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OPE Season 3 Episode 51 Final Mock-pardy
33 Plays1 month ago
Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! This week we wrap up our pre-draft shows by inviting Sanjay Murthy on to share our final 2025 NFL Mock Drafts! We talk potential holes on the Packers roster and give our predictions for what the packers will do in the draft!
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:21
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Ahana Packers Edition podcast. Today, we have our final pre-draft episode before ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. And we have Sanjay joining us again. Sanjay, thank you for joining the the episode.
00:00:35
Speaker
Thank you for coming back. I'm sorry. I'm just rebooting from a nap with my kid. And the words are which are already difficult for me. They're coming out even more difficultly. So Sanjay, please talk now.
NFL Draft Excitement in Green Bay
00:00:49
Speaker
Hey, no, awesome to be here with you guys. it's all I've always loved and admired your guys' work. And you know i we go way back and with my show, so I've always appreciated you. And it's fun. you know This is this the best time of the year. it's We're literally four days away from history as a franchise, as as a fan base, and you know a little local kid growing up in Alloway, Wisconsin, in Green Bay.
00:01:13
Speaker
to see the the amount of people that are going to be entering my little you know town of a hundred thousand people is going to be pretty awesome and uh we're in a we're in a special place right now yeah going to be fun how many days are you going to spend over there are you going to be there all three are you going only make the first night uh i'm for sure so i'm definitely obviously i'm doing thursday no matter what friday I will probably go regardless because there's a there's a good 50% chance that maybe we trade down and maybe we're only picking in Friday.
00:01:46
Speaker
So I feel like I have to go for that even though there is supposed to be predicted rain. 55% chance, I don't know how much that's changed over the last couple days. but And it's always supposed to be like a high of 60 at the best. So it's like, you know, I was supposed to go with my wife and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. So like the women made dip out, but Saturday, I think I'm not going to go, even though that's actually one of my favorite days.
00:02:09
Speaker
i will be actually traveling. So I will not be going Saturday.
Packers' Roster and Mock Draft Discussion
00:02:14
Speaker
I'm up there. Well, technically I'm supposed to leave on Saturday because that I don't have a place to stay for that night, but I'll probably leave as soon as the final pick is called but yeah so i'll be over there all three days good and mike won't be there at all so i'm gonna rub it i should say yeah that'd be pretty impressive if you could make it that'd be awesome i have no money yeah i know you put it all into the into those those kids you know
00:02:43
Speaker
But yeah, so like I said, we're going to do our mock drafts today.
Jair Alexander's Future with the Packers
00:02:46
Speaker
But before that, we just wanted to discuss where we think the roster is at this point. I guess the biggest news of the offseason so far is Jair Alexander is still a Packer.
00:02:57
Speaker
There is mixed commentary coming out of all sides on that front. We haven't really heard, i don't believe, anything from Jair or his camp. Nothing...
00:03:06
Speaker
super, you know, clarifying loss. Yeah. The only thing we got out of him is that quote about, well, I don't even know if I'll be here next year or whatever. Right. And I think that could have just been, you know, it was a bad moment. It was, you know, he frustrated the team's frustrated.
00:03:24
Speaker
People say stupid things in their frustration sometimes, but my feeling is, and I wrote an article about this a couple weeks ago, Next year is the year that he'll be gone.
00:03:35
Speaker
This year they're going to hang on to him. Next year is the year that they'll be gone. Because I just don't see that. It creates too big a hole in in the defense by letting him go. Now, I know what people are going to say. Well, injuries, injuries, injuries.
00:03:48
Speaker
Yes, the last two years he's had injuries. Mike and I have been over this hundreds of times about how they're fluke-ass injuries. It's not like it's the same thing over and over again.
00:03:59
Speaker
But when he's on the field, he's an all-pro. i just And it's a lot easier to cut ties with them next year because of the money. the you know why do Why sabotage your own team with with another weakness?
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah.
Defensive Concerns and NFC North Competition
00:04:13
Speaker
Sanjay, your thoughts on the Jair situation? Yeah, it's so tough with him because i i i don't see it. I know there's a lot of people saying, like, you know, Nixon, sorry, I'm saying Nixon here, played really well on the boundary. I'm like, I don't see that. I don't know. Maybe he had some times that where he had some you know good coverage.
00:04:36
Speaker
He wasn't completely getting, like, torched like a Kevin King or an Eric Stokes, but, like, if this is what you're rolling into with Hobbs and, you know, Nixon on the boundary and then, you know, or sorry, Hobbs in the slot, Nixon and Valentine on the boundary, I'm not completely confident in that. Like, yes, Valentine had some pretty nice things. Seattle was one of his like big time games.
00:05:00
Speaker
I think he had maybe like two or three others that you're like, okay, solid. But like, you know, he was pretty young at that point too. Maybe this is another year for him to kind of get, you know, that, you know, those legs underneath under him, understanding the NFL, but blah, blah, blah, blah. But I'm just not completely confident in this secondary. Like, I – sorry, the cornerback room.
00:05:19
Speaker
Because, you know, you're you're putting a lot of work on Evan Williams and and the X in the back end. And maybe maybe I'm missing something. Maybe you're hoping because – From what I'm seeing from this edge and the the pass rush, you're making those guys cover for a lot longer than they need to.
00:05:35
Speaker
And that already is a bad recipe. So unless these edge guys are going to give me pressures up the wazoo and I'm going to see this huge jump from Captain Iowa over there. You know, i I just don't see how these guys can just contain not only the NFC North, which is ridiculously you know stacked with pass catchers, but the NFC in general, which has got you know the Eagles that are obviously tremendous.
00:05:57
Speaker
Dallas has got some guys, you know, whoever, Tampa Bay. you know it's tough to, keep you know, compete. And then it feels like it's just going to be completely just like, you know, what we've been seeing for the last few years, where it just needs to be shootouts for us to win. I've never, it's been a while since I've just seen domination defense that just can like cutthroat someone. And last year was a really good, like,
00:06:17
Speaker
turn of the page with halfley i will admit to that it's been a nice change but i hope it can get further with that with pieces and i was really hoping you know some of these big trades and obviously those d-line guys didn't even they took money anyway they didn't even want to like get traded so you know those were out the window but like you know i i really want them to make it uh emphasis to really help the defense this time around at least with the draft
00:06:43
Speaker
That was a really long-winded question
Strategic Decisions on Player Contracts
00:06:44
Speaker
with Ja. i I hope he stays, is basically what I'm trying to say, for at least this year. And then you you really have to, you know, hopefully load up maybe one more, you know, i in the draft or maybe next year in free agency, you get a pretty good lockdown guy that's available.
00:07:00
Speaker
I think that's an honest answer. And honestly, you know, joe and i Joe has already voiced his opinion, and I do fall into that camp too, that I think from both the roster construction side, like you said, Sanjay, like,
00:07:13
Speaker
this The team has been saying that they believe in the corners they have and that they can work around and all that kind of stuff. But I don't know. we When Ja is at his best, and as Joe pointed out, like his injuries have mostly been just freak fluke kind of incidents.
00:07:31
Speaker
And OK, like. Would everyone be as pissed off at Ja this year if he just blew his ACL out, missed the rest of the season, and you know't like was just out?
00:07:42
Speaker
And there we avoided this whole, oh, he's practicing. He's fully participating multiple days out of the week, and he's still not playing in the games kind of thing. So I don't know how much that sit situation, you know him trying to come back from that,
00:07:57
Speaker
affected his standing with a lot of fans. I do think that Green Bay fans have this tendency that when a guy resigns or extends and gets a big contract, he immediately moves up to the top of the most hated players on the team list. We've seen it happen multiple times the past 15 years. Clay Matthews went from everyone's beloved surfer dude to the dumbest dork with long blonde hair overnight because of his contract and how he was quote unquote stealing money from the Packers front office for years.
00:08:28
Speaker
You've seen the same thing with Ja. Really the only guy who avoided that was Jordy because everyone just loved him. But even at the end, you saw people kind of like, oh,
00:08:39
Speaker
I hope they can renegotiate him. Like they they still wanted him here, but they were like, they should renegotiate with him to get that number down. And it's like, that's, that's not how it works. But I do think because of the fact that you're,
00:08:55
Speaker
This corner room, like it could hit, but it's dependent on multiple things.
Packers' Super Bowl Contention and Roster Management
00:09:00
Speaker
Like you said, Sanjay, is the pass rush going to take that leap because of new coaching and internal development? Are they going to get someone in this draft class who can contribute right away?
00:09:11
Speaker
Is the middle of the field going to be solidified because Edge is that much better as a second year player, because Quay is playing more, it's more aggressively. Like he showed down the stretch before he, you know, hurt his ankle against Seattle.
00:09:26
Speaker
And then on top of that, like, are the guys you have going keep improving? That's, unknown at this point so i just think from that side of it you know you don't have a player who's as good as jaw is at his best and on top of it does the money savings are just that much better next year if you just keep him on try to fix it and like i've been saying this whole off season con conflict resolution is a part of Gudekun's job description. Like, that's his job. yeah
00:10:00
Speaker
It's LaFleur's and his staff's job to get guys to perform on the field, but the ins and outs of keeping guys happy on roster, that is the GM's job kind of thing. So that side of it, and all and the pie-in-the-sky part of it for me is all we've heard the past 18 months is that this team is a Super Bowl contender.
00:10:20
Speaker
You know, we can have varying... varying opinions on how realistic that is. But to be a Super Bowl contender, you need to have the bet most best players you have can on your roster.
00:10:33
Speaker
And I have a weird time with a lot of fans who are like, they they'll be better without Jair. What are you replacing him with? It doesn't matter. No, no, no, no. Like that, it does the math don't math that way. Like if you have a path to getting in as good or maybe even a slightly worse player, you know, a slightly not as good player, just to, you know, put it in a frame that doesn't upset
The Role of Cornerbacks and Team Dynamics
00:10:56
Speaker
people. But, you know, a player who's like a half tier, but cost less and won't be the quote unquote head case.
00:11:03
Speaker
I hate to tell you, all the good corners are that way. They all have a few screws loose and they're all a little wonky in the personality department, you know. Everyone's one of the guys that they talk about is one of the goat defensive backs ever. And that's, that's, uh, uh, Dion Sanders.
00:11:20
Speaker
Look how much of a screw loose that guy has had his whole life. So, you know, all these guys are going to have that type of thing. And even Charles Woodson, who you know I would take multiple bullets for, but if he doesn't win Defensive Player of the Year in a Super Bowl in Green Bay, does everyone love him like they do right now? I don't think so.
00:11:38
Speaker
So it's all about circumstance, what your standing is, and you know, it It truly is what have you done for me lately? And fairly or unfairly, Ja has suffered.
00:11:49
Speaker
You know, he's had injury-shortened seasons, three of the last four. Two of them have been just stupid bad luck. You know, one year he got run over by a Coke machine when Najee Harris took his shoulder out. And then last year we thought he tore his ACL in Jacksonville. And then, you know, he didn't. And he tried to come back. And, you know, no one cares that he was working to try and come back because, oh,
00:12:09
Speaker
that was weird that he was practicing but didn't play kind of thing. So I don't know. Most of it, I just shake my head at and tune it out because my opinion is that he'll be back and the team will be better for it if he can play.
00:12:26
Speaker
But getting past the cornerback room, how are you guys feeling about the rest of this roster? You know, so I was on with Shavinck and Moffy. And one comment that we made is that the...
00:12:40
Speaker
The best thing about where the Packers are right now is you have a quarterback that the you, most of the fan base, I believe believes in who is an ascending player. You have talented, not quite elite players, but you have a bunch of really good to very good players, a handful of elite players who you know are either coming off of very you know excellent seasons, McKinney, or guys who need to bounce back this season.
00:13:04
Speaker
but There's no position in this draft class like last year where it's like, we've got to hit on a safety. We've got to hit on this. you know I guess receiver is maybe the closest thing, but otherwise, they don't have a... If we don't get this position in this draft, we are screwed going into this season. So I do think that's a good foot for them to be standing on. But how do you guys feel about the rest of this roster going into 2025? Donjie, you want to go first? You want me to...
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah, I can go real quick. I i think I'm going to still kind of fall on the sword of the defense here. i just i just think they need help up front.
00:13:45
Speaker
I think that has been so much invested on that side of the ball, obviously, but also in that front seven that... It's starting to be a little bit, you know, kind of worrisome to me that, you know, guys are not panning out as well as like, you know, as much as Goody would like maybe in. I think Gary's been nice. i think he's been definitely, you know,
00:14:10
Speaker
a great draft pick in the sense of like, he, you know, did what he was supposed to. He progressed, he, he learned, and then he had a, a really solid season and then obviously got hurt, you know, came back, you know, really early and then, you know, had a moderately okay, not the great season that you're, you're hoping, you know, how much you're paying him, uh, you would have had, but,
00:14:31
Speaker
You're hoping he has a bounce back season and you're hoping that he can produce on his own or does he truly need someone opposite of of him for him to truly produce? That is the big question. you know You draft a guy like LVN and Enigbare and you know Brenton Koch and like those guys are obviously nice players, but like you know an LVN needs to produce this year. right like he He needs to show something. Otherwise, that pick looks really, really bad. right So I'm looking at the defense. I think the linebacker position is, you know, fine. This Isaiah Simmons thing was an interesting little like, you know, nugget right in the early weekend or whatever that was.
00:15:09
Speaker
I don't know how much that's going to come. Maybe they want to see what the draft looks like afterwards. Maybe they call him back. But the secondary, like I've already mentioned before, I think cornerbacks got to be a focus and safety. I think we're were solid there. But i I think overall, though, offensively, i think this whole smoke, in my opinion, I'm calling it smoke about the wide receivers.
00:15:30
Speaker
I think they truly do love the guys that they have. And I think, you know, if a guy falls to him at the position that they need to not to trade up or whatever, maybe they would take him because it's a best player available situation but i don't think they're going to be attacking receiver as much as people are saying and i could be wrong maybe i'm i'm an idiot but like i know they brought a lot of guys in for 30 day visits you know or top 30 visits or whatever but i truly think they do trust the guys that they have and that they can make the bounce back and hope that the system itself just shows that look that cowboys game was on a fluke you know guys got open because the system worked
00:16:04
Speaker
So, you know, I think you can never not keep feeding the O-line either. Like, I think the O-line needs to be fed. And you look at the Lions, you look at the Eagles, you know, there they're strong. And you're always thinking down the road, right? So, like, getting one or two guys in the O-line is, in my opinion, I think it's just a must. we just It's a factory in Green Bay. So they do a great job with them. So let's just keep that going.
00:16:30
Speaker
And see, I only see three... I'll call them three holes on the team because like Mike said, it's not really, there's nothing pressing at the moment, but there are three things that they definitely need to add or upgrade or whatever.
00:16:47
Speaker
Sanjay, you kind of hit it with the defensive line, but I'm going to go more of the interior line because right now, you know, the, the big question marks, Kenny, is i know i i've i've said this before but i completely disagree with the people that are saying kenny fell off no it was a change in scheme yeah you know when he's played three four defense for his whole career and then he jumps to four three there's a big difference there We saw Wyatt kind of have up and down. He was doing good, then got hurt, and then he kind of had struggled to rebound a little bit on that.
00:17:22
Speaker
Carl Brooks is what Carl Brooks is going to be. I still have hope for him, but I don't think he's going to be like a major player. I think he's going to be a simple rotational guy. And then, you know, what's Colby Wooden? Is he going to be, you know, is he an edge rusher? Is he an interior guy? You know, what is he?
00:17:42
Speaker
They lost a big man in TJ Slayton and free agency. So, you know, not that they really need to go out and get another big guy like him to replace him, but that was a run stopper that they need to kind of, you know, make get somebody in the mix.
00:17:56
Speaker
So I do view that. I do view wide receiver as need. And Green Bay has said or has always worked where they always plan a year ahead.
00:18:14
Speaker
Well, look at what's going on. Christian Watson isn't going to be seen until probably late November, early December. Him and Romeo are on contract years. Melton is probably on a contract year, but what is he really going to be? Is he going to be guy you can rely on? Is he going to be whatever?
00:18:33
Speaker
Malik, he's same way. I love Malik, but I just, I don't know if... There's enough of him that he'll be able to step in to be a three or four weeks.
00:18:43
Speaker
You know, I know a lot of people try to throw the Devante comp on him, but Mike, you might have to remember better than I do. i don't seem to remember Devante having a drop concern in college.
00:18:56
Speaker
It just seemed like he was struggling with it when he turned pro. Whereas the Don Tavian, God, I can't even talk, Mike, what'd you do to me?
00:19:07
Speaker
oh Even what we knew about Don Tavian was he had drop issues and no matter what. And they said that was something that he was going to have to work on in the pros. So is that something they're going to be able to fix? Is that, so you know, what's going on there? We don't know.
00:19:22
Speaker
And then Jaden Reed is going to be what Jaden Reed is. uh you know he's going to be the gadget guy he's going to be the slot guy i don't think he's going to be the deep guy that the packers really are hurting without a christian watson type so i do view wide receiver as a big need and then well not big me but it's a need and then the other one is interior offensive line depth now I view it more as depth. We already know what the starting lineup is pretty much going to be.
00:19:53
Speaker
It's going to be left tackle is Walker, left guard Banks, center is Elton, right guard is either going to be Ryan or Morgan, and then right tackle is going to be Tom.
00:20:06
Speaker
There's plenty of guys on the roster that can fill in at tackle, but there's not a lot that can fill in on the interior. Jacob Monk, yeah, but You know, he he was hurt for a good portion last year and was inactive for a good portion. So we don't know there.
00:20:23
Speaker
And after that, what else is there really? I mean, they tried Glover there, but he's obviously more of a tackle than he is then he has a guard. and And you just look through the list and there's not really anybody that you can say, okay, well, this is the next guy up if something happens.
00:20:40
Speaker
you know Maybe Donovan gene Jennings can turn into something, but you know he was a preferred UDFA. And Telfer tried at guard, but he wasn't very good either.
00:20:52
Speaker
So he's probably going to be more of a strictly tackle. So interior O-line view as another one that needs a lot of attention. So those are my three keys right there.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. it's And the guard one is gets really weird if you believe what they're saying about Morgan is getting every chance to take the left tackle spot this offseason.
00:21:21
Speaker
i i know you and I don't buy it, Joe. Justification. Yeah. So it remains to be seen where everything you know ends up when all is said and done. That it's always going to be baffling to me. You found a seventh round gem that plays well. And you're are, I mean, I get it.
00:21:39
Speaker
You drafted him high. You have to play him like that. I don't understand that. Why don't you just respect what you have? Like you have a guy that's solid. It weirdly feels like when,
00:21:50
Speaker
And it's not but it's not as long of a window, but it reminds me of when they took Spriggs, when they had Bakhtiari nearing the end of his rookie contract kind of thing.
00:22:01
Speaker
And it was like, I get it, But also, aren't you just going to extend Bakhtiari kind of thing and stuff? and And I get that Rashid is not anywhere near the player Bakhtiari was on his rookie deal and didn't have the same, you know, upward trajectory that Bakhtiari did, you know, 2016. But the same time,
00:22:22
Speaker
at the same time Sanjay, I don't know if Joe has told you, but we both basically hated the pick last year because our whole thing was this team is looking to contend. You're looking to contend. You're looking to do all these things.
00:22:35
Speaker
Why are you taking a player that you don't know where he's going to play? And that was always like... even though they will swear by he's a tackle. So it's like, you already have a really good one right there. So you're telling me that you don't like Rasheed Walker because my the only thing that I can think of is they weren't prepared for Walker to take the step that he did.
00:22:55
Speaker
And they weren't prepared for Ryan to take the step that he did. I think they figured that they were going to be able to slot Morgan into, they didn't think that he was going to take the step. but Did they not see the playoffs? Like I, Rasheed Walker was arguably one of the best, you know, offensive linemen in the playoffs.
00:23:11
Speaker
I know, but the idea is that, okay, well this, you know, what happens if he doesn't continue? Cause he had a rough start to that year. So if he reverts back to that rough start, you know, we're kind of in trouble, but then you've got the whole thing with, uh, Sean Ryan too, where he was rotating in and out. They, you know, who would have thought that he took that step that he was going to be able to be such a good interior guy at that point.
00:23:38
Speaker
So I think the idea was even on the Sean Ryan argument, on it because like obviously you know you didn't know what his trajectory would be like he had his little rough goings in his rookie year he ends up becoming a mauler and he's actually one of your you know solid guards that you can rely on but yeah we'll see right yes so should we yeah so it's going to be something else but if we want we'll go ahead and mike you got anything else you want to add before we jump right into it you're muted mike you've
00:24:09
Speaker
You're making rookie mistakes over here.
00:24:12
Speaker
You're still muted, Mike.
00:24:15
Speaker
It's the more interesting thing to talk about. But, yeah, let's head into our draft. So – We are, as usual, on we are going by the seat of our pants. but We are flying high into the sky on on on the backs of our Fruit of the Looms or Hanes or whatever we prescribe to in this space.
00:24:35
Speaker
But we're going to just go around. He showed up dressed. I had to worry about him for a little bit because, you know, he was asking me all these questions. i was like, just just don't show up making.
00:24:47
Speaker
Hey, man, when you've got kids, we're just here. That's the that's the that's half the battle. Sanjay is still eating dinner at this point, and it's 840. So I understand Sanjay.
00:25:00
Speaker
But we'll just go around Robin every round. not going to lie. I just did a draft and I was like, ooh, that trade back looks nice. Ooh, that trade back looks nice. Like, you know, Peter Griffin, piece of candy. And then I was like holy crap, I've got like 42 picks in this draft that I can't do this for our show. so And then I'm like, ooh, I can trade for all these 2026 draft picks.
00:25:21
Speaker
And I was like, I've lost the plot, but we'll go round by round. I got to the point where I stopped using the mock draft simulator because I did it one time and Travis Hunter fell all the way down to 23. And I was like, there's no, this is no. like So I just started going off and I was like, okay, I know this guy's got this rank. And then I used our, our buddy, Brian Moffey's group chat to be like, okay, would this guy really make it to this round? Okay, well, that's going to be my pick.
00:25:51
Speaker
But yep, here we go. So Sanjay, who are you picking if you are the Packers at 23? And OK, just to set this up, like I said, we've used our own methods. some We might have used mock draft simulators. Joe is just using, hey, this guy could be there. I've gone kind of a hybrid between the two.
00:26:10
Speaker
but So I don't, you know. If you think that that guy won't be there for all that kind of crap, yeah, exactly. like Honestly, I said it on Shavinx's pod the other day.
00:26:23
Speaker
This is going to be a weird class because it like for how the how the board is set up for round one for Green Bay, they could go in like five different directions and it's all predicated on who is actually going to be there at 23. Yeah, kind that's...
00:26:41
Speaker
yeah but go ahead sorry go ahead no no i was just gonna say i say all that to say sanji i rolled a red carpet out to you who are you picking in the first round yeah i i just like kind of last year i felt like you know if last year felt so like almost like a relief like i felt like we didn't need a certain position like i almost felt like even though i didn't like the jordan morgan pick i was kind of like look we can go a lot of different directions here as much as i you know i wanted you know i don't even remember who i wanted last year probably a receiver just like i want every year but anyway like yeah to that point sanjay the board felt so weird last year that i was like you know what just take the receiver this year yeah exactly and so you know the the terry and arnold thing happening like literally right in front of us was kind of like a a weird like
00:27:30
Speaker
Like that was one I was kind of like, damn, that one kind of hurt me a little bit. Like that was like a stab in the back almost. But for this year, it's like, it's again, I kind of feel like, look, if you tell me you're going to, if you, if you die on the hill of defensive tackle and you take, you know, whatever his name is from Oregon, I'm not going to hate it.
00:27:49
Speaker
Right. yeah If you tell me that, you know, and I'm going to tell you who my pick is right. The second, if I'm taking my Cal Williams, Right. And that's who I'm taking. I'm taking an edge edge guy because I'm falling on that.
00:28:01
Speaker
I don't believe in LVN. I know you're going to fight to the death from Joe. I get it. But like, you know, I need insurance. So if that insurance is in a heavy weighted draft with edge guys and if he's falling to me at that point,
00:28:15
Speaker
I'm taking an edge guy. and Even if he's not there, I'm taking Devin Maseraku. I'm taking an edge guy because I feel like that is the one thing that will suffice for my needs, for my insurance. Now, i'm I think...
00:28:31
Speaker
If it's not going based on my opinion, I think they go Derek Harmon. I think they go defensive tackle. I think the interior, you're setting yourself up for the success. You don't know what you're going to do with Kenny with a big price tag next year.
00:28:43
Speaker
You know, is why am I blanking on his name now? Other guy right next to him from Georgia. Wyatt. why Thank you. it you Is Wyatt going to you know progress? Is he going to help you in that in that regard?
00:28:56
Speaker
I don't know. You just lost Slayton. So like you need to keep you know putting more guys in as far as depth is concerned. Because I don't know what Colby Wooden and... and you know and Brooks.
00:29:10
Speaker
thank you carl brooks you know they're more like outside guys more so than inside so it's like i think that's probably the play that they go but then yeah and then i'm just going to say this again like i think why receivers in play right and i think cornerbacks in play but you're right like mike i think based on who falls to them i think theyre pretty okay with taking a ah like a slew of different positions But I'm going Mikel Williams. I'm going Edge. I think it's the it's the position that if you can get in the first two rounds, you know that's the that's probably the meat of the Edge class. And I think it falls dramatically after that.
00:29:45
Speaker
And so i'm I'm taking that with full confidence. But I'm also very OK with Derek Harmon. Joel, who you got?
00:29:54
Speaker
I've said this for the longest time. This year feels really different when things, and I just want to say that even like the talking heads and the network guys are saying, you know, this is the first time that we're getting this close to the draft and everybody's still got their original first round pick.
00:30:12
Speaker
There's been no trades on it or anything like that. So it's been super rare. I think I was reading that the last time we were this close was 92, and then the Joe Montana trade happened to Kansas City.
00:30:26
Speaker
So it's a really weird year. But I feel like the Titanic meme, whenever I talk about this, where it's been 84 years. Well, it's been 23 years since the Packers took a first-round wide receiver.
00:30:41
Speaker
i've said that this year just feels really different because they're bringing a lot of wide receivers in for their pre-draft visits so they're really doing their work on this stuff so it's really interesting to see so with all that being said for the first time in 23 years i have him taking matthew golden the wide receiver out of texas And I think he fits that Greg Jennings mold a little bit with the size, not necessarily player type, but the size.
00:31:12
Speaker
And, you know, I think he's that stretch the field type guy that they're going to need without Watson there. And this kind of prepares for them next year in case Watson decides to take a bag of money and the Packers don't want to offer it to him.
00:31:25
Speaker
The size matter to you do you. Are you a little nervous because he's smaller? He's 5'11", so he's a prototypical oh a wide receiver height.
00:31:36
Speaker
I'm just a little concerned based on like speed and size with him, but i I like him. I think he's like right there below a tet for me, I feel like, you know if I had to pick out of him. But I like it. I do like Matthew Golden. I would go get a Longhorn you know shirt for him if he did get drafted by us.
00:31:55
Speaker
I mean, I'm not too worried about his size as much because... Like I said, he's about the size of a, of a Greg Jennings about the same height, same weight. So, you know, and Mike, you might know a little bit better than I do off the top of your head. i think his 40 was like four, three, nine or four in the low four. is in the four three s Yeah.
00:32:18
Speaker
So, so I mean, he's got tremendous stretch the field. I think that's faster than what Watson ran. So and what are you playing for you? you play in the X?
00:32:29
Speaker
He's going to be, a I think he's going to be on the outside. and He's going to be definitely your boundary guy. and I know there's been a lot of talk about, well, slots this and slot that, but really in...
00:32:44
Speaker
with the type of player he is i think he can be that boundary guy and you don't have to label it you know put him in the slot now my other pick was the white and i have a hard time with his name but the guy the kid out of ohio state because it seems like they're really kind of high on him so but yeah yeah so It was a toss up between the two, but I think Golden fits more what they're looking for as kind of a replacement for Watson and could be a good tandem if Watson does re resign and comes back at at a you know decent rate.
00:33:20
Speaker
We'll see what happens with the injury.
00:33:23
Speaker
And yeah, like just just the contrast what you're saying, Joe, that, yeah, that's so weird with the whole first round pick thing. And it it only stands out in my head because i know you don't care about the NBA, Joe, but there's a...
00:33:38
Speaker
I forget where I saw it, but like of the playoff team, the teams that are in the and NBA playoffs, only three of those teams have their first round pick. So like just the like dichotomy of like in one league, every of the 30, each one of the 32 teams has their first round pick.
00:33:55
Speaker
And in the other league, 13 out of the 30 teams do not have their own first round pick. So yeah, it's just like, it is kind of weird to see like some like static, I guess, in terms of that.
00:34:09
Speaker
My first round pick, I'm going kind of in a similar direction as you, Joe. And this is my what if the board is just totally upside down for the Packers when they come up to pick in the first round.
00:34:20
Speaker
This is anyone who watches Jake Shevink. This is a theory that Shevink and I have been working on for a while. But the Packers take Colston Loveland in the first round.
00:34:30
Speaker
And... It's sort of the same where you're shoring up the receiving options. You're of like what Sanjay is doing at defensive end. You're not giving up on Luke Musgrave, but you're getting insurance in case like he just can't stay healthy. And Musgrave is sort of in the same room as Jair, where I know he came out of college with injury concerns, but...
00:34:56
Speaker
The two injuries he's had is he lacerated a kidney, which is like, huh? And then last year, it was an ankle injury where all of us were, when we saw it, we were like, all right, like, let's go into the post game. We're going to find out if it's a lower or high ankle sprain.
00:35:10
Speaker
And then LaFleur comes up, Luke Musgrave will get surgery and be out on IR. And we're just like, what? So, i you know, and they've said all the good things about Busgrave this offseason that, you know, he's rehabbing really hard. He's trying to add more mass and all that kind of stuff. But I do think he's in that territory where Goot will start to look to the future.
00:35:33
Speaker
i I disagree a little on how... LeFleur more than Goot would look at the receivers. I agree with you that Golden meets the thresholds they usually look to hit at receiver, but LeFleur has this weird tendency that it's like, if this guy is built like a slot, he only plays in the slot.
00:35:52
Speaker
I'd like to see him break that a little bit this year, especially if they do take someone like Golden in the first round, but... You take Colston and you're able to play two tight end sets. Hell, you're able to play three tight end sets if Musgrave gets healthy.
00:36:05
Speaker
You can split any one of those three guys out to just really wonk up the matchups. And it would give LeFleur all the willies of his, the illusion of complexity and all the kind of crap he likes to put together on and, you know, just mess with opposing defenses. So...
00:36:22
Speaker
like i said this is a pie in the sky kind of pick and it's if wide receiver is unlikely you got to go back even one more year for the last time the packers took a tight end in the first round or two sorry that's right reynolds was between but so it's it's all the way back to 2000 for with bubba so yeah loveland would be my first round pick right Yeah, I don't know about that one, but I just looked it up real quick. Golden ran a 4.29 at the Combine. Yeah, the the RAS card that I pulled up, it still had it un on unconfirmed, so I was like, shoot, what did they confirm it at again?
00:36:58
Speaker
But that's right, he was the fastest guy at the Combine this year, so All right, we've got one edge and two receiving options. Let's move to the second round. Sanjay, lead us off again.
00:37:10
Speaker
Where are you going in the second round? oop All right. Well, i'm I'm thinking he's going to go late first. So, like, it's probably a crapshoot now because I kind of had him as a second round pick.
00:37:25
Speaker
But i I will say that Right now, it's got to be a Jaden Higgins or a Jack Betch. I think, you know, there you get a bang for your buck instead of spending a high first round pick on a fifth year option kind of player with a receiver who demands money typically by year three or four, you know, and starts becoming a little bit more diva that they want to get paid like they're, you know, like a like what Jamar Chase situation is going through. Right.
00:37:55
Speaker
They don't even get to a fifth-year option, whereas with your edge, you're getting the premier position outside of a tackle that you can buy that time for. So that's why I'm feeling like I'm getting more for my money, getting a guy. And we've always pretty so you know we've struck pretty gold with second-round receivers.
00:38:12
Speaker
Jack Besh, kind of like Apuka Nakua, can really run hard. He's big. He's strong. He can... Still potentially even play like an X kind of player and still help you down the field, but also be a possession kind of receiver and just get you that like bucket kind of like we need a third and seven completion and he just will go up and get after a ball.
00:38:35
Speaker
Jaden Higgins, same thing, bigger, definitely an X kind of player. He is your go-and-get-it-whatever-you-need-it-in-the-red-zone kind of guy. he is your, in my opinion, I think he's your replacement for Christian Watson.
00:38:49
Speaker
I'm not saying that Golden can't be, and I'm not hating on that pick. I just think I'd like the taller receiver. The Packers have always loved taller receivers. they They want them at least six feet or higher, so that's kind of in their threshold.
00:39:02
Speaker
Matthew Golden actually doesn't even meet requirements for the Packers. He's actually in he's actually kind of like He just misses kind of like he he misses their checkmark boxes as you know as far as thresholds are concerned.
00:39:15
Speaker
So i don't I don't find him to be in their marking because right now you look at Jaden Higgins, Jalen Royals, nash armstrong and isaac tesla who's getting a lot of fucking but publicity sorry i don't know if i'm supposed to be swearing but they check the market they check all five boxes for thresholds that the packers need so like that's those are like the receivers i'm looking at again not saying that golden isn't the thing but i just prefer a little bit bigger receivers and the only argument i'm going to make with that is like i said
00:39:47
Speaker
They have one outside those thresholds on receivers before. Only once. Only once. Only once have they. That's Jaden Reed. No. Cobb.
00:39:58
Speaker
yeah cobb But I think Cobb was more of just like they wanted that utility. Like they wanted a returner. And then, like I said, he's he's the almost the exact same size as Greg Jennings.
00:40:11
Speaker
So, I mean, it would just... I'm not saying they're the same player. I'm just saying that they're the same build and all that. But, you know, I love Betch.
00:40:22
Speaker
i i And I didn't realize it until Mafi and Chivink were talking about it one time that he actually went to LSU as a tight end. And you can you can see it in his play that he still wants to run over people. He just doesn't have the size for it.
00:40:40
Speaker
So I would be happy with that. So, yeah, that that wouldn't would be solid. I wish Golden would have tested. i think they like seeing a three cone from receivers, and he didn't test.
00:40:53
Speaker
And so, like, that's the – and then he didn't do a broad jump, which I don't know what is what his broad jump would – I don't even know how well he can jump. But, I mean, I'm not saying he can't. Like, he's he's a wide receiver. I'm sure he can jump just fine. But I know that's a big thing that they like.
00:41:08
Speaker
And the other thing is za I don't like Iowa State. Yeah, yeah. See, you' you got to take your bias out of it. i don't you'll see me sitting here picking Wisconsin players, you know, like you don't see Mike picking Hawaii.
00:41:25
Speaker
That being nobody will talk about you're muted again, Mike. This this is our show and we let all the biases in. Like, just wait. so then I'm out. I'm out. In the first round. So to get all the Iowa players off my you just wait.
00:41:39
Speaker
You just wait. He'll friggin start talking about a Michigan guy here in a minute. But honestly, already.
00:41:48
Speaker
But honestly, with this.
00:41:52
Speaker
I like Noel better than I do Higgins. Out of the two Iowa State receivers. Oh, there you go again. Yeah. Higgins is the bigger guy.
00:42:04
Speaker
noelle is going to be again more your your 510. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So, but I just, I like him a little bit better than I do Higgins. I know I got kind of rolled on this in our our draft chat that I said, I think he's just a little bit faster, Alan Lazard.
00:42:23
Speaker
And that just, that's what popped off on me on when I would watch. On Higgins? Yeah. Yeah. I, a lot of people are saying that too. And I, that's why if you're telling me that Tet or Ibuka can fall to me, I'd rather have them based on their size profiles.
00:42:40
Speaker
But like, you know, I like the production from Ibuka little bit more than golden because he was doing it with all these other studs getting drafted ahead of him. And he was still like their number, their, their number one receipt, a receptions guy at Ohio state. So like, that's pretty nuts.
00:42:55
Speaker
and and that's where i go again that i don't think you can limit these guys to just oh well he's a slot player because this hundred percent they got to play all five yeah so with that being said i'll go ahead and give mine and i went with the defensive side of the ball i went with trey amos out of old miss i was thinking about harrison out of kentucky but something popped up in the group chat where they said that I guess he had some kind of of sex offense in high school that is just now coming out.
00:43:30
Speaker
And so sounds like I can get him in the fifth round then.
00:43:39
Speaker
Otherwise, I would have went with him because he he was really crawling, climbing the boards and all that. So but if if that's the case, I love the pick. i and And with the same thing with Golden's teammate, Bond. There was a thing that came out with him a few a week or so ago about him being had a warrant out for his arrest for sexual assault.
00:44:03
Speaker
I think that knocks him way off the board for the Packers, especially and unless it's in like a seventh sixth or seventh round. I know that you have the thing with Devontae Wyatt but that one's never been fully brought out.
00:44:19
Speaker
They called it a domestic violence thing, but there was no actual physical physicality to it. So it was just I don't know what that. Yeah.
00:44:30
Speaker
So it's just what it is. But yeah, I went with Trey Amos. I wish his 40 was a little bit faster if we're talking about like a potential Jair replacement, but he's still at a 449.
00:44:42
Speaker
so you know you're doing pretty good he's got good size so yeah that's that's what i went with in round two
00:44:50
Speaker
mike you're muted you need to stop taking vacations because you come back brain dead it shouldn't be that It should be pretty obvious because this mic lights up when it's not muted. So i don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm colorblind, maybe.
00:45:04
Speaker
I'm going to similar vein. i have Amos going like way earlier than that. So I'm taking Azariah Thomas out of Florida State. 40 time doesn't bother me. he keep he's He's like a Zool. He's like Zool.
00:45:17
Speaker
he's He's a big corner, knows what he is, uses the sideline well, and he's He plays so physical. when And obviously, he needs some technique work and stuff. But the he has a feel for the game that you don't see from a lot of younger corners. And I really like that out of him. 40 times doesn't matter.
00:45:43
Speaker
Josh Jackson.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah, we saw how that turned out. Different kind of player, though. Very different kind of player. The one thing that scares me about Thomas, and he hits a lot of measurables, but like... there's missing data on him. Right.
00:45:59
Speaker
I think like that's, I feel like they, especially with their first two rounds, first and second round, I think they've always drafted a full draft profile player. Haven't they not? I, I think Myers is one of the most recent ones. Yeah. my user are yeah that was and Yeah. And and I couldn't tell you who the one before that, but you're right. that That's where golden kind of falls short. so a bunch of like the edges and stuff. They, they do have a lot of like missing, you know, not saying that they won't either because again right i feel like if that's the trend that's scouting yeah i think we can usually get like one correct draft pick maybe like couple but like we never get the round and player correct unless it's like ha ha clinton dicks or like you know i don't even remember what the i'm sure there's someone that's gotten them right but like they're so like out of left field with their picks so i maybe they're right and you can like you know uh you can flex on this uh on this pick when they when they take them in the second round
00:46:57
Speaker
All right. So we both, all of us have addressed both sides of the ball to this point. yeah third round we a lot and Yeah. And yeah. is Is it me and again? So like, I, i don't know why i went against my, my, I just posted a mock that I just did. And I took Trey Amos second round. mike out williams So I don't know what I'm doing in this podcast. I'm just going away from everything. I just like tweeted out.
00:47:24
Speaker
Excuse me. But here's where I am, you know, taking my corner, which I did not know about this, like, you know, situation with the Kentucky guy. So like, I kind of had him like, you know, late second. And if we maybe could do like a trade up or maybe he does fall.
00:47:40
Speaker
And if he does fall in this case because of his you know allegations, maybe this is a place where you could get him in the third round. I'm addressing the corner pretty early in the first two days. I can't, you know, there's there's a significant drop off with the corner position that, you know, the next guy I'm thinking of is like Bilal Cohn.
00:47:59
Speaker
And like, that's like someone I was able to get in like the seventh round from Western Michigan. So like, i I think you need to address this in the first two rounds. I don't know. I was actually going to ask you this question, Joe, because
00:48:14
Speaker
what's his name from Maxwell Harrison? harrison like Sorry, not Maxwell Harrison. Who am I trying to think of here? Oh, my God. The kid from Notre Dame, right? The one that's got the injury. Morrison.
00:48:26
Speaker
Morrison. Yeah, Benjamin. Yeah, and I i know a lot of people are high on him because they he he projects as a first-round pick. If he doesn't get hurt, he's a he's like a top-ten pick.
00:48:37
Speaker
And i know the injury issues, and maybe if you think you have Jaffer this year, you take a risk on him you know late second, early third. i don't know how far he drops.
00:48:49
Speaker
I think his profile just so good if he's healthy that I don't think he's going to drop out of the first two days. But... I was wondering about him because if you have the insurance with job this year, you can wait on him and sit and make sure make sure he's fully healthy.
00:49:04
Speaker
you don't he You don't need him to take full reps right away. And maybe he can like kind of gradually come back because he's he he's not projected to come into the season healthy, correct? He is still... on rehab? It's close. Like he got hurt.
00:49:18
Speaker
and I don't know. That's the thing. So the the way that I break down like the three corners that could potentially fall into Green Bay's range, including Will Johnson, is that Johnson, Chevelle and or Siobhan Ravel And Morrison. And so all three guys would fall because they've had some injuries, right? So Ravel, it's the cleanest, quote unquote, the cleanest because he blew his knee out, tore his ACL.
00:49:44
Speaker
Reports are it was just the ACL and his rehab is going fine. So That one is unlikely because you don't see Groot or the Packers take a guy who missed their senior, except for Justin Harrell.
00:49:57
Speaker
But Ravel is good enough of a prospect. If you watch his 2023 film, he's a good enough prospect that I would take him and be fine with him being our Antonio Cromartie Jr. for anyone old enough to get that reference.
00:50:11
Speaker
Johnson, the difference between Johnson and Morrison is that Johnson's had some nagging injuries the past two years, but he has pushed through to play through them as long as Michigan's been contending for something.
00:50:23
Speaker
So, you know he didn't play the back half of this year because Michigan had a bad year and is like, he's going to the draft, no point really pushing through it, but played through a bunch of stuff to win the national championship in 2023. got...
00:50:35
Speaker
morrison's got Like, i don't think he played through a single season of his college career. And every time he suffered some kind of big injury and it's to the point where it's kind of like,
00:50:49
Speaker
it's the and then this last one from 2024 it's he had a hip injury and it's like with all the stuff you do yeah the label that's always a that's a tough yeah you don't know he came back and know he came back to try and or he wanted to come back but yeah it he suffered against stanford so halfway through the season for all intents and purposes so you know the injury is that puts his injury in like late october early november so he might start the season on pump so he's probably missing off season yeah i think this is like in your advantage right like if you're you know you just picked up nate hobbs you you feel good about the guys you have starting
00:51:34
Speaker
So like this is a place where and I don't know if it's possible in the third. That's why, you know, if it if it really truly is in the second, then OK, but then I miss out on my third round pick here. But I want to go corner in my first three picks. But anyway, go on.
00:51:48
Speaker
No, no, no. And, you know, but that's something that, you know, when we had Sarah Kelleher on last year and what was the the Texas running back that I think Carolina ended up picking.
00:51:59
Speaker
And we kind of threw around that like third round is that draft pick that you're like, Yeah, if this guy takes a mulligan as a rookie, it's it's okay because you're still getting, hypothetically, a guy who would have been worth a first-round pick.
00:52:14
Speaker
So it's like this is kind of that area, Sanjay, where it's like you're kind of okay taking that shot in the dark to potentially get a much better player at a later spot than he he should go kind of thing.
00:52:28
Speaker
And I would rather take them in the third round than say like the second round or whatever. And, or like the Titans did with both Jeffrey Simmons and Caleb Farley. Now it worked out on the Simmons end, but it didn't do anything for him for the Farley end of it.
00:52:42
Speaker
So yeah, I would rather have them be a third round, you know, if he gets there, you know, fourth round or whatever. So that that would be the better way for me to go with that stuff.
00:52:54
Speaker
So and I'll be honest, I don't know much about that the corners because I didn't get to do that episode because Mafi is a little whiner and didn't want to record on our normal time. So but yeah, I mean, we all know that we have to they have to take one at some point.
00:53:14
Speaker
Now, it's whether or not we determine a corner is needed early or later. or if they're happy what they got, but we all feel like they need to take one. So I'm going to go with my third round pick oh because Sanjay had to step away for a second.
00:53:31
Speaker
And I kind of double dip from schools. And I know the Packers don't typically do this. you know they They do occasionally do it. They did it with Georgia and all that, but they don't typically double dip on schools.
00:53:45
Speaker
But I went with Ole Miss again and Edger, Prince Lee, Euminelli, Nealon, Euminealon, something like that. And I think he's a little bit more of a speed guy than power, even though his 40 was kind of weak.
00:54:03
Speaker
It was a 4-7-6-40, so it wasn't a great 40. But he put together some pretty good tape. And, you know, to come in as a rotational guy – you know, he kind of fits the Packers bill a little bit more.
00:54:16
Speaker
So yeah, edge rusher, Prince humanilly out of old miss is my third rounder.
00:54:25
Speaker
I heard edge from one of you. Yeah. Edge rusher, Prince humanilly out of old miss is my third rounder. Awesome.
00:54:34
Speaker
We got Mike. Okay.
00:54:38
Speaker
So Prince Lee is a good one. I'm going with, I really wish i had, I should have ran this one by one of my friends.
00:54:48
Speaker
So there is a
00:54:52
Speaker
there is an edge rusher, almost certain he's Nigerian because first name is Oluwafemi. And I'm trying so hard not to pronounce his last name like he's a Hispanic because like I took Spanish in high school. My brain automatically goes to Spanish, but I'm pretty sure it's his. So Oluwafemi Oladejo.
00:55:16
Speaker
I need to double check that, though, because I'm not confident in that. But I know it's not Oladejo. Oh, Femi Oladejo? Yeah, from zealand yeah. But yeah, similar idea to Prince Lee. I think he's a little more explosive than Prince Lee and he doesn't have the mass. I know.
00:55:31
Speaker
And Prince Lee had that weird thing where like he was at the senior bowl at almost 260 and then he went to the combine news in the 240s. And i didn't I never read anything about that, but I'm just hoping like he got sick or something because that's weird that you're down like 15 pounds in a week kind of thing or a couple weeks. But I just really like the way Femi plays. He locks out really well against the run, sets the edge super strong, can chase down plays from the backside.
00:56:00
Speaker
And he has enough explosiveness as a pass rusher that you you can see the upside as an edge bender.
00:56:10
Speaker
And I like that he doesn't get too far upfield against... offensive tackle so he doesn't you know the thing that Rashawn is notorious for where he rushes upfield gets past the quarterback and then can't turn redirect back to the quarterback so Femi is my front seven guy so far good All right, Sanjay.
00:56:31
Speaker
So here, this is where we make our money, boys. This is the interior, exterior. I don't know. this is your This is your Bakhtiari pick for me. I'm taking an offensive lineman in this situation.
00:56:46
Speaker
i think if I – I didn't state this in the first round, but, like, if Calvin Banks dropped – That would have been who I would take. Like, you know, I think you can't get any more offensive line. Like, I think you can always just, you know, like be more and just have more guys. Right. So like, but I'm taking, and I, if, if I don't think Gables would be available, so I'm just take Caleb Rogers here or sorry, Logan Brown, Logan Brown. I'm sorry.
00:57:17
Speaker
Caleb Rogers is a little bit different, but offensive tackle out of Kansas. I think this is one of those like guys that you can kind of like not experiment, but he could potentially be a swing tackle for you, but he can for sure play guard.
00:57:30
Speaker
That's how but the Packers have always like wanted to draft their guys. They draft tackles to play guards if they're to have the ability to play guard. You know, I, I just feel like with the offensive line,
00:57:42
Speaker
If you truly do not like Rasheed Walker or maybe one of them doesn't pan out or Jordan Morgan can't stay healthy because that is a true concern for mine. you know He has not stayed healthy through his entire you know playing career so far.
00:57:54
Speaker
so And that goes back to college is what I'm trying to get that. But I do think like that's... that's why i'm saying like you can't have enough offensive linemen because like this is he's like the top rated guy for you know a packer player you know i like his shuttle it's a it's a faster shuttle than a lot of the guys and you know for a guy that and i i like that he's young too 22 you you can sit on him you can kind of he's not even a project either because i think he's actually pretty solid but like The one thing I don't like is the production. You're in you're in Kansas, so you're not playing that many great you know schools outside of like your Oklahomas and Texas, at which now they're done.
00:58:32
Speaker
So like you know i I do worry about his talent that he's played against, but that's who I'm going with the fourth row. i'm not go to surprise And this is going to be totally shocking that I did this because we didn't confer with anything with each other beforehand, but I did the same thing.
00:58:53
Speaker
I think it's just like where you go in the fourth is just the offensive line. I think it's just a, but I'm glad that you picked him right like along with me. That's awesome. but And on top of that, I know the Packers met with him. I don't think they used a top 30 visit with him, but I know they met with him during either at the combine or it was at one of the, uh, uh, whatever game he played in, but they, they did have conversations with him.
00:59:19
Speaker
Uh, you know, like you said, he's got the athletic traits to be able to play both inside and out. Uh, I want to look at this real quick. Cause I, I, I, uh,
00:59:31
Speaker
I know I've read it, that he only played one full season at starter. So that is going to be kind of a... Yeah, production-wise, he would play a lot, which, hey, go ask LVN.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah, but LVN's also kind of playing out of position, too. Yeah. But I think I also have to give you shit because I think the only reason you pick Brown is because he spent three years at Wisconsin.
01:00:03
Speaker
i don't tell kiss and tell, but even then, you know, According to this, he redshirted 19, played seven games as a reserve in 2013 and 21 as a reserve, only started three games in 2022, one at LT and two at right tackle.
01:00:23
Speaker
Then he was dismissed from the team in October for an internal incident. And I don't know if anybody ever said what that internal incident was. And then he only played two games as a reserve in 23.
01:00:35
Speaker
And then last year he played all season, you know, started all season. So that's the big worry with him. And, you know, like I said, the Packers met with him and we're getting to the point in my mock draft where it's just like, who did the Packers meet with and what round did they go to?
01:00:51
Speaker
Because this is usually the spots where that's where more of their visits happen. Are these late mid to late round guys?
01:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, and I went off offensive lineman here too. I'd have been funny if you would have went the same guy. So um i went charles
01:01:11
Speaker
i went Charles Grant going the small school athletic route again. Last year, the Bears took Kieran Amigaji. This year, i'm getting our guy so I'm getting William and Mary's Charles Grant.
01:01:25
Speaker
Same kind of thing. You know, you it's he's one of those guys that you're like, let him cross train, see if he can be the swing tackle. But if not, he has the build and quickness to play on the inside and the pros. And I think he has the strength to do it as well, but you know, need some technique work, but that's why you're able to get him in the early parts of day three. And you know,
01:01:48
Speaker
Kreebae is always you know turning up these kind of so turning over these kind of stones to find starting old linemen. So hopefully they can go that route again. and it would be kind of cool if it's one of the guys we picked.
01:02:01
Speaker
I actually know because I watched him in our for that episode. And yeah, I said he had good lateral movement, good hand placement. The big thing that bugged me was that, and I think I mentioned this during that episode, is he didn't backpedal.
01:02:16
Speaker
And that's what I was noticing with a lot of of the offensive linemen coming out for the strap is there was no backpedal. They just kind of stood where they were and attacked. And, you know, usually you see that leg kick to get in the rush, but that didn't happen. with But I said he held up a well at the point of the attack. So, yeah, that that could be an easy easy selection there.
01:02:42
Speaker
All right. Round five, we are bouncing back and forth. were we're in We're in the thick of it now. This is where, like you said, this is where scouting scouting the scouting office gets paid to make to make the donuts. But Sanjay, who'd you go with in round five?
01:02:59
Speaker
I'm going to switch my fifth and my sixth round guy because I kind of just want to change it up. I don't want to keep saying you know more of this. So this is where I'm taking Isaac Tesla. i I think he is a sneaky.
01:03:12
Speaker
If there's a sleeper. This guy has all the measurables, and he is absolutely a burner. This is my McCole Hardman replacement.
01:03:23
Speaker
This is your official returner for the next you know three, four years. Maybe he's your your Slater, where he's just your guy for the next 10 years, and you don't have to pay him that much. I know in the NFL that doesn't work, but... I hope he can just be a solidifier guy for you. he can be, you know, he can run in the slot for you. He can play, know, he can play a y I mean, it's not like you've seen Reed play in the, you know, the X and the Ys before too.
01:03:51
Speaker
But i I just think with receiver, I'm i'm loading up here because of Only because of the fact of you don't know what you're going to do with Watson and Dobbs. They're both expiring.
01:04:05
Speaker
You know, maybe you can get like Joe said, you can get him on a cheaper deal because let's just say he doesn't get back to like Halloween or, you you know, how maybe he's not truly playing full snaps until Thanksgiving.
01:04:17
Speaker
Who knows? You know, I'm I'm probably leaning towards Thanksgiving more so than the Halloween. So I'm getting insurance there. You don't know what you're getting with Wicks. I'm not in the believer of Wicks. i I like him. I think he he's got all the world and time to prove me wrong this year.
01:04:38
Speaker
I'm just not going to keep falling for all the, he's got all these great moves and he can separate. Well, catch the ball. You can separate, but don't you're not catching the ball. like that And Reed's in the same problem too. like He needs to start showing me a little bit more more as well. So like you have two guys...
01:04:52
Speaker
you know under contract but they're not even like you know solidified guys that you're gonna like am i paying these guys 15 year 15 a year like you know like a three-year 15-year deal Like, I'm not doing that right now. though They haven't shown that to me yet.
01:05:06
Speaker
They have a lot of potential. So you need to just probably, this is not that this is like that year that maybe, as much as I was saying, like, maybe I'm not buying into the smoke of wide receiver. I was saying that for round one.
01:05:17
Speaker
But I do see this as a draft that maybe you could sneakily see them, like, load up on it and take three. You know, even if it's two and then like an undrafted free agent, because I don't know what you're going to do with Malik Heath. If he steps up big time this year, he's going to go get paid somewhere as like a three or four, you know, and it's more than probably the Packers want to pay him.
01:05:36
Speaker
Bo Melton, I don't know. he He's just too inconsistent for me, but I like his speed. So I'm going Tesla here.
01:05:45
Speaker
tesla here
01:05:48
Speaker
you honestly can't talk much about him because i that was not one of the guys that i really watched but at this point joe poo on you well i think he started rising up the range later on and yeah it's been really late yeah he had a nice yeah pro day i think i do think he needs to work on how he spells his friggin name though
01:06:12
Speaker
Here we go. GM Joe doesn't take players because they're either not from Iowa or they spell their names incorrectly. because the guy in my next pig has an amazing name and it's Tonka Hemingway out of South Carolina.
01:06:27
Speaker
So I, and this guy, I know the big one out of Carolina is TJ Saunders. But he'll be long gone by the time the Packers get to this pick.
01:06:40
Speaker
Tonka, the problem Tonka is he's kind of in that Carl Brooks mold where he's a tweener. You know, is he going to play edge? Is he going to play interior? i think you're going to have to play him interior because I don't know if he's got that edge ability to him.
01:06:54
Speaker
You know, 284.
01:06:58
Speaker
And, you know, he's got, I guess, according to this, he used to play basketball and he was an all state basketball player. So, you know, he's got a little bit of that athletic ability, not saying he's the next Julius Peppers, but, you know, look how well that kind of thing works out for players like that.
01:07:18
Speaker
So. the like like i said earlier on in the episode the packers definitely do need to go after some defensive tackle guys and or you know like i i know we were kind of jabbing at each other with it but i think lucas could slide into the interior defensive line and have a better chance at success than leaving him out on the edge so in that case you know this tonka is just a backup to that point and maybe depending on how well he does is a replacement for Kenny and in the future.
01:07:52
Speaker
And just to keep it short, I had the same pick as Sanjay. So yeah, taking taking that swing on receiver at this point, it just kind of makes sense here.
01:08:03
Speaker
Sixth round, we're getting it. Like I said, we're we're delving into the weeds. wherere We're parsing a lot of stuff. Sanjay, sixth round, where are you going?
01:08:13
Speaker
i'm like Now you're muted. Amateurs. All right. I'm taking Caleb Rogers here, interior and offensive line. I didn't want to go two picks in a row last round. That's why I switched my picks.
01:08:24
Speaker
But i I do feel like you're you're loading up on a position, especially a guard where you know you don't truly have backup like I don't think you I don't think they want to see Jordan might Morgan playing more guard like I I feel like this is a place where maybe they take a center maybe they they don't feel that Monk is you know giving him enough like maybe and he was a little bit older so this is a spot where I can see for sure a guard
01:08:54
Speaker
someone that they think can play guard and that's your bench guard, otherwise even a center replacement in the event that you think Elton's not as great as he thought and he's expensive number next year.
01:09:06
Speaker
So like this is your potential replacement at center. Who knows? I don't think that's going to be the case. I think he probably gets his third contract, I hope. But yeah, I'm going interior your office line.
01:09:19
Speaker
Homer. b would go with Connor Colby out of Iowa.
01:09:25
Speaker
Do it, Joe! I really... Colby has a lot of where he's only going to be an interior guy. I don't think he's got that flexibility to... I know that I... or I don't know. I believe he played some tackle at Iowa, but he was a better guard than he was a tackle.
01:09:44
Speaker
So I didn't go there, but I'm going to a position that none of us have touched at so far. And it's kind of surprising that nobody's grabbed one of these yet. And that's Kobe King, a linebacker out of Penn state.
01:09:58
Speaker
And I didn't realize this until we did there. I did the episode with Jason Perrone that Kobe is actually Kaylin King's twin brother. So I had no idea about that until Perrone had, had shown that or had pointed that out to me.
01:10:19
Speaker
right now I think it's just more of a Isaiah McDuffie style replacement and possibly could be more but at this point in the draft you just kind of throw in the proverbial shit against the wall something and and always like the feel good stories i'd I'd love to see two brothers play on the same team with each other again and that would be cool if we could get the King twins to to play on the Packers I'm all for it.
01:10:49
Speaker
And I had the same pick. yes I know that they're not quite the same. It's not quite the same school as it used to be in this regard. But there was that run in the 2000s where it was like you just took late Penn State linebackers and they became good pro players kind of thing. And yeah.
01:11:09
Speaker
They are deserving of the linebacker you moniker. They've always produced good linebackers throughout the years. And at this point, we're just taking flyers, really. You know, the I don't see Packers taking any what price glory kind of players at this point. And so, yeah, I'll take a flyer on Kalen's twin brother.
01:11:31
Speaker
and wrapping it up Sanjay who is your I know we don't have the Mr. irrelevant pick but of the Packers class who is your Mr. irrelevant so we do have two seventh rounders right yeah yeah two okay so this is kind of I I'm I went in a weird route here and well I'm going running back.
01:12:02
Speaker
I'm going to take Montrell Johnson. And I know people are going to say, they were we're going to draft a quarterback. I just don't know if someone's going to be available, so I'm thinking maybe they'll just do an undrafted free agent, so I'm not taking a quarterback.
01:12:18
Speaker
I'm going corner, Bilal Cohn, and Montrell Johnson. I think a running back actually in a really fruitful class in running back, I actually could see them taking someone a little bit earlier. I had a I had a F it draft last week, and i I found it where I was like, I took
01:12:41
Speaker
Jaden Higgins, Braden Swinson, Jalen Royals, and Quinshawn Junkins actually in the fourth. And I really love a lot of these running backs. and I think this is just more insurance. You don't know really what's going to happen with, gosh, why am I blanking on our team right now?
01:12:58
Speaker
Lloyd. What? Lloyd. Thank you, Marshawn Lloyd. i hope he can come back. it just felt like he just kept getting unlucky injuries. you know, he's almost like Luke Musgrave. So, like, I'm hoping that he can bounce back and have another good camp and, you know, really get, you know.
01:13:14
Speaker
like the vision that probably matt lefleur wants with him and on third down i really hope this is just more insurance if anything it's a seventh round pick it's kind of like the kaylan king to me i think there could be some a dime in there but like i also think you know hey if you're if your highly drafted player doesn't actually pan out here's another you know option and technically in the contract for josh jacobs it's a lot of phony years right i think this is his last four-year contract correct so
01:13:47
Speaker
if it's a phony year or if it's just they've made an easy way out after this this last year you know not saying that i think they've seen what this guy can potentially do so i'm sure he's going to be still remaining there but like now that your your room is really just emmanuel wilson which again nice player solid like you know uh solid story from him last year but i just think like you know you can never have too many running backs and i think it's just a camp body at that point And then yeah, cornerback, just because I think I i truly want more but bodies and I don't know, you know, what you're truly going to get with Valentine and, you know, Nixon and King.
01:14:24
Speaker
i Yeah. And I've had the same thought about running back. I was bouncing back and forth with that too. It's like, I have a feeling that somebody is going to get taken. But, you know where you know, where do you slot it in with some of the other gaps that they have to kind of fill in with? so But my two guys is I did double depth on wide receiver like you guys did, but I took Will Shepherd out of Colorado.
01:14:47
Speaker
I really like him. He's a tall, lanky type receiver. i think he was really forgotten with with you know Travis Hunter and... and God, I'm looking on the other ones that are out there, but there were like a couple other guys that were ahead of him he really didn't get a lot of targets.
01:15:04
Speaker
And then my last guy is I reached into that name bag again, and I had to go with this guy because Shavink and I talked about him and we both kind of loved him.
01:15:15
Speaker
and And and he could he could fill that spot that Slayton, you know, what they're going to be missing with slayton with the run stopper and that's thor griffith out of uh defensive tackle out of louisville
01:15:31
Speaker
all right and i'm going with the two fuck it picks this is our channel so i'm going to be a homer unapologetically we're going with two wolverines in the seventh round donovan edwards and miles hinton so edwards i i think His senior year is going to tumble him down the board.
01:15:52
Speaker
But he's another guy that I think could get maximized in the floor system. Not the most instinctual runner. And I know a lot of people be like, what? and But if Green Bay is going to go with a lot more of their power man scheme, you know you tell them which hole you're looking for. Edwards is pretty decent at that.
01:16:09
Speaker
But then as a receiver, you can split him out. You know, Michigan really should have played him as their wide receiver one and a bunch of points in the past couple seasons, but they didn't. And he does have that route running ability. He does have the hands, the instincts.
01:16:25
Speaker
it's it's It's all on film. He had a he had a game as a true freshman against. I know it's Maryland, but hey, it's still there. He had 170 yards and a touchdown as as a running back. So, you know, you give LeFleur that to screw around with.
01:16:39
Speaker
And then Hinton, he's just one of those, you know, they took Glover last year, who's like one of those bigger than a house kind of guys at tackle. And Hinton's one of those where he's a better athlete and...
01:16:52
Speaker
Just what he did in the two years at Michigan in terms of his technique improvement, you know, he started off at Stanford, but the the leaps he took in his two years at Michigan are, I think, a positive signer for what, you know, could happen if he's just given a runway as a pro.
01:17:07
Speaker
I don't want to so you know comp him directly to Rasheed Walker, but that kind of potential you know future starter, especially if they're serious about moving Tom around and all that kind of stuff. This gives you another body to potentially play right tackle for you.
01:17:22
Speaker
But that's it. I feel like across across all three of our drafts, we've covered all the bases. You guys have anything really else you want to go into with this one? Or ready for this? We're really going to be Homer-ish. I'm taking Caleb Johnson in
Supporting Jordan Love and Draft Strategy
01:17:37
Speaker
the second round. So you guys can just kiss my ass on that one.
01:17:41
Speaker
Hey, man. like Like Sanjay said, we don't know what's up with Marshawn Lloyd. So he's the best guy. Go for it. Man, this to be a fun experience. I wish you could be here, Mike. you know like it's It's going to be a fun weekend.
01:17:55
Speaker
i i truly think we're in a great place as a roster. i As much as I do wish that we would go certain directions with things and you know be more aggressive in certain off-seasons,
01:18:07
Speaker
You always say you got to trust, you know, the front office and what they can do. But like, I also think like, I think we did waste a certain window slash opportunity of Rogers. Like I, I know they did. i know on paper they show that they, you know,
01:18:22
Speaker
you know They went all in. They signed vets. They did all this stuff. But I do feel like there is a part of me that feels like they missed that. And I'm hoping that you know they've learned from that situation. And you know they've learned that, okay, Jordan Love needs the pieces around He is not as talented as Aaron Rodgers, right? like i he We will probably never see that again.
01:18:41
Speaker
So like I think Jordan Love has got a great ceiling. I think he's a good quarterback and he's got a lot of talent. But I think you also need to surround him with that talent. And I think this this year, this next offseason,
01:18:52
Speaker
You know you've had a couple good draft classes where guys have really like panned out for you But now you got to really hope that idiots from iowa Iowa can really you know step up so
01:19:04
Speaker
Joe your retort now outside of that jab i think that's why this is this could really be the season that they take a wide receiver in the first round yeah i think it because and because it just that you said it perfectly jordan love needs the weapons it's not that the guys in the the locker room aren't that great you know great of players it's just they need that guy above all of them they're solid two to three guys in there but
01:19:37
Speaker
And to build on that point that both of you have made, you can't say whatever you want about where you rank Love in regards to Rodgers. They have not stacked the deck for him like Thompson and his front office stacked the deck for Rodgers when he took the starting spot. there There is no Greg Jennings. There's not even a Donald Driver on
Green Bay Hosting the NFL Draft
01:19:58
Speaker
this roster. So like they've they've still got work to do in that regard. it's It's not really the draft class to do it unless certain guys slip, but...
01:20:07
Speaker
Like you said, Sanjay, this is the year to be aggressive about it. And all I want to say to encapsulate this is I'm so glad Green Bay is getting the chance to host the draft.
01:20:18
Speaker
I know it's like it's not zero, but it's almost zero for Lambeau to ever host the Super Bowl. So I'm so glad that the NFL that, you know, there's a lot of things that people can say about Murphy and all that kind of stuff. but I am glad that his legacy is going to be overall.
01:20:35
Speaker
They won a Super Bowl under his his his time as the CEO, and he did get the league to bring the draft to Green Bay. And honestly, i don't care if it quote unquote doesn't work or the you know hotel experience is not great, you know all that kind I don't care. the fact that Green Bay, Wisconsin got to host one of the major NFL events in a season.
01:20:57
Speaker
I think that's just so huge for Green Bay. Like, you know, so many people hear about how Lambeau is one of the meccas of professional sports. You've got to have you've got to go and experience a game there. I'm you know, all three of us have gotten to do that. And I think we all, you know, we'll yell that from the top of whatever hill we can get to. But I hope that, you know, obviously I want it to work out as best as it can for Lambeau and that they'll get to host another draft within the next decade.
01:21:25
Speaker
But I'm just so glad that in our lifetime, we're getting to see them do this in, you know, that title town, the title town expansion and all that work that, you know, it's getting their, their get the Packers are going to get to bear the fruits of their labor in that regard. So I'm just really excited for Green Bay to get to host this event and I think they're going to put on a great show. Like, I know a lot of people are like, oh, how are they going to do this and that? I'm like, they're going to lean into the Lambeau mystique and all that kind of stuff. And I think that they're going to just leverage the history that's at Lambeau to, like, promote, like, these, you know, this is the history of the the history of the NFL is rooted in this place.
01:22:09
Speaker
And this is the next generation. At least that's how I would do it. But I'm really curious to see how they're going to you guys know how they're doing it actually i i actually know i'm in project management and we had a we had a convention at lambo and the the lead project like she's not a project manager but she's basically the lead project lady for the entire draft for the nfl from the packer side of it And they're doing the bikes.
01:22:34
Speaker
So like when a player gets drafted, a kid from that team will ride a bike with, or he'll ride their bike. I called it. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Like, I am so glad that they're going all in. and That's why they got the draft.
01:22:49
Speaker
They sold them on the, that. Yeah. And that's what they had to do. I am so glad that they're jumping both feet in because I know that a whole, but you know, like 70% of the league, you know, fans are going to say it's corny. It's this, it's that, but it's who we are. the whole It's who we are That's right. That's,
01:23:07
Speaker
That's why you have the draft in a place like Green Bay is to do this. kind of It's not to you know stand out in Millennium Park and just hear the names yelled off and shit like that. you know we We don't do that. That's not what's going to draw people. And so i I'm glad that you know that detail is being hit. And I'm sure they've kept others under wraps. So that's really cool. But Sanjay, please pro promote yourself. Use this next couple minutes to be wary.
Sanjay's Content Creation and Listener Appreciation
01:23:31
Speaker
When I talked to Dan Kotnick, I said, that is probably what they're going to end up doing is I want to see one of two things happen. Either they're going to slide down the errands hill on the inner tubes or they're gonna ride the bikes up to the stage when their name is called so i i pretty much called it clear back then we got it on tape but sanjay we want to thank you for joining us today for our mock draft please use the next couple minutes tell everyone where you're from what you're doing and all the content you're creating as well
01:24:04
Speaker
Well, not a lot of content at the moment, but like... It's off season. That's why. thats Yeah, it's off season. We're going to chalk it up to that. Fred Thurston and Matt Jensen, two of my brothers here, that we have the Freezer podcast. you know we're We're still talking about what's kind of the future, what holds in that regard. But you know we...
01:24:23
Speaker
We've definitely been doing it for we've been doing it for six years. and you know I'm on Twitter. I'm at SanjayXMurthy. You can follow me on there. And GBLanter, that's my streamer name for Twitch and YouTube. So I'll be doing some sports content that are on there as well in case that I'm not doing podcast stuff. but But yeah, you can find me there. It's really awesome. Like I said, you you guys are awesome. It's it's really, i don't know you as well, Mike, but we've been getting closer obviously since you know collaborating with Joe, but
01:24:54
Speaker
hearing you guys and like the way you guys are passionate about, you know, I wanna and like, you know, everything that's kind of going on with your sector of Packer sports. Like it's, it's great. I'm, I'm pushing for you guys.
01:25:06
Speaker
And it's always, I'm always here as a guest. You know, I know you guys are probably not going to have me on as much as I bash on the the the Hawkeyes, but I got to keep doing it. So if you'll have me again, I'll definitely join on, but I really appreciate you guys having me.
01:25:19
Speaker
for what This is like the best time of the year. You get the best version of Sanjay, and that's offseason Sanjay, GM Sanjay. And I love the draft. I love free agency. So this is going to be a special time. So thank you guys for having me.
01:25:32
Speaker
All right. And... Hey, I just want to say, if you're around the draft, go find these two guys. Find Sanjay, find Iowa Joe, say hello. Really appreciate all of you who listen, all 36 of you. but but That's going to put a wrap on our pre-draft. We met a couple people from Sweden, Norway, Germany.
01:25:56
Speaker
and a bunch of them from Ireland. So I do just want to say that real quick. Hey, if you guys are listening and you love it, we appreciate you listening from all the way over there. you know, drop us a line. Let us know, you know, that you're listening and and that's great. And everybody else. I'm not even joking. If you're going to the draft, please try to find Joe. Please try to find Sajay. Just go hit me.
01:26:17
Speaker
I got a glass jaw. I haven't figured out what I'm wearing yet. I i think I'm going to rock the Thurston jersey because there's one last guy that needs to get in the Hall of Fame, and that's Fuzzy Thurston. There you go. We just got the the Sterling Sharp announcement, which is awesome.
01:26:32
Speaker
I hope they really blast that at the draft too.
Podcast Conclusion and Historical Recognition
01:26:35
Speaker
But, yeah, one more guy needs to get on that sixty s team. Yep. Oh, yeah, the 60s team. But I would argue that Holmgren needs to get in also. Oh, true. Yeah, yeah. Player-wise, Thurston coach-wise, yeah, Holmgren will get him.
01:26:50
Speaker
But that's going to do All right, guys. We're pushing this out too far now, Mike. End it. End it. Thank you for joining us. Go Pack Go and Aloha!