Nick Shook's All-Combine Team!

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts. To my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we need to get Nick Shook the heck out of Indianapolis before they just take him for good. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm in Los Angeles. I'm in my garage. I'm looking at Shook executing his final job in Indianapolis, one of the last people in the city. He just watched all the offensive linemen work out on Sunday. How was your combine, Nick Schiff? It was great. They saved the best for last, the big men day, when you get to watch all these guys and their footwork. And do they have a strong base? You know, they lighten their feet. And they have a violent punch, heavy hands, all that good stuff. It's been a very, very productive week. We've learned a lot about this upcoming draft class. And I got to get you out of here quick, because it's among the last people that are left with NFL media. Some people went and caught a flight even tonight. I was hearing Rich Eisen talk about it on the broadcast, but we got a few of the editor types left and got a reservation. So we're going to get him out on time. And what we're going to do is we're going to go through Nick's great piece every year that he writes up the all combine team. If you want to hear us talk about the edge, the defensive linemen, the linebackers, we did that on Friday's show. So we're not going to repeat ourselves here, But we're going to go through the best of the best in terms of the combine participants, what we learned from all the offensive positions and the defensive backs. We also have a little bit of news. It's kind of the quiet before the storm right now. A week from this Sunday, as we're taping this, news will already be flying. And then the busiest day of the entire offseason is only eight days away. That's the Monday when the negotiating period starts. So that's all coming up. For now, we're still going to be looking back at the combine shook. And let's start on offense. Let's start. Where do you want to start? Let's start with the wide receivers, because to me, this is a strange wide receiver class in there. It's kind of like pick your flavor. There's good depth. There's a lot of first round talent. And everyone orders the board a little different. Give me kind of a big picture view of just what you saw on. Now it was what? On Saturday. Before we get into who were the standouts. Yeah, you know, there's depth. There's first round talent. You can see as many as three or four guys, I believe, right now that are projected to potentially go on the first round. Near consensus, if not fully consensus, number one, seems to be Cardinal Tate from Ohio State. He did not do the drills, but he did run his 40 and it was over 4-5. And some people might see that as a ding. And he does not make my all combine team as a result. but it was really because all I did was do that, didn't do the drills. I like to pick guys that did both or did the majority of both. And I'm not concerned about his 40 time because Emeka Ibuka ran in the same range and he was excellent. There's a number of other examples in which guys were excellent who ran in that range. And that's not Tate's game anyway. He's not a burner and a guy who's going to outrun you. He's a guy who's going to make contested catches like he can in his sleep. He was the best one at doing it in college football this year, so I think he retains his value. But the rest of this group, there are some interesting guys. There are some players like Denzel Boston from Washington, who was projected to be a first round pick, who did not impress me. In fact, I really thought his workout was lacking in a number of different areas. He didn't separate himself visually, watching from the suite from other players. He ran the gauntlet the first time. It didn't seem like he was running very hard. The second time it was a little bit better, but he just didn't separate himself or jump off the field. In my mind, there were some guys that did, though. Zach Branch from Georgia. He's a USC transfer who made a difference for the dogs in his time there before moving on to the NFL. I thought he had a good workout. He ran a 4-3-5-40 at a 10-foot-5 broad jump, 38-inch vertical jump, athleticism score of 85 according to Next Gen Stats. That's near the top. And you already know what his film does and what it shows. And what he also did in the drills that I thought was very important was not only running good routes, but making difficult catches. Because some of the quarterbacks that threw to him were not the most accurate throughout this group. And yet he overcame that more often than not. He had a nice grab where he was falling to the ground. He had another grab where he managed to keep his feet in, do a little pirouette. He had a good workout. Jacoby Lane from USC, one of two USC receivers that are on the radar. Another guy that makes my team. 4'4", 7", 40 to 200 pounds. That's a good time. 10'9", broad jump. That explains his explosiveness. 40-inch vertical. Those are all numbers that are going to work well for a guy with a bigger body who I think could fit for a number of teams. I think about Buffalo needing a clear number one. Maybe he's the latest guy they take a swing on outside of round one. I don't think he makes it into round one, but he had a good combine. He really solidified his draft stock going into this. And the last one was Zavian Thomas from LSU. And every year, I swear, every year there's a guy who maybe doesn't do that well in the drills or doesn't do the drills at all, but he posts such a fast 40 time that he has to be mentioned. And this year it was Zavian Thomas from LSU. He had 4'2", 8'40", at 190 pounds. And he was consistent throughout his drills. a lot of my notes I'm going rep by rep player by player so it's like Thomas blank this name blank this name blank throughout my entire list of it I like keyword search Thomas and it was just Thomas solid Thomas solid Thomas solid Thomas solid good good good like nothing remarkable that was like wow that was incredible but when you put together a performance on the drills where every single drill is just run well and you do a good job then that means you had a pretty good workout and you combine that with the 4-2-8-40 and that's how you make the all combine team and And then last but not least, I have some honorable mentions, some guys that landed on that radio. Oh, let me stop you there and talk about those guys at a little more length. Because Xavier and Thomas, I think it's good to add perspective for the listener, most of whom are learning these guys for the first time, is a guy who, consensus board-wise, who knows going into this week if he's even a lock to get drafted anywhere higher than 6th or 7th rounder or drafted at all. And I think this is a week that can be so meaningful for a player like that, who's maybe a special teamer to start, and now he has a performance like that, and you start pushing him up to maybe the beginning of day three, or who knows, but he ensures himself a chance to get drafted and pursue his dreams. The other two that you mentioned to start that definitely made your team, just for perspective, Zachariah Branch, 49th on the consensus board from Georgia, 50th on DJ's board, so like a solid second-round pick, and he was someone watching that really stood out to me just because he was so smooth. And he's another guy who adds return value. And if you watch us on YouTube, Chris Babona lovingly put together some tape from the broadcast. And I know that gauntlet drill is silly, but when a guy is that smooth and good and that drill, to me, it does say a lot. So he looked like a pro to me. The only problem I had was Jeremiah's comp for him was Dion Branch, which was just lazy. I mean, his last name is Branch. He just comps him to Deion Branch. This guy's way more jacked than Deion Branch, by the way. I know the size and speed actually look pretty similar. But he's a thick, smooth player. Yeah, he is. I like Zachariah. He is, and he's got a lot of experience playing major college football. And his career at USC was disappointing, which kind of led to his transfer to Georgia. But he really repaired his reputation in his time at Georgia. And it built momentum going into the combine, where sometimes when you watch, you can just tell, oh, that guy is a pro receiver. You just, the way they move, the grabs that they make, that sort of thing. He's just, like you said, smooth, fluid. And that definitely jumped out as well. And what was funny is like Makai Lemons, the other USC guy who had a pretty decent workout. It was a strong finish, kind of a sleepy start, almost like he was kind of lackadaisical through some of it, including the gauntlet, but he finished strong. He's going to be the first of those two receivers that ends up getting drafted. In fact, I think some mocks have him as like relatively high round one as of right now. I don't know if it necessarily plays out that way. He didn't make it, but he was in the honorable mentions list. It was him. It was Reggie Virgil from Texas Tech, who just had another guy who finished really strong in the workout. Fields, Malachi Fields from Notre Dame was one of the better ones in the first group, which didn't have as much pop in the first group as the second group did. And then a couple of other names that people might not be familiar with. Ted Hurst from Georgia State kept popping up in my notes as somebody who had good reps. Dylan Bell from Georgia made one of the best catches of the entire weekend. On a deep ball, that was a really tough grab because it was a little bit off target. He spins his body around, contorts it, grabs it, keeps it in bounds. That was a good play for him and as part of a good workout. And then Antonio Williams from Clemson just kind of looked the part. It wasn't consistent throughout, but he kind of looked the part. And I just kept thinking, sometimes I just jot down a name and go, intriguing, would like to know more. And he was one of those. He went to Clemson. Yeah, and you mentioned how the consensus is Tate is that guy. But again, it's a pick-your-flavor type of position. I think it's going to depend on the teams and what those teams want for who gets taken first. But you meant, yeah, Makai Lemon is a guy who's consensus board 13th overall. I don't think DJ has him that high, but a relatively high guy. And you mentioned how Jacoby Lane, the USC kid, you know, had a good day. And he was looked at as maybe more of a third round pick. And now maybe like he's he sneaks up a little higher into day two. The only thing I'd push back on a little, Malachi Fields, a little stop start that was some of the drip, like he looked a little herky-jerky and he ran a 4-6-1. And that's not great. That's why he didn't make the team. That's why he was an honorable mention. Right. And he's, you know, a guy who's hoping to get taken in the first round. There's varying opinions on him. There's even more, I think, divisive opinions on Denzel Boston, the receiver that you said you were not impressed with overall. and I think that echoes what I think a lot of draft Twitter believes and yet on all these mock drafts, he's ranked really high. So it'll be interesting to see how these wide receivers all shake out. Also, shout out to Bryce Lance, the brother of Trey Lance, who had a very good workout. Could potentially be like a day two, maybe early day three pick. So just cool to see Trey Lance's brother getting into the mix. If you don't have any other hot receiver takes, we can move on to Jeremiah Love and the running backs. Yeah, let's do it. Let's go to the running backs. Okay, let's hear it. Did Jeremiah Love make your all combine? Of course he did. That was like the easiest pick of the entire weekend. Okay. Yeah. Why is that? He was excellent. 4-3-3-40, which just captured the explosiveness that we saw at Notre Dame. He was a home run hitter at Notre Dame. You know, the best player on the field most of the time that Notre Dame was playing football. 10-foot-8 broad jump, 39-inch vert for a running back who is going to be a three-down back. He's going to be an elite prospect. He's one of the highest graded players going into this draft. He could go as high as number three in this draft, I think. He has third overall for this guy for a running back. Running backs are back, in case you didn't know. And I thought that he was clearly the best guy on the field. He also was explosive, springy, remarkable body control, went through all the drills with fluidity and comfort. Just very much a natural player who I know is going to dominate a lot of this mock draft talk in the final month before the draft when everybody's doing their mock drafts on TV and on the internet. you're going to see his name very high in a lot of these drafts because he's just a complete player. Yeah. Look, it's not a spicy draft because even the wide receiver names aren't, you know, huge names considering what what how they've produced as a pro. It's a it's a one quarterback draft, maybe. And there's not much drama to where Fernando Mendoza is going. So I think Jeremiah loved the running back from Notre Dame. And you saw some of the movement there. It's just special to have a guy that big who moves that precise. And he backed it up. It was nice to see, even though the overall numbers of players doing every drill and even the majority of the drills and events are down, a lot of the top players in this draft did work out. And so that was nice to see. And I think he backed up everything you want to say. So there's going to be a lot of Jeremiah Love pop. Who else? Who else joined him on the All-Com? might be i'm glad you mentioned that too because what was fun and and there's been some talk about this on social media rightfully so we are looking at people who run 40s as if uh you know the times they're putting down that we're seeing like best combine performance from a class ever and it's because the guys that know that they won't run fast just don't run the guys that know they're going to run fast since their strength they're going to run conversely you think about some other players that i'll get to later they will run and then they won't do the drills because they know that the drills might show some of their weaknesses um but what was fun about it was that oftentimes we saw a lot of guys taking risks where they'd run a really good 40 and you think there's no reason to run another one just stand on that and they come out and run it again because they want to see if they can do a little bit better they want to compete with the next guy and often more often than not this year they either put down the exact same time or like a hundredth of a second off which was really fun to just see them compete uh it's an all notre dame top two at running back Jadarian Price is the other one. Obviously not the same type of back as Love, a part of a great tandem at Notre Dame over the last two years. He's more of a rugged, bigger back who still has some explosiveness. Not as fast at the top end as Love. We saw that when he was running some routes. There was like a wheel route down the sideline where he couldn catch up to a well football just outside the you know the stretch of his hands his fingertips But he looked very good as well I can envision him feeling that rugged back role kind of in a Kenneth Walker mold, but not quite as smooth. But he looked very fluid throughout the drills. And it was just pretty clear to me that when you look at this running backs group, which I don't think has as much depth as we've seen in previous years, that those two guys who happened to play college football together were the best on the field. He ran a 4-4-9-40 at 2-0-3, which is like good. not like mind-blowing, but a 10-4 broad jump kind of, you know, illustrates some of the explosive nature that he has. And he's a tough guy to bring down. They were a fantastic backfield in South Bend. And then the last guy, Mike Washington Jr., who puts down a 4-3-3-40 time that was the fastest of all running backs. And it was so fast and so satisfying to him that he started crying on the bench and the sideline. And he interacted with Stacey Dales, and she actually recapped this at the end of the broadcast today as well. And he said he was sorry for being emotional, but I've worked for this my whole life. And he was just so happy that he was able to produce in what is essentially a nationally televised job interview for a lot of these guys. He didn't go do drills after that. Understand why. Hopefully you see him go do more drills at the Pro Day at Arkansas because, you know, he's a really fun blend of size and speed that I think is going to pique a lot of interest as we, you know, well, I would say creep, but now it's March. So as we get closer and closer to April in the draft. Yeah, he 223 pounds, but he played like he was listed as an even bigger weight at college six one to be that fast. Like he was a guy that maybe is in the mix for like day two if he got lucky. And now like with a workout like that, he he could be RB three in this class. It's pretty wide open. It really does seem like your best combine performers. The Notre Dame guys are also the best two running backs in this class. Did anyone stand out to you otherwise at running back? Like good, bad. How about the Navy kid? I, what is his name? Eli Heidenreich. I have no idea if he's like going to be an NFL player, but a guy from Navy who's putting up like great numbers and looked pretty comfortable as a receiver. I'm like, I think that dude is going to get drafted if nothing else. And you don't see that too often out of Navy. Given that the service academies usually run the veer offense to see a running back and catch the football is very impressive. He was actually better. I think as a pass catcher in these drills than he was, you know, trying to separate himself like on the bags, like in the Deuce daily drill and stuff like that. He ended up popping up in my notes a lot, but he didn't end up making my honorable mentions, but he was somebody that I was recognizing as somebody who had a very well rounded performance at a lower level. But just kind of illustrate the way that this class, I think drops off a little bit as the next three guys in my list that participated in Indianapolis were Jan Miller from Alabama, Roman Hemby from Indiana. He was a key part of their run to the national title. just a guy who's really hard to bring down. First contact always stays up. I thought he looked good at times, but wasn't exactly like a Sterling performance. Wasn't perfect. He had his balls in there, but you could just kind of see, okay, well, what I've seen on his tape in Indiana has translated to this field, and we'll see if it'll help him. And then K-Tron, also known as Fatman Allen at Penn State, I thought he had a pretty good workout, more in the drills than anything else. But again, this running back class, I think there's tiers to it. And after you get over those top three or so guys it does take a little bit of a drop off but those were my next three fat man is his nickname i believe that's what his nickname i mean that's that's not that's not what you want uh let's go no he likes it he prefers it over his actual name okay i mean it's not what i want out of out of my running back if you're drafting him let's go to quarterback and yeah i think the lack of running backs in this class in general will help this free agent market and possible trade market. We have another name that's going to be on that. We'll hit that in the veteran news coming up because it's pretty deep at running back in general in free agency and possibly maybe even a trade here and there. And the lack of draft picks really will only make that bigger. Let's talk about the quarterbacks. Fernando Mendoza did not work out. Who stood out to you the most in terms of the drills? Who made the all combine team? yeah this was tough um just not a great class beyond mendoza um and honestly it would have been one of those things where you know why mendoza doesn't work out because he's knows he's a lock for number one and he has nothing to gain from working out but i would have liked to see him as a comparison to the rest of the class because a lot of them you know what's the term that the kids use they're very mid this is like a mid group of quarterbacks um less impressive in the first session than the second session. The second group was a little bit better. My pick ends up being Garrett Nussmeyer, but it could have been a three-way coin flip because Nussmeyer, Ty Simpson, and Carson Beck, I think it was Nussmeyer and Simpson were in the same one. Beck was in the earlier one. They all had their strengths and weaknesses. Early on, Nussmeyer not quite as good as Simpson was. I thought the ball came out of Simpson's hand with more authority and velocity in the shorter routes than it did Nussmeyer. Simpson seemed to be more accurate and comfortable on those routes. But then once they started throwing the deep ball, Nussmeyer takes the lead in that race. And he hit a number of really nice throws in the back portion of that on-field drill. And I was reminded, perhaps Alabama just hasn't thrown a red zone fade in a while because Simpson couldn't push it past five yards into the end zone. Whereas Nussmeyer comes out there and is just dropping dimes in the back corner, just bucket drop after bucket drop after bucket drop. That was his strong portion. That was Simpson's weak portion, but nobody had a well-rounded performance. and Beck was probably the best guy of the early group, Carson Beck from Miami. He was better than I thought he would be. And it's kind of reflective of, yeah. And the deep ball was good with him. He does have a pretty big arm. Not entirely, kind of died a little bit on like the dig drills where like you're looking 25 yards downfield. A couple of them kind of nosedived. But he kind of mirrors what his, the rest, the end of his college football season was, which like Miami turns it on in the playoff and Beck ends up playing a big part in their wins over Ohio State and especially that win over Ole Miss, which is a thriller. He came through in a moment that I thought he would crumble. Obviously, they lost to Indiana, but even then they were competitive because of him. So he had a strong finish to his collegiate career, kind of carried that over into Indianapolis, but not at the wow factor that we're used to seeing before. I mean, we've sat and watched C.J. Stroud and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and all these very good quarterbacks have these great combine showings. None of these guys were like that, kind of reflective of what last year was like. And then there's a testing hero, Taylin Green from Arkansas, who is a physical freak. I don't have the numbers in front of me because he didn't make my all combine team. He's just in the honorable mentions group. He's not actually in the starting lineup. How rude. I mean, this guy was setting records on, on, on half the event. Yeah. Until you go watch him throw and you realize that he needs to go to the Josh Allen school of fixing your mechanics because the way the ball comes out of his hand is like, it's like less than a three quarters angle. It's like, he's, it's almost like paralleled the ground way out to the outside. and it looks, it comes out hot in the short yardage and he's putting it on the money. But once it goes downfield, that ball dies because I honestly think the physics of the way he throws the football limits that ball from traveling down the field with the same velocity that comes out in the short range and the accuracy wanes at that point. So I think that because of his physical attributes and like he had an incredible vertical jump and his 40 was great and everything else, that if he goes to the right team that is willing to work on his mechanics at an intensive rate, Like Josh Allen did early in his career with the Bills. You could make something of him. Just don't expect him to come in and be a producer early. I've got the team for you. Go ahead. All right. With the 233rd, maybe it'll go before that. With the 176th pick of the fifth round, the Denver Broncos select Taylon Green, Arkansas. and Sean Payton's got his next Taysom Hill to just drive Bo Nix a little crazy, but also to develop behind the scheme. I respect it, but they're not built the same way at all. Taysom Hill is like a tank. Taylin Green is not a tank. Just an athlete that can throw the ball a little bit that you can play around with and Sean Payton at least could try to get the mechanics right in enough time. Yeah, look, it's a draft where there might end up being more than one true blue starter. We just don't know who it's going to be. And the thing about Nussmeier I like is if you've ever shown that you can play at a very high level for an extended stretch, that's in there somewhere. And he has done that. And so now that he might be like a third round pick, I like him as much as anyone else in this class other than Mendoza. And I do think there's going to be differing opinions on Ty Simpson out there, but it's kind of like Ty Simpson never got to have the down year that Garrett Nussmeier had. Maybe it was the last few games of his season was almost his version of that down year. It was a tumultuous season. He had his moments in the sun and he had some not so good moments in a really rough ending. Yeah, I have a hard time. I know we're seeing these mock drafts that like have the Rams taking him or another team taking Ty Simpson as a developmental guy. To me, it feels like a draft where it's going to be one quarterback and then a lot of guys taken round three and on. But do you know, do you know where I put Garrett Nussmeier for team fits? I gave you five teams. One of them is the Rams. So I know that that works, but not in the first round. No, no, God, no, no. And I think Nussmeier would be intriguing. And, you know, his dad is on the Saints staff. So it looks like that's not going to happen, though. They got their quarterback. All right, let's take a break. We're going to talk defensive backs, tight ends and a little bit of news. we're working hard here on NFL Daily. We want to take advantage of the boots on the ground of Nick Shook still being in Indianapolis. Get this show out to you before the week even starts. We'll take a break and we'll be back with the rest of the Combine. All Combine. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and Free Agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back on NFL Daily. every year there's a few people in the media who decide to like do the drills you know as a god that bit's been done stop doing the bit right yeah i mean why risk injury and embarrassment just for a little clip just to get on the field don't do it it's it's also more just like it's been done unless you can like really top it unless you're in if you're an incredible athlete that actually like quietly trained and then knocks it out of the park or something but that's probably not going to happen um it would be fun to to see shook competing out there let's talk uh tight end probably the position i feel like you'd be most likely to play now i know you played offensive line i don't think you really have the size uh for that at the pro level if we had to line you up somewhere i think it is at tight end it's correct it's correct actually when i played i went from tight end inside to offensive line so but you're right i'm more you'd be like our charlie Kohler. Yes. Kind of a Y tight end, as the kids would say. Yep. More blocking than receiving, but you know, you send him out on a little route. He's got a decent hand. I got hands, man. I'm not going to lie. I got some pretty good hands. You know who else may or may not have good hands, but ran a really good 40? Kenyon Sadiq from Oregon. He ran a 4.39, which is the fastest 40 by a tight end since 2003. His comp is Vernon Davis, but he did not prove that he is Vernon Davis in the drills because after running the 40, he said, I'm done. And I understand why. because there's nothing to gain from running the drills if the hands don't match the 40. And that's been the big question mark with him. But 43.5-inch vertical, 4'3", 9'40". Because of the production and the measurables and the testing, NextGen gave him a 28% chance of making a Pro Bowl in his career, which is by far the highest mark of this class. So I understand why he said, all right, I'm done. I've put the numbers up that I need to, and I'll save the rest for the Pro Day. And I could totally see this being a fit for the Kansas City Chiefs, even if Travis Kelsey comes back, because they're going to need a playmaker at tight end after Kelsey retires, which is sooner rather than later. So he's the first one. And then you know who gave gave them Kenyon Sadiq in the first round? Who? I mean, not the Chiefs. Daniel Jeremiah gave the Los Angeles Chargers Kenyon Sadiq, which I found fascinating because Daniel Jeremiah knows the Chargers very well. They just had a great rookie tight end, but Kenyon Sadiq, more of a blocker, maybe not great hands. Then the comp with Vernon Davis really works because just watching Kenyon Sadiq's clips, I think he's maybe even more of a more fluid athlete than Vernon Davis. But ultimately, Davis was just kind of an athlete that was a dog that got after it and had a great NFL career, even if he wasn't like the most natural pass catcher. And I also saw from a Chargers blog, it's amazing that they keep track of these things. DJ has nailed their pick in his mock draft 2 They actually went and looked at the 2 version for like three straight years Wow He would know He would know Just makes you think like okay they could be looking too But the Chiefs draft before the Chargers since the Chiefs stunk last year. Yeah, unless they want to try to position, you know, jump in front of them to get their guy. Another player that really helped his reputation was John Michael Gillenborg from Wyoming, which is a name that you're probably not familiar with unless you are big into Mountain West football. And that's fine. But he came off of a leg injury that he suffered that limited him to nine games in his final season. And he really needed to prove that he was healthy and had recovered from the injury that he'd suffered. And he did that. He put a 10-foot-8 broad jump up there, explosive, 4'6", 40 at 249 pounds. Good time for somebody of that size. And then he was probably the best tight end on the field in the drills. He was just fantastic for most of it, whether it's he blocked well in the one-man sled, which is often a differentiator between those who are just pass catchers, you know, pretending to be tight ends and just aren't, you know, fast or thin enough to play a receiver and instead they end up playing tight end and those who can actually really be a multi-talented player who can play on every down. And he definitely handled that part of it well. He ran the gauntlet really confidently and he showed strong hands throughout this entire session of drills. He ran polished routes. He looked really good. I mean, he was just, by the end of it, I was like, I don't even, I have not heard of this guy before, But wow, that was a really great day for him. And I couldn't help but put him in there. There's a lot of talent at the position, though, because you have Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt, the Mackey Award winner, did not participate in the drills. Josh Cuevas from Alabama continued to do things just really well, just handled everything with a level of professionalism and experience that you don't see from a lot of college tight ends. Tanner Kozel from Houston, very thin, does not really look like a tight end except for the fact that he's tall. But wow, an incredibly natural pass catcher. who looked so comfortable and like he'd done this in his sleep before. Those were three more that made that. And then I had three last three were Bauer Sharp from LSU, who kept popping up in my notes. Jaron Kanik from Oklahoma, who I know DJ shouted out during his workout. He had a good day as well. And then Sam Rausch from Stanford. I don't know why, but he kept popping up in my notes just as somebody who was delivering good reps. So there's some depth here. I think teams that need tight ends, whether it's a top tight end or a number two tight end, they're going to find it in this draft. But yeah, it feels kind of like the quarterbacks in a way in that there's one. It's going to be Kenyon Sadiq that's called on day one. And then after that, there's a lot of disagreement about tight end two. And I think just a lot are going to be going off the board, maybe late two, early three and on. And then there's just a mess of them. And it's going to be kind of whoever you like. So I love those shout outs from the combine. That's it for the skill positions. Let's get to the burners in the defensive backfield before we wrap up with your beloved offensive lineman. It is crazy. Why don't we start with safety? Because when I saw that the safeties on average ran faster than the cornerbacks, it might speak to what you're saying about slow guys aren't running as much here. Maybe that's somehow a factor. But what a what a change in like how football is played if safeties are essentially that athletic. It's almost like quarterbacks now, how everyone's just becoming athletic. If you play defensive back, you cannot be even a moderately slow safety anymore and get by. No, you can't because you have to cover ground. You got to be able to erase gaps that are left open in the second half, in the back half of the field. And there was plenty of athletes out there, a lot of guys to choose from. After Sonny Stiles has that great day on Thursday, his brother Lorenzo Stiles comes out and has an equally awesome day in the testing. He's still pretty raw. He's only played defensive back for two years. He was a receiver to start at Notre Dame, then transferred to Ohio State, became a safety. You can just kind of tell that he doesn't have the experience playing the position in some of the drills that he ran. That's where he kind of fell back into the pack after putting together a freakish testing performance. But the guys that I chose were Dylan Thienemann from Oregon, who I was just so impressed by. Like, everything he did, every drill, he was just the best guy out there, or one of the best. In fact, it made me go back and watch some of this tape from this past year and consult with my Oregon connections and be like, why did he not get more play than he is? Then, you know, I've kind of recognized that he deserves now. And I saw a couple of weak spots in the tape, but he's a very good player. He's going to make somebody very happy. He put a 4-3-5-40 up there, 10-5 broad jump, and a 41-inch vertical jump. He had the top athleticism scored 86 among safeties. Hell of a workout, hell of a weekend for him. He's going to be on everybody's radars. And then after that, it was like a collection of athletes And then guys that coming into the weekend, you could tell the evaluators were like, all right, I just need to see him confirm what I believe in him. Like Emmanuel McNeil Warren from Toledo was a guy big on DJ's board who I just didn't think had a complete performance on the field. Testing wasn't up to par, at least based on expectations. So he falls into the honorable mentions. So the other guy I chose is a guy who just, you see sometimes you see some guys who are really springy and you're like, that guy's just different. And that guy was Robert Spears Jennings from Oklahoma. And this could have been Lorenzo Stiles' job. This could have been Emmanuel McNeil Warren's spot on this team. But I'm going to him. I'm going to Spears Jennings, which shout out to hyphenated names. He's got a couple there. Because he started a little tight, a little rusty in the hips. It took a little bit to flip his hips during the early backpedal drills. But it's like he got loose. Like he just kind of got warmed up. And he was showing off natural leaping abilities. He was showing off great hands. He was very – he floated around the field, but he was also very explosive. He was springy and he was so explosive that when they ran the box drill, he almost ran himself right out of the box drill, but because he's also so springy, he was able to recover and finish on a high note. Four, three, two, 40, 10, five, broad jump. Kid's an athlete. And I think it's going to be a fit thing for him, but I'm excited to see where he lands because I think he'll make a difference. Yeah. Dylan Thienemann, to go back to who you said to start, like it's good to provide context for these guys too. So I, I love that you mentioned Spears Jennings, who's an Oklahoma kid who that he's going to help push himself up. Maybe he's a day three pick. Like we'll see. It has a big day. But Thienemann's a guy who DJ had much higher than the consensus board. And I've seen enough of these draft processes played out. Like when DJ has a guy way higher than the consensus board, DJ ends up being right that that's how the league views him too. And it was hard not to see him as like a, not just a first round pick, but maybe like a first half of the first round pick. Like there's a potential that that happens. Like I started thinking about the teams that could use him for the Vikings as a Harrison Smith replacement. It'd be quite, it'd be high for the Bengals, but they are absolutely looking for that type of player. The Steelers for like a Minka Fitzpatrick type. And they talked about on the broadcast too, that they thought, look, he might've actually fit better at Purdue where he was further away from the ball. And that's how NFL teams, when DJ says this, it makes me think this is how they're thinking NFL teams might see him that way. Whereas Oregon had him a little more playing that star role, you know, near in the box and moving around. It's good that he showed he can do all that, but everyone's looking for one of these types of players. And I think he's going to get taken somewhere in the top 25 picks. So a really fun player to watch. Yep. Absolutely. Honorable mentions. I already mentioned styles. I already mentioned McNeil Warren. We also had AJ Halsey from LSU. Vijay Payne had a very strong day from Kansas State. And Zaki Wheatley from Penn State. Penn State, like, it's weird. They have a, I already talked about the Durant, the defensive tackle on Thursday. They had like just random guys end up looking just more pro-ready than a lot of the other guys from other programs. And I think that speaks to the strength of the program, even after they moved on from James Franklin and had a disastrous year. that they can pretty routinely produce kids on both sides of the ball that just look like they're a step ahead of most of the pack because of the standard that has existed in State College for quite some time. So, like that group, but I also, cornerback had a few guys that I'm really excited to see where they land in the NFL because we all know about D'Angelo Pons and what he did for the national champion Indiana Hoosiers. Yes, the national champion Indiana Hoosiers. I'll never accept that that is reality because how crazy. But Pons did a great job in this. He had a 43 and a half inch vert. He was polished throughout everything. You could see the talent that made him such a difference maker for the Hoosiers showed off on the field. He was really impressive in drills that relied heavily on agility because he was controlled that he was very speedy, he had efficient footwork when changing direction. And that's a big part with these defensive back drills is can you be as efficient as possible with as few steps as necessary to get through these drills? Don't take any extra steps. Don't take any more time because that's going to translate to the next level when you can't afford to waste a step when you're in coverage against some of the best athletes on the planet. And then he also was a natural pass catcher. If you followed Indiana at all, you know that he had a pick six against Oregon in the playoff in the game that they won that sent them to the national championship. And you saw that translate again on the field in the shorts and T-shirts Olympics. So good for him. A great player. And I'm excited to see where he lands. But the guy that really, I think, excited me the most, there's two guys here that I have left because I picked three. Chris Johnson looked the part. He was smooth. From San Diego State, not the running back that we all knew that set the 40-yard dash record for a long time. He ran a 4-4-40 at a 10-6 broad jump, and he just looked so prepared. Every drill was pretty easy for him. He was comfortable. He was confident, controlled, and he's athletically gifted enough to, I think, find success at the next level. He had some drops. His hands could use some work. It felt like as his performance went on, it's almost like his hands got stiffer. He could use softer hands when it comes to, you know, making contact with the football and forcing turnovers, but he was really well-rounded. And then Colton Hood from Tennessee is my other guy. I couldn't help, but as I'm watching these guys do these drills where I'm just like, Hood, again, great. I'm halfway through his workout. I'm like, that kid is a baller. 4-4-4-40. 40.5-inch vert, 10.5 broad jump. That suggests that he's going to have a successful NFL career. I talked about the Pro Bowl probability, according to NextGenStats and their history of combine results. 13% chance of making a Pro Bowl. That was the second highest mark of the entire cornerback class. And my favorite, I think, was he's in a backpedal and turn drill, the long one, backpedal and transition, and there's a deep ball. And you see him track it, and you see him run toward the sideline. And as he's running toward the sideline, he realizes, like, oh, I'm going to have to contort to get this ball. Makes a leaping grab and then crashes to the turf and hangs on. And he made a couple of plays like that where I'm just like, this kid's supremely confident. And if you watch his tape, you can see why. He's made three stops in his collegiate career. He was at Colorado at one stop and he began at Auburn. So he's seen a lot of different programs and seen a lot of different football, two of those programs being in the SEC. I think he's just really prepared and he can join a contender that's looking for help at cornerback and instantly make a difference. The first team that comes to mind, I think, is the Green Bay Packers. Just kind of makes sense as a fit. But I was really, really impressed by him. Yeah, he's a guy who, look, he has a teammate who's coming off a major injury in McCoy, who, what, DJ has, I think, you know, in the top 12 or something. Didn't play at all this year. Top 12 player. Right. Jermon McCoy. And yet, you know, Hood, I think, is able to show up and solidify himself as a first round pick with a workout like this. Maybe he's on the borderline of a guy of a pick like that. But it's a position where, again, it's I do like this draft in this way that there's not a ton of consensus. I think that it's viewed as a pretty good cornerback class at the top where five guys could go in in round one. But these days really matter. And being able to be healthy and show up like that, that's that's that's huge for Colton Hood. You want to give your honorable mentions before you move on to the offensive lineman? Yeah, one of the guys I wanted to fit in there but I couldn't was Jaden Kennedy from Oregon. Oh, springy and just like a million miles an hour throughout the entire workout where I just couldn't help it. By the end of it, be like, oh, texting the Oregon friend. Like, what's the story with this kid? Because like that kid looks very much looks the part. Like I'm really excited to see him play in the NFL. Malik Muhammad was like good reps, pro, you know, very professional about his workout, but didn't jump out because of his athletic gifts as much. Avian Terrell, the younger brother of AJ Terrell, kind of raw. I think he could use some more development, but there's parts to his game, specifically in his footwork, where I'm just like, okay, I can see it. I can definitely see a potential there. And then I had Colin Wright from Stanford, who kept showing up in my notes, and Daylon Everett from Georgia as well. That was my five honorable mentions at cornerback. Okay, I love it. And I almost feel like you're planting a flag here on Colton Hood. I can just kind of... Last year was Tyler Booker and what happened? Okay. Okay. Let's get to your, who are you planting the flag on on the offensive line? Oh, baby. Today was a fun one. Vega Ione from Penn state, a guard. I am so excited to watch this kid play football. He has the goods. He's the first in line in his group because of the alphabetical order. And it's the second group. And he was just the next one in line. It was the first one. So he's out there setting the standard for every single drill. And he had all of it. Fluid hips. Light, choppy feet, fired quickly, a knack for changing direction smoothly, and a violent punch when he's picking up the blitzes and the stunts and everything else with the guys with the blocking shields coming toward him. He nailed every drill. It was nearly perfect. And I think that he can step in right away and be an upgraded guard for somebody in the NFL. His comp was Kevin Zeitler. 14 years in the NFL won Pro Bowl but a pretty strong reputation for being an above average to one of the better guards in the NFL especially during his prime And I think this kid could be that and potentially more That was my most exciting prospect But the most intriguing prospect to me was the tackle from Arizona State. I can't remember how to say his name. Max Inniaker, I think is how you say it. He's this athlete. He's long. He's broad. His feet aren't the fastest. and I think it's a bit of an optical illusion because of his size. I've seen guys that size move faster and lighter than he did. So you're thinking, all right, that's a problem, right? No, because he has a set of traits. DJ was highlighting it on the broadcast with the game tape, which is very strong, which is that he's very stout. His base is very, very firm, and his hands are really strong. And he can just get his grips on you and hold on to you. And I'm thinking, okay, but if he doesn't have fast speed, how does that translate? he's not really light in these drills how does this translate and then there's the stunt pickup drill and i watch him hit the shield and i'm watching his feet and his posterior chain and i'm thinking the feet aren't fast enough to really get there in time like to be really impressive and he's got these hips that like they just swivel so quickly i don't think i've ever seen a guy with hips like this and i'm like oh my god this is one of these players who is going to win with hips and hands instead of just his feet and i'm like i would love to see this at play at the nfl level because i think it would he would be almost one of a kind in that regard it's like you know the old mayock was like oily hips right well this guy is like dripping in motor oil or wd or whatever that's how quickly he swivels very very natural i just loved watching him i'm super excited i think is the way to say ian atcher and 491 40 at 321 pounds by the way and i saw a clip that uh sam schwarzstein was on the sumer sports podcast and he was explaining why you're more impressed by a guy who runs like a 4.9 or around that range like worse 485 at 320 than you are somebody who's lighter and runs a little bit slower because it suggests that they are more flexible and nimble to avoid injury and be more durable over the course of their career because their body is able to sustain that speed and then i go watch this kid do that and i'm like okay i see it's all in his hips his mobility and everything his flexibility and all that the pliability tom brady uh is in his hips so i'm really excited to see where this kid lands because i i just it's for nothing more than the fact that it's an experiment and i want to see how it plays out okay wait so if you're planting your flag which offensive lineman is it you know it's the two that i just talked about i'm taking two because they're in different positions i got i got a guard and i got a tackle you got a guard a tackle and you got colton hood we got to write this down for next year uh i love it so wait is that your whole combine team or no we got more tackles so So we got Spancer Fano, or Fano, depending on how you pronounce it, from Utah. The debate on him is where is he going to play? For the second year in a row, I'm going to take one of the top tackle prospects and tell you to move him inside. And I actually feel more confident about this than I did about Will Campbell because he does not quite have the stoutness and balance in his base that even Campbell had. Campbell won with his feet. Fano wins with his movement more than his feet. He projects, in my opinion, to be a very good guard and potentially a very good center. In fact, at the end of the session, he went and did some reps as a center, snap of the football, just to show that he could do some of that too. And I think ultimately the way that he's built, the way he moves, he moves differently than most of the guys in this group. He just doesn't really look like a tackle to me. Arms are shorter than Will Campbell's as well. Let's move him inside. I don't even need to waste the time with the whole fail and then move inside. Let's just do it right away and put him on the track towards success, either guard or center, because I think he could be a very good one. But he is listed in tackle because that's how he's currently classified. He had a good workout. Again, the movement being his strength. Another guy with movement being his strength was Enrique Cruz from Kansas. 4'9", 440 at 313 pounds. And then he just cruised through every drill to where my notes just consistently said, there he is cruising again. There he is motoring down the field. One of those guys where I don't think you'd want to get caught in the tracks with him coming, you know, barreling down on you because I think it would just be a disastrous outcome for those in his path. But I want to see – I think it's a fit thing for him, and I think that he's somebody that's got to be kind of the team that's looking for a guard that is more focused on getting to second level than a traditional guard. And then we'll just get to the last one here real quick. My center, three centers that I really like in this class. Logan Jones from Iowa is the one who makes it because he put down a 4.940 at 299 pounds, and then he went out there and delivered one of the most consistent performances of anybody. similar to the kid from Penn State, just front to back, very good. And he comes from Iowa, an offensive line factory where they clearly train you to be ready to play at the next level. They've produced so many successful players, and I think he's just the next one in the long list of them, and he can step in and be somebody's solution at center right away. And then the next two are Sam Heck from Kansas State, who I thought was also very good, and then Parker Brailsford, who you could tell he's played center at a big-time program from Alabama. Not as polished and perfect as the other ones, but somebody that I could definitely see somebody taking a team taking and being like, all right, you know, we like this kid's potential day two, late, late day two sort of player that, you know, ends up winning a starting job and then grows from there. Yeah. With Logan Jones, you see a projected Iowa athlete at center. And it's like, Oh, he's projected to go in like round four. First of all, he probably won't go in round four. But that's what you want. That's what you can sometimes find interior offensive line starters in the third round. And so I'm going to be keeping an eye. on him. We love the work that Shook puts into this all combine team every year. Go check it out on NFL.com. You could just go NFL.com slash Shook if you want his vanity page with all his writing, but I'm sure that we'll be pumping it up. My nine-year-old headshot. Yes. We all look younger in our headshots. I just love seeing your eyes light up and just the excitement at the end. That's why I wanted the offensive lineman last, Shook, so we can just take you home flying to your dinner. Try to get a little steak. But not until it's time for the off-season ride presented by Toyota. I mentioned we had a couple just news items, nothing major that's happening right now in the NFL. Everything was focused on the combine. It's a lot of speculation. There was a big Dan Graziano article with Jeremy Fowler, Fowler, where I was like, they're kind of just throwing out things people are hearing that were interesting, but it's not like hard news. The one real hard news item I saw from Sunday is that the expectation is that Aaron Jones and Javon Hargade will be released by the Vikings. We talked about that when we talked Vikings, we thought that they might be on the chopping block. They got to cut a lot of salary. Two guys towards the end of their careers who can probably help teams, but they make sense for the money that they have. And Hargregg got paid a lot of money last year. So it shows how risky it is and can be in free agency. And they might be looking towards the draft or kind of cheap free agency to find another running back now. Remember that they have Jordan Mason. The fascinating thing with the Vikings, also in that article that I mentioned before, there was that some Geno Smith connection there. Give me some Gino to KOC that they're going to be looking for a veteran and specifically mentioned Kyler and Gino as kind of their top options before they move on to maybe the older crowd, which is funny to me that Gino is not. Gino is the older crowd. What are we talking about? That's what was funny. But the older crowd was like Flacco and Rogers. Oh, my God. And Cousins. So technically, if this is to be believed, and we heard some Geno Cardinals connection, it even said teams around the league, it didn't even say his agent, it said teams thought that Geno was limited by the Raiders tape. I mean, stick it in my vein by the Raiders offense. Stick it in my vein. Get him to Minnesota. Yeah, he was. He was behind the worst offensive line in the league with no receivers. All he had was Brock Powers who got hurt in like week one. He had nothing to work with. that offense was terrible and it started in the trenches i i don't hold this the raiders performance and the disaster that was the 2025 season for them and for gino against gino except for the fact that a little bit he was still here he was still gino and still trying to force passes through the eyes of needles and that's how he ends up with like 20 interceptions but yeah actually i love the idea of pairing him with koc go push jj and if he if jj doesn't pan out you can lean on gino for a year or two. That's a great pairing. I think the idea is to bench JJ. And I think they see Geno and Kyler Murray as the most likely guys who could that are freely that should be available. Kyler is expected to get cut. That wouldn't cost that much money that they could actually afford that would push JJ to the bench so that you know, keep an eye on that. That's really fascinating. The Packers did not tender Emmanuel Wilson. Their running back was playing pretty well for them. So he's just a free agent. I just wanted to kind of mention that another good, there's a lot of good backup running backs and he's one of them. Tyler Algier, I think is a guy who's going to make a little more money than I projected in terms of my free agency list. But yeah, Emmanuel Wilson, I think is a solid back. Jimmy Garoppolo is also being thrown out there as a potential starter or potential guy to throw into the mix, maybe for the Cardinals to replace Kyler Murray if they don't wind up getting Malik Willis. And then one other thing I just want to mention, I just, you listen to a lot of the different reports out there, different team sites, different whatever, and everyone's mentioning Minka. Minka, oh, maybe they're going to get Minka. Oh, the Minkles, maybe the Bengals will get Minka. Oh, this team, oh, maybe they're going to get Minka. I mean, Minka's still on the Dolphins, but my takeaway from all that shook is that the Dolphins are talking Minka with everybody, and it's only a matter of time before a deal happens, and it probably won't cost that much. It's probably like a day three pick to get Minka, and they're just trying to salary dump him. But I think we're going to be seeing Minka Fitzpatrick on a different team in 2026. That's how the flow of information happens. You go to Indy, you spend the week in Indy, and then afterward, all this new stuff just trickles out there because what did everybody do all week in Indy? They all hung out at the same bars and restaurants and cafes and talked about this stuff. And of course, it's going to get out in one direction or another. So where there's smoke, there's fire. And I absolutely believe that. And you don't have to look much further than the fact that they've already been salary dumping this entire offseason with the new front office and Eric Sullivan and a new head coach in Jeff Halfley. They're trying to put their stamp on this organization. The Packers, that's where both these guys came from, do not operate as the Dolphins were operating before. Minka at his age is going to be worth something for another team, but it's not worth the Dolphins to pay him when they're in this rebuild right now. So yeah, totally think that that's going to be a thing and he'll be on the market before long. And there was a report too that they're looking to do extensions with some of their core players, including Aaron Brewer, the center, Yvonne Achan, the running back. So I think maybe forget about the possible trade for Achan and even that they looked at Jalen Waddell as a piece of what they want to do long term. It makes no sense. I know people like get excited about, oh, rebuilding, tanking. Like if you have good young players, you need like 10 of them. So it doesn't help to get rid of them. Let's say goodbye to Nick Shook and let's also say goodbye to that segment. That was the offseason ride along presented by Toyota because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people. We did it, Chuck. We're getting you to your reservation in time. You might even have like 20 minutes to get a little shower or a pump in. I don't know what you're going to do in between. Go do some push-ups in the hotel room. Yeah, I like it. This is efficient. Or get to the bar early. Or lay on the bed for five minutes. Have a beer. Enjoy it. Enjoy your steak. Enjoy the shrimp cocktail. The whole thing with the shrimp cocktail, I think it's like, I think it tastes great. It's a strong sauce. But the reason why it kills everyone is people are just like slathering that thing on and like piling it while they like, that's not how you do it. Just have a nice coating and eat it. And it's delicious and it's spicy, but it's not going to, I don't think, you know, it's not going to kill you. It's not like everything in moderation soup out at like, at like spicy or so it's nothing crazy, but yeah, like to pile it up. That's stupid. That's not how it's meant to be eaten. That's true. But also like it's the, it's the way that it's used to define indie to the point where the nice people from St. Elmo's coming to the media work room on Friday and they're walking around with trays of shrimp cocktail at 1030 in the morning and they just go shrimp cocktail. And I'm like, I'm going to wait. And they were like, we'll see you in five minutes. And they come back and shrimp cocktail. And I'm like, I'm going to save it for the Navy bean soup because it's 1030 in the morning. I'm not trying to blow my nostrils out, but I will clear my sinuses tonight. You better believe it. That's the reward for doing another combine. What branding to have an appetizer define an entire city. That's it for us here today. Hit that music, Chris. We will be back on Monday. We're getting the daily shows started a day early because it's a big week. Ollie Connelly is going to join me. Patrick Claymod is going to join me. We're going to talk about some lingering questions post-combine and now looking ahead to free agency. It's the Gregular season. The biggest two weeks of the year are coming next. We'll see you then. free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free iHeart radio app, search 40s and free agents and listen now. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.