Speaker 1: Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, present a
Speaker 1: buy seatcake. You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers
Speaker 1: that cover the NFL on a daily basis. The New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2: Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here,
Speaker 2: we are starting our Draft preview podcast leading up to
Speaker 2: the NFL Draft April twenty four through twenty six. We'll
Speaker 2: have three a week breaking down the prospects, what the
Speaker 2: other NFC South teams are looking to do, and of course,
Speaker 2: what could be in store for the Saints. With pro
Speaker 2: days wrapping up, we are focusing on LSU prospects today.
Speaker 2: As the Tigers held their pro day last Wednesday, there
Speaker 2: was a lot of noise coming out of the combine
Speaker 2: about top offensive tackle Will Campbell and his arm length,
Speaker 2: his measurement Wednesday, silence that noise.
Speaker 3: For two years, nobody had any measurements on me and
Speaker 3: nobody said anything about my play. So now all of
Speaker 3: a sudden, Armley decides if I'm a good player or not.
Speaker 3: I think it's bs, But you know, any decision makers
Speaker 3: in the NFL, they don't really care as all. You know,
Speaker 3: people who don't coach, and they don't coach for a reason.
Speaker 2: Campbell measured thirty three inches, which is viewed as the
Speaker 2: threshold for NFL tackles. Tight End Mason Taylor participated in
Speaker 2: on field drills after opting out at the combine. Taylor
Speaker 2: said a lot of his time in Indie and when
Speaker 2: meeting with teams is on showing what teams are getting
Speaker 2: on and off the field.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I just really try to pride myself
Speaker 4: in any meeting I talked to a team being that
Speaker 4: all around guy, all around player as a tight end,
Speaker 4: you know, doing whatever is asked of him, whatever's on
Speaker 4: my plate, and kind of being a guy that's an
Speaker 4: every down player as a tight end and doing everything
Speaker 4: in the run game past game. So that's really what
Speaker 4: I pride.
Speaker 5: Myself on, what I try to sell myself on.
Speaker 4: And then also just being myself in those meetings, you know, laughing,
Speaker 4: jogging around with the guys, you know, meeting new people
Speaker 4: and just being myself, showing my character and you know,
Speaker 4: things are things are bigger than an athlete from me
Speaker 4: just being a better person and you know, being that
Speaker 4: locker room guy and that great teammates also what I
Speaker 4: try to pride myself on and so myself to these teams.
Speaker 2: For today's podcast guest, I'm bringing in longtime NFL running back,
Speaker 2: former Texas back, and current ESPN analyst Fozzie Whittaker. Whittaker
Speaker 2: was on hand covering LSU's Pro Day for SEC Network
Speaker 2: and had some great insight into the potential draftees. Fazzi,
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining me on the New
Speaker 2: Orleans Saints podcast. I knew the minute I saw you
Speaker 2: at LSU Pro Day that you are going to be
Speaker 2: my guy to break down the LSU prospects for me,
Speaker 2: so I appreciate it. How are you.
Speaker 5: I'm doing fantastic vins, Aaron, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 5: I'm excited to talk about the NFL drafted LSU Pro
Speaker 5: Day did not dis the point in the slightest. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean last year there was so much hype around
Speaker 2: their pro day just because the class was so loaded
Speaker 2: with Jayden Daniels, Malik Neighbors. But there were quite a
Speaker 2: few people out there at this pro day as well.
Speaker 2: Six got drafted last year. How many LSU players do
Speaker 2: you think are going this year?
Speaker 5: I think for sure. I have five on my mind,
Speaker 5: and it obviously starts off with standout tackle Will Campbell,
Speaker 5: who clocked in thirty three inches on the arm, so
Speaker 5: his arms actually grew since the last time he was
Speaker 5: at the NFL Combine when he was measured there. He'll
Speaker 5: be most likely a top ten NFL pick to one
Speaker 5: of the teams that likes him the best, and a
Speaker 5: lot of different draft boards. I've seen him as the
Speaker 5: top tackle, I've seen him as the second tackle, and
Speaker 5: sometimes even as the third tackle, but regardless, I think
Speaker 5: he still will get drafted in that top ten range.
Speaker 5: He didn't participate at all in the Pro Day. He
Speaker 5: let his tape as well as as his performance at
Speaker 5: the Combine kind of do the speaking for him, and
Speaker 5: typically that's what we see of some of those big,
Speaker 5: high caliber athletes like Will Campbell. But it was really
Speaker 5: cool getting to see him in person, comparing you know,
Speaker 5: different size and metrics, in particular Kelvin Banks. I was
Speaker 5: able to do Texas Pro Day the day prior, so
Speaker 5: on Tuesday I got to see Kelvin Banks work out,
Speaker 5: and then that following day I got to see Will
Speaker 5: Campbell in person as well and comparing them to two
Speaker 5: of the top tackles in the NFL Draft. This upcoming April,
Speaker 5: I thought was really neat and really cool and I
Speaker 5: was just happy to be there. But definitely Will Campbell
Speaker 5: is the top prospect there. You look at Brayden Swinson,
Speaker 5: who I really love as an edge prospect, probably fits
Speaker 5: in a three four scheme as an outside linebacker. Really
Speaker 5: came on his senior year, his last year there at LSU,
Speaker 5: and the thing that impressed me the most was how
Speaker 5: much his past rush presence increased. And obviously the production
Speaker 5: speaks for self. Eight and a half stacks, double digit
Speaker 5: TFLs as well as just being a factor and a
Speaker 5: leader on this football team. I believe he has the
Speaker 5: possibility and chances to really sneak into that second round
Speaker 5: and be a solidify a second round prospect, and somebody
Speaker 5: will be able to utilize him in year number one.
Speaker 5: In his rookie season, he also was in attendance there.
Speaker 5: Did not do anything combine related to the measurements, but
Speaker 5: that was it didn't partake in any of the on
Speaker 5: field drills or exercises, and for the most part, I
Speaker 5: think the film also was speaking for itself in regards
Speaker 5: to Brayden Swinson the one that I was most intrigued
Speaker 5: to watch those with Mason Taylor another combine standout that
Speaker 5: brew proved how well and how soft he can track
Speaker 5: and catch the ball at the combine. But some of
Speaker 5: the questions that needed to be answered was what was
Speaker 5: his top end speed, like, what was his blocking ability
Speaker 5: going to be like in comparison to what he's been
Speaker 5: able to do as you know, the more prolific tight
Speaker 5: end that has ever come through LSU doors. And I
Speaker 5: think he put a lot of those questions to rest
Speaker 5: with his pro day performance. Didn't need to catch like
Speaker 5: I said, because he did so well at the combine,
Speaker 5: but he showcased how versatile he can be as an
Speaker 5: inline blocker and sometimes even whenever he's out on the perimeter.
Speaker 5: Some of the scouts had him doing specific blocking drills
Speaker 5: to gauge where his strength and his power is and
Speaker 5: not to mention the strength twenty eight reps on the
Speaker 5: bench press for Mason Taylor, so not only can he
Speaker 5: do it as a receiving threat, but also can do
Speaker 5: it whenever they need to put his hands in a
Speaker 5: dirt and a lot of people were referencing his style
Speaker 5: of play to George Kittle, and that's a great comp obviously,
Speaker 5: somebody that's done it at a very high level in
Speaker 5: the NFL. If Mason Taylor can do some of the
Speaker 5: things that made George Kittle successful, then I think Mason
Speaker 5: Taylor has an opportunity to have a standout career in
Speaker 5: the NFL. So those are a couple of the top
Speaker 5: prospects that I was able to witness. Emery Jones will
Speaker 5: be another one. I think Miles Fraser also can be
Speaker 5: a late round draft pick that'll be getting attention. But
Speaker 5: definitely some exciting athletes that showcase their abilities. Coward Lacy
Speaker 5: also receiver as well, that had a lot of scouts
Speaker 5: watching what he did, and I think I think he
Speaker 5: helped himself putting on you know, kind of receiving clinic
Speaker 5: and being able to showcase what he can do as
Speaker 5: a receiver as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple of players I want to kind of
Speaker 2: go back and highlight here. You mentioned off the top,
Speaker 2: Will Campbell, because yes, everybody was obsessed with how quote
Speaker 2: unquote short his arms were, as thirty three supposed to
Speaker 2: be the threshold for the NFL tackle. He was really
Speaker 2: interesting talking to him afterwards. I mean, he did not
Speaker 2: appreciate people's perspective on that and what people were saying,
Speaker 2: and rightfully so, he's very confident in his work on
Speaker 2: the field and what he does and said that the
Speaker 2: feedback that he got from a lot of people in
Speaker 2: the NFL was he could very much be a tackle
Speaker 2: at the next level. Did you think there was a
Speaker 2: little bit too much made about that because it really
Speaker 2: wasn't a big difference. Thirty two and five eighths and
Speaker 2: thirty three doesn't seem like a huge difference.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna tell you this, Aaron, just like any any
Speaker 5: time that football season is not in play, everything is
Speaker 5: blown out of proportion. And obviously it starts with the
Speaker 5: NFL combine, it starts in media have.
Speaker 2: To find stories to talk.
Speaker 6: About exactly and you and I both know, but from
Speaker 6: my perspective and just from an analyst perspective as well
Speaker 6: as a former football player, professionally.
Speaker 5: If you can ball, that's what matters most. And I
Speaker 5: guarantee as the scouts that are scouting Will Campbell and
Speaker 5: anybody else that was perceived to have measurables that weren't
Speaker 5: ideal to the stereotypical type of tackle or the Joe
Speaker 5: Burrow hand incident more recently as well. Anybody that turns
Speaker 5: on the tape and says, hey, we're not going to
Speaker 5: draft this guy because he doesn't have thirty three inch arms,
Speaker 5: it is probably not in the right position to actually
Speaker 5: make decisions for that NFL football team. If you turn
Speaker 5: on the tape for Will Campbell, I mentioned it earlier,
Speaker 5: speaks for itself. But the thing that stands out to
Speaker 5: me the most is how calm and patient he is
Speaker 5: in his set. He went up against guys that had
Speaker 5: long goarms in the SEC he went up against some
Speaker 5: of the best pass rushers in the country, and seeing
Speaker 5: the way he stayed patient, confident, and comfortable within the pocket,
Speaker 5: keeping it clean, letting Gared Nussmeyer do exactly what gart
Speaker 5: Nussmeyer does, throwing for over four thousand yards. That's truly
Speaker 5: what NFL teams and scouts are clamoring about now. From
Speaker 5: a media perspective, yeah, we're gonna blow it out of proportion.
Speaker 5: That's our job, right to make sure the storylines are
Speaker 5: rolling in the headlines. If something looks a little bit different,
Speaker 5: well we got to highlight that different because there's not
Speaker 5: too many other stories that are happening during this time
Speaker 5: for preparation of the NFL Draft, and so the arm
Speaker 5: reachs does get blown out of proportion quite a bit.
Speaker 5: But whenever you throw on the tape, you start to
Speaker 5: see how consistent of a player he is. And that's
Speaker 5: not just from this season, but you go back even
Speaker 5: to last year. You see the consistency play in and
Speaker 5: play out. You see the consistency weekend week out, year
Speaker 5: in year out, and that's what made him a three
Speaker 5: year starter since he stepped foot in Baton Rouge, and
Speaker 5: that's what truly is going to separate him as being
Speaker 5: one of the most dependable guys in this NFL draft
Speaker 5: because of how many games he started consecutively since he
Speaker 5: stepped on the field. Then miss naps always was a
Speaker 5: staple whenever you're talking about protecting the blind side of
Speaker 5: the quarterback and then showcasing like it doesn't matter what
Speaker 5: my metrics say. I'm a football player and I can
Speaker 5: play left tackle in an elite level, and I think
Speaker 5: and I believe he'll be able to do that at
Speaker 5: the next level as well in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I loved his attitude about it, and he was
Speaker 2: very confident and good for him. When you think about
Speaker 2: Mason Taylor, obviously everybody thinks about his father and knows
Speaker 2: that he comes from NFL pedigree, but he looks like
Speaker 2: an NFL player. He looks the part. And he said
Speaker 2: he didn't participate in the on field work at the
Speaker 2: Combine because he still wanted to train for it. It's
Speaker 2: kind of weird to me that you have to train
Speaker 2: for these drills at a combine or a pro day
Speaker 2: differently than you actually would train to actually play the
Speaker 2: game that you're going to be drafted for. What is
Speaker 2: your take on the point the purpose of these pro
Speaker 2: days versus people participating or not? You know, how much
Speaker 2: do the measurements matter versus what you're seeing on film.
Speaker 5: It's funny you bring that up, because that was a
Speaker 5: question that I asked several of the LSU Pro Day participants.
Speaker 5: The common thing was like, Hey, now I get a
Speaker 5: chance to not train for the forty but actually train
Speaker 5: for football, because that's the most important aspect, right. We
Speaker 5: sometimes can lose sighte as fans, as people that are
Speaker 5: on looking, even as media members, we can lose sight
Speaker 5: of what the real goal is during these opportunities and
Speaker 5: during this timeframe, right, we do get to see a
Speaker 5: glimpse of what your top end speed looks like in
Speaker 5: the forty yard dash, and I thought Mason Taylor really
Speaker 5: helped himself out. Unofficially we were able to clock them
Speaker 5: at a four or five nine. That's what several scouts
Speaker 5: were able to clock in his pro day, And I thought, maamn,
Speaker 5: if you turn on the tape, you don't necessarily see
Speaker 5: four or five nine jump off the page. But it's
Speaker 5: because of how smooth he runs, how effortless he looks,
Speaker 5: and then the way that he runs his routes. It
Speaker 5: almost seems as though he's running the same speed the
Speaker 5: entire time, which makes it very difficult for linebackers and
Speaker 5: safeties to cover and try to find an edge on
Speaker 5: defending a guy like Mason Taylor. But these scouts, whenever
Speaker 5: you get them all in a place and they get
Speaker 5: that clock out, they get their time four or five nine,
Speaker 5: they woe. Okay, we had this guy pigged. It's maybe
Speaker 5: a four to six eight four seventy one type of guy,
Speaker 5: and he comes out here he wows us with a
Speaker 5: four or five nine. That's what the combine and the
Speaker 5: pro day is typically four right. It's just an additional
Speaker 5: data point to help prove what you've already analyzed from
Speaker 5: the on tape production, because ultimately, on field production is
Speaker 5: going to be the basis of where everyone is being
Speaker 5: perceived to be drafted at or what their draft grade is.
Speaker 5: And if you participated in the Senior Bowl or if
Speaker 5: you got an invite to the East West Shrine Game,
Speaker 5: any of these additional bowl games that you get a
Speaker 5: chance to meet with scouts and they get to see
Speaker 5: you practice against some other top tier opponents. That's an
Speaker 5: early glimpse as well, and additional data points for some
Speaker 5: of these NFL teams to get hands on experience with
Speaker 5: a lot of these draft eligible guys. So, Mason Taylor,
Speaker 5: you already mentioned it, the family pedigree and the heritage
Speaker 5: that he possesses. He's already been prepared for a moment
Speaker 5: like this, But seeing the way that he went out
Speaker 5: there and seized that moment last Wednesday, I thought was
Speaker 5: truly impressive and in the showcase how good of a
Speaker 5: pro athlete he can be. He possesses the mindset and
Speaker 5: what it means to be an actual pro and then
Speaker 5: all the scouts, all the coaches, and even GM guys,
Speaker 5: those that sit in the office, those that were in attendance,
Speaker 5: can say, Hey, we know we're going to get out
Speaker 5: of this guy over thirteen hundred yards of production since
Speaker 5: he was the tight end at LSU. Let's go ahead
Speaker 5: and see how we can continue to make our pick
Speaker 5: feel as though we are more confident in it by saying, hey, okay,
Speaker 5: whenever we need a one on one difference maker on
Speaker 5: third down, how does Mason Taylor become that guy for us?
Speaker 5: And they can reflect back on the four or five nine.
Speaker 5: They can reflect back on him being able to pass
Speaker 5: pro and then leak out into the flats if that's
Speaker 5: something they need him to do. They can reflect on
Speaker 5: how his hands are soft, or whenever you need a
Speaker 5: big play e overtime as a true freshman against Alabama,
Speaker 5: we know the moment does not get too big for
Speaker 5: a guy like Mason Taylor. So they use a lot
Speaker 5: of the combine as well as the pro day type
Speaker 5: of setting to be able to re emphasize and reinforce
Speaker 5: some of the traits that they've already been able to
Speaker 5: witness them partake in whenever they play their previous seasons
Speaker 5: or in previ or in seasons prior.
Speaker 2: I think somebody who maybe grabs some attention that he
Speaker 2: wasn't already having was running back Josh Williams with his numbers,
Speaker 2: I mean, a forty two and a half introvert is insane,
Speaker 2: and then he ran a four five point forty, which
Speaker 2: was obviously the fastest there, but again extremely quick. How
Speaker 2: do you think he helped himself out with his ability
Speaker 2: to showcase his speed its athleticism at the Pro Day?
Speaker 5: Yeah, the number one thing. And so many people have
Speaker 5: already talked about the storyline of Josh Williams, but I
Speaker 5: have to start there before I even get into his
Speaker 5: performance at Pro Day. Is his performance whenever he first
Speaker 5: stepped on campus right originally as a walk on, overlooked,
Speaker 5: wanted the opportunity to play at the university that he
Speaker 5: grew up loving and supporting, and he finally got that opportunity.
Speaker 5: And whenever that opportunity came for him to actually step
Speaker 5: onto the field, he sees every moment and advantage And
Speaker 5: that's the type of work ethic, that's the type of guy,
Speaker 5: that's the type of pro player that you're going to
Speaker 5: get out of Josh Williams. And then it shows you
Speaker 5: the sign of respect that he has amongst his teammates,
Speaker 5: being awarded the number eighteen number in this previous year,
Speaker 5: of being the leader, of being what it means to
Speaker 5: be an LSU Tiger, not only on the field, but
Speaker 5: as well as off of the field, and being able
Speaker 5: to graduate with two degrees from LSU and he did
Speaker 5: it with an NBA. We all know how hard that
Speaker 5: can be, as well as managing his time, being able
Speaker 5: to make it to practice, study for the proper things,
Speaker 5: and then now prepare for the NFL Draft and take
Speaker 5: part in LSU Pro Day. I thought he really made
Speaker 5: some money. So I say all of those things to
Speaker 5: give you a little backdrop about Josh Williams and how
Speaker 5: he's already been prepared to be a pro right his
Speaker 5: start in college. He already was behind all of the
Speaker 5: other scholarship guys, and even this year, splitting carries was
Speaker 5: something that probably he didn't think he wanted to do
Speaker 5: or he didn't think was going to happen, But having
Speaker 5: the opportunity and ability to be prepared for the moment
Speaker 5: to show up and show out whenever the opportunity presented itself,
Speaker 5: whenever he need to do that, I thought was shrutly amazing,
Speaker 5: and that gives you an insight on the type of
Speaker 5: preparation that he's had, not necessarily just for this past
Speaker 5: season at LSU, but also his preparation for the pro
Speaker 5: day enshowing you how the pro type of mentality and
Speaker 5: approach that he's been able to attake can help him
Speaker 5: be more of a draftable or even signed as a
Speaker 5: free agent type of guy. And I think him as
Speaker 5: a physical specimen. I don't know if you've ever been
Speaker 5: able to see Josh Williams in person, but this guy
Speaker 5: looks like a Greek god and he is built like
Speaker 5: a just a fighting machine, built like a refrigerator on steroids.
Speaker 5: And he's not on steroids. I'm not saying that he is.
Speaker 5: I'm just saying this guy looks like he is in
Speaker 5: physical shape, and that's what you want to see right
Speaker 5: at pro day's. I've witnessed several in the past where
Speaker 5: guys show up, they're out of shape, they're tired after
Speaker 5: going four or five reps. They don't look like they
Speaker 5: prepared for in the proper way of this being probably
Speaker 5: the most important job interview of their life, especially for
Speaker 5: their future career. If being and partaking in the NFL
Speaker 5: is what they ultimately want to achieve. That's not the
Speaker 5: case with Josh Williams. He showed up prepared, ready to go,
Speaker 5: and then whatever his number was called, he proved to
Speaker 5: a point that hey, I've been doubted my entire career.
Speaker 5: I've been doubted since I stepped foot in Baton Rouge
Speaker 5: on campus. I've been doubted by other people that have said, hey,
Speaker 5: you're not a number one starting running back type of
Speaker 5: caliber player at a university like LSU. Well, let me
Speaker 5: show you all the type of work that I put in,
Speaker 5: and let me show you why you couldn't be more
Speaker 5: far from the truth, because this is who he is.
Speaker 5: That's what he's been since he stepped foot on campus.
Speaker 5: So from an NFL perspective, from a scout perspective, they
Speaker 5: know exactly what they're going to get with Josh Williams.
Speaker 5: They know exactly the type of guy that's wanting to
Speaker 5: show up, go to work, stay extra, to be able
Speaker 5: to do the things that a lot of rookies may
Speaker 5: not want to do. It's just unfortunate his start happening
Speaker 5: a little bit slower in his progression of being one
Speaker 5: of the top backs at LSU. It just took a
Speaker 5: little bit longer to get there, and that may hurt
Speaker 5: him from a draftable position perspective, But at the end
Speaker 5: of the day, I do truly believe he'll get an
Speaker 5: invite to somebody's camp or have an opportunity to be
Speaker 5: a free agent deal. And that's whenever he gets a
Speaker 5: chance to make the biggest impression and showcase why he
Speaker 5: is one of the type of pros that NFL scouts
Speaker 5: and coaches always clamor about having in a locker room.
Speaker 2: You could almost see the emotion come out of him
Speaker 2: when he ran the forty. You know, all the work
Speaker 2: that he's put in his journey from being a walk
Speaker 2: on to getting a spot on the squad, and then
Speaker 2: the performance that he was put on. I mean, he
Speaker 2: let out a scream and pounded his chest and he
Speaker 2: was completely fired up and rightfully so after his forty,
Speaker 2: and you couldn't help but be happy for him. After
Speaker 2: his performance for Pro Day, there was somebody there that
Speaker 2: obviously got to display some of their skills in front
Speaker 2: of the scouts that isn't draft eligible, with quarterback Garrett Nesmeier,
Speaker 2: somebody who now with his dad on the Saints staff
Speaker 2: is gonna be close to our area, a lot of
Speaker 2: LSU fans here as well. What do you think that
Speaker 2: we're gonna see from him once Draft Day comes? He's
Speaker 2: got another year at LSU. Do you like how he's
Speaker 2: rowing though there at the Pro Day?
Speaker 5: Absolutely, And got a chance to speak with him as
Speaker 5: well once Pro Day finished up, and Garrett was gracious
Speaker 5: enough to share some of his time with us, and
Speaker 5: I asked him straight up, Hey, your dad has taken
Speaker 5: part in a probably countless number of workouts, whether it's
Speaker 5: as a coach, whether it's as a scout, whether it
Speaker 5: was as a player, the combine, Pro Day's across the board.
Speaker 5: He knows exactly what happens. He knows what it's supposed
Speaker 5: to look like. He knows the guys that have prepared
Speaker 5: well for the moment, and he knows the guys that
Speaker 5: haven't necessarily prepared well for the moment. I can say
Speaker 5: Garrettnusmeyer was adequately prepared for trying to put his players
Speaker 5: and his teammates in the best life. And I thought
Speaker 5: he did a phenomenal job slinging the rock I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 5: I got to see the kind of transition of Kelvin
Speaker 5: Banks the day prior at Texas pro Da. So Will
Speaker 5: Campbell obviously just from a size perspective, Well, I go
Speaker 5: from quinn Ewers on the prior on Tuesday, and then
Speaker 5: I get to see Garrett Nuttsmeyer and I got to
Speaker 5: see them actually in person throwing the same type of
Speaker 5: routes in the balls that I see. And I can
Speaker 5: say Garrett Nutsmeyer absolutely looks the part. And quin viewers
Speaker 5: had a really good pro day, and I thought Garrett
Speaker 5: Nussmeyer had an excellent pro day the way he was
Speaker 5: able to place the ball in the bucket, throwing to
Speaker 5: Colin Lacy, throwing to Josh Williams, just having that opportunity
Speaker 5: to showcase how talented he is. And we've got to
Speaker 5: remember he was only a first year starter last year, right,
Speaker 5: that was his first time actually actually stepping foot on
Speaker 5: the field as the true kind of leader, following in
Speaker 5: the footsteps of what Jane Dames was able to do.
Speaker 5: And so now you look at year number two and
Speaker 5: the expectations of what they're going through currently and spring ball.
Speaker 5: So having the opportunity to let obviously to have coach say, hey,
Speaker 5: it is fine for you to do this. We had
Speaker 5: Pratt this yesterday, and you know we're in the midst
Speaker 5: of preparing for season twenty twenty five, but hey, this
Speaker 5: is a great chance for you to showcase your skills.
Speaker 5: And I tried to frame the question in that light.
Speaker 5: It was like, hey, what do you want to showcase
Speaker 5: for your teammates? What do you want to showcase for
Speaker 5: your spell And the ultimate respect that a guy like
Speaker 5: Gary Nussmi, the leader of this twenty twenty five LSU
Speaker 5: football team, said, was I'm not here for me. I'm
Speaker 5: here to help my brothers. I'm here to throw to
Speaker 5: them one last time in preparation and help improve their
Speaker 5: draft stock. Whatever scouts think of me, I could care less.
Speaker 5: Right now, I'll get my moment. He didn't say those words,
Speaker 5: but that's how I perceived it. It's like my time
Speaker 5: is coming. I'll get a chance to do this next
Speaker 5: year if Lord says the same. But right now, it's
Speaker 5: about all of the guys around being Not only was
Speaker 5: he able to throw to Kyraen Lacy and Josh Williams,
Speaker 5: but he even has some of his current LSU receivers
Speaker 5: and tight ends take part in prote to help give
Speaker 5: those other guys a breathe, but at the same time,
Speaker 5: we all know it's an open interview. And the way
Speaker 5: he was able to execute the passes, the way the
Speaker 5: chemistry flowed between all of those guys within that room
Speaker 5: that were getting ready to run the next route. That's
Speaker 5: the type of leader that Garrett Nasmyer is. He's not
Speaker 5: only a ball player, but he elevates the game of
Speaker 5: the people around him. And you saw that with the
Speaker 5: offensive line. You saw that with the running backs with
Speaker 5: Josh William, even Kaden Durham, the standout freshman that was
Speaker 5: able to get some carries. And then obviously the receivers
Speaker 5: Mason Taylor, Kward and Lacy, all the guys around him
Speaker 5: in the new additions finding out what it's like to
Speaker 5: be in the locker room with a guy like Garrett Nesmyer.
Speaker 5: I thought he really proved he can be a valuable asset.
Speaker 5: He can be one of the top quarterbacks coming back
Speaker 5: in this upcoming draft for next year, and I thought
Speaker 5: he performed admirably. Prepared for the moment. Obviously, some of
Speaker 5: that comes from his father in the same way we
Speaker 5: talked about Mathan Taylor being prepared for the moment, but
Speaker 5: At the end of the day, you can only lead
Speaker 5: a horse to the water, you can't force them to
Speaker 5: drink it. And that's what Mason Taylor and Garrett Nessmeyer
Speaker 5: we're able to do is I can say they drank
Speaker 5: the entire well dry improved in showcase why the talent
Speaker 5: pool is rich within that family name.
Speaker 2: Yeah, LSU has had a rich talent pool for a while.
Speaker 2: And the quarterbacks, I don't know, they seem to get
Speaker 2: better the more time they spend there. Jayden Daniels came on,
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow came on. So maybe Garrettnsmeyer is just going
Speaker 2: to have a breakout season next year and we're going
Speaker 2: to be talking a lot more about him leading into
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty six draft. But looking at this twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five draft, what are you looking forward to the
Speaker 2: most or storylines?
Speaker 5: Yeah, overall, outside of LSU perspective and outside of Texas perspective,
Speaker 5: the two pro days that I was able to attend,
Speaker 5: my biggest question mark is where is Travis Hunter going
Speaker 5: to get drafted and where will he start his NFL career.
Speaker 5: Will it be at wide receiver on the offensive side
Speaker 5: of the ball, it will it be as a cornerback
Speaker 5: on the defensive side of the ball. And then how
Speaker 5: will these teams use him in special teams? Being as
Speaker 5: dynamic of a punt returner as he is, will that
Speaker 5: be on display for that NFL team? And obviously so
Speaker 5: many different question marks thwill around the draft order. There's
Speaker 5: been so many different mock drafts I can tell you
Speaker 5: right now probably within the history of drafts, has there
Speaker 5: ever been one correctly mocked prior to the draft, actually,
Speaker 5: because we can't tell what trades are going to go
Speaker 5: down and what one team is willing to give up
Speaker 5: in order to move up a few spots to get
Speaker 5: the cornerstone piece that they believe will be their franchise player.
Speaker 5: I believe Travis Hunter has that type of ability to
Speaker 5: be able to warrant being a franchise player and building
Speaker 5: around him is extremely important for whatever team goes and
Speaker 5: gets him. But will that be at the number two spot,
Speaker 5: will that be at the number three spot, maybe it's
Speaker 5: even at the number one spot. Does he fall back
Speaker 5: outside of the top five? Like those are all question
Speaker 5: marks that intrigue me because we haven't quite seen a
Speaker 5: player like him since maybe Champ Bailey did it at Georgia.
Speaker 5: But even then it's still slightly different from the impact
Speaker 5: that Travis Hunter was able to provide as the reigning
Speaker 5: Heisman Trophy winner as well. And just seeing what team
Speaker 5: values the skill set that he possesses and how they
Speaker 5: may utilize him. I think that's my biggest, kind of
Speaker 5: most intriguing storyline that I want to see unfold in
Speaker 5: this twenty twenty five NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's definitely going to be a really interesting one
Speaker 2: for sure. There's a lot to look forward to as
Speaker 2: we approach the draft. April twenty fourth. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for breaking some stuff down for me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Great insight.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, thank you, And hopefully I don't have any more
Speaker 5: allergies of coughing attacks take me out while I'm trying
Speaker 5: to talk about some of the NFL draft prospects.
Speaker 2: Hey, I'm just glad that that LSU tight end didn't
Speaker 2: take you out when he was flying into this set
Speaker 2: over there during the pro day, because I was dicey
Speaker 2: for a little bit.
Speaker 5: It was very dicey. I had a moment in myself,
Speaker 5: do I step in front of him to be able
Speaker 5: to kind of break his fall, or would he in
Speaker 5: turn break me and I ultimately went with self preservation.
Speaker 5: So sorry if I wasn't able to catch you with
Speaker 5: tome I had on my snoup. I didn't want to
Speaker 5: get dirty, I didn't want to get hurt, so I
Speaker 5: took the self preservation rat.
Speaker 2: Hey fair enough and he was fine. He didn't end
Speaker 2: up running into any of the equipment, so everybody can
Speaker 2: walk away, you know, okay with that, But again I
Speaker 2: appreciate it, Thank you so.
Speaker 5: Much, Thank you, Aaron. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2: Okay. So for some clarity on the whole running out
Speaker 2: of bounds saving yourself incident, there was an LSU tight
Speaker 2: end that was catching in between reps for the prospects.
Speaker 2: He dove for a ball, continued his momentum out of
Speaker 2: bounds right towards where the SEC network setup was. He
Speaker 2: took out a stansion, but as I said, no one
Speaker 2: was hurt. He ended up falling short of the camera equipment,
Speaker 2: the lighting, everything that was set up, so nothing was
Speaker 2: damaged and he got up just fine. For Wednesday's episode,
Speaker 2: we'll be bringing in former Saints quarterback Luke McCown who
Speaker 2: will break down the quarterback prospects in the draft and
Speaker 2: Friday it's John Stinchcum who joins me to talk offensive lineman.
Speaker 2: We are less than a month away, so get your
Speaker 2: draft boards ready.
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