Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Digs Deep on Three Potential Silver and Black Targets for the 2024 NFL Draft with a Former Super Bowl Champion Insider Scouting Report
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00:00 Hello everybody and welcome back to the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:06 I'm your host, Hondo Carpenter.
00:08 It's great to have you with us today.
00:09 I'm really thrilled.
00:10 Our next guest is not only an accomplished football player.
00:14 He is one of only a handful of players who won a world ball with me at with
00:21 Amsterdam admirals and won a super bowl, super bowl 40 that was played in Detroit
00:26 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks.
00:29 He's also a Spartan dog.
00:31 He's one of our big guys.
00:32 He is of course, Yulish Booker.
00:35 And let me tell you another thing about him.
00:37 He is also a minister with the church of God in Christ and he's a great friend.
00:41 I love him, respect him.
00:43 I honor him.
00:44 He is one of the good guys and it's a pleasure to have him here.
00:47 Yulish, thank you, my friend.
00:49 Great to be here, Hondo.
00:51 Great to be here.
00:52 All right.
00:53 Got several things I want to talk about.
00:55 Obviously your expansive career.
00:58 You know, the game of football, your nephew is a star on
01:02 the university of Alabama team.
01:04 We're going to talk about him in a minute, but I want to talk about some Alabama
01:08 players in the draft because I know you personally, of course, I know a lot of
01:11 the people who used to be part of the staff and the football support because
01:14 of our relationship with Nick, but I want to get your opinion because I trust you.
01:20 I want to start with JC Latham.
01:22 This is a young man.
01:24 He's monsters size.
01:27 And he's six, six, you were six, seven, but he's, you know, you were three 20.
01:31 This kid's three 60, very nimble feet.
01:35 People really like him.
01:37 I had a couple of people tell me they think he could be the best right
01:40 tackle pure right tackle in the draft.
01:42 There's obviously a couple of guys rated ahead of them as
01:44 tackles, but pure right tackle.
01:46 You've watched him.
01:48 You've seen him a lot.
01:48 You'll wish you played the position.
01:50 Can you give us a scouting report on what you think of JC Latham?
01:53 Yeah.
01:55 I think as it pertains to Latham, Latham has the size.
02:00 He has the experience.
02:03 I'm planning to SEC a kid based out of Wisconsin.
02:07 I believe that's where he's from.
02:09 I met Latham when he was in high school at IMG.
02:12 As you know, he and Tyler played at IMG together for a while.
02:17 And so that's what kind of got my attention to Latham as a younger kid.
02:24 And I just watched him as he matriculated to Alabama and
02:28 progressed year in and year out.
02:29 He has all the, the, the physical attributes, you know, as you know,
02:34 how do we say in football, he has the things that you just can't buy.
02:37 And that size, you know, or recreate, he has a size six, six, six.
02:42 I think, I think Latham was probably around the three 30, three 35.
02:49 And I'm sure he'll, he may drop in preparation for the draft.
02:54 But he has, you know, he had big hands.
02:56 And I think as he goes through this process and gets what they get with
03:04 the offensive line coach, I think he's had about two, he's had two
03:09 offensive line coaches at Alabama.
03:11 And that's in Doug Marone and Wafer, I forget the last guy's name.
03:22 But at any rate I think JC, he definitely has what it takes
03:26 to handle the right side.
03:27 As he goes along, he'll get more tools in his toolbox that will help him.
03:33 As far as preparing and getting ready for the next level.
03:38 And obviously there'll be, there will be an adjustment, small adjustment,
03:41 because, you know, when you go from college to the league, everything
03:45 moves a couple of ticks faster.
03:48 You know, you think you're, you know, you're King, you're King on the throne
03:52 in college, but when you get to the league, those guys move a lot faster
03:56 or just a couple of ticks faster.
03:57 It seems like a lot faster, but you have to program your mind
04:00 mentally to catch up and speed up.
04:02 You know, you'll appreciate this being a Spartan dog, but, uh, TJ Duck at one
04:08 time told me, I asked him what was the biggest difference from college to pro.
04:12 He said, first day in pads as a pro was the first time he'd been caught from
04:17 behind, of course, as you know, he ran a four, three, four, four, 40.
04:21 And he said, he looks down and it was a defensive end.
04:23 He goes, I'd never been caught before in the back and hits it was a defensive end.
04:28 And he said, it was just a moment where he realized, Oh, this is a whole day.
04:33 It is a whole different world.
04:34 Isn't it?
04:34 Oh, I mean, it's a, it's a totally, totally different world.
04:38 Of course, those guys on defense, they're not trying to go through you.
04:42 They're trying to go around you.
04:43 And so, um, and JC JC is technically, uh, I believe he's a, he's a, he's a junior.
04:50 He, JC is technically a junior.
04:52 And so he could have come back for another year.
04:54 And so I think, um, you know, he will get more, um, advantages of, of, of
05:02 understanding the game from a standpoint of, you know, today's game is about
05:06 angles, um, and how you approach those angles and knowing the guy that you're
05:10 playing against and, um, and one of the things that I attribute to my success
05:15 and my ability, um, to evaluate and just even in playing the game, I had some
05:20 great offensive line coaches, Jeff Stockland was my office of line coach
05:25 in Michigan state, you know, and then in Pittsburgh, Russ Graham was my
05:29 office of line coach.
05:30 And so, you know, foundational wise, Stoutland was my foundation.
05:35 A lot of the things that I give to young players, um, or players that I've
05:41 mentored, it comes from that, that Stoutland tree.
05:45 And so even with my nephew as a kid, that kid from day one, everything that I gave
05:52 him, um, it came from the Stoutland tree.
05:55 So I never treated him as a little kid or anything of that, you know, it was never
06:01 that.
06:01 And so, you know, I say that to say that, um, his approach will have to be
06:06 different in the league because, you know, as far as brute strength, every
06:11 defensive end, you know, they, most of those guys are, you know, two, two 60 to
06:18 80 tops.
06:19 That's top topping weight.
06:21 And so they're not trying to get into a physical, um, you know, uh, head on, head
06:28 on collision.
06:29 They want to use the hands.
06:31 They want to swap.
06:31 They want to fake out.
06:33 And so as a, as an offensive tackle, you know, I learned early on that, you know,
06:38 it's a mental, a large part of the game is, is mental.
06:41 And so you have to prepare yourself and understand the down the distance,
06:45 understand what you're trying to get done as a unit from a past play, uh,
06:50 perspective and, and kind of dictating to that defensive end.
06:54 And so, um, like a lot of, a lot of the guys, they, you know, they go to the
06:58 beachy Jordans and they go visit the past specialist, um, in the off season.
07:02 And a lot of it is about hands.
07:05 It's about, you know, removing and resetting and, you know, angles and
07:10 dipping and diving.
07:11 And so the tackles are very much in control of that because without the hand
07:16 usage, it makes it very hard for these defensive ends, these past edge rushers
07:21 to do what they do because they move on timing.
07:24 So they have a clock in their head and they know at a certain point in time, um,
07:29 you know, they're waiting for the office of lineman to shoot his hands.
07:33 And so without him shooting those hands, they can't do what they do a hundred
07:37 percent. So the mental game, um, you know, Latham will have to develop it
07:42 and then enhance.
07:43 You know, you touched on some, first of all, Jeff Stoutland, I mean, the guy is
07:49 still the best offensive line coach in America.
07:54 The guy is a phenomenal coach.
07:56 I tell people all the time, he hands down, I've never seen a better offensive
08:02 line coach anywhere.
08:04 He's just elite.
08:05 He is one of the best.
08:07 And I'm sure, I think he's one of the most underrespected coaches in the
08:12 national football league.
08:13 Would you agree with that, Eulish?
08:14 I would have to say so.
08:18 I mean, it's, it's hard for me because I really, you know, it's, it's, it's like
08:23 they say on social media, if you know, you know, so it's hard for me to gauge
08:28 the level of respect from the, from the outside, because I hold him in such high
08:33 esteem and high regard for his ability.
08:36 I mean, Hondo, if, if, if, if we're going to, if we're going to stand on one
08:41 thing, I'll stand on this.
08:43 The guy has, has outlasted three head coaches for the Philadelphia Eagles.
08:52 So when a, when an owner, the only way that that can happen is the owner has to
08:58 understand and recognize your ability and what you bring to the table.
09:02 Let's see who brought them there first.
09:04 It was, uh, uh, Kip Kelly was there, Doug Peterson, and now, uh, Nick Seriani.
09:11 That's three head coaches.
09:13 One's still there, two is gone.
09:15 And so Scotland is the main state.
09:19 And so that just speaks to everything that he brings to the table as far as, uh,
09:25 just the man as a human being, as a, as a coach, as a father figure or the above.
09:31 All right.
09:34 We're talking to Euless Booker, former, you know, college grade at
09:38 Michigan state, former Pittsburgh Steeler, one Superbowl 40 with the
09:42 Pittsburgh Steelers and he, his nephew, Tyler Booker, who many of you know, is
09:47 one of the best interior offensive lineman in the country, only a sophomore.
09:52 At Alabama and in horse, he knows Nick very familiar with the system.
09:56 And we're talking about some draft prospects.
09:58 Um, we just got done talking about JC Latham.
10:01 Now I want to turn very quickly.
10:02 We're going to talk about corner and obviously he's an offensive lineman,
10:05 but he knows the game he's there.
10:07 He's around it.
10:07 And then we're going to end talking about his nephew Tyler.
10:10 But I want to talk to you about Terry and Arnold and Kool-Aid, uh, because.
10:16 One of the things with Kool-Aid McKendree and with, and with, um, Terry and Arnold,
10:22 two excellent corners, two first round draft pick corners on this Alabama team.
10:28 Now, if you don't know this, obviously Euless and I know Nick, Nick comes
10:33 from a defensive background, a defensive backs coaching background.
10:37 He was a defensive back in college.
10:39 So if you ever want a defensive back, one of the first places you're going to go
10:44 look is wherever Nick Saban is a part of now in my first mock draft, I had Terry
10:51 and Arnold going as the first corner.
10:53 Overall, a lot of teams, not all have him as the number one corner.
10:57 Cause he's just a shut down.
10:59 Arnold Island Kool-Aid McKendree is a guy who's maybe a little bit more
11:05 technically sound, who knows how to do certain things technically.
11:09 It's a one, a one B situation.
11:12 They're both phenomenal guys.
11:14 And I, and because of the Raiders and they're not desperate, but they're
11:19 definite consideration of a corner.
11:21 I wanted to get Euless's input.
11:23 Euless, talk to us about both guys.
11:26 If you would Kool-Aid and Terry and break down their differences.
11:29 If you would, please, sir.
11:30 Now, and remember this in context of the Raiders, like the shutdown corners, they
11:36 like to be able to put shutdown corners out there and do well and to free up some
11:41 guys.
11:41 So if you would talk about both of them, please.
11:43 Absolutely.
11:45 So from a football perspective as you stated already, if you know anything
11:50 about Nick Saban and as a player the defensive backfield, those are his babies.
11:56 Those are his guys.
11:58 Most of his meeting time is spent in the defensive backs room.
12:02 I vividly see him at in the Michigan State DB video room.
12:09 Cause back then the windows had little glasses in it.
12:12 So you could kind of peek through coach Saban would be sitting at the front of the
12:16 room or laying down actually underneath the table with his legs crossed with his
12:22 loafers flopping teaching.
12:24 And this was back in the Mark D Antonio days when he was DB coach.
12:27 So Saban has an affinity for defensive back.
12:30 So that's number one.
12:31 Um, I think coach Saban, um, it, he has a certain style.
12:38 He has a certain teaching method in which he teaches, um, the game from a
12:43 defensive back stamp stamp standpoint.
12:45 Um, and outside of knowing the scene from a technical standpoint of what you do on
12:52 and off or on the field, he has a certain way that he illustrates that.
12:55 And I think, and I know it was a matter of fact, both Kool-Aid and Terry on
12:59 exemplify those techniques and those things that, that, that are required by
13:06 coach Saban, if you're going to play corner or DB for him.
13:09 And so when it comes to Terry on and Kool-Aid, I think that Kool-Aid had made
13:16 his mark earlier on in his Alabama career.
13:19 And I think Terry on came on really strong in his junior year.
13:24 Um, from the standpoint of becoming a lockdown corner.
13:28 Now, if you watch their games, um, most teams were fearful to throw in Kool-Aid
13:34 direction anyway, why?
13:35 Because he kind of cemented himself as a lockdown corner.
13:40 Uh, this past year, I think he spent more time being a deterrent, um, and kind of
13:46 being a, a reinforcer from the standpoint of, Hey, listen, you guys know what's
13:51 going to happen if you throw over here versus a lot of things, try Terry on a
13:56 lot more.
13:56 So Terry on was kind of on showcase a lot more because Kool-Aid had
14:01 already established himself.
14:02 And so in my opinion, I think both guys are, um, I would both say that they're,
14:08 they're, they're both number one corners.
14:10 Um, take them up in the bag.
14:13 Um, you're going to get, get the same, same type of lockdown type of corner.
14:18 If you have, if that's what, what it calls for, or if they got to play zone and,
14:23 you know, move and do all those things that corners do.
14:25 And, you know, obviously Kool-Aid has been doing it a little bit longer than Terry
14:30 on, but Terry on, um, and this last year he came on really strong and really
14:37 submitted himself from a national standpoint, from a football standpoint,
14:41 where we had to pay attention because.
14:43 You know, most of the balls were going in his direction.
14:45 All right.
14:47 Now let's turn to your nephew, Tyler.
14:50 Many people believe for the 2025 draft, he's in that top five could end up being
14:56 number one of interior offensive lineman.
14:59 They really like him a lot.
15:02 There is a lot of things to like about Tyler.
15:04 I'm curious.
15:05 Uh, what, one of the things that I have heard about him that people
15:10 like is he's extremely coachable.
15:13 He comes from, as a matter of fact, one person said to me,
15:14 comes to the field with no ego.
15:16 If you're going to make him better, he's all good with that.
15:19 Obviously I think his uncle Ulish had some influence there.
15:24 Cause that's a lot of what people said about you.
15:26 But let's talk about Tyler.
15:28 Let's talk about him.
15:29 I mean, technically he could play longer, but let's talk about next year.
15:33 What are you hoping to see out of him?
15:35 Well, um, what I would like to see out of Tyler next year.
15:40 Um, I would like to see, um, more, more hand to hand combat, um, from a
15:48 standpoint of just moving, uh, left to right, um, if you will, I think.
15:55 What a lot of people see, um, or don't see is that Tyler is very astute.
16:03 Um, from a academia, academia standpoint.
16:07 So when it comes to X's and O's of the game, Tyler is going to take the
16:11 best path, um, for securing his guy.
16:15 So sometimes you don't see a lot of the technical things that you want
16:19 to see out of guards per se.
16:22 You know, Tyler just, he knows how to hit the sweet spot.
16:25 Most of the guys that he plays against, they end up on their head at some point
16:29 in the game, multiple times in the game.
16:32 And that's because, you know, even as the offensive lineman, I'm like,
16:36 tag on it, he just knows how to find the sweet spot and just, you know, he's
16:41 like, he's like the pancake King, you know, he just finds a way to
16:45 dominate the guys in front of them.
16:46 And so, um, you know, what I often tell him is I say, look, Tyler, you know,
16:51 you've kind of, you're kind of, um, you know, you're not playing, um, from
16:57 the, for the guys that you're playing in front of now, you're kind of
17:00 preparing for the next level.
17:01 I mean, you submitted that and you're freshmen, you know, being a freshman
17:04 and being in, in play at the university of Alabama, that rarely, rarely ever
17:09 happens and playing at a high level, splitting time, you know, what, what
17:13 former starters, and so, you know, I told him like your freshman year, okay.
17:18 You submitted yourself your second year.
17:20 You know, we know, okay, this guy's a legit player.
17:23 I said, so now going into your junior year, um, as you prep for junior, junior,
17:28 uh, draft grade, you have to, um, prepare for the league.
17:33 You got to prepare for the tackles in the league.
17:35 You know what I mean?
17:35 And so, um, you know, if, if, if there's a few things that I would like to see
17:40 him, um, exercise and show a lot more of his, uh, athletic hand ability, because
17:47 as I said, before we started, Hondo, um, everything that I know, um, from a
17:53 fundamental standpoint, I gave to him early on, you know, from as far as, um,
17:59 you know, hands, feet stance.
18:03 And then as he matriculated on, you know, we just mentally talk about certain
18:08 things that give you the advantage.
18:10 And Tyler was a, he was a quick learner.
18:12 He was a fast starter, you know, cause he wanted it.
18:15 He wanted it from day one, even in pop Warner, he wanted it.
18:19 Um, I often tell the story, uh, well, not often, but you know, Tyler's first day
18:24 at pop Warner, he looked like, he looked like Bambi and I was standing and I was
18:29 like, Oh man, we got to take him in the backyard and get him straightened out.
18:32 And so, uh, we took him in the backyard.
18:35 And from that point on, Hondo, I kid you not.
18:39 He's been, he's been off to the races.
18:41 He's been off to the races since then.
18:45 And so, um, yeah, uh, I, I look forward to a lot of improvements from a technical
18:52 standpoint, from a mental standpoint, um, to take his game to the next level.
18:57 That's awesome.
18:59 Well, I can tell you, you, it's always good to talk to you.
19:02 I love the fact that we not only share a Michigan state bond and a, and a love of
19:07 football, but our love of the Lord, we get to share, and that's always fun to be with
19:11 with people that are not just brothers because we of the school, but brothers
19:15 because of our faith and I appreciate you a lot, great scouting report here
19:19 on some great players, it's going to be very interesting to see.
19:22 I want to ask you one of the questions, if you don't have time for, if you have
19:26 time for one, um, Antonio Pierce.
19:29 I like him a lot and he comes as a player and gets this job and
19:35 we're starting to see a trend.
19:37 We, we, we saw it, of course, Mike Vrabel, former player, different
19:42 kind of guy, different kind of cat.
19:43 You know, you you're seeing Dan Campbell in Detroit, D'Amico
19:48 Ryan's, and then, uh, now you're seeing it with Antonio Pierce.
19:51 I think you can put Mike Tomlin in that, in that group as well.
19:56 You're seeing a new wave come across the NFL.
20:00 It's, it's getting back to people who aren't businessmen.
20:04 It's getting back to people who are football guys.
20:07 It's getting the game a little bit back to where it used to be.
20:10 I love the trend.
20:11 I think it's great.
20:13 I love the way AP relates to people and the way he relates to players.
20:17 I would just like your thoughts on AP and then this trend that we're seeing
20:21 in the national football league.
20:23 I mean, I know, um, I definitely agree with you.
20:27 The, the, um, the trend is changing and we're getting back to, um, player
20:36 oriented or player relatable coaches.
20:39 And that's, you know, it's been that way for so long.
20:42 Um, internally, you know, guys want to play for guys who've done it, guys that
20:47 get it, and so, um, you know, we will, we will continue to see trends, um, in that
20:54 manner, because you gotta remember it's a whole new era, um, a whole new generation
20:59 of football players.
21:01 And so, you know, the Bear Bryant, you know, what, what worked back in my day, it
21:07 ain't working no more in these young guys.
21:09 And so you, you have to approach them and treat them as such in a certain type of
21:15 way.
21:15 And so, um, those are, those are the things that I see.
21:19 And I definitely agree.
21:21 Um, the player, former player trend is definitely on the rise.
21:25 It's, it's fun to see, isn't it, my friend?
21:27 Oh yeah, definitely.
21:29 Definitely.
21:30 Definitely.
21:31 All right.
21:31 He is the great Ulish Booker, one of a handful of guys to want a world
21:36 ball and a super bowl.
21:38 You know, he's the good guy.
21:40 Cause look at the colors he's wearing green and white.
21:42 He's a Spartan dog.
21:45 We got to give him his respect there.
21:46 But more importantly, he is a, a great friend.
21:50 He's a fellow follower of Jesus and does a lot of great as a minister with
21:55 the church of God in Christ and Ulish.
21:57 It's always great to talk to you.
21:58 Hold on the line a minute.
21:59 I want to tell you something real quick.
22:00 But remember you can follow me on IG @hondosrx formerly known
22:04 as Twitter @hondocarpenter.
22:06 Thanks for listening and tuning into the podcast today.
22:09 You can check out all of our articles when you go to si.com/nfl/raiders.
22:14 We'll see you all again real soon from all of us.
22:17 God bless you guys.