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John Keim joins the show to discuss the latest rumors surround Washington's NFL Draft strategy.
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00:00ESPN's John Kime jumps on with us, and I'm sure you are as ready as anybody, John,
00:04to just finally see the Commanders draft at 7 or maybe trade out at this point.
00:09Who the hell knows?
00:09How do you sift through all of the lies and all of the stuff?
00:12I mean, it's just, it feels like at this point now we know, at least on our end,
00:17know as little as we ever did before because there's like five or six names
00:20that could fit for the Commanders at this point.
00:23Yes, there are.
00:23And by the way, I wear glasses, and it's like people think you look smart with glasses.
00:27No, I'm really just blind if I don't wear them.
00:30I feel it, too.
00:31I'm blind without my contacts or glasses, so all of us can sit here and we all got to suffer.
00:36Yeah, and I don't, like, it's easier to put on glasses and put my contacts in, so, et cetera.
00:41So, but anyways, it doesn't make me smarter, especially in this case.
00:45But there are a handful of guys who all make sense.
00:49So you could look at, I mean, there's, again, like, what if one of those edge rushers,
00:54Arbel Reese or David Bailey falls?
00:56Is it likely?
00:57No.
00:57But is it a scenario?
00:58Yes.
00:59Sonny Stiles would make sense.
01:01I don't think it's going to happen, but it would make sense.
01:05Get a big, rangy, middle linebacker with speed athleticism, and they feel like, if they feel
01:10like he can impact the passer as a rusher as well at times.
01:14You know, Jeremiah Love makes sense.
01:17You know, Carnell Tate makes sense.
01:19Mansell Delaney makes a lot of sense.
01:21Caleb Downs would make sense.
01:22So there's a lot of guys there, and that's, I think that's the good thing for them, and
01:28it's the hard thing to really, when you're trying to pick or really kind of put the pieces
01:35together, it's why it's a little bit tougher this year, because for a team pick in the top
01:40seven to have that many guys who make sense for them, like if you're the Browns at six,
01:44there aren't as many guys that make sense for them as much as they need, because there
01:48aren't a lot of high-end offensive guys to go there.
01:52Where, you know, the best guy might be Love, and they have Quinshawn Judkins, so, you know,
01:57but for Washington, they have some good options there.
02:02Everybody has said, like, I know I agree.
02:04I told, when they went through free agency, they helped themselves out a lot, to where
02:09when they came to the draft, they weren't forced to have to go to a certain position.
02:16But as they get closer to the draft, people start to lean.
02:19Is it more about offense or defense, you think?
02:23I think it's more about getting a high-impact player, whatever side of the ball there is,
02:28because they don't have enough of those guys.
02:30Like, you need dudes, right?
02:32And you need to get some more of those guys.
02:34So, I don't think it's an offense or defensively, and I think it's a, who would make the most
02:38biggest impact.
02:39So, if you think it's Jeremiah Love, you're going to take him.
02:43If you think it's Stiles or Delane or someone else there, you're going to take them, because
02:48you need those guys.
02:49And, again, all of them make sense.
02:51So, that's why you're right.
02:53Like, they protected themselves with their free agent moves, but they didn't solve every
02:58issue.
02:58Now, like, receiver, we know they need a number two receiver.
03:02Opposite McCorn, another good young talent there.
03:05But that doesn't mean you have to take a Carnell Tate or Lemon or whomever at seven, because
03:11there are other guys in the draft.
03:13And maybe you get Brandon, you probably maybe get Brandon Ayuk after the draft at some point.
03:18But you do need that corner.
03:20They signed a couple guys, but we know they could use another corner, a high-end guy.
03:25And so, I think, you know, a defensive end, like, if they wanted to go edge rusher, three
03:30of their top four edges are not signed in 2027.
03:33So, yes, that would make sense, too.
03:35And the one thing that when you talk to people about, like, Adam Peters over the years, he
03:41was brought up in systems where there's two things you can never have, edge rushers and
03:45corners.
03:46You never have enough of them.
03:49You can't have enough of them.
03:51Yeah.
03:52I know the board has to, there's a million different ways that the first six picks could
03:57go.
03:58So, I guess I'll frame this like this.
04:00What would it take or what scenario would have to arise for Adam Peters and the commanders
04:05to consider trading back?
04:08Well, I don't, I mean, somebody has to want to go up to get them, obviously, right?
04:13And so, they have not expected that.
04:15But let's say, let's say David Bailey falls, you know, and there is a scenario where, like,
04:22you know, if the Cardinals take Love at three, which is certainly on the table, and, you know,
04:29then, like, what does, I think, Tennessee would go edge at that point with the two best.
04:34But let's say they don't.
04:35Let's say they take Sonny Stiles and the Giants take Caleb Downs, the Browns take a lineman.
04:39And now you're sitting there with the David Bailey, does a team come up to get him?
04:44And, you know, or, like, does a team want to come up to get a Jeremiah Love?
04:48But I think if you're Washington, you probably stay and just take him, right?
04:53But I do think, like, so the scenario would be, like, if you, let's say they like, you
04:57know, let's say Bailey's there, Caleb Downs is there, or one of those two is there.
05:03And then, like, either a Stiles or a Delane or Tate, and you're like, hey, we like all
05:08these guys about the same.
05:09You can trade back several spots and still get one of them.
05:13That's the scenario where you could see that.
05:16Short of that, I think you're going to stay and take a pick because you need high, to
05:20me, you need high-impact players.
05:22If I were them, I wouldn't want to trade too far down if you did, because I just think
05:27then you're risking, like, yeah, you might get some more good players, but you need some
05:31high-impact guys, too.
05:32And we've seen in the past that just acquiring more picks doesn't make it a good draft.
05:39Hey, you know this, like, everyone talks about the first-round pick.
05:42They don't have a second-round pick.
05:44What do you think they'll be looking for farther down the draft?
05:46Because you can't just have first-round picks.
05:49I've never seen an all-first-round pick team, and I've seen a lot of teams have first-rounders,
05:53and guess what? The other
05:54guys play better than them. So what
05:57else do you think they'll be looking for as this draft goes on?
06:01So let's say they take defense with the first pick, whether it's delaying, kill-downs,
06:05styles, whatever it is, right?
06:06Whoever it is.
06:07I think then you're looking at receiver in the third round, because it's going to be a
06:10good draft.
06:11It's a deep draft for receivers.
06:13I think you can get a guy there for sure.
06:15And I think, like, even though we can all sit there and think and have a pretty good sense
06:20that Iyuk would end up here, you can't just assume where he's at with his game after not
06:27having played for a little while, right?
06:29So you need to get another young guy in here.
06:32And so I think you could get it there.
06:34I think other spots that are good around there would be certainly safety is another good one.
06:38I think there's a lot of depth there.
06:41Center, at what point do you want to look for another guy who can come in?
06:45Not, you know, and I think it'd be after the third round, but could you get a guy that
06:49could come in and maybe not necessarily challenge for a starting job this year, but who could
06:53ascend to that role the following year, right?
06:55And develop, right?
06:56So you could do that.
06:57And I think then you start looking at there's some rusher, edge rushers with traits that would
07:03be tempting down in that range.
07:06And again, like, now you're looking down the road because you're not looking, when you get
07:11fifth, sixth, seventh rounds, you're not looking for guys who come in and fill immediate holes.
07:15If you're, you know, if they could do that, they'll be going in the first couple rounds.
07:18Yeah.
07:19So you're looking for guys with, to me, with traits who could develop.
07:22And the other thing too, is what everybody always tells me, like, you never know when
07:26a position becomes one of need.
07:28And so you don't just draft for need, but you want, you want to get guys who can come
07:32in and develop and, and really kind of help you down the road at that point.
07:36Talking to John Kime on BMitch and Finley.
07:39There's always one or two guys that tend to drop on actual draft today.
07:45And I know, again, this is all predicting and there's a lot of noise out there now.
07:48Is there any sense of a certain name that maybe you've heard or even just a guess in
07:53your eyes of a name that may fall farther than people expect in this first round?
07:58I don't know because it's really, it's so hard with this draft because there are so many
08:03guys that like, even usually it's going to come down to hell.
08:07So could a, would McCoy, the corner, would he drop because teams aren't sure about his
08:11health, right?
08:12Like, I think that's one, you know, I don't expect a Caleb Downs to fall, but like it's such
08:18a deep safety draft and there's a couple of good safeties in the first round that do
08:21you take them automatically that high?
08:23I don't know.
08:24I think he's got a lot of special traits about him that make him very tempting and others
08:28might see him like it.
08:30There's some teams are going to look at him like, I love these traits.
08:32He's so smart.
08:33He's a, he's a, he's an executive coach on the field.
08:36Like he knows where he's super, super smart.
08:39Um, but what if the team that loves him like that doesn't take them?
08:42And then others see like, well, yeah, you say that, but I see he doesn't have the Sean
08:47Taylor traits, the measurables, right?
08:49And so like, you know what I mean?
08:50Like, but that's, but that's how this, I think the same thing with a lot of guys in this
08:53draft are going to be like that.
08:55You know, Jordan Tyson, you might love him as a receiver, but yet the injuries scare
08:59you.
09:00So I just, I think it's going to be such a, I don't want to say beauty in the eye
09:03of the
09:04beholder.
09:04I just think that there's going to be a range of opinions on a few of these guys that could
09:09cause, I don't know who, but could cause one of them to fall.
09:12McCoy is the one that you'd wonder about just because the health, um, uh, with the knee
09:16coming off the knee, um, that would be the one you'd wonder about, but he's so uber talented
09:22that somebody in the top half might say like, you, I, we think he'll be fine and we're going
09:26to take him now.
09:27So, yeah.
09:28So the, the talk about Bain in the short arms, which is only one eighth of an inch shorter,
09:33and you watch him play.
09:36He is probably the most destructive defensive player in this old damn draft.
09:40You know, he's a bad dude.
09:43So do you think he, he does that cause him to drop?
09:47I, you know, the funny thing is like, look how for any other guy who has the arm length
09:54that he does, cause the history shows that that does matter.
09:58Right.
09:58However, I don't know if a lot of those guys throughout history had his other traits.
10:03And that's why, like, think of how good he has to be to be considered a top 10 pick despite
10:09that arm length.
10:11Do you know what I'm saying?
10:11Like there's something there's like, there is a, there are a lot to me, a lot of things
10:16I like about him.
10:17I think he can be versatile.
10:18I think he can rush inside and nickel packages.
10:20His hands are super strong.
10:22Yeah.
10:23And, and he's just, I also like his play demeanor, man.
10:26I think he gives you, I think there's that, you know, Quinn loves to have that, that dog
10:30mentality.
10:31I think he has that.
10:32So like, there's a lot to like about him.
10:34That the only thing I wonder about is when you're picking top 10, does a team gets a little
10:40bit concerned with the traits to say like, okay, yeah, we like them.
10:44But in the top 10, you want to have maybe again, like I'd say the same thing with Caleb
10:48Downs because he's only, he's not as big as some other safeties who have gone that
10:52high, but he's got the, he's got so many other special qualities that for both those
10:57guys, like, could I see it?
10:58Yeah.
10:58And, you know, could I see him stumbling out maybe a little bit, but I do think they
11:02both have qualities that teams won't, some team I think will fall in love with.
11:06And just say like, I know this, I know that, but I see this and I want that and take
11:12them
11:12because I, you know what I mean?
11:13Like I, I just, but it's all, I think that draft is like this, that they're,
11:18you know, I think even with the offensive lineman, there's guys that like, yeah, they're
11:21projected to go top 10, but I think in other drafts, I don't think they would, you know,
11:25but there's things, things that somebody might like, you know, so I, but I think with Bain,
11:29I agree with you.
11:30Like he was really good in the playoffs and you can't discount that.
11:36And it wasn't, it wasn't a fluke.
11:38I mean, he was, he's strong, man.
11:41He's strong.
11:42Like, so he compensates for the arm length that way.
11:45But again, top 10, how much is the team going to be scared off by the history of players
11:51with, with the shorter arm length?
11:52Like, uh, John, you look at, uh, Caleb Downs, he gets compared, people start bringing up
11:57names like Sean Taylor.
11:58No, he's not that size.
12:00No.
12:00I look at Earl Thomas more.
12:03Remember Earl Thomas when he was with the Legion of Boom?
12:05Oh yeah.
12:05He wasn't the biggest guy, but he was smart as hell and he made plays.
12:09And I think Caleb kind of fits that, that bill more.
12:12Yeah.
12:13And I think like an Ed Reed type too, where you're just like, you're, you're playing
12:16chess on the field and you know, like, you listen, you know, I went to Ohio state and
12:20as the junkies asked me this last week, and like of those four Ohio state guys, like who's
12:24like watching.
12:24And I always like watching Caleb because as a, as a fan of the team, you felt comfortable
12:30and calm.
12:30Like, well, Caleb's out there.
12:32Something good will happen.
12:33Not that he was a necessarily playmaker per se, but it was just his presence on the field
12:38gave you a calmness because you knew how smart he was, how prepared he was, and that he makes
12:46the right play.
12:47You know what I mean?
12:47And he's, I think there's versatility.
12:49I think the question for him will be where, you know, as a cover guy, where would you put
12:54him?
12:54You're not going to put him on the top receiver.
12:56So you don't have to worry about that.
12:57So like, how, how will you utilize him that way?
13:00Yeah.
13:01What do you think of his versatility?
13:03And then, you know, the, I don't know if some teams will be a little bit concerned about
13:07the lack of testing from the combine, et cetera, that, that he didn't do.
13:13But if you watch the tape, like I talked to Dan Quinn about him at the combine and his
13:17comment was, you know, you watch him on film and you say, whoa, and then you meet him
13:21in a person and you say, whoa, like he is, he is, he's, there's a lot to like about
13:26him and you, you, you won't have to worry about him on the field when you have him.
13:32Talking to John Keim, you know, we all know how bad this commander's defense was.
13:36I don't think anybody's going out on a limb saying that they were certainly aggressive
13:40this off season with what they could do in free agency, but you do have a, I mean, you
13:44got rookie coordinators, obviously on both sides of the football from a defensive perspective
13:48though, if they do go offense at seven, does Durante Jones's defense in your eyes, John?
13:54And I like, I get, obviously we need to see what happens on the field and who maybe exceeds
13:57the expectations or their contracts, but with what they've done, does it feel like a defense
14:02that's significantly improved, at least on paper at this point?
14:05I, again, I know the, the ceiling is really low given where they were last year, but it's
14:10just, that's what concerns me because full disclosure, I want to see this team go defense
14:14at seven.
14:14I just think we, people have forgotten.
14:16I know there's some flashy weapons on offense, but for the love of God, they're giving up 14 points
14:20in the first quarter and this team was down, felt like the first quarter of every single
14:23game.
14:24So I don't know, when you just look at this defense, if they were to go offense at seven,
14:27does it feel like they've got enough for this to be a significantly improved defense or is
14:32it more in your eyes of like a, eh, they're better, but they still got a lot, they still
14:35got to add?
14:36Well, I think they're definitely better.
14:38Significantly would be tough to say without having watched them because I'd also want to
14:41see, I think you still have, listen man, Mike, they, they believe in Mikey Sanders
14:46still that he'll bounce back.
14:48And I think, you know, we all know he's a very good competitor.
14:51He, he, he turned, he helps create turnovers.
14:54He's one of the few who can do that out there, but he was up and down.
14:58So they have confidence in him, but are we sure that's going to happen?
15:02I don't know.
15:03We don't know yet.
15:03Cause you want to see it on the field, right?
15:05And they feel like in this system, the ability to play with more vision with the, you know,
15:09with the eyes and all that will be better for him.
15:11So we'll see, but is it a guarantee?
15:14No.
15:14And Amik Robertson, I love what that guy adds.
15:17Like when you watch him play, there's a short area of quickness, but there's also a toughness.
15:22He, I think he's about five, nine.
15:24I think he, he's, I think he feels like he's six, one, two 20.
15:28Like that's how he plays.
15:29Like he's not going to back down from people.
15:31I think he brings that mentality, but again, another kind of up and down year Detroit for
15:35a couple of reasons, but that's what it was.
15:37And so like, you know, until we know how the corner play is going to be.
15:41And that's why if you go corner, I think that would be something like, okay, you've got
15:45a lot of really good choices now, but we don't know where that's going to go yet.
15:49Right.
15:50And we don't know Jordan McGee.
15:53Like, I think he can play, but we have to see it in full.
15:57Right.
15:57And so I think I like the edge rushers.
15:59I think there, I think it's gonna be a lot better.
16:01I think where there'll be better is I, you know, it seemed like at times last year, there
16:04was just too much confusion in the secondary or in the coverage that led to too many gaps
16:11and broken plays or coverages.
16:13And so that's a way to improve, but I, you know, um, but we don't know, I can't say
16:17significantly at this point because, and I think Durante Jones, I love the defense he's
16:22coming from and what, you know, like his coaching career, but we don't know.
16:28So, but yeah.
16:29And here's the other thing too.
16:30And the talk about is helping Jane Daniels, getting more around him, but the better the
16:35defense is, the less the burden he has to score 35 points a game.
16:38Right.
16:39And I think like that can help him as well.
16:42Um, for sure.
16:43So if you went that way, I don't, I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all, because
16:47I do think like offensively, um, how much will the change in systems help him?
16:53Um, being healthy will help him having a healthy Terry McLaurin and working together all off
16:58season will help him.
17:00Should go Conquo will help him.
17:02I think the running back room, I don't know.
17:04Is it any worse than it was two years ago?
17:06I don't think so.
17:07So, um, I think I really liked watching him, but you know, I think as depth goes, I think
17:13they're, they're fine.
17:15Right.
17:15So there's reason to believe that they can play well offensively with another receiver
17:20coming in at some point or two.
17:22Um, because, you know, not to ramble, but like the two areas that I think where you say the
17:27depth, you don't want to see it tested to be corner and receiver.
17:32And especially like if something happened to your top guy.
17:35I'm so glad you said that about defense, because that's also how you support a young quarterback
17:39is having a defense that can actually get some stops.
17:42Well, in a couple of days, John, we'll start getting some answers at least.
17:44Appreciate it, man.
17:45Thanks for coming on.
17:46Thanks guys.
17:47Have a good one.
17:48There he goes.
17:48John Kime, ESPN.
17:49And of course, uh, draft coverage here on the fan is presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance.
17:54Only pay for what you need, B-Man.
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