00:00But right now, we're going to switch back to the scouting front,
00:05where I know you guys are going to talk about Chris Bell and Trayden Stukes,
00:10but I also have just been informed that Alec Medford's first-round mock draft is now up.
00:19You have anything to say for yourself?
00:21Where can I find this mock draft?
00:22You can find that at 105throughthefan.com.
00:24It has been tweeted out at the 105throughthefan Twitter page as well.
00:28It's on my Instagram page as well.
00:29The link is there.
00:31I think there's a few surprises that you might not expect there
00:34in terms of where some of the picks go, especially in the NFC East specifically.
00:39I think you will have fun with that.
00:41But we can go in-depth in that at some point, maybe next week as we gear up for the
00:46draft.
00:46But if you're impatient, you want to check it out,
00:49you want to read all my write-ups on the first-round talents that I have going day one,
00:52it is available now.
00:54Wow.
00:56I'm retweeting it at this exact moment.
00:59Wow.
00:59That's nice.
00:59You're just now retweeting it.
01:01I didn't know it was up until then.
01:03I retweeted it like two segments ago.
01:04Oh.
01:05I was, you know, I've always liked Alec, and I wanted to be supportive of him.
01:10Mm-hmm.
01:11And so I retweeted it.
01:13Well.
01:14You just now saw it, huh?
01:16Do you even follow Alec on Twitter?
01:19I do.
01:20But I was focused on the show.
01:21Hey, can you give me cut number seven?
01:24And you're focused on your clap jokes.
01:27You loved it.
01:28You played that song in the break.
01:29Go ahead and give me cut number seven.
01:31Can we start with Chris Bell?
01:34Moss stands in.
01:35Back shoulder to Bell.
01:37Did he make the catch?
01:38Yes, he did.
01:40Touchdown.
01:41Grown man strength from Chris Bell.
01:44I like to hear grown man strength when it comes to somebody like that.
01:49All right, so this dude right here is, I'm going to make a comparison.
01:55And I told Kevin this earlier.
01:58I said, can I compare him to Michael Irvin?
02:01And here's why.
02:02Michael Irvin, because back in the day, everything that they had was large,
02:09he looked like he ran with every pad.
02:12And Chris Bell does not, nothing looks fluid about the way he runs to me.
02:18Like his routes aren't, he's a good route runner.
02:20Like an extremely good route runner.
02:22It just, it looks like it takes everything to run the route.
02:26He's got good speed.
02:28He is, he's big, uses his body to box out, create space in that way.
02:34But it's just, everything's kind of like, and then he gets there and he gets the job done.
02:41I love it.
02:42I love this dude.
02:44I will say, I think the better comparison though, because I didn't see many times where he high pointed balls.
02:51It always looked like he was reaching back and down.
02:56And it reminded me of a lot of Anquan Bolden stuff.
03:00Anquan Bolden was the guy that I mentally compared him to.
03:04And that comes from the fact that this dude's 6'2", 220 pounds.
03:09He is a big body.
03:11And so, remember Kevin, what I've referred to as the most unguardable play.
03:18And Joe Flacco and Anquan Bolden rode it all the way to a Super Bowl championship.
03:22And that was the top shelf fade.
03:24Like every time they threw that, he'd throw it up.
03:28Anquan Bolden would jump up and turn around just at the right time.
03:31The timing was perfect.
03:33And I see a lot of these throws and catches where he's turning around and reaching back and pulling the
03:39ball up.
03:39Because he's in good position because of the way that he uses his body.
03:43I really like this receiver a lot.
03:46I don't know.
03:47I don't have a really good gauge on where he's going to go because of senior year injury.
03:52But I'm trying to figure out how to gauge that.
03:55But Chris Bell, very fun receiver to watch.
03:59Mr. Medford?
04:01I like a lot of what you said there.
04:02It's going to be intriguing to see what ultimately happens with him because of the ACL tear late in the
04:082025 season.
04:09But there's a lot to like from him here because he's big, as you mentioned.
04:13He's got the frame.
04:14He's got an NFL frame, if you will.
04:16But he's not one of those guys that's explosive off the line.
04:21But as his route develops, he gets quicker.
04:24So once he gets ahead of steam, he can run away from people.
04:28So that's why I like him as a vertical threat.
04:30Because if you get him running and you give him time, if you can keep a clean pocket for whoever's
04:35throwing to him,
04:36he will run away from people eventually.
04:38It just won't be exactly off the line.
04:40Yeah, and then when he gets the ball, if he has space in front of him,
04:43just like San Francisco loves to do with Debo, he turns his stride into something different.
04:50You talk about stride and kick.
04:51He gets a little bit longer but takes off.
04:55Yeah, I like that a lot about him.
04:56And you saw a lot at Louisville.
04:58A lot of what they were trying to do was get him over the middle of the field in between
05:02the hashes and split the safeties.
05:04A lot of stuff over the middle of the field.
05:07So whenever he does get the ball, he usually has a few yards of separation from defenders.
05:11And it allows him to either turn up field or find an angle to where he can just run.
05:16He can just kick it into his final gear and try to outrun people in a foot race to the
05:21end zone or to the sideline, whatever the situation may be.
05:26But yeah, there's a lot to like here.
05:29Outside of for his frame, I wish he was a little bit better getting a good break against press coverage.
05:35He's not as physical as I would like.
05:38I was just about to ask if that's a lack of physicality or technique.
05:41Yeah, he's not as physical.
05:42It's a blend of both, actually.
05:44He's not as physical as I would like with his hands at the break.
05:46But there's also something to be said about footwork.
05:49It's a little bit slow.
05:51It's a little bit choppy.
05:52Just like you said, Corey, where his running, it seems like it takes everything.
05:56There's a lot of extra motion there.
05:58So that doesn't allow him to succeed in press.
06:01Okay, quick question about that then.
06:02Is it the footwork then that might cause you a little bit more concern from the physicality?
06:08Because whether it's changing your body or focusing on it a little bit more, I feel like maybe the physicality
06:13you could work on easier than the naturalness of the footwork.
06:17Yeah, I'm right there with you.
06:18I think that the footwork is a lot more of a focus thing, and it's a lot more of an
06:23overtime development thing.
06:24So it's not something that's going to be fixed overnight.
06:27And I'm sure position coaches, wherever he goes, that's going to be one of the first things that they identify
06:32as, hey, off the break, we need to work on these old jab steps and stuff.
06:37We need to either remove some of them or we need to speed them up a lot more.
06:42So coming off an ACL injury as well, it's going to take some time for him to develop.
06:46But because of his straight line speed, he will find success against NFL corners at times.
06:52It's just he needs to find a couple of counter moves off the jabs from corners in press coverage situations.
06:59I personally think working in and around CeeDee Lamb is a great thing for something like that.
07:05Just go watch CeeDee Lamb's feet at the line.
07:09The things he does with his feet to get a cornerback off balance immediately, and then he starts into his
07:17route.
07:18Now, obviously, the speed and burst and change direction Lamb has is important, too.
07:23But the footwork that he has initially sets up a lot of things.
07:28They're setting up, and receivers are so much better at this now.
07:32I talk about Michael Irvin.
07:33Michael Irvin just knew I can physically box you out.
07:36Go back and watch him in the Longest Yard playing basketball.
07:40What did he do?
07:41He used his body to box out in that basketball game and his elbow to elbow people in the face.
07:46He was physical there.
07:47Like, what?
07:48You're laughing about it, Kevin.
07:50That is Michael Irvin at its key right there.
07:52Now, I get you.
07:53But this is, like, it's just choppy.
07:56It's choppy the way his feet are, but somehow he gets it done.
08:01Like, somehow he's still able to grab the ball, has some comeback routes.
08:04If it was Mike McCarthy's offense, he'd be the perfect receiver for him, too.
08:08All those curls and digs that he loves to run.
08:10So, that would be a good player.
08:13This is a second, third-round guy.
08:15Could have been a first-round pick if it hadn't been for the injury.
08:18But second, third, maybe fourth-round, depending.
08:21I think the talent's too good for that.
08:23But this is not a definite, in my mind, for a Cowboys.
08:28It's just a, let's be prepared that if they need one and want one, they take one.
08:32And you might be like, why are we talking about wide receivers?
08:35Just keep an eye out on that situation, I would say.
08:39Oh, CeeDee Lamb?
08:41Maybe not that part of the situation.
08:43Jonathan Mingo?
08:44Yeah.
08:45Dude, hey, I'm not going to lie.
08:47One of the comps for him is Jonathan Mingo.
08:49Okay, I'm out.
08:51Now, let's talk about, oh, I'm sorry.
08:53Has Jonathan Mingo done so much that that is an outrage to you?
08:59Let's talk about trading Stooks.
09:00Have you seen those blocks?
09:02You're right.
09:03That's what I gave up my fourth round for.
09:05The blocking wide receiver.
09:06Here's the great thing about Mingo, Kevin.
09:08A quarterback I never used.
09:09He's yet to even have his breakout game.
09:11I know.
09:12One of these days.
09:13Whenever that happens, there's this one person.
09:16It's kind of like Cam Ward.
09:17That texts in every time.
09:19And he's like, he's going to have his breakout game with four catches for 29 yards.
09:23We're going to get that line.
09:25And I'm going to be like, that guy needs to text him.
09:27You did it.
09:28All right.
09:29Tell me about Stooks.
09:31I needed to re-explain this a little bit yesterday, this morning for Sean, because I think whenever
09:37I said it, Sean took it one way.
09:39I said, that's your Darren Woodson, not he's the next Darren Woodson.
09:44Yeah.
09:44Those are two different things.
09:45That's your Darren Woodson means what this defense, what we think that they're looking
09:51for is a guy that can play safety, but can also play linebacker.
09:55And when I say play linebacker, go look at what we've discussed since the end of the season.
10:01And I base it all on what Ted Wynn wrote.
10:04If you get a chance, go find Ted Wynn's story on the evolution of the nickel cornerback.
10:11And I told Ted Wynn while we were at the Super Bowl this year, I was like, hey, by the
10:15way,
10:15I pretty much based everything off of what you wrote here.
10:18Phenomenal stuff.
10:19And it's in detail.
10:21Details which defenses are using this right now.
10:24Details how they're using it a little bit differently.
10:27But then we even dug deeper.
10:29Alec and I dug even deeper.
10:31And we're finding that defenses are doing so much more right now to confuse offenses and
10:37confuse quarterbacks that it's that much better.
10:39You need guys that are adaptable.
10:41You just need dudes that Jerry forever has said position flex.
10:45This is less position flex than you're playing positionless football because everybody in
10:50this group can do all the things.
10:53And so if you have three Jalen Thompsons out there, then you have three dudes that can,
10:57in the middle of a play, adapt to what you've asked them to do.
11:02And now the play looks different and the quarterback's confused and he's throwing an interception
11:06or he's holding on to the ball too long.
11:08So, Trayden Stooks, he's a big body for one.
11:126'1", 190 pounds.
11:13I think about closer to 195, maybe 200.
11:15Very different from what we were talking about yesterday, body size.
11:18Yeah, with D'Angelo Pons.
11:20He, in my mind, he's not even a cornerback.
11:23When I watched him, the most stuff that I watched of him was in the middle of the field
11:28playing between the hashes.
11:30He can go out whenever the route goes out.
11:32So that's where his coverage is very good.
11:34But he plays in that middle part of the field like you want.
11:37Tackles big, comes up and hits hard, has great range, physical whenever the ball,
11:43at the point of attack for the ball.
11:45And it looks like he ran a 4-3, 3-40.
11:48So all these really good things regarding what he can do in the middle of the field.
11:52And when it comes to what we think Christian Parker's defense is going to want,
11:56it is a guy that his best execution and his best range is right there somewhere near the hash marks.
12:05So, Kevin, he is, for me, you said nickel cornerback for D'Angelo Pons.
12:12That's the old version of the nickel cornerback.
12:15The new version is what you're seeing with this kind of a player in Stukes.
12:19Mr. Medford.
12:20Fully agree.
12:21I do think that teams are probably going to see him as a nickel star player or just a straight
12:27-up safety.
12:28Because he doesn't have the, like, backpedaling ability that you see corners have,
12:34the quick turning of the hips and everything.
12:36He doesn't necessarily have that.
12:38But teams are going to fall in love with him just because he's a six-year senior
12:42that he was a walk-on at one point that ended his career in college as a team captain.
12:47He was absolutely the leader of that defense.
12:51He communicates very, very well.
12:53I think that's another reason why people like him playing over-the-top more in their defenses in zone schemes
12:59because he's going to communicate and pass off coverages very, very well
13:03and let you know exactly what he's seeing in front of you.
13:06He does need to work on his downhill pursuit just a little bit more.
13:11He doesn't exactly plant and go after the ball as quick as you would like day one.
13:16It's not McNeil-Warren-style attack.
13:19Where it's just C-ball immediately just lock on and go, it takes him a couple seconds,
13:24which is fine in some cases, but that'll get better over time.
13:29But he will accelerate quickly whenever somebody pivots with the ball in their hands,
13:34so he will chase down well.
13:36Obviously, you don't want chase-down scenarios to happen very often,
13:40but whenever those come up, he will turn around and adapt in those scenarios
13:44because he has the speed.
13:45Only issue that people might knock in terms of physicality,
13:50but he does have an ACL tear in his previous history back in 2024,
13:55but he's fully moved on from that.
13:57But if you want to talk about possible red shirts and whatnot in the future,
14:02people might point to that.
14:03But his football character alone, I love this guy.
14:06Round projection?
14:08Two.
14:09Early two?
14:10Rappaport.
14:11I can see early two.
14:12I can see second to third for this guy just because of the spot, too.
14:18But Eman Worry was high second, and this is kind of the comparison that you want to have there
14:24is that an Eman Worry-type guy that fits that kind of role.
14:27But again, Seattle was ahead of their time with what they were looking for.
14:31Mike McDonald, obviously, having a Kyle Hamilton to choose from.
14:33He was like, I need somebody that can do these things.
14:36So he went with that.
14:37Kevin, this is the reason, again, that we're zeroing in on this.
14:42He's one of the Cowboys' 30 visits.
14:44Yep.
14:44Both of them were one of the Cowboys' 30 visits.
14:47And then Dane Brugler had Stooks as his second pick in the trade that he made,
14:55going up to six to get Stiles, and then picking Stooks at, what, 93?
15:00Or 39.
15:0139.
15:0139.
15:02So that was the idea there.
15:03We're the KNC Masterpiece right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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