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00:00of the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast and Bleacher Report, Damian Parson.
00:04Damian, welcome to the show.
00:06Thanks for the invite. Thanks for the invite, guys.
00:08Well, it's great to have you here. Very excited to have you.
00:11I guess we'll start with what I just said there.
00:14Dan Orlovsky with a big send-up on Ty Simpson on Get Up this morning.
00:20That's had us kind of having conversations about the Browns in the first round.
00:24Is he more in play than we thought?
00:25Do you agree that Ty Simpson and Fernando Mendoza are very close
00:30in terms of their capabilities and coming out as prospects?
00:35Not necessarily.
00:36I have Fernando Mendoza with a significant advantage over Ty Simpson in my grades.
00:43Mendoza has been my QB1 since the summer when he was at Cal.
00:47And I think a lot of, yes, we watched the Indiana film,
00:50but you go back to Cal and you see him throw in the middle of the field.
00:53You see the same toughness you see at Indiana, him standing there versus Auburn
00:59with pressure bearing down, still throwing dimes and dots at all three levels of the field.
01:04He's better versus pressure than Ty.
01:06Ty struggled and at times crumbled a little bit.
01:10Like once you got to that Oklahoma game where teams closed the middle of the field,
01:15yes, Ty throws a lot in the middle of the field, the end breakers
01:18and things of that nature that does translate to the league.
01:21But that's also, it was also suited for who he was playing with.
01:25You know, Jeremy Bernard is a guy that wins in the middle of the field
01:28rather than winning with speed and being able to take the top off
01:31and win vertically and different things of that nature.
01:34Ty was a first-year starter, and you saw some of those hiccups as a young quarterback.
01:38So there's developmental upside with him.
01:41He's a guy that I think needs to sit when he gets into the league.
01:43Still my QB, too.
01:45I have him slightly ahead of Garrett Nussmeier, but Nussmeier is now healthy,
01:49so we'll see how everything plays out come draft night.
01:51But, yeah, I disagree with Dan's sentiment, especially down the field.
01:56In terms of who's better, or he said they were close throwing vertically,
02:00I disagree with that.
02:02For me, watching Mendoza, one of the best parts of his game,
02:06if he identifies the one-on-one, he's taking the one-on-one.
02:09You saw him big throws against Ohio State down the field to Charlie Becker
02:14where you're watching Ty Simpson.
02:17He struggles with ball placement and accuracy down the field.
02:20When teams force him into those deeper waters,
02:24you saw some of the concerns where, hey, you need some time working on that.
02:28What would your reaction be if the Browns took him at 24?
02:31If the Browns took him at 24, I don't mind that at all.
02:34I think he can run Todd Munkin's offense.
02:36I still think this guy is a late first, early second-round pick.
02:39That eight-game stretch when he played very well for Alabama,
02:43I weighed that more than the four games towards the end of the season
02:46where he struggled, right?
02:48So I think for him it's more so the accuracy there.
02:51He plays with a great base in the pocket.
02:53He knows how to climb the pocket.
02:55He's an accurate quarterback who wants to win.
02:57But he is a plus-level athlete.
02:59He can get out of the structure and make plays with his legs as well
03:03and run the ball and read blocks as he's getting downfield and everything.
03:08Now it's just more so having him just continue to develop the timing
03:12and rhythm at quarterback.
03:14There's some times when he's not anticipating throwing lanes
03:17and breaks where you would like to see that.
03:19But then it's like, hey, he's a young quarterback in his first year
03:22as a starter.
03:22So if they picked him at 24, that lets me know Todd Munkin clearly likes him.
03:26I think it goes back to last year.
03:27Remember when Kellen Moore, year one in New Orleans with the 40th pick,
03:32so let me get Tyler Shupp.
03:33But any time an offensive-minded coach who's the head coach
03:36picks their quarterback, I tend to incline to trust
03:40that offensive-minded head coach.
03:42All right, Damian, looking to the wide receiver spot,
03:45there's been a healthy amount of debate about whether there's a true
03:49number one wide receiver in this class.
03:52When you look at all the big names here,
03:55do you see guys capable of being a number one receiver on a team?
04:00Yes, I do see a pathway, especially from my big fours,
04:05Cardinal Tate, Makai Lemon, Jordan Tyson, and I have Casey Concepcion.
04:09I think all four of those guys have capabilities of being the one.
04:12It just depends on the offense and how it's structured, right?
04:15We've seen wide receiver ones look completely different.
04:18We've seen the Jamar Chases.
04:19We've seen the Mike Evans.
04:21We've seen the Julian Edelmans and Danny Amendolas and Wells Welkers.
04:24We've seen the different archetypes.
04:26So it all depends on where you envision year one.
04:30So for me, you think about the Browns.
04:32Todd Munkin had a lot of success with Zay Flowers.
04:35So I know a lot of Brown fans are like, hey, we must take Cardinal Tate
04:38or someone that sticks.
04:40Right now this offensive line is devoid of a left tackle,
04:43like a true left tackle for the future.
04:45You can probably get – if you can get Casey Concepcion at 24,
04:48he can be that Zay Flowers for you.
04:50But he also gives you, similar to Zay, that outside, that Z receiver spot
04:54with the dynamicism, the route running, those that beat man
04:58versus – man and press coverage.
05:00I promise to anybody listening, you get a chance.
05:02Go watch Texas A&M versus LSU when he played against Mansoor Delaney,
05:06the top corner from LSU, and when he played against Leonard Moore,
05:10who's supposed to be the 2027 CB1 right now in the consensus out of Notre Dame.
05:15He gave both of those guys everything they could handle in one-on-one situations.
05:20This is a very talented wide receiver that you don't have to take
05:23inside the top 12 picks.
05:25All right, so what's your ideal setup then for the Browns at six
05:27and then into 24?
05:29So, you know, up until – for a while, I was mocking –
05:33probably I think it was Cardinal Tate at six and everything.
05:36I like Cardinal Tate.
05:37Do I think he's a top seven player in this class?
05:40Not necessarily.
05:40Not how I have a great – that's what some other guys ahead of him.
05:43I think you make the swing at Monroe Freeling,
05:46the tackle from Georgia, 6'7", 315.
05:50He's got the pass protection prowess, the lateral movements.
05:53He's an affluent young man with great arm length and wingspan,
05:56I think 34 and some chains on the arm.
05:59He's got developmental strength there.
06:01So you can talk about adding a little bit of weight, getting up to 320,
06:04maybe 322, add a little bit more functional strength to his body,
06:08to his frame and mass.
06:09But this is a guy that absolutely has the chops to play left tackle
06:13and to be that pass protector.
06:15And that's the one thing.
06:16The Browns did a lot of extensive work on the offensive line this offseason.
06:20Now getting that future left tackle, even if they bring back –
06:23you know, they have DeJuan Jones.
06:24If you want to let him play the left tackle spot early, that's fine, right?
06:28Let them guys battle a lot in camp.
06:30I think it's a lot – I'd rather go with the high upside situation of Freeling
06:35and then getting the receiver at 24 if we're going to go wide receiver
06:39because this is a deep class rather than trying to take a Cardinal Tate
06:43and then hoping that there's a tackle – a left tackle worthy.
06:47There's not a ton of left tackles in this class.
06:49And I don't want to pigeonhole myself into taking somebody that I wouldn't want
06:54starting at the left tackle spot as a rookie.
06:56So I think my concern here is with Freeling,
06:59when we kind of initially started talking about him,
07:02he was more in that second round, you know, late first round kind of mold.
07:06And now he's kind of been pushed up the board seemingly
07:09because he seems to be the only left tackle or true left tackle in this class.
07:14And one of the big knocks is he's so raw he might not be willing to play –
07:19or sorry, be ready to play in year one or at least early in year one.
07:23And that's kind of – I'm like trying to remember other times
07:26where anyone's taken a top six pick and then just kind of said,
07:30eh, we'll see you in a year.
07:32Yeah.
07:33He's not even somebody I feel like you have to sit, though.
07:35And the reason why I'm all about – if you're going to take a young tackle,
07:40it's paramount to have a veteran guard on the inside as his bumper, right?
07:45Because now he has – he doesn't have to worry as much about guarding
07:49both inside and outside leverage as much.
07:53If you're dealing with somebody like – I mean, heck, you go back to the Ravens,
07:56right, and how they had Daniel Falele playing right guard.
07:59You're right, tackle's struggling because he can't just sit outside.
08:04If he gets beat inside, he knows he doesn't have help.
08:07He doesn't have anybody to help recover in that situation.
08:10I think getting a Zion Johnson will be able to help kind of settle him in
08:14and knowing that, hey, I have help on the inside.
08:17But I think just with the tools of this young man, again, do you –
08:21are you going to deal with some of the bumps and bruises, right?
08:23You think about Will Campbell with the Patriots.
08:27And up until the point he got hurt, like when he got hurt
08:29and that knee injury was pretty bad from what I was told at the Combine,
08:32that's why he didn't play up to par come postseason.
08:36But they lived with the ups and downs of him, and they took him high.
08:39And he was kind of an outlier, right, with the short arms
08:42and everything like that.
08:43I look at Monroe Freeling and I say, I'd rather get this young man at six.
08:47If it's me, I trust my old line coach.
08:49I trust my coaches on the staff to get him up to speed,
08:53to know the protection calls, to know what we're doing,
08:56the ins and outs of our offensive line group.
08:58Get those guys' communication and synergy there
09:00and watch them just truly develop throughout the season.
09:03I think for them, it's a clear situation.
09:05If you don't take quarterback at all in this draft
09:07or you don't take him early in round one,
09:10you're planning to allow things to pan the play out and the pan out
09:14for guys to take steps to develop.
09:16And then you're looking at 2027.
09:17If it's your door or Deshaun doesn't give you enough flashes
09:20or enough stability and consistency.
09:23So I would still take him at six.
09:25And like I said, if you wanted to let DeJuan Jones and him
09:27battle in camp, fine.
09:28But if it's close, I'm rolling with the rookie.
09:31Is Jordan Tyson's draft stock sliding?
09:35I think it is just because of the injuries
09:37and teams get weary with that.
09:40You know, I talked to a scout after the combine and said,
09:43hey, what's the medicals look like?
09:45And I was told the medicals came back clean,
09:46you know, for everybody who doesn't know,
09:48back in 2022, 2023, he tore, I believe it was ACL, NCL, and LCL.
09:54It was a couple of the CLs.
09:55That's the only thing I remember.
09:57And he tore it.
09:59And it kept him out most of it.
10:00It was like, I think 2022 kept him out most of 2023
10:03when he transferred out of Colorado to airs on the state
10:06and everything.
10:08And, you know, I've talked to this guy about it.
10:10I said, how do you feel about it overall?
10:12He said, I'm still taking him top 15.
10:14He's like, he's still an outstanding talent.
10:16He's arguably the most talented receiver in this class.
10:19He said, but you have to weigh that in in terms of,
10:23do I take him with a top 10 pick?
10:25So for him, you know, in the reports of,
10:27in the reports of the injury,
10:30the hamstring still playing a part right now for him,
10:33and he might not work out,
10:34or he's not planning on being able to work out this Friday at the pro day,
10:38that is tough.
10:39That's tough.
10:40And I think for teams, they're going to be like, hey,
10:42maybe once you get a little bit closer to the draft,
10:45you try and get a private workout.
10:48Because I think Avion Terrell, the corner,
10:50the star quarter from Clemson,
10:51he tweaked his hamstring during, I think,
10:54testing at the combine.
10:55He wasn't able to work out at the Clemson's pro day,
10:57but he told him, I could do a private workout for scouts and for teams.
11:00So I think his stock will fall a little bit just because of the injuries.
11:04And there's nothing consistent.
11:05The hamstring this year, that's one that, for me,
11:09is lingering right now because we praise God for being warriors,
11:13and now he's being hurt for being a warrior.
11:15In that Texas Tech game, he tweaked that hamstring early.
11:18He refused to come out.
11:19He's the reason they won the game on that last-minute drive
11:22with two huge catches, catching runs,
11:24setting them up again in the low red zone to be able to convert.
11:27I think he also got called, or he got a DPI called on the corner,
11:33which he was targeted, I believe, on the last-on, like,
11:36the touchdown throw and got him the balls and got the one,
11:39or whatever the case may be, and they end up scoring
11:40and winning that game versus Texas Tech.
11:43I think that was their only regular season loss and everything.
11:46Then they kind of-he took, like, three games off,
11:48like, trying to, like, get better.
11:50I felt like he rushed himself back,
11:51and now we're seeing kind of a culmination of all of that.
11:54Like, hey, maybe if he doesn't return-you know,
11:57we've seen players do it all the time, guys.
11:59Like, they get hurt mid to late season.
12:01It's like, hey, I'm packing today and I'm getting ready for the draft.
12:03I see you guys at the combine and my pro day.
12:05He tried to come back, and then he tweaked it again.
12:08So that's probably why it's lingering right now,
12:10and if that's the case and it flared up again during training,
12:12yeah, that's tough.
12:13And I do think his stock will – I don't think he falls out of round one,
12:16but could this be a Will Johnson situation from last year?
12:19Absolutely.
12:20All right, Damian.
12:22I know you're a fan of the idea of Casey Concepcion
12:24to the Browns there with pick 24.
12:27I'm going to just be up front here.
12:29I saw Anthony Schwartz run as fast as you possibly could,
12:33and he couldn't catch a freaking cold.
12:36So when a wide receiver has a knock on him that he can't catch,
12:41when the word receiver is in the title,
12:44I start to get very, very itchy very, very quickly here.
12:48So the knock on Casey Concepcion is he has catch issues.
12:52Do you think that is a fair question about him?
12:56It is a fair question, for sure.
12:58It is a fair question.
12:59Is it to Anthony Schwartz?
13:00No, God, no.
13:01But it is a fair question.
13:02And I'll say this.
13:04So for those who paid attention to the senior bowl,
13:07they had a receiver out there from J.C., from John Carroll University,
13:11Tyron Montgomery.
13:12And I had him on the Lockdown NFL Draft Podcast right after the senior bowl,
13:16so last month or so.
13:18And he's a former basketball player.
13:20He didn't play football at all, like through high school and everything,
13:23former LSU recruit.
13:24And I talked to him about how he prepared to catch passes and change from
13:28catching a basketball and alley-oops to now you've got to catch a football.
13:32He said, hey, I went to the jugs machine,
13:34and I caught five to 600 passes a day at 50, 60 miles per hour.
13:38I knew if I could catch the ball from the jugs machine,
13:40I could catch it from my quarterback.
13:42And he's got great hands now, right?
13:44So the hand-catching thing is always something that can be improved.
13:48And I think for me,
13:48a lot of it was more concentration when it pertained to K.C.
13:52And those are a lot easier than just, hey, I don't have natural hands.
13:56My hand mechanics are awful.
13:58I don't think that's the case with K.C. Concepcion.
14:00I think this is a guy that can catch the ball.
14:02He's got to make some very good combat catches as well.
14:05I think it's more just consistency-based and everything.
14:09So I would not put him in the Anthony Schwartz.
14:11Anthony Schwartz couldn't run routes.
14:12So that was the other problem.
14:14So he just was a straight-line, fast guy.
14:16But definitely I understand the concerns for sure.
14:19And then especially when you have a guy like Jerry Judy on the roster,
14:21who's also battled drops throughout his career for sure.
14:25It definitely raises the eyebrow in that sense.
14:30But I definitely would feel comfortable with K.C. Concepcion back around one.
14:34Omar Cooper, Jr., out of Indiana, a guy that has very secure hands,
14:38not as fast or explosive, but can do a lot of everything, play the Z,
14:42play the slot, run after catch.
14:44There will be some receivers at 24 that I believe will be there
14:48that the Browns could absolutely take advantage of.
14:52Damian, great stuff, buddy.
14:53Really appreciate you.
14:55And I'm sure as we get closer to the draft, we'll have to have you on.
14:59Happy one month to the draft.
15:01Yeah, thank you, guys.
15:03Damian Parson there on the Make It Right Call Kyle Wright hotline.
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