#NFLVideos: Free Agency & Getting to Know 2024 Draft Class

Free Agency & Getting to Know 2024 Draft Class

I’m Terry fno general manager of the Atlanta Falcons and this is the NFL report welcome into the NFL report James Palmer Steve Wes with you Terry’s working his tail off right now getting ready for the combine and the draft and Steve what is you wait a minute you look

Like you’re in a press box right now where are you right now yeah yeah I’m I’m in a press box of at yulman Stadium on the campus of Lane University uh watching practices for the HBCU Legacy Bowl which will Air Saturday 400 P p.m Eastern on NFL Network me

Bucky Brook Sher Burrus and Charles Davis on the call top 100 draft eligible players from HBCU it’s always a great week JP but I got good Wi-Fi in here too this picture’s looking real clear yeah you look great you look great and you know who’s also in that Press

Box you mentioned him Bucky Brooks he’s going to join us talking about some deepest part of the draft maybe some specific positions that some teams might be intrigued by we’re also going to have Saints head coach Dennis Allen join the show let’s go also NFL Network Insider

Tom peliso joins us to talk franchise tags and a couple of quarterbacks and Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield but let’s start off with Justin field Steve and we’re not saying that solely you know we didn’t connect Terry fono to introduce this show to Justin Fields because we do know that’s a potential

Landing spot that some teams are trying to connect let’s talk about the best fit for Justin fields and I say this Steve specifically because to my understanding the Bears are kind of finalizing in this week their their kind of their their mindset on what they want to do at the

Quarterback position and then when they get to Indianapolis probably a lot of discussions will be had about what teams would be interested in in Justin fields that started in Mobile and will continue and possible Landing spots that he could wind up in so with that said and on the

You know couple of days before the combine what’s the best fit for Justin field Steve it’s first off JP isn’t interesting how the conversation is really no longer the Bears retaining Justin Fields I mean that seems like the ship has sailed we don’t know we really don’t know but it seems like the

Conversation has swung so much to them using that number one pick on Caleb Williams at quarterback that Justin Fields has gone so to answer your question it’s not Atlanta it’s not Pittsburgh it is the Las Vegas Raiders where his former offensive coordinator Luke gety takes over but here’s why I

Think he’s a great fit I look at what their offense is right we you know he comes into their quarterback they’ve got I think they’re gonna bring back Josh Jacobs so they can have a dual threat Run game they’ve got a pretty good offensive line there they’ve got Devonte

Adams they’ve got some players they’ve got a tight end right they’ve got Meyer they’ve got some players he can get the ball to they’re a physical iCal club plus all of those great offensive head coaches in that division Jim Harbaugh Shawn pton Andy Reid they haven’t had to

Defend a quarterback like Justin Fields I think he could go there and in a division where Antonio pierce the only defensive coach faces some of the greatest coaches that we have seen in modern football having somebody like him to confuse them to hold the ball and have explosive play potential to me I

Think he’s a raid all day fits the culture I could see him smoking a cigar with Max Crosby and AP I think that’s the perfect fit that’s a very I also like Rich gillo joining that staff who maybe an underrated developer of quarterbacks in this league very very talented in terms

Of working with quarterbacks I just look at Pittsburgh and I look at Atlanta and I look at the skill position players that would be around Justin fields in terms of guys like you know George Pickins goes up and gets balls Steve right he goes up and gets balls that are

50/50 type of balls I also think that those guys exist in Atlanta as well what I’m curious about this process and I wanted to add this more than just a typical landing spot this was a crazy stat sent To Us by our research Department the Bears had a 10 or more

Point lead in the fourth quarter in eight games this season they lost three of those nobody else really lost more than one game that had that type of lead I want to know what the league considers if this is on Justin Fields the quarterback or if this is on the

Situation in Chicago he had the worst passer rating in football in the fourth quarter amongst qualified passers so I want to know how this evaluation evolves because the guy hasn’t been dealt the greatest of hands in Chicago he is actually extremely well liked by the front office and the people within that

Locker room I want to know if they want to do him a solid Steve do they want to send him to a decent location that’s what I’m curious about and I and I do think that’s a great point because when you trade away somebody who is a good

Player um or who has those types of feelings you want to trade him to a situation where he could possibly succeed but I want to go back to what you said does this conversation about the Steelers continues to Intrigue me because Arthur Smith he was the head coach of the

Atlanta Falcons wanted no parts of Justin Fields he had the he had the possibility to draft him they took Kyle pitch we asked Terry Foo this last week they took Kyle pit a tight end they bypassed Justin Fields why of a sudden with the head coach who designs the

Offense take a liking to Justin field that that’s why this conversation when I hear the Steelers and Arthur Smith thought he’d be a perfect fit why Arthur Smith didn’t want him once why would he want him right now it it just that that linking I may be completely off base I I

Don’t see I don’t see that link real quick JP since we’re talking about Chicago Bears with the number one pick possibly you’re likely using it on quarterback Caleb Williams number two sits the Washington commanders I think they are going to be more Draft Day Ballers than the Bears I think they’ve

Got the potential to move from two to four still get the quarterback that they want pick up some extra picks they’ve got cap space to add people in free agency to me that is the team to watch with the draft that’s where the draft really starts because I think they’ve

Got some pieces and they’ve got some some time there they’ve got a grace period to put things in place that’s going to be the big mover all around the early part of the draft listen Steve if they’re the ones grabbing all the attention I’m nervous for Ryan poles I’m nervous if he gets

Overshadowed with what he has set up leading into this draft I do think the fields trade actually happens sooner rather than later they’d like that to happen there’s more teams that need a quarterback now than when it gets closer to the draft I think that plays a part

In this as well and I think you’re right I think number two is where the Draft starts because everybody’s assuming it’s Caleb Williams at number one that’s locked in it’s going to take a historic Hall as the in Raa Port reports so number two seems to be the start of the

Draft but at number nine is also the Bears so I’m fascinated by this thought process that you have to where it could be the Washington commanders M turning all the heads as opposed to the Chicago Bears I’m fascinated to see what happens but that’s why you went and got Adam Peters right

Steve yeah absolutely and look we see Adam Peters he’s done to Wheeling dealing before before the draft when it comes to those types of picks when he was with the 49ers we’ll see if he does it again you know what JP when we come back after the break we’ve got Saints

Coach Dennis Allen they are revamping their offense with a new coordinator a new scheme we’re going to talk to him about that and how that affects Derek Carr when we’re back on the NFL report r that St BC all right welcome back to the NFL

Report and JP I am so looking forward to this because we are now joined by New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen I’ve known da way back gosh it’s been about 15 years we go back da back to Atlanta and I first off thanks for

Joining us but we we wanted to have you on because this has been such an eventful offseason in terms of changing of your coaching staff on the offensive side you hire Clint kubak as your offensive coordinator just kind of what went into that and what are you

Expecting now for your offense is is it is it going to be a radical change or just something you think fits philosophically what you want to do with this team yeah well look obviously we went through an extensive uh search in terms of interviewing a lot of people for uh this

Position I think we I think we interviewed uh 11 or 12 offensive coordinator candidates a lot of really qualified guys uh I felt like you know we really needed to do a deep dive into uh a lot of different schemes and a lot of different personalities uh that that I wanted to

Really look at you know what was going to be the best fit for the New Orleans Saints for our players that we have here and the things that we need to try to get accomplished and um I felt like Clint kubak was uh obviously the the the

The the person of choice and and um I’ve I’ve known Clint for a long time I feel like I’ve known the family for you know probably over U 20 30 years I remember watching Clint’s dad Gary play quarterback back at Texas A&M uh you

Know growing up so I feel like I I feel like I’ve known this family uh I feel like I’ve I’ve known uh this scheme um for a long time and and and I feel like this is the best scheme um the gives your players the best chance to

Have success that’s going in the National Football League right now and and uh I think Clint uh is highly intelligent uh he’s extremely hard worker um I think we’ve put together an outstanding uh staff with a little bit of mixture of some older veteran coaches that have been there done that uh with

Some uh younger uh Progressive mindset type of guys and and I think it’s going to be a great mixture for our for our organization da before we move forward to what what we want to talk about philosophically and scheme wise and you touched on it there a little bit I know

I’ve been told back in the day you know the way Gary when he ran it at its highest level it’s almost unguardable at sometimes if it’s done the right way the way this offense can be run but but specifically Clint coming from San Francisco and the way you’ve seen

Coaches depart out of San Francisco and have success what is it that you learn maybe in that interview process with Clint about what that building is doing right to have guys prepared to make a jump like you’re having Clint do yeah well I just think it’s really about um

You know having having a system that you believe in uh and then being able to clearly identify the players that fit that system um and then being able to acquire the talent that fits that and and I think um I think they’ve done as good a job as any in San Francisco of

Being able to do that I think they have a belief system of of things that they they really firmly believe in and they don’t vary from that obviously the scheme has has evolved as it’s go gone along um you know this goes back to you know Mike Shanahan coaching uh back at

Denver uh through you know C going to uh Houston uh and then and then carrying that scheme along you know when he went back to uh Baltimore and then he went to Minnesota and you just see this scheme having a lot of success there’s probably a little bit more window dressing within

The scheme now than maybe what there was you know 10 or 15 years ago uh but I just think it’s it’s a system that’s quarterback friendly uh and and I think it relies on being able to run the football and uh and get your play action

Passing game going yeah I love I love hearing you talk about this because you’re a defensive guy right you’ve had to scheme against this so you know how much of a challenge it is um schematically but you just said it this is a quarterback friendly system how do

You think this is going to benefit Derek Carr well look I think dereck’s gonna uh do exceptionally well you know I thought there was a a point in time this past season where um you know we started incorporating a little bit more of the play action passing game and I really

Felt like that’s where our offense started to take off I thought that’s where Derek really kind of started to take off and you know it’s interesting because you know I’ve had communication with Derek throughout this process uh you know and talk to him about some of the different candidates that you know

We were bringing in um and his brother David had played for Gary in in uh in Houston and that was David’s last year in Houston I was kind of a little bit concerned that you know maybe that wouldn’t go over that great and and uh Man David had some really good things to

Say you know about the offensive scheme uh and about how he uh you know really appreciated the scheme and the things that they were doing and and and really enjoyed playing for for Gary and felt like look if if if there’s some similarities which I think there’s a ton

Between uh Gary and Clint that uh it was going to be a great fit and so I’m really kind of excited about that it’s interesting you bring up Houston I was a beat guy there when Gary was the head coach and I remember those drafts da of him kind of finding the guy

That fit this scheme we’re talking about throughout the draft so I’m kind of curious now that you make this switch on offense what have the meetings been like and does your draft philosophy maybe change a little bit in the style of player maybe you’re looking at on the

Offensive line or some other spots with the way that Clint wants to run this yeah no I think that’s a great question you know um you know a few years back um defensively here I remember back in 2015 kind of 2016 16 we weren’t sure exactly what we wanted to be defensively

34 43 Seattle 3 defense uh New England single high man um we kind of went through a little process and and and uh it was really kind of in 16 where I I kind of took over and U I think we clearly identified exactly what we wanted to do defensively uh and exactly

What we were looking for in each position and so therefore we were able to go out and find those guys 2017 draft and on and and I think we became a lot better defense because of that because we clearly identified what we were looking for uh and I think that’s the

Process that we’re going through uh right now we’re we’re in the process of having our February draft meetings uh with the scouts uh with Jeff Ireland Mickey Lumis myself we’re in there talking through these guys uh and we had a chance to get the offensive coaching

Staff in here over the weekend uh and really sit down with the you know with the scouts and and and with the people in the draft room and and kind of go through look th this is what we’re looking for at the quarterback position this is what we’re looking for in a

Offensive tackle this is what we’re looking for at the receiver position so uh I think that’s been I think that’s been great for our group uh and I think we’ll we’ll have to continue to have those discussions as we go throughout you know this draft process and really

Not just the draft process but free agency also I mean I know that’s invigorating I mean it’s got to be like so cool now to have these types of discussions with a new staff and kind of hear new ideas and and to really do this

So let let’s kind of flip it to the other side of the ball da you know that’s where you’ve you’ve just had one of the best defenses in the NFL for just the longest time and want to look at Cam Jordan because last year seemed like just such an aberration you know you

Only had the two sacks he wasn’t putting up you know the typical Hall of Fame type of numbers we’ve seen him put up do you consider that just kind of a blip on the radar you know and what does he maybe need to do to get back to the cam

That we have seen for more than a decade yeah well look I I think I think the thing that I would say about cam you know probably where where the dip occurred a little bit is just his ability to finish uh on the quarterback um I think he was still effective in

Kind of being able to get around the quarterback he just didn’t finish as well on the quarterback and so uh I think that’s one of the things that we’ve got to continue to look at and work at I think he’s still one of the better runs players in our league at the

Defensive end position uh but look let’s be honest I mean as we as we all get older we we we we start to slow down a little bit I don’t think he’s at that point um where I think he’s still got some good football left um and I think

It’s up to us to try to find the positions and the places to put him in uh to allow him to still be successful you know and and so um look the other thing is he he he he injured his ankle at some point in the season I think

Might have been the the Minnesota week and um look he’s such a tough competitor that he just battled through and fought through it but I think it was probably you know six weeks before he started feeling more like himself Yeah you mentioned you mentioned Cam’s Age and and I’m not pushing him

Out the door by any stretch he’s one of my favorite players to watch but as a head coach now that you’re in this position and and you’re going through this when a roster starts to get a little bit older how do you figure out gauging you know know a guy still as you

Mentioned cam still has this much left in your mind gauging between we have to try to maybe flip this and get younger in some aspects but we still want to Value what this guy brings because you have a lot of those type of players that

Still bring a lot to the table how do you gauge that yeah look I think it’s a delicate balance you know because um not only do these players I’m talking about guys like Cam Jordan I’m talking about guys like Tyron Matthew I’m talking about guys like Demario Davis we’re

Speaking specifically on the defensive side of the ball um look they can still play uh and they can still play at a at a winnable level um and it’s all those other intangibles that they can bring to your football team that don’t necessarily always show up on the stat

Sheet um but they they they show up in terms of the culture and and uh and the way you go about doing things and so look at it’s a delicate balance and it’s hard because you know these guys have been such great players for such a long time uh that’s that’s the challenging

Part of this business but uh as long as they can play and play at a level that allows us to be able to win uh then then uh I think they’re valuable pieces to our team da hey one last question before we let you go here and and this is

Important I’m in New Orleans for the uh the HBCU Legacy Bowl the HBCU combine was running your facility and the Saints have such of Rich history with players coaches and supporting black college athletics even last year you guys adding Mark Evans the offensive lineman at Arkansas Pine Bluff just what about your

Organizational commitment to continue to find Talent on and off the field to make you guys better year in and year out yeah well look I mean I think I think it’s really just a commitment to trying to find uh the best people and the best players that we can find

Regardless of where they come from uh and I think this uh you know this Legacy bowl and we had the the the comine over here at the facility yesterday where I think there was probably about you know 50 kids that got an opportunity to get

In front of the NFL Scouts uh and and go through some you know positional uh drills or or skilled drills um to get get their get their name and get their face in front of uh some NL evaluators and give them an opportunity to maybe

Have a chance to uh you know either be drafted signed as a free agent um you know we look there football players come and and in all shapes sizes and and areas and backgrounds and all those kinds of things and and uh you know we’re willing to look anywhere we can to

Find somebody that fits our culture that fits our program uh that can help us you know be a successful organ organization win some football games hey da man we appreciate the support we appreciate you taking the time with us man you’re the best thank you so much good luck you

Know and you taking out time when the middle of draft prep and putting the staff together means the world so can’t thank you enough for joining James and I here at the NFL report yeah absolutely guys I always got I always got 15 minutes for you guys there we go we’re

We’re gonna follow you back we’re g to hold you to that da yeah there we are all right we coming up NFL report Tom peliso is going to talk about some key NFL free agents that guy Kurt cousin will he be available that’s next on the NFL report hold the tap

Bell welcome back to the NFL report James Palmer Steve Wes with you now NFL Insider Tom pisero joins us and Tom my first question to you is this we broke bread multiple times in Vegas during the week long stay we had there which is far longer than the 48 Hours everybody

Recommends your favorite meal in Las Vegas that you had with me was what let’s see uh I believe I bailed on one of them about halfway through because I had an engagement that I needed to get to I believe that one Lotus ofam had the potential to be

Really good everybody raided about it after but SDK in the in the cosmo that was that was a a fantastic meal that we had together oh that one was fantastic I that one was really really good really really good and all right speaking of fantastic um let’s get to the wide receiver position

Potential franchise tag candidates there’s two I’m looking at the first one t Higgins to me this is a fascinating situation with Cincinnati and if you give him a contract then you’re just resetting a floor for Jamar Chase which you have to do down the road do you want

To pay two wide receivers do you move on now or do you try to maybe just run it back on the tag and try to get a Lombardi in 2024 where do things stand in your opinion with t Higgins in the Cincinnati Bengals you’re right James because

Somebody if T Higgins were to get to the open market would pay him like a number one wide receiver on his own team it’s pretty clear Jamar Chase is that number one guy when he’s out there and fully healthy the Bengals are not strangers to using the franchise tag they’ve done it

In the past did it with a wide receiver not that long ago in AJ Green and had him play his final season there on the tag so certainly a possibility that they could keep T Higgins on the franchise tag for a year nobody’s preference generally speaking is to end up with

Somebody on the tag but they’ve got enough flexibility right now in terms of their salary cap that that would be an option if they’re not able to consummate a deal prior to the negotiating window opening up on March 11th JP I’m gonna let you follow up

Since you said you had a second wide receiver you wanted to about I kind of I kind of blacked out because I was thinking of STK real quick um how about Mike Evans down there in Tampa Bay because I know there’s plenty of teams around the league that are going this is

Still an unbelievably productive receiver and if he finds his way out this is somebody just like dein that teams are going to jump at well it’s a big number for Mike Evans if you were to franchise tag him based off last year’s salary cap number also

You have to think when a player has had the type of career that Mike Evans has had with the Buccaneers a th000 yards every single season being a franchise Legend do you go that tag route if you’re not able to work out a deal or do you say Thanks for the Memories thanks

For a Super Bowl win we’re going to let you move on with your career right now those are organizational decisions that the Bucks are going to have to make I know that certain people were making a lot of fact they didn’t get a contract done a couple of days ago before a void

Date voids are not magic they’re not hey he immediately becomes a free agent they just mean it’s a matter of accounting differently for future cap numbers onto the cap nothing precluding them from being able to move forward here with a deal on Mike Evans but let’s also be

Very clear Mike Evans has earned it he’s one of the most consistent players that the NFL has seen over the past decade here he’s got one more big bite at the Apple I would not think that he would want to be on the franchise tag I would

Think and again a lot of different ways this could go teams have the right to use the tag but I would think if they can’t get it deal done with Mike Evans he quite possibly wearing a new uniform in 2024 I I would agree Tom because look

He’ll always be viewed as a Buccaneer yeah even if he has to play another team he’ll always be viewed as a Buccaneer his his legacy is solidified there let’s come off the tag you know maybe later we can talk about you know Tony Pard and saquan Barkley and this and that but

Let’s get to some guys with some expiring contracts and Kirk Cousins is the more if the more one of the most I should say intriguing guys out there because Minnesota we know they probably would like to keep him but he’s coming off that Achilles there’s the age what’s his

Situation I would anticipate Steve that KT cousins is going to have a strong Market even going onto his age 36 season and coming off of that Toren Achilles the Vikings want to keep Kirk Cousins but to this point there have really been no substantive communication that’s

Normal for the Vikings they do a lot of their contract talks with their own free agents at the combine that begins next week in Indianapolis at that point I would think that everybody involved would have a pretty good idea of what that market for Kirk Cousins is going to

Be at the same time the Vikings are exploring all options in the event that the price tag just becomes too high on cousins if he goes elsewhere wouldn’t think that they’d be in the baker Mayfield mix there’s not a lot of other starting caliber clear starters

Available in free agency I think it may be more of an economical type of Veteran let’s say a Sam darnold coming in which would buy them some time to bridge the gap to bring bringing a Young quarterback as well maybe even somebody they could draft or sitting there at

Number 11 could go up could go down that would be a possibility Minnesota in general guys in a really unique situation right here because there’s not a lot of times you’ve got three players on your roster who all could be 30 million plus per year players with her

Cousins who can’t be tagged Den Neil Hunter who’s also a pending free agent can’t be tag and then Justin Jefferson who has a pretty big vested interest in what happens with Kirk Cousins in that situ a lot of movings for and Kevin ell to sort through here again the Vikings

Usually do bus a lot of what they take care of is at the combine coming off of that and leading up to March 11th March 13th that’s where you’ll get a better idea of exactly what direction these are going to go can I just say with all the time he

Missed Justin Jefferson’s season still was absolutely remarkable and what he was able to do with even the games that he missed he was he’s incredible uh you mentioned Baker there real quick Tom um you look down there in Tampa we mentioned Mike Evans we talked about him

And then you could look at the franchise tag and maybe that’s going to Antoine Winfield Jr their safety maybe that’s where that tag goes what’s what’s the status with where things stand with Baker maybe resigning in Tampa because he becomes available there’s not a lot of Veterans as you mentioned signal

Callers that teams are maybe Desiring and he might be one on a on a decent price well here’s what we know James the price is going to be higher for Baker Mayfield than it was a year ago when he went there on a oneyear deal worth $5 million plus incentives the question is

Going to be how high does that price go and does another team get seriously involved and make a push for Baker Mayfield now we know the Bucks have expressed an interest they want Baker Mayfield back Mayfield said during Super Bowl interviews that getting that offensive coordinator in place the fact

That’s a guy he knows in Liam Cohen that was one of the big pieces that had to be in place before he evaluates his situation now I’ve talked to a lot of people within the league other general managers who are trying to project this thing out they all believe Baker

Mayfield ends up going back the Tampa if for no other reason then he’s been on so many teams from Cleveland the Carolina the LA to Tampa over the past couple of years that upending once again and going to another new team probably isn’t what he really wants to do having said that

Dave Canales isn’t there anymore the guy he had success with in Tampa last year he’s now the Panthers head coach how much does that impact things and also remember this okay Liam Cohen worked with Baker during that time that he spent with LA a couple years ago so did

Zack Robinson who’s now the Falcons offensive coordinator they have an acute quarterback lead I’m not saying that the Falcons are going to make a run at this but in the same division if they got involved that’s the type of thing that can really make that price go up and

Rahee Morris was the DC for the Rams when Baker came in and played well at the end of the season a couple years ago too so there’s that tie as well let’s get back to the running backs and the potential franchise tag with Tony Pard and saquon bark that would seem almost a

Steep for what both teams got from those running backs last year even on the tag that would seem like a steep number for both of those players am I am I kind of off base here thinking that an 11 million 12 13 million tag for both those guys is serviceable enough

Again well the steepest tag actually would be for Josh Jacobs in Las Vegas that one could go to 14 million plus based upon the fact that they signed an upgraded contract that gave him a couple extra million saquan and Tony Pard played the base tag Barkley did a new

Deal they added like $99,000 in incentives but they were all tied to team performance when you’re the Giants and you lose your quarterback and you’re play with Tommy DeVito and you win like six games you’re not hitting any of those incentives so for sequan he’s said

Many times he wants to be a giant for Life the Giants organization has a great affinity for saquan Barkley John mea certainly is in that bucket as well it would make a lot of sense for them to try to get a deal done but remember last

Year New York made multiple runs at this they did it before the start of for agency before the tag window last year saquin turned down a fairly substantial contract albeit within the context of running back contracts so they had to Pivot tag sequin and resign Daniel Jones

To an extension again they made another push to resign sequin during the bye-week last year again didn’t end up doing it so all of that leads you to a situation now and again before July as well so several times they’ve tried to make a run to getting something done

With saquin it hasn’t worked out to this point you would think though again they would like to get something done the question is going to be the number and then when it comes to Tony Pard obviously his numbers weren’t great in his first year as the lead back 3.9

Yards per carry I talked to EMT Smith in an interview during Super Bowl week I asked him what would you do with Tony Pard EMT said I think you have to resign him his argument was yeah it is different being the number one back versus the number two back the Cowboys

Also based on how they played offense didn’t necessarily always commit to being a running football team in EM point of view and I respect that more than anything I’m going to say on this show let’s be honest here he felt like there’s more that they could unlock with

Tony Pard moving forward but tagging him again at12 million plus to your point Steve that does seem Rich yeah that’s a steep number Tom P good stuff Have Fun during franchise tag season combined season you two go get a meal I’m Not Gon see IND Tom we’ll we’ll break bread there

Too oh yeah Tom’s gonna dip out Tom’s gonna dip out get to halfway cuz you got a more important engagement again JP do take that that’s probably what happened when we come back on the NFL report Caleb Williams the number one quarterback we’re about to talk about

Him and others who might not be or maybe they are we’re back on the NFL report the top draft eligible players from historically black colleges and universities put on the pads one last time to show they’re worthy of getting drafted the third annual All State HBCU Legacy Bowl Saturday at 400 p.m. Eastern

Exclusively on NFL Network and streaming on NFL plus speaking of the HBCU Legacy Bowl Bucky Brooks who now joins us will be on the call with me and Bucky and I right now are at two lane state ium about a third and 14 away from one another in

The Press Box here Stadium at JP Bucky B appreciate you joining us we’re gonna get to some of these HBCU players who are participating in practice this week in just a minute there’s the horn kind of signaling practice is over but Bucky let’s get to the overall draft class

Coming in since we’re in that window the NFL draft combine starts soon what can you just tell us overall about this draft class you know Steve there’s is a really solid draft class up at the top of the board now this would be the first year

Where we see some of the I would say the negative effects of nil uh some of the covid stuff where the draft is not as deep when we get to day three but the first three rounds should be loaded with players that can come in make contributions and those things as it

Relates to positions that are really um loaded with talent I would say the quarterback position you got solid uh prospects you have a ton of big- time Playmakers at wide receiver probably the deepest position of the draft offensive line particularly offensive tackle is loaded with Playmakers and talent where

You can see a bunch of first rounders come off the board on defense you have a solid pass rushing class like you have guys that are intriguing but it’s not as deep as uh P some past years and then I would say cornerback you have a bunch of

Big quarterbacks guys that are over 510 5’11 that can play the game use lot and a variety of techniques so if you’re in need of kind of what we call the the core positions you can find those guys passers Playmakers pass protectors handful of pass rushers and then some

Defensive Playmakers at corner you can get those guys you just won’t find a lot at running back and linebacker that’s where you kind of have to go shopping elsewhere okay I like it I like it we’ll start with the most important one it’s the quarterback spot Bucky and this is

Not my my Ohio state blood right here Throwing Shade at JJ and what he’s done to my team in the game what I’m curious about is what what what do you see in your evaluations in talking to people in terms of size and in terms of it just seems like he hasn’t

Had to be the guy in big moments uh the team’s been brilliant uh around him is that kind of I don’t want to say a knock on him but when you haven’t seen him have to do that as much what happens in your evaluation process when you don’t

Have a whole lot of examples of that and you’re going to need him to do it at the next level yeah no I mean I think that’s a very valid concern uh the think about JJ McCarthy the things that will go well for him will be winning pedigree he’s

Done it on a big stage on a ton of games at Michigan he’ll go down maybe as the greatest quarterback to ever played there just based on how the team succeeded he’s been a guy that has just kind of managed the team driven the bus

And found a way to get the team into the Winter Circle but when you watch him play athletically he’s intriguing he can run the ball he’s a legitimate dual threat quarterback super athletic has a strong arm and delivered deadly strikes and those things you just don’t have a

Lot of Visual Evidence on tape to say that he could be the guy that is the driving force of the offense that said when I look at him it reminds me a lot of the same evaluation that I had with Justin Herbert Justin Herbert when he

Played at Oregon was not asked to do a lot of stuff played in a more of a conservative offense but then he gets to the National Football League and flourishes I think JJ McCarthy is intriguing because people see the traits and the tools they see the athleticism they see

The strong arm they recognize and appreciate the intangibles that’s why he’s going to be a guy that’s of interest in the first round wow Bucky sound like people evaluating some Dean Smith T heels back in the day because they had so many good players none of

Them were has to drive the bus look you talked about how great this receiving class is we know at the very top there’s Marvin Harrison Jr who might be the best player overall in this draft what about the top in depth and what type of players are these teams getting because

We’ve seen wide receivers Buck the norm over the past five or six years and come in and have an immediate impact yeah I think what we’re seeing is the byproduct of what we call seven on seven culture the wide receivers that are entering the league now are more experienced more polished than they’ve

Ever been part of the reason is because they’re catching more balls running more routes than they ever have from the time they’re in Pop Warner to the time they graduate College these guys have really played football year round and it manifests itself in guys like Marvin Harrison Jr being a very polish player

That comes out reminds me a lot of Larry Fitzgerald in terms of just guess it when you see him he’s a plug-and-play pro he can run routs he can catch it over the middle of field he has speed to burn but to me he’s a legitimate number one receiver because he not only

Commands double coverage but he can defeat cover coverage it’s easy to Envision him being the anchor of a passing game but extends Beyond him Rome adun from Washington is another guy that people are buzzing about and one of the reasons they’re buzzing about the Washington Stand Out is because he’s big

He’s physical does a great job of catching the ball in his hands he wins the 50/50 balls and really when you watch him he reminds me a lot of Jamar Chase physical imposing presence even though he doesn’t have I would say Superior size he plays with a rugged

Game that means he’s going to win he’s going to win a ton on the perimeter and the last guy we got to talk about is LSU standout Malik neighbors uh just a total package uh can catch it run and catch Specialists can separate does a great job of making things happen and even

Though like he shared the Marquee with another talented player he is another guy that is ready to roll these three players will Vive for the number one spot even though we’ve talked about Marvin Harrison Jr being the number one these other guys would give them a run

For their money because I think it comes down to ice cream shops what kind of flavors do you like uh to go on your favorite waffle cone these guys bring a lot to the table that’s why so much so many people are buzzing about them I I love the analogy but because I

Want to use it for for what Terry fno told us on this show last week uh he was on with us and said they’re really excited about the round two round three picks that they have cuz he believes that group right there you have the

Ability to to find a lot of talent in different spots I’m curious if maybe you could read into what he’s saying we don’t know how the draft is going to fall by then right it always can kind of fall and there’s runs at different spots but maybe in that could you kind of

Maybe with what you’ve looked at round two round three what’s he talking about of what maybe value you can find there well I mean like I don’t necessarily think that the Atlanta Falcons need wide receivers but we have seen in recent years wide receivers come

From every run of the draft and have an immediate impact everybody would talk about fuka Nua but let’s just talk about the impact that tank Dale was having on the Houston Texans when he jumped out and made a ton of plays there are more of those kinds of players where supply

And demand look the supply is overwhelming when it comes to the wide receiver position but it also would be an opportunity for teams to look at offensive tackles and if you need to fortify the offensive line there’re a bunch of intriguing players that can come off the board we always talk about

The first rounders but look man there there’s a offensive tackle class of Joe Al uh thalis fuaga amarius Mims JC leam Troy F fatona that are going to be available at the bottom of the first round top of the second round so you can

Get some of those kns F and also on the interior because as I’m thinking about the Atlanta Falcons I’m thinking really the main thing is them fixing quarterback and continue to upgrade that offensive line grah Barton Jackson PES Johnson Cooper BB Chris Haynes there are a lot of players on the offensive side

Of the ball that are available in the second and third rounds that’ll be able to come in and give you starters and then if we talk about like literally I talk about the draft not being plentiful in terms of running backs and linebackers but that’s where those guys

Are gonna come off the board we have a namesake in Jeremiah tro Jr that would be a nice fit second third round instinctive active and those things I think the reason why general managers get excited is because they know if I don’t want to expend the first round

Pick there are some positions that I can Target in the second and third rounds and really upgrade my roster all right bu we’re talking about some day two and day three guys we are here at the HBCU Legacy Bowl the first day of the full practice is just wrapped up here at tane

University team Robinson players made up from the swack and the Sak just finished their drills but later on it’d be team Gaither and their quarterback davius Richard from North Carolina Central is that dude two time meak player of the year a great Runner a great thrower he

Blew up the combine what about a player like him who is so accomplished at this level who has all the physical specs about him getting into a camp and getting a shot especially with the Duality he poses yeah know I think this year um I mean look even previous years like last

Year we saw guys like Sean Clifford go in the fifth round and uh DTR Duran Thompson Robinson go in the fifth round and have an opportunity to play I think teams are kind of getting hi to the fact that you need to continue to take quarterbacks uh just due to the nature

Of the position the value of the position and the injury situations that we see at the position you need to have a bunch of guys in the stable when you talk about davius Richard one of the things that will Intrigue teams about him is the spectacular playmaking

Ability that he possesses not only as a thrower but as a dynamic Runner when you watched him at NC Central he made plays he had the ability to put this offense on his back people need to look no further than the celebration bowl a year ago when he knocked off coach primes

Undefeated Jackson State team and did it in Splendid fashion this is a big-time playmaker and the thing that I like about him Steve is when we had an opportunity to talk to him after the combine the ability to articulate and to really uh explain the wise behind what

He does on the field to me that is valuable because when you talk to teams they want guys that can take board the information from the board to the field Richard is one of those except he one of those guys that can do that and buck when you’ve seen

Quarterbacks over the last couple of years come out Brock P’s one that jumps out obviously with everything he’s done but experience right you you’ve played those snaps in the game and now it seems like teams are seeing that you know it’s importance almost go up I have to finish

With this because this is what Steph I show is about it’s about offensive lineman and it’s about the nickel Corner position for some reason we talk about those two more than anything else on this show have you seen in teams evaluations Buck over the last couple years the way that nickel spot has

Become more and more important to finding that on your defensive side of the ball Trent McDuffy obviously what he did with the Super Bowl champs just jumps out at us you know repeatedly what have you seen in terms of the evaluations and the importance of finding that spot over the last couple

Drafts yeah so I think it it’s been changing for a while there this become now where teams consider uh defenses to have 12 starters and that nickel corner is considered a starter and it’s not only considered a starter but now you’re Scouting For play have a specific set of

Skills to play at the nickel position because when you’re playing nickel corner I want people to understand uh back in the day the nickel used to be your best corner because what you’re asking them to do is to be a hybrid player he’s a hybrid linebacker SL

Defensive back who was tasked with being uh assigned to sometimes the slipperiest uh wide receiver but also being factored into the running game so guys need to tackle well they need to have quickness to be able to shadow in space they need to be high IQ guys because you ask them

To do a lot of things at that position and if they have pass rush skills where they can Blitz off the edge it really makes them a very valuable commodity so when you talk about guys like Trent McDuffy and the work that he was able to

Do last year for the Kansas City Chiefs people are going to look at that and they want players who can kind of impact the game in a variety of ways I just think it’s the nature of the way the NFL is going you’re seeing teams Blitz more

You’re seeing teams play more manto man and you continue to see the evolution of the defense where you’re having positionist players Manning multiple spots the nickel position is that spot that has really become a huge uh position for Championship caliber defense love I don’t know Buck I don’t

Know how many guys that play that spot Steve and I have had on the show this year might be half a dozen of those guys Kenny Moore a couple of those guys have been on the show and we and we’ve absolutely loved chatting with them about the position you know it so well

And you broke it down brilliantly listen we stole Bucky from move the sticks for our show uh but make sure you keep an eye listening to him and Daniel Jeremiah throughout this entire draft draft off season or for in season for you offseason for me bu appreciate it man

Please come and join us uh again before this draft rolls around on the NFL report Buck awesome stuff thank you I mean I think thanks having me all right coming up Matthew Slater announces his retirement can a man with one NFL reception as a wide receiver

Make it to the hall of fame we’re going to debate that next on the NFL report welcome back to the NFL report as we close things out James Palmer Steve whes with you alongside Tom Brady and a recently retired Matthew Slater the Special Teams extraordinaire for the New England

Patriots Brady saying the best teammate and even better man congratulations on the perfect career a 10 Time pro bowler Steve two-time allpro who had eight career targets He’s listed on your roster as a wide receiver but eight Targets in his whole career one catch you know so much about the Hall of Fame

Does Matthew Slater get into Canton this is going to be real interesting because look Devon Hester is going in as a member of the class of 2024 he’s the greatest returner ever we have two of the greatest kickers Jan stud and mortyn Anderson in the game in the hall the

Greatest punter ever and Ray guy in the hall guy what about one of the best coverage guys blocker setup man ever and Matthew Slater interesting because Steve Tasker the legend of the Buffalo Bills people have been clamoring for him to get in for more than a decade do you put

Matthew Slater who you see right here you know how hard this is to pick somebody up on the run as you see him on that type of play does he get in before Steve paser this is going to be a very interesting debate because Matthew Slater is far more decorated as a

Special teamer than any non returner or punter or Kicker to get into the Hall JP and Steve I’ll throw this on his resume as well real quick and I’ve talked to people in New England about this his role in the second Dynasty essentially the Patriots have is massive

A special teams player that took the attention to detail in operating in coverage and kick return all those aspects added to the attention to detail in the culture that bill bich created there if you talk to people in that building they will tell you he played a

Far bigger role than people outside the Boston area understand in how that dynasty was developed it was Teddy brusi that handed the Baton essentially to Matthew Slater how crazy is that a special teamer an unbelievable career remember our time has changed Steve by 15 minutes so don’t miss the first 15

Minutes of the show we are remember Mondays and Thursdays 7:00 on the NFL channel that’s on Roku and tub and peacock and everywhere and then later it’ll be on YouTube Steve the picture still looks great the time’s just a little bit different times a little bit different and we’re still a podcast that

You could listen to whenever when you’re out walking your dog when you’re up on the slopes when you’re watching the NFL combine next weeky Thursday JP see you buddy

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