KCSN Draft Show 4/13: Exclusive Shrine Bowl Interviews with Anthony Lucas, Patrick Payton, Riley Mahlman, and Robert Spears-Jennings

0:00Coming up, the latest episode of The Draft Show, here on KC Sports Network. Welcome back to another edition of the KCS in Draft Show. Today, we are rounding out our prospect interview series, where we were down in Dallas at the East West Shrine game, where we got to sit down and talk to a bunch of different prospects, things to air Calco and the phenomenal East West Shrine staff. They help us out, they set us up, we get these awesome interviews with these players down there. And so we have four more interviews that you guys have not heard from down there. We're going to get to those two day here in just one second. But before that, as always, we do have the shout out our friends at Holiday Distillery.

1:01Without them, we couldn't do the stuff that we do here during the draft. We will be live like we are every year, every single minute of the NFL draft from Holiday Distillery is where we will be set up. You guys can watch us on YouTube there as we are talking through about the chiefs essentially for the entire draft. So we hope that you guys will join us for that. Without further ado, let's dive into these last four interviews here. And first up is going to be Anthony Lucas, a defensive end out of USC who started his career at Texas A&M as a very high recruit ended up at USC 6'6256 pounds at the NFL scouting combine. Big, powerful defensive end, knows how to play the run, to place through his hands with a solid base. Like this is one of those guys that if you're watching him, you kind of immediately go, ah, that's a Steve Spagnolo fit. If I've ever seen one right then and there, and you can just understand it because the power, the strength, the ability to play at that level where you can play through an offensive tackle, you can handle or manhandle tight ends even all jumps off the screen here for Lucas.

2:04So let's jump into that interview real quick and take a listen to what he has to say about his game. And then I just want to go back to the beginning. You know, how did you get started with football and was there kind of somebody that inspired you to go down this journey? Uh, my parents never wanted me to really play football because it was like, uh, you're going to get injured. It's down to there. So I always played baseball and basketball. And then when I was going to my high school, uh, I was going for baseball and basketball. And then somebody seen me at like registration, like a football mom and she was like, are you playing football? I'm like, you know, and then I was with my mom at the time. She's like, yeah, you got to come at least talk to the coach, like, please. I'm the conversation with your mom go trying to get you to let hurt let you play football. I mean, I didn't really like, I already knew like, I wasn't even going like, forced it because I was fine. Like playing baseball and basketball as well, because I knew there was like, oh, you're not going to play to your senior year in high school. I'm like, okay, that's when my dad's playing was the entire time. And, um, I don't know. We went to that first practice and then we seen it watched it.

3:04The coach for the freshman team, how to conversation with my mom was like, he's going to be doing more of the injuring than him getting injured. So that pretty much set her mind at easy, uh, at ease with that, like kind of aspect of the injury stuff. And we watched the practice for the day and then she ended up calling my dad, letting him know. And then, you know, rest of this history. How do you think your background playing basketball on baseball kind of helped you once you transitioned into football? It helped me like, I'd say with the motor aspect, don't want to stop, especially competitive was and, uh, past rush wise, be able to transition some of the basketball stuff to the field footwork and stuff like that. Yes, sir, so when you started playing football, did you immediately go to the defensive line or what kind of what positions were you playing as you were getting into it? It was, uh, I was, it was like a week before the first game. So they put me at a tight end. And there was like, I was going to take too long to learn to play books. So yeah, D line, I was a D line. And then I started learning some tight end in high school. I played like a little bit of my junior year and senior year, some fade balls. And then a little bit of open field.

4:05Uh, I think my senior year was definitely a fade ball specialist. And then, yeah. Do you have a specific coach from high school or once you got into college, um, that kind of like helped develop the player you've become now, uh, from high school. I probably say coach Zoo, uh, he was the JV coach at the time and he seen me, uh, playing on the freshman team. And if you see my freshman year and high school, the idea looked pretty. So he was just like, yeah, I need to get you right this all season. And uh, after like the season was over, they called me up for like one JV game. I did pretty good. I think I think I had like two saxophone and then I don't, I didn't play another JV game after that was my freshman year. So yeah, after that, we got to work that off season, uh, got me right. And then it was, it was a night and day difference from my freshman year to my sophomore year and high school of how I was playing. And he got me right throughout my high school career. And then when I started out to college, was that A&M and, uh, had coach Terry Price and an E Rob and then transferred as C and then once again, we get coached under coach knew after he sent eight and hundreds of number two overall.

5:07And then truly, he led the nation in sax my freshman year in college. Yeah, second round to the chargers. So obviously I knew coach knew was developing great past restries. And that's why I came to college to do. So once I go get coached up by him, what's the most underrated part about playing defensive end that maybe somebody watching from the outside doesn't understand? Uh, the hammering aspect of the blocks like on the pools. Like yeah, how physical we got to be, even though we not making the play that we stuffing it back, making sure the ball bounce back or it's not spilling out. So like the running back is not just following a big lineman down the field. So the fashion we get down over closing that space and there's no leakage for that second puller to like kind of go through that. That's the running back is not going to be able to follow either. So yeah, I mean, and that's a, there's a level of physicality there. And I don't think a lot of people understand you know, there's 300 pound guy pulling across formation. You got to go down and meet him. You got to spill everything out or force everything back inside. What's the mentality you have to have going into that like interaction? You got to be ready to headhunt you. It's hey, as soon as you step on the field, that's what it is. It's headhunt season. So you got to know if you have read your key first scene and what he can tell you,

6:11but also like the film study on what he's been doing and if he's not like, oh, he's just playing with you like in the game. If you get that feeling, yeah, I's not on you. He's down heavy runs it and you've seen across the line. So one of one of the guard might be like half a step behind everybody else. Yeah, you get ready. Yeah, you get ready. Do you, do you get more satisfaction after sacking the quarterback or from making a big play in the run game, you know, shedding an offensive tackle, getting the running back behind the line of scripts? I said any plan I make that's like that. Like sack TFL or even me just knocking somebody on the button. Without me, like, even making the play, those all give me that same type of rooster, like, yeah, I want to scream out. Did you do a little talking on the field? Are you pretty reserved and kind of let the play do your talking? I let the play do my talking unless they start talking first. And then I'll say some, but my play go and shut them up real quick. Yeah, let's talk about your past search plan a little bit. Do you have a preferred past search move you like to go to? No, I work a lot of everything. I think I got a pretty deep bag. And I'll start it off every time, like,

7:11try to make sure my power is established. So everything else opens up. So, okay. So you've established your power kind of early in the game. What are you looking for to counter off of that? What are you looking for from the offensive tackle to tell you what's going to be available as the game goes on? His set. So after he doesn't already seen like my power, he's going to be more conservative and not try to be aggressive on getting me. Or he's going to try to stop my charge early. So depending on the guy you're going against, you got to know. And then once you like flash, like you're going power again with a long arm. All right. If you got a guy who's trying to be more conservative, he's probably going to shoot and like be like scared like almost like a scary real. Yeah, you feel me? So he's going to be out here, highs down, shoot fast. If you get him, I'm not going to let him power me again. I almost ran into my quarterback. So all right, fake the power. And then it's like, all right, I got him right by me, the insider outside, depending on what I want to do, keep going outside. If he's shorter in the quarterbacks, got a deep set. If the quarterback stepping up, it's been inside off that long arm. Did you think of a specific play, you know, that just comes to your mind

8:12where you maybe used your power to set up a counter move that you could walk me through from snap to finish? I'd probably say it's a couple of times throughout this season. Yeah, I think it was, I want to say Michigan or Michigan state. It was Michigan state. And I'd already probably went power a couple of times or went on the edge. Yeah, and I was setting up my inside move. And it's like a cover me call that I do with my detackle. Instead of like, oh, we already got a set game. I mean, we got a straight rush. Yeah, I like knows like a hundred percent pass. I know it said I'm about to get is like, all right, cover me. He's like, all right, my guy got me my boy, Devin Tomkins. That's what I ran it with. And I think I went power and then I tried to do a speed rush on him. So he's kind of already protecting the inside part and he, like, angle set quick to me also to try to stop my charge because he's seen I was trying to go edge or power through him. So he's going to try to stop my feet quick. So you know, all right, I'm going up. I'm going straight at him and then get him, like I said, with the, like, thinking power, that straight line is like a power line.

9:13So that's going to get him to like, oh, he's coming right at me. You got to go power to get him to shoot his hands and kind of like stop his feet. Quick and then shoot and then go inside. I was inside. I didn't finish the sack. It's the one that I wrapped them up and then my other DM got the sack coming through. Yeah, yeah, I remember the play. Okay, perfect. No, that's awesome. Yeah, I mean, the basketball footworks come into play there a little bit. You're setting them up throughout the game. Is that something that you kind of get through from film study, leaving up the week to know that you're going to be able to set a guy up? Or is it just kind of different game to game? You're just trying to do it from first nap. So you always got your passwords playing going into the game. So like, I'll try to get my guys on the scout team. Like, oh, I'm getting this type of set this week. So it's not like I'm throwing a move on the scout team. That's not going to work on those guys in the game. So I'm trying to preparing like what I see from film from those guys. But they also, like those guys also are watching film as well. So they might change some things game to game. They'll change up what they might do. It might be all my deep sit a couple times. And then on that third one, I'm going to try to get him with a jump set or angle set. So sometimes you got guys who try to mix up their sets, depending also on the play call. If it's like a play action or something that is like, all right,

10:16I'm locked on this backside edge. They're trying to get their best one on rep. So you know, it's going to be some good work. But he is kind of a mix of both a plan and then also reaction. Once you get into the game, it just a feel for it on what you got him doing. If my power really got him on his heels. Let's say you make a game winning sack. It's strip sack. You in the game. The game is over right there. Are you at home in front of the home crowd? When everyone's going wild, are you on the road? Vince big rival and the entire stadium goes quiet road road. Like I like, I like sun to look, you know, say anything afterwards. And we just walk it off the field, celebrate the team and celebrate with the team. Ain't got to say nothing. They already know. Yeah, you're right, you know, all right. Let's fast forward a little bit. It's draft night. You hear your name called where are you going to be at? Who's going to be with you? And just kind of like what emotions are going to be going through your mind? I have no clue where I'm going to be at. But I don't know. I might be at LA fitness. I'm not going to lie. I don't know. But probably my family. And then it's definitely going to be a lot of emotions that long time coming. That it's been a long process, but it's just getting really started now.

11:16Well, thank you, Aether. Thank you for spending some time sitting down with me. I appreciate it and have fun the rest of the weekend. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me. That was Anthony Lucas defensive end out of USC. Really love to sit down with him. Love talking to my past rushers. This is where I kind of geek out the most them and offensive linemen is where I kind of go on for 800 minutes as long as Tucker and BJ let me. So while let's continue, let's just stick at the same position. Go with Patrick Peyton out of LSU. He actually started his career at Florida State. He was at Florida State for four years, I believe, where he had some of his best success during those really good Florida state teams, where he recorded over double digit sacks in a season despite playing with other guys that got draft the top 100 of the NFL draft. But Patrick Peyton then transfers to LSU. Didn't have the statistical season he wanted, but he did a lot for the LSU defense. Another guy coming in at six foot five, 260 pounds over 33 inch arm. So once again, we're kind of looking like a Steve Spagnolo profile. And that's something that I think he showed a lot in LSU is he's not just big, but he also can play the run.

12:16He can play with his length, he can play the run. He can set the hard edge and then he will do his job as a pass rusher. At Florida State, he get a chance to pin his ears back a little bit more and really show off the pass rush in LSU. He was a lot more of an edge center, a lot more of a guy that was kind of rushing with contain and that did limit a little bit of the production. But clearly, as you can tell this interview here in a second, that didn't bring him down because he was working on his craft showing what he can do. And you can just really see if there's a pass rush plan that he has going forward. Even if it didn't result in sacks this year, there's a reason it has in the past because there is a very clear and well thought out plan. He has along with the ability to get on the field with these early down things which we know is super important at the next level. So let's take a listen to what Patrick Peyton from LSU has to say. I'm here with Patrick Peyton, defensive and from LSU. How would you describe your game in two words for me? I would say I've let it playmaker. Perfect. All right, so I just want to start you know, let's go back to the beginning. How did you get started on this journey down football? Was there somebody in your life that kind of helped you get to this point? Or how'd you get going? I would say from my dad, he started me playing football like four years old

13:18and I haven't missed the year since. And I always just love the game with football, like just from playing outside my front yard and playing with my cousins or my friends. Football just always bad for me. When you started playing when you were younger, have you always been on the defensive line or did you play all over the place? How'd that go for you? I would say I played all over the place. Played O'Line, D-Line and mostly all my like O'Line and D-Line, but then when I got to high school and with the D-Line mostly. Do you think that that kind of experience playing all over the place kind of helped you in your like at the point of being a defensive end or an edge player at this point? Yes, sir. I would feel like it and then just being on like playing in Miami and just like I was saying like playing outside in the front yard, playing tackle football, like it just helped you with so athletic ability because everybody around the block and everybody in the neighborhood was athletic. So it just helped you being from Miami. Everybody good at football. Do you have a particular coach in any time, though, high school, middle school college that you kind of would not credit for developing you but played a big part in developing you as who you are as a player? I would say coming up from Florida State. My coach at Florida State, Odell Higgins,

14:19he'd been there for about 30-something years. He'd been, he always seen the great set of Florida State and he developed me when I first came in as a skid in freshman. He showed me how to be tough and really how to play the defensive line position. So what is something like the big lessons that he kind of taught you that you think you still keep with you today? Toughness, like working hard and not giving enough on anything, especially in practice because he's going to push you hard, especially as a freshman, you know, not as much as he do as like on the veteran guys that he already developed. So he tried to break you when you first come as a freshman. Like you guys dare to do about it. Like he tried to get on you. But as long as you show that you're not going to quit here, I'll hear it always forever coach you. So what do you think is the most underrated part about playing defense? Like something that people watching on the outside don't understand was difficult part about playing defensive end in the football field? I would say just been in the edges and being athletic enough to sometimes drop in coverage and turn your hips. Like it's a very athletic position that people don't know because we very big enough let it's not like Rob Sever. Like what most of the guys on the DBs that's already athletic enough for.

15:21Yeah, you guys are big. And you got to handle 300 pound plus pound guys on a daily basis. Like you guys aren't small, but you got to still be athletic to run at these awkward body positions. So is that a part of your game? Is there something that you work on in particular to be able to be able to bend the edge, turn the arc and stuff like that? They're just like practicing every day of practice working on dropping your hips and dropping your shoulders. And going like you said, going against the 300 pound guys every day every play. Like it's a ground. But if you show that you got it and the toughness in you and then you should be able to do it. So let's talk about kind of your past rush plan a little bit. Do you have a favorite past rush move that you like to utilize more than the others? Yes, so I would love. I'll save my long gone because you know, everybody know I'm long of six, five. And so like as much as I could keep a 300 guy away from me, it's possible. Instead of letting him clamp on to me to help you with your past rush, I would say instead of just going down the middle of somebody or just getting face to face with him, it's harder. So once you hold on, you keep them low. I feel like you keep them separated from your value. I'll be all right. So where are you trying to land your long arm on a blocker's chest and shoulder when you're trying to get inside a pack of the shoulder,

16:22because then you could control them out the field or you could control them. If you want to snatch it up down the field, like if the quarter best double, you could stick your foot in the ground and come back with scholar level rush. So I feel like that's what most of the sacks that come in the NFL, like those type of sack and effort sacks in the NFL. Do you have a play like that you can recall that you were using your long arm that you just felt like, hey, this is a really good play of mine. That you could walk me through from snap to finish. Yes, I would say my sack in the 223 ACC championship, like I just came off the ball, got off the ball, got the old lineman turn. Once he wants to show this turn in his feet off balance, and then you stick that arm into his chest, it's over with the quarter best. He stepped right to you and then I fell right into his lap. I'm perfect. So okay, so you're getting up there, snap. You're trying to come off on your scrimmage. What are you looking for an offensive tackle to figure out how your rush plan is going to go? You know, you're going to have your primary move, but what are you looking for to figure out what you're going to counter with? What kind of keys are you trying to get from the blocker in front of you? Really his feet because some of the great tackles I had, the great athletic tackles, sometimes they are snapped before the ball. Like it's good watching the ball too,

17:23but sometimes when you watch that leg on the outside leg of a tackle, and when his hands are let, like if they lower or they hide, those are the stuff that you have to study throughout. The way you have to study with your man, your person that you're going to get is really hard. They really get a good understanding of how he blocked. Once you be an offensive tackle to play, and there's nothing between you and the quarterback, what's going through your mind? You said like, yeah, once you beat up, once you beat the tackle, there's just nothing between you and the quarterback. What's going through your mind in that ball? I would say get the ball out. That's the main one thing, especially in the field. Like that's what win against the NFL. Turn over, you get the ball. The guys like patching my home, Josh Allen, Lamar Jensen, you get the ball back to the room guy, especially in good field position. They'll help the team win. That's what they want. That's right answer to you. So let's say you make a game winning sack, right? Stripsack, your team wins now. Are you on the road against your biggest rival, or are you at home in front of all your fans? I would say on the road, I guess the biggest rival. You just, you just the crowd. I know it's good to hit the crowd, but sometimes when you just the crowd, they feel even better. Exactly. You do a little bit of trash talk afterwards. You just let the play do it. I just let the play do. I already talked. All right, let's fast forward here. We get the draft night. Your name is called.

18:23Where are you going to be at? Who's going to be with you? And what kind of emotions are going to be going through your mind? I would say I probably being home in Miami, Florida, and probably at like a nice little house with my family, my mom, dad, and all my grandma and my cousins around me. It's just feeling good, like something I've been working for since I was 40. So every kid who's played football, I really dreamt of putting on the NFL helmet. And I'm this much closer to it. And I just thank God for it. And I'll just whoever teams that drives me to trust me, they're going to get everything out of me. Awesome. Thank you so much, Patrick. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a good luck, man. Nice to meet you. That was Patrick Payton out of LSU. That is our two defense events that we had left. We have two final interviews for you guys, but we will get to that right after this quick break. Just a short drive from Kansas City. Experience the history, the heritage, and the bourbon at Holiday Distillery. Tour Missouri's oldest distillery, where real Missouri bourbon is made the old-fashioned way. Walk the grounds, taste the tradition, and take home a bottle of something special.

19:25Make the trip, sip the story. Holiday Distillery, Weston, Missouri. Book your tour at holidaydistillery.com. I'm B. J. Kissle, founder and CEO of Casey Sports Network. Enterprise Bank has been with us from the beginning. They were our first network partner, and they believed in the vision of what we were building from the start. And I can't speak to any other banks or companies, and how they operate, but I can tell you from personal experience, and based on the growth of the network you're listening to right now, that if you have banking needs, call our friends at Enterprise Bank. We've worked with so many great people there over the years, from Vicki and Aggie to Andrea Laurie, Jackie Debinaren, and not to mention so many others, and not just supported Casey Sports Network, but supported our Casey S.N Foundation as well. But the best thing that I know is that if I have a question or a problem, and that I have dumbed the question is, I know who I'm going to call and who I'm going to talk to, and I know that I'm getting an answer from someone that I can trust, and I know that person is there to help us. That's why Enterprise Bank has always been, and continues to be our partner and possible, and they can be yours too. You just have to reach out. If you have a banking need,

20:26whether it's business or personal, hit me up. I will connect you directly with the same people that have helped us build Casey S.N. And that's our friends at Enterprise Bank. Welcome back to the Casey S.N. Draft Show. We are here going through our interview series from the East West Shrine Game. We are down to our final two interviews. We have two more interviews here coming for you guys. We did two defensive aims to start. Let's jump over to the other side of the ball, to the two guys that are the guys that are trying to stop. These two guys from getting home, this is going to be Riley Malmond, an offensive tackle out of Wisconsin, six foot eight, 304 pounds. Some people might see him as someone that kicks to the inside at the next level. It's a very big player, but a little bit short arms, just 32 inches. So there is some technical stuff that does show up when he's playing on the edge. But if you think about transitioning him inside to guard, I think you can see how his demeanor, how his physical play style, and it is a guy that's going to sit there and say, hey, he loves to run power. He loves to get after it as a blocker. You love that mentality for somebody that's going to play anywhere along the offensive line.

21:28But especially if you're going to have to move him into guard because of that lack of arm length, just a very smart football player that has a ton of experience playing at Wisconsin, at the power five level in the big tent. So you know what you're getting there from a toughness and a technique standpoint. So let's go talk to Riley Malmond and see what he has to say. We're here with Riley Malmond, all of his attack on a Wisconsin. Riley, thank you for spending some time with this here. I just want to start at the very beginning. How did you get into football? Was there anybody that kind of helped inspire you or pushed you into that? And where did this journey begin? Yeah, I mean, my dad played due to football at St. Claude State. So I mean, he got me in as early as possible. I think probably preschool, gotten flagged football, played me up so I can play tackle football. So, but it's all good. Yeah, as soon as possible. Did you always play offensive line after you got to tackle football or did you start out playing other positions? I mean, we called it a black stripe line captain. So you know, I couldn't run the ball. So I was offensive line defensive line. I did in high school. I did play tight end in defensive line. So I was a big tight end though. 285, not many catches.

22:28Let me tell you. How do you think that experience playing a little bit defensive line, a little bit of tight end kind of helped you as an offensive tackle? So you kept going going up. Yeah, I mean, it just keeps you as a football player. You know, you're not specializing too early. You know, it keeps your feet fast, you know, say a little more athletic than you would play no line. So, and I got like two touchdowns throughout my high school career and like, you know, 40 games. So it was cool. Was there any moment on the field that you kind of just knew that this was going to be more than a game for you? But you could take this further than just being a fun game? Yeah, I mean, I think once, you know, I got to camps in summer and started freshman year in varsity and just being able to compete with, you know, some of the best in the state. I'm like, gosh, I can keep doing this. I can do this for a little while. So do you have a particular coach or you mentioned your dad earlier, just somebody that kind of like helped them hold you who you are as a player as you kind of grew and developed? Yeah, I mean, I think Bob Bo said really helped me out early on. You know, he was the first guy who started me and gave a lot of gratitude to him. What's the most underrated thing about playing offensive tackle that just everybody doesn't always understand?

23:30Like the most underrated part of it that we don't get from the outside? Yeah, I mean, kind of being able to eat a lot of calories each day and being able to eat a lot what you want. Especially if you're losing weight, you know, you can eat whatever the heck you want. You know, like you say, whatever to say in weight. Go ahead in benefits, right? Yeah. So what do you think is the most important part about playing offensive tackle? Like what is the one single most important thing to make you excel at your job? Yeah, I mean, I think the most important thing is being five is one. And they're offence line, you know? You know, the the play doesn't work if one of the five fails. So, you know, really working together communication, you know, getting down the line and then being in sync. Over your time there at Wisconsin, how did you guys kind of work on that together to make sure that you were operating as one unit and not as individual players? Yeah, I mean, it just comes speaking up, you know, being boys off the field and really hanging out, you know, it's a lot easier to tell your best friend something than a, you know, some stranger. So, you know, really being boys off the field and getting to know each other and you know, everything like that translates on the field. There's no wrong answer to this. I'm sure both are good. But do you prefer being in pass protection or run blocking more?

24:30Oh, run games way more fun. Come on. Let's do it. I know. I know. I got I got to ask these. We got to get to this part. What's your favorite run play to call? Power power. America's play. God's play. All right, so walk me through it, right? Power your side, your front side of it. Walk me through what's going through your mind, what you're looking for, how you're playing this out. Yeah, so first thing you see is who's your double team going to be with? You have a three technique, probably with the guard. Tight five and a nose, you know, you're probably with the tight end. So, you know, making that call and make sure everyone's in the same thing. And, you know, you get the point. Know your double team in two and, you know, really, really a road grade in the guy. You know, I'm moving them. What's your mentality going into it? Like, you know, you've I know your double team, you're working up to the to the second level. What's kind of in your mentality along with your teammate going through this? Oh, I just want to crush this guy. You know, let's move in more about the linebacker later. But, you know, let's crush this guy. All right. Do you have a particular play from your collegiate career that stands out to you as your favorite play of your entire time at Wisconsin? Oh, gosh, my favorite play. I mean, I think one of the most fun plays, you know, it was against Illinois. We're down game winner.

25:31We threw a pass to Nolan Ruchi, who's also, you know, here in the back. But plays at play to Penn State now. But he just fully outstretched all six eight of him to catch a game winning touchdown. And I just remember calling it on fourth down with like 30 seconds left to win the game. And it was just the craziest, craziest thing ever, you know. We caught it. We scored. We celebrated it as wild. So, okay, so a play like that, you know, everything goes right. Do you want that to be at home with the home crowd? Or do you want that to be on the road against your rivals? And you kind of have to hear the stadium go quiet? Oh, home crowd, for sure, you know, I mean, the quiet thing, you know, is good too. We did do it on the road. But I mean, you know, celebrating with your home crowd, you know, you know, celebrating after nothing beats it. Yeah. So, okay, let's see, let's change this into pass protection now. You know, pass place coming up, you know, we're just going with the normal five-step drop here. What are you looking for from that pass you're coming across me like just what is the first thing you're trying to key on? What are you looking for to figure out how your pass that's going to go? Yeah, I mean, kind of looked at his trajectory, you know, is he trying to get up field? Is he trying to go power right away? You know, what's he doing?

26:31Where's his eyes at? You know, it always goes back before they even play. You know, you got to watch film. What kind of rushers he power, rushers speed, rusher, what are his moves? Yep. What does your game prep look like leading up to the week leading up to a game? You're talking about watching film. They're like, what does that prep look like for you? I mean, absolutely. Yeah, like first thing I do, probably Monday, watch a couple games, you know, the most recent ones. Then, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, you know, you watch runs versus formations, runs versus, you know, certain personnel and, you know, run like each run category. Again, you know, you watch outside zone, inside zone. And then you really scout the players after that. Really good, a good feel for, you know, I said, they're moves or counters. You know, what kind of rusher are they? Their weaknesses, how to beat them and what not? You know, it's like a little chess game out there, especially with rushing. And so, and then yeah, you kind of, you know, you sprinklin' a few other, you know, short yardage, goal line stuff. And, you know, as much as you need to until you're ready. All right, so let's fast forward. It's draft night, you hear your name called, you get that phone call, your name's called, where are you at? Who's with you and kind of what are the emotions going through your mind? Oh, gosh, I'm gonna be pumped. I mean, whatever team it is, you know,

27:32it's gonna be the best feeling in my life. I'm probably gonna be down in Florida where my parents moved, you know, probably a short list of people, you know, that's not gonna be some big party, but we'll make it a party all eight or 10 of us or how many this will be, but, you know, I'm not looking for a big party, small group of people. Awesome, Riley, thank you so much for your time and good luck the rest of the weekend. Yeah, thank you, sir. That was Riley Mollman, offensive tackle out of Wisconsin. And now, for a very final interview of this year's interview for our prospect interview series, we are going to the secondary, we're going to Oklahoma where Robert Spears, Jennings shared the secondary, played that secondary in that Bret Vinnable's defense, coming in at six foot to 205 pounds, one of the freakyest athletic performances you're ever gonna see at the NFL combine from this year, four, three, two, four, the yard dash, right? One, five, one, 10 yard split, big fella moving, really put out some of the athleticism that shows on film. And I think you see that when you watch him, right? He's a little bit stiffer in the hips, but you see an explosive big player that isn't afraid

28:33to fly up and make plays in the box when he has to. He has the range over the top end where he can get from sideline to sideline or numbers to numbers and make some plays. You're never gonna question the speed this guy has and coming in doing it at 205 pounds at six foot to, you can see some versatility in his playstyle for the next level. You can kick him down in the box a little bit and let him be an athlete near the line of scrimmage with the size, but you can also see how he can play deep a little bit, protect you over the back end or at the very least make some big splashes on special teams, 205 pounds running at low four, threes, that screams special teams ace right there. And I do know that Dave Tob and that Kansas City chief staff love to find these guys on day three that can really work outside his gunners or vices in the special teams department. So let's hang out. Let's go talk to Robert Spier's Jennings and see what we think about him. Robert, thank you for sitting down and spending some time with us here. I just wanna start at the very beginning. How did you get into football? What sets you on this journey in your life? I've been playing football about five, five years old. My mom, she's wanting me to get out the house.

29:33So start playing flag football, five to six, start playing tackle seven, play middle school football in Manson, Texas. Then I moved to Oklahoma in high school, played at Broken Arrow, was a receiver. Receiver all throughout high school. Oklahoma was my only defensive offer. I worked out for it. I didn't want to one workout with the coaches. I got the offer that day, then I committed to Oklahoma July 4th. Did you, were you wanting to play on the defensive side of the ball or what kind of like sport, kind of that transition for you? I might just did a pros and cons. It's really like, as a safety, I'm a bigger safety as you can tell, like six, one, two, one, and as a receiver. Six, one is not the tallest. So it's like, I'd be an average height receiver. So like, they're nice to pros and cons. How do you think playing wide receiver throughout high school kind of helped you as you transition to play defensive back? I feel like tracking a ball down, tracking angles, understanding of offices, philosophy, and things like that.

30:35What's the most underrated part like from a, somebody that's not playing the game's understanding of what you're doing as a safety? I'll probably say the communication aspect. Like, you gotta be, you gotta be very vocal at safety because, and it's loud usually. So you gotta be like very loud. You gotta talk to the linebackers and the corners and the others hate to make sure we're all on the same page. Is that someone that you had to learn to do over time? Is that something that kind of came natural to you as you switched over? It came over time, especially when you were getting comfortable and understanding and have a confidence in myself that knowing that I know the defense as well as anybody else. So it came with time. As you make this transition, you're playing safety now for Oklahoma, do you have any coaches, whether it's high school college or anything like that, that you kind of, you know, credit to the growth that you had as a player? At high school, definitely coach Wilkerson and then coach Tracy Moore, because they both got me ready for college. Like coach Moore, he taught me like, what college was going to be about because he played tight in at OSU at Oklahoma State. So he just taught me like,

31:35hey, this was about to go down. He coached me like a coach coach coach. So I learned how to take coaching well. And then in college, I definitely say coach, coach hall, my sales coach Brandon Hall and J. Valide, those two guys are right there. They like took time with me because knowing that I didn't know any defense of terminology for coming to college because I played receiver in high school. So they just took a time with me and taught me the details and it out to the football. What is like your game week prep look like as you're kind of preparing for a game? You know, what are you looking for on the opposing team's film or what are you doing to get ready for a specific matchup? Start off the week probably looking at the guard because our coach teaches to look through the guard. So see if the guard gives any order tackle, gives any like indicators that is going to be a pass or run play because we got to key them first just because we might have to fit fast or get shot, get deep. So that's first. And then looking at the receiver's foot foot and like, if his outsides foot, he's usually probably for the crack you crack and get ready to set a corner crack replace because you're about to get blocked.

32:35It's a run play and just a little details like that. So I can get a head start on the game. So you're out there and you don't save the, you have to wear a lot of different hats on any given play or do you prefer to get an interception or do you prefer to come up and make a big hit or behind the line of scrimmage? I'm definitely an interception because you just call the turn over and you got the crowd jumping. So yeah, definitely an interception. So do you have a particular favorite coverage that you like when it's called? You feel like, you know, obviously like everything but you get excited when a certain coverage is called or anything like that? Definitely a cover through where I'm in the hook player because a hook player, you can rob either the number one curl or you can number three to the, number three to the figure take the over away. You can, you can do so many things and you're also in the fit. So you have a, you have a job that you're, you're fine to action to find a work. Okay, so you guys gotta cover three play. You're gonna be down in the hook. What do you hit three by one? What are you, what are you keying on? Like what are you looking for as the play gets started? How does it kind of walk me through? What's going through your mind? Okay, so first I look at the guard. At the guard blocks out, I mean blocks down that I'm fitting to be gapped because that's my fit. And everybody, if he does a high-hab pass protection play,

33:38I'm looking at the quarterback's vision. So if the quarterback's looking to the field and it's three by one, I know Sean probably take the over. So I gotta take the over, pick that off or if not just run with it and match it. And if you look into the boundary, I kind of help with the dig for number one or the curl and help out right there. Do you have a most memorable play from your time in college? You know what, it sticks out to you whether, you know, for a more like personal reason or just like a, oh, you thought this is a really good play? Definitely probably was running, we run a cover through, we run an invert, which is both save these are hook players. And then the mic is a middle run through and the corners are covered, cover three players. And it was three by one. Number three sat down on the curl outside of the field hash. Number two ran a deep curl and number one ran a go. And I picked off the deep curl by number three. So was that something that you were ready for in film study? Did you just think you read it out real well? What made you kind of get a jump on the ball? I'm just looking at the Coderbeck's eyes, like seeing like, okay, he's staring at this receiver.

34:38And I'm like, it's no, he's about to just ball. He threw it. So I just undercut the receiver and picked it off. And that's probably one of my memories moments. And that was my first pick of that year, yeah. So balls coming out to you in this situation, you know, you got to read on it, you're going to beat the receiver to it, balls coming, what's going through your head? Catch the ball. Catch the ball. First thing, catch the ball, yeah. All right, so let's say you make a game winning the interception that ends the game right there. Would you rather that be at home in front of all of your home fans or is that on the road against arrival and the entire state and goes quiet? Ooh, so your arrival is Texas. So yeah, it would definitely be a rival. But if it's a rival, it's in the Dallas, listen, couldn't have. So if I'm on that side of the line, yeah, I definitely wouldn't accept it. That's both worlds. Yeah, that's fair. All right, so let's fast forward, you know, it's draft night. You hear your name called, where are you going to be? Who's going to be with you? What kind of emotions are going to be going through your mind? I'll probably be out here in Texas. Well, my family, family of friends, for sure. And just a joy of gratitude, just all the stuff I've went through in my life, all the ups and downs just finally came, the journey come true.

35:39But it's like a joy of gratitude, but it's like we're not done yet. Like that's not the end goal. This is a good draft. It's like to have a good career. Awesome, Robert. Thank you so much for your time. A good luck this weekend. Yes, sir, thank you. All right, that's going to do it. That was Robert Spears' journeyings out of Oklahoma. And that's a wrap. That is the entire prospect interview series on the KCS in Draft Show. It's done in the books. Marked down. You guys have heard them all from you guys. We are just a couple a week and a half away from the NFL Draft. Now again, we will be live on YouTube at KCS in on YouTube to watch the entire Draft Show. We are going to be live every single minute talking chiefs picks, how picks impact the chiefs and everything like that. We will be at holiday distillery, our partners that help us put on all this phenomenal drafts content that you guys love to hear. So we appreciate them, shout out to them, shout out to you guys for listening. And we will catch you guys later in the week on the next KCS in Draft Show. You can join 14,000 members of Chiefs Kingdom by subscribing to the KCSN Daily Chiefs newsletter. It's on-site chiefs coverage from veteran award-winning

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