McShay on a Historic Tackle Run

Todd McShay made the case that this year's first round is going to be defined by a historic run on offensive tackles and edge rushers, and it's going to push talented players at other positions into the second day.

McShay's board starts with 11 names he believes should go in the top 12: Mendoza, Arvell Reese, Jeremiah Love, Sunny Styles, Caleb Downs, David Bailey, Rueben Bain, Carnell Tate, Francis Mauigoa, Mansour Delane, and Jer'Zhan Newton. Newton jumped back into elite conversation after a pro day time that re-triggered his 2024 scouting report.

The real argument starts after pick 12. McShay believes the combined tackle and edge rusher count in round one will land at 14 or more. That's a huge number for two positions. His trench list pulls from Spencer Fano, Monroe Freeland, Francis Lomu, Ian Enaohre, a name he thinks could sneak into the 25 to 27 range after being pegged as a fringe first-rounder. Yoh Onyemaechi is on the board too.

The edge group layers in T.J. Parker, Mazi Smith, Keldrick Faulk from Auburn, Cashius Howell, and Zion Young from Missouri. McShay's read: nobody should sleep on Zion Young.

Where it gets practical is the Chargers scenario. Jim Harbaugh is sitting in El Segundo hoping one of the top interior players falls so he can park him next to Rashawn Slater or Joe Alt and run downhill. That's the kind of luxury pick that shapes a draft.

McShay pushed back hard on the cooling takes around Kenyon Sadiq and the interior defensive linemen. Caden McDonald from Ohio State can't rush the passer, but McShay asked anyone to watch the tape, in a league defined by split safeties and shell coverage, McDonald is the kind of three-down run defender who fits perfectly. The Dexter Lawrence comp did the work: not a pass rusher in college, elite in the league.

Peter Woods is in the same bucket. Shorter arms, production dipped this past year, but the tools map to a Mason Graham-style interior disruptor. McShay isn't calling him Mason Graham, he's saying the archetype is real, and the market has overcorrected.

The draft strategy implication is clean. If a team wants one of the top seven offensive tackles, they need to strike in round one. Waiting means waiting until the third round, or reaching in the second for a player who should have been a third-round pick. That tension is what will drive trade-ups.

The receivers and the tight ends still have to land somewhere. McShay thinks that somewhere is later than the consensus boards are currently reflecting, which is the kind of shift that creates real value for the teams paying attention.