Luke Kuechly Reacts to NFL Draft, Talks Giants Taking WR over QB, Penix Jr. at #8, & More

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we’ve come a long way since 2012 when my
next guest was drafted ninth overall to
Carolina five-time All Pro 7even Time
pro bowler um one of the best to ever do
it in Panthers radio analyst as well
Luke Keeley can you IM like we back in
2012 you weren’t thinking about
Holograms how we’ve come a long way it’s
come a long way I was sitting in my
parents basement in Cincinnati Ohio
watching the draft um sitting on an old
leather green couch that we uh we still
have and uh now they’re doing Holograms
of Caleb Williams doing interview
questions so um it’s come a long way
since
2012 they get Rome at nine Caleb DJ old
friend of yours uh what do you think
what do you make of the start of the
Caleb uh Williams era in Chicago well
they’ve surrounded him with with great
people you see this video look how
excited he is and I think if you’re
Caleb Williams you go in this situation
you’re like I’ve got Keenan Allen I’ve
got DJ Moore I’ve got Cole Ked I’ve got
two big tackles went and get DeAndre
Swift
and then you go in the draft now you get
picked one overall and you’re just
pumped to be living out your dream
you’re the number one pick you get to
hear your name called and then a couple
picks later you get another really good
receiver that you never thought was
going to be there in Roma dun the guy
from Washington I think he’s got to be
absolutely thrilled when they Trot out
for that first game of the season he’s
not going to know who to throw the ball
to all those guys are going to be wide
open I can’t imagine how you game plan
for all right we got a g DJ Now Keenan
Allen now we got got Roma dun and it’s
like all right well Cole KT’s going to
be wide open in the middle of the field
it’s it’s a great situation for Caleb
Williams and I don’t think he could be
any more excited than he
is uh do you believe I asked Calvin
Johnson Hall of Famer do you believe
obviously played in the same division
and he sort of said no he and I said
even if they get Marvin Harrison also
and he was like I gotta see it first
uh yeah we okay out for just a second
there you cut out just for just for a
second there can you repeat that
question do you believe in the
Bears y do I believe in I mean like you
said you got to see it to believe it but
when you look at how they build it
specifically on the offensive side of
the ball they’ve got those two big
tackles that are going to protect Caleb
Williams and they’ve done everything
they’ve can the last couple years to put
themselves in position to just slide a
quarterback in there you look at some of
these situations you look at Drake May
in New England he’s got a little bit
more of an uphill battle than Caleb does
and if you’re Caleb you walk in and
everything is preset ready to go for you
they’ve done everything the last couple
years that said hey Caleb we’re g to
draft you we’re g to forecast out and
say hey we’re g to surround you with
guys from inside from Cole K the tight
end outside to now we’re going to give
you a good running back we’re going to
build two guys in either side of the a
line of scrimmage for you with both
those tackles and then we’re going to
slide you right in so yeah we got to see
it for a little a little bit but Ryan
poles has done a fantastic job over
there of putting the pieces together
saying Caleb all you got to do is come
in and be yourself we don’t need you to
be pton Manning year 10 lead the team
down the field score a million points
it’s like hey we’ve got great Playmakers
make good decisions be smart with the
football and get it to your guys and
slowly grow along with
them uh let’s move to the Atlanta of all
of this because I can’t believe I’m 20
minutes in and we haven’t talked about
this played in the NFC South for years
eight of them Falcon signed Kurt Cousins
to four years 180 million and then they
grab penx eighth overall make make it
make sense I think that I think
everybody’s trying to figure out that
question tonight or last night and
obviously this morning and when you
think about it it’s like all right when
you draft a rookie quarterback you’ve
gotten you know four years until you get
to go pay him a second contract so you
got these guys four years cheap now
you’ve got all this money to spend to
surround them with really good players
but now kind of you look at Atlanta
they’ve drafted the Young quarterback
not paying them a ton but now they’ paid
Kurt Cousins all that money so it’s it’s
an interesting Dynamic there in that
sense of hey the idea of drafting a
rookie quarterback in the first round is
you got him for five years under
contract at a relatively low number and
then you can build um so then them
drafting penck there is interesting to
me because if you say hey we’re going to
bring Kurt Cousins in we’re going to try
to score a bunch of points we we’ve got
two first round picks at tackle we’ve
got a guard we just paid a lot of money
to we’ve got a tight end we got bejan
Robinson last year Drake London boom
what if we slide another wide receiver
in there to cause problems with radun
and that’s what I thought they were
going to do and then they called penck
name out I know shefer came on and was
super excited about hey I think
Atlanta’s gonna take a quarterback they
go on and take the quarterback I think
it surprise everybody and then obviously
you know what’s going on in Kurt Cousins
head is very similar to what happened
with Aaron Rogers a couple years ago
with Jordan love that the the thing that
everybody talked about was Green Bay has
never drafted a skill player in the
first round for Aaron Rogers really in
his whole in his whole time and that was
a great opportunity for them to do it
and they end up drafting Jordan love so
it’s I’m trying to figure out why
they’re doing it he’s he’s an older
player he’s had some injury history um
and then the idea of hey draft a rookie
quarterback have him cheat build around
him spend money they’re not really able
to do that so I’m sure there’s a reason
these guys spent all offseason doing
this he probably largely knew that pennx
was going to be there that early in the
draft so um that’s what those guys get
paid to do but I’m still trying to
rationalize it in my
head well Rahe Morris said it was like
he tried this like Packers spin on it
right it’s like Jordan love and Aaron
Rogers but I don’t see it at all I’m all
for putting young quarterbacks where
they can sit and develop I love that but
this isn’t that situation to me it’s
it’s interesting because they’re paying
they’re paying Kirk a lot of money on a
long-term deal when you look at drafting
a quarterback and letting him sit behind
a veteran for a year and kind of seeing
what you have from the veteran on a
short-term deal seeing what you have
from a rookie quarterback it looks very
similar to what Minnesota did with JJ
McCarthy and Sam darnold obviously Sam
was in in Carolina for a little bit of
time and that’s kind of when you look at
hey bring a veteran guy in try to see
what the veteran can do see bring in the
young guy see how he works let him
develop a little bit that’s kind of how
I see that that Dynamic working but in
Atlanta it’s just I I I don’t see it
right now I don’t I don’t understand it
in my mind but you know if you’re the if
you’re on the Falcons front office you
got a lot of confidence in what you did
because you spent a lot of time doing it
so we’ll let that play out and see what
happens I mean to punt on a player at
eight that could help Elevate this
roster right now you don’t pay that kind
of money that you’re talking about
unless you’re going all in
in the nort of and Kirk is like
surprised by the pick he was called only
when the Falcons were on the clock what
do you make of that that’s a guy that
was drafted in your class back in 2012
well I think you know he’s like all
right it’s pick was it pick eight is
that where it was is that what it was I
think it was pick eight anyway so Kirk’s
probably like hey I’m tired I’m old I
have kids I’m gonna sit up and I’m gonna
watch I’m gonna watch what we do at
number eight he’s probably excited they
get you know Tennessee draft SE SE or JC
lantham The Tackle at seven he’s like
boom I got a receiver staring at me in
the face I would love to go get that guy
and then he gets a phone call probably
excited thinking hey Kirk we’re gonna
draft this stud out of Washington and
then instead they say instead of
drafting the receiver out of Washington
we’re gonna draft the quarterback out of
Washington so I think he’s probably
trying to rationalize it all too but um
I love Kirk like you said I trained with
him for the combine we got drafted
together um we’ve played against each
other so he’ll handle it well I’m sure
he’s a little bit Bumm that they didn’t
go get another dude for him to sling the
ball
to Atlanta should have given him a heads
up yeah yeah I would say so that’s just
that’s just manners okay uh now late in
the first round Keele break it down to
me we see the Chiefs the Chiefs trade up
to the 28th pick with the bills they’re
like arch nemesis KC takes wide receiver
this piz are Xavier were the fastest
player alive so from the bill standpoint
let’s start there are you okay with them
making a trade with the biggest
competition in the AFC and why why did
they do
it I think if you’re the bills when you
when you trade in the draft and when
you’re in the draft and general you
worry about your team and what’s the
best for your team you don’t worry about
what another team’s going to do who
they’re G to draft why they’re going to
draft them what happens if they draft
him then we got to play against them I
think if you’re Brandon bean and you’re
Sean MC dermit you know who’s on the
draft board you know who’s capable of
being drafted and if you’re okay with
that and you trade back you got to live
with with what happen so I think Brandon
bean and Shan mcder are waking up this
morning and they’re saying hey we’re
okay we’re good maybe we didn’t like
what was there in the draft and then
then the unique thing about being at
pick number 33 is you get to sit all day
and figure out what you want to do with
it do we want to trade it do we want to
trade back do we want to sit do we want
to trade it for a player and then if
you’re Brandon Bean you also say hey
we’re picking up draft picks so now
instead of having one draft pick in the
second round now they have two they’ve
got a couple more late in the draft
they’re going to be able to stock
players I mean they’ve moved on from a
lot of guys in the offensive side of the
ball obviously you know Diggs um was a
big one this off season so they’ll
they’ll be able to figure it out I don’t
think that I don’t think that they worry
about who other people are going to
draft because if you do that then you’re
end up you’re going to be upset
regardless of what happens like man we
got to play against this guy with great
speed he’s with Maris Brown there’s
going to be a ton of vertical threats on
the field but I I’m confident those guys
have spent a lot of time around them
that they know what they’re doing when
they’re trading back and obviously they
know who they’re trading with I just
can’t believe you’re saying of this I
really can’t believe just because you’re
saying and you know Keeley you were with
Brandon Bean you were with sha McDon in
Carolina you know these guys I imagine
as a lot of the internet does that they
wake up this morning morning still with
recurring nightmares of Patrick Mahomes
from back in 2017 when the bills traded
with the Chiefs uh and and isn’t this a
bit of a unique did we not learn a
lesson from that like isn’t this a bit
of a unique situation that that’s the
team that has kept you away from the
Super Bowl year in year out it’s been it
it was it’s a challenging thing for them
I’m I’m sure they had a grit their teeth
a little bit and say are we really going
to trade with Kansas City and then when
that game comes around you know there’s
going to be a huge storyline of how does
Xavier worthy play against the Buffalo
Bills if he is a non-factor the bills
look like superheroes if Xavier worthy
goes out and runs a couple deep balls
catches a couple touchdowns from the
Chiefs there’s your storyline too so
that’s what I think makes the draft so
exciting is there’s storylines that get
created for the season back in April
before anything even happen so I’m sure
there’s Bills fans that are hoping they
make a great pick in the draft tonight
if they make a great pick in the draft
tonight with that pick they traded to
the Chiefs I think everybody’d be all
right uh how do you how do you see the
Chiefs using Xavier Worthy is it you
know like the loow hanging fruit is like
Tyreek Hill 2.0 is there more to
him how would you use him is that what
it’s going to look like I know it’s kind
of early to talk about well You’ got to
imagine they’re going to try to utilize
that speed on deep balls big overs some
Zoom sweeps I think the biggest winner
this off season with the Chiefs is
Travis Kelce you know know you bring in
Maris Brown vertical speed down down the
field Xavier worthy vertical speed down
the field so now there’s going to be all
these layers within the defense and
space for Travis Kelce to just run
around even more than he’s been able to
and just catch these balls so
uncontested because it’s these guys are
running mocked five down the field on
overs and crossers and Travis Kel can
just run underneath and catch the ball
so you you better believe that Reed’s
got something creative up his sleeve now
that he’s got these two Speedy vertical
guys that can just fly down the field I
know I’m like why are we even having the
season like it’s you know it’s it’s done
but there’s a lot of optimism with all
the picks especially after the first
round quarterbacks went one two three
last night JJ McCarthy is still on the
board when the Giants are on the clock
at 6 Keeley they don’t do that they say
we want Malik neighbors instead did they
make a mistake by passing on McCarthy
and pennx
you know what that’s that’s one of those
situations where I think you gota we
just got to wait and see but I think you
can never go wrong with drafting a guy
that you know is going to be an instant
impact player and I think you look at
these guys from LSU the last couple
years that have been drafted the Jamar
chases the justtin Jefferson’s they’re
gonna Elevate everybody around him and
this guy’s he’s got size he’s got speed
he’s explosive he led the NCAA last year
in receiving yards I I just I don’t
think you can go wrong with drafting a
really good solid player that you
believe in and I think over the last
couple years the quarterbacks drafted in
the first round you kind of you’re kind
of guessing a little bit and I think if
they felt a little bit more secure in
drafting a receiver right there and
given Daniel Jones or Drew Locker who
ends up being that quarterback a guy
that they can say hey on third down
against man coverage this guy can get
open in zone coverage he’s got enough
ability and understanding of the game to
sit down he can make big catches he can
down the field he can track the ball in
the air they haven’t really had that in
New York the past couple years and I
think it’s I think it’s hurt these
quarterbacks they haven’t been able to
develop because at some point in the
game you need a guy that can just get
open I just need you to get open it’s
going to be man coverage it’s going to
be twom man you have to win and we’re
relying on you to win and now they got a
guy that they believe they can do that
they haven’t had a dominant wide
receiver like a wide receiver once since
Odell I think since Odell H Sho guy yeah
and and speaking of LSU like neighbors
is getting the comparisons to also Jamar
Chase LSU with that speed with
everything so so he’ll be a big addition
I would hope that I mean you’re like
Daniel Jones or Drew I would hope that
they’re adding a quarterback tonight um
but we’ll see maybe they will roll into
the season with those guys I want to
talk to you about defense because man
what is that like for you this can’t be
F there were no off ball linebackers
taken last night what what G I don’t
know I think I think so many guys on the
offensive side of the ball obvious was
the first 15 picks six quarterbacks a
bunch of receivers some offensive
tackles the offense off the ball backers
I just think the the value is isn’t what
it used to be I think you look at
defense you think first we’re going to
think about guys that can affect the
passer so the edge guys obviously go
Corners go high but then there’s two of
them obviously we talked about pton
Wilson but the guy um that I like a lot
is Edan Cooper the kid from A&M I think
he’s big he’s athletic he’s long and
there’s some good teams in the first
part of the second round and through the
second round that if I’m one of those
guys that I really want to play in and I
think you look at the Buffalo system
obviously Buffalo’s at 33 I can’t
imagine them doing that at 33 but
they’ve got a late pick in the second
round I I love that system they’ve got
some big guys up front that make life
easy so does one of those guys fall
there the other group that I saw was
Washington Dan Quinn’s defense you watch
him in you know I watched him in Seattle
when I was playing in Dallas last year
and then now in Washington and the one
good thing about that is obviously that
system is great right but the one thing
that if if a linebacker goes into that
system they’ve got a guy named Bobby
Wagner everybody knows Bobby he’s been
around he’s an all pro he’s a first bout
Hall of Famer he’s made plays production
whatever you need he’s done it so a guy
can slide in there one you got a great
system you’ve got two monsters in front
of you Don Payne um is a monster in
Washington Jonathan Allen’s also there
and then they get to go learn from Bobby
Wagner Bobby’s a great player he’s a
stud he’s a great dude that’ll teach he
came in he had KJ Wright taught him a
lot bobb’s a great teacher but I think
the best situation is Houston you look
at Houston Deo Ryan played linebacker
that defense is really good you’ve got a
young pass rusher and Will Anderson I
mean I would want to go play in that
system just because it’s fun to watch
and I don’t know I like four down I like
a little bit of five down I like that
zone I like being able to run around and
have big guys in front of you so if one
of those two linebackers those are the
two team three teams that you’re looking
at they’re like if I hear my name called
by them I’m excited we’re take a TV
break here I mean careful careful Nick
ceria will be calling you to go play in
that Houston defense