Speaker 1: What is up everybody? Welcome to the Good Viest Charge Podcast,
Speaker 1: presented by the Chargers Podcast Network. We have a special
Speaker 1: show today, so as always, my name is Stephen and
Speaker 1: I am the host, but we got to start with
Speaker 1: mister Daniel Popper from The Athletic who covers the Chargers. Daniel,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us today, man, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. I'm doing great. There's a there's
Speaker 2: a different air about the podcast now. I just I
Speaker 2: feel like I was there when you guys were getting
Speaker 2: this thing off the ground, and I just I just
Speaker 2: want to say congratulations to you guys for for everything
Speaker 2: that you've accomplished. I know you got both you guys
Speaker 2: and everyone involved with the podcast. You guys work really hard,
Speaker 2: and I just I'm grateful that I've been able to
Speaker 2: be a little piece of it as you guys.
Speaker 3: Have worked your way up.
Speaker 2: But I just wanted to say, off the top, congratulations
Speaker 2: to everyone involved with the podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you man, sincerely. That's that's very appreciated. You know,
Speaker 1: we've uh kind of covered the charters around the same
Speaker 1: time frame. You know, you obviously coming over from Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: and you know, so you were one of our first
Speaker 1: guests on the show, and we appreciate your time always
Speaker 1: and today, you know, making time for us after the
Speaker 1: Charters Charity golf tournament, so you know you were over
Speaker 1: there covering.
Speaker 3: That and we're here.
Speaker 1: Did you hit or did you just cover? Now?
Speaker 2: We just I wrote around on a golf cart and
Speaker 2: watched all of the players swinging their clubs. Well, I
Speaker 2: didn't have to swing a club a single time and
Speaker 2: avoided any embarrassment involved with that.
Speaker 1: So that's good. That's the best way to play golf.
Speaker 3: Something. Take yourself, not playing and only observing that. I agree.
Speaker 1: Fun stuff, man, fun stuff. Tyler's here as well as
Speaker 1: always Tyler, what's that man? How are you doing today?
Speaker 4: Doing very well and just talking about everything about the
Speaker 4: podcast and whatnot. I have to mention Argin here and
Speaker 4: his big news today. He's a football analytics intern with
Speaker 4: the New York Football Jets.
Speaker 1: Today.
Speaker 4: Wouldn't a guess that happening so fast because we we
Speaker 4: just asked him two years ago, hey do you want
Speaker 4: to make some analytics videos for us?
Speaker 5: And now he's working with the New York Jets.
Speaker 4: So not bad, and I appreciate him for being a
Speaker 4: part of our journey as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, big shout out to Arjen crushing it out there.
Speaker 1: We're very excited for him on that next step as well.
Speaker 1: So we have a fun show planned for you guys
Speaker 1: today and excited to have pop A on with us
Speaker 1: for the whole show. Before we get started, as always,
Speaker 1: we do have to clarify that Tyler and I are
Speaker 1: fans first and foremost, we are independent content creators for
Speaker 1: the Chargers. We do not share the opinions of the organization,
Speaker 1: and the things that we express today are not reflective
Speaker 1: of that. Instead, they are our own opinions first and foremost,
Speaker 1: So excited to dive in today. Before we get started
Speaker 1: on the meat of our show, we're going to talk
Speaker 1: to mister Popper about some things that came out from
Speaker 1: the Chargers Charity golf course today. First and foremost with
Speaker 1: the news that the Chargers have ongoing conversation with Justin
Speaker 1: Herbert around his contract extension. Of course, that's nothing necessarily
Speaker 1: super up to date, but you know, I understand why
Speaker 1: those questions have to be continued to be asking. So
Speaker 1: I just wanted to talk about it because we have
Speaker 1: Popper here who's done a great job covering that potential
Speaker 1: number and what it's going to look like. So we've
Speaker 1: obviously seen some extensions from other quarterbacks since your last
Speaker 1: article about Justin Herbert's contract extension, most notably obviously Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts from this same quarterback class. So, Daniel, where are
Speaker 1: you at in terms of potential time frame here and
Speaker 1: in terms of like, has the number maybe changed for
Speaker 1: you at all over the last couple of months since
Speaker 1: we've had those other contracts come out.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I wrote a little bit about the Herbert contract situation
Speaker 2: after the Herst contract came out. I think I think
Speaker 2: I increased my average per year by maybe like two
Speaker 2: to three million. I mean, it's going to be in
Speaker 2: that you know, fifty one million dollars in average annual value.
Speaker 3: That's based where the market's at right now.
Speaker 2: I think the bigger discussion is how much you know
Speaker 2: fully guaranteed money at signing there will be that's different
Speaker 2: than total guarantees.
Speaker 3: Those are two separate things.
Speaker 2: Fully guaranteed signing means that's the money that he is
Speaker 2: going to get regardless of what happens, and so you
Speaker 2: know it's going to be in that fifty one ish range,
Speaker 2: you know, I think I had it at one hundred
Speaker 2: and thirty five million fully guaranteed at signing. I didn't
Speaker 2: sort of stuck with that after the Hurts contract, So
Speaker 2: it's going to be I think what I ended up
Speaker 2: is with six years, three hundred and five million, you know,
Speaker 2: one hundred thirty five million fully guaranteed somewhere in that ballpark.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I mean, listen, they're they're they're negotiating
Speaker 3: the contract.
Speaker 2: These are very very difficult contracts to negotiate because it's
Speaker 2: a lot of money and a lot of different factors
Speaker 2: at play. Obviously, you know, when you're also considering that,
Speaker 2: you know, how you structure the contract goes a long
Speaker 2: way toward how you can spend and allocate your resources
Speaker 2: elsewhere on the roster. You know, in Patrick Mahomes's case,
Speaker 2: he has a roster bonus every year that that can
Speaker 2: get converted into signing b which gives the chiefs flexibility
Speaker 2: year over year.
Speaker 3: So like is that a factor in it?
Speaker 2: So it's very complex, but like he's gonna get paid,
Speaker 2: you know, and so like the contracts are ongoing. That's
Speaker 2: where it stands, and and we'll see what happens. But
Speaker 2: like I don't think there's a whole lot of variability
Speaker 2: in terms of.
Speaker 3: What's gonna happen here.
Speaker 2: Like the conclusion is set, like the Chargers are going
Speaker 2: to pay Justin Herbert. He is going to be the
Speaker 2: quarterback of this team for a long, long, long long
Speaker 2: time in the Chargers case, preferably for his entire career.
Speaker 2: And it's just a matter of ironing out that contract.
Speaker 2: That the talks are going to be ongoing, you know,
Speaker 2: for until it gets signed, Like they like they've opened
Speaker 2: up contract negotiations and they're and they're working towards that.
Speaker 2: So nothing really new there. The big for me, like
Speaker 2: the bigger Justin news was like that he's gonna be
Speaker 2: participating in team drows this week. Like that to me
Speaker 2: is like much more important than than the contract situation,
Speaker 2: because the contract is gonna get done, Like and I
Speaker 2: am still of the opinion that like it will get
Speaker 2: done this offseason. Like I would be really surprised if
Speaker 2: he if he if he played the year and without
Speaker 2: without a new deal done. Not saying it's impossible, but
Speaker 2: it would really surprise me because like, you know what
Speaker 2: the situation is, Like, there's not a whole lot that
Speaker 2: can change, Like the Chargers want him here justin wants
Speaker 2: to be here.
Speaker 3: The market is what it is.
Speaker 2: You have to pay him what the market says, and
Speaker 2: there's obviously going to be negotiations over the nitty gritty
Speaker 2: of the deal.
Speaker 3: But I think him getting back on the field.
Speaker 2: And team drills is a huge deal considering, you know,
Speaker 2: the fact that they had laborm surgery in January and
Speaker 2: we have not seen him participate in team drills yet
Speaker 2: this offseason.
Speaker 4: What seems to be the workload for him heading into
Speaker 4: those team drills. Is it going to be, hey, you're
Speaker 4: out there, so we're good to go, or is it
Speaker 4: more like a managed workload at that point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the way he described it today is that there's
Speaker 2: still like they're still working through like some stability stuff
Speaker 2: with the shoulder, and so, like, you know, it's just
Speaker 2: going to be a natural progression. So don't think they're
Speaker 2: going to throw him out there and he's going to
Speaker 2: like have you know, sixteen to twenty reps, Like I
Speaker 2: think it'll be. They'll ease him back in and it'll
Speaker 2: be a couple reps and then a little bit more
Speaker 2: and then a little bit more.
Speaker 3: Just gauging sort of how he feels with the shoulder and.
Speaker 2: Everything, but you know, currently in line to be participating
Speaker 2: training camp. This was a pretty big step for me personally,
Speaker 2: because you know, if you go through OTA's and mini
Speaker 2: camp and you don't see him participate in team drills,
Speaker 2: there's obviously something in the back of your mind that's like, okay,
Speaker 2: like what's going to happen at the start of training camp.
Speaker 3: I think it'll be great for him to get some
Speaker 3: team drills in.
Speaker 2: You know, it's not full full speed, it's only seven
Speaker 2: on seven, but just get some competitive team drill reps
Speaker 2: in so that like heading into training camp, it's not
Speaker 2: like those are his first reps of the off season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got some new toys to play with this
Speaker 1: time around, so definitely needs to start building some chemistry there.
Speaker 1: Just in terms of time frame, I'm obviously you seem
Speaker 1: pretty confident that this gets done before the season starts.
Speaker 1: Is this more of a Derwin Keenan situation in terms
Speaker 1: of like the timeframe. I don't know if Justin's going
Speaker 1: to do any of the holding in stuff, but I
Speaker 1: would be surprised there. But is this something you expect
Speaker 1: to get done before training camp starts? Like we saw
Speaker 1: with Joey Bosa, or is this, like I said, maybe
Speaker 1: something that could drag into training camp.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's always the potential that it goes into
Speaker 2: training camp. Like, I don't think it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: situation where Justin you know, holds in. Like he's obviously
Speaker 2: under contract for this season, He's due to make what
Speaker 2: thirty million dollars next year on the fifth year option,
Speaker 2: Like you know, there's not there's not a ton of
Speaker 2: incentive for him to hold in. I think, like, I
Speaker 2: think it's gonna be similar to this is just me speculating,
Speaker 2: but I think it'll be similar to the Joey boats
Speaker 2: of situation where that goes right up until the start
Speaker 2: of camp, and then I think Justin's the type of
Speaker 2: person that would say, like, let's either get this done
Speaker 2: now or or let's wait. Like that's how I think
Speaker 2: he's gonna operate. He's going to leave it up to
Speaker 2: his agents, like he's not going to be super heavily
Speaker 2: involved in that, and he's really focused on on playing
Speaker 2: football obviously. But yeah, I like it's hard to nail
Speaker 2: down a time frame because like you know, there's not
Speaker 2: it's hard to gather like a ton of intel on
Speaker 2: sort of how how negotiations are going, because you know,
Speaker 2: not a lot of people are willing to.
Speaker 3: Share that type of information.
Speaker 2: But I think it's gonna I think it'll probably push
Speaker 2: up against training camp. I think it gets done like
Speaker 2: right around the time frame that Joey Boat has got done,
Speaker 2: which I think was like literally on report day and
Speaker 2: Joey was like in his car in the parking lot
Speaker 2: at the facility when the deal got done.
Speaker 3: I think it'll be something similar to that.
Speaker 2: You know, but even even with the Drwin deal, right
Speaker 2: like he's he's holding in you know, that deal was
Speaker 2: like structure wise, did not deviate very far during the Holden.
Speaker 2: It's not like there was some like like watershed moment
Speaker 2: during the holden where like they agreed on it. It was like,
Speaker 2: you know, effectively came down more to posturing than to
Speaker 2: anything else. So like there is a market, like it's
Speaker 2: not hard to figure out like the big picture stuff
Speaker 2: with these contracts, right Like Derwin wanted to be the
Speaker 2: highest paid safety in the league, Like there's a number
Speaker 2: that you have to get.
Speaker 3: To to make him the highest pay safety in the league.
Speaker 2: And then the rest of it is obviously the nitty
Speaker 2: gritty of the deal in terms of how it's structured
Speaker 2: and so, like you know what Justin's going to make
Speaker 2: as the next quarterback up right, Like you can figure
Speaker 2: that out. You can see the herds contract, you can
Speaker 2: go a little bit above the Hurds contract.
Speaker 3: You can see the guaranteed money.
Speaker 2: You can go a little bit above the guaranteed money,
Speaker 2: and then it just comes down to some of the
Speaker 2: nitty gritty stuff. And so you know, there's I think,
Speaker 2: you know, right up until training camp, and I would expect.
Speaker 3: It to be done right around that time frame.
Speaker 1: Yeah, next question I wanted to talk about before we
Speaker 1: again we get into the larger part of our show.
Speaker 1: Lots of Quentin Johnson hype for coming out of OTA's
Speaker 1: more so than I think than usual when it comes
Speaker 1: to a first round pick. You know, obviously the last
Speaker 1: few first round picks offensive lineman and a quarterback who
Speaker 1: wasn't really getting a ton of reps because it was COVID.
Speaker 1: So this is kind of new for us, you know,
Speaker 1: with the first round pick getting this kind of hype
Speaker 1: coming out of OTAs Derwin James today kind of added
Speaker 1: to that, what do you make of the Quentin Johnson hype.
Speaker 2: Right now, Yeah, I think, yeah, I think Okay, I
Speaker 2: think it's a little bit of what you're saying. So
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen was my first year covering the team that
Speaker 2: was Jerry Tillery, first round pick. You're not going to
Speaker 2: be able to assess a defensive lineman in OTAs because
Speaker 2: they're not there's no contact, there's no pads, any of
Speaker 2: that stuff. Twenty twenty was the cover the year, no OTAs,
Speaker 2: and then you had back to back offensive lineman's taken in.
Speaker 3: The last two years and Reshn Slater and Zimon Johnson.
Speaker 2: So, like, I think part of it is that there's
Speaker 2: a first round pick on the field, there's actually doing
Speaker 2: things that you can assess and analyzed. But like I
Speaker 2: he ran a route against a saintde Samuel Junior, which
Speaker 2: anyone who reads me should be aware of because I
Speaker 2: you know, did sort of a little detailed breakdown of
Speaker 2: that play. You know, I think, like the one thing
Speaker 2: about Quentin Johnson is that everyone's aware of his physical tools,
Speaker 2: what he can do with the ball in his hands
Speaker 2: after the catch, but like he just needs some more
Speaker 2: refinement as a player, particularly as.
Speaker 3: A route runner.
Speaker 2: And and hands catching all that stuff. There's just had
Speaker 2: some drops you know last year for TCU, all that
Speaker 2: kind of stuff. But like the way he ran that route,
Speaker 2: which is a rout that he's going to be running
Speaker 2: a lot this year, right, like slants, get give them
Speaker 2: the ball in the middle of the field on the move, crossers,
Speaker 2: that type of thing. He really was able to set
Speaker 2: up a Sanda Samuel Junior with a step to the outside,
Speaker 2: cut inside and really completely fooled him And it was
Speaker 2: an outstanding route, outstanding play, And like that's jumped out
Speaker 2: to me, So like I think he might be further ahead,
Speaker 2: you know as a route runner than I certainly expected
Speaker 2: based on what I had seen from him at TCU.
Speaker 2: Obviously some of the scouting reports have come out, you
Speaker 2: know from the people that do obviously those deep dives,
Speaker 2: like our Dean Brugler at.
Speaker 3: The Athletic you know.
Speaker 2: And so that play to me really jumped out just
Speaker 2: because of how he really set Sante sanmul Junior, a
Speaker 2: guy who's played a lot of football in his career
Speaker 2: up at the line of scrimmage and you know, the
Speaker 2: quick movements and that type of thing. You know, watching him,
Speaker 2: you start to wonder, like, Okay, is he already starting
Speaker 2: to feel the effects of being around Keenan Allen every
Speaker 2: day and spending time with Mike Williams, but particularly Keenan,
Speaker 2: you know, a guy who really believes in paying it forward,
Speaker 2: you know, like really being there for the young guys.
Speaker 3: He talked about it like last week at OTA's.
Speaker 2: You wonder if he's starting to implement some of that
Speaker 2: stuff in there, you know, Josh Palmer and another like
Speaker 2: really good route runner, right, and so, like, I think
Speaker 2: there's reason to be excited.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: I think a lot like first and foremost, like his
Speaker 2: athleticism and the way he moves at his size jumps
Speaker 2: out immediately. But I think you're starting to see some
Speaker 2: of those those finer details of the game and he's executing.
Speaker 3: You know, in seven on seven, in shorts in the spring.
Speaker 2: But like, I think, like there's absolutely reasons to be
Speaker 2: excited about him.
Speaker 4: I know there's all those qualifiers because yes, shorts and
Speaker 4: all that. Herbert's not out there, it's not Bill Belichick
Speaker 4: out there scheming like actual defense and doing the actual
Speaker 4: defense on game day impats, But like, how are they
Speaker 4: utilizing him currently? Does it feel like just a bit
Speaker 4: of everything, or is it, like you said, the short
Speaker 4: game it seems like with him, Yeah, there's some of
Speaker 4: that short game.
Speaker 5: I think there's a screen on.
Speaker 4: The Chargers website today that all seems like they're really
Speaker 4: pushing it either down the field or into the end
Speaker 4: zone with him. Do you feel like that's kind of
Speaker 4: how they're using him so far, just to mix of everything.
Speaker 2: What's it like, Yeah, you know, it's it's it hasn't
Speaker 2: been like a super diverse routree from what I've seen.
Speaker 2: You know, he Mike Williams hasn't been there, so it's
Speaker 2: really it's hard to gauge, like it's been Keenan, Quinton
Speaker 2: Johnson and then like Heal and DAWs have been the
Speaker 2: three receivers like working with that first team. So it's
Speaker 2: been a little bit like difficult to because Josh Palmer
Speaker 2: isn't participating because injury, Mike hasn't been there, so it's
Speaker 2: been kind of kind of hard to figure out. Like
Speaker 2: it feels like to me, he's been working primarily in
Speaker 2: that like kind of Mike Williams role as like the
Speaker 2: isolated X guy. A lot of digs, comebacks, slants, that
Speaker 2: sort of thing. I haven't seen them really push the
Speaker 2: ball downfield.
Speaker 3: To Quent Johnson.
Speaker 2: But then again, Justin Herbert isn't playing quarterback, right, And
Speaker 2: I think like one of the things that Brandon Staley
Speaker 2: talked about today with Easton Stick, for example, is that
Speaker 2: he's really learning who he is as a quarterback, right.
Speaker 2: And you know, Easton Stick does not have like elite
Speaker 2: NFL arm talent and arm strength, right, So he's peppering
Speaker 2: the ball underneath, playing the short game and utilizing what
Speaker 2: is his best skill set, which is this his brain.
Speaker 2: Like he's a very smart, intelligent quarterback, right, And so
Speaker 2: like it's hard for me to like really put a
Speaker 2: ton of stock in what he's doing where he's getting
Speaker 2: the football. You know, it'll be different once Justin's throwing
Speaker 2: it to him to really see, Okay, like how much
Speaker 2: are they gonna utilize him in the deep part of
Speaker 2: the field and those types of things. But yeah, most
Speaker 2: of what I've seen him be productive with is slants, digs, comebacks.
Speaker 2: That's where he's made most of his plays so far
Speaker 2: this year, and in OTAs you know, in shorts, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he told he told me on our show, we
Speaker 1: got to interview him and he said his favorite route
Speaker 1: is one of his favorite routes is a dig route.
Speaker 1: He loves running dig routes.
Speaker 3: So yeah, digs.
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be digs, digs, slants, comebacks, and posts, like,
Speaker 2: I think that's gonna be. Like he said to me
Speaker 2: after they drafted him, like, uh, that he's a big,
Speaker 2: big post guy, you know, so a lot of stuff,
Speaker 2: a lot of stuff inbreaking right, a lot of stuff
Speaker 2: where he can he can make one cut, get moving
Speaker 2: laterally horizontally and and then catch the ball and they
Speaker 2: could play right, Like, that's that's gonna be the way
Speaker 2: they utilize him.
Speaker 1: There we go. So some great stuff there from mister
Speaker 1: Danga Popper. Uh covering ot as again, if you are
Speaker 1: not reading and subscribing to The Athletic, definitely encourage you
Speaker 1: to go and do that. All right. So for the
Speaker 1: bulk of today's show, we had this idea to essentially
Speaker 1: do a Chargers draft. Basically, how we are looking at
Speaker 1: this is the three of us are quote unquote owners
Speaker 1: of an expansion team, and we only are taking players
Speaker 1: from the Chargers to you know, start out our draft.
Speaker 1: So each of us are gonna get ten players here
Speaker 1: to select from the Chargers roster, and that obviously means
Speaker 1: you have to take into consideration these players' ages, their
Speaker 1: contract situations, all of the above. You know, each of
Speaker 1: us theoretically have to take a quarterback in this instance
Speaker 1: as well. So whoever gets first pick, I think we
Speaker 1: know where they're going. So I did a randomizer just
Speaker 1: barely here, and Tyler, I think, gets the first pick.
Speaker 1: Tyler's gonna get the opportunity to take Justine Herbert. Daniel
Speaker 1: Popper is second, and then I will go last here,
Speaker 1: and then we're gonna snake it. So I will go
Speaker 1: third and fourth and we'll just go back and forth
Speaker 1: like that. All right, guys, let's uh, let's get started here.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no big surprises on my end.
Speaker 4: I know our opinions don't always reflect those of the Chargers,
Speaker 4: but I'd say this pick would reflect the opinion of
Speaker 4: the Chargers.
Speaker 5: And I'm taking Justin.
Speaker 4: Herbert first here. I'll respect everybody else on the roster.
Speaker 4: I'll take that Justin Herbert guy.
Speaker 1: He seems to be okay, yeah, pretty decent, pretty decent,
Speaker 1: and I will pay him.
Speaker 5: He will not hold out in my.
Speaker 3: Situation either, So I love it.
Speaker 2: I will take my turn. I'm going yes, go ahead,
Speaker 2: all right, I will take Rashawn Slater.
Speaker 5: M h.
Speaker 1: He's pretty good too, pretty good too, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3: All pro left tackle on a rookie deal. Sounds good
Speaker 3: to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and uh fully healthy as well. I've been doing
Speaker 1: a deep dive on some of Rashawn's recent film and
Speaker 1: uh yeah, that guy's pretty freaking good man.
Speaker 3: Pretty good he was. He was playing well before he
Speaker 3: got hurt last year. It was only two games, was
Speaker 3: still yeah.
Speaker 1: That Week two Chiefs game, Man, that was one of
Speaker 1: the most dominant offensive line performances I've seen of a
Speaker 1: Chargers player.
Speaker 3: It was.
Speaker 1: It was crazy. Okay, So top two players off the
Speaker 1: board definitely would have had that same kind of thing here.
Speaker 1: Number three, though, I'm gonna go with Derwin James. I
Speaker 1: know he's not necessarily a premium position player, but I think,
Speaker 1: just you know, talent wise, you want to make sure
Speaker 1: you get a premier talent from the Chargers. And I'll
Speaker 1: make it work, you know, I'll maybe I'll play him
Speaker 1: at the edge and and you know, we'll see what
Speaker 1: happens there. So Derwin James number three for me, and
Speaker 1: then like I said, we'll snake it. So number four,
Speaker 1: let's see here Corey Linsley.
Speaker 6: Wow, Okay, So I think that Corey still has you know,
Speaker 6: two three years left of of elite center play, and
Speaker 6: I just I value the center position so much, you know, theoretically,
Speaker 6: I'm gonna have to have a younger quarterback in this regard.
Speaker 1: I don't get Justin Herbert, So I want to make
Speaker 1: sure he has the pieces around him. And I do
Speaker 1: think Corey is is that kind of a player?
Speaker 2: Steven just giving them flipping the bird to the old
Speaker 2: positional value conversation here.
Speaker 1: I would take the safety at the center.
Speaker 4: Let's go you the Lions expansion team.
Speaker 3: Is that what you?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Dan Campbell over here, all right, I will take Joey
Speaker 2: Bosa on the board at five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, give me that edge rusher and left tackle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to the two most premium positions behind quarterback.
Speaker 1: What are you What do you make of Joey coming
Speaker 1: back off of the injury last year? I know, obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of charges fans are kind of salty about
Speaker 1: the way that his performance ended with the Jaguars game.
Speaker 1: So what what do you expect of Joey this? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean it's gonna come down to if he can
Speaker 3: stay healthy.
Speaker 2: But if he's healthy, he's a top ten all around
Speaker 2: ed rusher in the league, like consistently, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: I I think this is just based off what he said,
Speaker 2: and Joey's always very honest, and he said that like
Speaker 2: he was dealing with significant issues in his growing area
Speaker 2: abdomen however you want to describe it, right, like all
Speaker 2: those abductor muscles, and you know, he'd been dealing with
Speaker 2: chronic pain, like severe, significant chronic pain that affected how
Speaker 2: he performed on the field, but also how he could
Speaker 2: work out in the off season everything you know, you know,
Speaker 2: getting out of bed, you know, walking around all that.
Speaker 3: Kind of stuff, you know was painful.
Speaker 2: And he said that after the surgery was done and
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of that pain was gone. And
Speaker 2: so like in theory, if he's being honest about all that,
Speaker 2: like in theory, like he should be a really fresh
Speaker 2: version of himself and that that's like very exciting because
Speaker 2: he's an outstanding, outstanding player. Like losing him last year
Speaker 2: was huge because the whole I think the whole vision
Speaker 2: behind the defense was, you know, they're gonna have to
Speaker 2: double either Joey or Khalil, and that was going to
Speaker 2: open things up for the guy on the other side,
Speaker 2: and that's just we never got to see that, Like,
Speaker 2: we just never got to see that, you know. And
Speaker 2: so I think they have a deeper group and I
Speaker 2: would expect big things from him just based on you know,
Speaker 2: what he said in terms of how the groin surgery
Speaker 2: sort of affected his long term prognosis health wise.
Speaker 1: There we go. So for our audio audience, we have
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert Rashaan Slater, Derwin, James, Corey Lindsley, and Joey
Speaker 1: Bosa off the board at Tyler again gets to snaky here,
Speaker 1: so you get back to back picks here, Tyler, where
Speaker 1: are you going with your second pick?
Speaker 4: Yeah, going defense here would be probably the smart thing
Speaker 4: to do, but I think it's infinitely more hilarious to
Speaker 4: leave you guys rudderless. So I'm gonna go Keenan Allen
Speaker 4: and Mike Williams right here, and we're gonna throw it.
Speaker 4: The age is definitely a concern, of course, and that's
Speaker 4: why I didn't take them. I wouldn't have taken them,
Speaker 4: I mean really in that order. The first five guys
Speaker 4: probably taken before them, but at this point, I couldn't
Speaker 4: separate Allen from Herbert, and then I don't want the
Speaker 4: wide receiver group to dry up. I do know a
Speaker 4: lot more about these guys than Quentin Johnson. Yes, I'm
Speaker 4: very happy for him, but you know, there's a reason
Speaker 4: he felt a twenty one. There's a reason he wasn't
Speaker 4: ranked one, two, maybe even three in the draft. So
Speaker 4: I'm gonna take the sure things and pair him with
Speaker 4: my quarterback.
Speaker 1: Damn heart decision there.
Speaker 5: Hmm you taking two edges here?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 5: Daniel?
Speaker 1: I might?
Speaker 3: I might? I might. That's what I'm thinking. That's what
Speaker 3: I'm thinking. I don't know.
Speaker 2: This is because I was gonna go receiver there, so
Speaker 2: now I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 3: Corner is interesting.
Speaker 2: Corner is interesting, and there's one corner I definitely would
Speaker 2: take here out of the group that they have. Is
Speaker 2: a little early. I'm probably giving away now my draft strategy.
Speaker 2: And then Steven's got two picks coming up. But hey, listen,
Speaker 2: all right, we're talking about expansion team premium positions. Okay,
Speaker 2: if I'm starting and I can't get the quarterback off
Speaker 2: the roster, if I'm starting a team and I can
Speaker 2: get a lockdown all pro left tackle and a dominant
Speaker 2: Edgresher pairing to start my expansion team.
Speaker 3: That sounds great to me. So I will be taking
Speaker 3: Khalil Mack here round.
Speaker 4: Nice nice, Steven's Jesus, very cool. You took the center, man,
Speaker 4: I know I did. I'm very happy with.
Speaker 3: Study. This is a case study and positional value here
Speaker 3: for Steven.
Speaker 1: I'll take my my expansion money and go sign Jadavian
Speaker 1: Clowney or something like that in this.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, Cameron Dicker's next, go.
Speaker 1: For it, Cameron, Hey, not that much. Okay, let's see here.
Speaker 1: I'm curious. You know, Daniel is over here talking about
Speaker 1: corners already. So I'm thinking about or the mental game.
Speaker 2: First psychology, trying to get you to take a corner
Speaker 2: so that I can get the guy I really want.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well you're not getting the corner if you're waiting
Speaker 4: on one, because I'm taking with it.
Speaker 1: Well, I have two picks here, so that's that's.
Speaker 2: What I'm tick and then I'm coming before and then
Speaker 2: I picked before Tyler again.
Speaker 1: Okay, I I'm going to value the rookie contracts here.
Speaker 1: I have two very expensive first picks, so I am
Speaker 1: going to go with Clinton Johnston here, understanding that this
Speaker 1: is maybe a risk for for this time slot, but
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I don't end up with,
Speaker 1: you know, the a dire receiver situation, with potentially my
Speaker 1: quarterback situation. Okay, and then I'm going back to the
Speaker 1: non premium position. Well, I'm taking Zion Johnson. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure I have a great offensive line. Those
Speaker 1: loyal listeners of the show. No, I loved Zion Johnson
Speaker 1: coming out, so I guess that should not be a
Speaker 1: surprise plane to the brand here. So I get Johnston
Speaker 1: and Johnson back to back.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm gonna take my corner here. I'm going with
Speaker 3: Vato Davis.
Speaker 1: Oh m hm.
Speaker 3: I don't I. I you know, J. C.
Speaker 2: Jackson obviously would be the other consideration here, but I
Speaker 2: just worry about that injury and what he's going to
Speaker 2: look like like you could very easily be the same player.
Speaker 2: But if we're picking right now, I'm gonna take a
Speaker 2: guy who I think really established himself as a premier
Speaker 2: number one corner last year in the second half of
Speaker 2: the season, and a guy who you know, we'll see
Speaker 2: last year of his deal.
Speaker 3: We'll see what kind of money he makes.
Speaker 2: But you know, I think, like my thought process is,
Speaker 2: as an expansion team, you're going in and you have
Speaker 2: whatever two hundred and change million to spend on players.
Speaker 2: I think getting quality players is a little bit higher
Speaker 2: value for me than look for those.
Speaker 3: Types of good deals with the rookie deals. That's my
Speaker 3: thought process now.
Speaker 1: And he's he's a bargain on the free agent market
Speaker 1: when you're looking at how much he's making.
Speaker 3: For this season. Yeah, for this season. Absolutely, We'll see
Speaker 3: what he makes on the open market.
Speaker 2: If he has another year like he did, Like, if
Speaker 2: he can put together a full season of what he
Speaker 2: did in the second half last year, then he's gonna
Speaker 2: make a good chunk of change in the open market,
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 3: But we'll see one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: We talked a lot about that resurgence down the stretch
Speaker 1: for him on our show last year. All right, Tyler again,
Speaker 1: you get your fourth and fifth fifth selections here where
Speaker 1: your where's your head at right now?
Speaker 3: Yea.
Speaker 4: I'll try to keep it reasonable with the contracts. So
Speaker 4: I'll go as Sante Samuel Junior over J C. Jackson
Speaker 4: because of the contract, and then I will go Trey
Speaker 4: Pipkins at right tackle.
Speaker 3: That was my next pick.
Speaker 1: I gotta expand the sheet a little bit, all right,
Speaker 1: mister Trey Pipkins coming off the board.
Speaker 5: So I have guessed that a year ago. I'll tell
Speaker 5: you that right now.
Speaker 1: That all right, paper, where you headed here?
Speaker 2: I don't know yet.
Speaker 1: This is probably where it gets a little dicey for sure.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm taking Austin Eckler in the fifth round. And
Speaker 2: here's my thought process. Thirty eight touchdowns in the last
Speaker 2: two seasons.
Speaker 5: That's a lot.
Speaker 2: That's the whole that's the whole process. Money, I guess,
Speaker 2: so I obviously need offensive weapons and playmakers. I personally
Speaker 2: think obviously what happened this offseason happened, right. You know,
Speaker 2: Austin wanted more money. Chargers said, feel free to go
Speaker 2: find it if you could find it. He went on
Speaker 2: the open market, couldn't find it. Still a really productive
Speaker 2: player who brings a lot to the table, and in
Speaker 2: my opinion, has at least two really good seasons left
Speaker 2: before we start to see that drop off. And I
Speaker 2: could be wrong, but you know, you're talking about a
Speaker 2: guy that can affect the game in a number of
Speaker 2: different ways. And I think, you know, considering I have
Speaker 2: zero pass catchers on my roster right now.
Speaker 3: I think he'd and no one to throw them the ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I needed to go for effectively the
Speaker 2: best offensive weapon left, and that was Austin.
Speaker 1: So there you go. Now that makes sense. You're just
Speaker 1: going to recreate the twenty twenty two charters offense and
Speaker 1: throw him one hundred and ten targets again.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's the plan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the plan. All right. Well, I want to
Speaker 1: make a better protection, yes, hopefully, hopefully. I want to
Speaker 1: make sure I don't get left in the cold with
Speaker 1: the cornerback market. So I'm going to take a bet
Speaker 1: on j. C. Jackson's recovery and hope we can get
Speaker 1: him back to that premium corner performance that we saw
Speaker 1: before his injury with the Patriots. And then next pick here,
Speaker 1: I want to go back to the offensive line. So
Speaker 1: Tyler took all the receivers, I'm taking all the offensive linemen,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to go with jam Sawyer And he
Speaker 1: might just be he might just play offensive tackle for
Speaker 1: me in this situation. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, he's he's absolutely a starting right tackle on
Speaker 2: an expansion team, no doubt.
Speaker 3: Maybe even Yeah, he might even play left tackle for
Speaker 3: your teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Maybe. Well, I guess we'll see if I can
Speaker 1: go steal somebody else on the free agent market.
Speaker 4: You keep talking free agents like that's a thing we
Speaker 4: can actually do. Like, yes, I know, I'm just like,
Speaker 4: you know, just playing with a bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah hmmm.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmmmmmmm mm hmm. Okay, I will go. Mm hmm.
Speaker 3: This is tough because I feel like I feel like
Speaker 3: I need a receiver. I feel like I feel like
Speaker 3: a receiver. All right, yeah, okay, I will go. I'll go.
Speaker 4: Josh Palmer, all right, there was no shot I was
Speaker 4: taking one, by the way, So yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Just Steven could come back. I just yeah, I guess
Speaker 2: I could have gotten them around later. You never know, though,
Speaker 2: I mean you from the get go, you were just
Speaker 2: trying to create chaos.
Speaker 5: It would have been funny.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you could have.
Speaker 2: Very easily this Pickmen like, well, I'm just trying to
Speaker 2: make popps like games, So listen, I'm focused on myself.
Speaker 2: I'm not focused on anybody else. I'm looking for the
Speaker 2: best player available.
Speaker 1: And great, great draft talk right there for sure. Yeah
Speaker 1: all right, Tiler're back to back picks again.
Speaker 5: Okay, cheaper contract.
Speaker 4: I'll make you type it to lead to whippo to
Speaker 4: I do need an edge player here, and I'm worried
Speaker 4: about them running out, so I'll make sure I get him,
Speaker 4: and to solidify my pass rush, I will add Morgan
Speaker 4: Fox Nice relatively inexpensive for him, and then the rookie deal.
Speaker 5: Actually well technically.
Speaker 3: Not on any deal, but yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker 4: Again in my franchise is let'll be taken care of tomorrow.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you know, there you go. All right, so too,
Speaker 1: Lee and Morgan Fox coming off the board here. Popper
Speaker 1: is back on the board in the seventh round for
Speaker 1: his selection.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna invest in the trenches here and go with
Speaker 2: Sebastian Joseph Day Nice. Just a just a really really
Speaker 2: solid player, excellent run defender. I think what he brings
Speaker 2: in terms of leadership in the locker room, on the field,
Speaker 2: his passion, his effort, you know, his pedigree, all of
Speaker 2: those things are would be like a tremendous addition to that.
Speaker 2: This is very serious, but like it would be a
Speaker 2: tremendous addition to uh, like an expansion team. He's the
Speaker 2: type of guy that you want, like you want as
Speaker 2: a captain, the leader of a team.
Speaker 3: So Sebastian Joseph.
Speaker 1: Day, there we go. So defensive line talent drying up
Speaker 1: pretty quick here.
Speaker 3: The interior your d line run round?
Speaker 5: Yeah, player, do you want Steven?
Speaker 1: Yeah? That's the thing here is we think Austin Johnson
Speaker 1: is going to be recovering just fine, but you know,
Speaker 1: we don't know their Scott Matt Locke, I think is
Speaker 1: an interesting rookie, but I think I'm probably avoiding interior
Speaker 1: defensive line this way. I don't have any defensive lineman
Speaker 1: right now, so I guess I could.
Speaker 3: Take three fifths of an offensive line.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you might as well just collect all the stones, Stephen,
Speaker 4: collect all of them, clearly, clearly an offensive line guy,
Speaker 4: if that has not been any more clear today.
Speaker 1: So next one here, I'm gonna go back to this
Speaker 1: skill player, and I'm gonna take Gerald Everett. Not necessarily
Speaker 1: an elite tight end, but I think he does some
Speaker 1: really good things, and I think he's a tight end
Speaker 1: that you can definitely start in this thing, as we've
Speaker 1: seen our last last couple of seasons with the Chargers
Speaker 1: in Seahawks, where he's kind of like that eight to
Speaker 1: twelve range at tight end. I just want to make
Speaker 1: sure I have a reliable body over there, and then
Speaker 1: next pick here this is this is where I was
Speaker 1: hoping to Lee would drop. That didn't happen. So thanks, Tyler,
Speaker 1: You're welcome. Okay, I I'm gonna take a guy that
Speaker 1: I like who is probably not necessarily looked at as
Speaker 1: like a starter. But I really liked what I saw
Speaker 1: from Jesse here Taylor last year. I want to make
Speaker 1: sure I can get some flexibility on defense in my
Speaker 1: secondary since I don't have any defensive linemen and I
Speaker 1: don't love the defensive lineboard at this point. So going
Speaker 1: back to the secondary, well here.
Speaker 3: That was my pick.
Speaker 5: It would also been my If that makes you feel better,
Speaker 5: there you go.
Speaker 3: What am I gonna do here? So, like, what's the
Speaker 3: premise here? I like, if I don't take a quarterback,
Speaker 3: like what happens.
Speaker 5: Everyone gets in mind? Anyway, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: Is this like pre draft, Like would have the opportunity
Speaker 2: to draft the quarterback like hypothetically right, it would probably
Speaker 2: be before the draft?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Or is it like no, this is like you're going
Speaker 2: into the season with ten players on your roster.
Speaker 3: Figure it out.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I guess we should have solidified that beforehand,
Speaker 1: before we figured out if I had to take Max
Speaker 1: dug in an eastern stick here, Tyler, what do you think? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: Do we have to take quarterbacks here?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 5: I guess not, Guys. I thought that's what we were doing.
Speaker 5: But we do not have to. That'd be ridiculous.
Speaker 4: I think Eckler can throw the palmer, and I think
Speaker 4: Durwin can.
Speaker 5: Throw to uh To. I don't know Zion for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: I think Gerald Everett was the high school quarterback if
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, so he might be mine.
Speaker 5: Here you go? Yeah, good Keenan.
Speaker 4: Allan's playing safety for me, by the way, my wide receiver.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Bob and I do not have to take
Speaker 1: a quarterback. But if you like Max, Stegan and Easton's
Speaker 1: take enough. Feel free.
Speaker 2: Okay, this is interesting. This is interesting. We've gotten to
Speaker 2: an interesting point in this exercise. M Now, Okay, I'll
Speaker 2: go through. I'm thinking as I sort of think this
Speaker 2: out live. Okay, don't don't have a safety yet, right,
Speaker 2: so I could take low Gilman. I think he's a
Speaker 2: really solid player, still on a rookie deal at this point.
Speaker 2: Don't have a tight end. Could go tight end. I
Speaker 2: think Parham would be my pick there. Now, I say
Speaker 2: that out loud, that is actually a decent pick, you know. Alternatively,
Speaker 2: what else I could go dayone Henley? You know, but
Speaker 2: I'd also like, I'm a little bit worried about taking
Speaker 2: guys that I haven't seen play yet at this level. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I feel like I've got some I've got some
Speaker 2: pieces here. I've got interior, defensive line, wide receiver, running back, corner, edge,
Speaker 2: offensive line. I'm probably not going to take a backup
Speaker 2: offensive lineman, but could go with Will Clap probably better to,
Speaker 2: you know, go in that direction than try and find
Speaker 2: one on the open market. Or and this is the
Speaker 2: last one is but going wide receiver, getting some speed
Speaker 2: on my roster, and going with either Jail and Getting
Speaker 2: or Darius Davis.
Speaker 1: I guess that obviously depends how you feel Kitan would
Speaker 1: recover from his.
Speaker 2: Injury correct or you know, take a take a shot
Speaker 2: with Kenneth Murray. I feel like my defensive coaches might
Speaker 2: be able to get the most out of.
Speaker 3: The athleticism.
Speaker 5: There really good coaches.
Speaker 1: I heard about that, Yeah, really good coaches.
Speaker 3: The best.
Speaker 1: Probert's got Vic Vangie in this in this sentsence.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, okay, okay, all right, okay, I'm taking Donald parm.
Speaker 5: All right, awesome, I've just this in this scenario.
Speaker 1: Might as well take a shot there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've spent enough time taking four straight players who
Speaker 4: are relatively inexpensive at least under ten million dollars.
Speaker 3: Eric Kendricks here, Yeah, that was I was thinking him too, So.
Speaker 4: At this point I'm gonna go with Eric Kendricks there
Speaker 4: at eight get the position value kind of, you know,
Speaker 4: But at this point, if I'm this late and he's
Speaker 4: not taken yet, I'll go with him.
Speaker 5: And then I.
Speaker 4: Would like a safety that I can trust, So I'm
Speaker 4: going with a low heet Gilman here, who I don't
Speaker 4: want to say I'm like higher on the most, but
Speaker 4: I feel like I've appreciated watching him more every single year.
Speaker 4: So I finally got someone else to play safety for me.
Speaker 4: So I will be single high one corner and uh
Speaker 4: you know that a bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, We've talked about Alohi Goman a lot on our show,
Speaker 1: especially recently, Daniel, But what do you what do you
Speaker 1: make of the charters safety room right now? With him
Speaker 1: being presumably the starter alongside Derwin and then JT being
Speaker 1: maybe that third guy behind him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a little thin honestly. You know,
Speaker 2: Aloe played out standing football down the stretch like he was.
Speaker 2: He earned that job over nas for the for the
Speaker 2: Jacksonville game, and I was really impressed with how just
Speaker 2: solid he was, Like, I just didn't see a whole
Speaker 2: ton of mistakes.
Speaker 3: I think he can communicated really well.
Speaker 2: I think he proved that he's a highly intelligent player
Speaker 2: in terms of his ability to read and react both
Speaker 2: you know, pre snap, post nap, all of that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff. Now, my only concern is if they are
Speaker 2: moving Derwin around, which they do right, they're gonna they're
Speaker 2: gonna move him into the slot. They're gonna move him
Speaker 2: in to play money and die. That means they're gonna
Speaker 2: have to bring a safety in, right, and so that
Speaker 2: means JT. Woods is going to be that safety in
Speaker 2: sub pack wage is last year that was a LOGI
Speaker 2: And so you know what it tells me is that
Speaker 2: they really believe in their ability to.
Speaker 3: Get the most out of JT. Woods. I have to
Speaker 3: see it.
Speaker 2: They've seen him in practice every day, so obviously there's
Speaker 2: something there that's telling them that He's capable of doing
Speaker 2: it from what I've seen in training camp last year
Speaker 2: and then when he got on the field in games
Speaker 2: this year. I haven't seen it yet, but you know,
Speaker 2: we'll have to wait till we get the training camp
Speaker 2: and then get into these preseason games to see if
Speaker 2: he's really, you know, taking that next step in terms
Speaker 2: of his ability to tackle, because that's my concern. I
Speaker 2: think he can probably operate in the deep part of
Speaker 2: the field. I think he has those type of ball
Speaker 2: skills and that athleticism. But if you can't tackle and
Speaker 2: you are one of the eleven defensive players in the field,
Speaker 2: opposing offenses will find you, like we saw that last
Speaker 2: year with the Sante Like they will find you. The
Speaker 2: good offenses and the good schemers will find that player
Speaker 2: and they will force him to tackle. And if he
Speaker 2: can't tackle consistently, you're going to get big gains. And
Speaker 2: so that's really my big concern, and so we'll see,
Speaker 2: you know, I think it's I like AlOH, he has
Speaker 2: a starting safety next to Derwin. I worry about JT
Speaker 2: as that guy coming in and sub back gages and
Speaker 2: how opposing offenses could potentially exploit that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, under I think that's really well said. All right,
Speaker 1: round number nine for you, Daniel Popper, where you headed here?
Speaker 2: I don't love how I've gone about the back end
Speaker 2: of this draft. However, I'm going to change that here.
Speaker 2: I I'm gonna take a receiver here. I need a
Speaker 2: little bit of speed, and I got a lot of
Speaker 2: faith that that Jalen Gitan's going to come back and
Speaker 2: be a weapon.
Speaker 3: So I yeah, yeah, Jalen Giten.
Speaker 4: Do you think they're carrying six wide receivers this year
Speaker 4: and then who gets the position spot removed on their
Speaker 4: depth start this year?
Speaker 3: I think they will.
Speaker 2: I haven't really gotten into my fifty three man projection,
Speaker 2: but if I recall correctly, they did.
Speaker 3: They did do six receivers.
Speaker 2: Two years ago when Mike had the ac joint spring
Speaker 2: coming out of training camp, they went with six receivers
Speaker 2: off the bat.
Speaker 3: But that's a good question.
Speaker 2: I don't know where they would they would find that spot.
Speaker 2: I have to go look at that roster from two
Speaker 2: seasons ago to see where they found it. It'd probably
Speaker 2: be one less offensive lineman, or it could be one
Speaker 2: less quarterback, right, it could only be two quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: But then you have this but you do have this new.
Speaker 2: Rule about having three quarterbacks, right, Yeah, so they might.
Speaker 3: They might try and exploit that.
Speaker 2: I don't know, but like if you really wanted to,
Speaker 2: like if you go in with Justin and Easton, that
Speaker 2: freeze up that spot. But yeah, I haven't started doing
Speaker 2: my my fifty three man roster calculus yet, still too
Speaker 2: early for that, Tyler.
Speaker 1: Yeah, defensive tackle obviously an interesting one this year to watch,
Speaker 1: obviously with the injuries and how they get designated yeah
Speaker 1: and things like that. Yeah, speaking of defensive tackle, I'm
Speaker 1: going to take the last Chargers defensive starter and take
Speaker 1: Austin Johnson here. I know he's got kind of a
Speaker 1: worrisome injury, but you know, it seems a bit more
Speaker 1: positive than some of the other injuries, and you know,
Speaker 1: he's been at practice and things like that. He's been running.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna take their best run defender from the
Speaker 1: first eight weeks last year and hope he can be
Speaker 1: healthy heading forward. And then, since I don't have to
Speaker 1: take a quarterback, I'm gonna debate here and just kind
Speaker 1: of think out loud between Joshua Kelly and maybe Chris Rump.
Speaker 1: I don't have a pass rusher yet at all. You know,
Speaker 1: Chris Ruff has been kind of up in Yeah, Chris
Speaker 1: Rump has been up and down. Yeah, definitely a bold move.
Speaker 1: I went more offensive line, so you know, it is
Speaker 1: what it is. Probably should have taken Joey looking back
Speaker 1: at this, but you know, I can't give any So
Speaker 1: just just like positional value, I'm gonna take. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take Chris Frump and hopefully I can get the most
Speaker 1: out of him and his develop had some weight on
Speaker 1: his frame, get him from a string breing maybe to
Speaker 1: like an asparagus stock or something like that.
Speaker 2: Cool, all right, I would say Joshua Kelly, that was
Speaker 2: my that was my pick here.
Speaker 3: Multiple multiple running.
Speaker 2: I say, well, at this point, I'm just thinking like, okay,
Speaker 2: who are the best players left?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: You know, and and to me.
Speaker 2: Like I, I I have been high on Joshua Kelly
Speaker 2: ever since he got drafted.
Speaker 3: I I have been I have been the guy right
Speaker 3: like because.
Speaker 2: I I just see it, and I think we would
Speaker 2: have saw we would have seen him have like a
Speaker 2: big year last year if he didn't get hurt in
Speaker 2: that Broncos game. He was blocking on a kickoff return
Speaker 2: and got rolled up on and sprained his m c
Speaker 2: L and but the week before that was Cleveland and
Speaker 2: he had that touchdown in the red zone like he
Speaker 2: was running hard, Like I really feel like he was.
Speaker 3: He was poised to have a huge year.
Speaker 2: And I just think he's very talented. I think that
Speaker 2: he's improved significantly as a as a pass protector. And yeah,
Speaker 2: just looking for the best talent I can get at
Speaker 2: the stage, and I think he fits that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get that. You know. Also, I just I
Speaker 1: don't love looking at the second half and seeing the
Speaker 1: usage rate either. So you know, if Joshua Kelly can
Speaker 1: get some more touches, I think you can be more
Speaker 1: valuable than he showed last year. All right, Tyler, you
Speaker 1: got the last pick here? Round us out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, if you don't need a quarterback, I don't
Speaker 4: really need to finish up my offensive line, So I'm
Speaker 4: going with Isaiah Spiller. Here, a cheap, expensive player needed
Speaker 4: a running back. He's the other guy left, So I'm
Speaker 4: going with Isaiah Spiller.
Speaker 5: Ah, there you go, there we go.
Speaker 1: All right. Tyler is a big believer in Isaiah Spiller.
Speaker 1: This year, Mister Daniel Popper declared him RB two on
Speaker 1: this feed a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Eventually, honestly, I was always confused by the whole I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously Austin coming back changes things, but there was kind
Speaker 2: of this narrative developing online at least that like if
Speaker 2: Austin doesn't come back, like the like they're screwed at
Speaker 2: running back, or like even if Austin comes back, that
Speaker 2: they have to take a running back. Like in the draft,
Speaker 2: I mean, Isaiah Spiller is like he was twenty years
Speaker 2: old when he got drafted, like they like they literally
Speaker 2: said as soon as they drafted him, they were like, yeah,
Speaker 2: this is gonna take it a little bit. Like he's
Speaker 2: very young, he's got to fill out his frame, he's
Speaker 2: got a lot to learn. And then he sprained his
Speaker 2: ankle in the preseason, like right when he was starting
Speaker 2: to like play, he hurt his ankle, and you know
Speaker 2: that really derailed the first half of his regular season
Speaker 2: and so almost like a red shirt ear for him.
Speaker 3: But super talented, young, a lot of upside.
Speaker 2: Like I And then you know, obviously everyone knows how
Speaker 2: I feel about Josh Kelly at this point, so like
Speaker 2: I felt like they had pieces there and you know,
Speaker 2: guys like really could take the next step this season,
Speaker 2: as long as they stay healthy.
Speaker 3: And I think Isaiah Spiller fits that mold.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's some very valuable reps for him this spring
Speaker 1: without Austin Eckler at Ota is normal for him, all right.
Speaker 1: So just recapping things here, especially for our audio audience.
Speaker 1: This is our top an expansion draft featuring Daniel Popper
Speaker 1: with Chargers players only. Uh SO, first and foremost, Tyler
Speaker 1: had the first pick, got to take Justin Herbert. In
Speaker 1: the second round, he took Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, after that,
Speaker 1: Sante Sammy Jr. Trey Pipkins, two, Lee Twoeet below to
Speaker 1: Morgan Fox, Eric Kendricks, Heelohi Gilman, and Isaiah Spiller to
Speaker 1: round out his roster. Uh Daniel Popper joins us today
Speaker 1: and with his first pick he took with Shaun Slater.
Speaker 1: No brainer there. Joey Bosa was next, and then Khalumack,
Speaker 1: Michael Davis, Austin Eckler, Josh Palmer, Sebastian Joseph da Donald Parham,
Speaker 1: Jalen Giton, and Joshua Kelly and then draft third. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is a pretty good draft draft.
Speaker 5: You're getting second in the poll.
Speaker 3: But you know, yeah, for sure there.
Speaker 1: We'll tweet went out. We'll tweet went out, you know,
Speaker 1: and when once the second.
Speaker 2: No, I'm gonna lose because everybody be like that guy
Speaker 2: chose anything vote against me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we'll see how it goes. I mean, you
Speaker 1: don't have Justin Herbert man, but you gotta probably the
Speaker 1: great three rounds after that. So I was last in
Speaker 1: this and again we we snake drafted, so I had
Speaker 1: third and fourth picks overall. I took Derwin, James, Corey Lindsley,
Speaker 1: Quentin Johnston, Zion Johnson, j C. Jackson, Jamari Sawyer, Gerald Everrett.
Speaker 1: Just see your Taylor, Austin Johnson and Chris Rumph Tyler,
Speaker 1: what's your what are your thoughts here?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 1: As we finish up this episode with Daniel Popper here.
Speaker 4: It's an interesting influx of young talent for the Chargers
Speaker 4: and they have to hit this year. Some guys that
Speaker 4: we took like round six through ten. You know that
Speaker 4: we didn't really have as high as some of the
Speaker 4: you know, the veteran guys. But those guys gotta play
Speaker 4: and they gotta play well. So, like John Taylor, a
Speaker 4: loss needed out of him.
Speaker 5: This out of him this year.
Speaker 4: Jamari Sawyer switching sides was really solid last year, but
Speaker 4: needs to be great now at guard. You know, Isaiah Spiller,
Speaker 4: Jeff mc kelly, Chris Rump, like all these guys have
Speaker 4: to step up because if this team wants to take
Speaker 4: the next step forward, that young influxive talent has to
Speaker 4: take that next step.
Speaker 1: Two. Yeah, well said there, all right, Daniel Popper, thanks
Speaker 1: so much for joining us tonight.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: What's coming down the pipeline? What can we look forward
Speaker 1: to over on the Athletic.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, I've takeaways off OTAs and then obviously bunch
Speaker 2: of stuff coming out of Mini Camp June thirteenth and fourteenth,
Speaker 2: working on a couple bigger feature things that should be
Speaker 2: coming out closer to training camp.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I'll have everyone fully covered from.
Speaker 2: The final two OTAs open to the media, and then
Speaker 2: obviously two day mini camp mandatory. All the veterans should
Speaker 2: be there. We'll get a chance to talk to Austin
Speaker 2: Eckler for the first time. So all my takes and
Speaker 2: takeaways and all that good stuff coming from OTAs in
Speaker 2: Mini camp, and then get some time away, take a
Speaker 2: little vacation, get home and see the family, and then
Speaker 2: we'll be ready to roll July twenty sixth around.
Speaker 3: Then be back and then we'll have daily.
Speaker 2: Training camp notebooks coming for you, which I certainly love doing.
Speaker 2: I know everyone loves reading, so we look forward to that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: looking forward to that. So lots of good stuff to come.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we love training camp is a great time. We
Speaker 1: look forward to getting out there ourselves and hopefully we
Speaker 1: can connect after that as well. So, guys, thanks so
Speaker 1: much for listening. Thank you for Tyler and Danny Popper
Speaker 1: for their time today. Appreciate Greg and the Chargers team
Speaker 1: producing the show as always, and that's going to do
Speaker 1: it for us today. We'll see you guys next week.
Speaker 1: Have a great one and as always, bolt up.