Steve Serby puts NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah on the clock for some Q&A ahead of Thursday’s kickoff to this season’s draft, which will be held remotely.
Q: You’re leaning Jedrick Wills to the Giants with the fourth pick. Why him over the other two tackles you like, Mekhi Becton and Tristan Wirfs?
A: Those are kind of the whispers you hear around the league. I really like Wills a lot. I think he’s the most ready to play right now. So when you look at kind of the weird circumstances we’re in, that’s part of it. He’s got better tape than Wirfs. [But] I would take Becton, I like him the most.
Q: What if Isaiah Simmons is graded way high on the draft board of Giants GM Dave Gettleman? Does he still take an offensive tackle?
A: I would think, when you look at their situation, I can’t speak to where they would have those guys, but for me, I have a high enough grade on Mekhi Becton. Isaiah Simmons is graded higher, but it’s close enough to me that I would just take the tackle because I want to protect my quarterback. If you think that that’s a Hall of Fame player versus a solid starter, you take the Hall of Fame player. That could be the decision that he’s faced with there, but I think that’s a little bit closer between those two guys … maybe some other people, too.
Q: Between your three top offensive tackles — Becton, Wills and Wirfs — and Simmons, you mean?
A: Yeah. It’s close enough where I would probably just take the tackle.
Q: Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold: Where would they rank in this quarterback class?
A: Sam probably would be in the conversation for me. I gave him and Joe Burrow the same grade, so that would be a close one. I think Joe would probably get the nod just because he was a little bit cleaner, the way he played. Sam’s got more arm talent. Daniel Jones to me would have been behind Burrow and Tua [Tagovailoa], but ahead of [Justin] Herbert. He would have been right there.
Q: How important is it for Jets GM Joe Douglas to get Darnold a No. 1 receiver as opposed to continuing to build up the offensive line?
A: I think they need to get a blue-chip player. I think that both of those need to be met. But what you don’t want to do is reach for an offensive lineman at the expense of an elite receiver, or do the opposite. When you look at the grand plan there, Joe’s got a lot of years on his [six-year] contract, so they’re gonna be patient. The goal is in three years, when you look back, you want to see that you’ve accumulated a bunch of blue-chip players. That’s gonna be the challenge, is trying to move around the board, not just in the first round, but in other rounds, to make sure you can maximize that. I think the offensive line is the priority. If it’s close, you definitely go with the offensive line over the receiver in my opinion. But I won’t be in the business of reaching for somebody you don’t love just to take an offensive lineman.
Q: How many first-round grades do you have overall in this draft?
A: It probably cuts off for me at about 29.
Q: Sleepers?
A: [Louisiana Tech cornerback] Amik Robertson. He’s got a ton of production, he’s really tough, he’s undersized [5-foot-9, 183 pounds], but he’s gonna be a Day 1 starting nickel. He’s a fun one. I don’t know that he’s a huge sleeper, but a guy like [Boise State receiver] John Hightower, he’s got big-time speed. He’s a home-run hitter, and they use him some in the run game on fly sweeps.
Q: The Panthers just signed Christian McCaffrey to a $16 million per-year deal. Should the Giants eventually re-sign Saquon Barkley?
A: I think you can be patient. I’d be more likely to try and stretch this out as long as you can. Get to the franchise portion of the deal, the fifth-year option, then get to the franchise tag, then make those decisions at that point in time. I don’t think with the nature of that position that you need to get out in front of it as you would at any position. I want to have more time to evaluate before I’m locking myself into long-term deals. He’s a special, special player and that offense runs through him, that’s why they need to surround him with some studs so they can start winning and not wasting all of his prime carries on a bad football team.
Q: What if Douglas wanted to trade Jamal Adams? What would be a fair deal?
A: I don’t know, that’s a tough one because of not only what kind of player he is, but what he brings from a leadership standpoint. It would take an awful lot. You’re talking about a [first-rounder] and a couple of other things, whether that’s a 1, a player and another pick, or a 1 and 2 pick. That’s gonna be a tall asking price.
Q: Who is one guy over the years you evaluated as “can’t miss” who missed?
A: The one that I always come back to is the [Seahawks] linebacker from Wake Forest, Aaron Curry. He was a clean player, high character, intelligent, super-productive. He was like Khalil Mack, but at Wake Forest.
Q: Do you expect fewer trades in this pandemic draft?
A: Not in the first round, maybe. I think Day 3 you could see that where the time is short. Maybe a little bit of a reduction in trades there, but the first round, I don’t think many people understand that those trades are all agreed to before the draft even starts. When you’re on the clock, you call and say, “Hey, do you want to do it?” All the negotiating has already taken place, so there’s no need to have a long, drawn-out phone call. It’s just a simple, “Do you want to do this, yes or no?”
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Q: What is the biggest lesson you learned from observing former Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome when you were with the Ravens?
A: I would say Ozzie is the best listener that I’ve ever been around. He hears everything, not only from the players, when he’s talking to the prospects. … If something doesn’t sound right, he can then ask the right question. For a guy with a gold jacket in his closet, his humility he displayed as a leader was something that I’ll always remember.
Q: What made him such an elite evaluator?
A: He had a feel for it, and he didn’t get hung up on numbers — what this guy ran, what this guy jumped. … He really, really had a good eye for it, he trusted his eyes. And he knew kind of what the makeup looked like, and he had that vision of what he wanted it to look like. I think some of that comes from playing in those Browns games that were real grimy and physical and tough. He could expose a fraud and he could identify the authentic deal. They still do it to this day, they talk about guys that “play like Ravens.” That kind of comes from Ozzie.
Q: Joe Douglas?
A: Joe grew up in that. Joe’s a PhD in Ozzie Newsome’s way of scouting and looking at players. I think you’ll see a lot of the same types of players and the same types of leadership there. He was very close with Ozzie. Ozzie was definitely a mentor to Joe, so I think you’ll see a lot of that in his DNA as a GM.
Q: What is the biggest lesson you learned from observing former NFL Network colleague and current Raiders GM Mike Mayock?
A: Mike’s a great example of just not shortcuts. Getting your arms around the draft is such a big task. You’ve gotta start early, you’ve gotta stay disciplined, and you’ve gotta do the work. I’ll always have tremendous respect for the way he attacked this job, and I’m trying to do the same thing. The other piece of advice that he shared with me early on, which is the same advice I was given as a scout, which is, “Make your own mistake.” There’s nothing worse than being swayed and changing your opinion on something for popularity’s sake.
Q: What are your favorite memories of the young Mel Kiper Jr.?
A: (Laugh) Everybody goes back to the spat there with [former Colts GM Bill] Tobin. But my favorite memory from Mel has nothing to do with what he’s done on TV. Mel put me [as] his last quarterback in his draft guide my senior year. I had met him a year or two before, through [ESPN’s] Chris Mortensen. It was 100 percent just because Mel’s a good human being and a nice guy that he put my name at the bottom of that list.
Q: Then you can relate to Mr. Irrelevant?
A: (Laugh) I was Mel’s Mr. Irrelevant. That’s who I was.
Q: What was the scouting report on you when you were the Appalachian State quarterback from 1998-2000?
A: I don’t think he even had one. I think at that point in time, you had the list where you get a summary, you get a paragraph, and then there’s like “and here’s some more names.” I was definitely the last name on the list. I don’t think I got any kind of a write-up there.
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Q: Give me an evaluation of quarterback Daniel Jeremiah.
A: He is undersized, competitive, decent athlete … just not strong arm … the arm is very underwhelming. And also had some durability issues, he was always nicked up. He’s somebody you’d bring in for an internship, you wouldn’t want to bring him to camp.
Q: Could Jarrett Stidham be the guy in New England? What would you tell Patriots fans?
A: He could be, he’s really talented. I had a chance to go watch him throw as an Elite 11 counselor a couple of years ago in Los Angeles. … Tua was out there, he was throwing, a bunch of the guys from last year’s draft, they were out there. And [Stidham] threw it better than any of those kids. He played in that goofy offense at Auburn. There’s an adjustment period for him, and it’s gonna take some time, but I think if you’re just looking at the physical talent, he is very talented.
Q: The 2004 draft was your first working draft when you were with the Ravens as a scout. Do you think all three quarterbacks — Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger — are Hall of Famers?
A: I do, I do. Look, I’ve had a front-row seat calling these Charger games for the last two years — I know last year didn’t go the way they wanted — but I think Rivers, the longevity that he had and the high level that he played at, I do think he’s a Hall of Famer. I think the other two guys, when you look at what they’ve gone with the Super Bowls, I think that’s enough. So I think all of ’em are Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Q: Did you ever imagine a career on television?
A: No, I loved the draft … but I just had no idea how you would ever get there. Maybe a faint, distant thought. It just kind of happened.
Q: Your father David was a huge influence.
A: My dad’s a pastor at a large church [Shadow Mountain Community Church] in San Diego, and he’s got a radio and television ministry, so he’s traveled all over the country and all over the world speaking. He still, though, made it a priority to be at all of my sporting events. I think he missed one of my high school football games in four years, and that’s because he was getting chemotherapy treatment for cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. And my college career, he would miss very few games. He was always very supportive, always there with some of the doors he was able to open for me professionally, because he spoke at a lot of chapels and got an opportunity for me to be around NBA All-Star Games, he was chaplain for the San Diego Clippers when I was little. The reason I’m in television where I am right now is because of his friendship and relationship with Chris Mortensen, and Mort was the [one] who opened a lot of door for me to give me opportunity.
Q: Who was your boyhood idol?
A: I was a big fan of two teams — I loved the Chargers, living in San Diego, and I also loved the Dallas Cowboys. I went through some bad years with both teams in the ’80s. Junior Seau was the guy in San Diego, and Troy Aikman was kind of my guy for the Cowboys. Baseball-wise, you grow up in San Diego, Tony Gwynn is as big as it gets. He was worth watching a lot of bad baseball games to see Tony Gwynn every night.
Q: How did you feel about the Peyton Manning-Ryan Leaf draft in 1998?
A: I was young, but I just remember thinking, “Wow, these guys are gonna be kind of the faces of the NFL for the next 15 years.” It’s such a great example of what the draft is, it’s kind of the ultimate crapshoot, right? To get one that’s gonna be a Hall of Famer on the Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks, and the other one that kind of flamed out.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Peter from the Bible; Dr. J, because I liked him as a little kid. I would love to hear some stories from him; Ronald Reagan, with all that he did, from Hollywood to Governor to President. I think he’d have some interesting stories.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Fletch.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Tom Cruise.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Jennifer Lawrence.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: U2.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Mexican — carne asada.
Q: What do you hope the viewers will say about Daniel Jeremiah?
A: I hope they say this guy gave us some good information … had some strong opinions. But more than anything else, they can tell this guy has a lot of fun. You can tell he really loves what he’s doing … and it’s not a chore [to watch]. This is an unbelievable opportunity that he has, and you could see on his face.
Q: Mayock made the leap to Raiders GM. How about you becoming a GM?
A: It would just have to be the perfect situation at the right timing. My kids are still growing up here, and I love being able to be at all their events and their sporting events without missing games. It’s not the right time right now. That’s something that maybe down the road you’d consider. But I’ve got a pretty good gig right now, I’m gonna enjoy this one.
Q: Some GMs were interested in postponing the draft because of the pandemic. Do you think it’s a good idea to have it now?
A: Well, there’s not gonna be a perfect time to have it with where the world is right now. I see both sides of it. I understand the concern in the folks that wanted to move it back, but I also understand the fact that there’s not gonna be a perfect time to do this, and you’re not putting anyone in harm’s way with the way we’re pulling it off. I think at the end of the day, we’ll look back on it and say that it was the right move. First of all, it’s gonna give us something to focus on that’s gonna be uplifting and fun, and it’s not gonna put anybody in any danger.
Q: Will Roger Goodell be wearing a suit?
A: (Laugh) That’s a great call. I don’t know. … I don’t know if he goes business casual. I can tell you one thing, I will be coat and tie up top, more than likely jeans and flip flops down below, but nobody’ll ever know that, so don’t tell anybody.
Q: Von Miller has COVID-19.
A: That’s scary. It shows you that this can reach anywhere. This disease does not care about who you are, where you come from, what your income is, what area of the country you’re in, your health, it doesn’t matter. It’s a great reminder to all of us to just be as careful as we possibly can, and hopefully we get on the other side of this thing.
Q: It will be different starting golf back up as opposed to football.
A: Golf I would think would be the easiest one, maybe golf and racecar driving, right? I feel hopeful from the standpoint that we have a lot of bright people working on this thing and trying to come up with a solution. There’s time here fortunately for the NFL before everything would crack up, so we’ll see what changes happen between now and then.
Q: How bizarre would a football season without fans be?
A: Look, I would take football on a high school field with no fans, just to have it back. I know it would be different, and it would take some adjusting to, but if they figure out a way to just get football back in any capacity, you won’t get that same energy you get in a packed stadium, but you’ve been to some of these joint practices and some of them that are closed, and I’ve been there when these two teams are on a practice field and it’s hot, and there’s no fans there, in a closed practice, and it can get pretty intense and the football can be really good. If that’s what it ended up coming down to, I would take it.