Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Assessing he NFC North going forward

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by Mike Schopp of the Deep End Podcast to discuss the future of the NFC North with plenty of change already going on in the division. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Mike Shope. It is the Purple Insider Fantasy Shope presented by Underdog Fantasy as always. And wow, one of us, one of us is covering a team that has a chance to go to the super bowl it's not me it is you of wgr 550 mike uh exciting times here what a game what a game between the bills and the ravens that's one that i'll be watching back in 2032 i'll be looking back on YouTube and like, yeah, I remember this one. This one was a classic. That was incredible football.

I was so sure you were going to say one of us won $6 in the Wildcat, and it wasn't me. That was me. But, yeah, like in 2032, are we still doing this? And we'll be older, and will it be cool? The Bills need to keep winning or else it won't matter. Like they, that's the thing about the divisional round. There have been so many amazing games.

Kellen Winslow, right? And it's 100 degrees in Miami and everybody's fainting and it's double overtime. Nobody can make a field goal. 41-38, greatest game ever. The next week they go to Cincinnati. It's the freezer bowl. It's next week, they go to Cincinnati. It's the Freezer Bowl. It's negative 30, and they have no chance. And like, okay, well, in a vacuum, great game,

but you've never won a Super Bowl, and like, who cares? So that's the Bills right now. It does, this is tough because it's so feelings-driven. Doesn't it just totally feel like it's their time Kansas City was kind of bad all year and they beat Baltimore who was great they were even great on Sunday and lost because the turnovers which I kind of predicted that I mean maybe a lot of people did but you just have to do it one of these times and there's really nothing else to say about the matchup bills and chiefs. I mean, the helmets have been sitting here for years, just waiting for the bills to be on top. And I'm trying to put them on top. I even put their Superbowl demon helmets over to the side, you know?

So maybe it'll be this time. Our mutual friend, Eric Eager, who used to be a guest on the show now works in the national football league. Uh, he used to make a comparison with Josh Allen to Peyton Manning where year in and year out Peyton Manning would get his team to the playoffs and it would be one thing or another that would get him a, a stupid kicker. If I recall at one point got him in Miami, idiot kicker get him a stupid kicker. If I recall at one point, got him in Miami idiot kicker, sorry, idiot kicker, Mike Vanderjet got him at one point or it was matchups or it was

didn't Ben Roethlisberger make a tackle to save again. I mean, just, it was one thing after another. And it's very much felt like that with josh allen where he has been a top two quarterback in the nfl top three quarterback in the nfl and this franchise has been so well put together and every year it's something it's a field goal it's a a meltdown on defense or whatever an injury right or you know that i think the DeMar Hamlin thing really drained that team emotionally that year and, and all the, all those things every year, it's been something. And this year there's just one more step. And I don't think that Kansas city as, as strong as they've been in the past. And I also think that if you look over to the NFC, where you had a 15-win team lose, a 14-win team lose,

that I think the sheer number of calamity franchises pumped up some win totals beyond what the actual talent level of the team was. And I'm speaking from experience here watching the Vikings play the AFC South. But I think that that might be a little bit with Kansas City as well. They had a lot of things go right in the season. And also, there just was not a lot of really good teams in the NFL. And when they played the Bills, they lost last time. Right. And they played the NFC South, which didn't hurt them.

I mean, they swept those games. Whereas, what, the Bills played the NFC West and they lost one to the Rams, which was enough to make week 18 irrelevant for Kansas City. I mean, the Bills went into that game with three losses with the tiebreaker having beaten the Chiefs and the Chiefs won, so they didn't have to play it. I mean, again, like what is left to figure out here? I think, you know, I hear the Manning comp all the time. And what do we always say? They can't win it until they do.

I mean, you and I are simpatico when it comes to this stuff, like the narrative stuff. You're just sort of dying for it to get blown up because you know it needs to be. And until it does, I mean, I was arguing with people about Peyton Manning's brilliance 10 years after that when he'd already won two and retired and people people to this day you never hear peyton manning was the best ever he totally was like he was better than brady every one of

those seasons but the playoffs dictate everything and now you just get slapped in the face if you wouldn't, if you would ever insinuate that Brady wasn't the goat, right? So I think actually the Manning, the modern day, I'm so old if Peyton Manning is not modern day, but the modern day comp is Jackson because Jackson, look at Sunday. He was incredible in this game, mostly. I mean, plays down the field, all the stuff.

We stopped talking about what he supposedly can't do, and now it's, well, you know, it's mistakes. But the mistakes are so meaningful to the outcomes of these games, and the two turnovers that are on him are tough to defend, especially the fumble. Like what is actually happening on that play where they're driving and come on. And otherwise,

you know, he's just incredible and Manning in the playoffs in his earlier years had games against new England where he was just like not functional. And that's more like what the Baltimore thing is than Allen. Allen has had an insanely good playoff career. And until recently, I never really heard him acknowledged for that or given credit for that because they lost. I think mostly the media driven space kind of middled it with Allen, which is like, well,

you know, he's not losing them these games, but they're not winning either. So we really don't know what to do. Like there are turnovers during the season. Let's just say, well, Mahomes is great, and let's leave it there. Whereas Jackson, we're feeding off of the turnovers, and Allen kind of lives in this, not purgatory, but in this space where, he's not blamed but he's also he doesn't have even a Super Bowl appearance yet and so it's so his time I I can't imagine what we talk about in Buffalo for the next nine months if they lose Sunday like

what do you do with the roster what does it say Josh, like all that stuff. McDermott, Sean McDermott has had this really like already a coach that's, you know, kind of rebirthed the franchise and has had this great success, but not in the playoffs. And like he gets the blame for their losses more than Allen does, and yet this year, we don't have any of that, oh, but this timeout, but this fourth down decision, anything like that. He's even getting credit now for how they defended the Ravens, who went for seven yards per play on Sunday. So really, it's a moment right now around here. Like either they get back, they go to New Orleans and I go to New Orleans and we just sort of experience that.

Or it's yet another year like of the last 50 of trying to figure out what's wrong with them. I think this year I felt this very same effect, the harsh that I have uh since I've been covering the team because in 2017 it ended so terribly but they had the Minneapolis miracle and everybody knew it was kind of a magic carpet ride that could end at some point with Case Keenum and it was well you know it happens I guess and that's that's shame, but what a season it was, that kind of thing. And then the way that they lost this year, it felt much more like all those 14 wins, why don't you just crumple them up and throw them in the garbage? They meant nothing.

Anyone involved meant nothing. And just don't ever talk to me about this team unless you're rebuilding the interior of the offensive line. And that just felt so harsh and so tough because think about with jackson i i just i had to close out all social media after the game because i just did not want to see lamar jackson stinks he can't win and this and then whatever else it's like i don't know man i know he made a couple of errors also the referees made an error at the end of the first half that gave the Bills a touchdown and his tight end fumbled and dropped a pass.

I felt that way about Allen for years where Allen in that 13 seconds game was as good as any quarterback ever in a playoff game in NFL history. And then, I don't know, Travis Kelsey gets wide open because he runs a route. That's not a route and whatever other stuff happens. And also it's not just us and it's not just narratives and media. It's also internally with franchises and decisions are made based on these games because they have so much emotion to them. And I guess I'm curious how that affects the Darnold decision because had Darnold gone for 346 yards and three touchdowns and they lost on a missed field goal at the end, maybe we'd be having a much different conversation in one game against

the team with a defensive line that also sacked Jalen Hurts five times. So I never know what I'm supposed to do with this. It just, it seems logically preposterous the way that we handle these things. And also it's just the truth of the matter. I wrote this about Kevin O'Connell. He just was named coach of the year, by the way, I got the email right before the show. No surprise. Congratulations to him. And here's my article saying, well, in the next phase of O'Connell, you better win in the playoffs because otherwise everyone will say you stink forever. Guys, if you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy, but if you're wearing hats to cover up for your hair loss, then I've got something that can help you.

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That's H-I-M-S dot com slash Purple Insider for your personalized hair loss treatment options him.com slash purple insider results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply see the website for full Yeah. Well, just to say it, Darnold, had he had that game, yes, it would be a different conversation. He did not, and he didn't even come close to it. He had the opposite of that game, and basically that was two in a row. You can use the Rams' success against Hurts to that argument. You can also use the Lions' failures against Washington to the argument. So I don't know. We talked about what they'll do next year, last week, and I don't know if it's any different, but every team, it's still really hard

usually to know the answer, but every team has a different sort of puzzle structure uh ownership what is the GM's security or status then you have the coach this is the Browns are interesting to use for this because like you had you have a two-time coach of the year there and like nothing else good. I mean, just the quarterback flux, to just put it mildly, and everything else around the Browns is like kind of a mess. But you've got a coach who I guess has proven by the standards of the awards that he's not the problem, and then you maybe want to build around that. And that's O'Connell now.

I mean, it was already. I know you've been fending off, oh, he could be traded and this kind of nonsense. And just like Jefferson last year, okay, well, what's the most likely outcome? And it was that he gets signed, which happened. And so he is now somebody, he got the the street cred where if he goes he'll be fine somewhere else you know probably or he'll get a chance somewhere else at least if not fine and you sort of build around that and that that i think affords the vikings a little bit more license to make the change at quarterback because like what he,

he took a guy, he was an early draft pick Darnold, but he took a guy that was kind of nowhere and made him a star this year. And now he wins the coach of the year. And then I think probably he'll get the same chance with McCarthy next year. And Darnold for me would be one of a few. Look at the team, to back into this point, look at the teams that just have no clear path at quarterback. I mean, there are a half dozen of those teams. And guys like, well, Darnold might be at the top of the list, but Russell Wilson and Cousins are just kind of kind of like yeah they're pretty much shot

maybe but we have to do something and the rookie class isn't great so it'll be another interesting year at that position trying to figure out what to do including in fantasy football which you know indianapolis with anthony richardson who was like quarterback six last year and couldn't stay healthy and got benched for joe flacco they ended up losing. Like what should they do? I don't know. I think there's, there's a couple of points there. I mean, if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers and you keep winning 10 games with the worst quarterbacks in the world that you may want to make a phone call to the Vikings about a sign and trade or franchise tag and trade or something like

that with Sam Darnold because maybe I mean you could work it out with I don't even know how the tampering works or whatever with this but if you were to work it out with them at the combine say with his agent to sign a three-year Baker Mayfield type contract and then immediately trade that to the Pittsburgh Steelers so they could afford it. I think that they would be thrilled and I would be worried for him because of George Pickens and et cetera there, Arthur Smith. But still, I mean, if you're them, you've got to be so sick of quarterbacks who can barely exist in the league just being held together with glue and a running game and a defense and so forth because they've survived. He got into the playoffs just by being a competent franchise, but they've been so far down a

quarterback. And I also feel the same way about Las Vegas. Are you not sending or Tennessee? Are you not sending a second round pick and more to the Vikings to get a quarterback who just threw for 35 touchdowns when you've just been a joke. I mean, if Darnold is the quarterback of the Titans and plays remotely similar, I mean, they might have like nine or 10 wins in that division, but they just couldn't win football games with a complete disaster at quarterback. So I think that has to factor into the decision that there will be a ton of interest. That's one thing. I also think about the NFC North and JJ McCarthy and Kevin O'Connell. So he wins coach of the year battling with the North 14 wins in a season where people

thought they were going to win seven and finish last. And that's kind of how we always do it here is who outperformed the expectations the most. And that was O'Connell totally deserving for Coach of the Year. Going forward with a young quarterback, if that's what they do, it's not going to be a very easy ride to the top because I don't think Detroit is falling apart despite losing their coordinators. I think Chicago possibly could have gotten a lot better

with the offense that Ben Johnson can run. Green Bay is going absolutely nowhere. I don't know if you've ever heard it mentioned on a broadcast, but they're a very young team, which gets brought up every quarter of every broadcast with Green Bay. I mean, this is just a very challenging situation that J.J. McCarthy is going to be dropped into if they make that choice. I should know the exact number of possible outcomes ranking the four teams in the NFC North next year that there are. I used to be good at math, but I don't know that number.

I want to say something like if you ask 10 people to predict next year's NFC North 1-4, wouldn't you get 10 different answers? I think I might like the Packers the most, but how do you compare the Vikings and the Bears? Right? I mean, so right now I'm saying on January 22nd, uncertainty at quarterback for Minnesota. Another year where they kind of flopped at the end. So what is it? There's some chance McCarthy just doesn't do it.

And there's also kind of a fair chance that Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams adds up to success and so i saw sam penny out of it you bet ql yesterday take a question about the bears win total next year and he's like probably like nine i thought nine i mean they lost nine games in a row didn't they i mean this coach is worth that much but you have williams and you have Williams and you have skilled talent. Minnesota has that too, but I don't know. Every NFC North team is really interesting right now. The teams went 0-3 in the playoffs, right? They all lost their first game, and not any of them was especially close. And so what a great division all year. This is awesome. And then the playoffs come and they all lose two other teams so um i think next year looking ahead and fantasy you know we talked

you when you and i started we talked about the packers all the time and like who's the go-to guy and everything it was jacobs in the end we all liked jordan love and we liked their receivers for different reasons and ultimately right through the loss of the eagles it was a josh jacobs in the end we all liked jordan love and we liked their receivers for different reasons and ultimately right through the loss of the eagles it was a josh jacobs season for green bay another reason why i just got pounded this year because i was not drafting older running backs especially on new teams how did that go um aaron jones but yeah like like every NFC North team is interest, really interesting in their own way right now. And ranking the next year will be really hard. And trying to figure out what Caleb Williams or JJ McCarthy are going to be. I mean, with the lions, I think it's still safe to say

that Jameer Gibbs, Amin Ross, St. Brown, Jamison Williams, Sam LaPorta, and that offensive line, uh, maybe they'll bring back Kevin Zeitler. That's just not, it'd be very hard to mess up. They got a lot of phone calls. I'm sure. Can I be your offensive coordinator? Because whoever is the offensive coordinator will probably end up with a head coaching job shortly, just based on the talent that they have there.

I don't think they'll win 15. And I don't think it'll be exactly the same as it was with Ben Johnson. But even if it's like, remember when Atlanta lost Kyle Shanahan, the next year there's still one pass from Matt Ryan to Julio Jones away from beating the Eagles, winning a playoff game, and then having to come to Minnesota and play the Vikings, who they had lost to. That close. That close. Oh, it's football. having to come to Minnesota and play the Vikings who they had lost to that,

that close, that close football. But you know, they were still a good offense. It wasn't exactly the same. I think Steve Sarkeesian may have actually been their offensive coordinator and it was, it was flawed, but they were still good because they had so much talent.

And I think it's going to be the same way with Detroit and with Green Bay I think they have to go into this offseason and think you know how are we going to find a wide receiver who's really our go-to guy because just having a lot of good uh it did cause problems and I guess that's because they don't have Josh Allen or maybe we underrated Khalil Shakir who's really good well it's also as know, and this has come up all season with Minnesota, a function of how good your defense is. And, like, Green Bay played defense, so they never threw passes. That was a team – the thesis of the play was, okay, love, and yes,

I'm in on this, coaching, I'm in on this. Coaching, I'm in on this. Detroit and what they can do. Maybe Minnesota's bad on defense. They both play indoors. AFC South schedule, everything led me to the Packers and the Bears, both as good plays, and they just got me beat in fantasy because Green Bay was only Jacobs, who I avoided, and Chicago, it was nobody.

So the Packers, you know, they just need to be in game scripts where they won't hand the ball off all day. And you have Emmanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks being the equivalent or better to like a Dontavian Wicks or somebody like that in fantasy, which is just not usable. So that's something else. I mean, we talk about offensive line matchups, the little things that aren't little at all in real football to try to know the answers to and just the ripple effects of those things.

The Packers just, yeah, we like all of it, but they never pass. So where does that leave us? I want to think that love and that talent and maybe one more guy, like you're saying could mean really big things next year. I think I'm going to want to be on that because I think a lot of the, the field will not be, it'll just sort of be jaded by what happened this year. A question about a fantasy related for you, the Vikings backfield for next year.

I doubt you have had the time considering your team is in the AFC championship to look at the free agent list of running backs for next year. I'm doing it right now, but you're what you're going to, I I'd like you to make a face. That is, uh, your reaction to the free agents. It's, it's not going to be a nice face. Yeah. That's a good one. Rico Dowdle, our guy Rico Dowdle, who I wasn't sure was real at the beginning of the season is at the top of the list. Uh, and aside from that, there are not many guys that you could see being a

difference maker, which has even led us to a conversation that I never thought I would have, which is about whether it makes sense to draft a first round running back for the Vikings because they have everything else on offense and teams that have been able to put everything else together have gotten huge production out of running backs. And it actually made me think about just running backs throughout history and how like Marshall Falk with the greatest show on turf. If you have everything else and that guy and you, and it maximizes all of his talents, it's super scary. And this would go for our friend Thurman Thomas, the same way. If you ask that guy to be your whole offense, it's super scary and this would go for our friend Thurman Thomas the same way if you ask that guy to

be your whole offense it's not super scary and he's going to average 4.2 yards of carry for the Giants like Saquon or six for the Eagles and I think that that might be the case with the Vikings in that position I also think that if you're Kweisi Adafo-Mensa, you can't be thinking about drafting a running back in the first round, right? I think they're in a little bit of a tricky spot there in the backfield. Oh, yeah. This is a great topic. It always is. Last year, the mold was broken with the veteran running backs getting paid and signed.

Even Mixon was – Adam Schefter, like, they tell him everything that's going to happen, and he's like, he's getting caught by the Bengals. And then an hour later, the Texans traded for him and signed him to an extension. Like, it was so upside down last year with the veterans. And Barkley worked out. Derrick Henry worked out. Those teams haven't made the Super Bowl yet.

Baltimore's done. Again, how fickle it is. And DeAndre Swift was the first guy signed of all of them, and that didn't work out at all for Chicago. McCaffrey's old, and he barely played. There's all kinds of different examples you can draw from. But to your point about the free agent crop, yeah, it's terrible. Like I've had time to look at that. I have not had time to look at the draft class, but people that I follow who have say there's a lot of talent. It's a running back year and Gentee will be a first round pick. sounds like, maybe before it's Minnesota's turn. That could be Dallas. That could be exactly what you laid out, but for a worse team.

The Cowboys are kind of perfect. They sort of have the rest of it. And they passed this year. They could have drafted Bucky Irving or something on Saturday and just didn't. They traded the one pick they could have used on that player for Trey Lance, actually. So Dallas is down bad for this.

But there should be the kind of depth at running back. And I might want to say at this early date, what happened this year in the league means we get a lot more guys on day two. And so teams like minnesota and several others could end up uh profiting there if it works out which will make fantasy really complicated or just challenging because again like every year is different and this year we kind of leaned into even jonathan brooks who was a day two pick off an ACL injury. He, Trey Benson to Arizona, old running back there. And Connor, what happened?

Connor played every down all season. So it was such a bad year in this way. And it, I mean, it was really bad. But maybe next year you get day two guys. And again, like the Packers point I just made, maybe there's sort of like a push in the other direction because everybody got burned last year and in fantasy, it pays off. I just, I think that they almost have to, because when you look at the free agent list, I just don't know what to do with that. I mean, unless you're bringing in Dowdle and

with Aaron Jones, he's expressed his desire to come back. For me, that is just red flags on top of a big giant red flag. Like think of one. And then there's like mini red flags all over it. I mean, 31 years old, he was beat up almost every single game. And this guy is an absolute warrior. I was so impressed and blown away being around him. Everything that

everybody said about him coming here was totally true, but we also have to use the objective. You're 31 years old and you were on the injury report probably 12 times throughout this year. That's just really risky. And I think the biggest L for them. And I just, I, we never asked because it seems so obvious that they would just keep playing Aaron Jones, but what happened with Ty Chandler? I mean, it just, the guy goes from running for 400 something yards, four and a half yards of carry to is not allowed anywhere near a football. Just you, you stay on the sidelines. Don't even look at the field. Ty Chandler, they go get acres. He does pretty well, but that's just the patchwork, you know, and you, you answer that question before the season started because everybody in

fantasy mostly liked the Chandler bet. You know, he's one of these guys that was free, like the rookies. And if you get Tyron Tracy or somebody like that like you win big and if you get the wrong guy you win nothing but you're like Chandler is blowing blocking assignments and you've got Darnold who's going to play they realize that mid preseason when McCarthy goes out and you just can't you can't leave him under pressure like you have to do everything you can to protect him and so there goes Ty Chandler. Is that too simplistic? No,

I mean, that was a clear early in training camp that they just didn't trust him. And it became even more clear early in the season that they didn't trust him. And he came into a game after Jones got hurt and fumbled immediately. And it's like, okay, on a pitch.

So it just hit him and bounced off him. And that just, just you know seemed to bring an end to that and then they went and got cam acres i mean yeah i understood why they weren't doing it because they couldn't trust him even last year he just didn't even run the right way like in in actual games there were games where nick mullins was turning around last year and going to hand the ball off being like okay you're actually on the other side. So I'll just, you're going the wrong way. Uh, like, uh, what's the movie there? Planes, trains, and automobiles. You're going the wrong way. Uh, it's the same thing with, uh, Ty Chandler. So I, I mean, I, I understood, but also for someone

to look like they were your young running back who could be the next man up to just disappear off the face of the earth from having 400 yards. The previous season is, is pretty a pretty big blow to their future at that position. Really? I would say a guy like that has a very small chance of ever hitting. Oh yeah. At this point,

you know, not a big draft capital investment, two years gone by nothing really is happening. Those guys disappear. Damian Pierce in Houston, you know, there are exceptions, but usually those guys are just kind of lost. And we bring in rookies that don't cost anything, fourth round, fifth round, and see what they can do.

And sometimes they pop. Yep, yep. And that's what they're going to have to do. I'm thinking maybe third round where you're not getting Gentee or Omari and Hampton, but maybe Caleb Johnson from Iowa, something like that. And then you pray, I guess, when it comes to the running back position, because we never really know. This is what I have not had time to do is the rookies and Minnesota. I've got your second round pick. So that might make a third round running back pick even a little bit more, you know,

interesting. Well, the Vikings, I know what they're going to do to me on draft night. I'll be live streaming and they're going to trade out of the, the first round back into the early second. So I'll have spent five hours yelling at my you know webcam here and then it'll be like all right the vikings are finally up we're the 24th oh they've traded out to tomorrow they really

need to do that because they have no draft picks so this is what happened this is what happened here last year so if you want advice uh let me know it's uh it's a tough life over here uh let's uh let's talk about maybe some fantasy uh playoff stuff you you've drafted a fantasy playoff team so let me uh let me bring that up here okay uh what what what do you got there's only two teams left how do you draft a fantasy team when there's only two teams left so So this is the gauntlet, which we drafted before the playoffs started. This tournament opened well before the playoffs started. So I've seen teams with like 49ers on them. Anyway, it's best ball.

It's underdog. There's $2 million in the prize pool. And you have to finish. I think it was top two the first week. But the second week and you have to finish. I think it was top two the first week, but the second week you have to finish first. So I want you to see, uh, I'm not protecting the names to protect the innocence over here on the right. Can you see that?

I can. Is the divisional round score. And it was a tie between myself and the team below me and what they say i'm going to pull the roster back up now um the tiebreaker rules have it that the highest scoring player on the teams that are tied that is the team that advances. But as it happens, this team and myself had exactly the same starting, like usable players. In this case, it was Jaden Daniels, Barkley, Brian Robinson, Kelsey, McLaurin. You see like Jalen McMillan lost the first week.

There's nothing you can do about it. That's best ball, and we don't make any changes. So the last line of the tiebreaker in this tournament, if you have all the same players that count in your lineup, is which team drafted first. And I don't know of a better way to do that necessarily, but I'm checking every couple hours to see if they've advanced the pods to see, because

my team is listed first, and I want that to matter. I've emailed, you probably know somebody, I've emailed Underdog support a couple of times, and they can't give me the answer, so we wait. But if this team goes through, Matthew, look at its potential.

Mahomes, Pacheco, Kelsey, Worthy, they're all playing this week. Daniels, Robinson, McLaurin with Barkley, they're all playing this week. It's not perfect to win the whole thing because of the fact that I won't have the Super Bowl perfect. Kansas City and Washington gives me the best chance, but there probably are not enough guys. That's how you have to draft those things is lean as hard as you possibly can into whatever teams you're sort of starting with. But the Lions teams are out, the Ravens teams are out, and that team is kind of exciting. It's my only one through out of, I think I drafted 19, six got to the second round, not great, but getting one through with a Kansas city, Washington build is exciting. If I actually drafted that team before the guy that I tied with and I still don't know,

but I'll promise to let you know when I find out. That sounds like Roger Goodell's playoff tiebreakers where it's like, which stadium smells better is going to be the tiebreaker. If they have the same record in the same conference record or whatever, uh, that, well, you know, it's funny. Cause we talked about that strategy of, if you pick one of those teams, that's not expected to get deep into the playoffs and somehow they pop and make the super bowl. Well, that seems to be your Washington. And, uh, I was going to ask you this question.

Jaden Daniels is a what pick for next year in fantasy. I mean, he's gotta be top three for quarterbacks. Is it Jackson Allen and Jane Daniels? I think it's maybe still hurts, but then Daniels, it's not Richardson anymore. It's not my homes anymore, but then Daniels, it's not Richardson anymore. It's not Mahomes anymore. But yeah, the run-pass combination always made Daniels very exciting for fantasy.

And they'll probably, like, I think Washington is positioned to add a receiver and give him, like, more. So you could have, like, like a really you could have a jump next year that could make him quarterback one so i think the upside there with daniels is very exciting i would say in a dynasty startup so you're you and i should do one of these uh this year if you want you want to be in a dynasty league these are players you keep forever and super flex is the more popular format these days where you start two quarterbacks there's an argument that daniels should be the 101 in a dynasty super flex you know so young

kind of old for a rookie but still like younger than allen and hertz and jack Jackson by a few years. That's pretty exciting. And yeah, back to that, that playoff build, like you can't just draft, you couldn't just draft the Chiefs and the Lions or the Eagles and the Bills. Like it was hard to get, you know, it's a six player draft, like one you were in and you really can't have that. So you want to find these teams that sort of make sense from the other conference. I did teams with Philadelphia and the Chargers. The Chargers were more interesting to me than the Texans, but that died abruptly. So those teams, you know, didn't get past round two. McConkie could have gotten you to round two, but not past round two because that's a zero.

And Kansas City and Washington was pretty easy. And Washington afforded you that upside with Daniels and McLaurin and even Robinson. I like Eckler actually a little bit more than Robinson, but that team has Robinson on it. You want to make sure to get everybody. And again, you're sort of betting on teams. So there shouldn't be players on teams like that, that you just avoid because you don't know like Deami Brown became somebody this year that was relevant in fantasy football. You know, if you like the team, you want to make sure to see the whole board and, you know, acknowledge guys that maybe were not on your radar individually. I was thinking about Washington just reacting to that game,

and it is maybe an overreaction, I guess, but probably not to say that if you were to pick one franchise going forward in the NFC and just circle them and say, I want to be them. Someone just decided to like football today, and they said, well, you're a football guy. Who should I like? I'd say, are you comfortable with how bad the nickname commanders are or is? Because if, as long as you're comfortable with that, I would pick Washington over every other team in the NFC and probably over every other team in the NFL that is not Baltimore, Buffalo and Kansas city. And I, I think that's, I think that's a safe play. Maybe Houston would be one other that is in this ballpark, but Washington is going to have the

rookie quarterback hack. And I think that Daniels is more special than Stroud as, as great as Stroud is the running element. When, when Detroit sent a corner blitz and Daniels went, Oh, someone's blitzing. Okay. And by, and just ran right away from the guy with,

with total ease. You're like, yeah. And he's accurate and he's poised and he's a leader of the team and he's in command and he just is everything you could dream of a franchise quarterback which should not be terribly shocking he was the number two overall pick and he averaged more yards per rush in his last year in college than lamar jackson did at his best and he averaged more yards per pass than andrew luck did so i mean this you know this is a guy you take at the top and build your franchise with.

That's a really interesting thought experiment. Like which team in the NFC right now would you most like to be? It wouldn't be the Lions and it wouldn't be the Niners. It wouldn't be the Rams. Philadelphia seems to be able to win despite like all these sort of individual dramas that are happening there. Like the coach is terrible and A.J. Brown is reading books, but they just, you know, here they are is a pretty good favorite in the NFC championship. Carolina is a little interesting for this, but there's a lot of teams the NFC you would not want to be.

I agree with that. Yeah, I was trying to figure out how to get maybe one of these head coaches to read my book as they have to decide whether they're going to go for fourth down like where was it that he wrote about that in football is a numbers game uh why don't I just read your book by the way oh you did well thank you I reread it yeah I was more uh if I may like the first time by read I I mean, listen to. I hope that that's interchangeable at this point. But the first time I listened to it, I was driving an RV from Buffalo to Florida and listened to it like straight through, which was great. You know,

sort of how the company was moving on from a lot of its key people. So anyway, I meant to tell you that offline, but I did reread it. Oh, by the way, just connected to the book. If you were watching the national championship game in college, Marcus Freeman is over on the sideline and he's got his play card. And if you look to his right was a guy named Anthony trash who worked for PFF and who was helping him with in-game decisions and so forth, he was their analytics director who had come up through PFF,

but another one of those key people they lost along with Eric, who works for Carolina and Mike Renner, who works for CBS and Steve Palazzolo works for 33rd team and Sam Monson. So it's really dispersed since I wrote the book, they had all their key people and then now they are strewn about. So that's, and that's only three years ago that I was writing the book. So anyway, uh, underdog fantasy pickums for this weekend.

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All right. Jalen Hurts and Jadenden daniels how about those guys 181 how about him 181.5 passing yards for jalen hurts will he throw the pigskin in the general direction of aj brown his best receiver, and then see if he catches it. So I did a four player pick them off of that game. And I went yes to your question, which was higher than 4.5 receptions for AJ Brown. You might need Washington to keep it close for that. But we're all just sort of making bets, predictions on what kind of game it is. And mine would be on this one, that Philadelphia is the better team. Washington is feisty and keeps it a game, but that the talent of A.J. Brown wins out. I haven't gotten into the granular stuff on, like,

cornerback-receiver matchups or what happened in previous meetings, but just sort of on a basic level, I like the idea of Brown getting to five catches. It's been a long time since he's had a really big game. So I like that. I would go higher on Zach Ertz in this game, over 3.5. Daniels has really used him. Revenge

narrative, Matthew? I know you love that. So I will go higher on Ertz, lower on DeAndre Brown, the same number, 3.5. Okay, if I get beat there, I'll just have to eat that. And I'll take a Hertz rushing touchdown as well because that's been

pretty safe over the years. That's 11 to one to win a four, four bagger. Oh, really? Okay. How about Daniel's 224.5 higher, lower on his passing yards.

I think that they're going to have to score and he's going to have to throw. If you get behind, you're just going to have to pass it,'s going to have to throw. Uh, if you get behind, you're just going to have to pass it, pass it, pass it, pass. And I feel like two 24 is not that high of a number for him. Uh, so I like them to kind of get behind a little bit. The only thing is the Eagles have this secondary that is really nasty. And we saw it last week against Pook and Nakua and Cooper Cup, Slay and Cooper Dajin. Like, they're good.

And Washington has one really good wide receiver, but the other guys are kind of just guys. So I could see him being held under. And there is a little bit of history here. Quarterbacks who are rookies that get into this game usually do not play very well in this game. Like this is the point where it's like, yeah, okay, well, you're a rookie. Your team's not there yet.

You're not there yet. And they come apart. I still think he's going to throw a lot though. Yeah. I'm not sure what I want to do with Daniels. I like Eckler too, I guess, in that kind of game script where they could throw the ball to him a few times. But there is a chance that Philadelphia is too much. I do like for Daniels.

That's why I can't really say, like I'm not sure, is that he's seen them twice, you know? So at least it's not a team where he's rolling in and like just not familiar with what they're going to look like. Philadelphia has the challenge of coming up. And Washington just beat them. The last time they played in a fairly high scoring game. So Philadelphia's challenge is sort of something else to come up with to, you know, throw him off.

Leaves me sort of ambivalent on Daniels. How about there's two quarterbacks over in the AFC, fairly notable gentlemen. Patrick. Yeah, I know. Search through, leaf through your notebooks here to find it. It is on page 642, Chiefs and Bills. 254.5 passing yards for Patrick Mahomes.

I just don't see it. I mean, he just doesn't do this anymore. He just doesn't throw for 350 yards anymore. And if Kansas city is going to win this game, there's one drive that I would look at from Baltimore. And I know they're very differently constructed teams, but there's one drive that I would look at Baltimore and say, you know what, Kansas city might be able to do that. And it's the one where they ran every play where the Ravens ran every play. And again, different offensive lines, different structures,

different running backs. That's for sure. But even justice Hill was getting yards against Buffalo. I think they're going to play this game where they just try to control the clock, the entire game, plod down the field, convert third downs,

kick field goals, and just try to never give the ball to Josh Allen. Yeah. I just think what I want to do with this game is lean on everybody that's already been great to be great. I think this game is just so elevated, you know, like what it is and what's on the line. I would never pick against Allen here.

I mean, he threw for 120 something against Baltimore, but there's no way I'm not going higher on Allen if I'm using Allen. I could go lower on Cook in that kind of game where it's like Josh Allen's moment. That number is 54 and a half rushing. The Bills have, Cook only plays like half the snaps anyway, ever. So I don't really want to pick him to go off. He can break one.

But Kansas City's defense, they're so familiar with each other. I'll go Allen higher, Cook lower. I'll go Mahomes higher too. The Bills will put the pressure on them. And in the three playoff meetings between these teams, Mahomes has, I believe, eight touchdown passes, 26 incompletions, and no picks. Last year, he didn't have the yards. Last year, they went nine yards per play. We'll find out later today, as you and I record on Wednesday morning, injury status with some key

Bills defensive players Taylor Rapp was injured Sunday Christian Benford in the concussion protocol their best corner guy and Matt Milano even left the game for the last few plays against Baltimore so there could be I say could be I don't know a little bit of weakness there from the Bills defense which really has not been that good anyway I mean the Ravens just ripped through them but turned the ball over three times and then dropped a game-tying pass at the end and I'll throw in DeAndre Hopkins who isn't doing much at all for Kansas City but it sort of correlates with a Mahomes game uh one pick is higher than eight and a half receiving yards in the first half that's 10 to win 66 i travis kelsey's number is pretty high six and a half receptions but i just don't see how that

doesn't happen how could he come anywhere short of like 10 he's gonna throw the ball to him the whole game that's what i'm saying just lean into the guys that you've seen be the leading men for these two teams, so to speak. Again, play along with us. Promo code purple over at Underdog Fantasy. And let me ask you a final question here. That's the question. You ruined it. How did you know?

Because you did this to me other times. Like who goes to the Super Bowl? I said Kansas City and Detroit. I think when you asked me that, so I'll change it. Am I allowed to change it from here? You're allowed to, yeah. You're allowed to take Detroit out of the, uh, out of it. So I'll take, I'll change both sides. You know, it just so feels like this is the bill's time and they've beaten Kansas city

in the regular season, four years in a row, right? Who has that? Who can claim that? They've been really just next to Kansas City's level. If you're somebody who thinks the playoffs are different, the emotions, the feelings are different, then it's easier to get to the Chiefs, but I am not. I think if I could go to this game with any AFC roster, if I could go to the Super Bowl, I should say, with any AFC roster, I would pick the Ravens. I mean, I think they were the best team in the conference. But it just feels like it's the Bills' moment, all these losses. What do we even say?

I guess I'm just trying to speak this into existence, right? Like, what am I talking about for the next nine months in Buffalo if they lose again in the playoffs to the Chiefs? And I think the Eagles are too good. I agree. I think Buffalo-Philadelphia Super Bowl makes the most sense here. Then they would have met all four NFC East teams in the Super Bowl. We'd like to have that.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. Trying to keep my shoulder just above the old Washington logo. So I don't get in trouble. Yeah. So I don't have to put it like a tag on the YouTube thing.

Yeah. Well, we'll see, man. We'll see. I wish you the best and an enjoyable post-game show on Sunday. Thank you. I hope we keep going. If Buffalo wins, I think I would join you from New Orleans. Yeah, that would be great. That would be the on-site person.

That would be fantastic. Yes. Thank you for your time. And we'll have, what, two more? Three more? Two more? As many as you want, Matt. All we'll have what? Two more, three more, two more. As many as you want, Matt.

All right. Okay. Very good. Mike, thanks very much. The deep end and ADP chasing. Make sure you check out those podcasts as well. And we'll talk to y'all soon.

Football. Bye. Yeah.