Terez Paylor loved Charles Woodson.
He loved watching him capture a Heisman Trophy playing on both sides of the football at the University of Michigan. Loved watching him carve out a first-ballot Hall of Fame career in the NFL, including eight All-Pros, a defensive Player of the Year award and a Super Bowl ring that cost Woodson a broken collarbone. He also loved the occasional what if conversation about the dynamic Wolverines star, which usually imagined what Woodson’s career might have looked like if he had devoted as much time to playing receiver and returning kicks in college as he did at cornerback.
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It was always a fun bit of dream casting, embraced with the notion that Woodson likely would have been an elite player at almost any skill position on a field. He was simply that great. And if Terez had been drawing up All-Juice Team selections in the late 1990s, it’s likely that Woodson would currently be chiseled into the Mount Rushmore of picks. Of course, we never dreamed we’d actually get an answer to the Charles Woodson what if conversation.
Then along came Colorado’s Travis Hunter.
In the decade-plus history of All-Juice Teams, no college player has ever represented the DNA of this roster more than Hunter. Not only because he played full-time on both sides of the football — averaging a herculean 118 snaps per game last season — but because he dominated both ways. So much so, he enters the forthcoming NFL Draft as both the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 1 cornerback on draft boards. In the universe of rarities, he’s the unicorn that other unicorns encounter in their dreams.
Colorado’s Travis Hunter dazzled football fans like few have in decades. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
There’s no doubt in our minds that Terez would have kicked off the 11th edition of the All-Juice Team by cementing Hunter twice — as a wideout and cornerback. And while we plugged Hunter in at only the cornerback spot, there should be no confusion: We’re taking him with the intention that he’d play both ways for us, effectively giving the roster an extra player this year.
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Before we get to the team, a recap of Terez’s approach when choosing an All-Juice roster: The team is based on NFL talent evaluators and coaching staff feedback, choosing two players per “shelf,” building a full 22-man team plus one priority free agent. The one extra player is a shoutout to an earlier edition of one of Terez’s All-Juice Teams where he added an extra defensive player to account for a nickel spot while also maintaining a traditional seven-man box. We have chosen to use the additional spot to add a preferred free agent who was put onto our radar by sources.
With that in mind, enjoy the 11th annual All-Juice Team. As always, we hope Terez would have approved of the work. Here are the shelf breakdowns based on where each prospect was projected to go.
Top 10 — Miami QB Cam Ward; Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter
Nos. 11-20 — Penn State TE Tyler Warren; Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell
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Nos. 21-32 — North Dakota State G Grey Zabel; Mississippi DT Walter Nolen
Top of second — Oregon OT Josh Conerly Jr.; Boston College DE Donovan Ezeiruaku
Bottom second — TCU WR Jack Bech; Texas S Andrew Mukuba
Top third — Minnesota OT Aireontae Ersery; Ohio State DE Jack Sawyer
Bottom third — Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo; Oklahoma S Billy Bowman Jr.
Fourth round — Washington State WR Kyle Williams; West Virginia G Wyatt Milum
Fifth round — South Carolina DT TJ Sanders; Tennessee WR Dont’e Thornton
Sixth round — Ohio State CB Jordan Hancock; Western Kentucky CB Upton Stout
Seventh round — Oklahoma State LB Nick Martin; Middlebury C Thomas Perry
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Priority free agent — Miami LB Francisco Mauigoa
Please help us keep the memory of our late friend and colleague Terez Paylor alive and pick up one of the All-Juice Team T-shirts or hoodies, with proceeds going to Howard University and the University of Missouri. The funds will support a scholarship for journalism students in Terez’s name, helping to provide some of the same opportunities that Terez had on his trek to becoming an influential NFL reporter in Kansas City and on the national stage.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
A zero-star recruit who had one offer coming out of high school, then went on to blossom inside three different programs — from Incarnate Word to Washington State and then finally Miami in 2024. His rise screams All-Juice as he got better with each step upward in competition, then finished with a flourish for the Hurricanes while sending his draft stock into the stratosphere.
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He has a big arm, can throw from any angle and has an appetite for big plays that sometimes gets him into trouble. One longtime talent evaluator who cast a vote for him likened his relentless search and willingness to gamble for the big play to Brett Favre. He’ll need to pull back on that instinct in the NFL, but it draws his surrounding teammates into him as a leader. As one scout put it: “He just strikes you as someone who loves playing. He’d be playing somewhere even if it wasn’t the NFL.”
While he’s going to have to cut down on the propensity for hero ball and fine tune his pocket discipline and mechanics, he has an abundant ceiling in terms of his overall polish and a physique that will get stronger. Given the right staff and franchise, his best coaching is still ahead of him, too — so who knows what else can be unlocked? He’s worth the big bet that we placed taking him in the top-10 picks area.
Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State
He got a lot of votes as a guy evaluators loved to watch. Quintessential juice on film.
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One general manager said it looked at times like Skattebo was “chasing linebackers for a hit” instead of the other way around.
“He reminds me of Jeremy Shockey a little bit [when Shockey was coming] out of Miami, where looking to lay a guy out rather than run away from him. There’s a lot of that [on Skattebo].”
He carried the Sun Devils to the CFP on a team that likely won’t have another player drafted this year. Skattebo forced over 100 missed tackles along the way, and while his straight line 40-yard dash left a lot to be desired, he projects a very athletic profile otherwise.
One of my favorite quotes about late great safety Sean Taylor was that he played the game like he had another body on a hanger in the closet. That’s Skattebo. We pegged him for a selection in the bottom half of the third round, but after talking to so many evaluators who raved about him, I would not be surprised if he ends up going higher than we’re anticipating.
Cam Skattebo ran with attitude for Arizona State. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
(CFP via Getty Images)
Jack Bech, WR, TCU
Came alive as a senior at TCU, but did it in a way that is very enticing to NFL offensive coordinators — showing that he could produce on the outside and from the slot.
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He’s fluid and has size. Evaluators described him as the kind of route runner you need to get your hands on, or he’s going to get into a bag of tricks that leave a corner out of position and a safety having to clean up the mess. A skilled high school basketball player who won three 4A state titles in that sport at St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, Louisiana, before committing to play football at LSU. A huge favorite of coaches and evaluators at the Senior Bowl — especially after sticking around and playing in the game and then catching the game-winning touchdown for the American team.
One scout likened him to Ladd McConkey in that he’s a technician when he’s setting up his routes and not really wasting much movement to get himself open. Like McConkey, he also has the versatility to play inside and out, albeit with a little less speed but more size. He’s gotten some buzzy reviews, so plucking him in the second half of the second round may be a tad low on our part.
Kyle Williams, WR, Washington State
A fifth-year senior who really came into his own in 2024, but also in fairness played a solid role for UNLV from 2020-2022 and then the Cougars the past two seasons after entering the portal in 2023. His hands have not always been reliable, but he shows an ability to get open and burn teams with big plays in key situations. Also not the greatest route-runner, but a weapon once he gets the ball in his hands.
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As one evaluator said: “He makes teams nervous once he’s got it, so you get it to him however you can. There’s a little bit of [Chicago Bears wideout] DJ Moore to him.”
He definitely needs high-level coaching and a daily date with a JUGS machine to reach or exceed his potential. His upside as a player is certainly beyond the fourth round, where we are ultimately taking him. But his floor as a player can be dramatic if he can’t improve his hands and his route tree discipline. The fourth round represents a lot of boom-or-bust qualities in players, and Williams personifies that for us. But he has the juice to be a great player with work. So we can’t ignore him in the middle rounds.
Dont’e Thornton, WR, Tennessee
We had to take a swing on a wideout later in the draft, so we plucked Thornton in the fifth round purely on a raw size and athletic shot, with the hopes that he can be unlocked as a more well-rounded player in the NFL. His juice wasn’t his overall production as much as it was the terrifying speed and size combination that he brings to the table. Like so many of the Tennessee wideouts who come into the league, the Volunteers’ offensive scheme has really not developed Thornton in a way that makes him an easy transition into the NFL. His route tree is extremely limited and mostly predicated on the searing speed that had him nail a 4.3 second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine.
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Did we fail to mention that he measured in at an eyelash under a true 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds? At the very least, he can be plugged in for a limited NFL role to take the top off the defense and occupy a cornerback and safety — which he will do if he’s given any kind of free release. But if he can be patiently developed into the rest of the route tree, you could have a monster. That’s a big “if,” just as it was with acclaimed Tennessee wideouts Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman. We’re still waiting on those guys, and they were both more developed players than Thornton. But hey, it’s the fifth round and we need a wide receiver, so we’re taking a guy who has an insane level of juice for the squeeze, if only a coaching staff can get it out of him.
Warren is the one-foot putt of All-Juice players. After sitting behind some other NFL tight ends at Penn State, he finally got his shot in 2024 and did practically everything with it — catching, passing, running and blocking. You could argue he was the true engine of Penn State’s offense and could produce in a multitude of ways for the right offensive coordinator. At 6-5 1/2 and nearly 260 pounds, he’s classically built for a tight end and reminds a lot of evaluators of future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski. As one evaluator said, “He’s not always getting a lot of separation, but he can find space and he makes so many difficult catches using his size. … He’s not a [Travis] Kelce type really at all. But you can do a lot of different things with him. Just watch the USC game.”
In a league that is always looking for flexibility in an offensive scheme, Warren can provide that in spades, making him an easy selection for us in the 11 to 20 range.
Conerly may go higher than the early second round by the time the draft comes, but we’re putting him here based on conversations with sources on his pre-draft projection. Conerly manned the left tackle spot for Oregon and was terrific, helping lead an offensive line that paved the way for one of the best offenses in college football. Conerly has great technique to go with the athleticism to play left tackle in the league.
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On Yahoo Sports’ “Football 301 Podcast,” legendary NFL offensive line coach Mike Tice said that Conerly was his favorite tackle in the class and sees him as a starting long-term left tackle in the NFL. There aren’t too many who hold that same opinion, but coming from Tice adds weight to it — and there are scouts who agree with his premise on Conerly being a high-upside pick. This is a bit later than we’ve waited in past seasons to start chipping away at the offensive line, but with Grey Zabel and Conerly this year’s All-Juice Team can run just about any system.
More beef for our offensive line here with the addition of Ersery. He is a mountain of an offensive tackle, weighing in at 331 pounds at the combine. Not only did he come in built like he’s ready to play on Sundays right now, he also showed out with one of the best workouts among all the offensive linemen. Ersery ran a 5.01 40-yard dash, one of the fastest times for O-linemen this year and he performed well in the vertical (29.5”) and the broad jump (9’3”).
Those physical attributes translate to the game where Ersery was tough for college defensive linemen to move or get by. Just ask Abdul Carter:
Ersery is probably going to play right tackle in the NFL, just like he is on this year’s All-Juice Team. The only real knock on him is he doesn’t have the quickest feet in pass protection, but when you’re that big and that athletic, you don’t always need to be. Ersery, Zabel and Conerly is a good core to build around up front.
He was a standout at the Senior Bowl practices who showcased he wasn’t just beating up on lesser competition at North Dakota State. He doesn’t have the arm length to be an offensive tackle in the NFL and his 312-pound frame might have to bulk up a bit at the next level for the guard position — and some teams will want him at center — but he has the shape to get bigger and stronger if needed. The huge plus is he could start at any of the interior line positions, giving whoever drafts him a lot of flexibility.
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Asked to share one thing they loved about his game, one evaluator said, “Grip strength. He gets his hands on you, game over,” while another added, “Two things. Not only is he versatile, but sound.”
Initially we thought we might be taking him a tad high in the latter third of the first round, but he eventually got more All-Juice votes than any other lineman on this team. That sure feels like first-round momentum to us.
Wyatt Milum, G, West Virginia
Milum played left tackle at West Virginia, and may have the ability to do it at the next level, but for the All-Juice team he’s been slid in at guard with the tackles set.
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Millum is a sound, steady linemen who started 31 straight games for the Mountaineers. In 2023, he and Steelers standout offensive lineman Zach Frazier showed their capabilities together and now Milum has his chance to get on the big stage as well.
Milum is an older prospect, but he has a high floor and can compete for playing time soon. Again, tackle is not out of the realm of possibilities for his NFL career, which only increases his potential versatility.
Thomas Perry, C, Middlebury (Vermont)
Perry got quite a few votes for the All-Juice Team and you could tell a lot of evaluators loved his story as a Division III guy trying to make it. One of the favorites was Perry asking for a monster truck style of tire for his 16th birthday, so he could work out with it like something out of a strong man competition — flipping it, dragging it, rolling it. If that’s not the beginnings of an All-Juice story, we don’t know what is.
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As a player at tiny Middlebury College (enrollment of roughly 2,800) he checked off all the boxes that can foreshadow a small-school offensive lineman making it. He dominated his competition and featured the kind of size that is workable in an NFL line position like center. And when he got his shot to face higher level talent at the East-West Shrine Bowl as the only Division III invite, he more than held his own. So much so that he likely would have been called over to the Senior Bowl if there had been an unexpected offensive line opening.
That tire flipping appeared to pay off on the bench press, too, with Perry cranking off 31 reps, which would have tied for third most at the scouting combine if he had been invited. He was not, but we still love taking a flier on him in Round 7 as our center.
Oh, and if this NFL thing doesn’t work out, his 3.9 GPA as a molecular biology major will line him up for almost any med school in the country.
For now, strength and smarts make him one of our final round selections.
(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
He’s the best player in the draft. Hunter is in rare air, solidifying himself as a high first-round prospect at cornerback and wide receiver, something that truly is fitting of the moniker “generational.” Hunter, who will be a captain for this year’s All-Juice Team, is the living embodiment of all the excitement that comes with football. He was an ironman at the University of Colorado, taking home the Bednarik Award for the best defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award that goes to the best wide receiver. He’s one of the best college players and NFL prospects that we’ve seen.
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For this team, Hunter will start at CB where he can be a lockdown corner from the get-go. His length, speed, coordination and ball skills were the standout traits that immediately made him a dominant player and one of the few pieces of Colorado’s defense that consistently worked. Hunter is a ready-made starting cornerback who can be one of the elite guys at his position in the NFL. He’s a little more adept at the basics of cornerback play than wide receiver right now, so the All-Juice Team will take a set-it-and forget-it cornerback to man on the outside of the defense.
It’ll be fascinating to see what Hunter accomplishes in the NFL. He’s been adamant on playing both sides in the NFL just like he did in college. The fact that he has a pathway to trying speaks to his talent — it would’ve been criminal to leave him off this list given everything he’s accomplished.
“Juice” is one of the first words that comes to mind when turning on Nolen’s tape. He is an explosive player who lives to get up the field and penetrate. That aggression can be a double-edged sword because at times Nolen will run himself out of a play, but defensive linemen who can get up the field like him are always going to be taken at a premium and he gives the All-Juice team defense a chance to get in the backfield and wreak havoc. It helps that he has the best linebacker in the draft on the All-Juice team backing him up and keeping him sound.
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There are a handful of defensive tackles who could be slotted here, but Nolen’s upside and ability to make plays made him the selection here.
T.J. Sanders, DT, South Carolina
Sanders is a work in progress, but he has upside as a pass rusher in the NFL. He’ll need to get stronger before he’ll probably consistently be relied upon as a run stuffer in the league, but at this point in the draft process it’s a nice nab for someone who can rotate in on clear passing downs and affect the quarterback.
Donovan Ezeiruaku, DE, Boston College
A super productive player right out of the gate at Boston College, Ezeiruaku appeared in 10 games as a rotational player and notched 21 tackles and three sacks. He blossomed as a sophomore with 8 1/2 sacks, three forced fumbles and a team-high 14 1/2 tackles for loss. That landed him on the All-ACC second team and by the time he was a senior in 2024, he’d be the conference’s defensive player of the year with 16 1/2 sacks.
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He was a huge bright spot at the Senior Bowl week practices and dispelled some concerns about about his 6-2 1/2, 248-pound frame. His size might have him out of position for us at defensive end — and that might help us get him in the upper half of the second round — but he showcased a lot of power at the Senior Bowl. As one area scout said, “He can get a little bigger and I think he will without sacrificing his athleticism. … He’ll be a guy that’s hard to get your hands onto with his get-off. He’s just so quick.”
Jack Sawyer, DE, Ohio State
Sawyer doesn’t have the arm length that teams love and isn’t an elite athlete at the defensive end or 3-4 outside linebacker spot. But he has been steady and productive, and was a locker room leader for an Ohio State national championship team that had a load of talent.
Several evaluators were high on his nonstop engine and the fact that he uses what he has — hand movement, strength and high motor — to compensate for the reality that he’s simply not a super athletic profile. The upside we like and that evaluators prize is that he can do a bit of everything you need. As one personnel executive said, “He doesn’t explode the roof off with speed or bend or power or as an athlete, but he’s just going nonstop from the beginning of a game to the end and gets a lot of wins from one play to the next. … Saying ‘this guy is adequate or a little above average’ doesn’t sound great, but if you get that performance every single play and every single game on this [NFL] level, it’s pretty great. Guys have good careers that way, especially if they are a plus in the locker room.” Sawyer is that.
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We think he goes in the upper third because solid players always tend to slip a little in the draft. But we will happily add him after a very productive four-year career at a top college program.
There haven’t been many premium linebackers entering the draft in recent years, but Campbell has a chance to buck that trend. There isn’t much that Campbell wasn’t asked to do at Alabama. His best film, and where he’ll spend his NFL career, was off the ball playing a traditional LB role, but he did have some nice reps as a pass rusher as well. Campbell was a star of the NFL scouting combine, running a 4.52 40-yard dash at 235 pounds. That’ll play. With not too many enticing options at LB throughout the class, Campbell was an easy choice for one of our first-round selections.
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The overall value of non-pass rushing linebackers has been debated as data becomes a bigger piece of NFL decision-making, but in a new landscape where there are fewer elite linebackers, Campbell has the chance to be a real difference maker for a defense. He has the profile to be a fantastic linebacker in the NFL.
Nick Martin, LB, Oklahoma State
What Martin lacks in size at 5-11, 220 pounds, he makes up for in speed and smarts. His 4.53 40-yard dash and strong scores in the agility and jumps at least confirm him as a strong athlete. Oklahoma State had a putrid 3-9 season, but in the five games Martin played, he was all over the place.
His size will knock him down the board, but he might be back to fight his way onto a special teams role at the very least with his speed and tenacity.
Upton Stout, CB, Western Kentucky
Another smaller, feisty defensive back to fill out the room here at the end. Stout is one of the smallest players in the draft at 5-foot-8, 181 pounds. He plays with the heart of someone much bigger. Stout will have to slide in at nickel or safety in the NFL, but when he played outside corner in college he showed a nice ability to tackle in space.
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Stout notched a 37-inch vertical jump and 10’8″ in the broad jump at the scouting combine, showing his explosive ability.
Jordan Hancock, CB, Ohio State
A coveted four-star cornerback and top-100 recruit coming out of high school in Georgia that was offered by virtually every power program in college football: Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oregon, Florida, Clemson, USC — he quite literally could have gone anywhere he wanted. He landed at Ohio State and ultimately went into his junior season before starting to break through as a trusted player.
Finally, 2024 represented a culmination of what so many college programs were chasing, as he started 14 games for the national champion Buckeyes and became a key and trusted member of the secondary. Ultimately, we needed a seventh-round cornerback with some upside left on the table — which isn’t exactly easy to find — but Hancock fit the bill. He really came alive in 2024, suggesting that he’s possibly hitting his stride later than expected. And he still has the size and length teams will spend a draft pick on, which makes him a prime candidate for a seventh-round selection. His athleticism and unreached ceiling is still there. His production is not. But in the Round 7, that’s worth the gamble.
Andrew Mukuba, S, Texas
Find ball, hit ball. That’s the Andrew Mukuba code. The do-it-all safety was one of the stars of the Longhorns’ defense that helped them go on a deep run in the College Football Playoff this past postseason. He’s not the biggest guy at sub-190 pounds, but he packs a punch and shows absolutely no fear when it comes to taking on bigger players. Mukuba is one of the more explosive tacklers in space in the entire draft and he has some good instincts and coverage ability in zone assignments toward the middle of the field. His size is a concern, but good football players are good football players.
Billy Bowman Jr., S, Oklahoma
To steal a football cliché, Bowman just has a nose for the football.
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The senior safety was a prime playmaker for Oklahoma over the past two seasons and was one of the few players head coach Brett Venables could rely upon. Bowman, like Mukuba, isn’t the biggest safety out there, but he finds a way to get to the ball from a variety of alignments and shows no fear tackling in the open field. Bowman might not be a superstar athlete, but his knack for the ball and physicality will be welcome in our defensive back room.
Francisco Mauigoa, LB, Miami
We pride ourselves on the priority free agent that we take, which started in 2022. A solid amount of work goes into this evaluation when we talk to NFL teams. It’s a tough task finding an undrafted guy (or sometimes someone who ends up being taken on a seventh-round dart throw) who sticks long enough to take a 53-man roster spot and actually contribute.
Thus far, our record has ultimately been on the positive side of the ledger: Our 2022 pick became Montana State linebacker Daniel Hardy. Through 2024, Hardy has caught on and become a key special teams player for the Chicago Bears. Meanwhile, our 2024 priority free agent, Carolina Panthers wideout Jalen Coker, has started off as a bright spot that the organization feels could be a very productive player — if not something more — in the years to come. Our 2023 pick, Jackson State edge Aubrey Miller Jr., is currently in the Canadian Football League and trying to stick with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This is how it goes with the priority free agents.
“Wrecking ball” was one way a talent evaluator described Miami linebacker Francisco Mauigoa. (Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
All of which brings us to Mauigoa, who started out his career as a somewhat unknown three-star athlete at Washington State as a freshman and sophomore, before entering the portal to Miami prior to the 2023 season and then growing into a very productive player. Interestingly, a handful of evaluators noted how much fun it was watching Mauigoa’s tape, despite his athletic limitations.
“Sometimes he looks like a crazy wrecking ball,” one said. Added another, “He’s just a hammerhead that flies around. [I] could easily see him being a core special teams player for years.”
Anytime you have several evaluators fish out the same player from the ether, you listen. This year, Mauigoa was that guy. So we’re taking him as our priority free agent and look forward to seeing what he can do in the coming months.
