00:00Let's talk about some scheme fits.
00:02Draft's over. He's still doing draft shows.
00:03Sean did make his shot, by the way.
00:05He missed the first, but he did make the second.
00:07Full 10 foot?
00:07Oh, yeah. Come on.
00:08I mean, that rim may have been higher than 10 feet.
00:10There was a middle-aged woman, though, that stepped up and hit about 12 of 13.
00:17Wow.
00:17I was sitting there. Everyone's talking at lunch, and I'm just watching her like,
00:20I wanted to say something and compliment her,
00:22but I didn't want my wife to cut me there at the table.
00:25But I was like, oh, my God, she's draining everything.
00:30Wings should have drafted her first.
00:31They had her not talking to press her.
00:33Yeah, but you wouldn't have any interpersonal relationships.
00:35Oh, Nancy Lieberman was there at the star.
00:38She was sitting there taking a tour.
00:41Awesome.
00:42And then they're going home, and they're saying,
00:43Sean Sharif was there.
00:44We saw Sean Sharif over there.
00:45We're going to see them maybe.
00:46We'll see them in the fall.
00:48Yeah.
00:49Do I go down the list?
00:51Do you want to just start with whatever Cowboys angle there is,
00:53or would you just like to start at the top and go down?
00:57So let's start at how long is it going to take to get to the Cowboys?
01:00The second one.
01:01No, start at the top.
01:02And it's in the division.
01:03So Arvel Reese, number one best fit for,
01:07and this is from Ted Wynn over at The Athletic,
01:08and he talks about Hillis, the play style,
01:10the scheme that they're going to, and why he likes it.
01:13So he talks about Arvel Reese.
01:14He says, explosive athlete with a nose for the ball,
01:16heavy hands, and pass rush juice.
01:18He's going to a two-high 3-4 scheme.
01:20He said, I'm intrigued by this fit.
01:21The Giants drafted Reese, who played inside linebacker,
01:24but has the potential to be a strong pass rusher
01:26a year after drafting Abdul Carter and trading for Brian Burns.
01:30At Penn State, like Reese, Carter also played inside linebacker,
01:34but transitioned to playing edge.
01:35Carter and Burns will start on the edges
01:37and be backed up by Kayvon Thibodeau,
01:39who the news came out yesterday,
01:41they wanted a second for Thibodeau.
01:44Nope.
01:45Some unreasonable asks, in my opinion,
01:47during draft weekend for players
01:49who we thought could have been traded.
01:51Some people were throwing out, like,
01:53a second for Jordan Brooks in Miami,
01:55and now you're talking about a second for Thibodeau?
01:58Get the hell out of here.
01:58Yeah.
01:59Maybe that's ask up here so that you can settle down here.
02:02I don't know.
02:03But, man, that seems, especially Thibodeau.
02:05I can see, at the very least,
02:07if it's Miami, you can say,
02:09well, Brooks was an all-pro last year.
02:11You're getting an all-pro linebacker.
02:12Like, he's performed at a level that says this,
02:14but, man, that's still a lot.
02:17And Todd Archer came on with us last week
02:20and said, let's pay attention
02:22to who the Miami Dolphins acquire and draft.
02:27Who do they get that may push Jordan Brooks
02:30out of there post-June 1?
02:32Do they add a lot to where they have an overcrowded room?
02:35They drafted a linebacker, Jacob Rodriguez.
02:38Oh.
02:38So Jordan Brooks will not be going anywhere.
02:40All right.
02:41No, I'm just kidding.
02:42Let's mess with Wolchek,
02:43and don't scream at me, Texas Tech fans.
02:44He's a good player.
02:45All three edges are undersized, below 255 pounds,
02:48and Reese weighs 241.
02:50Reese's tape playing inside linebacker was superb,
02:52and he should make an immediate impact on the second level.
02:55Going to a team where he doesn't have to play full-time
02:57on the edge will benefit him.
02:58The team also signed linebacker Tremaine Edmonds
03:00to be the Mike linebacker,
03:01which will free up Reese to move around the front.
03:03How concerned are you,
03:05and I think it would have been way higher, too,
03:07if you would have talked about downs instead of Maui Noah,
03:10but how concerned are you about,
03:11man, the Giants look like they've at least stacked up
03:14some playmakers on the defensive side of the ball now?
03:17Not that much,
03:18because I feel like I've been saying that over the past few years.
03:23We said it about Thibodeau.
03:24Yeah, the New York Giants should have been frightening
03:26with Dexter Lawrence,
03:28with Thibodeau,
03:30with Burns and with Carter.
03:32Give me a more loaded,
03:36higher-drafted defensive line unit or front seven,
03:39especially defensive line,
03:40and did the Giants finish top three, top five in sacks last year?
03:46Which they had, in addition to that,
03:48I'm trying to think,
03:48I think during that time stretch, too,
03:50they had,
03:52I'm trying to remember,
03:53did Dalvin Tomlinson cross over there with them as well?
03:55I mean, that was the second-round pick.
03:57They always invest in the trenches.
03:59They don't have,
04:00I don't think the Giants have had a bad plan
04:02in terms of, like,
04:03how do we get our team better?
04:04They're drafting fundamentally of, like,
04:06trenches on both sides of the ball.
04:07They've just picked the wrong guys.
04:09They've picked the busts there.
04:10Yeah.
04:10Number two on Caleb Downs,
04:12and I don't think this is,
04:13or on Ted Wynn's list,
04:14I don't think this is a ranking,
04:15I think it's just he's going down the list here,
04:17but the next player on his list of the best scheme fits,
04:20the 10 best scheme fits from the draft,
04:22Caleb Downs,
04:23free safety slash nickel to the Cowboys,
04:26and you've got to remember,
04:27Ted Wynn is the one who wrote the article
04:28we read a couple weeks ago
04:29about the modern nickel in the NFL
04:31and how teams are approaching it.
04:32And joined us at the Super Bowl.
04:34Yep, big, big.
04:35With no stomach.
04:36Yes.
04:37No stomach, that's right.
04:38Big film scheme nerd.
04:40He is obsessed with this stuff.
04:42And so he said,
04:43play style for Caleb Downs,
04:44high IQ thumper who does everything at a high level.
04:47The scheme is the Fangio influence too high,
04:50which is two deep safeties
04:52that then at the snap of the ball,
04:54they rotate coverages.
04:55So that's,
04:55they're not going to show you what they're doing at all.
04:57When people talk about,
04:59oh, are you going to show this look and move out of this?
05:00They're basically just showing you static at the snap
05:02and then they rotate into what they're going to do.
05:04This is what he had to say about the fit for Downs.
05:06He said,
05:06coaches from the Vic Fangio coaching tree value the nickel
05:09as much as outside corners.
05:11Christian Parker told us that
05:12while we were in Indianapolis.
05:13Cowboys defensive coordinator,
05:14Christian Parker saw firsthand
05:16how nickel Cooper Dejean impacted the Eagles.
05:17After the draft owner,
05:19Jerry Jones confirmed that they were targeting
05:21either a corner or safety who can play nickel.
05:23They didn't think they had a shot at Downs,
05:25but after he fell out of the top 10,
05:26they traded up one spot to get him.
05:28Downs will play some safety and move around,
05:30but the Cowboys will play a lot of sub personnel,
05:32five or more defensive backs.
05:34So he will spend most of his snaps in the slot.
05:36He'll cover some receivers and tight ends,
05:38but they will,
05:39but they will be a team that majors in zone coverage.
05:42The quote here from Brian Schottenheimer,
05:44he goes through one of the quotes on shotty on Caleb Downs.
05:46But after that, he says Downs is only 206 pounds,
05:48but he plays the run aggressively
05:49and can knock back much bigger blockers.
05:52He won't just be a secondary contained player.
05:54There will be times when he's asked to play inside gaps,
05:56as Schottenheimer said,
05:57and his ability to do it credibly
05:59will be one of the keys to making Parker's system work.
06:02Schottenheimer also said Downs will be making calls
06:04and adjustments for the defense.
06:05His impact will be more than just the plays he makes.
06:08He's going to be an extension of Christian Parker on the field.
06:12So I nerded out like a loser again yesterday.
06:15During stars, stars intermission,
06:18put the Rangers on in the background,
06:20and I'm just going to put on more Caleb Downs YouTube.
06:25And I'm like, I just need a refresher to get even more excited.
06:28And what I decided to do is go back to 2023.
06:31And I was searching for Caleb Downs versus Brock Bowers,
06:35Caleb Downs in coverage.
06:37So I saw more in coverage highlights in 2023 than the recent one.
06:42And that was with him playing at Alabama.
06:45It's just amazing how small he looks
06:48and manages to get the ball carrier down with his first hit.
06:53Like, he doesn't look like he misses any tackles.
06:55Somehow his initial hit and tackle,
06:58if it's not perfect form, which normally it was,
07:01and then when it's not perfect form,
07:03the ball carrier always goes down
07:05and is not breaking the tackle.
07:07And then, in having some discussions yesterday at the Ford Center,
07:12this dude's a four-year vet already.
07:16He, there was one of their draft picks
07:19who was quoted as coming into the star and saying,
07:21this place looks fake.
07:24I think it was just Davion Clowney who came in and said,
07:26these guys are spoiled.
07:27They have no idea what type of facilities there are
07:31around the rest of the National Football League.
07:33Downs was brought into the building.
07:34He's put on Jerry's PJ.
07:38He's shown all the facilities and all the fancy things.
07:42And he's just like, cool.
07:44That's cool.
07:45Because this man's coming from Alabama.
07:48And he's coming from Ohio State.
07:50Where this is a downgrade.
07:51They had to pull him away, apparently, from Christian Parker.
07:55Because they just started nerding out over defensive talk.
08:00But he's not blown away by any of the flash.
08:03I thought he was, Jerry's taken some very subtle,
08:07couple of subtle shots, I think, at his draft press conferences
08:13and from Caleb Downs, where Caleb is up there like,
08:16Jerry's, he's done a great job with the brand.
08:19He's done an awesome job with the brand.
08:21He is a...
08:23He gets it already.
08:24He seems like a four or five year vet.
08:27And that's one of the things, like, you know, when you're going through the draft process
08:31and you take a kid that played at Alabama, Ohio State, whatever.
08:34You know, they're not going to be as, like, bright, wide-eyed about being in the NFL.
08:40Like, they've been in...
08:41Because in that area...
08:42They've been around the college version of the NFL.
08:45Because in the Southeast, like, college football is bigger than the NFL.
08:48Like, it just is.
08:49Like, if you go in, like, certain parts of the country,
08:51it's a lot bigger than the National Football League.
08:53And it means more.
08:54So you go to the NFL, it's like, man, I'm out of that pressure cooker.
08:59Thank God.
09:01And then the facilities in college at some of these schools.
09:03Like, A&M's facilities are just stupid.
09:06Yeah.
09:06Right?
09:06Like, you go play football at A&M.
09:08You go to the NFL, you're like, what am I doing here?
09:11Day three, we got a chance to talk to the scouts and the coaches on the draft show.
09:16And you mentioned the whole four-year veteran thing.
09:19Caleb Downs starting at Alabama.
09:21This is Southeast Area Scout Eric Allingworth talking about Caleb Downs
09:26and the whole brain works idea from Christian Parker.
09:29You hear things like smartest D-back that Coach Saban has ever coached.
09:33And you think of the number of not just really talented players,
09:37but really smart guys that, I mean, that's a difficult defense to master.
09:40You know, just the verbiage, the calls, the pattern match,
09:43the pre-snap recognition off splits and things.
09:45And Caleb has everything down.
09:46And one thing specific to him that, like, just you talk about CB talking about,
09:51hey, I need his brain to work, that, like, his brain works so well
09:54because he loves football so much and prepares at a different rate.
09:58Like, this is a guy that digging on character at Alabama this year about Caleb Downs.
10:02They said, like, one of the reasons he left for Ohio State is there was that week
10:07to week and a half of transition from Coach Saban to whoever the next coach was going to be.
10:11And he couldn't sit still and, like, I need a new defense to learn.
10:15I need to get in my off-season training program.
10:18And he just was like, I can't wait any longer.
10:20And then, boom, went to Ohio State because he, you know, could not sit still for a week
10:25just to figure out even who the next head coach is going to be.
10:28But, like, he prepares at such a different level.
10:31He's going to come in day one like a vet, like an advanced vet.
10:35But, you know, he's going to be doing calculus when some guys who are still year three and four in
10:39the league
10:39are, you know, they're still doing algebra.
10:42But he's different.
10:44And his brain works.
10:45It's nuts.
10:46That's a good clip.
10:47It's the thing everybody says about him.
10:49Everybody just talks about the demeanor, the intelligence,
10:53and that is such a big thing that we were finding out about Christian Parker
10:56is I can't have guys who cannot mentally process.
11:01All that stuff we saw last year of just busts and confusion, like, those guys can't be here.
11:06And that's why you've seen such heavy roster turnover on the defensive side of the ball,
11:10more than is normal for an NFL team.
11:12So there it is.
11:13The immediate scheme fits from our buddy Ted Wynn at The Athletic
11:16after the NFL draft on your home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Comments