The OG and Fantasy Uncle discuss the AFC / NFC West with our resident Chiefs fan. We'll Take a deep dive into the teams of the AFC and NFC West divisions as well as Some Sporting News we think is interesting. On the way out we'll look at this years RB draft class!!!
The OG and Fantasy Uncle discuss the AFC / NFC West with our resident Chiefs fan. We'll Take a deep dive into the teams of the AFC and NFC West divisions as well as Some Sporting News we think is interesting. On the way out we'll look at this years RB draft class!!!
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of the Pine Pony podcast. This week, we got a special guest with us. We got Triple D, AKA Mr. AKA Derek. What's happening?
Derek:What's going on, everybody? Nice to be back. It's been about a year.
Jason:Yeah, the annual episode of Derek, the Derek sode and then also as always, we got the fantasy uncle, Mr. Josh Persian. What's up? Howdy. Howdy.
Pershin:Glad to be back for another episode. Love the draft talk. And we've got one more installment to AMC. And the NFC West is long as well, should I say, as the running back draft preview. So excited to do that. At some point, we're going to be cooking up our own mocks, at least for the first round. So be on the lookout for that as well.
Jason:Yeah I'm Yo G Strangsta. And as he said, we're going to be talking NFC, AFC West fantasy running backs. I've got a little bit of a rant about Brawny James and get into some of the news. So let's start the show.
The Pony Pony Podcast.
Jason:All right. So starting off, I wanted to get into the NHL season is coming to a close. And the playoffs are starting the best playoffs. The only time I watched the NHL to the playoffs, so I can't wait for that, but also the NBA playoffs are starting as well. And they've got a stupid, stupid play in tournament. The NBA is a joke. It's, it's just, we've got to put this play in tournament so that LeBron and company can get in to the, to the playoffs. You know what I mean?
Derek:Yep. Well, I want to back this up just a little bit and say that you are the epitome of a fair weather fan. The weather just starts to turn nice and then you watch NHL. Like literal definition of fair weather.
Jason:Well, there you go, man. I mean, Hey, I only watch it when it's the best. Okay. And the weather is perfect. Not for NHL. Also we had the WNBA draft happen. For those of you that watched the college March madness, NCAA tournament. A lot of drama with Angel Reese and Cardoza from South Carolina. Now they're on the same team. They're on the same team. Look at the headlines. WNBA spotlights. Also, though, I find it interesting. Caitlin Clark, first round, four year deal, 300, 000. Wim Binyamba, four year deal, 55 million. Wow. Man, them girls need to get some more cash, man. We need to put some more money into it. You know what else is crazy? Their season pass, the WNBA season pass, you can get the whole season for 40.
Derek:Wait, like to the game, tickets to the game. No, no, no, no. You have to watch all of the games. You can
Jason:watch every game for 40. You get
Pershin:access to all the out of region NBA broadcasts. WNBA broadcasts.
Jason:WNBA.
Derek:Wow. That's ridiculous. Yeah. Direct TV is like, what, 1, 200? Some crap like that? Yeah,
Jason:man. We ain't doing direct TV these days. We are streaming or getting cable back. We do it in
Derek:the high seas yard.
Jason:And then I don't know about, I'm a pirate. I'm always a pirate. And then you know, one thing I wanted to kind of hit on Brawny James. This guy is coming out of college one year out in college. And he says he's declaring for the NBA draft. I've read an article where four NBA players or NBA personalities are like, if this dude wasn't LeBron James's kid, he probably wouldn't even get drafted. And I find that to be true. How are you going to come out of one season and you averaged 4. 3 points per game, like, did you even see the court? How, how I just like, if this dude gets drafted. What are we doing, NBA? We're not drafting on talent. Drafting on a personality so LeBron James can keep his, so he can play with his son? Man, this ain't fucking Griffey Jr. and Sr. Jordan didn't play with his kids. You know why? Because they was trash. And so is this dude, man. Trash. Butt cheeks. Oh, Trash.
Pershin:The most buns. The most See, that's why that's why the NFL is better. Cause the NFL doesn't care. They're like, oh, Frank Gore Jr.? Your ass. Man, it must suck to be Jerry Rice's son and then be bad at football. You know what I mean? They are roasting these kids out here.
Jason:Like, how are you not the best player on the team when you grew up on the basketball court? You got a basketball court outside. You got enough money to afford the best basketball coaches in the world. Your dad is the best player on the, or on the court right now. Not, probably not now because he's old. But was the best player playing ball. How you dis ass? How you only averaged 4. 3 points on the Trojans. I mean, they were terrible. Terrible. NBA is a joke.
Pershin:If there's people in the NBA willing to take a shot at him, shot at, on, just because he's LeBron's son, then hey, why not, right? If I'm LeBron's son and people are willing to pay me, if I'm LeBron's son and people are willing to pay me because I'm simply LeBron's son, then I would do it too.
Jason:I don't know. I'm not mad at him. I'm just saying like, you trash. You shouldn't even be on, you shouldn't even be finding your way on the NBA court yet. Maybe you need to sit a couple more years in college anyway. Does he need a pine pony?
Pershin:Go, go, go play in China for a year or two.
Jason:Yeah. Do the little mellow ball route. Anyway, rant over. I appreciate y'all coming to my Ted talk. Also next up in news real quick to the NFL. I wanted to point out Brandon. I, you, he wants out, he says, I do not want to be a 49er anymore. What's happening there.
Derek:So the team is garbage. That's all there is to it. They can't win a Superbowl to save their
Pershin:life. So this is, I think this is a classic case of someone with a bad fucking attitude, because basically what's happening. And, you know, if you believe the reports and I don't know, this is kind of rumor speculation or what's happening is that he's like, man, there's so many mouths to feed in this offense that I don't get to be the number one first read target every single play. And my thing is like, dude, you're part of an amazing team. People recognize, there's not, there's not like there's analysts out there being like, Oh, Brandon, Iuka's cheeks, you know, can't believe he's on a football People recognize that he's good at his position. He's winning games. He's got a shot at a Superbowl year in and year out. He's just got a bad attitude. He's like, oh, I need to be the dude. I, I should go somewhere where I get fed double digit targets a game or whatever. Well, guess what? That's gonna be a shit team, okay? You know what I mean? And then you're, you're gonna be wanting out of that situation too. That's what I bet. You know what I mean?
Jason:He probably just needs to quit taking himself in fantasy. That's probably the real problem. He keeps drafting himself.
Pershin:Hey, that's what I did. I say, hey, you average six or seven targets a game, you the f off my team. Wow. Wow. Wow. He is good though. I will say he was one of the league leaders in separation. He, he knows how to run a route. I'll give him that. Bad attitude. Good player.
Jason:Great player. I'd love to have him on Green Bay. Give up a first for him. All right. So here's what you all came for. The final draft pre show part four. Of our coverage, we're going to start with the NFC West, and we're going to start with the number four pick the Cardinals, Arizona Cardinals. I think they think they are really close with Kyler Murray. And a lot of all these other people that they have. So I think that what they really, really probably want and what they'll do is they'll, they'll look at wide receivers and quarterbacks in this draft. And I mean, it's a pretty solid draft to do so, you know, probably somebody like a Kool Aid McKinstry and You know, I mean Malik neighbors or Marvin Harrison Jr. What'd you think?
Pershin:Yeah, they're drafted in that four slot. So a lot of people are Mark are, you know, mocking Marvin Harrison to them. And I think that makes a lot of sense. I think that is likely to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if they trade out of that either, because really they could use a lot of help. Basically every level of that defense, they need some help. And on offense, there's the obvious wide receiver thing, right? But even the interior of that line, you know, they lost a couple of guards. They could use a center. They're okay at the tackle position, but really that's just a ton of different positions. The only things that they have nailed down, in my opinion, are the tackles on the offensive line, and then they're, they're all in on Kyler, which is fine. But basically almost every other piece of that. Of that team could use another starter or at least better depth pieces. So I can see them trading back and just stacking up, just getting themselves six or seven picks in the
Jason:top. They got 10 pigs.
Pershin:Well, all together, but I think they only have like four in the top 100. Right. So, I mean, I, I literally stacking up six or seven of them and the top three rounds, you know, first couple of days. That's what I would. Would want to do well. They got five in the
Jason:first three rounds. They got five in the first three.
Pershin:Well, that's that's pretty good. Actually, like I said, I think the most likely thing is that they do just stay put and they just take the best receiver in the draft, which is probably Marvin Harrison on their board. So I don't know. What do you what do you think? Man,
Derek:I think, I think that you guys are all right with that. Marvin Harrison jr. You know, there's a lot of talents and if he's still on the board at five, which you should be, or sorry, four, yeah, four, then I think, yeah, I think the Cardinals pick them up. I mean, why you gotta, you gotta give them something to throw to Kyler somewhere.
Jason:Yeah. Somebody has got to have a call of duty friend, right? Yeah.
Pershin:I mean, they, Marquis couldn't stay healthy, but they lost him either way. They lost Rondale Moore, who I, I don't think is going to turn out to be much more than a gadget player anyway, but basically you're looking at Michael Wilson and Greg Dorch and then nothing else. So I think that it makes a lot of sense. Not only that, not only
Derek:that they would be receiving core, being honest, exactly, like a bunch of wide receiver threes. I mean, in
Pershin:my opinion, it's. just as bad as the charges or the bills at this point. I don't, I don't see why they're, you know, so I think it makes sense not only for them to take more, but also take a couple more shots at the wide receiver position. And,
Derek:you know, It is a super deep draft with wide receivers this year.
Jason:Absolutely.
Derek:Super deep.
Jason:All right. Moving from the Cardinals to the Rams. Another team, I think they're pretty solid on offense. I think a lot of this draft is going to be defensive minded. It seemed to be, in my opinion, in the back half of last off last season, the defense was kind of, you know, just struggling. What do you think, man? Yeah,
Pershin:I think that it makes sense that they would focus on defense here. The offensive line, even though they were considered debt pieces going into last year, performed really well. And so I think those guys are just seen as starters now. I don't think they need to do a lot there. Obviously. They've got Cooper Cup, Pukanukuwa coming back. They also kept Demarcus Robinson, who had something of a, yeah, I know. Right. And even Demarcus Robinson had something of a mini breakout last year. They signed him back. So I, I don't think that they're actually. Too worried about the offense. I do think they're a sneaky team to be, to grab one of these second round quarterbacks, just because Stafford is, has long been rumored to, you know, be considered retirement, you know, as far as he himself goes, he he's been. Trying to say that, Oh, I think I'm good for a few more years, but behind the scenes, apparently he's telling everybody that it might be his last year. And of course they lost Aaron Donald, they could definitely use pieces on the defensive line. They, they really needed defensive line help. Even with Eric Donald, now that he's gone, I could see them focusing on edge and interior and you know, wouldn't hurt to, to get some. Upgrades that linebacker too. So, I mean, it'll be a defensive heavy draft, I think.
Derek:Right. 100 percent agree. I think that they go I think they have them getting Jared verse at edge. So I think that'll be a good pickup for them. I mean, they have some good rotational pieces on their line. I think it was a good pickup if they take an edge overall, give them some pass rush. Cause yeah, I mean, Aaron Donald is a huge void. It's like, like a vacuum on the D line and you're just like trying to fill in with whatever Whatever you can drop in there. And it's just, you need, you need something that will have good value and hopefully get a good return.
Pershin:You got a big hole in your life. And you know, what, is it going to be fentanyl? Is it going to be booze? Well, however you fill that hole, it's not going to be Aaron Donald, but you got to throw what you can at it. You know what I mean?
Jason:Yeah. Yeah. Jerry verse. I like that there. I don't know that he'll be available, but I could see that. Yeah,
Pershin:he's probably gonna be gone before they get to him. That's more like bath salts, and they're gonna get the I mean, I don't think he'll
Jason:be that far gone.
Pershin:I mean, it's possible he could drop. I think he goes to top 12 or top 15 personally, but we'll see. We'll see. I'm sure they wouldn't snag a guy like him if he did fall to him. I could see like a Layatu Latu falling to him, honestly, because he's got a lot of health concerns and he's, he does nothing for you in the run game, but he is a very good pass rush specialist.
Jason:Right. Right on. All right. Well, move it on. We go to the 49ers who can't seem to get over that hump of winning the Super Bowl. I really, I don't, I think this is going to be a depth draft. Possibly looking at wide receiver to replace if, if there's something there at the end of the first round that they like. Yeah,
Pershin:I think this is actually going to be like an offensive line draft, like you said, more so depth than anything else. But also cornerbacks, I could see cornerbacks being an issue for them. They lost one of their guys that I honestly can't even remember which, which dude it was now. But I do think they go for depth in the secondary defensive, secondary and along that offensive line. I don't think they, they have a lot of glaring needs, which is great, but that's what I think that they're probably prioritizing. You know, I, I love teams that have gotten themselves in this sort of position where there's nothing glaring because. If I'm GM of the 49ers right now, it's just. Follow the board, whoever drops to us, we just select best player available. Right.
Jason:Best player there. Yeah. That's,
Pershin:that's what they might just do.
Jason:Spell,
Derek:I think you know, I think they, they may just get some like, yeah, exactly the best player available. But I think they go defense and I think they get someone to help compliment bosa, you know maybe someone on the interior to the tactical position. I think they go for that.
Jason:Yeah, that's a good point.'cause Trent Williams isn't getting any younger.
Pershin:I will say though, you know, with this Brandon Iuke situation, I could totally see them being a team that does a draft, a draft day trade where they're like, all right, we're, we're going to go ahead and fulfill his wishes and let him go. And we're immediately going to try to. Feel him, you know, with the an early round pick or whatever, be it like a Brian Thomas, Xavier Worthy, or whoever it is that they prefer and that, and that sort of range.
Derek:How far up do you think they would trade?
Pershin:I think it just depends on whoever the team is. I think the teams that need a brand and I, you, the most are actually teams that are toward the back part of, of the first round, you know, if you look at the bills The Chargers are all the way up there at five and they really could use wide receivers. But what about the
Derek:gm? Well, because of the Giants, I think that could be a good trade partner.'cause it's, you know, it's the opposite side. What's the NFC East, right? NFC West. Do a trade there. Put jump up to what, six?
Pershin:Yeah, they're, they're at six. I think that's a good, good call actually. I think that's a great call. If they get all the way up to six, the 49ers, that is, I mean, they, they could be taking a Romo Doonzay or if they get lucky, maybe Malik neighbors, you know, get one of these elite prospects and Hey, that would be a heck of a, a trade off right there. You know? Brandon Ayuk is more proven than any of the rookies, obviously, but I mean, these guys are the top three guys are there in that Jamar Chase sort of prospect here where you, you know, they're going to be at least all right, you know?
Jason:Yeah, yeah, I like that. I like that trade option. Moving on to the Seattle Seahawks. I don't really have much for them, man. I think it's, you know another, a defensive trade for them. Maybe, maybe they could try to snag a quarterback. I'm not sure. What do you think Persian?
Pershin:Well, they lost like three different dudes on the interior of that offensive line. So I think center and guards is really what they need. It's not the best draft for that. So I imagine it's going to be more like third, fourth, fifth round picks that they would throw at, at those positions. But that, that's kind of what they need to address in my opinion. I think that like linebackers and pass rush also. Whether it be like a, an outside linebacker or strictly an edge guy, I think they could definitely use some, some more pass rush specialists. So that that might be what they do the first couple rounds that that's what I would do, honestly.
Jason:Yeah, I like Jared verse to go there, but the 16th pick versus still being there. Yeah, I 19th. Yeah.
Pershin:I think I literally have layout to lots of going to them at that 16 pig, I think is right. I would have to double check. But yeah. That they should go edge.
Derek:I think, I think they go guard or tackle. And I think that's, you know, protecting what I get. The other part of, you know, I think that Seattle also may target a quarterback in a later round You know, to help just kind of bolster that squad a little bit, but I think that they need to get better protection on the line, but it'll also help open up running lanes if they get someone who can really move the pile. That wasn't fought font to do for Tony. Yeah.
Jason:Yeah. Troy fought Fountain. Fountain. Yeah,
Derek:man. It's just butchering names on the air.
Jason:Yeah. There you go.
Pershin:I I've heard it both ways. I've heard font new and I've heard for Tony. So I, I don't think anyone truly knows.
Jason:I'm
Pershin:going Fantano.
Jason:That's all you got? Yeah. Okay. You're good. We'll cut all this out. It's fine.
Pershin:I do think it's a good point though. Hold
Jason:on, hold on, hold on. Before you, before you say anything important, I have something not important to cut out. I fucked up the intro. I meant to say, and Josh, where will Lad Maconkel go Persian today? Fuck me. I'm going to have to rerecord that. All right. All right. And go ahead and say what you need to say.
Pershin:Yeah, I think it's a pretty good point about Gino Smith, actually. They brought in Sam Howell, who is basically still in a developmental phase that no one expects necessarily that he's going to take that step. Although I'm sure they're hoping so. But Gino Smith from most evaluators around the league is basically seen as a bubble player, like, yeah, he's probably in the top 30, 35 quarterbacks in the world, but. Is he the guy that that's going to take us all the way to a championship? You know, clearly Pete Carroll was a believer, but they've got an entirely new coaching staff there. They might take a shot on one of these day two quarterbacks as well as a. Guy that they hope can replace him. Well,
Jason:yeah, because they lost Canalis Canalis who resurrected his career, went to resurrect Baker Mayfield's career and is now going to start Bryce Young's career. So that's the surprise that he went down. All right. Moving from the NFC to the AFC. And we shall start with the fighting horror balls, because that's what I do. Everybody's the fighting, whatever their coach's name. So the Fighting Harballs are you know, they got nine picks in this draft. I think their main focus should be protect Herber and get him a weapon after what they have just went through and who's leaving and who's staying and who's getting old. You know, they need to protect Herber and get him a weapon.
Derek:This geriatric offense, I mean, I don't think Persian would draft a single player on the offense for the for the Chargers. Other than Herber. It's
Pershin:bad. No, no. I mean, as far as far as I can see, they literally don't have any pieces in place aside from the quarterback. I mean, it's oftentimes the hardest part. So, you know, good for you. You found yourself a quarterback. Every other piece of that offense could be replaced it. I think that they should go heavy on offensive line and wide receivers. They need viable targets for him to throw to. And he's going to need more than a half second of time to do that. So, you know, and even running backs, they need, they, they just signed J. K. Dobbins does not move the needle for me. I think if they end up taking a round two or round three running back, I'm going to be pretty high on that guy.
Jason:Man is just absolutely trashing, trashing the geriatric chargers.
Pershin:Yeah, it's bad. It's rough. I mean, they, they lost Keenan Allen. They lost Mike Williams. They lost Gerald Everett. They lost Austin Eckler. All of the guys that had any amount of targets at all. So they're left with Donald.
Derek:They got Quentin. They got Quentin Johnston.
Pershin:Oh Lord.
Jason:Oh yeah. So like he said, anyone, anyone worth it.
Derek:Yeah, so I, what, what do you think about the charges shooting for Marvin Harrison, Jr. If he's still available? Does it be there? What, five?
Pershin:Yeah, they're at five, but I think it's almost a certainty that they end up trading down. I mean, they've already signaled to the rest of the league that they're open for business in that way. And I think somebody, whether it's for Marvin Harrison or Malik neighbors, or even just for a JJ McCarthy, because they're so desperate at QB, I think a team's going to take them up on that and offer them something good enough. Because I think that Harbaugh sees basically what I see is that we need so much. Talent at so many positions on the offense, and this is a offensive rich draft that it makes sense to just take a lot of shots in the first couple days of the draft, rather than just stay at five, just turn that into three picks. If you can, you know what I mean? If you can get three top 100 picks out of that, that one pick, then I think you should, you know, even though, you know, I agree, you know, Malik neighbors, Marvin Harrison, Jr. Legit blue chip talents. I just think they just, they just need more than that. You know, even McConkey. Yeah, they need to add McConkey plus, you know, that's what they need.
Jason:Yeah. I completely agree with that assessment. Yeah. I would trade, trade, trade, trade. They need, they need all kinds of things. Derek, do you have anything else you wanted to add on the charters?
Derek:Oh, they suck. That's all I got.
Jason:The real AFC West is coming out in him. So from moving on from the chargers, we're going to hit up Las Vegas next. They lost Josh Jacobs in the off season due to a trade to my Green Bay Packer or whatever it is trade free agency. I can't remember Green Bay Packers. It doesn't matter if Packers have them now and we're better for it. I mean, I think they need to trade up, trade up, get into the first round for another pick. I think they desperately need a quarterback in some offensive line help. So I would say with their first pick in the draft, they're going to go offensive line. And then I think they're going to trade up and get back into the first round to get one of those maybe second half quarterbacks that they can put with Menchu and Aidan O'Connell and just see what the fuck happens.
Pershin:Yeah. Someone from the organization basically keeps leaking that, Oh, they're not interested in drafting any quarterbacks that they're actually very comfortable and confident. And we are at the, you know, the time of the year, we're in the sort of draft cycle where basically all of the shit that gets leaked at this point between now and the draft, I just, you know. I basically think the opposite where I'm just like, okay, they're probably interested and they're trying to throw the rest of the league off of the trail. And so I think they might actually be in on quarterback. They're currently at that 11 position, which means maybe a McCarthy falls to them, or maybe he falls far enough to where they trade up. I think it would not surprise me at all to see them go try to get one of those top four guys. If not, then. Literally trade back and, and go after a appendix a nix. You know, maybe even they would take a shot on Rattler in round two, something like that. But I, I think that the sort of misinformation seems pretty obvious at this point. I mean, you really Yeah. That confident the whole game in a game. Yeah. You really that confident in a OC and Minsu and I, and you know, I'm, I'm a Minsu defender. But only in the, in the idea that so many people think he's actually just trash. He's not the guy that I'd be like, Oh yeah, well I'm ready to win championships now with this. So what you're saying is he's trash. I'm not buying it. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm over mint you now. I'm on to other forms of trash. Okay. Now, but, but. You want a big Phoenix trash? That's what you want. I think that, I think that aside from the QB thing, I think. They, they need more pass rushers. They've got Max Crosby and that's great, but they've got nothing else. So getting another guy, if nothing else, just to play off of how much pressure Max is causing on the other side of the line would be great. And then the offensive line and running back, I think that they didn't really want to lose Josh Jacobs. I think they just weren't willing to pay him, but I don't think they see Zemir white as. A true Bow Cal type dude last year. They ended up having to use him that way when Jacobs got hurt. But I bet that they take a day two running back and I think that they take several shots on the, along the offensive line too.
Jason:Right, right. Gotcha. Derek,
Derek:I am pretty much in line with that. Yeah. I think they trade back. I think that they have a lot of, lack of talent. I mean, it is the Raiders, but I think that they have to trade back and get at least two picks out of that. And I think they, I think they'd take Pinnix and then I think they focused next would be either on a interior line on the O line or they go with a better option for running back. So that's what I think, you know, but fuck the Raiders. That's all I gotta say.
Pershin:Yeah. Fuck the Raiders.
Derek:Yeah. Fuck the Raiders.
Pershin:Best take you've had all pot.
Jason:All right. So then we've to the best part of the AFC West, our two favorite teams. So we'll start, we'll start with the lesser team, the Denver Broncos, the fighting Sean Paytons. Man, I just think they have so many holes on defense. That it, the offense doesn't even matter. It should just be like, just fill in as much defensive spots as you possibly can because This is going to be a bad year. It's going to be a bad year. And even if you were to get a quarterback, I don't think where you're at in the draft is even, even worthy of it. You're not, you're not gonna be able to trade. So if anything, you, you load up on defense and maybe take a quarterback in the second or third round, like a Spencer Rattler or somebody like that to kind of. Train for a year without having to play or something like that. And maybe it'd be Sean Payton's, you know, puppet or whatever. So, so what do you think as the resident Denver Broncos fan?
Pershin:I, I think Peyton really does like Bo Nicks and I think that he wants to draft Bo Nicks. The thing is that I don't think any teams are really going to want to draft Bo Nicks in the first round. So I think what the Broncos end up doing is they just trade back. They go ahead and turn that. Number 12 pick into like the 25th, 28th, 31st, whatever it is. And they take Bo Nix at the end of the first round. And then they've got an extra, well, not even an extra, but they, they have a second round pick at that point. They probably just get that. First rounder plus that team's second rounder, you know, we don't have a second rounder as things stand. And we could certainly use one because like you said, we, we need a lot of help. You know, I think that we are actually okay at cornerback, but we need safety. We definitely need pass rush. The Randy Gregory thing was pathetically expensive and nonproductive. Obviously we traded way Bradley Chubb and we just haven't had much in the way of past rush ever since that point. So yeah. And then we, we lost our center so we could use center. Yeah. And it, why So what you're saying is this isn't a lab McConkey draft stock for Denver. I mean, if we get like a end of. Round two, you know, guy, we, we've got Bo Nix at the end of round one and then Vlad McConkie falls to the end of round two. Yeah. Take him, take his ass. Wow.
Jason:You think he's going to fall to the end of round two?
Pershin:Yeah, he might. He might. As much as
Jason:you've been talking about him on this pod. I am high
Pershin:on him. I don't necessarily think the NFL is high on him. I think the NFL might look at him and be like, Oh, He's the same as Malik Washington or Roman Wilson. We could just get two rounds later, right? Fuck it. Like he's no different, but I think he is different. I think he's great. I think he's going to be a good NFL player. And I think people just see him as not as good as he is literally because he's a smaller white dude and small white dudes usually are not good wide receivers. But he's good. This guy's good.
Derek:Wes Welker would like to have a word with you.
Pershin:You mean, you mean has was Welker? No, but I Thoughts
Derek:on the Broncos? No, not really. I don't think about the Broncos. That's just two wins each year.
Jason:It's a free bi week. So they get three bi weeks a year. This team.
Pershin:Hey, we, we went one in one. This past year. Okay. Which means we're even years. We are even, we are equals clearly.
Jason:Well, we've reached that point in the episode where it's time to give our resident chiefs fan his, his, his fifth five minutes of fame. Once a year, the chiefs keep winning.
Derek:I've just, I've been waiting for this for such a long time. So, so many doubters, so many haters this past year. I mean, never a doubt. I hate writing, write coattails, but I swear it was never a doubt. And you know, we, we have our text message threads and. I, I feel like I was riding the chief's dick the entire year. Just like I always do. I had no doubt in my mind that we weren't going to bring it back home. And after two heart attacks, we brought home the super bowl. And let me tell you, I almost got frostbite. I was at the fourth coldest game in NFL history. It sucked. But at the same time, it was amazing. I literally, I had frost in my beard. We bought Jack and Copes and before I made it back to my seat, it was frozen solid. I am not even kidding. Like I bought it and then I didn't, I didn't put ice in it. You know, I just, it was just Coke. We went back and it was all solid. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Like it was so cold. I I'm surprised that they actually played the game, but I'm glad that they did. It was such a unique environment. Love that. I mean, to, to have a super bowl that was relatively like, You know, it was, it was pretty clean all the way around, you know, there wasn't a lot of controversy in it. That was probably one of the highlights because of last year with the controversy with the Eagles and, you know, so it's just,
Pershin:and like every fucking game ever for the NFL.
Derek:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Wait,
Jason:wait, you mean how like the refs were like on the chief side the whole season?
Derek:Hmm. Hmm. You cannot poopoo on my parade strength. Okay. We are still the two time reigning champions. And this year in our draft, We need to address some issues, you know, because we've got these rookies that can't keep their foot off the gas pedal when they're in Houston, you know, we're looking for another wide receiver. And I have a feeling that we're going to address that with hopefully a nine Mitchell. I think that's who the chiefs pick up. I think that would be a really good compliment you know, to the offense. And then after that. I think the chiefs go and address left tackle. That's a pretty glaring issue. Their blind side, you know, you got to protect that, you know, 500 million investment, and we got to have someone better than Wanya Morris. And. I think that that's, I think that's where we spend a majority of our like higher picks. And then filling in some holes in the defense you know, cause we, we lost LeGarrius Sneed. And that was, he was just incredible without LeGarrius Sneed, the Chiefs don't make the Super Bowl. You know, like he. He was clutch in ways that not many other players are clutch. And I think we got to go and address, you know, the, the back half. And then maybe also getting a complimentary piece to Carl Loftus. So another edge. So I think that the first three picks our first four picks the chiefs have, they have to address those four spots.
Jason:Couldn't agree more. Everything. I, I agree with you 1000%. Well, that's what I had. That's what I had down. You stole my notes. Go for it. I can't help it, man.
Pershin:Yeah, I, I think that Hollywood Brown will do a good job of feeling that down the field role that they've, you know, had such poor performance from their receivers the past couple seasons. So I think what that does is that kind of frees them up to take basically any type of wide receiver that they like. I, I think a guy like Ladin McConkey is perfect for them because he's like a do it all type where you could play him on the outside. You could play him on the inside. You could play him as a flanker. You could do, you know, I think that they should, they should probably go after a guy like that rather than. A. D. Mitchell is good. I don't think he's necessarily a bad player. He has a pretty high ceiling, but I think he's relegated to like a sort of Gabriel Davis, Mike Williams sort of role, whereas
Jason:I
Pershin:would, I would honestly rather them take like a Xavier Worley, obviously I'm a lad fan, but I would, I would rather them take a guy with a more. Sort of dynamic route tree going on. I think marquees can play the, that down the field, stretch the defense role well enough that they don't necessarily need to get themselves like an NAD Mitchell, but
Derek:there's, what do you think about Luget or Leggett? Xavier Leggett from South Carolina. Cause he's got, he was what? Like six, four, six, five, huge big body possessive or position receiver. I
Pershin:think, I think the get is another interesting guy. I mean, this draft is full of them. Honestly, these guys who are, they're not just athletic and They, they're not just quick, but they're also big, you know, I mean, I think Ligette is the closest thing we've gotten to like a DK Metcalf size speed combination since DK Metcalf, you know, and obviously he's shown that he can get it done at the, at the NFL level. And I think Ligette has that kind of upside to, I think that he is an interesting player. And I wouldn't hate them taking him. I would just rather they sure about
Derek:that. You, you should hate them taking that.
Pershin:I think he's more of a risky player. I think he's more of a risky player. The, the upside is huge because he could be just such a freak just athletically, but I would rather they took a more rounded. Wide receiver personally. I also agree with you about the Jared, the Jerry's Sneed loss. You know, he goes to the Titans. And so I I'm not sure how confident they are in their depth at the cornerbacks. I could totally see them going after one of these you know, first, first couple of round cornerbacks too.
Derek:I do I do foresee. The Chiefs making it a three peat, it's just, it's just it's just the year of the Chief, it's going to happen one more time. We got to do it. We've got to be the first team in this group.
Pershin:And they're definitely going to be contenders. I mean. The defense in the secondary probably takes a step back because how are you going to replace how good Snead was last year? But this was basically like the worst offensive output that they've had since Mahomes has been around. So you gotta, you gotta figure it's going to kind of offset a little bit too. That, that passing game is going to rebound at least a little bit. And so, yeah, they're, they're absolutely still on the picture.
Derek:So my one hot take with this, and y'all know how much I love Pacheco. I love pop. I kind of think that maybe we should get another like a bruiser kind of back at running back. I don't, I don't know exactly what. Kind of running back is available. This draft like that, but you know, pop has got the furiosity to make an impact, but he doesn't have that like staying power. He's more, you know, he's more like a knife and we need someone that's going to hit like a sledgehammer.
Jason:The problem is, is I don't think this is the draft. This is the draft to do that in which is a great segue into. Running backs for the draft fantasy wise and what we think about running back class running back
Pershin:preview, baby.
Jason:Yeah. So let's get into that. I think this draft classes. is, is okay.
Pershin:You
Jason:know, there's this, this, this, there's no Saquon Barclays. There's no B. John Robinson's in this draft class. This is a bunch of Giovanni Bernard type players, in my opinion.
Pershin:Yeah. I, I definitely think that this draft class is summed up best by the lack of elite talent. There's all of these guys are almost all in the same tier, which isn't. A bad tier, don't get me wrong, but they all are missing stuff. That's holding them back from being the full package. And so you do have a lot of role players, you know, specifically when you were saying, maybe we could get a goal line guy, a bruiser, we actually do have some good options there where as the past couple draft classes have been typified by these fucking nugget ass, small running backs and wide receivers. Actually. We finally got a draft class where there's some, some big dudes, you know, you could get a guy like Braylon Allen. Who's, you know, got a sort of a lot of different opinions on how much upside he truly has, but clearly he's a big, powerful back. I think that he needs to use that more than he's shown. He wants to. Dance around and be the shifty wiggle guy. But if he could just stick to what he's best at, which is overwhelming people with his power, I think that he'll be available. Probably round four, maybe even round five.
Derek:And I think another, or you would have had like the Leo DiCaprio thoughts on that, like, I thought he'd be too old for you. Braylon.
Pershin:He he's 20 years old, man. No, he's the, he's the youngest running back in the draft.
Derek:Ooh. I don't know about that either.
Pershin:Braylon Allen is an interesting guy because you know, he, he completed high school early. He literally has over 1200 yards at 17 years old at Wisconsin. And everybody is like, Over the moon about him. They're like, Oh God, if he's doing this at 17 years old and the way that Wisconsin can develop running backs, this guy's surely going to be the shit. But the thing is that he's had two more seasons now with basically no improvement. So even though he's only 20 years old. And he could theoretically develop and become a better back. He just hasn't. He hasn't. What he wants to do is he wants to be like a Derrick Henry, who's the big back, but also will juke people out of their shoes. And like a David Montgomery and even like Eddie Lacey, you guys remember him bigger back that that was, you know, pretty elusive and that's the way he wants to be. But the thing is that. That's not him. He, the only part of his game where he's good at is the power back thing, and I think that he needs to lean into that more, use the stiff arm, you know, dictate how the contact is going to go, initiate contact more, and I think he'll be better off for that. But I do think that he could be a good option, might fall day three as a goal line sort of guy, someone that the chiefs could look at. Audrick Estime is obviously a guy like that too. That's
Jason:my guy, my favorite, favorite running back in this class.
Pershin:Yeah, I think he's, he's going to be underrated. His measurables weren't great in the NFL kind of overrates what the combine means. And so I think, I think that he could fall, but he's, he's a guy who's proven himself as a past blocker, a past catcher obviously powerful back, but also like has a little bit more burst than people give him credit for too. I think he's going to be underrated. Might fall to round four or five. He's a sort of bruiser that it, the chiefs could look at as well.
Jason:Anybody else you got, you got your eye on?
Pershin:Oh yeah. I guess that was kind of like I did an ADD overview there, but the overview basically was that we've got a lot of role players who. Have a decent amount of ceiling to them. But we don't have the first tier. Like, like, if you look at last year, we don't have anything like a Jameer Gibbs or a Bijan Robinson. We don't even have like a, a Charbonnet. Charbonnet, probably Ajay Spears would be easily the first running back drafted in this class. Most people think that everyone should go round three or later. I think that because You know, you got a team like the, the Cowboys that really needs somebody in there, I think that you'll end up seeing a guy or two in the second round. But for me, the guy that I liked the most out of that first tier of players is Jalen Warren. I think that, that wait, am I, am I remembering that correctly? Is that his name? There's Jalen, right? Jaylen Wright, that's the guy I'm thinking of. Tennessee this guy has a ton of stuff that you're looking for. I think that the majority of the problems that he has are basically, he lacks experience at the position a little bit, but he, he has the burst, the acceleration, he has, he's great as a pass catcher and a pass blocker. I think that he's the kind of guy that coaches are going to like, he's going to be able to see the field early. I think the ways in which. He is held back is basically just decision making, especially around the line of scrimmage. A lot of times he wants to bounce it out when he shouldn't have. And a lot of times he runs it through the tackles when he shouldn't have. And some of that, I think is going to work itself out with experience. He hasn't been on the field that much. And I, to me, I think he's the guy with the biggest upside. And possibly the, the highest floor as well, because he's going to get on the field at least as a role guy early in his career. That's what I think.
Jason:Yeah. I mean, like I said, my favorite is estimate you know, people ask about will Shipley, you know, I, I wasn't too impressed with his last season at Clemson. It seemed like he kind of got passed by, by the, by the second guy. Which his name is escaping me for whatever reason right now. But yeah, so this running back class, you know, I don't have anybody going in the first, there's not a single running back taken in the first for me.
Pershin:Yeah, I don't think any of them should go on the first and honestly, even in the second rounds, probably a reach. I think I'm I like Coram and I like, right. I think if those guys go in the second round, then I'm okay with that. I think Blake Coram is almost similar to Jonathan Brooks in the way that, you know, Jonathan Brooks got injured toward the end of the season. If it wasn't for that injury, he would be like that second round talent. He'd be clearly at the top of this draft. The thing about Coram is that he got. He got an ACL tear the previous season,
Jason:and
Pershin:everyone seems to agree that his 2022 tape was on par with like Jonathan Brooks 2023 tape. And the thing is that you see all the time where the First year back from an ACL for this running backs is more like an adjustment period. And then that second year back, they're back to a hundred percent. So I think Blake quorum is probably better as a runner than he's actually getting credit for. And he's not the sort of guy who's going to go out and run legit routes. And he's not necessarily great at tracking the ball and all of that stuff, but he's got good hands. You could use them in the past game. He doesn't have limitations, you know, he's only five eight, but he's a bowling ball. So it's not like, Oh, you can't give him a full workload. You can't use them on early downs. I think that Blake Corum is a pretty interesting guy. I like him almost as much as I like. Right. And then as far as like the straight pass catching, you know, scat bags go, you basically got four guys that being Will Shipley Dylan Labbe Bucky Irving. And then Blake Watson from Memphis. Those guys are all great in the past game. And I think that they're going to get drafted specifically for those roles. They, they, those are guys that are legit sort of, you can send them on real routes and have them, you know, play the past game in the full way that you would want to see.
Derek:It sounds like a good fit for like a chargers offense. Yeah, they do love to throw the wheel route.
Pershin:Yeah. And I mean, they, they've got Gus Edwards who is fine as an early down back, but basically it gives you nothing at the past game. So a lot of people believe that they'll go after Blake corn because Harbaugh, you know, obviously had him at Michigan and he used. The fuck out of him in a lot of different ways. And so obviously Harbaugh is a believer, so I could see that happening. And like I said, maybe not the best in the past game, but good enough to where he'll get on the field ahead of Gus Edwards for those sort of situations.
Jason:Absolutely. All right. Well, that is the last final part of the draft pre talk. I hope you enjoyed this ride as I did finding out every week where Lab McConkie was going to go, depending on which team we're talking about. Well, I mean, every week every team, there was at least one team that was good enough to You know, it would be a good spot for Ladd McConkey. So he's getting drafted somewhere where that remains. We shall see, which we are going to talk about not this episode though. We are going to do a mini episode for next week. So we're going to do a mini mock draft episode for next week. Until then, it's the OG Strengths of Derek and Josh, we'll see ya. Adios. Adios.