Players we can't wait to draft in 2023
Tank Williams, Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens discuss a trio of players they can't wait to draft next season.
Video Transcript
MATT HARMON: Let's talk about some guys we can't wait to draft in 2023. Andy, I'll trust you to behave responsibly, and I'll throw it to you first here.
ANDY BEHRENS: First of all, you're darn right, there are kids watching this show. And you saw in that spectacular video work that kids love kicker props, by the way. That's just a fact. It's just a fact.
TANK WILLIAMS: [LAUGHING]
ANDY BEHRENS: My name here is a guy that I cannot-- [LAUGHS] guy that I cannot wait to draft is Dameon Pierce. He hasn't played since week 14. He's still fourth among all running backs in missed tackles on the season. He has been ridiculously elusive.
He was never a workhorse running back at the collegiate level, but he has absolutely established himself as such in the NFL. You look at the draft capital that Houston has going into next season, they can turn it around pretty quickly. This is gonna be a pretty exciting offense next year.
Pierce is someone on the season who has gained 3.3 yards after contact per attempt this year. He's just always churning for additional yardage after the first guy gets a hand on him. He's been spectacular to watch. He's obviously-- he's not going to be with us throughout the final weeks.
That was a blow to several of my teams. But he has been tremendous all year, a weekly highlight, absolutely. So I am anxious to be drafting Dameon Pierce a lot higher than we were drafting in this past year.
MATT HARMON: Yeah. There's always a risk with day three running backs. I get that. But I mean, the Texans got other problems, OK? They can focus their attention on somebody other than the running back position. I love that call there, Andy.
I'm gonna stick with current rookies for my pick. I'm gonna go with Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets. There's a couple of reasons I'm excited to draft him next year. Number one, this guy is unbelievably good at football. I mean, he is number one in success rate versus man, number one in success rate versus press among the guys that have charted.
The rookies for Reception Perception so far this year, he's unbelievable. And that's just him as a route runner. He's also a great guy at high pointing the ball. And then he's great after the catch. I mean, he does it all. I'm getting flustered here because he is a superstar level player already as a rookie. So I'm certainly excited to bet on that guy in his second year.
But more importantly, I'm excited that we won't have to be doing the, OK, games with Zach Wilson. Here's a Garrett Wilson's done this games without him. He's done this, because we're gonna get Zach Wilson up out of this New York Jets roster. We're going to be getting a professional.
I mean, I hope so, some sort of professional, some sort of adult in the room with the New York Jets at quarterback. And that is only going to send Garrett Wilson to consistently great heights next year. I can't wait to draft him in 2023. Tank, who you got for this segment?
TANK WILLIAMS: Well, actually, let's go ahead and sweep it with rookies. And I'm going with Christian Watson, the wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. And I'm hoping that by the time the draft rolls around next year, people only remember the bad things. They remember the drop to start this season against the Minnesota Vikings.
They remember him being in and out of the lineup. He's gonna be out of lineup this week due to injuries. And they're gonna be clouded by Aaron Rodgers having a bad year. They won't remember that four-game stretch, where we were like, oh, wow. This guy has the potential to be that dude.
It seems like Aaron Rodgers always focuses attention on one guy after one of his dominant receivers leaves. And then that guy ends up being that dude. And Christian Watson is definitely that. He showed that he can make contested catches in the middle of the field. He's definitely explosive. He was going over the top of a bunch of defenses.
And the thing that really impresses me the most is that Aaron Rodgers wants him to be the next Davante Adams. So he's gonna work in the offseason, get healthy, get his body right. And don't be surprised if this dude explodes all year long next season.