Las Vegas Raiders Insider Complete Silver and Black 7-Round NFL Mock Draft, Aidan O'Connell Under the Microscope
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00:00 Hi everybody, it's your old pal Uncle Hondo, your Las Vegas Raiders beat writer for the
00:07 Four Sports Illustrated.
00:10 I'm also the host of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, joined by one of my favorite
00:15 humans on planet Earth.
00:17 He is not only my assistant beat writer, but he's my dear friend, the one and only, the
00:21 great Zeke Trezevant.
00:22 Zeke, how are you?
00:23 Hondo, my guy.
00:24 How are you, man?
00:25 Good to see you.
00:27 We are literally days away now from the NFL draft.
00:33 And I promised everybody last week, when you run this week, I'm going to get your full
00:40 Raiders seven round mock draft.
00:44 So Zeke Trezevant, without any further ado, it seems like the off season, the season ended
00:49 months ago.
00:50 It didn't.
00:52 You can put trades in here.
00:53 You can do whatever you want.
00:54 It's your mock draft.
00:56 Let's start round one.
00:58 Raiders pick number 13, Zeke Trezevant.
01:01 What say you, oh great sage?
01:04 All right.
01:05 So first and foremost, I'm going to go with offensive lineman.
01:09 And excuse as I look away to get some of these names, and some of these names aren't necessarily
01:12 that common.
01:13 But I'm going to go with the offensive lineman out of, I believe, Oregon State, Talese Fuaga.
01:20 When you go back and look at Celesco's draft history with the Chargers, out of those 10
01:25 first round draft picks, he had three of them he spent on offensive lineman.
01:28 And all three of them were drafted between the 11th and the 17th pick in the draft.
01:33 And that's right where they fall out right now.
01:34 So I think between that, between his history and the moves that he's made, you don't make
01:40 the moves he's made on the offensive line this off season without having a major plan
01:44 to replenish the offensive line.
01:46 And I think he's going to use that first round, that 13th overall pick on the top tier offensive
01:51 lineman.
01:52 Here is the thing that I find humorous, is there's a lot of smoke, but it's not coming
02:02 from them.
02:04 And that's to me what's interesting.
02:05 All right.
02:06 By the way, Fuaga, I got to tell you this.
02:08 I was told a couple days ago that he's the best run blocker in the entire draft, the
02:17 best, most meanest, toughest.
02:22 And I was told by a scout that you can't find a play where he got beat.
02:30 That they think he has the highest upside.
02:32 And on that team's board, they have Fuaga at number one above Joel.
02:36 How big a deal is that?
02:37 Oh, wow.
02:38 Above Joel?
02:39 That's a huge deal.
02:40 Yes, very big deal.
02:41 Yes, sir.
02:42 For right tackle, for right tackle.
02:45 Okay.
02:46 So here we go.
02:47 I mean, I know Joe's a left, but they have him.
02:52 Yeah.
02:53 All right.
02:54 They have him as the second best tackle if they were going to put him on the left.
02:57 They think he can play every position on the line.
03:00 From center, left tackle to right tackle, including center.
03:03 All right.
03:04 Round two, pick number 44, Zeke Trezevant.
03:10 The pick is in.
03:11 Who did you pick?
03:12 So I think this is where a trade is going to come in.
03:15 I think Penix is going to fall.
03:17 I think if you look back at the draft, if Lamar Jackson can fall to the end of the first
03:21 round, so can Michael.
03:23 So I think one of two things is going to happen.
03:25 I think he's going to fall either way.
03:27 And I think the Raiders are either going to trade up until the end of the first round
03:30 or trade up to the top of the second round and draft Michael.
03:34 If they trade into the first, obviously, I think they're going to have to give up that
03:36 second round pick.
03:38 But I think if they trade up to the top of the second, obviously, I think Michael is
03:41 going to be that second round pick or that second round pick for the Raiders.
03:44 And that way they feel avoided in terms of the offensive line.
03:47 And first of all, they get the quarterback while being responsible, right, without having
03:50 to trade up or drafting Michael 13th overall, which I think still might be a little irresponsible.
03:55 So you get the offensive lineman first, which they desperately need.
03:58 You trade up and you get Michael.
04:00 And I think everybody wins.
04:01 I think you get the quarterback, you get the offensive lineman, you make a quote unquote
04:04 splash.
04:05 And so I think that's the move that they make for sure with the second overall or second
04:10 round pick, I should say.
04:12 Game three, pick 77.
04:14 Where do you see him going?
04:15 I got them going quarterback.
04:16 I know a lot of us, a lot of people thought that they might go quarterback in the in the
04:21 first round.
04:22 I think the two reasons they won't go quarterback in the first round is a because they need
04:26 an offensive lineman significantly more than they need another quarterback right now.
04:30 Be they look at obviously what just happened with a meek and they're like, OK, down the
04:33 road, let's say this quarterback pans out in the first round.
04:36 You got to pay the man.
04:37 And obviously, you know, you want to kind of keep that those payments down to a minimum,
04:41 if you will.
04:42 So I've got them going with Andrew Phillips out of Kentucky or DJ James out of Auburn.
04:47 I think they want and this is really across the board.
04:49 I think they want players with big time playing experience, especially at those skill positions.
04:54 And those two guys, you look at Phillips, he actually ran a four, four, 40.
04:58 And then I think what you do is, is you let those guys learn either one of those cornerbacks.
05:02 You let those guys learn from the people that are in front of them.
05:05 And I also think with them going in with a cornerback in the mid to later rounds, it
05:10 stays with the status quo of what they've been doing in terms of defensive back by committee,
05:15 right?
05:16 There's not necessarily a DB on their on their defense.
05:18 That's just a showstopper.
05:19 They're all great when they work together.
05:21 And I think that third round pick is going to be another, you know, extension of that.
05:25 Hey, then we come to the fourth round 112.
05:30 What you think in there?
05:32 So I've got them taking Marshawn Lloyd running back out of USC average seven point one yards
05:38 per carry last season at USC.
05:41 And if you again, you go back and look at just previous what they've done previously,
05:44 they drafted Zamir in the fourth round.
05:46 Again, you got the fourth round here, you go get your fourth round running back.
05:49 And with the way the running back position is being devalued, well, now you've got two
05:54 young running backs on the roster that you don't really necessarily have to worry about
05:57 paying big money anytime soon, if at all.
06:01 So that way you got Zamir who's going to be there for extra what two, three years, I believe
06:05 you get you get Marshawn Lloyd.
06:07 That's going to be another four years right there of affordable running back play.
06:11 And again, big time college football experience.
06:13 So I think Marshawn Lloyd, and then obviously you just have the name Marshawn at running
06:18 back as a big deal as well.
06:20 So I think that's what they're going to go with.
06:22 I'm five pick 148.
06:24 I think this is a fascinating pick.
06:26 I want to hear what you got here.
06:28 Yeah.
06:29 So you know, I've been beating the linebacker position to death this offseason.
06:35 You know, I've been saying linebacker linebacker linebacker.
06:38 But so I think it's twofold with the linebacker position.
06:40 I've got them taking either Omar Spates linebacker out of LSU, or Michael Barrett, linebacker
06:45 out of Michigan.
06:46 I think right here, they get a talented linebacker without having to necessarily invest that
06:51 much in the linebacker.
06:53 And that way, hey, you lean on again, Antonio Pierce coaching up, you know, a fifth rounder
06:58 or you know, low round linebacker.
07:00 So I think one of those two guys with big time college football experience is going
07:04 to come through.
07:05 And then you look at the you know, for Omar, the reason I picked him first in terms of
07:08 the two is you just look at the linebackers that have come out of LSU the last 510 years,
07:13 they've been pumping out some linebackers from LSU and I think he might be another going
07:16 he might not be as good as the other ones that have come out.
07:19 But I think he can be a productive linebacker in the league.
07:22 208.
07:23 This is their sixth round pick.
07:25 Who do you got there?
07:26 Z?
07:27 I got Jay Stanley out of Southern Miss.
07:29 He was an Ole Miss transfer, then he transferred to Ole Miss this past season, six foot two,
07:36 long, long safety.
07:37 And again, this is going to be one of those guys that you kind of sit behind your veterans,
07:41 let them learn.
07:42 And obviously, you're only investing a sixth round pick in them.
07:45 And he's he played some pretty good ball last year.
07:47 So I think that's what they'll go with come to sixth round pick.
07:51 The rule of thumb in the NFL, you want your first five to be to make the team, make the
07:57 roster and be contributors sixth and seventh rounders you're hoping to make the practice
08:02 squad.
08:03 So anything above that, like a Thayer Mumford's a steal.
08:05 Exactly.
08:06 Was the seventh rounder.
08:07 Now we come in to seventh round.
08:12 Two picks.
08:13 223 and 229.
08:14 Who do you got them taking at the two picks in the seventh round?
08:21 So obviously, there are massive holes on the offensive line, they would have already used
08:25 their first round draft pick on the offensive line, but they still have other holes that
08:28 they need to fill.
08:29 So with the and again, obviously, both of them being seventh round picks is kind of,
08:33 you know, interchangeable, if you will.
08:35 But I've got Dylan McMahon, center out of NC State.
08:37 And then I have Roger Rosengarten tackle out of Washington.
08:42 Obviously, that ties right in with the with the Michael Penix pick.
08:45 He was the starter, starting offensive tackle for them.
08:48 The last two season six foot six 300 pounds.
08:51 Again, got to develop them, right?
08:53 It's going to take some time to develop.
08:55 But I think that's going to be what they do.
08:57 I think they're going to use the last two picks to potentially fill offensive and defensive
09:01 line holes.
09:03 Or for the defensive line will be depth on the offensive line will be holes for sure.
09:07 All right, I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about the podcast I did the other
09:13 day.
09:14 We had a gentleman out of Canada, Jimmy Tabor, who is a viewer of the podcast who sent in
09:20 and said, Can you ask some NFL executives what they think of Aiden O'Connell, knowing
09:28 what they know now after watching him play last year in the NFL?
09:32 Where would they put him in this draft?
09:35 Now some people misrepresented what I said, but all four guys got back with me.
09:41 All four guys thought he would be top two or three in this draft.
09:48 And then all of them said if the Raiders were sitting there at 13, they would take him.
09:54 Most three of the two said they think he would be the second best quarterback in this draft
09:58 just based on what he actually did in the league under center three and one in the AFC
10:05 West.
10:06 All of it.
10:08 I have said I think the Raiders should pick a quarterback.
10:11 I don't think you just give him the job.
10:14 He's still got to go out and earn it.
10:15 I think he's number one coming into camp, which AP agrees with me.
10:19 I think he's got the inside track.
10:22 But I'm seeing people get rid of him for a six rounder.
10:27 Get rid of him.
10:28 I mean, are you stunned at how fans just want to give up on this guy?
10:34 Yes and no.
10:35 I'm stunned that they are so quick to give up on him in the sense of if you're that quick
10:39 to give up on him, you're underestimating the situation he was put into.
10:44 Or you don't have a full understanding of just the crazy situation the man was put into.
10:50 I don't want to say unprecedented, but it's a very unique situation that he was thrown
10:53 into last season.
10:55 I think we all have to admit that.
10:56 So on that reason, I do feel like, hey, cut the man some slack.
11:01 But then I also feel like in this day and age, people just want, again, instant gratification,
11:04 especially from the quarterback position.
11:06 People just want CJ Stroud.
11:09 Everybody can't beat CJ Stroud.
11:10 And honestly, I'm not sure the CJ Strouds of the world would have been CJ Stroud in
11:14 the same situation that Aiden was in.
11:17 But for your question that was posed, I do think what people are failing to take into
11:21 account is, like you said, what he actually did.
11:24 It's easy to predict or try to predict what a guy, a rookie is going to do.
11:28 But when a guy actually came in and did it, that's a whole different story.
11:32 So then you got to ask yourself, what would Aiden have done had he been in a better situation
11:36 with better talent around him, a better coaching staff?
11:38 You know, when he first got into the league.
11:41 I think that would go a long way in terms of trying to judge what Aiden would be.
11:45 They were changing the offensive system, threw over half the book out, two coaches, no OTAs,
11:52 no mini camps, no training camps midway through the season.
11:57 And the guy finishes three and one against the AFC West.
12:00 His last four games, I touched on, no interceptions, did exactly what the Raiders asked him to
12:05 do.
12:06 And people want to throw this guy away.
12:08 It makes no sense to me.
12:12 I'm going to address this in a few, I'll just tell you.
12:15 So I'm getting people, then the Raiders should trade him.
12:22 Like where and for who and for what, to what team?
12:25 They're paying him fourth round money.
12:27 That means you're literally saying your team is stupid.
12:32 Yeah.
12:33 No.
12:34 It's nuts.
12:35 Oh, then they should trade them.
12:38 Oh, if there's that much interest in nation, well, there's that much interest.
12:43 No.
12:44 And so I also think that people don't understand that when you're not the starter in OTAs,
12:50 how many snaps you're really not seeing?
12:52 How many reps?
12:53 You and I are there.
12:54 Yeah.
12:55 Like, I don't think people realize like, okay, if you're going to have to start from quarterback
12:58 and imagine if you're the third string quarterback, right?
13:00 The backup is not getting a whole lot.
13:01 The third string rookie, he's definitely not getting a whole lot.
13:04 And then all of a sudden you're saying, hey, hey, you know, come be our starter.
13:08 And hey, by the way, here's your second slash third offensive coordinator in the last, in
13:13 your first nine games in the league, like cut the man some slack, right?
13:16 Like you got to give him a chance.
13:18 So none of us are saying he's Peyton Manning.
13:22 Right.
13:23 Tom Brady, wait.
13:26 So my next question and answer article, I actually had a person post me up.
13:33 There's never been a quarterback in the NFL that didn't play and succeed as a rookie that
13:40 made into anything.
13:44 I'm like Phil Sims, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning.
13:55 It is today's let's have a hot take and look cool.
14:00 Yes.
14:01 That's the mentality.
14:02 None of us are saying he's Peyton.
14:04 None of us are saying he's Tom Brady.
14:06 We don't know.
14:07 There's not enough evidence, but what he has shown us in the NFL, it's like one guy said
14:14 to me, he's doing it in the NFL.
14:16 All these rest of these guys have questions and holes.
14:19 He's doing it in the NFL.
14:21 Exactly.
14:22 A hundred percent.
14:23 He's already, he's done it.
14:24 And I always laugh.
14:25 All these other teams value him.
14:27 Then let's trade them.
14:29 Value is definitely the word, but value is relative.
14:34 And I think people forget that as well.
14:35 So yes, sir.
14:37 I am so looking forward to the draft being over.
14:41 I don't want, I don't want to answer one more draft email, one more, but what about this
14:47 or Hondo?
14:48 I'm hearing this delete, delete, delete, delete.
14:53 I mean, it just.
14:55 The draft, the draft brings out every kind of crazy situation you could possibly come
15:00 to mind.
15:01 The draft is like a free for all for those ideas to come out.
15:04 I had a gentleman and I wish I could remember his name from California.
15:10 Send me an email.
15:11 He's older than me.
15:12 He goes, I can't call you uncle.
15:13 I'm older than you.
15:14 He says, but I watch your podcast every day.
15:16 I feel for you.
15:18 He goes, the draft is when the freaks come out.
15:21 Literally, literally.
15:22 I listen, I've read some things to myself just online.
15:25 I'm like, what?
15:26 Like, where did you get that from?
15:28 I listen, I read one.
15:30 I read something that had that mocked the Raiders taking a defensive tackle.
15:35 And this is like, like a couple of weeks ago, not even like early in the off season, like
15:39 out of all the positions that need even after shining Christian, like, what do you mean
15:43 defense?
15:44 Like, what are we talking about?
15:45 So yeah, the draft brings out all the crazies for sure.
15:49 Here's the thing that, that gets me is I'll give you a note.
15:59 Okay.
16:00 Somebody sends me an email.
16:01 I heard the Raiders are trading Devante and getting Marvin Harrison.
16:15 How many times do we have to report?
16:19 He don't want to go anywhere.
16:20 They don't want to get rid of them.
16:23 If they decided to rebuild, they were going to trade them.
16:27 They didn't, they're not rebuilding.
16:30 I mean, Devante just said it himself.
16:36 That's my thing.
16:37 Like he just said it, it came out of his own mouth.
16:39 Like he's happy here.
16:40 He doesn't want to go anywhere.
16:41 That was after AP and everyone.
16:44 Like I I'm with you on that one.
16:46 You just, you gotta laugh.
16:49 And I laugh because everybody this time of year is this, this is why I go to the experts
16:58 because sure I have opinions, but there's so many people talking that don't know.
17:04 I want to go to the experts.
17:05 What are the experts?
17:06 I'll give you another one.
17:08 So a couple of years ago, this one particular gentleman sent me over a hundred emails.
17:15 I don't know the number, but I'm telling you, I would be stunned if I would bet money.
17:19 It was well over a hundred.
17:22 Raiders have got to get rid of Derek Carr.
17:25 Trey Lance is a generational quarterback.
17:28 He's going to make, people are going to literally forget who Patrick Mahomes is.
17:33 I'm sorry.
17:36 And you got to warn me before you say stuff like that.
17:43 Okay.
17:45 This is what we have to deal with.
17:48 And now there are.
17:49 I'm about to laugh myself to tears.
17:52 That was funny.
17:54 And now, I mean, people don't understand the depth that goes into playing this game, the
18:04 difficulty of playing this game.
18:07 I mean, you go back and watch the Minnesota, I think it was the Minnesota game.
18:11 They lost six to three, I think it was, or six to zero or something like that.
18:15 I think it was three zero in that game.
18:17 Yeah.
18:18 Okay.
18:19 You go back and you can look at some of the play calls where they didn't want to take
18:24 risks because they trusted their defense.
18:27 So the play calling was horrifically conservative.
18:30 That's not on Aiden.
18:32 There was some veterans who didn't play well.
18:37 Just leave it right there.
18:39 That's not on Aiden.
18:40 I don't think it was his best game at all.
18:41 I'm not pretending that it was.
18:43 It's a game they should have won, but any win, they don't want to give him any credit,
18:51 any loss, they don't want to, it's all on him.
18:53 But I mean, and I laugh because you hear Devante.
18:59 Oh, I believe in Aiden.
19:02 I think Aiden can do it.
19:03 You hear Max.
19:04 I mean, we both agree.
19:06 It was, you can't, you cannot, you cannot in this league play with one quarterback.
19:16 You got to have two.
19:18 But at the exact same time, I love the signing of Gardner Minshew.
19:23 I thought that was great.
19:25 Give me your thoughts on how you think they've handled the off season.
19:28 I think they've handled it as about as best as they reasonably could.
19:31 I'm not sure that there's any other moves that they could have really made that would
19:36 have improved the team without them, again, just overspending or just being reckless.
19:41 I think between signing Christian, that was huge.
19:43 I think bringing back Andre was obviously huge and same with Amir.
19:48 Overall, I think they've done a good job, but I also think, which any good team would
19:52 do, they're planning on combining their free agency with what they do in the NFL draft.
19:58 So they didn't want to overshoot before they decided, before they figured out who they
20:02 were going to get in the draft, which obviously you can plan all day in the draft, but until
20:06 it happens, you don't necessarily know who's going to be there for you.
20:09 So I think they wanted to see how the draft shook out and then they're going to build,
20:11 they're going to add even more after that.
20:13 So I think they've done a good job so far.
20:15 I really do.
20:16 All right.
20:17 Now I'm going to ask you a couple of questions here and then I'm going to tell you the answer
20:19 at the end.
20:20 Okay.
20:21 All right.
20:22 Would you agree Trevor Lawrence is a good quarterback?
20:25 Yes.
20:27 The Jaguars.
20:28 Is Trevor Lawrence a good quarterback?
20:31 Yes, I think he's a good quarterback.
20:32 Yeah.
20:33 He's about to get an extension.
20:34 He's a rookie who's coming.
20:36 Okay.
20:37 Now, if you look at Gardner, Minshew's stats and Aiden O'Connell, they're almost the exact
20:45 same player statistically.
20:46 Okay.
20:47 I'm going to read you some stats.
20:52 Now, somebody sent this to me.
20:55 It's courtesy of a website that covers the Raider called Raiders Beat.
21:00 These stats are courtesy of them.
21:02 Someone sent it to me.
21:04 Trevor Lawrence has been in the NFL three seasons as a starter.
21:11 Okay.
21:13 58 passing touchdowns, 39 interceptions, an 85 passer rating in 50 games.
21:24 Okay.
21:25 Pretty good, right?
21:26 Yes, sir.
21:27 Gardner, Minshew, two seasons as a starter, 59 passing TDs, one more than Trevor, 24 interceptions,
21:41 15 less, a 90.2 passer rating, five points higher in 49 games.
21:52 Him and Aiden have essentially the same numbers.
21:56 Now, I mean, comparatively, Gardner's played it a year more.
22:02 That right there, the stats tell you people need to step away sometimes from an adult
22:09 beverage or a Yoo-Hoo.
22:11 Would you agree?
22:12 For sure.
22:13 A hundred percent.
22:14 I just can picture some guy sitting at his computer in his mom's basement, sucking on
22:19 a Paul Mall, drinking a Yahoo.
22:22 The big takes.
22:25 Like no, we don't need those takes.
22:26 Not here.
22:27 But no, listen.
22:28 No, I was just going to say in terms of Gardner, I think that's a very underrated addition
22:35 to the team, specifically in terms of what he brings.
22:39 And I think he's one of those guys that if you're looking at just the numbers, if you're
22:42 looking at just the stat sheet, you're missing why the Raiders brought him in.
22:47 I've said it before.
22:48 I've said it again.
22:49 I don't think they necessarily expect Gardner to win the competition.
22:53 But what Gardner is going to do is, is he should, in theory, bring the best out of Aiden.
22:58 I think that's really what it's coming down to.
22:59 And then you've got to think about the different things he's experienced during his time in
23:02 the league.
23:03 Those are, that's valuable tidbits he can get across to Aiden.
23:06 So I think they're bringing him in more so for Aiden than anything else, in my opinion.
23:11 What I think is, I think he's a very good quarterback.
23:14 He's a great locker room guy.
23:15 Him and Aiden already building a really close friendship.
23:18 I think it was a great, a great addition to the team.
23:21 All right.
23:22 I'm looking forward to the draft.
23:23 How about you?
23:24 I mean, I'm excited.
23:25 I don't get excited much, but I'm excited about this draft.
23:30 I'm excited to see what they do and just to kind of be a small part of it.
23:33 Yes, sir.
23:34 He's the great Zeke Trezevant.
23:35 Zeke got so many great articles coming up this week on the draft and covering the draft
23:40 and all of it.
23:41 Super excited for our coverage with him.
23:43 Remember, we're doing 10 articles a day on your Raiders.
23:46 Ain't nobody giving you the depth of content that we're giving you.
23:50 It's all 100% free.
23:52 Just keep enjoying it when you go to si.com/NFL/Raiders.
23:55 Zeke, tell them your handle on X, formerly known as Twitter.
23:59 Yes, sir.
24:00 It's E-Z, short for Ezekiel.
24:03 So E-Z Trezevant, which is my last name.
24:05 So E-Z-T as in Tom, R-E-Z, and then it should pop up from there.
24:10 So E-Z Trezevant.
24:11 All right.
24:12 And remember, you can follow me on IG @HondoSR and on X, formerly known as Twitter @HondoCarpenter.
24:18 That's me and Zeke chopping it up.
24:20 Chopping it up.
24:22 You know it.
24:23 Keep it 100.
24:24 Hey.
24:25 100.
24:26 You know it.
24:27 Have you wore your Air Force Ones?
24:29 Yes, 100%.
24:31 No question.
24:34 Making sure you're wearing them.
24:35 I'm saving them.
24:36 I'm only going to wear them on game day.
24:38 Only on game days?
24:39 Okay, for sure.
24:40 For sure.
24:41 I've worn them a couple times.
24:42 Yeah.
24:43 They are a gift to me by someone in the organization.
24:46 I'm only wearing them on game day.
24:48 Yes, sir.
24:49 For sure.
24:50 They are comfortable.
24:51 Oh, yeah.
24:52 Very comfortable.
24:53 Very, very comfortable.
24:54 I've got to quit giving them away, though.
24:55 I've given a ton away to fans, man.
24:56 It's cost my wife's life.
24:57 It's costing you money, I know, but I like to give them to fans.
24:58 All right.
24:59 Here we go.
25:00 That's the great Zeke Trezevant.
25:01 Check us out, everybody.
25:02 We appreciate you.
25:03 Have a wonderful day.
25:04 We'll see you all tomorrow.
25:05 Take care.
25:06 Bye.
25:07 Bye.
25:08 Bye.
25:09 Bye.
25:10 We'll see you all tomorrow.
25:11 Tomorrow's the official start of draft week.