken Arvel Reese or this was a no-brainer. I actually think it was a, it might've been a kind of a hard decision. You know, it makes sense that it was a hard decision whether you go Arvel Reese or David Bailey. Now I will say this, if they come out and say, and I don't think they're going to say this, but if they're like, we felt like Bailey could contribute immediately or if the reporting's like, well, they thought Reese had more upside, but Bailey was the, you know, a safer bet.

27:12Diante Lee:If it's anything like that, I'm going to be like, that's a, I don't like that process. that's bad process, that's short-sighted. Why are you doing that? Who cares if the guy can contribute immediately? You're not going to be a, you're not a contending team in 2026. I actually think this probably, and I think there'll be different narratives with this Aaron Glenn's guy also. I actually think it's going to come out to be just a simple, we weren't sure about overall Reese as a pass rusher. Right. You know, you've said that to me, you know, you were studying him and you're like, no, that's like actually legit that, yeah, he seems like a really fun player.

27:44Diante Lee:He could be a great up-ball. I mean, he's better at linebacker right now. Yeah, he's just better in linebacker right now. Right. So if they're like at two, you know what? As much as we can kind of see the upside, but we're really not sure about it. And Bailey, we're sure, or we feel really good about, he's going to be a really good pass rusher. We're going to go with him. I think that is very reasonable, and I think there's nothing wrong with doing that. So it comes with some risk, you know, one year of big-time production. Like you said, questions about his ability against the run. Reese does have elite traits.

28:15Diante Lee:There's a chance you passed up on a guy who turns out to be, you know, a great defensive player, one of the best, better defensive players in the NFL, but you're picking it too. There's always going to be the risk of passing on a guy like that. So I, as long as it was for the right reasons, this is another one. I want to see what they're saying about it. I want to see what the reporting says. I don't want to read the name. Brick Johnson was, you know, really, I don't want to do that. None of that. You don't want to think about Madden ratings right now. None of that Jets nonsense. if you just said, you know what?

28:45Diante Lee:We felt like premium position, Bailey, great pass rusher. Reese, we were unsure. I'm on board. Good job. Sadiq, I'm with you now. I will say this about Sadiq. They did use, what, the 40th second pick or something on Mason Taylor last year. Not that you can't have two tight ends, but I need Sadiq to maybe be the number two pass catcher, that type of profile in this offense if you're spending that kind of resource on him when you feel like you already have a good all-around tight end. in Mason Taylor, but you're right in terms of value, best player available. It does feel like, Hey, let's not overthink this.

29:19Diante Lee:Let's stick to our board. And then even the Cooper jr. Trade. I mean, they gave up, I think a fifth round pick to move up. So that to me, it's like, if you really feel strongly about that guy, and I do feel like they needed to add another wide receiver there to compliment Garrett Wilson that I thought made sense also. So we know what this is about with the jets. They're trying to set up an infrastructure for whatever quarterback they're adding in 2027. It's not about 2026. They want to find out, does Aaron Glenn give us anything as a head coach? And let's set up an infrastructure for the quarterback we add next season.

29:51Diante Lee:And on paper, you added a playmaking tight end, who I think was a good prospect in Sadiq. And you added a yards after the catch wide receiver in Omar Cooper Jr. who can do the dirty work. So I think if you're a Jets fan, you feel pretty good about this and you still have all those, you know, all those picks next year when you're trying to land the quarterback. So it doesn't mean it's going to work out, but I don't think this is like a setback or like LOL Jets type night, which if you're a Jets fan, that's kind of all you're hoping for. 100%. I mean, it is just a win on that metric alone. You walked out with one of the two best edge rushers, potential edge rushers in this class.

30:30She walked out with the best tight end in this class. And she walked out with one of the most dependable wide receivers in this class, all in the first round. Just on that alone, right? If we were just doing a blind item test and you took the Jets logo off the side of the helmet and you just said that a team left the first round with these players, you probably look up and say, OK, I think that they're probably setting themselves up to be in a better position next year than they are right now. I will say that I do 100 percent agree with you on Kenyon Sadiq. I think that you only pick him at 16 if when you watch his tape, you say, this can be a poor, not poor man's, but a lighter version of Trey McBride.

31:06This can be healthy Sam Laporta. This can be the first half of the season with Tucker Craft, right? Maybe not as a blocker, but as a receiving threat. Somebody who can genuinely get you 20 to 25 yards on some of those touches over the middle of the field because that's how dynamic an athlete he can be. I think in flashes, you can certainly see that with Sadiq. certainly you watch him test and the athletic profile tells you that that's what he can be but it's just not demonstrated enough for you to be confident in it and I think that that is probably the one thing that we will look back on when it's time to talk about 50-year options and what this team looks like years in the future is whether or not Kenyon Sadiq can truly become one of the few game-changing tight ends that we have in the league right now.

31:48All right.

31:49Diante Lee:Third pick, Deontay. The Arizona Cardinals select Jeremiah Love. And I just felt vindicated for my Monty Austin Ford criticism in the box draft exercise that we did. I mean, come on. I know if you're listening to this show, you say, come on. We know what you're going to say. I mean, I hope Jeremiah Love has a Hall of Fame career. Great prospect. Fun player. I will enjoy watching him at some point. This is just a horrendous use of resources. Like, I don't know how you make that pick. I don't know how you're allowed to make that pick if you're the Arizona Cardinals and you were 3-14 last year. And you're going up against Sean McVay and Mike McDonald and Kyle Shanahan.

32:37Diante Lee:and you have holes up and down your roster. You have no quarterback and you show no basic understanding of positional value. This isn't like a contending team taking him at eight or something like that. This is a team that could not afford to take Jeremiah Love. I'm sorry, you're paying him over$13 million per year. To me, if I saw my GM make this pick, I would just be like, Like this guy doesn't understand roster building, positional value, the modern NFL, use of resources, any of the things that you need out of your GM, this guy doesn't understand. And tomorrow I'm letting someone else make the picks for day two and day three, and I'm saying move on.

33:20Diante Lee:Now I will say this, it is Arizona. So we, again, the stuff comes out after the draft. We might read that Bill Bidwell was like, I want Jeremiah Love. Or you pick Jeremiah Love or you're getting fired. That absolutely could be what happened here. And if it is, I'll rip the, we already should rip the ownership. Their ownership is horrendous. I mean, they are just playing. They're just swimming in like the kids pool with the rest of the teams in that division. So they're dumpster fire from top to bottom. And that's not going to change. And just maybe this will be, there's always a chance. You know, you say, sure.

33:55Diante Lee:Well, what if he's a hall of famer? You can literally justify any pick with that. You could trade three first round picks and draft, you know, some safety no one's ever heard of with 20th overall in the first round. Well, what if he's a Hall of Famer? Yeah. OK, if he's a Hall of Famer, then you nailed it there. The point of the draft is you don't know. You have to make decisions without knowing. You're projecting. There's uncertainty. You're making a bunch of bets and hoping that your process was good enough, that you're going to hit on enough of them to build a good roster. and the Cardinals.

34:26Diante Lee:I honestly don't know how anyone could justify this pick, Deontay. It's so tough, right? And there are so many ways. And I think that this applied to Ash and Gentry when we were analyzing the way that the Raiders were struggling last year, right? Is that the conversation about positional violence running backs, the person who ends up being the biggest victim of all is the running back. Because we spend so much time talking about everything other than who they are as players, right? And it does stink for a Jeremiah Love in this instance, but the financials just are what they are. And it's not Love's fault that the Cardinals happened to land at third overall and fell in love with them.

35:03It's just the fact that, again, to your point of the use of resources and how poorly they were managed in this instance, right? And I saw a tweet right after the pick I'd gone in where somebody was laying out all the guaranteed money that he set to get, right? Because it's north of$50 million over the length of the contract. And it's more guaranteed money than any running back has ever received. And I think it's a little sensational to frame it that way, right? Because you have to talk about just the growth of the cap. So I wanted to go back and look at just percentage of the cap and kind of contextualize that based off of what we've seen.

35:36And around like the high watermark has been Todd Gurley at about 8 % when he got his extension, you know, when he was playing for the Rams. Christian McCaffrey has kind of hovered in that 7.5 % to 8 % of the cap, you know, with San Francisco and then with Carolina back then. And right now for me, Jeremiah Love is going to be making about 5 % of the cap on an annual basis, at least at the start of the 2026 season. That doesn't sound so debilitating for a team, but then you look comparatively. You have to treat contracts like real estate. You want to get your comps in the marketplace. That's going to tell you what to expect in terms of your return on your investment.

36:15for that 5 % of the cap to be worth it, quote unquote, for the Cardinals, Jeremiah Love has to walk in the league immediately and basically be as good as James Cook. He's got to be as good as like prime Alvin Kamara because Alvin Kamara makes about 5 % of the cap. And he got that deal when he was playing like a top three running back in the NFL, right? For comparison purposes, I think Jameer Gibbs is making like two and a half percent on AAV against the Lions cap. And that's maybe at worst the second best running back in the league right now. So it is going to take a humongous effort from Jeremiah Love to make the finances make sense.

36:53And it sucks for him that he is now drafted to a team that has been bad along the interior for two straight years now. They don't have any good answers. They don't have a quarterback, to your point. They haven't even established enough talent as far as receivers to get teams to give you the light boxes that will make life easier for Jeremiah Love.

37:09Diante Lee:Their teams are going to be gearing up to stop him every single week. 100%. They don't have a quarter. Yeah. I mean, it's like you said. The running backs end up being the victim, which is why I tried to begin with. Player, phenomenal. I see what everybody else sees. And I hope he has a great career. I wish he would have landed with another team. Literally anywhere else. Literally. Literally. Anywhere else. Than this Arizona Cardinals team. All right. That's Jeremiah. It stinks for him. I do hope that he turns out to be like a Jamal Charles level, like efficient runner. That's what it's going to take.

37:47That's what it's going to take, I think, for him to be properly appreciated in Arizona. I think that the most likely outcome is that for the first three or so years of his career, it's high volume, low efficiency, and nobody gets to appreciate this otherworldly talent that he does have in his body.

38:02Diante Lee:Yeah, there you go. All right. Pick number four, Deontay. This was a surprise, early surprise. The Tennessee Titans go Cardinal Tate at four wide receiver out of Ohio State. And then they end up making a second pick in the first round. They trade up to 31 and they take Keldrick Falk, the edge from Auburn in a trade up with the Buffalo Bills. They went from 35 to 31. I think we might disagree on this one. I kind of liked what the Titans did. We don't disagree. Okay, you don't disagree. We don't disagree here. Listen, I understand that there were other players, like if they would have taken Arbel Reese or Sonny Stiles or Reuben Bain Jr., I wouldn't have had an issue with it.

38:46Diante Lee:But if you have these guys sort of graded similarly, or if you're looking at what we just talked about, and you're looking at what wide receiver threes get paid in the NFL nowadays, and you say, you know what? We have a second-year quarterback who we are trying to develop, and let's go get him a wide receiver who can really help. I was kind of fine with them doing that here at four over the other guys. And you know what? I thought we just talked about Jeremiah Love. Wish he would have landed anywhere else. I love Keldrick Falk landing with Robert Sala. I don't know if Robert Sala is going to be a good head coach or not.

39:19Diante Lee:There's one thing I know that Robert Sala can do. That is take a pass rusher with some talent and get the most out of him. I mean, he's built his entire career off of that. So Keldrick Falk was slipping and slipping and slipping. and I was surprised about that. I know he had the lack of production at Auburn, but I thought he was a pretty exciting player that I thought could have gone earlier in the first round. And I'm like, I love that he lands with Robert Salva. So now you get a pass rusher for Salva. You get a wide receiver for Cam Ward. And if I'm the Titans, I'm like, you know, I like to make fun of the Titans.

39:53Diante Lee:I generally am making fun of the Titans on the Ringer NFL show. I like what they did in the first round here, Deontay. Have every reason to like, good for Mike Borgonzi, being able to get this done. Yeah, and a big spot coming through. You and I have been kind of hammering this all offseason that every year the Titans are reshaping their front office. Somebody's getting fired. Somebody's getting demoted. Somebody's got a new direct report. There is always some kind of chaotic restructuring happening because people are always kind of elbowing each other to get closer to Amy Adams' trunk to have the final say on what goes on with this roster and this franchise.

40:29this time this was a very calm collected focused way to approach the draft and to me the only way this could have been better is if they would have been able to trade back and be able to get these players right is if they would have been able to maybe you start you know negotiating with the team like kansas city and that's not to say that they didn't call but if you were able to land a trade package or you're able to fall back a little bit further and still be able to get a good wide receiver and a good edge rusher instead of having to trade up to get um keljic falk late in the first, but ultimately if we're just evaluating the players that they brought in in the building, I was very concerned that they were going to be the Jeremiah love team.

41:04I was very concerned that they were going to reach for another player or, you know, make a poor trade where they weren't able to get requisite value back for the number four pick. But this was a very calm, focused, strong plan to add a dependable wide receiver, which they literally don't have on roster right now. They don't have a single wide receiver on roster. You can trust on a week to week basis, a snap-to-snap basis in some cases, to be where they're supposed to be in the finished plays with catches. That's instantly addressed now with Carnell Tate, even if he doesn't become some A.J. Green or Julio Jones-level wide receiver that you would typically associate with the top five pick.

41:41And then for Keldrick Falk, I think there were a lot of places he could land where I would have panned the pick, right? Because he's not a fully fleshed-out pass rusher. There are issues with his first step. He doesn't always have a full repertoire. far. His finishing on his pass rushes aren't always the greatest, but you went to the one spot where, you know, they're going to line him up wide and say, Keldrick, I want you to use all 280 plus pounds to just go crush the pocket for me and take all your great run stopping skills and potentially be an even better version of what we saw from Michael Williams in the first few weeks of the season with the 49ers when Robert Sala was there.

42:16And I do think that that is absolutely a possibility, especially for a guy who is not going to be 21 until the start of the season or is 21 now and is not going to turn 22 for a little while. You have a long runway to get this right with a guy like this. And the same with Tate. I think you should feel very good on both sides of the ball walking out of day one if you're the Tennessee Titans.

42:37Diante Lee:Yeah, there are ways where this could have gone horribly wrong for the Titans, and I don't think it went horribly wrong. I think it went pretty well for them here in round one. All right, the New York Giants' Deontay. Arvel Reese falls to them. So a player that we thought could go as high as number two falls to them at five, and they take the linebacker slash possibly edge slash let's see how this kind of plays out for him in the NFL, but exciting player there at number five. And then at 10 in the pick they got in that trade with the Cincinnati Bengals for Dexter Lawrence. Francis Mauinoa, another player who potentially could have gone earlier.

43:14Diante Lee:I remember we did a mock. what was it a month ago and we thought hey maybe he goes three to the cardinals he ends up still there at number 10 so they get maui noah the tackle from miami and they get arvel reese the linebacker from ohio state this is another one where i like i like what they did with their resources there though those picks make a lot of sense to me so i like what john harbaugh who by all accounts is running the draft room and just putting his foot down for the person for the players he wants and the personnel decisions that he wants. I thought he did a nice job here for the Giants.

43:50Big time agree on that. I didn't imagine that Arbel Reese would be available to them at five. So the second that their pick was up, I was like, oh yeah, this makes all the sense in the world. And this is a great scenario to drop Arbel Reese into because you already have a veteran starter at linebacker in Jermaine Edmonds for him to learn from. And you've got a great three-player rotation on the edge with Kayvon Thibodeau, Abdul Carter, and Brian Burns. so that means that now Arvo Reyes doesn't have to be anything or doesn't have to be great at anything in year one you've got all the time in the world to flesh out what you want his role to be is he going to do certain things on passing downs is he going to do different things in base personnel do you want to use him to erase certain matchups are you going to use him to you know attack offenses you have plenty of time now if you're a defensive coordinator Jannar Wilson to sort this out and get this right with him.

44:42I like that pick at five. And then at 10, I think that we will have some questions ultimately on what's to come for Francis Maui Noah, right? There are reports about this training at a disc that he has in his back that is severe enough where if something goes wrong during training camp, that means that he could lose his entire rookie season, right? Like that report is out there. And I do think that that had something to do with why he fell behind someone like Spencer Feneau as an offensive tackle in the top 10. but for New York again another situation where you have Jermaine Illuminor to play right tackle Francisco I know it doesn't have to be your starting right tackle if you don't want him to be you can slide him right in and allow him to play on the interior yeah that's going to give him an opportunity to kind of hone his skills you actually get to use the best of him which is him as a run blocker him as a powerful mover of bodies I think if you're the Giants this is another team I feel like we have just been kind of ticking them off one by one in this top five outside of Arizona that did exactly what they were supposed to do with their picks.

45:40Diante Lee:Yeah, I like the Maui Noah. I like when there are picks that can theoretically solve multiple problems. And I looked at Maui Noah and I thought, all right, if Andrew Thomas or Illuminor, like they have two good tackles, but if one of them goes down with an injury, now you have an option for that. You don't have to start Daniel Falale. Right. If they're healthy, now he's playing right guard for you. And it's like, wow, actually, it was a pretty good offensive line last year. It could be a better offensive line this year. Now you're a young quarterback. You're protecting him, which is obviously going to be huge for Jackson Dart.

46:13Diante Lee:So yeah, I thought that was a draft that made sense for the Giants. All right, let's take one more break. We come back. Chiefs make a trade, get up to six, and then we'll work our way down to some of the more interesting picks later in the draft. But the top of this draft was very interesting. So top five. You tell yourself, no one wants your college-era band tees, but on Depop, People are searching for exactly what you've got. You once paid a small fortune for them at merch stands. Now, a teenager who calls them vintage will offer that same small fortune back. Sell them easily on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest.

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46:54Diante Lee:Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste. Top 10, we'll focus on that and then we'll move on to the other picks. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. So the Kansas City Chiefs had the ninth pick. They move up to six with the Cleveland Browns. They give up 74 and 148. Those are the two extra picks that they gave up there, a third and a fifth. And they draft Mansoor Delane, the cornerback from LSU. So that's their pick at six. And then way later in the draft, they had the 29th pick from the Trent McDuffie trade. They draft Peter Woods, the defensive tackle from Clemson. Deontay, I thought this was a huge draft for the Chiefs.

47:43Diante Lee:We said it, when's the next time they're going to be picking this high? It's not that I don't like either of those players. I come away feeling a little bit underwhelmed by what they got with the draft capital they have. and then you throw in that they lost two additional picks. So they spent their two first rounders plus a third plus a fifth on Mansoor Delane and Peter Woods. And maybe I'm just thinking in my head, man, I thought they were going to maybe get a little bit of help on offense there, specifically a pass catcher, and that didn't happen, or maybe an edge, and that didn't happen. And I feel a little uncertain about how they use their draft capital here.

48:26Diante Lee:I don't know. Is that fair or is that unfair? I'm actually not sure. What do you think? I don't think I'm sure either. I will say I'm not exactly bought into the idea that they had to move up to six to get Mansoor Delane. I totally agree with that. I don't know why that had to cost them extra draft capital. I'd have to believe New Orleans must have always been in on Jordan Tyson because I can't imagine there was another team ahead of Kansas City that would have taken him. So that's a team that's not taking a defensive player there. I think that now we can kind of look at Washington and say, they were always just going to take a linebacker, right?

49:01I think that they were just hoping that Sonny Stiles was going to fall to him. And if not that, then maybe Jeremiah Love, if he would have fell. And I don't think that they would have blocked Kansas City from getting Delane, if that's who they were interested in. So good job by the Browns to being able to gin up enough interest in the number six pick to be able to get Kansas City to feel like we've got to be antsy here. we've got to make a big leap to go get our guy because he might not be available if we wait at nine. I think Delaney's fine, right? I think I heard on the ESPN broadcast and they were talking about other past great LSU DBs.

49:34They were invoking the names of Morris Claiborne coming out, Patrick Peterson, Tyron Matthew coming out. I don't know if I believe that he has that kind of ceiling in the league, right? Like that's just not the kind of player I see, but I do see a solid man zone hybrid guy, somebody who's going to make tackles. He's very physical, both at the line of scrimmage and at the catch point he is willing to go he knows how to turn the ball over right he's going to be willing to take on matchups against top level receivers i don't know i think that probably your best case scenario for a guy like that is that he turns out to be like a kamari lassiter who was not a top 10 pick right i think that that's why it's such a big win for the sexes is that they got a guy like lassiter later on in the draft and they were able to work him into being one of the best number two corners in the nfl i think that that's a great outcome for Delane and that to me is just not worth trading up and not worth taking at number six Woods I can kind of go either way I think he's a better player than the tape that we saw in 2025 I also think specifically for the Chiefs that I don't know if they needed another defensive tackle here I think I would have liked to have seen them even if it was maybe a reach to go try to take a shot at an edge or to go try to take a shot maybe on offense maybe you go address a need on the offensive side of the ball to help this O out once Patrick Mahomes is healthy, if we're to assume that he's going to be ready to go in week one of the 2026 season.

50:54So yeah, I think I come away looking at the players feeling kind of meh. And I guess if we're just going to be stuck in this forever holding pattern of just waiting to see if number 15 can turn this team into what they want to be a Super Bowl contenders, because I don't know if either of these players at their best is going to do that for them.

51:12Diante Lee:Yeah, I don't, as you were talking, it's like, I don't have an issue with them taking woods where they took him. Like, you know, it is a premium position and he was a player who before the season, you would have said, no way are you going to get Peter Woods at 29. So I'm fine with taking the flyer there if they feel like there's more to him that they can get. It's just like it's uncertain. You know, it does feel boomer busty with with Peter Woods and maybe, you know, it'll work out great. And that'll be the steal of the first round. That's possible. The corner situation is just so interesting because of all the preceding moves they made, where they trade Trent McDuffie, where they let Jalen Watson walk.

51:48Diante Lee:And now you are getting Delane on a cheaper contract than those guys. So that, but is he going to be like, how is he going to compare? You know, is he going to come in and play well right away for you? I'm with you. The scheme fit and everything is there. And you're still paying him because you're at, you know, the sixth pick. You're paying him over$10 million per year. And you use multiple picks on him when you look at the trade-up. So it's not, I think a lot of people said when they traded McDuffie, it was like, come on, you know, Spags can just take anybody and he's got a track record. And I was like, okay, I could kind of buy that.

52:20Diante Lee:He has done that, but that's not what they're doing. Now you just gave up sort of a valuable resource on a corner, on a cornerback here in Montserrat Delaney. So I just, I do have some questions about it. I'm not like, it's a disaster. What were they thinking? I just don't feel as good about it as some of the other teams we talked about. So I'm sure we'll be talking about the Chiefs a lot here in the months ahead there, but that's kind of how I saw that one. I mean, they stay at nine and take Caleb Downs. I think I'm probably walking out of this feeling pretty happy. And I think they had a need for a player like Downs in the lane, even if they would have lost out on getting one of the top corners in this class.

52:59I mean, knowing that Jermont McCoy was going to be available after the first round, right? I think the league pretty clearly said that they're feeling a little bit cooler on his knee than maybe his pro day would have suggested that they might have felt otherwise. You could have still gotten a good corner. I mean, Avion Terrell's still out there. You still have plenty of other options that you can go add in, that they do have a track record of being able to develop guys who are either undersized or not perfect in man or zone coverage or need some development. And that would have made a lot more sense to me to give up extra draft capital.

53:31I think that Delane will have to be a Patrick Peterson level cover guy for that to make sense. I don't know if I have that as a projection, as a realistic projection for him based off his tape coming out of LSU. Still like the player though.

53:45Diante Lee:Of course, yeah, I'm with you. I like the player. Maybe he will have that upside. The draft, like we just said, is very hard to project. I'm with you. I don't quite see him that way as we sit here right now. You mentioned the commander, Sonny Stiles at... Seven, very fun pick. Universally liked player, it feels like. And now they have someone who can sort of be the face of that defense as they try to build it up with the new defensive coordinator. So like that pick for the commanders. Saints take Jordan Tyson at nine. We've talked about him. That's another boomer bust pick where I get taking the flyer on him there.

54:21Diante Lee:I shouldn't even call it a flyer, but I see making him the top of your board there because if you hit, it's like this guy could be an incredible wide receiver. You could have an incredible pairing with him. And Chris Olave, it's just a matter of is he going to play, and he's missed 34 % of his college games. I did love the emotion. That's what the draft is really about. We analyze all the – I just speak for myself. Resources and this and that, but that's why the first round of the draft. And honestly, the entire weekend is so fun when you just see the emotion pour out of hitting a guy that, man, I have worked so hard for this exact moment.

55:00Diante Lee:And I've dreamt, I've envisioned this exact moment and me actually playing in the NFL since I was whatever, eight years old. And now, oh my God, I just heard my name and I can't contain myself. I thought that was one of the coolest moments of the night when he was just kind of breaking down on his way, even up to meeting Roger Goodell there. I mean, you just think about what the story specifically is for Tyson in this pre-draft process. He's had to hear about how he's not tough because he gets hurt. And he's not going to give you anything after the catch. And here are all these things that are wrong with him as a player and why you can't trust him to potentially be your top receiver.

55:38And to know that you had that great private workout and that New Orleans clearly was bought in enough to give you that shot in the top 10. I cannot imagine what a roller coaster ride it's been for Tyson. Because a lot of that critique in my evaluation of him was kind of unfair. I saw a really good receiver when I watched him on tape. Obviously, the injury concerns just aren't what they are, right? Like, he is just somebody who has been bitten by the injury bug. A lot of times it's been, you know, unlucky circumstances or getting hit in particular kinds of ways. But when you see him on the field, you see a guy who gets open, you see somebody who makes catches outside of the frame of his body.

56:12I saw someone who could be like Stephon Diggs. And if he drops Stephon Diggs back into his draft, he goes in the first round and probably high based on what you got out of him in his career. So I think that, I think if you're Tyson, it's obviously an emotional kind of overcoming of circumstances or overcoming of all the critique and the nitpicking in his game. And like you said, I think that's a great fit. And what a boat of confidence if you're Tyler Shuck as a quarterback that your franchise is saying, hey, we're going to go get you the firepower you need because we think that you can run this show.

56:43Diante Lee:There you go. All right. The Browns you mentioned earlier, nice job. You know, like you said, you created a market for the Chiefs to have to move up. So you got additional draft capital, third and fifth, and you still get the offensive tackle you wanted in Spencer Fano at number nine there. And then later you get Casey Concepcion. So I think it was like, I think everybody was like, Browns are going to come out of the first round with offensive tackle and wide receiver. And they ended up being able to do that while also getting additional draft capital. So I thought the Browns did a nice job there.

57:15Diante Lee:The Giants, we mentioned already, they had the 10th overall pick. Number 11, Deontay. The Cowboys trade up with the Dolphins, just one spot, and they take Caleb Downs, safety, Ohio State. Maybe one of my favorite player-team pairings of the first round when I look at the Cowboys with their new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker and wanting those safeties to just be the smartest guys on the field and able to do multiple things and get everybody lined up in what could be a complex defense and a Cowboys defense that needed playmakers on the back end. I love the move there to go up and get Caleb Downs at number 11.

57:58Another interesting one, because when they move up to 11, I'm like, okay, maybe you're jumping in front of Miami because Miami was between the edge rusher that you wanted and maybe something else or maybe like an offensive tackle, and you're just making that move for certainty. So I thought it was going to be a front seven piece and then you start hearing like, oh, they really like Caleb Downs. This is gonna be a good spot for Caleb Downs. And I love that fit, right? As somebody who's been able to go and watch the Eagles up close and personal and you see Cooper DeGene calling out everything that our offense is about to do pre-snap, that image sticks out in my mind so much.

58:31And you think about Christian Parker, who was coming from Philadelphia, who has developed great defensive back play, now getting his guy to be his centerpiece in the defensive backfield. Somebody who can be close to the ball and go communicate to the rest of the guys that this is what they're seeing, being able to be close to the ball, make tackles, force turnovers. I think that this is an ideal landing spot for Caleb Downs and a great way, I think, to speed up Dallas's hopeful contention odds in the NFC, right? Like, I do think that they have a chance to become a frisky, really interesting team in the NFC if their defense is able to improve.

59:05So I love that for them. I think that really the bigger conversation is going to be whether or not Malachi Lawrence was worth taking at 23.

59:13Diante Lee:Yeah, what are your thoughts on that one? Because he was, if you look at the consensus boards, that was maybe the biggest reach. It's a bit of a reach, I think. I do think it's a bit of a reach. Yeah, I mean, they took him at 23 in consensus boards. This is the edge from Central Florida. Contensus boards had him around 37, the ones I was looking at. So yeah, that felt like a reach to me with their second pick. I think that an edge rusher like that would have still been available later on, right? Why not make a move for someone like a Zion Young, who might be a second, third round kind of guy? To get him in the first round, you would expect to turn on his tape and see a big-bodied, long-arm guy who wins with this combination of power and speed like Aldon Smith when he was coming out of college.

1:00:02Diante Lee:And I think that the best version of him is exactly that. It's someone like an Alvin Smith who can win with that combination of length, speed, and power and can play the run just as well as he plays the pass. It's just too inconsistent on tape for me. I don't always see somebody who dominates the game. His flashes are as good as any edge rusher. It's just not on a down-to-down basis the way that you would like, especially for a team like Dallas that does need some immediate impact up front. The fact that they were not able to get home to the quarterback immediately after trading Michael Parsons was very palpable when you watched them play.

1:00:37Malachi Lawrence, I don't know if he's going to step in the league and immediately give you that. I don't know if he's going to be able to beat out someone like a Rashawn Gary or Donovan Azaroscu as their top two edge rushers. And if you're drafting a defensive player in the first round for a team that had one of the worst defenses in the league, I want to bring a guy in who, as soon as he puts on my helmet, is going to be at the top of this depth chart. right and I don't know if it's as clear for Malachi Lawrence right out the gate yeah I thought you

1:01:02Diante Lee:know even we talked about Keldrick Falk I mean that would have been a more if they would have come out of it with Caleb Downs and Keldrick Falk we're probably seeing a different tune here right now but who knows maybe they nailed it with their evaluation it feels like that's a player who they maybe could have even tried to trade back even further to later in the first round or maybe even get him uh in the second round there all right 12 Dolphins take Caden Proctor good job you know, premium position. You literally could have drafted any position if you're Miami. And we would have been like, okay, yeah, but at least you draft a premium position.

1:01:35Diante Lee:Rams, we talked about at 13 with Ty Simpson. Ravens with Venga Ioane, the most mocked pick, I think, out there. They were just like, all right, yeah, that totally makes sense. What did you think Ruben Bain Jr. falling to 15 in the Tampa Bay box? I thought that was a surprise. I thought once he started falling a little bit that he was a player that maybe teams would have traded up for. But instead, he just stays on the board and the Bucs get him at 15, which feels like great value. To me, it just seems like the combination of having outlier length and what was surfaced in terms of the car accident in 2024 that ultimately led to the death of Destiny Betts, a passenger in the car.

1:02:19clearly it wasn't as quote-unquote handled as um you know what insiders were receiving from teams right around the league there clearly seemed to be a little bit more hesitation that if we're bringing in a guy who is coming in the door with bad press for as good of a player as he is he also has his outlier arm length I don't know if that guy is worth taking a big chance on at least at the top of this draft I mean it's probably a win for Tampa Bay right because I think that they've been starved for a young edge rusher who can produce immediately and gives you a defined skill set that plays both against the run and the pass.

1:02:52And what he does in one aspect does not directly rob from the other, right? Like he does have a three down type of skill set, which is nice for Tampa Bay, but I am right there with you. I would have thought that maybe more teams would have been jostling with the Bucs or jostling to get ahead of the Bucs, right? To be able to go get their hands on someone like Ruben Bain. So that was a bit of a surprise for me.

1:03:12Diante Lee:yeah that's a nice pick at 15 Jets takes Sadiq at 16 we talked about that one Blake Miller goes to the Lions at 17 I think everyone thought the Lions are going to take a tackle just which tackle is it going to be and they end up liking Blake Miller the offensive tackle from Clemson that makes total sense for them to take a tackle with Taylor Decker leaving the team they needed some help there then maybe I would say this might have been honestly the biggest surprise had it not been for Ty Simpson this could have been it although I guess there were some people who were just like throwing it out there like maybe the Rams so I did hear a little bit of that this was and this is a hard one because the Vikings at 18 take Caleb Banks the defensive tackle from Florida and the first thing that the NFL Network broadcast Daniel Jeremiah it's like he's scrambling he's like this is my 51st player which is not what you want to hear when you're taking a player at 18 you know then Joe Klatt comes in he's like he's 330 pounds and is dealing with foot injuries.

1:04:11Diante Lee:Again, that's not something you necessarily want to hear with your 18th overall pick. So there are two parts to this. One is I really like the Caleb Banks profile of the player. 6 '6", 327, long arms, monster of a man, like that type of player. Just every team, like that's the type of player that every NFL team where you talk to coaches, GMs are like, there aren't a lot of guys, you know, like this. I totally get it. his flash is tremendous. If you hit on a player like that, it's a huge impactful player that can change your defense. However, If you really liked him, I got to believe you could have traded back and you could have gotten Caleb Banks at least later in the first round.

1:04:57Diante Lee:If not the second round and the reasoning for that is because he has had these serious foot injuries where he only played in three games last year. And then he had a broken foot at the combine that's going to keep him out until June. And he's 23 years old. and maybe he wasn't totally consistent where yes, you like the flashes, but he wasn't the most consistent player. There was just a lot of things there where it feels to me, and maybe I'll be wrong. Maybe a team will come out and say, we're going to take Caleb Banks at 20. So I could be wrong about it, but it felt like this is the type of player you move back for if you really like him.

1:05:32Diante Lee:And then I zoom out, Deontay, and I look at the structure of the Minnesota Vikings right now with no real GM. It's a vacuum. And Kevin O 'Connell and another guy there. and it just like, it smells like they weren't buttoned up in their process and that if they were a little bit more organized or had a GM or whatever, that they could have figured out a way to get better value from the 18th pick here. I mean, to me, this very much smacks at us. The coaches don't have to get confirmation with how the medical team feels about a player. They can come back to what they like about the player, and that can be what ultimately rules the day.

1:06:10If we are to, you know, if we are to speculate that Kevin O 'Connell and Brian Flores and the rest of that staff have enough sway, given the kind of power vacuum that might exist. They're like, this is great.

1:06:20Diante Lee:Quest, he's out. Who do we want, guys? Exactly. You know, the kids can stay up all night and eat candy before dinner, right? Like, that's what this kind of pick is. I do think, you know what? The good thing about, or the interesting thing about Banks is he's one of those kinds of players that if you look at the full profile and you consider the injury concerns and all that, he probably would land in like the 40s to 50s type of range. He's also that kind of player where if you ask, hey, what was his best game? And I show you how he played in 2024 against LSU and you watch that game from beginning to end, you're like, oh, that's Chris Jones.

1:06:51I know that guy. I know what that kind of defensive tackle can be in the league. And you kind of have to weigh what he was over the wide breadth of his career and you got to include the foot injuries versus what he can be at his peak. Minnesota has been lying, honestly, about this whole competitive rebuild thing from the beginning because they've been trying to maximize their window to win year over year, basically since Kevin O 'Connell has gotten there. Caleb Banks feels very much like a, we need a guy that at his best might actually be a math changer for us. We don't believe that that's going to be Peter Woods.

1:07:25We don't believe that's going to be Cade McDonald, two other defensive tackles that I might've been a little bit more comfortable taking at that spot. This is also a reflection just in general about this draft, that they clearly evaluated Kayla Banks as a potential blue chip talent in a draft that they don't see very much blue chip talent in. That is the only way to me that you can justify bringing in a guy who was 300 plus pounds that tall and has these broken foot issues. That one that just occurred two months ago and you were still willing to bring this guy in as your first round pick. That says a lot about this class and about the fact that Minnesota felt like they could just bypass some of those concerns because maybe the coaches are in charge there.

1:08:04Diante Lee:Total swing for upside with kind of complete disregard for value and risk. It feels like you're right. The job of the GM in today's NFL, the good GM is like, let me talk to medical. Let me talk to analytics. Let me talk to coaches. Let me talk to personnel. Let me talk to the owner. Okay, I've got all this information on a player. Now I've got to make a decision that is the best for the team. Whereas that just doesn't feel like the structure right now in Minnesota, where they're just like, man, this guy's sick. Like you said, which I'm with you. Yeah. He could be. He could be. And if you show me the highs, like I actually totally see it with him and it is a premium position.

1:08:42Diante Lee:So I'll give him credit there. It just felt like the process of just, hey, let's just sit here at 18 and take him. Given everything that's happened with that organization, that front office in the off season, I have questions about Minnesota's process there. 19, Panthers take Monroe Freeling, the offensive tackle from Georgia. Fine with that one. Iggy Aquano's got the injury last year so that is I do wonder what that means about him honestly because they went out and got Rasheed Walker and then you go spend a first round pick on a guy who's cool. Walker was very cheap but yes, yeah I'm with you.

1:09:16You double dip now at left tackle they could have done a Caleb Lomu if you wanted to get a guy who might kick inside, right? A guy who might be able to do multiple things for you it's very fascinating to me that you go out and you get another big body left tackle type, maybe they have some legitimate concerns on what the recovery timeline is going to be for Aquanu and whether or not he's going to be prepared to pay left tackle again once he does get healthy.

1:09:38Diante Lee:Yeah, it's a good point. They got to figure it out. But, you know, in terms of taking a player at that spot who has upside at a premium position, I thought that made sense. The Philadelphia Eagles, Tianti, I told you, I don't want to, before we came on, I said, I don't want to know your opinion about what they did. So I want to hear it on the podcast. They trade up from 23 to 20 to take USC wide receiver Makai Lemon. They give up two fourth round picks, 114 and 137. And I couldn't decide whether I thought you were going to like this move or not like this move. Because I know you love USC. And I think there are probably aspects of Makai Lemon's game that you really like.

1:10:22Diante Lee:but in my heart of hearts, I sort of felt like you were going to question this move here. So take me through it. Give me the big reveal. Eagles trade up for Makai Lemon at 20. What did you think of this move? It's very fitting that I have sirens going off nonstop outside of my apartment building right now because it was a big emergency for me when I saw them trade up, right? Because I'm like, oh, you know, maybe they're going to go get Max Ahanichor. Maybe they're going to go get, you know, a tackle or somebody else that they might have considered to be a blue chip type of player that fell to them.

1:10:55I'm thinking more in the trenches is what they were, you know, kind of aiming at. And I think this is a rare scenario where it's a good player. I do think that McKay Lemon is legitimately a good football player, a very consistent football player who fits a necessary role in most NFL offenses that also land on a team that is going to have a need at wide receiver. once A.J. Brown is eventually traded, they were going to have a need to fill, especially for a young guy on a cost-controlled deal. And that those two things converge, and I still kind of feel meh about it. I don't hate it. I see a lot of ways in which it can work.

1:11:32I think that for me, though, in order for this to be a worthwhile trade-up for a guy like Lemon, you've got to believe both that his contested catchability is going to be a one-for-one translation to the NFL. right and that your quarterback is going to work the middle of the field often enough for him to get those contested catches in between the hashes to make it worth it you also have to believe that Dontavian Woods who you traded for a week before the draft is also going to give you some high-end value as your you know kind of number two wide receiver or number three a high-end number three wide receiver I have no questions about Devontae Smith I've seen enough of that tape I know exactly what you're going to get out of that guy whether AJ Brown is on this roster or not the rest of this mix between the two I mentioned in Hollywood Brown.

1:12:17It is just a very interesting wide receiver core. I don't know. I don't know if it's a bad fit for the office they're trying to run or a bad fit for the quarterback that they have, but something to this just doesn't necessarily meld to me. And it's one of those things that I might be wrong. I just kind of have to see it on the field first for me to be a full on believer.

1:12:37Diante Lee:Yeah. It's one of those things. He's 192 pounds. so some of the things that he did now he did a lot of things well in college he won the Blitnikoff you know he was awesome last year but when you're talking about breaking tackles at a very high rate is he going to be able to do that in the NFL when you're talking about contested catches is he going to be able to do that in the NFL so I was surprised I wasn't surprised that they trade up the Eagles are a team that we can just we should just remind ourselves every year they're either going to trade up or try to trade up Roseman is doing this every single year he's trying to trade up for a player.

1:13:12Diante Lee:They have, I think, a shorter list where what I just described, where they're like, these are the guys that everyone has signed off on. I'm going to go get one rather than sit here and get a player who one part of the building doesn't like. This is the way I think the Eagles have decided to draft. I think they give up those two fourth rounders and I think you'll see. They'll make trades on day two and day three and how he'll be like, I can get those picks back. I'm not worried about losing two fourth rounders. So I think that's the way they've approached it for the last five, six years, really.

1:13:42Diante Lee:I was just surprised they did it for a wide receiver because I thought the wide receivers were very bunched, I thought. Like, I had a hard time being definitive. Like, Makai Lemon is way better than Casey Concepcion, and he's way better than Omar Cooper. I just didn't totally see that. I was kind of like, I can sort of see it with all three of these guys. And so I thought if they were going to take a wide receiver, they would sit at 23 and be like, all right, which one of these guys is available to us? The other guys we really like are off the board. So we'll see how it works out. But did you hear the story from Ian Rappaport, Deontay, that he said Makai Lemon, the Steelers were on the phone with Makai Lemon because they knew the Cowboys were drafting a defensive player.

1:14:22Diante Lee:And so they called him and were like, you know, we're going to pick you. And in the time they were on the phone with him, Howie Roseman had made this trade with the Cowboys. And then the Eagles called Makai Lemon while he's on the phone with the Steelers there. So, you know, these are fun draft stories. You never know how they end up. Like Maxi Hanachor could end up being a five-time All-Pro and, you know, and Mekhi Lemon could end up not making it to a second contract. And it could be like, wow, that was the best thing that could have happened to the Steelers. Or if Mekhi Lemon's awesome and Hanachor is not a good player, then Steelers fans are going to be like, dude, how did we let that happen in 2026?

1:15:02Diante Lee:So I always love looking back at those stories down the road. All right. Let's look at what else caught our attention here as we finish up Deontay. Akeem Mesidor, Ihanich, where we mentioned to the Steelers at 21. Again, it might not have been their number one choice, but I don't think you can take it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Yeah, your premium position, high upside, toolsy guy, and you hope that you hit on the pick there with the offensive tackle. 22, the Chargers. I told you that Akeem Mesidor, the edge for Miami. I'm not saying he's a bad player. He was a very good player last year.

1:15:39Diante Lee:I would have had him on my let someone else find out list because he's 25 years old. And if I'm using a first round pick on a guy who's 25 years old, it just doesn't sit right with me because it's like this guy's had so many reps at practice, in games, in the weight room. I would expect him to be a really good player when he's been in college for like six years. So that was one. I'm not saying it won't work out. Maybe it will work out. But that was one where I said, if I'm a Chargers fan, I leave feeling like, I don't really love that pick for that. You're 25 years old. You should be the best player on your defense.

1:16:17He was not the first or second best player on Miami's defense, in my opinion. I thought Keontae Scott and Reuben Bain were both better players when I watched Miami. He's very technically refined. I think that his tape is pretty clean. He's going to do a lot of things that Los Angeles really values in terms of setting edges against the run and playing with length and power and all that is great. But why am I eventually going to be replacing Khalil Mack with a guy who is going to be 30 by the time we are confirming his fifth-finger option? It might not be fair to Hakeem Bezador. I don't think he's going to be a bad player either.

1:16:50This is just a tough pill to swallow. I think if you're a Chargers fan who went into free agency with all this money and all this opportunity and you didn't sign any big-time free agents and you think, okay, maybe we'll get a high-end guy in the draft and on day one, you were walking out of it with a 25-year-old. I think that this is just a really tough pill to swallow if you're a Chargers fan.

1:17:11Diante Lee:I'm with you. Yeah, no, I was a little soft in my analysis there. I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't like this pick. I wouldn't have made this pick. And if I'm a Chargers fan, I would have been like, oh man, I don't like that use of resources. And remember last year, they take Amari and Hampton in the first round where they had a great trade on the table, I think with the Eagles or maybe other teams to trade back and get additional draft capital. And they said, no, we're going to stick here and take Campton. So I don't really love how those back-to-back years, how those picks played out there for the Chargers.

1:17:44Diante Lee:23, we talked about the Cowboys, Malachi Lawrence. 24, we talked about the Browns, Casey Concepcio. Nice first round for them. 25, I like this fit a lot. Maybe it's just the safeties, but I was like, Dylan Thineman in the Dennis Allen offense with the Chicago Bears, fun player. Good pick. They needed someone in the back end after the way they lost Kevin Byer, Jaquan Brisker in free agency. So I like that one quite a bit, Deontay. I thought that was good value, too, to take Thienemann at five for Chicago. I mean, if their defensive backfield can just stay healthy, this has the makings of another really good year for Chicago.

1:18:20If Jalen Johnson can stay healthy, if Tyreek Stevenson can be consistent, if Kyler Gordon can be healthy, You have a really good three-man combination at cornerback. And then Kobe Bryant, I really loved in Seattle last year. I thought he did a great job. Yeah, that was a good signing.

1:18:35Diante Lee:I forgot about that. Exactly. He's excellent at closing passing windows. He may play as on the ball. I thought that his transition to playing at safety has gone seamlessly for him. And then for Dylan Tianeman, that's another guy that you can use in a multitude of ways. He can be a blitzer. He can play close to the line. He can play in center field if you need him to. I do still think that this team has to take multiple bites at the apple in the second round for at defensive tackle I do think also that this is a team that after this first round is probably itching a little bit looking at the tackles Because I do think they'd probably like to have another left tackle So i'm really fascinated to see what day two of the draft looks like for them But there are some options out there that they can work with and ultimately I think that they made something that should be a strength of theirs a little bit stronger by adding a guy like tianem into the backfield Yeah, i'm with you 26 the Texans trade up with the Bills take guard Keelan Rutledge which I think we can say Texans adding to offensive line interior offensive line specifically there nothing wrong with that Dolphins take Deontay's guy Chris Johnson the cornerback from San Diego State that Deontay was telling us this is a first round player he's been telling us for weeks and the Dolphins prove him right in a trade up there with the 49ers So Dolphins go corner and what was their first pick?

1:19:55Diante Lee:I'm already forgetting. Offensive tackle. Offensive tackle and corner. So good job by the Dolphins. Doesn't mean it's going to definitely work out, but I like it. Take premium positions there with your first round picks. Patriots. This actually ended up being a very interesting pick for the Patriots because they trade up with the Bills who had already traded down with the Texans. and they take Caleb Lomu. And what's interesting about this is that Will Campbell, left tackle, they say he's sticking at left tackle. Well, Caleb Lomu was exclusively a left tackle at Utah. Deontay, week one for the New England Patriots, who is playing left tackle?

1:20:38I still think it's Will Campbell. I think the bigger question is, is Morgan Moses starting for the Patriots week one, right? Interesting, okay. I think this move makes a lot of sense if you are confident that a 21-year-old Caleb Lomu can take the time to go learn right tackle and compete with Morgan Moses. And I think that good teams approach it this way. You have a guy who's been a journeyman or a veteran in this league. You know you're going to get good baseline production from him. And you bring in a young guy and you say, hey, that veteran, that 30 plus year old guy who was probably closer to being out of the league than being in his prime.

1:21:17That's the level we expect our tackles to perform at. You want to go you want to start in this league. You got to go beat him out. Show us that you can deal with moving the right tackle and go beat him out. I think that would be the initial plan. it's also entirely on the table that if Will Campbell comes out and he continues to struggle the way he did in the postseason, that they've just got to kind of pull the emergency lever and say, Caleb Lomu, you've got to play left tackle and we'll find another job for Will Campbell. I think that's on the table, but I do think ideally you would like Lomu to be maybe your right tackle and now you've got two young bookends if Will Campbell can figure it out.

1:21:51Diante Lee:I got you. By the way, a lot going on with the New England Patriots. Mike Frabel saying he's going to counseling on Saturday. I think maybe in our next pod, Deontay, when we do a little draft recap, we can get into some of that and what in the world is going on with the New England Patriots and that story that has obviously and justifiably gotten a lot of attention. So we are not ignoring that here. Just talking about Caleb Lomu's fit. I understand there are bigger things going on with the New England Patriots right now. Peter Woods at 29, We discussed already with the Chiefs. Omar Cooper at 30.

1:22:26Diante Lee:We discussed and the Titans, Keldrick Falk at 31. We discussed 32, the Seattle Seahawks, Jadarian Price running back, Notre Dame. I'm like gun shy to say anything here. It's just like they're showing the draft room and I'm like, man, those guys just crushed it and they won the Super Bowl last year and I had egg on my face from Sam Darnold. I probably should just sit back and not say anything and say, do what you want to do, Seattle. I don't know. I don't know. Deontay, what do you think? Should I critique this pick or just be like, wait, listen, when you win the Super Bowl, you earn the benefit of the doubt and I'm not going to say, hey, maybe you could have gone a guard like Chase Besantis would have been more impactful there.

1:23:07Diante Lee:Maybe a defensive tackle like Cade McDonald would have been more impactful there than a running back in Jadarian Price. I don't know what to say. Look, man, you spend some time out in Seattle, you know, John Schneider can't fight that itch, man. McDonald gave him one. He's like, you can pick this one. I'm feeling good. Look, there's nothing more that John Snyder would have wanted to do than to be a champion and be able to take a running back early in the draft. We are nothing if not memes of ourselves. We are all just caricatures of our past decisions. And I think that for them, the draft felt just right for them to be able to take a running back with a 32nd pick and really not get a lot of blowback from it because the other players that I think would have been good fits for them will be available in the second round.

1:23:52I don't know if Jadarian Price would have been there at the bottom of the second round to go get. And honestly, if you genuinely believe you need to address running back, which I do think they will, given when Zach Charbonnet suffered his knee injury, you are ultimately going to need to get a guy at some point who can give you some carries early in the season. So yeah, I think that for the sake of that alone, I'm willing to eat it and say these are some special circumstances for Seattle. I don't think that they wanted to lose Kenneth Walker. they obviously didn't bank on losing Zach Charbonnet so early, or excuse me, so late in the season.

1:24:23So yeah, I think their backs were up against it and they took the next best running back that was on the board. And you just kind of have to live with it there, even though I might not have done that with pick number 32.

1:24:33Diante Lee:Yeah, I had a hard time with Price because I'm like elite playmaker, has juice, very fun player to watch, but he averaged fewer than 10 touches per game in each of the past two seasons. Like this isn't the bell cow back. This is the complimentary back. So even that, and I guess if, you know, you combine him now with the guys you have on your roster and then Charbonnet, you hope, eventually comes back healthy, I guess you're piecing it together. But now you're saying running back by committee and he's part of that committee, does it make sense at 32? I guess if you feel like he can give you explosive plays for your offense and he's going to be a different speaker there.

1:25:12Diante Lee:It's the only way it makes sense. It's the only way it makes sense. Yeah, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have done it. I would have gone a different direction. Josh Snyder's listening to this going, are you serious? Sheilk Abadha, after what you said last year, we won the Super Bowl. Now you're criticizing my running back pick. All right, listen. Like Deontay said, we are all caricatures. What did you say of our past selves? And that includes me. I also am a caricature of my past self and the heart wants what the heart wants. I got to tell you what I actually think. So that's what I actually think. Don't worry.

1:25:43Diante Lee:Seahawks, you'll be fine. You got a lot of good players there. Anyway, all right. That was the first round. Let me see. Did I have any leftovers here in my notes here, Deontay, that I felt like we didn't get to? We got to Ty Simpson. We got to Caleb Banks. All these other notes that I'm looking at. I think we got to all of these. I did notice Cam Hayward and TJ Watt, even they couldn't stop Roger Goodell from getting booed there. They tried to have them come out with Goodell so that maybe it would go a little bit easier because everybody likes to see that. That's a weak sauce by the NFL, man. That's weak.

1:26:15Diante Lee:I was thinking, why does Goodell need to announce the picks? Why does he need to be a part of this, Deontay? Can he not just be a behind-the-scenes type figure? I'm 100 % there with you. Give this off to the fans. This whole thing about the traveling NFL draft is supposed to be in fan service, especially for some of these locations that may never host a Super Bowl. Give this off to the fans or team executives, anybody else. We don't need to see Roger. We don't need to see any commissioner come out and announce the picks. TV show. He's not a TV character I want to see while I'm enjoying this TV show.

1:26:49Diante Lee:Yeah. 100 percent. And if you are going to be involved, don't try to circumvent the booing. You're a commissioner, man. Eat it. OK, everybody who has ever been at the head of any sports league has had to deal with booze. You don't get to be an exception just because you are the head guy of the highest earning of sports league in the world. But then he tries to then he tries to do that. Like, you know, I'm sure he got a note. Hey, lean into it. Come on, that's the best that you got. And it's just like, am I watching a robot? Is this like an actual person or is this, you know? So it's just very cringe as the kids say.

1:27:24Diante Lee:I feel like every single year where, yeah, I don't, who was saying I need to see Roger Goodell on the first night of the draft? We talked about how exciting it is, how it delivers every single year. I don't know that we need him to be a part of it, but I imagine he's going to continue. I don't think anybody who doesn't share the last name Goodell needs to see Roger Goodell on the stage. I like the speed, Deontay. Eight minutes from 10 minutes. That thing was moving. Now, how did you follow? Because you actually have to make a decision round one. Are you just going TV and I want to be surprised?

1:27:57Diante Lee:Or are you online? I'm just like, I'm going to be online and see the picks whenever someone breaks the picks. So it makes it a little anticlimactic for the TV. That's something they might have to figure out because they felt like they were like two picks behind at some points and they weren't ready for the speed with which this new eight-minute format moved. The broadcast was definitely lagging. I feel like typically you expect day two where they're trying to give analysis on guys that they might have had in the top 50, maybe top 75 of their board that they're very excited about. And maybe you're a little bit late getting the picks or you've got this kind of lag going on.

1:28:33You could definitely tell that they were kind of struggling to match the pace of the show. I will say for me, I definitely had to adjust and maybe spend a little bit more time on social media, on the live trackers. Because typically I'll put the draft broadcast on a very low volume because I don't really care what they have to say about the players. I've been watching the players. I'm not looking for anybody else's analysis of the players, right? The only time I'm really trying to keep an eye on is for trades, right? Because now you can get some reporting on what's happening with that. This was a little bit harder to have it on mute or on low volume.

1:29:05I had to definitely be a lot more alert because usually when you get the 10-minute timer, they also kind of extend a little bit. So you kind of get 15 minutes-ish, especially in the top half of the first round where things are kind of idling. I really kind of had to be on top of my P's and Q's and make sure I have my notes together, both for this podcast and then what's to come in terms of content on TheRinger.com.

1:29:26Diante Lee:There you go. Check out his content on TheRinger.com. I like the pace idea. The pace was great. I like keep it moving. You know, there's this long buildup. I do enjoy the first round. quite a bit. It's a glorified business meeting, man. This is a hiring conference, okay? Nobody needs this to last for two hours. There you go. Yeah, it was good. We weren't left waiting. All right. Thank you to Deontay Lee. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing. Thank you to Stefano Sanchez for video. If we didn't talk a lot about your team today, don't worry. We have more shows coming up where we will do that.

1:30:00Diante Lee:So check us out throughout the weekend next week. and of course, throughout the off season. All right, I'm Shil Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL Show.

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