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The Stephen A. Smith Show
Interview Only: ESPN's Adam Schefter breaks down NFL draft and QB Shedeur Sanders
00:17:19
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- [00:00]
Stephen A. Smith
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- [00:35]
Adam Schefter
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- [01:03]
Stephen A. Smith
21/ terms and conditions apply. Now let's get to round one of the NFL Draft. As expected, Cam Ward went number one overall to the Tennessee Titans, and not too long after the pick was announced, news broke that the Jacksonville Jaguars traded with the Browns to acquire the second pick in acquiring Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Meanwhile, my Steelers are still looking for a quarterback after day one, and Shador Sanders is still on the board for Round two. So joining me now to break it all down, break all down. The headlines we saw last night is the one and only Adam Schefter. What's up buddy? How you doing?
- [01:40]
Adam Schefter
Stephen A Always great to be with you. Nice to see you.
- [01:44]
Stephen A. Smith
Shador Sanders didn't even get drafted in round one. Were you surprised by that?
- [01:49]
Adam Schefter
The longer this went on, the more it seemed like this was a possibility. It felt like the Giants weren't going to take him at 3, the Saints weren't going to take him at 9, and the one shot he had was 21 to Pittsburgh. And the Steelers talked about the idea of taking him, but there was not consensus within the organization. They needed help along their defensive line and they opted for the Oregon defensive lineman Derek Carmon. And so Shador Sanders was left sitting on the board watching other quarterbacks like Jackson DART Go number 25 to the new York Giants. So when you ask if we're surprised, I think the longer this went on, the closer we got to the draft, the more we all recognized that this was possible. And when the Steelers passed on him at 21, it became a reality.
- [02:37]
Stephen A. Smith
What about Jackson Dart? The Giants moving up to grab him? I didn't hear from anybody other than our very own Dan Orlofsky that Dart was going to be somebody that possibly would be taken ahead of Shador Sanders was. I mean, that didn't throw you for a loop at all.
- [02:53]
Adam Schefter
We talked about it on the pregame show on college game day. Pete Thammel pointed out that there was a possibility that Jackson Dart could go ahead of Shador. And look, the Giants and Saints and I believe the Cleveland Browns as well, all really like Jackson Dart. So much so that I think each of those teams would have taken Jackson Dart ahead of Shador Sanders. One of the three did, and I believe the other two are in the same category as well. And so Shedor Sanders is still sitting there right now going into round two on Friday night. I really think we're at the point now the Steelers don't have a second round draft pick. Their next pick is number 83 in the third round. And you say, well, could he, Would he, would he last till then? And it's hard to imagine that he would. But strange things have happened. And I also think that people are reacting like, oh my God, he didn't go in round one. And he is Mel Kuiper Jr. S top rated quarterback. Guess what? There have been a lot of quarterbacks over the years that have slipped into the second round that have gone on to have successful NFL careers. When Mel Kuiper first started ESPN in his very first year, his third rated prospect in the entire board was Boomer Siason. Boomer Sisen went into the second round and all he did in the National Football League was win mvp. Drew Brees fell into the second round, Jalen Hurts fell into the second round, and now Shedor Sanders has done the same.
- [04:16]
Stephen A. Smith
Adam Schefter, I always appreciate the knowledge that you dropped. So help me with your perspective because I'll certainly take it from you verbatim covering this league the way that you have me covering the NBA and just overall sports over the last 30 years, certainly your talent and your skill is paramount. That's primary issue number one. You've got to have the ability. But I've seen many executives sometimes make decisions because they didn't want to deal with potential headaches. Somebody that could have the ear of folks, somebody that could have the kind of influence and cachet that could disrupt whatever their vision was for their franchise. That brings me to Deion Sanders did that play. Did his presence, his aura, his cachet and the fact that he's a relatively loquacious individual when he needs to be, and he will speak up for himself, his son, et cetera. Did that play any role in your mind at all in the possibility of Shador falling out of the first round?
- [05:19]
Adam Schefter
Well, probably did. I mean, again, I don't want to blame Deion because that's not what we're doing. But I think when a team is drafting Shedeur, it recognizes what would come along with that. And you'd have a very famous, very accomplished father that would come along. And we wrote this in our ESPN Draft intel column that ran on ESPN last week. I said, short of Mike Tomlin, there aren't many coaches around the league that might be comfortable drafting Shador and knowing that if and when their seat gets warm, people in that city could be calling for his job and calling for Shador's dad to replace him. Like that definitely could happen in time. I don't think Mike Tomlin would care about that, but I think there might be other coaches who would. And beyond that, I just feel like for whatever reason, Shedeur didn't have the best interview process. There are some teams that did like him. There were more that didn't. For whatever reason. It's strange to me because again, he does have the support. And when you watch him, you see how talented he is. And the bottom line, Stephen A. Is the facts speak for themselves. Every team had a chance to pick him in round one. Nobody did. We're back at it again Friday night. More teams will have another chance to draft him. And so that's the great part about the NFL draft. You got to put your cards on the table. You see where teams stand on certain individuals. And right now you're seeing where teams stand on Shador Sanders, his collegiate teammate.
- [06:59]
Stephen A. Smith
Didn'T have that problem. Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars moving up to the number two spot, making a deal with the Cleveland Browns that ultimately landed them Travis Hunter. You broke that story. Can you talk about that? Travis Hunter and what they told you or why they told you they like this kid so much?
- [07:19]
Adam Schefter
Oddly enough, I think we could first lean into what the general manager of the Cleveland Browns said about him. Despite the fact that he traded away the draft pick, he called Travis Hunter a unicorn. He compared him to Shohei Ohtani, a two way player. And I think those are some of the things that the Jacksonville Jaguars were drawn to. In the end, they saw what they felt was like the best player in this draft. They saw somebody that they thought could come in and play wide Receiver at a high level for them. They're going to onboard him as a wide receiver. They're going to have him play defense. I think they're going to do everything they can to get the value out of the number two pick in this draft. And they felt like they were getting a star player, a dynamic presence, a great personality. You saw him last night dancing on the stage once he was selected. They loved everything about him. So much so that they were willing to give up their second round draft pick today and their first round draft pick next year, which is quite a lot. But Jacksonville would tell you, hey, there's no price that's too great for a star that has been compared to Shohei Ohtani and, and that's why they paid up and they're going to play him on both sides of the football.
- [08:33]
Stephen A. Smith
How are the Jacksonville Jaguars feeling about Trevor Lawrence right now, their $55 million quarterback?
- [08:39]
Adam Schefter
Well, Stephen A. What I would tell you is they have a new head coach, Liam Cohn, who they brought in to elevate Trevor Lawrence. They have a new general manager, James Gladstone, the youngest general manager who pulled off that trade on Thursday night. That's a huge swing to take. Think about that. The first trade of draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft comes from the youngest GM in the league and somebody who's making his first draft day trade. And that was a doozy. There aren't too many people that start that big, but it comes from the Rams. Don't think he cares about taking big swings, not as concerned about keeping the draft picks. And I think that they feel like he can help elevate Trevor Lawrence. And so that's the idea and the thinking gear. They're giving Trevor Lawrence a restart, a reboot with a new head coach who has worked in elevating the play of quarterbacks. They're giving him a new GM who obviously thinks differently and aggressively than a lot of other GMs. And they're hoping that between the new head coach, the new gm, new assistant coaches and the changing culture, that Trevor Lawrence can turn out to be the quarterback that many thought the Jaguars were getting when they selected him with the number one overall pick.
- [09:47]
Stephen A. Smith
That would be crazy. The new GM is 34 years old, so it's going to be really interesting to see how that works out for them. Switching to the Cleveland Browns. They're on the other side of this deal. They passed up on a Travis Hunter to make this deal, move down to fifth in the draft, ultimately got a first round pick for next year, sort of recouping some of the losses that they have to, you know, they had to suffer from the Deshaun Watson trade. Wouldn't you say? Adam Schefter, isn't that how you would break it down?
- [10:13]
Adam Schefter
Well Stephen A. They have not had a top 50 pick in the pre three previous drafts. So when they selected Mason Graham from my University of Michigan In Thursday nights first round that was the first time in four years.
- [10:26]
Stephen A. Smith
Wow.
- [10:26]
Adam Schefter
That they've had a top 50 pick and they're making up for it now because now going into tonight's draft they have two of the top four selections in the second round picks 33 and 36 and they already have the Jacksonville Jaguars first round draft pick in 2026. So they're on the board with two first round picks next year. And that's why I know a lot of people are saying quarterback tonight for the Browns. They might go that route. They could certainly. But they also could opt to pick two really strong players and say we're punting on quarterback in what we consider to be a weak quarterback draft class. And we will revisit this topic a year from now when we have double once that is an option going into the draft tonight and we'll see how the Browns react to it.
- [11:18]
Stephen A. Smith
What's the NFL feeling about the draft that the Giants had last night? Carter and then obviously moving up to draft dart? How are people feeling about the Giants right now?
- [11:26]
Adam Schefter
Well, I think most talent evaluators felt there were two blue chip prospects in this draft, Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter. Jacksonville got one, the New York Giants got the other and Abdul Carter, who has been compared to Micah Parsons who wore number 11 at Penn State, plays like him, looks like him and if Micah Parsons, a version of that showed up on the Giants roster that would be great. Jackson Dart, the quarterback they move up and Stephen A. I'm just telling you, I think that they jumped in front of the Browns and the Browns were happy to sit and wait and they jumped in front of the Saints who definitely wanted Jackson Dart. The Saints weren't scheduled to pick again to number 40. Saints weren't willing to use their number nine overall selection on Jackson Dart, but clearly there was something of an arms race to try to get to Jackson Dart and the Giants won that. And the great part about that is that they did it without having to give up a first round draft pick next year. So if Jackson Dart comes in this year and they feel like he's a total bust, which isn't going to be the case, they could always Use their first round pick on a quarterback next year if that's what they want. That's not their plan, trust me. But all they had to do is trade I believe was a couple of third round picks to move up to that spot. Which whereas the Atlanta Falcons, one slot in front of them, wound up trading a first round draft pick for next year to go get draft James Pierce, a defensive lineman, Giants didn't have to give up a future one, the Falcons did, the Giants didn't. And the Giants moved up for a quarterback and the Falcons a pass rusher. So again, what they gave up in return they felt was more than worth it to get the quarterback that at least few teams wanted here.
- [13:06]
Stephen A. Smith
There's a couple of minutes left with you, Adam Schefter. Very few things surprise you one can imagine because you're the ultimate insider. You know what the hell is going on better than anybody in the National Football League. Anything shock you last night?
- [13:19]
Adam Schefter
Well, that trade that came down was such a huge trade. It was one of the biggest on the quad trades that we've seen in NFL history. There have been only two teams that had top five picks traded. One was the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons in the 80s when the Vikings traded their pick to go get Chris Dolman and the Falcons got Bill Frick. And the other time it happened was when the Chicago Bears traded up with the 49ers to go get Mitch Trubisky, famously in a draft where they drafted Mitch Trubisky ahead of Patrick Mahomes. That was the size and scope of this trade last night. And it was a trade that I think you look at and you say both teams win here because the Jaguars get a certifiable star and Travis Hunter and the Browns come away with so much draft equity for a team that hasn't had any draft equity in recent years and a chance to remake their roster. I, I was surprised that we saw two teams last night that were willing to part ways with their first round draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. For the record, if I ever were part of a front office, and I never will be, but if I ever were, I would never trade a future one unless I was some super bowl champion in some great position, I would hold on to those picks like my life depended on it. And we saw the Falcons, who haven't won a playoff game in any recent season, trade their one next year. And we saw the Jaguars, who haven't had recent playoff success, trade their one next year. We'll just wait to see how that works out for the Cleveland Browns and LA Rams, who hold those future picks in 2026.
- [14:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Speaking to the NFL analysts and knowing the game the way that you do, who's the biggest winner of Round one thus far in your estimation? Is it simply Jacksonville and Travis Hunto? Is it somebody else?
- [14:59]
Adam Schefter
Well, Stephen, it doesn't really matter what I say as the winner right now, because we could go into any year and anoint some winner and all of a sudden some player turns into some star that we never saw coming. It's a fun exercise. I mean, it's always going to be about quarterbacks. So really, if Cam Moore turns out to be a star, then the Titans won the draft. If he doesn't, then they failed. If Jackson Dart turns out to be the quarterback, then the Giants get A plus, and if they don't, no one's keeping their jobs. So, I mean, it's grades. To me, it's like giving a student a grade on the first day of school before they completed their first homework assignment, return paper. It doesn't mean anything. Like, you got to take some tests before we're giving them a grade.
- [15:38]
Stephen A. Smith
Totally fair. Shador Sanders, Cleveland or New Orleans, going to pick him up in the second round of your estimation? You think that's. You think that's likely?
- [15:46]
Adam Schefter
Not expecting New Orleans, and I don't feel overly confident on Cleveland, but I don't know that for sure. We'd have to see again, you get to certain spots in the draft where if Shador is the best player on your board, even if you didn't think you were going to take him, you go ahead and pick him. I. Stephen, I just got a feeling that, like I said to you, I'm not going to be surprised if he winds up on a team that we just never connected to him, whoever that is. Unless, and this is hard to imagine, unless he falls to number 83 in the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round.
- [16:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Last question. I love that I saw Ashton Genty, this running back, extraordinary, out of Boise State, landing with the Raiders. One of the things that I love about what I saw this week as they were talking about him, you brought up Saquon Barkley. People brought up Saquon Barkley. I remember. I brought up Derrick Henry. I remember a few years ago, back in 2023 to be exact. But you had Austin Ecklund, these guys rallying the running backs to sort of make a case because they were being devalued just by their birth certificate alone. You can collected enough dust. Excuse me, we ain't giving you a long term contract. We don't know if you'll be able to last. And you heard guys like Mel Kuiper Jr. And others never draft a running back in the first round, et cetera, et cetera. To see him go in the first round. It's like hope that running backs and being more appreciated with what Saquon Barkley did for the Eagles last year, with what Henry did for the Ravens last year, you just sort of find yourself hoping that the running backs there's going to be an elevated level of appreciation for them. What do you think about that? Is that possible?
- [17:13]
Adam Schefter
Well, I think it's interesting that there was an elevated level of appreciation. We saw the Eagles reward Saquon Barkley and read to his contrary after one year. The Ravens have talked to Derrick Henry about a new deal. We're here in Green Bay where Josh Jacobs came to Green Bay and had a huge impact on the packers roster and we are heading into rounds two and three in a draft where the strongest position in this draft was running back. And we're going to see a slew of running backs taken tonight and on Saturday that can come in and make a difference for teams. But you're going to get a bunch of running backs tonight that teams are counting on. This was considered the big press conference or the big draft for these running backs. I get people texting me at press conferences, sorry, big draft for running backs and that's the strength of this draft.
- [18:02]
Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A the best in the business. The one and only Adam Schefter live from the NFL Draft. Man, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. I know how busy you are. I really appreciate it man. Thank you so much.
- [18:12]
Adam Schefter
I appreciate you. Stephen A. Thank you for having me.
- [18:14]
Stephen A. Smith
All the best. Talk to you soon. When only Adam Schefter there's nobody better when it comes to the NFL. Nobody better.
- [18:24]
Adam Schefter
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- [18:25]
Stephen A. Smith
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- [18:35]
Adam Schefter
AT&T is bringing something new to the table. AT&T is introducing a guarantee with connectivity.
- [18:41]
Stephen A. Smith
You can depend on, deals you want and service you deserve or they make it right. Learn more@att.com guarantee@&t connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.comguarantee for details.
- [19:00]
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