00:00to help us out all around the nfl and specifically with the browns of course
00:03we go to nate davis of usa today our good friend nate what's going on
00:07hey jake how are you we're doing uh pretty good i obviously very exciting time we are
00:13just now under five weeks away from the draft and that is usually right around where uh this
00:19talk heats up exponentially yeah no we're kind of getting past free agency and uh we're in that
00:25march madness lull when i'm convinced most teams take take their vacations and not a whole lot
00:30happens um but yeah i'm sure that draft talk is going to probably pick up here um you know if
00:35it
00:35hasn't already then the next the next couple weeks but but yep that's the next big thing we're looking
00:39to and i'm sure certainly in cleveland with the two first round picks and the ones beyond that
00:44there's no doubt and nate i keep an eye on on your stuff and i saw you put out a
00:48couple of mock drafts
00:49in uh over the last few weeks and i've been pretty adamant on the the browns where they trade down
00:55and the one that you've pointed out a couple of times has been the lions a little bit later in
01:01the first round not that i disagree with the browns not sticking and picking at six uh but why the
01:05trade down and why the lions well i you know i think i did i did that lions one coming
01:11uh
01:13it's coming out it's coming out of a weekend actually i guess it was after free agency and
01:17then the next day we had we had the trade with uh with jaylen waddle so it was kind of
01:21an updated
01:21version of that one but um just looking at the way the free agency landscape shook out i mean i
01:27know the browns could use a left tackle i mean certainly it seems like kind of the lions glaring
01:32void right now um after taylor decker and they went their separate ways and then uh i think the
01:38lions are in more of a you know win now mode than probably cleveland is but um yeah i think
01:44you know
01:44the browns need a receiver they probably need a left tackle you know if we're not comfortable with
01:50with dewan jones kind of being the the guy there or at least i think you'd want an alternative so
01:55um i think it's some combination you know easy to find that that happening for cleveland and
02:01i just i also i don't know it's six either unless they really fall in love with
02:05probably carnell tate you know i think that there may be in a good spot to
02:10you know make a deal with a team like the lions that may be desperate to fill a certain position
02:14whereas i think the browns could take the the most available guy there move down whatever
02:19maybe feel both needs but i i don't know if there's going to be an elite player at six
02:23which may help them find a dance partner for somebody that wants to fill a need but
02:27um it may also be that they just kind of get stuck with a good player at six but not
02:32necessarily
02:33the blue chip guy the way this draft is kind of kind of stacking up it looks like
02:37so obviously this has been a massive conversation because as you point out there there's not really
02:41a blue chipper at six even if there is one it's probably on the defensive end which
02:45a lot of people argue the browns definitely don't need at this point right so when we look
02:51at a potential trade down where you see from the the six all the way through kind of the first
02:55round
02:55how much of a drop off of talent is there within that first round that says you know the guy
03:00you're
03:00drafting it wherever you trade down to isn't as good as the guy that you're picking at six
03:06well i mean i i don't i don't know there's an argument that there's i mean we all know mendoza's
03:13going one and a lot of people think he's the best player in draft you know we'll see whether or
03:17not
03:17that's true um i think probably jeremiah love is the other guy that's probably considered
03:22the second best player obviously doesn't play a premium position but beyond that i mean you're
03:28looking at a bunch of guys who are kind of projections or maybe they're good college
03:32players that have good pro ceilings like like david bailey or maybe they're they're pretty good
03:37college players that might have outstanding pro ceilings like like arville reese but you don't
03:42exactly know that because you haven't you haven't seen you know the pass rush out of him
03:46in particular so i i just i think i think the other component of this too is that a lot
03:51of teams are
03:51you know if they can get a 20 27 pick out of you i think certainly they'll be looking to
03:57do that that
03:58kind of a move and i don't know that cleveland's going to get anybody to do that at number six
04:02certainly with the talent available um and i think maybe there's also going to be a bit of a
04:07cautionary tale to some teams because i don't think that the travis hunter trade that the browns
04:12pulled off last year really has aged that that well after one year so um you know we'll see if
04:17teams do do these targeted things but you don't normally see a whole lot of at least in the top
04:21five um teams making big moves to get guys other than quarterbacks obviously there's not that market
04:27this year um but you never know with the draft we'll see what happens so we obviously have that
04:33wide receiver sort of left tackle debate two of the the browns biggest holes you take a look at
04:38the guys that are available you have maybe two or three guys that tackle and a boatload of wide
04:43receivers kind of in two different tiers is there a correct way in your mind to address this with two
04:48first round picks is it left tackle then wide receiver wide receiver left tackle or do you think
04:52the browns have the flexibility to go either way i think they certainly have the flexibility and
04:57depending on how their board is stacked i mean they'll know at number six you know who the better
05:02player is you know assuming they're looking at those two positions i mean they'll know which
05:06one they have graded higher and that kind of answers you know the second part of the strategy
05:11pardon me i think i think probably monroe greeling who i've kind of had there in that six spot you
05:16know he's again another guy um has the tools it doesn't have the the college experience has the
05:22upside i mean do you want to gamble on that you could or do you want maybe a more ready
05:28-made product
05:29like a carnell tate who would probably be a good sidekick to jerry judy um that's what that's what
05:34they're going to have to decide um but i think either way they'll get a good player i i would
05:39probably go left tackle just because i think that there's fewer of those guys i just don't know that
05:44there's one worth number six pick and i think it's a it's a deeper receiver draft and you know if
05:50they
05:50do decide to go to a different position at 24 so they go left tackle at six but they could
05:54probably
05:55take some someone else at 24 if the board falls that way you know if there is a good defensive
06:00add for instance maybe another pass rusher opposite miles garrett um if they do that i still think they
06:05can get a pretty good receiver down the board i think it is that kind of year for receivers i
06:10don't
06:10know that necessarily is for other positions and certainly not offensive line nate davis usa today
06:15with us on the hotline i wide receiver obviously in that mock draft you had a jordan tyson going to
06:21the browns later in that first round with their first pick after the trade down when you look at
06:26jordan tyson just as a prospect overall like the ceiling has been so high but how much of a concern
06:30are the injuries in the injury history that's attached to him that has him kind of all over
06:36when we look at mock drafts yeah i mean i think you take away the injuries some people think he's
06:41the
06:41best receiver uh in the draft um you factor in the injuries and you kind of have to um it
06:47gives you
06:48a point of concern um that being said i mean i think one was the collarbone one was the hamstring
06:54i mean it's not a situation where this guy's like torn you know an acl twice or had multiple knee
07:01injuries or that kind of thing they've all kind of been random uh you know on various points of his
07:05body so i think that that's probably you know something that maybe gives you less concern that
07:10he's got like a chronic knee issue or shoulder issue or whatever that might be um but yeah i mean
07:16i think
07:17i think if you believe in the kid and the player certainly i think he might go higher than 24
07:21but
07:21but like you said i mean if you think carnell tate or malachi malachi lemon or whomever is a safer
07:27player
07:28you probably go go with him at six but certainly there there are believers out there that they
07:33tyson is the best one and maybe now he doesn't get past number 11 given the need that miami has
07:38now
07:39it's certainly a massive but how surprised were you to watch that trade go down
07:43jalen wattle's name didn't pop up very much and going for a first round pick
07:47i just kind of seem surprising in a lot of ways
07:52well you know his name has been out there i mean he was supposed to get traded last year at
07:57the
07:57deadline um i thought it was a good deal for both teams i mean again kind of talking about the
08:03relative
08:03quality of this draft um yeah they're getting the first rounder but it's 30th so it's it's on that
08:09borderline excuse me first round or second round um but i still think it's a good deal for the
08:15dolphins who you know i don't think anyone really expects going to be a very competitive team this
08:19year and they'll be paying off their two a debt for the next year or two um i do think
08:24they need to
08:25you know leverage the extra picks they've got to get young players meaning like young receivers
08:31maybe offensive players back because the concern i would have is that you're you're getting your
08:36tyreek hill is gone and now waddle's gone um what do you really put around with malik willis who's
08:43for a first time starter um to support him i mean probably not gonna be a good team but at
08:48least
08:49bringing some assets in there to to give your quarterback a chance there in year one but
08:53otherwise i think we all kind of know what this year looks like for the dolphins so i i don't
08:56mind
08:57the move on their part i think it's kind of a win-win trade to me but it also depends
09:01on what
09:01they do next all right let's uh go back to the browns here for a second i want to go
09:06to quarterback
09:06because obviously there were several options that were floated around this offseason between
09:12free agency a couple of guys you know getting released from their deal signing minimum deals
09:17the browns kind of just stand pat it looks right now like it's chador and deshaun
09:21do you think that's a mistake on the browns part or do you like it
09:26i don't mind it i mean i think you kind of give todd monk in this year to evaluate
09:30those guys um you know it's interesting that we've gotten to a point where deshaun
09:34watson's back in that conversation and you don't hear dylan gabriel's name very often at this point
09:39but um you know i think i think it's probably not a bad thing to continue building up that roster
09:44around deshaun or whomever and giving them a chance to to show you who they are and if not
09:50you come back in 2027 and then take another one but i i think you give todd monk in the
09:55year to kind
09:56of uh get the lay of the land and i mean if ty simpson i guess is down there at
10:01what 39
10:03maybe but i think you're better off giving shador the time let the team grow around him um developing
10:10the offensive players you're probably going to take in the first round um but if he falls in love
10:14with pi simpson's sure take a shot but i think you're better off growing the team um using the
10:20momentum from last year and then if it doesn't work out you go back in 2027 and then get probably
10:26a better guy is probably i think the best approach that they would attend but they should take here
10:31in year one where there's really no pressure on them to win a whole lot right now i wanted to
10:37ask
10:37you brown's throwing out there a potential rule change uh to make a draft picks now tradable five
10:44years in advance coming up at the end of this month for the league meetings or they're proposing that
10:47does that lead you to think there's something immediate in their eyes on the horizon or maybe
10:52i mean you think back to potentially looking to trade miles garrett obviously trading for deshaun
10:58in something that's maybe more of a hindsight reflection
11:04i i think it's it's a proposal that they didn't just cook up on their own
11:10um i think it's it's kind of an attempt to nba nba fi if that's a word the nfl
11:17where it decreases the wheels for more trades and we love talking about them and you know you've
11:23got general managers now that are more willing to execute them and take more of a short-term view
11:28um obviously the more times that some some teams do that um you know some teams are willing to do
11:36the whole uh you know let less see thing if you will so i think i think the more flexibility
11:41you give
11:42them to make those trades um the more you're going to see and probably you're going to see more
11:46teams taking an nba approach where they try to stockpile them and kind of do what the jets are
11:51doing right now so i think that's kind of the thinking behind that you know i don't think the
11:55browns are the only team that feel this way that you know hey this is a legitimate approach to team
12:01building so yeah i think we'll see what comes out of that but that's that's kind of where that's
12:05coming from no doubt nate i know you're battling through the sickness i i appreciate you toughing
12:11it out jumping out with us today i appreciate the time and it's always good to talk a little
12:15football and get your insight okay hopefully i'm healthier next time sorry about that no worries
12:19whatsoever we appreciate you okay nate davis usa today with us on the make it right call cow right
12:26hotline
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