The Fumblerooski Podcast
Defying Logic -Ep 266 The Fumblerooski Podcast
The first round of the 2024 NFL draft has come and gone. Quarterbacks were taken early and often. Tackles and wide receivers dominated round one as well. This is the Fumble Ruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power88 and Seeker Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Madieros. It was a heck of a day one for the 2024 NFL draft. So as I mentioned, quarterbacks, a lot of them taken in the top 12. In fact, half of the top 12 picks were quarterbacks. The most quarterbacks taken in such a small stretch in NFL history. And we're going to lead off with this part, which is the Atlanta Falcons who drafted Michael Pennics Jr. Yes, you read that right. And if you were watching the NFL draft last night, you were probably also in denial when you first saw it. You were probably questioning if you're reading this right, or if it was just a misprint on the screen. No, no, they drafted Michael Pennics Jr. And your memory does not betray you either. Yes, they also signed Kirk Cousins to a four year $180 million deal. So it's, it makes it, I think it's an understatement to say that this move does not make any sense in the least. I get that Kirk Cousins is old and that Michael Pennics Jr. is young with probably higher upside than Kirk Cousins. But you just signed him to a massive deal. And let me also point out point this part out. According to spot spot track.com, there is, his deal is very backloaded. It only has a, he only has a $12 million cap hit in the first year, then it doubles. And then it doubles again the year after that. So there's really, so what are you going to bench him for the first, for the next two years of his deal? So after two years, you just, you just bench him and he just becomes an expensive cap hit on your bench. Something about this doesn't add up. There was some sort of miscommunication or something because I just don't see, I don't see an argument for Michael Pennics Jr. being drafted by the Falcons. I think he was one of, he was a slam dunk. I think the Falcons were a slam dunk to not pick a quarterback in the first round. And we were all wrong. It just shows how much of a crapshoot the NFL draft really is. But this, even by those standards is really hard to comprehend. Yeah, Adam, it's just, I like most NFL fans and mightily struggling to just comprehend what was going through the mind of Terry Fonknot, the GM of the Falcons. I just, I mean, is this like some kind of 4D chess or something? And I mean, look, we are no stranger to teams drafting young quarterbacks and sitting and developing them, you know, grooming for lack of a better term, them to become the starter. Right? I mean, you literally do that with Drake May. I mean, it's more likely than not the Drake May who New England drafted, you know, is going to sit behind you. Kobe Bursett for a year and learn because Bursett is a capable veteran, you know, and it's, I just, but Pennics and keep in mind, Pennics is 24, or at least he will be by the time the season starts. So, so I mean, so you, so the clock's already ticking. I mean, he's one of the older quarterback prospects. And, and what's even funnier is how, like you said, you've just signed her cousins to a four year deal. So like, are you just going to trade them halfway through? Are you going to just have them be like the world's most expensive backup? Like, I genuinely cannot comprehend what they were going to go through. And that's not the most damning part. The most damning part is you probably saw a barstool sports on Twitter post a video of their GM Fontenot getting shoot out by the owner Arthur Blank. And Terry Fontenot, he's not explaining the pick. Probably he's more likely explaining why he should keep his job because just based on Blank's body language and just, well, I mean, obviously you didn't hear the audio, but based on the exchange, Blank did not agree with that pick and probably didn't know it was going to happen. Reheem Morris is an offensive guy, you know, Reheem Morris being the new head coach. And I can't imagine he was kept in the loop and we now know for certain that Kirk Cousins was not kept in the loop and Cousins was shocked that they drafted a quarterback. And I just, I mean, what else can I even say other than just I just don't understand? Unless there's like really like weird strategy that they're going kind of like that. Oh, we're playing chess. Everyone's playing checkers like, no, no, you're not. I don't know what kind of game you're playing. Maybe some kind of like weird tennis, but what in the, I just, I don't get it. Yeah, I don't get it either. Because you, if it were a younger quarterback, like young, but even if it's just making 180 million, I know, I know, I know, just I'm just trying to make besides just, besides just going back and forth saying this doesn't make sense. I'm at least, let's just at least try to make sense of it. If they, at least, if they had least brought in, let's say they traded up for, for Drake May or JJ or just waited for JJ McCarthy, who was, who are both young, who are both younger quarterbacks, that's at least half an argument, right? So let's say Kirk Cousins plays out his deal. The quarter, the young quarterback sits and learns from Cousins, who's a very stable quarterback, good leader. And then he takes over and then you have a good, you have a good young team for him to take over that is a stable situation. With Pennics, junior, once Kirk Cousins deal is played out, he'll be 28 and he'll be seven years away from being in the same situation as Kirk Cousins is at age 35, which is not that far off if you think about a quarterback's career. They're supposed to play for what a good one could play for 15 to 20 years. This guy, this guy, if he's, if he's done by 28, that means maybe you get 12 years out on, that's if he's able to play well at the age of 40. And that's if he actually pans out. So I really don't understand the, again, I wanted to say I'm trying to make sense of this pick, but I don't understand this pick. There's really no argument we can make for it. There's none. I have, I'm, I'm yet to hear something from somebody. Have you? Usually there's some idiot on the internet who's trying to say something that on why it works, but I haven't heard from anybody. No one. I don't, I don't know. I haven't heard anyone. And like literally, I don't know how you can make sense of this. Even the most diehard Falcons fans are just like left scratching their heads over this. Yeah. And I will say this, I think Michael Penix Jr. has a higher ceiling than Kirk Cousins. Well, I didn't really, I didn't really agree with them giving him the con that contract anyways. He's 35 and he's never proven that he can win a Super Bowl with the weapons that he has worked with throughout his career. He has never been able to even come close to winning a Super Bowl. I think he's won one playoff game, right? And he's had Justin Jefferson, Adam Feline, Jordan Addison this past year. Dalvin Cook as his running back. Kyle Rudolph TJ Hawkinson. Don't forget that KJ Osborne has become an afterthought every time we mentioned the Vikings weapons when on any other team, he might be a wide receiver too. Alexander Madison as well. Alex and no, I mean, he was a good two. He was a good two. Let's be honest with ourselves. I guess he was a good two. He could step up every now and then stay healthy. Yeah. Yeah. So like I didn't I didn't agree with the Kirk Cousins contract anyways. I thought they should have brought in maybe Justin Fields. I thought they should have made they should have went to the draft like they just did here. Just not both. Like that at least have a direction. It seems like you're going the young, the young kind of young group and also the signing of a veteran free agent, right? Because I mean, Pennix is not going to be young once this contract is up. So what's what is the point of all this? What's the point? Oh, I wouldn't know. Just and at the end of the day, and I set this off camera, the real loser for all of this is Michael Pennix because you have analysts, fans and even players that are just looking at this pick going, huh? Why? And everybody is calling already the Atlanta Falcons, the biggest losers of the first round. It's being panned as probably the worst pick of the first round. And you're going to a city that probably that's going to have like at least 80% of the fan base now hates you because they view you without cousins as a massive, massive reach. So I just my heart goes after the guy I do. And you guys that get reached on are just like, they're just like weird pics. Like the fan base like instantly hates them. And it's just you feel for the guy. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally get that. I think in a way, you could also say that Pennix kind of won in this situation. Because now you have a lot of people who are who feel for Michael Pennix rather than because a lot of people were saying that pen in the same way, a lot of people really liked Pennix. There were a lot of people who also didn't like him as a as a prospect. There were very few people who were indifferent. Now that he was a reach and he's going to be sitting for four years, everyone is going to be feeling for the guy and more angry at the Falcons organization than they are at Pennix. So it kind of shifts the blame for him. And by the time he's by the time he's ready to start by the time he's 28, he'll probably be more big league ready bit than any of these quarterbacks in this draft just because he had all of this grooming sitting behind Kirk Cousins. Hey, Adam, I don't know if you've seen this is just like a quick bit of news. But the NFL is going to allow its players to wear the guardian caps during games. You know, those like weird igloo looking things they have on their heads at practice. Yeah. They have been authorized for in game use. It's not mandatory, but but they're saying if you want to, you can. And while I know they're not mandatory, I would like to pose the question to our viewers for we move on to the next subject. How long until it is? Sure. Yeah, sure. All right. We're going to move on and we're still going to stick to the topic of quarterbacks. But just how many that were taken within the first 12, in fact half of them were taken in the top 12 half half the 12 picks were were quarterbacks. Next, this is the Fumble Ruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a loose, loose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast by power 88 and secret weapon consulting. I'm Adam Wright with C.J. Madeeros. So yeah, as I tease before the end of last segment, not only were quarterbacks taken early and often out of the top 12 picks, six of those were quarterbacks, half of them that has never happened before in NFL history. So those picks were at one, two, three, it went Caleb Williams to the Bears, Jaden Daniels, to the commanders, Drake made to the Patriots. That was all expected. Then we go to number eight overall, which was Michael Pinnock's junior to the Falcons as we discussed in the last segment. Then 10 was J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings. I don't know who the Vikings were bidding against to move up one spot to go and get J.J. McCarthy, especially since the Jets were obviously not going to be taking a quarterback. But whoever they bid against, they won and they got their guy, J.J. McCarthy, then we go to pick number 12, where the Denver Broncos got afraid of their own shadow and reached for bonics. Now, it's important to understand that most of, if not all of the teams that were left in the first round were not in the market for a quarterback. I guess you can make an argument for the Raiders. And that's probably the best argument you can make there is that the Raiders were hot on their heels. It's bonics is the last quarterback left on the board who was really a highly, highly touted prospect of first round type of player. And the Raiders, clearly it looked like they were going to take them. So here we are, bonics at number 12. And it kind of speaks to how quarterback hungry these teams are. And I look at this past, these past couple of seasons, the ending, the Super Bowl, who won it? And what quarterback was it? And what kind of pieces did he have around him to win the Super Bowl? I think I think in this sense, the quarterback in this sense, the chiefs are good for football in recognizing that the quarterback is the most important position on the field. If you have that guy who can win, if you have that one guy who is able to erase all of at least a good amount of your deficiencies, that you will have a chance. I think a lot of the league has noticed that. And you are seeing a lot of quarterbacks being drafted. And a lot of these quarterback needy teams got even more needy with such a massive quarterback draft. Yeah. So, I mean, I don't really think it's like worth discussing Williams to Chicago, Daniels to Washington and made a new England. Because like you said, we know, we know why they went there and we knew that it was going to happen. So, Pennics was just weird. And you know, the Vikings did trade up. They just went one spot for McCarthy, which, you know, I think there was a goal that the desperation setting in. But I don't hate that pick for them, especially because they were rumors are going to trade up and give up a haul for the top five, right? To get up there. So, I mean, that's good. Yeah. But Denver, that was when they drafted Nick's and I said this because Adam, you know, you, me, Chris, who's not here and some others, you know, were at a Buffalo Wild Wings Watchness. And I said right there, that was a pure panic move. And you mentioned it right now. You just said they got scared. They're on shadow. I mean, they did. That was desperation. And you reached and you took bonus at 12, who probably should not have gone in the first round. Maybe, maybe maybe like tail end, but I don't know. But yeah, so when you look at like the past two dynasties, you know, in recent vintage, you have Mahomes chiefs and before that Brady's Patriots. It didn't matter who was on the roster because they found a way to win. Like Mahomes. Yeah. I mean, granted he has, you know, Taylor Swift's boyfriend there to throw to. But Rishi Rice, Nicole Hardman, and probably some other bum, I'm forgetting. Those aren't good receivers. You have to remember that a lot of people mentioned before that Tom Brady never really had a true like elite game breaking wide receiver one, except those few years he had Randy Moss. And even on the Super Bowl. Exactly. I mean, you know, Julian Edelman, who's good? I mean, but to be fair, that guy was a beast in the postseason. I mean, you obviously a Gronk Ronk, who is an argument to be the best tight end of all time. And there's a, you know, but he's also had guys like Troy Brown, I guess, Wes Butterfinger's Welker, Leon Branch, you know, Danny and Dola. So, I mean, my point is he's never been surrounded with elite talent. So the hunt is really on to find that next quarterback. And now the league has finally gotten it drilled into their skulls that a good quarterback on a middling team can do more than a middling quarterback with a great team. Yeah. And when you see this new quarterback craze that has swept the league, I just think it's symptomatic of that. And not even just quarterbacks. This draft, I really think shows the pivot to, we can officially kill the phrase defense wins championships. Or as you've said, you know, I would say defense and running the ball. No, that is dead. What good is a good defense going to do when you have teams that are just high powered and flashy that can drop 28 in like a quarter. Yeah, I strongly believe balance wins championships above anything else, right? He's just the past couple of teams. Yeah. Look at the past couple of teams. The chiefs this past season, their, their offense was a little lackluster, but it was good enough. Patrick Mahomes was able to make throws that he needed to make. Last year's, last year's chiefs, Patrick Mahomes won league MVP in the defense was again good enough. Um, the Rams had a good defense and a good offense. The Buccaneers, good offense, good defense. Right. You seeing the trend here? Yeah. Good defense, good offense. 2018 patrons. Yeah. The point is that 2018 new England team isn't really going to wouldn't do a whole lot like these days because you can't just have a met offense, but a lights out defense. That will not do it anymore. You know, where it's like, just keep handing the ball off and let your defense do the work. That era is dead. And that I believe has been exemplified by the fact that just moving away from the six core backs in the top 12. Yeah, but still just not think that I don't think that Patriots team was built to win the Super Bowl. I think they, they really eked that one out. I think a good way to look at it was the. What's that? I said, well, okay, yes, they eat that one out. Yes. You've read a scoreboard. Good job. But my point is it's just like that, that era of football is dead. Like that is just the point I'm trying to make. I mean, there has to be more balance. Like just having a lights out defense and a meh offense won't do it anymore. I think the 14 and 16 Patriots wipe mopped the floor with the 23 chiefs. The 14 and 16 Patriots, both of those teams were stacked. Okay. Well, well, yeah, I mean, because, you know, you had like Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, like, so it's not like they were. It's not like they had bombs on those teams. I just never said like maybe they're not gamebreakers. Okay. Well, Gronk was, but you know, but that's either here or there. And if I may finish my point, I was just saying, I think that this transition into the more offense driven league has officially been solidified by the fact that it's not just six quarterbacks in the top 12. There was not a defender taken until pick 15. This is the first time I think maybe ever that one side of the ball was taken entirely in the top 10. Yep. And like just offense, it was all a offensive lineman quarterbacks and wide receivers. And I think maybe brought the hours, but he's basically a receiver. And even even after that later in the first round, you were getting another burst of tackles and wide receivers. So it didn't stop. And it won't tonight when we have names like at AD Mitchell and Keon Coleman, and then, you know, Troy Franklin is still out there. Lad McConkie is still there. So it's not going to stop. And there's still other tackles out there, maybe not big league ready just yet, but they could be groomed to become starters. So it's not over. I mean, there's still a lot of good prospects out there on defense. And I expect that there to be another burst, but it's also just a offense heavy draft. This is a stacked, this is a draft that was stacked with talent, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. So we were just expecting this to happen. Yeah, I definitely think so, but it's just it's kind of weird, you know, just like seeing just like this go down, like about how like the football that at least you and I grew up with probably doesn't exist anymore. Probably not. But I don't think I mean, when we grew up with the with the football that we grew up with, I don't think it was ever I don't think I don't think it was ever defense winning championships. I think there was that one year worth of now at least. It's definitely worse. It's definitely gotten worse now. I also think defense isn't allowed to be played anymore. So oh, yeah, you have a very valid point where it's like, yeah, I mean, how you just like, I don't know. I mean, I know I like to say is a joke, but I genuinely see a future within like the next 15 years where they're just going to say, epic, it's flags. But let me let me also tell you something. I know that I just said defenses aren't allowed to be played quite quite as much anymore. But in that same sense, this past year, offense was down and defense was up. So maybe teams just didn't need that much of defense to begin with because everyone's defense was actually pretty good. First, I say most. I say that in general. In offense, offensive numbers were down and the quarterback needy teams got more quarterback needy because offense, the offense was actually really bad. I mean, the Patriots were, I don't think I've seen a Patriots offense that was that bad in my entire life. Doesn't say much because I was born in 2000. But still, it was bad, like really, really bad. And the Chicago Bears, I know they believe that Justin Fields was the guy and maybe Fields can still play somewhere else. But I think we're letting him off way too much for the amount of offensive talent that he really did have. DJ Moore is a real wide receiver one. And Cole Comette is a very good tight end who's a good number two target for you. And Darnell Mooney is also a decent wide receiver. I think he's a solid number three option. And your offensive line was not as bad as what people say it is. And I'm sorry, I don't give it. I don't blame the offensive line when your quarterback is taking four seconds to throw every single time he got sacked. That doesn't say offensive line that says quarterback sacks are a quarterback stat fellas. Um, yeah. So like offensive numbers were down. And therefore teams needed offense and they didn't need defense as much because everyone's defense is solid. Even our Patriots after they lost some of their players, their defenses were still fine. They were, it was a good, it was a solid defense. If they're off, if their offense last year was as good as their defense, they might be in playoff contention. So this is something to think about. All right, we're going to move on to you more generalities. And we're going to head into our draft day winners and losers. Who won day one of the draft? Who lost? Who had a really bad draft day and who had, who had a good day? That's next. This is the fun Maruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spots. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the fun Maruski podcast by power 88, super weapon consulting Adam Wright with CJ Madeeros, our annual draft day winners and losers. Winners and losers from the first round of the draft. CJ, give me your first pick. Who won this draft? So when it comes to, you know, just overall draft winners, I mean, you could argue rightfully that it's low hanging fruit, but I mean, is it not Chicago? I mean, granted, I said that if they take a Dunes that's kind of a weird pick because he's essentially going to be like your third receiver because he doesn't have that much of the case as of now to start over at Keenan Allen or DJ Moore, but that offense is loaded. Is it not? Yes. That's what it comes down to. And I mean, I'm still not a massive fan of the pick. Like I said, just because like you had probably more pressing needs because it's kind of like a luxury, but oh, it's a damn good luxury. And especially with Caleb Williams, everybody say, oh, he's like a smaller Mahomes. Well, and to your credit, Adam, you said last night that we're going to know right away if he can play or not, because there's, you guys with an O line that's very underrated and hopefully, you know, Williams won't be taking like four seconds to throw the ball. And when you combine that with a decent ground game and like three good starting caliber receivers and co-commit, I mean, there's no excuse to lose, right? Unless your defense just magically becomes terrible. Um, yeah, definitely the bears. And I got to say, listen, he doesn't need to start over DJ Moore or Keenan Allen, because Keenan Allen is a slot receiver. And DJ Moore is just one of your two starting wide outs. So there is a spot for a Dunes A to start. And you have co-commit. And you have DeAndre Swift. And you have a young offensive line that is continuing to get better. So I'm kind of happy with how they with how this draft day turned out for them. And I think they're often, I think their defense is good enough so that they can continue to, um, they can so that they can continue to, um, progress as a team collectively. And I think this is, I think this is going to be a good year for them. And again, like I said, during our live stream last night, if Caleb Williams can play, we will find out very soon. We'll find out right away almost. It will not be two to three years down the road. We're talking about Justin Fields and saying, give them a couple more years. He'll be fine. Give them another year, give them another year, or like one of those morons who after three years thinks that you need to give them another chance. Yeah, this is Caleb with Caleb Williams, you're going to find out right away. And then if we want it, if you want it, if you want to turn tail and run and go to another quarterback a couple of years down the road, you can do that and you still have a good young team with DJ Moore and, uh, and Roma Dunes. A because yes, Keenan Allen will be older, but you still have a good past catching court intact. So I think they're in a good spot right now. I'd really do. Um, and sometimes sometimes you have to be in the same way that the, that I'm going to cross sports with the Celtics here in the NBA. You could be the Boston Celtics who can still win and be and will yourself into contention in the meantime with good picks. Sometimes you have to be the, the Philadelphia 76ers where you're just every year fishing for draft picks and going and going out and eventually getting that franchise guy in Joelle and Bead, right? Sometimes you have to do that. It's a different situation for every franchise. And I'm not, it's, I'm not crazy to cross sports because, um, some teams can do that. The Bengals fished for a draft pick. They went and got Joe Burl the very next year. They got Jamar Chase. They ended up in the Super Bowl. So you can do it. We'll see how it goes. Um, my, I think my winner, yeah, it has to be the New England Patriots. I think I know a lot of people wanted Marvin Harris and junior, but I made this point on the live stream. If it is, it is significantly harder for you to find a franchise quarterback than it is to find an elite wide receiver. You can find those in most, uh, in most drafts and you can, you don't have to find them row on in the first round either. I mean, Justin Jefferson was the 23rd overall pick in 2020. Um, and CD lamb was in the same draft around that same area. So, uh, and also where was where was Jordan Addison picked? I'll say late first. Some are in the 20s, maybe another late first round, Jordan Addison, right? Uh, what's it? Uh, Zae Flowers was drafted later in the first round. T Higgins was a day two pick. Brandon Ayuk was a late first round pick. So you can find those wide receiver ones anywhere, but to find a franchise quarterback who can win you a Super Bowl, those don't grow on trees. If you, if you think you have the guy, go and get him. Do not don't mess around with that pick. So I think when they looked at Drake May, I think he is, um, he's the youngest. He's the rawest talent out there. I think he has good arm talent. Um, he has great physical abilities. He's a great athlete. Um, he's a little raw, but he's also one of the youngest quarterbacks in this draft. Only he, JJ McCarthy beats him out by a couple of months. So if he sits for a couple of years, a year or two, by the time he's 22, 23, he'll be ready to start. Hopefully you will have learned your lesson from recent years and have built a team around him by the time he's ready to start and you're ready to contend right away. Right? I mean, Patrick Mahomes wasn't ready to start his first year. They benched him his first season. They let him sit behind Alex Smith. They had a team built around him by the time he was ready to take over. He was all set. It was all systems go. His four of his six years. He was in the Super Bowl and he won three of those and he's 28. He's 28 and is a three time world champion. So don't tell me that's sitting a quarterback for a year as a waste of time because they took that one year and now look where they are. Would Patrick Mahomes be the same quarterback if he started his rookie year? I don't know, maybe, but I think it worked out pretty well with how they did it. And also the Ravens did the same thing, by the way. And Tom Brady technically didn't start his rookie year either. So a lot of quarterbacks did not start right away and it actually helped them out. So bench Drake may go find yourself a good tackle, go find yourself a wide receiver one and have this team ready for Drake may to take over by 2025 or 2026. I think that's a fair, I think that's a fair direction to go in and a professional one that a buttoned up organization like the New England Patriots should be making. So I think the Patriots are good. They made a good move today or yesterday. Yeah, I mean, it's just the one thing that worries me for New England about may is not actually something may himself can even control. Just hear me out. I just, I'm worried that if New England keeps losing, craft is going to have a temper tantrum and like force may in. Like I said, not something he can control, but I do think it's something that's like worth wondering about. Does that make sense? I mean, for example, the Colts drafted Anthony Richardson with the sole intention on like sitting him and developing him for a year and Jim Ursay got impatient and forced him out. I mean, granted, he looked fine, but then he got hurt. Yeah. So I really, I don't, I hope that doesn't happen. Oh, I do too, but you never know. But like, I mean, you can't rush these things. You already did that with drip with Mac Jones and it didn't work out. Whether you believe he was the right guy or not is one thing. He would have been a hell of a lot better if they actually waited on him. They actually tried to build a team around him because I saw a little bit of potential in him in his rookie year. I did. I saw a little bit. I didn't think he was the guy like ever, but I think he surprised me a little bit. And if he gets another chance, then I mean, that's a whole, that's a whole nother topic. But yeah, looking at other winners out of this draft, let me think, I think I think the Jaguars gave themselves a little bit more time in their championship contention window by bringing in Brian Thomas to replace Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley's 29. Brian Thomas, he's a high upside wide receiver who was looked at as one of the top four wide receivers in this draft. And he was the fourth one taken. And I honestly think it's closer. It's closer than people think between him and neighbors. So the Jaguars brought him in. If they get their head screwed on straight and push out press Taylor, then maybe him and Trevor Lawrence are on the same page and things end up working out for them. But I think that I think I think they're they're right there. Also the Vikings. They liked JJ McCarthy. And we thought they were going to trade up. We were sure of it. But it turns out they didn't have to. They waited. And right at 10, they traded up one spot. Obviously, they were they were they were they were bidding against somebody for the Jets. And thankfully, they they only had to move up one spot. They got JJ McCarthy. They also replaced Daniel Hunter, their star defensive end with Dallas Turner, who is regarded as arguably the best edge rusher in this draft. So they got their quarterback and they got a player on the defensive side of the ball. You could look at them as winners if he if JJ McCarthy pans out. They like him. So I think it's a win for them. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously, you know, McCarthy panning out. It's like the big question of you know, whether or not they're winners losers. But as far as I'm concerned, another winner or another you also could have mentioned is that they also grabbed a Dallas Turner as well, the Vikings. Yeah, I mentioned that. Oh, you did. Fair, fair, fair. And when we talk about other winners, I I'm not gonna lie, like I feel, I mean, a lot of these guys just did okay. You know, I mean, it's like there's just, I mean, just the first round. So you're gonna have to, you know, like kind of reach on some of these. But I kind of, but I like the Detroit Lions, right? Who traded up for Terry and Arnold, who many myself included believe at this time to be the best corner in the draft. And not just that you wheat frog Green Bay to do it. You know, because like we all said on the show, we liked Arnold. We were shocked that he fell like as far as he did. And you know, there are rumors that Green Bay is going to go to offensive backfield and Detroit, who is a lower picked in Green Bay, needed it. And they swung a deal with a Dallas to then leapfrog the Packers and grab their guy. It's reasonable. I mean, think about so it's not just, you know, that they got their guy, it's that they screwed over division rival to do it as well. Yeah, well, like, and it makes all the sense in the world because the Lions needed a corner badly. You know, they lost, they lost that they lost Cam Sutton, who was their prized free agent acquisition from last year. And at that point, the cupboard is bare and you already didn't have the best secondary last year. That was probably the Achilles heel that you had out of that entire team. So bringing in, bringing in Terry and Arnold was that was a win for them. And I think they are one of the benefit, they are one of the guys who benefited from these defensive prospects who fell so far in draft because of the offensive rush in the early part of it. I want to move on to winners if that's okay with you. All right, excuse me losers if you if that's okay with you. I don't know if you had any other winners. No, no, no, that's fine. I know you want to mention a certain team that plays up north in the AFC East, the other team up north, not the one in New England. Yeah, yeah, but yes, but I wanted to give another one that people keep on saying this team's a winner, but I don't like Xavier worthy. They trade the Kansas City Chiefs. I'll grant them this they have a type in their wide receivers. They love those speedy guys who can stretch the fields and they're quick. They have some quickness to them as well. Xavier worthy kind of has that. The only problem is I honestly think he's John Ross part two. He's and I and maybe he pans out, maybe he comes to becomes Tyree kill, but I don't think there's an in between. It's either he's John Ross or he's Tyree kill and maybe you can find some middle ground with me Cole Hardman. But what's what's that going to do for you? That's not going to help at all because they have me Cole Hardman. What I think is that I look at the the chiefs track record of drafting wide receivers over the past decade or so. How many of them have turned out to be superstars? Like Siri, like think about that for a second. How many? I know you're thinking about that one guy, but besides him, I mean, obviously there's Hill, but I'm just trying to think of like some others in recent vintage. I mean, it's too early to tell her she writes me Cole Hardman was actually a second rounder and even still I wouldn't necessarily say he was great. And I'm just trying to think like the receivers that they had. I mean, Demarcus Robinson was okay. Chris Conley was okay. I just see a lot of guys who are just okay. I made it at my little generous. But yeah. So you see what I mean though? They so they haven't they definitely have a tight they like those speedy guys. It's not just that they take him through free through the draft. They're taking him through free agency with with the signing of Marquis Brown. They like trading form as they traded for Caderius Tony. So they like these guys. I guess you could bring I guess you could bring up Juju Smith Schuster. They like bringing in these guys. But how many of them? I don't think the Chiefs have a good track record of bringing in superstar wide receivers. They don't now they really haven't. I mean, you got to remember like back and when it was like the Alex Smith a days even before they got a Tyree kill like there was. I mean, the ahead Duane Bow, I guess. I mean, I know like Jamal Charles was the engine that made that offense go. So that's pretty much it. Right. So yes, the Chiefs are having very good at drafting pretty much in general. But at the wide receiver position specifically, they haven't done that well. That's kind of what I'm trying to point out. They struck gold on Tyree kill in the fifth round. But that's it. That's all they've gotten and I guess Rishi Rice has been okay. We'll see how he is if he lasts in the league with the way he acts off the field. But it's it seems like they definitely have a type they have their their guys who they like. But they don't pan out that often. In fact, most of the time they don't. I can only name one where it really paned out where they've got a superstar out of it. So why should we believe that's Xavier Xavier? What are these going to work for? Yeah, they have a point. So for me, when it comes to my loser, I'm not Buffalo. Because here's the thing you need a receiver, right? And you're just sitting pretty, I believe 28, right? And what happens? What do you do? You trade. You just you trade down with the chiefs who just won the Super Bowl granted Adam isn't a pile worthy. But either way, if he does become Tyree kill, then Buffalo, you've gotten fleeced again after you traded back to let them get my homes. But it's not just that. It's that they then traded, of course, as I went down to 32. And you want to you want to say what they did? They got their fans hopes up again and did a double trade down, where you put Xavier worthy out of your reach. And you also put Xavier would get out of your reach. But I will give them a Scotia of credit. Somehow, some way, Adani Mitchell is still on the board. I don't quite know how that happened, but he's still there. And right now, it's about 3 40 p.m. When we're recording this, I'm supposed to be earlier today. But at 7 p.m. Round two, the draft is going to start. And right hand to God, if you don't take Mitchell, I just I got a look at your funny. Yeah, so there are three, there are three wide receivers who jump out to me for the second round. Lad Maconke is one, but 80 Mitchell and Keon Coleman as well. And there's two teams in the first two picks who are in desperate need of a wide receiver in the first two picks of the second round, the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. Everything tells me one and two of those two picks are both going to be they're both going to be wide receivers. It just depends on if they draft the right guy. I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo is corner too, because you know, their defensive backfield got obliterated in free agency. Yeah. So there's that. And plus New England Michael tackle because well, you know, they lost that big useless mound of nothing in Trent Brown. I'll rephrase them. But they should both do is go wide receiver. I don't think there's much left at tackle. I really don't. I don't think there's enough big league ready tackles out there after that frenzy of what we just got in the first round. And we haven't even gotten to talking about any of those teams. Yeah, no, I think that Kingsley, Sue, Matias or Mataya, how it's pronounced this is probably the last one that I myself would quantify as like can start day one. But we'll see. Speaking of tackles, I'll give you one more loser. I'll give you the L.A. Chargers. Hmm. I know they brought in Joe. I feel like we're going to say it for the same reason, but continue. I know they brought in Joe. But as we were teasing, when we brought up this trade that we would we expected them to pull off with the Vikings, they have multiple needs. They don't just need a tackle. They also need a wide receiver. So what would have made a lot of sense for them to trade to trade for those two first round picks that the Vikings had so that they could tackle the wide receiver position and the tackle position on the same night. Because they need both like their entire need for both. And they didn't do that. Now granted, they did get the best tackle in this in this draft with Joe Alt. So Rishan Slater is now paired up with Joe Alt, which might be might make for one of the best bookend tackle duels in the league right now. But you don't have a wide receiver. The best player that I'm not the best player that Justin, Justin, that Justin Herbert has to throw to is Josh Palmer. No, I am not mentioning Quentin Johnson. He is not their wide receiver one. It's Josh Palmer. Is that good enough for him? No, no, you're wasting a career of what of a quarterback who's quite frankly one of the better ones in the league. And the fact that out of all of this time you've had Justin Herbert, you've only made the playoffs once and you barely squeaked in. That's an absolute travesty, especially for the amount of talent that you have had around him during all this time. You've added a lot to that offensive line, yet it still sucks year in year out. You have some really good wide receivers with with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and also Gerald Everett in the tight end core. And you had Austin Eckler to to dump it off to as well and handed off to. How did you never make the playoffs with that? And yes, they made the playoffs that one time. But then what happened once you got there. It was 27 to 7 lead, 27 to 3, 27 to 7, whichever it was. That's bad. And now you just made it worse for yourself. Yeah, you brought in Jim, Jim Harbaugh at for a better coach. But if you don't have the talent, then what are we going to do? What are we doing here? Yeah. There is one other team that I think might need to be mentioned. Yes. San Francisco 49ers of pick 31 took Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. I don't know what you at home might be thinking. Oh, but CJ, you are a fan of Ricky Pearsall. You said he was underrated. Yeah, I did. First round though. First round. I mean, granted late first, but huh? And forget the fact that that was a reach where you could have had Mitchell or Franklin or Mcconkie. Forget that for a second. Think about the implications. There are already rumors swirling that you were going to dump off IU. And now there's a report that says Debo Samuel might be more likely to be traded than Brandon IU. And even if you can't serve a trade for either of them, you've basically just said, well, oh, Ricky here is going to replace you. So you've probably pissed him off or whichever one's leaving. So you may or may not have just dug your own grave. Well, I have seen the contract situations for both players. And I'm not saying I agree with it. But I also will say that I kind of understand. No, yeah, because Debo Samuel has two years on his deal left and Brandon IU has won. So you need like, you may end up no matter what losing one of those two players. So to bring in a guy for some insurance, while it might piss off one of the two, it makes sense. Yeah, but I mean, but you, there is a future though, where I think they could have retained a both. And now you shot that future right to hell by drafting it. And even still, even if he is insurance, he's still a reach and a pretty bad one. Yeah, I'll say that. Yeah. So I just, I don't know. And not to mention out the first round of the draft is over, especially if you're trading Debo, you basically kneecapped yourself at what you can get back. Because now you have forfeited your leverage. No teams could give up next year's first. I mean, maybe they would, but I wouldn't recommend it. And maybe you get like a second form, but that's but a second for Debo Samuel. And especially with how the receiver market is now with trades house to fund digs didn't even fetch it first. You needlessly hinder yourself, I think. Yeah, well, I didn't think they were getting any getting a first for him anyways, especially with how Stefan digs just got. I mean, do you know, you know, I mean, I wouldn't, but Samuel, you maybe could have Brandon. I you can tee Higgins are both on the last years of their contract. And usually in those situations, you don't get a first round pick out of them. In fact, I don't, I can't remember a time where they hasn't maybe, maybe AJ Brown with the Titans. He got a first. But it was like a pick swap, wasn't it? Was it a pick swap? Yeah, might have been a pick swap. Yeah, I don't can say for certain, but I feel like it might have been. So then he was a throw in in the deal in a pick swap. Yeah. That's not good. So that I, I just, I never thought Brandon, I, you can tee Higgins. Neither of those players were going to fetch a first round pick. And I thought they were going to go for date for second round picks at most. And here are the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. Sit. Good wide receivers available. And they do need a wide receiver. They could draft. They could trade for tee Higgins or Brandon, I you. If the 49ers or Cincinnati Bengals did want to draft a new young wide receiver to replace them, that's something that could make a little bit of sense. Because the Patriots do need, I think they should go and get to you against, I think they should. But that's another topic for seven o'clock tonight. Before we end the show, I'll go with the low hanging fruit that we already talked about the Falcons. That'll just be a mention. We don't need to explain it. We already ran to about it for 20 minutes. Do you have any others? Any other thoughts? We're approaching an hour. I'm not gonna keep going. All right. Well, that'll be it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out at 730 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesdays and five o'clock on Fridays. 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