Drake Maye ‘pumped’ ahead of 2025 season, Rookie WR’s you need on your fantasy team | The Insiders
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[{'start': '1.835', 'end': '9.275', 'text': "We appreciate it. And we         appreciate you guys for being    QB one has arrived in Tennessee. Even if the Titans aren't ready  to anoint cam Ward as their      starter just yet. Hear what      Brian Callahan had to say today  about the plan for Ward, as      teams across the league get set  to kick off rookie Minicamps.    This was not a top heavy NFL     draft for wide receivers, but    your fantasy draft might be      replete with rookies. Michael    Florio will tell you who to      target and who you should        definitely avoid. Happy May day, by the way. Drake May day. That  is the Patriots quarterback      speaking about a new regime in   New England and a new left       tackle who says he'll fight and  die to protect his QB.           Hopefully, somebody has since    told Will Campbell that blocking will suffice. Welcome inside     with The Insiders alongside Judy Battista and Mike Garafolo. I am Tom Pelissero. We are just 126   short days away from the NFL     kickoff game. 13 days until we   see the entire NFL schedule      revealed on May 14th. And just   one day, one day away, guys,     from seeing some of those top    rookies put on their new         uniforms and practice for the    first time, not cam Ward. Their  minicamp at Tennessee is not     until next week, but let's not   get hung up on timelines. All    that matters now is Tennessee    has a new face of the franchise. Although Brian Callahan is       saying he is going to take this  thing one step at a time. Yeah,  they'll have plenty of           opportunities. How those reps    get shaken out will sort of be   determined by how they perform   when given opportunities. That   part of it's been been thought   out. It's we have a plan in      place. And what that looks like  is going to ultimately be sort   of up to them, you know, and how their performance goes when      there's time to perform. So feel good about the process and the   plan in place. And there's going to be plenty of reps for those   guys to compete and get better   and improve and be ready to play in September. So, you know,      starting off early on here is,   is, you know, baby steps to some degree. Those guys. Which guys   are you referring to. All the    quarterbacks. Yeah. They're all  going to have opportunities to   compete. And again there's you   know there's three quarterback   jobs on most teams sometimes     four. And we're going to let     them compete for all those. It's always interesting to see how    coaches handle this because we   all know it's a 99.999% chance   that Cam Ward's going to be the  QB in week one. Bryce Young two  years ago, Frank Reich came out  in like June and said he's the   guy. Caleb Williams I think it   was like the next day, Matt      Eberflus just flat out said,     this guy is going to be the      quarterback, with Brian Callahan saying, we're just going to      divide the reps. What do you     make of just kind of the overall approach of what that says about how they intend to conduct this  program around cam Ward? Well, I appreciate the effort to create  competition among the entire     quarterback room. That's a good  thing. But let's face it, in     parentheses has to be with the   priority being cam Ward. Be      ready to start the season as the starter. Yes. How they perform   in these practices will          determine how the reps are       split, but the reps ultimately   have to go to cam Ward because   he's going to be the starting    quarterback. He is the number    one overall pick. This guy was   texting guys who were getting    drafted after him. He was        texting the general manager.     After he got drafted, he walked  into the building and started    introducing himself to staff     members to people in the ticket  selling department. He's the     franchise quarterback. He's      already behaving like the        franchise quarterback. Like what you want a franchise quarterback to be. So ultimately, yes, it's  great that the other guys are    going to compete for reps, but   you already know what those guys are. You already know what Will  Levis is. That's why you took    cam Ward. Ultimately, the reps   are going to have to be split at the end in a way that gives them to cam Ward. Those reps will     start out next weekend at the    Titans rookie minicamp. We've    got four teams kicking off the   rookie mini camps. Tomorrow you  will get a look at the Cowboys   rookies led by Tyler Booker. The Eagles rookies led by Jihaad     Campbell, the Packers rookies    and Matthew Golden. And the      Seahawks, who had quite a class, including a quarterback in Jalen Milroe, who is going to be one   of the great fascinations as we  go through this process.         Speaking of the Eagles, they're  still in celebratory mode, at    least in terms of them being     atop the standings until we      start playing games again in     September. GM Howie Roseman,     though, appearing on Mad Dog     Radio, saying, hey, it's not     just about getting one title.    This is a young team. I think we have two players projected on    our defense that are over 25     years old. We're extremely       young, our core guys, they're    all in their 20s. And so, you    know, this isn't like we're just we're just putting back the band back together to make one last   run. Like, we feel like we got   an opportunity here to continue  to build our core players and    keep our core guys together. We  have a lot of picks next year    already, you know, expecting     comp picks and we had made a     trade two trades already to get  other other picks from teams. So you know we're looking at a      minimum of 12 picks next year,   which is huge for us to keep     supplementing us. And the same   token like you know, I see the   attitude and the energy. We      understand we understand that we that 2025 is a new year. We      haven't won a game yet. In 2025, we're going to have to do our    best and work our hardest to     have the kind of season that     we're looking for, and nothing   in the past is going to          guarantee future success. Mike,  we know this about Howie         Roseman. He is always pushing    the envelope and trying to get   better every offseason. Yes,     they take care of their core     players, their veterans. But you look at the roster churn from    year to year here. Not           surprising at all to hear Howie  reminding everybody, hey, we can still go do this thing again.    But there's a lot of work to be  done. Howie Roseman understands  that you're going to get you're  going to keep your core guys     together, and you're going to    supplement the roster with guys  that are going to be hungry to   get a piece of what you just     experienced. And you look at     their offseason acquisitions.    Everybody's got a little bit of  motivation for one reason or     another. Kenyon Green, who they  traded with CJ Gardner Johnson   in that trade with with the      Texans. He comes over a guy that really hasn't lived up to his    potential, but sees Mekhi        Becton, who was there for a year on a Super Bowl team and boom,   he hits it big. So he's got the  potential to reset his value. AJ Dillon coming back from that     medical issue with his neck, you know he's going to be motivated  and have that love for the game  now that he had it taken away    last year. Azeez Ojulari the     outside linebacker as well as    Adoree Jackson a couple of       former giants. So you know that  they're going to want to stick   it to their team as well as, in  Ojulari's case, get the chance   to establish his value. Just     like Josh Uche, a guy that they  got for a bargain rate deal and  could potentially get, you know, five, six, seven sacks and set   up his value on the market. So,  you know, you've got the guys    that we saw Jordan Mailata you   know he's going to be hungry. He always is Lane Johnson Jalen     Hurts. These guys are going to   want to defend this. But you     also have that pieces that Howie Roseman understands. You also    have to add to prod this team    even more. So that was the point of the offseason a lot of these  acquisitions from the best team  in the NFL last season to one of the worst. The Patriots no       surprise, starting over in many  different ways after a trying    2024 campaign. There's new head  coach. There's a new offensive   coordinator. There is the same   quarterback, Drake Maye, who     under trying circumstances       showed what he can do in the     NFL. Drake Maye, speaking today  about the initial work with Josh McDaniels and company. I'm       pumped. I think you know a lot   of new faces, a lot of guys, a   lot of veterans that played at a high level. I think, you know,   we kind of found answers a lot   of different spots. Hopefully    can can plug and play. And I     think that's what you know, the  point of free agency is I think  get guys to come in here and     help us win, help us win now.    And I think you add that in with some young talent that we've had in the past couple drafts, and I think hopefully we're heading in the right direction. Just        looking forward to starting to   game plan. I know it's far away, but I think you kind of get the  itch now. Main takeaway from     that right there, that should be the only Patriots logo that we   see. That's the perfect          sweatshirt. Pat Patriot I don't  want to see anything else. But   more importantly, Judy, what do  you anticipate from this         Patriots team that has their     work cut out just to be          competitive in the AFC East?     Well, one thing that Drake Maye  said today is when he was        talking about Mike Vrabel. Is he so comfortable being a head      coach. And then in talking about Josh McDaniels, he said, you     know it's proven. His system is  proven to work. And I just       thought that must be such a      refreshing change for Drake      Maye. He's got to feel like he's almost walked into an entirely   different franchise from the one he was in last year, which,      let's face it, was a little bit  experimental. A first time head  coach, they clearly struggled at times. They felt aimless. The    roster was outmanned on many     occasions. This has been a sea   change of an offseason for the   Patriots so far. It's not just   Vrabel and McDaniels. The roster has been completely overhauled.  They spent free agency. They     went on a spending spree in free agency, mostly working on the    defense. The draft was largely   about putting pieces around      Drake Maye to support him. They  got Stefon Diggs whenever he's   going to be available to play.   So for Drake Maye who was really the only ray of sunshine in what was a very bleak season in       Foxborough last year, this just  has to feel like they have       thrown the windows open and      there is fresh air coming in     because all of a sudden they've  got experienced, successful      people around him and really     good players, a much improved    roster. He's got to just feel    like his career is going to      restart now. Speaking of bleak   seasons, Daniel Jones last year  was benched. He was released. He signed with the Vikings. Now     he's on the Colts his third team in the past 5 or 6 months here,  getting in some work in the      early stages of the offseason    program as an open competition   begins between Daniel Jones and  Anthony Richardson. Mike. They   also drafted Riley Leonard out   of Notre Dame, and I believe it  was the sixth round. Three guys  who were big physical athletes,  not consistently accurate, but   there's a lot of different       things you can do in the run     phase here. You spent a lot of   time around Daniel Jones. I find this competition absolutely      fascinating. How is this going   to play out? Yeah. Look you know Daniel Jones is going to show    up. He's going to work. He's     going to push Anthony            Richardson. Any criticisms of    Daniel Jones? It's not about his dedication, about the work and   everything he's willing to put   in. We have heard that about     Richardson on the other end. So  I find this a fascinating thing, because that's the way that      Daniel Jones can push. Anthony   Richardson and Richardson had    some quotes via the team's       website recently, and it was     about learning basically to      battle adversity, to battle      through adversity, about how you respond when things are not      going well. And if you're the    Colts, you got to love the sound of that because it's not a       physical thing. With Anthony     Richardson, we saw a few         instances over the last couple   of years where the physical      tools are out of this world. For this dude, it's all about the    mental part of the game, the     understanding of the game.       Remember, he hadn't played much  before he came into the league,  the understanding of the game    and how to what he said. Keep    battling when things are not     going well. This should allow    for that because this is going   to be a little bit of a back and forth. I believe, the entire     offseason into the summer, and   the Colts want to see how        everybody here responds, namely  Richardson. Three teams in a     short period of time for Daniel  Jones. Kenny Pickett knows a     thing or two about that. From    Pittsburgh to Philly and now to  Cleveland, where, well, they've  added a lot of quarterbacks      through the course of this       offseason, officially declining  the fifth year option on Kenny   Pickett. No surprise when they   signed Joe Flacco and drafted    two quarterbacks at this point.  To paraphrase Jim Mora option,   I'm just trying to get some reps a lot more to come here on the   insiders, including a look at    some of the rookie wide          receivers across the NFL. Who's  going to be worth taking in      fantasy. If you watch Ted        McMillan's highlights Tmac,      you'd probably say, I'll buy in  on this guy. Michael Florio will be here with his breakdown, but  coming up after this, a guy      you're probably not going to     draft in fantasy unless he's     standing near you. Then do       whatever he says. Desmond        Watson, the 400 plus pound       athlete, is going to join the    show to talk about playing a     little bit of offense. We'll     explain right after this. It's   the insiders. Yo. I can go       supportive adult education       centers near you. If you thought that Bucs defensive front was    scary with Vida Veya leading the charge, let us introduce you to  the rare guy who can make Vida   look a little bit undersized.    Desmond Watson, rookie out of    Florida signing with the         Buccaneers after last week's     draft. Now Desmond from outside  with the insiders Tom Pelissero  and Mike Garafolo. Desmond, take me through this past week here.  You don't hear your name called  in the draft, but your agent's   phone starts ringing. Tell me    what it was like finally getting that call. You're a Tampa Bay    Buccaneers. It was great. It was caused during like, the whole    the whole draft, I think since   maybe like the second round back and forth from who who it was    that I was going to sign to, it  wasn't really expected for me to be a draft pick. Towards the end of the draft, two teams had like negotiations, and it was going   to either be I signed with them  or somebody used a draft pick on me, but it ultimately ended up   being me going with the Bucs and I'm excited about it. You know,  I get to stay in my hometown and things like that. It's not a     huge adjustment. It is a huge    adjustment, but it's not a huge  transition, I would say. So I'm  excited. What was it about the   Bucs and what did Todd Bowles, I assume you had a conversation    with him at some point? What did Todd Bowles tell you about       joining the Buccaneers? I think  I looked at it as like just      being able to get the most out   of my potential there.           Obviously, you know, like y'all  said, they have a vet there that I feel like I try to model my    game after. And, you know, he    does it successfully. I feel     like that's just a person I can  look up to and learn a lot from. So I think that was the best     option for me. So obviously the  curiosity for a lot of people is you're the biggest guy who's     ever played in the NFL. Listed   at six five, 464 pounds, I know  you've been embarked on a little bit of a journey in terms of     your diet and things like that.  What are you weighing now and    what are you trying to attack    when it comes to your physical   conditioning? Yeah, I weighed in at 437. I think it was late last week. Basically, you know,       that's that's just the journey I got to take, you know, to be     successful. I think it's good    for clicks and things like that  to be the biggest player ever    and things like that. But at the same time, I know to be          successful and to max out my     potential. The coaches know and  me and my, my, my family and     stuff like that know that I have to drop weight in order to reach that. So, you know, I just been  changing my habits and things    like that, you know, to actually get there. You're six foot six,  two, I mean, so you got you got  a tall frame as well, carrying   all that weight. What do you     want to get down to? Like what's your ideal number to play in the NFL and to be agile and to do    everything you need to do in the middle there? I'm not sure       specifically. I think I have a   long journey to go, even though, you know, I made good progress   so far. I think I have a long    journey to go, and just along    that journey, I can see where I  would be best at, you know what  I mean? I think I moved pretty   well for my size, and I might    not have to get down to as small as the average d-tackle and      things like that to be good, but I think just along that journey, I'll be able to fill it out and  see where, see where I work best at. So we got all these fun      clips, you just swallowing dudes up at the line of scrimmage      making tackles. But my favorite  clip I found of you in recent    days was your carry. It's the    Gasparilla Bowl, fourth down     late in the game against Tulane. Just take me through that play.  What's the call and what did you accomplish there? Yeah it was it was a couple couple couple       situations where it was like,    all right let's get ready.       You're going up next. Like we'll be on the goal line in that      game. And it was like like you   said towards the end of the      game, it was like running out of chances. So it was like, if we   get we get short down, be ready  to go. And they called it Hawk   for my high school mascot at     Armwood. It was just a great     moment. I think, you know, a lot of people have been begging me   to try to do it and things like  that, I didn't. That's never     really been my, my, my type, you know, to be the center of        attention, you know, as hard as  it is not to be the center of    attention, I had to do it just   to just to, you know, scratch it off the bucket list and things   like that. Well, there's another part of that play, though,       Desmond. My favorite part of the play real quick, Mike, is the    fact that you've got two guys    coming around. It looks like     they're anticipating a push.     Push. Number seven and 86 are    coming around. What were they    going to do on that play that    you couldn't do yourself? I'm    not sure. I feel like I got hit  as soon as I as soon as I        touched the ball. I feel like a  lot of people blocking for me    wanted to watch me run the ball  just like everybody else in the  stands. But like I said, it      worked out successful. We got    the first down and I was just    happy to do it. It was a great   moment, especially being in my   hometown too. Now, now the other time you had the ball in your    hands that I saw there was a     there was a forced fumble,       fumble recovery against South    Carolina. You've got the ball,   you're breaking away and Spencer Rattler takes you to the ground. How did that happen? Okay, I     feel like this is the perfect,   perfect time to really explain   what happened on this play. I    got the ball. You know, I'm not  used to holding the ball and     things like that. But at         Florida, Coach Napier teaches    situational experts. So I had    the ball. And Spencer Rattler    doesn't go to tackle me. He      punches the ball. As soon as he  does that, the ball flips        sideways and in my head I'm      like, man, I'm going to drop the ball. So I just grab it and      fall. If you look at the         picture, I got the stiff arm he  wasn't getting me. If he didn't  punch the ball, he wasn't        getting me. But it was. It was a good play by him to punch the    ball out. And I feel like even   better for me to make sure I     just secured the ball and go     down and give the offense the    ball. Okay. All right Desmond,   we appreciate you being here     man. Best of luck. And if        there's one thing let me just    ask you this. If there's one     thing we can expect to see from  you between now and the start of the season on the field, what is it? Growth. I feel like that's   that's my biggest thing. I've    been focusing on all aspects of  the game, whether it be pass     rush or getting better at a run, a run stopper. I know that's     what I'm looked at, but being    better, I feel like looking at   those guys that's been in the    league for years. I feel like I  do a good job at taking things   in and learning from the best,   so I feel like being around      those people really helped me    and grow me in in every aspect   of the game. Congrats again man. Let's do this during the season. All right. Appreciate you being  here. Thank you. Good luck man.  Thank you. It is Desmond Watson  Buccaneers rookie defensive      tackle. Could he be one of the   impact players in fantasy. Guess we draft the Bucs defense. Who   else are you going to need on    your roster? Michael Florio will be here with answers next on the insiders. I used to struggle     with dandruff, but now I use     improved iHeartRadio app. Get it now! Welcome back to The         insiders. You know, it's May 1st five one. And there's the        Bengals five and one. Tee        Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase, two   very big pieces of the Bengals   offseason. Welcome back in Steve Wyche Bucky Brooks Brian         Baldinger. We are going to talk  about the AFC North, the things  they've already done this        offseason and what they still    have on their checklist. The     Bengals obviously getting Tee    Higgins and Jamar Chase back     under contract. That was a big   step. They still have to resolve the Trey Hendrickson situation   that is still floating out       there. They did draft an edge    rusher in the first round        though, so we will see what      happens now in the coming weeks  as they head toward minicamp.    All right. Let's turn to the     Cleveland Browns. Bucky who have one of the most interesting      quarterback rooms we've ever     seen assembled and are going to  have one of the most fascinating quarterback competitions we've   ever seen play out. What say you about what direction the Browns  are going to go in? Yeah. So     much intrigue about what the     Cleveland Browns have done this  offseason. We can talk about     them securing Myles Garrett. But all of the eyes are on the       quarterback room. And who is     going to be the starting         quarterback for the Browns this  fall. You signed Joe Flacco a    couple of weeks before the       draft. You traded in, acquired   Kenny Pickett, and then on draft weekend, you go and get Dylan    Gabriel with your third round    pick and come back and pick up   Sudhir Sanders. The question is  how do you get all of these      quarterbacks, the reps that they need to sort out the             competition? More than likely    you put Joe Flacco on the side,  tell them to chill out, try and  figure out Kenny Pickett, Dylan  Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders, which  one can really be the QB one? In a perfect world, you would like  one of the young guys to emerge  as the long term answer. But if  you haven't gotten the answer    from one of these guys, you      secured two picks in next year's draft. The draft that could      feature I can't say his name,    but a certain nephew of two guys who could be in the Hall of Fame with long term lineage of a      grandfather that's also a        manning. So maybe, just maybe,   the Cleveland Browns solve the   quarterback issue. If not this   year, they solve it next year by finding their solution in the    draft. Well, I think the         Pittsburgh Steelers would really like to resolve their            quarterback issues. Steve, that  is obviously one of the big      storylines in the entire league, but certainly for Pittsburgh.    Hard to say much about their     offseason without knowing what's happening there. And Judy, you   know, based off of your column,  you know, that's exactly what    the deal is. You look at their   roster, they added explosiveness with DK Metcalf. They drafted    Caleb Johnson, the running back, the big running back out of Iowa in the third round. They go out  and they get you know Robert     Woods a veteran tough wide       receiver to help in the run      game. But then when their first  round pick defensively and this  was a priority from talking to   people with them they get        Derrick Harmon the defensive     tackle out of Oregon because     they really want to shore things up up front on the defense. But  what does it all mean if you     don't know who your quarterback  is? You can't set the table, you know, unless you know if Aaron   Rodgers is coming, if you've got to make a trade for Kirk Cousins and I know Mike Tomlin said look we're going to give Aaron        Rodgers all the time he needs.   You can't do that. You cannot    set what your offense is going   to look like and what your       players are you going to set up, how their strengths are going to be able to excel if you don't    know who the quarterback is? So  they've got to figure this out   soon. And then once they do,     they can go out building to see  if they can have a winning       record this year. All right,     Baldy, not surprisingly, there   are not many roster holes with   the Ravens. There rarely are     with the Ravens. I think the one question is what are they going  to do? A kicker? They drafted    one. Of course. Justin Tucker is still there. He struggled last   season though. What direction do you think the Ravens are going?  Well, Eric DeCosta the general   manager is a wizard. I mean they had six sixth round picks. One   of them was on that kicker Tyler Luck. Now look Justin Tucker     might regain his form, but he    did miss eight kicks of 40 yards or more last year. So Tyler Luke was the best kicker in this      draft. So we'll see what happens there. But look they picked up   you know they picked up DeAndre  Hopkins. They picked up nuk. So  they add him to the wide         receiver corps. Maybe he gives   them some big time plays in a    playoff game. Like they needed   it against Buffalo last year.    But they just reinforced this    roster with 11 picks. It started with Malachi. You know more of   the of the of Georgia here in    the first round. Pick to go with Kyle Hamilton I mean just a      great selection Malachi Starks   excuse me but you know Starks    comes and joins Kyle Hamilton at safety. They're going to be so   interchangeable with their       playmaking ability and the       ability to play different        positions. Mike Green dropped in the draft. They felt comfortable taking him at 59 with his        background that's out there. But you let him go join Chuck Smith  their pass rush specialist       coach. You joined Justin Madden  and Kyle Van Noy and Odafe away. They keep the pass rush strong.  And look they drafted Emory      Jones who can play guard or      tackle. Maybe he competes for    one of those guard positions or  maybe a tackle position. If he   doesn't he's going to give       depth. We know this about the    Ravens. They lose offensive      linemen but they restock         offensive linemen the way        Walmart stock shelves. And they  drafted three more offensive     linemen in this draft. And so    that's what they do. They just   reinforce what they have. And    when the time comes they get     these guys ready to play. AFC    North. Always one of the         toughest, most physically brutal divisions in the game guys.      Thank you very much Tom.         Speaking of physically brutal,   let's bring in Michael F Florio  for a segment that exists solely for that WIP. Florio's fantastic first year receivers, which      incidentally, also my favorite   Roald Dahl book. All right,      Florio, let's talk about Travis  Hunter. We know that he can play both ways, but the Jaguars are   starting him out as a wide       receiver. From a fantasy         perspective. What's your level   of faith in Travis Hunter as a   rookie? Well, I don't think I've ever been called physically      brutal in my life, so thank you  for that, Tom. I thought there   was one elite wide receiver in   this class, and to me that's     Travis Hunter, because when you  watch him play, there's nothing  he can't do. Literally he can't  do he can do it all on a         football field. But as a         receiver, he can win after the   catch. He can win downfield      contested catches, whatever it   is you need him to do. But what  I like, he's not going to be     asked to be the number one right away here because they have      Brian Thomas Junior on the other side to take away defensive      attention. And now for fantasy.  There's going to be concerns     over usage. Are they going to    play him at DB? How much wide    receiver is he going to see. But the Jags have been vocal that he is a wide receiver first. So     usage concerns aside the upside  is top 20 at wide receiver. And  right now in early drafts he's   going in like the sixth round    range. So if you want him to use a pretty early pick on him. All  right. How about T-mac or        Tetairoa. Don't call him Tet.    Mom doesn't like that. Tetairoa  McMillan I'm old enough that     T-mac to me will always be Tracy McGrady. So Tetairoa McMillan, I like you. I'm a big fan of your  game because just like Travis    Hunter, he could do pretty much  everything on the football       field. He could win downfield,   he could get contested catches   if you need him to. But what I   think his calling card is, is    his run after the catch          abilities. And that's going to   be huge for the Panthers because their wide receivers created the seventh fewest yards after the   catch last season. I think he is a good fit stylistically, with   Bryce Young top target in Dave   Connelly's offense. Look, he's   likely going to be volatile week to week early on in fantasy, but you draft rookies for the        ceiling. The upside they're kind of like lottery tickets. And his upside is being a wide receiver  two with a lot of volume going   his way. And just like Travis    Hunter he's going in like the    sixth or seventh round in early  drafts. So if you want him, you  got to pay up to get him. How    about some of these second round wide receivers? Michael Florio I was fascinated. Trey Harris      going to the Chargers. What do   you make of that fit for him in  that offense. Look what we want  for fantasy purposes is          opportunity. And Harris gets     that here in Los Angeles. He's   going to have to compete with    Quentin Johnston to be the       number two. But I believe Harris is a good fit here because he's  a big bodied X receiver, which   the Chargers were kind of        lacking on the offense last      season. And he could contribute  in the red zone. I think he he   brings touchdown upside some     some big play capability there.  But if you want him you don't    have to take him as early as     those other guys. He's going in  like the ninth or 10th round     range right now, which is just   an upside gamble. You're not     drafting him for the floor or to be in every weekly starter.      You're hoping that he develops   into that. But do not worry,     it's still Ladd McConkey no      matter what. All right. And      Luther Burden the third. I know  Wyche and Bucky and Baldy are    listening nearby. They were just on the air here. Those guys were excited for the match between    Luther Burden and what Ben       Johnson can do offensively. Yeah and I agree with them. Look the  bears already had DJ Moore Roma  dudes. They used their first on  Colston Loveland and they still  went out and made sure to get    Luther Burden. And I expect him  to see a lot of usage out of the slot, which is big for him,      because last season, Caleb       Williams threw nearly a third of his throws to slot receivers and like you said, he's got Ben      Johnson now a huge play caller   upgrade. They revamped the       O-line second year. Caleb, lots  of reasons to get excited for    this. Bears offense for fantasy  football purposes. And burden is a cheap way to get exposure to   it in the later rounds of        redraft. I think he is a great   dynasty pick as well. And real   quick I just want to give a      shout out to our guy Mack. I     always see him clanging and      banging in the gym. I just want  to wish him best of luck and I'm going to miss you, man. McEnroe. Francis, our producer. His last  show tonight, ten years at NFL   network. We'll have a little bit more on that later. For now,     physically imposing Florio's     fantasy football. First          something. Thanks, Michael.      Appreciate it. Let's get back to talk about one of those wide     receivers Travis Hunter. Coming  up. Bucky Brooks spends a lot of time around the Jaguars. Let's   see what Bucky thinks of the fit for Travis Hunter and the impact he can make on that franchise.   That's next on the insiders. You don't always have to be the      biggest or the strongest. You    just need to love football. We   community, and a world free from sexual violence. Hey, Travis,    this is James Gladstone with the Jacksonville Jaguars. How you    doing? How you doing, Doug? You  know what. Go ahead and take a   moment to soak this one in.      We're trading up in the draft.   We're moving from pick five to   pick two. And we're doing it     because you're the one we've     been hunting up. Yes, sir.       That's the best decision. I love it, Travis. Real quick, Coach    Cohen, just want to say what's   up, man? Hey, what an            unbelievable opportunity, bro.   We're prepared for this. We're   excited for this, man. What a    great opportunity to do this     thing together, man. Let's get   it. Let's get it, man. You know, last week, a reporter in         Jacksonville asked Travis Hunter if Travis Hunter, the receiver,  were being covered by Travis     Hunter, the cornerback who would come down with the ball. And he  said, Travis Hunter, which is    obviously the correct answer.    Welcome back to the insiders.    Welcome back to Bucky and Baldy. Let's talk about the             Jacksonville Jaguars. Bucky you  know that franchise better than  anybody. You are around them an  awful lot. How do you expect     them to deploy Travis Hunter I   think Travis Hunter comes in as  a wide receiver, but also gets   plenty of time on the defensive  side of the ball. I can tell you that the Jaguars have certainly  planned out how they're going to utilize him to make sure they    can maximize what they consider  to be a generational talent.     When you look at what he offers  on offense, you have an          opportunity to put him on an     offense that features Dyami      Brown on one side, Brian Thomas  Jr on the other side, Travis     Hunter floating somewhere in     between to enhance what you      already have in an offense that  is pretty dynamic and            potentially explosive with       Trevor Lawrence, the thing that  you want with Brian Thomas Jr    and Travis Hunter, you want ball catchers, guys that can expand   the strike zone, guys that can   take it to the distance from     anywhere on the field. So the    game can be easier for Trevor    Lawrence. And then on defense,   think about him being a          playmaker, someone that you put  on the defensive side of the     ball and got to have it moments. He is so good in so many         different areas that you want to maximize his opportunities to    make plays on both sides of the  ball. I agree, Bucky, and I      think, you know, Jacksonville    made this move and made the      trade because they had a real    plan. And the plan involves      starting on offense. I don't     know to what extent, but he's    going to be out there for just   about every package. He's shown  that he can be a point scorer.   They need explosion in their     offense. They need to help       Trevor Lawrence out and he can   contribute to that. But          defensively last year Bucky you  know this. They had six          interceptions the whole year.    They just were not aggressive.   They broke down far too often    last year in so many different   ways. He gives you the ability   to take the ball away just       because of the way that he       plays, how aggressive he is,     whether it's in man coverage or  if it's in zone coverage. His    understanding of route           combination, where the ball is   going and the anticipation for   it is rare for a player coming   into the college, into the NFL   game, from the college game. So  he's going to be a playmaker for both sides of the ball. And it's something that Jacksonville      desperately needs on this roster right now. Bucky you mentioned   that the offense is potentially  explosive. Trevor Lawrence is    going into his fifth season. He  hasn't quite made the leap all   the way up to the level we       expected him to reach so far. Of course he was injured a bunch    last year. What are your         expectations for Trevor this     season? Trevor should have an    opportunity to get back on track and be the player that everyone  envisioned he could become when  he was taken number one.         Overall, Trevor is extremely     talented, but there's been a lot of uncertainty around him, a lot of instability around him,       whether it's when Urban Meyer    was the coach and was quickly    dismissed after a season, or     the, I would say the tumultuous  three year run that you had with Doug Pederson, where 2022        started well, but then you       couldn't get that consistency in 2023 and 24. Here you have a     coaching staff and a front       office that kind of understands  what Trevor Lawrence is, and     they really want to make the     game easy for him. Whether it's  putting Travis Hunter alongside  Brian Thomas Junior, where he's  adding more speed and            explosiveness in the backfield,  whether it's really trying to    figure out how to put the best   five in front of him on the      offensive line. Everything is    done with intention of helping   Trevor Lawrence be that special  player now with Trevor Lawrence, to show people that he is        special and worthy of being a    $50 million man. Well, to that   point, Bucky, I mean, we're ten  months removed from them, making him the franchise quarterback    and getting him into that that   price range of being an elite    quarterback. But the facts are   he's won two of his last 15      starts going back to 2023. He's  been on a slide. Now. You can    you can look at the injuries.    You can look at certainly the    instability that you just        described around him. But at     some point the quarterback has   to elevate those around him. I   think Liam Cohen coming from the Rams doing what he did in Tampa  last year, I think he's got a    nice touch to help the           quarterback out. I think there's certain things that they've done with the roster that can help    him, but ultimately this is this is on Trevor right now to        improve and play at a much       higher level than what we've     seen him play at. And, you know, this organization is looking at  him carefully. They did not      draft him. I'm not saying        they're trying to push him out   the door. They got to make this  work. But at the same time, we   know how this goes. If this      thing doesn't start to improve   on Trevor's behalf, like there   could be, you know, who knows?   But agitating changes. But he's  got to play better and play and  elevate those guys around him to play better right now. Certainly that is why Liam Cohen is in     Jacksonville, to try to get the  absolute best out of Trevor      Lawrence. Bucky Baldy, thank you very much. When we return, we're going to go from the AFC South   to the NFC South. Steve Wyche is going to rejoin us to talk about the Carolina Panthers. That is   Ted McMillan getting his draft   call. There's no such thing as   you feel is valid. Abuse in any  form is never okay, and we're    here for you 24 hours a day.     What's up man. This is Dan       Morgan with the Carolina         Panthers. Man. How are you doing dude? I'm great. And you doing   great, man. Better, better       talking to you, man. We're going to we're going to take you here  with the with the eighth pick,   man. How do you feel about that? Hey. I'm ready. Let's do it. All right, let's do it, man. Let's   get it. Let's go slap it up.     There we go. I'm going to pass   you off to our owner. He wants   to say a word to you. All right, all right. Cool. All right. Man. Hey, T-mac. How you doing? I'm   good to you. Pretty good. We're  excited over here. You can hear  it. Hey, man, let's get to it.   Oh, absolutely. Going to get to  it. You know I think I think     we're going to it's like an      early Christmas present I think  for a quarterback who you know   so he's I think he's going to be real excited too anyways. Hey    come on. Yeah. Come on now. Hey  that Kelly the Kelly going to be something different. Kelly to    Kelly Tetairoa McMillan.         McMillan the eighth overall pick to the Panthers. That big body   receiver that Dave Canales had   with Mike Evans down in Tampa.   Now hoping to recreate some of   that magic Mike magic. We'll     call it magic. Sure. With        McMillan. Steve McQueen is       joining me right now to talk     about the Panthers draft and     McMillan and our guy Jimmy Horn  Jr, who we had on the insiders.  He was a great guest. They grab  him later on in the draft as     well. Yeah. Look first of all I  love seeing Dan Morgan make that call. I actually covered Dan     Morgan when he was killing it,   playing high school ball in      Broward County, Florida. So we   go way back. So I actually spoke with him today and I said, look, how did you guys when you take   in the draft and your off season overall, how did you guys check  the boxes? He's like, we pretty  much checked them all. And it    started last year when they      tried to enhance the offensive   line. So their goal this year    was to beef up their defensive   front. So in free agency they go out. And they signed Bobby Brown and Tershawn Wharton and Patrick Jones. And then in the second    and third round they draft some  edge rushers, you know in what   they wanted to do. But you go    let's go to Tetairoa McMillan    though. And I said why him. Why  him at number eight. And they    said after him for what their    draft board told him the         receivers dropped off. They      wanted a big bodied receiver     with a huge catch radius. And    he's the one who fit the bill.   They scouted him for years. They really like him. They think they can help Bryce Young also. Their running back room is deep.       Remember they drafted Trevor     Etienne out of the University of Georgia. I said, why add him to  what you have in Chuba Hubbard   and you guys got Rico Dowdle. He said he gives us the receiving   threat and the inside run game.  But he also added that Jonathan  Brooks, the running back, their  second round pick from last year who tore tore his ACL. They're   still working through his status for this season. They just don't know why you know if he's going  to play. So again that added to  them going with Etienne there    with that draft pick. Yeah it    was a tough one for Jonathan     Brooks. But working his way back into top shape, there are high   hopes for him if he can stay     healthy. That Cali to Cali       combination or connection.       Excuse me that you heard         McMillan talk about Bryce Young  throwing to him, throwing to     Jimmy Horn Jr and these other    guys that they've got on the     roster right now. Those clips    that we saw of McMillan not      exactly open on those. But he's  open even when he's covered      because of what he what he can   do. So these additions how much  are they going to help Bryce     Young? Well, I mean, look, we    know they had to add some        explosiveness on their offense.  They had to add some             explosiveness at wide receiver,  which they got McMillan and at   running back. But they got with  Etienne. So now Morgan was       telling me they've got some guys on the defensive front. So that  historically bad defense.        Remember last year they were     like the worst ever in several   major categories can get better. That means Bryce doesn't have to play hero ball. They can control it a little bit better. So he    said the talent that they put    around him, you can see Bryce is confidence is better. From what  he built on last year after      being benched and how he got     better each week and some of the some of the things that he hit   there. So they feel really good  about his progress, Morgan said. They don't see any reason why    things are going to slow down.   And he said one thing. He added  you can feel the culture         changing in the building by the  attendance that they're getting  at offseason workouts, so        everybody's there, he said. You  can see the players feel better  about things. The front office   feels better about things, so    there's a different vibe in the  building. And remember, this is  a player, Dan Morgan, our GM,    and Dan Morgan, who played for   this organization and really     knows what a winning culture has been like because they won when  he was there. Starting to sense  a little bit of that. Coming     back to Carolina. Exactly right. Steve Weiss burning up the phone lines to get you the latest      information out of Carolina and  elsewhere. Dude, we appreciate   you always. Speaking of Panthers wide receivers, how about this   guy? Our guy Steve Smith senior  had a chance to do something at  a Carolina Hurricanes game. What was it? Tune in next to find out on the insiders app. You,        Thomas. I told him to use 11 as  the standard email font, but he  Snacks at the El Camino.         Tarantino. Monday at. Welcome    back to the insiders. Tom        Pelissero, Judy Battista, Mike   Garafolo. We are the faces of    the insiders, but there are a    ton of people out in Los Angeles who make this show go on a       nightly basis. One of the        McEnroe Francis been at NFL      network for ten years. He has    been the primary producer of The Insiders for the past year.      Tonight is his final show. I'm   just checking the graphics to    make sure he didn't slip         something in on us here. We've   all got a little tribute that we want to do to Mac, but first     let's hear from a few others.    Well, Mac, I'm supposed to be    saying congratulations, you're   moving on. Going to a great job. Something that I know is great   for you and your family. And I'm sad it sucks for us. You helped  build this show. You're amazing  to work with. You are our rock   and I guess congrats! But man,   I'm upset. Mac, it's been an     incredible ride for you at the   NFL network. Man, I have watched you grow to become a pillar of   our newsroom, our programing and production teams. You are going  to be sorely missed, but we're   also happy for you, man. Going   back to the DMV. Just make sure  to hit up Jerry Seafood and      Bowie and make the Crab Bomb     part of your staple of life.     Good luck brother Mac, I just    want to say, man, it's been a    blast working with you over the  years. I know you're heading     home to the Charm City. Good     luck to you. Got your girl, you  got the Athletic. All that       stuff's waiting for you. I just  want to let you know I've had so much fun working with you. I     always feel like. Shouldn't we   just have another show? Another  show and another show and        another show? That's what it's   been. It's been a blast. Brothe. Mac. Attack! Just want to say    that you're going to be missed   tremendously. It's been an honor and a joy to work with you over  the years. I know I've always    enjoyed hanging out with you     both at work, outside of work,   and just want to wish you the    best in your next adventure. I   know you're going to make them   that much better, just like      you've made us so much better    over the years. Man, we love     you. Can't wait to stay in       touch. We'll see you soon. Good  luck! I'm sure a bunch of people have already mentioned how much  they're going to Miss Mac,       because he's a great producer    and an even better friend. But   I'll tell you the best part      about Mac. The snacks that he    has on his desk, the snacks that I've eaten probably every day    for the past four years. Sorry,  Mac, if you're wondering how     they disappear so quickly, we're going to miss you so much.       Congratulations! And if you ever want to come back and visit, I   promise this time I'll bring the snacks. Hey, Mac, I'm so excited you're getting an opportunity to move back to Baltimore. I know   how much that's meant to you.    Selfishly, we'll miss you.       You're a huge part of this       family. You will always be a     part of the NFL network. We love you and good luck in Baltimore.  Mac, what's going on? My man?    You were in my ear for a couple  few years of great sports        television. You'll be in my      heart for the remainder of my    days. Man, I loved working with  you. I love who you are as a     person, and I wish you all the   best out on the East Coast. Our  loss there game, you know it's a big deal. Godspeed, brother. You know it's a big deal when you    know it's a big deal when Hansen comes out. Mike. Yeah, well,     that only cost us $350 there at  the end. But, Mac, we love you.  You've helped this show grow. We don't have much time left. I     love you, see you. Buddy.        Congratulations, Mac. We'll miss you terribly. Mac. Now you're    just going to be some guy on a   podcast? I don't know, man.      We'll see how it works out for   you. Handsome devil.             Welcome"}]