10 Fantasy Football Lessons You Need to Know, World Cup Karma, Mr. Hockey, and Monster Energy Big 12 Football
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 39 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 8, 2026
Published
Wed, July 8, 2026
15
Player insights
14
Players mentioned
Topics
Lamar JacksonAmon-Ra St. BrownCeeDee LambChristian McCaffreyDavante AdamsJa'Marr ChaseJalen HurtsJaxon Smith-NjigbaJosh AllenMike EvansPuka NacuaRashid ShaheedTravis KelceTrevor Lawrence
Player analysis
Player insights
Amon-Ra St. Brown
PositiveValue40:56
Amon-Ra St. Brown is presented as a safer wide receiver pick than Jalen Smith-Njigba. The source would consider him a more reliable option due to role certainty.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
PositiveValue40:56
CeeDee Lamb is presented as a safer wide receiver pick than Jalen Smith-Njigba. The source would consider Lamb a more reliable option due to role certainty.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeValue24:54
Christian McCaffrey is noted as an exception to the rule about drafting established veterans; he will still be a very high pick despite being an older, familiar name, indicating his elite status transcends the typical fade-the-boring-name principle.
Insight pageDavante Adams
PositiveValue25:24
Devante Adams is an established veteran receiver who will retain significant volume and offensive role despite being a familiar draft name; the source argues against fading him just because he's been in the draft pool for years.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveValue40:56
Jamar Chase is a safer wide receiver pick than Jalen Smith-Njigba. The source would not draft JSN over Chase due to the certainty of Chase's role and production, stating 'you know what you're getting with those other two guys.'
Insight pageJalen Hurts
PositiveProjection20:54
Jalen Hurts is one of only two quarterbacks (alongside Josh Allen) capable of scoring 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season, giving him elite dual-threat upside that separates him from other mobile QBs.
Insight pageJaxon Smith-Njigba
NegativeProjection38:00
Jalen Smith-Njigba's target share and role are at risk this year due to offensive coordinator change (Clint Kubiak to Brian Flurry), increased competition for targets (Rashid Shaheed gaining comfort in the offense, tight ends AJ Barner and Elijah Royo stepping up), and defensive game-planning that will focus on stopping other receivers; the source expects the Seahawks offense to fall off in efficiency, which will hurt JSN's production despite him remaining a key target, and would not draft him over Puka Nacua, Jamar Chase, CeeDee Lamb, or Amon-Ra St. Brown due to role certainty concerns.
Insight pageJosh Allen
PositiveProjection20:54
Josh Allen is one of only two quarterbacks (alongside Jalen Hurts) capable of scoring 10+ rushing touchdowns in a season, giving him elite dual-threat upside that separates him from other mobile QBs.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
NegativeProjection21:11
Lamar Jackson's 2024 season was significantly diminished by injury; he averaged only 3.6 rushing fantasy points per game (down from his career average of 6+ points) and 16 total fantasy points per game (likely 15th–16th among QBs), but should rebound to top-10 QB status if healthy in 2025.
Insight pagePositiveProjection21:18
Lamar Jackson is projected to return to top-10 quarterback status this year as he recovers from injury; he was injured for much of last year and averaged only 3.6 rushing fantasy points per game (down from his career average of 6+ points per game as a runner) and 16 total fantasy points per game overall, but his historical rushing production should rebound once healthy.
Insight pageMike Evans
PositiveValue25:24
Mike Evans is an established veteran receiver who will retain significant volume and offensive role despite being a familiar draft name; the source argues against fading him just because he's been in the draft pool for years—he will remain a big part of his offense.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
PositiveProjection40:56
Puka Nacua appears very focused this offseason (evidenced by golf lessons), which the source interprets as a positive sign for his 2024 season. The source suggests he should be considered a top-tier wide receiver pick and is safer than Jalen Smith-Njigba due to lack of offensive uncertainty.
Insight pageRashid Shaheed
PositiveRole38:00
Rashid Shaheed is expected to be more ingrained in the Seahawks offense this year and has been a big talking point in Seattle this offseason. He's finding more comfort in the offense, which will increase his target share and role relative to last year.
Insight pageTravis Kelce
PositiveProjection25:24
Travis Kelce scored the third-most fantasy points among tight ends last year despite falling off significantly; he was tight end nine in points per game and, if Patrick Mahomes stays healthy, should remain in the top eight in fantasy points per game this year.
Insight pageTrevor Lawrence
PositiveProjection21:01
Trevor Lawrence, at 6'6", has rushing upside similar to other tall mobile quarterbacks; he had 9 rushing touchdowns last year and can run frequently, providing dual-threat value below the elite tier of Allen and Hurts.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:42Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TremphayaRadio.com. This episode is brought to you by Netflix.
0:47The T-Mobile Home Run Derby is right around the corner.
0:51It might be one of the best showcases of pure power in all sports.
0:55Baseball's biggest sluggers, along with some legendary announcers. Pujols, Rizzo, Bonds, Sabathia, Al Duncan.
0:59Yeah. Hunter Pence, Matt Faskersian, a whole bunch of people.
1:03And it's the one night where you don't swing to make contact.
1:06You swing to make history. I'm interested to see what Bond says about this, actually.
1:11Anyway, it is all live from Citizens Bank Park in Philly.
1:14Watch the T-Mobile Home Run Derby live on Netflix this Monday, July 13th at 8 p.m.
1:19Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. Welcome to The Ringer Fantasy Football Show.
1:23My name is Danny Heifetz. I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Horlbeck.
1:27And today, we are going to try and see if we can learn any lessons from last football season, which we barely
1:34remember because, Danny Kelly, when the season ends, we basically forget the entire thing like two months later.
1:40Every single year, don't make any, you know, don't create any real rules for how we draft the next season.
1:46It just kind of like goes off vibes every year.
1:49So we're trying to avoid that. Yeah, to honor Christopher Nolan's memento, we tattoo these fantasy football lessons on our body every
1:56year because when we get amnesia, we can wake up in the morning, look at my rib cage, and I can see
2:03what it tells me about drafting players in Kyle Shanahan's offense or trusting teams with new offensive coordinators.
2:08So it's very helpful. And memento, which is now on Netflix.
2:12Go watch it. And that was a happy accident.
2:15Like, we didn't even know that was happening. That actually was incredibly well-timed, complete coincidence.
2:19We love to pretend that we were really organized about that.
2:23So, yeah, we're going to go through. And again, we're just going to actually, this is the thing we always do.
2:30We did actually do a podcast when the season ended and recorded these things so that we wouldn't try to remember what we thought.
2:37We actually wrote it down and then talked about it on a show.
2:41And we're now like reassessing it and see what actually we're going to apply.
2:46So we're going to do that in one second.
2:48First, I want to mention, so we were in that Madden trailer a couple weeks ago and EA was really nice and
2:55they sent us a few codes for PlayStation and Xbox.
2:58It's codes for Madden and College Football 27 combined.
3:01So if you want to do that, go to our Instagram.
3:05We're going to have, this episode's coming out Thursday.
3:08We'll have a post up on our Instagram. It'll be pinned.
3:11Comment, what are they commenting, Craig? Comment your memento tattoos for this upcoming fantasy season.
3:16The rules that you want to live by this fantasy season.
3:19Okay. So do that or just get a tattoo.
3:22If you get a tattoo of a memento tattoo automatically, like you'll get, we'll just pick you.
3:27But we're going to go through, we're going to pick at random.
3:31And we don't have like a thousand codes, but we have more than like one or two.
3:36So if you see that, like, if you're like the hundred person.
3:40Somewhere between two and 1,000. Somewhere between two and 1,000.
3:43Pick a number. And yeah, comment on the Instagram.
3:46You have to follow us. That's the only other route.
3:49Follow the Instagram. And then, yeah, do a memento tattoo.
3:52Yeah. Also, a little bit before we get going, the hot quarterback rankings, we'll be doing that every, the first show of
3:59every week, the Monday of every week, we'll be revisiting that.
4:03So don't, we didn't just abandon it this episode.
4:06We're getting a lot of good buzz. People are pissed.
4:09And that's the ultimate goal. So we will be unveiling 16 through 13 on the next episode.
4:14Okay. Without further ado, let's get to the memento tattoos, a reference to a movie that most people have not seen about
4:21a person with amnesia that DK has also never seen.
4:24And so we might as well start with Danny Kelly.
4:27What is your first lesson that you forgot, but also really want to remember from last season as you go into drafts this year, Danny Kelly?
4:36Volume is king. That is what I want to remember the most.
4:39That's old school. It's such a generic basic one.
4:42Matthew Barry's been writing that for 30 years. It's like one of those old sailor tattoos, you know?
4:48I just want to remember that and focus on it and stop trying to get cute.
4:53Basically, volume is the only thing that really matters in fantasy football, especially at the running back position.
4:58And everything else is pretty much noise. Well, okay.
5:01Let me ask you, like why? Well, noise and volume is confusing because volume is also noise.
5:07That's true. Sure. Why this year, like, did you decide to revisit this?
5:11I'm getting back. I went back and listened to our podcast after the season.
5:15And I was like, something's missing here. Something's missing.
5:18It's just like the most basic rule. Who gets the ball the most?
5:22And also just the reminder, and I've seen multiple studies on this over the years.
5:27I've seen it from fantasy points. I've seen it from other outlets.
5:30The highest correlation year over year for running backs in terms of how many fantasy points you're going to score is how
5:37many fantasy points you scored the last year. And that all goes down to how many carries you had, how many snaps
5:44you had, and basically just the amount of opportunities that you have is the stickiest stat when it comes to running backs year over year.
5:52So you can talk about, oh, it's explosive run rate.
5:55Oh, it's yards per carry. By the way, yards per carry is wildly inconsistent year in and year out.
6:01You can look at all these different efficiency stats, and sometimes that works for you late in your draft.
6:07But early on, you really want to just focus on the big thing, which is the guys that got a ton of
6:14carries last year are probably more likely going to get a ton of carries this next year.
6:20So I'm just looking at a list. I literally just sorted by touches per game.
6:24The guys with over 18 touches a game last year, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, Bucky Irving, Saquon Barkley, Devon A.
6:31Chan, Derrick Henry, Ashton Gentty, Jameer Gibbs, and Quinchon Judkins.
6:34The name that stands out to me, well, a couple of names stand out to me in this one.
6:40Bucky Irving is the big one, and I think this is going to be a huge test for this rule because right
6:47now the vibes around Bucky Irving are pretty horrific.
6:50But maybe just sticking with this rule is why I'm going to take Bucky Irving more often than not because I think
6:57even though they've made changes in their offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have, I still can see a situation where he ends
7:04up just being their lead back once he's healthy.
7:07Do you think this only applies to all those guys you named, those running backs?
7:11Those are generally guys you would take in the first two or three rounds.
7:16Yeah. It's like, are there players that don't fit that mold that are going in the first two or three rounds that
7:23you're like, this is an example of why you shouldn't take this guy and you should take this guy?
7:29Like, who are the non-volume guys in the first three rounds that you think this rule helps you not select?
7:35You mean the guys that I'm kind of avoiding based on this rule?
7:39So, there's a couple guys. Kyron Williams kind of stands out, if I'm understanding your question correctly.
7:44Like, he has last year been among the running backs with the most snaps.
7:49He was, I think, like seventh or eighth in snaps last year.
7:52But I think if you look at how the season went along, he really kind of trailed off in terms of Blake Corham got a lot more carries.
8:01So, he's one of those guys where I'm like, I'm not really sure I want to follow that rule to the T.
8:08And that is kind of just one example. But for the most part, like I'm looking at, just if you look at
8:15snaps, there are a couple guys that really stand out to me.
8:19Javante Williams from the Cowboys. He's a guy that I don't think we talk about enough because he's going to get a ton of carries.
8:27He's going to get a ton of snaps in this offense.
8:30I don't think there's a ton of competition for him.
8:33The other one is Ashton Gentry, who was super supremely disappointing his rookie year.
8:38But he's still going to be a high volume guy.
8:41And he's going to have way more opportunities than almost any other running back.
8:45So, I think the bottom line is with this lesson to me is less just you should feel good about taking these guys with a lot of carries.
8:54And more, there's a way to potentially find breakout players next year.
8:58And it means you don't want to look at any of these teams.
9:02You want to look at the teams that don't have a guy with a ton of returning carries.
9:08So, like, for instance, the Jaguars. They got rid of Travis Achan, ETN.
9:12That is an opportunity there for a new guy to emerge, the Panthers.
9:16I do feel like you have to say Achan, ETN.
9:19When he just said that, I was like, DK, that's not his name.
9:23And then I was like, oh, wait, it is his name.
9:26You have to say ETN after Achan. Otherwise, people are going to think that you don't know what you're talking about.
9:33And you're combining Devon Achan and Travis ETN. So, it's very tricky.
9:37The artist formerly known as Travis ETN. That's honestly maybe smart.
9:40If we're reverse engineering this, I think one of my points is basically, like, ignore the teams.
9:46You don't have to really worry about the teams other than handcuffs of the guys that have a lot of carries that are coming back next year.
9:54But my pushback is, like, aren't you just naming all the best running backs in the NFL?
9:59Like, aren't you just naming the top 10 running backs that you would select in the draft anyway?
10:05Some of them. But, I mean, again, this is one of the reasons I brought this up.
10:10Bucky Irving. I don't know what to do with that guy.
10:14I think Judkins with the Browns was on that list of guys with a lot of touches every game.
10:20Like, what do we do with that team? I think the Kyron Williams one is the first one I thought of, but in the inverse.
10:28In that a guy that going outside the top.
10:31Like, to your point, Craig, yeah, 90%. Almost all the guys going early in the rounds are because we're going to get the ball a lot.
10:39Like, it's not something we forgot about. Like, everyone ranked is almost loosely ranked by how much they would get the football, more or less.
10:47But I think, to your point, I think Blake Corum is an example of a player that could join that group.
10:53Who are the people that could join? I think Blake Corum, by the end of the season, might be the lead back
11:00for the Los Angeles Rams, who probably love the best offense in the NFL.
11:04That's an example of, well, people look at the spreadsheets and look at that.
11:09And I'm like, yeah, but based on everything I know about Sean McVay and what I've seen from Blake Corum and what
11:16I know about Blake Corum when he was at Michigan, what I saw from him last year, I think that people are,
11:23for reasons I could dive into, I think really underrating that I think Blake Corum will have that job, the lead back
11:30role by the end of the season. So he's a player going in like an eighth round pick, and Kyron Williams is
11:36like a third round pick, but I bet in 2027 that'll be flipped and that Blake Corum will be a top 30 player.
11:44And I think to DK's point, like, that's exactly what we want to do.
11:48Who's going to get a lot of touches on the best offenses?
11:52I mean, a guy that pops into my head is Basial Tootin on Jacksonville, right?
11:57Yes. Like, the competition is very thin there. Etienne, the artist formerly known as Travis Etienne, is gone.
12:02That's a guy that you could see getting 15 to 20 touches a game starting week one.
12:08Let me throw this name at you, DK. Mm-hmm.
12:10Tony Pollard. Yeah. He's another one that really stuck out in a lot of instances for me.
12:16We've kind of forgotten about that guy. So are you saying you might be into him now?
12:21Yes. I think even though it's a bad team and it probably violates some of our other rules that we're going to
12:28talk about here, volume ultimately is king. If you're looking for a good running back, too, with at least a little bit of a floor.
12:36I mean, Pollard had 16 touches per game last year.
12:39He had a 62% snap rate, which even though that doesn't sound very high, is like relatively high in the NFL these days.
12:46That is, let's see here, 15th overall among running backs last year.
12:50And so, I mean, yeah, he's a guy that I would circle in terms of like someone that we're not really talking
12:57about that probably is just going to, again, get a lot of volume and a lot of carries and be in there all the time.
13:05And that's ultimately what you want in fantasy. Like, let's stop talking about the next guy up and just talk about the
13:12guy who got the lion's share of the work last year.
13:15Brees Hall, probably another guy who fits that mold.
13:18Yeah. And I think the one, there's one team, I think that's an interesting one this offseason and we have to kind
13:25of watch how this goes, but like the Packers with Josh Jacobs and Josh Jacobs has this legal situation right now.
13:31And last year, I think he averaged like 18 touches a game.
13:35What happens if he gets suspended? What happens if he ends up not playing this year?
13:40So there's a lot of, that to me is why you look at sort of the vacated volume in an offense and
13:47try and ignore the ones that are returning heavy volume guys and find the teams that have new guys coming in.
13:54Where is this tattoo on your body? It's on my arm.
13:57So I can see it every day. Thanks. It's on my arm.
14:01On my arm. It's right here. All the way up my arm.
14:05So your wrist. Under the wrist. Like under the forearm.
14:08Is this my arm? Sorry, geez. Well, it's the radius and the ulna, right?
14:12I don't know where the bones are. The ulna is the bone under, kind of going on the pinky side and the radius is on the thumb side.
14:21All right. We're just getting back to basics, all right?
14:24Speaking of, kind of getting back to basics. My first tattoo, based on last year, looking into this year, is the name
14:31of the tattoo that I have right across my forehead, so you can't miss it, is get you a man that can do both.
14:39And what I was talking about at the end of last season, and I think this trend that we've been seeing is
14:46that running quarterbacks were obviously the cheat code. That was the new hot thing.
14:50You wanted to get a running quarterback because it was just like, you know, the Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts over
14:57the last five years have been just a massive separator compared to a lot of the pocket passers where maybe you can
15:04get lucky and hit on a Matt Stafford who throws 45 touchdowns in a season, but if you don't, it's a lot
15:11harder to get that upside than with a guy who can run.
15:15What's changing, I think, is I don't know if that's true anymore, but like, I almost think the NFL is catching up
15:21where most good quarterbacks are also good at running, and the best quarterbacks on the best team in the NFL are closer
15:28to dual threat than not, and I went back and I basically looked at the best quarterbacks in fantasy five years ago
15:35versus today, and it's pretty interesting that five years ago, really only four good quarterbacks were also running quarterbacks, and it was
15:42Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, and Kyler Murray.
15:45Only four, there were other quarterbacks who ran, Zach Wilson, Ryan Tannehill, Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold ran a lot that season, so
15:52they had a large percentage of their fantasy points came from rushing, which is what you want, but they weren't scoring that
15:59many fantasy points because they weren't that good, and so really, it was like only four-ish quarterbacks that were like actually good
16:06at playing quarterback were also runners, and if you look at 2025, you go five years later, I counted about 12 good
16:13quarterbacks that were also getting like three, four, five plus fantasy points per game from rushing, and it's the same four, Josh
16:20Hurts, Lamar, but you have Drake May, Trevor Lawrence, Mahomes, Dart, Herbert, Nix, Brock Purdy, Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Jaden Daniels, I
16:26would add Caleb Williams, I mean, I would add Kyler Murray on Minnesota back into that, even Tyler Shuck was running a
16:33lot at the end of last year, and so basically, unless you hit on Dak, Burrow, Stafford, or Goff, and they throw
16:40for 40 touchdowns, every other good quarterback in the NFL kind of runs now, and so I think there's a bit of
16:47a flattening effect where I do think Josh is still number one, but the difference between one and 12 now, I do
16:54think is a little bit flatter, and so it's, I think the return, it's funny, when we started the show back in
17:012020, we talked about like the late round QB and can you hit on these guys, and then it kind of went
17:08away, and like in the 2020s, we were like, just take Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, and now I'm kind of like,
17:15eh, you probably could wait for Justin Herbert or Jackson Dart or Brock Purdy or Caleb Williams, and you'll probably be fine.
17:22But to be clear, you're not saying don't get a running quarterback, you're saying there are now so many running quarterbacks that
17:29you don't have to pay up and you can kind of just trip your way into it.
17:34It used to be like, man, if you didn't get a top, the top four quarterbacks were the only quarterbacks that ran,
17:41now it's like, the top 12 quarterbacks run. I mean, I think, I mean, what do you think, DK?
17:47Yeah, I mean, I'm just looking at the numbers in terms of rushing fantasy points per game last year.
17:53Craig mentioned it. There's a handful of guys, there's like 7, 8, 9, guys or whatever that have over 3.5 fantasy points per game just from rushing.
18:01And so, and it is pretty, I think honestly, as Craig said, there's more emphasis on running.
18:07These guys are better athletes and you can get guys like Daniel, even Daniel Jones still runs a lot even with his history of injuries.
18:15You got Bo Nix and Brock Purdy who add a little bit in the rushing game, Caleb Williams, Tyler Shuck.
18:21The guys who don't run, there's only a handful of guys who don't run in the top like 15 quarterbacks.
18:27It's like Stafford who had no fantasy points from running.
18:30Well, it just kind of felt like it used to be that unless you were elite, Josh Allen, if you were a
18:37quarterback that ran half the time, it was because you were bad at throwing.
18:42And it would be like Zach Wilson and Justin Fields had to bail and run and that's why they had good fantasy
18:48production from a running standpoint because they weren't good.
18:51And now it's like, oh no, most of the good quarterbacks are just good at both.
18:56And now it's just a part of the game plan rather than an escape hatch.
19:01Josh Allen and so I feel the least obligated to reach for Josh Allen than I think I've ever been since we've been doing this show.
19:09Yeah, it's maybe not like late round quarterback, but it's later round at least.
19:14I think it is late round quarterback. I mean, I know I keep saying this, it's a dumb, I keep repeating myself
19:20the last few episodes, but if you're in a 12 team league, the last quarterback, the last starting quarterback drafted will be
19:27either like Patrick Mahomes or Jackson Dart or Kyler Murray or Trevor Lawrence or like, I mean, Dak Prescott or reigning MVP Matt Stafford, like Bo Nix.
19:36One of those people will be the last quarterback starting quarterback taken and Brock Purdy and Jared Goff, those guys wouldn't even
19:43be close to being a top 12 guy at the position.
19:46So it's very deep. I mean, this is stepping on something I was going to talk about later, but like Kyler Murray
19:53is a good example of this later where Kyler Murray is and again, it's weird to look at like fantasy average draft is like it's July.
20:01Like, you know, we'll see where people really end up ranked, but Kyler Murray in a lot of platforms is actually ranked
20:08lower this year than he was last year, even though Kyler Murray now is in Minnesota with Kevin O'Connell as head coach
20:15and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkinson and like a pretty incredible offensive infrastructure in Minnesota and Kyler Murray is
20:22just probably going to be available as like the 10th quarterback and I just think that hammers home your point, like you can just wait.
20:30Even Jaden Daniels is going literally 30 spots later than he was last year even though, okay, he sprained his knee in week two.
20:37Like how much has really changed with that? And so, yeah, it's, you really have multiple places to get a rushing quarterback
20:44whereas in the past you really had like a specific spot or two.
20:48Yeah, there's like 12 guys who run for like 35 yards a game maybe get a touchdown.
20:54The only two separators are like Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts are probably the only two that can get you like 10 plus touchdowns.
21:01Trevor Lawrence had nine last year like you never know like six foot Herbert and Trevor Lawrence the six foot six tall
21:08whites like they can run they run all the time.
21:11Yeah, I can't, I just, I know that Lamar Jackson was hurt for a lot of last year but it's just incredible
21:18looking at what he did last year relative to what we're used to.
21:22I mean, he's never before averaged fewer than six fantasy points per game just as a runner.
21:28Think about that like the edge you get as just a six point boost every game from your quarterback just from running
21:35and last year he averaged three, you know, 3.6 points per game running and that is just like so different from what
21:42we are used to and that matters. I mean, he averaged only 16 points per game.
21:47He's like the quarterback, I don't know, like 15 or 16 last year.
21:51He's probably gonna, probably gonna get back up to the top 10 this year at least.
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22:42All right, TK, what's your next rule? Let's see.
22:45And where is it tattooed? Yeah. A yarn? This one's old school, right across my chest.
22:50Ride with the Wild Hogs. Guys, have you ever seen the movie Wild Hogs?
22:55Of course. Of course. Just a classic. The point is you cannot replace years and years of life experience.
23:01Wild Hogs, by the way, is the movie with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, and Bill Macy.
23:06That rips. It's like a bunch of old guys.
23:09Marissa Tomei. Forgot. Ray Liot is the villain. Marissa Tomei is in that.
23:13Wow. Yeah. I saw that in theaters. You saw that in theaters?
23:17I think I did. Oh my God. When you were 12, who'd you go with?
23:22I don't know. You went with your folks? Or what?
23:25I can tell you who you went with your dad.
23:28I don't know. That's funny. I stopped seeing my dad's greatest, one of the largest mistakes my dad made was he convinced,
23:35I don't know how he convinced my mom to take me to The Departed when it came out in theaters and I was like in fifth grade.
23:43Wow. That was, we never went to the movie as a family ever again.
23:48I mean, the plot of Wild Hogs is just like four old guys going on a cross-country trip.
23:53It's kind of like- That's what I want to do this year.
23:57It's kind of like The Hangover, but for 60-year-olds was kind of the plot of the movie.
24:03Name the stars again, Craig? Just a motley crew here.
24:06Tim Allen, Travolta, Bill Macy, and Martin Lawrence. Wow.
24:09Anyway, so this is kind of tangential to what I was saying before with like the volume thing.
24:14It's like, if you had a lot of volume last year, you're going to get a lot of volume this year.
24:21It's just so much harder for young players to unseat established veterans who have been playing in the league for a long
24:28time and have, you know, big contracts, a lot of money and trust from the coaches.
24:33It's just harder to unseat those guys than people, I think, imagine and think going into the year.
24:38And so then you end up with these old, boring names.
24:42Names that guys have been, they've been on this, like in the draft app for years and years and years.
24:48You just get kind of sick of taking them.
24:51But guys like Devante Adams, Mike Evans, Derek Henry, Christian McCaffrey, obviously is not like really fitting into this, but even Travis Kelsey.
24:58I mean, McCaffrey's still going to be a very high pick, but I'm talking like Devante Adams, Mike Evans, these guys, when
25:05you see them in there, Travis Kelsey, even when you see them and you're like, I'm just sick of this.
25:11I don't want to do this anymore. I want the next, you know, up and coming guy, the really exciting one, even
25:18as much as we make fun of Travis Kelsey for how much he fell off last year.
25:24Guess what? He still scored the third most points among fantasy tight ends last year, which is kind of shocking.
25:30There's no way that that's true. Tight end nine in points per game.
25:34So obviously it helped that he played a lot of games, but I mean, he's still in there getting targets, you know,
25:41and if Patrick Holmes is healthy this next year, he's probably still going to be in the top like eight in fantasy points per game.
25:49And so, you know, you can kind of, I feel like, again, you're just kind of getting too cute a lot of
25:56times in these draft, take these guys that are established and we know they're good and they're still going to be big parts of their offense very clearly.
26:05Okay, but would you take Travis Kelsey and your fantasy team this year for a redraft league where you have, if you
26:11have one league, you're like, yeah, I'm going to roll with Kelsey.
26:15If I miss out on the first group of guys, sure, take a chance.
26:20You're like, yeah, third most points. I'm more like, I'm more like pointing at the third most points last year.
26:26Devontae Adams and Mike Evans, but yeah, sure, Travis Kelsey.
26:29What do you think that prenup's looking like? How many pages?
26:32I was wondering this. It's funny to think he probably has like a great lawyer, but she has like an army.
26:39Yeah, legitimately an army of lawyers. Like, I don't know how long a prenup is, but like their prenup has to be
26:46among the most intense of all time. Even just like defining what her income is, is probably like our gargantuan task.
26:53Did you see the New York Times had an article about how much did it cost?
26:58Like, what does it cost to rent out Madison Square Garden?
27:01No. My mom sent it to me and then I forgot to read it, but I wish I'd read it for the
27:08show and I'll read it for the next show.
27:11What's the price on shutting down multiple roads in Manhattan?
27:14How does that work? Apparently it's $500,000 to $800,000 just to get it.
27:18Actually, there is, the total cost just for the added police presence in those areas alone is probably about $300,000 for the day.
27:25Just for, I think the cops are the ones who shut down the roads.
27:30I think that is what the cost is. I don't know what reports are true and what aren't.
27:35There's like so many things about like, people were stuck in line for a long time waiting to get the buffet food.
27:42They had to stand and eat. I have no idea what's real or people are just throwing shit online to get aggregated.
27:49I don't know. Like there was a whole account about like how the food was a disaster and there was, it was
27:56a buffet line that was really long and people couldn't sit and eat.
28:00And I'm like, I don't, is that real? I have no idea.
28:04Welcome to the internet, Craig. So that's why I think social media is going to go away.
28:09Like if I had it, I think in five years, social media is not going to be around.
28:15That's my hot day. Really? Yeah, I do. Okay.
28:18Well, they're trying to change it. They're trying to, you can already see they're trying to, they're trying to tweak it because they know people are sick.
28:26I believe in dead internet theory a little bit where it is just bots.
28:31It's becoming bots, talking to bots. AI has made it impossible to decipher whether something is real or not.
28:37Everything is an ad. We did an episode in the town two weeks ago.
28:41Go listen to it about this article called The Feed is Fake.
28:45I'm like, I don't know if I, if I can't verify that anything I see online is true, why would I even look?
28:52Craig, do you know anyone in your real life who's on Twitter, like actively?
28:56I mean, yeah. I've like, I have friends who are on Twitter and like, you know, send memes and shit, but like, it's all just different.
29:05No, but they copy it. They copy the tweets and they send them to you.
29:09He's asking if people tweet. Oh, hell no. Nobody tweets.
29:12No. Just companies. I can't think of, I can't think of, I mean, I'm sure there are people in my life, like
29:19personal life that tweet, but I can't think of any right now.
29:23It's one of those things is like, it feels like Twitter is just for people who are terminally online.
29:29I feel very confident that like working in sports or whatever.
29:32I feel confident that our children's interaction and experience in relationship to social media will be very different than what ours is right now.
29:40Yeah. Well, there was, I mean, I think I talked to you guys about this probably a lot off the show, but
29:47I, even before Elon Musk bought Twitter, there was a stat that 98% of tweets came from 4% of accounts.
29:53Right. Which, I mean, if you think about like, like imagine a stadium of like, I don't know, Ann Arbor, like you
30:00think about or Cowboy Stadium, like 100,000 people and then every single word you heard was just from like, you know, 4% of those people.
30:08You'd be like, this is a weird, this is not representative conversation.
30:12And of those 4%, like 75% of those 4% is like ads.
30:16It's an ad. Well, the thing I think about all the time.
30:1925% are like certifiably nuts. I don't know. I can't, I'm like, how worth it is it so that I can see
30:26Adam Schefter tweet that somebody got traded or would somebody just send it to me?
30:31Like my only fear is that will I miss out on news?
30:35So two things on that. One, don't forget to go to our Memento Tattoo Instagram post, like and follow, comment for the Madden download codes, not an ad.
30:43Not an ad. Right, Craig? No. It's an honest ad though, you know, we're upfront about it.
30:49Yeah, exactly. Just comment. What are we, what are the commenting, Cloyce or no, Memento Tattoo?
30:54Try to give you free shit, all right? I know, come on.
30:58Not an ad. The second thing was, I think the fact that we, that tangent was much more interesting than Travis Kelsey
31:05is a bad sign for this drafting old players rule DK.
31:08I feel like we're not going to follow through on this.
31:11There's one player in this list I actually want on my team at cost.
31:16Derek Henry. I think Derek Henry is the guy that will fall to the end of the second round and I'll take every time.
31:23If you want to not take Derek Henry in the beginning of the second round, you're like, well, I'll take Ashton Jensi
31:30with the Raiders now that they have Clint Kubiak running, you know, that offense he came from Seattle.
31:36Or, you know, there's a bunch of players or Marion Hampton with the Chargers now that they have Mike McDaniel.
31:42I'm not going to argue for that's dumb. I'm not going to be like, oh yeah, you don't want the oldest running back in the league.
31:50You're an idiot. That's fine. I just think that what we've learned about aging in sports is it's not unreasonable to fear
31:57the age cliff, but until the age cliff happens, guys keep going and that is pretty precipitous.
32:03Look at the World Cup. Look at Messi versus Ronaldo.
32:06Messi's 39. You want to use crazy stats of everything?
32:09Everyone's been talking all World Cup that Messi has the most goals ever in the World Cup and Mbappe is going to
32:16catch him immediately because Mbappe is like nine years younger and almost has the record.
32:21But what I didn't know is that Messi only had six goals in the World Cup till he was 35.
32:27Then Messi has like 14 since turning 35. Like he has almost tied the record again.
32:32And that's why you draft Travis Kelsey. And there you go.
32:35Well, or is he Ronaldo who has basically been dragged onto the Portugal team and they might have been better if they had never played him.
32:43But like those are, that is a pretty good framework of you keep going and going.
32:49I think Derrick Henry is like a LeBron, like a Messi, like where he is the first of it, like just exactly
32:55as he good or almost 90 plus percent as good as he was in his prime.
33:00And again, we joked about it, but we have a Dynasty League at the trade deadline.
33:05I tried trading him away to all the other contenders.
33:09I was kind of being a bitch and I was selling.
33:12And I was like, if anyone gives me a first round pick in any year, I will trade Derrick Henry.
33:18No one did. And then I won the league by accident because no one took it and then he had 50 fucking points.
33:26Yeah. And it's like, I'm going to do that again.
33:29This is to me what the memento tattoos are for.
33:32I don't care that he's the oldest running back in the NFL.
33:36He's still got it. The funny thing is that I totally agree with you.
33:40Last year, Derrick Henry, you talking about O'Marion Hampton, who's like this like young upside, cool, sexy guy, this new offense.
33:47Derrick Henry last year had 1,600 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
33:50Is that not the best case scenario for O'Marion Hampton?
33:53Like if O'Marion Hampton did that, it would be like the 1% outcome and Derrick Henry just does that every year.
34:00Better yet, Lamar was hurt so much of last season.
34:03Look up what Derrick, while you have in front of you, look up what Derrick Henry did the year before.
34:09I think the quietest season like this I've ever seen.
34:12Yeah, he literally had over 2,000 all-purpose yards and 18 touchdowns.
34:16Derrick Henry was overshadowed by the sake one year.
34:19Derrick Henry was at, what, 40 yards off having 2,000 rushing yards at 30 years old, 31?
34:24Yeah. Like only six people or seven people had ever done that ever and he almost did it the same year as Saquon.
34:31Like that was two years ago and Lamar was healthy.
34:34I don't know. Derrick Henry is a good example to me.
34:38This dovetails with my, one of my tattoos which is a tramp stamp right on the old back, small on my back.
34:45Beware of the team that just lost their awesome play caller.
34:48Yeah. You know, looking at Jackson Smith and Jigba last year with Kubiak who's now in Vegas, like, you know, there's a
34:55lot of new coordinators this year but I would really say there were, I think there's really only two teams that I
35:02would say lost their awesome play caller and it's Seattle and it's Miami which Miami, you probably don't have to worry anyway
35:09because I don't think there's anybody that relevant that you'd be drafting but Seattle is like really the, the, the only one
35:16that you can really spend some time on. Their, their new offensive coordinator is Brian Flurry who I feel like we've spent very little time talking about.
35:24He, he was with the Niners for six years as their, uh, tight end coach and run game coordinator.
35:30Um, I guess I should ask you, DK, because, because the example is if you look at 2025, uh, the Bucs, the
35:37Lions, and the Eagles, they all lost their awesome offensive play caller, right?
35:41Uh, the Eagles lost Kellen Moore, the Lions lost Ben Johnson, obviously, and the Bucs lost Liam Cohen and all those teams had really, really messy seasons.
35:50So, DK, how do you feel about Seattle without Clint Kubiak?
35:53I don't like how you set that up for me.
35:56Everything's gonna be fine, Craig. In fact, maybe it'll be better.
36:00Probably be better. Better? Two Super Bowls? Sure. Why not?
36:03A double Super Bowl. Yeah. well, we're gonna put the Patriots first game of the season just like double or nothing.
36:10That's two right there. It was an incredibly, like, you guys can have our rings if you beat us, but if you,
36:16they should put the, the, the Malcolm Butler Super Bowl ring on the table.
36:21Yeah. Oh, wow. Double or nothing, dude. Um, incredibly leading question, but I do agree that it's based on fact.
36:27So, how dare you? It is nerve wracking that we don't basically, and you said we don't, we haven't talked about Brian Fleury a lot.
36:35Well, that's because we just like, don't know anything about, we have no, nothing concrete other than what people say about him, which is he's like detail oriented.
36:44That's why they liked him. That's why they brought in a guy from the outside.
36:49He's really good on the whiteboard. We got to keep track when someone says a coordinator is not detail oriented.
36:55We got to keep that's the tight end. I think I'm trying to remember who I saw this from.
37:01Um, anyways, it was a report from the off season and it's basically like, why did the Seahawks not go with, they
37:08had several like candidates from their own team that were like kind of up and coming guys, really smart, you know, potential play callers.
37:15And they hired this guy from the 49ers. And I think that says how much they are impressed with him.
37:22But that is again, just like a guess. Like we don't actually know what this guy can do.
37:27So yeah, I'm nervous. And if you also look at what Kubiak did in his season with the Seahawks and what he
37:34was doing with the, uh, saints offense with like Derek Carr early on before they had horrific injuries and Carr got hurt.
37:41Um, and I'm like, man, I'm kind of worried about like the fall off here and what we could, what we could see.
37:48Plus the Seahawks are going to have a target on their back.
37:52It's hard to, hard to recreate, you know, a Superbowl season like they had.
37:56So, um, um, I do think you have to kind of expect the Seahawks offense to, to fall off a little bit like efficiency wise.
38:04And that's going to hurt JSN potentially. Plus I think JSN also has, is going to have more competition this year from the, in the target game.
38:13Like they're just, you know, I think Rashid Shaheed is going to be more ingrained in the offense.
38:18He's finding more comfort in the offense. He's been a big talking point in Seattle this off season.
38:24Um, they have a couple of tight ends that are interesting.
38:27Um, and I think it's just going to be more spread the wealth a little bit than what we saw last year with Jason.
38:35It's not going to be like super dramatic, like different, but enough to make it.
38:40So you're probably going to be overpaying for Jason if you're taking like top three, top four.
38:45It's a good point. The Seahawks, I mean, they got away all season basically with, we will get JSN in a position
38:52to be the main target in every quarter basically.
38:55And the only time that they really were disrupted when the Rams were able to stop getting him, getting the ball.
39:01And I think every defense is going into Seattle this season and going to say anyone, but JSN and Seattle now it's like Tori Horton.
39:09And you mentioned, you know, yeah, AJ Barner at tight end.
39:13And also they have Elijah Royo, the tight end.
39:16I think you're right. Like those guys actually are in a position to step up in a way that they were not
39:22as rookies last year and they will have to.
39:25I'm a little worried for JSN, but being a hundred percent honest, you said that we don't know anything concrete about Brian Fleury.
39:33And so I'm on his Wikipedia. It's not that it's not that interesting.
39:37He's from Germantown, Maryland, Germantown, Maryland. Okay. Settled by the Germans.
39:40But yeah, he, he was a. What alarms me about him is that his age is not listed on Wikipedia.
39:46I don't like that. Oh, wow. You're right. Well, he, Maryland, he could kick ass in little.
39:52We don't know when he was born. Yeah. That's a great point.
39:55Well, he interned and graduate assistant at Maryland in 03.
39:59So does that mean he was born in 1980?
40:01Yeah, I guess, I guess. Or he's, he was done with college in 03.
40:06He was a, yeah, intern and graduate assistant. So he's probably, he's a, he was all Metro.
40:11He graduated from Maryland in, in 98. So probably, yeah, 1979, 1980.
40:15Well, undefeated record in state championship for Maryland in 1998.
40:18Wow. Undefeated state champ. Yep. All right. Well, that's something, that's something good.
40:22I can take that. JSL be fine. No, I, I think looking at like the, the wider receiver position, I see no
40:29world in which you would ever draft JSN over Puka or Jamar Chase, to be honest, because like, you know what you're getting with those other two guys.
40:38And there's a lot, there is uncertainty. Like if you wanted to tell me CeeDee Lamb or Amon Ra was a safer
40:45bet with JS, than JSN, I'd be like, okay.
40:48I, I really need to see a single report that says Puka seems very focused and I'm like, he should probably be like the first pick.
40:56I saw him, I saw him getting golf lessons on, online, which, oh shit.
41:00From George Gankus, that guy? Ooh, I don't know.
41:03That fame, he does, he's like a myth, the guy at the driving range in LA.
41:08But Puka swing was okay. I got to tell you, well, you know my rule about golf.
41:13Yeah. No one's ever gotten better at their job after learning to play golf.
41:18It's never happened. LeBron's been okay. He didn't get better.
41:21He got worse. Well, he's 40, but yeah. He's doing good, but he's still worse.
41:26He's doing pretty good for 40 years. Well, you know why?
41:29Because he took his career seriously. Actually, wait a minute.
41:32He didn't start in 20s or 30s. I have a great counter.
41:36Steph Curry's always been awesome at golf. He's good, but when did he learn?
41:40I think he, I don't think he was playing as a kid.
41:44I think he started learning while he was in the NBA.
41:48I would like to know because he might be the exception.
41:51I just like, there is a weird track record of athletes picking up golf at like 26 and then their career tanks.
41:58I get it. It takes over your life. It has, it's strangling me and I love it.
42:03Yeah. It's an auto-erotic relationship I have with golf.
42:06Hi, Fitz. What was the quote you said the other day?
42:10Uh, that you misquoted, uh, Game of Thrones. Oh, uh, oh, I don't know what you're talking about.
42:15Woman's cock. The other day, it was February. Wine woman's cock around my neck.
42:20What are you? A community? The other day. Uh, speak.
42:23What a great segue into, uh, my tattoo across my back.
42:26Shoulder blades is avoid toxic situations in people. Okay.
42:29This one is actually the way I feel the most.
42:32This is the strongest one. What is your 2026 version of that?
42:36Arizona, the Arizona Cardinals. I won't have any. And honestly, the Miami Dolphins too.
42:40Arizona. I won't have any Cardinals. I'm sorry. Jeremiah love.
42:44No chance. No fucking chance. I don't want any part of this team.
42:48I think the Cardinals are, they won three games last year.
42:51I'm not a hundred percent sure they'll win three games this year.
42:55I think this is the Cardinals in Miami are actively tanking and they're trying to get the number one.
43:01I think these teams will, the Cardinals and Dolphins will have the worst picks in the draft.
43:06They will have the worst records in their respective conferences.
43:09I know that Trey McBride's like was the best tight end in the NFL last year.
43:14He's a great player. I don't want him on my team this year is Jeremiah Love, you know, literally the third pick in the draft.
43:22I think he's going to be a classic. People are mad about his usage all year.
43:27Tyler Algier is going to play, but mostly fantasy football rankings, projections, models have a giant blind spot, which is the feeling
43:34of having a player on the worst team in the NFL and then playing them in like week six.
43:40And then the team doesn't score any fucking points and you knew it was going to happen and you feel like an idiot.
43:47And Arizona is like the ultimate example of this to me because, you know, it's easy to be like, don't take the Browns or don't take the Jets.
43:56Realistically, those teams are better this year. The Cardinals have the hardest schedule in the NFL per Warren Sharp.
44:02By the way, how does that work? I always thought if you're a last place team, you have a last place schedule.
44:09It's because they play in the NFC West. They got bad luck.
44:13It's because it's the revision. It's probably the, I would say the Cardinals have a chance to be the least competitive in
44:20their division ever because they literally with the Seahawks and Rams, the two top Super Bowl contenders and the Niners are the third best team.
44:28They also got bad luck because the Lions came in last in the NFC North.
44:32So you play the other last place teams, but congratulations, you have to play.
44:37The fucking Lions are one of your bad teams.
44:39Brutal. So like that's seven games. Half their schedule right now is Niners, Seahawks, Rams, and Lions.
44:45That's a bad start. Yeah. So anyway, I just, you can disagree with me on that or whatever, but if there are
44:52teams that you just think are going to be abysmal, like I think Carson Beck will be playing for like all of
44:59December for the Cardinals and I just want nothing to do with that.
45:03I feel the same way about Miami who's trying to lose games.
45:06I don't want to have players on the worst teams in the league.
45:11Yeah, the Cardinals are an interesting one because in addition, I mean, obviously look, Trey McBride's awesome and you don't have a
45:17ton of options at tight end, so maybe Trey McBride is the one exception to this, but for the most part, it's
45:24what are the odds we're going to see Jacoby Brissett averaging like 40 pass attempts per game like he did last year or whatever it was.
45:33He set the record for most pass attempts in a game.
45:36That is not going to happen again. Also, don't forget, if you have any thoughts on Mike, the new head coach, Mike
45:43LeFleur's philosophy into passing, it's they took a running back at three.
45:47Right. So I'm not bullish about any of this.
45:49Also, they were the last team to get a head coach.
45:53He was the 10th out of 10 hired and you're their offensive coordinator.
45:57Do you know the Cardinals offensive coordinator? It's Nate Hackett.
46:00The Cardinals, like from a player point of view, trash organization, like the players hate this organization, hate the ownership, hate the management, all that.
46:08Really hard schedule, very unlikely to repeat the type of play that they had last year, which was fantasy friendly.
46:14It's just an absolute, what do you do with the Marvin Harrison versus Michael Wilson conundrum?
46:19It's like, I don't know who to pick in that.
46:22It's going to be like game in and game out.
46:26I know. Just don't pick them. I think that's where I was going.
46:30It's like, just probably better off staying away from Arizona.
46:33Are we going to, out of respect, are we going to rank Michael Wilson higher than Marvin Harrison though?
46:39Yeah. I think we should. But the answer is don't pick them.
46:43Who are the other teams in here that you, like, vibes wise?
46:46Like the Jets, I think, are just like permanently on that list.
46:50They're not having the greatest offseason in terms of, well, recently anyway.
46:54Um, and I think the real question is Cleveland.
46:57Cleveland. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think don't take Browns or Jets as a good rule.
47:02I think they could be, they have a better shot to be good this year than I think Cardinals or the Dolphins
47:09do, but I don't want Garrett Wilson. I'm tired.
47:12If Garrett Wilson has a great season with Geno Smith, I'm going to miss it.
47:17That's fine. Cleveland, Harold Fannin, the tight end, he was amazing last year, but like Todd Monkens an interesting guy that run
47:23the Cleveland offense, but I kind of just don't want, if I, if you have to decide how you're going to lose
47:30and if I don't, if I lose my leagues this year, because I didn't have any Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, then wow, what an interesting season.
47:39wow, Deshaun Watson, the surprise comeback of the decade.
47:42He was great this year. that's fine. Yeah, I'll survive.
47:45The one other team I was kind of looking at, like the offseason hasn't been kind to them and the Titans, the vibes just don't seem good.
47:54What do you mean? The, the, the reports around Cam Ward and many camps has been really bad.
47:59New coaches, whatever. There's just not a ton of great vibes.
48:03So what do we do with Cardinal tape? Because this is a, you think you're, you're like, you're stoked about, you're stoked
48:10about the Titans, but no, but you think the Titans are on par with like the Dolphins and Cardinals and Jets and not the Cardinals.
48:17How are we writing off the Titans already? They have, like we haven't even gotten started yet.
48:23I'm just getting ahead of the game. That's okay.
48:26Damn, having a training camp, we're out? I, I don't think the vibes are particularly great.
48:31How about that? But this was a, more of a segue for me because one of my rules for a long time
48:38has been don't let go of rookie receivers. Basically, like second half of the year, rookie receivers have, over the last like
48:44five years, been one of the most valuable assets you can have in fantasy.
48:49I mean, it's just like, it's a bunch of different guys.
48:52It's not just one or two. There's like 10 or 15 examples of guys over the last five years who have come
48:59on really, really strong in the second half of the year.
49:03So that Carnell Tate situation is going to be one that tests my resolve with this like rule.
49:08And I kind of want to, this is maybe a Polaroid for those who haven't really listened.
49:14Like in the movie, he takes Polaroids and he decides which ones he wants to accept it not.
49:19Yeah. So this is maybe just a suggestion, but get rid of the, hang on to rookie wide receivers and rookie wide
49:26receivers and hold on to all rookie pass catchers because if you look at what Colston Loveland did last year, I think
49:33you could just expand this out to tight ends as well and Harold Fan and some of these other guys.
49:39Like just rookie pass catchers in the second half of the year have been so valuable.
49:44Receivers or tight ends will let you know which after they are good.
49:49Right. Just hold on to all of them. That's the point.
49:52Just hold on. Yeah. It's like, just have like seven different receivers.
49:56No, it's like the stock market. You can't check it every day.
50:00You'll drive yourself nuts. Just wait. Great example. Yeah.
50:02Every three months, maybe look at it and see how things are going.
50:06Last year was not good for this rule. As I mentioned, Emeka Abuka looked strong to start the year, but he completely trailed off.
50:14I think that was injury related. Luther Burden was exciting at times, but ultimately it wasn't really that usable in fantasy.
50:21Matthew Golden was a no-show. Jaden Higgins, Jalen Noel didn't really get on the field enough.
50:26Pat Bryant for the Broncos was hit and miss.
50:28Kyle Williams barely got on the field. So that receiver group was not that great.
50:33But this year, I am actually feeling bullish again about the rookie receivers.
50:37I think particularly Jordan Tyson's really interesting because he's going to be on a team where he's the number two receiver, maybe
50:44even the 1A to 1B with Chris Alave in terms of volume.
50:48And I think the way that the Saints want to play football is high octane in terms of pace and run a
50:55lot of plays, throw a lot of passes. I think he's going to have an opportunity to be a really good rookie.
51:02And then the other guy that I'm circling, so there's a bunch of rookies that I think are interesting.
51:08Casey Concepciona is the guy I really love, but again, this is like, I don't know if I want to bet on the Browns.
51:15You don't want a Browns rookie? The second, you don't want a Browns rookie?
51:20I don't want a Browns rookie. Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper for the Jets, probably not going to be super high on my list of guys to draft.
51:28But the one guy I'm looking at right now that's interesting is Antonio Williams.
51:33This is related to the most recent Brandon Ayuk saga.
51:36Oh, I'd like to officially announce that I'm out on that.
51:39I don't care anymore. Yeah. Brandon Ayuk starts going after Jane Daniels on Instagram or whatever he's doing.
51:45I think that things are not going well right now for him.
51:49No, I do not think he's going to be on the Washington Commanders this year.
51:54Right. So that leads me to Antonio Williams who is ostensibly the number two receiver for the Commanders.
51:59I think he's in a very interesting one behind Terry McLaurin.
52:03So I don't know. To me, this is still a strong rule even though last year kind of let us down.
52:09And Heifetz is super in on Carnell Tate because he loves the Titans.
52:13I just love it. He's like the vibes are bad.
52:17Well, you're like the vibes are bad. He had a bad minicamp.
52:20I'm like, so he had bad. Yeah, yeah. So, and I don't really believe in the coaches that they hired.
52:27You don't like Sala. Do you want to get into this now or do you want to not on July 7th?
52:33I feel like I've probably done enough of that.
52:36But yeah, if you want to again, sure. What would you like to say?
52:40I mean, I don't like Brian Dable as head coach, but I think he, I could argue that he made every quarterback
52:47he worked with over nine years as a coordinator better from college at Alabama with Tua and Jalen Hurts, then Josh Allen,
52:54then got Daniel Jones to the playoffs. And won a playoff game with Daniel Jones.
52:59Then Daniel Jones, $120 million. Yeah. Like literally. And then Jackson Dart, like if you just look at every quarterback he worked
53:06with, whether or not he's a good head coach as a coordinator, I, I, every cook, every player like reached their potential
53:13with him or he made them better. And so I, I don't know, like it's a weird thing to just be out on.
53:20Uh, well, I'll still do it. Um, even if it is a weird thing.
53:24Fair enough. I see that, that I can respect.
53:27Uh, you know what though? Like honestly, Wanda Robinson, probably going to get like 120 targets.
53:32So just because it's a bad, that's the point.
53:35Just because it's like a bad financial decision over the course of a three-year cashflow, doesn't mean that the offense won't look better for one year.
53:43Like that happens all the time. You go to the stock market and like you, you guys are just saying like, just
53:50look at the rookies, like a stock, just don't sell week four.
53:54I think that's, that's a tattoo. I discovered on my thigh.
53:57I have this, uh, this tattoo called by the dip.
54:01I love this one. And, um, you know, it's, it's crazy.
54:04A lot of people think if you want to get rich, you should buy the peak and sell the dip, but I'm
54:11here for this groundbreaking advice people think that dip buy things when they're cheap and sell them when they're expensive.
54:17You know, that's my, um, groundbreaking analysis, but it is incredible consistently.
54:21You can do this by just looking at who people are afraid of.
54:25I think buying the dip sounds so great. And in practice, it's very difficult.
54:29Like sure. Oh yeah. I'm smart. That's great. It's easy.
54:33No, you put a name to it. I'm like to do.
54:36Yeah. Draft Brian Thomas Jr. From the Jaguars. You're like, no, he sucks.
54:40Right. But you should probably take that because last year he was the 14th overall like drafted player.
54:46And this year he's the 74th. He's dropped 60 spots because I don't know.
54:50He had like a bad couple months. And I'm like, yeah, that's probably all year too.
54:55Um, a lot of the, by the dip guys are just basically good players who got hurt.
55:01Yeah. Yeah. Jaden Daniels, Brian Thomas, like Bucky Irving, like you just go down the list and I'm like, you know, this
55:07is, there's a lot of players here. Vlad McConkey is probably my favorite somehow going around later than last year, even though Mike McDaniels is coordinator now.
55:16I'm like, yeah, just these guys will probably be a very good return.
55:20Yeah. If you know the guy is good and he had a bad year for whatever reason, I mean, Lamar Jackson's another good one.
55:28Like, yeah. I mean, what are you going to do?
55:31You're going to throw away the last six years of Lamar because he had one bad year with hamstring injuries.
55:37Probably not. What happened last year that Jaden Daniels should be going 30 spots later than he was a year ago.
55:44That doesn't really make sense. I'm a little skeptical that Washington's going to be any good at all this year.
55:50No, that's fair. But that was like such a ridiculous season.
55:53Like, that was such an outlier performance in terms of like what they were doing on fourth down.
55:59But I mean, I think Jaden himself is a legitimate superstar.
56:02I just like him disappointed with the players around him.
56:06I agree that I don't take Washington seriously as a playoff team.
56:09Like, I don't, I don't like when I look at the NFC East, I'm not like, oh, what about Washington?
56:16I don't, I think Jaden's a, but I don't want other fantasy players in the team.
56:21Like, that's the team that should bring in Stefan Diggs or something.
56:24I like, they need help. Who's the hardest player to buy the dip on this year?
56:29Because I'm looking at some, I'm looking at this list.
56:33I think Lad McConkie, as much as I love Lad, it does make me a little nervous what he did last year.
56:39he's the easiest one to me. He's the easiest one.
56:43To me, that's a hard one. I think the hardest one for me is Bucky Irving.
56:48I agree. I think it's Bucky Irving because there was, there was a lot going on there.
56:53There's role, there's injury, there's, it's straight, I mean, it's situation between him and the team and the injury was odd.
57:00Like there's a lot of pieces there that are strange and they brought in Kenny Gainwell.
57:05Well, I mean, yeah, MVP of the Steelers last year, Kenny Gainwell.
57:08And I think the fact that like Bucky Irving was not a first round pick.
57:13He was this guy that kind of came out of nowhere in this Liam Cohen Bucks offense that was like awesome.
57:20And then it just happened and you're like, holy shit, I guess he's a thing now.
57:25Liam Cohen leaves, Bucky Irving gets hurt, the Bucks aren't as good.
57:28And now you're like, what was real and what was it?
57:32I don't know. Right. Yeah. That one we'll have to dig into.
57:36Do you guys have any other tattoos or Polaroids you want to nominate?
57:40A Polaroid that I have that I'm thinking about that kind of, I don't know, I was thinking about it as we were preparing for this episode.
57:48I'm calling it the wide receiver upside equation, which is basically just the wide receivers that popped last year that you kind
57:55of didn't know about or didn't see coming or were drafted later that like finished as a top 10 guy.
58:01I'm like, why did that happen? And how can I do that again?
58:06And it's basically, in my opinion, very simple. It's quarterback plus play caller plus volume.
58:10And I want to look at five guys last year.
58:13Jackson Smith and Jigba was taken in like the third round, finished as a wide receiver too.
58:19George Pickens was drafted as the wide receiver 17, finished as wide receiver 5.
58:23Tett McMillan, the rookie, was drafted as the 23rd wide receiver, finished as the 15th.
58:28Devontae Adams was drafted basically as the 30th wide receiver off the board, finished in the top 10.
58:34And Chris Alave was getting taken outside the top 30 at wide receiver, finished in the top 6.
58:39And so I'm like, okay, a couple things that I think are easy to predict, like Devontae Adams, you're like, well, do they have the quarterback?
58:47Yes. Play caller? Yes. And like role slash volume?
58:50Yes. George Pickens, quarterback? Yes. Play caller? Schottenheimer? Yes.
58:53And the volume? Yes. Yes. The harder part was like, JSN and Chris Alave was like, well, we don't know the quarterback situation is.
59:01Right. Tyler Shuck and Rattler and then JSN was like, well, is it going to work?
59:06And then Ted McMillan is like, Bryce Young, but they had the play caller and he had the volume.
59:12I think those are the only five guys I looked at that were like, wow, these guys legitimately popped.
59:18They were not people that we expected to be top 10 guys and they were, and I was trying to figure out why.
59:25And so looking forward to 2026, the guys that I think are candidates for the quarterback plus play caller plus volume are Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall.
59:33I think you always got to throw a niner in there.
59:37Like what guys like a niner in there? Yeah.
59:40What like Kendrick Bourne can do in three weeks, you know, when there's no one else like he did last year.
59:46Evans and Pearsall, especially with Kittle out with Juwan Jennings gone.
59:50I think Roma Doonze on the, on the bears.
59:52You have the quarterback, you have the play caller and DJ Moore's gone.
59:56I think AJ Brown, man, on the fucking pats.
59:59You got the quarterback, you got the play caller, you got the volume.
60:03DJ Moore and the bills is kind of the same stuff as AJ Brown.
60:08I think Christian Watson on the Packers is like, you got the play caller, you got the quarterback and there's a lot less competition now in Green Bay.
60:17Maybe Josh Downs, Alec Pierce is hurt, Michael Pittman's gone.
60:20I don't know about the quarterback as much, but those are the kind of guys that I'm like, these are guys going
60:27like outside the top 15 other than AJ Brown, like at the position who I think could probably just finish top 10 at the end of the season.
60:35I'll be like, well, they had the quarterback, they had a good play caller and they had the volume.
60:41So that's what I'm thinking about. This is fascinating.
60:44I like this. I'm surprised you put O'Doons. Did you, did you mention Burden too?
60:49I think Burden is another guy that could throw in there.
60:52Sure. I wanted to pick guys. I was like, I love Luther Burden, but I wanted to pick guys who are like,
60:59I'm a little more certain are good. Right. I like this rule.
61:03I think this is, I love this list, Craig.
61:06I think this is spot on. And I just, it passes the, just make you say the receiver quarterback and play caller name.
61:13It's like, do you want to take AJ Brown with Drake man, Josh McDaniels?
61:18I do like, you know what I mean? And it's like, that's my issue with like Devon HN this year for Miami.
61:24It's like, do you want to take Devon Bobby Slowak are the coordinators where you go down the list and I'm like, yeah, DG Moore and Josh Allen.
61:33You know what I mean? Like that's Joe Brady is that coach.
61:37That sounds like that will work. And there's not a ton of competition against him.
61:42I wanted to check to make sure that like, I wasn't just selecting the guys who worked out and there was a
61:49ton of guys who didn't the only guy who I think really did not work out last year who qualified for this
61:56is Brian Thomas, who I thought had the play caller who had the quarterback and who had the volume and it didn't work.
62:03He's an example of like, I think he got hurt and he was like miscast and he just didn't.
62:09He was miscast. He wasn't like able to do a lot of the routes over the middle of the field base to oversimplify it.
62:16I think that it was supposed like, could he be Chris Godwin and he has to be Mike Evans?
62:22Because you can go through a lot of these guys.
62:25If you look at last year, like all the players drafted, very few of them check all three of those boxes.
62:32You can always find one or two boxes that they don't check.
62:36I'm like, oh, that's why that didn't work out.
62:39I'm really going to focus on the Bears guys, AJ Brown, DJ Moore, Christian Watson, and the Niners guys.
62:45I think those are the five or six candidates.
62:47So Ricky Pierce sold for that, I think I would add, because I think you're right about the Niners.
62:53The number one person on this list for me, number one is Lad McConkie.
62:58DK, what was the first thing you ever said to me about Lad McConkie?
63:02In college? He's white. Well, that goes unsaid, Craig.
63:05We just say he's deceptively fast. No, Lad McConkie, you said he's an absolute fucking baller, and you've only said that to
63:12me as your first comment about Lad McConkie and Brock Bowers, which I actually think he should be out of this list.
63:19But Lad McConkie is a baller, and I think Quentin Johnson's going to be doing all these crossers over the middle of
63:26the field, and Lad is just going to eat in this offense.
63:29And again, Mike Hampton's kind of like Thunder Lightning, and then Keaton Mitchell's going to be Lightning, Lightning, like he's going to
63:36be Devon HN, and then Hampton's going to be Raheem Oster.
63:40Mike Metano compared him to Terrell Davis. But I think this is going to be an incredibly concentrated passing game in Los Angeles, the Chargers.
63:48And I think Lad is the guy that is the second round pick next year that right now you can get in
63:55the 45th next year is going to be 15th.
63:57I had him as a maybe just because I was like slightly questioning the volume.
64:02I don't know. I hate myself for being scared of Quentin Johnson.
64:06Yeah. That's the problem? I know. I'm like Trey Harris, Quentin Johnson, and the Rondé.
64:11I actually think Trey Harris is good. But the only thing was I was like do I feel the same way about
64:18his volume and connection which maybe I'm overblowing. The other guy I should say is I think Ted McMillan again.
64:24I think Canales technically not calling plays. But I think that offense and Bryce and him is probably flying under the radar a little bit.
64:32I think Ted as a rookie was very professional and good.
64:35It's not rocket science but it also is easy to forget.
64:39This is the thing you should I think this is right.
64:42How good is the receiver? Who's the quarterback? Who's calling plays?
64:45And what's the competition? To be honest this highlighted guys for me that wouldn't have jumped off the page to me.
64:52Mike Evans and Pearsall DJ Moore I think Christian Watson Roma Dunze like these are not guys that I was heading into
64:59the season being like I'm all in on these guys but after doing this exercise I'm like oh maybe I should revisit these guys more.
65:07It's a good example of a couple guys that might be drafted near each other.
65:12Do you want Roma Dunze with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams passing volume but it's a hard way to guess that it's
65:18hard to be like last year we would have sounded pretty stupid in August if we were like I think the Cardinals
65:25would be so bad that Jacoby Percett will break the record for attempts in a game like that to a degree is
65:32not really doable so I think this is a good rule Greg yeah I mean it's like Ricky Pearsall next to like
65:39Xavier worthy do I trust the quarterback with Xavier worthy yes do I trust his volume no like Michael next to Michael
65:46Pittman do I trust the quarterback or the play calling no like there's just a lot of these that you can go
65:53through and be like all right at least with Pearsall I trust the quarterback I trust the play calling and I trust
66:00the volume and I think that's an example of like there's three checks there's two checks and there's one and Pittman is
66:07a good example where do I trust the quarterback coordinator etc and it's if it's two of the three or no or
66:14three like do you trust Michael Pittman do I want him on my team do I want to play him each week
66:21with Rogers just don't take him and I know we take someone else I think this is a good rule of thumb
66:28I do too any other Polaroid you guys want to hit before I got one this is like I think sort of
66:35aimed more for people who are casual fans of fantasy football just playing in their work league or whatever but this is
66:41something that has over the years for me really made a difference is make a plan have a plan to like go
66:48into your draft write it down write we turned the key on remember last year when we did the turn the key
66:55episode he wrote down all the people that we turned the key man like I want to draft this like three out
67:02of these one because I think Keaton Mitchell is the chance to be like he I think he's very cheap he's a
67:09good example he's a guy that's going to get like you know now he can probably go 130 he'll be like a
67:1612th round pick that by the time the drafts happen will probably like a ninth or 10th round he has to reach
67:23which is annoying but as of where he I would have the done thank you especially though Marion Hampton had an ankle
67:30injury last year and then Blake Corham I just think Blake Corham is the better running back than Kyron Williams plays because
67:37Sean McVay like Kyle Shannon and all these guys people get mad about playing time but everything on every iteration of how
67:44to do everything perfectly and that's why they all end up red shirting a year and I think Blake Corham Keaton Mitchell
67:51are like my absolute favorite two guys this is Vontae Mack no matter what meme it is though I just I like
67:57the idea of leaving and also Brian Thomas solely out of principle he's a first round pick that had 1400 yards as
68:04a rookie and then now is with Trevor Lawrence who played amazing and had an incredible December stretch and then the Jaguars
68:11figured out who they are and Brian Thomas is off season and he's going like near fucking like DK Metcalf and Cortland
68:18Sutton and I'm like who has more upside to win you your league I think you know I mean that's a good
68:25one honestly Coram kind of applies to another Polaroid that I was debating that I don't know the exact tattoo maybe it's
68:32yeah it's a Polaroid or it's like one of those like Hannah tattoos that comes off after a month there's just something
68:39about like mediocre running backs that everybody kind of overlooks just on teams with great play callers and I don't know just
68:46looking at last year like Travis Etienne Javante Williams and DeAndre Swift I literally have all three of those guys for the
68:53same reason I'm like everybody was kind of just like those guys aren't that good so I'm not into it meanwhile they're
69:00on good offenses with really smart play callers I think that's a perfect example and what they all have in common and
69:07I'll add a fourth name to and you act like they're 29 but Javante Williams had a bad injury but he's 26
69:13DeAndre Swift I don't want to get into that but he's also like 26 and then like they're all perfectly good guys
69:20in great offenses and the person I'd add to that that everyone wants to delete and make go away in exile is
69:27Ramondre Stevenson who I think will once again just be the number one running back for the Patriots Travion Henderson is going
69:34to be drafted two rounds ahead of Ramondre Stevenson and then the season is going to start and people are going to
69:41love the goal line work and love the blocking and love all the little things and Ramondre is going to be the
69:48number one running back for the Patriots again and everyone just wants to everyone is going to be so wrapped up in
69:55Travion Henderson also I would add Chase Brown who I think nobody ever talks about and because Joe Burrow only plays half
70:02of every season his numbers don't look that great but if you he's another guy I'm kind of like I think this
70:09group of guys is basically like yeah they're boring veterans but they're actually kind of still in their prime but they've been
70:16in the NFL for five years Javante is a great call Javante and Chase Brown are super similar to me dominate touches
70:23on an absolutely elite offense that's pass last year and now he's not high enough anything else any other Polaroids that's all
70:29I got all right I want to talk World Cup and I died by suicide two days later it's I mean it's
70:36a horrible story he was 24 his girlfriend was pregnant you probably are now remembering that this happened last season but I
70:43want to give an update on this from Mike Floria Pro Football Talk this is just from Mike Floria Pro Football Talk
70:50the website and this is from the article it's via release from the concussion and CTE Foundation Boston University CTE Center researchers
70:57diagnosed Marshawn Neeland with stage one chronic traumatic encephalopathy which is CTE and so stage one is the lowest level on a
71:04scale one to four and then Chris Nowinski who's the head of the concussion and CTE foundation had this quote and he said in a statement Mr.
71:13Neeland played in the modern era of concussion protocols and better helmets and yet he still developed CTE we have no reason
71:19to believe the current generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations concussion protocols do not prevent CTE because
71:26CTE is caused by repeated head impacts not just concussions and if we want to reduce CTE risk we must implement CTE
71:33prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number of strength of head impacts at every level of the game end quote my have
71:40you guys heard of I'm not a scientist but it's been explained to me by actual scientists that concussions get them it's
71:47like every hit is like throwing a rock in a river concussions are like a big rock and you know in the
71:5460s these guys were getting 40 or 50 concussions and then it's like 20 or 10 and now it's like okay five
72:01or six and that's still scary four and so someone made the case to me that if you brought back soft helmets
72:08your head's not a weapon anymore and maybe it tactics I guess are like strategies with the guardian caps is one thing
72:15which I think you know some people are buying into there was the I don't know what it's called but there's sort
72:22of like the collar that goes around your neck that forces a little bit more blood to stay in become more normalized
72:29they need to do a study over the long term to figure out if it's I just hope the reason they're not
72:35implementing them is because they look stupid that would be dumb well it's it's it's weird because then it's like telling players
72:42what happen I think that's the reason I'm sorry if it was like a really tough vibe shift but that's reason I'm
72:49aware he's 24 and a lot of this happened a long time ago and I think for the most part the NFL
72:56is kind of past the CTE thing I feel like people they've gotten through it I think it was pretty noteworthy anyway
73:03so this summer FanDuel is the best place to bet on goals including equalizers uh-huh voles yep headers every goal is worth
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73:38is brought to you by NOS Energy every ounce of dirt sweat and gears every checkered flag and trophy raised every lap
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73:58and get after it did you guys see there was one other random piece of news before we get into like soccer
74:05and stuff did you guys see that the Big 12 signed a deal with Monster Energy and it's now going to be
74:12called I don't know if this is officially like the deal is real and it was reported but it might be called
74:19like the Monster Energy Big 12 is the now new name of the conference no way are you serious and I'm like
74:26oh it's oh it's actually over I didn't realize that but it's actually over the taxlayer.com Big 12 yeah every day is
74:33just closer and closer to idiocracy in every way and it's like all the fields are going to have Monster on it
74:40the jerseys are going to have Monster like the logo on it and I'm like oh we're very close we're very close
74:47to it being over that really shows is the Big 12 that shows you how much they're behind Big 12 brought to
74:54you by Carl's Jr legit this is this like the idiocracy is like every time he says that they pay every time
75:01I say that they pay me like this sticker is dangerous and inconvenient but I sure do love fig dance yeah it's
75:08from Ross Dellinger who's a reporter at Yahoo who said Brett Yormark announces that the Big 12 and Monster Energy have entered
75:14a multi-year partnership Big 12 football will be branded the Monster Energy Big 12 football you know it's what the fuck well
75:21it's the bowl logic expanded you know what's so funny we cover the NFL obviously but college football is the most American
75:28thing for sure by a lot because it's football it's tribalism it's everything but that is the like what's funny about NAL
75:35and this is it's completely wild west unfettered capitalism like yeah I'm surprised I don't know you can brand everything you can
75:42brand literally why aren't why isn't it like Pepsi Airlines why aren't they just doing that so the one here's my question
75:49they had Hooters Airlines for a while and you were their number one customer I bought a lifetime first class ticket Craig
75:56they should do this with airports sure airports like that it would be nice if you know if you start covering some
76:03funding for airports it's like FanDuel International Airport in Los Angeles you know I'm just saying like I just like it's nice
76:10that you know JFK is named for JFK but I'm like well what if it was what if it was Netflix Airport
76:17you know there you go just saying and then you make the initials the initials could be the stock ticker you know
76:24what I mean and then like there you go and I'm like I feel like Netflix could pay for that and then
76:30I guess the problem is people hate airports but I'm just saying like I don't know the White House how about White
76:37Castle you know what I mean oh now we're talking I think they're working on that this is a little bit of
76:44a funny segue to the soccer thing because FIFA would not allow the names of the stadium to be shown on the
76:51broadcast Los Angeles stadium they're standing there just like where's the money yeah I do love that well this was such an
76:58American tournament because between forcing commercial breaks which I think the rest of the world was horrified by and just forcing commercials
77:05onto soccer which I do want people to think about with all these extra time goals whether the break is helping people
77:12but then the combination so you know the US men's national team lost we're recording this Tuesday afternoon I know it's Thursday
77:19but we watched it Monday night and then Argentina Egypt just ended which was amazing but the men's national team did you
77:26guys get to watch that game the combination we got smoked we got outclassed for 90 minutes I gotta tell you I
77:33think it's an all time bad karma loss of like we are the cartoon villain who just through hosting corruption whatever like
77:40we just get the red card overturned mid-tournament in this like unprecedented ball don't lie is universal the second that happened I
77:46was like we're absolutely losing absolutely smoked outclassed outgunned did not belong I don't know much about soccer but like it was
77:53actually so embarrassing how long our defense could not guard anything going on and then just like the fourth goal where he
78:00just got like that felt like it felt like a quarterback just like fumbling the snap and just giving up a touchdown
78:07that was so embarrassing I'm by no means a soccer expert but it truly looked like we couldn't pass the ball to
78:14one another without getting intercepted it was ridiculous our crossers nothing was competent the entire game it would have been so much
78:21better if we had kept the red card and then we'd be like well we didn't have our best player totally and
78:28then we would have had like the momentum the underdog instead Belgium was like fuck these guys they're essentially cheating like we're
78:35gonna beat that naked corruption it was so weird to be on the right side of corruption we're like oh well I
78:42guess this is cool for me yeah yeah Jesus yeah Craig I'm with you like I'm by no means an expert on
78:49this I just I watched the World Cup every couple years every four years but like I mean it was ugly like
78:56like you said they couldn't pass each other with like out falling down the defenders on both of the early goals were
79:03just like pathetically out out muscled I don't know what it is about like our team or whatever they just were like
79:09a bunch of shrimps or something they couldn't play with any physicality it felt like again I don't know anything about soccer
79:16you think it's because we drive everywhere and the it was fun to watch like on Friday if we won which would
79:23have been crazy well it was too bad because Spain and Portugal were like tied for 89 minutes and I was kind
79:30of like holy shit like if Portugal had beaten Spain we actually could have made it but clearly we couldn't have but
79:37it's funny after the game the Fox commentators I forget which not Alexey Lalas who everyone's decided they hate but one of
79:44the hosts was like I don't think America should be defined by the last 24 hours with this tournament they had a
79:51great run I'm like they will absolutely be defined by overturning the red card and then getting fucking destroyed and embarrassed by
79:58Belgium also 4-1 could have easily been 7-1 Belgium missed I don't want to shit on the goalie but like the goal
80:05that we gave up where he kind of collected the ball and was about to kick it and hesitated then the Belgian
80:12guy just took the ball and kicked it in the fucking goal one of the worst plays I've ever seen I was
80:19like what the fuck are we doing that was so bad I mean we couldn't even enjoy our own goal because it
80:25was 1-0 then we score and it's like awesome it was Tillman with this awesome free kick we score 61 seconds later
80:32Belgium scores and I'm like well that was fun for literally a minute for one minute that could be the Instagram too
80:39that was fun for a minute yeah literally a minute oh that was puff Argentina Egypt though crazy game that was an
80:46insane game again I think the best expert analysis the best players are the best players continued it's been crazy that all
80:53the people that they were like just put in commercials and be like these are the best players in the world are
81:00all just leading every category of goals and assists but Messi ever since I learned that Messi has can't we get one
81:07of those guys can't we get a Messi what's going on I don't know I can't believe he has 14 World Cup
81:14goals after turning 35 can we make sure his children are born in America can we just invite him and his wife
81:21out right at the 9 yeah I mean that's how we got Balogun it is we should have a system there we
81:28kind of invite people out all expense paid vacation to Hawaii uh oh flights the weather you can't leave the Supreme Courts
81:35were looking into that but yeah I mean I just I don't know Argentina okay they came back from 2-zip that was
81:41crazy what was the span where they scored at the 80 minute mark or something like that they scored their first goal
81:48and they came back and won 3-2 they scored their third goal in extra time to they scored three goals in 20
81:55minutes basically yeah and like the whole rest of the game was so fascinating too because they took away one of Egypt's
82:02goals which was like a total like you thought the call that made the Americans have the red card was like a
82:09bad call or whatever like that call was just ridiculous like it was some thing that happened like literally at the way
82:16other end of the field and then they took away their goals it was just total bullshit I basically like relearn soccer
82:23every four years and I'm like this is awesome and I think I only like it at the highest level and like
82:30the biggest scale but the game is so different and I know we play soccer in America but I'm gonna refer to
82:37it not as an American sport it is so different than American sports in the way it's officiated like there is something
82:44about like the ball goes out of bounds the ref makes a call I think it's blue everyone's like cool pick up
82:51the ball throw it back in before you even know what's going on if that was the NBA they would stop the
82:57game watch it for three minutes oh wait did it touch his foot or did it not the fact that the ref
83:04doesn't even need to touch the ball the NBA it's like hey buddy I give the ball to you and then you
83:11put it back in puts it down kicks it and starts play again before you even know who the foul is on
83:18like I love how quick and loose it is Messi tried that someone the other day Messi just like they blew the
83:25whistle and I think the Cape Verde goalie was trying to set the set piece and Messi was like he's not paying
83:32attention and just trying to rip it and they barely blocked it but it's funny how the ball goes into play but
83:39I have to say everything watching the World Cup I really am like wow I see why everyone's obsessed with this I
83:46have to say though the flopping is an actual dark mark on the sport and without the flopping it would just we
83:53should probably just cover soccer full time the flopping does enrage me especially now that we can VAR and pretend that someone's
84:00elbow weenus is like offsides as if it's that precise meanwhile you should get if so those replays where you get bumped
84:07and someone grabs their ribs like they got shot you should get a yellow card for that you can but it happens
84:14but it should be more every match there's an example of someone pretending like they were actually elbowed in the face for
84:20like nothing it is the only part of the game that still infuriates me everything else is just I mean yeah the
84:27one upside of it or like I guess this is the case of the NBA too is if you don't get the
84:34call then you're basically down a man while some guy's faking an ankle injury for a minute so this is my question
84:41about Argentina Egypt what happened at the end there what were they so mad about I know it's like two years later
84:48and everyone probably is over this but I don't understand what they were so angry about Salah I think Mo Salah was
84:55the one who got fouled or he was upset because of what happened earlier with the overturned I don't actually know for
85:02sure but what I gather is he was really upset because the goal that the winning goal for Argentina started with him
85:09losing possession of the ball in the goal box on Argentina's side and he thought that was a fouler at least should
85:16be reviewed like they did the earlier one with the VAR with the goal that got overturned by Egypt so I think
85:23that was why he's mad Craig to your point though did you like you get another like they kept getting opportunities for
85:30corner kicks it was like the ref's like oh are you kind of scoring I'll let go yeah they look like they
85:36have a chance here let's let this balls in the middle of the field or it gets kicked back over the winner
85:43side and he's like okay all right it's not happening I thought it was crazy but it was it creates incredible drama
85:50like I was on the edge of my seat with that game well and you know why it's also the least American
85:57sport is because it's it's two hours long max you're out of a game basically it's 45 minutes straight no commercial breaks
86:04like it is built to actually like be enjoyed and not be pumped for advertising milked for every dollar whatever yes although
86:11wasn't there some positive thing about the hydration break where the announcers are like these guys look more rested and energetic than
86:18we've ever seen I do think that's what makes the last couple minutes so exciting I do think there's a connection between
86:25I actually think America may have fixed soccer because I'm just saying everyone hates that the hydration breaks and the commercial breaks
86:32have been added most popular sport in the world every match has been electric at the ending because every player looks rejuvenated
86:39they fixed the world cup every 25 minutes of sprinting you get some water and electrolytes maybe it's good it turns out
86:46after they've run the stamina of the people from the 90 minute mark on every time someone pretends to be hurt and
86:52is writhing around on the ground they come out with the magic spray you can get drinks then the magic spray we
86:59gotta talk of the spray if that shit worked other sports would try it they invented a fake thing for fake injuries
87:06so they can get hydration like what is that spray that they spray on with advil i have no idea i like
87:13to not know advil spray is it like icy hot ethyl chloride coolings there's no way there's no way that works numbing
87:20shit so who should we root for england i don't i think i'm going for norway holland holland's energy is crazy he
87:27would lead an actual viking army if he was born 500 years ago did you see the video of him scoring the
87:34header i don't remember which game it was it was the most recent game yeah when he like pretends that he doesn't
87:41yeah he's not involved in the play he's kind they he won he he he won he won being Ronaldo and all this.
87:48Well, and Argentina won last World Cup, right? Yeah.
87:51So he's like, is he bad? I don't know.
87:54Can someone tell us if Messi's the GOAT over Pele or whatever, if they win this again?
87:59Don't let us look into it because we determined that Wayne Gretzky, not the GOAT.
88:04And so maybe if we dig into Messi. That's a good point.
88:08Yeah, don't let us at him. Speaking of which, can I read you an email on hockey history?
88:13Oh, yeah. Did we get any responses to LA lost the Gretzky trade or no?
88:18I can look into that. I can do some more.
88:21I can do my own research. Okay, yeah. We did get a great follow.
88:25I think you guys are like. So this is from, oh, no.
88:29Matt. Eddie. Hi, guys. Breakfast, iced coffee, a black iced coffee and a homemade egg McMuffin.
88:34Nice. He says, I'll get to the hockey history lesson in a moment, but I have to tell you that my wife and I just had a kid.
88:43And through months and months of searching for a name for a son, I half seriously suggested to my wife that we should name the boy Jug.
88:52Jug Earp. Jug Earp. After our favorite historical Green Bay Packer, Jug Earp.
88:56My wife, lifelong Packers fan from a small Midwest town.
88:59I thought that she would be into it maybe.
89:02And turns out, nope, hard no. What a shock.
89:04Jug Earp. However, her family has come to love the name Jug.
89:08And now they call our son Little Jug. Oh.
89:11And they'll take that as a consolation prize because they're all Bears fans and I didn't tell them it was a Green Bay Packer.
89:19But now everyone calls this kid Jugger. So there is a child who will be called Jug because we were talking about Jug.
89:26Oh, no. You know, maybe you don't want to name your children these old-timey names, but it's a great dog pet selection.
89:33Sure. You know what I mean? Yeah. Icebox Chamberlain.
89:36Come on. Icebox. Crazy Schmidt. Crazy Schmidt. Gym Toy.
89:38Those are all good. Gym Toy. Pretzels Getzen. Name your dog Pretzels.
89:42Come on. That's cute. So anyway, back to hockey.
89:45Email continues. In no way am I bringing this up to challenge Wayne Gretzky's standing as the great one.
89:51However, any budding studying hockey history. What the fuck did he write?
89:55Anyone studying hockey history has to learn about the great Gordie Howe, a.k.a.
89:59Mr. Hockey. Oh, I've heard of this guy. Me too.
90:02I was like, he's the guy in the photo.
90:05Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know anything else. So he says, Gordie Howe was the original goat before Wayne Gretzky came along and broke all the records.
90:13Sounds like he's like the Joe Montana to Tom Brady.
90:16And so Gordie Howe was the face of the Detroit Red Wings hockey and owner of the iconic Ferris Bueller's Day Off jersey.
90:24That's a Gordie Howe jersey. Gordie Howe was an ambidextrous, six-time MVP, and 23-time All-Star.
90:28Wow. Gordie Howe received 300 stitches to his face by the time he was 35.
90:33Whoa! He was the oldest player in an NHL game.
90:36He played in the NHL after being inducted to the Hall of Fame.
90:40What? Had the most professional hockey games ever with 2,186.
90:43Gordie Howe played professional hockey in five different decades.
90:46Wow. Good Lord. The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
90:49The Gordie Howe hat trick was invented for a game that you get a goal and assist and fight someone.
90:56And then Gordie Howe and his two sons, Mark and Marty, played for the Hartford Whalers in the 1980s on the same offensive line.
91:03And at 52 years old, Gordie Howe came out of retirement, played all 80 Hartford games that season to play with his sons and then retired.
91:11At 52. Yeah, I was the only guy to take my skate off and try to stab somebody with it.
91:18I keep seeing pictures of him. Did they allow him to not wear a helmet?
91:22Was that like you get grandfathered in if you're not wearing it?
91:26Because the pictures I've seen for the Whalers, he's not even wearing a helmet.
91:31And the other guys are. Oh my God, you're right.
91:34Did he not wear a helmet? I think they grandfathered in.
91:37He can just not wear a helmet. Great sport.
91:40What a sport. I never understood. I feel like hockey is one of the most grueling sports to play physically.
91:46And yet guys play pretty late into their... Well, hockey...
91:49I'm actually really excited we're getting into this hockey thing because the part I've never understood is the shifts.
91:55There is no sport that's like, we're going to have an entire rotation of five guys.
92:00They're going to play like one minute and then they'll come back.
92:04Like every sport would be so different if you did it like that.
92:08I don't get it. Yes. I can't believe you played without a helmet.
92:12Speaking of like soccer just being in the flow and throw it.
92:16Like these guys are going on and off without even stopping the game.
92:20This photo that you said... I love that he's just all in like a regular game, like a modern game with no helmet on.
92:28This is crazy. He's fully bald and gray haired playing hockey without a helmet.
92:32He had a choice. Sir, do you want to wear a helmet?
92:36Like it might protect your head. No, absolutely not.
92:39Fuck that. He played in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.
92:42Yes. I can't... Dude, these photos of Gordie Howe without a freaking...
92:46I thought that was fake. I thought that photo of him without the helmet on as an old man was like some
92:53all-star celebration event that they did or something. Or like some Hall of Famer event.
92:58This is a real game he's in? I can't find him wearing a helmet.
93:02I can't find a single photo of Gordie Howe wearing a helmet.
93:06He's like, I'd rather... I'd sooner die than put on a helmet.
93:10Wow. What, dude? They don't make them like that anymore.
93:13No, they really don't. Oh my God. Died 10 years ago.
93:16At 88 years old. Shout out Gordie Howe. Wow.
93:19What a legend. This is so good. He famously argued against helmets, say you can always get somebody else to do your thinking for you.
93:27Bill Diff. See? No helmets. Maybe he's onto something.
93:30He did apparently wear a leather style helmet in the 1950s after a severe skull injury.
93:3530 years without a helmet after a severe skull injury?
93:38Is that what you're telling me? Yeah. When you get a puck flying around, maybe you do need some kind of headgear.
93:45I love that. You can... The NHL grandfathered in the no helmets thing for people who are old enough.
93:51That's fucking crazy. All right. If you can send us a hockey player that beats Gordie Howe, but that is going to be tough to beat.
93:59That's pretty incredible. His nickname is Mr. Hockey? Yeah.
94:02Mr. Hockey. It's pretty sick. Is there a Mr.
94:05Football? Let's find out. Russell Wilson? That's Mr. Hockey.
94:08I think he's like... He sounds like he's the Jerry West of hockey, where he's not the best ever, but yeah.
94:14The logo, Mr. Hockey, it's pretty sick. Wow. I feel like we should have an individual Mr.
94:20Football. We need to assign that. We need an official Mr.
94:23Basketball, Mr. Football, Mr. Baseball. Mr. Manager. Wasn't that a high school word?
94:27There's always like, I'm Mr. Basketball from Minnesota. Yeah, you're like Mr.
94:31Football in certain states or whatever. Yeah. That's kind of weird.
94:34That is Mr. Manager, really. I'm Mr. Football. You mentioned saying that at a party at your 18.
94:40I'm Mr. Football. There is a movie called Mr.
94:43Football. But it's great. All right. Let's get out of here.
94:46Craig, you're doing the fucking band, all right? Oh, I know.
94:50You better be ready, buddy. Go comment on the Instagram.
94:53Not an ad, though. Thank you, DK. Thank you, Craig.
94:56Thank you to Austin. Thank you to Cam. Thank you to Abu.
95:00Thank you to Nikhil. Thank you to Carlos. Thank you to everyone for emailing in.
95:04Thank you to all members of The Seven. For giving us your hotness rankings for quarterbacks.
95:09Thank you to Gordie Howe and everyone who told us about Gordie Howe.
95:14Thank you, Lauren. Lauren. Thank you. For those who don't know, this month I'm taking over the Lauren segment.
95:20We're doing Millennial Bangers. Last week we did Love in This Club by Usher.
95:24This week we're going to be doing, this is a 2009 vintage from David Guetta and featuring Akon.
95:30This is the song Sexy Bitch. This song is fucking awesome.
95:33Sing it for us, Craig. Well, I don't know why we can't get sued, but I can sing a little bit.
95:40Sing it. Come on. She nothing like the girl you ever seen before.
95:44Oh, yeah. Okay, yeah. I love that the song is called Sexy Bitch.
95:48Dun, dun. Yeah. I love that there's a line in the song is, I'm trying to find a word to describe this girl without being disrespectful.
95:56So we landed on Sexy Bitch. Yeah. It's just great.
95:59Throw it on. The opening. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.
96:04Banger. Yeah. It's freaking great. I remember the first time I heard that.
96:08At first, I think I got the song. I thought that part of the song was like an SNL bit.
96:14Like Lonely Eye. I didn't realize for like a year or two that that was actually part of the song.
96:20I just thought that was a bit. Yeah. A lot of, a lot of these songs, I like to just imagine them
96:27in the writing process and sort of just like sketching out the lyrics and things like that.
96:33There's a section of the song where it says, damn girl, damn you's a sexy bitch.
96:38A sexy bitch. Oh, yeah. Damn you's a sexy bitch.
96:41Damn girl, damn you's a sexy bitch. A sexy bitch.
96:44That's like kind of like the, that's kind of the base of the song.
96:48It's kind of core of the song is that.
96:51I love this. Damn you a sexy bitch. It's good.
96:54It's great. Oh my God. Nothing, nothing you can compare to your neighborhood hoe.
96:59Yeah. Yeah. I loved reading some of the, the critical reception on Wikipedia about the song.
97:04There's a line, one of the, one of the, somebody from Pop Matters said, the final product of the song makes you
97:11wonder just how sexy this bitch actually is. It is really thought provoking.
97:15Who is she? Who is she? Who is she?
97:18Who is she? She's nothing like your neighborhood hoe, Craig.
97:21This song is good, dude. Akon's awesome. He did the SNL song, I Just Had Sex.
97:26Yeah. Banger. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Really good. Akon had a few years there where he was on top of it.
97:32He was on top of the world. Big fan of Akon, Convict Music.
97:36Go. Akon. He does like the, he does his little intro every song, right?
97:41Yeah. Convict Music. He also, Akon had a couple songs in Fight Night.
97:45Akon and Young G's. Even his other songs, he has songs in like Fight Night Round 3 that are like not top
97:52line Akon songs that are just like imprinted on my mind.
97:55Yeah, dude. Anyway, shouts out sexy bitch or when it's on the radio, sexy chick.
98:00How sexy is this chick? It makes you wonder.
98:03It really does. Yeah. Throw that on though. Throw that on.
98:06Yeah. We'll be back next week with another millennial banger.
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