
Loading summary
A
The 2026 NFL Draft is in the books. We've had a full day to digest it all before I let Mensch go off to see fish and start noodling a little bit, man. We're going to break the whole thing down for you. And by the way, there's only 362 days until the 2027 NFL Draft. You good, Mensch?
B
I'm good, man.
A
Tuck, roll of my favorite. We got a lot to get to today and I'm excited. It's always tough, right, because you, you sit there and, and we're going through every single pick and we're talking about the traits and we're Talking about the 40 times, we're talking about the character and the medical. And then you sit down on Sunday and kind of have this, this day and after Saturday after the draft, like you have this 24 hour period where you go back and you're like, oh, they got this. Oh, they addressed this need. Ooh, they still have a need to fill. Yeah, like what were they thinking here? And then you start texting some GMs in the league and kind of getting some, some feedback on what they were thinking. And this is our opportunity to provide everyone with kind of what where we stand on how some teams did on certain picks that we think are going to be great, what the vision is for certain picks even might like, talk about taking the phone away for certain people in the decision making. You're listening to the McShay show presented by FanDuel. The NFL Draft may be behind us, but FanDuel still has everything you need to get ready for the upcoming NFL season because FanDuel has all kinds of bets from who's going to win the super bowl to who's going to the playoffs to who's going to win Rookie of the Year, who, which I'm keeping my eye on. So if you don't already have it, make sure to download the FanDuel sportsbook app today. FanDuel play your game 21 select states, 18 DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut in certain areas of the draft. So this is a fun one and it's going to be all inclusive. We're not going to go through every single team, every single pick. We did it last year and kind of it was, I mean, it was all inclusive. Didn't feel like a fun show. This one's going to be a fun show. So appreciate everyone being here. If you if you want to follow along, please go to the website theringer.com mcshay to get all these scouting reports right and then the newsletter, the MCSHA Report. You can go there theringer.com mcshay access the newsletter or you can google it the mcshay report and subscribe we have a full breakdown best or favorite picks for all 32 teams. A lot of good information in there and just letting you know right now the 2027 way too early mock draft is already in the works and it will come out midweek, so be prepared for that. And if you don't subscribe, you can't get it. So that's that's the best I can offer to you.
B
Spring is in the air, which means now is the time to save during spring Outdoor Power deals at the Home Depot. Make cleanup easier when you go cordless with the Milwaukee M18 string trimmer, designed to deliver more runtime, more speed and maximum performance. Then grab a select Milwaukee fuel attachment like the pole saw, edger or brush cutter included at no extra cost when you buy the Milwaukee M18 String Trimmer Shop seven days of spring Outdoor Power deals at the Home depot now through April 29th.
A
Let's start off the top man best in draft. We're going to have a category for all these things best in draft and this can you can take it anywhere you want. But I think let's focus here on the teams and that what what impressed you more most and was there someone that that stood out or a team that stood out with what they got in their hall or the value, however you want to take it.
B
I love what the Cleveland Browns did. I thought general manager Andrew Barry was outstanding. We identified a plan for them going into the draft. That plan was trade back, get an offensive tackle, take a wide receiver with your second pick in the first round. What'd they do? They trade back. They pick up a third and a fifth. They end up getting the best tackle in the draft who I didn't think would be there, which is Spencer Fano out of Utah. And then they get Casey Concepcion, receiver, out of Texas A and M with the second pick in the first round. Plan executed. I'm not sure it could have gone any better. And then you wake up on day two and Denzel Boston from Washington.
A
Oh, what?
B
It somehow falls to you?
A
What a dream.
B
So you take him. You wisely understand that this player has fallen to you. You take him. Receivers one of their biggest needs going into the draft. If these Two players hit like I think they can hit. I'm high on these two players. You have turned a weakness into a strength. You now have Denzel Boston, you have Jerry Judy and you have Casey Concepcion. Weapons. I. I couldn't. The first three picks, home runs. Then you're sitting there and you're waiting and you're waiting and all of a sudden you're realizing that Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil Warren, who some people thought could have been a first round. We were more comfortable with him in the second round. But still, this is late second round. He falls to you.
A
You tra.
B
He starts falling. You trade up and you go get the player. They do it again in the third round.
A
They.
B
They see that Austin Barber, another tackle, is falling. They trade up and they get him. Now you have addressed two of your most important needs with five picks. I love what they did. And then you go to day two and two of my favorite picks. I mean, day three. Two of my favorite picks on day three. Joe Royer, the Cincinnati tight end, we averaged around 15 yards per catch last year, who I think is really undervalued. You pair him. He's a great compliment to Harold Fannin, who you got last year. Weapons. You have more weapons. And then they get my guy, Taylor Green, who I thought it might be a top hundred pick. They get him in the sixth round. Yeah, no Browns fans. I get it. I got some heat about my Dylan Gabriel comment. I think Dylan Gabriel is a nice player who could develop into a backup. I think the third round was way too early. Taylor Green in the sixth round. You talk about taking hacks. This is a player that has a unique skill set. This is a guy that can run. I mean, it's just he could be a difference maker at the quarterback position someday. That's a great time to take a hack on a guy like Taylor Green. You look at it top to bottom. I mean, I just addressing the Finding value, understanding.
A
Let me throw this. Let me. All of it. And I don't want to sit here and go back and evaluate every draft. I thought about this morning as I was writing, going through the newsletter, right. And going through favorite picks and trying to really provide some. Some substance for. For our subscribers in the McShay Report. Am I crazy to make this statement? This statement I actually think I believe in. I want to do a little bit more research, but I have never. And we've been doing this for 26 years. The Browns obviously had their franchise ripped away from them. They came back. The expansion draft and everything else. I don't know if I've ever felt more promising, had more of a promising feeling coming off of an NFL draft than I do right in this moment about the Cleveland Browns. Now, I'm not saying everything we'll see about Todd Monk. And as a head coach, I have a lot of promise in that area. And the quarterback situation, is it going to be Shador Sanders? Is he going to take that next step? Will they wait till. Are they just getting everything ready to go pluck and insert the one of the quarterbacks from that great 2027 class as it appears as we sit here today. But from a personnel standpoint, man, I don't remember looking at a roster and thinking, oh, they're actually heading in the right direction.
B
You know what some of that is, is what they did last year. I. I know they got Mason Graham, they got Carson Schlesinger. They really did a good job on the defensive side of the ball. And then that allowed them again Fannin. Now you're starting to feel like, whoa, these guys might know what they're doing.
A
And we're stacking some weapons, we're stacking some offensive lines. So I don't know.
B
I. I'm looking forward to, you know, we'll see. I. I know there's a lot of Shador fans out there and he'll have an opportunity to again if he does it, great.
A
And what.
B
But you're looking forward. You think you can get a quarterback in 27.
A
And I hope when I say it's either Shador takes that next step or it's 2027. It sounds like I'm being flippant with it. I'm not. I'm actually not sure. Gabriel, who didn't matter who was in there last year, they didn't have the cast. So you can't truly evaluate a quarterback until you have the pieces around him, right? Yep. Like Baker Mayfield's pretty good NFL quarterback. Didn't have. Didn't have. From all different aspects of. Didn't have the. So this is the first time like Johnny Manziel and Brady Quinn and Baker and like it's just like, great.
B
Yeah.
A
They failed and they don't have. Because they didn't have the support supporting cast. Now part of that is ownership staying in its lane. Part of that is the right general manager and the draft picks and the free agent move. Part of that is just the players on the field and part of it is coaching. I haven't felt like they have. They've had more pieces coming together. I'm not saying they're together today. But like this, you can actually, actually evaluate Shador this year. You couldn't last year. So there's that part of it. And then if you. If it's not chador after 2026, you're. You're setting yourself up to actually be able to evaluate the quarterback you bring in in 2027. And that's an awesome feeling if I'm a Browns fan, you know, because it's great. It's been despair for so long. All right, I'm going to transition. This is the only time, Mensch, how many teams did you take is the only time?
B
Was it seven teams?
A
This is the only time, Mensch, that I'm going to veer off course, so bear with me. Pick one team. My one team for best in draft is five teams. So I'm going to rip through this quickly. There's two ways that I evaluate the draft. There's two ways that I think a sane person evaluates the draft. The first way is like, guys that will make an impact. What was the haul? How much better is this organization today than it was yesterday? The second way that you have to evaluate it, and this is like, this is the appreciation. This is the art of the draft. This is when texting with GMs in the last 24 hours, it's like, yo, I saw what you did. Like, yeah, yeah. That part of it is teams that, like, maybe they didn't have the capital coming in, but they exploited what they had in terms of capital, the capital, and they maximized it. So the two teams that I thought in addition to the Browns that were best in draft from, like, impact players, that right away this roster is just a lot better. And I thought the Dolphin, the Dolphins, I didn't put in this list. I thought that they got a lot of great players. And I thought you made a great point on our show. The character level as you're building from the studs up. They did a great job with John Eric Sullivan in his first draft with Jeff Hatch. But the Raiders and the jets were. The two teams were waking up after the three. Three days of the draft, the seven rounds. I think that their rosters are mo better are like. Are just like the amount of talent that they brought in. The obvious is Fernando Mendoza, right? But then I broke it down. Offense versus defense. On the offensive side, you've got Mendoza. They brought in Trey Zoom, the third from Texas A and M, who's a versatile lineman, which I think will help them as. As they're figuring out their best five and getting depth. Mike Washington to help take the load off of Ashton Genty. Because this is about 2027, folks. This isn't about making a playoff run in 2026. Let's not rip off all the, you know, let's not tear the tires apart. Let's keep some tread on the tires is what I'm trying to say. And Mike Washington will help in that regard with his explosive speed and his ability to catch the ball. Then Malik Benson in the sixth round, I thought that was a great value pick for a player. We've got a quarterback who can drive it down the field. I'm not saying it's not Stafford, it's not, it's not Mahomes. But he's got a good arm and can drive it vertically. Let's give him some speed. Okay, In Malik Benson, who can be a number four receiver but can be a vertical slot. The defensive side though, man, and we've talked about historically the organizations that get their quarterback, what they immediately pivot to is the defensive side because that quarterback can't make up for the sins of the other 10 guys on the defensive side. He can on the offensive side. So we better get great, let's get a defense that's going to get the ball back to our quarterback that we're building around. Trade in Stooks is, is an absolute like just ball magnet our guy, and he's versatile. Kieran Crawford is going to be one of the guys up front with Max Crosby all of a sudden who's back and they didn't expect to have him back with all the moves that up making. So you add Crawford who's going to be one of the guys who's going to pressure quarterbacks to put the ball up for Stukes to go back and get it. Oh, by the way, Jermod McCoy, the most talented cover corner in the draft and I recognize the knee injury and it may not be a second contract but for four years we got this guy who if he plays to the level of 20, 24, he might be the best man to man, press man, cover corner in the draft. Dalton Johnson's an underrated safety. People didn't know about him, but teams in the league had him right around where they took him, which was in the fifth round, the 10th pick. And then Hezekiah Massis from, from California is another good cornerback. Just adding depth that they got with the 35th pick in the fifth round. You added the fact that they brought in quiddy pay, Quay Walker, Nicole Be Dean and Teron Johnson as A nickelback option. This, all of a sudden this defense has got a lot of depth and they've got, they've got some difference makers. They're not there yet, but this is a much better offense. I mean, offense and defense, much better roster than it was coming in. Then you got the jets that hole, man, and they had to, they moved up, you know, from what, 33 to 30 to get back in the first round for three first rounders. David Bailey, obviously, the pass rush, like you know what he is as a pass rusher. Kenyon Siddiq now with a two tight end option they have from Mason Taylor a year ago.
B
I like that.
A
That gives Frank Reich some, like, flexibility. This is a league that's going to 13 personnel, one one back, three tight ends. Not all the time, but there's. You've got to be able to line that up.
B
But you've been watching Sean McVeigh. I mean, this is what the league is. It's a copycat league and they've had a great success with it.
A
Then Omar Cooper Jr. Indiana wide receiver. Some people thought he could go, you know, 16 to 25. He's there on the board of 30. They said, let's go get him. He's our guy. Contact, balance, toughness, aggressiveness. Big catches, big moments, contested catches. He's a guy that, that when they insert their quarterback next year, Arch Manning, Dante Moore, they're going to have a. They're going to. Now they have some weapons, right?
B
Yeah.
A
Garrett Wilson, Omar Cooper Jr. The two tight ends we just spoke of. And then D' Angelo Ponce, I get it, he's undersized, but he's one of the toughest sons of guns in the world. I had talked to many NFL teams and it was the same report coming out. And I think I heard that Darren Muji said the same thing, the general manager from the Jets. When you talk to. One of the things you ask when you talk to these players and whether it's the 15 minutes at the combine, 30 visit, wherever it is that you're meeting with these players, who's the best, who's the toughest that you went up against, whether it's a tackle for edge rusher or a defensive tackle, you're an interior offensive lineman. If it's a cornerback, it's a wide receiver. If it's a wide receiver, it's cornerback. So you ask all the top receivers, who's the toughest guy you want up against? Who's the guy you don't want to face Again, all said, d' Angelo Ponce, if they had faced him. So you get all of that and then Daryl Jackson who. I get it, it's up and down and we got to figure out a way to keep the pads down and. But if we keep him in a rotation, keep him fresh, he's a difference maker. Town's a player so those and then even Vijay Payne in the seventh round and there's some reasons it fell the seventh round but at the end of the day the guy is a, he's a difference maker. He's a, he's an enforcer, an impactful, you know, depth player.
B
I said he was the closest thing to even worry in this draft, Nick. I mean worry the Seattle safety. So not Eamon worry, but the closest thing.
A
So those are the three. And if you add Miami four that I think wound up like in terms of just impact players, guys from the draft, their biggest holes, the Browns, the Raiders, the jets and you can throw Miami in there. Here's the value. This is the fun part to me.
B
Okay.
A
These teams didn't have the capital that others did, but there are three teams that I went and I.
B
You're still going on the best in draft?
A
Yes, yes, sir. These three, three teams I, I spent too much. It was like now 11 o'. Clock, Marissa's like sound asleep. You're hopefully, you know, sound asleep. And I'm.
B
And I'm going through your own worst enemy.
A
I'm going through our board. Parrot Panthers. Dan Morgan, phenomenal job with value. Monroe Freeling, 19th pick and knowing your roster long term and what you need in icky Iquana and the situation there, great pick. Lee Hunter at pick 49 was right around where you should get him. Right. Love that pick and, but, but probably a little bit of a value there. Chris Brazel, I get there's maturity questions and is he fully developed but Chris Brazil in the third, we thought he was going to be second round pick. Sam Heck, center, Kansas State. We had him top 100 match. He went 143. Zaki Wheatley we had at 120. He went 151. Top to bottom, top to bottom. I thought they did a phenomenal job. Yeah.
B
While addressing needs, by the way. I mean they needed a receiver. They, I mean they, they knew what they're doing.
A
So, so that was one of the teams I thought how about the Colts Chris Ballard we talked to at the combine. Yeah, I was texting him this morning. Like, man, like it came together.
B
They needed a linebacker, they got two.
A
And, but it wasn't about need. CJ Allen, we had at 45, he went at 53. AJ Hulsey at safety, we had at 68, he went 78. Jalen Farmer, we had it 75. In the top 100, they got him at 113. Bryce Betcher, we had a 117, 135. Seth McGowan, we had a 222, we went 236. Perfect spot to take a characteristic guy who's got a lot of talent.
B
Yes, a lot of talent.
A
And so they, they kind of the, the, the like down the middle from guard to safety to linebacker. They, they got stronger down the middle and even running back. Then the commanders and they didn't give
B
up any more capital to do it. Like that's, that's important. I thought they, I actually said in going into the draft they kind of have to take their medicine they can't afford with what's coming in next year to start using 27 to fix what happened.
A
No, they moved back at one point.
B
Actually. You can't do it.
A
And then the last team I was really impressed with. Adam Peters, the Commanders, round one, Sonny Styles, like that just falls, falls in your lap. I get it. But you know, I say it all the time, man. I don't believe in luck. That's why it's, it's McShay 13. Like, I don't believe in any of that. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And Peters was, Peters was absolutely prepared when the opportunity presented itself, and it did. Patience, sit back, wait. Sonny Styles, the number three player on our board, gets to him at seven. Antonio Williams, we had him at 56 overall. This guy's. If he's not the best, he's the second best route runner in this class. And I think with the quarterback, I think he has got an opportunity. He was a third round pick. We had him 56, he goes 71. Joshua Joseph's. We had 93, he went 146. That's a edge rusher. They need, they need depth there. Catron Allen, even. We had 126 for what he is, he's a power back, right?
B
Yeah.
A
And now you got, you brought in Tampa Bay, Arizona State, Sean White, right?
B
Yep.
A
Who catches the ball and does all those. This guy's. Just pound it between the tackles. Even Matt Goldman, the Michigan State center that they drafted at 294, we had a 208. So top to bottom, those were the teams that I thought value wise. And I'm out.
B
You didn't want to, you don't want to get anymore.
A
I Just. It's so hard man to spend all year long and to look at all this stuff and I could have gone five more teams.
B
I know, I know.
A
Like so. So we got to nine teams out of 32 or not even. We got to like seven teams out of 32. But it's important to, to distinguish because any, any jag off is the Pittsburgh people would say can look at it. But they got the best players. Well, yeah, well, they came in with the best capital. But I. So I also want to give a nod to the teams that didn't have the same capital but maximize what they had.
B
Fair.
A
All right, next up.
B
Here we go.
A
I will play. I will. I will color within the lines mostly from now on. Boom or bust. It can be a player. It can be whatever you want. Boom or bust or team. What's your boomer bust from this year's?
B
I mean it's gotta be Caleb Banks going 18th overall to the Minnesota Vikings. And can.
A
I love the pick.
B
I could love the pick. Right? I still recognize the risk.
A
Yeah.
B
Love the pick. I think he's great for what they do. I think he can play anywhere along the front there. Nose tackle, defensive end, whatever. You want to use him in that, in that defense and the tape is outrageous. It's so good. He is just throwing guys around. I thought he had a slow start to the Senior bowl and then he really turned it on. Ease some of the concerns there. If you're an optimist. You like that? Dr. Waldrop, I don't know who that is but I'm sure he's a. At top of his feet.
A
Fine doctor.
B
Yeah, I'm sure he's.
A
No, he's elite. He's fine.
B
He's cleared him and said that the Banks will be ready to go in June and that's a. That's great. He is a 6 foot 6, 327 pound man who has a history of foot injuries at this point only.
A
But he's got 35 inch arms. He's got 35 inch arms. 504 on a broken foot and a 32 inch vertical on a broken foot.
B
The foot was broken at that point.
A
He's still jumping 32 inches. I understand, man.
B
And that's why I love. That's why I love it.
A
What do you think your vertical would be right now?
B
7.
A
I think I'd be. I mean I'm. I'll go with 12 for me.
B
No, it's like credit card ops.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah. I don't. I don't know why I Had to get mean. That being said, I love the. I love the chance. I. I know it's early. I. I know it's early, but I love it because we've been talking about this player the whole lead up, because you get. It's so hard not to be excited about it when you look at the tools and you look at the tape and you look at what he can do if he stays healthy, man. And we're talking about boom. Talk about boom. But there's a reason he gets to 18. I really think this player could have been a top 10 player. If he doesn't have the. If he doesn't have the durability issues, if he's able to show what he can do last year, I think he'd be a top 10 player. But it's boom or bust, man. That's this. He is the definition of this kind of player.
A
I feel like the. The interior defensive linemen like this boom more than they bust. Okay. At different positions. I feel like it's not. It's not always that. How many times have we talked about this interior defensive line? He. Look, he's got everything. And then you get to the league, like, of course he's great. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, of course he's great. No, that was a risk. But.
B
But if it hits and Brian Flores, I think he's going to. Yeah, I'm excited about it, but I get the risk.
A
My. My boomer bust is the Bengals, and this is not new. And I respect him. I'm like, I'm the guy who.
B
She went with a team.
A
I did, and I'm not going to go through a long breakdown. Well, you. I looked at. You sent your notes so that we didn't repeat last night, and I looked at it, and you took the one player I would take. So I was like, let me get creative. What?
B
I should have known. I should have known with you, Ty Simpson. Ty Simpson is sitting there for you. That's why I didn't take him. You don't think that's a boomer bust?
A
Not at all.
B
Really.
A
Hall of Fame quarterback sitting there for the next year or two as you develop.
B
But if he doesn't develop, you use
A
a 12th pick on a quarterback that didn't later. Don't you drag down Ty Simpson. We'll talk about it later then.
B
I didn't know you're gonna bring him up.
A
It feels like everyone's got spilt milk over the tie. Simpson.
B
I'm not mad at it. I'm just saying Recognize it.
A
Take your medicine for a few days. Everyone do.
B
You don't. You don't recognize.
A
I'm done with the victory laps, but don't push me. Ty Simpson, Boomer Bust. Bengals. This is. This is typical Bengals. And, like, I'm the guy who, like, it's late in the yellow. I'm running through. I'm running through and I've seen. I catch the red before, but I'm going. You know me. I've driven you back and forth from Manhattan beach to the studio every day. And you know how. So, like, I, I don't mind risk.
B
I'm not incriminating you, but yellow is being generous.
A
But there are four picks, man. Early first. First four rounds, they. They didn't have a first round pick. Their first four. I think it was their first four picks. There's an element of risk and all. Like, boom or bust. Let's work backwards front. 40th pick of the fourth round. If I, you know, like, as a scout, you get to put the red star player for the player that, like, you're pounding the table for. You believe in this guy. He's gonna. He's gonna outplay where he's drafted, the character, all those things. There's gonna be a certain color star for the player. Like this Colby Young, 40th pick of the fourth round. Is that. Yeah. Fortieth pick of the fourth round. So late fourth, essentially a fifth round pick. Right. Wide receiver out of Georgia. He would have gotten that star from me because I've watched Colby Young when he's right, and he's so much different than any other receiver you would have gotten on day three of this draft, physically and the talent wise, but it's always something. There's some maturity. It could be a handful, like all of that. Right. But at Georgia, like, I don't know, there's, you know, when you got a feeling about a guy who's going to get to like George Pickens. Right, Right. There's more. There's more meat on the bone with this guy than what we saw college. Production wise, it's about getting him in and getting them focused. And for whatever reason, Cincinnati seems to do a pretty good job of those guys to bring him in. Like, it's like, you know, you get in there, it's Hunger Games compete, and may the best man win.
B
May the odds be in your favor.
A
It won't shock me if Colby Young becomes an impactful number four receiver behind the. Yeah, yeah. Maybe number three at some point. Like, I'm telling you this Guy can play. He's the guy. I've just had this feeling about him. Why isn't, why aren't more people talking about him? Because he's a big dude who can break tackles. He can get open downfield. Colby Young. But there, but there's absolutely risk. Go earlier in the fourth round, pick 28 of that round. Connor Louis, center, Auburn. I promise you he's the most talented center in this draft and Logan Jones went in the slate second. He's a damn good player and he deserved to go there. But Connor Lou, if he had finished the season and wasn't coming off the torn ACL that happened in October of this past year, 2025 in the game against Missouri, I think there's a really good chance that he would have been the first center off the board.
B
Yeah, I agree. I don't know if he would have been, but it would be way more of a conversation.
A
But I don't have the doctor's name like you, but I'm sure he has a fine doctor as well. Recovery's ahead of schedule. Like to hear it. Reports indicate he should be ready for camp in July. And if that's the case, that fourth round pick that has a little bit of like, yeah, is it going to be ready to put. That could wind up being a steal. I'm telling you, like a second round value in the fourth, middle of the fourth round, later fourth round, then you go to the third round. I don't even want to put risk on this but Takario Davis like the ups and downs and the transfer and which guy am I getting? But he is a tall, long levered scheme fit for that defense. A guy who's got talent. We talked about him two years ago as like he's tracking towards first round pick. They get him the eighth pick in the third round. He started seven games this past year with the Huskies but then he had the hamstring injury. So there is that element of the risk and like can we get the most out of them? But if they do, you're getting another first round. I'm talking about three guys that are impactful players. First, second round type talents that fell. And then there's Cassius how and it's the short arms even shorter than Ruben Bane. And we know, you know these guys double digit sacks are just not. They have not happened for two decades plus for a guy with this short of arms. And there's some external stuff there too. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lie. But it's not. It's not anything that's that. That I feel that concerned about if I'm gonna be honest with you too. And so getting him with the ninth pick in the second round, I see it and I told you when I was done with my tape study and didn't know exactly what the arm length was and some of the other I was like, I'm putting him up there with messador. Yeah, best pass rushers in this class. Oh, and by the way, he can turn around coverage. So that's my boomer bust. It's the Bengals draft, but I actually am leaning on the side of boom with all four of those guys. All right, next up, this is a fun one. Connor came up with this. I like this.
B
I like this one. This is a thinking one too.
A
See the vision. See the vision. What's your, what's your choice for you see the vision with the pick or team or whatever it is, what do you, where do you see the vision? Where? At first maybe you glanced at this and you're like well how. And now like you take a minute and you, you know, you think through it, look through the roster, look at the coordinators, whatever it is. Do you tell me where you see the vision?
B
Dallas third round pick Jason Barm. I think we are, we like the player. It wasn't like I already thought it was good value where they got him to get him in the third round. I was like, oh, that's a good pick. And then I started really digging in about what Christian Parker, the new defense coordinator can do with this kind of guy. And what's interesting about Barum is I think he's think about how Arvel Reese was used or projected coming out of Ohio State that he was going to be an edge and now he might play on the inside next to Traymon Emmons with the Giants and they'll work him in different ways. Jason Barm last year played mostly on the edge, kind of projected as an edge. That's what we thought he was earlier in his career. He played off the ball. He was, he played more steps off ball linebacker than he does an edge. That's what Dallas is going to use him as. They're going to play him on the inside as an inside linebacker. But what's really exciting for me is you're getting in first of all getting inside linebacker who's 6 foot 3 and a half, 240 pounds with 34 plus inch arms. I mean he's, he's got really violent hands. He can get off blocks as a run defender. That's great. But what's fascinating to me is the ability to drop into coverage and his upside as a pass rusher and his ability to get off the quarterback, get out for the quarterback. And the reason I say that is Christian Parker's a Vic Vangio guy. And they're gonna run simulated pressures and a simulated pressure is something that looks like a blitz, but only four are coming and you don't know which four are dropping. I mean, you don't know which four are coming and who's dropping. And Jayson Barham, perfect, perfect skill set for that. He comes, you're in trouble. He can come from anywhere, he can rush from depth, he can walk up in the A gap, he can come off the edge, he's going to be a problem. And I just really want to quickly hit on this too, because when you think about them getting Caleb Downs, you're like, oh, they get. He's a first round save to Caleb Downs, one of the best players. Like, you know, like the vision, blah, blah, blah. The vision for Caleb Downs from Christian Parker. Have you heard Christian Parker talk about Dejan Cooper from Philadelphia and about what his number one trade is, how quickly he processes? Yeah, he has this, Parker says something called brain works. The brain work. Brain works. Caleb Downs is tailor made, yes. To play nickel in this system because of his versatility, because of his intelligence and looking back at it and hearing Parker talk about some of the guys as a former DB coach, talking about
A
some of the nickels and he's one of the brightest young minds that people don't know in, in, in the industry, in the defensive side, talking about some
B
of the nickels he's coached, man, it's like, oh my God, it was Caleb Downs all the way.
A
Kind of reminds me a little bit. And I'm not going to try to put too much on him here, but I get the same vibes when we were young in this industry of Christian Parker as I as like Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, like the defensive backs seeing the whole picture, right? And, and that those were like the roots of them. And then developing defensive coordinator and all of a sudden coordinator goes to head coach.
B
You should hear him in interviews, man. It's not like he's not like deflecting
A
and he's 34 years old, bro.
B
He's like, this is what they do in this. He started talking about San Francisco scheme. He's like, this is how it's a little different than us and that's how we can build. I was like, man, this guy just
A
like wants to talk 15 years younger than me. And when I hear, when I, when I listen to him, I'm like, oh, he's smarter than mean. That sucks.
B
Oh yeah, 100%, man. It's not even close.
A
I like that. And honestly, feeding off of it, I see the vision with the Giants and you mentioned Reese there and I see the vision with the Giants first two picks and I appreciate the hell out of the fact that first of all it felt like a more of a united front than maybe the, maybe the vibe was coming out of New York, the Giants building and some of the rumors and whispers with Joe Shane, the gm is this his last time in Harbaugh? Who's making the decisions and how much it felt very united with John, with Jon and Joe, but more importantly their first two picks, I'll remind everyone, is Arvel Reese right? Arvell Reese falls to them at 5. The Ohio State linebacker conversion. And I'll remind everyone too. Arvell Reese was a one year starter at Ohio State. We'd known for like three years that this guy is like next, right. But it was this year that he finally cracked the lineup because the year before national championship team, there's eight guys that wind up getting drafted. So he cracks the lineup this past year in 2025 and the defense is actually better. And he starts off in playing more off ball linebacker than edge. And Matt Patricia is like, all right, I got to kind of integrate him. I think it was like maybe like the Illinois game. There was a couple of games where you start seeing more and more and he finishes the season with like 300 plus snaps at edge.
B
Yeah.
A
So when they draft him they're like, huh, I thought he was an edge. We worked out of the combine as a linebacker. He played both linebacker and edge and now they're drafting another edge. But then we just, we just drafted Abdul Carter and we just. And we got Brian Burns and we drafted Cave on Thibodeau and we're trading Thibodeau and to hear the united front but then also the plan for these guys right away it was like, like you don't have to speculate. Arvell Reese is our will linebacker. We're plugging them right in that Micah McFadden spot right into the will linebacker, plugging him right in next to Tremaine Edmonds who we brought in the off season from, from Chicago and. But we're going to make him a nightmare for you opposing offenses because we're going to blitz him in the A, in the B, in the C in the D gap, and then we're going to turn him loose off the edge, and then occasionally we're going to drop him in coverage, just like you're talking about with Philly.
B
Very simple. These are players that are now being valued in the NFL because of the skill set.
A
And everyone says, whether it's a positionless defense, like, however you want to frame it within the. The framework of your defense. Coordinators love these guys because offenses are doing a lot of different things, and they're getting all these three.
B
Jalen Walker last year.
A
Jalen Walker, Yes.
B
You know, these are. These are. This is a developing skill set. Slash player, slash role.
A
This guy's bigger and more powerful than Jalen Walker. And he ran in the four fours. Yes. And he jumped through the roof. Yeah. Like, so. So just to hear right away where it was like, we're gonna. What I didn't want to hear is, yeah, we're gonna bring him in and we're gonna see how we're gonna fit him. And it was like, no, he's our will linebacker right away, and we're going to blitz the hell out of him. Then we're gonna drop him, and you're not gonna know where he's going or what he's doing. I thought that was pretty cool. Now, we'll get back to this later. We're going to need an interior defensive line with Dexter Lawrence leaving and already at some point, however, then the other part of it is Maui Noah, who, by the way, like, there was a scenario in which Maui Noah would have been the fifth overall pick, and they were perfectly clear about that. Like, these are players that we viewed in the top five in this year's class. And the reports coming out of the building prior to the draft, where that's kind of how they viewed it. And I think the Jordan Tyson stuff was if he could get to 10.
B
Right.
A
But the fallback was. And there was a very. It was very easy. Fernando Mendoza goes one, David Bailey goes two team trades in and takes Arvell Reese, Sonny style. I mean, Arville Reese and Jeremiah Love goes 4 to 10. That's like. It's like 50. 50. That happened. Yeah, like that close. That almost happened. Arizona just didn't. The phone wasn't ringing. So they get Reese there and they. They may have taken Maui Noah, but then they get Maui Noah at 10 because Cleveland passes on him and goes with Spencer Fano, who's a better fit for what they want to do with Todd Monken with some of that outside wide zone stuff.
B
Yep.
A
And they get Maui Noah. And right away this guy started 42 games Maui Noah did at Miami at right tackle. And so you think, well, he drafted him at 10. Definitely playing him at tackle, right? He's six' six, he's 335 pounds, he's got almost an 81 inch wing. Okay. They're like, no, we're starting to McGuard. We got Jermaine Luminor at right tackle. We got what's his name, most importantly John Michael Schmidt at center and we got Luminor at right tackle. And now we got, we got 81 inches of wingspan.
B
It's about time we start valuing interior
A
offensive lineman in the middle. And so, so we're building a wall. Forget the run game, which is critical. But in addition to, that's a, that's a big ass wall you got to get around to get to our quarterback Jackson Dart. And I just love, I love the vision they shared with us and making it more clear exactly how they're going to utilize them. And I think it's awesome.
B
I agree with, I love it and I like that that, you know, 10 is not. When I, we talked about Maui Noah maybe going a little bit earlier and I was like, if you're Arizona and you're drafting a guard, I don't really love that pick 10's a great place. That's not too early for a guard, man. That's a good place to take a guard with a guy who could develop an all right tackle.
A
This episode is brought to you by Men's Wearhouse. On the lookout for new clothes. It doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Just check out Men's Wearhouse. They've got you covered for every occasion with a huge variety of clothing and styles. If you've got a formal event, they've got tailored clothing like suits, sports coats, dress shirts and tuxes. Then for relaxing in front of the game, they've got your polos, shirts, shorts and jeans for everyday wear. And if you're not sure what your look is, the Men's Wearhouse experts can guide you while their on site tailors guarantee your clothes fit your body perfectly. Men's wearhouse has over 600 locations nationwide. They are here and nearby when you're ready to love the way you look.
C
Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigued. Ask your doctor about Zepbound Tirzepatide, the first and only FDA approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea and obesity to improve their OSA. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 or 15mg injection. Zepbound contains tirzepatide and should not be used with other tirzepatide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zetbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pins or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing pregnant, plan to be or taking birth control pills, taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbound.lilly.com youm tell
B
yourself no one wants your college era band tees, but on Depop, people are searching for exactly what you've got. You once paid a small fortune for them at merch stands. Now a teenager who calls them vintage will offer that same small fortune back. Sell them easily on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. Who knew your questionable music taste would be a money making machine? Your style can make you cash. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste.
A
All right, next up is Take the Phone away.
B
I don't like this one.
A
I know you don't because you you I kind of my cautious guy and I it's it's catchy. Take Take the Phone Away is insinuating like don't let him make a decision. Like let's it's not necessarily to that extreme. We're just saying like these these are maybe the picks or the decisions or whatever it was that we're that we were scratching our head or we're not sure exactly what the rationale was or we're questioning the value or maybe seeing the board or understanding it. But I'll throw it to you with. Take the phone away. I feel like we should have a, we should have some like, some like a ringtone to this. Take the phone away. Where would you go with this?
B
I thought Miami did a lot of nice stuff. I thought they had a really good night. Overall, I don't think taking Caleb Douglas with the 11th pick in the third round makes a lot of sense to me. I get the profile receiver you're looking for. Caleb Douglas. Caleb Douglas is 6 foot 3 and a half and he's got 439 speed and he averaged 15.7 yards per catch. You're looking for a guy who's like a bigger bodied guy who can take the top off the coverage. I understand that profile. Here's some of the other receivers still available at that pick. Chris Brazil ii is a 6 foot 4 receiver with a 43740 and he averaged 16.4 yards per catch. Bryce Lance is a 6 foot 4 receiver with 434 speed and he averaged 21.2 yards per catch. I know it's FCS.
A
That's a huge, huge number.
B
Ted Hurst ran the four fours but he's a vertical threat and I think a much better overall receiver. I get looking for a bigger guy who can take the top off. Caleb Douglas wasn't in the same category as those guys and I think it was just too early. I thought Chris, they got Chris Bell after this. I think Chris Bell's a better, better pick than Caleb Douglas was.
A
Yeah. I don't disagree. I just love, I love the rest of their draft so much that it's like.
B
I know. That's why I don't want to take the phone away from him.
A
Yeah.
B
I would never want to take.
A
Sullivan deserves.
B
He killed it.
A
He killed it.
B
But this was one where I was. It was a head scratcher.
A
Let's dig in here for a minute. Right? Let's dig in. James Gladstone is considered like, as we like to say, he's wicked smart, you know, from where we come from. And it's, it's well known the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. And there's a blend of, of new, new age scouting that I appreciate. There's a blend of analytics with, with tape evaluation with even down to like, like their, their buzzwords for their scouting. They don't, they've reduced it in an effort to advance scouting. In terms of like if you go to scout a player, my understanding is there's like maybe I don't Know how many words, words or phrases, like 150 words or phrases that you can utilize. And they, over time, they, they. And then he comes from the Rams. And obviously I have a belief in less need and what they're doing there. And I believe that James Gladstone is absolutely equipped to run an organization. I'm not even questioning that. I also want to, like, say this. I have strong opinions and strong beliefs because I believe in our process and our scouting evaluation. I don't for a second ever pretend to have all the answers. Every time I have a conversation, whether it's a college head coach or a college general manager, now a coach in the league, a scout in the league, a general manager in the league, I learned something, man.
B
Yeah.
A
And so I'm always open to new and different and blending all of it. And every One of these GMs has had to blend, like their roots. And even talking to Elliott Wolf, who's the son of Ron Wolf, and talking about like, yeah, we factor in some analytics with certain things that we do, but we're driven more by the old school and the process and our grading scale. Everyone's got their thing and I'm here for all of it. I promise you, there's no one way to do this right. If there was, we'd all be doing it. Okay. But with Gladstone, it's interesting to me. I guess my biggest takeaway would be he came in hot last year, right. And he traded up from five to two. And I get that. And you come from an organization where it's like FM picks and like, let's get. And so and, and, and what if we were drafting Shohei Otani, right? And early returns aren't awesome and we had an injury with Travis Hunter and now it's like we're going to play a more corner and still going to play wide receiver. We'll see how that plays out. I'm not passing judgment on anything yet, but they gave away this year's first for it. Right? And as part of a package that required more to move up those three spots then you come into this year. You don't have a first. You're picking at 56. I don't like, get out of here with the consensus picks. I read all this stuff on social media. Like, if you're relying on consensus picks, how about you just go do your job? There's no such thing as a consensus pick for me and I know for everyone in the league now where consensus pick can be helpful and I don't know that I don't think someone's going to a consensus board on the Internet. The consensus is they we've talked to general managers, they point blank said dating back to Bill Polian that, yeah, we identify the people who get the best information and we take that and we put it into a little system and it spits out our consensus. So I think people who don't know what's going on in the league have a misconception of what this consensus thing is. They don't give a fuck about consensus when it comes to their draft board. They only care about where a player is coming off the board. If we take the smartest people who are the best information, understand the market. And each round is its own market and each position is its own market. When are the runs going to happen? Where do I at the end of the day, let's simplify this thing. I want this player. Where can I get this player? All of this work pre draft is done. All this specific work, the consensus boards, the mock drafts, all that find the smartest people, get the best information. You go to the huddlereport.com and they can tell you the best, best mock drafts and the best top 100 boards every year. Let's pluck out the best of those guys, ladies and gentlemen, and, and put them all into a thing and figure out our consensus for where what we trust. So I say all of that with I don't care about a consensus board. I look at where I rank a player and I know historically our board is like the last five years. It's the best that's out there. We're 84.8. We average out of 100 players who are picked. So I would trust that board. I'm not saying we're perfect. We miss on guys just as much as teams in the league do and we hit on certain guys and it's all fine. The trouble I have with and Gladstone came out and talked about this. Nate Borkirksher. Nate Borkirkshire, the tight end that they drafted from Texas A and M. He's a good player. I get it. The league's going to 13 personnel and that's what James is sharing with people. And there was going to be a tight end running and we told you where the tight end run was going to be. And in fact we were probably 8, 10 picks late on where it was going to start. But we told you the range, where it was going to happen. We told you the wide receivers are going to go in the first round. There was only going to be A few in the second, and then there was going to be a bunch in the third and I'll get to that in a little bit. We kind of had a really good feel. If you study this, you do. And I know, like, DJ has a good feel and Kite probably has a good feel. Like people who do this full time all year, like, and have gotten good at and have good sources in the league, you combine all that information and you can figure out kind of where the runs are going to happen. So he's relying on some of that to figure out the runs. And he did a great job with that. He took at 56, a tight end, and that's where that run was happening. My problem is I went off of our board and we had him in day three. And then I talk to teams because I'm not going to come on here and I'm not going to do this. The consensus I got from teams because I'm texting people and I'm trying to figure out before I come on here, I'm not going to say just because I didn't evaluate the same way. I want to make sure consensus was fourth, fifth round with Bohr Kircher. Okay, so we're taking them at 56. That's the only issue I have here. Albert Regis. I loved Albert Regis. Loved Albert. I watched his tape and onydem, the other Tyler oneidim. I actually liked Regis more, but recognizes more upside. So I knew that onyudem was going to wind up going a little bit earlier. And he did. But Albert Regis at AD1 didn't have to take him. Even I, who I knew that I was higher on Regis than most people. I just appreciated the hell out of the way he played with discipline and all that stuff. I didn't have him in. I'm just outside the top 100. They take him at 81. That's fine. Okay. I can live with that. Jalen Huskies 251 on our board. Some teams had sixth. They took him in to pick 100.
B
Yeah.
A
So. And it keeps going from Wesley Wilson. That was a good pick. 157. That's about where he was going to go. 119 is where we had him. C.J. williams, though, the wide receiver. Undrafted free agent. Talking to teams. Yeah. With UDF, UDFA, UFA. Zach Durfee, Edge. 233 on our board. Teams. Yeah. Seventh, late Parker, huge linebacker. So I say all of this. I'm not, I promise you, I'm not railing on James Gladstone. All I'm saying is he's going to wind up being the smartest guy in the. In the room. He's going to be one of the smart guys that we're always. He's doing it different. He's doing it his way. And my gosh, he's nailing it. And if that happens, awesome. I'm here for it. Like, you know, I like. Less. Less. Need a lot. And that's just his guy. Like, I'm, like, I'm. I'm for it. He's taking a risk. And honestly, go get him, man. Do it your way.
B
Yeah.
A
I'm not here cracking on it. I'm just saying there is an element to it, though, where it's like I get getting your guy, but maybe figure out where you can get your guy and be comfortable that you're going to get your guy. That's. That's my only, my only slight here. But I'm. I'm fascinated. I can't wait to see how this works out. Yeah.
B
But if you look at it from the Rams standpoint, like, there's a reason the Rams didn't take Puka Nakua in the first round and they got Puka Nakua late because they identified that this player would be there and they believe. They. I firmly believe that they thought he was going to turn into what he turned into. But.
A
And the Rams do some of this. They don't. Some of it. They don't win all the value chart, you know, drafts every year. They don't. But they're. It's more controlled. It's more controlled.
B
Right. You know, they joked about this whole series.
A
This feels like I'm going to make my mark and I'm going to show you. And I hope he does.
B
He might.
A
I promise you there was another team I was going to get to. I just. Yeah. I think the 49ers could have done the same. Could have done a little bit better job. I have. I can't be. I can't begin to explain to you the level of respect I have for John Lynch. I'm not cutting at it. I'm just saying I think that we could all agree, like Stripling and Halton, great picks.
B
Yeah.
A
Getting strip.
B
Get out of here with the stribling was a reason.
A
Yeah. Like if you're going to make. If you're going to make comments and cut at somebody that has one of those 32 seats in the league, you better know what the fuck you're talking about. And to say that Stribling would. Stribling was going the next five, 10 picks, man. So like get out of here. I tried to. I trolled everyone. The two guys that were going earlier than everyone thought was. Was Stuke. Were Stukes from Arizona.
B
Trade Stukes.
A
And we saw him go early. And then also Dejan Stribling from Ole Miss wide receiver hot. Like sizzling hot coming into the draft.
B
That's true. That's so hot right now.
A
So hot right now. Zoolander. But Kalyn Black, who we loved love, we were on the high end of taking him at 92. O4 is the where we had him. I talked to some people. They thought like 5th was about the spot. So make me take him in the fourth. Carver Willis, Jaden Duggar, Enrique. And I love Caleb.
B
He had four catches in 16 games last year. Yeah. And it doesn't mean he can't do it in the NFL. But like there's. This is a profile of a player that you're going to take a little. Yeah.
A
And they've just. The hard part with the running back stuff is like Joe Williams in the fourth in 2017, Trey Sermon in the third and 21:22 was tyre Tyrion Davis Price, Isaac Arundo in 20:24 in the fourth, James, Jordan James in the fifth last year and now Kaylan Black in the third. That's a lot of third to fifth round picks that haven't panned out. So we'll see. And I hope and I, we. I love Jordan James and I love Caleb Black. I really do. James I didn't have a problem with last year at all. Like, I got that. That's right where they should have taken him. This one is. Feels a little early, but only time will tell. All right, next. Next up. I can chill now.
B
Yeah, we'll see. You'll get worked up in a minute.
A
Interesting position group. What was the interesting position group to you?
B
It's. It was tight end. I mean, it's funny because I. You wrote up a lot of the tight ends and then I was peeking over your shoulder because that's one of my favorite positions and I'm always into it. But listen, 22 tight ends drafted, it's not that it wasn't as good at the top. I get that. You know, one first rounder, I understand all of that. And then Stowers, Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt didn't go until late 22nd in the second round. So, like it wasn't top heavy. But 22 tight ends is the most since 2002.
A
Tells you something, doesn't it?
B
2002 tells you a couple of things, right? Like it tells you one, this class was very deep. But the more importantly thing, the thing that you're talking about is how much teams are valuing them. You've talked about just the 13 sets, the.
A
The 12.
B
Like your people are using tight ends and people are going to get. You can get into the weeds about this. Is it really 13 personnel? If that tight end's laying up, lining up in the slot and I get all that, I don't know. I'm not really here for that right now. I'm telling you that this, these players are valued. These players that are, I think, versatile, can play in the slot, can block inline, can do all of these different things for you. And we're seeing that the mirror image of that on the defensive side of the ball, where a guy like Caleb Downs is a nickel so important, or Cooper DeJean is so important as a nickel, because you're trying to find guys that match up in there. This is where the game is going. These versatile pieces at tight end and at safety. That's why nickels are valued so much. So here we see it. This is. It's in the number of 22. Not only that, the Dolphins, Browns, Ravens, Broncos and Jaguars all drafted two. All of them looked at and said, we're going to go and get. Get tight ends. You know, the Browns got one last year. They didn't care. They're still going to go and get two this year because they like this class so much. It was, you know, outside of Bo Kircher going to Jacksonville, it wasn't that crazy in terms of. I thought I saw a lot of reaches that people thought Titans were reaching. And I get it. I wouldn't have had him come off the board the exact same way. But it was still, it still went Sadiq's Towers like we expected in the, in the, in the beginning. And maybe you didn't identify Marlon Klein from Michigan as a top five tight end. This guy did. McShay did. We knew that he was a top five going into this. We both really liked him. Max Claire went after that like Sam Roush, another guy that we're really high on. So I didn't think there was as much reach as some other people thought. I just thought it was a really deep class. And it, it proved to be a really deep class.
A
It did. Honestly, the past catchers were a big theme because you. Both the tight ends and the wide receivers. And this, we talked a lot about. This wasn't. We didn't have Calvin Johnson or some of the The Jamar Chase recently. We didn't. It's not, it's not those class. It's not. It wasn't that class where you have the elite guy. And we'll have that class next year with Jeremiah Smith.
B
Right.
A
As we're getting ready, preparing, go back this afternoon and write up this first overall. 2027. Way too early.
B
Sorry, Arch. First overall.
A
But we recognized the depth, man, and it was, it was a pick your flavor. When you got past the first, you know, first round. Even in the. Honestly, throughout it was pick your flavor because we had big, big physical X's. We had. We had Z slots. We had some, some guys that look like X's but really are going to be Z's with vertical speed. Like the Brazils at 4, 3 speed, right? Trey, Bryce, Lance. Trey. Lance's younger brother, Ted Hurst. So we had some guys that look like X's tall, but they're not the physical guys. They're verticals. Put them at Z. We had slots. We had guys like Omar Cooper Jr. Who's played slot and played outside. Antonio Williams, inside outside.
B
Casey Concepcion.
A
Yeah, Concepcion. We had a lot of different kinds of. I was fascinated by the wide receivers and I feel like we had it pretty good. We thought five to six in the first round and it turned out to be five. Right. With Carnell, Tate, Jordan, Tyson, Makai, Lemon, Casey Concepcion and Omar Cooper Jr. With the jets trading back into 30 to get him then we knew that there was like some wild card element to the second round. Would. Would Zachariah Branch be a second rounder or some of the medical and the size. Would Chris Brazel, so intoxicating with talent but like some. The maturity stuff. Is he there? You know, some of the reports came out. Or else I wouldn't. I didn't mention it until reports came out everywhere else. Okay, so who's going to be in? And then Jeremy Bernard, such a good fit for west coast offense. Dijon Stribling, such a good fit for that kind of offense. Like, so it was about flavor there, but only three of them came off the board. And Denzel Boston, who we thought could be one of those six, winds up falling a little bit with Stribling going a few picks before, six picks before him. Right. But what I find fascinating is nine of them went in the third round.
B
Crazy.
A
Crazy.
B
Out of 36 picks, that's 25%.
A
It's kicked off with Antonio Williams from Clemson going to the commanders at pick 71. Three picks later, is Malachi Fields from Notre Dame going to the Giants one pick later. Caleb Douglas shocked us, right. But went to the Dolphins. Mensch covered that already. Then Zach Branch from Georgia stays home, goes to the Falcons. Hopefully can mend some fences with the local police department around there. Why aren't you laughing? Mensch? That was four picks.
B
It took me a second man.
A
One pick later Sunday after Zachariah Branch. A surprise. I didn't know that Jacoby Lane would wind up in the third. It wasn't my. But. But I get it. And the Ravens took him out of USC. Chris Brazil, who I mentioned 6, 4, 4, 3 speed.
B
Yeah.
A
Show some ability to get in and out of breaks. He's got some upside there. He goes to the Panthers. I love that pick for Dan Morgan. Buccaneers get Ted Hurst. Love that pick. Let's get baked some guys. He can drive it, man.
B
Yeah.
A
Xavion Thomas, very surprising to me, but he was second, second fastest receiver, third fastest player at the combine, I believe it was from LSU, goes to the Bears at 89 and then 94. Chris Bell, who I thought could actually go in the second ahead of schedule. Coming off the ACL tear in surgery I mentioned I took. Like, there's some maturity stuff. There's some stuff on tape where you're like, come on, man, like, give me some more as a blocker. Give me some more consistency. Your route running. You're like a four year player. Why aren't the routes great? But then you watch him catch the ball against Miami and slice through a defense and rip off that 43 speed that we think he has and it's like, yep, he can.
B
That dude can play.
A
And the Dolphins got him as well. So that 17, with that nine in the third round, 17 is tied for the most. And we talked about this a month leading up to the draft, tied for the most ever in the common draft era for wide receivers to go in the first three rounds with 20, 20, 20, 22, 2020 and 2007. Pretty remarkable from her class that we watched in the summer. We're like, I'm not sure, man. Yeah, there's a bunch of good guys, but I'm not sure we'll take the next step.
B
We know it wasn't like these guys weren't on our radar.
A
Tyson going to be healthy, Denzel. Boston going to take the next step all the.
B
And then middle of the season, Jeremy Bernard Lemon. Kid's pretty good. Yeah, it started to grow.
A
All right, next up, we got a lot of categories. Oh, glass eaters.
B
Yeah. So you're gonna skip it.
A
This one's for mensch glass. I'm not skipping anything.
B
I thought you might skip it.
A
Last year we did 2 hours and 20 minutes. If we go an hour and 20 today, that's fine. Glass eaters. Who is it for you?
B
We got the Gl. First of all, I want everyone to understand what a glass eater is. These are like the road graders. These are the tough guys. These are the guys that you want playing along your offensive line who, if you're in a, in a brawl in an alley, these guys are the first ones to step to the front and take care of their boys.
A
Ok. The Menches.
B
No, no. Definitely not. Anyone who played with me knows I wasn't that guy.
A
Yeah.
B
Anyways, the Joe Douglas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That everyone's gonna get that. Houston offensive guard Keelan Rutledge is the runaway winner. He is the, he is at the top. But he also got to mention Detroit offensive tackle Blake Miller could be a real prick.
A
Real prick.
B
Baltimore offensive guard Vega, I. You want a. I can't do it, man. Also can be a real prick. These guys are violent, mean block to the echo of the whistle. They will get under your skin with the way they play. And I would be remiss if I didn't give my honorable mention to my favorite player in the draft. Apparently Pittsburgh offensive guard slash offensive tackle Jennings Dunker, who is not afraid to mix it up himself. These are the guys, these are the glass eaters in the class. These are the guys that, like, if you got them, you know you've got someone in that offensive line room who's going to accept nothing less than protecting your quarterback and opening up running lanes. They are going to be physical and they're going to go hard every single
A
snap that I, I, I feel like you're stereotyping. Why, why does it have to be an offensive lineman? There aren't glass eaters.
B
It didn't have to be. I mean, I don't, I, I understood that and I actually thought about it.
A
I'll give you another offensive line, Scott.
B
By the way, I thought about Travis
A
Burke from Memphis is a glass eater.
B
Okay, here we go.
A
There's an offensive T. You're out of
B
your realm, but go ahead.
A
117 overall. Chargers love the player.
B
Yeah, yeah, I do. I love it. I love. He's got, he's got some meaning.
A
He's got a decent amount of pricking.
B
Yeah, yeah.
A
Okay. My glass eater, though, would be. And I'll give you another honorable mention first, why can't a wide receiver be
B
a. I knew you were going to do this. Go ahead.
A
Denzel Boston.
B
I know. I love him.
A
Have you seen some of the hits he takes with that quarterback? With all due respect, he's an awesome athlete. Williams.
B
Yeah.
A
Demon Williams.
B
Yep.
A
Off target. Can. Can be off target. Can lay you out. You've seen some of those hits over the middle he took. Pop back up. No problem. First down.
B
Yep.
A
Glass eater. My glass eater in this class. Class is Will Kazmark. Okay.
B
D' Angelo Pons, by the way, would have a. He.
A
He doesn't want to successfully block you. Wants to break your face. Did you see him at the combo?
B
We have one category for the offensive lineman, and you have to. You. You just.
A
I gave you one. Travis Burke from Memphis. He's now.
B
But now you want to be like,
A
it's probably right down the road right now. Tell me about Cosmeric Joe Ortiz in the gang.
B
Tell me about Kazmark.
A
You see him at the sled at the combine. Yeah. I thought he was gonna hurt something. Yes, He's.
B
He's mentally. He's that guy. Yeah.
A
Yeah. Mentally ill in all the great ways.
B
In the best ways. Yes, those.
A
That's a glass eater, man.
B
Yeah.
A
Miami gets a glass eater.
B
That's why he went as early as he did.
A
That's why a guy who doesn't catch the ball that much, he actually can catch the ball well. Yeah, but a guy who doesn't catch the ball much was a third round pick to the Miami Dolphins who got all sorts of needs but tells you what they want to be. And we're going to have the third. This is Slow it, man. We're going to have that 13 personnel. Yeah, this is like, this is Shanahan McVeigh. This is, you know, we're going to. We're going to line up all sorts of things. We're. How many tight ends do the rams have?
B
Like 70.
A
Right.
B
It's not even funny. Like, they, they. They haven't seen a tight end they don't love.
A
So that's why he was. They valued him enough. Even though he's like, not. Yeah, security blanket here and there, but as a pass catcher, he's not going to offer anywhere close to, what, the 87th pick in the draft. But because he wants to break your face and break that sled, he's going to be. He's. He's worth 87 to us. All right, 20, 27 QB sweepstakes. As we prepare to leave here and go to the hotel and kind of rip into some of the needs left and rip through the 2027 mock draft. Which team did it occur to you as we're watching this 2026 draft play out, like 2027 sweepstakes, it's starting.
B
Well, it's interesting to me because I think that I. The jets are clearly the team. You're going to talk about the qb.
A
The QB sweepstakes. Yeah. Okay.
B
So I think the jets are clearly the team I don't want to get. You know, I don't want to act like I don't think that's the case. I'm gonna let him explain it. I think the Browns are interesting because of the same things you talked about a little bit earlier. They actually now are in position to evaluate their quarterback room and see whether or not the guy is there. And if he's not there, then they know what they need to do. And one other interesting thing is that Andrew Barry, his flurry of trades and your head must be like, your head might be spinning as a Browns fan about what he exactly did, but when the dust settled, he walked out of there with two fourth round picks for next year. And I know that's not a second first round pick. I understand that. I understand where that is. It's not nothing. Picking up more capital, putting him in a position. We'll see what else he does that.
A
That stood out to me. I think you're onto something.
B
So he had two fourth round picks from next year and it was moving up to get players.
A
It was hard to get a pick from anyone.
B
I'm telling you, Andrew Bray In 2027, a hell of a weekend.
A
He did. And I hope people recognize like other teams around the league were protecting the 2027 picks like, and he's getting them,
B
he's prying them loose. Yeah.
A
Like family heirlooms.
B
And then when he moved up, he was picking up picks that he had from this year. He wasn't using capital from next year.
A
Yeah, the jets, like, I don't think we have to spend a lot of time on it. I don't think that they've even been. Yes, they spent a fourth round pick on Cade Klubnick and yes, it was a little bit confounding because it was Klubnick and but you come to find out all the nussmeyer and his durability stuff and some of the other quarterbacks went, you know, a little bit later. But that's to be like, Klubnick is going to be a backup for a long time and they want to get started on the development of him. Maybe get him a couple, couple games he plays this year. He's got talent but he's not future. He's just. He didn't show anything this year that would lead you to believe he's the future of the jets plans. I think we all know that I'm stating the obvious. What also is obvious and it's become. I knew this a long time ago but like it's become public that that trade for Quinn and Williams was. The offer was a first this year, 2026 and a second next year. And they negotiate. They had to negotiate. No, we want your 2027 first so that they could then get a third first round pick. They have three first round picks next year. Right. And they did a great. I started the show off talking about the jets and what they've done. They are absolutely building towards 2027 and pluck insert that quarterback whether it's Arch Manning, whether it's Dante Moore and anything less than that I think would depending on how it all plays out next year, maybe C.J. carr becomes the enviable one. Maybe it's Brandon Sorsby, Lenore Sellers, your guy. So whichever quarterback that is, there's going to be, there's going to be enough at the top. Like in 2024 when we had six of them going 12 picks. It's probably going to be something pretty similar next year. Okay. So they, they, they're setting all this up and they're trying to get the roster right for when they do insert that they're ready to hit the ground running. Right. The fascinating part is Aaron Glenn, as any good coach would. But Aaron Glenn wants to win now and they're bringing in enough talent to win a few games. But how many games do they win? You know and that balance I also was told like they were going to bring in a veteran that will win them enough games so that they don't lose the job and lose the fan base and every like so that there's enough positive energy and things going on but not enough games that we're going to. We're not in striking distance with those three picks.
B
Strange place to be in, man. And you don't players how to lose. You don't want to do it.
A
Well that's the thing is and I don't want to get into a long thing on this. You can't in the NFL unless you physically remove players from the field or you've just depleted your roster in a way you can't tank because there, there isn't a coach in the world and much, much, much, much more Importantly, every tape, every game is a tape, and every tape is a part of the puzzle or picture for me getting another contract. So the 53rd man on the roster or the first, every tape I put out there is part of the picture of me.
B
Players talk about that all the time, highly aware of it.
A
You only get 17 of them. Yep. So I'm not. I'm certainly not going to take 1/17 of my opportunity to get a better contract, whether it's here or the next place. So it's going to be fascinating to watch that. All right, next, who's the day three pick, in your opinion, if you had to pick all of them?
B
Yep.
A
There were, what, 100 picks? So of the 157 picks on day three, if you had to target one guy, who's going to make the biggest impact in 2027? Who's it going to be? Give me 20, 26, who's it going to be?
B
Give me fourth round pick Bryce Lance for the New Orleans Saints.
A
Love it.
B
They took Jordan Tyson in the first round and you might be like, oh, they already got a guy. He's going to get all these targets. He's going to get all this, this workload. And they had Crystal Lavi coming back, hopefully. I don't know what the blood clot, but hopefully Chris Olavi is going to be great and ready to go. They're going to get all these targets. How is Bryce Lance going to make an impact? Well, two ways, I think. One, they had such a dire need a wide receiver that I think he's wide receiver. Three, coming out of camp and he's going to get a lot of run as wide receiver. Three, and he's going to be the guy that they use to stretch the field. He's going to be the vertical threat and you've got a quarterback and Tyler Shuck who has the arm strength to get him the ball. So I think he can make an impact even if he doesn't have as many touches or targets. What he can do with those touches and targets is, I mean, he can generate significant production off that. And I don't want to look at this as just a statistical thing. It's not just about how many catches he has. It's not about how many yards, how many touchdowns he has. What does he do when he's on the field? You want to load up the box against the run. Good luck if he runs by your corner because, yeah, you, you can't, you can't have it both ways. So you're wanting, you're Going to want to play more too high looks and if you do that and you have him stretching the field, you have elite route runners and Tyson Olave, both of those guys are awesome route runners and now you're giving them more space to work in. I think that impact can't be underrated for a guy in the fourth round. Late fourth round. I love the pick and I think he's going to make an immediate impact.
A
I. I'm with you, man. I, I thought that was an awesome pick. Especially yeah. With the quarterback that can drive it down the field and extend to allow. I think that that's going to work out. I'm going to go the Ravens and I'm actually going to. I'm going to take a chance here. I'm going to go with Elijah Surratt, the wide receiver from Indiana. Okay. And I'm doing So knowing that 35 picks earlier when they picked him at 15, 15 in the fourth round, he's the 15th pick of the fourth round. I recognized, I think it was 35 picks earlier they took Jacoby Lane, who I touched on earlier. I think you're going to get more out of Surat this year than you are out of Jacoby Lane. And I get. Lane is bigger. Lane does some good things. I think Surat is what Surat is and I don't think the ceiling is enormous, but I think he's going to step. This guy's a pro, man.
B
He's got a high floor.
A
He's got a high floor and he's been, he's bounced around. He's a veteran. He's got battles under his belt. He's the guy who's watching tape on NFL players and making sure that we, you know, Fernando, we got to do the back shoulder fade the same way that Aaron Rodgers and Devonte Adams do it. And he perfects it with Mendoza, he's going to come in and yeah, like Lamar needs different weapons and Lamar's got Zay Flowers and he's got Tez Walker, hopefully takes the next step and he's got Rashad Bateman, who is what he is. I think he's going to wind up coming in and out, way out playing. And I get it. Possession receiver, perimeter possession receiver. That's where he does his work. I think he could wind up being a big part of what Baltimore does offensively. And I'm not talking 80 plus catches, I'm not talking, you know, 800 receiving yards, but I'm talking like 50, 60 catches as a fourth round pick, which is. Which is pretty darn impactful. I could just. Yeah, I just think he's ready. I think he's ready. So that's the guy I'm going with. Taking a little risk. All right, TMS scoreboard. The McShay show scoreboard. Let's be. We took some hacks at some things and picks and people. Not really. But if you had to grade yourself, if you had to give the one pat on the back and then one like son of a gun, what would it be?
B
My pat on the back is Arizona State offensive tackle Maxi and Achor first round pick. All day, all day I've been saying that all along. People who are like, no, he's the second round and get out of here if you're going to tell me.
A
Oh, but men shift.
B
Eagles didn't do them dirty. If how he didn't do Pittsburgh dirty. Makai Lemon would have been the pick at Pittsburgh at 21.
A
Then he would have been.
B
He would have gone. He was going no matter what. I think the. I think that he has some things to clean up. I think he has some things to work on. Like all rookie offensive lineman coming in. I don't think he's nearly as raw as some people think. And I also think he's kind of a prick. I think he showed that at the Senior bowl how competitive he was and how physical he was. Now I'm going to go another offensive lineman as my. There's some things I might want to look back on this and maybe tweak how I'm approaching evaluating and that's Kaden Proctor, the Alabama offensive tackle who went to Miami. Here's the thing about Kaden Proctor. I stand by what my concerns are. Tape is inconsistent.
A
Oh, it is.
B
I do worry about the weight. But you know what? It's a traits thing.
A
The good lord only makes a few and he does.
B
And at that point in the draft, he was the third offense. If he was the first offensive tackle, I would not be. This would not be a pick I'd be talking about because I do not think he's the first offensive tackle in this class. I don't think he deserved to be in that conversation. But he was the third offensive tackle off the board and he didn't go in the top 10. And you're talking about a player who is a. An experienced SEC player. And yeah, I'm concerned about the weight, but I went back and I looked at him at the pro day. For a guy who's that heavy, carries that way pretty well, man, he does. So maybe stop you know, look, the body type is just as important as the number. If they can unlock him, if they can get him to manage his weight, if they can clean up the technique, that's going to.
A
Can't play at 390. Got to play at 350.
B
You can't.
A
His tape at 350 is a lot different than his.
B
But if they can figure it out and he can figure it out, that's going to look like a great pick.
A
Yeah, I'll stick with the quarterbacks because it's what.
B
What.
A
What bugs me. And I think I've done enough victory lap on Ty Simpson. But that, like, it was hard, man. It was hard to trust that tape and to recognize 15 starts and undersized and play declining and all the things and every insider and everyone in the league and even talking to people in the league myself like, like, yeah, second round, you know, and to hang on, but stay rational about it and not be out of control. Like, Mendoza is absolutely the first overall pick. But to recognize that there will be people that recognize what he can do, that was hard. What.
B
I agree with you, and I'm like, all the way through. But it baffled me that you don't think he's Boomer bust. If you miss on this guy. This is a guy. And here's why. I'm going to say the number one reason I think he's Boomer bust starts. You are terrified of guys who have that few starts.
A
No, I understand that, but let me explain something to you. I get.
B
Here we go.
A
No, no, I. I do. I want to actually have a rational conversation with you. I do get your point and I do get the people's point who are saying, well, you could have drafted this player and you could have gotten that player. And that does exist. But what also exists is in this league, and you could argue in sports, in American sports, there's no more important position than that.
B
No question.
A
I have watched Rick Spielman put together some of the best rosters in the league and they couldn't get the quarterback right. We watched a good friend of ours, Joe Douglas, put together a pretty damn good roster. Couldn't get the quarterback right.
B
Yep.
A
And so when you have an opportunity and then let's flip it and let's go to, like, Green Bay and getting out ahead and pissing off the starting quarterback and from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, you know, when you get an opportunity and you identify a guy that you think can be the next guy, and your head coach and your GM are actually in lockstep as I explained to you, and I think people have come around to that and you recognize what does this young man need more than anything? Even though he was a practice player for three years and went up against Nick Saban's defenses and had one year of start, you'd love to get him on the field, but he's probably not ready. So now we get him in the room, we get him in training camp and yes, the practice opportunities are not ideal, but when he goes to start in a couple years or a year. Yeah, in a couple, few years. This is, this is literally. And we said this for. I've said this for months now. This situation is literally the best situation that we could have had. There is not one other organization, one other coach, one other quarterback in front of him. There's nobody better. There's no situation better than the one he fell into in the ramps. So as a general manager who's in charge of this organization and its personnel and keeping, you know, and the F them picks was to win a Super bowl. And they've kind of, they've gone out and been aggressive and done done that and they gave away one of their two first round picks to make sure their secondary was taken care of. They don't have a lot of holes. And if I can take care of the next decade of this franchise, if I hit on this. That's why you do it.
B
Agree with everything you just said and I love that you were. You had the, the balls to back it up and I love all of that. But the definition of a boom or bust is a guy who might not work out or could be a franchise quarterback. Yeah.
A
Super Bowls for you.
B
And that's what this kid is.
A
Yeah. You're talking about Caleb Banks back in the beginning of this show.
B
Yes.
A
And I'm like, can we chill on that? Like, you know, and we're talking about like three guys with injuries and, and character stuff with the Bengals. Like, no question this is a massive Boomer Bus pick. But it.
B
And I hope it's a boom man.
A
Oh me. Yeah. Obviously.
B
And I love that you were. You had the balls to like, like come out and say it when you did.
A
Cole Payton would be my. But I'm not even worried about it.
B
Okay, here we go.
A
I. This is, this is the beauty. I knew how you're going to handle this.
B
This is how you're going to.
A
It's not how I planned on handling it, but I thought Cole Payton was going to go higher and he went in the fifth. I thought it was going to be. I thought there was a chance. Second. I thought it was going to be third. And he went in the fifth. And the quarterback market was. Was wild and different, and that's fine, too. But for two of my guys at the quarterback position to land in the spots that they landed in, like, this Philadelphia situation's perfect. It reeks of like, kind of like Jalen hurts situation. And I'm not saying it's going to land that way, but in the meantime, you can utilize them in some different ways.
B
Yeah. You know who you are.
A
Who?
B
You go in an interview and someone's like, what's your biggest weakness? And you're like, sometimes I try too hard. That's who you are.
A
You can't even admit that maybe you
B
missed on a guy or here's what you got to tweak. Or any of that.
A
I missed on where he was going to be drafted because I was stubborn. Yes. I missed on Colpain.
B
Okay.
A
However. All right, last word. Last word. Just a few things I want to run through because I think. I don't know if you follow this. I find it interesting. A and M had the most players taken brought to the combine. Ohio State for the second year in a row had the most players drafted from their program with 11 in the 2026 NFL Draft. That was again, you know how hard
B
that is to do.
A
Crazy to do it back to.
B
Back to back to like you're losing players.
A
That's. That's the old Alabama stuff. And Georgia was there for a couple years. Speaking of Alabama, Alabama and Texas A and M followed up with 10 players each.
B
I think my got it going on in Texas A and M now.
A
There were four that were tied with nine. Can you guess any of them?
B
Four that were tied with nine?
A
No. I don't know.
B
I don't want to say any. I don't want to do that. I'm not playing your game.
A
Well, think about, think about the College Football Playoff.
B
Miami.
A
Yep, that was one of them. Indiana, actually, only three of them didn't have that many. Indiana actually didn't know. No.
B
Go hit me.
A
Texas Tech.
B
I wish I'd guessed that one. Yep.
A
And the other one is kind of damning if we're going to be honest. Clemson had nine players drafted.
B
That's interesting.
A
Yeah. Another thing I want to bring up that we almost went with, but when we got clearance to use the tape, it was kind of later than when it was all happening. But one of the true amazing stories this year in the draft, and I was. I remember Uwar Bernard has never played a down football. He's at the H, the NFL's HBCU showcase. I, it kind of went viral. Everyone was talking about here. You watch him. This man, that's like a, that's like Marvel stuff, man. I want you to watch this human being. He has never played football in his life. Was it Nigeria? Is, is he from.
B
I'm not sure, I don't know.
A
Yes, from Nigeria. I mean we got a little tightness. We're going to work through it. Let me give you the measurables on this cat 6044. That means six, four and a half, 306 pounds. He's got 11 inch hands, 30, almost 36 inch arm length. Okay, you know what he ran. The average guy, let me just give perspective. The average guy who has that kind of measurable combination is probably at best like the best. The best is like a 4, 9 3. Most of them are 51 to 5, 5.1 to 5.3. He ran a 4, 6340 yard dash.
B
That is insane.
A
And you're watching him here and you're like, well he's got a little tightness and all that. I want to remind you he's six, four and a half, 306 pounds. Dude's going to play on the line somewhere, okay? And he's never played football so he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. They're just asking him. Run that way, run that way. The guys that you see at the combine have played football there, you know, probably since they were nine years old or younger and have been training for three months somewhere in Florida or Arizona or California, getting ready to do that exact drill. The way that scouts want to see that drill. They just like, here's the field. Run that way, run that way. Absolutely spectacular. We want to thank Lance Zurline, by the way. Lance. Congratulations brother. Like killed it killed your mom craft. I think the top one, like yeah, awesome job. Lance is one of the great guys. And then Mark Delgarian, sorry, Mark Delgarian gave us access to this and honestly I think it's an awesome thing. The HBCU, the NFL's HBCU showcase. Like there can't be enough opportunities out there. And we see like whether they go to like the afl, you know, all these different leagues and to see players, like if you're out there, you're going to be found. But sometimes it takes a long time to find certain guys. So the fact that the, the Eagles,
B
I told you it was going to be them.
A
You did.
B
You know why?
A
Why?
B
Because they turned Jordan my lot off from an Australian rugby player into one of the best left tackle. They have the they know what they're doing here. They turn one of the best left
A
tackles in the league Stout coming back. I don't think it's if not I think this could be a defensive lineman.
B
I think it might be a defensive guy.
A
Either way, give give credit to the Eagles, but I give credit to everyone involved to the fact that this young man gets this opportunity and has never played organized football before. I remember Zeke Ansa, the stories at BYU when he came over. I believe it was Nigeria as well. He came over from from Africa and he like they the stories of having to like help him put on his shoulder pads. Like Ty he didn't know how would you how about know how to go.
B
How about Howie putting some faith in his coaching staff Major how about like, you know, understanding that people always say like you don't develop players in the NFL.
A
That's bullshit.
B
Like put some faith in your in your coaching staff to take a guy who's that raw and turn him into something.
A
Yeah. I had a couple other last words. That's a perfect way to end it is. All right. We appreciate it. Again, the website if you want to follow as you're as you're getting ready for the 2027 mock draft and really still reviewing this draft that just happened and check out the website. It's theringer.com mcshay there you will find a tab for the newsletter. It's called the McShay Report. Please subscribe we're actually going out to dinner tonight and we're coming up with a content plan and how we can provide more exclusive content for you. We're working on all sorts of things to keep leveling up and it's going to start with the 32 teams best player available or best 32 teams favorite picks just finished. Finish that up and we're going to have the mock draft coming out in the middle of the week. I believe it's on Wednesday but we'll see and we'll check out mcshay13 and at you goodmensch you can get all the updates of what's going on. But again it's the it's theringer.com mcshay and you can find everything there. And the McShay report is where you're going to get all the premium content and it will be it starts off with the review and it goes to the way too early mock draft any Final words, man. Wrapping it up.
B
It's been an unbelievable run. It's been a good year. I can't wait for next year.
A
It's going to be wild.
B
It's going to be great.
A
What do you think when I threw that at Bill on the air, besides in the background with Tucker and Dan and Connor all audibly groaning, that I would do that to Bill?
B
Your greatest strength can also be your biggest weakness.
A
A thousand percent.
B
I love the.
A
He was intrigued.
B
I love the ambition and the push.
A
He was intrigued. Bill Simmons was intrigued. I got two takeaways from. If you guys didn't watch it, I just threw it right up in my Bill White House lawn. 2027 could be the best draft ever. Maybe the best quarterback class ever. Like Netflix, Spotify, the ringer, big set, let's do it. And he was intrigued by where is it they talked to me about, you know, and then. But the second takeaway I had was he is. He is unbelievably skilled at, like, deflecting, like, quickly, that left turn he took, you know, but yeah. So we're, we're all fired up for the 2027 draft, and it starts with the mock draft this, this midweek, Mitch. Not just for today, but for the entire 2026 draft season. Five stars, brother.
B
Thanks, man. You too.
A
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 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chatincenectic or visit mdgamblinghelp.org In Maryland, Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.
B
Hey, mama.
A
Thanks for making all my favorite recipes.
C
Hi, ma.
A
Thanks for your unfiltered advice.
B
Hi, mom.
A
Thanks for always being by the phone. Hey, mom. Happy Mother's Day.
B
When you ship UPS air at the
A
end UPS store, your items arrive on time or your money back guaranteed at no extra cost. Exclusively at the UPS store US retail locations.
B
Visit the upstore.com airshipping for full details. Terms and conditions apply. Send your mother's Day gifts at the UPS store and we'll get your gratitude there on time.
Host: Todd McShay w/ Steve Muench
Released: April 26, 2026
Podcast Network: The Ringer
After a full day to reflect on the 2026 NFL Draft, Todd McShay and Steve Muench deliver a big-picture breakdown of team draft halls, highlight the smartest front offices, argue over high-stakes picks, and preview who’s positioning for 2027’s loaded quarterback class. The tone is candid, high-energy, and fueled by deep scouting intel, good-natured banter, and league insider feedback. Categories include: Best Drafts, Boom-or-Bust, “See the Vision” picks, “Take The Phone Away” moments, Glass Eaters, and the Day 3 Steal. The episode brims with actionable info and vivid player/coach stories for all draft devotees.
(Segment starts: 03:46)
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more of a promising feeling coming off of an NFL draft than I do right in this moment about the Cleveland Browns.” (06:36)
(Segment starts: 21:18)
(Segment: 29:39)
“He comes, you’re in trouble—he can come from anywhere, that’s a problem…” (32:15)
“For once, we got the draft day plan, and it’s clear.” (38:14)
(Segment: 41:41)
Well-respected GM blends analytics and old-school scouting, but over-drafted repeatedly.
McShay:
“I’m not railing…he’s doing it his way. But there’s an element where, if you’re going to get your guy, can you maybe figure out where you can get him?” (52:01)
Brief critique of 49ers: “They’ve invested a lot of mid-round picks in RBs that haven’t panned out. Maybe a bit early, but only time will tell.” (54:22)
(Segment: 55:14)
“Pick your flavor—X, Z, slot, vertical threat. Remarkable for a ‘question mark’ class.” (60:10)
(Segment: 62:32)
“That’s a glass eater, man.” (65:50)
(Segment: 67:09)
“Around the league, teams jealously guarded ‘27 picks like family heirlooms; Andrew Berry pried them loose.” (68:20)
(Segment: 72:04)
(Segment: 76:10)
Trusting Ty Simpson as a 1st-rounder: “It was hard to stay rational with only 15 starts, but in that Rams environment it works. Nothing matters more than quarterback.” (78:06)
Admits to missing on Cole Payton (QB, Philadelphia): “Thought he’d go in the 2nd or 3rd, but fell to the 5th…Still, love the landing spot. Could be Hurts 2.0.” (82:16)
(Segment: 83:18 to end)
Most draft picks by school:
“True Marvel story”: Uwar Bernard (HBCU Showcase/Eagles UDFA)
Shout-out to Lance Zierlein for best mock draft.
Hype for the upcoming 2027 class:
“I told Bill Simmons—2027 could be the best draft ever…Maybe the best QB class ever.” (90:18)
On Browns optimism:
“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more of a promising feeling coming off of an NFL draft than I do about the Cleveland Browns.”
— Todd McShay, 06:36
On what makes a great draft:
“There’s two ways a sane person evaluates the draft—how much better is this team today, and who maximized what they had.”
— Todd McShay, 09:51
On consensus boards:
“If you’re relying on consensus picks, how about you just go do your job?...They don’t give a fuck about consensus when it comes to their draft board.”
— Todd McShay, 45:09
On the growing importance of glass-eating toughness:
“He doesn’t want to successfully block you, wants to break your face.”
— McShay on Will Kazmark, 65:20
On QB opportunity:
“If I can take care of the next decade of this franchise, if I hit on this. That’s why you do it.”
— McShay, 79:33
[End of summary.]