Mel Kiper’s MOST DIFFICULT NFL Rebuilds! w/Field Yates| First Draft🏈

Mel Kiper’s MOST DIFFICULT NFL Rebuilds! w/Field Yates| First Draft🏈

If you rebuild it, they will come. Mel Kyper and Phil Gates tell us which down in the dumps NFL teams have the most difficult rebuilds ahead. That is coming up. Plus, we’re responding to your questions, your takes, and your draft dreams live as First Draft starts right now. Hi again everybody and welcome back to First Draft alongside Mel Kyper and Field Yates. I am Mike Greenberg and I’m here to tell you right now this is the single best edition of this podcast that I’ve ever been associated with. In this my second year, I am delighted for everyone to pay close attention to Mel’s shirt because Mel is a mench. And you can look that word up for those of you who don’t know what it means. Even though my beloved Northwestern Wildcats lost a heartbreaker in Lincoln, Nebraska over the Nebraska over the weekend. Mel is wearing the shirt and Mel, I love it. Gutty effort for for the Northwestern Wildcats. Matt Smith, thank you to Matt for sending the gear along. Got it Saturday morning and ready to roll and enjoy the game and hope they get as a touchdown underdog the upset. Came back greeny from down to tie the game. Had an opportunity unfortunate interception and then a running back uh kind of got the best of a little bit who’s going to be I think a good football player in the National Football League. But I got got a highlight for Northwestern. But uh a lot of guts, gritty effort coming back. Now you’re off. Now you have four games. You got to find a way to win one of these four. This is a tough stretch of four games. Greeny, you’re five and three. Got to get one more. Got a couple games at Wrigley, right? So, we’ll see how it goes for Northwestern the rest of the way. But hey, I got to congratulate those kids down 216. They battled back and I thought they had it for you. But just just that close. But hey, you got to be proud of your Northwestern Wildcats. Always in victory and defeat. And everyone in Evston is going to be so thrilled to see Mel Kyper in that shirt. I can’t begin to tell you how this is going to make a lot of people’s day starting with mine. So awesome. Anyway, we are first draft. We are here with you every single week. Scan the QR code that you see on your screen right now if you want to catch up on anything you’ve missed throughout this entire season as we’re with you every single week talking draft. And of course, we’re always on the NFL on ESPN YouTube channel, on ESPN 2, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Here’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to do the most challenging rebuilds. So, we’re looking at the teams. Usually, we look at this from the reverse. We look at the players and then we try and put them with a team. This time, we’re going to look at the teams that right now, and there’s a lot of football left to be played, but right now figure to be selecting very high in the draft, and which spots feel like the most difficult spots from which to rebuild. So, each of you guys submitted to me your top five or bottom five for the purposes of this exercise. one is the worst and we work our way up through that. So, Field, we’ll start with you. Which do you think is the most challenging rebuild spot? Yeah, Granted, the criteria that I used in terms of finding my five teams were teams that entered week eight with one or in the case of one team, uh, zero wins so far this season. That of course being the New York Jets. But I believe the most difficult rebuild ahead from the five that I considered is the Miami Dolphins. And I broke these teams down into a variety of different categories. The most pressing and obvious place to start with a rebuild is do you have a quarterback? And if you have a quarterback, what kind of promise does he bring to your franchise going forward? I believe the Dolphins have a quarterback who has a low ceiling as a player. That being Tua Tongoa. Now Tua was great in week eight. He had four passing touchdowns and 205 yards against a good Falcons defense. The problem is I don’t think that Tua is the kind of quarterback who raises your franchise up into contention level. We have seen the Dolphins make the playoffs with Tua. We’ve also seen the Dolphins get sumearily dismissed in the playoffs with Tua. On top of that, Greeny, in order to get out from Tua Tonga Vioa anytime in the near future, you’re going to have to take some serious cap medicine. As Tua was signed to a deal that pays him north of $50 million per year, there’s still guaranteed money paid to Tua in 2026. Anyways, the quarterback is always going to be a leading factor for me. Miami having a quarterback quandry. On top of that, I believe, and I was very strict with this, I was looking at players that I consider blue chippers, guys who are young, guys who are under contract at a reasonable number going forward, the right number going forward, and guys who I believe um can like can be with you during the next iteration of winning that are currently on your roster. And for the Dolphins, there’s not a lot of those players. Jaylen Wadd is an answer for me that definitely checks the box of one of them, but I would exclude a player like Tyreek Hill. His football future is uncertain. I love Devon AM, but he is a guy who’s on a rookie contract. And who knows whether he running backs, we haven’t seen running backs drive as much winning despite what we saw last year with Saquon Barkley and the Eagles. Um, so my bottom line with the Miami Dolphins is that they feel like they have a very low ceiling as a franchise. are kind of stuck in the middle at best and it’s going to take some serious effort to dig themselves out of this hole that they are in because this is a team that’s expensive as well. So, they were my choice for the most difficult rebuild ahead. Mel, who did you who do you believe is in the worst spot, has the most difficult job to try and rebuild their franchise? Grant go to the fields division with Miami Dolphins. It’s the New York Jets. I think you look at the Jets, they haven’t won a playoff game in a long time with 2010 longest drought in the NFL. last time they made the playoffs. Miami would want a playoff game back in 2000 was the last time they won a playoff game. And I’ll get to that in a minute, but last time they made the playoffs 2010. But the defense with all these big names just hasn’t gotten the job done. You think about an organization, you go owner, general manager, head coach, quarterback, and you’ve had quarterbacks, but then you let them go because you want the next best thing. Talk about Darnold for Zack Wilson. Nothing seems to hit right in terms of the situation at the quarterback spot in a division where you’re also battling Josh Allen every year and now Drake May who is emerging as one of the bright young stars in the National Football League. So, you got to get to that level in your division. Okay. You might not surpass those quarterbacks, but get close enough where you can compete with them. And you mentioned Tua keeping him healthy, getting everybody around him to be up to speed, but certainly for the Jets getting the right guy there. And if you’re picking one or two or three, it’s a difference this year because you may not have a quarterback at two or three because right now Dante Moore at Oregon and also Tai Simpson at Alabama could go back. We’ve spoken about that. They could go back. If that happens, it’s Fernando Mendoza from Indiana is the only quarterback worthy of going that high in the draft, number one overall. So, whoever ends up being number one is going to get that quarterback. I’m not saying he’s going to be a superstar. We don’t know that until they start playing. But Mendoza will be expected to be that guy. It’s not him. Who’s it going to be? I mean, you look at what we have here. So, the New York Jets to me because of the drought in terms of the playoffs in there. Looking at this team, third worst opposing passer rating, uh, 21st in per carry average allowed. It My father used to say when I I’d rattle off names, they’re just names, M. They’re just names. Are they performing? They’re just names. That’s what we had. They’re just names. They haven’t gotten the job done. And thanks to the Bengals horrific meltdown yesterday, they were able to get a win there, right? And Justin Fields give Justin credit. I mean, this kid the storm and battled and showed a lot of character for all the criticism and the owners saying what he did. For Justin Fields to go out there yesterday and perform the way he did speaks to to why he was a first round pick originally coming out of the collegiate ranks. So, I I just uh so I nothing wrong. I get like the owner is perhaps the biggest anchor that is keeping this this this this franchise tethered towards the ground or often uh towards the ground level of the NFL. I will say like the reason why I didn’t have the Jets here and I had the Dolphins there is that two things. I think the Jets and even if they aren’t all playing at this level uh collectively this year, I think the Jets have three blue chip players that I think are like cornerstones for the next half decade. Uh Granny local Jets fan, please tell me if you feel differently about these guys. Quinton Williams under contract for a long time, S Gardner under contract for a long time, and Garrett Wilson as well, offensive rookie of the year, redefensive rookie of the year, first team all pro and Quinton Williams. On top of that, the Jets have financial flexibility going into future years. It’s a little bit early to be discussing specific cap numbers or cap space that each team has available. But the Jets will be in the first five or six teams. Um, and that number will probably only increase in terms of cap flexibility once they cut players this off season. And so while the history and the owner definitely give me pause, the Jets feel like they have less knots to have to undo to get to that that competitive level than Miami does. Uh but the Jets would have been my depending on whether you’re looking at number two team in terms of most difficult rebuild ahead. Yeah, I I agree with you on the three guys that you named. I would add I think that the offensive tackles they’ve drafted in the first round each of the last two years are pretty good players of promise. Yep. and uh and Armanu. I I like the tight end that they took in the second round this past year, Mason Taylor, who caught the game-winning touchdown. But I I think that the first point that you make is the most important one. The Jets have been awful for a long time, and that transcends any one individual general manager and any one individual coach and any one individual quarterback. When you have dysfunction from the very top of an organization, that’s the hardest to overcome. And the Jets, I think, have that in a big way. I will also add quickly to what you both said as we speak. The Dolphins would draft fifth. If the season ended now, and we’re a long way away from the season ending, I’ll just add these as we mentioned the teams, the Dolphins would be picking fifth and the Jets would be picking second. And to give you an idea, Mel, of just how sad the life of a Jet fan is. The minute we won yesterday, the minute the Jets won the game yesterday, my Jets group chat went crazy saying, “Go Saints. everybody and Luke Bubble, you know who you are because he was the first one who sent it in there. It literally is is just texting in there. I’m just I’m getting myself a Saints jersey. We need, you know, and of course the Saints lost 100 to six or whatever it was. So yeah, that didn’t go anywhere. But anyway, so I’ll include those as we speak right now. The Jets would pick second, the Saints would pick first. So Field is saying the Dolphins have the toughest rebuild. Mel is saying the Jets have the toughest rebuild. field. You went second. You went number two with the Jets. So, we’ve heard your thoughts on them. Mel, who do you have as the second hardest rebound? There’s a couple teams we could go. I was the Las Vegas Raiders and for a couple reason. Good answer. You think about the Raiders. You got a a head coach, Pete Carroll. Heck of a coach, right? He’s going to be 75 years of age when the season begins next year. When the regular season begins next year, your quarterback, Gino Smith, 35. I get what Pete did. He wanted a quarterback with familiarity who he could win with right away. But in that division, that’s not going to happen. So you got about who’s the face of this organization right now. Brock Bowers probably. That’s what you think. And Max Crosby on a defense. Ashton Jenty and Max Crosby. And Ashton Jenty. We got Ashton Jenty. You can’t run it when they got a brick wall in front of you. Right. So for me, when you they haven’t won 2002 Super Bowl, they lost, right? They’ve been to the playoffs twice since then. Have both lost both games. So this is organization hasn’t had any winning. And you think about where we are right now in this division. Not only is it stacked with big-time quarterbacks, those quarterbacks are paired with elite coaches, okay? Reed Momes, Harbaugh, Herbert, Payton Knicks, and now you have Pete Carol and Gino Smith. Pete, great coach, but 75 years of age. I said when the regular season in 2026 begins and a quarterback in Gino Smith who’s down at the bottom of that division. Okay. So, you can’t have that. You got to close that gap. So, for the Raiders, yes, I I would say right now there’s a lot of work to be done. said they haven’t done much winning since that Super Bowl that they lost in 02, right? So again, you’re talking about an organization that has issues on kind of they have some star power, but it’s not a lot a lot of star power and there’s issues on both sides of the ball. So for me, the Raiders have some work to do because guess what? In that division, you just can’t be decent to good at quarterback. You better be closer to great or you’re not going to have a fighting chance uh to get it done. And in the ASC, not only division, but the ASC loaded with so many great quarterbacks, there’s even more pressure for the Raiders to fix that situation and get it better than it is right now with the 35-year-old Gino Smith. Yeah. So, I uh when we were discussing the five teams last week, one of the teams that we did not have was the Raiders. So, I don’t have them on my list, but I always break the rules, feel like, of course. Listen, that’s why that’s why we keep you around, Mel, to be our resident rule breaker. Uh they’re a darn good pick. And I think to me one of the fundamental issues with the Raiders is the indifference towards taking a step backwards in order to take a step forwards eventually. Right? Think about some of the recent moves the Raiders have made under a variety of different regimes. Right? A few se few off seasons ago they spend big to acquire Devonte Adams. Remember that in that trade, their first and second round pick to the Packers and they have Derek Carr and Devonte Adams and they get Darren Waller under contract and you’re like, whoa, this team is loading up to be really good. Chandler Jones was signed in free agency. They think they can get in the mix right away. They couldn’t. They had another regime change and then this past off season hiring Pete Carol who brings them an element of credibility. He did during the offseason and Pete season bring them an element of credibility. I’m not debating that. uh for Pete Carol given his um you know his his credentials as a coach, but it was also a decision to not rebuild. And it feels like this team just needs to take a big step back and rebuild. If ever there was a division where it makes sense to play the long game, as difficult as that may be, and I’m not talking about going full NBA tank, but take a step backwards, right? You’ve got Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert and Bo Knicks in this division. Play the long game. If you’re looking for some saving graces for the Raiders right now, I do believe they have at least two blue jip players, one on both sides of the ball, Max Crosby and also Brock Bowers. I don’t think they have a ton of contracts on this team right now that make me feel really really uncomfortable going forward. That being said, if Gino Smith continues to play like he did he has so far this year, they’re going nowhere. Not just this year, but next year as well, because Gino is a bunch of guaranteed money to in 2026. If the season ended right now, they would have the eighth pick in the draft. So, not quite as far towards the the top or the bottom, however you want to frame that for the purposes of this. It also occurred to me as you were talking about the faces of the franchise, I think Tom Brady might actually be that, which and at the age of 48, he might also at this point be one of their five best players now. So, it’s a terrible oh god, terrible set of circumstances they have. Okay, so that’s one and two. the worst and the next worst. The next up, we have a social uh post here. And again, we always love hearing from you. Please use the hashtag firstdraft. When you tweet at us or tweet any thoughts that you may have on the draft, Eric Ray tweets, the Saints might have five people on the entire roster that are worth holding on to. And Phil, that’s where you went with the third longest trip back. Yeah, people are probably saying like, how are they ahead of the Dolphins or the Jets? I think there’s actually a little bit more room for optimism here with New Orleans. I don’t know that any player on this roster absolutely 100% is a blue chip player in terms of the definition I’ve utilized, right, which is a player who is entering or in his prime under contract long-term uh and is going to impact winning of when this thing actually gets right in New Orleans. I think the closest calls Chase Young is playing some great football for them this year. Chase Young still has some serious pass rush juice. I like the offensive line investments. Eric McCoy, their center, one of the best in the entire NFL. They’ve drafted two tackles like the Jets in the first round each of the past two seasons. There’s some promise there. Uh the quarterback is a major question mark. It’s not a question mark. I I I think the answer is not on their roster. Is that unfair to Tyler Shuck? Probably. He’s only played what, a half of an NFL game so far this season. I believe, and I think Mel might disagree with me on this notion, but I believe if you have a quarterback who is playing at the level of Spencer Rattler and you have a rookie behind him who has not leapfrogged Spencer Rattler in the first eight weeks of this season, you’re probably telling us that the guy is not the answer long term. Maybe that’s unfair, but I I think the Saints have kind of acknowledged that they don’t have their obvious answer at quarterback long term in Tyler Shuck. And while the Saints, who forever have been in this state of pushing money into the future years on the salary cap, have shifted their priorities, specifically in the past couple of off seasons, the books get pretty open for the Saints, really starting in 2027. This team, who forever has been, you know, more dancing around the margins in free agency as opposed to making a ton of big splashes, has a chance to make more big splashes going forward. There have been some exclusions there of course Derek Carr being signed and others but the Saints are in a very different state going forward moneywise which gives me a bit more optimism on them in the NFC. So Mel has the Saints at fifth but let’s focus on them for the moment here if the season were to end right now they would have the first pick of the draft. I’m particularly interested Mel and your thoughts on the two quarterbacks there because Tyler Shuck is someone look you and I work with Lewis Riddick on the draft. It’s no secret Lewis absolutely loved Ty Bashuck as a prospect. And to Field’s point, we’ve barely seen him at this point. So I I don’t know that we can assess him in any meaningful way. And I will tell you, for whatever this is worth, the guys I work with on Sundays, they have a thing about Spencer Rattler. They like him. They talk about they rave about the arm talent. I know the record is atrocious. Yeah. But Mel, as as as I hear your takes on the Saints, I would love in particular to hear your thoughts on their quarterback situation because those are two relatively young guys. Um, do we feel the book has been written on them? Yeah, I think the big thing here is they haven’t obviously haven’t been to the playoffs since Drew Brees. That wasn’t, you know, it’s been five years now removed and 2020 was his last season. So, haven’t been to the playoffs since Drew and they hit with Drew. Why? Because Miami didn’t want him because of the shoulder and he ends up there. They luck out. good fortune leads to Drew Brees being the quarterback. Right now, the Saints have that guy. The Rattler, the Rattler has his moments. There’s no question. He had a couple bad moments yesterday. It led to Tyler Shuck taking over. Fumble and interception. Tyler Shuck comes in obviously some rough moments there. Alvin Chimera 30 years of age. He’s got a care averaging a career low 36 a carry. So, there’s issues when you talk about this team. Is Tyler and the big question is going to be and they have to figure this out internally. Is Tyler Shuck showing enough to them within the building, practice field, getting ready for games, and now the rest of the year to leave him out there? Like you say, Rattler had some ability. There’s no question. We were talking about Rattler, a first round guy at different stages of his career. Okay. So, who does do they feel like one of these two have a chance to be their guy? And if they do, then you can say, okay, we’re a little ahead of schedule, you know. And again, Tyler Shuck, we have to see. I say Lewis loved him. There’s quarterback I love named Shador Sanders. ain’t getting a chance in Cleveland either. Will he get a chance down the road? Who knows? So again, we’re we’re looking at these rookie quarterbacks like we have answers. You don’t have answers to a rookie quarterback. Good, bad, and different. We don’t know. Do they know? No, because you just don’t. You got to let guys develop. And unfortunately in this league, a lot of times they’re written off before they even have a chance to develop. Okay. And where are you going to go in college? Good luck on that one. Okay. Because this quarterback group has not emerged like we thought it would. So for New Orleans, they got two young guys. Try to Kell Moore try to develop one of those two or feel like we have one of those two guys because guess what guys, you have to go through rough moments and you can’t pull the plug. You can’t give up on a guy. Every quarterback’s going to have his good games and his bad games and have some struggles and then once they get to the point have the right guy around them and now Kell Moore is at least tied to Tyler Shock. That’s what you want. You want the coach to draft the quarterback. He did with Tyler Shock and we’ll see if he’ll I’m anxious to see what happens moving forward. Do you go back to Rattler? Do you stay with Tyler Shuck? What happens there the rest of the year will give you at least an indication? Because sometimes, and I always go back to Bill Walsh, does he show you in a game or two? They can be really good. Does he show you in a game or two? Then you got to try to up to the coaching staff of the organization to maintain that level of consistency. Once he at least shows you, these aren’t preseason games now. These are the real deal. Let’s see what happens moving forward with them. I’m with uh Miami as my third team fielding. I I look at this team. They haven’t won a a playoff game in 25 years. Haven’t won a playoff game since 2000 when the quarterback was Jay Feedler. Wow. Jay Feedler was the quarterback, right? Beat Indie and Jay Feedler was the quarterback there. Coming out of what? Dartmouth, right? Dartmouth. End of the day, this organization in Miami. You talk about where we are right now with this football team in that division and again the quarterback position. Tua has shown he can be a good quarterback. The injury issue was always going to be there but the you need everything around him and Tua can be a Super Bowl winning quarterback I believe but you need everything around him. That’s the O line the running game going. You got to have got everything. And you mentioned Tyreek Hill at his age coming off that injury. Where are we with Tyreek Hill now? So, at the end of the day, Miami comes in at the third spot for me. So, I only to put I know I had my thoughts on the Dolphins a little bit earlier on, but you know, the offensive line is still a major question mark going forward for Miami. And I mentioned how you’d have to undo some things with Tua to get out, right? He’s still got, you know, if you cut him next year, which is not going to happen. It would be $99 million of dead money. That ain’t going to happen. Is there much of a trademark for Tua? I would think not so much. The other thing is that like some of the highest paid players on this team’s books right now are question marks either because of performance, health, or both, right? Tyreek Hill is a major question mark after that severe, gruesome Monday Night Football knee dislocation. Bradley Chub, who has totally underwhelmed since they traded a first round pick to Denver, is a major question mark going forward. They’ve got serious questions in the secondary. the defense in general to me is really short on just guys that you believe can be big-time players for a winning defense going forward. So, um right now they might be, you know, amongst the best of these teams, like the best equipped to win one game in the year of 2025, but as we look forward, I do have some concerns there. Yeah. And the last thing I’ll say about Miami, 29th in per carry average allowed. You think the 31st in opponent passer rating, so to speak, to what you were just saying to your point about the defense. There’s issues there as well on both sides of the ball. But Tua for me, I like Tua. I think we can all agree if you can keep him healthy, keep him upright, give him a fighting chance, he can be a winning quarterback. He’s shown that in the NFL already. So help. And they they got help to do on both sides of the to a degree, Mill. And that to me is if the NFL has showed us something, it’s that there are quarterbacks that you can win with, there are quarterbacks you can win because of. And I think the because of category is far more important than the win with category. because the because of guys give you a chance almost every single year. Tua you can win some with, but I don’t believe that Tua is the kind of quarterback that’s going to go to Arrowhead or Buffalo or Indianapolis and take down one of these heavyweight teams as the primary reason behind him. So that’s why I have more hesitation about Miami going forward than maybe Mel does. It’s worth inserting at some point. These teams are all bad. It’s the reason they’re in this conversation. So what we’re doing now is I think the most interesting part of the exercise is is looking at where what means they have by which to get better. They wouldn’t be in this conversation if they weren’t already bad. And so to recap, at number one, meaning the longest road or most challenging road back, Field has the Dolphins, Mel has the Jets. At number two, Field has the Jets, Mel has the Raiders. At number three, uh, Field has the Saints and Mel has the Dolphins. So, that brings us to number four, and you both met in the same spot at number four. So, Field, I’ll go first with you. Who do you have at the fourth hardest rebuild? Yeah, Cleveland Browns, who they if if the game was only defense, they’d be fine, right? The problem is the whole offensive side of the ball. Uh, the Browns have on the short list, if not the best defensive player in the entire NFL, Miles Garrett. So, they’ve got I I think the Browns have multiple blue chip players. Miles Garrett, Denzel Ward to me are blue chip players who are on veteran contracts long-term going forward. I think they’ve got a chance to have nailed at least a couple of their draft picks from this year’s class. Mason Graham looks extremely promising. Carson Swissinger incredible start for his season. Quinn Judkins has been really good as well. Uh but the Browns have this entire quagmire at quarterback. And I know that Mel feels differently about Shadore. Not that my grade on Shadore was way low in the pre-draft process, but I just feel as though the NFL has told me that my evaluation was off on Shadore. If Shadore were ready for, you know, to to become a guy that’s going to help this team solve its what decades long quarterback drought, then I think he would be the starting quarterback by now. On top of that, the Browns are like the Eagles and the Saints, at least for the for much of the past x number of years with the Saints. They push a bunch of money forward, grainy. It’s worth noting though that the Browns have the most difficult obstacle of any contract in the NFL. They are still sorting through, right? They still have the Deshun Watson contract on the books for not just one more year because, and not to get super CBA on people right now, um, but the Browns, even the year after Deshun Watson’s contract expires, are going to have a gigantic dead cap hit on what is described as a void year for Watson’s deal. So, the Browns do have some salary cap obstacles. Also worth noting though, the Browns have their pick and the Jacksonville Jaguars pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Yeah, I’m a Cleveland at four. I think of the quarterback position. They’ve tried. They have tried going back to Tim Couch, right? And he had Brady Quinn and Johnny Manzel and Brandon Weeden and these were guys were all drafted there. Then you go to Baker. This is the one that really is the one that has you scratching your head. You had Baker. Totally. You had Baker. You had Baker who wasn’t sure. Baker was winning. Baker almost had you in a Super Bowl playoff game. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, almost hedging a Super Bowl. To me, Baker should be in Cleveland and and Sam Darnold should be with the Jets. It’s a perfect world. I mean, I get it. Organization say, “Well, Daniel Jones with the They wouldn’t have won there. They needed the J say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? We all know he wouldn’t have done anything there. But over here, he’s good. I get all that. But when Cleveland had Baker Mayfield and they had hadn’t had any success, they hadn’t won anything.” Okay? Go back to what 1999, no consistency at quarterback. 15 times since AFC North came in 2002. They finished in last place. 15 times in last place, one playoff win since 1999. I mentioned the quarterbacks. They’ve had bus galore, right? But they had one they hit on. When you hit on a quarterback and you know in that building and on that field, you got the right guy who’s a leader the players rally around and you let him go and you cut him loose, shame on you. So again, you that’s again speaks to where we are right now. You mentioned two first round picks. They have their own which is going to be high and they have Jacksonville’s pick as well. Uh they got work to do and again figure out Dylan Gabriel that was Kevin Stfansk’s guy Sanders Andrew Barry brought in because he was there in the fifth round and we took them. See what happens. I’m not ready just because the league doesn’t speaks. I don’t care what the league says. The league doesn’t speak about quarterbacks. They don’t know any more than what you and I do feel about quarterbacks really. I said everybody’s clueless about quarterbacks including the National Football League geniuses. Okay. They don’t know. They don’t know even when they have them. They don’t know. They had baker grenade. The guy cut him loose. So again, to me, let’s see how it plays out the rest of the year. I hope Shador has a chance. And even if he gets in there, he might struggle. Does that mean he stinks? Does that mean he was overrated? No. But again, they’re in a position where they may not even see a quarterback. I really believe Dante Moore and Tai Simpson need to go back. So Fernando Mendoza goes number one to somebody. What are you going to do? You got to figure it out. So for Cleveland, just every it seems like everything some organizations touch turns to gold, right? Yes. Some organizations they got the magic touch. Whatever they do, it turns out right organizations I think with these quarterbacks and Granny spoke to this. These quarterbacks have some talent coming out. I I’ll go to Shadore. Didn’t nine executives have him going number the number one quarterback this same time last year. What happened? Nothing happened on the field. All of a sudden, no, we’re washing our hands. They should stand. No, we don’t want them. We don’t want them. We don’t want them. Well, again, to me, the organizations ruin players. They ruin quarterbacks. Okay, I say all the time, not saying all the time, but eight times, nine times out of 10, organizations ruin some of these talented quarterbacks. And and again, for this is why these teams are there. This is why nothing has happened positive for these teams. Not over a four, five, six, eight, eightyear period, but over a 15, 20 year period. Yeah. Uh I one thing to add here Granny and this this may be in the eyes of some people’s uh opinions uh maybe in some people’s opinion excuse me uh the most important thing that said on this podcast here is I’m constantly probing with scouts around the uh the the map uh about what they’re hearing on players and their decisions for this upcoming draft. Wednesday, October 29th intel. And this could change in five minutes. It could change in 5 days. It could change in five it could not change at all. We shall see. I would just caution some people that are looking at this quarterback class in a particular way, which could be very deep. We’ve talked about it. There are many who believe that Tai Simpson, Dante Moore, Sam Levit, and maybe Lenora Cellers are all going back to college next year. Now, we’ll see. I think Fernando Mendoza is viewed by everybody is is is out. He’s he’s coming out of the NFL draft. He might be a national champion by the end of the year and then coming out as a you know number one or a top five pick in the draft. But uh this quarterback class is going to get a serious like we will tighten things up one way or the other. We’ll know exactly what we’re getting or we’ll be talking about the 2027 draft a whole lot come January when the actual declare date is for these underclassman. So I’m sellers guys. I got to know that that offensive line’s going to be giving me a fighting chance. I got to know that. Yeah. I mean, it could, you know, and and now as we know, we’re in we’re in the era, we are in the era of changing schools, too, right? So, you know, whether these guys are back, yeah, whether they’re back with their current schools, whether they’re in the NFL draft, still TBD. So, um, we talked about quarterback being potentially deep last week, but, you know, at least talking to people who are going around to these schools week in and week out, these are not viewed as the year that Caleb Williams and Drake May were both first eligible for the draft or it was these guys are coming out. We know it, right? Jayen DS was a five-year player. was different. These guys are coming out. We knew it the entire time. There’s more cloudiness surrounding some of these quarterbacks this year. I think it’s complicated. I think I think it’s really fascinating and complicated and it’s going to be for us really interesting and fun to see what decision Tai Simpson makes because Tai Simpson had that four-game stretch. You knew Columbia, you knew Williams probably Stadium was going to be a tough game for them and they battled and they won the game, right? Tai Simpson is going to be very interesting to see what he does after only having that one year as a starter. And if he continues to play at this level and he’s viewed as the number one, number two pick in the draft, what does he decide to do? I still think you go back, but I I know that’s hard not to do. You’re getting paid now. Back in the day, you weren’t getting paid and some did. Notably Pton Manning did. So now that you’re getting paid Dante Moore in Oregon, there’s some money there, right? You know there’s we know there there’s a lot of money there. Dante Moore had five starts going this year. I’m Dante Moore. I’m going back. If I’m Lenor Sers, I gotta make sure that offensive line at South Carolina gives me a chance. And if they do, and in the portal days, you can go improve that very quickly. I’m going back as well. I’m definitely Ty Simpson. I’m not enough. One year. Mitchell Trabiscy had one year as a starter. He went ahead of Patrick Owens who had a t 29 starts. Deshun Watson had 35. Mitchell Traiski had 13 starts. He went second in the draft. Mahomes and Watson went down the line in the first round would ran a 10 spot, 12 spot. Right? So, at the end of the day, go back to history. History tells you how to predict the future. And when you look at those number of starts, it’s critical. Tai Simpson’s only going to have 13 14 starts. That’s it. So that’s a dangerous number of starts coming into the NFL. His father’s a coach at UT Martin. Nick S’s influence is going to be real there as well. Okay, that’s going to be fun for all of us to watch and see what happens middle of January when that decision has to be made. Circling it all the way back to the Browns. If the season ended right now, they would have the fourth pick in the draft. Mel, I’m 100% with you. At some point this season, we will see Shador Sanders play. I have to believe he is going to get out there and play and we’ll start to get some sense of what it is they do or don’t have in him. You mentioned that they have the two first round picks next year. And it’s also worth, I think, throwing into the conversation the quarterbacks aside, they have a very good rookie class, right? They drafted well last year. They’re getting Harold Yep. Out of their rookies. So, they have a good So, I mean there there’s something there’s something there to build on. The history of course is a catastrophe and we all know about that. Okay. At number five, I’m sorry, but this actually made me laugh. And we have a magnificent tweet here from depressed Titans fan. Oh gosh. Who writes just simply this positives? Titans have a great rookie class on their hands. Yes. Negatives, everything else. It’s both sad and funny. Field, you have them as the fifth hardest rebuild. Yeah. So, this would be the easiest rebuild, the most optimistic rebuild if you look at it from a different lens, right? If depending on how you look. So, I’m trying to spin it positive for a depressed Titans fan here. Um, what gives you a chance in the NFL? A quarterback, right? I believe that the traits are there for Cam Ward. I am more optimistic on Cam now than when I was when he got drafted. On top of that, the Titans, I think, deserve a lot of credit because if they hadn’t taken Cam Ward is Cam Ward, uh, if he were in this draft coming up, we’d be talking about Cam Ward as the number one pick, right? Especially in the context of who might go and who might stay. On top of that, Greeney, this team is projected to lead the NFL in cap space next year. They’ve got an opportunity to be opportunistic and trade for players if they are available or sign players that help build this nucleus around Cam Ward. They have a blue chip player on defense and Jeffrey Simmons. Uh you mentioned this depressed Titans fan says the one positive from this off from this team right now. They’re promising draft class. What does that tell you? They got a GM and Mike Borani that knows what he’s doing in the most important part of team building drafting. Well, he was with Kansas City, helped them win a ton of games and I believe three Super Bowls during his time there. I’m a believer in what Mike Bori brings to the table. To me, the question mark, hey, there’s a lot of work to do. Lot of work to do. A huge number of roster holes. I think there’s some question marks right now surrounding ownership. That was something that Eddie George, a legendary Titan, recently spoke on. And so, you know, we talked about how the Jets starts at the top with the Titans who open a new stadium in a couple years from right now. Like, they got to be sturdier at the top as well because the instability in this organization has been a problem. It’s time for them to settle on whoever it is at coach and give the coach Mike Borggoni and of course Cam Ward a runway to build something because I do believe they can build something in this AFC South. Yeah, Mike Borggoni is the key there and I think when you have a GM who has been around winning and has contributed to that and now he’s there picking that coach, who’s that coach going to be? and Cam Ward’s development is going to be critical. And that’s obviously when you think about this division that they’re in and what the Indianapolis Colts are able to do with Daniel Jones and what they’re doing with Daniel Jones and you think about where Jacksonville is with Trevor Lawrence, he’s not what we thought he would be. And then Houston with CJ Strad, this this gives you a chance to say Cam Ward, even though we’re in the AFC, this division, I think, we can develop him and he’s certainly shown flashes of brilliance and he’s he’s been sloppy. He’s been a little reckless, which we know he can be. Reckless with the football, fumbles, putting the ball in harm’s way. He’s done that far too much, but he’s a rookie and he’ll learn hopefully. And he did that same thing in college. There was some head scratchers say, “Why did you do that?” Cam sometimes tries to do too much. But the arm talent’s undeniable. That’s why he went number one obviously. Well, like Cam Ward coming out. Uh but certainly the offensive line’s got to they got to figure that group outfield. That group’s got to be solid and consistent and give Cam a chance back there. and catching the football’s been an issue. I mean, drop passes everywhere. Oh my god. I mean, I mean, this league Cleveland and and uh and certainly, you know, in Tennessee, drop passes have really affected these offenses, and that’s why they are where they are. But catch the ball when when you do put a beautiful throw out there. Uh, you know, catch the football, and that’s certainly what they’re paid to do. And in those cases, they’ve been some disappointing moments there. But for Tennessee, I I’m with you. Cam Cam’s shown that he can be a really good quarterback if he fixes certain things with the mindset of just like I say far too reckless at times. They got to go find this year’s Mike Vrabel, which maybe that’s unfair to suggest that Mike Vrabel should have never left. Bottom line, Mike Greyel should still be the head coach at Tennessee. There’s no question he should be the head coach at Tennessee. They should have never let him go. And guess what? We’ll see moving forward what happens with my Baltimore Ravens and John Harbaugh. You know what happens if they don’t make you remember Andy Reid was in Philly and it was kind of a mutual let’s moveways goes to Kansas City John you imagine if John Harbaugh if you want to say we need a change we just need a change for the sake of change John Harbaugh hey hey what about Miami for John Harbaugh yeah I mean hey listen you’re you’re speaking the right language I’m just saying that’s the Ravens have a ray of hope now I didn’t I wore purple kind of let’s go like this okay a little purple the Ravens purple northwestern I’m trying The Ravens have a little hope now. Tyler Huntley got it done. Lamar Jackson got Miami with the short week coming up tomorrow. We’ll see what happens there. Bottom line is with the Steelware struggles, Ravens have hope. But if things go ary, even with that open, it just doesn’t work out. You never know. You never know in this league what’s going to happen. So, we’ll see on that. But, there’s a lot of organizations that have to pick the right guy. Tennessee being number one on that list. Get the right guy to maximize what Cam Ward can do. I was saying you’re speaking the right language. Not because I think that John Harbaugh loses deserves to lose a job or will lose a job or anything of that assort. Uh more so that if I am one of these teams in the market for a head coach, Mike Vrabel had a track record of showing that he can get the job done as a head coach. And sometimes there is an element of uncertainty when you hire just the buzzy assistant coach who coordinates the best offense or the best defense, which a coordinator job is incredibly impactful. It’s also decidedly different from being a head coach. There is much more that goes on the plate of a head coach than just being a coordinator. But we I’m glad we agree though that Tennessee gives has the most optimism and that is driven largely by the general manager and the quarterback that are now in place in Tennessee. So Field has them at number five. They would currently have the third pick if the draft were held today. And again, Mel has New Orleans at five. And we talked about them at great length earlier. So those are the rebuilds as we have them. Before we wrap up today’s podcast, Mel has a few players who smashed in week nine. We got and I am partic I am leaning forward with enthusiasm and excitement because I get sent these ahead of time uh to hear who the first one is. Mel Tieran to your left. And we talked about experience being such an important factor with all these different players. He was a right tackle early on. He’s been a left tackle for three straight years now. Basketball background even in high school in this game. gave them my notes. Move move defenders off the ball, drive defenders off the ball, sustained, generated quick pressure, got to the second level, right? Carried out combo block, did a solid job in pass pro, showed really good balance there, showed the ability to mirror. He’s 67, 325 lbs with all that experience. Caleb Kieran is a guy certainly to keep an eye on on day two of the draft. No question about that. And on the other side in that game, Greeny, what hurt was Emtt Johnson. Emtt Johnson, one cut and he can go. Okay. He had like 25 carries in this game. Had a couple touchdowns. He catches the ball. He’s our second leading receiver. Emtt Johnson this year has emerged and fake uh field. You talked about running back not being super super deep this year and not as good. EMTT Johnson out of Nebraska is a nice looking running back. I tell he runs hard. You talk about a one cut. He’s got that burst one cut runner and he’s gone a compact about 510 about 200 lb like EMTT Johnson. He was one of the reasons why Nebraska was able to win that game by a touchdown over your Northwestern Wildcats. And I see two other names. Northwestern is going to start becoming LTU. Now, I know they haven’t all gone on to be. Peter Scorsky plays guard on the pro level, but he was a terrific tackle at Northwestern and Rashawn Slater before him, a first round pick at tackle, and now Caleb Tieran. You have two other names that I see here on your list, Mel. Bryce Lance and Jimmy Rol. Yeah, Bryce Lance, a brother of Trey Lance. And this kid, he’s 6’3, super athletic. He tracks the ball very well and he is put in the first half of this game is where he did most of his damage. They have a quarterback there, Cole Payton. Cole Payton’s a left-handed quarterback. Okay, he sat behind and waited his turn. Of course, Cam Miller was there. You go back to Carson Wentz and Eastston stick and Trey Lance and then Cam Miller. And now you got, you know, Cole Payton, this left-hander who can run field. Take a look at him. This Cole Payton kid, he can run. He’s super athletic and he got the ball to Bryce Lance in that first half and did a lot of damage. Again, I want to see him attack the ball on the slants. Attack it with your hands and do that. That’s nitpicking a little bit. Bryce Lance really good. Sells his routes. Was super productive last year. He’s on his way this year as well with a new quarterback. It’s Cam Miller. Now it’s Paul Payton. Uh like I say, 6’3, 210 lbs, very athletic, gives you some run after catch ability as well. Really like him as a day two guy. We got to keep an eye on Bryce Lance out of North Dakota State. Then we go to a kid who wait. We talk about waiting your turn. Here’s a kid at Michigan linebacker named Jimmy Roer. Field, take a look at this kid. Jimmy Roller is our second leading tackler. He was special teams backup linebacker. Got on the field, but wasn’t a starter till this year. He had 10 tackles, nine solos. He got after the quarterback. He was disruptive getting after the quarterback even when he got one sack. Could had a couple. Very good. Closed so quickly in coverage. Was really impressive in that area. I know Wink Martinddale’s got to be looking at this kid say, “Boy, thank you. You with a talent laden defense.” Well, he highlighted Derek Moore. He had a couple sacks in this game as well coming off the edge. They got linebackers. He’s one of that group of star-studded linebacker group. Guys up front that can get it done. Jimmy Roder is waited and was patient. Special teams back up. And this year, fourth year in the program, second leading tackler doing it all. And they play him off ball and they play him outside. So, he’s got versatility there. of course, special teams, all that. You know, he’ll be that for you. Jimmy Roer was a guy back in August, you would ask NFL teams, I don’t know if they would have known a whole heck of a lot about Jimmy Rooder. But everybody knows who Jimmy Rooder is now because he has had a not just one or two games. He’s had a heck of a year he’s got going on. And here we are November 1st Saturday. Okay, now we remember November. We talk about teams. Guess what? Jimmy Ro is already being remembered and known. He is a national name and he is on my list as a guy that can and say came out of nowhere but he certainly has emerged as a guy that I’d say back in August we had way way down that list. Now he’s way way up that list. So those are some of the players from Mel who smashed in week nine field. Any final thoughts before we say goodbye? This was fun. I really enjoyed doing things a little bit differently. Greeny, you laid that out perfectly to start. You sort of reverse engineering our content here. And I think these are conversations that while I know we are draft focused, they have a ton of draft ties into them and they’re going to shape some of our conversations because while we have a lot of football left, I have started to work on sort of a a rough draft of my top 25. And it’s starting to become clear which players are in that conversation for the first 10 to 12 picks. And if your team has a currently high pick and also a need at one of those spots, this might be the draft for you, um, it the quarterbacks are going to determine everything though at the very top of this draft. We’re getting closer there. We are getting closer, gentlemen. But it will be about the quarterbacks because it always is. It may be about the ones who don’t go. Yeah. So to Mel’s point, you know, that week in January where these or whenever exactly it is these decisions get made and announced might actually become the most important and interesting part of the entire draft process. So that’s it for us for this week. A couple of quick reminders. Again, if you scan the QR code you see on your screen, you can access all of the conversations we’ve had all throughout this season. We’re here with you every single week. We ask you to please like and subscribe to the podcast and join us every Wednesday on the NFL and ESPN YouTube channel on ESPN 2, wherever you get your podcasts. That’s where you will find us. And finally, don’t forget to use the hashtag firstdraft to send us your questions, your comments, your thoughts, and as we always say, your draft dreams. So that’s it for us for Field and for Mel and Mel’s outstanding shirt. I am Greeny. Thanks for spending some time with us, and we’ll see you next week.

Welcome back to “First Draft.” Hosted by Mike Greenberg, Field Yates and Mel Kiper Jr., we’re breaking down which NFL teams face the most challenging rebuilds ahead.
#nfl espn #firstdraft #nfl #nfldraft #nfldraft2026 #ncaa #ncaafootball #sports

(0:00) Welcome to First Draft
(2:00) Most difficult NFL rebuilds
(2:55) Field’s No. 1: Miami Dolphins
(5:19) Mel’s No. 1: New York Jets
(7:40) Field’s No. 2: New York Jets
(10:36) Mel’s No. 2: Las Vegas Raiders
(15:11) Field’s No. 3: New Orleans Saints
(20:38) Mel’s No. 3: Miami Dolphins
(24:18) Mel & Field’s No. 4: Cleveland Browns
(33:48) Field’s No. 5: Tennessee Titans
(39:35) Mel’s Saturday Studs
(43:48) Final thoughts!
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