All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, folks.
I have finally done the grades for the draft.
Yes, I have finally done it after thinking things over,
after praying things over,
after getting the emotions out of the way.
We have finally done the grades for the NFC.
We're gonna talk about it more on this seventh episode
of the Football Junkies podcast.
I'm your host, Kale, your GM.
The GM that has produced seven all-pros,
10 first-ballot Hall of Famers and six Pro Bowlers.
Let's get it.
All right, folks, now, you're probably wondering,
why are we talking about grades?
The draft is, you know, it's been a few weeks.
Well, my fellow junkies,
I have decided to give myself some time
to think things over, to just look at what they did,
look at their needs,
compared to how did they draft all of those different things.
So let's start.
We're gonna start with the NFC East.
Of course we are.
Of course we're gonna start with the East, okay?
So with the East, of course,
the East is composed of the Cowboys, Eagles,
Commanders and Giants.
The Cowboys team needs were Tackle, Interior Offensive Line,
Detackle, Y Receiver, Running Back.
The Eagles team needs were Corner,
Interior Offensive Line, Tackle, Receiver, Safety.
And the Commanders, of course,
was the, was Quarterback, Tackle, Edge, Corner and Receiver.
Okay, cool.
Now, let's go over the Cowboys.
Yes, we're gonna start off with the Cowboys first.
We're gonna start this off on a good, no, on a good foot.
All right, let's get it.
So the Cowboys draft picks were Tyler Guyant
in the first round, Marshawn Nealon in the second round,
Cooper Beebe in the third round,
Maris Lawafu, I apologize for butchering your name
in the third round as well.
Kaelin Carson in the fifth round,
Ryan Ful, I don't know how to pronounce that last name,
so I'm not gonna try it.
Nathan Thomas and Justin Rogers.
Now, me personally, and I'm not giving out this grade
for my disdain for Cowboys and Cowboys fans,
I'm not doing that.
I'm basing it based off of their needs
and were they able to accomplish a majority of their needs,
some of their needs or none of their needs at all.
Now, with that being said, I gave them a C plus.
And the only reason why I gave them a C plus was,
Tyler Guyant, although he is a great tackle prospect,
he's still very rough around the edges, right?
And what the Cowboys need right now
is someone that you can instantly start plugging
from week one, that's what you need.
And so what you have with Guyant is,
it's gonna take him a while to really get
into the swing of things.
However, at the same time, he did go
into the right situation only because the Cowboys
have had a rich history in developing great offensive
linemen.
They have produced good offensive linemen,
they have produced average offensive linemen,
and they have also produced elite offensive linemen.
When you look at, for instance, when they had
an offensive line that composed of Travis Frederick,
Zach Martin, Tyron Smith, and Leo Collins,
all of those guys were pro bowl
or all pro offensive linemen.
So he's going into the right position possible.
Now, when you look at Cooper Bebe on the other hand,
Cooper Bebe, who wasn't really talked about
as much leading into the draft, and even during the draft,
he is a very good guard prospect,
simply because he has a lot of playing time.
So you have a lot of tape and you can see exactly
what you're getting with him, okay?
Now, when it comes to the other draft picks,
don't really like them the most.
They really, to me personally, I feel like
they really didn't address as many positions
that they really need, honestly speaking.
Maybe they're gonna try to see if they can try
to fill in some other holes during the second round
of free agency or trade or whatever the case may be,
but honestly speaking, I'm just gonna give them a C.
Now, moving on to the Eagles, okay?
And again, I'm going, this is based off of
analyzing how they did in the draft, okay?
So for the Eagles, they drafted Quinean Mitchell,
Cuba Dejean, Jalen Hunt, I think, Jalen Jalex.
I don't know how to pronounce your first name,
I'm sorry, sir.
Will Shipley, they also drafted Anaya Smith,
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Trevor Keegan, Johnny Wilson,
and Dylan McMahon.
Now, for them, I gave them an A,
then give them an A plus, then give them an A minus.
I just gave them an A only because Quinean Mitchell
was regarded as either the best or the second best corner
in this draft class, okay?
When you're talking about someone who is a balanced corner
who can play both man and zone coverage,
who can basically eliminate your number one receiver option,
that is Quinean Mitchell, okay?
If you have not seen Quinean Mitchell play before,
go on YouTube, look at his highlights.
This is a very polished cornerback prospect, okay?
And for them to be able to get Cuba Dejean
in the second round, not in the first round,
but in the second round, that says a lot, okay?
The Eagles do need another safety as well,
even though they do have CJ Gardner Johnson.
They still need another safety, okay?
Not to mention, Cuba Dejean can also play
in the nickel as well.
So kill two birds with one stone.
When you look at Jeremiah Trotter Jr.,
you're looking at a very good athletic middle linebacker
who can definitely stuff the run,
can also play in coverage if need be,
following the footsteps of his father
because his father did, as we all know,
play for the Eagles as well.
The only pick that I'm really scratching my head on
is Johnny Wilson.
And the only reason why I say that is because Johnny Wilson
to me personally, I don't think he's a receiver.
I feel like he will probably play tight end.
I just feel like personally,
if he was to switch to tight end,
he would have a better chance at actually making the roster
compared to just being a receiver, okay?
He has the body and frame and built to be a tight end,
a very productive tight end, especially in the Eagle system.
It's just a matter of can he block
and can he still do the things that he did
when he was receiver at FSU?
Can he do that if he was to switch over and be a tight end?
Now, moving on to the commanders.
I gave them an A plus, okay?
Now you're probably wondering,
why would you give the commanders an A plus
and not the Eagles?
Well, my fellow junkie, I'm going to tell you
why as your fellow GM, okay?
When they, with them drafting Jaden Daniels,
then they drafted Jurzan Newton, Mike Sandstrell,
Bensonot, Brandon Coleman, Luke McCaffrey, Jordan McGee,
Dominique Hampton and Javon John Baptiste.
This was a really good draft,
a really, really, really, really, really good draft.
And I say that because you have a very athletic quarterback
and Jaden Daniels, who he sort of gives you
a Lamar-esque type of vibe.
You're talking about someone who was a dual threat quarterback
who can launch it down the field,
who can break your ankles,
who can basically do it all, okay?
You have Jurzan Newton, who was regarded
as one of the best e-tackles in this draft class as well.
You got him.
And on top of that, you got Mike Sandstrell.
Now, for people who don't know who Mike Sandstrell is,
Mike Sandstrell is a really good corner.
You'd want to talk about a good blitzing corner,
that's Mike Sandstrell, okay?
For all my Steelers fans out there, Mike Hilton,
that's all I'm gonna say, moving forward.
For them to get Brandon Coleman, really good guard,
very productive guard, honestly,
they do need it to address the offensive line,
so not surprised that they did that.
And for them to get Luke McCaffrey as well,
that's really good, really good.
They do need receiver help.
I mean, although they do have Terry McClure,
and they do have Jahan Dotson,
they do not have a productive wide receiver number three.
I'm just being completely honest with you guys.
And then as well as the other picks,
I do feel like they could be productive players.
It's just a matter of, will they be able to understand
the system, because Dan Quinn's system
is a little bit weird, it's a little bit funky,
might take them a while to really understand his concepts,
but they are in, honestly, the best position possible
for being real here.
Now, moving forward to the Giants, okay?
So the Giants, they drafted Malik neighbors,
of course, Tyler Neubin, Andrew Phillips, Theo Johnson,
Tyron Tracy Jr., and Darius Musassu.
I'm sorry if I butchered your last name,
didn't mean to do it on purpose.
With them, I have been teetering between giving them either
in A or B.
And the only reason why I say that is because, yes,
they did get the receiver in Malik neighbors,
which is great.
They got Andrew Phillips, who also is a very good corner
who can play both inside and outside.
He's a very underrated corner
that not a lot of people are talking about, which is great.
But as far as the other picks,
I just wanna try to understand
how things would fit moving forward, okay?
Because the defense with the Giants
isn't as strong as it should be.
And they've lost some people due to, of course, free agency.
And so you want to try to patch up those holes
as best as possible because let's be real here, folks.
The Giants offense is not really gonna win them games.
So what's the best way for them to counteract
Division Rival games when you're going up against
the Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Eagles?
You have to have a bona fide defense, okay?
With them losing Saekwai,
you have to literally buff everything else
around that team because now you're really gonna see
is Daniel Jones really the guy or not?
Because now you have Jalen Hyde,
you had Darius Layton as long as they figure out
what they're gonna do with his contract,
and now you have Malik neighbors, okay?
You have another tight end,
and Theo Johnson, which is great.
And so now you just have to figure out,
is this gonna work or not?
And if it does, great, if it doesn't,
well then somebody's gonna lose their job, okay?
Cool, moving forward.
So with the next Division, we're gonna do the NFC North
that is composed of the Lions, Packers, Vikings, and Bears.
Yes, the Bears.
Now, the Lions team needs, we're a cornerback,
edge, safety, tackle, receiver.
The Packers team needs, we're a detackle,
linebacker, tackle, corner, and safety.
Vikings, of course, was quarterback,
interior offensive line, edge, receiver, detackle.
Bears, of course, was the quarterback,
receiver, edge, tackle, detackle.
Now, with the Lions, okay, we're gonna start with them first.
So they drafted Tarion Arnold,
they also drafted Anise Rickstraw, Giovanni Manu,
Sian Vaki, Makai Wingo, and Christian Mahogany, okay?
This is what I will say.
The Lions definitely hit on-corner, for sure,
because they needed to fill in that void
with the whole ongoing situation with Cameron Sutton.
And they definitely got a true number one corner
in Tarion Arnold.
Tarion Arnold is a number one corner, okay?
You were talking about someone who he isn't
the most athletic corner that it just pops out
when you look at his first highlight,
but when you look at someone that is productive,
that gets the job done, that can be effective
in the run game, that can be effective in the passing game,
that can tackle, that can do it all,
that is Tarion Arnold, okay?
For the longest time, leading into last year's
college football season, there were a lot of debates
on if Tarion Arnold was better than Kule or vice versa.
Me personally, I felt like Tarion Arnold
was a better just technician
when he came to his craft, personally.
Anise Rickstraw, another corner from Michigan,
really productive corner, really just all around
type of player, honestly speaking here,
he was one of the people that I had on my board,
only because to me, I feel like he was either gonna get
taken in either the second or first round,
just because of his skill set and what he brings
to the field.
Now, when we look at all the other ones,
Seon Vahki, you have someone who can play
both safety and running back, I know that's weird,
but hey, more is less, less is more,
whatever the saying is, he was regarded as one
of the best safeties in this draft class.
You're talking about someone who can hit you.
He's a thumper, he's a thumper, all right?
He is a thumper, he can also play good in coverage as well.
Apparently, he does have experience also
playing as a running back, I don't know if that's really
gonna really help him secure a spot on the team,
I don't know, only time will tell, so I gave them a B.
Now, moving forward to the Packers,
the Packers drafted Jordan Morgan,
Edger and Cooper, Javon Bullard,
Marshawn Lloyd, Tyron Hooper, Evan Williams,
Jacob Monk, Keaton Aladapo, Aladapo, Aladipo,
I'm sorry if I put you your name, Travis Glove
and Kaelin King as well as Michael Peratt.
So I wanna give them a B as well,
only because they did have a good draft.
It was a good draft, it wasn't this blockbuster draft
that what's gonna change the entire face of the Packers
organization, not saying that, but they got some really
good players that you can instantly plug them in
and they can get the job done, okay?
Now, the only question that I think I really do have
leaning into this season is exactly where are they
gonna put Edger and Cooper?
Because Edger and Cooper is athletic enough and
rangy enough to where you can either have him
at midlinebacker or you can keep him at edge.
Me personally, I think I probably will keep him at edge
simply because you could use him as a quarterback spy
and he's done it very well when he was in college.
So, he definitely has a lot of upside with this game.
Now, when it comes to, for instance, them drafting
Kaelin King as late as they did, Kaelin King tested
pretty bad when he came to the combine as well as
his pro day.
He, to me, I feel like he is a project player.
It's gonna take him a while to really see if he can
really do it or not.
Me personally, if I was him, I probably would move
to maybe safety possibly simply because he's not that fast,
but he is athletic and long enough to where he probably
could be more effective as a safety compared to a corner
because let's face it, you're in a division where you have
receivers like Amon Ross, St. Brown, Justin Jefferson,
now Roma Dunze and Keenan Allen and company.
Kaelin King is gonna get burnt.
He's gonna get burnt by some of those receivers, okay?
Then getting Michael Pratt, Michael Pratt was definitely
a pretty good quarterback.
Me personally, I felt like he was gonna get drafted
and maybe the third or fourth round.
Only because of just what he brings to the field.
I mean, he's a really good quarterback.
He's a good backup quarterback in my mind.
Honestly, I thought the Steelers were gonna take him,
but apparently they didn't.
And so here we are.
Now, moving on to the Bayers, that's right, the Bayers.
I decided to give them an A, okay?
It's not because, oh, you're giving them an A
because they got Kaelin Williams.
No, I am not.
I am not doing that.
So with their picks, they decided to draft Kaelin Williams,
of course, Roma Dunze, Kaelin, I do not know
how to pronounce your last name.
I am so sorry, I'm not going to butcher your last name.
Tori Taylor and Austin Booker, okay?
What is there to say about the Bayers?
The Bayers definitely hit on their first two picks.
Well, yeah, their first two picks, they definitely hit.
They are going to be starters.
They are going to get the job done.
You now have a receiver that can build chemistry
with a rookie quarterback and grow with that rookie quarterback,
which is just phenomenal, honestly speaking here.
Moving forward to the Vikings, okay?
The Vikings, I just, I'm torn between giving them a C or B,
but I'm probably going to lean more towards giving them a C.
I will give them where credit is due for their move
to get J.J. McCarthy because leading up to the draft,
a lot of people were under the impression
that they were either going to draft
J.J. McCarthy or Michael Pennix,
which I mean, two great prospects, honestly.
And so they were able to get J.J. McCarthy.
And then they were able to get Dallas Turner,
Kari Jackson, Walter Rouse, Will Richard, Michael Juergens,
and Levi Drake Rodriguez.
Honestly speaking, after J.J. McCarthy,
well, honestly, after Dallas Turner,
that's when things get a little bit shaky.
Kari Jackson, although he is a six-three corner,
he just, he lacks the transitional speed
to continue to keep up with receivers,
especially route runners, me personally.
I feel like he's a little bit stiff
when it comes to his hips.
When you look at the elite corners,
the one thing that they all have in common is their hips.
Okay?
You're probably wondering,
what does that have to do with their hips?
If they have a lot of, when you have a lot of flip,
not flip, hip fluidity, sorry,
you're able to transition more, more smoothly.
So you don't lose, you don't lose a pep in your step
compared to if you have very tight hips
and you don't have a lot of hip fluidity,
it's gonna be a little bit difficult for you
to continue to keep up with certain,
you know, certain types of receivers.
That's why sometimes when you see a corner
it doesn't have a lot of hip fluidity.
Sometimes they will sort of like angle themselves
to the side compared to just, you know,
facing them straight up and down, you know, with a receiver,
but enough with that talk.
Now, moving on to the NFC South.
We are just breezing by this, honestly,
I did not expect this.
So with the NFC South,
they have the Bucks, Saints, Panthers and Falcons.
So with the Buccaneers,
their draft needs are the Edge,
Interior Offensive Line, Corner Safety, Linebacker,
Saints is Tackle, Receiver, Corner Detackle, Linebacker,
Panthers is Receiver, Tied-In, Corner Edge, Detackle,
and Falcons Edge, Corner Detackle, Safety, Cornerback.
Man, man, oh man, oh man,
this is not going to be good, folks.
It's not gonna be good.
So with the Buccaneers, they decided to draft
Graham Barton, Chris Bazwell, Tyki Smith,
Jalen McMillan, Bucky Irving, Elijah Klein,
and Devin Culp.
With them, I would give them a B minus, okay?
The Buccaneers for a while now
have been trying to find the replacement
for Ryan Jensen, who unfortunately
had to medically retire after suffering a injury
during training camp about two years ago, okay?
I like Graham Barton, I do,
I just, I just gotta see it.
You know, I just gotta see how is he gonna do things
as a center?
Because leading into the draft,
a lot of people were under the impression
that he could probably go to a guard
or maybe stay as a tackle or a center, okay?
Graham Barton is one of those prospects,
especially as an offensive lineman,
who is, who can potentially be elite
in a lot of different areas, okay?
You're talking about someone who,
when you look at the RAS scores,
if you was to put him at guard,
he would be considered elite.
Even if you put him at center as well,
he would be considered as elite.
But I think he is walking into a good situation,
especially with that offensive line.
He'll be surrounded by some veterans
that can help him along with this process.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Jensen
helps him out as well.
When you look at other prospects that they drafted,
for instance, Ty Keesmith.
Ty Keesmith, as I've said before,
in all those previous episodes, he is a dog, okay?
You wanna talk somebody that is going to go after somebody
and is gonna try to get the tackle, to get the pick,
whatever the case may be to get the stock,
that is Ty Keesmith, okay?
He is a bona fide dog.
If you don't believe me, look at the highlights,
the highlights don't lie, folks.
Listen to your GM, the highlights do not lie, okay?
We look at Jaylen McMillan as well.
Jaylen McMillan was a very productive receiver in college.
Just wanna see how he falls with Mike Evans
and Chris Gowen on the team.
Just wanna see how is that going to develop.
But I do think he is in the best situation possible.
Now, moving forward to the Saints, okay?
The Saints drafted Talwees Fouwaga,
unfortunately, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Spencer Radler,
Bump Means, Jaylen Ford, Christian Boyd, and Josiah Ezra.
For the Saints, I decided to give them a B plus, okay?
And the reason why I gave them a B plus is because
with them drafting Talwees Fouwaga,
that definitely patched up the major outstanding need,
which was the right tackle, okay?
With right tackle, Ryan Ramcheck,
who is pretty soon going to medically retire,
this is definitely a great pickup, honestly speaking here.
Kool-Aid McKinstry, to me, I felt like
he wasn't going to be drafted until maybe later
into the draft.
And the only reason why I say that is because
when the medicals came out during the combine,
that he suffered, that he had a foot injury,
if I was his agent, I would have instantly told teams
we're not running, we're not running,
we're not doing any 40 times,
we're not doing anything like that.
But instead, he decided to do it at his pro day,
and in doing so, it affected probably his draft grade, okay?
When you have a corner who has a foot injury
the way that Kool-Aid did,
you want to try to make sure that whatever time
that they had previously before the report came out
that he got hurt, that you want to keep that,
you want to hold on to that.
Because if any person decides to try to run again,
and you can see that they are significantly slower
than what was shown prior to that,
guess what's going to happen?
GMs are going to be like,
I don't know we should draft him anymore,
I don't think we should draft him as high as we draft him.
Because originally, leading up to the draft, again,
a lot of people were giving him a first round grade,
me personally, I just didn't see it, I didn't.
I just felt like Tarion Arnold was a much better prospect
all around compared to Kool-Aid.
But he definitely goes to a team
that definitely needs corners,
especially with all the speculation going on
with Marshawn Lattimore.
So we'll definitely see what happens with that moving forward.
Now, with the Panthers, okay?
The Panthers drafted Xavier Leggett, Jonathan Brooks,
Trayvon Wallace, Jitavion Sanders,
Charles Smith Wade, Jaden Crumdy, and Michael Barrett.
I just decided to give them a seat.
Now you're probably wondering,
Kale, why in the world are you so tough on these teams?
The reason why I'm so tough,
especially for a team like the Panthers,
is although you drafted Xavier Leggett in the first round,
and you definitely have made some moves
leading up to the draft,
the one position that you have not addressed properly
and you should have addressed is offensive line.
And you're probably wondering,
why do you keep on emphasizing offensive line?
Because offensive lines make sure
that your quarterback stays clean.
If you want your quarterback to have a very lengthy career,
then you have to have a good offensive line.
Now, I'm not saying your offensive line
has to be composed of first rounders and all pros and whatnot,
but you need to have a decent,
a average to above average offensive line,
especially depending on what division that you are in.
You have to have that.
Otherwise, your quarterback is gonna get beat up,
and then your quarterback is gonna be like Andrew Luck,
who doesn't wanna take any more hits,
and then decides to retire.
Okay, now that that run is over, let's get back to this.
Me personally, I just feel like the Panthers
should have addressed offensive line completely,
especially when you have Bryce Young,
who is a smaller quarterback, okay?
A smaller quarterback who took a lot of hits last season.
Okay, that's, you don't want that to start a cycle.
Instead, you wanna try to knit that in the bud,
and you wanna try to build around him
so that, yes, he will have weapons,
but at the same time, he will have the protection.
Because guess what?
You can have all the protection in the world,
but that doesn't guarantee
that you're gonna be able to throw it to them.
Better yet, you can't throw it to them.
You can't throw it to them
if you don't have any protection.
You can't throw it to Deontay Johnson
or Xavier Laguerre or Adam Thielen
if by the time you say hike,
somebody's already in your face.
It just doesn't work.
It doesn't.
Now, moving on to the Falcons.
I know this is controversial, but hear me out, okay?
So of course, they drafted Michael Pinnick's.
They also drafted Rook Oroho,
Braylin Trice, Brandon Dorlis, JT,
what is his last name, Bertrand,
Jace McClain, Kasey Washington, and Zion Loke.
Now, to all of my Falcons fans,
what I'm about to say,
I wanna try to break it down to you as best as possible.
And the only reason why my decision has changed
is because of a clip that I saw.
Shout out to the podcasters
that I was listening to that showed it.
Let's be real here, folks, okay?
Kirk Cousins is at a stage in his career
where he has more years behind him than ahead of him, okay?
He is coming off of a major injury
with him tearing his Achilles last season.
And so the Falcons GM was thinking,
okay, we need to immediately address the future now
then later on down the road when something crazy happens,
which I understand that however,
you could have done it later into the draft
rather than to get Michael Pinnick's in the first round, okay?
Whenever you draft a quarterback in the first round,
most likely that is signaling
that they are going to be a starter, okay?
When you draft a quarterback, I wanna say it again,
when you draft a quarterback,
well, not even a quarterback, any position,
a majority of positions in the first round,
that means they are the long-term answer
and could possibly be a day one starter
leading up to that season, okay?
And so the Falcons GM was basically making sure
that he has a safety blanket.
And honestly speaking, that's a great idea
because Michael Pinnick's can sit and learn
from Kurt Cousins, okay?
Kurt Cousins for the things that,
for all the memes and arguments that people make,
he is a good quarterback.
He's definitely a good quarterback
that you will want your rookie quarterback to sit under
because Kurt Cousins is gonna drop some gems.
He's gonna drop some gems.
He's gonna show him exactly
what to look for, what to look out for,
how to see if this is a different coverage,
if that's a different coverage, whatever the case may be.
He's going to do that, okay?
However, as I've said before,
there is a way that you go about addressing the future, okay?
You have to have a conversation
when you draft someone in the first round,
especially a quarterback,
when you just paid your number one quarterback,
your veteran quarterback, $100 plus million.
There has to be a conversation and there wasn't.
And so now you just created drama
and a locker room that doesn't need.
Honestly speaking here,
the Falcons should have drafted a defensive player
because they needed that defense to get worked on.
That's what they needed.
The offense is in a good place.
You don't have to worry about the offense.
It's the defense that's going to give that team problems, okay?
Now, moving on to the final division, the NFC West,
composed of the Niners, Rams, Seahawks, and Cardinals.
Now, the Niners' team needs were cornerback,
interior offense and line, tackle, receiver, linebacker.
The Rams' team needs were detackle, edge, corner,
tackle, kicker.
For Seahawks, it was detackle, linebacker,
interior offense and line, edge, tight end.
And of course, for the Cardinals,
it was receiver, corner, edge, running back,
interior offense and line.
With the Seahawks, I decided to give them a B.
Yeah, yeah, I decided to give them a B.
And the reason why I gave them a B
is although they got Byron Murphy, who is regarded as,
if not the best defensive tackle in this,
in the draft class, he was considered
the second best defensive tackle in this draft class.
He is a good, he is a really good detackle, okay?
He is going into probably one of the best situations possible.
Okay, that defense is young, it's hungry,
and they got studs, okay?
When you have a Devon Weatherspoon,
when you have a Tyreek Wulin, okay?
When you now have a Byron Murphy,
you got Leonard Williams, you got pieces,
you got pieces that you can build around
and that you can really plug them in
and really see a difference, okay?
That's what you have in this draft.
But the only problems that I have with the remaining picks,
especially their six round picks,
DJ James, Michael Jarrell, and Satoha Lumea,
I don't know if they are Dev pieces,
I don't know if they're gonna be able
to make it to the roster, I just don't know,
honestly speaking here.
But, you know, time will tell once again,
and we'll just have to go from there.
Now, moving on to the Niners, yep, that's right folks,
the Niners, this is gonna be a big one,
this is gonna be a crazy one, okay?
So with them, they drafted Ricky Piersol,
Renardo Green, Dominic Pune, Malik Mustafa,
Isaac Garondo, Jacob Colvin, Jared Kingston,
Sanusi Kane, this is what I'll say, okay?
Me personally, I feel like the 49ers should have addressed
the defense more compared to the offense, okay?
The offense is in a good spot, it is, let's be real here.
You have George Kittle, Trent Williams,
Chris McCaffrey, Debo, Brandon I.U.A,
this person, that person, blah, blah, blah,
you got all these people, right?
But when you look at the defense,
the defense lost a lot of people,
whether to trades free agency,
or just being flat out released for cap purposes, okay?
That defense needs to get retooled and needed to,
honestly speaking here, when you release Eric Armstead,
and you don't really have a replacement for him in place,
when you lost Chase Young to free agency,
when you're losing people left and right
to free agency and to trades,
and so you have to retool that in the draft,
because if you don't, you're gonna be in a position
where you're gonna be trying to figure out
if you can pull off a trade later into the season,
just to try to see if you can make a strong push
to the playoffs and ultimately the Super Bowl.
Me personally, Ricky Perisall,
I definitely thought he was one of the best
receiver prospects, his ability to create separation,
his catching ability was just amazing.
He was an all around receiver at Florida.
However, I just felt like getting him in the first round
was definitely a reach, I really did,
but at the same time, as I've said before
in previous episodes, how are things going to go?
When you have a receiver room that is composed of,
Brandon Ieyuik, Debo Samuel, Juan Geniks,
now Ricky Perisall, that's gonna be weird,
and there's only one ball, only one ball, okay?
So someone is gonna get the short end of the stick
and on top of that, when you also have
the speculation going around that either Debo
might get traded or Brandon Ieyuik might get traded,
just things can get a little bit muddy.
So me personally, if I was their GM,
because I am a GM right now without a team,
if you're looking for a GM, I'm right here,
I just feel like going after Ricky Perisall
was definitely not the move.
Now, Ronaldo Green, that was a good pickup.
That was a really, really, really good pickup.
He is a feisty corner, can get the job done,
very physical, he was one of the few corners
that actually gave, it was either Brian Thomas
or Malik Neighbor's problems, okay?
If you haven't seen it, go on YouTube once again,
look it up and you will see it for yourself, okay?
Now, with them, of course, I gave them a B
if I didn't say that previously.
Now, moving on to the Rams, okay?
With the Rams, of course, I decided to give them a B as well.
With them, they drafted Jared Verst, Brandon Fisk,
Blake Korn, Cameron Kitchens,
Brennan Jackson, Tyler Davis, Joshua Cardi,
Jordan Wittington, Bo Lemmer, and KT Lepston, okay?
Honestly speaking here, folks,
the Rams are one of the very few teams
who they have produced great players later into the draft,
okay?
This is the first time that they have had a first round pick,
I think, since when the same year
that they drafted Jared Gough.
So that's a while, it's been a while.
Do I trust that a lot of these picks are going to hit
and they're going to be starters on the team?
Yes, for sure.
Is it gonna take time?
Of course, everything takes time,
but I do feel like players like a Bo Lemmer,
a Blake Gorm, a Jared Verst, a Brandon Fisk
are definitely in the right position possible.
Simply because the Rams, for the longest time,
they've been trying to sort of tap back into their run game
and I feel like going after someone like a Blake Korn
was definitely a really, really, really good pickup.
And then Jared Verst and Brandon Fisk,
continuing to beef up that defensive line,
which of course you want to do,
especially with the retirement of Aaron Donald as well.
So kudos to them.
Now, the final team, the Cardinals,
decided to give them an A.
Now, you're probably wondering,
why would you give them an A?
That's not fair just because they got Marvin Harrison,
Junior, that's not fair.
Relax, relax.
Okay, relax.
When you really break things down,
honestly speaking here,
Marvin Harrison, Junior, okay,
was a bona fide number one receiver
two or three years prior to him being eligible
to declare for the draft, okay?
Marvin Harrison, Junior,
and I'm not saying this just to say it,
but he is probably the best receiver
since Larry Fitzgerald, okay?
Collin Mary has been in need for a true, a true number one
receiver since going to the Cardinals, okay?
Now, the question is,
and it's a question that we probably all are probably asking,
how long is Marvin Harrison, Junior,
gonna stay with the Cardinals, okay?
Because let's be real here, folks,
the Cardinals are in a situation right now
where it's gonna take them a good,
you know, five to six years
to really get where they need to get.
It is.
And so is Marvin Harrison, Junior,
gonna wanna stay that long through this entire process?
Only time will tell,
but you know, Collin Mary now has a weapon.
When you look at the other draft picks that they made,
Darius Robinson and Max Milton,
both of those in my eyes,
I feel like those are gonna be day one starters,
especially Darius Robinson.
Darius Robinson was a very, very, very, very good
pass rusher coming out of Mizzou, okay?
Shout out to all the people at Mizzou.
You're talking about someone who, you know,
he has a technique in place,
he can get to the quarterback,
he has some speed to him,
he has some athleticism to him.
I would definitely be surprised
if he is not starting week one.
And then you have Max Milton,
a rangey corner who basically ran a 4-3
who can play both inside and outside, okay?
So honestly speaking here,
those first three picks,
Marvin Harrison, Junior, Darius Robinson and Max Milton,
my expectation is that they will be starting week one, okay?
There is little to no roadblocks
for them to not start a week one with the Cardinals.
And so I'm basically gonna end this episode now.
You guys are probably, you know, tired of hearing my voice,
but these are my grades for the NFC.
We're gonna be working on the AFC.
We're gonna try to see if we can shoot for
either tomorrow or Friday.
I'll keep you guys up to date with that.
But as always, thank you guys so much for listening
to another episode of the Football Junkies podcast.
If you would like to comment, let me know.
Let me know if you think your team, you know,
had a good grade, had a bad grade.
Let me know your thoughts about my grades.
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And as always, peace of love, I'm out.