# The Insiders Podcast: Raiders Host Fernando Mendoza + Chiefs Draft Strategy Takes Shape

An episode of [NFL: The Insiders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1543090622), 8 Apr 2026, 40 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/0414225e-5167-477f-9f83-ae390070e4d2/210d0bb0-b01f-4faf-be7a-b42600042c7d/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=3e412703-0644-468e-9001-ae390070e4db

NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista & Ian Rapoport talk through the biggest storylines, including Fernando Mendoza’s visit with the Raiders, who hold the No. 1 overall pick. Nine more teams kick off voluntary workouts today, including the Giants, Dolphins, Browns, Steelers, and Cardinals, to name a few. QB draft prospect Luke Altmyer joins the show. Lance Zierlein reveals two players who could fall out and move into the first round, along with the Day 2 DE prospects to watch. Stacey Dales reports on the Chiefs’ draft strategy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. Bernanda
[0:05] Speaker 1: Mendoza there to visit the Raiders today. We'll tell you
[0:08] Speaker 1: where things go from here for the presumptive number one pick,
[0:11] Speaker 1: and how things could play out in that q B
[0:13] Speaker 1: room with Kirk Cousins. Nine more teams kicked off their
[0:17] Speaker 1: off season programs today, which means nine more sets of
[0:21] Speaker 1: slow motion arrival videos, including some guys coming out of
[0:24] Speaker 1: the bushes. We got the latest news of the Bills,
[0:26] Speaker 1: the Dolphins, the Giants, the Ravens, and more. There is,
[0:30] Speaker 1: in fact, more than one quarterback in the class of
[0:33] Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, and Luke Olmeyer is a name to remember.
[0:37] Speaker 1: The former Illinois standout joins us tonight to discuss his
[0:40] Speaker 1: journey to draft day. Welcome Inside with the Insiders alongside
[0:45] Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport and Judy Battista. I am tom Peliicero. Just
[0:50] Speaker 1: sixteen days away now from the NFL Draft. The Raiders
[0:54] Speaker 1: have visited Fernando Mendoza at the Combine. They spoke with
[0:58] Speaker 1: him after his pro day, have zoomed with him, and
[1:01] Speaker 1: now for the first time he is in the building.
[1:05] Speaker 1: Mendoza taking his visit one of thirty that the Raiders
[1:08] Speaker 1: are allotted prior to the draft is his commonplace in
[1:11] Speaker 1: It's been the worst kept secret secret maybe in the
[1:15] Speaker 1: NFL for several months now, but this still feels like
[1:18] Speaker 1: a significant moment for the Raiders.
[1:20] Speaker 2: It is significant for the Raiders because Tom, this doesn't
[1:23] Speaker 2: just mean okay for m Mendoz will come in, We'll
[1:25] Speaker 2: shake some hands and let's say, all right, you're the
[1:27] Speaker 2: number one overall pick. Congratulations. This really is the last
[1:30] Speaker 2: big piece of the process. And yes, I think it
[1:32] Speaker 2: is fairly obvious that the Las Vegas Raiders are expected
[1:36] Speaker 2: to take for Nanda Mendoze at number one, just based
[1:38] Speaker 2: on his resume, what he has put on the field.
[1:40] Speaker 2: The other quarterback options out there are the fact that
[1:43] Speaker 2: they still need a quarterback, starting quarterback in the future
[1:46] Speaker 2: despite signing officially Kirk Cousins over the last several days.
[1:50] Speaker 2: But getting him in the building, having him meet everyone,
[1:52] Speaker 2: putting him on the board, going through the entire evaluation
[1:56] Speaker 2: process is the kind of thing we want. It's not
[1:58] Speaker 2: just do they determine all right, are they going to
[2:00] Speaker 2: take him around? It's also starting the process of learning him.
[2:03] Speaker 2: They can if they want start the process of teaching
[2:06] Speaker 2: him their offense. They have had quarterbacks in the past
[2:09] Speaker 2: who have kind of got a little bit of a
[2:10] Speaker 2: headstart on that all can happen today. He is going
[2:13] Speaker 2: to be in the building today, He's going to go
[2:15] Speaker 2: out to dinner with their staff later tonight. What I
[2:18] Speaker 2: don't know and what I need to be a little
[2:20] Speaker 2: better at his figuring out where he's going. Lotus of
[2:22] Speaker 2: Siam is an excellent place, Tom, You and I have
[2:25] Speaker 2: had a great dinner there. Delilah is a lovely place.
[2:28] Speaker 1: Nobu.
[2:28] Speaker 2: Maybe Las Vegas has plenty of options. I really just
[2:31] Speaker 2: I can't wait to see where he's going.
[2:33] Speaker 3: Now that they are putting a bow on the Fernando
[2:36] Speaker 3: Mendoza courtship and we assume that he will be the
[2:39] Speaker 3: number one overall pick, what else are they going to
[2:42] Speaker 3: do in the draft? The Raiders have ten picks, so
[2:44] Speaker 3: they have nine other picks other than Mendoza.
[2:48] Speaker 4: They still have a lot of needs. They did a
[2:50] Speaker 4: lot of work in free agency.
[2:51] Speaker 3: They got the center, they got a wide receiver, but
[2:54] Speaker 3: they still need to do a lot of work to
[2:56] Speaker 3: put more pieces around him. The addition of Kirk Cousins,
[2:59] Speaker 3: of course, gives them a bit of a cushion. He
[3:02] Speaker 3: does not have to start immediately if they do not
[3:04] Speaker 3: want him to start, And certainly Clint Kubiak has hinted
[3:07] Speaker 3: that he would prefer to have a rookie maybe learn
[3:10] Speaker 3: from the bench a little bit before he goes in.
[3:13] Speaker 3: But this is a team that has a lot of
[3:15] Speaker 3: roster needs. And now that we know who we believe
[3:18] Speaker 3: the number one overall pick.
[3:20] Speaker 4: Is, I know we still have to sort of talk
[3:21] Speaker 4: around this.
[3:22] Speaker 3: I'm very curious now as we turn the page what
[3:24] Speaker 3: else they are going to do in the draft.
[3:26] Speaker 1: Sixteen more days of faking it and then we'll be
[3:29] Speaker 1: able to say we think Fernanda Mendoza the number one
[3:31] Speaker 1: overall pick. The questions you mentioned, Judy is who will
[3:33] Speaker 1: be the week one starter is so what we've heard
[3:36] Speaker 1: publicly and what I've understood privately from Clint Kubiak, the
[3:39] Speaker 1: preference is it's Kirk Cousins, who they just sign to
[3:42] Speaker 1: a contract, give him about eleven million dollars that they
[3:45] Speaker 1: are paying this season. Mendoza get to learn from somebody
[3:49] Speaker 1: who has played a ton of football. Seal things function.
[3:51] Speaker 1: Will see how things play out in the off season,
[3:53] Speaker 1: but certainly that is going to be a situation to
[3:55] Speaker 1: monitor in the months to come. Ten teams into their
[3:59] Speaker 1: off season program was right now, including the Las Vegas Raiders,
[4:02] Speaker 1: which means and those also could meet some of the
[4:04] Speaker 1: players that he's maybe going to be teammates with. Meanwhile,
[4:08] Speaker 1: out with the New York Giants, new coaching staff there
[4:10] Speaker 1: with John Harbaugh, same quarterback. He is back, Jackson Dart
[4:14] Speaker 1: healthy again after being banged up last season on a
[4:18] Speaker 1: number of occasions. Going with the T shirt untucked, the
[4:22] Speaker 1: backpack look. John Harbaugh not breaking down fashion, but what's
[4:25] Speaker 1: talking about a certain defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, who is
[4:29] Speaker 1: requested a trade, though Harbaugh remains optimistic we'll find out.
[4:33] Speaker 5: You know, I think the prospects are going to be
[4:35] Speaker 5: high because the Giants, speaking for the Giants, we want
[4:39] Speaker 5: Dexter here, and I believe Dexter wants to be here.
[4:42] Speaker 5: You know, that's that's a good that's a good formula.
[4:45] Speaker 5: But there's business involved. It's a business proposition. We know,
[4:48] Speaker 5: it's pro football. These things happen every year pretty much
[4:52] Speaker 5: on every team, So not surprised by it. Saw it
[4:55] Speaker 5: come in a few weeks back, probably in good conversations
[4:58] Speaker 5: with Dexter's agent Joel Siegel, and understood what they were thinking,
[5:02] Speaker 5: and this is where we're at. So we'll just try
[5:05] Speaker 5: to work through it and see where we've done.
[5:07] Speaker 1: And Tim, we got a new staff, a new regime
[5:09] Speaker 1: coming into town. Judy, there's always some questions about some
[5:11] Speaker 1: of those stalwart players. John Harbaugh making as clear as
[5:14] Speaker 1: he could there they have no intention of moving on
[5:16] Speaker 1: from Dexter Lawrence. This is about a negotiation at this point.
[5:19] Speaker 1: But also noteworthy was ask about guys like Kevon Thibodeau.
[5:22] Speaker 1: He made the comment everyone is tradable, which also speaks
[5:26] Speaker 1: to the reality that again this is a moving target
[5:29] Speaker 1: here of exactly how this Giants team is going to
[5:31] Speaker 1: come together.
[5:32] Speaker 3: Well, I thought it was noteworthy. He sure didn't say
[5:34] Speaker 3: everybody is tradable when he was talking about Dexter Lawrence,
[5:37] Speaker 3: and I think that tells you where their minds are.
[5:41] Speaker 3: John Harbaugh consistently as the Giants head coach, has talked
[5:45] Speaker 3: about how important Dexter Lawrence is to that defense, and
[5:49] Speaker 3: he has also talked consistently this offseason about their focus
[5:52] Speaker 3: being on both lines, the offensive line and the defensive line,
[5:56] Speaker 3: that those places need to be shored up for the Giants,
[6:00] Speaker 3: and you heard him say, this is business. He knew
[6:03] Speaker 3: this was coming. This was not a surprise that there
[6:05] Speaker 3: was a trade request. But again, when he was asked
[6:08] Speaker 3: about what do you think about K'eveon Thibodeau and the
[6:11] Speaker 3: idea of a trade, he said, oh, he's a great player.
[6:13] Speaker 3: I look forward to having him on the field. And
[6:15] Speaker 3: then he added, but everybody's tradable, everybody. And again that
[6:20] Speaker 3: sets the difference between a Keveon Thibdau and other players
[6:23] Speaker 3: who could be available in a trade and Dexter Lawrence,
[6:26] Speaker 3: who he certainly did not say, Oh, yeah, he's tradable too.
[6:29] Speaker 2: That's really that's a great point, Judy, And that's really
[6:31] Speaker 2: what this is about for the New York Giants this
[6:33] Speaker 2: entire offseason and probably into the next year too, is
[6:36] Speaker 2: really figuring out who is there to stay with the
[6:38] Speaker 2: Giants and who is not, and for this new staff
[6:41] Speaker 2: and for John Harball and for Joe Shane, who's still
[6:43] Speaker 2: running personnel, but he's got to do it now with
[6:45] Speaker 2: all the new coaches, really just figuring out who fits
[6:48] Speaker 2: and who does it. Dexter Lawrence, one of the best
[6:50] Speaker 2: defensive line in the NFL that makes sense. Keeveon Thibodeaux
[6:54] Speaker 2: extremely talented production has been up and down, certainly does
[6:57] Speaker 2: have some trade value that would make sense well if
[7:00] Speaker 2: they were able to get a good enough offer. Generally
[7:02] Speaker 2: these things happened tom around the time of the draft,
[7:05] Speaker 2: but this was a good message here from John Harbott
[7:07] Speaker 2: really to the players and to all of us that
[7:10] Speaker 2: this team absolutely is not done remaking itself and probably
[7:14] Speaker 2: won't be until we start next season.
[7:16] Speaker 1: Dolphin's also kicking off their offseason program, but their new
[7:19] Speaker 1: head coach, Jeff Hafley, who's got a new quarterback that's
[7:23] Speaker 1: his old quarterback from his days in Green Bay. Look
[7:26] Speaker 1: at this, a slow motion pass by Malik Willis Like
[7:29] Speaker 1: this better than that shot of him coming out of
[7:31] Speaker 1: the bushes. Here's a little bit of what Halfley had
[7:33] Speaker 1: to say today about his first day with the players
[7:36] Speaker 1: in the building as the Dolphins head coach.
[7:38] Speaker 6: It's like the first day school. I mean there's a
[7:41] Speaker 6: level of excitement. I mean, guys are we have a
[7:44] Speaker 6: lot of new players, we have a lot of new coaches.
[7:47] Speaker 6: I think some players are probably anxious, some are probably nervous.
[7:50] Speaker 6: I'm sure some are excited and looking forward to it.
[7:53] Speaker 6: Guys getting to know each other. That's going to take
[7:55] Speaker 6: time as we learn to connect and get to really
[7:58] Speaker 6: know one another. But the coaches were excited. I mean,
[8:01] Speaker 6: I've been looking forward to this since I took the job.
[8:04] Speaker 6: I mean, so I love coming to work every day, sure,
[8:06] Speaker 6: but when the players are here, then I really love
[8:09] Speaker 6: coming to work every day. It's why we do what
[8:11] Speaker 6: we do. There's so much more energy in the building
[8:13] Speaker 6: as soon as they step in, go to the cafeteria
[8:15] Speaker 6: and eat right now, and just the buildings come alive.
[8:18] Speaker 6: And that's why we do what we do. AGM was
[8:20] Speaker 6: not here today.
[8:21] Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the.
[8:24] Speaker 4: Wait?
[8:24] Speaker 7: Hold on?
[8:25] Speaker 8: I don't want to ask you what are your thoughts
[8:26] Speaker 8: on him not being here?
[8:27] Speaker 1: I want to ask.
[8:28] Speaker 5: You your thoughts on the contractual situation.
[8:33] Speaker 6: I think those are talks for another time in between
[8:37] Speaker 6: you know, AHN and selling those guys. So I'm not
[8:42] Speaker 6: I'm not going to dive into those SATs right now.
[8:44] Speaker 9: That's that's all like, honestly, that's.
[8:45] Speaker 6: Part of the business. It's it's part of what every
[8:47] Speaker 6: team goes through in those situations, and they'll.
[8:51] Speaker 1: Work it out. Franchise tag is also a part of
[8:53] Speaker 1: the business. Kyle Pitt showed up today and signed his
[8:56] Speaker 1: locking in a salary upwards of fifteen million dollars. Falcons
[8:59] Speaker 1: still have until July fifteenth to work out a long
[9:03] Speaker 1: term deal with Pits. Cardinals in the house for the
[9:07] Speaker 1: first time with their new head coach, Mike Lafleur. There's
[9:11] Speaker 1: a lot of shadows in this photo. I'm not going
[9:13] Speaker 1: to lie to you. From here, can't tell you who's
[9:15] Speaker 1: in these photos. But I see a tied I shirt,
[9:18] Speaker 1: I see a very large logo. It's proof they really
[9:21] Speaker 1: are there. NFL Draft fast approaching sixteen days away. All
[9:25] Speaker 1: kicks off eight pm Eastern Time at the first round Thursday,
[9:28] Speaker 1: April twenty third, on NFL Network, NFL Plus, ABC, ESPN,
[9:33] Speaker 1: ESPN Deportes and well beyond. Mock draft season well underway.
[9:39] Speaker 1: Our old friend Peter Schreger unveiling the first of his
[9:42] Speaker 1: two mock drafts over at ESPN dot com. Shocking Fernando
[9:46] Speaker 1: Mendoza going number one. Read the whole mock draft sugar
[9:49] Speaker 1: is one of the best. Some surprises, how about Mansar
[9:51] Speaker 1: de Lane after that great workout going number ten to
[9:54] Speaker 1: the Bengals. The talent at LSU corner. Let's bring in
[9:57] Speaker 1: one of our experts. Land Zerline right now has been
[10:00] Speaker 1: breaking down this class, always interested in Sea lance. When
[10:02] Speaker 1: you get through this process right and the scouts and
[10:05] Speaker 1: coaches start to come off the road. I've been talking
[10:07] Speaker 1: to people this week. I know you do as well.
[10:09] Speaker 1: You really do start to get that sense. Guys may
[10:11] Speaker 1: have risen through the spring, they may have fallen through
[10:13] Speaker 1: the spring. What's a Namer two do you think have
[10:17] Speaker 1: been in all these mock drafts his first round picks,
[10:19] Speaker 1: and now might have a chance to fall out.
[10:21] Speaker 8: Yeah, it becomes a little bit more clear the closer
[10:24] Speaker 8: we get, and I think a couple of names I
[10:26] Speaker 8: want to start with.
[10:26] Speaker 1: One is going to be a player that I like
[10:28] Speaker 1: a lot.
[10:29] Speaker 8: Emmanuel McNeil Warren, the safety out of TWU Lane, or
[10:32] Speaker 8: rather out of Toledo. Here's the thing. Look, here's what
[10:35] Speaker 8: you love about him. He's big, he's physical, he can
[10:37] Speaker 8: play on the back end, he can play moving forward.
[10:39] Speaker 8: He's a thumper. Here's the problem you have. There's going
[10:42] Speaker 8: to be two other safeties who go before him, Caleb
[10:44] Speaker 8: Downs and Dylan A.
[10:46] Speaker 1: Daneman.
[10:47] Speaker 8: And the last time we saw three safeties going the
[10:49] Speaker 8: first round it was twenty eighteen with Mika Fitzpatrick, Derwin James,
[10:53] Speaker 8: and Terrell Edmunds. So it just simply doesn't happen very often.
[10:56] Speaker 8: I think he's going to fall out. The other guy
[10:58] Speaker 8: I think who will fall out is Caden McDonald, defensive
[11:01] Speaker 8: tackle from Ohio State.
[11:02] Speaker 1: He's been borderline first round for a lot of people. Look,
[11:05] Speaker 1: he is a first round talent, to be sure.
[11:07] Speaker 8: The problem is when you're talking about a defensive tackle
[11:10] Speaker 8: that is not a plus pass rusher, and at this
[11:12] Speaker 8: point he's more of a run stuff for than pass rusher.
[11:15] Speaker 8: NFL teams simply don't value that in the first round
[11:18] Speaker 8: because those types of players aren't on the field as
[11:21] Speaker 8: much since it is such a passing league, although we
[11:23] Speaker 8: did see a little bit of a reversal of that
[11:25] Speaker 8: last year. So I think Caden mcdaniell McDonald is a
[11:29] Speaker 8: guy who could fall out of the first into the
[11:31] Speaker 8: early part of the second round. So not much of
[11:33] Speaker 8: a fall for either guy, but they could fall out
[11:36] Speaker 8: simply because.
[11:37] Speaker 1: Of the value of the positions. So if guys are
[11:39] Speaker 1: falling out, somebody's got to be moving in. Who are
[11:42] Speaker 1: the risers right now? In your mind?
[11:43] Speaker 8: Lands Well, I want to talk about Chase Besontis because
[11:46] Speaker 8: I'm not talking to very many teams who don't like
[11:48] Speaker 8: the guard out of Texas A and M. He is
[11:50] Speaker 8: a very physical player. He is a dry blocking guard.
[11:53] Speaker 8: He's got pretty good size. The length this is a
[11:57] Speaker 8: minus on him. He doesn't have long arms. Seems like
[12:00] Speaker 8: that's the narrative of this entire draft. His guys with
[12:02] Speaker 8: shorter arms, but it doesn't seem to impact his blocking.
[12:06] Speaker 8: So he's somebody who can move bodies around. This is
[12:08] Speaker 8: a good guard draft in terms of the first couple
[12:11] Speaker 8: of rounds, but there's a big three and he would
[12:14] Speaker 8: be number two of the big three, and I think
[12:16] Speaker 8: there's a good chance that he ends up going in
[12:18] Speaker 8: the first round late in the first round. The other
[12:21] Speaker 8: guy that might surprise is Chris Johnson. Now this is
[12:24] Speaker 8: a position at corner. I can only find three cornerbacks
[12:26] Speaker 8: who are going in the first round. Personally, I don't.
[12:29] Speaker 8: I haven't talked to a team that likes anyone else.
[12:31] Speaker 8: But the one guy that I hear that could be
[12:33] Speaker 8: a borderline bubble first round or is Chris Johnson. He's
[12:37] Speaker 8: got really good tape out of San Diego State. He's
[12:40] Speaker 8: low cut, great change of direction, ran really really well.
[12:43] Speaker 8: You see right there, flips the hips smooth, fluid hips,
[12:46] Speaker 8: can transition with the routes and stay sticky to rout
[12:48] Speaker 8: So if you're looking for a position of value, it's
[12:51] Speaker 8: cornerback and getting a cornerback in the first round, getting
[12:54] Speaker 8: that extra year or something a team might be willing
[12:56] Speaker 8: to do late in the first That's why he could
[12:58] Speaker 8: slip into the first even though you rarely see him,
[13:01] Speaker 8: and then he mock drafts the first round.
[13:02] Speaker 1: Really interesting stuff, Lance, stick around.
[13:04] Speaker 10: A lot more to come from you take me.
[13:30] Speaker 9: They re all right, alright, alright.
[13:49] Speaker 1: I'm a Mets fan.
[13:49] Speaker 2: I think everybody knows that, but I do appreciate the
[13:52] Speaker 2: great traditions of Major League Baseball. That is a fun
[13:55] Speaker 2: one from the Cubs. And nice performance by our guest
[13:58] Speaker 2: on the Insiders. I mean rapping board to Batista and
[14:01] Speaker 2: the singing voice sort of of Illinois quarterback Luke Altmi. Luke,
[14:05] Speaker 2: thank you very much for joining us on the Insiders.
[14:08] Speaker 2: You've been in a lot of big moments. You've had
[14:11] Speaker 2: I believe nine if I have read correctly, come from
[14:15] Speaker 2: behind wins in college. You can handle the pressure as
[14:18] Speaker 2: well as anyone. What was that one?
[14:21] Speaker 9: It was really cool.
[14:22] Speaker 11: It was really fun as what it was something I've
[14:24] Speaker 11: never been a part of or expected it from a
[14:26] Speaker 11: small town Mississippi man. And so being in Wrigley Field
[14:30] Speaker 11: with a SODO crowd at night game and to go
[14:32] Speaker 11: to do that with my coach, Brett Bidemo was really special.
[14:35] Speaker 11: A lot of pressure, but made the most of them.
[14:38] Speaker 11: It did my best and like had a lot of
[14:39] Speaker 11: fun with this.
[14:40] Speaker 9: It was a lot of fun.
[14:41] Speaker 3: I swear we're going to get to football in a second.
[14:43] Speaker 3: But you have another interesting thing about you. You can
[14:46] Speaker 3: solve a Rubik's cube in like a few seconds. I
[14:50] Speaker 3: know you don't have one with you, but how did
[14:51] Speaker 3: you learn to do that?
[14:52] Speaker 4: How do you do that?
[14:53] Speaker 12: Yeah?
[14:53] Speaker 11: A few a few seconds of the stretch for sure,
[14:56] Speaker 11: But yeah, I think my record is fifty four seconds,
[14:59] Speaker 11: I think, and that kind of average around a minute,
[15:01] Speaker 11: and I haven't done it in a while.
[15:02] Speaker 9: But it was like a weird little trend that we.
[15:04] Speaker 11: Did kind of middle school high school, like kind of
[15:07] Speaker 11: found its way back in kind of where I was,
[15:10] Speaker 11: and like, I don't know, it was a fun little
[15:12] Speaker 11: way to challenge my mind and like kind of challenge
[15:14] Speaker 11: yourself to beat your best Tom and learned it in
[15:17] Speaker 11: middle school. And YouTube's a great resource, I'll tell you that,
[15:20] Speaker 11: and so and yeah, it's a fun little thing I
[15:23] Speaker 11: like to do.
[15:23] Speaker 1: It is cool.
[15:24] Speaker 2: I love rubiscube. I've been to several rubiscub competitions because
[15:27] Speaker 2: my eleven year old Jude was into rublescoob for a while.
[15:30] Speaker 2: Not trying to make you feel bad, but he could
[15:31] Speaker 2: solve in about fourteen seconds. That said, you're a much
[15:34] Speaker 2: better quarterback than he will ever be. So congratulations on that.
[15:38] Speaker 2: All right, we're going to get to football. I promise
[15:40] Speaker 2: in like one second we'll get to football. But you
[15:44] Speaker 2: grew up in a town in Mississippi called Starkville, where
[15:47] Speaker 2: I lived for two years. I covered Missippi State for
[15:49] Speaker 2: the Klan Ledger. I met my wife there. I've been
[15:52] Speaker 2: to many dinners at Little Dewey, met my wife at
[15:54] Speaker 2: the Veranda. Why did you hate stark Full enough to
[15:58] Speaker 2: go to Ole, miss What were you thinking? How is
[16:00] Speaker 2: this possible?
[16:01] Speaker 4: Yeah?
[16:02] Speaker 11: There was there was no hatred. That's that's that's for sure.
[16:04] Speaker 11: There was no hatred. But I was looking for the
[16:06] Speaker 11: best situation for myself. It's so crazy how it came
[16:09] Speaker 11: full circle man, Like I used to cry. I used
[16:11] Speaker 11: to cry when when Missippi State, you know, lost games.
[16:14] Speaker 11: As a kid man, I hated Old Miss like that
[16:15] Speaker 11: was the truth. Everybody from Missippi State hates Old Miss.
[16:18] Speaker 11: And so I grew up bleeding Marion in white. But
[16:21] Speaker 11: as I started to get recruited, all that kind of
[16:23] Speaker 11: went away, and I was looking for the best situation
[16:25] Speaker 11: for myself and that was Old Miss. So super super
[16:28] Speaker 11: unique story but like really really cool. I got a
[16:32] Speaker 11: few of those myself. I can't lie. I got a
[16:34] Speaker 11: few of those myself.
[16:35] Speaker 3: Yeah, And then you left Old Miss and and went
[16:39] Speaker 3: to Illinois, which is where you really flourished.
[16:41] Speaker 4: Why did you do that?
[16:41] Speaker 3: What'd you get out of that experience so much?
[16:44] Speaker 9: I tell a lot of people I became a man
[16:45] Speaker 9: in Illinois.
[16:46] Speaker 11: Challenged me in the best way possible, the most beneficial
[16:48] Speaker 11: way possible. Is never not always easy or comfortable or
[16:53] Speaker 11: fun even at sometimes, but it brought out.
[16:54] Speaker 9: The best to me and really challenged me.
[16:56] Speaker 11: So it's looking for a place to play, and I
[16:58] Speaker 11: know I can play the highest level and what what
[17:00] Speaker 11: coach Bielima had kind of in place there and the
[17:03] Speaker 11: trend that was going in I thought I could go
[17:05] Speaker 11: there and lead a great charge in Illinois, and we
[17:08] Speaker 11: really changed the trajectory of that program, especially the last
[17:11] Speaker 11: two years, win in nineteen games in two years.
[17:13] Speaker 2: Yeah, you really did a couple Bowl wins over some
[17:15] Speaker 2: SEC teams. Britt Bilma, you mentioned obviously he spent some
[17:18] Speaker 2: time in the NFL from him, specifically learning from him,
[17:23] Speaker 2: And obviously you've had a lot of great teachers, a
[17:26] Speaker 2: lot of coaches who helped you get to the point
[17:28] Speaker 2: where you are, which is on the brink of getting
[17:30] Speaker 2: drafted in the NFL draft coming up in several weeks.
[17:32] Speaker 2: But specifically to Bilman, what did you learn from a
[17:35] Speaker 2: coach who's experienced so much and how did that help
[17:38] Speaker 2: you kind of get this program to where it's been
[17:40] Speaker 2: the last couple of years.
[17:41] Speaker 9: Yeah.
[17:41] Speaker 11: I could write a book about what he's taught me, truly.
[17:45] Speaker 11: First of all, on Tangel, he so special relationally his
[17:47] Speaker 11: consistency and how he shows up for us every single day,
[17:50] Speaker 11: but also as a coach exs and know's I think
[17:52] Speaker 11: I'll be able to hit the you know, the NFL game,
[17:54] Speaker 11: you know, hit that ground running because of him. You know,
[17:57] Speaker 11: I've been taught you know the elements of a pro
[18:00] Speaker 11: style offense, the kind of the program that is in
[18:02] Speaker 11: the NFL. And he's taught me a lot of defensive football,
[18:06] Speaker 11: but also just football one on one in general and
[18:08] Speaker 11: situationally being at my best.
[18:09] Speaker 9: So he's great.
[18:11] Speaker 11: He's a coach all around the curricular man in the
[18:13] Speaker 11: best way possible.
[18:14] Speaker 3: You really got progressively better each of the last few
[18:17] Speaker 3: years here. What kind of feedback have you been getting
[18:20] Speaker 3: from teams when you talk to them, What have you
[18:21] Speaker 3: been working on? Where do you think your game needs
[18:23] Speaker 3: to go next?
[18:24] Speaker 11: For sure, I just want to get you know, I
[18:26] Speaker 11: think personally, I want to get more out of my throw.
[18:28] Speaker 9: You know, I'm a very creative and mobile player.
[18:31] Speaker 11: I'm very athletic, and a lot of times I relied
[18:34] Speaker 11: on that athleticism you know a lot and good ways
[18:37] Speaker 11: I made it work, and I want a lot of
[18:38] Speaker 11: games doing it. But I want to be my sharpest
[18:41] Speaker 11: and want to get the most out of my throat mechanically,
[18:44] Speaker 11: making sure I'm throwing you know, things the right way
[18:48] Speaker 11: every single every single down to down, and making sure
[18:51] Speaker 11: I'm putting my team in good spots. So yeah, just
[18:54] Speaker 11: being more sound, more methodical, more efficient as always as
[18:57] Speaker 11: everybody wants to be.
[18:58] Speaker 2: This gonna be a really busy time for prospects. I mean,
[19:01] Speaker 2: guys are going on.
[19:02] Speaker 1: Visits, there's zooms.
[19:04] Speaker 2: Give us an idea for what your day is like
[19:07] Speaker 2: first of all, just like on a daily basis talking
[19:09] Speaker 2: to these teams, and what's your schedule like let's say
[19:12] Speaker 2: the next couple of weeks.
[19:13] Speaker 11: Yeah, it changes by the day, that's the thing. And
[19:14] Speaker 11: this is my first time going through that's for sure,
[19:16] Speaker 11: so everything's so new. But yeah, a lot of interviews,
[19:20] Speaker 11: a lot of different teams reaching out one to kind
[19:22] Speaker 11: of pick your brain, see what you're about.
[19:24] Speaker 9: And that's happened really for the.
[19:25] Speaker 11: Last four months and training really are training differently and
[19:28] Speaker 11: being challenged in different ways every single day.
[19:31] Speaker 9: So my schedules knew every single day.
[19:33] Speaker 11: A lot of adapt and adjust involved in it, but
[19:37] Speaker 11: a lot of rigorous interviews and processes of that nature.
[19:41] Speaker 11: If you have to get yourself ready for the next level.
[19:44] Speaker 3: You are considered like a middle late round draft pick.
[19:48] Speaker 3: Right now, we've seen a lot of guys flourish from
[19:51] Speaker 3: those rounds. What's your ideal scenario. I'm not necessarily asking
[19:57] Speaker 3: you to name a coach or a team that you
[19:58] Speaker 3: think is the ideal spot. So what's your ideal set
[20:01] Speaker 3: up for you to flourish in the NFL.
[20:03] Speaker 9: Yeah, I can make it work anywhere.
[20:05] Speaker 11: I'll say that like I did Illinois and change the
[20:07] Speaker 11: restrictor of that program.
[20:08] Speaker 10: You know.
[20:08] Speaker 11: The bottom line is when I walk into a building
[20:11] Speaker 11: one day, I'll have a role in a job to
[20:12] Speaker 11: do and it's my job to do that.
[20:14] Speaker 9: Well, whatever's asking me, I'm going to do it very well.
[20:16] Speaker 11: I'm going to prepare the right way and give him
[20:18] Speaker 11: my absolute best to go do it. And so I'm
[20:20] Speaker 11: very confident in my abilities to make it work wherever
[20:22] Speaker 11: that is. And so a team that believes in me
[20:25] Speaker 11: for sure, you know, that's kind of what you look for.
[20:27] Speaker 11: And then and I'll make the rest of it happen.
[20:30] Speaker 9: I'll tell you that.
[20:30] Speaker 2: Well, great stuff. Really appreciate this. I was going to
[20:33] Speaker 2: bring in my son Jude to destroyer and Rubichu, but
[20:35] Speaker 2: we just ran out of time, which just so upsetting.
[20:38] Speaker 2: But we will have you back when we figure out
[20:40] Speaker 2: what team you land with, and we'll see if we
[20:42] Speaker 2: can make it happen. Thank you very much for hanging
[20:44] Speaker 2: out with us on the Insiders and good luck throughout
[20:46] Speaker 2: this process.
[20:47] Speaker 9: Thank you so much, man, it means a lot. Appreciate you.
[20:49] Speaker 2: From a future NFL player, we're going to find his
[20:51] Speaker 2: team to one of the NFL's stars looking to find
[20:54] Speaker 2: maybe a new team. More on the Dexter Lawrence trade
[20:58] Speaker 2: request from our buddy Adam Rank, who's got a rant
[21:02] Speaker 2: coming mainly because he wants him. Well, I won't spoil it,
[21:05] Speaker 2: but you know you can guess, Yeah, you can guess.
[21:09] Speaker 4: Coming up.
[21:12] Speaker 2: It is slow mo entrance season, and that is cam
[21:17] Speaker 2: Ward QB, one of the Tennessee Titans, with an excellent,
[21:20] Speaker 2: excellent slow mo walk, looking disinterested, kind of looking cool. Yeah,
[21:25] Speaker 2: he's just strolling into the building. That's with this time
[21:27] Speaker 2: of years where basically this is social media taking attendance.
[21:30] Speaker 2: And take note. Cam Ward is there in Tennessee.
[21:34] Speaker 3: Judy Shadoor Sanders is in Cleveland. He's walking at a
[21:39] Speaker 3: normal sort of a normal pace here. Good for Shador,
[21:42] Speaker 3: good for the Cleveland Browns social media team. No slow
[21:45] Speaker 3: mo there, He's there a year too. He of course,
[21:47] Speaker 3: is the incumbent starter. Todd Munkin has said there is
[21:50] Speaker 3: a quarterback competition coming up there, but the reps will
[21:53] Speaker 3: not be divided evenly.
[21:55] Speaker 2: No QB competition in Buffalo. Josh Allen has arrived and
[22:00] Speaker 2: then he has departed, and boy is he happy. See
[22:03] Speaker 2: right there, that's Josh Allen happy day one. This is
[22:07] Speaker 2: the best day. Everyone's undefeated anyway. QB one checking in
[22:11] Speaker 2: in Buffalo. Big off season ahead with the new head coach.
[22:13] Speaker 3: Hey, Pittsburgh Steelers started their off season program. Such slow
[22:17] Speaker 3: motion for the Pittsburgh Steelers that TJ. Watt is not
[22:20] Speaker 3: even moving here, but he was in the building. Of course,
[22:24] Speaker 3: you know who was not in the building. Aaron Rodgers
[22:26] Speaker 3: still winning a decision on whether he is going to
[22:29] Speaker 3: return to the Steelers.
[22:29] Speaker 4: But TJ.
[22:30] Speaker 1: Watt is there.
[22:31] Speaker 3: Steelers are working out Mike McCarthy. New head coach Tom Patrick.
[22:36] Speaker 1: Mahomes continuing to push toward what he hopes is an
[22:39] Speaker 1: improbable return for the start of the twenty twenty six
[22:42] Speaker 1: NFL season, coming off of a significant knee injury, including
[22:46] Speaker 1: a torn acl Certainly the Chiefs banking on Mahomes being
[22:50] Speaker 1: the guy for many, many years to come, but continuing
[22:54] Speaker 1: to put some more pieces around him. Very active free agency.
[22:57] Speaker 1: Kenneth Walker, the third was a huge pickup. We got
[23:00] Speaker 1: a lot of draft picks to use on potential editions.
[23:04] Speaker 1: Our guy rhtt Lewis did an entire mock draft. That's right,
[23:08] Speaker 1: all the picks, all seven rounds. You can find an
[23:11] Speaker 1: nfl dot com slash mock drafts. He has them going
[23:14] Speaker 1: defense with their top pick man swor Delaine out of
[23:17] Speaker 1: LSU Blaze the fortyeth Pro Day drafted offensive line at
[23:20] Speaker 1: number twenty nine. That would certainly be welcome for Patrick Mahomes.
[23:24] Speaker 1: Always welcome on this show, Stacey Dale, Stacey. This is
[23:27] Speaker 1: a unique spot for Kansas City. First time in the
[23:31] Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes era. They did not make the playoffs. They've
[23:33] Speaker 1: had extra time to think about it. They've already made
[23:36] Speaker 1: some bold moves, including trading away one of their star corners,
[23:39] Speaker 1: Trent McDuffie, losing another one in free agency. With all
[23:42] Speaker 1: these picks, what are you expected from the Chiefs.
[23:44] Speaker 4: In the draft?
[23:45] Speaker 7: Energy and big boom players that are going to play
[23:47] Speaker 7: right away. Tom, I mean, I wouldn't have a problem
[23:49] Speaker 7: with Monsieur delaying. He's fantastic at an incredible Pro Day,
[23:52] Speaker 7: and we saw what he did in his collegiate career.
[23:54] Speaker 7: I remember standing on the field with Patrick, not Patrick
[23:59] Speaker 7: Mahomes myself. It was justin Herbert in Brazil Week one
[24:02] Speaker 7: of this past season. Why all due respect to the
[24:05] Speaker 7: Chargers they beat the Chiefs. It was such a disappointing
[24:08] Speaker 7: year for Kansas City after the lineage of success Tom
[24:12] Speaker 7: that we have seen and all the trips of the
[24:14] Speaker 7: playoffs and all the trips to the Super Bowl for
[24:16] Speaker 7: Patrick Mahomes and company. And that is why this draft
[24:19] Speaker 7: is essential. It is critical for Brett Veach and it's
[24:22] Speaker 7: an exciting one because we just haven't seen them pick
[24:26] Speaker 7: this high. They have four picks through the top seventy five,
[24:32] Speaker 7: that is four picks through three rounds. They go at nine,
[24:35] Speaker 7: they go at twenty nine, they go at forty. That
[24:38] Speaker 7: is an incredible pick at forty, just outside the first round,
[24:42] Speaker 7: and then that pick there at seventy four. Brett Veach
[24:44] Speaker 7: has said it himself, he's not used to being in
[24:47] Speaker 7: this position. This might be the most exciting draft that
[24:50] Speaker 7: we have seen in many years from Kansas City. In fact,
[24:52] Speaker 7: the last time they drafted at ninth overall it was
[24:55] Speaker 7: Eric Fischer back in twenty thirteen.
[24:57] Speaker 4: The offensive tackle.
[24:58] Speaker 7: Brett Veach has been through later rounds particularly, but in
[25:03] Speaker 7: the second round alone, he has drafted eleven players. And
[25:06] Speaker 7: I say that because as we get into the retee here, Tom,
[25:09] Speaker 7: he loves to move, he loves to be aggressive, and
[25:13] Speaker 7: ultimately he said at the combine, and don't forget this,
[25:17] Speaker 7: we have been in maintenance mode. We have been in
[25:19] Speaker 7: a maintenance phase with our roster. You saw it, Tom
[25:22] Speaker 7: and I saw it. They retooled that thing, and he said,
[25:25] Speaker 7: we are rebuilding now. So these young players are going
[25:27] Speaker 7: to come in and play that.
[25:28] Speaker 4: He drafts the.
[25:29] Speaker 1: Similar strategy the last time that the Chiefs didn't make
[25:31] Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, they lost in the playoffs to the Bengals.
[25:34] Speaker 1: Trade away Tyreek, kill that offseason, get more draft picks,
[25:37] Speaker 1: get more cap resources that you can use, and really
[25:39] Speaker 1: turn over that roster, injecting into places that they needed.
[25:42] Speaker 1: So as you look at this draft, Stacy, you said
[25:44] Speaker 1: it two first round picks or some of the names
[25:46] Speaker 1: you would ad titchpe could be in the mixer Kansas City.
[25:49] Speaker 7: Well, it's an interesting question you post, Tom, because Brett
[25:53] Speaker 7: Viech has made it pretty clear this is a very deep,
[25:55] Speaker 7: he believes defensive end group. So the edge guys, he
[25:58] Speaker 7: believes it's deep in terms of the receivers, and he
[26:00] Speaker 7: also believes that the cornerback. Cornerbacks run pretty deep. And
[26:04] Speaker 7: you saw him on sort of Lane's name there. We've
[26:06] Speaker 7: seen edge rusher's there. What if it's a running back.
[26:09] Speaker 7: I've seen comments where he's actually talked about maybe it's
[26:11] Speaker 7: a thin.
[26:12] Speaker 4: Group of running backs.
[26:13] Speaker 7: But the bottom line is, if you look at his history,
[26:15] Speaker 7: and I mentioned it, he loves to move in the
[26:18] Speaker 7: draft in his tenure, so twenty eighteen, he took over
[26:21] Speaker 7: in twenty seventeen after the draft, so he has been
[26:24] Speaker 7: the lead man in charge from twenty eighteen through to now.
[26:27] Speaker 4: So that's eight previous drafts. He has six first.
[26:30] Speaker 7: Round draft picks, and if you look at those picks,
[26:33] Speaker 7: Tom he has moved in each of them, even if
[26:35] Speaker 7: they fall towards the end of the first round, because
[26:37] Speaker 7: the Chiefs are always good. You mentioned the Tyreek Hill trade, Well,
[26:40] Speaker 7: that led to a guy by the name of Trent McDuffie.
[26:43] Speaker 7: Remember they moved up from twenty nine I believe it
[26:46] Speaker 7: was to twenty one to get McDuffie. They had George
[26:49] Speaker 7: Carloftis that same year, and I could go through the
[26:52] Speaker 7: lineage a number of trades that he has made even
[26:55] Speaker 7: trading first round picks away for premium stars in the NFL,
[26:58] Speaker 7: players like Clark and Orlando Brown. So my point in
[27:03] Speaker 7: saying all that is, you could see him move out
[27:05] Speaker 7: of the first round at the end of it. With
[27:07] Speaker 7: the twenty ninth pick, Tom you could see him move
[27:09] Speaker 7: up at nine. The bottom line is he could do
[27:12] Speaker 7: whatever he wants. He's got nine total picks in this draft.
[27:16] Speaker 7: This is such an exciting time for the Chiefs Kingdom.
[27:19] Speaker 4: I am excited.
[27:20] Speaker 7: I'm going to be covering them there in Kansas City,
[27:22] Speaker 7: and I've already been working with our research team on
[27:25] Speaker 7: some of these nuggets. But this is a time where
[27:28] Speaker 7: that ninth pick is going to be a special player
[27:30] Speaker 7: for Kansas City.
[27:31] Speaker 1: They see great stuff sixteen days away from that NFL
[27:35] Speaker 1: Draft kicking off. A lot more from you between now
[27:38] Speaker 1: and then, Ian, if.
[27:39] Speaker 2: You can do the math, that means April twenty third,
[27:42] Speaker 2: opening night of the NFL Draft aka the first round,
[27:46] Speaker 2: AKA when Fernanda.
[27:47] Speaker 1: Mendozo will go number one. Allegedly.
[27:50] Speaker 2: We're going to keep pretending that we don't know for sure,
[27:52] Speaker 2: but there's plenty of other fun things to talk about
[27:55] Speaker 2: as it relates to draft prospects, and I don't know
[27:58] Speaker 2: what other news is going on in the NFL. And
[28:01] Speaker 2: for that, let's turn to our buddy Adam Rank, who's
[28:04] Speaker 2: wearing a bright green tie that having trouble focusing. Rank,
[28:08] Speaker 2: take it away, buddy, do you think all right?
[28:10] Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Host.
[28:11] Speaker 13: It's officially smoke screen this season. And I'm not talking
[28:15] Speaker 13: about the smoke that engulst the five Freeway in Anaheim
[28:19] Speaker 13: at nine to thirty pm every night, something that used
[28:22] Speaker 13: to really annoy me until about a week ago when
[28:25] Speaker 13: I became a Disney employee.
[28:26] Speaker 1: Now I love it.
[28:27] Speaker 13: Which, by the way, we had a meet and greet
[28:29] Speaker 13: today we got the good Doritos.
[28:31] Speaker 1: What a class organization.
[28:33] Speaker 13: But no, I am talking about the lies that NFL
[28:36] Speaker 13: teams are floating out there this time of year, like, hey,
[28:39] Speaker 13: this team is interested in trading up, this team is
[28:43] Speaker 13: interested in trading down. This team will totally give up
[28:46] Speaker 13: a couple of first round picks for Max Krogg.
[28:48] Speaker 1: By the way, sorry that was that was too soon?
[28:51] Speaker 13: Sorry about that. By the way, Max, you're old news.
[28:54] Speaker 13: Now you're like one of those shows that was cool
[28:56] Speaker 13: for about a week until Bill Lawrence decided he was
[28:59] Speaker 13: going to put out and other great show. Yes, I'm
[29:01] Speaker 13: talking about Rooster on HBO.
[29:03] Speaker 1: Have you seen it? It's awesome. But I'm also talking.
[29:06] Speaker 13: About Dexter Lawrence, who informed the New York Giants that
[29:09] Speaker 13: he wanted to be traded. Now, I wouldn't want to
[29:12] Speaker 13: use my public platform to try to get Dexter to
[29:15] Speaker 13: join my favorite team, but get ready to speak Chicago, body.
[29:19] Speaker 1: Listen.
[29:20] Speaker 13: I know there are going to be some people out
[29:22] Speaker 13: there Bear's content creators who don't believe that Dexter would
[29:26] Speaker 13: be a good fit in Chicago, that this isn't the
[29:30] Speaker 13: kind of player that Dennis Allen likes. Yeah, these are
[29:33] Speaker 13: the same people who want you to believe that the
[29:35] Speaker 13: only style of Chicago pizza is deep dish, when really
[29:40] Speaker 13: it's tavern style, or as we called it in the
[29:43] Speaker 13: Greater Chicagoland area when I was a kid.
[29:46] Speaker 1: Pizza That's what we called it.
[29:48] Speaker 13: Listen, if you are the kind of coach who can't
[29:51] Speaker 13: find a way to use Dexter Lawrence, then you should
[29:54] Speaker 13: probably get ready to start renting cars at enterprise.
[29:58] Speaker 1: Because this was.
[29:59] Speaker 13: The kind of thinking that Mike Martz had when he
[30:02] Speaker 13: decided to trade away Greg Olsen. Because he didn't fit
[30:05] Speaker 13: his offense. And please please do not trade Coleston Lovelin,
[30:09] Speaker 13: Please please please. Here's my thing, though, since we're talking
[30:11] Speaker 13: about the Bears, the team is expected to zero in
[30:14] Speaker 13: on a place to play in the coming days. Will
[30:17] Speaker 13: it be downtown Chicago, Will it be Arlington Heights? Or
[30:21] Speaker 13: maybe will they go out of state? They could go
[30:24] Speaker 13: all the way to Michigan for all I know. And
[30:27] Speaker 13: speaking of which, I would like to take this opportunity
[30:29] Speaker 13: to congratulate the University of Michigan's men's basketball team and
[30:34] Speaker 13: the UCLA women's basketball team for capturing national championships over
[30:39] Speaker 13: the weekend.
[30:40] Speaker 1: Yes, for Michigan, it.
[30:41] Speaker 13: Was their second national championship in men's basketball, first since
[30:45] Speaker 13: nineteen eighty nine. Just days before, or years before, the
[30:48] Speaker 13: Fab Five thankfully put short shorts to rest to the
[30:52] Speaker 13: nineteen nineties. Yet you kids don't understand. Seriously, basketball players
[30:55] Speaker 13: used to wear shorts that were shorter than Oklahoma kicker
[30:59] Speaker 13: Nate sandals before the Fab Five change the game Black Sox,
[31:04] Speaker 13: it was cool.
[31:04] Speaker 1: The Fab five look about kids, you will love them.
[31:07] Speaker 13: And for UCLA, this was their one hundred and twenty
[31:10] Speaker 13: six national title in school history, one of The most
[31:15] Speaker 13: recent titles, of course, for the Bruins, happened in twenty
[31:17] Speaker 13: twenty three, when their softball team won a national championship.
[31:21] Speaker 1: Why am I bringing this up? Well, I will be.
[31:24] Speaker 13: On the call tonight as the Bruins travel to cal
[31:27] Speaker 13: State Bulletin to take on the Titans in both baseball
[31:30] Speaker 13: Grande always, it's both.
[31:32] Speaker 1: Games on tonight.
[31:35] Speaker 2: The reality is is really only one thing. You can
[31:38] Speaker 2: say that Chicago pizza is a lot of other things,
[31:40] Speaker 2: but it's really only one thing. You know, because I've
[31:42] Speaker 2: had Chicago pizza. It's actually quite delicious. Rag, thank you
[31:45] Speaker 2: very much for most of that. Put all of that
[31:48] Speaker 2: for most of that great stuff, Babe, will have you
[31:50] Speaker 2: back another day.
[31:51] Speaker 3: There is Bucky Brooks top edge rushers. Now he doesn't
[31:54] Speaker 3: really call them edge rushers. He breaks them down to
[31:57] Speaker 3: defensive ends and outside linebackers all the same. Look at
[32:00] Speaker 3: those two Hurricanes at the top of the defensive ends list,
[32:04] Speaker 3: and then we go over to the outside linebackers. David
[32:07] Speaker 3: Bailey number one, let's bring back our Lance Zer line though,
[32:11] Speaker 3: because he has some thoughts on edge rushers too, he
[32:14] Speaker 3: calls them edge rushers.
[32:15] Speaker 4: Thanks Lance for making it easy for.
[32:17] Speaker 3: Us but you're looking at Day two edge rushers, who
[32:21] Speaker 3: you got.
[32:22] Speaker 8: Yeah, this is a really deep draft for edge rushers
[32:25] Speaker 8: back to back years now. But I want to start
[32:27] Speaker 8: with a guy who's kind of a borderline one to
[32:28] Speaker 8: two and that's Cash is how from Texas, A and M.
[32:31] Speaker 8: You know, the thing about Cash is holl Is He's
[32:33] Speaker 8: got tremendous get off. But where he wins a lot
[32:36] Speaker 8: of times is that he's able to maintain his distance
[32:39] Speaker 8: from offensive tackles so they can't really get their hands
[32:41] Speaker 8: on him. He can bend and corner very tightly, and
[32:45] Speaker 8: so he's able to create room. You saw that inside
[32:47] Speaker 8: spin move, I mean the inside move right there was phenomenal.
[32:50] Speaker 1: He's got a way.
[32:50] Speaker 8: Of avoiding and eluding offensive tackles where he's rarely touched
[32:55] Speaker 8: on some of these sacks. Now, our Mason Thomas is
[32:58] Speaker 8: another one who has tremendous get off. He's out of Oklahoma,
[33:02] Speaker 8: a little bit on the small side. Another one who's
[33:05] Speaker 8: smaller than you're used to, smaller than you may be like.
[33:08] Speaker 8: But when he gets off the line of scrimmage, it
[33:11] Speaker 8: is in a hurry. If you were in a plotting tackle,
[33:13] Speaker 8: you are out of luck because he is going to
[33:15] Speaker 8: be around you, under you, and he's going to be
[33:17] Speaker 8: after your quarterback in a hurry, tremendous pressure rate.
[33:19] Speaker 1: He's got outstanding speed.
[33:21] Speaker 8: One of the things that really stands out about our
[33:23] Speaker 8: Mason is not only that he can bend in corner
[33:25] Speaker 8: and flatten so well and so effectively. He has tremendous speed,
[33:30] Speaker 8: so he can chase plays down the field and make
[33:33] Speaker 8: tackles that other edge defenders could never think of doing.
[33:37] Speaker 8: A third pass rusher and edge defender who I think
[33:40] Speaker 8: really deserves a lot more discussion because he's going to
[33:43] Speaker 8: go hire the people think is Malachi Lawrence. And Malachi
[33:46] Speaker 8: Lawrence out of Central Florida. Boy, I was impressed. I
[33:50] Speaker 8: had a piece of paper next to me, and I
[33:51] Speaker 8: started writing down and tallying up all the different pass
[33:54] Speaker 8: rush moves I saw him implement in his rush. He's
[33:58] Speaker 8: got so many moves in his bag, a very deep bag.
[34:01] Speaker 8: He's got very skilled hands. He understands how to unlock
[34:05] Speaker 8: the pocket and get after the quarterback. That's what teams love.
[34:09] Speaker 8: A guy with height, length and a deep bag, Judy,
[34:13] Speaker 8: so that he can go hunt quarterbacks. That's what it's
[34:15] Speaker 8: all about these days. Get to the quarterbacks, and the
[34:18] Speaker 8: earlier you can do it in your career, the better.
[34:20] Speaker 3: Just watching that and thinking these guys are so fast,
[34:23] Speaker 3: can't to see them in the NFL.
[34:26] Speaker 4: Lancers are Line. Thanks so much for joining us for.
[34:28] Speaker 1: Sixteen days until the NFL Draft kicks off in Pittsburgh.
[34:32] Speaker 1: Live Round one coverage eight pm Eastern Time, Thursday, April
[34:36] Speaker 1: twenty third, Redd Lewis, Cynthia Freeland, and Brian Baldeer breaking
[34:41] Speaker 1: it down and path the draft.
[34:43] Speaker 14: Bill Red Luis mox Draft here to keep you warming cozy.
[34:47] Speaker 14: Take a look at picks one through ten. Obviously we're
[34:50] Speaker 14: going with Fernando Mendoza and Arnold Reeves said both those
[34:53] Speaker 14: seemed to be kind of consensus at one and two.
[34:55] Speaker 14: I went with David Dailey at three with the Cardinals.
[34:58] Speaker 14: Love at four to the Titans, and and we get
[35:00] Speaker 14: our first offensive lineman at number six with Francis Maui Noah.
[35:04] Speaker 14: As I mentioned earlier, Carnell Tate to the Commanders. I
[35:07] Speaker 14: love the Ruben Bin to the Saints selection there with
[35:09] Speaker 14: Cam Jordan, I'm sure on where that's going. We get
[35:13] Speaker 14: the corner, your first corner off the board at number
[35:15] Speaker 14: nine and then we moved into beyond the top ten.
[35:19] Speaker 14: Caleb Downs goes to the Bengals. That'll look the Dolphins
[35:22] Speaker 14: the receivers folks, Mackai Lemon love the blot Nakoff Award
[35:26] Speaker 14: winner there with a little bit ab outside inside flexibility
[35:29] Speaker 14: going at eleven. We get that second corner at twelve.
[35:31] Speaker 14: Come on, throw off the Hoosiers there in Sofi Stadium
[35:35] Speaker 14: with Omark.
[35:36] Speaker 1: Cooper as the third receiver.
[35:38] Speaker 9: Off the board.
[35:39] Speaker 14: Get another old lineman there to the Ravens and Spencer
[35:43] Speaker 14: Fono out of Utah. Keldrick Fox an interesting one to
[35:46] Speaker 14: pair with Jermad McCoy with those two first round draft
[35:48] Speaker 14: picks for the Dallas Cowboys at number twenty. By the way,
[35:51] Speaker 14: I love Keen Steak going to help Bryce Young in Carolina.
[35:55] Speaker 14: Real big run on offensive lineman here in these final
[36:00] Speaker 14: ten or leven picks. Starts with Viga Yowani going to
[36:03] Speaker 14: the Steelers best guard in the draft at twenty one.
[36:06] Speaker 14: We get tackles back to back to back at twenty seven,
[36:09] Speaker 14: twenty eight, and twenty nine to the Niners, Texans, and Chiefs,
[36:13] Speaker 14: with Tasius Howell as the final pick of the first
[36:17] Speaker 14: round right there, but I want to start with the
[36:19] Speaker 14: wide receivers here, Baldi isway with six wideouts going in
[36:23] Speaker 14: the first round, starting with Carnell Tate. We finished with
[36:26] Speaker 14: Denzel Boston at number thirty one right there, But how
[36:30] Speaker 14: about Mikaylemon going to the Miami Dolphins at eleven.
[36:33] Speaker 2: It's a huge need.
[36:34] Speaker 12: Well, it's a need and there's a town that's a
[36:37] Speaker 12: tough and dynamic receiver coming out of USC and you
[36:41] Speaker 12: just think about Malik Willis and who we just going
[36:43] Speaker 12: to throw to.
[36:44] Speaker 15: The days that Tyreek Hill and jay l Wado out
[36:46] Speaker 15: there are gone, it's over. And so let's start, you know,
[36:49] Speaker 15: getting some new blood in there, some new receivers, some
[36:52] Speaker 15: guys that can work with Malik Willis, build up a
[36:54] Speaker 15: relationship with him, and start building this offense. Right now,
[36:58] Speaker 15: we know that Devon eh Chan you can hand it
[37:00] Speaker 15: off too, and he's an explosive running back that could
[37:03] Speaker 15: do a lot of things in a passing game also,
[37:05] Speaker 15: but they need a real receiver.
[37:06] Speaker 1: I mean, what they have on the roster right now
[37:08] Speaker 1: is incomplete.
[37:09] Speaker 12: It just is whether you like to too at well
[37:12] Speaker 12: or you like some of the guys that they sign,
[37:14] Speaker 12: it is not very very talented, and so let's start
[37:17] Speaker 12: building that talent base there in Miami. But a great
[37:20] Speaker 12: place to throw the ball all over the art Downer.
[37:23] Speaker 12: I'm in South Florida right now, I'm going to go
[37:24] Speaker 12: out and have a catch on the beach.
[37:26] Speaker 4: I'll do.
[37:26] Speaker 1: Let's give him Makai Lemon right here, get this thing started.
[37:30] Speaker 4: I want to go. You want to go out, Waldy,
[37:33] Speaker 4: let's go.
[37:34] Speaker 16: I'm just looking at the guys at the end of
[37:36] Speaker 16: your first round, and I think you're going to be
[37:37] Speaker 16: very popular in both Cleveland and of course in New
[37:40] Speaker 16: England because both of these guys, starting with Casey Concepcion.
[37:43] Speaker 16: That's a great pick for the Browns, especially if they
[37:45] Speaker 16: get Maui Noah. Right, that's a first round Paul. All
[37:49] Speaker 16: those Browns fans are going to love you. But ultimately,
[37:51] Speaker 16: what I like a lot about him is the potential
[37:54] Speaker 16: for him to be useful in versatile ways.
[37:56] Speaker 4: He's super versatile.
[37:57] Speaker 16: Right, and then you're looking at Boston. The name, come on,
[38:01] Speaker 16: his name is also Boston. Oh my gosh, exactly. It's perfect.
[38:05] Speaker 16: But he's a contested catch machine and he doesn't.
[38:08] Speaker 1: Drop the ball. The Boston thing, I just do you
[38:12] Speaker 1: even realize.
[38:12] Speaker 14: I didn't even realize that this is so walked into.
[38:15] Speaker 1: This Mark draft.
[38:18] Speaker 16: He keeps getting better and better for you. You also
[38:20] Speaker 16: nailed the name.
[38:22] Speaker 1: Oh that's so good. Thursday, we'll find out who will
[38:24] Speaker 1: be in the green room in Pittsburgh for the twenty
[38:26] Speaker 1: twenty six NFL Draft. Path to the Draft. We'll have
[38:29] Speaker 1: the first look at the list of players who will
[38:31] Speaker 1: get to walk the stage and hug the commissioner. It's
[38:33] Speaker 1: the draft that attendee reveal Thursday, six pm Eastern only
[38:37] Speaker 1: on NFL Network. Following that show and every other weeknight
[38:43] Speaker 1: seven pm Eastern time through the draft, it's us the insiders.
[38:47] Speaker 1: You know what's happen to this break more of us?
[38:50] Speaker 1: The insiders stick around.
[38:54] Speaker 3: There's a lot of new going on in Baltimore, and
[38:56] Speaker 3: now they're going to unveil new uniforms on Thursday. This
[39:01] Speaker 3: is the first time in twenty six years they've unveiled
[39:04] Speaker 3: new uniforms. We're not talking about the color Rush uniforms.
[39:07] Speaker 3: That was different. They got to be purple. Right, Oh,
[39:10] Speaker 3: it's going to be next Thursday.
[39:11] Speaker 1: I read it.
[39:11] Speaker 4: It's this Thursday, My bad, Next Thursday.
[39:14] Speaker 3: Our buddy Peter Schrager is hosting the unveiling apparently, so
[39:17] Speaker 3: I'm going to text him and maybe he can tell
[39:19] Speaker 3: us what they look like. Marlon Humphrey is trying to
[39:22] Speaker 3: find out what they look like. I would tell Marlon
[39:24] Speaker 3: Humphrey if Shriger tells me what they look like. They're
[39:27] Speaker 3: not letting Marlon Humphrey know. Somebody please give him a
[39:30] Speaker 3: tip what they look like.
[39:32] Speaker 2: I definitely would not trust Marlin either. He would absolutely
[39:34] Speaker 2: post a picture. Here's a picture, Well it's actually a video.
[39:36] Speaker 2: This is Milik Neighbors doing pull ups. By the way,
[39:40] Speaker 2: I can also do this many pops. This is significant,
[39:43] Speaker 2: Well it's really not. He's coming back from a torn
[39:45] Speaker 2: acl so how many pops he can do is not
[39:47] Speaker 2: really that big of a deal.
[39:47] Speaker 1: But he is jacked. Tom John Franklin Meyer's new team.
[39:51] Speaker 1: He's a Titan friend of the show. Back to work
[39:54] Speaker 1: in a new place. We can't go back to work
[39:57] Speaker 1: because we're always working and we got another show tomorrow.
[40:00] Speaker 1: DM Easter is conding of the draft to continue. See you,
[40:05] Speaker 1: m

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