“‘The Beast,’ the world’s most wildly anticipated draft guide.” “It’s available —” “It is available now.” “— on ‘The Athletic.’” “OK.” “Fernando Mendoza is the consensus No. 1 quarterback. And, after that, it’s a bunch of mush. The three best players played non-premium positions. And that’s Sonny Styles, Jeremiyah Love and Caleb Downs.” “What about this Uar Bernard kid? Three hundred pounds, 6 percent body fat. This is an insane story.” “He’s basically testing like a top-end pass rusher in a defensive tackle’s body. You can model the combine scores to get into that. He tested at the top, like 100th percentile. No one basically better when you adjust for his size. Problem with him is he’s not played enough. Can he see the field in Year 1? Probably not because of how raw he is as a football player.” “Austin, you are the G.M. for the Las Vegas Raiders.” “Sorry.” “Who’s the No. 1 pick in the draft?” “Fernando Mendoza, quarterback in Indiana. Quarterback is so much more than the other positions. I think he’s the obvious pick there.” “Now, the way Mendoza speaks, he sounds like he could be ready to lead the Raiders as well. Jason, you are the G.M. of J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.” “So Arvell Reese seems like the prototypical edge rusher. Can do a lot of things dynamically. There’s a worry there that the domination factor isn’t there for a second pick. But the Jets need everything.” “Arvell Reese is a really, really, really good prospect. Like, we cannot lump him in with everyone else. And so that to me feels like a prize for the Jets, which unfortunately puts the Arizona Cardinals in a pretty bad spot, because they need offensive line help. I think I’d still probably draft an offensive lineman here. I think I’d go with Francis Mauigoa from Miami.” “Austin, you are now the G.M. for the Titans. Who are you picking?” “David Bailey from Texas Tech, pass rusher. He’s probably the best pure pass rusher right now.” “Now you’re going to the New York Giants. What are you choosing?” “Man, I want to go Sonny Styles.” “I think that’s totally fair.” “Yeah. It seems high though, right? What are you talking, 5?” “These are the conversations that teams are going to be having in the draft where it’s like, yeah, is it hard to pick an off-ball linebacker at 5? Yes. But we think he’s the best player.” “Don’t let this G.M. influence you too much. He’s now the G.M. of the Browns.” “I think you’re picking, in my opinion, between two guys here, Spencer Fano from Utah or Carnell Tate, the wide receiver from Ohio State. I love Spencer Fano. He’s another one of those guys. He moves incredibly well, but he’s got these tiny little T-rex arms. And he’s a little bit skinny for an offensive tackle. But he can play any position.”
