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When it comes to NFL draft evaluations,

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1:06

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1:10

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Thank you for coming through. today as

1:47

we continue our big board series, moving on

1:49

to safety. That is what we're going

1:51

to look at today. And there are a

1:54

lot of caveats to go through as

1:56

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1:58

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Armada. Stay tuned for the Armada player

2:28

of the week later in today's show. We

2:31

are talking about safeties for

2:33

the Washington commanders, talking about safety

2:35

prospects for the Washington commanders,

2:37

Juan Martin, Jeremy Chin, starting at

2:39

safety for the Washington commanders

2:41

in 2024. I think they did

2:44

a splendid job. I think a lot of

2:46

us wanted Jeremy Chin to come back on a

2:48

new deal. this offseason. Ultimately, whatever

2:50

the conversations were, whatever the conversations weren't,

2:52

he doesn't end up coming back. He

2:54

instead signs a new deal with the Las

2:56

Vegas Raiders. Kwan Martin is still on

2:58

contract with the commanders. They bring in Will

3:00

Harris from the New Orleans Saints. He

3:02

is projected to be the next starting safety

3:04

next to Kwan Martin as the roster

3:07

stands today. And I like both of these

3:09

guys. However, Kwan Martin When

3:11

we break down these players,

3:13

Quad Martin, 5 '11", 195 pounds,

3:15

what he's listed at, coverage grade

3:17

last year of 59 .2, run

3:19

defense grade last year of

3:22

66 .3. That ranks 38th of

3:24

64 safeties in past coverage grade.

3:26

So not great, right? With

3:29

at least 400 cover sets or qualifying

3:31

numbers here. His run defense

3:33

grade, 66 .3. It's in the green,

3:35

but it ranked 44th out of

3:37

64 safeties. Again, not top

3:39

half. And that's kind of, if you have

3:41

that, you can certainly see some room to

3:43

grow. Now that growth could come from Quan

3:45

himself. Opportunities have to play

3:47

a part of that and everything else,

3:49

but Quan can certainly get better. I think

3:51

Quan was solid at doing what he

3:53

needed to do. But when you're looking for

3:55

a safety that's going to make plays

3:57

for your team or be an impact, be

3:59

a change maker, things like that, Quan

4:02

Martin certainly has a little bit of

4:04

room to grow in that field. Now I

4:06

believe he can get there, right? So

4:08

I think the team, And that's kind of

4:10

why they went and took the approach

4:12

they did. Will Harris comes in six foot

4:14

one, 206 pounds. So a little bit

4:16

bigger than Kwan had a coverage grade last

4:18

year for the Saints. And granted, he

4:20

was injured during the season. So a little

4:22

bit limited workload here, but 60 .1 coverage

4:24

grade ranked 36 out of those 64

4:26

safeties, two spots better than Kwan. So relatively

4:28

similar run defense grade was 63 .1 lower

4:30

than Kwan's ranked 49th there compared to

4:32

Kwan ranking 44th. But they're very similarly built,

4:34

right? Well, again, Will Harris is a

4:36

little bit bigger, but not a lot bigger.

4:38

He's, he's a couple inches taller, uh,

4:40

about 10 pounds heavier, which, you know, depending

4:42

on how you want to look at

4:44

and depending on where he carries that weight,

4:46

haven't seen him in person yet. Not

4:49

a significant change, not like six,

4:51

three, three, 20, uh, you know, like,

4:53

uh, or two 20, three 20,

4:55

imagine 320 pounds, maybe, uh, six, three,

4:57

two, 20, like Jeremy Chin was,

4:59

right? Now, traditionally in a Dan

5:01

Quinn, Joe, a junior defense, They like

5:03

to have that big safety linebacker hybrid

5:05

type of player. They don't have one

5:08

of those on the roster right now.

5:10

Additionally, neither Harris nor

5:12

Martin has necessarily done enough in their

5:14

respective careers to be considered locks to

5:16

start on this Commander's roster this year.

5:18

And it seems to me that there's

5:20

a reality where Kwan Martin will Harris

5:22

are actually coming in here to battle

5:24

for the same starting job. And

5:26

I go back to recent comments from Dan

5:28

Quinn, Adam Peters. Like they're actually a direct

5:30

correlation, a direct comparison between the two players.

5:33

And they're very similar type players, which is

5:35

what I see when I look at these

5:37

two guys. So I don't know that Will

5:39

Harris is necessarily coming in here to be

5:41

the starting strong safety. I think certainly could.

5:43

Like if you needed to have a Kwan

5:45

Martin, Will Harris defensive backfield. Okay. Like you

5:47

can live with it. You can certainly survive

5:49

with it. But I think that the intent

5:52

might be more to, you know, in a

5:54

perfect world have Kwan and Will. Battle

5:56

for that starting job on that side

5:58

that quote -unquote free safety more of a

6:00

free safety type player and then have a

6:02

strong safety type come in and when

6:04

that strong safety falls into the box as

6:06

a linebacker hybrid may be the other

6:09

guy so kwan Martin wins that job and

6:11

A strong safety to come in the

6:13

draft are the are the two starting safeties

6:15

will Harris when that safety drops down

6:17

to be a linebacker Will Harris comes in

6:19

to be that second safety or vice

6:21

versa if Harris wins the job then when

6:23

that rookie strong safety drops down It's

6:26

Juan Martin coming in to be that second

6:28

safety, right? Just that kind of thing. So again,

6:30

none of this is confirmed. None of it

6:32

is 100%, but it's just kind of an idea

6:34

of what could come as we get through

6:36

the season. That being said, we're going to give

6:38

a little bit of a bump to these

6:41

safeties that we're about to evaluate and that we're

6:43

about to rank in this big board if

6:45

they have the ability to play in the box,

6:47

right? We're not looking for

6:49

pure cover safeties. We're looking for guys that can

6:51

do a little bit of both. Don't get me

6:53

wrong. If you're enough of a coverage safety that

6:55

Like those skills are just, you deny

6:57

them. mean, you're still going to go ahead

6:59

of a dude that might play in the box

7:01

better than you. So we're not just completely

7:03

discriminating, right? We are evaluating all safeties here. Um,

7:06

we also have to remember the team drafted

7:08

Dominique Hampton last year out of Washington, a big

7:10

safety type had him cross -training at linebacker all

7:12

year in 2024. Uh, combined out with this

7:14

previous safety experience, perhaps it'll be a solid candidate

7:16

to be at least be that backup hybrid

7:18

linebacker safety type. Uh, you know what I mean?

7:20

Or you could end up with certain packages

7:22

where guy like Dominique Hampton comes in. And you

7:24

know, will Harris and quantum are the starters

7:27

and Dom comes in on certain packages and just

7:29

plays that box safety role. So there's a

7:31

lot of options. You know, mean, there's a lot

7:33

of different ways to go about this. So

7:35

with all that in mind, here are the top

7:37

seven players on the commander's big board as

7:39

I see it today. And we're going to break

7:41

down, get into the weeds on how we

7:43

got to this point, because you're going to be

7:45

surprised probably about some of these names and

7:47

where they land on this list. Number one is

7:50

Nick Emanwari out of South Carolina. Number two,

7:52

Malachi Starks out of Georgia. Number three, this is

7:54

where things might get a little bit hazy

7:56

for some of you. Jonas Sankar out of Virginia.

7:59

Number four, Lathan Ransom out of Ohio

8:01

State. Number five, Xavier Watts out of

8:03

Notre Dame. Number six, Andrew McCuba out

8:05

of Texas. Number seven, Billy Bowman Jr. out

8:07

of Oklahoma. So that is our top seven

8:09

big board. Again, I'll get into the details

8:11

into the weeds of how we got there.

8:14

As always, we start with 14 players going to

8:16

do this a little bit different than we

8:18

have before. Instead of kind of going through each

8:20

phase with you, I'm going to actually just

8:22

go through. our top seven and give you the

8:24

news and the notes on these guys as

8:26

we see them and why they kind of landed

8:28

there. And then I'll kind of round out

8:30

the rest of it and let you know where

8:32

those guys landed as well. But we started

8:34

with 14 players. Again, since we're looking at safeties

8:37

that can support the run cover or do

8:39

both ideally, I did do basically the same thing

8:41

I do with the interior office of linemen,

8:43

which is we didn't have a statistical or a

8:45

physical attribute discriminator to eliminate players. What we

8:47

did is I took multiple big boards, primarily Daniel

8:49

Jeremiah's top 50, also primarily PFF's. big board

8:51

rankings, but I've got some input from a couple

8:53

of others where I was a little bit

8:55

like, I don't know if this guy's 10 or

8:57

if this guy's 11. Specifically when

8:59

we got to like the 14 -15 range,

9:01

definitely used a few other big boards

9:03

just to get some other ideas and

9:05

opinions out there. So the 14 that

9:07

we evaluated. I was starting in their

9:09

big board. This is their big board,

9:12

national big board, vacuum big board rankings.

9:14

Nicky Manwari, South Carolina. Malachi Starks out

9:16

of Georgia. Kevin Winston Jr. out

9:18

of Penn State. Xavier Watts out of

9:20

Notre Dame. Andrew McCuba out of Texas. Lathan

9:22

Ransom, Ohio State. RJ Mickens out of

9:24

Clemson. Jonas Sankara out of Virginia. Billy Bowman

9:26

Jr. out of Oklahoma. Sebastian

9:28

Castro from Iowa. Jaylin Reed from

9:30

Penn State. Jordan Hancock from Ohio State. Craig

9:33

Woodson out of Cal and Malachi Moore. from

9:35

Alabama. That's not to say that they're the only

9:37

ones that can have solid NFL careers, but

9:40

without the benefit of a full scouting staff, we

9:42

only have a limited amount of evaluations we

9:44

can try to pull off. So we'll look at

9:46

40 yard dashes. None of the safeties really

9:48

did a lot of agility drills. So we'll keep

9:50

it there as far as combine drills are

9:52

going. But then we're going to look at coverage,

9:54

run defense, tackling grades. And of course, we're

9:56

going to look at the tape, which is going

9:58

to be the biggest influencer for our evaluations.

10:00

While the rest kind of helps just color everything

10:02

we see and help me describe to you.

10:04

who I believe these players are, and we're going

10:07

to do all that coming up next on

10:09

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now in today's episode of Lockdown

12:07

Commanders. We are stacking and racking our

12:09

Washington Commanders focused safety big board.

12:12

It's important to get that detailed in

12:14

there because as you look at

12:16

these big boards like Daniel Jeremiah's top

12:18

50, the PFF big board and

12:20

like PFN's got one, 33rd team's got

12:22

one like When you look at

12:24

all these big boards around the interweb,

12:26

remember, these people are all evaluating these players

12:28

in a vacuum. There's no scheme specific

12:31

needs. There's no roster specific needs being taken

12:33

into account, right? So when you see

12:35

this big board and you see a guy

12:37

like Jonas Sankar in the top three,

12:39

that might surprise you a little bit. Maybe

12:41

you feel like it's disrespecting somebody a

12:43

little bit. What it really is doing is

12:45

not disrespecting that player. What I'm saying,

12:48

what we're doing here is identifying that from

12:50

where we say here, and this foxhole

12:52

not locked on commanders, this team

12:54

needs more of a box presence than you need

12:56

a coverage presence. So guys who are really

12:58

great at coverage, not so great in the box,

13:00

they're going to get knocked down a little

13:02

bit. It doesn't mean that

13:04

they're in a vacuum, you

13:07

know, evaluation is wrong. It

13:09

just means that for what the commanders

13:11

need from the way that we see it

13:13

here on this program, maybe they don't

13:15

fit the bill, right? So when we looked

13:17

at the data evaluation, so like I

13:19

said, we went through the 40s, We went

13:21

through the run defense grades on PFF,

13:23

coverage grades on PFF, tackling grades on PFF.

13:25

We went through all of those. The

13:27

way that these guys broke down, Nicky Manwari

13:29

out of South Carolina, who starts off

13:31

as our big board, top one, top guy

13:33

from the conglomeration of big boards that

13:35

we consulted, stayed at number one when you

13:37

got through the athletic numbers and measurements,

13:39

right? So this is the part where we

13:41

talk about stat scouting, which of course

13:43

you never just wanted stat scout, but stats

13:45

can certainly help. Malachi

13:47

Starks. is what

13:49

came in at

13:51

number two. Jonas

13:54

Sanker went from eighth on the

13:56

list to eleventh. Actually, his measurables

13:58

and his physicals didn't actually do

14:00

him a whole lot of justice.

14:02

Lathen ran some out of Ohio

14:04

State, dropped from sixth to ninth.

14:07

Xavier Watts stayed at fourth place. Andrew

14:10

McCuba stayed in fifth place. Billy Bowman,

14:12

Jr. Went from 9th to So actually

14:14

dropped a little bit there in those

14:16

numbers Kevin Winston, Jr. From Penn State

14:18

dropped from 3rd to 8th RJ Mickens

14:20

out of Clemson Clemson dropped from 7th

14:22

to 10th Craig Woodson from 13th to

14:24

2nd So that was a big rise

14:26

for Craig Woodson. Just looking at the

14:28

data right 4 4 5 40 Isn't

14:31

super elite, but it was the fourth best

14:33

40 time of this group third best run

14:35

defense grade fifth best covers grade fourth best

14:37

Tackling grade and certainly Craig Woodson is a

14:39

player that has a lot of physical and

14:41

tangibles a lot of physical tools a fifth

14:43

round projection. So if you tell me the

14:45

commanders draft him, you know in the fifth

14:47

round if you know, they get it get

14:50

a pick in there Or even if he

14:52

falls to the six and they give him

14:54

the six like I you know You love

14:56

the upside of a guy that has those

14:58

types of tools that that a Craig Woodson

15:00

brings Jaylin Reed from Penn State went from

15:02

11th to 13th. So he dropped a little

15:04

bit Malachi Moore from 14th to 7th. So

15:06

the numbers a little bit better to him

15:08

than to some other people. Jordan Hancock jumped

15:10

from 12th to 6th. Sebastian Castro out of

15:13

Iowa dropped from 10th to 14th, which is

15:15

exactly where he ended up staying. So that's

15:17

kind of what happened when we looked at

15:19

the stats. But the tape tells a different

15:21

story. So let's start up here back at

15:23

the top and let's dive into what we

15:25

saw. From each of these players starting with

15:27

our number one guy. Nick even worry out

15:29

of South Carolina. So Nick even worry comes

15:31

in six foot three two hundred and twenty

15:33

pounds. He is currently a first round projected

15:35

player. It's just it's really

15:37

interesting to me actually pull up

15:40

Daniel Jeremiah's top 50 while we're

15:42

talking about this because he has

15:44

been Nick even worry that is

15:46

has been up there on DJ's

15:48

top 50 for for quite a

15:50

while now. However, right now he's

15:52

15 like he's The number 15 player, Dan

15:54

Jeremiah is, you know, big board. And this

15:56

is, of course, our top 50 list, I

15:58

should say. And this is, of course, again,

16:00

in a vacuum, right? And then fits and

16:02

needs and all that stuff have to play

16:04

a part in safety, as we know from

16:06

talking over multiple off seasons has been kind

16:08

of, uh, you know, devalued, I should say,

16:10

to a certain extent, but Nicki Minaj has

16:12

been like a top 20, top 15 player

16:14

on DJ's big board for a long time

16:16

or top 50. should say he doesn't call

16:18

it a big board. Uh, DJ is top

16:20

50 for a while now, but he's getting

16:23

mocked in the late part of the first

16:25

round. Sometimes you're seeing him in the second

16:27

round even and the dude's just very talented

16:29

right again 6 3 220 pounds 4 3

16:31

8 40 for a 6 6 3 guy

16:33

running a 4 3 8 40 like that's

16:35

incredibly impressive his run defense grade last year

16:37

not great 10th Overall on this list 73

16:39

.3, which is still in the green. So

16:41

that's good It just means you have a

16:43

lot of good run defenders on this list

16:45

6 best coverage grade 86 .8 and they had

16:47

the best tackling grade of all the players

16:49

on this list the 89 .5 Uh, upside

16:51

size and speed. Like we just kind of

16:53

talked about, uh, other upside is he can

16:55

cover those tight ends for you. Uh, and

16:57

he can also tackle. Um,

16:59

you know, you don't want to put him up against

17:01

Devontae Smith. You know what I mean? The fluidity and

17:03

Devontae is probably going to juke him out of his

17:05

cleats and all that stuff. You know, if you put

17:07

him up against AJ Brown, like he's definitely a need

17:10

kind of, you know, some runway, you don't want to,

17:12

you know, get him fighting double, double move or anything

17:14

like that. But if you want to put him on

17:16

a tight end, you want to put him on a

17:18

running back, uh, the coming out of the backfield that

17:20

as long as he's not, you know, a 4 -2 running

17:22

back things like that. You certainly do that. The

17:24

downside for him, if you look at his

17:26

tape, a little bit of aggression, right? You

17:29

want more aggression out of him. But I

17:31

actually remember when the team brought in Jeremy

17:33

Chin, a lot of people looked at his

17:35

tape from his days in Carolina and said,

17:37

Jeremy Chin, maybe not as aggressive as his

17:39

size would tell you he should be. And

17:41

the fact of the matter is, Nicky Muwari's

17:43

comp is Jeremy Chin. Like his NFL .com,

17:45

Lance's online comp is Jeremy Chin. But it's

17:47

eerie actually. You know, Nick even

17:49

worry comes in six three to twenty and

17:51

then Jeremy Chin entered the league six three

17:54

to twenty one. You know what I mean?

17:56

Jeremy Chin's hands a little bit bigger. His

17:58

arm length is a little bit longer, but

18:00

ultimately Nick even worry and Jeremy Chin have

18:02

darn near identical measurements and body composition Zone

18:04

coverage is solid for even worry. I'd say

18:06

that he can't he's coming into league a

18:08

better zone cover man than Jeremy Chin effect

18:10

just a better overall cover man than Jeremy

18:12

Chin And does a really good job

18:15

of keeping his eyes on the quarterback while he's making

18:17

his movements, which I think, again, at six foot

18:19

three, like you usually expect a little bit

18:21

of lumbering, right? But he looks really fluid in

18:23

zone coverage when you watch him on tape. So I

18:25

think there's a lot to like about Nicky Manwari. He's

18:27

number one on the list over a guy like

18:29

Malachi Starks because he brings out box presence. But

18:31

also if you need him to bail on cover,

18:34

if you need him to bring coming in the

18:36

box to threaten the blitz, threaten the rush, but

18:38

then you actually drop them off and coverage on

18:40

your tight end, you can trust him. to do

18:42

that as well. You can pursue to the perimeter,

18:44

do all those things. So, you know,

18:46

how big of a need is it in your

18:48

eyes and Adam Peters eyes? I can't tell you that,

18:50

but I'll tell you, if he's there at number

18:52

29, he's definitely going to be a guy whose name

18:54

is brought up in the war room. I believe

18:56

anyway, I should say, I should say that. So

18:59

that's our number one guy, our number two guy,

19:01

Malachi Stark, started off number two in our big board

19:03

grouping, dropped one spot to the third when he

19:05

came to the evaluation of the data. but then he

19:07

comes right back up to number two when you

19:09

turn on the tape. Uh, six foot one hundred ninety

19:11

seven pounds. So not, you know, a little bit

19:13

shorter, a little bit lighter, obviously than a guy like

19:15

him and worry. Uh, Malachi starts as a late

19:17

first round, early second round projection right now. Uh, had

19:19

a four, five, 40, not an elite 40, a

19:21

great 40, third best run defense grade. However, uh, 10th

19:23

best coverage grade, third best tackling grade. So you're

19:26

talking about a box safety here, right? You're talking about

19:28

a guy who's going to play down the box

19:30

three year starter for the Georgia Bulldogs, willing run defender,

19:32

uh, pursuit angles. You can kind of get the

19:34

best of him a little bit and he is a

19:36

catch tackler, which I hate to see from guy

19:38

with six one. I'd like to see him put on

19:40

some more weight. You know what I mean? If

19:42

we're not going to expect him to be a premium

19:44

cover man, you know, six, six, one, two, oh

19:46

five. You know I mean? Like, can we get you

19:48

to two, oh five? You know what I mean? He's

19:51

got a little bit of a free safety

19:53

vibe to him, but he does a good job

19:55

of navigating through traffic. Uh, he's a willing

19:57

though, not aggressive tackler, right? So aggression again, kind

20:00

of a question for both these guys. He's

20:02

flashing balls, will skills. He's got slot corner experience,

20:04

but he can also get fooled by the

20:06

speed of the ball carry. When you talk about

20:08

the agility or the angles that he pursues,

20:10

sometimes he's wrong about usually from what it looks

20:12

like to me as he's thinking a guy

20:14

is a little bit slower than he actually turns

20:16

out to be and he gets beat to

20:18

the edge or to the spot. Not easy, easily

20:20

fooled on play action. I watched a lot

20:22

of play action reps with Malachi starts and he

20:25

held his own very, very well. Six interceptions

20:27

in his three year career. So Malachi starts, you

20:29

know, a lot of the data reads box

20:31

safe, right? Good tackler, good run defense, not great

20:33

in coverage. four, five, 40. You

20:35

know what I mean? So he's kind of got

20:37

that tweener built to him, but you watch

20:39

the tape and he certainly moves a little bit

20:41

like a free safety. So a lot of

20:43

interesting things there. Jonas Sanker is going to be

20:45

the surprise of our top three here. Starts

20:47

off eighth in our big board of conglomeration, moves

20:50

to 11th after the data, but then you'll

20:52

watch the tape man. He ends up my third

20:54

guy on this list. Six foot, 206 pounds.

20:56

He's a third or fourth round projection right now.

20:58

Uh, ran a four, four, eight, 40. So

21:00

a little bit faster than Malachi Starks, 14 best

21:02

run defense grade, not great. 9th best coverage

21:04

grade not great. Not terrible 7th best tackling great.

21:06

So again, the data didn't do him a

21:08

lot of favors But the dude plays with high

21:10

energy like his hair is on fires a

21:12

three -year starter in Virginia Doesn't take great angles

21:15

all the time and his play action are against

21:17

play action We say Malachi starts doesn't get

21:19

beat on play action a lot Jonas Sanger will

21:21

get beat on play action because he just

21:23

plays so aggressively So this coach is that would

21:25

have to teach or whatever NFL coaches stuff

21:27

gets them gonna teach him how to Play with

21:29

that aggression but play with the intelligence And

21:31

the aggression uh college stats two sacks two interceptions

21:33

14 tackles for losses in the past four

21:35

seasons and a lot of great production He is

21:38

a body up tackler, which he loves on

21:40

a dive tackler. He's not a catch tackler He

21:42

likes to hitch up hitch up front. Uh,

21:44

hitch a firm. He's got special teams ability Which

21:46

is going to help justify that draft pick

21:48

looks faster on tape I would say than the

21:50

448 time does, you know, so I think

21:52

he plays faster Maybe a little bit difference between

21:54

track speed and football speed. Um, but yeah

21:56

third or fourth rounder Look, if you told me

21:58

the commander's got him Uh, you know, in

22:00

the third round or early in the fourth round,

22:03

I would not be upset about that whatsoever.

22:05

I think you certainly could compete for some snaps,

22:07

uh, as a rookie. So that's our top

22:09

three. We got four more to go in our

22:11

top seven. So we'll break down all of

22:13

those guys starting with Ohio State's lathe and ransom.

22:15

And we'll talk about why Xavier Watts, I

22:17

don't know, or Dame fell all the way to

22:19

my fifth spot coming up next on today's

22:21

episode of locks on commanders, part of the locks

22:23

on podcast network, your team every day. And

22:28

we're doing that today. Thanks to our friends

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22:42

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22:44

the commander's team. Forward as we look ahead

22:47

to next season and this week's Armada and

22:49

clear cut player of the week is of

22:51

course our number one safety in this episode

22:53

Nick even worry out of South Carolina. I

22:55

think he's got the speed He's at the

22:57

athleticism. He's at the box presence. He's got

22:59

the coverage ability to just be kind a

23:01

do -it -all Safety, I think there's a rookie

23:03

probably not gonna be a three -down guy

23:05

I think you're gonna see the little bit

23:07

of rotation with some of the vets and

23:09

and all that stuff And that's fine, but

23:11

I think he's a guy that certainly can

23:13

grow into his role as the season continues

23:15

to grow and just grow with the team. And,

23:18

you know, you get them for four

23:20

years. If you get them at 29,

23:22

you get a fifth year option. I

23:24

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23:26

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23:28

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credit card Wrapping up today's episode of

24:14

lots on command is breaking down our

24:16

top seven of our safety big board

24:18

already went over Our top three here

24:20

nick even worry out of south carolina

24:22

leading us off malachi starks out of

24:24

georgia coming in second yonah sank sanker

24:26

of virginia coming in third and and

24:28

look uh Maybe there's just me but

24:30

I would not hate hearing someone or

24:32

myself even saying when Jonas Sanker puts

24:34

the, puts the pain on somebody for

24:36

the Washington commanders, wouldn't hear my hearing

24:38

someone on Fox Fox Sports or whatever

24:40

broadcast company is, is hosting the game

24:42

to say, put some sank on it.

24:44

I don't know. I'm a nerd, whatever.

24:46

Uh, for safety on this list, Lathan

24:48

Ransom out of Ohio State started off

24:51

six in our big board grouping, dropped

24:53

to ninth thanks to the stat scouting,

24:55

but he came up. So fourth place

24:57

after the tape, six feet, six feet

24:59

tall, 206 pounds, third or fourth round

25:01

projection right now, late third, early fourth,

25:03

uh, 453. So again, not the fastest

25:05

dude in the world, but you don't

25:07

need them fast. If you're playing in

25:09

the box, uh, 93 .7 run defense grade,

25:11

the best run defense grade of all

25:13

these safety. So you want to know

25:15

why he cracked our top five. That's

25:17

a big reason why, although it's tackling

25:19

grade. was not great. So tough guy,

25:21

decisive guy, doesn't have top, top field

25:23

speed, not great in coverage, right? This

25:26

is a traditional strong safety type. He

25:28

struggles to cover above average athletes, but

25:30

he hits like a truck and he

25:32

seeks out physicality. 18 tackles for losses

25:34

in the last four years, three a

25:36

half sacks, only three interceptions, but also

25:38

six force fumbles, including three of them

25:40

in 2024. Joey Jr. would love to

25:42

have that kind of a mentality. Clicks

25:44

and closes with the best of them.

25:46

Just don't leave them. Uh, deep, you

25:48

know what I mean? So again, we

25:50

talk about guys getting that boost for

25:52

being those tacklers. Lathan ransom, one of

25:54

those guys benefiting from that boost. One

25:56

of those guys who's not benefiting from

25:58

that boost Xavier Watts out of Notre

26:00

Dame, our fifth ranked safety, six feet

26:03

tall, 204. So he's got the size

26:05

that you want. The requisite size, right?

26:07

Second or third round projections. So he's

26:09

projected to go earlier than a couple

26:11

of guys that we have ahead of

26:13

him on this list, ran a four,

26:15

five, six, 40, not great there. Six

26:17

best run defense right in the middle

26:19

of the pack, third in coverage, fifth

26:21

in tackling. Rangy cover safety is how

26:23

I best describe him. He's got ball

26:25

skills, not great run support, not a

26:27

great tackler, even though his tackle grade

26:29

would tell you different, but that's the

26:31

difference between stat scouting and tape scouting.

26:33

Great cover safety, not much else,

26:35

right? It shows the effort and ability to

26:38

corral scrambling quarterbacks or other smaller perimeter backs.

26:41

Ball skills are clear coverage instincts,

26:43

pop off the tape, 13 interceptions

26:45

in the past two seasons. So,

26:47

look, Xavier Watts is there in

26:49

the second or third round. Again,

26:52

just like Nick Eamonn Warren, he's in the first round or

26:54

the early second round. Xavier Watts' name

26:56

is there in the second or third round.

26:58

The conversation is going to be had. The

27:00

thing is, to me, you bring in Xavier

27:02

Watts, now it's a three -horse race. Xavier

27:04

Watts, Kwan Martin, Will Harris to be the

27:06

starting free safety, quote, unquote. And then Kwan

27:09

Martin, Will Harris. to be the starting strong

27:11

safety, quote unquote, both those guys obviously have

27:13

coverability, but both those guys also are good

27:15

in the box. You know, not great, but

27:17

good in the box as well. Andrew McCuba

27:19

comes in six from Texas, 511, 186 pounds,

27:21

fourth round projections right now, 445, 40, eighth

27:23

in our run defense grade, second in coverage,

27:25

11th in tackling. He's an athlete. He's a

27:27

really good athlete, plays the ball well in

27:30

coverage. Doesn't play the receiver. He doesn't look

27:32

to hit the receiver. He tries to hit

27:34

the ball, and that's what you want, that

27:36

type of aggression. Seems like it would fit

27:38

this defense very well. Doesn't have a lot

27:40

of size, not great at tackling. Solid

27:42

in coverage with an aggressive approach towards playing

27:44

the ball, especially over the middle of the field,

27:46

shows a willingness to play physical, which

27:49

just kind of lacks the refinement to be a

27:51

true run defender, right? So that can be worked

27:53

on a little bit. Loves to hunt scrambling quarterbacks.

27:55

Every time a quarterback scrambled, You just see McCoolby

27:57

just licking his lips, man, just saying, I want

28:00

to go nail the crap out of this dude.

28:02

Uh, lax top end speed. So he's got stay

28:04

on top of receivers. If you ever put him

28:06

single high, wouldn't recommend it. Five interceptions in his

28:08

senior season at Texas. So he does have some

28:10

ball skills. Seventh and our final spot are big

28:12

board here for the safeties, Billy Bowman, Jr. out

28:15

of Oklahoma, started off ninth, fell to

28:17

12th, came back up to seven, another smaller

28:19

dude, five, 10, 192 pounds, third round

28:21

projection on him, four, four, two, 40. So

28:23

the dudes got wheels. 14

28:25

tackling. Great. Not a great tackler. Fluid

28:27

defender, aggressive downhill player, doesn't have a lot

28:29

of size, not a great tackler. Safety

28:31

with corner potential in the slot. Loves to

28:33

find work. You're never going to find

28:36

him being lazy on the field. Eight interceptions

28:38

in the past two years. Six

28:40

to 2023. 11 for his

28:42

total career. No sacks. 10 TFLs.

28:44

Smart in pursuit though. He does get caught taking bad

28:46

angles at times. You love the

28:48

energy. You love the fluidity and the athleticism. This

28:51

is another cover guy. Not a

28:53

box safety, but again, we got to keep all

28:55

these guys. on the list. Kevin Winston Jr.

28:57

was our biggest surprise as a faller, started off

28:59

third on the big boards. Look, there's going

29:01

to be a little bit working against him. He's

29:03

coming off of an injury, didn't get a

29:05

lot of playing time in 2024, unfortunately. So that's

29:07

going to kind of hinder things just a

29:09

little bit. He's got good size coverage, versatile, you

29:11

know mean? He's a guy who can play

29:13

up and down the field. You know, so you

29:15

just, you just would love to have seen

29:17

more of it, especially in his last season with

29:19

the injury. RJ Mickens is our ninth guy.

29:21

He's a fifth round projection, six feet tall, 199

29:23

pounds. Football IQ jumps off

29:25

the screen, which you would expect. He's

29:27

the son of a former NFL cornerback

29:29

himself, seven career interceptions. Again, more

29:31

of a quick reflex that I recognize is play

29:34

quick. It doesn't react to them as quickly when

29:36

he's playing in the defensive backfields. We was playing

29:38

deep off the line of scrimmage. So you want

29:40

to keep him a little bit closer. Craig Woodson

29:42

is someone I want to talk about because when

29:44

I come off this list, like if I have,

29:46

you know, if we do superlatives, who's the most

29:48

intriguing player on this list? Craig Woodson would be

29:50

the most intriguing player on this list. Six feet

29:53

tall, 200 pounds, fifth round projection, uh,

29:55

four, four, five, 40, you know, the, the

29:57

click and close on this kid and the, and

29:59

the willingness to get dirty is just amazing.

30:01

Now he doesn't have the biggest frame and he

30:03

doesn't have the most stopping power. So I

30:05

kind of list them as a free safety who's

30:07

willing to crash down against Serona short routes

30:09

as needed. I kind of look at him as

30:11

honestly a little bit of a better, higher

30:14

potential. I should say not better cause Percy Butler's

30:16

played in the NFL. Uh, Woodson

30:18

does not by view him as a

30:20

more. Our higher potential Percy Butler is

30:22

the way that I should put it.

30:24

That's that's Craig Woodson out of Cal

30:26

Craig Woodson out of Cal in the

30:28

fifth round Currently projected to go there.

30:31

So that is our top seven That

30:33

is our big board for the safeties

30:35

our top seven safety prospects again number

30:37

one Nick Emanwari out of South Carolina

30:39

number two Malachi Starks out of Georgia

30:41

number three Yona Sankara out of Virginia

30:43

number four Lathan Ransom out of Ohio

30:46

State, number five Xavier Watson Notre Dame,

30:48

number six Andrew McCuba out of Texas,

30:50

seven Billy Bowman Jr. out of Oklahoma.

30:53

Our next episode, we are getting back to the

30:55

mock drafting and we are going to use our

30:57

big boards to help us through that mock draft.

30:59

So make sure you come back for that. In

31:01

the meantime, if you've got questions or comments, all

31:03

you got to do is text me to do

31:05

that. Become a lockdown commanders insider. We got a

31:07

new insider on Easter Sunday. We continue to get

31:09

two or three new insiders every single week, even

31:11

during the off season. I love it. You guys

31:14

are so dedicated. You're so thirsty for information and

31:16

conversation. Absolutely can't tell you how much

31:18

I appreciate being a part of it. So

31:20

the fact that we even got a new one

31:22

on Easter Sunday, I appreciate all of you.

31:24

But to become a Lockdown Commanders Insider, joinsubtext .com

31:26

slash Lockdown Commanders to do that today. For your

31:28

next listen, shout out to the Lockdown NFL

31:30

Mock Draft. You can find that. Unlocked on NFL

31:32

locked on NFL draft and locked on NFL

31:35

scouting with the draft dudes multiple places You can

31:37

find that mock draft of course you can

31:39

find on YouTube or wherever you're listening to this

31:41

show And as always thank you for making

31:43

locked on commanders your first listen of the day

31:45

every day every day's thanks for coming through

31:47

Every single day if you're out about please be

31:49

safe be kind so I can see you

31:51

right back here next time for another episode of

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