Nick, how are you, man? Good. How are you?
I'm excellent. I appreciate you taking the time and joining us. It's certainly a busy time. Lots of rumors flying all over. Mm hmm. Yeah, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit busy with the everything draft stuff.
So it's on the way. No doubt about it. I guess what is the most well, the biggest rumor and this dates back to what we saw and heard at the combine. Also moved on into what we saw at Colorado's pro day.
It should do a Sanders. Typically, you get a lot of word when you got a high prospect. People start trashing him.
Maybe you want him to fall to you. What do you think is real and not real? Is it results of the talks of the fall of Chidor? Yeah, that's a great question, because I think it's it's way more complicated than people probably think. You know, I think a lot of people on the surface, they see Chidor is a really confident kid.
He's Dion's son, obviously. So sometimes I think people think that's a little bit of projection. I don't think that's true.
I think that's who he is. I think sometimes people get a negative reaction to that, but I don't think that that's something that teams are really concerned about. I don't think that's why you hear, you know, that maybe he won't be a top five pick. I don't think people are worried that he's going to be overconfident or his attitude is not going to work. And I think that a lot of that is overblown. But what's not overblown and why I think he's, you know, possibly going to fall here, at least out of the top and, you know, would be, you know, when you really look at his tape, there are holes.
And there are things that concern you. And there are questions about whether or not, you know, he's going to be ready to, you know, take the reins and lead what what might be a bad team if you're taking them, you know, a number three or whatever it might be. And I think that's a lot of pressure to put on somebody who I'm not quite sure is ready to lead a team without a whole lot of talent in the NFL, coming from a school at Colorado where he put up really good numbers, played well, but also, like we said, he was able to sort of get away with a lot of stuff against really not a very good schedule.
And they didn't win much, you know, I mean, there was a lot of struggle days in there as well. A lot of those yards and such were kind of hollow. So I think when you really look at the tape, there's there's a lot of room for him to grow still a lot more than I think he was willing to sort of project. I'm not sure how teams take that one or the other. But when I look at Chidor and stack him in the class, I mean, he's probably a top 30 player.
But that's about as far as I would go. That's hard for me to justify at number three. Whereas Cam Ward, you know, is probably a top 12 player for me. So I think it's a little easier to justify him up there in the top three. I just think Chidor needs a little more time. And then more importantly, if he could go to a team with a solid roster, kind of like what Bo Nix was able to have last year, I think it could work out really well for him. Do you think there's an ideal landing spot for Chidor? That that would be the case?
Yeah. I love the possible fit with Pittsburgh, quite frankly. And I've even talked to some people there and wondered about, like, you know, would they be willing even to move up if possible to try to do that? You know, I know there's a lot of talk, obviously, about Aaron Rodgers, but, you know, even if they bring Rodgers in, I got to think that would only be kind of a one year deal, which would allow Chidor some time, take some of the pressure off, let him grow. You know, I think it would be a good fit with Mike Tomlin. He's patient a lot of times with these guys like this, and I think it would be a really good thing for him to be able to go sit behind a really good player, especially a veteran, you know, and learn from him. And I think if you can get Rodgers in there to sort of accept that role, which I don't know how much of a choice he would have at this point, he's 41, I think that could benefit, you know, everybody involved.
So I've loved that fit. I just I don't know if that's going to work. I don't know if that's going to it. Maybe somebody else will try to jump up and get him ahead of Pittsburgh. But, you know, he definitely is the second best quarterback in the class.
And I think that that's something that people probably need to remember. There's a lot of talk about him sliding, but I think people are sort of misconstruing him falling off a cliff. I don't think he's going to fall that far.
I just think I just don't think it's going to be top three. Nick Baumgartner is joining us courtesy of the Athletic Covers All Things NFL Draft. So is it a foregone conclusion that the Tennessee Titans are going to go quarterback and select Cam Ward? Yeah, it seems like it, you know, and that's another one where I have a little bit of concern there, because Cam is in a similar boat with Chidoor and that, you know, not a lot of top end competition that he had in terms of defenses played against. And while he did get so much better almost every time he played, there are still some concerns with, you know, his processing work, all that stuff needs to be way more consistent. And, you know, with him, I'm less worried, I suppose, about, you know, how he would handle going into a team that's not playing well, that's struggling, and things are kind of collapsing around him.
He is very, very calm, almost to a point of too calm in some ways. And I think he could probably handle that a little bit better. You know, this is a guy who was a, you know, wing-key quarterback in high school, who's improved every year. And like we said, I mean, last year he almost improved every time he took a snap. So I love the upward trajectory that he's on.
He's also a little bit bigger, a little stronger than Chidoor. You love the arm talent for both guys. I think Cam's a little bit better.
So that seems like what they're going to do. But Tennessee could also, you know, justify maybe trying to trade that thing and get extra assets if they can pull it off. Well, Nick, we talk about the quarterbacks. It's been said that this isn't the strongest draft class when it comes to QBs. But a safe pick would be someone, unfortunately, who's been recovering from his own injuries.
That's Abdul Carter with the foot and then also dealing with the shoulder. I know he's meeting with the New York Giants. Where do we expect him to get slotted?
Anybody who takes him, people will just go, OK, there's not going to be too much complaint. Am I wrong on that? Yeah, I think that that's right.
I think that that's right. It depends on the foot. Obviously, he's got to I think he's going through medical testing again today. Obviously, his camp has continued to maintain the same thing they talked about at the combine, that they don't think it's going to be a big deal, not going to need surgery. The crack there in the foot was healing. But I feel like any time you hear that a big guy, you know, a 250, 60 pounder has a foot injury, you know, those things can attract other foot injuries.
Sometimes they nag and never really go away. So that's that is a concern. But if you take that off and say, OK, we'd like where he's at health wise, then he is no worse than the second best player for my money in the draft behind Travis Hunter. I mean, Abdul Carter last year was it was his first year playing edge. He was in the Micah Parsons path there at Penn State where they played him at the back linebackers for a couple of years.
Then he moves to edge and he got better game. He was dominant in the playoffs, you know, terrific athlete, a lot of explosion and really does remind a lot of people of Micah Parsons. I think that you could get similar usage out of him in time as he kind of grows and learns more about the position. But I don't think he's even scratched the surface of the things he can do.
And even if he does have to rehab a little bit this year and, you know, it's not as explosive a start as you might like. I think in the long term, a healthy Abdul Carter is going to be a really, really good football player because he's young, super talented. And, you know, like we said, I mean, he's he takes to it very quickly.
He's a quick learner. Nick, you also mentioned Travis Hunter. When you look at the Titans, the Browns and the Giants, where do you think how do you you mock out that that open of the draft? Yeah, I like I like Travis to the to the Browns right now. Honestly, I think that there was a lot of talk early that Cleveland was going to look at a quarterback and they have looked at him. And I still think that Cleveland and the Giants could certainly get involved with the quarterbacks, maybe in the second round or even at the bottom of the first.
Wow. If you're Cleveland, you are sitting there with a situation of so you need another quarterback. You know, the Sean Watson thing's not going to work out. I mean, Jimmy has already called it, you know, he threw the flag in on that one.
And that's their conversation for the other day. But Cleveland needs so much. I mean, they need almost as much or more in Tennessee, I feel like. And turning down the chance to draft the best player in the draft, which would be Hunter, in my opinion, who is the best corner in this draft. He would be the best receiver in this draft if he were to, you know, just focus on that. I think in time you could use Travis Hunter as a two way player during the season. Like one week he's going to be a corner a couple of weeks down the road if we like to match up with him that receiver better. I think he could pull that off. He is that special of a player, not just athletically, but his football instinct and his IQ on the field are just off the charts. Everything with Travis Hunter is, you know, he reminds me of when he's playing defense of Charles Woodson, like and that's about as high a compliment as I can give anybody.
I mean, he's just as savvy as it is. And if I'm Cleveland, that would be awfully, awfully hard to say no to. Yeah, hopefully he's pulling in those interceptions like Charles used to do.
That'd be pretty cool. Nick Bumgarner is here with us, courtesy of The Athletic. You know, you mentioned the New York Giants. We know that both their head coach and their GM, I don't want to say they're hanging on by a string. Are there any other teams that may have GMs or coaches that are on the hot seat if they don't get the draft right?
Well, I think I think at the top there with Cleveland would be one right there that we just talked about there. I mean, like that's been a very interesting, you know, run here and it's not all not all their fault in the front office. I mean, some of that stuff was Jimmy Haslam created, I will say.
But at the same time, that's one of those things where you just kind of have to make it make do the best you can. But if you look around the wrestling league, I think that, you know, New England started over Jacksonville, started over the Raiders, just started over again. Same thing with the Jets.
The Panthers might be one of those teams and the Saints maybe. And, you know, I think the Saints are also in a really weird spot right now with everybody asking, you know, are they going to take a quarterback? Are they ever going to address the quarterback? I mean, they still got David Carr on the roster.
They took Spencer Rattler late last year. It's hard to say what direction they're going in. You know, and I think that, yeah, another team maybe that would be a sneaky one to watch, you know, could be Miami and then maybe the Colts as well. I know that Chris Ballard's been up and down with people there in Indianapolis.
If he's not able to really get a dunk here and get that thing turned around, I could see that maybe being something where things don't go his way. But then also, like I said, the Dolphins a couple of years ago during the playoffs, it has gone, you know, in the reverse direction to his health hasn't helped. But they really need a good draft as well. I'd say the Colts, the Dolphins and the Saints are probably teams that really need to have a good draft here.
Well, outside of Chidora Sanders and Cam Moore, there isn't a lot of talk about what's behind them, the Jill and Milrose, the Jackson Darts of the world. Is there a strong possibility that we'll see, I don't know, three, four quarterbacks taken in this first round? Is that too many?
I don't think that would be impossible. I mean, the main thing that people tell you when you ask around about this draft is nothing would surprise them. And I think that that's part of the conversation in that, you know, I think when you look at Jackson Dart, Milrose and even Tyler Shuck, the kid there from Louisville, I think all those guys are probably, you know, top 40 to top 60 prospects. But, you know, when we stack this thing last year, Bo Nix was like in the 30s and so was Michael Pennix.
And they both went really high in the first round. Teams pay that quarterback tax and they often will reach if they think a guy has even kind of a chance. So I could see, you know, the Giants, if they pass on a quarterback early, saying, hey, we're going to go back up into the first round at the bottom and make sure that we get, you know, if they like Jackson Dart, make sure that they get Jackson Dart. If they like, if Chidoor has fallen to a spot where they feel comfortable even doing that, maybe they do that, you know. Same thing with Cleveland, same thing with maybe the Jets as well, another team that could use a quarterback for the future anyway, a team that has some room right now and some time to give a guy a year off too.
So I'm curious on that. This is not a bad quarterback class. There are some players here and it goes beyond that. Quinn Ewers from Texas, Kyle McCord I think is a nice player. Some people like Will Howard from Ohio State. Like I think there's some solid players in this class, but there's guys that you're just going to have to give some time to sort of see what you've got.
And then you don't really want to spend too high on either because it might not work out. So there is talent here, but it's kind of rough around the edges and you're going to have to really kind of be careful with it, I think. Nick, as we start to wrap up, is there one player in particular that you feel strongly about that you don't think gets the attention that they deserve? Someone in the draft here that we may not be as familiar with. Yeah, I think one guy that comes to mind for me is Colson Loveland, the tight end there from Michigan. A lot of people have obviously, rightly so, focused on Tyler Warren, the big guy from Penn State who I think most have as their top tight end. But Loveland is really close for a lot of teams right there with Warren. And I think a lot of teams are going to have Loveland in the top 15 on their board.
And it wouldn't surprise me if he goes close to that top 10 mark as well. He's barely 21, one of the younger players in the draft, was an outstanding receiver at Michigan for a team, especially last year, that had really kind of poor quarterback play. Really good blocker, you know, willing blocker anyway, not as good as Warren maybe, but a better receiver.
A guy that you could spread out, put in the X, he can play in the slot, moves around, is kind of one of those H-back types too at times. So, I really, really liked Colson Loveland's potential, you know, long-term, not just, you know, he's got some injuries he's also overcoming. He had a shoulder at the combine, didn't work out.
And I think that was something that maybe slowed some people on him. But he's got terrific potential. And the whole class, really, of tight ends that goes beyond Warren and Loveland. You've got Mason Taylor, Jason Taylor's son, who's also the nephew of Zach Thomas, so he's got football in the blood there. Elijah Arroyo from Miami, Terence Ferguson from Oregon, I think all those guys right there, maybe even Harold Fannin from Bowling Green, the big long guy. All those guys could be gone in like the second or third round. It wouldn't surprise me at all, this is a really, really good tight end class.
Hey Nick, this is a general question. I mean, you talk about Colston Loveland and I remember what Brock Bowers did last year in his first year, had more than 100 receptions. That's almost unheard of when you think of a rookie making his way into the league. We know it's a new league, the quarterbacks get thrown into the fire, the same thing, it's a passing league. What is this evolution that we've seen in the league and what's this adjustment that now we get guys that come in?
There's no slow integration. In a lot of cases it doesn't matter what position, it's almost baptism by fire. Oh absolutely, and I think that speaks to the fact that the NFL remains not a developmental league. And I think that's what you hear all the time around this time of year from teams. It's like we don't have time often beyond maybe a year to just let a guy sit and take a... And even then, sometimes it's really hard to pull that off because you can only keep 53 guys on your roster at the end of camp. Which means if you're a good team, you don't really have a lot of slots anyway. You don't have room sometimes to just have a really talented guy just sit there on a practice squad or he'll get poached.
You know, those types of things too. Teams do not like, they will defer, I guess, or tie break on a guy that's done a lot in college that they feel is more ready to go. Even if he's not the better athlete a lot of times. We see that quite a bit with receiver quite often. We'll see really good athletes that will slide because they're just not ready. And we'll see guys that maybe aren't as good of an athlete that will go higher than them and contribute immediately. Like at positions like that, like those receivers tight end anymore is becoming one of those things where they need you to get in there right now and make something happen. And really only quarterback and maybe very rarely anymore offensive tackle are kind of the only positions where people will even consider letting a guy take some time. But you're right.
It's not a developmental league. And I think that we see that with the parity and the ability for teams to just get off the mat as quickly as they can. It's really hard to take pause and say, hey, we're going to take our time with this or that. I mean, it's just it's almost impossible to do. So, you know, you really have to be sure that you're getting a guy that can help you relatively quickly, if not right away. Yeah, we've seen that work in Houston.
We've seen it work almost to a Super Bowl this year in Washington. Hey, Nick, thank you so much for the time, your expertise. Where can people follow you and all of your work with the athletic? Yeah, just go to the athletic dot com. We've got all kinds of stuff up there right now. The Beast and there's awesome draft guide is out, which is just gigantic. I think it's got near 700 players, something like that, that we've evaluated in there, which is crazy.
But also got mock drafts and everything else going on there. And then I'm at Nick Bumgarner on Twitter or Blue Sky or any of those places, just shout me out and say, hey, there. Hey, thank you, Nick. That was a great conversation. We'll catch you on down the line. OK, absolutely. Anytime.
