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Speaker 1: Hey Colts fans.

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Speaker 2: I'm JJ Stankovitz and welcome into another episode of the

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Speaker 2: Cult Show in Indianapolis Colts Podcast. We are presented by

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Speaker 2: our friends at Microsoft Surface Co Pilot plus PC. Please

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Speaker 2: remember to rate, review and subscribe to Indianapolis Cults Podcast

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Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to us on YouTube.

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Speaker 2: All right, I know we're in the middle of free

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Speaker 2: agency right now, but the timing of this being a

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Speaker 2: Tuesday show is a little bit weird, so we're like

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Speaker 2: right in the middle of it. I don't know what's

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Speaker 2: gonna happen. I'm taping this on February twenty fifth. I

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Speaker 2: don't know what free agency is gonna look like for

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Speaker 2: the Colts, but we kind of wanted to pivot. We

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Speaker 2: did our free agency preview last week with Dan Graziano,

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Speaker 2: Nate Tyson, Benjamin Solac. This week, we want to talk

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Speaker 2: some draft. We want to give you an idea of

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Speaker 2: what to look for in the draft as free agency

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Speaker 2: is starting to get settled a little bit on Tuesday. Obviously,

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Speaker 2: Monday's kind of the one of the biggest days for

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Speaker 2: free agency. So to help me do that today, I

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Speaker 2: was joined by the Athletic Stane Brugler by the NFL

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Speaker 2: Stock Exchanges and Pro Football Focus Trevor Sikima and NFL

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Speaker 2: dot COM's Eric at Home. We talked draft, we talked

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Speaker 2: some prospects to keep your eye on here with the Colts.

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Speaker 2: So I asked those guys what makes for a good

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Speaker 2: mock draft, which is one of my favorite questions to

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Speaker 2: ask to learn about, like which mox should you trust?

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Speaker 2: By the way, you should trust all three of those

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Speaker 2: guys mocks. And then just some other general talk about

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Speaker 2: the draft and what you need to know about the

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Speaker 2: Colts and the twenty twenty six NFL Draft. Really fun episode.

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Speaker 2: Let's kick it off right now with the Athletics Dane Brugler.

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Speaker 2: It is my pleasure to be joined here on the

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Speaker 2: Colt Show by Dane Brugler from the Athletic. He does

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Speaker 2: the Beast, the my personal bible when it comes to

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Speaker 2: the NFL Draft every year. You're also on Building the

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Speaker 2: Beast podcast with Dave Hellman from The Athletic. Dane, thanks

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Speaker 2: for the time, man, of course.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a busy week.

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Speaker 4: It's it's important week, you know this This is this

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Speaker 4: is context week, whether it's testing, whether it's interviews, medicals,

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Speaker 4: verified measurements. There's a opportunity to get fill in those

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Speaker 4: gaps where you know, all the tapes been watched Hayes

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Speaker 4: in the barn. This is the last five percent of

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Speaker 4: the evaluation where you can kind of fill in those gaps.

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Speaker 4: So it's it's a really helpful week, really busy week.

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Speaker 2: So explain the process to me then, of we're here

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Speaker 2: at the combine right now. This episode's coming out in

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Speaker 2: mid March one, you're gonna start seeing pro days happening,

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Speaker 2: and you have kind of the thirty visits after that

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Speaker 2: explained to me, just like the final stages of building

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Speaker 2: a draft board, because some Chris Ballard has said is

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Speaker 2: like the cement's not dry on a draft board, like

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Speaker 2: right up until the day of the draft.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and every draft board, I think fancy need to

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Speaker 4: remember too. Draft boards are not three hundred four hundred names.

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Speaker 4: Some are famously small. I think Bill Belichick and you

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Speaker 4: know his boards, they were like ninety players, I mean,

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Speaker 4: very very small. Other teams a little more expansive. So

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Speaker 4: that's you know, first and foremost is you know, some team,

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Speaker 4: some guys are eliminated right away, whether it's scheme, fit whatever.

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Speaker 4: But that's where the combine plays a part, where you

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Speaker 4: have these sit down these formal interviews, these informal interviews

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Speaker 4: where you're able to get some more information. For a

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Speaker 4: lot of your coaches, this is their first impression of

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Speaker 4: these players. You know, they didn't the coaches aren't grinding

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Speaker 4: college tape during the year, right, So this is their

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Speaker 4: first opportunity to get eyes on these players, to talk

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Speaker 4: to them, learn about them as people. So it's an

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Speaker 4: exhaustive process to understand what makes them tick. I think

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Speaker 4: you can watch the film and understand these are their traits.

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Speaker 4: This is where the talent is, but it's the psychological

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Speaker 4: part of it, the mental part of it, to understand

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Speaker 4: just what drives them. Once you get to the NFL

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Speaker 4: and you're making money and you're in a room full

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Speaker 4: of thirty year old men that you have to compete against,

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Speaker 4: Like I, just what does that do to your psyche?

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Speaker 4: And there's just so many elements of scouting. If the

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Speaker 4: tape was all that mattered, this job would be a

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Speaker 4: lot easier, right, But there's so much more that goes

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Speaker 4: into it, and the combine helps you maybe parse through some.

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Speaker 2: Of that, explain to me to this idea, because we're

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Speaker 2: here at the Combine and every year you get the

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Speaker 2: you know, have you met with Team X? Question delivered

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Speaker 2: to the prospects up of the podium, and then when

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Speaker 2: you get you know, oh, this team had a presence

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Speaker 2: at this guy's pro day, and then this team brought

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Speaker 2: this guy in for a thirty visit and then nothing

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Speaker 2: comes of that, but there's a lot of commotion around it.

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Speaker 2: The thing I think about with the Colts is Chris

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Speaker 2: Ballard and his staff did work on Daniel Jones in

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Speaker 2: twenty nineteen before they knew Andrew Luck was even considering

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Speaker 2: hanging it up later that year. Shane Steichen in twenty

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Speaker 2: nineteen did a lot of work on Daniel Jones when

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Speaker 2: Philip Rivers was still under contract for another year there

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Speaker 2: and that paid off in twenty twenty five when they

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Speaker 2: had to go get a quarterback and they got Daniel

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Speaker 2: Jones and it was a tremendous fit. Explain like just

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Speaker 2: that process that you're scouting a guy at a position

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Speaker 2: that you don't need, and sometimes fans will read into

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Speaker 2: that a little bit too much. How much of scouting

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Speaker 2: is we need this guy now versus we just want

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Speaker 2: to do our homework. So four years from now, five

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Speaker 2: years from now, maybe maybe this guy is a guy

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Speaker 2: who becomes available and we do need them.

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Speaker 4: Well, I get so many responses from people who are

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Speaker 4: reading the Beast from four years ago because their team

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Speaker 4: just signed a free agent and so they're interested. What

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Speaker 4: was the evaluation coming out of out of college? And

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Speaker 4: it's the same way with teams. They do all this

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Speaker 4: work so they have a database on all these players.

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Speaker 4: If somebody comes up for potential trade, Okay, we don't

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Speaker 4: need to do all this work because we'll just go

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Speaker 4: back to the college evaluation and that's our starting point

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Speaker 4: and then build.

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Speaker 3: Off of there.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, these guys, do you know I have so

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Speaker 4: much credit, give so much credit to Scouts because it's

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Speaker 4: not just about the talent evaluation. They have to be detective,

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Speaker 4: they have to be psychologists, They have to do so

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Speaker 4: much to figure out what these guys are because ultimately

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Speaker 4: it's on them the area of Scout and then the

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Speaker 4: National Scout and then I don't think Chris would care

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Speaker 4: if I share this, but back when he was with

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Speaker 4: the Chiefs, I remember him telling me how they were

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Speaker 4: doing a lot of work on Marcus Peters and when

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Speaker 4: he was coming out a prospect, the corner who you know,

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Speaker 4: had his issues and I Chris spent a lot of

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Speaker 4: time with him, like the days before the draft, just

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Speaker 4: to get a better sense for his family, better sense

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Speaker 4: for who he was. And you know, that's that's the

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Speaker 4: type of you know, dedication it takes to try to

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Speaker 4: fully understand a player that you don't want to eliminate

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Speaker 4: them just for one or two things. You have to

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Speaker 4: really figure out, Okay, is this you know, because I

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Speaker 4: don't know good I'm thinking about me as a twenty

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Speaker 4: one year old. Do I want people judging me based

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Speaker 4: off of who I was at twenty one years old?

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Speaker 4: I mean, I won't speak for you, but I'm sure

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Speaker 4: it's the same. You know, it's it is so you know,

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Speaker 4: there's more that goes into it is an isolated thing

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Speaker 4: just talking about maybe an incident, or is there more

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Speaker 4: of a deep rooted issue here, and so figuring that

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Speaker 4: out is definitely a big part of this process.

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Speaker 2: How much information when it comes to these guys is

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Speaker 2: publicly available versus the stuff that we just you know,

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Speaker 2: you might hear and you might put into the beast

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Speaker 2: or you might hint at in the beast, like how much?

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Speaker 2: Because I get this all the time from people who

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Speaker 2: are like, well, why did they take this guy? And

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Speaker 2: it's like, I don't even know if he was on

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Speaker 2: the board because I don't know what his medicals were.

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Speaker 2: I don't know what the scheme fit was. It's not

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Speaker 2: as simple as just good football player who's as the

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Speaker 2: certain athletic traits, who I liked watching in college does

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Speaker 2: not equal good fit for this team.

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Speaker 4: Right, And I know, just from my perspective, I always

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Speaker 4: struggle with like, because I get a lot of information

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Speaker 4: from teams and it's like, oh, I don't know if

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Speaker 4: I feel comfortable sharing that, right because some stuff's very sensitive,

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Speaker 4: and I don't.

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Speaker 3: I'm not in the business of killing.

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Speaker 4: These kids, just in terms of getting them off on

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Speaker 4: a bad foot before they even had a chance. And

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Speaker 4: so but at the same time, I feel like I

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Speaker 4: have a responsibility to the reader to inform them of

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Speaker 4: who this who this guy's all about. So it is

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Speaker 4: a fine line the walk from from my purposes. But

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Speaker 4: then also, yeah, for teams, it's due diligence. That's what

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Speaker 4: it's all about. And even if you're not now maybe

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Speaker 4: you don't spend excess time on a guy if he's

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Speaker 4: not on your board and you're not thinking about taking him.

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Speaker 4: But you still try to get to the bottom of

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Speaker 4: every situation. You try to understand. And that's why you're

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Speaker 4: talking to the trainers at the school. You're talking to,

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Speaker 4: you know, going back to high school. You're talking to

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Speaker 4: fam everybody that you can, you know, get access to.

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Speaker 4: You're talking to them to just to get to the

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Speaker 4: bottom of it, to try to get her better sense

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Speaker 4: of who the player is all about.

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Speaker 2: One other thing before we get into this year's class.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to ask you this because you've done so

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Speaker 2: much research and you have so much knowledge about prospects.

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Speaker 2: The Colts have kind of continuously taken defensive ends at

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Speaker 2: drushers with high draft picks. None of those guys have

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Speaker 2: turned into a double digit sack guy. Some of them

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Speaker 2: been good players. You know, I'll stand up here and

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Speaker 2: I'll say Taekwon Lewis is a good football player who

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Speaker 2: fits a lot of roles on a team. Obviously, he's

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Speaker 2: a free agent. You know, Ayatu Latu's shown some flashes,

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Speaker 2: but the Colts haven't hit that like home run on

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Speaker 2: a guy's a double digit sack just in terms of production. Right,

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Speaker 2: Why why in your mind has that not happened, Like,

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Speaker 2: is there like a single reason, Is it like individual

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Speaker 2: prospects or that It's just something that when you take

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Speaker 2: that many swings, it seems almost like bad luck in

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Speaker 2: a way that one of them hasn't connected for the

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Speaker 2: production you expect out.

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Speaker 1: Of those, right.

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Speaker 4: And I don't think there's like a connected connective tissue

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Speaker 4: from all of these picks that you know, it's a

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Speaker 4: blind spot for the Colts drafting that maybe they're missing

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Speaker 4: on something. It's part of it goes to just the

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Speaker 4: volatility of drafting. It's hard, you know, It's it's one

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Speaker 4: thing to put it on paper what this player is

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Speaker 4: is another when you go out there on Sundays and

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Speaker 4: try to make plays. Because yeah, Law two is a

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Speaker 4: good player. He was what the first defensive player drafted

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Speaker 4: in that in that draft, and so they had an.

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Speaker 3: Opportunity to go quinon Mitchell.

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Speaker 4: They could have gone you know different, all these different

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Speaker 4: ways they went with a Lot two, and I think

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Speaker 4: it's fair to say he hasn't necessarily lived up to

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Speaker 4: being a top top half around one guy.

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Speaker 3: But like you said, you see the Flashes. Yeah, you

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Speaker 3: see these two years in. Yeah, and so you're hoping

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Speaker 3: year three you're taking that next step.

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Speaker 4: But it's also I think, I think a good example

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Speaker 4: of some some guys just take time. You know, it's

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Speaker 4: not as immediate as you want it to be, especially

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Speaker 4: for a first round pick. Some guys, especially a pass rusher,

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Speaker 4: where you have to set an edge against these big,

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Speaker 4: physical offensive tackles. You have to do a better just

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Speaker 4: more a quicker job reading run versus pass. It's just

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Speaker 4: it's a big adjustment and so not everyone's gonna adapt

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Speaker 4: right away. It takes time. But I don't think that

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Speaker 4: there's some connective tissue there that you can point to

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Speaker 4: and say, well, this is what they're missing.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean you talked about the volatility of it. It's

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Speaker 2: really easy to forget L. J. Collier when you draft

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Speaker 2: Nick Emon worry near the Seahawks and who had that

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Speaker 2: run of drafts that didn't produce really any impact players.

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Speaker 2: All of a sudden, they have a couple, they win

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Speaker 2: the Super Bowl.

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Speaker 4: It can happen, And I think it's it's all about

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Speaker 4: hitting on some of those key picks, like for the

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Speaker 4: Seahawks getting Devin Weatherspoon two years ago in that draft

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Speaker 4: was such a key moment for them because as much

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Speaker 4: as we talk about nick Em and Worry and the

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Speaker 4: impact he made this year, when you watch the Seahawks tape,

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Speaker 4: watch Weatherspoon, he's the guy that's telling Em and Worry, Hey,

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Speaker 4: you're doing this. This is even Tyreek Willen, it's Witherspoon's

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Speaker 4: telling him, Hey, this, this and this, this is what

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Speaker 4: you're doing. So I think when you can find those

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Speaker 4: key guys, it really helps everything else come together. And

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Speaker 4: it's it's not easy to do, but a guy like

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Speaker 4: Witherspoon's just wired a certain way and the way he

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Speaker 4: sees things and the high standard he has, so finding

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Speaker 4: those dogs I think, and I think that's I don't

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Speaker 4: know that Sauce Garner's wired that way, but that's why

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Speaker 4: you make that trade, is because of the chance that

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Speaker 4: he could be a top three corner in the league.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you take away half the field in an ideal scenario.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about this year's draft. Where is

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Speaker 2: the strength of this year's draft? And when you're thinking

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Speaker 2: about depth, we're speaking to an audience of Colts fans here.

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Speaker 2: You're looking at a pick in the forties of Chris Ballard.

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Speaker 2: He probably wants to trade back. Sure, you know, could

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Speaker 2: potentially kick back from that pick. We'll see a.

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Speaker 3: Lot of teams are thinking that way.

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Speaker 5: You know.

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Speaker 2: It's I think that's probably every year though, Yes, when

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Speaker 2: you get into that range. But where is the depth

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Speaker 2: of this draft that the Colts could tap into with

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Speaker 2: their their Day two picks.

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Speaker 4: I think that wide receiver and edge are the two

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Speaker 4: deepest positions on Day two. In my top one hundred,

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Speaker 4: I had seventeen wide receivers, sixteen edge rushers. Okay, so

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Speaker 4: and there were that's a third of the draft. There

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Speaker 4: were Top one hundred handful of guys I hated leaving

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Speaker 4: out too. You know, I could have easily made a case, hey,

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Speaker 4: they belong in there. So I think wide receiver, edge

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Speaker 4: rusher have a chance to If you want to upgrade

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Speaker 4: at one of those two positions, you have a chance

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Speaker 4: to do it on Day two. This year, I think

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Speaker 4: corner it falls off on Day three, but there's some

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Speaker 4: good depth on Day two. Tight End once you get

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Speaker 4: the rounds four, round five, there's some good depth. So

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Speaker 4: it just depends on the position. Quarterback running backs very

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Speaker 4: late this year which it's very rare. I've seen years

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Speaker 4: where it's late at quarter years where it's light at

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Speaker 4: running back, very rare to have it light at both

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Speaker 4: positions in the same year. You have to go back

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Speaker 4: to nineteen eighty five, the last time we had fewer

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Speaker 4: than double digits at those two positions combined drafted top

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Speaker 4: one hundred h and right now I only have six

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Speaker 4: in my top one hundred combined, three quarterbacks or running backs.

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Speaker 4: So it's just just one of those years for those

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Speaker 4: two positions. But yeah, the strength wide receiver, edg rusher.

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Speaker 4: Teams are gonna look at those those guys and I

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Speaker 4: think they're gonna fly off the board.

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Speaker 2: What about you're looking at the rest of the defense,

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Speaker 2: like defensive tackle, linebackers, safety, kind of that spine where

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Speaker 2: you know, Chris Paloder's talked about wanted to get younger

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Speaker 2: and faster, especially in the front seven safety. We'll see

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Speaker 2: what happens to Nick Cross this week. You know, is

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Speaker 2: where right this comes out? Where do you see the

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Speaker 2: strength there is? There are there guys who could be

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Speaker 2: you know, Day two even Day three options there who

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Speaker 2: could help the Colts out.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think this is a pretty good draft four

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Speaker 4: linebackers and safeties. You know, obviously you got the Ohio

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Speaker 4: State guys at the top with kayleb downs and sunny styles,

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Speaker 4: but there is when you get to day two and

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Speaker 4: day three, you know, just thinking about the safety position,

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Speaker 4: a guy like aj Halsey from LSU, his instincts are outstanding.

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Speaker 4: He's a key wheatlee from Penn State. Another guy that

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Speaker 4: can drive downhill, make plays. Linebackers pretty deep as well.

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Speaker 4: So I think if that's that's a goal, if third round,

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Speaker 4: fourth round, to come away with somebody at those positions,

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Speaker 4: there will be players that you can circle and say,

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Speaker 4: all right, let's come away with this draft with one

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Speaker 4: of these guys, and we feel pretty good.

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Speaker 2: All right, I want to get you out of here

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Speaker 2: on this what makes for a good mock draft?

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Speaker 4: So I think that you can tell the people that

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Speaker 4: really understand how teams draft, because it's not as simple

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Speaker 4: as this team needs a receiver, so I find my

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Speaker 4: third receiver. That's where that goes. Like, you have to

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Speaker 4: understand what exactly they're looking for. Pay attention to the trends,

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Speaker 4: so you know, certain teams won't draft a corner with

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Speaker 4: under thirty one inch arms. You know, for example, and

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Speaker 4: so that's something that you need to keep in mind

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Speaker 4: when you're doing these mock drafts. And so I think

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Speaker 4: you can tell pretty quickly who does their homework who

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Speaker 4: is kind of just throwing the arts at the board,

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Speaker 4: because look, I get it, we all are with That's

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Speaker 4: what a mock draft is.

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Speaker 3: You're going through projections and scenarios.

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Speaker 4: But I think there is an art to it that

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Speaker 4: you can tell the people that really focus in and say, Okay,

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Speaker 4: this is this type of head coach looks for this

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Speaker 4: type of player, and so this is why this makes

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Speaker 4: sense even though yeah, maybe this other guy's better, or

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Speaker 4: maybe we have them ranked higher or whatever, but you

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Speaker 4: know what, this is the style, This is the the

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Speaker 4: in terms of traits, what they usually go for. So

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Speaker 4: I think that's important to pay attention to.

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Speaker 2: We all have to feed a content beast at some point,

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Speaker 2: and you know, you put out mock drafts around certain

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Speaker 2: kind of moments in the off season, when like when

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Speaker 2: you make a change in those mocks from January to

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Speaker 2: February to March to April, like explain to people like

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Speaker 2: what you're making that change because of because I think

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Speaker 2: sometimes people change your mock DRAF so like, well, if

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Speaker 2: this happens, and this could happen, and I'm just kind

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Speaker 2: of throwing stuff out there. Yeah, but the changes you

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Speaker 2: make come from probably conversations, from information that you're gaining.

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Speaker 3: That's what it's all about. Information.

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Speaker 4: And there's also a domino effect where if you change

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Speaker 4: one thing at the top, it changes everything right, right,

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Speaker 4: So that's a big part of it too. But because yeah,

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Speaker 4: you don't want to make changes just to switch it

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Speaker 4: up and you know, keep things fresh, but at the

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Speaker 4: same time, you do get updated information. Team needs change,

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Speaker 4: whether it's you know, a team cuts of players all

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Speaker 4: of a sudden they have a huge need at this position,

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Speaker 4: or free agency if they address a key position. So

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Speaker 4: the team needs constantly change. But for the most part, yeah,

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Speaker 4: we're talking about the information that because and that doesn't

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Speaker 4: change like my personal rankings and how I feel about players.

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Speaker 4: But you know, my rankings are my rankings, my mock draft.

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Speaker 4: My rankings don't matter. It's all about what I'm hearing

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Speaker 4: from mock drafts over what I think about these guys.

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Speaker 2: We'll be keeping out for the beast when that comes

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Speaker 2: out in April. My colleague Larra Overton, she always prints

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Speaker 2: it out. She chops down a tree to do that.

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Speaker 4: But it's valuable to have right right there, and we've

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Speaker 4: done people behind the scenes. They do so much work

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Speaker 4: to the digital version this year, so it's a lot

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Speaker 4: easier if you're on your phone or tablet. But yeah,

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Speaker 4: I'm an old school person. I like to have one

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Speaker 4: printed out as well, and so I can thumb through

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Speaker 4: it and try to get out as soon as possible,

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Speaker 4: so people have time to digest it all, at least

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Speaker 4: as best they can.

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Speaker 2: But when you get into that seventh round and I'm

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Speaker 2: control effing Rodney Thomas ended in twenty twenty two and

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Speaker 2: finding his name in there just one little line, be

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Speaker 2: able to glean something from it. It is a necessary

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Speaker 2: resource for I think anyone who covers the NFL. Dan

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Speaker 2: Brugler from The Athletic and the Building the Beast podcast,

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Speaker 2: thanks for joining me here.

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Speaker 3: Appreciate it and time. Thanks.

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Speaker 2: It is my pleasure to be joined here on the

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Speaker 2: Cult Show by Trevor Sikima from the NFL Stock Exchange

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Speaker 2: podcast and Pro Football Focus.

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Speaker 1: Trevor, appreciate the time, Manjay.

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Speaker 6: It's always good being back with you. I appreciate it.

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Speaker 7: Man.

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Speaker 1: We're here at the NFL Combine.

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Speaker 2: This episode's coming out in March, so I don't want

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Speaker 2: to totally get into you know, combine risers and followers.

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Speaker 2: Plus it's Wednesday. There's been a ton of stuff that's happened. Yeah, right,

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Speaker 2: but just give us an overview. Where are the positions

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Speaker 2: of strength in this year's draft?

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Speaker 5: Ye?

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Speaker 1: And what should what should.

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Speaker 2: Colts fans maybe be looking for as we get into

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Speaker 2: now kind of the pro day stretch which then really

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Speaker 2: hits the home stretch of the draft evaluation process.

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Speaker 7: I think it's a really strong defensive draft this year.

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Speaker 7: I mean there's a world where three fourths of the

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Speaker 7: top one hundred could be defensive players. I mean, like

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Speaker 7: that's how deep I feel like this This draft is,

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Speaker 7: which you know, sets up some interesting draft strategies, which

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Speaker 7: I'll talk about in a second. But when you look

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Speaker 7: at the defensive side of things, there's always you know,

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Speaker 7: a handful of edge rushers just because teams are so

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Speaker 7: multiple with how they want to rush the passer, so

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Speaker 7: you don't have to look exactly a certain way to

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Speaker 7: be really good as an edge rusher. In today's NFL,

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Speaker 7: defensive coordinators are very creative with how they're getting the

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Speaker 7: most out of guys who have a skill set that

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Speaker 7: might be based around power, based around finesse, whatever it is.

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Speaker 7: So it feels as so edge rusher and even defensive

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Speaker 7: tackle a little bit.

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Speaker 6: There's always a handful of guys that you.

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Speaker 7: Feel good about every single year. There corner is always deep.

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Speaker 7: There's just so many cornerbacks. It's just corner is always like, hey,

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Speaker 7: you know, this guy could pan out. It feels like

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Speaker 7: it's deep every single year, but specifically this year. Safety

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Speaker 7: and off ball linebacker are two positions that are traditionally

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Speaker 7: not very deep. Normally you'll have, okay, maybe there's two

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Speaker 7: to three safeties you like, maybe there's two to three

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Speaker 7: off ball linebackers that you like.

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Speaker 6: And that's the case in this class.

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Speaker 7: Like it's safety, you got a Manumneil Warren, you got

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Speaker 7: Caleb Downs, you got Dylan Thieneman. But then there's a

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Speaker 7: handful of guys even after that, like maybe ten guys

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Speaker 7: do you feel good about with draftable grades to feel

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Speaker 7: like they could be difference makers on your teams beyond

434
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,879
Speaker 7: just special teams core players and linebackers kind of the

435
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:46,200
Speaker 7: same way.

436
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,639
Speaker 6: I mean, you got R. L. Reees, you got CJ.

437
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 7: Allen, you got Sonny Styles, and like those are sort

438
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,080
Speaker 7: of the big three at the very top, but then

439
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,399
Speaker 7: there's a handful of other guys. I mean, Jacob Rodriguez,

440
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,159
Speaker 7: Jake Golday, Deontay Lawson. There's so many of these guys

441
00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,639
Speaker 7: that these positions that make those spots deep to where

442
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 7: I go, Okay, this draft is going to be focused

443
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:04,920
Speaker 7: a lot around defense.

444
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,440
Speaker 6: If a team is ever on.

445
00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 7: The board and they truly feel like they are going

446
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,159
Speaker 7: best player available, which I know every coach loves their

447
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:14,639
Speaker 7: GM loves to do, but you know, it's how pure

448
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 7: is that of a phrase?

449
00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:15,960
Speaker 5: Every time?

450
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,119
Speaker 6: I think it varies. But if you're ever in a.

451
00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,520
Speaker 7: Situation where you're truly drafting best player available, I think

452
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:21,879
Speaker 7: most of the time in this draft it's going to

453
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:22,680
Speaker 7: be a defensive player.

454
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:23,959
Speaker 6: That's where it's going to come up.

455
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 7: So that brings up a very interesting team building strategy

456
00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,680
Speaker 7: to where I think you might the majority of the

457
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 7: top one hundred might be defensive guys, but I still

458
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,119
Speaker 7: think you'll see a lot of offensive players drafted in

459
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,040
Speaker 7: the top thirty two. Maybe we'll stretch you a little

460
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,480
Speaker 7: bit to the top fifty just because if you don't

461
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 7: get one early.

462
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,639
Speaker 6: It starts to drop off pretty steep.

463
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,919
Speaker 7: So I think that that first round could still be

464
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,520
Speaker 7: pretty even with offensive and defensive players. But as that

465
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,240
Speaker 7: draft goes on, I mean, it's gonna be a lot

466
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:52,639
Speaker 7: of defensive players to get drafted.

467
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,520
Speaker 2: I love hearing that because the Colts have most of

468
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,439
Speaker 2: their needs this offseason are on defense, where you know,

469
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,080
Speaker 2: Chris Ballader's talked about wanting to be younger and faster

470
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,240
Speaker 2: in the front seven. Nick Cross at safety is a

471
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,880
Speaker 2: free agent, a guy who may leave in free agency.

472
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens with that. That depth that you're

473
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,480
Speaker 2: talking about, and you know off ball linebackers position that

474
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,359
Speaker 2: Jermaine Pratt's a free agent there for the Colts defensive

475
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 2: tackle need depth there behind DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart.

476
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,639
Speaker 2: Edge being very deep as it it seems to always be.

477
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,359
Speaker 2: These are positions that I'm hearing you say this. I'm like,

478
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,200
Speaker 2: this is get me excited about some of the guys

479
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 2: who could be available, because in a draft where the

480
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,400
Speaker 2: Colts do need to get a couple of players out

481
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,720
Speaker 2: of it, yeah, getting those guys who you're like, okay, hey,

482
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,520
Speaker 2: that could be a plug and play starter for US

483
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,640
Speaker 2: on Day two in certain defensive positions. That isn't always

484
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 2: the case when you get into day two, especially with

485
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:47,919
Speaker 2: some of those like off ball linebacker on the.

486
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 6: Nights exactly, No, in one hundred percent.

487
00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,000
Speaker 7: That's where like, there's just so much more value to

488
00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,560
Speaker 7: this draft class and the depth that it has with

489
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,520
Speaker 7: those positions that you don't normally see, which obviously lines

490
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,760
Speaker 7: up pretty well for the cold. You know, they didn't

491
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:02,359
Speaker 7: have the year that they wanted, and they don't have

492
00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:04,680
Speaker 7: a first round pick, so obviously it didn't go exactly

493
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,200
Speaker 7: the way that they wanted it to when it came

494
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:07,879
Speaker 7: to the price of not have been picking in the

495
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,919
Speaker 7: first round this year, but picking on day three or

496
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 7: sorry on day two and day three, you feel pretty

497
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,359
Speaker 7: good about still being able to get Okay, maybe not

498
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 7: a superstar player, but linebacker for example. Right if they

499
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,879
Speaker 7: want to lean pretty heavily into a linebacker and they

500
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 7: go into the draft saying we need a guy that

501
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 7: actually has some starting potential for US, I think they'll

502
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,080
Speaker 7: be able to get one in rounds two and three.

503
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 7: I really think that they'll be able to find a

504
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:36,520
Speaker 7: starting caliber linebacker because linebacker already doesn't really get prioritized

505
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 7: very heavily, so there's not a ton of them that

506
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 7: go in the first round regardless. And then you have

507
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 7: this year, like I said, it's a little bit deeper,

508
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,919
Speaker 7: so round two, round three, depending on what kind of

509
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 7: linebacker do you want. Do you want more of an

510
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 7: inside linebacker type of a guy. Do you want somebody

511
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 7: who's a little bit more of a will who could

512
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 7: play in space for you? Do you want somebody who

513
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,000
Speaker 7: can be maybe like a hybrid type of player, whether

514
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,199
Speaker 7: that's an on off ball linebacker hybrid like at Jake

515
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,840
Speaker 7: Golday from Cincinnati, or maybe it's like a linebacker nickel

516
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,960
Speaker 7: defender type of a hybrid, maybe a Kyle Lewis type

517
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 7: of a player. Right, So, there's just so many different

518
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 7: archetypes of linebackers that you can go with in today's

519
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,879
Speaker 7: day and age, and I feel like I can find

520
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,200
Speaker 7: a lot of them in this draft. So it gives

521
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 7: them that flexibility to go about free agency the way

522
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 7: that they want to have that flexibility there and then

523
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 7: fill those needs when she gets to the end of April.

524
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 2: Linebacker has been a position that the Colts have done

525
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 2: a good job drafting at on Day two and especially

526
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:28,919
Speaker 2: even on day three. I mean, you got Zire Franklin

527
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 2: in the seventh round, right e J. Speed was a

528
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 2: fifth round pick, Bobby o Kaerak was a third shack,

529
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 2: Leonard was a two, Anthony Walker was a four or five.

530
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,719
Speaker 2: I think like they've found starting caliber linebackers across a draft.

531
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,359
Speaker 2: Is there any sort of through line of like if

532
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 2: you're going on to Day three with a linebacker. I

533
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 2: know you talked about kind of what flavors you want,

534
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,960
Speaker 2: but is there any sort of like athletic trait through

535
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 2: line between guys who succeed on Day three and maybe

536
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 2: guys who maybe fall off a little bit on Day three.

537
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 7: There's really not an athletic test. I mean, obviously the

538
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 7: more athletic these guys are, the better. But once you

539
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,119
Speaker 7: get into day three, it's there's pros and cons everywhere, right, Like,

540
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 7: you'll probably find players that you go, Okay, this guy

541
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,639
Speaker 7: is a he's an assass in between the ears. He

542
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,879
Speaker 7: can see the plays coming, he knows exactly where the

543
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 7: ball is going.

544
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:16,920
Speaker 5: Ah.

545
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,680
Speaker 6: But maybe he's not the fastest in the world.

546
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,880
Speaker 7: Right, Or it's a player who incredible athlete just add

547
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 7: the instincts or maybe off sometimes for you. So it

548
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,400
Speaker 7: really not as like a cop out answer like it

549
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 7: really does vary for a lot of what you want.

550
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,120
Speaker 7: Like if you want somebody who's gonna be a little

551
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,440
Speaker 7: bit more of a communicator, a guy who's wearing the

552
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 7: green dot for you, Somebody who's gonna play between the tackles.

553
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,639
Speaker 7: Somebody who's gonna be able to call things out pre snap,

554
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,280
Speaker 7: see those things and really fit the run in between

555
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,679
Speaker 7: the tackles. That is a specific type of a linebacker.

556
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 7: If you want somebody who's more of the Hey, this

557
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 7: is a spot drop coverage player. This guy who's gonna

558
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 7: play a deep drop on a Tampa two for me.

559
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:52,919
Speaker 7: This guy's gonna be able to pick up crossers that

560
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 7: are coming over the middle on mesh concepts, or even

561
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,919
Speaker 7: tight ends that are gonna be releasing out into the

562
00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 7: intermediate middle of the field.

563
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,080
Speaker 6: There's just so many different and traits that it's it's

564
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 6: really not one.

565
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,479
Speaker 7: It's kind of linebacker's one of those positions where you

566
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 7: really have to watch the tape first understand what this

567
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:16,360
Speaker 7: player does really well, and then look at their testing accordingly. Essentially,

568
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 7: like if they win with straight line speed, and they

569
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,960
Speaker 7: win with carrying guys vertically. Guess what, they better be

570
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,560
Speaker 7: able to run and you better be able to see

571
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 7: that in the forty you better be able to see

572
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 7: that on the field drolls with them flipping their hips

573
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,560
Speaker 7: and running down the field, right, Like, you better be

574
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 7: able to see that from them. But if that's not

575
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 7: how their game is, if they're more between the tackles,

576
00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 7: it's like, all right, I don't really care about what

577
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,440
Speaker 7: your forty time is then, but hey, what's your short

578
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,159
Speaker 7: shut what's your three code like? And then that that

579
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,360
Speaker 7: sort of things that you need to check those boxes.

580
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,119
Speaker 7: So linebacker's always such a fascinating position to me because

581
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 7: you meant you rattled off some players that the Colts

582
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 7: have had success with beyond the first three rounds, right.

583
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 7: I feel like that's the case everywhere around the NFL.

584
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 7: Is you'll find these guys there is like like, for example,

585
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 7: like the Omar Spates for them. Yea, it was an

586
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 7: undrafted free agent, right and he's now started for them

587
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 7: for the last two years. Why because he had the

588
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 7: exact skill set that they wanted in the position that

589
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 7: they were looking for.

590
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 5: For a linebacker.

591
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,160
Speaker 1: I mean, Zach Bond was a million dollar free agent

592
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 1: for the Eagles. Goes and outstanding for that.

593
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 5: Yeah.

594
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to ask you about mock drafts because

595
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 2: I'm always curious about this as someone who engages them,

596
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,200
Speaker 2: who does them, it does a really good job on them.

597
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 2: How do you view like a mock draft that you

598
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,200
Speaker 2: put out in like mid March, like, what is the

599
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 2: goal of that piece of content?

600
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 7: I think that so mock drafts are very interesting, and

601
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 7: I'm glad that you kind of answered this question because

602
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 7: as the season and the calendar goes on, the way

603
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 7: that you do mock drafts very much changes. When I

604
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,080
Speaker 7: do a mock draft during the summer, that is all

605
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 7: about what I think about the player. We have no

606
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,399
Speaker 7: idea what the team needs are going to be, We

607
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 7: have no idea what the team is going to do

608
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 7: this upcoming season. I am telling you what I think

609
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,359
Speaker 7: about this player, whether I think that they are a

610
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,600
Speaker 7: first round projection or a first round pick from what.

611
00:26:57,600 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 6: I've watched on tape.

612
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 7: I continue to do mock drafts like that throughout the

613
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,280
Speaker 7: college football season, and it is really not until we

614
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 7: get to December November to where Okay, all right, well,

615
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 7: now let's get into some team needs, let's throw team

616
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,240
Speaker 7: needs and let's be a little bit more maybe predictive

617
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 7: on what this team.

618
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 6: Might end up doing.

619
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 7: And I think that it just gradually gets a little

620
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,159
Speaker 7: bit more predictive as things goes on. So in March,

621
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,160
Speaker 7: I will do a post combine mock over at PFF,

622
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 7: We'll do one over at the.

623
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,160
Speaker 6: Stock Exchange podcast.

624
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 7: A lot of that will then become predictive stuff because

625
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:27,920
Speaker 7: it's a lot of the intel that we hear when

626
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,680
Speaker 7: we are meeting with agents or listen to players, or

627
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 7: talk to people who are connected to teams and all

628
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 7: that kinds of stuff. And it's so much more of

629
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,440
Speaker 7: an intel exercise than it is a scouting exercise. And

630
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 7: Daniel Jeremiah from NFL dot Com and NFL Network, I

631
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,360
Speaker 7: love this phrase that he said a couple of years

632
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 7: ago that he continues to say is like big boards,

633
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 7: I do with my eyes, mock drafts I do with

634
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 7: my years. So that's sort of how you do it

635
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:52,359
Speaker 7: when you were in the offseason. I think it's a

636
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,479
Speaker 7: lot more of the eyes when it's before December. Just

637
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 7: what you're doing is what you think of these prospects.

638
00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:59,639
Speaker 7: But as the process goes on. It's a lot more

639
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 7: about mock drafts are what you're hearing. Big boards are

640
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,239
Speaker 7: how you see these players, and that's how you can

641
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 7: sort of stay true the process.

642
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 2: How do you sort through that information then as it

643
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 2: comes in, because you're probably collecting so much, how do

644
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,159
Speaker 2: you sort through like what's real and what's maybe driven

645
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 2: by an agent or a team. Yeah, you know whether

646
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,200
Speaker 2: to pump their guy up or push this guy down.

647
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,800
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean you kind of cross reference some of it, right.

648
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,280
Speaker 7: I'm lucky to have a lot of friends in this

649
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,919
Speaker 7: industry that are, you know, well connected people, you know,

650
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 7: whether it's with certain teams or whatever. And so a

651
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,119
Speaker 7: lot of times, like if I hear something, you know,

652
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 7: just naturally in conversation, I might be talking with somebody

653
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 7: and ask them if they've kind of heard the same

654
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 7: thing and story. You cross reference a little bit of that,

655
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 7: and I think that that's how you get to it.

656
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 7: But I know that coaches and gms are very well

657
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 7: trained and not to say words without saying a lot

658
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 7: of meaning here at the combine, But there are little

659
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 7: things that you could pick up from certain general managers

660
00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 7: and maybe the way that they're talking about a certain

661
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 7: position or even about the draft class that you can

662
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,040
Speaker 7: kind of tell like, Okay, I can tell you've done

663
00:28:58,080 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 7: a little bit more research on this position, and I

664
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 7: think that there's a reason why. So it's a lot

665
00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 7: of little hints, But to be honest with you, man,

666
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 7: this is what makes.

667
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:05,719
Speaker 6: This fun for me.

668
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 7: I'm gonna I'm gonna mock draft competition that I do

669
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,840
Speaker 7: at the end of April every single year, and it's

670
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 7: a ton of fun. Like I go head to head

671
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 7: with again a lot of my friends who are very

672
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,120
Speaker 7: well connected in this industry, and it kind of comes

673
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,040
Speaker 7: down to, hey, I heard this from a source, and

674
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 7: then I heard this from a source, and you see

675
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,800
Speaker 7: who you trust more a little bit, and then that

676
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 7: kind of validates things in the years that follow and

677
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 7: then you go, okay, wow, you know they sent this

678
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 7: guy to this guy's pro day, or they you know

679
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 7: they had this guy in for a visit. Oh, they

680
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 7: didn't address this in free agency, so I think they're

681
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 7: gonna look this way. So it's fun for me. I

682
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,560
Speaker 7: really do, like I enjoy every part of this process.

683
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 7: The scouting part of it is obviously fun for myself

684
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 7: and getting to scout these guys myself, but I also

685
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 7: enjoy the game and the mystery and figuring things out,

686
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 7: and then it makes a draft night a lot of

687
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 7: fun as well.

688
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 2: All right, I want to get you out of here

689
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,760
Speaker 2: on this. Give us just a couple of names of

690
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,640
Speaker 2: guys who you're like. That guy could fit with the

691
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 2: Colts knowing where they're picking and kind of what their

692
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,120
Speaker 2: priorities are. And obviously we don't know what free agency

693
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 2: is going to look like yet as we're recording this,

694
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,280
Speaker 2: but just just give us a couple of names of

695
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 2: who we should be aware of in this process.

696
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 7: Yeah, I just sort of I wonder, like when I

697
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 7: look at their pass rush, I feel like they've got

698
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 7: to get faster, right like when I when I when

699
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 7: I heard you say that about Chris Baward, I think

700
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,959
Speaker 7: that that makes a ton of sense. So guys like

701
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 7: our Mason Thomas from Oklahoma, the edge rusher. It built

702
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 7: a lot smaller, but man, pound for pound, he is

703
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 7: super strong, really explosive. He can get off the ball

704
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 7: like he's somebody that brings you some extra juice.

705
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 6: Romelo Height, the edge rusher from Texas Tech.

706
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 7: His teammate David Bailey gets all of the hype, but

707
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 7: I mean he is somebody who wins with a lot

708
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,960
Speaker 7: of quickness, a lot of finesse. Like that's somebody who

709
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 7: I think you can get a lot faster there when

710
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 7: it comes to that linebacker level. Jake Golde from Cincinnati

711
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 7: I mentioned his name. I think that he is going

712
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,840
Speaker 7: to test super well. I think he's a really good athlete.

713
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 7: Obviously a guy like Sonny Styles and Rville Reese of course,

714
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,080
Speaker 7: but those guys are going to be long gone in

715
00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 7: first round picks. But then again, like Kyle Lewis somebody

716
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 7: that I mentioned from Pittsburgh as a player who he's

717
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 7: got a ton of juice. I think he's really athletic.

718
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 7: Anthony Hill Junior as well from Texas. I think he's

719
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:06,760
Speaker 7: gonna test really well this week. So those are a

720
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 7: handful of players that kind of come to my mind

721
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 7: of when you think about wanting to get faster. Those

722
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 7: are a handful of names that kind of come to

723
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 7: my mind of saying like, yeah, I think that they

724
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 7: could get faster through these players.

725
00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 6: And then safety, you know, for safety.

726
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:22,840
Speaker 7: I think there's a lot of guys that are really

727
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 7: good across the middle of the field, Guys that are

728
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 7: really good in those robber roles, those even enforcer roles

729
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,320
Speaker 7: for whatever the NFL rule book will.

730
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 6: Let you be in enforcer these days.

731
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 7: But you know, like AJ Halsey is one of my

732
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 7: guys that I really like from LSU. He's just that

733
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,200
Speaker 7: guy can lay the hammer. He's got great ball instincts.

734
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 7: Kamari Ramsey is somebody from USC who started his career

735
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 7: at UCLA. He's played in the slot, He's played free safety,

736
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 7: he's played strong safety. Those are a couple of the

737
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,640
Speaker 7: names that when I think about the Colts and when

738
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 7: I think about hey day two and potentially late day

739
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 7: three editions, those are a couple of the names that

740
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:56,760
Speaker 7: I think of right on.

741
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 1: Appreciate that now.

742
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 2: Trevor Sikamav from the NFL stock Eckshane podcast and Pro

743
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:02,959
Speaker 2: Football Focus, appreciate the time. ND thanks for having me

744
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 2: more on The Colt Show right after this. The Colt

745
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 2: Show is presented by Microsoft Surface Copilot plus PC. Greatness

746
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,480
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769
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771
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Speaker 2: and now back to the Cult Show. It is my

772
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,120
Speaker 2: pleasure to be joined here on The Cult Show by

773
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 2: Eric Edholme of NFL dot com.

774
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 1: Eric, always good to talk to you.

775
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 5: Yeah, good to talk to you as well.

776
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,800
Speaker 2: Now, Brian, so you got a mock draft that's either

777
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 2: just coming out March tenth, yep, it'll it's either already

778
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 2: up or it will be coming up soon. What makes

779
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,600
Speaker 2: for a good quality mock drop?

780
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,520
Speaker 8: Yeah, so there's I since I've joined NFL Media, I've

781
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 8: done three. I do the one that comes out sort

782
00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 8: of Senior Bowl week, you know, late January early February,

783
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 8: that I've got the kind of the post combine mock,

784
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,919
Speaker 8: and then I've got like that April first mock.

785
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,720
Speaker 5: I think the first one for me, I'm.

786
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 8: Just trying to throw darts as close to the mark

787
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,640
Speaker 8: as possible, Like, are we getting team specific fits roughly right?

788
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,280
Speaker 8: Are we getting them within the sort of ballpark range?

789
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 8: Second one, I believe you could have a little fun

790
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 8: and make some some reaches and some connections that may

791
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,759
Speaker 8: not be made yet, and if they're reasonable, if you

792
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,080
Speaker 8: have a point to sell and say, look, I know

793
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 8: everyone's putting them down here, but I think he belongs

794
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 8: up here. I think that's This is again my own

795
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 8: personal philosophy. I don't know anyone else's subscribes to it.

796
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,000
Speaker 8: But and then the third one, obviously you're going for

797
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 8: as accurate as possible. Right free agency is done, So

798
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,880
Speaker 8: we're on that second one. Now, I expect a couple

799
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 8: of little curve balls and some I usually project one

800
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 8: or two trades, but.

801
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:08,520
Speaker 5: This year we'll see.

802
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 8: There doesn't feel like there's a ton of trade activity brewing,

803
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 8: but still early in the process.

804
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 2: You you do picks one through thirty two, So I

805
00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 2: do You're not gonna mock a Colts guy this year?

806
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,680
Speaker 8: Sadly no, And in fact, I haven't even done that,

807
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 8: like teams without a first round pick, you know, maybe

808
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 8: I should do that in this one.

809
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 2: But you're we're sitting here and the Colts don't have

810
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 2: a first round pick because they have Saft Guarden.

811
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 5: Yep.

812
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 2: How do you view that? How do you view like

813
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,960
Speaker 2: you got sauce Gardner over here? And yeah, you don't

814
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 2: have a first round pick. But you've got this corner

815
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 2: who the Colts expect under lun a room to be

816
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 2: able to take away half of a field, and you

817
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,360
Speaker 2: build your defense around him, like you how do you

818
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:46,680
Speaker 2: view that?

819
00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:46,839
Speaker 5: Right?

820
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,759
Speaker 8: Yeah, and especially if you know it signs as we

821
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,880
Speaker 8: talk now, point towards stravarious word coming back to it

822
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 8: could be a really good combination. You'd like to have

823
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 8: some depths just because both guys miss time and everything.

824
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 5: But on paper, that's.

825
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:04,120
Speaker 8: That's right up there with one of the some of

826
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,560
Speaker 8: the better combos and sauce. You know, even though he

827
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 8: hasn't been a big producer on the ball in the

828
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,239
Speaker 8: in the NFL, like a couple of interceptions early in

829
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 8: his career, not a lot since, not a ton of

830
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:16,720
Speaker 8: pass defended since since.

831
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 5: The rookie year off the top of my head.

832
00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 8: But you know, again, still, when you have somebody who

833
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,799
Speaker 8: can match up with the top receivers and shut them

834
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:27,800
Speaker 8: down for the most part, keep them under.

835
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,399
Speaker 5: Wraps, that's that's such a benefit to have.

836
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,680
Speaker 8: Think about what lou had in Cincinnati, where he was

837
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 8: often covering up for other you know, dbs and stuff

838
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 8: and having to only play certain coverages and things and

839
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 8: when the when the playbooks open, that's when a defense

840
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:42,000
Speaker 8: can thrive.

841
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,680
Speaker 2: All right, Well, you're looking at this year's draft, Uh,

842
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 2: where is the depth? Where can the Colts tap into

843
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 2: the depth of this draft? And you get into day

844
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,280
Speaker 2: two in day three yeh to help out their roster?

845
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,600
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean I think if you're thinking Day two,

846
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:59,000
Speaker 8: no panic, like you know, you if you see six

847
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,720
Speaker 8: edge rushers going round one, let's just throw a number

848
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 8: out there, you know. I think there's still gonna be valuable,

849
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 8: potential starter candidates in that second and third round range.

850
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 8: That's one of the deeper positions in the draft. Receiver,

851
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,000
Speaker 8: I would say, is another one two that matches up,

852
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 8: and two spots that I don't know. I mean maybe

853
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,120
Speaker 8: other people are talking about I just haven't noticed or whatever.

854
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:24,359
Speaker 8: But I think corner has some pretty good players this year.

855
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,040
Speaker 8: The more I kind of look at cornerback, especially relative

856
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:28,759
Speaker 8: to other years where it's like you're really kind of

857
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 8: scraping to fine guys better than normal linebacker, same thing,

858
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:35,640
Speaker 8: I think it's a good linebacker draft, and I think

859
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:37,799
Speaker 8: the Colts are in the linebacker business. I mean, I

860
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,480
Speaker 8: think they would add one in this draft if the

861
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,839
Speaker 8: right guy came along, and so yeah, I think those

862
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,439
Speaker 8: are defensive tackle up to a certain point. I don't

863
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 8: know if it starts kind of waning a little bit

864
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 8: right around that Day two, Day three crossover there a

865
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:58,919
Speaker 8: little bit, and then offensive tackle would be the only

866
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,239
Speaker 8: other spot. Again, I don't know what Braden happens with

867
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,359
Speaker 8: him or whatever, but you know that's a spot where

868
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,480
Speaker 8: you could you could probably get a provisional starter or

869
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 8: projectable starter at some points like Jalen Travis there and

870
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 8: then Travis I forgot about him, yep, yep. But again

871
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,760
Speaker 8: it's just like I'm just trying to think of certain positions.

872
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,719
Speaker 8: I think tight end has better depth than it does

873
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 8: talent at the top. Don't love the running back depth

874
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:24,520
Speaker 8: in this draft, don't love the quarterback draft. But there

875
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,440
Speaker 8: are definitely some spots that I think predominantly on defense,

876
00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,120
Speaker 8: which seems to fit with what Indies sort offseason would

877
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:30,400
Speaker 8: look like.

878
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:34,359
Speaker 2: Uh, when I ask you through the scouting process, I'm

879
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 2: sure you've had like your guys who it's like, ah,

880
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:38,640
Speaker 2: this guy maybe's a little bit off the beaten path,

881
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 2: and like, I love that guy.

882
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:41,359
Speaker 1: Has any of those guys do any of those guys

883
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: play for the Colts.

884
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,960
Speaker 2: Have they been Colts draft picks recently? Who are our

885
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,000
Speaker 2: listeners and viewers too? Was a great guy.

886
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:48,600
Speaker 5: I mean he's not off the beaten path.

887
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:50,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's a player that's like drafted.

888
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 8: Exactly what he didn't know. He was such a fascinating

889
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 8: player too, just because like seeing him rise that far,

890
00:38:57,640 --> 00:38:59,440
Speaker 8: to me, I felt like it was a little bit

891
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 8: of a reach at some point, but once he played as.

892
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:02,919
Speaker 5: Well as he did, it was in a reach.

893
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:08,719
Speaker 8: But so yeah, let me think, I'm trying to think

894
00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:09,439
Speaker 8: of a good one.

895
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,440
Speaker 5: Who's the Northwestern kid and tell me why to borrow? Yes?

896
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he's coming on at a little bit.

897
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:17,320
Speaker 8: Yeah, got to see him a little bit last year.

898
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:19,320
Speaker 8: You know, I'm curious to see what kind of player

899
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 8: he becomes. And you know, a lot of people are

900
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,440
Speaker 8: kind of comparing him in some ways to Milton Williams.

901
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,520
Speaker 5: In terms of a player who could ascend.

902
00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:28,959
Speaker 8: We's got the athletic ability we know, and a little

903
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,359
Speaker 8: bit different dimensions for that spot. So he was a

904
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:35,400
Speaker 8: fascinating player to keep an eye on. And then Alec

905
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,360
Speaker 8: Pearce was a blast to watch in college.

906
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:40,839
Speaker 2: I like sort of assumed Pierce was one of your guys. Yeah,

907
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:42,720
Speaker 2: I had never forgot about him ntil just west suburban

908
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:46,440
Speaker 2: Chicago guy. Yes, right, yeah, but I'm having a prospect

909
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 2: I mean when he came out.

910
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 8: Absolutely, and and Tyler Warren was an easy one too,

911
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:53,800
Speaker 8: I mean just even before his his last year in college,

912
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,240
Speaker 8: because you could just see like, Okay, this guy's probably

913
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 8: gonna be either tight end one or tight end two

914
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 8: in the upcoming class that he goes nuts his last year,

915
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 8: especially early in that season, you got to see them

916
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 8: throwing touchdowns and doing all this stuff, and hearing Chris

917
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:10,320
Speaker 8: Ballard at the combine talk about, you know, just his instincts.

918
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:11,880
Speaker 8: That was one of the things that you felt like

919
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,360
Speaker 8: when you watched him. You were getting a lot of

920
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,399
Speaker 8: little stuff and a lot of big stuff too, which

921
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:17,480
Speaker 8: is which is great.

922
00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 2: How much do you look at like how guys perform

923
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,920
Speaker 2: in the NFL after you've kind of done the process,

924
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,040
Speaker 2: you've done the evaluation, and then okay, like yeah, a

925
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 2: couple of years down the road, look back and be like,

926
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 2: I really like this guy and he succeeded or he

927
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 2: didn't succeed, And how much does that inform maybe your

928
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:35,680
Speaker 2: worldview on prospects as you're evaluating them now one hundred percent,

929
00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:38,279
Speaker 2: you know, somebody will you know, get caught or go

930
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:39,239
Speaker 2: on ir or.

931
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 5: Retire earlier or whatever.

932
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,640
Speaker 8: And you think, man, I really liked that guy coming out.

933
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:45,319
Speaker 8: Why did the light never come on? And then you

934
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 8: start going through the checklist. Was it a size issue,

935
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,440
Speaker 8: was it a speed issue. Was it some other you know,

936
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:55,400
Speaker 8: athletic quotient that we were overrating or underrating or whatever.

937
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 5: And was it a team fit thing?

938
00:40:57,719 --> 00:40:59,719
Speaker 8: Because that often, as you know, if you don't get

939
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,160
Speaker 8: to the right spot or or miscasts as a player,

940
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 8: it's hard to rebound from that. Guys get kind of

941
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,799
Speaker 8: stamped as X and that's what they're always going to be,

942
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,120
Speaker 8: you know. And so sometimes it's about a coach having

943
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:13,840
Speaker 8: a little bit of a different vision and sort of

944
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:15,759
Speaker 8: using them in that way. But yeah, I go back

945
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:17,440
Speaker 8: all the time and say where did I miss on

946
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,520
Speaker 8: this guy? And sometimes the obvious the answer is obvious, Okay,

947
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:24,600
Speaker 8: just injury prone or this, or just wasn't fast enough.

948
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,840
Speaker 8: And sometimes you don't know is it is it a

949
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 8: mental thing? Did he have problems in the lock or

950
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 8: did he have other issues that he was you know,

951
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 8: it wasn't accountable enough, and so it's this never ending problem.

952
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,360
Speaker 8: No one's ever going to be the perfect draftnick or whatever.

953
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,320
Speaker 8: But I think that part of it is really important

954
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,759
Speaker 8: to go back and where were your misses? Is there

955
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 8: a theme behind it? Can you learn from it? And

956
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 8: so I definitely try to try to keep track of that.

957
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:49,520
Speaker 2: How do you view the idea of like a player

958
00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 2: being a reach because, like I last year, the Colts

959
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:55,239
Speaker 2: took Justin Wally in the third round. Yeah, and you

960
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:59,839
Speaker 2: know you pull up whatever service and reach reach huge reach. Well,

961
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,719
Speaker 2: if Justin Waller didn't tear his ACL in training camp,

962
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:04,719
Speaker 2: he would have been a starting cornerback a percent for

963
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,200
Speaker 2: the Colts and they were Everything I saw with my

964
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 2: own two eyes was like steal. That guy's a steel

965
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 2: out of reach. How do you like, how do you

966
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 2: like define that language? Do you ever use it around

967
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:16,960
Speaker 2: the draft or do you say like, well, okay, this

968
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:19,879
Speaker 2: was my opinion on the guy, right, but here's why

969
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 2: maybe okay, yeah I had him here, but this is

970
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:22,600
Speaker 2: why he's a good fit for this team?

971
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:23,360
Speaker 1: Like, how do you handle that?

972
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:23,839
Speaker 5: At work?

973
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:27,600
Speaker 8: I try to remove my ego from the situation as

974
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 8: much as possible, and I try to rely on.

975
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,120
Speaker 5: What I loosely call league value.

976
00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:35,319
Speaker 8: You know, like if I pulled ten teams, where would

977
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 8: they have them? Okay, somewhere between the fortieth and the

978
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,600
Speaker 8: sixtieth pick. Okay, that's roughly, you know, a good, good

979
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,560
Speaker 8: enough sample size. So I may look at a player

980
00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 8: and I not quite fully understand why he's projected there,

981
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 8: but I understand that these guys are professionals and they

982
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:52,600
Speaker 8: do it for a living, and they've sort of justified it. Okay, Well,

983
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,360
Speaker 8: so I do use the term and say, by league value,

984
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,640
Speaker 8: this was considered a reach justin whiley Went isn't expected

985
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,399
Speaker 8: to go until the I don't know what fifth, sixth

986
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:07,120
Speaker 8: round or something by many people. But there are so

987
00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,759
Speaker 8: many indicators, are so many examples what I meant to

988
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 8: say of players who one team sort of sees the

989
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:17,920
Speaker 8: light on and then everybody else goes okay, I guess,

990
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:19,799
Speaker 8: so you know, we'll see it when we believe it,

991
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:25,200
Speaker 8: and then they show it, and I always say, you know,

992
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 8: it's like, it really doesn't matter what the other thirty

993
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,359
Speaker 8: one board say, it's what your board says. Now, if

994
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 8: you're wrong in your evaluation and you have this incorrect

995
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,440
Speaker 8: sort of methodology that you're using. That's something you have

996
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,680
Speaker 8: to explore. But yeah, I mean every team will. It's

997
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,480
Speaker 8: funny one team last couple of years ago was shared

998
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,440
Speaker 8: their board or at least the top of their board

999
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,239
Speaker 8: after the draft, and it was stunning to me to

1000
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:54,759
Speaker 8: see second round players rated in like fourteenth, fifteen, sixteenth overall,

1001
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,719
Speaker 8: seeing you know, other players that.

1002
00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,480
Speaker 5: Were way out of the range of.

1003
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,319
Speaker 8: What we assume they would go, and it just is

1004
00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 8: a good reminder that thirty two teams see it thirty

1005
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 8: two different ways sometimes and you know, for us to

1006
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:08,960
Speaker 8: call it.

1007
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:12,440
Speaker 5: A reach or a steal, that's subjective a little bit.

1008
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 2: Well, that's why you know, you when your teams say

1009
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,200
Speaker 2: we want the best player available, you might look at

1010
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:17,719
Speaker 2: it and be like.

1011
00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:20,080
Speaker 1: I got that was the best way, right, right.

1012
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:22,759
Speaker 2: They could have had him tenth on their board and

1013
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 2: you're picking it forty five in the second round and

1014
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 2: he's still there.

1015
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:28,880
Speaker 8: And I also always say too, like that the draft

1016
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,680
Speaker 8: is like eight dimensional too. You have to think about

1017
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,839
Speaker 8: who are your free agents next year?

1018
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 1: Right?

1019
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,000
Speaker 5: Who are your twenty twenty seven free agents? Who are

1020
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:37,440
Speaker 5: you going to be?

1021
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 8: Who do you want to be a year ahead of

1022
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:40,839
Speaker 8: on replacing you know, if you have to get rid

1023
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,439
Speaker 8: of your your pass rusher.

1024
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:44,520
Speaker 5: Do you have one coming up through the ranks? Do

1025
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:48,280
Speaker 5: you have is there a drop off at the position?

1026
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,600
Speaker 8: Like this is the last guy we would draft on

1027
00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:54,160
Speaker 8: day two a little early for us, but you know what,

1028
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:55,960
Speaker 8: we're going to pull the trigger because there is a

1029
00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:58,839
Speaker 8: massive drop off at that position after this and so

1030
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:01,239
Speaker 8: on and so forth. Or there are so many edge

1031
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,239
Speaker 8: rushers out there. We don't love any of these so

1032
00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 8: much that we have to take it. We can wait

1033
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:09,120
Speaker 8: to day three and take our guy. It's a sliding scale,

1034
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:10,960
Speaker 8: And I feel like that that always has to be

1035
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:11,799
Speaker 8: in the back of your mind.

1036
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,600
Speaker 2: What have you come to appreciate about the pressure that's

1037
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 2: on a general manager during a draft.

1038
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 8: You can have all these team meetings and go through

1039
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 8: the process and decide who you like and who you

1040
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:22,840
Speaker 8: don't like, and have this sort of you know, you

1041
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,000
Speaker 8: go in, you present.

1042
00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 5: Your owner to the plan.

1043
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:27,600
Speaker 8: Here's what we're gonna do Thursday night, here's the rough

1044
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 8: plan for Friday, and then one pick can completely change

1045
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:32,240
Speaker 8: the scenario.

1046
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:36,040
Speaker 5: And I'm trying to think of a good example.

1047
00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:38,400
Speaker 8: You know, maybe teams were a little ahead of the

1048
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,280
Speaker 8: curve on this, but when Dane Jones went sixth overall,

1049
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:46,280
Speaker 8: or even better, when Trey Lance went third overall, everyone

1050
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 8: had Mac Jones in that spot, you know. And so

1051
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:50,799
Speaker 8: again it's like one of those things like Okay, now

1052
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:52,799
Speaker 8: we're on to Plan B and now we have to

1053
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:55,960
Speaker 8: change our view and vision. It may be in a

1054
00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:57,920
Speaker 8: positive way, it may be in a negative way. But

1055
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,359
Speaker 8: when you say on the clock on the spot, I mean,

1056
00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:05,520
Speaker 8: that's the perfect example of it. And I remember watching

1057
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 8: the Cardinals GM Monti Austin Fort. They had one of

1058
00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:09,440
Speaker 8: those behind the scenes things, and I know a lot

1059
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:12,240
Speaker 8: of teams do great versions of those things, but watching

1060
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:16,160
Speaker 8: him work out a very complicated trade while the clock

1061
00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:18,279
Speaker 8: was going on behind him, and you could see it,

1062
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,440
Speaker 8: and he's just coolly kind of going through it like

1063
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 8: I've been through this, I've done it, let's get it done.

1064
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:24,160
Speaker 5: And I think he was in his first or second

1065
00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:24,799
Speaker 5: year at the time.

1066
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:27,240
Speaker 1: That was probably the trade that got Houston will Anderson.

1067
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:29,320
Speaker 5: It must have been. It must have been that multi

1068
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:30,319
Speaker 5: layered trade at that.

1069
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 1: Wish that didn't go through.

1070
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:35,040
Speaker 8: Yeah, right, I'm sure as Colts fans you don't want

1071
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:38,040
Speaker 8: that to happening too often, right, But yeah, I mean

1072
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:40,719
Speaker 8: it just it just makes you think like they have to.

1073
00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 8: If you do your homework and you're ready for the moment, great,

1074
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,560
Speaker 8: but you still are under the gun in that moment,

1075
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:50,240
Speaker 8: and you know, a year's worth of preparation gets boiled

1076
00:46:50,239 --> 00:46:51,920
Speaker 8: down essentially to fifteen minutes.

1077
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:53,360
Speaker 5: And you know, again.

1078
00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:56,920
Speaker 8: It's it's what's so thrilling and also so so wild

1079
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 8: about the draft process. So you know, and again you

1080
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 8: have to trust your people too to understand. Like a

1081
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:05,799
Speaker 8: GM and a scouting director, I think you know they're

1082
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:08,760
Speaker 8: gonna have a good base knowledge of the entire draft.

1083
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:11,040
Speaker 8: But if you trust your area of scouts and your

1084
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:15,879
Speaker 8: positional coaches to know this undrafted linebacker is the guy

1085
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:19,080
Speaker 8: we want. He may even you know, not be higher

1086
00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 8: on everyone else's list, but position wise he fits. That's

1087
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 8: where you have to say, I believe my people, and

1088
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:26,360
Speaker 8: let's go with that.

1089
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,920
Speaker 2: Right on, Eric Adolme from NFL dot Com check out

1090
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:32,640
Speaker 2: his mock draft whenever that is out, hopefully this week. Eric,

1091
00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:33,480
Speaker 2: thanks for the time, man.

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00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:34,480
Speaker 5: Good teaser man. Thank you.

1093
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Speaker 1: Right on,