Loading summary
Transcript136 lines
- [00:01]
Trey McShay
This episode is brought to you by Viori. I love sports. I know you do too. I also know that lots of you exercise. But if you're like me and my wife, the beloved sports gal, you're sick and tired of ugly, uncomfortable workout gear especially. You know, I do a lot of walking. I walk around la. I make calls. I listen to podcasts. Here are two words that will change everything. Viori Clothing. A line of activewear that is unbelievable. The best thing about Viori is you can lounge around in it, you can work out in it, you can go outside, you can go shopping down in your local wherever, and you never feel like you're either underdressed or overdressed. You're just comfortable. You can wear it when you're training, traveling, lounging around the house. Go get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet. Here's the deal. Our listeners get 20% off their first purchase at viori.comsimmons Once again, V U O R I.com simmons it's the McShay.
- [00:59]
Mitch
Show, presented by FanDuel. You thought December was the most wonderful time of the year. Well, you're wrong. The NFL playoffs are just about here and there's no better time to bet with America's number one sportsbook. Bet on new and fun markets like to catch a pass, same game parlays, highest scoring game across the Sunday slate, offensive touchdowns in the next drive, and so much more. The app is safe, secure and easy to use. And when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Plus get exclusive offers all playoffs long. So download the app today and bet the playoffs with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG D help.com we made some headway with the quarterbacks today as promised, and NFL teams, they're getting excited about this tight end group. Plus a public service announcement for NFL media, agents and prospects. It's Thursday at the Senior bowl in just 84 days until the NFL draft. Here's my guy, Minch. You good?
- [02:24]
Jim
I'm good, man.
- [02:24]
Mitch
All right. Play me my favorite song in that playlist. Let's go. Thursday at the Senior Bowl. We're excited, Mensch. I mean, this is. We're wrapping up the first week with the McShay show at the Senior bowl, three days of practice. Today's Thursday. A lot of installs, specific situations. I was impressed today. A little bit more physical than typically we see especially from the morning practice and a lot of the red zone stuff that we promised, which is helpful for us evaluating quarterbacks, kind of the decision making, tight quarters, quick decisions and, and I think we gleamed some, some positive things from today. Just a reminder and let's start with this. Thank you for joining us all week. Keep with us through the draft. We got a lot coming up. This is just when when Jim Nagy, the executive director says the Senior bowl it all the NFL draft starts in Mobile. That's the tagline. He's not kidding. Like NFL teams are coming in, the coaches are coming in off the season, they're starting to evaluate players. This is kind of the unofficial beginning of the draft process. And from here we've got the game on Saturday in Mobile, Alabama. Then after that it's on to a lot of what happens is a lot of players go and they train, they get ready for the combine, 40 yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, three cone, all those different events. Right. So we'll be with you at the combine in Indianapolis and between now and then we'll have our typical shows come out on Monday night. They'll be coming out on Thursday morning. Watch for it and be a part of this with us. But we'll also be going to Indianapolis. We can't miss that. I mean it's the event all the NFL teams are there information that comes out of there, the numbers that we get. There's so much in terms of the process that we'll have. So we'll be with you that week of the combine and then after that it goes on to the players with their individual workouts right at their pro days, then teams kind of behind the scenes and we'll get a lot of information. Which teams are going in and going to the area where the player played his college to do the private workouts, which players are going to NFL facilities to do. They can't work them out at their facilities, but they work them out on the board. Kind of get a little bit, a little bit of time with them to interview them and all of that. And then once that whole process is done, we get into mid April and. And it's just like ramping up information everywhere, some mock drafts, some buzz and all that stuff. So that's the process leading up to the last week in April, 2025 NFL Draft. And we'll be in Green Bay with You too. I don't even know if our producer Dan Comer knows that we're going, but we're going. All right. I don't know the ringer or Spotify know that we're going, so we'll be there too. So stick with us throughout this entire process. Thank you for watching. It's been an awesome turnout in terms of the audience, of people watching the show this week. So, so happy and pleased with the numbers and truly appreciative of everyone out there who's tuning into the show. So that's the backdrop. Today was day three of practice and let's just start here, man, like we promised everyone who's tuned in day one, day two, that we'd get to kind of the quarterbacks and what we saw. Let's start with you, Mitch. What did you see from the quarterbacks and what stood out?
- [05:50]
Jim
What was interesting? I didn't see a lot of reps for Ole Miss quarterback Jackson Dart. I thought we were going to get more reps, man, he made the most of his opportunities. I mean, I think it was his first rep during the team period going in and man, he just, he drops back in the pocket, steps up, keeps his eyes downfield, rips one right down, right down the middle to the Arkansas wide receiver Isaac Tesla and just so comfortable. I mean the way he moves around the pocket, the way he delivers, delivers the ball, the way he gets out on time. Had a couple throws to the front pylon of the right end zone that I thought should have been the receiver, should have made plays on and they, they dropped again. Very calm in the pocket, gets a ball out on time. He's accurate and I know I've said it all week, I'm going to say it again. I love the way he moves. I love the way he moves around the pocket. I love the way he can make plays with his feet. I thought again, not a lot of reps, which was interesting to me. Maybe they want to see more of the other three quarterbacks today, but made the most of his opportunities.
- [06:46]
Mitch
I'm interested to see him in the game because I thought he steadily got better each and every day this week. I thought the first day, we talked about it the first day, all the quarterbacks, brand new receivers installing plays, new verbiage, kind of getting their feet wet. Thought the second day was his best day for Jackson Dart specifically. I just thought the command he had with the football on time with his throws, layering the ball the way, the way you expect a potential first round quarterback or top 50 picket quarterback, whatever he winds up being to do today we saw some flashes of it. It was not like a heavy workload for him, but I think steadily throughout the week. And this is what I went into a whole rant yesterday about. It's not one specific trait that you come out here and you're wowed by. It's kind of the complete package and the command he has. And everything's above average to good in terms of physical traits. His size is good, his arm strength is good, his mobility is good. That's not Lamar Jackson's mobility, it's not Josh Allen's arm. But like when you combine all of it and then the experience he has, the improvement he made on tape from 2022 and 2023 to 2024 where he was carrying the offense, he was making more NFL throws I see on tape and I just watched, what was it? South Carolina was one of the two tapes that I watched and LSU I think was the other most recently. And I'm just seeing a guy who's at the line of scrimmage, who's, who's making decisions, setting protections, knows where the like. I'll just give you a small example. There was one play against LSU right sets the protection. He understands it wasn't a hot, but he understood that his, his left tackle is going to be in a difficult matchup against the defensive end. So on his drop he just subtly slides to the right and sure enough that that left tackle got pushed back a little bit, was giving a little bit, giving way a little bit. And that little subtle movement to the right that he predetermined by setting his protection gave him just that extra split second for his receiver to break open the ball to be out on top. Those are things you don't always get to see from college quarterbacks. Right. And I think that comes with playing a lot of ball, with being a coach, with being with a coach in Lane Kiffin who love him or hate him, he knows how to coach quarterbacks and he's been doing it a long time. Some really good places like usc, you know, like Tennessee Ole Miss, stint in the NFL. Like he's just been around the game a lot, so he has a lot to impart upon Jackson dart. So I saw just a lot of the positive things you would expect to see. Even though people aren't going to come out of here and be like this is unbelievable what we saw from this first round quarterback, it's not that, but it just was really steady and really positive throughout the week. I'M excited, though. I started this by saying I'm excited about seeing it all come together in the game because with a. All of those things I just mentioned also, you've got a quarterback who can create with his feet.
- [09:53]
Jim
Right.
- [09:54]
Mitch
And now we get in the game. And I've said this before during the week, if you're a mobile quarterback, that element of your game kind of gets put aside. It's like, all right, put that on pause for now. We're going to really focus on three step five step seven step drops, timing in the passing game, getting the ball out, pocket passing, all those things. Right. But now you go in the game and you've worked all those kinks out and you understand the offense and you show command. And now he can add that element of the mobility with it and I'm excited to see that all come together on Saturday here in Mobile.
- [10:26]
Jim
So has he done enough to make himself quarterback three going into the combine?
- [10:30]
Mitch
Like we can, we can have that conversation. I mean we can and we can off the fence. Yeah, we can, we can get some like, you know, some, some viral clip about. He's absolutely. He's not court QB3, he's QB2. He's had. It's not like it's about what your expectation is for a player. Did he meet it or exceed it this week? So far, I would say he at least met it and I think kind of maybe didn't exceed it. But like I had a high bar, so if you meet that, that's great.
- [10:59]
Jim
Agreed.
- [11:00]
Mitch
And so this process continues. And I just mentioned the steps in it, like what he does at the combine, is that going to matter where he gets drafted? No, I don't think so. But when he's interviewing at the combine and he's interviewing know when teams pull him aside, when teams fly into, you know, to ole misses campus campus and they're hanging out in the grove and they're getting to know him and when he goes to their, the NFL facilities and some teams. We've talked to Eric DaCosta the year they drafted Lamar Jackson. Nobody knew except one media member and Eric denied it basically. And so like there's a lot that's going to go on behind the scenes. And you think back to even, even last year, Bo Nix. Right, Right. Sean Payton came out and said like it was throw 17 or seven, whatever it was at his pro day, I think where he's like, yeah, this is my guy. Which sounds ridiculous, but it's not the seven or 17 plays, whatever that number was, that, that Changed his mind. It's seeing him live his. The way he's moving to match up with what we already know and when it starts to. And you just see the way he's carrying himself and those sorts of things. So we don't know. There may be a team already who's like, this is our guy. I've told you about Brett Veach, right. Spent some time as doing the preseason. Sounds like some guys behind us are pretty fired up. The practice is over this week. Right. But Brett Veach, when. When Mahomes was. Was, I think a freshman or his first year as a starter, he. He saw him and went down in Andy Reid's office and was like, this is my guy. This is our guy. He's the guy who's going to take us to another level. And he's like, yo, Brett, he's not eligible for two years. Like, you know, so you just, you don't know which teams are there yet on these quarterbacks. For me, I think that this is going to be an intriguing race. I don't see a whole bunch of difference in terms of the potential value and what you could provide at the quarterback position in the NFL between Cam Ward, Shador Sanders and Jackson Darth. I just don't. And so there's a lot of information still to gather. There's more tape to comb through. And as we get closer to the end in April, like, I'm gonna be definitive on it, but right now we're, we're moving forward in the process.
- [13:13]
Jim
Love it.
- [13:14]
Mitch
All right. Thank you.
- [13:14]
Jim
Fair.
- [13:16]
Mitch
Fair and balance is what I try to be, but it's not easy for me. I mentioned the mobility. Right. And, and I've said all week Jalen Milroe is going to, I think, benefit most from being able to uncork that mobility at the game on Saturday and has not had the best week this week because it's everything that he's still developing is what has been featured this week. So of course it's not going to be this shining moment, you know, the first two days of practice. But I saw Jalen Milroe make strides today. Man, it was great. It was really good to see because, like, we're not the only ones saying he struggled with his accuracy. Seems like he's swimming a little bit, not sure where to go with his eyes on certain things. Through the interception of Kaiser yesterday, didn't see the linebacker dropping. Like, we've all seen it. But what's important is our guys improving. And I think in day three, we saw Jalen Milroe improve. And I saw it in a guy who like even in the red zone, right? Red zone or if I'm on the sideline inside Hancock Whitney Stadium with the press box behind me, they're going into the right side and I'm watching and it's not a significant. It wasn't even team. It was I think like a seven on seven drill going in. But like quick slant and it wasn't. All of a sudden he makes a throw and it was, you know, like anyone who's a golfer, it's like that you get on the driving range and you just get like your pitching wedge or something. Just kind of that easy stroke, kind of just relax, no pressure on you. You haven't, you haven't shanked five balls yet. So like your mind's clean. That, that's what I saw was more of that relaxed stroke, right? And I was like, okay, yeah. And that was early. And then I saw more and more of that throughout the practice. And so that, that shows, that shows to me that he's, he's getting coaching and working with guys who are saying let's take a little bit heat off of the easy throws. Let's make them catchable. And with that maybe you can kind of, you know, take a little. Just relax when you're in your throwing motion and you're so sweet with that deep ball because it's just like this hand eye touch feel thing that he has that is phenomenal. And so let's, let's apply some of that, those sensibilities and that hand eye coordination, that feeling to the shorter throws. And we saw that today a little bit more consistently.
- [15:34]
Jim
Yeah, the big thing for me was the decisiveness. I mean, I felt like he's been holding on to the ball a little bit too long. A little unsure about where to go with it. Today it was out, it was on time. He was getting it to receivers quickly. The decisiveness was much better today. And then when you add the fact that he was continuing to throw a good deep ball and I still think his shorter to intermediate passes are a little too firm, but it wasn't as bad today. It wasn't the just the absolute fast balls that he's been throwing. I think earlier in the week he took a little bit more off of it. I think can still make strides in that area. But again the decisiveness today and I do wonder if the fact that there was red zone and there was maybe a stressing of when you're in the red zone, you got to get the Ball out, man. Windows close quickly. You got to get it out. Maybe that brought the best out of him in terms of that. That element of his game.
- [16:17]
Mitch
And I just remind everyone, too, like, Lamar Jackson was not a great passer coming out of Louisville. He just wasn't. Josh Allen, for as strong as his arm was, I mean, he didn't complete 60% of his throws. And there were some throws that he made even here at the Senior bowl, where it's like, whoa, yeah, you know, you get a first round. You know, McShay, you got a first round grade on this guy. I'm like, yeah, you know, like, Jalen Hurts is another guy, right? So, like, the mobility factor you have, and we've said this before, and I'll keep saying it throughout the process, when you bring that level of mobility, you know, Lamar had it to. I mean, Lamar is like the. The elite. He's the standard when it comes to mobility. Josh Allen, a different kind of mobility, combination of athleticism, but also the strength to extend plays. Jalen hurts his mobility. Like, those are three guys that just popped in my head and guys that came in the league at a lower than ideal level of consistency with their ball placement, had the mobility to early in their career, get out of plays, you know, not be. Not. You're not forced then to make a throw that you're not comfortable making. You learn to decide on which ones you're going to let rip and. And also to extend plays when you kind of haven't processed it and you don't have all the answers yet. So Jalen's got that going for him and then some with the mobility. And so, again, excited to see progress from him on the third day of practice and really excited to see what he does in the game. Like, you know, rolling. Yeah, keep it rolling. Bring some of the. Some of the things that we saw in terms of his touch and his. In his timing today and. And bring that into the game and now be able to uncork that unbelievable mobility. And so that. That should be. It should be a positive. When we look back on this week, it should be a positive from Jamie, Jalen Milroe, even though it started out very much negative, two other guys I want to get to quickly, and we're not going to make this a quarterback show, but Dylan Gabriel, man, I've been up and like, I haven't been up on. Up and down on his play necessarily, but, like, I guess, I don't know, it's just a thing I've got going on here. He had that like 79 miles an hour in the zebra technology initial ball velocity. And everyone's like, oh, my gosh, it's like 12 miles an hour faster than Josh Allen. A couple other guys with elite Armstrong through at the. At the. At the combine. And so I saw that, and I'm like, nah, he doesn't have Josh Allen's arm. And I. And I reported yesterday, again, he doesn't have Josh Allen's arm. And for the third day in a row, I'll report that he does not have Josh Allen's arm. But I saw some. A couple throws yesterday where I was like, I just. I'm. I'm not sure where I am on his arm strength yet because it. Because there are some throws where it's like. And then there's some throws. A deep out he threw yesterday in practice, and it kind of got away from him. Fluttered a little bit, but I think it was. It just came off his hand wrong. And I was watching him today for what it's worth. And arm strength isn't the most important thing as long as you have a baseline. And then if you don't have great arm strength, you better be able to get the ball out on time. He's got a good arm, man.
- [19:20]
Jim
Right?
- [19:21]
Mitch
He does. Like I've been, as the week's gone on and seen more of a catalog of throws live, we've all seen him on tape, but live. I mean, the more I think I said I wasn't sure, like, comparing him versus two, I think he's got a stronger arm than two. He's got. He. I don't think he has a stronger arm than tua, which is great news.
- [19:39]
Jim
For him because coming into the week. You weren't sure about that. I wasn't sure about that. I think that was a question mark for Dylan Gabriel was how. How strong was the arm. And now that we're trying to figure out, we know what's stronger than we thought. And really, how strong is it. That's a good sign for him.
- [19:53]
Mitch
Very good.
- [19:53]
Jim
From maybe a potential red flag to I think we're okay here.
- [19:57]
Mitch
Yeah.
- [19:57]
Jim
And we might actually be good here.
- [19:59]
Mitch
Yeah. He's undersized, like you see it. But there are guys who have been under. Like, two is not the biggest quarterback, but he's taller. Obviously. Russell Wilson is kind of like the standard for, you know, five, ten guys can. Can do it. And what. And Dylan checked in at five, ten. Yeah. Five, five, ten. So five, ten and a half. Five. Yeah. So. And I think wasn't. I could Be wrong. But I want to say. I want to say, what was it, 5, 10 and 3, 8 inches for Russ. But anyway, so it's. It's somewhere in that same range. My point being he's got a lot to overcome, but I, I think the arm strength thing is not going to be a concern and. And that's a positive, too. Last thing I want to get to Tyler Shock. Yeah, man, he got better every day. Yeah, I was, I was encouraged. He's not. We're not talking about a first rounder or second round or maybe even a third rounder, but as a guy who could be a backup in the league with the combination of some of his mobility and extending and the timing that I saw from. From him and getting the ball out in time and layering some throws, some sideline throws, placing it right where you want it placed. It wasn't this like blow you away week, but he helped himself this week.
- [21:15]
Jim
Yeah, I mean, it's been a journey for him. I mean, he started off at Oregon, then he went to Texas Tech, ended up at Louisville. He had a really hard time staying healthy. But when I look at him and just watch the tape and you take away the injury history and you look at his tape, good frame, good arm talent. And I like the way the ball comes out of his hands and he can move around a little bit. Like you said. I mean, he's not scrambler. He's not the. We're not talking about an elite talent. Talent in terms of athletic ability, but he can move around a little bit. I was excited to see it. I might be a guy, maybe a guy that starts in someone's practice squad and then kind of works himself in, but I think he's improved his. His stock, for lack of a better way of saying it.
- [21:50]
Mitch
This week, the McShay show is brought to you by FanDuel. Every pass, every this episode is brought.
- [21:57]
Trey McShay
To you by Amazon Prime. Here's the thing about Prime. Whatever you're into, it makes it even better. I love because we watch a lot of prime prime movies for the rewatchables. I love being able to pop up the X ray thing that tells you what actors and what scene. I love that. I love being able to rent movies that just came out or buy them. If I'm excited to do that, from streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into. I think you're on mute.
- [22:29]
Jim
Workday starting to sound the same.
- [22:32]
Trey McShay
I think you're on mute.
- [22:33]
Mitch
Find something that sounds better for your career on LinkedIn.
- [22:38]
Jim
With LinkedIn job collections, you can browse curated collections by relevant industries and benefits like Flexpto or hybrid workplaces so you can find the right job for you. Get started@LinkedIn.com jobs finding where you fit.
- [22:54]
Mitch
LinkedIn knows how play every prop it's Super Bowl 59 and it's all happening on FanDuel. Bet on America's number one game with America's number one sportsbook any way you want. I'm talking spreads, live bets over unders, player props, special props, and so much more. As I look at these early lines, I kind of like this same game parlay. You ready? Saquon Barkley? You're telling me the super bowl is going to happen? Super Bowl 59 with the season Saquon's had and he's not going to be in any time. Touchdown scorer? No way. So let's start with Saquon Barkley and then JuJu Smith Schusters. Anyone else notice this guy's becoming a real serious part of the offense for the Chiefs over one and a half receptions. Let's get that together in the same game parlay. I'm looking at FanDuel right now. It says +184. Let's take that from them. Plus to make the super bowl even sweeter, new customers can score 200 bucks when you make your first bet. Just place a $5 bet and if you win, you'll get 200 in bonus bets. Download the app or head to FanDuel.com McShay and bet with FanDuel. Official partner of Super Bowl 59 must be 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC. First online real money wager only $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit rg-help.com where are you with the rest of today? What did you see that stood out? I don't want to go through position by position. It wasn't like as as long or physical practice as as Wednesday was, but there was a lot to take from it. Where are you with some things that just jumped out that were important to you that you saw?
- [24:47]
Jim
I thought, you know, some of the defensive linemen today jumped out to me. I know you just said just not to do positions, but that's really the group that I saw the Toledo we talked about Toledo Lido Defensive tackle Darius Alexander. I just love the versatility. He can come off the edge and then he can really rush between the tackles. And when you look at these teams that want these Nash NASCAR rush packages, you're talking about a guy with 34 inch arms and great quickness. And when you put that against an interior offensive lineman, that can be a real problem. And then the Central Arkansas edge, David Walker doesn't have those kind of tools. Man, he's six, he's less than six foot one, he's shorter than six foot one one, he's got 31 and three quarter inch arms. But man is he explosive. And he uses that naturally low center of gravity to get into under guys and move guys. And he's relentless. I mean you talk about the production and again I know it's at Central Arkansas, but 63 tackles for loss and 31 sacks over the past three seasons. I mean the guy put up numbers. You want guys who are at that level that dominate and man did he dominate. So he's flashed all week and I thought he's best day today.
- [25:46]
Mitch
I actually, I spent some time down with the defensive line for the second practice, the American practice, and just watching them go through drills with the defensive line coach. I thought it was also to go through the bags. You know they were doing like hand to hand comments up combat stuff going through the bags. And Jason Taylor was down there. Was kind of fun seeing him make a comment or two. His son is obviously here. Mason Taylor, the tight end from, from lsu. And some things jumped out. Right. And, and some of it's just even like body type or hand quickness and all that stuff. But just watching the, the two Ole Miss edges. Princely, Uman, me, Ellen is quicker than Ivy, his teammate. He's just, he's more fluid, he's got more suddenness.
- [26:34]
Jim
They're different kind of edges. Right? Yeah, it's like a three, four outside linebacker guy. That's Princely.
- [26:39]
Mitch
Yep.
- [26:39]
Jim
And then Jared Ivey's more of the defensive end who can kick inside to.
- [26:42]
Mitch
Rush the pass 100%. I they watching Umam Yellen, he just super quick hands like. But Ivy a little bit more violent with his hands. Okay. Both of those guys, they're just good, they're good football players. They really are. But I, I see some tightness in I. Right. Yeah. Bigger and in the, the role he plays. But there's a little bit more tightness in, in his game.
- [27:05]
Jim
20 pounds heavier than.
- [27:06]
Mitch
Exactly.
- [27:07]
Jim
So he's longer though, by the way. He's got 34 and a quarter inch arms, princely does.
- [27:11]
Mitch
Yeah. Which is huge for an edge rusher against those offensive tackles. Tim Smith is a grown ass man.
- [27:18]
Jim
I'm glad you're bringing him up, man.
- [27:20]
Mitch
He is. I mean just watching him in drills and his lower body and the thickness and like we're not talking about a guy who's going to be a pass rusher who's going to commit. But like you talk to me about day three, I'm a defense that wants to plug gaps and I need some physical grown ass men in there. Tim Smith's a guy who's going to play some ball for a little while.
- [27:43]
Jim
As a four eye.
- [27:44]
Mitch
Yeah.
- [27:45]
Jim
Because of the inside shade of the offensive tackle on a base three man front, you could do a lot worse than Tim Smith. And that's, you know, it's, it's great to get down there and see his body type, see how big he is because it's like the guys we're going to show out here are the guys, the, you know, the Mike Greens from Marshall, the Jamar Stewart from Texas A M. The guys who are super explosive and excel at getting after the quarterback. But there's a role for these defensive linemen who are stout and tough against the run.
- [28:10]
Mitch
Yeah, I mean we got the cruise ship taken off. We got a cruise ship taking off. We got players screaming because they're happy. Practice is over this week but we'll, we'll forge on. You over on the adversity. I also thought Omar Norman lot stood out more than anyone. Tennessee defensive lineman. Okay.
- [28:24]
Jim
Yeah.
- [28:25]
Mitch
And the reason I say that is he's shorter. He's shorter. Like when you watch him it's always interesting to just watch them and compare body types and like who they are shorter than the rest of those guys. Thick, thick trunk and like middle and quads and thighs. Like he's just thickly built but my goodness, he is quick and got snap in his hands and what I love, like certain guys become the leader after just three days.
- [28:52]
Jim
Yeah.
- [28:52]
Mitch
And you're talking about dudes that he's hanging out with right down on the defensive line. Talking about Dale Walker from Kentucky who's 6, 7, 3 4, talking about Walter Nolan is going to be a first round pick from Ole Miss. The two other Ole Miss guys we just mentioned, grown ass man Tim Smith from Alabama, Kyle can. But you, you watch in these line in these, in these drills and he's the one who's kind of like setting the tone with, not just with his, his words but getting, getting there first every, every rep Flying off the snap, even when they're individuals.
- [29:25]
Jim
Like you're hearing the coaches say, good job, Omar. Good job, Omar. Good job.
- [29:29]
Mitch
Finishing the bag drill by knocking, like by almost diving on top of that final bat. Like little things that you watch and you recognize like, okay, I, he doesn't look as good physically like off the bus as some of these other guys. But now I get why he's just as productive, if not more productive. Now I get why he's constantly being talked about in, you know, as a guy who's emerging this final season at Tennessee. You can see what goes into that. We can all see the tape, but what goes into that. And it was cool to see Omar Norman lot today. You could just. I mentioned Kyle Kennard yesterday as kind of the edge guy that was setting the tone and going back and working on every single pass rush move. After with the defensive line coach and with Omar Norman lot, it was the same thing for the kind of the interior defensive lineman today, other positions. What else stood out to you? Because I, I'm going to mention one guy that I really liked.
- [30:24]
Jim
Go ahead.
- [30:25]
Mitch
Billy Bauman, the safety from, from Oklahoma 5009 six, 198 means he's five, nine and three quarters and 198 pounds. Not the biggest. Probably not going to be the fastest again, coming off the bus. Bus. You're not like, oh, it's Cam Chancellor or that. Yeah, that's, you know, but you watch him on, you watch him on the field and every single drill, he just is always around the ball, right? Instinctive and, and just he knows how to close. He takes the right angles. He just does every little thing right. And I actually, I got to talk to a. And I never mentioned names, but talk to a guy who's been around him, okay. And has experience in personnel departments and in the stories he was telling today about, about Billy Bowman and, and the fact that like he literally walks around the football facility with a notebook that has color coded and, and goes through every single, every single rep and the preparation that he goes. Goes through for each game and the leadership that he brought to the table for Oklahoma's defense, it was actually pretty good. It was just the offense put him in terrible situation. So just to hear that kind of thing and to hear him say like, I'm not saying he's going to be Brian Branch, but he is. He's for us or here for Oklahoma was kind of Brian Branch. There has similarities, a lot of similarities. And we've seen now with like Dax Hill, Mike Sanders, Trill Brian Branch, guys that, that don't get drafted in the top 20, 25 that go early in the second round. And I think Jade A. Baron is a different kind of version of that too for Texas and we'll get to him later. But there are a couple guys in this class in a league that is so reliant on versatility in the secondary and guys that can be on the field and play different roles on different downs in different pass run situations, these guys are becoming more and more important. So I, I Bowman all week has been making plays and just around the ball and I think this, this has been a, it's been an important week for him. But I also in hearing the stories behind the scenes like don't be surprised when we get to late March and early April if you're starting to see him climb up boards because people are getting catching wind that unbelievable interview. You should hear what he's, you know, know how advanced he is in his preparation. Like these are the guys that move up. It's, it's not just the 40 yard dash freaks and the combine winners and the workout warriors. It's guys when they get, when coaches actually get to sit with them and meet with them, they respect what they're doing.
- [33:00]
Jim
I'll give you another player I think from that school and that's Oklahoma State inside linebacker Nick Martin. Six foot 222 pounds 30 and five eight eight inch arms. So not a big guy, short arms but man he flies around, instinctive, vocal, always around the football, competes in coverage. I thought he had a really good week. Again, another guy that you look at doesn't necessarily check a lot of boxes in terms of that, that big size.
- [33:25]
Mitch
But has played really well wide receivers. I just want to get to a few that and, and I've kind of had an up and down relationship with, with Jaden Higgins and I just thought the first day it wasn't. I had such high expectations. I thought they were, were some. There were a few moments in the first day of practice where I didn't think it was up to his standard. Okay.
- [33:44]
Jim
Right.
- [33:45]
Mitch
He has shut me up. His last two practices have been outstanding and he, it was a little bit more of it today. He is a big dude. I mean he's six, six, three and a half, 217 pounds, long arms and watching his, watching his refinement and his how smooth he is. What I'm trying to think of the quote some personnel guy said to me he's a, he's a smooth drink, not a drink of water. But a smooth flowing water or something like that. It's like watching water flow, something like that. And I'm just looking at him like, yeah, he is.
- [34:24]
Jim
Yeah.
- [34:25]
Mitch
Because when you, when you watch him, you don't think six, three and a half until it's like contested versus a smaller db. Okay. And I just, as the week went on, I had a greater appreciation for his movement skills. I think he's a guy who absolutely helped himself. And then while they're so different, his teammate Jalen Noel also had a similar type of week.
- [34:48]
Jim
Just the name came up a lot.
- [34:51]
Mitch
A lot, right? Because yeah, he's 55096, he's five, nine and three quarters, but he's thickly built, he's sturdy, he, he doesn't get. So when you look at the smaller receivers, right, you're always looking for and partially expecting that there's going to be these knocked off of route moments, a lot of them. Tez Johnson has been flat out fricking phenomenal this week. Right. He's 156 pounds, though. The Oregon wide receiver is a superstar this past year, but he's had the shoulder injury, he's got knocked out of the, the Ohio State game, came back in, showed a lot of tough. But when you look at the smaller receivers, you want to see durability, obviously, but you can't predict that necessarily. And the thing that you can though predict is based off the tape you watch, is are they getting knocked off their routes? Can they get off the line of scrimmage? And even when they do within that five yards, are they, are they struggling? And then when there's that, that contact that's kind of the, you know, that in between contact that gets allowed, right. Are they getting knocked off their routes? And then when the ball's in the air and you have those contested moments, do they have any chance? Well, with Tez Johnson, unfortunately, the answer in a lot of those situations is no. And so he's got to absolutely win with his quickness and explosiveness. And he did that a lot this week. And he can do that if, if he's paired with the right offensive coordinator and play caller who can design it for him. Okay. With Noel, I don't know that you have to design it as much because he doesn't get knocked off as much and he's got this sturdy build and he's so damn polished as a route runner and he plucks and transitions and if you talk to receiver coaches and really good scouts that pluck in transition for a slot Receiver is so critical because you're working so often in that quick game from the slot and how quickly you can go from here to there, catching the ball and transition up the field can depend on. Is it a 5, 6 yard gain or is it 9 to 15?
- [36:52]
Jim
You know, he's great with the ball in his hands as a return man after the catch. I think he's a guy. You can get involved in the run game if you want to. I think he's a guy. He's one of those dudes you want to get in space. You have an all satellite team. You used to have an all satellite team?
- [37:03]
Mitch
No, I have one.
- [37:04]
Jim
Okay.
- [37:05]
Mitch
Even last year when I sat out, I made one for myself.
- [37:07]
Jim
So I think he's a candidate. We'll see. That's always a great group. So I think he's a candidate for that group.
- [37:11]
Mitch
And another guy in that similar mold is Restrepo.
- [37:14]
Jim
Right?
- [37:15]
Mitch
Like watching him this week, Xavier Restrepo from Miami, he. He's not the biggest cat, right? He. What's his official height? 593. So 559-38. Almost five nine and a half. But he's £200 and he's just, he's thickly built. He. He doesn't get knocked off. And I was talking to one one scout, he's like, he's just always open, right? He's just always open and he's just making play after play. None of it's flashy, none of it's vertical. He's not tracking a deep. But it's like we're in a bind when we get into team and things get dicey and the bullets start to fly, who's going to be the guy that I trust to get open and get me out of trouble? It's Restrepo, like, absolutely. And it is on tape. And to see it here confirms, like. Yeah, it doesn't. He. It's not just ACC competition or whatever you want to.
- [38:07]
Jim
He's a chain mover.
- [38:08]
Mitch
He's a chain mover, right? And then there's a place for that. There's a necessity for that, you know.
- [38:13]
Jim
I totally agree.
- [38:15]
Mitch
So that's.
- [38:16]
Jim
Royals caught the ball well today.
- [38:18]
Mitch
Yeah, no, he's.
- [38:18]
Jim
He's kind of had a quiet week again.
- [38:20]
Mitch
I kind of don't.
- [38:21]
Jim
I get it. I like, I like his build. I know he's under. He's sub 6 foot, but. But he's put together pretty well. I like the way he caught the ball. He's still a player. I'm excited about going forward yeah.
- [38:31]
Mitch
And maybe. And here's the other thing. We, we fly back. Well, I fly back tonight. Mensch. Don't even ask about Mensch.
- [38:38]
Jim
6:00 flight in the morning.
- [38:39]
Mitch
Yeah, him and Daniel got all sorts. They're going out clubbing in Mobile tonight. But. No, but. So you get back. And now we got, we got Friday, we got all weekend. The game's on Saturday. We'll get the tape of the game, but you get tape of the practices too. And I'm not going to sit here in line, say I saw every rep because you have to have conversations. Went on Rich Eisen today and missed about 20 minutes. Like, there's stuff that I didn't see and hopefully you caught the things I didn't see. But we didn't see every play. So I absolutely. And every year I go back and study the practice tape and it's, oh, I missed that. Oh, maybe he played better or, oh, now I get quite. Whatever it is, there's more to gain. But this is, you know, three days of hyper focus on what we were able to see.
- [39:26]
Jim
Yeah, for me, I don't finish a report without going back and throwing on the tape and watching the reps that they had at the Senior Bowl. If they're here, I'll go back and watch what they did here before I finalize that report. And some of it's just as simple as, did they play different positions? Did he kick inside? You know, we talked about the North Dakota State interior offensive lineman, Gray Zabel. Where did he play? He played center and guard. That's not what he did in college. Those guys you want to see, where did they play, what they do. Some running backs didn't catch the ball very much in college. Well, they have to catch the ball at the Senior Bowl. It's those kinds of things that are great when you're going back and looking at the tape.
- [39:56]
Mitch
It's the most important part of the process because this is the last time we get to see these prospects in pads competing and playing the actual game of football. The rest of it is important, but it's not in pads. It's not, not actually, actually playing football. It's in, in gym shorts, it's working out. It's 40 yard dashes, it's vertical jumps. It's stuff that, yes, it's part of the whole algorithm that you put together when you try to figure out what works and you get these predictive analysis and all that stuff. And scouting, the scouting community is embracing it some places more than other others. But as A whole embracing it more now as part of the process. Whether, whether it's just a tiny bit or whether it's an increasing bit, it's absolutely part of the process. But this is literally the last time you get to see them in pads, competing, playing the game of football. And with that, I want to transition real quickly. The Senior bowl is a privilege, man. Like, this is a privilege. And I think sometimes we forget and people forget. It's a privilege for the media, it's a privilege for agents, it's a privilege for prospects. Okay? Not everyone gets invited. There's a whole hell of a lot of players playing in other all Star games that want to be here. There's a whole hell of a lot of players not playing in All Star games that would die to play in one of these. There's a whole hell of a lot of players that want to be draft picks that just physically can't be here. So I say that because there's been a lot of, like, negative buzz and stuff in the last 24 hours, and I just want to kind of clear the air. Okay. It is not groundbreaking that a few first round players, after a couple great days of practice, decide to take off and finish the week. Okay. But there's a certain level of respect and there's a certain way to handle things if, if you're, if you're one of those players and especially if you're one of their agents, because you work for those players. And don't forget that if you're an agent, you have a job and it's best service your client. Do you think it's in the. The client or in this case, the prospect's best interest to leak information that your player that you're representing is not going to practice the rest of the week, that he had two great days, did what he needed to do for himself, he got what he needed out of this, this game and took it and is about to take off. And you're going to leak that information to a media member instead of making the first people that understand and know the situation, Jim Nagy, the Senior bowl people who have spent all year long getting this ready. So this is, it's an amazing event for your players, for you, for NFL teams, for the media. It's not. And so if you're a player who has an agent who decided that it was a better idea to call someone in the NFL media and tell them and have Jim Nagy and the Senior bowl staff maybe find out from somebody else that you might not be back the Rest of the week. Is that the agent you want representing? And if you're that agent, are you doing the best thing for your client? Those are the questions I would ask. Second thing is, I got a list last night. Mensch got a list last night. Our producers got lists last night. When I got the list and passed it on to the people in our group, it was for your eyes only. So that we know the roster, so that our unbelievable camera people and production people can make sure that they're focusing on the guys so that we can highlight them best and put together the best show we can possibly provide to help service these players and our audience. And so when we get that information that there are a few guys that are going to take off early. And again, not groundbreaking. It's happened before. It's my duty to make sure that our group knows this is for us. This is not for to break news. We don't need more followers from this. We can get followers from doing the right thing. Okay, so if you're in the media and you get that information, I don't know, because I know there was one person who got that information and made sure that the right people had that information. There are other people who got it and tried to service himself with it. So again, I'm going on a rant, but like, let's not forget, if you're part of this whole thing, there's a right way to do it and let's treat it with some respect. And I think if you start to do that and people will kind of appreciate that and everyone will gain and benefit from this unbelievable, wonderful game that we all love, the game of football and then especially the Senior bowl in this case. Yeah. And for players too. Like, I get it, man, you've had a long season, the season's extended and you're here and you're trying and you go out and you make a decision to play. And absolutely, people are thrilled that you played and you played really well on, on Tuesday and Wednesday. And yeah, you don't have much left to prove. And I understand that Walter Nolan was here. He was practicing his ass off. Today he's going to be a first round pick. Josh Connerly is going to be a first round pick. He was here today. Thomas, cornerback. Florida State is awesome on Monday or Tuesday. Awesome on Wednesday he was also awesome. Today he's gonna be a first round pick. So, like, I'm not saying if you come here, you have to. I'm not like one of those old school dudes, okay. But I am saying Think about it, because when I talk to three different personnel people today, they get it. We've all been through this together. We understand the culture, we understand that situation. We understand that everyone's here, that everyone has their own interests here, but also that like part of your own interests. And don't be, I guess, for. If you're a prospect and you're listening to this or you're a family member or friend of a prospect, remember this and pass this information along. There's an NFL scout, there's a general manager, there's a head coach that was expecting to have a job interview with you or your friend or your family member. And you, you just left and you had an agent who said, yeah, we got to go. You had two great days. You're a first round pick, you're a lock, you're top 15, top 20. But there are people here who, like, part of their schedule tonight is we got, we got 15 minutes, 11 minutes now with. With an individual prospect, and he's just not showing up for a job interview. And I'm not saying it's going to affect anyone, any one of these guys. I'm not. But let's start thinking about how that people are taking that information. And so scout can be frustrated. And again, it's not going to affect the draft stock. But there's a. If you, if you commit to something, there are certain guys that are here that committed to it and they're going to see it through. And there are certain guys that didn't. And so that could get weighed in at some point. All right, my rant's over. Sorry. It's well put.
- [46:37]
Jim
No, yeah.
- [46:38]
Mitch
Couple more things. Important things, actually. And it's not going to be short. Nothing we do here is short. But I do want to get to some speed stuff that I thought was really interesting. And then I want to finish up kind of wrapping up this week a little bit and give some. Some context. And I got some really awesome notes. I can't share all of it, but I want to start the conversation on certain things. And we'll finish with that. And some really, like, good stuff. The Zebra technology, we talked about it all week. Unbelievable. Like the fact that Senior bowl has teamed up with Zebra. We got the miles per hour, we got the fastest speed. Some of the. Have you seen like the fastest decelerate decelerations showing DBs and wide receivers who can decelerate the fastest, which means get in and out of their brakes or for. As a receiver or for a cornerback can in their pedal all Of a sudden, get and stop this, the cut, the cutting and stopping and going. There's all sorts of numbers. But let's just go kind of top level for now off of the stuff that we've seen. I'm going to give you the the fastest players by miles per hour on day two, which was the day that was like the most physical exertion of all these practices. So really good indicator. How about this one? The fastest guy on day two in practice, both practices, Darian Porter from Iowa State.
- [47:52]
Jim
Yeah, toolsy, toolsy.
- [47:57]
Mitch
Six two, almost six, two and a half, 109. That's a six, two and a half. Basically 200 pound. He's 197 cornerback with length who was 22.17 miles per hour. Yeah, that's two. Almost two full miles per hour faster than the next guy also, by the way. Hey, nice job, Campbell. Nice job. Iowa State. Two fastest guys here on day two were Iowa State dudes. Jalen Noel, who we talked about earlier, 20, 20.8. Let's call it. Okay. After that, here's a player I'm excited to watch. More tape. I know he's fast on tape. I've seen it, but I didn't know like there's a top five list I'm going to go through. There's three cornerbacks, one wide receiver, and there's a linebacker, Shemar James from Florida.
- [48:45]
Jim
Right.
- [48:45]
Mitch
He was at 20.71. That's 6/100 of a second behind a wide receiver. Jay Noel, who's the fastest wide receiver here on day two for the Senior Bowl. Pretty impressive. And I'll round it out. Jalen Smith from USC, a cornerback was it at 20.67. And Quincy Riley's another player who. We had a conversations today and scouts are kind of getting a little bit intrigued. He was at 20.41 miles per hour, the cornerback from, from Louisville. And you know, you look at his history. Yeah, he's gonna have to become a little bit more. We call him buffet tacklers. You know, pick and choose sometimes but. But like great when the ball's in the air. The ball skills, the ball production, coverage skills. Now we know he's one of the top speed guys like starting to come together. Yeah. Come together in terms of the, the evaluation for him. One other dude I want to mention, and I don't have the exact number in front of me, but Michelle Tootin, right?
- [49:45]
Jim
Yeah.
- [49:46]
Mitch
The running back from Virginia Tech. I think he was the fastest of all the running backs. This is a good group. I mean, this is a group that includes, don't forget like quadzilla. What I wrote quads. You see this guy's quads. I mean he is, he's what exactly what you would think of with like a back.
- [50:05]
Jim
He looks like a running back but.
- [50:07]
Mitch
You, you add that and the really good tape and the fact I saw him catching the ball pretty well this week and then the fact that he's running 20 point or. I don't, I don't have the exact number, but he's the fastest running back in this, in this group. In terms of the zebra on day two. Not saying he's the fastest. He's going to run the fastest 40, but it's. I thought that, that that number stood out. Anything more on that mention? You good?
- [50:29]
Jim
No, I'm good. That's good speed. Quincy Riley. I like to see him run that fast because that was one of the questions I had. I thought he was, I thought he was okay in that area. I didn't think he, he was going to run that well. So that's exciting for him.
- [50:38]
Mitch
All right, notebook stuff. I'll let you actually start because I've, I've been on a heater.
- [50:44]
Jim
I think you've got all that psa.
- [50:46]
Mitch
No, but I want like now that we're looking back, we've had three days of practice. We're getting ready for the game. What are your takeaways? Don't you have to give me them? All right now we can go back and forth but what are some of the takeaways that you're. That you'll remember from this week of practice and things Whether guys who were surprising that played better than expected. Guys you can't wait to go back and watch tape on guys that you. You wanted to see. Whatever it is, just some things that stood out to you.
- [51:13]
Jim
I'll just reiterate this. I thought small schools won this week and I thought neg in. In coordination with that Jim Nagy staff won. I mean we've, we've highlighted a number of small school players players and one that I'd like to point out because we did hear a little bit of buzz about him today is the Alabama A M offensive tackle Carson Vincent, who has the longest arms of any of the offensive lineman here who moves really well. He's a guy that I think that I'm very excited to watch more tape on him. I think he's really helped himself this week and he's, he's raw. Look, we saw that he's raw, but he competes. He didn't look like again, like a fish out of water. He didn't look like he was lost here. So I thought he had a great week. Guy that I would think that that maybe flew under the radar and is a better athlete than I anticipated was the Nebraska defensive lineman, Ty Robinson. We haven't talked about him.
- [52:04]
Mitch
No, we haven't.
- [52:05]
Jim
He's a good player. The defensive lineman for Florida State, Josh Farmer. There's all these defensive linemen here. It's almost hard to get to all of them. The defensive line from Josh Farmer, I know we mentioned him because he's got that great length. I think he's got 35 inch arms. He's had a great week. He's another guy that when we go back and look at him where we have all these talented defensive tackles, we're not even talking about the, the Mason Grahams of the world or the Kenneth Grants. The guys who weren't here. When you look at the guys that were here, I mean stacking these guys, you know, as, as we heard, getting in the right buckets and then sorting those buckets is not going to be an easy task and that's a great thing. It's not an easy task because these guys are all playing well and they're all making a push for where they should go.
- [52:44]
Mitch
Yeah. The small school offensive lineman thing was interesting because you got to remember this is, this is the day and age of the transfer portal and I'll never forget talking to Chip Kelly and he was like, recruiting has changed for me. This is when he was at ucla. He's like, recruiting has changed for me because it's no longer. And it was unfortunately in his mind because he loved bringing in prospects and developing them. But now it was like, maybe you should go to the smaller school, we'll keep an eye on you and in a year or two will come pluck you.
- [53:13]
Jim
Right.
- [53:13]
Mitch
Right. So that with that is the backdrop, the fact that some of these guys didn't transfer, weren't plucked from an Alabama or an Ohio State, a Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma, any. Right. It's, it's still pretty awesome that, that Jim Nagy and his staff are able to, to identify them. Right. So you mentioned the Alabama A and M guy. Right?
- [53:37]
Jim
Right.
- [53:38]
Mitch
I was told today there's a chance he doesn't get out of the top three rounds. He doesn't get out of the third round.
- [53:42]
Jim
Just when you look at the, the tools, the talent. Again, if you're an offensive line coach, we've talked about this recently, about now the coaches are getting more Involved, they're going to get in the ear of whoever in the, on the, in the front office and say, look man, like that's a guy I can work with. I saw him down at the Senior Bowl, I saw him competing. I see the way he moves. I see that length, I see that size. Give me a chance.
- [54:04]
Mitch
Specifically, I was told like the wingspan is what is intriguing most teams.
- [54:09]
Jim
Okay.
- [54:10]
Mitch
You know, like obviously 6, just about 6, 7, 3, 14, but 83¾ inch wingspan is the large. The second best was Logan Brown from, from Kansas, was 83 and a half. But everybody else is like 81, 80, 79, you know. Yeah. So that, like that. There were obviously other traits. We saw the energy he brought, we saw the improvement throughout the week. But like finding a physical trait that's unique, he's got that and that was pointed out to me. The other thing was Greg Zabel.
- [54:41]
Jim
Yeah.
- [54:41]
Mitch
I don't think I talked to an NFL scout or a person that, that had, whether it was an offensive line cross check or, or was just there watching that didn't mention Zabel as like the clear cut winner. In fact, I talked to one, one personnel director today who was like, well, like, we don't even have to talk about Zel. He's the obvious winner. Let's talk about some other guys. You know, so Greg Zabel from North.
- [55:01]
Jim
Dakota, I'm convinced he's a starting center in the league.
- [55:03]
Mitch
Yeah.
- [55:03]
Jim
I mean, I'm just convinced that he's a starting.
- [55:05]
Mitch
And can play guard. Right.
- [55:06]
Jim
Who could play guard? So here's the thing about him. Yep, he moves like an offensive tackle. He's played offensive and he moves like an offensive tackle. When you see the way he can power down against inside moves and the way he can mirror guys who are trying to beat him with quickness and side to side moves, that, that is not, that is easy for him when he's on the inside. If he had longer arms, he'd still be playing on the outside. So you're taking a guy that moves like those elite athletes on the outside, then has the quickness to really play center. The toughness, the smart, the competitive level. Competitive, competitiveness level. I'm not sure he could have had a better week.
- [55:39]
Mitch
One more small school guy. Jacob Bayer, number 69, he was wearing this week, playing center from Arkansas State. It was interesting, I was reminded and I actually had read this, but he, he came back this year and played five months removed from a torn ACL and, and came in and people were like, his tape's not as good. Like, yeah, no kidding. He's five months removed from an acl. But as the season progressed, he got stronger. And. And I was told to go back and I haven't watched it yet. Arkansas State versus Bowling Green. And even the guy I talked to was like, listen, I know we're not talking about world beaters at Bowling Green, but how easy he made it look and how he's had a good week. And Jackson Slater, dominant. We talked about him last yesterday. So you're talking about four small school offensive linemen that all showed up this week. And you got to remember, you're looking at helmets that say. Say lsu. Okay. They say Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia. Right. And you're going up against these dudes every day in practice. You're looking at helmets to say Michigan, Oregon. Okay. Like, they didn't show an ounce of fear, those four guys. And in fact were competing and beating a lot of those guys who have bigger names from bigger programs. So that part was really cool. I don't want to get hung up on it, but I think we both appreciated that. A couple other things I want to jump to and jump in anywhere you want. Yep. The tight ends, and I mentioned this in the open. Scouts are getting excited about this group. Really excited about this group. Deep Mason Taylor. There's some people that are in love with Mason Taylor, and not necessarily because he's. He is. I think he's one of the biggest, one of the fastest, all those things. But you know exactly what you're getting with this guy and his love of the game and is. Obviously he's been in the game and it's in his blood. Jason Taylor, a Hall of Famer, but, like, you just know what you're getting. And he's going to be a damn good NFL starting tight end for a long time. And that doesn't get out of the top 50 picks. Okay. That's the information that I'm getting. A lot of guys are intrigued with our guy, Elijah Arroyo. The production is interesting. A lot of the same, like Dog with a Bone would get figure out, get some more information. But my goodness, can he separate. He's so smooth and athletic. Those are the reports I'm getting back today. So those are the two that people were really in love with. Fanning the Bowling Green tight end. Look at the way he catches the ball. These are some of the things. I mean, look at the way he catches the ball. Every drill, he shows up, his consistency. The guy is going to play. He's probably going to be a backup early in his career, but he's going to play in a rotation. I just really like that fanning guy. So like, and then, and then Ferguson, everyone agrees, like nothing elite that jumps out, but he just shows up every time we're in team, every time we're in seven on seven. He's separating, he's getting open, he's catching the football and he's getting up field. So those are four tight ends that I appreciated them. We've talked about all of them throughout the week. But when you're like in Thursday is a little bit looser on the third, there's not as many scouts and personnel guys and directors and, and GMs. So the ones who are there, it's like people are talking more. There's not like these crowds of people all around you and people are opening up. And like that was one of the first things that I noticed in these conversations I'm having. This is a good tight end group and we don't even have Colson Loveland, who's going to be a first round pick probably in that 25 to 32 range, let's say. And we don't even have Tyler Warren, who can be a top 15 pick out of Penn State. So that was intriguing to me. Another name that keeps coming up and I'm bouncing around here and I'm. I'm doing it on purpose because this is. These are the conversations you're having and you get all over the place. Travon Henderson, man, it's interesting he's going early.
- [59:34]
Jim
It's interesting.
- [59:35]
Mitch
Like he might go first round early.
- [59:38]
Jim
Surprises me a little bit.
- [59:40]
Mitch
Speed, explosiveness. And you want to know what scouts freaking love about this guy? The blocking and the same thing. I was talking to a director of personnel today and he was like, the blocking. And I was like, just like Zeke. He's like, exactly. He's like, you know what you're getting. You keep him on the field every single play. He doesn't have to come off the field. It's like, yeah, he was in the rotation with Judkins. And Judkins is awesome too. People love Judkins, okay? But you see that speed and the way he cuts and everyone I talk to when it has come to. And it's not just this week, there's only a few. I don't want to oversell it. I think three different conversations I've had throughout the week. Somehow Henderson comes up. We're talking about this deep running back class. But every time I've talked to anyone about him, it's the same thing. Going to be a better NFL player than a college player in terms of production and consistency. Remember, he had that. He was dinged up and now he's in a rotation. Last year. I think he's like his best football. He's kind of getting ready to peak and teams recognize it. So in a class that we're talking about, we went through all the names yesterday and I'm going to do it again. And we know that Ashton Jinty is the star and he's going to be picked somewhere in the top, probably 15 maybe because of running back need. He gets to 15, 20. I don't think he will. But Henderson could be RB2 and there's some buzz like, I don't know, he's getting out of round one, which I thought was fascinating. That's.
- [61:07]
Jim
That's fascinating. Look, I, I thought. I didn't love him coming into this past season. I. I knew he was talented. The explosiveness, the juice is so easy to spot. When you watch him on tape, it just jumps out right away. And then I thought he had an outstanding season this past year. I did. And though both of those running backs, I think Judkins deserves to be in this conversation too. When you look at that playoff run, both of them were willing to do literally whatever it took to win a football game. They, whether it was block, they would be on the field at the same time. If they were blocking for each other, where there was passbrough making a play in the passing game, I thought both of them were outstanding in that area. I think it's a very talented back class and I'm interested to see. I think it could be a pick your flavor or choose your own flavor kind of a deal that maybe some people will have Henderson higher than others. It'll be interesting to see if he goes that high. I don't have him quite as high, but I do think he had a great year. So I get the buzz.
- [61:55]
Mitch
Some cornerback notes. We talked about Quincy Riley and some of the conversation there and the speed with Quincy Riley coming out of Louisville. Azaria Thomas, who we. I mean, I just fell in love with him live. The first time seeing him live for Florida State, the cornerback was wearing number eight all week week. The thing that talking to scouts today, the, the confidence in press coverage and then the confidence when the ball's in the air. And we mentioned that both things on Tuesday. But to hear it now, like there's a certain level and one, one guy was like, hey, like just. I want you to literally watch the Confidence in his movements and his eyes and the consistency because that dude trusts himself in press and that's hard to find. Right? It's hard to find at this level. You coach that in, you develop that over time. But they like, he has absolutely no question he's going to win in press and there's something to that and it shows up in his play. And so that, I thought that that was interesting. He and Maxwell Hairston from, From Kentucky, I think kind of across the board. The people we talked to were the best two corners here in a really good quarter group. Group. Remember Quincy Riley. We just talked about Darian Porter, six, two and a half, 200, almost 200 pounds. So there's a lot of talent there. But those are the two that jumped out. And Hairston specifically when the ball's in the air, right? We were talking about like the Bill Belichick, Nick Saban stuff we were reading through and we've no, like, we literally had that list for 15 years of the critical traits, but just to kind of relook at it and one of the two of the greatest defensive minds to ever coach college pro and to see how important, how high up on the list. When the ball's in the air, confidence production. When the ball's in the air, do they panic? Do they. Are they. Is the speed not easy? Are they getting flustered? Or are they just calm and relaxed? And that's with Hairston. That's the thing that jumps out to people is when the ball's in the air and both of those guys. But, but Hairston especially, yeah, it's going.
- [64:03]
Jim
To be tough to sort out this corner group because I mean, the good. It's a good problem to have. There's a ton of talent, but is Travis Hunter, corner wide receiver Benjamin Morrison coming off a serious injury? So then what do we do with him?
- [64:16]
Mitch
So two other guys that came up in conversation as we're starting to kind of when just on the sideline and watching plays and just talking. Two other guys came up and conversation. Because remember, we're talking about Bowman now from, from Oklahoma as kind of that nickel guy. And we're also talking about. We're talking about the two corners that we just mentioned Thomas and Haron talking about Riley talking about Porter. And the conversation immediately went to Jade, Jade Baron, right, from Texas. And he's. He's next in line of that Dax Hill, that Mike Sandstrill, that Brian Branch of nickel corners. I'm not saying they're all identical, but kind of nickel guys with versatility Swiss army knives who are always around the football. Right. And Jade's name kept coming up and, and people just love him. I don't think he's getting out of the first round and I wouldn't have said that maybe mid season or towards the end, I just didn't know. So I'm obviously like the workouts are going to be important more so like the 40 and that some of the speed numbers are more important at corner than any other position. So we'll see how that all plays out. But we knew Branch was one of the 20 best football players in that draft. He just happened to fall to pick 33 to Detroit. And they, they caught. They hit the lottery. Right. So. And then the other guy was the Notre Dame. Notre Dame corner, Benjamin and, and people love them. But the durability stuff is going to be huge for him. I'm just going to. I'll share like the medical tests and the checks and maybe the medical rechecks at the combine are going to be huge because they love the player. But is what's the concern going to be long term for that?
- [65:53]
Jim
And then the East Carolina corner is in a similar position.
- [65:56]
Mitch
Revelle.
- [65:58]
Jim
He. I really thought he had the chance to be this year's Quinon Mitchell. You know, that smaller school guy who was just an elite talent. I thought he had a chance to have a great year. I was hoping to see him here and then he tore his ACL early on. So obviously that hasn't worked out. So sorting out. It's a good problem to have, right? It's a good problem to have when you have a ton of talent at corner. The problem, the, the issue for teams will be stor sorting out, getting through the, the medical, the interviews, you know, what tape do you have? How much tape do you have in this year? All of that stuff is going to come into play, but a lot of talent there.
- [66:30]
Mitch
Yeah, I mean there's. I've got pages of notes here. I think the defensive line too was the area that people really, really were. You know, we talked about tight end corner, but I think defensive line was the area that people were just thrilled with this week. Alexander's name kept coming up from Toledo 99. UCLA kept coming up. Yeah. Oladejo Farmer from Florida State, another guy had a really good kind of under the radar week. But. But people are like, farmer. You see Farmer. So I don't know. It's an awesome week. I mean we could go on for hours, but great week.
- [67:07]
Jim
It was a great. Jim Nagy and his staff put together a great roster. It was well run practices. It was very competitive, a lot of juice every day. There was some ucla, USC violence going on today, guys scrapping y. It's always good to see like those old the teams of their rivalries go against against each other and get after it, see teammates go after. It was, I mean overall it was a great week.
- [67:28]
Mitch
Yeah, it was. Now we get to go back. We'll study some of the practice tape. We'll watch the game on Saturday. We'll be back, I believe Monday night. Is that right? Monday night, Tuesday morning, we'll let you know. We'll look, you know, on social media, but we're going to start a regular schedule. As I mentioned, we're going to be at the combine. We're going to be at the NFL draft come hell or high water. And we'll be with you throughout the entire process. Thank you everyone for joining. Seriously, like this week has been it's our first trip on the road, the McShay Show. We appreciate you watching, appreciate you tuning in whether it's on, you know, video or audio for Spotify audio podcasts on Apple, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. It's been a huge week for us. It's been a blast. Hope we've proven to everyone looking over at Dan, right. I hope we've proven we can put out show on the road on and I'm excited to do more of it. But again, thank you to everyone. Please click subscribe. Download all the stuff that they tell me to tell you to do. So we appreciate everyone and we'll see you soon. Thanks. Must be 21 + 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 D help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.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.