Transcript
Speaker: Welcome everybody in to another episode of Warm Weather Fans, the Sunbelt podcast.
Speaker: It is NFL draft season.
Speaker: We thought that we would do sort of a special edition episode of the podcast where we would talk about players coming out for the draft from the Sunbelt that we covered, you know, this past year, going back a couple years, you know, all of that sort of stuff.
Speaker: So a little bit of a special edition.
Speaker: Just want to start off.
Speaker: I'm your host, Brian Stone, joined by Matt Miguez and Zeke Palermo.
Speaker: Want to kick it over to Matt and then Zeke.
Speaker: How's it been going?
Speaker: Long time no speak.
Speaker: Matt, how's it going?
Speaker: And it's been good.
Speaker: Busy time of the year right now.
Speaker: You know, basketball just finished up a couple weeks ago.
Speaker: Now you've got spring football mixed in with baseball and softball.
Speaker: A very busy time in the world of sports.
Speaker: And then also the NBA playoffs, getting set for the NFL draft.
Speaker: You know, it's starting to get to that time of the year.
Speaker: But this is fun.
Speaker: And really excited to start talking about some potential Sunbelt players that are
Speaker: They're going to be entering the NFL draft.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: And Zeke, how have things been since the end of football season, since we last spoke?
Speaker: Things are pretty good so far.
Speaker: I graduate college in like three weeks.
Speaker: I'm real pumped for that.
Speaker: I've joined the men's soccer league, playing some real Sunday league football.
Speaker: Life is good so far.
Speaker: We were talking before the pod, you know,
Speaker: As anyone does with small talk about weather, the pollen is kicking my ass for the first time in my life.
Speaker: I've never been a pollen allergy guy, but it's really getting to me this year.
Speaker: But other than that, all things considered, it's been a good time.
Speaker: Just depraved of our weekly discussions, which has been a struggle.
Speaker: Zeke, before we move forward, can I guess that you play left midfield?
Speaker: That's a solid guess.
Speaker: Brian, do you care to venture a guess as well?
Speaker: I don't know anything about soccer.
Speaker: That's fine.
Speaker: I don't know if you can see hanging up on my wall is a pair of dirt-stained pants, mud-stained pants, mind you.
Speaker: I'm a goalkeeper.
Speaker: He's a keeper!
Speaker: I'm a goalkeeper.
Speaker: Not a good one.
Speaker: I played a year of JV.
Speaker: At this point, it was eight years ago, so let's not act like I'm anything special, but...
Speaker: Those are my pants over there, and they – you'd think I've been through combat, active duty.
Speaker: A lot of goals get scored past those pants.
Speaker: Quite a few.
Speaker: Time on its top.
Speaker: Only five.
Speaker: Only five this week.
Speaker: It was a respectable five.
Speaker: Sweet!
Speaker: Five.
Speaker: Damn, that goal's like 7-11.
Speaker: It's always open.
Speaker: Anyway, so before we jump into the prospects that we like, I actually had a topic that was, I don't know how close you guys followed this, but this was pretty spicy around transfer season at the end of the year.
Speaker: And I don't really want to wait three months to talk about this with you guys.
Speaker: We'll bring it up again when we talk about team previews.
Speaker: Can we talk a little bit before we jump into the players about how Texas State absolutely played with fire at the quarterback position and they ended up better for it?
Speaker: Like that whole story about TJ Finley and they bring in the Arizona transfer and TJ Finley's like, what the hell?
Speaker: And he transfers to Western Kentucky and then the Arizona transfer leaves as well.
Speaker: So they were looking down the barrel of having some guy play quarterback for them this coming year.
Speaker: And lo and behold, Jordan McLeod just falls into their lap, still coming off of the season he had at JMU.
Speaker: That was one of the craziest quarterback musical chairs I think I've ever seen because Texas State was very close to just having to start somebody.
Speaker: No one knew who it was going to be.
Speaker: It's the power of having a good coach, right?
Speaker: DJ Kinney comes in, completely flips Texas State's football program 180, makes them a competitor.
Speaker: And then when you have a guy like Jordan McLeod, who won the Offensive Player of the Year in the Sunbelt Conference, and, you know, Cignetti departs.
Speaker: He leaves James Madison for the Indiana job.
Speaker: And Jordan McLeod's like, okay, well,
Speaker: I don't really want to stay with a new coach.
Speaker: Let me venture somewhere else.
Speaker: And you're looking around for somewhere to go, and you go, man, San Marcos looks like fun right now.
Speaker: They need somebody.
Speaker: It's a perfect fit.
Speaker: And where it starts is having that young, solid head coach like Kenny sets a precedent and sets a culture for your football program.
Speaker: That's going to bring guys like Jordan McLeod and, you know, people of that caliber, your top players in the conference to come to your program and keep you competitive.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Things looked really bleak for Texas state for about what week.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think, I think it was, I think there was a week between the two events happening.
Speaker: I remember having a conversation with, with some of my colleagues, like, man, what's Texas state going to do?
Speaker: They went from being competitive to don't have a quarterback.
Speaker: Then I see the news that Jordan McLeod transferred and you're like, oh, okay.
Speaker: They're going to be fine.
Speaker: It also... The whole dynamic with...
Speaker: Finley transferring out made me also wonder, and we'll never know this, if there was like some sort of personality clash between him and Kenny.
Speaker: Because if you remember, at the end of last season, it got weird between them.
Speaker: Like, there was that game where he played the first half and they were like,
Speaker: down but not like totally totally out of it and they just benched him for seemingly no reason and his stats weren't awful i mean we've seen worse guys in the sunbelt this past season finish games
Speaker: for seemingly coaches that are just like, well, I don't know.
Speaker: We don't have another option behind them.
Speaker: And for that, for them to just be like, no, let's just staple Finley to the bench for the second half of this game was just weird.
Speaker: And then it got kind of weird later where like,
Speaker: People were asking Kenny, like, why did you do that?
Speaker: And he was just clearly, like, not answering the question.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: It made me wonder if there was something more to that than just on the field play because he had been good up until that point and just kind of had a run-of-the-mill first half.
Speaker: Like, I don't know.
Speaker: That whole thing got strange toward the end of last year, but they've made out better for it.
Speaker: So, you know, power to them, I guess.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So let's go ahead and jump into our prospects that we want to talk about for the upcoming NFL draft.
Speaker: These are some players that we've kind of singled out and chosen three apiece to kind of present our case and discuss why we think they are eligible to be day two, day three picks.
Speaker: Even priority free agents, we've seen guys come out of the Sun Belt as...
Speaker: you know, undrafted free agents, but, you know, you end up with the right team in the right situation, and it all kind of works out for you.
Speaker: So, since he didn't really say anything on the TJ Finley topic, I'm going to let Zeke make his case for his first player, and then we'll kind of kick around any thoughts that Matt and I have.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: My first guy that I want to give to y'all is...
Speaker: an absolute beast physically.
Speaker: He's six foot four.
Speaker: He catches every ball in his radius.
Speaker: It's Sam Pinckney from Coastal Carolina.
Speaker: He spent some time at Georgia State.
Speaker: I got to watch him a lot there.
Speaker: But then he thrived in two different offensive systems at Coastal under Beck and Chadwell.
Speaker: I think he is, for one, at his size, you can't really overlook a guy like him.
Speaker: He had a
Speaker: Kind of poor pro day, but there may be some lingering knee issues that he's been dealing with.
Speaker: I really like him.
Speaker: He had a catch in 58, I believe, straight college games, which is a NCAA record at all levels.
Speaker: My only case for him not getting drafted, I think, in the top half of day three is that this is a very rich wide receiver class.
Speaker: which makes it difficult.
Speaker: However, there's kind of two sides to that.
Speaker: For one, because it's rich, all the teams that need wide receivers might already have gotten their guy and not be willing to take some sort of risk with Pinckney late in the draft.
Speaker: The other side of that is because it's so deep,
Speaker: there's going to be a ton of guys in that round four, round five, round six range that Pinckney, I think, sits in, where if a team really likes him, they can just go draft him.
Speaker: Again, I think his biggest ability is that he can catch any ball that's thrown near him.
Speaker: Again, the knee injury scares me, and I think even though he can catch every ball, he doesn't.
Speaker: I saw this a lot when he was with Georgia State.
Speaker: There were just times where
Speaker: you really felt he could have caught balls that he ended up dropping or not getting a hand to.
Speaker: But he's the first guy I want y'all to kind of talk about because I think he's the best Sunbelt wide receiver in this draft class.
Speaker: So from Pinckney's perspective, I feel like he was just, he produced in spite of the kind of uncertain quarterback situation that he had to deal with at Coastal because Grayson McCall at the end of last year gets injured.
Speaker: I believe he had a really bad concussion and sat out, I think like what, the last four or five games of the season?
Speaker: And he still finished with over a thousand yards.
Speaker: He had eight touchdowns.
Speaker: Um, yeah, I, I, I think the poor pro day may be, would you say poor pro day, right?
Speaker: Or calm?
Speaker: Uh, yeah, he had a, well, he had a really good bench press that I think would have been second among wide receivers in this class, but he, I don't think he ran a 40.
Speaker: He did the two jumping drills, but I, again, I believe that's
Speaker: From what I understand is – I can't confirm this, but I've seen reports that he had a knee injury, and he's had knee issues in the past.
Speaker: So I think it – again, his poor pro day may just have been a factor of injury.
Speaker: I think his 40-time, I guess, lack thereof would be the one thing that concerns me.
Speaker: Because we've seen a lot of guys, and you could say at every level of football, but you can especially say the Sun Belt, who have the size...
Speaker: that you kind of look for in a prototypical, like, ex-outside receiver, but they're just not... They're not fast or athletic enough, and that would be my one concern in kind of tandem with the knee injury and if there's any sort of lingering effects there.
Speaker: But on the plus side for him, like you said, it is a rich receiver draft, but I think that means that teams that go receiver early and take, like, a...
Speaker: who they project to sort of be a star might be double or triple dipping at the position just because of the amount of depth that we see.
Speaker: And, you know, the NFL is as pass heavy as it's ever been.
Speaker: So, you know, depth at those spots are so, so important.
Speaker: So we'll, we'll have to see how kind of that goes.
Speaker: He did run a 40.
Speaker: He ran a four, seven, six, which is not good.
Speaker: It's not good.
Speaker: If you're running that on injury, I'm willing to pass it, but you need a better time before the draft comes up.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree with Brian.
Speaker: I think that's one thing that kind of hurts him.
Speaker: Another thing is if you watch his tape, two things that stood out to me, and Zeke, you kind of alluded to this.
Speaker: There were a couple instances where he dropped passes that he really shouldn't have.
Speaker: which is going to be a concern for NFL guys, right?
Speaker: In the college game, if you end up catching 58 balls for over 1,000 yards, they're going to be like, oh, well, you know, he's still produced.
Speaker: Who cares about those couple of drops?
Speaker: But in the NFL, a GM is going to look at that and go, oh, I can't depend on you in the middle of the field, which is a concern.
Speaker: How big of a concern, you know, that just kind of depends on the team.
Speaker: The other thing that stood out to me when I watched his film,
Speaker: His route tree is very limited.
Speaker: And those guys typically don't do very well in the league, right?
Speaker: He didn't show a whole lot of short to intermediate.
Speaker: Obviously, with his height as an advantage, Coastal and Georgia State went a lot of, you know, 50-50 balls in the air that Pickney was able to bring down.
Speaker: And, you know, that worked.
Speaker: That's not the NFL's game.
Speaker: A guy like Michael Thomas made those plays in college at Ohio State, and then he gets to the NFL and he made $100 million by being a quote-unquote slant boy.
Speaker: Just run right over the middle of the field and get 10 yards a pop.
Speaker: And I'm just concerned that Pickney won't be able to do that in the league.
Speaker: I think he is an undrafted free agent, but like we talked about off the top, undrafted free agents have proven to have success if you get into the right system.
Speaker: Um, so I think for pickening, I think you just work on the speed, work on the hands and hopefully you can, you can find a good fit in the league.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So Matt, do you want to kind of introduce your next, uh, your guy, first guy here?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I'm going to start off with the, with the softball for me.
Speaker: And then that is Louisiana offensive tackle, Nathan Thomas.
Speaker: Uh, just a freak human, right?
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: I forget exactly, I'm going to look it up real quick, his draft day or his pro day measurables.
Speaker: But, you know, the thing that I want to spend a majority of the time on with Nathan Thomas is his ability to play through the craziest injuries.
Speaker: So, obviously, you know, him playing for the Louisiana Reeducations, I covered him his entire college career.
Speaker: And this year in particular, I can't tell you how many times, if you've ever been to Cajun Field, the playing surface is below sea level.
Speaker: It dips.
Speaker: So for the teams to get to the locker room, the tunnel is uphill.
Speaker: And I can't tell you how many times this season that Nathan Thomas either needed crutches to get to the top or a cart, but yet managed to play four quarters.
Speaker: The toughness that the guy possesses at 6'4", 320 pounds, I believe, 332.
Speaker: Look, he's a good athlete.
Speaker: He's got good footwork.
Speaker: I think he's a guy that could sneak in early day three, maybe late round four, early round five, depending on how the offensive tackle draft goes.
Speaker: Because again,
Speaker: similar to the receivers, very deep in this draft of the offensive tackle spot.
Speaker: So it's one of those things where he could be a fourth-round pick.
Speaker: He could not get drafted at all.
Speaker: It's a wide range there.
Speaker: But his toughness and his athletic ability, I think, make him a guy that, again, in the right system with the right group of coaches,
Speaker: He could really be a project piece.
Speaker: And after two years of development, you could see him being a rotational guy, if not a starter in the NFL.
Speaker: I think for me, first of all, I don't have a lot to say because I can't scout offensive line play for crap.
Speaker: Like I know, I know nothing like about the technique that you're looking for, you know, any of that type of stuff.
Speaker: So I'm going to kind of,
Speaker: push my chips toward the center of the table and be like, I'm good.
Speaker: Like, I don't really have a lot to say.
Speaker: I will say this.
Speaker: The difference to me in the offensive tackle class that we have and the wide receiver class that we have is
Speaker: The receiver class seems to be, we have our guys at the top, but then you've got guys that are kind of just one tier below all the way down.
Speaker: And with the tackle class, from what I've seen, it seems to be kind of Joe Alt, Fashanu at the top.
Speaker: And then it's just sort of, no one really knows where everybody else is going to fall.
Speaker: Like, you know, Amarius Mims, for example, coming from Georgia,
Speaker: Physical, just an absolute specimen at the offensive tackle position.
Speaker: I think he played like six games for for UGA like he was injured all the time.
Speaker: So it's just like you never know that he could be the best tackle in the entire class when all is said and done at the at the right tackle spot.
Speaker: He could never play a pro game because of injuries and stuff like that.
Speaker: Like there, there's no way to tell.
Speaker: So I think that actually plays in your guys' favor, Matt, because it seems to be, okay, we have these two diamonds at the very top and then everybody else is just sort of like, I don't know.
Speaker: Can he kind of slide in at guard sometimes if we need him?
Speaker: Like there, there aren't like, you know, for me in the first round, I,
Speaker: there's at minimum three franchise wide receivers, maybe more.
Speaker: It depends what your take on Brian Thomas and all those guys is.
Speaker: But at the tackle class, it's kind of like
Speaker: Yeah, if we don't get Joe Wall, we might not draft the tackle in the first round.
Speaker: And as far as the other guys go, again, it's like you've got the guy from BYU.
Speaker: He's good, but again, he played at BYU.
Speaker: We've seen guys at BYU look amazing, and then they don't produce at the NFL level.
Speaker: Zach Wilson comes to mind.
Speaker: But then you also have guys like Fred Warner come out and you're like, oh, wow, how did nobody see this coming?
Speaker: So it's just the rest of it is all over the place.
Speaker: But again, as far as technique and all that stuff goes, I'm throwing my hands up.
Speaker: I'm smart enough to say what I don't know something.
Speaker: So I'm kind of recusing myself on that one.
Speaker: I don't know the first thing about offensive line technique either.
Speaker: I'm going to bring up another tackle later that I like more.
Speaker: Don't let the guy pass you.
Speaker: But something I really like about Nathan Thomas, I have no idea what you just said.
Speaker: He said, don't let anything pass you.
Speaker: I mean, yeah.
Speaker: Something I like about Nathan Thomas is that he doesn't have a ton of experience.
Speaker: And this is, hear me, as compared to the tackle that I'm going to bring up later, my guy, I don't want to spoil it, has five years of starting.
Speaker: That's five years of 13 games.
Speaker: at a position that while their lifespan lets these guys get up to 35, 36, and still produce at an NFL level, the tread on offensive linemen is unmatched in any other sport.
Speaker: And I appreciate the freshness that Nathan Thomas has.
Speaker: Again, like Brian, I don't know the first thing about his technique.
Speaker: He looked good.
Speaker: It seems like the pro scouts like him.
Speaker: I like that about him.
Speaker: But what I like most about him and probably more than the guy I'm going to bring up later is that he doesn't have as much tread on those tires.
Speaker: And while I can't speak to Matt's point about getting carted up the hill, he hasn't had a significant injury history, which, again, at offensive line, if you're healthy, that's the biggest thing for me.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe he can fit in, you know, sort of as like a swing tackle or a depth piece for a team and kind of slide in as needed.
Speaker: You know, there's no... Typically, with offensive tackle, I think you guys would agree, you can kind of name the guys that were all, you know, franchise left tackles that weren't drafted in the first round.
Speaker: Like, that list, I feel like, is...
Speaker: relatively short over time, you usually don't find like diamonds in the rough at the offensive tackle position.
Speaker: Like you, you might occasionally slide a guy in and be like, wow, he's way better than expected.
Speaker: But typically those guys are in like the top 15 of the draft because it's always emphasized how important of a position it is.
Speaker: So we'll, we'll kind of see what happens happens with him.
Speaker: Um, so I want to go ahead and get into my first guy.
Speaker: Uh, I'm going to go, uh,
Speaker: Micah Abraham corner out of Marshall.
Speaker: Uh, I had a couple stats that I wanted to read off.
Speaker: Now I do not have a pro football focus subscription, but I found this on Twitter and the guy sites PFF.
Speaker: So I'm going to do the same.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Over two years, he only allowed a completion rate of 49% at the corner position.
Speaker: He's 5'11", 185, so he's not like some of these corners that are malnourished, to be quite honest.
Speaker: Like, aka the guy that the commanders just took in the first round last year who weighed like 160 pounds soaking wet.
Speaker: He's got enough size, you know, to kind of be a prototypical, I think,
Speaker: you know, maybe a slot corner or a kind of a guy, you know, he's not going to have the elite size, you know, like a Tariq Woolen, but he's, he's, you know, the normal corner build.
Speaker: But in two years, he's had 10 interceptions, 18 pass breakups.
Speaker: He had six interceptions this past season.
Speaker: which I think was third in the country overall, runs a 4-4, plays man, plays zone.
Speaker: You know, he's been, you know, if this type of stuff matters to you, he's the son of Donnie Abraham, who played in the NFL.
Speaker: I don't know how much NFL pedigree means when it comes to genetics as far as having a father that has played.
Speaker: But I'm looking here, per PFF last year, the top man coverage corners that were graded, he was sixth in the country.
Speaker: As far as grades in man, he got a grade of 83.8 out of 100.
Speaker: And just for reference, number one has a 90.
Speaker: So it's not like somebody had a 100 and he's at 83.
Speaker: It's still relatively, the gap is kind of small.
Speaker: You know, was a lockdown corner in the Sun Belt.
Speaker: was a real bright spot other than, you know, the one pass rusher Owen that Marshall has.
Speaker: But yeah, just, you know, everything you kind of want in a depth piece at corner, I feel like can play, you know, any sort of scheme or play inside or slot.
Speaker: So that's my guy.
Speaker: I'm putting him out there as my first pick.
Speaker: Which, it's a great one.
Speaker: I've been really impressed with Micah Abraham and his career at Marshall.
Speaker: And, you know, a couple of things that stand out to me.
Speaker: Number one, you brought up PFF.
Speaker: I do have a PFF subscription.
Speaker: So I've got some nice little analytics here.
Speaker: Is PFF grade, other than the 2020 season, which, you know, COVID,
Speaker: I'm going to put a big fat X on that one.
Speaker: His PFF grade improved every single year that he was in college.
Speaker: His freshman year was 69.1.
Speaker: It dropped to 57.9.
Speaker: And then it shot back up to 70.9, 76.2, and then 82 in 2023.
Speaker: So that's huge, right?
Speaker: He constantly showed improvement year after year in development, and NFL scouts are going to love to see that.
Speaker: The other thing is this.
Speaker: In some areas, he hasn't had a ton of experience, but snaps by position.
Speaker: He has played...
Speaker: every possible role that he could play in the NFL at least once.
Speaker: Ten times he lined up basically as an edge rusher.
Speaker: He stood in the box 44 times, 31 times as a slot corner, 802 times as a wide corner.
Speaker: He played five snaps in kick coverage, 37 punt return snaps, and 68 field goal snaps.
Speaker: So again, 10 and five, not a whole lot of snaps, but the guy has done it all at least once.
Speaker: So I think that that is a huge step in from a development standpoint, depending on who you fit in with and the defense that they play.
Speaker: you're showing that you can grasp onto anything pretty quickly, and that's going to help a lot.
Speaker: I could see Abraham being, again, similar to Nathan Thomas.
Speaker: I could see him being a late fourth, maybe an early fifth round pick, and I think he can make an NFL franchise really happy.
Speaker: Matt, how many kick, you said how many kick coverages has he been on and how many punts?
Speaker: coverage was five and punt return was 37 something I really I mean this is this is not a secret but linebackers and defensive backs if you want to make a roster you got to cut your teeth on those first couple years playing special teams um Abraham is more than good enough in coverage to get the first look
Speaker: But I'm concerned.
Speaker: I think he's good enough to overcome this deficiency, but I'm concerned about his size.
Speaker: He's 5'10", and I don't think he's necessarily strong enough to move inside to play a slot role.
Speaker: I don't think he's good enough in the run defense.
Speaker: So because of my size concerns for him, I don't know if he's going to be able to
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: to earn a roster spot because there are a lot of guys that are as quick as him.
Speaker: He ran a four, four, three that can go step for step with any receiver they go up against.
Speaker: And it's just, you gotta be on the roster when your time comes.
Speaker: And again, at his size and at the, that, uh, minimum, minimal reps in special teams.
Speaker: I'm curious if he's going to be around to get that chance.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, we'll have to see.
Speaker: Like I said a little earlier, you know, I understand talent-wise it's not like a one-to-one comparison, but the Commanders did just take a corner last year who weighs like 165 pounds.
Speaker: So, you know, you can say... And it hasn't worked out.
Speaker: I'll go ahead and admit that.
Speaker: I mean, them taking that guy over, Christian Gonzalez, looks ridiculous now.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: One thing I will say is it isn't totally unprecedented.
Speaker: I mean, 5'11", 188, like, that's kind of the size you're looking for in a corner.
Speaker: You know, when you get away from day one and you get away from, or you're not drafting one of these, you know, total athletic outliers.
Speaker: Like, this is sort of what you see out of a lot of these guys.
Speaker: Low 4'4",
Speaker: under 6 feet tall in that 175 to 190 range.
Speaker: I probably just named 98% of corners in this year's draft.
Speaker: Just be aware.
Speaker: He's pretty run-of-the-mill size-wise.
Speaker: We'll see if he gets better as a
Speaker: in run support, that might legitimately be a problem for him.
Speaker: But I think since he has played those slot snaps that Matt talked about, you know, in the slot, you aren't required to be as physical, typically, as you would on the outside when it's, you know, you got to get the arm out and start to get leverage and things like that.
Speaker: And that's just not really, you know, a lot of slot guys aren't...
Speaker: fastest or biggest or strongest they just they win with like technique and route running and stuff like that so we'll we'll kind of see what the NFL thinks of him you know coming next uh Thursday when the when the draft rolls around and you know we get into the weekend and kind of the later portions Zeke you just spoke up about Micah Abraham let's go ahead and get into your second player uh I'm gonna
Speaker: bring up the tackle that I mentioned earlier when we were talking about Nathan Thomas it is from Georgia State Travis Glover what stands out most about him is that he's 6'6 340 and you cannot overlook any offensive lineman that is 6'6 340 he had a great senior bowl he's been a five year starter at Georgia State obviously you worry about the tread on those tires but the guy is just an absolute monster especially in the run game
Speaker: There have been times where, especially when he was protecting Gary Granger, he felt lackluster in pass pro.
Speaker: Again, I'm not going to talk here about technique, but I saw him get beat more often than you would like for a top end or a draftable tackle.
Speaker: But if he gets drafted to a team or if a team wants to pick him up as a UDFA or as a preferred free agent,
Speaker: that runs the ball.
Speaker: I'm looking at Arthur Smith's Pittsburgh.
Speaker: He can play right tackle at a very high level.
Speaker: The dude is just massive.
Speaker: I think there aren't guys that come along that are that size very often this low in the draft.
Speaker: And I think any team that is in need of someone, he could even move inside to guard.
Speaker: He's played snaps at guard for Georgia State.
Speaker: If you need a run blocker that could be your third tackle, again, I don't believe he'll be able to play on the left because I just don't see him as a good enough pass protector, but he is just a monster in the run game that certainly in my eyes is fifth, sixth round talent.
Speaker: Matt, you got anything on this?
Speaker: Yeah, so he's interesting, right?
Speaker: Obviously, athletically, just an absolute freak of nature.
Speaker: You brought up his size, 6'5", 330, 340.
Speaker: I'm splitting hairs at this point.
Speaker: He's a ginormous human being.
Speaker: And, you know, you look at his pro day, 23 reps on the bench press, insane.
Speaker: a 32-inch vertical.
Speaker: For a man that's 340 pounds, he nearly got three feet off the ground?
Speaker: Yikes.
Speaker: That is, that's freaky.
Speaker: So the athletic ability is there.
Speaker: I will agree with you about what you brought up earlier, Zeke.
Speaker: Starting for five years is concerning.
Speaker: Just because
Speaker: His body's already exhausted.
Speaker: So does that shorten his NFL career?
Speaker: Maybe, maybe not.
Speaker: It's all going to come down to fit for him, for me.
Speaker: Because if you look at it, you know, your Joe Alts, your Troy Feltanus, you know, your first round prospects, right?
Speaker: It doesn't matter where they go.
Speaker: they're going to find a way to work it out, right?
Speaker: A Travis Glover, as good as he might be, it's going to come down to fit.
Speaker: If he's not in the right offense for what he is skilled to do, it's just not going to work.
Speaker: So I'm really interested to see where he goes.
Speaker: He brought up Pittsburgh, and I think that that would be a great fit.
Speaker: Even in doing research, I found a SB Nation article.
Speaker: from the Pittsburgh Steelers blog, talking about how Travis Glover would fit in Pittsburgh.
Speaker: Like, it could work.
Speaker: His athletic ability is strong.
Speaker: And getting the opportunity to play in the Senior Bowl was, I think, really big.
Speaker: He got in front of a lot of NFL scouts, and he played well in the Senior Bowl, which I think could go a long way for him as well.
Speaker: I'm really interested to see
Speaker: What he does reminds me a lot of you remember when Kevin Dotson came out of the Cajuns and got drafted in the fourth round by the Steelers.
Speaker: He's now making a lot of money for the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaker: Yeah, very similar.
Speaker: So I'm I don't really have much to add that you guys haven't already said, but since Zeke did it for my player, I'm going to do it for for Glover.
Speaker: I'm going to play like devil's advocate, but I'm going to do I'm going to take a different angle than than Zeke did.
Speaker: I'm going to be totally honest.
Speaker: it's got to be so difficult blocking for Darren Granger, period.
Speaker: Like, I know what you said about pass protector, but it's like, imagine blocking for a guy who wants to play Lamar Jackson style with like half the athleticism.
Speaker: Like, and that's not really a shot at Darren Granger, but he's not an elite athlete to the point where you're like,
Speaker: man, when he drops back, if someone's in his face, he's just getting out of it.
Speaker: It's like, no, not necessarily.
Speaker: Like, he might try.
Speaker: You know, and he's in the times that I've watched Granger, so I'm talking about
Speaker: lover by extension because of how Granger plays.
Speaker: Granger was not really a fan of throwing the ball away either.
Speaker: It seemed like he was, he was like going for hero ball a lot.
Speaker: And that makes it really difficult to hold your block for five, six, seven seconds when you're back there.
Speaker: And you know, the rush is coming and you're like,
Speaker: Is he behind me?
Speaker: Is he around me?
Speaker: Is he coming this way?
Speaker: Do I need to, like, move my body to block this guy at a different angle?
Speaker: Because now Granger's coming around us?
Speaker: Like, how do, you know, so...
Speaker: I don't blame him for really struggling in pass pro.
Speaker: He didn't have the stereotypical, you know, Gunnar Watson style of I drop back three steps, boom, it comes out, you know, onto the next one.
Speaker: It was a lot of like extended plays that made it difficult to kind of hold technique, hold your block.
Speaker: And, you know, we'll get into this a little bit later because I have an edge player on my list.
Speaker: There were a lot of good edge players in the Sun Belt.
Speaker: So compound that issue with, oh, crap, where did Darren Granger go?
Speaker: And he's not necessarily going to break every, you know, first tackle that comes my way.
Speaker: And I have to play against some of, you know, some really, really solid edge rusher players that we have in the conference.
Speaker: So that's that's sort of.
Speaker: I may be totally wrong on that, but that's sort of my devil's advocate argument, which is, again, it's really difficult to block for someone who wants to play the scrambler style, but doesn't have that top end scrambler athleticism that you look for in elite quarterback play.
Speaker: So that's just sort of future UFL MVP, Darren Granger, by the way.
Speaker: He is going to feast in spring football.
Speaker: Aaron Cranger's going to be a beast for the Saskatchewan Roughnecks.
Speaker: Calling it now.
Speaker: Hey, bruh.
Speaker: Hey, bruh.
Speaker: Levi Lewis is playing for the Saskatchewan Roughnecks right now.
Speaker: Or at least last I heard he was.
Speaker: I'm going to watch his back.
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: My second guy.
Speaker: I'm going to go back to Marshall, and we're going to look at running back Rasheen Ali, who has just been a dog.
Speaker: Not DOG.
Speaker: better put the W on it, D-A-W-G dog Marshall.
Speaker: And you know, what's interesting is you look at his measurables, right?
Speaker: And he's 5'11", 206 pounds, a little undersized in terms of
Speaker: build for what the NFL has typically looked for over the last couple of years.
Speaker: You typically want a guy that's about 10 pounds heavier than that.
Speaker: But he ran a 4-4-40, which is incredibly impressive.
Speaker: And when he has been healthy, he has been a very dominant player.
Speaker: runner, especially in zone packages, right?
Speaker: But again, let me say, when he has been healthy, that's going to be a major concern, and I think that actually costs him a couple of rounds in the NFL draft, is his inability to stay healthy throughout his college career.
Speaker: Watching him over the last couple of years, the guy that jumps out to me in terms of a comp is Jerome Ford.
Speaker: who has played really well over the last year or so in the NFL, got an opportunity, made the most of it, and has looked really strong while doing it.
Speaker: So can Rasheen Ali do the same thing?
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And the thing that's going to be interesting is that he's probably going to get drafted in the sixth or seventh round, if at all.
Speaker: And so that means it's a low risk, high reward for whoever ends up drafting him.
Speaker: But his ability to run north and south and then break away with speed in the second level throughout his college career was really impressive.
Speaker: I keep going back to the 2021 New Orleans Bowl when he had 200 yards and three touchdowns against the Cajuns in the first half.
Speaker: I mean, he's just an animal.
Speaker: And if he can stay healthy, I think he's going to be a guy that, again, late round, low risk, high reward situation for whoever ends up getting him.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Go ahead.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You were talking about injury.
Speaker: I think the question with Ali is not his ability to produce, but it's.
Speaker: Why draft him when we're going to be able to get him for free as a UDFA?
Speaker: He, at the Senior Bowl, he ruptured a bicep tendon, which is an injury I'd never heard of.
Speaker: And as we were preparing for this episode in my research, I read an academic paper about ruptured bicep tendons and how NFL players bounce back.
Speaker: This paper found that there's no performance issue.
Speaker: But it takes them over a year, plus or minus like three months, to get back healthy.
Speaker: Meaning this injury happened January 31st.
Speaker: He's not ready until week 14, week 15.
Speaker: I think Rasheen Ali, he's been... Again, he missed not this past 2023 season, but the 2022 season he missed a lot of time with an injury.
Speaker: But Marshall has been incredible when he played.
Speaker: It's not a question...
Speaker: as we look at him as a prospect right now, for me, it's not a question of will or will he not produce, but rather will a team be willing to use a draft pick investment on him when he's not going to be able to play camp, he's not going to play preseason, he's not going to be healthy until September, November, December.
Speaker: But outside of that, I think next year, the year following, Rasheen Ali is going to be
Speaker: Among the best running back threes, running back fours, like, you know, garbage time running backs and then earn his way up.
Speaker: But right now with this ruptured bicep tendon, again, an injury, I didn't even know you could do that.
Speaker: He, for me, he's undraftable.
Speaker: So injuries aside, somebody that came through the Sun Belt that Ali reminds me a lot of as far as a production profile goes was Matt Breida, who came out of Georgia Southern.
Speaker: And I'm going to kind of go into detail a little bit why.
Speaker: Matt Breida in the 2014 season was an animal.
Speaker: I mean, I think he had like 1600 yards and, you know, double digit touchdowns like he was an absolute beast.
Speaker: And then things happen.
Speaker: Team kind of changes around him.
Speaker: Team falls to crap by the time 2016 rolls around.
Speaker: And guess what?
Speaker: NFL teams, his production has fallen off of a cliff.
Speaker: Teams have kind of forgotten about that one great season that he had.
Speaker: And, you know, he was still obviously the same player because Brita went to the 49ers and played, you know, quite a bit and is still kicking around the NFL.
Speaker: But it's gotten buried by how bad the team was.
Speaker: That's what Ali kind of reminds me of, which is,
Speaker: It's electric freshman season.
Speaker: Sophomore year, he's behind Caelan Laybourne.
Speaker: He misses a ton of time with injuries and all of that.
Speaker: He comes in this year.
Speaker: The team, Marshall, cannot throw the football.
Speaker: Well, guess what their other option is?
Speaker: And guess what every other team knows, too.
Speaker: They can't throw the football.
Speaker: So what are we going to do?
Speaker: We're going to stack the box.
Speaker: We're going to make it difficult.
Speaker: You know, and, you know, none of us picked this guy, but the same kind of goes for Frank Gore Jr. a little bit, which is when when it's not 11 guys versus one, you know, essentially, because everyone knows he's getting the ball, he could be pretty good.
Speaker: But there's only so much a human being can do when it's like the entire defense knows I'm getting the ball.
Speaker: Like, you know, Chad Pennington's kids not bailing me out.
Speaker: You know, no offense to your boys, Zeke, but Henry Columby, like all those guys, they're not helping me out in any real way, shape or form.
Speaker: So it made it difficult because it's like, I think the talent is there.
Speaker: The injury timing is obviously unfortunate at the senior bowl, the ruptured bicep tendon.
Speaker: I think the talent's there.
Speaker: But I think it's going to take him going to a team that is willing to hold him for maybe a full season or practice squad him or something like that just to kind of let him cycle through the year and get some of that in-house NFL training.
Speaker: But like you said, he's probably not going to be ready anytime soon either.
Speaker: But the talent is definitely there, and I think that he really suffered this year because of how bad the offense around him was.
Speaker: So I think it made it really difficult to kind of make that a reality and show off how great he could be.
Speaker: So we'll see how that goes.
Speaker: Some team may, and Brita was an undrafted free agent coming out of Georgia Southern because of all the issues with the team.
Speaker: That might happen to Ali, too.
Speaker: And if he catches on in the right situation where they're like, we don't really have a guy like Carolina, where it's like, that Miles Sanders signing looks like a disaster after one year.
Speaker: So like...
Speaker: we might be looking to just kind of plug the best.
Speaker: I mean, I was watching something with their new head coach, Canales, today, and he was basically like, yeah, man, it's an open competition.
Speaker: Whoever wants to come in and take that RB1 spot, it's up for grabs.
Speaker: And that was kind of the same situation that...
Speaker: you know, Brita walked into in San Francisco with the amount of injuries that they had at the running back position.
Speaker: So I'm seeing a lot of kind of similarities.
Speaker: Now, whether he capitalizes on those will remain to be seen in just sort of how the rehab and stuff this year goes.
Speaker: But I like him as a player.
Speaker: I'd be willing to use if I have a seventh round pick.
Speaker: Let's be totally honest, and I think about this all the time in the NFL draft.
Speaker: If you were a head coach, and you have a seventh-round pick, and you're like, I don't really feel any of these guys on the board, would you rather take...
Speaker: fourth best punter you know in theory or would you rather be like let's just take a shot on this running back and see if we can get the punter as a free agent that that's one thing i and that way he's locked into the team for multiple years he makes next to no money so you can cut him you know without any real cap issues
Speaker: All of that seems like I would I would never draft a punter.
Speaker: Sorry, sorry, punters.
Speaker: I would never draft a punter in the first seven rounds unless literally I had more picks than I knew what to do with.
Speaker: Like if you're the Cardinals, maybe you got a ton of picks.
Speaker: You don't know what you're going to do with any of them.
Speaker: figure it out there but i i just i would rather take a position player that maybe has a one percent chance of being a starter rather than the fourth fifth best punter in a draft class that's just that's just sort of my my take on it um am i up is my turn now i can't i couldn't remember what who uh who did that one um all right
Speaker: I'm going to go running back as well, but I'm going to go with a guy that does not have injury concerns.
Speaker: We don't have issues with production that I just talked about.
Speaker: I'm going to go Kimani Vidal, Troy, 5'8", 213.
Speaker: So maybe a little slight.
Speaker: You might want to put a couple pounds on him here and there.
Speaker: But 4-4-6-40, it kind of has an all-around skill set, can catch the football, can block, can obviously run.
Speaker: You want to talk about production, too?
Speaker: Had five games of 200-plus yards last year.
Speaker: I mean...
Speaker: you know, they use people that do like metrics and stuff like that, not PFF necessarily, but I have seen relative athletic score touted a lot.
Speaker: And out of 10, Kimani Vidal's is 8.88.
Speaker: As far as height, weight, speed, you know, strength, all of that sort of stuff, production, three cone shuttle, you know, whatever you want to talk about.
Speaker: And, and he's, he's right there.
Speaker: And, and I talked about,
Speaker: Carolina could be a potential landing spot.
Speaker: You know, if Dallas, I have a feeling Dallas is drafting multiple running backs in this draft because they, as of today, April the 16th, they have next to nothing at the position.
Speaker: You know, Tony Pollard's gone.
Speaker: Zeke's not re-signed there officially yet, even though that's been rumored.
Speaker: They need multiple backs to kind of carry this offense because right now it's just kind of it's Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb is like the entire offense.
Speaker: So there are a lot of teams that could use sort of another either another body or just someone that can come in and try to compete.
Speaker: And we've seen Vidal be great offensive player of the year in the conference.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: Damn, Zeke, I didn't know you could play running back for the Cowboys.
Speaker: To call me a running back, it's more of a fullback kind of thing.
Speaker: You put me in on third and short, and I'll just plug a hole.
Speaker: Third and goal from the half-yard line.
Speaker: There's not a lot of running going on.
Speaker: I can blow some guys up in the hole, but not particularly a ton of running going on there.
Speaker: Like Kamiani Vidal, I don't think there's a ton to dislike about him.
Speaker: Brian, you mentioned he's a little slight.
Speaker: He's tough to tackle, which is a weird skill set to be small and tough to tackle is a tough translation jumping into the NFL.
Speaker: He doesn't have – obviously this is the other extreme, but he doesn't have the Derrick Henry where no matter how big you are, you could be juiced up on every PED there is, and you still can't tackle Derrick Henry.
Speaker: Vidal is kind of on the other spectrum where that's going to be a tough transition.
Speaker: But I think he's a great complement back, at least initially, and then obviously can develop into a more full-time role if there is a team that wants to play a very short yardage game.
Speaker: But you find someone that can hit the outside, someone that runs a 4-3-40, and pair him with Vidal, and they're going to be like Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, where just absolutely...
Speaker: Speed and strength in one package.
Speaker: I like Vidal.
Speaker: I think he's probably my favorite running back out of the Sun Belt this draft.
Speaker: I don't – it'll be interesting a couple years down the line, though, once Ali's healthy and ready to play, how these two careers compare because they are both – over the past two or three years have been superstars in the Sun Belt.
Speaker: And I'm curious to see kind of how their career paths diverge and what – because I can't imagine – it's just statistically unlikely that they both end up as really high-level starters.
Speaker: But I could absolutely see one of them doing this considering how quickly we're running through running backs.
Speaker: One of these guys could be a high-level starter.
Speaker: So that'll just be fun to watch over the next couple years.
Speaker: I'm going to keep it brief because the two of you kind of hit it on the head about Kamani Vidal.
Speaker: He's the best running back in the conference.
Speaker: Nobody has hands or butts about it.
Speaker: A really strong athlete, tough to bring down, can catch the ball pretty well out of the backfield.
Speaker: Brian, you brought up the five games of 200 yards or more.
Speaker: I mean, that's just freaky.
Speaker: Reminds me a lot, again, slightly Homer-ish, reminds me a lot of Elijah Mitchell.
Speaker: I think that they're very similar players, and Eli was having a ton of success in San Francisco before they acquired some decent running back.
Speaker: I can't remember his name.
Speaker: Rhymed with Metafree.
Speaker: To be fair, the reason they had to do that was because Elijah Mitchell couldn't stay healthy.
Speaker: That's true.
Speaker: He has knee problems.
Speaker: He kind of forced their hand.
Speaker: That's fair.
Speaker: Look, I think he's a guy that, you know, it's interesting, right?
Speaker: It's similar to the Rasheen Ali thing.
Speaker: Kamani Vidal's, in my opinion, got third-round ability.
Speaker: But, and I hate that I'm about to say this, but it's true.
Speaker: NFL execs are going to look at it and go, he's a Sunbelt back.
Speaker: Nobody knows about this kid.
Speaker: We can get him in the sixth and we'll be fine.
Speaker: So because of that, I think he falls, but a team's going to draft a third-round running back in the sixth round, and I think he's a guy that, you know, similar to Elijah Mitchell and plenty of other running backs before them, when an opportunity presents itself, can he take advantage and carve out a nice career for himself?
Speaker: just one last thing.
Speaker: I know we were talking about sort of, you know, the, the, the different positions as kind of represented in the draft and, and, you know, some are deeper than others, receiver tackle.
Speaker: We talked about running back,
Speaker: This is maybe one of the weakest running back classes I can remember of the last like 10 years.
Speaker: Like they're talking draft experts and stuff are talking about a running back not even being taken taken at all until the third round.
Speaker: Like I've heard Trey Benson's name thrown around.
Speaker: But other than that, it's just kind of like Jonathan Brooks is another one, but it's just kind of everybody seems pretty meh overall.
Speaker: Like no one's like, hey, we're not going to take a running back in the first round because it's not 1994 anymore.
Speaker: But, you know, we'll take, you know, somebody really solid.
Speaker: We'll take a Nick Chubb in the second round and just see if it pans out, something like that.
Speaker: I haven't heard talk of that at all.
Speaker: Like I, from what I've heard, it's like every team feels like they're just going to kind of sit back and be like,
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I can't really tell the difference between Jonathan Brooks and Blake Corum.
Speaker: You know, it kind of is what it is.
Speaker: So like maybe that might go one of two ways that might either play in his favor because he might draft it higher because sort of on the class.
Speaker: But if everybody's on the class, it might be the whole class down.
Speaker: So we'll kind of see how that goes.
Speaker: Zeke, do you want to you want to get into your last player here?
Speaker: Yeah, my last guy is Javon Solomon, edge out of Troy.
Speaker: That Troy defense has been dominant the past several years.
Speaker: We've talked about it probably every episode we've had of this show.
Speaker: It has been brought up how good Troy's defense has been, and he's been just a huge part of that pass rush.
Speaker: He's got a great motor.
Speaker: His hands are great.
Speaker: I know a little bit more about defensive line scouting, or rather edge rushing.
Speaker: I wouldn't say defensive line, but edge rushing scouting, I know a little bit more about that than I do offensive line.
Speaker: So I can say confidently that he's got really good hands.
Speaker: He's got a very high motor.
Speaker: He's got very good pass rush moves.
Speaker: He is on the smaller side.
Speaker: which really came to face, I remember very specifically, when Troy played Georgia State, he got handled by Travis Glover.
Speaker: And that concerns me for Solomon as he moves into the NFL because I don't know if there's necessarily a role for him as a down, like a hand-in-the-dirt pass rusher.
Speaker: And honestly, even if he's still on the line but standing up, it feels like it's very possible that there's just not a role for him at his size.
Speaker: He would have to transition into a real stand-up linebacker on passing downs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I like what I saw from him out of Troy.
Speaker: Like I said, he's got good moves.
Speaker: He really needs one dominant move.
Speaker: That's something I observed watching his tape, which I recommend if this is for both of y'all, but also our listeners.
Speaker: If you're interested in draft content and kind of coming up with your own scouting reports, the NFL Draft subreddit's Discord channel.
Speaker: has a Excel sheet with cutups of every player in this draft, every guy.
Speaker: And I mean, that's where I got my tape for these.
Speaker: When you're talking about these Sunbelt guys, not a ton of folks are creating content around these prospects.
Speaker: So if you're interested in creating your own scouting content,
Speaker: Go there.
Speaker: And so something I saw in Solomon's tape is that he had a variety of really good moves, but there wasn't one he relied on.
Speaker: It's not a secret that in the NFL you need one dominant move if you want to be an elite edge rusher.
Speaker: But he's a guy I really like, worried about his size.
Speaker: But I feel like I've said that about every prospect we've talked about thus far.
Speaker: Yeah, you know, I'll go quickly.
Speaker: He's a super explosive edge rusher.
Speaker: But again, I'm with you.
Speaker: His size, he's not going to be able to line up as an edge rusher in the NFL.
Speaker: Now, could he do what Micah Parsons is doing and be a stand-up edge rusher, outside linebacker kind of hybrid thing?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think he could absolutely do that, and I think he could do it very well.
Speaker: And I think his explosiveness is going to take him a long way.
Speaker: I'm concerned with his size like you brought up.
Speaker: I'm concerned with his lack of one dominant move.
Speaker: But if he showed you anything, it's that he's explosive, he's tenacious, and he's going to find a way to get to the football.
Speaker: And so, look, he's got an opportunity to crack a roster with a good training camp.
Speaker: I don't think that he's going to get drafted.
Speaker: If he does, it'll be very late, 6th, 7th round.
Speaker: And then from there, like I said, OTA's mini camp into training camp, you're just going to have to impress to stay on the 53.
Speaker: Yeah, kind of piggybacking off of what Matt said, I think the one thing that he really has in his favor is his versatility.
Speaker: You know, the first year Summerall comes in, I believe, I might be getting these mixed up, but one year they ran a 4-3, and the next year they ran a 3-4.
Speaker: So he's played in both types of defense.
Speaker: So he has experience kind of doing both.
Speaker: Now, as an on-the-line 4-3 defensive end, yeah, that's not going to happen.
Speaker: Like, he's just, size-wise, he doesn't, you know, he would be like a situational, like, third-down pass rusher.
Speaker: But kind of like Matt said, if you stand him up, you kind of move him around,
Speaker: Maybe even kind of move him inside in certain situations.
Speaker: Like he could blitz the, you know, he could help with the blitz from inside maybe.
Speaker: And you could get creative and kind of move him around like a chess piece a little bit.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: I think it's unlike... I just praised his versatility.
Speaker: Unlike the versatility thing, I think he's kind of best suited for a 3-4 with the different creative packages and ways you can use him.
Speaker: Because 4-3, it's like... Nobody really runs... Unless there's an obvious running situation, nobody runs a true 4-3 every down anymore.
Speaker: It's really like a 4-2-5.
Speaker: And he can't be...
Speaker: In my opinion, he can't be a down lineman on the edge in a 4-3, but he also can't be a stand-up linebacker because I just don't see that.
Speaker: But in a 3-4, things kind of get messy.
Speaker: It kind of blurs the lines between who's an edge rusher, who's dropping out, who's in coverage, things like that.
Speaker: So I really would compliment his...
Speaker: And I think that that might seriously play in his favor when it comes to draft time.
Speaker: And, you know, he might be a UDFA.
Speaker: I was thinking about potential fits for the edge rushers that we sort of brought up.
Speaker: And the Rams came to mind because going back a year, they came away from last year with Nick Hampton, the really solid edge rusher out of App State from 2022.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: 2022.
Speaker: And, uh, and I was just like, they, they can do creative things on the defensive side of the ball with those types of players that you can't really, can't really do a lot of in a four, three.
Speaker: So I, I, I think he's best suited kind of for a three, four and, and can kind of be a interesting little mismatch piece.
Speaker: Um, Matt, do you want to get into your last player here?
Speaker: So my last guy, this is a guy that Zeke is going to be very familiar with.
Speaker: Staying in the linebacker position is Deontre Hunter from Georgia State, 6'2", 236 pounds.
Speaker: You know, a guy that played well in his career with...
Speaker: Georgia State, and the thing that stood out to me, again, in preparing for this was you brought up the versatility with Javon Solomon.
Speaker: John Trey Hunter, very versatile as well.
Speaker: The first couple years that he was at Georgia State, he was an outside linebacker, made the move inside this past year.
Speaker: I think he played both positions very well.
Speaker: Super explosive, quick first steps, um...
Speaker: Pretty solid in coverage.
Speaker: I think he's a Mr. Do-It-All type of player.
Speaker: With his inability to... He makes... So when you watch his tape, and Zeke, you can kind of vouch for this.
Speaker: When he's going to make a tackle...
Speaker: There's a lot of times where he just flat out takes the wrong angle and it kind of leaves him out to dry, which worries me.
Speaker: And obviously that's going to worry a lot of NFL guys as well.
Speaker: And just playing with a lot of wasted movement is another thing that kind of bothers me.
Speaker: Look, I think he's a guy that
Speaker: you know, undrafted free agent has a ton of potential to crack a roster.
Speaker: He's going to have to start in special teams, though, in the NFL.
Speaker: I think he's going to have to be a guy that plays special teams.
Speaker: And, you know, if there's an injury or he impresses in practice or whatever it may be, you know, he gets a couple reps, a linebacker, and who knows, maybe something works out.
Speaker: But if he wants to get an NFL paycheck, I think he's going to have to start as a special teamer.
Speaker: I'm not very high on John Treehunter.
Speaker: I saw him miss too many tackles.
Speaker: And honestly, more so than missing tackles, which I felt was an issue, but that's an issue that all Georgia State defensive players had last year, was that he was always a step too late.
Speaker: Whether it was either in the run or the pass,
Speaker: I always felt like he was a step behind where he needed to be.
Speaker: On run plays, I felt like he was late to identify where it was going and therefore just got caught up.
Speaker: And defensively, again, late to identify that it was a pass.
Speaker: and, you know, miss his assignment or say running backs coming across on an angle route a little late to turn his hips.
Speaker: He's not someone that I am not necessarily – I don't dislike as a prospect, but I personally got burnt too many times by him as a fan and therefore am low on him.
Speaker: I'm pretty ambivalent on him as well.
Speaker: You know, I think coming into the season when we kind of did our team previews, we kind of called him out as someone to keep an eye on.
Speaker: And throughout the season...
Speaker: He was fine.
Speaker: You know, like all those issues that Zeke said, I kind of agree with, I mean, you're, he, he's the Georgia state guy.
Speaker: So I'm going to defer to him in that situation because he's, you know, we can watch cutups all we want, all we want, but he is watching, you know, every down of, of nearly every game.
Speaker: So I'm going to kind of defer to him on that situation.
Speaker: Like you said, Matt, I do like the fact that he can play outside and in.
Speaker: Maybe the coaches at the next level could teach him better angles.
Speaker: That seems like something that is fixable.
Speaker: But if he doesn't have the instincts of being able to read a play, that type of stuff is kind of unforgivable at the pro level.
Speaker: You can be...
Speaker: you typically don't see like thumper linebackers anymore.
Speaker: But you can't be like an athletic freak that also can't tell the difference between a run and a pass, or you get caught out of position, or you have bad technique getting to the football.
Speaker: Like, you can fix the angles and be like, show them tape and say, hey, you want to kind of take this angle to get the guy not that angle?
Speaker: But the inability to sort of discern between those plays might be kind of the nail in the coffin for him, but we'll have to see.
Speaker: So I'm going to go ahead with my last guy.
Speaker: This one for me, picking this guy was a layup.
Speaker: Jalen Green, edge rusher, James Madison, and
Speaker: As far as production goes on the field, I know that they don't really take that into account in the pros because of different level of competition and all that.
Speaker: 15 and a half sacks in nine games played last year is insane.
Speaker: And I believe he also had 21 tackles for a loss.
Speaker: I mean, he and Chroma were the dudes for that defense.
Speaker: Like, they set the tone up front.
Speaker: The one concern I have about him is his size.
Speaker: Kind of the same deal with Solomon.
Speaker: Green is 245 pounds.
Speaker: There's a real chance if he doesn't add muscle at the pro level, he's going to get bullied by those big, you know, offensive tackles that are, you know, Zeke talked about it, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers or whatnot.
Speaker: Those those teams that still really embrace like kind of the power run scheme.
Speaker: He might be in trouble at the pro level with that.
Speaker: but tools go and things like that and, and production.
Speaker: He he's great.
Speaker: Um, the other bit of concern that I have for him to potentially be drafted is wasn't invited to the combine came out to his pro day, got measured, did the bench 19 reps on the bench and then peaced out.
Speaker: So like,
Speaker: I appreciate the production you had at the Sunbelt level.
Speaker: I appreciate Defensive Player of the Year, all that, all those accolades, postseason awards.
Speaker: To not come out and do three-cone, shuttle, 40, vertical, like none of that, it's sort of a tough sell when it's like, I don't know, would I rather take...
Speaker: you know, an edge rusher where I saw them do all of that in person, or I watched this tape and, you know, we cover the Sun Belt, but no offense, I watched him blow up, you know, a below average Georgia Southern team or Southern Miss or one of those schools.
Speaker: It's like, okay, great, but like the Kansas City Chiefs are not Southern Miss, you know, the Miami Dolphins are not Georgia Southern.
Speaker: So like,
Speaker: that all seems great, and then you kind of get out on the field and it's like, oh, alright, well maybe this guy wasn't quite as athletic as I thought he was, and it would have been nice to know that, you know, going in, because we don't have any metrics on him whatsoever.
Speaker: So, the weight,
Speaker: The lack of, you know, sort of workout stuff to kind of quantify, like, how fast is he?
Speaker: How quickly does he kind of get off the edge?
Speaker: Things like that.
Speaker: Those things are still a big question mark.
Speaker: But I guess the advice he's been getting is just let them watch the tape and make a decision off of that.
Speaker: I don't really understand the decision to do nothing but bench at the pro day.
Speaker: Yeah, it's wild.
Speaker: Because again, you're not, as a prospect, you were supposed to give an NFL team every piece of information they could possibly get their hands on.
Speaker: And you didn't do that.
Speaker: So you're hurting yourself right off the bat there.
Speaker: Secondly, at 6'2", 245 pounds, there's no two ways about this.
Speaker: He's not playing on the defensive line in the NFL.
Speaker: Like, he's just not.
Speaker: He would have to gain 35 pounds at a minimum.
Speaker: And he'd still be undersized.
Speaker: So he's playing linebacker in the NFL.
Speaker: Probably an outside backer.
Speaker: Again, I go back to Micah Parsons, probably that stand-up edge rusher type of guy.
Speaker: A guy that really just plugs up a hole in the line of scrimmage and maybe somebody else gets through kind of thing.
Speaker: But
Speaker: There's obviously some freakish athletic ability there.
Speaker: He has, to me, and I haven't sat down and looked at every single defensive line, edge rusher, prospect in this draft, but to me, he has one of the higher ceilings of the guys that I have looked at.
Speaker: but he also has one of the lowest floors.
Speaker: So it's going to come down to, you know, is a team willing to take a project?
Speaker: Because he can be developed into whatever insert NFL team here wants him to be.
Speaker: I think he's a coachable kid.
Speaker: I think he's a kid that has the natural ability.
Speaker: I think it's just going to come down to who wants to take a project.
Speaker: I see him at the earliest, a late fifth,
Speaker: but more than likely a seventh-round pick if drafted at all.
Speaker: Something about Jalen Green that we haven't touched on yet is that he has had two season-ending injuries.
Speaker: And for a guy, look, this is my amateur, there are no arms on my chair, but armchair speculation.
Speaker: But I think he could have a pro career, or rather a football career trajectory similar to that of Carlton Marshall, who last year
Speaker: I believe it was last year, if not the year prior, came out of Troy as the FBS all-time tackle leader and never sniffed an NFL roster.
Speaker: Again, this is speculation.
Speaker: I have no—this is me just spitballing, saying stuff.
Speaker: He's not been on a visit.
Speaker: He's not had the top 30 meetings from a site called Walter Football, which is one of the better—
Speaker: Scouting sites, although it looks and acts like it was made in 2006.
Speaker: Has a tracker of all the visits, informal, formal.
Speaker: They had a teleconference with these guys.
Speaker: Nothing from Jalen Green about that.
Speaker: The injuries.
Speaker: The no workout, which, again, who cares?
Speaker: I'm not a huge subscriber to the Combiner workouts, but you need something.
Speaker: Makes me think that this could be one of those.
Speaker: Hey, you remember Jalen Green?
Speaker: Remember when he had 15 sacks in like 10 games?
Speaker: Which sucks.
Speaker: Not good for the rep of the conference of James Madison, but that's just the gut feeling I get out of this guy.
Speaker: Well, you know, like you said, you're not necessarily like hanging everything on the combine, but it's one thing to say, I'm going to let my tape speak for me.
Speaker: It's another to kind of have those questions and then act like you are Marvin Harrison Jr. and being like, I don't need to run.
Speaker: No further questions, Your Honor.
Speaker: And it's like,
Speaker: There's several questions like where are you going to play, things like that.
Speaker: Like Pinkney, it could be an injury thing.
Speaker: I mean he had knee surgery back in November, early December, but I've seen no report.
Speaker: I've seen no evidence that that's why he did not participate at the Pro Day or why he didn't get a combine invite.
Speaker: Again, I don't care.
Speaker: I just need to know that you did it.
Speaker: But you see, my thing is this, exactly that.
Speaker: I need to know that you did it.
Speaker: Even if he was injured, say he has a leg injury, like God, do some bench press or something.
Speaker: He did do bench press.
Speaker: He had 19 reps.
Speaker: That was the only thing he did, that, and got weighed and measured.
Speaker: But I'm of the belief that everybody goes, oh, he had a bad workout.
Speaker: He is not draftable anymore.
Speaker: I think that's crap.
Speaker: It could just be the guy was having an off day or whatever.
Speaker: I would rather you see a bad workout and there could be one thing that he did well that you look at and go, well, he did this really well.
Speaker: Maybe we can tweak everything else.
Speaker: Then you just dip it.
Speaker: I'd rather you at least put 50% effort and give me something than just leave.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree.
Speaker: I mean, that and his size are the two... God, and the injury history, too, are some real red flags.
Speaker: But, man, when he's healthy and you get him in an edge spot in a 3-4...
Speaker: like the production is almost can't almost can't be like really questioned.
Speaker: It's just getting him on the field.
Speaker: And is he going to get blown off the ball by a right tackle that weighs 360 pounds or something crazy like that?
Speaker: So we'll have to see how this all pans out.
Speaker: We just talked over nine guys and just maybe draft fits, maybe where they go, things like that.
Speaker: But
Speaker: You know, the problem with the Sun Belt is there's no there's no guarantees for any of these guys.
Speaker: You know, guys that we've thought in the past were absolute superstars, never, never really did anything.
Speaker: You know, I specifically remember Jalen Tolbert got taken in the third round a couple of years ago.
Speaker: I think he has.
Speaker: 25 catches over two years with Dallas.
Speaker: Like they've basically set that draft pick on fire.
Speaker: So, you know, you got these guys that have these crazy, crazy amount of production and they just never really turn into anything.
Speaker: So we'll have to see how all that goes next Thursday when the draft rolls around.
Speaker: Let's sort of wrap up here.
Speaker: Matt, Zeke, tell everybody where they can find you on socials, and then we'll get out of here until late June, I guess, as far as the podcast goes.
Speaker: You can find me on social media at MiguezMatt, pushing out great New Orleans Saints content at CanalStreetChronicles.com.
Speaker: While we're on the subject of the NFL, Brian, I hope you thoroughly enjoy purchasing your Drake May jersey.
Speaker: I hope that's a great fit for you.
Speaker: And Zeke, I hope you enjoy watching your quarterback run for his life 40 times a game because who the hell is he going to throw to now?
Speaker: Brian mentioned triple dipping into wide receivers.
Speaker: I need the Bills to do that.
Speaker: It needs to be first, third, seventh.
Speaker: It has to be.
Speaker: Yikes.
Speaker: We could have a whole podcast on how I...
Speaker: vehemently disagree with the Stephon Diggs trade.
Speaker: But, you know, that's a conversation for another day.
Speaker: Zeke, you want to go?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Sorry, I kind of forgot Matt had already plugged himself.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm on Twitter at ZekePalermo, Z-E-K-E-P-A-L-E-R-M-O.
Speaker: I've been kind of inactive lately, so draft season is helping me really get moving again.
Speaker: I've got some other cool projects coming up as part of my coursework.
Speaker: I'm starting a podcast, like an independent podcast pretty soon.
Speaker: That's in the works.
Speaker: We'll talk more about that later, but I got some cool stuff coming up.
Speaker: Check it out, at Zeke Palermo on Twitter.
Speaker: Yeah, Matt, going back to the Drake May comment you made, honestly, man, I'm fine with them taking a quarterback, but I'm really...
Speaker: not super in love with any of the guys outside of Caleb Williams in this draft.
Speaker: Like, I'm just sort of... Like, I hope he ends up being Justin Herbert Part 2, which is what everybody has basically... The Jaden Daniels slander is unreal.
Speaker: It's not so much slander.
Speaker: It's like... It was great at LSU, but the things you talked about earlier with the wide receiver play...
Speaker: The way that they ran that offense at LSU, like, they're not going to be able to do that same stuff where it's like four verticals and then he just scrambles.
Speaker: Like, he takes sacks at an incredibly high rate, like, even in a Heisman season, and he didn't really throw the ball to the middle of the field.
Speaker: So, like, you can't do either of those.
Speaker: You can't just avoid the middle of the field or else...
Speaker: I guess the high end of that is best case scenarios.
Speaker: Like, Russell Wilson never threw to the middle of the field, and he was great for multiple years, but you kind of see now it's like that inability, it goes quick.
Speaker: So, like, we'll have to see.
Speaker: Drake may, apparently there's a bunch of, like, mechanical issues that need to get cleared up, so I'm not super confident that the Patriots coaching staff is going to be able to do any of that because I haven't seen them do much of anything yet.
Speaker: Uh...
Speaker: from developing any players on offense at all, ever.
Speaker: So we'll kind of see, I mean, you know, the newer sort of regime, not the Tom Brady years, obviously.
Speaker: But you can find me on X at WatchTheStone.
Speaker: Just kind of chilling right now with no football on.
Speaker: Like, I don't really have a lot going on, honestly, except kind of work and that's it.
Speaker: But we will be back in a couple of months.
Speaker: We will kick off our team-by-team previews at the end of June when we start kind of rolling into the beginning of football season.
Speaker: We're kind of in spring game territory right now.
Speaker: I can't stand talking about spring games.
Speaker: I hated when SB Nation used to make us write about them because I don't know if our defense sucks because they gave up 70 or if our offense is the greatest show on turf.
Speaker: Like, I can't tell.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: You can find the show on Twitter at Warm Weather Fans.
Speaker: We will be back to talk 2024 Sunbelt football on Warm Weather Sunbelt Podcast.
