Day 1 from the NFL Scouting Combine: Shedeur Sitting Out, Stafford’s Next Move, and Pre-Workout Draft Tiers

Summary

The McShay Show: Day 1 from the NFL Scouting Combine Release Date: February 27, 2025

Hosts: Todd McShay & Mike Greenberg

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Overview

In this episode of The McShay Show, hosts Todd McShay and Mike Greenberg delve deep into the happenings at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. As the countdown to the NFL Draft tightens to just 57 days, the duo discusses significant news such as Shedeur Sanders opting out of workouts, speculation surrounding Matthew Stafford's potential team moves, and pre-workout draft tiers. The conversation is rich with player evaluations, mock draft insights, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, providing listeners with a comprehensive view of the draft landscape.

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1. Setting the Scene at the Combine

Todd McShay kicks off the episode by recounting their eventful day at the NFL Scouting Combine. From early morning flights to last-minute hotel changes, Todd shares the challenges faced, including delays in hotel check-ins due to production logistics and a lack of NFL Network access, forcing them to stay outdoors.

Quote:
Todd McShay [03:00]: “We had a hell of a day. Up at 4:30, landed here on time. Bags came out quick... but then we just couldn't get in the hotel and we found out they don't have NFL Network for when we're back...”

Despite these hurdles, Todd remains enthusiastic about the day's interviews, including a notable conversation with Howie Roseman, General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles.

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2. Major News Highlights

a. Shedeur Sanders Sitting Out Workouts

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around Shedeur Sanders, who has decided not to participate in the Combine workouts. Todd attempts to contextualize this decision, comparing it to admitting guilt in a DUI situation—essentially, by not showcasing his abilities at the Combine, Sanders reinforces certain perceptions about his skills.

Quote:
Todd McShay [05:34]: “Shador Sanders is not going to throw. I equate it... he's admitting guilt.”

Todd emphasizes that while Sanders may not have the elite arm strength typical of top quarterbacks, his instincts and game intelligence make him a formidable pure passer. He also reassures listeners that NFL teams prioritize tape evaluation, interviews, and personal assessments over Combine performances when making draft decisions.

b. Matthew Stafford’s Potential Move

Another hot topic is Matthew Stafford's rumored interest in joining the Las Vegas Raiders or possibly the New York Giants. Todd speculates on the Raiders' potential pursuit of Stafford, highlighting Tom Brady's influence within the organization and suggesting that Stafford could serve as a bridge quarterback while teams like the Jets explore their options.

Quote:
Todd McShay [14:00]: “Matthew Stafford reportedly went skiing with Tom Brady... I think the Raiders absolutely have interest in Matthew Stafford.”

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3. Pre-Workout Draft Tiers and Player Evaluations

Todd and Mike transition into a detailed analysis of players who are either unable or choosing not to work out at the Combine. They categorize these players into tiers based on their draft potential and injury histories.

a. Top Tier Defenders and Offensive Players

• Abdul Carter (Penn State): Considered the best player on Todd's board, Carter will not be working out.
• Mikel Williams (Georgia) & Jalen Walker (Georgia): Both ineligible to participate due to injuries.
• Colson Loveland (Michigan Tight End): Although recovering from shoulder surgery, he's expected to fully participate in training camp.

Quote:
Mike Greenberg [05:34]: “Abdul Carter, probably the best player in the draft... Jalen Walker from Georgia, also not going to work out.”

b. Impact of Injuries and Decisions

Todd discusses how injuries and decisions like not working out can influence a player's draft stock. He notes that while some may view opting out negatively, NFL teams look beyond these factors, valuing overall tape and potential.

c. Defensive Backs and Specialists

The conversation shifts to defensive backs, with particular emphasis on Jade Baron from Texas. Todd lauds Baron's versatility, ball skills, and football intelligence, considering him one of the top defensive backs in the class despite concerns over his speed.

Quote:
Todd McShay [59:43]: “You can't tell me there are 10 better football players in this 25 class than John A. Baron. You just can't.”

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4. Mock Draft Insights and Tier Rankings

Todd shares his mock draft tier rankings, categorizing players into top tiers based on their potential and performance.

a. Quarterbacks

• Shedeur Sanders: Although not showcasing at the Combine, Sanders remains a top pure passer.
• Cam Ward: His potential remains fluid, with teams like the Cleveland Browns and Giants showing interest.

b. Running Backs and Defensive Linemen

• Ashton Genty (Boise State): Expected to rise in draft tiers.
• Shemar Stewart: Highlighted for his impressive physical attributes and potential impact.

c. Tight Ends and Wide Receivers

Todd debates the placement of tight ends like Tyler Warren and Colson Loveland, emphasizing Loveland's exceptional route-running and receiving capabilities.

Quote:
Todd McShay [48:20]: “He is so savvy. And run support... He can protect it 95% of the time.”

d. Wide Receivers

He evaluates receivers like Jaden Higgins from Iowa State, praising his route-running and potential to be a significant asset in NFL offenses.

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5. Statistical Correlations and Player Performances

Todd introduces an analytical angle by discussing RTG (Run-to-Give) rankings from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and how last year's rankings correlate with draft outcomes and rookie performances.

Quote:
Todd McShay [80:25]: “If you were to rank the top rtgs from last year's class... my point is the rookie play on the field, much more was correlated much more with the RTG rank than where the draft pick was.”

This insight underscores the importance of objective metrics in evaluating player potential beyond traditional scouting methods.

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6. Looking Ahead: Upcoming Workouts and Final Thoughts

As the episode nears its end, Todd and Mike anticipate the upcoming days at the Combine, particularly focusing on the defensive line and linebackers. They express excitement about the depth of talent and the potential for standout performances that could significantly impact draft positions.

Quote:
Todd McShay [84:32]: “The running backs are going to steal the show... We haven't seen that in seven, eight years.”

The hosts encourage listeners to tune in for daily updates and further analysis as the Combine progresses, promising in-depth coverage and continued mock draft refinements.

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Conclusion

This episode of The McShay Show offers an exhaustive look into the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, blending real-time observations with in-depth player evaluations and strategic mock drafting. Todd McShay and Mike Greenberg provide listeners with valuable insights into how the Combine's outcomes could shape the upcoming NFL Draft, making it an essential listen for football enthusiasts eager to stay ahead of the draft curve.

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Notable Quotes:

• Todd McShay [05:34]: “Shador Sanders is not going to throw. I equate it... he's admitting guilt.”
• Todd McShay [14:00]: “Matthew Stafford reportedly went skiing with Tom Brady... I think the Raiders absolutely have interest in Matthew Stafford.”
• Todd McShay [59:43]: “You can't tell me there are 10 better football players in this 25 class than John A. Baron. You just can't.”

Transcript

[Mike Greenberg]

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[Todd McShay]

SA we're live men.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Staring at the camera. We're live. 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Let's do this thing. 57 days until the NFL draft mention. Good.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm good, man.

[Todd McShay]

I'm glad you're here. We had a hell of a day. Up at 4:30, landed here on time. Bags came out quick. Yeah, we checked bags. There's a lot of production stuff. We'll blame it on that car rental car. Piece of cake. Got here. Great interview, by the way. Great interview. Our next in line with the Decision Maker series, we today were able to get Howie Roseman general manager from the super bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles. We'll have that interview for you coming up soon. Everything was smooth.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Then we went to try to check into our hotel. We won't mention names, but we got it out for him. We actually had to change hotels today. Five hours we waited, got coffee, had lunch, saw a lot of good people. It was actually good. Good to catch up with Adam Schefter, saw Charles Davis, saw Albert Breer doing live with Colin Cowherd in the middle of the lobby in one of the hotels. But then we just couldn't get in the hotel and we found out they don't have NFL Network for when we're back at the hotel and we want to watch workouts. So we went out. Nobody cares about our day though. Mitch. We're here and we're live and let's go. So there's a lot to get to. Right? We just got in. We've had Conversations. We know what's going on. I think the biggest news. And I, and I want to get into, like, how big a news is it really, but always the biggest news. You gotta understand, NFL teams come in on Sunday and they're here and agents come in. And so the media comes in. And so a lot of people are going out to dinner, having meetings, doing all this different stuff. And there's a lot of information and people are getting. Getting kind of revved up. And so. But there's this news cycle going on. If you could see here, there's like a hundred different tables. We're on radio row or whatever the hell you want to call it, and people need news.

[Mike Greenberg]

There's a buzz.

[Todd McShay]

There's a buzz and there's. There's real buzz. Like the Matthew Stafford situation with the Raiders, some of the free agency talk. Schefter comes out and drops a Schefter bomb that the Browns are taking a quarterback in number two. But there's also this, like, there's every year. And I'm all for. And I want all quarterbacks to throw at the combine, all players to work out at the combine. But it doesn't always happen. And you know what does happen? Everyone forgets about it in about two weeks. Okay, so with that in mind, give me some names that you're hearing that of just notable names. Notable names of guys. There's obviously going to be some other players, most of them because of injuries, most of them understandable. And maybe a couple choosing not to and going to go and put their. Their work in at their pro day. But give me some names that you got there.

[Mike Greenberg]

Let's start with the talented edge group. Abdul Carter, probably the best player in the draft, the best player on my board. Dual Carter from Penn State, not going to work out. Mikel Williams from Georgia, not going to work out. Jalen Walker from Georgia, also not going to work out. Then you get to the quarterback, Shador Sanders. Not going to work out. My understanding right now, Cam Ward's a little fluid.

[Todd McShay]

That's.

[Mike Greenberg]

That's not a definite. Either way, we'll see what happens with him. Couple of the talented tight ends that we like this year. Michigan's Colson Loveland, not going to work out.

[Todd McShay]

Shoulder injury. He had surgery in January and his doctor just released the. Just released information that said he should be ready by training camp, by minicamp and full participant in training camp. Yep, got it.

[Mike Greenberg]

Also, the titan that we've talked a lot about is Miami's Elijah Arroyo. He had an injury at the Senior Bowl, I believe he's not going to be able to work out. And then of course, Boise State running back Ashton Genty not going to work out. Those are some of the bigger names that we're aware of right now that aren't going to be able to work out in India.

[Todd McShay]

Choosing not to work out. Side note about the Senior bowl, we found out today our good friend Jim Nagy is, is moving on from the Senior Bowl. So really sad to see him go. Happy for him, but very, very personally happy for him. I know he's been looking for an opportunity and he's could not have done a better job. He, to me, he was the person in a long line of really capable, you know, highly successful people at the Senior Bowl. To me, he transitioned it to this kind of new generation of scouting, brought it to another level. The Zebra technology scout friendly week. The work he put in there was, he's going to be impossible to replace, but excited to see who they replace him with and how that moves forward. Jim is taking the job and we get some fascinating stuff in the off season. I've talked to a couple guys who've started businesses, but he's taken a job as a general manager of the Oklahoma Sooners and so we'll talk to him. And I just had a recent conversation. Joe Douglas, our good friend, put me in touch with a former personnel person with the Eagles who is, is now kind of a consultant in all of this. So a lot to get into in the off season. But that's not today. Today is the 2025 NFL Combine and we are on the eve of the workouts. Let's give you a breakdown. We've got tomorrow workouts on Thursday starting at 3pm Eastern time. We've got the linebackers and defensive linemen working out okay. And then we will have the defensive backs, I believe on Friday. And then on Saturday is the big day that everyone gets excited about is quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs. Followed by on Sunday, the offensive lineman. We are going to be here live right here in this spot. Thanks to Nick and Jake and Tucker and Dan and everyone in our ringer crew. They, they were in here a couple days, they put it all together. Beautiful setup and we're excited to be here. But every single night for the next three night, no four nights, we're starting tonight 7:00pm Eastern time. So please be here. We appreciate everyone who's watching live right now and anyone who's tuning in and watching the tape version of this as well. Continue to support us if you can. The clicks we need, the likes, the subscribes, all of that. YouTube, Spotify, Apple, wherever else you get your podcast. We really, really do appreciate it, but we got a lot of work to get to tonight as we preview things and we get into what we've been doing recently, which is a lot of tape work and a lot of looking at our rankings and boards. Right. Those are the players that are not going to work out. As you mentioned, I kind of started it off with what does it matter? Here's what matters. Shador Sanders is not going to throw. I equate it. In a situation like this when you decide not to take a Breathalyzer in a dui. Okay, you're essentially admitting guilt. Right. But mentioned I were talking about it earlier and I say guilt guilt meaning I don't want to line up with all these other quarterbacks that might have stronger arms and look like, you know, an average in these drills. Because Chador's game is about instincts and processing quickly and throwing with timing and touch and understanding where his receivers are going to be. And seeing a receiver over here with a linebacker here and throwing the ball here and doing it beautifully and on time and the ball placement to create yards after the catch, that's his game and he's excellent at it. And he's the best pure passer in this class. When he's on time and his receivers are where they need to be and he's dealing. He. He is the best pure passer in this class. Okay. But what he doesn't have is an elite arm and he's not great in terms of running speed. Okay? So to come here and work out, he's going to stacked against 14, 15 other quarterbacks. He's not going to look like one of the top two quarterbacks in the class. If you were dropped on this planet, as I always say, and you could only evaluate based off the combine. So I'm not supporting the decision not to work out, but I understand the decision not to work out. And so he's admitting guilt. But then again, like, tell me a person here who's wearing a hoodie with a team logo on it that doesn't already know that. That doesn't already know that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

Right. Yeah.

[Mike Greenberg]

And if he goes to his pro day and he has a great day, I just. I just think it's going to be. It's going to be blown out of abortion maybe in the long run because again, everyone already knows that this is a weakness. This is not one of his strengths.

[Todd McShay]

Outside of maybe, maybe like Teddy Bridgewater, when he had the glove at his workout. And I was there and it was, it was a, it was a kind of a disaster. I can't really think of a quarterback where it like maybe even affected a few slots or changed the entire narrative on a guy. So while we get worked up about it in terms of the quarterbacks throwing at the combine in the pro days and all that, talk to NFL GMs, the decision makers in this process, and they'll tell you we made them. I mean, we heard, we did here last year. Denver Broncos, right? Sean Payton, I knew 17 throws in. I get news for you. Sean knew. He just wanted to see it, maybe in person and during his pro day. But it's a lot more about, obviously, the tape starting there, the interviews, getting to know their minds. And also, if you're going to work, if you're going to base anything off of a workout, it's going to be when you fly into their hometown or where they played college ball and you put them through your drills, you do installs with them, you, you ratchet up the degree of difficulty. And I've heard he's like, we met with him, we spent a day with him, we put him through our stuff and we became then comfortable with him. So that's where I stand.

[Mike Greenberg]

This is what's tricky and what kind of drives me nuts about, about this, this term, this time for evaluating players is that we will say all year, arm strength is not the most important trait for a quarterback. But here we are talking about arm strength at the combine and I just, I don't need him to be, I don't need him to have a strong, the fifth strongest arm or the sixth strongest arm. I just need him to be the second best quarterback or the third best quarterback to be the second or third best quarterback on my board. So to me, it's, again, it's blowing a little bit out of proportion.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. So, I mean, that's, that's where we are. But we needed news this week and that's always going to be the news when a top prospect chooses not to work out. It's not when it's not medical, when they choose not to work out. And it's frowned upon. I don't want to, like, I'm not sending the wrong message here. I'm not saying it's something that NFL teams are in support of and we're kind of like, meh, it's fine. They're not. It pisses people off. But I am saying at the end of the day, I've literally never talked to a decision maker who said, I based it. You know, he didn't throw at the combine. We were done with them then, so that's where we are. Yeah.

[Mike Greenberg]

And it stinks when we have to talk about players not competing versus players who are competing. You know, that's. You know, that's what I want to be talking about is the guys who are going out there and, you know, improving their stock and doing well.

[Todd McShay]

Let's get to that in a minute, because I do want to get to that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

But in. But I think Shador is a perfect segue, if you will, to. Really the news that I think is kind of taken over the. Over the news cycle. And it's taken the combine, really. It's stolen a lot of the buzz from the combine so far. And that's Matthew Stafford.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Matthew Stafford reportedly went skiing with Tom Brady. I mean, I don't know how. I mean, I guess he spent some time with him in Montana. Listen, we're always going to stay in our lane. We've got Shefty, we've got Burt Breer, we've got Diana Rossini, we've got a host of other reporters. Talented people, very talented people who. That's what they do full time. And I don't expect Shefty to come in and watch tape with me and be like, I really liked his outcut. I like his acceleration out of his break like this. We all stay in our lane for a reason. Right. But the reports are that there's interest there, regardless of the ski trip. Was it on purpose? Was it not on purpose? All the stuff that I'm reading on social media and the bells I'm hearing from people here today just in a few hours of being in Indianapolis. What I. What I do believe is, and I trust this information, the Raiders absolutely have interest in Matthew Stafford. What that ultimately becomes, we'll see. We've heard other organizations. We've heard about the Giants having interest in Matthew Stafford.

[Mike Greenberg]

If you need a quarterback, how are you not interested? How are you not feeling that out?

[Todd McShay]

But here's what I want to spin forward, and I talked about this in my. In the McShay report the other day, and thank you for everyone. Really off to a really great start. All the subscribers, just google the McShay report if you're interested in getting the report. We've got a. We've got a double down. Yeah, double down for $36. I'm not doing the used car salesman. Okay. We're at the combine. I'M done with the used car salesman stuff. You guys figure out what you want to do, be pissed at me. I saw not all of them. I saw a handful of the comments. I got it. I'm used to it. 17 years of ESPN Insider, I'm used to it. Keep them coming, that's fine. But what you will get is information you can't get anywhere else if you want it. So choose right. So Google the McShay Report and you'll find it. But we talked about in the other day, the McShay report, that the Tom Brady element of all this is fascinating to me. $350 million from Fox to be an analyst, not allowed to go into meetings, restrictions from the NFL, minority ownership in the Las Vegas Raiders. And I don't know, I don't know why people are surprised if anyone who's met Tom, spent a minute around Tom, knows anyone who's in his circle. Like, Tom's not going to do something as a fun investment without investing in that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

He wants sweat tears, he wants to win. That's like everything that, that's his wiring. That's why it's like telling Michael Jordan you can't get involved. Yeah, right. So when people started be like, I'm surprised, I'm surprised, you know, I didn't know he was going to be this, this instrumental in like the, the, you know, bringing in free agents and the evaluation process and like, I'm shocked that you were surprised, but that's the, that's the situation. Okay. And he was a big part of bringing in Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator. And Chip bought the cat out of the bag, apparently, as if that wasn't going to be the case. So my, my point in all of this is Tom Brady absolutely believes and he's kind of planted his flag in this. And, and, and I appreciate that. We need ambassadors for the game that are going to help in the development of young players. And he believes he is, he is a card carrying member. He's like one of the captains of the sit and wait quarterback club. Don't throw them out there. They're not ready. College these days especially is not developing. It's not part of, you're not in a program. And if you go to the McShay report, we even gave you a link where you could go see some of his quotes on that, I think with Colin Cowherd and maybe another couple places. But if that, if you're making, think of all the different stances he could have and the things that he would go out and Spend his time. Great people. I've learned this and I've talked to you about this. Great people, great leaders, great ambassadors. I've learned this. They all have a message. Everything is done intentionally. Okay? So when you go and you talk to somebody who's a general manager or who's a superstar quarterback or you get. The one trend that I've always noticed in all being fortunate to have conversations with these very successful people is that even in a casual conversation, there's going to be some messaging. And with Tom, if this is. If he's choosing this messaging where he believes so strongly in the development of quarterbacks and that rookies shouldn't come into the league and be forced to play right away and let's be better as a league and let's support these young guys so they got a chance, right? And we've seen that with Aaron Rodgers. We've seen that with Jordan Love. We've seen that with, I mean, Patrick Mahomes with his first year, right? You can go down the list. And we've seen some other guys get thrown to the fire. Caleb Williams this past year where it's concerning. We've seen a lot of guys over time. So with all that said, it makes so much sense. And I heard Sam Darnold is a name. Sam Darnold's younger and maybe that winds up being their guy. But Sam Darnold's younger. Sam Darnold's still a pop. He was like 20 when he came out. And so maybe, maybe it makes more sense of Matthew Stafford, you know, in the last, let's call it two years of his NFL career. Maybe it's one, maybe it's three. Let's call it two. So you bring in a guy for. For one to two years and now I'm picking at seven or I'm trying to trade up a little bit. And maybe it's Cam Ward, maybe it's Shador. Doesn't matter. His. His point is any of them give him time to develop.

[Mike Greenberg]

Maybe he likes the traits of a guy you can maybe get in the second round, like a Tyler Chuck, you know, Maybe. Maybe.

[Todd McShay]

Absolutely.

[Mike Greenberg]

Maybe that's the guy they want to get later on. They can still get seven, right? Maybe that's what they're looking at. What a hell of a bridge quarterback.

[Todd McShay]

Matt Stafford would be.

[Mike Greenberg]

That's insane to me. And you would be interesting to see what they would have to give up to get him and all of that stuff.

[Todd McShay]

No question.

[Mike Greenberg]

But I love the idea.

[Todd McShay]

Don't you think it just kind of.

[Mike Greenberg]

Brock Bowers being, getting the ball from Matt Stafford. That's, that's, that gets really interesting real fast.

[Todd McShay]

But don't you think it makes sense like that? I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but, but clearly it's being pursued, right? I think that that's what we've learned this week. It's being pursued and it lines up with what. What Thomas said publicly makes sense. So I look at that pick seven. Is it seven or six?

[Mike Greenberg]

Seven.

[Todd McShay]

Seven. The jets are seven.

[Mike Greenberg]

Six.

[Todd McShay]

Sorry, the. The Raiders are sitting at six, jets at seven. Two teams. We keep hearing a lot about Shador Sanders winding up with in the first round of the NFL draft. So that to me makes a lot of sense. It's funny, you talk to some people in the league and a lot of people I've talked to have kind of cooled on. I don't want to say cooled on Shador Sanders as a, like a player or what he can be, but like, I don't know, the teams are going to rush out and go get Shador.

[Mike Greenberg]

This is, this is what's interesting me about this. And you know this better than anyone else, Shore. Sanders is not convincing every team that he should be a top five pick. He's trying to convince one of the teams in the top five that he.

[Todd McShay]

Is a top pick.

[Mike Greenberg]

So that's what he's doing. That's what all of these players are doing. If you can convince five, great. I mean, if you're a Travis Hunter, you know, the cornerback and wide receiver out of Colorado who everyone loves, and you can convince a bunch of teams you're that pick, great, you only need to convince one to go there. And, and that's what I think that they're, they're doing. And that's what I think is smart for any player to do.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I was just saying the contradiction in all of this is while the majority of people I talked to are like, you know, I don't know that there's that big of a gap with, you know, maybe a Jackson Dart or Tyler Schuck and maybe we could get a. Something similar in the second round early in the first. And, you know, conversations like that, I'm just not sold and I'm not. And maybe it's got to be in the right weather with, without the elite arm strength. That's a real conversation that's going on. Maybe, maybe like in a, in the dome team or good weather team like you think.

[Mike Greenberg]

Colorado, by the way.

[Todd McShay]

I know, I understand. I'm just saying the conversations that are kind of like flying by the window shield the windshield. Right. But I, but on. And this is my whole point, but on the flip, it's like, all right, if, if Cam Ward winds up going number two to Cleveland since Shefty just decided to drop that in our lap. And Shefty. I saw Shefty today and big hugs. Good to see him. But I know, I know a lot of things about Chef D. Nothing more than he loves his fantasy basketball team. But secondly. And maybe not secondly, but I'm joking. My man is, is not making a statement with that conviction unless he knows something and legit knows. Not like, oh, I talked to him. No, like, he got it and it's confirmed and so he feels good about it. So like every mock draft now is like, okay, number two, Cleveland and I had heard differently.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

But that's why he's shefter and that's why we stay in our lanes. But if it's, if it's cam ward at 2 and now you got the giants at 3 and I don't know. That. I don't know. I don't know. And you've got. But I've, But I've also heard they, they could love them. So it's this time of year, but now you've got the Raiders potentially with interest. You've got the, the jets potentially with interest. Is there a move up to go get. I don't know. It'll be interesting to see. There's just. It's this time of year.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah. Does that third quarterback sneak in and go earlier than anyone that I know thinks that they should go just because of the need? I mean, there are so many quarterback hungry teams right now that again, it's just going to drive. It drives up the market every year regardless. But this is an interesting year because the talent really isn't there to have three quarterbacks in the top 10.

[Todd McShay]

We mentioned, we mentioned some of the workout warriors. I want to, but I want to get to the now. You know what? Let's do it now. Screw it. It's our show. We're live.

[Mike Greenberg]

You don't want to talk about the tears.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, I mean, Tucker can like take us off the air, but I don't think he's going to do that because I'm, because I'm going to talk about the workout warriors before the tears. So let's get into some of the guys that we're excited. We're here. We're here at the combine. Yeah. Just, you know, a thousand feet down the down the road we're going to, we're going to have workouts starting tomorrow. I mentioned linebackers and defensive backs. Sorry I keep saying that. Linebackers and defensive line. And I'm sorry. Freaking excited about this defensive line. It's gonna be awesome. I'm so excited about this. And, and yes, there's a few of the top guys that you mentioned. Abdul Carter's not gonna work out. Mikel Williams not going to work out. Jalen Walker's not going to work out. But what you're going to see is this depth of this class. Okay, so we start with that and the linebackers as well. I'm going to give you. Let's just go back and forth. Pick a guy. We'll, we'll go back and forth.

[Mike Greenberg]

My guy been on him all year. South Carolina safety Nick Imam worry I think is going to put on a show. I've had him in my, my first round all year long. I think people kind of, you know, looked at a little bit sideways when I first had him in that group. I think he had a, a really strong year. I think he's versatile and when you watch him, he's a guy that, you know, he could be £220 and run in the low four fours. He could really put on a show. And he's one of those guys that, you know, like when we do this every year, every time we do this exercise, he was the first guy that came to mind for me.

[Todd McShay]

I'm, I got to finish this tape mention. I like off air if you will are having. I, I.

[Mike Greenberg]

He's needling me.

[Todd McShay]

He just keeps needing. No, I'm not needle. I'm asking questions that he doesn't want me to ask because I see like pre snap confusion sometimes on tape and I see, I see him like focused on one thing before the snap and I see maybe not, not dialed into the play the same consistent. So I want to watch. I need to finish that tape. And I have not gotten to the safeties yet, but I have, I just finished up the, the top 100, 150 wide receivers and corners and we'll get to that later in the show.

[Mike Greenberg]

Bite my tongue. So we don't turn into a Nick Imamori show.

[Todd McShay]

Correct. Thank you. You're, you're, you're growing maturing Shamar Stewart. He's gonna steal the show.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And we talk about the edge guys. We're gonna get, we're gonna get a live look at this son of a gun tomorrow. Man. 280 plus pounds wingspan for days. He's gonna work out like he's 250. You watch. He's gonna. This mother bleeper is gonna run in the four fives. He's gonna. Almost said it. He's gonna run like. Like 4, 5, 8, or something stupid.

[Mike Greenberg]

And then you're gonna see him run on the field and do those. The hula hoops things, the big loops. And you see the way he bends and picks up those.

[Todd McShay]

Yes, he's.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah, he's gonna.

[Todd McShay]

And then I'm. And then I'm gonna start bragging about it, and then the same scouts that have been calling me and texting me are gonna be like, yeah, put on his tape. Where's the sacks I was on with Pollock the other night? What did he compare? He's like. He's like. Yeah, he's. He goes. He's that fisherman who's got, like, the best. The best rod, best gear. He's out in the ocean. He's got all the. The. The. All the tools and the bells and whistles, and he sweet cast out there. And then I didn't get anything this time. He's like, when's he gonna catch me some freaking fish? I get it. I get it. The sack production wasn't. Wasn't always there.

[Mike Greenberg]

It's not all about sacks.

[Todd McShay]

But the pressures were outstanding. The effort, I thought was outstanding. I think the tools and the traits are there. And if he works out, kind of like, remember Trayvon Walker? And it wasn't just about his workout. It was about. The Jaguars had an absolute. You know, what for him, like, they just. The decision. Yes. Loved him, and he's a good player and all that. But. And I'm not saying he's going to one. He's not. But I just think if he works out the way we think he's going to work out, plus some positive traits on tape and the pressures that he got in the SEC and all those sorts of things. It's hard to keep him out of the first round. Some people I talk to in the league want to keep him out of the first round. So I'm excited to see Shemar Stewart, you know, put on a show. What do you got?

[Mike Greenberg]

Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. I mean, this is a guy that a lot of people have been talking about for a while now. And, you know, when you play next to Mason Graham, who's. I think, a top three player in this draft. I think it's a consensus top three player in the draft.

[Todd McShay]

Three or four. Consensus. Yeah.

[Mike Greenberg]

He's. He's up there. It's, you know, it's. You kind of live in a shadow a little bit. But this guy, he. When you watch him and he. Defensive tackles don't get a chance to chase that often. When you see. When you get to see him open up on tape, it jumps out. Like, you see the speed, he's going to be 320, 320 plus. I don't know how low he's going to run, but it's going to be an impressive number. And again, he's a guy who moves well. You're going to see it's not just straight line. When you see him, he's going to be able to change directions. And again, a human being that size, they just don't do that. There's just not a lot of guys like that.

[Todd McShay]

I'm gonna shift to some of the skill guys for a second. Arian Smith, Georgia. Yeah, he's tough. He's tough to evaluate because he. My, my man struggles catching the ball. When you got Herb street calling you out for, like, why are we jumping to catch the ball? Herb street does not like to do that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And I just use that as an example because, like, that's. Those were the struggles and the struggles flaring. We're real. But we've also learned if you run in the four twos and you're a wide receiver, we're going to find a place for you. Like, I don't. If we got to hand you the ball three times a game or throw you a couple of screens, like, we're going to find a place for you. So Arian Smith has a chance to make a lot of money if he runs the way he's supposed to run. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm just excited to see what he can do. Almost kind of pulling for the guy at this point, to be totally honest with you, because it's been kind of a hatchet job. Like, you know, all the evaluations on him and the struggles he had, and they were real. But. But we've seen guys with. Whether it's LASIK surgery or whether it's sports psychology or what, or it's just pounding the jugs machine. We've seen guys improve catching the football.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Like, truly shoot our. Our ball boy at our ball guy at Richmond. You remember that? I can't remember his name. That guy couldn't catch a cold. And by the. By the second year, he had the best hands on our team. I'm saying people, people can better people get better.

[Mike Greenberg]

Awesome special teams by the way, too. Aaron Smith.

[Todd McShay]

Yes.

[Mike Greenberg]

Awesome.

[Todd McShay]

Special. Yes. Yeah, so that's. You got it. Who else you got?

[Mike Greenberg]

I'll go with the Louisville corner, Quincy Riley. I think he's gonna.

[Todd McShay]

You're hearing things.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah, he's gonna run really well, I think. And he's a guy who I think is going to move up. It's a. It's a competitive corner class. I think it's a good corner class. I think it's messy because of the injuries that you have up top, but it's a good group. And I think that he's the guy that's going to run well and he's going to help himself with the way he performs.

[Todd McShay]

I'm not. I'm not ignoring you. I just want to look this up.

[Mike Greenberg]

Double checking.

[Todd McShay]

No, I.

[Mike Greenberg]

Live air. Double checking me.

[Todd McShay]

No, I'm not.

[Mike Greenberg]

I feel like that's what's happening.

[Todd McShay]

I'm not Zebra. Oh, shoot. I'm Zebra Insurance. The hell am I doing? This is live, by the way.

[Mike Greenberg]

This is the ball skills.

[Todd McShay]

This is how you don't do live experience, live TV. And I did like 17 years of it. So you'd think I wouldn't screw this up, but I don't care. This is the beauty of this job. Now. I get to do whatever I want. Okay, so the fastest guys at the Senior Bowl. This is what I was looking up, the zebra technology. And what's tricky is some guys just don't get to top speed during practices and all that. Or don't have the, you know, the Runway or, or, or intention, or they're not being chased. So, like, it doesn't always line up. But what does line up is when you reach a top speed, that means you're capable. That means you're probably going to run in the four threes, four fours. If you're Darian Porter, who's another guy on my list that I wanted to talk about, running the fastest time of all players at the Senior bowl this year. 22.17 miles per hour on the Zebra technology. That's going to equate to four threes. And by the way, while we're on, Darian Porter, former wide receiver, emerged last year at cornerback. 6 2, 38 inches, 197 pounds. Oh, fastest this year. This is why I bring my notes. Set fastest this year. Second fastest in the eight years in Zebra technology at the Senior Bowl. You know who the fastest was?

[Mike Greenberg]

Darren Porter.

[Todd McShay]

Reek Wolin. Tariq Wolin.

[Mike Greenberg]

Oh, okay.

[Todd McShay]

He fell to what, the fifth round of the Seahawks.

[Mike Greenberg]

That still baffles me.

[Todd McShay]

But he. He wound up. So he ran. He ran the fastest time ever. Just slightly faster than the 22.17 miles per hour. Darian Porter ran. Also a tall, lanky corner. Also kind of raw tape like you see with Porter's tape. But Reek Wolin went on then at the combine here to run a 4 to 6. So, like, that's your Porter. I was looking for that with Porter, but also looking. Jalen Noel is another guy.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Almost 21 miles an hour. Wide receiver from Iowa State.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Two Iowa State guys. Two of the fastest players of the entire Senior Bowl. Jalen Noel. We'll get to him in wide receivers. I'm in love.

[Mike Greenberg]

Oh, here we go.

[Todd McShay]

I'm in love with the guy. He's a he. Like, there's no. There's no. This is what I wanted to get to, though. Your boy. Quincy Riley, Louisville, 20.41. He was the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10th fastest.

[Mike Greenberg]

We'll see.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. So it's going to equate to. It's probably low. Four fours at worst.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

But it could be in the four threes.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And great ball skills.

[Mike Greenberg]

Great ball.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Anyone else you want to get to that. That kind of rounds up my list. You got anyone else we're gonna do.

[Mike Greenberg]

Most to gain or are we gonna just kind of fold those?

[Todd McShay]

Give me some. Whatever you got, man. We're here. It's the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Oh, by the way, my boy popped his cherry in Indy. This is the first time I allowed to say that.

[Mike Greenberg]

I guess. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. You just.

[Todd McShay]

I mean, if, If, If Howie Roseman can. Can give a sex analogy on our. And that's. That is.

[Mike Greenberg]

That did happen.

[Todd McShay]

That is a tease. For what's coming up in the. The next installment, we had Eric Dacosta from the Baltimore Ravens. We had Nick Casario from the Houston Texans, two playoffs team teams. And Super Bowls champion winning general manager Howie Roseman from the Philadelphia Eagles. We interviewed him today. We'll have that coming out soon, and we'll let you know on social media when to find it, where to find it. But he made a. He made a sex analogy, like, right out the gate, like, hey, what's up, guys? But that's a tease for you. He. He was in rare form. He was perfect. And it was a great analogy. But back to my point, Mensch is here. You know, Menche has been working with me for two decades plus. This is the first time he's coming to Indy to the combine. I'm so happy to have the big guy here. Yeah, it's going to be a great week. So. So I don't even know where I was going.

[Mike Greenberg]

Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson.

[Todd McShay]

Go ahead.

[Mike Greenberg]

He's a guy that is going to climb.

[Todd McShay]

These are the guys that you're expecting to help themselves this week.

[Mike Greenberg]

I think Sampson will climb. I think he's going to run well. He's explosive on tape. He's going to be explosive here. It's a. Listen. It's a great group of running backs and we're going to have this conversation back and forth until I really the finish line. But I think Sampson's going to be a guy with the way the pre draft process works. He's going to start moving up.

[Todd McShay]

And you know who else is? Omarion Hampton. I haven't heard that. He's not going to work out. So I'm assuming he will work out the North Carolina running back.

[Mike Greenberg]

See your boy, Mel. My water had Dallas taking Hampton over genting.

[Todd McShay]

I didn't know if you saw it, Mel.

[Mike Greenberg]

I could have, like, literally. I could have told you.

[Todd McShay]

I could have told you know what he did. I'm gonna. Hey, Mel, I know you're watching. You're watching because you're stealing Hampton and you're still doing the same stuff that you used to do for 17 years. And I'm watching you now, too. Okay.

[Mike Greenberg]

Make sure.

[Todd McShay]

He called me the night before he released his mock draft. I didn't pick up because I was in. We were taping something. We were doing something and I owe him a call back. But now I don't know if I want to call him back. It's the same stuff. Of course he had Omari in Hampton out of Ashton Jinty.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

All right.

[Mike Greenberg]

I could have told you that.

[Todd McShay]

We're actually. We're gonna. We're going to. We're gonna call him out on the ride back to the hotel tonight and we're gonna get some answers. But my point is Omari and Hampton's gonna put on a show. Yeah. I'll never forget being here and being in. This is before I was doing tv, radio, anything like that. Adrian Peterson. One of the first years I came to the combine. Might have been the year that Gary Horton snuck me in. This wonderful lady Deb someone. I wish I could remember her last name. For the. For the. For the Rams. I can't remember. They're St. Louis back then or not so old I am. But I remember being inside in a young pup. Like I don't know. 24 out of college, kind of figuring out what's going on. But this, like, Hercules looking dude comes out, and it's like RB24 or whatever it was. And the workout that he put on, I was like, I don't know anything yet. I'm just learning. But I'm like, that guy's different than everyone here.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right?

[Todd McShay]

And I think he ran like a 4. 4. Whatever it was, his numbers were outstanding for as big and physical as he was. But my point is, I think Hampton's going to have one of those types of workouts where you look at him, you're like, wait a second. This guy's, like, chiseled. He's 220 plus, and he just ran four. Four what?

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

What? Yeah, it's gonna be that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And. And Ashton. And Ashton Genti's not working out, and I'm not going like, this is what Kuiper I. The fact that I'm still talking about Kuiper drives me nuts. But I do have to mention this, and I've been saying it for 17 years. Kuyper does the overcorrect, and then he does the recorrect. And he gets it right by the draft. He gets it right, but he's got to get his attention. Mel's always got to get his attention. And so he got his attention with Omarion Hampton. Then the next mock draft, or maybe two from now, he'll recorrect it if that's what's the real. But he had to get the attention. Other people are moving up Omarion. I'm gonna move him up higher. You know, he's one of those kids, like in. You know when you're playing in the sandlot. Hi, Mel. I love you, bud. I'll talk to you tonight. But it's the same stuff. I love it. So. So it's going to be fun to watch these other running backs because it feels like opportunity when the. When the big dog's not out there. Some of the other dogs come out like, no, I'm the big dog now. This is gonna be fun.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah. Listen, you're fired up.

[Todd McShay]

Sorry.

[Mike Greenberg]

We're gonna. I'm gonna keep it rolling for you because I know there's a player that you're dying to talk about, because I got a text. Screw it. Best pure defensive back in this class.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm done. This is the guy.

[Todd McShay]

Don't say it.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm not going to say it. I. I will get mad if I said it. You don't want to do it yet.

[Todd McShay]

I don't want to do it yet.

[Mike Greenberg]

You're on a roll right now.

[Todd McShay]

I know. We'll get to it.

[Mike Greenberg]

All right, fine.

[Todd McShay]

Tucker, sell me and Dan. Like, we've got to keep some semblance of order. Are there any more guys that you think that you're looking forward to?

[Mike Greenberg]

Oregon. They're gonna move up Oregon Edge Jordan Birch and Maryland defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. I mean, again, I think four of the five guys I've talked about are defensive linemen.

[Todd McShay]

Yep.

[Mike Greenberg]

It's just the class. Right? Jordan, Jordan and. And Jordan Phillips.

[Todd McShay]

Birch is like 290.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And had eight and a half sacks this year and was kind of nicked up towards the end.

[Mike Greenberg]

One of those guys that, you know, they hurt like Mikel Williams, we're talking about him the other day. There was times you just thought he, you know, he's still got to put it together. And then it comes out that he's playing maybe 60% during the year. And when you find these things out and they're not long term injuries, you reevaluate what you're looking at.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Another player I'm interested in, I mentioned Jalen Noel and we'll get to him at wide receivers. I think he's going to actually really help himself here because if you ain't big, you better be fast if you're going to be talked about in the top tier, two tiers of receivers. And I think he's going to prove he's going to be fast. And we talked about, we talked about why with the miles per hour and honest to God, just the tape. Like, I don't. If you follow me on, on X at McShade 13. Just go. And I did a whole reel on. On Jalen and I could have gone on for days, but I had to move on. Excuse me. You know, else I'm gonna leave with this. Tyler Schuck.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah. Your guy.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. And I just gave a whole speech about how it's not the most important thing, but, but when, but when you have opportunity. And maybe Cam Ward doesn't work out. Maybe he does. And they'll be in the same group because remember, it's broken up by. By last name, alphabetically. So the first group of quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs will be like A through M, last names and then like N through Z, typically somewhere. Somewhere in that break. So they'll be in the same. They'll be in the same group throwing. If Ward's throwing, I don't think he's. He's going to back down arm strength wise. Maybe there's a slight difference, but. But you'll see it's not a big difference. And I think, and Sanders, by the way, his last name begins with an S. And you like one thing. You know, Shador's got a damn good team around him. They're not, they're not dummies. You know, his pops has been through this game. He played, he played this combine like a fiddle. Don't forget that story. Right? He's been working with NFL Network for many years before he started the coaching. He understands how this works. And how this works is if you're a quarterback and your arm is an elite and you're lining up and your name's Sanders and then the next guy up is Shuck, right? And then a couple guys after that is Ward. Right? I mean, pure and simple. But to my point, Tyler Schuck. It's like everyone I talk to is like, yes, I see the same thing. It's only one year, it's 25 years old, it's three years of injuries, but we see the same thing. The tape is damn good. And so I'm excited to see him work out here and I think he's going to gain a little. I think he's going to run pretty good too. And I know it doesn't matter all that much, but when you're.

[Mike Greenberg]

I can. I really like his tape. I really like him. I can't believe you think he's a better runner than Jackson Dart, though. You want control of your financial future and Schwab knows that. That's why when it comes to managing your wealth, we give you more choices like full service, wealth management and advice when you need it most. You can also invest on your own and trade on thinkorswim, our powerful, award winning trading platforms. Plus, you'll get low costs, transparent pricing and 247 live help. Because at Schwab, we understand it's your financial journey and we believe you should have choices in how you invest. Visit schwab.com to learn more. This episode is brought to you by PDS Debt. Struggling with credit cards, personal loans, medical bills or collections? It's time to stop worrying about that high interest debt you've got. Piling up PDS debt can help you start saving money immediately. Their platform can analyze your unique situation and create a plan to get you out of debt. There's no minimum credit score required and it takes 30 seconds to get your results. With PDS debt, you'll take back control of your finances, get a Free debt analysis in just 30 [e-mail] Spotify Ryan Reynolds here from IT Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3.

[Todd McShay]

Month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only. Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full [e-mail] okay, I didn't say better runner. I said I think you did. When he takes off and goes, all right, here we go.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm pretty sure you did.

[Todd McShay]

Dinner Saturday night. Okay, dinner Saturday night. If they both run a 40 yard dash.

[Mike Greenberg]

That's, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying faster.

[Todd McShay]

I said, I'm not saying he's more elusive. I'm saying when he tucks and runs and like I don't, it's not that big of a deal. But when you're comparing him to these top guys, he's got just as good at his arm and as like in the same neighborhood as Cam Ward and better than Sanders and maybe better than Dart. And when he takes off running, I think he's faster and he's, he moves well and he's bigger than these guys. So I'm just saying if we're starting to just like go through the line of things. So you're not going to make that bet.

[Mike Greenberg]

I just didn't want you to get carried away. No. Because it's not speed.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. How long have we going? 43 minutes. That's good. That's good. It means we've got some time because we got, we got some stuff still to get to. All right. I spent a lot of time on tape and I purposely did a couple things. Okay. Purposely went through and I made sure that I, I don't want to say finished up because I always will go back to it when I start. Here's what happens. I put out this tier ranking, right. And I put it up on Akshay 13 on X if you want to go check it out. And we're going to have it with some breakdown and getting discussion in the newsletter coming out tomorrow morning. Okay. Google ICSHA report and you can find out where to get it. It's, it's Real simple. But I do this every year and I try to break into tiers, the top guys in the draft because I, and I make a note almost, I think this year I'm just going to put it up against the wall. I'm going to like, because it's a reminder to me some of it's good noise, an important noise, right. But a lot of the noise from, from here on out, there's no more football. From the Senior bowl on, there's no more football. And if you finished up their tape evaluation for all intents and purposes and yeah, you go back and rewatch some things but like if you're done stacking by cornerback, stacking by receivers, and you've done the top guys so that you're ready for this, it shouldn't change drastically by a workout or by noise. Okay. Exceptions. Yeah, of course. Will Johnson runs a 4 7. He's going to drop out of the like for the most part. Check yourself. And this is going to be my checks and balances right here. 2025 NFL Draft Pre combine tier rankings. We've got a, we've got a graphic. We got it up. Nice job, Tucker. These guys, man, we got the best crew in the business. We flew in Jake and Nick again, by the way, from the west coast. I love it. We're not messing around. This is, this is our crew. I've got three in the top tier. All right. Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, Mason Graham, five in tier two. And I know where the is going to come. I, I, I'm anticipating the Ashton Genty, Boise State, Tyler Warren, Penn State, Jaylen Walker, Georgia, Jade Baron. You heard it. Jade Baron, Texas. Will Campbell, offensive tackle, lsu. Colson Loveland, tight end, Michigan. Those are my top two tiers. Eight players. Your complaint is going to be Genti and Warren should be in tier one. Am I wrong?

[Mike Greenberg]

Genti, I think is debatable because there's been a lot of talented running backs and I think Genti's up there. I'm not sure he's tier one one. He, he's in the conversation. Tyler Warren is a no brainer tier one prospect. There is like, there's no question. When I see that, I feel like you're trying to piss me off. Like that's what I think you're doing. Like you're just trolling me.

[Todd McShay]

I had a bigger debate in my mind.

[Mike Greenberg]

Oh, you're, Yeah, I knew you're just trying to, you know, I'm tired.

[Todd McShay]

I do like to kick you when you're down because you're Kind of a wimp with travel. I had a bigger debate in my mind of how. How much of a gap am I putting between Warren and Loveland? Because I just got done with Loveland. He's. He's going to be a massive weapon. He's not a good blocker. And that, I think, differentiates the two. Warren's not a great blocker. Loveland's a. Loveland's a poor blocker. Warren is a good blocker for a tight end. Not great, right. By any stretch. He's not.

[Mike Greenberg]

I agree.

[Todd McShay]

He's just not. He's.

[Mike Greenberg]

He's. He's satisfactory Gronk blocker that people say he might be.

[Todd McShay]

He's not. There are moments, if you watch the highlights, you'll find some like you bought. I forget which game it was bugged the guy into the end zone. He's got moments and he's capable and he works as. He works how he wants to. But my point is, I think Cole Colston Loveland has got a chance to be absolutely special. Like, I kind of forgot. And, and, and, and I think this year with the, the quarterback play, he's. He's. He's an unbelievable route runner. He's. He separates better than Warren does.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

They don't run a lot of downfield routes with him and stuff. Warren's a. I'm not t. When I build someone up as tight end two, it's not me building or bringing down Warren. Warren's my guy. If you want to put him at the bottom of tier one, go ahead. My bigger argument is, is there that. Then go ahead. Go ahead.

[Mike Greenberg]

I don't. I like how I asked you to explain. Like, my, My. My question is, what else does a tight end have to do other than what Tyler Warren has done this year? I mean, what does a guy have to do to get into your tier one as a tight end? And all of a sudden I'm hearing about how good Colston Loveland is. I know how good Colson Loveland is. I didn't ask you that. I asked you why Tyler Warren's not a tier one guy.

[Todd McShay]

What's his speed? What's his speed?

[Mike Greenberg]

I don't care. Watch the tape.

[Todd McShay]

I know. I've watched the tape. It's phenomenal. I have. I have him as the number four.

[Mike Greenberg]

I hope he runs a four or five.

[Todd McShay]

I have him one as one of six guys with a 93 grade or above. Like, I love the guy. He's a ton. Tight end. Tight ends don't go this high.

[Mike Greenberg]

No, I Know that's not. Again, not where he's going to be drafted in terms of elite tight end prospects. Tyler Warren's there.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. Okay, but is the elite in this class? Yes. Is he elite in every year?

[Mike Greenberg]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

If you go back to last year's draft, is he you. Are you still screaming that he's in?

[Mike Greenberg]

I say there are two elite tight ends. You kidding me? If you had Brock Bowers and Tyler Warren in the same draft, would you have both? You'd have, you have Colson level in this year. What do you put Coulson Loveland with Brock Bowers? They're more compare Colson leveland with Brock Powers, they're more comparable.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah.

[Mike Greenberg]

I, I don't know why. You know, I want to support all of my tight ends. You want to, you want to compare them and knock them down.

[Todd McShay]

So you think, you think that, that Warren and or Loveland is as good as Brock Bowers?

[Mike Greenberg]

No.

[Todd McShay]

Brock Bowers just broke like, like 20 tight end rookie records.

[Mike Greenberg]

So is there only one elite tight end prospect ever?

[Todd McShay]

Maybe.

[Mike Greenberg]

Oh, God.

[Todd McShay]

All right. I mean we could sit here and fight this. I mean I literally have him in number two, tier two behind, you know, an unbelievably talented Ashton Genti at running back. The point being, I think it's important to at this point in the process, remember what the tape told you.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yes.

[Todd McShay]

And there's been a lot of changes. Changes like Jade Baron moving up to the number, number one pure cornerback, number two cornerback behind Travis Hunter who's also a wide receiver. Changes like Colston Loveland moving up to a 92 grade after I completed his tape. This guy is going to be an absolute problem for, for defenses in the NFL and it's going to be right away. He's the best route runner. Like he is the most NFL ready receiving tight end in this class. NFL ready in terms of receiving. Now Warren's more of a complete package. Warren is a bulldozer after the catch. But I'm saying in terms of like ability to separate with his feet. Colson Loveland is, is, he's, he's him. Like it's as good as it gets. Okay, then the next group, the tier, the tier three guys who are rising, guys who I think are have chance to be outstanding, but I can't quite stamp them because of something. I'm not going to go into all the something somethings with these guys, but Mikel Williams, I'm betting, I'm betting on him. I'm betting I'm buying low to hopefully one day sell High. Okay. Cam Ward, we've talked about all over the place where in terms of the physical tools, the development that needs to happen. Omari and Hampton's in this tier three. And that. That's a jolt. Kuiper, man.

[Mike Greenberg]

I actually.

[Todd McShay]

You know what I mean.

[Mike Greenberg]

By the way, he was my guy before. Was your guy.

[Todd McShay]

Fine. But like, I know Mel didn't pop in the tape this week and do all the running like Arnold Memboo from Missouri belongs in there. James Pierce, Mike Green, we got some stuff to unpack.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

With these guys. Okay. The full evaluation on and off the field. But from tape, James Pierce, Mike Green belong in that tier 3. Will Johnson dropping a little bit. We'll get to that in a minute. Jihad Campbell. I don't. Did I mention him? I don't think I mentioned him.

[Mike Greenberg]

No, you didn't.

[Todd McShay]

I didn't mention him. Shemar Stewart is probably the guy I'm most interested in watching. Campbell's number two on that list of the combine. And that's going to be tomorrow. We're going to be here live. By the way, again, thank you for watching live right now. You're a maniac, if you are. And we love you. We love you for it. And if you're watching, you know, an hour later or two days later, thank you for watching, too. Please keep supporting us. But tomorrow we'll be back 7pm Eastern live. Please join us after the workouts. They'll be actually finishing up. We got a TV right there with the screens here. We'll watch the end of the. Some of the position drills, but we'll be live and we'll have so much to unpack with this, like, truly historic and interior defensive line, DT class and another outstanding deep edge class, so. And then the linebackers led by Jihad Campbell, who I've got in that tier three, and then Tyler Booker, the offensive guard from. Guard from Alabama. So we'll keep that and we'll revisit that and see how much I've allowed the noise to seep in later in the process as we get closer to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay in the last weekend in April. All right, I kind of mentioned it. And I want to get to a couple things. And you tried to get me to jump the gun.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah. Move you along?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. I mean, are you in a rush? It's 7:53. Dinner's not till 8:30. I'm not gonna tell people where we're going, but we'll give you a review tomorrow, I promise. And it's Farm to table. Like, we'll get to St. Elmo's and we'll do the cocktail sauce.

[Mike Greenberg]

This is my fault. I'm so.

[Todd McShay]

We'll do all that stuff, but tonight's a farm to table. I like to find the, you know, the right places. Not everyone's going. Smoking a cigar after having a sip of whiskey. Like, we got to. We got to branch out a little bit, you know, all right. Cornerbacks, man. I'm planting it, and, yeah, you love him, and that's great, but I'm planting it for good.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

I don't care what he runs. I'm planting the flag on Jade Baron. I don't care. I've. I've done it enough. I got yelled at by Nick Saban. Nick's. Nick called. Nick's secretary called. And so the. Nick wants to talk, and he was mad at me. And Nick. Nick can come. He'll be mad at me again for bringing up the story, but he's mad at me because he didn't think it was time. Brian Branch, Okay. I absolutely adored Brian Branch. I had him in the first round, and he thought he needed another year. And you know what? I'm sure he would have continued to advance under Nick. And Nick had called me in the past and yelled at me before, and he was right on some guys, and I've been right on some guys. So that went back and forth, but I was right on Brian Branch, and I kept yelling, there's not 25 better football players in this draft. And it goes 33. San Restore, San Rastill. Sorry. Mike Sander, still out of Michigan, didn't understand why he was falling as far as he fell. There's been these nickel guys, right? Jade. I'm not doing it again. I'm just not doing it again. And he's more than just this nickel guy. Played the star and all.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Like, my. My guy is playing outside corner a lot. And you brought this up. Go ahead on. On him for a minute.

[Mike Greenberg]

I just don't think he. I thought he was more of a nickel. And then you watch the tape, and it's funny because I watch so much Texas tape, and then you start to dig in on individual players, and you're really focusing in on Jade. And he's playing outside all the time, and they played a lot of zone, but he's like. He's strong in press and he can match up in man. And then the instincts, the spatial awareness, the ball skills and zone, it all jumps out. He comes up, he hits, he tackles, he blitzes. Off the edge. If you do want to use him in that slot, I love the way, way he closes off the edge in that role. He's just, I think you said this, so I'm just going to echo it. He's just a damn good football player.

[Todd McShay]

He's better than a damn good football player. He is. Thanks. I get worked up and I get, you know, parched. Parched. Here's, here's a couple of things that jumped up. He plays all over the field. I mean I saw him at mike linebacker one play, I saw him at outside corner the next I saw him playing zone covers or some playing man. So I'm playing deep free safety. And he does it all at a really high level. I will readily admit. I will sit here right now and you can, you can clip this off. My man does not have 4, 4 speed. And if he runs a 4, 4, then he trained really well. He's not a 4, 4 guy. I see like the only flaw in his game that I see is that if he gets in trail like on a crosser, if he's got to like work his way around the ref or a defense, like if he, for whatever reason, and it's not often because of his instincts, but if, if every once in a while, if he gets just a little bit behind a guy and a ball is thrown on time and, and, and, and then the receiver has good speed, he's not catching up. That's his flaw. But he can protect it 95% of the time. Okay. And yeah. Will it be accentuated a little bit in the NFL? Sure. But I want to, I want to remind everyone, Brian Branch, 6 foot 190 about what Jade Baron projects to be. He's listed at 511, 200. So my guess is he's going to be close to that. Brian Branch run a 458 and that's why he went what, 33 overall in the draft. Yeah, I don't think he's going to run a 4, 5, 8, but I don't care if he does because he's that good. He's better than Brian Branch. He's just a better, he's better in coverage. He's a, he's two things to me. Yes, he has excellent ball skills. Okay. In terms of taking the ball away. Like I go back to my notes, like Colorado State this past year. Awesome job, like instincts, peeling off of his guy, going and playing it center field, tracking it down vertically. Beautiful job, right hand eye coordination. The tip ball against Georgia in the first game right Interception. He's going to take the ball away and that's critical. His. Here's what he does that I don't. It took me watching tape after tape on him and comparing him to other defensive backs to realize he's one of the best I've ever seen. Jade Baron is one of the best I've ever seen at detaching the ball from a receiver. And so if he gets in there a quarter count late or if he gets there on time because. But he has the body control to reach around. He's got this way about him. It's almost like watching a snake when he goes to attack and just wrapping. I've never seen anything like it.

[Mike Greenberg]

He always plays with the hands. Yeah, he's his hands.

[Todd McShay]

But with body control to not create the contact. He doesn't get past interferences like that. Yeah, but he like, go and watch the tape. Go and watch the point of attack. I was going like, click, click, click. Three, you know. All right, fast forward, ball knocked away. Knocked away. Knocked away.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah, he's.

[Todd McShay]

He's. He's an unbelievable pest. If you're a receiver because you think, like, the ball is here. I got. It plays over. I get first down, whatever it is. And. And you're like, what the.

[Mike Greenberg]

You even have to pay attention on tape because every once in a while you'll think it's a catch and all of a sudden you'll see. Yes, you'll see this.

[Todd McShay]

You know what?

[Mike Greenberg]

And you go back and you're like, wait a second. And yeah, he got it out.

[Todd McShay]

The other thing that I love, he is so savvy. And run support again, six foot, probably not even. He's gonna be like five 11, 195, let's call him. He is so savvy in support.

[Mike Greenberg]

It sets him apart from some of the other corners, right?

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, because. And he can do it from safety. He can do it from this. The nickel star. He can do it from outside. He'll. He does a great job, like, of not only funneling inside when he's playing that outside corner, but then getting off the block and going to make it. He just. I just. He's. You can't tell me there are 10 better football players in this 25 class than John A. Baron. You just can't. I'm not here for it. And I don't care if he runs a four or five. I don't. He. He belongs in the top 10 and that's where he is right now. Other interesting news from my tape study. I call it News breaking news breaking. Will Johnson, I see the talent. I like him. I mean there are some. There are some plays, right? There are some plays. He's at his best in off man coverage. When the plays in front of him, that's what he does best. Okay. So when you're watching him, you think Will Johnson, well, he's this big guy, six one and a half, 202 estimated 445 speed. So you would think he's a press man corner, right. And he can do that. And the interesting part about him too is he's almost as good, maybe better at times in zone coverage than he is in pure man. I off coverage. When the plays in front of him is when he excels the most. From what I saw on tape, he's got that man's own flexibility. You know, when you like Charvarius Ward, I think is a similar type of player in terms of play style where he can play both. Okay.

[Mike Greenberg]

It's the way he breaks in the ball.

[Todd McShay]

It's the way he breaks on the ball coming forward. You can't have a. I shouldn't say. How do I phrase this properly because I don't want it to come back to bite me in the ass. It's hard to watch a player that you believe should be and very well could be a top 10 draft pick. And to see that many bad plays on tape though, to go along with that many great plays. He makes a lot of great plays. He does. And they're exciting and I think they're. I think you're going to see a lot of great like that. Fresno State pick six. Yep. Awesome play. Okay. I watched the interception gets MHJ Marvin Harrison Jr. 23.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yep.

[Todd McShay]

That's when you at his best off coverage. Reads it squats drive pick. Right. But. But there's so many other plays that go with it. The Maryland game. Right, the Maryland game. O'Dunesay the Maryland game. Sorry. Against number four. He's not one of the top guys. Not pray there. Felton number four. He was like a sophomore at the time. I think he was back in 2023. 213 left in the first quarter. That's when the play was vertical route down the right rail. Rail. Does he have elite recovery speed? I didn't see it on that play. You know, concerning there. Later in the Maryland game, Press Mann gets beat by Prather. Caden Prather number one down the left rail for a touchdown. Stays in phase. Okay, but the ball's in the air. I saw this several times. Balls in the air. Go back and read the Belichick and Saban, some of the stuff on social media and we've talked to many different defensive back coaches but that's something you can go look up by people you trust. How important, how high up in the list. Confidence when the ball's in the air, production when the ball's in the air, do they, do they freak out when they get out of phase? What do they do? Are they able to recover? Do they have the recovery speed? Do they have the body control to protect themselves from pass interference? All those things. Are they able to locate the ball?

[Mike Greenberg]

Makes me worry about length sometimes when guys are in position and they don't end up making plays.

[Todd McShay]

So I looked at those plays, I looked at O'Dunze, the example that I talked, that I just mentioned before. He got burnt bad peeking in the backfield because he gambles, because he gets away with it a lot of times and he makes some big plays. The pick sixes that we all seen on the highlight reels. But there were multiple times where I saw he got burnt on a double move. So now what he does best can be used against him. So I'm not saying he has the tools. He's going to be a really good corner in the league. But For a top 10 pick, you'd like to see more of an advancement in his game than what we've seen burned badly by Roma Dunes in the national championship game. Down the right rail, double move. Had the interception early in that game, held up relatively well against the Dunes put, but got flagged for obvious pass interference shortly after getting beat on the double move. So it was like back to back plays. Okay. That's why you see Will Johnson down at a 90 grade down at like, you know, seventh on my in the tier three. I just thought that was fascinating. Yeah, because forever Will Johnson, he's like he's the guy in terms of pure corners. He's second corner behind Travis Hunter who's going to play both ways and so he gets that athlete grade and that bump. The other thing, Benjamin Morrison, if he is cleared medically here at the combine and cleared by NFL teams, you're right, it's been your guy all along. You've been steady on him and I agree with you. I see some like Jalen Johnson, he's a ball hawking zone cover cornerback. Assuming full health, he competes for a starting job in a zone heavy NFL scheme. If you're a fan of a team that is zone heavy like this is, this is going to be one of your guys Maybe you get him in the second round because of concerns of medical. Whatever it is, he's not going to run. Great. I don't know what his status is, if he's. If he's going to work out here or not. We'll find out on, on Friday. But Benjamin Johnson on tape is fourth best corner in this class. Right. If we're going Travis Hunter 1, Jade Baron 2, Will Johnson 3. Benjamin Morrison is four for me and I. And I'm pretty firm on that. If again, based off of the medical Az Thomas is interesting we can get. I don't want to go into whole long thing we're here at the combine. But let me just say this. This year's cornerback class is kind of. There's a line in the sand. You're the man cover guys and the zone cover guys. Right. Will Johnson's the one who's kind of both and we talked about that. Travis Hunter is a pure press man corner. Will Johnson is both. As I mentioned. AZ Thomas is a pure press man corner. Siobhan Revelle. I just did his take. Yeah, I had to go back. You know what I liked? He reminded in 2023 reminder me of Reek Wolin.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

The tape was scary at times. You were concerned he wasn't using his arms, he wasn't his hands in the press. He wasn't using that great length that he has. He is a tall, long cast with freaking unbelievable recovery speed. And what I saw and I was so excited to put in the 2024 tape, it was down downloading as I was watching the 23. And when I put it on, I'm like, please God, please God, let me see a guy who worked on his technique in the off season, is more physical and is more confident in his press technique. And I saw it.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Before the injury, I saw this guy's got so much potential. Savon, I. Savone, I think it's.

[Mike Greenberg]

He changed it.

[Todd McShay]

What is it? What is it, Dan? Savon. Yeah, Savon. I just looked it. I. I literally watched a tape of him saying his own name.

[Mike Greenberg]

You sure?

[Todd McShay]

Yes.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

All right, Savon. Revel. Okay. But don't be upset with yourself. The ECU coaches and media were calling him Siobhan for like two or three years into the process. So we're, we're doing well. All right, last thing.

[Mike Greenberg]

Agree with you, by the way, on him.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, go ahead. What do you got?

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah, just. It's, it's interesting because again, I think this is a really good corner class. It's just messy. Because of the Morrison injury. Will Johnson also injured. So they're, you know, Will Johnson injury, the Morrison injury and then the Revel injury. Those were Morrison and Rebel coming into the year were guys who were legit first round prospects.

[Todd McShay]

Yes.

[Mike Greenberg]

Now you have Jade jumping up. You know, Harrison's an interesting player. He's a little undersized. I wouldn't put him in that same group, but it's a good group of corners.

[Todd McShay]

Harrison I liked. Harrison I like from Kentucky and we'll go do a deeper dive. I comped him as like a Jason Verrett. Casey Hayward, if you can remember back a decade or so ago, 511 and a quarter, 179 pounds, lean, average arm length, actually 32, 31 and a half inch. Pretty good for that, for that size. It's quick, but he's his own guy. 400 snaps over nearly 400 and cover three or cover four last two years or last year, I guess it was no last two years. And he excels in zone. And again you break up this class. It's the man guys. It's versus the zone guys. Hairston's in there with the zone guys with the Jade A Baron with the, with the Benjamin, Benjamin Morrison. And I think he's the third best zone heavy cornerback in this class. And the thing I love about him is he just takes the football away.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And that's why I said Casey Hayward and Jason Verrett, they were just, they were ball hawks, wide receivers.

[Mike Greenberg]

Here we go.

[Todd McShay]

I'm not going to bury the lead. I'm done with this tape. And I see the traits and I, and I see the special ability and I see how he, he can be productive and successful in the league. I'm just not going to be a Ted McMillan guy. I'm just not.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm sorry, when you say that as a Ted McMillan top 10 guy, is.

[Todd McShay]

What you're saying correct? Where I'm seeing him mocked, where I'm seeing people come out and say that he's one of the 10 best players in this class, I say there's no way in hell. Teterom McMillan. Tetaroa McMillan from Arizona is one of the 10 best football players in this draft. His talent is undeniable. He's six, five estimated. 212 estimated. Four, four eight estimated. We're going to find out real soon. We're going to find out on Saturday. Mm, production awesome. Racked up with final two season. 179 catches. 2738. 2738 yards. 15.3 yards per catch 18 touchdowns. Okay. He's got an awesome catch radius, right. And he makes some of the most spectacular catches you're ever going to see. Right. And that reel is great. Huge mitts, reliable hands. Just nine drops. Drop rate of 4.7 the last two years. I want to check to make sure. I would watch, you know, that I saw enough. I just worry he's an ex wide receiver. Maybe he becomes a good number one. But his routes, his consistency, his urgency, his run blocking effort and his attention to detail are not that of a top 10 player in the draft.

[Mike Greenberg]

Scathing criticism right there.

[Todd McShay]

It's not scathing if it's real.

[Mike Greenberg]

No, it's. It might be fair if it's, if.

[Todd McShay]

It'S what I'm seeing and evaluating.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

Again, unbelievable talent. I just listed the size. Unbelievable. Production ball skills are really, really good, but it just lacks suddenness off the line of scrimmage. Scrimmage like this.

[Mike Greenberg]

Someone concerns me when you're saying that it's about the run blocking. What concerns me, the attention to detail is what concerns me. Those are when I hear those, I. He's a bigger receiver, man. He's not gonna be as sudden as some other smaller guys. So that I get. And it's still worth mentioning, it's still worth talking about it. Don't get me wrong. But when you talk about a lack of attention to detail and when you talk about a laughter, a lack of effort with run blocking, that immediately jumps out to me as, as red flags.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah, I just, I left the tape wanting more from, from what is projected to be a top 10 player. And I, and I watched him, but now I'm, and I see the traits. So I'm like, yeah, he belongs up there. But now we've got to make some tough decisions. I've talked about it. Air traffic control, right early on, we're getting the planes headed in the right direction. We're got thousands of them from 100 different airports across the country. And then, you know, mid season, towards the end of the season, we got a flight plan, estimated time of arrival, right? But now here we are in the process. We're 57 days from the NFL draft. I better know exactly when you're going to land and where you line up with the other planes. Maybe that changes as you get within the last 30 minutes. And we can make divert some planes here and there, but like we got a plan to land these things in order every 90 seconds. Major airports, Logan Airport, every 90 seconds, planes landing, right. Planes taking off. I just don't see it with that.

[Mike Greenberg]

You don't see it.

[Todd McShay]

I don't see it as a top 50. A top 15 pick in a class that has all these guys. When I'm talking about Abdul Carter's and Mason Grahams and Jalen Walkers and Mikel Williams along the edge James Pierce and Mike Green depending on the full picture. Okay. When you're talking about Travis Hunter and the generational type talent. We've never seen anything quite like this before playing both sides of the ball. When you talk about Ashton Jinty as one of the elite running back prospects to come out. When you're talking about two of the best tight ends we've seen in a long long time outside of the guy we saw last year who just set all the damn records for the tight ends as a rookie in the NFL and Brock Bowers. And you're talking about a player who I just fell in love with more the more tape you watch. And Jade Baron. You're talking about Omarion Hampton, another star running back that's rising up not. Not quite as high maybe as Mel Kuiper has him. I love you Mel. I can't wait to talk to you. But anyway my point is when I'm talking about all these names I don't see that is not there.

[Mike Greenberg]

I don't. I don't disagree with you.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Mike Greenberg]

I don't what I. I guess what I. And I know you hate this. That's why maybe I love doing it is let's reframe the conversation of he's not in that range in terms of early first round he's still going to.

[Todd McShay]

Be first round pick. I'm not saying that.

[Mike Greenberg]

No no. Not early first round. What I'm saying is is the gap between him and the other receivers in this class maybe not as big as some other people may portray it or is it is there even a chance he's not wide receiver one.

[Todd McShay]

Let's reframe it.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

I got done with his tape and I see very similar traits to to Drake London.

[Mike Greenberg]

Drake London.

[Todd McShay]

Okay.

[Mike Greenberg]

What a great year.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. I see some of the same stuff in terms of route running polish was not there can develop. I saw some of the same special plays the contested the acrobatic all that the difference is Drake show Drake played the game like a maniac at usc.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And that like don't ever I'll never like Mike Evans. When we got done talking we were like saying nasty things about how like how much he he was just an absolute dog.

[Mike Greenberg]

Right.

[Todd McShay]

And Drake London wasn't a Dog. But Drake, London, for a big, finesse basketball player and all this stuff, like had a little dog in him, right? Had more than a little dog in him. And he ran great after the catch and he. And he gave. He had want to. And there was like attention to detail. He didn't know how to do it all yet, but he was trying his ass off to do it.

[Mike Greenberg]

All right?

[Todd McShay]

And I'm not like, I don't want to sit here and not. But if, if I got to put it in recent historic perspective, I just saw a difference between like Drake was here and. Drake had some struggles as a rookie.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

And showed some flashes. Drake came back this year and had I think over a thousand receiving yards. There were questions with a bad quarterback situation, but I'm saying if I. So and Drake went what, seven to the eight? I think eight, maybe to the Falcons in that range. Top.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Okay. Top 10. I didn't see that player. So there's talent, there's ability to get somewhere close to that, but I just, I didn't see it. All right, let's flip it positive.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay.

[Todd McShay]

Here's how I see this class. And, and there's an interesting graphic I want to put up in a minute, but I just want to say this. Ted McMillan is now, instead of in his own tier at wide receiver, I'm lumping him in with Matthew Golden, Ameca Abuka and Luther Burden iii. Okay. And I got to finish up Burden's tape. And I love Abuka and I think he's just NFL ready. You know what you're getting? It's not going to be this elite one. He's not going to be a burner, but he's just going to be like an 80, 90 catch guy or something.

[Mike Greenberg]

He's going to be a great second round pick. I don't think he's a first round.

[Todd McShay]

Okay, fine, we can have that argument later. But those are my four that are going to be somewhere in that late. And I liken it a little bit to 20, 23. I think this is how it should play out. When we had four receivers go, I think it was picked four consecutive picks. 20, 21, 22, 23.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah, something like that.

[Todd McShay]

I think it was those, those four spots. Okay. Back in 20, 23, I think that's where these guys belong. I'm not saying consecutively, but I'm saying kind of in that range. 20 and beyond late first round, maybe one of them sneak falls into the second. But then there's a clear second tier to me. Okay. It's Higgins. Jaden Higgins from Iowa State. Ex wide receiver, big physical. He is a really damn good route runner.

[Mike Greenberg]

Grew on you at the Senior Bowl.

[Todd McShay]

Grew on me at the Senior bowl as the week went on. You go watch him on tape. You get to really appreciate the release package that he has the ability to get in and out of breaks for that size. He does a lot of great things now. Not as developed and polished as Trey Harris from Ole Miss. I love trailer, but my goodness, is he good after the catch, man. And I can. As an evaluator. You want like, do you see, do you see what he is? Can you literally in your mind, like close your eyes for a second? Yep, that's what he is. He is a west coast big X wide receiver who if you can get him the ball and that three yard, like the Jerry Rice slant and let him take care of some stuff after the catch, he is going to be an absolute hit. Okay. He's gonna be not the same type of player, but his teammate, Jalen Noel. I'm in love with very different players. I mean, polar opposites. But he's in that second tier. Okay. He's in that second tier. And I want to go through this with you. And after that, I think there's still. I think after those, those are my second tier, those three. Jaden Higgins, Trey Harris and Jalen Noel. And I'm interested to see these workouts because it does matter at wide receiver more. Harris runs a number, right.

[Mike Greenberg]

Watch out.

[Todd McShay]

I swear, watch out. Okay. Because you give me that size and the development that he can do and knowing if he's running a certain number at his size with that, with that run after catch ability, I'm telling you, he could be. He could now work into that bottom. So this is going to be interesting to see the wide receivers and corners move the most based off of the 40 times and the workouts in. So that's going to be fascinating to see. But I've got Higgins, Harris and Noel in that second tier. And after that, Jack Besh. TCU really liked his tape. I think he's a notch below those guys. But I know what I'm getting a manor. There's a lot of work still to do. Ball skills. I'm not going to sit here and like to attack someone, but the ball skills are not where they need to be. And I will get into more in depth with all of this, but that's kind of where I was in the receivers. Okay.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

I found an interesting stat thing. You know, it's not like my Thing. Right. Have you ever just gone and studied the. The RTG rank on. On pff?

[Mike Greenberg]

No.

[Todd McShay]

And I don't even know.

[Mike Greenberg]

For receivers.

[Todd McShay]

Yes. It's the. It's the rating. It's the. The rating.

[Mike Greenberg]

I know quarterbacks. I didn't know they had a rating for receivers.

[Todd McShay]

I guess when the one targeted. When targeted, the rating.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay, this is held behind on the analytics. I am.

[Todd McShay]

I just got it. So I mean, whatever. And I just like, I play with stuff every once in a while just to see. I want to see what's telling. Not what's telling them where they got drafted. What's telling. Okay, well how did. How did it produce in the NFL? Get this. If you were to rank the top rtgs from last year's class. Okay, here's how they were drafted. They were. I don't want to go through all of them. Let's put up that graphic if, if we don't already. If you were to go off the RTGS for these wide receivers back in 2024 last year, great class. Listen to these rankings of just following them. Brian Thomas Jr. Could argue had the best year of all of them. Ladd McConkey could argue it had the best year of all of them. Second best year. Marvin Harrison Jr. Malik neighbors, A.D. mitchell are your top five. There's a couple in there. You're like, well, let's see. But Jalen Polk was six. But then it was Keon Coleman Roma Dunes, who was the ninth overall pick. Didn't play like the ninth. It was a quarterback. Was it the offense? We'll see. Fascinating to me.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Because remember the. How they were drafted was Harrison Jr. 4, neighbors 6. O'Dunze 9. Brian Thomas 23. Ricky Pearsall 31. Obviously situation got shot in the chest. I mean Leggette 32. No, sorry. Xavier Worthy at 28.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

My point is the rookie play on the field, much more was correlated much more with the RTG rank than where the draft pick was.

[Mike Greenberg]

Okay, that's interesting.

[Todd McShay]

So this year let's just spin it forward for whatever it's worth. I'm not saying my rankings are going to change like I'm not. But let's keep perspective on all this. But you're gonna like this. I'd like to finish on a good note with you. I know my guy's getting hungry. We got dinner tonight. We're gonna have a food report tomorrow. Travis Hunter, top RTG rank. Just a perspective. Brian Thomas had 142. Second was 133.7 last year. Travis Hunters was 137.8. So he would have only been behind Brian Thomas ahead of everybody else. Okay. Pretty good for a guy who, by all reports, by the way, spent all of his time in meetings with the cornerbacks, was really developed as a cornerback, no matter what the noise was coming out and put in packages like we talked about, installs every week. Right. Trey Harris, number two, McGuire, 124.9, which would have put him at fourth last year, ahead of Malik Neighbors, ahead of AD Mitchell, for what it's worth. Abeka Mecca Abuka. Right. 124.5 ahead of Neighbors, ahead of AD Mitchell. Fascinating. Matthew Golden, 120.7. Restrepo. And 120.7 would have been fifth ahead of AD Mitchell. Restrepo, 119.5. That's interesting to me because it's, it's ahead of. It's ahead of Luther Burden, who's at 107 and ninth on this list. It's ahead of Ted McMillan we just talked about, who's eighth on this list with 110.3. It's ahead of my guy, Jaden Higgins, 104.4. Fascinated to know how. Let's get more into this.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

But that.

[Mike Greenberg]

Something to keep an eye on.

[Todd McShay]

That's interesting to me.

[Mike Greenberg]

I agree.

[Todd McShay]

Oh, thank you. Thank you for watching. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for supporting us. I'm hot. I'm like, I know I've talked too much.

[Mike Greenberg]

Handed me water in the middle of this.

[Todd McShay]

I'm like, what do you, what do you got? Wake up tomorrow, 3pm I know you'll probably get a workout in. You'll do your thing. You get a good cup of joe somewhere. You'll get your morning routine. 3:00, you're ready to go. What's the thing that you just like?

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm brand new, man. I'm just taking it in. You know what I mean? Like, I don't even know what. I don't know yet.

[Todd McShay]

Yet.

[Mike Greenberg]

But I mean, with that group tomorrow, it's going to be fireworks.

[Todd McShay]

Fireworks. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Greenberg]

So, I mean, I'm just excited, you know, Obviously, I know what I'm looking for in terms of, of drills and how guys move, but I'm really going to be soaking up this, this first.

[Todd McShay]

Experience for myself, for me to let.

[Mike Greenberg]

It, you know, pass by.

[Todd McShay]

Yeah. And I'm here for it.

[Mike Greenberg]

I'm going to appreciate it.

[Todd McShay]

I love seeing it through somebody's. Somebody's eyes the first time for me. That's going to be fun. To watch because every single year it's like, yeah, that's great. The defensive line and linebackers are today, but the DBs are tomorrow. This year it's like, yeah, I'm pumped for the dbs. There's a lot to learn. But like this, this defensive line group is going to be epic. And then for the first time in as long as I can remember, maybe 2017, with that, with the Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey class where they had 30 backs drafted, the most we've seen in a long time. And we probably will see that this year. The running backs are going to steal the show.

[Mike Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Todd McShay]

Over the wide receivers, over the quarterbacks. And we haven't seen that in eight years. Seven. Eight years. And I don't even know that year if they did steal the show. But this year they are absolutely going to be the show. So we're back tomorrow, same time, same places. YouTube, Spotify, video and podcast, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. But we are live Tomorrow night, Spotify, YouTube, be here with us. And we're going to cover all the workouts from tomorrow. We're going to be back again on Friday night. If I get my date yet Friday night, 7pm Then we're gonna have another show after the workouts on Saturday. So we get you covered all week. Thanks for joining. Please continue to do so. We'll see you tomorrow. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.orgchatinconnecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York.