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The Atlanta Falcons traded DL Ruke Orhorhoro to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for DL Maason Smith from LSU. Dukes and Bell react to the breaking news and discuss what it means for the Falcons.
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00:00Oh, we got some news to report. Falcon fans, Falcons are making moves before the NFL draft
00:06next Thursday starts. We do not have a first round pick. It's Dukes and Bales Sports Radio
00:1192.9 The Game, but sources are saying that the Falcons are trading defensive tackle Ruke
00:16Ororo out of Clemson to the Jags in exchange for defensive tackle Mason Smith. Both of
00:25these guys were picked in the same year. Now, I said to Mike, news just broke again, and
00:31this is it's being reported. It's not official, but but more than likely, this is what's happening.
00:36And the first thought for me, Mike is we've been talking about DT, DT, DT. It's my number
00:40one need. This guy, for those of you who are not familiar with Mason Smith, that's M-A-A-S
00:45-O-N
00:46is bigger than Ruke. He's a bigger body, 6'5", 300 plus. And it's something that we were talking
00:52about as we get ready for this upcoming draft that, hey, we need bigger interior defensive
00:57linemen. Now, has he underwhelmed, Mike? Because we know Ruke, right? We kept saying,
01:03is he going to pop? Is he going to pop? But it's also, this could be an indicator that
01:08Jeff Ulbrich is saying, look, this is not working, but there are guys out there that
01:12I think can work in what I want to do, and let's try to fill the void this way versus
01:18drafting. And it doesn't mean they won't, but I got to tell you, when you make a deal like
01:21this, maybe this opens the door for them to address some of these other needs that
01:24we've talked about.
01:25Dude was all SEC with LSU. He was a freshman back in the day. Big stud. I mean, like you
01:30said, the size thing is there. It'll be interesting to see how he fits with Ulbrich and the new
01:36scheme. Nothing against Ruke personally, guys. We're just telling it like it is. They moved
01:40up. And yes, sometimes they get it wrong in the pre-draft, but there was no mock drafts.
01:44There was no projections where Ruke Orororo was considered one of the top 35 players in
01:49the NFL in 2024. So Carl, when you move up, and how many times have I beefed about this?
01:54You've heard me like a broken record say, Ruke's got to be an impact player. He has never been
01:59impactful. You don't draft a project with those, and that's where Fontenot, I think their guys
02:03and their staff fell in love with him, and he's a good piece. But again, he never had the impact
02:08for a time. Again, you're just talking three picks removed from the first round. So anyway,
02:12Mason Smith, perhaps he's seemingly underwhelmed for Jacksonville. And now we'll see how a change
02:16you've addressed us for both guys. But you're right. This is the prototypical monster guy to
02:20be in the middle. Remember now, as you start to say, wait a minute, wasn't Jeff Ulbrich here when,
02:26no, he wasn't. He wasn't here when they drafted Ruke. No, he was with the Jets when they drafted Ruke.
02:30Okay, so he comes in last year, refreshes the donuts, right? We get more sacks than ever,
02:37but he's also looking at some of these other things with guys and evaluating. So I just feel like
02:42this is a statement from the DC to say, hey, it's not that he don't like Ruke, but we need
02:47a better fit. And what I want to do and how I want to approach this, I need one of
02:51these
02:51big, big stud defensive tackles. And if Mason can turn into that, to Mike's point, Ruke hadn't
02:56turned into it either. So Jacksonville's getting what we've seen, but we need to see Mason be
03:00a stud. But Mike, I like the size in the middle. That's what I've been looking for.
03:03We'll have to do a deeper dive to see if he was injured or just came off the bench because
03:07of depth issues, but played in 11 games in 24 as a rookie, three sacks, 13 games last
03:14year, just four solo tackles. So he was off the bench and so he was reserved.
03:20Yeah. I just think when you talk about player for player, it's rare. Guys in the same draft.
03:26Yeah, just a few, like 15 picks apart.
03:2813 picks apart, right?
03:29Yeah, you trade for a guy. But that is news that is breaking as we speak. Again, sources
03:33saying the Falcons are trading Ruka Rowe. Guys, it's interesting because let's just
03:38take D-tackle off the table. Again, maybe this is the answer or they feel like it can
03:42be. And you don't do this unless you feel very confident about the guy you're getting.
03:46All right. Even if he might have underachieved. Sometimes, and Mike, we can relate to this,
03:51sometimes guys play in defenses that are not right for them. Right. And interior defensive
03:58linemen, we talk about Grady, when Grady was here. An undersized defensive tackle.
04:02You get Grady shooting the gaps, that's different than Grady taking on double teams and being
04:07a big run stopper. So, you know, you look at these defenses and how they're running, and
04:11it's all hybrid now. This idea that we only exclusively run 4-3. We only run 3-4. That's
04:17not how the NFL works now.
04:18Right. And that's what prevented us, think about it, from getting T.J. Watt. Remember that?
04:23That was the thinking back then. You know, oh no, he's more of a 3-4 guy. Really?
04:27It's Philly. That's it. You're right. That is ancient thinking, and that's one that got
04:31us tacked McKinley over a guy who's going to probably go to the Hall of Fame someday if
04:35he stays healthy. But yeah, I'm looking at the numbers, trying to get more details from
04:39what he was in Jacksonville from 2024, 2025. I'm looking at the depth chart from back then.
04:46I just want to get the vibe from what was his malfunction, you know, where it's at.
04:51Trayvon Walker, of course. Well, again, Eric Armstead.
04:53They got players.
04:54Devon Hamilton, so no wonder he's not on the field.
04:56They got players.
04:57Jacksonville, you know, that's a team, we said this, if Trevor Lawrence could ever, you
05:01know, lift them up, they got some studs defensively. Remember, they got after it last year.
05:05But Mike, I just feel like this may be, and this is where I'm coming from, this is my opinion.
05:10I think they feel like this fits more of what Jeff Ulbrich wants to do. He got here, and
05:16you just had to deal with the pieces.
05:16He inherited Rook.
05:17That's right. You had to deal with the pieces you had.
05:19Now, I get to rearrange some of these pieces, and let's just say, again, guy just hit me
05:24up, he goes, Dukes, what if they still go defensive tackle? Great! Now that means you
05:28are really committed to trying to stop the run and be better up the middle with our defense.
05:32And now, Carl, we'll have to recalibrate our mock drafts. Perhaps now defensive tackle
05:37is not the priority we thought it was. Now, technically, we just swapped a DT for a DT.
05:41We still need more depth of defensive tackle.
05:42No doubt, but you don't have to do it now at 48 if you don't want to. That's what I'm
05:46saying.
05:46Right. You can take best athlete available. You can go linebacker, corner, wide receiver.
05:49If this guy is what they think he is, and again, I don't feel like you make a move like
05:53this
05:53if you don't feel that way.
05:54There are, I mean, as you said, we just, we answered the mystery. Eric Armstead, Trayvon
05:58Walker, Devon Hamilton, okay? Big, gigantic bodies that produce, and those are the guys
06:02he was looking up at in the depth chart, in the rotation.
06:04404-726-0929 if you have a thought or two, but interesting, right? And now Ian Cunningham
06:11already making moves, Mike, and we'll see if more moves are going to be made before we
06:16get to the weekend.
06:17And that's why, you know, with Michael Panix Jr., it's different because if you can get
06:21the quarterback that you drafted to play well, it saves you money for the next couple of
06:24years. But they didn't draft Panix Jr. They didn't draft a second, like a second rounder
06:28just got traded. So it is always food for thought for some fans out there. They get locked
06:32on these guys that when a regime doesn't, just like when a general manager inherits a
06:35coach he didn't hire, you know? It's always, okay, a new set of eyes, some guys are on thin
06:39ice.
06:40Yeah. Look, everybody believes, I do too, that they're going to give Michael Panix a
06:46fair shot. I just don't know how you do that with the situation that now you've created.
06:52And that's kind of where this has been for me. It's not that I don't want to see the
06:56kids successful, but I think it's just, it's an uphill battle coming off the injury,
07:00number one. But number two, now you've got a guy with real NFL experience, Mike. And
07:05when Tua's on his game, guys, he can play. We know this.
07:09Right. Now, again, we've talked about, you know, the regime. It doesn't matter now because
07:13they're gone. But Fontenot and his, and I'm not putting it on to you, but his scouting
07:17staff, his scouting people fell in love with Troy Anderson. That's been a giant nothing burger.
07:21We're hoping now one more year on the roster because, you know, he didn't count last year
07:26because he was injured. But Rook, you know, look, now the time they had the tunnel vision
07:30with James Pierce Jr., not a bad thing. Just we're trying to start out what he's going
07:34to be moving forward if he can still be in uniform. But they did, they did fall in love
07:38with people and definitely, you know, bucked the trend of what was perceived to be where
07:42they should, what they should have been doing, where they were picking.
07:43Yeah. I, I, I'm even more curious now as to what we do with, with this draft, just
07:49based on, you know, again, personnel and what you're trying to get achieved across
07:54the board. It's funny. BMAC was on with this last hour for those who missed it. And I
07:57said, where are you going? He said, defense. Well, you just made a trade for a defensive
08:02player, right? If we go defense in this draft again, that shows you the commitment of
08:06this front office that, Hey, yeah, we're pretty good last year, but we aren't anywhere
08:09close to where we need to be. Well, in a lot of the mock drafts, if you really like
08:12Christian Miller, he gone, you know, that's one of the things we had talked about. You
08:15know, there are other guys out there. There's a Dominique orange, if you want the third round,
08:19another big body from Iowa state, but now you have the ability, by the way, I never asked
08:23you, what about Dallin Everett from Georgia? He's available in a lot of fourth rounds, you
08:26know, corner for Georgia that was, you know, and we've talked about it with Connor and he
08:30thinks in the right scheme, you know, emerging as a nickel. And then, you know, perhaps he gets
08:34coached up to being a starter on a, you know, opposite, you know, you know, a traditional
08:38corner. I don't know. But anyway, just a thought, but you got guys, you
08:42can go linebacker. You can do anything you want. Wide receiver. Now, if you went wide
08:46receiver, you think fans are more excited? You know, not having a friend doesn't matter,
08:50but the sexy, you know, the skill position piece is always probably get more of a reaction
08:54from the fan base. Absolutely. I mean, like, Mike, if we went offensive line, everybody's
08:58going to be like, hey, but you need them. I mean, these are the guys that that's the,
09:03that's the championship teams that have great offensive and defensive lines. It's going
09:06to be interesting. The Mason Smith deal, Mike, I was just going back and looking. He's
09:10so young too. He's 23. Yeah. Mason Smith from Houma, Louisiana. Houma, again, with the
09:17program for a number of years, looks like, you know, it looks the prototypical guy. But
09:21as we said, if you just joined us, a lot of better established players ahead of him on
09:26the depth chart in Jacksonville. All right. Stooks and Bell. Again, if you are just joining
09:30us, Falcon sources are saying are trading Rook Ororo to the Jags in exchange for defensive
09:35tackle Mason Smith. All right. Your thoughts are welcome. Find us on social media across
09:40all social media platforms. We were going to talk about some other NFL things and we
09:44will, but that's front and center now because it's got us wondering. We're kind of scratching
09:47our heads going, what you doing, Ian? Where are you going, Ian? I don't, I love, I, you
09:52know, I, I'm talking about things I don't understand. I totally get this one and I like
09:55it because, you know, and it's funny because we have this, this is dude, I've gone around
09:59and around for the better half of a year now. When I talk about Rook, what's your problem
10:02with Rook? I don't know if he's related to Rook. I don't know if he went to Clemson
10:06or wherever Rook went to school, you know. He may be a very good rotational guy. Right.
10:11He's yet to become a stud. Right. A star where he pops and you see that he's making a difference.
10:18This is why many of you, not all of you, are like, man, I surely hope James Pierce Jr.
10:23gets past this stuff because you've seen him pop. Right. Right. And I'm just saying, if
10:28you, if you're going to draft a guy with, you know, a team that's at the time, take it,
10:32take it, go back and think where you were in 2024. This is a team that's in the mix to
10:36win this division. And we're in no time to be moving up in the second round for a project.
10:40You know, just like falling in love with the guy that played four positions in Montana State.
10:43You know, it's just go, just stick with the basics, man. Who are you talking about?
10:46Troy Anderson. Just go get Nick Pitino. Nick Pitino's already got like 35 sacks for the Broncos.
10:50And a new contract. You know, we had to be too cute. Terry had to be too cute. Too cute
10:55with it. You know,
10:56that's, that's why they had to get those, uh, those consultants to come in here.
10:59Well, Arthur, uh, we looked at your team and as well, it's been, been run like a hot mess.
11:03You know, that's it. Don't keep it. It's the kiss method. Keep it simple. Keep it simple.
11:07It's not, it's not that hard. Sometimes we over, we overthink situations. All right,
11:11man. Uh, meanwhile, we are six days away from the draft as we talk about what's going on around
11:15the NFL. And, uh, I said, I think AJ Brown's still going to be, be traded, Mike. I just feel
11:20like this has been a charades game with the Eagles. They made moves. Listen, they let Jahan Dotson go.
11:26We signed him, right? Then they go sign two additional receivers. But the, the deal is,
11:32when does it happen? And everybody thinks it's going to happen next week with the draft.
11:36You don't want to have to pay that additional money. So we talked about that post June date,
11:41right? Post June one is going to be the best time for them to do it. But I still think
11:44that's
11:44going to happen with the Eagles. Yep. And it is. We spent some time, uh, talk about Reuben Bain
11:48yesterday. You know, Reuben Bain was involved in a car accident with a woman in the car who
11:52Bain? Batman's Bain? No, it's Reuben Bain.
11:56Oh, okay. I thought you said Batman and Bain. Well, I do my Bain here. Apparently the Kool-Aid
12:03man is interested in Bain. He won't be going to Gotham if they move up for Bain. No, the
12:10Chiefs apparently are interested in Reuben Bain. So apparently Dallas is also interested in
12:15Reuben. A lot of guys are interested in Reuben Bain. Of course. Yeah, look, he's a player,
12:18man. This idea, again, if everybody knows what needs to be known about this particular accident
12:25that happened. Right. And nobody is scared about what happened. He wasn't charged in it.
12:30Now, that's the thing. He's going to get picked up in. It was a car accident late night in
12:34Miami. I have right of a reason. It was, it sounds fishy, but if you look at it, there
12:38was no charges, criminal charges involved. The young lady, unfortunately, lost her life
12:42after being in a coma for weeks. But it's something the NFL teams we mentioned is aware of. They've
12:47talked about him. Apparently, Chiefs, Giants, Commanders interested, and maybe Cowboys.
12:54In Bain, man. In Bain. I think the Cowboys go...
12:57Now is not the time for fear. That will come later.
13:00Sonny Stiles. I think they go either Caleb Downs or I think they go Bain. And they're
13:05going defense. Right. Because they got two first-round picks. And we'll see if they
13:08maneuver. All right, guys, just joining us. Falcons making moves. We'll talk more about
13:12it coming up here on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
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