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- [00:00]
Tucker
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Mensch
There's no Calvin Johnson or Andre Johnson. There's no Julio Jones or Jamar Chase. But when we look back on it, the 2026 class might be the deepest, most talent rich group in the history of the draft. That's not hype, that's reality. Wide receiver deep dive is Next in just 36 days until the NFL draft. You good men?
- [00:30]
Tucker
I'm great. But listen, man, I just want to point out just three days until Tucker gets married. Bigger countdown.
- [00:36]
Mensch
Huge countdown. Hey, Tuck on that note. Roll that beat please. Carnell, Tate, Maai, Lemon, Jordan, Tyson. When I talk, I'm not talking about media. I'm talking about general managers, personnel, directors, scouts. In the league, it's not a complete consensus, but when you talk to people in the league, it's, it's those are the three guys. And then where it gets special in 2026 for the wide receiver group is there's like there's a ton and we'll get to the numbers. I think 10 more guys after those first three could go in the first two rounds. Could be record setting or tie the record that we've seen twice in the last five years, right? 20, 22 or 13 taken in the first two rounds. 20, 2013 taken in the first two rounds. I went back common draft era 1967 men I did. I know I have a problem.
- [01:48]
Tucker
Dig it deep. I like it.
- [01:50]
Mensch
1967. Those two drafts have produced the most first and second round talent combined of any drafts in the history of the NFL draft. And so in this year we're looking at about the same. Could be 13 guys drafted and then a bunch of others late on day two and early into day three. This episode is brought to you by TaxAct. From rookies to experts, TaxAct helps you navigate every tax play with accuracy guaranteed. Get tips along the way, add expert assist to talk to tax experts or let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details.
- [02:39]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
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- [03:06]
Mensch
But I'm asking you this question. Where are you When I talk about those top three? Carnell, Tate, Mammon, Jordan Tyson, Ohio State, usc, Arizona State, respectively. Where are you and those guys?
- [03:23]
Tucker
I am Tyson, Tate, Lemon, and with a massive caveat. And I would. I want you to kind of talk me through that, but I'll start with. Tyson was my number one receiver coming into the. Into the year. My biggest concern with him was the drops. Last year I think he had seven. Didn't look like he was comfortable catching the ball. He cut that down to one drop this year. I love his route running. I think he's good after the catch. I know you, you might not agree as much with that one. I love Lemon and people think I don't. I just think that that frame is a little bit different than the other two and it hurts him a little bit. I think he's tested well enough. I think he's big enough to take him in the first round. I just thought it was rich when people were talking about him as a top 10 pick. I didn't love that. I like all three of those. I like all three of these players, but that's, that's the, that's the order. Ahmed. The caveat for me is the durability of Tyson and.
- [04:16]
Mensch
Right.
- [04:17]
Tucker
How teams are. Are viewing that. And I don't know if you're hearing anything about that and how you feel about that. Is that something that's going to be. Going to knock him down enough where he'll be the number three of these guys coming off the board?
- [04:29]
Mensch
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a concern. It is when you look back on it. And I, I think the number I keep seeing thrown around is 16 games missed. I had eight games, like during seasons in which he had played the last few years that he has missed. And he also missed all of 2023. So he missed eight games due to collarbone, knee, collarbone and hamstring injuries for Jordan Tyson in three seasons. Remember, he started at Colorado and transferred to Arizona State. Then he missed the 2023 season coming up. I think it was the knee injury when he transferred. So I want to mention this. I think it's important. There's two guys that are six two and. And taller and Makai Lemon is the one that's not. Makai lemon is 511 and 1/8 of an inch, 192 pounds. Shorter arms than. Well, not really. Jordan Tyson and. And Makai Lemon essentially have the same arm like Whereas CARNELL Tate is 31 and 3/4, almost 32 inch arms. Carnell Tate runs a 4, 5, 3 at his, the combine, right? And everyone's like, oh, terrible time. It's horrible. Like, go back and look at the history of a lot of these top wide receivers, right? And I mentioned whether, you know, from D hop all the way down, there's just a bunch of guys in the league that are super successful that ran in the low, low to mid four fives. And Makai Lemon ran anywhere from a 4, 48 to a 4, 5, 3. It all plays at his pro day, right? Depending on which scout you talk to and what number he had. Jordan. Jordan. Tyson did not run at the combine. And, and I'm not sure that he's going to wind up running and working out. So we've got all that. Let's start with Tyson. Since you brought it up. I see a lot of Stefan Diggs, man, like a little bit taller Stefan Diggs. And I say that because when I watch Diggs it is like this. It's like a Tasmanian devil. Like, just like the urgency and, and the quickness and the in and out of breaks and the route running. I think his work, Tyson's work with Heinz Ward, former Steelers, you know, amazing player and now the wide receivers coach at Arizona State. I think you can see it in him, the development over a two year span from the route running to the catching of the football, the aggressiveness, the attacking the, the football, which was pretty cool to watch, right? And he had a, I think it was a 4.63 yards per route run versus man coverage. He just works man to man coverage over. Okay. And as you mentioned, like he 66.7% contested rate, contested catch rate Tyson had in 20, 25, 1.6% drop rate, huge hikes in both of those areas. So you're watching a player who's continuing to send. Now when I watch the tape, there's some dancing and some stuff going on like trying to get off the press. They can kind of throw off the timing of his routes and all those sorts of things. But it's, it's all coachable and he'll continue to, to kind of refine what he's doing. I think it would be a mistake too. And this is the point I want to make to kind of, you know, piggyback on what you're saying. I think it would be a mistake because a lot of times you hear durability and wide receivers and all that and you think, well, he's just Kind of a diva.
- [08:00]
Tucker
And he's.
- [08:01]
Mensch
This dude is tough, man. Oh my God. Like physical contested catch rate, working the middle of the field. I just, I love the way he competes, so. But yeah, he's surprisingly unproductive after the catch career. 5.1 yard yards after catch per reception. And honestly, it's just not a lot of force, missed tackles, you know, but, but Stefan Diggs did like that. You know what I mean? I just, I think I view him. If it's not a number one, then it's a one in one a situation in the league. Now you got Carnell Tate, who's similar size in terms of frame, but when I watch the two, I feel like one plays bigger than the other. I think that, that Tyson's more, More sudden. I think the Tyson's probably more like sharp in and out of breaks and does. You know what I mean? Whereas Carnell Tate's kind of this like gliding, physical, physical, physical receiver. He is. And that translates to the NFL. Like if there's. There's the Stefan Diggs way with the quickness, the suddenness that, you know, all that and then there's the. He's not Larry Fitzgerald, but there's. You look at a lot of. You look at a lot of the receivers in the league. Physicality is such an important part of it, man. I don't care how fast you are, how sudden you are. There's always, it feels like, just not always, but there's a high percentage of completions or incompletions, targets. Where it comes down to, are you more physical, whether it's getting out of your stem, you know, at the top of your stem, getting out of your break, or when the ball's up in the air, are you, are you able physically to go and get it? And like, what game was it?
- [09:51]
Tucker
The.
- [09:52]
Mensch
The one where he goes up and loses his helmet and catches the ball in traffic.
- [09:55]
Tucker
Oh, celebration. I can't remember what game it was either, but it was awesome either.
- [10:00]
Mensch
I started because I started the receivers a while back and, And I started with Tate's tapes. But anyway, there, there's just. He's really smooth, tracking it over his shoulder vertically. He plucks it over his head, away from his frame. His contested catcher, that was a complaint of ours this summer when we watched him. For a big physical receiver, this contested catch rate wasn't great. It was 54, 54.5 in 20, 24 and it went to 85.7.
- [10:31]
Tucker
That's crazy. That's a crazy number. That's just a Crazy number.
- [10:34]
Mensch
You hear? 50. 50 ball. Right?
- [10:36]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Right.
- [10:37]
Mensch
How about I. How about I hand you 85.7 ball, you know what I mean? And from 3 drops on 52 catches in 24 to 0 drops on 51 catches in 20, 25.
- [10:52]
Tucker
Let me ask you this.
- [10:53]
Mensch
The Minnesota game, real quickly. The Minnesota game, if you have one tape to watch, and I know it's not the. The premier, but if you want to see the whole bag for Carnell tape, it was an absolute clinic from the contact balance after the catch, vertical separation, sideline acrobatics, plucking the ball away from his frame. He showed a little bit of everything in that game. Finished with nine for 183 and a touchdown. And then in Wisconsin and Penn State, he was awesome, too. Two and three games later, I mean, combined in those two games for 11 catches. 235 and three. And then that calf injury kind of sidelined him a little bit, and he never was totally, you know, the same guy, but you got to see exactly what he's developed into before that. Sorry I cut you off.
- [11:42]
Tucker
No, you're good. Are you worried about the. I'm gonna play devil's advocate a little bit here. Yeah, yeah, you were. Are you worried about the supporting cast? I think that I like Lemons. Makai Lemon supporting cast, too, I'll say that. But I think you could. You could argue that Tate has the best supporting cast of any of these. Any of these receivers. And Jeremiah Smith, the attention that he draws, and Julian saying the year that he had, they didn't have a very tough schedule, to be honest with you. Does that concern you at all?
- [12:14]
Mensch
It would if there wasn't JSN before him in America. Luca before. Do you know what I mean?
- [12:20]
Tucker
I've fallen for this trap before. I've. I've done this where I've said, oh, he's got everyone around him. And I was. I did this with the Mecca last year, and I'm going to learn from it. I think that you can. I'm going to talk about this a little bit later with another receiver. I think you can look at a receiver and be like, the supporting cast is bad. And that's probably why some of the numbers aren't as good as they are. I don't think. I think it's a very dangerous thing to look at Ohio State in that receiver and say, oh, well, look who he had around him and look like. Look at the schedule. Don't do it. I. It's. I'm playing devil's advocate. I Thought it was worth asking, but I'm with you. I'm not worried about it at all.
- [12:55]
Mensch
Yeah. And so again, consensus I, the strong feeling I get when I talk to people in the league is it's going to be Carnell Tate first. And then, and then it may very well. It comes down to this. Some teams kind of are, I don't know, scratching their head a little bit. And, and I know everyone's talking about the podium with Makai Lemon and that kind of the scene that went viral before that even happened. I told you, I sat down with a, with a high ranking executive and was just asking, you know, how did the interviews go? And, and, and I said, remember? I, he kind of was coy about it. And, and, and I said, all right, we'll, we'll rank them. Then he's like, Carnell Tate was awesome. He, he would be 1A and, and Jordan Tyson was awesome. He'd be 1B if I had to. And he did wouldn't bring up. I was like, well, you, you, you omitted one bud. And he's like, he's like, he's like, you know, it's just, he's got some, some BS to him. He's, you know, he's like, he's like not, he goes nothing horrible. We're not like worried about it, but like you could, There was a clear difference. Okay. So that is kind of a factor. And then you get the injury stuff with, with Jordan Tyson. So yeah, those are the next two off the board from people I'm talking to in the league and I. Here's what I think's kind of interesting. I've got it.
- [14:17]
Tucker
Yeah.
- [14:18]
Mensch
Here's what I think is interesting is. And we'll. And it's a transition to beyond just these three. There are so many teams. There are always teams in the market for wide receiver. But when you start to look at this board and I don't suspect it's anywhere in the first four picks, okay. It's not going to be the Raiders. We know that. It's not going to be the jets at number two. It's not going to be the Cardinals at three. It's not going to be Tennessee most likely at four. The jets is where I think the clock starts. Okay. On terms in terms of where number five of the Giants. I mean, number five Giants.
- [14:57]
Tucker
Yeah.
- [14:58]
Mensch
Is where the clock starts for wide receivers. Could come off the board. And then it continues at 6 with Cleveland. Okay. And then it could be Washington at 7. It could be the Saints at 8. It could be I don't know, it's not likely, but like, the Chiefs have a need there and they have two picks. And speaking of two picks, here's where this is important, buddy. The five teams that have two first round picks, it's interesting. Like, five teams now own almost a third of the first round picks because of all the trades we've had. The jets pick it 2 and 16. So if you don't get one at 2, which we suspect they won't, probably going to be Arvel Reese, could be David Bailey. They could pick one at 16. The Browns pick at 6 and 24. If they go offensive tackle at 6, it could be 24 for wide receiver. The Chiefs pick at 9 and 29. They go edge, let's say, or offensive line with that ninth pick, come back at 29 and get. Get one. Dolphins are at 11 and 30. It's just handing away wide receivers. Tyreek, see you. Jalen Waddle, here's the door. But my gut.
- [16:01]
Tucker
You got a good haul for Waddle, though.
- [16:02]
Mensch
Oh, my gosh.
- [16:04]
Tucker
I don't hate that deal, man. I don't hate that.
- [16:06]
Mensch
I don't either. I think it's smart. Yeah, I hate it for Malik. Malik Willis is like, yo, I didn't sign up for this. Yeah, but that's a whole different discussion. But the Dolphins Pick it 11 and 30. They got a ton of needs, but wide receivers high up there now that, that Waddle and Tyreek are gone. Cowboys at 12 and 20. And yes, they could absolutely go defense with both of those picks, but if it, if they go defense with both of those picks, guess what? In the second round. And there's a bunch of those guys that we'll get to in a minute too. So I mentioned all that and I made a list, man. Titans, Giants, Browns, Commanders, Saints, Chiefs, Dolphins, Cowboys, Rams, and Jets. Those are all, all those teams picking in the top 16 right there need a wide receiver. Then you get to the Panthers, you get to the. And then get back to like the second round, Right? Or the. The Patriots late in the first, but the Raiders, the Jets again, the Steelers, the Eagles, the Bills, the Niners, the Seahawks, all in the market in the second round. These receivers are going to go and they deserve to go. Yeah, but my question is, and I want to touch on Mai Lemon before we move on to the depth and kind of get into some specific specifics and some guys that we love. Where are you on Mai Lemon?
- [17:21]
Tucker
It's. It's where I have. I've. I've been pretty consistent about Mai Lemon. I love his tape. I love his toughness. I think he steps up in big moments. It's the, it's so unusual for me to see what went on at the podium because when you watch the tape, that's not the kind of player you see. You see a dog on tape. I think he's an absolute dog on tape. I said if he was, you know, bigger than 510 or he's taller than 510, he came in around 195, that that was going to be great for him. I was afraid he was going to be shorter than that. He's checked all the boxes that said I, I still don't see a top 10 guy because, look, I think size matters a wide receiver. I think being 6 foot tall or taller matters at wide receiver. And we can talk about all these guys who are quote unquote undersized, but jsn six foot. You know, most of these guys are six foot. I'm on Ross St. Brown is the outlier and that's going to be the obvious comp. If you getting, if you're getting I'm on Ross St. Brown, then I get taking him early. I get that. But there's a lot of guys who are sub six foot who win the league and just didn't, didn't pan out as well as that. So that's my problem with him. I still think size matters at wide receiver and I still think that's one of the reasons why I wouldn't take him top 10. But I get why people love him. I get it. I get the production, I get the toughness. I get all of that stuff. It's just that I'm not quite as high as everyone else and that's just, just how I feel about it.
- [18:40]
Mensch
Here are a few reasons why people do love them, okay? One is almost 2,000 receiving yards is the final two years. The production's there, inside out versatility. He's played on the outside. He's played in the inside this year. This past year was 283 snaps at slot. It was 108 out wide. So you've got that, that inside out flex, right? He is.
- [19:05]
Tucker
Here's my thing about that. Just because you did it in college doesn't mean you're going to do in the pros.
- [19:09]
Mensch
Like I understand that, okay? And I'm not saying he won't do
- [19:13]
Tucker
it in the pros, but I'm just saying it's not. I, I think we sometimes look at that like, oh, here's what he did in college. He's gonna, it's, it's. No, I, I just, I'm not sure that's how it he projects in the NFL. I think you're looking at.
- [19:23]
Mensch
So you think he's a pure slot?
- [19:25]
Tucker
I do, I do.
- [19:28]
Mensch
I see. I like to me, why, why isn't he a Z? Like a Z flag or motion Z? Who could do some of that stuff? I don't know, like it can.
- [19:36]
Tucker
And again, all of these guys do it right. We see all these guys are going to line up in the slot and out wide. I get that. I just, I think that if you're going to do certain packages and you're going to put them in motion and you're going to set up a bunch sets and all these things and you want to, you're going to do some, some game planning to line him up there then I, I get that. I get that. I just don't think he's a guy who's going to be like what you would see as a traditional number two, consistently lining up wide. I just don't see that.
- [20:05]
Mensch
All right, let me get to a couple more things before we move on that I think are important to mention with Makai Lemming. Because you look at him and say, well, he's 5 11, he's 192 pounds, he's only got 30 and a half inch arm length. He ran a 4 5, let's call it 45 1. You know, the pro day. What's so special? I mentioned the production, I mentioned the inside out versatility and whether you believe me or mention on that, just make your own decision. He is clean catching the football, man. Oh my God, he is so clean catching the ball from the focus to the body control, the ability to adjust when it's in the air. He had one true drop. And then you take the, the contested catch stuff and the in traffic stuff. He just, he's reliable. Then you add the fact he's super advanced as a route runner and, and like it's man and zone and he posted. You ready for this? He posted a career 3.00 plus yards per route run versus both man and zone. Let me list you a few guys who have done that since 2021. Jackson Smith and Jigba, Jalen Waddle, Jamar Chase, Devonte Smith. And then call it your outlier, whatever you want. Dwayne Eskridge. It's pretty good company. It's a pretty good guy who, I mean they can do it against both. Right? And then you mentioned how tough he is. But it's all, it's this toughness and like when you need him, like that catch against Iowa is the one that everyone's gonna talk about with his toughness, right? The contest goes up, body flip hit smashes the ground. But then how about the big moments? And I know USC came up short against Illinois, but my goodness, they did.
- [21:49]
Tucker
No, no shot will that will them to a win in that game.
- [21:53]
Mensch
I mean, they didn't show up.
- [21:54]
Tucker
They didn't show up. They thought the game started an hour
- [21:56]
Mensch
after he almost gave Gus Johnson a heart attack. Yes, he almost gave Gus Johnson a heart attack in that moment. It was awesome to watch. And, and he almost single handedly beat first of all in that game against Illinois, a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.
- [22:12]
Tucker
Right.
- [22:12]
Mensch
Then he almost single handedly, single handedly beat Iowa. 19 point late game rally. Combining those two games for 21 catches, 304 yards and three touchdowns. So. Yeah, but that's why people are so high on, on him. Including. But hold on, go ahead.
- [22:32]
Tucker
You. You've just given us the consensus and what you're hearing in the league. I want to pin you down and I want to throw it up.
- [22:40]
Mensch
Throw up the ragings.
- [22:41]
Tucker
Who's your number one guy and why? Tell us a little bit about it.
- [22:45]
Mensch
Well, you saw right there.
- [22:47]
Tucker
Yep.
- [22:48]
Mensch
Parnell Tate, number one. Makai Lemon, number two for all the reasons I just said. And Jordan Tyson. Quite frankly, it makes it an easier to number three. But I have them grouped pretty close from a grade perspective. I've got Jordan Tyson, I mean, I'm sorry, I've got Carnell tate at a 93. And then Lemon and Tyson both at 90 twos. Okay. That's how I view it. And then there's a slight drop between the next group of guys and I want while we're here, that's the top 10 from going on. Beyond the top three. Denzel Boston, Omar Cooper round out the top five. Then you get Casey Concepcion from Texas A and M, Antonio Williams from Clemson, Chris Brazil, the second from Tennessee, Jeremy Bernard from Alabama and then Zachariah Branch. Zach Branch from Georgia. Then let's flip it over. Tucker to 11 through 20. And this the all of these guys are projected to go in the, in the, in the first three rounds, Dion Burks. I have a new love affair with my man from Oklahoma. You know, I love slot receivers. Malachi Fields, a big, big X could be also a big slot big Z from Notre Dame, Elijah Surat from Indiana, Bryce Lance. My gosh. The combine workout combined with this tape Same thing for Ted Hurst from Georgia State. Then you got the injured Chris Bell, who draws a lot of comparisons to A.J. brown from Louisville. Jacoby Lane, another 6 foot 4 plus wide receiver out of USC. Skyler Bell, intriguing prospect from YCON. Kevin Coleman, slot receiver from Missouri. And Eric McAllister, another very intriguing prospect and we'll get to him a little bit later. So, so why is Tate your number one guy?
- [24:28]
Tucker
Why is he the guy?
- [24:30]
Mensch
And you look at, look at these beautiful scouting reports. By the way, let me take a minute as you look at Carnell Tate, if you're watching on Netflix, Spotify. We appreciate everyone who is Congratulations to Tucker, as we talked about earlier, but also to my main man, Steve Mensch. Steve Mensch is Now full time, 100% with us here and we are building. It's a rocket ship, man. It's a rock. And we'll get to more details but on Monday we are launching our quote unquote micro site and it's something we're in phase one of phase one and what we're going to unveil to you on Monday and we'll give you more details. I'm at McShade 13, it's you good mensch. MU E N C H for his social. We will give you all the details and links and everything else. But I want to forewarn on Monday we are going to launch this website that is going to be the premier number one place to go. And what you're going to see in the very beginning is awesome. And you're going to see scouting reports in the top 50 players. When we first launch, we're going to have the rankings for the top 100. Then we're going to kind of unload another 50, another food. We're going to get ready for the draft and it's like I will thank everybody on Monday and get to all the details for everyone to know. But we are so pumped. I've complained about we need Mensch under the umbrella. This is a family affair. It's Tucker, it's Dan, it's Connor, it's Mention I, it's Marissa. Is Bill Simmons saying yes, you know, hard it is in this day and age for someone to greenlight a project like this and to put the support and we've got a group in Sweden that has been working around the clock to build this thing for us and with Mal Mallory Rubin, who has been our freaking closer, man.
- [26:21]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Mm.
- [26:22]
Mensch
And Jeff Chow providing support and 100 other people that I'll mention, I'll get into details and thank everybody. But we are thrilled. First, I am thrilled, personally. A goosebumps and almost in tears. Like, that is my guy right there. Steve Mech. That is my freaking guy. And from the second I got laid off from ESPN and we started talking about what we're going to do and we were like, it's got to be you and me. We got to do it our way and people will appreciate it. And we got to get somebody to team up with that's going to support us and allow us to do what we do. And from the jump, Bill Simmons has supported everything we've done. And you want to know the biggest Steve Mensch fan in this entire industry? Bill Simmons. And with Connor Nevins and with everyone else in our group, they have pushed it along and we finally were able to bring Steve home where he belongs with us right here. And he's done unbelievable work for ESPN and he worked his ass off for ESPN for a long time and now he gets to do it here where he's going to be appreciated. And it is an us thing, a we thing from now on. Oh, how relieved I am just to talk about that Mensch. And that's why I mentioned I have been bickering and that's why men just texting me every day and shut up.
- [27:44]
Tucker
We always bicker.
- [27:46]
Mensch
Stop doing the breadcrumbs and the in the tea leaves for everyone. I've got a contract. I got. And you did everything you had to do. You are the most honorable man when it comes to these sorts of things I've ever been around. There is no nothing from the past or no vendetta or anything else. This is you doing the work that you've done for 20 plus years with me and finally getting into a spot where you legally and professionally and everything align where we can finally do this together.
- [28:14]
Tucker
So yeah, I am super grateful first of all to you. But to everyone who is put this together, I'm very excited to continue to work with our team which I, you know, I've worked with a lot of great people at espn. I love our team at the ringer. I think it's, it's an unbelievable team. Very excited. I am also very comfortable talking about myself. So let's continue to do this for the next five minutes.
- [28:35]
Mensch
So Monday, Monday we will launch this site. It will be a website. We will develop this into the greatest database it will mirror in a year or two. We will continue to build this and we have phases. I told you we're in phase.
- [28:47]
Tucker
I'm so excited.
- [28:47]
Mensch
Phase one.
- [28:48]
Tucker
Yeah.
- [28:48]
Mensch
And then there's going to be a phase two and there's a phase three and we've got about five phases that we're going to roll out over the course of the next couple years. And when this is all said and done, this project is going to be the, the foremost authority. It is going to mirror that of an NFL what the NFL scouting department would utilize database historical NFL comps. There's going to be spitting out information where you can pick it up on your phone and you literally will have at your disposal exactly what NFL teams are doing. I'm going to spend time in this offseason going to NFL to their offices and sitting down with GMs and getting our tech people. We are going to build this into something so special. And I'm so pumped to release just the tiniest little bit that we've built so far so that we could have it ready for this year's draft to give people a sense of what we're building here. So with that said, Carnell Tate. Yeah, and it's a 93 grade, so I've got to update that already. See, it's, it's constantly moving for Tate and you'll see as you like. It won't be about the combine workouts or anything. It'll be about reading the report and what he does physically. And I believe in physical wide receivers who are working on the outside and it's a physical man's game in the NFL. And I believe in what Brian Hartline has developed. I believe in watching him as a blocker working the middle in traffic. I just think you can rely on this sucker man. And I don't foresee a way in which he doesn't succeed in the NFL. Even at worst case, it's a number two or just, you know, I just, I think he's the most complete receiver of the group. I rest the easiest thinking about taking Tate. Whether it's in the top 10. It's going to be in the top 10 would be my guess. But of all these receivers, it's the least, the least amount of fail rate in my mind of all these receivers.
- [30:43]
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- [32:14]
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- [33:26]
Mensch
Now I want to flip over there. Let's break it into three groups. Okay. And get ready, Tucker, we're going to roll these out. I tried to break it into three groups and there's a lot of gray area. You've got X receivers. Who are those outside physical guys, right? Then with size, then you've got the Z flankers. Okay. And then. And they're kind of the motion guys. They're playing on the outside. And that's the biggest gray area in some of these cases can be between a Z and a slot, a Z flanker and then a slot receiver. Ultimately, I tried to break it into three groups. And you see here the X receivers. You got Carnell Tate, denzel Boston, right, six foot three and a half, 212 pounds. Malachi Fields, six, four and a half, 218 pounds. Again, I think he could be a. Even a big slot or a Z. Elijah Surat from Indiana, Bryce Lane from Bryce Lance, sorry, from Trey, Lance's brother from North Dakota State, and then Jacoby Lane from usc. Those are the X receivers and we'll get to the Z slots and then we'll get to the slot the the Z flankers and then we'll get to the slots in a little bit. But for the X receivers, this is what I want to do because we've got 20 guys and we're not going to do a full breakdown on 20 guys. That's why we have a website coming out on Monday. And you can get the top, top 50 reports and you can get the top 100 rankings with all the combine and all the statistical information you need. And we'll continue to roll out those reports as we go. And you also have the newsletter on Thursday coming out with my five favorite comps. Okay, so with all of that said, I want to drill into these X wide receivers we already talked about. Tate, give me one. This is, this is the section for all three of these receiver groups. You pound the table, guys. Who is mensch pounding the table for? Given where you think he's going to get drafted compared to what you think he's going to wind up producing in the NFL.
- [35:21]
Tucker
I'm going with Denzel Boston from Washington, who I think deserves to be in the conversation as one of the top three receivers drafted in this class. I just really do. I've said this all year long. And I mean 6 foot 4, 212. He has a 76.9 win rate in contested situations. I think people are going to ask about the speed. Didn't run at the combine. His agent advised him not to run at Washington's pro day. I go back a year but what
- [35:45]
Mensch
did he do with the pro day? 37 and a half inch verticals and improvement over what he had. And 42 was it short shuttle and like a 6, 8, 3 cone depending on the like. Those are outstanding numbers for a big receiver.
- [36:00]
Tucker
I think I'll get into that really quickly. I think you see that on. On the tape. I think he's a smooth mover for a guy who's that size. I think he is. I think it looks different because of the frame and it's kind of an optical illusion. When you see someone that big, that big move like that, it looks different than when a smaller guy makes a move. Denzel Boston's pretty good after. He's pretty good after the catch man. I think he's smooth getting in and out of breaks. You look at that frame, you look at that win rate. I.
- [36:28]
Mensch
So let's.
- [36:29]
Tucker
I just want to get back into the speed because I think a lot of people are going to talk about it and I want to go back a year to when I really liked Pat Brian coming out of Illinois and I dropped him because he ran a 4, 61 at the combine and he ends up going the third round to Denver. And you look at the year he had and he had the tough injury at the end of the year and kind of a slow start. But I think he showed. And I know that they just. I know that Denver just traded for Jalen Waddle. I get all those things. But he showed he can play in this league. I think speed is. It's not that it's not important, but it's a little overrated at the receiver position. And we're talking about a guy who averaged 13.5 yards per catch over his career, 14.2 yards. And last year I saw him go against Michigan, he got downfield. He gets beat. You know, he does a great job of widening out the corner, makes a play over the safety. This guy can make plays downfield.
- [37:16]
Mensch
I thought he got.
- [37:16]
Tucker
Did a better job of getting off of press. I went into this thinking when I went back to watch his tape and I know I'm going along here, but when I went back to watch his tape, I was in, you know, like I'm coming at a different angle now. No one thinks this guy should be in the Top three, or it's seemingly. No one thinks he should be in the top three, and he's not. You know, he didn't run the combine, didn't run his pro day. Is he speed deficient? And I came out of watching that tape saying to myself, double down. Like, it's time to double down on Denzel Boston, because I think he can be a difference maker in the NFL, and I think he's as good as. As these guys in the top three. I really believe that. And I wouldn't be surprised if he went earlier than people think.
- [37:54]
Mensch
Yeah. Right now he's projected to go, I would say, like 17 to 25. That range, and I'm not putting specific team teams on that, but in that range, like late teens to early 20s, as. As the fourth or fifth receiver off the board, I think he and Omar Cooper probably are the ones. Casey Concepcion is another name you'll hear kind of in that late first round range. I like him a lot. I'll tell you another player I like. And. And I'm not saying I don't like him better than Denzel Boston. Right. My pound the table guy for where you can get him, which would probably be early third round, is Elijah Surat. Elijah Surratt is six, two and a half. He's 210 pounds. He actually transferred twice. He had three stops in college. St. Francis. How does Elijah Surratt start at St. Francis? It's pretty wild, man.
- [38:46]
Tucker
I've been there. When I was at Merrimack, we had an away game in St. Francis. Let me tell you something, man. There is a big difference between St. Francis outside of Pittsburgh. In Indiana, there is a. The facility's got a lot.
- [38:59]
Mensch
Could you imagine if Elijah Sarat came rolling out of the locker room against your Merrimack team at the time?
- [39:03]
Tucker
Oh, my goodness, man. Oh, my goodness.
- [39:07]
Mensch
And. And then he winds up going to. He played 12 games for. For. So. For that team, by the way, that St. Francis team he wound up bringing to the FCS playoffs. I guess it was. Is what I'm. And he was a freshman All American. Then he transfers to JMU in 2023 and then to Indiana in 2024. Obviously follows. He follows Signetti during those three seasons combined. JMU and two at Indiana. You ready for this? 39 games, 35 starts, 200 catches, almost 3,000 yards, 15 yards of catch, and 31 touchdowns. Okay, here's. Here's what you get with Surat. He does not have great speed, so he's not the kind of guy who's going to eat up a lot of cushion and all that. But what he's going to do is win with physicality and then and size and length. So initially I went into it. I'm like, he's a possession guy. He does a really good. He studies Devonte Adams. And, you know, it's now a famous story of him sending the tape to. To Fernando Mendoza saying, we've got to be as efficient as. As Devonte Adams and Aaron Rodgers were. The back shoulder fade. And they, and they actually were awesome at it. Unbelievable. But you think, like, comebacks and curls and, and those sorts of routes for him, and there's a lot of that stuff in the catalog. But what's interesting is, even though he doesn't have that blazing speed, he didn't run at the 40 at the, the combine. We'll see if he does. At the pro day, he. He wound up with deep ball targets. 12 catches. 12 catches on 19 deep ball targets this past season. Okay, deep ball meaning 20 plus yards down the field. And of those 12 catches, five went for touchdowns. It's sensational production catching the ball down the field. And then, and then, like, you look at the route, the yards route, the. The yprr, right? The yards per route run has become like the big analytical indicator for these guys. And there's a lot of outliers that go on to be busts in the league. He's at 2.56 for the yards per outrun. That's for his career. That's excellent. Okay. Like, he converts first downs on 54% of his catches. 13.2% of his catches go for touchdowns. He is a production machine. I just, I like him as your ex or your number two, whatever you want to call him. And in this league, there are some teams, it's more important what you designate them than it is for others. I just, I think that he's an absolute playmaker. And if he goes late first or late second, early third, I think a team's going to get a steal.
- [41:51]
Tucker
I agree. It goes back to your opening. Like, yeah, he's not Andre Johnson. He's not Jamar Chase. He's gonna be a pretty damn good receiver of the league, man. That's, that's there, there's. I like to pick and I like, pick at you and like, go back and forth with you when you're looking at this class. You sent me an email and you said, hey, pick, man, pick who you want to go with. I was like, wow, like, I could, I could go here. I could go there. I could go. I mean, there were so many names that you could go. I'm going to transition. What are we doing next? The. The.
- [42:16]
Mensch
Let's go to Z Flankers and we'll. We'll throw up this graphic here. Okay. Z Flankers. When we. The first two we already got to Makai Lemon and Jordan Tyson. And these are ranked in order. Just so you understand. These are my rankings and Mensch can. Can complain about them. And we'll. We'll have our consensus boards and. And dueling boards now that we got a website and a newsletter together and we got everything we're working on. Then after that, It's Omar Cooper Jr. The first round projection. Then it's Chris Brazel II from Tennessee, early second, Jeremy Bernard from Alabama, Chris Bell from Louisville, Ted Hurst from Georgia State and Skyler Bell from Connecticut. I want to say to you this. That group is absolutely sensational. The X group is really good. The slot receiver group has got four guys that I'm excited about. That Z flanker group is sensational. The depth of talent there. They're all impact players in the league. All of them. Yeah. There's a projection on Ted Hurst because of his, you know, the. The Georgia State stuff and Skyler Bell to a lesser degree and Chris. And Chris Bell coming off the injury with Louisville. But all of those guys are dynamic playmakers are going to go. Who would you. Of that group again, based off of where projected to take. Who are you pounding the table for? Of that group I just listed.
- [43:35]
Tucker
I've called Alabama wide receiver Jeremy Bernard's game boring. And I mean it as the biggest compliment. I stand by that because he just gets open, catches the football and gets what he can after the. After the catch. I actually like the way you described it with Carnell Tate and. And that's kind of how I would. I would frame it too, for Bernard. High floor man. I think he's got a high floor. Yes. He didn't like. He ran a 448. He's not running sub 4 4. And you're gonna look at some of these other receivers and say he's not the burner. Good frame. Not. Not. He's not like a really big guy. He's 6 foot around 207, I think. I just look at him and I. And you're saying, why is he gonna fail? Well, he's not fast enough. He doesn't separate well enough.
- [44:15]
Mensch
I.
- [44:16]
Tucker
It's. He's. He checks all of these boxes. He doesn't have that major flaw where you're going to look at him and say, well, if he's going to fail, it's because he's too small or he's too slow. He's not. He checks all those boxes. He just doesn't have that elite Superman ability that some of these other guys have, but then have a hole in their game in other places. So for me it's Bernard. Like, you look at him, you look. He's so good with the ball in his hands that they get him involved in the running game. I think he has a great instinct for how to attack zone. Looks I've seen in other places. Some people a little concerned about his ability to separate. I throw on the Georgia game, the first touchdown of that game and he basically buckles the corner on a, on a red zone route. I, I don't see it. I just think he can, he can, he can separate against man. He can get opening at zone. And the other thing about him, he had one drop. He had one drop this year. And you could say that the contested catch rate's not where you wanted. I get that. We did see him go over, you know, make a couple plays like that, but he's just consistent. He gets open, he catches the ball and he's productive after the catch. I don't know, man, like, that's just what I'm looking for. These other guys, you know, it's easy to fall in love and get enamored with talent. This guy's a NFL ready wide receiver.
- [45:30]
Mensch
Yeah, I totally agree. And I'm, I, I just, I love. You call it boring, which I love, because it, it really kind of speak because there's no, there's not a lot of like flash.
- [45:41]
Tucker
Right.
- [45:41]
Mensch
I call it like efficient, reliable. Yes.
- [45:44]
Tucker
You know, that's probably better. I love the, I love the play
- [45:47]
Mensch
because it kind of piques interest. Like, why do you love a guy and he's boring because he just, he's just like methodical and like his. Another guy that I love from this group. Here's the guy I would pound the table for. And it took almost like a Mecca Abuco last year where it's like at first you were like, what's special, right? Omar Cooper. There's not like this One special trait. Six foot receiver, 199 pounds at the combine. Thirty and a quarter and a quarter inch arm. Like nothing special. Four, four, two. It's a good time. But we're not talking four threes. Then you watch his tape. Omar Cooper Jr. Is an absolute dog. And it takes a dog at those Measurables to come into the league and produce and not just the big moments where he produced. You think the Penn State, you know, late game, especially that catch in the back of the end zone, gets his foot in miraculously. I have no idea how still to this day how he got his foot in to beat Penn State in Happy Valley.
- [46:50]
Tucker
But showing another Gus Johnson call, I think, right?
- [46:53]
Mensch
Oh, Gus John. He almost had two heart attacks. One was Makai Lemon and the other one was. Was Omar Cooper Jr. Against Penn State. Another guy who's got inside out flexibility. If you go back and look, he had 605 of his 751 snaps this past year were at slot. But in 20, 23, 2024, it was the, it was almost flip flopped in terms of his, his. His routes run from the outside, excellent ball skills. Okay. He had five drops in three seasons. He just catches the ball and it's not just like nice and neat. I'm talking contested, adjusting the ball, tracking it vertically, all of the things. Okay. Then you got like as a route runner. Here's the thing. I actually don't think he's elite yet. I think that there's room in his game to grow. I think Omar Cooper Jr. Can accelerate and be a little bit sharper out of brakes. But I think in that system where they're running kind of some of those seams and different routes, you felt like he was rounding a little bit. He can improve in this area, but I love his instincts versus zone setting guys up, like the angles, the leverage. He just does a lot of the little things right? Then his, his lower body strength and his body control. If you're asking me, what's the one thing that stood out to you, it would be this combination of lower body strength and body control where everything's kind of like, it's like a joystick. Right? And after the catch, he's so productive. Not because he runs a 4, 4, 2. A lot of guys run in the low four fours. It's because he like, he'll break that first tackle after the catch and he won't like slow down or have to stumble or regroup. It's just everything's kind of moving forward. And you look at his production numbers, 27 missed tackles forced in 20, 25. He's just tough to bring down. Yeah, you put him in like a McVeigh Shanahan, that kind of system where it's like the run after catch where they want physicality and tough guys, they won't take him.
- [49:05]
Tucker
But like Sean Payton, he would have been unbelievable in that offense, but.
- [49:08]
Mensch
Yeah, right, right. They just got a guy in. In waddle, obviously. Yeah. That's why I. I think he's. He's in that second tier, if you will, behind the Tyson and. And. And Tate and. And Lemon. I would. I would clump kind of he and Boston in my next tier for. For me.
- [49:23]
Tucker
We live in a different world, man. You just. You just. We just talked about two guys that you would pound the table for, and both of them played wide receiver for the University of Indiana. That is.
- [49:32]
Mensch
Don't we.
- [49:34]
Tucker
Unthinkable. Unthinkable.
- [49:36]
Mensch
And it's such a different experience. People should understand those. I think a lot of our audience knows, but, like, when I'm watching. I'm watching all the plays specifically for Surat, and it's not like I'm watching the Indiana offense tape anymore.
- [49:49]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Right.
- [49:49]
Mensch
You know, I used to just do two of them at once. Now it's. It's so efficient and refined. I can watch. I can watch every route he runs in the first 10 yards, 10 to 20. I can do his key plays. I can do his drops. I can do his blocking, which, by the way, thought he was better blocker than. Than he is. He can improve. Omar Cooper Jr. Yeah, I went and watched the block reel because I'd seen some highlights of him just. And he does. He flashes it, but he turns it on and off. I want to see that burner on. On high a little bit more.
- [50:17]
Tucker
Okay.
- [50:17]
Mensch
Anyway, so watching those two guys, it was very obviously just different experiences outside of the same quarterback throwing to him, you know, but.
- [50:25]
Tucker
Yeah.
- [50:25]
Mensch
All right, let's get to the slots. This list is four, four deep. And again, almost all these guys. Well, the first two, you could be outside flexibility, I think. I think Zachariah Branch and Dion Burks are both pure slots at five, eight and a half and five, nine and a half, respectively. But Casey Concepcion would be the first in the list. A lot of people are dogging Concepcion, like, on. On social media, like the stats and the production and all that. Then Antonio Williams from Clemson, Zachariah Branch and Dion Burks. I like Concepcion a lot. I obviously like him a lot because I've got him at the top of that list. I just want to tell you, I finished up those. Those three receivers and watched them consecutively. And honestly, I love all three of them for different reasons. Antonio Williams, Zachariah Branch, and Deon Burks. And everyone can shove it on the Dion Burke stuff. And you can read my. My scouting report on him and. And and all the stuff that we're going to do actually in Thursday's. Thursday's com comps. My favorite comps for these receivers. It's fun article. I. I dig into it on why. Well, when he had a. He's a ver. He's a vertical slot man. And if you have a quarterback that can't throw vertically like he had three years ago and then two years ago with Jackson Arnold and this year outside of the Michigan game and then a little bit in that, that lost Alabama when his quarterback John Mateer actually had a thumb and could throw and then when he had a little bit of rest before that, that Rose bowl game, those are the two games that he, that he wound up being. He had a quarterback that could throw him the ball and look at his production in those two games. So what would the track be, what would he be on track for if he had John Mattier at full strength the entire season? Okay. Anyway, who you table for in this group? No, it's not but I wanted to get a mention. I'm fresh all three of them and I love all three of them.
- [52:22]
Tucker
It's so hard not to talk about them all. They're all great. I am gonna go with the guy that you who's getting. Getting beat up online apparently. And I get it. Casey Concepcion from Texas A M. I get it. I texted you after I watched him and I said two things. I said, man, I think he uncovers better as well, if not better than any receiver in this class. I'm a little worried about. He might not like contact when he's going over the middle and he might get a little concerned about who's closing in on him. The other thing is he got his knee scoped so he didn't run at the combine and a lot of people are saying that maybe he's not the top end. Speed isn't as good as the explosiveness. So I get those knocks. I do. I wouldn't take him the first round either. I think he mentioned that maybe he's a first round guy. I don't think he's a first round guy. I love getting him in the second round. And, and I'll tell you why that this is a guy you're concerned about speed. I mean he, he had 15.1 yards per catch last year and two punt returns for touchdowns. I mean go look at the punt return against lsu. This guy is. If he's not, doesn't have great top end speed. I bet he has one of the 10 yards better 10 yard splits that we see this year, he's that, that zero to 60 quickness and burst really jumps out to me on tape. He's 6 foot 196, so he's a little thicker than some of these other guys. And you talked about that versatility. You know, 69.5% of his career snaps come working out of the slot. I get that. But 65.3% of his snaps last year were working out wide. So I do see that versatility. I think you get the ball in his hands and it's, buckle up, this guy can make some plays. And what's interesting to me about him and maybe the contact over the middle is when you see his competitiveness with the ball in his hands, it's a totally different animal. I mean, he is ultra competitive. Once he turns into a runner, when you see him turn into a runner, he is going to fight for every yard he can get. He's going to drag guys into the end zone like, he's just a different dude with the ball in his hands.
- [54:17]
Mensch
So to me, when you're talking about
- [54:18]
Tucker
a player that frame, that explosive, you get some, some return game value. The versatility, give me in the, give, give me him in the second round. I'd love it.
- [54:28]
Mensch
Yeah, I, I think he's a player, too. And I, I, I love the, I love the story. I love the fact that he's up there at the podium and he's talking and he's battling through stuttering issues that he's battled his whole life. I love that he's came, but he's like, yeah, go ahead, say something. Yeah, I just, I love that. And think about how many young boys and girls are watching him who are dealing with the same problem and, and are like, oh, this guy's going to be top 40 pick in the NFL draft. And he's, he's a star, you know, and so I just, I love a lot of, a lot of things about conception. That's not why I'm drafting him. But to know you're bringing someone in the building who, who's like, doing the right things and cares is pretty cool, too. The guy I'm pounding the table for and I mentioned burks that I love, and I really love Zachariah Branch. And I don't get me started on he's just a gimmick because he's not. Go watch his tape at usc. Excuse me. Antonio Williams. I underrated Antonio Williams. I like. I went back to my reports this summer. You know who I had as the number one receiver Based off of what I saw and what I thought he could become, it was either Williams was one or two. Yeah, yeah, he was one. And so I went back and I watched 24 again and then I watched this past year and the passing game. Everything fell apart for Clemson. But I want you to understand his production. He led the team so they didn't throw the ball with great efficiency or firepower this last, this past year, but he still led the team. Like what's the, what's the production share of his. Led the team in receptions each each of the last two years. Finished with 218 catches in his career for 2700 plus receiving yards, 23 touchdowns. Talk about him as a player. Antonio Williams, the, the thing that jumps out first. If you're like, you got, you got one thing you can talk to me about Antonio Williams, it would be his route running. He is an absolutely sensational route runner. He explodes off the line of scrimmage. He, he works all three levels. You saw with the, the 4, 41 he ran in the 40 and also the lower body explosion that he showed at the combine like his, his numbers were, were outstanding. And with. He had a 39 and a half inch vertical was what it was a 1 5, 4, 10 yard split. I mean this guy's got bursts, he's got explosion and then the ability to drop his weight. That's what separates I think the good from the great. When you're not a big receiver, you got to be able to get in and out of your breaks and do it in a manner which NFL cornerbacks have to pause a second and can't stick to you. He does that 2.1616 yards per route run the past two season, which is very good in any draft class. Right. And it's near the top of this year's draft class. His production Dip dipped in 2024. But I thought there were two areas in his tape where he actually improved because I keep hearing from people, it's like, well, you got to go back to the 24 tape because that's when he was really at his best. I don't know because the production was about the same. The passing game wasn't very good and I saw two areas where he improved. I thought the graduate level feel versus zone coverage, that was different. I didn't, I saw the man to man beater stuff, not the zone coverage. I thought he elevated his game in terms of feel, working back to club Nick, all those things. The second part was his aggressiveness after the catch. He's always been a four four one guy. He's always been a one five four split guy. He's always had that lower body explosion, 39 and a half inch vertical. But what's different is the way he's like, give me that ball and let's go. I saw a clear difference and I loved it in his game. He forced 14 missed tackles last season and also averaged 6 yards per catch, which is very good after the catch. And his drop rate was 3.5% the past two seasons and down to 2.9 in 2025. So what doesn't he do? He can get vertical. He's not a great vertical receiver, but you catch him on a poster with a little bit of crease, he's, he can go. He's great. Right runner short to intermediate. I don't know, there's only so many Tyreek Hills and desean Jackson's and like that kind of juice as a sub six foot receiver. But, but he, and so he's never going to be that elite vertical guy. But Antonio Williams will, he'll get some. He'll get some with his ability to go down the field. So I, I love him. I, I think he's absolutely a top, should be a top 50 pick. In fact, I would put him in the top 40. I think that's how good this group of receivers is. I don't think there's a big difference between Casey Concepcion and Antonio Williams. And quite honestly, while one, these next two are slots and undersized, I think Zach Branch is an absolute dog. I think Deon Burks is an absolute firecracker. I just, this group is loaded and that's why I say There could be 13 guys which would tie the record. There could be 13 guys that go in the first two rounds of this draft. So yes, there is no Andre, there is no Calvin Johnson, there is no Julio Jones, there's no Larry Fitzgerald, there's no Jamar Chase, whatever you want to throw. But there's so many productive receivers that are about to enter the NFL and it's so exciting. I love watching these receivers in a league that's pass happy and looking for targets and playmakers. We're about to see this like, influx of dudes that can help in different ways immediately. All right, this is a new thing that I want to do. I had a producer at ESPN once said once say to me, and I don't want to mention names, but maybe I will. I had a producer say, you know, I always, you perk my ears when you say don't be surprised if he's like and I, I remember hearing it early in your career and then like I got to and then I would like think back on some of the things. Don't be surprised if means you have information that like you don't want to source, you don't want to or you've seen something on tape where you're not ready to go all in and you're not 100% on it, but you're trying to let the audience know that something's going on here. Don't be surprised if that's what we're going to do at the end of all these position groups and we'll make it a consistent, consistent segment here or whatever you want to call it. But if I were to stay with this wide receiver group match, if there's one thing that you're looking at where you say don't be surprised if, what would it be?
- [61:06]
Tucker
I want to make sure I word this correctly. But I would say when we look back on this class, don't be surprised if a lot of general managers don't look bad for, for not taking Ted Hurst earlier. They I think that Ted Hurst out of Georgia State is going to be a starter by the end of his rookie season and I believe that he's going to be a team's long term answer at receiver at the end of his rookie season. Look, yeah, I, we went down to the Senior bowl and I and immediately he jumped out to me, I mean 64206 and he moves different the way he gets off the ball, the way he gets into his routes, his quickness and then you add the top speed. He ran a, a 442 at the combine. I think people are maybe sleeping on him a little bit. It's like nice. He had a good, good week at the Senior bowl. But I mean he's from Georgia State. He's not. This is going to be too much of a learning curve. I don't think so, man. I think he's going to get in the league. I don't think he's going to be a starter right away, but I think he's got the skill set to develop quickly. He's got that frame to start on the outside, to play on the outside. I think we're all sleeping on Ted Hurst a little bit too much. And we talk about, and I'm just gonna say I'll keep pounding this drum, beating this drum. Like we talk about all these, you know, slot receivers and I like them a lot. I think size matters at Wide receiver. When you look at the guys who are the most productive in the league and have the longest careers and you just look at it, it just, it just, it just shows up. So for me, I think there's gonna be a lot of GMs that look back and say that they took this guy or some other guy ahead of Ted Hurst. And fan bases and evaluators going to look back and be like, why in the world did that guy get as far as he did?
- [62:43]
Mensch
Yeah, I'll give, I'll give you another guy who is a look here. 6 foot 4, £194 here. Don't be surprised if this name I'm about to mention winds up being top seven, top eight most productive NFL receivers in the first couple years. Eric mc. Not.
- [63:07]
Tucker
Not. Hold on. Sorry, hold on. Not rookie. Like not, not like for his year. You mean overall?
- [63:13]
Mensch
I. I'm saying it may not be in his rookie year and he's got some character stuff and there's stuff like, so, like, I'm not saying he's going to be like, become like a year over year, the top set, but I'm saying all of a sudden, if you look up in 2026 or 2027 in the NFL and you're like, holy smokes, man. Where'd Eric, Eric McAllister get drafted? Okay, there's some risk, reward with this pick, but you know me, like, I'll drive us off a cliff if I think there's some reward in the end. And, and you're, you're the perfect compliment to me.
- [63:46]
Tucker
There goes all the GM interviews.
- [63:48]
Mensch
I like risk. If juice is worth the squeeze, bro, I really do. Eric McAllister. Six foot four, 194 pounds, 32, almost 33 inch arm length. He's a bird. He didn't work out at the combine, so we don't have verified numbers yet. He averaged over 18 yards per catch during his career. Had a breakout season. He had 39 catches in 2024. TCU. Started his career at Boise State. Transferred this past year. It like all came together with Josh Hoover at quarterback. Right. 72 catches, 1190 receiving yards, 10 touchdown catches. Okay. This guy is an absolute playmaking machine. He's. I just watched his tape yesterday. You talk about a deep threat. Can be low volume, high producer. Okay. Chain mover. He moved the chains in 2024 at a 90% clip and wasn't that far off this past year. The vertical ability, after catch ability. Now there's some drop issues. There's no verified testing right now. Right Now a little bit lean. I want to seem like more physical. And there's some character stuff. It's going to keep them out of the certainly the first two rounds, maybe even the third round. But if you tell me in the pick range from 90 to 120, I'm willing to take that risk. Remember that name, TCU wide receiver Eric McAllister. He's my don't be surprised if guy. All right, this has been fun. I'm fired up. We got another show dropping on Friday. We're gonna get to the running backs, the newsletters on Thursday. Before that, wedged in between, we're gonna do the. I've got the five comps I love the most. And it's really. I actually went in kind of a rabbit hole, if I'm being honest. And I hope people enjoyed that. And then on Monday, the big news that I just told you, we'll get you a URL. We'll get you all the information. Mensch is officially 100% in men. Doesn't have to worry on day two of the draft. If you didn't notice, I went like four hours by myself and everyone got sick of my voice. Now It's Men and McShay on day two and day three. Are we going to Rosillo's house? I'm gonna call on day three. Stir in the pot always, man. It's not enough on day three. Men doesn't have to be typing away with his loud. If anyone go back and watch that day three from Marillo's house last year and you can hear it. Men type it in like a player that needed a report, an update on him for the draft tracker for espn. Those days are done. It's a family. We're all in. And. And I will get him to play the guitar one more time, though. He doesn't have to be punching those keys. He can be stroking them sweetly, bro. And like noodling a little bit. Getting ready for a week out in the West Coast. Going to see favorite jam band. Tell the folks what you're doing. What are you doing after the draft this year? As I continue to noodle a little bit.
- [66:42]
Tucker
I'm go. I've never been to Vegas. I'm going to Vegas for a week. That should be interesting. And I'm seeing f the sphere.
- [66:48]
Mensch
Yeah, you are, bro. Five stars. We'll see you guys soon.
- [66:51]
Tucker
Thanks, man.
- [66:53]
Mensch
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- [68:16]
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