00:00Alabama wide receiver Jeremy Bernard wrapped up his top 30 visits with a trip to see the Falcons
00:05yesterday. Previously, he had gone to see the Steelers, Browns, Raiders, among a few others.
00:10Now, Jeremy Bernard is not on Dane Brugler's mock draft, but his seven rounds align closely with how
00:15we've been thinking the Falcons will maneuver through this draft. Defensive tackle, wide
00:20receiver, linebacker, O-line, tight end. In the second round, he has Christian Miller, third,
00:25Bryce Lance, fourth round, Jimmy Rolder, fifth round, Carver Willis, sixth round, Riley Nowakowski.
00:33Mike, you brought up a really good thought earlier that Dane Brugler is saying exactly what we're
00:40saying. Can it be that simple? Is this what Ian Cunningham is going to do or are we going to
00:45be
00:46thrown a curveball? Yeah, like we have so many times in this city. Yeah, like we have so many
00:51times in this city. I mean, look, it goes back before the Pennix thing. It goes back to Bajon.
00:55I didn't think there was any chance that we were going to come off a thousand yard season
00:59and a Tyler Algier and drop a running back in the top 10, which was felt insane at the
01:04time. But we did. And thank goodness we did. Cause obviously, you know, he's one of the best
01:08players on our team and in the NFL. I do think there was an outside shot to add in a
01:14couple
01:14other positions into this thought process. You mentioned it yesterday. We went through it.
01:20We kind of had four positions and I even added Oscar Delp in there because I was like, look,
01:25let's just throw this out there. If he's available past the second, I'm taking him.
01:29But if you go look at the, you know, combine meetings or pre-draft visits or top 30 visits,
01:36it's clear that there's a couple of other things on their mind. Cornerback being one of them,
01:41they have met and there's been reported multiple four, maybe four cornerbacks, maybe five that
01:47have reportedly met with them throughout this entire process. There's been multiple running
01:52backs, the kid out of Arkansas. They've met with him, Mike Washington. And there's also
01:58been, now I think this is more of a, uh, post draft free agency kind of thing. They've also
02:04met with a couple of quarterbacks, Haynes King being one of them. So I would say if there was
02:09going to be a curve ball at all, and I'd be curious to get both opinion, there's going to
02:13be a curve ball at all. I think it's corner. I think that would be something they'd look at
02:17and go, all right, let's, let's find some value here and go out and get a guy.
02:21I just didn't think it's, it's more pit. I, it'd be great to say cut and dry. This is where
02:27they're, I just think they're going to find a way to get more picks. It's the, they, I'm,
02:32I'm going to take them at their word right now because why would you say over and over and
02:40over again that having only had a worst case scenario is ending, ending the draft with five
02:46picks and not do something else. And I don't know, look, everybody does a mock draft differently.
02:52I'm, I read through Dane Brugler's seven round mock. I didn't check to see if he did trades in it.
03:00Some people don't. Some people just go straight through. Some people are like, oh, I'm going to
03:03work in a trade. It's really hard to do a seven round mock draft if you do trades because
03:08it really starts, you know, you really have to keep up. I liked what he did with the mock draft
03:17because we've talked about all of those are needs, but I think you could get a corner
03:23if you add draft picks, but I think you could get through this without getting a corner if you don't
03:28add draft picks. And in fact, I am not as much on the go grab a corner train as a
03:35lot of people are
03:36in the draft. I would be, if this draft worked out this way, I'm not overly in love with Bryce
03:44Lance. We talked about that earlier, but I could live with the rest of it. The problem for a lot
03:49of
03:50people and the problem for this team is going to be a couple of these guys and to me, including
03:55Bryce
03:56Lance, if you did this, are projects. To me, you've only got two guys in this draft of this Dane
04:03Brugler mock draft that Allie mentioned are the names she's told you that could probably come in
04:10and contribute right away. And that is obviously Christian Miller. And I think Jimmy Rolder is
04:18the other one because Rolder is a special teams guy as well. So, you know, he can do a little
04:25bit
04:26of that. So he's a good special teams player. Those are the only two guys I think you could come
04:30in
04:30right away and contribute. Well, of this list, Christian Miller is the one that we keep hearing,
04:35and he's also made a visit with the Falcons as well. Their eye has to be on him, right?
04:41For sure. For sure. And, you know, I think, well, and let's be honest, it's on multiple people from
04:46University of Georgia, right? We talked about the contingent that went up there, talked about the
04:49conversations with Zachariah Branch and some of the other things, you know, going on with this team.
04:54Um, I just, I think that the, the conversation I keep having in my head, and you knew what I
04:59talked about, you and I talked about this this morning. It's like, obviously we have positions
05:04of need and you just asked it, which one of the, you know, Bo brought it up this, you know,
05:08he helps us immediately. I'm just not so sure when we talk about drafting a corner, drafting a
05:14quarterback, drafting a runaway. I don't necessarily think that Ian Cunningham is talking about who can
05:18help us this season. And Bo and I have gone back and forth on this a number of times.
05:23I think they're very comfortable. If they feel like they can develop three third rounders in
05:27their starters by 2027, I think they'd trade back and get three third rounders. You know what I mean?
05:32So I think, I think what we need now, we have to, we have to stop taking our, look, keep
05:38your eye on
05:38the ball of what this team's all about. Because yesterday we did the whole thing and it caught steam
05:44on social media because we're talking about, oh, wide receiver or outside linebacker and all this other
05:48stuff. And it's like, well, it's not a position of need, dude. How, how many of these people on this
05:53roster right now, your roster might be cut in half in terms of what it is now, as opposed to
05:58what you'll
05:58have in 2027. How many, 15 free agents you brought in on one year deals, add Kyle Pitts to that,
06:05add, you
06:06know, add a number of other players whose contracts are expiring, Charlie Warner. You might not even have,
06:11like, don't worry about what the positions of need are right now because they are clearly focused
06:16on two years from now. Yeah. Um, yeah, no, I think there's a lot. That's why they, they gave
06:24themselves financial flexibility for next year when they can sign some guys and they got to send some
06:31guys. But I think you can look at position of need to an extent, but the wide receiver thing is
06:40it is a need though, because you might've signed two guys on two year deals to come in and help,
06:46but you don't have the depth that you think they've said all the right things. But after
06:51Lameda Zaccheaus, where's your depth at at wide receiver? You're, you're gonna, you're gonna bank
06:58on some guys who you went ahead and told us like the fans, not just the people you talk about
07:06social
07:06media. Social media told us that everything after Drake last year wasn't good enough, right?
07:12At wide receiver. Well, just because you had brought in Dodson and Zaccheaus who are,
07:18Dodson's gone off two down years in Philly and I think he got lost in a fray. And then Lameda,
07:23who's like, Lameda is what he is. He's a guy that's going to catch 35 to 40 balls a year.
07:27He's going to be good. He's going to be average, average to good, but not great. But after those
07:33guys, there's nothing. You're, you're David Blairs, Chris Blairs, excuse me, not David
07:37Blair. Chris Blairs, look, we love the guys, but they still haven't done anything. Casey
07:41Washington, my dude, workout warrior, still hasn't done anything. Don't forget David Seals
07:47is in Tampa. I didn't. I mean, it's, it's, it's David Seals in Tampa. So you were talking
07:52about the fall off. It's real. I think that we thought, okay, you had a top three going into
07:58the last year. And then I think we all were like, okay, there's a little bit of fall off
08:02to, you know, whoever you want to put in, in, you know, that slot with four and five wide
08:07receiver, but then Darno Mooney's off and Ray, Ray McLeod's gone. And now all of a sudden
08:12you're like, Oh, David Seals will slide up. He's not even there. Like we don't even have
08:17that next level right now. So I'm with you. Even if you said, okay, the Dotson and Zaccheaus
08:23version we'll get, we'll be just as good as anything we got from Mooney and McLeod two years
08:27ago, you're still in a much worse position because there's not, there's, there's some
08:33guys. Well, and look, so you just mentioned how injury and attitude got in the way. What
08:38if, what if injury and injury get in the way? So you're cool. You could run with cool with
08:43running Drake, Casey Washington again. Um, that's the, that's why when you tell me it's
08:48not a need, I think you're being obtuse with that. I think you're getting stuck and I'm not
08:53saying you were saying that might, but like when people tell us that I'm like, well,
08:57really, who's their fourth wide receiver then? And, and, and that's where you get
09:02to get people. Well, and Mike, you mentioned the other day, you don't want to draft a wide
09:05receiver past the third round. No, because I think you're getting into the same situation,
09:10right? If, if we need a number two wide receiver, if a number two is not available, a clear cut
09:16number two, then what are we doing? You know? So then would you put defensive tackle ahead
09:20of wide receiver in second or third round? I think defensive tackle has got to be the move
09:25in my opinion, when you get to 48, if you sit, if you stay with 48, I think, I think
09:29defensive tackle has to be the move, but again, I don't necessarily know that he thinks that
09:34because I don't think he's thinking about 2026. It's like, Oh, obviously you need that
09:38guy to plug them in, but you could easily see if you look at what the bears did, just
09:45think of Drew Dahlman, for instance, right? You waited for a guy to come on the market.
09:49You had a bunch of money to spend. You had a bunch of draft picks and you were like,
09:52let's go sign Drew Dahlman to be one of the top paid centers in the league. You could easily
09:56see them trying to do that with a defensive tackle in 2027. If they don't draft one in
09:59the second round this year, I think you and I are on the same page and, but we got there
10:03different ways because while I, the reason I think defensive tackle is probably the go
10:07at 48 is because of the depth of the position this year. And if you're going to, if you're
10:13going to hold yourself true to the best player available, then it, you might be hard
10:18pressed to find a defensive tackle, not being the best player available based on your needs
10:24there. Now, then again, if a Jacob Rodriguez is there, you might go there. If you're still
10:29there, like, I'm not, I'm not saying that they won't go. I think it's going to be front
10:32seven. That's why, um, that's why that's how I, what the way I think it, but again, you
10:40don't know how the draft's going to play out. There might be a run on linebackers and we
10:46might, Jacob Rodriguez could go in like the top 40, top 35, something like that. The
10:52hell, there might be a run on defensive tackles and Lee Hunter could be off the
10:56board before 40. And so could Christian and Christian Miller and Caleb Banks. To
11:01me, Hunter Miller and Banks are all fringe first round draft picks where they could
11:06be in the first round or they could be, they could fall. It just depends on the run
11:11of the players, a position that happens, which every draft has. Is there any chance
11:16we find out about some kind of trade that Ian Cunningham has worked out for different
11:20draft picks that involves a player before we get to the draft? Are we going to wait
11:24until it gets to 48 and then we'll find out? I don't think there's, I think if we were
11:28trying to trade a first rounder and trade back, maybe, but I think given us the 48 and
11:33given where we're at or a week out, I don't think you'll hear anything till that pick is
11:37on the clock. And I don't know how many players you have on your roster right now that
11:40can get you into the first round. I know a few, but I don't, I don't, it's, it's, it's
11:46not, it's not like you thinking.
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