Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Need great healthcare coverage with an affordable price tag that
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Speaker 1: protecting Tennessee AND's for seventy five years. I'm Mike Keith
Speaker 1: joined by my second favorite rat. Yes, my number one
Speaker 1: ret is Rhett Brian with Titans Radio who's been with
Speaker 1: us for every step of Titans Radio. Rhet Lewis from
Speaker 1: NFL Network. I hope you don't take that as an insult.
Speaker 1: You are my second favorite rat and I'm thrilled to
Speaker 1: have you on the OTP. Thanks for the time, Mike,
Speaker 1: thanks so much. I am used to being everyone's second
Speaker 1: favorite rhet because usually everyone's most favorite rhet is, of course,
Speaker 1: Rhet Butler. But I will, I will take number two.
Speaker 1: And how many people call you Brett? So many, so
Speaker 1: many that I stopped correcting. It's that's it's just fine
Speaker 1: with me at this point. Whatever you want to call me,
Speaker 1: that's what we do to Rhett Brian. We refer to
Speaker 1: him as Brett Ryan. Many so many people get it wrong.
Speaker 1: We're just like that. That should be what you change
Speaker 1: your name to. But anyway, names aside, names are the
Speaker 1: story of the week as we're about to draft some
Speaker 1: players in the NFL. And you've been on every show
Speaker 1: on NFL Network for the past two months. You've been
Speaker 1: a host, you've been a panelist, you've been a guest.
Speaker 1: You are the utility man for the Dodgers in terms
Speaker 1: of what you're doing for draft coverage. How hard has
Speaker 1: it been? So here's the thing, Um, I love this
Speaker 1: time of year. So I grew up a tortured Saints fan. Okay,
Speaker 1: down in New Orleans, Mike, So like draft time was
Speaker 1: our super Bowl. Like I used to skip class, you know,
Speaker 1: in fifth and sixth grade, meet my friends in the
Speaker 1: library and we'd be filling out mock drafts. So this
Speaker 1: is what I love, the hopefulness of this time. Everybody's
Speaker 1: got a chance right now, Mike, and these thirty two
Speaker 1: picks of the first round are going to be big
Speaker 1: pieces to continuing that hope into the summer and into
Speaker 1: the fall for so many of these teams. So I
Speaker 1: love college football. I love learning about these players, learning
Speaker 1: about their stories, and I love projecting them where they're
Speaker 1: going to go. Your dad is a legendary figure among
Speaker 1: the Saints. He was the longtime trainer. He's been saving
Speaker 1: care of the Saints for seemingly a hundred years. Right.
Speaker 1: He was thirty two years with the Saints. He got
Speaker 1: two with the Washington Commanders now and then eight with
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions, so just over four one years. Yeah. Wow,
Speaker 1: we're a football family, Mike, you are a football family. Indeed,
Speaker 1: let's talk a couple of names, and I want to
Speaker 1: talk mas Jim Wyatt, who writes for the Titans at
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans dot com. We referred to him as the
Speaker 1: legendary Jim Wyatt. Of course, he took thirty five maks
Speaker 1: on Monday Day of Draft week, and he does this
Speaker 1: wide scale. So five of the mocks had the Titans
Speaker 1: at number twenty six, taking Johan Dotson from Penn Steak.
Speaker 1: Four of the mocks had the Titans taking wide receiver
Speaker 1: Treylan Burke's Arkansas, offensive tackle Bernhard Ryman, Central Michigan offensive
Speaker 1: tackle Tyler Smith Tulsa. Three of the mocks had the
Speaker 1: Titans taking linebacker Nakobe Dean Georgia, guard Kenyon Greene, Texas
Speaker 1: a and m linebacker Devin Lloyd Utah. Two of the
Speaker 1: mocks had the Titans taking edge rusher Jermaine Johnson from
Speaker 1: Florida State and guard Zion Johnson from Boston College. And
Speaker 1: then one of the mocks, Apiece had the Titans select
Speaker 1: cornerback Andrew Booth Clemson, tight end Trade McBride, Colorado State,
Speaker 1: cornerback Trent McDuffie, Washington quarterback Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh quarterback Desmond Ritter,
Speaker 1: Cincinnati wide receiver Christian Watson North Dakota State, and wide
Speaker 1: receiver Garrett Wilson Ohio State. Which one are you of
Speaker 1: the thirty five? So, Mike, that's a lot of different
Speaker 1: names there for jay Rod to choose from on Thursday night.
Speaker 1: So here's here is my thought, because there's a lot.
Speaker 1: I feel like there is a lot of different ways
Speaker 1: to go, and those final ten picks of the first
Speaker 1: round always such a wild card, right because these are
Speaker 1: better teams that don't have glaring needs, and the Titans
Speaker 1: certainly fit that in my eyes. So I went with
Speaker 1: quarterback Desmond Ritter. So and just take a breath, Titans fans,
Speaker 1: let's just play this out here for just a second.
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill is your starter in twenty twenty two. The
Speaker 1: fit with Ryan Tannehill in this offense, I think is
Speaker 1: as good as we've seen from a from a player
Speaker 1: coming at that position, coming to a new team and excelling.
Speaker 1: He's been great. But at some point you do want
Speaker 1: to think about the future here, and look, Ryan's gonna
Speaker 1: be thirt five going into the twenty twenty three season,
Speaker 1: going to be coming up on the need for a
Speaker 1: new contract at that point. As well, with the way
Speaker 1: that salaries are going, you know, you have to wonder,
Speaker 1: you know, we're talking about thirty five mill, We're talking
Speaker 1: about forty forty five million for quarterbacks here? Is it
Speaker 1: more pragmatic? Is it more financially responsible to think about
Speaker 1: a younger quarterback down the line here, one that you
Speaker 1: have up to five years of relative cost control on.
Speaker 1: I think Desmond Ritter is a guy that's comfortable being
Speaker 1: a future face of the franchise. I don't know that
Speaker 1: he's ready to step in and start, which is why
Speaker 1: I think that Tennessee could be a spot where he
Speaker 1: would make some sense to sit there behind Ryan Tannehill.
Speaker 1: He's got the athleticism that we love about Tannehill, and
Speaker 1: I think he's got to work on his consistency with
Speaker 1: his accuracy in different spots around the field. But I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot of upside there. I really like
Speaker 1: that one. I don't know if that's going to happen, Mike,
Speaker 1: but I do tell you what, there's choices that I
Speaker 1: would love to see. Zion Johnson interior offensive line is
Speaker 1: one that I would love right there. I think would
Speaker 1: make a lot of sense, a lot of positional versatility.
Speaker 1: Same with Tyler Smith. But you know, I know the
Speaker 1: Titans don't have a second round pick. I think he's
Speaker 1: more of a second round player. And then look Traylan Burkes, Mike,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, there's like five different ways where he
Speaker 1: can give you a touchdown Totans. Oh, well done. So
Speaker 1: sorry sorry in the in the face of legendary company
Speaker 1: here that I shouldn't have even attempted. But no, that
Speaker 1: was great. Yeah, So like those are my thoughts there,
Speaker 1: those three guys, those three positions, all right, So that's
Speaker 1: who you picked on NFL Mock Live on NFL Network, Yes,
Speaker 1: Desmond Ridden and another of the mocks you had somebody
Speaker 1: else for the Titans though, Yeah, so that was a
Speaker 1: different um. That was a I did a mock draft
Speaker 1: using the Pro Football Focus mock Draft simulator. So we
Speaker 1: were using PFF's rankings of the players, and we did
Speaker 1: we did the simulator, we adjusted the simulator for me,
Speaker 1: and we went through all thirty two picks. So you know,
Speaker 1: they using PF's needs for each team, they picked the
Speaker 1: best player that fit those needs. Then we just did
Speaker 1: a separate one looking at only best player available regardless
Speaker 1: of the need. And so PFF is a little bit
Speaker 1: lower on Jermaine Johnson of Florida State. I think he's
Speaker 1: going in the top ten all day long on Thursday night,
Speaker 1: and for some reason he was available there for the
Speaker 1: Titans at twenty six. Is the best player available? Look,
Speaker 1: if that happens, thank your lucky stars rushed the card
Speaker 1: up to the front, and feel great about it because
Speaker 1: you've got another edge rusher to add to that talented front.
Speaker 1: That ain't gonna happen. No, I don't think there's anyway
Speaker 1: because as you get to this process and see if
Speaker 1: you agree with this statement, I don't think the information
Speaker 1: on guys who are dropping is good because I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot of skull duggery going on with that.
Speaker 1: I think there are teams who want bad stories in
Speaker 1: the eat, of course, because they want guys to full
Speaker 1: I do think that the truth in advertising, so to speak,
Speaker 1: is when you're hearing guys are going up. I do
Speaker 1: think that oftentimes ends up being true. And Jermaine Johnson
Speaker 1: is a guy that we're consistently hearing is going up. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I put him at number three in my latest mock
Speaker 1: draft of Houston Texans because there's there's a lot of
Speaker 1: folks out there that feel like he is a step
Speaker 1: ahead of Cabon Thibodeau as an edge rusher. And if
Speaker 1: you're considering an edge guy up in the top three
Speaker 1: and they went Hutchinson Walker won two, then you know,
Speaker 1: would that be something that Texans would consider. You know,
Speaker 1: they could certainly go offense to support Davis Mills too,
Speaker 1: you know, as you look there within the AFC South
Speaker 1: in that division, Mike. But I think Jermaine Johnson is
Speaker 1: a guy that has been kind of steadily rising. And
Speaker 1: he also it's kind of interesting because he gives us
Speaker 1: a glimpse of perhaps what Trayvon Walker's production might have
Speaker 1: been outside of Georgia's defensive scheme which kind of pushed
Speaker 1: everybody in the little tighter Jermaine Johnson, Remember, wasn't George
Speaker 1: Bulldogs Jets from to Florida State, And in that one
Speaker 1: year they started using him in those wide nine alignments,
Speaker 1: and man, he pinned his ears back and he was
Speaker 1: getting to the quarterback at a great clip and was
Speaker 1: acc Defensive Player of the Year. I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of Trayvon Walker could have that kind of production at
Speaker 1: the next level if used in that kind of way.
Speaker 1: So that's the other part about this thing. It's how
Speaker 1: are they used in college and how do we kind
Speaker 1: of translate that into how we want to see them
Speaker 1: used at the next level. Who's the number one pick
Speaker 1: in this draft today, Tuesday, April twenty sixth I really
Speaker 1: don't know how the Jaguars see it, but I will
Speaker 1: tell you right now if I am trip Bulky, I've
Speaker 1: already got Aiden Hutchinson's name written down on the card
Speaker 1: and I'm just waiting for the commissioner to put me
Speaker 1: on the clock. This mike is a three hundred yard
Speaker 1: t shot straight down the fairway at TPC sawdress Like,
Speaker 1: let's put this thing in play, Let's keep it right
Speaker 1: down the middle of the fairway. Let's not pass on
Speaker 1: a sure thing, and I think Aiden Hutchinson is the
Speaker 1: biggest sure thing in this year's draft. We've seen the production,
Speaker 1: we know about the makeup of the man, we know
Speaker 1: so much about how integral he was to a programs
Speaker 1: success last year at Michigan. We know he can make
Speaker 1: the biggest plays in the biggest moments, as we saw
Speaker 1: in that Ohio State game. Like, there's so much to
Speaker 1: like about this player. And the last thing I'll say
Speaker 1: about Hutchinson is that I want everybody to be careful
Speaker 1: when we use the phrase he's a safe pit, because
Speaker 1: that does not mean that he is a lesser athlete,
Speaker 1: or it does not mean he is not an elite talent,
Speaker 1: because he is. He's got one of the best three
Speaker 1: cone drill times of any edge rusher in this class, Mike,
Speaker 1: and that is one of those things, one of those
Speaker 1: metrics that we use to forecast edge rusher success at
Speaker 1: the next level. He's got great banding, great explosion. He's
Speaker 1: a great athlete and a safe pit. Daniel Jeremiah with
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks on the Move the Sticks Podcast, talked about
Speaker 1: what he's hearing out of Jacksonville, and that is new
Speaker 1: coach Doug Peterson wants Ikey Aquanu, the offensive tackle from
Speaker 1: NC State, and Bucky makes the point, if that's who
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson wants, that's who he's going to end up with,
Speaker 1: because right now in the building, he's the dude with
Speaker 1: the Jews. If they take Ikey Aquanu at one, or
Speaker 1: they take Evan Neil at one, if they go tackle
Speaker 1: at one, does that surprise you very much a little
Speaker 1: bit because we saw them go and give Cam Robinson
Speaker 1: a second straight franchise tag, and there's been some talk
Speaker 1: about trying to work out a long term deal with him.
Speaker 1: So if you do take a tackle number one, it
Speaker 1: does give you some flexibility if the contract negotiations don't
Speaker 1: work out with Cam and he goes on his way
Speaker 1: following the season, You've now got the next guy to
Speaker 1: step in at left tackle. But also keep in mind
Speaker 1: that they drafted Walker Little in the second round last
Speaker 1: year out of Stanford played some for them down the
Speaker 1: stretch last year. I think it, you know, probably wasn't
Speaker 1: his best effort, but he was a rookie and guy
Speaker 1: had barely played the last two years of Stamford due
Speaker 1: to injury and COVID, so his best football I feel
Speaker 1: like he's still ahead of him. They got Joan Taylor
Speaker 1: over there too. They've spent some resources on tackles, you know,
Speaker 1: in the high draft pick range, you know, set those
Speaker 1: second rounds in the last couple of years, so that
Speaker 1: part of it would be a little bit surprising. But
Speaker 1: then think back to win Doug Peterson won a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl at Philly. Who were the tackles Jason Peters on
Speaker 1: the left side, Lane Johnson on the right side. If
Speaker 1: that's how you want to build this thing up in
Speaker 1: front of Trevor Lawrence, then it makes sense, especially with
Speaker 1: the Titans and the Colds rushing the passerata the way
Speaker 1: they can in that division, and with the fact that
Speaker 1: you figure Houston is going to end up with one
Speaker 1: of their two first round picks with an outstanding age rusher. Yeah,
Speaker 1: makes a ton of sense. Speaking of tackles, a lot
Speaker 1: of talk about Trevor Pinning from Northern Iowa, and certainly
Speaker 1: Titans fans have interest in that because there's some thought
Speaker 1: that he could fall to twenty six. Do you think
Speaker 1: there's any shot of that? Do you think of Penning?
Speaker 1: I really like Penning. I love his mentality, I love
Speaker 1: the nasty in his game kind of reminds me a
Speaker 1: little bit of the way Taylor Lawan plays the game
Speaker 1: a little bit on the edge, you know at times,
Speaker 1: and he will make guys pay, and he plays through
Speaker 1: the echo of the whistle. And look, you I know
Speaker 1: Titans took Dylan Ratin's in the second round last year,
Speaker 1: so you know, it's a matter of how does that
Speaker 1: maturation process move for him. Are we counting on him
Speaker 1: to demand that right tackle spot, you know, next year.
Speaker 1: I think that's part of what you think about. You
Speaker 1: can never have too much depth along the offensive line,
Speaker 1: but you know, I feel like interior would make a
Speaker 1: little bit more sense, especially a guy with positional versatility
Speaker 1: like a Zion Johnson who's played all over the offensive
Speaker 1: line at Boston College, or Kenyon Green, who I think
Speaker 1: teams are kind of sorting out a little bit of
Speaker 1: a knee issue on the medical With Kenyon Green, he's
Speaker 1: done some of that at Texas A and him to
Speaker 1: tackle guard interior on the outside, So that to me
Speaker 1: would make a little bit more sense. Plus, I think
Speaker 1: Trevor Penning has gone. I don't think he gets past
Speaker 1: the second Saints pick at nineteen if they don't take
Speaker 1: a tackle at sixteen, So that's kind of how I
Speaker 1: don't see him getting out of the top twenty. Stranger
Speaker 1: things have happened, though. Okay, So let me ask you
Speaker 1: something towards your Saints knowledge. They have not taken a
Speaker 1: quarterback in the first round of an NFL draft since
Speaker 1: Archie Manning fifty years? Is this the year with the
Speaker 1: two number ones that changes. They've certainly got the opportunity too.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of the sweet spot for the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in terms of how we see value with this class.
Speaker 1: And you know, people want to people really want to
Speaker 1: discount these guys in this group of quarterbacks, and I
Speaker 1: don't know, man, I'm not here for that, Mike. I'm
Speaker 1: here to tell you, like, let's look and see if
Speaker 1: we can find ways where this guy can succeed for us,
Speaker 1: rather than telling you what he can't do. And I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot to like about, you know, all
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks. So that's why I'm mock Desmond Ritter and
Speaker 1: at twenty sixth of the Titans earlier, I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot to like there. Same for Malik Willis, like
Speaker 1: maybe he's in that sweet spot there, either at sixteen
Speaker 1: or at nineteen for the Saints, there's traits that you
Speaker 1: love and you know, like look in the Titans case.
Speaker 1: You know, you got one of the one of the
Speaker 1: great quarterback coaches in the NFL and Pad O'Hara. So
Speaker 1: like you've got to look into your coaching staff if
Speaker 1: you're the Saints, and you know, think about the guys
Speaker 1: that you got, Like think about the ability to develop
Speaker 1: young players. You know, the Saints haven't had to do
Speaker 1: that in a while, right, I mean, like they had
Speaker 1: Drew Brees for you know, fifteen years. Jamis Winston was
Speaker 1: an older player by the time he got here. I
Speaker 1: guess we could talk about how they you know, worked
Speaker 1: Taysom Hill into the quarterback rotation, but that project seems
Speaker 1: like it's ending now and he's booming a tight end.
Speaker 1: So I think you got to look at that part
Speaker 1: of it, like what's your development strategy for a young player?
Speaker 1: Does your staff fit that. That's all a part of this,
Speaker 1: But I could certainly see quarterback being in play there.
Speaker 1: Although when they did go out and sign Andy Dalton recently,
Speaker 1: it's like, all right, you got Andy, you Jamis, you
Speaker 1: drafted Ian Book last year in the fourth round feels
Speaker 1: like the ends getting a little full there. At quarterback,
Speaker 1: I feel like they're a better suitor to go tackle
Speaker 1: and wide receiver. At sixteen and nineteen, Who are the
Speaker 1: underrated players that you think are going to have a
Speaker 1: chance to sneak into the back end of the first round.
Speaker 1: Ye have two or three to jump out to you
Speaker 1: certainly do. Tyler Linderbaum from Iowa, I think is a
Speaker 1: guy that's getting nick picked to death over his arm length.
Speaker 1: And all that dude did was dominate interior defensive linemen
Speaker 1: in the one of the best conferences in college football
Speaker 1: his entire career. He's the best technician, he might have
Speaker 1: the best fundamentals of any offensive lineman regardless of position upfront.
Speaker 1: And honestly, if Ben Jones wasn't back for Tennessee, I
Speaker 1: feel like that would make a ton of sense right
Speaker 1: there at twenty six two other guys on the back end,
Speaker 1: you're looking at some of the edge rusher group there.
Speaker 1: You're talking about guys like boy A Mafe from Minnesota
Speaker 1: I think is firmly in that final five to seven
Speaker 1: picks of the first round conversation there look at can
Speaker 1: A City with one of their back to backs at
Speaker 1: twenty nine and thirty. He's got a great story. He's
Speaker 1: a phenomenal athlete with his best football very much still
Speaker 1: ahead of him. Look at a guy like Arnold Eba
Speaker 1: Katy out of Penn State that could sneak into the
Speaker 1: back end of the first round as well. I think
Speaker 1: edge rushers, you know, like so many of them, Mike,
Speaker 1: are going to go in the top ten. I think
Speaker 1: four go in the top ten. That teams are gonna
Speaker 1: maybe get some guys who we might have originally thought
Speaker 1: of as second round picks kind of jump into the
Speaker 1: first round just because of the way that they dominated
Speaker 1: that position, dominated the first ten picks. So boymfe Arnold
Speaker 1: Eba Katie. And then you're looking at some of the
Speaker 1: corners like Kyler Gordon from Washington in that range out there,
Speaker 1: Andrew Booth from Clemson coming off I think a core
Speaker 1: muscle surgery, So corners, edge rushers. I see that kind
Speaker 1: of being one of those spots at the back end
Speaker 1: of the first round where we could kind of see
Speaker 1: some different names in there. Now, you were a college
Speaker 1: wide receiver, so I know you followed that position closely.
Speaker 1: The first six seemed to be pretty set but there's
Speaker 1: a lot of discussion about who's seven. Is it Christian Watson,
Speaker 1: Is sky More a guy out of Western Michigan who
Speaker 1: has an unusual skill set? Is it George Pickens from
Speaker 1: Georgia who has never quite reached the potential five stars?
Speaker 1: And some people think if it all goes right for him,
Speaker 1: it blows up in the NFL? Who's seven for Rhett
Speaker 1: Lewis of NFL Network at wide receiver. Yeah, Mike, that's
Speaker 1: a that's a really good question. I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty much set with you know, Wilson, London,
Speaker 1: Olave Burke's Dotson and Williams is the first six, and
Speaker 1: then at seven. It feels like the buzz is building
Speaker 1: for sky More out of Western Michigan to be the seventh,
Speaker 1: you know, not necessarily the biggest dude out there, not
Speaker 1: necessarily the fastest of this bunch, but man, is he
Speaker 1: a fun football player to watch. He gets open, he
Speaker 1: makes circus catches, a lot of the same stuff we
Speaker 1: talk about with Johan Dotson in there too. Kind of
Speaker 1: feels like some of the same things that that sky
Speaker 1: More does. I tend to favor Christian Watson, you know,
Speaker 1: he's got a he's got a terrific story. He was
Speaker 1: a guy that was overlooked his entire high school career.
Speaker 1: He's kind of a late bloomer into the body that
Speaker 1: you've seen now at six foot four and two hundred
Speaker 1: and ten pounds. By the way, he runs four three
Speaker 1: forty like ridiculous athlete. But guys were going, you know,
Speaker 1: college coaches were going over there to recruit Wap Fillure,
Speaker 1: who ended up in my alma mater in Indiana. Shout
Speaker 1: out Nick Westbrook as well. I had to find a
Speaker 1: way to figure to fit it in there. You are
Speaker 1: the president of the Nick Westbrook Akada Fan Club. That's okay,
Speaker 1: we love that. I love Nick. He's such a great player.
Speaker 1: I'm so so happy for him carving out a niche
Speaker 1: there in Tennessee. But yeah, Christian is a guy who
Speaker 1: was overlooked there found his way to North Dakota State
Speaker 1: because one recruiter was like, I see all these other guys,
Speaker 1: but like, who's this dude over here, who you know
Speaker 1: is a little gangly, you know, it's like a little tall,
Speaker 1: little skinny. But man, I feel like his best football
Speaker 1: is ahead of him. And I could see if he
Speaker 1: doesn't go in the first round. I think he's gone
Speaker 1: within the first five just seven picks of the second round.
Speaker 1: All Right, we know you love the draft, and we
Speaker 1: know your experience with your dad being a longtime NFL
Speaker 1: trainer most of the career with the New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1: So I want to wrap up our conversation with this,
Speaker 1: from your experience with your dad, how much of a
Speaker 1: factor is the training staff and the medical staff as
Speaker 1: we get to not only Thursday, but especially Friday and
Speaker 1: Saturday with that medical information that comes from the combine.
Speaker 1: If you'd lay out for us just an overview of
Speaker 1: how much bigger that is than what we probably know,
Speaker 1: I'd be interested to hear. Yeah, Mike, that's a great question.
Speaker 1: And I'll start it off by kind of relating back
Speaker 1: to some of the names you mentioned earlier, because you know,
Speaker 1: Archie Manning was one of my dad's first quarterbacks there
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, and Archie was my dad's best man
Speaker 1: at his wedding. Like Archie went once his kids got
Speaker 1: old enough. Once Peyton and Eli were looking at colleges,
Speaker 1: and he would tell them that without question, two of
Speaker 1: your most trusted allies, friends and people you can count
Speaker 1: on when you get to college and you get to
Speaker 1: the NFL, will be the equipment manager and they'll be
Speaker 1: the trainer. And that's how it was for Archie and
Speaker 1: Peyton will tell you the same thing. Eli will tell
Speaker 1: you the same thing as well. Trainers are the guys
Speaker 1: that can get you the reservations at the best restaurants
Speaker 1: on the road. They're like the concierge. But they also mike,
Speaker 1: to your point, deep dive on all of these players
Speaker 1: and all of these prospects. And while gms have books
Speaker 1: on players and they have you know, they've got their
Speaker 1: notes on players and the way that they play on tape,
Speaker 1: and they've got a whole book on those guys, that's
Speaker 1: what the trainers do. And that's the research that they
Speaker 1: do with the combine when they're and they go out
Speaker 1: there and they call the college trainers. They get the
Speaker 1: inside scoop from from all the schools and the universities
Speaker 1: on the players that are going to be there. And
Speaker 1: I mean so much of this thing, like I know,
Speaker 1: gms and inside draft rooms and talent evaluators that they think,
Speaker 1: you know, all right, we got this guy, we want
Speaker 1: to fill out this card. Hey, let's check with Dean.
Speaker 1: Let's just make sure Dean we we good on the
Speaker 1: medical I mean, like that's how important it is because
Speaker 1: this is an investment. These are we're talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars that we're going to invest
Speaker 1: in these prospects. This can't be a deal where we
Speaker 1: miss something. The medical team missed something in this guy's
Speaker 1: background and he can't you know, he can't play beyond
Speaker 1: two years or three years. Like it is big business
Speaker 1: trying to figure out the medical background of all these players.
Speaker 1: And there's so much that goes into it, Mike. I mean,
Speaker 1: like the last story I'll tell you is like at
Speaker 1: the combine, you know, when my dad was going every year.
Speaker 1: I mean, like every MRI machine in Indianapolis is essentially
Speaker 1: reserved for the NFL Combine and the three hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty prospects that end up going, and all of them
Speaker 1: are getting MRIs And I mean, like it's there's so
Speaker 1: much background and research done on this because they can't
Speaker 1: miss anything. And it's the reason that so many NFL
Speaker 1: football people are desperate for the NFL Combine to stay
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis. Yea, even if it may not be the
Speaker 1: best business move for the league. They could take it elsewhere.
Speaker 1: It's the best. It's the best set up because the
Speaker 1: medical information is the second most valuable part outside of
Speaker 1: the actual tape, Absolutely right, And some could argue it's
Speaker 1: it's the most valuable because if you've got a guy
Speaker 1: that you're taking off your board, you know, like that's
Speaker 1: that's that's because of medical A lot of times, you know,
Speaker 1: some of it's because of you know, off the field stuff,
Speaker 1: but um, you know, like there's there's probably you know,
Speaker 1: teams that have taken guys off their board a month
Speaker 1: ago just because of what's transpired in the medical Rhet
Speaker 1: Lewis NFL Network. Thank you so much for the time.
Speaker 1: And I know how busy you are, but fun to
Speaker 1: get your viewpoint and to hear all about the mocks
Speaker 1: and everything go on go on. For those of us
Speaker 1: who work in the league, it really is the best
Speaker 1: week of thea It is so much fun. Um, Mike,
Speaker 1: and take so much for having me on. Appreciate it
Speaker 1: and go tight. Presented by far Bureau Health Plans, this
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Speaker 1: legends go. Everybody knows it's our house fighting, Though Tennessee
Speaker 1: making history, greatness is meant to be