Grant & Tobi disagree on this, but would you trade pick #29 for a proven veteran pass rusher like... Trey Hendrickson?
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00:00I'm looking forward to that conversation here on Grant and Danny.
00:03No Danny today, Toby is alongside.
00:05We're discussing ESPN's piece from last night.
00:09Teams one by one, whether or not they should trade up or trade down and how much they should
00:13try to do so.
00:15And ESPN is pretty adamant that the commanders should move the 29th pick, saying this one
00:21might feel like a surprise.
00:23The commanders were last year's surprise contenders.
00:26They go on to write about the growth of Jaden Daniels and how great the season was.
00:31But they make the very obvious point.
00:33They've got two picks in the top 125 selections in this class.
00:37That screams into a megaphone.
00:39You need more early picks.
00:40How do you get them?
00:41You trade back from 29.
00:43And the question we've got for you guys with the phones in a second, 800-636-1067.
00:49Is it something that they should go into the draft prioritizing?
00:54Should they be hell-bent on trading back or is it just something they should think
01:00about doing?
01:01Sounds like I'm a little more passionate about the trade back than you are, although you'd
01:05acknowledge that it's a good idea.
01:07But I tease this, Toby, and I want to throw this out there at you.
01:10I said there's one other thing I would do at pick 29 today that might be unpopular.
01:15I would call the Bengals today and I would offer them 29 for Trey Hendrickson.
01:22Straight up.
01:24They're not getting what they want, clearly, which is, at this point, they probably backed
01:29off of a one and they're probably looking for a two.
01:32I guess I could start there, maybe.
01:34But if it came to it where they said it's 29 or bust, here's 29.
01:41I've got the edge.
01:42You want to take an edge anyway, you just told me.
01:43Correct, yes.
01:44You're hoping that some guy that might stink falls into your lap because he's one of the
01:48three guys in this process that we're enamored with.
01:50What if I said, with that same pick, I'll get you 15 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, and
01:57a top five player at the position over the last three years in the league?
02:00Why shouldn't they do that?
02:01I would try to do that today.
02:03So if I'm not trading back, that pick's getting me Trey Hendrickson.
02:06If you want to solve the edge problem, in other words, you're saying, GP, I'm not trading
02:10back because I got to get my defensive end.
02:12Okay, no problem.
02:13Then call the Bengals.
02:14Yeah, I'm going to pass.
02:16I'm going to pass.
02:17To draft a lottery ticket?
02:21Here's the issue I have.
02:2229 is not a lottery ticket.
02:2461?
02:25We can have that discussion.
02:26It's 20.
02:27I get that it's not a top 10 pick, but to dismiss a first rounder, like we do this bit
02:32where a 29th pick is basically the second rounder, while a 30, you know, fifth pick
02:36is basically a first rounder.
02:37Well, look, you can find guys there.
02:40This is where the scouting staff has to do their jobs.
02:43This is where they have to find guys, because the issue I have is you're trading away so
02:48many draft picks that are, I get that you want to win next year.
02:52I'm not, I don't want to dismiss that, but I don't know that now is the time to do this
02:56when there's still holes, and are you going to plug a guy that in two years is going to
03:00be 32 years old?
03:02Do you feel great about that when you're looking at Jaden coming up and you say, okay, maybe
03:06that's how you're going to work it, where his contract comes off, you pay Jaden.
03:09I'm trying to build something like San Fran has, where every year we talk and say, San
03:14Fran's a Super Bowl contender.
03:16I'm saying that for year after year after year for like a decade.
03:20Are you able to continue to do that when you trade pick after pick after pick after pick
03:24after pick?
03:25Yes, you get good guys, but there's still a lot of needs on this team.
03:29I would use that draft pick to get somebody, or if you trade back, use draft picks.
03:34I don't know.
03:35I just, Trey's awesome.
03:36But if your mind wasn't made up on an edge, like a lot of people's are, and I totally
03:40get it because they desperately need one.
03:42That's why I'm trying to get Trey Hendrickson.
03:44But my point is, when you say the 29th pick is ultra valuable, it is, but you're fishing
03:49in a very small bucket, right?
03:50So Abdul Carter's long gone.
03:52Jalen Walker's long gone.
03:54Mikkel Williams has been drafted at a minimum.
03:57I think there's also a chance, by the way, that James Pierce and Shamar Stewart or Mike
04:01Green are all gone too.
04:03But let's just say hypothetically that Pierce and Green are still there.
04:08Here's where we're going to disagree, is a first round talent.
04:12I talk about this with baseball prospects all the time.
04:14People drive me crazy when they just label prospects suspects, and they're like, well,
04:19they've never done it in the big leagues.
04:20There's a difference between a number one overall prospect in the industry and the 19th
04:26guy in the Nats system.
04:27Yeah, they're both in the minor leagues.
04:29There's a lot better chance that one becomes a star.
04:31And I do hate just throwing everyone in the same bucket.
04:34But if we're going to disagree on whether Mike Green, to be a great edge, is a crapshoot,
04:40with all apologies to his work at Marshall, I'm not sure who they played this year.
04:45By the way, I'd be psyched if they drafted Mike Green.
04:47I would be happy with that, too.
04:48I would be.
04:49But you know who I know is great?
04:52Trey Hendrickson.
04:53So here's where I think...
04:54James Pierce, same thing.
04:57The numbers aren't even necessarily there.
04:59That's a specimen at 6'5", 245.
05:02That is a crapshoot.
05:03That this guy ever becomes a 10-sack guy in the league.
05:06Montess Sweat, really, really good player.
05:08With a head start, can't get you 10 sacks in a season.
05:12Trey Hendrickson will get you 15.
05:13See, I'll take Montess Sweat at 29 over trading that pick for Trey Hendrickson and paying
05:17him.
05:18Because I think you can build on that.
05:19I think you're going to get better at playing.
05:21You mean you would...
05:22Like, if you...
05:23If you take a Montess Sweat career out of a player you're taking at 29.
05:26Then trading for Trey Hendrickson for the price.
05:29Ooh, not me.
05:30A DPOI candidate?
05:32Because you're giving up draft picks, where I get a solid guy for a dude that's going
05:38to be here for five years, that's going to help me and theoretically get better year
05:41to year.
05:42Hendrickson's going to be here.
05:43You're paying him.
05:44Hendrickson's going to be...
05:45How long do you think Hendrickson's going to be putting up double-digit sacks?
05:48At least three years.
05:49And see, I don't know that I agree with that.
05:52If I'm doing it for two years...
05:53Why?
05:54Bruce Smith was getting nine sacks at 40.
05:55Here's my problem.
05:56I need to constantly build this thing up.
05:59I need it to get better and better and better and better.
06:01I don't think that's happening when you consistently trade draft picks for people that are 30.
06:06I want young people on this team to help it continue to grow.
06:10And I think the way to do that is through the draft.
06:12I still want them to trade back from 29.
06:14I would lean that way, but I'm not trading more draft picks for basically anybody.
06:18Julius Peppers had 12 sacks at 37 years old.
06:21It's not a position where you fall off a cliff at like 33.
06:24You get a little smarter.
06:25You set guys up.
06:27Maybe I'm not as high on Trey Hendrickson.
06:28I know he's had 17 and a half sacks the last two years.
06:30What the hell does the guy need to do for you, Toby?
06:32I need...
06:34I like Hendrickson.
06:35I don't think he's the most skilled pass rusher in the world.
06:39What is it about him that you don't like?
06:43Is there anything specific that stands out?
06:45No, there's nothing.
06:46I think he's a good football player.
06:49I would love to have traded...
06:51I just think when you consistently trade all these picks, you're not setting up your foundation
06:55well.
06:56I agree with you.
06:57It should be the exception, not the rule.
06:58They're getting a little heavy with it.
06:59I agree.
07:00But I got to look at all these things in a vacuum.
07:04If they're going to draft an edge, and it's Mike White, who's the older brother of a kid
07:08I went to high school with, or Trey Hendrickson, respectfully, I will take the DPOY candidate
07:14and feel like the next two or three years, he's going to go get me 40 sacks.
07:17I know we got to hit a break, but real quick, do you view them as a Super Bowl contender
07:22as they're constructed right now?
07:24Why wouldn't I?
07:25I don't.
07:26I just don't.
07:28And so trading another first-round pick for a team, because I'm not trying to be just
07:31Super Bowl contenders, where I'm always in the conversation.
07:33I promise you they're not without an edge.
07:35I want to build the juggernaut.
07:36And so my thing is, if I keep trading for these guys, where Hendrickson improves your
07:41team, there's no question.
07:42He's going to improve your team more than you got to get at 29, no question.
07:46It takes me from being the seventh favorite to the sixth.
07:49Are they worse than San Francisco, who right now is one of the favorites in the NFC?
07:53Probably not.
07:54No, they're better.
07:55I don't think they're better than the top teams in the AFC.
07:57They're not better than the Eagles.
07:58That's a different thing.
07:59The Eagles are the only team, I would say, in the NFC, head and shoulders better than
08:01them.
08:02Sure.
08:03Are they decidedly worse than Detroit?
08:04Are they just beating the playoffs?
08:05I think they are.
08:06Who have taken a step back, lost their coordinator, lost a lot of talent?
08:08I would say that they are.
08:09Head and shoulders worse?
08:10I disagree a little bit, but I would take the Lions over them.
08:13But my point is, NFC Championship game last year, sixth in the power rankings that came
08:18out yesterday from ESPN going into the season, overall, not just in the NFC.
08:23Why not?
08:24If you're using the pick on an edge and it's a one versus one of crapshoot dude from Marshall
08:29or Trey Hendrickson, I'll use the pick on Trey Hendrickson.