00:00Because I do want to get into some NFL draft stuff.
00:02We're a week, less than a week now.
00:03We're six days from the seventh overall pick, right?
00:06Like this time next week, the calls will be screaming about they took this guy,
00:10they should have taken that guy, whatever, right?
00:13And I think a lot of the fan base, I think, has become enamored by Jeremiah Love.
00:19Do you get that sense?
00:20Oh, there is no doubt.
00:22When I saw a compilation of Jeremiah Love hurdles that he had executed in college,
00:30apparently they outlawed the move in high school.
00:32He was so good at it.
00:34He is such an incredible, pure prospect, specimen, player, flashy.
00:41He's the shiniest object in the draft that can be had by somebody who's not picking 1-1,
00:48because that's Mendoza.
00:49Right.
00:50And so I get the shiny object theory.
00:53I think Love might almost be a shinier object than Mendoza.
00:55Maybe not because he's a quarterback coming off an undefeated season.
00:57Arguably he is.
00:59But I discount the running back position so much.
01:03I wish the days of LaDainian Tomlinson and Priest Holmes and Adrian Peterson still existed, JP.
01:09Yeah.
01:10They don't.
01:10I'm with you.
01:11I think, for me, if you're going offense at 7, it should be wide out.
01:16I think from a roster construction standpoint, wide out is a far greater need.
01:21Adam Peters had a lengthy press conference yesterday, and my colleague Mitch Tischler asked him,
01:26do you have to draft for this season or for the next numbers of seasons, which was a very fair
01:32question.
01:33And the answer is both, right?
01:35With the 7th overall pick, with the top 10 pick, you've got to nail the pick for right away.
01:40That kid's got to be able to play.
01:41That's not a developmental pick.
01:43He better be playing right away.
01:45And I think if you're looking at right now what they need and what do they need over the next
01:494 or 5 years,
01:50a rookie contract control, the wide out position.
01:54You've got Terry this year, no questions asked.
01:56You get beyond that.
01:57You start looking at cap numbers, guaranteed money.
01:59Things get a little more interesting.
02:01They did, I'd say, raise the floor of the receiver room by signing De'Ami and Van Jefferson.
02:07If you consider the floor of the receiver room last year was Chris Moore and Robbie Chosen.
02:12It was Mangy.
02:13Right.
02:13Now the floor has been raised, but you've got Terry, Luke, Jalen, Van, De'Ami, Jalen Burks too.
02:21Like, last year they tried to add.
02:22They went and got Debo.
02:23It doesn't seem like Debo's coming back, but I think, one, you can add for this year to be better
02:29this year,
02:29to give Jalen more options for this year.
02:31And then if you look out, who's your top receiver in the 2028 season, that's a question.
02:39You know what I mean?
02:39I understand the appeal and logic of a wide out like a Caleb Downs at 7, and I do believe
02:46that.
02:47Cardinal Tate.
02:47Cardinal Tate, excuse me.
02:48I believe in the value and the need for multiple weapons at wide receiver that you can never have too
02:56many.
02:57That said, the defense is such a glaring hole that there is no affordability, in my opinion, just one man's
03:06opinion,
03:06to go away from defense at that number seven pick.
03:09It's interesting you say that, because I was, you know, on my phone last night, and this soundbite from Ian
03:16Rappaport on the NFL Network evening show,
03:19which, honestly, dude, if you're a football person, that insider show NFL Network does, I think it's like seven to
03:24eight, really good.
03:26It's not hot takery.
03:27It's like insight.
03:29But this rap sheet audio last night stood out to me, because I feel like there's been so much conversation
03:36around Love and maybe Tate or even, you know, Lemon or Tyson
03:40that rap sheet kind of brought exactly what you just said, Zay.
03:45Yeah, I think there's a decent chance they get younger, and I would also say there's a decent chance they
03:50get better, at least their fans hope.
03:51And so much, Mike, of the focus of this offseason, was doing all that on defense.
03:56Last year's commander's defense was not what you were looking for.
04:00Ended up, obviously, making a ton of staff changes, obviously.
04:03This now, for Dan Quinn and his unit on defense, becomes an unbelievably important situation.
04:07So I would not be surprised, no predictions, but I would not be surprised if the commanders say,
04:13who is the best defensive player on our board?
04:16We will just take him.
04:17Now, a couple potential options for them at No. 7, Caleb Downs, the really, really good safety from Ohio State.
04:25People talk about his makeup like it is just crazy.
04:27I would say Sonny Stiles, off-the-ball linebacker here, big rangy dude, also from Ohio State.
04:31Another one where people love their makeup.
04:34They just love the way they are wired.
04:36As they are looking for a new linchpin of the defense, you'd ought to imagine both these guys would potentially
04:41be in the conversation.
04:42And then Reuben Bain, the defensive end from Miami, likely to be on the board at this time.
04:48The short arms have gotten a lot of conversation, but he is a big, tough, burly, physical football player.
04:55Do the commanders go here after adding so much of the edge in free agency?
04:59They're going to have a lot of options and a really, really good draft spot.
05:03So, that's Ian Rappaport, one of the most plugged-in guys across the NFL.
05:09And Rappaport's making, I think he said the quiet part out loud, this defense sucked.
05:14And yes, they were relatively aggressive in free agency.
05:17They added a lot.
05:19But that doesn't mean you necessarily should be done.
05:21No, I would go under the assumption that no matter what you've added in free agency, you still need a
05:28lot more.
05:29To me, the defense is an open wound that you'll bleed out another season if you don't tourniquet it.
05:38So, therefore, if it was me, I would rush every asset and resource to that side of the ball.
05:44And it's going to hurt because there are some potentially juicy weapons offensively you'd love to add.
05:50If only the defense, JP, was 18th in the league, not 32nd or whatever they came in at.
05:57The only reason this defense wasn't last in every statistical category is, this stat is amazing.
06:05The last time the New York Jets had an interception, Rory McIlroy had not won a Masters.
06:11He's won two Masters since their last pick, yes.
06:14So, if not for the Jets ineptitude, then the commanders would be even worse.
06:20And they were worse.
06:21In a lot of categories, yeah.
06:22They were 32nd in a number of categories.
06:23It was like 31-32 as I look at it.
06:25Well, the only one that bailed him out was takeaways because the Jets are completely incapable.
06:28But I found the names really interesting that he specifically mentioned in Caleb Downs,
06:33Sonny Stiles, a pair of Ohio State studs, and then Reuben Bain, the Miami stud.
06:37I think whatever uproar existed for three or four days there surrounding Bain, I think, has dissipated.
06:45I think that's just pre-draft cycle nonsense.
06:47I think the only thing teams will care about with Bain is if they feel he lied or didn't tell
06:52them the truth in interviews.
06:54The event that occurred, I hope everybody's okay.
06:57The league will move on from events that have occurred.
07:00The woman that died is not okay.
07:01But, like, from a league standpoint, guys get drafted with stuff all the time.
07:06Right.
07:06Well, that's the thing.
07:06Like, I wanted to know.
07:08When the news came out, I was just like, whoa.
07:10Okay, this was sort of quiet, and nobody really knew about this.
07:14But you know what I thought about with that, Zabe?
07:17Traffic accident, a woman passes away, there's a court case.
07:21That's all public record.
07:22But it never –
07:23Like, that being quiet is on the people that cover Miami football?
07:26Or, like, that's all public.
07:29It should have been flushed out at some point.
07:31But as I understand it, JP, it never went to trial.
07:35So it kind of got dismissed at a lower level where it might not have been
07:40popping up on a regular court docket.
07:43You also have to monitor various jurisdictions to see who's on it.
07:47I just wanted to see, once I learned about this, I'm like, okay,
07:50is there more to it?
07:51And nothing more shook out.
07:54So I'm fine with him taking Bain.
07:56You know, I want a guy who's a disruptor, who is a wrecker on defense,
08:01and that's what he looked to be, short arms notwithstanding.
08:04Yeah, I think for me with Bain specifically, the tape is what's important,
08:10not the arm measurement at the combine.
08:12The measurement didn't bother me, but then I saw a couple photos,
08:15and I was like, oh.
08:17You know what?
08:17Like, I hope that's not a Photoshop because, oh, yeah.
08:22I'm trying to think.
08:22So I was sitting next to David Aldridge yesterday at the Adam Peters
08:25press conference.
08:26When's the last time you looked at a photo of Reuben Bain?
08:29Just last week when somebody brought up his short arms.
08:32And knowing how the Internet is.
08:34Does this picture, this is a very specific, does he kind of look like Lando Calrissian
08:39right there from Star Wars from Billy Dee?
08:43I'm not going to make that jump.
08:44I don't know.
08:44The mustache.
08:45I think Lando's a little lighter skin overall.
08:48Oh.
08:48And a suave debonair.
08:50Oh, certainly.
08:51Intergalactic fella.
08:52Yeah.
08:52That Lando Calrissian.
08:53Yeah.
08:54I don't know that they're definitely going defense at seven.
08:57But I think what Rapp is saying should absolutely be a part of the conversation.
09:01That the defense is god-awful, and if they can add a true blue-chip player on that
09:05side of the ball, it helps a lot.
09:06I don't think there's anyone that would make me disappointed next Thursday night.
09:11I agree.
09:12Other than a trade down.
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