Mock Draft Monday with Trevor Sikkema: Giants Land Dart a TRUE Deep Threat + Eagles Snag an ELITE WR

Big show for you here today, Trevor Sikama, pro football focus, and the NFL Stock Exchange

show with Connor Rogers joins me to break down his five favorite player to team fits from

his most recent mock draft.

We've got some receiver talking here.

It's a little carnal tape coming to the T-higgins to another team's Jamar Chase, a pretty

exciting match up.

There we got Omar Cooper, some age-based debates, and the prospect of Trevor would stand

on the table for in this year's class.

All that more kind of on today's show, let's get into it.

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What's going on, everybody?

I'm Matt Harmon.

Welcome to the Yahoo Fantasy forecast and it is a hell of a day to talk, ball.

We've got another edition of Mockdraft Monday for you guys and joining us, I think for

the third time in a row, third annual trip here on Mockdraft Monday.

It is Trevor Sikima, Pro Football Focus, the NFL Stock Exchange podcast.

Trevor, what's going on, buddy?

The 3P baby, we're here.

We're here.

Back-to-back wasn't enough.

We had to get that third title in the mix, so Matt, I appreciate you having me, man.

I always get to enjoy talking to football with you, so I appreciate it, brother.

No doubt.

I think you've nailed some picks here, at least some good pairings over the last couple

of years.

I was looking through our DMs on this.

I believe you had bonics to the Broncos a few years ago.

I think that was one that you had there.

Last year, you had Will Johnson to the Cardinals.

You went in the second round.

You had him in the first round.

Yeah.

See, I don't see Nicky Manwari.

You had that last year as well.

Again, not first round, second round, but still, look at that, baby.

You're on fire, so you set the sights pretty high here, brother, so we got to crush it

once again.

Yeah.

No.

Look, you do this long enough.

You'll look into some hits, but honestly, all of those spots for all of those guys, it's

sort of easy to see why the teams gravitated towards them, whether it was skiing fits or exactly

what their big team needs were.

Yeah, man.

I remember a couple of years ago as well.

I was on with the Arizona Cardinals, like their flagship podcast or in-house podcast, and

I told them, I was like, hey, Michael Wilson, he's one of my favorite receivers in the entire

draft.

I think he'd be perfect for Arizona with right where they're at.

They not only draft him, but then Michael Wilson turns out to be an absolute baller, and

so they can't have to be at the combine this year, and we're like, we have to have you

back on.

It's always fun when you get one of those right, and it obviously pans out in a big way.

No doubt.

Well, obviously, that's why we have Trevor on every single year, because he's a sharp guy.

He gets the entire exercise here that we're doing with mock draft Monday, which is we're

trying to get the best draft analyst, the best mock drafters out there too, not just

do the whole exercise of mock drafts, like, oh, they put the whole thing together.

No, no, no.

It's about the real ball stuff.

The player to team fits that they absolutely love from their most recent mock draft, because

when you're making a pick for all 32 teams, if you're doing a first round mock, and I don't

know, Trevor, how many rounds do you go with your final mock draft?

So the final one that I do will be one round, but like before that, funny enough, on the

stock exchange show, like a week before the draft, Connor and I do a seven-round mock

draft.

We do all 256 picks, and we will go through all of it for every day.

It's fun, man.

It's a big charity stream that we do.

It's like a seven, eight-hour stream, but we do try, like, the official one that I submit

for mock draft accuracy scores is just full-round, but we've got one for the sickos right

before the draft to make sure that we go seven rounds on it.

Well, regardless, whether you're doing all 250 whatever picks, or the 32 picks for the

first round, you don't love every single one of them, but there's a good handful that

you're like, yes, this one absolutely fits.

What this show is all about here, we're going to get Trevor's five favorite player to team

fits from his most recent mock draft that he absolutely loves.

We're going to dive into those.

We're going to break down those prospects, and then we'll get one prospect from the

2026 NFL draft.

The Trevor is willing to stand on the table for.

So with that, welcome to another edition of mock draft Monday.

All right, Trevor.

Let's hear it.

Who is your first player to team fit that you absolutely love?

So it's funny, we brought up this team already, but I'm going to stay with the Arizona

Cardinals.

I've been pretty good with picking guys to this team, whether it was Michael Wilson or

Will Johnson.

And this time, I'm going to go with Sonny Stiles, the linebacker from Ohio State.

Now, I wonder if maybe we get a different Ohio State player here.

If Arville Reese doesn't go number two overall to the New York Jets, I think there's a chance

that he could go number three overall to the Arizona Cardinals.

You know, there's some whispers like, hey, is Josh Sweat going to be on the team for the

long term?

It's not, then all of a sudden, maybe more of an edge rusher type of an addition might

be better suited for them.

That's where Arville Reese could come into play.

But as the team stands right now, Sonny Stiles, the absolute combine hero, somebody who

had an unbelievable year this past season, elite run defense grades and coverage grades

from our PFF grading system this past year.

He also has what I believe is the best single game of any prospect in any position that

I have watched.

And that's his game and the big 10 championship game against Indiana.

It's as if they had the communication radio frequencies mixed up and the offensive coordinator

for Indiana was actually in his years instead of, you know, in Fernando Mendoza's years

because every single time they were running the ball left or right, he was seeing the keys.

He was seeing, okay, this is where the ball is going to go.

This is where the player is going to go.

And he was matching that intelligence with physicality the way that he did all year

long.

When I look at the Arizona Cardinals, yeah, of course, I think they would like to draft

a quarterback.

But after Fernando Mendoza going number one overall, I don't think that anybody is going

to be in consideration for the top 10.

So instead, I think that the Cardinals and Monty Austin border are going to look at this

to say, hey, let's just build the best team that we possibly can.

And it's most likely that we're taking a big swing on a quarterback next year.

To me, that's the Sonny Stiles because if you put him in the middle of your defense,

the way Ohio State did this past season, I think everything changes for the better.

So that's really the last area of this team that over the last two or three years is they

built out the defense.

That's the last area where they've really hit with their premium position and a premium

player.

But that's where I'm at with him.

I think the pairing of the Cardinals makes a ton of sense.

I wonder if Monty Austin border general manager wants to trade down from this pick.

But I give him that like, I don't know how many dance partners you're going to get with

the trade down.

So if they have to stay, if they can trade down, I think there's a good chance that

they go offensive line.

If it's outside of the top five, you know, a branch is Maui Noah of expense or fauna

was somebody like that.

But if they've got to stay at three, if they can't get out, I think Sonny Stiles is probably

the running favorite for them in number three.

Yeah, it's a really good point about potentially want to trade down, but who are people trading

up for?

Right.

You could maybe argue that some of the smoke between Tennessee, like I saw Adam Schaeffer

this week said he doesn't think Tennessee is going to take Jeremiah Love, but then you've

had other folks, like I think Daniel Jeremiah, Dan Brugler, say like they think that might

end up being the pick.

Maybe there's like a little bit of a, so they're trying to get somebody to trade up ahead

of, you know, to try to get somebody to trade up ahead of Tennessee for Jeremiah Love,

but who's trading up into the top five for a running back?

Probably not in my opinion.

That would be the only weird scenario kind of see happening, but sticking on this idea

of Sonny Stiles with the Arizona Cardinals, I was actually out with a couple of friends

last night, who are Cowboys fans watching some of the March Madness games.

Yes, that's right.

I actually did consume another sport other than football breaking news here on the show.

Yeah, it's looking you, it's a, it's a stunner.

It's a stunner.

But one of them asked me like, what do you think, what do you think the chances are that Sonny

Stiles falls to our pickets?

Well, I said, buddy, he's got a better chance of going to than 12, okay?

Like that's not happening.

So why don't you, why don't you just go ahead, yeah, stone 0.0, why don't you just go ahead

and forget, forget that dream.

That ain't happening not in this class and not with how good of a player Sonny Stiles

is.

Linebacker is probably outside of receiver my favorite position to study and to think

about because Trevor, I think when you can get a guy that is at that level, you can really

change the entire course of your defense if you have one of those guys in the middle

there.

The problem is it's really hard to do to find one of these players.

It's also really hard to get those guys up to speed early in the NFL because you're just

with the way modern offenses want to attack over the middle of the field.

There's a lot of weight on these guys as shoulders in terms of the mental part of the

game.

So we know Sonny Stiles as a freak.

We know he's an incredible specimen, you know, six, five, just massive figure there in

the middle of the defense.

But from a mental standpoint, where do you see him being early on in his career as maybe

one of these kind of forced multipliers in the middle of a defense?

I mean, I think that he's exactly that.

I mean, there are times when I watched him, especially down the stretch this season, where

I felt like the football IQ was off the charts for him and again, yeah, like Caleb Downes

is great independent, right?

Like Arville Reese is great independently.

But I don't think that you map Patricia, the defense coordinator there has the ability

to play those guys as flexible as and as free as they were able to play.

If you don't have Sonny Stiles sitting in the middle of that defense, like they knew

whether they were numbers up or numbers down that like zero was going to have them.

Like he was going to give them their absolute best.

He actually did an interview with one of my good friends in the business management

Solac and he sat down and they were breaking down some tape recently.

And there was a solace where Ben was kind of talking about what Stiles saw and how quickly

he was able to react to a certain run play going to a certain side and it was a situation

where the offense actually had the appropriate number of guys on the line of scrimmage.

They had the appropriate amount of blockers they had a hat on a hat, if you will.

And that's what you want to do in between the trenches because that means that you're

probably going to spring a run somewhere.

And Sonny Stiles hit his blocker with so much force and conviction that he knocks his blocker

back into the running back and the running back is stoned like by his own player.

And Stiles says to himself, he's like, yeah, we're in a situation here where I basically

just need to make the tackle with this blocker's back.

And that's what you talk about when you talk about four small suppliers, guys who changed

the map.

That's what Sonny Stiles does specifically as a run defender.

Now, in true drop coverage, they didn't ask him to do it a ton like he wasn't going

up to the line of scrimmage for mug looks and then turning the hips and really retreating

super far back.

He's not like a guy that had like a ton of Tampa two drops where he's just going straight

down the middle.

And so he wasn't asked to do that a lot or something to come by like to do to crazy

athlete.

If you want more evidence, his brother's also a crazy athlete.

So like, you know, they got it in the family genes.

Like it's in the DNA to be able to move the way that you want to to play in coverage.

And so I think that all that stuff is coming for him.

And you talk about him playing not only having the great physical ability when it comes

to athleticism, but also the processing.

I mean, the build too is what's so alluring for him because if you, if you look at him

as a linebacker, he's like a super sized linebacker prospect.

If you measured him as an edge rusher, okay, he's 80th percentile and he's got a 63rd

percentile wingspan tool.

This is an edge rusher.

Now, the weights obviously a little lower because he's playing off ball linebackers.

But that's what we're talking about with this dude.

And I have a hard time, you know, much of this you're green of your, your, your cowboys

friends and hey, trust me, I'm a buck in ears fans.

So I'd love a linebacker like this to drop to them in the middle of the first round.

It ain't happening.

Like getting out of the top eight, I feel for how good he is.

Yeah, I just, and in this draft, too, where there's just not a ton of, I, I think we're

going to have to do away with premium positions in this draft class.

Like when we're breaking it down because there's just not a ton of that there.

It's like just take a guy that you think can be a good starter for you for a long time.

And I think that, that, I see a tough, I, that's difficult for me to see this guy get

out of top seven in this draft because there's just not a ton of those like premium position

players that are worthy of no doubt about it, set it and forget it.

Top 10 picks in this draft.

So yeah, he's, he's going to be a guy that's going to go high.

He certainly go number three here in this spot.

And yeah, it might take some time, Trevor, for him to become that guy that just runs down

the pipe at like a, like a Fred Warner type and just, he races the middle of the field.

He might not be that guy in year one.

Maybe it will be till the end of year two or year three, but he has all of the like

teradactal physical measurements to be that type of player.

And, and what, when I'm watching receivers in the NFL, when you have one of those guys,

like obviously, if he was even 80% of Luke Keekley, that'd be an amazing pick at third overall.

It's like how Luke Keekley used to do that for the Panthers.

Just you race that middle of the field there, super valuable, especially in this division

for Arizona, where you're playing against these, you're playing against Shanahan,

you're playing against McVade, even obviously the Seahawks are in that Kubiak world now,

even though Kubiak's gone, they're still going to try to live in that offensive world,

where you're going over the middle.

Having a guy like that would be huge, because I think when we're talking about the cardinals,

like Nick Rala, still the defense coordinator there, they retained him.

They have some good ideas, and they even have some decent personnel, I think,

on the depth chart, they were just so injured last year, you couldn't really see it.

So, getting the potential for us multiplier player like this could be really huge for them

in this division, specifically.

Yeah, I agree. I agree completely. I mean, you're in one of the toughest, maybe the toughest

division in football, there's a couple of them that are up there.

But yeah, you got to get a player like this who could be a field general for you in the middle.

So, I really do believe that he changes things for them.

Yeah, you talked about how far this guy could fall, and honestly, not very far.

I mean, I consider him at two, I consider him at three.

Certainly, the Titans consider him at four.

The Giants certainly could consider him at number five.

And then if you get all the way to, you know, seven with the wash commanders,

I mean, maybe even they think about it, even after Aden Leotianel,

just because of how good this guy is.

So, I just have a really, really tough time thinking that he's going to get

out of the top seven top eight with how good he is.

I want to get myself excited about the Cardinals.

I want good things for them.

They're so, there's some interesting players on that roster.

Just look, let's just give me one other variable at quarterback.

Besides, Jacob, we're set in Gardner, Mitchell.

Yeah, let's make that Tanner McKee trade.

Just give me anything going on than that.

Come on, like, one other variable at quarterback.

And I could be really interested in this ball club.

You mentioned the New York Giants.

You've got a player going to them at the fifth overall pick for your next

player to team fit.

And I'll pull down, pull down the curtain here for the listeners.

I'm excited to break this one down because I was just thinking about this player going to this

team literally yesterday.

I was as I was finishing his charting profile.

So, Trevor, I see the floor to you.

Let it rip.

Let's let's talk about it.

Yes, so we're sticking with Ohio State.

Carnell Tate, their wide receiver going number five overall to the New York Giants.

I like this fit a lot specifically because of who Jackson Dart is as a quarterback.

He wants to push the ball to eat down the field.

I watched him at Ole Miss for a couple of seasons,

especially when he was playing at his best.

It was a vertical passing attack.

And I feel like that's still what he wants to do.

Yeah, he's got that dual threat sort of rushing ability to him.

You know, allow the defense to kind of creep up.

Make sure that they've got, you know, a safety coming down to account for,

maybe an RPO look or a QB power look or something like that.

And then boom, the second that you get them to creep up a little too much,

you hit them over the top.

We know the Malik neighbors can do it.

Obviously, he's coming off of the injury.

So you got to factor that into it as well.

But Carnell Tate, probably the best vertical receiver in this class,

with the way that he wins the 0.0 drop rate with him,

despite having so many 50-50 chances, contested chances,

30-40 yards down the field.

Yeah, okay, like the 40-yard dash wasn't as great as it could have been,

but I'm not real worried about that.

I mean, he wins vertically down the field in a lot more ways

than just being the fast guy out there.

And I honestly think that we focused a little too much

on top speed when we talk about some of these vertical receivers.

It's so much of an art when it comes to contest the catchability,

a hand-eye coordination, deep ball tracking,

being able to have those little subtleties

where you're attacking the blind spot of a corner

to get them to flip their hips the wrong direction

and then all of a sudden you're kind of turning the other way.

And there's the football.

Like there's a lot of ways to win deep and vertical

without just being the fastest guy on the field.

I think that we've seen that time and time again

with some of the fastest guys in the draft.

We don't pan out to be that.

So I just have a lot of faith in who Carnel Tate is,

a vertical receiver, what they're going to want to do

with Jackson Dart as their quarterback,

how he naturally wants to win

and wants to push the ball deep down the field to me.

When we talk about the giants potentially adding

that complimentary piece to Malik neighbors,

I think that Carnel Tate is actually the best version of that.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

From the deep ball perspective, I'd read off the stats.

I think a few shows ago where the guys who were most productive

downfield last year on 20 plus Ariard Throws,

their average 40 time was like 449.

So pretty much at 4.5, which is just about what

Carnel Tate ran, like deep speed.

People still think that that's the straight line speed.

That's what matters most to being a deep threat.

This guy completely disproves that when you watch him play.

I mean, he is such an elite vertical receiver

because he just eats up ground with long strides,

good route running.

You mentioned the play at the,

it's not even just the fact that he had zero drops last year.

It was also just like from a contested catch standpoint,

he was truly, truly special.

I mean, it's like very, he's a very aesthetically pleasing player

to watch catch the football.

Because like we're showing the picture on the screen here,

he's just always fully extended.

He attacks the ball away from his frame.

He's just a true like,

forget technician is a route runner, which he is,

but he's like a technician at the catch point.

But my thought with him,

because do you see him truly as like a receiver in most classes

where you would, you would take him fit overall?

I don't know.

I think that he is, when I think about Cardinal Tate,

I think of like a high-end wide receiver too.

Like I think that that's sort of how,

and I view Malik neighbors as a for sure wide receiver one.

So to me, that's again why it's sort of the perfect scenario

where like, for example, last year,

I'd have 10 wide receiver one in this class.

You know, I would have Tetromic Millen

above all three of the wide receivers in Jordan Tyson

and McIelement and Cardinal Tate.

So I have Tetromic Millen there.

I'd have to go back and look at what my grade was,

but like I even wonder if I would have Travis Hunter

just because of how insanely talented Travis Hunter was.

I might have Travis Hunter too.

And then we start to talk about like,

you know, Tyson, Lem and Tate sort of in that next category,

maybe with like, Egg Buka, where Egg Buka was.

So that's kind of the way that I view him versus

like what was last year's class,

which I think is what a lot of people like to hear.

I think that's right.

I might have, I might, it's tough between Tate

and McMillan for me, but still like either one,

I probably want to take in McMillan 5th overall last year.

But I mean, in the draft where he went,

he goes 8th overall that was totally a fine pick.

And I think for Cardinal Tate, 5th overall in this draft,

I think is totally fine for just some of the ways

that we're talking about.

And yeah, he might top out as a great number two receiver,

but my thought process of this for the Giants,

and I was thinking about last night

when I was finishing charting up his reception perception

was he could just essentially be the T Higgins

to Malik neighbors is Jamar Chase.

Like, and you just never gonna forget it,

like you're just gonna set that, you're gonna forget it

for eight years or so.

Cause I think Malik is capable of being

that Jamar Chase type of player.

That's who he kind of in a ceilings outcome would end up being.

And I think that not only do you then get a great player here

in Cardinal Tate as your number two receiver for the Giants,

where you just set him on the perimeter

and you let him do kind of the straight line X receiver stuff,

which is a lot of what T Higgins does for Cincinnati.

And by the way, that's not like,

I don't think that's a perfect player comparison.

I'm just talking about from a usage archetype standpoint.

Straight line X receiver is Cardinal Tate.

And then when they've settled on T Higgins being that

in Cincinnati, that's allowed them to do like all of the fun stuff

with Jamar Chase, moving him around the formation,

getting him work from the slot, lay up targets,

stuff like that, let him run with the ball in his hands.

You might not want to do that with Malik in September,

coming off of a serious injury,

but at the end of this coming season,

down the line in the future with this pairing in Jackson Dart,

you're going to be able to then maximize Malik neighbors

even more by getting a guy like this at fifth overall.

So it helps you really improve in two positions here.

I think if you take him, even if like,

you're taking a quote number two receiver

at the fifth overall pick and that might feel a little rich.

I agree completely.

Yeah, it's all about how I think far too often,

we have the conversation of,

well, do you draft this guy in the top five?

And it's like, man, I just think that's way too in a vacuum.

We have historical data and things that we can point to,

to give us a framework to start from.

But I think too many people take that

and then like make that the law.

Like this is how things go.

When in reality, that should be the starting point for you.

And then you go, okay, where are we in our team building strategy?

What positions do we need?

What does the composition look of our wide receiver room?

Is like things like that, this player versus the rest of the class.

You mentioned how you kind of got a through positional value

out the window for this class.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with Caleb Downs,

a safety, Jeremiah Love, a running back,

and Sonny Stiles, a linebacker,

as my top three players in the class.

Like I think those are going to be one, two, and three for me.

And those are all non-premium position players.

So I think that the conversation just has to be a little bit different

because when you, when you pigeonhole yourself to thinking,

like, no, we've got to do things by the books,

it's a good guideline, but it shouldn't always be.

We do this.

It's got to be, okay, this is the starting point.

But how does this player maybe change things

in this situation for us?

And I think you've got to be willing to have those conversations.

And for the giants with Karnel Tate,

yeah, I think that getting him,

and pairing him with Malik neighbors,

if you really believe in Jackson Kart,

it really takes your team to the next level.

And if you don't allow yourself to think like that,

sometimes you'll miss on the players

that could actually help you the most.

Yeah, and I'm not the biggest fan of the Matt Nagy higher

been pretty vocal about that.

Wasn't my favorite thing, the entire offseason,

but the way to make a scheme like that,

I think is pretty static and not necessarily weaponizing

its players the best in terms of creating separation windows

for these guys.

The best way to maximize a scheme like that,

get really awesome players.

And then you're not thinking about that scheme.

You're not thinking about that scheme too much.

And I think if you have Tate and neighbors as you're one and two,

and yeah, like Jackson Dart in the gun

with some of the RPOs and really letting it fly,

man, that's gonna be a really fun offense,

even if yeah, like as a scheme dorker, whatever,

you're not totally jazzed up about it.

But this would be a landing spot for Tate,

like from a dynasty standpoint where I'd get pretty excited

just because I do think, I think he could probably,

and which is kind of the way I view Tihig and it's like,

I think he could probably hack it as a one,

you know, like if he goes to a place that he ends up,

like if he falls to Kansas City at nine,

obviously that would be a great spot.

I think he would be there wide receiver one

in short order there.

I agree, I agree.

That's great, but I think he would just be,

just like he was in college,

he would be a really awesome player

as the number two, like one B or whatever you want to call it

across from a potential elite number one,

which I do think Malik neighbor still has the potential

to be that elite guy as long as he comes back from the injury.

Yeah, I agree.

I agree.

It's a spot that would make me very, very excited too.

Did you just talk about what could be the potency of this offense?

And I agree.

Yeah, I think we can look at Matt Nagy as a play caller

and his overall scheme and sort of the body of work

that he's had in the NFL,

but when you got these two guys to be able to throw the ball to,

things tend to work out a lot more frequently

than maybe they have in the past.

Even a dumbass like me would be able to scheme open offense

potentially with those two guys there.

So we'll see.

All right, let's get to your third favorite player

to team fit here.

We're sticking to the NFC's for this one.

I'll go Dylan Theaneman, the safety from Oregon

going to the Dallas Cowboys at number 12 overall.

I like this a lot first and foremost

because I think that Dylan Theaneman is worth it.

I think that him as a prospect is where we start here.

I think that he is a top 12 overall player in this class

and the reason why is because I think that especially

when you rope in how he tested athletically,

I think he's got the full body of work that you would want

from the safety position, especially from a deep safety.

First two years that he was at Purdue,

his freshman season had any elite coverage grade

as a true single high free safety.

And then that second year, they used them kind of weird.

You could tell that they didn't really trust

basically anyone else on the defense.

And they had Dylan Theaneman in like a super deep type

of role or even just like more of a linebacker.

It was as if they didn't really put him in positions

to actually make plays.

They just said, OK, well, if the guys in front of them

don't do their job correctly, Dylan's got us in the back.

And let's just put them way back there

to make sure it's not like 40, 50, 60 yard touchdowns

all the time throughout the game.

So it wasn't as impactful as sophomore year at Purdue.

But then he transfers over to Oregon.

And yes, he was still good at Oregon.

But man, the examples that we have this year,

from him running from death and filling the run at full speed

at the line of scrimmage after being 25 yards out

from where the line of scrimmage is,

that stuff is so, so impressive.

You can have athletes at the safety position,

but a lot of them, if they're coming in full speed

to make a tackle, they're either ankle diving

or they're just going super aggressive.

Don't have anybody controlling totally missed the tackle.

Or a lot of them will run, but not as fast as they could

because they want to stay more in control.

Dylan Thiniman can basically operate as fast as he can

possibly run, yet still stay fundamentally strong.

The line guys up between the shoulders

really be able to wrap up and make some tackles

at the line of scrimmage.

So when you look at his combine and you look at how

he tested like an elite athlete, you can take that elite

athleticism and say, this player has range,

not just coverage range, run defense range.

It's both of these things.

He is a true fly around the field always,

we use the phrase all the time,

oh, he's always near the ball.

Dylan Thiniman has the ability to truly be always

near the ball, whether it's a catch,

a contested catch situation, an interception,

a tackle at the line of scrimmage,

a tackle at the second level,

whatever that looks like for him.

He's got the playmaking ability and the athleticism

to be able to do that.

Now, he's a little bit lighter of a safety.

So if you get some man coverage against tight ends,

yeah, you can get bodied a little bit.

You don't want to live in it.

The second level is like a pseudo linebacker,

like a true box safety type of a player,

just because you're not maximizing what he does well.

You're asking him to be a big strong safety

when he's, I wouldn't say he's small,

but he's below 50% tile and a lot of his measurements

for safety, let alone if he's playing more at the second level.

So if you want to be a box safety for you,

yeah, okay, he's probably not your cup of tea,

but Dallas needs playmaking ability on the back end

even with the jail and Thompson signing.

So to me, I love this fit because Dallas needs it,

but like I said at the top, first and foremost,

he's worth it.

I think he's a top 12 overall player in the class.

You mentioned just some of the measurements on him

according to mock draftable,

39th percentile height for a safety 27th percentile weight,

but 82nd percentile wing span,

and I feel like you see that both in,

as you mentioned, the coverage range,

but also what he does as a tackler,

like he's a pretty strong wrap up player,

and then that's not to mention

94th percentile vertical jump,

97th percentile 40 yard dash,

75th percentile 10 yard split.

And like that kind of I think really shows who he is,

because yeah, he flies around super athletic

and that just gets you really excited

about a player like this who also is not small by any means.

I mean, he's not quite Nicki Manwari freak show level,

but you know, six foot over 200 pounds,

like there's something there from an athletic standpoint,

no question about it.

And yeah, I've been working on some receivers

against that Oregon defense and like,

yeah, this guy just always pops up.

He's always you're crowding that middle of the field.

He's always like cleaning up tackles

close to the line of scrimmage, very, very impressive player.

When you're looking at him,

and it's specifically thinking about him

in this Dallas defense here,

where do you think he kind of fits in in this?

I don't know if I want to call it like an expanding

safety big nickel archetype,

but that's obviously again,

to come back to your boy, E-Manwari,

that's a big discussion point coming out of this season

because we know how this always works.

It's a copycat league.

It's like, we've got to get our own version

of this big nickel player.

Can he fit into that bucket,

or where do you see more?

It's just a true safety.

No, I mean, I think that he can do,

he can do a lot of stuff for you

because he's that good of an athlete,

but I do think that he can play, you know,

the nickel defender role because he's good,

because he's so good as a tackler, right?

I think that is a,

that is a often forgotten element

of being able to be a really good nickel defender is,

you have to tackle.

You are closer to the line of scrimmage,

and the closer you are to the line of scrimmage,

you have to play strong,

and you have to be able to tackle it.

You can't defend the wrong,

long gone are the days where your slot corner

is just your smallest CB3 CB4 on the team.

We don't live in that world anymore.

We're going to get fried.

Yeah.

And that's why I had Cuperd Jean

as a top 10 player on my board in that draft class.

And the reason why is because

sugar, I had,

thank you, Humble Break,

funny enough, I also had plenty on Mitchell,

top 10 in that class,

and they ended up with both of those guys

picking it later outside of the top 10.

Speaking of a Christian Parker defense here

with the Dow, with the Dow's Cowboys,

when you are playing closer to the line of scrimmage,

you have to be able to tackle.

It's why Cuperd Jean,

and I wasn't really worried about him going to the NFL.

Like, did I have some flexibility

concerns with him playing as a full time outside corner?

Sure, but you know where I didn't have concerns

with him at all is playing in the slot,

like where Iowa would play him at times

and he'd match up against tight ends

and he'd be close to the line of scrimmage,

he could tackle.

And I'm like,

this is the modern day nickel.

Like not what you guys are talking about

of like these smaller, quicker corner,

like this player is the modern day nickel defender.

And when I look at Dylan Theaneman,

I don't know exactly how he stacks up against

Dijaine when it comes to overall measurements,

but like I see a player who has the potential

to be in the nickel in the modern day game.

So you could play him in the nickel,

but I think also you could play him

as a single high free safety as well.

So to me for Christian Parker,

who is now the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles,

who was their DB coach and then passing game coordinator

for the last couple of years,

he knows what it takes.

He knows what it's like to be birchstone,

have those guys inside and out

and what it takes to play in the slot,

what it takes to play as a deep safety.

So I got faith that he'll be able to use him

in some versatile ways.

I mean, I've got the mock draft spider charts.

I'm sure Jung is furious with me

that I'm doing this on my screen

and we're not visualizing on the show here for YouTube.

But looking at the mock draft the bull spider charts here,

if you just look at these guys as DBs,

54th percentile height for Theaneman,

57th for Dijaine,

six foot, one eighth for Theaneman,

six foot and a half for Cooper Dijaine,

two under one pounds to Theaneman,

two hundred three pounds for Dijaine,

wingspan wise, that's where Theaneman has a huge advantage.

84th percentile wingspan to 34th for Dijaine.

So there's that difference, but otherwise,

build wise pretty similar for short.

So they're definitely in that bucket.

So I wouldn't be surprised if you had Christian Parker,

sees his version of a Cooper Dijaine type player.

I mean, if you get that at 12th overall,

that would be pretty epic.

I mean, I think about,

I always come back to the game from this past year

when the Eagles played the chargers.

And I love Lad Maconkey's one of my favorite route runners,

one of my favorite separators,

so overall on the league.

And Dijaine had him like locked down in a couple of moments

and doing the like hand way,

the no wave there too.

So if you can get a player like that here,

even at again, an 80% version of that,

I think that's pretty worth the 12th overall pick

with Dylan Theaneman.

So I know you've been all over him as a top pick here.

So it makes a lot of sense why you've got him slotted here.

12th overall.

Yeah, I think he's just done.

I think he's just done.

Love it.

All right, we are going to take our first quick break

and we come back.

We've got more player to teamfits.

The Trevor absolutely loves.

We'll get into that right after this.

All right, we're back.

We're continuing to run through some of Trevor Sikamos play,

a player to teamfits that he absolutely loves

from his roast recent mock draft.

Let's get into your fourth match up here, Trevor.

So I'll go a team messador, the edge rusher,

from Miami going to the Detroit Lions

in the middle of the first round there at number 17 overall.

I have a team messador as my edge two in this draft.

I have Ruben Bayon as my edge one

and I have a team messador as my edge two.

It is so, so, so, so easy to watch these guys play at Miami

and coached by the Hall of Famer, Jason Taylor.

And so that's why when you watch both of these guys,

there is no fat to trim on their past rush reps.

I mean, these guys not only have both the past rush bags,

but also they are strong.

They know counters.

Messador's motor runs hot.

I know he's going to be one of the older prospects

in the draft, he's going to be 25.

But the way that I say it to people is,

look, if you are, if you're the Miami Dolphins,

are you going to think about a key messador?

No, because you know we're close to winning.

You're totally rebuilding the roster

and by the time that you are good enough, you know,

a key messador is going to be 28, 29 years old.

And okay, that doesn't fit your timeline.

Detroit?

Detroit's trying to win now.

And they need to fill an edge rush spot immediately.

We already thought that they didn't have an edge rush,

your opposite Aiden Hutchinson.

And then they lost Alcatimahamid.

They signed DJ Wannum, okay, that's fine.

I like, they needed somebody.

But outside of that, I mean, they have,

I'm looking at their depth chart now.

It's Ahmed Hassanid and Tyler Lacey.

That's it, that's their edge rush room.

Outside of Aiden Hutchinson.

So if you draft messador,

you immediately put pressure on the other team

to where you're not going to be able to double team Aiden Hutchinson

as much as you want,

because the pastures win percentage

that messador had this past season,

how quickly he wins,

how much he's going to be able to hit the ground running

as a rookie.

Yeah, I don't take a little bit of time.

It takes a little bit of time for all rookies.

I'm not saying he's going to have 12, 13,

sacks right off the bat as a rookie,

but you get into the,

into the second half of his rookie season.

If he's fully healthy, man,

this dude, six foot three,

played at 265 pounds.

He's got the strength from when he had more weight on him

as a defensive tackle and a nose tackle,

and he has trimmed that weight over the last couple of years

where that strength is still there,

but the explosiveness is there.

Again, the past rush plan is there, the relentlessness,

the motor is there for him.

I just think that he is a perfect type of player for Detroit

who needs to get more past rush presence

from their defensive line this upcoming season.

And messador, I think, is just what the doctor ordered there.

There's no question it is a massive need.

It has been a massive need for Detroit.

It just no doubt about it.

I do want to come back to Detroit

like as a whole here in a minute,

because if you look at their demo chart,

you said you had to pull up.

You kind of got to quietly have a lot of needs.

You know, for a team, I think that is,

is a true, or at least should view itself,

has previously viewed itself as one of the true contenders

in the NFC.

So put a pin in that, we'll come back to it.

I want to talk about the age thing here for people real quick,

because there's no question it's going to be a talking point.

We're showing my colleague Nate Tyson here on the screen.

He mentioned it's going to be talking

for the next few months,

but he can absolutely get after the passers.

You highlighted there a bag of moves.

There's no doubt the athleticism's there,

but I think I do want to unpack why the fact

that he will be a 25 year old rookie is a red flag.

And I think it's not for the reasons

that you sometimes see people,

I'm sure listeners and viewers see this on social media.

It's like, yeah, well, he's 25 years old.

Who cares what he's going to be like when he's 30 or 31,

like, you know, the whole deal?

That's not what it's about.

It's not about the career length.

It's that sometimes, and listen,

I say this as someone that has made this mistake

with the receiver position.

I think about a guy like Andrew Armstrong

in last year's class at SEC,

like you led the SEC in receiving.

And it's like, man, how can this guy not even be,

I don't even think he's on a NFL roster right now.

He went undrafted,

because his film was really impressive.

Well, he turned 25 in October.

Like he was a grown ass man going against dudes

that, you know, were like 18, 19 years old.

And I think for a guy like Mesa door,

it's worth considering like, is the film

and like the past rush metrics.

I'm kind of playing a little bit devil's advocate here,

but do they look better?

Do they look better because he is older than his competition,

especially because he's not necessarily like a freak athlete.

Six, three, two, 59, 10th percentile arm,

like 24th percentile wingspan.

So is there any kind of credence to that?

Of course.

And you know, I love the key message or,

and I think he's a first-round player,

but I won't sit here and be like,

anybody who thinks that opposite is an idiot.

Like that's not true at all.

The concerns are valid and we're talking about.

The way that I would counter that is a lot of times

when you get some of these older prospects,

a lot of them like Armstrong is one of their examples

where he had pretty clean film,

but Armstrong won a lot off of size nap lettuces

in my thought, watching him when he was in Arkansas.

When you talk about translating from even the SEC level,

from college to the NFL,

it's so very rare that you can either out big

or out athlete anybody at the NFL level.

It's just the very best of the best.

The reason why I don't have,

I have some concerns of course, like those are valid.

Like I have some concerns about Mesudor in that area,

but I'm not overly concerned is because the way that he wins,

I think is translatable in the NFL.

I think the way that Mesudor wins is almost like

you're taking a pro, like a guy who is fully developed

in his pastbrush plan, what to do,

what to do with the first move fails,

what to do with the second move fails.

Like all of this stuff, executing leverage,

knowing what to do with your hands,

all of that is he is so well taught

from Jason Taylor over the last three years

that that's why I have faith that if you pop him into the NFL,

it's not like the way he won in college

isn't translatable to once you become a pro.

I think that it is.

So that's sort of where I would counter in that regard.

I think there's a little more so than the career longevity.

I think the injury is sort of where does the body start

to break down after playing in the trenches

when you get three years in?

That's the biggest concern to me.

But again, I don't think a key Mesudor

is a first round player for every team in the NFL.

He is very much a, you have to have a nuanced conversation

about him, but you look at teams

that might need past Russia immediately

and who are in a winning window.

Like again, like I think Detroit is in that category

and I would say for them,

like I thought about the Ravens

kind of before they added Trey Anderson

it's a little different.

Like the Ravens or another team

where I'm like, okay, winning window for them right now

they have a franchise quarterback.

They obviously want to take the next step

and the leap to be able to get to the Super Bowl.

He is a worthwhile investment as a top pick

in this class specifically, right?

It's not like we're right on all sorts of, you know,

2021 year old elite past Russia's by the time

you're probably drafting this guy

the second half of the first round, right?

You're not having that conversation.

So I think when you just think of the full context

of where this draft is and who he is as a player,

I think the way he wins is very translatable to the NFL.

I don't think he is leaning on being older, bigger, stronger,

more athletic and more refined than some of these, you know,

19, 2021 year old, so he's going up against.

I think the way he wins technically translates

really well to the NFL.

Well, you know, only a sift deals an absolute.

And that's why I do think when you're dealing

with sort of this kind of overall thought of, you know,

is like this guy is an older player, let's unpack that red flag.

Yeah, if it is an Andrew Armstrong type

who wasn't one of the best technicians, by the way,

producer Colin is telling me that Andrew Armstrong

is actually on the Chiefs roster, he's correct.

January 6, signed a reserve future contract

of the Kansas City Chiefs, so check your dynasty waiver wires

for the Chiefs future ex-receiver Andrew Armstrong.

No, I'm kidding, but, you know, maybe not kidding.

I'm like, if you don't get, if you don't get current out,

hey, that's plan B, that's plan B.

It just goes straight to the end.

That's plan B right there.

I mean, that six, six, three, two hundred and two pounds,

I don't see a lot of other Chiefs receivers

pushing two, two hundred pounds, okay?

They got a lot of small dudes out there.

They need it, they need a big boy, even if he's like,

you know, my age, I mean, give me a break, come on.

But anyways, no, you're right about that,

Andrew Armstrong wasn't this like,

technique-based wide receiver.

It was more like size athleticism,

being that grown ass man, as opposed to the guys

that he's going against, where yeah,

this guy, Mesador, is a technician.

I think, again, it's not an absolute rule here.

It's not a pass-fail thing.

You got to kind of unpack that from a big picture perspective.

And there's no question, Trevor, that you mentioned it,

like Detroit just has a huge need for that edge to here.

And they do need a guy that is like, technically ready

to rock right now, because I don't think

they're going to be able to accomplish

all of what they need to do this offseason.

That is a depth chart that has gotten pretty weak here

over the lot.

It's not a weak depth chart.

Let me say that again.

It's gotten a little weaker than we're used to seeing

for this Lions team.

But so being able to patch what's,

I think probably their biggest need

and has been their biggest need.

This would go a long way to getting them back

to the contender status that they want to be at.

No, no question.

But I mean, there's no doubt that when you look

at the Detroit Lions, they've got more question marks

than what they've had over the last couple of years.

Specifically, it's at two positions

that are of paramount importance.

They have a massive question mark at left tackle

and they have a massive question mark at edge rusher.

Those are two premiumsitions.

Like it's hard to be a contender going into the season

having massive question marks at both of those spots.

So yeah, I mean, I think we're locked into

offensive tackle or edge rusher for the Detroit Lions

at number 17.

It just kind of depends on how the board falls.

All right, let's get to your fifth

and final favorite player to team fit.

Another big time NFC contender here on this one.

Yeah, so for the Philadelphia Eagles,

my player to team fit for them is Omar Cooper,

Jr., the wide receiver from Indiana.

And the reason why is I won't say that AJ Browns

played his last game as an eagle

because I don't 100% believe that.

But if there are games left to be played,

they are in the single digits.

Like I think that at the very least,

he is getting traded before next year's trade deadline.

I think it's most likely that he's traded right around June 1st.

I think that there's a chance that maybe they hold on

to him until training camp.

And maybe it's one of these teams

that are interested in his services,

gets a little bit more desperate

and tries to up the price a little bit.

But if he goes into the next season with the Eagles,

I just don't know, man, I just don't see it working out well.

And I think that he is dealt by the time they get

to the trade deadline.

So what does Howie Roseman do best?

He gets ahead of his needs always,

especially on positions that mean a lot.

And when you look at wide receiver,

they did sign Hollywood Brown recently,

but outside of Hollywood Brown,

Darius Cooper, Britain Covey, Johnny Wilson,

Ques Walkins, Danny Gray.

I mean, if you take AJ Brown off of this team,

it's basically just Devonte Smith.

And I throw in Dallas, Goddard as well,

but Goddard was scored a barely back on a one-year deal.

So a year from now, in free agency,

you could be looking at,

because I got to assume that the Hollywood Brown deal

is one year at this point, with him signed when he did.

Yeah, it is.

So if you look a year from now,

you might have Dallas, Goddard,

Grant Calcutta, AJ Brown, Hollywood Brown, all gone.

And at that point, you have Camelot to a tight end.

Devonte Smith obviously.

And then the other wide receivers that I just named

without looking up their contracts,

which I'm sure some of them are gonna be up next year anyways.

That receiver need gets really, really, really thin

for them, or it's really emphasized,

I should say, as the depth chart gets really thin.

So Omar Cooper, Jr.

I think is somebody who wins in a variety of different ways.

They use good off-the-life scrimmage with this releases.

And he's got really nice hands,

and he's a pretty good route runner.

Is he the most athletic, no,

but I was actually impressed with how much of an athlete

he was at the con line.

I was like, okay, this is kind of impressive,

because I see flashes of it on tape,

but I go, how much is really in there for you?

Is this just a good play?

But I think it's a fantastic,

all around type of a wide receiver.

If they've got the ability to take one of the big three guys,

a carnal tape, a Jordan Tyson, a McIlemmons,

sure that would have been my pick here at 23.

But those guys are often well off the board

by the time that we get to that point.

I think Jordan Tyson might have been available

in this situation, but his injury history,

it's so up in the airport.

So to be honest, it's sort of like a wide receiver at 23.

That was the real emphasis and the point of this pick here

in this mock trap,

because things could get really, really thin

in Philadelphia in terms of passing playmakers

to be had a year from now.

No question.

I'm with you that I think AJ Brown's days

with the Eagles are numbered,

if not soon to be over at this point.

I actually said this on reception perception

with James Co on Wednesday.

We taped that show and I was like,

I was like, it would not surprise me

if we get out of the draft

and the Patriots haven't taken a wide receiver

and all their fans are freaking out about it.

And then we find out, oh, there's been a handshake agreement

all along that they're sending him after the June 1st,

kind of trade date that they're sending him there.

And then there's been some internet chatter.

About that, I mean, we've seen AJ Brown

working out with now Patriots safety Kevin Bayard.

I think I saw him on a podcast with Julian Edelman tweeted

out the clip of like him saying we're all Patriots

and AJ Brown is like, we can't let you know.

That's good.

That is that is former and current player content

at his best.

Just Julian Edelman, just going like,

oh, we're all Patriots here.

It's just like AJ sitting right.

I don't know, man, I think that stuff is hilarious.

I think it's great.

I love the way AJ interacts with this stuff too.

He's very online.

He's very aware of what's being said.

So I think that I think it's very likely

that he's new England Patriot this season.

And we'll leave it at that at some point here.

But let's talk about Omar Cooper a little bit.

I think he is an interesting player,

especially in this situation.

We got that we're showing this on the screen right now here

if you're watching along with us on YouTube.

Just that little wink, that's just beautiful stuff.

Well done, but both of guys, both wear number 11.

Look at that.

Maybe he asked Edelman if it's cool

if he could wear the number 11 in New England.

Potentially.

We'll see.

Okay, so Omar Cooper, though, in this offense,

number one is very interesting.

Across from a true guy, I think is ready to be

an alpha wide receiver in Devonte Smith.

I think that will allow Omar Cooper

to do some of the things that he is good at

because I will admit, Trevor,

I'm still a little mixed on Cooper as a round one receiver.

I think he's a very good player.

I will, first of all, before I go any further,

how many like true first round grades

do you have in this class?

So I think, again, in a vacuum,

I'm pretty sure Tyson's the only true round one grade

that I gave.

And then Kate and lemon got like the latest.

I mean, like generally, not just that receiver

like across all positions.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, I don't even know if I'll talk my head.

It's not many.

It's not many like true first round grades in this class.

No, yeah, it's not a lot.

That's that's kind of what I'm getting at

is that I've talked with people,

you know, just that there's just not

21st round players in this class.

No, you know, this class, not in this class.

Not in this class.

So when I see like Omar Cooper 23rd overall pick,

I'm like, that's not really the archetype of receiver.

I want to be taking it the 23rd overall pick.

I like that much more in round two and round one.

It's like, okay, well, what else are you going to do?

Because here's the thing that is good about Omar Cooper.

Right, right.

Here's the good thing about Omar Cooper

is that like, I can tell you right now,

there's a pretty high floor to what he can be.

I think he at worst, it's like,

he could be like Khalil Shakir at worst,

like a bigger version of that player

just in terms of rolling your offense.

But you think there's a lot more to that

because that's kind of where I'm stuck a little bit

is I just, I kind of want to, I knew,

I got two more games to work on for him

before his full sample is done.

So I'm still kind of working with this out,

but I just don't totally see like demand coverage ability

to be kind of like a high, high volume receiver

in the NFL or do you think I'm missing something there?

No, I don't.

I see him pretty similarly to the way that you do.

I think that the hype for him

is like a top 20 player overall in this class

is rich for my blood.

And I know I'm talking about a fit that I like here

with him going at 23,

but it's sort of the reason why I like this

is more about the conversation of like Philly,

if they have the opportunity to get a wide receiver

that they think complements the Vante Smith really well

at 23, I don't think they should shy away from that.

And at this point in time,

we're doing mocks for a predictive standpoint anyways.

And so it feels like Omar Cooper is getting that first round

sort of hype and momentum to him,

but no, I agree with you.

I think this is a very good player.

I think this is a really good day two type

of a wide receiver to get,

but it's just that type of a draft class.

You're right, you can get to 23

and you can say, yeah, the player's too rich for me.

Yeah, I don't know if I like this player at 23.

Yeah, I don't know, but I like him, but at 23,

and you could just do that for eight different guys

and then all of a sudden the clock's got two minutes left

to go, hey, how do we need a pick here actually?

So you talked about you guys didn't like the 23,

but we actually have to do make it,

but we do have to make a pick here.

So it's just kind of one of those drafts where again,

I think the conversation for this draft

is a lot more about how do we build the best team

we possibly can as opposed to like specific positional value

of saying like this player doesn't traditionally

go number three overall.

Like again, let's say,

same way that we talked about tape,

this player doesn't traditionally go number five overall.

Yeah, but is it the best team building

picked that we could make?

Because if so, let's do it and let's reload for 2027

which looks like a more talented draft class

just overall top to bottom.

So I think that that's sort of the conversation

that I would have there because I think

Omar Cooper Jr., very solid, very good receiver

and I think he could be a wide receiver too

at the NFL level, especially next to a guy

like Devonte Smith.

And I think that perhaps that is the best team

building strategy for them,

knowing how thin they're about to be a wide receiver.

If they're assuming that AJ Brown is no longer

on this team, they're gonna need someone.

And I don't think Hollywood Brown

is that option for them as wide receiver too.

No, neither do I and that's the key right there

is that in the right spot for Omar Cooper,

I think he could be awesome in the NFL.

Like he's talked about the Debo comp for an anime.

Doze has talked about the Debo comp and like,

Debo's a guy that wasn't a slot only player,

but he was a zone beater who won after the catch.

It wasn't always the best man coverage receiver.

And I think that does say some similar stuff

to Omar Cooper.

And in this offense, the where I think they're going

under Sean Manion, where I think they wanna go

under Sean Manion, like across from,

you can do some cool stuff for like Omar Cooper

is that great receiver on the outcuts

and Devonte Smith is truly special working

over the middle of the field, even against man covered.

You could put defenses in conflict with those guys.

So if you're trying to be invested in Omar Cooper

from like a fantasy or a dynasty perspective,

this is the type of situation that you want him to go into

because he's gonna see the coverages

that you want him to see.

He's gonna see the alignments that you want him to see.

And he's gonna get a ton of those like easy button touches

to just like rack up fantasy points and stuff like that.

So I think there's no question,

this would be a good matchup, good landing spot for him.

And I do think he's gonna need that right type of landing spot.

We are gonna take our final quick break.

When we come back, we get the prospect

that Trevor is willing to stand on the table

for in this year's class.

We'll get into that right after this.

All right, we're back.

Trevor, let's wrap it up with the one player

you want to stand on the table for.

Captain Mike, Captain.

You better go, Mr. Anderson.

We have Phil's mafia here.

Let's go!

And James, through the table.

I mean, that doesn't get you jacked up

to stand on the table for a prospect.

I don't know what will Trevor,

who is the player, the prospect you want to stand

on the table for in this draft?

LSU safety, AJ Halsey is my dude.

From the moment that I started watching this guy.

And honestly, from the very beginning of the season,

I was watching LSU versus Clemson.

It was week one.

It was one of the first games of the college football season.

And I'm watching AJ Halsey and I'm like,

ooh, is this dude?

Like he is, the confidence in which he plays

as a robber type of a safety,

a true middle of the field enforcer.

First of all, he plays around 220 pounds.

It feels like it lost art for today's safety.

A lot of these guys are playing around 205 pounds

because they're trying to fly around

and they're trying to be free safeties.

They just want the interceptions.

Trust me, AJ Halsey's got to highlight real

when it comes to his interceptions.

He's not getting gifts out there.

He's going up and getting those.

Believe his nickname, he said,

his mister, give me that.

So that goes into the mentality that he has.

When the ball is in the air to make those big plays,

look, he, I'll start a little bit with the ways

that he's limited.

He's not the most fluid when it comes to turning his hips

to run.

He's not the fastest player at the safety position.

So there are a little bit of physical limitations.

If you put him in man coverage against tight ends,

he doesn't fare super well in man coverage.

So there are limitations to him a little bit.

But when you put this guy on the back end

and when you give him some freedom,

to play that robber roll, that cover one rat roll

over the middle of the field,

the way that he can go and attack those in,

those in breaking routes, those intermediate routes.

I mean, it is just such a benefit to how he plays the way

that he can read the quarterback's eyes,

how that 220 pounds.

Like, yeah, he's got maybe some overall tackling

consistency issues, but when he lowers the shoulder,

I mean, he's going to hit you.

I mean, he's a hammer because of the way that he has.

So he brings back a little bit of a throwback

and forcer type of a play style to him,

but the playmaking in the passing game as well,

again, the interceptions, the forcing completions,

that's all there for him as well.

I just love the overall mentality that he has.

And if you're in a defense where that's the player

and the secondary, the naturally in your structure,

give the freedom to, I think he can be a major difference

maker and potentially a pro bowl player

at the next level.

I love this call out.

You said Dward and Forcer, that is exactly right.

Like he is going to let you know that he is there,

both from the ball production standpoint

and the way he comes down on routes and hits receivers.

It would be probably not for everybody.

For some of these, you know, more court of defense

and stuff like that, he's not going to be

for everybody necessarily.

Yeah, you want a man coverage up on a tight end.

Like you said, don't love that,

but you want a guy that's going to read the quarterback,

hunt the football, pop guys underneath

over the middle of the field.

I mean, there's a lot of potential for him to really stand out

in this draft class.

So that's a great call out.

Do you have any just, maybe a defense,

maybe a coordinator that you think

actually could really maximize a guy like this?

Oh, man, who would be the best one?

I feel like I draft him a lot to the Jets specifically.

I know Connor, my coach at NFL Stock Sheens does well.

They need some interception.

So, and it's kind of one of those things

where like Minka could probably play the slot for you

because Minka talked about in his opening press conference.

I'd play him more in the slot.

So like Minka could handle a lot of the slot roles

where you don't have Halsey doing that.

And then he can be more of that like back end defender for you

where he gets to actually patrol that middle of the field.

So the Jets is the first one that I think about where

I like him in that system because I feel like you already

have a slot option where you're not going to be forced

to like play him in those situations

where he might not be great in man coverage.

So I think the Jets is probably the team

that I draft him to the most.

Yeah, a lot of the teams that ran a lot of cover one last year.

Like Cleveland took up their changing over defenses.

Giants changing over their defenses.

So it's a little bit difficult.

But I think there's a lot of pitch even Pittsburgh, you know,

like there's definitely some interesting spots

where he could end up.

But it is kind of tough to think about off the top the head.

But certainly the Jets could use some ball production.

So after no interceptions last year, that was certainly help.

But yeah, I love the way you highlight him.

He feels like a safety, you know, from back in our day,

the safeties that we grew up watching Trevor's second one.

That is what he feels like to me.

All right, Trevor, this was absolutely awesome.

Love this conversation.

We dove into a ton here.

Tell the people what they can check out from you

all the way leading up to this draft season.

Sure.

All the draft stuff over at the NFL Stock Exchange podcast

myself and Connor Rogers cover in the draft

as deep as we possibly can every single position.

All the team needs, the team is specific big boards,

the mock drafts, all that good stuff.

And of course, you know, the MDS, the big boards,

all over at pff.com as well.

Yeah, make sure you check that out.

The NFL Stock Exchange great show Trevor and Connor

are absolutely fantastic.

So if you like this show, you're gonna absolutely love

that one as well.

As for us, this show we will be back on Tuesday.

Justin Boone joins me as we kick off our teams

that will shape the draft series.

We're looking at teams with multiple first round picks

this year and there's a good bit of them.

So I think you guys are gonna like it.

Until then, we are out.

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