The Around the NFL podcast. Would eat more pistachios than Joey Bosa. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. I'm Greg Rosenthal, sitting in the host here for The Enhances today in the Chris Wesling podcast studio in a room with one hero. That's Mark Zesler.

Well, you're a hero. That would be two.

We've got two heroes. We've got Eric behind in the glass. We've got Christie and Cynthia back there. We've got a gang. We've got a legion of thousands. Randy. Okay, I'm in a different chair, and the glare is difficult. We were left to wait, though, to start the show, Mark, by the number one diva at NFL Network, Move the Sticks, doing his mock draft live show.

Yeah, they were producing it in a different part of the building, but through our behind the glass area. We started late because Daniel Jeremiah and his cast of characters refused to go quiet when we needed them to.

Who cares about Jeremiah? It's his time of year, and he just flexes his muscles because he's Mr. Draft pushing his weight around.

Yeah, I think that's well said. It's a surprise character reveal for an aspect of DJ that you wouldn't often claim to see, but it's ripe right now, and he's doing what he's typically doing at the time.

Now that said, we are trying to book him for the show at some point.

Yes. So he doesn't... We just need to get some expertise.

Dan is in Hawaii, the official high flute and location for around the NFL vacations, apparently. Our kids are both on spring break for these two weeks, so I was there last week, he's there this week, and then we really start cranking up back to three days a week. Sounds like I missed a fun week here.

You missed a lively couple of shows. Or are you and Dan renting the same place in I don't know that, but it was a lovely time.

We got the Watanabes together, her parents, my parents together for the first time in, I think, 15 years, something like that. It was lovely. Now we're back, and we're going to have a couple of drafts mock-centered shows here. We got Josh Norris coming on in just a little bit to go through our first mock draft of the season. We're going to each put our heads into the general manager's minds, really, and go through the top 10 picks. We also have a couple of pics that we would like to see.

We didn't do this ahead of time. We're not reading all.

Anything could happen in this. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm very excited for it. Josh Norris, one of the great draft minds out there, just one of the great football minds over at Underdog. But before that, we just got a little bit of news, Eric, from behind the glass. As we all know, excited to really go ahead and start to take command. What One of my all-time favorite drops on this show, Carson Wentz.

That went well for him, too. You could tell right out of the gate that that was going to go smoothly.

I look at this week with Dan Gaon and me just trying to fill his chair as a similar duty. I'm going to be the Carson Wentz in Washington of this program this week. We'll get to Carson Wentz. He's back in the league, back in the news in a little bit, but we'll start. We're just catching up. It's a quiet time of year. There was some news, though, at the end of last week, after you taped your last show, Mark, we got the Asan Redik situation handled, and it followed a trend of a lot of trades this offseason where you're like, That's all they could get for that player. And in this case, it was Asan Redik, who turned out to be one of the best free agent signings, I believe, the last 10 years or so for what the Eagles got out of them, going to Dan's Jets for a 2026 conditional third-round pick. If you remember, Bryce Huff signed with the Eagles in free agency. Redick, a similar type of player, just older, ends up getting dealt to the Jets for a minimal cost. What do you think, Mark?

I love it. I have thought that the last three or four seasons of Hassan Reddick have shown who he is. And so if there was some question of Bryce Huff in a larger, full-time expanded role, and what you pay him for that without knowing he's going to fulfill that role, then you know in Hassan Reddick, at least for in a couple of seasons. You're going to get it. There are two players in the league with 11 plus sacks over the past four seasons. It is Hassan Redik and Miles Garrett.

It's a very rare time in the NFL where a guy extremely productive is just shown the door, essentially because they're like, We just think you're not good enough, or, We want to cut it off right now before it starts getting bad. They were, I think, disappointed by how some of their edges played last year. We heard Josh Sweat was available. Even though they had a pretty good pass rush, and I think Redik had a good season, maybe it's something to do with run defense, but it's the same profile as Bryce Huff. It just might be a deal where they didn't want to give him a new contract, and maybe it's a personal thing. And Hassan Redik got to the Jets and said that a new contract... We've heard that a new contract is possible, but he says he's going to be happy no matter what. And it might be one of those deals where it's like the Eagles weren't going to give him a contract. The Jets might not either, but they just didn't want an unhappy player there and they essentially decided to move on. And they decided that before this all started, and they didn't really get much of a return, but it was too late.

I think that's where the conditional thirds consists. The Eagles had it in their plans to move on, and they made their big free agent signing at Edge. I love it for the Jets. I do. Because they're all in for this season. What happened last year was the total darkness. But this is a player, I think, unless there's a fall off a cliff scenario, you know what you're getting right away. I trust that defensive side of the ball, at least, to produce.

Son Redek, you remember, was drafted as a linebacker with the Cardinals, just bounced around a little, then had a nice season with the Panthers, and it really hit it rich with the Eagles in terms of that contract, which to me is low cost, and the Jets are pretty loaded. I saw it thrown out there last week. It's like, Are the Jets under the radar as a possible contender? I was like, The Jets are not under the radar. The Jets are not under the radar with anyone. But it's a fair point that it's a pretty good roster on paper.

Well, it was last year, too. It's like, you're going to lose your quarterback and have nothing behind it. But I still think there's questions about what Aaron Rodgers will be this season. But I don't know why we would change our expectations from where we were with the Jets a year ago, saying they could contend for the division.

Sure. And Will McDonald was their first-round pick last year. He's still going to probably have a big role, but now he can slide into that third rusher role. They're pretty deep there. They have John Franklin-Mires, they have Jermaine Johnson is probably going to start. It's good. On paper, that was the biggest item in news. Unfortunately, it's the time of year where the police blotter and just updates on what's going on off the field is one of the biggest parts of the calendar. You, I know, hit the Cam Sutton news that he was arrested and everything, but he turned himself into police over the weekend. He does not have not on a team, and I don't expect him to be on a the former Lions's cornerback. And then the Vikings suspended their offensive coordinator three weeks for a driving while intoxicated arrest. I just wanted to throw that out there. Back to the field. We mentioned Carson Wentz. It's not massive news. The rest of the stories we'll cycle through quickly. But Carson Wentz is your Kansas City Chief's backup quarterback now, replacing Blaine Gabbert.

I mean, if anything, he's got a ton of starting experience, and they had like, Ian and no one else had quarterback. It's a post-Blake Bordeaux, a post-Blaine Gabbard world that they're in. So I don't hate that.

Why is it a... I guess Blaine had his run. It's funny when it's like, Carson Went is a rich man's Blaine Gabbard, I guess, in terms of the career that he's had. But I do like Sean McVay saved Carson Went's career. It looked like it was maybe just ending, and then he got back into the NFL with the Rams, and now he's got a chance to go win a title. It would be It's fascinating to see Carson Wents play one game, but that would mean Patrick Mahomes is hurt.Not too much.Yeah, or they've clinched early, neither of which is really that compelling. So I take it back. It wouldn't be that interesting to see Carson Wents play. A couple items here. The Jaguars gave Foyo Aluacan a new long-term contract. That was a nice free agent signing by them a couple of years ago. So Trent Balke has got some wins for him, and they doubled down by keeping him. We had a restricted free agent offer sheet, finally. First time in a while, the 49ers have signed Brock Wright to a three-year, $12 million deal. My son in Hawaii, Walker, he's a little bit of a news addict these days.

He wanted me to check on Rota World just to see what's popping in the news.

I was like, Not much is going to be happening, man. And it was like, yeah, the Rams re-signed some guy he had never heard of, Tyler Johnson. And then we had this Brock Wright thing. But I had explain to him what a restricted free agent is. He didn't know. Well, you can sign them to an offer sheet, and then their team has to have five days, whether they want to match it or not. So Brock Wright, who I think is most famous for having a big-time play against the Jets a couple of years ago, long, touched down, but more of a blocking tight end. Might be going to the 49ers unless the lines want to match that.

I feel like you see maybe one of these in offseason.

It's not fun. These RFA- But he's like, Well, why can't they just be normal free agents? I was like, Well, Well, they get to normal free agency in the fourth year, but restricted is the third year. Then there's the whole collective bargaining agreement that they negotiate.It's.

Like...is he going to wait? He's fascinating. Is he going to wait? He's fascinated by this. Is he going to have to wait 15 years to be on a podcast because he sounds ready to just fill in a share.

Well, I don't know. If we can keep this thing going until then, maybe he'll replace us. Am I on a podcast? Bill Belichick is writing a book. Our friend Andrew Marshawn has some sources that says Belichick is penning.We.

Don't know about it.I assume it's not a...We don't know about what. Novel?

Do you think it's a novel?

Well, I mean, I'd love to see Belichick craft a mystery novel or something, but I'm sure it's obviously football-related. But is it an autobiography, or is it on the topic of something football-related that he's obsessed with?

Good question. I would guess it's closer to the latter or lessons he's learned and jumping around through different... That's what I would hope for because I don't think he's going to write a biography or talk about how the Patriots... Just go like soup to nuts how the Patriots were built. It just doesn't seem like what he's going to do. But maybe he can sprinkle in little different stories from throughout his career. Football season, all the things that go with it. Or maybe he's amazing. I mean, his dad literally wrote the book on football scouting. It was called Football Scouting Methods.

I have that. I wouldn't call it a page turner, but it's-No, it's like how to scout.

It's how to write down, Okay, before every play, the safety is here, and write down the and different things.

Do we get the Belichick audiobook, though? I don't know if that's the best way to go in the best way.

He really respects the written word. He respects legacy, he respects history. I was thinking maybe later this year, we could do a quick football book club segment or something, mini segment, because I started to reread, and it'll be a quick read. It's this book called Patriot Reign by Michael Hawley. I think it's slept on as one of the great football. We talked a lot about collision, low crossers, season in the life. This is very much in that vein. People think of Belichick as so closed off, not allowing anything. He led a guy from the Boston Globe who took a year off. I think it ended up being two years off, to just hang out with the team for two years, be in every meeting, in the coaches meetings, in everything. He got a ton of stuff. It's 2002 season, which doesn't go too well, and then a little post-script on the next year where where they win the Super Bowl. It's got great stuff in it. I feel like no one really... It's because I think Belichick wanted... He wanted to have proof of what everything happened. He wanted to have a say in it.

It's not that he doesn't care.

All these There are so many reverse expectation reports on Belichick where it's like, Oh, actually, behind the scenes, he was delightful to me and treated me well and corresponded in this and that. It's like, I can't wait to see what he writes. I will buy it immediately.

I hope... I mean, it's tough to a book in one offseason. Can he do it before the next season starts? I guess if he's really trying hard, he's a hard worker.

What if it's me like Bill Belichick and so and so? Yeah. You know what I mean?

Maybe because they had an unauthorized biography. Haven't read it yet by Ian O'Connor. That's now become his definitive one, which I'm sure he doesn't like that he didn't participate in it, and it's his definitive one. Finally in the news, some sad news. Vontay Davis, who had a strong career for the Dolphins. He was drafted by first round Colts got a big free agent contract, and then the Bills has died at his home in Florida. He, I believe, was only 35 years old.

Yeah. We're waiting to find out more what happened there. If you have access to The Athletic, anyone out there, our friend Zack Kiefer, who wrote an incredible piece on Chris Wesleyan, he could have been closer to what was happening with the cults and had many interesting experiences with Vontay Davis and wrote an incredible piece on the person, and he obviously wrote it quickly and probably without knowing a lot about what had happened here. But man, I don't know. It makes me think of something just personally. I didn't even come to the NFL until I was 36. When someone leaves the Earth at 35, there were so many more years ahead for him, and it's a tragedy.

Yeah, very sad. I think, might be most known for how his career ended, how he retired in the middle of a game. He even talked about that, that looked like he never would call himself a quitter because he overcame a home with an alcoholic father and a mother had drug problems, and both him and his brother, Vernon Davis, turned into Pro Bowl NFL players. He said, I'm no quitter. For me to get to where I am, I just had a strong feeling that I was done. You mentioned Chris I got a tweet today that someone was listening to an old Week 9 preview of a season long ago, and Chris talking about how great Vontay Davis was playing. He was a first-team All-Pro for one season where he just was a physical exciting player. Rest in peace to Vontay Davis. We are going to do our mock draft with Josh Norris right after the break. Our next guest is the football content lead at Underdog fantasy. Long-time consigliere Story of Evan Silva at Rota World as the NFL draft expert. He's now married. He's born on July 17th. And I'm going to just say it, he's a YouTube star.

Josh Norris, ladies and gentlemen.

Guys, you know what I realized? I don't think, and I've been in the show about three or four times, I don't know if I've ever been on this program when Dan has also been on the program. I don't know if this is a Jennifer Anaston, Reese Witherspoon situation where he refuses to do scenes with me, but that's what's brewing on my head right now, Mark.

That is a fairly bubbling controversy. I didn't know that. But I could see us in Dan's absence around this time of year when we can rotate our time off, that you'd be a very natural in April into May, a very natural person to come in and talk draft. I don't know if it's a war.

Or he's threatened by you. Yeah, it's one of the two. Or he just doesn't like you. It could be any one of these things.

That could be it. I am assuming at some point someone can stand on the table, pound the table and be like, No, we are not having this guest on the show while I'm on it. Never. Maybe other times, my name has popped up for a guest bot, but now it's impossible for Dan to use my presence.

This is completely unfair, frankly, to Dan, because we tried to book you. We were trying to get you a couple of weeks ago, and then it just didn't work out.

But magically, it did not work, Greg.

It's true. I don't even remember how that happened.

I did promise Dan that no controversies about him involving him would rise while he was on vacation. He doesn't want to hear about it from anyone else, so got to keep it under wraps.

Yeah, I mentioned the YouTube You can check Josh Norris out doing a lot of great content at the Underdog. He also-Fantasy channel, an NFL draft channel. Hayden Winks is on there, and they have quick videos right during free agency. I'm I mean it, they are killing the game in the YouTube space. We could learn a thing or two from you.

This is the one like Josh Norris, you'll be out watching Monday Night Football somewhere, and you're the guy whose commercials pop up. I'm with friends. I'm like, I know that guy. He's on a commercial during Monday Night Football. It's special to me.

Thank you, Mark. I appreciate that. Bank Account did not change with those commercials, but we live and learn.

The next time, yeah, hold out for more, and then they'll just use Hayden. This is going to be a mock draft. It's going to be fun. We're doing the top 10 picks. We're also going to throw in a pick each we just would like to see from the first round. We're going to start with you, Josh, and that was strategic by me. Now, on the one hand, the first pick feels predictable, but we'll see. On the other, with 10 picks, that means you have to do one more. I love it. That was the strategy. On my end, Josh knows more than Mark and I about the NFL I love it. I love what you did, Greg. I'm not speaking out of school here, but we will start with you. Our friend Eric will be playing the role of Roger Goodell here. With the first pick of the 2024 round the NFL mock draft, the Chicago Bears select...

Usc quarterback, Caleb Williams. This is an easy one. Caleb Williams is really a slam dunk prospect. I know that obviously there were some down plays in comparison to his previous season. But really, you see the Aaron Rodgers' vacation or even some Patrick Mahomesness in his game in terms of off-platform throws, releases. Kind of like those guys, Greg, you get a sense that his in-play, in-rhythm stuff is a bit undervalued at this point on top of it. So he played in a pitiful team with a pitiful defense, was forced to put the pedal to the floor at all times and try to carry them. But in the NFL, cannot wait to watch what Caleb Williams does with this really good situation that the Chicago Bears have set him up for.

Those players are there, though. In a way that they probably weren't there as much for Mahomes coming out, and that's why I think Mahomes fell a little further, is he wasn't even put in the position to have as many what the NFL would consider traditional drop-back plays where he sets his feet, goes through his receivers, and hits him in rhythm, gets to his second third. Mahomes didn't really have that chance. Cliff Kingsbury is the guy that connects these two. And maybe Caleb Williams' sophomore tape with Cliff was somehow worse than his freshman tape without Cliff. That's another topic. But those players are all there, so you see it all. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to be like at the NFL level. The one thing he's not, I guess, Mark, which is interesting because You think of him up there with the Andrew Lux and Trevor Lawrence as one of the best prospects we've seen in the last... Joe Burrow in the last 10, 12 years. To me, he's not doing it by just like, he's Josh Allen with a monster arm. He's more of like a 2024. He has enough arm, and he can do everything else just at an extremely high level with the wow plays, too.

It's hard for me not to factor the Cliff Kingsbury angle into that, too. I have lost a fair amount of faith in Cliff Kingsbury, and we'll get to him in a minute.

Yeah, we will.

I think the destiny of these quarterbacks has a lot to do with the fact that the best quarterback is typically going to a team that's a trash bag, and they have a nice assortment of players around them. I think the Keenan Allen trade to go with Teej. It's like, he's in a good position to have a faster start than if he had gone to some lost organization in the forest.

But before we move on, because I do think we have a tendency to overlook the one pick after a while because it's like...

Right.

Four gone. Especially on this show, we haven't actually talked about Caleb Williams that much. Two things. Number one, watching the tape impressed or surprised you the most. And then number two, I'm curious what you think his rushing value will be as a pro. You're a fantasy guy, so that's certainly a big... But it's also a big reality part of his game.

Well, I mean, any of the top 10, top 12 in the league now, you have to have some level of athleticism once things break down or don't go the way that you want to on the play sheet. And he has that, especially if you go back to his stuff at Oklahoma. He is stronger than you think when running the ball and people bounce off him, and there are some insane runs on top of that in that small sample. I was reminded of, because you can check out the box scores, you can check out all that stuff, but the game against Washington this season, for example, a team that was buying for the national championship, the Huskies scored a countdown on eight of 10 of their drives in that game. It was a similar situation like that every single time he touched the field where he basically had to score a countdown or it was bust. And so, yeah, There were 100% instances where he puts more pressure on his offensive line than was necessary. But I feel like you have to do that in order to also get the wow plays that also come along with that.

And he also was trying to buy time, I thought, in order to allow for those extended plays to allow his wide receivers to get free because maybe the play call was bad. And again, those out-of-structure moments, they could separate from their corners. It was just the balance that he played with of, Hey, I can quickly throw the football because I know exactly what the coverage is pre-snap, and then I see it again post-snap. But then also the elongated magician stuff, which, again, separates you being from a top 10 quarterback to a top five overall quarterback in the league.

Yeah. And you mentioned that Oklahoma year. He does have a nice balance of... He's not an old prospect, but he does have plenty of experience. He threw a couple of hundred passes for Oklahoma, and you're right, he ran for 442 yards that year. And then last year, by the time he got to what essentially was his senior year for USC, he all but refused to run except for for touch downs. He did score 27 TDs as as a college player in '21 over the last two years for USC. So it was interesting, but I think that was because he knew where he was in the draft. He didn't need to run, but he certainly should be able to. Mark, you have the second overall pick. We haven't heard a lot of buzz about any trades, and we are allowing trade proposals to happen in this draft. We'll just see what happens. But unless anyone has a trade for the number two pick, you are going to be in the box here.

I wanted to shake things up, but there is an element of logic to this, and we're going to see what happens with the Washington Commanders.

With the second pick of the 2024 round the NFL mock draft, the Washington Commanders select...

Jaden Daniels, quarterback, LSU. Now, digging into this, even where we were a couple, three or four weeks ago, it was like, Oh, it's Drake May. And it's like, I just feel that the tide is turning a little bit more. We're hearing more and more about the fact that this could be Jaden Daniels. I feel I feel like the the Drake May reviews have been all over the map. I think it's interesting that compared to past Commander's operations, you're not hearing much of anything at all about what they're going to do. I think this is a true, interesting, mysterious number two pick. I go with Daniels. I think he does a little bit of everything. His dangerous nature on the ground is fascinating to me. He has five seasons of starting experience. I think that matters with these college quarterbacks, a lot to me. Football intelligence, pre- Snap intelligence. I guess for me, he's got a rare blend of arm talent, running ability. He's got Cliff Kingsbury as his offensive coordinator. We just mentioned that. I think that is a bit of a wild card. But Josh, how do you feel about me going Daniels over Drake Mayher?

Well, sidebar here, Greg, as the man with the most accurate mock draft of all time, we know that obviously mock drafting is all about dot.

That's you, not me. That's not me, to be clear to our audience. That was you two years ago. You've been living off the fumes of that mock draft ever since. We didn't hear much about your last year's mock draft, but yes. Sorry, what was your question?

Mock drafting is all about dot connecting. So, Greg, I have seen people try to connect the dots of, Oh, they signed Marcus Mariota as the backup quarterback. They trade away Sam Howell. Does that mean that they are siding more with the Jane Daniels type than the Drake May type? I'm not buying into that as much. What say you?

No.

I don't know how Marcus Mariota could have a lot to do with this. Right.

When was the last time? Yeah, I know Mariota can run a little bit, but he's not Jaden Daniels. I mean, he's nothing. I mean, compared, he's nothing close to Jaden Daniels. I am not saying that. It's Sam Howell, for what it's worth, is as good a runner, if not better than Marcus Mariota. That makes no sense to me. I just can't imagine anything to do. This choice is their franchise. It changes their franchise. It's the biggest choice their franchise is going to make for the next seven, eight years, in their minds, hopefully more. The fact that it would... That Marcus Mariota signing would somehow indicate what's going to happen. I just can't find it.

One little dot connector, though. In the mock draft, go ahead, Mark. Well, I was going to say, Brian Kelly, and maybe this is nothing, but he was glowing about Jaden Daniels in an interview and basically said Washington is going to be very happy with what they get. It's like, Okay, I think maybe you're just saying this is the second best quarterback in the draft, if not the first in your eyes, and he's going number two. But that makes me wonder if Brian Kelly just knows something.

Wow. I actually think the Marcus-Mariota connection is more about Brian Johnson, who they brought in as, I think, their past game coordinator, and obviously, they have time together.

That's literally it. That's it. That's only it. It's like, who's available? I just worked with this guy. Who's available as a backup quarterback?

With Jaden Daniels, he is a fascinating player. And obviously, it's interesting. It was very Philadelphia Eagles to me, honestly. You have two alpha wide receivers on the outside that both might be top 20 picks this season. You had a fantastic offensive line. You rarely attacked the middle of the field because when you have rushing success, obviously that, and especially with the hash marks, can turn these one-on-ones on the outside into enviable matchups. You just have deep shot after deep shot over and over and over again. It was no under center work, which is not a surprise. Guys. But I just wonder if you compare levels, and I actually don't think the commanders in terms of pass catchers is a bad situation to walk into. You have Jahaan Dotson, obviously, Terry McLaurin on top of that. But man, it was just an ideal situation for Jane Daniels to work in, but at the same time, he totally maximized it. That is like underselling it. It was obviously a Heisman Trophy season, but there are just some weird, wonky numbers underlying in terms of his profile. Our buddy Nate Thais pointed this out. That he's old? Only 50% of his dropbacks resulted in a pass attempt.

That was 193rd out of 196, and he just rarely attacked the middle of the field. But I really like him as a prospect. I just prefer Drake May as a player.

I think the first of his three senior seasons, he set his career high with 388 pass attempts. Other than that, he was like 300, 327. That's playing every game. The age thing does matter to me a a lot. Not that it's going to prevent you from being a great quarterback right off the bat. He clearly needed that time in college to develop, and I think it's going to work out for him and make him a better player at the pro level. But if you're comparing him to a guy like Drake May, who's so much younger, how can that not make a big difference? Now, that said, he might enter the league as... He might be the newest best running quarterback ever. If he starts 17 games, isn't he going to have a chance to break the all-time rushing record? I mean, as long as he stays healthy, I know he's got a frame that you worry about a little bit.

Or he takes car crashes every time.

But his running is just outrageously good. His straight line speed is crazy.

Yeah, it's really ludicrous. That's pretty exciting. Let's table an age conversation when we get to Drake May, because I actually think it's more of an optimistic lens of him than it might It's really like a downside of the Jaden Daniels.

That's absolutely fair. To put some context on it, Jaden Daniels ran for almost 3,000 yards over the last three seasons, including 1134 yards in 12 games. I know it's just counting stats and stuff, but you watch it.

Weesley is the only player in FBS history with 12,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing.

It's just outrageous, but I always am a little anxious about the guys who... You mentioned Nate Tite. He has them more as a late first round type of grade. That's As late as mid-august, early November, the DraftKings, maybe they were just off all along, but they did not necessarily see him as QB3 or even in the first round conversation at all. We've seen guys like that shoot up fast. Mariotta, was he one like that? Maybe not. Rg3 absolutely was. No one had any idea RG3 was going to be the top two pick until the end of the season. And then he was, All right, let's move to the third pick. For the first time, we do have a trade proposal on the board. So the Patriots are on the clock. Drake May is available. I'm also taking the sixth pick and the ninth pick. I hold the Giants' pick. I'm actually proposing a trade from the Giants to myself as the Patriots. Hold up. Yeah. Why? Hold up. Why?

Why? Well, one, the Minnesota Vikings have far more draft Capitol Hill here. And my old co-host, Josh McCown, was the high school quarterback's coach of Drake May. Their entire offseason has been built towards trading for a quarterback in the NFL draft, already making a move to have two first-round selections. So you're going to go here to the Giants that have just a 6-fig, a second rounder, and a third rounder?

Well, once you see the offer, they're trying their best to make it as enticing as possible. But if you want to throw in a Viking's trade proposal, I don't know what the rules are here. So they're outside the top 10. I'll throw one in. Sure.

Let's hear it. Pick 11, pick 23, and a 2025 first rounder. There is no way the Giants can top them.

That is a lot.

Another first, okay.

And that is a great position. I think this is the the Patriots dream because I don't know, but I just would guess that they'd rather draft Drake May than Jaden Daniels. And then they'd also love to be in this. Is your read quarterback? What do you say?

What's your read here? Because either they take one of the top three quarterbacks or where they try to build and go with Jacob Reset for a year.

Well, we'll see. I think this is the best scenario because I think this is where they would get the most trade offers. I don't necessarily believe all the smoke on May Daniels. I think more teams would still be interested in May, and certainly The fall-off is large. The Giants are going to offer, obviously, the number 6 pick. You only have to move back three spots. You're still extremely high. You're going to get one of those wide receivers, if you're the Patriots, at that 6 spot, if you want them. You got your second round pick this year that they picked up for Lenny Williams. You got your first round pick next year. Then they're also going to throw into the trade an agreement that they will release a statement as a team that acknowledges luck was a significant contributing factor into the helmet catch in winning that Super Bowl. Just admitting that, hey, sports, luck matters. Luck was a a significant contributing factor. They also, as part of that statement, will say that while they believe Eli Manning is a Hall of Famer, they recognize that Philip Rivers had more seasons where he was universally recognized as a top five type of quarterback, maybe six, seven of those seasons versus one or two for Eli.

And so they recognize that Philip Rivers should go in first, but they still do support Eli. So that is part of the trade-off.

There's a lot of Greg-Stipulation.based desires and needs here. I don't know what you're talking about. But I do think that all those admissions might be more valuable than that third first-round pick from the Vikings, Josh.

Where is Dan when you need him, guys? Where is Dan where you need him?

This is why it's fun sometimes. You got to throw in what you like. You know what? They got all those offers. Let's go to Eric here. With the third pick of the 2024 or around the NFL mock draft. I think it's the Giants now. Is that what we decided? No, the New England Patriots are saying no to everything. They're going to humiliate the Giants by leaking that they offer this in the first place, so they get the win there. They've been recording the conversations, actually. They're bringing it back to Spygate. They're saying no to the Vikings. They don't care. They want Drake May. They were hoping Drake May would fall, and they're just taking Drake May.

That's a lot of dramatic buildup to that decision. Well done.

You got to get the offers. You got to see what's happening. But as a Patriots fan, and I think if you're a Patriots team, this is the most perfect thing that could happen to them. They were in what a lot of people thought was a two elite quarterback draft. They fell to three with that late weird win against the Broncos. But Maeve falls to them, and he, to me, is everything they could want in a quarterback, and all those picks are great, but they could go 10 years without having a chance to find a quarterback like this.

Did you think that you were going to have to make this decision around Jade and Daniels?

Yes. And if the offers had come in for Jade and Daniels, I think the Patriots would have been much more open into making that trade. And I, as a fan, am torn because I've always wanted a fun running quarterback as a Patriots fan.

Well, Drake May.

Right. Drake May is that guy, too. But I'm saying Daniels also is that guy. And so he He's a guy that if they end up taking him at three, I'm not going to be disappointed. I'll be excited. But I would understand to trade down more. If it's May on the board, I think, Don't get too cute. Just take May. That's my own personal opinion of what they should do.

It's only April second. I would not be shocked if J. J. Mccarthy's name gets mentioned in this top three instead of top four.

I think so. Doesn't that feel like a Patriot?

They are. Bucky, our colleague here, had him, I believe, in the top three and had May falling Out of the top 10 recently or something crazy.

Drake May is a fascinating player because his first season as a starter, his second one at UNC because he sat behind Sam Howell his first year, was incredible. Then he loses Josh Downs. He loses his offensive play collar. I thought the environment was really pitiful this year, and it's really highlighted in some situational numbers. He had 76 snaps this season, just dropbacks, in third and seven plus situations. By comparison, Jaden Daniels only had 39 of those. Caleb Williams, JJ McCarthy had 58 of those. And he actually had 36 occasions of third and 11-plus situations. So that means his team lost yards on first and second down, and he had to try to carry them out in those third down. And look, it is on my radar, Greg, that all these former NFL quarterbacks that know way more about football than I ever will, Chris Sims, JTO Sullivan, Kurt Warner, whoever you want to talk about, are down on Drake May. They are legit nervous about him missing layups, about mechanics, and all this type of stuff. But I go back to what you mentioned earlier, where we didn't even see Jay and Daniels have 25, 30 touch downs until his fifth year of playing college football.

You can say the same thing about Bo Nicks. You can say the same thing basically about Michael Pennix, right? Drake May's first and second years were just as productive as those two. So just imagine if he had or three more years of college football, if he was able to iron out some of those mechanics issues or understanding coverages and seeing blitz packages, so on and so forth. To me, this is like the top- He'd be beating up on those 18-year-olds when he was 24.

It'd be like the guy at the YMCA playing against kids.

That's what makes this year of quarterback analysis, I think, so interesting is because you literally have guys who played for five years versus comparing them to played for one or two years at a position that is obviously the most important.

You'd To have Jacobi Perset, which is about as good of a backup or French starter as you'd want in that situation. Do you see Drake May as a weak one out there on the field, or do you need to work with him a little bit and maybe slow cook him as a rookie?

I think he can play immediately. Look, I think no matter when you're going to play him, you're going to have to live and die by these Luki plays at times. But again, he might ruin a drive here or there, but at the same time, he's going to make some crazy, insane plays that few other quarterbacks can't. He loses his brain a few times, but sometimes in the best way possible and sometimes in the worst way possible.

I think there's a lot of similarities between him and Caleb Williams, and I think it was a good debate between the two of them for much of the season. But you see May and you just see the size.

And the athleticism and the arm.

To me, he's not Josh Allen because as a prospect, they're very different. But seeing him in such a difficult situation that Dreg may had to overcome, you can project that forward to a situation like the commanders will be in, like the Patriots will be in. I think he excelled at those. You do see him doing some next level and quarterback protection changes and doing all the quarterbacky stuff that gets you excited and just crazy, crazy athleticism as a thrower, as a runner, Just everything that I think you would want as a college prospect. To me, if he was in last year's draft, there was a good chance he'd go over Bryce Young and C. J. Stroud, and yet now he's in this class, and he might go third. But I don't buy everything that's been coming out. I think it's just chatter. I think it's just talk. I think the majority of teams, it's different flavors, but the majority of teams would have him a strong number two.

Two quick things. I would him after the Bryce Stroud-Richerson group. And then number two, on Twitter, actually, I was able to sit down with Colt McCoy and Drake May and go through one of his full games during Super Bowl week. And that video is out there on Twitter. If people want to watch it. It's him breaking down his own tape. It was against Syracuse. Those protection plans, blitz packages, fading away from pressure looks, all of it, he was able to outline and diagnose it all and talk us through it. It was a really enlightening experience. I'm obviously a bit biased because I certainly was not able to do that with Caleb Williams or Jane Daniels or whoever else.

I named my son after Colt McCoy, so I'm quite jealous that you have had this sit down with one of my favorite NFL players.

You got a whole show with him.

One day, Mark, maybe we can exchange numbers here, and you and Colt McCoy could just have your own episode of the show, just the two of you.

I would-This show, we're not going to try to help you out.

Yes, let's have Colt McCoy. All right, we'll move on, and we will pick up the speed for the next seven pics. But look, the top three is exciting, and I still just go back to what Drake May did as a freshman. Technically, he had played, but as a red-shirt freshman. He's outrageous in the ACC, having the season he had. If you put that tape out there, that is possible. I would be very excited if he was a New England Patriot. We're going to take a quick break. We'll come back with pick number 4. All right, Josh Norris, we are back from the break. You have the fourth overall pick, and unless any trades are coming, I think you're ready to go.

I mean, it's not just that the phones are humming at Arizona Cardinal's headquarters. Monty For it is also on the phone. The man loves to make a trade, as we saw last year, where he traded back in the draft from what? Pick number three, then back again forward to go and get Paris Johnson Jr. The Minnesota Vikings, as I outlined. This is the team that their entire offseason has been built towards drafting a quarterback. They have picks 11 and picked 23. We can throw in a first rounder as well on top of that next year. I think the Arizona Cardinals, it's very clear they have their quarterback, and they need to bulk up and build up in a whole bunch of other places. And so a deal is going to get done. Wow.

I also don't consider that surprising at all because the Vikings are completely positioned to do it. Let's hear what they do.

We have a trade. Yes, we just heard it. Arizona Cardinals are trading the fourth pick to the Minnesota Vikings and selecting No, we heard all that, but yeah. But doesn't he rehash it? I just said 7-5. Come on, man. I'm playing along. Go, Josh.

Selecting Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy. This is, though, contingent that I believe Mark is up next, that Monty Ossifort can then get on the phone with Mark Sesler and work on a deal with potentially the number 5 pick.

We'll deal with that. We'll see how that goes.

Yeah, that may or may not happen.

But JJ McCarthy, as we've talked about situations, there wasn't a better one in all of college football last year. Just to outline some of those numbers, he only had 91 attempts in the fourth quarter last year, only 38 attempts in the entire second half. But this offense was really built on being super productive on first and second down running the football, and then when they needed it. If you go and watch his third and five plus plays when it was pure obvious throwing situations, I thought JJ McCarthy maybe had the best look of any quarterback in this draft class. You talk about deep play action under center where all of these Shannon, McVay, Coaching, Tree, and play callers are coming from. Obviously, Kevin O'Kanaugh loves to do that. Jj McCarthy was really good in those scenarios. In some ways, it's a plug and play approach, or if you want to sit and learn, understand Darno for a little bit, you've got that one, too.

I love the landing spot. And I think the only thing that I suspect is that over the next three plus weeks, that JJ McCarthy might go up a spot. I really think he could be picked before some of these other guys. I really do. I also think there's the Jim Harbaugh has hyped him up and everything. But I really believe that this is what the Vikings are, heat seeking a quarterback. I don't know if they'd have a problem getting here at number 4 versus maybe even higher up with the Patriots. But this is a perfect landing spot for JJ McCarthy.

Just love that all these guys are so athletic. I mean, JJ McCarthy is like a freak athlete. I look at you, Josh, and I think Panthers, Panthers fan, and I think when Cam Newton comes into the league, it's like, none of these guys are Cam Newton, to be clear. He was a unicorn. But it was like one guy like that with great athleticism would come in every few. That disrupted the league. Right. It changed the league. It would be every five years or something. At most, someone like that. None of them are quite Cam, yet they're all better thanIt's a prerequisite now, is it not? They're better than the second or third in terms of athleticism than the second or third most athletic quarterback from 15 years ago. Literally all them. Mccarthy is one of those guys, too. So it'd be fun to see him in a O'Neill offense. All right, now in O'Neill offense, you have the fifth pick here, Mark, and apparently you're going to get a trade proposal. We I've heard some buzz from the Cardinals.

I mean, Mark, if Monty Austin for it gives that cell phone a call, this team before this trade already had the 27th pick in the first round, the third pick of the second round, the second pick of the third round, the seventh pick of the third round, the 26th pick of the third round. The Cardinals are loaded, right? So why not allow them to move back up here for Marvin Harrison Jr. And get Kyler Murray an alpha wide receiver?

I have one. It's an attractive attempt in It's an attractive, logical offer. I think that the chargers all along, especially if one of those quarterbacks slipped beyond number four, which I don't think will happen, they are a very prime target location, and I could see them being tempted by it. But I also look at a team that right now is trying to float to their fan base and to other teams that Josh Palmer and a wait and see Quentin Johnson are your lead wideouts. I don't like that at all. I don't think they went into the offseason planning to move on from Mike Williams and then have the Keenan Allen thing happen the way that it did. I mean, that just can't be where you're going into this year. I know there's other wideouts and stuff, but Jim Harbaugh-They're standing back. The same way with the Patriots, let's hear what they do.

With the fifth pick of the 2024 around the NFL mock draft, the Los Angeles Chargers Select.

Marvin Harrison Jr. Who has better eyes on what this player is than Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. He absolutely understands what he is. He's quoted out there as glowing over Marvin Harrison. I think there's this idea that they're not going to take a wide out. They're going to move on. They're going to do something else. It's like, why do you not take... First of all, NFL bloodlines, it just starts and ends with me on that. It's the perfect Justin Herbert tandem piece right there. I don't know. It just feels like it's foolish to overthink this one with this particular player.

I think depending on the offer, if they would be tempted to move down to a team like the Cardinals at 11, still getting a good pick in this draft, just because it's their first year there, and it's like, Can we, like the Cardinals are trying to do, can we get a bunch of our guys to reset our program? But Harrison seems as a safe and exciting and explosive prospect as you could possibly at wide receiver. I just love the ball skills, and people have just almost gotten bored looking for little negatives, and it's tough. I don't think he plays like Larry Fitzgerald, but he reminds me of Fitzgerald just in the way that he's-It just catches everything.well, just that he's the most bulletproof prospect since Fitzgerald. I don't think it's just hindsight that now we look back and say, Well, yeah, that Fitzgerald take was right. It was like, there's only been a few of those guys. Joe Thomas was one, Fitzgerald is another. Going into everyone, everyone decided, Hall of Fame is the over-under for this guy. I feel like Marvin Harrison is that guy, too. For him to be there at five, that stuff depends.

I'm going to be disappointing if he isn't a Hall of Famer. At this point, the way he's talked about and viewed.

That's unfair even to say, but yeah, Pro Bowler. I mean, that guy where it just it's almost can't miss.

Yeah, he's a prototypical ex-water receiver. Remember when Chip Kelly, and I know this is Harbault's second term in the NFL, remember when Chip Kelly came into the league and he basically drafted or signed any player that crushed the Oregon Ducks. Obviously, Marvin Harrison Jr. Putting five catches for 118 yards in a countdown just on this team last year, and that was without C. J. Stroud. I will say, I think the big dilemma here with the Chargers, and I agree with you, Mark, where I think people are taking the, Hey, we got rid of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and that means we're just not going to use Justin Herbert. We're not going to throw the football. They're taking that way too far. I think more so it's, Hey, we want to get younger and faster at the position and healthier. And the defensive players are the ones that were willing to rework their deal, and the wide receivers were not. But I think the big dilemma here with the chargers is, Hey, do we trade down and find our right tackle, or do we take one of these alpha wide receivers? And it can go either direction.

I like this move, 100%.

I did, too. The Giants are next up. Number 6.

Offer stands.

What offer?

From the Arizona Cardinals. Pick 11 and pick 27 for pick 6.

That's intriguing. I mean, the Giants, obviously, are open to moving up and down the board. They were just embarrassed by the Patriots organization.

You look at what the Giants have at wide receiver, and again, I think it matches up pretty well with what they need. I've seen people try to decide. It's like, okay, they could be trading up for a quarterback. Would they want to go tackle? They just sign Jermaine Illuminaur, but he could play guard. They're not giving him too much money or anything like that. I'm like, hello? Their number one receiver is still Jalen Hyatt or Wanda Robbins. It's like, you've got a bunch of fun pieces there. That's been their receiver group for a while, Slate. You've never had even anyone close to a guy, and you got a couple of guys on the board, and yet, I actually think it'd be smart to take that trade. This is a team that needs so many things, and I'm going to do it with you, Josh. I'm going to take those picks.

Love that.

The Arizona Cardinals are trading back up to the number 6 spot and selecting Well, now you're the Cardinals. I don't even know. We're taking Malik Nabors. Yeah, we are. I thought you were the Cardinals now in this scenario. It breaks my brain that we're trading from outside the top 10. We're only going to top 10. It doesn't matter. Man, talk to I know you like to do the wide receiver breakdowns. Just what was watching the neighbor's tape like for you?

What if I told you this is like jet pack Brandon Ayuk? Would that be interesting for a wide receiver prospect? I will say his length isn't as great, so contest situation is not as good. But if we're talking about a guy who can already run routes, who already, anytime he has the ball in his hands, can turn it into an explosive game-changing play, who's, I think, 20 or almost 21 years old. Malik Nabors is something special. He forced the fourth most mistackles this season, and he was the only one of that top four who had an ADOP beyond eight yards down the field. In fact, his average depth of target was 12 yards down the field. Despite all those force mistackles, he only had 14 screen catches. So it's not like these were easy targets. They were intermediate. They were down the field. You guys have heard the whispers that some teams have Him has the wide receiver one. I will say I prefer Marvin Harrison Jr, but they basically had the same amount of explosive plays, 15 plus yard gains over the last two years. And it's really easy and enticing to fall in love with the guy who catches a slant like Odell Beckham and then runs it 45 yards for a countdown.

When he led college football last year in the 20 plus yard catches, to your point, breaking tackles at depth of field there. Just like the team before them, They absolutely need a wide receiver, Arizona. You can't go into this season with what they have. I think it's a sensible trade up for a star type player.

Right. He'd be the wide receiver one in many years, even some strong years. It is funny. I do I wonder, how much does the Joe Burrow experience help Jaden Daniels? There was this feeling, it's like, Man, he's throwing Jason, Justin Jefferson. A great offensive line. Is he really that good? Then it turns out, yeah, actually everyone can be good. That's totally possible. Now you look at LSU now and neighbors and their receivers, and you're like, Is Jaden Daniels that good? Because some of the catches neighbors makes are just outrageous, and you give Daniels credit for getting the ball there on time. But neighbors feels to me like a safer prospect, I guess I would put it, and that makes sense. Receivers are generally safer at this part of the draft than quarterbacks. But he's another one that it really feels like can't miss. Let's go to the seventh pick, the Tennessee Titans, which I think is one of the picks that… Now we're getting to the portion of the draft where it's a lot more of a mystery. The Tennessee Titans. Let's go. The Tennessee Titans… Hold on. Did Josh add something? Did you want to make another trade proposal?

Okay, let's go. Okay, here we go. The Tennessee Titans select with the seventh overall pick of the 2024 round, the NFL mock draft?

Notre Dame, left tackle, Joe Alt. This is an intriguing situation because Roma Dunes is still on the board. I felt like prior to for agency, this was basically the recreation of the Cincinnati Bingo's meme that we had, this is Joe Burrow with Panay Sewell throwing to anyone down the field, or this is Joe Burrow throwing to Jamal Chase while being blocked by no one and getting sacked. If you remember that meme, I feel like I'm seeing stairs, and so this is just a section of Twitter that I occupy, and Mark does not. Anyway, Brian Callahan was obviously on that Cincinnati Bingo staff, and at that time, they chose the playmaker. They chose the wide receiver instead of the offensive lineman. However, the Calvin Ridley deal certainly puts me in the scenario in the path of, Hey, we added Lloyd Cush and Barriott Center. Peter Skronsky played really well at Left Guard last year. We literally do not have a left tackle on this roster. And so Joe Alt, who might have some Nate Solder-like comparison steps in here as our left tackle.

I love it. We had Gravedigger, our former producer on, and he last week, and he predicted the same, that this was the perfect fit for them. You can see certain Titan fans of a certain ilk not thinking it's a sexy enough pick when you could have gotten one of these wide receivers. But their quarterbacks were shattered behind that offensive line in years past. As many issues as they had it wide out, the same was true of their line. This seems like an incredibly reliable player. Their best offseason move was getting Bill Callahan. You give Bill Callahan the tools to succeed, and I think he can make the rest of the offensive line 60% better than it's been in the past.

Because Alt is very athletic and would fit well in that system. I think really improved in his last season at Notre Dame. Part of me, if I'm a Titans fan, it's a tricky spot because is there that huge of a gap between Alt and a really great tackle class that's behind him? Maybe not as much as you would want, but will a tackle be there in the second round when they pick again that they want? No, probably not, because all these guys are going to come off the board. So they're just in a weird spot where I'd personally be tempted to take a Dunese, but it totally would make sense if they take Joe. All right, the Atlanta Falcons are up next. I don't think anyone's trading into this spot at this point, or are they?

We can find out.

With the eighth overall pick of the 2024 around the NFL mock draft, the Atlanta Falcons select…

Dallas Turner, Edge out of Alabama.

Oh, yeah. I mean, their offense is set to go.

Obviously, they've, over the past couple of years, added so much weaponry, and it's a good setup for Kirk Cousins. Their defense needs help all over the place. I almost went Terry and Arnold here just Because I think this new coaching staff, you do need to find some foundational pieces on defense. They have had that Jonathan Abramman curse where they've not really been able to rush the passer for 4,000 eons. Dallas Turner is the clear front position player at the edge. It's not the greatest class for that. I think it's an absolute need filler. It gives you something to build around, and this is the guy I'd pick. I think he's also being mocked to them in every single mocked draft. It's like, if you can get the best edge rusher at number eight, in other years, that would never even be possible.

Are you actually surprised, Josh, there's not more excitement? Not that there's not more excitement over Dallas Turner if he ends up being the first defensive player. But to me, he would seem like a guy, his profile, his production, his lineage, certainly, his numbers, as a guy that actually would be talked about as like, Could he get taken higher in this draft?

It reminds me just from a big picture draft perspective of when we had Trevor Lawrence, Zack Wilson, Trey Lance, Mac Jones, Justin Fields, where there's so much conversation about the quarterbacks, and also that year was like Devante Smith and Jalen Waddle and a bunch of wide receivers, where also in that draft, it was what, Patrick Sertan, it was Michael Parsons, it was Jason Horten.

Michael Parsons falling out of the top 10.

Right. To the point of, am I surprised that there's not more buzz or more noise about it. I just think the quarterback and wide receiver conversations are just dominating the entire conversation here. I'm just happy that Grady Jarrett gets a little bit of help because it felt like he has carried this defense for a decade at this point. They haven't had a single other person to rush the passer in that time.

And they haven't had any additions on defense, really, in the offseason either. To me, I don't know if that's tipping their hand a little bit or just surprising to me that Raheem Morris wouldn't go in there, but I don't know. I guess I would need to really break it down more, but I've watched some Dallas Turner, and to me, it's exciting. I don't see why he's that much of a different prospect than Will Anderson, who was a guy who ended up getting traded up for in the top three. To me, it seems like they're similar, and that makes me very happy as standing in for Ryan Polls, because I had a couple offers ready as Ryan Polls, and I know bears fans don't think they're going to do this to possibly trade up. But the way this draft fell with JJ McCarthy going fourth and Adunzey still sitting there at seven, I didn't think it was necessary to trade up. With the ninth overall pick of the 2024 Around the NFL mock draft, the Chicago Bear Select. Rome Adunzey. I love it. Wide receiver. I don't think it's crazy for the bears to think about trading up for Adunze, or if it, neighbors, winds up being wide receiver three, which no one this point, just two or three spots to complete that offense.

There's a lot of talk of, well, if they get to this point of the draft, do they take the highest edge rusher or the highest tackle? I'm thinking like, man, there are three great wide receivers in this class, and getting Keenan Allen does not mean you do not need a wide receiver. He's on a one-year contract, and he's 32. That may work out. It will work out if he stays on the field. I'm confident in saying that, but he's getting older. He had a great year last year, but it might work out best for the bears that he just has one great season for them, and then they move on, and they potentially get a comp pick depending on what happens. Man, this would be huge to add a guy that can play outside, and you can have Keenan Allen and DJ more flip flop playing inside. But Allen, to me, would be at his best, especially now at this point in his career. He is at his best in the a lot.

You'd have to say that Ryan Pauls on paper would have looked genius over the last two off-seasons to do what he's done. You put your rookie quarterback, and the bears have not really found that rookie quarterback for as long as we've been following the sport. They've been allergic to that. One of the biggest stories in the league is what's happened to the NFC North over the past couple of seasons and how different the lions are. The packers, suddenly there's a ton of hope around them, and the bears can't fall behind. This would put them into the forefront of that conversation with one of the best wide receiver groups on paper in the league.

I get they do have a pretty large need at Edge, and they're going to try to... They don't have a lot of picks in this draft right now. They're going to be a candidate to trade down even if Adunzey isn't there. I think Pace, though, I think it's go time. It's year four for him. To me, that is their biggest need. I don't think it'd even be crazy for them to trade a 2025 pick to move up to six or seven or eight if they feel like they have to get a dunze. I don't think tackle makes sense. They have a good tackle in Braxton Jones. It's like having a quarterback on a rookie contract. I know Braxton Jones isn't an elite quarterback, but it'd be like if Mac Jones turned into the best version of Mac Jones and was just the 12th best quarterback in the league, that rookie contract would have been great. And that's what they have in Braxton Jones. So don't get cute. You don't need to take a left tackle there, especially if it's a deep crop Forget about it. I'm preaching to the choir here.

I think if a Dunes isn't here, then it makes total sense to trade down because you only have picked 75 and 122 after this, after dealing. I love this. At some points, I find myself thinking that teams should trade more middle or late round picks for veterans that they're interested in. The bears and Ryan Polls have done this. They made the Allen Trade, obviously, Monte as well at the deadline. I think Ryan Bates is going to be a starting player for them this year. They only have two other picks, I think, right now on the five rounds at the moment.

Their D-line is pretty weak for a team that- But build the defense slowly.

You have the offensive D right now, but build the defense slowly.

Yeah. Look, they've invested a lot of picks in the secondary and a lot of money into linebackers, and then Monte's sweat is there. So they certainly haven't left the covered dry for even those. All right, the final pick here in our top 10 mock draft goes to Josh Norris. With the 10th pick of the 2024 Around the NFL mock draft, the New York Jets Select.

Hello?

Oh, there's a boat. Wait a minute.

Oh, look who we have here.

Oh, wow.

A little bit of Dan Hanses action.

A little bit of production value for our YouTube listeners. He showed up Dan Hanses, who amazingly doesn't actually have in his phone, but he just showed a picture of Dan that he could find on the internet. So that's good.

All right, it is over. Okay, I I know so many people want to project Brock Bowers to this selection, but I am bringing in an offensive lineman, Troy Faltano, here because I firmly believe that keeping Aaron Rodgers off the Achilles injury after just five minutes of action this past season is priority number one. They've done everything they could in some ways in offseason with maybe limited resources in signing Tyron Smith to what a one-year contract and making that deal for Morgan Moses. We know Tyron Smith has missed a whole bunch of time despite being a future Hall of Famer. Morgan Moses, mid-30s at this point. We know that Troy Fultono can play either left guard or even left tackle in a pinch or even be the sixth offensive lineman to start with. I just think heavily investing in those resources after you've already added Mike Williams at wide receiver is, I think, probably number one in order for this team to be competitive, and maybe most importantly for these guys, for Joe Douglas and Robert Soller to keep their jobs for this season.

Yeah, they can't get too cute here. It's just because, Mekai Becton and others, the resources they attempted to add to the line didn't work. You can't just stop. You got to keep trying because no matter what happened to Rodgers last year and when it happened, it would have happened at some point because there was a shattered offensive line and everything broke down around it. And so, yes, I love the pick. I would absolutely go tackle here in a good tackle class.

I know. I'd wonder if they would get... They just love taking guys. The reddit trade actually made me feel better that they wouldn't take... A lot too. To me, it wouldn't be a crazy pick here. I'm a I'm a big fan of his, but now it makes a little less sense with who they have in the building and where they've used their picks. They took Jermaine Johnson, they took Will McDonald. That makes sense. Before we let you go, Josh, we're just going to do a little quick speed round. Just one pick you'd like to see happen in the first round of the 2024 draft. We're not doing the special chimes, the amazing production value that happens even without Dan here. But just give us a pick you'd like to see in the first round before we go.

Well, We're going to break the rules and go with pick 33. Okay. The Carolina Panthers- That works.selecting savior-worthy, the wide receiver out of Texas. I understand he's 5'11, 165 pounds, and that's a bit of an exception when it comes to wide receivers. But when you actually go and watch this guy, he is more than speed. He actually tries to play through contact. He actually does try to make catches outside of his frame. And sure, because he is a bit frail, it's easier for corners to disrupt the catch or attack his hands. But man, super productive for three seasons. This speed is something that the Panthers desperately need in order for defenses to not sit about 15 yards down the field and be able to drive on everything else. And while I thought just from his combine, Xavier Worther was just purely one of these 40-yard dashboard receiver we've seen in the past, I think his game transcends that a little bit. And he's really exciting. He is tank delish, to be honest.

I love that. And we'll see if Mingo works out. I liked Mingo coming out, the pick has not worked. But it was only a rookie, and Josh is a Panthers fan. That's true. Sometimes. One of the only ones left him and David Ealey in our newsroom. He was fighting the good fight, and I was trying to do it, too, looking for the positives and trying to remove-It was an impossible situation. Bryce Young from the situation that he was in and see some things. Then Bryce started making it real hard on us the last five weeks of the season or so.

But before that-The Proctors game was fantastic, Greg.

Before that, it wasn't quite as bad as people thought. It was like, Okay, now we're resetting. You got Deontay Johnson. You definitely need a speed threat. Deontay Johnson was one of the best moves of the offseason, and yet it does not make an entire wide receiver group. What's one for you, Mark?

I am looking for a team where I think this player just could fall to and fits. I know that he's 23 years old, and there's a lot of questions about Michael Pendex Jr. In terms of some of his accuracy and stuff. But Michael Penix Jr. To the Las Vegas Raiders. I think they, along with the Broncos, are like, not the Broncos, overtly. I'm surprised we didn't have any trade scenario with them to get a quarterback. The Raiders don't seem as keen on trading up for someone, but someone like this that falls to them. A little bit less pressure on the whole situation. I think he's an interesting player, and I think him in a Raiders uniform would be a fascinating watch.

I had a theory with the Vikings trade into the first round that it was partly about their belief in all the… Not maybe all, but the depth. Yes, it could be about JJ McCarthy, but maybe it's also that they're more comfortable than we think taking a guy like Pennex or Nix, even with that second first round pick, something like that, that they just thought the depth was enough that we're going to get someone we like there. But if Pennex goes off the board of the Raiders, then they would not be able to take him.

Greg, I think that's a great point when you consider other quarterback classes, like fifth or sixth quarterbacks. You're talking about Jacob Eison or Kyle Trask or Matt Corral, the Michael Pennex, Bo Nixes of the world, are so many tiers and levels above those guys, that it really does put into perspective how good this quarterback class can be.

Okay, I'm going to throw one pick out. I'm torn. Maybe I'll just do two because I'll cheat. This is what you can do.

You're going to go last to cheat. When you've got the The power of this chair is just intoxicating.

I'm going to give Cooper Dujene to the packers because I don't want to give him to the Chiefs because I feel like the Chiefs will take him, and then suddenly, he'll be a second-team All-Pro in two years. It's like, Wait, how did this guy fall? I know he's not like... He's a cornerback. He's clearly has some versatility, but he's a cornerback. He's extremely athletic. I'm getting Kyle Hamilton vibes when I watch him and everything that happened, which is like, Wait, are we overthinking it here? I know Hamilton only fell to pick 14, but you look at some of the players that went in front of them. Jordan Davis went in front of him. Those two tackles that everyone thought were just can't miss, but they both ended up stinking so far went in front of him. Cooper Dajine It gives me those vibes, maybe at a little bit of a lower level that he is going to be maybe the best cornerback in this class. I just look at teams that could use him later in the first round. Packers and Chiefs both come to mind. So I'm going to give them to the packers.

I'm also going to just, for the hell of it, give Lad McConkey to Lamar Jackson. Let's just get more guys that can get open.

Can I throw in one more really quick?

Sure. What does it matter? We make rules. It's a podcast. There are no rules.

I think, Brock Bowers to the Cincinnati Bingoes would be fascinating. That'd be fun.

They need that.

He was basically Georgia's slot wide receiver. He saw all their screens. He saw all their slot work. That wasn't Lad McConkey. He was more the outside wide receiver. Obviously, that team, unless you want to put Charlie Jones or Alex Erickson or whoever in there for the bangles, they haven't really filled in for Tyler Boyd yet. And so going all in with that selection of Brock Bowers this year would be really, really fun.

If he's available, he's such a bangles pick. They're very much take the name brand guy that's still on the board.

They had 70 tight-end catches last year, and it was missing from their offense. So I love that.

That would be fun. This was fun, Josh. Everyone, check out Josh at Underdog. Like I said, killing the game, killing the YouTube game. Any final words for you, Josh?

Gentlemen, phone will be next to my ear anytime you need me. Okay. I always love joining you guys. You guys are the best.

I'm a long-time listener. I don't think Dan takes another vacation for a while, but-And he does. Yeah, because your Cold War is not ending, apparently, anytime soon.

We'll compare schedules, guys. We'll compare schedules. All right.Thank.

You to Josh Norris.Thank you, Josh. Thank you to Roger Goodell/Eric Roberts, Behind the Glass, Randy Chávez. It's been a pleasure. We can handle this week, Mark. We can do this without our leader.

I think we can, too. But I think when Dan returns, we're going to have to suggest that it was chaotic and unproductive and a step down.

I am excited. Patrick Clavon is going to join us on Thursday. We're doing two shows this week, just like last week, and then we are going to start cranking back up with more shows next week. We'll be back to our three shows a week schedule. Until Thursday, though, we got to check out if there's any more Patrick Claibon song submission. For Josh, for Eric, for Mark, go ahead. Keep the call..