Chad, how are you? Oh, I'm fantastic. Thanks.
Good to have you on. I know certainly a very, very busy weekend. You know, I saw your list and went through your rankings and your grades of these teams that have gone through the draft process. What team are you surprised by the most over the course of these, you know, two and three days? Like, I don't get surprised very often anymore, honestly. It's funny, but I will say that it is nice to be somewhat surprised in terms of the Raiders doing the right thing throughout the draft process.
Right? It's been a while since we've had pretty solid draft about a lot of strange things happening with the Raiders. And so, uh, just by tech took over there and did a fantastic job in this draft. Um, getting guys the positions they need of good value, eh, Ashton, Jenny is going to be fantastic for them. And, and it's interesting. Um, they picked both quarterbacks that played in the FCS championship game this last year. Um, one of them is going to be a quarterback, Ken Miller and the other Tommy Bloch is going to be going to try his hand at receiver. So that was, that was kind of interesting.
Yeah. You think about what the Raiders were able to do a complete revamp here from, from spy tech and also a Tom Brady, how much influence do you think he had here over this recent draft? We know spy tech is a GM, but how much influence do you think Tom Brady has had in this process?
Uh, I don't think a lot. I think he's brought in if, um, you know, Mark Davis, you know, has questions, but I think that's really more about how the franchise operates generally speaking and not necessarily about the draft and player evaluations. I wouldn't be shocked if, you know, Brady, you know, mentioned he liked this player, another player, but in the end, I think it's spy tech and his crew and then the coaches that really have say in that stuff. Chad Ryder is here with us from nfl.com. When you think about one of the big moves that we got right out of the gate, obviously the Browns saying, uh, no thanks.
We don't want to be here. Number two, the Jacksonville Jaguars and moving up to select Travis Hunter. What are your thoughts on the trade compensation that it took to get that deal done to get Travis down into Jacksonville with the Browns gave up? Well, I think, um, I think Cleveland's going to regret that decision in the end.
I mean, they got a future first for that and, you know, good for them. Um, and maybe the second round pick, but we've seen this movie before with Julio Jones, um, and that didn't work out great for Cleveland. And so they'd better make the most out of the picks that they get. Uh, I thought that I probably would have, you know, uh, asked for more in that situation to give up a guy like Travis Hunter. And because frankly, he was the best player at two different positions in this draft.
And that just doesn't happen very often. Now, to be fair, the Browns got a very good player in Mason Graham at number five. And, um, so they ended up with a top five select, you know, talent, uh, out of, out of the deal. But, uh, in the end, I think they didn't get enough for, for what they gave up. Well, is another conversation to be had about another trade that took place in the course of the draft that you look at the New York giants saying, Hey, we want to move up to, to go get Jackson dart.
What are your thoughts on, on that? Picking up another guy? Well, I think the giants were always going to pick a quarterback and I actually had the jets moving in my first mock draft a couple of months ago, uh, the jets moving into the bottom of the first to take, to take darts. So I was kind of expecting that if he didn't go a little higher. Um, but you know, Russell Wilson and Jamis Winston are not longterm solutions at that position. And, um, certainly the giants haven't had a very good quarterback room for a while now. So getting multiple veterans and a young guy in there seemed to make a lot of sense. NFL.com NFL draft analyst, Chad writer here with us on the JR sport brief show here in Atlanta, Georgia. A lot of people look at bringing on Pierce from, from Tennessee as doing a little too much, giving up a first round pick next year.
Falcons haven't had a double digit guy hit sacks and almost a 2016. What are your thoughts on what they gave up to kind of give a bookend with him and Walker? Well, they did, uh, give up a first round pick, which I thought was too much for Pierce. I was not a big fan of his tape this year, uh, more as build or some of the, you know, attitude things that I had heard about, but they did get a third round pick back. And so that kind of mitigated the risk a bit, um, giving up the third rounder, but, but I think it's still too much. Um, I think I would have waited, um, to see if I could have got him. If you trade up in the first round, or excuse me, in the second round to go get them and don't give up as much. That's one thing, but I thought the price was too high to pay. And frankly, I think there was some guys, some address is available in the second round.
There were just as good, um, if not better. But Chad, back to the, the offense, you know, we talked about the Browns and what they gave up. Hopefully they don't regret moving on from Hunter. You think about all the quarterbacks that they've added, both from Dylan Gabriel to Shadore Sanders. How do you think that that quarterback room is going to play out between the draftees, the Kenny Picketts, the old guys, the Flakos, the injured? How do you think this is going to play out over the next, I don't know, eight months? Uh, I think that that ticket will probably, uh, be the odd man out in the end is my guess.
Cause they, they, they, they know what they're getting in Dylan Gabriel. So he's going to be the future backup for the Browns. So it's going to be, my guess is that Flacco will, will take over as the starter at the start of the year. And Sanders will come in at some point if the season starts to go sideways, um, Sanders will come in and Gabriel gets some, some playing time. But I think those will be the three that end up coming out of camp. And I think by the end of the year, Sanders will be starting and how well he plays determines, you know, what they're going to do with the Sean Watson and how they're going to handle next year's draft.
NFL.com. Chad Reiter is here with us on the JR support brief show. We had another name that was bandied about the Jill and Miro going out to Seattle. We know Sam Donald just got that 100 plus million dollar contract, Drew Locke on the team as well. How does Miro fit into that situation? This is a slow build for him, correct? Well, I think, um, I think it'll be faster than people think in the end. Um, you know, Drew Locke has had a couple of opportunities in his career and he's not been able to just get over that hump. And I think as long as the Miller row shows enough, um, improvement in the passing game and the short and intermediate passing game and takes advantage of his athleticism as a runner. He can throw a nice deep ball. So I'm sure we're going to see some of those in the preseason, but as long as he can make some progress, um, in other parts of his game, I think he'll be the number two guy. Um, and, and, um, you know, uh, Donald will be the number one. And again, Donald's contract is not a long-term deal by any stretch.
So, uh, it's going to be a real competition this year and it we'll see, you know, who ends up playing a lot, depending how the season goes. So Seattle certainly knows what options that they have. You think about the Pittsburgh Steelers, they were able to add wool Howard in the sixth round. You just won a championship with Ohio state and they're still waiting on Aaron Rogers.
What do you think is the most likeliest of scenarios when it comes down to Pittsburgh in a steel city? Yeah, I think Rogers will sign with them. Um, he's really out of choices, so he's either going to sign with them or he's not going to play most likely. And, um, uh, so I think he'll end up signing with them and, uh, and Howard won't be a starter. You know, he Mason Rudolph's going to be the backup because he has the experience. He knows Pittsburgh and, and Howard will probably stick as a third. Um, uh, he's got to improve his passing consistency, um, uh, in the deep ball.
He's not great at it. And if he doesn't do that, we'll see if he makes the roster, but if he shows something, then they'll keep him as a three and see if he can become that, that backup the next year. If, um, you know, Rogers will obviously probably only come on a one year deal. So they may be shopping for a quarterback next year, but that quarterback's going to be a starter. And Howard will probably take over as a backup, uh, if he's able to improve his game a little bit. NFL.com draft analyst, Chad writer here with us on the JR sport reef show, man.
It's been so much talk about Chidora, this and Chidora dad. It was a three day process, a cam ward being selected. Number one overall was, was basically a formality. How do you think he's going to perform in his first year in Tennessee? I think he's gonna be really good. Uh, I see him as sort of a cross between J Jayden Daniels and bull nicks, a guy that can make throw some pocket changes, arm angles. He's got some mobility.
He's a quiet leader, confident leader. Uh, and I think he's going to be a real playmaker and look, he makes mistakes that a lot of playmakers still make. I mean, Patrick Mahomes is still throwing across his body and we'll make some bad decisions at time, but he also makes a heck of a lot of plays. And I think you're going to, you're going to see that from, from ward as well. I had ward going to Tennessee at number one, right after the super bowl. Um, a lot of people didn't cause they didn't feel he's that good of value.
I did. Um, he was the only guy that could have kicked off Travis Hunter out of that number one spot, I think. So I'm really excited to see him, uh, playing with the Titans. Who were, who were, I guess, one and two from an offensive and a defense perspective, who are the, the, the real impact players do you think that we'll hear about the most, uh, this upcoming NFL season from the rookies? Oh, I think Hunter, obviously we're not, you're going to be up there.
Um, Abdul Carter's an easy one to say as well. I looking a little bit further down the line. I thought Tyler Warren was picked way too late at 14. Uh, I think he's going to be the Brock Bowers, um, story of this year, even though close and love them were first, uh, going to the bears, which I understand from their point of view, why they did that. So I think he's going to be Walter Nolan from Arizona is going to be, is going to make a lot of plays as a rookie as well. Uh, even though he went a little bit later as well, I think that was a mistake for teams to pass him up.
Um, that, that late in the process. So those are kind of two mid round guys that I think you're going to, or first round guys that I think you're going to hear a lot from. Chad, it was certainly a shock when we heard that Tyler shock was going to be drafted by the new Orleans saints when he did get selected.
What is the saints plan? Is it between him and Rattler? I mean, the way it sounds, we may not see car at all. Well, yeah, frankly, uh, I wasn't sure we were going to see car much before this shoulder surgery because he wasn't playing that great. And eventually they're going to have to move on from him. But, uh, yeah, I think shook and, and rattler are going to end up being the guys this year. Um, unless, you know, car can make a miraculous recovery in some way, but they really want to look at these guys as, um, the future of, of the team. And, uh, since they're totally against picking first round quarterbacks for the rest of time, apparently, uh, you know, this was the way they get, they get the competition.
They need to see who, who can take over for car either this year or next. Well, Chad, let's, let's talk about the teams that went to the championship as we start to wrap up our conversation. How do you feel the Eagles and the chiefs did when it came down to the draft? And then on the back end, we also heard the Browns or excuse me, the bills, GM Brandon being not too happy with some of the comments made about his draft selections earlier today, too.
What do you think about the teams that are already competing for titles? Well, I thought the bills kind of reached a couple of times, but usually they do a really good job, but I wasn't a big fan for trading up for TJ Sanders and then trading up again for Dan Walker, uh, in the fourth round. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, but, you know, Kansas city, um, did a really good job as usual.
And it's no surprise. They, again, some of these defensive tackles that went on day two went a little higher than I expected. So Norman law at the end of the second round, we'll see what happens with them, but that that was a little high, but overall they did pretty well. Um, and Philadelphia again, uh, mostly good picks. I really liked the Campbell pick in the first round tie Robinson in the fourth round defensive tackle to kind of take some of the, the, uh, you know, the, the play that Milton Williams had done at five technique for them was, it was pretty good. Getting a guy like Kyle McCord from Syracuse in the sixth round, you can't ever have enough quarterbacks. Other teams should learn from the Eagles that you need to take these guys more often. Uh, and, and, you know, even like a guy like Cameron Williams from Texas who fell down cause he wasn't the best at tackle, but I wonder if they're going to shift him inside, like they did Makai Beckton last year. I'm really curious to see if that's going to happen with him.
Cause he's got that build, um, to, to really be a strong guard. So, you know what, that's something to watch out for, but overall I didn't have any of those teams like in my highest grades, but they, they did okay considering that, you know, they're picking at the end of each round, which gets a little more difficult for those guys. Oh yeah. You got the, got some slim pickings there.
Well, that's what happens when you, you do the winning in February. Hey Chad, thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you and read all of your grades? Fill us in. Well, you can find myself on, uh, my stuff on nfl.com.
I'm on the, uh, X Twitter at, uh, Chad underscore writer, R E U T E R. Hey Chad, thank you so much for the time. I hope you get a little bit of a break now. Right?
A couple of days. I've got some stuff for 2026 draft lined up and I'm going to start in that, you know, probably next week. Okay. Come on now arch to the saints next year. Right? That's what I'm hoping for. Come on. Yeah. I mean, that's a distinct possibility, but don't rule out drew Eller from Penn state as that number one pick either.
I don't know where he would have went in this draft, but I think he's, I think he would have been first round and it's going to be a heck of a battle between those two, I think. All right. Let's, let's see what he does on a, on a second go round. Hey Chad, thank you so much for the time. We'll catch you down the line. Okay. All right. Thanks a lot.
