Mocking the Top 10 Picks in the 2026 NFL Draft!

23:07Diante Lee:I agree with that at that position specifically, because we, when you hit on that guy and they have that ceiling, it's just such an impactful player. That's going to be hard to find, uh, otherwise there. So yeah, I'm with you, uh, on that with the jets. Yeah. As you were just talking about that, it's like Aaron Glenn, like you have a plan for, you know, if that's the pick, you got to have the right plan for him where he's having an impact, but like you said, he's not just doing one thing. If we talk, if we zoom out, it's like, well, defenses are playing differently now and there's more hybrid players and edge guys are asked to do more things and it's like, in the right scheme, I would be like, he's going to be able to be an impactful player right away and this coordinator is going to know how to use him.

23:47Diante Lee:Aaron Glenn's taking over that defense, taking that defense back this year. We'll be calling the plays. If they take Reese, you can't get to a point where it's week six and you're like, wait a minute, we're reading about how did they use him? And he's like, well, yeah, I'm not really sure. They said one thing in August and now it's been hard, you know? And Aaron's like, well, he's got to get up to speed. Like those are the stories you do not want to read if you're a New York jets fan. But I do think you can get excited about the ceiling for our, our Val Reese. All right, let's take a break. We come back.

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25:27Diante Lee:Going to Cardinals. All right, we're back here on the Ringer NFL show. Now, when I first read this pick, Deontay, for the Cardinals, I was a little surprised because it's not a guy you see viewed as just like a top three, top five prospect in the draft. You're just listing your favorite prospects. But then the more I thought about it and read your reasonings, I think I got it. And I think I might be on board with this. So Arizona Cardinals, you've got them taking Miami offensive tackle Francis Maui Noah. What is the reasoning there at number three for Maui Noah? I kind of laid it out right in the mock draft.

26:05And I do genuinely believe this. If you're going to tell me what the biggest failing of Arizona's time was in the Kyler Murray era, it's that they were never able to get the offensive trenches together. And if you're asking me what kind of impact that had, Ultimately, it led to this team asking Kyler Murray to be a superhero. And for all his physical gifts, I just think it was too much weight. And I think that if you're honestly evaluating, if you're the ownership, if you're GM Monte Austin for it, you know, and you're sitting down, you're just looking at what has this been over the last half decade?

26:32And how can we make sure that this doesn't happen again when we take a quarterback? Making sure that you can protect the guy, that you can build a stable run game around whoever the next quarterback is should be the top priority. and I think that Francis Maui Noah, and I'm a big upside guy in the draft too, right? Like Francis Maui Noah, another young player who's been good for as long as he's been starting. You're not really going to find major flaws on tape, even though it doesn't always pop in terms of pass protection, right? Like I don't necessarily think you're getting Lane Johnson here, but I do think you're getting a Pro Bowl level run blocker and a guy who's stable enough in pass pro to really play well opposite Paris Johnson Jr.

27:10as your left tackle and help you really rebuild this offense. And if I'm Arizona, knowing that I've got to deal with Seattle, knowing I've got to deal with the Rams, knowing I've got to deal with the 49ers, you're not just going to be able to do that by saying, hey, let's stack up on defense and try to get after quarterbacks. You better be able to put some points on the board, given what's going on in this division. And I think that that really should inspire them to make sure that their offensive infrastructure is as pristine as possible before the 2027 draft. So that way, whatever quarterback they do ultimately bring in, you can speed up their trajectory to try to be the best version of themselves.

27:43Diante Lee:The hard part about the Cardinals is we don't really know, like, what are you trying to do? Exactly. Exactly. Like you're so severely outmanned in your own division where even the biggest Cardinals optimist can't paint a picture for how this thing goes well for them in the next year, maybe the next two years. So I was looking at that and that's when I saw your vision. I'm like, all right, well, if you have two good young tackles and maybe Marvin Harrison Jr. improves and you have Trey McBride, I can maybe squint and get to a place where this time next year, we're saying, hey, it's not a bad situation to bring a young quarterback into.

28:20Diante Lee:Yeah. In Arizona, where they've got two good tackles and they've got some people to throw the football to. So now we know a three-year starter at right tackle. Some people are thinking, you know, Could he be moved into guard in a certain situation or would he stay out there at right tackle? But I think what you're saying made sense there. I think it would probably come down to Maui Noah or are you adding a pass rusher? Some of the pass rushers we'll get to here in a minute. And I wouldn't be mad at him for going to either of those. You could talk me into if you just think the pass rushers in a different tier in your scouting and your grading.

28:53Diante Lee:Like you do need pass rush. You added Walter Nolan last year. if you add another young pass rusher there, maybe on the edge, that would make sense to me too. But if you're saying, let's build a good, what did you say earlier? You had a phrase, incubation? Yes. Fantastic. I'm stealing it, Deontay. Yeah. So if you build an environment there, your QB incubator, as Deontay would say, maybe it makes sense to go tackle. This puts you in a better situation. I would say like, this is a pick your flavor right tackle spot for me. Like, if you're not a Francis Maui Noah guy, if you like Spencer Feneau, go get Spencer Feneau.

29:32If you like Monroe Freeling, who I've come to love the more that I watch, right? And kind of checks all the boxes of a prototypical right tackle. And that's who you want at number three. I'm happy with that too, right? Like, I just think that physically I look at Francis Maui Noah and I say, for all the talk about maybe kicks inside to guard. I think maybe you let the 20 year old get a little bit of time to develop as a pass protector. because what you can get out of him athletically and as a run blocker, plus what he can be as a pass protector might really give you an impact player as your bookend right tackle.

30:01Diante Lee:All right, the fourth pick, the Tennessee Titans. I have a feeling Deontay loves this player. You know, just knowing him, I think I know his tastes maybe now at this point, reading his write-up. He's got the Tennessee Titans taking Miami defensive end, Reuben Bain Jr., where Deontay, I always think it's good to just be like, like talk to the biggest college football fan in your life. And just be like, what do you think of this player with the prospects in the top 10? And this is one where they would be like, oh yeah, wait, why is he lasting until four? He's amazing, can't miss, great player. And then you get the scouting and the measurables and it goes in a different direction.

30:41Diante Lee:So I want your take on Bain and why you think he's a good fit for the Titans. And then I want to talk about how these different edge rushers, maybe like people, They're going to be stacked on different teams' boards differently, where you have them and what the differences are. What do you like about Bain to the Titans here? Honestly, I want to start by saying the thing that I hate is that his arm length is an outlier territory because if it weren't for that, he checks every box that everybody should be looking for, for a young edge rusher coming into the league. He's technically proficient, right?

31:13You see the hand usage in spite of the smaller arm length. You see the hand usage, it's great. The get off is great, right? How he plays the run, how he sets edges. That's where you know that when I watch Ruben Bain, he's my kind of guy because he sets edges with a bad attitude. I love to see that from a young edge rusher, right? You see the motor, right? And people who have been following, you know, me and my analysis of the draft know how I felt about Will Anderson and his motor when he was coming out of Alabama. And I'm not saying that this is a one-to-one comparison, but again, when you turn on the tape, you see Ruben Bain and how often he is finishing rushes, getting closer and closer to quarterbacks, even if he's not getting a clean hit on the guy.

31:50You see him always working a move, always working a second or third effort. That's what I love to see for this guy. He's got the great repertoire. And then ultimately, again, this is not a player, especially in this era of college football, where he's 24 going on 25. He's played on three different teams. He's a total late breakout player. And you're like, okay, well, by the time he hits a second contract, how old is he going to be? How productive is he going to be based off the tape that we've seen coming out of college? Again, this is another player that everything he does on tape, it feels like you can just draw a line directly to what is going to be on the edge at the next level.

32:24And then the fit to me between he and Robert Sala and the way that they like to play defense, right? They love those guys who can get in a four-point stance, line up, set edges in the run game, and be a power rusher, really crushing pockets, and allowing him to play those two deep or those soft zone shells behind it. Reuben Bain is the kind of edge you go get that allows you to play that style of football. So I just think that the synergy there between player play style and what I think we're going to get from Tennessee defensively, I think it checks all those boxes.

32:55Diante Lee:Yeah, it's pretty fun with these edge guys because they are all different. None of them are perfect where you say that, you know, like you've been saying, they check every box. To your point, he's 6 '2", 263 with short arms. So this is like a completely different body type than Arvel Reese and David Bailey, the other guys maybe we're talking about in this tier here, but I can just picture him in a Titans uniform. And I look at the moves they've made in the off season. And I think, you know, on this pod, we're making fun of them for a while. We listened to Brian Dayball with the offensive personnel.

33:27Diante Lee:Yes. But defensively, I get it. Salah has been a good defensive coach. And if you add Bain to a group that has Jermaine Johnson, Jeffrey Simmons, and John Franklin Myers. Like, I just remember my time on the beat when you would hear like, you know, Jason Kelsey or Lane Johnson, there would be certain weeks where they'd be like, I know that these aren't all 10-set guys, but this isn't going to be fun for us. Yeah, you know, like that's the type of defensive line you're building, which I think is a very powerful thing there. So, I think you can be a tone setter type guy, someone who can bump inside on passing downs if you need him to.

34:00Diante Lee:You spent big on cornerback in free agency. Like, if you add him to this defense, I'm getting kind of interested about this defense where we're doing going to show in August, Hey, top 10 defenses. Oh, I've got a stunner for you. I think this Titans defense is going to be pretty good. So ideally I'd be like, I would still like to find some help for cam word, you know, our franchise quarterback over there who still might not be in a great situation, but I just add for, you can't force it. You can't be like, Oh, we're going to go this direction. Cause we have to help our quarterback with, you know, whatever wide receiver, you know, tackle, whatever it might be, if that's not the best player.

34:35Diante Lee:And so I think Bain makes sense to me here. Now, these three edge guys, Deontay, so we mentioned Arbel Reese, hybrid-y type player. So you got to figure that out. That's kind of the deal with him. Bain, the measurables, how much do you care about it? His arms are short and he's not this long guy who's just going to get around the edge and win every time, like some of the prototypical pass rushers in the NFL. And then the third guy, David Bailey, Texas Tech, 6 '4", 251. One, he's got the long arms. He's got the great testing. Was excellent last year, but that was after transferring. And before that, he was a sub package player.

35:16Diante Lee:So he's not proven against the run. And it's one year of great production. Do you have a strong opinion about like, I don't care what team I'm on. I would stack them XYZ. Are you more, hey, it depends on the scheme and what else you have. Because that, I think that is maybe not the biggest storyline, but one of the biggest storylines when we just mock out the top 10 in this draft. I do think it's really scheme dependent, right? It's the reason why David Bailey for me is towards the back end of the top 10 and not going here to Tennessee because it was something that I considered. But you think about a, the way that you know that, um, that Robert Sala, as I mentioned, how he wants to play defensively, you think about what the body type is like in a David Bailey.

35:55I don't think that it's as extreme as like chop Robinson coming into the league where I was like, okay, this is a guy that is never going to be at the point of attack because he's just not going to give you a lot of heft when it comes to setting edges, right? This is not necessarily some Max Crosby blowing up every run. He's going to be able to freelance, you know, out on the edge and still get in the right spot because he's just so twitchy and has such great instincts when it comes to run stopping. But to me, I think that if you're asking me to stack it overall, I would say still Reese is number one because the ceiling is so high.

36:26I would say Bane is number two because you do get a very polished repertoire. I think that what you've seen over the last season, really last two seasons to give you a lot of encouragement for what he can be as a football player. And then I'm right there with you with David Bailey. I think to me, Bailey is the kind of guy that for me, I'm going to say, I do genuinely believe that he can end up having a 14 sack season. It's just going to have to be on another roster. I'm just not willing to wager that all the things that could potentially be an issue, right? The, you kind of lighter in the frame, especially in the lower body, you don't have a lot of plus plus reps in terms of setting edges and stopping the run and the fact that his best production did come after he transferred and playing on a loaded defense that has several pros, right?

37:08I think there are probably going to be four or five pros coming out of their front seven alone, right? Which tells you a lot. That's really the reason why they were a playoff team at Texas Tech this past year. I don't necessarily know if you can say, hey, David Bailey showed up and he made that defense that as much as him in conjunction with a lot of other guys on that defense ended up turning them into a playoff quality team. So yeah, I would say the way that my top 10 is listed is exactly how I would have them ranked as edge rushers where Reese and Bain are close. And then Bailey is maybe a half stride behind.

37:38Diante Lee:I like to call it the, if I were in an organization, Deontay, the let someone else find out bucket. I'm not hating on this guy. I understand. I see the vision if it works out, but sometimes you have to draw that line. Like what are you, you know, what type of risks are you willing to take? What's the most likely outcome? Sure, you're going to miss some guys doing it that way, but I think I probably would have. And sometimes it's off field. Sometimes it's injury. Sometimes it's just, all right, they haven't played a lot, that type of thing. The one thing with Bailey versus Reese is there is an age difference there, like a pretty significant one where I think he'll be 23.

38:18Diante Lee:I can't remember if you mentioned that or not, where he'll be 23 as a rookie, where he's two and a half years older than Arvel Reeves. So if you look at it and you're like, what's Arvel Reeves going to look like in two years? Like if he stayed in college for two more years, you know, what type of impact would he be having? It's like, all right, that I think makes the decision a little clearer. You're like, all right, let's bet on the upside here and let's trust our coaching a little bit with someone like Reeves. All right, number five. Now, one reason why this draft is very interesting, why the top 10 is very interesting in the first round is very interesting.

38:51Diante Lee:The positional value conversations. There are great players at off-ball linebacker, at safety, and at running back. Or if you just said, team, give me your grade, those guys might have the highest grades on their board just in terms of we feel great about this person being a great NFL player. But we know it's not that simple. You have to take positional value into account. So I think that really comes into focus here at number five with the Giants. You've got them taking Ohio State off-ball linebacker Sonny Stiles, who seems like, you know, would have a very high approval rating for basically anyone who scouted him, watched him, media, GMs, whatever.

39:38Diante Lee:You have the Giants going ahead and using the fifth overall pick on an off-ball linebacker. Why do you feel good about that here? again, is difference-making talent, especially in a draft where you have to ask a lot of questions about, you know, where are we going to get access to difference-making talent if we don't do it in the first round? And I think you're really going to struggle, especially, you know, if you're looking for an edge, if you ideally would be looking for an edge rusher, if you'd ideally be looking for a corner, I think you're really going to struggle trying to stretch to get some of the corners that you might be interested in or, you know, some of the edge rushers.

40:12I don't think that there are certain teams that just don't need them. I would say that New York doesn't need them. Had they traded Kayvon Thibodeau, I do think that that maybe opens up the door to say, hey, we can bring another guy in, even though this is kind of duplicitous because they do have Abdul Carter. We do have Brian Burns fresh off of a very productive season. Maybe still, we just want to have another guy for the post-Brian Burns when he wants to get paid again. So that way, we're not in the position that the Bengals were with Trey Hendrickson, right? Where we've got a franchise tag, this guy, or we've got a one year at a time with this guy as he approaches his 30s.

40:45But for me, I think Sonny Stiles, even though the team does have Tremaine Edmonds to potentially be their Mike linebacker, again, I think that this is a guy that can give you at his best all pro level impacts. I do think that you get a guy who plays great in zone coverage. At times, I think you have a guy who's great downhill. More often than not, he's a great tackler. Didn't really miss any tackles this past season. And you're bringing in a safety skill set, which is really where the league seems to be looking for when you talk about second level guys. These guys with linebacker type bodies with safety skill sets.

41:18And that is literally Sonny Styles' career trajectory. A guy who played safety for a little bit, added some weight, and did not lose a single bit of his athleticism. And you see his instincts. You see his tackling ability. You see his versatility both as a blitzer and as a dropper really showing up often in Ohio State film. Again, it's not perfect. This is going to be one of those where if the Giants take it, you know that all the nerds on social media are going to post the charts of, This is what the hit rate is when you take a guy outside of the premium positions in the top five of the NFL draft.

41:49And I'm not saying that that's not the right way to think about it over the long arc of football history when you're approaching the draft. But again, I think I'd much rather be I think I'd be much more comfortable with styles than even taking a Jeremiah Love or a Carnell Tate who can be genuine offensive playmakers for the Giants. but to me I think you just want to go load up on what I think you want to make an overloaded strength I think in the draft if you're in the top 10 if you're in the Giants position where I think for them bringing in John Harbaugh and what they've added in free agency they want guys that can go play right now they can go help them win right now and I think the Sonny Styles will

42:25Diante Lee:certainly be able to go do that for them I mean I could make the case that off-ball linebacker right now is more important than maybe it's ever been since I've covered the NFL it feels like that anecdotally watching it, like you got to be smart. I mean, if you don't know what's going on there, you're getting picked on. I think it's edge rush corner. And then you might have an argument after that, that they're the next most important position group. Yeah. You got to, you got to play the run, you know, teams are running the football more now you can't get exposed in coverage. Uh, you know, if Steven Ruiz is putting the microscope on you on a week, that's going to, you don't want to have somebody, uh, like that.

43:00Diante Lee:So you have to have this hybrid type of skillset. offenses are attacking the middle of the field at a very high level where if you have a linebacker who can't cover in there or doesn't know what's going on in there or slow to react, you know, like off-ball linebacker and nickel, think of like your favorite defenses in the NFL and the guys they have playing those positions. It really actually does. The last two champions. Yeah, it really does make a difference. So I actually will not be somebody who's saying, how could you use your resource on an off-ball linebacker here. I mean, he's 6 '5", 244, elite athlete.

43:35Diante Lee:I'm a sucker for a linebacker who you tell me they got a defensive back background. I'm like, oh, great. This guy's going to be amazing in coverage. You mentioned it. It's worth repeating. Did not miss a tackle last year. And I think the previous year he actually missed a bunch. So I mean, just it's like, oh, is that something he worked on and got better at? I like seeing that from a player just turned 21 years old, wore the green dot. So like the Micah Parsons thing, I'm not going to tell you he's going to be Fred Warner. That is, you know, sacred territory. We're not going to say that. But can you have a very, a watered down Fred Warner, just a very impactful off-ball linebacker who just directs your defense for the next whatever, five, six, eight years.

44:17Diante Lee:It feels like he has the profile to be that type of player. Now, if there were somebody else here that they liked, like if they love David Bailey, I would say, yeah, that go ahead. Yeah, go right ahead. And take him. best player available. I know you got edge rushers like you mentioned. You're strong there, but you're not really in a position where you're contending, where you're like, oh, we can't double up on that. I would say if you really think, hey, we have Bailey in one tier, we got Styles below, go ahead and take the edge rusher and don't worry about positional redundancy. But if that's not the case, I would actually, I think Giants fans should be pretty excited about a guy like Styles being their new linebacker here at number five.

44:55I agree with you. I think the only other guy I might consider, given where my mock draft was, if this was the way that the board played out, you could make an argument maybe for Jeremiah Love. I think that they have an excess of running backs in New York, but none of those guys are as dynamic as Love is. But again, we're now talking about top five running back versus top five linebacker. And I would say on both sides of the ball are guys that you really do, I think, have to be more, you have to look a little bit close, a little bit more closely at where our offensive line is, where is our defensive line at?

45:24Have we checked other boxes? And can this be the guy that helps us take a leap from, you know, we're kind of league average at baseline to we now have somebody who can give us game winning, game altering, team can't game plan to play us because they know that this guy is going to be everywhere on the field. I think that Styles can be that. And I think that when we get to Jeremiah Love will obviously have a conversation about how he can provide the same value on the offensive side of the ball.

45:49Diante Lee:All right, let's take a break. We come back. We find out where Deontay's got. Jeremiah Love going in the top 10. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. Number six, this one was just hilarious to me because I was just like, I don't really know what they're trying to do or what they should do. The Cleveland Browns, you've got them taking Utah, offensive tackle, Spencer, Fano. They got no quarterback. They're bad at wide receiver. They had to put together a brand new offensive line this off season, which they did do. They've got some talent at running back and tight end. I think you're going to see a big drop-off defensively without Jim Schwartz, but you do have Miles Garrett.

46:28Diante Lee:You've got Mason Graham up front. You've got Carson Schwestinger. After that, I don't know that you necessarily have a lot. So I was looking at this going, do they go wide receiver? Do they go offensive line? Do they go pass rush? Why did you settle on offensive tackle here, Deontay? I mean, if you're the kind of person who takes free agency moves as a signal for what might happen in the draft, I think you look at Cleveland's offseason and you say they basically checked every obvious box that they needed to on offense, except for two. And that's a legitimate wide receiver one candidate and a left tackle.

47:03Those are the two spots where you can see them making a move. And for me, again, this is a spot where you can go in either direction, and I don't think I would protest it much. But if you're asking me who has the higher upside between the two positions or the top guys at those two positions, I think taking a Spencer Fano and then moving him back to left tackle, which is where he ultimately started his college career before Caleb Lomu took over as left tackle. I think that there's just a better chance that you get impact play from him at that spot than what your number one wide receiver would be, which is why we really haven't even discussed who the number one wide receiver will be.

47:39And I think if you asked 15 different people who do the draft, you might get six to eight different answers, right? I think that it's kind of all over the place in this class. I think that Fano is just somebody I feel very steady about. I think, again, Monroe Freeling, if you want to take on the project of moving a guy from right to left, go right on ahead. I wouldn't hate that. You know, I think that there are other tackle prospects later on in the draft. If you want to say, hey, maybe a Max Ian Atchor, right? This is a guy who's kind of late to football, plays on the right side. But maybe we take him for a year, set him to the side, let him learn left tackle or let him go take his lumps as a left tackle before we ultimately, you know, kind of feel solid about him at that spot.

48:19You can go in a lot of different directions, but I think that ultimately Spencer Fano has been no less than pretty good to really good throughout the course of his career. He has shown you that he's got right and left versatility, and I don't think that you're going to get any bust potential or much bust potential from him, even if you were to move him back to left tackle in the NFL.

48:39Diante Lee:I hate talking this much about short arms, Deontay, but I just have to mention he does have the short arm thing that Will Campbell had last year. But to your point, he's played both tackle spots. To your point also, give these guys a shot at tackle before saying you're moving inside to guard. Athletically, he checks all the boxes, man. Let him try. Outside of the arm length, I don't really see much for you to be all that concerned about on his tape. Yeah, you can draft him and know he's going to be one of your best five. You get a young offensive tackle there. So I just think they've got to add their...

49:09Diante Lee:what they have graded as their best player to premium position here. If they say we disagree with you, Deontay, Carnell Tate is the best wide receiver in this draft. We love him. Go ahead and take him. If they love David Bailey at the edge or, or another, you know, defensive alignment, go ahead and take them. And if they love the tackle here, then go ahead and take them. So I think this is a spot, you know, I do wonder, would this be a trade down team? I actually think both of these is where you have to start thinking about the trade downs, the giants and the Browns. Is there a team that falls in love with one of these prospects there?

49:41Diante Lee:Maybe they're in a good spot to trade down and accumulate some more draft capital. All right. Maybe the biggest storyline in the top 10, Jeremiah Love. Where is he going to go? We're having the argument once again. An annual spring tradition, great running back. Where should they go in the draft? Deontay says, number seven, Washington Commanders take Notre Dame running back, Jeremiah Love. I will give the nerd take, Deontay, that you are obviously fully prepared for, maybe even on board with. And then you can give me the Commanders aspect here. Love is a wonderful prospect, a wonderful player, a complete back, explosive, big play threat, pass catcher, pass protection.

50:29Diante Lee:He does it all. if I'm in one of these buildings, I'm saying, I'm sorry, we are not taking a running back with a top 10 pick. We're not paying him$9 million a year, which is like top 12 running back money when there are wide receivers. Sorry, Josh Palmer. I don't mean for you to catch a stray here, but make it wide receivers like Josh Palmer making$10 million per year. If I'm in the top 10, I really want a premium position where I can get surplus. And I don't mean to talk about players as surplus value, but you know what we're talking about here, team building where I'm getting surplus value. If I hit, that's one.

51:05Diante Lee:Number two, I just think we have too much evidence that great running backs cannot overcome bad situations. We just saw that with Ashton Chenty last year, offensive line scheme, quarterback involvement, all those things are huge factors that determine the floor of your run game. And maybe that running back determines the ceiling of your run game. I'm on board with that theory. But we also have evidence that less talented, less expensive running backs that require fewer resources can thrive with those good surrounding factors. And if I'm a team like the commanders, I don't think they're positioned to make a luxury pick like this.

51:43Diante Lee:They spend big and free agency. They try to set the floor at all these positions. Those aren't like difference making players that are long-term solutions. They need pass catchers. They need pass rushers. They need corners. And I think if they talk themselves into a running back at seven, I'm sorry to the listeners, but I will have to come on here and represent the nerds. All right, Deontay, what do you agree with? What do you disagree with there? All of everything that you laid out, I'm right there, right? If you're just asking me blank slate, right? Blind item test. How do I feel about a pick like this?

52:17I'm going to say everything that you just said. And then I'm going to look at the commanders and say a couple of things. I think, A, you go out and you spend all the money that it takes to go get an Odafe Owe, that tells me you're probably not in the edge rusher market in the top 10, right? And it doesn't mean for certain, but I would say the combination of Owe, Kalevan Chason, and Charles Amenhu as your signings, you're probably feeling like we'd rather play vets there, right? I think that cornerback, if there were a guy, and I think today, you know, Mansoor Delane was at his pro day, ran sub for 440.

52:50That's a guy that people are very excited about as a cornerback prospect. Maybe you can squeeze him into the top 10 because you feel really good about where he's at athletically. I wouldn't protest that either. And I think that ultimately this pick is made on the assumption of two things. A, there's kind of already an understanding that Brandon Ayuk will be a commander, right, by the start of training camp or by the start of week one of the regular season. there's also an assumption I'm making there that he's going to be healthy enough to play week one and give you some quasi close production to what we saw from Brandon Iuke early in his career in San Francisco.

53:23And if you believe that, that really only leaves a couple of spots, I think for you to go take a shot. If you're Washington and you're not trading out of the top 10. And to me, the biggest difference maker you can get given the way that the board fell for my mock draft was Jeremiah love. And if I'm making the sales pitch, right. Ed, if I'm making the sales pitch as Washington at the press conference, why did you take a guy like this in the top 10? I'm saying turn on the tape of what we were asking Jaden Daniels to do for the last year and a half or for the first year and a half of his career before injuries really kind of ended his campaign last season.

53:58And we can't do that to a guy that we genuinely believe can be an MVP. Right. We look at Lamar Jackson and what it did, what was done for his career after they brought in Derrick Henry. and he wasn't asked to do so much as the lead runner. You look at what we've had to ask Jaden Daniels to do as a scrambler and in the design run game. And then I'm going to show you Jeremiah Love's tape and say, I can get this guy the ball at any spot, at any time of the game, and he can turn six yards into 65, right? This is a guy who can make people miss. He can run between the tackles. You can split him out as a wide receiver.

54:30This is as close as we can get to a B. John Robinson, to a B. John Robinson level impact player. and we're getting that right where Bajan was picked, right in that same range of where Bajan Robinson was picked, you should be happy for us. And I think that ultimately that is, I think that that is a persuasive enough argument to me to make this pick and not feel terrible about it, given what else is available on the board.

54:54Diante Lee:Listen, it would be really fun. It would be exciting. I would criticize the pick, but I would also understand that if you're a Commanders fan, you can be pumped about this because Jaden Daniels, Jeremiah Love, and their offensive lines could be pretty good next year too. I mean, if you tell me that the lineup could be Jeremiah Love, Jaden Daniels, a combination of Terry McLaurin and a healthy Brandon Ayuk, I'm willing to listen. You have a chance. If you believe that what you saw from Jaden Daniels, his rookie year, is real and something that he can replicate or thereabouts, why wouldn't you feel excited about that if that's your offensive lineup?

55:31And if you're a Commanders fan and you want to be a little delusional, You say, hey, we brought in all these guys who are veterans, who have produced in other places. Maybe Odafe Owe is on the rise in his career. We might be right back in the thick of things in the NFC East, you know, while other teams are pretty vulnerable right now.

55:47Diante Lee:Yeah, you'll talk yourself into it very quickly there. And like Deontay said, the confusing thing about the commanders, they got these two new coordinators. We don't really know what they're going to do offensively. We know nothing about these guys. They obviously didn't like what Cliff Kingsbury was doing. Are they going, you know, David Blau, are they going more under center play action? In which case it's like, you know, because I could get excited about if you're saying Daniels is still involved in the run game and you're going shotgun spread with him and love like that's going to be tough to account for.

56:16Diante Lee:Maybe I guess if you're going, hey, more, you know, zone run play action boots, then you're saying we need a good running back there. But also the point of that is the scheme and the blocking. You don't need to pay the back. You don't need to spend big on the back in that situation. So it's a tough one. I want to make it clear. The player's awesome. I hope Jeremiah Love gets everything he deserves and I can't wait to watch him next year. I'm just talking about if I were the team, I still stick by. I cannot spend a top 10 pick on a running back there. All right. Number eight, Deontay. We talked about this guy already, so we don't need to spend a whole lot of time on him, but you've got the Saints taking Texas Tech edge, David Bailey.

56:53Diante Lee:He's kind of among those three guys with Bain and Reese that are expected to go pretty high. He's got the length. He's got the size. He's got the athleticism. He was productive last year. The question is he'll be 23 as a rookie. Has not necessarily been asked to play the run at a high level, but you think this is a nice spot for him to go to New Orleans? I think he's a very complimentary player. Taking everything we've already discussed about his upside and setting that aside and the fit here in New Orleans, focusing on that, He's a very complimentary player to Chase Young, who's a good run defender, great power rusher, pocket crusher type.

57:30Now you can take that speed element and put him opposite a Chase Young. And I think that he can add a lot of value there. I think that for me, and you look at the way that New Orleans played defense under Brandon Staley last year, when they really started finding their stride, still with everything they were doing well from a coverage perspective and being able to stack the box and take away runs on early downs as well. The one thing I still felt that they did not have was instant speed off the edge, right? I think that a lot of what they were doing in terms of making quarterbacks uncomfortable came from playing great coverage and forcing quarterbacks to hold the ball or these kind of pocket crushing, very manufactured pass rush lanes between young and their interior defenders at his best.

58:13David Bailey can be a, we're going to line you up in the widest nine you can imagine. And you just go, right? You just go, don't worry about if they run a draw or a screen on third down. We want you to go impact the game that way. We want you to be our Nick Benito. And I do think that he can be that. Especially when you look at his ceiling because of his speed, his arm length, and what he can give you. You know, if he is able to add a couple more things to his repertoire, I feel really excited about what that can be. And if you're to take, you know, on the other side of things and you want to make an argument for what New Orleans can do offensively, I think that what we saw last year, again, especially in the second half of the year with Tyler Shuck, you should feel like, let's go give this another look.

58:52Let's hope like hell that our offensive line stays healthy. Let's see if Chris Olave can stay healthy. We added Travis Etienne to be our lead back. Let's go see what Shug can do in this situation. And while they don't have to be a playoff team, I think that if they're just able to build off of what we saw over the last two months of the year, the Saints are headed, I think, finally in the right direction to be able to build something stable up. And they're not dealing with dead cap hell, and this gives them an opportunity to really take some swings on premium position talent early in the draft and then be able to ultimately fill other gaps on this roster in future off-seasons.

59:28Diante Lee:So you mentioned the Saints offense, and the guy you have going nine, I will say I thought, hmm. Could be an option for the Saints. Yeah, would he be there? Would the Saints take him number eight? You've got the Chiefs. It sounds weird to say that. The Kansas City Chiefs drafting number nine. In the top ten, I know. Yeah. Ohio State wide receiver, Cardinal Tate. And I got to say, as I was reading your mock, Deontay, I thought, this is the type of selection. And I'm usually the guy saying, everyone settle down. It's hard for rookies to play really well right away. And so I stand by that. But this is the type of selection that could really be more impactful to who's playing in January than maybe any other pick in the top 10.

1:00:12Diante Lee:If the Chiefs come out of this draft in the first round with a wide receiver who can compete for offensive rookie of the year right away, who can make plays downfields for them. And that's what Cardinal Tate did last year, averaging over 17 yards per reception, 6 '2", 192 wins on the outside there. I thought, man, that could maybe change what I think about the Chiefs going into 2026. So I thought this was a very interesting pick. And I almost got to the point where I thought, when I do a mock, do I need to push these wide receivers up a little bit? Yeah, because I'm looking at it going, well, would the Saints be interested?

1:00:52Diante Lee:You know, with the Browns, with the command, is there someone in the commanders who would say, Cardinal Tate is going to be more impactful for us than Jeremiah Love is. And if we hit, it just is going to make a lot more financial sense. So to your point, and I did want to ask you about this, the number one wide receiver in this draft, are you on? No, it is Cardinal Tate. I know other people disagree, but I'm firmly, it's Cardinal Tate. Are you like, there's a lot of guys bunched and I might change my mind 10 times between now and the draft. I do think that's a big question with this draft is how much separation is there with these top wide receivers and how does that kind of inform what a team like the Chiefs might do at number nine?

1:01:30I believe that Jordan Tyson from Arizona State is the best wide receiver I've watched in this class. I think ultimately the hamstring issues that he's been dealing with for what's been going on. I mean, it's March, late March now. This feels like he's been dealing with this for six months, right? Five, six months that he's been dealing with a nagging hamstring that's kept him from testing, right? There's really not a lot of clarity on what the recovery timeline is. To my knowledge, I don't think that he's got any like scheduled operations to come. Like, I don't, and I don't think that we've seen anything that hints at him or his team believing that that's going to be a necessity for him to be ready for his rookie season either.

1:02:07So under that shroud of kind of confusion with Tyson. I think I kind of, I walked him back a little bit to the middle of the first round. And if a guy like Tyson is not going to be a kind of take them with the bullet because he's healthy and he's ready to contribute right now, the most steady pick I think you can make if you're Kansas city and you want a wide receiver would be Carnell Tate, right? I don't necessarily know that he's going to be T Higgins, right at the next level, but you look at, he's a pretty consistent separator. He's got good, you know, he's able to make catches outside the frame of his body.

1:02:37He's a great red zone threat. You can use him on third downs. I do think that you can move him around a bit to be able to manufacture some touches for him, even though he's not necessarily a yak guy. That is a guy that you can just get over the middle of the field, right? To run those dig routes, to run those crossers, and a guy that you can go run, you know, those deep outs, those comebacks, those one-on-one fade balls. I think that that's exactly what Kansas City has been missing in the passing game. And to your point, talking about how rare it is that we consider a Chiefs pick in the top half, let alone the top 10 of an NFL draft, they may not ever have access to a wide receiver that can give you legit inside, outside flexibility, lead your team in targets, be a legit red zone threat the way that Carnell Tate can be, right?

1:03:20And if you're not trading out at number nine, which if I'm Kansas City, I'm not unless I get blown away because again, we might not be in this position again in the future knowing that we have Patrick Mahomes on our roster, go get a guy like Tate. And I think that he's a guy that I wouldn't necessarily say he's bus proof. I think it's just very likely that even his median outcome makes you feel really, really good given the situation that he's walking into.

1:03:43Diante Lee:It seems like every draft, there's a receiver in the first round who everyone agrees is a good receiver. And it's just like, this guy's reliable, professional, dependable. And sometimes we say, oh, they might not have like the highest ceiling. I would have to go back and look. It felt like we were having that conversation with Jackson Smith and Jigba. Yep. who just today got paid as the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. And it turns out can actually take over a game and just be the number one wide receiver option on an offense. So I'm trying to get myself out of that mode of saying, well, the ceiling, I don't know.

1:04:13Diante Lee:It's like, if you like everything about him, even though he, it takes a tough one. Cause it's like, doesn't have like overwhelming speed. You mentioned it doesn't have overwhelming yards after the cash, the production's good, but it was 875 yards. You know, it wasn't like 1200 yards, but it seems like he has the know-how knows how to play. trade, which just seems like it's translating with these wide receivers over and over again, specifically with a team like the Chiefs that wants someone to come in and be impactful right away. All right, we finish at number 10 with the Cincinnati Bengals. Maybe my favorite sort of team prospects fit out of the 10 where you've got them taking Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who I said it about, I think, Sonny Stiles earlier, but Caleb Downs might be the guy.

1:04:59Diante Lee:who has the highest approval rating just from everybody, Deontay. It seems like he can be someone where the Bengals are like, we need talented, good defensive players. And yes, if it were a premium position, if it were edge rusher, would that be great? Sure, but we're not going to overthink it here. This guy can play safety for us and be our leader for a very long time. Absolutely. I would say that outside of the Fernando Mendoza pick at number one, this is probably the chalkiest one in my top 10, right? Like you look, you know, you go and you search after I put in my mock draft and it was published.

1:05:32I wanted to go judge it against what else was out there. And just about everybody, you know, all the people who do the draft, the people who do the national reporting to kind of tell you what to predict around the draft. You see Caleb Downs, his name very often here. And I think that a not only is it a great player plugging a need fit, but I think that stylistically, this is a player that I think defensive coordinator Al Golden needs in this backfield. I mean, I cannot list the amount of times I've watched a Bengals game and a coverage is blown because they're just playing a guy that they shouldn't be playing in a certain spot.

1:06:04And he's just got no shot. Or they miss, you know, an adjustment to the coverage based off the formation. Or even worse, the coverage is good. The ball gets checked down. And then what should be a six-yard gain turns into 16 because somebody out in the flat misses a tackle. Somebody in that middle of the field area misses a tackle or allows a lot of yards after the catch because they take a poor angle. You're not going to see that be a problem for Caleb Downs, right? I think that, and I think that wisely, as people have watched him and evaluated his film over the last year, I do think the people are right to say, all right, this is not some Earl Thomas, you know, not some Eric Berry coming out of Tennessee.

1:06:44Put him in the middle of the field, and he's just going to be able to range and go take the ball away from anybody. He might not be that at his best, but if you want to talk about slot versus safety flexibility, a guy who can be a good blitzer, but can help match up against tight ends or lesser slot receivers. He can certainly be that he's a great tackler. He's a great communicator. And if you're looking for your version of Nicky Minwari, your version of Cooper DeGene, your version of those, you know, difference making slot defenders that can give you a little bit more in different spots as well.

1:07:17That's certainly Caleb Downs. Like there's almost no way that Cincinnati in three years is like, man, we could have done something else with our number 10 pick and we would have been much happier than we are right now being stuck with Caleb Downs. I just don't see him failing in this scenario or really any scenario in the league.

1:07:32Diante Lee:Yeah, the conversation we had about off-ball linebacker, I think applies to a versatile defensive back like this. And if you want to call him safety, if you want to say hybrid, whatever it is, I mean, it just feels like he's going to come in and with the right defensive coach is going to be a very impactful player for you who can do a lot of different things, which is the direction that defenses are going right now. So it's funny with him. You read like a million different names. You know, you mentioned it. Cooper DeGene. I saw, I think, Nate Tice had Buda Baker. Our friend Fran Duffy was like Minka Fitzpatrick.

1:08:03Diante Lee:I'm like, these are all really good players who I like. Yeah, I think at number 10, if you're a Bengals defense that needs impactful players, this would make a lot of sense. So I like that one quite a bit. This was a lot of fun. Jumping into the draft with Deontay Lee. Check out his full mock draft on TheRinger.com. Again, we'll get to the other teams. We're not just going to focus on the top 10, but we need an hour on the top 10. Get to know some of these prospects. Get to know some of the big storylines at the top of this draft. So thank you to Deontay Lee. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing Stefano Sanchez on video and additional production supervision by Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopal.

1:08:42Diante Lee:I'm Shio Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL Show.

1:08:55Diante Lee:21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPENY or text HOPENY in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867. The comedy movie event of the year, Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice. Coming only to Hulu and Disney Plus this Friday.

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1:10:02Diante Lee:Two teams, one cup. The primetime stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi Finals, Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tigers Jupiter Lynx. Keep up, it's playoffs. Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2 and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and on the ESPN app.