00:05I got into it and I well I wasn't a knockdown drag out I just think people got it confused
00:10like Jeremiah Love went on IR last night right or yesterday and our buddy Sean Marash over at WFAN
00:17was like this you never take a running back first run you just can't do it I'm like hold on
00:21what if
00:22I'm in a position and I think some people thought that I was defending them taking Jeremiah Love I
00:27wasn't I was just in a position of what if he really is the best player I have available to
00:33me
00:33and I really believe that firmly and I don't trust any of the other ones and I can't find a
00:37trade
00:38partner like I might not be too jazzed at it but if no one's picking up the phone to call
00:42me I gotta
00:43make a choice don't I can't just let the pick go by I mean the Vikings did that once you
00:51can't just
00:51let it happen let me bring in Dane Brugler joins us right now NFL draft analyst for the athletic
00:58are is there is there any rule of thumb Dane with the draft he's on the wise heart right we
01:05make a
01:05right call call right hotline is there any rule of thumb it's just like no you cannot take running
01:09backs first round or is there just no like you always have to have an open mind depending on
01:14anything that could possibly happen it is a people business yeah of course you need to have an open
01:20mind because every situation is different I do think the Atlanta Falcons regret taking
01:24B. John Robinson eighth overall or or the Lions taking Jameer Gibbs top 12 that year of course not
01:31but I think every situation is different and I do think the Cardinals when you look at their
01:36specific situation it is open to criticism because the running back should be more of a finishing piece
01:45you know where the roster is in a good shape you add in this superstar running back and it elevates
01:51everybody puts you over the top and obviously the Cardinals that's not where they are in their
01:56roster construction so I think that's where that that where the criticism can't comes in for me
02:02but for some teams I think it makes sense when the the Cowboys drafted Zeke Elliott fourth overall
02:09you know 10 years ago now Tony Romo was in the final years of you know his career like they
02:15were a
02:16ready to go team Zeke was going to be the piece that put him over the top then obviously Tony
02:21Romo
02:21got hurt that preseason that comes in and that you know everything changes but the thinking is okay if
02:28this is one of the best players in the draft the top player on our board and we're in a
02:32specific spot
02:33with our roster where we think this puts us over the top then I certainly understand all right Dane
02:40quarterbacks in this year's draft or coming out the prospects the third straight year that they've
02:45been a disappointment have you heard from people around the league that now we have to stop maybe
02:52putting this on the players maybe there's something bigger going on and that means they need to still
02:57just look at the traits and determine who they can work with since colleges aren't doing a good
03:01enough job developing them you know I think to the overall point of what this class is I think that
03:09the
03:09messaging was lost somewhere like the the whole appeal of this year's quarterback class was more
03:17about the volume rather than oh we're gonna have there's five top 10 picks at quarterback right like
03:24I think that that the messaging got lost where this turned into oh this is going to be historic
03:29quarterback class but in reality it was okay there are 10 quarterbacks that look like NFL guys now we'll see
03:36if any of them ascend to top 10 top five number one overall type of status but it was always
03:42more
03:42about the quantity rather than the quality uh of top 10 players in my top 50 back in August before
03:49the
03:50season started I only had two quarterbacks in the top 30 so it but from 30 to 50 there were
03:56six more
03:57quarterbacks so it was always more about that and um you know I the the question about you know our
04:04quarter are college teams doing enough to develop these quarterbacks for the next level you know I
04:10don't I don't put it on them because it's not their job it's it's not in their job description to
04:16do
04:17everything they can to get them ready for NFL life their job is to win football games now obviously
04:23an ancillary uh part of it is to get them ready for the NFL because you want them to go
04:28on and have
04:29success and you can tell recruits hey look what we did with x y and z when he went to
04:34the pros and he
04:34was a top 10 pick and you know I and so that's certainly part of it but at the same
04:39time college
04:40coaches need to do what's best for their offense and winning games and whatever that means so you
04:47know the NFL is always going to be a little bit in that quagmire where they don't want to pay
04:51for a
04:52minor league system they have a free one with college football but there will be some uh you know some
04:58some issues with that when you have uh you know some college offenses that maybe don't translate
05:03perfectly and uh you know it's just it's not the priority of the college coaches to for NFL development
05:10to be on their mind uh when they get ready for a football game did you see the bottom dropping
05:15out
05:15on the quarterback class for 2027 in my quarterback preview back in August I had the first line of
05:23that story was this quarterback class will not live up to the hype because it just got out of hand
05:29what people were saying about this quarterback class was just over the top now it is I think I
05:36I am surprised that we haven't obviously Dante Moore getting hurt is a big part of that Arch Manning not
05:42taking the next step um is part of that um so yeah I think it's fair to say it's been
05:47disappointing but
05:48it's also fair to say that I think we saw this coming uh just because the hype had gotten had
05:54reached a point that was really unrealistic of you know living up to just the massive expectations that
06:02a lot of people put on this quarterback class but with that said I still think this is a good
06:06quarterback class uh now obviously it depends on who declares and who doesn't who goes back to school
06:11NIL has certainly uh blurred those lines about okay what should these guys do and now with Dante Moore
06:19situation would have been a top five pick last year now who knows with a serious head injury does he
06:27still go top 25 uh in this upcoming draft assuming he declares so this is a really interesting time for
06:35quarterback prospects when they have millions of dollars waiting for them to go back to school
06:40but there's a certain logic to striking while the iron's hot when you are a projected first round pick
06:49and I think you know Drew Mestemaker is a perfect example at Oklahoma State because he is he has as
06:55unique
06:56a journey as we've seen at the quarterback position he has started two years since middle school at the
07:02quarterback position but he has the best traits he checks the boxes for the competitive toughness for the
07:08way he's wired all of that is just there's just no substitute for experience so I think in a perfect
07:13world Drew Mestemaker goes back for one more year get continues to build that experience and those
07:19logging those mental reps uh but if he's going to be quarterback one which in my opinion he is
07:25uh it'd be certainly hard to pass that up who would be next after Mestemaker for you right now
07:33um I think that you look at uh CJ Carr at Notre Dame um I think this upcoming weekend such
07:40a big
07:40weekend for college football and for uh specifically evaluation purposes when it comes to the draft
07:46and that Miami Notre Dame game is going to be a ton of fun with Darian Mensah and CJ Carr
07:52uh on the same
07:53stage the same stakes uh that's going to be a big one and I think they're kind of similar in
08:00ways
08:00because they're both neither of them are have the top tier traits and the ball doesn't explode off
08:06their hand they have good size not great size they move okay but they're not top tier athletes
08:10but what separates these two guys Carr and Mensah is they know what to go with the foot where to
08:16go
08:16with the football they're very in tune to the operation of the offense they're very smart they throw
08:22with natural touch so there's a lot of things that you need from your quarterback that will translate
08:27to the next level and so I think CJ Carr and uh Darian Mensah are kind of right there if
08:33the
08:33draft for tomorrow I think both would be top 15 picks now we'll see again I think both will have
08:38decisions to make Darian Mensah is the he makes more money than anybody he makes more than a lot of
08:43these coaches um and I think Miami would um you know throw a lot of money at him to come
08:48back for one
08:49more year so we'll have to see about that uh but I think Trinidad Chambliss is also part of that
08:55conversation um you know he's he's another one I think the story of this quarterback class is just
09:00the uniqueness of it you know like I said you have Dante Moore coming off uh serious head injury would
09:05have been a top five pick last year uh Mestamaker and his unique journey uh Trinidad Chambliss being a
09:11D2 transfer he's right at six foot you know this spring he was 5'11 and seven eighths so he's
09:18a smaller
09:18guy but the traits in terms of the way the ball comes off his hand the way he can anticipate
09:23those are NFL starter traits uh but you know he's going to be a 25 year old rookie which might
09:28not be ideal for everybody so again just another unique prospect where there's not really a lot
09:34of examples of guys like this and so but I still think he would be somewhere in that first run
09:40mix
09:40as well. Dane Brugler joining us on the show from the Athletic so say the Browns win nine games
09:46let's stick to a number they don't make the playoffs though
09:51you say Drew Mestamaker comes off the board number one overall right
09:55I think he'd be the favorite yes would you take CJ Carr uh Darian Mensah Trinidad Chambliss over
10:03Deshaun Watson uh I mean yeah I think we're we're still not fully complete with the evaluation process
10:13but it's trending that way yeah I mean I think that that's the direction where I think this team
10:18needs to go um you know the Browns know what they have with their quarterback position like
10:23I mean they have enough talent around the quarterback to be competitive and we've seen
10:29that over the first two months of the season but in order to take that next step get over the
10:34hump
10:34um yeah I think they have to do something at the quarterback position this offseason and
10:39um the draft is certainly one direction they could go and I think all these guys are are young um
10:45you know they there's a lot of there's a lot to like about where they're headed uh but again if
10:50you're drafting let's just say they're drafting 16th um you know there's a reason why maybe that
10:56quarterback is there at 16 and not didn't come off the board in the top 10 top 12 you know
11:01like
11:01that's Kenny Pickett territory right where you know you're you're not quite good enough to go top 10 but
11:07you're still maybe you know Ty Simpson Ty Simpson last year who went in the teens to uh to the
11:12Rams you know we
11:13don't know how that's going to play out but um I think that you know when you look at these
11:17quarterbacks there you can poke holes in them yeah there's a reason why they're not slam dunk top
11:22five picks but if you focus on what they do well and at a high level that's what can get
11:28you to
11:28believe in okay you know it's worth taking a chance and betting on this guy that he can uh help
11:34elevate
11:35this offense is Jeremiah Smith still a can't miss all-time wide receiver prospect have you
11:42seen anything this season that have caused you to pause on some of the crazy declarations we were
11:49hearing before the season started you can nitpick but that's exactly what it is it's nitpicking um
11:55yeah I wish he broke more tackles um you know there are some times where an arm tackle gets them
12:00on the
12:00ground and it's just like you know you're 225 pounds you know break that and keep you know but
12:06again uh you're nitpicking and just in a crazy talent with the way that he can play and I think
12:13the thing that I appreciate the most about Jeremiah is it's the LeBron factor where he won the DNA lottery
12:21just the way he's built how fast he is um just the the physical attributes that you can't really coach
12:28he has that but he also has the inherent just drive to be the best and so that and that's
12:36what LeBron
12:37yeah he won the DNA lottery but the way he's wired took him to another level it's the same thing
12:41with
12:41Jeremiah Smith he wants to win at all costs he will do whatever it takes to maximize his talent and
12:48so I
12:49think you put those two things together and um yeah he's the best wide receiver prospect since
12:54Calvin Johnson and so we're going back 20 years um and it's it would not be a surprise if he
13:01ends up
13:01going number one overall because he is that special of a talent um but I do feel confident he will
13:07be
13:07the first non-quarterback drafted how much have you been able to follow up on uh Spencer Fano
13:13Denzel Boston Casey Concepcion since they were drafted by the Browns
13:18yeah quite a bit I mean that's a big part of what I do is obviously checking in on um
13:24you know
13:25the NFL uh rookie not only the rookies but the the game itself just to understand okay this is what
13:30the league is looking for that changes kind of how I do my scouting um but I also uh you
13:36know I want
13:36to see the guys that I've just scouted to see how they're performing and I think with the Browns
13:39obviously they killed it uh you know the in the 2025 draft class and the 2026 draft class is it's
13:47clearly trending in the right direction especially with those receivers Casey Concepcion and uh and
13:52Boston um you know it was very surprising to see Boston fall as far as he did but obviously the
13:58Browns not upset to to see it play out that way um you know he's a he's the big target
14:03they've been
14:03looking for he can win downfield can win vertically but can also win uh underneath he can create those
14:09little pockets of separation on curls and hooks and uh move the chains and that's what they need from
14:16from this offense conception on what he can do after the catch is a uh big part of uh moving
14:22offense so I think these two receivers are uh you put them together and what that means for the the
14:28next five years of this offense is is really exciting Fondo I think has had his ups and downs uh
14:33which is
14:34expected for a rookie left tackle who you know wasn't even a left tackle in college um you know and
14:39so
14:39there's going to be learning uh growing pains that come with that inevitably but I think he's played
14:45at a relatively high level considering what has been asked of them Dane we thank you very much for
14:52the time all the very best to you and yours blessings to you we'll talk at you anytime thanks guys
14:59the
14:59wonderful Dane Brugler on the wise heart right we make it right call call right hotline what did you
15:04take away from all that well the quarterback stuff the lack of development the uh the reality that there's
15:10no guaranteed answer at the quarterback position just waiting there in the draft never mind the fact
15:16that LeBron's gonna be too good to probably have that first crack at a quarterback yeah they're
15:21definitely gonna be in the market it's just at what level where they be will they be in the market
15:25I
15:25mean you win nine games you kind of put yourself in in in a bit of a quagmire there and
15:29again what's
15:30the quality of the person that or what's the quality of the player that's coming out in the middle of
15:33the draft also what is the quality of the veteran market that you might be able to go after and
15:38and
15:38bring in like Anthony Richardson is a non-starter to me a couple other guys might be as well coming
15:44up
15:44in five minutes the Steelers could make the Browns better they really could have or this thing's gonna
15:51go down the drain Ken Carmen Anthony Lima that and five on the fan
Comments