transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:06] Welcome to The Ringer NFL Show. I'm your host, Sheil Kapadia, the first round of the NFL draft delivered, as it always does. It's one of the best nights on the entire NFL calendar, the Los Angeles Rams selecting quarterback Ty Simpson at 13. That was the headline. And then a bunch of different stuff happened. The Cardinals taking Jeremiyah Love, a bunch of different trades. We're gonna get into all of it with my friend, Deontay Lee from The Ringer. Let's take a break. We'll come back with first round takeaways with Deontay. All right, we are back here on The Ringer NFL Show. After what is just, Bill, one of the best nights on the entire NFL calendar is round one of the NFL draft. Whether it's a draft that has juice, doesn't have juice, whatever, the first round of the NFL draft always delivers. I'm here with my friend, Diante Lee. And Diante, we have such a straightforward A story from the first round of the NFL draft. That's what we're gonna start with, and then we'll get to the other stuff that happened throughout the night, but pick 13. The Los Angeles Rams on the clock, and they draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. I actually don't want to tell you what I think about this at first. I want to know what you think about this first, Diante, a team with Super Bowl Aspirations drafting their quarterback of the future to replace Matthew Stafford. What was your level of surprise and what is your take? Do you think this is a smart move from a smart franchise? Are you annoyed by it? Where do you land on the emotion meter here with Ty Simpson going to the Rams?

Speaker 2:
[02:02] I have to say, if there's one thing the Rams know how to do is to inject a little bit of drama into anything football related. And it was so perfectly timed, right? Because they're picking at 13. There are some people who went kind of in that 8 to 12 range. I was like, oh, those would have been interesting picks for the Rams, actually. You had Kenyon Taddee, who was still on the board. You had Arubin Bayne still on the board. So there were just like some question about, okay, if you go best player available, that could make this really interesting. What are the Rams actually thinking? And then the pick is in and you get all this anticipation for a wide receiver. This might be or, you know, an offensive tackle or something like that. And then it's a quarterback, right? And I mean, what I said, like, I was reeling for several minutes, just trying to wrap my head around all of the different angles that could be at play here. What does this mean about Matthew Stafford? Does this mean anything about Matthew Stafford in 2026? Does this have to do with Jimmy Garoppolo potentially retiring? What does this say about Sean McVay and his future? All of those things are happening in my head. And then you're trying to filter it through what I think everybody in NFL media would accept as a truth, which is that the Rams and the NFC, at least, are very much poised to go contend for a championship. And I think if you were asking me to put some lettuce down on one team that I expect to be in the Final Four next January, I'm taking the Rams just off roster alone and how they're positioned. And that's just, it's not very often that you see a team that you would consider that way with a high pick go out and get their quarterback of the future, right? Like the two timeline thing is just not really a thing that you hear about very often in the NFL anymore. And I think that if you're asking me how I feel about the player and then the fit, I think the fit is interesting. I actually kind of like the fit for Ty Simpson. This is one of the few places where he can land on like, you know what? I get it. Because for a guy who only had one year as a starter was injured, so you kind of have some incomplete tape. You're evaluating, knowing the fact that you're not getting the best or most representative sample size because it was battling through injury and obviously you don't have multiple years or different systems to kind of judge him against. It's nice to land in a place like LA where you can take your time. You can learn a new system. You can play behind a very seasoned veteran. You're obviously playing for the best play caller in the NFL. You have two great receivers here, at least in 2026, and we'll see what the future holds after that. So all of that sounds and looks great for Ty Simpson. But for the Rams, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around why this draft, why the first round of this draft had to be the one where you needed to go find your quarterback of the future.

Speaker 1:
[04:39] All right. That was very nuanced analysis, Diante, which we love. We've come to appreciate. But before I give you my thoughts, I do need to pin you down here.

Speaker 2:
[04:47] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[04:47] You're in the room. You're in, I don't know if they were in a mansion or, you know, I know sometimes the Rams, I think they were just in their draft room, but sometimes they rent out the places in Malibu or whatever.

Speaker 2:
[04:57] I like to believe I'm like in Santa Monica or something like that.

Speaker 1:
[04:59] You're somewhere nice. It's nice, Diante. Nice spread, nice views, everything. And Les Need, maybe it gets to around pick eight. And Les Need brings in his brain trust and you're part of it. And he says, hands up. If I draft Ty Simpson, are you on board with this? Hands up if you're a yes. Does your hand go up or not?

Speaker 2:
[05:23] My hand doesn't go up because I'm too busy choking on my charcuterie that I'm eating on, just the idea of being tossed out into the ether there. That's kind of how I'm reacting, right? Is I've got the bug eyes in the room. I'm the one who's elbowing somebody in the side like, hey, I know that somebody brought this up as a potential thing. I can't believe we're actually talking about it right now. And I think I'm saying no. If my vote counts in that scenario, I'm probably saying no. There are too many other valuable players I think that you could be taking in that scenario.

Speaker 1:
[05:55] I'm saying no also. This is a classic battle. Forgive me for going third person here, Diante, but you got logical, analytical, Sheil versus emotional, common sense Sheil. And these two are kind of going. And analytical, logical Sheil is saying, Matthew Stafford's 38 years old. Good franchises, when they like a quarterback, you could always justify taking a quarterback if you like them, because the upside is so great that if you hit on it, guess what? You get that guy on a rookie contract and you've got one of the best coaches in the NFL and you're a well-run organization, that this is going to look like a genius pick, even though people panned it at the time, that you got your succession plan at quarterback, because you might not be picking this high for a while also. So you just sit and pick and it's just one pick. You like the guy, go ahead and take him. You got to do it every single time. You're going to look like a genius. But the part of me that is really winning over is the part of me saying, I know he's 38 years old, but he stayed healthy for 17 games last year and was the MVP, Matthew Stafford. And like you said, I have a chance, a great chance to win the Super Bowl this year. And I am blessed with the 13th overall pick and the possibility of adding a player that is going to help me right now in a game where the Rams know the margins in the NFL are so tiny. They know this better than anyone, Diante, two years ago. If Jalen Carter doesn't get in the backfield there on Matthew Stafford, the Rams might be in the Super Bowl. Last year, if there's not a weird two-point conversion on a Thursday night in a wacky game against the Seahawks, that doesn't happen, the Rams might have won the Super Bowl last year. And so when the margins are that slim, I am in all in, I want to go win the Super Bowl this year and I understand I need a succession plan for Matthew Stafford, but you know what? I got time to figure that out and I'm not doing it on a guy who has 15 career starts, who is undersized and who is just spending that resource on a player who's not going to get on the field for me in 2026, unless something goes horribly wrong. So I understand why you do it. I understand the logical aspect of it. I understand the team building, the roster building, the let's be smart about this, the premium position, the never pass up on a quarterback you like. And I still, not only would my hand have been down, I would have been standing up saying, Les, I love you. You've done a great job, but we can't do this, man. Who else is on your board? There's got to be someone here at a premium position that analytics has signed off on, that scouting has signed off on, that the coaching staff can't wait to get their hands on the coach because they're going to make an impact in 2026. And we're going to try to win the Super Bowl right now. That's how I would have come down on this. So it's hard for me to say because I understand it, but just in my gut, when I think if I'm a Rams fan, I'm like, no, no, I wanted someone who is going to get us over the edge because we've been so close the last two years. And this is not the guy who's going to get us over the edge, Deontay.

Speaker 2:
[09:18] Well, I'll do the analytical shield one better and say, this is the right move because we do expect to contend for a title in 2026, which means that in the 2027 draft, we're not even going to have access to get a Matthew Stafford replacement. And the Rams don't like to lose in order to get good again, right? They have been the kings of the F them picks type of mentality. This is not a team that's going to say, hey, we're willing to take our vegetables for a year if Matthew Stafford retires, or if worst case scenario, Stafford retires and McVeigh resigns, and they both ride off into the sunset. So yeah, it makes sense to take a quarterback here. I'll up the ante again and say, hey, we made our win in 2026 move already. When we gave up the other first round pick we had to go get Trent McDuffie. When we go back and we watch the NFC Championship game and we see that we're giving up a big play in the first big third down to Rashid Shaheed, and then that just ends up kind of painting the picture of this weakness that we've had at cornerback all year long. We went and we addressed that. We went out and got one of maybe the best eight to 10 players at that position, right? We went out and spent a premium pick on a premium player already. We checked that box and we're the Rams. We're arrogant. We believe that we were supposed to be playing in San Francisco last year. We believe we got robbed from playing in New Orleans two years ago, right? This is our belief is the Rams. We have been robbed. We have been right on the precipice multiple years, losing to the eventual champions and feeling like we took those teams down to the wire and on paper were more talented and we expect to be there again. So yeah, if I'm less need and I'm saying, Sean McVey, I've given you everything else you have asked for. This is your show after this day. But right now, I need something for less need. Who is going to be here in 10 years? I don't know if you're going to be here in 10 years. And I do know that Matthew Stafford won't be here in 10 years. This picks for me and I am making the ultimate call here. That doesn't mean that I love or agree with the pick. But again, analytically, logically, if we're just looking at the way that the draft board fell and the best way to maximize this pick in 2030, then yeah, Ty Simpson probably is the best move to make.

Speaker 1:
[11:33] I think you touched on my biggest question about this pick. And that is, was Sean McVeigh fully on board with this? And I know there will be more reporting that will come out. And I think there's already been reporting that Sean McVeigh really liked Ty Simpson. I'm sorry. I have a hard time thinking Sean McVeigh, the way he's wired and everything that he said over the years about winning and how much the Patriots Super Bowl aided him. And then he won the Super Bowl. And emotionally, he was in a weird place. All those things. I just have a hard time. And the flirtations with TV, which you kind of alluded to there. And this thought that when Stafford, is it just known that when Stafford retires, McVeigh is going to go do something else? Because then this is definitely not his pick. And so that part is really interesting to me that did did less need. Like you were kind of painting the picture there. Say, Sean, just tell me like I want your opinion on him. But you know, I have to do what's best for the franchise. And let's be honest, we don't know, just as we don't know how much longer Matthew Stafford wants to do this, we don't know how much longer you want to do this. Because I'm just thinking about McVeigh. And I'm like, McVeigh, it just screams to me like he's going to want veteran quarterbacks the rest of his career. And I think that's fine. He's like the, if I had a draft pick to any coach in the NFL, I think I would probably take Sean McVeigh right now. And if you have him with a veteran quarterback that he trusts, I feel great about my team. I don't care about what else is there. I feel great that he's going to figure it out. Because you know what, they coach, he coaches the offense to a top 10 level pretty much every year. And they win a lot of games pretty much every year. And so that is very interesting to me. That, you know, in all the post-draft stuff that comes out Monday and Tuesday, next week, like that's what I'm going to have my eye on. Jordan Roderig, we're going to be looking at you. No, a little bit like, wait a minute, take me behind the scenes. How did they land on Ty Simpson here, Deontay? Because I just, I can't get to a place where I forget what McVeigh says, where I'm like, this is what McVeigh wanted out of this pick.

Speaker 2:
[13:39] And this is where I think that, and it's going to be difficult, I think, and we're going to have to wait to find out what all the inner workings and what the conversations were to get some clarity on it. We would only be speculating today, but I have to wonder if maybe they had all of these potential situations lined up. Hey, if Jordan Tyson falls, we might be interested in taking him. Hey, if Francis Mauigoa falls, we might be interested in taking him. If Kaden Proctor lands here, we might be interested in taking him. And they're just watching one player after another just come off the board, come off the board, come off the board. They might have had a very short list of non-Ty Simpson picks that they were willing to spend on 13. And like I said, at the beginning of this segment, when we got to 13, I was fascinated with where they were going to go. Because a lot of the players I'm naming are the kinds of players that I had in mind. And honestly, if I was to think about any long-term project that the Rams might take on, it would have been something like, maybe I'm going to roll Freeling and you start teaching him right tackle to eventually compete with Warren McClendon. Maybe go get Max Ahonichore, which will be a reach. But you're saying, hey, great athlete, another guy who hasn't played a lot of football, we believe, in two or so years with the best play caller in football kind of helping him along the way, that he's going to be a plus plus level of tackle eventually. To walk out of this with the quarterback, man, like it truly boggles the mind. And I cannot wait, like you said, to just hear what the reporting is, what the conversations were. And I think ultimately what the timelines are for this organization. Like I said, the Rams have never struck me as a two timelines type of team. And you only make this pick if that's genuinely where you believe you are, which is that you can go out and win a Super Bowl or be in a Super Bowl in 2026, and that you can still be a playoff team in 2029 and 2030 because of the quarterback that you drafted now.

Speaker 1:
[15:28] Okay, here's the other ankle, Teonte, speaking of the two timelines. This opens up the possibility that Matthew Stafford's quarterbacking another team in 2027.

Speaker 2:
[15:38] Absolutely, it does.

Speaker 1:
[15:39] I mean, he's on the final year of his contract. Let's not forget, it was just last offseason, right? Where he was shopping himself to other teams. He was on the market. Couldn't get paid. Right, whether it was financially, whether it was Rams having concerns about him physically, whether it was a combination of the both, whatever it was, there was the possibility that Matthew Stafford was going to go to another team last offseason. Then he comes out, plays lights out, they have a terrific season, they have a terrific team last year. Well, now he's on the last year of his contract again. And so now you face a situation where after 2026, he may still want to keep playing. I know he's 38, but if he plays well, I mean, Matthew Stafford doesn't strike me as a guy who's like yearning to go retire if he thinks he can still do it. I mean, everything we've seen from him, if he can physically find some way to get himself ready to play a football game, he's going to do that until you drag him off the field. That is the way I see it with Matthew Stafford. So now you open up the situation where depending on how this next season goes, you're having a conversation and Stafford's saying, I'm worth this. And the Rams are saying, we don't think you're worth that. Last time we had this conversation, Matthew, we hadn't just drafted a guy number 13 overall. We actually have some leverage now. And Matthew says, oh yeah. And they say, yeah, no, we're being serious. And Stafford says, cool. There are a lot of teams that would love to have me in that Tom Brady Bucks mode for two more years or whatever it is. And they have a roster. Guess what? That I think their roster is better than your roster. And I'm trying to go win a Superbowl with them right now. Like that's kind of crazy that this absolutely opens up the possibility if you're these other teams that are thinking about, hey, what's the quarterback, you know, landscape around the NFL going to look like in 2027, this pick now it's like, oh, there's actually a realistic name there as a veteran who might be available on the market. So that is another fascinating.

Speaker 2:
[17:37] You've got the gears turning here because if we land in a situation like that, does that actually pit less need against both Stafford and Sean McVay? It's entirely possible that you have your head coach and your starting quarterback saying, we want to do this one more time. And the GM is saying, I can't wait until you're ready to leave.

Speaker 1:
[17:57] Yeah, he said it's time to turn the page.

Speaker 2:
[18:00] Exactly, like that is entirely possible. You know, like, you can't, I can't imagine that the Rams are just going to, in perpetuity for as long as Stafford wants to do it, say, hey, we'll just keep coming back to the table and we'll give you whatever money is left over on our cap. You know, we'll increase this, we'll tweak your incentives on this thing or that thing to go make this happen for you. I just can't imagine that it continues that way in perpetuity. Clearly this pick says that less need has a clear timeline in mind on when this thing is over with Matthew Stafford and that he was not going to be caught unprepared for that. And what that means for the tensions that might exist for the 2026 season. Not that this thing will melt down because Ty Simpson was drafted. But now this is just going to be a conversation. If this team gets out to a slow start, if Matthew Stafford's health is on the fritz again, the way that it was coming in a training camp, coming into the regular season this year. If the Rams defense doesn't take that extra leap after keeping Chris Shula and adding a Trent McDuffie and hoping that these young players continue to develop, what is all that going to mean for a team that they end?

Speaker 1:
[19:02] Pukka Nakua keeps acting like a boy. It's in the headlines every single week.

Speaker 2:
[19:08] Devontae Adams can't stay healthy because he's over that age clip for when we start to expect wide receivers to have a big dip in their play. There are all these things to me that are very tenuous when you talk about the Rams in a way that I might not have said had they not used their thirteenth pick on a quarterback. I was much more comfortable with, hey, let's just roll the ball out and see where things land because I feel pretty confident about where the Rams stand. And now I am just endlessly fascinated to see how this thing is going to go in 2026 for them.

Speaker 1:
[19:37] I mean, you're looking at the picks after that. Benga Yohane, Ruben Bain Jr., Kenyon Siddiq, Blake Miller. I mean, stop me when I get to a player who it's like, that wouldn't have been a nice addition for the Rams and made a lot of sense. Again, I understand it. Listen, I panned when the Eagles took jail in Ernst. I didn't get it then. And then I looked like a dummy. Years later, I do think this one is different given the year that Stafford just came off of last year and the other moves you've made in the off season. I mean, I'm excited for Trent Mcduffey, you know. Now he's young enough where that doesn't have to necessarily be, hey, we're all in right now. I understand, but they're just a team that is well positioned to win right now. And I don't think this is how I would have used my resource. But you know what? You got to be bold in the NFL. When you like a quarterback, you have to make tough decisions and I'm completely open to the idea that three years from now or maybe two years from now, I'll be on here going, I ripped it at the time. But man, that, you know, I guess McVeigh did, you know, maybe McVeigh does love him. And McVeigh's like, I'm sticking around if you get this guy. I mean, that's possible too. Where you say, no, I can win with this guy. If Stafford goes down, we can actually extend this Super Bowl window. If Stafford retires after 2020. That's possible too. It's just, there's a lot of sort of unknown there. And my initial reaction as we sit here, you know, just hours after it actually happened, is that I'm like, man, I don't think I would have done that. A very, very interesting story with the Los Angeles Rams. And I think Jay Glazer reported, they called Matthew Stafford earlier in the day. And we're like, hey, we're strongly considering this, just so you know, type deal. So they got out in front of that as well. And I guess there's always the possibility that Stafford says, hey, do something about my contract. You know, maybe I want another year or something now. I don't think that that would happen this late in the off season. But I don't know, show me the first veteran quarterback who's excited, especially a quarterback like him. He was in Detroit all those years and now he's got a chance to actually win it. Show me any veteran quarterback.

Speaker 2:
[21:46] He's fresh off an MVP.

Speaker 1:
[21:47] He's fresh off of that MVP who's like, that's cool. I understand it. No, that is not how veteran quarterbacks think, regardless of what he says publicly there with the Rams. So very interesting team as we look ahead to the rest of the off season. All right, let's take a break. We come back. We're just going to start at the top and be like, here are the picks. What do we need to sound off on? Because there was a bunch of other stuff that happened. But that Ty Simpson pick was absolutely the story from.

Speaker 3:
[22:15] From sauce to dust to nuggets. It's Taco Bell's new Diablo dusted crispy chicken nuggets. Are they mild? If they were mild, they'd have to change the name to little rascal nuggets or minor nuisance nuggets. Definitely Diablo. New Diablo dusted crispy chicken nuggets. A brand new classic, only at Taco Bell. At participating US Taco Bell locations for a limited time and while supplies last.

Speaker 1:
[22:41] Round one. We'll get to the rest of it when we come back. All right. We're back on The Ringer NFL Show. All right, Diante. Let's just start at the top here. We can decide what's interesting as we go. Raiders take Fernando Mendoza. We've talked about that before. I don't know that way and we'll have plenty of time to talk about that. I don't know that there's a whole lot more new things to say about Mendoza. I did think about this, Diante. Is there any other scenario where you throw a suit on but you're not leaving your house than this? No, probably not. I don't know that I've ever done it. Yeah, I don't think so.

Speaker 3:
[23:14] Dress shirt, maybe.

Speaker 2:
[23:16] Dress shirt, I'll do. But at home, no. Dress shirt and slacks is probably about the max that you'll get from me.

Speaker 1:
[23:24] Yeah, I agree. Maybe I should have thrown one on for this pot. That would have been another reason to do it. So the draft really started at two here, Deontay. And there's been this Arvell Reese, David Bailey trade down wild card. What were the Jets going to do? They end up taking David Bailey and they have a very eventful round one where they take David Bailey there. Then they take Kenyon Siddique with their next pick there, the tight end from Oregon at 16. And then they trade back into the first round, number 30. They take Omar Cooper Jr., the wide receiver from Indiana. So three first round picks. They get a wide receiver and a tight end. We know they needed pass catching help to surround the quarterback with. And then they spend their first pick on David Bailey. What did you think of the moves the Jets made and specifically that one for Bailey to go with him over Reese with the second pick?

Speaker 2:
[24:24] I honestly kind of, by the time the draft started, after all the hemming and hawing that I was doing internally about Bailey or Reese, I kind of just ultimately landed on, I think you're fine either way. I think it makes a lot of sense either way. They're both going to be guys that win with speed, right? Win with explosiveness, getting off the ball quickly on their first step. I think the upside in theory is higher with Reese. And I've maintained that throughout this process because there's a lot of intrigue about what he can do to get off the ball, the fact that he only has a limited amount of pass rushing snaps, that he was living in the backfield last year, in spite of playing this kind of dual role for Ohio State. Whereas David Bailey took a little bit longer to come along in his career, was more of a specialist early in his college days when he was at Stanford, really took until he got to play with all of these future pros at Texas Tech to get a breakout. So there was some things where if you wanted to find troubling information on David Bailey's profile, it was out there. But ultimately, you turn on the tape and you see a guy that could be a Nick Benito-esque edge rusher because of how fast he is, because of how explosive he is, and what he can do when he's a straight line rusher. So I thought that they would be okay no matter what. I think that the Kenyans to deep pick later on in pick 16, was actually one of the few times I was like, you know what, good for the Jets for just doing the common sense thing, for sitting at 16 and saying, whatever falls to us, best player available, especially on the offensive end, let's just go get a guy that can help us out offensively, so that way we're better prepared in the future to bring in a young quarterback. Then to me, trading up to number 30 to go get Omar Cooper was fascinating. I think it only makes sense if you genuinely believe that the Patriots were going to take him at 31 before they trade it out. That is the only way to me that that makes sense. Because I don't think that Seattle was primed to take a guy who is going to profile probably best as a number two or high in number three in an offense. But again, for the Jets, it's wise to go bring in another playmaker, somebody who can make Garrett Wilson's life easier, somebody who can go work the middle of the field, get you tough catches, go create after the catch. I think that they have built up their playmaking core really well on offense and they already have one of the better young offensive lines in the league in my opinion. So I think that the Jets ultimately walk out of the draft feeling like pretty big winners, at least walking out of day one feeling like pretty big winners. And I was really kind of curious to see whether or not they were going to be able to land the plane both at number two and at number 16. And I think that most people would say that they did.

Speaker 1:
[26:54] Yeah, I'm with you on number two. I wish I could come on here with a very strong take. No, they blew it. They should have taken Arvell Reese or this was a no brainer. I actually think it was a, it might have been a kind of a hard decision. You know, it makes sense that it was a hard decision whether you go Arvell Reese or David Bailey. I will say this, if they come out and say, and I don't think they're going to say this, but if they're like, we felt like Bailey could contribute immediately or if the reporting is like, well, they thought Reese had more upside, but Bailey was a safer bet. If it's anything like that, I'm going to be like, I don't like that process, that's bad process, that's short sighted. Why are you doing that? Who cares if the guy can contribute immediately? You're not going to be, you're not a contending team in 2026. I actually think this probably, and I think there'll be different narratives. There's this Aaron Glens guy also. I actually think it's going to come out to be just a simple, we weren't sure about Arvell Reese as a pass rusher. You've said that to me. You were studying him and you're like, no, that's like actually legit. That, yeah, he seems like a really fun player. He could be a great off ball.

Speaker 2:
[27:55] He's better at linebacker right now. Yeah, he's just better at linebacker right now.

Speaker 1:
[27:59] So if they're like at two, you know what, as much as we can kind of see the upside, but we're really not sure about it. And Bailey, we're sure or we feel really good about it, it's going to be a really good pass rusher. We're going to go with him. I think that is very reasonable. And I think there's nothing wrong with doing that. So it comes with some risk, you know, one year of big time production. Like you said, questions about his ability against the run Reese does have elite traits. There's a chance you passed up on a guy who turns out to be, you know, a great defensive player on the better defensive players in the NFL, but you're picking it too. There's always going to be the risk of passing on a guy like that. So as long as it was for the right reasons, this is another one. I want to see what they're saying about it. I want to see what the reporting says. I don't want to read the name Brick Johnson was, you know, really, I don't want to do that. None of that Jets nonsense.

Speaker 2:
[28:50] You don't want to think about Madden ratings right now?

Speaker 1:
[28:52] No, none of that Jets nonsense. If you just said, you know what, we felt like premium position, Bailey, great pass rusher, Reese, we were on shore. I'm on board. Good job. Sadiq, I'm with you now. I will say this about Sadiq. They did use what the 40th second pick or something on Mason Taylor last year. Not that you can't have two tight ends, but like I need Sadiq to maybe be the number two pass catcher, that type of profile in this offense. If you're spending that kind of resource on him, when you feel like you already have a good all around tight end in Mason Taylor. But you're right in terms of value, best player available. It does feel like, hey, let's not overthink this. Let's stick to our board. And then even the Cooper Jr. trade. And they gave up, I think, a fifth round pick to move up. So that to me, it's like, if you really feel strongly about that guy, and I do feel like they needed to add another wide receiver there to compliment Garrett Wilson, that I thought made sense also. So we know what this is about with the Jets. They're trying to set up an infrastructure for whatever quarterback they're adding in 2027. It's not about 2026. They want to find out, does Aaron Glenn give us anything as a head coach? And let's set up an infrastructure for the quarterback we add next season. And on paper, you added a playmaking tight end, who I think was a good prospect in Siddiq. And you added a yards after the catch wide receiver in Omar Cooper Jr. who can do the dirty work. So I think if you're a Jets fan, you feel pretty good about this and you still have all those, you know, all those picks next year when you're trying to land the quarterback. So it doesn't mean it's going to work out, but I don't think this is like a setback or like LOL Jets type night, which if you're a Jets fan, that's kind of all you're hoping for.

Speaker 2:
[30:32] 100%. I mean, it is just a win on that metric alone. You walked out with one of the two best edge rushers, potential edge rushers in this class, you walked out with the best tight end in this class, and you walked out with one of the most dependable wide receivers in this class all in the first round. Just on that alone, right? If we're just doing a blind item test and you took the Jets logo off the side of the helmet and you just said that a team left the first round with these players, you probably look up and say, okay, I think that they're probably setting themselves up to be in a better position next year than they are right now. I will say that I do 100% agree with you on Kenyon Sadiq. I think that you only pick him at 16 if when you watch his tape you say, this can be poor, not poor man's, but a lighter version of Trey McBride. This can be healthy Sam Laporta. This can be the first half of the season with Tucker Craft, right? Maybe not as a blocker, but as a receiving threat, somebody who can genuinely get you 20 to 25 yards on some of those touches over the middle of the field, because that's how dynamic and athlete he can be. I think in flashes, you can certainly see that with Sadiq. Certainly, you watch him test in the athletic profile, tells you that that's what he can be, but it's just not demonstrated enough for you to be confident in it. I think that that is probably the one thing that we will look back on when it's time to talk about 50 year options and what this team looks like years in the future, is whether or not Kenyon Sadiq can truly become one of the few game changing Titans that we have in the league right now.

Speaker 1:
[32:00] All right, third pick, Diante, the Arizona Cardinals, select Jeremiah Love, and I just felt vindicated for my Monte Austin court criticism in the bock draft exercise that we did. I mean, come on, I know if you're listening to this show, you say, Sheil, come on, we know what you're going to say. I mean, I hope Jeremiah Love has a Hall of Fame career, great prospect, fun player. I will enjoy watching him at some point. This is just a horrendous use of resources. I don't know how you make that pick. I don't know how you're allowed to make that pick if you're the Arizona Cardinals and you were three and 14 last year, and you're going up against Sean McVeigh and Mike McDonald and Kyle Shanahan and you have holes up and down your roster. You have no quarterback and you show no basic understanding of positional value. This isn't like a contending team taking him at eight or something like that. This is a team that could not afford to take Jeremiyah Love. I'm sorry, you're paying him over $13 million per year. To me, if I saw my GM make this pick, I would just be like, this guy doesn't understand roster building, positional value, the modern NFL, use of resources. Any of the things that you need out of your GM, this guy doesn't understand. And tomorrow, I'm letting someone else make the picks for day two and day three. And I'm saying move on. Now, I will say this, it is Arizona. So we, again, the stuff comes out after the draft. We might read that Bill Bidball was like, I want Jeremiyah Love.

Speaker 3:
[33:40] Or you think Jeremiyah Love or you're getting fired.

Speaker 1:
[33:42] That absolutely could be what happened here. And if it is, I'll rip the, we already should rip the ownership. Their ownership is horrendous. I mean, they are just playing, they're just swimming in like the kids pool with the rest of the teams in that division. So, they're dumpster fire from top to bottom. And that's not going to change. And just maybe this will be, there's always a chance, you know, you say, sure, well, what if he's a Hall of Famer? You can literally justify any pick with that. You could trade three first round picks and draft a, you know, who, you know, some safety, no one's ever heard of with 20th overall in the first round. Well, what if he's a Hall of Famer? Yeah, okay, if he's a Hall of Famer, then all right, you nailed it there. The point of the draft is you don't know. You have to make decisions without knowing. You're projecting there's uncertainty. You're making a bunch of bets and hoping that your process was good enough that you're gonna hit on enough of them to build a good roster and the Cardinals, I honestly don't know how anyone could justify this pick, Diante.

Speaker 2:
[34:42] It's so tough, right? And there are so many ways. And I think that this applied to Ash and Gentie when we were analyzing the way that the Raiders were struggling last year, right? Is that the conversation about positional variables, running backs, the person who ends up being the biggest victim of all is the running back. Because we spend so much time talking about everything other than who they are as players, right? And it does stink for a Jeremiyah Love in this instance, but the financials just are what they are. And it's not love's fault that the Cardinals happened to land at third overall and fell in love with them. It's just the fact that, again, to your point, of the use of resources and how poorly they were managed in this instance, right? I saw a tweet right after the pig had gone in where somebody was laying out all the guaranteed money that he's set to get, because it's north of $15 million over the length of the contract, and it's more guaranteed money than any running back has ever received. And I think it's a little sensational to reframe it that way, because you have to talk about just the growth of the cap. So I wanted to go back and look at just percentage of the cap and contextualize that based off of what we've seen. And around like the high watermark has been Todd Gurley at about 8% when he got his extension, when he was playing for the Rams. Christian McCaffrey has kind of hovered in that 7.5% to 8% of the cap with San Francisco and then with Carolina back then. And right now for me, Jeremiah Love37 is going to be making about 5% of the cap on an annual basis, at least at the start of the 2026 season. That doesn't sound so debilitating for a team, but then you look comparatively, right? You have to treat contracts like real estate, right? You want to get your comps in the marketplace. That's going to tell you what to expect in terms of your return on your investment. For that 5% of the cap to be worth it, quote unquote, for the Cardinals, Jeremiah Love37 has to walk in the league immediately and basically be as good as James Cook. He's got to be as good as like Prime Alvin Kamara, because Alvin Kamara makes about 5% of the cap. And he got that deal when he was playing like a top three running back in the NFL, right? For comparison purposes, I think Jamiyah Gibbs is making like 2.5% on AAV against the Lions cap. And that's maybe at worst the second best running back in the league right now. So it is going to take a humongous effort from Jeremiah Love to make the finances make sense. And it sucks for him that he is now drafted to a team that has been bad along the interior for two straight years now. They don't have any good answers. They don't have a quarterback, to your point. They haven't even established enough talent as far as receivers to get teams to give you the light boxes that will make life easier for Jeremiyah Love.

Speaker 1:
[37:19] No, he is going to fail. Their teams are going to be gearing up to stop him every single week. They don't have a quarterback. Yeah. I mean, it's like you said, the running backs end up being the victim, which is why I tried to begin with player phenomenal. I see what everybody else sees. And I hope he has a great career. I wish he would have landed with another team.

Speaker 2:
[37:40] Literally anywhere else.

Speaker 1:
[37:42] Literally, literally, anywhere else than this Arizona Cardinals team. All right. That's Jeremiyah Love37.

Speaker 2:
[37:50] It stinks for him. I do hope that he turns out to be like a Jamal Charles level, like efficient runner. That's what it's going to take. That's what it's going to take, I think, for him to be properly appreciated in Arizona. I think that the most likely outcome is that for the first three or so years of his career, it's high volume, low efficiency, and nobody gets to appreciate this otherworldly talent that he does have in his body.

Speaker 1:
[38:13] Yeah, there you go. All right. Pick number four, Diante. This was a surprise, early surprise. The Tennessee Titans go carnel tape at four wide receiver out of Ohio State. And then they end up making a second pick in the first round. They trade up to 31 and they take Keldrick Falk, the edge from Aubur in a trade up with the Buffalo Bills. They went from 35 to 31. I think we might disagree on this one. I kind of liked what the Titans did.

Speaker 2:
[38:46] We don't disagree.

Speaker 1:
[38:47] Okay, you don't disagree. Okay, I guess.

Speaker 2:
[38:49] We don't disagree here.

Speaker 1:
[38:50] Listen, I understand that there were other players, like if they would have taken Arvell Reese or Sonny Stiles or Ruben Bain Jr., I wouldn't have had an issue with it. But if you have these guys sort of graded similarly, or if you're looking at like what we just talked about, and you're looking at what wide receiver threes get paid in the NFL nowadays, and you say, you know what? We have a second year quarterback who we are trying to develop, and let's go get him a wide receiver who can really help. I was kind of fine with them doing that here at four over the other guys. And you know what? I thought we just talked about Jeremiyah Love. Wish he would have landed anywhere else. I love Keldrick Falk landing with Robert Solak. I don't know if Robert Solak is going to be a good head coach or not, but there's one thing I know that Robert Solak can do. That is take a pass rusher with some talent and get the most out of him. I mean, he's built his entire career off of that. So Keldrick Falk was slipping and slipping and slipping. And I was surprised about that. I know he had the lack of production at Auburn, but I thought he was a pretty exciting player that I thought could have gone earlier in the first round. And I'm like, I love that he lands with Robert Solak. So now you get a pass rusher for Solak, you get a wide receiver for Cam Ward. And if I'm the Titans, I'm like, I like to make fun of the Titans. I generally am making fun of the Titans on The Ringer NFL Show. I like what they did in the first round here, Diante.

Speaker 2:
[40:10] I have every reason to, like, good for Mike Borganzi, being able to get this done.

Speaker 1:
[40:14] Yeah, and a big spot coming through.

Speaker 2:
[40:16] You and I have been kind of hammering this all off season, that every year the Titans are reshaping their front office. Somebody's getting fired, somebody's getting demoted, somebody's got a new direct report. There is always some kind of chaotic restructuring happening because people are always kind of elbowing each other to get closer to Amy Adams Strunk, to have the final say on what goes on with this roster and this franchise. This time, this was a very calm, collected, focused way to approach the draft. And to me, the only way this could have been better is if they would have been able to trade back and be able to get these players, right? Is if they would have been able to, maybe you start, you know, negotiating with a team like Kansas City. And that's not to say that they didn't call, but if you were able to land a trade package or you were able to fall back a little bit further and still be able to get a good wide receiver and a good edge rusher instead of having to trade up to get Keljic Falk late in the first. But ultimately, if we're just evaluating the players that they brought in the building, I was very concerned that they were going to be the Jeremiyah Love team. I was very concerned that they were going to reach for another player or, you know, make a poor trade where they weren't able to get requisite value back for the number four pick. But this was a very calm, focused, strong plan to add a dependable wide receiver, which they literally don't have on roster right now. They don't have a single wide receiver on roster. You can trust on a week-to-week basis, a snap-to-snap basis, in some cases, to be where they're supposed to be in the finished plays with catches. That's instantly addressed now at Cardinal Tate, even if he doesn't become some AJ Green or Julio Jones level wide receiver that you would typically associate with the top five pick. And then for Keldrick Falk, I think there were a lot of places he could land where I would have panned the pick, right, because he's not a fully fleshed out pass rusher. There are issues with his first step. He doesn't always have a full repertoire. His finishing on his pass rushes aren't always the greatest. But you went to the one spot where you know they're going to line him up wide and say, Keldrick, I want you to use all 280 plus pounds to just go crush the pocket for me and take all your great run stopping skills and potentially be an even better version of what we saw from Michael Williams in the first few weeks of the season with the 49ers when Robert Salo was there. And I do think that that is absolutely a possibility, especially for a guy who is not going to be 21 until the start of the season, or is 21 now and is not going to turn 22 for a little while. You have a long runway to get this right with a guy like this. And the same with Tate. I think you should feel very good on both sides of the ball walking out of day one if you're the Tennessee Titans.

Speaker 1:
[42:48] Yeah, there are ways where this could have gone horribly wrong for the Titans. And I don't think it went horribly wrong. I think it went pretty well for them here in round one. All right, the New York Giants, Deontay. Arvel Reiss falls to them. So a player that we thought could go as high as number two falls to them at five. And they take the linebacker slash possibly edge slash. Let's see how this kind of plays out for him in the NFL. But exciting player there at number five and then at 10 in the pick, he got in that trade with the Cincinnati Bengals for Dexter Lawrence. Francis Mauigoa46, another player who potentially could have gone earlier. I remember we did a mock, what was it, a month ago, and we thought, hey, maybe he goes three to the Cardinals. He ends up still there at number 10. So they get Mauigoa46, the tackle from Miami, and they get Arvel Reiss, the linebacker from Ohio State. This is another one where I like what they did with their resources there. Those picks make a lot of sense to me. So I like what John Harbaugh, who by all accounts is running the draft room and just putting his foot down for the players he wants and the personnel decisions that he wants. I thought he did a nice job here for the Giants.

Speaker 2:
[44:01] Big time agree on that. I didn't imagine that Arvel Reiss would be available to them at five. So the second that their pick was up, I was like, oh yeah, this makes all the sense in the world. And this is a great scenario to drop Arvel Reiss into because you already have a veteran starter at linebacker and Chamean Edmonds for him to learn from. And you've got a great three player rotation on the edge with Kay Von Timidow, Abdull Carter and Brian Burns. So that means that now Arvel Reese doesn't have to be anything, or doesn't have to be great at anything in year one. You've got all the time in the world to flesh out what you want his role to be. Is he going to do certain things on passing downs? Is he going to do different things in base personnel? Do you want to use him to erase certain matchups? Are you going to use him to attack offenses? You have plenty of time now, if you're a defensive coordinator, Janara Wilson, to sort this out and get this right with him. I like that pick at five. And then at 10, I think that we will have some questions ultimately on what's to come for Francis Mauigoa. There are reports about this herniated disc that he has in his back that is severe enough where if something goes wrong during training camp, that means that he could lose his entire rookie season, right? That report is out there. And I do think that that had something to do with why he fell behind someone like Spencer Fennot as an offensive tackle in the top 10. But for New York, again, another situation where you have Jermaine Illuminor to play right tackle. Francis Mauigoa, I know it doesn't have to be your starting right tackle if you don't want him to be. You could slide him right in and allow him to play on the interior. That's going to give him an opportunity to kind of hone his skills. You actually get to use the best of him, which is him as a run blocker, him as a powerful mover of bodies. I think if you're the Giants, this is another team. I feel like we have just been kind of ticking them off one by one in this top five outside of Arizona that did exactly what they were supposed to do with their picks.

Speaker 1:
[45:51] Yeah, I like the Mauigoa. I like when there are picks that can theoretically solve multiple problems. And I looked at Mauigoa and I thought, all right, if Andrew Thomas or Illumina, like they have two good tackles, but if one of them goes down with an injury, now you have an option for that.

Speaker 2:
[46:05] You don't have to start Daniel Fahlele. I was saying that.

Speaker 1:
[46:07] Right. If they're healthy, now he's playing right guard for you. And it's like, wow, actually, it was a pretty good offensive line last year. It could be a better offensive line this year. Now you're a young quarterback. You're protecting him, which is obviously going to be huge for Jackson Dart. So yeah, I thought that was a draft that made sense for the Giants. All right, let's take one more break. We come back, Chiefs make a trade, get up to six, and then we'll work our way down to some of more interesting picks later in the draft. But the top of this draft was very interesting. So top five.

Speaker 3:
[46:39] Tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla? Smooth caramel maybe? Or a white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries.

Speaker 1:
[46:54] Top 10, we'll focus on that, and then we'll move on to the other picks. All right, we're back on The Ringer NFL Show. So the Kansas City Chiefs had the ninth pick. They move up to six with the Cleveland Browns. They give up 74 and 148. Those are the two extra picks that they gave up there, a third and a fifth, and they draft Mansour Delane, the cornerback from LSU. So that's their pick at six. And then way later in the draft, they had the 29th pick from the Trent McDuffie trade. They draft Peter Woods, the defensive tackle from Clemson. Diante, I thought this was a huge draft for the Chiefs. We said it, when's the next time they're going to be picking this high? It's not that I don't like either of those players. I come away feeling a little bit underwhelmed by what they got with the draft capital they have, and then you throw in that they lost two additional picks. So they spent their two first rounders plus a third, plus a fifth on Mansour Delain and Peter Woods. And maybe I'm just thinking in my head, man, I thought they were going to maybe get a little bit help on offense there, specifically a pass catcher, and that didn't happen, or maybe an edge, and that didn't happen. And I feel a little uncertain about how they used their draft capital here. I don't know, is that fair or is that unfair? I'm actually not sure, what do you think?

Speaker 2:
[48:27] I don't think I'm sure either. I will say I'm not exactly bought into the idea that they had to move up to six to get Montserrat Delaney.

Speaker 1:
[48:35] Oh yeah, I totally agree with that.

Speaker 2:
[48:37] I don't know why that had to cost them extra draft capital. I'd have to believe New Orleans must have always been in on Jordan Tyson because I can't imagine there was another team ahead of Kansas City that would have taken him, so that's a team that's not taking a defensive player there. I think that now we can kind of look at Washington and say, they were always just going to take a linebacker. I think that they were just hoping that Sonny Styles was going to fall to him, and if not that, then maybe Jeremiyah Love, if he would have fell. I don't think that they would have blocked Kansas City from getting Delaney if that's who they were interested in. So good job by the Browns to be able to gin up enough interest in the number six pick to be able to get Kansas City to feel like, we've got to be antsy here, we've got to make a big leap to go get our guy because he might not be available if we wait at nine. I think Delaney is fine. I think I heard on the ESPN broadcast when they were talking about other past great LSU DBs, they were invoking the names of Morris Claiborne coming out, Patrick Peterson, Tyron Matthew coming out. I don't know if I believe that he has that kind of ceiling in the league. That's just not the kind of player I see. But I do see a solid man-zone, hybrid guy, somebody who's going to make tackles. He's very physical, both at the line of scrimmage and at the catch point. He knows how to turn the ball over. He's going to be willing to take on matchups against top-level receivers. I don't know. I think that probably your best case scenario for a guy like that is that he turns out to be like a Kamari Lasseter, who was not a top-10 pick. I think that that's why it's such a big win for the Sextons, is that they got a guy like Lasseter later on in the draft, and they were able to work him into being one of the best number two corners in the NFL. I think that that's a great outcome for Delaney, and that to me is just not worth trading up and not worth taking at number six. Woods, I can kind of go either way. I think he's a better player than the tape that we saw in 2025. I also think specifically for the Chiefs, that I don't know if they needed another defensive tackle here. I think I would have liked to have seen them, even if it was maybe a reach to go try to take a shot at an edge, or to go try to take a shot, maybe on offense. Maybe go address a need on the offensive side of the ball to help this O out once Patrick Mahomes is healthy, if we're to assume that he's going to be ready to go in week one of the 20-26 season. I think I come away looking at the players feeling kind of meh, and I guess we're just going to be stuck in this forever holding pattern of just waiting to see if number 15 can turn this team into what they want to be, a Super Bowl contenders, because I don't know if either of these players at their best is going to do that for them.

Speaker 1:
[51:07] Yeah, I don't, as you were talking, it's like I don't have an issue with them taking Woods where they took him. Like, you know, it is a premium position, and he was a player who before the season, you would have said, no way are they, are you going to get Peter Woods at 29? So I'm fine with taking the flyer there. If they feel like there's more to him that they can get, it's just like, it's uncertain. You know, it does feel boomer busty with Peter Woods, and maybe, you know, it'll work out great, and that'll be the steal of the first round. That's possible. The corner situation is just so interesting because of all the preceding moves they made, where they trade Trent McDuffie, where they let Jalen Watson walk, and now you are getting Delaney on a cheaper contract than those guys. So that, but is he going to be like, how is he going to compare? You know, is he going to come in and play well right away for you? I'm with you, the scheme fit and everything is there, and you're still paying him because you're at the sixth pick, you're paying him over $10 million per year, and you use multiple picks on him when you look at the trade up. I think a lot of people said when they traded McDuffie, it was like, come on, Spags can just take anybody and he's got a track record. And I was like, okay, I could kind of buy that. He has done that, but that's not what they're doing. Now you just gave up sort of a valuable resource on a corner back here in Montour-de-Lane. So I do have some questions about it. I'm not like, it's a disaster. What were they thinking? I just don't feel as good about it as some of the other teams we talked about. So I'm sure we'll be talking about the Chiefs a lot here in the months ahead there, but that's kind of how I saw that one.

Speaker 2:
[52:43] I mean, they stay at nine and take Caleb Downs. I think I'm probably walking out of this feeling pretty happy. And I think they had a need for a player like Downs in the lane, even if they would have lost out on getting one of the top corners in this class. I mean, knowing that Jermont McCoy was going to be available after the first round, right? I think the league pretty clearly said that they were, they're feeling a little bit cooler on his knee than maybe his pro day would have suggested that they might have felt otherwise. You could have still gotten a good corner. I mean, Avian Torell is still out there. You still have plenty of other options that you can go add in that they do have a track record of being able to develop guys who are either undersized or not perfect in man or zone coverage or need some development. And that would have made a lot more sense to me to give up extra draft capital. I think that Delane will have to be a Patrick Peterson level cover guy for that to make sense. I don't know if I have that as a projection, as a realistic projection for him based off his tape coming out of LSU. Still like the player though. Of course.

Speaker 1:
[53:41] Yeah, I'm with you. I like the player. Maybe he will have that upside. It's the draft like we just said, it's very hard to project. I'm with you. I don't quite see him that way as we sit here right now. You mentioned the commander Sonny Stiles at seven. Very fun pick. Universally liked player, it feels like. And now they have someone who can be the face of that defense if they try to build it up with the new defensive coordinator. So like that pick for the commanders, St. St. Jordan Tyson at nine. We've talked about him. That's another boomer bust pick where I get taken the flyer on him there. I shouldn't even call it a flyer, but I see making him the top of your board there because if you hit, it's like this guy could be an incredible wide receiver. Could have an incredible pairing with him and Chris Olavi. It's just a matter of is he going to play and he's missed 34 percent of his college games. I did love the emotion. Like that's what the draft is really about. We analyze all the where I should, I just speak for myself, resources and this and that, but that's why the first round of the draft. Honestly, the entire weekend is so fun when you just see the emotion pour out of like hitting a guy that, man, I have worked so hard for this exact moment. And I've dreamt, I've envisioned of this exact moment and me actually playing in the NFL since I was whatever, eight years old. And now, oh my God, I just heard my name and I can't contain myself. I thought that was one of the coolest moments of the night when he was just kind of breaking down on his way even up to meeting Roger Goodell there.

Speaker 2:
[55:16] I mean, you just think about what the story specifically is for Tyson in this pre-draft process. He's had to hear about how he's not tough because he gets hurt and he's not gonna give you anything after the catch and here are all these things that are wrong with him as a player and why you can't trust him to potentially be your top receiver and to know that you had that great private workout and that New Orleans clearly was bought in enough to give you that shot in the top 10. I cannot imagine what a roller coaster ride it's been for Tyson because a lot of that critique in my evaluation of him was kind of unfair. I saw a really good receiver when I watched him on tape. Obviously, the injury concern is just are what they are, right? Like he is just somebody who has been bitten by the injury bug. A lot of times has been, you know, unlucky circumstances or getting hit in particular kinds of ways. But when you see him on the field, you see a guy who gets open, you see somebody who makes catches outside of the frame of his body. I saw someone who could be like Stefan Diggs. And if he drops Stefan Diggs back into his draft, he goes in the first round and probably high based on what you got out of him in his career. So I think that if you're Tyson, it's obviously an emotional overcoming of circumstances or overcoming of all the critique and the nitpicking in his game. And like you said, I think that's a great fit. And what a boat of confidence if you're Tyler Shuck as a quarterback, that your franchise is saying, hey, we're going to go get you the firepower you need because we think that you can run this show.

Speaker 1:
[56:39] There you go. All right. The Browns you mentioned earlier, nice job. Like you said, you created a market for the Chiefs to have to move up, so you got additional draft capital, third and fifth, and you still get the offensive tackle you wanted in Spencer Flanau at number nine there. And then later you get Casey Concepcion. So I think it was like, I think everybody was like Browns are going to come out of the first round with offensive tackle and wide receiver. And they ended up being able to do that while also getting additional draft capital. So I thought the Browns did a nice job there. The Giants we mentioned already, they had the 10th overall pick. Number 11, Diante. The Cowboys trade up with the Dolphins, just one spot, and they take Caleb Downs' safety, Ohio State, maybe one of my favorite player team pairings of the first round. When I look at the Cowboys with their new defensive coordinator, and Christian Parker, and wanting those safeties to just be the smartest guys on the field and able to do multiple things and get everybody lined up in what could be a complex defense and a Cowboys defense that needed playmakers on the back end. I love the move there to go up and get Caleb Downs at number 11.

Speaker 2:
[57:54] Another interesting one, because when they move up to 11, I'm like, okay, maybe you're jumping in front of Miami because Miami was between the edge rusher that you wanted and maybe something else, or maybe like an offensive tackle, and you're just making that move for certainty. So I thought it was going to be a front seven piece. And then you start and you're like, oh, they really like Caleb Downs. I think it would be a good spot for Caleb Downs. And I love that fit, right? As somebody who's been able to go and watch the Eagles up close and personal, and you see Cooper DeGene calling out everything that our offense is about to do pre-snap, that image sticks out in my mind so much. And you think about Christian Parker, who was coming from Philadelphia, who has developed great defensive back play, now getting his guy to be his centerpiece in the defensive backfield. Somebody who can be close to the ball and go communicate to the rest of the guys that this is what they're seeing, being able to be close to the ball, make tackles, force turnovers. I think that this is an ideal landing spot for Caleb Downs and a great way, I think, to speed up Dallas' hopeful contention odds in the NFC, right? I do think that they have a chance to become a frisky, really interesting team in the NFC if their defense is able to improve. So I love that for them. I think that really the bigger conversation is going to be whether or not Malachi Lawrence was worth taking at 23. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[59:09] What are your thoughts on that one? Because he was, if you look at the consensus boards, that was maybe the biggest...

Speaker 2:
[59:16] It's a bit of a reach, I think. I do think it's a bit of a reach.

Speaker 1:
[59:20] I mean, they took him at 23 in consensus boards. This is the edge from central Florida. Consensus boards had him around 37, the ones I was looking at. So yeah, that felt like a reach to me with their second pick.

Speaker 2:
[59:32] I think that an edge rusher like that would have still been available later on, right? Like, why not make a move for someone like a Zion Young, right? Who might be in a second, third round kind of guy. To get him in the first round, you would expect to turn on his tape and see a big body, long arm guy who wins with this combination of power and speed, like Alden Smith, right? When he was coming out of college. And I think that the best version of him is exactly that. As someone like an Alden Smith who can win with that combination of length, speed and power and can play the run just as well as he plays the pass. It's just too inconsistent on tape for me. I don't always see somebody who dominates the game. His flashes are as good as any edge rusher. Like it's just not on a down and down basis the way that you would like, especially for a team like Dallas that does need some immediate impact upfront. The fact that they were not able to get home to the quarterback immediately after trading Michael Parsons, was very palpable when you watch them play. Malachi Lawrence, I don't know if he's going to step in the league and immediately give you that. I don't know if he's going to be able to beat out someone like Arashan, Gary or Donovan Nezerasku as their top two edge rushers. If you're drafting a defensive player in the first round for a team that had one of the worst defenses in the league, I want to bring a guy in who as soon as he puts on my helmet is going to be at the top of this depth chart. I don't know if it's as clear for Malachi Lawrence right out the gate.

Speaker 1:
[60:57] Yeah, I thought we talked about Keldrick Falk. I mean, that would have been more if they would have come out of it with Caleb Downs and Keldrick Falk were probably singing a different tune here right now. But who knows? Maybe they nailed it with their evaluation. It feels like that's a player who they maybe could have even tried to trade back even further to later in the first round or maybe even get him in the second round there. All right. 12 Dolphins take Caden Proctor. Good job. Premium position. You literally could have drafted any position if you're Miami. We would have been like, okay, yeah, but at least you draft a premium position. Rams we talked about at 13 with Ty Simpson. Ravens with Venga Ioane, the most mocked pick I think out there. They were just like, all right, yeah, that totally makes sense. What do you think Ruben Bain Jr. falling to 15 and the Tampa Bay Bucks? I thought that was a surprise. I thought once he started falling a little bit, that he was a player that maybe teams would have traded up for, but instead he just stays on the board and the Bucks get him at 15, which feels like great value.

Speaker 2:
[62:02] To me, it just seems like the combination of having outlier length and what was surfaced in terms of the car accident in 2024 that ultimately led to the death of Destiny Betts, the passenger in the car. Clearly, it wasn't as quote unquote handled as what insiders were receiving from teams. Around the league, there clearly seemed to be a little bit more hesitation that if we're bringing in a guy who was coming in the door with bad press, for as good of a player as he is, he also has these outlier arm length. I don't know if that guy is worth taking a big chance on at least at the top of this draft. I mean, it's probably a win for Tampa Bay, because I think that they've been starved for a young edge rusher who can produce immediately and gives you a defined skill set that plays both against the run and the pass, and what he does in one aspect does not directly rob from the other. He does have a three down type of skill set, which is nice for Tampa Bay. But I am right there with you. I would have thought that maybe more teams would have been jostling with the Bucs or jostling to get ahead of the Bucs to be able to go get their hands on someone like Ruben Bane. So that was a bit of a surprise for me.

Speaker 1:
[63:08] Yeah, that's a nice pick at 15. Jets takes the deek at 16. We talked about that one. Blake Miller goes to the Lions at 17. I think everyone thought the Lions are going to take a tackle. Just which tackle is it going to be? And they end up liking Blake Miller, the offensive tackle from Clemson. That makes total sense for them to take a tackle with Taylor Decker leaving the team. They needed some help there. Then maybe, I would say this might have been, honestly, the biggest, no, the Ty Simpson thing was a big surprise.

Speaker 2:
[63:35] Had it not been for Ty Simpson, this could have been it.

Speaker 1:
[63:37] Although I guess there were some people who were just throwing it out there, like maybe the Rams. So I did hear a little bit of that. This was, and this is a hard one, because the Vikings at 18 take Caleb Banks, the defensive tackle from Florida. And the first thing that the NFL Network broadcast, Daniel Jeremiyah, it's like he's scrambling. He's like, this is my 51st player, which is not what you want to hear when you're taking a player at 18. You know, Clatt, then Joe Clatt comes in. He's like, he's 330 pounds and he's dealing with foot injuries. Again, that's not something you want to hear.

Speaker 2:
[64:08] Not what you want to hear for your first overall pick.

Speaker 1:
[64:10] With your 18th overall pick. So there are two, two parts to this. One is, I really like the Caleb Banks profile of the player. 6'6, 327, long, long arms, monster of a man, like that type of player. Just every team, like that's the type of player that every NFL team, where you talk to coaches, jams, they're like, there aren't a lot of guys, you know, like this. I totally get it. His flash is tremendous. If you hit on a player like that, it's a huge impactful player that can change your defense. However, if you really liked him, I gotta believe you could have traded back and you could have gotten Caleb Banks at least later in the first round. If not, the second round and the reasoning for that is because he has had these serious foot injuries, where he only played in three games last year, and then he had a broken foot at the combine that's going to keep him out until June, and he's 23 years old, and maybe he wasn't totally consistent where yes, you like the flashes, but he wasn't the most consistent player. There were just a lot of things there where it feels to me, and maybe I'll be wrong, maybe a team will come out and say, we're going to take Caleb Banks at 20. So I could be wrong about it, but it felt like this is the type of player you can move back for if you really like him. And then I zoom out, Diante, and I look at the structure of the Minnesota Vikings right now with no real GM.

Speaker 2:
[65:34] It's a vacuum.

Speaker 1:
[65:35] Kevin O'Connell and another guy there. And it just like, it smells like they were buttoned up in their process and that if they were a little bit more organized or had a GM or whatever, that they could have figured out a way to get better value from the 18th pick here.

Speaker 2:
[65:54] I mean, to me, this very much smacks as the coaches don't have to get confirmation with how the medical team feels about a player. They can come back to what they like about the player. And that can be what ultimately rules the day. If we are to speculate that Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores and the rest of that staff have enough sway given the kind of power vacuum that might exist. They're like, this is great.

Speaker 1:
[66:16] Quessy's out. Who do we want guys?

Speaker 2:
[66:18] You know, the kids can stay up all night, eat candy before dinner, right? Like that's what this kind of pick is. I do think, you know what? The good thing about, or the interesting thing about Banks is, he's one of those kinds of players that if you look at the full profile and you consider the injury concerns and all that, he probably would land in like the 40s to 50s type of range. He's also that kind of player where if you ask, hey, what was his best game? And I show you how he played in 2024 against LSU. And you watch that game from beginning to end, you're like, oh, that's Chris Jones. I know that guy. I know what that kind of defensive tackle can be in the league, right? You kind of have to weigh what he was over the wide breadth of his career, and you got to include the foot injuries versus what he can be at his peak. Minnesota has been lying, honestly, about this whole competitive rebuild thing from the beginning because they've been trying to maximize their window to win year over year. Basically, since Kevin O'Connell has gotten there, Caleb Banks feels very much like a, we need a guy that at his best might actually be a math changer for us. We don't believe that that's going to be Peter Woods. We don't believe that's going to be Cade McDonald. Two other defensive tacklers that I might have been a little bit more comfortable taking at that spot. This is also a reflection just in general about this draft, that they clearly evaluated Caleb Banks as a potential blue chip talent in a draft that they don't see very much blue chip talent in. That is the only way to me that you can justify bringing in a guy who was 300 plus pounds, that tall and has these broken foot issues. That one that just occurred two months ago and you were still willing to bring this guy in as your first round pick. That says a lot about this class and about the fact that Minnesota felt like they could just bypass some of those concerns because maybe the coaches are in charge there.

Speaker 1:
[68:00] Total swing for upside with complete disregard for value and risk, it feels like. You're right. The job of the GM in today's NFL, the good GM is like, let me talk to medical, let me talk to analytics, let me talk to coaches, let me talk to personnel, let me talk to the owner. Okay, I've got all this information on a player. Now, we got to make a decision that is the best for the team. Whereas that just doesn't feel like the structure right now in Minnesota, where they're just like, man, this guy's sick. Like you said, which I'm with you. Yeah, he could be. If you show me the highs, I actually totally see it with him and it is a premium position. So I'll give him credit there. It just felt like the process of just, hey, let's just sit here at 18 and take him. Given everything that's happened with that organization, that front office in the off season, I have questions about Minnesota's process there. Nineteen, Panthers take Monroe Freeling, the offensive tackle from Georgia. Fine with that one. Iggy Iguano's got the injury last year. So that is obviously-

Speaker 2:
[69:02] I do wonder what that means about him, honestly. Because they went out and got Rashid Walker and then you go to spend a first round pick on a guy who's-

Speaker 1:
[69:08] Walker was very cheap, but yes, yeah, no, I'm with you.

Speaker 2:
[69:12] You double dip now at left tackle. They could have done a Caleb Lomu if you wanted to get a guy who might kick inside, right? A guy who might be able to do multiple things for you. It's very fascinating to me that you go out and you get another big body left tackle type. Maybe they have some legitimate concerns on what the recovery timeline is going to be for Iguano and whether or not he's going to be prepared to play left tackle again once he does get healthy.

Speaker 1:
[69:34] Yeah, it's a good point. We got to figure it out. But in terms of taking a player at that spot who has upside at a premium position, I thought that made sense. The Philadelphia Eagles, Diante, I told you before we came on, I said, I don't want to know your opinion about what they did. So I want to hear it on the podcast. They trade up from 23 to 20 to take USC wide receiver, McKay-Lemon. They gave up two fourth round picks, 114 and 137. And I couldn't decide whether I thought you were going to like this move or not like this move. Because I know you love USC. And I think there are probably aspects of McKay-Lemon's game that you really like. But in my heart of hearts, I sort of felt like you were going to question this move here. So take me through it. Give me the big reveal. Eagles trade up from McKay-Lemon at 20. What did you think of this move?

Speaker 2:
[70:33] It's very fitting that I have sirens going off nonstop outside of my apartment building right now, because it was a big emergency for me when I saw them trade up. Right? Because I'm like, oh, you know, maybe they're going to go get Max Ahonachor. Maybe they're going to go get, you know, a tackle or somebody else said they might have considered to be a blue chip type of player that fell to them. I'm thinking more in the trenches is what they were, you know, kind of aiming at. And I think this is a rare scenario where it's a good player. I do think that McKinley Lemon is legitimately a good football player, a very consistent football player who fits a necessary role in most NFL offenses that also landed on a team that is going to have a need at wide receiver, right? Once AJ Brown is eventually traded, they were going to have a need to fill, especially for a young guy on a cost control deal. And that those two things converge and I still kind of feel meh about it. I don't hate it. I see a lot of ways in which it can work. I think that for me, though, in order for this to be a worthwhile trade up for a guy like Lemon, you've got to believe both that his contested catchability is going to be a one for one translation to the NFL, right? And that your quarterback is going to work the middle of the field often enough for him to get those contested catches in between the hashes to make it worth it. You also have to believe that Dontavian Woods, who you traded for a week before the draft, is also going to give you some high end value as your number two wide receiver or number three, a high end number three wide receiver. I have no questions about Devontae Smith. I've seen enough of that tape. I know exactly what you're going to get out of that guy, whether AJ Brown is on this roster or not. The rest of this mix between the two I mentioned and Hollywood Brown, it is just a very interesting wide receiver core. I don't know if it's a bad fit for the officer trying to run or a bad fit for the quarterback that they have. But something to this just doesn't necessarily meld to me and it's one of those things that I might be wrong. I just have to see it on the field first for me to be a full on believer.

Speaker 1:
[72:33] It's one of those things. He's 192 pounds. So some of the things that he did, now he did a lot of things well in college. He won the Blitnikoff. He was awesome last year. But when you're talking about breaking tackles at a very high rate, is he going to be able to do that in the NFL? When you're talking about contested catches, is he going to be able to do that in the NFL? I wasn't surprised that they trade up. The Eagles are a team that we should just remind ourselves every year. They're either going to trade up or try to trade up. Lillie Roseman is doing this every single year. He's trying to trade up for a player. They have, I think, a shorter list. What I just described where they're like, these are the guys that everyone has signed off on. I'm going to go get one rather than sit here and get a player who one part of the building doesn't like. This is the way I think the Eagles have decided to draft. I think they give up those two fourth rounders, and I think you'll see they'll make trades on day two and day three, and how you'll be like, I can get those picks back. I'm not worried about losing two fourth rounders. So I think that's the way they've approached it for the last five, six years, really. I was just surprised they did it for a wide receiver. So I thought the wide receivers were very bunched, I thought. Like I had a hard time being definitive, like McKay Lemon is way better than Casey Concepcion, and he's way better than Omar Koubartini. I just didn't totally see that. I was kind of like, I can sort of see it with all three of these guys. So I thought if they were going to take a wide receiver, they would sit at 23 and be like, all right, which one of these guys is available to us? The other guys we really liked are off the board. So we'll see how it works out. But did you hear the story from Ian Rapoport, Diante, that he said McKay Lemon, the Steelers were on the phone with McKay Lemon because they knew the Cowboys were drafting a defensive player. And so they called them and were like, we're going to pick you. And in the time they were on the phone with him, Howie Roseman had made this trade with the Cowboys. And then the Eagles called McKay Lemon while he's on the phone with the Steelers there. So these are fun draft stories. You never know how they end up. Like Max Yonachur could end up being a five-time All-Pro. And McKay Lemon could end up not making it to a second contract. And it could be like, wow, it was the best thing that could have happened to the Steelers. Or if McKay Lemon's awesome and Yonachur is not a good player, then Steelers fans are going to be like, dude, how did we let that happen in 2026? So I always love looking back at those stories down the road. All right. Let's look at what else caught our attention here as we finish up, Diante. Akeem Mesadour, Yonachur we mentioned to the Steelers at 21. Again, it might not have been their number one choice, but I don't think you can take it.

Speaker 2:
[75:15] I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Speaker 1:
[75:16] Yeah, premium position, high upside, toolsy guy. And you hope that you hit on the pick there with the offensive tackle. 22, the Chargers. I told you that Akeem Mesadour, the edge from Miami. I'm not saying he's a bad player. It was a very good player last year. I would have had him on my, let someone else find out list because he's 25 years old. And if I'm using a first round pick on a guy who's 25 years old, it just doesn't sit right with me. Because it's like this guy's had so many reps at practice, in games, in the weight room. I would expect him to be a really good player when he's been in college for like six years. So that was one, I'm not saying it won't work out. Maybe it will work out. But that was one where I said, if I'm a Chargers fan, I leave feeling like, I don't really love that pick for that.

Speaker 2:
[76:10] You're 25 years old, you should be the best player on your defense. He was not the first or second best player on Miami's defense in my opinion. I thought Keonte Scott and Ruben Bayne were both better players when I watched Miami. He's very technically refined. I think that his tape is pretty clean. He's going to do a lot of things that Los Angeles really values in terms of setting edges against the run and playing with length and power and all that is great. But why am I eventually going to be replacing Khalil Mack with the guy who was going to be 30 by the time we are confirming his fifth player option? It might not be fair to Akeem Mezador. I don't think he's going to be a bad player either. This is just a tough pill to swallow. I think if you're a Chargers fan who went into free agency with all this money and all this opportunity and you didn't sign any big time free agents and you think, okay, maybe we'll get a high end guy in the draft. And on day one, you're walking out of it with the 25 year old. I think that this is just a really tough pill to swallow if you're a Chargers fan.

Speaker 1:
[77:07] I'm with you. Yeah, no, I was a little soft in my analysis there. You hit the nail on that. I don't like this pick. I wouldn't have made this pick. And if I'm a Chargers fan, I would have been like, oh man, I don't like that use of resources. And remember last year, they take Amari and Hampton in the first round where they had a great trade on the table. I think with the Eagles or maybe other teams to trade back and get additional draft capital. And they said, no, we're going to stick here and take Hampton. So I don't really love how those back to back years, how those picks played out there for the Chargers. 23, we talked about the Cowboys, Malachi, Lawrence. 24, we talked about the Browns, Casey Concepcio, nice first round for them. 25, I like this fit a lot. Maybe it's just the safeties, but I was like Dylan Theoneman in the Dennis Allen offense with the Chicago Bears, fun player, good pick. They needed someone in the back end after the way. They lost Kevin Byer, Jaquan Briskir in free agency. So I like that one quite a bit, Diante. I thought that was good value to take Theoneman at five for Chicago.

Speaker 2:
[78:10] I mean, if their defensive backfield can just stay healthy, this has the makings of another really good year for Chicago. If Jalen Johnson can stay healthy, if Tyree Stevenson can be consistent, if Kyler Gordon can be healthy. You have a really good three man combination at cornerback and then Kobe Bryant, I really loved in Seattle last year. I thought he did a great job.

Speaker 1:
[78:31] I forgot about that.

Speaker 2:
[78:32] Exactly. He's excellent at closing passing windows. He may plays on the ball. I thought that his transition to playing at safety has gone seamlessly for him. Then for Dylan Tiananmen, that's another guy that you can use in a multitude of ways. He can be a blitzer. He can play close to the line. He can play in center field if you need him to. I do still think that this team has to take multiple bites at the apple in the second round at defensive tackle. I do think also that this is a team that after this first round is probably itching a little bit, looking at the tackles because I do think they'd probably like to have another left tackle. So I'm really fascinated to see what maybe two of the draft looks like for them. But there are some options out there that they can work with. And ultimately, I think that they made something that should be a strength of theirs a little bit stronger by adding a guy like Tiananmen to the backfield.

Speaker 1:
[79:17] Yeah, I'm with you. 26, the Texans trade up with the Bills. Take guard, Keelan Rutledge, which I think we can say. Texans adding to offensive line. Into your offensive line specifically there. Nothing wrong with that. Dolphins take Diante's guy, Chris Johnson. The cornerback from San Diego State that Diante was telling us. This is a first round player. He's been telling us for weeks. And the Dolphins prove him right in a trade up there with the 49ers. So Dolphins go corner. And what was their first pick? I'm already forgetting.

Speaker 2:
[79:51] Offensive tackle.

Speaker 1:
[79:52] Offensive tackle.

Speaker 2:
[79:53] Yeah, the one with Caden Proctor.

Speaker 1:
[79:54] Offensive tackle and corner. So good job by the Dolphins. Doesn't mean it's going to definitely work out, but I like it. Take premium positions there with your first round picks. Patriots. This is actually ended up being a very interesting pick for the Patriots because they trade up with the Bills, who had already traded down with the Texans, and they take Caleb Lomu. What's interesting about this is that Will Campbell left tackle. They say he's sticking at left tackle. Well, Caleb Lomu was exclusively a left tackle at Utah. Diante, week one for the New England Patriots who is playing left tackle.

Speaker 2:
[80:35] I still think it's Will Campbell. I think the bigger question is, is Morgan Moses starting for the Patriots week one? I think this move makes a lot of sense if you are confident that a 21-year-old Caleb Lomu can take the time to go learn, write, tackle, and compete with Morgan Moses. I think that good teams approach it this way. You have a guy who's been a journeyman or a veteran in this league. You know you're going to get good baseline production from him. You bring in a young guy and you say, hey, that veteran, that 30-plus-year-old guy who was probably closer to being out of the league than being in his prime, that's the level we expect our tackles to perform at. You want to start in this league, you got to go beat him out. Show us that you can deal with moving the right tackle and go beat him out. I think that will be the initial plan. It's also entirely on the table that if Will Campbell comes out and he continues to struggle the way he did in the postseason, that they've just got to kind of pull the emergency lever and say, Caleb Lomu, you've got to play left tackle and we'll find another job for Will Campbell. I think that's on the table, but I do think ideally you will like Lomu to be maybe your right tackle and now you've got two young bookends if Will Campbell can figure it out.

Speaker 1:
[81:47] I got you. By the way, a lot going on with the New England Patriots, Mike Frable saying, he's going to counseling on Saturday. I think maybe in our second main, our next pod, Diante, when we do a little draft recap, we can get into some of that and what in the world is going on with the New England Patriots and that story that is obviously and justifiably gotten a lot of tension. So we are not ignoring that here. Just talking about Caleb Lomu's fit. I understand there are bigger things going on with the New England Patriots right now. Peter Woods at 29, we discussed already with the Chiefs. Omar Cooper at 30, we discussed and the Titans. Keldrick Falk at 31, we discussed 32, the Seattle Seahawks, the Judarian Price, running back Notre Dame. I'm like gun-shy to say anything here. It's just like they're showing the draft room and I'm like, man, those guys just crushed it and they won the Super Bowl last year. I had egg on my face from Sam Darnold. I probably should just sit back and not say anything and say, do what you want to do, Seattle. I don't know, Diante, what do you think? Should I critique this pick or just be like, wait, listen, when you win the Super Bowl, you earn the benefit of the doubt and I'm not going to say, hey, maybe you could have gone a guard like Chase Besantis would have been more impactful there. Maybe a defensive tackle like Caden McDonald would have been more impactful there than a running back in Judarian Price. I don't know what to say.

Speaker 2:
[83:11] Look, man, you spent some time out in Seattle. You know, John Schneider can't fight that itch, man.

Speaker 1:
[83:16] McDonald's gave him one. He's like, you could take this one. I'm feeling good.

Speaker 2:
[83:21] Look, there's nothing more that John Schneider would have wanted to do than to be a champion and be able to take a running back early in the draft. We are nothing if not memes of ourselves. We are all just caricatures of our past decisions. And I think that for them, the draft fell just right for them to be able to take a running back with a 30 second pick and really not get a lot of blowback from it because the other players that I think would have been good fits for them will be available in the second round. I don't know if Judairia Price would have been there at the bottom of the second round to go get. And honestly, if you genuinely believe you need to address running back, which I do think they will, given when Zach Charbonnet suffered his knee injury, you are ultimately going to need to get a guy at some point who can give you some carries early in the season. So yeah, I think that for the sake of that alone, I'm willing to eat it and say these are some special circumstances for Seattle. I don't think that they wanted to lose Kenneth Walker. They obviously didn't bank on losing Zach Charbonnet so late in the season. So yeah, I think their backs were up against it, and they took the next best running back that was on the board. You just kind of have to live with it there, even though I might not have done that with pick number 32.

Speaker 1:
[84:29] Yeah, I had a hard time with Price because I'm like an elite play banker, has juice, very fun player to watch, but he averaged fewer than 10 touches per game in each of the past two seasons. This isn't the bell cow back, this is the complimentary back. So even that, and I guess if you combine him now with the guys you have on your roster, and then Charbonnet you hope eventually comes back healthy, I guess you're piecing it together. But now you're saying running back by committee, and he's part of that committee, doesn't make sense at 32. I guess if you feel like he can give you explosive plays for your offense, and he's gonna be a different player there.

Speaker 2:
[85:08] That's the only way it makes sense.

Speaker 1:
[85:09] That's the only way it makes sense, yeah. I'm sorry, I wouldn't have done it. I would have gone a different direction. Josh, now he's listening to this going, are you serious? Sheil Kapadia, after what you said last year, we won the Super Bowl, now you're criticizing my running back pick. All right, listen, like Diante said, we're all caricatures. What did you say of our past selves? And that includes me. I also am a caricature of my past self and the heart wants what the heart wants. I got to tell you what I actually think. So that's what I actually think. Don't worry, Seahawks, you'll be fine. You got a lot of good players there. Anyway, all right, that was the first round. Let me see, did I have any leftovers here in my notes here, Diante, that I felt like we didn't get to, we got to Ty Simpson, we got to Caleb Banks, all these other notes that I'm looking at. I think we got to all of these, even, I did notice Cam Hayward and TJ. Watt, even they couldn't stop Roger Goodell from getting booed there. They tried to have them come out with Goodell, so that maybe it would go a little bit easier because everybody likes them.

Speaker 2:
[86:09] That's a week's loss by the NFL, man. That's weak.

Speaker 1:
[86:11] I was thinking, why does Goodell need to announce the picks? Why does he need to be a part of this, Diante? Can't that just be a behind the scenes type figure?

Speaker 2:
[86:19] I'm 100% there with you. Give this off to the fans. This whole thing about the traveling NFL draft is supposed to be in fan service, especially for some of these locations that may never host a Super Bowl. Give this off to the fans or team executives, anybody else. We don't need to see Roderick. We don't need to see any commissioner come out and announce the picks.

Speaker 1:
[86:40] If it's a TV show, he's not a TV character I want to see while I'm enjoying this TV show.

Speaker 2:
[86:45] 100%. If you are going to be involved, don't try to circumvent the booing. You're a commissioner, man. Eat it, okay? Everybody who has ever been at the head of any sports league has had to deal with booze. You don't get to be an exception just because you are the head guy of the highest earning of sports league in the world.

Speaker 1:
[87:05] But then he tries to do that. I'm sure he got a note, hey, lean into it. Come on, that's the best that you got. And it's just like, am I watching a robot? Is this like an actual person or is this, you know? It's just very cringe, as the kids say. I feel like every single year, where, yeah, I don't, who is saying I need to see Roger Goodell on the first night of the draft? We talked about how exciting it is, how it delivers every single year. I don't know that we need him to be a part of it, but I imagine he's going to continue.

Speaker 2:
[87:35] I don't think anybody who doesn't share the last name, Goodell, needs to see Roger Goodell on the stage.

Speaker 1:
[87:41] I like the speed, Diante, eight minutes from 10 minutes. That thing was moving. How did you follow, because you actually have to make a decision round one, are you just going TV and I want to be surprised or are you online? I'm just like, I'm going to be online and see the picks whenever someone breaks the picks, so it makes it a little anticlimactic for the TV. That's something they might have to figure out because it felt like they were like two picks behind at some points and they weren't ready for the speed with which this new eight minute format moved.

Speaker 2:
[88:12] The broadcast was definitely lagging. I feel like typically you expect day two where they're trying to give analysis on guys that they might have had in the top 50, maybe top 75 of their board that they're very excited about. Maybe you're a little bit late getting the picks or you've got this lag going on. You could definitely tell that they were struggling to match the pace of the show. I will say for me, I definitely had to adjust and maybe spend a little bit more time on social media, on the live trackers because typically I'll put the draft broadcast on a very low volume because I don't really care what they have to say about the players. I've been watching the players. I'm not looking for anybody else's analysis of the players. The only time I'm really trying to keep an eye on is for trades. Now you can get some reporting on what's happening with that. This is a little bit harder to have it on mute or on low volume. I had to definitely be a lot more alert because usually when you get the 10-minute timer, they also extend a little bit. So you get 15 minutes ish, especially in the top half of the first round where things are idling. I really had to be on top of my P's and Q's and make sure I have my notes together, both for this podcast and then what's to come in terms of content on theringer.com.

Speaker 1:
[89:22] There you go. Check out his content on theringer.com. I like the pace. The pace was great. I like, keep it moving. There's this long build up. I do enjoy the first round quite a bit.

Speaker 2:
[89:32] So glorify this meeting, man. This is a hiring conference, okay? Nobody needs this to last for two hours.

Speaker 1:
[89:40] There you go. It was good. We weren't left waiting. All right. Thank you to Diante Lee. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing. Thank you to Stefano Sanchez for video. If we didn't talk a lot about your team today, don't worry. We have more shows coming up where we will do that. So check us out throughout the weekend next week. And of course, throughout the off season. All right. I'm Sheil Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on The Ringer NFL Show. 21 plus and present in select states. For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino, or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER, or 1-800-MY-RESET, call 1-888-789-7777, or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org, or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY, or text HOPE-NY in New York for Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.