NFL Under Investigation + WR1 Chaos & TE Freaks in the 2026 Draft

SPEAKER_03 0:18

It's a great day. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Thank you to each and everyone. We're almost there. We're almost in Pittsburgh. The Love Machines got uh his uh his bracket ready to go. That'll be coming down the pipeline. We're we're gearing up. We're gearing up. Thank you to each and every one of you that have given a tremendous response to our last episode that we did with Joel Norris, um, where we talked about uh, you know, all the things you need to look for when picking a college football team. Uh, that was a little bit of a unique episode for Joel and ourselves. Um, I don't think either of us have created content such like that before. I just want to give a big shout out to Joel Norris from Pig Skin Frenzy before we kick off today's episode. How are we doing, fellas? How are we doing? All right, pretty good, pretty good. Fucking beautiful, awesome, amazing. All right, if you guys don't follow us, Red Zone Blitz Pod. I'm gonna be very direct. I'm gonna die, we got lots of stuff to dive into. Red Zone Blitz Pod is the place to follow us. If you do guys do not um currently know, you can email us as well. You can email us at redzone blitzpodcast at gmail.com. We are on all major audio platforms. We are also on YouTube. There will be content coming for YouTube. I promise. I promise, I promise there will be content coming. Follow us, subscribe to us, Red Zone Blitz Podcast. Now that I've got all that fun stuff, I've got some breaking news. So breaking news has been reported out. I mean, it's not really breaking, um, but there are some off-the-field issues that have come out for Miami's defensive edge, Ruben Bain Jr. Um, Ruben Bain was cited for a careless driving incident after a March 2024 crash in Miami uh that left a passenger in a coma. That passenger, a 22-year-old student, died three months later. NFL teams are aware of this and are investigating. Um so I won't go really into the whole article. I'll just give you a little bit of summary. There's no lingering criminal charges that are hanging over his head. A careless driving charge was dismissed. The family could still file a civil suit, which says which specifically has teams doing homework. How it could affect his draft positioning. So people are saying, you know, it's tough to say. Like if more concrete info, um, which is hard to get, comes by ahead of April 23rd, that could probably give us a better idea of how far he slides. But he was also booked um recently again for another driving citation. I believe it was in January 2025. So there are a couple of things to look for um when it comes to this situation. Now, fellas, is this warrant at Ruben Bain slide?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Not really. Sorry, did they find him? Was he intoxicated? I think he's gonna slide.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

There is nothing that reports that he was like, don't give him the keys to the Lambo. But it does show that he was um he does it does show that it was a careless driving charge and was dismissed, but no intoxication reports or DUI reports.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

So still, I I think you could see a bit of a slide because of this. You already see a slide with it. Character issue, then that's the thing, right? And the whole civil lawsuit thing could really mess with teams because then it's like we're investing all this money in the player in a top pick. And then what what he gonna is he gonna go through all this like civil lawsuit? Is he gonna miss time, miss some practice, some games? Who knows?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

And just brings drama like uh just distraction that you don't need as a team.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

Yeah, yeah. Well, the NFL um has a lot of stuff going on when it comes to we're gonna shift gears a little from Ruben Bain. We don't have much details. I just wanted to present that breaking news to you guys. Um, we're gonna shift gears a little. Um, so apparently the Department of Justice has reportedly opened an investigation into whether the NFL has been engaging in anti-competitive tactics through its media rights deal. So basically, it's asking is the league using its monopoly power to overcharge fans and lock up games behind paywalls? Um, so let me walk you through and then I'll take some pauses and we'll discuss. So the DOJ investigation centers on whether the NFL has been engaging in anti-competitive tactics through its media rights deal and potentially overcharging customers. So this story was first broken by the Wall Street Journal and the NFL came out swinging in response. Um, the NFL's defense, uh, well, they're saying over 87% of their games are currently free on broadcast television, including 100% of the games in the markets of the competing teams. And they also back that up with a ratings flex. The 2025 season was the NFL's most viewed since 1989. Um, here's the thing just because people are watching doesn't mean the distribution model is fair. Those are the two different arguments. Um, and I think the NFL is trying to conflate them. Now, question for you guys now, what right now in Canada, the model is is much different. The model is much different in the sense that you can go and do you get all of the can you access some of those out-of-market games? No, you can't. You gotta go through a a third-party provider. In this case, it's Dzone, who holds the rights to the NFL. Now, DaZone, going by various packages, whatever you want to pick, however you want to do it, they go through and they charge you anywhere from like if you go monthly, like 30 bucks a month, to if you do their six-month package, 100 bucks for basically the entire NFL season. Now you go down to the US, and this is in a range of like if you wanted to watch every single NFL game, you would be paying something upwards of like eight to nine hundred dollars a season for YouTube TV, Sunday ticket, and that is where this investigation kind of holds is is that fair? Now, my question to you guys is there's the argument to be like, okay, well, um there's it's cheaper in Canada. Yes, it's cheaper to get access to it. However, people are also saying, on the contrary, because it's more expensive for a Sunday ticket to be bought by the average person, most people don't buy Sunday ticket. If you're a Jaguars fan living in Seattle, you would go to find a bar that's nearby that has NFL Sunday ticket and you would go and attend versus buying it yourself at home. And therefore they're almost boosting this like sports bar culture and getting more people outside of the house, meeting up with other people, growing the sport in a different way. So curious to hear your guys' take on where you guys think the current landscape is and what they should do to improve it if they should.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

I just hate that it's you get all the streaming sites and they get the exclusive games. Like, because yeah, you gotta buy a Sunday ticket, but then you gotta buy Amazon Prime if like Thursdays is Amazon Prime.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah, Thursday.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Uh it's not up in Canada, we still get that on regular cable, but then there's the Netflix games, like they're exclusive. But the problem is if you buy like I get it, if you want to have the streaming services have that game. So if you don't have Sunday ticket, you gotta have these. But I'm sorry, if you're paying hundreds of dollars for Sunday ticket, you should get every fucking game.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, 100%. You should. You shouldn't have to go to a bar to like what if what if you don't drink? What if you don't want to go out and to the bar and spend a much because chances are if you I mean, like guys like us, if we go to the bar and we're watching NFL for the full day, we're probably gonna be spending money on food and beer.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

And well, there are that's what the NFL wants. That's what they want.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

They want people to go out and they want people to go and like there is a reason why, like, they're certain food retailers, like restaurants that advertisements play during NFL games. They want you to go hang out there. Like, for example, I'll use one Buffalo Wild Wings. Is Buffalo Wild Wings the beacon of great food? No, but is it a place where you know that if there's a game that you want to watch and there's a game, like it doesn't have to just be NFL, like certain college games you cannot find in certain places, like you can't find them on television. No, so the point is for the NFL is like, okay, we're gonna make Sunday, we're not gonna make the game as accessible for you if you're like an exotic fan. Like, for example, like if you choose to cheer for when I pick on the Jaguars, the Jaguars in Wyoming, it doesn't make sense for the NFL to give like take away the Wyoming, whatever NBC or ABC or whoever's doing that broadcast, or CBS, sorry, and then change it to the Jaguars. So I understand their thing is like they're gonna go where the ratings go. And the reason why the Cowboys are played nationally is because of the ratings. So that's where like that like argument of like, okay, I understand why their nationally team, like nationally broadcasted games are not that like prevalent for Jaguars fans or for Texans fans or like Jets fans, for example, outside of their main areas. Now, my little bit of an issue I have is like, okay, like maybe we don't need to make Sunday take a$900. Yeah, maybe we can lower it down a little to like a point where it's like affordable, but it it it's that same kind of um it's that same kind of fight. And I get not making it affordable. Because do you really want to give a kid that lives like a little kid that lives in like uh let's see, uh that lives in San Francisco. Do you really want to have that kid cheering for the Jaguars? Or would you rather have that kid cheering for the 49ers? And would you rather have the kids in Jacksonville cheering for the Jaguars?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

I would I would just have the kid have the opportunity to watch whatever football he wants to watch. But that's the thing, they're gonna watch regardless.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Well, your regional games are gonna be on.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

So that's what I mean. I think a lot of getting regional for that. I think it's like deeper than like people think like, okay, like they're doing it this way because they're trying to make money. No, I think they're trying to make it so that like if you live in Jacksonville, yeah, you have no choice but to watch the Jacksonville game. Regardless, like, okay, yeah, you can watch the team in the afternoon slot, you can watch the slot, but if you're a little kid whose parents don't have all the money to buy like these packages and streaming services, you know what you can guarantee that you'll get to watch on TV? You're the team that's closest to you.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

That's how it used to be.

SPEAKER_03 11:10

Yeah, like teams did not have, like, you didn't have the access to go watch all the games.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

No, but in today's day and age of of streaming and everything, like blackouts and everything need to go away in all sports. No, you should be able to, you should be able to. Especially when you're paying, like, as I like here for hockey, like I have I obviously have the the NHL package, but are there's still games like I I go to record and it records on the wrong channel and it tells you it's not available in your region. I'm like, what the fuck? Why not? I pay for it.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

No, the NHL debacle is a much different and much stupider.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

In all sports, they still have to are leading towards going to streaming.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

So I I will wrap up this conversation in a little bit, but before I do, I just want to ask. There are rumors about Amazon Prime hosting the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Won't happen.

SPEAKER_03 11:57

Let's say it does no fucking way. Let's say it does. Does that mark the end of this NFL is for everyone? NFL is like it's the people's game. You can you're able to watch it with a satellite, you know, or not a satellite with an antenna on your TV, all that stuff if it goes to Prime.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

The Super Bowl goes to exclusive. Like if the Super Bowl is exclusive on Prime, like I don't think it's gonna go well.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

That must be some payout.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Because you gotta think too, like restaurants and bars, like you're not paying for your standard subscription if you're at a bar, you're paying for a commercial license. And they like that's why when you went to UFC's, they always charge you a cover fee because they're not paying$99 for that pay-per-view, they're paying thousands for that pay-per-view.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yeah, because they're distributing it to a thousand amount of people.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

So would you what would you say?

SPEAKER_03 12:47

What would you say if it was on Prime, but it was free? Like it was free to watch, like you're able to log in. It just happens to be you have to have an Amazon account.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

I still don't still because I think I think that's where it's going. I think, yeah, it is going that way.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

I think you're gonna go to like these Netflix games and everything else. It's gonna go where like Netflix will come out with a tier that is like, you know what? You you want you live in the region. Here's like an easier way to watch football, and like here's an easier way to watch football, like without any like you know, hunting through the TV guides and all that stuff. It's free. You all you need is a Netflix account, but you're gonna have to sign up for a Netflix account. And what that does for these companies is it boosts their sign-up numbers before where you had maybe one person in a household with a Netflix account, now you might have four or five. So it boosts them there. So I can see it going, but I think the model is is a little messed up.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Yeah, like I get it, like traditional TV and cable is like I wouldn't say dying, but it is definitely on the on the downtrend compared to streaming and everything. But I don't think you could not yet. There's no way you could have an exclusive online, like Amazon hosting the Super Bowl, and that's it. I don't like yeah, I don't see that happening.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Because they you're gonna lose like some some casuals. Some casual fans, you're just gonna lose them. They're not gonna a lot of people just they just want to watch the Super Bowl and that's it. They don't want to watch NFL, all the games, they just want to watch the one Super Bowl. Yeah, especially you might lose some fans that way.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

I guess you will have uh you will have some of those people trickle in, but it's an interesting debate. We'll see where I don't think this is the end of this conversation. Oh no, not at all. I think this is just getting started, but it'll be interesting to see where it goes. All right, fellas, let's dive in. So previously we did the quarterbacks and running backs on Dane Bruegler's The Beast Guide. Um, tons of great information on the beast. Um, if you haven't checked it out, you can go to the Athletic. Dane Bruegler's dropped tons of nuggets on a variety of players. What we're gonna be doing in gearing up for the NFL draft, which will be we will all be at. Um, we're going to be covering various positions, various players. Today's episode, we're gonna be covering wide receivers and tight ends. Um, obviously, the tight ends we do not have as many prospects to cover as the wide receivers, but nonetheless, let's dive into it. Let's start with wide receiver one, Carnell Tate from the Ohio State University. 6'292 pounds. Uh, Carnell Tate played in the shadow of Jeremiah Smith, fellas, one of the most dominant college wide receivers in recent memory. Um, Tate drew one-on-one coverage all year because defenses had to double Smith. His 77.3% catch rate is the best in the FBS amongst receivers running routes of 12 plus yards deep. Now, is Tate a legitimate wide receiver one in the NFL, or was he a great wide receiver two in college who benefited from Smith making everyone else's job easier?

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Oh, he's a wide receiver one. Um, it might take a little, like there might be a um a little bit of a curve with him just getting used to that because he he wasn't wide receiver number two in Ohio State. So, you know, he had a lot of one-on-one coverages because obviously Jer Jeremiah Smith is getting the uh the double coverages. Um, so it'll be interesting to see if if um you know they start double teaming him, how he reacts to that.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Yeah, I think at the pro level, chances are like depending, he's gonna be a top pick. So whatever team grabs him, whether it's like the Browns or the Giants, well, not the Giants, the Browns or um The Giants could take him too.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

I think the Giants could take him.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

The Giants could take him, but like those teams, he could probably be a number one. But I think there is a bit of an issue with Ohio State is such a wagon and they're such a power school that you can't ignore the fact that Jeremiah Smith maybe took the attention off of him for a lot of the times, and especially with the deep threat that he was.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Yeah, and I think KK, I know he reminds me of one of your boys, T. Higgins. Yeah, because I think a lot of people like if you take T Higgins off of uh Cincinnati, could T Higgins be uh could T Higgins be wide receiver one? Oh yeah, exactly. So I think you could play in the shadows of another great receiver and still have the talent to be uh to be a great player.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

Whatever team he goes to, I don't think he's gonna start as the number one.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

I think he's gonna he's gonna get there, he's gonna get his touchdown.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

Like I would say the best team for him is probably a team like the Giants, where it's like you have other like other weapons. You have neighbors like neighbors, you've got neighbors there. You don't need you're not relied on to be the guy. Like it's gonna be a big adjustment going from one-on-one coverage in the c in the college game to potentially double coverage in the NFL game. There is a big learning curve there. So I I do think he would benefit from having um from having a uh a wide receiver to play along with, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

The one thing um I'm interested to see, and I think you'll see um to start the season, is he's not the best on press coverage. So if you get a physical, physical corner up at the line with him, we've talked about this in previous episodes. Like he's one of those guys that needs those first two steps to get going. So if you push him off the line, that's gonna fuck him up with his timing. Um, so there's gonna be a little bit of issues with that. So I I think teams are gonna play a lot of press coverage on him just to get in his head, just to get him off his game. Um, but everything else, like he doesn't drop. If he gets his hands on a ball, he's not dropping it. He's got sheer hands and he's got the catch radius. So I said I don't think he's gonna be the wide receiver one to start. I think he he's gonna have to get used to getting the double team, playing on that press coverage. But eventually, like year two, year three, yeah, he's a wide receiver one for sure.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

I think so. I think he's the best one in this in this class. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Best he's by far wide receiver number one.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Now moving on to wide receiver two, Mike Lemon. Uh, he won the Belleton. Oh my god, Biliknikoff. Bulitnikoff Bolitnikoff award given to the best receiver in college football. Uh, he's 5'11, not a blazer, and Bruegler said he doesn't have a pull away gear. Um, that award's been won by players who became NFL stars. You saw Devontae Smith win it, Jamar Chase win it, Devontae Adams win it, and players who also flamed out. Do you think winning that award at that his size and athletic profile suggests him to have a career like Amaron St. Brown? Or is this a case where the award overstates what the NFL tape shows? I think I think that's how much hype can we give the award there?

SPEAKER_01 19:25

I think you give it pretty good hype considering uh USC wasn't really one of the best teams this year, even at quarterback, their play wasn't great, and he was one of maybe the only bright spot on that team this year. So, but like uh thing that separates for him is probably his route running and a bit of his speed. His ability to separate, you know. We see we saw flashes this year where you can make that like insane play. He catches everything too, right? He catches everything, exactly. So I mean, you could even say that he might be ahead of Carnell Tate, depending on what teams find later.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

But well, the main caveat on on him is he spent the majority of his career in the slot. So Brugler notably the 27.8% of his 2025 catches came from outside the numbers. Uh, teams are gonna be drafting, like, I don't know, they've got him pegged in that 10 to 15 range. If you're drafting them at 13, like where the Rams are, you're paying first round money for a slot receiver. In today's NFL, is a slot wide receiver or a slot first wide receiver worth a top 15 pick, or is positional value still a real thing when it comes to how you allocate that first round pick?

SPEAKER_00 20:32

So we just talked about Carnell Tate's not good in press coverage. Mikhail Lemon is great in press coverage, he's great at getting that first step and then getting around without contact. And if he gets around you and gets that step, he's gone. You have no chance. Um, but just mentally, where's his head at? Because it was said in his in the combine during his interviews, like he bombed the interview. So mentally, mentally, where is he at? That's my biggest question. Like physical ability, maybe maybe ability just for stuff to drop. Well, that's what I that's what I said in the previous. I mean, I don't think he just don't think guys would do that. That's the thing. Like, I don't think guys would do that. Crazier things have happened. Like they were saying, like, whoever was in this guy's ear in the interview process needs to be fired because they said his interviews went so bad.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Like, he also like you talk about the team that's been linked to him the most, the Rams. I would not be surprised if the Rams take him, surely out of the fact that they're gonna probably trade Puka Nakuru. And right now, listening to this, if you're a Rams fan, yes, this sounds like some crazy shit that I just said, and you're gonna be very upset, you're gonna be very angry.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

But he plays uh very similar because he he can block and he doesn't shy away from the contact. And one of the things like you try and tackle him, he's that guy that's you know, he's topping, he's skipping, he's getting that extra couple inches, that extra yard until like you got to get that second guy to bring him down because if you're just trying to do That shoestring tackle, or you just grab his ankles, he's gonna keep going. So it makes sense. So I and the Rams watched him a lot.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Yep, he's in the background. Right in the backyard, right in the backyard. Um, moving on to wide receiver three, fellas. Uh Jordan Tyson, 6'2, 203 pounds, Arizona State. Um now Peter Schrager has Jordan Tyson at wide receiver one in his mock. Going before Carnell Tate and Mike Lemon to the number nine of the Chiefs. Um, Brugler has Tate as wide receiver one in the beast at 10th overall with Tyson at 20. These two respected evaluators have flipped the wide receiver one and wide receiver three rankings quite drastically. Um Schraeger says um this is what he's hearing from teams insider intel. Brugler is a pure talent evaluator. When those two things diverge by 11 spots on the same player, which one are you trusting and why?

SPEAKER_00 23:00

I don't know. Um but with Jordan Tyson, like I think No, but who would you rather trust?

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Would you rather trust the guy that is closer to um NFL teams, insiders, whatever, GMs, or are you gonna trust the guy that watched the tape in terms of determining where that position is?

SPEAKER_01 23:19

I like tape, man. Tape don't like well, I think closer to the NFL teams. I think closer as well. Because I think like what they're thinking.

SPEAKER_03 23:27

I yeah, I think like in this case, it's like, yeah, can is Carnell Tate a better wide receiver than Jordan Tyson? Yes, I probably think that might be the case. Now, why on earth is Jordan Tyson being mocked number nine by a guy so close to the NFL front offices? That might be because NFL teams probably know a few other things, and then we saw it with the Ruben Bain thing, we saw it with like, but there's stuff that comes out about players, there's stuff that like teams nitpick and they find and they have evaluators that go in and they go beyond just the tape, where I think that's where I would probably lean towards trusting a guy that like is so dialed in. But I think the tape definitely says Tate is better than Tyson.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

I I tape wise, I'm not sure. That's where I was gonna go with. That's why I think Carnell Tate is clear wide receiver. Like Jordan Tyson is explosive in the slot, he is money, and he's got wicked speed, he's a great route runner, he's gonna shake off defenders, but it's that injury history, and he just like in there's pro day before he even started off his first drill. He pulled, he reagged, I think, is the hamstring. Yeah, but as a route as a route runner, Jordan Tyson is is the best in this draft.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

34% of his team's games being missed in the last two seasons due to injury is uh is tough. Now, I know you guys just spoke about it, but is there a difference between a player who gets hurt once and recovers versus one who keeps missing games?

SPEAKER_01 24:48

If they keep missing games, it's a bit of a problem, especially at the receiver position. And if you're having you know lower body injuries, like legs or I mean like knees or ankles, then that is gonna be a bit of an issue.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

I'd rather have my wide receiver break his arm than break something or hurt something.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Yeah, hit me up high so I don't yeah, and don't hit me down low.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

I rather him like not injure his legs.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

Well, the more times you're injured, the more games you miss.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Right? It's gonna catch up to you.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

100%. Now moving this thing on, fellas. KC Conception, Texas AM, six foot, 196 pounds. Um KC Conception just won the Paul Hornung Award for the most versatile player in college football. He led the SEC in receiving touchdowns and punt return yards. He played both outside and inside. He caught, rushed, and returned for a touchdown in the same season. Something no AM player had ever done. Uh, but uh Brugler specifically calls out his drop problem, multiple drops at both NC State and Texas AM. Can a wide receiver who makes big plays and drops balls be trusted as a starter in the NFL, or does the drop rate eventually cost him targets?

SPEAKER_00 25:56

It's hard. Like you look at some of these guys, like we just talked, Carnell Tate doesn't drop balls.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

This guy drops, and and and it's and that's gonna be one that's gonna be the difference between a first round pick and a second round pick.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

But you also calculate NFL quarterbacks now. Some of them they drop the ball right in your hands.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

Yeah, but if you look at some of his drops, some of his drops are right in his hands. It's like it's he's one of those guys like he'll go it, it'll be right here, right at your chest, but he's turning that split second too early, and it just goes right through.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Yeah, or a lot of times, you know, you just he doesn't trust his hands. He'll use his body a catch and boom, just bounces off his body, off his frame, and then that's it.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

I also love his versatility, kick returner. Yeah, that's needs to work maybe on his edges, but he can play.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

But even with the even with the drops, bro, even with the drops, like it's clearly his hands because he has a lot of double catches too, where it hits your hands and then you have to re-grab it because you're not catching it properly. So that that's an issue.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

What's great like about him, and you said he's so versatile, and I don't think it's a knock that these guys are great receivers and they can like exclusively just play in the slot and you don't put him outside. Like, obviously, you're probably not gonna put a guy that's like 5'10, 5'11 outside because he's just gonna get pushed and body is right off the line of scrimmage. But if you can get this guy in the slot, play action, move him around, put him in the backfield, he's a great asset to have. I think a team that would really benefit, I think, is the Raiders early in the second round. If they take him and get Mendoza, Mendoza's great at throwing perfect balls to guys right at their chest. Wouldn't it be pretty hard to drop?

SPEAKER_00 27:28

One of the other things, too, when we're talking about the catches, the double catches and the drops, like I feel like he needs to have the ball like thrown right into that catch radius of like that he has like right in the chest. Yeah, because there's cat there's throws where he's facing the quarterback and he jumps, he jumps to make the catch right at his chest. Like, you don't need to do that. You just like you just stick your hands up because but he jumps a lot for slowing momentum down as well, right? Or if you're gonna get drilled, man, especially in the NFL level, man. You jump and there's a guy coming for you, you're gonna get the life taken right out of you. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

No, 100%, fellas.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

But I think about all these guys is they're still all young guys right now, they're all 21.

SPEAKER_03 28:05

Yeah, they're definitely coaching for development. You can definitely develop, you can definitely coach them.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

So it's not a guy that's like 24, 25, where you're like, you know, after a couple years, they're getting older now. These guys are young.

SPEAKER_03 28:16

Yeah, no, there's definitely coach, there's definitely coachability with uh with these guys. And speaking of another guy that um has that coachability, uh Omar Cooper. Uh Omar Cooper Jr., uh Indiana national champion. Uh Omar Cooper played in the same offense as Fernando Mendoza, consensus QB one of this draft. More than half of his career production came in his one year with Mendoza. Uh Bruegler raised that point directly. The question I guess you have to answer is is Cooper a legitimate first to second round receiver, or is this a chemistry-driven evaluation where the QB made the wide receiver look like a first-round pick? And now you spoke about the Raiders need to go out and get a guy. If a team drafts both Mendoza and Cooper, is that smart roster building or risky over reliance on a college relationship? It's a two-parter. Give me the first one first. Um is Cooper a legitimate first to second rounder, or do you think this is just chemistry that he had with many teams?

SPEAKER_02 29:17

He's legitimate because he can play inside and outside.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

What do you like the most about him? Outside, inside.

SPEAKER_02 29:25

Probably inside because you can move him around.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Yeah. No, he's um he's a hard runner to finish off because he's got such a that strong lower base.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:34

A lot of teams don't um when they were going up against them, there was hard to yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

You give him the ball and play action pretty much anywhere on the field.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

Well, he's also all got like when he went to the combine in pro day testing, it was big, strong hands, so he can leap, comfort, and pluck anywhere almost outside his frame. Um he's number four in FPS and 27 force missed tackles. So he is he does have the resume outside of just being Mendoza's number one guy. Now, I guess my question now is are you're the Raiders? He's sitting there with the Cowboys at whatever, 24? Well, he's right before the Steelers, the 21st pick. So I'll I'll paint it for the for me and Brandon first because I think if the Steelers have this guy sitting there, they're probably gonna take him. Pro possibly. Would you if you're the cowboys, you trade out of 20 to get the Raiders back if the Raiders want back in?

SPEAKER_00 30:28

I don't think he's not like I think he's the late first round, early second round. See, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 30:34

I think that's like that's on a on a board. But I think if you're a team that you're like, hey, like now's our chance to we just drafted his like college quarterback. Now's our time to go jump back in. Okay, let's say even even if you were not um let's say you're 28th in the in the first round, would would you go if you're the Raiders and trade back in and pluck it? 28th is about right.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Yeah, but one of the things that you you mentioned his his production between 2024 and 2025. So in 2024, he played more on the outside and he was the big, he was the deep threat, he was the big playmaker, whereas 2025, they moved him inside and he played a lot more in the slot. So you what didn't have that big game or sorry, the like the the big play, but now he's working this inside, and like you said, missed 27 missed tackles. So once he gets going, you know, he's he's shifty, you're not you're not getting on the ground. So I think that's that needs to be mentioned. Um the the difference in the the 24 to 25. Yes, it was Mendoza, but it was also going from the outside almost exclusively, and you're the big deep threat, and now you're on the slot, you're getting used more, you're getting looked at more, um, and he's just showing that versatility. So I think you can put him on the inside, and it shows he can be that big guy on the outside, big play guy on the outside.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

But it but if that's the case, I almost feel like he would not be a fit for the Raiders because they don't really have a solidified number one on wide out, so he benefits from having you know the big wide receiver outside, and then you just move him in the slot and he can take the little hitch route curl to the outside and make a play out of it.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

That's why I think he's perfect for Pittsburgh. I think he's perfect, I think that's the perfect place for him. Yeah, you have DK out. You have DK, you've got Pittman there, you've got two guys that are solidified NFL wide receivers that can like that can coach him up. Like, I think a lot of this is like ceiling is very high. Like they can coach him up to be like, okay, like this is what you got to do. Here's where you can cheat, here's where you kind of got like a little wiggle room to do this, that, and the other. And I think like, yeah, you give him you hide him behind like two to three other guys that have done it before. 100%. I think you can do it. I also have a team marked if the Chiefs don't go for wide receiver number one with their number one pick, I can see him going after Cooper with that uh second first round pick that they have. Because like they can hide him behind a Rashi Rice, Xavier Worthy. They can add him in, and he doesn't have the pressure to be number one or even number two.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

See, that's perfect because if you have Rashi Rice and you have Xavier Worthy, because Xavier Worthy is your deep threat, he's your speedster on the deep threat, and then all of a sudden you've got uh you've got Cooper Jr. on the on the inside in the slot. Like there you go.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

It's it's it's things are happening. You heard it here first. Red Zone Blitz Podcast. If you don't follow us, from Rinder, follow us, Red Zone Blitz Pod on all the socials. Uh moving on, fellas. This guy, they call him the touchdown machine. Denzel Boston out of Washington, 6'4, 212. Um, guys, he's just a machine in the red zone. 14 of his 20 touchdowns last year were inside the red zone. He's 6'4, 212, vacuum hands and a my ball mentality in the air. Now he does have, as Brugler says, mediocre speed and lack of suddenness out of breaks. He will struggle creating separation and man coverage is a 6'4 red zone specialist who can't separate worth a first round pick in 2026.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

No, I think he's a second.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

He's a second, but it's a good pick in the second round.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

The only way he's going first round is if a team really needs like kind of fit, like a big guy that can get you the touchdowns in the red zone.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

I think if you're a wide receiver needy team and you get desperate and you're like, okay, someone like Buffalo? Yeah. Like you're like, hey, what the hell? Who cares? Let's let's add in a prospect here. Or you're a team that has multiple picks. I think if you're a team that has a lot of draft capital to spend, you can go out and you can get a skill guy like him. But if you've only got one first round pick and you've got glaring amounts of needs, Cowboys. Um, they have two, but they have lots of glaring needs. Um, you can't go forward and and use this pick on on Boston. Sorry, buddy. Uh I'm gonna keep it brief and short with you.

SPEAKER_02 34:40

The Cowboys don't want you.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Okay, well, Knows guys, too, that's in he'll be good in in zone, but in man, because just with the he doesn't have that breakaway speed. So you put him against some of these speedy corners, he's not gonna get any separation. So now the field, but once you're in the red zone, well, that's what I mean. So in the red zone, it's fine because because, like you said, he he's gonna catch that ball, he's got the the catch radius and he's got the hands, he's got the length, like he's gonna make the catch. That's not the issue. It's you're not he's not gonna get separation, he's not gonna get um yards after the catch. Like, well, not not yards after the catch, but because he will get yards after the catch, with he's another guy that's violent. But he's not a guy that's gonna be a big attack. He's gonna run through you, yeah, but he's not gonna break away from you. That's what I was trying to say.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

It's also like worth noting um the wide receiver room he was with with the huskies too, Adunzay, McMillan, Jeremy Bernard, who transferred to uh Alabama, and then Jalen Polk. Like we might not have seen the best of Denzel Boston yet. Yeah, he was quite a bit. All of those guys. A little bit of a log jam. And he was loyal to Washington, right? So you'd be surprised if he's on a like you said, late round pick on a team that needs a red zone deep uh red zone threat, big body on the outside.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

And and Washington obviously is another team that they don't have like the stud at quarterback, so it's not like he was playing with the second coming of Patrick Mahomes. Um, he he was playing with like a you know, not the best quarterback in that position. So I don't I don't would it rule him completely out? I don't think like, okay, like can he turn his game into something else? Yes, obviously, if with the right coaching, with the right, you know, quarterback throwing him the ball, of course he can. But as of right now, as of the tape we've seen, and you pit him up against the rest of the draft class, I think he's probably I would say late first, most likely a second round pick for my end. That's probably my appetite. I think Brandon is not.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Early second pick.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

And you mentioned him, Jeremy Bernard. Let's move on to him. Wide receiver seven in the beast. Uh six foot one, 206 pounds. Um he posted the fastest three cone time of any wide receiver at the 2026 NFL combine at 6.71 seconds. Um now the three cone, for those of you that don't know, is a definitive change of direction test. Brugler says his field speed is he doesn't have pull away speed. How do you add those two things together? Like, is a three cone a better predictor of route running quality than a 40-yard dash for a receiver, or is raw speed still the most important thing that you look at when it comes to uh when it comes to the NFL receiver?

SPEAKER_01 37:19

I don't really look at raw speed that much being a factor.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

I mean, well, you could be really fast and run in one five. Right running is the big thing that calling. You can run in a straight line. I don't know if that's gonna help you.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Yeah, like the 40 yard dash for me for receivers is like your home run guy, your big player, your deep threat. You obviously want the 40 yard dash because you're running in a straight fucking line.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Yeah, a lot of guys think that's all they can do. That's all they do.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Yeah, yeah. And if you're running in a straight line, then yeah, the 40 yard dash is means.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

But thing is road running is you want those guys that can get you that first down over and over again, right? Well, it's over the ball.

SPEAKER_01 37:48

And it's like how precise the route is, right? Like if you're running seven yards up and instead of eight, that's a big difference in the NFL, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

With him, he's he's weird because like he doesn't have like um like a strength that sticks out. No, like he's good at everything, but that's it. He's not excellent, he's not exceptional, he's not the best at anything, he's just good at everything.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

But he's probably not your number one guy. He's probably your number two.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

He's a two or three, depending on on who's ahead of him. Yeah, but he's versatile. He's worked in the Wildcat, the jet sweeps, the motions, the screens. He's a blocker, man. That guy, if you want to if you want a wide receiver that can block, this is your guy.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

So he's you basically he's probably one of your two. He's utility guys.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Like, yeah, he's the utility guy. You're gonna move him everywhere, he's gonna be in the motions, the screens.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Like, it might not be the best SP, but if you watch the tape, he's great at creating separation and then just he's got great hands. Oh, he's got great hands.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

I think he's gonna be good, guy. That's what I mean. He's good.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

Like, I think he's just not there's no flashiness in it.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Like the car flashiness, there's no ready, he's just a solid guy.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

He's not gonna plug in as much as I don't think he's gonna get you the short ugly yards, ugly catches.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

No one's gonna be more of your like your three-down receiver because he can do everything.

SPEAKER_03 39:05

Give him two years in the league, he's probably gonna be a household name in fantasy football when it comes to usage and reception, amount of receptions, the PPR too. PPRs, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

PPRs, I could see him getting a lot of touches.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Like, he kind of reminds me of like uh the way Debo Samuels used to be.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

Yeah, like you can look at Debo you can use like even like guys that have come out and started off late. Like Save Brown didn't come out and wasn't this coveted guy in the draft, like he came out after it took a while for him to build up and like build up eventually. He became it. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is like a bona fide number one receiver eventually down the road. Like he has he's very good at being good, and I think when it comes to reliability in the NFL, you like which team wouldn't want that? Like, which team would like out there, any like any 32 teams wouldn't want a reliable receiver. Like, you talk about the guy with all the drops, like we talked about, like KC conception, where it's like how many drops is he having. I rather have a guy that doesn't do anything like really crazy good and then really crazy bad, like a drop, and then have a guy in the mid in the middle.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

Yeah, where it's like with him is consistency, right? That's something he's gonna be consistent at every everything, but that's it. He's just good.

SPEAKER_03 40:15

Exactly. Speaking of a guy with um probably uh go guys, go Google Chris Bell Louisville. Let's move on to the next one. Go cra go Chris Bell Louisville. Um, like he has um he he is built.

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Very emotional receiver.

SPEAKER_03 40:33

Well, he's built like a fucking Tonka truck, like he is a physical guy, and he's got the build of like I remember when they got Metcalf's pictures out um before when it was shirtless pictures. He's this guy is large.

SPEAKER_01 40:46

He likes to talk like Metcalf too.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Yeah, muscular frame, proportion, bulk. Um his story really, he was cut from uh his freshman high school football team. He joined the band so he could still watch games. He came back, made the team, became a second-round NFL prospect. That's one of the best, I think. Was cut and came back stories in this entire draft class. Now, does the backstory matter when you're evaluating someone that can play in the NFL? Like, do you look at that kind of stuff if you're a if you're a GM? Like cut it.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

Well, yeah, because if you got cut, you want to see how how you react to that. Because there's guys that get cut and it's like, oh, woe was me and the like pity and all this. Well, you want the guy that gets cut and uses that as motivations to come back better. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 41:31

Yeah, I think I I think there's multiple variety of ways, and like I think people listening to this probably can agree is like when you're faced with adversity, there's a variety of different pathways you can go down. And like, I think for him, not going down the path of like fuck this shit, I'm quitting or whatever, I'm leaving or I'm moving. Mind you, you don't have that kind of transfer portal luxury in in high school that you do in in college. But for him to be like, hey, I'm gonna go join the band just so I can go watch the games and just so I can be a part of the program, that takes a lot because your buddies are there playing.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

Like you're he got cut and he won't went to work, work his S off, right?

SPEAKER_03 42:06

Exactly. So I mean that's huge. Um, he does have an injury concern. He suffered a torn ACL um this past January. So he will be out likely most, if not for all, of his rookie year. Um, I think that probably pushes him down the uh pushes him down the depth chart in terms of when where he gets drafted, in my opinion. Now, um we're almost done the wide receivers. We've got a couple more. We got Malachi Fields from Notre Dame. Uh Malachi Fields production dropped significantly in uh 2025, uh, mainly due to he had a freshman quarterback throwing him to him at Notre Dame. His yards and targets both fell, but his catch rate stayed elite, just three drops in his final 25 games. Um, how do you guys evaluate a receiver whose numbers go down because of a bad quarterback situation in his final year of college?

SPEAKER_00 42:57

Well, you also had a guy named Jeremiah Love who's getting who ran the offense on that team. Let's let's be real here. But like he's got everything, like he's got all the tools, but he just he needs, I think he just needs more looks, like he needs more target share. Which again, you when you have a guy named Jeremiah Love that you can just run the offense through, it's hard to get hard to get everyone else touches.

SPEAKER_03 43:22

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I agree, I agree. You know, he was also a high school quarterback, he was a high school quarterback who converted to a wide receiver. So Bruger lists his quarterback background as an asset because of his ability to read coverages and find windows. Um, do you guys think that starting life as a quarterback actually translates to being a smarter route runner?

SPEAKER_00 43:42

I do. I I think you see it a lot because when you're a kid or you're like you're playing house league or you're playing, you know, elementary, then you go to your junior high or high school. Everyone's a fucking quarterback. Everyone wants to be a quarterback, but then you get to the next level. Sorry, there can only be one quarterback. Well, maybe I Guess you gotta have two.

SPEAKER_04 44:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

But no one wants to be the third quarterback growing up as a kid. You don't even want to be the second because you want to be off the fucking field. Yeah, exactly. So that if you're a quarterback, all of a sudden you can come come up and be be a receiver. When you're standing up on the line and you're looking the line, you can almost guess the the coverages, and you can you can kind of tip that off to your to your quarterback too with your hand. That's when you see like hand signs go up and everything. Someone's tipping you something.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Yeah, and it's so beneficial for the actual quarterback, right? Because you have another set of eyes. Just like the same thing with an offensive lineman, knowing the game, the center, you know, pointing out so and so. Oh, that's a spy. This guy's coming on the blitz. So it's definitely been a special thing.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

His change of position from high school to college. Hear me out here. But back to receiver, he needs to develop still, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:49

Hear me out. Yeah, there's still time though. I know where he's gone.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

But also one thing: 75% of his catches last season resulted in either a touchdown or a first down. So in clutch time, when you want when you need to know who wants the ball, he wants the ball and he's gonna get you that first down or that touchdown.

SPEAKER_03 45:08

Alright, listen to me here, Jets fans. I'm gonna talk to all the Jets fans out here. All right. You guys are gonna draft Malik Highfield in the third round, probably. I will give it to you. Now, what will happen is you guys are gonna take him. You're gonna be like, okay, we are, you know, we we got our team. We're just gonna suck it up a little bit. Hopefully, Dante Moore will be on our team next year. And that's all she wrote. I'm here to tell you Malachi Fields, starting quarterback for the New York Jets due to injury of Geno Smith.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

That'd be fucking funny. That would be funny.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

And now they found their guy. They found their guy. He's gonna go up there, he's gonna perform well as a quarterback of the New York Jets, and it's gonna be just greatness. It's gonna be fabulous. Does love machine approved?

SPEAKER_02 46:02

That could be something the Jets would do, but no. I thought you were more like they're drafting him to give you the Cowboys Gary Wilson.

SPEAKER_03 46:15

You just laugh it off. You just laugh it off.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

I I don't think from he's going back to quarterback from receiver.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

Well, obviously not, but it's the Jets. They do this thing on Madden ratings. I'm just waiting for the owner's sons to be like, Dad, did you know he played quarterback? And the dad being like, What? Let's get this guy in right now. Uh moving on, fellas, Antonio Williams uh from Clemson. Um he his drop rate fell from 9.6% in 2024 to 1.8% in 2025. One of the most dramatic single season improvements in the entire wide receiver class. Um what does a drop rate improvement that that drap dramatic actually tell you? Is that the proof of a real development? And or could it just be a sample size issue where he got easier throws?

SPEAKER_00 46:58

I think it's more he's worked on it. So where are you drop like where are you dropping those catches? Because that's when you start working on hey, throw in practice or drills, throwing the catch here because those are the catches I need to. I know if you throw it to my chest, I'm gonna catch it. Throw it on, throw it here or throw it, you know, throw it a throw me a high ball, throw me something I gotta reach for and and work on those.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

So I won't spend a whole lot of time on Antonio Williams. The only thing I will say is if you are a team with an offensive coordinator that likes to run the RPO, he will be a guy that will be beneficial. He's got that burst. He played in a heavy RPO scheme in college. He's probably the best RPO specialist, I think, um, in these later rounds. So if that works for you scheme-wise, I think that's where he'll probably go. Finishing off the wide receivers, fellas. Dejan Stribling out of Ole Miss. Um Dijon Dijon Dijon Stribling has played at four college programs, guys. He started off at Washington State, went to Oklahoma State, um, and um he also went to Ole Miss. Uh he's a fifth-year senior, he averaged 92.7 receiving yards in three college football playoff games. At what point do you guys think being a transfer multiple times becomes a positive NFL evaluation?

SPEAKER_00 48:16

Look, you're going where you want to get touches. Um going from Washington State, going to Oklahoma State. If you look at the last few years with Oklahoma State with uh with Gandhi, it it's kind of gone downhill. Yeah. And they I think he should have been let go a lot. You know, a few years ago, but obviously, you know, they're they're really loyal. They had way too much loyalty to him. He his lot the last few years. So leaving Oklahoma State makes perfect sense to me. He wasn't he wasn't he wasn't getting any better.

SPEAKER_03 48:43

We saw these guys get absolutely killed, guys. Yeah, we did. We we saw Dijon and company get absolutely murdered, so it it was something. Go Horn Frogs. Um, yeah, I don't really have much for him. Um, he just had one drop in 2025, so he's um very reliable when it comes to that. Um, I think he's managed to find success in all of these different programs he's been to, so I guess you could also point that to being a positive as well. Um, he's competes with a physical mindset, um, plays strong on the back shoulder targets as well. I think he's another second, late second, early third, mid-third.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Fast for a big guy, 4.36 at the 40.

SPEAKER_03 49:19

Yep. He can move. He can move. Hey, Dejan, if you want to come on the podcast, let us know. Redzone Blitz Podcast at gmail.com. We'd love to, we'd love to get you on. We'd love to boost your draft stock or completely plummet it, uh, depending on how the interview goes. We make no promises. Um, fellas, how are we doing? Want to take a little break?

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Yeah. Well, I actually actually got one more guy. Actually, I think uh yes. I think Zekari Zakarian Branch from Georgia, just because of his size, he's like what 5'8, 5'9. He ran a he ran a sub-4-4 at Georgia. He was a great uh he was a great deep threat on the offense. I think he could be a great uh late round pick, maybe third or fourth round. If a team could pick him up, if a team could pick him up in like the fourth or fifth round, that I think it's a steal. Because you could even put him out as a kick returner, too.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

Yeah, I mean killed a guy.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

Love it, fellas. Love it. Um you guys need a little break before we go in the tight ends, or you want to rip right through to the tight ends? All right, okay, all right. I guess we're ripping right through. Uh, we gotta start with the big dog, Kenny and Sadiq, Oregon. Um man, okay. He grew up in McMahon, Idaho, population 825, by the way, fellas. Um listen, Sadiq ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at the combine, the fastest tight end since at least 2003. Historically elite numbers at the position. Schraeger has him go at number 14 of Baltimore to pair with Mark Andrews, who's already re-signed on a three-year extension. Is drafting an elite tight end in the top 15 when you already have a good tight end a sign of offensive ambition or a misallocation of first round resources? And is the two-set tight end justifiable enough to argue it?

SPEAKER_01 51:01

I think you could run a two-time set. Look at a bunch of teams did it for years. Uh, Patriots did it for a while, and then they had a bunch of success. So I think this guy, I mean, depending where he falls, listen, I'm gonna maybe get a lot of flack for this, but I think if he falls to the Steelers, I don't see why. I mean, we talk about an inside slot receiver. Darnell Washington's been banged up, Pat Farmuth's getting.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Also, question for you, Steelers fan.

SPEAKER_01 51:28

He has already have quite a few tight ends over there. No, I actually have a legitimate question drops to 20.

SPEAKER_03 51:33

I've got a legitimate question about Darnell Washington. Has he always been that fat?

SPEAKER_01 51:38

What's what I don't love about his game, like he's he's a boulder, right? He looks really out of shape.

SPEAKER_02 51:45

And he's got Mike McCarthy now.

SPEAKER_01 51:47

But see, this is don't go, don't go to good damn. Don't go to the Waffle House. Both of them, yeah. But that's kind of what I'm saying here is we talked about like, and not to make it all about the Steelers, but no, make it. I will. Um, we talked about like the Steelers having like a slot receiver threat, maybe Namar Cooper Jr. on the inside because you got Metcalf and Pittman. But if you've got Darnell Washington, who can't play every snap because of his size and his stamina, and he's still you know, he doesn't really have speed, this guy has insane speed. You've lost Hayward and Fryermouth's getting old. Like I love Fryermouth, and so do all the Yenzers, but he's kind of aging out. So if you're telling me Sadiq, because Sadiq right now we got him at like 17, 18, I think Carolina's kind of been on the board for him. If he drops down to like 20 or 21, and you want or 21 where the steel is gonna pick, you want to make a splash, I think that's the guy to take.

SPEAKER_02 52:44

I think if you have a blocking tight end that's like a tight end that's really good at blocking, that would work.

SPEAKER_01 52:49

So I have uh I have a but if you have uh like uh uh another tight end that isn't a good blocker, but we have Fronmouth is good at blocking, so is Washington. Washington's six seven. Washington just shouldn't move then.

SPEAKER_03 53:01

No, Washington is huge.

SPEAKER_01 53:02

Well, he's six seven pounds.

SPEAKER_02 53:04

Then that would work, right? You look at him out there. He looks like an offensive lineman.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

I've been saying the Steelers should run a two tight end set for a long time now.

SPEAKER_03 53:12

Yeah, so now that you guys are done, your Steelers offensive line depth chart. I actually have a rumor that is about Mr. Kenyon Sadiq and where his potential landing spot will be. Um, rumor has it. Rumor has it, Mr. Jake Ferguson is being shopped around.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

He is being I knew this was about the Cowboys.

SPEAKER_00 53:32

If we use one of our first round picks on a fucking tight end, fuck me.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

Rumor is no Jake Ferguson is being shopped around. Um, I don't know exactly what the market for a Jake Ferguson is, but if I'm not really, but isn't Shoemaker there still too?

SPEAKER_00 53:49

Well that's yeah, but he's not he's not there.

SPEAKER_03 53:52

Well, you know why? How I got like someone close to Star was saying there's a big campaign, internal campaign to push out how great Luke Schoenemaker's development has been this offseason. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then did a little bit more digging, I talked to a little bit more people, and apparently, yes, that is a thing. So who knows? No, Kenny and Sadiq. No, every time you say rumor, no the cowboys kind of no, of course, it's the only one I'm connected to. I don't know. I can't just make it up.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

I'm saying no to a wide receiver in the first round, I'm definitely saying no to a fucking tight end. But you guys have so many problems on buttons.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

If you have an extra first round pick, hey, listen, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:28

Hey, listen, Hunk, stop telling him to get off your yawn.

SPEAKER_00 54:31

Get off my fucking lawn. We're not taking the tight end. Get the fuck off my lawn. But I hate to break it to you. You kind of brought it up. He's not falling past Carolina. If he's there at 19 with Carolina, Carolina's taking him all day long.

SPEAKER_03 54:43

He's gonna be he's gonna be a G in that offense.

SPEAKER_00 54:46

I think he's gonna be he's gonna be a very that's a that's almost a fits what they need because sorry, Jatavian Sanders, he's you're he's not the guy.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

It's a good fit, but I I I would hate for his career to go down the wrong path.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

Carolina this is the best thing for Carolina, though, because you're getting a guy, he didn't grow up in a big fucking city, he didn't grow up in like a bustling party, he grew up in a town of 825 people, and he played in Oregon, so he doesn't know playoff success. Well, yes. Sorry, Ducks fans catching a catching a stray here. Uh hey, that might be KK's team you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 55:21

Yeah, I know he's he's rocking a green and silver, like might be.

SPEAKER_03 55:26

Um, but point being is that like a guy like that where he comes from a small town, check me up. There's something about tight ends and quarterbacks from small towns that I just like I look at. Normally I could give a fuck where the guy is from in the population size, but I'm like, hey, you're like a real meat and potatoes type of guy.

SPEAKER_00 55:45

Well, because they grew up on the fucking farms, man. Yeah, they grew up on the farms, they're used to doing hard work as a fucking child. So he's gonna get lost if Dallas picks in that.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:54

He's gonna the one trip to Bucks Wild, and we're gonna lose Mr. Sadiq forever. It's gonna be It's gonna be bad. We're gonna have God never God never made it. They put fucking like, do they even have well like what do they have in McMahon, Idaho? Do they have like fucking do they have like I hate to bring it to you?

SPEAKER_01 56:12

I don't think they have a strip club.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

Well, but a strip club.

SPEAKER_00 56:14

I was gonna have a stripper. Yeah, yeah. Just don't have a strip club.

SPEAKER_03 56:20

Um I was gonna there, it's from uh it's in the Bannock County of Idaho. Okay, like is there a restaurant? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 56:28

Fucking potatoes. Do they have like I'm trying to see if they're like a fast like when you go to Nebraska and all you see is fucking potatoes? They could have a McDonald's.

SPEAKER_03 56:35

Like, I'm sure they got a McDonald's. They have an AW. That's a better out of all the places they have an A, they do not have a McDonald's. They have a Subway, a PJ Fresh, Bacon Licious, Taco Time, and AW. That is what they have. If you are a football player that is playing at what's the high school in McMahon, like what could it possibly be?

SPEAKER_00 57:01

It's probably McMahon.

SPEAKER_03 57:02

Like, let's see, it's probably like McMahon High.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

That's probably what it is.

SPEAKER_03 57:06

Uh I mean, I guess like do they have a high school there? Like, where did the Mr. Sadiq go? I think he went to Skyline. Uh Marsh Valley. Marsh Valley. If you are a high school player that plays for Marsh Valley, hit our line, redzone blitzpodcast at gmail.com. We'd love to talk about the uh we'd love to talk about the town. Um fuck the kid, actually. Let's get the coach on there. Who's the coach? Let's find him. Um as of okay. They canceled their football season because low turnout for players. Because because man, that's just that's just uh yeah, they were down to 12 players.

SPEAKER_00 57:49

12 players on a football team.

SPEAKER_03 57:51

They're down to 12. They needed them on the farm. So they they did not uh they did not do that. But hey, we got a little carried away there. Well, let's keep moving it on. Uh number two, we got Eli Stars out of Vanderbilt, 6'4, 239.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Um there's another former quarterback.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

He was recorded, he was recruited as a quarterback. Uh, multiple shoulder injuries ended that career path. He says I could never throw the same. He converted a tight end and won the Mackey Award. Is a position conversion a red flag for an NFL team?

SPEAKER_00 58:20

No, not when it comes to tight end, not when it comes to no because he's he knew he knew he can't throw the ball anymore, so he changed it up to to being a tight end. So not really worried about the injury history too much there. Yeah, he can catch, but I think he needs to work on uh blocking.

SPEAKER_03 58:35

He does not like to do that. He doesn't like to win that.

SPEAKER_00 58:37

Last thing, like when he had child, like he was a tight end, but he he's more like a slot receiver. Because he he as as a receiver, he's fucking phenomenal, man. He he's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

He could be there for the Steelers guy pairing with Darnell Washington and Broken.

SPEAKER_01 58:53

The problem I I don't really love with him is, and maybe it's the way Vanderbilt used him, but they just a lot of dump off throws to him. He couldn't see that, but it's like Mr.

SPEAKER_03 59:03

Pavia couldn't see down the field exactly.

SPEAKER_02 59:06

As far as Aaron Rodgers can throw, so it works.

SPEAKER_03 59:09

Oh hey, that is also true. We still have not heard from Aaron Rodgers.

SPEAKER_01 59:14

Hey, I heard there is a story about Bacardi. Yeah, Pat McAfee or somebody on his team, I don't know, was saying that. Um, this week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they're holding practices. So it's likely that if they see Rogers around there at the facilities, he's gonna be back. It's very up in the air.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

I'm sorry. If they see him at the like, I don't I don't I don't see practice.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

I don't really ever go into the springs though, like he's yeah, I don't know. Doesn't he usually take his fucking like isn't that when he went to his fucking ayahuasca dart yeah dart K retreat? Well that was just to I gotta pick a team.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

Yeah, but it was during it was during the the the time, right?

SPEAKER_03 59:51

Like I'm sorry, it's the middle of April, and Aaron Rodgers is gonna leave his California probably beach house to come to Pittsburgh to show up at the facility and do what exactly? He's not throwing, so he's gonna just show up and just be like, I'm here. I that's the least Aaron Rodgers thing I could ever fucking imagine. What a dumb way to give people well.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:14

Maybe you if they see not you, maybe he's showing up just to sign a contract and go back home. Look, it could just be clickbait people.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:20

In the world of DocuSign, Aaron Rodgers is gonna fly to Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

If I was Aaron Rodgers, well, he's gonna go see Mike and have breakfast and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:29

I'd say to Mike, get your fucking fat arse down here with the contract. I'll sign it and get the fuck out of my house before you eat all my food. That's what I'd tell Mike.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:38

Honestly, I I think you're better off. I think they're I think the Steelers organization is honestly, they they know his answer and they don't want to tell anybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

I think they're better off saying thank you, goodbye. We're gonna move ahead with our plan with Will Howard as or Mitch Travisky or whatever, whoever you guys have right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

McCarthy, when he's in these interviews in the media, he's talking like, Oh, I love what I see from Will Howard, and oh, I love you know the you know Garrett Nessmeyers and the Drew Allers that are in the draft and all this.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:09

So I think they they know his answer, but it's like a real dicky way to do it to your fans where you're just like lingering them all. Because I'm sure there's a large population of Steelers fans that want Aaron Rodgers back.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

Oh, they're definitely especially when you're so close to the draft. But those those fans probably did not watch enough games. Maybe if you did, but like even your I watched every game, start to finish.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:33

I don't know if you bring Pittman in, if the plan is for fucking the what Howard Nusmeyer, like well, he could be right.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:42

Like they brought in all these guys, maybe he made his decision a long time ago.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:45

They just don't want to announce well, you did, but what good is that do like what how is just how is keeping this a bluff helping you? Is my my question. Like, how is keeping this like information of like we are gonna bring back the 40-something year old or we're not gonna bring back the 40-something year old helping you? How is that like okay? They may be keeping it a bluff from us, right? They're also keeping it a bluff from the players because if any of they told the players it would have leaked, it would have leaked somehow, yeah. Yeah, somebody would have told somebody, somebody it would have gone out. But it's like, okay, now your players don't know who the fucking quarterback is, they're not jiving, they don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:24

Maybe even Diana doesn't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:25

Diana's not boots too. Diana is concerned about other shit. Reports are Diana was sneaking out of Mike McCarthy's waffle house to try to give him the mouth service, but bumped his belly with her head and concussed herself. So Diana's off that chart.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

But you need to say I'm gonna make my decision before the drop. Before the drop with with plenty of time.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:45

So this is it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

This is we can give him an April 1st downline.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:49

He's fucking 12 days overdue. Yeah. It just looks bad on every party in this, though. We're a week away. Yeah, we're a week away.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

But like I said, what's changing because you got the weapons. You added, we've I mean, we fucking like. You've got the weapons. You went and improved the team. What the fuck are you waiting for?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

He's probably waiting to surprise everybody at the draft.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

He shows up.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

He shows up.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:16

It's not Roger Goodell, it's Aaron Rodgers. I've officially retired, and my new gig is at Jeopardy. As a way to prepare for my new gig on Jeopardy, I will be hosting a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

KK? He wouldn't take the spot dead away from it.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:34

KK, there are gonna be people actively asking me what type of drugs you're doing. I hope you're ready to answer that. They are gonna be active, they're gonna be actively in the inbox being like, I want whatever KK just smoked with that Mendoza trade.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:46

Yeah, he's got Ricky Williams stash.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:48

What would okay, hypothetically, what would it cost to go from 21 to 1?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:55

We're sorry, folks. We're not getting away from the we were supposed to talk about the tight ends. That's okay. The folks can wait. What would it cost?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:02

That would cost them the 21st, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:04

It would cost them another first, another first next year, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

Maybe another one next year.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

No, it's not not three. Really? Mendoza's not worth three firsts.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:14

Yeah, I think in a world where Miles roster player. Uh okay, so like two firsts and uh I think the Patrick Queen gets thrown in there for fun. Everybody hates two roster players then. You gotta throw Patrick Queen in there. Uh Darnell Washington, you are officially a Raider. Congratulations, buddy. Have fun blocking whoever they're blocking. But I that would be wild because could you imagine the Raiders then come back at 21, take Ty Simpson, and he has a better career than Mendoza and Pittsburgh?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:44

That'd be hilarious. That would be that could happen too.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

Look at this. That could happen. Hey, hey, come on now. Uh all right, fellas. The next tight end, Max Clare out of Ohio State. Ohio, like they did everybody. They did a good thing here, Ohio State did with their program because they've got a lot of guys going to the draft. Uh Max Clare went from Purdue where he caught 60.8% of his catches. Um, or that went 10 plus yards, to Ohio State, where that dropped to 39.5. Uh, he didn't get worse. I think he just had uh Carnell Tate. Um and Jeremiah Smith. Jeremiah Smith. Um is a tight end whose production dropped at Ohio State because of target competition actually a hidden value pick?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:23

I think he's a sleeper pick just because of how little targets he got because he's behind Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. But if you watch some of his catches, man, he sticks that handout, that ball sticks to his hand. Like he's gonna make those catches. We're doing tight ends, but the oh, the first three guys are all receivers. Same with this guy. I mean, he can block, but he's not the best at it. But if you watch his catches, man, he makes some sick catches. He gets open because you've got every everyone's watching Jeremia Smith, Carnell Tate. He just kind of stands there like, hey, look at me. I'm open, and he gets the ball. Yeah, so he'll benefit on a team that has like I don't think we've seen like he's got a great like you know what his floor is. I don't think you truly know what his ceiling is because you haven't I don't think you've seen his best football. No, and that's why one of one of the guys says he's gonna have a better pro career than he had in college career just because of where he was on the depth chart on who gets touches.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:21

Yeah, damn. Yeah. I I think he's gonna be good. I think he's gonna be good. Um, fellas, I've got one last one, and I think he's my favorite out of these deeper sleepers. Any guesses? He's got the best name. Justin Jolly. Just North Carolina State. Um check this out. He was recruited as a 190-pound receiver, he's now 241 pounds and has become a tight end. Uh he led North Carolina State in receptions. Uh Brugler compares him to Jonu Smith and says he's more Robin than Batman. Uh in the modern NFL is a converted wide receiver to tight end automatically more valuable than your traditional inline tight end because of the receiving versatility.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:07

That's a lot of fucking weight he gained in those four years. Yeah. But same thing, like he his hands are a receiver. Like he's got great hands. There's another guy that's gonna make the circus catches, the one-handed catches, the diving catches.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:20

But in today's day and age, like you you ask for a tight end to do so much at a receiver position, more so than an offensive line position. Right? You don't really see a lot of these guys getting on the line and blocking. It is beneficial, but the way that the game is going nowadays is so much heavy passing. Like we're looking, like we can see running back.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:38

But it's also looking at getting a lot of teams, probably have that blocking tight end, so now they want that receiver tight end. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:45

No, I I like him. I think he can be he's gonna be a little fun. Like you talk about like when you're streaming, when you're week 14 of your fantasy football playoffs, and you need a streaming tight end, and you see Justin Jolly, and he goes for 30 points because he just caught everything that one week. I can see that down the line.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:03

I'd like to see his usage. Um, because he was a wide receiver, he knows the routes of a wide receiver, but because he's a tight end, he gets used production like predominantly in the hitches, the curls, the slants, ins, outs. But I was watching tape. The one time they showed he ran a wheel route, he was fucking gone. No one paid attention to him. He was he had the entire like he could have walked that route and he would have fucking caught the ball and he would have walked in for a fucking touchdown. The problem with him, because he's so used to getting these short yard passes, is he gets contacted right away and he goes down on first contact. So he's not getting your yards after the catches, he's not breaking away from anyone, no one's missing tackles on this guy. So he's a short yardage, but I want to see some more of those. I want to see some more of those wheel routes. I want to see him go up on a on a post or a corner and see how he can handle those. Because a lot of it's like I said, uh, it says here 66% of those catches were both were nine yards or shorter.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:02

I mean, you could you could see the transition back to receiver then if if you can't like you'd have to lose a little bit of weight if you want to go back to being the true tree wide receiver.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:11

Heightened analysis, and a lot of people have been wondering why I've been holding off on the soundboards with that heightened analysis. A lot of people probably don't know that was came from Brandon the OG.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:19

Brandon the OG, OG, OG, it's in his blood. You can see it when he speaks free.

unknown 1:09:25

From the long horse, people put a stall on the screen.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:27

Big toe, big heart, he the captain of the team.

unknown 1:09:30

Brandon the OG.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:31

Yeah, that was that was great. I haven't heard that one in a while. I know I've always just been KK's love machine. KK's love machine. I also need to make a different variation of KK's love machine. I've been thinking about doing like an Afro beat one where it's like bad bunny inspired, and we can just get some big thick Latinas on KK for the music video. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:48

I know where we can find those.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:50

Oh. Chica's Chicas and just your and just your just neighborhood Vegas establishment where all things are just only a step away. We're waiting for the deal, Chicas Benitos. We're waiting for the deal. Hit us up, hit us up. We're excited to do a brand deal. It'll be great. We'll have a custom merch.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:08

Yes. And let the good folks from Idaho falls.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:11

There's a potential expansion opportunity. There are 12 football players that don't have a place to do. They could do a great job doing like work in the kitchen. Could you imagine? What's your word done? Still those one of those potato farmers from Idaho where they see the Chicos Bonitas lineup roll in, it's gonna be just Olas all around. Olas all around. All right, fellas. That was solid. That was solid. Uh, fellas, anything else to add before we wrap it up for the episode? No, I think that's all I got on them. We are dropping content like it has never been dropped before. Once again, if you are not following us, Red Zone Blitz Pod on all the socials. Give us a follow. Um, you know what? Brandon might let maybe Brandon will kiss your baby if you follow us. The fuck is with you and kissing. No, I'm kissing babies. So I'm for president.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:00

Welcome to the club.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:01

We are running a campaign solely on kissing babies. Yes. Um, in all seriousness, though, if you thank you to each and every one of you that have tuned in, that have liked, that have written back to us, to the one guy that keeps telling us we have no balls. Fuck you. Um, yeah, that's a weird thing. I think if you have if you've listened to us, I feel like that's the one thing you can't say to us.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:21

I'll say whatever the fuck I want. I know you'll say whatever the fuck you want. Not you to say whatever the fuck you want. KK, you got any filter? You're the oldest one here. Fucking Mr. Gen Xer. What to that guy?

SPEAKER_04 1:11:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:32

To anyone! Hey KK, what's your message to the guy that says we have no balls? Tell him, give him a message. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:37

Why is he always hiding from a whole hiding?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:42

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, KK. KK's gonna hunt this guy down in the uh in the back alley and beat him. Beat him with a stick. Um, in the meantime, we will be coming out with all sorts of comps. We'll be dropping our next episode on the offensive tackles. Well, KK's bracket will be coming out. Yeah, stay tuned, keep listening to us, Red Zone Blitz podcast and all audio platforms. Until next time, this is G. Brandon, Matt, KK. Now we're out.