10 Biggest Injury Questions for 2026 with Stephania Bell
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
54 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 4, 2026
Published
Fri, September 4, 2026
16
Player insights
12
Players mentioned
Topics
Breece HallGeorge KittleJeremiyah LoveMalik NabersAshton JeantyChristian McCaffreyEmeka EgbukaJ.K. DobbinsLuther BurdenPatrick MahomesQuinshon JudkinsTucker Kraft
Player analysis
Player insights
Ashton Jeanty
NegativeInjury34:23
Ashton Jeanty's ankle injury appears to be a low ankle sprain rather than a high ankle sprain, which Stephania Bell views as less concerning. While Matthew Berry notes that Field Yates has Jeanty as a bust, Bell clarifies that her concerns regarding Jeanty are more about the team's offensive utilization and overall situation rather than the injury itself.
Insight pageBreece Hall
NegativeInjury41:13
Stephania Bell reports Breece Hall's groin strain is minor and he has been participating in agility drills. She notes that preseason groin injuries are less concerning than in-season ones because players have ample time to recover without being rushed back.
Insight pagePositiveValue41:13
Matthew Berry believes the fantasy community's negative sentiment toward Breece Hall has gone too far, ranking him at RB13 (consensus 33-34 ADP). Berry cites Frank Reich's history of high RB target volume in Indianapolis as a reason to be optimistic about Hall's receiving upside.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeInjury30:24
Christian McCaffrey was observed back at 49ers camp after a period of absence, which Stefania Bell notes as a positive sign for the team's health status.
Insight pageEmeka Egbuka
PositiveInjury30:00
Stephania Bell is comfortable with Emeka Egbuka despite his toe sprain, noting that the injury is stable and did not involve the severe ligament disruption seen in cases like Joe Burrow's. Egbuka has been observed performing drills, including planting and cutting, and is expected to be ready for Week 1, though Bell notes that teams may use reinforcements like carbon fiber inserts to manage the toe.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveInjury21:06
Stephania Bell notes that George Kittle looks symmetrical and has recovered well from his Achilles repair, with Christian McCaffrey observing that Kittle looks as good as he did pre-injury. While his Week 1 playing time is uncertain, he is expected to be a major factor in the 49ers' red zone offense once he settles into the home schedule.
Insight pagePositiveInjury25:18
Kittle is recovering from an Achilles tear sustained on January 11th. Stefania Bell is optimistic about his return, potentially as early as Week 1, citing his meticulous adherence to rehab protocols and the specific nature of his injury—a high-substance tear which offers better blood flow and recovery advantages compared to mid-substance tears. Bell observed that Kittle's calf girth appears symmetrical, indicating he has maintained the necessary strength and power often lost by players returning from this injury.
Insight pageJ.K. Dobbins
PositiveInjury29:04
Stefania Bell highlights J.K. Dobbins as a successful example of a player returning from an Achilles repair, noting that he looked good despite initial skepticism. His recovery was aided by working with top physical therapist Heather Milligan.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
NegativeInjury37:27
Jeremiah Love is dealing with a high ankle sprain, which Stephania Bell notes is biomechanically difficult to recover from and carries a risk of becoming chronic if not fully healed. Bell suggests the team should not rush the rookie back, which may limit his early-season utilization. Matthew Berry recommends drafting Tyler Allgeier as a handcuff to mitigate the risk associated with Love's injury and uncertain early-season workload.
Insight pagePositiveUsage40:44
Matthew Berry notes that seven of the last eight running backs drafted in the NFL top 10 saw at least 270 touches as rookies, suggesting Jeremiah Love is expected to see significant volume.
Insight pageLuther Burden
PositiveInjury32:12
Luther Burden suffered a groin injury on August 8th, but Stephania Bell notes he has returned to practice and is expected to be ready for Week 1. Matthew Berry remains high on Burden, ranking him at WR22 and 44th overall, which is a full round ahead of his ADP of 54.
Insight pageMalik Nabers
NegativeInjury22:44
Stephania Bell advises against drafting Malik Nabors due to the complexity of his injury, which involved both an ACL tear and a lateral meniscus repair—a combination she notes has zero historical wide receiver comps for a smooth recovery. Additionally, Nabors required a second surgery to address stiffness and extension issues, and Bell emphasizes that the mental hurdle of re-injury apprehension often delays a receiver's return to pre-injury performance metrics by a full year.
Insight pageNegativeInjury48:44
Stephania Bell argues that Malik Nabers' injury recovery process was more concerning than Tucker Kraft's, despite the high market expectations for Nabers to finish as a top-three wide receiver.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
PositiveInjury15:30
Mahomes is recovering well from a torn ACL and LCL sustained in Week 15. Stefania Bell notes his rehab has been intense and focused, with Mahomes hitting all necessary benchmarks. While he may experience a slight adjustment period regarding confidence and accuracy upon returning to game action, Bell is comfortable with his health status for the upcoming season.
Insight pageQuinshon Judkins
PositiveInjury43:20
Stephania Bell was initially concerned about Quinshawn Judkins' recovery from a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle, citing Tony Pollard's struggles after a similar injury. However, seeing Judkins perform well in OTAs and participate in 11-on-11 drills early in the summer has improved her outlook on his return to pre-injury form.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
PositiveProjection48:03
Matthew Berry is higher on Tucker Kraft than consensus, ranking him as a top-five tight end. Stephania Bell supports this, noting his meticulous recovery from an ACL tear and his high efficiency and target potential whenever he is on the field.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:24It is noon on YouTube, which means it's five o'clock somewhere.
0:28What's up party people? It is the Fantasy Football Happy Hour and the Happy Hour is, the bar is open to be perfectly honest.
0:35Your friendly neighborhood bartender Matthew Berry is here for you and have we got a great show.
0:40I am so excited about this show because for the first time, for the first time in Happy Hour history, the person
0:47who drinks free today at the Happy Hour bar is also the person that's on the show today, the great star, Stefania Bell.
0:54Stefania Bell, the legend herself for the first time since I left ESPN.
0:58I believe, Stefania, I believe this is the first time since I left ESPN that you and I have actually been on the air together.
1:06Am I right about that? You are right about that.
1:09Yeah. And I'm very happy to be joining you.
1:12Yeah, no, it's exciting. Usually when you and I talk, it's usually like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:16Where's Beth? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you get Beth and I another glass?
1:20Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't had a chance to ask it yet.
1:24Yeah, I know. Or I would be. Of course, 100%.
1:27Well, Beth sends her love as well. So we're going to get into it.
1:31So big show coming up today. Obviously tons of drafts that are going to be happening this weekend and Tuesday night before the Wednesday night.
1:39And so as 410 Beckett says, the bar opens early on Friday.
1:43The bar is always open, 410 Beckett, especially if you're in the Discord, the Fantasy Football Happy Hour.
1:48Our Discord is unbelievable. Greg Lau 100 says, star freaking Fania Bell.
1:52So everyone's very excited, Stefania, to see you as well.
1:55Here we go. Medici says, welcome to FFHH. You're the greatest and we need you here daily.
2:00Everyone excited. I can't tell you, Stefania, how many people have texted, DMed, posted under every single one of my social posts, put into the Discord.
2:08We need to get Stefania into Fantasy Football Happy Hour.
2:11We need to get Stefania. And this all came about because, let's be honest, in the offseason news came out that ESPN had a bunch of layoffs.
2:19And your name was out there in the press as part of that.
2:23So, you know, how we doing? What's going on?
2:26You look good. You sound good. Well, thank you.
2:29I've been resting, but also working. You know, I'm really happy to be here.
2:33And I have to say shout out to all of the folks who messaged you and all the folks who messaged me.
2:40Quite honestly, I can't even begin to express my gratitude for the folks out there who sent me kind messages of support.
2:47And actually, that more than anything has really helped convince me that I just need to keep on trucking.
2:52And that's what I've been doing. I mean, the football season does not take breaks for me.
2:58And so I've been busy gathering my intel and getting my information together.
3:02And, Matthew, you are the first person I'm joining.
3:04Yeah, it's very exciting. We have an exclusive here on Fantasy Football Happy Hour here as well.
3:10ESPN losing you to his equivalent of the Portland Blazers not drafting Michael Jordan or Hakeem Olajuwon.
3:15Well, I appreciate that sweep the leg, 538. Look, I have nothing.
3:18Look, as it relates to me, I willingly left ESPN.
3:21I have nothing bad to say about them. I will say, however, that I think they were mistaken in letting Stefania Bell walk out the door.
3:29I have worked with you. I've known you, I believe, almost 20 years at this point.
3:34More than 20 if you go back to when we first met at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association meetings.
3:40Wow. Okay, so over 20 years. I mean, not to date either of us, but yeah.
3:45Of course. We were babies. We were teenagers when we first met.
3:49But like I've known you for over 20 years.
3:51You're a dear friend of mine. You're an even closer friend of my wife.
3:56You really are. Everyone always thinks that's shtick. It's not, actually.
3:59You and Beth are insanely close. But more importantly, I have to say this, is that it has always been a pleasure.
4:06You've always been so kind to me when you're just like, oh, Matthew, you know, you always fought for me.
4:12You always, you know, you promoted blah, blah, blah.
4:15I like, I didn't, none of that was charity.
4:17None of that was done other than you were very easy.
4:21Ved the FFH regular says, Stefania, are interested in checking the ankles for any injury.
4:25You know, guys, I've got bad news for you.
4:28I mean, I'm going to do this for Stefania.
4:31I got bad news for you. But I have to take a flight later today.
4:35So I actually am wearing socks. I'm actually wearing socks.
4:39But there you go. There's a little, there's a little ankle love for you.
4:43There you go. Stefania, how do those ankles look?
4:46Are they healthy? They, yeah. I'm not sure we have enough time to break down those ankles, but you know.
4:52It's fair enough. It's not a bad looking ankle, but I do want to say when you're talking about flying, maybe you should get some compression hose.
5:00I'm not that old. Stefania, for the love of God.
5:03But anyway. Nothing to do with age, my friend.
5:06The athletes wear them as well. I understand. Well, I'm not an athlete.
5:10We all know that. Like there's only so much fat you can suck into compression socks.
5:15But I am wearing Spanx. Look, Stefania, the point here is that Ved, you know, desperate for ankle content as he always
5:21is, but he interrupted me when I was saying nice things about you, which is I will tell you as somebody who
5:28has worked in sports media for, you know, almost three decades now and has worked with a lot of people, a lot
5:35of talented people that I have tremendous respect for, that I truly love.
5:39I will tell you no one, no one I've ever met works harder than Stefania Bell.
5:44No one cares more about getting it right. No one goes the extra mile.
5:48Stefania, you are a legend, rightfully so. You created an industry.
5:51The idea of an on-air TV injury analyst didn't exist before you came along.
5:56You are a, you are an FSGA Hall of Fame, FSWA Hall of Famer.
6:00You are a, you are a game, an FSGA Game Changer Award winner as well.
6:04All of it incredibly well deserved. I have no doubt your future is bright.
6:09And I will just tell you that, you know, you know, we will take as much Stefania Bell on the happy hour as we can get.
6:17I know you're sifting through a bunch of different things, but open invitation, obviously, because we love you.
6:22We love you here as does everyone. And part of the reason, go ahead.
6:26Thank you. Before we get into the injury stuff, I just want to take this moment in front of all your fans
6:33and listeners too, to remind everyone that the reason that I was able to do the nice things that Matthew gives me
6:40credit for, in big part was due to Matthew opening the door for me.
6:44Matthew is the one who brought me to ESPN.
6:47Matthew is the one who gave me the chance when there were very few women involved in fantasy sports, and certainly no
6:54one, as you say, full time doing injury analysis anywhere.
6:57I remember when I got to ESPN, it was like, what do we call you?
7:01Because I was technically hired as a senior writer.
7:04And I was like, well, you know, I'm not, I'm not there to break news on the injuries.
7:10We have, we have people who do that, but I'm there to provide the analysis.
7:14And so I guess I'm an analyst, you know, this is, and, and that's how injury analyst literally the term came to be.
7:21So, Matthew, without you, there really is no me in this space.
7:25And I'm extremely proud of what we created and grew.
7:28And it's, it's phenomenal, don't you think, to see the industry?
7:31And don't you feel like you have so many little children out there who've now, you know, come up in the fantasy industry?
7:38You've got your own place, for goodness sake. You've got your own site with your name, you've created something super special and it's only getting bigger.
7:46You really are the true legend and the pioneer in this space.
7:50You're incredibly kind. You're, you're an easy sell, as they say.
7:53It was not hard to open the door for you because you only made me look good.
7:59And so, you know, thank you for those kind words.
8:02And yes, it's, it's really exciting. As exhausted Texans fan says, you're giving him too much credit Stefania.
8:07He's just a guy with ankles and pinot. Very true.
8:10Very, very true. As Stefania and my wife will attest because they often switch to red.
8:15I stick with the white. They often switch to red after like the first glass or two of white.
8:21But I, I finished the bottle. All right, Stefania, the reason everyone loves you so much.
8:26It's not only, it's not just the boondoggles. It's not just the fact that you root for 8 billion teams.
8:32It's not just the fact that you've got 12 million degrees.
8:35It's the fact that you have the knowledge. You've talked to every team doctor, every team source.
8:40You put in the work, you look at the tape, you do everything.
8:44More than these Twitter doctors, you actually have the knowledge of what is going on with a lot of these players.
8:51No one is better at this than you. And so as we head into the biggest draft weekend of the season, let's
8:58talk about some of the biggest injury concerns. And with each one of these players, I want to just, how concerned are you?
9:05You're all, in addition to being an injury analyst, one of the reasons that when I met you over 20 years ago
9:11that I was so excited is like, you're a hardcore fantasy player.
9:15I mean, to this day, I'm still like in three different leagues with you.
9:19And so, um, uh, so you're a hardcore fantasy player.
9:22And so my question to you is how concerned are you Stefania Bell and all of us, should we be about drafting these players?
9:30And let's start with Patrick Mahomes, of course, tore the ACL last year in week 15.
9:35Patrick Mahomes is, you know, legendary for what he can do on the field and his work ethic off the field.
9:41And I think that is what gives him an edge in this comeback from his, not only a torn ACL, but also a torn LCL.
9:49So two of the four main stabilizing ligaments of the knee.
9:52If you go back and catch the video of when he hurt his knee, you'll see it bows to the outside.
9:58We call that a varus stress. That's what damaged the LCL.
10:02Uh, he had surgery in Texas with Dr. Dan Cooper.
10:05And, you know, really his rehab has been incredibly focused and intense.
10:08Uh, he's hit all the marks along the way.
10:11And I'm going to give you a fun little, uh, sidebar fact story about Patrick Mahomes.
10:16Cause I'll decide if it's fun. You can give me the sidebar.
10:20I'll decide if it's fun. All right, here we go.
10:23I've already decided it's fine. So here's the thing at owners meetings earlier this year, people getting very excited because, uh, the
10:30GM of the chiefs is talking about how Patrick Mahomes has been in the building already every day working out to the
10:36surprise of some people like, wow, he's there. It's the off season.
10:40I expect nothing less. But then they talk about not only is he so intense with this rehab here, when he goes
10:47back down to Texas where he has a home, he takes one of the staff members with him.
10:52And as these reporters are chatting and up about it, they're like, can you imagine there's some guy who literally is the
10:59guy who flies with my homes down to Texas takes care of him and comes back.
11:04And I'm thinking it's not a guy. It's a woman.
11:07Sure. Her name is Julie Freymeyer. So let's give credit where credit is due.
11:11Julie Freymeyer is the reason Patrick Mahomes was able to play in a Superbowl with a bad ankle.
11:17She is the reason that Patrick Mahomes is able to get through the season as we've seen with other injuries in the past.
11:24And it was Julie who was the one who traveled with him to Texas.
11:28And by the way, if you ever catch one of those Patrick Mahomes State Farm commercials where he's talking about not this
11:35trainer, Megan trainer, but this trainer, it's Julie Freymeyer who has taken care of him.
11:39So just that's just one nugget that reminds me why who's rehabbing these folks makes a difference as well.
11:45You have to have the right person taking you down the recovery path and working with you every day.
11:51And Mahomes has showed me that he's ready. It's what we saw during the during training camp when he was out there
11:58working some of the types of reps that he was getting.
12:01Listen, anybody coming back from a multiligament knee injury until you're on the field, you haven't hit the final phase of rehab.
12:08So when you get out there. I was just saying that the other day.
12:12Yeah. You take the hit the first time. Well, you probably do because you've been listening to me say the same thing for 20 years.
12:20Yeah, for sure. But when you when you when you get out there, you take that first hit.
12:25That's the time when you get up from that.
12:28You know, OK, I'm finally back. But we know the way Mahomes trains.
12:32He's very nimble. He's very agile. Those are the kind of things that are going to help him might take a little bit to get the confidence.
12:40And you might lose some accuracy as you're thinking about the knee and not not.
12:45You have to switch to playing football and not thinking about that knee anymore.
12:49But I would be comfortable with Mahomes from a health standpoint.
12:52Is he the best fantasy quarterback? That's a different conversation.
12:55But from a health standpoint, I'm comfortable with Patrick Mahomes.
12:58Well, listen, a career high 25 percent of his points last year came from rushing.
13:03So that's always the concern. Will he run as much a because the coming off of the injury?
13:09But more importantly, they've also got Ken Walker there.
13:11He doesn't need to run when he can just hand off to KW three.
13:16So I'm at I'm a QB 14 this year.
13:18I'm as a high end QB two. But your confidence in him and Julie, as we say, neck break neck brace nation
13:25pointing out that not just used to find you, but Julie drinks for free as well.
13:30Now, if you've read me or listen to me for any amount of time, you know that I have five kids or
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14:33Terms apply. See site for details. I was going to say, Stefania, I know that I, you know, as you know, I follow you on social media.
14:41Everyone follows you on social media at Stefania Bell on Instagram at Stefania L Bell on the X.
14:47But while I was following you on social media, stalking you really, I noticed you are out at 49ers camp.
14:53You were hanging out. And when you were there was the day that George Kittle came back.
14:58So obviously really good timing for you to be there.
15:01I wonder if he came back knowing you were there.
15:04That's my theory is that, oh, Stefania's here. I better show up.
15:08So she says nice things about me on the air.
15:11What say you about George Kittle? We know you're a 49ers homer, but you'll also be honest with the prospects of George Kittle.
15:18I am a 49ers homer, which is why I was so concerned when he tore his Achilles.
15:23Remember, it was the wild card game against the Eagles.
15:26This injury happened January 11th. It's it's crazy to think that George Kittle might be back playing at the level that I
15:33expect he will return at as early as possibly week one.
15:37We do know he made the trip to Australia, whether he plays or not hasn't been established yet.
15:42But let's just talk a little bit about why I feel so good about George Kittle coming back from this injury.
15:48Number one, he and he's talked about most of these things, by the way, this is one of this physical therapist dream.
15:55He is one of those patients who has listened to every bit of input that he's gotten, internalized it, translated it to his work, and it's showing up.
16:04So he had a higher up tear. You know, not you've heard me say this, Matthew, not all injuries are created equal.
16:10They might be called the same thing. You can call an Achilles tear.
16:14Yes, you tear, you rupture the Achilles, you have surgery to fix it, but you can tear it at the what we call the mid substance.
16:22You can tear it down where it attaches into the bone.
16:26That's a much harder recovery, sometimes slower recovery as well.
16:29You can tear it up a little bit higher, which is what happened with George Kittle.
16:34And there are some advantages to that if you're going to start picking advantages in terms of injuries.
16:39You know, the blood flow is better there. The way you do the repair, it's a little bit easier there in terms of recovery.
16:47So from the outset, he had the mindset that I've got the odds in my favor.
16:51If I do everything the way I'm supposed to, I have a decent chance of getting back near the start of the season.
16:58His surgeon, Dr. Neil Elitrash in LA, by the way, do you know that Dr.
17:03Elitrash did over half of the Achilles repairs in the NFL last year?
17:07Obviously, who doesn't know that? I mean, you know, these are the kind of, give us something we don't know.
17:13These are the kind of nerdy stats I like to bring to you.
17:17There were 16 Achilles injuries in the NFL last year.
17:20Dr. Elitrash performed nine of the repairs. So yes, more than half.
17:24But what that gives you when you are not only Dr.
17:27Elitrash, but his top physical therapist, Heather Milligan, who has rehabbed the likes of Aaron Rodgers and J.K.
17:33Dobbins, he knows what to expect along the way and works in concert with Dr.
17:37Elitrash for all of the early things that you do coming off of surgery.
17:42Right. And remember, people were suspect of J.K. Dobbins.
17:44Right. But he comes back from an Achilles repair and looks really good.
17:48This is the old days, the running back. Yeah, but he didn't have a, Stefania, he didn't have a substation to deal with.
17:55You have to address the substation. You were out there.
17:58Like, here's my question. I was standing right by it.
18:01Yes. We all see it. Stefania, question. Not to bring up a painful subject, but you stood next to the substation.
18:08Were you laid off before or after that moment?
18:11Can we blame the substation on this? No. No.
18:13Yeah, you cannot. In fact, you know, I'm kind of friends with the substation.
18:18And the curse is negated, by the way, because when I was there, McCaffrey came back from being absent for a while.
18:24George Kittle came back. He was activated that day.
18:27So, you know, and by the way, check out Pablo Torre.
18:30He does really good work. You might have heard of him.
18:34I have. And he had an outstanding podcast detailing all the, a deep dive into the substation theory.
18:39If you really want to, you know, all kidding aside, you really want to see if there's something there, there, go check out the podcast in any event.
18:48Well, listen, let's keep people at our podcast right now.
18:51Pablo's doing just fine on his own. He doesn't need our help.
18:55But we love Pablo here. Pablo's a buddy. But for the love of God, like, you know, Pablo's doing, I need every viewer I can get here.
19:03So, well, maybe they're, how do you know that they have gone there and say, yes, come check out Matthew Barry's podcast.
19:10I heard that on Pablo Torre finds out. Go find out about Matthew Barry.
19:14Okay. Good. Listen to me. Are you in or out on George Kittle?
19:18This is what I need to know. I know I am in on George Kittle, but these are the, I've just given you the reasons why.
19:26And here's why his meticulous rehab matters. One of the things that happens most often with these guys coming off Achilles and
19:33George Kittle talked about this when he spoke to the media a couple of weeks ago, he said, you know, it's boring.
19:39The rehab is incredibly boring. You're picking up marbles with your toes.
19:43You're doing the most basic of exercises for a long time because it's all you can do.
19:48And when you start turning the corner and you get cleared to run, you get cleared to do the more exciting stuff,
19:55a lot of people back off the basic strengthening and they lose the strength gains that they've made or they plateau early.
20:02What do you hear most often for guys coming back from Achilles is that they don't have the power.
20:07They don't have the explosiveness. They don't feel like it takes them another year to get there.
20:13Part of the reason for that is because they're not doing those things.
20:17You know who did those things? George Kittle. And one of the things I looked at when I was at camp is you are looking at the girth.
20:25I was standing right next to him. You're looking side by side, the girth of the calf because that is reflective.
20:32I didn't know where that was going, Stefania. I'm glad you said calf.
20:36I didn't know where you were going there. All right.
20:39Fair enough. That was the part in question. Sometimes I look elsewhere.
20:42Okay. So that's the girth. The calf girth is what you're looking at for.
20:47The calf girth is what I was looking at.
20:49And by the way, it is so, he looks so symmetrical.
20:53If I told you, you pick out for me which leg was the one that he tore the Achilles in, you wouldn't be able to tell.
21:01And I guarantee you that's not the case for most guys coming off an Achilles repair.
21:06George Kittle has done everything right. I think the difference, and actually Christian McCaffrey said this when speaking to the media the
21:12day I was there, he said, it's not just coming back this quickly.
21:16It's coming back this quickly and looking as good as he does.
21:20So he doesn't look like he's missed a beat.
21:23I would maybe, okay, fantasy purposes. Yeah. I'm not sure I would start him week one because I don't know how much
21:29playing time he's going to get if he does play in Australia.
21:33But the Niners have three home games after that.
21:36He'll be on his home turf. And I expect his utilization.
21:39Look, the red, the red zone offense for the 49ers is going to be so good this year.
21:45Mark my words with what they've got between McCaffrey.
21:47They've got Mike Evans. They've got this new fun toy in Dijon Stribling.
21:51They've got George Kittle. It is going to, they are going to have success in the red zone.
21:57George Kittle is going to be a big part of it.
22:00Yeah, I appreciate that. Good news for everyone that drafted George Kittle.
22:04I believe what Stefania said. There was a lot of words there, but what I took away was that George Kittle has impressive girth.
22:11That's what I took away from that. It's good to know.
22:15You haven't changed very, and I love it. It's very, he's very girthy.
22:19God bless. He's a friend of the podcast, George Kittle.
22:22So we root for him. How could he not be?
22:25You know, he's an easy guy to root for.
22:27So we're excited about him. I'm interested, you said just, you know, a lot of guys.
22:32The other thing I heard you say was, you know, so many guys, you know, they plateau early, which makes me think
22:39I must have had an Achilles injury. But that explains why I plateaued early in my life.
22:44Another big name, Stefania, that so many people don't know what to do with.
22:49And so I really want your opinion. Like how comfortable are you drafting Malik Nabors week four last year?
22:54He tears the ACL. And so we've seen, you know, we've seen, you know, for 30 second clips of him running fast
23:01in shorts and practice, you know, and people are like, ah, Malik Nabors back as a wide receiver one.
23:07But then there's some setbacks and help me figure out Malik Nabors here.
23:11Star Fania Bell. Is he girthy? Uh, haven't seen him in person recently.
23:15Understood. But here's what I'm going to say about Malik Nabors.
23:18And I want to start this, you know, Matthew, back in the early days when people would ask, you know, when we
23:25were just starting out as two kids and people would say, do you ever root for injuries?
23:30I would say like, first of all, don't be silly.
23:33I'm a physical therapist who roots for injury. You never root for injuries.
23:37You always root for the guys to come back and you want them to come back as good, if not better than before.
23:44That's what you want as a PT. That's what I want in fantasy purposes.
23:48But there's the reality of what certain injuries do and how long they take for a player to recover from.
23:55And so for several reasons that I'm about to give you, I will tell you that I have not drafted Malik Nabors,
24:01nor do I plan to in any of my fantasy drafts, no matter where he is in that draft, no matter whether
24:08he were to be in the third or fourth round or up in the second round.
24:13And I'm going to tell you my reasons for this.
24:16And I hope that Malik Nabors comes out and proves everything wrong and has a fantastic season.
24:21And if he does that, he will become an outlier.
24:24That is not the norm for the type of injury he had.
24:28So yes, he tore his ACL, but as we just said with the Achilles, they are not all the same.
24:34He tore his ACL, but he also tore, do you know what else he tore, Matthew?
24:39I don't, was, is it his girth? Can you tear girth?
24:42I don't have it. No, he was a rather slight guy.
24:46He doesn't have a lot of girth, but he tore his lateral meniscus.
24:50Okay. Do you know why that's a problem? Why is that a problem?
24:54I don't, I can't imagine I have a lateral meniscus, but okay.
24:57So he tore his lateral meniscus along with his ACL.
25:00Right. Is this an issue? It's an issue because how many other wide receiver comps do you think we have coming back
25:07from an ACL reconstruction alongside a lateral meniscus repair that we know as?
25:11I gotta be honest with you, Stefania. You're leading the witness, but I believe the answer is not very many.
25:17Well, the answer is zero that I could find.
25:20Wow, zero. Okay. Zero that I could find. And here's the thing.
25:24ACLs often are accompanied by other damage to the knee.
25:27Okay. It's not all the time that you get an isolated ACL, which is ideal if you're looking at the injury.
25:33The less damage, obviously, the better chances of a smooth and quicker recovery.
25:37But usually the mechanism of injury, the way the knee bends in, you end up tearing the medial meniscus, maybe the MCL.
25:44Patrick Mahomes, his knee bowed outward. It was a little weird ACL, LCL.
25:48That's a ligament on the outside of the knee.
25:50Yeah. But it's the meniscus, which is the cushion for your joint, and it protects your knee from developing arthritis later in life.
25:57So that's why it's so important when we have a meniscus injury, if you can, the idea is to try and repair it.
26:05Or if they have to take out a little piece of the meniscus, take out as little as possible.
26:10So he had to have it repaired. The lateral side, more difficult to recover from than the medial side.
26:16It's a weird combo, which already tells you something a little bit concerning about the mechanics of how he had that injury.
26:23Number two, he had to go back for a second surgery to clean up some scar tissue and stiffness in the knee.
26:30In and of itself, not a big deal procedure.
26:32Okay. Can you recover? Sure. But the problem is it tells me that he couldn't get his knee fully extended for a period of time.
26:40And you know what the first goal is coming off this surgery?
26:44Full extension. I would assume, yeah. Yeah, of course.
26:46So the fact that he was delayed in doing that, even though he looked like he was gaining strength and he was
26:53doing good things, that to me makes me less comfortable.
26:56Now, we haven't- Yeah, Robert Ferry says he just scratched him all, he scratched neighbor off of all of his lists.
27:03And star Fania we trust. Listen, he's doing well.
27:05He actually did better at training camp than I expected.
27:08I love the fact that he was able to make progress.
27:12He has not played. There's nothing contested about what he's done.
27:15He's really been out there with very little contested practice.
27:18I mean, he just got out of his non-contact jersey just a little bit ago.
27:23He hasn't played against anyone. And you're talking about setting foot on an NFL field where people are trying to take you
27:30down, not only when you're jumping, when you're landing, you get caught up in people.
27:34And one of the things that's hardest to recover from after a major injury like this is this apprehension, this fear of re-injury.
27:41Not that you're going to re-injure it, but it's the confidence you have to develop in that knee.
27:47The confidence that allows you to go up in the air unencumbered and make these spectacular catches.
27:52The confidence that you know you're going to beat the defender.
27:55These are things that take a while to come back.
27:58So I believe that whenever he comes back, and it's not a lock for week one, but whenever he comes back, it's going to take a while.
28:07We know for the average wide receiver, it takes another full year for you to regain your performance metrics from pre-injury level.
28:13And only two-thirds of wide receivers make it back from this kind of injury.
28:18So he's already got an uphill battle for this year.
28:21I would love to see him have a full recovery.
28:24And you know who's going to draft him next year if this year is uneventful?
28:28Me. But I'm not going to draft him this year.
28:31I'm going to watch from the sidelines and hope that he has a smooth recovery.
28:36But, you know, the other thing to mention is a lot of these guys coming back, you look at Chris Godwin after
28:43his ACL ends up with a hamstring injury that sidelines him.
28:46And Saquon Barkley coming back from his ACL ends up with an ankle injury.
28:50People say, oh, he stepped on somebody else's foot.
28:53Could have happened anywhere. Yes, it could have. But these things are more likely in the aftermath of an ACL injury to
29:00have a secondary compensatory injury or something else that happens.
29:03So the risk there is a little too great for me.
29:06Yeah, I totally get that. His ADP is 30.
29:09As Medici says, look at the knowledge Stefania brings to the table.
29:13It's all about girth and full extension. The more you know.
29:16It's not wrong. Yeah, exactly right. God bless Medici.
29:19All right. Let's get through. I've got so many guys to get through Stefania.
29:23Those were my big long guys. So we can go quicker on the rest.
29:27Yeah, we can go quicker guys. So how about Emeka, Buca?
29:31By the way, just to wrap the table on neighbors real quickly.
29:34ADP of 30 as well. Remember, he only ran 11 routes with Jackson Dart.
29:39So there's also a little bit of familiarity that needs to in 2025.
29:43He only ran literally 11 routes with Jackson Dart as like three passes.
29:47I think. Yeah, 27 snaps, 11 routes. All right, let's move on.
29:50So there is definitely risk there with Malik neighbors and it may not be fully baked into the price just yet.
29:57Let's talk about another wide receiver that burst on the scene.
30:00And that's Emeka Buca toe sprain and practice on August 12th.
30:03How are you feeling about Emeka Buca heading into the season?
30:07A couple notes on his injury that I thought were pretty encouraging.
30:10Rick Stroud, who covers the Buccaneers, long time reporter.
30:13Yeah, does great job. Who covers them, does great job.
30:16Referenced it being a sprain, but a stable one.
30:19That's really important because we talk about sprains, which are ligament injuries in terms of degree.
30:24And if you have, you know, the kind of toe injury that Joe Burrow had, where you have a complete disruption of
30:31the ligaments, the capsules, something called the plantar plate that basically reinforces the base of the big toe.
30:36That's an unstable injury, meaning the joint is totally unstable.
30:39You're going to have to have surgery to fix it.
30:42When you have a sprain and the joint is stable, it tells you, okay, it wasn't severe enough to really cause any disruption to the joint.
30:50That means it's going to be a quicker recovery.
30:53I'm less concerned about re-injury, although it's always a possibility.
30:56But the problem with pre-season injuries, Matthew, is when something happens, they're not putting the guy back out there.
31:02You know, it's just not going to happen. So we don't really get the assessment that we would if we were seeing
31:08them in practice in advance of a week going into week one.
31:12I do think he's going to be ready for week one.
31:15Is there a risk of re-injury? Yeah, there could be.
31:19They can do some things like provide reinforcement within the shoe in the form of like a carbon fiber insert or some
31:25kind of something that actually stiffens the big toe so that you don't have as much mobility.
31:30You don't push off it as hard. We saw him.
31:34There's been some video in the last couple of days of him doing some drills where he was doing backward single leg hops.
31:41By the way, backward easier on a toe than forward, right?
31:44Because you don't have to push off your big toe.
31:47It's just landing. But he did do some planting, cutting and changing direction.
31:51The fact he was doing that pretty easily also looks good.
31:54So again, no guarantees. Sounds like ready for week one.
31:57I am less concerned about this than I would be if it was something more significant.
32:02I'm still comfortable with him. You're still comfortable drafting him.
32:05All right. Let's move along. By the way, equal girth and full extension is a pretty good fantasy football team name.
32:12Just saying. How about Luther Burden who injured his groin in practice on August 8th?
32:16Luther Burden kind of a darling of the fantasy community.
32:19I think he's going to have a breakout year.
32:22I'm not alone. A lot of people like Luther Burden this year.
32:26Are we correct, Stefania? Or do you have concerns on Luther Burden?
32:29Do you remember the old drop we had for the groin injuries?
32:33Yeah. What it was? Yeah. Right. Out of my groin.
32:36Right. No, it was out of my finger. Oh, out of my finger.
32:40That's right. Since you've forgotten that, you don't remember where it came from, which is I was saying that's how that drop
32:47got created, that the groin injury is one of the most telltale things is you guys immediately tend to grab right where
32:54the groin is because, you know, like we know where it is and where it attaches and it's a not very good
33:00feeling when that pulls or a little piece of it pulls off the bone.
33:05So you put your finger there. That's what happened with Luther Burden.
33:08That's kind of how we decided he had a groin injury if the detectives knew right away because he did kind of
33:15reach up and grab the groin area. Lucky for him, this happened early in the preseason.
33:20It was August 8th, I think, during a practice.
33:23But again, you weren't going to see him for the rest of the preseason.
33:27I think the fact that he's been outside doing drills, you know, running around.
33:31He started practicing again in the past week. I think the expectation is that he will be ready for week one.
33:38Again, they're a Sunday game, so it's not until September 13th.
33:41You hope for the best without a setback or without recurrence.
33:44But any soft tissue injury, there is a risk of recurrence during the season.
33:49So you just hope he's had enough time. You comfortable drafting him?
33:52At where he's going, yes, I am. Okay. Yeah, I like him a lot.
33:57I'm at wide receiver 22. I'm at 44 overall.
33:59His ADP is 54 overall. So I'm a full round ahead of consensus.
34:03I'm all in in Luther Burden. I will tell you though, by the way, when I was a teenage boy, a lot of groin injuries.
34:11A lot of groin injuries for your boy, Maddie.
34:14I do not. When I was a teenage boy.
34:16I don't even want to know how this happened.
34:19Let's move on to Ashton Jeanty, Stefania. Let's move on to Ashton Gentty.
34:23Sprained in that ankle in practice, August 23rd. There were concerns when it initially went down that this could be something very serious.
34:30They bring it out the cart, the whole thing.
34:33Yeah. Mike Washington suddenly. Everybody gathered around, kneeling, having thoughts.
34:36Yeah, kneeling in prayer. A lot's going on. A few hours later.
34:40But it doesn't seem. Not serious. Yeah, it doesn't seem that serious.
34:43How comfortable from an injury perspective. Actually, we had Field Yates on yesterday's show.
34:48Field had Ashton Jeanty as his bust this year.
34:50But my question to you is to find it purely from a...
34:54Exactly. No, we love Field. And he was great yesterday.
34:57Of course. No, I know. I know. And that's the thing that's tough.
35:01I'll just say this. You don't have to say anything.
35:04I will just say that whenever you're at any place that has layoffs, and I was at NBC when they had layoffs,
35:11and I was at ESPN when they had... I was at ESPN for 15 years and they had multiple layoffs.
35:17And anytime you're there, it just... Corporate decisions are corporate decisions, but that doesn't mean you don't still love your teammates and
35:24your friends and the people who spend so many...
35:27We're drafting in leagues together. Yeah. Just to be clear to anybody who might be wondering.
35:31All my buddies. We're all drafting in leagues together.
35:34So, yes. Yes. We're all still... Yes. We're all still on multiple campaigns.
35:38The fantasy friendship runs super strong. Super strong and deep.
35:41But anyway, so Field had Gentty as a bust.
35:44My question to you is purely from an injury standpoint.
35:47How comfortable are you drafting Ashton Gentty this year?
35:50Well, do you remember that the question was, was it a low ankle sprain or a high ankle sprain because this is
35:56where everybody gets real nervous and they don't really know why.
36:00And at this moment, it doesn't matter. But when you see reports that something is sort of low, sort of high, one
36:07of my buddies who is one of the top foot and ankle surgeons in the country and deals with a lot of
36:13these injuries, he's like, I hate that when I hear that because it's not.
36:18They're a different mechanism of injury. A low ankle sprain is like the basketball sprain.
36:22You roll your foot in. That's called an inversion sprain.
36:25A high ankle sprain, your foot gets twisted out.
36:28Usually somebody falling on you. We can't see what happened to Ashton Gentty, right?
36:32It happened at practice. So we don't have much idea.
36:35But it sounds like it was a low ankle sprain after all and not something that was going to be a significant injury for him.
36:43I'm not especially worried about it. I'm a little more concerned about what I'm hearing about how much is Mike Washington going to play?
36:50What's going to happen to Ashton Gentty's utilization in this offense?
36:54And I, you know, all kidding aside, I understand some of the concerns that field has.
36:59To me, they're not from the injury perspective. It's sort of the overall, what does the offense look like here?
37:05I have him slightly lower than consensus. I'm at 18 overall.
37:08He's currently going 16th overall. So slightly lower than consensus.
37:11You know, I do think they'll involve him in the passing game, like the offensive line a little better.
37:17We talked about this yesterday on the show, but there's definitely cause for concern with Ashton Gentty.
37:22But it sounds like it's more in the overall situation and less about the ankle moving forward.
37:27How about Jeremiah Love speaking of ankle sprains? Like, so it's reported as a high ankle sprain.
37:32Yeah. The first preseason game, August 13th. Um, this is obviously, you know what they gave him like, I think what 8 billion touches in the first game.
37:41You're like, what are we doing here? This is the thing I'm going to side with my friend Lou Riddick here.
37:47Who's like pretty soon. We're not going to have people doing anything in the pre like why even show up because we
37:54get so paranoid about this is a kid who's never played in the NFL.
37:58He played three series. He didn't do that much.
38:01Um, I am not all up in arms about, oh, they should never have let him have that many touches in the first game.
38:09He actually looked better each series and he was getting a little more comfortable.
38:13And I think that's what they wanted to see.
38:16So that's my defense of him playing. Um, yes, it's unfortunate, but remember it wasn't.
38:20Will you draft him, Stefania Bell? That's what we want to know.
38:24Listen to me. I know you. I'm getting there, but you have to hear why you brought me here to tell you
38:31why he, we, did you see him go off injured?
38:34No, you didn't. And you had to find out after the game that he had an injury.
38:39So it wasn't that bad. He obviously didn't need surgery for it.
38:42Michael floor reported that pretty early. Um, and again, it's training camp.
38:46Once you have an injury, you're not going to see them for the rest of the time.
38:51Is it typically a little slower to recover from a high ankle sprain?
38:55It typically is. It's just more problematic because of the biomechanics of the joint relative to the type of injury that it is.
39:02And every time you, you walk or create too much rotational or torsional stress on the ankle, you run the risk of aggravating it.
39:10So it's really hard to get back into practicing without annoying the ankle.
39:14And that's why it takes a lot. My feeling is they got a little warning from this.
39:19They are not going to rush back the number three overall pick for no reason.
39:23So, uh, for fantasy purposes, I think it might hurt him in the sense that we don't know how much utilization they're
39:30going to allow early on because he's recovering from the injury.
39:34And you know, they're, they're probably not going to be great anyway.
39:37Uh, so I, I just don't feel comfortable about what he looks like for fantasy purposes.
39:42I'm not particularly worried about this injury. I think if they're smart though, they will hold him out until they know he's
39:49good and ready, because I will say this a high ankle sprain that doesn't heal can become a chronic problem.
39:55I mean, dare I say career threatening, we do have surgeries to treat those things.
40:00Now. I don't think this was a severe injury, so, uh, less likely, but all the more reason to let him heal
40:06a hundred percent before you put him back out on the field.
40:10His current ADP is 29. I'm at running back 14, but I also have a 29 overall.
40:15So I'm right in line with consensus there. He's, you know, going the third round.
40:20I, uh, just, you know, I will say that in a world where I draft Jeremiah love, I might, you know, you
40:26know, go up a couple of rounds ahead of ADP for Tyler Algier just to make sure I lock him in as
40:33well, because we know Tyler Algier can be good when he gets a look.
40:37And by the way, uh, if, if you're in a deep guillotine league, for example, Tyler Algier could be a very interesting
40:44week one play where you're just like, just looking for live bodies in these 18 man guillotine leagues where it gets deep quick.
40:51Yes. Like the one we're in. Right. Exactly. That's exactly right.
40:55But look, we expect him to touch the ball a lot, right?
40:58Seven of the eight last run seven of the last eight running backs that were drafted inside the top 10 of the NFL.
41:05All saw at least 270 touches as rookies. So we expect Jeremiah love when he gets out there to see the ball quite a bit.
41:13Um, you know what, uh, Brees Hall speaking of groins, Stefania Brees Hall strained his groin in practice on August 11th.
41:19Um, out my finger indeed for Brees Hall. Uh, where are you in terms of comfort level drafting Brees Hall?
41:25Forget that he's a jet for a second. Yeah, I know minus the jets.
41:30I I'm, I'm comfortable with it again. This is one that was reported to be minor.
41:35It's not what, you know, we had to go by the reports of the folks who were there, what they saw.
41:41He went, he went down after, um, catching a swing pass.
41:44Um, he's been running, doing agility drills, the things that you expect to see back, uh, the week one game for them also on Sunday, September 13th.
41:53So that hits around four weeks. It was originally described as probably a two to three week injury.
41:58So again, you protect the player hoping for the health during the season.
42:02Uh, this is not really, um, this is not really going to make me reluctant to draft him.
42:08Groin injuries in the season are far more concerning, right?
42:11Because it oftentimes a player will try to push to get back before they're a hundred percent.
42:16And they just, they lack power and explosiveness. It's not just the lateral cuts.
42:20You really get a lot of your forward power from the groin musculature.
42:24And in the case of these guys who have them preseason, but they have ample time to rest.
42:30They get the extra cushion because nobody's going to push them to get back.
42:34I feel much better about those. All right, good.
42:37I, yeah, I think Brees Hall, I think the hate has gone too far on Brees Hall.
42:42His ADP is 33, 34 consensus. I'm at 28.
42:45I'm at running back 13. Again, Frank Reich, by the way, uh, the Colts were seventh in running back receptions in all
42:51of Frank Reich's tenure as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
42:55Three straight years of averaging at least 85 yards from scrimmage.
42:58Like again, the receptions and the targets are more valuable than running back carries.
43:03I think they're going to throw to the ball.
43:05I think they're going to throw him the ball a lot as word VP says more worried about him being a jet than his groin.
43:13Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, like, but I'll be just saying you can't pull a jet, but you can pull a groin.
43:20There's something to think about there. Hey Stefania, let's talk about Quinshawn Judkins here.
43:24Dislocated the ankle and fractured his fibula week 16 of last year.
43:28The Browns need a heavy workload out of Junkins.
43:31Any concern about him heading into this season? You know, this is one of those injuries that running backs, uh, it can
43:37really affect how they look running the ball. Um, go back to Tony Pollard when he had his injury and he had been so electric for the Cowboys.
43:46But in the first year following that ankle fracture dislocation, he just didn't have it.
43:50Wasn't the same ends up getting moved over to Tennessee.
43:53And he talked about it when he got to Tennessee and said, you know, that first year was hard for him.
44:00Really had to work through a lot of stiffness.
44:03You know, there's scar tissue that builds up. You know how many times I've had to work through a lot of stiffness to find a man.
44:11Oh, man. It's me and Quinshawn Judkins. Totally get it.
44:14Understood. Yes. You guys are built just the same.
44:16Have you seen it? We look, you, honestly, honestly, if you took a picture of us without our heads, you could not tell us apart.
44:24You really wouldn't be able to tell. No. But here's the thing.
44:28Here's what I say about him. Um, I, I was really watching the work that he was doing in OTAs.
44:34I was actually a little bit surprised at how much he was doing early on.
44:38He looked really good. Yeah. And one of the advantages that you get from being out there that early, in other words,
44:45it was like he was held out. We didn't see him till training camp.
44:49He was actually working in 11 on 11s then.
44:52So he was getting out in the mix. It means he had to like dash and make cuts and do these things
44:59to test his ankle way back in May and June.
45:02And that actually makes me feel better about him coming into this season than another guy who might not have really gotten
45:09that kind of work on his ankle heading into the start of the year.
45:13If you look at camp Scadaboo, who had a horrific open dislocation on the field, had to have emergency surgery, terrible injury.
45:20You might think, well, you know, there's somebody where you're really worried about residual stiffness because of how nasty the injury is
45:26something similar, but he's different style of running back.
45:29Like he's not nimble. He's a power guy. So I'm not that worried about that.
45:34Judkins would have me a little more concerned. But what I saw at OTAs makes me feel better about where he is
45:40from returning to his pre-injury standpoint than I otherwise would be.
45:44We only have a few minutes left here, Stefania.
45:47So just quickly, so you're not concerned. We were, I want one more.
45:51I want to talk to you about Tucker Kraft of worded Kraft.
45:54So you're not concerned about Scadaboo. You might've been a little bit more concerned about Judkins if you hadn't seen how good he looked in OTA.
46:02So feels like general cautious thumbs up on both Scadaboo and Judkins.
46:06Am I hearing that right? Yeah. Let me say about Scadaboo, it's really because of the style of runner that he is
46:13and for what he will do for that team.
46:15I still think he's going to look like a plotter and his ankle is probably going to be stiff and sore at
46:22times, but it doesn't really worry me. And Judkins, I think has shown me- I like it when you talk about ankles, by the way.
46:30That's my language. Just so you know. I am so, now I just am regretting everything I just said.
46:35By the way, you and everyone else that ever comes on this show, by the way.
46:40It's a familiar feeling. It's part of the theme.
46:43Listen, the people, they love their ankles. I can't disappoint Ben.
46:46Have you had surgery on your ankle before? Because I have.
46:50I have not. I have not. I have virgin ankles.
46:53So I have actually a scar. But I don't dare hold my ankle up on camera because that could lead to other
47:00things that we just don't want to go down that path.
47:03You know, honestly, Stefania, it's just something to think about.
47:06Maybe just maybe only ankles. Let's start. Stefania, let's start an only ankles account for you.
47:11Only feet. Oh, people pay for your feet pics, Stefania.
47:14Just saying. You have been in my mentions. I have.
47:17I know. That's what I'm saying, Stefania. Like, come on.
47:20You know? Yeah. I mean, like, you know, you no longer have to run, you know, run that by ESPN.
47:26You just say, you know, I've decided to do.
47:29I've decided to join like, you know, only feet or whatever it is, whatever those sites are where people, you know, where people pay for feet pics.
47:37There's definitely people that will pay for feet pics that much.
47:41I know. I don't want to know how you know, but I know, you know.
47:45Yeah, exactly. Exactly. As Cobra Kiger says, yes, Stefania, you know, like girth, girth talk is fine, but apparently ankle talk is
47:52like where you, where you draw the line. That's right.
47:55PJC 05.0.1 says, Barry the Ankler. That is my nickname here among the regulars.
47:59I am in fact the Ankler. Let's say one last week.
48:03We got five minutes left here. So quickly. Stefania, let's talk about Tucker Kraft who tore his ACL in week nine of last year.
48:10I'm as tight in five and I'm higher on him than consensus.
48:14Am I going to look stupid or smart this year?
48:17It remains to be seen, but I think you could end up looking very smart.
48:21Um, think of what Tucker Kraft was doing when he got hurt.
48:25Think of how important he was to that offense.
48:28And yes, uh, it, by the way, the sidebar on this is why are people so negative on Tucker Kraft coming back from an ACL?
48:35Oh, you know, and how's he going to look and what's he going to do?
48:40And blah, blah, blah. But they're like Malik neighbors ready to rate him.
48:44Like number one. Oh, he could be a top three wide receiver finish.
48:48I would argue Malik neighbors injury recovery process was more concerning than Tucker Kraft's for sure.
48:53So he's had a pretty smooth recovery, been very meticulous about it as well.
48:57He's spoken a great deal about it. I think people got nervous when he said he was talking to reporters a while
49:04back and said, you know, they probably weren't going to, he didn't say they weren't going to take the governor off, but it was essentially something like that.
49:12Like probably wouldn't be fully rolled out. He said, I don't know.
49:16He goes, I don't know. It could be half the season.
49:19And I think people got nervous. Like, oh my gosh, they're going to hold him back for that long.
49:25If you look from an efficiency standpoint, if just take the preseason and look when Tucker Kraft's been on the field, they're going to him.
49:33So what do you care if he plays all the snaps or not?
49:37If every time he's on the field, he's potentially a target.
49:40He's potentially somebody who could score. I am not worried about Tucker Kraft based on what I've seen.
49:46Will he immediately go back to what he was pre injury?
49:49I think some of those same rules hold true.
49:52You have to earn that confidence back, but everything he's done so far shows me that he's ready to play NFL football and he's had the exposure already.
50:00He's taken some hits. He's been out there in the mix against his defense.
50:05That's what I like to see. No, I like to see it as well.
50:09So that's good. I have him as a top five guys to find you.
50:13You've said it all. And I want to keep you around here for this if you don't mind.
50:19But I want to announce who's in our fantasy football happy hour regulars league.
50:23So this is a listener league. It's me against 17 other people.
50:27It's mean 18 team guillotine leagues. We're going to play it out on guillotine leagues dot com.
50:32And draft is going to be Tuesday night at 10 p.m.
50:35Eastern, because I already have two drafts that night.
50:38I have a six and an eight that Tuesday.
50:41So 10 o'clock was the only time I could do it.
50:44I actually have two drafts on Monday night as well.
50:47No one likes a bragger. By the way, for all your listeners out there, the first time I ever played in a
50:54guillotine league, it was against yours truly, Matthew Berry.
50:57And who won that league, Matthew? Star Fonja Bell did.
51:00Absolutely. That's right. Correct. That's literally the league. You guys can beat him.
51:04Yeah, sure. The league is literally called anyone but Stefania.
51:07And because of that victory. All right. In no particular order, in no particular order.
51:11Again, we I wanted to reward. Oh, well, I guess we're going to release it right now.
51:16It's going to go one by one. But you see it right there on your screen.
51:21They don't trust you to get through it. Fixed fire.
51:24SEC Man 01. Cobra Tiger. Raise the flag. Stuntman Chuck 85.
51:28Neck Brace Nation. Neck Brace Nation is in the is in the league.
51:32Ryan Oswald 3790. VED. The FFHH regular. Aloha Bricks, of course.
51:35Dr. Deoxide. I don't think he's real doctor, Stefania.
51:38Just be clear. Brandon Garrett. Exhausted Texans fan. Wolf John.
51:41My KOK. Ryan Diamond and Jonathan Medici. I think the MAI KOK.
51:45I think he's trying to get me to say something and I'm not going to do it.
51:50I know. You know what? I actually am so impressed by you.
51:53Your professionalism right there. I just. Wow. Yeah. But anyway, he impressed me today.
51:58A couple of times. I appreciate that, Stefania. Anyway, these are the guys in the league.
52:03And so producer Damien is going to be reaching out to you guys in the discord.
52:08These are the guys that I have shown up the most since the start of the show all the way through today.
52:14It's it's no disrespect to anyone else. But if somebody in this list can't make it, we will have replacements and we'll reach out to you in discord.
52:23But here's who's in the inaugural FFHH regulars leagues to find you and they will all take your advice.
52:29I expect I expect Malik neighbors to drop to like the 12th round.
52:33No, that's not going to happen. But listen, again, reminder, if he has a great season, good for him.
52:38Love outliers. Adrian Peterson was an outlier. It hasn't been done since.
52:42No one's looked like that since. Everybody thought everybody who came next was going to look like Adrian Peterson.
52:48They did not. There's always room for outliers. I, as you know, am a fantasy football cautious drafter.
52:53So when I have concerns, I you know, but it's OK.
52:57I've I've done fairly well for myself. Yes, you have.
53:00We will all did that. So if you're you're yeah, no, you absolutely are, especially by the way in Scott Fishbowl you're always at year after year.
53:08You are one of the highest ranked people in the fantasy industry.
53:12It's a 5000 person tournament. And among the industry people, it's both, quote unquote, regular players and then people that do this for a living.
53:19And among the people that do this for a living, you are always consistently one of the highest ranked in that tournament.
53:26We will all follow you on X at Stefania L Bell.
53:29We will follow you on Instagram on the gram at Stefania Bell.
53:33And you'll let us know what feat sharing site you'll be on so we can all follow you there where people can pay money.
53:40Can't wait. I wish everyone a ton of luck this weekend in your drafts.
53:45Please, FantasyLife.com promo code Barry gets you 10% off Fantasy Life Plus.
53:48Our promo codes are awesome. Or Rotopass.com. That's still going.
53:51You get Fantasy Life Plus plus five other sites.
53:54It's closing time Stefania, which means you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.
53:59Can't stay here. We will see everyone back on Tuesday.
54:02Peace out. Peace out. The Sealy Space Plus. It's 24th and I asked you about to see you.
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