Draft Expert Ryan Wilson's Favorite Prospects! (05/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today: Draft Expert Ryan Wilson's Favorite Prospects! (05/21 Fantasy Football Podcast) — Detailed Summary

Release Date: April 21, 2025

Introduction

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today, CBS Sports brings together an expert panel to dissect the upcoming NFL draft and its implications for fantasy football enthusiasts. Host Adam Aizer, along with analysts Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and special guest Ryan Wilson—CBS Sports' senior NFL draft analyst and host of the With the First Pick podcast—delve into mock drafts, player rankings, and strategic insights to help listeners dominate their fantasy leagues.

---

Guest Introduction and Personal Anecdotes ([01:19] – [03:02])

Jamie Eisenberg kicks off the show by welcoming Ryan Wilson, who shares a brief personal story about managing family responsibilities during spring break:

Ryan Wilson [01:50]: "My kids run spring break here up in New York as well. My 13-year-old came down with a curious cough yesterday... I'm happy to be here talking to you guys about the NFL draft."

The conversation lightens as Jamie recounts a humorous mishap with an Easter cake order, showcasing the camaraderie among the hosts.

---

Mock Drafting Insights ([02:16] – [05:35])

Ryan Wilson provides an overview of his mock drafting routine, emphasizing the frequency and purpose behind his numerous drafts:

Ryan Wilson [02:16]: "So Monday as we do, this one just came out this morning... the final mock draft will come out where I've overthought everything and trying to get every pick right. And usually, it's one of the worst ones, if we're being honest."

He explains that while the initial mock drafts are strategic and reflective of potential team needs, the final mock closer to draft day often devolves into overanalysis, reducing its reliability.

---

Quarterback Prospects Discussion ([03:50] – [20:44])

The panel delves into the top quarterback prospects, starting with Shador Sanders. Ryan analyzes Sanders' potential landing spots and compares his situation to past quarterbacks:

Ryan Wilson [04:09]: "I think the real landing spot is going to start that conversation at nine with the New Orleans Saints... I think Shador falls to 21 and it feels like the Steelers will take them there."

He expresses confidence in Sanders' fit with the Steelers, contrasting his optimism with previous quarterback picks like Kenny Pickett.

Other quarterbacks discussed include Cam Ward, Jackson Dart, Kyle McCord, and Will Howard. Ryan emphasizes the importance of team fit, coaching, and the offensive line's strength in maximizing a quarterback's potential.

Ryan Wilson [08:28]: "If he were in last year's class, Cam Ward would be QB3 for me... He's incredibly mobile. Just got to cut down on the hero plays."

---

Running Back Insights ([20:44] – [37:02])

The focus shifts to running backs, with Ryan presenting his top five choices:

1. Ashton Genty
2. Omarion Hampton
3. Travion Henderson
4. Burchard Smith
5. Quinton Judkins

Each player is evaluated based on their versatility, running style, and potential fantasy impact. The discussion highlights the depth of this draft class, noting:

Ryan Wilson [21:55]: "Ryan Ashton, Genty Slam dunk. He's in the same conversation and some people disagree with me on this part as Bijan and Jameer Gibbs."

The panel debates the merits of dual-role players and the importance of offensive line quality in a running back's success.

Key Insights:

• Travion Henderson is praised for his speed and agility but questioned on his yards per carry compared to teammates.
• Quinton Judkins faces scrutiny for his limited big-play ability and lower yards per carry, placing him as a potential day two or three pick.

Ryan Wilson [29:39]: "I feel like if you're getting a Bucky Irvin, I would imagine Bucky was relatively popular as a fantasy back last year."

---

Wide Receiver Evaluations ([37:45] – [58:31])

Ryan outlines his top five wide receivers:

1. Tet McMillan
2. Travis Hunter
3. Matthew Golden
4. Luther Burden
5. A Mecca Abuka

He emphasizes the importance of route-running skills and target volume, particularly highlighting Travis Hunter's potential despite his dual-role as a cornerback:

Ryan Wilson [38:57]: "If you love them, pair with Brian Thomas Jr. And then figure the rest out later."

The discussion also touches on the challenges of multi-position players in fantasy leagues and how to best integrate them into team strategies.

Jamie Eisenberg [43:00]: "I think it's important for Fan and that he played against Penn State and A M. He had 140 yards and a touchdown against both of them."

---

Tight End Analysis ([58:31] – [66:34])

The panel reviews the top five tight ends:

1. Colson Loveland
2. Tyler Warren
3. Gunner Helm
4. Mason Taylor
5. Elijah Arroyo

Ryan expresses high regard for Tyler Warren, comparing him to renowned tight end George Kittle:

Jamie Eisenberg [59:27]: "Tyler Warren is my Luke Keakley. I love Tyler Warren."

The conversation underscores the strategic importance of positioning and fit within team offenses, with an emphasis on athleticism and route-running proficiency.

---

Offensive Lineman Prospects ([66:34] – [68:29])

Though briefly touched upon, the panel discusses the significance of offensive linemen in the draft. Ryan highlights prospects like Kelvin Banks Jr. and Will Campbell, stressing their readiness to start and potential impact on their respective teams.

Ryan Wilson [66:37]: "Will Campbell could be first because he's more ready to start left tackle for the Panthers."

---

Fantasy Football Implications ([12:02] – [27:54])

Throughout the episode, concerns about how multi-position players like Travis Hunter will be handled in fantasy leagues are addressed. The hosts debate the best approaches to scoring opportunities for players occupying multiple roles.

Jamie Eisenberg [14:30]: "I don't even know how it works now. But... some people would... but we'll, we'll deal with that at some other time."

The importance of understanding player roles and team strategy is emphasized to maximize fantasy football performance.

---

Contest Announcement ([02:53] – [25:53])

Adam Aizer promotes the NFL draft contest, encouraging listeners to submit their top ten pick predictions for a chance to join the podcast league and win prizes.

Jamie Eisenberg [02:53]: "My advice to you is to wait a little bit. Wait until Wednesday, wait until Thursday, but get those in again."

The contest details are reiterated, with a focus on accuracy and participation guidelines.

---

Light-Hearted Moments and Closing Remarks ([68:29] – [72:12])

The episode concludes with playful banter among the hosts about personal interests like movies and tennis, reinforcing the friendly and engaging atmosphere of the show.

Jamie Eisenberg [71:19]: "Enjoy your six-month vacation that starts on Monday, dude."

Ryan Wilson bids farewell, highlighting upcoming content and expressing enthusiasm for future episodes.

Ryan Wilson [72:01]: "Gladiator 2 is now streaming on Paramount Plus... an absolute triumph."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Fantasy Football Today provides a comprehensive analysis of draft prospects across key positions, offering valuable insights for fantasy football enthusiasts. Ryan Wilson's expertise, combined with the dynamic discussions among the hosts, equips listeners with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions as the NFL draft approaches.

Notable Quotes:

• Ryan Wilson [02:16]: "Usually it's one of the worst ones, if we're being honest."
• Ryan Wilson [04:09]: "I think Shador falls to 21 and it feels like the Steelers will take them there."
• Ryan Wilson [20:44]: "When you're drafting a running back in the first round..."
• Jamie Eisenberg [59:27]: "Tyler Warren is my Luke Keakley. I love Tyler Warren."

Final Thoughts: For those aiming to gain a competitive edge in their fantasy leagues, this episode delivers strategic perspectives and detailed evaluations of emerging NFL talent. By tuning into Fantasy Football Today, listeners can stay ahead of the curve and make informed decisions to secure their spot as league champions.

Transcript

[Adam Azer]

Spring is in full bloom at the Home Depot. So what are you working on? If you're digging into your garden, come into the Home Depot's garden center where we can help you pick out the best plants for your space. Then make sure you give your plants the proper soil and support they need to thrive. Like Miracle Gro 25 Quart Potting Mix on special buy two bags for only $15. It's formulated to help your plants grow and keep them fed for up to six months. Shop Spring savings happening now at the Home Depot.

[Ryan Wilson]

This episode is brought to you by Chevy Silverado. When it's time for you to ditch the blacktop and head off road, do it in a truck that says no to nothing. The Chevy Silverado trail boss get the rugged capability of its Z71 suspension and 2 inch factory lift plus impressive torque and towing capacity thanks to an available Duramax 3 liter turbo diesel engine. Where other trucks call it quits, you'll just be getting started. Visit chevy.com to learn more. This is Fantasy Football TODAY from CBS Sports. What a play. Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays on his feet.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

This is gonna go the distance.

[Ryan Wilson]

Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

NFL draft week. Here we go. We're just a few days away. Welcome to the show. It is fantasy football today, Monday, April 21st. Hope everybody had a very happy Easter, very happy holiday were on. If your kids were on spring break, hopefully they didn't drive you crazy in the house all day. And we've got a special guest to talk about mock drafts and rankings and all that. It is CBS Sports senior NFL draft analyst, host of the with the First Pick podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, Wilson Ryan joining the show today. Wilson, welcome.

[Ryan Wilson]

Hey, Adam. Thank you. Good to see you guys. Jamie and Dave, of course. I'll just say this quickly. My kids run spring break here up in New York as well. My 13 year old came down with a curious cough yesterday around 6pm I said you're going to, you're going to school, so just, just go ahead and wrap that up. But anyway, yeah, I'm happy to be here talking to you guys about the NFL draft.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That is Ryan Wilson, of course. Follow him at. RYAN Wilson, CBS he's got so many mock drafts. How many more are you publishing between now and Thursday?

[Ryan Wilson]

So Monday as we do, this one just came out this morning. What I would do if I were sealing the Pete Prisco, if I were the GM for all 32 teams. And then Thursday morning, the day of the draft, the final mock draft will come out where I've overthought everything and trying to get every pick right. And usually it's one of the worst ones, if we're being honest.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Jamie and Dave are here as well. Jamie and Dave. I ordered an Easter cake. So we had. We hosted a Easter thing yesterday. And when I submitted the online form, I asked them to put Hoppy Easter on the cake in writing. And they must have thought I was some idiot who had a typo. And they wrote, happy Easter. Should I have asked for a refund? What do you think?

[Dave Richard]

Should you have or did you?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, both.

[Ryan Wilson]

Both.

[Adam Azer]

You shouldn't have. And you definitely did.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, I did not. Probably could have just altered that.

[Adam Azer]

Was it in the shape of a lamb? No, like, I'm serious. I learned, like, you know, I'm Jewish. I don't know all this stuff, but, like, I learned that on Easter, it's traditional to serve a cake in the shape of a lamb.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, it was the shape of a circle of the lambs or circle shapes. Then, yes, it was a lamb.

[Ryan Wilson]

Hey, not to get too far down this road, Adam, are you Catholic?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No. My wife.

[Ryan Wilson]

My wife is, too. I'm not Catholic either. I don't. Dave is an indication of how good of a. A gentile I am. I don't even know when Easter is because it changes every year. Like, my wife just tells me, like, two days before, and I just go.

[Adam Azer]

Same thing with me in the Jewish holidays.

[Ryan Wilson]

I don't have a clue.

[Adam Azer]

One day I show up in the.

[Dave Richard]

Greece all over my house. I thought Ryan would just bake a cake. I mean, he's good with those.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, there it is. There it is. That's a blast from the past. If you've only been watching the show for 15 minutes of the. Wilson Ryan.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, there you go. All right. So, Ryan, you had previous mock drafts with Shadur Sanders going second in this. What I would do, you have the Browns taking Travis Hunter and you have Sanders going to the Steelers at 21. Yes. So where do you think Sanders actually ends up?

[Ryan Wilson]

I think the real landing spot is going to start that conversation at nine with the New Orleans Saints. But the issue with New Orleans is I've heard they like Shador, but they're not red hot on Shador like the Titans will be on Cam Ward. The other issue is Trevor Penning, the offensive tackle, has not been very good. Their former first round pick, Ryan Ramcheck just retired, so they could very easily focus on offensive line there and number nine. And then if you get past number nine, it sort of feels like an Aaron Rodgers situation back in the day in 2005, between 10 and 20, there's not a team that desperately needs a quarterback or even sort of needs a quarterback really. So unless someone trades up and leapfrogs the Steelers and the Browns could potentially do that from the top of the second round. Or maybe the Giants. I think Shador falls to 21 and it feels like the Steeles will take them there. And it. As a Steelers fan, I feel much better about Shador at 21 than I did about Kenny Pickett at 20 back in the 2022 draft. Like I was never big. Can you pick a guy? Part of me and our buddy Brian McFadden at the time we were at the draft together, we both thought that Malik Willis might be the guy for the Steelers there. So either way, the Steelers have moved on from, from Kenny Pickett. They don't have a quarterback to speak up here. We'll see what happens there. And Rodgers, even if Aaron Rodgers signs, It feels like 21 is perhaps the farthest Shador will fall. And I say that with the understanding that our buddy Jonathan Jones released his one and only mock trap hours ago. And he's an insider, so he's not a mock draft guy. But a year ago he was the only one on planet Earth, I believe, who had Michael Penicilli going to the Falcons. He actually were falling out of the first round altogether. So that's the only thing that gives me pause.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Wow. Okay.

[Adam Azer]

How many quarterbacks did he have in his mock? How many do you have in your mock?

[Ryan Wilson]

He had one. Dave and I have two. I, I think Jackson Dart and I don't, I don't mean this disrespectfully. I think he's a souped up version of Kenny Pickett. And by that I mean a second round pick. Teams love that. I've talked to. They're really high on Tyler schuck, like top 50. The Louisville quarterback. I've never seen it. He's going to be, he's literally going to be 26, I think when, when the fall rolls around. Yeah, he's played for three different schools. He's had injury history. He's big, he's got a big arm, he's pretty athletic. But I don't see him as a top 50 guy. But look, man, I've been wrong before. So those four quarterbacks seem to be in the mix. And then the Jayla Milro conversation probably in round two. Which team drafts them and how are they going to best use them?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, sorry. Let me. I just got one more question for Ryan. I'm going to let Dave and Jamie steer things in whatever direction they want to go. And I just want to preview what's coming up today. So we. I'm going to ask him for his top five quarterbacks, top five running backs, wide receivers, tight ends. I want to learn a little bit more about the offensive lineman. We haven't talked about that on fantasy football today. I want to know who he's higher on than consensus. And of course, this is a fantasy football show. We want to know who's going to make an impact in year one or down the line. So we'll get all of that. I also want to tell people about our NFL draft contest. If you want a spot in the podcast league, you can submit your predictions for the top 10 picks. It doesn't matter the team. You just have to tell us the players in order. And the URL is tinyurl.com/fft2025 draft tinyurl.comfft2025 draft you can go to, you can go to the Fantasy Football Today account on Twitter and, and you'll see a link for it there. I'll tweet a link to it, but that's a form that you're gonna fill out. You have to spell the names correctly. That's very important. And there's only one entry per person, so you gotta make it count. My advice to you is to wait a little bit. Wait until Wednesday, wait until Thursday, but get those in again. It's tinyurl.com FFT2025DRAFT Most correct answers is in the podcast league. We do have a very funny tiebreaker question. Thomas Schaefer did a great job with this. Thank you, Thomas, for putting this together. And you know, he's going to take his time to sort through all the answers and make sure we. We have everything. We have everything right. And, you know, someone's going to win. And the link is going to be in the audio description and the YouTube description. Okay, sorry. Next question for me, Ryan. Is there any doubt that Tennessee takes Cam Ward? I know he's probably going to go number one. Is there any chance we see a trade? You think like, what, what are the chances? And you know, that's, that's the only question. And yeah, you know what, Tell me how good you think Cam Ward is. Give me an idea of Cam Ward where he's going and what you think of him because you said Cam Ward had the best pro day that you've ever been to, which I thought was really cool. So go ahead.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, Pete Prisco made fun of me for that one. I love everyone. As Jamie has also made fun of me for that as well.

[Dave Richard]

The other thing, Jamie literally just texted me that, by the way, I said, Ryan's on with us right now. He goes, happiest draft guy in the world. He loves everyone.

[Ryan Wilson]

One of the things Jamie used to do to me in person when we would be at the combine together, I had this, this, this tech where I would refer to every player we were talking to on set by their full name. So. So Joe Burrow, tell me why Joe Burrow is so good at being Joe Burrow type stuff. And jam made me self conscious about it. So I couldn't even get through a question without Jamie smirking.

[Dave Richard]

And that's not the best one I ever did to you though.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, yeah, I'm sure. This is an annual story, so I'll tell this every year. Because I'm old, I forget stories.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, me too.

[Ryan Wilson]

So we're sitting on set with that year Kenneth Walker III and. And what's his name?

[Adam Azer]

Breeze Hall.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, Breeze Hall. Thank you. We're running backs one and two and they were very close for me and Breeze hall was sitting on set with us and me and Jamie, maybe me and then Breece and then Jamie in terms of where we were on set. And dumbass Jamie looks over with a smirk on his face and points at me and goes, hey, Breece, this guy has you running back to Breeze turns to his left and he looks like he's just seen someone run over his dog and he's caught up with the person. He's about to pull them out of the car and beat the life out of him. He goes, okay, I'm top two and I'm not too. And then he just looks straight ahead and it was the most uncomfortable conversation ever. And Jamie's looking like he looks now just giggling like an a hole.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, that's Jamie.

[Adam Azer]

That's good content.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Ryan, I have a follow up question for that story. When you interviewed Kenneth Walker iii, did you say so Kenneth Walker iii.

[Dave Richard]

Yes.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You put the third in there.

[Ryan Wilson]

I'm sure I did. I'm sure I did. He preferred to be called Ken, so I probably called. I probably called Ken Walker the third. But to answer your question, Adam Azerbai.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Ryan Wilson]

There's like a less than 1% chance. I feel like the Titans get Off this pick. They need a quarterback. Brian Callahan came in after Will Levis was drafted, so that's not his guy. We saw the frustration on the sidelines just watching television, how angered he was at times with the way Will Levels was playing. And in terms of Cam Ward, I've gone back and forth on this after that pro day and I do sort of glow up these kids. I really have a good time watching them and I want them all to have success. And as Dave knows, it's someone. When you have teenagers and your kids get older, you sort of feel like they're in the same age range. So you get that. But after some long, hard conversations myself, if he were in last year's class Cam board, he would be QB3 for me. Like I didn't love Drake May last year. Drake May's final season at UNC was up and down in part because he was young and all that other stuff. Their team wasn't very good. He played awesome last year for the Patriots, but it would have been Caleb and then Jaden and then probably Cam Ward because he's six two and a half. He's a really good athlete. He's got like a just a hair below like Anthony Richardson, Will Levis arm strength in person. I was sort of surprised by that. And he's incredibly mobile. Just got to cut down on the hero plays that we saw from Caleb and Jaden sort of when they were coming out of college. And the sooner he does that, the quicker it'll be more like Jaden and less like Caleb early on in his rookie season. But I think you have to take him if you're Tennessee and you can't trade out of that pick.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, Jamie, I'm gonna throw it over to you. Ask something. Someone says we need a pic of Jamie stirring a pot for gift material. And I completely agree with that. Yes. What do you got, Jamie? What's on your mind?

[Dave Richard]

I mean, I guess if we're going cammore to one, Travis Hunter seems like he's pegged for the Browns at number two. So from what you've seen, heard you know your thoughts. Is he going to play both? Is he going to be primary wide receiver, primary cornerback? Where do you think he's better suited on the next level?

[Ryan Wilson]

And I'm curious what you guys think about this from a fantasy perspective. So the whole contingent of Cleveland was out there the at the Colorado pro days with the owner on down and they had made it clear they didn't hide it. They thought that Travis is a wide receiver. They'd said that publicly. I think Andrew Barry's made that cleared several times the issue from a fantasy perspective. In terms of question I have for you, he's. He's a better cornerback right now. It's more instinct, instinctive for him. So it's going to take some time. That learning curve, sort of like how we saw Quentin Johnson felt like he struggled. He's still sort of struggling to really put it together. And then you see other guys sort of put it together a little quicker in terms of not playing, quote, unquote, slow. And Travis was always the best athlete on the field, so he could just go out there and out athlete everyone in college. That's going to be a little bit more difficult as a wide receiver in the NFL. So I, I get it for Cleveland, I get it for the Giants. I get it for the Patriots. The team's picking 2, 3 and 4. Offense makes more sense, but you have to have a plan to use him in a smart way and to limit his reps. But I'm going to turn it around. Like when he's drafted, where are you drafting him in these fantasy drafts? And like, you don't get points for the defensive side of the ball, right?

[Dave Richard]

No, we, we've had this conversation. I think, you know, Dave can probably address it a little bit more, but internally it seems like as if we're just going to make him one position for draft purposes or at least during, during leagues. I don't know, Dave, can we customize that or not at all?

[Adam Azer]

You're saying that like I've got control over it.

[Dave Richard]

No, no, no, no, no. I know you've had some conversations about it.

[Adam Azer]

So here's what I would say is expect him to be receiver eligible unless it's made clear he's going to play cornerback, in which case he will be cornerback eligible and not wide receiver eligible. If you guys, and I mean everybody listening, if you've got thoughts on how he should be made available, let me know. You know how to get in touch with me. You can even do it in the YouTube comments. I'll read them, I promise. And I can push that along to our developers. Obviously, perfect world situation. You'd get points for every catch he gets, every interception he gets, every tackle that he gets. I'm not sure if that's how all fantasy managers want it to be. I said it would be in a perfect world. Maybe that's not how it's supposed to be because there's an inherent advantage into a player like that. And I know that it doesn't work that way. Correct me if I'm wrong, Adam and Jamie, for Shohei Ohtani in baseball, when he was pitching and hitting over the course of, you know, a whole season, you know, I, I don't think you were allowed to get all the pitching points and all the hitting points for Ohtani in a given week.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't even know how it works now. But the, the way, because our team is so bad, Shohei Otani wouldn't even want to be on our fantasy team. But the way it did work originally was you drafted Ohtani. You had to choose. And we played in a weekly league. You had to choose every week. Are you starting him as a hitter or a pitcher? And you would only get those points. You would not get both. Now you could get hit or one week, pitcher the next week, but you could not get both at the same time. And I'm pretty sure I, I, you can't do that. Now. It would be, well, first of all, you know, last year didn't pitch whatever, but, but it would be too unfair. And you know, I, it would be, he would be like in an auction league out of a hundred dollars. He'd probably go for like 70 bucks. He was so much better than everyone. So I don't know with Hunter, you know, I, I wouldn't want both stats to count. Some people would. But, you know, we'll, we'll deal with that at some other time. Listen, I'm sorry, I got, we got to take a break.

[Adam Azer]

Well, I actually had another just note to make on Travis Hunter, if you don't mind.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, and then we got to take a break and then I want to get your thoughts. I'll be quick on this.

[Adam Azer]

And Ryan, you can react to this if you want to, but we know that Cleveland's got three great cornerbacks already on their roster. It's Denzel Ward, it's Greg Newsome, it's Martin Emerson. Emerson and Nome are scheduled to be free agents after this year. Denzel Ward isn't 100%, you know, he's got concussion issues. He misses games every single year. It would make sense for Cleveland to have a long term view of Hunter as a corner to have as a replacement for one of Newsom or Emerson Ward if they move on from him after this year. But for his rookie season, he could end up playing wide receiver because the Browns have so many good cornerbacks as it is.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yep. No, I totally agree with that. And Kevin Stefanski, as much as we like to Forget, actually won 11 games in 2023. He's a really good coach. He's just sort of dealing with a lot of other things. And they get the quarterback situation sorted as well because for as much as I love Kenny Pickett on the Steelers, I love him even more as a Steelers fan when he's a Brown quarterback.

[Adam Azer]

Can we wrap up quarterback talk when we come back at him?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football Today.

[Ryan Wilson]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs, meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need. Have coverage options to protect the things you value most, File a claim right on the State Farm mobile app, and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Don't miss your chance to spring into deals at Lowe's right now. Get a free 60 volt Toro battery when you purchase a select 60 volt Toro electric mower. Plus buy three 19.3 ounce vegetable and herb Bonnie plants for just $10. It's time to give your yard a grow up Lowe's. We help you Save. Valid to 423. Selection varies by location while supplies last. Discount taken at time of purchase. Actual plant size and selection varies by location. Excludes Alaska and Hawaii.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, welcome back everybody. We got Ryan Wilson joining us here. You can listen to him on the with the First Pick podcast. Dave, what did you want to talk about with quarterbacks?

[Adam Azer]

So I am not the biggest Shadur Sanders guy. Ryan, I don't know if you saw his last game against byu, but that scared the pants. Sorry for the visual. But I do want to tell you that when in the rare circumstances, and this is in a number of games, this isn't the BYU game where Shador had a clean pocket. He was settled. He wasn't running all over the place and he was really focused downfield. He was really good. And I'm wondering if that's what a team might see in him is okay if we can get the situation around him. Great. Where he's got good protection and he has more than two seconds to make a decision. Yeah, he can throw 15 to 20 yards, you know, on a line, no problem. And if that's the case and he could end up being a really good quarterback. Is that what teams are seeing? Is that what you see in shader Sanders, where when everything's right, this guy will be great.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, I think that's a good way to look at it, Dave, because every one of these quarterbacks in a year really like if they're in a situation where they're running for their lives a lot. Even Caleb Williams last year at usc, that offensive line stunk and that hero ball didn't translate. And the thing that also shoulder didn't have last year, in addition to an offensive line, the running game was. Was absolutely terrible. Now, Pittsburgh doesn't make a great fit in terms of the weather. You'd rather play indoors in New Orleans, for example, and maybe even with Kellan Moore. But Arthur Smith is going to run the ball in Pittsburgh and you're not going to be asked to throw the ball 50 times a game. And if you can just force yourself to start playing on time and not trying to make every play into a home run. And that's actually a bigger issue for Cam than for Shador. Cam will turn down check downs to try to throw 50 yard lasers, and a lot of times it worked out. Shador doesn't have that arm strength or that luxury. He's a good athlete, not a great athlete, but he can play on time and he can get the ball out on time and he throws pretty accurately to second, third levels. He has a great deep ball, but he's got to play on time and you got to give them a running game. Steelers offensive line actually has a chance to be pretty good as a young unit. They have to draft the running back to help out Jalen Warren since they moved up from Najee, and they can do that in the third round or even on day three. And I think there's an opportunity for success there. But it's just so hard to figure out what these guys like. No one knew that Jane Daniels was actually going to land in the perfect system with Dan Quinn year one and Cliff Kingsbury year one and certainly Sean Payton. We all thought he was just being arrogant. He actually knew what he was doing with Bo Nix. And now that team is one in which has very few needs. Which is a crazy thing to say about a Denver Broncos team who a year ago had a million needs.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, why don't we wrap up quarterbacks?

[Ryan Wilson]

Anything else?

[Adam Azer]

It's. It comes down to who's coaching these guys and how. Yeah, how. How they'll be used and how they'll be trained, potentially made better by these coaches.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, why don't we wrap up quarterbacks with your top five quarterbacks.

[Ryan Wilson]

Ryan Cam Shador and I have both those guys going in the first round. Jackson Dart is a like a mid to late second round guy for me personally. And then the guy I've been high on for forever because he's a local kid. At least last, at least last 12 months. Local comic court out of Syracuse. He had a great season, set the AC passing record. He's 6 3, he's 218. He's got a better arm than you think in person. Throws the anticipation better than anyone in this class. And then it's Will Howard for me just ahead of Jayla Milroe and all six of those guys added an extra one there or day one, day two guys behind them, Quinn yours and Tyler Shuck and I think they, I would take them on day three. I suspect Tyler Shuck will go earlier than that and Quinn yours probably goes late day two, early day three.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, sorry, one more quarterback question.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Odds you think that Jalen Jayla Milro is by far the most exciting prospect because he's an incredible rusher. Do you think, what do you think he can do? Can he figure it out as a passer? Can he be an NFL quarterback?

[Ryan Wilson]

I wish he'd come back for one more year at Alabama because of what Caleb DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr did together. Washington for two years because Michael Pennix here in Indiana was, was more athlete than thrower. And then we saw him become a pocket passer. Washington and obviously a lot of that has to do with Michael Pennix Jr. As well. We just didn't see that last year for Jaylen Miller outside of that Georgia game. He's got to get better throwing in. Dave and I saw this at the Senior Bowl. Second level sort of touch throws and then third level deep throws. Throwing with anticipation. He can throw the ball. He throws a 100 mile an hour fastball. He just doesn't throw in anticipation. He doesn't throw into small windows. And if you can fix that, and that's a big if, he could be a really good football player. But the athletic stuff you're talking about Adam, that's a no brainer. He's already the best athlete, one of the best athletes in this draft class. It's just which coach can unlock the Jalen Milro you need to have success as a pocket pass in the NFL and that's just a huge issue for me and that's why I have him below McCord and Will Howard in terms of possible day two guys.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, top five running backs for you.

[Ryan Wilson]

Ryan Ashton, Genty Slam dunk. He's in the same conversation and some people disagree with me on this part as Bijan and Jameer Gibbs. I think he's that sort of player. He didn't catch a lot of passes in 2024. He caught a ton of passes in 2023, so he can do that as well. He's 5 8, so that's tall enough. There's some concerns they might be shorter than that. Amari and Hampton out of UNC is a feels like a juiced up version of Javante Williams coming out of UNC a few years ago. Between the tackles guy, he can run outside, he's a sprint. He has. He's a track background and he can catch and block. Then Trey Henderson out of Ohio State and a guy I like a lot more than most people. He's only been playing running back for a couple years. Shard Smith out of the the U. You guys might remember back in the day, he's a wide receiver, so he's automatically the best receiving running back in the strap class because of his background. He's getting better as a runner in terms of what it takes to have the instincts to play running back. Just hasn't done it a lot. But he'll run between the tackles as an undersized guy and he gives you that sort of he's not Christian McCaffrey, but he can use him in that way. And then finally quinch on Judkins, who transferred from Ole Miss to Ohio State. And he's more David Montgomery to Trey Henderson's Jameer Gibbs, if you want to use that comparison. He's more bulldozer, but he can, he can bounce it outside as well. A little bigger ran sub 4 5. And he is just as much a workhorse as Mario Hampton in my mind in terms of between the tackles running. So all those guys I have going first, second or third round.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Jamie, it's so interesting to get different top fives, you know, like Shard Smith. Yeah, he went to Miami, so I'm familiar with him. But he didn't do much at Miami. Then he went to SMU and they played him at running back. He had a really big year. He's a small guy. He is so explosive. But to see the different guys like for, for Emory last week he had Trevor Etn and he had Jaden Blue in his top five. So, you know, it's. I wonder what kind of surprises were in store for Jamie after I, I feel like the top three will probably be, you know, Genty Hampton Henderson. You know, I'M not sure about 2 and 3, what order, but yeah, it's gonna. I, I guess what I'm saying is, could be a lot of names that we see on day two, and we just don't know who it is.

[Dave Richard]

And that's the beauty of this class. You know, I think there's so much talent, you know, as, as Emory said he was comparing what the 2017 class of. Yeah, you know, all the guys that are still, you know, very popular in, in today's NFL that we get this, you know, five, six years from now. Same, same type of production. But yeah, that's the, the fun of it. I think it's going to come down to, you know, what team likes a certain style, like a certain player. You know, they're looking for a starter, a backup, you know, a guy that could be more physical, like a Judkins, or a guy that could be a little bit more of a, you know, as Pete would say, an airbag, like, like Smith, you know, so there's lots of different ways that these teams can go, and then it's how we and our audience react to those things that are going to be fun because, you know, is, you know, Smith going to be viewed as a lead guy, let's say, like maybe Antonio Gibson was a few years ago when, you know, he really was miscast in that role for Washington, you know, for example, you know, so there's going to be a lot of different, you know, twists and turns, I think, with this, but it starts at the top. You know, you're hearing maybe Jacksonville and Genti, and that is fun and frightening, you know, for his fantasy value, you know, so all those, all those questions, you know, are, this is the position, you know, this is the thing for us right now because the quarterback class is weak. The wide receiver class, for the most part is weak. Adam, I don't know if you know this or were you in the draft on Friday with Heath?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No.

[Dave Richard]

So only four receivers went in the rookie draft in the first round.

[Adam Azer]

Super Flex.

[Dave Richard]

Super Flex, which is still shocking. You know, there were two quarterbacks. I don't want to spoil his content. But there was only four wide receivers that went in the first round.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Are you including Hunter? Did he go in the first round?

[Dave Richard]

Including Hunter? Yeah. Okay, so four receivers in the first round. So the receiver classes week, the quarterback class is. We know the tight ends are good, but they're not going to go early aside. The top two will go early in the first round. But, you know, the. For, for our purposes, this is going to Be, you know, the, the position we spent a lot of time dissecting.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I feel like I gotta follow up here on Bershard Smith. 59 or 5 10. £194 again out of SMU. He ran a 4, 3, 9, 40. Now Antonio Gibson had 33 carries in two seasons at Memphis. Tyrone Tracy had very few carries in his first five seasons in college. Then he had 113 with Purdue in his last year. Burchard Smith had 235 carries last year, so by that measure he's got more experience than those other guys. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry, which is good. It's not great in college, but very solid. Yeah, I've seen him fourth is, is very interesting. So go ahead. Ryan, what do you want to say about Rashard Smith?

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, yeah. Hit 56 targets, only two drops to talk about the wide receiver background. Seven of his games are over 100 yards. And yes, he's five nine, he's 194. But you talked about the sub four four speed. He reminded me a little bit of a Bucky Irving coming out of of Oregon. Bucky ran to the four fives, I think was a fourth round pick. He was a day three guy. So you get a little more juice in terms of the. The 40 speed and that who knows if that translates or not. Your running backs don't have to run four, four, so they can be run four sixes and be fine. But I feel like if you're getting a Bucky Irvin, I would imagine Bucky was relatively popular as a fantasy back last year. Yeah, you guys would. Yeah. So it feels like he has that potential. And 194 is at 5 9, just shaded at 510. That that's plenty big in the way he was used at smu and that's the way you would use them at the next level. I feel like.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, Dave, you want to follow up on running backs? You want to move to his top five wide receivers?

[Adam Azer]

No, I'd actually like to have a few minutes to talk about Hampton and Judkins, if we may. Adam and I have noticed on Hampton that there are a lot of times where he'll hesitate after getting the ball. And this is on carries, Ryan. And that combined with just how big he is and the pad level that he plays with, it makes me nervous that he'll get hit in the backfield a lot and won't be a monster like he was against college competition. I'd like your opinion on that. And if it can be fixed and Then I'll ask a quick question about Judkins.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, I think part of the issue with Hampton last year is that team was so terrible that he was sort of the only show in town. I mean, that team, I can't, I'm not a. I watch a lot of college. I don't pay attention to the rankings, but they were definitely a top 25 team, maybe better than that coming into the season. They just fell apart to the point they were trying to run Mack Brown out in the middle of the season. So I'm less concerned about that because. And I say that Dave, with the understanding again, as a Steelers fan, watching Najee Harris get hit in the backfield consistently, you know, 25 times a game for the Steelers. And that was an issue for him in Alabama because he was playing behind a good offensive line. And, you know, one of the popular landing spots for Amarian is at pick 20 to the Denver Broncos. And that feels like you're going to get the best case of Mario Campton there. So I think if you put him on a crappy team, you're going to see similar stuff. And he was still really good last year, by the way. He's a borderline first round pick for me and he could very easily go in the first round. And I think he's better than Javante, like I said, who was a second round pick, I recall. So those are less concerning issues for me because if you put any player on a super terrible team, they're not going to get the best versions of themselves. So I think landing spot always matters. Usually set up for quarterbacks, but, but I think once he gets to the NFL and gets behind a good offensive line, you're going to see the best version of Amari Hampton.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. And we're all hoping for that. And we're all nervous about Genti ending up with a team where the offensive line will stink and Genti might not be able to overcome that and play to his ceiling. All right, Quinn, Sean Judkins, Adam. And I have also noticed that his, his top gear isn't that fast, especially compared to a lot of other running backs in the league. And that's something that I just don't think can be improved upon, especially considering that he's already at 221 pounds. I don't know why someone, why a team would want to make him a little bit lighter. He also doesn't use his agility as much and that kind of worries me a little that he, he, he's trying to kind of play as like the rundowns guy.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Does, does, did that impact how you felt about him? And do you think teams will just look at that and immediately disqualify him as being even like a, a second round pick because he doesn't have the second gear in a deep glass?

[Ryan Wilson]

You know, it's funny, Dave, I actually had those same concerns and I was not as high on him as most folks in the media. And I get it. He's not Trevian Henderson, who's, who does have some short area quickness, who has the ability to bounce it and then turn the corner. Even though he did run that sub 4 didn't play as fast for me and that's why he's more bowling ball between the tackles guy. For me, one cut and go. So the concerns you have are the ones I have. And then it comes down to team fit. What are teams looking for? How does that fit into their system? If you're in a zone scheme and you get a one cut and go guy, you're ready to go there with Quintean Juckins and he just drags guys down the field. But for me he was like a third round pick and maybe even borderline day two, day three. And that's no disrespect to him. Just class is so deep. But some people like him better than Trey Henderson. I think our buddy Lee Jews will does. So it's just going to come down to what you're looking for in a running back, but I shared your concerns and it's sort of funny. I haven't heard a lot of people outside of you and me say those things, so I don't know. We'll find out if we're right or wrong. But I'm sort of with you on, on the View of Quinton.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't. Yeah, I'm not huge on him and I know I don't want to be a YPC for life guy because I, you know, used to get some heat for that. But in the Big Ten you are. Well, but I'm not, I'm not at all. I look, I think I, I've replaced that with big playability, which I think is really what separates running backs. But his, his big playability is not on the same level as a lot of the other guys. Like for example, Caleb Johnson, now Caleb Johnson, I should mention out of Iowa, had the slowest 10 yard split among running backs and he ran a 4, 5, 7, 40. So he didn't really test well. And the, the slowest 10 yard split, that, that does bother me a little bit. But his big playability much more frequently, you know, than. Than pretty much any other running back. Remember, I gave that stat about percentage of carries that went for 20 or more yards. I looked at, like, 11 running backs that are going to get drafted pretty early, and Caleb Johnson was. Was the leader there. I'm saying he's my favorite. But Judkins, what bothers me about Judkins, I gave this stat last time on last show. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry in the Big Ten. His teammate Travion Henderson averaged 6.5 yards per carry in the Big Ten. And that is just a huge, huge gap for me. And I don't know. It bugs me. I don't know, Ryan, if that matters at all to you. But to say that the guy that you're sharing a backfield with averaged 2.3 more yards per carry than you in the Big Ten and 4.2 yards per carry in college is just not good. So that's. That stands out to me that he just kind of beat up on the inferior competition earlier in the season. He also was great in the national championship game, which I think is sticking in people's minds, but I don't really want to. I don't really. I'm hoping that Judkins lands in a bad spot so I don't have to make a tough call on him. And I'm also hoping that Henderson lands in a good spot because my gut wants me to have Henderson ahead of Amari and Hampton. I absolutely love him.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, he's exactly.

[Adam Azer]

That's how I feel.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, he's exactly what you want in the NFL these days. He's just so fast. He's just.

[Adam Azer]

Yep.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Like, you just, like. He just beats. Beats defenders to the spot. Like Jameer.

[Adam Azer]

Less fix with him, too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

What do you think, Ryan?

[Ryan Wilson]

You know, it's funny as you guys are talking, and this is something that we were talking about at the combine as the running backs are coming through, and again, I'll liken it back to my Steelers connection, because Naja Harris versus Jalen Warren. Running backs starting to look a lot more like Jalen Warren now than Naja Harris, and they're having a lot more success. And I think that's the conversation with Judkins and Caleb Johnson as well. They're not big, and they are. They're sort of built like those guys, and now they're sort of evolving into what Jalen Warren looks like and playing that way. And to keep the comparison going, Jaylen Warren was way more effective than Najee Harris behind the same offensive line to your Ohio State point. And you wonder why. You know, if you watch the game, you can sort of figure it out.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Now, yes, there's a.

[Ryan Wilson]

There's a closer gap between Quinshon and. And Trey, and I think they're both really good players. But there are reasons to ask those questions if the yards per carry are 2 yards separating them behind the same offensive line, same competition.

[Adam Azer]

To me, it's elusiveness. I just think that it's just the fact that Henderson is much more. He's got more wiggle, looser hips, make you miss, and Judkins can't do that. I think it's like that with any type of thunder and lightning type of combo that's out there.

[Ryan Wilson]

But David Montgomery was. I'm sorry, Jamie. I was gonna say Dave Montgomery was pretty successful, though.

[Dave Richard]

Adam, who would you prefer if this happens? If Henderson gets drafted to the Steelers at 21 and Judkins goes to the Raiders in round two for this year.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I would take Judkins for sure. Dynasty. I really cannot see a scenario where I take Judkins over Henderson. I just think Henderson is such a better player. But it's a great call. Right. That's. That's where it gets really tough. Yeah, that's it. I'm gonna throw some more running back names at you. I want to. I want to get your thoughts.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Caleb Johnson. You like him?

[Ryan Wilson]

No, As a person, I love him. He's a little too upright for me. And even before the 40 time came out, I remember watching him in the fall thinking, what? Why are we having these first round conversations about Caleb Johnson again? To Echo, to Parrot Pete Prisco and Jamie Eisenberg. I do not want to crap on him as a person, but just football wise, if I'm stacking him, he's not in the same conversation these guys were talking about. So thank you for laughing at that.

[Dave Richard]

Your job is to evaluate.

[Ryan Wilson]

I know, but we love them all.

[Dave Richard]

As human beings for the most part. Your job is to evaluate.

[Ryan Wilson]

That's right. If that's the disclaimer, I do not like him as. As a. As a first or second, maybe even third round pick.

[Dave Richard]

Cam Scatter sitting next to you. And I said, you know, hey, this guy doesn't like you as a person.

[Ryan Wilson]

And that could very easily happen if you're sitting next to Jamie.

[Dave Richard]

I never do that to you.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Cam Scatter. Boo. Out of Arizona State.

[Ryan Wilson]

Love him. The only concern is how much longer can he play that way? And it feels like the expiration date is in months and not years because he is so. He is the angriest, hardest working football player on the field. But it's just not sustainable physically. It feels like, like I would take him to the fourth round because of physical, the physical shortcomings. Quotation mark. But he's a first round like football player.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Dylan Sampson out of Tennessee.

[Ryan Wilson]

I, you know, I had this conversation Jalen Wright I like better. Last year coming out he ran a little bit faster. And the issue with, with Dylan is that he, he fumbles. So I mean if you like your running back to turn the ball over, then I get it. But otherwise I, I wouldn't take him until day three.

[Dave Richard]

I think James would probably draft him as a gm.

[Ryan Wilson]

Who?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Javis? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Giants draft him. All right, just give me like one more name because I see, you know, I see Bashel Tootin pretty high in rankings. DJ Giddens. All right, go ahead, Tootin, go.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, I love Tutin. The only, he has fumbling issues as well, but he's a 43 guy. He plays that fast. He's a little undersized in the Jalen Warren mold. He can run between the tackles, he can bounce it. He can catch balls coming out of the backfield. He's a game changer. He played much of last season with a knee brace on. He was still out running guys at the end zone. And the other guy I'll mention to keep it real here in Central New York, Laquin Allen is only 20 years old, out of Syracuse, a little more upright. He didn't run anywhere in the pre draft process, which means he's probably not fast, but he plays fast. Another guy like we were talking with, Brashard Smith, he can catch the ball coming to the back hill, so he gives you that versatility as well. Those are two other guys that I like as potential. Day two ish, borderline day three guys.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Are there any other day two ish running backs that you feel like we need to mention?

[Ryan Wilson]

RJ Harvey out of ucf, I love. And then right there as you sort of day two, Day three, Jarquez Hunter out of Auburn. But the thing is, and I think Jamie was talking about this earlier, I literally have 25 guys that could go in the first four rounds, first four or five rounds. So that's so deep at running back and every one's flavor of ice cream is going to be different. How these terms in terms of how these guys are ranked. But it, it's going to be hard to miss on these guys in the first four or five rounds if you just pull a name out of a hat because these guys have been so good.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, we got to take a break. We'll talk wide receivers when we come back on FFT.

[Ryan Wilson]

24 chefs 24 culinary showdowns for 20 hours straight, which chef will out cook, outpace, outlast the competition? No chef escapes the clock. Season premiere 24 and 24 Last Chef Standing Sunday, April 27th at 8. See it first on Food Network Stream next day on Max. Out here, there's no one way of.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Doing things, no unwritten rules and no shortage of adventures. Because out here, the only requirement is having fun.

[Ryan Wilson]

Bank of America invites kids 6 to 18 to golf with us for a limited time. Sign them up for a free one year membership, giving them access to discounted tee times at thousands of courses. Learn [e-mail] golf with us what would you like the power to do?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Bank of America restrictions apply.

[Ryan Wilson]

Cbfa.com golf with us for complete details.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation welcome back. Dave, you haven't talked in a while. Can you just please ask Ryan for his top five wide receivers?

[Adam Azer]

Let's assume that Travis Hunter is going to play cornerback. Unless you don't have Travis Hunter as your. Well, I'll start with this. Would Travis Hunter be your number one wide receiver?

[Ryan Wilson]

Dave, I'm still on Ted McMillan out of Arizona and the lesson I've tried to make sure I remember is that when T. Higgins came out, I liked him a lot in the fall. And then he ran quote unquote slowish during the pre draft process. I said, oh, he's not fast enough. So I had him as a second round pick. He's a first round pick. Same with Ted. I don't care what Tet runs. I've seen Tet play and right. It feels like the longer we go between the end of the season and the draft, the more we convince ourselves these kids stink. And it's our buddy Rick Spielman used to say, you hate them up until the moment you draft him and then suddenly you love them again. I like Ted McMillan. Like there's I don't have to overthink it and I don't. I had him in this mock draft. I did this morning what I would do. I have him going to the Jaguars at five, sort of along the lines of thinking about Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson together, thinking about Jamar and T. Together just to help out a young quarterback. And that defense in Jacksonville isn't nearly as Bad as Cincinnati. So there's an opportunity for them to turn things around with Liam Cohen. They can get defense later, but especially like Mason Graham's the landing spot that people tackle out of Michigan at 5 usually in these mock drafts, but there's defensive line classes insanely deep. So get a wide receiver if you love them. Pair with Brian Thomas Jr. And then figure the rest out later.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, so the top five would have Tet1 go through the others.

[Ryan Wilson]

Travis2 if we want to include Travis. Matthew golden out of Texas, who I love. 3. Luther Burden is next and those guys are all first round greats for me. Then a Mecca buck is top of the second for me at Ohio State, man.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, golden and Burden, to me are the two guys that I just. I know they're so important for our job, right, because they're going to get drafted early. I don't know how I feel about them. So tell us how you feel about Matthew golden out of Texas, Luther Burden out of Missouri.

[Ryan Wilson]

So yeah, Golden's a transfer from Houston and going into the season the the guy to watch was Isaiah Bond who battled injuries and now he's battling some off field stuff. But Matthew golden is a legit track guy. I think he ran a four two nine and I sort of joke the only person that really plays 429 is probably Tyreek. But this guy plays fast enough and my comp for him was Jordan Addison, except he way outweighs Jordan by about 15 pounds coming out. He's about 194, just a hair under six feet. I think he's 5 10, 5 11. But he can play outside, he can play inside, he has returnability. So he can do all those things that Jordan Addison does. I feel like he can do it at that level. Luther Burton is interesting and that his season last year wasn't great, but that's because Brady Cook, their quarterback, was banged up the entire year. If you watch 2023, both Brady Cook and Luther Burden look like playmakers. And I think that's what you get with Luther Burton at the next level. And he plays mostly slot, but he's 6ft, almost 200. He might be 200 ran sub 4 5. So he plays bigger than perhaps he. He looks and he's pretty big physically. And I think that the speed I have no concern with. Ameca Abuka is one of these guys I feel like we're sleeping on just because he does everything at like a B plus, A minus, but he doesn't do anything spectacularly.

[Adam Azer]

Right.

[Ryan Wilson]

He's a huge slot he runs faster than Jack Smith and Jigba coming out. He's a professional like route runner. He's going to be exactly where you want him to be. If you're a quarterback, you can rely on him. Great hands, yada yada, yada. So he could end up being the most efficient of these guys early on in his career just because he's more advanced. But Lanny spot, yada, yada, yada. The other name I'll mention, wide receiver 6 Jalen Royals out of Utah State didn't talk a lot about him because he got hurt in October. This dude can, can play like he is. They used him at Utah State sort of like they use Malachi Corley Western Kentucky. But I think he's a better athlete and a better route runner.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Jalen Royals and Matthew golden had the fastest 10 yard split.

[Ryan Wilson]

Thank you.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. At the combine they were tied. Royals ran a four, four, two. And he. Is he, he's. Is he a slot guy? Well, no, I put in my notes. He can play out wide or in the slot. So that's.

[Ryan Wilson]

And he has returnability too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay. Jamie, would you say, you know, he said that Abuka is like a. Does everything at like a B plus, A minus does nothing spectacular, just. You think that describes me too? Like just kind of, you know, it.

[Dave Richard]

Gets a little bit lofty for you?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

All right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Softball starts tonight, so definitely not.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, all right. Love to see it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. All right. Tennis swing is like an A. Solid A right now. You know, we're past the A minus board, but the forehand anyway.

[Ryan Wilson]

Wait a second. Adam.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

Did you play a tennis match live?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I did.

[Ryan Wilson]

Who'd you play against?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Dan Schneier.

[Ryan Wilson]

That's right. You and Dan. Yeah. Year struck is pretty good. Like my son plays tennis in high school. Doesn't work hard at it at all, but whatever. But I appreciated watching someone care about what they were doing and trying to do it at a high level. So kudos to you, sir.

[Adam Azer]

A lot better since record show that Ryan seeked out the live stream of Adam playing tennis.

[Ryan Wilson]

I remember that.

[Adam Azer]

Doesn't even bother to follow Ryan Wilson or look up his mock drafts right before the show starts.

[Ryan Wilson]

And just to try to placate Jamie, when I say B plus, A minus for Mecca Boca, I really mean A plus. Let's be real. Of course.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So I just want to let you know this came up at dinner yesterday. Apparently if you Google my name, the first thing that. The fourth thing, the fourth thing that comes up is Adam Azer tennis match. So I Guess a lot of people.

[Dave Richard]

3.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Just me at a mazer, wife at a baser, Twitter at a baser tennis match.

[Dave Richard]

That's.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Ryan Wilson]

And Dan's actually pretty good tennis players.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, Very good. But I'm gonna give him.

[Dave Richard]

I'm gonna give him very good in comparison to Adam.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, he's very good. He's a very good player. He played in high school, and I think he actually put some work into it in high school. So you should. Your son should talk to Dan.

[Ryan Wilson]

There we go. Got it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right. Anyway, Jamie, go ahead to ask. Talk about. I'm sorry I haven't gotten you involved enough. So floor is yours.

[Dave Richard]

I'm just enjoying the conversation. Jaden Higgins, your thoughts on him And Jack Beck, another guy who's getting a lot of. A lot of pub lately.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, Huge Jack Bash guy. I, I liked watching. It's a Louisiana pronunciation, apparently, because I, I had to. I caught him back as well. Yeah, I, I. He was an LSU guy, transferred to tcu. And I remember watching him in the fall going, good Lord, why are we not talking about this guy? He never ran. Or if he did, he didn't run super fast. I don't, I don't care. He plays plenty fast. Me and Dave saw him at the Senior bowl, and he went off there. He was dominating practice, had a really good game. I'm not high on Jaden Higgins. I haven't been throughout the process. I had a day three grade on him, and then Lee J, our buddy Lee Jews, will like, dude, this guy has a chance to be a top 50 pick. So I went back and watched him again. I moved him up a little bit more. He ran sub 4 5. He doesn't play that fast. Like, everyone gets on Ted McMillan for not separating. Jaden Higgins doesn't separate either. He's 6 4, and he's a long strider, and he does all those things. Well. I think Tet is a. A level or two above what Jaden Higgins does, and that doesn't mean Jaden Higgins won't be a top 50 player. But let me see who my comp was for him, because I just couldn't get on board with them. And again, that doesn't mean anything other than one person. So Devonta Parker was sort of my comp.

[Adam Azer]

That's fair, though.

[Ryan Wilson]

Like, big tester. And then you don't see it on tape necessarily. And that's okay. Like, we'll see how it works out. But I just, I would not take them. You talk. I was talking about comparisons. One of the Things that we were talking about the other day, we were doing these mock drafts. If you're the, if you're the, the Raiders, for example, would you rather have Ashton Genti and Jaden Higgins or would you rather have Ted McMillan and say Omari and Hampton? Like, that's the, the sort of math you're trying to figure out when you, where and when to take these guys.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's probably not going to be Hampton. Right? Like, don't you think Hampton's going to be in the first one?

[Ryan Wilson]

Or even your guy, Trey, let's say take Trey Henderson. Then we'll take Trey Henderson.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I feel like he's going to be, I don't know, I feel like he's gonna be a first round pick too. But yeah, it could be Hender. It could be. Certainly could be Judkins. Right. It could be Ted and Joe.

[Ryan Wilson]

I think Trey Henderson's probably not going to go in the first round, so he could be there at the top of the second for the Raiders. So you could have Tet and Trey or you could have Ashton and Jaden Higgins was the conversation we're having.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I go Tet and Trey.

[Ryan Wilson]

I would too.

[Dave Richard]

But, you know, I think you probably have to go that route. Right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's the problem.

[Adam Azer]

Unless you love Ashton Genti. Yeah, I would guess the problem is that, like, there's a clear difference between the type of running back Genty is to Henderson and Genty can do a lot of what Henderson can do. Henderson can't do a lot of what Ashton could do. Ashton's a very. I'm gonna decide on Genti and Higgins because I think as good as McMillan is and he, he's definitely got that agility that Jaden Higgins doesn't have, you're still going to get a big guy who's six four who you're just going to throw up 50, 50 balls and he's going to win them. I love, I like Higgins and I love his hands. Like, I, I won two drops maybe over his time at, at, at Iowa State and 145 targets he went on. Like, I, I think that he could end up being one of the five best receivers in this class and someone who could, with good target volume could be an asset in fantasy football.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, I wouldn't push back on that. I just, when I started stacking these guys. And to your point, Dave, 145 targets, just two drops, so. Thank you. He's catching everything you throw towards him. No doubt about it. Yeah, I just didn't see the. I Didn't see what everybody Lee J. Saw in terms of him being a top 50 pick.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, no. He doesn't have the wiggle that McMillan has. He doesn't have the footwork, and I don't think he ever will. So, like, there's a drop off there, but you're still getting ultimately a big receiver and you're getting a better running back. In Genty.

[Dave Richard]

The Raiders would be doing like a fantasy draft that way. I got this guy in round one, and then round two, I'll get the receiver.

[Ryan Wilson]

Right?

[Dave Richard]

Right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's always the hardest part about justifying a running back in the first round. I mean, when the Giants took Barkley, Nick Chubb, they could have had Nick Chubb in the second round. Right. So. But Barkley's obviously amazing. I do want to know, you know, how you feel about Hunter because you have him second. Do you think he. Do you think he can be a great receiver? How about comparing Hunter and McMillan to, let's say, Roma Dunze this time last.

[Ryan Wilson]

Year, where would I have those three sacked? Yeah. So Rome and Tet would probably be pretty close. Travis is my wide receiver too. Just because he doesn't play full time. He would be my wide receiver one if that was his only job. Just because he'd be somewhere further along. Because now he's just playing sort of on feel and he's a good enough route runner. They didn't ask to do a whole bunch. A lot of screens, a lot of hitches, a lot of go balls. So we have to see how that fits in. And I think we heard Joe Shane talk about how they would use Travis in that role on offense at the next level, should they draft them, so on and so forth. But I think three years from now, Travis Hunter could be the. The best wide receiver out of this draft class and one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He just hasn't done it a lot.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

There's anybody to trust. It's Joe Shane.

[Ryan Wilson]

20, 23.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes. Throw out some wide receiver names out. You give me a quick thought.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yep.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Alec IO Manner out of Stanford Big.

[Ryan Wilson]

He's not gonna. He ran pretty well, but he doesn't play fast. But he's a possession receiver. He reminds me of Anquan Bolden, like that sort of player. And you can rely on security blanket for your. For your quarterback.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Trey Harris out of Ole Miss. I was very impressed. He has a 79 catch rate with a 12 yard a dot. One of the best. And they should come up with a stat for this. But like the high, a highish a dot high catch rate. You don't see that Trey Harris really excelled there. What do you think about him?

[Ryan Wilson]

I like him a lot. And the, the issue, the hesitation is that coming out of that Ole Miss offense, sometimes the quarterbacks and wide receivers don't translate. Even though Lane Kippen, you know, runs a what's considered like a really efficient high powered offense. It just feels like those guys sometimes when they get to the next level don't exactly put it together. The his names escapes me. The second round pick of the Panthers who they traded to the, the Cowboys.

[Adam Azer]

Jonathan Mingo.

[Ryan Wilson]

Mingo, like that, that didn't work out and maybe it does, but. And when they draft I was like, I don't know. Trey Harris is a much better player than Mingo coming out in my mind. But I think his chance to be good and he's, he feels like a day two guy so I'd be comfortable with that.

[Adam Azer]

Do you like his speed?

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, no, I think he plays plenty fast. I think it's the LSU game. He was just running past guys all day long. The first one of the first plays of the game, I think he just dropped that bomb from, from Jackson dart. But he can get open. He's a big, big body too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's exactly what happened. Trey Harris dropped one on the first play and then on the next drive he caught one. He kept getting behind guys on LSU and he ran a 4, 5, 4. But I'm glad you say that because I look at him, it's like I even wrote it in my notes. I. He looks faster than his 40 time. So yeah, let's see. Isaiah Bond. So we know he's dealing with this sexual assault accusation. He says he's innocent. You know, I'm not going to get into that, but he is super. Texas has every fast guy in the world apparently. 43940 Isaiah Bond. You think he's if, if there were no off field issues, do you think he's a second round pick kind of player?

[Ryan Wilson]

He's second, third round. If we're just talking about on field productivity. He was banged up for part of last year and then when you go back and watch him like, oh, this dude's getting open and making plays. Alabama transfer and like why is he transferring? And I don't know if it served him well or not because of the injury. But I understood what he was thinking. I, yeah, I think he's a day two guy. Strictly on the field. It's just a matter of how much off the Field is going to be a problem. I'm going to throw a name at you guys too. A guy that I watched in the fall and starting to talk about a little more. But Dante Thornton Jr. Out of Tennessee, six four, 200 pounds ran to the four threes and he is a poor man's version of Brian Thomas Jr. That you just throw go balls to him and he, he catches them and he's not 185. He is thick. He's a track guy and Oregon transfer and all he does is make plays like down the field. And I love him as a sort of. I think my comp for him was like Martavis Bryant when he came out they just threw him deep balls and threw him slants. Let him do the rest. That's Dante Thornton Jr. And then he sort of grows into the role and you teach him how to run routes, yada, yada, yada. But day one deep ball threat and he has the physicality to be a high point sort of contested catch guy too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Give me your thoughts on Kyle Williams out of Washington State.

[Ryan Wilson]

I don't love him as much as some of our, our buddies do. Like again, Lee J. Likes him a little bit more. I think Mike Renner likes him a little bit more. He plays outside, he can play inside. He had a good Senior Bowl. I think he's more possession receiver for me than sort of juiced up athlete. He tested pretty well, but I, I didn't, I wasn't on the Kyle Williams train like some other folks were. I have him as a day three guy, like fourth, fifth rounder.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Dave, you saw him at the Senior Bowl, Kyle Williams, any thoughts?

[Adam Azer]

I, I thought he was okay at the Senior bowl but he didn't stand out to me. I don't think he was one of the top two or three best receivers that was there. He's, he's somebody I'm studying this week.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And we had Chris Chapasso on last week and he really likes, oh, the guy out of Florida, Elijah Badger.

[Ryan Wilson]

He's a huge Elijah Badger guy.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, he had him fifth. What do you think about Elijah Badger?

[Ryan Wilson]

If you're going to draft a Florida receiver? I would go with Kymiri dk. I like him a little better. Slot guy. He's big, ran really well. He just runs away from guys in the middle of the field on these sort of man beaters and that's, that's where I would go. Like Badger, I have going like late day, day three dk, I would take, I would take him in the fourth and feel Pretty good about it. I'm looking now. My conference badger was Tajie Sharp, so he's a number four on your team, wide receiver wise.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay.

[Ryan Wilson]

I think DK could be a number three, number four, but you put him in the slot in third down and just have him beat guys in the middle of the field. And he's a. He's a yak guy, too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Let's get to the tight ends.

[Dave Richard]

Gave Dave a heart attack.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, is Sharp one of my guys.

[Adam Azer]

From many years ago?

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, okay. Oh, look at that. Who knew? He's your. He's your. He's your. Breeze Hall.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We got some good chat.

[Adam Azer]

I wish it was my Breeze Hall.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We got some good suggestions in the chat for what comes up. If you Google Adam Azer. So stay tuned at the end for. For some of those. The chat never lets us down. All right, tight ends. Yeah, Give me your top five.

[Ryan Wilson]

Colson Loveland.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, no. It is Tyler Warren. Come on. Ryan Wilson. I suck.

[Ryan Wilson]

This is the. Here's the thing. No one helped themselves outside of perhaps Cam Ward more this fall than Tyler Warren. Like he was a day two, day three guy in the summer. We talked about him on the. On the podcast I host, Adam. It's called with the first figures. Check that out. Colson Loveland was the victim of terrible quarterback play last year, sort of like we talked about with Luther Burden when Brady Cook was hurt. But he was J.J. mcCarthy's go to guy in 2023, and he is. He's basically a big slot. He's more Juwan Jennings than Rob Gronkowski, and that he's going to line in the slot. He's one of the best route runners in this draft class. He's enormous. He's slender, but he's tall. Big catch radius, and he actually runs through arm tackles despite his size. That said, I think in this mock draft and what I would do, I had Tyler Warren going first because he's a better fit in Indianapolis, in my mind, than Colson Loveland. So either one I'm fine on. And I like them very similarly, just for different reasons. So. Colson Tyler Warren, Gunner Helm, I love out of Texas. He ran a 48 at the combine, but he had an ankle injury. If I were his agent, I'd be like, yo, man, your. Your ankle isn't working. Let's run when you're healthy. But I give him credit for being, you know, trying to tough it out. Mason Taylor at LSU is next. He's Jason Taylor's son, and he's every bit the Athlete, maybe a better athlete, which is crazy. And then Elijah Royo to rep Azer and Dave out of the U there. Another fantastic athlete who just battled some injury issues.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm putting this in my notes. Good stuff. Gunner Helm ran a 48 but had an ankle injury. So when I. When he gets drafted and we're talking about him on Saturday and be like, guys, don't just remember he had an ankle injury. All right, so you go, let me just recap everything.

[Dave Richard]

You credit the person that told you to.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't think I'm going to do that. I said, I heard it on this podcast with the third pick or something like that. So we've got your top five quarterbacks were Cam Sanders, Jackson Dart, Kyle McCord, Will Howard. Your top five running backs were Ashton Genty, Omarion Hampton, Travion Henderson, Burchard Smith, Quinton Judkins. Top five wide receivers, Tet McMillan, Travis Hunter, Matthew Golden, Luther Burden, A Mecca Abuka. Top five tight ends, Loveland Tyler Warren, Gunner Helm, Mason Taylor and Elijah Arroyo.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yep.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, Jamie, anything you want to get into with the tight ends?

[Dave Richard]

Who's your top five kickers?

[Ryan Wilson]

We did a seven round mock draft live on the podcast that I host. It's called with the first pick Adam. And not one special teams player was drafted and I regretted it immediately after afterwards. So I know the kicker from Miami is good. Beyond that, I don't, I don't know.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Borgallis, baby. Yeah, yeah. All right. But these tight ends are great. I mean, it's a great tight end class here.

[Dave Richard]

So how many do you have in the first round?

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, I think just two. Like, I would be shocked if three go and the question is how high? And you know, people get angry again. As you guys know, when you do these mock drafts, fans get angry. But we did a mock draft with me and Pete Prisco, Brian McFadden and Ran Carthon making all the first round picks. And Tyler Warren lasted until the commanders at whatever pick 29 or 30, wherever they're picking. Just because other things happened before. Right. You don't. That doesn't seem possible. But there was a run on running backs, there was a run on offensive lineman, whatever it was. So sometimes these weird quirky things happen that aren't injury related, just the way that the board sort of unfolds. So that would be crazy. I don't think it'll happen that way. I think both these guys will be gone by pick 20, but I mean, you never know.

[Dave Richard]

I would be shocked if one of the two don't go to the jets of the Colts.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, the Jets. Interesting. At seven. At seven, yeah. Oh, that's nice. I don't hate that because I have them taking an offensive lineman and people get angry about that, but whatever. But I mean, they do have a real need there. And again, we're talking about helping out scrubs everywhere else. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And Garrett Wilson has made it clear that he's tired of having to carry the load as the only sort of guy in the wide receiver room slash tight end room. We have three tall though. Jamie.

[Dave Richard]

They do. And two other running backs that apparently they're going to use. Aaron Glenn said he basically hates Breeze.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Hall as much as you do once upon a time. Before you guys. Well, no, not before you knew me, but before I was making any types of predictions on the air.

[Ryan Wilson]

You're making seven figures.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. Right. You're just gonna have to take my word for it on this because it's really true. I loved Luke Keakley. He was. This guy was like this guy is going to be one of the best players in this draft. Now I could be making this up, I could be lying, but I love Luke Keakley. The Tyler Warren is my Luke Keakley. I love Tyler Warren. I think he's going to be one of the best players out of this draft. He is like George Kittle to me. Everything you said about Cam Scatter Boo is how I also feel about Tyler Warren. He's an absolute beast and if he goes to the Jets, I'll be totally heartbroken. But if he goes to the Colts, I'll be even more heartbroken. So.

[Ryan Wilson]

So either just said Tyler Warren will be a Hall of Famer.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I honestly think he has, you know all. I think he has certainly Pro bowl to all pro potential. I don't know about hall of Fame, but he is gonna be everyone's favorite player. He's such, he's such a hard working just monster out there.

[Dave Richard]

If he falls that far. I mean I'd love to see the Chargers somehow find a way to get him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

No, he feels like a Jim Harbaugh type guy too. I know his, I know his high school basketball coach. This will make you scribble this down, Adam. Make you even happier about him. So he's a super quiet kid, number one. Number two, like he played in a suburban Richmond high school and he played center at 66235 at the time and they would. He was the only reason they were able to compete with the city city schools in basketball because he was out there just balling out as a 66230. I don't know if he had long hair then center looking like perhaps Kurt Rambis. I don't know. But the athleticism is I think sometimes underrated and I'm guilty of it as well. When you compare him to Colson Loveland, he's insanely athletic, he's insanely driven, he cares about football, he doesn't do much else and he's by all accounts a good kid.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't like that he's quiet though. I want someone who's in your face and nasty.

[Ryan Wilson]

You want Jeremy Shockey? Is that what you're looking on the field?

[Adam Azer]

That's all.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Not he's. I hate him now.

[Dave Richard]

I mean Kurt Rambis, you're dating yourself.

[Ryan Wilson]

I do. Like who is the. Who would be the closest version of a long haired basketball playing? Tyler Warren. Like I don't even know.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Stephen Adams was watching him last night. A little Steven.

[Ryan Wilson]

I don't even know who that is.

[Dave Richard]

He's from New Zealand though. Like you can't. Can't go there.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't know.

[Ryan Wilson]

Out of the loop. I am.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right. So yeah, I think Stephen Adams.

[Ryan Wilson]

Didn't he write Dilbert? Does that date myself, Jamie Scott Adams.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I believe Silver Gunner Helm was an interesting one at three.

[Dave Richard]

Can we make a trade? And Ryan hosts this show and you host the Third Pick podcast with the third Pick.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's a Giants podcast. So these other guys, you know, Helm, Mason Taylor, Elijah Arroyo, you didn't mention Harold Fannin Jr. He's probably, probably right there or just.

[Ryan Wilson]

He is right there. Yes.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

How much potential do these guys have as NFL prospects?

[Ryan Wilson]

Mason Taylor has the most upside. He's a sheer athlete at this point. So we're learning the position. But he's, he'll block and you know, you don't. You guys don't necessarily care about that for your purposes but in terms of being an inline tight end. But again it's funny because Randy Moss's son Thaddeus Moss played in that LSU team back during the Joe Burrow days and he was good. I think he went undrafted. But. But Taylor Mason is legit. Like you know his uncle obviously Zach Thomas, his dad's Jason Taylor and the athleticism feels like it's not going to be Kyle Pitts level athleticism. And then the warning label that comes with that is that you have to use them properly. Kyle Pitts is still trying to figure that out. But you talk about Harold Fannin Jr. He's more of a big slide. Again, sort of the Malachi Corley comparison, but a little better, a little more efficient. He was the, the offensive Bowling Green and then another player whose dad played in the league right below Harold for me is around the Gats in the second.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, I was asking about him as a Syracuse guy.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, he's. He's 245. He looks in person like he is 265. He's 64 and change. He is thick for 245 ish and he again he can play in line and block but he was calm of court's go to security blanket in the middle of field and not just on short routes but short intermediate and then he could run the seam. He ran a 465 as his pro day and I think that's perfect for him. So Terence Ferguson. I'll mention a couple of the names guys that are athletic kite and so you get drafted. Terrence Ferguson out of Oregon had a good season last year. Mitchell Evans out of Notre Dame, not quite as athletic, but it's sort of a traditional tight end of. Out of a Notre Dame. As I mentioned, he also had had a good year again with some, some up and down quarterback play with Riley Leonard.

[Dave Richard]

Arande Gadsden senior. One of the best highlights in Dolphins history when they lost the Jaguars 62 7. He scored the only touchdown. I believe they were down 40 at that point. Maybe more. I don't even know. And he did his. He did his touchdown celebration which was an OG like with his arms and it was just. It was like Austin Eckler when they were getting the, the. Kicked out of them by the Raiders. And he does the first down when they're down 30.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it's like when Homer Simpson scored a touchdown. Was it in the Super Bowl, Adam? And he's doing all these dancing.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, I don't. I hate that episode. I never watched that episode.

[Adam Azer]

And it's like 62 to 7.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't know.

[Ryan Wilson]

You know who I blame for that touch celebration down 60 points, guys. Rick Spielman. He was in the front office of Miami. He set the tone and they follow suit. So that's Rick's fault.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Rick used to be on this podcast. Great podcast.

[Ryan Wilson]

What was it called?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

With something I don't remember. But yeah, yeah. Harold Fannon Jr. I find amazing. I mentioned this a few weeks ago. First tight end in FBS history to lead the country in catches and receiving yards. And he did it on a team that was only 46th in the country in pass attempts and only played 13 games. Some guys are playing 15, 16 games. He had over 117 catches, 1555 yards, 10 touchdowns. Amazing production from Harold Bannon Jr. And I didn't mention this and I wanted to when we talked about him last time, two games against, you know, big time teams. Eleven catches for 137 yards in a touchdown against Penn State. Eight catches, 145 yards and a touchdown against Texas A and M. There's a touchdown against Texas A M. You're not going to like this. Ryan, my personal opinion, the touchdown against A M, he's wide open but then he makes a play after the catch. I don't know if you remember the play. Juke. Some guys like really, really nice highlight play. I never saw a single thing anything like that from Colston Loveland. Never saw that juke ability that, that's people get on Colson Loveland for that. The yak, the lack of yak. I never saw that from him. I saw that on that play certainly from Fanon, but I did. I think it's important for Fan and that he played against Penn State and A m. He had 140 yards and a touchdown against both of them.

[Ryan Wilson]

Absolutely. That's the same conversation we have about Ashton Genti. He didn't play anyone well. He beat the pants up at Oregon so he played them. And I think you're right because when you talk about the, the Mac, the competition isn't what it is and the SEC is a Big Ten or whatever. Except he went against both those teams from those conferences and took over the game. And a lot of the Bowling Green offense was just put the ball in Harold's hands and let him do the rest. But to your point, he can make plays down the field. He can make contested catches in the middle of the hashes on those intermediate routes. The funny thing for me is that he runs like he's a little quirky. Way in which he runs is like he almost doesn't have knees but he's still fast and he's still out running guys and he's still making plays. And again, another guy who had a great Senior bowl week and I would take him in the third round all day long and just find ways to use them as a, as a slot out of the slot.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, I'm sorry, we went pretty long here, so let's just wrap it up. Your thoughts on the offensive lineman in this draft.

[Ryan Wilson]

So last year I'll ask you a pop quiz, Adam. How many offensive linemen when the first round last Year.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Who was the first one? Can you tell me that? Like jog my memory.

[Ryan Wilson]

I think it was Joe Alt. I'm actually struggling too. I think it was Joel and then Latham after that.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Six offensive linemen in the first round, nine offensive linemen.

[Ryan Wilson]

When the first round I was had it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I was reading upside down. Sorry, it was a nine.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, yeah, I get it.

[Ryan Wilson]

With the six pick you would have gotten that one, right? Yeah, I think four, like four guys office of tackles and maybe one guard, two guards so we could get four to six. I feel like so the I would set the over under five and a half, maybe six and a half. So Kelvin Banks Jr. Is my OT1 but I think Will Campbell goes first because he's more ready to start left tackle for the Panther. I mean, excuse me, the Patriots, we talked about that to death. I like Armand Menboo going to the jets at 7, but I like Jamie's idea of taking a tight end there. And then Calvin Banks could go at nine to the Saints for example. Or maybe he slips a little bit further. And then Josh Simmons is the San Diego State transfer. Got hurt in that Oregon game for Ohio State in the midst of the second half of the season. But he's. He looks apart. He might be the best athlete of the bunch. And the Tyler Booker, the tackle, excuse me, the guard out of Alabama, one of my favorite players, any position he ran a 4, 3, 5. I don't care. People keep talking about that. It doesn't matter. And then Gray Zabel, the North Dakota State left tackle is going to kick inside at the next level, guard and or center. And he has a chance to be a first rounder as well.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's going to come up on Thursday when Will Campbell gets selected maybe as early as fourth short arms. Is he really going to play tackle? Are they going to have to move him to guard? What are your thoughts?

[Ryan Wilson]

As Will Campbell said when he he's asked about this, he said, I started as a freshman for LLSU in the SEC and no one cared about my arm length until literally two weeks ago. Or whenever they found out his arm, like if you watch him play, like, oh my God, this kid is great and he's great against some of the best players in the country. Talked to Walter Nolan, the Senior bowl and he said, he said, yeah, the toughest kid I faced throughout my career. This is going back to their high school days is Will Campbell because they were both five starts at the same camps and all that other stuff. So Walter Nolan is going to be a first round pick. And he is very disruptive. And Will Campbell more than held his own against Walter Nolan. I'm not worried about Will Campbell as a tackle. You just. You put him out there and you see what happens. I mean, worst case, you move them inside the guard. But why wouldn't you try him? Attack them?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, I'm trying to look for some of the Adam Azer's Google searches. Atom A weird sandwich. Adam terrible movie takes. Atom Azer. Star Trek shirt. Adam Azer. Three line gate. Yep. These would all be.

[Dave Richard]

Are you Star Trek guy?

[Ryan Wilson]

No, I'm a Star wars guy.

[Dave Richard]

Star wars guy.

[Ryan Wilson]

What? Jamie and. Or Dave. What are. What are some of Adam's worst movie takes? I'm curious.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, God, this is a bad take.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I actually had one last week. Great movie takes.

[Adam Azer]

What's the romantic movie that he thought was amazing? Jamie?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, Crazy Stupid Love. That movie is awesome. Let me get a good one.

[Adam Azer]

He said it, like, top five movie all time.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That set up. I think you did Crazy Stupid Love.

[Dave Richard]

Have you seen. Have you seen the Sopranos?

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah. Oh, here comes Thomas. Thomas has a word. There's the one with Patrick.

[Adam Azer]

Dirty Dancing is a top five movie.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I did not say top five movies.

[Dave Richard]

He didn't say top five movie. He said when Dirty Dancing's on. He watches it now because he didn't see it when he first saw it. Right?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, yeah. It's a great. No, Dirty Dancing is a really good movie. It's very. I don't know if it's Great.

[Ryan Wilson]

More than 10 times. You've seen it more than 10 times?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, it's always on. So I put it on in the background. I don't see, like, I wouldn't go, hey, let's go watch a movie. Let's watch Dirty Dancing. But it's a good movie to put on. It's like a guilty pleasure, you know?

[Ryan Wilson]

Do you own it?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, I don't own it.

[Dave Richard]

That guy. Ry.

[Ryan Wilson]

Ryrie.

[Dave Richard]

Whatever said that.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

You think Tom Cruise isn't an action star? That's a terrible one.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

Wait, Tom Cruise is not an action star.

[Adam Azer]

That's what Adam.

[Dave Richard]

You know, because he doesn't fight enough in movies.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, that is a terrible. What else does he do?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's not a great one. He's. He's a Jerry Maguire. He's a drama guy. He's, you know, he's in. He's in Cocktail.

[Ryan Wilson]

I'm pretty sure Jerry Maguire came out in 96 and cocktail may have been 89.

[Adam Azer]

So much drama. And Mission Impossible.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You know what movie I Watched my parents, the 10 of them, I watched. I watched the Running man with my mom this past week. It was a weird original.

[Ryan Wilson]

Running Man.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

She was not a bad movie.

[Adam Azer]

That's a great movie to watch with your mom.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I know Arnold's like, he had the splits. And she was like, oh, my God. Then she's like, that's it. I'm done with this movie.

[Dave Richard]

Hey, there's a great NFL player in that movie.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, Jim Brown. Yeah.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, look at that call.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, fellas. Ryan, thank you very much.

[Dave Richard]

Jesse Ventura, I believe played in the NFL, right? Or college.

[Adam Azer]

I don't. Yeah, Jesse didn't. In the NFL. I gotta Google that.

[Ryan Wilson]

Yeah, that's a. That's Adam Mazer. Jesse Ventura. See what that. That returns. Thanks for having me, guys. I'm glad I was the last one in the edition. I'm glad that again, realize that I do work with them. I've been at the company since 2011.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But yeah, thanks for filling in. Listen, enjoy your. Enjoy your six month vacation that starts on Monday, dude.

[Ryan Wilson]

Oh, I will. Yeah, I absolutely will. Me and Breeze all are going on vacation.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Have a great day. Everybody remember to do that NFL draft contest again. The URL is tinyurl.com FFT 2025 draft for Ryan Wilson, Jamie Eisenberg, Dave Richard and Thomas Schaefer. I'm Adam Mazer. We will talk to you on Wednesday on fantasy football field. Paramount podcasts prepare to be entertained.

[Ryan Wilson]

Gladiator 2 is now streaming on Paramount Plus. You hear that crowd? It's ferociously entertaining. I'm just here for the games. And an absolute triumph.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Take your father's strength.

[Ryan Wilson]

His name is Maximus. Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal. With Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Strength and honor.

[Ryan Wilson]

Strength and honor. Gladiator 2, directed by Ridley Scott. Now streaming on Paramount plus rated River.