Fantasy Football Lightning Round

Aedy Ki show featuring Lenny, only NFO podcast, one of the host is rooting against the Kicks ' they got a cat on their roster. That's Ly. I've never used that one before. But I to Nick field. I don't know. Do you have a strong wan in the NBA finals before you Nick show I don't. You know I'm from Boston, so probably anti Ns would be how if I had to pick between one of those two teams, I would probably pick the Spurs based off that principle here, Mina. But I'm happy as company individuals, we are thrilled that ESPN not only gets the New York Kicks largest media market in the country, but also picked the Remwayama. This could be the first of several trips to the NBA fininals, but the first carries a slightly different meaning to it. So I am pumped for tomorrow H have you been following the whole Who is the NFL equivalent of Wby Weby conversation on Twitter. In fact, I think Nicky M and Wry crowned himself NFL WMby, if I saw that correctly somewhere. Yeah I would say that right now, Niicki M Wry has the right to say about whatever he wants to say. So if he wants to take the I am the victim Webon Yam of the NFL crown, it is his So I haveve also seen Jailen Brunsel. I've seen the Jayalen Brunson of the NFL parallel drawn by our colleague Adam Schfter, who opined sort like Drew Breeze going to New Orleans, write a player who was viewed one way, goes to a franchise, completely changes the culture and also the success of said franchise. And if Brunson can lead next to the championship, he would be viewed as definitely a Drew Breezese type figure in New York Well, in my view, if there is an equivalent to Wempy so far as an NFL player who is an absolute alien both in terms of physical everything and technique and production It would be one Miles Garret and He is dominated the new cycle over the last twenty four hours because in a blockbuster move, he was traded to the Rams. We're going to talk about that trade and then we're going to talk about the AJ Brown trade, which has kind of been like almost the forgotten. when I hate you about doing this pod last week, I was like,, come on, let's talk about the AJ Brown trade. It's really interesting. I want to talk about both teams. and then this Miles Garrett traade hit. So we're going to hit both of those Maybe even get to a little fantasy stuff. I've been asked lot people on to ask you some fanasy questions. but let's start with Miles Garrett. If you've been living under a rock Browns traded him to the Rams for. and took a second for all the comp to come out twenty twenty seven first Jared Verse, this was actually the biggest shock of all that Verse was in the trade in my opinion And then a twenty twenty eight second and a twenty twenty nine Third. So let' we'll get to the brown side and I want to talk about the comp. I want to talk about Jverse. I want to talk about all of that, but let's talk about it from the RAM side already Super Bowl favorites before they traded for Piles Garrett. It's almost like hard to find a way to talk about this trade or I guess to talk about any downsides because he is so obviously the best defensive player in the NFL. Like I said on live field. I was like, I usually I come on. I try to give you like some cool stats that show you why a player is unique, but Miles Garret is literally first in every possible statistic. So I don't even know like what is the case against? Is there a case against it or is it just pure win and upside for the Rams Yeah, I mean, this is pretty much clear upside and win for the Rams. Sometimes when a trade of this magnitude takes place or a player Not of this skill set, but of a know high level skill set takes place. It's a team who has an egregious need that fills that need by paying a steep price to acquire that player. Maybe the Patriots and AJ. Brown, who we'll talk about it in a little bit fit more into that category, right? The Rams are already one of the better pass rushers in the NFL last season. ESPN had them eighth in pass rush win rate. They've got building block defensive players and Kobe Turner and of course, Jared Verse prior to this trade and Bradon Fisk and Bryan Young There are a lot of really good players on this Rams defensive front. This was really just opportunity striking by the Los Angeles Rams persersistence Paying off, the only thing that I was thinking about Mina is what emboldens the Rams to do what they did, which is I think in some people's eyes, going all in The last time the Rams went all in, they of course won the Super Bowl and then a year later they ended up sacrificing a pick to the highck overall. Yeah. So like the all in trade offff was winning a Super Bowl and then having an absolutely wretched season the following year. They dug themselves out from that really quickly, which I think is a byproduct of obviously the organization being really good. They've got a great front office that has shown itself to be amongst the best in player personnel Seaan McVeigh is obviously one of the best, if not the best coaches in the NFL. and then I wonder Mina if there is an LA factor here that we don't really talk about that much in the NFL that I think we talk about a whole lot in the NBA specifically is the idea that certain markets, if they have the right infrastructure in place in the front office and the coaching side can just find their way to great players because players will want to be there, right? Not that Miles Garrett has full control over his situation, but you have to imagine that if ever there was a time where Miles was expressing his desires to the Browns about where he'd want to be besides Cleveland, it's not just being somewhere where he can win, but being somewhere desirable. Everybody wants to be in LA. everyvery athlete especially wants to be in L.A. rich person wants to be in LA for all the great reasons that we know about. And I wonder if the RAams feel like, hey, they're going to be a magnetic draw that even if they have fewer resources or seemingly have been all in in recent years, they can still find a way to put together really, really good rosters. That's not something I think I would ever talk about or I think I think would imagine talking about with basically any other market. But it feels to me like the RAMs are playing with a mindset that's a little bit different that I don't think would be the case if they werere playing in I don't know, some midwest market or something like that. I was just think McVeigh, right? Like there ye Yeah, they bottomed out a bit one year and then they bounce back. they bounce back with good drafting. They really hit on those picks. Lessneee deserves credit for that. But also I think with McVeigh you know, this team is never going to be bad for long. Now I do think reasonable questions about how long Sean MVeigh is going to be. There's been rumors about him stepping away. you know that can come into play. If you're going to criticize this at all, I would just say, you know twenty eight twenty twenty twenty twenty eight twenty twenty nine. Yes, they have the young quarterback, but Miles Garrett will be thirty three, thirty four, Dared Verse would have been much younger. They are going all in on this current iteration of the roster. and it is a very short termist is the, I think maybe it's a little bit unfair, but it is aggressive. They are aggressively trying to win this year. I would also add one more thing I think and you probably have some thoughts on this I was looking at Miles Gar' contract I was texting you about it Pretty cheap. and Garret is a, you know, financially mot I mean, everybody's financially motivated. Pld, you might ask for a raise? What do you think? I were talking about it yesterday the roster ores contontract party. I'd be surprised if part of this deal doesn't include some sort of modification to his contract. I know there's nothing that podcast audiences love more than salary cap and you know, collective bargaining litation. I'ing this being like, how the heck are the Ramsy even able to do this? so I think it is pertinent Sure. So the Rams, not only are they able to afford it for this year, they didn't have to like touch any contracts to make this deal work. A lot of times when a players being traded, a team You move some money around with another veteran to acquire someone. notot the case here with the RAMs, but Miles Garrett signed an extension last year at four years, one hundred sixty million dollars, forty million dollars per year proceeded amongst other deals A Hutchinson and of course, Mikeah Parsons. If you're Miles Garrett, if you believe that contracts should reflect performance now and performance going forward, which That's the name of the game there, right? You're going to the Rams and you're saying I'm thrilled to be here But let's add ten million dollars per year to my contract, because if Miles Garrett was making fifty million dollars, slightly more than Micah Parsonss, whatever it is, forty seven point two million dollars or forty eight million dollars per year. Nobody would say like, whoa, he's not worth it, right? Like this would be a player who has earned the right to ask for more. I would be surprised if he doesn't ask for more upon this trade. But I would also be surprised if the Rams weren't aware of that prior to doing this deal as well And it'll be backloaded. The deal' already very backloaded. And again, that kind of cuts to the like, okay, let's talk in twenty eight twenty nine. Okay, so the other question I want to start pose about Garrett Garret has been unequivocably the best defensive player in the NFL since Aaron Donald. lot of smoke around him the last couple of days retetired. It was, you know, the easiest vote in the in the deffensive playler of the year was that un had to have been unanimous, right? He broke the sack record. Yeah. I believe it was, Yes. I do want to ask you whether you I think it's even possible though that we could see an even better version of Miles Garrett this season. He is turning thirty one and we'll see, you know, at some point time comes for us all, but he showed no signs of slowing down last season in any way, not just in terms of his production, but like the eye test, right? still unbelievably quick I don want to get to that too. But he also played for a Browns team that despite facing a fairly easy schedule, was very bad, right The Browns with Miles Garrett played with the league at the twenty sixth highest rate in the NFL, which honestly is better than I thought The Rams unsurpringly played with the league at the fourth highest rate. He also gets to play next to Kobe Turner Brane Fisk, Byron Young It's a better surrounding cast than he had in Cleveland. So like what do you think his impact could be Joining this defense in this defensive line First of all, we can issue an audio May Culpa from like four minutes ago, and I called Byron Young Briant Young, which I've done like three times in the last twenty four hours. So shout out to you, Byron, very good young defensive player as well. I kind of wonder if this all sort of comes out in the wash Mina for these reasons. You're right. The Rams are going to be winning more frequently than the Browns were, which provides more opportunities for for Chrisel a defensive coordinator to say pin your ears back and go, Miles Garrett. He didn't get that many opportunities when playing in Cleveland. Every game is also going to be consequential for the Rams. You mentioned, they are the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl next year, which of course will be played at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles I'm not saying that Miles Garrett that padded in fourth quarters of games in which the Browns were getting blown out by any stretch of the imagination. I also think it's fair to note that the foot was probably off the pedal a little bit when Miles was playing against some of these teams in prior years where Browns were not winning or we're not going to have a chance to win those games. It's such a ridiculous bar that Miles has set literally the most sacks in a single season in NFL history last year with those twenty three that I think that The ecosystem we be rushing in is probably better because of all the players around it, fewer double teams ' also going to see the best of the best more consistently. Csequential games against Seattle twice a year, San Francisco twice a year, division or not division champps of playoff teams, this upcoming season as well. So I expect Miles to have a dominant season. I don't know that I can say with certainty that it's going to be decidedly more dominant or less dominant than it was in Cleveland I think in their own division You have three teams who are going to run the ball at a very high rate and one imagines that will even that could even increase, right with this addition. The Cahs ran the ball al almost, I think it' second highest rate on early downs in the league. The nineers always have a pretty high run rate and then Arizona, like literally it's runy back in the room is clearly the streight of the roster. I'll leave it at that.. Yeah, to your point, I think also what could be more likely than Miles' stats going up is that everybody else is going to eat a lot. R he was the most chipped player in the league last few years. I think last year just second to TJ Watt and yeah the other Rams defensive Lidemen will benefit from that The other thing I want to mention is I think the Rams moves in totality work really well with this edition. and I understand everything works well with the Miles Garred Eedition. But I alluded to this. Miles is very fast, right? This is why you's such a freak at his size, his ability to get off the line of scrimmage is unbelievable. In fact, he had the fastest get offff in all of football l year. er point seven zero seconds, going next to in stats. and the Rams pass crush as good as it's been. It's been much more oriented towards power, which Jared Vverse, right? And they actually didn't have any player rank inside the top seventy and get off. So quarterbacks are going to have to get rid of the ball quicker. The Browns face to tut a quick game always with Garrett Rams are about middle of the pack. And then I think back to the corners that they traded for. Trent McDuffee and Jaylen Watson very good tackling corners field.. So if you think about how Garrett is going to affect the way teams play the Rams, then suddenly you think back to those additions and I feel like it all works together really well It's hard to find a hole in this offseason, Mina. We could certainly talk about the Ty Simpson pick a million times over and some might say, hey, you feel even different about this team if it was Mci Lemmon as a third wideout against Ty Simpson. I just think there at some point you have to find a way to satisfy the needs of Both the short and long and probably in this case, the front office versus the coaching staff. right? every coach wants to win, wants to win right now when you have and I don't At least according to Andrew Berry, it doesn't sound like this deal was done by the time that the draft was taking place. Sounds like this is a deal that was discussed since then. But if you're the Rams and you think there's at least a possibility of trading for Miles Garrett then your urgency to acquire a quarterback in the draft if you like the player, which clearly the Rams did alters because If you're not going have a twenty seven one. You're not going to have a twenty twenty eight to. You just have less resources to work with to maneuver the board because you're not likely to get a quarterback with your original pick, which assuming reasonable trajectory for this franchise is going to be I don't know twenty fourth at worst, right? probablyroably more like twenty eight to thirty two each year. So it's been an A plus off season for the Rams They're the big winners of the offseason. I don't think that far behind them though is your Seattle Seahawks. And the reason why I mean it is this is perfect for the Seahawks The Seahawks are the rare defending Super Bowl champions. The gets the play gets to play the we are now disrespected card. I know. And it kind of works. I posted like more quick trade reaction. I mostly talked about the brrown side which I promise we're about to get to, but I was like, Yeahah the Ram's the best team in the NFL very clearly. And I did have a lot Cx fans saying, excuse me, we're the Super Bowl chs. And I'm like, guys, you're the Super Bowl chances, but like the Rams roster. It's we don't like the best team is based on the quality of the existing roster and that doesn't mean the Yakks aren't you know, one of the If not the second best team up there. I think that these are the two best teams. I real right? Like let's talk about it I really quick on the Tysonspson trade before we move to the Browns Yeah. because that has come up a little bit right over the last twenty four hours. Oh It's been interesting, feel because I've seen takes on both sides. Some have pointed out like, well, now they don't have the picture they had to take the quarterback now as you talked about. And then on the other side, P said, well, if they were all in, why did they take a quarterback My take on that is just like we don't know. first of all, obviously we won't know until Tysimpson plays whether it was good pick, right. And then as far as a decision to take a quarterback irrespective of the talent, my feeling is that like We again won't know whether it was a miss until we see if the receivers and the offensive tackles play an entire season, right? Like and and I'll go one little Titial Thorne The Rams now have have less draft capital to do a midseason trade, which could happen, But that's all hypothetical Right. Yeah, but if you list these problems in whatever order that you do Mina These problems are so high society compared to for sure. twenty nine or thirty of the other teams of the NFL. So I believe and there might be fan bases that are disgruntled by this take, but I do believe we enter the NFL season Assuming everybody stays healthy, that's a primary contributor withith two teams in a tier by themselves. We've got the Seahawks and the Rams, whatever order you want to put those to. I tend to defer to the champs and the Seahawks team. yes, they lost some key pieces, but they also retain some essential pieces and have extended the guys very handsomely and deservedly. And I just call just gota Eicall, yeep. shhout out Eric Call My God, Nina. That defensive effort in the playoffs, especially was just ridiculous. So I am not dismissing the Seahawks by any stretch of the imagination as the best team going into the NFL season. So yes, the Rams, there are things that could come up And there are ways in which they are more limited than they were previously That being said, everything they have done to put themselves in position to compete for the Super Bowl this year It's really hard to argue that there was a better path for them to take Yeah, I know people have been like, well, if Matthew Stafford goes down sure trouble literally every team about Jalen hurts or how about, you know, whatever. Drake May, what about Josh Allen? I mean, it's that's what happens. you have a great quarterback. Nobody has two great quarterbacks on their roster. It's a top heavy situation. I would say the downside would be like Michael Parsons has, you know, getting hurt in Green Bay. You saw when you have so much orient like geared towards this player now, it can cause some issues U All right, let's hit the brown side now. So you and I I want to start talking about whether they got enough before we talk about verse and So again, it's the twenty twenty seven first, which I think we all agree will be at the end of the first round or close to it Uh, Jared Verse. And then the twenty twenty eight second and twenty twenty nine third. So Parsons trade was the comp that jumped up immediately for me, two first and Kenny Clark This is pretty equivalent to that Um, Jared Verse in my mind is well worth a first rounder. In fact at pick nineteen, he is like one of the like best case scenarios picking in that like for the ramps. He was an amazing pick And then the twenty eight, twenty eight, second and third, if you're trading with the Rams, you want picks further out in the distance away from Matthew Stafford potentially retiring. If those land like somewhere in the middle, whatever, that ends up depending on what value chart you use being a late first or an early second. So all told field this was reasonable value for a player who is turning thirty one this year as good as he is It was time, Mina too. let's just acknowledge for the Browns. I understand that it's hard. you wake up this morning, and you're worse than you were yesterday Let's just be honest about where things were at with Miles Garret and the Brands Ales Garrett last off season requested a trade And then all of a sudden, that trade request went away when he signed an extension for four years one hundred sixty million dollars C clearly motivated by the dollar last year in Cleveland. And by the way, that's fine, you know, like we have to look out for ourselves But his frustrations about playing for a losing team did not go away And this team isn't going to win meaningfully this year. So we're just going to be back in this spot Next off season with Miles Garrett being a year older any kind of risk that, you know, applies to every other player applies to to Garret as well if something happens to him or he goes from Think about where TJ Watt was like three years ago or two years ago compared to now. He's still an amazing player, obviously. But I think some people feel like the peak of the ye, the peak of the powers were just a couple of years ago. These things can happen And he was unhappy, right? I mean, the Browns could could say otherwise Miles is absence from the Browns was becoming noticeable whether it was, and I get it, these are all voluntary Bing are the highest paid player on the team. best offensive player in the league. Yes, the microscope is going to be a little bit more focused on you. My E Skarret was attending Cavs playoff games and then not attending Browns off season work, like You think people are just going to ignore that? L no. And it was a sign that Miles was dissatisfied. They had to move on. And within the context of trading Miles Garrett, whether they had to move on or not, it's a darn good return. I mean, Jared Verse is, if I don't know, I haven't put this much thought into it, but if we were drafting non quarterbacks, around the NFL to build a team board for the next five or six years It's probably a tough fifty pick, right? I mean, maybe more than that, but I'm just using fifty as a sign that like this is a legit building block who's twenty five. He's a little bit older compared to most third year players, but he'll be twenty six I think in November of this upcoming season. So you're getting a five ish year advantage in terms of age over Miles Garrett. And since he entered the NFL, he's got ten fewer pressures than Garrett. Now not as many sacks, obviously, but this is not some good pass rusher. This is an elite pass rusher who has not even reached the prime of his career And I think the key point is like we're not comparing him to Garrett, You're comparing him to the average late twenties, early thir draft pick. and That's he's better than the vast majority of players taken because again, that's the comp, right? likeike, oh, I wish the Rams had given us a first. I saw someone say I want two first and se. please. That was never going to happen. And in that regard, he is worth it. Three years left to cost control U Look he I would say like there's a little bit of a step back after year one, obviously in production. and I think some questions about the way he wins because it is so power oriented. But I feel like pretty strongly he's got to do good floor as a rusher and then as a run defender, he's already elite. I mean, he was ESBN has the run stop win, which we don't quote as much as pass rush win. second only to Max Crosby over the last two years amongst Ed Ratchers. So allows you to play the current meta, the lightbox style. Yeah. like I just feel If you're at the Browns, stop comparing him to Garrett, get that out of your head and compare him to the alternative of getting the draft pick I would feel very good about having Jared Verse on my roster. I would also feel very good about having those two future picks from the Rams because you know like I said, You want if you're trading with Los Angeles Rams, you want the picks to be far out. and ultimately, yes, it's not another first, but it's going to be the equivalent of at least, I believe, a high second at least. Yeah. and football's unpredictable. Mina, when the Browns traded down from two to five in the twenty twenty five NFL draft, I thought God, the Browns may have just gone from two to five. And in the process picked up an extra top ten pick the following year I did not forecast the Jaguars to be a thirteen and four football team And there they were. Now, I don't think the Rams are going to go four in thirteen, but S happens to Matthew Stafford or who knows, right? Like that pick that we're all currently forecasting is hey no lower than twenty eight. you just never knows. So in a draft that And I know that sometimes fans get bothered when people say, Ohh next year's draft iss the one that's going to be loaded I would just tell you, and this has been reflected by the way NFL teams have moved picks. NFL teams held their powder so much more in the twenty twenty six NFL draft. We didn't see any team when the chiefs moved up. from nine to six in a different year, the cost go from nine to six mightight literally be a first round tick Right I mean, the doolphins made the Jel and Wadle trade that involved an extra first round picked. I think that was eleven to six, but still we see teams who went four or five spots in the first round and pay an extra one The twenty twenty seven NFL draft is viewed by NFL teams. and I will tell you my early studies of forty or so some guys You are sitting there saying to yourself, my goodness It is going to be a draft cycle that could be as big as any draft cycle that we have seen in quite some time. So the Browns and the Jets are now incredibly well positioned. The Jets having three first round picks. The Browns having two first round picks and the Browns being in a clear full blown rebuild because Miles Garrett did not lead them to many wins over the past couple of seasons, but having miles around was enough to stop you shy of saying, we're blowing this thing up. We're tearing it down to the studs And that brings me to my final thought on this, which is notot saying Miles Garret is losing him is going to get you pick one one necessarily. but You could imagine a scenario where it's Jan know, December and the Cardinals and the jessets and the brrand everybody's competing. sorry take you this They're just point And all'll end You can just M was Garred has single handedly w games for this team. It's five seconds The verse is good. but I'm just saying It won't it's not going to hurt their cause to not have Miles Cart around. might actually help it a little bit. So Mark' in that tanking point by the way, Mita. Like I'm just June second, whatever that is But it's coming. Jeremy Smith. The team that I want to be this upcoming year, Mina is the team that's got a good young quarterback. Ales going to be hard to beat. but and Steve They need a quarterback, right? They need one. But I'm saying, I want to be the team this year that's got a good young quarterback already that ends up with a high enough draft pick to take J'smith That's the team that I want to be this year because this kid is closest thing to Julio Jones since Julio Jones I was I think it was Greg McAlrooy's podcast. I listen to always College football, Fellllow Omaha Pod show and He was saying that something like Jeremiah Smith is some ridiculously small number of yards away from becoming Ohio state's all time leading receiver He's a true soft. He's going to be a true junior year. you think about like Ohio State is along with LSU wide receiver you and it's like, I'm just making this number up eighty nine yards away. You're like, there's no way You go back and check it and you're like, holy crap. He is in one game going to get to Ohio state' top of the leaderboard there. So I want to be the team. It's got a good young quarterback. but finishes like fourth or fifth in the draft order this upcoming year because the tankers are going to be out in close to full force from Thanksgiving on It's going to be a fascinating final month of the season. That's all I'll say.oy. Okay spepeaking of trades and teams not wanting to give up twenty twenty seven picks, let's take a quick break, come back and talk about what was supposed to be the blockbuster trade of the day and that's the AJ Brown trade All right, we are back. AJ Brown after this has been rumored forver is now in you in. It's funny because there was some rumors that the RAamMs were pushing for Brown, which kind of served as a smokes screen a little bit about the RAamMs ending up going for Miles Garrett. But this was no secret. you know, it's been talked about for a while and ultimately, we knew it was all going to be a post june first trade because of AJ Brown's the cap implications for Philadelphia. So the trade compensation is a twenty twenty eight first rounder Faking howy a twenty twenty seventh fth because sure. Yeah able to fallen apart otherwise Iess you just see him at the last second being like. give me something little more. morelease please. Okay. so I find this fascinating on both sides. I think the football ramifications for both teams are fascinating. Honestly, especially for Philadelphia, like I think schematically, everything there, what the offense is going to look like. This is all red crumbs leading us to the twenty twenty six season, But let's start with the Patriots Patriots field have been hunting for that receiver one for how long? A long time. I mean, he's the AJ Brown is the most talented Patriots receiver since who? It's got toa be that that's the territory I think we're talking about, Mina. they've obviously had unbelievable passast catchers, you know, perhaps the most dominant tight end ever and Rob Gronkowski and Julian Netelman was mr. clutch for this team. It's not like they stopped winning because it didn't have Pak Randy Moss But this is a franchise who probably as much as any team in the past twenty five years has done it with more of strength numbers amongst the past catchers. and now they have their wide receiver one. And there are some concerns. We can dive into those for sure with AJ Brown getting up there in age, concerns about this knee injury. wouldn't surprise me if he's on the veteran plan from they want a training camp on I also think there's a chance that we have perhaps been . Rbbed of what the best of A.J Brown looks like Because last year was an absolutely dismal fit between player and scheme and probably player and team as well. like AJ Brown Be Unhappy was one of the least kept secrets or one of the worst kept secrets in the league, right? And say whatever you want like you know, Jayen Hurts is a more accomplished player than Drake May, period end of story, Super Bowl champion, the best player in a Super Bowl, a second occurrence. Strick May is a better passer than hundred That's just inarguable, right? Drake May should make life better for AJ Brown. Drake May is on the shortlist for best deepball throwers in the NFL AI Brown is I think along with you know a couple of others, amongst the best deep ball threats in the league. stillill, yes, still over the past four years. AJ Brown eighteen receiving touchdowns on twenty plus air yards throws Number one of the NFL in that stretch, right? Like this guy down the field is as potent as basically any player in the league. So on paper Pretty simple to see why this deal essentially agreed two months ago. We just had to wait for june first to come around because of the cap implications that you managed. You mentioned You laid this out very well. It's a great marriage of quarterback and player. I think that's worth stressing because Bab was good at just busy everything last season. But he really loves and it's really good at those tight window throws, so good at throwing guys open. And who's the t window receiver in the NFL? if you just look at the numbers over the last three years on tight window throws AJ Brown First and guards perrete run, first and catches, first and first downs Tells your was. The best quarterback on tightwinter thrats last year in precision pass rate, QBR, completion percentage over exxpected, everything U It just works. and the thing I do think though, that's interesting or notable about New England too is like I actually thought the receivers last year really performed my expectations. like Stehics was quite goodesome during the regular season, especially against ban coverage, you know And Cjian Booty, who we can talk about in a second, really emerged But I will say In the post season, I think you saw The receiving group get exposed. Now, the whole offense got exposed. The offensive line was by far the bigger culprit May himself didn't play his best ball somethinghing that caught my eye I was pulling up some stats from the post season versus press coverage in the post season. Okay. Speay was four for seventeen And again, some of that's on him. I'm not absolving alogether. But there were a lot of instances of guys not getting open And I do I can't, you know, I think they've been eying Bown for a while, but I can't help but wonder if The New England front office felt like strongly after the playoffs. Okay, we really got to level up here. Yeah for sure. you have to imagine that was part of it. They I mean, I would say physicality across the board. like just being bigger across the board was something the Patriots needed to do. they got smacked around in the Super Bowl, especially They got smacked around by the Texans defense in that divisional game I wouldn't say it was quite as egregious in the Broncco AFC Championship game, but the Patriots met their match offensively during the playoffs last year. They had to become a more physical team on both sides of the ball, but AJ Brown certainly helps in the wide receiver room. And I would take it I would zoom out a little bit here to me know, which I think cannot be overlooked Two things can be true once. the Patriots had an unbelievably remarkable season last year. Drake May is the freaking truth. If for're starting a draft For a player to lead your franchise for the next ten years. he's at least in the conversation for the first overall pick. att least in my opinion, right U And the Patriots biggest improvement this year might just be that Drake M just gets that much better going into year three at the same time Patriots also had a schedule that we agreed during the regular season was very favorable did feel like so far this off season and we still have what two months before training camps really get going Other teams have caught up more than New England sort of outpaced the field, right? They're big moves up to this point were notable, but like Draymont Joan comes in. Calevon Chaseon amongst the guys that go out, right? I mean, they did some shuffling on both sides of the ball, but I don't think that you're even their first round pick, Caleb Lomu, like there's a pathway to Caleb Lomo being their sixth offensive lineman this year, which is Totally fine, by the way,'s a really good player I didn't feel like the patriotsy, Romeo Dobs in for Stevan Diggs going out I don't feel I didn't feel prior to this move like the Patriots offense was decidedly scarier where around the AFC. You've got what we believe will be a healthier chiefs team, a healthy Lamar Jackson, a new Lick Ravens team. Joe Burrow and the Bengals loading up on defense Bills trading for DJ Moore, there's a lot of examples of AFC teams who push their chips further into the middle of the table and until the AJ Brown trade was complete, for me, the Patriots team didn't feel decidedly different than the one that walked off the field last season. I think it's a really good point. I also think we're going to see what happens when you get a true number one, which is everybody benefits from his presence on the field. Suddenly, the receiver room like just really works, right? Romeo Dobbs is a phenomenal number too.ure. And then you have some combination of Douglas, Hollins, Kyle Williams See what happens with Keishon Boty who feels a little bit redundant with Brown and was was awesome honestly excellent last year M might be potential trade bait. And then the run game. The Patriots did not run the ball well last season, but part of that was There's a line of reasons, but some was despite the fact that they had an incredibly explosive and efficient passing attack They still face light boxes at a below average rate That's going to change, I think. So you know, you're going to face less man coverage because teams don't want to play manag and say different there's just going to be a trile down effect of having that true Number one X receiver. that is going to help not just Drake May, but the entire group in New England. This applies to every time a star player and AJ Brown and say star player gets traded. And I'd be curious if you think it matters, doesnn't matter in this case, matters a lot. However you deem it, Worthy AJ Brown, I think is pissed off about how he's perceived right now. right? I think he was pissed off with how the offense was last year, but I think AJ Brown probably feels like He's got something to prove Is that does that matter? Do think that matter?ike are we going to get the best version of AJ Browowns to fund digs is sort of the famous example of a guy who gets traded from Minnesota to Buffalo, who was a great player. went for a package of picks, including a first rououndnder. and then immediately was like so motivated that the proof of everybody wrong, O proof of everybody, I guess the bill's right that for the next four seasons, he had four hundred and forty four catches and took off Digs was much younger than AJ Brown is right now, but I do think AJ Brown is probably motivated to prove some skeptics maybe in Philadelphia wrong. 's not actually it's funny because people were comparing it to the waddle trade and how much Denver gave up And I was like, yeah, he's a lot younger than Ad. Brown. I looked at up and I was like, wait, L you're younger than meJ Brown Yeah, twenty seven versus twenty eight. I guess three years for whatever sameame. I guess he must have been older when he was drafted and I just forgot Um you know, that's at the knee Definitely something to monitor. And if this blows up or backfires, probably be why. Um, and We'll see. like I, you know, like all of these trades, like we talk about injuries are always going to be the thing you can't predict Um Clearly they felt comfortable enough though with it to trade it. I guess let me ask you that before we as we kind of transition to the New England part. Do you think this was enough for the Philadelphia Eagles in terms of compensation. I think it was because it was about as good as I think they they were going to get. I think for the Patriots, and I always laugh whenever we it's not often, but when we hear of a conditional trade. I' just going to make up a fake Adam Shfter tweet here for a second You know, whatever, the Vikings are trading a conditional third that can become a second to the saints. if insert X wide receiver plays in at least fifteen games and over fifty percent of the snaps. And then when the Vikings who are u Trading away You know, the third that could become the second. They announced it as a third. The Saints the acquiring tomb who could get a second announced it as a second, right? So it's like I'm sure if you're asking the Patriots. I think from their perspective, yes, it's of course, it's a first round pick. like there's there's nothing there's no gray area there, but a first round pick two years from now carries different value from a first round pick in the present year or even a year from now Right? The player the Eagles are going to acquire with that pick cannot influence their roster until the fall of twenty twenty eight. like that's an eternity in football terms. So the Patriots are probably comfortable with it being almost like like a premium second as opposed to a first round pick. Meanwhile, if you're Philly, it's a first round pick that can be repurposed elsewhere becausecause they could trade that first round pick as part of a deal to acquire somebody prior to the twenty twenty eight NFL draft. On top of that, if you're Pilly One thing they have been as good as literally anybody in the league since Howie Roseman took over as their GM is being a step ahead to replace players before they're actually gone. And now you're up a first round pick over the next two drafts which will enable you to draft a player that Proably plays a position that you don't need in that year. But you know what? That's where they have struck gold so often. Jordan Davis and Jayalen Carter and back to back drafts and guys who played a position where they already had players like Milton Williams, Nothing Milton was ever an every down guy for them, but like they had talent and they just said we're going to keep pouring more and more talent into that spot because it's going to become a need soon. So I think it was enough for Philadelphia, especially in the context similar to Cleveland and Miles Garret. of a player being ready to move on. I just can't imagine or I couldn't imagine a world in which AJ Brown went back to Philadelphia happy for the twenty twenty six season If The offense in Philadelphia. was going to be the same this year as it was last year. not even I'm not like if obviously if they kept Pula, but like if they if the scheme was the same as it has been not even just last year, but basically with AJ Brown, specifically predicated on ISOBL. receivers winning their one on ones quarterback in the gun I would feel pretty bad about leaving. Yeah The you got to take a step back and look at this thing in its totality, which is AJ Brown being traded is part of what I think we all agree is going to be a pretty significant transformation for this offense, a transformation signaled by the hiring of an offensive play caller from the Sanahan Lafleur,, the tree, the tree Bckers, which I want to get to in a second. by everything we've been hearing by the way, out of like OTA, that they are very much going to be more of an under centered team. by the players that they've chosen, drafting McKay Lemmon, N not even just drafting receiver like d, they're going to know replace HJ, but like Obviously he's very different receiver MJ. but the style of receiver that he is This office is going to look really different youie. And so I guess that's what I want to talk about next. Like how do you feel about The Eagles going in a different direction offensively because I think it's one of the more interesting storylines in football I would say it actually has less to do with the trading of A.J Brown and more to do with just What does Jalen Hurz look like in this offense? I know the offense was much maligned the past couple of years and Jalen has famously had instability amongst play callers during his college and pro career It felt to me though, like they As much as they could Try to make Dal uncomfortable in Philadelphia last year, right? And this was not know, I think some of the concepts we're talking about in these in these the tree offense as you described it Mina is like, On rhythm, on time passing games like we're going to see more West Coast principles a felt like at times with Jalen. he is a quarterback who at times can be a Drop back, drop back, see it, throw it type of quarterback as opposed to hard play action, hit your back foot bam drive a football to a receiver that maybe hasn't even made his break to the middle of the field, but you're just trusting he's going to hit that landmark. So it's a I don't know about wholesale, but it's close to it. This is a gigantic test for this Philadelphia offense. And I think Jayalen hurts specifically. And by the way, if he is uncomfortable with this, it doesn't sound like he is by any me. the language coming out of Philadelphia is like, he seems over the moon. he does seem over the moon by it. But if the results for this are a little bit shaky coming out of the gates for Pilly, like if you're jailing hurts You are by all means emboldened to say I I'm a Superowl MVP. likeike I'm the most valuable, you know, piece here. likeike let's get back to some of what but I'm more comfortable with. So it's a gigant test for Philly. I think they're going to be awesome this year. like I'm not at all down in Philadelphia, but I'm compomparably curious about how this offense looks as you are I think hurts is really going into the season with, you know, like the desire to prove everyone wrong in terms of saying, yeah, he doesn't drow over the middle of the field. He never will. Oh, he has he wants to run things his way, style of offense at the cost of I think like every again, this is just interpreting every all the language coming out of Philly right now when he talks about the new scheme and playlayer Center and the coordinator, it's very positive. And like if if he buys in and if he ex and and, you know By the way, I do want to say one other thing, like in the McVeigh Chanhan tree or whatever, There's different branches, right? Like the Packers' offense comes from that and you know, like Dor Love was under center way more than you know Jayalen hurts for sure, and there's more play action and whatever. But and the more condensed formations and things like that. But it's different from like San Francisco or like you do see love throws deep outside the numbers a bit more, which is something that the Hertts is very good at. So there's definitely some room for flexibility. The packers also had a pretty good play action game out of the gun and with you know like some of the stuff they would do the spinner play action, you remember? like that was a packers' thing you know. So I do think for Manion, it's going to be like, hey, let me take this concept and then let me see what within this concept, with it within this scheme Where does my quarterback want to live hypothetically, it should make Hurz's life a lot easier. like Watching Philadelphia last year, the level of difficulty always felt like it was turned up to one hundred for both the quarterback and the receivers, it's like, go win, go win, go win. And one thing I want to highlight, I was just looking this up. You know, Philadelphia's offense was below average in a lot of things. But one thing where there's a huge discrepancy between them and Green Bay is on short passes, zero to ten yards. The Packers were third league wide in EPA per play zero point one nine, which is very high for short passes Eagles were twenty second. point zero two. I really think those little easy buttons. And by the way, they added Josh Gzard, who's comes from Tampa, a very good screen aphent It just feels like field If Hurts is bought in, you think about the players they have Barcley catching passes, Mi Lemmon yards after the catch. be a lot easier for everybody. That's the idea here, Mina. And so I don't think their success, by the way is dependent upon AJ Brown's presence or lack thereop. So like if the Eagles offense sputters and has a tough year this year and they don't sort of realize some of the potential that we are discussing I'm not going to go wow, they shouldn't have heard JJ. Brown. Like it like it was time with Miles Garrett. It was time with AJ Brown. It was exhausting. I was exhausted by like sitting there, watching the Eagles Games going Is he really reading like, you know, whatever the second edition of whatever that book that he famously read in the sidelines was at a different Inner excellence. There inner excellence. yes. Is he reading inner transcendence now? like whatever. You know, like it's not because of AJ Brown being there or not. It is just just a big scheme shift. and I don't know about rare but we just don't see stuff like this that often. A lot of times it's, you know, you if you have a quarterback at the caliber of HA. Brown, it's what do we do to kind of match that player skills set? Philadelphia is like we're pouring the scheme out in a way that we feel is best for Yeah. football, not not necessarily our quarterback in the way he has played for the last sixix or seven years for us great football story to monitor So there's enough time left. I've decided for me to do my fantasy lightning round with you. Let's go. For those who don't, I mean, people know you like How of you guys podcast or like what's your schedule? So we get back going in earnest july twent I think late July with I was going to say in a specific date, but I realizeed I'm just assuming that date. Late July for Fantasy foocus, we're five days a week all the way through the NFL regular season and then Hopefully you'll see more of us during the offseason in future years. But as you know, fantasy, the lack of interest from the casuals is certainly not there from January until late July. So we get rolling. I think it's like one hundred ten shows in twenty two weeks or something like that If you don't already, obviously listen to fantasy fooccus, excellent podcast. All right. So I got quick questions you. Number one. Okay. This comes off of our last conversation.. So there's this feeling that the Packers' offence is going to turn into not Packers cheeseies. The Eagles is going to turn into more of an everybody eat style offense a la. the packers. Although I will say, you know, Dvante, we kind of elighted this and I talked about it earlier. I think DaVante is so capable of taking on more. And I think the Eagles thinkink that, which is part of the calculus here. That said. Do you feel comfortable drafting or prioritizing An of these Eagle skill players after what we saw last year. Would you include Sai Kwan Barqulin in that Seuan Barcley I'm a Se Kuon dynasty holder and it wasn't Yeah, It wasn't pretty last year. I mean, one of the biggest mistakes that we make though in fantasy is when An elite player has a pedestrian year, assuming that like the pedestrian days are now upon us U and that would be the case of Sequuan Barkcley. Like the idea of SeQuan Barley being the best player in fantasy football next season is not that crazy, right? I mean, he's att worst, the fourth best running back in the league, probablyably in terms of talent, you know, Sijon Gibbs CMC Stake oneu. that's whatever. Maybe you want to argue's fifth or sixth, but we've definitely seen crazier things since S Kuan Barcleay being the top score in running back in all fantasy football. H and Donaymith of the two, for sure. Everybody else will just be kind of a value play. like Dontavian Wicks is like your favorite film watchers, favorite wide receiver, right And Hollywood Brown will probably have a couple moments and Mcay Lemmon is a rookie. It brings a kind of sizzle and excitement and he might have seventy two catches this year PP. beast but DVante and Seiquuan are the two guys that based off current cost are worth sort of the premium that are being paid on them right now. Seiquuan top probably seven or ten running back in terms of where you're seeing them ranked right now in fantasy and DeVante probably creeping into that top twenty with AJ Brown Gone. One would help for hope forake one too, this could have been part of the Eagles conversation. like a big part of the tree scheme and perhaps the most important part is knitting the run and the p together and making everything look the same It felt like last year, they were so obvious running the ball that was constantly contacted in the backfield. So one could hope that this scheme change in addition to know how he runs under center and all that. would help him just because it won't be as predictable when he's getting the rock. Totally agree Okay, secondcond question. number two. So you talked about people casual is not having interest this time of year. But as I alluded to, I am in a very intense dynasty league. I've been in it for years. was beforefore we started taping, I was bragging about the fact that last year I got Harold Fannon Junr. I feel like that was my big coup because it was like in foundounders, you know It's a very deep league So of the rooies And you mentioned Lemon, you know, but N nearily your answer here Who are two that you love? It doesn't have to be the top, it can be the top, just two rookies that you really like for fancy. Okay, so would should you just address Jeremiah Love because everybody knows him. And the question isn't how like is he going to go high? It's how high he's going to go. I've looked across ESPN's rankings and it seems like I'm a little lower on Jeremiah Love in terms of overall rank compared to some of our colleagues Adam the twenty first ranked player overall We do this project in May, June, July where we just do a series of mock drafts and it kind of creates like this this set of data points about where guys are going on average, players that we tend to have an affinity for, players that we are avoiding consciously or or subconsciously. What I've noted so far is that Jeremiah Love is going way earlier than that. You mentioned The Cardinals is a strong contender for the number one pick in the draft. this upcoming year, Mina, Tyler Algier, James Connor for now still there, right? Like I have Tyler Algier on my d's Dam and please trade him Arizona. Please trade Green Bay, pererhapsreen, you know, just like Yeah I think he deserves his four run. And hes he's like like say whatever you want from a fan. like I am I was as bothered by him being utilized as the goalline as anybody over the past few years. But like if you're going to have Tyler Algier as part of your pack rotation, he is deserving of some of the short yardage and goal line work. U I'm concerned about A little bit of seeding work to Ter alg or at the goal line. and then a little bit of just like we saw this with Ashian Genti. I don't care how dynamic you are as a runner. Like if you're getting blown up a yard behind the line of scrimmage, it's going to be hard to have good pring games. And Genti wasn't this like catastrophic disappointment last year, Mina It was an example of shiny object syndrome taking over. It was a hell He was in hell But we could have you could have easily taken a Derek Henry or a Christher McAaffrey where we were taking Ashton Genti last year.ed for and just been fine They they the each you know, McCaffrey was the best player in fantasy football last year. Henry was a bit more of a roller coaster, but the peaks were so, so good. Jeremy love. And I'll just say this I understand he was the next fantasy skilled player taken in the draft. but I do think, I'll just mention him because I do think that I'm going to wind up being higher on Carneel Tate as I get through my updates of my rankings this off season compared to most because I think and I'm guilty of this too I allow the idea of Carneel Tate Being like a really good number two wide receiver as opposed to a legitimate number one wide receiver invade my brain too much during the pre draft process. Now When I'm watching Jeremiah Smith his teammate That is exactly what a wide receiver one looks like There are also players right now in the NFL. We've talked about some on the show, but think about guys like Pua or Amanra or maybe even Jackson Smith and Jigba who don't necessarily and I'm using air quotes here look like a number one wide receiver and have become absurdly productive. So I think that Carinal Tate is due for just a monster year because he is proro ready as any prospect. in this entire draft questest. I felt that way about him throughout the process. and he went forth overall, perhaps richer than some thought, but I think Carlo H's going to be heck of a player this year A of good Buzz about Carnel Tate coming out of Tennessee Yeah the spring buzz is You know, I'm always to that, but you know, for sure. like it. Okay, well, who next question is who are you a little apprehensive of in a way that perhaps we should have been more apprehensive of the situation that Genti was walking into. And and this is a lot about situation more than the players. Yeah. well in some ways, so like I was as you and I discussed on the day of the draft prior to going down me, Jordan Tyson, a guy that I thought was really talented On the one hand, you're like, he's going to an offense that absolutely hummed down the stretch, right really played well down the stretch He he's going into a good situation It also might be that a good situation already has established parties that they don't necessarily need somebody else to come in and feast at this like significant target chair Drink crystalavee I'm going to Travis HN. I got myself I didn't screw it up there. Travis H Chan, which still getting you to, used to there. in the backfield. Johon Johnson have a role, Devon Bele have a little bit of a role. Tyson just I feel like that offense has enough pieces already around it and has a good enough net like Chrisalave. I mean that was remarkable last season Whereas in Tennessee, the competition for Carneeltate. I think Wandell Robinson's solid player, but not at the level of Chris Olave. So Tyson, I'm a little more Iope you're right because no one cares about his entertainment but he's on money. No no. we care about you. I love the pick for football reasons, but there is that as a dynasty manager, so when the ps come in, you're like Like I said, Algieria I was like, come on, Arizona. and yeah Okay so Browns receivers would be easy candidates for this category as well. Casey Concepcion and also Denzel Bustin quarterback Merry go round could be in place. This team again, they might just be trying to be bad down the strech. Mina I'm not trying to be I know that the NBA just is about to enact this dramatic reform, this three to one lottery system that frankly, I'm still kind of confused by. That being said, The NFL might be having conversations at the end of the season about whether they need to do some things differently. It's much harder to tank in the NFL because the sample size is really small. You might be two in ten while you're trying and just not try as much and go two and fifteen But there arere going to be some teams at the end of the season are making business decisions. Go back and look at some of the notable things over the past few years, teams that could have had players if they just lost that one inconsequential game in mid to late December. I think teams are going to be doing that this year as well I would be very wary of the Browns receivers this season. In Dynasty though, if Boston, I know I like I love cononcepion I to talk about it, but if Boston is a dropper for The people, you know, just apprehensive the team That's a guy I'd like to have a piece of for the future because I do think he could be a touchdown machine when they get quarterback, but you got to have the long view there, right?. Yeah. All right We talked about him. This is a question, I think that's going to be on a lot of people's minds So Ash and Genti, very tough season last year.maron Hampton Flashed a bit more, but battled injury, of course. and also, you know, the offensive line was hell. Between the two of those backs, those first round backs from last year, Who is more likely to make the fantasy leap this season? I think it's Ashon Genti for a couple of reasons. First of all, we saw The Houston Texans game by Ashton Genti was one of the single most remarkable performances of last season by any player in the NFL againgainst the Avengers defense, Ashton Genti smoke them. like All time ridiculousness. That was crazy. like I still can't believe that took place. And I think it was right in the fantasy playoffs too where it was like, all right, Ashen Genti is the obvious fade this week He's so talented And he is a passast catcher, not a Jeremiah love of a pass catcher, but enough of a passast catcher And then with I tell you, one thing that's been kind of gnawing at me this out this off season is Keate and Mitchell got two years and ten million dollars to go to the chargers. I also have And he's like Kind of good. You know, like Everything about that signing screams Mike McDaniel told us to do this, right? Like this is the guy he wanted. from your lipstick go. Now, he also played behind a freight train in Baltimore and hardly played behind Derek Henry. And Amar Hathon is a good player as well, no doubt just like We're talking about how do you call one player RB nine and one player RB twelve? These are the kind of slivers that make the difference. So the presence of Keete Mitchell, He's one of my favorite late round targets. If you play bball out there's one of my favorite sort of late round bball targets as well because there're going to be a few weeks where it's like He just had six cetches for one hundred nine yards in a touchdown. What? It's always the week. I don't start in field. But yeah, I hear you. I also will say about Genti. We know Clint Kubiag likes to pound that rock. going to get opportunities. I think the and obviously the linter bomb position helps a lot there. the question is kind of the res line.. Okay, Qion five. I wrote Is Malik Willis a sneaky good fantasy pickup? So The Miami offense. Not great. No. Cast catchers Pretty bad This a teon is going to run a lot You got a dual threat quarterback and he' an unbelievable runner who was A good passer last season too. My skepticism is not about him. It's more about his circumstances But we have seen this prototype have success before. Do you think despite past catchers, he might be worth keeping an eye on. He's well, I'll say this mean two things. He's the first mid twenties individual that has moved to Miami to make twenty plus million dollars per year that I've ever felt bad for in human history. I just I don't know if he signed up for what he's now dealing me to the extent that you sign up for these things, right? But it is a very, very thin whide receiver room there. It's going to be tough for Malique Willis to have big time numbers. That being said In fantasy, you don't need big time numbers in the conventional sense. You' have to be able to run the football and he can do that and he's free. M, he is free right now in draftps. like you are not On average, getting Malik Willis in the first sixteen rounds of a ten team ESPN league. something that I've seen a lot of in recent years is the growth of two quarterbacks per team All the like hardcore anos leagaks for a long time, M know, where you just take one quarterback and if you draft a Josh Allen or Jaen hurts, you're just burning a roster spot by adding a backup because they're going to start one game for you when Josh Allen or Jaen Hurts goes on a buy. or if you're waiting until round ten and you're getting a teack Prescott, you can just grab somebody off of wavers and stream them if DAC doesn't work out, whatever it is. We're starting to see more of a movement towards two quarterbacks for those that wait One of the more popular pairarries that I've seen so far this off season in Mck drafts is Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy, guys who Trevor Lawrence was especially great for the last eight games of the season, Pury was unbelievable for the last four or five games, except for when they played Seattle. I believe that Maliquk Willis is one of those perfects likeike you're waiting on quarterback and you're going to take two and Malike Willis who's going for zero can be added as the final picking your draft I would do it mine is two quarterbacks and my quarterbacks are Jared Goff and Jackson Dart, which I feel pretty good about. could not be more diametrically opposed. but U Yeah, I wish I had well as someone else in my league oreasm. Jerem my love clip of him and Jared Goff No. Oh my God. it's so funny. He was on the same Brown podcast and they were doing like, who is this player Like look at it Ja Jared Gff Not only did he not know him. He was like, who is this guy? Dob M R saying Bown. He was like, he's quarback He's like, Ohh, really? He's like, Yeahah, Mike Cordterfer. That'sally funy. It was amazing. I'm sure there are people I'm sure there's, you know, like actors you could put in front of me that would have literally it's like, Ohh, that's Tom Hanks. Oh wow, didn't know that. I'd be good at like sururvivor characters and football players besid I dont know how much NFL players also don't pay attention to other NFL teams. Not at all especially outside their own division. pretty funny. Yeah. Okay Question six, We're doing ten. Cheese runny mix, not been great. Are we buying Kenneth Walker or do we think he's going to be overpriced? Who's impeding Kennethalker from having like two hundred and eighty touches this year. And that's a conservative number two hundred and eighty carries Plus like maybe fifty touches I don't even know who's number two there. They took Emett Johnson and they took did like that but Yeah I did like that. but I'm just not like totally sold that Johnon's going to come in and like meaningfully impact the role of Kenneth Walker IId. He was So clearly, the guy that like It feels like they wanted Henh Walker the third as much as basically any team wanted they single player in free agency this offseason. All their woes could be cured by Walker who course was awesome, what it mattered most for your Seahawks, Super Bowl MVP times from which the Seahawks it struck me as the Seahawks coaching staff, not always fully trusting him. Um he's one of those guys that it seemed like sometimes they wanted him like sometimes four yards was good enough for them on a given run And he'd have the occasional pension for like this two yard run could become a ten yard run if I bounce it outside and instead it becomes a negative two yard run. But anyways, he's going to have an absolutely monster year. Yeah, he's inside, I I want to say he's like are we twelve for me overall right now? Big year coming Cese Os, even with its limitations last year faced tons of light bxes still Patrick Mahomes We'll see when he has availability, but he's going to be the right one, right? Like you're not. I mean he sounds like it, but I think your point about just like who's competing. And also just like that was all they did. Yes Yeah. Okay. U another player in the move Can Kyler revive Justin Jefferson, who was you one of the fantasy letdowns, obviously last season relative to expectations around him? Yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. One of the issues with applying logic to players for like a prolonged period of time is that the year that it doesn't work out, you have to wonder whether you were like misaligned with your logic for the years prior prior but every year it's, hey, the thing about Justin Jefferson is he's quarterback agnostic, right? He didn't get the job done with guys like Jaron Hall and Nick Mullins. JJ McCarthy, he's going to be good. He'sent overall picking the draft. and then it was they had a little chemistry and it was such a tough watch last year. It sometimes looked like they had never met. It was now I'm sure Justin Jefferson and NFL players either don't like to hear this kind of analysis or just don't care for it at all. D' even don't even acknowledge it. He was the single least enjoyable player to watch in Fantasy football last season. It has nothing to do with Justin Jefferson. I think I could go to court and pretty credibly argue he's the best wide receiver in the NFL And yet this poor guy last year, it was like his quarterbacks were trying to Yeah. rememember how LeBron had that ten point streak going for whatever it was like twenty years? It was like Justin was riding some streak that his quarterbacks were trying to see end. like hey, you know, Justin's had at least a thousand yards, whatever it is five straight season since they're like, Yeahah, you want to tempt me on that I'll tell you what it I'll tell you what it looks like to have eight hundred and twenty four yards this year Oh my go, it was tough. And honestly to his credit, handled it all pretty Well, Justin seems like he is that dude, like for his talent as he is. He's got an emotional intelligence that is incredibly high. I think my one concern or fear or question is whether or not Tyler Kyler, who is undeniably an upgrade and I've said this a million times, can get his deep ball back because it's really fallen off U and because that would be the only thing on with Jefferson who really should benefit from that if he can get it back, but I'd like to see it. but Like you said, it's just a Jefferson. and Kyler has had great chemistry in the past before Marvin Ererson junior with wide Receiver ones, whichich brings me to Arizona. questuestion A, does the Arizona quarterback M Sccare you off, everyone in Arizona outside of Jeremiah Love. I saw a hilarious to me. Johnny Veneral does a great job. in the suet. He covers the Cardinals. He's been so, I really like his show. He's been there' been Cardinals, bloggers and fans have been so funny about the Cardinals very self aware He was like, I'm paraphrasing. the Rams are training for Miles Garret Jacobbe Bret is holding out. One NFC West team is trading for Miles Garrett, another NFC West team. his quarterback is holding out like whatever the twenty seventh best starting quarterback is holding out, you know sw the question. I don't think it matters for the fantasy value of these guys much one way or the other They were we used to call it Blake Bordling his way to success because Bordles for a few years there was like this fantasy rock star. But if you turn the game on in the second quarter, you're like, how on earth does Blake Bortles have forty two passing yards and interception and negative point eight fantasy points. Then you'd like come back two hours later and you're like, holy crap, Blake Bortles just scored twenty one points. Let's go, baby That was twoco be percent last year who just kept on going. He had this unbelievable streak of top twelve finishes. I don't think it matters that much this Mina. I think that a lot of their offensive production could come in garbage time I just I have McBride who is one of my all time Tuly gu when I got him after the first year I texted a picture of myself as Belaa notot a great con for a Jam. But my point is, I think I give myself laser eyes I' I'm just really hoping that McBride can still thrive despite I do also like the memes Ricardoss fans of Carson Beck being like in a picture with JSN Mes Garrett and Chris Mcaffrey. All right S question Or last nth question, not second question If George Pickens is a Dallas cowboy this year and is playing and there's no holdout and whatever We'll know by the time, you know Would you rather have Cie Lamb or Gorge Pickginenss Ci Lamp for a couple of reasons. So I do think that like talent wise they're in the same zip code, I don't think we need to sit here and like yeah, he's definitely better. No. L these guys are both ridiculously talented. One of them was an all pro last year. It wasn't Ci Lam. The talent isn't the question. It just George if he does play. He's not going to have a long term deal with the cowboys. as they have said, creates the very popular dynamic that comes into play When a guy's on a contract year, And if you' it's week seven, your hamstring just feels a touch tight It's I'm not pointing to this thing feels one hundred percent. I've got too much to lose and not enough to gain. So it's that risk is George Pickginens, part of the reason why last year was so special was that George kept his head on straight for the most part, right? There's a reason why he was also available after three years in Pittsburgh. It was that you'd go Three games with him being awesome and productive and then you'd have a meltdown. So I just think CD is a more reliable player overall. bothoth incredibly talented. They should throw the football once again. they're a walking top five offense with that No surprise there. Both guys inside my top ten for wide receivers right now. One of them comes with just more risk that being Bickens Final question, Jane Daniels One of the most popular quarterback pits Can he bounce back Yes, yes. one hundred it all comes down to this is Ritning, and I know we talk about this every year Rushing for quarterbacks is such a ridiculous cheat code for fantasy football purposes. It just is It feels like it was a pedestrian year for Patrick Mahomes last year in a lot of ways And you go back and you look at the number of times he finish as a top eight score and you're like, reallyally? L it just kept happening like eight times out of the fourteen games he played Be Patrick Bahholes was running for his life last year Jaden Dangls could be running for his life, but he'll definitely just be running a lot in general. Regardless of the motivation behind the runs, as long as your quarterback is running You will be good. So Jaden Daniels I just I feel like a down year for him is like four hundred rushing yards, probably Kind of like where Kyler was for a while in Arizona that even if it wasn't clicking as much as a passer, he still had more of a floor than your typical quarterback I think Jen's a more to me a more talented passer than Kyler Murray at this juncture of their careers. So there's way more upside, but he is quarterback three for me right now. Josh being one, Lamar Jackson being two, Janie Daniels being three. And I want to say it's It's one of the two quarterbacks that either previously or will soon to be throw passes will soon be throwing passes to JJ Brright as either Jalen hurts or Drake M mayay or Drake Me Jayalen hurts for five Mkel is gonna get so many carries this season. I just they're gonna run the damn wishmell. Like Yeah Okay, well that's good news about Daniels. All right, so let me know, by the way, listeners, I haven't done fantasy stuff that much on this show before, even though I very much so love clearly and spent too much time thinking about my dynasty team. So let me know if you want me to do more of it. But also if you're interested in fanasy coverage, obviously go check out Fanasy Focus Go a follow field across all platforms. Field. my buddy, thank you so much for joining me today. This was a ton of fun. You can check us out on YouTube, if you're listening YouTube. com slash out me aimes where you can also check out my television pod. With David Dennis Jr. as we pivot to our coverage of that other great American sport Love Island Thank you as always to the folks at Omaha Productions who make this show, Kearson Sbeki, Owen Saylor, Duck Custer, Duck Pestian. and I will see you guys next week. We'll be back with the NFC Xractors.