Speaker 0: Lots of places can expose you to identity theft. Oh, no. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own. If we find anything suspicious, like new loans or changes to your financial accounts, we alert you right away, all through text, phone, email, or the LifeLock app. Get the alerts that could make all the difference. Save up to 30% your first year year at lifelock.com/specialoffer. Terms apply.

Speaker 1: USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com/bundle. Restrictions apply.

Speaker 2: Hey, everyone. Jeff Risen here with your daily DLP. It is Sunday. We made it to Sunday. March Madness enters its fourth day. March 22, happy spring to all of you. Welcome to mud season in Michigan. Place to staying out. Getting late getting light later in the day and staying light later at night, which I personally like. We got some things to talk about with the Detroit Lions. And today, I wanted to focus on I wanna do a little a draft show. I I wanna do it a little bit different, because everybody always talks and wants to know what I would do or what I think the lions would do. And there comes a point in time where we have to establish out there what we also don't want them to do. And there are players who fit with the general theme of the lions that I just am not as interested in them taking as I am with other options or as other people might be. And I'll give a couple of examples of this. Let's go back to the the Samba Porta draft where it was pretty obvious that the lines were gonna be taking a tight end that year. And there were a lot of good ones. One of the guys that I was really against the Lions taking that year was Luke Musgrave. Just he had one of the worst senior bulls I've ever seen. He could not get off a jam at all, couldn't make a contested catch, really struggled to get himself space in the in the red zone drill. And, you know, I I remember Chris and I were and Russ Brown was there too, and we were all looking at you like, what what's the like, why is this guy touted so high? And I'm very glad that the alliance opted for Sam Laporta and that Musgrave went to the Packers and thus far has not done a whole lot. Like and he was a good he was a perfectly viable prospect. We'll go back to last year. And those of you who've been watching the DLP for a little bit, even though the daily didn't start then, You'll know that I was mortified about this time last year that the last we're gonna take Landon Jackson, the defensive end from Arkansas, who, definitely fits the crush the can style, you know, looks the part, but dude just had no twitch. Makes Keldrick Falk look super twitchy. And I was scared that the lines were gonna take him. And, again, solid football player. Like, I I think he's gonna be okay in the NFL, but I just wanted other options. I want the lions to avoid him. So I wanna put these guys out there on record now. And and, again, it's nothing personal with these dudes. It really isn't. And there's a variety of reasons for each one. We'll we'll get into them all. But, there are guys that I would just prefer that the Lions overlook even though they probably fit what the Lions look. Like, I I could say, I don't want him to take, you know, the first round running back. Okay. Obviously. Of the Jeremiah Lowe's ridiculously good. He's my number two overall player. But I will start with and I'll start with the the layup. Quarterback Jermaine McCoy from Tennessee. He is currently the number 20 overall player on the Detroit Lions podcast, consensus board, big board that updates daily. Great tool that Chris has put out there. Please look it up and use it because it's it's it's sweet. McCoy, quarterback from Tennessee, missed the 2025 season with an injury that he suffered in January 2025. Had opted not to play even though he was allegedly cleared to come back, decided they wanted to sit up for his draft stock, which okay. I'm not I'm not gonna fault the guy for that. Didn't work out at the combine because he still wasn't right. He's got a pro day coming up, at the end of next week. I believe it's the thirty first of of March. And there is a little bit of consternation that he might not work out there either, that he still might not be right. This is a guy who started 17 games in college across two programs. His 2024 tape at Tennessee was filthy good. Legitimately, first round caliber stuff. Speed, instincts, power, ability to to adjust to routes. Man, that injury and that inexperience, I'm gonna have to to pass on that. And some of it is the fact that the lines don't really need a first round corner either. We talked about this the other day with with Terry and Arnold, DJ Reed. Now Rakya Sin's back. You add Roger Mercurian in the slot. You know, Christian Izzian can play either spot, you know, slot or outside. Although, I think he's gonna be more safety.

Speaker 3: Get business done with the new American Express Graphite Business Cash Unlimited card with unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible purchases, unlimited 5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express travel online, and a flexible spending capacity that can grow with your business. You'll have the confidence to keep building. Apply today and earn a welcome offer of $1,500 cash back after you spend $50,000 in qualifying purchases on your new card within the first six months of card membership. Terms apply. Learn more at go.mx/graphite.

Speaker 2: I still like Nick Whiteside. They potentially already have their top five cornerbacks on the team already, and I'm good with what they've got. Like, I I wouldn't bother me at all if they add somebody, but I would rather it be somebody who I trust can play. This is a this is a this is a case where he's a good prospect. I think he's gonna be a good NFL player, but I want another team to find that out or not. Again, not nothing against McCoy, but that look. I am always people who followed me in the draft since I started doing this professionally in 2004 will know this. I'm always more gun shy than most of my draft media peers on injuries, especially guys that don't come back from injuries and show that they can do it. So that's McCoy. I will also throw, a guy that I don't think the Lions have any interest in, simply because they are loaded at wide receiver now. That's Jordan Tyson from Arizona State who is, wow. Skill wise, he's the best wide receiver in this draft, but, a lot of injury history with him. He's another guy that still isn't working out after he suffered his injury. And the way he plays, he is hell bent, man. He is not gonna protect himself. That's just not who he is. So I would I'm not worried about that one, so much with Detroit because I don't think that they're in the market for a wide receiver at least before the middle of day three. We'll see if that holds true. We'll get the one that's not injury related, because the again, I'm I'm it's very difficult for me personally to reconcile the fact that Brad Holmes loves to take risks on injured players, and it's, like, my biggest repulsion. Like, I I've come to terms with it because, in general, Brad has done a very good job in the draft for the most part. And as Rick Strauss, Josh Pascal, Levi Anzuriki, like, I've had to learn to accept that that's what's gonna happen. Doesn't mean I have to love it. We've now signed the guy who makes Marcus Davenport look healthy to replace Marcus Davenport, and I have to reconcile that one too. But this look. Peyton Turner is a very low risk proposition, but right now he's edge three. That'll change in the draft. He could be edge six by the end of the draft for all we know, which would be nice. Long as he's on a minimum contract, we're good. I will get to another guy who could very well be in the Lions' plans to be their edge number two, and I I like this player quite a bit. He is the number twenty twenty overall player. Right? Oh, McCoy is 15 overall. Hakeem Mesador, number 20 overall on the current big board. And there's a whole lot to like about Aquim Mesador, and it's all related to how well he plays when the ball is snapped. He's got power. He's got eyes. He gets off blocks. He attacks the run. Tenacious. Finishes pretty darn well. Couple of things, though, that make me hesitant and make me hope that another team drafts him, and not the lions. And, again, nothing like I would I be upset if they drafted him in '17? Not really. No. Because he's he's a good football player, and he would make the lions better. But I think there are better options there. First off, he's gonna be 25 as a rookie. And if you watch the Miami tape, specifically the last two years, he's gotten by a fair amount by just being more physically mature and mentally, football wise, more mature than the guys trying to block him. And I don't think that's gonna fly as well in the NFL. You know, he's he's also been around a long time. Six years in college, was productive in about two and a half of them. Think a lot of what he did this past season was related to blocking attention focused on Ruben Bayne on the other side. Now in Detroit, he would also have that benefit because they're gonna focus on Aidan Hutchison more. So I I get that one. That's that's kind of a weak critique. But I again, it's just just my gut on that one. Like, I'm not gonna fault anybody. I know Bischoff loves him. I can tell you he's wrong. I think that he's gonna be a good football player, but I would rather find it out with another team. That's just me. Open to being wrong on that one though. Next up, Kayla Banks. We're gonna go back to the injury bank. No pun intended. Defensive tackle from Florida who is currently nursing a broken foot, it's the second time he's broken it in a year. Fun football player, very impressive athlete for being his size. He's three hundred twenty five pounds. He is, by the way, is the number 28 overall player on the consensus board. Bit of a snap jumper, doesn't exactly play the run all that effectively. So I'm not too concerned that the lions are gonna be interested in him in the first round. The second round, though, if he's still there at 50 and based on the injuries and his scatter shots approach to run defense, he might be. First off, I I think that last part is gonna repel the lines from him, but I just wanna because he does get the Oli McNeil mold. And if they're looking for a direct backup to Oli McNeil, like, thanks. Thanks. Makes sense. There's always with another team. That's one that, you know, pretty pretty I'm pretty certain on that one. He is much lower on my board than, than he is on the consensus board. I will probably bring that down. And then, again, injuries are part of it. And, again, I'm skittish about injuries, like, straight up, can't help it. LT Overton. Talked about him when I made him the prospect of the day. I'm not really sure exactly what he does well.

Speaker 4: Hey there. It's Wayfair here, where delivery and setup are as easy as a few taps on your phone. You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app, when you spot it, a brand new patio set. Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up. Oh, you need a new grill too? Alright. Wayfair's got you covered. With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast expert setup on qualifying orders, life gets a little easier. Visit wayfair.com or the Wayfair app. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.

Speaker 2: Well enough at the NFL level to be more than, like, a fifth or a sixth round draft pick. He's not super twitchy. He's not exactly quick. Not the best athlete. He's a former five star that it looks like he peaked early athletically and has sort of gotten by on that. And, you know, for the range that he's projected again at at what is he? 87 overall. That's the third round. I don't see a third round player there. So I hope that that's one that, you know, the the the ship goes sailing by. Last one I'll bring up, and this one is gonna be one that I probably will anger a few people based on the the amount of times that he is selected in mock drafts in the mock draft channel on the Detroit Lions podcast Patreon because he's a popular one. That's Kyle Lewis. Is he a linebacker? Is he a safety? Is he both? Is he neither? Player from Pittsburgh. I worry that he's more of the neither. Great athlete. Plays plays safety. And I I think he's much more of a safety than a than an an oversized safety than an undersized linebacker. He's what? He came in at six foot, two hundred twenty pounds, pretty darn good athlete, but not a great tackler. First thing you notice about him, he he's a he's a diver at feet. He bounces off of tackles at times. Doesn't anticipate blocks well. When you're coming down, if you're a box safety, one of the things you have to do is you have to be able to strafe around blocks. You have to be able to see around blocks. He doesn't do that very well. They played him as a linebacker. They played him as a hang defender. K. That's nice if you can cover. Dude allowed a 75% or greater completion percentage in all three of his years. So while we do need somebody to replace Alex Anzalone as a coverage linebacker, and Lewis looks like he's the part, in practice, in college, in the ACC, that's not who he was. You're projecting him to be in the NFL, something that he wasn't in college. I will let another team do that. And if he proves to be a successful at it, then you sign him to a second contract in four years. I think he's a day two player, probably third round. And that's one again, chance to be a good football player. No doubt about it. And he definitely fits the grit too, based on from what I understood from people who've talked with him. But, that's one that I just rather other people go at. So that's that's the guys on my list that I hope that the Lions avoid. Again, injury related or lack of positional fit, scheme fit, whatever. I get these guys every year, and I thought I'd I'd put it out there a little bit earlier as the pro day circuit keeps going on. Want to bring up one guy that I am very interested in as I've watched him more, and was tipped off to him recently. And by the way, check it out at footballrealgm.com. I I posted, I had the chance to meet with a couple of different people, an NFC West Area Scout, who's, I bet with after one of the recent pro days. I'm also a former player turned assistant in the last last, time frame is fairly recent. Not immediate, but recent. And I met with him as well, and he was very high on this guy, and I will bring him up. Yeah. Travis Burke, offensive tackle, Memphis Tigers. Six foot nine. Three hundred twenty five pounds. You're thinking Dan Skipper? Yep. Thinking Cornelius Lucas, who, by the way, is still playing in the NFL ten years later. Yep. He is that big. He is a fun one. His film, while inconsistent, offers a lot. He's bounced around a little bit, four year starter, started for Gardner Webb at left tackle for a year, moved to FIU for two years, started at left tackle there. By the way, the person that he took over for there, Miles Frazier. Fun. So there's a little bit of a connection there. And then he moved to Memphis and became their right tackle, and he is a right tackle in the NFL. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that he is a run blocking nightmare on the edge. Specifically, when he crashes inside, oh my goodness, like devastating power when he when he blocks to his inside shoulder or down blocks, which is like picking off the guy won't get to the inside. When he run blocks, you don't know that he's six nine. He blocks with very good leverage and decent pad level. Just the pros here. Outstanding length that he understands how to play with it. What I mean by that is so that he knows how to be tall. There are some tall taller players. Obinna Eze, who we had a couple years ago as an undrafted free agent, didn't know that. He thought he was small and tried to move like it, and that's one of the reasons why he's not around. Burke knows he's a big man and knows how to use it. Impressive latch strength and shoulder torque in the run game. If you watch any of his high weight videos, and I suggest to doing it, if you're interested in him, he just slams people. It's almost like a pro wrestler, like, picking people up and throwing them down. Incredible upper body torsion rip. Love it. Love it. Finisher's mentality goes without saying that he fits the grit. Good leg drive while engaged. And this is one of the areas that a lot of taller guys, and Dan Skipper is included in this, had trouble with. Because they don't wanna overextend, they will either get narrow or stop their feet in the run game. Burke does not do that. And I watched a lot of tape of his, even go back to do his FIU days, and he's good about that. Absorbs bull rushes nicely, I wrote. I would say better than average or better than expected, honestly, for another again, another thing with tall guys, especially with smaller bullrushers, a guy like Al Kadeem Muhammad is an example, who's no longer with us in Detroit. But he was really good at getting his his hands into the chest plate and pushing up. Burke does a good job, especially against taller guys. Burke does a good job of mitigating that, and he does have anchor strength and against some of it's the strength in his legs and his shoulders, to to take that in. So good there. Decent feel for twists and blitz pickups. It's not perfect, but he's I I thought he got better at it at the more he played, specifically on the right side. Remember, he's he changed from the left side to the right side and changed blocking schemes as well, aside from changing colleges, so teammates around him and everything. I thought his end of season tape that that was better than the beginning of, which is kinda what you wanna see. The fact that he's not who he is. Like, he's not a done thing. Like, he can he can adapt and progress like that. Good punch placement for being so tall. Seals the outside edge in the run game. Again, that's probably his best attribute, and he would be Jameer Gibbs new best friend. My goodness. If if you're trying to come across as the backside linebacker, he's gonna flatten your ass and let you know it too. I like that. I like that a lot. There are some throwbacks, one of the reasons why he is generally projected as a day three pick. I think he's got a chance to slide into the end of the third round or the Lions' first pick to the fourth round. I really do. And some of it's based on, you know, my conversation that I had, recently. Again, check it out at footballrealgm.com. The 5¢ on draft conversations. But I like it. He does lack quickness off the snap. He he he doesn't lack twitch, but he's not a quick mover. And what I mean by that is twitch is sort of like like reactive quickness and, you know, just being able to, like, you know, you know, switch like, it's difficult to explain, but he's not he's not necessarily a quick mover off of it. But once he's going, once he's moving, he does show some twitch. Doesn't consistently set deep enough against the outside rushers. This does show on both left and right tackle. He's afraid to open the gate to the inside, and that's why I wrote down here, leaves the inside gate open when setting wide. The UCF the USF Southern Florida game was not good for him because they had a rusher who could start outside and cross his face to the inside. And when he's generally beaten is when he has to worry about guys like that, and he will I don't wanna call it a short set, but it feels like he's not getting deep enough, because he's worried about them crossing his base to the inside. And that will leave the outside shoulder vulnerable, and he can get beat there. So the good thing is he's long enough that he can at least get an arm on them and does a decent job of keeping them from flattening to the quarterback. I like him. I'd be perfectly happy with him as the lion's first fourth round pick. I think he's probably needs to play at right tackle. I think he is a guy that also if you're going to move Pena to the left side, you can probably put Larry Borom in for half a season or so until Burke is truly ready to play if you're not ready with them right away. So I like him. Prospect of the day, Travis Burke from Memphis. Can't be all negative all the time. Sometimes you gotta sometimes you gotta like guys. Sometimes I irrationally like guys. That's that's what we do in this industry. I appreciate y'all liking and subscribing, joining in on the daily DLP. Enjoy your Sunday. Jeffresson signing out. Be good to one

Speaker 0: another.