Episode Transcript
Is now officially open.
Welcome to Draft season.
Speaker 2I am John Schmilk, as always, joined by Tony Pauline from Essentially Sports.
Speaker 1Thank you for being with us today.
I'm from home.
Speaker 2Get over the case of a mini flu bug which I fought through for the game on Sunday.
Rest in a couple of days, but feeling better now.
Fever's gone.
Ready to roll.
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Tony, we got the college football playoffs coming.
We're gonna talk about that today, the first round, and then we also have a bunch of guys declaring for the NFL Draft and also committing to the Senior Bowl or the Shrine Game.
So a lot going on right now in the world of college football and the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1A lot.
Speaker 2And it's interesting because you know, when we had Red Fabiano from the Senior Bowl on last week, he said that he expected a record low number of underclassmen to enter the twenty twenty six draft, and I would agree.
I agreed with that opinion.
But in the early gone we're seeing a lot of names of guys that have entered the draft or have already committed to the draft.
We'll talk about a few of them now.
It's gonna be interesting to watch this list because you remember Kim Ward two years ago initially entered the draft, then went back in the transfer portal and got the deal that he wanted from University of Miami.
So again, if they've announced that they're entering for the draft, but they haven't signed with an agent, they could always go back in the transfer portal.
Speaker 1So that bears watching.
Speaker 2Yeah, no question about it.
So you just mentioned the quarterback Tony, So why don't we start there.
I think it's a good place to start.
Not really any declarations here, but two of the big quarterbacks before the year, arguably the in many lists.
Speaker 1The top one and two.
Speaker 2Quarterbacks not yours heading into the draft this year or Arch Manning and Leonora's Sellers.
This week, both those players announcing they're going back to school, Manning returning to Texas Sellers.
Speaker 1It appears as.
Speaker 2Though he's going back to South Carolina.
We have not heard that for sure, but that is the case according to reports.
Somebody last night I spoke to told me that they believe the deal with South Carolina has been signed by Sellers, So it bears like ninety nine point nine percent that he's going back.
Yeah, they were going to get back to me confirmation that the deal was signed.
But the fact is this, you know, South Carolina has made a big pitch to Sellers that they're really going to structure or get an offense to develop his game.
They brought in Kendall Briles, the offensive coordinator from a TCU had great success with Josh hub this season.
I'm sure they're going to bring an offensive lineman, additional offensive lineman, additional receivers.
Going back to college was Sellers really it was his best move.
Whether going back to South Carolina was the proper decision remains to be seen.
I was in favor of him moving to a different school.
Obviously, bringing Kendall Bryantills is a sign that South Carolina is really going to emphasize a prioritize le Norah Sellers and hopefully turn him into a from an athlete into a really good passer.
Speaker 1I'm guessing Kendall Brow's as Art Brile's kid.
Is that accurate?
That is you are guessing correct, and then not.
Speaker 2A surprise that Arch Manning.
I thought, even if he had a good year, he was going to go back to school.
But the fact he had an up and down year pretty obvious that he was going to head back to school.
Speaker 1Yeah, and we talked about this.
Yeah, going back to August.
Speaker 2If you watch our shows, I mean, the chances of Arch Manning entering the season were less than one percent.
They were probably less than point one percent.
Look at his uncles, look at the history of the family.
I mean, people enter, players enter the draft because of there's financial strain in the family.
That's not the situation in the Manning household.
Never minded, it's notts.
It's gonna signed a huge nil deal.
And the fact is he needed to go back.
Speaker 1Now.
Speaker 2Manning was a much better quarterback when he played Texas A and M at the at the end of the regular season than he was when he started against Ohio State.
So he did show the development his game.
Got to give him credit for that.
I still don't think he's near the top quarterbacks in this draft.
He still needs a lot of work on his game.
His propensity to stare down receivers is very concerning to me.
But hey, good for arch Manning going back for another year at Texas.
Hopefully he develops his game and he turns into you know, the top three pick that people are projecting.
And he also is a very different throwing motion, but like his is not a traditional throwing motion like hiske his uncles had, Peyton and Eli and his grandfather and Archie.
It's almost like a like a like a slingshot type of like three quarters thing.
So I wonder if he's going to work on some of that too.
I would have that had something to do with his h with his accuracy issues.
Third quarterback we want to touch on Tony was Brandon Soarsby from Cincinnati.
Looks like he's going to enter the transfer portal and we'll see where he winds up.
Yeah, I mean had an up and down season.
Scouts liked him coming into the year, but he was a middle round pick.
Cincinnati was good up until the very Again, you know, I think Swersby's going the route that I thought sellers should go.
See what's available, see if he get hooked up with a good quarterback coach.
You know, I keep mentioning Josh Hipel at Tennessee because Joey Aguilar is going to be on his way out.
You know, it's an understandable move for a quarterback that's got a lot of physical talents and just wants to take his game to the next level.
All right, Now, not a ton at the running back position here, Tony.
We have one declaration, Emma Johnson and of Nebraska.
We'll start there before we get to two of the guys that were heading to the Senior Bowl.
Explosive interior runner.
I had a great season.
I grate him as a fifth round prospect.
I talked to people in his camp.
They expect him to be a Day three a selection.
So you're probably looking fourth fifth round area for Amma Johnson had a great year, really came out of nowhere and decided to go to the NFL.
What's his size, Tony?
Do you have that handy?
Speaker 1I'm curious.
Speaker 2I think his official size is probably gonna be about five ten, five eleven, in the two twelve to fifteen range.
I think I think that's big enough to be in every down back for sure.
If you're five ten two fifteen, I think that'll get the job done.
All right, let's jump over to the Senior Bowl.
A couple of running backs that I know we had high hopes for this year.
One kind of disappointed, the other one I think kind of surpassed.
As teammates.
Maybe there's the top running back on his team.
You have jam Miller who came back from injury for Alabama midway through the year.
He's heading to the Senior Bowl.
And then k Tron Allen from Penn State, who kind of surpassed Singleton.
I think this year Penn State is the best running back there.
So we'll see both of them in Mobile, which should be fun.
Speaker 1It's not even a question.
Speaker 2I mean, Kate Tron Allen coming into the year was graded by a scouts two to three rounds lower than Nick Singleton, and I think right now he's at least one to two will be selected one to two rounds earlier.
The next Singleton, who really just didn't show up this year, did not perform to expectations.
Where Allen.
He's a big, strong, fast, explosive, more of a downhill type ball carrier who can also catch the ball on the backfield.
I always like them more than scouts did.
He's had a terrific season.
He's gonna reap the benefits of that.
Good to see him at the Senior Ball.
You know jam Miller, Alabama couldn't run the ball this year and large Hawker's jam Miller was injured, I mean early on, he missed time because of an injury.
High Simpsons struggled that first game.
When he came back, his running ability seemed to settle the Alabama offense, but he was never one hundred percent.
Scouts like him as a middle round pick.
He's got good size, he's smart, good pass catcher out of the backfield.
The durability is the major issue as you saw this season, and Tony I should have mentioned this when we did the quarterbacks, but I'll do it now.
I apologize two quarterbacks that are in the college football playoffs.
I guess we could hit this later when we get to those two games.
But we'll to see what happens with the Dante mor and Ty Simpson.
Just so fans though, there are two deadlines for declaring for the NFL Draft.
The underclassman deadline is January fourteenth, and then if you're get as far as the college football Championship game, it's January twenty third, which is before the Senior Bowl.
So just a couple of days for people to keep in mind, and of course we will get to those college football playoff games as well.
All right, let's jump to wide receiver here, Tony a lot of movement.
Speaker 1There.
Speaker 2We have Jordan Tyson, Chris Brasel from Tennessee, and an Toni and Williams from Clemson, all declaring for the NFL Draft.
I understand, you know, Razzell Tyson.
You know it's an injury issue.
He's losing his quarterback, Sam Levitt entered the transfer portal, the coach may be on his way to Michigan.
So it's understandable that Tyson, who I think is being overrated by a lot of people right now who have him as a top ten pick.
I don't see him as that.
The injury issues, the fact he's not really big.
In fact, he's not super fast.
He's a great pass catcher, but he just doesn't have any great physical traits that separate him from anybody else.
Razzell had a great year.
Gonna be interesting, as I said in the past, to see how he tests.
If he tests before the drug, he's forty times.
Speaker 1He's ten slit.
Speaker 2He doesn't look very fast releasing off the line of scrimmage, but he's an exceptional pass catcher who shows sneaky speed and he makes a lot of acrobatic highlight.
You know, Tony, he's one of those guys.
He's so long and lanky.
He's got those big, long legs.
He doesn't look like he's running fast, but he just runs past people, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1A long strider.
That's what he's referring to in the scouting world.
And that's good.
Speaker 2But the thing is is you've got to be able to quickly release off the line of script or get off those jams.
Speaker 1So that's something to keep an eye on.
Antonio Williams.
Listen.
Speaker 2I loved Antonio Williams coming into the season.
He was injured this year.
His production was fractional compared to last year.
Fifty five catches in twenty twenty four, twenty five compared to seventy five a year ago.
Six hundred four yards receiving this year compared to nine hundred and four yards a year ago.
I mean, indicative of what we saw with the Clemson program.
Probably gonna be a Day two pick, but obviously entering the draft off a down year.
And how about your cod Tony, he's out a usc he declared for the NFL Draft.
We have not really talked about him much over the course of this year on this show.
So give you a little scouting report on USC wide receiver Jakobe Lane.
Speaker 1Because we talk about Mikay Lemon all the time.
Speaker 2Is your Chris Rassel type in a sense that he's a bigger guy.
He's a perfect counter receiver or complimentary receiver to Lemon because he's bigger, he's stronger.
He's more of a possession wide out.
He's the guy that's gonna go up and catch the ball on the crowd.
He's your red zone threat.
He's not as fast, he's not as quick.
Does it run at sharp routes.
A lot of where he ends up in the draft will depend on his testing.
I still think he is a Day two selection.
He's just good possession wide out.
And then Antonio Williams Tony, he was your number one wide receiver heading into the year, did not play as well this year as he did last year.
Obviously, you could apply that to literally anyone that was on that Clemson roster.
They just underperformed this year.
Where does he eventually wind up now that he has declared for the NFL Draft.
I think I still think he's a Day two pick, maybe third round area.
He's not the biggest guy in the world.
I mean, he's probably going to measure in about five ten five ten and change, and he doesn't look big on film.
He's a good route runner.
He was an explosive playmaker in twenty twenty four, so scout, you're gonna have to go back and look at the film.
Speaker 1Is good receiver.
He's just coming off of down years.
Speaker 2I do think he's still going to end up in day and Day two of the draft.
Speaker 1All right.
Speaker 2A couple of wide receivers that are going to the Senior Ball just announced today on Tuesday, Jeremy Bernord from Alabama committing to the Senior Ball.
That'll be a nice fit.
He could be a guy that I think is going to fight to be a first round pick at the end of that first round.
Really good, solid all around player, and we'll see him in mobile.
Want to see him in those one on ones.
Can he get separation?
I mean, is he always winning out for the contested grab or is he separating from receivers through his rout.
Not the fastest guy in the world, so he's got to show the ability, you know, to separate from defenders with that route running rather than just physically beat him down.
Speaker 1To come out for the come outway with the catch.
Speaker 2And then Tony one guy we haven't talked a ton on this show.
I know's he's a big riser on a couple of lists that are out there.
Tell me about Ted Hurst, the wide receiver out of Georgia State.
He was an early riser for me in the season if you read my Risers and Sliders column.
He was a guy I liked, I had of as I gave him a fifth round grade coming into the season.
He's improved.
He's more like your Jacoby Lane type, big possession receiver, strong, wins out for the contested throws.
Not the fastest guy in the world, but was super productive at Georgia State.
I mean, just kept getting better and better and better.
Like Jeremy Jeremy Bernard you mentioned before.
Want to see Hurst in those one on ones.
Is he able to separate through his routes?
Does he use his hands well to separate?
You know he's gonna come away with detatch because he always wins out for the contested throw.
But his ability to separate during the one on one drills at the Senior Ball will dictate whether he's a mid day three pick or maybe late day two pick.
Speaker 1Yeah, and he will be in Mobile as well.
Speaker 2And then some bad news got leaked out over the course of the last week or so out of Louisville.
Chris Bell, they're very talented wide receiver over six foot, well over two hundred pounds, really broke out this year.
It sounds like he is a torn acl Tony, So we'll see what that means for him.
I'm not sure if he has any eligibility to go back to school.
You will know that better than I would.
But I wonder what he decides to do.
Speaker 1Now.
Speaker 2He's a guy that had a chance to be a first round pick as well, but now he's got a torn ACL and reports are correct.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's said because it happened so late in the year.
He is a fourth round, a fourth year senior.
Speaker 2Now there is a case in the court system right now about giving guys a fifth year on the college field, regardless of how many years they played on the college field.
Before I spoke with somebody about it yesterday, they still don't know what it is.
So the courts may come down and give Chris Bell another season.
Regardless of that.
You know, it's terrible because it happened last game of the year he had.
He played so well this year.
I had him as a third rounder coming in the season.
I don't think he was gonna be a first rounder.
But man, he was a good receiver.
He was a bigger guy who showed some excellent quickness, a sneaky burst, and you just hate to see that, especially when it happened so late in the year.
All right, let's go to the offensive line here, Tony.
We have a couple of declarations.
Jude Bowry out of Boston College and then I really need to do a better job getting this pronunciation right.
But Ola Vega, I own the guard out of Penn State, also declaric go with my own first.
I mean a lot of people have him as a first rounder.
I don't see him as a first rounder just yet.
Eye bawling him on television.
What really getting into the film.
He's a big, powerful power gap blocker who annihilates people, but also shows a lot of stiffness in the game.
Non effective blocking emotion, non effective on the second level.
The type of offensive lineman that I like.
Now, while I don't have him in the first round.
I will tell you this a guy that I speak with, a source that I speak with who's very well informed on an offensive lineman, who a year ago told me that if armand Membo entered the draft, he would be a top ten pick.
He believes ione he's pretty much solid there, I know, and he's going to be a first round a selection.
So my opinion may change once I get into the film.
I like him, but I think he's a little bit more of a basically it needs to block in a phone booth because he doesn't have the great mobility Jude the Bowery of.
Speaker 1Boston College.
Speaker 2I had actually put that tweet out a couple of weeks ago that he has chosen representation for the draft.
I believe he's playing in the Shrine Ball twenty twenty four, he was terrific.
He's a terrific left tackle, mobile, the ability to slide latterly get out on the second level.
Speaker 1Struggle with injuries this year.
Speaker 2I believe he had a concussion, did not play to them in twenty twenty five than he did in twenty twenty four.
I think that's gonna hurt his draft stop.
I think he's a third round talent that's probably gonna go somewhere in the fourth or fifth round because of his play in twenty twenty five.
I remember Tony with the type of draft class this says, going back to the Penn State Guard, You're gonna have guys that normally maybe you wouldn't have as a first round pick be first round pick just because of the way this top ten, top fifteen looks.
And I think guys will push their way into the first round that might not normally be there because the guys I think.
Tell me you think this is fair to say, Tony, A lot of the guys that are gonna be picked like three to fifteen this year would normally be picked in like the ten to twenty two area, you know.
Speaker 1What I mean.
Speaker 2And you don't have your normal top ten, So the guys that are normally in your middle of the first round are going to be your top ten guys this year.
Speaker 1Here's a hint.
Speaker 2I'm working on a true round mock draft which will be released on Essentially Sports later this week, and I'm dealing with that, you know.
Speaker 1I mean, usually I.
Speaker 2Wouldn't have Makai Lemon as a first round pick, but he is a first round pick.
Speaker 1You know, I kinda I like Carnell Tait a lot.
Speaker 2I just don't like him as a top fifteen pick, is a top twelve pick.
Speaker 1But you know, you gotta fuck someone's got a good pick there.
Someone has that.
Speaker 2Oh, and you're exactly right in a situation with you know, Jude Browery of Boston College.
He could go earlier because there are so few pure left tackles in this draft, and a guy like Bowery could actually end up being selected earlier than his grade warrants.
Well, and there's our topic for next week's show.
If you have a two round not coming out, Tony, that'll be next week show right here on Draft season.
See you make it easy, especially since he got two weeks between the college football playoffs.
Speaker 1He gives us a nice topic for next week, which is excellent, good stuff.
Speaker 2Didn't tell you that off topic after the show, but there you go.
Speaker 1I was already trying to figure out what out this morning.
Speaker 2All right, there is one guy that I know you do believe is going to be a left tackle in the NFL, and we'll see him at mobile in the Senior ball.
Speaker 1Isaiah World.
Speaker 2And this is Isaiah World's chance to move into the bottom part of round one.
Speaker 1No doubt about it.
Speaker 2My opinion, he is the top pure left tackle in this draft.
He's answered every call this year.
Transferred from Nevada, he was really good from the beginning.
We saw him was early on.
I was against Michigan.
I forgot the game that we talked about.
The long arms, the mobile feet, the ability to slide out.
Really just a great pass protector.
Might have been Head State, it might have been the Penn State CAMPI like, bright baby, yeahs exactly, thank you against Dennis Dandy Sutton.
And you know, listen, you go to the Senior Bowl, quarterbacks, defensive tackles, cornerbacks and left tackles.
Left tackles, especially in those one on ones.
Speaker 1We saw it with.
Speaker 2Dewan Jones a couple of years ago.
Everybody fell in love with Dwan Jones.
Wow, he's doing great at left tackle.
Here's a chance for Isaiah World.
The three days of practice at the Senior Bowl will be Isaiah World's opportunity to move into the top thirty two picks.
Speaker 1No doubt about it.
Speaker 2If Moody's is a proud part of the New York Giants, uniting the brightest minds that turn today's risks into tomorrow's opportunity.
He's learned more on Moody's Dot, of course, proud sponsor of draft season.
All right, let's go over to the defensive side of the ball.
Tony a bunch of declarations on the defensive line.
So we got Keldrick Falk.
These are all the guys that we talked about before the years being top ten picks.
We'll see how many end up being top ten picks when we get to the draft in four months.
I think a couple of them still will be.
But we'll see Keldrick Falk out of Auburn, TJ.
Parker declares he's also going to the Senior Ball, which will be exciting to see him in those one on one drills.
And then Peter Woods out of Clemson will also be declaring.
And we'll see if Falker Woods go to one of the All Star Games.
We have not heard of any word on that yet.
You know, it's sort of like the offensive tackle position, and these guys are very talented, but they didn't live up to expectations.
You know, Keldrick walk is still going to be an early pick.
He's like going to be a top ten pick.
I know you like him a lot.
He's got great size, he's very athletic.
But you look, I mean, five tackles for US and two sacks this year compared to eleven tackles for US in seven sacks last year.
That's gonna be a big conversation come combine time.
Teams are going to want to know, why did your production basically slide off a clip?
You watched him in twenty twenty four.
He looked absolutely dominant, and rather than showing that in every game this season, he was very spotty.
So there's gonna be that concern.
Same thing with TJ.
Speaker 1Parker.
It's even worse with TJ.
Parker.
Speaker 2Nineteen and a half tackles for lost and eleven sacks last year, this year nine and a half tackles for lost, five sacks.
You see the explosion, You see the athleticism.
Why didn't he get to the quarterback this year?
Why wasn't he making plays?
That's gonna be a big topic of a conversation.
Everybody loves Peter Woods.
He's one of those really big bodied, athletic guys.
I think he scored two touchdowns this year for Clemson when they line them up in the backfield.
He's a guy who can dominate the action.
But again, like his teammate TJ.
Parker, like Antonio Williams, the receiver from Clemson.
I mean, it was very spotty this year, and he's probably gonna be a very early selection, top ten pick because it's such a bad year at defensive tackle.
But there's risk in taking a guy like Peter Woods.
Yeah, there is, Tony.
We'll have to figure out if these guys can turn those physical gifts into production, which is why I think for a guy like TJ.
Parker at the Senior Bowl, you know that's the guy when you walk in there, you want to see him own those one on one drills, right, because this isn't a great offensive tackle class.
To your point, he should have the physical advantage in every one of his matchups at the Senior Bowl.
By the way, him and Isaiah World, we can start previewing it now, that's gonna be if they're on different teams or on the same team rather in practice, that's gonna be a great matchup.
And they like to try to match those position groups up, so you want to see a guy like Parker dominate one on ones that the Senior was.
If he doesn't, people will be like, well, yeah, look, he didn't produce during the regular season, and now in the All Star Game he's not dominating either.
People will see that as a big red flag.
The other reason it's good for Parker to go to the Senior Bowl, And you know, when we had a Fabiano from the Sea Bowl on last week, he talked about the interviews.
The interview process at the Senior Bowl is geared to be like the interview process at the Combine, but it's much more relaxed.
I mean, it's not the in your face screaming that you get sometimes geared to Combine.
So Parker can go to the Senior Bowl and he can basically interview with thirty two teams and he can knock out all those Combine interviews in a more relaxed atmosphere where he's going to be asked some pretty stressful and pretty uncomfortable questions as to why didn't you produce this season?
So, I mean credit to him you mentioned on the field, but all the field those interviews are going to be just as important, and basically it'll be a box that he can check moving towards the combine and eventually the draft and then Tony one of the player will see go into the Senior Bowl.
Is one of the guys that you really liked before the year.
I know he has disappointed you a little bit.
Dennis Danny Sutton, the edge rusher out of Penn State.
Yeah, I mean I thought, you know, last year he picked up the slack when Abdul Carter was injured, especially in the college football playoffs.
Speaker 1He's tall, he's athletic, he's fast, but I mean, you know, the play was spot His play was spoty this year, and after he made the sack, it was like he won the game for the team.
Plays little going on and he's flexing and he's cheering.
Speaker 2It was just a bad, bad look for what was a very disappointing UH Penn State football team this year.
I'm sure he's gonna be ansked about it.
I think the world of his ability.
I think he's got tremendous upside, but I think he basically had a chance to be a first round pick.
Speaker 1He's now going to be a Day two pick.
The Senior Bawl will give an opportunity to show those skills, and again there's gonna be a lot of uncomfortable questions asked during those during those interviews at the Senior Ball.
Speaker 2And then Tony one other declaration of player that I don't think we've talked about here.
Speaker 1Tell us about Anto Saka from Northwestern.
I mean he fits.
Speaker 2In with Balk and Parker and Woods, Dennis, Dandy Sutton, that high expectations coming in season and just failed.
I mean, I'm surprised he entered the draft, and I was told that he likes college football, so I don't know what the thought process.
You watch the film on Sokka in twenty twenty four, You're like, Wow, this guy is just gonna have a breakout season.
He looks like an explosive pass rusher who could come out of a three point stance, standover tackle, good change in direction, making plays in space.
Was injured this year, but still was he basically non existent?
Thirteen tackles, four tackles for lost, three sacks, almost identical numbers from a year ago.
Really didn't improve his game at all.
I am shocked that he entered the drip.
I gotta find out, you know what the underlying reason was.
I think he has top sixty potential, but I think based off of his play in twenty twenty five, unless somebody really falls in love with him and he knocks the testing out of the out of the park.
I think he's a Day three pick in the twenty twenty six drafts.
He could be a real fun he could be a jem.
He could be one of those feels.
And then you factor in, as we pumped about, this is a loaded pass rusher clips and there are gonna be people who are gonna be pushed down and people who fall through the cracks, and Soak.
Speaker 1Is gonna be one of those guys.
Speaker 2It might be the only position where guys do get pushed down everyone else everywhere else they might get pushed up based on what the class looks like this year, So something to keep in mind.
All right, let's go to off ball linebacker here, Tony Anthony Hill out of Texas.
We've talked about him a lot.
Here he declared in On Carter out of Tennessee.
The linebacker he declared.
And then Harold Perkins will be heading to the Shrine Bowl.
Yeah, well, it gon be interesting to see Harold Perkins how he's used if he plays at the shrin Ball Fingers crossed because we know what's happened with the some of those guys in the past.
Hopefully he's out there.
Like to see him and coverage against the tallest tight ends.
How he does Anthony Hill, that comes up a slightly disappointing season, but at the top of his game, he is just an intense, fiery, fast, great off ball space linebacker.
And you mentioned car I mean interesting guy who entered the draft.
I know coming into the season he was graded as a mid fourth round choice by some of the scouting services.
I watched them over the summer.
I was like, Okay, he's nice.
Didn't have a great season.
You know again, just like Sokka, the pass rusher is likely to get pushed down.
As we talked about, this is a great linebacker and that's what Carter is.
And he's coming off an average season.
He looks more like a two down guy who's best out of the field.
So he's a guy that's very likely to get pushed down into the later rounds because he really didn't stand out this year.
He's got some potential, just didn't see it on a consistent basis in twenty twenty five.
Yeah, you're right, all fall linebacker is one of those other spots, I might see good players push down because of the depth there.
All right, let's go to the defensive backfield here, Tony.
We got a bunch of guys that we talked about a lot this year.
Many of these guys were highly regardless prospects before the season.
Speaker 1We have some declarations.
Speaker 2Avion Terrell obviously the younger brother of AJ Terrell from the Falcons, former Clemson quarterback as well.
He's setting into the NFL draft.
Brandon Siay something we've talked about here from South Carolina.
He's setting into the NFL draft.
So it was Jalen Kilgore's teammate, and then Jamal McCoy out of Tennessee, who's dealing with that knee injury.
I mean, Charrell's a terrific cornerback as far as I'm concern, makes plays with his back to the ball.
Obaously gonna be about five to ten and change back.
He doesn't play small, he plays big football.
But you know, when you're going up against those six to three receivers, is a little bit tougher.
Although D'Angelo Ponds showed us differently in that Big Ten title game Fitney, but I like Drew I think he's a dep in a first round pick.
Cisay is a great athlete, developing cornerback.
He's got to refine his skills.
If you watch him play too many times he's making plays or defending passes with his ketchup speed, with his recovery speed, rather than with refined ball skills.
Kilgore is a guy I liked coming into the season.
You know, one of those gigantic defensive backs, cornerbacks that we've seen through the years, come out of South Carolina.
I think he's a potential Day two pick.
He's got some upside.
And McCoy, I mean there were times in twenty twenty four where McCoy looked great, I mean smooth off the line in transition, flipping his hips, ran down field with his receiver he was covering, got his head back around, made plays on the ball.
But he's coming off a knee injury and he didn't take a snap this past season.
So you know, you mentioned the Shannon Revel comparison a week ago, and I think you're spot on with that.
I mean, Revel was a guy who was highly rated, played a few good games in twenty twenty four, went and what the third round in twenty twenty three.
Will have to see with McCoy A lot of it's obviously going to depend on those medicals at the combine which we know nothing about.
Speaker 1And then Tony, this just came out today.
I'm putting you on the spot here.
Speaker 2I apologize will Lee, the cornerback out of Texas A and M he will be going to the Senior Ball.
Speaker 1One thing, if you have anything on him.
Speaker 2Lee was a guy who was highly rated by scouts coming into the year.
When I say highly rated a day two pick, I never saw it on film.
I had a more as a fourth fifth row prospect.
Really didn't really didn't impress me.
This year, we'll talk about him in the matchup between Texas A and M and Miami.
I think it's a good move for him to go to the Senior Ball.
We talk about the one on ones with pass rushers in the tackles.
As we both know, it's just as enjoyable and you get so much, so much out of watching those one on ones between the defensive backs and the receivers.
Willie's really gonna have to step it up during those jolls because I think it was disappointing in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1It's funny we talked.
Speaker 2You mentioned this a couple of times, your Fabiana choose the new executive director of the Senior Bowl.
You guys should go check that out on last week's episode if you haven't watched it, and you talked about how they were kind of holding back some of the invitations on the teams that were in the college football playoffs, while lot of those teams must have handled them out this week because a lot of these guys that are in the playoffs have been accepting some of those invitations.
Speaking of which, let's get into some of those matchups.
Tony Oregon is taking on James Madison.
I mean, we need to get into the politics of the college football playoffs here, but I wish we had didn't have two games this week that we all assume were just going to be blowouts.
This is one of them.
And this is no offense to James Madison.
Is not their fault.
They played good football.
They're a good football team.
Is just a different type of athlete.
That's on James Madison, that's on Oregon.
It's just the way it is.
What are some of the things you're keeping an eye on in this game?
And to compound the situation, the James Madison coach is now at UCLA and the James Madison coach is a large part of the reason why they're in the college football playoffs because he got them to play above their head.
I mean, there really are at too many matchups on this, but watch Pat McMurtry, who is the JMU right tackle, a guy who was basically greeted as a reject coming in the season.
He's played very, very well.
You're gonna see him in a postseason All Star game.
We could see him at the combine those times he goes up against Matteo Ugulelei, the pass rusher out of Oregon who often lines up over left tackle.
If he lines up over right tackle, watch that matchup.
See how McMurtry does beat Chill A big opportunity for him.
Speaker 1Dan.
Speaker 2I think you just want to see Dante Moore be dominant, right, I mean in this game as a quarterback as he makes his decision.
Curious if you have any more intel on that, Tony, if he's gonna go into the draft or not.
And look, if he just as a blow it up college football playoffs, maybe he could even make up some ground on Mendoza to be the first quarterback taken, depending on the team you talk to.
I'm curious to see how this goes for him and how that impacts his thought process and whether or not he's gonna come out.
You know, it'll be a good game for him if he's not playing in the fourth quarter, because that games that ergan up and you might as well not play it.
I will tell you this, and there's gonna be an article on it at the essentially sports dot com.
The information I received as of Monday of this week is the belief is if he's a top five pick, top three pick, he will enter the draft.
That's what the that's the latest word I got.
And when you look at the draft order, you look at the teams in the top five that need quarterbacks.
I believe Dante more will be a top five pick.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2I think given what we're looking at now, between the Jets and the Raiders, I think would be the two teams that that that you're kind of yeah, and the Browns.
Speaker 1I mean on the brands, right for sure?
Speaker 2Are you going to you know, have carry dors Sanders carry that franchise?
I mean, listen, credit to Shird dors Sanders.
He's played relatively well, but you know, not this week.
Quarterback in the future.
Yeah, and then he had has struggled this week as well.
But yeah, I mean, I think all three of those teams would certainly be interested if the right quarterback is there.
All right, let's jump to Alabama Oklahoma.
We're front of the program.
Jim Naggy's Oklahoma suitors are taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide and Alabama has not closed the season well, Tony, they get slacked by Georgia and the SEC Championship game time Simpson does not look good.
They have negative rushing yards in the game, which just think of Alabama and that negative rushing yards and an SEC title game against Georgia.
Speaker 1It's like unheard of.
Speaker 2And Ty Simpson, who had a rough last half of the year after the first half of the year making both of us think of him, is maybe he could be the top quarterback in the draft.
Speaker 1He has a decision to make as well.
Speaker 2I think it's a pretty easy one unless these last three games just looked completely different than what the last six ones look like.
Speaker 1But we'll see.
Oklova's got a really good defense, so it's not gonna be easy.
Speaker 2And Alabama's downfall ironically started against Oklahoma in that game in early November in Norman, where it was a close game on the scoreboard, but the Oklahoma defense really ate up ty Simpson, who struggled to move.
Alabama kept him in the game for a little while.
But that was you mentioned.
The you mentioned the game against Georgia and nas See title game was the Oklahoma game, and then he played terribly against Auburn and they had to pull that game out in the last minute.
Again, Oklahoma has a terrific pass rush, both on the edges and on the inside.
They've got a good secondary.
This is going to be a major test, not only for ty Simpson, but for Cayden Proctor, who's also struggled with left tackle.
I don't see Caden Proctor is left tackle, I said all wont I think he's a right tackle, but he's just does not look good at all at the tackle spot.
Is this an opportunity for these guys to make amends or they're gonna continue down the path of playing not very good football if they get beat up by Oklahoma as they did the first game, Tony, do we think we could see Proctor be a guard to I know you think he's more of a right tackle.
Speaker 1You know, we saw that.
Speaker 2We've seen the Ravens turn file Lele, the gigantic Minnesota tackle from a few years ago, into a guard.
I mean physically, just in terms of size, he's very similar to what Caden Proctor is.
I wonder do you think some NFL teams could look at Proctor as a guard.
Speaker 1I'm sure they would.
Speaker 2I would say that I think Proctor is a better tackle than Falle was.
Speaker 1When I hear that, yep uh.
Speaker 2And my belief is you leave him at tackle until they can't play tackle.
You gotta fight, you gotta ship them inside.
But of course, I mean there will be teams and remember, you know Proctor has struggled at times that left tackle.
He moves incredibly well.
So if you want a bigger guard that shows the ability to get out of the second level and take winebackers out of the action, he could be your guy.
Yeah, no question about it.
All right, Toty, let's go to two lane and all miss.
We saw this game mid season and o'll miss destroy Tulane.
But you like their quarterback a little bit?
Yeah, I mean, Jay Rexliff.
You know the story.
He was at EYU last year, had a good season at BYU, broke the code of conduct, was dismissed from the team, went to Tulane.
Speaker 1Now Tulane, they win the.
Speaker 2American Athletic Conference, They're in the College football playoffs.
He's a smart, methodical quarterback, decent arm, not a great arm, doesn't make a bad decisions.
But again, I mean, he's not playing Memphis here, he's not playing Navy, he's not playing Temple, He's playing Mississippi again.
So basically a chance for him to make amends from that first game you mentioned.
Speaker 1Yeah, and then let's jump to the final game.
Speaker 2And this is what I'm probably most excited about, Miami and Texas A and m It should be a really good game between two teams that you know, Miami closed the season well after the slow start, Texas A and m at that disappointing end of the year, couldn't get into the SEC title game.
Speaker 1Right, Let's start up front.
Speaker 2Cassius Howell, who I think is one of the risers in this year's draft class, really came on strong and played well.
And he's gonna go against Francis Manwiinoa who I know a lot of people see as a guard heading into the National Football League, but he'll obviously be playing tackle this week.
Yeah, he's guard because he's a little bit short.
He doesn't have that tackle hype.
But both these guys are athletic, mobile guys.
You talk about Howard great up the field, great closing burst, but can also play off the line of scrimmage.
You want to drop him off the line in space on zone Blitzasy does a good job, gets out laterally in pursuit chasing down.
Speaker 1Running backs, does a terrific job there.
Speaker 2Maragoa is an athletic right tackle who may be able to play on the left side if you want to leave him at tackle.
Good footwork, good movement skills, the ability to get out to the second level, block in motion, good lateral range.
He's not your traditional stiff, tight right tackle.
He's more your Lane Johnson athletic type at right tackle.
So if they are massed up, or when they are massed up, you got two really good athletes, two really good football players with similar types of traits going against one another.
Speaker 1All right, then let's flip it on the other side.
Speaker 2You want to go about the Miami pass rushers against this offensive line for Texas A and M, which has done a really nice job this year.
Yeah, I mean Trey Zoun's a left tackle, a guy who started since he was a freshman.
Not super athletic, not really big, but he gets the job done.
Speaker 1He projects.
Speaker 2You know, you talk about tackles who project inside the guard.
That's definitely zoomed.
When we see him in the postseason.
I believe he's going to be at the shrying game.
I may need to be correct on that he's going to be playing guard or center, or both guard and center, because that's where he projects.
But he's a good pass protector and Demitri to Maitrius Kronauer, their big right tackle, has also done a solid job.
Now he's going up You're going up against Ruben Bain, who everybody loves.
He's going to be a top ten pick.
Doesn't have great stats this year, but you watch the film.
He's explosive.
He's a natural edge rusher who has who's fast up the field and can bend and alter his angle of attack, and a key mesidor his teammate who doesn't get a fraction of the headlines, but is also a really good defensive end.
Betasfis is a defensive end and a four man front who gets a lot of force up the field.
He gets a lot of momentum going.
He's been a good player, had some injury issues at the Miami chose to come back in twenty twenty five and it's worked out perfectly.
From so, the battles on the edges, the battles between the tackles and the pass rushers.
From my when Miami has when I'm sorry, Texas A and m has the ball is going to be one to watch, Tony.
Have you seen have you heard, rather from the people you talk to around the league that some people might see Bain as an interior pass rusher, as a free technique rather than edge.
I've heard potentially in the three man line.
I've heard in a three man line what he used one gap systems, and what that means is it's a three man line where you're where the linebacker standing over tackle is basically up at the line of scrimmage as opposed to a traditional three man line with a two gap scheme.
Interesting, all right, And then finally you mentioned Will Lee already you like his matchup this week against some of that Miami wide receiver corp DJ Daniels, the former Liberty the transfer from Liberty.
He's a bigger possession wide out.
I mean, Will Lee has got an athletic advantage on CJ.
Daniels, but Daniels has shown himself to be a real good football player.
Potential Day three pick.
Makes a lot of highlight reel type of receptions when the passes are thrown by Beck.
So it's going to be a real good matchup.
Speaker 1You know.
Again, Lee, going.
Speaker 2Back to what I said before, has had a disappointment season.
I think CJ.
Daniels has played better than people expect.
It's just a chance for Will Lee to start to reel it in and basically play to the level that scouts story it was possible.
Speaker 1Hi, Tony, anything else you want to add here before we say goodbye all the way around?
Just one more.
Speaker 2Kyante Scott, the top nickelback from Miami.
He's had a foot injury.
They're saying he's gonna play.
Played really well at Auburn for three years, transferred to Miami, played well when he was healthy this season.
Potential Day three pick if he plays on the If he's on the field, like I said, he's been suffering with the foot injury.
What is of yesterday was they expect them to play going up against Casey concepts you one, in my opinion, one of the most underrated skill players in the nation as a receiver, as a return specialist.
He's fast, he's quick, he's exceptional running after the catch.
So when that matchup, you know, if that matchup comes to fruition, it's going to be an interesting one to watch, Tony.
Speaker 1Tell the people what you have coming up on essentially sports.
Speaker 2Well, we'll have an interesting article about Dante Moore when I'm hearing about his next level decision making as of right now, will people people around them think?
And as I said earlier, we'll be discussing next week is my true round mock draft, and I'm sure the long knives will be out for that one.
Speaker 1Oh they always are, Tony.
Speaker 2We'll go through all of that on next week's Draft Season, presented by Moody's, a proud partner of the New York Football Giants.
How's all the time we have for draft season, NaNs, You'll be with us, everybody.
Enjoy your college football playoffs this weekend, Tony, and I'll be back with you next week.
As we talk about his mock drafts and review a weekend of college football.
We'll talk to you then, have a good one, everybody,
