Who Are the Most Overrated NFL Players in 2026? (Ep. 2069)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 2 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 29, 2026
Published
Mon, June 29, 2026
19
Player insights
19
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownBrandon AiyukBrenton StrangeCaleb WilliamsChristian WatsonDeebo SamuelDK MetcalfGeorge KittleGreg DulcichIsaiah LikelyJaylen ReedJordan LoveKyle PittsMac Jones
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
NegativeRole34:34
The source references AJ Brown as a standout receiver who played alongside DK Metcalf at Ole Miss, noting that Metcalf has never been a true alpha receiver—there has always been someone alongside him who was equally or more productive.
Insight pageBrandon Aiyuk
NegativeRole0:18
Has been inactive for almost two years and is currently in a contract dispute with the 49ers; the source notes that the 49ers have crushed all his guaranteed money and are holding him hostage by not trading or cutting him. The source questions the 49ers' pettiness in the situation and notes that Aiyuk's value to another team is questionable given the extended time away from playing. The source speculates that if Aiyuk were dropped onto the Commanders offense, he could be a running mate for Terry McLaurin, and suggests there may be a gentleman's agreement with Commanders QB Jayden Daniels (who he played with in college) to sign him upon release.
Insight pageBrenton Strange
PositiveSleeper0:14
Signed a three-year contract extension; the source identifies him as one of his sleeper tight ends for the year and likes the extension move. Strange showed flashes last year that he could be a useful cog in the Broncos offense, especially with the wide receiver situation in flux. The source views Strange as having upside in the offense.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
NegativeProjection30:00
While Caleb Williams has a theoretically higher ceiling than Jordan Love, his consistency is not there yet. The source notes that removing Ben Johnson from the Bears offense creates trouble for Williams' development, and the source prefers Love over Williams despite Love's lower ceiling.
Insight pageChristian Watson
NegativeInjury27:05
Christian Watson played only half of the 2024 season due to injury, significantly limiting his availability as a top playmaker for Jordan Love and the Packers offense.
Insight pageDeebo Samuel
NegativeRole34:34
The source references Debo Samuel as one of the stud receivers drafted after DK Metcalf in the 2019 draft class, noting that Metcalf fell to the second round while other talented receivers went earlier.
Insight pageDK Metcalf
PositiveBust34:34
The source calls DK Metcalf a 'fake alpha' wide receiver, noting he is the sixth highest-paid WR in the NFL but ranks outside the top 30 in fantasy ADP/ECR. In 2024 with Pittsburgh, Metcalf posted a 21% target share (not elite for a number one option), 56.7 receiving yards per game, and six touchdowns. Over his last four seasons, he has been outside the top 15 in fantasy points and top 20 in PPG. The source argues Metcalf has never been a true alpha—at Ole Miss he played alongside AJ Brown, and in the NFL he has consistently underperformed relative to draft capital and salary. Among 109 qualifying WRs, Metcalf ranked 19th in yards per route run against single-high coverage but only 41st against two-high; the rise of two-high safety coverage (used by 16 teams on at least 50.1% of snaps) has exposed a glaring weakness in his game. The source predicts Michael Pittman Jr. will lead the Steelers in targets, not Metcalf.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
NegativeInjury0:09
Tore his Achilles very late last season at age 33; the source is concerned about week one availability given the late timing of the injury, the 49ers playing the Rams in week one in Australia, and the long flight. The source expects him to be on the PUP list rather than available week one, or at best a part-time player. Videos from Tight End University show him moving carefully and protectively, which is appropriate given the fresh surgery, but the source does not expect him to be fully available early in the season.
Insight pageGreg Dulcich
PositiveSleeper0:15
Tight end in Miami with a clear path to becoming the number one receiver in the Dolphins offense; the source notes he should see volume. Last year he was efficient with second-best yards after the catch per reception (behind only Tucker Craft) and great yards per route run. He is 26 years old, flashed as a rookie, and his struggles have been due to injuries the last couple of seasons. If he stays healthy, the source projects he leads the Dolphins in all major receiving categories except possibly receptions. The source views him as entering his prime and compares him to late-blooming tight ends who hit on their second or third team.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
PositiveSleeper0:17
Tight end who signed with the Giants and is a big-time sleeper according to the source. The source is surprised there is not more buzz around Likely given his performance metrics. In 2024, he ranked 17th in target per route run rate, 10th in yards per route run, and 8th in first downs per route run. A foot injury in 2025 affected his effectiveness, but the source notes that when he has been given the starting role with Baltimore, he has shown flashes. The new Giants head coach brought him over and gave him a contract, and the source believes he can step up as the clear number two target in the passing attack.
Insight pageJaylen Reed
NegativeInjury27:05
Jaylen Reed barely played during the entire 2024 season due to injury, significantly limiting his availability as a top playmaker for Jordan Love and the Packers offense.
Insight pageJordan Love
NegativeValue20:02
The source argues Jordan Love is overrated despite his 2023 season (32 TDs, 4,159 yards, 11 INTs). Over the last two years, Love has played only 15 games total and posted 3,300 yards and 17 interceptions combined. The source contends that the Packers' pivot to a run-heavy offense signals the team itself believes Love is overrated, and ranks him third or fourth among NFC North quarterbacks, behind Jared Goff, Caleb Williams, and possibly Kyler Murray. Additionally, Love is the third-highest paid quarterback by average salary per year at $55 million, tied with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Trevor Lawrence, but the source questions whether Love is worthy of this compensation, stating 'He is not those guys.' The source also notes Love ranked second in the NFL last year in EPA per drop back while dealing with injuries to Christian Watson, Tucker Craft, Jaylen Reed, and other top playmakers, and has posted nine game-winning drives (tied for fourth in fourth-quarter comebacks) since 2023, suggesting elite efficiency metrics despite conservative play-calling.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
NegativeRole0:12
Signed a three-year, $54 million extension with the Falcons; the source notes he is still young at 25 years old and the extension signals the Falcons' commitment to keeping the core of Bijan Robinson, Pitts, and Drake London together. However, the biggest concern remains his performance when Drake Maye is in the lineup and the quarterback situation in Atlanta. The source is not totally sold on targeting him unless he falls late in drafts.
Insight pageMac Jones
NegativeRole0:06
Backup quarterback in the 49ers' Shanahan system who will not be a starter but expects to generate buzz from his play before becoming a free agent after the season. The source notes he is playing loose with no pressure and having fun with teammates.
Insight pageMichael Pittman
PositiveRole37:16
The source predicts Michael Pittman Jr. will lead the Steelers in targets this season, positioning him as the primary receiving option in Pittsburgh's offense ahead of DK Metcalf.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
PositiveBust65:59
The source calls Saquon Barkley the most overrated offensive player in the NFL despite being the highest-paid running back. Over three of four seasons since 2022, he ranked 25th or worse in missed tackles forced, 33rd or lower in rushing success rate, and 23rd or lower in EPA per rush. His 2024 breakout season (2,000 rushing yards) was driven by his offensive line generating almost four yards before contact per attempt; since 2019 he has never exceeded 425 receiving yards in a season and has never surpassed 1.0 yards per route run in any season, including 2024. The source emphasizes he is a great talent with one great season, not a consistently elite performer. At age with 8,356 rushing yards in eight NFL seasons, he ranks second all-time since 2018 behind only Derek Henry (11,000+ yards), but trails Hall of Fame running backs significantly: Eric Dickerson had 11,903 yards, LaDainian Tomlinson 11,760, Barry Sanders 11,725, and Emmitt Smith 11,434. The source suggests if he produces another three strong years with multiple 1,500-yard seasons, he could become a Hall of Famer; if production tails off, he becomes a 'Hall of very good' story marked by injury.
Insight pageT.J. Watt
NegativeBust82:20
The source presents T.J. Watt as overrated, noting that while teams chip blocked him on 31% of his pass rushes last year (highest of any player since 2018), his sack totals have declined for three straight seasons (19 to 11.5 to 7). Albert Breer reported that offenses were more concerned about Alex Highsmith than Watt last year. At age 32, Watt is making top-five defensive player money (equivalent to Baker Mayfield's salary), yet the Steelers signed Alex Highsmith to a four-year, $100 million extension, suggesting they value Highsmith more. The source attributes the decline to natural aging and physical toll from his high effort level, but emphasizes he is not a top-five defensive player despite his contract.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
NegativeInjury27:05
Tucker Kraft played only half of the 2024 season due to injury, limiting his availability as a top playmaker for Jordan Love and the Packers offense.
Insight pageTyler Lockett
PositiveValue34:34
The source argues that Tyler Lockett provided similar target numbers to DK Metcalf every season while being drafted much later (rounds 5-6 vs. rounds 2-3), making Lockett a better value pick than Metcalf in fantasy drafts.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:56You know what to do. It's YouTube. Gentlemen, today we're going to talk about overrated things.
1:01Overrated players, overrated tailgate foods, and a whole lot more.
1:04But before we get to all that, we're going to talk a little bit about Tight End University and some of the
1:10weird stuff that's been going on there. But before we get to all that, I asked the internet for Derrick Brown pictures with curly hair.
1:17God. And damn it, that's what I got. So let's take a look at these, shall we?
1:22We're going to start right here. Ready? All right.
1:25Can you see these? All right. Here we go.
1:28Wow. So here's look number one for Derrick Brown that I was given.
1:31Look number one. This is the, this is like the hipster, like sophomore in high school look right here, Erickson.
1:37He's kind of got like the fade with the curly top.
1:40Give this a one through five stars. This curly hair, Derrick Brown.
1:44Zoom in. You could zoom in. Bottom left. Zoom in on this bad boy just a little bit.
1:49Go up. Is that Patrick Mahomes? I don't know who that is.
1:53Oh my God. Oh my God. Do you talk like Kermit the Frog in that voice?
1:57These are my favorite players that I'd like to put in here.
2:01Like what? I feel like I'm going to five star rating.
2:04That's the haircut that screams. I put ketchup on my steak.
2:07I feel like I need a cross earring. I need cross earrings for this to just, and a gold chain to pop off it.
2:14You definitely do. You definitely do. So Erickson, what's the one through five on this one?
2:19Give me the star rating. Come on. Mmm. I would give it a four.
2:23Give it a four. Four. I'm three. I'm three and a quarter stars.
2:27Oh my gosh. Because I think this look is a little douchey.
2:30I'll be honest. To the skin fade. Next look here is the long-haired Derrick Brown.
2:35Da da da. There's the reveal. I look like The Rock in Moana.
2:38Oh yeah. That's what I look like. I was going to say you look like Greg Dulcich, but I like your comparison better.
2:45There's a little Dulcich here. You definitely play offensive guard.
2:48You definitely have left guard. You can tell from the look on your face.
2:52Oh my God. Um, I'm going to say I, this one, this one I liked the most.
2:57I'm going to say four and three quarter stars.
3:00This is nearly five star for me. Like Jennings Dunker before the haircut.
3:03Definitely offensive lineman from the Mac conference. Yeah. All I could say is you're welcome.
3:08I was going to say broana. This is your broana.
3:11That's what this is. Oh, that's so good. And then last and maybe least, this is, this is tragic.
3:16This is like, isn't this what your hair actually does D bro when you had hair?
3:21Yeah. I imagine this is the actual real one.
3:24It's like that, but it was like down in my face and stuff.
3:27More emo-ish. This I look like, like what is the meme with the science guy?
3:32Like, um, I, I sent it in the, uh, in the same Slack channel yesterday, the meme with the science guy.
3:38And I was like, this is exactly what I look like.
3:41Like I have a lot of great thoughts, but they're actually all horrible.
3:45Oh, the guy from the history channel. Yes. The history channel.
3:48Oh, the history channel. That guy. The history channel.
3:51Not the science guy, but the history channel. The ancient aliens guy.
3:54Yeah. Yeah. Everybody, everyone listening right now knows exactly who we're talking about.
3:58Like, Oh, exactly. He's talking about. Okay. Go Google his name.
4:01I can't remember his name. It's a big Greek name, but, but what I love about that guy is like, everything is
4:08the answer to everything is always aliens. Well, like, so do we think that it's possible that Christian McCaffrey could have played, you know, 17 games?
4:15No, he was actually replaced by aliens. That is the reason why I look like I have a timeshare in area 51.
4:22Oh my God. This is the worst. This is the worst.
4:25This is a bar restaurant in the downtown Scottsdale area for sure.
4:28The first one's the best one. I mean, see, I still think number two.
4:32I like the big lineman look for Derek Brown.
4:35The first one's too douchey for me. It's just too much.
4:38But the second one is glorious. The second one is first headline.
4:42We're going to get to is right here. It's it's what's wrong with Mac Jones.
4:46So tight end university happens every single summer and Mac Jones is living his best life.
4:51I assume you guys could see Mac Jones here throwing footballs and he is doing a little dance, having a little fun here.
4:58He looks like somebody's uncle who is not a professional athlete.
5:01I'm just going to put this out there. Tight end university is George Kittle's program where the tight end show up.
5:07They work out. It's a great thing. Everyone has a good time.
5:10Taylor Swift shows up. The whole thing is great.
5:13But these these Mac Jones videos, as you start to go down the rabbit hole, boys get weirder and weirder.
5:19So this is the one where he was just kind of doing his little drop back step dance.
5:24It feels like he's listening to the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack while he's throwing footballs.
5:29I don't know what's going there. Here's another one where he's doing some tick tock dances.
5:33What the hell am I watching? Good Lord. I'm not sure what's going on here.
5:38Here's another one of him just joking around with people and touching the ground and and being weird.
5:43So I guess the question is, what kind of drugs is Mac Jones on?
5:47And can I get some of them? Uh, people make fun of J.J.
5:51McCarthy for his vibes. Can we put Mac Jones in the same in a similar category with all of this?
5:57Like this is just beyond cringe worthy for me.
5:59I love it. I think the cringe is kind of why I like you to this guy.
6:04This guy's high on life. Young Todd. He's a backup quarterback.
6:08He's not going to be a starter, but he knows that, hey, after this year, I'm going to be a free agent.
6:14We're going to see. I'm going to get a lot of buzz because of how well I played in the Shanahan system.
6:20Look, man, this is the guy that hit the gritty in the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
6:25Right. He scored a rushing touchdown, hit the gritty.
6:28He's just having fun out there playing loose. So again, this is how your back quarterback should be.
6:33No pressure on me. I'm going out here to have some fun with the boys.
6:38So I love it. Yeah. The fact that he's a former Patriot is not coloring y'all's opinions at all.
6:43It might make it worse considering how he played there.
6:46But think about this is his little sack move called the shave to this is how we avoid sack.
6:52I mean, he is definitely like just he's a vibe.
6:55Maybe he is seeing James Winston being this like a multi-sport coverage guy and everybody just loves the personality.
7:00If that's what Mac Jones is going for is like, hey, there's going to be a life for me after the NFL.
7:06I'm a backup quarterback. I may or may not ever be a quote unquote starter again for a team.
7:12I don't know. I'm thinking I got it. Maybe just maybe he sees Winston and he goes, this is the path for me.
7:19I can go take that. Now, I think I got it.
7:22He's trying to pick up the mantle from Kirk cousins.
7:25That's that's that's what we're going. He's got way more personality than Kirk cousins.
7:29That's all I'm going to say. Yeah. I mean, a lot of Kirk cousins also rings kind of fake like he's just
7:35like I'd be very curious who the real Kirk cousins is when the cameras turn off versus this character that I think he plays.
7:42Kirk cousins does not have these dance moves voice.
7:45I mean, if you want, I mean, look at him right there.
7:49You've never seen Kroken Koles. You don't know. I mean, I have Kroken Koles all the time.
7:53Here we go. He's the five. He's the five.
7:56Uh, uh, it is. Uh, I mean, he is.
7:59I think Erickson's right. He is living his best life.
8:02That's what he's doing right there. Lucy goosey, baby.
8:04I can't. I just can't. Lucy goosey. I've seen way more other cringe things.
8:08It's like the weird uncle that that you don't invite over to the house for dinner anymore.
8:13No, can't. Yeah, certainly does feel that way. But you know what?
8:17I'm here for it as I think it's fun.
8:19And, uh, I just, I want to see Kirk cousins in, uh, enjoying his best life.
8:24I want to see Winston Jenner. All the backup QBs should enjoy their best life.
8:28That's what we should. Now, speaking of tight end university, uh, I saw a tweet from someone here, Derek Brown, uh, that
8:35was talking about, um, watching George Kittle do some of the drills.
8:38Now I saw those drills. I watched. He did look pretty good.
8:42He looked better than I thought he would. He did also look to me a little bit like he was careful.
8:48That, that was my big takeaway. He did not look free.
8:51He moved well, but I would use the word carefully moving as quickly as one can, which is impressive because George Kittle is an impressive dude.
8:59So give me your takeaway. Cause you were the one that kind of tweeted about this and starting to, I could feel
9:05it already grow the buzz of George Kittle week one, which I still think is a tough sell, but it's not impossible.
9:12I don't think it's impossible. I think like when we've kind of been in the dark about Kittle with a lot of
9:18his recovery and stuff, I thought I took it as a, as a positive sign.
9:22Now, yes, to your point, was he moving around gingerly and protecting himself?
9:26Yeah, he was, but he should be. I mean, you don't want to blow out your Achilles or mess up the surgery, which is still relatively fresh ish.
9:34Uh, so no, I mean, I think just considering how he was moving around, I think that would be a weak one as a possibility.
9:42But to your point, Joey, if they start him on the pop or he doesn't play for the first four weeks or
9:48he's a limited, uh, snap player in the first few games, is that going to surprise me at all?
9:54Either? No. All right. Uh, Erickson, have you seen the videos of George Kittle?
9:58I assume that you have, you must've by now of him moving around, doing the drills.
10:02Like he looks good, but he doesn't look quite George Kittle yet.
10:06I try not to put too much stock into those types.
10:09Cause I don't analyze tight ends running on air to give you a justified take of, okay, well this guy's a hundred percent.
10:16This guy's not, I just don't. So I think that people can have their opinion, say it's good.
10:21Cause I think some people may look at me like, this is great.
10:25Some may be like, this is terrible. And it's the exact same video that we're watching.
10:30So for me, it's just going back to the data.
10:32The number is about when he tore his Achilles very late last year.
10:36The fact that he's 33 years old and the fact that the Rams and the 49ers are going to play in week
10:43one in Australia, I'm not getting on a big one on a, what?
10:46How long is the flight? If I have a torn Achilles in that first game I'm going to play is in Australia coming off a season ending injury.
10:55That is not happening. So I'm worried about like what the field conditions might be because they're, you know, it doesn't make
11:01sense for me likely week one or pup list.
11:04Hmm. Yeah. See the puppet. Cause I feel like it could be like week three, but if it, I think they probably
11:10air on the side of caution just because in week one, they'll be at their healthiest and actually have like pierce all before he hurts his hamstring.
11:18Mike Evans before he hurts his hamstring. So I think that I'm just, I'm just being realistic here.
11:23So I think that I would probably say pop versus being available for week one.
11:28Even if it ends up in between, I would go with the pup.
11:31All right. There was other tight end news too.
11:34I think you'll play week one, but it'll be a part-time player.
11:37So I'm with Erickson. I think that's a big trip to take.
11:41I don't think it is. I do that. I'm more pop than week one.
11:45I think for week, give him four weeks. You're the 49ers, right?
11:49You think you're in the playoffs. It's more important that he's ready in, you know, January to play than it is in September.
11:55I just don't see the point in it. I think it would be a bad move and it would reek of a little desperation.
12:02You went and he got Mike Evans. You got all these other pieces.
12:06Your draft is shriveling. You know, you think Ricky Pierce all the dude, you can't get through four weeks without Kittle.
12:12I mean, it's not like, it's not like a ton just performed poorly, you know, like ton just was out there being productive.
12:19So it's not like, you know, he's a, he's a total zero at all.
12:23Uh, the Falcons, they made a tight end move.
12:26Kyle pits three year extension, $54 million. Erickson, any feelings and thoughts about this?
12:30Does it change your feelings about Kyle pits with the Falcons?
12:33Not really. It's still remains to be seen how well he's going to perform when Drake one is in the lineup.
12:39Cause that's the biggest negative towards Kyle pits in the positive side.
12:43I know that Tara hit on this and a lot of, I think worm hit on it earlier when we were talking
12:49about Kyle pits on the polarizing player show that I do a D bro a couple of times.
12:54Again, it's also the Patriot London first. So it's all like, just to be clear, like they signed up the wide receiver and then Kyle pits.
13:02So yes, you got the contract good for him.
13:04Still really young, 25 years old, but still I'm not totally sold that.
13:08He's going to be one of my tight ends that I need, unless he really falls in drafts as like a late round guy.
13:15Um, right now, not really someone that I'm going out of my way to target.
13:20I gotta say D I think this is actually good because it makes me feel better because it does make me feel
13:26like he's part of this to fans key plan.
13:29I think the biggest detriment is the quarterback plate to him.
13:32Potentially that that's the biggest one that could be a problem, but I think a commitment to Kyle pits here in this
13:38offense, it certainly does seem like they're going to keep this core three of B John pits and Drake London together.
13:44So if it's not this year and next year when they get the quarterback that they really want, I think the Falcons
13:51are still a team that's heading in the, in a better direction than they were at the very least.
13:56Yeah. I mean, they're heading in a better direction with Terry font node, Raheem Morris out of town.
14:02Um, I think with the Kyle pits, I think this is a move that Atlanta had to make though, too.
14:07And in the sense of retaining him, him being a car, a core part of what their future is, uh, we can
14:14be, I don't want to say bullish, but optimistic about his future with Stefanski.
14:18But the other part of it is Kyle pits is a different animal than even David and Joku, uh, or Harold Fannin.
14:24He's not the same type of run after catch player and dump a run tight end as his other guys.
14:30So I'm very curious just to see what his usage is going to look like as far as like, if you're just
14:37going to ask him to do kind of what Arthur Smith asked him to do and be the dump or run guy,
14:43like that's not where he truly excels. So we shall see a TBD about what his true value in the NFL, but
14:49extending him and making him a core part of the future of this team.
14:54I do agree with. All right, let's talk about another extension here.
14:57We have Breton strange who got a deal. One of my sleeper tight ends for this year, three or contract extension.
15:03This I like quite a bit also. So strange is again, one of my sleeper guys going into the year.
15:09I think it's really, uh, smart that they went out there and extended him.
15:13I think he showed you some flashes last year that he could be a useful cog in this offense, especially with so
15:19much tumult in the wide receiver conversation. I just heard a thing today where they expect Travis Hunter to get 10 to 15 offensive plays a game.
15:27That's what they're striving for. So we'll say, I want to debate that on another tailgate.
15:32That's I'm saving that Travis Hunter show for July.
15:35That's where we're going to get it. I want, I want some more time to digest all this stuff we're hearing about
15:41him, but do you have a favorite tight end sleeper?
15:44Andrew Erickson. Is there a guy in the tight end spot that I don't know, maybe plays in Miami that you like, or, uh, the dolphins.
15:52Do you think maybe if Florida tight end, do you prefer more?
15:55Stole this name for me, by the way, just want to throw that out there.
15:59Stole this name. Greg Dulcich season. Yeah. In Miami checks off all the boxes, clear path to becoming the number one receiver in this offense.
16:07Not that we're excited about it, but he should see volume.
16:10And last year he was efficient. Second yards out to the catch per reception behind only my guy Tucker craft really great yards per route run.
16:18Only 26 years old. I flashed as a rookie.
16:20The reason I think that he has struggled is just because he's been injured the last couple of seasons.
16:26So if he stays healthy, I think he leads the dolphins in all major receiving categories.
16:30Maybe not reception. Maybe that's still a chance out of the backfield, but I think him and Malik wills are going to gel because two, two out.
16:38Well, Jalen Tolbert, we don't know when Chris Bell's coming back.
16:41Like these guys are just uninspiring for me when Dulcich is a player that I think could be entering his prime.
16:48Again, wouldn't be the first tight end to hit on his second or third team after kind of a rocky start to his career.
16:55I'm trying to think of some of those names.
16:57Actually, do you have any off the top of your head?
17:00I don't know. Walker is a good one. That's a good one.
17:04Yeah, it's got to be another couple that are floating around there to late blooming tight ends.
17:09D bro. Who's a tight end that you think is a sleeper this year?
17:13We got strange. We got Dulcich. It was one for you.
17:16It's Isaiah likely for me, and I don't know why there's not more buzz around likely considering what we've seen in small
17:23snippets, the hive around him and people want to like believe in him when he was on the Ravens, but it's like he gets the contract.
17:30He goes to the Giants bleak neighbors. We don't know if he's going to start on the pop and everybody's like, yeah,
17:37but you know, Theo Johnson and I'm like, he got paid guys.
17:40The new head coach brought him over and they gave him a contract and they need receiving weapons and people don't think
17:47that likely can step up and be the clear number two target in this passing attack.
17:51That's where I have an issue with it. We're it's also not like we haven't seen likely perform on a per route
17:58basis when he has been on the field, like toss 2025 all in the freaking trash can foot injury.
18:03I think it affected his effectiveness the entire season, but 2024 17th and target per route run rate 10th and yards per
18:10route run eighth and first downs per route run.
18:12Isaiah likely if that talent we can. I know we get in trouble with small sample size efficiency and stuff like that,
18:19but we've also talked about like when he has been given the run as a starter with Baltimore, we've seen the flashes.
18:25Now he goes to the Giants. Yeah, I think he's a big time sleeper.
18:29Before we get to the overrated players that we're going to talk about, which is going to create a lot of controversy
18:36and that's what we like to do here. We like to be provocative on the channel.
18:40Speaking of provocative, has anyone been following Brandon? Iyuk on social media in the last week or so.
18:45Oh baby. Yeah. Lots of money in that closet today.
18:48Mm hmm. Yeah. Well, did you see this one Erickson where he's dropping the money in the closet?
18:54That was another one to just just as a reminder of how much the 49ers like he's wearing high in pajamas to doing it.
19:01I don't know. He's going to he's going to force the 49ers hand when he shows up to training camp.
19:06It's like, all right, I'm here. All right. What are you going to do?
19:11Now I'm back on the payroll. Is he social media in himself out of the opportunity to be with another team?
19:17Like I understand. No, I'm not happy. They're not happy.
19:20Do you think another team is going to actually look at this and be like, this is just another.
19:25I feel like teams are gonna look at this and say, this is just another Antonio Brown situation where it's just going
19:32to go bad that we can't take a chance on him.
19:35I don't think that I think that he's trying to use whatever leverage that he can because I none of us know
19:41what all transpired in that building for them to crush all the guarantee money.
19:45What I will say is, have we not seen enough from the 49ers organization as well from like Shanahan's like bipolar spite
19:52to rookies and other players on that roster? Like how many players has he shoved or this organization shoved into a doghouse?
19:58We've never heard from again where there's a laundry list of guys like that.
20:02And I'm not saying Brandon Iuka is a saint, but can we also all acknowledge to that the level of petty that
20:09the 49ers organization has at this point? Like holding him hostage, like not trading him, not cutting him.
20:14He has no guaranteed money left on his contract.
20:16So they're just like, well, you're gonna have to sit here.
20:20Tough cookies. Like, bro, come on. Like, are you gonna be the adults in the building or not too?
20:25It's been almost two years since he's played a game in the NFL, Andrew.
20:29I mean, that's a long time. So how much value does Brandon Iuka even have to another team at this point?
20:35It's just petty. I still think that if you drop them onto the commander's offense, if they have not been inspired by
20:42what they've seen from Antonio Williams or Chigakonkwo, it hasn't been enough as a running mate for Terry McLaurin.
20:47I think it makes a lot of sense. There's a reason why they're connected, right?
20:52Because Jane Daniels went to college. They have a relationship.
20:55And maybe they've already kind of have a gentleman's agreement where, yeah, the minute that you get released, we're gonna sign you.
21:01And that's why he can kind of do whatever he wants on social media because it doesn't matter how he feels about the other.
21:08He's already rubbed a bunch of teams the wrong way in terms of like the Patriots, right?
21:13They wanted to trade for him. He was like, no, I don't want to go there.
21:18Well, you should have gone to the Patriots. You would have had Drake manage a quarterback.
21:22It would have been great. He would have gotten an extension too.
21:26Yes. If he played well on that Super Bowl run, it wasn't Stefan Diggs.
21:30He would have been the guy they would have locked up.
21:33Yep. So not a good move there for Brennan.
21:36You can look, I get he's frustrated, but like, you know, sometimes it's better to just be quiet with your money and
21:42just wait for everything to play out. That's not what he's a wide receiver.
21:46He's a wide receiver. I know. They never go.
21:49That hasn't gotten anywhere. He's been quiet before this whole barrage.
21:52And where did they get him? They basically just said to.
21:55Oh, I know. We're still gonna sit on it.
21:58I know where it got him guaranteed $50 million.
22:01That's where it got him. Yeah. You got a lot of money after that.
22:05But after that. All right. Let's talk about overrated things.
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24:33All right, we're going to each do a little bit of the overrated player situation here.
24:37We're going to go talk about overrated defensive player and overrated offensive player.
24:41I'll kick things off here. I'll get the ball rolling with the hatred because I know the guys are going to disagree with me here.
24:48I know exactly what I'm getting into. And that's OK, because all the nerds love all their metrics that they can give me all the.
24:56But his pass per temps per game was the average depth of his targets.
25:00Or I know what I see. All right. And I see a quarterback in Jordan Love that had a very good season
25:06in 2023 and has really yet to quite follow up to the hype of it ever since.
25:11OK, 32 touchdowns, 4,159 yards in 2023. Great. Awesome.
25:1411 interceptions. He's only played 15 games in the last two years.
25:17He's missed some time with injury injuries happen. I don't want to hold that all against him.
25:22But in both of those seasons with the injuries, 3,300 yards and 17 interceptions over those two years.
25:27Now, last year was better about it. Two years ago, too many interceptions.
25:31That's not what you want to see. But I think the fact that they've pivoted down in this regime to more of
25:38a run heavy style tells you that they think Jordan Love is a little overrated as well.
25:43Sure, he hasn't had a big time wide receiver necessarily to throw to.
25:46That also would help certainly his stats and maybe kind of break him out of that mold.
25:51I know metrically a lot of things like him, but I'm just talking about the fact that if you ask me which
25:58quarterback I'd rather have from that division to start a franchise with.
26:01I gotta say, he's third, maybe even fourth after this year depending on what version I get of Kyler Murray.
26:07Again, just because he played in Arizona doesn't mean that he can't play football.
26:11Okay? This is the number one overall pick for a reason and I'm ready to throw that away quite yet.
26:17I remember when Jordan Love got selected. Jordan Love, everybody was like, wow, they took Jordan Love where they took him?
26:23That's kind of surprising. And to his credit, he's been a nice leader.
26:27He's been a good player. I just think he's a little overrated.
26:30Again, not the best quarterback in his division even.
26:33I would put him at third, arguably fourth. But we'll see.
26:36We'll see how that goes. So go ahead, roast me, tell me why I'm wrong that Jordan Love isn't overrated.
26:42Who wants to come at me first? Go ahead, you kick this off.
26:46I'm looking up stuff. Should I come in with the nerd stats?
26:49Yes, please come in with the nerd stats. I would love the nerd stats if you could tell me what his biometric rating was in his past.
26:57Fast for 10 per game on every other Thursday.
27:00I would love to see that. Maybe you should go back and watch the Jordan Love tape with those spectacles because I think your vision is lacking.
27:08Jordan Love is fine. Jordan Love is a good quarterback.
27:11I don't think Jordan Love is a great. Already back stepping, are we?
27:15Already moonwalking. Interesting. People say he's great. I don't think he's great.
27:18That's it. I'm not saying he's not good. I'm saying he's not great.
27:22Go ahead. I mean, he's really, really efficient. Go for it.
27:25Second in the NFL last year in EPA per drop back.
27:28And that was dealing with all the injuries to all of his top playmakers last season.
27:33Christian Watson played half the year. Tucker Craft played half the year.
27:36Jen Reed barely played the entire season. Matthew Golden was at times the number one guy.
27:41Romeo Dobbs, who we also look at as a player.
27:44I think that no one looks at as a superstar, but I think Jordan Love helped elevate Romeo Dobbs in this passing game.
27:51And look, I think it's more about the philosophy of them wanting to run the football.
27:55It's just how they run their offices. It's been like that with LaFleur for years and years.
28:00He likes doing that. He just likes to run the football.
28:04And Jordan Love has done what he's done. Been really efficient.
28:07They make the playoffs. I like, I think that he's appropriately rated.
28:10I don't know. I don't see a lot of stuff about Jordan Love being like, oh, he's like top five quarterback.
28:16Like this guy is the franchise savior. I think that he's a franchise quarterback.
28:20I think, yes, he still has something to prove as we tiered him into that list.
28:25He wasn't in the top tier, but I think that he definitely has the skills to do so.
28:30And I think this year, I think this year he's going to prove you wrong, Joe, and he's going to get a chance to cook.
28:38And I, I mean, right now, if we're drafting quarterbacks for next year, like I'm optimistic more than D bro, similar to you with Kyler Murray.
28:45I would still take Jordan Love in that conversation.
28:48His best statistical year, you would agree is 2023, correct?
28:51That was his first year as a starter, right?
28:53When he threw for over whatever, it was like 35 touchdowns.
28:57Mm hmm. Yeah. Did the Packers win double digit games that year?
29:00Well, they won nine games. They did. They won nine games, nine games, nine games, not double digits, not 10 wins.
29:06All I'm saying is Jordan Love. Good. Jordan Love.
29:09Great question. Would you rather have Jared golf or Jordan love?
29:12I have Jordan love. Okay. I will. I've seen it.
29:15I've seen enough of Jared off. I know what he is.
29:18And then you take Caleb Williams or would you take Jordan love Erickson to start a franchise with Caleb Williams?
29:24He's much younger. Okay. So I think the upside is there.
29:27So we're, we're, we're, so it's still not the best quarterback in his division.
29:31Even again, I think it's a lot of, you know, Packers are great fan base.
29:36I love the Packer fan base. They're very passionate.
29:38I've had heated conversations with them in the past that, you know, Aaron Rogers wasn't even the best Packer quarterback.
29:44I've said that before, you know, we could, we could debate that other times statistically.
29:49Yeah, sure. Great. But I think you're measured by more than just statistics at a certain point in your career.
29:54If you're going to play with the big boys.
29:57Okay. But great hall of famer, all that stuff.
30:00Jordan love to me, D bro. Again, I liked that.
30:03He puts up good stats. I just think he is kind of held to a different position here where people talk about
30:09Jordan love is like this, you know, this incredible young franchise quarterback.
30:12And I can name 10 quarterbacks at the top of my head that I'd rather have to start a team with and Jordan love.
30:19I feel like when you're getting into that, you're kind of splitting hairs.
30:23I'd take Jordan love over Caleb and Jared golf.
30:26Cause we know golf's limitations. And I also know Caleb's limitations.
30:29Now Caleb is the ceiling theoretically higher than Jordan love.
30:32Sure. But the consistency still is not there. And you take away Ben Johnson.
30:36And then we're really talking about trouble with Caleb Williams.
30:39And by the way, I had time to look this up since 2023, Jordan love.
30:43Ninth most game winning drives during the regular season tied for fourth best in fourth quarter comebacks.
30:48So you want to talk about not a difference maker, not elite.
30:52He's top 10 when it really, really freaking counts.
30:54Now I know the playoff resume hasn't been there, but during the regular season, they had that one game.
31:00Yeah. Let's get in the one great game against Dallas.
31:03That was a great moment. It hasn't been much classic Dallas Cowboys collapse.
31:07Yeah. Right. But that's the thing. It's like, how much do you want to give it credit versus the McCarthy game plan being completely wrong?
31:14I don't ever remember. I actually was watching that football game with somebody who did not really know football and their responses.
31:20Is it always like this where one team is like, no, no, no.
31:24This is very odd. Cause they were like, it's the playoffs, right?
31:28Aren't these supposed to be good teams? And I had to say, yes, yes.
31:32Theoretically, these are both very good football in the playoffs, but one of them is winning and it's 40 to 10 at halftime or whatever it was.
31:40It was pretty close to that. But, but to your point, I, I, I think a lot of the more run heaviness
31:46has been because he has deal dealt with injuries to protect him or protect the team from the injuries and stuff.
31:52But also, can we also say like zoom out a little bit?
31:56Some of that run heaviness has been because of the floor.
31:59I honestly think it is good of a head coach as the floor is.
32:03He has been extremely conservative and almost dare I say scared in a lot of moments where he's just trying to sit
32:09on wins and get out of town, which I understand doing that.
32:13But as that being your philosophy in the playoffs and the entire freaking regular season, that's where we have a problem with it.
32:20Uh, what's his career winning percentage? Do you want to take a guess?
32:23Oh, God, we're not doing team wins for freaking quarterbacks.
32:26You're not doing, I don't know. Are we really freaking doing this?
32:30Are you including, are you including his like spot starts for Rogers?
32:33Come on. When he was like super raw still.
32:36Are those included in this? Is he going to go over there and play, play, play defense?
32:41It sounds like a lot of excuses. Two people are making.
32:44No, come on. It's really good. What if the number is better than you think?
32:49It's above 500. It is Jordan love. Yes, barely.
32:51It's still about a hundred percent. What's Kyler Murray's?
32:54Yeah. That's the other thing about this. The shade you tossed him even comparing him against Kyler Murray.
32:59You got a thing for short King quarterbacks. I don't understand it, man.
33:03Like, uh, Kyler Murray is a limiting player. If it's better.
33:06I'm going to, I'm going to. It's not going to be better.
33:10It's not better. No, it's not. No way. It's not.
33:12There's a chasm. No, we're reaching, sir. I bring, I bring up the winning percentage because you brought up all of the,
33:19look at how good he is in the fourth quarter drives and all that.
33:23So that's great. He's affecting. He can't play defense.
33:26Like the over to overall totality of it. Like there's also been a lot of.
33:30No, no, no. Like there's plenty of quarterbacks that we all have a great respect for who have a terrible defenses and have won despite.
33:37Right. And that Joe Burrow comes to mind just starting at the top, right?
33:41No, Joe Burrow is not one over the last two years.
33:45Cause the defense has been God awful. Three years.
33:47Thank you very much, sir. Yes. But he is over.
33:50He went to a super bowl with a. They were league average.
33:54The last two years, that defense has sunk that entire team.
33:57But I'm wrong where the Packers defense has been.
33:59Oh, so bad. It hasn't been. Oh, so bad.
34:02Okay. They started off gangbusters last year and they faded big time down the stretch.
34:06Well, because they traded their whole team in future to get one guy and that one guy got hurt and then everything
34:13went in the crapper because they hadn't, they had no fear left to overcome it.
34:17And that's going to be the problem this year.
34:20But before the Micah Parsons trade, that green Bay Packer defense is pretty good.
34:24Last couple of years. I knew this was going to get everybody's dander up and I'm glad it did.
34:29That was fun. Erickson. Why don't you give us a, an overrated offensive player in your mind?
34:34This is a player I've talked about before on the program.
34:38Wide receiver DK Metcalf for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think that he is more of a fake alpha than a real alpha wide receiver.
34:45And if you just look at what he's being compensated this year among all the wide receivers, he's the sixth highest paid wide receiver in the NFL.
34:52DK Metcalf. Guys, look at his ADP. Look at his ECR ranking.
34:56He's outside the top 30 wide receivers in fantasy rankings.
34:59And I'm not saying that's where he should be in real life wide receivers.
35:03I think that he probably is a real life top 30 wide receiver, if not top 24 guy.
35:08But the fact that he's being paid so much when he has been a player that last year, again, number one wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
35:16He had a 21% target share. That is nowhere near an elite number one option.
35:2156.7 receiving yards per game. He scored six touchdowns.
35:23And we all know he got suspended for the last two games of the regular season because of the altercation with the fan against the Detroit Lions.
35:31So the thing with him is the start of his career was awesome, right?
35:35This guy came out of Ole Miss alongside AJ Brown.
35:38And we were like, man, how did this guy fall in the second round?
35:42Right. Especially as someone that falls the Patriots, they drafted Nikhil Harry instead.
35:46And I'm pulling my hair out because of all the stud receivers that went after him, Debo Samuel, AJ Brown and DK Metcalf.
35:53So to start his career, this guy looked like the next big thing, the next Calvin Johnson.
35:58But over the last four seasons, he's been outside the top 15 wide receivers and fantasy points outside the top 20.
36:04The last two seasons, he was wide receiver 33 in points per game in his final year in Seattle.
36:09And I just again, referring back to Ole Miss where he's never really been a true number one alpha.
36:15There's always been someone alongside him that's always been really productive.
36:18AJ Brown and Ole Miss. And then at the NFL level, every single year it was, why are we drafting DK Metcalf
36:24at the two, three turn when you can get Tyler Lockett in round five and six?
36:29And they basically put up the exact same target numbers every single season.
36:33So for those reasons, Metcalf to me, he looks like a number one wide receiver built out of a lab built like Adonis.
36:40But when you actually look at the stats outside those first couple seasons, it's really trailed off for him to not being
36:46a number one wide receiver or at least a number one alpha wide receiver.
36:50And even this year too, right? Is he a favorite to lead the Steelers and targets?
36:55I don't think so. I think it's going to be Michael Pittman Jr.
36:59So why are we paying? I was going to say the running backs, but that's fair.
37:03So again, as the sixth highest paid wide receiver in the NFL, like, I don't know how you can't view DK Metcalf
37:10as again, maybe he's not overrated, but clearly overpaid for what he's probably going to offer this offense.
37:15I definitely agree overpaid. I think he's overrated too, because I think it's, I think you pointed this out to me a
37:21couple of years ago, Debra, where it's like when you, when you put him in man versus, um, Yeah, I'm actually about to talk about that.
37:29And that's the reason why he's been overrated. So when you're in zone versus man coverage with DK Metcalf, the numbers are very different, right?
37:36And I think if you're truly a great wide receiver, you just excel period.
37:40I don't think you excel in one or the other.
37:43That to me is the problem of if like to Erickson's point about, if you want to be an alpha dog, you got to do both.
37:51And statistically speaking, he has not done both in the last couple of years.
37:55No, that's exactly why he is truly a fake pseudo alpha is because you look and people can go back and double
38:01check this over multiple years of his career. And the mishmash of like, or I guess the mixing of skill sets in Seattle.
38:08And we're going to see that again in Pittsburgh because Pittman is a perfect compliment for him.
38:13But this is why DK Metcalf, because the evolution of the NFL has seen these stats dip.
38:18And this is, I mean, we could also zoom this out to be a larger Patrick Mahomes conversation and stuff like that too.
38:25But with the rise of too high coverage and the drop of single high, DK has shredded single high and he has
38:31been very mid against too high over multiple seasons.
38:34And because of that, like last year you had 16 NFL teams utilize too high coverage, at least 50.1% of the defensive snaps.
38:40Metcalf amongst 109 qualifying wide receivers was 19th in yards per route run against single high 41st against too high.
38:46So the rise in too high coverage and the two highest safeties, it is exposed.
38:51What has always been a glaring weakness and DK Metcalf's game.
38:54And honestly, his usage, his skillset, his route running, all this kind of stuff for he's not a true alpha.
39:00He's just posing as one. You know, I love that we were also supportive of Erickson's choice and all tore me down for mine.
39:07I thought we were friends, but I see, I see how this room is.
39:11I mean, look, look, look, the proof's in the pudding, right?
39:14I'm curious where you're going to think about mine.
39:17Proof is in the pudding. DK Metcalf looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.
39:20Go on. Oh, ouch. Oh, I mean, say it to his face.
39:24Man ain't wrong. No, no, please. No, great. Don't do that.
39:27No, because you can't even run away afterwards. This is going to catch you.
39:31No, he's going to catch you. I've been, uh, you've already seen the film of that.
39:36He can catch you. I know Erickson's breakaway is not fast enough to run out.
39:40No, he's going to find me because this is going to get clipped.
39:44And, uh, yeah, I'm going to log off the internet.
39:47This is the part where we get the, uh, the film clip of Erickson running routes in a gym.
39:52That would be very apico right now. Yeah. All right.
39:55D bro. Give me an overrated offensive player in your mind.
39:59The most overrated offensive player in the NFL is the highest paid freaking running back in the NFL.
40:04It is Saquon Barkley. And I know people are going to hate this and the Eagles fans are going to come for
40:10me and I don't care if you look and we're going to go all the way back to 2022 in three of those four seasons.
40:17Saquon has ranked outside of the top 25th or worse in miss tackles forced in three of those seat four seasons.
40:24He has been 33rd or lower in rushing success rate.
40:27Also in three of those four seasons, Saquon Barkley has been 23rd or lower in EPA per rush.
40:32Yes. All the nerd stats, but to point out the fact of I like the nerd stats.
40:37I just, he should not be the highest paid running back in the NFL.
40:41And the fact of when he had the magical season in 2024, it was because his offensive line was generating almost four yards before contact per attempt.
40:49So he was almost halfway to a first down before he got touched.
40:52And in the second level of a defense, he has lived off of explosive runs.
40:57And again, we want to talk about Saquon Barkley since 2019 has never had a season more than 425 receiving yards in
41:03a season and outside of the counting stats since 2022.
41:06He has never had higher than 1.0 yards per route run.
41:09He has been below that metric in every single season.
41:12So we want to talk about as a rushing talent.
41:15We want to talk about as a receiver out of the backfield.
41:19Saquon Barkley has been magically overrated over the last four years in the NFL.
41:23And yet he's the highest paid running back in the NFL because of that one magical season, which he could thank the Philadelphia offensive line for.
41:30Erickson, I know he's had a lot of injuries, Saquon.
41:33So I think that's the pass that everybody gives him.
41:36And look, that's tough sometimes. We've seen a lot of great players have a lot of injuries here at the NFL level.
41:43Just for perspective, though, I mean, he's played eight years in the league now.
41:47He has 8,356 rushing yards. If you're talking about Hall of Fame running backs, I want to throw some names at you.
41:53During eight year spans of their careers, Eric Dickerson had 1100 903.
41:57LaDainian 1176 or 760. Pardon me. Barry Sanders 117 25.
42:00Emmitt Smith 11,434. He is 3000 yards behind some of these guys.
42:03Now, I'm not saying say two K one season helping him make up.
42:07Are you by the way? Was that just rushing yards?
42:10Joe, just rushing yards. Okay, just rushing yards. So I don't think he's that caliber, but I do think he's at a
42:16very crucial point in his career where if he has another three really good years, maybe another couple 1500 spots here and
42:23there for rushing, you know, a couple big touchdown totals as this offense moves away because AJ Brown is not there.
42:29Different offense going into this season. If he has another three great years, I think say Kwan is a Hall of Famer.
42:35But if he doesn't, if these next couple years tail off, it does feel like he's going to be more of those.
42:42What if kind of stories like the Hall of very good, but he got hurt too much.
42:47That's kind of what it feels like to me.
42:49Andrew, where are you at with say Kwan? Well, I feel like this conversation has really shifted from is he overrated to
42:56is he Hall of Famer, which I don't think is the same question to be fair.
43:00I guess you're not in the Hall of Fame doesn't mean that you're not again.
43:05Like I think the Hall of Fame again, I think that we're too generous.
43:09I think there are too many people in the Hall of Fame.
43:12To be honest, I think that it should be more strict of who is actually in there because I think it's becoming
43:19the Hall of very good where there are more players are being inducted that again.
43:23I'm not on the committee again. I don't know how all of it works, but I think they should be more strict
43:29with terms of how they're letting people in. I would say with Saquon, is he viewed right now as OK?
43:35I guess a top five running back because he's not I wouldn't put him in top five right now.
43:41I know it'll be the highest paid running back in the entire.
43:44Well, that's because I mean, he did rush for 2000 yards, right?
43:48Sometimes you got to get I know, but you got to get paid for what you do.
43:53I thought Jeremiah Love was the highest paid running back in the NFL.
43:57So not that AAB, baby. Saquon 20.6 million per year.
43:59CMC is right behind him at 19. And then we have a drop off to Devon H and at 16 million.
44:06Where's what I will say this love is at 13.2 per league there.
44:09There's only one back since 2018 that actually has ironically in those eight years, 11,000 yards, which is like that threshold of greatness.
44:16You want to you? Everybody knows what it is.
44:19You don't have to guess it's Derek Henry. OK?
44:21Yeah. But after that, over the span since 2018, Saquon Barkley does have the second most rushing yards of any player.
44:27So I know that 2000 rushing yard season helped, but I'm talking about over an eight year span missing as much time as he did.
44:35He still has 8,356. Josh Jacobs third, Jonathan Taylor fourth, both with 7,800 and in 7,500.
44:39So he's saying one's number two by a long shot there, Debro, which is just, again, food for thought.
44:45It's counting stats. Like all the stuff that I ran through.
44:48Does any of that project Saquon to be this elite running back?
44:52Well, you talk about efficiency. You use the efficiency argument with me.
44:55With Jordan Love, all the efficiency, right? 96.6 rushing yards per game.
44:59Those are all efficiency stats that I just gave you.
45:02But 96.6 rushing yards per game. That's pretty darn good efficiency stat.
45:05Like that's. I guess like, I guess to me, it's like, I'm not trying to get too.
45:10Again, I want to highlight what he did in 2024, which was be an absolute monster and machine and be the reason why that's fine.
45:17But that's every running back. What didn't help him last year?
45:21The offensive line. The offensive line was bad last year.
45:23So I think we're going to see something of a middling type of output from Saquon where obviously not going to return
45:302024, maybe not as bad as 2025 in this new offense.
45:33So I think that kind of 22 Andrew, he needs 1310.
45:36Also to that's that's what he needs. So much of his career was on a terrible, crappy Giants team like without nothing.
45:43They were never had an offensive line again in his rookie year.
45:46What? How many how many balls did he catch like 80 passes, which is insane for a rookie running back in his first year since then?
45:54I mean, one actually Andrew 91 91. Yeah, it's yeah.
45:57What is he doing since that as a receiver?
45:59Not much. Well, I think that he's only had one other two years where he was over 50.
46:05So I mean, if you if you cannot surpass and this is a low bar 1.0 yards per route run as a running back, that's not good.
46:12And that's that has been legit him even during the magical 2024 season.
46:16He still didn't do it. He hasn't done it in the last four years, period.
46:21No, he's he's a great talent who has had one great season.
46:24I don't know if that equates to him being great yet or.
46:28So are you putting him in like the Sean Alexander?
46:31Like he has this one month and then just like, no, Sean Alexander was even better.
46:35Sean Alexander was actually. Sean Alexander put together more back to back good seasons.
46:39The Saquon has in his career, like all world seasons.
46:42He like, is he in the Hall of Fame?
46:45Sean Alexander? Sean Alexander? No. Okay. And I don't know if he is.
46:49And I don't know. And CJ 2K is another guy who had some monster seasons and then poof, it was gone.
46:55So it's a really interesting question. I'm curious what the chat has to say about Saquon.
46:59Drop your comments in there about the Saquon thing.
47:02Let's move on to some of the defensive guys here.
47:05Uh, I'll kick things off here with mine. Cave on Thibodeau.
47:08He was overrated coming into the league. He's still overrated now.
47:11My favorite thing to do was watch cave on Thibodeau in college, sometimes play football and sometimes just take up space on the field.
47:18It was stunning. Sometimes when there were big games, when a lot of people were watching, he would show up and have some sacks and some big moments.
47:27Like, wow, this guy's really talented. And other times I would forget he was even there.
47:31And that was my big thing with him coming out of college.
47:35And guess what? Since he's been a giant, he's been a big fat disappointment as well.
47:39I just look at him and they're already talking about getting rid of him.
47:44The first thing Harbaugh did when he came in, he said, Hey, this guy who takes too many plays off, we need to be shipping him around.
47:51And sure enough, there's all these rumors swirling that cave on Thibodeau's on his way out of New York.
47:57And I know why, because he's not a hard buck on a player because he's completely overrated.
48:02I don't know if you guys want to fight me about that one.
48:06I'd be very surprised if you do, but his name still kind of.
48:09I don't know. It brings up a little bit of excitement and people.
48:13Oh, yeah. Cave on Thibodeau is a great pass rusher.
48:16Is he? Is he or is he a great pass rusher two, three times a year?
48:21That's my problem with cave on Thibodeau. It's always been the same.
48:24It always will be the same. He's completely overrated.
48:27If you want to discuss Erickson, you can. If you want to move on and you want to agree, you can.
48:33It's up to you. No, I think you did a pretty perfect job kind of outlining because as a Patriots fan for
48:40a team that could use some pass rush juice, I've I've been listening to like, oh, do you think they can throw
48:46a fourth round pick for no cave on Thibodeau?
48:49Um, they need pass rush help. So, yeah, they do not three times a year.
48:53Yes, but he's he's overrated, but it's not like he doesn't do anything.
48:57He's not like the worst pass rush in the NFL.
49:00He's overrated. No, but he's overrated. I can tell you that much.
49:03Get the right coaching with Rabel. Coach him up.
49:06Okay, come on. Amongst 112 qualifying edges, cave on Thibodeau 57th in pass rush win rate.
49:10Thanks nerd. Right next to Baron Browning. Uh, will McDonald Demarcus Lawrence James peers was the number.
49:15What was the 11.1% not not good. Okay. Yeah, he had 11 and a half sacks in 2023.
49:21Hooray. All his other years combined. He has 11 sacks in all the other seasons.
49:25He's played. Ruh. Yeah, Ruh indeed. All right, Erickson.
49:28Give me an overrated player on the defensive side.
49:30And I think I might want to say this one.
49:33Okay, well, let's let me present the facts because I do think that this is worth a really good conversation with TJ
49:40Watt, who last year we were talking about. We talked about the betting pro show.
49:44People are throwing out TJ washed at points last year because of the Pittsburgh Steelers and how bad their defense was at
49:50points and how TJ Watt was not impacting the game like we had seen him do in years past.
49:56Now, one outline the fact that teams did their best to try to take him away.
50:01He was chip locked on 31% of his pass rushes, which was the highest of any player since at least 2018.
50:07So that contributes to the lack of sack total pressures, etc.
50:10But the sacks have fallen off for three straight seasons.
50:13Albert Breer had reported that offenses when facing the Pittsburgh Steelers last year were actually more concerned about Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt.
50:20We know the Steelers like Alex Highsmith a lot.
50:22We know they like Nick Herbig a lot, which is why they signed him to a four year hundred million dollar extension.
50:29Right now, TJ Watt is making top five defensive player money.
50:32Low end key quarter. He makes as much money as Baker Mayfield does.
50:36If you're a Pittsburgh Steelers right now, who would you rather have?
50:39TJ Watt or Baker Mayfield? Like by the standard of pay.
50:42You're right. He's overrated in that sense. Okay, but I find it hard.
50:46I think it's a player that is the hardest players in football in terms of effort level and motor.
50:52And I think it's taken its toll on him physically in the last couple years.
50:56And I think that sack total going from 19 to 11 and a half to seven.
51:01It shows you that he's 32 years old this year.
51:04I think this is just the natural decline. Look Steelers fans.
51:07You've already lost the Baker Mayfield fight. So I'm gonna have to get the chain out here to defend the honor.
51:13The Pittsburgh Steelers honor right here. I got you, Bogman.
51:16I got you all of our Pittsburgh Steelers. Bogman might agree with it with Erickson on this though.
51:21He's overpaid. I don't think he's overrated. I think he's just a player in decline at his age.
51:26But I think that there's still a view of him as a, he's a top five player in the defense of the defense.
51:33And I just don't think that's a top five defensive player.
51:36Well, that's what he's getting paid as like, but that's the NFL.
51:40You know, that's what happens. And that's why he's overrated from a value standpoint because of the amount of money standpoint.
51:46I'll give it to you. You got any feelings?
51:49One last thing. So Joe, you mentioned this too, when we're talking about Metcalf, where it's like elite players perform no matter what.
51:55Well, teams are taking TJ Watt out of the equation because they keep chip blocking him.
52:00So doesn't that by a sense mean that? Yeah, he is overrated because of the fact that teams are finding ways to
52:06eliminate him from the game by just chip blocking him.
52:09Yeah. Look, he's not who he was three years ago.
52:12But then again, who is you're not wrong. The pay certainly does make that structure difficult.
52:17Andrew, I don't think you're going to be welcome anywhere near the Pittsburgh area for quite some time.
52:22I just want you to know. I mean, guys are not because they're going to be thrilled after a bad season.
52:28I think get a quarterback and get a quarterback.
52:31All right. Maybe you're right. Well, that's what that's what Bob really wants.
52:35Exactly. It's on TJ Watt here, D bro, or I just move on to your guy.
52:39I mean, I agree with Erickson that I think he's overrated.
52:43Like you shouldn't be the highest freaking paid guy.
52:45And I think what we're talking about these contract numbers and stuff like that, it's like, yeah, like a lot of these
52:52guys get these contracts and you're just like, what are we doing here?
52:55Like we're paying for name value and sticker value.
52:58And I'm not. I mean, the other thing about it.
53:01So we all are aware that the top 100 players list came out for the NFL right now.
53:06Anybody want to take a guess where TJ Watt is on?
53:09He's on the list, by the way. But does anybody want to take a guess on the top 100 players in the
53:16NFL where he falls on that list? Well, that's also voted on by the players.
53:20So I imagine. There you go. I think he's top 25.
53:23Nope. You think he's lower? Keep going down. Yeah.
53:26Like top 10? Nope. No, no. He's lower, bro.
53:29Is he like 70? The other way. Is he like 70 or something?
53:32He's 88. Wow. See, that's pretty high opening. Hey, and again, voted on by the players.
53:37We're not even saying this. The players are saying this.
53:40Oh, I got you. That's a good poll, D, bro.
53:43It's good. That's a good poll. Look at you using entertainment for Andrew's argument.
53:47There you go. Let's go. Give me your overrated defensive player here.
53:50Go ahead. Dude, this is I feel like this is low hanging fruit.
53:54This is Deron Bland, most overrated defensive player in the entire freaking league.
53:58Got paid off of like a year where he got nine interceptions and ever since then he has not been great.
54:04He has the sixth highest average salary amongst cornerbacks with only Trent McDuffie, Sauce Gardner, Derek Stanley, JC Horn and Patrick Sertain over him.
54:11Since 2023, he has only three interceptions. His catch rates allowed over the last two years, 66.7%, 67.1%, passer rating and coverage 109 and 116.
54:18Deron Bland had a magical season where very much we could also have.
54:22I mean, unfortunately, he is not currently in the league anymore.
54:26A very similar conversation to Trivion Diggs where Dallas was looking at the wrong things and they paid the guys and we see how that's aged.
54:33Not good. You know, I was just looking at salary since we brought up salary so much into things.
54:39You know, Jordan Love is the third highest quarterback in terms of pay this year.
54:43A cap hit. Like I'm more interested in what is the average.
54:47What is the average? What's average salary per year?
54:4955 million. Tied for third with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence.
54:53Overrated. He is not those guys. He's not those guys.
54:56We need the voice. By the way, right behind him is my favorite.
54:59Brock Purdy. 53 million, by the way, followed by Justin Herbert at 52 million.
55:03So just putting that out there. So we're talking about money.
55:07That's fair. We go back to no one's gonna argue about Deron Bland.
55:10I don't think so. So we'll just know. I think we're all going to just agree.
55:15Yeah, he was like one that he was one I didn't even think about mentioning because I thought it was just so obvious.
55:22I just to begin this exercise. I was like, who's getting paid most of the NFL?
55:26Let's see if there's any stinkers that aren't worthy of the checks they're getting.
55:31Oh, looky, looky. Oh, no, Joe. The Jordan love poll.
55:33But that was that was good. You should have opened with that man.
55:37Third. That was probably your best. Best thing. But I'm good.
55:40Yeah, well, because I just I don't like to bring up the money issues all the time.
55:45I think it's more about, you know, money. You're always saying follow the money.
55:50Follow the money. Yeah, follow the money. Funny. Yeah.
55:52At least I found some of it's funny money.
55:55So you want it? You want to recant? You want to apologize to how mean you were to me before?
56:01No, no, no, no. That keep all that. Well, no, I'm going to steal your lines.
56:05Like he's overpaid, but not overrated. He's using the words against.
56:08All right. Let's piss some more people off. Overrated tailgate foods.
56:12I think I want to throw this in there, too, because everyone loves a good tailgate.
56:16I love good snacks. That's for sure. When it comes to tailgates, though, I'm thinking that's like it's meat.
56:22You know, that's what I'm there for the meat.
56:25That's what I want. I want the burgers and the brats and the hot dogs and the wings.
56:30I want all that stuff. You know what I don't want to see?
56:34I don't want to see some bougie San Francisco tailgate that's going to give me spinach dip or spinach and artichoke dip.
56:40Gross. Dude, get that stuff away from me. Absolutely not.
56:43That's an overrated tailgate food. There's no discussion about it.
56:46D bro. Give me your overrated tailgate food. No, there is a discussion.
56:50Spinach and artichoke dip slaps, dude, with like a little slaps in your beard.
56:54Imagine a crunchy. The only thing grosser than spinach and artichoke dip is thinking about it stuck in your beard.
57:00Ew. Gross. Now, now we're just getting slanderous here.
57:02Geez. Just gross. Oh, dude. All right. So we're going with overrated tip.
57:06I have a huge problem with sweet and savory.
57:09Like my kids laugh at me all the time.
57:11I love sweet and savory. I mean, sausage is one of the worst things ever concocted by people in that same vein.
57:18Little smokies or pigs in a blanket. People just fawn over this.
57:21And I'm like, this sweet and savory stuff. It just, I can't get with it.
57:25Like they're drowned in barbecue sauce. It's like, what do you, what kind of effort level are we talking about?
57:31Take tiny little hot dogs, throw them into a crock pot, barbecue sauce on top.
57:36Hey, they're so good. No. Sweet and savory is amazing.
57:39No, it's horrible. D bro. Not everybody can dip their hot dogs into monster.
57:43Okay. It's like, they should, they should pick me up.
57:46They should. They should pop the can off and just dunk the corn dog in.
57:50Yeah, let's go. What are you passing on at the tailgate?
57:53The food buffet. Anything that is green, that it looks like a vegetable, talks like a vegetable, rabbit food.
57:59I don't want any of that. That's so you don't like the crudités.
58:03Salad. Vegetable. No, I don't want, I don't want that.
58:05I think the dip was a great call. I would have added dip all dip.
58:10I think dip is as overrated when it comes to like chip.
58:13No, I want the meats. Like you said, I want the smoked meats.
58:17I want the meat and potatoes. I don't want to waste my stomach space, my precious stomach space on fiber or vegetables.
58:24Give them in the protein. All the protein. All dips because then they're taking away queso and things like that.
58:29I like that. Yeah. No chips, no salsa, no queso.
58:32Those aren't. That's not. I'm not getting rid of all the dips.
58:36Salsa is not dip. Guacamole is not dip. Those are different.
58:39What are they? How are they not dip? You never put a chip in guacamole or salsa?
58:44Queso is a dip? I mean. You dip the chip in it.
58:47You literally dip it in. Queso. Queso is fine.
58:50It's a little heavy. But to Erickson's point, who's touching the freaking veggie platter with like the ranch that's been out in
58:57the heat for the last two hours? Oh, it's gross.
58:59Like later in that. No, that's gross too. The veggie platter is not gross.
59:04But people are supposed to be like there's always one person that's been sitting in the one.
59:08They stop at the grocery store. Like, ah, like I don't know what to bring.
59:13No one else will bring vegetables. So like, I'll bring this.
59:16It's it's somebody in the post New Year's. I'm on a diet thing where I'm trying to be healthier thing.
59:22Don't bring that to my Super Bowl party. Get out.
59:25It's like bringing a salad. You just don't do it.
59:28Gross. You just don't do it. That's right. So I hope you learned something today, boys and girls here on the tailgate.
59:34And of course, make sure you subscribe to the channel.
59:37Drop your comments below. What is the worst tailgate food?
59:40Who are the most overrated players in the NFL?
59:43And why is Jordan Love getting paid so much money?
59:46All those things I want to hear from all of you about.
59:49I love you, Jordan Love. I think you're a good.
59:52You're a good kid. Kicking us out of the parking lot.
59:55Make sure you tune in next time for more football discussions right here on the channel.
60:00For Derek Brown and Andrew Erickson, I'm Joey P.
60:02We'll see you next time, kids. We're out. This has been the tailgate.
60:06Welcome to the tailgate. The fail safe from stale takes.
60:09Erickson, D bro, Joe, stay late. Tail of the game, taping, trade grades.
60:13Dual action, play fakes, and JJ Spades. Scotch on play dates.
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