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00:07Odyssey NFL Insider Brian Baldinger joins us now.
00:10Baldy, welcome to the show.
00:11Happy one week to the NFL Draft.
00:14I agree, guys.
00:15It is a big build-up right here to, you know, the Christmas season of the NFL.
00:21So I'm like everybody else, you know.
00:23I can't wait to get to Pittsburgh and see how this thing unfolds
00:26and, you know, see all the drama and the excitement that happens usually.
00:30Come draft season.
00:32Baldy, we have had, I'll say roughly a million different conversations,
00:37some of them circular about the Browns at six.
00:40Like when we start talking about blue chippers, you know,
00:43potential franchise players in this draft,
00:46give us the guys that you think are the blue chip franchise caliber guys,
00:51whether they're going to be there at six or not.
00:54You know, I think Fernando has everything it takes to be a franchise quarterback.
00:58It always starts with that.
01:00You know, I think some of the high estate guys,
01:03Sonny Stiles and Caleb Downs look like franchise-type players to me.
01:07I think David Bailey is an elite prospect right now.
01:11I would say that, you know, Carnell Tate,
01:13just coming from the school that he's at
01:15and the production of the players at that position from that school,
01:19I would say that he's got a pretty unique ability right now.
01:24You know, I think some of the tackles, Maranoa, Caden Proctor, Funo,
01:30I think, you know, those three guys are pretty good players.
01:32And, you know, Ioani at Penn State is as good as there is at that position
01:37that's come out recently.
01:39Brian, you mentioned Carnell Tate, obviously.
01:43How big is the gap between Tate and him theoretically being a top-ten pick
01:49and then the rest of this wide receiver class as they kind of slot in?
01:54Nah, I don't know if it's that big.
01:57You know, I think that when you look at, you know, Makai Lemon,
02:00you look at Jordan Tyson, I think, you know,
02:02they have a chance to be really good players.
02:05I like, you know, I like Makai Lemon a whole lot.
02:08He didn't really exactly float my boat against Notre Dame
02:11when they pressed him off the line of scrimmage
02:12and he didn't seem like he had much of a plan there,
02:15but that can be learned.
02:17But I think there's a little bit of a gap.
02:19I mean, I think there's a gap between, you know,
02:21Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, too.
02:23Like, I'd probably spend my number one pick right now
02:25and go get Jeremiah Smith.
02:27I'm going to sit out for a year.
02:28I mean, he looks like, you know,
02:30he's just different than everybody in this draft.
02:33Do you think that Carnell, day one,
02:35can step in and be a team's number one wide receiver?
02:39Yes.
02:40I mean, look, I mean, we're talking here, obviously, in Cleveland.
02:43I thought, you know, the receiver room last year was pretty dreadful
02:46between the drops.
02:47I mean, it was just bad.
02:49I don't care who was playing quarterback.
02:51You know, I think he'd be better than,
02:52and I'm not knocking Jerry Judy or Cedric Tillman,
02:55some of the guys there.
02:57Isaiah Bond had a pretty good, you know, first year.
02:59But, you know, I think Carnell Tate, you know,
03:01from a route runner standpoint,
03:04from just an acrobatic standpoint,
03:06from ability to adjust to a ball in the air,
03:09I mean, and just overall ability to catch a ball,
03:12he looks better than anybody they have in Cleveland right now.
03:16So, Brian, along those lines,
03:18Carnell obviously slots as more of an outside guy, as we know.
03:22Is there starting to be less of a need for that to be your premier receiver,
03:28you think, in the NFL, where some of these slot guys,
03:30you know, you mentioned Mekhi Lemon,
03:31who's been sort of comped to Amon or St. Brown,
03:34and he's been obviously mocked going pretty high in this draft.
03:36But do you think we're swinging in a direction where there's,
03:40like a slot receiver can be just as valuable as some of those outside guys?
03:47They can be.
03:48It's a certain body type.
03:49You know, you've got to be able to be a better blocker,
03:51and, you know, you've got to be able to handle the physical part of being inside.
03:55But, you know, the good ones, you know, Smith and Jigba,
03:58I mean, he was thought to be a slot receiver coming out of Ohio State,
04:01and largely was his first year.
04:03And so then they start moving him around, and he's the league's best receiver.
04:06And so, you know, if you are drawing the best corner,
04:10if you're drawing the coverage, and you're just an elite player like Jamar,
04:13like Justin, I mean, you've got to move these guys around.
04:16You've got to be able to play inside.
04:17You've got to play outside.
04:18You've got to be in motion.
04:19You know, you've got to do a lot of different things,
04:21because if you just line up outside, you know, the way, say, a DK Metcalf does,
04:27I mean, it's a lot easier to kind of try and take some of those guys away
04:31than if you don't move them around.
04:34Brian Baldinger, Odyssey NFL Insider on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
04:39While a lot of people have focused on the Browns at six with the tackles,
04:44I really like a lot of the guys that are kind of in maybe that 24 range
04:49or maybe even a little earlier kind of teens.
04:51So I want to focus on two guys specifically, Monroe Freeling of Georgia
04:55and then Caleb Lomu of Utah.
04:57How much of a gap between those two players is there?
05:01Because I feel like Lomu's almost become the forgotten guy here.
05:05Well, I mean, Lomu basically sent Spencer Fano over to right tackle
05:09and took over the left tackle job.
05:11They're both very difficult to evaluate because of Utah's offense.
05:15I mean, the quarterback doesn't hold the ball longer than two seconds.
05:19So, you know, you can watch game after game.
05:22You never really see him in an NFL situation where, you know, Lomu is very young.
05:26I think he's only 19 right now.
05:28But he's got all the traits that you're looking for.
05:31And so I do think you have to give him some chance to develop physically
05:37just because of his age.
05:39You know, and then just get ready for, you know,
05:42the beasts that are outside in this league that you've got to be able to handle,
05:46including the guy that you have in Cleveland or Micah Parsons.
05:49You know, just the guys out there that are just different than anybody else in college.
05:54And Monroe Freeling, you know, I like him.
05:57I like him for the same reason I like Lomu.
05:59I mean, he's got the size and traits you're looking for.
06:03But he's started one year.
06:04And you kind of ask yourself, like, why did either one of those guys come out?
06:09Was it their agent saying it's not a great draft for tackles?
06:11Come out.
06:12You were taking the first round.
06:13Like, I think they both need seasoning, a lot of seasoning.
06:17You know, I mean, one of the reasons why I like Caden Proctor is he started three years at Alabama.
06:21And you can watch him struggle.
06:23You can watch him struggle with his weight.
06:24You can see him against elite pass rushers over three years,
06:27where his weaknesses showed up and what he did to overcome that kind of stuff.
06:33I mean, you know, same thing with Marano.
06:34Like, I just think playing is what both those guys, Lomu and Freeling, have got to do.
06:40And now you take them in the first round and you've got to put them out there, I guess.
06:44But are they going to be ready right away?
06:47That's a real question mark right now.
06:50Brian, along those lines, you know, Maui Noah, for example, is a right tackle,
06:55but considered one of the better in the class.
06:57Fano, who you mentioned, a guy that has played both sides
07:00but was primarily a right tackle through most of his college career.
07:03And the Browns have tried the experiment before, most recently,
07:07when they drafted Jed Wills back in 2020,
07:08of taking a guy who was on the right side and moving him to the left side.
07:11Do we maybe oversell how hard that is?
07:16Or do you think that it gets sort of a fair amount of attention?
07:19And how difficult is it, really?
07:22Well, I think it's difficult.
07:24It is difficult.
07:25Not everybody can do it.
07:26I mean, I remember, look, Tristan Wurst was an all-world, you know,
07:32first-team all-pro right tackle.
07:35And then he went to left tackle, and I've talked to him about it.
07:38It was a struggle.
07:38Now, he's done it, and he's an all-pro left tackle now.
07:42But it took him a long time.
07:45Like, literally, he was picking up chopsticks with his left hand
07:49and, you know, trying to eat with it.
07:51You know, I mean, just to train.
07:52You know, he was a heavy puncher with one hand at right tackle,
07:56and he kind of switched it around at left tackle.
07:58And it took him a while.
07:59It wasn't easy.
08:00But, you know, some guys, if you said to Trent Williams,
08:05could you go play right tackle?
08:06Trent Williams probably could.
08:08Without him, I've seen him play guards.
08:09Like, he could do it.
08:10But it's not automatic.
08:13For a lot of guys, it's not automatic at all,
08:15especially if you're on the left side and you're a left-handed guy
08:18and you think, like, left-handed and all that stuff.
08:21You've got to go to the right.
08:22And it's just no different than a right-handed person
08:25trying to shoot a basketball with your left hand.
08:27And it's not easy.
08:29Not everybody does it very well.
08:32Baldy, we obviously could use a quarterback.
08:35The big talking point is the Browns could wait until 2027.
08:40But there is the matter of Ty Simpson.
08:42Certain mocks have him at 6 to the Browns.
08:44Other mocks have had him at 24 and 39 to the Browns.
08:47Are the Browns one of the teams that should be in on Ty Simpson in this draft
08:51at some point in those first 39 picks?
08:55I don't think so.
08:56And I'm not here to knock Ty Simpson.
08:58But, you know, the record of guys that have started 15 games in college
09:03and gone on and been great players is very small.
09:07It's very small.
09:08And most guys don't succeed.
09:10Just because of you, you know, you can say, okay, well,
09:13draft Ty Simpson, you know, at 24 or 6, you know, whatever it might be.
09:19And then, okay, you compete with Shador, you compete with, I don't know,
09:23like what Watson's situation is or, you know, Dylan Gabriel.
09:26And, okay, then you saw that last year.
09:28It's hard to run any kind of a quarterback competition with more than two players.
09:34And then you go, well, you know, just let him sit for a year.
09:36Let him grow.
09:37Well, nobody grows at that position by sitting.
09:40The only way you get to get better at that position is by playing.
09:43Now, you can say, okay, well, Aaron Rodgers sat.
09:46Well, Aaron Rodgers played for three years in college.
09:48You know, he had a lot of starts underneath him backing up Brett Favre.
09:51So did Jordan Love backing up Aaron Rodgers.
09:54But if you've only played one year of college football and you got banged up
09:57and you weren't very good at the end and, you know,
10:00there's a lot that is undetermined about him to be taken, I think,
10:06that high right now.
10:08Baldy, we got a chance to talk to Andrew Barry today
10:11or hear from Andrew Barry today for his pre-draft sort of press conference.
10:15And one of the guys that he was asked about that he did give a glowing review about
10:20or over, I should say, is Jeremiah Love.
10:22He called him special, sort of compared him to Christian McCaffrey
10:25in terms of his skill set.
10:26What have you seen from Jeremiah Love when you watched the tape?
10:30And if the Browns took him at six despite the fact that they drafted two running backs
10:35last year, would you be okay with that or comfortable with that?
10:40I mean, you just, I mean, I agree with Andrew.
10:43I mean, as soon as you turn tape on, he just looks different than everybody else in his draft
10:46and probably haven't seen a guy that looks like that, you know, since Bijan came out.
10:51And I haven't seen Bijan elevate his team into the playoffs in Atlanta
10:56since he's been there for three years.
10:57And he's a great player.
10:59I think Quinshawn and, you know, what they have there in Cleveland right now,
11:03what he showed last year, Samson, like, I think they're okay there.
11:07They're very young.
11:09The offense line has to improve.
11:11They're addressing that in free agency.
11:14We'll see what they do at left tackle right now.
11:16But, you know, you could go draft Jeremiah Love, and he probably is better.
11:20There's no question than what they have.
11:22But, okay, so what?
11:25Like, you still have glaring needs at other positions.
11:29The talent's there, and he blows you away with what he can do
11:33and how effortless he makes it.
11:36But, you know, I'd like to see him fix the offensive line if they get that opportunity
11:41and see what some of these young backs that they drafted last year can do.
11:45Baldy, another tackle that has been tied to the Browns at the back of the first round
11:49or early second round is Arizona State's Max Ihanchor.
11:54I got a little bit of a draft crush on him.
11:56What can you tell about him and where he is in his development
11:59and where he might fit with the Browns?
12:02Well, he has to play a lot of football.
12:04He was born, you know, in Nigeria, and he's late to football.
12:08He wears 58 and plays right tackle.
12:10When you first watch him, you think, ooh, this could be – is this Penesul?
12:14It's not a lot of 58s that play right tackle.
12:17So, you're like, is this Penesul?
12:18And then, you know, like you're looking at some of the ability
12:21and the length and the size and athletic ability,
12:23and you're like, hmm, maybe he's pretty good.
12:26And then you'll see just one player who just looks awful.
12:29And he's on the ground and you're like, ooh, he needs some core strength.
12:33He needs some seasoning.
12:35He needs to play.
12:37He's in that developmental camp of players at that position
12:42that might be a much better pro than they were at college,
12:47although they had two good years at Arizona State with them, two good teams.
12:51But I feel like it's going to be an adjustment to the NFL game for him right now
12:56just because he has not played very much football.
13:00So, Baldy, we've heard so much about the Browns theoretically trading back.
13:06It's one of the more popular, I think, fan preferences when it comes to what they do at six.
13:12If that's going to happen and there's going to be a team that's enticed enough to move up,
13:17what players or which players do you think need to be there?
13:22Well, I think, you know, there's a lot of teams that would covet, you know, Sonny Stiles for sure.
13:27I mean, he's the closest thing to maybe what Fred Warner is in San Francisco.
13:32And so, I mean, I think teams would be, you know, be really willing to do that.
13:39I mean, I think if something happened, you know, at the edge position, you know,
13:44Reuben Bain dropped or David Bailey dropped for some reason, you know, beyond two or three,
13:50I think there would be a lot of interest in, you know, one of those players right there for sure.
13:56You know, I don't think, you know, and maybe Jeremiah Love, you know,
14:00I think there's four or five guys that teams, and, you know, look, to trade to the top,
14:04there'd be three or four guys that I just mentioned.
14:07But, look, if Kenyon Sadiq drops past Carolina at 19 with the Philadelphia Eagles,
14:13would there be a lot of teams interested in trading up to go get, you know, a talent like that?
14:17I think teams would be intrigued by something like that.
14:21Baldy, I do want to know, now we've asked you all the questions about the individuals,
14:26what does crushing the draft look like for the Browns next week?
14:30I think if they do anything like they did last year, you know, where you've got, you know,
14:36instant starters and a star in Schwestinger and Mason Graham and, you know,
14:41the running backs and the tight end, you know, Harold Fandenberg, that was, they crushed the draft last year.
14:46They found starters at basically four positions right there.
14:51I mean, if you find starters at four positions in this draft, or three,
14:54and they're front-line players the way Schwestinger was last year,
14:58then I would say that would be crushing the draft.
15:01Baldy, you are synonymous with the NFL draft.
15:04We love the breakdowns on Twitter.
15:06We love the passion.
15:08We love having you on here.
15:09Thank you so much, as always, friend.
15:11Thanks, Baldy.
15:12Yeah, my pleasure, guys.
15:13You bet, man.
15:14Talk to you soon.
15:15This is, that was NFL Insider, and this NFL Insider Call is brought to you by Liberty Mutual.
15:21Only pay for what you need.
15:23Great stuff with Baldy there.
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