 To the official Titans podcast, my name is Mike Keith and I'm joined by Titans radio's draft duo. I'm speaking of course of Rhett Bryan and Coach Dave McGinnis. Rhett, how are you? I'm splendid and you sir. I've splendid myself. Coach Mack, how are you doing today? Hi Keith, I'm doing great. Great to see you I love the background. I love watching football. Hopefully that's gonna be real pretty soon. Hopefully you're right. On this edition of the OTP's draft duo we are combining the offensive lineman and the tight ends. Let's open with Rhett Bryan. Is it safe to say the headline here is if you want a top potential offensive tackle, you're likely to find one in the 2020 draft. Yeah I think that is true Mike. Through the first two rounds there are instant starters all the way to guys who can need a little help and quickly get to the playing field and anything in between but certainly in the first round but they're in the second round there are some guys that will be playing early and often at tackle. Coach Mack, some are projecting that as many as eight offensive tackles could be taken in the first 40 picks of this draft. Is it unreasonable to think that could happen? Well I think it's absolutely true. I mean I really do Mike. I mean there's eight guys I mean when I start looking at my board horizontally and just looking at what their requisite skills up against the people horizontally the other positions. I mean I can give you eight names pretty quick you know not going into any detail but just names. Jedrick Wills from Alabama, Tristan Worf from Iowa, Makai Bekton from Louisville, Andrew Thomas from Georgia, Josh Jones Houston, Austin Jackson USC, Ezra Cleveland Boise State, Isaiah Wilson Georgia. That's eight in the top 40 in my opinion. Alright now I can't wait for this because there's been so much debate everywhere about who is the number one offensive tackle prospect. Coach Mack I'll let you go first with your number one and then Rhett we'll see if you agree. I think it's Jedrick Wills. I think Jedrick Wills is the number one and here's what I wrote. When you watch him play Mike he's really really he understands the nuances of playing tackle and when you watch him play against the Southeastern Conference opponents who are the guys he's going to be playing against you know because there's more Southeastern Conference players in the National Football League than from any other conference in the country and you very rarely see him beat twice you know by the same move. I mean he's a smart player but look 604 2 312 pounds 83 and a half inch wingspan ran 505. These are the physical skills that this guy has. He's got a 34 and a half inch vertical jump. At the combine I was very impressed with his movement and to me as a rung blocker he's got that lock-on strength. He's got big-time lock-on strength. He can generate movement and plus what I like when I'm watching offensive linemen play I try to look and see if I can see definite signs of a real ugly temperament he's got that. For me it's Tristan works from Iowa. Of course Iowa and in Kirk Farance's program they turn out just instant players in the NFL annually and it's one of the better strength and conditioning programs. Kirk Farance is a fantastic coach. This guy has the strength the size the power but he's a football player but he is a doggone athlete. You're talking about a guy that was a high school state champion in shot put discus throw was a wrestler so he's got those physical athletic gifted skills in this and he's played both left and right tackle at Iowa which I think plays well to him in this next level of play. I think it's Tristan works. Alright so coach Mack is worse the best offensive tackle prospect with the versatility and maybe to start his career at right tackle and eventually move to left or is there somebody else or some bodies that you like with that versatility maybe they begin as a right tackle and end up a left tackle. No I think worse is that guy I mean and Rhett is 100% right because when you watch him at the combine I mean it was amazing to see his athleticism stand out. The other thing about about Tristan worse he did play both sides for Kirk Farance. I mean he was the only guy to have started on the offensive line as a freshman for Kirk Farance in Iowa and we know what Iowa produces in offensive line. The other thing about Tristan worse Mike you move him into guard he will be a all pro guard from the minute he sits in there. This is a very versatile player. I like this guy a lot. Rhett Bryan who is the offensive tackle prospect that teams are most divided about that maybe has gotten hurt by the fact that he's not able to take visits and meet with teams. There's one guy that comes to mind and it's Sadeep Charles from LSU. This guy is a really good athlete. He's a very good run blocker. His pass protection is good as well. He started as a guard inside and his first couple of years at LSU moved to tackle in 2018 didn't have a great year but really came on in 2019 but he was suspended for six games last year at LSU for some off field stuff. So there's where the personal one on one interviews and asking and vetting part of it goes into this thing. Not so much what he can do on the football field but a red flag off of it and being suspended for that many games and what ended up being a national championship run for that. Another question for both. Coach Matt goes first. If you were going to take an offensive tackle in this draft to potentially red shirt meaning probably not going to play much of a role in 2020 but down the line you think he could be a special player for your team for your franchise. Who would that offensive tackle prospect be. I'm going to go deep on this one with you Mike Keith and you said and when you do that you're going to take him later is Ben Barch out of St. John's Minnesota. You know Ben Barch out of St. John's Minnesota clearly not high level of competition but 605 6309 pounds 80 and a half inch wingspan. Ben Barch is a guy that you can see he's got some developmental skills that that just what you said the scenario that you mentioned that is a perfect guy to bring in there and quote red shirt. You get him in an NFL weight program. You get him on an NFL nutrition program. You've got a big man that has movement skills like he does. He dominated you know the division that he played in there but you discount that but you also you also look at his consistency in his play but when you talk about a canvas that you can paint on the way you want it painted on that's my guy Ben Barch St. John's Minnesota. I'm going to go a little deeper. There's a guy in the later rounds named Alex Taylor from South Carolina State. He was an invite to the 2020 Combine. He is a monster mountain of a man at six foot eight almost six foot nine three hundred nine pounds arms 36 and one eighth inches. So his wingspan is incredible has giant baseball mitts for hands at 11 and one quarter inches. He is a guy that would need some coaching in this thing to not be a waste vendor because he's so tall and trying to work leverage that way and work him with some physical skills with a good old line coach but he's a guy that I would seriously consider because he ran a 509 40 yard dash at almost six foot nine three hundred and ten pounds in this. So he's got a little speed. He had a vertical jump of 25 inches and he's got decent upper sized body with 21 reps at 225. He's a guy with some coaching and strength and conditioning could turn into a heck of a prospect who is a man. Let's move to the center position. Red, I'm going to let you go first on this one because this is the great debate. If I want to take a center in this draft, do I take LSU's Lloyd Cushenberry or Michigan's Caesar Ruiz? You're going to take Caesar Ruiz if you're going to go by those two guys right there. He would be first in this and Coach Mack has him rated as his number one center in this deal. I'll let him kind of paint that in. But I'm going to tell you why Lloyd Cushenberry might be that pick for other teams ahead of Ruiz. He is an extremely long arm guy. He has almost 35 inch long arms and has great leverage skills. He's not the biggest center at six three and change and 320 some odd pounds, but he has a really good run blocker. He has good technical skills that need a little polishing. But he was a very good leader for that LSU team, which is one of those things that we always talk about as a intangible as they made their national championship run. Lloyd Cushenberry might be a pick over Ruiz, but I think Coach Mack's going to make the case for Ruiz. Yeah, well, I mean, both of those guys, you can make a case for either one. I will make the case for Ruiz since he talked about Cushenberry. And here's Ruiz's numbers at the combine 6026, 307 pounds, 33 and 1 eighth arm, which is really good for a center 11 hands. Again, big mitts and for the OT people that are listening, you want to know why is the hand so important? Look, you do everything with your hands initially. It's about hands and knee bend when you're playing offensive line. He can get those big mitts on people. He's got nearly an 80 inch wingspan, 79 and 5 eighths, 508 40 yard dash. I mean, the guy can run, but more important than that, he's got a 177 10 yard split. He can get out and he can move at that size. 33 inch vertical jump, which tells you the explosion. He's got in his lower body, 28 28 on the bench press. When I look at him, I think of a thick guy, very compactly built. He keeps his hands. We talked about his hands released and his knees bent on contact. He re leverages his hands really quickly, Mike. And when you re leverage your hands, you know, inside the inside hand placement wins on the line of scrimmage with the hand to hand combat inside hand placement wins. If you are able to reset your hands immediately, say a defensive lineman, a one technique or a three technique gets into you immediately and gets his hands inside on those breastplates of your shoulder pad. But you're able to knock him down and reset your hands quickly. Then you regain the leverage. I like him. I think he still needs has refinement both in his run and past blocking. But to me, Cesar Ruiz is a guy that I would really like being in the center of my office. Bottom line is both of these guys go in the second round, Coach Mac. Yes. Absolutely they do. Absolutely. All right, Red, I got another one for you. Who is Robert Hunt? And why should we know that name? First of all, Robert Hunt is a big physical man out of Louisiana, Lafayette at six foot five three hundred twenty three pounds. He's a right tackle prospect but probably better suited as a guard in this. A really good run blocker has good feet, good first initial punch with his hands. He can get to those second level blocks. And the thing with him is he had a groin injury that kept him out of a lot of his last season at Louisiana Lafayette. Only played seven games. So he was knocked out of their bowl game. He was not a participant at the senior bowl, which kind of hurt his thing in terms of trying to evaluate in this crazy world we're in right now. I think had he been healthy, we might be talking about him in that upper second round range. And he's somebody that I definitely think are on some folks radar from a smaller school prospect. Coach Mac, most people don't think we're going to see a guard taken in the first round doesn't seem to be a great year for those top level guards. But what other guard prospects stand out to you guys will be taken on day two and day three. He brought up Robert Hunt, which is an excellent, excellent prospect. But he is to me, he's a second. He's a late second early third round pick. John Simpson from Clemson is a third round pick, you know, that I would look at that I have, you know, horizontally across there in that group, 6041321 pounds, you know, five 240, this guy can play the other guy like Mike from LSU LSU had whether the national champions and there's a reason they had players in a lot of different positions. Dane in Lewis from LSU third or fourth round player. All right, six to 327 pounds, five to four in the 40. Those two guys, I like those guys quite a bit. All right. So I'll give Rhett the first crack at this. And Coach Mac, I want you to follow up. Sounds like what you're saying is if I'm taking a guard or a center and I don't need him to play right away, I can probably find some quality prospects on day three, Rhett. Yeah, I think you can. They're more of a developmental thing as you have kind of underlined there. Your real value is the in those first, first four rounds, I would say the depth kind of falls off and it's more developmental after that third fourth round. Okay, coach. Yeah, I think so. And again, we're talking about, we're talking about the top of this group, if you want to go vertically, the top of this group is late second, early third round. And so to me, the line of demarcation Logan Stenberger, Kentucky is kind of that line there in the in the fifth round. And with my guys, the way I have them looking at, you've got Kevin Dotson from Louisiana, again, Shane LaMue from Oregon, but then later on down the line, then you get a guy that I'm really interested in as a guy named the Tony Mutu from Fresno State. And look, this is a fifth or sixth round player in my opinion. And I want I want the people and the OTP to understand we start talking about rounds, doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be taken where we think they're going to be taken. But when I start talking about horizontal and vertically, you put players in pods, and then it's up to the individual draft rooms as to where these players are. But Mutu from Fresno is a guy that I have some interest in in the later rounds. Coach Mack and Rhett, you have both said you don't think there's a first round tight end in this draft. So coach, I'll let you start. Who are the first tight ends that are coming off the board as we get into round two? The first one I think will be off the board. And again, it's Cole Comet from Notre Dame. And the only reason he's the first one off the board, I don't necessarily think that he's the best overall player might, but he I think he's a guy that could more easily be able to play the Y and then and then we'll be able to move some and they do throw the ball to himself. Cole Comet, I believe will be the first one. And this is not a good draft for tight ends. I mean, it's not like it was last year, where we have two first rounds. And again, I'm not sure Cole Comet's the first round bit, Mike. I mean, you're talking about in the second round, but Adam Trotman from Dayton, keep your eye on this guy. Somebody's going to like him more than Cole Comet because of his future ability to develop in this league. And when you watch Dayton film, you see him do all the requisite things. And as a blocker, he's not the biggest, most massive guy, but he is a tenacious guy. Adam Trotman and Cole Comet are the two guys to me that are at the top of this list. I would not disagree. And if we're talking on into that second round, Brad Hopkins, former left tackle of the Oilers and Titans, his son Bryson Hopkins, who played it for due as a guy that could be in that second round in there somewhere. And Hunter Bryant from University of Washington are also names there. But there are some guys on down the line, if you're looking for inline blockers and the like, you can find some okay guys. But those are the ones at the top with Cole Comet and Adam Trotman. He's right. All right, Rhett, give me your sleeper tight end. Give me a sleeper tight end. If I am picking a sleeper tight end, it is Josiah Degara from Cincinnati. He's a red shirt senior six three two 45. He doesn't have super super short area physical skills. He has a super duper competitor. I think he's a guy that could benefit from a weight room and some coaching there. This guy is a physical guy who could really, really do well with some weight room work in this thing. Josiah Degara is a guy that's going to sneak up on some people in the middle rounds and they're going to go where did this guy come from? Dalton Keene at Virginia Tech. Okay. 6041253 pounds. He's a Colorado kid. He wore number 29 there and you asked how did he get to Virginia Tech? Well, his dad, you know, had played for Frank Beamer when Frank Beamer was coaching at Murray. And so I mean that that's the way he got there. But you watch the when you watch tape and watch the way they use him and my my last comment on him, he's not a difference maker, but his athletic ability, Mike, and his competitive nature and he's got roster flexibility. Those are very, very appealing. Now, to me, he projects more as a guy on the move as an H back, but Dalton Keene from Virginia Tech. I want our OT people to remember that name in this draft. You guys have been phenomenal. As usual, offensive linemen, guards, centers, tight ends. We've hit them all on this edition of Titan's Radio's draft duo with Red Bryant and also coach Dave McGinnis. Thank you both. Thank you, Mike Keene. Great being with us. And thank you all for listening to another edition of the OTP.