Carlson Dealt + Skins' Free Agency-Draft

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Next week's going to be a busy week with free agency getting underway Sam Monson from

the 33rd team will jump on with us in a few minutes.

To give us his best guesses on what Washington will do in free agency, and then after Sam

Bruce Feldman from Fox and the Athletic, we'll jump on and talk NFL draft.

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Big surprise late last night early this morning in town.

And that is the CAHPS defenseman John Carlson was traded to Anaheim.

I'm not going to sit here and break the trade down for you.

You know me better than that.

And while I could have booked a guest to do it and to talk about Carlson, I do have two

really good football guests on the show and they were already booked.

But I do know this about John Carlson.

I know that this is a sad day for CAHPS fans.

John is not only the greatest defenseman in franchise history.

He was a foundational piece to the greatest years in franchise history, which of course

peaked with the Stanley Cup title in 2018.

Only Nick Baxter and assisted on more Alex Ovechkin goals than Carlson did.

Ovechkin shocked and crushed by the news saying, quote, it's obviously a sad day.

The toughest day in my career talking about personal wise, it sucks.

It's sad.

He's obviously the best defenseman in franchise history, a leader, an unbelievable man, and

a great friend for all of us closed quote.

Tom Wilson said quote, never foresaw a capitals game without John Carlson in it.

Today sucks.

It's brutal.

I'm sure there's some guys that want to cry.

That's the reality of it.

Today you can cry, but tomorrow you've got to wake up and be a big boy and go play hockey

closed quote.

The trade brought the CAHPS a conditional first round pick in 2026 or 2027 along with a

2027 third round pick and what NHL pundits are calling the most surprising deal.

So far ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline today, which is on the verge of coming up.

There is a possibility that he could be brought back next year as a free agent.

He's in the final year of his $8 year, $64 million deal, so he will be a free agent.

But if not, 36 years old in the midst of his 17th season, all of those seasons here in

Washington playing for the CAHPS.

But the CAHPS are struggling right now.

You know, they are right now on the outside looking in as far as a postseason birth goes.

Four points behind the last of the two wild card teams, Boston.

The Bruins have also played three fewer games than Washington.

So they traded Nick Dowd yesterday, but today the big surprise in the big news that they

have moved on from John Carlson.

And again, it's possible.

It's just for the time being, but a legend in CAHPS history.

And I know people that know John because he lives in the area in which I live in or used

to live in.

And there has never been anybody that has said anything other than, I don't know how

well you know John Carlson, but he is one of the best guys of all time.

He liked him, everybody loved his family, and what a career he's had here in Washington.

So we wish him the best.

Meantime, the basketball team in town last night had the debut of Trey Young as a billing

that actually drew one of the bigger crowds they've had all season long.

I'm actually a little bit surprised at that.

I just don't personally view Trey Young as a true needle mover, but a lot of excited

people to go out and see his debut, 19 minutes, 12.6 assists for him.

The time that he's going to play here over the final, you know, 20 some games or whatever

it is at this point.

The coach Brian Keefe said afterwards, basically he's going to play like 17 to 20 minutes.

They're not going to play him a lot.

Oh, by the way, they lost the game last night to Utah, which was a good thing, because

Utah was one of those teams they were battling with.

So they don't, they game ground where they lose ground with Utah, however you want to look

at it.

I know Tommy is somehow talked himself into because he just can't stand Trey Young and

that's fine.

Trey Young is a flawed player in many ways, but somehow making this final stretch

some sort of referendum on whether or not it was a good trade.

That's absurd.

These games are games in which the team is hoping to lose, playing a lot of developmental

players, one of which last night, Julian Reese, Juju Reese for Uturbs fans, Angel Reese's

brother, Juju last night.

How about this in his third professional game?

18 points, 20 rebounds, 10 offensive rebounds.

The 10 offensive rebounds are the most ever for a rookie in Bullets slash Wizards history

since they've been in Washington.

The 20 rebounds tied a rookie franchise record since they arrived in Washington in 1973.

He came out in the final minute and a half.

If not, he would have had a chance to go for a 2020 night.

18 points on five of seven, and if you guys or four you guys who know Juju and have watched

his career at Maryland, he was eight for eight from the free throw line last night.

This was a guy that shot 53% as a sophomore, 56% from the line as a junior, and then improved

to 73% plus in his senior year last year, four years, one school, college park.

Juju was a fun player to watch because he just progressed every year, and I'll tell you

last year, what a player he turned into on both ends of the floor, improving his free throw

shooting, improving his overall offense, and here he is in his third professional game

going for 18 and 20.

I know a lot of Maryland people, including former coaches of his who were very happy to see

that because he was a very well liked player and had a great work ethic during his time

at Maryland.

I have no idea how this will play out in terms of opportunities next year, but he is

certainly with an 18, 20 night in his third game.

There are going to be some people that take more than just a looksy, so good for him,

really excited about his night last night.

Watched it.

Watched a lot of that game last night and continued to be impressed by the way with Will Reilly

and his development.

I don't know if that's a superstar top five player, but man, a lot of their young players

are going to be really good pieces.

If they can land on a transcendent superstar player in the upcoming draft, but also just

to couple with and to support what we're hoping to be a very interesting team next year

with Tray Young and Anthony Davis.

We'll see on Anthony Davis, of course, because of his history of injuries.

From Washington football news today, they signed Jake Moody.

Remember there was a report the other day that they were not going to tender him.

He was a restricted free agent, but Kicker Jake Moody resigned to a one year deal.

They need a kicker.

They're going to probably bring in another kicker or two I would imagine, but Jake Moody

actually kicked well.

There's two for two on kicks over 50 yards.

Remember, he was drafted by the 49ers when Adam Peters was there.

But God, this year was a disaster with the kickers, with the number of kickers that we

ended up having.

Matt Gay, Matthew Wright for a game, Jake Moody last year with all the kickers in 2024,

and Jake Moody came in.

He was 10 of 11.

The kick that he missed, I'm pretty sure it was a real short one in his final game against

Philadelphia.

Did you remember he shanked one from like 20 something yards out?

Am I right about that?

Philadelphia, yes, opening drive of the game.

He missed a 24 yard field goal.

It hit the right upright, but that was his only miss.

He was two for two from 50 yards out.

He was the guy, remember, that beat Washington as a Chicago Bears kicker on Monday night football

when Jaden Daniels fumbled and the Bears ended up getting the ball back in a game that Washington

had really in hand, and then the defense let them essentially run through them like a

sieve to get in really good field goal range for Jake Moody who kicked a 38 yard field goal

at the gun.

That was the loss that was really, we didn't know it at the time, but it was the beginning

of the end because there were three and two on the verge of being four and two, and then

they were three and three, and then the following week Jaden got hurt and Dorn's Armstrong got

lost and a loss to the Cowboys, and it was all over.

The other news that isn't specific to Washington, but certainly associated to Washington, is

that Tyler Beatish, according to many reports, signed a three year, $30 million deal to be

the starting center of the Los Angeles Chargers next year.

He's going to replace Bradley Boseman, remember, the Chargers had all kinds of issues along

their offensive line.

Now, here's what I would say about this.

First of all, three years, $30 million without any sort of guarantee dollars being a part

of the reporting tells you that that's probably the best it's going to look because that's

probably the agent trying to put the best spin on it.

I'd like to see the details behind the deal because the details I think will be a tell

on whether or not there was more than just one team interested, meaning is it possible

that Washington could have gotten something back for Tyler Beatish if they had chosen to

trade him instead of release him.

I think if it's three years, $30 million, but really the deal is a one year deal for eight

and a half million, and the second year and third year aren't guaranteed, then there

was probably not huge demand for his services.

But if it's three years, $30 million and half of it's guaranteed, and it's two years

for sure guaranteed, I think maybe there was

another team or two interested, and the chargers had to go up a little bit to lock him up.

There was a report that he was interviewing with the Bears after Drew Dolman retired suddenly

at the age of 27.

I would imagine Washington certainly looked into trying to trade Tyler Beatish.

I don't think it just slipped their mind that, hey, we didn't work it out with him, and

there's not much of a market forum we're just going to release him.

I'm sure they explored the possibility that a guy that started for two straight years

at center and is what, only 29 years old, 28 years old, I'm sure they would have explored

whether or not there was an opportunity to deal him.

When there are multiple teams interested, or if there's a feeling that there's going

to be a big market, if they release him, some teams will choose to send you a conditional

day three pick, so that they can sign him to the deal rather than being in competition.

But anyway, Tyler Beatish, there you go, finds a job and finds a job pretty quickly.

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All right, joining me right now is Sam Monson, Sam used to be with PFF that we've had Sam

on the show many times.

He's currently with the 33rd team, Sam's been an excellent NFL analyst for a long period

of time now at Sam Monson NFL on X.

So our team Sam this year with all the injuries fell to 5 and 12.

The defense was horrendous.

I would argue that over the last half of the season, it was the worst defense in the NFL.

I'm not sure in my lifetime, Sam, of following this team and being a fan of this team, I've

ever seen a worst defense than this particular team's defense.

I saw the other day you did a segment five minutes on how to fix Washington, so have

at it.

How do we fix our team here with free agency starting next week?

Yeah, the defense was extremely rough last season and that, you know, it looked pretty

bad on paper heading into the year and that was that was the kind of concern we had going

into the season.

Obviously, everything had been so good the year before.

We found Jayden Daniels, the team over-achieved, it looked like a real contender and they should

have fired up that on season as if that was the case and they went hard after these

better and moves, you know, trading for Lyrami Tonsol, bringing in a devos Samuel, you know,

they were making moves as if they expected to be a contender last season, but when you

looked at it on paper heading into that year, you know, like this defense does not look

like the kind of group that can match that unless, you know, some very young, unproven

players play extremely well.

You know, Trey Amos right out of the gate or Johnny Newton, you know, becomes a star.

Like, it was going to need something like that for this defense to hold up at the end

of the bargain and it just didn't happen.

So the defense was rough, obviously the offense took a step back where Jayden Daniels was

hard and not quite the same guy year two and suddenly it just, none of what was expected

kind of manifest last year.

All right, so let's fix it.

Where do you want to start?

Let's start with free agency.

What are some of your ideas?

Yeah, so I think, you know, the good thing is the team, it's got some money to play with.

They can absolutely be players in the free agent marketplace.

They can absolutely be a factor.

And, you know, I think it's a good team for this lesson because generally speaking, I

think, free agency, you know, gone are the days when elite players are hitting the market

at the peak of their power, at the peak of their earning potential.

The guy that always comes to mind for that is Albert Haynesworth, and obviously Washington

was the team that went after Albert Haynesworth and it didn't work out.

But generally those guys are not hitting the market anymore, but that doesn't mean there's

no good players to be brought in or there's no smart money to be spent in free agency.

I think you can get a lot of useful, you know, role players, a lot of useful starters,

a lot of contributors, you're just not getting the sort of market resetting superstar anymore.

All right, so let's start with Edge in free agency.

Who's worth it for Washington to go after?

They have Doran's Armstrong coming off in injury.

He played actually very well before he got hurt in week seven against the Cowboys.

Dietrich Wise, they brought back the other day.

He's more of an edge setting, runstopper.

It's a new defensive coordinator, Sam Durante-Jones coming from Minnesota.

You're very familiar with the Vikings and Brian Flores' system.

So is there, you know, would you go after Trey Hendrickson or would it be a boy Mafe

who are in a way like, how would you address a significant need, which is they've got to

generate pass rush in 2026?

Yeah, so obviously a lot of it is going to depend, you know, what the market is for some

of these guys.

And it's always difficult to gauge that from the outside and know exactly what the

asks are.

I wouldn't go near the Trey Hendrickson thing.

I think given his age, given the likely area that he's going to be playing in in terms

of salary, I would let somebody else do that.

But I'd absolutely be interested in talking, Jay on Phillips, you know, from Philadelphia.

He'd been with Miami, injuries are a concern for him, but when he plays, I think he's

an impactful and versatile defensive lineman that can move around, that can do a bit of

everything.

I'd absolutely be interested in the Adafee away marketplace.

I think he does get a lot of pressure.

I think he's athletic enough to potentially do some dropping into coverage, you know,

to do some of the sort of confusing elements in disguise that Minnesota has certainly done

for years.

And I would imagine we're going to see more of Washington this year.

Caleb on Chase on has come up a really good year for New England, a sort of former

drop bust, really, you know, hydrophic that had never been the guy that he was supposed

to be.

But all of a sudden, he was consistently making plays for the Patriots.

And again, a guy that's got experience, you know, dropping into coverage, doing a bunch

of different things in that defensive line.

I don't know if his market is going to be anything, but if he's a cheap option, I'd absolutely

be intrigued and bring an in.

Um, here's a name for you.

Just curious as to what you think, because it's always been a player when I've watched

him.

I've, I've just, I've thought like, especially maybe in a Brian Flora style scheme.

And he's down the list here.

And so it's not going to be a lot of money.

I think he's played in Buffalo at a high level at time, certainly as a playmaker.

Do you like AJ Epinessa?

Yeah, I do.

I think Epinessa is, you know, an interesting player who's, I think he's been pretty inconsistent

in his NFL career, but I think he's got some ability.

Um, and he is, you know, in his prime is a big, long, powerful player that his high

end play has been particularly has been impressive.

There's just never been enough of it.

Um, and again, like a guy that was a pretty high draft, not a first rounder, but a second

round player that never quite became the player that he was supposed to be for the bills.

But I think AJ Epinessa's part of a rotation is absolutely a useful player to have in

your, you know, if you go sort of seven deep on that defensive line, I think AJ Epinessa

is definitely one of the guys that can get, you know, 400 maps for you and be a useful

player.

He's not on Trey Hendrickson.

He's, I think he's just a little bit too old to be sure of that salary, you know, he's,

the whole Cincinnati thing has really not worked out in his favor in that he didn't get

the contract that he was looking to get.

He's already 31.

He'll be 32 during the season, you know, and he, for the last few years, he's been up

there with Miles Garrett and TJ Waters, one of the best edge rushers in the NFL.

Well, those guys got absolutely monster top of the market contracts.

Hendrickson should, by all rights, be targeting that kind of money.

And I just think you're going to feel far more concerned of giving him that money than

you were, certainly Miles Garrett, because he's that little bit older and he's coming

up in injury now, you know, maybe, maybe I'm wrong, maybe his contract demands are going

to be much lower than that and if they are, then maybe you're in the Trey Hendrickson

market.

But for where I think that contract is going to end up, I would just let somebody

else gamble on when age becomes a factor for him.

Is there a corner because they have a need there?

I mean, they've got a need almost everywhere on defense.

Is there a corner that you think would fit maybe a Brian Flores style scheme?

That's what we're thinking here next year with Dorontay Jones is the defensive coordinator.

Give me a corner or two.

I actually think there's a chance that they re-sign Jonathan Jones, who's a little bit

older, actually didn't play that poorly.

They'll have Treya miscoming back off the injury who played pretty well as a rookie.

Sandra stills here.

But give me a corner that you think is a possibility for them.

Yeah, it's an interesting year for corners.

There's a lot of risk associated with kind of all the guys.

So it's really what what is the thing?

What is the red flag?

What is the scary element of these guys that you're most comfortable with?

Greg Newsom is someone I'd be interested in kicking the tires on and coming out of Jacksonville.

He's been a brown swore for a first round pick and has got some high end play on his resume

but is not coming off the best of that play for a long time.

Sansei Samuel Jr., now that he's healthy, I mean, he didn't get signed for basically

all of last off season.

It really dragged late because he was coming off injuries and really wasn't healthy enough

to play.

But late in the year, we saw him get on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now, if you assume another kind of six months into his recovery, Sansei Samuel is a potential

ball-hawk type of corner, sticky and zone coverage.

The kind of guy that can make plays, it's going to depend on what his health is like.

But if your medical staff clears him, I think Samuel is definitely someone that could be

a really interesting by-low type of player.

And then to recoil and recoil and from Seattle, he's incredibly athletic, had an amazing

rookie season, regressed pretty hard the last couple of years, but I thought every time

he got on the field this year, actually, was pretty impressive.

And maybe maturity is a potential issue for him.

I mean, he had one of the worst, one of the dumbest penalties I've seen anybody commit

last year, but again, if you're comfortable, that was just a rush of blood to the head

as opposed to a kind of serial concern for him, he would be certainly a talented player

to potentially invest in.

Of the following four players, if I told you they signed one of them, which would be the

best fit.

Tremaine Edmonds, Kway Walker, Devon Lloyd, Nikobe Dean.

Cool.

Nikobe Dean, you would imagine, would be an awful lot cheaper than the other ones.

So in terms of value, Nikobe Dean might be the guy to target from that group just because

I suspect he's going to come at pennies on the dollar relative to the other ones.

I think Devon Lloyd is the best player of the group, but I also think he'll command the

most money as well.

So I think it's either go big with Devon Lloyd, pay the big money, get the talented player

hitting the market, the second contract guy right at the right time, or you go for the

bargain baseman version and you bring in Nikobe Dean and hope that he can stay healthy and

be that guy.

I wouldn't want any part of Kway Walker.

I think he's still more of an athlete than he is a football player and kind of always

has been.

Tremaine Edmonds is definitely intriguing, but he's incredibly athletic.

They're asking to do an awful lot of difficult things, but I think he's the idea of Tremaine

Edmonds has always been better than the player Tremaine Edmonds.

If they brought Bobby Wagner back, do you think that would be an issue?

No, Bobby Wagner can still play.

Now, he can't play the way he used to in Seattle and you need to change your requirements

for Bobby Wagner.

He can't necessarily ask him to do some of the things that he did earlier in his career,

operate out in space, cover serious ground and coverage, but if you understand what Bobby

Wagner is now and you put him in the position to succeed, he can still play at a really

high level.

He's a really good player still.

Yeah, he is still an absolute lethal tackler.

I mean, still one of the best in the game.

All right, let's flip it to offense.

Did you do Brandon Ayuk or not?

I mean, so Ayuk is the total wild card at this point.

Now, Washington has a kind of unique insight into him with Jayden Daniels in that connection

there.

Maybe if your quarterback matches for him and says, look, he's 100% going to be on the

straight now or we can keep him together, then it is a potential by-law opportunity that

rarely comes along.

He's a top 10 caliber playmaker at White Receiver.

He could turbo charge an offense and give your young quarterback an absolute super start

to go along with Terram McClaren and the players that are already there.

But I mean, this is, I can't think of a situation like this before where a guy is basically

down tools, run himself out of the building immediately after getting paid.

I mean, usually that kind of thing, if it ever happens before, is an unwise negotiating

tactic to try and get paid.

I mean, that's on Reddit kind of did something like this for Philadelphia, but that was to try

and get a contract done, not after the contract is signed.

So it's incredibly unusual and means he comes with a massive risk.

I mean, you are, if you're bringing in Ayuk, you are assuming if this lasts a year, you

know, it's been a success.

White Receiver, they're going to add a wide receiver if not to because part of it, Sam,

is that Terry very likely is going to be playing his last year.

His, you know, cap number of balloons in 27 to 34 million to 39 plus million in 28.

He got a one year contract extension for all intents and purposes last summer.

And you know, look, if he plays great, they'll try to figure something out, but they also

are likely not to bring back Debo Samuel.

They only have three receivers under contract right now.

Luke McCaffrey, Jalen Lane, who's their punt returner and Terry McClarns.

So I think we are all expecting here in DC that they are active and free agency to begin

with and that wide receiver and maybe even tight end and running back are a part of the

equation.

So who do you like, wide receivers?

Let's just say after, you know, Pickens obviously and Pierce in that next group after them,

let's just say they don't spend the big money on Pierce unless you think they absolutely

should.

I think Pierce is definitely an option for them still.

The problem is, like you said, it's going to be big money.

Most of the NFL, I think, is interested in Alec Pierce.

I didn't really expect them to hit the market, but obviously they used their tag on Daniel

Jones and so Alec Pierce is going to be available unless he takes a massive hometown

discount in the next few days and stomps himself hitting the open market, which I can't

imagine why he would do.

So yeah, I would at least be in the conversation there until the number goes so high that

you draw a line in the sand and let somebody else go there.

John Jennings, I think, is a really interesting name.

Again, a San Francisco connection, so they would have some insight into him.

Jennings, I think, is primed to step into a bigger role than he's had for the 49ers.

He's a great blocker.

He's fearless over the middle.

He's a playmaker as well.

He's got some dynamism to him.

Romeo Dodd from Green Bay, I think, is just a really solid, very good number two receiver

and that would upgrade the receiving core.

And then I think you've got a bunch of kind of lower down, not quite one trick pony players,

but more limited receivers, like specific skill sets, I think, you could bring in.

Guys like Jalen Naylor from Minnesota is, I think, an intriguing speed receiver that

was actually pretty good for them last year with most of their higher name receivers really

weren't.

I think there's definitely players you can bring in two guys, maybe in free agency, and

absolutely kind of overall this receiving core without breaking the bank on huge money

for any one of them.

Different style player, but do you think Wondale Robinson's a bit under the radar?

I mean, I was shocked when I looked at his production.

You know, I always thought watching him, he's better than people think he is.

I had no idea until recently, he's gone 92 and 93 receptions in his last two seasons.

Is there going to be a market and a decent sized one for him?

I think there should be.

Yeah.

I mean, he's an interesting player because obviously really small guy, I think he's under

five, nine kind of this classic slot receiver high volume underneath chain moving type

of player.

And all of a sudden last season, it's like it averaged up the target almost doubled.

It was making a ton of plays deep down the field and all of a sudden there's this deep

threat that's emerged out of nowhere.

I think some of that is connected to the way Jackson Dart played the game and extending

plays and running around behind the line of scrimmage and kind of manufacturing some

scrambled drill opportunities types of things.

That's some of that translates with Jaden Daniels, you know, you're going to have some

of those plays with him as well.

So it's not like that skills that disappears if he came over to Washington, but I do

think there he showed a lot of season.

There's more to his game than was given credit for before that.

So yeah, I would be really interested in one of the Robinson for a lot of teams in the NFL.

He'd be, I'd be calling up his representative, finding out where that marketplace is because

if anything short of, you know, crazy money, I think he's a really good addition to most

receiving goals.

If I told you they added a tight end, it's obviously not going to be Kyle Pitts, but it was

somebody else who would be the best fit in Washington.

Yeah, I don't love the tight end market this all season.

I think there's some useful players, but maybe you're kind of short on that kind of

guaranteed fix.

David and Joku, I'd be interested in looking at.

I think he showed a couple of years ago.

He was really a high level receiver, a dynamic player.

It could make plays after the catch.

Last season was not a particularly strong year for him, and it's tough.

Like on the one hand, you would say, yeah, but look at the quarterback situation on Cleveland.

And then the other hand, you would say, but that didn't affect Harold Fanon at all, the

rookie tight end kind of taking his place there.

So it's something to know exactly what to do with that, but he's not that far removed

from some really good play as a receiver.

I'd definitely be intrigued by that.

Kay Doughton was a useful player in Tampa Bay.

Baker may feel his favorite target at times, but I think he also sort of showed where his

feeling is in terms of he's a solid player, but he's not going to be spectacular.

Well, those are two guys.

I think they would definitely upgrade a group of tight ends.

Who are the running backs you like?

Because I think there's a chance they add one in free agency.

First of all, where do you think Kenneth Walker, the third, will land?

Yeah, there's a lot of talk that Kansas City is going to go in his direction.

They tried to trade for brief haul last year during the season.

Walked at the asking price.

Wouldn't go to a third round pick.

They wanted to give up a fourth, but I think it shows, they're playing at the higher end

of that running back market.

They're getting linked a lot to Jeremiah Love and the draft.

That would be another option for them, but they might be the team that's willing to go

to the big money for Kenneth Walker.

I think it's a great year to pick up a running back in free agency.

I think there's a lot of really good options.

Tyler Algier has been the kind of the change up guy to be John Robinson in Atlanta.

He's a hammer as a running bank.

He's so consistent.

He's great in short yardage.

He never fumbles.

He's just a really, really solid running back that I think would be a great addition.

Again, so a lot of teams were Washington in particular as well.

Rashad White at a time of Bay, I think it's been a really useful part of a committee

bank field.

He'd be an interesting play to bring over as well.

I think there's a couple of guys you can absolutely look at.

Yeah, you've mentioned some of the guys I love.

I love Jennings, first of all, Wide Receiver, especially for them, because they're going

to go to more of a Shanahan style or Ben Johnson style offense with David Blowett, Coordinator,

and I love Tyler Algier.

I actually think Chigga Concoa would be a great fit for Washington too at tight end.

You didn't mention him.

Do you like him as a free agent signing?

I mean, he's obviously not pits, and he's not at that upper tier, but what do you think

of him?

I do like a Concoa, but he's one of these perfect players where it's like every single

year, you're kind of expecting more of him than you get.

No quarterback.

No, it is true.

And it's always difficult to know how much the dependency of that, but every year, he's

like the fantasy player's dream, every offseason.

Every offseason, this is the Chigga Concoa breakout season, and it never quite comes.

And yeah, you can always say, sometimes you've got a factor in his quarterback, but again,

it's like that didn't stop Harold Fanon immediately with Dylan Gavreau and Chiggaard Sanders

and Cleveland.

Sometimes, if it's ever going to happen, these guys should be able to transcend the

quarterback.

And Cam Ward actually was playing pretty well last season for a lot of that year, laid

on in the season.

We started to see some real development from him, and it didn't really correspond with

the Chigga Concoa uptick and production.

So I'm always going to buy into the idea that eventually maybe you'll get that breakout

season, but at some point, we should probably stop expecting it to happen.

Who do you like for Washington at seven?

What would be the best case for them?

I would go for one of those defensive playmakers, particularly the past rushes.

I think there's three high-end past rushes, I think, that are being talked about at the

top of his draft.

They're all very different, stylistically.

You've got this power monster in Ruben Bain.

Who knows how far he's going to slip because of his arm length issue, if at all.

But I think if Ruben Bain is the guy that falls towards the bottom of the top ten because

suddenly teams are scared of his arm length, I think that is the potential to be just a

steal in the draft.

Like, let's just not overthink it.

Let's get one of the most powerful strong players we can find and just let them lose.

So which, like, my guy is Bailey.

I don't know that he makes it to seven, probably doesn't, but do you have a favorite?

Like if you're a Washington guy and you're like, God, I hope this guy drops to seven.

Who is that guy?

Because, of course, it would be best case if it ends up being one of the past rushers.

Yeah.

I mean, again, I think there are very different players.

Like, this draft, if it has a flaw, it's that you don't have these sort of clean, blue-chip

prospects that just don't, they take every box, you know, there's no flaws.

Like everyone agrees that these guys are superstars.

There's no Will Anderson Jr.

There's no Nick Boas.

There's no guy that just takes every box.

But everybody's got something to be a little bit leery about with Bailey.

It's, you know, is he going to hold up against the run?

Is he only a past rushing force and maybe you're fine with that, but, you know, you just

say, the run doesn't matter.

We want the juice off the edge.

That's our guy.

Like his level of explosiveness, of twitchiness, it's next level in this draft class.

So I think he'll absolutely be a high-end past rusher.

With Arvel Reese, you've got this projection element of, you know, he's this hybrid player.

He's been more of a linebacker.

The edge rusher tape is pretty thin on the ground.

You're doing an awful lot of projection to kind of assume that he can become the next

Abdul Carter or Micah Parsons or, you know, one of these guys that's going to transition

down and become that edge rusher.

What his tape is, you know, spectacular.

The juice is everywhere.

It's there both as a linebacker and as a past rushing force.

So, you know, a lot of people like the projection.

They're comfortable with it.

And then with Ruben Bay and you've got, look, that dude has been an absolute monster.

But you have to at least acknowledge the fact that that arm length would be extremely

rare for him to be a high-end playmaker at the next level.

Like, you're basically almost an unprecedented territory, pending the idea that his arm's

probably going to come in another inch long once he gets measured in his pro day.

For some reason, the guy operating the tape measure at the combine has been really

short-changing people the last two years.

So, I love Ruben Bay, but I think I have no problem with any of those guys.

I think if any of the three are available for Washington, it's a slam dunk.

All right.

I want to finish up with this.

Just tell me where this player lands, a best guest today on March 6th, I'm not holding

you to it.

Where does Max Crosby end up?

Cool.

Max Crosby, a lot of talk is that Dallas are interested in him.

I would be surprised if the Cowboys were into that.

I could see Baltimore making that kind of move.

This is a team that kind of got shot through its core last season.

They were not anywhere near the team they were supposed to be.

It ended up costing John Harvoh's job.

They still have no kind of pass rush.

I could see the Ravens talking themselves into a trade for Max Crosby as the solution to

their trouble.

Malik Willis.

I think he ends up in Arizona, the Coaching Connection is probably too strong.

What's the, what does he get?

Does he get 30 million?

This is a thing.

I don't know where his contract is right now.

We started off this whole process of saying if he gets the Justin Fields bridge contract

adjusted for a year of inflation, that's kind of where he belongs.

All of a sudden, you are here in talk of, we're up beyond 30 million dollars a year.

It's not crazy based off A to scarcity that's always there with quarterback, but what

he's shown, it's a really small sample size, but it's looked genuinely impressive.

He could be worth that.

I think it's going to need to look like a kind of creative contract where it's more

about guaranteed money to me if he's on the hook for a year and a half say of a decent

quarterback money.

If you're paying him say 45 million guaranteed over whatever length of contract you want

to call it, but it ends up sort of looking like a year and a half's worth of pretty decent

quarterback money.

I think that's probably where he settles in it.

Do you think it'll work for him?

Do you think that, I mean, the sample size is small, but do you like him as a prospect

now?

Anybody that tells you the answer to that with any degree of certainty, I think it's

crazy.

I mean, what we've seen in Green Bay is a total transformation of him as a player.

Like, he, with the Tennessee Titan, he couldn't just look bad, but yeah, look lost.

Look like he had no business playing football in the NFL.

Didn't look like a quarterback.

He got benched, I'm pretty sure, in a preseason game because Mike Bravel was saying, look,

I know you can run, stop running, like stay in the pocket, go through a progression.

I don't want you to take off, stop doing it.

And he couldn't, like he was literally a one-read and run quarterback.

And then some, for some reason, Green Bay decided not only are we going to bring him in,

but we're actually going to trade to get him to bring him in as the backup quarterback.

And then every single time he's been pressed into action for the Packers, he's looked good

and not just looked good, but looked different.

He isn't just a one-read and run quarterback anymore.

He'll work through a progression.

He will read a defense.

And okay, we're dealing with a really small sample size.

And he's never had to be a high-volume passer for them either.

So multiple questions, but he has looked really, really good.

Like, he's looked like the feeling is extremely high.

It's just that you can't possibly be confident that he's going to hit that feeling.

I actually just have one more for you.

I had a bunch more, but I'm not going to take up any more of your time.

But do you think Marcus Mario de stays in Washington as a backup?

Or do you think there's an opportunity for him in the next few months

to compete somewhere for a starting job?

Yeah, I mean, I guess that's the thing is I would be surprised if there was a starting

opportunity available for Marcus Mario de, but there are going to be places

where he has a much easier pathway to starting than in Washington.

Like, obviously, Jane Daniels is absolutely the starter there.

It's not in question.

It's a bit like Daniel Jones a year ago, right?

Where he had to weigh up, like, what is where am I more likely to get starting opportunities?

Is it in Minnesota with Jay-Jem McCarthy?

Is it Indianapolis with Anthony Richardson?

And ultimately, I mean, as it ended up, he would have been in starting an either spot eventually.

So it didn't really matter, but he ended up choosing the Indianapolis Coast, deciding

that was the better way, the better pathway to a starting gig.

You know, Marcus Mario de may well find an opportunity that gives him a much clearer

pathway to starting games than in Washington.

Thanks for doing this as always.

Hope you're well.

No problem. Thanks for having me.

Sam Monson, everybody from the 33rd team.

Up next, Bruce Feldman from the Athletic in Fox will talk more draft

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All right.

Joining me right now is Bruce Feldman.

Bruce is a college football analyst for the athletic and for Fox, where he does pregame,

half time, post game during college football season.

He's an NFL draft analyst as well for both.

And he's always full admission, been one of my very favorite guests to have on any of

the shows that I do to talk college football with and to talk NFL draft with Bruce has

done a phenomenal job for a long period of time.

It's good to have him back.

That Bruce Feldman CFB on X, you can read his follow up to the Indie Combine right now

at the athletics.

So why don't we start there and just give me your big takeaways from the week in Indie?

Yeah.

I didn't think this was going to be, and I don't think this is a great draft overall.

I just feel like it's not in the top 10 group.

There's some good players in there.

I think there's maybe a great player here or there, but I don't think it's just the

deep on the front end, but I will say this.

This group ran faster than any group that's been in Indie in terms of how it tested.

Now a lot of that was, I feel like, you know, I do the freaks list every year.

A lot of those guys not only lived up to the height, they exceeded it, right?

So it wasn't just the 40 times.

It was that, but it was also, you know, these tight ends, Eli Stowers, you know,

that Vandee was an elite tester with a 39 inch vertical guy, you know, in the off season.

He comes in the combine.

He goes 45 and a half, which is insane.

You add Kenyans to dig from Oregon, also, you know, not a prototypical size tight end,

but he runs for 39 and tests phenomenal.

The other piece of this also was some guys who were probably not expected to run that fast.

They didn't run.

So that boosted the average further, but just the fact that we had six safeties, not corner

back, six safeties go run 440 or faster is remarked.

Well, why do you think that happened this year?

I think a lot of it, I mean, is that they had their guys who leaned into what they do

really well.

And I think there's the combine training is better than it's ever been because people

keep learning from it and growing from it.

So I think that added to it.

Again, you had a bunch of defensive tackles running the 480s and the 40s.

Like that's not very common, you know, and so I think it was just layers to it that added,

you know, I mean, by and large, this is not a good quarterback group.

There'll be like one who goes on the top 15, that's Mendoza.

Maybe Tyson's and goes from Alabama goes somewhere later in the first round.

Besides Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame, it's not a great group of running backs or not

a deep group.

And I don't think there's good receivers, I don't know if there's a great receiver in

there.

I'm not that fired up about Cornell Tate.

I like McCoy Lemmon, but, you know, I don't see him as a top five pick and you get through

there.

I just feel like there's a lot of guys, so I was like, oh, yeah, I could see him as a first

round pick.

I couldn't see him as a top 10 pick.

And so it's an interesting draft in that regard.

So this is interesting to me because I've always felt like the indie combine is an event

in which fans go nuts over, but we don't know anything.

I mean, look, the draft for teams historically is a two out of three misses, you know, on

average.

And it just is one of those things that we're obsessed with, but most never really get

it right.

I mean, the players that you think are going to be great turn out not to be and vice versa.

But, you know, it's just one of those things.

The draft is a crapshoot overall and not even a 50-50 proposition, but in saying that

the testing this year and the times were, you know, all time in terms of the results,

give me the player or two.

You think is going to trick general managers into taking them too early because of some

of these, I don't want to say use the word inflated because they're legitimate.

But, these incredible times that won't match up to the tape and these players, these two

or three players are going to trick general managers into taking them too early.

Do you have anybody in mind?

I mean, the guy who, maybe the biggest wow guy of all of was tailing green, a quarterback

from Arkansas.

They were a two in teams, but he showed up at 660, about 230 pounds, got really long arms.

He ran the second fastest 40 times of any quarterback who's been at the con minor and 436.

He vertical jumped 43 and a half inches and broad jumped over 11 feet.

Somebody will take him higher then because when you talk to coaches who watched his quarterback

work out, they're like, no, that's, I don't buy that at all that he could play quarterback

in the NFL.

The arm is way too erratic and, you know, they were just inconsistent.

Now, what will he be as a receiver because I think ultimately, whether he can grow to

be a tight end or just be a really big receiver and he's target in the red zone, could he

beat Jimmy Graham?

You know, Jimmy Graham is a little bigger, a little taller, but again, you know, 660, 230

is a problem for people, you know, like in the red zone, especially when he has a lot

of speed on top of, he's just not like a long guy who jumps well.

He jumps exceptionally well and he has a lot of straight line speed, so I'm pretty

confident that he's going to get drafted a lot higher than, you know, again, people know

what to do with him because I think they're going to bet on the traits and say, hey, you

know, in the fourth round, maybe even in the third round, we'll take a chance on a super

freak athlete and say, you know, can he be a guy who can help us win some games?

Can we develop him that way?

That would be the one who's like, the film is not showing it so much.

He did have like, get a couple of really good games.

Now that you've mentioned him, like I remember watching him and there were, they lost a

lot of close games except for that Notre Dame game if my memory serves me correctly.

Yeah, I mean, look, they had a really, Mike Washington, Jr. is a really good running

wreck.

He might be the second best running back behind Jeremiah Love.

He's also an Arkansas guy who tested really well, Bobby Patrino, say what you want about

his character.

We know he's kind of a dirt bag, but he's a good offence of mine and they, they were

two in ten, but the flip side of that was, they were second in the SEC and yards per play

on offense.

Like as bad as they were, it was, it was, they really stung because of defense.

Offensively, they were, you know, all over the place in a good and in a bad way, but

he's the, to me, the wild card, I'm like, what, you know, what is he going to be?

But somebody will take a chance on him because of that, because of the combine number.

Is he liked it?

Because when K.J. Jefferson was the quarterback in Arkansas, I always felt like I was watching

maybe an NFL quarterback, but I have to tell you, I thought that about Anthony Richardson

as well.

So is he kind of in the, that class, he's not because Anthony Richardson has a rocket

from arm.

It was just like, athletically, there's, there's some parallel.

Anthony Richardson is like a, there's like a bigger guy.

This guy's a lankier guy.

This guy is a faster guy, but the arm isn't the same.

And I think where people got kind of alert into it with Anthony Richardson and not say

he can't, you know, he's still young was, can he, can he get cleaned up enough to develop

into a starting NFL quarterback with the stuff Shane Stuykin was going to give him to

lean into the run game.

This guy, again, I could be wrong on this, for sure, like you said, most people are wrong

when they get all this information still because you're projecting it to the NFL.

I'd be a little surprised if his arm is accurate enough where he could develop into a consistent

NFL quarterback down the road.

Where I think he might, might have a real chance is as a receiver, you know, and again,

I don't think he's going to be like the same to just take some hill, you know, in that regard

where it's almost like he's an H back in a lot of things.

I think this guy is just, is a different kind of weapon.

It's just, you know, I mean, I could, I would, if I was an NFL team, I would take a chance

on him from that standpoint is like, hey, no quarterback's usually pretty savvy guys.

He started his career boys, he went to Arkansas, can he become that?

Like, Cordell Stewart, different time, you know, you know, this guy is quite a bit bigger.

Like Cordell is pretty good size, this guy is even bigger, this guy is even faster.

And I think Cordell had more polish as a quarterback coming in, but, you know, the whole

flash thing, he was a weapon for the Steelers for a while.

So, again, I don't remember where Cordell went in the draft, but, you know, maybe that's

kind of the transition thing.

You wrote before the combine, you had your list of just freaks, you know, athletic freaks.

So give us the top three athletic freaks in this draft, you know, I see who you had going

into it and two of them definitely proved it at the combine, but coming out of the combine,

who are the true athletic freaks in this draft?

Many styles for sure, the linebacker from Ohio State, I mean, he was a guy that, you

know, I was expecting to tear it up, he did, you know, he's 65 to 44, and the numbers were

all, you know, broad jumps over 11 feet, runs in the mid four, fours in the 40 vertical

jumps over 40 inches.

He was even like, the thing that was interesting with him is, he's one of a couple of guys

where when he was measured at Ohio State, usually the guys, and when it comes to their

height, it's almost like they get a gift inch, he's actually measured taller than what

he was, I think in the off season, what Ohio State told me.

And there was a few guys like that, and I don't remember having more than one that would

usually be that way where they're actually taller, not that it matters that much, especially

when they're that height, 6465, it's plenty.

He's one, you know, we mentioned Kenyans to be, Kenyans to be with a lot lighter at the

combine, which sometimes guys will do that to run faster.

He was 255 when he was at Oregon last off season, he got down to like the 242, I think,

but just, you know, he wowed people, and I think that lived up to it.

You know, the guys like David Bailey, who was, David Bailey is a, you lead football player,

like started out with Stanford, went to Texas Tech, was unblockable there, he's one of

a few, and I would, him and Arvel Reese in the same category where I'm like, oh, yeah,

those guys are legit top five in any draft.

And the reason why I said, David Bailey, to me, is better, like a similar size, but I think

he's a better football player and edge rusher than Abdul Carter, and Abdul Carter went number

three last year to the Giants.

I think David Bailey is better than him.

I think Arvel Reese is better than him.

Again, not a bashing Abdul Carter, but like, I think Arvel Reese was a hell of a football

player for Ohio State last year.

He's a guy who could be an off-ball lineback, or he could be an edge rusher, and I think

he can be a pro balleric either.

And I ran into a scout who, you know, said like, we think he's Michael Parsons again.

And that's saying something.

He's also young, he's not going to turn 21 to almost the first week of the NFL season.

So he's one that people knew, people, you know, felt like he was going to do really

well.

And I think he will be a great NFL player.

All right.

Well, that's the perfect segue, because that's the guy that I hope drops to seven for Washington

and it may not happen.

He's not dropping a seven.

Oh, my gosh.

If he drops to seven, something went crazy.

Well, that, I've actually said that I'm like, if he's actually available at seven, that

would be a red flag to me that we're missing something.

But it's like, you know, unlike Reese, but like Bane, when you watched Texas tech defensively,

and I, by the way, I think Rodriguez, I don't know why he's not a consensus first round

pick, because every time you turned on Texas tech, those two players erect every game.

I mean, by the way, they wrecked the Oregon game.

They just couldn't score on offense.

And I just thought that he and Bane were the two that you saw it on the field.

We'll talk about Bane's short arms in a moment.

But yeah, so you love Bailey too, and you don't think there's a chance he makes it to seven.

No, I think there's probably a little better chance he makes it to seven than Reese.

I don't think Reese gets out of the top three.

And I think Bailey should be gone by then too, but I could just think there's a little

more versatility with Reese, but I don't think either one should be there at seven.

I definitely, like I said, I definitely don't think Reese should be there at seven.

By the way, do you agree with me on Rodriguez?

Why don't I see him mocked in more first rounds?

Off-ball linebacker.

I think there's a little of that from the year before 2024, when they didn't have a great

deal line, people would get to him, and they were like, oh, there's a little offensive

line, and we'd get to him, and he wasn't quite the playmaker.

He was a good player, but not like this.

And I think when he had some elite deal, I'm in front of him after they spent a ton of

money in the portal.

I think he really shined.

But he's a good football player, I think he could see him getting in the second round.

He tested well.

He obviously makes a ton of plays, the ball finds him, which is, say that in a good way.

And obviously character wise, really good.

It's interesting because you have, I think Reese is ultimately more valuable as an edge

guy than an off-ball linebacker, but him, sunny styles, is definitely that.

There's a few guys who fit in that category.

That's one of the positions that's deeper than it normally is.

I remember a couple of years ago, there was a really athletic, productive, off-ball linebacker

coming out of Texas A&M, I think the packer's got him in the second round.

You had, kind of blanking on, he was a freak, this guy for me, from NC State, Peyton Wilson,

was tested, great, made a ton of plays, but he was like held together by glue because

he had so many medical issues injury-wise, and then he went to the Steelers, and the question

was, if you can make it for a second contract, it'll be a big value because he's a really

good football player, but I think that position, a little like running back, it's just not

valued quite the same as it was.

I want to say, when you and I were growing up, or even before, in the last 15 years, it's

kind of changed.

All right.

So Washington at 7, Bruce, I mean, their defense at the end of 2025 was arguably the

worst in the NFL.

I mean, it was legit horrible.

Not that they don't have some needs on offense because they do have a need for another receiver,

another playmaker for sure, but they've got to get better on defense, and so we're all

looking at styles and Reese and Bailey and Bane and wondering, who will drop to 7?

If it is Bane, what do you say?

I say that could be a big win for Washington because he is a nasty, violent, physical, defensive

lineman.

His arms are an inch shorter than anybody would hope much less ideal, but when I asked some

people in the last week, I was like, how big of a difference is that if his arms are 31

compared to 32 inches, and they're like, well, if his explosiveness and get off is good

enough, and he gets on people, that kind of mitigates some of that, just the way he plays,

I think he's a different kind of player, right?

The other thing that's big for me is Miami, University of Miami was spinning its wheels.

He was the one who committed there, and he did more to change the culture of the University

of Miami football program than any player they had there.

I mean, for lack of literature, he was like an ass kicker.

He's a minicator who decided to stay, and he got it after people, and you saw it in

the playoff.

Like, Indiana has a really good deal, I meant.

That guy, Carter Smith, I don't know this for a fact, but this is something I've heard

a bunch from people I know at Indiana.

He might have come out into this draft.

He was their best offensive lineman, and he was their best offensive tackle.

He got, I don't know if he embarrassed, because they won the national title, but he got whipped

in that national title game, and he decided to stay at Indiana for another year.

There's other guys.

Texas A&M has really good...

Kill them.

Kill them.

Bain whipped them.

Bain did damage against Ohio State.

I mean, when the money was on the table, he was taking everybody's money, and so I would

not bet against him.

I know that there will be some things that go, yeah, I'm not taking a defensive edge guy

or a defensive lineman with sub-31-inch arms, but watch him on film.

He is a really disruptive player, and I would think, I'm not saying he's mild-dead because

he's not physically, but, you know, and then again, who is, right, but I think just in

terms of how he gets after people, I would not bet against him.

In him at seven, I could see him that will be in the one who slides, because if you said

to me, who has the lowest, with the highest floor, I would say, or Valries, I would put

Bayley closer to that, and then I would say, probably, you know, probably Bain.

Then why is Bain may have a higher, probably has a higher ceiling to me than even the other

two guys, just because I saw what he did in the playoff.

I saw what he did for Miami when they really needed him, you know, whereas I'm not saying

those other guys didn't step up in the big stage.

As you said, like Texas Tech, you know, was a one and done in the playoff because they're

often fizzled.

You know, the defense didn't dominate, but like, you know, he got after Oregon's offensive

tackles, to be NFL players.

So again, I think Bain's a really interesting player, and if he goes seven, I think that's

a good addition for Washington.

By the way, Mezzador was a freak in those big games against A&M, Ohio State, Indiana,

Ole Miss as well.

I mean, and he actually has the better body type, but he's not going to be bad.

Where does Mezzador go?

I'm just curious.

I would bet he goes, you know, maybe go to the bills where he needs an edge guy, you

know, 20 picks later, he's a little older, he has a little more of an injury history.

He is more of the, like, the measurable guy that fits.

He is a really good player.

I think, like, he was a very good player at Miami, Bain was a great player.

Doesn't mean that, you know, and I don't want to say he's like, hey, because he does have

a little bit of an injury history, but I think if you're taking in the 20s, I could see

Mezzador being a really good player because he, you know, he got after people and he did

have a really good 20-25, like, it wasn't just Bain.

I mean, it's three guys, it's been more than three, but really, it was the two edge guys,

and then Amad Moan who's still at Miami was a very disruptive interior guy, and that was

a reason why they went from being a team that, you know, fell out of playoff consideration

even though they had a better quarterback in Camor, and this team, you know, almost

won the national title.

You know, it was like, the defense coordinator was really good, Cory Heatherman, but I felt

like those pieces on defense stepped up when they really needed them to step up.

By the way, off the subject a little bit, but do you think Malachai Tony, Miami's freshman

superstar wide receiver, everything offensively?

Does he look like Tyrick Hill when he's eligible to come out in two years?

I don't think he has as much pure speed.

I think he is a better all around football player.

The thing I'll also say about him having seen him in person a couple of days before the

national title.

He's a little bigger than I was expecting him to be.

You know, the cornerback at Indiana, who's their best D.V.D.

Angela Ponds is really good player, but he's a shade under five-nine, and he was not

at the combine, but when he played with 173 pounds, and I met him, and I saw him, and

I remember thinking, okay, Malachai is going to be just a little taller than him.

Malachai was way thicker than him.

Like Malachai is almost 5-11, he's around 190 pounds, and again, he should be high school

senior.

He graduated high school year early, so he's a phenomenal player just because he does everything

for him.

He's super smart.

He's really competitive.

He's really quick.

Like, I'm not saying that he's going to be a better NFL player than Tyrick Hill, because

it's a long time between.

He's got two more years to go before he could even come out to the draft.

But I think he does so many different things, and it is so advanced, mentally, to, like,

Hill is shorter and explosive and all that.

I didn't Tony is really explosive, again, I don't think he has as much pure speed, but

I think he's going to end up being a better football player.

I mean, just because I'm thinking about Miami and their playoff run, and I'll just tell

you, I was rooting for Carson Beck all season long, and you know, the game he had against

Louisville on that Thursday or Friday night was a disaster.

The pick and over time against SMU, and then to see the way he played.

And I actually thought he played really well, even though it didn't, you know, show it

statistically.

I thought he played really well in that Ohio State game, and then the Ole Miss game,

you know, that moment for him was so great.

I have thought watching him all season long and going back to Georgia, that he just looks

like an NFL quarterback to me.

A lot of my close friends who love college football, like I do go, no, he's Kirk Cousins

light, and I love Kirk Cousins, by the way, but that's another story.

What do you think?

Do you think Carson Beck is a future NFL starter or not?

I think he's on the fence, like I think mentally he's got a lot, he's got a quick release.

I mean, can quick release, he's inconsistent, his arm is good, I don't think it's elite,

his athleticism is okay, you know, he's played a lot and been through a lot.

Like if you told me, if you told me, you know, he ended up having some kind of like Mack

Jones kind of career, which would be, I don't think he's getting draft or Mack Jones

did, but where he's sometimes a starter, people like there's some good moments and there's

some other times where people like, yeah, you're not going to, you're not going to go

to the playoffs with him kind of thing.

Like I think he's, I don't want to call him a project, because he's not like in that

regard, but I think he's somebody who probably goes in the third or fourth round and, you

know, like, look, it wouldn't surprise me if Munkin took him, now that he's a head coach

and push for him, because I know he was a big believer and I'm at Georgia, but I just

don't know how high you need to take him, right?

Like I think there's quarterbacks in this draft and we're going to, you know, take out,

you know, aren't going to die for a second.

You have Mendoza who's going to go to the Raiders.

I think you'll have Ty Simpson who will go somewhere on the late first round.

I think you'll have Garrett Nussmeyer who probably goes somewhere in the top 75, because people

think, you know what, he's, he's still got some guns on your tomb, but he's super smart

and he grew up in a football, you know, in the football world of his dad being a coach

and a former player and I think people will take a chance on him because they're like

at the very worst, he's going to be a guy we could see as your good, as a relief pitcher,

you can get you out of games and probably be good in the quarterback room and can he develop.

And then there's a handful of other guys, you're like, okay, we don't know, you know, again,

like obviously Diego Pavia was like a revelation for Vandy.

Yeah.

I don't know how that, how he works as, you know, if he's in your quarterback room and

he's not going to be the, he's going to be a third string guy, is he a disruptive, you

know, like his, yeah, there's some distractions to that or whatever, he's also five, you

know, five, ten, he's definitely got some ability, but you know, that's another one where

it's like it'll be interesting to see who ends up bringing him in and whether he's a seventh

round pick or not, but like he will be a storyline on day three of the draft for sure.

All right, quick break with Bruce when we come back, we'll find out if all the defensive

players are gone, who should Washington take at seven, we'll get to that after these

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All the defensive players are off the board.

Jeremiah loves still on the board.

Colonel Tate's still on the board.

If styles, Bane, Reese, Bailey, and even Downs are all gone, who's the next best, who

would be the best player on the board at that point?

Love, Tate, et cetera.

I like love more than Tate.

I think love is better than this may not be end up being a big statement, but I think

love is better than genty is coming out of college.

Genty went really high to the Raiders.

Jerry's still out on that.

I think love is more of a unique.

He's really dynamic.

He's got another gear to him.

He's really good in path protection.

Like he's more of a complete running back than genty was coming out.

You know, I feel like love is different.

Genty, depending on who you talk to, is like, yeah, he's a lot like Blake Corm.

He'll be a running back in the NFL for a while, and he can probably get out of a thousand

yards season, depending on the right offense, whereas I think love has the potential to

be one of those guys where he's a big problem, because his burst is different.

It's just different.

So I like him.

I think Tate is a safe.

He'll be a good receiver.

I don't like, I think the difference in him and the guy Ohio State is coming out next

year.

Jeremiah Smith is significant.

Blake, Jeremiah Smith could be, you could talk about him as a possible first pick on

the draft.

Like he's that talented.

We'd never say that about receivers, but I think he's that talented, whereas Tate's

a good player.

I don't think like it's a, you know, again, he's a good player.

I think love is different than him, just in terms of like.

Do you think, do you think love is Bijan?

Do you think he's Gibbs?

Do you think he's McCaffrey or do you think he's a step below those guys?

I think the one he's most like is Gibbs, you know, he's, I think he runs stronger than

Gibbs, Gibbs to me.

So Bijan is like does everything he's super shifty.

He's good on the, you know, like, you know, similar to McCaffrey and McCaffrey, they're

showcased in different offenses, right?

I think, you know, I think love has the wow speed of Jamir Gibbs and Jamir Gibbs, you

know, is like there was to true, you know, one, two punch where McCaffrey was more the physical

back.

I think love is more, more physical than Gibbs and has, has just like, you know, more, more

punch, more violence to him.

And so I'm, I'm a big believer in him.

I also think he's, he's about as complete a back as we've had coming in where they have

some superpower in the burst and also like he does everything, like he's been really coached

well.

I'm a big fan of him, like, I think he's like top five kind of talent.

My big thing with love is I like him a lot, but I don't know that number seven, seven

better equal be genre McCaffrey or Gibbs and you like them more than Gibbs.

I've kind of comped him to Josh Jacobs with better speed because he is a more powerful

run.

The speed is way better.

That's what I'm saying.

He, the straight line speed is, is incredible, but in terms of that power and the line of

scrimmage and not as, you know, because I don't consider Jacobs to be anywhere near Gibbs

or Bijan in terms of vision in, and I'm talking about between the tackles vision in jump

cuts.

And I kind of see love the same way as not having that.

Yeah.

But I think, yeah, I think in terms of just the, you know, Josh Jacobs in those cases

would get you 14 yards.

Love will get you 40.

I agree with that.

I agree with that.

I think that's just such a different, I don't want to, you know, say Kwan is a bigger

back than him, but like, there is some like, say Kwan, you know, home run hitting, which

he wasn't doing it.

He did it somewhat as a freshman at Penn State, but then got better at it, worked on his

speed.

And I think with love, there is some of that, you know, there is some of that.

And I don't know, you know, let you look at guys who are, you know, who have that kind

of wild game to them.

There's just McCaffrey, I think, again, he's so good in the receiver, that's a great

feel for that.

Like to me, that's almost like the biggest superpower.

You know, the Bijan one is interesting too because like, he's so shifty, I feel like

Bijan may be a little flipperier than, than, than love is, I feel like a love, like,

you'll see some love runs that are three yard touchdown runs that are like, man, that

was a highlight.

It's amazing.

Yeah.

Seven guys miss and, and like, butchered his way through the last two.

Well, that's what Bijan does.

I mean, Bijan, the way he makes people miss in the shortest of spaces, I think is like

truly all-time great.

I mean, it's Barry Sanders, but it's Barry Sanders between the tackles going forward.

Barry Sanders a lot of times went backwards to create this space.

But anyway, we could talk about the differences in these running backs forever.

I wanted to finish with this, Caleb Downes, best safety prospect since who?

And he, because of the football smarts, like, there's been better athletes, like, even

Warrie, he was a, was a better physical specimen, right?

And I was a big believer in him, you know, coming out because he was like all over the

free-flist.

And, you know, obviously, I had a terrific rookie here at C-Ox.

It's hard because like, some of the, the best safeties, like, the best safety, I, the

two best safeties I've ever seen.

And again, like, we're about the same age where, yeah, I can, I saw running up, but I

really didn't kind of get it because I was too young, was Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu.

Now, there's other guys in there, you know, Durwin James, like, as a, wow to his game

and, and different, but like, and Sean may have been in that class, how he lived.

Yeah, just, but he didn't, you know, obviously, Sean's career was cut so short, Sean is different

than the other two because, yeah, yeah, he was a bigger guy.

He was a more violent player, like, that's not Caleb either, like, I guess the, man, I,

you know, like, Ed, and I go back to the son of who we talked about this, but like, when

I was doing size number 41, one game we had with constant game, and so Brady Quinn is with

me as our analyst, and we were talking to Jimmy Leonard, who had been with Ed at the

Raven.

Yeah.

Yeah, and he started talking about this and, you know, like paraphrase, it was like,

you know, he was a super smart player, he was a really good coach and picked off a ton

of passes, and it was like, his coach was like, yeah, you don't get caught doing kind

of what Ed does.

It's almost like he saw the game at such an incredibly different level that don't try

to do that because it'll just mess you up, like you can't, you know, like, and Caleb's,

I think Caleb's super power is that he is so football smart, and how he sees the game

and everything.

And he is a really good athlete.

I hesitate to go into that because Ed was off the charts instinctive.

I would say the most instinctive defensive player that maybe has ever played in the secondary

in the history of the NFL.

I know that's a big one.

No, it's a, I think a lot of quarterbacks would say the same thing.

I mean, I think it may have been Peyton Manning who said, you know, safeties, try to read

quarterbacks eyes, and with Ed read on the field, quarterbacks were trying to read his eyes,

like to figure out what he was going to do.

Yeah, and so like, and I was around that a bunch when he was coming out of Miami.

I know he went late in the draft.

I thought Ed was a can't miss player because I saw what he did at Miami.

I saw what kind of leader he was.

I mean, you know, Troy Palomano had a phenomenal career in the NFL.

I'm not sure anybody saw it as much.

Right.

Kyle Hamilton to me was like, he's not, he was not Sean, but he was in this regard.

Like he's kind of like to me like even Wari, where he was a linebacker side guy who had physicality

who would really, really, you know, have everything you're looking for physically, right?

And safety, there's a little more of another component of that.

But I thought Kyle made some wild plays.

And again, you're talking about a guy there who was like a mid, like down, Kyle went 14th

or 15 somewhere in that.

And I think Downsland have gone higher.

I don't remember the 2022 draft exactly to know, oh, was it probably was a deeper draft

than than this one?

Well, I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have been you had.

I can tell you this before that 2022 draft, Washington had 11 overall.

And I said, Kyle Hamilton, please Kyle Hamilton.

They traded back with New Orleans who took a Lave and they ended up taking Johan Dotson.

And they got, they got some picks.

But the guy they wanted was actually Drake London had, had London been there at 11.

I think they would have taken London.

And when he wasn't there, they traded back and they passed on Hamilton.

But you were trying to find, yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, I was trying to see the comp like I, to me, Hamilton, man, it's hard to think

if they're different, right?

Like I thought, and then this is again, I don't know where like revisionist history

is starting to set in.

Like I know the Eagles guys really well.

And I know a lot of the internal feelings for Cooper to Jean's, right?

Like he can play every position, all five positions in the secondary.

And he can play him at a really high level.

I don't think that's Caleb Downes, you know?

Well, understood, yeah.

So I'm like, I don't want to short change him like in saying, you know,

for what he is, which is like, you know, an elite safety, I think he's probably the highest

rated guy, the closest, you know, like he's going, he's about as close to sure thing

of being a really, really good football player.

Because some of those guys, remember, Winfield comes out of Minnesota.

And it's a great college player.

But he wasn't like measurables-wise, which is like probably wanted him to be taller.

You know, there's some little things where I feel like Downes is checking every box.

Some other guys checked it, you know, involved, you know, like I said, whether it's like the

size or the speed or the range, but he's, you know, he's such a good football player.

I'm struggling to answer that.

No.

I'm saying in the last 10 years, you know, I mean, I think in 22, like I think I thought

of Kyle Hamilton is Derwin James.

And I thought of him as not only a playmaker with range, but a guy that literally could

come into the box and just be an absolute elite level tackler and potentially a blitzer

as well.

So I lied.

I got one more and I've kept you too long and you're always generous.

But Washington's got a wide receiver need too.

Terry McClorn is probably not 100%, but probably in his last year, because the cap number

for him balloons in 27 and 28.

And assuming they don't get, you know, somebody in free agency, and I think they will.

But you know, after Tate and you get to the third round, all right, so night two, just

give me a couple of guys, because I've been throwing out some guys names recently, but

I want to hear yours, you know, guys that you think could be real impact guys on night

two at wide receiver.

I don't know if he's going to be there this long, but I think his stock will keep rising.

It's one of my old, free-fliced guys, Ted Hurst, smaller school guy, Georgia State.

He did really well at the senior bowl.

And then he kept like he did really, really well in India.

He's six, three, legit six, three, two, five.

He runs about four, four, one.

He can jump out of the gym, all of it.

And I think he played well in watching at the senior bowl practice.

He's not just a high level athlete.

If Ted Hurst played it Georgia instead of Georgia State, or played at Georgia Tech instead

of Georgia State, I think he's sneaking in the first round.

I think he's going in the first, I'm not sneaking in.

So he's one, that would be really interesting.

And there's a guy, again, I don't want to lean all the way into the free-fliced guys,

but like Jeff Caldwell, a late bloomer, will start it out at...

The guy from Cincinnati.

Which not that long?

Yeah.

And that school, at one point, was a division two program.

I mean, he's six, five, he's up to 215 pounds, he's also like a one point, last off

season.

Scott Satterfield said when he came in, he brought jumped 11-9.

Like his hands are a little inconsistent.

And I think that's something where you're like, okay, if we're taking him in the third

round, because he doesn't test like a third rounder.

Like he ran blazing fast, he ran a lot faster than I thought he would run.

I think he ran four, three, two, and again, he's six, five, two, fifteen.

Yeah.

I think you're getting a guy who's still developing.

I...

Man, again, I think he'll be there around in that range.

I think Hurst is a better football player.

Hurst is still big and has plenty of upside and plenty of stuff to like.

It's called well, it's kind of like a...

It's in the category of just that kind of wild card guy.

And I think where Washington is picking, if you're saying it's going to be there, I think

they're going to have some really good options.

I don't think it's a great draft for, hey, we need a guy we think is going to go to ten

roballs as a receiver, but I think if you're looking a little later on the draft, I think

there will be guys in the third and fourth round who end up becoming starters and half

thousand yard seasons at some point or another.

Enjoyed this is always really glad to have you back on the show.

Hope you're well.

Thanks for doing this.

Anytime.

Great talking to you.

Bruce Feldman, everybody.

Thanks to him.

Thanks to Sam Monson.

Enjoy the weekend back on Monday.

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Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself.

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For me, it's about staying connected to my sports.

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all in one place.

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