Vegas: Draft Night One

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Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL podcast Our Adults and know what Happens in Vegas follows you Home, Ah from Sin City, the host of the two thousand two NFL Draft. It's around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansas, joined by some heroes, Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Yes, we are at the big event. Round one is in the books. And um, how you boys feeling as we begin to dive in to what was another hyper event eventful day in this offseason of our league. I feel like that glow is gonna be hanging off of you through security, through bag check, on the plane, back to the house while you're coaching some tea ball this weekend. Like it is a great time to be a Jets fan, and as a Patriots fan. They traded back to take someone that no one's ever heard of, so it's based the same as usual. Yeah, you have a you do have a glow about you, Dan, And I think you know this is a this is something special because uh, you know, I do think that. Not feel like we've said this twelve times during the course of the show, but this does feel like a new chapter for the Jets. No, it does, it does, And um you I think I saw you genuinely enjoy this evening. This was a real meat and potatoes event for us. We've been up here at this daz Or desk working hard all evening. I'm talking about It's true though, two top picks come to the desk. We've never been at a draft like this with a beautiful set uh heart set up for us. And it's like, we got two top five picks coming in here, at three top ten picks then all came in there and we'll we'll talk to them. And you gotta say, like Vegas was perfect energy for the draft. And I think that this draft, which everyone thought was gonna be boring and it was like the worst draft since Luke Joko, had ended up giving us a lot of juice. And it's like that that draft was about two thirteen. The NFL has changed so much since that draft and they saw it and how things played out. Just teams are so much more gung ho. Teams are willing to risk for reward in ways that just wasn't the case a handful of years ago, even a couple of years ago. Nine trades I believe in the first round, including multiple first round UH top rate wide receivers, including poor Grave Diggers favorite Titan perhaps for one of them. And we're gonna get to all that, I would say, but I'm sorry, Justin. We'll get to you, buddy. But there's also some good news from the Graver camp. We have so much to get to. But Greg, I'm curious what you think was like the big story of today. Well, it's that it's A J. Brown and it's not just A J. Brown goes to the Eagles and immediately signs a one million dollar contract, which was weird the timing of it, and I'd love to get in to the nitty gritty on that. When is that contract negotiated. It's the idea that the this stuff works, that A. J. Brown and his agent put this out there over the last couple of weeks in the hopes of a possibility that maybe another team is going to give him exactly the contract he wants and give the Titans the trade terms that they want and and snuff it out before the drag before he even gets to his fourth year in the NFL. And it worked like it worked to a t And I think we've seen with the quarterbacks and how they've controlled their destiny. Uh, in the last offseason or two and been able to change teams. Now we're seeing it with other positions, certainly wide receivers. And for this to all come together that quickly, to me is amazing and fascinating, and the Eagles have an amazing night. Well, I would just say also, if you look at what the Eagles were on offense a year ago with Jalen Hurts, a run heavy attack that like essentially zigged when the rest of the league outside of the Ravens zagged. Now you got a J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. I mean they can't They're not going to run that attack back. It's going to have to look differently. It's great news for Jalen Hurts. And and if you're an Eagles fan, you're loving the offseason plan here. You you like that trade with the Saints, which made them better and made them more flexible in the long term. And now you're going to get a real good look at Hurts and see if he's the guy, and if he's not, you have a true number one receiver and a J. Brown. I actually feel sad like with Justin Graver so close to us. Graver was in this world where he thought there was no way that A J. Brown could get moved. He thought this was all smoke screen. A lot of a lot of Titans fans thought that it was media created, maybe Greg Rosenthal created, and yet it did happen. Take us through where you're at right now, justin in your heart. Instant reaction was very sad. If anyone wants to see it, go to the A T and Instagram. We did a little live video of it. Um there there was a rumors of a tear in your eye. You certainly didn't believe Dan when he he saw it first on Twitter, said it out loud and you just thought we were messing with how sad you described it this a little live video, Yeah, you know it was. It was a sad moment. As a fan, I've started to rationalize the reasoning behind it. Million years a lot. It's a lot of guarantee. He has been injured a little bit. Yeah, he brought up almost immediately. Well he hasn't played a full season. Well it was a solid thirty five minutes later of transition that you were going through. But I still ultimately feel bad about it as like a fan of the team, like I tweeted multiple times throughout last season, A J. Brown was the Titans most valuable player on offense when he came back for the Niners game on Thursday Night Football, Like you could see how what the impact that he made after he missed a couple of weeks. And I mean, you like, it's like that old Family Guy joke where Peter Griffin has to choose between a boat and a mystery box and he says, the mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat. It's like that's what I feel like, A yeah, I mean that could be as good as a J. Brown, Like, but you already had a J. Brown's. Well it's less expensive. And I think that's the Titan centric but like the yeah, the chances that they get someone is impactful as Brown was for that team that but that's just the way things have gone in the NFL. Now. These teams do they are not hesitating to move their greatest players. If it gives them that financial flexibility, they will they will send a guy out of town. And so the Eagles get a big time receiver. And I thought it was interesting, you know they get Titans received eighteenth overall pick and a third round pick at number one on one for A J. Brown. And just before that, we learned the other wide receiver, number one wide receiver that gets moved. It's Marquis Brown who gets traded from the Ravens to the Cardinals. So the Cardinals send their first round pick, which was that? What number was that? And that one? Really? I you know, the A J. Brown, he's an elite player. Marcus Brown is not an elite player. I don't know what the Cardinals are doing mark exactly. I think maybe you read because I know Marky's Brown and Kyler Murray have history together, but that he is not. I know he's drafted in the first round. But what did we see in four years that he still has that carries that value today? I'm with you. I mean, they picked up Kyler Murray's fifth year option and then they turn around and do this, they add Marquis Brown to the to the lineup, and I mean, it certainly seems like Lamar Jackson was not excited about the move at all. It does leave It leaves the watch by the way social media scrubby right. He leaves the Ravens with Rashad Bateman and Devin Duvernet and not much else at wide receiver and they didn't address that. Right. We'll get to the all the picks will go through them later. It is crazy to start with these veteran trades. But yeah, Lamar, who we know has not been particularly eager to sign this contract extension, retweets to tweet that says, uh, something I really can't say. I normally would just go with the F bombs and we'd be in our studio and it's a safe but there are about ten to fifteen people in our adults. I'm just saying, there's other prospects like walking around. There's people having the knights of their life. But and f bro, we traded away Hollywood. Uh, and uh it wasn't and and then another WTF later. Uh. It's it's fascinating to see. But just to circle back quickly on the Titans, there's a salary cap, and everyone thinks that salary cap, like you know, levels the playing field, and it absolutely does. It's one of the reasons why the NFL is I think, the best professional sports league in America. But everyone has the idea that everyone's spending the same and and they're just not. When they make a trade like this, and it's like a cash poor team like the Titans to a team that I think of as as quite us rich and the Eagles. I think there is something to that all these teams that even if they're spending close to the cap, it's different in terms of how many guarantees that you wanna give right now. The New York Giants, for instance, are another team that I think relatively cheap right now and are another family owned business, and they're trying to trade away James Bradberry because they don't want to pay that money and they have other things. And it's like other teams that are just willing to change the guarantees, like the Saints and the Cowboys have push money into the future. You could do that, You could figure out the way to keep a j Brown, and they decided not to and just went the cheap route with trade. I mean, we had we had this conversation a couple of weeks ago about the disparity between even though there is a cap space and that looks equal on on paper and there's television money that the Bengals other teams that are family run that the escrow situation the Raiders, that it does affect what they can do and that's exactly here. But Titans fans, why why is the media keep talking about this? And here's where that's pine. It's not it's not just in, it's all those Titans fans in the mention that kind of bad every single A J. Brown report over the last couple of weeks. And are they gonna come back? Are they gonna come back and be like, whoops, we were so aggressive and so wrong? I mean, they might come back aggressive. Let's let's hear what he said a couple of weeks ago. I wonder what's going on? How does Mike Rabel feel about this? Where does Mike Mike Rabel knows he's playing in a loaded a f C and now you just shipped away his best playmaker. As long as I'm the coach here, I would I would want to have a J. Brown on my football team. I guess they. He said on Thursday night, just as we're taping this, that they we went to the extreme to keep Brown here, that Rabel was vibed involved in the entire process, but the gap was big. You know, I assume he's talking about the finances. They just weren't willing to pay him that much. And that's the price, like the price of brick went up. You know you're either going to reckon eyes it or you or you don't. And you can't look at Derrick Henry or Ryan Tannehill as the future of that offense. It's those are the fading elements of that offense. I think it's disappointing. I think Titans fans are obviously disappointed and how this played out. And I hope this isn't a continued trend because that when you hit on a player like a j Brown, which the Titans did second round pick, if I'm not mistaken, and he turns into a star, like he should be on that team for a decade, you should be able to build a relationship that lasts the long term. And instead it lasts like it seems like so many relationships last now like four years and then eventually there's a divorce. I mean, if it's Sauce Gardner, he doesn't even get into their relationships, but that will be that'll be part of his interview, all right, so let's get into it. So obviously, again in the off season of the trades, perhaps we should have seen it coming a blockbuster, and specifically the Titans Eagles blockbuster, but also very notable again that the Cardinals gave up a first round pick for Hollywood Brown. Strange um former teammate Kyler Murray that they're, you know, cool, that's great, But I've seen Marky's Brown play in the NFL for four years now with a m v P and he's never seen like anything more than a second. But then that's a puzzling move. I'm with you. I like Markus Brown the player a little more. The fact that they were gonna they were willing to give him up is a bit of a red flag. But the difference is he's not making million dollars a year. He's making seven hundred and five thousand dollars this year, and then they assume they'll pick up his fifth year option uh for next year. So it's it's a relatively cheap move for another team that you know, does isn't known? Doesn't it just feel like the Ravens, you know with who are one of the smartest uh you know, most well run teams in the league have the full scouting in house scouttering import on Marky's Brown the entire experience, and are happy to have moved on from him. And it is interesting they they send in the draft where there were six wide receivers that came off the board in the first sound. The Cardinals perhaps looked and said, okay, where we are in the draft in the first round. We like him over what else is out there in this draft? So and we're gonna get you, by the way, all our sandwich props will get to that Saturday of the Saturday Night full draft recap, but we're gonna put the focus obviously where it belongs now and on the draft, and let's kind of spin through um the top ten here. Trayvon Walker goes to the Jags. I think Vegas kind of hinted this was coming the mock draft scene shifting what are what are we calling it? By the way, the mock draft situation Mark Tonight. Well, I mean, I don't know how everyone fared, but it was an amocalypse. Amocalypse for me and amocalypse for you for Norris, but not for everyone, not for everyone. We'll get to that in a bit. Trayvon Walker number one pick Aidan Hutchinson. He stays home in Michigan and goes to the lines, a really perfect fit in their fourth three scheme, and you imagine Dan Campbell's gonna have a ball with him, and then we have I guess what you could say is the first surprise, Greg uh In some ways, the Texans go and they get a cornerback, but it's not Sauce Gardner, but instead it's Mr. Derek Stingley Jr. Yeah. I think between Stingley at three and Cavon Thibodeau, who we're going to talk to and talk about at five, they were two players that were incredibly hyped up coming out of high school going into college football and we're great from the jump. And I think it shows that if if you're a true freshman that can compete at the level that Cavon Thibodeau did, and especially Derek Stingley, and you're that good in the SEC at eighteen years old, nothing else mattered. And Stingley knew it. He knew there was nothing in it for him At l s U the last couple of years there was a real belief that he didn't play as many games a year ago as he could have because he was waiting to get to the NFL. Some people, you know, supposedly didn't like that, and both him and Tibodeau were talked about guys that were gonna slip versus um where their talent really lies, and none of that mattered. They looked at the most explosive cornerback in the draft, even more than Sauce Gardner in terms of just like pure raw traits and you take them right there, and I, I I don't know, I like, I like the move. He is more of a zone cornerback. It is a little more of a zone league right now. And so that's maybe the difference between Stingley and Gardner, who just went to pickle. They did a ton of work on both those guys, and I guess it's a the Texans felt person fit everything. Stingley is better for us. I I I will go back to Walker for a minute, because obviously one of the storylines this week was the idea that the Jaguars had different people inside the building. Some wanted Aiden Hutchinsons, some wanted the owner was in theory in favor of Hutchinson. Trent Balki, the GM who is a bit of a malcontent according to many people, he loves well, no Trent Balky I mean it's been we talked about someone that's just a little hard to get along. He's never lost the power struggling, right, you know, he got he got who was it Singletary out in San Francisco. He got his guy Harbor. He ends up winning a cut power struggle over Harbor. He wins. It stays with Meyer and he wins this one. Like this, this guy, he must be good in the room. He must be very convincing. Well, you know, we'll see how the cell shakes out for the Jags. But you know it's you know, Burt Rear and one of his notebook columns that he wrote leading up to tonight, a long, you know, piece about how this time the Jags have it right and he had shot Khan access and I get it like you're gonna kinda come out of that profile in a positive way. But I guess I'm still very much wait and see, because you did keep Balki and that team has been a mess for several years now. Well, and it harks back to when he took Alden Smith over, you know, because of he he seems like Balki falls in love with physical traits and potential and in Walker has all that. But it was telling to me that the quickest card turn into the night was the Lions at number two with Aidan Hutchinson. They couldn't have been happier with what landed in the lapse right there, right, And I think we've sort of slept on him just because I don't know, he almost seems like such an easy, good prospect. He hasn't hasn't been like a great storyline to him, but I think it's gotten lost. Like he tested amazing too, Like his athleticism in terms of like his movement skills and everything at the combin was kind of off the charts as well, And there's this idea that it was somehow like a boring pick. There's also people to talk about the fact that, like in another draft, he would have been like a fringe top ten guy. Right. He butt with the lines perfectly because their offensive line is really good. They took a couple of defensive linemen early last year as well. Their defensive line is starting to look really good. They are like a big, strong, tough team coached by a big strong man. I like it before the Trayvon pick, by the way, I want to hear Roger goodell um, you know, and this has been a move because people like to get after rog when he comes out to start the draft. It's become tradition. It's almost like a Vince McMann type situation. And what we do now to kind of fend off some of the jeers is we get a celebrity involved, someone that will be loved by the crowd. So there he is, sitting in the front row, friend of the show, the A T N Podcast. I don't know if he knows that, but we do. You know one of the great mcs in Los Angeles hip hop history, ice Cube. This is how Rog introduced him. And I see someone special right down here, ice Cube. Do come on up here, baby, come on up here. I loved it. Plus they call them cube. I don't think that's the thing. Is that? Okay? I think you call him Cube over ice I mean you just called him. I'm not terms but although I'm sure he was paid very well, so maybe I don't know. They might actually be really close. I mean they he put his arm right. They're not close friends, I'm not, but I just I've heard ice Cube. They didn't just you know, you don't just call the man Cube. Put some respect on his name and wrapped into that that moment that intro, who is looking better in terms of a makeover since the end of the season. Now, the Derek Carr's haircut, I think you just hear that. I'm so happy you brought that up because we've been on the journey with Derek for several years now. His brother, who we worked with is a very nice guy, David, very handsome son of a gun. And it's just so easy and effortless for David Carr. Derek's been finding his way and when he showed up that, I guess it's almost like a modified Phoe Hawk I would call it. It's like, oh, you look like the badass quarterback of the Raiders. Now. Yeah, he's becoming a bit of a bad boy like David Carr. And you've got the two huge NFL contracts. Uh, to the point where you could buy your brother David a car, which was revealed on our friend Dave Damis x podcast, and he he bought him a Ferrari or something like that, like he gave He's like, here, I just have that extra for you. Wow, Well that's skin. You could go Foue hawked in. I'm just saying you could. You could dial and my sons want to do it and I'm to you, well, they want to do it, Well, let's take a break and then we will get to the rest of the top ten. Oh, yes, this was that was kind of hard, a little harsh cut out there. Yeah, America is not having it, Ricky. I know you only have two shows left with us now, right. Um, how you feeling, by the way, Yeah, bitter sweet. We had a great dinner last night. It's really fun. Um, yeah, it's been it's been bitter sweet. I think that is the word to describe it. Beautiful tonight, thank you. What what color would that be? Would be a cream coral coral, like an off tangerine. Maybe that's like it's more pink cream. It's very hotel really quick that there were in this um, you know, enclave with like at some time fifty people in here crowded around and I and I walked out um into the crowd, and there was another woman in an off tangerine outfit very much like Erica's, totally round, in a mask. Well it was the same color, and I was like no. I looked at her, like, why is Erica wearing a mask? Because she's not wearing it anywhere else? And we locked eyes and It was a very awkward interchange, and I had to keep seeing that person after because it wasn't Erica. It was a totally different female person. She's wearing pants, a full suit and everything. Erica, you know, d you acknowledge that you could you could have seen the mix up. So I'm just trying to move the train now. Erica famously doesn't think mass work anyway, So that's that's that's why I was stunned by the other woman. That's actually I want to hear because with our next two picks, it's going to be all about New York. I want to hear the song again, but I want you to sing the female backing box. Uh you know, Okay, only if you sing the first person. All right, here we go. Okay, we're talking about why don't Craig and I have a role in that song? You guys doing now eggs the girl marks. I have to admit I'd never even listen that closely. Number four to the New York Jets as Sauce gardener. Number five is Cavon Thibodeaux, friend of the show, and we're gonna save the Cabon conversation we had tonight. Uh, not an hour after he was drafted to the New York Giants. UM because it was a good one and it was a banger, and and please stick around to the end of tonight's episode, UH to hear it. But let's um first talk about the pick for the Jets, and then we want to play our conversation with Sauce, which was really fun, at least for me as a Jets fan. The Jets had a big night here. Obviously they take Sauce Gardener, the cornerback that I talked about it. I had sandwiches on it. I thought it really needed someone in the back end of that secondary, uh, to help Robert Salo with what they're trying to achieve. They were picked on relentlessly in the secondary last year. They finished thirtie in past defense cornerbacks had two interceptions all year. And Gardners a dog. He's six three, He's built like Antonio Crimardi. He gets the ball. He never had a touchdown scored against him during his entire college career at since he he is a guy that's gonna help that back end. So I love that pick at four. And then while we're here, the Jets attend go and get Garrett Wilson, the wide receiver out of Ohio States. So they get out of the deebo. Samuel Sweep steaks talking to some sparrows high up in the realm here leading up to tonight, and I was told that the Niners were being unreasonable. That was the word that was used in their trade demands for debo. So I think the Jets had to move off that and go down the road of Garrett Wilson. You guys thought your thoughts first on Wilson and then on Sauce. I think we'll Wilson was a guy struggled with watching all the young receivers. He catches everything. I mean, you can see in his movement that like he's an NFL receiver, but he won a lot in college, like trying to be physical, and he's not a big guy. But you would think about the three receivers together, and that's more where I get excited. Wilson doesn't necessarily need to be a true number one, And I am probably wrong because people much smarter than me, like Daniel Jeremiah, thought he was easily number one player, number one receiver in this draft and thinks he can be a true one. But you don't need him to be like you need him Corey Davis, UH analyze more all to get it done. And they're really setting up Zack Wilson for success because each of these guys can get open quickly, I think on their routes and will make it easier on Zack Wilson. And maybe you don't need a one if you have three different guys all around a thousand yards and and they signed c js Alma and you've added You've added Wilson. And yes, you said it was DJ's top wide out. Sauce was his number one cornerback, and so you know, I know the DJ's like the Jets drafts in the past, but there is a plan forming here. I don't want to be overly optimistic because all this stuff and goes south. But I trust that Mike Lafleur and his offensive coaching staff and the front office were married on the wide receiver that they liked the most, and that the and that Robert Sala and his staff found the cornerback that fell to them fortuitously that they liked the most. And something about this Jets draft, because we'll get to the other player they got. Um really went about as well, that's part of it, Johnson. This is the culmination of the whole Joe Douglas thing. This was the point of getting all those picks. This is this is the night, this is the one that it's all about. It's got to work, and it makes it should work. It should. I think he's set them up well. Now, if these guys can play at this level, we will see. And of course Zach Wilson continues to be the key to everything. If he does not take a step forward, that none of this is gonna work. But at the same time, what they did with that, what they've done with Wilson is something they never did with Donald. Just actually surround him with talent on the offensive side of the ball, a better offensive line. There will be no excuses Zach Wilson does not take a big leap forward speeds up his timeline because it's not a three or four year plan. That's what the league is like now. So your second year you need to show that you are really the guy. And I think with the sauce gardener thing, we're gonna throw to him in a second. I and I'll let you get your point in Greg Um. I think that Um all the smoke screens that you hear in these draft conversations about, well, the Jets under solid don't think they need an impact cornerback because they build their teams in the front, like okay, and maybe Jeremy Johnson being involved now helps in that end of things as well. But you do need some big time guys in your secondary. This is the NFL in two thousand twenty two, in the a f C, where you have star quarterbacks and wide receivers everywhere. He's a huge addition to that secondary. Yeah, they tried that last year. They tried the like the cheaper route and and that's what the forty Niners did so well over the years. But you're not just gonna be the forty Niners like that was their thing. They got value out of it too, late round cornerbacks and really were good at coaching them up. Uh. But you know who also like worked well in that system, like Richard Sherman. And when I see Sauce Gardner, I think of Richard Sherman. Just those long arms and so physical. And even if this is a zone league where it's a lot of small, short, shifty guys and it's covered two and all that stuff, ultimately zone turns into man at some point in in the middle of the down and you're gonna need one guy like that on the boundary. Like I, I love it. And I also noticed in that Jermaine Johnson trade it was part of a a trend of the night. These chips, these trades were cheap, like the that old draft chart, at least because we got so used to it, Like no one's using that draft chart anymore. They moved up to the first round and they they basically moved down. They gave up the thirty overall pick and all they did was moved down thirty spots in the third round and then give up a fifth round pick. Like that was like a lot of these trades where everyone was moving around in the Minnesota trade too, like they were cheap, Like it wasn't that hard to move up and down in this draft if you wanted to, all right, So I was glowing when Sauce Gardner sat down next. So it is here is that conversation. Very excited to be joined by Sauce Gardner. The new New York Jet has that feel, Sauce I feel as a Jets fan, it feels damn good to have you man if it was great, Man, I'm blessed to be a Jet. You know, one of my favorite corners, Drill Reeves, played there. You know, I know there are those are big shoes to feel, but I'm looking forward to it. Like you haven't even played a snap for the Jets, And do you know how much joy you have brought Jets fans, especially this one's sitting right here. When the name was called, he was over there. I don't I might have seen a tear in Dan's eyes. He like he was he was fired up for well. On on our podcast earlier this week, I said, Sauce Gardner is the guy that they need a dog in the back of that secondary in there, and now you're here that the Jets secondary. They had many problems on defense last year. Now they don't have any problems with you here. But they were thirty in past defense last year. I think they had three interceptions all year. And you're the type of playmaker, a big dude as a Jet spin you're any of Antonio Crimardi who was he played alongside Reevous and was great. Like to me, I feel like you are the solution in that back end. Do you feel the same way I actually do. No. I can't wait to get to New York and just be a great teammate, show the guys the type of person I am, the type of player I am. You know, I'm very competitive. I'm also a sponge. I like receiving information from the vets, taking it all in. I never feel like I'm too good for for other people. And it's just a blessing to be able to bring so much joy in New York. And I haven't even played yet. You know, I am one of them guys that interact with the fans, So I can't wait to get there, to be able to spend a lot of time with them, give back to the community. I'm looking forward to it. You might not want to wear that sauce necklace out with all the fans though, like the Times Square or anything that Times Square has been cleaned up. I mean sub Jets. Sub Jets fans are a little weird. But for Dan, this is a romantic moment. I always wonder, like when you're weird, you're at You're at a mountaintop moment here, like do you ever think of like maybe like a girl that dumped you in like middle school and think to yourself. I own you tonight, this is this, this is I'm on fire. You're good to check me out now, to think about me like I wouldn't never. I was never the one getting dumped. Thank you, thank you, Mark. That wouldn't be. I was never. I wouldn't quick to get in the relationships staking his personal life. I don't getting personal That's right. I think. Can you think of some moments along the way maybe where maybe you didn't get the offers that you wanted, or something going into college, or something happened in your high school career in college career where you didn't know whether you're gonna get to this moment, and looking back on that, I mean I always prayed for you know, in high school, I used to. I came in playing receiver my freshman year. I was like five eight one thirty. I was very, very small, and I just prayed that God gave me an opportunity and I knew I was gonna make the most out of it. Gave me opportunity and made the most out of it. Then I started getting the offers and got in college. I was like the fourth uh person on the depth chart in the cornerback group. Then I got through in the fire versus UCF made the most out of it. Then I became a starter, you know. Like I said, I was the fourth on a dept chart and now I'm the fourth where we're all picked. So it was all, gosh, man, this is all history now because we're coming out of the darkness. But you should know if you don't, this is the history. Eleven straight years for the Jets without a postseason appearance. We haven't made it back to the Super Bowl since nineteen sixty And I don't want to cut you off, but we're not living in the past. You gotta make we gotta make a chance of the future. Man. I feel like I'm the solution. You know. We just got my guy, Garrett Wilson. You know, I feel like he's also a big, big solution. So I just can't wait for us to get there and be able to be a great teammates. Which one, so, guy, you wanna check the most in practice here and that Now it's suddenly they're kind of loaded on the other side of the ball. With Garrett Wilson. You gott Elijah More, you got Dave Corey Davis still there. That's gonna be tough. At the end of the day, we were all teammates and we all had the same goal. But I'm competitive whoever lined up in front of me, you know, I want to dominate. And when it comes to practice, at the end of the day, I'm just making my teammates better and they're gonna make me better. That's what I'm looking forward to. And we've heard so many times that you didn't allow a touchdown in your college career there, Uh can you pull that off in the NFL. I'd like to see that happen over the next three years in New York. I mean I feel like I can. You know. I like setting a realistic goals, you know. Man, Luckily I always get always achieve them, you know. So I'm gonna make sure I just keep putting the work in, keep getting better and better, and get more and more consistent with my technique, and it should be the outcome. And I imagine the next few days it's gonna be a lot of celebrating with friends and family, which is well deserved. But then when I imagine you turn your attention to your assignment, you're gonna have Stephan Diggs in the division. You have Tyreek Hill now on the division. The a f C is a loaded landscape and wants you to try a little harder when you play the Patriots too. That's I wouldn't mind you embarrassing the Patriots in a primetime setting. And Bill Belichick, um, how much when you look at that. The challenge of now seeing these pros and especially where the a f C is now, you're gonna be thrown right into fire is the number one guy. Like I said, I'm used to getting thrown in the fire. You know, I'm looking forward to it. You know, this is I dreamed about. I dreamed about going to an nf feel you know, when you get in the NFL, everybody's good. I didn't want to get here just to go against guys that's not great. You're good at at receiver, you know. So this is a lot, This is a lot dreamed for and it's here. You couldn't have dreamed it was in Vegas. Yeah, you couldn't have dreamed it was in Vegas. Out on the stage there. What does that feel? It feel great? It feel great like walking across the stage, glancing at the crowd and just seeing all the Jets fans so happy. Man, uh man. It was great, sauce. Thank you so much, uh for joining us here and best of luck. And as a Jets fan, I speak for all Jets fans that you're kind of with Zack Wilson and with Garrett Wilson. Now a new tomorrow for the organization, and we're so excited to see what you get. Is. I can't wait. All right, there we go, all right, there it was. I was seeking out. Um. I don't know if you could hear it, but I was because I'm excited. And the Jermaine Johnson picked, by the way deep in the first round, he was mocked uh in some places at number four to the Jets. So that's why they were so eager to jump back in. Now the number five pick cave on Thibodeau to the Giants. I think in general, um, such a big night for New York football, which has been so bad for several years now, Um, because that guy is a big time player, Tiboeau. He addresses a major need for the Giants. Right. We always talk about, oh, the Jets haven't had a pass rusher since John Abraham. Well the Giants haven't had one since they were winning Super Bowls. And that's that's been a decade, and the last three or four years, I would say their pass rush has been among the very worst in the league. And Thibodeau is known for his first step and I really and I wanted to ask him, but we didn't have all the time in the world. I'm always I'm really impressed by guys who are growing up now in this era and go from being a sixteen year old that is nationally famous as the number one high school recruiting the country and the pressure that comes with that, and then going to his hometown or home state college and and being such a big deal from that age and trying to get this point. And he like did it. Like that's about it. He's been a professional practically since he was seventeen, and he's gotten it done. Like we love his personality and everything, but he's produced. He's a he's a great player. That's what they needed. He gets. Shawn Merriman comps DJ talked about the fact that on tape he looks off sides all the time because he's so explosive, and it fills right, it fills a massive need for the Giants because I think it was this or offensive line for them the other thing though, while we're on the Giants, I do think alongside alongside the Jets, there's focus here and they're not putting up with a lot Joe Shane and like Brian Dable, they basically they passed on the fifth year option of Daniel Jones. He is in hot water, he's got one. I mean, I think he's not always adults with the Panthers should have done last year with Sam Darnald, Like I don't think. I don't think it it says anything or damages that relationship Daniel Jones. I'm sure it sees it as a slight, but that's okay. If he's a tough guy, if he can handle the job, he thrives, he absolutely will be. So I think that was the right move. And I think Evan Neil at pick seven by the Giants was another smart move. They really need to. They're they're a team that has a lot of holes. So you you improve your offensive line with the best offensive lineman in the draft, you get a pass rusher in Thibodeau who could be a real difference maker and a star UH in that city and UH. In between those picks, it was the Panthers Greg who take now not Ikey. I was a little disappointed about this, but it's it's his call. It's a Kim a kN Wu offensive tackle out of NC States, So they stay out of the quarterback business. Yeah, And I think that made sense that it was like the worst offensive line along with the Dolphins in the entire NFL last year, and they've been terrible both the years that Matt rule has been there, and I just don't think you can go off your board so crazy to force a quarterback picking. Oh, by the way, they'll be picking at the top of the second round and all those quarterbacks are still available except for one, So I think they can still get their quarterback. They have to feel good about that. Um, except don't have a second round pick or a third round pick because they gave him up in the terrible Sam Donald trade. So I'm correcting myself live, but maybe they can trade. They're so desperate. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they trade a pick of next year to get back in and try to get one of these guys. Uh. The last thing, though, Evan Neil will play right tackle there Andrew Thomas left tackle. They added two starters in Feliciano and Glinski like in one offseason the Giants kind of they've flipped Thomas to write, don't that makes some sense to he's I think just the way that Neil's profile is, He's played a lot of right tackle and he's like a little bit more of a run. Thomas improved last season two. He wasn't the raging disaster that he was before that. I mean, I think you have to look at Baker Mayfield as a true target for the Panthers to this point unless like I don't you know, you know where I look at him. I look at him Seattle because you know why, because Mark Sessler's reporting was on point and it just waves waves of aggregate reports on marks mock draft ten locks, and it involved one of the locks of the ten that we talked about on our podcast was Baker Mayfield to the Seattle Seahawks for a fourth round pick bucket. And that caught the eye of I believe which one of those guys, Shannon Sharp, No, it was sharp and undisputed. Undisputed with Shannon Sharp and that other guy skiskipaelis let's listen in. According to one mock draft from NFL Network, it's quote a luck that Baker has just settle Seahawks in exchange for a fourth rounder, predicting Baker would be traded right around the draft. So jump in here. What do you think happens? Well, yeah, I think that's gonna be the time. But I believe it when I see it. Skip. Um, But it's not a bad deal. I don't trust any of this. I don't. I'm not discounting the NFL Network report. Don't you believe any of it? And I also think this league is, of all the leagues, the worst victim of what I all sheep think is famously a huge Baker Mayfield fan, right, I mean, guys, I don't know. The idea that this bubbled up as a report, um is absurd because it started out being, you know, collected from a Browns writer who I think simply said that I thought it was a lock. But then it turns into a report, which is they did not do their homework. Let's be real, Okay, NFL Network has at least eight or nine different writers on staff. That is on the mock draft central page, it's Bucky four point oh, it's zero line five point oh. I think Charles Davis did seven mock drafts. I'm making that up. Uh, Sessler's not on that page. Well knows mock drafts they're not talking about on national shows or on SI dot com, all those guys, But they're talking about Sessler's. No, they're not, because they didn't even mention my name in it. They just said, I think it's like that. I view that as a show of disrespect. Let's talk about the mock draft. Let's take a quick detour here, because of course we had Josh and Norris from the Underdog Network on our show. He had sixteen out of thirty two last year. We set you over at eight and a half. Then Mark comes in with his mock and we set up a big showdown between Norris and Cessler. And let's check in with Grave Digger. Where did we come down after round one? What were the final numbers the tally? So Josh correctly paired five players with the team that selected them. Mark also correctly paired five players with the teams that selected them, so five to five, five five, So bang the under they both And that's that's quite a fall from grace for Josh who goes from sixteen to five. But that's the nature of the game, and we predicted that that was a possibility. I mean five for me is not a fall from grace, because I think that's I got like four a year ago. So it was tough to watch because market his first two it was and like a Brown's game, he he just gets very confident when things are going well, and then immediately I didn't hold on Greg. I'm saying you're feeling good when it was going well, and then when it come on Walker and Aidan Hutchinson is like probably the two that almost everyone got. Like I wasn't prancing around. There was one pretty funny line that you had when things started to go sideways early, and if anything, I thought it was hyper fatalistic. I don't know that he was just doing it for entertainment. Anyways. Well you had said that, oh, yeah, that this is Josh's profession. Well no, because I am not a draft Nick. So I just like I came in, you know, and we're building your brand. Don't say that you're the one. I think we may have a real draft Nick. That's yea. So it turns out though, and we need to check the data on this and to see who had the highest number of hits and it was a very difficult draft for any mocker, but Grave Digger on what was otherwise one of the worst days of his life with A J. Brown being sent out of his life forever. Uh, he did hit ten in a draft that featured nine trades, which means it's almost impossible to hit double digits with and yet you did it. So congratulations. So does that take some of the pain off what has happened to you today? It's cool you were loving it though. You were seven out of nine at one point when you hit Drake London to the Falcons and Charles Cross to the Seahawks back to back, which were not picks that were on too many mos. You you were feeling yourself as you should. You basically did what Josh Norris did a year ago out of the gate, right, Yeah, not bad. I don't know. You're the champro you got the strap. Now. I'd love to see the grades across of everyone's mock as. We'll take that up, we'll dig that up and we'll talk about it. You need because they'll call those and then they'll put out their list. You've got to get on that list, right, Who do I talk to tweet at me, tell me who to talk to at Titans Silver Josh Norris. Um A. Norris would probably know, and I'm sure he'd be happy to help. And but just cycling back to Mayfield yet, does seem like there's a runway there now? Uh, certainly for the Panthers. But we'll see, we gotta see. I think that happens on Saturday, and I think I think he'll be a Panther. But I think he'll be on one of those two teams Saturday. And I think you predicted for a fourth round pick in that report that was to the Seahawks. I feel like that's about right, maybe a fifth. If he goes somewhere in that Panthers for fourth, you got half credit. That's according to Skip Bayliss. That's just sheep, sheep brain thinking. So I don't know, all right, Charles Cross, the tackle from Mississippi State, goes to the Seahawks at nine. Uh, so they opt to go with offensive line help. That makes sense there, Chris A Lovey. Uh, the wide receiver one of the six that came off the board. Here comes the run now, we talked about it, Drake London at eight. Um Garrett Wilson to the Jets at ten, Chris a Lobby to the Saints at eleven, and then Jamison Williams to the Lines at twelve. So the Lions pick it too. They get the hometown kid, Hutchinson, and then they move up to twelve and everyone thinks it's Malik Willis, but Greggy, it's Jamison Williams, a wide receivers rehabbing from a torn a c l But people are in love with his ability. Yeah, Hey, he's my number one wide receiver and well that it is. He He can move at a speed that just so few humans can move at. I mean, he's very much in the Will Fuller type of mode. And yet when you watch him run routes like he can, he can change his pace up a little bit, slow down, uh, and really getting in and out of his breaks in a way that most people that fast can't. And so I think his upside is higher uh than Drake Lendon. Look, we loved having Drake on the show. I think we're gonna share some of that interview on Saturday's show. But to me, he seems more like a uh possession receiver that's gonna make plays after the catch Garrett Wilson's great Chris Olavvy I think makes a lot of sense for the Saints. But I love what the Lions did because they didn't even have to give up too much to get up to twelve. And if I'm a Vikings fan, I almost think that the Vikings were so determined to trade down and get extra picks because that's kind of what they want to do now and and they're rebuilding that they didn't really get get great value. And wouldn't it be great to just have Jamison Williams on your teams from Justin Jefferson. Can't you picture it now? Mark the Hard Knocks training montage montage of Jamison Williams uh rehab in that knee and then the interview about how excited he is about making a difference on this team because he's not going to be a September and October contributor more than likely. Although you never know what these rehabs they go so well now, but for a team that is not in wind now mode, that's okay. You just get him right and then you get plenty of times to give him reps. I can visualize that, and I mean I I you know, I don't think many people thought that when the Lions were trading back into where they did that it was necessarily wide receiver. I thought it might be Malik Willis. I really did, And like, uh, you know, you asked big storylines out of the gate, and I'll just say it quick to the idea that Malik Willis went nowhere tonight. Um isn't a stunner because there were just as many reports saying that none of these quarterbacks might be first rounders. But I find it interesting that no one jumped on him. That it showed a fair lack of desperation by any of these teams, and someone's gonna get them in a round two, right. Tampa Bay traded out We'll get to that, but they traded out of twenty seven to the Jaguars to get the first pick of the second round. And you do wonder if Tampa Bay's gonna it's interested in some good offers for a team that might want to climb up a little bit to to get Malik Willis. I found that the Saints trading up with Washington to take Chris and Lave just so typical, Like I just love the draft in the way that different teams attack it so differently, and the Saints get convinced that they've got their guy and they're just gonna be right about him. Let's trade. Let's trade to first for Marcus Davenport. Let's trade the first next year to get into this first round and then trade up again. Uh, with Washington giving up the picks in the draft, I mean that's a decent pick to move up five spots and get a Lava. And again, I think it's about the Saints looking at this year and saying we want to win right now. Because if I had to pick who's gonna lead all rookie receivers in yards, I think Chris O Lava is a solid favorite because he just is such. He's in transition to the NFL. You see him go on a stop route, and just the way he can go from running full speed to stopping on a dime like that just translates. He's gonna catch eight nine yard passes like at his best, he might be like a poor man's Marvin Harrison type of player. He's never gonna make any plays after the catch, but he's gonna catch a ton of balls. He's been described as buttery, smooth and I'm with you. I think the Saints when they made the trade with the Eagles pad and absolutely what I want to cut that. There's something about you said. He's been described as buttery smooth, as very like Tom Broke in my research. That's what I That was something as it was, it was one of many reams of it was that I didn't come up with that on my own, like when you were doing your mock. Oh yeah, he's buttery smooth underlined buttery smooth mode of operation was the line that I discovered about him. Yet another Ohio State guy with Michael Michael is the winner there. Suddenly you don't look like such a bad receiver group. And they also, while we're talking Saints, you know, filled in their tackle need at nineteen with Trevor Penning. So I think, uh everyone, by the way, two of the mocked picks that I nailed and so did so did Grave. I believe we both nail is because they had been a lot of people have talked about a Laby and Penning to the Saints, and it just seemed like they knew what they wanted and they went and got it. Where some teams will get to in the NFC, Super Bowl contenders seemed to sit home and do very little, and there are some fan bases that are very unhappy about it. All right, let's now move on through the middle part of the round. Uh Jordan David set out of Georgia goes to the Eagles. Kyle Hamilton's Notre Dame safety. He ends up at fourteen, So that's kind of where his stock, at least in ahead of the Mocalypse had him ending up in this area. And he didn't seem overly enthused as he came out to meet Roger on stage. You wonder if he really thought he could be a top five pick as many initially believed he could be. Uh. So he goes to the Ravens. That's a good fit, though, I think it's a great fit. It's such a Ravens pick. Yeah, I'm like Greg and I were sitting here. Everything the Ravens did tonight just felt so Baltimore esque. I mean, Kyle him. They have Marcus Williams, they have Chuck Clark, but Kyle Hamilton's the kind of guy, the groom, who'll probably be an All Pro type player. And this is someone that you know, when all this business started, he was the guy that was gonna go to the Jets. He was a top four type dude that fell probably because of positional value in general, and right into the Ravens lap, which seems to happen every single year. Well that it is funny. I feel like that's a trope of this podcast. We most Ravens moves. It's like, oh, that's such a Ravens move. But they do have an organizational philosophy where these things kind of check out. I'm very weed. Yeah, that's so raven I still the one philosophy I don't know what's going on is on the offensive side of the ball and how they intend to better at wide receiver. Even though I'm not a huge Hollywood Brown fan, I don't know. You know, Mark Andrews is there and you have a Shot Bateman the first round pick last year. But man that I don't know, scoring points is gonna be that easy for that team. But you never know. They gotta get back to running the ball. Yeah. Cynthia Freeland pointed out the Ravens got her models number two overall prospect, Kyle Hamilton's at fourteen, and her number nine overall prospect Linder Bomb Tyler Linder Bom at twenty five, linder Bomb. There was a guy a lot of people felt like, was this almost like the most surefire He's gonna be a great starter in this draft, and he just fell because he's a smaller center and people just don't get that into smaller centers. But it's like the Eagles did with Travil Jason Kelsey. You surround a smaller center with two huge, hulking guards which the Ravens have, and suddenly, like you're cooking, he fits so well in that offense. Uh that they did improve their offense there with the center, but I think they were probably gonna take Jordan Davis at fourteen. And I do want to just point out, like the Eagles are a fun team to follow. I don't know if it all works, but I get why the dorks like me like what they do because they stack all these picks. They get the pick in the Carson Wentz trade. Uh, they get picks moving around last year, remember of course when they moved down, uh with Davante Smith and they moved up. And what do they do, Like, they just do what they want on draft day? Uh, they can go get a j Brown. They have the arsenal to go get a j Brown. Um, they also have the arsenal to move up two picks and give up a couple of extra picks to go get Jordan Davis, who's just like they love big hulking men on their defensive line. He replaces Fletcher Cox like uh they had. I think maybe the most fun draft was then in the Jets. They are going to be the trendy pick to win that I've ceased because people are gonna be a little out on the Cowboys about how their season ended. And it's that Cowboys cycle of good season, bad season. And here are the Eagles now with a much improved roster. Things are going very well for that offense before Jalen Hurts got injured. Now he's healthy again. I I there's plenty of reason for optimism. Uh in Philadelphia. I'll wait and see on Jordan Davis because at number thirteen, I know that he was a combine Darling X, Y and Z. But he got all these guys right. But he's not gonna play on passing downs. He doesn't sack the quarterback. And he's been described by some as someone who's arrived like two generations late in the NFL's defensive was the same person it was in the bomb again, like look at look close, look at these players. There were people down on Jordan Davison where he fits in today's game. I mean, he's he can do what he does really well. In a worst case scenario, He's he's just a big old run stopper, maybe like a thirteen Brandon Williams type that the Ravens used to have her, a lin vol Joseph type that you put out there. But with that sort of athleticism, I think they see that it could be more. All right, So let's keep moving here. So the Texans at fifteen, they make a nice meat and potatoes pick here, Kenyan Green at A and m at guards. So they go and they get help with Stingley, they think could be a star in their secondary, and now they go about trying to build up that offensive line. Again, Um, that's such a Patriots type of offensive line. Pick right, and like the Patriots, the Texans on the Davis Mills like, we're in the position to like be an exciting team in this draft. That it was a trendy like thing to say this week. Hey, actually people haven't talked about the Texans, but they're kind of the key team in this draft, and you leave it being like, I don't know. The Texans ended up just kind of take they can't they can't play that role. They don't excite me so far away. Johan Dotson, wide receiver at the Penn State, goes to the Commander's interesting move there makes sense because Terry McLaurin needs some help, somebody else that can make other teams think can and and spread the field. So Dotson could be that guy. Also makes me think, in this year of everybody gets traded, is this open the door for McLaren to get moved uh in a trade. I know now the first round is now in the rear view, but there's always next year and all that. Now Dotson is there as the cheap rookie on the first round deal. Spice racks favorite guy, and I think Spice racks um level of excitement about Johan Dotson was born out here because six receivers went in the first sixteen picks and then no more did. Uh So I was stuck on a push for a sandwich. But I really think Dotson ended up being like the solid six in this draft. If if they didn't take him in Washington. I think the Packers or someone else did, but a very a smaller receiver. I mean, it's I'm still getting used to seeing guys that small play on the outside. It's just like a different You'll get used to it. Zion Johnson, the guard from Boston College goes to the Charges, so they continue to address protecting. Justin Herbert the franchise, Traylon Burke's Arkansas wide receiver goes to the Titans. Uh, so you have that situation there. Trevor Penning uh tackle to the Saints and then pick twenty Kenny pick it. Only quarterback off the board, Yeah, from Pittsburgh goes to the Steelers. So just like everyone thought was gonna happen, Kevin Colbert and the last weekend of his gig before maybe retirement by choice, and it seemed a little hard to tell. Um Colbert drafts that quarterback, pick it, and he will enter that fray with Mitch Trobinski, uh, to see who was going to be the quarterback there. I think I think it was just seen as probably the most like ready to step in and be a pro today. Where with the leak, it's you'd like to give him, you know, half a season or more to to progress and grow. But I do just remember, like hearing Tomlin talk about the emphasis on a mobile quarterback and pick It as a little bit of that, but it's not the similar leak Willis is completely different in that world. So, I mean he practiced throughout college feed away from where the Steelers operates. So it's kind of like I love the Pittsburghsburg correction. Yeah connection, Yeah, they they knew him. He was in that building, um where Pittsburgh practices too. And I was surprised because because of the comments that Tomlin made about mobility and pick It certainly has mobility like he but he runs to throw. Um. I think he's got a little more juice like in terms of running than Baker Mayfield does, who I've compared him to. I think he's a similar player to Baker Mayfield, and in some ways in terms of like his draft profile, he's not that far away from where Mr Drobiski is. Where the number one thing is he's absolutely accurate, Like he can throw the ball and it goes where he intends to throw it. I think not always the case with Mr Drobiskie now, but that was his draft prof and that was what everyone told us about at least coming coming into you and out of U n C. But I I don't think they were ready to change their whole offense from Malik Willis, which is what theyre Mileek Willis tweeted tonight after the draft, O MG, what happened to Malik? With three crying laughing emojis? Is that maybe a sign that maybe it disappeared? Mark and You've got sandwiches coming well tbd, But that that would be the closest that's he's tweeting. So wouldn't that tweeting from the account? You gotta gotta dig a little deeper with these true crime scenarios, that's all. Yeah, maybe you know someone else over the account crrect that biggest cross. You can't be scared of Kenny Pickett. By the way, if you're a Browns fan or Bengals fan or Ravens fan, I see Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Drabinski and I'm like, maybe the steel maybe it's time to go down. Yeah, But then you just watch them like coming second for Rookie of the Year. Hey, all right, here we go. Let's take a break. Marino too, you know, so there's there are some concerns, but let's take a break and then finish out the first round. Alright, we're back. Uh. You know, the the Chiefs, I thought they were going to be aggressive and get a wide receiver. They don't. They They draft Trent McDuffie, cornerback out of Washington. And then right behind them you have Quay Walker, a linebacker from Georgia, going to the Packers. And so the Packers and the Chiefs, two teams that everyone thought it made a lot of sense that they would go get wide receivers. They end up on the outside looking in in this wide receiver run and Mark, I don't think it's unfair to be critical of that that there wasn't more urgency to get in that group of six. They are opting, obviously a different path, which is a pretty big risk for both teams that are in Super Bowl or bus mode. The one thing I like about Goody the GM is that he obviously is very confident in in what he sees and how he scouts players, because he doesn't just do he doesn't. He's too two offseason three in a row. He's not caved in to anything that anyone expects. They passed on the wide receiver. But here's the one thing I would say, you trade away to Monte Adams? What are you? What are you telling not just Aaron Rodgers, but your entire locker room? Can I offer a respectful counter to that? She did? He draft Edvante Adams? Was he responsible for Adams coming there? And that what wide receivers is? He drafted that developed into You know, I'm not saying this is successful. I'm saying conidence is great. But we've had He's been, on balance, very successful in that job. But the wide receiver room is something I don't trust him with at this point, and they the cupboard right now, one night into the draft remains close to bait. Right. But my point wouldn't have been that I think he's done a great job with the wide receivers, just that he seems to not care what anyone thinks. He doesn't care what all of us said that they might draft too wide receivers. He goes and takes completely opposite realms entirely, but he still doesn't have any wide receivers. I'm just saying he's seeing It's like, you do want a front office that believes in what they do, and I do think that, and they they By the way, they've won twenty six regular season games in two years. He has on a good job building the roster. This is a blind spot potentially, But I do wonder what it tells your Super Bowl Window team that you moved Davante Adams and do nothing to replace him. Well, you've got a Marie Rogers. You took him the third round and didn't do anything as a rookie. I would expect them to make a pick on Day two at receiver. Aaron rodgers Um is someone that Goody does care about his opinion because Rogers shared on the Pat McAfee show that he knew the Packers only had six first round receivers graded, that they only had six receivers in this class graded with the first round pick. And so to your point, Dan, you're right, I think they might have got caught guard, caught off guard that all those receivers went so quick, especially Dotson going sixteen. Maybe maybe they liked him, maybe maybe they didn't. And at that point they had already shared that info with Rogers. We went through it like the draft in real time. It takes time for these things unfold. So maybe after the third or fourth guy came off the board, maybe it's time to maybe they did. Maybe we'll learn said though he was saying like, look, we've had a lot of productive receivers come out of the second and third round for the Green Bay Packers and Adams, including Davante Adams, who who took some time to who's making that team in the a f C or the NFC championship game. I mean they need to add more. There are some receivers out there in free agency late they need they need to add more. Absolutely. The It's also like taking an off ball linebacker and kway Walker, who became kind of a draft darling. I always worry about the guys. A that played behind maybe the greatest defensive line in college football history, so that's a nice spot to be. And then b was clearly not the best off ball linebacker on his own team, like Nikobe Dean was the leader of that team, made the most amount of plays. And Quay Walker's the guy that all the draft knicks kind of like project is going to be a better starter. Nakobe Dean, who DJ once had in his top six or seven in this entire draft, did not get taken in the first round. And I'm always worried about the guy that, like the NFL thinks they're smarter, but he was a guy right next to the guy who was at the same But to Mark's point, like what good he has done there? I gave him the benefit the doubt with some of these moves that like Tavante Wyatt the DT out of Georgia, they took a they might proved to be productive. Guys, it's just that position. I'm with you on that. I'm with you, But I mean Aaron Rodgers like also knew that Tavante Adams wasn't going to be there right what he's saying, and he's saying this too, so it's like he's being very compliant. But I also think he just got paid a massive mountain of cash. Well, it would be a fun story if nothing else, And at this point, that's what I'm rooting for for for Aaron Rodgers to enter the season with Sammy Watkins, Lazard and Cobb as his top three and just like I would just like to watch that. They were also into Deebo Samuel. There were whispers about that, so we'll see. So as I just spin through it here six wide receivers, zero tight ends um only and zero running backs. Interesting, well, there was only one running back and that didn't happen, and two cornerbacks going to the top four. That's never happened before. Very strange draft. It's a passing leak though, And I think receivers and cornerbacks are now. They're not quite like at defensive lineman and tackles in terms of I think what the average GM value, but they're getting close. Graver is tweeting through it right now. My tweet decks up. He's now tweeting things about the Titans, like, man, now that I look at this during this show, I thinks are not going to know things aren't so bad. This is so, this is quintessential fan psychology. This is look Graver actually he's quote retweeting his own tweets, and then he's like, based purely on this list, we can't really complain about the first round based on what actually happened. We have a lot to complain. What do they get a B plus now in this what's the grade to get them? Well? You know what you should you should feel you should feel better though, because A. J. Brown did tweet out twenty nine minutes ago. I love y'all Tennessee, so yeah, everything's fine. He loves tweeted it was not my fault and then deleted it. I also wanted to tweet that many times myself. You seem to like the trailing Burke's pick, and I know we talked the Brown trade earlier, but we didn't really talk Burkes. He just is such a unique prospect that didn't really play wide receiver in college and that was a little bit of the knock on a J. Brown and DK Metcal to be fair, and they figured it out. But like when you watch Traylon Burks in college, he was so far from playing like the wide receiver position. He was just kind of like a guy that they gave the ball to in space and we're like, figure it out, and they did a good job doing that. But to me on tape, he doesn't look like he has the same Why did you keep doing it? Doesn't look like he did have a lot of like seventy plus yard touchdowns last season, which and one against Alabama went against A and M like really huge plays. It's like, I watched the tape of these top seven receivers. I'm gonna use that information on this show, you know, but you're hurting someone that we care about that love your information, the jeff of a gift or whatever, the dog in the firehouse, everything, that's where you're at it. All right, Jags are coming. Kier Elam cornerback Florida goes to the bill, so they do use it on defense, not a running back. Uh. And then the football factory that is Tulsa shout out Justin Hathaway are former boss. Uh. They produced tackle Tyler Smith for the Cowboys. And that's a smart move I think by the Cowboys, who you know, that offensive line is more on reputation now than perhaps abilities are getting older, so you get some youth there. And then we mentioned the Ravens Tyler Linderbaum Center out of Iowa. We mentioned Jermaine Johnson to the Jets. That's a Florida State defensive end who you now pair with Carl Lawson. Then that could go and get after the quarterback. Maybe the Jets could finally get after a it's been a long time now the back end. Devin Lloyd linebacker to Jacksonville. This was a very Jags move to think that you've scouted things so well that you're gonna give up. They actually gave up a lot to trade from thirty three to seven to take a twenty three year old offine off ball linebackers. I'm I'm sort of like become an age guy when it comes to the draft, Like that worries me when it takes. It's like Kenny Pickett, it took till his fifth year when he was like five years older than a lot of the guys he was playing against. The really step up. Jack's always like believe in what they do, and they like trade up for the guy that they love, and it like it never works. Does Doug Peterson have any say in this process? It's just it's I I they need a defense. But it's like, you know, hang with who you have Peterson, um Cole Strange at a Chattanooga guard goes to the Patriots. So Ricky and the A T. N Era, which you have been a star for five years. It's almost fitting that it ends your last draft as our producer, ends with Cole stream right, So I'd like a full scouting report from you right now on Strange and what he brings to that line. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, Belichick did say in this pressor just now that if they hadn't traded with the Chiefs, they would have taken him at twenty long. I believe him because like, we better, we better trade out of this pick. We're gonna take cold strange. No one's taken him right, And and then he also said like he wouldn't have been around much longer because people were literally like, weren't you rating him as like, weren't people rating him as like a DJ called him one of his favorite mid round guys. Right when at the middle of the first one, I googled his name and Patriots looking for the trade terms. I actually prominent mock draft came up where the Patriots took him in the third round. Right to be fair, they went back eight spots. They did pick up a third and a fourth, so that that's a very Patriots move. And I feel like every time the Patriots do this trade back and then take someone no one liked, you at least have to bring up the name Logan Mankins. No one, no one ever said buy a pick more than Logan Mankins. And it worked out that one. There's many that didn't. Strange times the Chiefs. So I thought we're gonna move up and uh, get a wide receiver. They they're out of business, and they finish up with defensive end. George carloftis out of perdue, so they addressed their defense to two guys who can start. I think they took two guys in carloftus Uh and McDuffie that I think are kind of seen as two of the ready to go starters, and the Chiefs needed two starters. They're just gonna play rights iron Man. I like him slippery and now he's not smooth like butter Just. I think he's gonna with Greg. I think he's gonna be there in week one doing stuff good safety at a Michigan Taxton Hill goes to the defending a f C champion Bengals. And then finally, and this is sometimes a little sexy fun picked in the first round. Somebody will grab a quarterback at thirty two, but not this time. The Vikings pick in that spot and they take Louis scene scene. I feel seen out of Georgia. So after Picket goes at twenty and they were all those trades and the Hollywood Brown trade had already happened, even though it was for the pick. Like that, the draft was on fire. Then it was on fire. It was almost too much to handle. Uh. And then you had twelve straight defensive or offensive line picks, none of which I felt like a film that falls apart. After the midpoint, it petered out a little bit. Um. So that is the first round, and there are of course six more rounds to come Friday, rounds two and three, Saturday four or five, six, seven. We are going to get on a plane and head back to Los Angeles tomorrow and give you your final draft show. Now, any final thoughts marks. I just think Vegas. Vegas was great. I just think we have to talk a little bit about our week here and there are thirty six hours feel like a week. Yeah we we we got here a little over twenty four hours ago, and it's just like Vegas to me, didn't you guys think this was they got to bring the draft back here? Just there's something about this place that was perfect. The draft is sort of this totally artificial, made up event out of nothing, Like it's just Las Vegas. It's reading off names and it's in this city. Right, that's as artificial as can be. But it's all fun. Like the draft is fun. Vegas is fun. It like all, it all made sense wild out there. I love it. It's it's hope season. Everyone wins, uh except for except for Justin, And I think that is you see that optimism. Um. Tens of thousands of fans in the city today, UM, it's exciting to be here. I do miss the smaller version of this event that was at New York City, that was at Radio City Music Hall. But at the same time, when you see what they've turned it into and what a marketing bonanza this whole draft is, you get it. You get why it's never going back to a small room like at It's always going to be a blown out event. And it was done very well. Uh this night. One we did have on my closing thought is because we are saying good bye to Erica, and a lot of our great times with Erica been at events and it is fitting. There's a little bit of a Vegas vibe to um. Part of what Erica brings. We had a Mexican dinner last night that costs like four thousand dollars, because that's how I bought a toothbrush today that cost fourteen dollars. So that's maybe I'm fine with that. It just expense it thee. No, no, no, I I don't pay for it like the commissier. Can you expense the tooth? Yes, under the under the tab miscellaneous? Okaya? And I know you had to buy similar things, Erica. But we had a great night. Um, we had a nice picture of Margarita's and you know we had gondola's. We're going by us in the water. Don't tell the whole public you guys called gondolas. We don't need to won the pole did Actually no, actually, I can't believe you just told our vast audience that you say that wrong. Well, I was gonna wat you guys off the hook on that. Me and Hank were mortified that you call it a gondola. Eric and I are very firm and where we stand on this, I'm not really concerned with Yeah, but Erica will miss you, we all will. And uh, it was a nice way to say kind of goodbye. Yeah, we got one more show with Ricky, but it won't be uh, it won't be in person. So yes, this is ah the end of an era and we're gonna we're gonna miss you. Girl sucks um on that note, but it's been a great time here and and thanks to everybody behind the scenes that's helped us out um make this a professional operation. Not only do we have this like badass set, we also have guests coming right off the stage, added bro Hugs, and one of the guests was Yes Cavon Thibodeaux the New York Giants, UH future star. I think if this kid can play and everything that he did in college tells us he's going to be an impact player in our league. His personality is going to be exactly what the Giants need Forget all that other stuff about him that he might not be focused or he's gotta in and out motor who No, I don't know about how he's gonna play, but if he does produce to go with that personality. I was blown away by how New York City ready this man is. He he is, he is part of the around the NFL. Here you get a chance to do it, Greg, here we go do it. Alright, let's let's roll it back. Okay, now you know you're the part you say to do it part? I got it. I just forgot what she says a little early on the cube, but I liked it. I like, all right, here we go. Thank you. Everybody for listening. We'll be back Saturday night with a full draft recap. We close with our second conversation with Cavon Thibodeaux in three days. It was a lot of fun, and it was a lot of fun doing the show and watching round running the draft from Las Vegas. See us Saturday till then heed the call and we are back. No, all right, here we are. It was just a couple of days ago that Cavon Thibodeaux came to the NFL Media studios and saw our podcast taping and jumped in booted m J d out and we had a conversation. As a Jets fan, I said, Cavan to New York, that would be awesome. Well, didn't work out with the Jets, but the Giants get you, and I know as a native New Yorker, Yeah, listen, I I would have loved it if you were on my team. Like Sauce too though. So you're a top five pick in New York. It feels like I'm match made in heaven. It does, but you know, it's even funnier about it. Being here with you, guys, is the true meaning of manifestation. Yeah. I came in yesterday. I came in. Was it two days ago? I crashed the show? It was great. We didn't you know. We had a great time. And now I'm back and it's even better because I just got drafted by the New York Giants and the annual Manifested top five pick. You said that specifically they get to five, and then I think someone listened to our podcast and they just like, we gotta take we must do it. And you know what happened. I didn't tell anybody, but I was manifested in New York too. I was playing. I took him, I took I took all the staff to Korean barbecue. I brought him. I had him all you can eat. I butted him up. You know, are we really got to break bread and they really got to see that I'm hungry. Literally when we talked to you just forty eight hours ago, whatever it was, you didn't mention the Giants. Did you did you truly have a feeling? Did they talk to you? Did they give you a sense that you might be the guy? You know? The GM Joe he faced time me right before I got on the plane to come out here. He didn't even think I was gonna answer. He said, oh wow, you answered, I said, what you mean, coach, while not mean would I'm not answered, but that's I had a feeling, I said, you know, and then you know, he did the video call and everything. I know, I'm just saying that and that's a little too much that for me, it's about building trust and it's about family, right, So I'm coming into their family and you gotta do what it takes to find that trust and find that love for you know, those guys. And we were just you know, talking to Sauce and with the Jets, that's been eleven years since they made the playoffs. The Giants have a much more rich history super Bowl history, but they've also fallen a very hard time. So just like the way Jets fans are looking for brighter tomorrow, the Giants fans are in that position to And Evan Neil from Alabama also is gonna shore up the other side of the ball on the trenches. It seems like you guys have a chance to lead a new charge there. That's what I'm talking about. And you know the greatest part, we started together and we're gonna finish together. In the same way that I went with Piney School, and we we grinded, we put each other to work, and we got better. That's the same thing that's gonna happen in New York. We're gonna put We're gonna put each other to the test, and we've come every day blow for blow. Is that? Is that? What that meant? That's hunger? You know what I mean? And when you know and and the greatest part is when you know a guy's just as hungry, when you know that he's gonna bring it. He's gonna throw that right hook and I'm gonna throw the jab. But we're gonna go back and forth. When you think about the someone like jail and hurts other quarterbacks in your division, what would you tell them verbally right now about what their their future in the NFC East. I'm not gonna tell him nothing. I have no worries. Did you What did you say to Suss What did you say to saus Gardner when you guys, SA, my man, you know we went a couple of business. We went on a couple of business with each other. Man, So now to see us, you know, end up in New York. I told him, I said, call me, man, we write down the road, call me and then when we play, I'm deleting your number and I'm blocking him coming to bunch and you know again. Cycling back to our conversation tuesday, Greg, he overstepped a little bit and said, are we friends now? Rightly? You said no, we're not. Now quickly, how about now? Are you Greg's friend? Now? Right now? We're acquaintances? That thing you gotta We haven't even eating together. I'm still hung every time I'll get you, guys, I've been hungry. So it's hard to find that loving side when you're you're thinking about the cow. We're making progress though, I mean that they they got Korean barbecue in Las Vegas. You're not busy tonight? Now, come on, now, what are you gonna do tonight? What do you mean? I'm gonna go to sleep and I'm gonna wake up so i can get on that plane. I don't want to be in Vegas. I want to be in New York? Are you serious? And you know what? Like, I'm from l a who cares about Vegas? New York. It's like, sometimes I think it's way overblown. Are you gonna be the handle of the New York media and all that? Man? If you have Cavon Thibodeaus like outlook on things. They're gonna love you. And if you produce, and I think you will, you're gonna be an instant superstar in that town. So get ready, you're gonna own that place. I think I'm not gonna own it. There's gonna be a partnership because I'm gonna put everything I can into them, and I know they're gonna pour all the love and support into me. Sometimes I feel like Cavan has a script and then he writes these things. Now's not perfect dancers, it's perfect dancer and that, and that's the difference. It's in me. It's really in my heart, and I feel like God is speaking for me. I'll never I'll never speak words that he doesn't put into my brain. All right, Well, then during the season and we gotta come back for the trilogy, like any any good movie series, like you can't just do too and we move up from acquaintances to like, howood you know what happens in Hollywood? I'm gonna be on the show. I'm not gonna be on the show. I'm gonna be a part of the show. That's like that that are you totally ghost uff it's gonna be one or the other, one or the other, all right, Cabon, thank you so much for joining us. Dude, really are excited for you. Excited to put some juice back in the meadowlands. Uh. And good luck eating this year and going forward to the NFL. Than spe