 This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans, plan on paying less for the coverage that you need with Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote today at FBHP.com. Matt Miller from ESPN joins us here on the OTP. Matt, there's so many things that I want to ask you about, but I feel like I need, before we get into the football stuff, you know, we need to go all the way back to the beginning because you're from Joplin, Missouri. That's right. We're working for a CFL team there. How do you get from that to ESPN being one of their main draft analysts? A lot of luck. It was a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time. I went from, you know, working for CFL and AFL teams to a little company called Bleacher Report was starting up and needed writers. I had never heard of it before, but I saw a posting on the internet and thought, you know, I could do that because I had always, you know, I had a blog doing what I do now, but only like 10 people were reading it back then. And I applied at Bleacher Report in 2010 and like the rest is history. So it's been a crazy 13 year ride from coaching semi pro football and working for, you know, $50 a scatting report for the CFL. But it's been a lot of fun. And in 2023, during the draft in Kansas City, you were able to be a part of ESPN's draft coverage. What was that experience like? Oh my gosh. I mean, literally a dream come true. Not just to be, you know, on ESPN sitting next to Mel Kuiper and Lewis Riddick covering the draft before it to happen. And, you know, close to your hometown, you know, my family, I didn't know they were going to be there. Were they surprised? I mean, like right before we went on air, they're like, Hey, turn around. And I'm like, what, you know, and like my mom and dad are standing there with my wife and kids. And it's like, I have 30 seconds before I'm live on TV. So like, I can't get emotional, but it's like, it was such a great moment to have that. So it was, it was great. That's incredible. And you write just all of the things draft related. And one of the main things that you do or that I consume a lot of is the mock drafts, of course, everybody loves a good mock draft. And when people are putting those things together, what is step one? Where do you start? Yeah, I mean, you have to have a good foundation of team needs, scheme fits. You have to have a good foundation of where players are ranked. But I think a good mock draft relies on information. You know, it's not what I would do. It's what rank Carthon is going to do. And so you have to have those connections. Maybe it's not always the general manager, maybe it's not always the head coach, but those connections to say, like, hey, where where are you guys leaning? Or hopefully they can help you kind of complete that puzzle of, you know, and maybe we're looking to pass rushers or maybe we're looking at offensive tackles. And then I can kind of do the rest of the work and say, okay, well, this is the offensive tackle who might be there. This is the wide receiver who might be there. So it's having those that you got to be organized so that you know, all right, here are the players who should be drafted in that range. Here's what that team actually needs. Here's maybe the player profile that they like, and then you can connect the dots a little bit. Well, and having that experience in the CFL and the AFL, you're able to probably have a lot of sources or connections. There's so much overlap now. Oh, no, absolutely. And that's a nice way of saying I'm old in this business now, right? I appreciate that. But it is, you know, over time, when I started, I was in my mid 20s, which is what a lot of area scouts are in their mid 20s. So I think I was approachable in that way because we're about the same age, you know, and it was a minute easier. And so it's been fun to watch those guys, you know, come up through the business at the same time that I had been and be able to keep those connections. So here in Indianapolis at the scouting combine, there's been a lot of conversation about the offense about quarterbacks, wide receivers, the offensive line, everybody's very excited about all of those things. So of course, I would like to talk about the defensive side of it. Oh, there we go. We'll flip it. Yeah, I would like to talk about those players, those position groups, give them some love. Is there a defensive position group that you are really excited about watching this week? Yeah, I think the corner position is always fun because those guys are really fast. You know, that's a lot of fun to watch. But also, I think we're still trying to figure out who is who in this class, you know, I think, Terry Arnold from Alabama is one of my favorite players in the entire draft. So I would say, okay, he's corner one. But who's next? You know, is it Quinyan Mitchell, who had a great senior bowl? Is it Ines Rakes draw from Missouri? Is it some like Kool-Aid McHistory from Alabama? So I think that's what makes this a really important week is getting all those players together and being able to evaluate them side by side and try to, you know, break some of those ties in your rankings. I know that the defensive line position is something that has been talked a little bit because some say there's a lot of depth there. Some say there's a pretty big drop off. What is your evaluation? No, I think there is depth, but I do think there is a drop off as well. So like when you get past that the number five defensive end, for example, there's going to be a drop off and you're starting to look at players who maybe are more toolsy than they are a complete project or complete prospect, excuse me, but then a defensive tackle. There's Byron Murphy from Texas who's going to go pretty early. And then there's a drop off and we're waiting to see, you know, does someone like Jersey Newton from Illinois or Tevandre Sweat from Texas, do they take that next step and get into maybe the top 40 picks? So the combat is going to be huge for figuring out those tiers and to find out where those drop offs are. But I agree, you know, defensive end, we might see five go between pick 10 and pick 32, but then we could see that that pretty steep decline. Is there a position group, especially on the defensive side of the ball that you are exceptionally excited about in terms of maybe being able to earn a little more respect for that group? Is there one that maybe has the ability to make some money this week? Yeah, I mean, corner is obviously but linebacker everyone and I would even say, you know, what is one of the weakest positions in this draft linebacker? It really is just not a super top heavy linebacker class, but players like Edger and Cooper from Texas A&M is I think he's going to hear junior Coulson from Michigan, Cedric Gray from North Carolina could all, you know, not only earn that respect, but also earn a lot of money here this week as they move themselves up. Alright, let's open it up. We can talk about the offense now too, because that is where a lot of the stories are. And that's where people are really excited. And the quarterbacks, we know that there are a lot of guys who aren't going to be working out, especially some of those top names. Who are you excited to watch? Yeah, I would say JJ McCarthy, you know, especially a quarterback JJ McCarthy, because as you mentioned, we're not going to see Caleb Williams, I see Jadon Daniels, we're not going to see Drake May. This is such a huge opportunity for JJ McCarthy to do what CJ stroud and anything Richardson did last year, which was tell people tell evaluators. This is who I am as a player. This I am as a prospect. I'm not afraid of the competition. I'm going to go out here and throw and show, you know, that I belong in the top 10 or the top five. So I think this is a big week for McCarthy, especially the quarterback spot. But this is a loaded wide receiver class, as I'm sure everyone is telling you all week. So when it's when it's finally time for those guys to work out, I think a lot of people are going to be sitting up in their seats a little bit. An interesting position that Marvin Harrison has taken is that he's not working out at the scouting combine. He's also not going to be having a pro day. How unique is that decision? And do you think it is to his detriment? I've never so again, 13 years doing this, I've never heard of that before. But I kind of applaud it because I think, especially in the messaging. Now, if you were a quarterback, we would say no, I like I need to see you throw in person. I need to see you move in person. We need to put you through a workout that is different than what you did in college to kind of break some of your comfort zones. Your wide receiver, you've dominated for two years, like I can watch, I can see everything you've run every route that needs to be run at Ohio State. I think it's also I love the message that he has come out and said, I'm preparing to be an NFL player, like my attention the next four months will be on being the best NFL wide receiver I can be. Instead of like, let me train to be a track star for a couple months. And then I got to flip that around and I got to train for a pro day. And then I got to be worried about private workouts. So if you need a 40 hour dash to like Marvin Harrison, Jr. I don't know. It's tell you, I would just watch his tape, especially now we have GPS timing on these guys. So you can get a feel for his speed just by checking out the GPS time or again, just watch him play in the big 10 the last years. A position group that has been talked about very little here in Indianapolis is the running backs. Yeah. Um, is that because they are not very good? I would hope no. But we really just it's been crickets when we talk about running back. Yeah, I think the free agent running back class is a big part of it. You know, a lot of people are trying to figure out that domino first of Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs and Austin Eckler. Like what happens to those guys, Derek Henry is in that mix. So you got to let that domino fall. But I also do think to your point, it's just there's not the talent this year that there was last year with Bijan Robinson and Jameer Gibbs. This year where there is a little bit of a drop off Jonathan Brooks from Texas would have been the first running back taken probably still will be but suffered an ACL in November. And so that is kind of a little bit of a hit for this class. Is there somebody in that group who can make some real money this weekend? Oh yeah, Jaylen Wright from Tennessee. Absolutely. I'm not pandering. I promise I'm not pandering to the Tennessee crowd. But he, I mean, when you watch him on tape, he is explosive. He's strong. This is the type of event where a player like that can really shine. Take this entire combine experience. Everybody who's going to be participating. Who are you the most excited to watch go through this process? Yeah, I roam a dune's day from Washington because I mean such a breakout year the last two years at Washington at wide receiver. And you know, like we said at the quarterbacks, Malik neighbors Miller. She was not running Marvin Harrison's not doing anything. So I think a dune's day has a huge opportunity and just as a football fan, he's my favorite player in this class to watch. So it would be fun to watch him actually work out too. Matt Miller, thank you so much for taking some time to hang out with us. This has been great. Great. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Seat Geek is now the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans, whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or any other live event in Nashville. Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek, the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans, so Titans fans can fan. Delaney Walker joining us here on the OTP, Amy Wells, Rhett Bryan. Funny thing about the NFL scouting combine. I literally looked up and saw you walking past like a doorway, jumped out of my seat, yelled Delaney in a room full of strangers, and now here you are in the OTP. This is how it happens. Well, yeah, you when you scream my name, I got scared. I was surprised. I'm like, who knows me in here? No, I was coming to look for you guys actually to come see what y'all was doing. You know, I haven't been in here this week yet, so I thought I'd come in here and make my presence known. And you did. Yeah. And you have. So what are you doing this week in Indianapolis? I'm here with the Legends coordinators pretty much. I am a mentor for the Titan group. I follow them this whole week. I'm pretty much just a ball of information for those guys. If they have anything they want to ask me about experiencing the combine or just what's to come next. You know, that's what I'm here for to give them that information. And to be honest with you, this group of guys, they're great. They're wonderful. Because sometimes you would think because they get NIL deals that they're a little ahead of themselves, but these guys are actually very respectful and they want the information. How do you relate to those guys or have these conversations with those guys? Because the NIL component is a very real thing. I mean, these are guys who have made some money on their own. Some a lot of money. Yeah. And it has to influence the way that they're coming in because they have the staff already kind of they have people that they've been working with. So some of those things that for people like you who came in people before really this year or last year, they had no experience in that world. And now they're kind of coming in these established brands has to be hard to kind of maneuver leading guys through that. Right? Yeah. You know, we actually the legislative community actually talked about how to deal with these guys that are getting these deals that are making millions of dollars before getting to the NFL kind of seem in that, you know that I'm bigger than what you think I am. I'm already made a million dollars like you can't tell me anything. But we haven't seen that. And that's that's actually a good thing because I would say this is probably the first year where we have a lot of guys that's coming into the draft with NIL deals. But they all act like they still hungry. They still want it. And I like to see that. That's the that's the exciting part. And hopefully it stays that way because, you know, again, they will get more money as the year goes. But as long as these guys stay humble and want to learn and want to be a part of something great. I'm fine with the deals. But again, you just got to adapt to what you're working with nowadays. And I think they see me as an older brother that's not too older than him. So it works out for me. Being back in this place does it give we were talking to Ramon Foster about it on an earlier OTP. Some of those memories of combine experiences. You get the shakes or something. You know what? I always get nervous when I get I don't know why because I'm not doing anything. But maybe it's because all the coaches that I've been and been around. I'm going to get to see my fellow media folks. I'm going to get to see. It's just I think I'm nervous in that aspect. But it's changed so much. The combine that it don't even feel like it's the combine to me here. It's like feel like we're in a YouTube. Like I don't even know what they call it. But it's like a YouTube sensation where everybody just filming. You got cameras everywhere. You just got it's just a lot going on. It doesn't feel like when I came to like when I came we didn't have no workout gym. We had to do everything on a rug. We stayed in a train. We did our formals in a train. Like we didn't come across to the stadium. These guys get a lot of free time to walk around. We didn't have that. So yes it is different in the aspect. But I think that's what happens. The NFL evolves the players evolve and this is what we start to see. It's like a social media out outrage. And that's what's happening. What do you know about this tight end class? Have you followed these guys? Have you watched some of their I've been watching a few of those guys. I feel like this class you know it's it's some top guys in there right now couple. I would say it's about three top guys that can go either first round or third late late second round. Yeah. But we'll see you know I'm not really sure just talking to them. They all seem like you know they just excited to be here and have the opportunity. They just got to put them numbers up and I feel like they've done they done well on film. Now it's just what they're going to put it with numbers they're going to put up out here to give them an edge. Can I ask you can I guess at the who the three are that you're talking about because obviously Brock Bowers Georgia leads the class. Yeah he number one. He's different right. He is different. He's put on a he's put on a clinic. So he's kind of what the NFL is involving to with the type of tight end he is. He can catch passes. He can run routes. He can also block if you have to put them in a backfield and play full back. He can do that as well. So I feel like he's he's pretty much NFL ready at the moment. Jitaven Sanders University of Texas is who I would have at two. That's number two is number two. That's who the star is on. And again he had another phenomenal great season performed his butt off again. He's got that pro style tight end where he can catch passes. He can run route. He can block. He can be the move guy. And I think that's that's pretty much what the league is looking for is guys who can be able to be movable and play multiple spots. And he's one of those guys that could definitely improve his stock this week. I mean that's what everybody is trying to do. But Brock Bowers listen. We know he's big. He's strong. He's fast. Whatever. But that's a guy that could do that. And then the third guy I would say it would be Jaheem Bell from Florida State. Am I right there? I like him. I actually got to sit in a formal with him. And the guy is genuine. He knows football. He want to play football. And to be to go to Florida State and what they did to turn around that program with the guys that they had. He was a he was a big reason why that happened. And in NFL you want guys like that to help young quarterbacks. You need a guy that you can trust that's consistent that make plays. And then explosive on his feet. So he's one of those guys I think that if he performed at a high level here he may move up the draft board even more than what we think. See he's done his homework. Delaney Walker. 82 never lets us down. I was not expecting to see you and now I'm just blown away by the wealth of knowledge. Well I'm around these guys. Your work with the legends community what else does that entail? Uh so with with them we help guys transition out the NFL. So pretty much we help guys get line of duty medical exams. We help guys get on if you want to do the bill wash internship. If you want to go to any type of book book count boot camp casting we can get you guys in that. So we just try to find resources that guys can't get. And you call me. And if I can't answer it I will find a person who can answer it and get the right information to you. So what we do is just try to help guys make that make transitioning out the NFL easier for guys because it is very hard to transition out the NFL. It ain't like any other job where you get paid millions of dollars and then retire at 34. So it's a way we know it is very difficult. We we've seen the numbers that a lot of guys get in trouble at this point. So we just try to make it easy for them to transition and try to find another job or some type of income that can help them until they get today retirement. Why is that something you're so passionate about? I mean because I'm one of them. You know I'm one of those guys and you know the other guys who paved the way for us they they didn't get to make as much money as we did. So it's difficult on them. They still trying to figure out what's next or what's going what's going to happen when I pass how I'm going to leave money to my family. So it's very important because I'll be one of those guys at one point and I just want to make sure that I leave a mark knowing that I try to help and change what the culture was. How important is it to have someone like yourself to talk to these guys? Because obviously this program's been around for a while. You've had guys who came before you to help you through the way. Does it give more credence? You're really able to listen. It's like Delaney's done this. I know who Delaney Walker he's done this. He wouldn't leave me wrong. I need to listen up. Yeah you it's crazy because like the guys come straight to you not thinking that they may not know who you are. And they were like man you Delaney Walker. Damn 14 years but tell me how you did it. And I it kind of blows me away sometimes because I'm like damn you know who I am. Like yeah man let me let me tell you this is what I this is what I did. This is how I did it. I took care of my body. I get my treatment. I made sure I was at the facility before everybody to take care of my body before we go to the practice. Just just to hear them guys want to know is it sometimes it like brings it makes me happy because you know that's what we hear for I want to give you the knowledge to make sure you successful in this league because we need this league to stay running. This is what pays our bills pays our mortgage and without them we won't have it. So we got to keep these guys strong make sure that they can play this game and make sure that this game last. So I try to do as much as I can and give them as much information as possible whoever wants it. But like I said all my guys been wanting the information. I literally just left the noble practice facility talking to the guys giving them information on how I stayed stayed healthy and not didn't have any leg injuries and we talked about stretching and stuff like that. So I mean it's big and I'm excited that these guys want to learn for Matt Miller and Delaney Walker our surprise guest. Thank you for listening to this edition of the OTT.