00:00This from Rich, I know that you think the draft grades and the winners losers segments are for losers, but
00:09can you at least tell us a little bit about what you thought of the picks over the weekend?
00:15I think I did that.
00:17Didn't I go through the list?
00:19I mean, if I didn't, I'll do it real quickly.
00:21I did like the Sonny Stiles pick, and I do have opinions on the draft.
00:26We all have opinions on the draft.
00:28My opinions are usually less driven by whatever happened after the season, that being the college football season, and more
00:38having to do with what actually happened in the games in which the players played it.
00:43And so that's what typically impacts or drives my opinion of players.
00:49I didn't really have super strong opinions about anybody that they drafted.
00:55I told you before the draft the players that I really, really liked in this draft.
00:59Like, if they got David Bailey, if they got Reuben Bain, and Reuben Bain was on the board, and I'm
01:04okay with them not taking Reuben Bain because there is so much about the analytics of short arms with that
01:10position that they know that we don't know, we think we know.
01:14And there's more involved in Reuben Bain, I believe there may be some more due diligence uncoverings.
01:23So I'm okay with that.
01:25I liked Sonny Stiles.
01:27I think Sonny Stiles on the field was a big-time producer, and at 21, has a lot of room
01:35to grow both physically, mentally, and certainly from a performance standpoint.
01:40Not to mention it fills a huge need.
01:42So I did very much like the pick of Stiles.
01:47When Max and I did our draft preview and we were just talking about the players that we like, I
01:52said, Bailey or Bain?
01:53If not, I'd prefer a trade back if it's available.
01:56If it's not available and they have to pick at seven, I hope Stiles is there.
02:01I hope Tate is there.
02:02I hope Delane is there.
02:04Those were the three players.
02:05And Downs as well.
02:07So I'm fine.
02:08I think Sonny Stiles is going to be a good player for us.
02:11I think the floor, based on his college performance, not the Indy Combine numbers, which he blew away, all right,
02:19based on his college performance, based on his age, based on his incredibly high IQ, according to everybody, his work
02:27ethic, the culture that he likes to be around and in and create, I feel really good about that pick.
02:35The rest of it, I do like Antonio Williams.
02:39I mean, I didn't talk a lot about Antonio Williams prior to the draft.
02:44I'll concede that when they were on the clock at 71, I was hoping for Zachariah Branch.
02:50I was hoping for Ted Hurst in terms of a wide receiver, if they were going to pick a wide
02:54receiver.
02:55And when Antonio Williams popped up as the pick, certainly, if you're a college football fan, you see enough of
03:02Clemson, you know who Antonio Williams is.
03:04But we didn't talk a lot about him at all before the draft.
03:08So I spent some time.
03:09I like his route running.
03:11I love his hands.
03:12I love the way he is pretty good after the catch.
03:16He doesn't strike me as a burner.
03:19And I know he ran for one.
03:22But I like the pick.
03:24I think he has a chance to be a good player.
03:26Look, I think they're going to add Brandon Ayuk.
03:28I do.
03:28I think the chances are 80%, at least, that they're going to add Brandon Ayuk at some point.
03:37Brandon Ayuk wants to play here.
03:39Now, there is new stuff surrounding Brandon Ayuk.
03:43Like, once again, no one can get in touch with him.
03:46This is a problem.
03:47Like, this guy clearly has issues.
03:50Now, are the issues specific to just one employer?
03:55Or is this going to be the way he behaves with any employer?
04:01That's something they'll have to figure out.
04:03Obviously, Adam Peters knows the player, knows the person.
04:07So does our quarterback.
04:09What would be so interesting, so interesting, is if they did finally release him and Washington didn't sign him.
04:16That would be the all-time red flag for any other team considering.
04:21Because Washington, other than the 49ers, you would think, knows the player better than anybody else.
04:27But I do think that the chances are, you know, high, very high, that Brandon Ayuk ends up being an
04:34addition.
04:35And whether or not it's Antonio Williams who's that third receiver and that slot receiver, or perhaps Luke McCaffrey, I
04:43haven't given up on Luke McCaffrey.
04:44I hope you guys haven't either.
04:46I thought he had some good moments last year.
04:48Certainly the catch at the end of the first half against the Rams on the road.
04:54Against the Chargers, excuse me, on the road at SoFi.
04:57He had that beautifully designed touchdown catch on Monday Night Football against the Bears.
05:02He was a really good kickoff returner for this team.
05:06So was Deebo Samuel.
05:07They had very good special teams.
05:09You know, we didn't, we emphasized that as the season went along.
05:13You know, per DVOA, I think they were number two or number three in the league, special teams unit-wise.
05:18Larry Izzo doing a great job.
05:20But I haven't given up on Luke McCaffrey.
05:22Not yet.
05:23But, you know, the receiver room's coming together.
05:26It's still not great.
05:27They still don't have a true number two receiver.
05:31That's the problem right now.
05:33They don't have a true number two.
05:34They don't have somebody that can change the way the line of scrimmage is played defensively.
05:43So the box is played defensively.
05:47You need somebody else.
05:49An Ayuk from 2023, Terry McLaurin, and either an Antonio Williams or a Luke McCaffrey.
05:56I like the player.
05:58I mean, after watching a lot more of the player over the weekend, I do like the player.
06:02I think there's a good chance.
06:04That he ends up not only making the team, but being an early contributor.
06:08He is a polished route runner.
06:12The pick that I liked the most out of the other five after spending Friday's show on Styles is I
06:21do like Catron Allen.
06:23I talked about him before the draft.
06:25He was one of the running backs I liked.
06:27I liked him more than Singleton.
06:29He's played so much football.
06:31One thing I did not know until over the weekend, I did not know that Catron Allen was the all
06:36-time Penn State leading rusher.
06:38Now, he played four years.
06:39They played more games than they did back when Kurt Warner was the running back way back in the day
06:44at Penn State.
06:45But he is an absolute vision, good feet, good yards after contact, making people miss in tight spaces.
06:57I think he's going to be a good back if that's what they're looking for.
07:02You know, Krosky Merritt probably isn't that back, but Rashad White could be.
07:06Rashad White has excellent between-the-tackles vision.
07:09You know, I know some of you believe that Rashad White's just a throwaway signing.
07:14I'm in a different camp, I think.
07:17I think they believe that Rashad White can really help, that he is a solid first-down back as a
07:24rusher.
07:25He's not a home-run threat by any stretch, but he's similar to Allen in some ways,
07:31but with the experience of being a very good pass protector and a good receiver, something Catron Allen is not.
07:37But I do like Catron Allen.
07:40In terms of the other three players, I don't have strong opinions on any of them.
07:43I have no clue if Matt Gulbin is, you know, capable of being a starting center.
07:51I'm really not overly blown away with the tape on Joshua Josephs, other than he is fast off the edge.
08:03Steve Suter is going to be back on the show today to break down the other five picks.
08:09We'll get what he thinks about Williams, Josephs, Allen, Gulbin, and the quarterback from Rutgers, who he saw a lot
08:15of.
08:15Look, calling Maryland games, they've got four Big Ten players that he saw, you know, multiple times.
08:22Stiles, Catron Allen, Gulbin not so much because he was a transfer into Michigan State this year.
08:28And then the quarterback from Rutgers, who was a gamer as a quarterback, I think I mentioned that yesterday, always
08:33seemed to be able to create something.
08:35But should they have used that pick on somebody else that has a chance to make an impact, like a
08:43Cameron Curl, who was picked in the seventh round, like a Krosky Merritt, who was picked in the seventh round?
08:49Yeah, I'm okay with those of you that think that.
08:52I mean, I think ultimately they do have to have an answer to the departure eventually of Marcus Mariota.
09:00I mean, I guess Marcus Mariota, what now, 33 years old?
09:04Is that what Mariota is?
09:06I think that's what he is.
09:09I guess he could stay here for another five years.
09:12I mean, as a backup quarterback, why not?
09:15He's 32.
09:17I mean, if he's happy here, and players do seem to be happy here, I mean, it's true.
09:28It's actually true that players actually like playing in this organization.
09:34I think a lot of it has to do with Dan Quinn and the kind of people and the kind
09:39of coaches he's brought in.
09:41There is no doubt that Dan Quinn seems to be a guy that players really like, not because he's easy,
09:51but because they really respect the way they are treated by him.
09:57So, is it possible Marcus Mariota could be a backup quarterback for this team for the next few years?
10:03You know, what did they pay him this year?
10:06Six, seven million?
10:07What was the number?
10:07It was a little bit less than last year, right?
10:10I think it was six or seven million.
10:15But, you know, you've got to plan for, yeah, one year, seven million for this year.
10:21You've got to plan for the potential that Marcus Mariota might get a better opportunity, might decide he wants to
10:27go back west.
10:28That was part of his decision-making this offseason, that he considered going back closer to home, you know, being
10:36on the west coast somewhere.
10:37So, that may happen soon.
10:39So, I'm not – I can't kill him for drafting, you know, a quarterback that maybe they believe could be
10:48a backup quarterback when Mariota leaves right now, getting him into the system early.
10:53They added a kicker yesterday.
10:55I don't know if you guys saw this.
10:58Drew Stevens from Iowa, who, when we talked about kickers last week or the week before, he was one of
11:06the names that came up.
11:07Because I would not be surprised if this was a guy that they were high on and this was a
11:13guy that maybe even was considered to be drafted.
11:18Because he was one of those kickers before the draft that we – there was some talk that more kickers
11:25could get drafted.
11:27Stevens has a big leg.
11:29He was 22 of 27 this past season on field goals.
11:33He did have a 58-yarder, a 55-yarder, a 54-yarder, and a 52-yarder.
11:39But the 58-yarder that he hit against Oregon in a game that was played in miserable Iowa City conditions,
11:47it was a great football game, by the way.
11:5018-16.
11:51It was such a good game.
11:53In fact, in some ways, it was Dante Moore's best game, even though statistically it wasn't.
11:59But he was so clutch in the fourth quarter, and I thought it was the best moment for him as
12:07Oregon's starting quarterback.
12:08Obviously, he did not play very well in the playoff game that they lost.
12:13And that is why he is headed back to Eugene for another season.
12:17And in the all-too-earlies, Dante Moore is either number one quarterback, number two quarterback, or number three quarterback.
12:23Arch Manning seems to be the consensus.
12:26But then again, last year at this time, Nussmeyer and Klubnik were the consensus QB ones.
12:32Man, these way-too-earlies are way off pretty much every year.
12:37Should be a lesson as football fans that, you know, one season makes a huge difference in the outlook, on
12:47the projections, you know, on free agency.
12:50Like, I've mentioned this many times.
12:52The quarterbacks that were at the top of the way-too-early board a year ago were guys like Nussmeyer,
12:57Klubnik, Sellers, Manning, Dante Moore.
13:01And it ended up being Fernando Mendoza.
13:03Nobody mentioned him.
13:04Nobody mentioned Ty Simpson.
13:06They were the first two quarterbacks to go.
13:10Just like in September, if somebody had said Malik Willis is going to be the top quarterback in free agency,
13:17you would have needed your head examined by most people.
13:22Football is so dynamic these seasons.
13:26And it just changes.
13:28The NFL in particular really changes, as we've talked about for years, week to week, not even year to year.
13:35But the kicker, Drew Stevens, he's got a shot.
13:39You know, you've got two kickers, and that's a big position in today's NFL.
13:42Not that it always hasn't been.
13:44But now that you are one to two first downs away after a lot of kickoffs, you need the kicker
13:51with the big leg.
13:52One to two first downs away from field goal range is a huge advantage.
13:57Stevens has a big leg during the course of his career.
14:02He was 76 of 95 in four years at Iowa as their kicker.
14:06That's an 80% hit rate on field goals.
14:09It doesn't even make sense to look at PATs because college still kicks the PAT from 20 yards out, from
14:16the 10-yard line, 20-yard PAT.
14:18So it's completely different than the NFL.
14:21But on kicks of 50-plus during his career, 12 of 19 with the longest being in the driving rain
14:30temperature was in the upper 30s.
14:32I mean, it was a miserable day, and he booted a 58-yard field goal, which was a big-time
14:38field goal in the second half that they needed.
14:40He was four for six this year on kicks of 50 or longer.
14:44So I like that.
14:45I actually thought there was a chance they might draft a kicker.
14:50I'm glad they didn't have to draft one and could bring in a high-quality kicker like Stevens.
14:55But we all know the nature of kickers in the NFL, and that is, you know, very rarely is it
15:02the first team that they kind of find their, you know, stride.
15:07They hit their stride.
15:08It's usually the second or third team.
15:09And maybe that's a good thing for us with Jake Moody, who was a third-round draft choice of the
15:1749ers just a few years ago.
