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Foreign. I'm the hype guy. I know and Mench is here to keep me level. And I've been hyping this day for a long time and this day is finally here and it's massive. Mach 3.0 you can get a two round mock draft exclusively on the McShay Report, our newsletter. You can have on a website all of our information, Mach 3.0 top 100, all of our player scouting reports and a whole lot more. And we're launching it all today. Just one month. That's right. 31 days until the NFL draft match. Tell me baby. You good? I'm excited man. Tucker roll that.
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Beat. It.
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A
You can tell there's a lot to share today and if you don't subscribe to the newsletter, the McShay Report, please go subscribe. First time all year we've done two round mock draft. This is mock 3.0. We will share all the details in just a little while. Where you can get this the website we've beginning we've been building all the people who have helped and supported it along the way. We've got a a long this episode is brought to you by TaxAct. From rookies to experts, TaxAct helps you navigate every tax play with accuracy guaranteed. Get tips along the way, add expert assist to talk to tax experts or let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details.
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This episode is brought to you by the Home Depot. Spring is starting, so it's time to wake up your yard. And at the Home Depot, they've got everything you need to do it. With low prices guaranteed, mowing your lawn is a dream with top brand outdoor power tools like the Ryobi 40 volt mower with up to 50 minutes of runtime. You can add a pop of color with spring blooms and fresh plants and refresh your garden beds with earth. Grow mulch. Five bags for just $10. Start your spring with low prices now through April 1st. Available at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply. See home depot.com price match for details.
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A
Fun show today, but I want to get to it. There are two major storylines in this draft match. Two major ones. There are a lot of subplots. There's a lot of great defensive players at edge and cornerback. There's a lot of great wide receivers. But the two biggest storylines in this draft come at running back and quarterback and specifically with two individual players. Jeremiah Love, top rated player on my board. I don't know where do you have him? One or two overall?
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One. I've bounced around a little bit. He's. He's won. After watching him again recently, he's one.
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And a lot of teams in the league agree. Okay. And if they don't have him at number one, he's somewhere in the top two, three, four. Right. So one of the best, if not the best player in the entire draft. Jeremiah Love, running back, Notre Dame. Then you've got Ty Simpson, the quote unquote, second best quarterback in this draft, and a lot of varying opinions. You've got the 15 starts, very concerning. You've got the size, just six foot one. You've got the injuries kind of mounted over the first year, but then you've got the tape and you've got a league where a lot of teams are looking ahead to 20, 27. So is there a team in the first round that's going to wind up taking Ty Simpson, even though he has some of those negatives that are concerning and history tells you there's a real high chance for failure, but you watch the tape and you just get drawn. If you're, if you're a quarterback,
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I
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don't want to say lover or guru, but if you're someone who has an appreciation for the quarterback position, this guy just pulls at your heartstrings. So I want to start with Jeremiah Love, though. I have him going number five overall in this mock draft 3.0. I think it might be surprising on a couple different levels, but I want to get your initial reaction when I sent you this mock draft last night and said, study it, prepare. We got a show tomorrow. Don't tell me what you're thinking. Share it all organically on the show. What were your first thoughts when you saw Jeremiah Love going number five overall to the Giants?
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B
Shut me down if I start running along here. Okay, I'm just going to say that.
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A
No, no, go with it.
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B
Let's start with the offensive line. I thought they could have. I thought at one point they would have taken a right tackle, but they resigned Jermaine Illuminor. I think that's a really good resigning. I think they're good up front except for maybe a guard. I don't think I would take one at five overall. I don't think they see receiver as much of a need at this point as maybe some other people do. Here's the. Here's what it really comes down to me, their Defense was the second worst run defense in the league in terms of yards allowed per game. I think in a perfect world they would want to get a stud defensive tackle like Mason Graham coming out of Michigan last year. That kind of a player. He's just not there. There's just not that guy worth taking in the top five. A defensive tackle. And then maybe you look at corner. I, you know, I know they signed Greg Newsome. I don't think that precludes them from signing a guy like Mens or Delane. But is that a little too early for Delane?
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A
It's. You start.
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B
I hate this pick. I love this pick and I get this pick. You know what I mean? Here's what I hate about it. We just talked about how you don't talk. You don't take a running back in, in the top five. Here's what I love about it. You get the first, you get the top player in the draft at 5. And here's why I get it, is because they're actually better in a lot of other spots than maybe people think they don't. You know, we always say you can't have enough edges. They might be the one team that can say we don't need an edge. Right. So when you're looking at all of these things, it starts to make sense. At the end of the day, I'll say this, it still scares the absolute hell out of me. Even though I love Jeremiah Love and
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A
Tucker just threw up the graphic of the top five. And that comes directly from our brand new website that we'll talk about more in detail. And it's the ringer dot com.
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B
Look at that.
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A
It's a beauty, baby. But I think it's important to look at this. If you're watching on Netflix, if you're watching, if you're watching on Spotify, and if you're listening along on Apple or wherever you get your podcast, you can see that this is kind of walking you through the website. We're doing this a little bit earlier, but we're all excited. So let's do it. We have player reports. Mitch, this has been 25 years, 26 years in the making. 26 years going back to 1999. I've been working on the draft and you jumped aboard a couple years later and have been my right hand man. And I've been your right hand man for, for that duration. Over two decades we've been dreaming of a website like this that houses our top 100, eventually will be our top 350 for the NFL. Draft houses, all of our in depth scouting reports houses, our mock drafts, and also a place you can go to get newsletters, which is going to be exclusive information beyond what we're providing on the website. And it's going to be a lot of intel. It's going to be second round mocks, it's going to be things that you can't get here. That absolutely is exclusive and requires not only man hours that are beyond, but also two and a half decades of league sources and cultivating relationships. That's where we're going to share some of our highest level content on this website, though. In addition to the mock drafts, the player rankings and it's. It's called the McShay NFL Draft Board and it is powered by. Steve mentioned his brilliance on scouting as well. You can get it all there. The rankings, the mocks, the player reports, and it's got the analytical driven. I love the spider charts in it. There's so many different elements to it that we've been working on. And I got news for people. This is phase one of phase one. Phase two of phase one is we continue to populate as we expand our rankings, expand our scouting reports, mention I are going around the clock right now getting, typing up all these reports and we've been slowed down a little bit because of this process and I'm thrilled that we were because this is something that we've been dreaming of for more than two decades. But we'll continue to populate this site as it currently is constructed. Phase two will be for next year and we'll get into all the details of that as we expand. And there will be times with time spent with general managers this off season, going to their, to their facilities and looking at their pages and their databases and what they're doing. Ultimately, when this is all done in the course of the next couple of years, we are going to build a database for NFL draft fans and NFL fans and even college fans that they can access that mirrors that of which general manager in the NFL is utilizing and everyone in the scouting department is utilizing. That is our mission and we will not stop until we get there. Okay, so this is the first step and we are honestly, I was playing around with this, playing around with the site this morning.
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Yeah.
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And I was in on 80% of the meetings. But in the last few weeks, like, kind of like, all right, McShay, go write reports. Get out of here. Like, you're, you're slowing us down. And, and wow. Well, I was forced to, I wasn't getting I wasn't getting email invites to the, to the meetings anymore and in doing so they, they pulled it all together. And so I was nervous when I got up this morning. I had a hard time falling asleep last night. It's like it is literally for me like Christmas and when you're like a six year, six seven year old, eight year old, whatever it is and I start playing around with it and how quickly you can go from one thing to the next, how you can actually sort. If I want to know if I have a team that needs a running back, a wide receiver and an Edge, I can click on those three things and see who are the top available guys are so awesome. Yeah, it's just fun, man. And I hope people, honestly, here's my hope. I hope everyone out there who has any kind of passion for this enjoys it as much as we have enjoyed it. But most importantly as much as we are pouring into it. That's all you can hope for when you do a project like this. And Mench is like every bit, if not in some areas more critical to everything that has gone on with building this site than I even have been. So we're thrilled about that. But I don't want to get off of the content and the content on this show for me and I want to stick with Jeremiah Love. I think throw up that top five again if you don't mind Tucker. I think it's important that we show look at that because I think everyone who's watching this, we know that Fernando Mendoza, it's almost a foregone conclusion, is going number one overall. And then we talk about the jets, which edge and the Cardinals is an offensive lineman. We'll come back to the top 10 and go through all those picks. But I think the jumping off point for everyone publicly was at number four with the Titans. I'm not saying that's over that he's not going there. I am saying and I'll be honest, it started with Schefter. Adam Schefter came out and made a very public comment that he now I don't think it's going to be the Titans of four. So then I start following up. Here's what I'm what I don't want to say hearing. Here's what I know. Just like every other pick in the entire draft, 250 plus picks, there are going to be people in every organization that want player A, people that want player B and there might be a player C, D, E and F. Right. The people within the building are pushing for and that that's a healthy scouting department. Because when you have a scouting department where everyone is a yes man and okay, that's who you like GM then that's what we're gonna do. Then you have, you have a cancer building in your, in your building. I think there are, there, there are people that would that have a strong opinion on what Jeremiah Love could provide for a second year quarterback and his, not just his running ability but also his ability to catch the ball of the backfield and put him with Tony Pollard. And now like we can rely on our run game more and this is going to take a little pressure off. Right. And allow Cam to keep developing. There are people in the building that, that are looking at it and saying maybe a wide receiver. But specifically with Jeremiah Love, I really think it's going to come down to you got a head coach who's a defensive guy. You've got a general manager who's got to manage all this and Mike Barganzi, right. Who we got to know a little bit at the combine. Really like him not just because he's a, but like he, he comes from the right stock Kansas City Chiefs did it the right way from Boston College to like a very small role in the Chiefs and climbed. He like he knows what he's doing. He's been around a lot of success so he's got to manage a defensive code. And then you got Brian Dabel who very. It's not publicly but I've shared very strong opinion on some players in the, in the previous regime and the Giants that he wanted to bring in and that they passed on and then finally got kind of because of those failures. I think the general manager said well maybe I need to give, give the head coach what he needs. And so Jackson Dart and Cam Scabu in different areas of the draft trading back into 24:25 overall to get Jackson Dart and then in the fourth round getting him Cam Scoo those were the two guys he wanted. So there's going to be some healthy push and pull in that organization on that pick. If it's not the Titans, the clock starts for Jeremiah Love at 5. But as I said in this if you go read it theringer.com McShay if you go read this, I said I'm not overly convinced. This isn't one where I have conviction that this is the pick at this point. I think there's a maybe 50, 50 chance. I think Sonny Styles would be absolutely brilliant with the Giants.
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Talk about that run defense.
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Yeah, that Run defense, all of it. Chess piece. And so if they go with Sonny Stiles or a Caleb Downs at 5, then it goes to 7 with the commanders. Commanders pick at 7, and then not again till 77 could they try to trade out. But I'm also hearing that they've got a lot of interest in Jeremiah Love at 7. So that's what I want to keep in mind.
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Can I tell you something else that I thought about? You look at the, you look at the depth of the running backs for the Giants, right? And you got Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary, you've got, obviously, Cam Scatter. Cam Scatter was coming off a pretty gnarly injury. And their head coach, Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, think about the nightmare situations they had at running back for. At the, in the, with The Ravens, especially 20, 21, I think it was two of their running backs went down with Achilles injuries or knee injuries. He knows what you, you need depth. He, he understands that you need depth at running back. So I think that's another thing that maybe he could, could be factoring in here of we can't have enough and this guy's different, so let's go and get him.
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Yeah. The other part is, and it's not dissimilar, I remember we have very close friends that I think everyone can kind of put the, you know, put the pieces together within the Ravens organization. I remember when Lamar, I wasn't convinced. You know, Lamar was struggling even as a rookie, throwing the football, accuracy, all that stuff. And the commitment that was, that was provided, like there was a level of commitment from John. John Harbaugh that I kind of knew intimately of. Everything in this organization will be put in place for that quarterback to have success in his style and his strengths. And so you saw a commitment to the run game. You saw a commitment to the tight ends. You saw, you know, and so while Jackson Dart is a fraction of the athlete that Lamar Jackson is, Jackson Dart is still a very, a very large part of his success is his ability to run, to threaten as a runner, to run. And so I don't think it will be totally dissimilar in terms of the offensive personnel build to that of the Ravens, where we need to accept his strengths and really work to magnify those and accept his weaknesses and try to protect him with scheme and personnel that allows that to happen. Jeremiah Love fits in that mold. So I'm not saying he's going to be the pick, but if he is the pick, it's because Harbaugh has a really unique perspective and an understanding and is and is witnessed firsthand. What that kind of support and commitment to a quarterback who has mobility as his, as his big asset early in his career, what he needs. And so that would be the reason for the pick.
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It just makes more sense when you dig in on it. I think Giants fans might look at that and be like, really? That's what we're doing here. Like, why. But when you start looking at what's available, what they need it, like, again, it just starts.
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I like Scatter Boo. I really do. But that's not sustainable, man. It wasn't sustainable for one season. And it's just you can't rely on that style holding up and so utilizing him in a. In a complimentary role could be the best thing for his career, quite honestly. And. And for the Giants. So we'll see how that rolls. The other part I want to get to. And you're going to say, why are you focusing on Ty Simpson? You don't even have him in the first round of your mock. And if you go to the McShay report, Google it, subscribe. You'll see where I have him landing in the second round. I don't want to discuss where he's landing in the second round. I think it's important to note there's. I did not do any trades in this first one. We're one month out as we get closer and I have better intel, like more realistic intel on what those trades could look like. And for this first mock draft, I wanted it to be clean. We get this new website, we're rolling it out. This is the launch. I didn't want to have a bunch of like fairy tale stuff going on. This. These are the 32 picks. These are the teams. This is where I think that they. They'll be looking right. With all that in mind. Ty Simpson doesn't go in round one. However, as I mentioned, off the top here, you've got the 15 starts, but then you can counter with. Yeah, but he was at Alabama going up against that defense for four years. He's the son of coach, 18 years at middle Tennessee State. Right. Am I saying that right?
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I think that's right. I think that's right.
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Okay. Anyway, so is it.
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B
No, no Tennessee Martin. I don't know. Sorry.
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Yeah. So I think it's Tennessee Martin. You're right. So he's been around ball his whole life. Then you go to. Well, he's six foot one and he's. And he got nicked up his first year and Kind of down to 190 gastritis and, and then the ribs and core muscles, all that stuff. And then you can counter with. But if you process the way he does and rip it the way he does with the anticipation and timing and accuracy, we've seen that success. Right. And so it's interesting because when you talk to coaches and when you talk to people who love and respect and like you build a career evaluating quarterbacks, as I said before, he sucks you in the pre snap control, the scheduling, the timing, the anticipation, all those things. But then you have a general manager who's looking at the big picture and has all this analytical data and say, yeah, but our odds with this guy aren't great. And also organizationally, and we talked to a bunch of scouts at the combine and I mean general managers on our show. I think six, six of them at the combine and almost all of them to a T where yeah, we don't look at other positions but quarterback we're looking at, we look ahead and 2027 promises to. So you've got the jets very clearly. I want to get your opinion on Ty Simpson. What do you think happens? And I've got some more thoughts.
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B
I mean, I think you've said it pretty well. I mean we've talked all along about what starts mean and how they correlate with the player's success and they're just not there for them. I've, I've compared him to, to Mac Jones not in the style I actually like. Like you, I like his tape a lot better than Mac Jones tape. So I get it. I think Tai's a better player. But I think you're looking at a one year starter at Alabama who put up monster numbers. So I think there's. They're going to be linked. That's just going to be natural. I think he's going to go in a better spot. I think it's good for him that he's not going to go early and that he might go into the second round because expectations change at that point. There was, it seemed like there was some kind of a groundswell at some point where he was going to go much earlier. Like he might end up getting into the top 10. And that to me was scary because I don't think he's ready and I think he needs time. So if he goes end of the first, beginning of the second, I like that a little bit more. You know, maybe he gets some starts late in his rookie season, but he's not expected to be the guy right away. So I think this could all work out well for him in the end. It's been a little bit of a roller coaster, but there's too many red flags for me to take a big swing early in the first round on that kind of a player. As much as I do like the tape. I'm with you. I love the tape.
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A
Let me share some intel. You ready? Yep.
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B
Go.
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A
The entire. And I give Daryl Moji the new. The. Not new, but the. The, you know, relatively early in his tenure. Jets general manager. I give him a lot of credit because what he's done is he's recognized that. Yeah, you know, Joe. Joe Douglas did a great job drafting. We had a lot of really good personnel, but those guys are starting to get closer to contracts or at contracts. And we've got to kind of. We've got to tear this down military style. We've got to tear this thing down and build it back up. And he's done a brilliant job. And it sucks to see Quinn and Williams go and it sucks to. To see Sarsgar and it sucks to see some of those things happen, but he's gotten so much capital. I think it's. Is it eight? What is it? Eight picks in the first in the first two rounds for the next couple of years. Okay. For this year and next year. Two first rounders this year, three first rounders next year. Okay. Eight picks in the. In the first two rounds this year and next year.
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It's impressive.
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A
That and five of them in the first in the first rounds of 2026 and 2027. I know this. I'm not guessing. I'm not. There's no tea leaves here. I know this. The plan and one of the negotiations was how about we give you a first this year and a second next year. And they were able to negotiate to get a first this year. I'm sorry, a second this year and a first next year.
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B
Right.
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A
Chief among all organizations. When we talk about looking ahead to the 2027 quarterback class, the New York Jets, I promise you that's a no. That's not a tea leaves. This whole plan has been built on. Let's get our organization right, let's build our defense, let's make sure our front line, let's get some more receivers and with Garrett Wilson and let's build this so that when we do, and hopefully it doesn't require us moving up to go get and. And giving away one or one of those first round picks or maybe all three to go get the quarterback they want. But whatever it Takes it's build this year, get your quarterback and then whatever's left over compensation wise next year, utilize that to continue to build around that quarterback you just inserted in 2027. That's a fact. So while I'm watching shows, even as recently as this morning and I'm hearing a lot of buzz, the jets at 16. I think even Kuiper had him at 16 in his most recent mock. I'm not saying that plans can't change, but I'm telling you right now, the jets plan all along and think about all the moves they had to make to get where they've got eight picks in the first two rounds and five of them in the first rounds of the next two drafts. This plan was built on 20, 27 quarterback insertion. So it could change and Simpson could be the pick at 16. But that's not what I, I know. You know. And so if it's not the jets at 16, there's not the Steelers. It's not the Steelers at 21. I can tell you that too. Okay.
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B
It's not the Browns either. Right? They're not going.
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A
I don't know. I don't know.
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B
Okay. No, that was the other one I looked at.
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A
I know, I know, I know. It's not the Browns at six.
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B
Right, right, right, right.
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A
I know. It was, it was the Rams at one point. And I've explained to you, I, I think there's been a, a little bit of a mind shift of Stafford's got more in him than we anticipated or, or I don't want to say they questioned him, but like, my gosh, this guy Matt just won't stop. Like we, we can win another super bowl next year. He's like peaking. Just wanted mvp. Yeah, League mvp, bro. And so at one point during the fall, there was a lot of. With the knowing they have two first round picks and one point during the fall, Ty Simpson was a top five pick too. There was, there was a link for the Rams and Ty Simpson for a reason. Because there was a link with Rams and Ty Simpson in reality. Okay, I think that shifted. I think Ty Simpson season going like that, Matthew Stafford season going like that, all those things. I think it changed the direction. So now we're left with jets at 16. I'm telling you it's not unless the plan has completely changed. I'm telling you it's not the Steelers at 21. I'm telling you it's not the Browns at 6. It could be the Browns at 24, but I don't know. But What I do know is Arizona sitting there, picked 34 in the second round, right. And that's a possibility of moving up just like the Giants did last year to go secure. And maybe it requires moving up to 23. If there's intel that the. The Browns are looking at a different player, 24. And I think the Browns are probably going to let all the information in the world leak out of their building that they like Ty Simpson. Between now and the draft, we got 31 days and by doing so that maybe will allow that maybe will force the hand of the Cardinals to move up to 23 or earlier and take a quarterback. And if that quarterback is not the player they want to take there, maybe they go wide receiver, right? Maybe they go wide receiver at 6 overall and are hoping that an offensive tackle like the Caleb Lomu as I had in this mock draft falls to them, that they can plug in at left tackle. And again, just like the jets building for 2027. Yeah, we'll go through the bumps with Lomu, who's probably could have used another year in college, but my goodness, is he athletic. And if he can develop by 2027 when we plug our quarterback in, assuming that Shador Sanders doesn't come, set the world on fire and make that a null and void argument. And if he does, then we. By 2027, that's, yeah, great. I think that's the plan for the Browns.
- [26:40]
B
Okay, so you think Arizona likes Simpson enough to maybe go up and get him?
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A
I've heard that that's. That's a strong possibility. I don't know for a fact yet and maybe we'll never know for a fact. But I. People I've talked to believe that they're. They're a team to circle. I also was told by someone to keep an eye out and try to put together because they don't know. They. I think they know definitively. But there's another team lurking out there and I can't quite put my finger on it, but this person who shared this information with me is absolutely cannot share for obvious reasons, you know, but this person has been reliable. So there's another team that's potentially lurking and this person has no skin in the game, so he wouldn't be trying to like force a team like Arizona up. So that's. That said, Those are the two biggest storylines in this draft. Forget the Mach 3.0. In this 2026 NFL Draft, where does Jeremiah Love go, arguably the best player in the draft, and could he be sitting there at seven for the Commanders. And then where does Ty simpson go as QB2 in this class with some. Some people love him. Majority is concerned about the red flags and the value is, yeah, fine, late first. But really early second. That's just, that's the temperature, I promise. Okay, I hear that. Well, let's reset here. Okay. And I know we went through this draft site, but I'm so excited about it. Let's do it one more time so people understand. Go McShay. 13 is where you can find. We'll be sending out updates. We have press releases going out. We have. We'll be sending different player reports throughout the day. It's the McShay. It's the Ringer.com McShay, Mench and I, this is our baby. This is what we've been working for. You can see Jeremiah Love, right? Full, full breakdown. The takeaway is the report. We broke it into three sections. It's the player, it's the draft and it's the projection. The player is all his scouting report. The draft is where does he fit in at that position basically in this draft and overall. And then the projection is what is he going to be as a rookie and beyond? And give me maybe an NFL comp, shades of whatever it is. Then you've got the top 100 that's released and we'll continue to expand. It'll go from 100 to 150 to 200 to 250. And by the end it'll be probably top 350 as we do for every. Probably top 300. And we'll have the ability to look at our rankings probably down to top 400 as we normally do. So you've got the scouting reports, the top 100. We've got 50 scouting reports in it right now. We're going to continue to build daily. Then we've got the top 100. Then we get the Mach 3.0. And I hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do. But I also want to remind people of this, the newsletter, the McShay Report. It is now going to be the intel, the premium additional content. And you can Google it. Subscribe. The McShay report comes directly into your inbox. And for this first one we get a full second round mock which can't get in the first round mock is, hey, the jets and jets fans probably are pissed at me, but I get the jets right as I'm looking at it and I've got notes everywhere because this is such a big day. But I've got the jets with Arvell Reese as the, as the, as their first pick of three in the first two rounds, right? No, four in the, it's four in the first two rounds, right'? Yeah, four. So it's number, number two overall they take Arvl Reese number 16 overall they take Omar Cooper Jr. @theringer.com McShay you can get all of that with the full breakdowns including like 27 misfits tackles force for Omar Cooper last year like deep, deep dive ruined my whole weekend but it was a labor of love. But then the second round I'm going to give you this hand this out so you know so you can understand. Caleb Banks, interior defensive line at the 33rd pick. Anthony Hill, Jr linebacker. So the jets as they're building towards 20, 27 quarterback insertion would finish the first two rounds Mensch with Arvel Reese, Caleb Banks and Anthony Hill Jr. In the front seven. And then also with that 16th pick, Omar Cooper Jr. One of one of our favorite wide receivers. Also in that Mach 2.0. Sorry, I've got, I've got 3.0 right. 3.0. Sorry, I've Got my favorite quarterback that not named, not named Fernando or Ty Cole Payton not going to tell you where he goes. Go subscribe Cole, one of the hottest names in the draft right now.
- [31:21]
B
The intel will be great. I, I, I promise you. When I opened up this and I was reading it and I, I didn't even know you were doing a second round. You didn't even tell me. And I started looking at the second round, I was like, I have more to ask him about this and more to talk about with him about these picks and about the players that have gotten there than about anything else. You should really, honestly, the first round's great and there's a lot of stuff to talk about. I think Jeremiah Love going to Giants of five is like, I mean that's, that's a great topic. But look at the second round of this, of this mock. It's crazy to me the names that are still there and some of the players are going to go in that range.
- [31:56]
A
This episode is brought to you by Men's Wearhouse. If you're like me, you need a go to when you're scouting new clothes. So check out Men's Wearhouse. They've got you covered for every occasion with a huge variety of clothing and styles from tailored clothing like suits, sports coats, dress shirts, tuxes for more formal events to casual clothing like polos, shirts, shorts and jeans for everyday wear. The Men's Wearhouse experts can help you find the right look. While they're on site, tailors guarantee your clothes have the right fit for your body. Men's wearhouse has over 600 locations nationwide. They are here and nearby when you're ready to love the way you look.
- [32:40]
C
This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. You know, with just one trip to Whole Foods, you can travel the world. First stop, Discover the taste of the Mediterranean with big sales on brands like Deco, Oreos and San Pellegrino. With Whole Foods Prepared foods, dinner is solved. You can roam the world with empanadas, burritos, soups and more. Maybe expand your snack repertoire to South America with colorful and crunchy Peruvian potato chips. Then straight to Mexico. For dessert, you can pick up a tres leches family pack cake for only $10 every Friday. All aboard. Save on regional flavors at Whole Foods Market. This episode is brought to you by TaxAct. Like an expert coach, TaxAct offers step by step guidance and guaranteed accuracy when filing taxes. Get tips along the way. Add expert assist to talk to tax experts and let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details.
- [33:47]
A
All right, Mensch, let's get back to it. Picks one through 10. I want to go through one through five, then six through 10. This is the exciting part. Here's you see one through five, Fernando Mendoza, number one, Arvel Reese, number two. As I just mentioned, going to the Jets, Francis Mawinoa, offensive tackle, three to the Cardinals, Reuben Bain. I'm surprised we've gone this long without having a conversation about that. And number four to the Titans. And Jeremiah Love as we talked off the top, the biggest story where he lands in the 2026 draft of those top five men. What jumps out to you that you want to discuss?
- [34:22]
B
Let's talk about Bane in a second. I want to just say really quickly, I love the Cardinals taking Maui Noah at their the third pick. I know that I think he's the 10th overall player on your board. You might look that and say what was the value there? This is what we're talking about when you're talking about building your roster and building, I think your offensive lineup before you get your franchise quarterback, they need a right tackle. I think he's a plug and play right tackle. I think he's going to play right tackle in the NFL. I know some people think he's a guard I love that pick. I feel like it's, it's a borderline safe. I don't know if that's really the most accurate, but it just makes sense to me and I just like the approach that they're taking if they take that guy. That said, well, let's get into Bain being the first edge.
- [35:04]
A
Well, I, I true edge. I, I do with Isaac Suomola.
- [35:10]
B
Okay, go ahead.
- [35:12]
A
60 starts, Super bowl pedigree. You bring in Maui Noah. Whether the rebuild is for Ty Simpson trading back in the first round as we just talked about or it's for 20, 27, like couple of these other teams we're talking about, there's something about securing that offensive line that has been honestly like a decade of oh, we're close or we going to plug one guy. And they just have never gotten to a point where they're like this is a dominant group. And so that, that's why while David Bailey's sitting there and Reuben Bane sitting there and Sunny style, like there's a lot of great players sitting there. I could see them going in that direction, but go ahead.
- [35:46]
B
So Bane is, I guess Reese would be the first edge, but Bane ahead of some other guys. Ahead of Bailey, most notably Bailey specifically.
- [35:53]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [35:54]
B
Let's talk about it. You're not worried about the T Rex arms?
- [35:58]
A
I am, man. It would be 20 years. It's going to be with Reuben Bain. 20 years where an offense, I mean a defensive, an edge drafted in the first round sub, 31 inch arms, right?
- [36:12]
B
Yep.
- [36:14]
A
And it's been 20 years in the NFL. There hasn't been one of those guys with that arm length to have double digit sacks. I get it. And I'm not saying definitively this is the pick, but I did some deep diving and some thinking. Here's why it would be Bailey's the easy choice, right? Yep. But you got Salah coming in and they brought in Jermaine Johnson. Tall, long, you know, wide nine guy.
- [36:42]
B
Leaner. Yeah.
- [36:44]
A
Huh. Isn't that David Bailey?
- [36:48]
B
Yeah, it is.
- [36:50]
A
So why do I want two David Bailey's? If I can get a Bane, I can get a compliment. I can get the nastiest son of a in this draft. I can get a guy who is proven, who's a culture builder, who can, who's gonna. Yeah, he might have short arms but he's gonna set an edge. He's gonna be vicious and ferocious. And now you gotta deal with a wide nine and a guy who's gonna get you a lot of pressures but maybe won't get you double digit sacks, but he's going to be harassing from the other side and he's going to be, you know, I, there's something about that pick. If it's not Jeremiah Love and if it's not a wide receiver, Carnell Tate, and again, it could very easily be David Bailey. But I just, I don't know. Spidey senses there's something about it.
- [37:34]
B
I've been watching all these offensive linemen and I can tell you that a lot of them really wish they didn't have to go against Miami. And Ruben Bane this year, I mean, he made,
- [37:45]
A
he ruined crown over stock
- [37:46]
B
for Texas A M. I mean, there's, I mean, I'm, there's.
- [37:49]
A
That's just, that's just one.
- [37:51]
B
There's just, that's just one. Yeah, I mean, there is. There really is. And you start to look at it and you're looking at that tape and forget about it. I'm not worried. I, I, like, I know I've talked about arm length and here we go again. By the way, arm lengths are starting to be longer at pro days. It just, it's, I, I can't, I can't do it. I'm starting to lose my mind over the arm length thing.
- [38:10]
A
I told you, I told you the scene. Just can't do the arm length thing anymore, man. I know it's important, but I just, I can't.
- [38:16]
B
The tape's too good. I, I just think the tape's too good. I, I like being here and I like the frame. I know you don't like the length, but like, I like the frame, I like the motor, I like the toughness.
- [38:26]
A
Yeah.
- [38:27]
B
I, I, I think people are coming back. This is the part of the process, right? We go through the combine, we go through these all star games, we start to talk each other and then we go back and we do a double check on the film and we're like, oh, this guy is who I thought he was. All right, let's, let's. And then you, everything kind of normalizes and there is still some movement, but things start to get back to normal a little bit here now. And we're all guilty of it. I'm not saying that, I'm not like accusing you of anything, but you do, you get caught up in these moments and totally when it's march, it's, it's march and you go back and you're like, oh, let's double check this. And you're like, oh my God, this guy on tape is ridiculous.
- [39:03]
A
Would it. It would be. I want to go in the, in their draft room for a minute because you got a young quarterback in Cam Ward who Brian D. Was pushing the Giants organization to and, and actually got authorization to offer like everything. Brinks truck back it up here compensation wise picture. Do a mental picture of a Brinks truck full of. Instead of dollar bills full of draft compensation coins, you know, and like open it up and just dump it up to go get Cam Ward. That's how much he loved him. But now he looks at this, at this offense and Tony Pollard's a good player, you know, and productive last year again. And they've had, you know, they've done some little things in the offensive line. They brought in a tight end. The day Ball had Bellinger. That.
- [39:53]
B
Yep.
- [39:54]
A
They brought in Mondale Robinson wide receiver. But the defense did a lot more in the, in the off season. You've got a defensive coordinator coupled with a head coach who's a defensive guy. Right. And it just feels like, hey what. Like what are we doing? What do we always talk about? Protection, Playmakers, play callers. Right. They got the play caller table. The protection I think they feel pretty good about. I'm not saying it's elite, but they feel like they, you know, now it's the playmakers. I don't know.
- [40:33]
B
They redid Ridley's contract. They took two guys in the middle round. Eye Manor and Chim dk who we liked.
- [40:41]
A
Yeah, I mean I loved.
- [40:46]
B
Yeah. All he did was run crossing routes
- [40:48]
A
but cross ran away crossers overs. It was.
- [40:51]
B
Yeah.
- [40:52]
A
He one of the best punt return. Best return men I should say say in, in the league last year. So.
- [40:56]
B
But you, you could see what he could do like. So I, it's interesting to me like do you go. Do they still go and get a receiver with all that going on? I don't know man. That's tough. That's why the Jeremiah love thing is still it. I get what you're saying, but it makes sense. It makes sense because as good as Pollard is, imagine if you had Pollard as your two and love is your one. I mean now we're talking about a different thing, I think.
- [41:19]
A
And I talked to Borgonzi too. Like when you get. I've the study I did and he was like I don't, I don't even. It wasn't, it wasn't a conscious decision were with the Chiefs because I, I mentioned the Chiefs and the Bills and the packers and the. There a lot of the top organizations when they draft their quarterback the next Draft was all about defense. And that come really the next couple few drafts, the Eagles like. And so it's. While I don't think it's consciously and talking to all these GMs, they're like, well, yeah, it wasn't really the plan, but we felt like we got our quarterback. He can make up for some sins. But with the Chief specifically, you know, they had Tyreek and they had, I think Kareem Hunt and they had some weapons and so they felt like they were good on that side of the ball and they had to. Then they've taken care of the offense. Now we got to upgrade the defense. And I talked to Borgonzi about that and Borgonzi was like, yeah, it wasn't conscious, but we felt like we were in a good position there. I now I'm fast forwarding here and I'm saying to myself, cam, or you got your guy, but you don't have the weapons around Cam Ward in the supporting cast that you had with the Chiefs and you just spent a decent amount on the defensive side and you got defensive head coach. And so it's going to be interesting. This is a fascinating pick for Borgonzi and the Titans. All right, let's go through 6, 6 through 10. We kind of covered all those five picks. Here's where it gets interesting to me. You wake up and you're the Cleveland Browns and the commanders and yes, Jeremiah Love is off the board and you have the Saints, right? Those three teams are looking like Carnell Tate still here. Sonny Stiles, I would argue the second best player in this draft, certainly top five. David Bailey. You know, a lot of talk about him going number two. I'm not ruling it out yet. Those three guys are still on the board for Cleveland, Washington and the Saints. And that's, that's how I had him come off the board. I think offensive tackle is absolutely a need for Cleveland. I don't see a left tackle of value there at 6. So let's get the wide receiver and hope we can get a developmental guy that we can get ready for 20, 27. And Caleb Lomu is what I did for the Brow. Sonny Styles, I think it absolutely could be Jeremiah Love. I think Washington is the team most likely in the top 10 to trade back because they don't have that second round pick. But Sonny Styles, like, yeah, they brought in Leo Chanel, but, but Sonny Styles does different things from his coverage ability. The, the chess piece. He is the overhang, the pass rush. He, like you combine those two on a defense that Was pretty close to atrocious last year.
- [43:49]
B
Don't hold back.
- [43:51]
A
And then I wanted to go wide receiver for our boy Tyler Shock. But if daily. David Bailey's sitting there, man.
- [43:57]
B
Yeah.
- [43:58]
A
To take Bailey. What are your thoughts? And then at Mansoor, Delane, I had the top cornerback going to the Chiefs at nine. Could have gone a lot of different directions there. There's still. Oh, by the way, there's still some thought from people that know or. Or are dialed in that if. If Jeremiah Loves sitting there at nine, that could be the pick for the Chiefs. And then Caleb Downs at 10 to the. To the Bengals. What stands out to you? What do you want?
- [44:25]
B
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- [44:26]
A
They're gonna take.
- [44:27]
B
They're gonna go out and get Walker and take Jeremiah Love, too.
- [44:30]
A
I was just as shocked as you.
- [44:32]
B
That is stunning. I love the Chiefs pick. I want to talk about that one of all these picks. And I'm. I'm with you. Sonny Styles still available. David Bailey still available. I mean, those are. Those names. And I love. As much as I think Carnell Tate might be early at 6, I love the combo. I love the combo of getting Tate and Lomu. Your other option might be a freeling and Boston. And I don't know if I like that one as much. So I. I like what you did there. That's good for me. The reason I'm just gonna say this. Monsoon, Delane. You know who my comp for him is?
- [45:04]
A
Who?
- [45:05]
B
Trent McDuffie. I see Trent McDuffie. Both these guys, like shorter arms, smaller hands, throw on the tape. Tell me you don't want them playing corner for you. Like, they don't check off the list and all their measurables, but they are just absolute ballers on tape. I think that's. I. I had McDonald like, before, like, long before I knew you were going to do this. I think that's a great comp for Delane because they're both so good when you throw on their tape. Delane's supposed to. We're taping this early Monday. He's supposed to run today. I'm interested to see what that time is. I hope I'm not jinxing him. I hope he runs well. I don't want to jinx them. But as far as the tape is concerned, man, that. And you talk about a real.
- [45:42]
A
I don't know. I'm. I'm. I'm all about competition. I'm all about this. And I hesitate to even say this. I don't know if I'm running, if I'm him today.
- [45:52]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [45:52]
A
I.
- [45:53]
B
There's a different. I want to get into this. This is a conversation.
- [45:56]
A
Yeah, Go ahead. Yes.
- [45:57]
B
Because he is the top. He is the top player at the position, and I think that puts him in a unique position that he doesn't have to run. That being said, look at what Brett Veach has done with corners, man. He. I mean, drafted the. Jerry Sneed. He drafted McDuffie. He drafted. I'm missing Jalen Watson late. This guy, he's drafted corners all over the board, and his hit rates pretty damn good. Noel Williams, the kid they took out of California, I think they think they have another one in him. And now you bring in. And now you bring in Monsieur Delane, the best corn in the draft. I freaking love this. He can do whatever they ask for him. The amount of looks the Chiefs can throw at them in the back end.
- [46:34]
A
I.
- [46:35]
B
That pick at number nine, Monsour Delaine, to me, is one of the best in. In the top 10. And there's a lot of guys who fell that you don't expect to fall. Like, it's just. It's interesting.
- [46:45]
A
I.
- [46:45]
B
That was the. The first pick that jumped out to me last night.
- [46:47]
A
Yeah. I think Bane and Bailey would be in play, right?
- [46:51]
B
Yeah.
- [46:51]
A
If available at number nine. I think Spencer Fano. There's a possibility there.
- [46:58]
B
Okay.
- [46:59]
A
But I like this pick, man, for all the reasons you just said. I think specifically for Mansour Delaine, I think they. I think it starts at 5 as you touched on with. With the Giants. I think that's a possibility.
- [47:10]
B
I think so, too. I think he's.
- [47:12]
A
That. I think nine. Nine would be the highest odds right now if I were setting the odds for FanDuel. I'm pumped to get going on the FanDuel stuff, too. This is like. I feel like we take. We take a little hiatus from fan. Fanduel. Don't get me wrong. I've been kind of hanging out there in the March madness, but the season's over. We're grinding tape. But then, like, once we get all the reports done, like, the amount of fun we have with fanduel and their. Their. Their odds and the. The props are just awesome in April. But then the Bengals at 10, possibility Dolphins at 11, possibility Cowboys, 12. Parachute. So he's going five through 12. Is Delane all right? I open it up now picks 11 through 32. You can go anywhere you want mentioned. I've remind everyone I'm gonna do it and wear everyone out today. Look at this beautiful website. I love the functionality that's our mock draft. If you're watching on Netflix, if you're watching on Spotify, rolling through, you can scroll. You could just click a button and read the full report on why. Why that picture?
- [48:17]
B
I love that.
- [48:18]
A
You could click on the player or the full report thing, and all of a sudden Casey Concepcion's pulled up. You get the spider graph. You got his combine results. You can click down in the combine results. Height, weight, arm, hand.
- [48:32]
B
It's so easy to use. I mean, the content is the most important thing, but the. The functionality of it is crazy. And then the aesthetic, like, it's. It's all there for me.
- [48:41]
A
11 through 32. What jumps out?
- [48:43]
B
What are the Ravens doing?
- [48:46]
A
I. I wanted to go wide receiver there, man. I wanted to go.
- [48:49]
B
They have to go wide receiver there.
- [48:51]
A
That's what I think.
- [48:52]
B
I think they have to go wide receiver.
- [48:55]
A
There's probably two or three picks in the first round. Where. But I. I do want to mention, like, this scares me. Reality. Reality is different than. Because you got Carnell Tate going six. Right.
- [49:07]
C
Right.
- [49:07]
A
And. And then. And then you got the Dolphins now with a wide receiver need. I'm not convinced they're going to take one at 11, but they sure as hell could.
- [49:16]
B
You get them taking makai lemon at 11. That's another one. I get the value. Yeah, I get the value. But there you have a million needs. But let's go back to the Ravens,
- [49:26]
A
and then the Rams take Jordan Tyson. So now it's at 14, and we love Omar Cooper Jr. And I told it. Told you already, he's going 16 to the Jets. So if he can go 16, why can't he go 14? Absolutely. I would say the. Ask Fanduel. Right now, I promise you, the odds are in the favor of Eric DaCosta taking receiver at 14. However, if those three guys are gone and Fano falls to them at 14 and they need help at guard. They need. They just lost Tyler Lindenbaum. I don't know.
- [50:01]
B
It's too big. I love the player. And this is what scares me about it is I feel like you're not trying to put a square into a circle. Whatever they say there. Square pegging with circle, whatever it is. But it feels like you're trying to find a home for Fano, and that scares me a little bit because we have the super talented player who, by the way, now has 32 and 78.
- [50:21]
A
No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seven, eight. He went from 32 and a quarter to 32. Or. Or an eighth.
- [50:28]
B
Yes.
- [50:28]
A
32 and seven. Eighths it's like three quarters of an inch longer.
- [50:32]
B
Wild. Here we go.
- [50:34]
A
Combined to pro day, but go ahead.
- [50:35]
B
Here we go. I'm not convinced he can't play tackle, but I do feel and I love the idea of playing him center, but it's such a projection. If you're saying he's going to play guard, I get it a little bit more. But to me, this is one that stuck out because if you were looking has it at for him to be the answer at center, that's just such a big leap. It's such a different position. Now if we go into the lab and you were going to say, like build the physical traits of your ideal NFL center. Yeah.
- [51:01]
A
It's six five and a half, 311 pounds, running a blistering 4, 91 4. Yeah, absolutely. Check, check, check.
- [51:08]
B
But here's the one thing, man, can he snap?
- [51:12]
A
I can he.
- [51:13]
B
Can he snap?
- [51:14]
A
He looks good in the combine call. I know, I know, I know.
- [51:19]
B
When you got the full. Yes, it's a whole different thing. You know this obviously, if when you're lining up against Pittsburgh on Sunday night and the bullets are flying and you got to start making some calls there, it's a unique thing. It's a different thing. And I. And he could get there. But as a guy, you're coming in to like replace like a high end center. I don't know.
- [51:42]
A
That's.
- [51:42]
B
That's a tough reach for me.
- [51:44]
A
Love the player is my son. Tate says to me anytime I pointed his plate and I'm like, why, why don't you eat the broccoli? He just looks at me as a dad, it's not my favorite. And so I'll say the same thing about, about the Ravens, but it's not my favorite. But like happens on draft night, you know. Yeah. And I'll say this about going back to Ozzy and Eric is. Is Eric Dacosta's carried it over beautifully, that organization. And some people might say, oh, it's luck. You know, they said their patience is their secret sauce. Patience and evaluation of players. It's why they're annually, you know, one of the top teams in the league.
- [52:21]
B
They.
- [52:22]
A
The foundation they built through the draft of being patient. Let everyone else get crazy and trade picks and move up and this and that. Sit back and wait. Someone's gonna.
- [52:31]
B
And.
- [52:31]
A
And guess what, Lamar. Good player at that point. They had to move up a couple spots at the end of that draft. And Eric DeCosta, go back to her. If you can go back to our YouTube page. The McShay Show. And check out that GM interview is from a year ago. Not 2026, 2025. Scout the Senior Bowl. When he talked about that night and like everyone went down to take pictures and the media was there and all that. And then he was like, Ozzy, hold on. Like, let's, let's. Because that was the year they were transitioning.
- [52:57]
B
Yeah.
- [52:57]
A
Lamar is still there, but Lamar fell to them, you know, and. And so. But that's. That. That's a different example. There's so many other examples. So you get a player in Fano that in some. I mean, in your mind is maybe one of the 10 best players in the draft, an offensive lineman. I don't know. It. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but I would have rather given them a wide receiver there. Anything else in the top 32 before we make some real heartfelt and. And deserving. Thank you for everything that's gone on here.
- [53:29]
B
I won't hold you up too much. I love. I really do love Akeem Esador. And I want to say that don't be surprised with TJ park, the Buccaneers for him.
- [53:39]
A
Yeah.
- [53:39]
B
I'm just saying this.
- [53:40]
A
You haven't.
- [53:41]
B
Don't be surprised if TJ Parker comes off the board before he does. I really believe that. And I think they're both going to be really good players. And I get it. TJ Parker's tape's way better, way better than people think. And I know you already know that because we've talked about it. I think that's an interesting one. And then obviously the receivers. Makai Lemon to the Dolphins. The Rams take Jordan Tyson, by the way.
- [54:03]
A
What a gut punch.
- [54:04]
B
If you're a Ravens fan. Hoping that he's going to be there. I mean, that's. That's another. Really. That's another good one. So there's so much, so many ways to go with this.
- [54:14]
A
The other thing I'll say. And I had him going pretty relatively early in the second round, first half of the second round. I won't be. Don't be this. Don't be surprised if Malachi Lawrence. Yeah. Who you were on first and I've watched the tape since. And then he goes and puts on that combine show. And he was awesome at the East West Shrine Game. Probably the best player there. Don't be surprised if the UCF edge sneaks in as we've got. Guys. Gabe. Gabe Akis. I snuck him in.
- [54:47]
B
Yeah, you should have.
- [54:49]
A
And I might not be right on draft guy, but I'm Going to be right in. But we, you know, just in the back half talking about Zion Young and you talk about Proctor or Parker. Sorry, Parker and, and, and Mesador and Akis, I threw in there. Cassius Howell. There's just, there's a lot of names. Zion Young, all in there. But don't be surprised if Malachi Lawrence winds up sneaking in late in the first round range. Okay, Can I go on a quick
- [55:19]
B
rant about one of my favorite players that.
- [55:21]
A
Yes.
- [55:21]
B
That this just irritates me. Is. And we hinted on it earlier that. That Monsoon Delane's supposed to run at the LSU pro day. And then we said that he may not run. And I think he has that right as the number one position, the number one player in his. On. At his position on the board. I think he's clearly the number one corner. Clearly. I think there's shoulders. So that being said, Denzel Boston not running at his Bird A is driving me absolutely nuts because you're not that guy. You're not Marvin Harrison Jr. You're not the guy that can just say, I'm not going to run the 40. And I know that there's a lot on the plate for these younger players and they hire people to give them the best of advice. But when I heard him say, I didn't run the 40 based on my agent's advice, it made my stomach turn. Because, one, you're in charge of it. You're. This is your future. You decide you're going to go out and compete. I would love for you to say stuff it. I'm going to go out and run. And go run a 4, 5, 8. Because now all I have in my mind is you're a 4, 6 guy. That's all I'm thinking. And maybe that's true, maybe it's not true. But the decision for him not to run, I think was a big mistake for him. I'm going to tell you that you don't have him in the first round anymore. I won't tell you where you have him going. But it bothers me that he didn't just go out and compete and put down a number now because. Because if you didn't, what's that number, man? Like, I'm a little nervous with these other guys. They can. They can get away with it. You're not that dude. You. You're just not that dude in this class.
- [56:44]
A
Preach, man. Like, right.
- [56:46]
B
I mean, remember?
- [56:47]
A
Wrong. Nope. No, you're not. You're not. I want to thank a lot of people. We've talked a lot on this show and I hope we, I, I know we focus on the content more than the promotion of this website. And it's not even about, we want a lot of people to go so we can have clicks. Like, I, I want people to go and enjoy it. And it's theringer.com mcshay and it's been a dream of mine and I know yours for more than two decades. And when you get there, and when I got there this morning and I watched the functionality and I watched these beautiful scouting reports pop up, and I watched the top 100 and the ease of access, clicking one thing to the next, the ability to go through the top, the, the board, the top 100 board and say, all right, my team needs a safety, they need a linebacker, they need a tight end, they need a running back. And I can click on those positions and create my own board. You know, like, so much went into all of this and you can see some of the beauty here. And I hope you go check it out and we'll, we'll be blasting it on social media so you have easy ease of links. Right? But I want to say some thank yous and like, I can't tell you how much this project means to me. And I told you, it's phase one of phase one. And we're going to grow this to be an NFL database with historical NFL comps, everything that an NFL team has at its fingertips. You, as our audience, will wind up having that and bear with us as we grow. But this is an awesome start. This project does not happen without Bill Simmons. And Bill has supported us from day one here, and Bill has allowed us to expand beyond just the show. And it was the show. And I'm bringing Mensch with me. And then Bill gets to know Steve and gets to, most importantly, watch Steve on the show. And Bill's like, that's your guy. And then Bill sees the possibility of a newsletter and loves that and supports that. And Bill, when I bring this whole concept that I just explained to you, it starts with this and we grow it into a database that is NFL team front office. Like, Bill's all for it. And without Bill, this doesn't happen. And so thank you first and foremost to Bill Simmons. And with Bill Simmons is Jeff Chow, who has handled all the financial and making it happen from the background. And as is challenging in terms of, like, all the things that he's overlooking. And there's a lot going on, but when he's had to drill in, he's been Hugely helpful. And you know, with Bill has greenlit this whole project. And then there's Mallory Rubin and you know, Mal. Well, Mal is like our closer and Mal has oversees all of this. And I mean, she's brilliant and she's just as wonderful a human being as she is brilliant. And she's just as big a like attack dog as she is those other two things. And she has been critical, especially in the final stages of this. You need someone like we talk about edge rushers coming in to get that sack to close out the game because we got. We built a four point lead in the fourth quarter. That's Mal. Okay. Beyond that and the list, I mean it's unbelievable. I want to give a. I remember almost being like holding back a tear at one point when I saw the first build when I conceptually went to our group in Sweden, right. And above in Sweden and I, and I saw what they had built and it was like something in my brain. But I'm not an artist and I, you know, and, and they're from Sweden, so like American football is not their primary. And to see what they were creating. And now you guys can see our audience from Oscar to Jonathan to Marcus to Daniela to Tom, they, they were awesome to deal with and they'll continue to be because they're, they're the ones who are going to continue our. With us and help grow to hosting and also growing to where we want to go. So I can't thank them enough to have it something in my head and to see them create this off of that was, I mean, magical. They're like, they're, they're brilliant and I'm thrilled to be working with them. You mentioned. I love you, bro. And I know like, we have worked hard and we've had ups and downs and we have gone through different crisis moments throughout both of our careers. And this is what we said we always wanted to do and to be able to see it today and to share it, share our vision and passion together with the world is awesome. Matt James doesn't get enough credit on this show. Matt James is the, is the art behind everything. Matt James, when we need 200 players with the, with the, the art. And every time I come up with a mock draft, a day and a half too late, he's the guy scrambling behind the scenes to make all this stuff beautiful. So Matt, special, thank you to you, Austin Gale, who we've gotten to know well and we love. He's a madman, but he's like, there's certain people that, that you have to have. And sometimes they're the ones who are going to fight you and tell you the information you don't want to hear. Right. But Austin Gale, with his understanding of the audience experience and all the things that go into this and his support and honestly, counsel has been invaluable. And along with Austin Gale, Matt, Ben Glicksman. Ben is. Ben's another one you talk about like as you sit on these meetings and conference calls and we had dozens of them and it's like over time and you start to trust certain people when they speak up. Ben's a trust guy. Ben has a vision. The things I couldn't articulate because I just. I don't live in this world. Ben always had my back throughout this whole process. So thoroughly enjoyed working with Ben. I can't give a more ringing endorsement of his value to this project. So thank you, Ben. Connor Nevins. Day one guy. You know, Connor is. I call him the executive producer. I don't even think that that position exists. I just come from the TV world. And so Connor. But his. The support of you with this. Literally talking to him. I remember sitting on the beach the summer before. We started this in October 22nd of 2024. And like in August, I'm sitting out at the beach and I'm, I'm calling and I'm worried I can't host a show. I don't, you know, what are we going to do? And like, and him putting in guardrails and, and, and like giving me support and the confidence to do it from day one. And he, he has been. When I came to Bill and to Jeff with this project, I started with Connor and Connor's like, let's do it. If they say yes, let's do it and we'll put the full support behind you. And that's what Connor has done all along. Riley McAtee, he's helped populate all the stats. He has helped edit all of our reports. Riley's unbelievably good at what he does. And I could tell the second we started working with him last winter, like he would. I would send him stuff and it would come back and it was just a better version, but without stealing the information that I wanted. You know, the ringer copy desk. Thank you. Over 27,000 words of copy with fact checks, which can be dicey with us sometimes.
- [64:18]
B
So true.
- [64:19]
A
Copy edits. Also dicey. Their names are. And I want to thank them all individually because I can't even imagine, you know, like, we just tapes. I got the Remote going, you know, and they turn it into what you're reading, which is a lot better than, I promise you what's sitting on my computer. That's Anna, that's Amar, that's Alex, Craig, Helena, Jack, Mike, Shakti, and special desk shout outs to Casey. Some tedious data entry. We're talking combine stats, like all this stuff. Colby, who I just started working with, he's been awesome to work with, populating the spider charts, my favorite part of it, you know, with the. The position specific traits. Also manually tracking down player experience numbers. All the. To all of you at the. At the ringer copy desk. Thank you. Because I know people have been working around the clock. You and I have been typing our reports, we've been finalizing deals, we've been doing all this stuff and we've been exhausted and we've been stressed, and then we've had fights and we've had laughs and all that stuff. These are the guys who have been working, the ladies and gentlemen who have been working behind the scenes to make sure this is all built. Abu Social Graphics, who started working with us just a little while ago. And it's been pleasure to work with. We appreciate you. Abu Marissa, who is my rock and quite frankly, your rock in business, at least without question, handling everything else for both Steve and I that the lanes that we don't belong in and we're no good in from.
- [66:03]
B
She allows us to do what we do best. Yeah.
- [66:05]
A
The press releases, to travel coordination, to dealing with all of every hit. I do all, like, everything that goes on, coordinating all the. The incoming emails and calls that are happening so that I can sit here and actually do this stuff. I'm also marrying her in May, so I kind of love her. So, you know, but that. But from a business standpoint, she has been just invaluable, and I want to save the. The biggest heart. Well, heartfelt thank you for the end. Dan Comer. Dan was thrust upon us by Connor in the very beginning. I was planning on bringing a producer with me from the former ESPN days. Give him a chance. That's what I was told. And it was one of the. Remember Kevin Weidel?
- [66:57]
B
Yeah.
- [66:57]
A
Joe was like, I know you don't have money. You don't have a position. Hire him anyway.
- [67:00]
B
Figure it out.
- [67:01]
A
Yeah, figure it out. And we did. And it was one of the best decisions I'd ever made in my entire professional life. This was another one with Dan. Dan has been like, Dan's super smart. Dan's easy to get along with. He's a wonderful person. But Dan is a grinder and every it doesn't matter what field certainly in football and what we've done like that is the differentiator and Dan, I'm talking like 3am overnight he had a call scheduled 3am our time, midnight, LA time. I don't know like 8am Sweden time to make sure like but that's just one of a million, you know, above and beyond efforts he's put in. He's managed this entire project and wasn't even he also produces the show. He also edits the newsletter and does all he does so much it's hard to even sit here and explain. So I wanted to make sure I left Dan for last to because this none of this happens without Dan Comer. So. Agree.
- [68:03]
B
Can I say two things?
- [68:05]
A
Say as much as you want.
- [68:06]
B
I just want to thank my family and I also want to thank everyone who supports us and listens to the show. I mean they're a big part of this happening as well. Sincerely, heartfelt. Also Tucker has a wife. She went through with it. I wasn't worried about him, but she actually, she actually went through with it. So that's good. Shout out Tucker and Happy birthday, Tom McShay. I didn't know how to do this. I really I had I have streamer. I actually have like one of those things you can pop with all the confetti and I have a hat in a in like one of these sound. It's not even a sound maker. I thought it was and I think we can sell.
- [68:41]
A
I didn't do much celebrating this weekend because yes, today, Monday will be the celebration. This is the celebration. There was too much going on, but
- [68:50]
B
I didn't want to say happy birthday. You don't look a day over 45. Good for you. Happy birthday.
- [68:55]
A
You're an but you still get five stars.
- [68:59]
B
Thanks, man.
- [69:01]
A
Got it, brother. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY RESET. Call 1-888-78-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helplinema.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. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.
- [70:07]
B
Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra, that's the og it kicked off this whole Zero Sugar energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise and Vice, GWA Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the White can, branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe, and every single one is Zero Sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.