Raiders Host Fernando Mendoza + Chiefs Draft Strategy Takes Shape

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What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

For random endos are there to visit the Raiders today.

Look, tell you where things go from here for the presumptive number one pick

and how things could play out in that QB room with Kirk Cousins.

Nine more teams kicked off their off-season programs today, which means

nine more sets of slow-motion arrival videos, including some guys coming out of the bushes.

We got the latest news on the bills, the dolphins, the giants, the Ravens, and more.

There is, in fact, more than one quarterback in the class of 2026,

and Luke Almightyer is a name to remember.

The former Illinois standout joins us tonight to discuss his journey to draft day.

Welcome inside with the insiders, long-siding in Rappaport and Judy Batista,

I am Tom Pelicero, just 16 days away now from the NFL draft.

The Raiders have visited Fernando Mendoza at the combine.

They spoke with him after his pro day.

They have zoomed with him.

And now for the first time, he is in the building.

Mendoza taking his visit, one of 30 that the Raiders are allotted prior to the draft.

This is commonplace in.

It's been the worst kept secret.

Maybe in the NFL for several months now.

But this still feels like a significant moment for the Raiders.

It is significant for the Raiders because Tom, this doesn't just mean okay.

Fernando Mendoza will come in and shake some hands.

Let's say you're the number one overall pick.

Congratulations.

This really is the last big piece of the process.

And yes, I think it is fairly obvious that the Las Vegas Raiders are expected to take

Fernando Mendoza at number one, just based on his resume.

What he has put on the field, the other quarterback options out there,

the fact that they still need a quarterback, starting quarterback of the future,

despite signing officially Kirk Cousins over the last several days,

but getting him in the building, having him meet everyone, putting him on the board,

going through the entire evaluation process, is the kind of thing we want.

It's not just do they determine, all right, are they going to take him around?

It's also starting the process of learning him.

They can, if they want, start the process of teaching him there often.

They have had quarterbacks in the past who have kind of got a little bit of a head start on that.

All can happen today. He is going to be in the building today.

He's going to go out to dinner with their staff later tonight.

What I don't know, and what I need to be a little better at,

is figuring out where he's going. Lotus of Siam is an exome place time.

You and I have had a great dinner there. Delilah is a lovely place.

No boo maybe. Las Vegas has plenty of options.

I really just, I can't wait to see where he's going.

Now that they are putting a bow on the Fernando Mendoza courtship,

and we assume that he will be the number one overall pick.

What else are they going to do in the draft?

The Raiders have ten picks, so they have nine other picks other than Mendoza.

They still have a lot of needs.

They did a lot of work in free agency. They got the center.

They got a wide receiver.

But they still need to do a lot of work to put more pieces around him.

The addition of Kirk Cousins, of course, gives them a bit of a cushion.

He does not have to start immediately if they do not want him to start.

And certainly Clint Cuviac has hinted that he would prefer to have a rookie

maybe learn from the venture a little bit before he goes in.

But this is a team that has a lot of roster needs.

And now that we know who we believe the number one overall pick is,

I know we still have to sort of talk around this.

I'm very curious now as we turn the page.

What else they are going to do in the draft?

Sixteen more days of faking it.

And then we'll be able to say we thank Fernando Mendoza,

the number one overall pick.

The question you mentioned, Judy, is who will be the week one starter?

It's what we've heard publicly and what I have understood privately from Clint Cuviac.

The preference is it's Kirk Cousins who they just signed to a contract.

Give me about $11 million that they are paying this season.

Mendoza, they need to learn from somebody who has played a ton of football,

see how things function.

We'll see how things play out in the off season.

But certainly that is going to be a situation to monitor in the end months to come.

Ten teams into their off season programs right now, including the Las Vegas Raiders,

which means Mendoza also could meet some of the players that he's maybe going to be teammates with.

Meanwhile out with the New York Giants, new coaching staff there with John Harbaugh.

Same quarterback, he is back, Jackson Dard, healthy again after being banged up last season

on a number of occasions going with the T-shirt untucked.

The backpack looked John Harbaugh not breaking down fashion,

but what's talking about in certain defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence,

who is requesting a trade, though Harbaugh remains optimistic.

We'll find out.

I think the prospects are going to be high because the Giants speaking for the Giants,

we want Dexter here, and I believe Dexter wants to be here.

That's a good formula, but there's business involved.

It's a business proposition. We know it's pro football.

These things happen every year, pretty much on every team, so not surprised by it.

I saw it coming a few weeks back, probably, and good conversations with Dexter's agent, Joel Siegel,

and understood what they were thinking, and this is where we're at,

so just try to work through it and see where we can get done.

And Tim, you got a new staff, a new regime coming into the town,

Judy, there's always some questions about some of those stalwart players.

John Harbaugh, making as clear as he could there,

they have no intention of moving on from Dexter Lawrence.

This is about a negotiation at this point, but also noteworthy with his ass book,

guys like K von Tibido, he made the comment, everyone is tradable,

which also speaks to the reality that, again, this is a moving target here

of exactly how this Giants team is going to come together.

Well, I thought it was noteworthy.

He sure didn't say everybody is tradable when he was talking about Dexter Lawrence,

and I think that tells you where their minds are.

John Harbaugh consistently, as the Giants head coach,

has talked about how important Dexter Lawrence is to that defense,

and he has also talked consistently this offseason about their focus being on both lines,

the offensive line and the defensive line that those places need to be short up for the Giants.

And you heard him say, this is business, he knew this was coming,

this was not a surprise that there was a trade request.

But again, when he was asked about, what do you think about K von Tibido and the idea of a trade,

he said, oh, he's a great player.

I look forward to having him on the field, and then he added,

but everybody's tradable, everybody.

And again, that sets the difference between a K von Tibido and other players

who could be available in a trade, and Dexter Lawrence, who he certainly did not say,

oh, yeah, he's tradable, too.

That's great point, Judy.

And that's really what this is about for the near Giants, this entire offseason,

probably into the next year, too, is really figuring out who is there to stay with the Giants,

and who is not.

And for this new staff and for John Harbaugh and for Joe Shane who's still running personnel,

but he's got to do it now with all the new coaches, really just figuring out who fits and who doesn't.

Dexter Lawrence, one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL,

that makes sense.

K von Tibido, extremely talented, production has been up and down,

certainly does have some trade value.

That would make sense as well if they were able to get a good enough offer

generally these things happen, Tom, around the time of the draft.

But this was a good message here from John Harbaugh, really, to the players,

and to all of us that this team absolutely is not done remaking itself

and probably won't be until we start next season.

Dolphins also kicking off their offseason program,

but their new head coach, Jeff Hathley, who's got a new quarterback,

that's his old quarterback from his days in Green Bay.

Look at this, a slow motion pass by Malik Willis,

like this better than that shot at him coming out of the bushes.

Here's a little book of what Hathley had to say today about his first day

with the players in the building as the Dolphins head coach.

It's like the first day of school.

I mean, there's a level of excitement.

Guys, we have a lot of new players.

We have a lot of new coaches.

I think some players are probably anxious, some are probably nervous.

I'm sure some are excited and looking forward to it.

Guys getting to know each other, that's going to take time

as we learn to connect and get to really know one another.

But the coaches are excited.

I've been looking forward to this since I took the job.

I mean, do I love coming to work every day, sure.

But when the players are here, then I really love coming to work every day.

It's why we do what we do.

There's so much more energy in the building as soon as they step in,

go to the cafeteria and eat right now,

and just the buildings come alive.

And that's why we do what we do.

A.J.M. was not here today.

What are your thoughts on that?

Hold on, I don't want to ask you what are your thoughts on him not being here.

I want to ask you your thoughts on the contractual situation.

I think those are talks for another time

in between H&N and selling those guys.

So I'm not going to dive into those thoughts right now.

That's all.

Honestly, that's part of the business.

It's part of what every team goes through in those situations.

And they'll work it out.

Franchise Tags also a part of the business.

Kyle Pitt showed up today and signed his locking in a salary upwards of $15 million

fell can still have until July 15th

to work out a long term deal with Pitt's.

Cardinals in the house for the first time with their new head coach Mike LaFlure.

There's a lot of shadows in this photo.

I'm not going to lie to you from here.

Can't tell you who's in these photos.

But I see a tie-dye shirt.

I see a very large logo.

It's proof.

They really are there.

NFL Draft fast approaching 16 days away.

All kicks off 8 p.m. Eastern time at the first round.

Thursday April 23rd on NFL Network NFL plus ABC ESPN, ESPN Deportase and well beyond.

Moctraft season, well underway.

Old friend Peter Schreger unveiling the first of his two mock drafts over at ESPN.com.

Shocking for an Ando Mendoza going number one.

Read the whole mock draft.

Schreger is one of the best.

I'm surprised.

I'm a man sort of lane after that great work out going number 10 to the Bengals, the talented LSU corner.

Let's bring in one of our experts, Lance Zirline, or right now he's been breaking down this class.

Always interesting to see Lance when you get through this process, right?

And the scouts and coaches start to come off the road.

I've been talking to people this week.

I know you do as well.

You really do start to get that sense.

Guys may have risen through the spring.

They may have fallen through the spring.

What's a name or two that you think have been in all these mock drafts as first round picks

and now might have a chance to fall out?

Yeah, it becomes a little bit more clear the closer we get.

And I think a couple of names I want to start with.

One is going to be a player that I like a lot.

Emmanuel McNeil warned the safety out of two lane.

I mean, rather out of Toledo.

Here's the thing.

Look, here's what you love about him.

He's big.

He's physical.

He can play on the back end.

He can play moving forward.

He's a thumper.

Here's the problem you have.

There's going to be two other safes who go before him.

Caleb Downs and Dylan, the enemy.

And the last time we saw three safes going to first round.

It was 2018 with Mika Fitzpatrick, Durwin James.

And Terrell Edmond.

So it just simply doesn't happen very often.

I think he's going to fall out.

The other guy I think who will fall out is at Kayden McDonald defensive tackle

from Ohio State.

He's been borderline first round for a lot of people.

Look, he's a first round talent to be sure.

The problem is when you're talking about a defensive tackle that is not a plus pass

rusher.

And at this point, he's more of a run stuff for the pass rusher.

NFL team simply don't value that in the first round because those types of players

aren't on the field as much since it is such a passing league.

Although we did see a little bit of a reversal of that last year.

So I think Kayden McDonald is a guy who could fall out of the first into the early part

of the second round.

So not much of a fall for either guy.

But they could fall out simply because of the value of the positions.

So if guys are falling out, somebody's got to be moving in.

Who are the risers right now in your mind, Lance?

Well, I want to talk about Chase Besantis because I'm not talking to very many teams

who don't like the guard out of Texas A&M.

He is a very physical player.

He is a dry blocking guard.

He's got pretty good size.

The length is a minus on him.

He doesn't have long arms.

Seems like that's the narrative of this entire draft as guys with shorter arms.

But it doesn't seem to impact his blocking.

So he's somebody who can move bodies around.

This is a good guard draft in terms of the first couple of rounds.

But there's a big three.

And he would be number two of the big three.

And I think there's a good chance that he ends up going in the first round,

late in the first round.

The other guy that my surprise is Chris Johnson.

Now, this is a position at corner.

I can only find three cornerbacks who are going in the first round personally.

I haven't talked to a team that likes anyone else.

But the one guy that I hear that could be a borderline bubble first rounder is Chris Johnson.

He's got really good tape out of San Diego State.

He's low cut.

Great change of direction.

Ran really, really well.

You see right there flips the hips smooth fluid hips can transition with routes to stay sticky to routes.

So if you're looking for a position of value, it's cornerback and getting a corner back in the first round,

getting that extra year or something, a team might be willing to do late in the first.

That's why he could slip into the first, even though you rarely see him in any mock drafts in the first round.

Really interesting stuff, Lance.

Stick around a lot more to come from you.

Take me out to the ground.

Find me to be out to the ground again.

Find me every day back.

Prove for the crowd.

They know it's a shame.

Come on.

Three strikes around and go all day.

All right, all right, all right.

I'm a met's fan of the everybody knows that, but I do appreciate the great traditions of Major League Baseball.

That is a fun one from the Cubs and nice performance by our guest on the insiders.

I'm Ian Wrapperboard, Judith Batista.

And the singing voice sort of of Illinois quarterback Luke Allmire.

Thank you very much for joining us on the insiders.

You've been in a lot of big moments.

You've had, I believe, nine, if I have read correctly, come from behind wins in college.

You can handle the pressure as well as anyone.

What was that one?

It was really cool.

It was really fun as it was.

I've never been a part of or expected it from a small time.

It's a sitting man.

And so being in the ringly field with a soda crowd at night game and to go to do that with my coach, Brett Bielin,

was really special.

A lot of pressure, but the most of it did my best and had a lot of fun with this.

I swear we're going to get to football in a second, but you have another interesting thing about you.

You can solve our Rubik's Cube in like a few seconds.

I know you don't have one with you, but how did you learn to do that?

How do you do that?

A few seconds is a stretch, for sure.

I think my record is 54 seconds, I think, and I average around a minute.

I haven't done it in a while, but it was a weird little trend that we did middle school high school.

I found it's way back and where I was.

I don't know.

It was a fun little way to challenge my mind and challenge yourself to beat your best time.

I learned it in middle school and YouTube is a great resource.

I'll tell you that.

It's a fun little thing I like to do.

It is cool.

I love Rubik's Cube.

I've been to several Rubik's Cube competitions because my 11-year-old Jude was into Rubik's Cube for a while.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but he could solve in about 14 seconds.

That said, you're a much better quarterback than he will ever be.

Congratulations on that.

We're going to get to football.

I promise.

In like one second, we'll get to football.

But you grew up in a town in Mississippi called Starkville.

I lived for two years.

I covered Mississippi State for the clan ledger.

I've been to many dinners at Little Dewey.

I met my wife at the Veranda.

Why did you hate Starkville enough to go to Ole Miss?

How is this possible?

There was no hatred.

That's for sure.

There was no hatred.

But I was looking for the best situation for myself.

It's so crazy how I came full circle, man.

I used to cry.

I used to cry when you say, you know, lost games as a kid.

And I hated Ole Miss.

Like that was the truth.

Everybody from Mississippi State hates Ole Miss.

And so grew up bleeding maroon wide.

But as I started to get recruited, all that kind of went away.

And I was looking for the best situation for myself.

And that was Ole Miss.

So super, super unique story.

But like really, really cool.

There it is.

I got a few of those myself.

I can't lie.

I got a few of those myself.

Yeah.

And then you left Ole Miss and went to Illinois,

which is where you really flourished.

Why to do that?

What did you get out of that experience?

So much.

It's a lot of people.

I became a man in Illinois.

Challenge me in the best way possible.

One of the most beneficial way possible.

It's never not always easy or comfortable or fun,

even as sometimes, but it brought out the best to me.

And really challenged me.

So it's looking for a place to play.

And I know I could play at the highest level.

And what Coach Bielin had kind of in place there.

And the trend that it was going in.

I thought I could go there and lead a great charge.

And Illinois.

And we really changed the trajectory of that program.

Especially the last two years.

One in 19 games and two years.

Yeah, you really did a couple bull wins over some SEC teams.

Brett Bielin, what you mentioned, obviously,

he spent some time in the NFL from him specifically.

Learning from him.

And obviously he's had a lot of great teachers,

a lot of coaches who helped you get to the point where you are,

which is on the brink of getting drafted in the NFL,

draft coming up in several weeks, but specifically to Bielin.

And what did you learn from a coach who's experienced so much?

And how did that help you kind of get this program

to where it's been the last couple of years?

Yeah, I feel like I could write a book about what he's taught me.

Truly, first of all,

untangely, so special,

relationally, his consistency.

Now he shows up for us every single day,

but also as a coach.

X is the nose.

I think I'll be able to hit the, you know, the NFL game,

you know, hit that ground running because of him.

You know, I've been taught, you know,

the elements of a pro style offense,

the kind of the program that is in the NFL.

And he's taught me a lot of defensive football,

but also just football 101 in general and situationally being in my best.

So he's great.

He's coached all around the curriculum and in the best way possible.

You really got progressively better each of the last few years here.

What kind of feedback have you been getting from teams

when you talk to them?

What have you been working on?

Where do you think your game needs to go next?

For sure.

I just want to get, you know, I think personally,

I want to get more out of my throat.

You know, I'm a very creative and mobile player.

I'm very athletic.

And a lot of times I rely on athleticism, you know, a lot.

And in good ways, I made it work.

And I won a lot of games doing it.

But I want to be my sharpest and want to get the most out of my throat mechanically,

making sure I'm throwing, you know, things the right way every single down to down

and making sure I'm putting my team in good spots.

So yeah, just being more sound, more thoughtful, more efficient,

as always, is everybody wants to be.

This could be a really busy time for prospects.

I mean, guys are going on visits.

There's zooms.

Give us an idea for what your day is like.

First of all, just like on a daily basis, talking to these teams.

And what your schedule like, let's say the next couple of weeks.

Yeah, it changes by the day.

That's the thing.

And this is my first time going through.

That's for sure.

So everything's so new.

But yeah, a lot of interviews, a lot of different teams reaching out.

One that kind of pick your brain, see what you're about.

And that's happened really for the last four months in training.

Really are training differently and being challenged in different ways every single day.

So my schedule is new every single day.

A lot of adapting and just involved in it.

But a lot of rigorous interviews and processes of that nature

to be able to get yourself ready for the next level.

You are considered like a middle to late round draft pick right now.

We've seen a lot of guys flourish from those rounds.

What's your ideal scenario?

I'm not necessarily asking you to name our coach or a team that you think is the ideal spot.

What's your ideal setup for you to flourish in the NFL?

Yeah, I can make it work anywhere.

I'll say that like I did Illinois and change the trajectory of that program.

You know, the bottom line is when I walk into a building one day,

I'll have a role in a job to do.

And it's my job to do that well.

Whatever's asked to me, I'm going to do it very well.

I'm going to prepare the right way and give my absolute best to go do it.

And so I'm very confident in my abilities to make it work wherever that is.

And so a team that believes in me for sure.

You know, that's kind of what you look for.

And then, and I'll make the rest of it happen.

I'll say that great stuff.

Really appreciate this.

I was going to bring in my son Jude to destroy in Rubik's shoe.

But we just ran out of time.

Just so upsetting.

But we will have you back when we figure out what team you land with.

And we'll see if we can make it happen.

Thank you very much for hanging out with us on the insiders.

And good luck throughout this process.

Thank you so much.

I mean, it means a lot.

Appreciate you from a future NFL player.

We're going to find his team to one of the NFL stars looking to find maybe a new team.

More on the Dexter Lawrence trade request from our buddy Adam Rank.

Who's got a red coming mainly because he wants him.

Well, I won't spoil it.

But, you know, you can guess.

Yeah, you can guess coming up.

It is slow mo entrance season.

And that is camor QB1 to the Tennessee Titans with an excellent, excellent slow mo walk.

Looking disinterested, kind of looking cool.

Yeah, he's just strolling into the building.

That's what this time of years.

We're basically this is social media taking attendance and take note.

Camward is there in Tennessee, Judy.

Shedore Sanders is in Cleveland.

He's walking at a normal sort of a normal pace here.

Good for Shedore.

Good for the Cleveland Brown social media team.

No slow mo there.

He's there year two.

He, of course, is the incumbent starter.

Todd Munkin has said there is a quarterback competition coming up there.

But the reps will not be divided evenly.

No.

QB competition in Buffalo.

Josh Allen has arrived.

And then he has departed.

And boy, is he happy?

See right there?

That's Josh Allen happy.

Day one.

This is the best day.

Everyone's undefeated.

Anyway, QB1 check it in in Buffalo.

Big off season ahead with the new head coach.

Hey, Pittsburgh Steelers started their off season program.

Such slow motion for the Pittsburgh Steelers that TJ1 is not even moving here.

But he was in the building.

Of course, you know who was not in the building.

Aaron Rogers, so winning a decision on whether he is going to return to the Steelers.

But TJ what is there?

Steelers are working out.

Mike McCarthy, new head coach Tom.

Patrick Mahomes continuing to push toward what he hopes is an improbable return

for the start of the 2026 NFL season coming off of a significant knee injury,

including a torn ACL.

It's certainly the cheese banking on Mahomes being the guy for many, many years to come.

But continuing to put some more pieces around him, very active for agency.

Kenneth Walker, the third was a huge pickup.

And they've got a lot of draft picks to use on potential additions.

Our guy, Rhett Lewis did an entire mock draft.

That's right.

All the picks, all seven rounds you find at NFL.com slash mock drafts.

He has them going defense with their top pick, Mansour DeLane out of LSU,

blaze the 40 of pro day.

Drafted offensive line at number 29.

That would certainly be welcome for Patrick Mahomes.

Always welcome on this show.

Stacey Dales, Stacey.

This is a unique spot for Kansas City first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.

They did not make the playoffs.

They had extra time to think about it.

They've already made some bold moves, including trading away.

One of their star corners, Trent McDuffie losing another one in free agency with all these picks.

What are you expecting from the chiefs in the draft?

Energy and big boom players that are going to play right away, Tom.

I mean, I wouldn't have a problem with Mansour DeLane.

He's fantastic at an incredible pro day.

And we saw what he did in his collegiate career.

I remember standing on the field with Patrick, not Patrick Mahomes.

Caught myself.

It was just in Herbert in Brazil week one of this past season.

Why?

I'll do respect to the chargers.

They beat the chiefs.

It was such a disappointing year for Kansas City

after the lineage of success, Tom, that we have seen

and all the trips to the playoffs.

And all the trips to the Super Bowl for Patrick Mahomes and company.

And that is why this draft is essential.

It is critical for Brett Vich.

And it's an exciting one because we just haven't seen them pick this high.

They have four picks through the top 75.

That is four picks through three rounds.

They go at nine.

They go at 29.

They go at 40.

That is an incredible pick at 40 just outside the first round.

And then that pick there at 74.

Brett Vich has said it himself.

He is not used to being in this position.

This might be the most exciting draft that we have seen in many years

from Kansas City.

In fact, the last time they drafted at ninth overall.

It was Eric Fisher back in 2013, the offensive tackle.

Brett Vich has been brilliant through later rounds particularly.

But in the second round alone, he has drafted 11 players.

And I say that because as we get into the retie here, Tom,

he loves to move.

He loves to be aggressive.

And ultimately, he said at the combine, and don't forget this.

We have been in maintenance mode.

We have been in a maintenance phase with our roster.

You saw it, Tom, and I saw it.

They retooled that thing.

And he said, we are rebuilding now.

So these young players are going to come in and play that he drafts.

It was a similar strategy.

The last time that the Chief didn't make the Super Bowl.

They lost the playoffs to the Bengals.

Trade away, Tyree killed that offseason.

Get more draft picks.

Get more cap resources that you can use and really turn over that roster,

injecting it in the places that they needed.

So as you look at this draft, Stacy, you said at two first round picks,

who are some of the names you would anticipate could be in the mix for Kansas City?

Well, it's an interesting question you posed, Tom,

because Brett Vich has made it pretty clear.

This is a very deep, he believes defensive end groups of the edge guys.

He believes it's deep in terms of the wide receivers.

And he also believes that the cornerbacks run pretty deep.

And you saw Monsort Elaine's name there.

We've seen edge wrestlers there.

What if it's a running back?

I've seen comments where he's actually talked about maybe it's a thin group of running backs.

But the bottom line is, if you look at his history and I mentioned it,

he loves to move in the draft in his tenure.

So 2018, he took over in 2017 after the draft.

So he has been the lead man in charge from 2018 through to now.

So that's eight previous drafts.

He has six first round draft picks.

And if you look at those picks, Tom, he has moved in each of them,

even if they fall towards the end of the first round,

because the chiefs are always good.

You mentioned the Tyree kill trade.

Well, that led to a guy by the name of Trent McDuffy.

Remember, they moved up from 29, I believe it was, to 21 to get McDuffy.

They had George Carloftus that same year.

And I could go through the lineage and number of trades that he has made,

even trading first round picks away for premium stars in the NFL.

Players like Frank Clark and Orlando Brown.

So my point in saying all that is you could see him move out of the first round

at the end of it with the 29th pick.

Tom, you could see him move up at nine.

The bottom line is he could do whatever he wants.

He's got nine total picks in this draft.

This is such an exciting time for the Chiefs Kingdom.

I am excited.

I'm going to be covering them there in Kansas City.

And I've already been working with a research team on some of these nuggets.

But this is, this is a time where that ninth pick is going to be a special player for Kansas City.

They see great stuff.

16 days away from that NFL draft kicking off a lot more from you between now.

And then Ian, if you can do the math, that means April 23rd,

opening night of the NFL draft A.K.A.

The first round A.K.

When for the end of my nose will go number one, allegedly,

we're going to keep pretending that we don't know for sure.

But there's plenty of other fun things to talk about as it relates to draft prospects.

And I don't know what other news is going on in the NFL.

And for that, let's turn to our buddy, Adam Rankus,

wearing a bright green tie that having, having trouble focusing.

Rank, take it away, buddy.

Do your thing.

All right.

Thank you so much, host.

It's officially smoke screen a season.

And I'm not talking about the smoke.

Then engulfs the five freeway in Anaheim at 9.30 p.m. every night.

Something that used to really annoy me until about a week ago when I became a Disney employee.

Now I love it, which by the way, we had a meet and greet today.

We got the good Doritos.

What a class organization.

But no, I am talking about the lies that NFL teams are floating out there this time of year.

Like, hey, this team is interested in trading up.

This team is interested in trading down.

This team will totally give up a couple of first round picks for Max Krog.

Oh, I'm sorry.

That was too soon.

Sorry about that.

By the way, Max, you're old news now.

You're like one of those shows that was cool for about a week until Bill Lawrence decided.

He was going to put out another great show.

Yes, I'm talking about Rooster on HBO.

Have you seen it?

It's awesome.

But I'm also talking about Dexter Lawrence, who informed the New York Giants that he wanted

to be traded now.

I wouldn't want to use my public platform to try to get Dexter to join my favorite team.

But get ready to speak Chicago.

Body?

Listen, I know there are going to be some people out there, bears content creators who don't

believe that Dexter would be a good fit in Chicago, that this isn't the kind of player

that Dennis Allen likes.

Yeah, these are the same people who want you to believe that the only style of Chicago

pizza is deep dish when really it's tavern style or as we called it in the greater

Chicago land area when I was a kid.

Pizza.

That's what we call the listen.

If you're the kind of coach who can't find a way to use Dexter Lawrence, then you should

probably get ready to start renting cars at enterprise because this was the kind of thinking

that Mike March had when he decided to trade away Greg Olson because he didn't fit his

offense.

And please do not trade, Olson Loveland, please, please, please.

Here's my thing though.

Since we're talking about the bears, the team is expected to zero in on a place to play

in the coming days.

Will it be downtown Chicago?

Will it be Arlington Heights or maybe will they go out of state?

They could go all the way to Michigan.

For all I know, and speaking of which, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate

the University of Michigan's men's basketball team and the UCLA women's basketball team

for capturing national championships over the weekend.

Yes, for Michigan, it was their second national championship in men's basketball.

First since 1989, just days before or years before the Fab Five, thankfully put short,

shorts to rest in the 1990s, yet you kids don't understand seriously.

Basketball players used to wear shorts that were shorter than Oklahoma kicker Nate Sandals

before the Fab Five changed the game black socks.

It was cool.

The Fab Five look about kids.

You will love them.

UCLA, this was their 126 national title in school history.

One of the most recent titles, of course, for the Bruins happened in 2023.

When there's softball team, one a national championship, why am I bringing this up?

Well, I will be on the call tonight as the Bruins travel the Cal State Fullerton to take

on the Titans and build baseball.

Great stuff as always, it's definitely going to be called the ESPN plus tonight.

It's a reality.

Our balls, ESPN is really one thing.

You can say that Chicago pizza is a lot of other things, but it's really only one thing.

You know, because I've had Chicago pizza, it's actually quite delicious.

Right.

Thank you very much for most of that, battle that, but most of that.

Great stuff.

Maybe we'll have you back another day.

There is Bucky Brooks, top edge rushers.

Now he doesn't really call them edge rushers.

He breaks them down to defensive ends and outside linebackers.

All the same.

Look at those two hurricanes at the top of the defensive ends list.

And then we go over to the outside linebackers, David Bailey, number one.

Let's bring back our Lance Zirline, though, because he has some thoughts on edge rushers

too.

He calls them edge rushers.

Thanks Lance for making it easy for us, but you're looking at day two edge rushers.

Who you got?

Yeah.

This is a really deep draft for edge rushers back to back years now, but I want to start

over with a guy who's kind of a borderline one, two, and that's Cassius Hal from Texas

A&M.

You know, the thing about Cassius Halis, he's got tremendous get off, but where he wins

a lot of times is that he's able to maintain his distance from offensive tackles, so they

can't really get their hands on him.

He can bend and corner very tightly.

And so he's able to create room.

You saw that inside spin move, I mean, inside move right there was phenomenal.

He's got a way of avoiding and eluding offensive tackles where he's rarely touched on some

of these sex.

Now, armace and Thomas is another one who has tremendous get off.

He's out of Oklahoma, a little bit on the small side, another one who's smaller than your

used to smaller than you may be like, but when he gets off the line of scrimmage, it is

in a hurry.

If you were in a plotting tackle, you are out of luck because he is going to be around

you, under you, and he's going to be after your quarterback in a hurry, tremendous pressure

rate.

He's got outstanding speed.

One of the things that really stands out about armace and is not only that he can bend

and corner and flatten so well and so effectively, he has tremendous speed so he can chase plays

down the field and make tackles that other edge defenders could never think of doing.

A third pass rusher and edge defender who I think really deserves a lot more discussion

because he's going to go higher than people think is Malachai Lawrence.

And Malachai Lawrence out of central Florida, boy, I was impressed.

I had a piece of paper next to me and I started riding down and tallying up all the different

pass rush moves.

I saw him implement in his rush.

He's got so many moves in his bag, a very deep bag.

He's got very skilled hands.

He understands how to unlock the pocket and get after the quarterback.

That's what teams love.

A guy with height, length, and a deep bag, Judy, so that he can go hunt quarterbacks.

That's what it's all about these days.

Get to the quarterbacks and earlier you can do it in your career, the better.

It's watching that and thinking, these guys are so fast, can't wait to see them in

the NFL lands.

They're lying.

Thanks so much for joining us just 16 days until the NFL draft kicks off in Pittsburgh

alive.

Round one coverage, eight PM Eastern time, Thursday, April 23rd, Rhett Lewis sent the

afriland and Brian Baldur breaking it down and passed the draft.

Yo, Rhett Lewis mocked draft here to keep you warm and cozy.

Take a look at picks one through ten.

Obviously we're going with Fernando Mendoza and Ardell Reese said both of those seem to

be kind of consensus at one and two.

I went with David Bailey at three with the Cardinals love it for the Titans and then we

get our first offensive lineman at number six with Francis Maui Noah.

As I mentioned earlier, Colonel Tate to the commanders.

I love the Rubin Bay into the same selection there with Pam Jordan, I'm sure on where

that's going.

We get the corner, your first corner off the board at number nine and then we move into beyond

the top ten Caleb Downs goes to the Bengals that'll look the Dolphins, the receivers folks.

McIleman love the bullet and cough award winner there with a little bit of outside inside

flexibility going at 11.

We get that second corner at 12.

Come on.

Throw up the Hoosiers there in Sofie Stadium with Omar Cooper as the third receiver off

the board.

Get another alignment there to the Ravens and Spencer Fano out of Utah.

Tell Drac Fox an interesting one to pair with your mod McCoy with those two first round

draft picks for the Dallas Cowboys at number 20.

By the way, love team Steve going to help Bryce Young in Carolina.

Real big run on offensive lineman here in these final ten eleven picks.

Starts with Vega Yawani going to the Steelers best garden the draft at 21.

We get tackles back to back to back at 27 28 and 29 to the Niners Texans and Chiefs with

Cassius Howell as the final pick of the first round right there.

But I want to start with the wide receivers here.

Baldi, I went with six wideouts going in the first round starting with Carnell Tate.

We finished with Denzel Boston at number 31 right there.

But how about McCivalman going to the Miami Dolphins at 11.

It's a huge need.

Well, it's a need and there's a talent.

That's a tough and dynamic receiver coming out of USC and you just think about Malik

Willis and who he is going to throw to.

The days that Tyree Kill and Jailwater out there are gone.

It's over.

And so let's start getting some new blood in there, some new receivers.

Some guys that can work with Malik Willis build up a relationship with him and start building

this offense right now.

We know that the Von H&N is the guy you can hit it off to and he's an explosive running

back that you do a lot of things in a passing game also.

But they need a real receiver.

I mean, what they have on the roster right now is incomplete.

It just is.

Whether you like to too out well or you like some of the guys that they sign, it is not

a very, very talented.

And so let's start building that talent base there in Miami with a great place to throw

them all all over the yard down there.

I'm in South Florida right now.

I'm going to go out and have a catch on a beach.

I'll do it.

Let's give them McCivalman right here.

Get this thing started.

I want to go out.

Have a.

You want to go out to catch the beach?

Let's go.

Let's go.

I'm just looking at the guys at the end of your first round.

And I think you're going to be very popular in both Cleveland and of course in New England

because both of these guys starting with Casey, Concepts, you know, and that's a great

pick for the Browns, especially if they get Maui Noah, right?

That's a first round.

All those Brown fans are going to love you.

But ultimately what I like a lot about him is the potential for him to be useful in

versatile ways.

He's super versatile.

Right?

And then you're looking at Boston.

The name.

Come on.

His name is also Boston.

Oh my gosh.

Exactly.

It's perfect.

He's a contested catch machine and he doesn't drop the ball.

I, I the Boston thing.

I just.

Did you even realize that?

I didn't even realize that.

So locked into that.

This mocked draft keeps getting better.

You keep getting better and better for you.

You also nailed the name.

Oh, that's so good.

Thursday we'll find out who will be in the Green Room in Pittsburgh for the 2026 NFL

draft path to the draft.

Well, the first look at the list of players.

We get to walk the stage and hug the commissioner.

It's the draft attendee reveal.

Thursday 6 p.m. Eastern only on NFL network.

Following that show and every other week night 7 p.m. Eastern time through the draft,

it's us, the insiders, you know what's happened to this break?

More of us, the insiders stick around.

There is a lot of new going on in Baltimore and now they're going to unveil new uniforms

on Thursday.

This is the first time in 26 years they've unveiled new uniforms.

We're not talking about the color rush uniforms.

That was different.

They got to be purple, right?

Oh, it's going to be next Thursday.

I read it.

Is this Thursday?

My bad.

Next Thursday.

Our buddy Peter Schreger is hosting the unveiling apparently.

So I'm going to text him and maybe he can tell us what they look like.

Marlon Humphrey is trying to find out what they look like.

I would tell Marlon Humphrey if Schreger tells me what they look like.

They're not letting Marlon Humphrey know somebody please give him a tip what they look

like.

I definitely would not trust Marlon.

He would absolutely post a picture.

Here's a picture.

Well, it's actually a video.

This is Malik Neighbors doing pull-ups.

By the way, I can also do this many pull-ups.

This is significant.

Well, it's really not.

He's coming back from a torn ACL.

So how many pull-ups he can do is not really that big of a deal, but he is jacked.

Tom.

John Franklin Myers, new team.

He's a titan friend of the show back to work in a new place.

We can't go back to work because we're always working and we got another show tomorrow.

It's kind of the draft to continue, see ya.

This is an I Heart Podcast.

Guaranteed Human.