Speaker 1: Now let's get to Round one of the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: As expected, cam Ward went number one overall to the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans, and not too long after the pick was announced,
Speaker 1: news broke that the Jacksonville Jaguars traded with the Browns
Speaker 1: to acquire a second pick in acquiring Heisman Trophy winner
Speaker 1: Travis Hunter. Meanwhile, my Steelers are still looking for a
Speaker 1: quarterback after day one and Shador Standers is still on
Speaker 1: the board for round two. So joining me now to
Speaker 1: break it all down? Break it all down the headlines
Speaker 1: we saw last night as the one and only Adam Schefter.
Speaker 1: What's up, buddy? How you doing, Steve?
Speaker 2: And a always great to be with you, Nice to
Speaker 2: see you.
Speaker 1: Shador Sanders didn't even get drafted in round one? Were
Speaker 1: you surprised by that?
Speaker 2: The longer this went on, the more it seemed like
Speaker 2: this was a possibility. It felt like the Giants weren't
Speaker 2: going to take him at three, the Saints weren't gonna
Speaker 2: take him at nine, and the one shot he had
Speaker 2: was twenty one to Pittsburgh and the Steelers talked about
Speaker 2: the idea of taking him, but there was not consensus
Speaker 2: within the organization and they needed help along their defensive line,
Speaker 2: and they opted for the Oregon defensive line and Derek Harmon,
Speaker 2: and so Shador Sanders was left sitting on the board
Speaker 2: watching other quarterbacks like Jackson Dark go number twenty five
Speaker 2: to the New York Giants. So when you asked it,
Speaker 2: were surprised. I think the longer this went on, the
Speaker 2: closer we got to the draft, the more we all
Speaker 2: recognized that this was possible, And when the Steelers passed
Speaker 2: them at twenty one, it became a reality.
Speaker 1: What about Jackson Dart, the Giants moving up to grab him.
Speaker 1: I didn't hear from anybody other than I very owned
Speaker 1: Dan Alovski that Dart was going to be somebody that
Speaker 1: possibly would be taken ahead of Shador Sanders. Was I mean,
Speaker 1: that did throw you full loop at all?
Speaker 2: And we talked about it in the pregame show on
Speaker 2: College Game Day, Pete Famill pointed out that there was
Speaker 2: a possibility that Jackson Dart could go ahead of Shador.
Speaker 2: And look, the Giants and Saints and I believe the
Speaker 2: Cleveland Browns as well, all really like Jackson Dart so
Speaker 2: much so that I think each of those teams would
Speaker 2: have taken Jackson Dart ahead of Shador Sanders, one of
Speaker 2: the three did, and I believe the other two are
Speaker 2: in the same category as well, And so Shador Sanders
Speaker 2: is still sitting there right now, going into round two
Speaker 2: on Friday night. I really think we're at the point
Speaker 2: now the Steelers don't have a second round draft pick.
Speaker 2: Their next pick is number eighty three in the third round.
Speaker 2: And you say, well, could he would? He would he
Speaker 2: last till then, and it's hard to imagine that he would,
Speaker 2: But strange things have happened. And I also think that
Speaker 2: people are reacting like, oh my god, he didn't go
Speaker 2: in round one and he is milk Kiper Junior's top
Speaker 2: rated quarterback. Guess what, There have been a lot of
Speaker 2: quarterbacks over the years that have slipped into the second
Speaker 2: round that have gone on to have successful NFL careers.
Speaker 2: When milk Kiper first started in ESPN in his very
Speaker 2: first year, his third rated prospect on the entire board
Speaker 2: was Boomer Sison. Boomer Sison went into the second round
Speaker 2: and all he did in the National Football League was
Speaker 2: win MVP. Drew brees Felt into the second round, Jalen
Speaker 2: Hurtzfeld into the second round, and now Shador Sanders has
Speaker 2: done the.
Speaker 1: Same, Adam Scheft, I always appreciate the knowledge that you dropped,
Speaker 1: So help me with your perspective, because I'll certainly take
Speaker 1: it from you verbatim covering this league the way that
Speaker 1: you have me covering the NBA and just overall sports
Speaker 1: over the last thirty years. Certainly, your talent and your
Speaker 1: skill is paramount. That's primary issue. Number one. You gotta
Speaker 1: have the ability. But I've seen many executives sometimes make
Speaker 1: decisions because they didn't want to deal with potential headache
Speaker 1: somebody that could have the ear of folks, somebody that
Speaker 1: could have the kind of influence in Cashet that could
Speaker 1: disrupt whatever their vision was for their franchise. That brings
Speaker 1: me to Dion Sanders. Did that play in? Did his presence,
Speaker 1: his aura, his cachet, and the fact that he's a
Speaker 1: relatively loquacious to the visual what he needs to be
Speaker 1: and he will speak up for himself, his son, etc.
Speaker 1: Did that play any role in your mind at all
Speaker 1: in the possibility of Shadu falling out of.
Speaker 2: The first round? Oh? Probably did? I mean again, I
Speaker 2: don't want to blame Deiana, That's not what we're doing.
Speaker 2: But I think when a team is drafting Shadoor, it
Speaker 2: recognizes what would come along with that, and you'd have
Speaker 2: a very famous, very accomplished father that would come along.
Speaker 2: And we wrote this in our ESPN Draft Intel column
Speaker 2: that ran on ESPN Plus last week. I said, short
Speaker 2: of Mike Tomlin, there aren't many coaches around the league
Speaker 2: that might be comfortable drafting Shador and knowing that if
Speaker 2: and when their seat gets warm, people in that city
Speaker 2: could be calling for his job and calling for Shador's
Speaker 2: dad to replace him. Like that definitely could happen in time.
Speaker 2: I don't think Mike tom We care about that, but
Speaker 2: I think there might be other coaches who would. And
Speaker 2: beyond that, I just feel like, for whatever reason, Chador
Speaker 2: didn't have the best interview process. There are some teams
Speaker 2: that did like him, there were more that didn't for
Speaker 2: whatever reason. It's strange to me because again, he does
Speaker 2: have the support and when you watch him, you see
Speaker 2: how talented he is. And the bottom line, stephen A,
Speaker 2: is the facts speak for themselves. Every team had a
Speaker 2: chance to pick him in Round one, nobody did. We're
Speaker 2: back at it again Friday night. More teams will have
Speaker 2: another chance to draft him. And so that's the great
Speaker 2: part about the NFL Draft. You gotta put your cards
Speaker 2: on the table and you see where teams stand on
Speaker 2: certain individuals. And right now you're seeing where teams stand
Speaker 2: on Shador Sanders.
Speaker 1: His collegiate teammate didn't have that problem, Travis Hunter, Jacksonville
Speaker 1: Jaguars moving up to the number two and making a
Speaker 1: deal with the Cleveland Browns that ultimately landed them Travis Hunter.
Speaker 1: You broke that story. Can you talk about that Travis
Speaker 1: Hunter and what they told you or why they told
Speaker 1: you they liked this kid so much?
Speaker 2: Oddly enough, I think we could first lean into what
Speaker 2: the general manager of the Cleveland brown said about him,
Speaker 2: despite the fact that he traded away the draft. He
Speaker 2: called Travis Hunter a unicorn. He compared him to show, hey,
Speaker 2: o'tany wow, a two way player. And I think those
Speaker 2: are some of the things that the Jacksonville Jaguars were
Speaker 2: drawn to. In the end. They saw what they felt
Speaker 2: was like the best player in this draft. They saw
Speaker 2: somebody that they thought could come in and play wide
Speaker 2: receiver at a high level for them. They're gonna onboard
Speaker 2: him as a wide receiver. They're gonna have him play defense.
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna do everything they can to get
Speaker 2: the value out of the number two pick in this draft.
Speaker 2: And they felt like they were getting a star player,
Speaker 2: a dynamic presence, a great personality. You saw him last
Speaker 2: night dancing on the stage once he was selected. They
Speaker 2: loved everything about him so much so that they were
Speaker 2: willing to give up their second round draft pick today
Speaker 2: and their first round draft pick next year, which is
Speaker 2: quite a lot. But Jacksonville would tell you, hey, there's
Speaker 2: no price that's too great for a star that has
Speaker 2: been compared to Shoho Tying, and that's why they paid
Speaker 2: up and they're gonna play him on both sides of
Speaker 2: the football.
Speaker 1: How would have Jacksonville Jaguass feeling about Trevor Lawres right now?
Speaker 1: They're fifty five million dollar quarterback.
Speaker 2: Well, Steve and I what I would tell you is
Speaker 2: they have a new head coach and Liam Cone who
Speaker 2: they brought in to elevate Trevor Lawrence. They have a
Speaker 2: new general manager, James Gladstone, the youngest general manager who
Speaker 2: pulled off that trade on Thursday night. That's a huge
Speaker 2: swing to take. Think about that, the first trade of
Speaker 2: draft picks in the twenty twenty five NFL draft pumps
Speaker 2: from the youngest GM in the league and somebody who's
Speaker 2: making his first draft day trade, and that was a doozy.
Speaker 2: There aren't too much people that start that big. But
Speaker 2: he comes from the Rams. Don't think he cares about
Speaker 2: taking big swings, not as concerned about keeping the draft picks,
Speaker 2: and I think that they feel like he can help
Speaker 2: elevate Trevor Lawrence. And so that's the idea and the
Speaker 2: thinking gear. They're giving Trevor Lawrence a restart, a reboot,
Speaker 2: with a new head coach who has worked in elevating
Speaker 2: the playoff quarterbacks. They're giving him a new GM who
Speaker 2: obviously thinks differently and aggressively than a lot of other gms,
Speaker 2: and they're hoping that between the new head coach, the
Speaker 2: new GM, new assistant coaches, and the changing culture that
Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence can turn out to be the quarterback that
Speaker 2: many thought the Jaguars were getting when they selected him
Speaker 2: with the number one overall deck.
Speaker 1: That would be crazy. The new GM is thirty four
Speaker 1: years old, so it's going to be really interesting to
Speaker 1: see how that works out for them. Switching to the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, they're on the other side of this deal,
Speaker 1: they passed up on a Travis Hunter to make this deal,
Speaker 1: move down the fifth in the draft, ultimately got a
Speaker 1: first round pick for next year, sort of recouping some
Speaker 1: of the losses that they have to you know, they
Speaker 1: have to suffer from the Deshaun Watson trade. What did
Speaker 1: you say, Adam Scheffer?
Speaker 2: How is it that?
Speaker 1: How you would break it down?
Speaker 2: Well, Steve, and they have not had a top fifty
Speaker 2: pick in the the three previous drafts. So when they
Speaker 2: selected Mason Graham from my University of Michigan and Thursday
Speaker 2: Nights first round, that was the first time in four
Speaker 2: years that they've had a top fifty pick. And they're
Speaker 2: making up for it now because now going into tonight's draft,
Speaker 2: they have two of the top four selections in the
Speaker 2: second round, picks thirty three and thirty six, and they
Speaker 2: already have the Jacksonville Jaguars first round draft pick in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, So they're on the board with two
Speaker 2: first round picks next year. And that's why I know
Speaker 2: a lot of people are saying, what are back tonight
Speaker 2: for the Browns. They might go that route, they could, certainly,
Speaker 2: but they also could opt to pick two really strong
Speaker 2: players and say we're punting on quarterback in what we
Speaker 2: consider to be a week quarterback draft class. And we
Speaker 2: will revisit this topic a year from now when we
Speaker 2: have double once. That is an option going into the
Speaker 2: draft tonight, and we'll see how the Browns react to it.
Speaker 1: What's the NFL feeling about the draft that the Giants
Speaker 1: had last night Carter and then obviously moving up to
Speaker 1: Draft Dark, How are people feeling about the Giants right now?
Speaker 2: Well, I think most talent evaluators felt there were two
Speaker 2: blue chip prospects in this draft, Dravits Hunter and Abdula Carter.
Speaker 2: Jacksonville got one. The New York Giants got the other,
Speaker 2: an Abdula Carter, who has been compared to Michael Parsons,
Speaker 2: who wore number eleven at Penn State. Plays like him,
Speaker 2: looks like him, and if MICHAEH Parsons a version of
Speaker 2: that showed up on the Giants roster, that would be great.
Speaker 2: Jackson Dart the quarterback. They move up, and Steven Aams
Speaker 2: is telling you, I think that they jumped in front
Speaker 2: of the Browns. The Browns were happy to sit and wait,
Speaker 2: and they jumped in front of the Saints, who definitely
Speaker 2: wanted Jackson Dark. The Saints Warren scheduled to pick again
Speaker 2: to number forty. Saints warn't willing tell you was their
Speaker 2: number nine overall selection on Jackson Dart, but clearly there
Speaker 2: was something of an arms race to try to get
Speaker 2: the Jackson Dart and the Giants won that. And the
Speaker 2: great part about that is that they did it without
Speaker 2: having to give up a first round draft pick next year.
Speaker 2: So if Jackson Dark comes in this year and they
Speaker 2: feel like he's a total bust, which isn't going to
Speaker 2: be the case, they could always use their first round
Speaker 2: pick on a quarterback next year if that's what they want.
Speaker 2: That's not their plan, trust me. But all they had
Speaker 2: to do is trade. I believe it was a couple
Speaker 2: of third round picks to move up to that spot,
Speaker 2: whereas the Atlanta Falcons, one slot in front of them,
Speaker 2: wound up trading a first round draft pick for next
Speaker 2: year to go get draft James Pearce, a defensive lineman.
Speaker 2: Giants didn't have to give up the future one the
Speaker 2: Falcons did, the Giants didn't, and the Giants moved up
Speaker 2: for a quarterback and the Falcons a pass rusher. So again,
Speaker 2: what they gave up in return they felt was more
Speaker 2: than worth it to get the quarterback that let a
Speaker 2: few teams wanted. Here, there's a.
Speaker 1: Couple of minutes left with you, Adam Schefter. Very few
Speaker 1: things surprised you, one can imagine, because you're the ultimate
Speaker 1: inside and you know what the hell is going on
Speaker 1: better than anybody in the National Football League. Anything shocky
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 2: Well, that trade that came down was such a huge trade.
Speaker 2: It was one of the biggest on the clock trades
Speaker 2: that we've seen in NFL history. There have been only
Speaker 2: two teams that had top five picks traded. One was
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons in the eighties when
Speaker 2: the Vikings traded their pick to go get Chris Dolman
Speaker 2: and the Falcons got Bill free Look. And the other
Speaker 2: time it happened was when the Chicago Bears traded up
Speaker 2: with the forty nine ers to go get Mitch Trubisky,
Speaker 2: famously in a draft where they drafted Mitch Trubisky ahead
Speaker 2: of Patrick Mahomes. That was the size and scope of
Speaker 2: this trade last night, and it was a trade that
Speaker 2: I think you look at and you say, both teams
Speaker 2: win here because the Jaguars get a certifiable star in
Speaker 2: Travis Hunter, and the Browns come away with so much
Speaker 2: draft equity for a team that hasn't had any draft
Speaker 2: equity in recent years, and a chance to remake their roster.
Speaker 2: I was surprised that we saw two teams last night
Speaker 2: that we're willing to part ways with their first round
Speaker 2: draft pick in the twenty twenty six NFL Draft. For
Speaker 2: the record, if I ever were part of a front office,
Speaker 2: and I never will be, but if I ever were,
Speaker 2: I would never trade a future one unless I was
Speaker 2: some super Bowl champion in some great position, I would
Speaker 2: hold onto those picks like my life depended on it.
Speaker 2: And we saw the Falcons, who haven't won a playoff
Speaker 2: game in any recent season, trade their one next year,
Speaker 2: and we saw the Jaguars, who haven't had recent playoff success,
Speaker 2: trade their one next year. We'll just wait to see
Speaker 2: how that works out for the Cleveland Browns and La
Speaker 2: Rams who hold those future picks in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Speaking to the end of the NFL analysts and knowing
Speaker 1: the game the way that you do, who's the biggest
Speaker 1: winner of Round one thus fall in you estimation. Is
Speaker 1: it simply Jacksonville and ter Avasento as this somebody else?
Speaker 2: Well, Steven, I it doesn't really matter what I say
Speaker 2: as the winner right now, because we could go into
Speaker 2: any year and annoyed some winner, and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden some player turns into some star that we
Speaker 2: never saw coming. It's a fun exercise. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: always gonna be about quarterbacks. So really, if cam Wore
Speaker 2: turns out to be a star, then the Titans won
Speaker 2: the draft. If he doesn't, then they failed. If Jackson
Speaker 2: Dart turns out to be the quarterback, then the Giants
Speaker 2: get eight plus. If they don't, no one's keeping their jobs.
Speaker 2: So I mean it's great to me. It's like giving
Speaker 2: a student a grade on the first day of school
Speaker 2: before they completed their first homework assignmon return paper. It
Speaker 2: doesn't mean anything like I gotta take some tests before
Speaker 2: we're giving him a grade.
Speaker 1: Totally fair, Shador Sanders, Cleveland or New Orlean's gonna pick
Speaker 1: him up in the second round of the estimation. You
Speaker 1: think that's you think that's likely.
Speaker 2: Not expecting New Orleans. And I don't feel overly confident
Speaker 2: on Cleveland. But I don't know that for sure, we'd
Speaker 2: have to see again. You get to certain spots in
Speaker 2: the draft where if Shador is the best player on
Speaker 2: your board, even if you didn't think you were gonna
Speaker 2: take him, you go ahead and pick him. I stephen A,
Speaker 2: I just got a feeling, like I said to you,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to be surprised if he winds up
Speaker 2: on a team that we just never connected to him, whoever.
Speaker 2: That is, unless and this is hard to imagine, unless
Speaker 2: he falls to number eighty three and the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 2: is a third round.
Speaker 1: Last question. I love that I saw asking Gent just
Speaker 1: running back extraordinary out of Boise State, landing with the Raiders.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I love about what I
Speaker 1: saw this week as they were talking about him, you
Speaker 1: brought up Saquon bark People brought up Saquon Barkley. I remember,
Speaker 1: I brought up Derek Henry. I remember a few years ago,
Speaker 1: back to twenty twenty three, to be exact, where you
Speaker 1: had Austin Ecklin, these guys rallying the running backs to
Speaker 1: sort of make a case because they were being devalue
Speaker 1: just by their birth certificate.
Speaker 2: The loan.
Speaker 1: You collected enough dust or excuse me, we ain't giving
Speaker 1: you a long term contract. We don't know if you'll
Speaker 1: be able to last. And you heard guys like Mel
Speaker 1: Kape Jr. And others never draft a running back in
Speaker 1: the first round, et cetera, et cetera. To see him
Speaker 1: go in the first round, it's like hope that running
Speaker 1: backs and being more appreciated. With what Sakwon Balky did
Speaker 1: for the Eagles last year, with what Henry did for
Speaker 1: the Ravens last year, you just sort of find yourself
Speaker 1: hoping that the running backs there's going to be an
Speaker 1: elevated level of appreciation for them. What do you think
Speaker 1: about that? Is that possible?
Speaker 2: Well? I think it's interesting that there was an elevated
Speaker 2: level of appreciation. We saw the Eagles reward Saquon Berkley
Speaker 2: and redo his contrary after one year, the Ravens have
Speaker 2: talked to Derrick Henry about a new deal. We're here
Speaker 2: in Green Bay where Josh Jacobs came to Green Bay
Speaker 2: and had a huge impact on the Packers roster, and
Speaker 2: we are heading into rounds two and three in a
Speaker 2: draft where the strongest position in this draft was running back,
Speaker 2: and we're going to see a slew of running backs
Speaker 2: taken tonight and on Saturday they can come in and
Speaker 2: make a difference for teams. But you're going to get
Speaker 2: a bunch of running backs tonight that teams are counting on.
Speaker 2: This was considered the big press count or the big
Speaker 2: draft for these running backs. Again people texting me a
Speaker 2: press councter. Sorry, big draft of running backs and that's
Speaker 2: the strength of this draft. Steven A, the.
Speaker 1: Best in the business, The one and only Adam Schefter
Speaker 1: live from the NFL Draft. Man, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for taking time out of your busy schedule. I know
Speaker 1: how busy you are.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Man, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you, steven A. Thank you for having me
Speaker 2: all the US.
Speaker 1: Talk to you soon. Well, only Adam Schefter. There's nobody
Speaker 1: better when it comes to the NFL. Nobody better