Speaker 1: Welcome into Bucks Insider, coming to you from the Bucks Studio,
Speaker 1: presented by Ticketmaster Casey Phillips here with Bree Dix, and
Speaker 1: it is one week today, one week from today, we
Speaker 1: are going to have the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: We have looked at this thing every which way to
Speaker 1: Sunday pun intended, and man, I mean it's just going
Speaker 1: to be so fun to see. I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of really fun storylines. So we've been doing Road
Speaker 1: to the Draft, which means every week separate from Insider,
Speaker 1: we've been doing a lot of draft discussion, but now
Speaker 1: that we're one week out, we wanted to bring it
Speaker 1: into here as well. But we figured instead of just
Speaker 1: looking at prospects that's a lot of what we've done
Speaker 1: on what road to the Draft, we wanted to look
Speaker 1: at the Bucks roster itself, some of these different positions
Speaker 1: that feel like they're some of the highly mocked to
Speaker 1: us positions. Look at the roster, see what the depth
Speaker 1: looks like, see who could be most impacted by a
Speaker 1: draft pick. So that's what we're going to do today.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start with these were gonna be all defensive guys,
Speaker 1: just because we know that has been one of the
Speaker 1: more mocked things to us again, Coach Jason Everyone has
Speaker 1: made it clear that does not mean the Bucks will
Speaker 1: not be rafting anybody offensively. But we've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of people time on defensive positions. So let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and start here with our defensive line. So looking at
Speaker 1: this roster, and we have, of course, we know we
Speaker 1: start Vita Collijah Budget. Yeah, yes, one to the end,
Speaker 1: very easy. Those are our big, top, main superstar kind
Speaker 1: of guys. But we wanted to kind of look at
Speaker 1: this group of people here and I bolded here Greg
Speaker 1: Gaines and Logan Hall because I think they're some of
Speaker 1: the more interesting ones of you know, Logan Hall really
Speaker 1: did seem to make a big jump this last year,
Speaker 1: and I thought that was really interesting and great for
Speaker 1: him as a former pretty high draft pick. Greg Gaines
Speaker 1: has been able to step in spell Vita Vea when
Speaker 1: he needs done some really great things. You see a
Speaker 1: lot of these other names here in your mind as
Speaker 1: we look at the likelihood of the Bucks getting defensive
Speaker 1: linemen in the draft, how much of a priority or not,
Speaker 1: and how who would be kind of mainly impacted As
Speaker 1: you look at.
Speaker 2: This right, well, I think the Bucks, as we've kind
Speaker 2: of talked about, have put themselves in perfect position where
Speaker 2: when the draft gets here, you've added depth at the
Speaker 2: correct position. So now at pick nineteen, the Bucks don't
Speaker 2: feel like they have to reach or press to get
Speaker 2: a specific position in order to have success. You can
Speaker 2: take the best player available, and whether that's an offensive player,
Speaker 2: whether that is defense. They resigned Greg Gaines, who, as
Speaker 2: you mentioned, he's kind of that primary sub for v
Speaker 2: to aa ut nose tackle, but in some of those
Speaker 2: short yardage yardage situations he's also been key in kind
Speaker 2: of helping stop the run. He's physical at the point
Speaker 2: of attack, so he's made an impact in Lonlike you
Speaker 2: mentioned Logan Hall as a guy that's kind of really
Speaker 2: come into his own. It seems like the game has
Speaker 2: slowed down for him, and I think in one of
Speaker 2: your discussions with Casey Rodgers he was saying, you know,
Speaker 2: for Logan Hall, he's a guy that his sack numbers
Speaker 2: have increased, and that's even more impressive considering he's that
Speaker 2: guy that typically is running off the field on those
Speaker 2: third down situations where pass rushers are able to get
Speaker 2: to the quarterback. So I think he stepped up also
Speaker 2: enough to where the bucks are in a good plate
Speaker 2: place along along the front, I think kind of maybe
Speaker 2: looking more like inside linebacker getting guys in the secondary,
Speaker 2: I feel like at on the defensive line, they're in
Speaker 2: a good position.
Speaker 1: I agree, and I think that's what we wanted to
Speaker 1: kind of highlight looking at the guys like Logan and
Speaker 1: Greg who've stepped up where we know we already have
Speaker 1: kind of superstar level guys with Beat and Klaijah. Of
Speaker 1: the positions and especially on defense that is not necessarily,
Speaker 1: not necessarily the position you feel is the most needed.
Speaker 1: So let's move on to one that maybe is more so,
Speaker 1: which is the outside linebacker edge whatever you want to
Speaker 1: call it position. So as we take a look at
Speaker 1: whoall is currently on our roster, there you see that
Speaker 1: we bolded these three names here, Chris braswell, Anthony Nelson
Speaker 1: and Jose Ramirez because again same thing. I feel like
Speaker 1: they're going to be some of the most interesting ones
Speaker 1: to decide as if you do draft an edge guy,
Speaker 1: and then depending on how high that it looks like
Speaker 1: starters this year, again, we know we feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about the idea of Hassan Reddit coming in being a
Speaker 1: big time player. Yah yah Dyabi stepping in right there.
Speaker 1: But man, Anthony Nelson, I love how coach always calls
Speaker 1: him steady Eddie, steady Eddie, that you know when he
Speaker 1: goes in there, he knows what to do, he knows
Speaker 1: where to be. I mean, he made maybe the biggest
Speaker 1: play of the entire season last sure. Yeah, so I
Speaker 1: think that that's been really great. And then Chris Braswell
Speaker 1: is to me the big sort of question mark of
Speaker 1: we hear a lot about guys taking a big leap
Speaker 1: from year one to year two at any position, but
Speaker 1: especially edge and especially in Coach Bowls defense, because they
Speaker 1: get asked to do a lot of things. Yes, they
Speaker 1: get asked to drop, they get asked stuff that they
Speaker 1: haven't necessarily done always in college. And so when I've
Speaker 1: talked to guys that help coach that position room, they're
Speaker 1: always talking about how, yeah, that's a tough one to
Speaker 1: adjust to that first year. And so I do feel
Speaker 1: like it'll be cool to see how much he takes
Speaker 1: that year one year two leap. But and then Jose Ramirez,
Speaker 1: that's that's the guy that we know. They like, They've
Speaker 1: kept around the practice squad, kept him around a lot
Speaker 1: of different times. So how much do they feel like
Speaker 1: he could take a step up or is this where
Speaker 1: you look at those names and it's yeah, you know what,
Speaker 1: we either need someone who could really make sure that
Speaker 1: they're coming in on those rotations doing a lot, or
Speaker 1: who knows, are you looking for someone to be the
Speaker 1: starter over Yaya or Hassan depending on again, where you
Speaker 1: draft this position and if you do well.
Speaker 2: And I think now you're kind of hitting that the
Speaker 2: critical point where you can see the ability paid dividends,
Speaker 2: you know, learning in the first year. And I really
Speaker 2: think too you look at a guy like Yaya Dabi
Speaker 2: that he had a lot of success in the rookie
Speaker 2: year and even though the SAC numbers may not have
Speaker 2: been there this past year, but he was still affecting
Speaker 2: the quarterback and I think he's a guy that's kind
Speaker 2: of found a way to harness that power that was
Speaker 2: the big thing and one of the reasons they drafted him.
Speaker 2: And I think in a similar way with Chris braswell,
Speaker 2: he's continuing to kind of figure out how to unleash
Speaker 2: that be it and kind of how to harness that
Speaker 2: because he's a guy that you know has the burst
Speaker 2: off the snap has the acceleration to flatten the pocket,
Speaker 2: and those are qualities that the Bucks really liked. But
Speaker 2: it's okay, how can you add that to your arsenal
Speaker 2: and how can that help you have success? But also
Speaker 2: filling in in that rotation and having an opportunity to
Speaker 2: get to the quarterback and a lot of guys you know,
Speaker 2: are trying to get the ball out quicker. They're going
Speaker 2: with short passing attempts to try and mitigate that Bucks
Speaker 2: pass rush because everybody knows that Todd Bowles is going
Speaker 2: to bring guys. So I think you'll see a little
Speaker 2: bit more of Chris Brassewl this year. And also, like
Speaker 2: you said, Jose Ramirez, a guy that they really seem
Speaker 2: to like and is putting in the work. And even
Speaker 2: though he hasn't been active for many games, you know
Speaker 2: he can push through the tight end chips and he
Speaker 2: can affect the pocket as well. So I think they're in.
Speaker 2: When you look down at the depth with that position,
Speaker 2: you get excited about guys like Hassan Reddick in the
Speaker 2: way that Todd Bules can use them, and it's not
Speaker 2: you know, I took in my latest mark, I took
Speaker 2: an edge I think in the fourth round. And that's
Speaker 2: just I mean, it's so deep at corner. You've got
Speaker 2: a lot of inside linebackers at the front of the draft,
Speaker 2: so I think you're gonna have a lot of places
Speaker 2: where you can get guys because I think a lot
Speaker 2: of the top edges are going to go earlier than
Speaker 2: a lot of people think. The guys like of course
Speaker 2: Abdul Carter is supposed to go in the top three.
Speaker 2: You have Michael Williams that continues to rise, a guy
Speaker 2: like Donovan as a rock who might be there at nineteen.
Speaker 2: But I think they're in a great spot with the
Speaker 2: guys that they have on the roster.
Speaker 1: All right, So then let's move on to another one
Speaker 1: of those You've talked about, linebacker, the inside linebacker position.
Speaker 1: So this is one that of all the positions this
Speaker 1: offseason felt the most influx of what could happen because
Speaker 1: you for a while there, I mean, we didn't know
Speaker 1: if we had a line like dang near everyone in
Speaker 1: that room was a free agent. We had no idea
Speaker 1: who was going to be coming back, what that was
Speaker 1: going to look like. Now, thank goodness, LaMonte David is
Speaker 1: back to continue anchoring that position, but then who's playing
Speaker 1: next to him and in what capacity that we saw
Speaker 1: a lot of the you know, tag team efforts last
Speaker 1: year until there were injuries that didn't allow that as much.
Speaker 1: And I know we bolded here Anthony Walker and Servasia
Speaker 1: Adnis because of course these are the guys at this
Speaker 1: point with who we have on the roster who are
Speaker 1: really competing for that starting role next to Levante. I
Speaker 1: know they think that, you know, Servasier, They're very excited
Speaker 1: about him, were excited about him last year prior to
Speaker 1: him getting hurt, So hoping that this year now coming
Speaker 1: in healthy, that you feel like maybe Levante Servasier, you're
Speaker 1: happy with that starting duo. But there's a lot unknown here.
Speaker 1: It is really great to see you have Anthony Walker
Speaker 1: now who has some experience, where last year it felt
Speaker 1: like anyone that got hurt, the person who was coming
Speaker 1: in for them was just green as green could be,
Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of experience, was having a learn
Speaker 1: on the fly. At least now you do have somebody
Speaker 1: like an Anthony Walker that has more experience. But I
Speaker 1: do feel like this is a position where, again, even
Speaker 1: if it's not for competing for the starting job this year.
Speaker 1: As much as Levante does seem like an ageless wonder, theoretically,
Speaker 1: at some point he's not going to either be here
Speaker 1: or be playing at the level he's been, which again,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem like it's happening any times and in
Speaker 1: the way he's done it. But I do think that
Speaker 1: this is a position that both for potentially this year
Speaker 1: and then especially in years to come, could be a
Speaker 1: big one to target.
Speaker 2: Right well, And I love to the so Anthony Walker
Speaker 2: Junior is a guy that you know, is a Miami
Speaker 2: native with Levante, and they have familiarity with one another,
Speaker 2: you know, I think they've talked about wanting to play
Speaker 2: with each other for many years, and they kind of
Speaker 2: train together in the off season. So I think they
Speaker 2: have a good understanding. He already coming in has an
Speaker 2: understanding of kind of maybe some of the nuances of
Speaker 2: Levante David's game, and of course some of the speed
Speaker 2: elements or the athleticism things with him may not quite
Speaker 2: be what they were when he first started out, But
Speaker 2: I think it's the instincts that kind of sets Levante apart.
Speaker 2: But then you also have you know, Savasi Dennis that
Speaker 2: they have really liked, especially his ability in coverage kind
Speaker 2: of being an impact on third down, but also you know,
Speaker 2: his his ability in against the run as well. They've
Speaker 2: mentioned and then Anthony Walker too has kind of talked
Speaker 2: about his ability to kind of erase things over the
Speaker 2: middle of the field because that was an area that
Speaker 2: the Buckscot exposed that a little bit last year. So
Speaker 2: really they've prioritized, it seems, getting guys that have that
Speaker 2: ability in coverage to kind of mitigate some of those
Speaker 2: things over the middle of the field or the comebacks
Speaker 2: of the digs or any of those things. So maybe
Speaker 2: getting a guy in the draft that kind of has
Speaker 2: that the downhill trigger, that ability at not only maybe
Speaker 2: making an impact at rushing the pastor but also has
Speaker 2: the potential to kind of shut down the run and
Speaker 2: kind of be that minuce that they need along with
Speaker 2: Levante David and some of the passing ability things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so now, okay, let's talk defensive backs because I
Speaker 1: know this, I mean, we're gonna kind of lump this
Speaker 1: all together safety and corner, but this is a group
Speaker 1: that I know you've discussed the depth of this draft
Speaker 1: at these spots, and I do think this is an
Speaker 1: area that, as we always say, as Scott Smith loves
Speaker 1: to say, you can never have enough, especially corners, but
Speaker 1: secondary members overall. So we on this graphic kind of
Speaker 1: split it up safety to corner, and I bolded the
Speaker 1: names Christianism and Tykee Smith and Bryce Hall because you know,
Speaker 1: I think that everyone saw last year your starters Jamel Dean,
Speaker 1: Zion McCollum. You were pretty happy with those starters and
Speaker 1: would most likely be that way again this year, unless
Speaker 1: again you spend maybe a first round pick on a
Speaker 1: corner and you know, how are you trying to add
Speaker 1: to that group? Does that supplant one of those guys
Speaker 1: or not? But Bryce Hall's a guy that I think
Speaker 1: a lot of times Bucks fans have forgotten about because
Speaker 1: he got hurt Week one, but he was slated to
Speaker 1: be that number three guy that would have made a
Speaker 1: really big difference with those injuries if he hadn't gotten
Speaker 1: hurt himself. Where you know, last year you're having to
Speaker 1: put in a Tyrek Funderberg who was just so green
Speaker 1: and so young. Bryce was supposed to be that next
Speaker 1: man up and he ended up getting hurt. So I
Speaker 1: think that's a very important one that he is now
Speaker 1: back this year. How healthy is he able to be
Speaker 1: so looking at that corner position? And then safety wise,
Speaker 1: this is where I think it gets even more interesting.
Speaker 1: Tykee Smith and Christian is In. Both of these guys
Speaker 1: prove that they can be sort of that Swiss army knife.
Speaker 1: I mean, Christianisi into the max playing every position now
Speaker 1: in command. But there's been mentioned of do you want
Speaker 1: to move Tykee Smith more to that starting safety spot
Speaker 1: as compared to that nickel You know, what does that
Speaker 1: do for both of these position groups of depending on
Speaker 1: if you draft a safety high or if you draft
Speaker 1: a corner high, how does that affect what you want
Speaker 1: to do with TAIKEI? How does that effect that you
Speaker 1: want to do with Christianisi in? And in general, I mean,
Speaker 1: we know Antoine Winfield hold down that one spot, but
Speaker 1: who are you putting next to him? And how does
Speaker 1: who you draft for either safety or corner affect that?
Speaker 2: I think I really like what you mentioned about kind
Speaker 2: of having taikifil that role because he primarily was the
Speaker 2: nickel guy that kind of disrupted slot receivers, kind of
Speaker 2: mitigating things in that underneath area of the field. So
Speaker 2: I feel like having him come in at strong safety
Speaker 2: be kind of in the box, and that allows Anchewan
Speaker 2: Winfield to play free safety kind of be in the post.
Speaker 2: He has that awareness, he has the range, I think
Speaker 2: that will kind of solidify things there. And then having
Speaker 2: the ability of Christianiznian, who can play multiple different things,
Speaker 2: who's cross trained at yeah, every position imaginable and then
Speaker 2: even played corner position that he hadn't played since high school.
Speaker 1: Gives you kind of the freedom.
Speaker 2: And then Bryce Hall coming off, you know, the dissocated
Speaker 2: ankle injury. But and the good thing about corner once
Speaker 2: again is you have a lot of there's great talent
Speaker 2: in guys that are expected to go in the first
Speaker 2: or on with like Will Johnson or Jade Baron or
Speaker 2: different guys. But then you also have a ton of
Speaker 2: talent in those middle rounds like Trey Amos and No
Speaker 2: Williams and Schevan Revel Junior. And there's there's a lot
Speaker 2: of talent also in those middle rounds that say the
Speaker 2: Bucks end up going insideline backer in the first round
Speaker 2: or end up going receiver whoever they have highest on
Speaker 2: their board, then that frees you up to be able
Speaker 2: to get a solid, good, good corner in the second
Speaker 2: round and then there's enough depth that you can even
Speaker 2: double it maybe in some of those later rounds that
Speaker 2: you've got a lot of guys that are really athletic,
Speaker 2: have that speed element that Todd Bowles really likes.
Speaker 1: And have those ball skills yep for sure. All Right, Well,
Speaker 1: that kind of covers the defensive side of things. We
Speaker 1: wanted to highlight going into the draft of where we're
Speaker 1: at on those different depth charts and position groups and
Speaker 1: what that might mean for the draft coming next week.
Speaker 1: We also wanted to mind everybody of the off season
Speaker 1: schedule that as wild as it is, we're talking so
Speaker 1: much about draft, but the current guys a lot of
Speaker 1: them are coming back in the building now that we
Speaker 1: have starting next week is officially the beginning of the
Speaker 1: off season program. So yeah, take us through a little
Speaker 1: bit of these dates, breed and what that's going to
Speaker 1: look like this offseason.
Speaker 2: Yes, so the first day of off season workouts is
Speaker 2: April twenty first, So OTA off season workouts is going
Speaker 2: to be May twenty seventh through thirtieth, and then June
Speaker 2: second through fifth, and then mandatory mini camp, which will
Speaker 2: be a thing I think we're all looking at all
Speaker 2: the veterans coming in mixing with the rookies will be
Speaker 2: June tenth through.
Speaker 1: Twelveth yep, So this part that's starting now next week,
Speaker 1: the twenty first. That's where you get the phase one,
Speaker 1: two and three. Those are the areas where it's like,
Speaker 1: all right, you can be working out here, but coaches
Speaker 1: can't be here. Oh now you can be doing a
Speaker 1: little bit more that That's how it progresses through that
Speaker 1: phase one, two and three. So really first phase is
Speaker 1: like a lot of conditioning is like the majority of it,
Speaker 1: not a lot of football happening. Ramps up all the
Speaker 1: way through that mandatory mini camp. But it is really
Speaker 1: exciting to think that officially next week it's starting that
Speaker 1: we're going to view that it is football. Is that
Speaker 1: even though there's going to be no football's really at
Speaker 1: least at the beginning. And then we wanted to close
Speaker 1: with our sort of human interest off the field stuff
Speaker 1: that we love to do. That wanted to highlight that
Speaker 1: the Bucks participated this last Saturday night in the National
Speaker 1: Pediatric Cancer Foundation Fashion Funds the Cure Gala. It was
Speaker 1: so fun, So basically this is a fashion show, so
Speaker 1: I got to do it alongside a few of our
Speaker 1: players cheer fear everybody. So Rayquan O'Neil, lorenz Metz were
Speaker 1: incredible at this. They crushed it. And then we were
Speaker 1: also joined by a Raised player as well, because sweet
Speaker 1: little Exavion right there, Flexen, he wants to be a
Speaker 1: professional athlete. He is currently playing both football and baseball.
Speaker 1: So what we did was everyone what this is is
Speaker 1: basically all these kids who are either currently fighting cancer
Speaker 1: or cancer survivors, they get to come to a fashion
Speaker 1: show with like real models and real cool clothes, and
Speaker 1: then they also get a chance to do a walk
Speaker 1: with what they consider their quote role models of whatever
Speaker 1: they want to do for a living someday. They walk
Speaker 1: with those people and you put on a whole skit.
Speaker 1: So I got up and got to announce that he
Speaker 1: was the buccketeers first overall draft pick this year, and
Speaker 1: then I was like, and he's also apparently the Rays
Speaker 1: first overall pick, and then the Raised guy came in
Speaker 1: put a little jersey on him for the rais and
Speaker 1: it was just so wonderful, and I wanted to shout
Speaker 1: out lorenz Metz and Rayqwan O'Neill. They were so great
Speaker 1: with him, so great with everyone at that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: just an incredible cause and amazing nights. If you've never
Speaker 1: been highly recommended going next year. It is a truly
Speaker 1: adorable event. They bring in these It was at the
Speaker 1: Motor Enclave, so they bring in all these really fancy cars.
Speaker 1: That's who drops the kids off that the car actually
Speaker 1: pulls through the event. They dropped the kids off there,
Speaker 1: the full grand experience, yes, and it's truly amazing. So
Speaker 1: I was very appreciative to be involved in that and
Speaker 1: shout out E's Avion fighting the good fight. He was
Speaker 1: a very cute little kid. So that is going to
Speaker 1: do it for us on this edition of Buccaneers Insider.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being with us, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you next week when it's time for the Draft.