Speaker 1: Late fifteen to ten touched up. Welcome to Chargers Weekly.
Speaker 2: Getting rolling here on the morning of the day of
Speaker 2: the Georgie's Chad Alexander press conferences a little bit later today,
Speaker 2: so certainly gonna have some more to react to off
Speaker 2: of that. But Julil, as you know, in draft season,
Speaker 2: everybody holds their cards close to the best, So it's
Speaker 2: not like they're gonna tell you what they're looking at
Speaker 2: in the first second third, what they want to come
Speaker 2: out of the draft with with their ten picks. But
Speaker 2: certainly you could get an overview of the offseason thus far.
Speaker 2: You know, we've had a little bit of that in
Speaker 2: each of these pressers for each of these players, but
Speaker 2: just to kind of talk about it as a collective
Speaker 2: hole and how they were able to build this roster
Speaker 2: out going into the draft. As we've said multiple times,
Speaker 2: the number one goal is not to feel like you
Speaker 2: have any needs, you know, dire needs. We've got to
Speaker 2: take this position in this draft and that player has
Speaker 2: got to be able to get on the field for
Speaker 2: you know, either starter reps or rotation reps. That's the
Speaker 2: one thing you're trying to avoid when you get in
Speaker 2: and then get out a free agency and I feel
Speaker 2: like they've accomplished that, you know, save maybe one position.
Speaker 2: And I don't mean to slight you know, the the
Speaker 2: Naikwon Jones and DeShawn hand signings, but I just I
Speaker 2: think the way it's just something that coach Harbass said
Speaker 2: about Poona when he said that one left the bruce.
Speaker 2: That leads you to believe that they had a chance
Speaker 2: to do it all over again, Poona would likely they
Speaker 2: would have liked to have made that work and then
Speaker 2: that would have settled that particular position. And I think
Speaker 2: that's why you go through all these mock drafts and
Speaker 2: you see so many people mocking defensive tackles to the Chargers,
Speaker 2: because it does if there is one, it feels like
Speaker 2: that's probably the one spot where you'd feel a little
Speaker 2: bit better if you had a high floor prospect coming in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think it's it's really just based on
Speaker 3: what Harball likes to do, right, we talk about it,
Speaker 3: we get in a week out. It's just he likes
Speaker 3: to build those trenches and you know, we have the
Speaker 3: edge rushers, you know, to get pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 4: But a lot of.
Speaker 3: People don't understand is you can have really really good
Speaker 3: edg rushers. Right, they can rush up the field, but
Speaker 3: if you don't have anybody to push the pocket, I'm
Speaker 3: talking at an elite an elite rate, right, consistent rate
Speaker 3: that all that quarterback is going to do is step
Speaker 3: up in the pocket, set his feet.
Speaker 4: The tackles are going.
Speaker 3: To wash our premier pass rushers by and he's getting
Speaker 3: them set up and he's gonna make the throw. So
Speaker 3: I think what the charges were What I know what
Speaker 3: the charges were missing last year was that that interior
Speaker 3: push weekend and week out, first down, second down, and
Speaker 3: third down. And what you saying that I can't disagree
Speaker 3: with you. Now, will the dtack will be there that
Speaker 3: they want? We don't know, right, but being in the building,
Speaker 3: you know, just my experience, you know, coaching and being
Speaker 3: in those offices.
Speaker 4: Look, when you're they have a board.
Speaker 3: It's free agency board, a draft board, and they got
Speaker 3: their top ten at each position, and the draft is
Speaker 3: it's a rat race, right, somebody goes they scratch them
Speaker 3: all from this saying Okay, what's our next bes option? So, man,
Speaker 3: next week's can be really really intriguing. I'm excited to
Speaker 3: see what they do.
Speaker 2: Here's what I'd love for you to get into as
Speaker 2: as someone that played defensive back. You know, you always
Speaker 2: hear about a connected defense and how to get that
Speaker 2: connected defense that everybody wants in this league. And is
Speaker 2: it pass rush that forces the quarterback to get the
Speaker 2: ball out a little bit quicker? So maybe a lower
Speaker 2: level secondary is able to make a little bit more
Speaker 2: hay than they otherwise might normally be able to. Or
Speaker 2: is it a dominant secondary that has incredible coverage that
Speaker 2: gives the you know, the quarterback has to hold it
Speaker 2: a second longer because you can't find anybody that's open.
Speaker 2: So when you look at at sort of what I'm
Speaker 2: trying to get to is Will Johnson didn't run his forty.
Speaker 2: Everybody wanted him to run the forty. Everyone's talked about
Speaker 2: the speed. They're not great. They just go back to
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty three tape. It's a no brainer that
Speaker 2: he's the number one corner in this in this draft. Obviously,
Speaker 2: coach Harbaugh and Jesse men Aer won a national championship
Speaker 2: with him. Again, Steve Clinkscale won a national championship with him.
Speaker 2: But that's sort of a little bit of a buzz
Speaker 2: right now, is you know he's talking about, oh, I'm
Speaker 2: not quite ready, and then he does his pro day
Speaker 2: so close to the draft that I just, you know,
Speaker 2: not quite feeling right yet. And everyone's saying when you
Speaker 2: look at him, it looks like maybe he's, you know,
Speaker 2: a four or five guy, four five five guy like
Speaker 2: kind of in that range, and that may be why
Speaker 2: he's not running. So I bring it up because if
Speaker 2: Will is there or and I just and even if
Speaker 2: let's just expand it beyond that, let's shave. Let's say
Speaker 2: Baron's there. Because he's a smaller guy, he's not going
Speaker 2: to fit into every system. He would certainly fit into
Speaker 2: two jesse Minner's system. I think, right, I play more
Speaker 2: zone than anywhere, they play more quarters than anywhere. But
Speaker 2: how would corner if that's the direction they go, if
Speaker 2: it's Harrison, if it's if it's yeah, I think those
Speaker 2: are probably the top three.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not a heavy I was not a heavy
Speaker 4: pet corner draft.
Speaker 1: So if that's the ship, that's the choice.
Speaker 2: Let's say one of those guys is there, Juliel kind
Speaker 2: of how walk us through how that helps this defense
Speaker 2: when everyone's just so focused on the trenches. But if
Speaker 2: they feel like, hey, this is a number one corner
Speaker 2: and that's a premium position and a premium player and
Speaker 2: we're getting it at twenty two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I said a couple of weeks ago, I liked
Speaker 3: Will and we didn't think that he'd be there. So
Speaker 3: I will say that, you know, Harball, just with Junior
Speaker 3: Colston last year. He likes his guys, right, he knows
Speaker 3: his family, he recruited them, knows them from a pup
Speaker 3: And you said it, so, how does the pass rush
Speaker 3: and how does the coverage work together? Defensive coordinator in
Speaker 3: twenty seventeen by the name of Gus Bradley would always
Speaker 3: harp on defensive meetings, rush and cover work together. Right,
Speaker 3: There's gonna be some games where the defensive linement are
Speaker 3: on fire and we're struggling to cover. But like you said,
Speaker 3: they're getting there before that quarterback can get that second
Speaker 3: pat off, that second readoff and he's hit.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: And there's been time where I was covering somebody, or
Speaker 3: we watched film and Casey or another dB was covering
Speaker 3: somebody and they were open.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: May have been misscommunication, poor technique, but they didn't get
Speaker 3: the ball out because of the pass rush got there, right,
Speaker 3: And the same thing with us that sometimes we were
Speaker 3: only rushing in our defensive lineman weren't getting home.
Speaker 4: But what were we doing.
Speaker 3: We're playing really really sticky coverage on the back end,
Speaker 3: which allowed them to get, you know, us, an extra
Speaker 3: pass move, run, an extra to stunt, run, an extra
Speaker 3: t game with the tackle in the end, and then
Speaker 3: it frees them up and it gives them just that
Speaker 3: one second, right, game of inches one second, and then
Speaker 3: we get that sack.
Speaker 4: So rush and cover work together.
Speaker 3: And when you're talking about just taking a corner, I
Speaker 3: would say, listen, will I think he's a number one
Speaker 3: corner in the draft. Everybody does when you're when you're
Speaker 3: when you have tattle like him, there's no need to run, right,
Speaker 3: because all you're gonna do is hurt your stock. Right,
Speaker 3: everybody knows you turn on the tape. He's a football player,
Speaker 3: he's a shutdown corner. He has a knack for the ball,
Speaker 3: and I think drafting him to the charges will be
Speaker 3: a really, really, really good asset for us right now.
Speaker 3: Obviously the offseason acquisitions were more veterans, right, we don't
Speaker 3: have a true like lockdown, shutdown number one corner like Hey,
Speaker 3: this week you're following him.
Speaker 4: This week, you're following him. We don't have that.
Speaker 3: Right now with the Chargers overall as a group, a
Speaker 3: really good group, really solid group, a lot of guys
Speaker 3: that can play different positions inside, outside, So I'm not
Speaker 3: mad at that pick. I even suggested a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3: I just don't know if Will will be there. Baron,
Speaker 3: he can play more of that. He's a smaller guy.
Speaker 3: Like you said, he can play outside, but I kind
Speaker 3: of see him more of like a nickelback, right. He
Speaker 3: has a shorter statue, he can blitz. He can a
Speaker 3: lot of teams like to do cos which has changed
Speaker 3: the strength motion right, put the nickel to the field,
Speaker 3: jet sweep motion across. He has no time to motion over,
Speaker 3: so they bump him into the box. And now he's
Speaker 3: in the run fit as a linebacker, and he has
Speaker 3: that build you know, where he can fill those gaps.
Speaker 3: He can see the guards pulling and get down and dirty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's look, corners are wild, right, I mean you
Speaker 2: got guys like Porter that are six three, one hundred
Speaker 2: and ninety eight pounds and are running four three forties
Speaker 2: out there, and then you know you look at Baron
Speaker 2: and he's a five ten and a half maybe five
Speaker 2: eleven guy, but he brings some thump. He's got great instincts.
Speaker 2: We talked about Harriston and his four three forty. A
Speaker 2: lot of people love Trey Amos and what he did
Speaker 2: at On. I'm just kind of going through the list
Speaker 2: that's right in front of me now, so it certainly
Speaker 2: feels strong at the top, but just to build out
Speaker 2: on the corner thing, right, I think I think they
Speaker 2: can get a solid corner in the second round. As
Speaker 2: I'm kind of looking at this list. You know, the
Speaker 2: Thomas from Florida State. Obviously his DC is now the
Speaker 2: safety's coach for the charges. I know there were some
Speaker 2: current concerns about his his speed, but he's he's got
Speaker 2: the measurables. I want to pull up what his forty was.
Speaker 2: I don't think, yeah, he didn't run it, but he's
Speaker 2: you know, six two with thirty almost thirty three inch arms.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's just freaking mothro out.
Speaker 3: And it's crazy you say that the NFL fell in love,
Speaker 3: you know, like back in the day they were wanted short, quick, right,
Speaker 3: you know, real agile cornerbacks. But when the Richard Sherman
Speaker 3: era came along. They fell in Brian Browner. You remember
Speaker 3: those guys. They were six four six y three long levers,
Speaker 3: get their hands on you. They don't give you much
Speaker 3: room at the line of scrimmage, right, And the NFL
Speaker 3: fell in love with that kind of you know, mantra, right,
Speaker 3: and that's what they continue to like, like big corners,
Speaker 3: like guys who can go up and.
Speaker 4: Attack the ball.
Speaker 3: So every system is different, right, And it's like being
Speaker 3: a baker, right, everybody has their own way of doing things,
Speaker 3: and everybody has a different system and their own way
Speaker 3: of doing things and what they like and attributes some guys.
Speaker 3: So it's tough, man, it's it's it's tough to project
Speaker 3: what's gonna happen. A lot of times you have an idea,
Speaker 3: but like you said, next week will be very interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The other development in the backfield is that the Jags are,
Speaker 2: I mean the Miami Dolphins are shopping Jalen Ramsey and
Speaker 2: you know, I know for I look, I do I know, No,
Speaker 2: I'm assuming Derwin James has already made that call to Joe.
Speaker 2: That's all day that, I mean all day. He has
Speaker 2: been desperate to play with his friend Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 1: His team been doing that.
Speaker 2: I was there forever figure out a way to get Jalen,
Speaker 2: figure out a way to get Jalen. It's a big number.
Speaker 2: He still had a solid He's still one of the
Speaker 2: best corners in the league. But I bring it up
Speaker 2: because could I see happening? And yeah, they have the money,
Speaker 2: it's you know, it's a one year deal, and it's
Speaker 2: an elite player that you add to an elite group.
Speaker 2: But as someone that coached in training camp, you know,
Speaker 2: these defensive backs with that, with that group, with coach
Speaker 2: O'Leary and coach Clean Scale and coach Minter and all
Speaker 2: those guys, Julil, is it do they need? Like does
Speaker 2: this defense need an elite shut down corner or did
Speaker 2: we kind of see sort of the magic of this
Speaker 2: defense last year with guys like Tarheeb and Christian Fulton
Speaker 2: and Cam Hart all playing at a high level, you know,
Speaker 2: and even in the secondary at the safety position, with
Speaker 2: you know, Elijah Molden turning into it and a really
Speaker 2: impactful player after not necessarily being viewed as one in Tennessee, Like,
Speaker 2: how would you does that make sense? Like how would Jones. Yeah,
Speaker 2: talk about building this secondary. When you're committing resources, high
Speaker 2: draft picks money, do you need to do that or
Speaker 2: is there something about what coach Minter and these coaches
Speaker 2: do that allow fifth round picks like Tarheeb and Cam
Speaker 2: Hart to really shine out there?
Speaker 3: You know? And we touched on it, like, hey, this
Speaker 3: with injuries and free agents and moving guys around and
Speaker 3: shuffle them inside the outside, do they need I don't
Speaker 3: think they need, right, But if they want to get
Speaker 3: over the hump right that first round, that second round
Speaker 3: and deep into the playoffs and the super Bowl, which
Speaker 3: is everybody's goal, I think they do, right.
Speaker 4: I think they do.
Speaker 3: Because, like we know, there's a lot of injury and
Speaker 3: it's one hundred percent injury rate sport, and we don't
Speaker 3: know what next season holds as far as injuries.
Speaker 4: Knock on wood.
Speaker 3: But when you have a guy like Jalen Ramsey, when
Speaker 3: you have a shut down corner, you can game plan.
Speaker 4: You can focus on so much other stuff. Right.
Speaker 3: You can say, hey, listen, Jalen, you're gonna play boundary.
Speaker 3: You're going to take away the X. We can roll
Speaker 3: coverage to the field, we can double, we can squat
Speaker 3: the field. There's so much more you can do when
Speaker 3: you have a shutdown corner versus, hey, right now we
Speaker 3: have you know so and so they have a really
Speaker 3: big threat at our receiver. We got a game plan
Speaker 3: to have safety still over top pier. So now we're
Speaker 3: losing leverage on one side. It's just there's a lot
Speaker 3: of moving pieces that you have to do, which the
Speaker 3: Chargers do really well as we've seen, right, they do
Speaker 3: that really well. But if you have a shut down
Speaker 3: corner like a Ramsey or like a Patrick's are ten
Speaker 3: in the league. Those that makes a defensive coordinator to
Speaker 3: sleep well that night because he's not game planning so
Speaker 3: much like a big umbrella. Right, It's more so, hey,
Speaker 3: you take care of their number one, and then we'll
Speaker 3: shift and move coverages to different looks, different formations that
Speaker 3: we've seen in tendencies that we've seen throughout the week
Speaker 3: and throughout the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The thing with Ramsey too, for me, like I just
Speaker 2: I pulled up the I forgot what the exact number was,
Speaker 2: but you know, eight targets, seven catches, one hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty two yards, a touchdown, six first downs along of
Speaker 2: forty one that's Nico Collins in the wild card game,
Speaker 2: like you have that Will Johnson, you know, the Jalen Ramsey,
Speaker 2: and you can just say, hey man, we are not
Speaker 2: afraid of anybody else.
Speaker 1: Exactly, this is this is number one.
Speaker 2: We got to keep an eye on CJ's legs, and
Speaker 2: we got to keep an eye on Nico and outside
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 1: And look, they did it. They did it for a half.
Speaker 2: They did it for almost two and a half quarters,
Speaker 2: you know, into the middle of the third and then
Speaker 2: finally it's just like at.
Speaker 1: Least players you've seen the breakthrough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, elite players are elite players, and they they will
Speaker 2: shine in the postseason. So I plant that here and
Speaker 2: then over here, I'm going to contradict myself a little bit.
Speaker 2: I think and talk about the division and what's the
Speaker 2: easiest path to the playoffs. Winning your division, you're going
Speaker 2: to play six games against the Raiders, against the Broncos,
Speaker 2: and against the Chiefs, and Raiders no longer have DeVante Adams,
Speaker 2: Kobe Myers. You know, they're talking about drafting Ashton Gent
Speaker 2: maybe they draft t Mac. I don't know if there's
Speaker 2: a number one receiver out there for them to put us.
Speaker 2: So you don't have a number one receiver. There you'll
Speaker 2: go the Broncos Courtland Sutton very good, very very good.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't call him a number one.
Speaker 4: But he doesn't scare you. That's what I know where
Speaker 4: he is. But it's not like you just game planning it.
Speaker 1: It's not Nico Collins. It's you know.
Speaker 2: And then you go to the Chiefs and you know,
Speaker 2: I know he had a solid first season. I'm just
Speaker 2: not crazy, like I just don't Xavier Worthy. He's got
Speaker 2: the speed, but there's you know, if you had a
Speaker 2: Jagger again exactly. So it's like, so how then I
Speaker 2: then I try to figure out, Okay, how do you
Speaker 2: when when you know that the Raiders are probably going
Speaker 2: to be a pretty physical team. You know, Sean Payton
Speaker 2: likes to be physical and at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 2: and there it's all about him taking Omari and Hampton
Speaker 2: and and trying to get a little more bully in
Speaker 2: them as well. And it's more of just a short
Speaker 2: passing sort of accuracy game with he and bow Nicks.
Speaker 2: And you know, Kansas City is just I don't know
Speaker 2: how to describe Kansas City, right, It's like it's just
Speaker 2: it's whatever.
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes wants to make it and it's always great.
Speaker 2: So yeah, So that's what I'm getting at, Like, do
Speaker 2: you draft is drafting a number one corner? Are you
Speaker 2: drafting for the division or are you better off drafting
Speaker 2: that defensive tackle, because we got to look at what
Speaker 2: happens when Mahomes gets put under pressure immediately. You saw
Speaker 2: it in the Super Bowl. You know, we've seen it
Speaker 2: in multiple games. You know what happens to bon Nicks
Speaker 2: if you getting his lap right away because he wants
Speaker 2: to get that ball out so quickly. Well, now you're
Speaker 2: speeding up that clock even more. And then obviously, in
Speaker 2: the case of Vegas, I don't even know what they're
Speaker 2: gonna look like, but you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 2: that's what I'm trying to figure out. If you're drafting
Speaker 2: for the division, does it make sense to take use
Speaker 2: a premium pick or use twenty plus million dollars on
Speaker 2: Jalen Ramsey or Will Johnson or Johnny Barron or Hairston
Speaker 2: or whoever it may be.
Speaker 3: I'm a dB and I'm gonna go detackle. It's just
Speaker 3: what it is. Right, you're talking about run. He's talking
Speaker 3: about creating a new line of scrimmage. You're talking about
Speaker 3: forcing teams to play behind the sticks. What is played
Speaker 3: behind the sticks mean anytime that a team can get
Speaker 3: three or four yards on first down, they're playing ahead
Speaker 3: of the sticks. First down, if you can get a run,
Speaker 3: tackle for loss. Now they're playing behind the sticks. It's
Speaker 3: second and twelve, second and thirteen. That's defensive coordinator salivate
Speaker 3: because now their playbook is at their disposal. Then you
Speaker 3: talk about pass pass rush right, and then we talked
Speaker 3: about Patrick Mahomes and how he likes to escape through
Speaker 3: the B gaps. Right, there's an a gap right in
Speaker 3: between the center and the guard. Then there's the B
Speaker 3: gaps right, and he likes escaping the B gaps, make
Speaker 3: plays with his feet, act like he's gonna run, toss
Speaker 3: it downfield. Defensive tackle, a very elite defensive tackle takes
Speaker 3: that away. And then once again it's Jesse Minner's scheme.
Speaker 3: It's a lot of zone zone eyes.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're matching your body on a number, you're matching
Speaker 3: your body on a guy, but you can your eyes
Speaker 3: are on the quarterback. You're reading the quarterback. They call
Speaker 3: it ninety nine nine ninety percent of the time your
Speaker 3: eyes are on the quarterback.
Speaker 4: You're leaning and moving to wherever he's looking. So listen.
Speaker 3: I would love an elite, elite cornerback, but I think
Speaker 3: as a need as somebody who would impact the game
Speaker 3: detac You can never go wrong with the trenches. You
Speaker 3: can never go wrong with a d tackle. You can
Speaker 3: run so many fancy coverages behind. You can do smoke
Speaker 3: and mirrors behind that defensive line with your linebackers and
Speaker 3: your back seven, right, And I think that's the route
Speaker 3: I would go if it's do or dying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's it's a pass rushing d tackle. You know,
Speaker 2: it's not the Kenneth Grant can't rush the passer. But
Speaker 2: that's not his specialty. He's you know, he's just a
Speaker 2: massive human being. He moves with freakish athleticism for being
Speaker 2: three hundred and thirty pounds. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: you're talking more of your Derek Harmon's, you know, Walter
Speaker 2: Nolan's are projected. You just kind of see the way
Speaker 2: Walter explodes off the ball and gets into the backfield,
Speaker 2: even though not necessarily the production numbers are there, but
Speaker 2: certainly sort of on that front. And in the next round,
Speaker 2: you're maybe talking about an no More Norman Lot out
Speaker 2: of Tennessee. It was really just kind of a designated
Speaker 2: pass rusher as a d tackle, which really is what
Speaker 2: Morgan Fox was to some degree.
Speaker 4: You know, you're right, So that's sort of.
Speaker 2: What you know a lot of Like I said, so
Speaker 2: many people have sort of So here's here's what I'm
Speaker 2: getting at. Like I'm looking at a figure if we
Speaker 2: just run like these mock draft simulators and we just
Speaker 2: do defense only so many because I've said repeatedly, I
Speaker 2: do think if Colston Lovelin's there, he's such an elite
Speaker 2: prospect that he would end up being the pick, even
Speaker 2: though they signed you know, Tyler Conklin and they have
Speaker 2: Will Disley. It's just to me that is looking at it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's just he's so good. He's so big, athletic, strong,
Speaker 2: great at the catch point, great after catch. It's the
Speaker 2: old it's the cliche with a tight end.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: He's too fast for linebackers, he's too big for defensive backs.
Speaker 2: There's nothing you can do, just nothing you can do.
Speaker 2: So but if we just focused on defense, and like
Speaker 2: right now, I ran it and Grants off the board,
Speaker 2: and I think Harmon's off the board.
Speaker 1: So you've got see I think is Harmon off the
Speaker 1: board here? He is not. So we've got Walter Nolan
Speaker 1: there do they where do they have? Geez?
Speaker 2: They got Derek Harmon ran forty second on this thing,
Speaker 2: so out of way. Sorry, I'm all out of this thing.
Speaker 2: So let me see if I can. So you have
Speaker 2: Walter Nolan, You've got I guess technically you could put
Speaker 2: edge into that mix a little like they have Omar
Speaker 2: Norman lot. Like I just mentioned this, this is what's
Speaker 2: so weird, and I think, sorry for going all over.
Speaker 1: The just go well, it's just people.
Speaker 2: I think people pay so close attention to these sort
Speaker 2: of rankings and just view them as okay, this is absolute.
Speaker 2: This is one person's opinion or two persons, two people.
Speaker 2: So just remember when you're looking at PFF and you're
Speaker 2: looking at their big board and you see Derek Harmon
Speaker 2: as all the way down at forty two. Will understand
Speaker 2: there are teams in the NFL. I know for a
Speaker 2: fact there are teams in the NFL that have him
Speaker 2: as a top twenty rated player. So if you feel like, oh,
Speaker 2: I was looking at PFF and they have him at
Speaker 2: forty two, the Chargers really reached to get Derek Harmon
Speaker 2: a No, he's just way up per their scouts and
Speaker 2: their evaluation. He's got a grade that's considerably higher. So
Speaker 2: it makes these exercises, these mock draft sort of, these
Speaker 2: mock drafts a little bit weird compared to what.
Speaker 3: That's a great point that you make, because a lot
Speaker 3: of times in the draft you see a guy go
Speaker 3: and then you'll see people like, but they chose him
Speaker 3: at fifteen, like he had a third round grade or
Speaker 3: a second everybody's different, like I said, like some people,
Speaker 3: everybody's scouting department, everybody's personnel department.
Speaker 4: Rates guys at differently, and we would never know what
Speaker 4: that is.
Speaker 3: Right, So with the mock draft, like you said, it's
Speaker 3: one or two guys' opinions, but those opinions really aren't valid.
Speaker 3: Those opinions really aren't concrete. It's their job, it's what
Speaker 3: they're supposed to do. So, like you said, if you
Speaker 3: see a guy off the board that goes way earlier
Speaker 3: than you would think they would go, or way earlier
Speaker 3: than Mel Copper would think, or to Todd McShay would think,
Speaker 3: it's because they've the front office has done their due
Speaker 3: diligence and they feel like he fits their scheme really well.
Speaker 3: They've done a background check, they love his personality, and
Speaker 3: they just or they love his upside.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: So it's like, I just can't wait for next week
Speaker 3: because once a year in and year out, you're going.
Speaker 4: To have those three or four picks, even in the.
Speaker 3: First round, first two round, where people are going to
Speaker 3: be scratching their head, and then come a year or
Speaker 3: two later, the statedum was full of his jerseys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, I would say, just look at
Speaker 2: the last two years on both sides of it. You know,
Speaker 2: last year's first round pick number five. Overall, there were
Speaker 2: a number of people out there that were like, oh,
Speaker 2: it's too tall.
Speaker 1: I'm worried.
Speaker 2: Man, he's tall, and I just I'm uncomfortable draft in
Speaker 2: a six foot eight tackle that high and you know,
Speaker 2: and the Chargers were like, no, we're good with it,
Speaker 2: you know. But there were people that were like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'd rather have Latham, he's a little more physical. I'd
Speaker 2: rather have Fuaga, he's a little bit more of a
Speaker 2: That was the conversation. I would trade down Joe, and
Speaker 2: now look where we are, you know, Chargers were right.
Speaker 2: Go back a year before that when they drafted Q,
Speaker 2: and people were like, oh wow, that's that's early for Q.
Speaker 2: I had him, you know, behind Jordan Addison and Zay
Speaker 2: Flowers and Dalton Kincaid and Sam Laport and all these guys.
Speaker 2: And it's like, well, yeah, but whoever was in the
Speaker 2: front office, that was their evaluation. They evaluated Q that
Speaker 2: they had him ahead of those guys or else they
Speaker 2: would have taken them. And you know, still time for
Speaker 2: him to prove that he can ultimately become better player,
Speaker 2: a better player than any of those guys that were
Speaker 2: taken behind him. But it works both ways. And that's
Speaker 2: just you know, every board is different, and that's why
Speaker 2: teams want to trade up, and that's why teams want
Speaker 2: to trade back because of just how they have all
Speaker 2: those things individually rated. So just again, omar Norman lot
Speaker 2: he's a fun watch man. He is you want to
Speaker 2: talk about. I don't know who the D line coaches
Speaker 2: at Tennessee, man, but those guys Julil they got just
Speaker 2: watching James Pearce and Norman Lott, I have not seen
Speaker 2: they're just get off. I haven't seen guys. Time the
Speaker 2: snap so it's like watching Warren sap Man. It's just
Speaker 2: like hike bang, Yeah, the tackle doesn't even know or
Speaker 2: the guards don't even know what the hell's going on,
Speaker 2: and Lot's already got a step on them. And same
Speaker 2: thing with Pierce, like they time it up so well.
Speaker 2: But Norman Lot, he didn't play any rundowns, like none,
Speaker 2: never out there.
Speaker 1: It's all pass.
Speaker 2: It's the weirdest and he is so he was so good,
Speaker 2: so they have him at twenty seven. Meanwhile, Derek Harmon
Speaker 2: led the nation in pressures quarterback pressures, is a defensive
Speaker 2: tackle and helped guide Oregon do an undefeated record, and
Speaker 2: they got him down at forty two. It's just so
Speaker 2: it's just weird the way that it all works. So
Speaker 2: if I were to I'm just going to do this exercise.
Speaker 2: If I were to take a dtackle in the first round,
Speaker 2: like we talked about, and I think, you know, why
Speaker 2: not take either Harmon or Nolan, the two explosive pass
Speaker 2: rush guys. Let's just I always go with Nolan. So
Speaker 2: I'll just mix it up here and take Harmon and
Speaker 2: then just see kind of how the rest of the
Speaker 2: draft plays out. When we get to corner in that
Speaker 2: second round. You know, you have some interesting players here.
Speaker 2: You got Benjamin Morrison from Notre Dame who had the injury.
Speaker 2: If he doesn't have the injury, he's probably going in
Speaker 2: the first round. I talked about Darien Porter. Here's your tools,
Speaker 2: you know your traits. Guy four to three, eleven foot broad,
Speaker 2: you know, forty inch vertical and he's six foot three,
Speaker 2: two hundred and he's played cornerback for So here's the
Speaker 2: thing about Porter, this is an interesting one.
Speaker 1: I'll get you.
Speaker 2: I want to get your take on this. So last
Speaker 2: year he plays twelve games, two hundred and three coverage
Speaker 2: snaps and he allows zero touchdowns, three interceptions. That's his
Speaker 2: year at Iowa State. It's his first year playing corner.
Speaker 2: First year, so there's not a lot of reps. And
Speaker 2: that's kind of what everybody's he's he was a wide receiver,
Speaker 2: so he's Richard Sherman. He's he's Richard Sherman at Stanford
Speaker 2: ninety percent tile in height and length. He is a
Speaker 2: track athlete as well, but sixth year player, so he's
Speaker 2: twenty four already.
Speaker 1: And he's a.
Speaker 2: Guy that blocked three punts too, by the way, So
Speaker 2: he's he's a special team's freaking studs. So how like
Speaker 2: where how do you reconcile all of that? Like, okay,
Speaker 2: we don't have a lot of tape. He's playing in
Speaker 2: the Big twelve, Like what do you like? What would
Speaker 2: you do with a with a traits sort of good
Speaker 2: production but just one year? How concerned would that make
Speaker 2: you to use a premium pick kind of guy like that?
Speaker 4: So I'm not when you say premium we talk round?
Speaker 4: Are we talk second round?
Speaker 1: Second round pick? You know?
Speaker 2: Look, last year second rounder was Lad mccacky. Year before that,
Speaker 2: second rounder was two Lee, So you know how important
Speaker 2: those second round picks are.
Speaker 3: Man, And it just it all depends on what cornerbacks
Speaker 3: are left right, It's not a heavy cornerback draft. What
Speaker 3: that being said, It's all about does the front office
Speaker 3: feel like, does Jim Harbaugh feel like? Does Jesse Minner
Speaker 3: feel like with that blank canvas that he's he has,
Speaker 3: can they mold him into somebody they feel like he
Speaker 3: can be Like, hey, okay, so if he had two
Speaker 3: more years of film doing that, he'd be a top
Speaker 3: ten pig.
Speaker 4: Off of size measurable and his productivity. But he doesn't.
Speaker 3: But he's a guy that you know what you draft
Speaker 3: in the second round, Like you said, special teams, guys
Speaker 3: need to give you productivity on special teams.
Speaker 4: And then he's going to be a guy that he
Speaker 4: can run with anybody.
Speaker 3: He has ball skills and he can basically track down
Speaker 3: any big time receiver, any fast receiver in the league.
Speaker 3: Now he has to understand technique which will be raw, right,
Speaker 3: technique fundamentals which will be raw, which they would have
Speaker 3: to harp on.
Speaker 4: In OTAs in training camp.
Speaker 3: But look, if there's not many guys that look like
Speaker 3: him and sound like him, right as as far as
Speaker 3: what he brings to the physical and the athletics side,
Speaker 3: if those top three corners that we spoke about are
Speaker 3: gone by the second round, which they could be.
Speaker 1: Right, I think by pick fifty three of the y, yeah,
Speaker 1: which they could be.
Speaker 3: He's just he's a he reminds me of kind of
Speaker 3: like Tarik Wold in Seattle. Right, That's what popped up
Speaker 3: in my head when you when you just mentioned all
Speaker 3: those attributes about him.
Speaker 4: So I don't think it's not reaching at all. They're
Speaker 4: not reaching at all.
Speaker 2: I think, look, I think it'd be it would probably
Speaker 2: be viewed as a reach, you know, because of But
Speaker 2: so I to me when I see like when I
Speaker 2: see Walter Nolan and and I think about Walter Nolan
Speaker 2: versus Derek Carmon, it's like, you know, so here's their
Speaker 2: floors for those that are watching, you know, here's Derek
Speaker 2: Carmon's floor, here's Walter Nolan's. Here's Walter Nolan's ceiling, here's
Speaker 2: Derek Carmon's ceiling. And I think about, we're putting them
Speaker 2: with Jesse min Er and Mike Elston. That's that's what
Speaker 2: I was and that's the thing with right, So that's
Speaker 2: what I'm thinking with Porter. It's like I'm putting him
Speaker 2: with Cling Scale and Jesse Minner, And it's like if
Speaker 2: you can take those tools and and just you know,
Speaker 2: like because he showed it, but it's just a year,
Speaker 2: and it's like, how, you know, how do you reconcile
Speaker 2: one year of you know, of playing core man in
Speaker 2: a possession that's all about feel and reps and because
Speaker 2: you know, you've got to be able to see it
Speaker 2: and if you can't see it, you're dead.
Speaker 4: Yeah, most so that's why I asked, what was the pick?
Speaker 4: What was the round?
Speaker 2: Right, So, yes, fifty five. So he's so like PFF
Speaker 2: has him as their sixty fourth player. The Chargers have
Speaker 2: picked fifty five.
Speaker 3: I think the Chargers would, I mean, the fan base
Speaker 3: would probably be very upset if we don't go running
Speaker 3: back at that pick or tight end or take that pick.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: So, yeah, don't hold me to it.
Speaker 3: We'll re visiting about a year from now and be
Speaker 3: talking about.
Speaker 4: It if he was you know, a reach or not
Speaker 4: for whoever grabs him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you still have Jacob Parrish. I like,
Speaker 2: no Williams out of cal He's more of a third
Speaker 2: round prospect, maybe even like late third round. And then,
Speaker 2: like I said, you've got the Benjamin Morrison you know
Speaker 2: who Again, had he not had the injury, would probably
Speaker 2: be in the conversation as you know, kind of the
Speaker 2: hip injuries, it's a hip surgery, would probably be in
Speaker 2: the conversation as being in that top three with those
Speaker 2: other guys, you know, beyond obviously Trivis Hunters, you know,
Speaker 2: don't know what to call him, receiver corner when.
Speaker 4: We think about that one second, what do you think
Speaker 4: about that?
Speaker 2: I think it's great. Good for him, man play them,
Speaker 2: play him and see how it goes. You know, that's
Speaker 2: kind of the way I would approach it is I
Speaker 2: didn't think there was any chance he was going to
Speaker 2: be able to do it in Colorado. It's like, there's
Speaker 2: no way he's going to do this, and he did,
Speaker 2: and he did it at a very high level, you know.
Speaker 4: And it looks very effortless.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's like why not you know, oh, you
Speaker 2: can't do that in the NFL?
Speaker 1: Well, just try, you know, just yeah, try.
Speaker 3: It's or if you have him at wide receiver and
Speaker 3: you only bring him in on third downs or past situations. Right,
Speaker 3: something sprinkling earlier in his career because the playbooks are
Speaker 3: totally different for those at home, Like that playbook looks
Speaker 3: like those books stack behind me all together.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: So I don't know about his learning curve, but it's
Speaker 3: gonna definitely be a learning curve compared to what you know,
Speaker 3: he had to consume at the college level on offense
Speaker 3: and defense.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, the one thing that I wouldn't do with
Speaker 2: him is corner heavy only, Like I would absolutely lean
Speaker 2: the other way just because you're on the you know,
Speaker 2: you have a better chance to impact the game. I
Speaker 2: think as a receiver especially on that team, you're immediately
Speaker 2: their number one receiver and you're immediately someone that the
Speaker 2: defensive courtner's like, oh man, this is a problem, yes sir,
Speaker 2: so you know, and he's still a really good corner
Speaker 2: as well. So like, I think that's but when I
Speaker 2: hear people say, oh no, I'd rather just I'd make
Speaker 2: him a corner and sprinkle him in on receiver stuff,
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, I don't know if that makes us,
Speaker 2: but whatever.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So anyway, that's job.
Speaker 1: So let's do this. What did I did? I do
Speaker 1: four rounds? Yeah, I did four rounds.
Speaker 2: So here we go. We'll take the corner. Well, we'll
Speaker 2: take our big swing, our home run swing on Darian
Speaker 2: Porter in the sec and round and just give him
Speaker 2: a clink and watch him do his magic. And then
Speaker 2: when it comes to tight end and running back, here
Speaker 2: we go. My guy's still there in the third round. Bang,
Speaker 2: I can take my Harold Fannin, my one of my
Speaker 2: favorite players, look like your former teammate gatesy out there
Speaker 2: the way he plays and you just can't figure out
Speaker 2: why this guy is getting open.
Speaker 1: Why I don't know, Antonio Gates is just open.
Speaker 2: That's what happens. It's how it works. At running back,
Speaker 2: I still have let's see, who do we have available
Speaker 2: at running back? We still have Travis's brother Trevor.
Speaker 1: At the end.
Speaker 2: That's a little little rich for him. Wow, running backs
Speaker 2: really went off the board. Harvey's gone, Scataboo's gone, Dylan
Speaker 2: Sampson's gone. Wow. Geez, all these quarterbacks, guys about Damian Martinez,
Speaker 2: all like him out of Miami. Dj Giddens I like
Speaker 2: out of Kansas State. Devin Neil's fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Dude.
Speaker 2: He wrecks the dudes. So I would be more apt
Speaker 2: to take And let's see wide receiver. This is probably okay.
Speaker 2: So Jalen Royal still there, Kyle Williams is still there,
Speaker 2: So you're still in good shape for receiver too. So
Speaker 2: I think I think that just you know, whichever whatever,
Speaker 2: I'll just I'll pick. I'll take Kyle Williams here. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'll take Kyle Williams. And then we'll see if like
Speaker 2: the gunner helms and those guys are are left in
Speaker 2: the fourth round, and if we can get our tight
Speaker 2: end there and let's see tight end we've got.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, they really screwed me on this.
Speaker 2: No gunner Helm Mitchell Evans is still there.
Speaker 4: Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1: Money, Yeah, here we go. How about running back? What
Speaker 1: do we got? Wow?
Speaker 2: These guys flew off the board. That's what makes this
Speaker 2: kind of fun.
Speaker 1: It's like, all right, well you're gonna go that's how
Speaker 1: it goes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you assume you're just gonna be able to say, hey, oh,
Speaker 2: by the way, J J.
Speaker 1: Pegeese went to pick ahead of this.
Speaker 2: That's a fun one, dude, if you want to kind
Speaker 2: of dial up some some YouTube videos.
Speaker 1: Piggies from Ole miss.
Speaker 2: He he's a squatty defensive tackle and a good player,
Speaker 2: really good player defensive tackle. But they line him up
Speaker 2: as a direct snap guy. And wow, not only does
Speaker 2: he take the direct snap and plow through the line,
Speaker 2: he will take the direct snap and Ladani and Tomlinson it.
Speaker 1: And he will leap over the line and you.
Speaker 2: Just see these linebackers like no, yeah, that's a business
Speaker 2: that's a business decision. It is hilarious to watch. I
Speaker 2: don't know how many touched it, but I mean he
Speaker 2: picked up. I mean every single one of these short
Speaker 2: yardage direct snaps. I watch every single one.
Speaker 4: I don't doubt it.
Speaker 2: Every single one and they got him in the So
Speaker 2: that's what's And like I was thinking about it, I
Speaker 2: was like, man, the Geese is like a big time
Speaker 2: Charger guy when they think of last year. I wish
Speaker 2: I could remember the stat but I pointed out the
Speaker 2: Chargers lined up with.
Speaker 1: Four.
Speaker 2: Let me think, if I have it right, I think
Speaker 2: it was no, no, no, So you have all five offensive lineman. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it was eight. The Chargers lined up with eight,
Speaker 2: at least eight players who weighed at least two hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty pounds. Let's just say it was the most
Speaker 2: in the NFL. And it was like seventy five times.
Speaker 2: The next team. I wish I could pull up this steat.
Speaker 2: Darned I had it in one of the games. The
Speaker 2: next team was like Baltimore with three because they had
Speaker 2: Tucker Fisk who was two sixty five, Matt Lock in
Speaker 2: the backfield, all five offensive linemen, and Will Disley. So
Speaker 2: you had those eight players on the field that were
Speaker 2: at least two hundred and sixty five pounds, Right, And
Speaker 2: then I think about Pegez and it's like, cause you know,
Speaker 2: for whatever it's worth, I get the sense that Herbert
Speaker 2: doesn't really like sneaking the ball, you know. I just
Speaker 2: I feel like that's, you know, not something that you
Speaker 2: know some court like Phil didn't like doing it.
Speaker 1: You know, Phil didn't. He did not let some players
Speaker 1: like it. Some players don't.
Speaker 3: So it's like, hey, those sneaks, those quarterbacks get teed
Speaker 3: off on.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean, because they know it's your chance.
Speaker 4: I used to Oh, QB sneak. I love it.
Speaker 1: That's what people don't realize, Like, what's this problem? Tell them?
Speaker 1: I can't tell them, Julie, why don't they like it?
Speaker 3: I mean, it's your chance to tee off from the
Speaker 3: quarterback without getting a penalty, Like you can hit him
Speaker 3: in the neck, back, shoulder, helmet decal. You're not getting
Speaker 3: a penalty because you're fighting for an inch. So it's
Speaker 3: like everything goes and the quarterbacks know that. They know that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So to me, it's like, Hey, draft Pigee in
Speaker 2: the fourth round, man, and just freaking tell Herbert you're
Speaker 2: good dude. Hey the geese get in there, man, let's
Speaker 2: go that.
Speaker 4: I just that'd be a toush push in a half.
Speaker 1: It's not even a toush push.
Speaker 2: It's a get the hell out of my way here
Speaker 2: because here comes my tush, you know, here comes my
Speaker 2: uh let me get what it's measurables are, here comes
Speaker 2: my six two, three hundred and twenty five pound body.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it is so fun to watch man,
Speaker 2: and it just to me. It's like this guy is
Speaker 2: made for Jim Harbaugh and his made for Greg Roman.
Speaker 1: So there you go. That's so we're on the clock.
Speaker 2: Here are four of the round I would have taken
Speaker 2: pigise had had he been there. What the hell, I'll
Speaker 2: take two defensive tackles in the first four. You are
Speaker 2: u uh, there's boy.
Speaker 1: Yeh boy. Let's go to what what did I take
Speaker 1: the wide receiver? I think I did? Ye, yes, I did.
Speaker 1: I took the wide receivers.
Speaker 2: So I'm looking at tight and let's see what's there anyway, whatever,
Speaker 2: not important, that'll do it.
Speaker 1: That's fun. And with Pogisee, everybody, that's your homework. Go
Speaker 1: uh back.
Speaker 4: Literally when we get off, I'm looking him up.
Speaker 1: I gotta check him.
Speaker 2: Out off the YouTube and just just jj it's p
Speaker 2: e g u e s pronounced peggise Uh p e
Speaker 2: g u e s. Just whatever search on YouTube JJ
Speaker 2: Pegisse direct snap Man have some fun. Jealous that you're
Speaker 2: gonna see it. I keep going back and I'm like,
Speaker 2: I can't get enough of this. It's so good. All right,
Speaker 2: Well that again, Well I think that'll do it. Just
Speaker 2: there's you know, we've kind of been talking in circles
Speaker 2: a little bit because we're just waiting. Man, we're a
Speaker 2: week away one. Yeah, and by the way, next week,
Speaker 2: we'll do the pod after the draft. Obviously we're not
Speaker 2: going to do it before, so we'll wait till the
Speaker 2: end of the first round. We'll do it late, same
Speaker 2: thing on Friday. We'll knock that out as well after
Speaker 2: the Friday draft, so we'll get you to next week
Speaker 2: to cover those first three rounds.
Speaker 1: And it's fun.
Speaker 2: Man, really enjoyed it, Julil everybody check out JJ Piggy's
Speaker 2: that's a fun watch and uh yeah, and we'll be
Speaker 2: back again next week.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you, everybody, both out