The Perfect Mock Draft: Picks 1 to 16

20:37Diante Lee:No, I will say, I think it's a weird draft in that trading up is not... I think we're going to look at some of the compensation for what it takes to trade up in this draft versus some of those other drafts. And you're going to be like, oh, they didn't have to give up nearly as much, like you said, as the Texans there, just because I think there's going to be more teams wanting to move down than teams wanting to move up here. So, you know, if you had an offer and maybe in your head, you're saying it might be a low ball offer, but you know what? I don't know that Monte Austin Ford is like the, you know, brightest GM.

21:06Diante Lee:I'm just, you know, I'm going to give him a call. Jeez, good lord. I'm going to give him a call and maybe he's going to get a little greedy and say he wants to take it, Ruiz. So if you have something in mind that you want to throw his way, feel free to do that. Otherwise, the Cardinals are on the clock. They're going to have to make a pick here. It's only eight minutes this year. Only eight minutes. So you got to be moving quickly. I'm not going to take advantage of a low IQ person, apparently according to Shield. I'm going to let him rock. Okay. All right. Sorry, Mike. Shield is really coming for next on this spot.

21:37I do think this is a tough spot for Arizona. I know, Deontay, you're going to make a pick because I think they want, to add offensive line or they'd want to add offensive line at three. But I think the more we've looked at this tackle class, which is like a bunch of right tackles that could be guards. And then some guys that could be left tackle if they get a lot better in the NFL, like Lomu and Freeling. I think it's hard to like say, Hey, we're picking this guy. This is the best offensive tackle or best offensive line in this draft. And we're going to take him at three, because I don't think there's that confidence in the evaluations for now.

22:07We know out of Miami or Fano out of, out of Utah. And I think it's a tough spot for them. I think they will be like you are, Deontay, looking to trade down. Now, who knows if Austin Port can pull it off and do the math for it according to Shield, but we'll see.

22:17Diante Lee:All right, Deontay, you're up. No trade offers come in. Who are the Cardinals going with? I do think that for me, the reason why you have to shop this pick if you're Arizona is because the guy that you would ultimately end up taking here is probably going to be available later on in the draft, right? Later on in the first half of the first round. And I think that for this team, if you're not committed to maybe reaching on a quarterback in the first round, you would like to have multiple bites at the apple, right? You want to get multiple guys that are going to have a five-year timeline because you are going to be engaging in a long rebuild.

22:46And for me, I think the biggest priority here is going to be rebuilding the trenches. I think I noted in one of my earlier mock drafts, and just in the way I look at this draft in general through Arizona's lens, that you have to fix the mistakes that cost you Kyler Murray's tenure here. And I think that the offensive line is the first place to start. So I'm going with Spencer for no, right? I think that in terms of run blocking, I think in terms of athletic ability, I think in terms of maybe having enough inside outside flex where if it doesn't work, you're not totally overcommitted to him at tackle.

23:16You might be able to kick him inside and be able to get a pro bowl level player out of him here. I think that there are other guys that I can maybe reach for that. I like better personally to try to fit in outright tackle. But if I'm just taking the whole body of work based on what's coming out of college right now, I think that Spencer Fennell is probably your best bet at right tackle to stick at right tackle.

23:36Diante Lee:Takes him over. Francis Mauinoa, the Miami offensive tackle. So already a little upset pick on the board. The most accurate mock draft in the podcasting space. Just a reminder, I'll mention that 14 more times throughout the course of this. All right. So they go Spencer Fennell at number three. And now I'm up with the Tennessee Titans at number four. I'm looking at the big board here, the spreadsheet, the first name. There is Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love. Are the Titans going to do it? Do I? Again, this isn't me. I've been on the record with my thoughts on whether I would go that route here in the top five.

24:18This is do I think they're going to do it?

24:22Diante Lee:And I actually don't think they're going to do it. I don't think they're taking Jeremiah Love with the fourth overall pick. I think in this situation, they go David Bailey, the edge rusher from Texas Tech. They said, listen, Dayball, we paid$19 million for Wondell Robinson for you in free agency. You got what you wanted there. We now have to build up this defense more. Robert Sala has a proven track record. Let's get him in an edge rusher. Now you pair him with Jeffrey Simmons, some of the other guys on that defensive line, some of the corners we signed in free agency. And now all of a sudden we have a pretty interesting defense here.

24:57Diante Lee:if David Bailey hits. So I've got David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech going in this spot. Ruiz, do you think Titans fans, if this is the pick, are they booing? Are they excited? Is there a fight between the nerds and the traditionalists? How is this pick received in Titans land? I think you have to like it. I don't think they're going to like it on draft night. I think Love is the sexier name and it's easier to sell jerseys and get excited about that. But I think during the season, and he's going to have production that you could point to and be like, all right, we made a productive first round pick with our first pick of this new regime.

25:32So I, I like the pick and I, I wouldn't go running back there. And I, it's not like a, Oh, running backs don't matter type of thing. I think loves the type of running back that do take a chance on in the, the top 10. But for the Titans, when you have a wide receiver or a quarterback that you want to build around, I think it's going to be hard to take a running back there, look back at, at it a year from now. Cause I don't think the Titans often is going to be that great. and then be like, all right, you had a young ascending quarterback and you used a number three pick on a running back. That doesn't make a lot of sense.

26:02I think that's the pick that could get you in trouble, whereas Bailey is a safe pick at number three.

26:07Diante Lee:Also, you know, the Titans, they just like to backstab and get the owner's ear every year. So you can be like, you know, the GM, their Borgonz, it can be like, I didn't want to take David Bailey, but Salah, you know, he came in. Have you seen that guy? I'm not going to tell him no, that I'm not taking the player he wants. So he, you know, that's why I took David Bailey. So if he busts, you already have an out. This is how you have to think as a GM. What politics are you going to be able to play to get in the owners here to save your job? Your play would be that I'm afraid of the defensive coordinator.

26:34I mean, maybe. He did turn to kill a guy. That's right. He turned to kill a guy.

26:38Diante Lee:It's reasonable. It's a reasonable excuse to have in your pocket there. All right, let's take a break. We come back and we get to the New York Giants at number five. The Ringer NFL Show is brought to you by FanDuel. Did you guys know that you can bet on the NFL draft with FanDuel? That's right. You can bet on everything, including which team will draft which player, over-unders on draft positions, what position a team takes first, and of course, who's going number one overall. Basically, if it's draft-related, you can probably bet on it. So if you want the chance to turn your mock draft into some real cash, FanDuel is your place to get in on the action.

27:18Diante Lee:Open up the FanDuel app. You're officially on the clock. 21 plus in select states or 18 plus in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. All right, we're back on the Ringer NFL show. All right, Ruiz, you're back up. The New York Giants, John Harbaugh, Lox, Joe Shane out of the building here. And who does he pick with this selection? Ruiz while you're thinking about it there's a call from a 305 area code on the line Miami is calling and they're gonna offer you 11 30 and a fifth round pick for number five overall Wow 11 30 and a fifth round pick so you'll have two first round picks here you'll have a fifth rounder you're moving down six spots not a Bobo offer from the Miami Dolphins and John Eric Sullivan and Deontay Lee and whoever else we're pretending is making this call right now.

28:21Diante Lee:John Harbaugh, what does he say to this offer? Here's my thought, and this would be really weird coming from Harbaugh. I can make this trade, which I think is a good trade, and I'm willing to make it. You have to take it. But then I would have to come up with new analysis for my new pick, and I already had this all written out on my Google. Who is my Google? You have to be willing to sacrifice. I'm taking it. I'm definitely taking it. Because I know there's been smoke with wide receiver, the Giants at number five, which I understand. And I know Tyson has been the guy that I think Peter Schrager threw that out there.

28:51But I think it's too high for a receiver here. And the guy that I really want, I think it's too high for him. Maybe a couple spots too high. So I'll take that deal. So I have the number 11 pick now in 30th. All right.

29:01Diante Lee:Ruiz now has 11 for the Miami Dolphins there. And well, we'll figure out who's picking where when we get to those picks. You know, there's a lot of moving, moving parts here. But Deontay, you make the selection now for the Miami Dolphins. Who did you trade up for to get to number five? I'm keeping a guy who was playing in the stadium right here in Miami. We're going to go with Ruben, Ruben Bain Jr. I need to start rebuilding through the trenches. I understand he's got outlier arm size, but if I'm a Jeff Halfley here, I'm going to say that athletic ability, what he does in terms of being a pass rusher, how he plays the run.

29:38I can employ this guy so many different ways to be our lead pass rusher and really start building up this team the way that we need to. So big move for me. Obviously, I think Miami could have used that pair of first-round picks to address multiple positions. But in a draft that doesn't have a lot of blue-chip talent, I don't know if what's going to fall to 30 is something I'm actually interested in. So let's go ahead and bring Reuben Bain Jr. in, who I know is going to be a good football player. So you came all the way up from 11 to 5. You, according to the Jimmy Johnson valuation chart, got completely bodied in the trade-up.

30:08You lost a ton of value on that because it was like the number five. Additional first round pick, basically. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. For a guy in Reuben Bain, who I really like, who's going to be someone that I have the Ravens pick at 14. Like if he started to slip a little, I think making some calls and figuring out if I can make sure I get Reuben Bain. He was the name that I was looking for. But to trade up and get him at five, kind of like, it's just like the ultimate confidence in Bain. I wonder if on actual draft night, I know, Shil, this is the most accurate mock draft ever, but especially with the latest stuff and us finding out about the driving incident in 2020, for.

30:41Is this going to be a player with the outlier arm length? Some of this off-field is just now coming up, even though the NFL is treating it as a quote-unquote matter handle and everyone knew about it, which is great to hear. I think I would just be really shocked if a team came all the way up that big to go get Bain after what we've seen and kind of like what we've heard. There's been rumors that he might fall outside the top 20. I'm really interested where Bain falls. I think Miami, it makes sense. The trade-ups a lot. But yeah, I'm interested to see what Bain's talk ultimately is because I actually think I would be shocked if he's in the top five.

31:10I would definitely be shocked if someone's trading up to go get him in the top five. Are you a Jimmy Johnson draft chart guy? No, I'm seriously. Biggest shot in the box so far. What year is this, Austin?

31:19Diante Lee:I thought your background, I mean, unbelievable. The pencil of paper man still being a Jimmy Johnson guy? Embarrassing moment for Austin right there. I'm a Fitzgerald Spielberger trade value chart guy. Shout out Brad Spielberger, former coworker. But on the tab I have pulled up, and I don't want to just kind of make this live changes now. I accidentally had the Jimmy Johnson one up. It's close. They're correlated. So we're just going to stick with it. I think what Austin brings up here is fair. I think that for me, again, it comes back to what's going to be available at 11 and what's going to be available at 30.

31:51Chances are, if you're Miami, you might be sitting with Keldrick Falk, who I think that from a developmental timeline perspective would work with Miami because they're not in a rush to win right now. But I don't know if you want to look up when it's fifth year option time and you're not sure if Keldrick Falk has actually developed into the kind of pass rusher you need. And then again at 30, whatever wide receiver is left over, or whatever right tackle might be left over might not actually be a good fit for what you're trying to build. So again, a big move. I think ultimately you would like for this to have been for maybe David Bailey if he would have been available here, but I don't want to sit back and let all of my surefire edge rushers not be on the board by the time I get to 11.

32:25Diante Lee:All right. I like it. Reuben Bain Jr. goes to the Miami Dolphins at number five. Next up, the Cleveland Browns at number six. They've got two first round picks. This is Austin. And as he looks at his Jimmy Johnson trade value chart, he gets a call. Okay. It's Mickey Loomis. Yo, AB. What's up, my friend? Yeah, doing well? Okay, sorry. We only have eight minutes. We'll cut out the small talk here. I'm offering you a trade. I'd like to get up to six. I'd like to jump the Washington Commanders. I will give you eight and 73 for six and 146. So you're moving down two spots. you get a third rounder number 73 you throw me 146 a fifth rounder back you only have to move down two spots i go up i get to get the guy i want what do you think my gut reaction is no i want more value and i'd probably haggle you for more picks but not part of the exercise no i'll let it fly i'll let it fly i'll take it you're right i'll come down i'll come down a couple spots pick up the extra third i'd probably push for 2027 capital if there was haggling allowed.

33:33I know for some reason Ruiz was like, we can't do that, but I guess I'll take it. You didn't have to tell him the truth there. I was totally fine with just letting this fall totally over Ruiz's shoulders. I'd haggle for more capital. This doesn't work for me on the Jimmy Johnson chart, just letting you know, but I'm going to let it go through just since you're prepped for it. What Conference USA

33:52Diante Lee:pass rusher did you trade up for, Mickey? No, not this year. We're going tried and true. The Ohio State University, we are drafting Carnell Tate, the wide receiver we wanted to pair with Chris Olave with our young quarterback and Kellen Moore. And we thought, you know what? The commanders might want him at seven. So we felt like, you know, some people could say, why didn't you just sit back at eight and take him? We felt like the commanders might take him at seven and we wanted to be aggressive. We didn't want to miss out on our guy. So we're moving up to number six and taking Carnell Tate, the New Orleans Saints.

34:31Diante Lee:All right. That puts Deontay back on the clock with the Washington Commanders at number seven. I mean, if I'm their brain trust right now, I am throwing pencils and everything else against the wall because I have my fingers crossed that one of these edge rushers will be available. If not, I was hoping that Carnell Tate would slip here. So that way I didn't get slammed from a positional value standpoint. But my hand is kind of forced here. I'm going to go with Jeremiah Love. That's the best player on the board right now. the one who I think gives me the most immediate impact based on the players that are available.

35:05I'm going to trust that the money we spent on defense ends up bearing good results. And we're going to cross our fingers and hope that having Jeremiah Love and Jaden Daniels in the background makes us the most dynamic rushing attack in the NFL for the next three to five years. And that if Daniel stays healthy, we can get ourselves back in the playoff picture.

35:21Diante Lee:It would be fun. If we're talking about most fun destinations, I think in the top 10 for Jeremiah Love, Ruiz, I feel like the commanders have to be up there, right? Yeah, yeah. And I, I, I really, I'm not opposed to taking a running back here just because I think that where you see the, the league is going is looking for these explosive backs that can just hit a home run at any time. He's like a true, what is it in baseball? The, the, the, the three outcomes or whatever, whatever. Yeah. No, the three outcomes or whatever. I think he's one of those guys. Like he's, you don't, I don't worry about like success rate or yards per carry, which I know obviously that wasn't a concern with him at Notre Dame, but I think it might be at the NFL level just because he is like a home run hitter.

36:00who seeks out those plays. But you've got to figure out new ways to get explosive plays, and defenses are making it so much harder with the two high safeties and all the quarters coverage. And this is how you do it. I think this is the market inefficiency that teams are looking for now is finding this explosive back. We saw Jameer Gibbs basically carry the Lions offense at times last year when they couldn't generate explosive plays. And I would like to see the Jaden Daniels love backfield. I think that would be great. I love a read option combination like we saw with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, I think that's one way to generate some explosive plays that you can't get out of your passing game.

36:36Diante Lee:Although I am curious with their new offensive coordinator, are they moving to more under center and play action type stuff? We just kind of don't know with David Blau what that scheme is going to look like. They moved away. If they still had Cliff Kingsbury, then everything you're saying, it's like, yeah, I can picture it. They wanted to do some of this stuff anyway. Maybe they still do a lot of that stuff. But the commander scheme, I feel like really on both sides of the ball, but on offense specifically, is one of the mysteries that we probably won't have answers to until the summer there. All right.

37:06Diante Lee:Jeremiah Love to the Washington Commanders at number seven. That puts Austin back on the clock at number eight. He took the trade at number six, moved down, and now the Cleveland Browns have picked number eight. I got to say, I'm moving fast and furious to update these spreadsheets, make sure I don't mess anything up. So Austin, if you need to buy a little time, feel free here. I'm getting a call and it's coming from inside the house. I also have the Bengals number 10 overall pick. And I think the Bengals in this spot with Cleveland at eight, Bengals at 10, they want to jump ahead of Kansas City, which I think Kansas City is in a similar spot to Cincinnati in that they might just take the best defensive player available.

37:46if it's Stiles, if it's Downs, Mansoor Delane or Mansoor Delane. So getting ahead, they only need to give up, according to the Jimmy Johnson chart, like 200 points in value, which like a 2027 third gets that done. I know that you guys have to approve that. How do we feel about going from 10 to 8, 2027 third round pick? I'm using the Madden trade logic and franchise mode to grade mine, actually. The bar is red. The bar is red.

38:10Diante Lee:Not interested. Okay, to the three-man panel, before we approve or disapprove this, we do have to take into account. I think the compensation, I don't have a big issue with. 10 to 8, 20, 27, 3rd. Interdivisional. Well, no, I don't care about that either. I think that's overrated too. Yeah, have confidence in your own abilities. Don't be afraid of the, you know, what are you afraid of? You're afraid of the Browns? That they're going to make you look bad? They tried to jump black out to the Bengals last year. They're interested. That's a good point. I would say this though. The Bengals, I believe, have made like one trade in the last three years.

38:44Diante Lee:This is not their thing at all. all. I don't know if we need to take that into account or not for this exercise. Deontay, are you approving or disapproving of this trade since Austin, he's trading with himself here? I'm disapproving because I'm going to take over while we're taking shots at people who run franchises. I don't view, I think while we're sitting in the office, like, oh, this trade stuff is too much to think about. I don't have time for this. Okay. I see number 10. I like number 10, easy for me to think about. I'm saying no here. And I'm just going to take what's available to me, man.

39:17You're telling me I'm going to pay more for a rookie? I'm not going up so I can pay more money to a football player. That's not my deal. We're going to sit at 10 and make the pick here. He doesn't have enough minutes on his phone to negotiate a trade properly.

39:32Diante Lee:Ruiz, so are you also disapproving of this one? Yeah, because I'm trying to sabotage Austin. What the hell is going on, guys? I'm trying to win the draft. I thought this was going to get approved immediately. Okay. Well, I guess I'm sticking put or staying put with Cleveland here at eight. And now, I think that their offseason was interesting. When we were in Indy, I asked Andrew Barry about the offensive line, how all five starters from last year are essentially on expiring contracts. And they have not brought a lot of those guys back. The only guy they re-signed is Tevin Jenkins, who I think is picked to start at right guard for them.

40:05But no Wyatt Taylor, no Joel Petonio. They're going to bring DeJuan Jones, the Ohio State left tackle, that's like 6 '8", 375 pounds. He's finished all three seasons of his career on the injured reserve. Most recently, he had a torn LCL and a hamstring avulsion. Do you guys know what a hamstring avulsion is? Off the bone, baby. Tenderness. Completely off the bone. So their left tackle has been hurt every year he's been in. He's 6 '8", 375 pounds. He's a former fourth-round pick. Then they brought in Zion Johnson over from the Chargers, who Chargers fans hated Zion Johnson. I don't know if I love the money that they gave him.

40:34They're also replacing at center. They're bringing in Elton Jenkins. I like Elton Jenkins at center. and then their right guard is going to be Tevin Jenkins and they traded for Titus Howard. In this spot, part of me thinks just keep throwing resources at the offensive line, keep figuring out who's going to work there and maybe you bring in Francis Maui Nola, the Miami tackle that's gotten all the ways apart. But then I also see three who I feel are really, really talented defensive prospects and Sonny Stiles is here, Mansour Delaney is here, and also Caleb Downs. Part of me thinks instead of kind of forcing offensive line where I feel like there is a pressing need, I'd rather just go defense.

41:07I think I'm going to take Caleb Downs in this spot. I think Caleb Downs... And I know they have an embarrassment of riches in the secondary. I know that defense is very good, but one piece that they're not going to have this year that they've had for the previous few years is Jim Schwartz, the defensive coordinator. I think bringing in Downs and just taking kind of like best player available in this spot. I wanted to come down, right? And be at number 10 and then maybe reassess what's going to be there. But I don't think forcing offensive line in this spot makes sense. I think Downs shouldn't slide outside the top 10.

41:32And I think if he's on the board for the Chiefs, he's on the board for the Cincinnati Bengals, they're going to be strongly considering him. So I'm taking Downs at eight. All right. Caleb Downs, the safety.

41:40Diante Lee:I think universally looked at as one of the best overall players in this entire draft. So he goes to Cleveland there at number eight, which brings up maybe the most intriguing team picking in the top 10 here. And that's the Kansas City Chiefs at number nine. When's the next time they might be picking in the top 10 with a Patrick Mahomes led team? It might never happen again. It might, but it might never happen again. Ruiz, what direction are you going in here with the Chiefs at number nine, one of their two first-round picks? Now I feel like I'm going to let you down because you build it. It's kind of a boring pick, but I'm going to go with it anyway.

42:21It's kind of a no-brainer pick after the McDuffie trade. I'm going to go with Montserrat Delaney just because I think they need a quarterback one. The one reason why I think this might not end up being the pick is they seem to have a lot of confidence in their ability to develop secondary players and their coaching staff to do that. But it's hard to pass up on a guy who I think is this polished and this smooth in terms of movement skills. And if you combine that with great coaching, I think you can easily replace a player like McDuffie. And I think he could be an upgrade over McDuffie because he is more comfortable playing outside.

42:56I just think the Chiefs are going to rest on the fact that they have Mahomes, they have Andy Reid, They got Kenneth Walker, who's going to add another element to their offense. I think they're content with their offense, even though that's what we're doing the most fretting about over the last couple of years. But I think the lack of defensive talent, the talent drain over the last couple of years has just been tremendous. And it's been kind of an undercover story. But I think when you start to restock that talent, I think we can get back to where they were when they won the Super Bowl. What was it, two years ago?

43:25The year after they traded Tyreek Hill, where we had those same questions about the offense, but the defense was good enough to make up for it.

43:30Diante Lee:So this is crazy because we are through the ninth pick. And unless I miss something, which is entirely possible, Sonny Stiles. No Sonny Stiles yet. Still on the board. Francis Maui Noah, still on the board. Two guys that could potentially go in the top five. And Deontay, the Chiefs pass on a wide receiver. So they're not intrigued by Jordan Tyson. Maybe they're intrigued, but they don't go with a wide receiver, Jordan Tyson, or any of the other guys. they go with a cornerback in Mansoor DeLay? Well, I mean, we were joking about the Bengals and their history with not making trades. And I do think it's important to consider that when you're making picks as well.

44:09And like Jordan Tyson probably wouldn't be on Kansas City's board because they don't use their early picks on guys that have health concerns. That just hasn't been a thing. Character concerns, they're good. Bring us all those guys. But if you got a bulky knee, we want nothing to do with you. Yeah, if we're not sure if you're going to give us all 17 games, we might not want you on the roster, right? So I think that taking Mansoor Delane is a nice high floor pick for Kansas City. I was kind of curious as to whether or not that might be a Keldrick-Falk spot, if you're going to take more of a ceiling swing, right, in terms of getting another edge rusher who can play with power, who might have, if you can develop it, enough quick switch and some versatility to play inside or out.

44:45I might have been a little bit fascinated in that. But I think that Delane would be a great fit for what we know Steve Spagnuolo wants to do defensively. And I think Brett Veach needs a safe pick. I mean, I think over the last couple of years, a lot of people have been posting screenshots of their draft history from pro football reference. It's kind of ugly. I think people have said this before, but it might be one of the least discussed first-round picks of all time. The Kansas State edge that they took, Felix Anakude Uzama. He changed his name at some point. I think that they're comfortable at nine.

45:14I think they're going to be in a really good spot to take the best defensive player available and feel really good about it. if Bain falls to nine, if Downs is here, if Stiles is here, obviously Munster, Delaney, I think that that's what they want to do. And I think honestly, it's what they should do. When you go back to what Ruiz was saying, a big reason why they're able to have so much money on the offensive side of the ball with the success they had with the homes and Tyreek and Kelsey and all these guys, the offensive line, is because on defense, they're hitting a ton of picks. And they had a ton of guys on rookie contracts that are delivering plus play.

45:43George Karloftis, McDuffie was there for a time. I mean, Legereus Sneed, you know, the corner that just signed with, or they just signed with the Rams I'm blanking on right now, but they've done a really good job at bringing in defensive players and maximizing value on those rookie contracts. It's a big shout out to Steve Spagnuolo. And if they're sitting here and Delane's on the board and Styles is on the board, I think that's like a dream spot for them. I know some people have them kind of going up. I think if you want a defensive player and you're drafting at nine, unless the Bengals make a jump, which we know they don't, I think it's a really good spot to just stay put and take the best guy there.

46:13Diante Lee:All right. Number 10, the Cincinnati Bengals. They tried to move up. Roger Goodell said, I don't approve of this. You cannot move up to number eight. So the Bengals are on the clock here. Now, Austin, you've got the Bengals, but before they make their pick, you get a little call. Now, I know we said the Bengals don't trade, but that's not going to stop Jerry Jones from at least calling and saying, hello there, Duke Tobin, or whoever is running the draft room. It's Jerry. We want to move up from 12 to 10. you only have to move down two spots and I'm going to give you our third round pick number 92 in exchange for moving down two spots what do you say?

46:58No thank you, we'll take Sonny Stiles but appreciate you calling and we're going to sprint the card in and if Sonny Stiles falls to 10 I don't even think they blink it's immediate it's exactly what they need they started two rookie linebackers last year and Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight weren't what they needed I think that if Downs is here they're going to consider Downs I think they'll consider Delane like I said I think they're very similar to the Chiefs and that they want to kind of take the best defensive player available. And if Styles is here, who I think some people think he's like a top three player in this draft, it's a no-brainer who, regardless of who's calling, throwing around third-round picks and stuff to come down.

47:26I think Styles at 10, I mean, every Bengals fan is dreaming about that at night. I think it's exactly what they want.

47:31Diante Lee:I think Bengals fans before, you know, they listened to this, probably thought best case scenario was Caleb Downs and they never even thought that Sonny Styles was a possibility. So now I think we maybe got their hopes up with our mock here and Sonny Stiles falling to them at number 10. I'm with you. I think that would be a very, very exciting pick for the Cincinnati Bengals. Maybe the face of a defense that hopefully isn't terrible once again next year. All right. Oh, Austin, back to back. First time we've had this so far, I think. Maybe not. I can't remember what happened 20 minutes ago, but Austin, you've now got the New York Giants.

48:06Diante Lee:You traded back from number five to number 11. now John Harbaugh what's your move? What are you doing? No, I didn't trade back from five though I thought that was the answer Ruiz I'm confused It was inevitable we got out of the top ten without this I would consider that a success I mean, I'm also running the pickup like I said, there's been smoke with Tyson to the Giants at number five and we get him here after trading down I think that's a huge win for the Giants I'm going to take Jordan Tyson Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver from Arizona State. I would have rather had Cardinal Tate here. I think he compliments Malik Nabors more in this case.

48:47And I think when you have like a catch and run receiver and explosive playmaker like Malik Nabors, who can kind of catch a slant and take that and, you know, take it for 70 yards. You want a big body who can win downfield to compliment him. And that's why I would rather have had Tate at number five. I would have probably taken Caleb Downs, but this is a huge win for them. I think they're getting all of the, They're included in all the draft winners articles after this. Yeah, I think that there's some redundancies there and skill sets between Neighbors and Tyson. I mean, Neighbors just has a little bit more juice than Tyson does, especially after the catch.

49:20But ultimately, I think the best use of someone like Tyson would be as a Stephon Diggs-esque. You can move him inside, give him those option routes, allow him to go create space underneath. He can be a chain mover for you if you do want to use Neighbors more as your vertical stretch guy or more of your manufactured touch guy. You know, try to take a screen and go score on a glorified punt return and then send that guy deep on a post. I like that kind of mix. I do still think ultimately to kind of unlock all this, they would need a bigger receiver or maybe a running back that's dynamic enough to create the explosive plays to force defenses to play one-on-one coverage out on the perimeter.

49:52But ultimately, I think the Dixon Dart just needs more guys to throw to, right? And this would be a guy who could fit in and be an upgrade maybe over Wondell Robinson who departed for Tennessee. They have no wide receivers on the roster besides neighbors beyond 2026. like they have yeah they gotta get some off receivers

50:08Diante Lee:Jordan Tyson goes to the Giants at 11 Cowboys up at 12 I've got the Cowboys is the phone ringing because Francis no that's tinnitus in Jerry Jones' ears actually Francis Maui Noah still on the board is there a team out there that says man we didn't think we were gonna get a chance at him but he's still available at 12 the Cowboys are saying we are fielding offers because our offensive line is in good shape and we usually like to do, you know, best player available, but we can't be drafting a tackle right here because we like where we're at with our tackles. Am I getting any calls for this pick?

50:51Diante Lee:Ruiz, it looks like you've got your hand up. I'm thinking about calling with the, I have the Lions pick. I'm thinking about calling here. Okay. I think I ultimately decide not to because I think there are more holes on this roster than maybe people think. just because of what they were two years ago and what we thought they were going to be after the first half of last year. I think the Rams could also be a team, but they're picking right below them that could do one of those, just move up one spot just to get their guy and make sure that nobody else jumps them. Marino is still here, but ultimately I'm going to pass.

51:24I'm sorry, Jerry.

51:25Diante Lee:All right. So Jerry can't get a deal done, just like free agency. He feels like he's in it, but he can't seal the deal on any of those. So the Cowboys have to pick and they end up going with Jermod McCoy, the quarterback from Tennessee. They say, let's build up that secondary a little bit. You know, we're debating here maybe between secondary player and pass rusher, but ultimately we like McCoy a lot coming off that injury in 2024, but arguably the best corner in this draft if he can play to his 2024 tape. And so the Dallas Cowboys at 12 take Jermod McCoy. I feel like if you're Christian Parker, when you were interviewing for this gig and they gave you this gig, you're coming in and saying, I want to get my Quinjon Mitchell.

52:12And if there is any cornerback in this class that could ultimately end up playing like a Quinjon Mitchell, playing tight coverage and ability to be able to match up a number one wide receivers and still might have some upside in terms of ball skills. I actually think that McCoy is coming in a little bit higher in terms of like his grade of playing the ball in the air than Quinjon Mitchell did, leaving the Mac. So I do like this pick for them. And you still have number 20. So you can go address, you know, your safety room. You can go add, you know, maybe best player available. If you really want to supercharge your offense, there might be a potential to do that as well.

52:44But I love McCoy playing in what's going to be, you know, a very Vic Fangio-esque defense for Dallas here. I like that comp for McCoy. I wanted to ask this when you did take Delaney with the Chiefs. Compare those two players if you're looking at just McCoy's 2024 tape and then looking at Delane in 2025. And then do you have, Deontay, a good comp for Delane? Because I think something that keeps bumping when I want to comp him to players is he has 30-inch arms. And anything 30 or below, it's very hard to find corners that stick on the outside with that short of arms. And people have thrown the Stingley comp around, which I think is kind of insane for Delane.

53:21Yeah, to me, that's helmet scouting. Yeah, I think that a Stingley comp would definitely be helmet scouting there because he is an LSU guy. I've kind of been hung up with trying to find a clean comp for Delane because he's not, he doesn't necessarily play small, right? Like I actually kind of like his physicality dealing with wide receivers on the outside. I like his tackling ability. I think there's some inside outside flex. So maybe I guess you would say the absolute best version of him is maybe something like Chris Harris, right? A guy who can start out in his career, play a little outside, you know, you're going to get the physicality.

53:52I think he is a relatively high IQ football player. You just might not get that, you know, um, true blue, number one lockdown corner, but he can do a lot for you. I think, I'm going to steal this from Dominic Foster who I was listening to yesterday, actually, on the Minakime show, who was talking about Jermon McCoy potentially being like a Stephon Gilmore type of cornerback, right? Because he can play tight coverage. And I think, when you think about Quinion Mitchell, I think he's in a very similar, you know, type of consideration there as a number one corner. But there's really, I think that, again, this comes down to, like, floor versus ceiling.

54:24If you take the best of what you saw from Jermon McCoy at Tennessee a couple of seasons ago. You think about how he played against Ryan Williams in Alabama, you get that pick in the end zone, you show off your speed, you show off your ability to play the ball in the air. You're dealing with the physical wide receiver and you're right there, step for step. That's the kind of stuff that does make you a highly, highly considered cornerback prospect. And if it had not been for the ACL injury, I think he would have been number one corner on this board with a bullet, right? So I think outside of just trying to project whether or not his health is going to be maintained after this ACL injury, everything from a tape perspective is exactly at what you want to see from a number one corner.

54:59Diante Lee:All right, Jermon McCoy to the Cowboys with the 12th overall pick. Let's take one more break. We come back. Ruiz is on the clock with the Los Angeles Rams. All right, we're back here on the Ringer NFL show. Rams, another very interesting team because they are, I don't know if they're still Super Bowl favorites, but they're certainly among the one, top one or two. Where do they go, Ruiz, with the 13th overall pick here? I desperately want to trade down here. Do I have any takers at all? All right. So the guy, just to go over kind of who's available here, Francis Mauino is available. Monroe Freeling's available.

55:38Diante Lee:Kenyon Sadiq is available. Keldrick Falk, Vega, Venga, Yohane also available. So those are some of the key guys still available. You know, I look at Yohane, and I feel like if that's a player a team covets, this would be the spot to trade up because the Ravens are at number 14. They potentially could be in play for Yohane. I don't know if there's a team that would trade up for a guard there. I'm looking at the picks I have, and I don't think I'm trading up here with any of my picks. Deontay, Austin, do you have an offer? Listen, this looks like it's a buyer's market where McVay and Snead are calling saying, please, somebody move up, so you might not have to give up that much.

56:21Diante Lee:Do you have any interest, or are we going to force them to make the pick? One of the trade-up teams I had is the Ravens at 14. And I don't think I need to come up to 13 to make sure I get my guy. But I guess I'm hoping no one trades up and gets my guy. So I guess I'm considering it, but I think I'll stay put. That does happen. The one-up trade to make sure no one else trades up for your guy, Deontay. But you got anything else here for us? I mean, the nearest team for me is the Bucs. I actually love how this board is falling right now from Tampa Bay because I'm really focused on getting the best player available.

56:50And if you're like the Panthers or the Eagles, Again, because there are some offensive linemen who are falling, the wide receivers are falling right now. I don't think that there's really any urgency to go make a move with Los Angeles.

57:01Diante Lee:All right, Ruiz, sorry. You got to make a pick. Who do you have at number 13? I'll just go Maui Noah then. Damn it. Yeah, I think that the Rams just continue to lean into building up that offensive line and getting it bigger and stronger and being able to run the football. I was looking I wanted Sadiq because I wanted to do that annual thing where we pair Sean McVay with a dynamic tight end and I wanted to straight down and drive him yeah this is the Bleacher Report graphic this is too rich for him in my opinion I do like him as a player I'm intrigued by him at least yeah so I'll go Boren and take the tackle that's great though for the Rams I mean because Maui Noah you know you think maybe he can slide in and play guard if he needs to so it just feels like he's a player who's going to help them in multiple ways, both in the short term and the long term there.

57:52Diante Lee:If he were to somehow fall to this spot, I think a lot of us are thinking, all right, wide receiver, tight end for the Rams at this spot. But I think that's a good one. If Maui Noah falls, you might just have to take him. I think Ioane is a possibility for them too. I think that's kind of in the same vein as the Maui Noah pick. But 13th for a guard, I don't know. I don't know. Quiet is kept. I mean, Los Angeles had one of the most efficient rushing attacks that we had ever seen last year. You didn't get the explosiveness, but they were just absolutely able to mash teams in between the tackles.

58:23Maui Nola makes that a super strength. And if the priority is to make sure that Matthew Stafford stays clean enough to get through four months of football and get to January, February healthy, this would be the best way to do so. As you want to backstop any potential problems with Stafford by having the strongest run game and a fluid, you know, I think a guy who still has some space to grow as a pass protector, but the footwork is fine. I think it's just really more of a timing and kind of details oriented thing for Maui Noah to continue to improve upon. It is entirely possible that he never has to move in the guard.

58:52And if you're the Rams and you can think Maui Noah at right tackle, we keep wearing McClendon around, right? We don't necessarily have to worry about his market booming. So that way if Maui Noah doesn't work and we kick him inside, we still have another right tackle right behind him that we can play as a starter. So I think that that works out in multiple ways for LA. I'm dumb. I could have just traded with myself with the Lions and the Rams. I wouldn't have approved it. I wouldn't have approved it. I'm dumber than Monty Austin. All right. We need to chill.

59:21Diante Lee:14. No, I think he's a very smart GM, actually. Here we go. Me too. You know, I've always said that. That franchise is in great shape right now, I would say. The Arizona Cardinals. All right, 14. You know what? Austin Ford had that great first draft where, you know, it's like, all right. He's doing some good things. Wasn't even great he gave up Will Anderson. Well, you're right. See? You're making my point for me. All right. 14 Baltimore Ravens. Austin, you're up. Who are you going with here? I wanted Maui Noah. I think he falls to the Ravens at 14. I think it would be another kind of sprint the card in situation, kind of like with Sonny Stiles and Cincinnati.

59:56I feel like my board is coming out nicely for the teams I have. But I think the player that is kind of circled for them is Banga Uwane, the Penn State guard. They know last year it was a problem on the interior with Daniel Falale and they had Linderbaum, but it still wasn't enough. And now you don't have Linderbaum. We don't really know who their center is going to be. It could be a competition between Danny Pinter and some guy I have not heard of. And then the other guard is Andrew Voorhees, who they were working with last year, and he was not up to stuff either. So I think they need to upgrade the entire interior.

1:00:29They don't have a solution at center. I think both guard spots are interesting. They brought back John Simpson, who had spent time with New York and the Raiders. I think John Simpson is a good pickup for them. But I still think they need another guard. They definitely need to help out the interior. And if Venga Iwane is here and the other tackles are off the board, I think they'd love if Fano fell to the spot or Maui Noah fell to the spot and they could go maybe take a swing at tackle guys that have like this tackle guard convert. But I think Banga Iwane is another guy that they want to bring in at this spot.

1:00:54And if he's there, I think they do it.

1:00:56Diante Lee:That's tough for the other guy who you hadn't heard of where he couldn't reach the prominence of Danny Pinter there. You know, Pinter, everybody knows Pinter, but man, this other guy, you know, we don't really know. Let me look up his name. That was rude. That was rude. Corey Bullock. Have you guys heard of Corey Bullock? I can't say that I have. undrafted free agent from 2024. And he's like, according to our lads, which is the depth chart standard on the internet, is slated in to start. I think Pinter will contribute or compete for it, but they need help on the interior. I think they might even be looking at center on day two, day three.

1:01:26Diante Lee:I think we could steal that corner, you know, to ruin that Ruiz's point. I'm coming after everyone today. Why are we just giving that up to our lads? You know, we can't update some depth charts. We look at these things every day. We're reading stuff. That's your new job, Shield. I'm just saying. Is that a job you want to do? Is that like your dream job? You know, that was a, that was a we, that was a, let's maybe pass this on to somebody else. I'm just saying, listen, that corner is available. You know, our lads does a great job, but you know, no one said we can't have another depth chart system out there.

1:01:54Diante Lee:All right, Deontay, 15, the Tampa Bay Bucs. You said you like how the board is shaping up for them. Who are the Bucs taking at 15? See, to me, this is like one of those instances where if you're doing a mock draft and you come by Tampa Bay, you have to really kind of debate what would you do versus what Jason Light's history with the draft has been. And to me, I think if you look early in his tenure, all the things that worked out well in the top 100 was him drafting huge human beings, right? Like that's always kind of been his thing. He wants big size guys. He likes to draft in the trenches early.

1:02:28And I think over the last couple of years, when they've been trying to pluck very targeted holes, especially on defense and go for guys who had production coming right out of college, You think about Yaya Diaby. You think about some of those tweener guys, Logan Hall coming in. Some of the tweener guys, I feel like they've struggled with a little bit more. I'm going to take a guy who's big, but does still have a tweener skill set and hope that I can kind of split the baby here with Keldrick Falk. So that's going to be my pick here as an edge rusher. I think there's a high ceiling for him to grow into.

1:02:57Do you have a comp for Keldrick Falk? I feel like these are the types of edges that I don't always love. I have a blind spot for these guys. Yeah, I don't really know. like these, these like kind of traditional, like three, four end types that don't really ever play three, four end anymore. You know, I'm always kind of leaning towards guys that can really, really peel the edge. So Falk, I feel like he's always this guy like, yeah, he's like a ball of clay. He's huge and a team that can figure it out. But I also feel like he's also the same kind of player in these drafts where you wake up two years from now.

1:03:24It's like, Oh yeah, we haven't figured him out. It's not, it hasn't worked out. Like he's, he's this big freaky athlete, this all these tools, but we just haven't done it. And he's a younger player, right? I think he's not going to be 21 until after the season begins. Yeah. So he's, he's an interesting investment. And I think I wouldn't be surprised like if it takes a while for him to pan out, but I it's, it's one of those players where these are multimillion dollar businesses. I would just hire someone where like, you are, this coach is just, you work with him. Like you are working with him all the time.

1:03:51Cause we need to figure out if we're going to take him in the top 15, we need to figure out how this is going to work down the road. And it's just not worth like throwing him into the rotation and seeing how it goes. You kind of actually need to like bring an assistant in and kind of invest and actually developing him into something. I think the hope is that you get something like Eric Armstead out of him at his peak. I think the concern is you look at Tyree Wilson, right? And he's obviously had some injury. He had some industry stuff with the split that really kind of stunted his development, but he was very similar, right?

1:04:19At Texas Tech, Tyree Wilson looked great when he could jump the snap and get hands on you early. He was very disruptive in the run game. The problem was that in those pure pass situations, you didn't see a detailed plan. You didn't see a great get off then. You didn't see a guy who could work secondary moves, who was a high effort rusher where he could continue to close the pocket, even if guys were attached to him. I think that's probably the concern I have with Falk is that there are some snaps. You're going to get a handful of snaps with him because he is a huge guy where it does look very Tyree Wilson-esque as a pass rusher.

1:04:49and then you watch him against the run and you see the length and you see the athletic ability. And I think you want to believe wholeheartedly that he is just one good year development away from turning into those old school, like you said, three, four defensive end, ideal size, body type guys. It is within his body type. I just don't know if you're going to access it early because he is stepping into the lead so young. Isn't that why you have a defensive head coach like Todd Bowles? I think that's a vote of confidence for Todd Bowles who has been on the hot seat for maybe the last two years. But if I could pick one coach to develop Falk, I think it might be him because I think one, he's a system fit for a system that I think, I don't want to use the word outdated.

1:05:30I do think it's like behind the times from the modern defenses we see. I think it could still be effective when the talent is there. I don't think that the Bucks have had that talent and we've seen Bowles' defense kind of fall off and be able to be picked on, especially by these like scheme gurus, the under center, the play action guys the McBays, the Shanahan's of the world. But I think this would be the ultimate vote of confidence for Todd Bowles, who I think needs one right now. I think if it doesn't work out for Bowles, I could see him having a generational Spagnolo-esque defensive coordinator run.

1:06:03Because I think part of the reason he's been on the hot seat is because he's hired offensive coordinators really well. Like Dave Tanales has proven he can figure things out and raise the floor for a Bryce Young-led offense, no offense, Steven. And then letting Liam Cohen leaves, and it's like automatically he's one of the, what, top five most coveted coaches in the NFL because of what he can do offensively. I think Bowles, there's always going to be this limitation. It's like, you have to hire a top flight offensive play caller every year because you're stuck at head coach and these guys are going to consistently look for these new opportunities probably earlier than people are even expecting them to.

1:06:33I think we're seeing that with David Blau is now an offensive coordinator. Sean Mannion is now an offensive coordinator. Like you're going to start getting earlier and earlier on these offensive play callers. And as long as Bowles is the head coach, even the best guys he hires are there and it's going to be one and done. And I think, I don't know, I almost feel like Bowles' best skill set is leading a defense and capping that side, and it's not the time management and all this other stuff. And if it doesn't work out and he's not the head coach in Tampa moving forward, I think he'd be a dynamite defense coordinator.

1:06:58And if he settled into that spot, I think teams would be really happy about that. You definitely get more out of him as a developer if he's a defensive coordinator. Absolutely. Because he's not spreading as many plates. And I think that's one area where he shined in his early years with the Bucs, when Bruce Arians was the head coach, and he was that assistant coach. I could see him having a Vance Joseph-like go up to follow your point. Vance Joseph didn't seem to be a very good head coach who could manage the defense as well. We saw him in Arizona where he didn't have that much talent, but you give him the pieces and you put him in Denver.

1:07:28And I think he, similar to Bowles, there was question marks about how modern his defenses were. I remember that week one game where he had Isaiah Simmons guarding or covering Travis Kelsey like one-on-one. It was just like, yeah. And he's playing base defense against the Chiefs. It was just a disaster. But you think about him, you're like, oh, he's incompetent. But then you put him in the right spot and give him the right pieces to develop. And now we're like, oh, he's one of the best DCs in the league.

1:07:54Diante Lee:All right, Keldrick Falk to the Tampa Bay Bucs. I've got the 16th pick. I'll be honest. I was looking at Keldrick Falk thinking, oh, that'll be a nice dad. Falk and Arvel Reese to the New York Jets because I've got the Jets. But Falk goes off the board. And now I think it becomes a pretty sort of tough call here for the Jets because the way this has transpired, the offensive tackles are slipping a little bit. There are some wide receivers available that they could take, but I think Jets fans probably wondered, hey, would Jordan Tyson maybe be available there at 16? And he's not. So I'm looking at my best available, and I think maybe, I don't know if this is a surprise or not, I'm going to go O-line and go Caden Proctor here.

1:08:36Diante Lee:So I know you got tackles on the team. we're going to switch him to guard we're going to have some insurance at tackle so that when we draft arch manning next year we can say arch we have loaded up on the offensive line you're going to be protected here you don't need to force your way out of the new york jets but i actually think the way this uh you know unfolded this is a very difficult pick i think for the new york jets here dionte i'm right there with you i think you would have loved for jordan tyson to be here right I think that he's the kind of guy you can take a high ceiling type of shot on, even if he does have some hamstring issues.

1:09:14The skill set is just something that this offense desperately needs. And then the rest of the wide receivers on the board, I just don't know if they have enough juice to be exciting or an exciting additions to this offense. You can maybe make an argument for Casey Concepcion, but I don't know if you want to bring in a guy who has drops issues for a roster that already has A.D. Mitchell on it, right? You probably want somebody who could work underneath, needs to be a little bit more dependable? And then that just becomes a question of, did you want a Makai Lemon? Were you going to take a shot on Kenyon Sadiq here?

1:09:44But I like the idea of bringing Caden Proctor in to address the interior and really to kind of compete with Dylan Parham for that left guard spot, maybe.

1:09:51Diante Lee:All right, Ruiz, you're up. Detroit Lions, number 17. Who are you going with? I don't really like the spot here for Detroit. I would try to trade down it. Do I have any takers for a trade down? My board is looking too good right now for me to come up. from Carolina or Philly. Deontay, you've got the Eagles now. Is there a... Oh, you know the Howie Roseman, Kenyon, Sadiq itch is starting to set in here. And you got to be looking at Minnesota and saying, ah, if he gets to 18, he's definitely not going to be on the board by the time that we get there. But ultimately, I think the priority here is to have a Lane Johnson heir apparent or to have an A.J.

1:10:30Brown replacement. So we're going to hang back.

1:10:32Diante Lee:All right. Thanks to everyone for listening to the first part of our two-part mock draft exercise. We'll come back and do picks 17 to 32. In the next episode, appreciate Christopher Sutton for producing Stefano Sanchez on video and additional production supervision from Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopala. I'm Shil Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL Show.

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