Keying on the STARS and Finding SLEEPERS in the NFL DRAFT for the Bears | Hoge & Jahns

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Fran Duffy's got his 10 sleepers. Anthony Herron. Everybody knows him from 670 to the score. Big 10 network. You could see him on draft night on Fox 32 with Cassie Carlson. But Adam, happy birthday, man. Thank you. The big four. Oh, come on. Oh my goodness. Look at that everybody. Our guy Adam Hogan is 40 and look at that picture and the infancy of his career with AJ Prasinski, who was still cool with Ozzie again. But that I'm still cool with Ozzie again too. That's what that graphic should say. Love Ozzie. I don't know about AJ. I don't really know AJ that well. I do love him though. He won him both series. So, Katie, can we put that picture up for at least 10 more seconds for everybody? To see it at home. If you're watching or if you're listening, please go to the YouTube edition and check out this young picture of Adam Hogan, which was sent to me and he still isn't nowhere. I got it. The graphics look like they're from the 90s. What? I just don't know where it's from. I mean, it's probably a White Sox Fest, right? Yeah. Yeah, it's got to be a Sox Fest. You got the credential lanyard on there. I could see it around the neck. Yeah. I'm gonna work collars. The vents I covered instead of just cream color to these. I'm probably in my mid to late twenties there. I'd go back in a hurry. Yeah. Well, happy birthday. How does 40 feel? Oh, it feels oddly similar to when I went to bed last night. I am still dealing with back pain and, you know, my hamstrings are very tight trying to stretch those out when I wake up. So it feels about the same. I feel like you're a day or two away from actually heating the advice of Mark Carmen and getting yourself worked on. Yeah, I probably should. A lot of different ways. I see the comment from Greg Wilson is Mike Gundy would say he's a man. He's 40. You know, fish paint actually texted me that this morning. How many times I'm going to quote that over the next 365 days and I said, well, at least 365. So there's the first one. I appreciate everybody in the comments wishing me a happy birthday. I've been kind of like, it's mostly a bit about turning 40. It's kind of exciting actually. Now, you tell me if I'm wrong. You've been here for a while. You know, you're going to age me right now in the show. Well, you, I mean, everyone is like assumes you're younger because to your credit, you look younger. Exfoliation. That's not the secret. The hip exfoliation. That's not even the proper terminology. Well, I know I had to point that out to him as he continued to do every ad read pushing, you know, a procedure that isn't performed. If it works, it works. Yeah. All right. We do have a great show for you today. Excited about it. But I've, I mean, it's been, I got to say for April, it's been a good run of guests. I feel like we've had here on the show as of late and another good lineup today. Anthony Herron, always good to talk to. And Fran Duffy is going to give us his sleepers from the draft in a little bit. Because we've both been kind of gone a lot throughout all this. We haven't had a chance to talk about the mock draft we put out, sort of as our vacations cross paths where we were actually working in Arizona, we put our mock draft together. So we thought we'd just do that off of the show quickly, probably just a few picks off the top. You can see the whole thing at all. C H show.com. If you are a die hard, if you're not become one, scan the QR code, use code Johns, get your $36 die hard offer and do it now because you got a week to cram for the draft and Frans draft guide is in there and all the information you need for the draft is right there in one place. So, John, you, we've discussed this a little bit of come around on the idea of drafting an offensive tackle. And that's what you did with your first pick at number 25. Right. So this is checking it out sponsored by old national bank. Every play matters, whether it's on the field or in your financial life. The best teams win by delivering excellence at every level. Old national bank relationships and results matter. Remember FDIC. Yes. So I wanted to have this conversation because we're kind of working already on mock draft 4.0 draft boards around the league are finalized or close to it. You already got your pick in. Yeah. I finally learned my lesson after losing the first three in terms of when you make your pick. I texted John's. I didn't text him my other picks, but I have claimed my first round pick and I don't know if I feel great about it yet. So it might change, but I, I called dibs on at least one guy. Okay. So mock draft 3.0. I went with offensive tackle Kaila Blomu at pick number 25. Just in terms of checking this out, I am 100% warming to the idea of using the bears top pick on the top tackle on their board and then using the depth of this edge class to my advantage in round two. I like it. I like Lomu a lot. The only kind of, and this is what Fran wrote about Lomu dancing bear. So he's got to be a bear with extremely light feet, excellent balance and range and pass protection as well as in the run game. He's still extremely inexperienced, but the upside is enough to be as a potential high level starter at left tackle down the road. Like the idea of that. Some of these guys are not left tackles in the first round. He projects to be one. He has played left tackle. The only thing I heard that was a little bit concerning. And if you haven't listened to it yet, we've mentioned it a couple of times on the show, but Nate Tyson's pod with his dad, Mike Tyson, he did this last year. And if you want to learn about the offensive lineman in the draft, it's phenomenal. So he studied Lomu. He likes Lomu. I'm talking about Mike Tyson now, but he did bring up like the lack of finish at times. Just kind of that lacking that tenacity and that finish, a little extra oomph that you want to see. Sometimes guys can pick that up. I wonder how the bears with their emphasis on physicality and the way Ben Johnson wants to play football, you know, different teams, different evaluators can view the same prospects a little bit differently. So just because Mike Tyson says he doesn't see it doesn't mean he doesn't have it. Sometimes you need coaching to bring that out of you, but I would just be very curious to know what they think. And obviously, if they were to pick them at 25, you know what they think. Do you want to say your pick? Yeah. So I went and I like this pick. I still like it. Just don't know if the guy's going to be there. A key message or I am over the age thing with him. I just think at 25, you can't be too picky. He is a plug and play tenacious, high motor, good edge rusher that I'll take it 25. In worst case scenario, I only get four great years out of them and got to let them go in free agency and get some compics. I'm totally fine with that during this window of being competitive. So I like Macedo. I think, Johns, I think this is maybe a among a handful of players, probably more than that 10 that could honestly go anywhere from like picked 12 to 28. Yeah. And you just don't know how these like I've seen mock drafts for message doors in the second round. I've seen mock drafts for message doors and maybe 10th, 11th, 12th, like somewhere around there. I just think he's one of those guys that we're going to keep tracking on draft night. Is he still there? Is he slipping? Is he slipping? I know on the on the athletics football show that when they got to the Bears pick, Mestador was still there and that's where they ended up putting them. And they tried to like kind of simulate the first round. So it's possible. So my two second round picks quickly before we take our first break. Gabe Accus, defensive end from Illinois. And Alakai Lawrence, defensive end from Central Florida, who I feel like just following the mock drafts from around the league has completely moved up to a potential maybe late first round pick. So maybe this is too late to pick 60. But I think this is a deep defensive and edge class that the Bears kid almost wait on if they want an offensive tackle in round one. Yeah. Like these two picks. Yeah. I saw Fran, I think had not Fran. Dane had in his seventh round mock had Malachi Lawrence going late first. So, but that's another guy. I think there's a high range. You just don't know. It's one of those years with some of these guys. My two picks Malik, Muhammad cornerback out of Texas. I still think corner is like kind of a sleepy position. You got to keep an eye on for the first two like high, the high picks that the Bears have and, you know, I think he's got good size 511 182. He's physical. Looks like a man covered guy and has to speed it 442. So I like Muhammad to come in and then Maxi Hanichur, the tackle out of Arizona State who's raw has only played football for like literally a few years. Brandon, he said, I feel I'd feel much better about his ability to reach his upside by year two or three. And if he doesn't, I still see no worse than a day to type of value because of his unique physical tools. As long as the character medical check out, he feels like a good gamble to take in the top 50 at least in every draft, but it is a gamble. So Maxi Hanichur, it wouldn't surprise me if big Max as Nick Baumgartner described them, big Max makes it to if he doesn't, if he goes into the first round, he's another player who seems to be based on the position he plays, based on how he's testing, based on the interest of a lot of teams where it wouldn't surprise me if he's picked in the late 20s, you know, by the end of the first round. And I believe polls went to the Arizona State pro day, right? Yes, he did. I mean, a lot of that was the kind of a one you had to be a little bit careful putting too much stock into because very smartly, Arizona State had their pro day right before the owners meetings. And Ryan pulls it out there early with his family, which yeah, which were in Phoenix. So if you were going out there anyway, you might as well catch that pro day. So, but he was there. So potentially looking at a left tackle prospect there, Maxi Hanichur. All right, let's take our first break. We will come back and talk to Anthony Herron. And by we, I mean, Johns. Because Johns had a great conversation. I like talking football with Anthony Herron. You'll actually hear me say that here soon. All right. Oh, that's coming up next, but first. All right, Bears fans, keep your eyes up. Stay alert for pedestrians as part of every drive, especially in around Chicago, you know that, you never know when pedestrian might just jump out of nowhere or bicyclists. They're everyone. And people on scooters, kids on scooters, flying around. There's robots walking around now that I think are pedestrians as well. They're just delivering food. So, hey, when you're on the road, remember to watch for all of those things and be ready to stop just some stats for you. 2025 20 percent of Illinois roadway fatalities involved a bicyclist or a pedestrian to get the stats on the robot soon. So just give them space when you pass. Check your mirrors. You know, the drill always look twice before turning. This is a message from IDA, the Illinois Department of Transportation. They're kind enough to be sponsoring our draft party next week. So if you're coming out, make sure you get those ride shares. Don't drink and drive. Let's make sure everybody reaches the end zone safely. 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Old National Bank has your back with tools, insights and an expert crew that's always in your corner. Old National Bank member FDIC, where relationships and results matter. Okay, we're going to get to this right away. Anthony Herron joined me the other night. We talked a lot of Big Ten football. We went through some of his favorite prospects in this draft, including one that Adam Hogue just mentioned. But you know, Anthony Herron, he's been on this show before Big Ten Network, NBC Sports, 670 to score. He's on Fox 32 here in Chicago, working with Cassie Carlson. So here is my interview with Anthony Herron. Talking football with you, and I have a long list of Big Ten prospects to hit on. I know that's your area of expertise. So let me ask you a question. Like, where would you want to begin? Like, what area of the football, which side of the football would you like to begin with offense, defense? Well, so I'll go here first, just as a big picture topic since you know, set me up as the Big Ten guy in general, as kind of an overarching comment on the Big Ten for a bunch of years. We've seen this conference put a bunch of offensive and defensive linemen into the NFL, even, you know, fair amount of wide receivers. But the fact that a guy, a quarterback who was going to be a draft prospect while he was at Cal, which has put plenty of QBs into the league, but transfers to Indiana University of all places in Fernando Mendoza, and it's not going to be the number one pick in the draft. That is just a wild place for us to be as much as I love this conference and I'm passionate about the Big Ten, played it, covered it, all these other things, right? But a number one overall pick, not coming from Ohio State or even Purdue. You know, we went so many years without the Big Ten, even having a first rounder. Now, not only is the Big Ten churning out first round quarterbacks on an annual basis, number one pick coming from the Hoosiers. That's a wild place to be. Well, I wanted to ask you about in Indiana, just a dominant football team, but it's Ohio State with top four picks or four potential picks in the top 20. Like how do you view the draft class from from Indiana specifically beyond Mendoza? So a bunch of really good football players, but guys who are not necessarily worthy of being sure fire first round picks. I think Omar Cooper, frankly, Omar Cooper wasn't even the number one receiver at really any point during his Hoosiers career, but he's the guy whose physical attributes are projected at a higher level than Elijah Sarat. But Sarat is the guy who went into most games, pretty much every game of his Hoosiers career while he and Cooper were out there together. Sarat was the guy who the opponent had to have at the top of their defensive sort of game plan to try and stop. But he doesn't have the same wiggle. He doesn't have the same separation speed and suddenness that Omar Cooper does. And beyond just the wiggle ability of Cooper, we've seen he's got that ability near the sideline to make the circus grab, to go up and get footballs that it don't, you know, doesn't necessarily look like a receiver should be able to go get. So you've seen that. So the projection of Omar Cooper, Jr. is beyond that of Elijah Sarat. Both guys are exceptional football players. And I do think Sarat is going to be in a great position to make a football team, but more likely a day to pick because he just doesn't really have the requisite 40 yard dash speed that folks would look for for someone with his film to be a first round. But he's a really good football player. Asian, Asian Fisher, the linebacker, really good football player. If D'Angelo Ponds, the defensive back, the corner, if he was like an inch and a half taller, then he would be a first round pick because he's got first round worthy film. But again, just kind of the, the height, weight, speed sort of thing. You know, a lot of those measurables don't add up to someone who, you know, most NFL talent evaluators view as a first round prospect. But man, his film is really impressive. And in so many big games, big stages, big moments, D'Angelo Ponds as a corner, as a defender, as undersized as he was against the majority of the opponents he faced, was able to rise up and make huge plays because as much as Mendoza, Indiana's offense, Indiana's run game, Kailan Black and some other guys in the backfield were able to carry their football team in a lot of different ways. But the Indiana defense was frankly more consistent this past season that led them to a national championship, even in their offense was. So let's stick on to the defensive side of the football. Obviously we were looking at the Bears and past rushers and how deep is this edge rush class. And then you start looking at this potential second tier of edge rushers and you have a lot of players there from the big 10. Gabe Accus, I said that right. Accus Accus from Illinois. He's become one of my favorite players in this draft. Derek Moore from Michigan, Denai, Dennis Sutton from Penn State. How do you view those three players, maybe compared to some of the, well, the high end, the elite pass rushers in this year's draft class? Well, starting with Gabe Accus, he's a player who physically seems that he should have been even more productive than he was because he walked into campus in Champaign and he was a guy with a big wrestling background in high school and was sort of a diamond in the rough type of recruit that Brett Bielum and his staff were able to find. And once he got to campus and they saw not only the physical maturity, but the mental and emotional maturity as well, that he was able to put the work in and show that he could compete at the big 10 level. Now, the, the overall sack numbers were productive during the career. When you really evaluate Gabe Accus and you know, I've studied, studied his entire career my time covering him. He had some huge games individually from a sack perspective, but the games where he wasn't sacking the quarterback, he wasn't a guy who was consistently productive getting to the quarterback. That's where even some of the discussions we've had about the bears are the sack numbers, a big deal for the D line are the pressure numbers, a big deal for the D line. Gabe Accus was a guy who would either have a huge game with a lot of sacks and splash plays, or he wasn't necessarily that effective game in and game out as a pass rusher, even without the sack numbers, but he wasn't a guy whose pressure rate necessarily graded out consistently as high as I would like it to for someone who does have those requisite physical traits. Now, can he continue to develop that at the next level? I think so. He's got to find a little bit more finesse to the way he can turn the corner. His toolbox needs to continue expanding and how he gets to the QB. And I think that potential is there, but there's a reason that a guy with his stature with, you know, some of the accolades that he racked up and the numbers that he put up, there's a reason he's not viewed as a surefire first round. It's because there's a lot of games where you don't consistently see Gabe Accus getting to the QB. I did not then a sudden he's in some ways similar. Now he's a guy who more consistently impacted the pocket. And I think from a technical perspective where Accus is a guy who may be a bit of a tweener. Is he an outside backer? Is he a defensive end? He might be big and physical enough. He played on cradle a lot, right? In the two points of answers. Yeah. I played a two point stance quite a bit for the Alina, which can be a positive, but denied that a sudden he was a guy consistently with his hand in the dirt and situationally would be in a two point stance. Is the athletic enough to be a true like three, four outside backer? Probably not. But there are certain schemes where they might look for that, that true physical specimen as a three, four outside backer in a two point stance. And I believe that I did a sudden could handle that, but he's best suited as a guy with his hand on the ground as a four, three defensive end. And he can be effective in that regard, but he's not a blazer as an edge rusher that someone who I think will consistently impact the pocket, just winning clean off the edge. But can he dent the pocket, collapse the pocket? They play really hard. Yeah. He's a guy I've been, you know, covering him since he came out of high school playing in the All-American Bowl that I call every year for NBC. He's a, he's a really impressive physical specimen, but, you know, he's not in that class of some of the great, true, you know, past rushers, edge rushers that would see themselves as, you know, a high end first round pick, but he'll certainly go, I think, fairly early on day two. And how about Derek Moore? Like where would he stack with Accus and Denison? I like his game a lot. And he out of the three of them, Derek Moore is a guy who I believe is perhaps furthest away from his ceiling because he really does have some great attributes. There's a lot of natural burst to Derek Moore. He just, he hasn't necessarily been on the field playing the position of just past rushing edge as consistently as often as Accus and as Deni Denison have. So I think Derek Moore is a guy who may have more upside when you're comparing the three. I think as far as day one, I might view either of those guys and say that if you're looking for a three down edge defender, gay backers will hold up really well on first and second down and might be a guy who projects to perform at a higher level as a pass rusher. Denied Denison, all three downs, I think you're going to have an effective defensive end from day one. But you know, from a bear's perspective, is he a Dio adangbo type who may occasionally get you some pass rush juice, but not consistently, but will be a really good run defender. Derek Moore, I think he probably has the highest ceiling as far as what I project as far as his pass rush potential at the next level. But he hasn't actually been the guy who snap in and snap out over the course of several seasons has really had that work to be an every down edge defender defensive end type. But I really do like his upside a lot. Yeah, I was going to ask you which defensive end you thought potentially projects the best to fit with Dennis Allen Watts. And obviously he likes larger defensive ends. Dio adangbo. He's what six six to 80. Denied Dennis Sutton's probably the closest to that physical physical comparison. Like the sack production seemed pretty good in college. I guess what I'm wondering is like, is it the speed? Like what is it some quickness? Is it the get off the burst? Is that what maybe separates the other top pass rushers? There are there are some games where denied Dennis Sutton has looked like a first round caliber defensive end. And there's plenty of games where he just looks like an above average football player. That's where the projection comes into it so much with a number of these guys. And to your question about Dennis Allen and what D.A. looks for in this bear scheme out of these three big 10 guys that we're referencing. Denied Dennis Sutton is definitely the one who most suits. Directly what Dennis Allen, what the bear scheme currently would look for and what he would fit into. Derek Moore isn't really that guy. Derek Moore is a guy who he's going to need to be in a two point stance at the next level. He's going to be your true edge rushers, situational pass, rush or type. But not someone I see being very effective early in his career on first and second down. Gay back is despite again, impressive sack numbers, but I see him in some ways as the inverse. I don't see him getting into the quarterback consistently early in his career until he really figures out what makes him most effective as a professional as a pass rusher. But first and second down, I think he's going to be just fine. He'll be able to compete physically at a high level there. Denied Dennis Sutton because of his stature. He's every bit of a legit six five six six. He's over 260, you know, can can easily get up to 270 plus if he wanted to push in that direction schematically in the NFL. He'll hold up well against the run. He knows how to rush the quarterback. There's a lot to like on his film. If there's any disappointment, like a tinge of disappointment you hear in my voice is because I do think he's the guy who's capable of being an even bigger level sort of splash player. But that could compare really favorably to a Cam Jordan type who, you know, has had a long and really productive NFL career, but you're not going to compare Cam Jordan with some of the great speed rushers in the league. And it's not that he wouldn't necessarily keep up with them in a 40 yard dash. There's just some guys whose actual pass rush attributes don't necessarily lend to them being a finesse rusher who's turning the corner consistently on the tackle. The fluidity in the hips you're looking for, the suddenness and violence in the hands to really beat a guy cleanly. Some of those things don't necessarily show up on film consistently with denied Dennis Sutton, but can he get there with a long arm and with some arm over types of moves and does he have enough speed to turn the edges? Pad level would like to see that, you know, stay down a little bit more consistently and to be able to go. Well, you know, when I teach D line, you know, I call shoulder to back, shoulder to back, chest to back. There's things with your movement abilities that allow you to get into creases when you're decreasing your blocking surface as you're turning your upper and lower body. And a lot of times it's like you're turning on a fulcrum where your, your shoulders need to go one direction. Your hips need to go the opposite way. And you know, that, that doesn't always sort of work fluidly with denied Dennis Sutton, but I think he's going to be a, he's going to be a high level defensive in the NFL. So one of the predicaments, let's put it that way, that I've always, that's come up when I've talked, when I've talked to scouts, whether it's at the combine or at the senior bull is that when you have like these loaded draft years, right? Or draft classes from a specific team, whether it's Alabama in the past, like this year, Ohio State, where you might have three defenders from their team go, go in the top 15. Like it's figuring out who's really like the force behind it all. Like who's really like the guy, like who's the star amongst the stars? So Ohio State has this loaded defense. They have three players again, who can go to the top 15. Obviously the Bears are there with the 25th pick, 57th pick and 60th pick. How do you view Caden McDonald's role, the defensive tackle? Like what is his role? Like what is his place? How much of a force is he in that loaded Ohio State defense? He was big 10 defensive linemen of the year with really, really good reason. And you know, we've been talking about some other guys who had bigger numbers than Caden McDonald, but when you just watch him play the game, you could just see him as a guy who was so hard to block one on one, proved to be nearly impossible for big 10 for college football, interior offensive linemen to block one on one. And that's what you're looking for. Now you're not going to get a lot of pass rush juice from Caden McDonald. So what are you looking for? He'll be a first round pick, but it'll be as a run stuffer. If he drops to the bears at number 25, what's the cost benefit analysis for Ryan polls for Ben Johnson? Because the true sack production was such a glaring weakness for this defense. You know, do they feel more responsibility to find a guy, whether it's an interior or an edge defensive linemen who they're more confident will actually get to the quarterback consistently? Or is there an idea that just the run defense was so inconsistent? Now it showed up at times. It did. And if you're healthy at linebacker and if you're healthy on the defensive front, then is there more confidence that they can actually defend the run at a higher level just by coaching it up and hitting blocks? You can maybe get away with that. But if they don't feel as confident as they might be, and frankly, I think there's a case to be made that they, they can feel confident their run defense would be better next season with some of the, uh, the expenditures at linebacker and getting healthy at linebacker at a certain point during the season, getting healthy on the D line. If everybody's out there, I do believe the bears will be a better run defense. But specific to your question about Kay McDonald, he's the best run defender. In this draft class, he's the best guy who just comes out of his stance and in that sort of Andrew Billings type of way, whether he times up the snap or not. And he'll take those risks sometimes or he'll time up the snap and just get into a guy's pads and dent the line of scrimmage because of his getoff. But even when he doesn't, you get what we grayed out on the defensive front as a two for one, where multiple offensive linemen have to occupy Kay McDonald because he's just this immovable object in the middle of the Ohio state defense, but he doesn't only eat up blocks. He's more than nimble enough where once he gets into a guy's pads, he can get rid of that blocker and go make you some plays. I do see him as a guy early in his career that will be able to be productive with tackles and tackles for loss. I don't see him projecting as a guy who's going to be a great pass rusher, but he'll go in and he'll have the capability to shore up. Someone's run defense when they draft him in the first round of this cycle. I just don't see him as a guy who's going to give you a lot more than that. He's not going to be one of these pass rushing defensive tackles. Dylan Thiena man, safety from Oregon. Oregon, they're going to the comments are going to tell me right now to get rid of the Chicago accent. When I say Oregon, the Oregon good player, Purdue transfers to Oregon. And now we're talking about him potentially being a top 20, top 25 pick. What do you make of his versatility, his range? We know the bears need a starting safety. What do you make of his? Well, his rise into being a first rounder. I mean, he's three, three years removed from high school. So I mean, it's, you know, with Caleb Downs, we don't blink an eye about it. Like, oh, yeah, he's three years removed from high school. No big deal. He's this physical marvel. Dylan Thiena man is also three years removed from high school. So there's still more physical maturation to be expected even from him. But he he was a splash playmaker at Purdue like your reference during that freshman season. And Ryan Walters, who, you know, ended up, you know, he's the head coach at the time after being the defensive coordinator at Illinois and having such a great secondary is there, put all these guys into the early in the NFL draft coming out of his time running the Alina defense. I've had a lot of conversations about Dylan Thiena man, not only with Ryan Walters, but with a number of coaches at Purdue at Oregon, who worked with them at the collegiate level. The scouts that I'm talking to about him at this point, even as they're asking me questions, because I've evaluated every game of his college career, multiple big 10 schools. His versatility really stands out to people. The curiosity is how physical will he project to be in the NFL? Because I don't see him as a guy who's necessarily a consistent nickel defender. I don't see him as a guy who can get away with being consistently in the slot on passing downs. But I think situationally, he can handle doing that because he can turn and run. Now, if you're going to go, you know, if he's got a chaser out all the way across the formation, if he's got a swiveling hips a little bit, where guys are going to try to get in and out of cuts, then that can be an issue for him. But as a free safety, as a strong safety, if he's a guy who's going to be your deep middle, deep half, he can do those things at a high level. And I do believe that as he continues to physically mature, there's more and more physicality that he'll be capable of as well. But he didn't step into college football being a guy who was well over 200 pounds and could be that de facto linebacker for you, that big intimidating alley runner. Here's the guy who was going to be back there making plays, anticipating routes, intercepting passes. And year by year, he got better and better as being a guy who could fill against the run, who could truly play like this last season in Oregon. There was a lot of time that Dylan Thiedemann spent right there at the second level of an athletic Ducks defense. Now, you know, they had a good defensive front who could keep blocks off of them. So if you're going to do that in the NFL, then you're going to need to have a D line. That's not just allowing free release offensive linemen, but there's plenty of versatility. I honestly believe he compares pretty favorably to Kevin Byrd. Now, I'm not predicting he's going to lead the NFL in their receptions over the next decade like Kevin Byrd has been able to do. But as far as a guy with his stature, his range, his anticipation of routes, a lot of that leadership DNA as well that we've seen accentuated throughout the career of Kevin Byrd and someone who's just going to show up every single day ready to work and make plays and game acts. And I see Dylan Thiedemann being able to fill all those different roles. So I like a lot of what's there. And it wouldn't shock me one bit if he was still available to the Bears at number 25. I know there's some projections that sort of a lot of people confident he's going to go in the top 20s fall just because of the position. That is exactly right. Whether you're talking safety, running back, there are certain positions that not everyone is really willing to go and get. I could certainly see Dylan Thiedemann being a guy who's still on the board at 25. So the Bears have spent a lot of time on centers. Obviously, Drew Dalman's retirement has changed the conversation. Pivoting the Garrett Bradbury, I think has been a fantastic move. But he's an older player. He's been in the league a bit. He only has one more year in his contract. So hence the work on centers. Logan Jones, center from Iowa. He's an older player. He's not the biggest center. But in a year where you're going to take a swing on a center, maybe in day three, what do you think of his potential at NFL level? I definitely think he's a guy who could end up still being available on day three. And when you think about the career arc of Logan Jones, where, you know, we just spent that initial chunk of free agency wondering, are the Bears potentially going to make that big swing at Tyler Linderbaum after the retirement? And, you know, I think it made all the sense in the world that they didn't. That's so much money to invest in a center when you're already going to be up against it with the salary cap. But Logan Jones had to follow in his footsteps. You don't always talk about that with an offensive lineman, with a player in general. Oh, you got to follow in the footsteps of who? Like for Iowa, following in the footsteps of Toy Taylor as a punter. That was a very big deal for Iowa. Following in the footsteps of Tyler Linderbaum as a center, that was a huge deal. And he also had a similar career path where he was also a guy just like Linderbaum, who began his college career as a defensive lineman and then eventually flipped over to offense. And it took him a season to really figure it out because he didn't move in spring ball and have a bunch of spring practice and then become the starting center. He actually right before fall camp started, moved to center and then became the starter at center and was able to spend several seasons figuring that position out and ends up becoming one of the best centers in college football. No, he's not going to overwhelm you with size, but he's big enough and he's not as athletic as Tyler Linderbaum, but he's more than athletic enough as well. He's highly intelligent. And of course, he played at Iowa, so he knows how to play the center position at a high level mentally and emotionally. So he's going to be someone who's going to be a contributor. If the Bears were going to draft him on day three, that that's drafting a guy who's your center of the future. I don't know how many other could I see him playing left guard or right guard? Sure. He never did that at Iowa, though. He was always the center at Iowa. So that would be a different role for him pretty frequently. If you draft someone who's going to be your sort of movable chess piece on the interior of the old line, it's usually a guy who maybe began his career as a guard and then eventually became a center. You at least have film to evaluate him at multiple spots around the interior old line. You don't have that with Logan Jones. He's been a center. If you want to go back and watch him play any other position in college, it was D line. It doesn't exist. Yeah. Yeah. You don't have any opportunity to really evaluate him as a guard and that that can be a different and a difficult thing. I had to include a running back on this list just because of the Bears and Ben Johnson and his continuous search is ceaseless, never ending search for playmakers, difference makers, players who could provide explosive chunk yardage plays. So the running back that I picked from the Big Ten was Emma Johnson. But if you want to pivot and talk about somebody else, I'm just trying to think about the Bears. Yeah. Late day to day four. I can't see them taking it. I can't see the Bears taking a second round running back. But you never know. But what do you make of Emma Johnson's potential at the NFL level? And then I don't know if there's any other running backs that you think could be better. So Emma Johnson, I like a lot about his game in this past season for Nebraska, going into a year where Dylan Riola, the son of my old Lions teammate, Dominic Riola, Dylan Riola was supposed to be the guy who turned himself into these one of these first round pick QB's, who was going to be, you know, one of the top quarterbacks in the country. And they still in Matt rules, third season, couldn't really get the passing game at a second gear very consistently. But they were able to lean into that ground attack. That was a huge deal for Nebraska. And Emma Johnson was the main reason why he played with such fury. If you think back to the end of of Chase Brown's Illinois career, where suddenly a light bulb kind of flipped and Brett Bellamy and the line, I just said, you know, we're just going to start giving this guy the football. So there's just something about the temperament that he's providing our offense that just carried the day for Illinois. And now he's been a very productive player with the Bengals. Emma Johnson has kind of done that the last season plus for Nebraska. Towards the end of the 2024 season, they started to hand him the ball and throw him in the ball. Nebraska's offense started to take off. And then the entire 2025 season, he was the engine for their offense and not only as a runner or a receiver out of the backfield, but he did as a past protector and they didn't want him. I called Nebraska games last season where Matt rules telling me, we don't want to put this much of the load of the offense on him. We got to have somebody else step up. And frankly, nobody else ever stepped up and Emma Johnson just carried it the whole time, shoulder the load. I do think he's going to be a productive pro. Now he's going to go to in my estimation, he's going to go earlier than the bear should be looking to draft or running back in this cycle. But a guy who in that calm and unguided sort of way will be available, I think in later rounds is a guy like Jonah Coleman is running back out of Washington that's got some multi-purpose ability to him. And I think in some ways will comp favorably with Deandre Swift. He doesn't have the top gear that Deandre Swift does, but he's got some birds. He's frankly, he's more electric in the open field than Kyle Manunga is. And he's already a far more accomplished past receiver out of the backfield than Manunga ever was at Rutgers. So I would say keep an eye if we're looking for the potential of another late round running back who may be able to step in and be productive in the NFL, you know, Jonah Coleman, I don't think he's going to be a seventh rounder, but he could be like an early day three sort of guy who if he's still on the board and Ryan Paul's just looking at that and Ben Johnson's looking at it, say, why is this guy, we've seen his film. Yeah, he's only five eight, but he's five eight. He's like two 15, two 20, got a lot of burst. He's an exceptional receiver out of the backfield. He can run between the tackles, it'll hurdle defenders out in the open field. Jonah Coleman is going to make some plays for some offense in the NFL next season. And if he's there day three after the Bears get, you know, get into that portion of the draft, I could certainly see that being a possibility. And I had a question planned here about Iowa kicker Turner, Kate and Weijin. Weijin, they say that's right. Weijin, yeah. But I'm going to throw a curveball at you because I feel like it's fun. And I think the Bears. Poles have said to himself, he prepared, he prepares for certain curveballs for all scenarios. So say you're the Bears, you're in their draft room. You're watching the picks come off the board and you still see Kenyon. So they say that, right? Yeah, you say that from Oregon. That's the guy. And he is the best at his position, but for whatever reason, just like safety, just like linebacker, the position is valued differently by teams. And you have 10 teams with brand new head coaches. So they could be doing all sorts of crazy things. And you're the Chicago Bears and you're Ben Johnson. And you see the best tight end up there come 23, 24, 25. Like what are you feeling? What are like, take me through your thought press if you're in the Bears room. Unfortunately, that's a pipe dream as fun as it would be to see Kenyon Sedeek in a Bears uniform. It would be it would be gluttonous at tight end to draft Kenyon Sedeek, even if somehow, which he's not going to be available at 25, but if somehow he is it'd be gluttonous for the Bears at that position to take him. Now, what they should do, if that's the case, is trade down a few spots. Because if he's on the board at 25, folks are going to be clamoring to get up there and get Kenyon Sedeek. That's where you could have Ryan Poles start playing with the draft board a little bit and say, okay, so Kenyon Sedeek is still available. Who's who's maybe another play? Who's a pass rusher? Who's an edge rusher that's still available? You know, if a king, mezzador, all right, he dropped a little bit. Maybe we like him and he's still here at 25. We look at the next couple of picks. We think he's still going to be there at 28. We think that's really good value. You know, those types of things you can start to play around with. But, you know, after Colston Loveland last season and Cole Comet coming off the best season of his career and you've already invested financially in him. And there are so much in the Ben Johnson offense that you have to count on the tight end to be able to handle to. Do you add another youngster into that mix into that meeting room? I would say, unfortunately, not. I think the Bears are going to have some other, you know, veteran, free agent type of acquisition to just bring in and, you know, give you another physical chess piece out there to be your H back, to be your Y, that sort of thing. It's not going to be Kenyon Sedeek. All right, last question. And do you have like a favorite player that that you watch you covered that that you feel isn't being discussed nearly enough for, forget the Bears, just the overall draft, like do you have a couple of favorite players who you would bang the table for if you were in a draft room? I'm a big, a King, Mazzador guy. And I know that, you know, what, what he runs in the 40, you know, he's not a guy who's kind of solidified himself as one of the best athletes at defensive end. And he played a lot of interior defensive line early in his career. And so then that makes the, the projection a little bit off kilter as well, because he slimmed down a lot towards the end of his Miami career. And he was working early in his West Virginia career to bulk up. And then by the end he's working to slim back down. And he was always productive, really regardless of his size. He's one of those guys, like I was referencing earlier, who you watch his film and at multiple institutions at positions all up and down the defensive front. You just watch him over and over again. And he's beaten blockers. He's beaten guards. He's beaten centers. He's beaten tackles. He can rush off either edge. He's just a good football player. So he's going to go to the NFL. And regardless of which scheme, regardless of if it's right edge or left edge or three technique, or if somebody says to gain a little bit of weight or lose a little bit of weight, the King Mazzador is just a good football player. It's just a good D lineman. He can play the run. He can rush the quarterback. He can do it with finesse. He can do it with power. So he's just a guy who to me, the film doesn't lie. And I don't know what the stopwatch necessarily said about him. Every time somebody timed him in a 40, I know as far as his length, his width, all these other things, you're wondering where exactly does he fit in with the measurables, but the film is high level film. He has got some of the most productive film regardless of position of any guy in this draft. And that to me stands out big time. So I would say out of anybody, the guy who immediately comes to mind for me is the King Mazzador. I would say up the, maybe the biggest boom or bust player, you know, like the Bears, when they're on the board at 25, if a guy like Caden Proctor is there, which I do think there's a chance, Caden Proctor, the offensive tackle from Alabama is a chance he's still there. And the Bears are, it certainly will, it's worthy of consideration for them to draft an offensive tackle at 25. I'm fairly confident they're going to draft a defensive player with that 25th pick in the first round, but if a Caden Proctor is there, and he's from the state of Iowa, he transferred from Alabama to Iowa and then back to, back to Alabama. And he was a guy who played in the All-American Bowl, had a lot of conversations with him as a high schooler, just while he was going through that process at the top offensive tackle in the country. I kind of feel, I've got a sense for kind of what makes him tick. And it does, he concerns me a little bit, but his ceiling is Uber high. He's so nimble for his mammoth stature. And when he wants to maul guys, when he sets his mind on just mauling people, he can do it. That there is just a little bit of hesitation in it, though. And that's in his game a little bit too. He gets in position and he gets the block done, but he's not looking to dominate consistently on film. And if there's somebody who can get that out of them, whatever that extra heartbeat can come from with a football player, if, if that switch flips at the professional level, you're talking about a perennial pro bowler, I think is within Kate and Proctor, but it's boom or bust, I think with him. And so that he intrigues me a lot in that way, because the way he can move at that size is rare. There's some rare physical attributes, but you just don't see it show up on film nearly as often as you should. If you're trying to sell me on the idea of taking an offensive tackle at 25 and then using the two second round picks and defensive ends, like I am buying that for the Bears, like that would be a successful draft strategy. Invest in the trenches. Yeah, man, you got to do it. You got to do it. I mean, you know, I like what they've done so far, just at least to solidify things enough where you have veteran bodies available who've had a lot of best starts at this level, who you should be able to count on. And then from there, you know, Ryan Poles wants to claim best player available, they're at least in the spot to do that. And if the best player is a tight end, like Kenyon Sadiq, if the best player is a receiver, I would prefer they let that best player sit there and go to a position that they need a little bit more. But I do, they fortified themselves enough where the draft board should be pretty much open to the Bears once they're on the clock. And that's a really good spot for them to be in. Absolutely. And I took way too much of your time. Again, I could talk football with you probably the rest of the night, but it is we are recording this pretty late. We both have kids, got them to bed. We have to get to bed ourselves. But Anthony here and everyone, I can't thank you enough. Do you have anything coming up that you like to pitch before we let you go? Yeah, I might as well. I'll be, I'll be on Fox 32 as the first round of the draft is set to begin. I'll be on with Cassie Carlson on that, that Thursday night of the first round. So the last few years we've been out at Soldier Field, but the Bears kind of condensed a bit of their draft party this year. So we'll be in studio from six to seven PM. And then from there, I'll go across the street to six, 70 the score. And I'll be on from seven to 11 PM with Romney McLaugh. And, you know, just cover whatever the Bears are doing with the draft. I'll be on the score again all throughout the weekend. So that'd be a lot of fun, man. It's draft time, as you know. Well, very good. Well, if I can return the favor, if you need somebody from Hallis Hall, send me a text. I'll be right back. All right, I appreciate it. I'm gonna take you up on that, man. Thank you, Anthony. Akeem Mezzador. There's your guy. He likes him. It's all right. Right. I like it. I like it. Key mess or we'll see what Fran thinks coming up next. We got one more break to hit. She see friends already goes. We interrupt him from doing his seven round mock draft that is coming up. But first. All right. What if you could have reliable and intelligent Wi-Fi and what if you could keep it at the same price for five years? It's what we all want. We just want our Wi-Fi not to break down. We want it to be reliable and we don't want to have to pay different prices every single year. So Xfinity is locking this down with the five year price guarantee. Imagine Wi-Fi that makes everything in your home work together. It finds and fixes problems before you even notice them like super intelligent Wi-Fi with a six cents and it lets you stream the game. Even when Johns's entire family is at your house and online and he did. They'll come over. 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I mean, I'll tell you what, uh, I thoroughly enjoyed the one, uh, a couple, was it last week? Couple weeks ago? Oh, it was awesome though. I, I, it was great being able to chat with so many of the diehards. Everybody had their mics on. I was able to, you know, ask questions directly. It was a great conversation back and forth. I enjoyed it. Yeah. It was really good. And so if you missed it the first time, you get a second chance, uh, next week. So stay tuned for the details on that. But, um, Brian, we thought we would do this with you because one of, one of my favorite things about your draft coverage is that you are not afraid to go against the grain. You're not afraid, afraid to go against the consensus. Um, and I was just curious if we can kind of run through some of your, I mean, I guess the most common word people would use is sleepers, but really looking at this more of a the, from the framework of the prospects in this draft that you feel like you are valuing higher than the consensus. Um, which is another way of saying sleeper, I guess, but however you want to do this, line it up. Just the guys that you have kind of circled, you know, at this point a week away from the draft, um, that you're like kind of going out on a limb. I like this guy more than most seem to. Well, it's actually impeccable timing because, uh, Arif Hassan actually reached out and he put out, uh, you know, he's got his consensus board where he collects. I think he said it was like over a hundred boards from around the, uh, around the media space and just kind of puts together like, all right, like, this is how the consensus view these players. And he actually sent me, uh, without me asking for it, which was awesome by Arif. Uh, so huge shout out to him. Uh, sent me here are the guys that you're really high on compared to consensus. And here are the guys you're really low on compared to consensus. So I've got the full list here. Uh, the players that I, and number one, this, this would be front of mind for me. My number two player is Keldrick Falk, uh, Auburn, pass rusher, you know, and to me, I think we've talked about him on the show. I honestly think like, is there a chance that he makes it to the bears of 25? Yeah. I do think that there's a chance he makes it to the bears of 25. I would think that that would be crazy personally based off my evaluation of the player and my understanding of the profile. And you're talking about young and, you know, athletic and trait C and high character and clean medical. And you just go down the list and a lot of reasons to love the profile. He only had a couple of sacks last year, but he had like seven or eight the year before as a sophomore in the SEC. So, um, you know, to me, this is not the Shamar Stewart conversation from last year, uh, where there was like zero production in the run game or the past game. I see Falk is a high floor player with a high ceiling. And so, uh, yeah, I, he's, to me, I see a probo level rusher in time. Uh, that's kind of how I view it. So he would be in front of the list for me. Okay. Adam wasn't it Leonard Floyd who had like questionable past rush production at Georgia, but he rose all the way up to, to being a top 10 pick. But I know Leonard Floyd isn't like an all pro past rusher, but he's had a pretty good solid career. Long time. Yeah. Over a decade now in the league. Yeah. There was a lot of projection there with Leonard Floyd, but he kind of really was, he was just so long. He had the length bears were running in different defense back then to Frank. How does, how does that situation compare to this one with with Falk? I mean, he's like a 275 pound, 288 pound ed rusher where it's like, all right, could he be an inside guy? Like I compared him to a Rick Armstead over the summer is like that kind of hybrid DND tackle. Whereas with, uh, with Floyd, who I also loved coming out of Georgia, it was like, is he going to have to play off ball? Is he going to have to move off the, you know, we won't really have those conversations as often with rushers now. I feel like there's enough specialty roles for those guys that it's not there. But I mean, he has stuck on the edge. And like you said, John, I mean, he's had a, he's had a really long productive career. So, um, yeah, I, to me, like, I know I'm really high on Falk, but that would, that would be front of mind for me from that standpoint. TJ Parker, another player that I'm, I'm pretty high on compared to consensus. Um, those would be the two and again, he's another guy I know that we've talked about as potentially for the bears. I do see him as kind of like a scheme fit there for Dennis Allen, you know, with his play style, with his length. So, uh, he would be one certainly that I would keep an eye on the junior from Clemson. So, um, those would be the two edge rushers that stand out to mind. Can I give you another Clemson guy because, um, Peter Woods, you have 15th on your board and I feel like every mock I'm seeing now has him slipping to the second round. Yeah. Um, mainly because of the lack of production last year. Um, where, I mean, where do you feel on woods and why are you still so confident? You know, I think with woods, the other part of it too is like not even just the lack of production, but also like you kind of saw the, the play personality Wayne as the season went on to that. That was a strength of his game. You watch him in 2024 and he's, you know, making these high motor, high effort plays, chasing stuff down outside the numbers down the field. And usually to me, like kind of lost his will, uh, you know, as the season went on last year, here's my like psycho analysis on it. And this is just purely me, purely speculation, not like talking with people. Uh, they had him lose a lot of weight last year. And so he went, he went from like 315, 320, 325 down closer to 300 pounds and you know, changed his role where he was playing a little bit closer to the ball, like closer, you know, kind of like a nose tackle, three technique as opposed to like a three or seven technique, like, you know, playing closer out towards the edge. And with me, the way I kind of saw it was he got moved off the ball more often last year after losing all that weight and as especially as the season went on and this, you know, they didn't have the year that they wanted. It kind of felt like the will kind of broke a little bit. And I, you know, you're talking about a player who was number one player in the country coming out of high school, had offers from everybody was it, you know, just physically dominant rural Alabama, like dominate his level of high school football, dominate early on whenever he was on the field to Clemson. And this was the first time where he kind of got punched in the mouth and kind of got, you know, kind of got tested that way. And I think that's why people are kind of cooling off on him where it's like, all right, like this is how he responded the first time he kind of faced that level of on field adversity because to me, like I haven't heard like huge red flags from like a character standpoint, the medicals clean. So I, to me, that's kind of how I'm reading it. But I also see what the upside is. And the upside is like a clear interior disruptor, which every team is starving for. And so I understand that there is a little bit of risk there, but it's risk that I'm willing to personally take on. And I'm fine with keeping that grade, even though it's not as high as it was early on in the season and, you know, coming into the year, he was like a top three player for me. That is not the case, but I do think that the upside is still there. Fran, are there any safeties on your list of sleepers? It's a good question. Alright, so let's take a look. So I'm just buzzing through. Garrett Nussmeyer, Chase Basantis and Gar, Justin, Joe, Lea, tight end, Malik Muhammad at corner, Caleb Tierenin, offensive line, Connor Lou, offensive line, Devin Morgulli and Neil Demeter's crown over Kylan Rutledge. Safety, safety, safety, no safeties that I'm like, especially higher on higher on than consensus. I guess the closest one would be Jacobi Thomas from Miami. I think he's probably like third, fourth round range. He is my 91st player. He's 169 by consensus. So yeah, I would say that, you know, I'm definitely higher on him than most. I like the play personality. I like the instincts. I do think that he's probably in that like low end starter range as opposed to like, oh, like impactful, like, you know, potential pro bowl type player. But I think there are plenty of players that have his skill set that find a way to start in the league. You know, he started, I believe it was at NC state, uh, early in his career that transferred down to Miami. Um, you know, and he's had production wherever he's been. Obviously it was a big part of that defense last fall that went to the national championship game. Well, you mentioned Malik Muhammad. That's the second time he's been mentioned on the show because I had him in our last Bears Mock draft in the second round. Um, why do you like him so much? I just watching him, he seemed like a good fit for the Bears, which is why I took him there. Yeah. Uh, I'll tell you what, I watched him for the first time early in the fall and it was, you know, I started with the Ohio State game, first game of the season. He had a great interception in that game. And you know, when I'm watching him as the season goes on, I see toughness and physicality. I see instincts. I see ball skills. I know the production wasn't there last year. And you know, that was actually one of the reasons why I didn't watch him. He just kind of slipped through the cracks for me coming into this year, uh, just because he didn't have a lot of production. So they got kind of weight on him and watching him though, like he's got a feel for getting, getting to the football, finding the ball and playing it and finishing in the air. So when I ended up watching my hub and I'm like, all right, like, I like the toughness and instincts and competitiveness. There's a lot to like here about the overall skill set. But what I questioned was like the overall athletic upside and the top end speed. There goes the combine and he puts all that to rest. And so, um, I honestly have a theory though on that hook. I've been kind of workshop. I think I forget if I've talked about it with you guys or not. I think we've seen this over the years and it's a little bit of a marker for like the high character, like super detail oriented guys is that they attack that process, like the training process at such a high level that they outperform their expectations at the combine and the pro day with the run in the forties and things like that. Now to me, like, I think that that's a little bit of a marker, something I've kind of been keeping an eye on. And I think that Muhammad, you know, falls into that category. So I, I guess my just to play devil's advocate to that. I don't necessarily disagree with it. Is there any concern though, when that happens that it just, it doesn't match the play speed on the play, you know, what's actually happening in the pads on the field when they, when you're, when your eyes are telling you one thing on the film, but then they go out and the numbers say a different thing at the combine. And that's why whenever those things have one guy like, you know, fast guy runs slow, slow guy runs fast, you know, have everyone to look at it like, it's always, all right, go back and try and dig more and answer why. And, you know, for me, it was never like an issue of like, because when you're talking about play speed versus time speed, a lot of that can be like, oh, like, are the instincts there? Like, does he have a feel? That was never a question for me with Muhammad, right? Like it was like the pure, like raw speed. And so sometimes, you know, it's like, Hey, like maybe he was, maybe he was dinged up in the games that I watched. So you know what I mean? Like there are sometimes that that can get explained away. And it works the other way too. Like Avian Tarel, the corner from Clemson, I did not really have big questions about his speed watching him on film, but he didn't run well during the pre draft process. Like, oh, well, he's dealing with hamstring stuff. And it's like, all right, well, that kind of explains that stuff away. Same thing with like Devin Moore, the corner from Florida, who also I think would be a good bears fit. When you were listing players, you mentioned Caleb Turenin, and I'm going to do Hoga Faber here since he is a Northwestern player, offensive tackle, arms are a bit short. But what do you make of his chances? Being a, maybe a starting tackle, maybe some teams will overlook it. Like, why are you still higher on him than you think others are? You know, to me, the way I kind of view him is the way that a lot of people view Blake Miller in this class, where I think people look at him as a, you know what, maybe not a consistent pro bowler, but, you know, ground roll double, you know, keep it in the fairway, whatever, whatever cross sport analogy we want to use here. And he's just going to be a solid replacement level starter. Right. And that's kind of how I view Caleb Turenin. He was put through the ringer in the big 10. Like you look at all the rushers that he went up against this year, and there were some quality players on that schedule. And I thought he held up, you know, the first game I watched was against Oregon and that defensive front. And I thought he looked really, really good in that game. And that was the one that was a game too. Like I bought that, that Oregon defensive front, they all went back to school. So we're going to be talking about him next spring, but a couple of guys that would have been eligible and would have been in this, you know, day two, potentially day one discussion here in this draft. I thought Turenin fared well, same thing with other players or with other rushers on that schedule. Yes. The length is a little bit of an issue. I just think he's, he's just rock solid across the board. You know, I think he could be fine at God, at tackle rather. I'm fine with letting him try that spot first and then see if we got to kick him into guard. But if you told me he was going to come in and be a guard right away, I don't think that I would argue with you. Anyone else on your list that you want to highlight? I don't even mind if you talk quarterbacks a little bit. I find it interesting, even though it doesn't really have to do with the Bears. Yeah. I mean, when we, when, when, when you and Nate and I had that conversation, we talked both about about Nussmeyer and why I'm higher on him than consensus. Honestly, I don't think there's anyone, any other quarterbacks there that I'm higher on than there. So Carson Beck. You had back pretty high. Yeah. So honestly, the way I view Beck is, and it's kind of like I feel like a high end backup, like a, we're kind of like Jimmy G is kind of settling Jimmy Garoppolo. And that's a player. That's an important player on your roster. Those guys get paid real money. And that's how, you know, that's how I put together my board. And so, you know, it's not necessarily that view back as like a future like, you know, Lock-It-In, he's going to be a top 30, top 40 type of quarterback. But I do think that if you agree, like a solid to good backup, a guy that can come in and a pinch and you know, start a few games and get you through it and you're not worse for where, I think that that's a valuable asset for a team. And so I do think that's the kind of the tier that I view Carson Beck personally, which I guess is higher than others might view him. But yeah, he's definitely a little bit higher for me compared to everybody else. Those would be the only two quarterbacks on that board. I mentioned some corners. Devin Moore is one. I mentioned, I think he would be a bearish fit when you look at some of the guys that they've brought in, you know, over the years and have had some success with under Ryan Poles. He's got length. He tested extreme, sorry, he did not test extremely well. His film was outstanding from a movement standpoint, like truly unique physical specimen, but he's been dinged up with injuries. And so that that affected the testing. And so when you looked at Devin Moore on film, you're like, man, this guy looks like he's a four, three guy. You watch him run step for step with Chris Brazzel from Tennessee who broke four, four at that size. And then he goes and he runs four or five at the combine, even worse than that at the pro day. And he's like, yeah, like I got growing surgery after the season and I, you know, I'm not a hundred percent yet, but I wanted to make sure I ran. And so, you know, very easily could have opted out to, you know, instead of not running, chose to run and didn't run well, but his film is awesome. I really, really liked Devin Moore. And so I do view him as a potential, like even like a high end starter, like I view Devin Moore as like one of the pure like Island corners in this class. Now he's just got to stay healthy. He had a history of shoulder stuff before the soft tissue stuff crept in during the pre-draft cycle. So, you know, Devin Moore would definitely be a name I'd like to highlight. Yeah. Six three. You got him as a ceiling to be an all pro in a draft that doesn't have many of those types of talents. So maybe somebody to keep in mind for sure on day two. All right. We have a super chat before we let you go, Fran. And now I think he's kind of coming at you a little bit here. So be prepared. C.R. Samuelson, $10. I see that Fran dropped the Emmett Johnson camp block nonsense. Call Matt rule Fran sleeper. It's Emmett remarkably similar to Manungi, except that Johnson is a much better receiver. Your thoughts? He's much, he's much more explosive than Manungi for sure. Call rule. I have a lot of ties to the Nebraska staff. All those guys came from temple and my first job was at temple. And then Matt rules the defensive line coach when I first got to. So yeah, I've got some ties to the Nebraska program. It is not an anti Nebraska take whatsoever. So no, I think that Emma Johnson, he's a fun player. He's just he's a guy. I think you want him in space, kind of keep things clear for him. I did have questions about the blocking and the stuff that I watched, but I do think he can help you out as a receiver. And again, just kind of, you know, I want to find him in space and let that playmaking potential really kind of take hold. My last question for you, Fran, if you're the Bears or any team looking for or looking to take a swing on day three on explosive playmakers who are there for whatever reason, size, injury history, who's a few players that come to mind almost immediately? Yeah, I mean, there are a bunch when I'm when I'm looking at it's funny because I'm actually I'm going through my I'm doing my seven round mock draft right now, which will be available for diehards this week. I'm just gonna say this week. So I'm still working on so this is like the area of the draft John's where exactly where I'm at where, you know, I'm getting into day three and like who are some of the high upside swings that are still on the board. And so let me just pull up about, you know, players that are available. You said specifically a receiver or kind of across the board, across the board. Yeah, but probably for the Bears, if you're looking for someone who could stretch the field, maybe pick up some chunky, childish plays. Yeah, you know, I think that certainly like Brennan Thompson is a name from from Mississippi State. Fastest guy to combine. This is a guy that I think has that ability to create some of those big plays. Jeff Caldwell, I've mentioned him on a couple shows from Cincinnati began his career at Lindenwood really small school transferred up, but he's a big body ran for three, one of the best testers at the combine this year. He's probably like more late round. I didn't love the film, but the physical specimen. It's tough to argue with. You know, so those be two guys at receiver. I would say that have that that juice that that big play potential. So then looking at tight end, you know, I think that you know, the Tanner Kojil is a really interesting player from Houston in terms of his ability to kind of create some of those big plays as a receiver. I do want him to get a little bit better as a blocker, but I do think that he's got some seem stretching ability there at that position. But we know the depth of the tight end class is really, really strong. And one of the best tight end classes we've seen. I'm gonna be honest, like receiver. We always talk about you. We said I'm guilty of it is like, Oh, it's a good receiver class every year. There's just so many bodies. I did have a, even like as I was taking these guys in this mock draft in the second round, third round, fourth round, kind of like holding my nose a little bit where I'm like, Ah, I don't know if I love this player enough to take here, but you know, some positions got to go. So yeah, this receiver class, I think I'm a little bit more underwhelmed as I'm kind of going through the exercise of slotting players to teams at different spots in the draft. Interesting. So maybe not as deep as has been much talked about so far. Well, I guess we'll find out in three years, like everything else with the draft, but it's been fun. Frank, thank you so much. It's been great having you on this show this season as much as you've been able to join us. And of course, you know, I'm sure we'll talk to you on the drafts over to to get more thoughts on the class that the Bears put together. And we'll see you next week on C H G O a bunch as we get put the finishing touches on the draft prep. And then also we'll be hearing from Fran throughout the draft as well. Thanks, man. Appreciate it guys. Talk soon. Different. All right. Fran Duffy finalizing that seven round. Mark, John, how long do you think it would take you to do a seven round? Seven round mock draft. Oh gosh. Just from talking to Dane about it. That's like a multi day process. Oh, without a doubt. Danes came out earlier this week. Fran's is coming out at the end of this week, maybe next week, but we will tweet it. So be on the lookout for that. I would say at least 48 hours. Like straight, like, like, like, may have to sleep in there a little bit, but the first two rounds, I feel like you can knock out with the information that Fran has in his head. He can knock that out within a couple hours. It's rounds four, five, six, that take a little bit of work in and we take this seriously. I know I do. You look for players that you think specific teams will target. It takes me a long time to do that for the Chicago Bears, do every single team in the league. And you got 10 teams with new head coaches. That's a lot to process. And so, yeah, because in, and as we know from doing our Bears, my dress, the farther along into it, you get the, actually the longer it takes because you're, you have less information on those players. Also, you got to go back and be like, all right, well, who did you take in the first round? Who did you take the second round? And then try to do that for, you know, 31 other teams on top of, you know, just the Bears. So a lot of respect to Fran and everybody else, including Danny who does the seven round mocks. I know Matt Miller has got one out there too that I've looked at. He used to do like three or four throughout the draft season, which was, which was wild. All right, we're going to end with one more super chat. Troy Schleicher has a $10 super that says, happy birthday, Hogue. If you were GM of the Bears for a day, what's the first three moves you'd make? I think that applies to that. It's everything. That's just the draft. Right. Um, well, first thing I would do is kick car him out of the media room. He's barely there anyway. No, that's hard to put. I almost feel like I want to give that some thought and come back next week with a better answer. Sounds like a mini pod coming up. Yeah, maybe first three moves I would do. I mean, one is I would definitely attack center because I'm, I think the bears did a good job of getting Garrett Bradbury, but I still think, you know, you got to kind of plan for the future at that spot. It seemed like they had their guy and now it's a little bit more murky. So that would be one position I'd be obsessed with. And then I, you know, I guess the same thing is I would not be afraid at all to draft a left tackle in the first round. I'm already kind of on record with that. I'm not going to force it. I think you can get by with another competition, a left tackle. But if like my guy is there at left tackle, I would, I would definitely do that. Um, and then there's got to be some cap movement here. They got to create some space. So I guess my number way, number one way of doing that. Um, cause I just think he's a, he's an outstanding bear in general. Um, great blocker makes huge catches and represents Chicago and the team. First class dude, and that's Colcomat. So I would, I would find a way to extend him in a way that gives you cap flexibility to fit the draft picks in, maybe allow you to do a couple more other moves before everything's said and done. So off the top of my head, I think those would be the top three things. My top three priorities that I would have. I would update the media room. No, that would have been a better answer than firing. Carm. Um, yeah, it's probably time for some new cubicles. I was going to say, I like, I think every single detail in the house hall has been touched since you and I started covering the team, including parts of our media area that press conference room didn't use to be there. That was an add on the midway that we have access to all that stuff. But the one area in that entire building that has not been touched. Our cubicles and office chairs. I mean, at some point it's not quite going to be neighbors where like they sit on the office chair and the airbag goes off and they go flying in the ceiling. But it might be the opposite of that where like you just sit down and the chair breaks completely. Like, I think we're getting to that point. So it's not a bad answer to that question. I don't think that falls under general manager. I feel like you're suggesting that some reporters should start taking a better care of themselves so the chairs don't break. Well, I guess you could take it that way. But I was actually trying to give those those people a an out an excuse. Okay. Like at some point, these chairs, like even the one I'm sitting on has to have a lifespan, right? Yeah. I would agree. I don't know. Okay. I was about mind. I'm fine staring at that white wall. It actually helps you focus. Sitting in the corner. That's your I guess you're not so long. Have you had that seat? I've had three different seats in the new. Actually, I've had four seats in that media room. There's my only one menu, sometimes one. And then there was my athletic one and now my CCO one. Yeah, I've had the same one around. I've had the same one the entire time and I like it. So I don't really need it to be that updated. The seat thing is going to live outrageous stuff. They're like, Chris, Emma steals the good one. Yeah. Okay. Okay. There we go. Because that's really what the issue is. I'm guilty of it too, because someone tries to steal my chair and I will get there early and move the chairs or else they're late, move the chairs. And there are ones where the adjustable thing is actually broken. Right? Yeah. So like you sit, you sit down, you get to work and then you immediately just goes. And you're now mad. Who stole my chair? Hey, Chris, I blame him every day, even if it isn't him. So you might be you. I blame Chris. No, I take care of my guys. Good show. Great stuff with the aunt. Yourself with Duff. We, I think we'll be back on Wednesday. Yeah. I think Wednesday morning, because the Bears have, we're going to hear from Ryan Pulse on Tuesday. So his annual pre draft and assistant general manager, Jeff King, which will be his first press conference. Remember Ian Cunningham used to do those. Um, I have to trigger anybody on draft picks, but Jeff King is now the assistant general manager. We'll hear from him in his first press conference, but that'll be interesting to hear from him. So, um, because of that, we're going to shift our first show next week to Wednesday, which makes sense because we usually do our draft show Friday morning after the bears make their pick. So we'll be a little bit of a different schedule Wednesday, Friday, probably still live, I would assume on those days, but be on the lookout for that. I appreciate everybody watching, listening, hit the like button on the way out, hit subscribe, rate and review. If you're listening to the podcast, appreciate the love as always. Thank you for the birthday wishes as well. And we will be back next week. It's draft week. Finally, we'll see you.