Speaker 1: Welcome into Road to the Draft, coming to you from
Speaker 1: the Bucks Studio, presented by Ticketmaster Casey Phillips. Here were
Speaker 1: a senior writer and editor, Scott Smith. We love this
Speaker 1: series every year.
Speaker 2: I love the Draft.
Speaker 3: Who doesn't love the Draft.
Speaker 1: It's the excitement of the future, the potential.
Speaker 2: And every player you pick is going to be a star.
Speaker 1: Obviously, every player is the one piece you were missing
Speaker 1: it would have gotten you there. And that's what's so
Speaker 1: fun about this. And you know, especially we know since
Speaker 1: it is a road to the Draft, it's a little
Speaker 1: bit of a long road. This is our first we're
Speaker 1: just getting on the road.
Speaker 2: We're on the on ramp.
Speaker 1: We're on the on ramp here, which means we have
Speaker 1: a lot more of these coming up. We have a
Speaker 1: lot of different ways we're going to talk about it.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 1: We've got a whole new setup as well, so we're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to incorporate some film studies, some mock drafts.
Speaker 1: But this first week, we felt like the perfect place
Speaker 1: to start was who are a lot of the guys
Speaker 1: we're seeing very frequently mocked in that first round to us?
Speaker 1: And I know, not just that, but you also have
Speaker 1: a bit of a theme behind the idea of why
Speaker 1: you chose these particular guys.
Speaker 3: What is that?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, believe me, the mock draft season is well underway.
Speaker 4: You can find endless numbers of them already here in
Speaker 4: mid February. But it's probably gonna change a lot, right,
Speaker 4: And the three players that I picked are showing up
Speaker 4: in a lot of these mock drafts. But also I
Speaker 4: have a feeling that any or all three of them,
Speaker 4: you could see their draft stock change significantly, either up
Speaker 4: or down before the draft. So this is just a
Speaker 4: starting point, and it may not even you know, we
Speaker 4: may look at it back at this two months later.
Speaker 2: No, Bucks aren't a drafting any of these, but.
Speaker 4: Right now they're popular picks for the Bucks. And I'll
Speaker 4: explain why I mean that with each player.
Speaker 2: As we go.
Speaker 3: Okay, so tell me about who we have here.
Speaker 1: I mean a team that clearly no one ever gets
Speaker 1: drafted from in the NFL.
Speaker 4: I was gonna say having this up here while we
Speaker 4: started might have been a giveaway, except how many Alabama
Speaker 4: players are gonna get drafted?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Probably all of everybody on the whole screen.
Speaker 2: Well, in this case, we're looking at g Hot Campbell.
Speaker 2: The off ball linebacker right here, number one.
Speaker 3: Also, look at our fun technology of this year. Who
Speaker 3: doesn't love it?
Speaker 2: Never used to? I know, I'm cooking Kidney candy star.
Speaker 4: So this is g Hot Campbell, number eleven, six three
Speaker 4: and forty four pounds. He's an off ball linebacker, but
Speaker 4: he does have some pass rushing ability. He had one
Speaker 4: hundred and seventeen tackles last year, but also five sacks.
Speaker 4: So some analysts believe you take this player to play
Speaker 4: like a Levante David type position, but you might get
Speaker 4: some edge rush out of in two Like not, I'm
Speaker 4: not gonna call Michael Parsons, but that kind of idea.
Speaker 1: Sounds perfect for a Todd Bowles defense too, in terms
Speaker 1: of what we want to.
Speaker 2: Use you here and the sky splits Yes.
Speaker 4: So he's like I said, six three two forty four.
Speaker 4: He was a semi finalist for the Buckets Award, which
Speaker 4: is the best linebacker in the nation. So let's take
Speaker 4: a look at here at some of his plays.
Speaker 2: This one.
Speaker 4: You're going to see him in coverage because he does
Speaker 4: have some pretty well developed coverage skills. You'll see that
Speaker 4: he really figures out where he's supposed to go on
Speaker 4: the zone, So you'll see me he's got his eyes
Speaker 4: in the quarterback, he's reading where he's going with it.
Speaker 4: You know, that's pretty good instinctive there. He clearly wanted
Speaker 4: to get the interception, of course. And here's another one.
Speaker 4: G Hot Campbell's right here this time. It's going to
Speaker 4: be another example of dropping into coverage. And as you know,
Speaker 4: whenever you're playing cover two with two safeties, your middle
Speaker 4: linebacker has to be able to drive down the middle
Speaker 4: to make the cover two works. So you'll see him
Speaker 4: here dropping coverage, which is an important thing for scouting.
Speaker 4: G Hot Campbell reads the play, gets the pick. You know,
Speaker 4: that was pretty much thrown right to him, but we've
Speaker 4: seen defenders don't always catch them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not a given, and it was great again for
Speaker 1: it to be thrown right to him means he was
Speaker 1: right in the exact spot he was supposed to be in.
Speaker 4: And now we want to see him tackling, right. He's
Speaker 4: a he's a sure tackler. He rarely miss his tackles.
Speaker 4: So you'll see him right here. This is obviously going
Speaker 4: to be they're gonna run it. They're gonna try to
Speaker 4: run it in and you'll see him make a really
Speaker 4: nice play, read it and get the shoot the gap
Speaker 4: there and get him wrapped up well behind the end zone.
Speaker 4: So anyway, a couple more players can run here while
Speaker 4: we're talking. But you know, the idea here is that
Speaker 4: kJ Britt j R. Russell, and Levante David, they're all
Speaker 4: they're all free agents. We're hoping, of course, that Levante
Speaker 4: decides to come back, but yeah, your.
Speaker 1: Whole inside linebacker room practically is potentially a free agent.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think that not not surprising to think
Speaker 1: that could be an area that they target this year.
Speaker 4: So the thing is, even we're hoping Levonte comes back,
Speaker 4: right even if he does come back, you know, as
Speaker 4: great as he's been, he still has been the last
Speaker 4: couple years, at some point he's going to hang him up.
Speaker 4: He's clearly been thinking about it the last couple of years.
Speaker 4: So you do want to think about the future of
Speaker 4: that position. But as I was saying the theme of
Speaker 4: how these guys draft stock may riser fall out, I
Speaker 4: think right now a lot of analysts out there are
Speaker 4: doing the connection thing. They're doing what we just did.
Speaker 4: Buccaneers could lose a lot of linebackers. It's a really
Speaker 4: big position to need. What's the best linebacker on the board.
Speaker 4: Put them at number ninety, right, But as we've seen
Speaker 4: a lot through the years, unless this off ball linebacker
Speaker 4: is something has some really special skills, like maybe if
Speaker 4: you do think you can be a good edge rusher,
Speaker 4: you don't usually have to spend a first round pick
Speaker 4: on that position. So I could see as the time
Speaker 4: goes on, as we get closer, more analysts saying no,
Speaker 4: that's a player teams will probably target in the second round. Yeah,
Speaker 4: or maybe they'll discover that, yeah, he has these other
Speaker 4: talents that he could rise even high.
Speaker 1: And then of course what are the Bucks do in
Speaker 1: free agency of Ladante or not? And then other outside
Speaker 1: people in terms of are bringing back your inside that
Speaker 1: that's always the interesting thing about ho much free agency
Speaker 1: can change a position of need like this as well,
Speaker 1: that suddenly you can go from wow, we had three
Speaker 1: potential free agents to we we apparently no free agency.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 4: So, like we said before, we're really early on this
Speaker 4: road and there's a lot of factors still to go.
Speaker 4: But let's take a look at another player, and to
Speaker 4: stay on defense. In fact, that's going to another thing today.
Speaker 3: I'm going to guess that's a theme a lot in
Speaker 3: the next few months.
Speaker 2: And you can see here.
Speaker 4: Now we're looking at Georgia, which has sent roughly a
Speaker 4: million defenders to the NFL, most to Philly in the
Speaker 4: last couple of years, and we're gonna look at another guy. Now,
Speaker 4: this is a guy considered more of an edge rusher
Speaker 4: than an off ball linebacker, and that's right here. It's
Speaker 4: Jalen Walker. Now, the history with him is the previous
Speaker 4: two years he was a rotational guy and mostly a
Speaker 4: third down guy as an edge rusher.
Speaker 2: So last year was the first.
Speaker 4: Year that he played a lot of off ball linebacker
Speaker 4: and all he did was win the Buckets Award, which
Speaker 4: we were talking about Jihad being a semi finals for
Speaker 4: He won it, so obviously it went very well. This
Speaker 4: is a very very talented, quick, explosive guy. That's why
Speaker 4: there's a lot of thought that he could be a
Speaker 4: really productive edge rusher, but he hasn't played there for
Speaker 4: very long, and you know, there's sometimes there's there's cops
Speaker 4: or expectations you're going to get this out of a player,
Speaker 4: and he doesn't get there. So I'm reminded of a
Speaker 4: couple of years ago when the Jaguars took Trayvon Walker
Speaker 4: of Georgia, very similar.
Speaker 2: I don't think they're related.
Speaker 4: Over Aiden Hutchinson based simply on Tree and he's been
Speaker 4: pretty good, but he hasn't been eight hutches in. So
Speaker 4: let's take a look at some of his plays. Here,
Speaker 4: he's you know, obviously it's a good chance to see
Speaker 4: him coming off the edge becomes more of a run blitz.
Speaker 2: Good pursuit.
Speaker 4: You saw how fast he was and how he recognized
Speaker 4: the play. Now what you're gonna like about this is
Speaker 4: you're gonna see how well he sets the edge. Because
Speaker 4: he's not the biggest guy. He's kind of a tweener
Speaker 4: like six three two forty five, which was one of
Speaker 4: the reasons why some people think he might play some
Speaker 4: off ball as well. So he's not the biggest guy.
Speaker 4: But watch how will he sets the edge here against
Speaker 4: the tackle and then disengages. So we're talking about this
Speaker 4: guy right here, he's gonna he's gonna engage with the
Speaker 4: with the tackle. It's a lot bigger than he is,
Speaker 4: and he's gonna.
Speaker 2: Stand him up.
Speaker 4: They're trying to they're trying to do the option. The
Speaker 4: read option quarterback runs. You see how he stood him
Speaker 4: up there for a little while and then sheds him
Speaker 4: at just the right moment to get the play.
Speaker 3: Looks like maybe there's a little pretty excited.
Speaker 2: Look.
Speaker 4: That's a that I really wanted to show you that
Speaker 4: one because I thought that was very impressive. So anyway, again,
Speaker 4: this is a guy that you might consider. He's being
Speaker 4: compared to Nolan Smith, also from Georgia, who drafted by
Speaker 4: the Eagles, and he kind of came on this year,
Speaker 4: so it could you could be talking about a guy
Speaker 4: that needs a little bit to develop to be a
Speaker 4: top notch edge rusher. He's he's a little bit. He's
Speaker 4: very quick and explosive and I think you'll see that
Speaker 4: here as he comes around the edge. So obviously he
Speaker 4: ran right around that guy dipped the shoulder at the
Speaker 4: right moment. Really good play, right, So you do see
Speaker 4: the explosiveness and the and the idea that he'd be
Speaker 4: able to be a really that bend.
Speaker 2: Effective edge rusher.
Speaker 4: But he doesn't have a lot of moves yet. He
Speaker 4: doesn't have a big tool set of pass rush moves.
Speaker 4: But that's what NFL coaches like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, So if you're.
Speaker 1: Getting that kind of success without even having that many tools.
Speaker 1: Think about once they give you more.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so this is kind of a deep class
Speaker 4: in the first round for EDG rushers. I think he's
Speaker 4: the when when we're getting him in these mock drafts,
Speaker 4: he's like the fourth or fifth EDG drusher off the board.
Speaker 4: So it could be that the Buccaneers are targeting that
Speaker 4: position and it might he might go higher. Like I
Speaker 4: said before, I could see these guys really moving around
Speaker 4: a lot, and if people if he goes the combine
Speaker 4: and blows it away with his with his forty yard
Speaker 4: dash and his agility drills, I could see his stock
Speaker 4: going up and he may end up being out of
Speaker 4: range for the Buccaneers unless they move on. So that's
Speaker 4: why I think he's a guy again volatile draft stock
Speaker 4: between now and then. And one more clip of him
Speaker 4: right here. This is like a power move, so you
Speaker 4: just kind of that guy has a lot of weight
Speaker 4: on him. Yeah, and he was pushing him back, so
Speaker 4: that was pretty impressive from another angle here, and.
Speaker 1: Even when he's kind of on the ground, still goes
Speaker 1: in trying to make that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's got a motor, that's for sure. Now, we're
Speaker 4: gonna be talking in a position that I think, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm very fond.
Speaker 3: Of, yeah, and that you can never ever have enough of.
Speaker 1: According to Scott, that will be put on your tombstone someday.
Speaker 3: Well, we never have enough corners?
Speaker 2: Did we not see that?
Speaker 3: This past year and the year before that, and all
Speaker 3: the years we.
Speaker 2: Were going down to fourth to six?
Speaker 1: I actually wish you wouldn't have said that so often.
Speaker 1: It's starting to feel like maybe it's your fault.
Speaker 3: But you have been right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe I spoke it into existence.
Speaker 4: Yes, but this is Benjamin Morrison of Notre Dame, and
Speaker 4: he's the guy that I actually gave.
Speaker 2: To us in my first mock draft of the year.
Speaker 2: That's just how it fell. He was there.
Speaker 4: I'm like a good cornerback. I can't help myself. So
Speaker 4: I took that over an Ed Druscher. So we're talking
Speaker 4: about number twenty here, Benjamin Morrison. Obviously pretty easy to
Speaker 4: pick him up. Let's see him on this coverage. Just
Speaker 4: a quick reaction there. So he's got very quick feet,
Speaker 4: you know, he's got he's very fluid in his motions,
Speaker 4: you know, and you can play inside and outside what
Speaker 4: you see? Yeah, what you see there is a really
Speaker 4: good to be able to mirror and close quickly on routes.
Speaker 4: That's very important when you're playing.
Speaker 3: In the slot.
Speaker 2: That's like a big deal, right.
Speaker 4: This one reminds me of something that Raheem Morris said
Speaker 4: when he was coaching defensive backs. I didn't really need
Speaker 4: to circle him there because.
Speaker 3: It's a lot of nice of him.
Speaker 4: Watch this back again. Raheem Moore so always used to
Speaker 4: tell those cornerbacks look and lean. It's kind of like
Speaker 4: using the sideline to help you in the coverage. So
Speaker 4: as you're running with your guy, you're also kind of
Speaker 4: leaning towards him and forcing him more and more to
Speaker 4: the sideline. And that was always something that Raheem Moore said. Oh,
Speaker 4: it's maybe all the coaches do, but I just remember
Speaker 4: him saying it. So as you see the guy goes
Speaker 4: to the sideline, he's able to run with him, and
Speaker 4: he's keeping his eyes on the football, but he's also
Speaker 4: kind of directing him towards the sideline. Yeah, and so
Speaker 4: he's making him run on a room. You'll see that
Speaker 4: even better on this next clip, which is from another angle.
Speaker 4: See how he's he's forced him towards the sideline.
Speaker 1: That Yeah, No, it's now he's the only one that
Speaker 1: could make that catch.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's nothing that's going to be called a penalty.
Speaker 4: They're not hand fighting or anything. They're just he's he's
Speaker 4: leaning on him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, use the sideline to your advantage.
Speaker 2: So that's a really nice play there.
Speaker 4: He Now here's the deal. So we're talking about guys
Speaker 4: whose draft stock could go up and down.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: He had hip surgery in October and missed the rest
Speaker 4: of the season, was having a good season, had a
Speaker 4: really good twenty twenty three season. But anytime a guy
Speaker 4: has a medical issue like that, you have to wonder
Speaker 4: if that's gonna how are they you know?
Speaker 3: And that's when the combine becomes.
Speaker 2: So you're exactly right. It's exactly what I was going
Speaker 2: to say. You hit.
Speaker 4: What happens to him at the combine, running and all that,
Speaker 4: it will be far less important than what his medical show.
Speaker 4: So if you feel good about him, he could go
Speaker 4: higher because good cornerbacks are hard to find, and they're
Speaker 4: they're they're going to rise up the draft if they do.
Speaker 3: Well, So great stuff for sure.
Speaker 1: Those a breakdown to some of these guys, and again
Speaker 1: this is just the beginning of the road of the draft.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have several more of these where we look
Speaker 1: at it every which way to Sunday, so that you
Speaker 1: are ready to know what the Bucks might do, not
Speaker 1: just in the first round, but the draft overall.
Speaker 3: So we'll see you next time.