บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Antonio Williams: NFL Draft Night Two Recap | Drive to the Draft | Washington Commanders | NFL

everyone does these crazy boards where it's like I've done five hundred players, I've evaluated all these guys, but you know, in reality, most teams, Like when you listen to Todd mcshay's show, especially when he was like during the combine time he'd get GMS on, it's like, oh, we have eighty five guys on our board. We have one hundred and twenty five guys on our board. We have one hundred fifty guys on our board. And that's where that tier system slots in. There are guys on that board maybe that aren't for your team, right, Like they just don't fit. You think they're good players, but they just don't fit what you want to do. And that's where I think helping, like the tier system is important, right. So, Like, I think a good example is if you look at the receivers that went right before right after Washington, Like you get Malachi Fields in there, you get Ted Hurston, there, you get zacharyah Branch kind of in that same I think you went right before, but like that same kind of area of the draft, all of those players might not have fit what the commanders we're looking for, right So, Like even though it's like, oh my gosh, there are these four bide receivers, or they might not be the same evaluation. Like the person that Antonio Williams might be competing against may have been I'm just gonna throw an him out there, Emmanuel pregnant on the guard from Oregon, or may have been right, thefensive tackle regis from A and M. Like that might be the tier, right, it might not be. Hey, all of these receivers are in the tier. It's like this, these four the ten players are in this specific tier, and we're going to take one of them here at at seventy one. 00:06:15 Speaker 3: Okay. 00:06:15 Speaker 2: So the other thing I was thinking about when I was walking over here to do this with you, Logan is I was trying to think about clues that Ap leaves us when we talk to. 00:06:25 Speaker 1: Him, and I'm not it's not always funny when he doesn't when you. 00:06:27 Speaker 2: Look back, because it's and I don't necessarily mean specific players or specific positions. I'm talking about the clues he gives to how he approaches a draft. 00:06:38 Speaker 1: YEP. 00:06:38 Speaker 2: One of the things he said last year that we noticed and we commented on even on this show was that I don't like to be the one that I'm paraphrasing. I'm not putting the exact words. I don't remember exactly, but he doesn't fair to be caught in a run on a position. I want to start the run on a position, right, So what I mean by that is here were the picks leading up. Okay, so you add Sam Rouch, that tight end out of Stanford went to Chicago at sixty nine. At seventy was Romellow Height, the edge rusher out of Texas Tech with the forty nine ers, MARKL. Bell. 00:07:17 Speaker 1: Dude, and also just like such a Philly pick anyway. 00:07:20 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then and then it's Antonio Williams wide receiver Clemson here to Washington. 00:07:25 Speaker 1: And then guess what comes after that receiver? 00:07:28 Speaker 2: Three picks later, Malachi Fields pick after that, Caleb Douglas. Then a couple of picks after that, Zechariah Branch, Jacobe Lane, back to back, Chris burzil ted Hurst there start flying off the board, XAVI and Thomas Chris Bell ends out the wide receivers for the third round. There's a couple more picks going while recording this, but they start flying off the board. First person to take a receiver in the third round Washington kicks it off, right. So the point being, why is that important? Why is that a smart strategy? We talked about it last year, because now you're not panicking and like, it's like, no, we like this guy, we want to add to this room. We can get our pick of the litter basically, and then everybody else can hop on this train. 00:08:12 Speaker 1: Yep. And I think it's smart. I think it's again, it's just having a good This is where I think, like after watching, after doing a big board, writing the reports, doing a horizontal board, and really like diving in this year, I think, you know, I went back and looked. I think it was right around two hundred prospects. Right. This is the first year where I've watched the first three rounds and I've watched every single player at some point, whether it's at a bowl game, whatever. And so I think the funny and the amazing thing or the funny is wrong word. The interesting thing about Adam Peters and the way he handles the draft is he seems to have a really good feel for what's gonna happen, where people are gonna come off the board, positions are gonna have runs. And so for him to be sitting there at seventy one and he's like, you know, we let the thing come to us, Like he doesn't really know who's gonna be there, right, he doesn't know if he's going to start the run, but to kind of have the confidence to be like, hey, here we are, I think this second, So that would be the Obviously there's a run on receivers in the first round, there's a run in the early second, and hey, we're going to be that run in the third round, starting with US at seventy one, and I feel like we're gonna get our guy like that. 00:09:13 Speaker 2: Just that's where to intuition of knowing when to take a shot. 00:09:17 Speaker 1: Yes, And I think that's the thing that's so fun about watching these teams and being like, oh, that's interesting that Philly traded up in the first round for Makaya Lemon or that's really interesting that you know, the Raiders went the guy from Arizona. I'm forgetting his name the safety at the moment, what doesn't matter, but like, just and I'm gonna get the safety where I want him. I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna make this guy. And this seems like a little bit of a reach, but like when you think about it from the teams teams perspective, that's actually probably the best player on their board. You know, it's just just that feel and kind of knowing the different gms, knowing the teams, knowing the needs and the amount of work that goes into that. I'm always this

year especially just blown away by it. Quite honestly. 00:09:56 Speaker 3: Yeah, he has great feel for it. 00:09:59 Speaker 2: I I should have said something to him the other day because he came in to do an interview with you guys. You can catch that out catch that one the Commander's YouTube channel, and he was very cordial and nice. I know he was probably very busy as well, but he was very nice to stop by after making the Sunny Styles pick and talk to you guys about it. And I just should have said something to him, like, man, just love watching you work, like honestly, because like it's just like you said, I don't think he's sitting there going I want to start a run like he's not thinking that way. It's just he he has such a good feel to know that I am not ever going to put myself in a position where I feel like I have to panic pick or stress pick. It's gonna be I'm gonna feel comfortable, right. It's like a batter when they step into the cage and they're really feeling it. You're not overthinking their swing. It's just a nice, mooth swing, solid contact. Before you know what, you start doing that, the ball jumps out of the park. You're not even trying, right, And that's what it feels like to him right now. To me is because it's like he's sunny. Styles fallen to him. Easy pick right. It just feels easy too. And then you get into this round and it's like we got our pick of the guys we want. The run didn't start yet, so I'm sitting right here, I get the guy I want easy, right, But if you waited till it's because we had this conversation too. I know I'm talking a lot here, but we had this conversation before we started our when the clock show, I was just like pitching you ideas of maybe what you could talk about. One of the things is like, receivers haven't really started to run yet. Could you hold out maybe get something else? 00:11:26 Speaker 3: It's another run. 00:11:27 Speaker 2: But what a silly idea of me thinking about it after hearing how Adam Peters operates and if I place if I just used him as a model, No, don't do that. 00:11:36 Speaker 1: And I think you both, you know, I both had a little conversation there, so I'm gonna give you your flowers. Also here, it's like, you know, the commanders in this situation don't have a four thrond pick, right, so like, could we wait on a receiver yet? But it's not going to be in this it's not gonna be in this tier that we're talking about. So you know, he's probably got a couple of people identified that he likes. Here's the guy, we're gonna make the pick, and we're gonna let it go right and again instead of kind of it's like trust your board, trust the flow of the draft, and it is it is cool to watch, I think when especially you know, all these guys are pretty smart, and I think as analytics have kind of become more pervasive in the draft space, you see like more consistency in terms of picks. Right, nobody's kind of there's no crazy reaches, there's no outlandish moves. Like we talked a little about the Caleb Banks thing before the show, like that's a little bit crazy, but we both get it. Right, he's maybe the most talented defensive tackle who went to Minnesota and the. 00:12:27 Speaker 3: Draft fit Foot's fine, he's explosive. 00:12:29 Speaker 1: Right, So, but it's just cool to watch this process, especially in this draft year or this draft class, where it's a little what's the word I'm looking for it, like a little flat, you know, like there's not a huge consensus on the players, which is way different than I think than from last year. 00:12:44 Speaker 2: All Right, so let's actually move on here and talk about the pick. And it was Antonio Williams, the wide receiver out of Clemson. He's five eleven, one eighty seven, and I think the thing about him is that he led Clemson in receptions last few years. He was productive there and he's I don't want to say he's a slot because he lined up outside every now and then, but you would think it's a slot type guy because of the five to eleven, because of the size, but he did at Clemson go outside. He's twitched up, man, like that's this thing, and he can cut it when it comes to route running like that's his superpower. 00:13:17 Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think you're a hundred percent right. And I think to me, I've got to get out of this. And I said this when we did the Receiver Show, and I thought I was out of it. But I'm not out of it. I'm still I still get intoxicated, seduced by the big wide receivers. I just I can't help myself. 00:13:32 Speaker 3: I'm never going to be out of it. 00:13:33 Speaker 1: I can't help myself. But because every year I'm like, what plays in the NFL. Yeah, it's good separators. And when you go down the list, like obviously Makaya Lemons, you've got I'm trying to think of Casey concept she On, I'm like, oh, I was hot. Remember I was high on Casey except On and then Antonio. I'm like, oh, I don't know he's but he's the best separator of those guys. Like the short area acceleration, deceleration, the route running feel and nuance. Like I was watching him for Boston College. I remember this vividly, Like he takes kind of this double stick inside release. He's running a high cross going from left to right. He pushes vertical, and as he's pushing vertical, he kind of takes a like a half step of deceleration. Like dB who's a hook player, thinks he's running out, sits on it. He bursts forward, takes a nice hangle on the break and doesn't run to darkness to get covered, but is able to fit in this nice one of the quarterbacks able to hit him, And I was like, that is the subtlety there is so good And then you watch him run a comeback and his ability to I think it was versus versus duke. He's running what I would call like a circus out, so you kind of go up, you sell the post, and then off that inside forty five degree stem you snap it down and run an out off of that. And that is a hard route to run, and usually people get bogged down, they get sticky, and he did not bat a

frickin' eye and ran out of that thing, and the quarterback actually under threw the ball. He would have been a touchdown, like he burned the guy so bad. And so I'm mad at myself obviously in this evaluation, because what plays in the league Jack Smith and Jagoba pukuin Akua, you know, Cooper Cup, name your kind of mecha and Buka like these kind of six foot two hundred ish pound guys that aren't blazing fast, but they separate and they've got feel and he's got that, and so I just wish I'm just kind of kicking myself because I'm like, why didn't I think about that? You know, why wasn't that a bigger priority for me? 00:15:25 Speaker 3: You know what? I have a I think I know why. 00:15:27 Speaker 2: It is why, And it's because that you're hunting unicorns, man, because like it feels like maybe this is not true, but these guys that are six foot five ten six foot that are good route runners, especially with how flag football is now with getting these guys to be pretty clean, it's like there's a lot of them out. 00:15:50 Speaker 1: There that's fair. There really is that's fair. 00:15:52 Speaker 2: And so it's really hard to find the big true ex receiver with speed and route running, and so they're not out there often. 00:16:03 Speaker 3: So you're hoping you hit one because. 00:16:04 Speaker 2: When you hit one, it's like maybe now maybe the league's changing on us. 00:16:10 Speaker 3: We don't know it well. 00:16:11 Speaker 1: I think the good I think a good example of this is everyone thought, oh, that guy's Elijah Sharrat or that guy's, oh Denzel Boston, but the league showed us that that guy was Ashley Desaun Stribbling. And when you go back and watch his tape, he's a great route runner. He's physical, he runs a four to three, he's six' two he's two hundred and fifteen, Pounds like he is that, guy, right he went in the second. Round he was the first pick of the second, round, Right and so like that's where it's like we saw that. One we talked about him quite a bit on the, show but it's the other it's that other body type that's, right you, know five ten six' one that kind Of TWEETER like i got It With, jeremy bernard but this guy, WAS like i just didn't HAVE the i just should, have trusted trusted. The evaluation so That's what i'm kind of kicking myself over because when you, watch him. HE'S excellent i think the other thing that's really frustrating about his tape specifically is the quarterback Play. At, clemson yes and he, was underutilized AND so i think that's a really. FRUSTRATING points i think fantasy this, is like oh well what is what? Is he AND what i would say is he could BE your z where you're off, the ball you move around. The formation he could be your true slot and he can be a chain mover for you in. That capacity think kind Of Like, jordan reied where we're going to get your Good matchups we're going to motion you to bunch as you can run, these choices, these angles these you know kind of quick outs off those like nice tight bunches, and STEMS and i think he's gonna be a huge. Weapon HERE and i think the other thing about HIM that i want to bring up, To, you jason, is LIKE because I Like malckye fields, a LOT and, i, thought well maybe this is the, pick here kind of this, big perimeter, you know boxy out kind. Of receiver and the thing that caught my attention about it, was like which is easier for the quarterback to? Throw to because when you Look At, antonio williams he is, definitively, open right he has shake shook. The, guy yeah he's, wide open he's. In grass and So if i'm, the quarterback like. That's Easy With MacKaye fields, or uh You Know, ted hurst you're kind of throwing to a spot and trusting their frame. To WIN so i, feel, like man if we get a really good Separator Like, antonio, williams like it just makes it easier for the quarterback to kind of see some of. Those, Throws, right, yeah no. 00:18:09 Speaker 2: You're right and the NEXT thing i want to, ask then is how does he fit in to the wide receiver room as it? Currently is so You have, terry, McLaurin right and then you have. Lut McCaffrey You Have jalen lane who they just b, Picked Up Drealen Burke's dami Brown Now. Antonio williams so this group now has there's a lot of young guys, in, here right that are mixed In with Diami, and TERRY who i would call pretty seasoned Betters, even, Diami right so how does he fit into? 00:18:42 Speaker 3: This group what's? His role do you feel like they're All? 00:18:46 Speaker 2: After terry they're all kind of, bunched together and it's like who wants to be? 00:18:51 Speaker 3: That two or do you even approach it? 00:18:53 Speaker 2: That way and does it become like twenty twenty four Where it's oz And It's jamison prouder out there and, it's like so it's Just, good kerry and then pick your poison based on the matchup. 00:19:08 Speaker 1: Over Here it's it's a really good question and SOMETHING that i think we're gonna kind of see as spring. Goes on BUT what i, will say in watching him and thinking about the guys that, are HERE is i hate saying this because he hasn't PLAYED an nfl, Game yet but from thinking about the college Film Of, trailing burkes because we did his, evaluation right thinking about the college Film of, luke McCaffrey the college Film With, jayalen lane even the college Film With, DOWNY brown i remember doing. His tape he at this stage in his career is by far the best, route runner best technical. Route, runner well coaches are going to. Love, that yeah they're down on. The field they want that on. The field SO what i would say, IS like i think you'll probably start, The season, i'm ASSUMING and I wish i would have taken better notes about. His BLOCKING and i went back and looked while we were waiting to, set UP and. I couldn't i didn't like make a note, of, It Right so i'm a little bit frustrated. About that BUT what i would think Is it terry would BE, er x he would BE, or z and then in, certain situations this is what they Did. In detroit

you Bring, in diami you bring In Trail, in burks you Bring In jalen lane for that different kind of speed set on, the perimeter Or even. Luke mccaffreck we saw Him hav an exposed to play last year Against, The, chargers right you bring in that, skill set let him move to the slot and let him work. That, Matchup RIGHT so i think that's what you're getting here is a guy that can do both and because of his. Route, RUNNING really, i mean like, You know i'm excited to Talk to tan about him some more just To get tanna's take. On him, but like the route running is something that that's what plays and he's. Got it so you want to run a comeback on, the perimeter you run a four, to four like a legit four to four to one at, the combine and you're the best route runner in the field work, Like obviously so like that comeback is. Gonna win i'm pretty confident. Right right the thing you have to be a little bit aware of he's a, Smaller frame like how does he handle. Press coverage the Thing About david, blouse offense which is Again The ben, johnson derivative is they get in the, tight splits they get in the, tight bunches and what defenses cannot do in those situations. Is press so now we've kind of created an environment where this maybe not this huge physical hulking presence can be successful in both areas The Way Amina Saint brow brown. 00:21:10 Speaker 3: Is right, Right right, So Man i'm i'm. 00:21:13 Speaker 2: PRETTY excited, I mean i think we addressed a quote unquote, need right And then i'm looking forward to what's coming down. THE line, i mean what do you see? Moving Forward i'm i'm moving On From. Antony williams do you have anything else you want? To say just. REAL quickly i don't want to cut. 00:21:28 Speaker 1: You. SHORT yeah i think the other, thing too is just to kind of float out THERE is i think, people, are, oh well who's going to be this difference making. Perimeter PLAYER and i know it's just. Draft night we Just Saw, antonio WILLIAMS but i just want to remind fans Of The brandon ayuk scenario and if that guy's coming, in HERE because i think there's a strong correlation and if you wanted a true quote unquote two and a guy in, THE slot i think that might be something just to keep an. Eye on i'm not saying that's. Gonna, happen yeah we Have no just to, be, CLEAR eye i have no no. Inside base we've heard nothing. 00:22:00 Speaker 3: About it we are not. 00:22:01 Speaker 2: Reporting anything so it's it's speculation because of how a room could be built because Even remove brandon iuk, Just there we're they're not done building. 00:22:13 Speaker 1: This team after. 00:22:14 Speaker 3: The draft there's still a whole nother wave Of free. 00:22:18 Speaker 1: One of THE reason i bring that up is because, You Know john comm's kind of been slowly reporting. On that nikki jib. Like that our local beat has a reporter. ON that i don't think that's a terrible thing to consider here as they continue to build. A, Team. 00:22:29 Speaker 3: Right so it's not this isn't the, final? Product? 00:22:31 Speaker 1: Correct right? 00:22:32 Speaker 3: All right so now moving. 00:22:33 Speaker 2: Forward in, the draft what are you looking? Forward to who are guys that, are, like Man maybe. I'm targeting are you thinking at this point of Like maybe i'm moving up. 00:22:44 Speaker 3: A little bit or down a. 00:22:45 Speaker 2: Little BIT and i don't, MEAN rounds i, mean like are you willing at this point to jump up. 00:22:50 Speaker 3: Maybe ten spots to get a Guy. 00:22:52 Speaker 2: Like logan PAULS? In gm what are what is your strategy? Moving forward are you like, This guy i'm gonna try and get them no? Matter what are you still doing to let the draft come to? 00:23:02 Speaker 1: Me, THING yeah i think you're gonna kind of play to let the draft come into. Me thing, but obviously like if you get an inkling that another, PERSON'S interested i might move up, three spots. Pickswap something, you. 00:23:11 Speaker 3: Know at this point the price is not what it would. 00:23:14 Speaker 1: Be early the price is. Nothing right SO like i, think about, for example Like Like eric GENTRY from usc, and, like again a very. Unique prospect he's, six seven he's two hundred, twenty pounds kind of a, nickel, linebacker flexible special teams kind. Of guy and you're LIKE if i, Like him like, YOU know i haven't met with him personally and had an interview, with him but ran a four four five right at his. Pro day he's this. Freak athlete he's got thirty six thirty six, inch arms which is unbelievable for the. Linebacker SPOT and i Think About dan quinn, and like, You Know, spears jennings the Safety from oklahoma who we, talked ABOUT who i, absolutely love like if he's kind of floating around in, there again special teams, depth piece kind of that high bred. Defense Piece jeff caldwell's ANOTHER guy i would kind Of call acinnati wide, receiver again who's? This again the film is up. And down i'm not saying he's gonna be Like a hall of fame or anything. Like that but he's six five and, a half he's two hundred. Fifteen pounds you're run a four to three at. The combine he's got a forty one Inch, for like. 00:24:10 Speaker 2: What you're, saying is when you start getting into the later rounds of, the draft you find a couple. Of, outliers yes in like an outlying thing that. 00:24:17 Speaker 3: They do, it's, like, oh, maybe. 00:24:18 Speaker 1: Maybe maybe maybe let's take, a SHOT like, I think and this is one of THE things i think ap like literally. Has been i've been so impressed with how he's handled the, later rounds specifically in. The. DRAFT right i Think about, JORDAN McGee i Think About, jean baptiste these guys that are long traitsy. Fast bills another great example Of This, caine madrano where it's, like you there's warts to who you are and, your game but you you are a special, athlete who with given the, right environment given the right, work ethic given the, right cultivation can be an absolute stud and like you

can be. A starter and that's really what, to me you're hunting. For now, it's like let's let's take some, lottery, Tickets right let's find some captains let's find some guys with. Big RAS's let's find some guys with good. College TAPE but I think kane is a, perfect, example right, you know four, four six he's, sixty three he's two hundred and thirty. Five, pounds again converted receiver, to safety now, to linebacker and, it's, like like what's. The issue not the, greatest tackler, but man he, can run he, can cover he's got some splash plays. On defense maybe we can foster this. INTO something i think that's kind OF what i would be. Identifying here and then the one position just to just to keep an eye on his interior offensive line just. 00:25:30 Speaker 3: Down there it's always good to protect your Investment in Jade and dan's. Always. 00:25:34 Speaker 1: Good YEAH and i think the other, thing too Is like philly does this, every YEAR and i love This from philly is when they just, are like you know what we're gonna do is we're going to draft big tradecy guys and see if we can. Develop, them yeah, And yeah adam has also. Done that like there was the Guy done dunwar from A from howard who they brought in on a ON a udfa kind of tag a couple of. Years ago he was, six seven, you know to, sixty eight like just and just let's see, what, Happens RIGHT so i think that's kind of, what again same thing with the. OFFENSIVE line i want to find guys that have. Developmental upside that's targeting the rest of. 00:26:06 Speaker 2: The. Draft, Yeah, absolutely man what a fun draft. So far we're gonna do one more of, these shows just, one more and it will be at the end of. 00:26:13 Speaker 3: The at the end of the. 00:26:16 Speaker 2: Draft itself we're not gonna record. It tomorrow we'll record It on monday and it will come Out, on monday our normal. Release schedule but it will be a. Complete recap The reason i'm saying that is because we want to see how maybe some priority udfas. 00:26:31 Speaker 3: Pan out that's a. 00:26:32 Speaker 2: Great idea so it will be a complete draft recap, because yes there's seven rounds to, the draft but then there are some PRIORITY u a DFAs that come in that can be impactful. 00:26:41 Speaker 3: As well so we'll talk. 00:26:41 Speaker 1: About, It YEAH and i also wanted to just say for people who listen to, the show we only got one, more left that we really appreciate you supporting. This show this show, does really, really well and it's awesome because this is a total labor of Love. FOR jason, i like we do the, You Know, shrine bowl we Do The. Senior bowl we're away from, Our families we're watching all. This film we're gett all these prosacs. Boks together so it's. REALLY cool i think when you guys, are, like, hey man really. Appreciate this this really helps you with my off season, or whatever like it's it's a it's, because again this is a total labor of love for us in terms of grind and tape and getting ready FOR The. Nfl, draft yeah this is a. 00:27:16 Speaker 2: Passion project like and there's nobody here in the content building, that, said hey who wants to do a? Draft podcast it was just YOU and i talked about draft a lot and prospects, a lot and it, was like let's do it this on. Tap market let's just. Do It And, ryan yokum, my boss our boss was, very supportive and it, was, like yeah let's see what we. 00:27:38 Speaker 3: Got here just. 00:27:38 Speaker 2: Try something we, tried it it, gain steamed we, got FOLLOWERS which i was super excited about and honestly. Didn't expect AND then i, just, like yeah this is extra, for, me right this is not. 00:27:50 Speaker 1: A part it's not a part. 00:27:53 Speaker 2: Of our, job description if, you will but we love it and so seeing how, it's grown seeing the people that we've made friends with along, the way and especially the fans that watch that comment talk to us, about it. IT'S awesome i love. Doing it season four next. Year HOPEFULLY like, i said, This Year, Shrine Bowl, senior bowl and, the combine like we're getting support now from the organization to keep. This going is pretty. Pretty exciting but that's all because of you. Guys listening because of, you guys, you know giving us an hour. 00:28:27 Speaker 1: A week we really. Appreciate it thank you. 00:28:29 Speaker 2: So, much yeah so, Real Quickly Sonny styles, round, One Great Laramie tunsel round two basically, right now not giving And Then antonio williams. 00:28:41 Speaker 1: Pretty good, pretty good? Pretty good, All. 00:28:44 Speaker 2: Right so thanks so much guys. For listening we'll have. One more it comes Out on monday and logan in. 00:28:49 Speaker 1: The meantime. That's it