Nate Tice revisits the 2011 NFL Draft: How Cam Newton, J.J. Watt, and Richard Sherman changed the NFL forever | 04.21

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Right Time with Bomani Jones Episode: Nate Tice revisits the 2011 NFL Draft: How Cam Newton, J.J. Watt, and Richard Sherman Changed the NFL Forever | 04.21 Date: April 21, 2026 Host: Bomani Jones | Guest: Nate Tice

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Episode Overview

Bomani Jones and Nate Tice dive deep into the 2011 NFL Draft, reflecting on its legacy 15 years later. The episode explores how players like Cam Newton, J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson, and Julio Jones not only influenced the NFL, but also shifted the league’s thinking about positional value, athleticism, and schemes. They debate whether the 2011 draft might be the best ever, breaking down comparisons to other legendary classes and highlighting overlooked stars and draft dynamics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Stage: The 2011 Draft as a Watershed Moment

• Revolutionizing the Draft Mindset
  • The 2011 NFL Draft is posed as “maybe the best one ever.” (01:49)
  • Bomani notes the unprecedented number of future Hall of Famers, estimating 6–8+ strong candidates (01:49).
  • Cam Newton emerges as “what this draft is really about” (02:51), representing a shift in what teams looked for in quarterbacks.

    “If you do this draft again, you’re taking Cam Newton number one, period.” — Bomani (03:39)

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Cam Newton: A Transformative Prospect

• Why Cam Was Undeniable

  • Bomani and Nate emphasize Cam’s singular “force of nature” status in college and the NFL (04:00–06:02).

  • The skepticism around non-pro style QBs (following Sam Bradford’s No.1 pick the year prior) and Newton’s “high school offense” at Auburn contextualize the leap teams took (02:51–05:00).

  • Character concerns surrounded Cam, but “there weren’t many QBs that are an ‘off the bus, we got him’ type. Cam was that” (06:02–07:20).

  • Quote:

    “He threw for 400 yards in his first game in the NFL and none of us saw this coming.” — Bomani (08:10)

  • The hosts compare Newton’s rare build and skills to John Elway, Daunte Culpepper, and discuss how his sheer presence ‘changed what was possible at the position’ (06:44–09:01).

  • The importance of Newton’s impact on the Panthers franchise: “It’s the most relevant the franchise had ever consistently been” (10:46).

• Cam’s Lasting Influence

  • How Cam’s success paved the way for less conventional prospects (RG3, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen, Anthony Richardson): “It softened so much how we look at QBs” (14:48–17:00).

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Incredible Defensive Haul: J.J. Watt, Von Miller, and More

• Pass Rusher Depth

  • Alton Smith, Robert Quinn, Justin Houston, Cameron Jordan, and Ryan Kerrigan all mentioned as elite talents—even among stars, “neither of them is J.J. Watt or Von Miller” (18:39).

  • Quote:

    “This draft lets you say who you got—Von Miller or Watt? … We're talking guys of similar caliber.” — Bomani (17:32)

  • Surprise at how many 100+ sack players emerged from one class (19:00–19:23).

• J.J. Watt’s Rise and Ceiling

  • Nate shares personal stories of Watt’s freakish athleticism and rise from “pretty good college player” to “one of the smarter guys” and “one of the freakiest athletes” he’s seen (20:20–22:43).
  • Watt taken at No. 11—astonishing in hindsight due to teams chasing less sure-thing quarterbacks (22:43).

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Hall of Fame Offensive & Defensive Linemen

• An Almost Unmatched Haul

  • Ten defensive linemen making Pro Bowls; Cam Jordan & Cam Heyward having Hall of Fame caliber tenures for their original teams into their 30s (25:05–26:19).

  • Quote:

    “Cam Hayward has an on-paper fairly unassailable Hall of Fame case… and these guys are still playing.” — Bomani (25:38)

• Offensive Line Elite: Tyron Smith

  • Tyron Smith’s athletic gifts, early role, and long-term dominance: “He was 320 and had abs—that’s a one-of-one athlete at the position” (38:09–39:23).
  • The way players and coaches reference Smith hints at an automatic Hall of Fame induction (40:09–40:51).

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The Secondary: Patrick Peterson & Richard Sherman

• The Classic Prototypes and Unique Talents

  • Comparisons of Patrick Peterson to Deion Sanders, Jalen Ramsey, and Champ Bailey—“maybe the best athlete I've ever seen play corner” (30:16–32:45).

  • Both agree Peterson is a clear Hall of Famer, perhaps unheralded currently but “his time will come.”

  • Sherman’s intelligence and play style “tricked guys into throwing picks”; his unique traits led teams to chase “long-arm corners” with limited success (30:26–31:01).

  • Quote:

    “Richard Sherman led to more bad draft picks than… probably any other player because everyone tried to copy the Seahawks legion of boom.” — Nate (30:26)

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Wide Receivers: Julio Jones vs. AJ Green

• Elite but Distinct Careers
  • Bomani: “Julio’s going to the Hall of Fame. Period.” (36:09)
  • Nate notes Julio’s “force of nature moments” and narrative as a difference maker, even with AJ Green’s consistent high-level play (36:10–37:50).
  • Both discuss the loaded top 10: “That top 10 also had Tyron Smith in it… As long as you didn’t take a quarterback who wasn’t Cam, you were straight early in that draft.” (37:50)

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Unsung Heroes & Tier Players

• Andy Dalton and the Value of the Middle Tier QB
  • Dalton exemplifies productive, playoff-caliber, non-franchise QBs taken outside the 1st round. Nate: “The Andy Dalton tier. That’s kind of what he was… king of the 16 to 19” (43:51–44:02).
  • Dalton and AJ Green’s arrival marked the Bengals' return to credibility: “They immediately became playoff good” (43:13–44:39).

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2011 Draft vs. All-Time Great Classes

• Comparisons and Quantitative Cases

  • Projected Hall of Famers: Sherman, Kelsey, Von Miller, Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones, Tyron Smith, J.J. Watt, Cam Hayward; Cam Jordan a maybe. (45:41–46:13)

  • Historic drafts cited for comparison: 1983 (Elway, Marino, Dickerson), 1989 (Aikman, Sanders, Thomas, Deion), 1996 (receiver depth: Ogden, Ray Lewis, Marvin Harrison, Dawkins, Terrell Owens).

  • Emphasis on how many positions hit: QB, DL, WR, OL, CB, S.

  • Quote:

    “I think it probably winds up being seven Hall of Famers, I think.” — Bomani (45:13)

• Notable Sidebars:

  • Legendary offensive tackle athleticism (Ogden vs. Smith) (53:11–54:44).
  • The underrated Pitt football pipeline (41:16–43:13).
  • 1996 “receiver draft” produced almost all quality pros but only a select few Hall of Famers (51:15–53:55).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:39 | Bomani | “If you do this draft again, you’re taking Cam Newton number one, period.” | | 08:10 | Bomani | “He threw for 400 yards in his first game in the NFL and none of us saw this coming.” | | 25:38 | Bomani | “Cam Hayward has an on-paper fairly unassailable Hall of Fame case… and these guys are still playing.” | | 30:26 | Nate | "Richard Sherman led to more bad draft picks than… probably any other player..." | | 36:09 | Bomani | “Julio [Jones]'s going to the hall of Fame. Period.” | | 43:51 | Bomani | “Shout out to Andy Dalton… all-time great, productive second round pick.” | | 45:13 | Bomani | “I think [the 2011 draft] probably winds up being seven hall of Famers, I think.” |

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Timestamps for Major Segments

[02:50] – Cam Newton as the focal point of the 2011 draft
[06:00] – “Eye test QBs” and Newton’s freakish build
[17:30] – Defensive pass rushers: Von Miller, J.J. Watt, other stars
[25:05] – D-line/Edge depth & Pro Bowl count
[30:16] – Defensive backs: Patrick Peterson & Richard Sherman
[36:08] – Julio Jones vs. AJ Green
[43:09] – Andy Dalton & “the Dalton tier”
[45:13] – Is 2011 the greatest draft ever?
[46:16] – Historic draft comparisons: 1983, 1989, 1996

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Tone and Style

• Conversational, insightful, anecdotal (tales from high school camps and NFL locker rooms)
• Statistically informed but accessible; plenty of inside-football, but also big-picture history and pop-culture references.
• Lively admiration for dominant and colorful NFL personalities (Cam Newton, J.J. Watt, Tyron Smith, Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman).

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Key Takeaways

• The 2011 NFL Draft delivered combination of “eye test” superstars, Hall of Famers at multiple positions, and changed how teams value athletic upside and scheme fit.
• Cam Newton’s unique college and pro impact marked a paradigm shift in QB evaluation.
• Legendary defensive and offensive linemen from this class—many still active—shape its case as possibly the greatest draft ever.
• The episode contextualizes 2011’s historic depth against classics from 1983, 1989, and 1996, concluding the debate’s answer awaits as more players become enshrined in Canton.
• The legacy of the 2011 draft lies in its star power, depth, and catalytic effect on NFL thinking—on full display fifteen years later.

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Transcript

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[Bomani Jones]

Wave. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Right time, a Wave original. My name is Bomani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube, subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is time Machine Tuesday. We are looking back on the 2011 NFL Draft 15 years out from it. Joining us from Yahoo. Sports, we got my man Nate Tice. What's going on, sir?

[Nate Tice]

This might be a little too late for our usual discussions. We usually like to end about 2000 when, when the NFL still had sub 32 teams. This is correct is our usual discussions. 31, 30, 29, 28. That's, that's our comfort zone. No, happy to be here. Great to see you, dude.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, no, man, this time we're going to talk about some dudes who are actually still in the league. But we are talking about the 2011 draft and there's an argument to be made. The 2011 draft is maybe the best one ever. We'll talk about that a little bit later in the show. But I want to start with, and I don't know if you remember it this way because as I recall, I think you were still in college when this draft went down. But for me, this is as many great players as there are in this draft and I think that they may end with somewhere around six, seven or eight guys who end up in the hall of Fame. And that is not including the guy that I think this draft is really about, which is Cam Newton. This was the Cam Newton Draft. And I remember when the draft came around and I think it's kind of diff. It would be difficult to explain to somebody younger what a revolutionary prospect Cam Newton was. But also the fact that the year before Sam Bradford had been the number one overall pick and that was the first time that the league really leaned in on a spread quarterback being the number one overall pick. Like that was. That's how fresh the idea was about a quarterback who did not play in a professional style offense. The idea of taking somebody that high where even with Sam Bradford we were like, hey guys, I don't know. Sam Bradford quite as kept, was a good NFL quarterback, but it was kind of a. Hey, we don't know about that. We get to Cam Newton one season superstar running a high school offense. But I remember myself when that draft came around, I was like, but I mean, who else are you going to take if you don't take Cam Newton? Like, who are the guys that you're going to talk about? And I say that in one part to say that's somewhat of a laughable statement because I said, I think there'll be seven or eight guys for the draft that'll go in the hall of Fame. And on the other hand, if you do this draft again, you're taking Cam Newton number one, period.

[Nate Tice]

Yes, an MVP quarterback. That's the goal of the draft.

[Bomani Jones]

And you know that full on carry the franchise.

[Nate Tice]

Yes, yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Full on carry the franchise for seven or eight years was.

[Nate Tice]

That's the other thing is even that MVP year, which now gets washed away in history because everyone remembers the Broncos game more than anything. That team was garbage. I mean, the defense was good, but Ted Ginn was his, probably his best receiver, if I remember correctly. You know, he had some, you know, Olson and everything. The O line was solid, but it wasn't like, like a whole bunch of world beaters on that offense. Cam Newton though, that, that year at Auburn was. We were the same class in high school. And you know, he goes to Florida when Florida was it. You know, sit behind Tebow. He was next in line, him and another guy in my class, John Brantley.

[Bomani Jones]

John Brantley, yes.

[Nate Tice]

Who threw one of the prettiest spirals I've ever seen in my life. Chris Leak and John Brantley, two Florida QBs. But then it was so rare. He goes juco. They win, can go transfers to Auburn and right away they're like, yeah, this is the dude. And even at that time with miles on getting there or miles on being the coordinator and everything, calling plays that Was kind of rare to be like, oh, yeah, the juco guy is it, if that makes sense like that, right? That he was on his third school. Yeah. Usually that's like, ah, the last chance he's gonna be competing for spot. You know, we have another guy that we like that's been sitting here and it was so. I remember, I want to say it was a Sports Illustrated article I read in that spring. And they're like, yep, Cam Newton's the guy. What? It should be exciting what he does in this offense. Okay. But it was like, wow, that was quick. Juco guy transfer that quick. And they're just giving it to him. Okay. And then you saw why, you saw he was the entire offense catching touchdowns, the comeback against Alabama, I mean, just anything you can think of, like, just even his teammates on defense are getting drafted because of him. Nick Fairley goes in the top 15 because Cam Newton's leading them to the, to the championship game. It is a force of nature. And like you said, even though there's a lot of guys and we're going to get into a lot of defensive guys too, this is the goal of the draft and he was worth it to win that mvp who I know the tail end of his career didn't end up, but that's because the Panthers were garbage before and after him. And yeah, that's, that's it. Cam Newton was a force of nature.

[Bomani Jones]

So there is an eye test for quarterbacks, certainly. Right. Like you and I, we're both still holding on to that last little bit of Anthony Richardson stock. Right.

[Nate Tice]

But the reason is I got one flower of Anthony Richardson on Anthony Richardson Island.

[Bomani Jones]

But it's just like, look at the dude. Right? Like, like, like, like. You don't have to explain it too much there, but I bring that up to say there aren't that many quarterbacks that are an off the bus. We got him. Correct, right? Like just simply looking at the dude get off the bus and you say that he's the quarterback. Oh, okay. John Elway, who I think is the number one eye test quarterback that there has ever been. And I've said that on Twitter and people come back with Aaron Rodgers.

[Nate Tice]

No, sir, no, no, no.

[Bomani Jones]

Talking about something completely different here. He was so big and the throws look so easy and he could run and everything else where it's just like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Like, I, we, we're taking it. I don't need to see anything else that's going on. Give me that guy. Dan Marino might have ultimately been a Better NFL quarterback. There's a legitimate argument team success no matter what it happened to be. But John Elway, who was kind of the college, the NFL. Cam Newton from college, like I will carry whoever it is to this place. But when you saw that guy, you're like, oh, him.

[Nate Tice]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Cam was that.

[Nate Tice]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Except way bigger. He didn't have the natural throwing motion that, that Elway did. But in that draft it's like, I don't think it was any way possible that you were ever going to set your eyes on that guy and know that he can throw at all and you didn't take him again. They were running a. Basically a high school offense and the NFL said are with character concerns. Right. That were not entirely unfounded. Like it wasn't like I think he. We're not talking about Aaron Hernandez red flags, but there were some like, hey, I don't know if this guy might need to grow up a little bit. Right. Like those things were there. Whatever dog. We're, we'll, we'll, we'll show him how to do stuff. And it cannot be forgotten. He threw for 400 yards in his first game in the NFL and none of us saw this. If Andrew Luck had been in that draft as we had expected he was going to be, Andrew Luck would have been the number one pick in that draft.

[Nate Tice]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

But Cam Newton was a number one pick. Gracious.

[Nate Tice]

Not by default, basically. It wasn't some quarterback thing. No. I'm glad you said the all bus team though. Like that's exact. I saw him in the NFL and I went to camp with Cam in high school and even then I'm, I'm a tall guy. I'm 65. You know, like then I was really skinny, but even then it was like, this dude looks like one of the Vikings and he's, he's picking up the football to throw it. You know, I didn't. I knew of guys at some of these camps and. But it was just one of those things where I was like, God dang. You know, he's always talking the whole time and he's just throwing. And then I saw him in the NFL and like you said, I grew up around Dante Culpepper.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Nate Tice]

And I put Cam above that. As far as looking the part like the. He's built.

[Bomani Jones]

Well, it looked like a new part because like Cam Newton is much bigger than John Elway, who by the way was a big Cam Newton fan. If, if somehow Cam Newton has slipped the number two, John Elway would have made the selection himself.

[Nate Tice]

Felt his height threshold. He was all about those tall quarterbacks.

[Bomani Jones]

Reminds me a lot of myself that. That the people who listen to this show. No, that's the thing. Those all. All those player GMs, the great player GMs, you know, kind of reminds me a lot of myself. Yep. That will. That will be the one. But that was. He was that guy in that draft. And then just little did we know that after him would just be a slew and run of hall of Famers. But I want to stay on that right fast. Almost. I almost went past it too quickly. But I don't think people properly appreciate what it was for Cam Newton to be Cam Newton with the Panthers and turn that team into. Into what it was. Right. Like my favorite moment ever, still. In his first game, he threw an interception and went to tackle Daryl Washington, who was a real live Pro bowl linebacker. And Daryl Washington slid like he was the quarterback and Cam Newton was the linebacker. Like it didn't. He didn't look like there was. Like this was. Before they would let people wear whatever number they wanted. The idea that this dude was wearing number one was preposterous. Right. You had a camp where Steve Smith was. It was. It was. It was not great, as I recall. See the relationship. Then he sees this big show up and he's like, okay, well, maybe we'll see what we can do. Camp throws for like 4,000 yards.

[Nate Tice]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

His. His rookie year now, it was a

[Nate Tice]

ran for a dozen touchdowns, if I remember correctly. Yeah, right.

[Bomani Jones]

I think it was 14. I think he ran for that year. Now, it was a weird year with spiked offensive numbers because it was coming off a lockout. Like all of those things being the case. However, this is a rookie quarterback that was coming up coming off of a lockout. He was the guy. They wouldn't do it again any other way. It's the most relevant the franchise had ever consistently been because it's never. They've been bad at stretches, but overall, the 30 years of Carolina Panthers football have been pretty charmed when you think about it.

[Nate Tice]

They. They started great and then they tapered off for a while. Yes. Then we got the Delaware.

[Bomani Jones]

Then they get it back and then

[Nate Tice]

they tapered off again. And then. Yeah. And then the can't. I mean, but even now, it's like last year making the playoffs, they were on with a losing record and it was all the hoopla about like we're hosting a playoff game for the first time in a decade. It's like that's kind of how dire it's been. Even when Cam was there and Cam was getting beat up. Remember the Broncos game, 2016. Yeah. Super bowl rematch. And you. That's the thing too, is that, was he a perfect. I'm glad you brought the throwing motion. Was it perfect? No. But again, he was such a force in nature and knew the quarterback stuff a little better than he got credit for.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Like as far as just like he wasn't just a pure athlete, like we consider some of these guys. Like he actually had some quarterback to him. And, and also me, he was such a force in nature when that, that the NFL was so rigid right before he came in. And then RG3 came in and then, and then you saw Shanahan with RG3 in Washington. But also Mike Shula was. Who's as traditional as it gets. Goes, all right, I gotta get this guy to work because he's, I, I, he's special. Let's go into pistol. Let's do basically wing te stuff so we can just open up everything else. And it worked. That's how good he was. Even that's quote unquote simplistic compared to what the NFL was doing. That that's what he was. I mean, you look, you mentioned it. He was 90th, 89th percentile height, N for quarterbacks, 97th percentile weight. He had a 97th percentile broad jump, a 91st percentile 40 yard dash. And this is quarterbacks ever. So it's not like weight adjusted or anything. If I just look at athletes, not even like, not even narrowing down, just quarterbacks. The athlete that he's most like, this is Cam Newton is Randy Gregory, who's

[Bomani Jones]

an incredible athlete at defensive.

[Nate Tice]

Evan Ingram, Tucker Craft, like these tight ends, edges, freaky guys too. And he was playing quarterback that I'm glad he brought his first game because I think that was such a statement because of the questions that he had. I mean, even going through that draft year, it was Cam, it was Gabbert who got drafted. Jake Locker was supposed to be the dude. And then, and then our guy, our guy Christian Ponder snuck in there. But I mean, it wasn't the ESPN magazine and it was those three. It was Gabbert, Cam and Locker, I think did it like they had a cover and that was like, it was the three.

[Bomani Jones]

It was the COVID of Sports Illustrated. And it was something like the toughest decision ever. Right. Or, you know, it was, it was some hyperbolic thing. Now, to be fair to Sports Illustrated, it looks very clearly now that I understand the game a little bit Better. They were hoping to get a cam. A cover story with Cam Newton. And Cam Newton did not give them the access. It did not give them a photo shoot. And so they kind of had to cull together a shot out of that, right? So they took file photos and put the three quarterbacks on there. And look, man, white people are not a complex species when it comes to these things. They knew that you could throw it out there. Some people would legitimately entertain it, because people did legitimately entertain it. There were the people saying, you should take Blaine Gabbard over Cam Newton. Not necessarily that you should take Blaine Gabbard number one, but that you should take Blaine Gabbard over Blaine Gabbard, who was not as good in college as Chase did. Daniel was at the same school in the same offense, but people had talked themselves into that one. Jake Locker, who I was all about, he was one of those where the more you saw him, the less you liked him. As a freshman, I was. He's the ultimate athlete. Playing quarterback, Red athlete, incredible big.

[Nate Tice]

He built like a tight end, but then couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. And then. No, we watched. I got early exposure to him in college because we played in the Rose Bowl. So we're watching a bunch of Pac 10 at the time. Pac 10 film. And so we watched a lot of Washington. And I'm watching. I'm like, this is supposed to. Even in college, I was like, this is supposed to be the guy that, like, everyone's been hyping up. Like he couldn't hit a pass anything past 10 yards. But I'm with you. After his freshman year, especially because he was a big recruit, goes to Washington. That's when Washington was God awful. And he was. And. But he just never got better. But truly supposed to be a great guy. But all that. But you're not lying, though. Like, I remember Gabbard still getting hype the month of the draft. The month of the draft, leading up to it. I remember reading stuff. I remember watching stuff. And again, I was in college, but I was still checking in on this stuff. And my dad was with teams and I remember Gabbert was still getting like. Well, I don't know that, you know, some teams still like Gabbard over Cam Newton because he, you know, functions more like an NFL quarterback. It's like, really? And that Mizzou offense where he's eight yards deep in the shotgun. Like, I don't know about that, guys. But yeah, that. That was still a discuss. And I think Von Miller was Kind of considered the surest thing more than anything because he got so much hype. But even he had a couple qualms at the end there. But, man, I. I just really think that was just by the end, I. The discussion on that, it's softened so much how we look at quarterbacks because of that just little run of guys in my little generation there. Cam, RG3, Russ, Russell, Wilson, like, just kind of like what the prerequisites are. Not just like scheme or not just like, you know, traits and everything, but also what offenses they ran. Because like, even like Mike Vick when he came into the league, Virginia Tech was running a pretty, I would say, pro style, but there's more pro style to it than spread it out zone read every play. It was just kind of a hybrid kind of thing. And even he didn't have as many questions as I thought that Cam did when he came into the league. And again, I was younger, but I still remember these kind of discussions about it. But when you look back and you see, oh, yeah, we can work with this 99th percentile athlete playing quarterback. Yeah. One of the greatest athletes and greatest size guys I've ever seen with one of the biggest arms I've ever seen. Even if it's not perfect, I think. Yeah. The right decision.

[Bomani Jones]

In a way, he got Josh Allen in here. Right. In a way, Josh Allen got Anthony Richardson in here. And not. Not that Josh and Josh Allen and Cam Newton were the same college quarterbacks, but they weren't. But it was the same. Oh, I'll. I'll try. Yeah. Like. Like, think about. Even if it's not in the first round, like, all the Tom Savages and the likes that people were like, oh, yeah, no, no, no, I'll give that a run. Yeah. The greatest college football player ever. Yeah. No, no, no, no. I'll. I'll give that a run. And then after him. By the way, this is where this draft gets to be fun.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

There are enough great players in this draft that you have, like, legitimate who's better discussions of like, multiple players at similar positions or like, of similar calibers at premium positions in the NFL. Like, so let's talk briefly about the guys who showed. I don't even know if flashes is the right way to put it, but edge rushers from this draft who were really good but are not in the discussion for being like the top two pass rushers, like Alton Smith, who had more sacks in his first two years than any other player in NFL history at the time, as I recall. Winds up being another guy if he was normal. Right, right. But Robert Quinn, a really, really good player that was in this draft. Justin Houston, who once had 20 sacks in a season. Ryan Car, 12 sacks. Yeah, right, Ryan. Ryan Car. Really, really good player that's there. However, neither of them is J.J. watt or Von Miller.

[Nate Tice]

Right.

[Bomani Jones]

And like that's where we get to. It's like this draft lets you say who you got Von Miller or why and why Being a more. I guess White is more of an interior rusher than Bob Miller was. But even still, like we're talking guys of similar. Similar caliber here where Von Miller. Super bowl mvp. Von Miller.

[Nate Tice]

Yes, truly. Truly game wrecking defensive guys. Truly guys that you have to account for every single play. And if you don't, you're dead. And there's two of those guys and there's still this class, this draft class had five guys with 100 or more career sacks. And that's not including Ryan Kerrigan. Cameron Hayward, Alton Smith, which we just talked about. Drill Casey was in his class.

[Bomani Jones]

Cam Jordan. Yeah, Cam Jordan.

[Nate Tice]

Cam Jordan. Yeah. CAM Jordan had 130. He has 132 career sacks.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Like there's a. There's an argument about which cam do you take out of the. And not. And not after the quarterback came.

[Nate Tice]

No. Yeah, there's three cams in this class that are. They're like worthy of this.

[Bomani Jones]

Like.

[Nate Tice]

Right. I'm glad you brought Ryan Kerrigan. Ryan Kerrigan was dominant in the Big Ten. Goes pick 16, makes four Pro Bowls. And he's like, yeah, pick 16 was fair in this class because there's just so much talent like that could have gone above him. He was a force. No, I'm glad you brought up Justin Houston because he was. And he got knocked because of weed stuff and that. That was a whole thing like too. Because. But then he gets in the league also the oldest looking 22 year old you'll ever see in your life. When he got drafted, he's. He's looked like he's 48 since he's been. He's been drafted.

[Bomani Jones]

But no, George has always got a couple of those, man. Like George has got a lot of them old souls really too.

[Nate Tice]

Some in the water down there.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, man.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. You know, maybe it's the, you know, the nods from all them driving so fast. You know, just making it ages you a little bit. Adds a couple wrinkles when. When you're. You're cranking it up, going 120. No, JJ and I play with JJ and JJ was. I mean, right away, the first time I ever met J.J. watt, I transferred to Wisconsin. He transferred to Wisconsin too. He was a tight end right at Central Michigan, I believe. And he comes in. We. We had a shoot around. It was like the first week I was there in the summer. And we did like a little. Oh, we're gonna do like a little basketball challenge. The whole team comes out. All right, shoot around. What final thing. And he does his thing. But then he started rebounding for everybody. And then so he's just sitting there. I think he was in flip flops. I remember backwards hat. I think flip flops. He rebounds one of my balls and then he just flat foots, dunks it in flip flops at 6, 6, 290 pounds. And I was just like. I remember asking one of my coaches, I was like, who's that guy? They're like, oh, that's jj. And I was like, okay, interesting. He goes, he starts that year. And it was like a retro sophomore year. We had a guy named o'. Brien. Schofield was probably a little bit better at that time. And then that's what's crazy. I was like, oh, JJ's nice. He's good. And then he comes around. We played Ohio State senior his junior year. We were the same class, but he came out early. And he gets three sacks, gets Terrell Prior. Absolutely dominates the entire game and all A. I see him starting to get hyped up as a first round guy. I was like, I could see that. And he tests like one. That's another thing about JJ is I get the Captain America stick and all that. And what, what, what do you want about. Also one of the freakiest athletes I've ever seen play football, period. And just also one of the smarter guys. But it was just so crazy to see him, his rise going from like, oh, a pretty good college player. Oh, no, he's actually a freak. Oh no, he's actually going in the first round. Oh, no, he's actually going number 11 overall. Like, Wade Phillips was like, please let me get this guy, like, crying. I think Rex Ryan. They. They took Wilkerson. Rex Ryan. I read the book Collision Low Crossers. And their coaches were just like chanting JJ Watt because they wanted him to fall. Like Rex Ryan really wanted jj. But it was just, what if I thought he would be a real good pro? I didn't think he'd be this. And I was around him every day and I. And that's no disrespect to him. The fact that he became even better is Insane because he was such a good college player already. But again, a guy that gets underrated for his freakiness, you see it sometimes. But man, this, he was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable as a player.

[Bomani Jones]

And if you want to see quarterback premium at action, J.J. watt was drafted in between Blaine Gabbard and Christian Ponder. Those were the guys who like bookended him in this draft. Yeah, man, like Christian ponder going at 12. That's when I realized. Or we know I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a sign that NFL coaches really think that Jimbo Fisher is dog. Because on one level it was okay, well, maybe they think Jimbo does a good job of developing guys and that's why they go draft them. Or they feel like if they could do what they did in the offense that they were in, maybe they might be first round picks. Because it was EJ Manuel winning the first round like a couple years after this and we couldn't really understand exactly what was going on there. And I just realized, oh, they are just rebuking him. That is the only explanation. Because Christian Ponder, I, Jake Locker, I understood Blaine Gabbert, maybe Christian Ponder, whose idea was this?

[Nate Tice]

I never saw it once. Like there wasn't one college game where I was like, yeah, you know, I see getting a shot, like you said with Jake Locker, it's like, okay, those tools, man, he's supposed to be a great dude. Even when Jamis came out, that actually worked in his favor that he. People were used that he could tolerate and handle Jimbo as a positive. Yeah, all that stuff that was going around with James coming out and you know, the crab legs, all that stuff that was. I remember being in scouting rooms and they go, oh, well, he can handle Jimbo. That. I mean, he's gonna be able to take NFL coaching likes, no issue. And they didn't mean it as a compliment. They meant it more or compliment to Jimbo. They meant more like, no, he can deal with and he's gonna be fine once he gets the NFL. That actually I still vividly remember that it wasn't like, oh, he can operate this pro offense and this wordy stuff. It was like, no, no, he can tolerate the mind games of Jimbo and all the stuff that he does. No, but the Ponder one, even then, God, I remember when I was a kid or a kid, yeah, I was a kid in college. I remember Christian ponders a first round. Well, you know, I guess the NFL teams know a little bit better than me. I'm just 21, you know, and even. But even then as a 21 year old, I was like, I don't see this guy as anything more than like maybe Brad Johnson on the greatest day ever. Another Florida State guy.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, but.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah, no, you know, as the best day ever. But that was that way out. The outcomes of what Ponder actually could have been. I mean, but there's. I forgot about Mike Ponce. Pouncey.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes. How about this? I just went, I just went through for the defensive players. We got 10 guys that we would like. Pass rush was a little too broad. I guess we'll just go with down lineman, 10 of them who made Pro Bowls. Like, like you threw Jarell Casey out there who I think went from Tennessee to usc. Like one of those. But like Jell, Casey is like a four or five time Pro Bowler and kind of lost in the shuffle of that which we are discussing.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. 51 sacks, five Pro Bowls.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah. Like you said, cam Jordan had 100, has 130something sacks and he's down the

[Nate Tice]

list of this class.

[Bomani Jones]

Cam Hayward has an on paper fairly unassailable hall of Fame case. Yep. I don't know how much thought anybody has really given as to whether or not he is a Hall of Famer. I'm not saying that as a judgment. I'm just saying that at this point there were so many guys that came out of this draft. By the way, Cam Hayward and Cam Jordan still playing for the teams that drafted them.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

And like when I say still playing like playing.

[Nate Tice]

Yes. You know Hayward was an all pro two years ago.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Nate Tice]

Like playing. Not just playing snaps, like, no impacting the game like, and also just not missing any time, like, which is also a freaky thing in its own. Right.

[Bomani Jones]

Right. And these are the other guys in this draft. But coming up next, we got some more guys in the draft to talk about. And the question is, is this the greatest draft there ever was? You can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with FanDuel predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get you a $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist. Predict the spread, the total points and even the game winning moments that make the playoffs where one run, one rebound, one shot changes everything from opening tip to the final buzzer. Stay locked in with every pass, every play and every moment that moves us closer to crowning a champion. Sign up now for your $25 bonus on FanDuel Predicts offered by FanDuel Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commissions merchant 18 bonus is non withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] predicts bonusofferterms offered by FanDuel

[Nate Tice]

Prediction Market, LLC, a registered future commission merchant 18 +1 per user. Minimum $10 deposit required. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools.

[Bomani Jones]

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[Nate Tice]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

And. And I agree with him on his outlook of. And I turned it around. Like I tricked guys into throwing picks and I brought the ball back the other way. He.

[Nate Tice]

Richard is one of these. Well, he also. Richard Sherman led to more bad draft picks than one, probably any other player because everyone tried to copy the Seahawks legion of boom for about eight years and they just looked at Sherman and were like oh, long arms. Okay, let's go after everyone with long arms. It was like well he's kind of his own thing. Like he truly is his own thing. Like I, I've been struggling to find a historical comparison ever for Richard Sherman. Not just like former receiver or anything, but just size. Wasn't his athleticism, was his. His ball skills. Like you know, like his body control and ball skills as opposed to speed twitch.

[Bomani Jones]

All those make converter receiver.

[Nate Tice]

Converter receiver. That's right. While Patrick Peterson was, I agree with you, one of the freakiest corners ever watched. I would say him and probably Ramsey. Ramsey was kind of his own thing too.

[Bomani Jones]

But like and Dion Sanders right fast. Just have to throw that one out

[Nate Tice]

there because yeah, him.

[Bomani Jones]

But the thing is Diaz just wasn't nearly as big as these guys were.

[Nate Tice]

No. And even like Champ Bailey wasn't as big as these guys. Like yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Monster.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah, yeah. Like Peterson's what? Six two. All six two. I remember he has long arms. I remember that. And then also returns punts which I also think is like a barometer for real athleticism. As like if you're a stud. I mean I'm not saying anything new here, but if you're a stud position player and you're a dynamic returner, I, I treat your athleticism as something a little different. That's why there's the Randy Moss award in college and it's for punt returners. You know, Dion returning Patrick Peterson returning like those. Okay. Get our best player with the ball in his hands even if he plays corner. Yeah. Peterson was 6 foot. He was 219 99th percentile weight of all corners, all time. 32 inch arms 43140 at 219 pounds. And this dude was returning punts and locking guys down in man coverage and playing for a garbage ass franchise while doing it with no help around. I know they had some success when the Aryans Got there. But man, he, he's kind of a forgotten guy. Maybe not amongst me, you and guys that watch around this time, but he's kind of starting to get lost a little bit, I've realized. Because if this guy was a three time all Pro, eight time Pro Bowler, played over a decade, like that's a Hall of Fame resume for a corner.

[Bomani Jones]

It's a no brainer to me.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. And I don't think anyone treats him like that. I, I, they will once his time comes and everything. But like right now in this little window, I think he's kind of just getting lost a little bit in the shuffle of kind of like historical guys.

[Bomani Jones]

Like I think Pro bowl count can get weird cuz like, like you throw a Pro bowl count at me about Jason Whitten and I stand on my, I stand on my heel stronger than ever. That, that is not a Hall of Famer. Right?

[Nate Tice]

It's not.

[Bomani Jones]

However, and the thing about corner is corner is not a position where dudes rack up a bunch of Pro Bowls because that is a young man's job. Right. Like there's a, there's a level at which you kind of got to get good and then your time to stay good before the physical falloff. The window is very short before you wind up going to safety or whatever it is. You are an eight time Pro Bowler at corner. You were doing it.

[Nate Tice]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Period.

[Nate Tice]

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I, great point too. Like, because corners too, it's like usually takes, it's a hard position to learn. Like as far as they adapt to the NFL, usually it takes a year. It's a year, three positions usually. So if you're impacting early and then if you, if you're a solid corner after 30, that's a miracle. Most guys, once they hit 30, that thing drops off a cliff. And so that's, it's the Vince Carter theory. It's the really good athletes age a lot better. The real big guys, they can become better role players as they get old, as they get older. But I agree with you, like usually those peaks are two years, you know, and that's why even Sherman being a tolerable, like even when we went to the 49ers was like a solid player is because he became the old man at the Y that just had great size and he was just like, all right, I'm just not going to get out of position even if some of these faster, speedier guys are going to get me like that. He couldn't tackle a slot guy, save his life, but his Age well. But Peterson too.

[Bomani Jones]

Think about this. Think about this right fast. Darrell Reavis was in the hall of fame at 38.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

He got it that.

[Nate Tice]

Wow.

[Bomani Jones]

But it's not like it felt like he had a short lifespan.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. Like Roberto Kente or something. You know, like. Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Got out 30. Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Cuz. Yeah. He was at pit in the mid. Yeah. You. Oh, you. You just me up right now.

[Bomani Jones]

But they should put a statue of him in front of the players association offices. Nobody went in, got their money, got their rig and got the out. Yep.

[Nate Tice]

Like Darrell Reeves and built a. Got a nickname, got the respect of his peers. Randy Moss is already saying he's the best corner he ever went against. Like, you know, like that's. That's enough for me. If he's. He went against Dion, he went about the guys and he said, no. Darrell Rivas. That's the one guy. For Moss to say that, for Randy to say that, that's saying something and then gets an all time nickname. And then it's like, okay. And everyone's. Everyone's on the same page with Revis too. Everyone's just like, yeah, yeah, awesome.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. There's a strong like bull. That was the thing with him is that. Is that you're. He's. He's redirecting you off the snap and there's really nothing.

[Nate Tice]

You never out of whack. But also another college guy that returned punts.

[Bomani Jones]

See, here we go. Best is there. So the other. Also in the 2011 draft. I just want to say this quick because Ryan had posed this as a question. I'm curious what you think because I don't think it's that close, but it's The Julio Jones vs AJ Green where AJ Green to me was a very good, not quite hall of Fame receiver. And the hall can be weird about receivers and when they ultimately let them in. And Julio Jones has that weird no touchdown thing. However, that boy is going to the hall of Fame.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Period.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. And also in the hall of Fame too. His reputation. Mike and Julio has that a little bit more than Green. I agree with you. Green is very good. Was very. Had a nice little kind of four or five year kind of window where he was very, very good. Didn't make one. No first team all pros for a reason, while Julio has two. But Julio has that kind of. I mean it's, it's. I don't want to knock Agent Green

[Bomani Jones]

because he was great, but It's Julio with 80 Dalton. Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

He might get in now that I Think about it.

[Nate Tice]

I know because that will not know all pros hurts. And there's a lot of receivers backing up right now like there's about to be. There's such a lot of those guys. But Julio had again like the 300 yard game or whatever he had against Carolina. Like he has those, those games. He has the dunk over Luke Keakley where he's high point over him. He even has like a play against. He has to play in the super bowl when they lost. When he's on the sideline catch what would have been the greatest, one of the greatest catches ever if they win. He has mo like just those moments. Maybe it's the AJ Green Bengalsness of it, but Julio Jones has the falconess of it. Yeah, yeah. And Julio Adrian Green was hyped too. Like I, I ESPN did a next articles back in the day, you know, like oh these AJ Green got that over Julio when they're coming out of high school. But Julio always had that kind of just wait like his he plays as a true freshman for Nick Saban. Nick Saban recruited him. He just held out his rings and says you either win one of these or you don't like there all these like it was like mythology about Julio. And I think to me whether that's a narrative thing that to me and also just the force of nature moments is more hall of Famer caliber to me. So I think it's actually pretty easily I would say Julio over AG Green. As much as I love AJ Green as well.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, no, but it's still both of those guys in the top 10 of the same draft is kind of nuts. That top 10 also had Tyron Smith in it. Basically as long as you took a quarterback that didn't take a quarterback who wasn't Cam Newton, you was, you were straight early in that draft. But Tyron Smith is the one that offensive linemen talk about with just a

[Nate Tice]

reverence for the athleticism Alzheimer and also played right tackle in College. Drafted at 20 super young. Signed one of the craziest pro deals ever. With his extent. He sounded like a nine year deal, seven year, eight year deal like an NHL contract or like a, like a Juan Soto contract. But truly, I mean this guy was 3:20 and had abs like that was. I mean there's not many offensive linemen that get the picture treatment. Like watch this guy work out. Oh my God. You know, usually get some defensive edge guys, maybe some tight ends shirt off stuff. You usually don't get the offensive lineman shirt off clips and then they could back it up like he was because his technique got so good. It's truly a one of one athlete at the position. I'm really right now as we're talking about, I'm trying to think of someone that I would put over that as far as just athletic like just like tear I'm not tier traits and everything and also could play. It wasn't just like a lost cause tripping over himself anti aminos like I'm trying to just think who some of these freaky, freaky all time athletes. He had injury stuff and if he didn't he would be considered a hall of Famer and he's still going to oh my God, eight Pro Bowls. Yeah, he's gonna get in.

[Bomani Jones]

It's a question of win, but he's going to get in.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. Oh my God. He played 170 games. I mean that's a ton and that. And I know there's no real offensive lineman stats but longevity really does matter. Reputation. Everyone goes, oh he was one of the greatest athletes that ever played offensive line multiple all time or first team all pros played on the Cowboys can't hurt. Yeah, yeah, he's gonna get in. He, he is. I, I'm now just trying to even think there's subtle plays with him too. Like where he would like cut off a block that like he would reach a guy that like no one else is even fathoming it. Like anytime I used to tweet clips about Tyron Smith, there's Michael Jr. In my replies going like oh my God. Because it's just a, it's again, offensive line play can be subtle. But that he made him like highlights even outside the pancakes where those. Right. All the freaky stuff he did.

[Bomani Jones]

Well, well let me tell you also a guy like him, when it comes down to the hall of Fame process, he's the one where the writers start calling former players and they're like so what do you think about blank? And they're like oh yeah brother,

[Nate Tice]

wait till you see that. That kick set. Wait till you see that. Yeah, let me tell you about that.

[Bomani Jones]

It's like no, no, no, you can't. You got to understand what we're talking about here. Right? Yes, that, that'll get you in the hall of Fame. Like so for example, we'll talk about this a little bit later when we do some like draft comparison. But like Jimbo Covert is in the hall of Fame with something like three or four Pro Bowls, right? Yeah. The resume is not there but clearly his peers were like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. That one was different. Great.

[Nate Tice]

Bo. That is. That's a perfect comparison because he was like considered an all time freak. And he had the, the pit stuff where they had the. That offensive line in the 80s where he was the leader of that. He was the big recruit. He was a wrestler. Like he did WWF stuff back in the day too. So he had that going for. And like another guy, he might be one of the other. I mean the offensive lineman Then weigh 280, but another old lineman with abs kind of thing that.

[Bomani Jones]

Right.

[Nate Tice]

That's a great. Because he didn't have a super long career, but it was one of those very impactful careers. And everyone was just like. And everyone talks. And when I was working at Pitt, you brought up Tom Savage, which made me crack up because he was with the quarterbacks. We had a pit when I was there. But when Jimbo, they still talk about. Jimbo is just like the, the pinnacle like of all those players there. They're like, no, he's the pick guy. Right there is Jimbo.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, they had a run. Pitt was like what Miami was before. Miami was like USC also. Like, those are the ones that get lost. But pit, there's really no explanation for why it is that pit just couldn't stay good. Right. Like, I don't have the great answer for how that happened because that area produced dudes. And they were like 1980s pit football was a thing guys. I mean, they still Darrell Reavis, Sean McCoy. Like they. They still. Larry Fitzgerald. They still had dudes.

[Nate Tice]

Oh, he. I mean the old line. I think Dan Marino played with three Bill Frick. Yep. Mark May.

[Bomani Jones]

Mark May.

[Nate Tice]

I feel like there's one more on Blanking, but he played with like three or four legit Pro bowl offensive linemen. And then they had Tim Lewis. Oh, man. Oh, Russ Grim. Russ Grim was the other guy. Hall of Famer Ricky Jackson. They freaking.

[Bomani Jones]

Paul Green, who was a all time great college football player.

[Nate Tice]

High spin finalist as a defensive player, if I remember correctly. They had some dudes and my dad got recruited by Pittsburgh and. And what's his face, Jackie Cheryl left, I believe.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. Texas A M. And yeah, that. And I think that was the reason he didn't end up going. But like that, like pit. Because the pit was. The pit was the. I mean, yeah, Tony, they. They. They claim national championships. They're playing Georgia where they're ranked second like in the Sugar Bowl. Like all that stuff. Like. Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Beat him in that Sugar Bowl.

[Nate Tice]

Yes. They were. They were unbelievable. It was, it was cool. The pit football history is pretty cool. Like if you ignore the 90s.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. And you know, the Larry year was fun. And then, you know, kind of just.

[Bomani Jones]

They always were school though that even if they wasn't winning a lot, they always had a couple dudes. Right. Like that was, I mean, like Even in the 90s, you get Sean Gilbert as an example of a guy. Antonio Bryant in the early 2000s, like they always had a dude. By the way, on this draft, I just forgot about a guy. I want to send a shout out to know it's going to sound crazy, but shout out to Andy Dalton, who if you think about it, all time great, productive second round pick like it was. The Bengals shop it in the bargain bin and it put a ceiling on what they could do. But they immediately became playoff good when they drafted A.J. green and they let Andy Dalton play quarterback. Like it actually worked out pretty well for them in some ways. They returned to credibility.

[Nate Tice]

The Andy Dalton tier. That's kind of what he was. The K, the, that king of the of. I mean, who is it now? It was Kirk Cousins for a little bit.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Like just whoever that kind of quarterback. 16 to 19.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Can you win with him or not?

[Nate Tice]

Yep. And Andy Dalton was again, another guy that I have college experience with. We played TCU in the Rose bowl and he took a zone read for like, I, I, I don't think it was a score, but like a first down. And I remember just being like this, this zone reading us like, this guy shouldn't be doing the zone read against us because he was an okay athlete college wise. But no, he was awesome. I mean, those TCU teams were loaded too. Yeah. That's when they were rolling. And that was before, you know, now they're in the bigger conferences and stuff. But man, like he was the captain of that stuff or the leader of those teams. Get a nice good and played right away too.

[Bomani Jones]

He did. That's. They put him right. Walked right out of Texas, right out of tcu to be like, he. You couldn't win with him, but pretty good NFL career. Yeah. For second round going, by the way.

[Nate Tice]

Yep. They got signed by the Eagles, which I'm still saying why they do that? Is that. Wendy, why are you doing that? What does that mean? He. Those Bengals teams were loaded.

[Bomani Jones]

They were.

[Nate Tice]

They were.

[Bomani Jones]

They just had Andy Dalton at quarterback. I feel like I just completely undercut

[Nate Tice]

with the compliment with them. And then you said the, the downside.

[Bomani Jones]

I just completely undercut my whole thing now. I was Going to raise the question. And I think it's still a question because the depth of this draft was so impressive as to whether or not the 2011 draft is the greatest of all time. Like, I think it probably winds up being seven hall of Famers, I think.

[Nate Tice]

What other ones do you have up there?

[Bomani Jones]

Like, okay, so I don't have Cam going. I will say not in order of greatness, but I'm just saying, as I remember it, I think Richard Sherman's gonna go in.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

We did not mention Jason Kelsey. I think he will go in, though. I think it'll take a while. I think he's gonna go in his reference. Von Miller's gonna go.

[Nate Tice]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones, Tyron Smith, J.J. watt. By the way, we didn't get to DeMarco Murray. Rushing champion. Cam Hayward, I think will go in. That gets us to eight. And I think Cam Jordan's one of those who, if you give it long enough, he'll wind up going in. But I think 8 is where I feel pretty steady about who's going to go in, man. God.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. What other classes are up there with this?

[Bomani Jones]

Okay, so 83 has nine. We think about the quarterbacks, but I'm going to run through the full list, and it's. I think it's in. Or the. The way I'm reading this is in order of where they were drafted. John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Jimbo Covert, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly.

[Nate Tice]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Dan Marino. Darrell Green.

[Nate Tice]

Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

The newly elected Roger Craig. And Richard Dent. Oh, Richard Dent.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah, that's right. Former Seahawk. Okay.

[Bomani Jones]

That's a lot of guys.

[Nate Tice]

And not. Not even. Just including all the quarterbacks. Yeah, man. There's Darrell Green. Talk about athletes at the corner position.

[Bomani Jones]

HT, by the way. HT, by the way. Let me go ahead.

[Nate Tice]

40 years old, like, you know, like 40.

[Bomani Jones]

Playing at. his size in the era in which he played playing corner. And you know what else?

[Nate Tice]

He did return funds.

[Bomani Jones]

There we go. Looking out for you.

[Nate Tice]

Have you seen that? That 30 for 30 Elway to Marino, the. The do. Oh, I know. I. I a sucker for that. Even if, you know, there's always some biases with that. But I. I'm a sucker for that. But Cam Jordan, 132 career sacks. He's just below John Abraham, Ricky Jackson, Jared Allen, John Randall. He's right in that range. Like John. John Randall had 137 and a half. Different type of player. I get it. But Jared Allen had 136. God. John Abraham had 133. God.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, he's, he's. He's a. One of those that you're going to look up and you're like, oh, he's in the hall of Fame. Huh? Okay. You know what I mean? Like, somebody's just going to bring the case, then be like, well, you know how many sacks he had, right? Really?

[Nate Tice]

Oh, wow. That's how I just reacted to Johnny. John Abraham's one of those guys because I was such an NFC guy growing up that like, Abraham was like, I didn't really realize what he was until he got to the Falcons. And then it was like, you know, so I. His jets career, I was just like, yeah, he's. He's one of those four first round picks they had that year. Okay.

[Bomani Jones]

Yes.

[Nate Tice]

And then he gets to the Falcons like, oh. Oh, shoot. Okay.

[Bomani Jones]

It's kind of like when Khil Mack went to the Bears, it was like, oh, that's what, that's what they've been hiding over there.

[Nate Tice]

The only startable player on that whole Raiders defense. That's. And this is actually what he looks like. Okay, man. No, but I mean, this is just fun to just go through the names. But. So he has, yeah, 132 career sacks and like, guys, man, he has more sacks than Jim Marshall. He has more sacks than Derek, who

[Bomani Jones]

plays like 270 consecutive games.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dwight Freey has more sacks then Robert. Robert Mathis. He is more. Yes. How about Simeon Rice? Do you think Simeon Rice is a Hall of Famer?

[Bomani Jones]

I think he will. I think that there is a precedent for putting him in the hall of Fame. I think he is on the. I think that he's on the line. If you go either way, I could understand it. But in a world where like, Fred Dean has gone in and Kevin Green has gone in, why is. Why was Simeon Rice, who was a revolutionary athlete by the way, like, he

[Nate Tice]

was way different than other guys that time period.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like the argument against him is like, I don't know if it feels that way. Right? Like, that's, that's what I mean. I think he comes down to a guy that would certainly qualify as a Hall of Fame player. You have to decide if he had a Hall of Fame career. And I think that he put up enough accolades plus a Super bowl ring where you. On the way to which you watch him chasing Michael Vick down in the playoffs and you're like, oh, okay, let me throw another draft at you though. 1996.

[Nate Tice]

Is that the receiver draft?

[Bomani Jones]

It is the receiver draft. But only two of those receivers. Like, this is a depth draft because only two of those receivers, Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens, so far in the hall of Fame. But the Ravens drafted two hall of Famers that year, Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis, tackle athlete.

[Nate Tice]

We just talked about Jonathan Ogdens up there. Tyron Smith. Yes. That's another name.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Pretty. Pretty good draft there for the Ravens. Brian Dawkins, Zach Thomas and Adam Vinitieri. You also cannot Forget that the 1989 draft, which is for basketball fans, analogous to the 1984 draft, because the 89 draft has Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derek Thomas, and the other one, Dion, are your four of your top five picks.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. And then the other guy was the tackle for the Packers, Tony Mandarich. The Incredible Bulk.

[Bomani Jones]

The incredible. The Incredible Bulk. Tony Manderich was the first guy that America looked at and was like, I know why he's that big. Okay. Like, I'm pretty. I. I got. I think I know what the answer is.

[Nate Tice]

I know you're.

[Bomani Jones]

Apparently, the Packers. Did not.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. I know he went to Michigan State, but I was like, man, he must be meeting with those Nebraska strength coaches.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

He's on that Tom Osborne strength program.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. I wonder if he's ever been in the wwe.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

But let me tell you what's wild about the 96 being the receiver draft. That is interesting. Interesting. Just about all of them panned out.

[Nate Tice]

Yep.

[Bomani Jones]

Keyshawn Johnson. But not necessarily hall of Famers, Right.

[Nate Tice]

No. Good ones.

[Bomani Jones]

Terry Glenn, Eddie Kenison, Eric Molds, Bobby Ingram, Moose Muhammad Amani, Tumor, Jermaine Lewis, Joe Horn. Like, those are all really good receivers. Yeah. It was just. It just turned out only a couple of them were, like, truly of the hall of Fame caliber. But I don't think any of those teams. Now, the. The jets took Alex Van Dyke, whom I've never heard of. I don't think they were that happy. Brian Steele for the Chargers. I don't think they were that happy. But just about everybody that went shopping for a receiver came back with something they could feel good about, man.

[Nate Tice]

And. But even the other guys in that class. Zach Thomas was in this class. Brian Dawkins. So two kind of very. I don't want to use the word iconic, but maybe were players.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

At that time period. Were. You know, though they were the dudes. I mean, they really were. Willie Anderson, who should be a. Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Brusky.

[Nate Tice]

Eddie George.

[Bomani Jones]

George was in this draft.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Lawyer. Stephen Jackson.

[Nate Tice]

Stephen Jackson.

[Bomani Jones]

I mean, that's Stephen Davis. I'm sorry. Stephen Davis.

[Nate Tice]

Stephen. Oh, Stephen Davis. Even another good name. Mike Allott.

[Bomani Jones]

John Runyon.

[Nate Tice]

John Runyon. Yes. God there.

[Bomani Jones]

Maroi Glover, Leroy Glo. Really good player.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. Who else? Man, I'm glad you brought Steven Davis. That bunch of memories just came back there. Kevin.

[Bomani Jones]

Shout out to Michael Westbrook.

[Nate Tice]

You remember that we not even mentioned the number one pick. We mentioned. I think you already said. Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Keisha. Yeah, we mentioned Kean.

[Nate Tice]

24 year old receiver going number one.

[Bomani Jones]

Hey look, Keshan was a good player and it's funny that you mentioned that because Simeon Rice is in this draft.

[Nate Tice]

Simeon Rice, another one. Yes.

[Bomani Jones]

Kevin Hardy and Simeon. The top four of this draft was actually a really good top four. Keeshan Johnson, Kevin Hardy, Simeon Rice and Jonathan Ogden. You could do worse.

[Nate Tice]

Tim. Bianca batuka.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah.

[Nate Tice]

Top 10 pick in this draft.

[Bomani Jones]

Ricky Dudley, who I thought was going to be the greatest tight end in the history of mankind.

[Nate Tice]

Remember him? God, Ohio State, right?

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. He was a beast.

[Nate Tice]

He was. I'm glad he brought Moose and Muhammad because I literally was watching Moose Muhammad. I I literally was watching his highlights last week because I was trying to find a comparison for Denzel Boston in this draft class from Washington. And Moosen was. Who I kind of came to was Moose Muhammad, which I think if, if you have that career, you're very happy with that. And he's just another one of these receivers because there's so many in this class. You know, because even the, the background, some of these guys like Terrell Owens. Yeah. Tennessee Chattanooga. You know, like that's, that's not a very common spot to find a Hall of Famer like Marvin Harrison at Syracuse. You know, they were a lot better then, then we would consider now. But still coming from there, Ogden was such a cool background with discus throwing and all that. Like he was a track athlete and he's legitimately all of 6, 9. Like he, he's truly NBA height and one of the great greatest athletes to ever play tackle.

[Bomani Jones]

The picture of Ogden playing at that little bitty super fancy private school and them poor children having to try to deal and if you can find that picture, they made even one. We we taping this in enough advance that they can put this onto YouTube. If you look at that picture Jonathan Ogden pulling on that play, I know exactly what you talking personally would have gone down in a heap before he got anywhere near me.

[Nate Tice]

He was. And we're talking about all bus teams like they're. It's hard to, to talk.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah. Like as long as you can't. Like you might get thrown off cuz he, he, he, he got a lot of dork in him.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. Well that was his big knock was that he's too soft. He was too soft. He was too soft. But it was like he doesn't.

[Bomani Jones]

It never came up.

[Nate Tice]

Yeah. And yeah. Yeah. It never came up. That was, it was just always. He was a locked in all pro. That's how I remember him anyways. Yeah.

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, that's it. It's just like, like I don't know if he ever had to get to the place. You know what I mean?

[Nate Tice]

Who's challenging over that point?

[Bomani Jones]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like okay, but like look at how long my arms are. Like nobody you notice nobody gets anywhere near me. I know.

[Nate Tice]

It's so much crazy offensive grittiness. And is this is a the side but with like offensive lineman. That's something that people overrate when they're scouting. O lineman is they think everything's like the blind side movie where the guy's getting pancake 20 yards off the field. It's like you never see that. It's like good offensive line play is so boring. And I think that's what why people don't like to watch it.

[Bomani Jones]

I get it.

[Nate Tice]

But like the best guys are just run the guy by. Run the guy by. It's like there's no. He's not even being challenged. And that's a very good thing. It's not all about the power bombs and the rock bottoms that you can do on those guys because that doesn't really happen in the NFL. Sorry, thank you for my little. My little tangent there.

[Bomani Jones]

N. You're all good, man. So I do think I've decided second best draft 1983 is number one. We'll see how this one all turns out. That's Nate Tice. Check him out. Yahoo Sports covering the NFL. My brother, I appreciate you.

[Nate Tice]

Thanks for having me. Always fun going down memory lane with you, Bo.

[Bomani Jones]

Hey man, I appreciate it. And ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this four days a week. We Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line. 323-59-67767. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. And we'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.