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The McShay Show
Todd’s 2024 NFL Redraft: Daniels Vs. Maye at 1, Nabers Over Harrison Jr., and Bo Nix What-Ifs
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- [00:00]
Todd McShay
It's the McShay show presented by FanDuel. It's time for the first 12 team playoff and you can bet on all of the action with FanDuel. Just think about all the opportunities we're going to have to bet on the College Football Playoff. We're talking about different conferences, home games for certain teams, the three or four week run that you're going to have to play. There's so much to earn if you're betting with FanDuel this College Football Playoff season. Why we love FanDuel there's so many markets like spreads over unders, national championship futures and so much more. This app is safe, secure and easy to use. When you win, you'll get paid instantly. Visit FanDuel.com McShay to download America's number one sportsbook. The Ringer is committed to responsible gambling. Visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com when it comes to towing, seeing is believing. That's why Chevy Truck's advanced camera technology offers up to eight available cameras for 14 unique views. So you can focus on the view that really matters. Chevrolet Together, let's drive. Learn more about chevy trucks@chevy.com safety or driver assistance features are no substitute for the driver's responsibility to operate the vehicle in a safe manner. Read the vehicle owner's manual for important feature limitations and information. Merry Christmas, mensch.
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Mitch
Merry Christmas.
- [01:45]
Todd McShay
How am I going to take you seriously for the next hour? I don't think this is why I love you. This is why I love you. No shame in your game getting everyone in the holiday spirit. But listen, I don't like to speak for Mitch, okay? And I am certainly not here to preach. If you want life advice, go see Rosillo and Ceruti. They've got some for you. If you want some serious life advice, I'd take it elsewhere. Certainly not here. But listen, we've been through some stuff the last few years, right? We've been through some stuff. Nothing. Nothing that's been, you know, life or career ending, but certainly some stuff. And sometimes, and I was just thinking, I'm getting older now, right? Sentimental around the holidays. Sometimes when you get when life kicks your ass a little bit, you kind of have to regain some perspective and look at what's important. And I'll tell you one thing, I've learned the people in your life who stick with you and are there for you in the times of need, when things aren't great and when you need help, get picked back up off the mat. Those are the ones you know that truly love you. And this is the time at the holidays to pay it back, if you will. Not with presence, but with your presence. So if you're watching this show or listening to this show, I don't like to give advice much, but my advice would be shut it down. Take a couple days, take a couple hours, whatever your schedule can afford you. Try to press the envelope and make sure your schedule can afford you a little bit longer than maybe is comfortable comfortable for you. But when you're with the loved ones that you have or you have to send it, you know, only can send a text or, or write a letter or shoot a note or make a phone call. Do it. Be there. Be present. Right. Football will be waiting for you on the other side. Your bills and responsibilities will be waiting for you on the other side. The grind will be waiting for you on the other side. Take some time. Enjoy it. Whether it's your kids, your parents, your loved ones, your friends, your family, just take some time this holiday. Enjoy yourself. Take care of yourself, but take care of the people that matter the most to you. That would be my advice. So with that as a backdrop, you know, we debated whether to have a show. Here we are, we're rolling this out on Christmas day. Full transparency on this show. We're taping it on Monday so that men can be with his family. I can jump on a plane and go be with my family and some. Some people that are important in my life. But it's right after the College Football Playoff. We already had a reaction show to that. It's about eight. Eight. Well, it'll be about six or seven days from. From Christmas until the next round of playoff games. The draft can wait. Daniel Comer, one of our producers who's been critical and vital to this show, came up with a great idea. The 2024 NFL Draft. What if we revisit it and redraft it? So we decided, you know what? Brilliant idea. Let's do it. That's what we're going to do Christmas week. We're going to take a step back from everything that's going on right now, and we're going to have a 2024 NFL redraft. How could we say no to that? So consider this, folks, a special holiday treat on Christmas week. Now, dj, play me that sweet beat. Well, Men has got that cap on and the perfect beard to go with it. And we're in the Christmas spirit. Let's take another quick minute. Bill Simmons, Sean Fenisy, Jeff Chow, thank you for welcoming us into the family this year. It's been a huge transition for us. It's been nothing but wonderful. The vast, vast, vast majority of it. Thank you to Juliet Litman, Mallory Rubin, the conversations, the support that you've provided, and especially our team. Right. Connor Nevins, who's been like literally the very first voice that we've heard and has helped us put this thing together and honestly gave me a little boost. Like, hey, you can host the show. We don't need to bring in some other host. Like, you can host it. Bring on your guy Mench. Let's start talking creative. He's been there from the very first step. So we wanted to say thank you and special holiday wishes to, to Conor Nevins and to Tucker T. Our main man. Honest to goodness, Men, I mean, everyone's critical on the show, but you and I would be doing FaceTime and would, would be like putting it up on a YouTube channel. That would be a disaster. I don't know that I've ever worked with someone who is more diligent, who has been more consistent, who has grinded harder, also has done it with a smile on his face and has been so pleasant and everything we've asked for. It's like that. So. So Tucker cannot thank you enough this, this, this Christmas time and holiday time. Daniel Comer, I mentioned him. It seems like once or twice a week. He's either bailing us out from a bad idea that I have or, or he's coming up with something creative that make is making our show better. So, Daniel, happy holidays to you and your family. Eduardo Ocampo.
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Mitch
I don't think he sleeps.
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Todd McShay
I, I was just gonna say we.
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Mitch
Get emails at like 3am from him.
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Todd McShay
Like, we get done, we get done at like 1:30 in the morning after those reaction shows. I'll wake up groggy at like 8am because I fell asleep at 3 and I'll look down and there's, there's these clips that he's already produced and it's, he sent him at like 6:30. Like, so Eduardo, you and your family, Merry Christmas, happy holidays. He also, like, I'll go on a five minute rant. Somehow he'll, he'll capture the, the best 60 seconds and make it sound better than I had any chance of doing. Jack Wilson as well. Thank you I know you've been behind the scenes helping the show along the way and integral and as we get ready for the Senior bowl, the combine and the NFL draft in putting all those logistics together. So I wanted to take a moment and as I preach to everyone about taking a moment, being present, being grateful, letting the people in your, your lives that are, that are supportive of you, make sure that you, you pay that back. So here we are. Mitch, we decided to do a show. Daniel had a great idea. 2024 NFL redraft. We're going to go through the first 16 picks in the redraft. There's some adjustments, we've already kind of gone through it. But I want to go pick by pick and explain where, where our mindset is. I made the final decisions as, as mentioned, I typically do this is what provides us with the best content. Whether it's ranking the draft, doing our mock draft. We have conversations. I'll make the decision on some things and put out the list typically. And then men will be there to support it or absolutely tear it apart and keep me honest. We, we've become a, a very high functioning checks and balancing act, if you will, over the years. So we will present that to you as if we, you know, as we have done over the years for 25 years, having these conversations over the phone or in person. So without further ado, let's get to this. The 2024 NFL redraft. All right, man, the drama begins right here at pick number one, right? Absolutely. Caleb Williams was a no brainer for most people. Okay. And I think more so had he been, you know, coming out of the 2022 season than a 2023 season that had some ups and downs. And then Jaden Daniels at LSU, second year after transferring from Arizona State after the 2021 season, puts together Heisman Trophy winning campaign in, in 2023. And as we enter, enter the 2024 draft, my, my point was, and I continue to contend if you, if you're dropped on this planet and could only watch that one season of tape between Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels, you take J. Jaden Daniels, you know, it's hard to, to beat what they, what he put on tape for that season. But there's more to it. And, and when you watch Caleb Williams, it was, I think because of how successful Patrick Mahomes has been throughout his career. You saw a lot of flashes and similarities in his play style, creativity, the ability to adjust arm angles, throw on the run, off balance, all of those things. It's intoxicating Right. But there were a lot of people in the league that you talked to are like, I don't know. We're having real serious, serious discussions and debates in our, in our draft rooms about which one. The best quarterback prospect, I think playing to his benefit, the fact that he went to a very similar system in Cliff Kingsbury to what he had his final year at lsu. There was familiarity there. I don't know that the, the weapons and talent are better around the quarterback position in Washington than they are in Chicago. Certainly the past protection has been most importantly the stability of the organization, which is shocking to say. As you think about the Washington Commanders and their history with Daniel Snyder and all the coaching changes and everything else, how quickly they've been able to become a stable organization with Dan Quinn as the leadership, the new ownership above him and the support that they're getting, that's pretty remarkable. We're not here to do an analysis on the Bears versus the Commanders. We are here to redraft. I'm gonna go with and I'm curious to hear what you have to say. Every time you can hear the music with Santa Claus in the background. Jaden Daniels would be the first overall pick. Chicago. Yeah, they had to redo it, unfortunately. Here's the thing, unfortunately, given the, the fired head coach, fired offensive coordinator, offensive line they can't protect. Receivers are not playing to their, to their big name status, if you will. I don't know that Jaden Daniels would be able to have a whole lot more success than Caleb Williams. But I think after watching just about a full season in the NFL, Jaden Daniels feels like the right decision here. Not safer, not better. It's not a clear cut who's the better talent and all those things, but Jaden Daniels seems like the right decision at number one. If we were to redraft today.
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Mitch
Yeah, I can. There's no argument for me there. I mean, you just look at the season that he's had, you know, really the last two. Two seasons he's had. When you go back to his, his last year in college, I, I just can't debate it. I think it was really close, like you said, coming in between him and Caleb and Jaden just has outplayed him this year. Now, long term, we'll see what happens. I still am very high on Caleb. I still think he's got a very bright future and we'll get into that in a minute. But that being said, you have, I think you just have to give Daniels the nod right now. I mean, even yesterday that come from behind win against the Eagles. And I know that. That Hertz was out. I get all that. But just the plays that he's made this year and the belief that he's instilled. Yes. Look, that that organization has done a great job of turning itself around quickly. He's a big part of that. I mean, the belief that those players and his teammates have in him, that he's going to make a play, that he's going to get them to, you know, find a way to win a game for them, I think is a big part of that organization turning around. So, yeah, I mean that. I think we're going to talk about a lot of good quarterbacks. I think that Jaden's had the best year. So Jaden and he had. And he was one of the top two coming out last year. I think Jaden deserves to be the first overall pick.
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Todd McShay
Yeah, I agree. You know what's interesting? We'll just spin this thing forward. I think it's more of a discussion of would you take Jaden Daniels or Drake May at one than it is would you take Jaden Daniels or. Or Caleb Williams at one?
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Mitch
Yeah, I promise I'm not going to agree with everything you say right now, but that's. I agree that. That one. I do. Drake May. I mean, let's just get to it.
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Todd McShay
Pick pick number two. Washington Commanders. They can't. I mean, Commanders fans would be devastated if we actually had a redraft. Thank goodness that that's. It's just never going to happen. It's not. Not a reality. And that's why we're doing this as a. As a Christmas holiday special. But Drake May would be my number pick at number two for Washington.
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Mitch
Right. I don't know if people are paying attention to the Patriots because. And I. There's no other way to say it. This team stinks. They stink. Their offensive line is a mess.
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Todd McShay
Yep.
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Mitch
The guys that he's throwing to, I don't know if people outside of this area of the country know who they are. Like, do they know who Pop Douglas is? Do they know who Keyshawn Booty is? If they didn't weren't LSU fans. Like, I don't know if they know these guys and the way he's played. I mean, yesterday, another example. I mean he. The future is bright.
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Todd McShay
Who are viewing or listening to this on Christmas or the following days? Yes, we did. And as I already said, full transparency. We. I gotta remember we taped this on Monday. So when Ben says yesterday, he's referring to Sunday. Go ahead.
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Mitch
Apologies. Yeah, but he's just, I mean, every time you watch him, it's unreal. And I think he reminds me again, I've said this before, he reminds me of Justin Herbert, the Chargers quarterback. His, his ability to make plays with his feet, his accuracy, his arm strength, his confidence, his poise. I mean, they went into Buffalo and no one thought they had a chance this past Sunday. And he played, he just played extremely well. I think that when you're looking at him, he's. He's again been the second best quarterback. And again, these were guys that there were. I, I thought there was clearly three coming out of college last year. I did have Williams and Daniels ahead of May, but he was one of those top tier quarterbacks, so it's not that surprising. So, yeah, to me, I think it is a more of a May versus Daniels conversation. I'm still taking Daniels, by the way. I still think Daniels has the edge, so I'm with you on that. But May is certainly put himself in that conversation.
- [15:59]
Todd McShay
You know, one of the, One of the difficult parts of, of. Of this job is like, for me at least I know you're still a Patriots fan. Unapologetic and, And Kuiper's still a Ravens fan. And for whatever reason, I just, like, I had. I. Because, I guess because you're in the, you know, you're watching the sausage get made and all that stuff. I just, I grew up a Patriots fan. I grew up in New England, up in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and diehard Patriots fans for all the years that they sucked. And then when I, When I took over this job and started to get to know people in the league and all the other things, and I just, I no longer was a F fan of any team. Right. And so it's interesting, you know, still living here, but being like talking to people and, and quite honestly, like, texting with Bill Simmons now, like, kind of makes me want to go back to just being a Patriots fan.
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Mitch
Right.
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Todd McShay
It's like the passion and the excitement, you know, and obviously spoiled for so many years after having to grind through childhood with these terrible teams with bags over our faces in the stands, you know, all the misery, but then to feel it again. And now to see, wait, we did. The hardest part of recovering and rebuilding as an organization is finding the quarterback. I was texting with Bill again last night. It's like, it's. If you're stuck in this circumstance, it's kind of best case. You keep watching your quarterback, like, prove to you week in and week out that he's a star, that he's. That he is the future, and you got your guy and that's the hardest part, but you're still losing games. So now they're up with, with the Raiders winning a game against Jacksonville, now elevated to the number two spot. And if they can keep playing well but losing the last couple weeks, they could have the number one or number two overall pick. When this is all said and done and we're. He's already talked, you know, will teams be looking to trade up for if Shador goes one? Well, you know, Cam Ward and all that stuff. So it's intriguing if you're a Patriots fan, because you're going to have an early pick, maybe you get to move down and get multiple picks in a draft that has a lot more depth than it does elite talent at the top and start to surround Drake May with the guys he needs. But for these purposes, we've got Jaden Daniels going number one to Chicago for redrafting, and Drake May, despite not starting early in the season, despite losing a lot of games, despite not having the weapons around him and this, this, the passing production not looking great. I think he very clearly has been the second best quarterback in terms of what you're seeing on the field and what you think it could provide in the future. Bo Nix has been the second best quarterback of this rookie class on the field this year.
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Mitch
He's played long. We'll get to that.
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Todd McShay
But Drake May is the second most promising in terms of the future. All right, Patriots fans, it's interesting, right? When you get to the number three pick with the Patriots, if we're redrafting, it's interesting to me for some reason that if I were to tell you back in April, you get Caleb Williams at number three, people would be dancing in the streets. Here. We, we move it forward to December, late December. And if we had to redraft and they had to hand over Drake May, here you go. Take Drake May. We'll take Caleb Williams at the number three pick. Play that music. Here's what's interesting. I think this is where the discussion becomes intriguing. I went with Caleb Williams here, right? But there are a lot of people will say, well, what about Bo Nix? Why not? Bo Nix is the number three pick ahead of Caleb. He's. He's clearly outplayed Caleb. Caleb, what would you have done here?
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Mitch
Men, it's Caleb by. By a wide margin. And I think the Patriots fans should still be dancing in the streets. And I get it. Look, I don't know what the losing streak for the Bears is. They haven't won since they beat Jacksonville in the middle of October. By the way, Williams hasn't thrown an interception since then either. I cannot stress you. We look at that situation coming into the year, we're like, oh, he's got great receivers and the offline offensive line's pretty good and, you know, he's in a great position. Well, it ends up. No. Because the organization's a mess and go try and win in that organization if you're bonix, let's just swipe. Let's switch spots for Bo Nix and Caleb Williams and tell me who's going to be doing better right now. If Caleb Williams has Sean Payton in Denver.
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Todd McShay
Yep.
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Mitch
Do you think. Do you think he could beat the teams that Bo Nix has beat, which we'll get into later on? I don't. I don't know if you really want me to go fully off on Bo Nicks because I don't even think he's. I don't think he should be the. The fourth quarterback taken. I'm gonna go ahead and say that right now. Yeah. So we'll get into that in a little bit later.
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Todd McShay
Yeah.
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Mitch
I'm not. Listen, don't panic with Caleb yet. I know. I've seen the clips of him running around and trying to do too much like he did in college, and that's not going to translate. It's been kind of more of a mess than people realize it was going to be in Chicago coming into the year. I would be psyched if I was New England and I was getting Caleb Williams because I don't really think that it's Caleb Williams fault that he hasn't done that well yet. I think he's been put in a tough situation and I think there's been flashes and you're a young quarterback and you're trying to figure out that's going to happen. I think he plays in a tough division. I think that's part of the deal here. So when you look at a guy who's getting, you know, guys are getting fired around him and it's. I don't think it's his fault. I would be psyched if I was doing that I was getting Caleb Williams, who we all thought four months ago is going to be, you know, a franchise quarterback and who I still think will be a franchise quarterback.
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Todd McShay
Interesting. Some good stuff there, Mitchell. Good stuff. Yeah.
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Mitch
So.
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Todd McShay
So let's look at the first three picks. Bears taking Jaden Daniels. Commanders taking Drake May. Caleb Williams going Three to the. To the Patriots a lot. I mean, huge difference in terms of what the future and what the present would look like with those quarterbacks in the different order. But ultimately, at the end of the day, we get to pick four Arizona Cardinals and nothing has changed in terms of the board and what's available. Okay. I said going into last year's draft, I would take Malik Neighbors slightly ahead. Like almost identical grades, different receivers to a certain extent, different receivers, body build, you know, all that. Neighbors more explosive. I thought he was the most explosive playmaker in the entire draft class. I thought in terms of route running, physicality, just being built for the NFL. Marvin Harrison juniors, you know, second to none. Both phenomenal prospects coming out. I would have taken Neighbors slightly ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. It would have been obviously a big discussion in the, in the draft room. If I was general manager. I would have listened to both sides, but I would have lean Neighbors. I still today would take Malik Neighbors after this rookie year to be what it to take to. To put up the numbers and to have the success that Neighbors has had. And he's frustrated. He's not going to hold anything back. He's letting everyone in the New York media and national media know. And you know what? I love that. Like, he's the ultimate competitor. And yeah, there are some scouts where he could be a headache if things aren't going well. He can be an absolute headache. I don't mind that as long as it's not a huge distraction and causing problems. I think someone needs to kick some ass in that organization. Like the standard. The standard has to be better than the standard with the job.
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Mitch
Wait, a talented receiver is bitching about how many touches they get. I mean, when.
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Todd McShay
And not even about.
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Mitch
Hear that all the time.
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Todd McShay
Yeah, and it's not even about the touches as it is, like just how incompetent we are. Right, Right. Anyway, but that is the backdrop. Malik Neighbors would be the number four pick for the Arizona Cardinals. I considered, you know, some other players, Joe Alt still sitting there in a phenomenal year there. But they need a outside like Marvin Harrison Jr. 51 catches, 726 yards, seven touchdowns. He's been the best receiver by far, despite a slow start. And. And there's like, after him, it's not pretty. And so if you put in Malik, he'll provide more production, I think more explosiveness. But it's not like you can go in a different position if you're. If you're asking my opinion, I think they picked the right position. They didn't make a wrong decision by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, they absolutely love Marvin Harrison Jr. And they should. But if we had to redraft it, I would take Neighbors at four.
- [24:27]
Mitch
Right. And you would have done that before. The year I had Harrison again, I had the same grade. I had Harrison slightly ahead of Neighbors, so I would have taken Harrison before the year I take Neighbors now. I just think he's looking more explosive. But it's close. It's still close, so.
- [24:40]
Todd McShay
Yeah, it is. It is. I struggle with it still because I don't take it lightly that we're just going to swap out a receiver like, you know, because we're not. I recognize the fan base as a, as a passion for their, their team and, and the players on their team. But yeah, if you're making a business decision, I think Neighbors is the right decision here.
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Mitch
Right. And you're not just drafting players who've had the best rookie seasons. You're spinning this forward.
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Todd McShay
You're correct.
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Mitch
Looking at. Right. So it's. Let's keep that in mind. Too.
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Todd McShay
All right, number five pick, LA Chargers. Like, how do you go any other direction than Joe Al.
- [25:21]
Mitch
Finally a big man.
- [25:23]
Todd McShay
Yeah, he's. Santa loves it. He's been. And if you're not, if, if you're not watching this on YouTube, you got, I mean, let me describe the, the outfit from it. He's got his Santa hat on. He's got, he's got a little, that, that winter red going in his face. Like it's almost, you know, Richmond red, baby. Then he's, then he's got, he's got the white beard just. Oh, natural. He didn't have to color that baby or put something on with some, with some tape. Oh, natural. And then. Is it a spider? Spider's red. I mean, it's full on outfit. It's wonderful. But Chargers at number five. Joe Alton has been sensational. I mean, absolutely sensational. We knew coming out he was, you know, up there with some of the highest grades we've given. The offensive tackles. How do you, how do you go in a different direction and what he's meant for that team, the protection of Justin Herbert, that run game, when they've, they've needed it at times, although it has not been as consistent as they've wanted. But ultimately, if you're drafting an offensive tackle at five, when you've got a relatively young quarterback, the number one priority is protecting that guy. And he's done that at an unbelievably high level.
- [26:34]
Mitch
Always seem to Be destined to be a Harbaugh guy. Harbaugh guy. It just makes sense. You know, it's one of those perfect marriages, you know. I'm not sure there's that much to talk about. He's, he's you know, been the best rookie offensive lineman, certainly best rookie offensive tackle and fills a need fits what they do all, you know, he just checks all the boxes for that pick. That's one of those ones when you're going through your mock. You're like, yeah, that. Okay, we can just go on here. All right, that one's easy. Let's just go.
- [26:59]
Todd McShay
Yeah, let's. But this is where it gets interesting. This is where it gets spicy. This is where I started to be like, oh, we gotta like we got a project on our hands. New York giants picking at 6. The pick is in. I'm taking Bo Nix here and it sounds, it sounds like Mensch is gonna, is gonna knock this a little bit. Let's say this Bonix. The New York Giants obviously, obviously took Malik neighbors but, but at that point they still were delusional. Delusional. On Daniel Jones. I don't get a lot of things right but like somewhere in my feed it popped up or me screaming to Scott Van Pelt the other day about how Daniel Jones was one of the all time reaches and a critical mistake and the fact that they then doubled down on it with different leadership in the organization and paid the money that they paid to keep Daniel Jones and extend him was just, it's been. The whole Daniel Jones experience has been baffling to me.
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Mitch
Yeah, that clip is from, is from the year they drafted him. Right? That clip, it was, it was, it.
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Todd McShay
Was from, it was from an like 20 minutes after the first round wrapped up and I went on Scott Van Pelt on his show. It was immediate and I said the same things on the, on the draft, on the broadcast. But it just so happened. I, I don't know why it just popped up. Someone had reposted it. But yes, I was on with Van Pelt and just torched, torched that pick. And so again I've been wrong on plenty of guys and we'll get through all of them. I'm sure on, on the McShay show over the years but, but the Giants to me should, should have taken a quarterback this year. They went with Malik neighbors. I couldn't, I couldn't knock that pick because I love Malik and he's been great and you love having him moving forward. But knowing what they now know took them too long to know that Daniel Jones is not the guy. He's out of town. I think you have to take a quarterback here. Bo Nix on the board. Michael Pennix Jr. On the board. J.J. mcCarthy on the board. I went with Bo Nix because of the success. But I'm interested to hear what you have to say. If Knicks was performing without Sean Payton and without that Denver team.
- [29:23]
Mitch
Yeah. Well let's just look at how he. First of all, let me start by saying this. I was low on Bo Nicks coming into the draft. I thought he was more of a, you know, a late first, early second round guy. I same a lot of other people did. He has, he has exceeded expectations. Bonix has played well this year. I'm not trying to, you know, this isn't. I don't like Bonix or that I don't think Denver fans should be kind of excited about what they've got. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that the sixth overall pick is still a little rich for me. And let's look at a couple things. Okay.
- [29:53]
Todd McShay
Okay.
- [29:54]
Mitch
Five picks over his last three games. He's kind of cooling off. He had a four game win streak. We're all excited. Who did he beat during that four game win streak? Atlanta, the Raiders, Cleveland and Indianapolis against. You know he didn't even. He was unreal in the Atlanta game. Unreal, unbelievable game. But the other games he's not, he hasn't been great. I mean he's 22nd in the league in QBR. This just feels like to me that this is an example of a guy exceeding low expectations and people getting excited about him. And then when you start digging in on the record and you start digging in on some of his games, you know it doesn't look as good. Completed fewer than 60% of his passes in six games this year. There's been times where you've seen him miss throws that you normally should make. I think that Bo Nicks is a back end starter in the league. I think he's going to be right where he is now. I think he's kind of reached. I mean there's not. You don't look at Bo Nicks in here though.
- [30:50]
Todd McShay
Men. It's great.
- [30:51]
Mitch
No, listen, listen. We should all be happy for him and we should all be whatever but we're talking about a team that's nine and six and can't beat anyone in their division other than the Raiders. They can't beat Kansas City, they can't beat the Chargers. Is this the guy? This is one of those players you're going to look at in a few years and be like, man, he was good, but he never got us over the hump. That's how I feel about B. Knicks. And if I'm taking a guy at 6, you're calling him. I want a guy. No. Okay.
- [31:17]
Todd McShay
All right.
- [31:18]
Mitch
It's Christmas. Are we really going to do that?
- [31:20]
Todd McShay
No, you're taking shots like that.
- [31:23]
Mitch
No, I'm not calling him Tim Tebow. I'm calling him maybe like a Kirk Cousins. Maybe that's what he is. Maybe he's a guy that plays really well, you know, has good years. But I'm not sure I'm excited about him leading my team to a championship. And that's all I'm saying. If you're taking him at six, that seems a little early for me. And I. And again, great year. He's exceeded expectations. He deserves all the credit that he's. He's getting. But let's just keep it in perspective. Let's not get carried away. These. I mean, the teams he's beaten or Atlanta, he's beaten the Raiders twice. Like, their best win is Tampa earlier in the year. They beat the jets by one. And everyone was like, wow, look what they did. They beat the Jets. Well, the jets stinked. The jets weren't who we thought they were going to be coming into the year. New Orleans, Carolina. These are the teams that he's beating. Like, he's not. He's not beating the. The other playoff teams. Do we have expectations that Denver's going to get in the playoffs and make a serious run? I don't.
- [32:17]
Todd McShay
No.
- [32:18]
Mitch
So, I mean, let's just keep.
- [32:19]
Todd McShay
I think you make a good point. Like with. With Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Caleb Williams. Williams. More flashes and. And hope of. Of organizational stability moving forward. But with those guys, you can see, you can envision them carrying an organization, getting in a situation where enough support around them, enough weapons around them, enough protection in front of them where they can rise up and become, I don't know, elite, but. But damn good starting quarterbacks in the league, capable of kind of carrying a team in the playoffs. I could envision that already, which is amazing, by the way. Take a step back real quick. Pretty amazing that you can say that. And Caleb's a little bit of a reach, I understand, but pretty amazing that one quarterback class already there's this much excitement about three, four guys that, like, we're legitimately. Typically, if we were to do this redraft process. Late December season's almost over these quarterbacks would be falling, not rising up. Okay. Or at least saying the same at the top of the board. That's pretty remarkable and it's an unbelievable positive for the NFL moving forward. But to my point, I can envision Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Caleb Williams with the right support around them, a couple years experience with the salary cap, the fact that they're not making second, third contract money, the ability to go out and sign free agents and to be aggressive early in their first five years of their. Of their rookie contract. I can envision them carrying a team in a couple years from now to a deep playoff run. I think Denver would have to be pretty damn close to perfect. When you start talking about in a division that includes obviously Patrick Mahomes and includes Josh Allen and includes. You talked about Justin Herbert and includes Lamar Jackson. Like they would have to do things organizationally in terms of their personnel free agency in the draft for the next two years to where maybe in year three, year four with Bo Nixon. They're so damn good around him that he just has to play at a Brock Purdy level with a brock Purdy type 49ers team. That's I can envision. It's a purdy with Christian McCaffrey and Bosa and Iuk and. And Debo and you know what I mean? That's. That's outstanding. Like I can envision that path, but it's so rare to be able to build that kind of thing.
- [35:01]
Mitch
Yeah.
- [35:03]
Todd McShay
And you with Brad Holmes. John lynch did it with San francisco. But there's 32 teams and that's only two that you're talking about that have like unbelievably complete rosters, you know?
- [35:16]
Mitch
Yeah, and. And you made the reference. And maybe we're overstating it, but which one of these quarterbacks, other than Daniels, if you put with Sean Payton, would be doing better this year? I mean, I think Drake may would be better with Sean Payton. I think that Caleb Williams would be better with Sean Payton. And maybe I'm overstating it, but there is. And a little bit. But yeah, there's a little bit of a bias there of how good he is with quarterbacks.
- [35:38]
Todd McShay
All right, so that's the boat that was that. That's an interesting conversation. I think he's the most intriguing of all of them because I think we all agree the, the wins and losses look better than maybe the. The play has been. There's been a lot of turnovers and mistakes, but he's outplayed what any of us thought so it sounds absolutely. It sounds like spilt milk when we say pump the brakes. It does. I mean, let's just call it what it is.
- [36:02]
Mitch
Fair. Yeah. No, it does sounds like a bit.
- [36:05]
Todd McShay
He played. I just want to admit it. He has absolutely outplayed what I thought he was going to do as a Rookie in the NFL based off of my evaluation in college. Okay.
- [36:14]
Mitch
100%.
- [36:15]
Todd McShay
So Bo Nix is the pick at number six for the new York Giants, Tennessee Titans. Now, again, we have the foresight.
- [36:24]
Mitch
Right?
- [36:25]
Todd McShay
Becomes hindsight important, right? Foresight becomes hindsight in this situation, knowing that Will Levis is not the guy. Again, I don't. I get. I've gotten a lot of guys wrong. I, I will admit my faults as much as I, you know, we'll. We'll get Tommy John surgery for patting myself on the back. I never saw Will Levis as a savior in Tennessee, and I think that they're. I mean, the recent decision to bench him, I think they're coming to that conclusion as well. So if we're redrafting and you have the ability to look back on this season, I think Tennessee absolutely would steer away from taking J.C. latham, the offensive tackle, and, and go in a different direction. I truly believe that. I think Michael Pennix Jr. Would be the pick. What do you think?
- [37:13]
Mitch
I. I love the position. And again, it's. With hindsight, it's. It's knowing what's. What's unfolded. I. I like Penix Jr. Here or shortly. Hereafter, I would go with McCarthy. I think that McCarthy's injury kind of muddies the waters, but I was really higher. I was just higher on him coming out. And Penix looked good yesterday. We don't really have much of a sample size with him like we do with Bo, so that kind of affects things too. But I would stick. I think the position's absolutely right. I would stick with the guy that I had coming out who I thought was a little bit better in McCarthy. I thought McCarthy. Everyone wants to talk about how Michigan ran the ball. Michigan ran the ball. Yeah. That wasn't his fault, in my opinion. Their offensive line was really good at run blocking and really bad at pass blocking. Just watch the Penn State tape from last year. They had to run the ball. So to me, I loved McCarthy as an intermediate thrower. I thought he was tough. I thought he played in a lot of big games. I feel the same way today. So if you're going to take a quarterback, I would take McCarthy. I don't hate Penck Jr going there. Though I think either way you're, you're getting a pretty good player.
- [38:17]
Todd McShay
Yeah, I absolutely struggled with it, to be honest, because I, I had JJ ahead of Pennix. So it's almost like what. So you saw one game where he was good, not great, and they had two pick sixes. So like the pressure was off of them in that one game. The, the injury concerns me a little bit. With jj, slight frame coming into a rookie year, don't get to play at all. You're not, not able to like practice and do the things that, and I get it, like as a backup quarterback in the NFL, you're not getting a whole lot of reps And I know JJ's in the meetings and doing all the right things and. But I, I guess just because Penix now will have, you know what, three games to lean on next year at least if they don't, don't make the playoffs. Being out there every day drilling, I don't know. It would be a tough call, like, certainly a tough call. I didn't take it lightly, but I just, I just get the sense the excitement they have in the building for him. I just get the sense that Penix Jr. Is going to wind up making Atlanta really happy for the decision they made. I don't think he's going to be great. I don't. I think there's a cap. I think when teams start to figure out some, some of his trends and, and the lack of mobility and you know, where to attack him. As we saw late in the playoff last year, I think that, I think that he'll. He didn't have a great game. He had a solid game. I think there will be ups and downs, as you would expect early in a career, but I would. It's just, just a slight lean based off the injury for J.J. and all that. But I think the more important part is quite honestly that, that now you're looking at, you know, Michael Pennix going this early in Tennessee for Tennessee, knowing now how frustrating it would be. Think about this. If you're Tennessee, you had Will, Will Labis. You come into this year, you take a step back like, is he really our guy? I didn't see anything from his rookie year where I was like, there were moments where it's like, yeah, but I, we knew he was going to do that. But with the turnovers in college, the injury history in college, the inability to layer the ball and touch and all, I just. And you're staring at, down the gun barrel at number seven of all these quarterbacks. And I get it. They maybe didn't have the grade on, On. On the quarterbacks that some other people did. But you still had. At that spot, you still had Michael Penix. No, you didn't. Because they were picking it. Yeah, no, they were picking it at seven. Penck went eight. So they had Michael Penck Jr. Who was a surprise. I, I don't want people to think like, oh, they didn't know. Atlanta took him a lot higher than we expected. But on my board, it was J.J. mcCarthy still available. And so you would have him in year two instead of being in a tough situation. Michael Penix Jr. Was still there and Bo Nix was still there, Right? Yep. Bring one in and have him, have him compete. See what happens. Will Levis, if they drafted JJ Will Levis would have had a year to, to show what I mean, they wouldn't have known. He would have been injured, but let him compete. And now you're in a situation, unfortunately, and teams do this, they look ahead. What's coming up in the next year's quarterback class? So, Shador Sanders.
- [41:40]
Mitch
I was gonna bring this up.
- [41:41]
Todd McShay
You're right. Fourth rounder, like, there was not. There was not this projection of guys coming up in the 2025 draft. So Tennessee is one of those teams where they really, by not having vision and not taking a chance on one of these quarterbacks, may have set themselves back a little. Little bit.
- [41:59]
Mitch
Yeah. You know what's interesting about that, because we're going to get to Atlanta. Might as well just jump into this a little bit.
- [42:04]
Todd McShay
Yep.
- [42:04]
Mitch
Is how much. And I personally, I mean, a lot of people did, and I was certainly one of them, looked at that decision to take Penck Jr. After giving Kirk Cousins $100 million and was like, what are they doing? Like, how are you managing your assets? Like, I don't understand. You have so much now invested in that quarterback position. And look what's happened. I mean, Cousins just hasn't played well. They're all reports are they're going to cut him before they have to give him that $10 million bonus. And I do think they could have handled that better. Let's be clear. I don't think that was the best decision they could have made. But quarterback has to be that spot you take care of. So if the Falcons were willing to do that, and it may end up paying off for them that they took Pennix at that spot. Tennessee with Will Levis. Certainly. Certainly they're taking a quarterback.
- [42:49]
Todd McShay
Great point. That's a, like, clip that off. That's a Phenomenal point, truly. Like that is a phenomenal point because a lot of times general managers get paid a good amount of money to make tough decisions that may not make everyone in the building happy. And certainly, who cares? No offense, but who cares if it's going to make the fans happy right away? It's their job to rise above the fray, to look at the future of the, of the organization, creating stability in the most important spots. And there's no more important position than quarterback. Atlanta showed vision. Yes, Right. They handled it poorly. PR standpoint, not done well, but they showed vision. Cousins is coming off the Achilles injury. We don't know what the future holds. Paid too much, probably for Cousins, but we're not certain.
- [43:42]
Mitch
Michael, they had to pay him that to get him, like, correct. Who else, you know, you had to pay to get that? You know, and it's nice.
- [43:48]
Todd McShay
And had it worked out, we'd be like, yeah, great. Great decision. Head to the playoffs, Kirk Cousins. He's rounding into shape. He's getting better every week, you know.
- [43:56]
Mitch
Right.
- [43:56]
Todd McShay
But it wasn't the case. And so there was vision in the front office. It may not work out. Nothing's guaranteed, especially with an aging quarterback coming off an Achilles injury. We got this quarterback class that's loaded. We've identified that we like Michael Pennix Jr. Better than other people. I don't care what other people we've identified. This is our guy. Let's take him here. And so now what is a disaster financially? Cap, space and all the other things. It's not such a big disaster because they made that move. Tennessee didn't. Right, Tennessee didn't. And now they're in a tough spot moving forward because there ain't. There ain't a savior coming out in this. This quarterback class that they're going to be able to get. And so now you're looking the 20, 26 draft or bringing in a free agent. All right, let's move on. We got to pick up the pace here. Atlanta, we already basically touched Atlanta. They lose their quarterback in Penix Jr. JJ McCarthy. Penix Jr. Over JJ McCarthy. But JJ sitting there. We don't know what we have. All we know, the only information we have really out, you know, that's in addition to what we had coming out of Michigan, is that he's coming off of an injury. I mean, truly, that's it.
- [45:09]
Mitch
Right?
- [45:10]
Todd McShay
No. And so. But. But that injury isn't majorly concerning moving forward. So I think J.J. mcCarthy's the pick for Atlanta.
- [45:19]
Mitch
Six quarterbacks in the top eight, clearly clearly is an indication that we don't love the 20, the 2025 quarterback class. To me, it's an indication of that.
- [45:30]
Todd McShay
But it's also an indication of how great this quarterback class was.
- [45:35]
Mitch
True, it's a cocktail of things, but I also think that that's a factor in this, and you kind of alluded to that too. We don't love this class that much. Now if you're looking back at this, you're going to wait two years or you're going to take a guy and see what you got in two years. So I think that people will be like, wow, six quarterbacks in the top eight picks.
- [45:51]
Todd McShay
That would be a record, by the way. Dan Daniel let us know. That would be the, the most pick, most quarterback in the top eight. Yep. Right.
- [45:59]
Mitch
That just makes sense. Great class. Don't love next year's class. We're talking about a two year gap. Take a guy, see what you got. So I don't, I don't hate that this episode is brought to you by Lifelock. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online and more personal info in places that could expose you to identity theft. That's why Lifelock monitors millions of data points every second. If your identity is stolen, their US Space restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with Lifelock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast terms apply.
- [46:37]
Todd McShay
This episode is brought to you by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Catch every moment of your team's playoff push with NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. You'll get amazing features like Multi View and right now it's only $49 for the rest of the NFL regular season. So give yourself the ultimate gift this holiday season. Get NFL Sunday Ticket for $49. Sign up now@YouTube.com Sunday Ticket. Device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games. The McShay show is brought to you by FanDuel. The playoff is bigger than ever. There's eight teams left and you can still win big on FanDuel because right now new customers can score 250 bucks in bonus bets. Just place any $5 bet and you'll get 25050 in bonus bets. If you win, use your bets on spreads, live bets, overs, unders, and so much more. Plus, when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Just visit FanDuel.com McShay to download America's number one sportsbook must be 21 or older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in D.C. first online real money wager only. Five dollar first deposit required. Bonus issued is non withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com all right. Bears at number nine. They already had the first overall pick. We're giving them Jaden Daniels. Marvin Harrison Jr. Falls a little bit. He's still available when they pick in this spot. I would go with Harrison Jr. They, they took Roma Dunes so clearly wide receiver was a position. It ain't gotten any better at wide receiver. Offensive line is a mess. You can make the argument JC Latham is still here. Do you take him? Been okay this year but I don't. I want a special player at number nine. Now I've got a quarterback in Jaden Daniels I'm looking at. We need offensive line help. There's no question. But I don't know that Latham is going to change our organization and I, I know not as much as Marvin Harrison Jr. Would. Having a weapon for a young quarterback moving forward. Marvin Harrison As I mentioned, 51 catches, 726 yards. Averaging over 14 yards per catch, seven touchdowns this year got off to a slow start. I just. I think that that would be the right decision for the Bears at 8.
- [49:09]
Mitch
Did you consider Brian Thomas Jr.
- [49:11]
Todd McShay
I did. I certainly did. I'm glad you brought that up. I certainly did.
- [49:16]
Mitch
That's a debate.
- [49:17]
Todd McShay
Yep.
- [49:18]
Mitch
I don't and I'm not taking the Thomas Jr. Side necessarily. But he certainly entered the conversation. He certainly played well enough to. To be in that mix at that pick.
- [49:28]
Todd McShay
I, I totally agree. You know he would move up significantly from 23 to number nine overall. But I'd have no problem at all. And I'll give you a little preview. He's in the top 16 picks for us as we start to move forward. All right. The jets now at 10. I remember talking to Joe Douglas before and how torn. What do we. You know just where just not torn. Torn's not the right word. Just work in the process. Brock Bowers is so damn good. You know.
- [49:59]
Mitch
Right.
- [50:00]
Todd McShay
And would. Would make the instant impact. But what is. What's the one thing that could derail us the most if we can't protect an aging quarterback Coming off the Achilles injury. The depth and offensive line was not good and they brought in some veterans they. They went with. They wound up taking the. The Offensive tackle, tackle coming out of Penn State, Olu Fashanu. But, but Brock Bowers was, was like, it was like 1 in 1A and recognized the talent there. I think if they had to redo it for this year, wouldn't have mattered. I mean so many, so many other issues with the jets. We don't have to get tied up. We've done enough on that already. But I think the jets at number 10 would take Brock Bowers. So Bowers would move up from 13 to number 10. He's. Dude, I mean with that team, with those quarterbacks, he's become only the third rookie tight end in NFL history with a thousand receiving yards. He did that this past week in the, in the win over the, the Jaguars, which will, will likely cost the Raiders when it comes to trying to get their quarterback of the future, ironically in this year's class. So I think Bowers is a no brainer at 10 for the Jets.
- [51:13]
Mitch
I think he's also the first rookie tight end to have a hundred catches. I mean he's eighth and receiving in the league right now. It's, and again, you mentioned the quarterbacks. I mean it's, you cannot have that conversation without talking about those quarterbacks.
- [51:25]
Todd McShay
Yes.
- [51:26]
Mitch
Gardner, Minshull, Minshew O'Connell, Desmond Ritter, like it's, it's, I mean, wow. And he is just, he's one of those things where you're at the beginning, you're like, what's this guy's ceiling? Well, he's hitting it. He's already, he's already hitting it. He's just a weapon. If you're a fantasy football player, you either want him on your team or fear him. Every time he shows up on, on your opponent's roster. He's, he's just unbelievable.
- [51:53]
Todd McShay
Truth be told, if, if you had, if you were able to make the decision now, quite honestly, you're trading and we can't make trades in this, but you're trading up and going to get one of those quarterbacks. You imagine Aaron Rodgers back in April if you traded up to go get a quarterback. I mean, the beauty in that.
- [52:09]
Mitch
Yeah, we're bringing in the kid from Michigan.
- [52:11]
Todd McShay
Get what you deserve after, after this year. All right, so now Minnesota, number 11. If we had to redraft this thing, they took a quarterback in J.J. mcCarthy. It's good for the future. I actually think it could be a negative for the future. And I'm not. We don't have to get into that today. We have plenty of time leading up to the draft to Discuss all these teams, their needs, current state. But for the Vikings, I know the money will be different and you'd have to pay him. But Sam Darnold, if you have something that you can tangibly see. I don't see J.J. mcCarthy, to be quite honest with you. From a talent perspective, I don't. I think Sam Darnold is more. More talented.
- [52:53]
Mitch
Just don't overthink it. You know what you have right now and you have a guy who's.
- [52:56]
Todd McShay
But everyone you talk to is like, yeah, JJ's the guy we're gonna, you know, move on from. From Sam. I'll be interested to see how that plays out. But bottom line, six. Six quarterbacks go in the top eight. Drafting a quarterback is not. Is not even a. It's not a possibility, and it shouldn't even be a conversation. Quinon Mitchell has had one of the greatest rookie cornerback seasons that I've at least ever witnessed. The dude is like running. Do you see Bruski's breakdown this past week? Yeah, did you see that?
- [53:27]
Mitch
Yanamo Bay, baby. Yeah.
- [53:29]
Todd McShay
Oh, my gosh. Like, the way he's running routes for these. For these receivers, the instincts where his eye placement is body control. He is a true shutdown corner. I mean, I know Sauce was awesome as a rookie, so you don't have to go way back, but there's something complete about his game that I just. I. I love. So for the Vikings and they all. It seems like the Vikings always have cornerback need when we get to the. The draft, and it remains a position that they could upgrade. I think Jared Verse, like, is. I want to mention Jared Verse has been one of the five, seven best rookies, and we'll get him off the board here soon. You could. You could make a little bit of a case there. But Quinnion Mitchell, I just. He's been sensational. So the Vik. The Vikings at 11 would. Would get Quinion.
- [54:19]
Mitch
How did the Eagles get him at 22? That kid was the 10th best player on my board last year. I said it. I said it the night of. I was like, this is the biggest deal of the draft. When they got him at 22, I was like, this is the biggest deal of the draft.
- [54:33]
Todd McShay
Yeah, I know, I know. I'm just looking down the list right now. He was the first defensive back. I was just looking to see if there was another.
- [54:42]
Mitch
Yeah, he was.
- [54:43]
Todd McShay
He was the first offensive back, but the fact that he fell all the way was pretty wild. And then Terry on Arnold went two picks later as a second DB. All right. Pick 12. Broncos would be devastated. Maybe more so than any other franchise in this scenario. I mean the Patriots would be, would be bummed but I think because the Giants would would take a quarterback at 6 with Bo Nicks, because the Titans would take a quarterback at 7 and because the Falcons would still take a quarterback even a much bigger need than they even thought in April, take a quarterback there at eight. There's just, there's no opportunity to take one here. If you're the Denver Broncos, how different would this organization look this year? Yeah, it didn't draft Bonix. We talk about all the negatives and like let's pump the brakes a little bit on Bo Nicks but my goodness, without him. I had them taken Brian Thomas Jr. Wide receiver out of LSU, but this is a nightmare scenario and it has nothing like Brian Thomas is moving up, as I mentioned, from 23 where he was picked to 12 in this case leads rookies with nine receiving touchdowns. He's been awesome, absolutely awesome for the Jaguars considering too like the offensive woes and the quarterback play this year. You certainly wouldn't be mad at this if you're the Broncos, they need a wide receiver. It's the right pick given this situation but it would suck.
- [56:11]
Mitch
What else is there to say? I mean you're just right. I mean he's a great player but you, you're now your biggest question mark is at the most important position. So the unknown there is just too much to. I mean Broncos fans would be throwing up in their mouth even though they're getting a great player at that spot.
- [56:29]
Todd McShay
All right, Raiders at 13. Another organization desperate for quarterback. When six go in the top eight, you can't get one. I went with lad McConkey. Lad McConkey, wide receiver out of Georgia. Yeah, he doesn't have. He's not the biggest receiver and all that. The dude's fast, he's quick, he's sudden, he gets open. Unbelievable instincts. Explosive after the catch. Can get down the field vertically. 69 catches so far as a rookie match, 960 yards. He's going to clip 1,000 yards receiving, five touchdowns so far. And I get it, they've got a very competent quarterback in, in Justin Herbert with the Chargers. He was the 34th overall pick. Thought it was a little bit late, but not. I wasn't like screaming bloody murder. I thought it was a little bit late. I had him as one of the 32 best players in this last year's class. But if you took him at 13, given what we know, seeing him do it in the NFL. I think that this would be the right pick for the Raiders.
- [57:29]
Mitch
Love Lad. Think he moves up. Don't hate this pick here.
- [57:34]
Todd McShay
Rome.
- [57:34]
Mitch
Dunze I think is maybe might still be the guy that I favor over him. And I just like you look at Rome and you maybe don't love the numbers. Numbers are very similar to Harrison's numbers in Arizona by the way. He's the third option there. He's third in targets. I think McConkey's more of a focal point for that offense. I think if you put A dunes A again this is, this is the difficult thing to do. What would if player A was in player B's situation, if player B was in player A situation, what, what exactly would happen? I love Lad. I don't think this is a bad pick. Maybe go with Rome here because again spinning it forward. I still have, I still have high hopes for Roman Dun. So I think that. And he's not far out of your top 16, I don't think to be clear. But that being said, I think there's a debate to have between those two receivers of that spot.
- [58:19]
Todd McShay
All right, I'm going to rip through these final three picks and you can whatever jumps out to you, let me know. Okay.
- [58:25]
Mitch
Okay.
- [58:28]
Todd McShay
This is where the, the run on defensive lineman would occur. It, it started at 15 last year if you remember, with Liatu Latu coming off the board of the Colts at 15 and then it was Dallas Turner 16. Then two picks later was Jared Verse to the Rams at 19 and then chop Robinson to the, to the dolphins at 21. You know, so that's where the run happened. Just a couple, a couple. One pick later, it started here. We would have three in a row. Jared Verse has been sensational. I would take him if I was a new New Orleans Saints at number 14. Obviously you look back and Talis Fuaga was the offensive tackle they, they drafted. I just think if you, if you can be guaranteed at arguably the second most important position and offensive tackle is a position of priority, but if you can be guaranteed to get a pass rusher that's going to deliver, I would bump him up from the 19th pick, as I just mentioned, to 14 here to the Saints. He 63 tackles, four and a half sacks, two force fumbles this year he's been outstanding for the Rams. Number 15. I just mentioned Liatu Latu edge from UCLA going number 15 overall. He went to the Colts originally. I'd keep him with the Colts. I would consider Cooper DeJean here. Okay. I would consider that they Also need offensive line help. You know, when you, when you start looking down at, you know, J.C. latham could bump them inside. Fashano, you could bump them inside. Fuaga, bump them inside if that's what they wanted to do. Dominic Puni, the guard from Kansas, third round pick. We'll get to some of the guys who I think have moved up into the first round range. So there, there are different guys that, that you could plug that hole with. But to me, if you talk about just an edge rusher and a guy that has shown a lot of flashes, he hasn't been brilliant like verse, but 27 tackles, four sacks, three force fumbles, that's what he does. He, he knocks that ball out. So Latu at 15 and at number 16. Seattle Seahawks. I would actually swap defensive tackles from, from Texas. Byron Murphy was their pick. He's been good, he's been solid. Tavandre Sweat went second round, 38th pick overall. I would take him here. Most snaps by a rookie defensive lineman this year is what I read yesterday.
- [60:58]
Mitch
I was not aware of for his size.
- [61:00]
Todd McShay
For his size.
- [61:01]
Mitch
That was because that was a concern coming in. Yeah, he wouldn't be able to play that snap, that amount of snaps.
- [61:06]
Todd McShay
Yes, 43 tackles. He's never going to be a huge sack guy but, but the impact that he has take taking double teams away.
- [61:13]
Mitch
Pushing the pocket, stiff arming dudes in the open field.
- [61:19]
Todd McShay
Yeah, maybe the run of the year for Sweat. But 43 tackles, a sack and a force fumble this year. So Saints taking Verse, the edge, Colts continuing, staying with Latu as an edge and Seattle with Sweat a defensive tackle. Three defensive linemen with those final three picks. 14, 15, 16. What, what do you think, Mitch? What jumps up?
- [61:41]
Mitch
I love it. The one pick I would consider and I again, devil's advocate a little bit here. Verse, first of all, Versa and Latu. I'm on board 100%. Seattle, what do you think about Chop Robinson maybe as the edge who's. Who's really come on as of late. And I think if you're spinning it forward, he's played really well recently and then you spin it forward to what I think he could be and you're getting another edge, more of an impact player I think than maybe the interior guy.
- [62:06]
Todd McShay
Love Sweat that scheme well too.
- [62:08]
Mitch
Yeah. So I kind of like the chopped pick there a little bit, but I don't hate any of that. I think it's all good.
- [62:14]
Todd McShay
All right. It was fun, fun exercise, you know, frustrating for some organizations, you know, tantalizing for others. If you're watching on, on YouTube right now, you can see the top 16 picks. I wanted to get to two other lists. You could see them there just to, to give, I want to give credit to these guys because when, when you see a player like J.C. latham get bumped out from seventh to, you know, to not in the top 16. Let's go through the list of guys who got bumped out and I think the only reason I'm going through this list, if it was a disaster for some of these players as rookies or if they really failed or whatever the case would be, I just wouldn't bring this up. But this is shaping up to be a damn good draft class. You know, we look back three years, everyone does the organizational, the look back, the self assessing. We'll give it three years so you can truly figure out, you know, who those players have become. Where did we miss, what were we wrong on why let's self scout, let's be better. I think in three years when we get to that, that benchmark, we're going to look back and like this class, we knew it was a good class. We knew it had a lot of quarterbacks and all that. I don't think we realized how good this class could be could wind up becoming. JC Latham gets bumped out of the top 16. He's played pretty well for Tennessee man. Roma Dunes A I mean horrible situation hasn't been great but you can see the future there for Rome in Chicago as the 9th overall pick. Olufashanu has, has rotated in and played in different spots. He's been absolutely. I, I would call his rookie year a success unless you've seen something that I haven't seen to these Fuaga offensive tackle for New Orleans, same solid Byron Murphy I just mentioned like Those are the five guys that went in the top 16 that would not go in the top 16 that did not go in this 2024 NFL redraft but, but all like none of them. You're like oh this could, this is ugly. My name might be a bust, right? And then, and then finally other guys I would just wanted to give some love to if we didn't already mention them and we mentioned a couple. I'm not saying these would all be first rounders but they're all guys that got drafted later or a lot later than, than they would now if we had a redraft. Cooper DeJean would not go 40th overall. He felt no Eagles had two. It was like a miracle. Howie Roseman cashed in. That's what great GMs do. Azie Newsom was the king of this. Be patient, sit back, wait, let everyone else go screw up the draft and let someone fall to us. In fact, maybe we'll move back a few more picks. We trust our board that well. How he did a phenomenal job being patient, identifying players. They get two great defensive backs. Cooper Dean has been, has been outstanding in his own right. For the 40th overall pick, he would be a first round pick. Dominic Puni, guard out of Kansas. I know he's a guard, so you can't say, well, he would be a top 20 pick. Lock, he's played like one. But San Francisco certainly getting him in round three at pick 86 overall, it was a coup. Zack Frazier, center for from West Virginia, 51st overall pick. That's about where centers go. Unless they're just exceptional. Extraordinary. He's played like that. I think he'd be a first round pick. Bucky Irving, running back out of Oregon. He's been awesome, man. Even watching him lost on Sunday night, like. And I know he's got dinged up a little bit before that, but fourth round pick, 125 overall. Get out of here. He'd be the late first round pick. It just as a running back, but he's played like one of the, I don't know, 20 best rookies this year. Probably Tarheeb. Still, I don't know that he'd be a first rounder, but he was the second pick in the fifth round. The Chargers got him. I just tremendous pick there coming out of Maryland. Still has been an impact player for the Chargers. Tykee Smith, the defensive tackle from Ohio State, Round 3, 89 overall is where he went for Tampa Bay. He's had a great year. He, he might be first round, second round, he'd go higher than 89 overall. And same for Drew Phillips, cornerback from Kentucky. Those are all guys. He went 70th overall to the New York Giants. Those are all guys that have absolutely outplayed where they were drafted. And had we done this exercise all the way through the first round, which would have been exhausting for us and more importantly for the audience, they would have been in consideration. So this has been fun, brother. We're. Yeah, we're back. Okay. This is airing on Christmas Day is my understanding. A lot of people won't get to it that day. You maybe listen on the 26th or the 27th. We appreciate everyone who does. First and foremost, as I said earlier, like we love what we're doing now. Like this is the most exciting and fun I've ever, in my per, in my professional career. And so every time you click on this show, every time everyone who's subscribed, every time you like, every time you mention to a friend, we, we can't appreciate it enough because we're, we're here to stay. This is, we're going to be doing this for a long time and hopefully get better, as some of the commenters, you know, might, might agree. But, but we appreciate you. We want everyone to enjoy their holidays. But when you're done with Christmas and you're done with all the family gatherings and the parties and the events, we're back on the 30th. Okay, preview all those round two college football games and then I can't wait. You thought it was fun. After round one, we have two games that are going to be phenomenal. I'll be shocked. We have two games that are going to be phenomenal. Still have two matchups where it's double digit spreads, but we got Ohio State, Oregon to review on, on after the prime time game on January 1st, you're gonna be licking your wounds. Many of you may be, you know, hungover from the night before. We'll be, we'll be there to guide you through January 1st. That night after the, after the games got Notre Dame, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon. Should be two great games. I mean those are just everything you dream of. Arizona State, Texas, maybe not so much. But you know, it's going to be interesting. Penn State, Boise State. Can't wait to wait to see Ashton Genti against that defense. I mean, that's a scouting dream with a player like that. So until the 30th when we're back previewing all those games, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy holidays from the mensch family, the McShay family to all of you. We'll see you soon. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit RG help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here. 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