Joe DeLeone | Bleav Network NFL Draft Analyst

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That's BetterHelp.com positive. Really excited to welcome Joe De Leon to the show from the Believe Network. He hosts a podcast and is an NFL draft analyst and a college football analyst. And this is the time of the year where it's his Super Bowl, right?

So you can catch his show. It's called The First Team and now joining us from LA. Joe, maybe it's me because there's so much going on in the spring and because there's been so much NFL veteran movement, right? Aaron Rodgers being the latest big deal to drop. What is the buzz though around the draft itself as we get set for Thursday's first round? Well, I think the buzz right now is separate from who's going to be the first overall pick, but who is going to take Will Levitz? And we had this morning a Reddit post drove the market up for Will Levitz maybe going first overall.

First of all, I just want to dispel those possibilities. It's not going to happen. He's not going to be the first overall pick, but it seems like there's a strong possibility right now that maybe a team trades up to three with the Arizona Cardinals to take Will Levitz. And I think right now that's something to pay attention to that Will Levitz could be the second quarterback selected in this year's draft.

Why? What makes him that valuable? Well, in my opinion, I don't think he's that valuable to go number two as the second quarterback. I actually have him as my fourth quarterback, but I think what the NFL sees is a big, strong arm, a big, strong kid who's a quality athlete can move pretty well.

But on top of that high character, and he's really tough, he's a really, really tough kid. I think with all of that, the NFL, it checks every box that they're looking for in the NFL quarterback and to eventually be a high level starter. And he has the ceiling to be a high level starter because of all those traits.

Now, the concern for a guy like Will Levitz for me is the decision making. He has been a starter for two years. He's an older prospect. And there's a lot of times on tape where he makes really head scratching decisions with the football.

If he can overcome those issues, I think he can certainly hit that very high ceiling and expectation for him. But right now I'm a little careful on, on wanting him to be that second overall pick, but the NFL thinks differently. So Joe, we know that the Carolina Panthers have indicated there's a consensus in their organization for the quarterback.

They want to take number one overall. Who do you believe is the best fit for the Panthers? Yeah, I think Bryce young without a doubt is that best fit. And if you look at the Panthers situation, their roster compared to the rest of the NFC might not be win now go to the Superbowl.

But if you look at their division, the NFC South is pretty bad. So with that in mind, you throw Bryce young into the mix, who's the most ready to play right now. There are size limitations. There's concerns about his frame and him being under six foot and being under 215 pounds. But he is just such a reactive decision maker. He is the best decision maker out of all of the quarterbacks. It's almost like he's thinking a whole step ahead of all these other guys. And I think that that ability to think decisively to always find his claymakers in space to set them up perfectly is going to make him the best rookie quarterback.

And I honestly believe that in his first year, or by his second year rather, it could be like what happened with the Jacksonville Jaguars where Trevor Lawrence first year struggles a little bit and then by year two, they hit a hot run to go to the playoffs and then they upset someone they have that potential. And I think Bryce Young is definitely that guy. If you consider the coaching aspect of that in Trevor Lawrence's first season, he had Urban Meyer, but once Doug Peterson got there, there was some real value in having a quarterback who spoke the language of the head coach, right? And of course we know Frank Reich also played the quarterback position and is a coach that comes from that same tree.

So that's an interesting point. Joe De Leon is with us here after our CBS Sports Radio, a host on Believe Network, the first team, and then also an NFL draft analyst. The talk about C.J.

Strad, excuse me, this leaked test score left him with a low score in terms of his ability to read defenses and in terms of his ability to process what's happening on the fly behind the line of scrimmage. What do you make of that? I'll even call it a rumor.

I'm not even sure it's real. A rumor, Joe. Well, the rumored number is historically low. 18% is well below what everyone else tested. Frankly, in my opinion, I think it's more telling that Bryce Young tested as high as he did. He had the best number.

I think his number was like 96% or something along those lines. That to me is more telling of his mental capacity, but I'm not surprised that a guy like C.J. Strad has issues with his cognitive ability.

And I'm not saying that he's a dumb player, but you watch him on tape. He's great on his first read, but once that first read doesn't open up, he's very indecisive. I almost wonder if he's overthinking or he just doesn't know what to do with the football. He also, for some reason, doesn't want to rely on his legs, even though he's a very good athlete.

His worst game was against Michigan. I think that's a lot of proof of what the floor can be with a guy like that and his inability to make decisions. I'm not super worried about that test score. I'm just more worried about how can he progress?

Is there even any room for progression in that decision making? And I think if you're the team that's picking him, you really have to hope so. So you believe then the leak about C.J.? Yeah, I mean, that number makes a lot of sense. I mean, even if it was slightly higher, I still believe that his score was the lowest amongst all of them. And I think it made a lot of sense if you just look at the ranking of all those scores.

If that test is supposed to tell us who thinks the quickest and who's got the best decision making just in general, who's a quick thinker, it makes sense. C.J. 's one of the slowest to make decisions. And I think right after him would be Will Levitt. Okay, thinking about the Bryce Young piece at the top, if that's where the Panthers go, how do you expect the dominoes to drop at quarterback after Bryce? Yeah, I think that the Houston Texans are not going to be taking a quarterback. It seems like they haven't been very excited about any of the prospects in the class.

And I think with that situationally, they don't want to take somebody that they're not in love with. So if somebody then trades up, if that's the Tennessee Titans moving up, if it may be a team like the Atlanta Falcons moving up to go get the next quarterback, I do think that Will Levitt as of right now is going to be the second quarterback taken. The Colts are going to stay where they are at four, and they're probably going to take Anthony Richardson or C.J.

Stroud. And then whoever's the best remaining available, I don't see the last guy falling outside of the top eight. I know that it's certainly possible. And I think this time last year, we were all saying, well, there's no way only one guy goes in the first round.

That's what happened. Certain possibility that one guy slides out of the top 15. But I just think with this year having quality quarterbacks, not elite quarterbacks, and last year being so devoid of quarterback talent that a lot more teams are much needier than we're used to them being. Joe De Leon is with us from Believe Network, an NFL draft analyst, as we get close to the primetime event that is now held on Thursday nights and has really become a ratings bonanza for the league itself. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. How do you like that spectacle and the way that the NFL has turned this into a primetime must-see first round? Oh, man, it is so, so fun to watch. And it's what got me into becoming an NFL draft analyst. And I bore through watching all the tape. I grew up watching the NFL Draft when I was a little kid. And it's just every year it gets bigger and bigger. And my boss who worked at NFL Network was the person who kind of put on the first spectacle.

So kind of hearing those stories from him, I geek out every single day here and talk about it. But no, it's my favorite time of year. It gets me more excited than the Super Bowl sometimes, which I know sounds a little nerdy, but definitely one of my favorite events out of the year. Beyond the quarterbacks, which we expect to steal the show, at least initially, where is the next position with a ton of value in this draft? Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of edge players that fly off the board in the top 10. I think as soon as that first pick is in, if the Texans stay where they are, I think it's going to be Tyree Wilson or Will Anderson.

Tyree Wilson from Texas Tech or Will Anderson from Alabama at number two. And then once we get past the Colts, if nobody moves up, the Seattle Seahawks right now are in a win now mode. They're in a spot where they want to progress and be able to knock off the San Francisco 49ers.

And the only way you're going to do that is by adding defensive weapons. I think adding a Lucas Van Ness or a Miles Murphy for the Seahawks is going to be a big boost for them. And then in addition to that, the Lions are probably also going to be seeking an edge prospect as well. Will McDonald, the fourth, is another first round prospect to pay attention to. And then Nolan Smith from Georgia. There are going to be a lot of edge rushers that come off in the first round.

This might really be a historic year for edge rusher talent. While we're talking about defensive linemen, any pause around Jalen Carter considering what happened with the car accident and his possible role? Yeah, I think that there's been enough time for NFL teams to do their due diligence.

I really thought that the timing would have really disrupted his ability to answer any questions, but by him putting his plea in early and getting ahead of it and getting his sentencing and everything, he's not going to jail. But for him to get ahead of that is going to help him because it allows NFL teams to do their research and do their really deep digging to figure out what is going on with that and what that full situation was and probably know more than what the general public does. I think what helps Jalen Carter especially, it's just in general a lack of maturity, but what is going to help him stay within the top 10 is a lot of the teams that are picking are teams that are in a playoff win now mode.

I look at the Eagles, I look at the Lions, I look at the Seahawks. All of those teams got extra picks because of trades that they made trades that they made in the past and they're loaded and they can take a risk on a guy like Jalen Carter and then also benefit from that risk by adding the best player in the class to their team. And I also think for Jalen Carter it's going to benefit him going to a veteran team, a team with a coaching staff that's been around for a little bit that can help him mature and keep him out of making dumb decisions and hopefully he can succeed because he is just so so talented.

Definitely like the idea of him being surrounded by not just veteran players but also a structure that he can really sink into and become a professional football player. Jalen kind of pivot a little bit here we've seen in recent years some pretty incredible wide receiver talent that is burst onto the scene initially like the second they get on the field they're already making a difference. So thinking of skill positions outside of quarterback who are a couple of players that you're excited to see at the next level? Yeah this year's receiver class is not as exciting as we've gotten in the past and I think we've been really spoiled by guys like Jamar Chase and Jalen Waddle and Justin Jefferson. This class we there's a really good shot that we only have like two guys go maybe even one possibly depending on what the priorities are for some of these teams but I do like Jackson Smith and Jiggler from Ohio State.

I think that his injury situation has been cleared up enough in figuring out why he spent that time away. I think Zay Flowers from Boston College is very shifty and explosive and then Josh Downs from UNC is another underrated player who could sneak into the first round but the real talent here for playmakers is tight end. This is going to be another another historic position group is this tight end group because Michael Mayer is a first round pick and going to be a top 15 pick in my eyes and is going to be so consistent from day one but we also have Dalton Kincaid from Utah, we have Darnell Washington who's massive from Georgia, Luke Musgrave from Oregon State who's a great vertical threat and then one of my favorite sleepers in the class who I think is going to be a day two pick Tucker Crafts from South Dakota State is very well rounded and not getting enough love right now in my opinion but there are a lot of good tight ends so I think that we're going to get more production from these tight ends than these receivers. We know the draft is landing in Kansas City this year as the NFL continues to pick these spots where it believes the the draft can attract a lot of fans and also the bright lights the big city. What do you think about Kansas City and the draft as a partnership? I think barbecue actually that's what I think but I mean considering I know it's kind of like a random thought in my mind but like the Tennessee draft when that was in Tennessee was great so I think that we're in these hot beds for football that just love football it's great for it but the barbecue aspect I'm sure that anyone who's traveling I wish I could be there for for the event just so I could you know get a taste of some of that barbecue.

Yes absolutely a good idea it's worth going through Kansas City or really any of the midwest if you're talking about barbecue remember when I lived in Oklahoma I realized that as a New Englander growing up as a kid we had no idea what barbecue and real beef tasted like. All right you can find Joe on twitter at joe de leone d-e-l-e-o-n-e and not only does he host the first team on believe network an NFL draft analyst I hope you enjoy it Joe thank you so much for a few minutes. Of course thanks for having me. Hey football fans Baldy here and I'm doing something special for the year's NFL draft. Jason Locke and four and I are hosting the 2023 odyssey NFL draft show so join us on the first night of the draft talking with local experts from our odyssey podcast from across the country and leading up to the draft check out our podcast in the huddle I'm going to give you the inside scoop on the best prospects for your favorite team it all starts tomorrow at 7 p.m eastern on the free odyssey app. Surgeons keep our hearts beating they do the amazing help save lives and so can you your csl plasma donation can help create 24 critical life-saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day every plasma donation helps more than you know do the amazing help save lives donate today at your local csl plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity