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00:00We head out to the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline, NFL.com, NFL Network, Cleveland's
00:06own Nick Shook.
00:08Nick, welcome to the show, buddy.
00:10Hey, guys.
00:10Thanks for having me.
00:11And a nice little Borat reference day.
00:13Very nice.
00:14Yeah.
00:15The amount of times that I slip into Borat, again, it's been 20 years since the movie
00:20came out.
00:21And whether it's, you know, my wife, very nice.
00:24Or just running around in a thong.
00:25It constantly happens.
00:27A thong, if you're lucky.
00:28Come on now.
00:29Sometimes you just got to let it hang out.
00:31All right.
00:32Let's start here.
00:34What grade did you give the Browns for their draft this weekend?
00:38Well, I reject the concept of draft grades.
00:41But if I were to give a draft grade, just because we don't know what these guys are going to
00:44be for two to three years.
00:46But on first glance, first blush, the Browns get an A because they hit on all four of their
00:52first four picks.
00:54Obviously, moving from six to nine to draft Spencer Fano, getting Casey Concepcion.
00:58If he has more reliable hands at the pro level, that'll be a nice pickup for them as a catch
01:03and run guy.
01:03Denzel Boston, the inverse of Casey Concepcion, which really builds out your receiving core
01:08into a diverse group.
01:09And then trading back up to get Emmanuel McNeil Warren, a guy that a lot of people, including
01:13myself, thought would go in the first round.
01:15When you get him at 58 and you address needs, you make good picks for good value at the
01:21right spots.
01:22And while I have some questions about Fano long term, whether he's going to be a tackler
01:26or a guard, if that's your guy and you were able to trade back three spots and still get
01:30your guy, then I'm all for it.
01:33All right.
01:33You mentioned Denzel Boston being the inverse of Concepcion.
01:36I mean, he's massive.
01:37He's got a lot of size to himself.
01:39Like there's, there's a, there's, it's a difference there.
01:41I should, the expectation then be it's Jerry Judy.
01:44And then right out of the gate, it's Concepcion and Boston as your two and three.
01:48Yeah, I would think so.
01:49I mean, what else are they going to really look at and think, all right, this is, this
01:53is the guy that we're going to play in place of them.
01:55Now, of course you have to go through rookie minicamp and OTAs, mandatory minicamp, training
01:59camp, all of that to really figure it out.
02:01But I mean, behind them is Cedric Tillman and you know, Cedric Tillman's good for a
02:06play every six weeks in a, in a regular season.
02:08And that's about it.
02:09No offense to him.
02:10It's just, he doesn't, his role isn't big.
02:12He doesn't get a lot of opportunity.
02:13We know what the quarterback play situation has been like there.
02:15He just, he just pops up at random.
02:17So I'm not going to slot him in as one of the top three.
02:19I like the potential of Isaiah Bond, but you know, we know how he got to the NFL last
02:23year and he's still limited in experience.
02:25So, I mean, why not, why not give some of these other guys a chance from the guys he just
02:29spent a couple of, you know, higher picks on.
02:31I like the idea of it.
02:33I don't really like the idea of designating a rod receiver one in some rooms and especially
02:37in this room.
02:38This is very much a strength in numbers, top three, but they're all a little different
02:42from each other.
02:42And I think the diversity is going to help this offense.
02:44Nick, did the Browns or do the Browns now have enough after this off season around the
02:50quarterback to give them a chance to succeed, whoever the starting quarterback is?
02:55That's a good question because a lot of that depends on the offensive line, completely
02:58rebuilt in one off season.
03:00You know, where does Fano line up?
03:03Does he play left tackle like he did a couple of years ago in college?
03:05Do you keep Titus Howard at right tackle?
03:07Can Elton Jenkins stay healthy throughout the entire season?
03:10I really love the pick of Parker Brailsford.
03:12I think that's a great depth pick at center.
03:13I think he's going to be better than Luke Whipler right away.
03:16No offense to Luke Whipler.
03:17And I think that's going to give you some depth that you really need.
03:20So it really comes down to just how well does this group play?
03:23I mean, if they're able to gel quickly with George Warhop leading the way of the offensive
03:27line coach, then yes, the answer is yes, because I think you now have enough talent.
03:30I would like, I know you have Jack Stoll as your second tight end.
03:33You end up drafting another one on Joe Royer, but I would have liked another splashier tight
03:38end to line up opposite Fannin to really fill out this entire group.
03:41But yeah, I think that the investment that the Browns made in this side of the football,
03:46this offseason, at least on paper, looks strong enough that you can no longer just look around
03:52the quarterback and say, well, he wasn't playing with anybody.
03:54Of course he struggled.
03:56I think now the excuses have, they haven't been completely eliminated, but they've been
03:59reduced for sure.
04:01And I don't think that that necessarily sets the Browns with a high expectation in terms
04:04of win total.
04:05I'm not going to go that far, but fans should feel better about where they sit right now than
04:10they were, you know, just a few weeks ago.
04:12Why did Emmanuel McNeil-Warren fall in order for the Browns to take him and have what everyone
04:16is calling just a great pick and obviously great value as well?
04:21You know, it's an interesting question because I was kind of wondering the same thing, given,
04:24you know, the, the near consensus, the thought on him basically coming from Indy all the way
04:29to the draft was that this is an exclusive player who is going to be worth a first round
04:33pick.
04:34And I think a lot of it has to do with, you know, competition.
04:37And it's funny because Quinion Mitchell wasn't held to the same standards, but Quinion Mitchell,
04:42also a Toledo guy, put down some crazy numbers that just, you know, they quantified and basically
04:47confirmed the athleticism would, would carry over to the next level.
04:50And I think the question still is out on, on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren because he spent so
04:55much of his time playing in the Mac and just against lesser competition.
04:58And maybe folks think that at the next level, the athleticism difference that he displayed
05:03in the Mac isn't going to translate quite as much.
05:05I mean, you see that in power force products all the time too.
05:07So I think that's why we had some, he wasn't the only player, but there was a number of
05:12different guys, especially at tight end where the outside or what we thought was the consensus
05:16did not match what a lot of NFL teams felt with a lot of players.
05:21I mean, the way that the tight end group alone unfolded, just who was picked to win was like
05:25the opposite of what I thought was going to happen.
05:27And I think sometimes we just end up being on a different page than a lot of NFL evaluators
05:31and that's totally fine.
05:32But now it's up to, you know, McNeil-Warren to prove them wrong.
05:36And I think even in the second round at 58, it's still a pretty high pick for, you know,
05:40a Mac product.
05:40It's just not as high as Mitchell did, you know, in the first round a couple of years ago.
05:44Nick, we got another four-man quarterback room because it worked out so well last year.
05:49The Browns taking Talon Green with the first pick of the sixth round.
05:53I'll ask you, early prediction, who's the odd man out of the four quarterbacks?
05:58And it's Dylan Gabriel.
06:00And it's no offense to Dylan Gabriel, but Talon Green's athleticism will buy him time,
06:04I think, on this depth chart as an emergency third.
06:07And it really comes down to Shador and to Sean for the starting job.
06:10It's funny because, you know, as you look at the receiver room, I talked about the diversity
06:13of the types of players playing receiver.
06:15You kind of get that at quarterback now.
06:17Watson a little more mobile in his prime than Sanders, obviously.
06:21But Green is like the dual threat guy.
06:23Green, you know, the instant comparison that he's gotten is Terrell Pryor, and I understand
06:28that to a degree.
06:29I wouldn't want to hold him to that necessarily.
06:30They're not going to move him to receiver, as Andrew Barry said.
06:33And he got a cannon for an arm.
06:35You know, I went back through my notes from India, and I was just, it was this comment
06:38after comment on the quarterback's day about how strong his arm was.
06:41It's just that he didn't really know where it was going half the time.
06:44And I think a lot of that had to do with his throwing mechanics.
06:46Very unorthodox throwing motion.
06:48So there's things to work on, but I think that the bet on the athleticism alone and the potential,
06:51and you know the NFL, you know how these evaluators are.
06:54They fall in love with measurables and athletic potential.
06:57That will buy him more time, unless he's a complete dumpster fire, which I don't think
07:00he's going to be.
07:01And that alone is worth more than what Dylan Gabriel brought to the table.
07:04Yeah, and he's another one of these guys that, you know, in some, when you hear different
07:08mock people and different draft people, it's like, well, he could be a first rounder.
07:11Then he could be a second rounder.
07:12And then it's like, I don't know that he's going to go beyond the fourth.
07:15And then you wake up, and he's in the sixth round.
07:17And it's like, how did this happen once again?
07:20I actually feel like that was kind of where he should have fallen.
07:24He has a penchant for throwing a lot of passes into traffic and taking a lot of, you know,
07:29risky attempts in his time at Arkansas.
07:32And it felt like the only thing that would get him into the back end of day two would
07:38have been that athleticism with the belief that, look, we can get this guy in here and
07:42fix the mechanics, turn him into a more accurate passer.
07:45And then you have a true, you know, star playmaker because of his athleticism.
07:49And I think that that's just such a projection that teams aren't necessarily willing to take
07:53that swing when they have other needs to address, which is why he ends up, you know, going in
07:57the sixth round.
07:57But I mean, first pick of the sixth round, I essentially quantify that as a fifth round
08:02pick.
08:02And it's a, it's not a risk at that point at all, especially if you know that you're not
08:06throwing him into a situation where you're ever going to expect him to be ready right away
08:10or even anytime soon and you can let him kind of develop and fix some of these things.
08:14And then you're taking a bet, a bet on, on, you know, just that athletic profile and the
08:18potential of it and whether you can actually reach that.
08:21Shook, Brendan Sourceby entering treatment for gambling addiction.
08:26He could be facing a loss, a total loss of eligibility from, from the NCAA, which they
08:34have done with other players have been caught gambling in different scenarios, whether it's
08:38on their own team or professional sports.
08:41If he enters the supplemental draft this summer, as a guy that some people expected to be a
08:46top 10 pick after a year in Texas tech, would you expect the Browns?
08:49Would you want the Browns to be in on him this summer?
08:53I'll think about the last time the Browns took a swing on a, on a player in the supplemental
08:57draft.
08:57He was Josh Gordon, right?
08:59And wasn't that a second round pick?
09:00I believe so.
09:01That was, that was worth it.
09:02And it was worth it in the moment because you knew his issue was the, you know, he couldn't
09:07pass the drug test to stay on the field for the majority of his collegiate career, but
09:10you saw the potential in the, the, the, I mean, he was a freak of nature as a receiver
09:14and you're like, you know what, that's worth a second round pick.
09:16And it was also a team that desperately needed a receiver like that.
09:19I don't think the Browns are in the same situation to potentially take that type of
09:23risk, especially, you know, I would definitely wouldn't, I don't think you've ever seen a
09:26team put in a first round supplemental pick, at least not in the last 15 or 20 years.
09:31I don't even know if I would go with a second round pick.
09:32I mean, maybe you consider it, but this is not the ideal set of circumstances to then
09:39be like, Oh, let's go pluck this guy from the supplemental draft and get ahead of the
09:44curve against all these other teams that are, you know, considering, you know, drafting this
09:48guy next year.
09:49Also, I know, you know, Sorsby, I liked his year at Cincinnati for the most part.
09:54I felt like there was a lot of projection with him going to Texas Tech, just expecting him
09:59to elevate to the next level.
10:01And we do that a lot with upcoming classes.
10:03I don't know if I've necessarily seen all the proof that I would need to justify spending,
10:08you know, a second or a third round supplemental draft pick.
10:10Now you want to just throw your hat in the ring and hope nobody else does.
10:13And you throw like a fourth or fifth.
10:15And that would be perfectly fine with me, but there's not quite enough evidence to back
10:19that it's worth that risk to give up, you know, a day, a second round pick, essentially.
10:25How much did Andrew Barry change his narrative this weekend?
10:29It's funny because I do like, even though I don't believe in draft grades, I do like to
10:33read others draft grades and I like to compare what they thought about previous drafts.
10:39And I think that a lot of people were pretty big fans of his draft last year.
10:44And then we saw the results.
10:45I don't know if that's revisionist or not a little bit of both.
10:48Probably.
10:48Um, I think that this draft kind of backs or at least justifies Jimmy Haslam's decision
10:55to not fire him when they fired Kevin Stefanski.
10:58Now you have to get results from this group, of course, but right now, as we stand in late
11:02April, uh, it's, it's positive momentum for a guy who needed to hit again.
11:06And we'll see, we'll see if, you know, this group, especially this top four or five makes
11:10a difference like last year's class did.
11:12And if they do, then, um, you know, I think he's going to re rewrite a lot of his narratives
11:16in just two draft classes.
11:17All right, Chuck, what did you think of the draft, uh, the drafts of the other three AFC
11:22North teams?
11:24Well, I thought Pittsburgh, you know, they got, they got scooped by the Eagles on Makai
11:29Leonard and spent the rest of the draft kind of chasing their tail, trying to make up for
11:32it.
11:33I think, um, Ian Atcher, you know, I I'm a big fan of him as a tackle, but they didn't
11:37really need a right tackle.
11:38They already had a choice of Tanya there.
11:39That kind of didn't make sense.
11:40It felt like a panic pick.
11:41Jeremy Bernard, uh, you know, NFL player and everything, but felt like that selection they made to make
11:46their fans happy because they were upset that they didn't get a receiver in round one.
11:50Cause everybody likes shiny toys.
11:51Drew Aller.
11:52I hate, I don't mean to hate on an Ohio kid, but, uh, third round kind of just taking a
11:58swing on a guy.
11:59I mean, I don't, I don't think that he's, he's got all the measurables there.
12:02If you're aiming for measurables, um, then it, it, you know, it makes a lot of sense.
12:06If you believe you can turn them into something, but I just don't, I'm not buying what he's
12:09putting out there right now.
12:10And I think their best pick might've been Jennings Dunker late third round.
12:13Um, so I'm not a huge fan of their overall draft, maybe some of their day three, um, you
12:18know, Heidenreich, keep an eye on Eli Heidenreich.
12:20He had a really good workout in Indianapolis.
12:22I like that one.
12:23Um, so I, I'm a little down on the Steelers draft.
12:26I thought the Ravens did an excellent job as they always do at addressing their needs.
12:30They, you know, on a, you know, the best guard in the draft.
12:32I was like, that's a classic Ravens take to get Zion young and edge rusher.
12:35And they like their types.
12:36There's certain archetypes of edge rusher.
12:38Or Jacoby Lane, I taught, I went on a Ravens podcast the week prior before the draft and
12:43talked about like non day one receivers that might be great fits.
12:47And my number one guy to send to Baltimore was Jacoby Lane from USC.
12:50So I was very happy when they made that pick.
12:52And then, uh, Elijah Surratt, he was a really fun guy to watch at Indiana as well.
12:56Catching all those back shoulder fades for Fernando Mendoza.
12:58So they did a good job as well.
12:59And then the Bengals, they're kind of on the sideline for a bit because they traded out of 10
13:03to get Dexter Lawrence.
13:04It's Cassius Howell, uh, and basically the reverse process from Duke Tobin, a guy who
13:09always went for traits and measurables and the drafting, the guy with the shortest arms
13:12in recent history at edge rusher, because he's just an explosive edge rusher.
13:15I like that pick the rest of their draft.
13:17I think we kind of have to sort through, but I do like the idea of using Cassius Howell
13:21as a situational pass rusher in that defense and building it out.
13:23Nick, what are the Steelers doing?
13:25You mentioned Drew Aller in the third round.
13:26It's like between Aller, between Will Howard, they're still waiting on Aaron Rodgers.
13:30If Rodgers doesn't sign, what is, what exactly is the plan?
13:34That's a great question.
13:35And I don't think that we're going to go down that path because I think he's going to at
13:38some point, but they are giving themselves another option.
13:42And I don't know what it is about the Steelers, but they like the idea of the in-state or
13:45the
13:46hometown kid at quarterback.
13:47We saw with Kenny Pickett and now you see with Drew Aller.
13:49I really think this is the belief that you can get this type of guy in and Mike McCarthy
13:53can be like, all right, I can turn him into something.
13:55I can see the measurables and the potential that is there and I can turn him into something.
13:59But the number one takeaway I have from this, as crazy as it is and as stupid as it is,
14:04and I admit that, is don't believe when a team oversells its day three quarterback from
14:10the previous draft because they're probably trying to convince you as much as they're
14:14trying to convince themselves that they believe in Will Howard.
14:17And taking Drew out in the third round, I think, kind of exemplifies that.
14:20So they're giving themselves options.
14:22I think that this is a team that has been chasing the fact that they never properly replaced
14:26Ben Roethlisberger for years and now they're just hoping that this one might work out.
14:29Shook, we appreciate you, buddy.
14:31Thank you so much and we'll catch up with you this summer.
14:33Thanks for having me, guys.
14:34Nick Shook, NFL.com, NFL Network on the Make It Right Call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
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