- 11 hours ago
The NFL Draft is a little over a week away and The Washington Commanders are narrowing down their draft board, but who will be the pick at number 7? Bill Bender from Sporting News joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to gives his thoughts on who the Commanders will select in the first round of the NFL Draft and breaks down the top prospects and draft sleepers.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I want to get to the draft because most of my audience cares a lot about that with it being
00:06eight days away.
00:07So I'll just start with our team.
00:09What do you think happens?
00:11Who's available at seven when they are on the clock?
00:15And who do you think they take?
00:17You want Jeremiah Love, correct?
00:19Is that who they want?
00:21So I am a contrarian here, and it's not even a contrarian.
00:25I like Jeremiah Love a lot, but I am of the belief that this is too high for him because
00:32I don't see him as Bijan.
00:34I don't see him as McCaffrey.
00:36I see him as a really good back, but if I'm going to take it back at seven, I got
00:42to know.
00:43Look, I think Bijan Robinson is singular at this point for me.
00:46I don't think anybody plays like him, and I certainly don't think Jeremiah Love plays like him.
00:51So I should almost exclude him from the conversation.
00:55But I don't see him as the true elite level worthy with that position's contractual lack of value.
01:06I wouldn't take him at seven, but most people would.
01:09So go ahead.
01:10I think the two safest picks in the top ten are Caleb Downs, who is a, you know, in terms
01:18of the safety,
01:18he is, I can't compare him to Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu or even Sean Taylor.
01:26I can tell you when I see Caleb Downs and watch him play at Ohio State the last two years
01:30and Alabama before that,
01:32that you're looking at a, if you and I talk, and hopefully we're both doing this in 10 years,
01:36and I said, that guy made eight Pro Bowls, was a four-time All-Pro, no frills, one of the
01:42smartest players I've ever seen at safety.
01:44He's the safest pick.
01:45I think Sonny Stiles, the other one, and I live in, by the way, I live in Sonny Stiles' hometown,
01:50so this might sound like a little PR.
01:52I've known Sonny for a long time and known what he's about.
01:56He's an unbelievable athlete, and I think he'll fit however they use him in the NFL.
02:01The combine was not a fluke.
02:02He didn't miss the tackle this year, and, oh, by the way, if you get bored at work,
02:06go check out his high school basketball highlights.
02:09I've seen him.
02:10We had Bobby Carpenter on this show last week or two weeks ago, and he said he's known Sonny forever,
02:16and he said that's the guy.
02:19There's no way if he's on the board I don't take him.
02:22I think maybe somebody followed up and said,
02:25look at how good of a high school basketball player he was with that vertical.
02:29It was pointed out to me yesterday that he was on a floor at a state championship game in basketball
02:36with three guys that played Division I, two missed for basketballs,
02:40and he was the best player on the floor.
02:43Wow.
02:44He's that type, and he's just an awesome kid.
02:48We've had a chance to talk to him over the years.
02:50I think you would be getting somebody that, like, locker room leadership, example.
02:55His family's a great family.
02:57Obviously, his brother's going to be in the league, too.
02:59Right.
02:59And his dad, Lorenzo, still looks like he can play.
03:04He was a Falcon flying backer, I believe, in the 90s.
03:06But, yeah, that would be another, like, I'm about to write this piece as soon as we get off the
03:12phone here,
03:12is the safest picks in the draft.
03:14And those two were the first two that jump out.
03:17The other one, he's top 10-ish, but I look at Spencer Fano, the Utah tackle,
03:23and I think he's as safe as it can be.
03:25You know, he was just awesome run blocker, dominant tackle for the Utes,
03:30and he'll be another safe pick there.
03:32All right.
03:32Well, so you gave us the three safe picks.
03:35And, by the way, safe doesn't necessarily mean, you know, not high ceiling.
03:40But give me your highest ceiling players in the draft.
03:45Well, I mean, I really want to see what they do with Arbel Reese at this level.
03:50I mean, he's a guy that just got after it.
03:53You know, Jeremiah Love has a pretty high ceiling to me, too.
03:57I mean, I was on the conference call with Daniel Jeremiah yesterday,
04:00trying to get some stuff ready for the draft.
04:02And he was actually putting him in the same, you know, breath as Bijan and Jameer did.
04:08Yeah, most people do, yeah.
04:10Yeah, and I respect what you're saying, though.
04:12Like, if you don't – when I watch Jeremiah Love, I'm not sure if I can go with Bijan,
04:17but I can get in the – like, I see what Jameer Gibbs does to the Lions,
04:21and I'm like, he could do that for an NFL team.
04:23And the most terrifying scenario with Jeremiah Love,
04:26and there's a little bit of fan behind this being in Ohio,
04:29is if Love ends up with the Chiefs.
04:32I'm like, please, no, because that means the Chiefs will be amazing again.
04:35And so, you know, that's the type of thing that could happen with him.
04:40He's got a very high ceiling.
04:42You know, back half of the first round.
04:44You know, a guy I really like, and I don't know if he'll get into the first round,
04:48this is a good draft for linebackers, if you like a Jacob Rodriguez.
04:51I love Rodriguez.
04:53I mean, to me, every time you watch Texas Tech, Bailey's the higher pick,
04:58but Rodriguez was maybe as impactful to their wins as Bailey was.
05:06Oh, he's got all the forced fumbles.
05:09He tackles so well in the face.
05:11And I think there are two other ones that I watched over the last couple years.
05:14If you don't get Sonny, a couple that stand out to me that are linebackers
05:20that you can get later, maybe in the second round,
05:22is an Anthony Hill Jr. at Texas.
05:24We talked about Rodriguez.
05:26I've liked Kyle Lewis' entire career at Pitt.
05:28He was a guy that he can do a little bit of everything,
05:30and they're good fits in today's NFL.
05:32So I think it's a really strong draft for those three guys in particular.
05:36And if you look at their numbers, what they do, they get a lot of tackles.
05:41They get a lot of tackles for loss.
05:42They get an occasional interception,
05:43and they can get after the quarterback a little bit.
05:45It's very rare to find linebackers that can do all four of those things.
05:49We're talking with Bill Bender from Sporting News.
05:53So Washington, Bill, was horrendous on defense last year,
05:58and a lot of their free agency moves focused on the defensive side of the ball.
06:03And they added a bunch of players, and I'm going to tell you,
06:06four or five of them are going to be starters.
06:09That's how kind of depleted they were talent-wise.
06:12But they're still never enough when it comes to defense.
06:16And I'm wondering where – you mentioned Rodriguez,
06:18and then I brought up Bailey.
06:20But in terms of the edges, how do you rank them?
06:24Do you have Reese, one?
06:26And then if that's true, who comes next?
06:30Well, okay.
06:31So let's talk about Reuben Bain.
06:34The measurement part got a lot of pub in the combine.
06:38And so I was covering the national title game with Indiana.
06:42And you know how, like, when you're covering a game,
06:45you kind of gravitate towards one player sometimes.
06:47You're like, yeah, the game's going on.
06:50But I'm watching Reuben Bain outside
06:51and watching the way he was getting to the passer
06:53and watching how he disrupts the passing attack,
06:56particularly early in the game he was making plays.
06:58And I always wonder with edge rushers,
07:00how much of it is the guy on the other side?
07:03You know, when you had Mesador, you're like,
07:06well, they got two of them.
07:07You didn't get after the quarterback.
07:08But Reuben Bain on his own is a really, really good playmaker,
07:11strong in that wide.
07:14So I like him a lot.
07:16Arvell's pass rush numbers came off.
07:18They went down a little bit in the second half of the season.
07:21But I don't know if that's what they were asking him to do.
07:24And they weren't on the field a ton.
07:26So that's why he's probably the most curious edge rusher to me.
07:29Those are the two that I like the most.
07:30And you mentioned Bailey, a lot of production at Texas Tech.
07:35It seems like when I'm looking across the mocks,
07:37his value fluctuates a little bit.
07:40So I'm not sure where he'll land.
07:43Yeah, I've noticed that too.
07:45I mean, I've seen him at two a lot.
07:47And I've seen him, you know, available at seven for Washington a lot.
07:51Why do you think that is?
07:53Do you, because there's always so much we don't know.
07:57Like, we don't know any of the due diligence stuff that these guys know.
08:00So do you have a sense as to why Bailey might be fluctuating?
08:06Sometimes it's the conference you play in.
08:08You know, I was watching, I was actually watching a different guy yesterday,
08:13Maxi Ahanachor, the Arizona State tackle, who has got my attention.
08:17Because one, he didn't even play in high school.
08:20And, you know, like he emerges, he's from Nigeria, played soccer.
08:24And you look at his film from that game against Texas Tech.
08:28And I'm, again, you're starting to watch him instead of Rodriguez and Bailey and Hunter.
08:32So maybe it's some of it playing in the Big 12.
08:35And some of those pass rushers, it's a different, that's a different league.
08:40You know, they pass every play.
08:41Not every play, but you get what I'm getting at.
08:43It's not Big Ten or SEC football.
08:46So I think that's part of it.
08:48But, and I think, you know, there was nothing wrong with him at the combine.
08:51I actually thought of the three Texas Tech guys that was really impressed with Lee Hunter at the combine.
08:55As an interior guy with some personality and can magically play at the next level.
09:00I mean, you know, with as much money as they spent, they better have been good defensively.
09:06Right.
09:07And even in that Oregon game that they lost in the playoff, it's not like...
09:10It wasn't their defense.
09:11No, it was not at all.
09:13They played very well on that side of the ball.
09:15So, you know, I think that makes him a hard-to-read edge rusher.
09:18I like Mesidor.
09:19I mentioned him earlier.
09:19I think, you know, you try to do the math of, okay, well, college teams aren't built to stop two
09:26elite pass rushers typically.
09:27So which one of those guys is better?
09:29And, you know, Mesidor probably had a pretty nice career as well.
09:33Yeah.
09:35Mesidor, he was a really good player.
09:38But to me, what you said about Bain just fits with what I felt like I was watching all the
09:45time.
09:45Like, I'm watching really the best player on the field at times.
09:50But those arms, I guess, are going to be a problem for him in terms of draft, you know, spot.
09:58Real quickly, on the wide receivers, how do you have him ranked?
10:02Well, I think Cornell's pretty good.
10:04Cornell Tate.
10:05I mean, you trust, like, anything in life.
10:09And I'm probably going to sound a little bit biased living in Central Ohio.
10:12But, like, this Ohio State pipeline works.
10:15I mean, when you go from Garrett to JSN and, you know, Jeremiah's coming next year, they produce good receivers.
10:23And I think Cornell Tate, you know why I'm less worried about his 40th time?
10:26Because when I was watching it during the combine, it was clear to me, as someone who ran a very
10:31slow 100 in high school,
10:33but I said he stumbled.
10:35That's what happened.
10:36He stumbled.
10:37That's why the time is what it is.
10:38So why are we debating something when he stumbled?
10:41Why didn't he run on his pro day then?
10:44That's a good question.
10:45That one I can't answer.
10:46Because then you can erase the doubt.
10:48But, you know, I think I'm less worried about his 40th time.
10:51I do think he's probably one of the better receivers in the draft.
10:55As far as feeling, we were talking about earlier, Jordan Tyson has a high ceiling.
10:59He did nothing but make plays at Arizona State when he was healthy.
11:02So he's a guy that's got to probably stay healthy.
11:05I'm actually more intrigued with the tight ends early in this draft.
11:09Not to duck the question, but really interested to see what they do with Sadiq and Stowers.
11:14You know, they were freaks in the combine.
11:15And last year, you know, Loveland and Fannin and Warren had huge rookie years.
11:23So I think some teams might know that and say, man, I better get one of these guys.
11:27And both of those guys fit that description.
11:29Well, Harold Fannin, was he a fourth-run pick?
11:34He went way later than expected.
11:37And, you know, obviously it was a matchup nightmare at Bowling Green.
11:40I mean, I knew, you know, you knew with him he was going to be fine.
11:44When guys come from the G5, G6 now, conferences, when I see them perform,
11:51like I was sold on Fannin when he had like 17 catches against Penn State.
11:56And I'm like, okay, yeah, he can do it against them.
11:59He can do it at the next level.
12:00So I think, you know, with Sadiq and Stowers, they did that consistently this season.
12:07And, yeah, they were good teams, but I think both are going to be really interesting.
12:11I got a question for you, if you don't mind.
12:14Do you think somebody's going to draft Tavia?
12:16I'm struggling with that one right now.
12:19I don't know.
12:20You know, I honestly believe that these short quarterbacks are just at such a disadvantage.
12:26I mean, there's so many examples of it being difficult.
12:31I loved watching him play, though.
12:33I mean, I thought he was a phenomenal college football player.
12:36But is he six feet even?
12:39No, he's nice.
12:405'10".
12:41And here's the thing.
12:41When you get into day three, I feel like, you know, I've watched enough drafts to know
12:46kind of what they're going to be talking about when they have to fill all this airtime.
12:49And I think by the time we get to the sixth round on Saturday, there's going to be a lot
12:54of talk about Diego Pavia.
12:55Because the second-tier quarterback run will have happened by then.
12:58So, like Beck, and Aller, Nuffmeyer, and I'm probably leaving out a guy or two.
13:05I think Taylin Green's actually very interesting because he is a freakish athlete at 6'6".
13:12And for teams that have a dual threat element to their offense quarterback-wise, he's interesting.
13:18But, you know, as you're ripping through those names, I talked about this recently.
13:22I mean, this is just the nature of this time of year with the draft.
13:26I mean, before the season started, no one had Mendoza or Ty Simpson as the first two
13:33quarterbacks selected.
13:34It was Arch, it was Nussmeyer, it was Aller, it was Klubnick.
13:38You know, and the same goes for next year.
13:40Like, we should, you know, I mean, Malik Willis, somebody would have had to have, you know,
13:47their head examined.
13:48If you had said in August, he's going to be one of the top three free agents when we
13:53get to March.
13:54We really don't know as much as we think we know when it comes to this stuff.
13:58I actually am a huge Carson Beck fan.
14:01I actually think he looks like an NFL quarterback to me.
14:04I don't, and I love the way he played in that semifinal game against Ole Miss and wish
14:10he had gotten it done there at the end against Indiana.
14:12Do you think he's, I think he's a pro quarterback, maybe not a starter, but as long as
14:17he's not what people said he was last year in terms of the off the field stuff, if he's
14:23a good guy and he's smart, he's going to be in a locker room for years to come, don't
14:28you think?
14:28Yeah, he's at least a career backup minimum because of how much football he's played and
14:34played winning football.
14:35You know, pro football focus is good for a lot of things, and I cite it often in my
14:41articles, but the stat that I probably look at the most on pro football focus with college
14:45quarterbacks, it's a weird one.
14:47I go to intermediate yardage, passes 10 to 19 yards, because I feel like that's where
14:52you make your living in the NFL.
14:54Can you do that?
14:54Are you accurate from 10 to 19 yards?
14:57Anybody can throw short, and there's plenty of guys that can throw the ball down the field.
15:00Can you pitch, basically?
15:02And I think that's the thing with Carson.
15:04He's a confounding mix of a very accurate quarterback, but he also throws a lot of interceptions.
15:11So you're like, you know, it's one of those guys, it's like, he either throws it to your
15:15team or the other team.
15:16And you have the bad interception at the end of the game, but I like his game a lot.
15:20You mentioned Taylor and Green.
15:21If I had to make like a fun bet for the draft, and then, you know, no insider knowledge of
15:27this by any means, but I can see Jerry Jones taking that swing on day three.
15:31And just saying, I'm bringing in the Arkansas guy, a ton of talent, everything you mentioned,
15:36put on a show at the combine, had a great game against Ole Miss last year.
15:40And I could definitely see Jerry Jones taking that kind of swing and bringing him in.
15:45And then the guy I like, those day three guys, he's a little off the radar.
15:50And I'm talking about that stat, like, Saltmire can pitch a little bit.
15:53Very accurate, doesn't turn the ball over, perfect backup quarterback for somebody looking
15:58for one.
15:59By the way, on the intermediate stat, you just reminded me.
16:03So in 24, before, you know, Washington selected Jaden Daniels at number two overall,
16:08there were, you know, there were a lot of PFF criticisms and advanced criticisms of Jaden.
16:15One of them was, well, he doesn't necessarily throw the intermediate ball very well.
16:20Well, the truth was, if you really dug into the details, and I had some of the PFF guys
16:24on and shared this with them, and they're like, okay, well, that makes sense.
16:27LSU that year had the fewest third downs of any team in the country, and it wasn't even
16:35close, which means that, first of all, in first down, you're not throwing it as much.
16:40Second down, and their yardage typically with Jaden as a runner and their explosiveness,
16:46they just didn't face those typical third and intermediate down plays.
16:52And that's why there were so few of them, not because he couldn't do it.
16:56And we saw, obviously, as a rookie, he was great throwing at every level of the field.
17:04What else did I have for you?
17:05Oh, the last one is this, because I'm past the time that I should have been with you,
17:10and I appreciate the time, but this has been a lot of fun.
17:14Typically, guys like you have somebody, and maybe you already mentioned him, because you've
17:18mentioned a lot of guys, that you're like, okay, I know I'm going to be right about him.
17:22And it's an off-the-radar guy.
17:24You know, if it's the late first round and beyond, do you have a guy like that that you
17:30are convinced teams are going to underdraft, and they're going to regret it one day?
17:36I think I'm going to be right.
17:37You mentioned a receiver.
17:39I really like Casey Concepcion, the Texas A&M receiver, because I think he adds value
17:44as a returner.
17:46Sure.
17:47You know, there's things in his game that I really liked at Texas A&M in the last couple
17:51years, and I think he's one that, like, whatever team gets him, I'm going to be like, yeah,
17:57he's going to have a good career.
17:58And most of the guys I already mentioned, like, I really, and some of it's hometown stuff,
18:04but really like Sonny Stiles.
18:06Mentioned Kyle Lewis, the pit linebacker.
18:09Yeah.
18:09And I'm going to, I think next year, I like the Rasheen Biles, the pit linebacker that transferred
18:14to Texas a lot, too.
18:15I've been watching those guys a lot over the last few years, those linebackers that can
18:19make plays in this league that's so wide open.
18:22So, and I appreciate what you said about Jaden Daniels and that stat.
18:25That's something else where you don't want to get trapped into breaking down one stat.
18:30So that's a lesson for me, too.
18:31Like, you always got to look beyond those numbers, which are, you know, they're there for a
18:35reason, but that's a good learning exercise because, yeah, that LSU team was so darn good
18:40when he was there.
18:41And also, by the way, when they were, if they were in third and long that season, he probably
18:45could have took off and run for the first down.
18:47Oh, yeah.
18:47He had a ton of rushing yards.
18:48The other thing with him is he had what, you know, a lot of the advanced people said was
18:54too high of a pressure to sack rate and percentage.
18:58Well, when you went back and looked at it, his average yards lost on a sack was the fewest
19:03of any quarterback in the country because what was counted as a sack, a bunch with him was,
19:11hey, he's trying to make a play because remember how bad they were defensively.
19:14It's like they couldn't afford to punt.
19:16So on third and long, he's trying to make a play or second long, and then he scrambles
19:20and it's a minus one out of bounds, you know, and that's a sack that was registered as a sack.
19:27So a lot of that went into it as well.
19:31But anyway, by the way, I think my player, because we've already talked about him, but
19:36Jacob Rodriguez is going to get underdrafted.
19:39He's just a flat out playmaking, you know, he's just a baller.
19:44I mean, led the nation in forced fumbles, wherever the ball was, when you watch Texas
19:49Tech, number 10 was there all season long.
19:53And I'm seeing what second, maybe, maybe late night two for him.
19:59Well, and on top of that, so I, this is not a brag by any means, but I was fortunate
20:04enough
20:05to present the Nagurski Award this year, and he was the winner.
20:08So I got to present him that trophy, number one, which was fun, and be around his family.
20:14There's no risk.
20:16You talk about no risk, like everything about him is great.
20:19And you mentioned on the field, off the field, leaders type guy, converted quarterback, which
20:24makes it that much more interesting, and just went out there and made plays for the Red
20:29Raiders.
20:29So I can't wait.
20:30He's the guy that you mentioned not being right about, or not being wrong about.
20:34There are certain guys, when you do this long enough, that you're like, man, I really hope
20:37he has a great career.
20:38And he's one of those guys I'm not afraid to say.
20:40I hope he does.
20:42Really enjoyed this, Bill.
20:45Appreciate it.
20:45Enjoy the next week, and certainly a week from tomorrow night.
20:49Thanks.
20:50Anytime.
20:51Thanks for having me on.
20:51Take care.
20:52Have a great one.
20:53Yep.
20:53Bill Bender, everybody from Sporting News, at BillBender92.
20:59He is a past president of the Football Writers Association of America.
Comments