00:00I wanted to get Mike Tice on the air with us on the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:03Rude, the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV.
00:07Former head coach with the Minnesota Vikings and a long-time offensive coordinator, O-line coach.
00:13I'm not sure anybody knows more about O-line play than the former Terrapin.
00:18And he loved Connerly, so I just want to tap into his expertise on what he saw.
00:23Mike, you're on in D.C. It's Grant Paulson and Danny Ruyet here on the fan.
00:26How are you?
00:28I'm doing wonderful, guys. How are you?
00:30Doing very well. Thank you for hopping aboard with us.
00:32So you had Connerly rated as your number one offensive lineman in the class from the guys that you studied at the top of the board.
00:39Why was that?
00:40Yeah, well, I looked at 11 guys from my son, Nate, who does a show, a podcast on Yahoo Sports.
00:48And he asked me to take a peek at some of the top guys.
00:52And interestingly enough, he was pretty spot on because all of the guys I looked at got drafted yesterday.
00:58So, you know, I look for I'm a big I'm a big proponent of big and athletic, you know, and I like guys that are very large and can look me in the eye at, you know, six, eight.
01:14And can change direction and recover and play well in space with all of these flanker screens that are out there today in the NFL.
01:25All these wide receiver screens.
01:27These tackles have to be able to block little guys in space.
01:32And I saw the film of Connerly, two really good games.
01:36And I felt like this guy could adapt to the NFL style of play and also be athletic enough to recover against some of those great edge rushers that are in the National Football League.
01:49I'll be honest with you.
01:50I had Josh Simmons way up there, too, from Ohio State, but he blew his knee out.
01:56So he kind of got dinged by me a little bit.
01:57But he's also a very good player.
01:59I want to give him his kudos as well.
02:01He got drafted behind Josh Connerly.
02:04And, Mike, you led me to my question.
02:06I wanted to know how he compared, in your eyes, obviously the injury plays a part in it, to Josh Simmons.
02:11Similar profiles there, right?
02:12Taller guy who can really move around.
02:15Yeah, absolutely.
02:16And both players, to me, were very elite.
02:19I also like the kid out of Texas, Banks, who went third, another athletic guy.
02:23You know, you've got to look at the style of play that they're playing in the league today.
02:27And, you know, that is getting these athletes in space and making the defense tackle.
02:31And, you know, a lot of those defensive players, those little guys, those corners, they don't want to tackle.
02:37So, you know, I think it's a good move, really a great move by the commanders.
02:42I'm really happy for my good friend Bobby Johnson, who's the old line coach there, has done a great job.
02:48And I'm happy for the commanders because this is a big step forward for what they're trying to do with their program.
02:55Mike Tice on Grant and Danny, number one lineman he graded in this class as he watched the tape, is now in Washington at pick 29.
03:04Can you go deeper into, because Cliff Kingsbury majors in some of the stuff you talked about, the screens, getting out in space,
03:11needing those athletic tackles who can run and get out wide, like what you saw in terms of footwork and athletic traits.
03:17Because Connerly got a direct snap on the goal line and a carry at Oregon.
03:21He caught a touchdown pass.
03:23It seems to me like he can move a little bit.
03:26Well, he played running back in high school.
03:28And so that's, you know, and he was a basketball player in high school.
03:31He went to Rainier Beach High School in Seattle.
03:34Of course, I have cut my teeth in the NFL in Seattle and spent a lot of my adult life in Seattle.
03:39And recently sold a home there that I had for years.
03:44And Rainier Beach High School, you got to come out of there with a little bit of you-know-what in your neck.
03:48So he's got some toughness to him.
03:50He played basketball at Rainier Beach High School.
03:52They were known for their basketball team.
03:55So he's, I'm a big, like I said, I'm a big proponent on big athletic guys.
04:01With the style of play that's going around in the National Football League now, this guy, Connerly, this kid, I haven't met him.
04:07And I'll tell you what, he fits the mold perfectly.
04:09And I'm really, really happy for the commanders.
04:12Mike, when you're watching linemen and when you're grading a guy out like him who improved so much in the last year and is only 21 years old,
04:19how do you get a feel for, I don't know what you would call it, but that nastiness or that mean streak that is a necessity in the run game?
