WEBVTT - The Year of the Edge Rusher 0:00:05.058 --> 0:00:07.778 NFL Inside Report is a production of the NFL in 0:00:07.898 --> 0:00:21.338 partnership with I Heart Radio. I'm Red Lewis and this 0:00:21.778 --> 0:00:24.898 is NFL Inside Report. Over the course of the last 0:00:24.898 --> 0:00:27.858 couple of weeks, we have reset the rosters in the 0:00:27.978 --> 0:00:30.498 NFL and now in less than ten days, teams across 0:00:30.538 --> 0:00:32.538 the NFL will be making their additions via the draft 0:00:32.618 --> 0:00:35.138 in Las Vegas, and that is where we are shifting 0:00:35.138 --> 0:00:38.858 our focus here today. Reminder to subscribe, rate review our 0:00:38.898 --> 0:00:41.018 show on the I Heart Radio app on Apple Podcast 0:00:41.058 --> 0:00:43.738 wherever you get your pods. We certainly appreciate it. And 0:00:43.778 --> 0:00:45.498 with us today a couple of guys that have been 0:00:45.498 --> 0:00:48.058 on the ground for much of this pre draft process 0:00:48.138 --> 0:00:51.738 here for pro days to combine and essentially anywhere in between. 0:00:52.178 --> 0:00:55.538 Talking to James Palmer and Jeffrey Chitta. Gentlemen, great to 0:00:55.538 --> 0:00:58.258 be back here with you, and Jeff's got a great 0:00:58.298 --> 0:01:01.258 piece out right now. Um on pass rushers as they 0:01:01.258 --> 0:01:04.018 try to make this transition to the NFL from the 0:01:04.058 --> 0:01:05.978 college game. Will into that here in a little bit, 0:01:06.018 --> 0:01:07.978 but I want to start with some of the wide 0:01:08.018 --> 0:01:11.298 receiver situations that have gone on recently. Both you guys 0:01:11.378 --> 0:01:14.058 cover the Chiefs a bunch the Tyreek Hill move one 0:01:14.058 --> 0:01:16.098 of the biggest of the off season, sending him to Miami. 0:01:16.178 --> 0:01:19.698 He then gets the big money deal. Right. Davante Adams, 0:01:19.938 --> 0:01:24.538 similar situation, leaves Green Bay. It's another huge contract there 0:01:24.578 --> 0:01:26.738 in Las Vegas. And now there's like that next round 0:01:26.738 --> 0:01:28.778 of guys that are looking for that kind of money. Right. 0:01:28.898 --> 0:01:33.058 Forty Niners, Deebo, Samuel Commanders, Terry McLaurin, Titans A J. Brown, 0:01:33.898 --> 0:01:37.378 who has made some interesting moves on social media recently. 0:01:37.458 --> 0:01:39.138 Let me start with you, James here real quick, just 0:01:39.178 --> 0:01:42.178 on on this phenomenon. Are you into or not into 0:01:42.858 --> 0:01:47.618 the reading into the scrubbing of social media from a 0:01:47.778 --> 0:01:51.018 players are scrubbing of a team and all of their 0:01:51.098 --> 0:01:54.938 information from a player's social media platforms. I thought, all 0:01:54.938 --> 0:01:56.418 of a sudden the question came out, and I was like, 0:01:56.458 --> 0:01:59.338 are we on Good Morning Football? Is this? Like if 0:01:59.338 --> 0:02:01.498 you were? I'm not. Again, Do I need a whiteboard 0:02:01.578 --> 0:02:05.778 to tell you what I'm thinking about? You know? Is 0:02:06.098 --> 0:02:09.218 am I in with this? Listen? This is the generation 0:02:09.258 --> 0:02:11.298 that we're dealing with and the generation that is making 0:02:11.338 --> 0:02:13.298 up a large portion of the NFL. And this is 0:02:13.338 --> 0:02:19.858 how apparently communication is. Uh, this is how you tell 0:02:19.898 --> 0:02:22.258 everyone how you're feeling. And I think in terms of 0:02:22.258 --> 0:02:24.778 the receiver spot, the more people I talked to, it's 0:02:24.778 --> 0:02:26.618 like the Christian Kirk deal is the one that kind 0:02:26.618 --> 0:02:30.258 of skewed everything in terms of how this landscape was going. 0:02:30.298 --> 0:02:32.338 Not that it was like obviously not the biggest, but 0:02:32.378 --> 0:02:35.218 it was like whoa, and then everything kind of happened 0:02:35.258 --> 0:02:37.538 a little bit after that. I just think what's happening 0:02:37.658 --> 0:02:40.338 is now we're seeing and you know, I live in Denver. 0:02:40.418 --> 0:02:43.538 Russell Wilson more or less told the Seattle Seahawks, I'm 0:02:43.538 --> 0:02:45.578 gonna play for the Broncos. Let's make that happen. And 0:02:45.738 --> 0:02:48.178 players are getting more power, and players are making their 0:02:48.258 --> 0:02:51.658 voices known. Jeff like clearer and clear about this is 0:02:51.658 --> 0:02:53.658 where I stand. This is where I want something to happen. 0:02:54.018 --> 0:02:56.658 But we also have seen you can fix it pretty 0:02:56.698 --> 0:03:00.338 quickly with a new contract or everybody we find. Eventually, 0:03:00.978 --> 0:03:04.258 it seems to mend itself quickly, even though people like 0:03:04.338 --> 0:03:06.698 to floice opinion in terms of social media about where 0:03:06.698 --> 0:03:11.258 they stand with where their pleasures are with their contract. Yeah, 0:03:11.378 --> 0:03:13.978 I think it's uh. I think it's that, and I 0:03:14.018 --> 0:03:17.658 also feel like it's the players can read and they 0:03:17.658 --> 0:03:20.858 can see what's coming behind them. They know that this draft, 0:03:20.898 --> 0:03:23.578 for example, has got six or seven receivers who are 0:03:23.618 --> 0:03:26.898 first round talents. They saw what happened with Justin Jefferson, 0:03:27.098 --> 0:03:30.098 they saw what happened with Jamaar Chase. Obviously, they saw 0:03:30.138 --> 0:03:32.058 what happened with Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams and those 0:03:32.058 --> 0:03:36.018 guys as well. But there's there's a small window here 0:03:36.258 --> 0:03:37.978 to make your money, to make that big money out 0:03:38.058 --> 0:03:41.658 because if you're a GM and you're talking about paying 0:03:41.898 --> 0:03:44.978 a second second, excuse me, a second round pick, a 0:03:45.018 --> 0:03:48.218 guy's in the last sums contract now big money. You're 0:03:48.218 --> 0:03:52.138 also probably looking at guys like Garrett Wilson or Drake London, uh, 0:03:52.218 --> 0:03:54.538 people like that, Chris olav and saying well, I could 0:03:54.538 --> 0:03:58.378 just go with this guy, but we just find as well. Yeah, 0:03:58.418 --> 0:04:00.298 And and that's part of where I wanted to get 0:04:00.338 --> 0:04:02.898 into because James, you saw one of those wide receivers 0:04:02.898 --> 0:04:05.138 that could be In that discussion down in Alabama's Road 0:04:05.258 --> 0:04:07.618 with Jamison Williams, what was the since you got down 0:04:07.618 --> 0:04:11.138 there um about him as a as a prospect that 0:04:11.218 --> 0:04:14.258 teams might see, as you know, a high level player 0:04:14.458 --> 0:04:16.658 that provides a little bit more cost control than maybe 0:04:16.658 --> 0:04:19.258 some of the wide receivers that are established in the league. Yeah, 0:04:19.258 --> 0:04:20.898 I had a goal of going down there. Rent I 0:04:20.938 --> 0:04:23.098 was like, who in the right mind would want to 0:04:23.178 --> 0:04:28.938 leave the Ohio State University thinking? And so now I'm joking, 0:04:28.978 --> 0:04:31.778 but that was actually when I talked to evaluators, like 0:04:31.858 --> 0:04:35.378 they were kind of curious, going, where's the competitiveness? Right? 0:04:35.418 --> 0:04:38.378 Did you not want to beat out Chris Lave, Garrett Wilson, 0:04:38.458 --> 0:04:40.898 Jackson Smith and Jigba. It's a it's a huge lee, 0:04:40.898 --> 0:04:43.578 crowded wide receiver room. Why did you leave? Right? And 0:04:43.578 --> 0:04:45.978 And I kind of heard he didn't really like Ohio State. 0:04:46.258 --> 0:04:48.658 That's kind of a bummer, But I didn't have anything 0:04:48.698 --> 0:04:50.778 to do when I was down in Alabama finding out 0:04:50.898 --> 0:04:52.698 with his competitiveness. And that was one of the things 0:04:52.738 --> 0:04:54.258 when I got a chance to talk to Nick Saban 0:04:54.298 --> 0:04:55.938 for a little while, was like one of the things 0:04:55.938 --> 0:04:58.818 that he said, Jamo's competitiveness is kind of what made 0:04:58.818 --> 0:05:01.138 their team special. And I had just pointed out to 0:05:01.178 --> 0:05:03.258 me by a couple of teammates about the way practices 0:05:03.298 --> 0:05:05.338 would go when he first got there first the first 0:05:05.378 --> 0:05:07.658 day of practice he was with them, I was totally 0:05:07.738 --> 0:05:10.058 was one versus ones. He catches the ball in the 0:05:10.098 --> 0:05:12.138 middle of the field, there's two safeties about I don't know, 0:05:12.258 --> 0:05:14.378 six ft apart from each other. He goes through without 0:05:14.378 --> 0:05:17.258 even getting touched, And defensive players started asking guys in 0:05:17.298 --> 0:05:19.458 the secondary like, are you guys Lofen like you were 0:05:19.458 --> 0:05:21.818 going a d percent right, And they're like, yeah, yeah, 0:05:22.178 --> 0:05:24.978 we were. He's just that much faster than we are. 0:05:25.058 --> 0:05:27.778 And you're talking about a program like Alabama. But what 0:05:27.898 --> 0:05:30.338 stood out to Saban and stood out the teammates, And 0:05:30.338 --> 0:05:33.658 this is why Saban told me his demeanor is so 0:05:33.818 --> 0:05:36.658 unique for the wide receiver to where he wants to 0:05:36.698 --> 0:05:39.178 be a gunner on special teams. He wants to play 0:05:39.258 --> 0:05:42.178 kickoff like they'd go ones versus once for a period. 0:05:42.218 --> 0:05:44.378 And I think we've all known the reputation and the 0:05:44.378 --> 0:05:47.698 stories of Alabama practices, right, and how they run and 0:05:47.698 --> 0:05:50.218 how hard they work. They would go from that period 0:05:50.538 --> 0:05:53.058 and then the very next period is a special teams period, 0:05:53.058 --> 0:05:55.018 And I was told by teammates like they've watched him 0:05:55.058 --> 0:05:58.498 sprint over to a special teams punt period and he'd 0:05:58.498 --> 0:06:01.778 be the gunner coming down on punt immediately after he 0:06:01.818 --> 0:06:04.658 was running deep balls with the first team offense and 0:06:04.658 --> 0:06:07.938 they are like, jeez, this guy works like that type 0:06:07.978 --> 0:06:10.778 of competitiveness, Saban told me is what made their team 0:06:10.858 --> 0:06:13.498 kind of special. And I think I learned something about 0:06:13.578 --> 0:06:15.858 him as an individual, and he has been going up 0:06:15.858 --> 0:06:18.738 boards because the talent is ridiculous. But I think the 0:06:18.778 --> 0:06:21.858 way that he in a lot of receivers, right, Jeffrey, like, 0:06:21.898 --> 0:06:26.058 don't change the way your team vibes a lot of times, right, 0:06:26.138 --> 0:06:29.178 That's not the position you usually look to when you're like, wow, 0:06:29.178 --> 0:06:31.418 looks guys kind of holding things together. He has a 0:06:31.418 --> 0:06:33.978 little bit of that. Yeah, And again you go back 0:06:34.018 --> 0:06:36.818 to the guy that just mentioned Jamaar Chase and Justin Jefferson. 0:06:36.978 --> 0:06:38.698 In the NFL, I think that what you're seeing in 0:06:38.738 --> 0:06:41.418 the league is people looking for those kinds of talents 0:06:41.818 --> 0:06:43.738 at that position now, players who can come and right 0:06:43.778 --> 0:06:47.698 away and completely change the complexion of your franchise. I 0:06:47.698 --> 0:06:49.218 do have to laugh, though, because he probably want to 0:06:49.218 --> 0:06:51.098 be a gunner for Ohio State because if I have 0:06:51.178 --> 0:06:54.538 plenty chance to do that job down there with a 0:06:54.658 --> 0:06:57.178 lobby and those guys. But I give you credit for 0:06:57.418 --> 0:07:00.298 bringing up his his his work, his work ethic. You 0:07:00.378 --> 0:07:03.458 guy I do love that left him as a player. Yeah, 0:07:03.698 --> 0:07:05.658 look at you two, and you know we're looking at 0:07:05.658 --> 0:07:08.018 the Chiefs, who now have you know, two first round 0:07:08.018 --> 0:07:10.658 picks right there, back to back as it currently stands, 0:07:10.658 --> 0:07:12.658 and if they stick right there, I think they're gonna 0:07:12.698 --> 0:07:15.618 be out of luck. Um with maybe the first five 0:07:15.698 --> 0:07:18.418 wide receivers could be off the board by that time. 0:07:18.938 --> 0:07:20.818 But Jeffrey, do you see that as a place that 0:07:20.858 --> 0:07:22.298 they still want to go or do you feel like 0:07:22.338 --> 0:07:25.818 they're set with the addition of Markquis, Balda Scantley, Jujue 0:07:25.818 --> 0:07:29.338 Smith Schuster in company there in case, I think James 0:07:29.378 --> 0:07:32.178 would attest to this. I think that when I look 0:07:32.218 --> 0:07:35.698 at the Chiefs going for receiver in the first round, 0:07:35.738 --> 0:07:39.258 a lot depends on what's there. I don't think that 0:07:40.018 --> 0:07:42.098 as aggressive as Brett beaches, he would go up to 0:07:42.218 --> 0:07:44.698 draft a receiver at that spot. I think you'd go 0:07:44.738 --> 0:07:47.378 up to get to edge rusher. But I do feel 0:07:47.378 --> 0:07:48.818 like they have a certain type of receiver they like 0:07:48.898 --> 0:07:51.338 to have there, and so guys who were more like 0:07:51.378 --> 0:07:56.058 the Drake London's, the bigger, the six four pound guys, 0:07:56.058 --> 0:07:58.658 the trailer burke type guys, even though they're athletic guys, 0:07:58.778 --> 0:08:01.378 they just don't fit their mold. I think Jamison Williams 0:08:01.978 --> 0:08:04.418 is that kind of player. I think Chris O. Lobby 0:08:04.458 --> 0:08:06.658 would be a great player in that in that system 0:08:06.698 --> 0:08:09.498 because it was route running and it's just his sophistication 0:08:09.538 --> 0:08:12.938 as intelligence, his i q um. But I think that 0:08:12.978 --> 0:08:14.738 they'll sit there and see what's available to them, and 0:08:14.738 --> 0:08:16.538 if they don't like it, they'll buy trade back and 0:08:16.618 --> 0:08:19.298 take one in the second round. Again. All these guys 0:08:19.338 --> 0:08:22.218 we just talked about, the Deebo Samuels, the A. J. Brown's, 0:08:22.738 --> 0:08:25.778 the people of that nature, Um Terry McLaurin. Those guys 0:08:25.778 --> 0:08:28.738 were all second third round picks. And so you can 0:08:28.778 --> 0:08:30.858 sit there and find a pretty good player at that position. 0:08:30.898 --> 0:08:32.818 You don't have to go up and get just the 0:08:33.098 --> 0:08:35.578 big name guys. Right now, Jeff and I were texting 0:08:35.578 --> 0:08:38.138 about this yesterday. I think we both in factly believe 0:08:38.258 --> 0:08:40.578 that Brett Vach is not sitting there with both those picks. 0:08:40.578 --> 0:08:42.458 They're not gonna pick in both of those spots. I 0:08:42.898 --> 0:08:46.378 think we talked about this on on NFL now like that, 0:08:46.498 --> 0:08:49.538 the need of pass rush with the Chiefs, especially with 0:08:49.578 --> 0:08:52.378 everybody else's pass rush in the division is just a 0:08:52.418 --> 0:08:57.058 monster monster need um. Chris Alave actually has a similar 0:08:57.138 --> 0:09:00.498 mindset to Jamison Williams. I were talking to Terry McLaren 0:09:00.538 --> 0:09:02.378 about it this past year because I love to talk 0:09:02.418 --> 0:09:04.058 about my buck eyes. So I asked him, you know what, 0:09:04.138 --> 0:09:07.418 you stay chat room. Yeah, we're always just you know, 0:09:08.298 --> 0:09:12.058 down here at the bus. But he said, he's like, 0:09:12.138 --> 0:09:14.658 he's like, he came up the same way I came up. 0:09:14.658 --> 0:09:17.218 They're really close, Terry and Chris Lave and and he's 0:09:17.218 --> 0:09:18.698 like he did the same things I did. Like and 0:09:18.738 --> 0:09:20.778 I remember because I watched every game, like Jeff watches 0:09:20.818 --> 0:09:23.338 every Michigan game. I'm surprised that we're able to get 0:09:23.578 --> 0:09:26.938 able to watch the Ohio State this year. I watched 0:09:26.938 --> 0:09:32.178 some watch on repeat. I watched the last ten years. 0:09:32.378 --> 0:09:35.618 I watched the last ten years on repeat. Anyway, Uh, well, 0:09:35.658 --> 0:09:37.458 he's like, he's like, Chris did the same things I did. 0:09:37.498 --> 0:09:39.778 And he was blocking punts as a freshman, and he was, 0:09:39.858 --> 0:09:41.618 you know, on special teams, and he's like, he did 0:09:41.658 --> 0:09:42.978 it the same way I did it. And I think 0:09:42.978 --> 0:09:44.938 it makes you a better player at the next level. 0:09:44.938 --> 0:09:46.858 And James and Williams is kind of the same sense. 0:09:47.018 --> 0:09:49.618 Both those guys would fit in Kansas City. Rend I, 0:09:49.098 --> 0:09:52.458 I I'm just curious what they're thinking is with both 0:09:52.458 --> 0:09:54.498 of those picks. And remember they have two second rounders 0:09:54.778 --> 0:09:57.698 and two third rounders, so he has the ammunition to 0:09:57.818 --> 0:10:00.378 manipulate and move for anybody that they really see that 0:10:00.698 --> 0:10:03.898 as a as a distinct target target for them. Yeah, 0:10:03.938 --> 0:10:05.778 and it will get to perhaps some of those edge 0:10:05.858 --> 0:10:08.618 rusher possibilities that the Chiefs could see down there at 0:10:08.658 --> 0:10:11.298 the bottom of the first round when we get when 0:10:11.298 --> 0:10:13.218 we get a little bit deeper into this episode here, 0:10:13.298 --> 0:10:15.818 especially with Jeff uh put that piece out on NFL 0:10:15.858 --> 0:10:18.298 dot com about the pass rushers. But I didn't want 0:10:18.298 --> 0:10:19.938 to get back to Alabama here for a second and 0:10:19.978 --> 0:10:22.258 kind of relating back to this situation that the Chiefs 0:10:22.258 --> 0:10:24.138 are in, because part of the reason they were in 0:10:24.138 --> 0:10:26.538 that Tyreek Hill situation is you had the one year 0:10:26.658 --> 0:10:29.938 franchise tag that you had to pay Orlando Brown, Um, 0:10:30.058 --> 0:10:31.978 you know, with with where he was at one able 0:10:31.978 --> 0:10:34.378 to get the long term deal done in time, and 0:10:34.418 --> 0:10:37.458 so you know, you're committed to that number, and and 0:10:37.498 --> 0:10:39.458 that's where they were at, and so you know, Tyreek 0:10:39.498 --> 0:10:43.178 Hills on his way. Um. Evan Neil is by the way, 0:10:43.218 --> 0:10:45.818 you know, one of the top two, if not the 0:10:45.858 --> 0:10:48.298 top guy depending on who you ask um in terms 0:10:48.298 --> 0:10:49.938 of tackles in this draft class. And you got to 0:10:49.938 --> 0:10:51.818 see him down there, in addition to guys that Christian 0:10:51.858 --> 0:10:54.578 Harris James, who are gonna be potentially you know early 0:10:54.658 --> 0:10:56.818 day two picks. Just your thoughts on some of those 0:10:56.818 --> 0:10:59.818 other Alabama prospects down there from your time at Tuscalusa. Yeah, 0:10:59.938 --> 0:11:01.858 for Evan Neil is a different cat, and I mean 0:11:01.898 --> 0:11:03.378 that in a good way. I mean, I've never seen 0:11:03.418 --> 0:11:05.178 a guy go through this whole pro day wearing a watch, 0:11:05.698 --> 0:11:07.778 uh the entire time, especially when you're going through all 0:11:07.778 --> 0:11:10.378 those past blocking drills and I'm like, He's like, I'm 0:11:10.458 --> 0:11:12.378 keeping track of my calories. He told me like, I 0:11:12.458 --> 0:11:14.058 just want to see how much I burned during this, 0:11:14.338 --> 0:11:15.818 during this lurkout. And he didn't want to do that. 0:11:15.938 --> 0:11:17.418 You know that he didn't do any of the drills 0:11:17.698 --> 0:11:19.618 at the combine. He wanted to do them all all 0:11:19.658 --> 0:11:21.578 down there. And I mean to be six seven three 0:11:21.658 --> 0:11:24.178 forty five and move the way he moves and to 0:11:24.258 --> 0:11:27.698 play multiple positions at Alabama, very few programs probably would 0:11:27.698 --> 0:11:30.138 have a guy like that play different spots in their 0:11:30.178 --> 0:11:32.458 career on the offensive line. But what really stood out 0:11:32.498 --> 0:11:34.858 to me talking to him, I'll be outside of his 0:11:35.218 --> 0:11:37.698 intelligence and the in the type of makeup he has 0:11:38.098 --> 0:11:42.538 in terms of character, is he had zero penalties this 0:11:42.618 --> 0:11:47.938 past season six total for his three years starting at Alabama. 0:11:48.018 --> 0:11:51.218 So I think that to me and Jeff and I 0:11:51.658 --> 0:11:53.698 we were talking about this before the podcast started, about 0:11:53.698 --> 0:11:56.338 the edge rushers and raw talent and and being a 0:11:56.538 --> 0:11:59.938 tactician of your craft. If you don't have any penalties 0:11:59.978 --> 0:12:01.498 like that, that that shows you're coming in as a 0:12:01.498 --> 0:12:04.418 pretty polished player because you know how to play the position. 0:12:04.458 --> 0:12:07.098 On top of the physical attributes that he has. He'd 0:12:07.138 --> 0:12:09.138 love to go number one. They haven't had a number 0:12:09.138 --> 0:12:11.658 one pick from Alabama I think in seventy four years, 0:12:12.378 --> 0:12:15.738 so he would like that to happen. Um, what was that? 0:12:16.298 --> 0:12:19.698 What's that? What's that guy? You know? When I was 0:12:19.738 --> 0:12:25.498 doing Alabama as a quarterback? Um? Yeah, a long time ago. Yeah, 0:12:25.538 --> 0:12:29.618 well I name it was was not NFL. That's it 0:12:29.618 --> 0:12:31.378 doesn't technically count if you want to skew the staffs 0:12:31.418 --> 0:12:35.938 the way I just did. But um, but yes, there 0:12:35.938 --> 0:12:41.218 you go. Did you get that off the top of 0:12:41.218 --> 0:12:43.098 your head, you google that or do you still use it? 0:12:43.658 --> 0:12:45.298 Just it just took a little. It took a minute 0:12:45.298 --> 0:12:48.018 to circle back through the filing system in here. So 0:12:48.138 --> 0:12:50.858 I gotta I got it. I got it, and then 0:12:50.898 --> 0:12:54.178 the other guy real quick. I think like Christian Harris 0:12:54.418 --> 0:12:56.098 and I went to l s U the next week 0:12:56.498 --> 0:12:58.258 and people were talking about him. I talked to a 0:12:58.258 --> 0:13:00.498 head coach that was like, he's gonna he's gonna play 0:13:00.538 --> 0:13:02.778 inside and he's gonna play for an eternity because they 0:13:02.818 --> 0:13:05.618 love his makeup, they love the athletic says m he has. 0:13:06.538 --> 0:13:09.018 I talked to Harris for a long time Abama. He 0:13:09.058 --> 0:13:11.698 was like, dude, I was the safety and a running 0:13:11.698 --> 0:13:14.578 back and I'm at a camp and Hugh Freeze pulls 0:13:14.618 --> 0:13:17.058 me over to another drill. It's like, hey, play linebacker. 0:13:17.298 --> 0:13:19.658 He's like, within a few weeks, I'm getting linebacker offers, 0:13:19.898 --> 0:13:22.138 and in two months he has to prep to play 0:13:22.178 --> 0:13:24.618 linebacker to start at Alabama and ends up playing for 0:13:24.658 --> 0:13:27.778 three years after Hugh Freeze at a camp tells him 0:13:27.818 --> 0:13:29.738 to go, hey, let why don't we try at linebacker? 0:13:30.098 --> 0:13:33.218 And now everybody is really really around the league. His 0:13:33.298 --> 0:13:35.658 name keeps coming up. When I talked to people just 0:13:35.698 --> 0:13:38.578 because of his makeup. He's he's just he just gets it. 0:13:38.658 --> 0:13:41.578 He's so professional in a sense and just understands kind 0:13:41.618 --> 0:13:43.498 of what what would be asked of him. And there's 0:13:43.778 --> 0:13:46.218 there's some teams that are would be really really excited 0:13:46.258 --> 0:13:48.258 to have him him one day to just an interesting, 0:13:48.698 --> 0:13:51.738 interesting kid with the transition he went through in the 0:13:51.778 --> 0:13:54.138 way he was able to make that happen so quickly 0:13:54.178 --> 0:13:56.378 and then play there's other guys breathing down your neck 0:13:56.378 --> 0:13:59.218 in Alabama and just move into linebacker and play for 0:13:59.258 --> 0:14:01.818 three years is crazy. You know you mentioned Evan Nel. 0:14:01.858 --> 0:14:04.058 When I was at Michigan's Pro day. I was talking 0:14:04.058 --> 0:14:06.338 to some scouts there about him and they kind of 0:14:06.378 --> 0:14:08.458 mentioned the irony of effect that in a different year 0:14:08.898 --> 0:14:11.898 he wouldn't be probably the hands on the odds on 0:14:12.018 --> 0:14:15.818 number one pick just because of the talent. Everybody down 0:14:15.818 --> 0:14:17.378 there was raving about him. But you look at the 0:14:17.418 --> 0:14:21.818 Jaguar situation having Cam Robinson on a franchise tag, Like 0:14:21.938 --> 0:14:23.858 I had a couple of personnel guys just telling me 0:14:23.858 --> 0:14:26.658 that there's no way they can't take Ade Hutchinson number one, 0:14:26.858 --> 0:14:29.218 or that was treybon Walker being to talk. I think 0:14:29.218 --> 0:14:32.378 it will still be Hutchinson, but just the feeling in 0:14:32.498 --> 0:14:35.978 that camp was that one. This is a weird draft 0:14:36.018 --> 0:14:38.658 because you might have ten picks go by without having 0:14:38.698 --> 0:14:42.898 somebody touching the football get drafted, which rarely happened. Uh 0:14:43.378 --> 0:14:46.778 Lee Willis gets in there, Garrett Wilson. But the fact 0:14:46.818 --> 0:14:48.818 that Aid Hutchinson, a guy that a couple of years 0:14:48.858 --> 0:14:51.778 ago was just a good player trying to see if 0:14:51.778 --> 0:14:54.138 he could play at a high level get into the 0:14:54.138 --> 0:14:55.898 first round, might end up being the number one pick. 0:14:55.978 --> 0:14:57.938 I mean it's like, as much as he's very as 0:14:57.978 --> 0:15:00.218 much as James raid about Ohio State, I would worry 0:15:00.218 --> 0:15:04.178 about Michigan now. And the fact that, um, you know, 0:15:04.298 --> 0:15:06.738 you talk about d to Send, you talk about Daxton Hill, 0:15:06.778 --> 0:15:09.938 you talk about David Ojabo. Obviously a tough story there 0:15:09.938 --> 0:15:12.458 at their pro day going down with Achilles tear Um. 0:15:12.698 --> 0:15:14.658 The town they have coming into this draft is pretty 0:15:14.658 --> 0:15:17.458 impressive as well. One last note on Harris, I thought 0:15:17.458 --> 0:15:20.378 this is wild because we always love combine measurements. So 0:15:20.418 --> 0:15:22.458 when I was talking to him at the combine, he 0:15:22.658 --> 0:15:25.178 his broad jumped with eleven feet right, he runs a 0:15:25.178 --> 0:15:28.898 four four four, and Christian goes, dude, I never brought 0:15:28.978 --> 0:15:32.418 jumped over ten before the combine. I was like, what happened? 0:15:32.418 --> 0:15:35.098 He goes the combine has a measurement line at nine 0:15:35.138 --> 0:15:38.818 ft and eleven feet. I thought the eleven stripe was 0:15:38.978 --> 0:15:41.898 the ten ft stripe. And he's like, so I was 0:15:41.938 --> 0:15:44.018 just jumping for that. It's like, and maybe when the 0:15:44.058 --> 0:15:46.178 lights come on, I just played better because he's like, 0:15:46.178 --> 0:15:47.978 I also never ran a four or four four in 0:15:48.058 --> 0:15:51.018 any of my training. He's so he's like, I was 0:15:51.058 --> 0:15:53.578 blowing he we were all blown away by his combine performance. 0:15:53.618 --> 0:15:54.818 He was like, I had no idea who's gonna get 0:15:54.818 --> 0:15:57.418 any of those numbers because I never measured at any 0:15:57.458 --> 0:15:59.898 of those numbers. But it's kind of interesting though, because 0:15:59.938 --> 0:16:01.938 that's kind of the discussion that we've been having on 0:16:02.018 --> 0:16:03.978 path of the Draft a bunch, and we talked about 0:16:04.018 --> 0:16:07.938 it this week, you know, with these off the ball linebackers, 0:16:08.018 --> 0:16:10.018 because you know, like you're looking at a guy like 0:16:10.098 --> 0:16:12.858 Devin Woydum or maybe a guy like Nikobe Deane from 0:16:12.898 --> 0:16:16.018 Georgia um as potential first round picks. But then you 0:16:16.058 --> 0:16:20.138 see guys like Christian Christian Harris, Troy Anderson from Montana State, 0:16:20.218 --> 0:16:23.778 Chad Movement from Wyoming, and quay Walker from Georgia, Like, like, 0:16:23.898 --> 0:16:26.498 all right, can we get like a similar type player 0:16:26.858 --> 0:16:29.138 at a better value in the second round? And so 0:16:29.178 --> 0:16:32.218 that'll be an interesting storyline, uh to see play out there. 0:16:32.538 --> 0:16:34.858 But Jeff talked a little bit about what's going on 0:16:34.858 --> 0:16:37.658 in Michigan kind of becoming I think what Aidan hutcheson 0:16:37.778 --> 0:16:41.458 his term pass rush you now is that it used 0:16:41.458 --> 0:16:43.618 to be they had that that title, right, but they 0:16:43.618 --> 0:16:49.658 don't have any They go, buddy, now they've all gotten um, 0:16:49.938 --> 0:16:52.898 it's a finess program up there now down there, yet 0:16:52.938 --> 0:16:55.458 check out the highest paid dbs three of the top 0:16:55.778 --> 0:17:00.418 the top three. We're gonna Jeff sort this thing out 0:17:00.578 --> 0:17:02.178 and take a quick break and come right back on 0:17:02.218 --> 0:17:04.098 into the port with another look at the pass rushers 0:17:04.098 --> 0:17:20.738 in this class. I'm back here with the NFL and 0:17:20.778 --> 0:17:23.818 side report. James Palmer, Jeffrey Chadia back here with us, 0:17:24.018 --> 0:17:27.978 and Jeffrey has been working on a piece about pass rushers, 0:17:28.498 --> 0:17:32.378 especially as they make the transition now from the college 0:17:32.378 --> 0:17:35.138 game to the pro game. And look at I've mentioned 0:17:35.138 --> 0:17:37.218 this also on Path to the Draft. Like you know, 0:17:37.298 --> 0:17:40.018 last year we had the quarterbacks go one to three, right, 0:17:40.058 --> 0:17:42.778 and this feels like the opposition party's response to the 0:17:42.778 --> 0:17:45.338 state of the Union. Now we might get edge rushers 0:17:45.378 --> 0:17:48.658 go one to three and this year's draft, right, because look, 0:17:48.858 --> 0:17:50.778 you know those those are the two positions that are 0:17:50.818 --> 0:17:53.258 you know, arguably at the at the highest premium in 0:17:53.298 --> 0:17:55.658 the NFL. Here at this point of course, there's no 0:17:55.738 --> 0:17:58.618 argument about quarterbacks, um, but yeah, the pass rusher is 0:17:58.658 --> 0:18:02.538 certainly taken on that level of importance in this league. 0:18:02.698 --> 0:18:04.978 Let me just toss talk a little bit about that, 0:18:05.058 --> 0:18:06.458 you know, the piece that you got out right now, 0:18:06.498 --> 0:18:08.778 and Jeff, like what you learned in your study about 0:18:08.818 --> 0:18:12.258 these guys in this position, Well, it started off really 0:18:12.298 --> 0:18:13.818 and to be honest with you, started off as a 0:18:13.898 --> 0:18:17.458 day withd Ojabo da Fe always story because those two 0:18:17.778 --> 0:18:20.938 played together at the Blair Academy in New Jersey and 0:18:21.218 --> 0:18:24.898 Ojabo saw the success that Alway had as a player, 0:18:24.898 --> 0:18:27.018 decided to play football at the age of fifteen. And 0:18:27.018 --> 0:18:29.218 then I went to Michigan's pro day and Ojabo towards 0:18:29.218 --> 0:18:31.418 Achilles and that kind of killed that story. So we 0:18:31.418 --> 0:18:33.938 were kind of scrambling, and so we started looking at 0:18:33.938 --> 0:18:35.658 some of the other players in the draft of that position, 0:18:35.978 --> 0:18:40.538 guys like Boya Mafe and Bikte and you know Ojabo, 0:18:40.618 --> 0:18:43.658 George Carloftis, and we realized a lot of these guys 0:18:43.738 --> 0:18:46.458 picked up football pretty late um or came from the 0:18:46.458 --> 0:18:48.378 country is to pick it up. Or you had guys 0:18:48.458 --> 0:18:51.538 like Jermaine Johnson who had one big year, And so 0:18:51.578 --> 0:18:53.058 we started looking at some of these players and looking 0:18:53.058 --> 0:18:54.858 at it always and started saying, well, got man's look, 0:18:54.858 --> 0:18:56.938 a lot of a lot of players are coming in 0:18:57.018 --> 0:18:59.938 this league without having the typical background or having being 0:19:00.218 --> 0:19:02.618 as well rounded at this position, and just talking to 0:19:02.618 --> 0:19:05.898