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Oh, what's going on everybody?
Welcome back to another episode of the Detroit Lions podcast here with Russ and Riz.
He's Jeff Rizden.
I'm Russ Brown, we are back for another episode of the daily DLP.
You guys are obviously very well familiar with Jeff on the daily DLP every single day.
He's bringing you something, Lions related, draft related, football related, and obviously
there's probably a little metal music in there as well and everything else that he likes.
But Jeff, my man, there it is, see Jeff, my man, how the hell are you?
I'm great, man.
We are getting so close to the NFL draft.
You and I were talking off the air before we started this, about how excited we are just
in general for this draft and the prospects for the Lions, but also just like over, like
we are draft people outside of being Lions fans as well and getting to talk about what other
teams are looking at and players that might not interest the Lions, but interest us is always
fun too.
Yeah.
No, I'm with you 100%, you know, as everybody kind of knows, as we've talked about here
on the show, like that's how you and I got talking the very first time and obviously that
has led us to the Lions and all that stuff, but and really the Lions were just a bonus.
It was just like, I love talking draft with this guy and talking Lions is just kind of the
park with the job, but yeah, we're six days out from the day, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Next days out from day one of the 2026 NFL draft seven days out from day two and eight
days out from day three.
Today's show we're going to talk quite a bit about day three players to watch for the Detroit
Lions, sure, but also I think just day three guys that we like.
I think it's always important to attach that as well because day three, it is really pick
your flavor in my opinion, similar to wide receivers, you pick your flavor and you have
certain guys that you like on that day and as we know, like day one is all sexy, it's
all glamour, it's all lights, day two, it's the meat and potatoes and then day three, it's
the dart throws and it's the guys that you stand on the table for and we'll do it through
Lions Lens to a degree today.
So I'll turn it over to you day three will be Saturday, rounds four through seven.
The Lions have a ton of capital on day three, I would assume they don't have all of this
capital by the time we get to day three, I would think they packaged something and move
up somewhere to get a guy that they like.
But day three, who's a guy that you would maybe top guy your pound in the table for or a
player that you think might interest the Lions that we should have on our radar for day three.
Yeah.
And like right now they have two picks early in the fourth and quite frankly, I'd be okay
if that's the only picks they make on day three.
I know there are a lot of other picks beyond that, but if you look at the 53 man roster
as it exists right now and you add a first round on the second round and two fourth rounders,
nobody else is making the team.
Just aren't openings for it.
Now they can compete for it and you know, get on the practice squad and there's certainly
value in that and if they push somebody to be better like that, there's definitely value
in that.
So far is like needing a sixth round pick to make your roster and possibly contribute
right away.
They don't need that.
So early on, presuming that they stick around, one of my guys and we were just talking
about things because I'm writing it, I'm interrupting my writing process to do this.
It's Travis Bell, right tackle from the Memphis Tigers who used to be the left tackle for
the Florida International, they're the Panthers, right?
No, they're the Alas.
They're the Panthers.
And Florida Atlantic's the Alas.
Yes, they have the thing in their helmet.
I should know that.
I was just down there.
I want to go.
I love Travis Bell and like this is a guy, he is six foot eight, he's got long arms,
he has the best grip strength of any tackle in this class, including Malinoa, including
anybody you want in the first round.
If he gets both hands on you, your play is fucking over, dude, it's done.
And he doesn't mind playing the bouncer and throwing guys out the club and I like that
about him too.
He's got that nasty disposition.
But then you like, you see interviews with him and he's like, he's like almost sweet
in his interviews.
He flips that switch on and gets the aggression.
Taylor Decker is like that, a guy who like when you're talking to him outside of a football
context, you're like, oh, this is a pretty bright guy, like a sensitive guy and then get
him on the field and just freaking rip your throat out and you'll crap down your neck.
That's Travis Burke.
Yes.
That was Darnell Wright.
That was him.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, 100%.
He's like interview process.
He was awesome.
Super.
But super nice guy and then you watch him snatch trap techniques left and right and just
put in dudes in the dirt and I'm like, oh, my God, this guy's an animal.
Yeah.
It worked out pretty well for Chicago too.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
So even if they take a tackle at 17 and they very well could, whether it's going to
be a feeling or like no, maybe Spencer Fano, I don't think anybody else was really in
play.
I'm okay with them taking a guy like, like,
Travis Burke because he could be your swing tackle.
Also, you know, a practice and eventually take over for Larry Boram in that capacity.
God forbid we have injury issues to our offensive line ever, but I would love to have him
in Detroit.
I just like him in general too.
I am higher on him than most people.
I believe he's in my, I think he's number 80 overall for me, 82 overall for me and I
think in the consensus is he's usually around like 110, 120.
So I'm a big Travis Burke fan.
I would love to see the Lions.
Even if it's doubling up, I'm good with that.
What about you?
Give me a guy that you're, you're high on.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, to just kind of piggyback off of what you said on Travis Burke, I love his
skill set as a day three option as well.
I've only watched two games, but I'm with you bodyguard mentality.
He's going to throw you out the club.
But one of the guys for me, he might be more Green Bay Packer-ish than he is Detroit
Lionish.
But that's Dailin Everett from Georgia.
I don't know if he'll go day three, I think he will, but there's a chance maybe he gets
into that third round conversation.
But you look at him just over the course of his career.
I mean, he's a 40 game player, you know, 40 plus game player.
I believe he played 55 games and started 41 of them.
And that's at Georgia.
He's only 21 right now.
He's going to be 22.
That's crazy.
He's crazy, Russ.
It's crazy.
So like, he's probably already like what he is is what you're going to get type of player,
but great length at 6196.
He can play press man.
I think he's pretty fluid with his man cover skills.
I think he flips his hips with ease to run vertically with receivers.
And I think the press skills, the experience that length to reroute and jam and press receivers.
I think it's everything that Detroit's looking for and with so much uncertainty in that
room beyond this year, you know, we don't know what's going to go on with Terry on Arnold.
I think, you know, if there was something there, it would probably already would have
happened with the, you know, the stuff off the field right now.
But then we got.
Yeah.
I mean, again, I get it.
The legal process can take time.
But, you know, NS Rake Strauss got the injury stuff, DJ Reed got banged up and only signed
a three year deal.
So, and we all know the one year deals that they signed.
So I think Dale and Everett is definitely worth a dart throw.
Again, I think he's probably more of a player like Green Bay Packer like, but I would love
him here in Detroit because if you go back to his tape in 20, I mean, we've done this
a lot, not necessarily us, but national media draft analysts.
They've all done this with other players, Dylan Thineman.
He doesn't play a lot of single high.
Go back to 2024 when he's at Purdue.
I don't know what to make of Dramatic McCoy.
Let me go back to 2024 or Oregon State.
Let me do this, this and that, you know, Max Claire.
I don't think his Ohio State tape is very good, but you go to, you know, where he was previously.
It's not as bad.
So, I don't, you know, it's always hard to kind of justify it, but when you do that with
Dale and Everett, you go to, you go to what he did in, in Georgia in 2024 and it's like,
this guy might be a top 50 pick.
Like he was that good for the George Woldogs.
So a little bit of a, of a downgrade from this past year, but that, that's the player
for me that I have on the radar and I've got his name circled and I would love to see
where he ends up falling when we, when we get to the draft, you turn it back to you.
I know you got more there, who, who's not the name for it?
Mr. Guy, I, I profiled him on a recent daily.
And he is like the lions, they're set at their top three, slash four receivers, but if
you're looking for a guy who fits a role that they don't really have, cam donor from
North Texas as a, as an outside receiver who specializes in YACC and work in the middle
of the field.
Now he comes from a shotgun spread, air raid offense.
So he hasn't been asked to run routes, per se, but dude gets open quickly.
He understands who he is.
He is very difficult to tackle.
I love how long his stride is for, I think he's six one.
He runs like, when you watch him run, it's like, wow, like his legs are super long and
like he's tough.
Like he can take an arm tackle and get off of it.
So I like him as a weapon on that, from, from what I understand from the North Texas folks,
he's got that grit to him, you know, that again, you don't, one of the other things with,
with their offense, their wide receivers like blocking for them is like, no, don't block,
just get back to the line of scrims quicker so we can go fast and run another play.
And, but he has actually shown a little bit of like, you know, if he gets his hands
out of defensive back, he can at least stay in the way.
Yeah.
They can work with that.
So he's one, and this is a seventh round slash under after free agent type of player.
And again, the Lions don't necessarily need a guy like that, but they might want a guy
like that.
Yeah.
No, I mean, it makes sense.
I think getting a receiver is definitely a possibility in this draft.
I think once you get past kind of the top three on the depth chart, there is that uncertainty.
And God forbid somebody goes down, you got to have, I think, a talented dude to kind of
fill the void because I think Jamo or St. Brown or, or whoever the case may be with Tesla
or, you know, whatever the combination is, they can hold their own, but you got to have
that other guy.
Yeah.
And we don't know what Dominic love it is yet.
Yeah.
Tom Kennedy is back.
And he will wind up being our, certainly our punt returner, if not our kick returner,
but I don't know how much.
I mean, this will be year what eight for him.
Yeah.
He's never really cracked the rotation on much worse depth charts than this one.
So I don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, there still is that, you know, the Greg dorks signing, but at the end of
the day, like, you know, dude, I forgot about it.
I love Greg dorks.
I love you.
I totally forgot.
Thank you for reminding me.
Yeah.
Same time, it's like, you know, you got to make sure that you have depth and bodies in
that room to compete because as we said, we know there's going to be injuries and we
know that not everybody's going to make the team.
So staying with that, I think going back to the, you know, defensive side of the football
for me, I just love the idea of adding weapons to this defense.
And I'm actually going to go back to back here with two players just because I'm on the
linebacker tab of my board.
And I think both of the, I think both of these guys fit Detroit, but they're two different
players, stylistically, the way that they play for starters, Harold Perkins, linebacker,
LSU, everybody that listens to Bishoff and Brown knows that that's one of my guys in
this draft.
He is a weapon.
You go back to, you know, 2022, 2023.
This guy was 17, 18 years old and wearing many hats in that LSU defense, which is rare.
But I get it.
They're size concerns.
He had a torn ACL in 2024, but he did finish his career with 17 sacks, eight force
fumbles, 35 tackles for loss.
He's got an explosive first step as a pass rusher.
I think he can blitz from various alignments.
So if you talk about big, nickel defense and he's playing as that overhang, he can blitz
right off the edge and kind of shoot out of a cannon and get better angles.
And with that speed and burst, he's going to force quarterbacks to maneuver different
ways.
On the other side, Aiden Hutchinson or whatever defensive venue might draft at 17 or 50.
So I love the combinations that you can get with Harold Perkins and what the defense
talking with Calvin Shepherd and Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes of changing and adapting and
improving, they want to re-tool that defense a little bit.
We don't know what that means.
Could they be an even front defense forever, maybe?
Could they be an odd front?
Could they be multiples?
I think there's going to be a lot of variation.
So to help with that variation, get yourself a weapon.
Get Harold Perkins and let the rest sort out.
I think, you know, 2025 tape, you're coming off the torn ACL.
He probably played a little bit hesitant compared to previous years, but now he's got
that full year underneath them, similar to Hutch, similar to McNeil as we've seen this
past year.
So I love Harold Perkins and then real quick, just the other one that I think is potentially
a player that is going to be a day three pick.
I would be a little surprised if he wasn't that is Jack Kelly out of BYU.
BYU?
Yeah, I think he's a prototypical Sam backer to be completely honest with you, but I
know people think he can play off the ball because he's shown that he can be off the
ball, but a really good athlete.
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Where?
It's Daredevil.
A minor.
Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil born again.
But I like him as a Sam.
I think the way that he went like, yeah, and I think if you think of Derek Barnes, is
he going to be the will, is he going to stay as that Sam back or we don't know what that's
going to look like?
So you might need to bring somebody in for that role and I think Kelly fits like a glove.
Like the way he blitzes, the way he plays at the line of scrimmage, the physicality,
there's going to be times that he get washed because he doesn't have necessarily the arm length,
but size is not going to be a problem for him, you know, with how he's built.
And I think ultimately you're looking at a guy that has the potential to develop into
a three-down linebacker, but ultimately he's probably a two-down player with special
team's ability to start his career and that's okay for Detroit.
That's perfectly fine.
It is.
And he is a guy that as I was going through, I put little marks in my, I have a spreadsheet
with it and I have a little mark of he is in the column of players that Detroit will
like more than other teams do.
Yeah.
And it's very easy to see.
And I'm glad that Bischoff and his love of BYU defensive players is res rubbing off
on you.
Yeah.
You can tell, right?
I mean, it's one of those things like, I think that's how our first ever conversation
went.
He was like, Hey, do you like BYU players?
I was like Ziggy Ansa?
Yes.
Jamal Williams?
Yes.
And then we just went from there and the show has been the way it's been.
But he's got a long history of that that goes away back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's one.
I love giving Scott crap about that and he takes it.
And throws it back at me from time to time.
I want to go with, I'll go with a safety that I like Cole Wiznowski.
Combine snob.
Yeah.
I still haven't gotten a good explanation from NFL folks of why he wasn't there.
Because the expectation is that he's, he might not be there for the Lions fifth round
pick.
Like, and if you are a betting person and you can bet on the first player,
who wasn't at the combine to get drafted, Cole Wiznowski is probably a good, good investment.
Just say, OK, if you can find that somewhere, I love the fact that he's, he could do anything
that the Lions want of their safeties.
He can play as a hang.
He can play the slot, although I don't really like him there as much as I like him playing
back and apprenticing under, whether it's Harper or Branch or Chuck Clark, but the guy who,
I do think he needs some, like, you can tell that he gets a little too excited at times
in coverage.
I think he needs that discipline to him.
But I think being around better supporting talent around him, not that he didn't have
that, that, that tech because he did.
But, like, I just think like him getting into a room where there's higher expectations
for defense and higher talent level around him will allow him to thrive.
And right away, he's, right away, he's great on special teams.
He can be the player that I wanted Ian Kennelly to be a year ago and he's, he's not a football
anymore.
So that's sad to me.
But, you know, like the depth safety, we look, both starters are question marks.
It sounds like the lines are pretty confident that Kirby will be able to be, at least very
close to being the old Kirby.
We'll see.
Okay.
Yeah.
But Branch, you know, he's out until realistically Thanksgiving.
Okay.
You know, you got Harper, you got Clark, you know, you've done some things with, with Maddox
it, is Ian can play in that roles too, but get somebody young in the pipeline.
We don't know what Dan Jackson is from last year.
He got hurt, missed all of training camp.
So I would not mind having somebody like Cole Wisness, who has a high ceiling, but a fairly
low floor.
Because I can see why, I can, I can also see why the NFL wasn't super high on him getting
into the combine because there are things on his tape where it's like, eh, don't do that
anymore.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I like him, and I'll throw one bonus one in here, and I talked about him.
I did a spot with wood TV here in Grand Rapids, checking out with, I brought up Max Lou
Wellen.
This is another guy that the edge from Iowa, who made the column of the lines are going
to like this guy more than the NFL does.
He can win to power, can win inside, can win outside, has a wicked spin move.
He finishes what he starts.
He understands how to get off of a block pretty well.
He might not ever make a tackle in the run game ever, but he will come in, and I envision
him as a guy who when Aiden Hutchins comes off the field, hopefully comes off the field
for more than five plays per game than he has been.
This is a guy who can fill in and impact the backfield, and he's a fifth or a sixth
round player, and I like him a lot for Detroit specifically.
Yeah.
No, I love that.
He was not a player that I watched in depth, but I caught glimpses of him, watching other
players and things like that, watching the Indiana offense, seeing him flash a little
bit in those types of things, so he'll definitely be a player that if they end up drafting,
I will love to do a film breakdown on, so I will definitely do that, but moving over
to the offensive side for me, a day three player that I like.
He might end up being a UDFA, but Donovan McColley from Michigan, I know the Lions have
shown interest there.
They've brought him in for a visit as we as we talked about earlier with the wide receiver
position, just maybe adding a little bit of depth to that room.
I think McColley, I'm surprised there's not been more love for him during the the pre-draft
process, just watching his tape.
I don't think he's like a number one receiver, but for teams looking for that number three
player, that Josh Reynolds type of player, I don't know how you don't look at him and go,
yeah, that can be that guy.
I mean, dagger concepts, flood concepts, going vertical, comebacks, hitches.
He's going to be a factor there and he catches the ball away from his body all of the time
at six four and a half, two, oh three, he's a willing blocker like the way he gets in
front of guys is impressive.
More often than not, we see those wide receivers stray away from contact down the field, but
he embraces it and I love that.
And I think the Lions will love that too.
Again, he's not Amin Rassane Brown, he's not Jamo, but he's a guy that, as we've seen
over the years, they've rolled the dice with those bigger receivers that can go over
the middle of the field.
And I think McColley can be that and I would just love to try to take advantage of that
for a three to four year window.
So take them in the sixth or seventh round and see what happens and I wonder if that's
why they brought him in for a visit.
But McColley out of Michigan's a fun one.
He reminds me of another former Michigan player, Donovan People's Jones, he's not the
athlete that DPJ was, but the same style and like it didn't work out for DPJ when he
got to Detroit, for a handful of years in Cleveland, he was a solid number three receiver
and did things like you just talked about that, that's sort of what his role was.
But I'm with you on that, I also, specifically the Michigan offensive players in this draft
have not been blessed by good coaching the last couple of years, I'm not sure that their
scheme was anything, honestly, not that the buy along them, but like there are more reasons
than just his illicit affair that Charon Moore isn't coaching there anymore, you know.
Yeah, yeah, no, 100%, 100%.
Okay.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
Good.
I understand exactly what you're talking about and I think that feeling might be a little
bit mutual, not just here on the show.
But in the background, if you know what I'm saying.
So before we turn it over to the NFL draft discussion on the NFC North, I mean, cause
to be honest people, Jeff and I I think could easily do a three hour show on day three
players in itself.
Yeah. So, you know, any last couple thoughts here, a couple players that maybe come to mind
for day three or anything that you that you got to get off your chest for day three.
I brought up, I brought them up a couple times, but I will continue to beat the drum for Jackson
coup watch, linebacker Miami of Ohio, who like one year wonder, like complete, like could not get
on the field at Ohio State, couldn't really get on the field at Miami for like a year and a half.
Yeah. He has ridiculous athletic twitch testing. He doesn't have long speed, but he's got
instant speed. Shrine Bowl, he was like, he was everywhere. This is a guy who can come in and
compete right away and he's not going to get drafted. He's just not. Yeah. If he is, it's on
athletic promise and it could be the line seventh round pick. But, and he is a little bit older,
I think he's, I think he is 24. But my God, like, there are so many things that he does right
away. And then I will go back to my, I will hark upon my roots from when I lived in Petersburg,
Virginia and taught there where you'll appreciate this. Quentin Spain, former NFL standout.
His dad was a superintendent of the school system. Oh, wow. Quentin. So, I taught seventh grade.
Quentin was in sixth grade when I taught seventh grade. And then I, we moved to Michigan. So,
I was dumb, but I would have been his teacher. That would have been fun. Oh, wow. But I digress.
I briefly attended Virginia State University. Go Trojans. And they have a offensive tackle there,
named Bruno on Muazzur, who is born in Nigeria. Came to the United States when he was like 10.
Came to play basketball in soccer. He gets to high school. Prince George High School.
He's like, oh, football. I can hit people. I like this. He's six foot eight and a half,
has 36 and a quarter inch arms and 86 inch wingspan. But he has the feet of a soccer player.
Okay. Now, he's, he, he's raw. They're like, he, I will say, he comes into Allen Park and he's
already as skilled technically as Giovanni Manu is, but still needs a lot of work with it. But
this is like, this is the attitude that you want to work with. This is a hungry guy. And he's
another one. Like, you see interviews with him. I watched an interview with him recently and he's
like, he's kind of soft-spoken and fearful. And then you watch him, like, especially when they put,
so them in Virginia Union are like, that's like Michigan, Michigan state, like Hope Calvin on
the side of the state. He's destroying people, like letting them know it. And I'm like, damn.
He does get beat. Like, this is this not a guy who's going to play in 2026. But for a guy who's not
going to get drafted, give me him. Do you have anybody like that that's like off the national radar
or just somebody that you really like that's caught your eye for the lions that, you know,
probably won't get drafted. Or if they do, they might be Mr. Rerelevant. But, but you, you have a
feeling, they give you warm feelings inside of us. Man, I don't, I don't have anybody that deep,
the player that I would have gone to next would have been linebacker Aiden Fisher from Indiana.
Okay. That would have been the next player that I would. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's just, you know,
that, that mindset of like draft football player. Right. Draft good football players. And Brad
always talks about the word conviction. And this is going to be a guy that helps our football team.
I don't see in any way Aiden Fisher doesn't step into Detroit and just help them right away. I
mean, he's got great leadership skills. He's got a good motor. He's got the ability to work through
blocks. But I get it. It can be a little bit problematic at times. But I think special teams
and just tackling machine at 61231. Like he's, he's just a good football player. I think he can play
as a mic if needed. There will be limitations in space and how he gets off those blocks. But
he just finds ways to get things done. And I think Brad, Dan and that coaching staff will appreciate
that. And as I mentioned earlier with like Jack Kelly and Harold Perkins, I think linebacker is
the sneaky need for this team. I don't think it's like one that, you know, is something you got
to do at maybe 17. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was potentially a pick at 50. So I think day
three, it's certainly interesting. If they go the offensive tackle and edge route like we've been
talking or offensive tackle safety, whatever. So I think Fisher would be a great, a great player
there. And I probably do have somebody that's really off the radar down in my notes somewhere
from over the summer. But I'm not going to dig those up right now. I'm going to change gears.
We're going to go to the NFL draft discussion.
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On the NFC North, unless you got more day three stuff you want it.
The only other one I'll give and he just popped into my head. Youngstown State wide receiver max
son of Mike Tom's act. I can play. Okay. Go penguins. Go penguins.
Best logo. They have the best, like, almost sucker for penguins, man.
So over spring break, we went to the zoo. Yeah, and I legitimately stayed in the penguin area
for like an hour. My family just wandered around. Come back to me. I'll be here.
Yeah, no, when we were in Chicago, we did the zoo as well. The free zoo, obviously, down there.
Oh, the way to Park Zoo. Yeah, but we walked around, dude, and I saw so many different animals.
I'm like, man, I go to the Detroit zoo. I don't see anything. I saw everything. So,
no, love the zoo. I'm with you there. But let's sort through the, I guess, the zoo that is
the NFC North of all the different animals, all the different teams there. I don't know what to make
of every single team in what direction they're going to go. For example, like, I think Minnesota,
they need a lot of help. I don't think that's a very good raw stride. There's some talent.
Don't get me wrong. But there's a lot of uncertainty there. And then you got the packers. They
don't have a first round pick. And they're moving on guys from like Don Tavian Wicks. And I just don't
know what direction they're going. And then you've got the Chicago Bears. And I think the bears are
well built. I think they've got the right coach. I think they're doing the right things.
But they've got some needs to offensive tackle. They could use a pass rusher. They lost a lot of
secondary help. I know they tried to, they tried to improve it. But we can start with any of these
teams. But what, what directions do you see some of these teams going? And we can start with the
Vikings, the pick right after the lions, if you'd like. What do you think there? I, I am with the
consensus that is still in TDM safety Oregon. Like that's everybody's first off. I really enjoy
that a lot of the final mocks are coming out this week. That's something that I have tried to do
for a long time. Mine will come out next Wednesday just because I'm, I have too much of the crap
going on. But like I, I have a pretty good idea of what it's going to be already. And just seeing
everybody from Vikings insiders to national people all pegging don't need them in there. Like
they need them. Yeah. It makes too much sense. They, they certainly do have other needs. But man,
he's, he's a good player, Russ. I like those. Even as a lion's fin, I do like the fit too. Don't
you, don't you like that? No, I do. I, he is an odd evaluation because of the role that he played at
Oregon this past year. And it, they're in the way he tested is not the way he plays. But he does a
lot of little things right that I think would catch the eye of the lions and certainly of other
teams in the NFL. And that's why it makes so much sense for Brian Flores and his defense with
Minnesota to just go that route at 18 if he's there. If he's not there, I do think your mod McCoy
would be a player that they would have a lot of interest in. And I do know that there's been a lot
of rumblings of Caden McDonald out of Ohio State as a first round pick. Whether I agree with that or
not, that's a conversation for another day. I will be honest though, I think Minnesota would make
some sense there to improve that interior part of their defensive line with Caden McDonald. I don't
know if you, if you feel that same way or especially with McCoy, I mean, I think a lot of teams
are waiting to see what the lions do at 17 with McCoy, but I don't think he's on their way.
Yeah, quite honest. I, I think the fact that his, the word degenerative with his knee is being thrown
around with the current experience that we're going through with Kirby Joseph, I think really
in the himmits the lion's interest there in Dermod McCoy. Whether it's valid or not,
it almost doesn't matter, you know? Yeah. And I thought Dr. Liao had a very good piece about it.
And his thought was, you know, so many other players at that position and also Jamo are like
playing in NFL games 9, 10, 11 months after an ACL. And he's still not cleared to run
after over a year. Yeah. That's a problem.
Big problem. Yes. And I think that's why he did it. He did in fact work out 15 months after,
14 months after, but that's, that's still pushing it. Yeah. I will say I'm, I'm Caden McDonald.
He will be the pick for the Houston Texans in my final mock draft. And I suspect that a lot of
people in Houston will have that pick too. Take that for what it's worth folks. I will go ahead and
just go to my tab while we're sitting here. We're going to just go ahead. Pick 28, Caden,
McDonald. Yeah. All right. Pick 28 is in the books on my mock draft. There you go.
Move it over to the, yeah. And again, I don't think we got to go into crazy detail on every single
one of these teams because at the end of the day, like, you know, it does, it matters. But
we're here for the Lions, right? But we did want to give kind of a big scheme scope of what we
might be ready for next week. Yeah. I think with, with the Packers, I'll just segue to them
because it's, it's pretty straightforward. They traded away their first round pick for
Micah Parsons. And the biggest need on the team is still edge. Yep. Yeah. No, it is. I mean, they,
yeah, that's nothing against Micah. Like, even if he's not hurt, like, they still need edge more than
any other position. They have other needs as well. But this is what happens when you miss,
I guess, like Lucas Van Ness. Um, they should. And Rishank Gary, right? And Rishank Gary,
well, he's gone now. Like, right. He was, he was good enough, but he's not there anymore.
And like, I looked at Dave Berger's mock draft and actually just sort of looking through that
just before he went on the air and like his first, first pick for them. I think it's 52.
Yep. Then I did a Sutton. Like, got his Lions fit. The Lions picked twice before the Packers pick.
Then I did a Sutton was probably on the Lions board pretty prominently at number 50. He is
another guy who I think that the Lions will like more than the rest of the league does. I think he
fits that can crushing edge opposite hutch very nicely. Yeah. I wouldn't endorse that pick,
but I get it. Yeah. But the fact that the Packers are there and they're, you know, look, they,
they've had a regime change. You know, they're defensive courtier than one of their assistant
front office people. They're in Miami now. So maybe this is a time where they change things up.
I don't know, but they also desperately need wide receiver, like desperately. And yeah.
You know, even like I tend to like Christian Watson. I do. But you never know if he's going to catch
the ball or not. And that concerns me. And he's hurt a lot. And he's their best. Yep. Yep.
So they are, they are on the precipice of being a team that falls off radically in my opinion.
But if they have a good draft and they're certainly capable of doing that, I can see them again
being right around where they were a year ago and competing for second place in the division.
That wouldn't surprise me at all. No, 100%. And like, you know, before Packers fans get in here and
be like, how dare you guys? You know, I'm on the radio in Green Bay once a week, pretty much
six weeks leading up to the draft and even sometimes more than that with different outlets. And
I always have this thing with Packers radio hosts and some of their fans and things like that. Like,
I'm not saying I'm a Packers fan by any mean, I'm not. But I have a pretty good sense. And I think
you do as well of kind of where they're headed and what they need to do to get better. And
I obviously they do as well. I don't know how they they don't draft an offensive lineman at
pick 52 or 84. Like the drop off of offensive line talent starts to really go away. And
especially once the run of offensive tackles go, I mean, we're going to see seven of those guys
going the top for sure the top 50. So they pick a 52 that that leaves them with like Markelle bell
at 52 Caleb Tiernan out in northwestern Jude Bowery, Demetrius Crownover who we've talked about.
So like I do like Caleb. Yeah. And Caleb Tiernan like I like. And he screams Green Bay Packer.
But everybody's like, well, he's six foot 80 doesn't fit the mold. Sometimes you got to go away
from that. And with different, you know, changes going on, I think Caleb Tiernan would be a player
that they'd be really interested in because they need offensive line help like they they didn't get
received Walker back. And I just I think there's a lot of question marks there. And I don't know if
I feel confident in Jordan Morgan being my left tackle. I'm going to be honest with Packer's fans
out there. I don't know how I feel about that. So yeah, he's he I liked him a lot. And Chris and I
actually interviewed him at the senior board. We liked him. He's got some he's got some killer tattoos
by the way. But that doesn't matter to his football game. But like I always thought that he'd be like
a really good left guard and maybe right tackle. But I yeah, yeah. I'm curious what their vision is
with him and how he will execute it as well. But yeah, they already team that you can't go wrong
if you draft offensive line with him either. But again, like they don't have any wide receiver that's
better than Jamo. And Jamo's on number two. They don't have any wide receiver that's better than
Chicago's number three right now. They just don't, you know, Minnesota is pretty good at wide
receiver. If you look around that if you're trying if you're playing the game where you're trying
to like, well, where do we have to get better in relation to our division. Wide receiver just
jumps off. But so does Edge opposite my comparisons. Like yeah, yeah, they they don't have they don't
have anybody as good as DJ want them to line up opposite my comparisons. And oh, by the way,
my comparisons will be their week one. Like they yeah, it's they're a they're a perilous team
right now. Yeah. Yeah, no, they are a hundred percent. And I and I will just add every year,
they draft one of my guys. They do it every year, you know, from from Jason sprigs to Javon
Bollard, you go down the list. Yeah, exactly. He's he was a big swing and a miss for me.
But I could see them taking one of my guys for sure. Whether that's Kionte Scott,
Dalyne Everett, as I mentioned earlier, I could see Brian Parker being a potential center prospect
for them. He just screams green Bay Packer. So we'll see obviously how it how it shakes out for
green Bay. What do you say Brian Parker? My my comfort Brian Parker is Zach Tom. It was their tackle.
Like there you go. Yeah, no, exactly. So I think that's exactly the type of guy that that would
make sense for them at like pick 84. But we'll see obviously where they go edge receiver and fixing
up that offensive line. And they've got to add a corner. So it's going to be interesting. But I
think I think green Bay is a team that I don't know, things might catch up with them. But a team
that we have to definitely keep an eye on is the Chicago Bears. They've got the 25th pick.
They've got three picks in the top 60 four picks in the top 90. They're sitting pretty with
draft capital and they got a pretty decent roster there as it is. But they do have some holes to
fill. They need a left tackle. They they need another pass rusher. They need some secondary help.
They could probably use another pass catcher as well. They're definitely sitting better than
than the first two teams we talked about. But bears at 25. What direction do you think they go and
what do you agree with what I'm saying as far as needs and those types of things? Yeah, I do. I
also think they could use a defensive tackle. But they probably don't need one of those very early.
But somebody to take reps as their as their third tackle, who can maybe play as their second tackle as
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Right, so I pulled Chicago people that I know. Got four different answers back for who they're
thinking. It's going to be their second 25. Thanks guys. Thanks for telling me that nobody knows
what's going on in Chicago either. Yeah. I don't think that's a mistake by the way. Like,
Russ, do you know what? Do you know what the lines are going to do with 17?
No, because I don't either. And like, I have an idea. I have ideas. I'm fairly confident in my ideas,
but they're plural. You know, like it's a or b or c, maybe d. Yeah, no, 100%.
But we don't know. Yeah. And that's the thing with the bears. It's like, you know,
right. You're the same thing. They're kind of following that same blueprint of the lions,
keeping things close to the vest and kind of retooling some of the roster as well.
Like they moved on from DJ more. They didn't have to do that, but they felt like it was time.
Get some compensation for them. And they did. So it makes for a very interesting draft for them.
And they can certainly get better. You know, the way that I look at things for them at pick 25,
I do kind of like the idea of a safety with a manual McNeil Warren, but
through some of the tea leaves that I've gathered and asking around, that's not necessarily
an option for them. Doesn't, you know, somebody had told me that they don't see that at all.
So I don't know what direction they're going to go. I think Kate and McDonald could make some
sense for them if they wanted to kind of throw a wrench in the plans of Houston. But I think
you're the one that they tend to want for a defensive tackle, even though they have, you know,
drove out Dexter there. So one of the names that I got back was TJ Parker.
And he makes some sense as a guy. And I, by the way, I cannot rule him out at 17. I do think
that the lions are going to have some interest in DJ Parker and what he offers.
And I think the bears will see the same sorts of things in that this was
Russ go back to preseason mock grass. He was the first defensive player off the board in
every freaking one of them. That guy's still there somewhere. Like, yeah, I refuse to believe
that that's gone away. And I kind of bet that both the lions and the bears and the organization's
structures that they have, they're going to believe that too. So he makes a lot of sense. I
I got Dylan Tina men back as one of the answers. So like, okay, do you not have the Vikings
taking him? Right. I didn't ask that, but maybe I should have.
So, you know, they're large. So thinking the same ways that you are. And then Caleb Blomu came up.
I could say, I don't know where you're at with Blomu, but I like him a lot. He's my number 12 overall
player. I don't necessarily like him for the lions and what what we do. But I like him like
for the bears. I think he's a little bit better of a fit because they're not as power-centric with
their run game. Yeah. But I'm seeing like a lot of folks are thinking that he's not even going to
be in the top 40. Like, do you buy that alone? No way. No, this is a first-round pick all day.
Like, when you think I'm not saying anything bad to you. But like, when I like put a prospect
down, let's say I put him on like a little notebook card, I don't know, four by four note card
or whatever. And I'm checking boxes. Caleb Blomu checks so many boxes, length, lower body and frame,
check, character, check, age, 21 years of age, check, premium position, check. You know what I mean?
All of those things, he checks the boxes. He talked bend and flexibility in his lower half.
Great. Anchor Mike get tested. There are times that he doesn't always finish. I get all of that.
But we're talking about a 21-year-old that has everything kind of locked up and squared away.
Good kid off the field. Like, I don't know, man. I think he is a top 20 player all day long.
He's 19 from my board. And I think he would make tons of sense for a lot of teams in the top 20,
top 21, even like Pittsburgh might make some sense. Los Angeles chargers might make some sense
if they want to move them to guard. And they've visited with him. So I don't know. I think he's
really intriguing. And like, I always, when I get a mock draft and I get to, you know, pick 25,
I'm like, oh, Caleb Blomu is here. Bang. And that's normally what I do. It's either him or a
keen message or that's normally what I do. Yeah. So Blomu does make a lot of sense to the bears at 25.
So yeah, I will, I will ask this. I know there's been a lot of rumors and I know we can kind of
wrap it up. But there's been a lot of rumors about Thai Simpson, the Arizona Cardinals,
potentially moving back into the first round, whether we agree or disagree, that's fine.
But I do think Chicago is an interesting spot for Arizona to get from 34 to pick 25. I haven't
done necessarily the math on that through the trade value, but I think Chicago is all about
getting picks. And I think that if, let's say Lomo is gone, let's say Theneman is gone.
Maybe there's a pass rusher like Parker. Maybe he's gone. That could easily trigger the,
hey, let's trade down. So that could be the Thai Simpson spot. What do you think of that? Am I wrong
in thinking that? No, I think that's a very irrational idea. And I do buy the, the Cardinals would
be interested in Thai Simpson. My only question with them is they're 34. Is anybody between
25 and 34 really going to take him? Or are you doing it preemptively to keep another team
from 38 or 44 from trading up to get him? Yeah, I, I don't have a field for that yet.
Maybe I won't get that. I don't know, but he, he makes a lot of sense because like they're
in the division they're in. This is a great year for them to take a Mulligan year and reset.
Yep. Because they are, they are clearly the fourth best team. Like no question about that.
Yep. And even if they nail the draft, they're still the fourth best team. So why not
look longer term instead of immediate needs? And like, I don't think either of us are super high
on Thai Simpson, but we're not going to crap on his chances. Like that. I would probably be,
be more prone to wait around and take Garrett Nussmeyer, but that's just me.
I'm, I'm with you 100% there. I would, I would wait for Garrett Nussmeyer. I would probably even
wait for Drew Al or a little bit. And worst case scenario, I'm rolling the dice and swinging for
a cold patent or even a Kate club Nick and trying to squeeze whatever's left out of that lemon.
So to speak, but hey, okay, real quick. Before we wrap it up, day three quarterback,
if the Lions want one, who's your guy?
Not saying that they are, that they want one or that they, even necessarily need one,
although I would argue that they do need one. But who strikes your fancy as being somebody that
could fit in with this offense? I mean, I, I do think, I don't know, again, I don't know if he's
going to be there. I think Drew Al or would be the guy that I'm swinging for. I think they,
they could have some liking to the way cold patent plays, but he doesn't necessarily fit
schematically, maybe. But again, at the same time, I don't know exactly what pet scene's looking for
with a quarterback because he's going from Kyla Marie to Jared Goff. So it's kind of two different
ends of the spectrum there. And outside of that, I mean, like I, I don't think Carson Beck fits
at all. I guess really the swing for me, true day three would be tailing green out of Arkansas.
But that's just simply because he's a great athlete. He, the ball does really, you know,
pop out of his hand, but there's a lot of little things that he's got to get corrected with
processing speeds and rushing his mechanics. And I didn't do a full evaluation on him. But I've
been going to speak to close together, throw a speech to far part, join with his,
all arm throwing where he overlaps. He needs, he needs a quarterback coach, something fierce.
Yeah, Mark Brunel. I think could do some wonders with him. But at the same time, I think like
that's where cold patent kind of comes in. Mark Brunel, left handed quarterback. Let's go, baby,
bring in the lefties. I can, I can join the room. I can get warmed up, you know.
But as you are, I am a leftie. I'm not a guy. I write with my right hand and I do all sports
left handed. It's very weird. So my brother is the opposite of that. He is left handed and
everything. But he does sports right handed. That's crazy. See, I could never, I can't write with
my left hand to say, I could figure it out. I, there's a little bit of comfort level there. But it
looks so messed up. As we were talking bear, yeah, as we were talking bears, one thing came in my
head. And we don't have to go in a great detail about this because me and Scott talked about it
earlier in the week and that episode dropped today, Bishoff and Brown. And I know you and Chris
talked about it on your guys' live stream the other night with Ruben Bain. But I think we are
probably in agreement that we think he's still going to be a first round pick. We don't necessarily
know where that's going to be. But pick 25 Chicago. Do you think that's a possibility? Also pick 18
Minnesota. Do you think that's a possibility? And I say that because I think of like speed
the power thick, thick frame, I remember watching Brian Flores kind of salivate watching Derek Hall
who's not even close to being Ruben Bain. And I just wonder if that guy falls to him at 18 with some
of the Jonathan Grinard stuff. Do you maybe pivot to a player like Ruben Bain? Do you think he's
an option at all for Minnesota or Chicago? I do. The Brian Flores fit. Absolutely. Look,
Ruben Bain, you will not hear me criticize him as a football player. There are things in nitpick.
He's a damn good football player and a very high end prospect.
I guess. I don't want him in Minnesota. Yeah. Look.
Yeah, no. You play with the seed now, Ross. Thank you.
Yeah. Well, some to ponder on as you as you head to the weekend,
some to think about because that's going to be on my brain now. And I'm going to get back to my
final mock draft and my big boards already put together. I just got to create the graphic and
post it over at my my sub stack, the draft report, that sub stack dot com, but doing final mock
for next week. And I'm like, I don't know where to put Ruben Bain because I don't know who's
going to who's going to take the cheese. You know, I don't know who it's going to be because
it's Jalen Carter situation. I'll, you know, 2.0, maybe a little bit more severe, maybe less
severe. I don't know, but it's interesting. And I think there's a lot more there to that's still
being kind of uncovered and unpacked. Yeah. And we won't and that's one of those where it would
not surprise me if he still goes number three overall. And also wouldn't surprise me if he's
Chicago's pick at 25. Yeah. Either way. I know that. And that's what that's part of why
the mock draft is a lot of times it's just a bunch of drunk dudes throwing darts. You know,
I am not drunk when I do a mock draft. What are you talking about?
I will take you back to the combine was that 2015 2016.
Yeah. And a group of us, well known draft nicks, wound up going out and we went to a bar.
It was a brewery. It's called Toeyard. It's not even there anymore.
And we got drunk and we're like throwing darts at the board and that's going to be our mock draft.
Of all people, Jim Nagy was there. And this was before he was running this year. And he joined in
with us. And that is always stuck with me because we wound up like getting three or four of them
right just by throwing darts while we're drunk. That is awesome. That is awesome.
One thing's with draft source. Kyle Krabs and Joe Moreno were both there. They could verify
that story. That is awesome. I miss those guys, man. I miss being down at the senior bowl,
having barbeque and beers with those guys and talking prospects and sitting in on their
podcast. Great times. Great times. But I had a great time here with you.
That was. Russ and Res here on the Daily DLP of the Detroit Lines podcast. Do you have anything
else to add as we close up shop? No, man. Just everybody enjoy your weekend. And if you're
impacted by the floods that are here in Michigan, and especially on my side, it's really bad.
Well, yeah. My thoughts and prayers are out to you, man, because my basement did flood a few
years ago. And it is awful. It is helpless, man. So, again, thoughts and prayers for all the people
that are getting impacted by it. And it's allegedly supposed to ring again today, which is just
socks, but I know that that's all I got for the week. Russ, what about you?
No, likewise, man, thoughts to everybody out there, especially like up in Traverse City where
the dams are backing up and a lot of crazy stuff happen in here in the state. I don't know if we
become tornado central, but I feel like, you know, the other night I was sleeping in two o'clock in
the morning. I'm having a heart attack because my amber alert goes off for a tornado warning. So,
yeah, crazy, crazy, crazy stuff. But we are a week away from the draft. So just had had down grind
in a way here, getting to the finish line, putting the hay bales in the barn, so to speak. So
looking forward to it. But you guys can rate, review, and subscribe to the Detroit Lions podcast
on YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify and all other podcast platforms. And of course, you can find us
over at X at Russ NFL Draft and at Jeff Risen. He's Jeff Risen. I'm Russ Brown. This has been Russ
and Riz on the daily DLP of the Detroit Lions podcast.
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