Is Jaxson Dart REALLY a first-round pick? + defensive free agency preview
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In this episode of Football 301, Charles McDonald joins me to preview free agency, the defensive side of the ball. We look at each position, guys at the top of the market, some under the radar signings that we like, maybe some buyer beware of these top names as well. Charles and I did big boards on Yahoo this week, so make sure to check that out. We also did a little painting for prospects at the end of the show. Not just one name each, dropped in two names at

each go a little deep dives on some of these prospects, some good, some indifference, but a lot of fun. See you guys in a sec.

Hello and welcome to Football 301. I'm your host, Nate Tice. Very fun show for you as we have now come back or got back to our houses from the combine. We're going to be previewing free agency. We're going to start with defense today and then we'll do offense next week because defense

The NFL calendar just never stops. And so we go free agency. We got draft stuff coming in the ongoing weeks. We got big boards up. My top 50 big board is up for the NFL draft. And the person who also did a top 50 big board is joining me today to now preview free agency because we are a college scouting department and a pro scouting department here on football 301. My guy, Charles McDonald. How you doing today, Chuck? Got your voice back at the very least. I do know that.

Yeah, yeah. When I did my show last week, I got flooded with WhatsApp messages, text messages. I was like, holy.

You feel like you're dying. And I was. I was. Honestly, by the time I got home on Monday, on Monday, I literally, like, I was, I was, like, speaking, just like, little puffs of air were coming out. But we're back. We're back now. I was a little worried on Monday and Tuesday. I was like, might we get a talk on Thursday? But I am here. And I'm glad that we got through all this stuff because I feel like when you look at us, maybe we're wearing it a little bit, you know, maybe we look a little tired, a little out of it. But

we're still alive. We're still kicking. We're still here to bring you what you want, what you need. Exactly. Exactly. You realize why exhausted and exhaust like a car exhaust are, are similar words. You know, I guess that's, that's what you were spitting out. Your words, it was just exhaust. It wasn't, there was no gas by the end there.

No, I know. We pumped out those big boards. We got it right after the combine. We're going to have a consensus board on Yahoo. It's a lot of fun. We'll be talking about some prospects at the end of the show, as we'll be doing for the next ongoing months. Next upcoming months, I should say. But free agency, though, that's how it goes. That's how the NFL schedule works. It goes.

Senior Bowl, All-Star Games, Shrine Bowl, All-Star Games, Combine. Okay, now free agency starts. And then we get back into the draft. But we're going to be looking at the defensive side of the ball today. Going to look at some of the top names, maybe some fits that we like, maybe some buyer beware of guys that maybe...

I have some trepidation with and maybe some under the radar players. That is usually one of my favorite segments to do every year because it's like all this useless pro film watching that I do throughout the year. Maybe a couple of these guys end up becoming something. So a lot of fun. I like doing these shows a bunch. But before that, we've had some interesting news this week.

The Bears, probably reflecting what this offensive free agency class looks like, the Bears traded for both Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney. A couple of day three picks for these guys. Different kind of flavors of players, kind of different timelines with their ability, with their injury history. Jonah Jackson was a one-time Pro Bowler with the Lions.

when he's on the field and when he's healthy, high end play, really good guard. One of the better guards out there. I'd say top 10 ish. But the thing is just can't stay on the field. That's kind of been his MO throughout the year or throughout his career. Gets signed by the Rams last year, gets beat out after he hurts a shoulder, stayed on the bench. They try to work him at center, ended up not working out.

And instead of releasing him, trade him to the Bears. And then Joe Tooney, kind of the odd man out. The Chiefs have a lot invested in their offensive line. Creed Humphrey looks like they're tagging Trey Smith at right guard, at right tackle. They have Jawan Taylor they're already paying for. So it looked like Joe Tooney ended up being the odd man out. Gets traded for a fourth-round pick to the Bears. Charles, when you saw these trades, what were some of your thoughts with it? And maybe kind of the Bears, as I've been kind of

using the term no more half measures was kind of my thoughts, but thoughts on the Bears train for both of these players and maybe your thoughts on Tooney and Jackson. It's a good start, you know, in theory. I think...

In practice, though, I don't know. The more I thought about it, like, man, this could get flimsy real fast. Because, you know, you just talk about Jonah Jackson in and out of the lineup basically his whole career. Got beat out last year. You know, I always tend to think, like, there's a reason why the Rams were willing to take a six-round pick back for someone they just paid last year. Yeah.

There's a little buyer through where they're probably, he wasn't exactly, you know, what they'd hoped for. Uh, and with Joe Thune, like, you know, I, I think he's definitely still a good player. Um, but even at his age, uh, what he's up to in 33 or plant 34 this year, you know, you're kind of in the danger zone of any year could be the last year. Uh, and maybe I'm just a little bit burned on this because I watched the Falcons trade for Matt Judon last year. Uh,

And I saw how that went. Trading for an oft-injured veteran or a recently injured veteran is always a risky play. But when you look at where the Bears were last year, I mean, shoot, come on now. There's no way you're going to be able to fix this in one offseason without making a couple trades, taking a couple of risks off the veterans that maybe other teams didn't want anymore. So they get Booney. That's a good start. I don't really have any reason to believe that his play would drop off too far this year. It's just more like...

how long is he going to keep playing at a high level? And with Jonah Jackson, I think that could be a little bit buyer's beware there because some of the Rams fans I talked to were pretty happy to get that contract off the books. It seems like the Rams were really trying to get it out the door. So that's a little risky. But man, you just couldn't run it back with what they had. So on paper, if you can get another tackle like Will Campbell in the draft or something like that, that's not a bad four-man look, at least at this point.

better than what you had last year if you had Will Campbell, Dooney, Jonah Jackson, Darnall Wright on the edge. So it's a start, but I wouldn't say this is guaranteed to work out for the Bears.

Yeah, and for me, well, and then Jonah Jackson also has familiarity with Ben Johnson from Detroit, you know, the new head coach for the Bears. They took on his contract this year, the Bears did, his base salary, which is usually what gets traded and then his guarantee. So I think it's like $18 million this year cap hit, and then it's off the books basically, or it's non-guaranteed after this year. So that's why I thought that was a nice...

low risk ish type of type of deal where it could be nice if he does stay healthy and you're like, okay, we already got them under contract. We can just go with this. And then Tooney older players, like you just said, like they just traded the third for Keenan Allen. It's like,

It's a little scary when you're training for a 30-something-year-old player. Tooney is interesting. Guards age well. He's only missed two games in his entire career. He's played 146 out of 148 games of his career. So if you are going to go for an older guy, that's the one you go for. The guys that never or always see the field. They're never on the bench. They had three open spots on their interior line, left guard, center, and right guard. They needed bodies to address this. I did a show earlier this week, a Chicago-based show, Hogan John's.

Hojan Johns and, and I'm sorry, Adam, but they, when we were doing the math and I'm like, man, I don't know where they can find three viable bodies. And this is how they had to do it. It's just a desperate market out there. Once we talk about the offensive free agency next week, you'll kind of see that, but this is a means to an end. I actually kind of like this. It's better than obviously what they had. These are much more talented players than kind of the half answers they had before.

They got to figure out who plays center. And I think Ben Johnson has kind of talked a lot about that. Drew Dallman is a buyer beware for me. I know we're talking defense today, but he is for me. But I get why they ended up coming to this. If they can get like Tooney on another, like an extension where he gets, he's on a contract for maybe one more year, I'd really like it. But, you know, that's for them to figure it out. But I get why the Bears did this. They're desperate. They've had a bad situation there in years prior. And now they also get Joe Tooney as a leader.

Um, that that's another thing is that he, he is a true, true leader type, true locker room, locker room setter, offensive line room leader. That's really nice, especially when you're kind of revamping the whole team and try and get that messaging. So,

Totally get why the Bears did it. I think you could do a lot worse with day three picks. And of course, there's risk to this, but I ended up liking this for the Bears. For the Chiefs, with Tooney, I understand why. Someone had to get squeezed out. Kingsley Suamataia seems like they're going to be is going to be their future left guard. I rewatched the week 18 game and he was pretty good in their first play. He got blown up and I was like, oh, God.

uh, but you know, he has talent. I was very high on him. He's young. There's a reason why they're moving out from tuning, maybe for comfort level with that too. So, but they got to figure out left tackle in some way, shape or form. Is it Dan Moore? Is it the draft? There's a lot of cool, maybe late first round tackle prospects that you and I both like. So, um,

Andy Reid, his background's an old line. I always make sure to try and address that old line some way, shape, or form. So I think they're going to have an answer and maybe they're up to something. You know, Kansas City might be up to something. They might be up to something. That's what I'm kind of keeping. I want to put that in a pin in that. Like they might do something weird next week and I just want to see it.

They got to add someone, man. They got to add someone. Because, I mean, I think Kingsley, I would hope he's better than Caliendo, who they had at left guard. Way more talented than our guy Caliendo. You know, even then, the...

The vast majority of the tape that Kingley put out there last year was horrible. We talked about all playoffs. There's a reason they're playing Caliendo over Kingsley. There's a reason. So that's a little scary that they said, yeah, now he's our starter.

Right, exactly. Because, you know, they pulled the plug fast on that early. And understandably so. Like, he could not play. And I say this to someone who liked him pre-draft. He flat out could not play. It was like, you're sinking the offense. So, I find it a little dubious that he would just be able to go out there at guard and figure it out that fast. Now Andy Hex is a great offensive line coach, but...

To me, it's like we're starting hell. We're just trying to climb our way back to Earth's surface before we get to heaven. Even that's going to take a while. But he's a talented guy. Maybe he can figure it out.

But man, this is just, it's just not where they need to be. So yeah, I'm with you. They got to do some big moves. I mean, even when they signed Joe Thune, I was kind of surprised when that one happened. And look how well that turned out for them. It worked out great. Yeah. Yeah. You got Mahomes. You just have to do better in supporting task-wise. There's no reason for you to be in this spot when you have a quarterback that good. Like you're not some rebuilding team. You're someone who's going to be fighting for a Super Bowl every single year. You just have to do better than this.

Yeah, I know. I'm curious what they do in the next couple of weeks. I'm very interested always in the Chiefs. But, Barris, kind of liked what you did there. I liked it. This is one way to figure out this problem that you guys have had for years. Other kind of news signings. Zach Bond re-signs with the Eagles for three years. $51 million. I think that's well-deserved. Kind of saw that coming. Also interesting. Some other players we're going to talk about the repercussions of that. Max Crosby.

signs as the highest paid non-quarterback with $106 million extension, $91.5 million guaranteed justified. He's who else are they going to pay? That's kind of where, where I was at some trade stuff. You know, that's kind of where I'm at. They will say going to pay. And he's worth it. He's on the field all the time. Like a, just one of those guys. That's like, of course you want them on your team, like the locker room leader, all that production, you know,

just everything. So of course he's going to get paid that I'm sure a lot of other edge defenders are very happy to see that though. And then the last bit of news around the week is Seahawks released Tyra Lockett after 10 seasons, which kind of saw coming, but Lockett also, I just wanted this, my little sidebar has my favorite 40 I've ever seen in person at the combine. He has, you know, how most receivers take forever. You know, they can make sure they're all set. Shoes are okay. Okay. Hamstrings lose kick.

kick, shimmy it out. He stands by the back pad where it says 40-yard dash. And they're like, all right, you know, going to the state tower, lock it.

And he just walks straight up to the line and goes, like, he just like goes there. I said his name, walks up to the line, got set, runs. And like everybody, it was fine. And everybody was like, oh shoot. You like startled me. So that's my memory of Tara Lockett. Had a great career. Maybe goes to Las Vegas. We'll see where he goes. But the other side news with Seahawks receivers, DK Metcalf requests a trade and

The what the Seahawks are asking for it. I think Diana Rusini reported was a first and a third. Good luck with that. But DK Metcalf requesting a trade. Any teams come to mind with Metcalf there, Charles? And what do you think is fair compensation maybe for him?

I mean, shoot, a lot of teams could definitely use him. The Packers are certainly one. Yeah. When you think about where they got mucked up late in the season, you need a go-getter. You need someone who's a little bit bigger, stronger, more talented than some of the guys that they have. They need a man-beater. So bad. They need a man-beater. Yeah. And they need a grown man out there, too. Yeah, they need a grown man. Really, though. They need a grown-ass man out there. I think that would be a huge boost. All right.

like the chiefs are another one we just talked about yeah patriots make sense thinking rap with the chargers too like all those team makes sense yeah i don't know he's only he's only 27 you know so if you're if you're a team that feasibly has like a need for like a low-end one or a high-end two two that makes sense now it's just like the compensation is just uh like we're living in a world today where tutu atwell who's like wide receiver four for the rams just got a 10 million dollar contract so

If you're DK... Let that sink in. You got to find it at least. That's what he's asking for. It's a smart play. I also understand the apprehension to give him that too. He could divvy out $30 million for...

For someone who's a running back, a linebacker, a second receiver. Yeah. You can split it up pretty easy. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I, I, I know it's not always true, but I tend to look at wide receivers sometimes like your production is just so dependent on everything else.

working out right like you need the quarterback right you need to be blocked up right you need to be skiing right sometimes i don't know 30 million dollars to me it just seems like that should be the last piece but if you're a team like the packers or the chiefs but yeah that probably that possibly could be your last piece but i don't i don't i don't know if it makes sense like if you're a rebuilding team just go out and make this uh trade right now so you know i guess uh

uh you know there's a report for a first and a third for dk metcalf that's insane to me a first and third plus you know a new contract what are you jailor ramsay like no i don't i don't think that that's right at all so uh you know maybe like a second round pick uh maybe a handful thirds plus a new deal could get it done uh but man like a first and third plus 30 million dollar multi-year 30 million dollar contract that's that's

That's a pretty big expense. We need to be competing right away to make that work. I'm with you where I see DK as a real, real, ideally a high end too, like on a team. And like you say, he can be your one if you have other dudes with you, kind of a nice little room there for pass catchers, which DK makes a lot more sense for the Packers than he does for a lot of other teams or the Patriots.

um is he going to be that aj brown trade where it's like oh my god like totally changes everything i don't think he's anywhere near aj brown it's kind of you know they were teammates and everything too at old miss but i think metcalf is just more you know he has a limited route tree uh but he is good at those routes that he is good at and he can go and he can take the top off and it's exactly what like teams like the packers need um i'm with you too with the

that the chain of a play is this is where my kind of positional value gets into is quarterbacks obviously are one, but then it's who's the player that can stop the quarterbacks quickest, a pass rusher. So D end. Okay. Who's the guy that blocks that guy? Okay. Offense tackle. Okay. Now if that's all blocked and you don't block the D end, who catches the ball, the receiver. So that's how I do my premium positions. It's like, and then who covers the receiver at the corner? So it goes quarterback. Okay. Pass rusher.

blocker receiver so that's like fourth in my hierarchy of how i kind of look at positional value that's just me that's just how the math of my head works uh but yeah dk is an interesting case study i'm curious where he ends up going interesting player that takes the top off i think the packers could really use them the chargers are really interesting too but i actually don't think maybe he's you don't think he's worth a first at all i think it's a third and a player or a second that's that's what i would give up i would say hey third and here's if i was a packers here's a young receiver

Like that, that's where I'd be giving up to the Seahawks, but we'll see how we'll see who ends up pulling the trigger.

Positional value stuff is always interesting because I've started to think of it more, I don't really care about the ranks as much, like, you know, quarterback or versus, more about the scaling, like how much, how much more, because I've seen Jackson Dart number three in a mock draft, that's crazy. Like, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what, that's what

then you need to start read readjusting some some of your thought processes but uh you know in general you know kind of to each their own just get some good players

Get good players. Draft good players. All right. Speaking of good players, not a lot of them hit free agency, actually. But there's some out here. You know, some guys are resigning. We already mentioned Zach Bond. So we take him off the linebacker heap. But others get released. And we're going to be talking interior defensive linemen to start and then edge players before we take our break. So we'll start with the interior defensive line.

Milton Williams is going to be the big winner, I believe, in free agency. Not just me. I think everybody kind of sees how it's shaping up. He hit the market, did not get tagged. Only two players got tagged, which is the lowest since 2006, by the way. Trey Smith and Tee Higgins. Only two guys that got the tag. But Milton Williams, he was second according to next year's stats. I've repeated this stat 500 times. I'm going to repeat it for the 500th first time. He was second in pressure rate.

among interior defensive linemen last year and had a nice playoff run, especially in the Super Bowl. Gets those pressures, doesn't have a high sack number, but is very useful against the run as well. He can play three-tech at defensive tackle. He can play on the outside as well in different look.

He's really good on twists and games. Just a very good football player. Is he going to, am I going to say he's going to sign somewhere and be a pro bowler next year? I'm not sure, but I think he's a very good starter, a good starter. If you have another good edge player, I'd love to put him, Milton, on the inside. He's not exactly a run plugger,

But he is a great three tech and maybe a three, four defensive end if you have some other looks that you want to throw out there. But Millen Williams is going to be a big winner for agency. Any team with money is probably going to be after him. I know the Bengals are probably after him. Patriots are probably after him. Bears might be looking at him. I would like fits for all those places as well. Any thoughts on...

Charles on Milton Williams or any other kind of maybe the top defensive tackles that are interior defense alignment as we call them now this year's free agency class. You're falling off a cliff. Yeah, I know. I got like seven under there. We have a call. So everyone knows we have an under the radar section that we're going to talk about to our other other guys. We want to talk about and they have like seven there because there's not a lot of top market guys. I don't really give a crap about any of these guys. Milton's going to get paid though.

I mean, the franchise tag, or I guess this year, I guess most guys who would have hit free agency have already just been locked up by the team. So it's not the sexiest free agent class. Millions is going to get paid.

Think someone who could still be fine like not playing next to Jalen Carter playing next to all the people's guys He doesn't have to create on his own. Obviously it helps when you can play on a group that talented because You're just gonna see a lot more advantageous advantageous situations and he's gonna be a spot on his next team where I He's gonna be a top dog, but I still think he'll perform well there and he's someone back at least you know He can go out and get you some pass rush using what's a one-on-one matchup. So that's hard to find. I

It's even harder to find a free agency because usually teams aren't in a position where they can let someone like that walk. But he's going to end up getting a series back. Like you said, I think every team that has some money should try to sign him. Yeah.

you can never have enough guys up front on either side of the ball that can really you know win games for you and and turn the tide so uh you usually like you should uh if you're a fan like of a team who has some cast base you should be like imploring them to go after this guy uh after that um you know but jonathan allen's probably one he hasn't been cut yet officially doing the game like

Yeah, he's been released yet, but it didn't seem like, oh, we're looking for a trade partner. If we can't find one, then we'll cut him, which like 85% of the time ends up in just someone getting cut. But he's still started. I know. That's the desperation news leak. Can we get a six round or four? Just in the with Devante Adams. And there was another player like last week that got cut where they were like getting into trade pieces. I already forgot. Yeah.

But regardless, you know, Jonathan Allen can be one if he hits free or when he hits free agency. And then, you know, it's just like someone who's

who's been around forever, just kind of doing mercenary stops one year, every single year. And I guess he's going to keep playing John Hankins. You know, football 301 favorite. You're 13 of first down, first down ministry, you know, just, yep. Just sit there, plug a gap,

Get the hell out of the field. Yep. Play your 15 snaps and get off. Yep. And he's about to turn 33. So, you know, that's like sneakily one of those spots where, yeah. If you're strong, though, you can play into your early 30s. You can just sit there and eat a gap.

uh because you know you're not we're not asking you to get up fuel we're not asking you to eat dfl yeah we're asking just to plug and sit on the line of scrimmage so you know if you're a team that you know just needs a quick fix uh like our run defense stunk last year the quick plugger i think he can fix a lot of sense uh

I think he makes a lot of sense for Denver, which is interesting because I see DJ Jones is on our list too. Yeah. And some work skill set. There's a lot of kind of cool pluggers, I think, that are not as sexy, but there's some good ones actually. It's a good nose tackle plugger class. That's all I got for free. Yeah, but DJ Jones is one tier tart from the Chargers.

Bobby Brown from the Rams, who's a little younger. Roy Lopez is a personal favorite from the Cardinals because I got to keep mentioning them. But DJ Jones, 30. Tierra Tart. Tierra Tart, I really like. I thought he was going to get paid a couple of years ago. I think he's got some character stuff. That's why he's been on like four teams in like a year. But he's a free agent. He did really well for the Chargers last year, really helping them out. So like Tart. Bobby Brown's interesting because he's young. He...

He doesn't really fit what the Rams were trying to do. I don't know why. I'm curious if they try and get, bring them back. But yeah, no, just, he's 24 years old. He's a run plug or two. And then Roy Lopez is 27. But all those guys, I'm glad he brought up Hankins as well. Cause it's just like, there's a really, it's a good nose tackle, like plugger class. Like all these guys are the same type, but just a little bit different flavors. Tart's probably the most violent. DJ Jones is probably, I would say DJ Jones is probably the best of this group overall, but he's 30. And,

And then Brown's the youngest. But then Lopez has flashes. He was a find for the Cardinals. They got him from the Texans as like a practice squad stash. And he's just turned into like a nice solid player for them. But yeah, it's and go back to title together. Milton Williams.

It's turning 20 turns 26 next month. Like, so if you sign them, you get 20, say a four year deal, big money deal, 26, 27, 28, 29. That's ideal before he turns 30. And I'm sure he's happy about that too, to sign up another deal before he turns 30. But like, that's, if you're going to splurge on a guy that might, yes, you're always going to overpay in free agency. At least Milton Williams has production is young, sees the field and like, you know, you get them in the prime of his career. So that's like another argument for him too.

I asked Milton real briefly after the Super Bowl. It's like, so you're gone. We got the ring. We got to see what happens next. Like, all right.

Go get paid, young man. Go get paid. Hey, hometown discounts are one thing, but when it's like a $10 million a year difference, it's... I just got two more in, you know? Yeah. Good way to end out. I know. And then the Eagles can replace him on Mauro Ojomo, who had a really nice Super Bowl as well. So that's why they can keep churning. But let's bump on over to the Edge class, which is interesting. You got Khalil Mack.

He's in the mercenary role of his career. Still a very good player. I mean, shoot, he can get multi-sack game. He can get forced fumbles. He's always going to be good against the run as he ages, and I think the pass rush production will kind of come and go.

But man, he could be a really fun mercenary for someone. Josh Sweat, also another player for the Eagles that had a great Super Bowl. Going to get paid, it seems like, as well. Hassan Reddick, former Eagles find. Then with the Jets, had...

Shoot, you're on Hassan Redick watch. I might have you take him. And then Deo Odeyingbo from the Colts, who started his career injured, started to come along as kind of a rotational rusher for the Colts. Really, he's...

come like it's going to get paid to there's rumors out there. Tom Pellicero said he's going to get paid way more than you think he was, which is it's going to be surprising. But I like him as a rotational guy, maybe a number two, ideally for somebody, but just a little bit of like maybe not too much money there. And then Joey Bosa got released by the Chargers as well as a cap casualty. But any of these guys, Charles, stand out to you that maybe you think are a fun fit somewhere or someone that like you really particularly like or want to talk about?

I'll say this. I'm really happy for Chase Young. He's been able to turn this around. Because, man, I really hope that the way his career has turned out so far, retcons like what we were saying about him coming on the draft, that guy was a monster at Ohio State. He looked poised to kind of take over when he first got to the NFL.

got banged up a bunch. It kind of seemed like he was just in limbo a little bit, but he really bounced back with the Saints. I think he put himself in a position to actually get a nice contract this offseason. He's still only 25, turns 26 in a couple of months, so there's a lot of juice left to squeeze there. He should be able to play for a good long while. He played well last year, well against the run, with a good pass rusher. I'm happy that that's starting to turn back around and he's turned to

you know, a starting caliber player that people are trying to pay to have started for a team. So, uh, and he gets to get on the world because I know damn sure they can't afford to pay him. Uh, so that's, uh, that's, that's good. Good, good, good vibes from Chase Young, uh, bad vibes for his son Reddick. We were talking about it all off season. Like it, it was just the worst, most uncoordinated holdout. I, I think I've ever seen, um,

because no agent worth a damn is going to tell you, bro, what you need to do is you're Hasan Reddick. You need to skip all the way. It's like October because, no, they're trying to get paid too. So they're going to be a little bit realistic about what your chances are to get that baggie with Chase. Woody Johnson stepped in at some point and worked through the contract with Hasan Reddick.

And he showed up not in great shape and was entered directly into the starting lineup. Bro, you wouldn't even realize that he was out there for most of the plays. Right. And you just think about if he had handled this differently last summer, he would have made so much more money than he's currently slated to make now. Because...

I mean, maybe, maybe like if he, if you can get him back in and you sign him to a deal, a one-year deal, I can't imagine he's more than one year. Uh, and you get him back into the building for like a full off season, full regiment, a full training camp. Maybe you can tap back into some of it, but I, especially in football, um,

The idea to me that you could just fall off that hard and take a step back and not do things you're supposed to do and then just hop right back into it. And OK, I'm I'm good. I'm ready to go. Tim Sachs again. No, I think he actually like detonated the end of his own career. Yeah.

but what he did last year, but you know, someone will sign them because he's a desperate for pass rushers. They'll probably be the Falcons. Yeah, that's not, that's not true. You know, it's just what they do. So name recognition, we're going to go get it. We're going to go get into our next Ray Edwards or Matt June honors, something like that. That's always Dwight for any worked out.

No, yeah, no. Especially his game. Oh, God, yeah. No, and Reddick's game is predicated on twitch, you know, and speed. And that's why it's always scary when guys are just like rely on that and other things. So I know Khalil Mack is just the name that just keeps drawing my attention because of just where he's at in his career and how productive he is. But like, it seems like the 49ers or the Cardinals

or the Cardinals or the Packers, the Lions, the Ravens, the Bills. He should truly just be a mercenary and go like, who wants me for this one-year deal to make a push, baby? I feel like he should just have so many one, maybe two-year deals out there. So that's why I just keep coming back to sweat is good, but

Because, I mean, the Eagles gave him a salary cut this year, you know, before this year that he agreed to. Like, you know, so it's like, are you betting more on how he produced in the playoffs in the Super Bowl or more of what he really looks like? He's a good, solid starter, but like one that's likely to be overpaid. So I'm curious just where he ends up. I do like him. I do think he's a good player, but it's just one of those where I don't think he's a star. Obviously, that's why he's a free agent. Yeah.

And then, yeah, Bosa is going to be interesting. I'm glad you brought up Chase Young. I think he's my favorite under-the-radar guy, so we'll talk about some of those guys. Same teams I just brought up. The 49ers tried to do the Chase Young thing before. Maybe they tried to do it again. But any of those teams that need that kind of mercenary type, Chase Young I think can be off one, two-year deals. I'm with you. He racked up a lot of pressures last year.

for the, for the saints. And sometimes goes rogue, like he'll cut inside when he shouldn't, but maybe when he's on like a good, good defense, a good team, maybe, you know, a little more discipline, a little more structure. This guy was with, you know, one of the worst franchises for a while with Washington blew up. His knee had bad injury, goes up 49ers kind of does some things, but it's up and down. That's mid season goes into Orleans, which is just such a, it's the saints. It's kind of just a lost year, but,

still produces. And so I want him again with like a winning team, maybe winning culture and just see what he does there. But the last one I'll throw out there or two more I'll throw out there. Malcolm Koontz from the Raiders had some nice moments, also got injured. So that's another guy I'm curious where he ends up. But he could be a guy that outplays his contract if he doesn't get overpaid because he was starting to do some things. And then the last one is Demarcus Lawrence, who is another elder statesman. I believe Demarcus Lawrence is 33.

Right now, about to turn 33. I know. And he's coming off of a Lenz-Frank injury. I remember when we were in college. I remember watching that. At Boise, yeah. We had him for a visit with the Falcons. And what turned off people in the Falcons was that he was having his draft day party here in Vegas. I shit you not. That was like a character knock on him. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, those are discussions that happen in draft rooms. And now he's like Walter Payton. Now he's like Walter Payton man of the year for the Cowboys, like multi-time, like all because they're like one of the best community guys. So yeah, it goes to show you scouts are... It's so funny to do the character stuff where they didn't choose to. Yeah.

It wasn't like it was a full on. We're not taking these guys. We're going to take some idiots, but they're also going to be bad players. I know. Yeah, you draft the idiots that are good players. You don't want worse of both worlds. But I like Lawrence as a rotational guy at this stage in his career, but he's so good against the run, too. So it's like, I don't know. I think he can give you a good 20, 25 snaps if you get him on a right deal. But that's another guy I just had to throw out there because I've always been a big fan of Demarcus Lawrence.

All right. Got done with defensive line. We're going to take our first break and then we're going to come back with the linebackers and the defensive backs of free agency. All right. We are back moving to off ball linebackers.

because that's how we do it now. Kind of annoying. Some of the places, it's still sort by linebacker and it's, they have guys listed outside linebacker and their edge players still, still a little annoying. I'm not going to lie, but anyways, off ball linebackers, always an interesting group because you can find your Zach bonds. You can find guys that work for you as one to your stopgap types. Now everyone's a system fit. Not everyone works for everybody, but then you'll find guys like Aziz Alshier, who can be a tone setter for your defense. Like the Texans had, you can find these types.

So at the top of the class, Dre Greenlaw from 49ers, who hurt his Achilles in the last year's Super Bowl, came back the last month of the season, actually looked okay, which is astounding to me that he's 10 months off an Achilles and actually looked like an okay starter, much better than Devondre Campbell, which is...

who is also a free agent that we will not be talking about in this segment. Might have been blackballed from the league after how he did with the 49ers last year. Then we got Nick Bolton, linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs. Nice, smart player. I would say more of a run-first defender. Okaying coverage can kind of get caught a little bit. But those are the two at the top of the market. Want to dive into either of these guys or want to get to the under-the-radar guys, Charles? No!

Greenlaw's fun. If Greenlaw's healthy, he's a good player. Bolton, I don't know. Not for everybody. That's why... Just go back to the Chiefs, Nick. And we're good. Everybody's happy. Go back to Spacks and you guys are good. I can see...

You know, team handed him a big bag in, you know, a year and a half being like, oh, this guy can't be quite as good as we thought he could. Not that he's a bad player. You know, I just... To me, that's just not the linebacker that I would be chasing in free agency. The one under the radar guy I had...

I feel like this is a better section for this guy. It's under the radar. Yeah, the one under the radar guy that I had, and to be fair, I don't know how much of it is going to translate to a next team if he goes to another team. Eric Wilson from the Packers last year. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he had some nice moments. They might re-up them. Let me just double check. He's a free agent. He's 30. You know, I...

I don't know if he's someone that you're just going to bank on like starting, but you know, maybe if you need like a quick fix for a year or you need some depth, that's not bad. Cause he, he had some moments for the Packers last year. Especially as Edgerton Cooper was kind of, you know, getting up to speed before he really took over. So I think that that's one.

Oh, man. Outside of that, I think Tyrell Dotson looked a little better in Miami than he did in Seattle. He did, yeah. You talk about a guy who would be on his third team in a calendar year. So that's a little scary, too. Context clues. We have talked so much about...

you know, it's getting harder to find these guys in the draft. And over time, it's going to matriculate. Through the pipeline of the free agency, right? When you start looking at free agency, like, damn, where are all the linebackers? They're not really being made like that anymore. But beggars can't be choosers, so we got to find something, right? So I'll go with Dodson, kind of, maybe, and Eric Wilson. But outside of that, you're really grasping here.

Yeah, for me, it's kind of a lot of like, oh, he did some nice things, which is like Robert Spillane for the Raiders, former Steelers. That's the one that like...

I actually think he's a pretty solid starter. I know I think he's battling injuries too. Yeah. Where's 41, which I never agree with. Camara is the only guy that's made 41 look cool. But it's, he's one that I think could be a decent, solid starting linebacker for somebody. So that, that's one that I would throw as an under the radar guy. They, someone you get for cheap. Jamie and Sherwood, apparently he's going to get paid. That was a, another name that's getting thrown out there. I think of him as a headhunter.

Yeah. Like he's kind of a kind of injures players. Like that's how I remember Sherwood, but I, he's a, he could be a tone setter. That's all those jets guys are. But I think that's another one that's interesting, you know, of this group. I wouldn't say he's good, but I thought he was interesting. He's not bad. Like it could be a viable starter. Yeah.

Kyser White, I think should just go back to Arizona. He's battled injuries and stuff. Before he got hurt last year, he was looking so good. But I don't think he's going to go anywhere. The defense coordinator, Nick Rollis, named his newborn son. His middle name is Kyser. So I don't think Kyser White's going anywhere. Again, we're talking about context clues. Yeah, I don't think he's going anywhere. And then the last one is a Badger, Jack Sanborn, who kind of, I'm surprised. I think he...

I thought he was going to, he's a restricted free agent. I thought they were going to just re-up him and they let him hit free agency, which kind of surprised me. I think he's a good starter. I like him.

And he's a 4-3 linebacker. He can do some stuff on ball as well. But he's one that I think someone could find for a cheap contract and get a starter there. He's not going to be great in coverage, but I think he's actually okay and he's good against the run. And he's a decent enough athlete. So, former Badger as well. But, yeah, Jack Sanborn, I had to throw that in there. But that's what you're doing with linebackers, man. All these guys aren't for everybody. Scheme fits aren't great. You got to see what the rest of your front seven and your back seven looks like because –

defenses are so creative now so you know now these guys are going to look like the traditional dudes um unless you look at the draft and look at jihad campbell but like these guys it's just kind of like all right squint and maybe see a starter there but a little more oh sorry i'd love to say you talk about jihad campbell um and we were talking about like positional value earlier in the show

Yeah, it becomes to me to me. It's become a scarcity thing, right? Right if I Because because because we had we had Fred and roll cron. We're gone fell off last year No, it's just Fred like at the top, you know, we're talking sustained excellence over the past handful of years at linebacker Fred's Fred's the top dog right now. So yeah, if you have one of those guys and

And like 28 teams are looking for one of those guys. That should make someone like Jihad Campbell more valuable to me. I totally get that argument.

It just seems like people haven't quite gotten there with linebackers, but we've seen for forever how a truly dominant linebacker talent can change your defense and make this a whole lot better. I saw the boost the Ravers got when they got Roquan. We talked about Fred. Guys like Luke Keekly, Patrick Willis, Bobby Wagner when he was at his peak. These are real deal game-changing talents. If there are fewer and fewer of them, you think the ones that pop up

It should be valued a little bit higher, but I don't know. I'm just a college child. I'm with you. I'm with you because it's just like Fred Warner. In baseball, they use the term replacement level, war, wins above replacement. Isn't Fred Warner above a replacement level linebacker like –

seven wins more than the middle tier linebacker. You know, so I'm right there with you. There's other positions too that kind of comes up to like even tight end, you know, and that's why the receiver argument is always like, well, I can find this guy in round three. I can find Puka Nakua in round five. I can find Chris Godwin around three. I can find these guys. They all take a top 10 pick to find our starting viable number one receiver. Like CD lamb was not the first receiver picked.

You know, A.J. Brown was a round two guy, you know, so I can find these receivers. But I'm with you on the linebacker stuff. I'm trying to gauge it, too. All right, let's go on the back end. We're going to corners. A little interesting class. Top of the class, you got D.J. Reid from the Jets, Traverius Ward from the 49ers, Russell Douglas from the Bills, Carlton Davis III from the Lions. D.J. Reid is a guy of this group I really like. I think he is fantastic.

I think he's just a very good corner. Ideally, he is your number two, like he was with the Jets opposite of sauce Gardner. But man, like if you got nobody, he could be a low end one for you. I do think that he can live in man coverage because they ran so much kind of it was a man, but there's some man rules with some of the stuff how they do. They're basically locked on the outside receiver. So yeah.

I don't want to get too deep into it, but he's a good starting corner. Again, these guys drop off a cliff once they hit 30. So that is the buyer beware always with corners is once they hit 30, hold on to your hats. So hopefully they have other aspects that can let them be a good player. But Reid is the one I think is the prize of this group, even if he is maybe ideally high, high, high and number two. Traveris Ward's interesting, but it's more –

He went through a lot of personal struggle, family stuff this last year. So just got to make sure where his headspace is because I totally understand if he's kind of just like, all right, I got to think about things. Shul Douglas, nice moments with the Bills. I like him. I think he's a solid starter. Again, these guys are creeping towards 30. And then Davis, you know what you're getting.

Feisty man coverage, a lot of penalties, tone setter on the back end. He's going to get hurt. Those are the guarantees. Feisty man coverage, penalties, going to get hurt. That's Carlton Davis. I want him on my team, but you have to know that you're going to have to have a number three to step up for him at some point in the year. So that's kind of the top end of the corner class. But what are some of your thoughts on this class, Chuck?

Man, when you said DJ Reed, I started laughing because every time I hear his name, I think about it at the end of the season. It must have been like three or four weeks left this season. He was like, man, I'm out of here. I'm done. I'm done all I can do here. Which is funny because...

Which is funny because him and Aaron Glenn are like two peas in a pod. So it's funny that now I'm getting out of here is when you finally get a coach that works for you. Hey, look at the rest of the roster, man. I understand. We're creeping towards 30. We got to get something done before it's over. The Jets are about to start from scratch again.

But yeah, I'm with you on these. He's a he's a he's like he's a low on one. Ideally a high end to when when sauce was locked in like two years ago, he was having like all caliber season like DJ was the perfect person to have across from. So yeah.

you know, even if you don't have a guy like it's still worth it to just see if you can get them just to start adding pieces to your, your cornerback room. Um, so I, I, I think he's a good fit for, for just about most teams that you, right. Cornerback. Um, yeah. Murphy's another guy. Teams have two good quarters, like four, right. You know, so yeah. Name 20 something teams. He's a good fit. Yeah. Uh, Byron Murphy, he's probably out to get paid too. Um, yeah. Uh,

Made the Pro Bowl this year. He was actually younger than I remember him being. He just turned 27. I don't know why I thought he was a little bit older than that. We talked about the Vikings defense and maybe their lack of blue-chip talent. He was definitely one of those guys that

In an ideal world, they would love to bring back. I don't know if they'll be able to figure it out financially because things have gotten a little bit tight around there. But still, it is kind of rare to see a really good quality starting outside corner firmly in the middle of their prime or hit free agency like this. Yeah.

I think he's in a really good spot to end up getting paid again this offseason. So we'll see where that goes. I would love to see him back with the Vikings defense, but I just don't know if that's actually going to happen. He's asking for 20 mil, so I don't think it's going to happen. His contract fee says 22 million valuation.

really i mean that's no it's a great shot you pro bowler last year they signed him from the cardinals as kind of a it was a risk it was a risk reward signing like they he obviously has been talented he's played outside he's playing the slot he's good man he's good in zone uh no it's a good shot i can't believe it and same at the top because murphy is a quality starting corner like he's a he could be a one uh so that no that's another guy thrown out there it's just that

Yeah, it's going to be one. You have to know the injury risk when you sign him. And then to know that he's asking for a lot of money and there's not a lot of top corners out there. So no, that's another one, especially a throw out there because he is twitchy. He's got good ball skills. And honestly, playing in an aggressive defense like that, he's had to do a lot of funky looks. So that, that also is just an appeal. And then prior to that, when he was with Arizona, same kind of thing. If you're a blitz, happy defense, he was used to that with when Vance Joseph was a defense coordinator, he was used to that stuff too. So yeah,

Good shot there. Some of the under the radar guys, Asante Samuel Jr. Who else we got in here? Mike Hilton, who's a slot for the Bengals. Really good slot player. Also a guy that usually battle injuries because he's undersized, but just good tone setter. Nate Hobbs from the Raiders.

Isaiah Rogers for the Eagles, who was their dimeback. He played one play in the Super Bowl, but it was a good play. I wanted to throw him out there. And then Paulson Adebo from the Saints. Good player, too, but battle injuries. I believe he broke his femur last year. Even worse. No, that was nasty. But yeah, I had to bring him because he's talented, too. And that's another guy. Corners is hard because it's...

I've always referenced them to pitchers and baseball. It's like, yeah, you know which guys are talented. It's like, can they stay healthy? Can they keep the production consistent? Because it's such a volatile position. All these guys are perfect for everyone. Guys, you're going to sign a guy and you'll have a drop-off year. You just want to make sure they just don't sink completely. That's just kind of how these kind of guys go. Any other under-the-radar guys that you want to throw out there? I still love your Murphy shout because I should have talked about it at the top.

I think that might be all I got as far as cornerback goes. I don't know. These guys don't hit free agency. It's hard. Yeah. If you got one of those guys, why the hell would you ever let it hit free agency? Right. Murphy hit it free agency because he kept getting hurt with the Cardinals. So that totally made sense why he kept hitting it. All right. We'll go to the back end, which is safety.

And safety is fun because safety is a lot about team fit and scheme fit and everything. So you guys can get unlocked. I remember I did a study like two years ago. I think 17 safeties got an all-pro vote.

a couple years ago, just to kind of show you how many guys can tangibly affect the game of 64 starting safeties plus guys that play the slot or dime looks. They play in the box. So the guy at the top, Javon Holland from the Dolphins, good player, probably will find some money. I don't know if they dropped the Christian Wilkins line with him that he's earned the right to test free agency, but...

but, uh, he kind of, they kind of said the same thing about him. Justin Reed for the chiefs. Who's a personal favorite, really good tackler, really smart player. Like if you're a defense, he won't go there, but like the saints could desperately need him or desperately use him replacing Tyron Matthew, which would be funny enough. Um, but to solidify your backend, a versatile defender, also really smart defender. Um, that's why spags loves them as well. I hope he goes back to the chiefs, but he has hit the market. Um,

That's a guy that I really think if you need someone to really shore up your defense and get a guy that's really cerebral, that's Justin Reed. I mean, there's a whole bunch of teams that could use a guy like this of this caliber. Shoot, the Ravens, if they want to get a guy. Justin Reed makes a ton of sense for them as well. And then Talanoa Hufanga from the 49ers battled injuries last year, came back midway through the year.

Heat-seeking missile, boom-bust safety. But again, another tone setter. Supposed to be a great dude as well. And then the last guy I want to throw in here is Jeremy Tin from Washington, who a unique skill set. I thought Washington used him perfectly last year. Plays in the box well. Versatile kind of guy. Just always around the football. Just always a good tackler. Just does a lot of things well. So safety is just a fun class. You could technically say all these guys are under the radar because I think Holland will get paid.

But other guys would kind of just be, you know, it's got to be perfect for the defense that they're going to and everything. And then Cameron Bynum from the Vikings as well. I got to throw him out there. What's your thoughts on the safety class, though, Charles, as we wrap up the defense? I actually like this class. I like it, too. And I'm going to just cut and paste everything you said about Justin Reed and staying with the same team he was with and apply it to Trevon Murrick, the safety from the Raiders. Yeah.

Great call. He's 25. He's hitting unrestricted free agency. It's funny, though, because he was a guy, I remember draft coverage-wise, he had a ton of hype coming to the league. I still think that hype has largely been justified, but the problem is

He fell into the black hole. The black hole. Yeah, it's Mark's black hole, which is something that no one's watching anymore. So I don't – because I think people maybe would be – they might be a little surprised when they see how much he gets paid in a couple weeks, how many teams are going after him because –

you know, he's, he's, I don't know how to describe it other than he just gets it. Like he's just a really good football player with a lot of football ahead of him. Patrick Graham and Moe, they've been a great fit together. And Moe is one of those guys, he can play a whole lot of different spots for you on defense, which is, you know, that really aligns with what someone like Patrick Graham and how he's going to call their defense. So I would love to see him back with the Raiders. Well,

That might be a bit strong. I would like to see him play with Patrick Gray. There you go. I hope you guys could go somewhere else other than the Raiders together. You like it a lot more? That's the best scenario. But I think he's a really good player. I don't know what their conversations are looking like with him. I would imagine they're starting to look at it a little bit like,

It's getting tight. You know, we got Wilkins, Jess Paye, Crosby. Are we going to add another big contract here when we still kind of need some help at other spots? Maybe that's to end up seeming good to another team, but, uh, that's a really good player. That's like an instant start. Uh, it's the starter, the longterm starter. Um,

And I think he's one of the better players in the free agency this year. And then the other guy, I think he's got better football than he played last year. Devon Hollins, who is like clearly on his way out the door from the Dolphins. I think reported team so far, the Panthers are one of them. I don't remember the other.

But, you know, he's a guy that can start. And if you can get back to like 2023 or even like the first half of 2024 with him before it all kind of fell apart, not just for him, but kind of the whole Dolphins defense. Yeah, that's a good player to map.

Yeah. I know it seems like the Broncos probably couldn't use one of these guys. Yeah, Panthers, I'm glad you brought that up. Chargers is another team that maybe came to mind with some of these guys too. But no, Morag, that's a great call because he did have hype and he's just been – he's actually been a good player and I feel like I'm –

It's my first time people are talking about him again in like three years because that's what happens with all these Raider guys. So no, great, great shout out there. The last guy, and then there's like Harrison Smith is out there as well. He's old. He's 35, but smart player. Then Andre Sisko from the Jags is also kind of an under the radar guy, but yeah,

Jags are kind of letting them go. Earned the right to test free agency for a reason. I just always love that phrasing. But yeah, that's it for the defensive free agents. We're going to take our last break and we're going to come back with some prospects that we've been watching this week.

We're panning for prospects here on Football 301. A little segment where we talk about a guy that we've been watching recently. And have some thoughts on. During the next month or two, we're going to have more focused positional breakdowns on this show. You know, quarterbacks, receivers, defensive players, all that good stuff. But this is where we just want to highlight one or two players because...

Chuck and I just did big boards. So we got, we want some extra credit here, but Charles, who is the first prospect? I know, man. It's like, I did all this work. I'm going to talk about these damn guys. So Charles, who's the first prospect that you panned for this week? Who you wanted to talk about? You know, I, I, I was talking to you the other day about a,

about this tight end and I was undecided on whether or not I wanted to drop the comparison for him that's been sticking in my head over the past couple of months. But then the combine happened and the numbers were so similar that I'm going to say it. I'm going to say it. Harold Fenton Jr. from Bowling Green. He led the NCAA this year in catches or was it yards? Yards.

Both? Both? Was it both? Yeah. I know. He led college football in one of those for sure. I think it was reception. You know, he's a 6'3",

quote maybe a little close to 6'2 and 7'8 you know 245 250 range run high you know you run in that you know high 4'6 low 4'7 range just like uh a former titan for the patriots who uh had his prime cut short by some horrible decisions that he made off the field uh and is no longer with us i think you can figure out who the hell i'm talking about he had his uh face plastered all over some uh

some fake Madden video game covers back in the day when Madden 25 for Life came out. Like, you know, 2013, 2014. You know, and that's where we'll stop the comparisons because I don't want to insinuate... Strictly on-field and physical with the hero...

I don't think Phil Biffin is anything like Aaron Hernandez off the field. I don't think, I think you're responsible to say anyone that I know or have even heard of. It's like Aaron Hernandez, you know, outside of their daily lives. But I do think the way that he plays a game and the way they can be deployed is kind of similar because it's just,

You know, like Harold, he's such, he's, I think he's a really good yards, yards of the catch guy. Even for someone who's not like a true burner and he's not the biggest guy, I think he's got a really good feel for what to do. Like when the ball is in his hands, I, and you know, that's kind of a,

It's it feels like a little merit to be a little ending like a little too anecdotal But I really do think that when you watch him run and you watch production you watch how Boeing didn't use to meals like oh, yeah, this is it's kind of similar to how This has to learn how the the the Patriots use Aaron Hernandez back when they had him in Gronk just like and urban Meyer and Remire - right? Yeah

I'm pretty sure I need to look at it again, but I know that Harold did touch the ball a little bit earlier

In the backfield. Yes, he did. He had some handoffs. Yeah, for his total career, he had 33 carries, 159 yards, five touchdowns. Last season, he led the NCAA in receptions and yards. So, you know, there have been some, I think, some concerns that he didn't come out and run like a blazing four or five. When you look at the size, you look at production, you're kind of expecting someone to be a lot faster than that. But for

For where he's at physically, man, he just gets a whole lot of things done on the football field. I think Hernandez was probably a little bit of a better athlete. He ran a little bit quicker in the 40, but their agility times are about dead even. Their 10-yard splits, the exact same. Body-wise, I think Harold Fennin has maybe half an inch on Aaron, but they're about the same weight. It's really kind of uncanny.

physically how they built like almost the exact same player uh and man like if you can get harold fanon on day two and just kind of get him into the system and just be like okay

But what works for us as you get used to the speed of the NFL, there's a lot of ways you can get the ball in his hands. It just brings me back to this. You don't usually have a tight end like this where you're trying to figure out how many different ways can I get the ball in his hands. But there was one guy that came to my mind. And let's just do the comparison right there.

You threw that in a group chat we're in, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's it. Because even Hernandez ran weird because they're both duck-footed. Like, you know, duck-footed feet out. And they both run that. When Kyle Shanahan came to the Falcons, they would have – so they had the coaches. I've told you the story about the Earl Thomas clips and everything. But they would have the coaches come in and say basically who's their ideal version of every position.

And Kyle Shanahan had Owen Daniels, who's actually who I compare Colson Loveland to, and Aaron Hernandez as the best kind of route runners, body control guys. And then Kyle, even at the time, was just like, hey, this is just on-field stuff, guys. I just want to show you some clips of him running like an out route. And that's kind of – I couldn't believe you brought that in because I was like, yeah, I get this. I get where you're going with this because –

Fannin's not a tight end. He's his own thing. I'm not saying like offense, a weapon or anything. He's an H-back. He's a adjuster. You know, an adjuster is the second tight end. It's the fullback. It's the off-ball guy that moves around the formation. Um,

You know that he just does a lot while he catches everything. He would just get open. Like you said, he creates some yards after the catch, even if it's not pretty through body control and his balance and everything. So that was the thing with Aaron Hernandez. He was always balanced when he ran routes. Like it was just like this wide route running. It wasn't just how you picture a route. It was his own thing. And that's kind of how fan it is. He's his own thing. So I'd love this comparison just because of what he is. I, he didn't make my top 50.

but when we update and do like top 75 fannon will make that uh uh but i just think of him as a round three goes through a creative coach you're not going to use him perfectly as an inline tight end but he's okay blocker actually but you just use him in his own way and i think he could be a fun 25 30 snap guy for you and just be like a fun role player like a super role player for somebody that knows how to use him creatively i keep picturing him with a shanahan offense

and not using them as like a true fullback, but basically in that fullback, Alec Engold, Kyle Juszczyk kind of role where you kind of just do a little bit of everything. So that's kind of how I picture them anyways. I was stuck.

That was one of the last cuts I made because I really do like his game. I really do. I do too. He's just unique. It's so weird. Just to be clear, because there's a lot of praise here going on. I think the way we're talking about it, you may think we have him ranked a little bit higher. I got a little questions about how did you end up at Bowling Green, man? That too. Production in Ohio.

Yeah. Why did you transfer anywhere after a sophomore year? Great. Yeah, no, sorry. I keep cutting you off. Right. Because you look at his stats page. This was not the first year. This is not the first good year we had. As a sophomore, 623 yards, another 41 yards on the ground, six touchdowns.

at Bowling Green as a sophomore, I know you had someone calling you, man. Someone saying, here's a little NIL money if you want to come get it. But stayed at Bowling Green for years and just absolutely blacked out last year. So maybe there's a couple of questions about that. But man, I really think he's a good football player. And he'll be in the 50s for sure when we drop that top three five.

I'm glad you talked about him because he's worth talking about because he's just such a fun player. It's hard. Hernandez was a unique player too. That's why Hernandez went in the fourth round. 113th overall. You're bringing up the backfield stuff because of how McDaniels and O'Brien used them really creatively. Put them in the backfield, give them tosses and stuff. It was cool stuff. Good comparison. I'm glad you threw that out there. I'm going to go with my next one. We'll snake draft it. Jalen Knoll.

Iowa State, not Noel, Noel, which is going to bug me for the next 10 years if I watch this guy, Jalen Noel. Iowa State has two, yeah, it should be Noel, right? I know, but then I listen to every commentator, everything, it was Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel. I know, so there we go. But Jalen Noel,

receiver, Iowa State. He has a teammate, Jaden Higgins from Iowa State. If you watch these two and if you know anything about how I evaluate guys, you would think that I would prefer Higgins. Higgins is the former basketball player. He's a dunk artist. He's all that. Knoll, though, is measuring at 5'10". Probably going to play around 190-something pounds.

There's just something to this guy. He is, I think, ideally how he gets used in the NFL would be almost like Christian Kirk slot vertical intermediate guy. But this guy is a better returner. This guy does a lot of the in-between stuff better than Christian Kirk. And that's why I really like him. I snuck him into my top 50, which I actually even surprised me.

He's now right now receiver five on my big board. Probably maybe we'll end up there. We'll see. But this is a guy that I think just does a lot. Well, he's a good route runner. His body controls is really good and stands out. His hands are really good. He doesn't have long arms. He has sub 30 inch arms. So that's a little bit of a red flag for me.

But he has such good hand-eye coordination, such good body control that he can extend as long as those 29 and three-quarter inch arms can go and just snag everything. He's better on deep balls and better on 50-50 catches than Higgins, who is the former basketball player and four inches taller, five inches taller. And that's what really stood out to me. And he's a really good blocker. So that's another difference with him and a guy like Christian Kirk, where

where he can do the vertical, do the intermediate stuff, can create a little bit of yards after the catch. He's good at punt returner, good at kick returning. But on top of it, he does the dirty work, which is a prerequisite nowadays in the NFL. You can't just hide these little 5'10", 5'11", slot guys anymore. You just can't do it. You need these guys to get dirty and do stuff, and he can. I want to see, I would say one blemish is how he does against press and maybe outside all the time. But I don't know. When I saw clips of him against press, he was winning.

So maybe not as worried. I'm not as worried about that as maybe I thought going in. But I really like this guy. I think ideally he's a number two. He runs a little bit like Roman Wilson last year from Michigan that the Steelers drafted in round three. Kind of has that movement and catching ability. But he's got some juice. He tested really well, which matches the eye test. He's got some real burst yards after the catch.

as well. That's why he's a good returner. I think he's a smart player as well. Just a guy that does a lot well and checks a lot of boxes that I think he could be a really good secondary pass catcher for somebody do all the in-between stuff. So I want to give Jalen Knoll, not Noel, Knoll, a little shout here from Iowa State. Top 50 player for me right now. We'll see about that. We'll see about that. It might be Noel. I don't know. I might just keep calling him Noel.

It's bugging me. But I watched, so I even went back and watched like game commentary because I was just like, all right, how is it? It's Noel. Like every commentary saying Noel. So whatever. So we'll see Noel. I think you're going to say, we'll see about that, about my evaluation of them, that you hated them or something. You know, my brain goes into bit mode. Sometimes I was thinking, let that dude catch on Christmas. You're never going to. Yeah.

But no, so just to give you a combine stuff. So he measured at 5'10", 194. So I like my guys to be at least 190. So he cuts that off right there. Or he makes that threshold right there. Ran a 4'3", 9 to 40. Not everything, but he plays like a 4'4", 4 guy, 4'4", 5 guy. Good 10 yards split. Had a 41-inch jump, 41 and a half, 11 too broad. He

He did the three cone at 6'8". He did 23 reps on the bench. So he tested really well, and he plays that way too. You better get 20-something reps if you have tiny arms, by the way, or short arms, by the way. But Jalen Noel, got to give him a shout. But let's wrap it up. You got one more guy here, Charles. We're supposed to do one, but we each did two. Who is your second guy that you wanted to talk about? Jackson Dart from Ole Miss. I don't want to be mean.

I don't want to be mean to Jackson. You're in a safe space. Yeah, I don't have a problem being mean to other people. But the players, Jackson did not put himself number three in a mock draft to the Giants. Jackson didn't. He did not. I should direct my ire to someone who actually did that. And it's placing those, what I would call

flatly unreasonable and unfair expectations of him to be one of the... Did he draft him before Travis Hunter? What?

Like what? I thought like Campbell Stewart. Yeah, Abdul Carter, Will Campbell, Van Bouw, Pet, Will Johnson. All of them. Mason Graham. All of them. All of them. Harold Fannin. Harold Fannin.

That one was me. But man, I've seen people, especially since the Senior Bowl kicked off, really just pumping up Jackson Dart. And it's just one of those things to me where

dude i i watched so much college football like every saturday much the chagrin of some of my loved ones i'm locked in like and sec you're focused on the sec too yeah so and sec yeah live sec um i at no point at no point during the the season was anyone talking about him like this you know because um you know we talk about draft stuff or dane brugler stuff during the season

At no point was anyone saying that this guy's a franchise quarterback prospect. And then he comes out, and all of a sudden we're just propping him up to be his first-round pick. And not just a first-round pick, like potentially, you know, depending on who you talk to, a top 10, top 5, top 3 pick in the upcoming draft. And so this week, when I was on the manic draft board run,

yeah and we're finally in the top 50. i'm like do i need to put this guy there and i just like i ran through i ran through like a couple quarters of a game real quick just like refresh my memory like no not really um as like a developmental guy like in like round four maybe right i think he's okay to take the chance there but from i would say from an accuracy standpoint

From what kind of offense is he running standpoint? From a decision-making standpoint? Like, you are starting from scratch down here. And I just find it interesting that he's kind of been propped up as, like, the super talented, polished quarterback prospect when it's just not really the case. It's also, you know, because Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss head coach, play caller, football journeyman, he's known as an offensive guy.

uh and he gets a lot of uh you know reverence for some of the production he's had calling plays but he's not he's not putting quarterbacks to the nfl like that's not lane might tweet that that's what he cares about to get recruits i've seen him tweet about it before that you know we're trying to get quarterbacks to the nfl and train pro prospects but then you watch the game you watch them call plays no you're not

You're trying to score as many points as you possibly can, however you can. Lane will go to the alternate part of the dictionary to find some cheese play that no one's ever seen before and then run it one time and you get an 80-yard touchdown, but it's nothing that translates anywhere to the NFL. And it's fun. When you're watching on Saturday, it's just like a college football game

and you're just here to be entertained for a few hours and watch the game, I love it. It's awesome. It's funny. You've got guys streaking wide open. They're running shot plays. They're throwing it deep. They're scoring touchdowns. It's fun. And then you get into points where you have to throw it all away. And we've talked about before, the end of the Florida game.

When you're in multiple... Because in my brain, when I remember watching it, it was just like one drive that stuck out to me. But if you go back and watch the whole second half, when they get into those tight spots, when they get to those tight spots and they really have to...

gut it out. Okay, we can't cheese them. We can't trick them. We're going to have to just steady running offense and try to set things up so we can hit it later in the fourth quarter when we need a big play. They couldn't do it. And part of that was to Dart's accuracy problem and his decision-making problem. And then you get to the final drive where they need a touchdown basically to save their season. They need a drive to save their season, save their playoff hope. Man, he could have thrown four interceptions on one drive. Yeah.

And to me, those are the moments that you're looking for in a quarterback. Correct. Not second quarter, open field from the minus 30, where we still got 70 yards to go for a touchdown. You can call whatever the hell you want. That's the lanes at its best. But when you got to stick with the plan, stick with the program. Situational, high leverage, yes. High leverage downs, it's bad.

So I just can't understand this. I will say this. I do think he's a more talented player than Matt Corral was. Yes. I agree. But you're dealing with the same baseline in terms of how far you have to get to be a starting quarterback. I just can't understand how it's a first-round pick. Yeah, that's where I'm at with him. Yeah, I have a late third or early fourth grade on him. But he...

I'm good with it. Nothing's going to sway me off of that. I don't care how much people are hyping him up. I'm more comfortable taking him in round four than I am on day two or even round one. I know he's young, and I know that's the argument for him, but it's also one of these things where you have to show some feel to

And there's a lot of stuff where his eyes are very locked in. And again, this is, we could come down to some of the coaching and some of what they do there. But then there's also times where it's like, Hey, I know you can go one to two here and he'll kind of go one and done and then scramble. Um, his timing is off. Like he takes an extra second to get rid of the ball. Sometimes, sometimes that's because of read routes that they do, but sometimes that's

just kind of how he throws. And I remember how this, how he threw at USC. So I'm not shocked that he's kind of does it the same way operates the same way. He's got a live arm. He's a good athlete. He's got plenty of size, totally get all that. And he's young. So totally get all those arguments for it. But to me, that screams a dark throw, uh,

after pick 80, not a guy you take top 10, top 15, top 20, top 30, top 40. Because if you do that, you're anointing him. And this is not a guy that's like, oh man, I would want my fan base just going right away. He's going to be ready because even if he has tools and stuff, there's still a lot that he needs to work on. I come back to the senior bowl where anytime he had to go under center and take a snap, he couldn't do it.

Like you couldn't even get the snap. And again, I'm not going to damn a guy just because of one week where he couldn't get a snap with a new center, but other guys could do it, you know? And if this, you know, that's the thing about being around one quarterback and why I'm maybe so hard on some of my grades is you got to wake up and do it. You got to throw a patent, go to a receiver or throw out the combine to receivers. You've never worked with and better throw on the money because that's what the good ones do. And I will say this dart had a good throwing day at the combine.

Also giving himself the laces every snap. So, you know, he's snapping it to himself. But he did. He had a good combine throwing day. It's routes on air and everything. But he did with timing stuff. Senior Bowl, I was very unimpressed. And I was just like you. When I saw some hype happen in January and I talked to Dane on this show about it, Dane Brugler.

I was like, Hey, I'm still around four with this guy. And he kind of like nodded and said, Oh yeah, kind of the same. He's a little higher, but kind of sees it the same way. Went back and watched a couple more games. I'm like, yeah, this is what I saw all year. When I watched this guy that he has tools, but I don't think his feel for the position. It's very natural. I think that's maybe what I come to. And it's like, could you teach that? Maybe, maybe.

I'm not going to take that risk, though. That's why I'm higher on a guy like Leonard, Riley Leonard, than other people is I think his feel for the position is better than he gets credit for. And he's just and he's a really good athlete. So I'm glad he brought Dart up. He's a guy that

this QB class, this whole draft class, there's lack of consensus all the way. And so we're going to have a lot of these quarterback discussions about like, really? You like that guy? But dart is one that I've seen a lot of hype with. I'm like, yeah, he has tools, but the man, there's a lot that you have to work with with this guy. And it just wasn't, the tape wasn't as clean as I think it's going to made out to be. So yeah,

I'm right there with you on that. I'll be writing about these quarterbacks pretty soon, so just wait for that. Yeah. I'll wrap up with my last guy, and this will be quick because the running back class is awesome. As of right now, I have...

I had six running backs to make my top 50, which is a little rich. But I had six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven guys that I think could be majority share guys in a backfield, meaning they could be the primary running back in a backfield, either the ace alpha or share a backfield. But this is Dylan Sampson, running back Tennessee. Just missed my top 50. I could have squeezed him in there. I might bump him over Trayvon Henderson because, man, Sampson.

He's only 200 pounds. He was at 200 pounds. This dude is a running back. This dude's got vision. He's got balance. He's got some good burst to him as well. I'm kind of trying to figure out the exact style. There's some Devontae Freeman there, but I think Samson's got a little... He's not...

He doesn't take as many hits as Devante did. And I actually like that. Samson's not usually my preferred back. I like my guys a little bigger, weird. I like all my positional value guys with size and everything. But he plays like a big back without taking the hits. He doesn't take a lot of square on big shots. He knows how to kind of manage those. Wayne Gretzky it a little bit and absorb hits or work to the outside.

But this dude, the term I keep coming back to is efficient mover. This guy has no fat in his footwork. This guy has no fat with his tempos, no fat with his vision. If he needs to cut, he cuts perfectly. He anticipates when to cut. Yeah, really, really like this guy. I think this guy, I think Sampson is...

I mean, I essentially have a late second, early third round grade on him. Like I do with a whole bunch of other backs in this class. I really liked Dylan Sampson. So I wanted to give him a shout out because this is a really good, really good running back and a really good running back class. So also one sec player of the year. So if you, it's not just an eye testing, this is a production thing too, by the way, Tennessee's offense can get shot to Mars because that is, that is, it's, it's,

it's it's no it's a crime against football it's it really is it's and honestly i feel bad you know the the quarterbacks in it uh sorry i'm erasing my notes on my little whiteboard here and i wrote heineke and i must have been talking i must have been wanting to sit i'm jackson dart yeah so yeah he's a he's a heineke he's a heineke plus um but no uh

But it's just watching that offense and then Nino. Nino, right? Yeah, Nino. I can't remember. Nino I. Niko. Niko. Niko. That's right. Nino. Niko I. Yeah. Yeah. Niko. God, he's got some talent. I know people are – he's really hyped up. But he – God, he's got work throwing under pressure.

Any sign of pressure sends him just skid skidding downfield. It's bad. So he's young. So but he does have some talent. But, you know, for next year's quarterback class, I just want to mention him, too. I remember what two years ago now, I people a lot of people ask me, like, why don't you care about hitting the hooker? I mean, do this offense. It functionally cannot exist in the NFL. Like literally, it cannot be a hash mark.

Like, if you have college football, 25, literally just go line up, go into a game and flip to the Tennessee playbook. It's ridiculous. Like, you have to zoom out the camera so far just to see everyone on the field. Because if you're, like, on the right hash, your left most receiver could be standing all the way to the sideline on the inside of the field. You know, it's like, what, 35-yard distance from, like,

Balls like the close like the first receiver away from you. That's ridiculous. Like I is USF. I Yeah, I Watch them throw a bubble screen 32 yards across the field that got tackled for minus one. I'm like dude, I

That should be illegal. That ball should be picked off every single time. Every single time. You're going to throw a ball that far horizontally? Come on now. It's not good for the sport. It's not good for the sport. It's not. The play that got me sent me, and this will wrap it up on crapping on the Tennessee offense, is the...

It was a they're playing Oklahoma and Oklahoma runs a three down front, true three down front, no offensive outside linebackers on the ball. So it's a truly three down three guys down there. They had five players in the box because of just how soft on third and one. I'm sorry. I'm first in ten five players in the box. Tennessee had nine players in the box. They just had two split out receivers. They had seven blockers plus the quarterback and there's in the running back.

with a running quarterback. You know, Nico is a running quarterback as well. And then they run an RPO, but it's not an RPO where the quarterback is reading anything in the box or any defender. He's just reading off coverage on the outside. So even though they had seven blockers plus a running quarterback, so it's called seven and a half against five defenders in the box, Nico throws the hitch route and goes for like a 70-yard gain.

Just hand the ball off. You got like I get when you throw a hitch and everything, those are called advantage reads like, OK, or gimme reads. Hey, if you got to give me out there, those were invented originally invented because those aren't true RPOs to me. Those are called package plays to me. But that's a whole that's a whole nother discussion.

Those plays were invented when you have a dude on the outside. When you have Randy Moss, Devontae Adams, Andre Johnson, T.O. I'm thinking of these guys back from the early aughts when these started becoming popular. That's why you threw them. Our best player is our receiver. This is how we get them the ball. Not to just throw it to...

sophomore here. If you, the number count is all that matters. And so you're not teaching the quarterback where the true advantage is because they have to treat, you know, actually learn what the box count is. What are the good looks? That's the next step quarterback play. But I just, that's one of those things where it's like, I know on a whiteboard or blackboard, you know, chalkboard, I know on the, when you're going over these plays, why you throw that, the gimme advantage read, but man, you got to look at the box too. You got to understand number count. Yeah.

and understand that we have seven and they have five. Seven on seven is amazing. Seven on seven is what you want as an offense. Seven on six is ideal. Seven on five and you throw the ball. We're going to get a touchdown. Oh, my God. Sorry. I'm sorry.

I tweeted it, and it got like five likes because I was like, yeah, get off my lawn. But yeah, I just had to mention that with Tennessee offense. But still like Dylan Sampson as a late round two, round three running back. I think he's a very good player. We are closing it out today at their free agency. A little draft talk at the end there. We'll be back on Monday, me and Matt, to preview free agency for offense.

because next week it's free agency which is a lot of fun and then we'll recap the first week of free agency and the next week i am nate tice you can find me at nate underscore tice that is charles mcdonald where can they find you charles you can find me on blue sky four verts uh yeah just check out the work we did uh last week please combine um

Check out our big boards. Mock drafts. I think the combined one's coming out soon. So yeah, we got a lot of stuff coming all from now through the end of the draft. It's kind of cool though because I've had my friends tell me they'll be scrolling Apple News and they'll click on some Yahoo stuff and they'll see us on the videos on the website. Like, oh yeah, people actually see what we're doing. I know. My brother-in-law. Where I click on the computer and it's over.

My brother-in-law was like realizing what I did for a line of work when he was updating his fantasy team. And he was just like, Oh, I was like, yeah, yeah. Yahoo. That's how it works. But yeah. But yeah, make sure you check out our big boards. We each did a top 50. We'll have a consensus board at the end of the week. Kind of that.

averaging those out. And then we'll have a top 75 next month. We'll be updating that after some pro days get in there. Also, we'll be getting to some mailbag questions on top of this prospect panning that we do at the end of the shows. So send those questions to football301mailbag at yahoosports.com or leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts to jump the line. I see a couple of those got in there recently. Subscribe to us.

Follow us. Rate us. Five stars, hopefully. Or watch us on YouTube and watch us on YouTube. I should say you can listen to podcasts or you can do visual. You can do both. We'd appreciate it. Watch us on YouTube on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for all you guys do. Thank you to everyone for listening. Enjoy your weekend. See you guys next time.