Fantasy Football Today - Expert Injury Outlooks for Joe Burrow, Nick Chubb, Justin Jefferson and Many More! Plus Puka vs. Kupp (06/06 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts We've got our sports injury analyst Marty Jaramillo as today's guest. Marty gives his outlook for Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins (1:40), Anthony Richardson (6:45) and Joe Burrow (11:15). Which of these quarterbacks are at the most risk of reinjury? ... What to expect from Nick Chubb (16:15) and Tank Dell (19:35) as they recover from serious injuries. Plus, Marty tells us which players he is keeping a close eye on for reinjury entering 2024 (23:45) ... News and notes (33:00) on the Vikings quarterback situation and some rookies ... Your emails at [e-mail] including a comparison of Cooper Kupp and Puca Nakua SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. He's just going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Well, we can talk about injuries all the time and read about them, but we don't really have the expertise. That's why we're bringing on our sports injury analyst, Marty Jaramillo today. We've got an awesome guest for you.

This guy's got over 30 years of experience in the industry. He worked for St. John's. He worked for the New York Knicks. That must mean he's awesome. We all love the Knicks here. So we're pleased to welcome Marty on. And you know what, Jamie, Marty, before the show, he said his friends call him MJ. So it's our job in the next 15 minutes or so to become friends with him and get the MJ seal of approval. Marty, welcome to the show. I am so excited to be here, Adam, and the whole team. Been fans forever.

I was so jazzed when I heard I was going to come on this show, man. So thank you for having me. It's an absolute honor, man. We appreciate you being here. Absolutely. We appreciate the expertise. Aaron Rodgers, let's start with Rodgers and Cousins. We're going to ask you about Rodgers and Cousins. Anthony Richardson,

Joe Burrow, going to compare the Tank Dell injury to Tony Pollard's injury the year before. Nick Chubb just said he doesn't have a timetable for his return. So we'll get your thoughts on that. And also some players that you might fear re-injury for. But we'll start with those older quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers is 40 and Kirk Cousins is going to be 36 in August. They're coming off of torn Achilles.

It was Rodgers in week one and it was for Cousins. It was week eight. So what should we expect, you think, from these two guys? I'm a J-E-T-S fan for a long, long time. Four plays into that first game, Rodgers had that Achilles' tear. He knew it was gone immediately. He just stopped moving and just sat down on the field. Huge blow for everyone watching, especially for us Jet fans.

But he had a unique procedure you've all heard about at this point called that speed bridge procedure. It's a unique anchoring technique. Not that new, but it's making its way across the country. And it's a unique anchoring technique that allows the athlete to put weight on it sooner, range of motion sooner, and strengthening sooner. And I reported in week four, when I saw him with no crutches, no boot, and throwing the rock around, I'm like, this is unheard of, and he is absolutely an alien. And I predicted that if this pace continues, he'd be ready to go week 15, week 16. And guess what?

He was clear to play, but because the Jets were not in contention, he decided not to. And that was the right move. I absolutely expect nothing but the best Aaron Rodgers this coming year. Yes, he's 40, but I'm telling you over the next few years, all of us collectively are going to move that needle of age because of the recovery techniques these players are employing. So 36 for Cousins, 40, you know what? For God's sake, Spready played 21 years, right? That needle is moving. So I'm okay with him being 40. I'm okay with him recovering from this surgery because I talk about this all the time. That injury, it's devastating when it happens.

And once the chaos settles and you have a plan in place and you have a process-driven athlete like an Aaron Rodgers, let me tell you something. A year away from football is nothing but a gift and an opportunity. So expect great things from Aaron Rodgers as well. Yeah, with Kirk Cousins, you know, he had his Achilles torn in week eight and he had a different procedure, what we known as a traditional Achilles repair. And for no reason, like I said, oftentimes surgical procedures are regional. So something like a speed bridge procedure, you know, that started on the West Coast kind of making its way in the East Coast. And something like a tightrope procedure, which we'll be discussing later, started in the Southeast, making its way West Coast. And there's all good reasons to have one procedure over another. But he's already in OTAs, almost fully cleared.

He's going to be entering the phase three of OTAs. I expect him to be ready to go for the same reasons. He's taking care of himself his entire career. I mean, he's been nothing short of a workhorse his entire career. Also a process-driven athlete, only looks forward, never looks in the rearview mirror. And even though he had a traditional repair, he's well on pace and actually a couple of months ahead of pace to be ready to go, not only for training camp, but of course for week one. Marty, when it comes to those two guys, and I know you mentioned we're going to shift the age conversation a little bit. For us too, right?

I hope so. Adam's just entering his 40s, so he's learning what that's like. But in any event, do you see any sort of change in how they'll have to play because of this injury? Because, yes, it's obviously different from what the Achilles injury used to be, but they are older players and not that they're the most mobile of quarterbacks, but will they have to sort of alter anything that they do from what you can tell from what this injury has been, especially at that position? Well, I think that's a great point, but it's not comparing apples to apples just yet because Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers are very

similar, less mobile quarterbacks. If we were talking someone more like a Burrow, of course, and Anthony Richardson, if they were dealing with this, they absolutely would definitely have to change a little bit of how they play, particularly as they rush in and out of the pocket. So here's what's interesting with the

Achilles. In terms of giving the athlete the confidence to come back, the confidence that, okay, I'm okay, I'm ready to go. The Achilles tear happens as you drop back and then you push off. It's that moment in time from the drop back to the push off where the maximum amount of tension is on the Achilles. So if you think about the various different types of surfaces that they really have to challenge this is, you know, dropping back quickly, pushing off the throw.

The constant repetition of that is really what is going to give them the confidence. But for these two athletes, I don't expect them at all to have to change. They weren't that mobile to begin with. Well, you mentioned Anthony Richardson, Marty. You know, with his injury, you know, he's already back throwing a little bit, you know, I know he's not fully back from the shoulder injury, but what, what are the limitations for him and how do you anticipate his recovery going, going into a second year? You know, Anthony Richardson broke pretty much every QB record in a kind of combine the previous year. So an incredible, incredible athlete. He had a, let's call it not an unusual injury, but an injury that

normally does not result in surgery. He had an AC separation where the collarbone that attaches to the shoulder blade actually separates. Typically that actually rarely requires surgery, but it's a pain management issue. So as that bone separates from the corner of the shoulder, that constant shifting causes a lot of pain. So in his case, the pain essentially caused him to lose power in his throat and it had to be repaired. Now, that particular procedure, what they do, that's to just pin it down, to just pull that bone down and reattach it back to the shoulder blade, the acromion of the shoulder blade. That's the AC acromion, blade, the acromion of the shoulder blade. That's the ac acromion, clavicular acromion is the shoulder blade,

and the clavicle is the collarbone. Now, it's strictly time to repair and let those tissues mend. But now as he starts to throw, and he's cleared to throw, that repair tissue has to stretch and twist and mature and get a little bit more flexible. So his issue, he'll be fully cleared to play, but his issue is there's a constant on and off inflammation that happens. He challenges himself, he throws a couple of days of pain management. Another week goes by, a couple of days more of pain management. Another week goes by, a couple of days, more of pain management. And those windows get shorter and shorter as we approach the season. Now, he is an absolute beast

out of the pocket. And remember, don't forget, he also had a concussion early in that season. So longevity is an issue. Fragility is an issue. I was happy to hear that he was boasting about his five pounds of muscle that he put on. For a guy that lean, five pounds of muscle is actually a lot. And we hope to see more of that to be able to take the rigors and the intensity of the impacts that he will take. I also don't expect him to change how he plays. You just can't contain an athlete like that. You can teach him how to be more careful with his body, particularly running out of bounds, sliding to avoid a hit, and not trying to always take that extra hit.

But I expect big things for him. But the Colts are actually really being on the cautious side, and rightly so. They've invested a lot of time and resources behind them. I expect them to continue to just take their time. But the good thing is a traditional AC separation with this injury was never affects shoulder stability. So zero issue here in terms of long term recovery for his shoulder and his throwing power. It just takes a little time to kind of loosen up those tissues that were repaired.

I got another quarterback. I'm going to ask you about after this very quick break, we've got a lot more with sports injury analyst, Marty Jaramillo right after this on fantasy football today. Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey, no, too basic.

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All right, Marty, so let's talk about Joe Burrow because Joe Burrow has this wrist surgery he's recovering from. And he said that he couldn't find other quarterbacks who had a similar injury, that he was talking to offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers about it.

So what are we to make of that? Do you worry about Joe Burrow going into 2024? I found that a fascinating comment because I also heard that. He actually Googled how tough he was. No, no other quarterback can handle this but i can but he he's actually quite right it's a rare injury um for a quarterback primarily because uh you it really occurs when you are landing trying to brace yourself with an

outstretched hand and quarterbacks are just good at that and with alignment with the constant weight and other players on top of you that's when they are much higher history with this injury but basically it's a ligament tear of the scaphoid lunate ligament it's basically connects those two bones the scaphoid bone the lunate bone in in the wrist here and there's two rows of four bones like little marble bones in the wrist and each one has ligaments to each other and any instability that can lead to premature arthritis and absolute loss of grip strength what's interesting when you when we talk about joe borrows particularly in my world we have to read a lot of tea leaves he he kind of messes with us

in the media i mean i reported i was one of the first to report on November 16th as he was coming off the plane. He had a brace as he was coming off the plane. Unreported wrist and hand injury with a brace with no information on that. And two weeks later, he has surgery. And the NFL had to investigate the reporting of that specific injury. He's going to do quite well, but they absolutely have to take it slow here. Why?

When you have surgery in a small area, particularly in the wrist, these bones are, like I said, marble size. Those in a small concentrated area, those ligaments are absolutely prone to constant inflammation, constant pain, and based on the rigors of not only throwing constantly, but also potentially landing. He has not been cleared for contact yet. And that's when the big question marks happen. The first few falls on turn, bracing yourself, all these little things, and managing it throughout the year. This takes a full year to recover in terms of constant pain and swelling, a lot of on and off days of inflammation.

You'll be ready to play. I have no concerns there. Talk about a process-driven athlete. He doesn't even know what a rearview mirror is. He only moves forward. And keeping him back is next to impossible. But they'll be listening to his body, and he'll be hopefully very honest with his medical staff

and treat that almost daily throughout the season. Marty, when you have a player like that who's got some injury history and knowing the rigors of the NFL season and what happened to him last year with the calf, you know, do you try and advise coaching staff or player to, you know, do anything differently, especially with what the NFL training camp has become? You know, I mean, it's not as obviously rigorous as it was in years past with how these guys practice, but with a player like this and you mentioned that, you know, that they're going to, you know, I think be cautious with how they handle it, but, you know, and just, I guess, a broader question with players that have such a, not a lengthy history, but a history, do you sort of say, okay, we got to be more cautious with how we do X, Y, and Z with them in practice, and certainly with when it comes to contact and stuff like that?

And that's a great point. I think the concept of load management, we've talked so much in the NBA, is really entering our our the way we think of these otas particularly for our franchise athletes uh quarterbacks they're just going to be throwing less in the offseason why why shoot all those bullets when you need them all uh for the season when you have any kind of history with these decelerated muscles, hamstrings, calves, all right? That's showing you that these athletes are prone to these deceleration-type, endurance-type injuries. Hamstrings, calves almost occur the same exact way, that drop back to push off. We remember so many.

Justin Jefferson dealt with that. Cooper Cupp dealt with that. Cooper Cupp dealt with that. And sometimes the issue is not that they're not fit in any way, shape, or form, but there's an imbalance within their own physiques. For example, the quadriceps, the thigh muscles, which accelerate the limb, are so much stronger than the hamstrings and calves that decelerate the limb. And that imbalance is what the strength of the conditioning departments try to minimize. They'll always be somewhat of an imbalance, but they try to really focus on that in the offseason to minimize those imbalances. But any combination of load management for the different positions, because you have to train linemen very different than quarterbacks, very different than the wideouts.

But you're seeing more and more of that and less throwing and saving that arm for the season. Marty, Nick Chubb, Adam alluded to this, said that he's going to – he doesn't have a timetable for his recovery from ACL, MCL, meniscus. It was a really brutal knee injury that he suffered in week two of the season last year. We talk a lot about this injury, and typically what we see is the players back to themselves a year after the fact, you know, so almost a full season removed from the injury. But he's 28 years old. He'll be 29 by the end of the year. How much does age factor in when we're talking about, you know,

this type of injury, you know, especially at that position? What are you seeing from Nick Chubb and when he'll be back on the field for the year? You know, with Nick, if he didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all. This injury was absolutely devastating and brutal and gruesome. He didn't just have an ACL tear. He had a dislocation of his knee. Okay. And he did the same exact thing in college in 2015, I believe. That is a completely unheard of. I mean, to have a dislocation, he dislocated then, which is typically career ending, did it again in the NFL. Both times were contact-related injuries. When 70% of all ACL injuries are non-contact, this young man finds a way to have the more difficult kind. Two times, contact and dislocation. These injuries on the field are medical emergencies.

We're not worried about the ACL. We're worried that there's no fragments of bone that potentially could rupture some blood vessels and create all sorts of medical emergency situations. So he's a very, very lucky man. He had two procedures because they couldn't just do it in one. It would take too long. It would take eight hours to repair that knee. He had the ACL and PCL repaired first, which is the anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate, and then he had the medial collateral ligament, the MCL, on the inside, and the capsule.

The capsule is what keeps it all together, and that was torn as well. Now, I am the ultimate optimist but with with nick chubb i don't expect him to be running back number one um anytime soon uh and i think he will enter the uh the pup list entering the season because it'll take him i'm say, 14 to 16 months to regain his previous level of play. And that is still a question mark because this is the second time that he's done this. So it's a devastating injury. 10 years from now, 15 years from now, I'm really concerned for his long-term health of that knee, despite the amazing athlete he is. He did also report that mentally he was devastated. And you can't downplay that mind-body connection,

knowing exactly what he has in store for him. He had a great team behind him, and we wish him well, but it's going to be a real struggle for him and the Browns to get him going. Tank Dell coming off a tremendous rookie season, but also coming off a broken fibula in week 13, had the surgery and also had a gunshot wound. But by all accounts, that was more recent. By all accounts, yeah, seems to be doing well.

And I was worried about Tank Dell because of the Tony Pollard situation where we went into, at least I went into the 2023 season thinking Pollard was fully recovered and was fine. He had a broken leg, I believe, in January in the playoff game. And then it was sort of revealed later in the season that he hadn't fully recovered, that it had taken him a while, that he was still getting his way back into playing shape, I guess.

Can you talk about the difference between Dell and Pollard as I think it seems like you are more optimistic about a faster recovery for Tank Dell. Is that right? Absolutely, man. Fantasy managers, did we love Tank Dell? My God. He's such an amazing athlete. But he did sustain last year a fracture of the fibula bone.

A little show and tell for folks who are watching us. This is the fibula bone on the outside. Tibia bone is a larger bone. The outside bone, called the fibula bone, is a non-weight-bearing bone. But it was fractured enough that the two ends weren't meeting, and it needed hardware to repair that. Unlike Tony Pollard, who the reason why he just lost that first step that he was discussing and he was really struggling with, because he also had a high ankle sprain. And the high ankle sprain is the ligaments that actually go horizontally across both the tip and the fibula.

He also found to have a hairline fracture of the fibula bone. Now, to repair that, so where Tank Dell had hardware to repair the fracture, traditional plate pins to repair the fracture, non-weight-bearing bone, he should have no limitations as he enters the season despite the gunshot wound. Now, the tightrope procedure that Mark Andrews had, that Cooper Cupp had, that Tony Pollard had, is an amazing procedure, game-changing. They actually put very thick suture material right where the ligament was torn because these two bones spread, and the constant spread, you lose that push-off power.

You lose the ability to accelerate, and it creates a tremendous amount of pain and instability of that ankle. So the tightrope procedure, the thick suture material acts like a zip tie. They drill between the two bones and they zip it and it creates immediate stability, allows the ligament to heal. And even once the ligament is healed, the suture material acts like a secondary ligament adding to more and even once the ligament is healed the suture material acts like a secondary ligament adding to more stability which is tremendous and then in his case in tony pollard's case bringing the two bones together also allowed the two ends of the fracture to heal so one procedure to deal with two separate injuries it's fantastic same thing with um mark andrews had the

same exact procedure and he came back within I believe it was five weeks for the playoffs. So it's a tremendous facility. Cooper Cup had it as well at the end of 2022 and you've seen a lot of the tightrope procedure which started at the University of Alabama and now it's making its way towards

the West Coast and that Curlin Joe facility with Dr. Neil Eltrash who's also a team physician of the Rams. Marty, you know, it's interesting. Adam has decided that he said this before you came on the air, but I'm sure he probably is sticking

with it, that he would like to volunteer for these surgeries that these players are going through just to see what it's like so we can have a better understanding of what he's talking about. Even though nothing's wrong with him,'s uh he's going to volunteer services so if you can just you know when we're off the air send him an email with all the lists of all these doctors that do these special surgeries and he's going to actually go you know take some time off and thousand percent yeah man i will be willing to walk a tightrope if that is you know, that's as close as I can. And by the way, Jamie, I still have two weeks until I'm 40.

So, you know, don't age me too much, okay? Well, you know, you're moving the needle this morning. We're moving, 40 is nothing. It's the new 30, come on. There you go. Marty, is there, you know, we talked about a few guys. Is there anybody that's, you know, dealing with something, you know, specific that's coming into the offseason program or that's coming off an injury

that you worry about potential re-injury based on something you saw a year ago? You know, the two players that I'm most concerned about is our number one draft pick last year, Justin Jefferson, who missed eight games last year. I was incredibly impressed with the dynamic between the Vikings as the team and management and the player. They kept them out for eight weeks with a hamstring tear because it was the right thing to do protecting that athlete.

Hamstring injuries are, if they're not managed early on, can become a long-term problem. We saw that with Cooper Cup. Why is that? Well, the hamstring is a very large muscle with very poor blood supply. And it just takes longer for that tissue to heal. Also, the tears in the hamstring typically occur very deep in the middle of the muscle belly, hard to get to.

Even with our hand, it's really hard to get to in terms of treatment. Also, we talked about that quad hamstring ratio, that imbalance, that's also an issue as well. But between the tear being deep, hard to get to, the muscle imbalance, the tear, no matter how small or how large the tear is, the healthy muscle around the tear tightens up, which makes the size of the injury sometimes three times as large. So you can have a small tear, maybe a thumbnail size, be the size of a fist because all the healthy muscle surrounds it, which delays healing. But not only did they save him for eight games, he came back sharp. He came back fast. Really rehabbed it the right way.

And not only did they have confidence with that rehab, obviously he was rewarded with that amazing contract most recently. So he's one that we have to look out for. I fully expect him to be one of our top whiteouts for the fantasy managers. He's just this tremendous, tremendous player and an elite athlete. Once again, the faster they are, sometimes the greater the imbalance between the accelerators being the thigh and the hamstrings being the B-celerators. And our second player that I'm worried about is strictly Joe Burrow. He's one hard hit away from being out again for multiple games based on that surgery because it's such a sensitive.

It's a great surgery and well repaired, massively repaired, but it's such a small area. It doesn't have a lot of protection. So I would expect them to find or fabricate some type of custom brace to just protect it a little bit more from impact. But I am concerned about him. He won't tell us he's injured until like the very last minute because of those tea leaves he likes to drop for all of us. But those are the two players for sure. And of course, listen, any of the repairs, Aaron Rodgers,

we always worry about not only the time away, which can be an opportunity away from the game, but also fitness can be an issue with Aaron Rodgers, with Kirk Cousins, and some of the other athletes that have this prolonged time off. Sometimes our veterans don't do the fitness they need to to get in shape. We'll see. But I was concerned about other injuries based on the time away. Okay.

And then finally, MJ. I feel like we can call him MJ now. I think we've gotten there. I've arrived. Your Twitter bio says you spend most of your off time coaching your son's youth sports, baseball and basketball teams

and being their biggest cheerleader year round. Well, that's pretty much all Jamie does in his off time. You guys have actually kids of similar ages playing T-ball, trying to make the Little League World Series. Give some advice to parent coach Jamie Eisenberg. Jamie, I'm sure we feel the pain together. I got a 12U in district baseball for Westport.

We made a go 12U Westport on our way, hopefully, to the Little League World Series. We made it 10 years ago, and we've been trying to claw back every year. And my son Jack is on that team, starting center fielder and leadoff hitter. And my other son Austin, he's starting shortstop and ace pitcher for the 10U team. So you know where I'll be every Saturday morning watching my boys play. It is a lot,

but it's an absolute honor. That's so great to hear. Good luck. I hope you make it. Hope we see you on TV and representing Westport. That'd be awesome. Absolutely. Marty, it was really a we see you on TV and represent Westport. That'd be awesome. Absolutely.

Marty, it was really a pleasure having you on. Follow him on Twitter at MJSportsPT. Marty Jaramillo, have a great one. Thanks for coming on, man. Guys, such an honor to be here, man. Be well. Looking forward to seeing you guys soon. Thanks, Marty. We're going to take a break.

When we come back, we'll look at our news and notes and read some emails at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. I am so Thanks, nope. You're on your own there. Could have skipped it. Should have skipped it. Skip to the good part and get groceries, meals, and more delivered right to your door on Skip. Metrolinks and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert, as trains can pass at any time on the tracks.

Remember to follow all traffic signals, be careful along our tracks, and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe. You know, Jamie, since it is off-season, we've been talking a lot about movies Be aware and stay safe. saw the Paramount Plus Mayor of Kingstown promo with Jeremy Renner. I've never seen a single second of a Mission Impossible movie. But last

night I watched Rogue Nation. Wow. It is good. Really good. I'm very excited to finish it. I'm about halfway through. You've never seen any of them? Never. Because I just never really looked at Tom Cruise as like an action star. You know, he's not Daniel Craig, but I got to give him a chance.

This movie is really good. You've never looked at him as an action star? No, not really. What do you think he's most known for? Jerry Maguire. really what do you think he's most known for jerry mcguire for like the basically the worst movie of the 80s top gun which is really like not really an action flick oh my there's not that much action in it he's not like you never thought of him as an action no i never did he's like a drama actor to me oh my god You disagree with that?

Well, I mean, he's done what now? Like eight Mission Impossible movies? Well, I've never seen one. So, you know, to me, he's done none. Look, in the first scene of this movie, he jumps on an airplane and boards the plane. Like, it's hard for me to see Tom Cruise. That's why I never really wanted to watch the movies. To me, he's not an action star.

This all ties into the week because when I said, what's the best Keanu Reeves movie, the first thing out of your mouth was Peril. It came to my mind. He's an action star. I don't consider Tom Cruise

to be a badass who beats people up can we can we get marty back on to check your brain i mean like this is ridiculous azar you know azar you know tom cruise trained to drive off that cliff on the motorcycle he actually does his own stunts that's his own stunt okay he's not he's not like he's not like a tough guy right he's not have you seen jack reacher i don't remember i think i did oh my god but he's not but he's not a tough guy he's not a tough guy tom cruise he's like a little guy he's he's i know i think when i think tom cruise i think like jerry mcguire rain man like Maguire, Rain Man, like, you know, Cocktail. I think of like, you know, like it's like heartthrob kind of guy.

I don't think of an action star. I'm sorry. That should show his range, though, that he can do action, drama, and comedy. I agree. He's a terrific actor. It's crazy. I watched the 20-minute video of like the documentary of him actually like training for that. It's wild.

Okay. I guess like – I mean like he – I don't know which mission impossible it was. He broke his ankle jumping from building to building. Yeah, that's my point. If he were a real action star, he wouldn't have broken his ankle. All right, let's get some news and notes here. Sam Darnold is ahead of J.J. McCarthy for the Vikings right now.

Who do you think starts week one? Oh, that's a good one. McCarthy. All right, but it's certainly not a foregone conclusion. Everyone should at least be aware of that. Yeah, I think there's two guys at least that come to mind

in super flex leagues, two quarterback leagues that you should be taking with the end of your draft. Darnold is one and Jacoby Brissett is the other. There's very realistic scenarios of those guys starting a couple of games and you never know how the season may unfold to have them on your bench. Uh, Dallas guard, Zach Martin. Oh, and I'm sorry. Why am I blanking? Tom Cruise. No, the backup for the Giants. You got to take him too.

Drew Locke. Drew Locke, yeah. And the backup for the Steelers. Dallas guard, Zach Martin, an absolute superstar. Said he might retire soon. This could be his last season. And this is a team that, you know,

kind of like the Eagles. Don't know how much longer they're going to have a great offensive line. You do have some good young talent on both of those lines, don't get me wrong. But some of the stalwarts, you know, Lane Johnson's still going, but who knows how many more years he has. Kelsey retired for the Eagles. You look at the Cowboys, Tyron Smith is now on the Jets, and Zach Martin might be

playing his last year. Just something to think about for Dynasty. Jets rookie running back Braylon Allen is the clear frontrunner to be the number two running back for that team, for the Jets, according to Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic. I don't think that's the first time we've heard that. Braylon Allen, if you have Brees Hall or if you just want a handcuff, if you don't have Brees Hall, Braylon Allen could be that guy. Chase Claypool, Jamie, what did you make of this report

from nyup.com? Unless it's nyup. of this report from NewYorkUp.com? Unless it's N-Yup.com, but it's probably N-Y-Up.com. Chase Claypool has been Buffalo's most consistent wide receiver. Look, I hope for him he can resurrect his career and get on track. You know, he got off to a good start and then obviously has fallen off and has been, you know, floating around the league. I don't think a lot of people realize he ended with Miami last year. You know, so he's, he went to the right team.

You know, I mean, you associate yourself with a good quarterback and a wide open receiving core. There's an opportunity for him to maybe make some plays, but I don't think anybody's going to be interested in Chase Claypool until we see it on the field and, and, you know, for some consistent, consistent stretches. So if you have him at dynasty, it's worth holding. If you, uh, you know, are doing any sort of a best ball drafts right now that are very, very, very, very, very, very deep, then maybe you take a shot on, on him, but I don't really have much interest in chase Claypool until I see it. Michael Pittman will be held out of

mini camp after he banged knees a couple of weeks ago. That's just precautionary, but it's something to keep in mind. If you hear all these reports about Adonai Mitchell, it's easy. I can't remember who it was last year, but some rookie was flashing. Well, it's because the veteran or the veterans were not playing in minicamp. So just keep that in mind as Pittman's going to miss minicamp. Romo Dunze talked to Dave Richard, who's at Bears camp. Romo Dunze is a fantasy football guy. He plays and he said, put me in the flex right now. Very cool. I told Dave, try to get him in one of our drafts. Sean Payton thinks Cortland Sutton will be at minicamp next week. Also with Denver, Audrick Estime, rookie running back.

He had a small knee operation. He's going to miss minicamp. He'll be back for training camp. The Chiefs are re-signing Mecole Hardman. And Johnny Vang in our chat says, top five action star list. Go. There is no way Tom Cruise makes this list. I disagree with you.

Like he's not Bruce Willis. He's not Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's not Sylvester Stallone. He's not Keanu Reeves. He's not Liam Neeson. He is not a top five action star. And he's not Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Like he's just, he's not Liam Neeson. He is not a top five action star. And he's not Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Like, he's just, he's not Jackie Chan.

He's not. He didn't just go there. He's not Will Smith. Well, I don't know. Martin Lawrence is more of like the copy. You think of Martin Lawrence as an action star? No, but I do think of Will Smith as a badass. Jason Statham, that's a good one.

But you're thinking of guys that are going to beat people up. I mean, it doesn't have to be an action star to beat people up. I mean, it doesn't have to be an actor to start to beat people up. I mean. He fights like a lot in that movie. And he basically never wins. Like he kind of comes to a draw with these people. I mean, he kills a lot of people. Does he?

Seems like he does. Seems like he's just like kind of a nerd who, you know, infiltrates. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Ty Joseph saying Martin Lawrence. Forget Martin Lawrence. It's Will Smith. nerd who you know infiltrates yeah okay please okay ty joseph saying martin lawrence forget martin lawrence is will smith will smith is the guy okay so let me ask you this you've seen you've seen the you've seen the i think it's three now about to be four bad boys movies yeah i've seen the three i've seen three and you've seen half of a mission impossible movie and you're basing your top five action movie list that just included martin lawrence no he did not make the top five like the big three have got to be bruce willis arnold and stallone uh i wonder who's

actually made more action movies between bruce willis and Cruise. It's not the point. The point is, like, if you were casting, if you were writing an action movie and you had to cast your lead role, and you kind of

either of these guys in their prime, you're definitely taking Bruce Willis over Tom Cruise. There's no... I think it would depend on what the role is.

Like, to do hand-to-hand fighting, yeah, probably I would take, I would take Bruce Willis. Anything that involved an explosion. Like, to do hand-to-hand fighting? Yeah, probably I would take Bruce Willis. Anything that involved an explosion. Like, if your action movie

has an explosion. I mean, you can't really watch Mission Impossible movies like, they're playing explosions. I know, just say it. Like, you know, it could have been someone else.

Okay, emails. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. This one comes from Kelly. Oh, man. Kelly says, I saw this tweet and found it interesting for both cooper cup and puka nakua i'm thinking cup is either undervalued or puka is overvalued but i'm not sure which is the correct one what are your thoughts and the tweet was uh i'm sorry you know what let me see if i can find it just so i can credit someone but the tweet was about

the 11 games in the regular season where they both played 60% or more of the snaps. There was one game where Cooper Cup left with an injury after 27% of the snaps. But the 11 games that they both played, they had the same amount of targets and catches, basically. I think Nakua had 95 targets and Cup had 94 targets. So Kelly is looking at that tweet and saying,

well, maybe they should be closer to each other. One's, you know, Cup might be underrated. Nakua might be overrated. What is your take on that? I've definitely moved them closer to each other. It's more about moving Cup up as opposed to Puka down. And we did our draft for our magazine yesterday. It's unfortunate that Dan Schneier is not here for this show or this

particular conversation. I guess it is fortunate that he's not here, but not unfortunate that he's not here for this part of the conversation. Love you, Dan. In any event, he had the 12th pick Dan. He had the 12th pick and all the receivers went in the first 11 of interest to him with Garrett Wilson going,

I think right before him, I think Thomas took him, uh, right before him. And, uh, Dan was really lamenting that spot. And so he ended up with Jonathan Taylor and Puka Nakua. And he said, I'm not a Puka guy, you know? And so, um, I was a little surprised that he didn't just decide to maybe pass on Puka and take Marvin Harrison if he feels that way. Or Chris Olave or Drake London or just go running back, running back if he really just wanted to avoid it all together. But that's the range for Puka is back into round one, beginning part of round two. And then you just sort of have to go with how you approach Cooper Cup. And I know Dan is a Cooper Cup guy.

And do you really want to take the chance on both of them? If you do that, I would probably avoid it. But in any event, Puka is a top 15 overall pick for me. And Cup is a top 30 overall pick as well. Yeah, you know, I love the 900-yard rookie wide receivers. I pretty much look at their seasons and just say, okay, these guys are probably going to be pretty good. It's a really, really impressive list. And what these guys go on to do in their careers.

And they usually do better as sophomores. I think we might go 0 for 3 this year, though. We might. Like, asking Pukunukuwa to be better than he was last year, it's not impossible because he only scored six touchdowns on 160 targets. But he had 1,486 yards. So like, for example, Mike Evans is a guy who had a great rookie year and wasn't as good in his second year, but he was still really good. He just had such a good rookie year. Same thing with Michael Thomas. Puka might take a little bit of a step back, but he set the record for receptions and yards as a rookie. I do believe he was

something like wide receiver 11 per game. Let me tell you right now. No, 13th per game and half PPR, 12th per game and full PPR in 12 games with Cooper Cup. And that included one game that Cup left with an injury. But you should still be looking at him and saying, okay, he's only going to get better. The other two who had 900 yards, by the way, were Rasheed Rice and Jordan Addison.

And I don't know that those guys are going to be better than they were as rookies for Addison might be better without the touchdowns, but the touchdowns are obviously going to be important because, you know, probably should ask Marty about TJ Hawkinson. Um, but yeah, another guy that, uh, you know, is coming back from a significant injury and getting similar vibes from a timetable standpoint to Nick Chubb. You know, we may not see Hawkinson until the middle of the season and who knows what he'll be like at that point with a rookie quarterback or Sam Donald.

So I've actually dropped Hawkinson outside, Hawkinson outside my top 12 at tight end. I just don't want to draft him as a starter. Yeah, I, I I'm with you, but actually we could talk about tight ends. Um,

we did a, we did our first draft yesterday, our first real draft that we're playing out. I mean, I'm sure you've done some best balls and other things, but amongst our CBS little family here, we did our magazine draft, and I do find tight end to be 10 or 11. Okay.

10 or 11 guys that I really want. It ends with kind of Njoku and ferguson and then after that i don't know that i really want dallas goddard i guess i'd settle for him but then i i think uh heath took two tight ends and i was the last guy to take a tight end i took friar whatever here's the point i'd like to make about tight end i am not seeing a lot of guys jamie i don't know if i'm seeing any guys, maybe Ben Sinnott, that I think are going to go undrafted or be super late picks that have big potential. And that happens, I say this all the time, right? It happens every single year at tight end, where almost half of the guys who

finish in the top five or six at the position are really late round picks or undrafted. Every single year this happens. I look at the position and I, right now, I don't see it. Maybe someone will surprise us, but. I'll give you a couple. You mentioned one and Ben said it. I would not be surprised if Jawan Johnson, given the receiving core in New Orleans, and some of these guys could be just totally touchdown related.

You mentioned Pat Fryer move. I don't know how quickly his ascension will happen from a, oh my God, I have to draft this guy. You know, I think we talked about this. He's one of my favorite late round flyers at the position. He's actually moved. I think I moved him up to 13. I don't know if he's actually, I think that I got it at 12 and Fryer moved to 13. Both those guys are now ahead of Hawkinson for me.

There's one just mentioned in the chat, Hunter Henry. You know, you talk about offensive systems. I think this is going to be one of those that favors the tight end. And, you know, six touchdowns last year for him, he could certainly get to that eight touchdown range, you know, given what this receiving core looks like. And he's, you know, really one of the few veterans that are there that you can look at and say he's got some potential.

I mean, I'm sorry. I got to cut you off. There's potential for Hunter Henry to be a streamer. But in my opinion, at this point in his career, there is no chance Hunter Henry is going to be an impact tight end, like finishing in the top five. I just can't see it. Oh, you're saying top five? No, I don't.

I'm saying like one of those guys that, oh, wow, Dalton, you know, Dalton Schultz a couple years ago, or I mean, who would it have been last year that was like a late pick? Najoku. Yeah, Najoku. Let me see. Anyone else I'm missing here? Who were the top six? Oh, Laporta.

I mean, Laporta was number one, right? Oh, true. Evan Ingram, I think, was probably a pretty late pick. I don't quite remember. No, we were drafting. He's coming off a good season in Jacksonville, so he was being drafted as a late run guy. All right, so Laporta was number one and Njoku was five and Cole Komet

was tight end seven for what it's worth. This is non-PPR for whatever reason I'm looking at that. But yeah, I can't see Henry really having that kind of an impact. It just seems like a really good top 12 type of tight end season

right now on paper, but I don't love the depth. I don't know if you feel that way. It could be an top 12 type of tight end season right now on paper, but I don't love the depth. I don't know if you feel that way, too. Could be an injury replacement type of guy. Could be. All right. Anyway, someone always surprises us. That's the point.

Okay, let's go to our next email. It's from Bill in America's high five state. Oh, McBride was another one. Yeah. A year ago. Thank you. Yep, exactly. Bill in America's high five state. I don't know where that is.

I'll try to Google it. He wants to talk about Isaac Garendo of the Niners. He said he may be getting slept on. This dude's combine was sick. We all know the injury history of the 49ers. Garendo has a history of being an exceptional wide receiver and running back. I'm trying to scoop him up at the end of all my best ball drafts. What say you guys about Garendo?

I mean, look, I think you got not a wide open backup position to San Francisco because I do think that Elijah Mitchell will have the first opportunity to be that guy should something happen to McCaffrey. And you took McCaffrey first overall in the magazine draft you referenced. You also took Mitchell. I do think Garendo is somebody that you want to keep an eye on, but will it take two injuries for him to get on the field? Now, long-term, he may end up being the guy in San Francisco or the backup guy in San Francisco. Who knows how much of this was a special teams type of addition to get somebody that can help

in the return game because he does have the ability to be explosive. But they brought in Patrick Taylor, for what that's worth, a guy that was in Green Bay's backfield. So coming from a similar type of system, you know, a guy that was with, you know, Shanahan and Matt LaFleur. So how much of that factors into it? So I don't think we'll see much from Garendo this season unless there's a bunch of injuries. I also totally agree with the emailer that it's not a bad late round dart

throw just to see because who knows what happens in camp. Caffrey gets a little banged up and then they decide to go with whoever they think is best. And then Mitchell last year showed us he was hurt as well. So it wouldn't be a huge shock, but we'll see how it goes. Yeah. Mitchell's kind of an interesting handcuff. I think people feel like he might be a league winner. I feel differently. I think he might be kind of a must-start as an RB2. But the guy's got 32 targets, Elijah Mitchell, 32 targets in 29 games.

So even though they throw a lot to their running back, when it's Christian McCaffrey, they don't ever throw to him. So he basically has to score to give you double digit fantasy points most weeks. I mean, don't get me wrong. If he were available on waivers and Christian McCaffrey got injured, he'd be my number one claim. I'd probably spend a decent amount of fab on him. But I don't think he's like a, I don't even know. It's not a one to one.

It's not a one to one. Oh, it's definitely not that. But it's, you know, it's not a one-to-one. It's not a one-to-one. Oh, it's definitely not that, but it's like Gus Edwards last year. Yeah, I mean, you're hoping for the San Francisco running back to be what most normal running backs are, not what Christian McCaffrey is. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm just saying there's no passing game rule. Whereas Garendo might be able to be more versatile

if he were to get that job. Right, we could see more of a committee if there is something happening to McCaffrey. Something happens to McCaffrey. All right. Jazz says, what's up, Tony,

Roger, and Troy? Oh, those are Cowboys. Cowboys quarterback. I was going to say, you have to ask about that one. Well,

Roger, I don't know why I went to Aaron Rodgers. I'll back. Yeah, no, I don't know what Aaron Rodgers

on that one for some reason. I have a question. 14 team, full PPR redraft. I have picks 101 and 113. We allow draft pick trading because trading is fun. Is it crazy? Don't worry about the picks he has.

Here's the question. Is it crazy to take Brees Hall over Christian McCaffrey? I'm nervous about McCaffrey with all the touches from last year. I mean, there's certainly reason to be concerned. And, you know, I hope not, but we'll find out if the number one overall pick is not cursed based on what we've seen the last couple of years. Um, I actually have a similar decision to make from a keeper standpoint.

We, uh, my longest running league, it's 10 team league, you know, just friends from college and we've, we've always just kept one player, no penalty. And so I have McCaffrey and Brees Hall. And so do I want to take McCaffrey and keep him or take Brees Hall and maybe have him for the next three or four years playing at this level? So I'm torn, very torn. I'm never going to get the chance to take both, clearly.

So I understand the question and the concern. I would probably just stick with McCaffrey with the hope of winning it all again. This is from Anthony. Two-keeper league, one quarterback, four-point-per-passing touchdown. I'm sorry, he's not keeping him. Draft him, McCaffrey, excuse me.

Yeah. All right. It's a one-QB league, four-point-per-passing touchdown. Here's a keeper question. Kyron Williams in the... Oh, he gets to keep two of these. Nope, he gets to keep one of these. Sorry. Kyron Williams in the... Oh, he gets to keep two of these. Nope, he gets to keep one of these. Sorry. Kyron Williams in the seventh

round, Nico Collins in the ninth round, Kyler Murray in the tenth round. One QB? Yeah. Not keeping Kyler. Right, but you have to pick one. Kyron in the seventh or Nico in the ninth? Oh, I thought you had to take

two of those. I would take Nico in the ninth. It is a two-keeper league, but apparently he has his first. And so he has a question on a second keeper. All right, Nico in the ninth for you. From Scott, 10-team Superflex PPR startup dynasty. He traded... I don't really get a startup dynasty. Did they do the draft already?

I don't know. He traded Jordan Love and 102. if a startup dynasty like did they do the draft already i don't know he traded jordan love and 102 it's the second overall pick for patrick mahomes what do you think about that trade i like it you know i mean uh you're you're giving up depending on what your quarterback situation is the chance to get caleb williams or jayden daniels or obviously marvin harrison um i'm i'm expecting jordan love to be very good for several years, but you never know if he's a one-hit wonder and can't replicate what he did a year ago.

Mahomes is the best quarterback in football and should have another opportunity to get back to being the best quarterback in fantasy. So if you want to get him, that's the type of cost you have to pay. Thank you, Jamie. And thank you to Marty Jaramillo. Again, you can follow him at MJSportsPT. And he was terrific today.

If there are any takeaways for me, it was Nick Chubb. Maybe he really shouldn't be a top 100 pick. Yeah. And Burrow, too. I think you've got to be a little bit cautious, which is why I did draft. I'm sorry if I'm revealing everything about the magazine draft. No, that's okay.

I drafted Burrow. I did not feel like I could only draft Burrow. I drafted Burrow and Caleb Williams. I do think there's a little bit of risk there with Burrow, and I think Marty kind of backed that up. But I think, you know, and you're definitely the type of manager to draft two quarterbacks.

You do it in almost every league, that if you are that type of player, that that's the type of second quarterback you take a chance on. Like, to take Burrow and, let's say, Matthew Stafford, aside from the concerns about Burrow, to me, that's not the smart way to draft. You're drafting somebody that has immense upside.

Oh, you're saying that second quarterback. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Second quarterback, right. Absolutely. I mean, Stafford is going to be safe. He's going to get you around 20 points. He's going to be a good starter if you need him. So, in the case of Burrow, take that type of guy. But I love what you did. You know, if you're going to take safe. He's going to get you around 20 points. He's going to be a good starter if you need him. So in the case of Burrow, take that type of guy.

But I love what you did. You know, if you're going to take two quarterbacks, and certainly Burrow, I think, is somebody that even in a, I think we did a 15-round draft. That's with kicker and defense. Or 16-round draft, excuse me. You need to put him on the list of guys in that back of him. Okay. Thanks, Jamie.

And we've got F15-5 coming up, and we will have a show on Monday for you here, as we're now four times a week. No shows on Fridays. Three-day weekend. And we'll talk to you on Monday, everybody. Have a great weekend. See ya.