Speaker 1: The game is over the New York You play to
Speaker 1: win the game. He's got a Jet locksdown. Jim. You're
Speaker 1: listening to the Official New York Jets Podcast, a Jets
Speaker 1: three sixty production. What's up, everybody? Thanks for downloading the
Speaker 1: Official Jets podcast. Ethan Greenberg, Eric Gallery have a very
Speaker 1: special show today. Jim Naggy, the executive director of the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl, will be joining us the Senior Bowl of
Speaker 1: Courses later this week. If you don't know anything about Jim,
Speaker 1: well real quick. He took over as executive director of
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl in June two thousand eighteen. He spent
Speaker 1: eighteen years in the NFL. He was an area scout.
Speaker 1: He was a national scout for four years with the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: He was a part of six Super Bowl teams, four
Speaker 1: of which hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, the Packers, the Patriots
Speaker 1: two times, and lastly for the Seattle Seahawks the Sky.
Speaker 1: No scouting, you don't get this. You don't get a
Speaker 1: position like that unless you are a well respected person
Speaker 1: within the National Football League. You think about what Phil
Speaker 1: Savage did there for so many years, and I think
Speaker 1: this is a great move for Jim and his family.
Speaker 1: He lives down there and Mobile and knows that area,
Speaker 1: and he also brings that background of being a longtime
Speaker 1: scout Greens to the process. So he is going to
Speaker 1: think of it in terms of how can I showcase
Speaker 1: the prospects and get them acclimated to NFL conditions that
Speaker 1: they will have to prepare for if they're gonna be
Speaker 1: playing on Sundays in the National Football League, and he's
Speaker 1: gonna take them through the entire week. You know, I
Speaker 1: believe you're gonna go down there with our guy Frank Tank.
Speaker 1: You'll be covering this for the Jets. I believe you
Speaker 1: guys are going down there on Monday or Tuesday, and
Speaker 1: then practices Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday and Wednesday are the
Speaker 1: big practice days, and then they scale back towards later
Speaker 1: in the week. Know, ultimately, you got your game on Saturday.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure Jim is gonna do a tremendous job.
Speaker 1: Jim views this position as a stewardship to the city
Speaker 1: of Mobile. That's what he said, And I think that
Speaker 1: what's really stuck out to me is really how quickly
Speaker 1: he hit the ground running. And we'll talk to him
Speaker 1: about this shortly, but Jim said that he and his
Speaker 1: staff of scouts that helped pick the guys to send
Speaker 1: invites to the recent Senior Bowl. They talked to NFL
Speaker 1: teams to see what players they want to see down
Speaker 1: and Mobile because that's that's their customer pretty much. And
Speaker 1: the players are gonna go through a week of what
Speaker 1: it's like to be like in the NFL up to
Speaker 1: the point, up to the detail where they're off day
Speaker 1: Friday in this case, the day before the game, schools
Speaker 1: and hospital visits, just like a Tuesday in the NFL
Speaker 1: when players have their off days in the regular season
Speaker 1: and they do different community league exactly. So yeah, you're
Speaker 1: he's down to the button because I think it's great
Speaker 1: for all players and not to mention when you look
Speaker 1: at smaller school prospects. I mean last year Nathan Shepherd
Speaker 1: was a Detawol prospect down there. Marcus Davenport was a
Speaker 1: first round pick and at the time he was not
Speaker 1: regarded as one. Will her Nandez, second round pick for
Speaker 1: the Giants, had a great week down there in Mobile.
Speaker 1: So the Senior Bowl, while it may not be as
Speaker 1: it doesn't have the amount of prospects as the combine
Speaker 1: has It's still a very valuable time for both the
Speaker 1: players and the scouts and the team. It's more intimate.
Speaker 1: I like it from that perspective. It feels smaller, even
Speaker 1: though a lot of NFL personnel are there. It feels
Speaker 1: a little bit more relaxed than Indianapolis. The Combine is
Speaker 1: such a monstrous event as the NFL takes over that city.
Speaker 1: Indianapolis got a different field down there, and mobile is
Speaker 1: the NFL offseason really begins in earnest because he kind
Speaker 1: of if you're taking people through the calendar, is that
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl Week is at the same time where some
Speaker 1: of the NFL's bust will be down in Orlando, Florida
Speaker 1: for the Pro Bowl. And then that weekend actually there's
Speaker 1: Jets House in New York City. And then after that
Speaker 1: you start looking forward to Indianapolis and the Combine and
Speaker 1: the start of free agency. So this is all gonna
Speaker 1: happen really quick. And for you avid listeners, here is
Speaker 1: a green favorite that you're going to have to remember
Speaker 1: in the months ahead. That is Andy Isabella from You Mask.
Speaker 1: That is an Ethan Greenberg guy. Oh yeah, Green's loves him.
Speaker 1: I can tell he's a little bit smaller guy, quick
Speaker 1: and fast as heck is. Jim will tell us about
Speaker 1: so that you mass a minute man, a minute man,
Speaker 1: but he probably a guy can run the mile seconds.
Speaker 1: All right, we talked about them. But no better person
Speaker 1: to talk to about the Reese's Senior Bowl then the
Speaker 1: executive producer of the game. Here's Jim Naggy. All right, Jim,
Speaker 1: let's go back to when you took over as the
Speaker 1: executive director of the Senior Bowl. We know you have
Speaker 1: a decorated resume as a scout in the NFL, but
Speaker 1: what appeal to you about this role? Well, yeah, guys,
Speaker 1: it Uh, we've we've've lived in Mobile for eleven years,
Speaker 1: so this is this has been home for us. It's
Speaker 1: my wife's hometown. We were we're bouncing around the country, um,
Speaker 1: with scouting for for a long time, and when we
Speaker 1: started having kids, it got to be a lot. So
Speaker 1: we really wanted to get closer to family. So we've
Speaker 1: been in Mobile and then, uh, this game has has
Speaker 1: meant a lot. You know, it really means a lot
Speaker 1: to the city of Obi Hill and Mobile. Baldwin County
Speaker 1: is down here, you know, seventieth annual game this year,
Speaker 1: So really when the out when the when the job
Speaker 1: came up after the draft last year, it was an
Speaker 1: opportunity for me to just a quality of life move.
Speaker 1: You know, the NFL scouting thing is is really a grind.
Speaker 1: You're on the road more than half the year, um,
Speaker 1: and it's a challenging profession when you're single with no kids,
Speaker 1: and it takes on a lot of different uh impactually
Speaker 1: a lot when you when he's got a family and
Speaker 1: my son is going to be high school age now
Speaker 1: and he's playing high school sports, and I just started
Speaker 1: to miss all the good stuff. So when this, when
Speaker 1: this came open, I really, um phil compelled to jump
Speaker 1: at it. And you know when I called the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: you know, John Schneider r GM was great about it.
Speaker 1: We were really good friends, and he's great with my family.
Speaker 1: And I said, John, you know, if I'm not there, guy,
Speaker 1: I can live with that. But you know, I don't
Speaker 1: want to be sixty seven years old and look back
Speaker 1: on two doves in an eighteen where I had a
Speaker 1: chance to maybe change um you know, changing circumstance for
Speaker 1: my family and and and not do it. So I
Speaker 1: just went for it, and thankfully things worked out well.
Speaker 1: The reesea Senior Ball, as you know, Jim, the pre
Speaker 1: eminent college all star game for the past sixty eight years.
Speaker 1: And I know your staff is striving to improve the
Speaker 1: event for the National Football League. So what were your
Speaker 1: first steps once you took over this new position. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we you know, we first thing locally, we we created
Speaker 1: a thing called the Senior Bowl and Bassador Club. So
Speaker 1: we've got a really rich history down here, um football
Speaker 1: history down here. And I wanted to create a create
Speaker 1: a group for for all the former players, for all
Speaker 1: the former NFL guys that are that are from Mobile
Speaker 1: and Baldwin Counties down here, and and a lot of
Speaker 1: them that have played in our game. I mean, just
Speaker 1: and just create a group, um, you know, where guys
Speaker 1: could give back to the community, create a brotherhood for them.
Speaker 1: So that was really the first thing I did. We've
Speaker 1: got fifty eight guys signed up right now, Like right now,
Speaker 1: Mobile's got sixteen players Mobile and Baldin County of sixteen
Speaker 1: active players in the NFL between our two little counties,
Speaker 1: and uh, that's third most of any community in the
Speaker 1: United States. So Miami's got twenty four, Houston's got twenty,
Speaker 1: We've got sixteen, So um per capital, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to do that, which we did. And
Speaker 1: then really on the football side of things, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I hired hired a scouting staff made up of all
Speaker 1: former NFL scouts, guys that I've worked with that got
Speaker 1: let go in last year's you know kind of hiring
Speaker 1: firing cycle. And uh, you know, again, you work in football,
Speaker 1: You're gonna lose your job at some point, and you
Speaker 1: get caught in the crosshairs, you know, and in a
Speaker 1: regime change or whatnot. You know, a new GM comes in.
Speaker 1: You're not You're not a quote unquote his guy. Um so,
Speaker 1: so guys don't get let go. So yeah, I hired
Speaker 1: four guys to help me cover the country geographically. It
Speaker 1: worked out perfectly this year. Um so we scouted it up.
Speaker 1: I had the Southeast and we we we cut it
Speaker 1: up in the in the fifth and cover the country.
Speaker 1: Had a couple of scouting assistants here in in house,
Speaker 1: and then uh, you know, just hit it really hard
Speaker 1: trying to make this thing like the thirty third personnel department,
Speaker 1: and uh, I really just tried to revamp um the
Speaker 1: way we we did our scouting and handled the football
Speaker 1: aspect of the busines. How do you feel like you're
Speaker 1: what you just mentioned is going to help the game
Speaker 1: itself and help the players that accept invites to the game. Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's really gonna help our rosters, right, So we
Speaker 1: you know, we UM, you know, having an experienced group
Speaker 1: of guys that know what they're looking at. And you know,
Speaker 1: the hard part for us is we don't have a
Speaker 1: budget like an NFL team. You know, we don't have
Speaker 1: a we don't have a billion dollar owner. UM, so
Speaker 1: what we can't do we you know, our scouts. We
Speaker 1: don't have the budget for guys to be on the
Speaker 1: road all the time, you know, taking flights and staying
Speaker 1: in hotels. So we really needed a really connected, h
Speaker 1: network of guys that have been in the league forever.
Speaker 1: So the four guys that sixty nine years of experience,
Speaker 1: So whether that's connected to the school and having and
Speaker 1: you know, networks with all the schools have been too
Speaker 1: into in the past, or network of other scouts UH
Speaker 1: to reach out to and find out about small school
Speaker 1: players that you know, maybe slipped through our cracks. It
Speaker 1: was really important to UH to bring that group together
Speaker 1: and again, UM you know, I might have to staff
Speaker 1: that on a yearly basis just because guys will you know,
Speaker 1: obviously want to jump back into the league when they can,
Speaker 1: so it might be an ever changing process for us.
Speaker 1: But really it really worked out great. You know. One
Speaker 1: of the last phases of our was of our of
Speaker 1: our process was once we had our board created and
Speaker 1: built and we felt good about it, you know, in
Speaker 1: all the games and and tape we've seen, we uh,
Speaker 1: the week of Thanksgiving, got got together with seventeen NFL
Speaker 1: teams and got on the phone with either college directors
Speaker 1: or general managers or sometimes both of them were on
Speaker 1: the call, and you know, guys that had access to
Speaker 1: their entire board and all their grades, and we just
Speaker 1: kind of we went through the board and okay, at
Speaker 1: that point, I've invited sixty players, went through that group
Speaker 1: and made sure those guys were okay with the first sixty,
Speaker 1: and then we had you know, we had about another
Speaker 1: thirty year marked of of guys we really wanted to
Speaker 1: invite based off the way we saw things, um, and
Speaker 1: then we worked the cut line at every position, you know,
Speaker 1: so there's for for example, if there was three spots
Speaker 1: on the defensive line, and we had about nine names. Okay,
Speaker 1: you know, going through the teams, which of these nine, like,
Speaker 1: who would you want to see in those three spots?
Speaker 1: And we just took detailed notes and you know, these
Speaker 1: rosters are for them. We're we're building these these rosters
Speaker 1: for the thirty two teams who are really really wanted
Speaker 1: to use their input, um and UM. So that was
Speaker 1: kind of the last last step of the process. But
Speaker 1: it's been great, you know, I mean, it's it's been exciting.
Speaker 1: That was really the most rewarding part personally for me
Speaker 1: is just to see all that hard work our football
Speaker 1: staff did, UM and building that board and how much
Speaker 1: we were aligned with the with the thirty two teams.
Speaker 1: There really wasn't a lot of variants. We saw things
Speaker 1: very much the same UM. So it really was a
Speaker 1: reason it was really an easy roster build this year. Jim,
Speaker 1: you spent eighteen years in National Football League areas scout
Speaker 1: all over the place, like you mentioned, the West, the Midwest,
Speaker 1: the Southeast. You were a national scout for the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs. How much did you enjoy coming to Mobile
Speaker 1: as a scout and being able to watch all these
Speaker 1: different players from different conferences from big schools, from smaller
Speaker 1: schools out there on the field getting coached up by
Speaker 1: NFL staffs for the first time, and hopefully, uh later
Speaker 1: on they'll be able to benefit from those experiences as
Speaker 1: professionals if they ultimately become NFL players. But also that
Speaker 1: opportunity to sit down with the guys at night and
Speaker 1: interview them. Yeah, you guys, it was a critical week. Um.
Speaker 1: It really is a critical part of the process. You know,
Speaker 1: working in the league, you always saw this week as
Speaker 1: the kind of the unofficial kickoff to the draft. Um
Speaker 1: draft process for the This is kind of the first
Speaker 1: phase All Star Games and then you know, combined and
Speaker 1: then Pro Days and then and then Draft Day. So, no,
Speaker 1: it was. It was a big week. It's great to see,
Speaker 1: you know, it's great for the smaller school guys to
Speaker 1: kind of see them up on a on a big
Speaker 1: stage against the big boys. That's always big, you know,
Speaker 1: just to see the competitive nature of some of these players.
Speaker 1: See it comes out in the practice field, being able
Speaker 1: to get down right there at field level. Um. See
Speaker 1: some of the drills, really, some of the one on
Speaker 1: one stuff is really valued heavily in the NFL. The
Speaker 1: old line, d line, and the corner wide out one
Speaker 1: on one periods. Linebacker running backs are are huge. And again,
Speaker 1: like you talked about the interview processes is uh plays
Speaker 1: a big part of it too. So you finally you
Speaker 1: get to go into the schools in the fall and
Speaker 1: you get a lot of the feedback from everyone in
Speaker 1: the building, you know, coaches and support staff, and you
Speaker 1: really try to figure these players out. But the All
Speaker 1: Star Game is really that the first time you can
Speaker 1: get your hands on them yourself as as an NFL club,
Speaker 1: So that starts the process of trying to you know,
Speaker 1: create those relationships, getting to see what makes these guys tick,
Speaker 1: where they came from, UM, get all those questions answered.
Speaker 1: So it's a it's an absolutely huge week. And again
Speaker 1: coming to Mobile was great because, uh, it is a
Speaker 1: smaller town. It's got a it's got a smaller town
Speaker 1: vibe to it. It's not like the Combine where where
Speaker 1: it's Indianapolis and it's crazy and you know how big city.
Speaker 1: This is a little more flower paste, a little more relaxed.
Speaker 1: The interview process was easier for the players. Um, just
Speaker 1: because it's not uh, you know, in any it can
Speaker 1: be a little more pressure packed or is here it's
Speaker 1: it's more relaxed. So it's just a great deal. You know,
Speaker 1: all the scouts love coming down here, and the coaches
Speaker 1: love coming down here because they're they're all creatures. The
Speaker 1: habit they you know, they go to the same restaurants,
Speaker 1: in the same bars, and um it's to walk uple downtown.
Speaker 1: So once they get down here to their hotels, they can, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they can just enjoy themselves. So it really
Speaker 1: was a week that everyone looked forward to. Before I
Speaker 1: Ethan asked his next question, I just wanted to ask,
Speaker 1: what are you you are living down there in Mobile?
Speaker 1: Top three restaurants that you have to go to. For
Speaker 1: any NFL personnel who are going down there when they
Speaker 1: get a chance, maybe away from practice or away from
Speaker 1: a meeting or away from an interview, where do you
Speaker 1: gotta eat? Well, I will I don't want to offend
Speaker 1: anyone down here because I'm I'm friends with a lot
Speaker 1: of these restaurant tours now, but I will say, if
Speaker 1: you know, the Mobile Bay separates um Mobile and Baldwin County,
Speaker 1: So we're right on the water down here and on
Speaker 1: the causeway crossing over the bay, there's there's a lot
Speaker 1: of great seafood spots, um, so whether it's uh gosh,
Speaker 1: there's the Original Oyster House, and there's the Blue Gill,
Speaker 1: and there's Ads and there's felix Is. I mean, all
Speaker 1: those places have great seafood, you know, fresh out of
Speaker 1: the golf And that's what I know, that's what most
Speaker 1: guys in the league look forward to, just come down
Speaker 1: here and get some shrimp and some gumble. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: we got that creole flavor down here, um, and I
Speaker 1: know guys love love to come down there and get
Speaker 1: that stuff, all right, Jenn, Before we dive into the players,
Speaker 1: I just want to ask one more thing. As a
Speaker 1: longtime scout, what are the benefits of going down there,
Speaker 1: whether you're scout for a team whatever, Royal Area Scout,
Speaker 1: National Scout, whatever, what are the benefits of being able
Speaker 1: to have this early access to the players. And then
Speaker 1: from the player's perspective, how helpful is the Senior Bowl Week?
Speaker 1: Because from everything I've read, you really trying to emulate
Speaker 1: an NFL week even up to their off day which
Speaker 1: is on Friday during Senior Bowl Week and making hospital
Speaker 1: visits and local school visits. So how helpful is it
Speaker 1: for both the player and the scout. Yeah, we talked
Speaker 1: about it's it's huge for the scouts because you really
Speaker 1: it's it's your first opportunity to try to figure out
Speaker 1: the players. Right. So, um, the longer you scout, I
Speaker 1: mean really watching the tape and and figuring out the
Speaker 1: player to me was the easier part. The harder part
Speaker 1: is figuring out the person. And you know where they
Speaker 1: came from, and you know how much do they really
Speaker 1: love football and everything that goes into it in the
Speaker 1: grind of it? And um, you know, how how are
Speaker 1: they wired? How will money affect them? You know, is
Speaker 1: that going to change how they approach things? And just
Speaker 1: to you know, in that week, I mean you see
Speaker 1: these guys at the hotel and how they interact with
Speaker 1: their coaches and just to you know, over that week
Speaker 1: you really get a glimpse and how these guys handle
Speaker 1: the business. Do they show up for your schedule meeting
Speaker 1: on time? You know, how do they dress? How do
Speaker 1: they you know when they're walking around the hotel, how
Speaker 1: do they carry themselves? Um, so all that stuff plays
Speaker 1: a big part. It's really you know, you you go
Speaker 1: to the combine, you might get them for fifteen minutes,
Speaker 1: you know, and then again it's such a they're they're
Speaker 1: so busy there with medicals and psychological tests. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: you you just get your hands more on them here,
Speaker 1: if that makes sense. Um. So that that that's a
Speaker 1: critical part. And they're getting all they on the field stuff.
Speaker 1: Seeing how they're taking coaching during practice. You know you
Speaker 1: could you're right there at field level. You hear the
Speaker 1: coaching points the coaches are trying to make, and then
Speaker 1: you can see how they take the coaching, how they
Speaker 1: apply the coaching, so you can really get it in
Speaker 1: clued in on a guy's learning ability, um, his ability
Speaker 1: to translate coaching. So, I mean, all those little things
Speaker 1: make a big difference. Um. You know, it's the first
Speaker 1: time you really get to see their body type. It
Speaker 1: weigh in. So you know, you go out to practice,
Speaker 1: when you go into the school and you see what
Speaker 1: they look like in their paths, but you know, going
Speaker 1: to the way and you really get a better field
Speaker 1: for body composition and um. Again, a lot of guys
Speaker 1: work ethics shows up in their body right. We're all
Speaker 1: we all have different genetics, but certain guys, look, you know,
Speaker 1: you can tell who's worked and who hasn't um those
Speaker 1: ways to to to a great degree. And then for
Speaker 1: the players, um, it's hugely it's critical for them. I mean,
Speaker 1: one they've earned it. It's a great opportunity for them. Um.
Speaker 1: I think that if you asked all these guys when
Speaker 1: they were coming out of high school, is you know,
Speaker 1: three or four or five star guys that hey, in
Speaker 1: four years, we we promise you that you know, you've
Speaker 1: got a senior boy invite weight And I think every
Speaker 1: single one of those kids would take it. Um. So
Speaker 1: that's why to me now sitting in this chair, it's
Speaker 1: interesting where guys would would back out at this point
Speaker 1: and not you know, not not embraced the the opportunity
Speaker 1: they have because you know, to be coached by two staffs,
Speaker 1: I mean, just to impress those two teams alone. I
Speaker 1: know that if you go back and look at teams
Speaker 1: that have coached in this game and the correlation of
Speaker 1: the amount of picks they've used on the players have
Speaker 1: actually coached your mobile, it's it's pretty amazing because they do.
Speaker 1: They get that, they get a real view of the player,
Speaker 1: what he's like in the meeting room, how he learned,
Speaker 1: and you know, they feel like they've got a really
Speaker 1: really good end you know inside look at these players.
Speaker 1: So yeah, for them, it's it's a it's a huge week.
Speaker 1: At first, it shows their competitive It shows like that
Speaker 1: they're the innate competitiveness of a guy, which is important
Speaker 1: because you know, especially coming up on that second contract. Again,
Speaker 1: like we talked about the money part of it. If
Speaker 1: you're even a you know, second third round pick, you're
Speaker 1: not making money is going to set you up for
Speaker 1: your whole life. I mean, that's coming on the second contract.
Speaker 1: So you know, I mean, guys want to know who
Speaker 1: are the real competitors because it's not gonna matter once
Speaker 1: they make that big second contract if they really love
Speaker 1: it and really competitive. So I think showing up down
Speaker 1: here shows the NFL teams that how innately competitive these
Speaker 1: guys are. And then just from a you know, if
Speaker 1: you just look at from the process, like I talked
Speaker 1: about the interviews, coming down here and getting a lot
Speaker 1: of these interviews out of the way, it's huge for them.
Speaker 1: It clears there played it for the combine. And also
Speaker 1: we started doing psychological testing down here a few years ago,
Speaker 1: which knocks a bunch of that off their plates. So
Speaker 1: when they go to so really it makes the combine
Speaker 1: to much easier process as well. Not only do they
Speaker 1: get the benefit of being down here and being around
Speaker 1: the teams and showing what they can do on the field. Um,
Speaker 1: it also clears up and makes that combine week easier
Speaker 1: where they can just really focus on their on field
Speaker 1: drills that week. All right, Jim, let's turn to personnel here. Uh,
Speaker 1: I think the Jets are pretty well set at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. It took Sam Donald, uh with the number
Speaker 1: three overall selection in the two thousand and eighteen draft,
Speaker 1: and he had a fine rookie season, and uh, the
Speaker 1: Jets have high hopes for him and what he'll be
Speaker 1: able to do with the new head coach here and
Speaker 1: Adam Gates. But let me ask you about the quarterback
Speaker 1: class there who is heading to Mobile, including Daniel Jones.
Speaker 1: I see a few interesting names there when you look
Speaker 1: at Ryan Finley from Ency State, Well Greer from West Virginia,
Speaker 1: West Virginia of course, Trace McSorley Penn State, Drew Lock Missouri,
Speaker 1: Well Greer West Virginia. Uh. Is this the best depth
Speaker 1: that has been there at the quarterback position in a while. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And guys, I've been coming to my twenty three game,
Speaker 1: so and I'm really not trying to say this because
Speaker 1: of the chair I'm sitting in now, but I don't
Speaker 1: I can't remember I went back over like the last
Speaker 1: fift Keen rosters, like last year is gonna be pretty
Speaker 1: hard to beat in terms of having elite players. I
Speaker 1: mean you had Baker go one, h Baker Mayfield go one,
Speaker 1: and Josh Allen go seven. So obviously last year's group
Speaker 1: was great with two top ten picks, but from top
Speaker 1: to bottom, um from one to eight, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: really incredible, incredible depth. I mean, just going over this
Speaker 1: group with the NFL teams, I mean they're really excited
Speaker 1: about this group. You name most of them and then
Speaker 1: you're throwing Gardner Minshew and um. You know Clayton Thorson
Speaker 1: from Northwestern is another guy that I know. Speaking with
Speaker 1: the Northwestern people last year, he was thinking about coming
Speaker 1: out early. Um, so they were putting out fielders to
Speaker 1: NFL teams about where they thought he might get drafted. Well,
Speaker 1: he ends up blowing his A C L in the
Speaker 1: Bowl game last year and coming back. But you know,
Speaker 1: they've done their preliminary work. In the in the building,
Speaker 1: north Western and the ten teams they reached out to
Speaker 1: they had second and third round grades on Clayton. So
Speaker 1: I mean he's kind of a name that people are
Speaker 1: just glossing over with this roster. But um to have
Speaker 1: ten ten second or third round grades a year ago, um,
Speaker 1: just telling you what the league thinks about him. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I really fired up about that quarterback group. I think
Speaker 1: there's you know, three or four of those guys that
Speaker 1: could get in the first round. And said Ryan Finley.
Speaker 1: Bryan Finley is another guy that, um, you know, people
Speaker 1: aren't talking a lot about. Ryan Finley was the highest
Speaker 1: graded guy by the Combine Scouts last spring headn into
Speaker 1: this year, so um yeah, from top to bottom, it's
Speaker 1: a great group. Yeah. And even we didn't even talk
Speaker 1: about stid Hum either from Auburn, who has h a
Speaker 1: lot of upside. I think, so that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: group to watch, uh for a lot of Scouts in
Speaker 1: attendance there. Donomobile, Jim, I want to ask about this
Speaker 1: pass rush group because I know a lot of Jets
Speaker 1: fans are eager to find someone to get after the quarterback.
Speaker 1: And you look at Montes sweat I think that's someone
Speaker 1: that a lot of fans somewhat about. So what do
Speaker 1: you what can you tell fans about Sweat? And then
Speaker 1: who are some of the other guys that you would say,
Speaker 1: you know, don't sleep on this guy. This guy is
Speaker 1: gonna be shooting up maybe in April. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: Sweats a really intriguing player. He's, uh, he looks like
Speaker 1: a basketball player when you see him, and he's really long.
Speaker 1: He's got an eighty five inch wingspans, so he's got
Speaker 1: that length everyone wants to see what. He's also got
Speaker 1: really heavy hands with that lenk and that that's not
Speaker 1: always the case. So when he brings his hands, he
Speaker 1: can really separate from blocks and get off people. Um,
Speaker 1: he's gonna he's gonna run fast. He doesn't always look
Speaker 1: fast because he's so tall. Um, you know, the foot
Speaker 1: turnover is not like the foot turnover of a you know,
Speaker 1: a smaller guy. So, but he can really cover ground
Speaker 1: with his drides. He's got over twenty you know, he's
Speaker 1: got over twenty sacks the last two years in the SEC.
Speaker 1: So you know, really he's gone against top competition and
Speaker 1: been been a really really productive player. Son Montez is
Speaker 1: definitely you know, in that first round, May uhs an
Speaker 1: edge guy, and I would say, I mean it's a
Speaker 1: really good group from top to bottom. We could sit
Speaker 1: here and you know he goes seven or eight deep
Speaker 1: by that edge group. But the next guy from me, UM,
Speaker 1: I'd like to bring up as a guy maybe your
Speaker 1: listeners haven't heard a lot about. It's a kid named
Speaker 1: Jalen Ferguson from Louisiana Tech. You know, he ended his
Speaker 1: career at the all time I think he tied end
Speaker 1: up tying Terrell Suck because I believe um to be
Speaker 1: the all time career college fax leader. I think he
Speaker 1: hit in his Bowl game like forty four or something
Speaker 1: for his career. UM pretty amazing. So again he's another
Speaker 1: guy that um, you know, Marcus Davenport came down here.
Speaker 1: So I that yeah, you know Davenport came down here
Speaker 1: is probably an early second round projection, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: you fast forward to draft day and he had a
Speaker 1: really nice week down here in practice and also in
Speaker 1: the game. He had a strip sack in the game,
Speaker 1: and you know, the same ended up trading up for
Speaker 1: Marcus is like the he was the thirteenth or fourteen
Speaker 1: to pick. So Um really helped himself. And I think
Speaker 1: that that Jalen's in that mold and Eland is actually
Speaker 1: a little looser as an athlete. He got a little
Speaker 1: more shake to him. But to get another long bodied guy, um,
Speaker 1: it's explosive off the edge and hard to block. So um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: really talented group. If you know, I, I was so
Speaker 1: consumed with this college stuff this year, I didn't get
Speaker 1: I didn't have a lot of time to really, you know,
Speaker 1: focus on what's going on in the NFL. I don't
Speaker 1: know what the Jets team needs are, but if they
Speaker 1: need pass rushers, they'll be able to They'll be able
Speaker 1: to find some down here. Well, we're taping this here
Speaker 1: as uh Adam mc gaze coming on board here from
Speaker 1: the New York Jets, so we want to see what
Speaker 1: defensive system they're running in two thousand nineteen. But hey,
Speaker 1: let me flip the the offensive side of the ball again,
Speaker 1: because the Jets are definitely gonna had some pieces around.
Speaker 1: Sam Donald will have to see where in who starting
Speaker 1: with free agency. But this wide receiver group is also
Speaker 1: intriguing to me. You're talking about a guy like Jalen
Speaker 1: Heard who played at Beller who used to be a
Speaker 1: running back of course at Tennessee. Anthony Johnson. Uh, a
Speaker 1: big target out of the University of Buffalo. That's not
Speaker 1: a school that we hear too much out of UM,
Speaker 1: but their football team is really making waves lately. Deebo
Speaker 1: Samuel from South Carolina. I think that guy is a playmaker.
Speaker 1: I think he's like in h Quincy and nowan wall mold.
Speaker 1: Uh that he's the guy who made a lot of plays.
Speaker 1: Then unfortunately had the injury early on before last season,
Speaker 1: but then he came back and finished the year. And
Speaker 1: then David Sills a productive player out of Western How
Speaker 1: about Andy Isabella out of you match talked about you
Speaker 1: don't hear a lot about Buffalo. I feel like you
Speaker 1: don't hear anything out of you mask. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: mean you hit a lot on a lot of this
Speaker 1: big names. Um. Is it just I mean, let's speak
Speaker 1: to Isabella really quick. I mean, he's a guy that
Speaker 1: you know, he's a he's an underseta. You know, he's
Speaker 1: a shorter white guy. So everyone's gonna everyone's gonna say, oh,
Speaker 1: just pitching home him as a little Patriot slop player.
Speaker 1: But he's uh, he's not at he's not you know,
Speaker 1: people are gonna think quicker than fast. He's actually way
Speaker 1: faster than quick, and he is quick. But this kid
Speaker 1: can really fly. So um, just for background purposes, and
Speaker 1: he was a high school player in Ohio, ran track,
Speaker 1: He won a hundred meters in the state of Ohio.
Speaker 1: Were in a ten which is flying, um for a
Speaker 1: high school kid. And in that same race was Denzel
Speaker 1: Ward from the you know, it was the fourth pick
Speaker 1: last year to the Cleveland Browns and he placed third
Speaker 1: in that same race. So the ten six two. So um.
Speaker 1: You know Denzel ran four three four at the Combine
Speaker 1: last year. If you're just taking those numbers, I mean
Speaker 1: Andy Isabella might be a high for two guy. Um.
Speaker 1: So he can fly and uh, really productive. He was
Speaker 1: a really easy guy to invite to this game. I
Speaker 1: I drew on like two games and I knew I
Speaker 1: wanted him here. He uh, you know. And then after
Speaker 1: we invited him, he goes down to Georgia late in
Speaker 1: the year and puts two hundred yards up on Georgia.
Speaker 1: So um, really really productive player. He can fly, He's
Speaker 1: good with the ball in his hands. He was a
Speaker 1: high school running back. Um, I think He's gonna be
Speaker 1: a play maker at the next level, really really really exciting.
Speaker 1: We talked about Deebo Samuel at South Carolina. Uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: he he had the injury early last year. He got
Speaker 1: off to a really hot start as a junior and
Speaker 1: probably would have come out as a junior, but then
Speaker 1: I had a bad leg injury. It was a little
Speaker 1: slow coming off that this year, but really late in
Speaker 1: the year. If you look at the Clemson game, I've
Speaker 1: had a couple of NFL teams reach out to me
Speaker 1: and like, man, have you seen Debos Clemson game? And
Speaker 1: he was he was off the charts. Um, so he
Speaker 1: looks all the way back, which is which is great.
Speaker 1: And then uh, you went down the list and I
Speaker 1: got another guy that pops out of that group for
Speaker 1: me is Jacobe Meyers, who's a junior from North Carolina State.
Speaker 1: So he's a guy we kinda had earmarked off all
Speaker 1: knowing that possibly would come out and you know, he
Speaker 1: can come to our game because he's graduated already. You know,
Speaker 1: we are the Senior Bowl. But they made they had
Speaker 1: a rule change a couple of years ago where juniors
Speaker 1: could come in the game if they had their diplomas
Speaker 1: so um, and that's why kids go to college right
Speaker 1: and go there to get their degree. So why you know,
Speaker 1: why penalized guys if they're if they're juniors, if they've
Speaker 1: already taking care of their school work. And you know,
Speaker 1: Jacoby went to m C State as a quarterback. They
Speaker 1: converted into wide out and he's really a natural at
Speaker 1: the position. That's what sticks out when you watch him.
Speaker 1: He's he's got a lot of savvy as a route runner.
Speaker 1: He's long, he's got unbelievable ball skills, and people are
Speaker 1: around him, you know, And that's the thing for college receivers.
Speaker 1: He he spread offenses. A lot of these guys are
Speaker 1: playing pitch and catch and there's a lot of space
Speaker 1: where they catch the football, um, Jacoby, And then they
Speaker 1: get to the pros and they really struggle when those
Speaker 1: windows are tighter. Jacoby is a guy that can really
Speaker 1: make plays with people around him, and so we're excited
Speaker 1: to get Jakobe too. It's it's from top to bottom,
Speaker 1: a really really nice group. Jim. Just one final question
Speaker 1: for you, thank you so much again for joining us here.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the offensive line and who
Speaker 1: are some guys that pop to you and what kind
Speaker 1: of experience do you think this could be for someone
Speaker 1: like Max Sharping who went to Northern Illinois or smaller school.
Speaker 1: Do you think that that is the kind of person
Speaker 1: the kind of player that could really excel and sho
Speaker 1: up the draft boards because of Senior Bowl week. Yeah, gods,
Speaker 1: this is this group, you know, going over the board
Speaker 1: like we did, like I talked about with the with
Speaker 1: the seventeen teams when I when I did that back
Speaker 1: in November. This was the position group that they were.
Speaker 1: They seemed the most excited about, um, you know, the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, just you know, working in Seattle
Speaker 1: and seeing what our draft board looked like at the
Speaker 1: offensive line position would come draft day. It was it
Speaker 1: was really it was really lean. So, uh, this group
Speaker 1: we're really excited about. We've got both Wisconsin guards are
Speaker 1: coming down, Michael Theater and and our guy bo Ben
Speaker 1: Shawell probably gonna butchered that. We'll just we'll just call
Speaker 1: him he goes by he goes by bow bench on
Speaker 1: on his Twitter, So okay, that's easier. And uh, you
Speaker 1: know he got Michael Dieter, who's who's you know? To me,
Speaker 1: he might be a first round pick. Um. And then
Speaker 1: we got the Oklahoma guards. Powers and Samia are both
Speaker 1: good players. Caleb McGarry at Washington UM, and it's just
Speaker 1: I mean, it's really really a strong group. A lot
Speaker 1: of these guys can play multiple positions. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: they're smart, they're tough, they've all played a ton of
Speaker 1: football at a high level. Um. A guy that really
Speaker 1: sticks out to me might be might end up being
Speaker 1: the best left tackle in this whole draft, is Andre
Speaker 1: Dillard from Washington State. You're not hearing a lot about him.
Speaker 1: You're hearing Joanah Williams name from Alabama quite a bit. Um.
Speaker 1: But Andre Dillard, I've I've spoken to people in the league.
Speaker 1: You put on the tape to watch Gardner Minshew on
Speaker 1: the quarterback and then you see this guy dancing out
Speaker 1: there at left tackle and you're like, holy cow. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's got great feet and great feeling past protection and
Speaker 1: just can stay in front of people. And that's those
Speaker 1: guys are. Those guys are hard to find. So Andre
Speaker 1: Dillard is a guy that I think will build a
Speaker 1: lot of momentum out of this week. And you talked
Speaker 1: about Max Sharping definitely, Um, you know Mac level player
Speaker 1: and then we those guys always have something to benefit
Speaker 1: and even we've got a guy Titus Howard from up
Speaker 1: the road at Alabama State, which is in uh Montgomery, Alabama,
Speaker 1: a couple of worse from us. And Titus is another
Speaker 1: guy that's got left tackle tools. I mean a lot
Speaker 1: of these college guys that come out, they're really they're
Speaker 1: really right tackles, only at the next level because they
Speaker 1: can't handle that speed off the edge. And Titus is
Speaker 1: a guy that's got the feet and got the athleticism,
Speaker 1: and now it's gonna be how does he answer the
Speaker 1: bell on the big stage against the big boys. He
Speaker 1: did it in the one game they played this year
Speaker 1: against Auburn. He played really, really well and that's when
Speaker 1: my phone uh started ringing off the hook with with
Speaker 1: buddies in the league. They're like, wow, have you seen
Speaker 1: this kid from up the road? And thank god I
Speaker 1: had at that point, I didn't. I didn't sound dumb,
Speaker 1: but but Titus really made a name for himself against Auburn.
Speaker 1: And we'll see how he does down here during the week.
Speaker 1: We're excited for him. So yeah, it's it's a it's
Speaker 1: a big week for all these guys. But that's there's
Speaker 1: gonna be some really good matchups in there's one on
Speaker 1: one pass rustrial. Well, you already you got me ready
Speaker 1: for football. I know Jets fans are gonna be here
Speaker 1: to take it all in gym. And congratulations to you
Speaker 1: and your family as he start out your second career.
Speaker 1: We shall day. Yeah, I appreci I appreciate it, guys,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, look forward to having everyone down
Speaker 1: here in Jets fans. Yeah, keep an eye on us.
Speaker 1: We've got the practices on the SPN every day and
Speaker 1: the NFL Network every day and the games on the
Speaker 1: NFL Network. So um. You know people up there that
Speaker 1: can't make the trip downtomobile, they can watch every minute
Speaker 1: of it. Great, thanks Jim. We'll see in mobile alright, guys,
Speaker 1: Thank you many thanks to Jim. You can follow him
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Jim Naggy Underscore s B for Senior Bowl,
Speaker 1: not Super Bowl. I assume so great stuff from Jim.
Speaker 1: You can really tell that he puts a lot of
Speaker 1: thought behind this. And I will say I don't know
Speaker 1: if he's listening right now as we record this, but
Speaker 1: you mentioned Frank the Tank. Frank the Tank yesterday told
Speaker 1: me to watch Jalen ferguson highlights, because you watch him
Speaker 1: the other day and he said he liked him and
Speaker 1: shown off. Jim Naggie likes him too, just the way
Speaker 1: Jim talked about him, and knowing how pass rushers are
Speaker 1: value National Football League, and I kind of getting the
Speaker 1: feeling that this guy is gonna be a first round pick.
Speaker 1: I could, yeah, I mean for sure, I don't know
Speaker 1: what he's projected now. Davenport, remember we were talking, you
Speaker 1: were down there last year and number he studies rob
Speaker 1: but he's got a great athlete and all this stuff.
Speaker 1: Who would have predicted that the New Orleans Saints would
Speaker 1: have traded their own one in two thousand seventeen, I
Speaker 1: mean eighteen and there one this year in order to
Speaker 1: get up Davenport. And they're hoping he can cause some damages.
Speaker 1: He's made some splash plays down there in the big,
Speaker 1: easiest season. Yeah, I like those ends the Saints sends.
Speaker 1: You got Cameron Jordan and then opposite him as the
Speaker 1: young Davenports, So they're happy with him. So yeah, listen,
Speaker 1: over the next a few weeks and then months, we're
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna start hearing more about different names. Sure
Speaker 1: for the last whatever twelve last six months, we've heard
Speaker 1: about to Trevor Lawrence and these kids w Lane freshman
Speaker 1: quarterback for Alabama to us, I guess the sophomore, and
Speaker 1: then Lawrence, it's the freshman, and everybody's saying he's gonna
Speaker 1: be the top overall pick in one. Well, tank for
Speaker 1: Trevor has already started on Twitter. Let's just get through
Speaker 1: two first show. We I totally agree, And I thought
Speaker 1: what Jim said about Ryan Finley was extremely interesting, that
Speaker 1: he was the highest rated guy at at the combine
Speaker 1: last year for this upcoming year. And I know that
Speaker 1: last year's quarterback class with Baker Mayfield and Sam Donald
Speaker 1: and Josh Allen and Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, I know
Speaker 1: that was a very QB rich class. And I think
Speaker 1: that the discrepancy between last year's class and this year's class, sure,
Speaker 1: there's a discrepancy, but I think Dame Bruegler said it
Speaker 1: best of the athletic I think that it's a little
Speaker 1: over The group right now is undervalued. He believes that
Speaker 1: there are still a lot of quarterbacks that will go
Speaker 1: in the first round and Wayne Haskins going number one overall.
Speaker 1: I think top three. I think top three. I don't
Speaker 1: know about number one overall. Kyler Murray's he'd been drafted
Speaker 1: in the first round grade. There's been a lot of
Speaker 1: steam of this morning about the video. Have you seen
Speaker 1: this video? Yeah, Cliff Kingsbury said, I take of number
Speaker 1: one over Yeah, I know. So he's the number one
Speaker 1: overall pick. I don't know if he's controlling the roster
Speaker 1: there in Arizona just yet, but we'll find out, and
Speaker 1: then it would be crazy. And another name, the guy
Speaker 1: who who I really think you mentioned family, Let's stay
Speaker 1: in acc you're gonna say, Daniel. Yeah, I think he can,
Speaker 1: I can. I think he can really help himself with
Speaker 1: a strong showing it. And so again this is and
Speaker 1: I'm so curious what we would have said this time
Speaker 1: of year last year about the guys that ended up
Speaker 1: going in the first round and whatnot. Like Marcus Davenport,
Speaker 1: I don't think was on anybody's radar, at least from
Speaker 1: a fan perspective. Of course, he was on the radars
Speaker 1: of the scouts and whatnot. But you didn't hear a
Speaker 1: lot about Marcus Davenport, and he didn't hear a lot
Speaker 1: about Will Hernandez. He didn't hear a lot about a
Speaker 1: lot of these guys up until the Senior Bowl. And
Speaker 1: then there's all these late risers from the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: to the Combine and then the combine of the draft,
Speaker 1: and so this is just the start of the process.
Speaker 1: But Nathan Shepard, yeah, he had a great week in
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl, well early on and his yea early
Speaker 1: on he really flashed and that helped to stock, no
Speaker 1: doubt about it, and he became third rund pick, and
Speaker 1: then he ends up starting most of the year for
Speaker 1: the Green White. So the Senior Bowl is very helpful
Speaker 1: time of year, especially for teams. Like Jim said, just
Speaker 1: get to know the guys and get to know what
Speaker 1: kind of people the players at they're scouting are. And yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll have to see you at My guy, Andy Isabella,
Speaker 1: he said, faster than quick. Holy crap. He said that
Speaker 1: he ran faster than Denzel Ward in high school and
Speaker 1: Denzel Ward three. Yeah, a low for three. So is
Speaker 1: this Isabella, like he said, Jim Nagy, a high for
Speaker 1: two guy, he said, Jim Naggy, if he didn't catch this,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna rebring this up because he Canna. All right,
Speaker 1: well Andy Isabella, you mask minute mad all right, well,
Speaker 1: whatever the competition is out there, put up two hundred
Speaker 1: plus yards over on Georgia. Yes he did, and so
Speaker 1: go watch his highlights. They're fun to watch and that's
Speaker 1: the key to the draft. Yeah, you got hit early,
Speaker 1: but what kind of gems are you gonna find in
Speaker 1: the third round. I'm curious to see how he plays.
Speaker 1: And let's see how many draft picks the Jets have
Speaker 1: once they get to April. Right now, it's at number
Speaker 1: three overall selection. That's a good place to be sitting
Speaker 1: at because you have your quarterback and uh, some teams
Speaker 1: are probably gonna acquire uh, depending on the draft falls.
Speaker 1: But teams are gonna call up the Jets. It's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And we'll have to see how free agency plays out
Speaker 1: and things like that. Right now, the Jets don't have
Speaker 1: any second round picks now they need apples. Trade last
Speaker 1: year was very interesting with the Green and White on
Speaker 1: March seventeenth because the Colts had their quarterback. They go
Speaker 1: back from three to six and they pick up a
Speaker 1: trio a second round picks in the process. So is
Speaker 1: there's something similar out there? For the Jets in April.
Speaker 1: We'll see. I think it's very possible and we shall see.
Speaker 1: But that's all we have here on the official Jets podcast.
Speaker 1: That was again Jim Naggi. Follow him on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Jim Naggy, Underscore, s B and Senior Bowl. Right around
Speaker 1: the corner. Maybe we'll speak to you from mobile