00:00Trevor Sykema, NFL Stock Exchange, joining us right now.
00:04I don't know why I added a comma there.
00:06Trevor, welcome to the show.
00:07Hey, guys. I appreciate you having me.
00:09Well, it's great to have you, buddy.
00:11I guess we'll start here.
00:14Favorite Browns draft pick this year?
00:17Kind of tough to, honestly, give you one,
00:21because this is the only A-plus draft that I have.
00:24This is the highest draft grade that I gave of any team,
00:26but I guess my favorite is Denzel Boston.
00:30I like a lot of them,
00:31but I think that Boston just gives them the type of wide receiver that they don't have.
00:35I think that absolutely.
00:36You know, you fast-forward the clock a year, two years from now,
00:39I bet Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston are one and two on this team.
00:43They're the wide receiver one and wide receiver two.
00:44I think they're building the whole passing attack around these guys,
00:47and, you know, you throw Harold Fanden Jr. in there as well.
00:50Not to say that some of the guys on the roster aren't going to be there long term,
00:53but I just think the world of these two players,
00:55I had both of them top 25 on my board.
00:57You get Concepcion at 24 right around where I had him,
01:00and then I think getting Boston at 39, man, that's going to be an absolute steal.
01:03I think he's a really, really good player.
01:05So, to me, I love both of those receivers,
01:08but getting Boston at 39 was major value for me.
01:10Yeah, what's interesting is I felt like everyone gave it really high grades,
01:13and I love to hear that you did as well.
01:15And then now that, like, the dust has settled and we've gotten enough time,
01:19a lot of, like, ESPN reports and different people that have,
01:22oh, talked to execs and all this other stuff came out today,
01:25and it was just insinuating that, like, going back-to-back wide receiver
01:27wasn't the right thing when we don't even know what our quarterback is.
01:31But I'm curious if you disagree with that.
01:34Yeah, I mean, I wholeheartedly disagree with that.
01:36I mean, what are they going to do?
01:38Pick a quarterback at 39?
01:39Who is available for them?
01:40Simpson's off the board and Mendoza's off the board.
01:43What are you going to pick Carson back at 39, like, to feel better about it?
01:46No, I think that's silly.
01:48I think you have to build the rest of the team
01:51and get the rest of the team ready for whoever is going to entrench themselves
01:55as that franchise quarterback, whether they're on the roster or not.
01:58I feel like it's more likely that it's not.
02:00But, yeah, I mean, I think that that's kind of a ridiculous notion.
02:04I thought they did a really great job, especially because, again,
02:08part of the deal with Boston is you're adding a wide receiver
02:10that you don't really have on the team.
02:12I mean, I like Cedric Tillman, but he's been, you know,
02:15up and down when it comes to his availability,
02:17and then obviously he hasn't been able to break out too much.
02:20And, again, I'm not trying to say that, like, the guys on the roster,
02:22you know, aren't going to stick around,
02:24don't have a chance to compete or anything like that,
02:25but you're adding an element to your team with Boston
02:29where he can play as a big slot, he can play as an X on the outside.
02:32Like, he can just do a lot of different things for you.
02:34So, no, I would not subscribe to that at all.
02:37I don't look at this like, well, you know, it's receivers
02:40and you don't even have a quarterback.
02:41Okay, great.
02:42Well, you've got to take the draft as it comes to you.
02:44So I think they'll be totally fine there.
02:46Trevor, are you buying Spencer Fano as a left tackle?
02:50Because the Browns seem to be deploying him in that spot, at least in 2026.
02:55Yeah, I mean, I think that that's where you should start him, right?
02:58The only interesting part about the Browns' entire offseason was
03:04their acquisitions along the offensive line were kind of funny.
03:07Because in the free agency period, you trade for Titus Howard,
03:12you bring back Tevin Jenkins, you get Alton Jenkins, you sign Zion Johnson.
03:18All four of those players, and if you throw in the fact that you already have DeJuan Jones,
03:22all five of those players are more downhill, man-in-gap scheme,
03:28sort of running between the trenches.
03:30You know, it's more of a power-run profile.
03:32All of those players, that's what they do.
03:35Spencer Fano, Parker Brailsford, and Austin Barber,
03:38zone-blocking scheme offensive linemen.
03:40So it was just kind of funny to me when I was going through mock drafts.
03:44Sure, I had Spencer Fano as my top offensive tackle in the draft,
03:48and, you know, could take him at number six a lot of times
03:50when the Browns were on the board when I was doing those mock draft exercises.
03:53But I'd always say to myself, nah,
03:55Munkin's trying to build it a little bit more powerful.
03:58You know, he's just trying to get these bigger offensive linemen.
04:00And then that's not what they did at all.
04:01So I jokingly said to my co-host after the draft,
04:04maybe they're just going to go with those hockey shift offensive lines
04:07where when they're going to run zone,
04:09they'll just sub five new offensive linemen out there.
04:11And then when they want to run downhill in power,
04:13they'll sub in the other five.
04:15But obviously kidding there.
04:17I mean, they'll play some sort of a mix of those.
04:19But all the way getting back to your original question, yes.
04:22I mean, I would put Spencer Fano at that left tackle spot.
04:25You draft him in the top ten to be able to do so.
04:27And it's kind of the conversation that we have with Will Campbell a little bit
04:31where it's like let him fail at tackle before you move him inside.
04:34All right, maybe he's a guard long term, but you better figure it out.
04:38You better have a definitive answer that he wouldn't be a player
04:42to give you extra value and offensive tackle value
04:44because I think he can play at that spot.
04:47And you've got to give him the opportunity to prove whether he can or he can't.
04:50Where did you have Talon Green?
04:52So I had Talon Green somewhere around, I can't remember exactly where he was
04:57on my big board, but it was kind of like fringe top 200
05:00because I recognize the athletic talent that Talon Green has.
05:05But sort of as a quarterback, I mean, he's never been consistent enough.
05:10And it's hard when you're not super consistent in college
05:13to think that you would then just become more and more consistent in the NFL.
05:17It just rarely happens like that.
05:19So I think that there's a future for him to be around the NFL a long time
05:23even if the quarterback route doesn't work for him
05:26because he's a crazy athlete.
05:28But it's hard for me to watch what he did at Arkansas
05:32over the last couple of years and say, yeah, that's consistent enough
05:35on a down-by-down basis to where you can have faith in him.
05:38So a great rushing option for sure, but I'm not so sure that he sticks around
05:43at quarterback in the NFL.
05:44He just straight up was not consistent enough to do that when he was in Arkansas.
05:49Trevor, I think it's fair to say, all right, I'm not sure about the quarterback position.
05:53And I also think it was fair to say the last couple of years,
05:55well, it's not like they gave the quarterbacks a lot to work with.
05:59I think both things happen to be true.
06:01If we just move the quarterback over to the side here,
06:04did the Browns improve the offense around the quarterback enough
06:08to say whoever the quarterback is this year, they're at least giving them a chance?
06:13Oh, yeah, I think so.
06:14I mean, it all kind of comes down to the offensive line, right?
06:17Does that offensive line and those best five out there,
06:20do they gel the way that they need to?
06:22But it's hard to not look at this lineup, especially because, I mean,
06:25you've got one, two, three, four, five, six at least new starters
06:31on the offensive line on this team compared to what we had last year.
06:35And even last year, like if you obviously like Quinston Juggins,
06:38Dylan Sampson, Harold Fannin Jr., those guys are rookies, right?
06:41I mean, so it's a young group, either first- or second-year players,
06:45to where you have to definitively be able to say, yes,
06:49this is a much better situation than what it was,
06:51especially two years ago on the offensive side of the ball.
06:54And especially when you're adding an offensive-minded head coach again
06:57in Todd Munkin.
06:58I know that's what Kevin Stabanski was,
06:59but it's good that you were able to add that offensive mind
07:02when you're making the change, because I'm a big Todd Munkin guy.
07:05I've had a lot of faith in him.
07:07I've wanted him to get a head coaching shot for a long time now.
07:11So I think he's kind of the right man for the job for this team.
07:14And I agree with you.
07:16I think that it's not the best offense in the NFL,
07:19but it's certainly a depth chart where you go, okay,
07:23if one of these quarterbacks that they already have
07:25is going to be the long-term option,
07:27they'll give you signs of it this year.
07:30You better be able to see the signs,
07:31because I think you can do a lot worse
07:33than what the Browns currently have on offense.
07:34You said you're a big Todd Munkin guy.
07:36We don't hear that often.
07:38Why do you say that?
07:39So I got my start in this industry
07:42as a beat reporter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
07:45And that was back in 2017
07:47when he was the offensive coordinator with Dirk Cutter.
07:50Now, obviously, Dirk Cutter is the head coach.
07:52He was the guy who was sort of the offensive mastermind there.
07:55But I always really enjoyed when Todd Munkin
07:59was either at the podium presser,
08:00we got to talk to him off the field,
08:02or things like that around training camp or whatever.
08:05Because I just thought he always told it like it is.
08:09He was somebody who was a no-BS guy,
08:11and you could just tell that he's seen a lot of stuff as a coach,
08:14and he knew what it was going to take to make it work.
08:17Whether it was him at Southern Miss,
08:18whether it was him at Oklahoma State,
08:20he had built a champion,
08:22well, not quite championship offenses yet,
08:24but he had built top five and top ten offenses
08:28consistently when he was at Oklahoma State,
08:30and then he really turned things around
08:32when he was at Southern Miss.
08:33He goes to Tampa Bay,
08:35and obviously they put up a ton of points
08:38with Jameis Winston,
08:38and it was really just the defense
08:40and obviously Winston with the turnovers
08:42that really came to bite them.
08:44He goes to Georgia.
08:45He makes Stetson Bennett a back-to-back national champion.
08:48He goes over to the Baltimore Ravens,
08:50and Lamar had some of the best years of his career.
08:53Their efficiency numbers when it came to the run game
08:55were extremely high,
08:57so every single spot that Todd Munkin has been in
09:00over the last 15 years
09:03has been successful on offense.
09:05Minus the Browns here the first time,
09:07but that's okay.
09:08Well, okay.
09:09All right, all right.
09:09But hey, now he's got the headset on
09:11as the head coach,
09:12and he'll be good there.
09:13People would yell at us
09:14if I let you omit that.
09:15That's all.
09:16No, he is,
09:17but I just feel as though
09:19his overall body of work
09:21has contained so much success
09:23that I have wanted him
09:24to get his chance as a head coach
09:27because I just like the way
09:29that he approaches the game,
09:30and I love his mentality for it.
09:32Trevor, the audience might not know this.
09:34You're married to ESPN and SEC Network's
09:37Alyssa Lange.
09:37She was actually on sideline
09:39for the Cavs-Raptors,
09:41I believe, Game 5.
09:43I do want to know,
09:44does this mean you paid attention to the game?
09:46And if so,
09:48what do you think about the Cavs?
09:49Are they the favorite in the East
09:50if the Celtics get bounced out?
09:52Ooh, I don't know.
09:54Look, I'm not really,
09:55I don't know if I'm an NBA guy,
09:57but I mean, like,
09:57the Celtics,
09:58or the Cavs are a really solid team.
10:00So, yes, I did.
10:01I watched some playoff hoops.
10:03I'm a big playoff hoops guy.
10:05I'm not really a regular season hoops guy,
10:07but I'm definitely a playoff hoops guy.
10:09And I do think that,
10:10well, I think that Cleveland's
10:11the better team in this series.
10:13And favorites in the East,
10:15I don't know.
10:16The Orlando Magic,
10:17if they take out the Detroit Pistons,
10:19I mean, they're on a roll.
10:19I mean, I don't think anybody
10:21wants to face that team,
10:22but that'd be a fun series
10:23if obviously they...
10:24You're right.
10:25You don't know a ball.
10:26Okay.
10:26The Orlando Magic.
10:27Yes.
10:27Yeah, correct.
10:28Correct.
10:28Trevor, I didn't realize
10:29I was going to fire all these shots
10:31of this segment,
10:31but we appreciate you, buddy.
10:32Great stuff.
10:33And we'll catch up to you down the line.
10:35I think it was a fine job.
10:36I appreciate it, guys.
10:36Anytime.
10:37Thank you, Trevor.
10:37Trevor Sykema,
10:38a real gentleman there.
10:40NFL Stock Exchange.
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