The Fumblerooski Podcast - Becoming A Star -Ep 276 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: May 31, 2024

What will we learn from the Chicago Bears’ upcoming appearance on NFL’s Hard Knocks? Will what we see be a precursor of what's to come? How will Jaylen Waddle’s new deal impact the Dolphins and how will it affect Tee Higgins’ and Brandon Aiyuk’s contract talks? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros debate these topics and more!

the bears have been chosen for hbo's hard knocks and jaylen waddle it's extended three years 84 million i'm adam wright you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast it may not have always showed it in the stat sheet but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns someone's gotta get that six or seven spot he's an elite wide receiver as a rookie truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides welcome to the fumble ruski podcast by power 88 and secret weapon consulting i'm adam wright with cj medeiros we have a good show planned for you guys so the bears Bears are this year's next HBO's hard knocks. They choose a team every year to do a documentary for.

And I'll say this right out of the gates. They have a type. And I think it's exactly the type that you want to choose for hard knocks. Right? You don't want to do a documentary on a team that you know where you know what you're going to get right if the team if you know the team's going to be a cellar dweller no one's going to watch it and in that same way if if you know that team is going to be a juggernaut it's not going to be that interesting either because you you have expectations for that team

and there's nothing that you could see behind the scenes where you could say oh i want to see that no they expect a championship from that team so a team like the bears that's kind of what you get so last year it was the jets the year before that i believe it was the cardinals either the cardinals or the cowboys i know those two have been have switched back and forth but yeah you get the teams that that people are questioning what they're going to be and i think that's the way to do it if you're going to do a documentary on a team that where you you're not quite sure what you're getting, right? One of those documentaries that's just in season, you're getting the episodes as they're going. And the Chicago Bears are exactly like that.

They have a lot of talent around them. They're not your typical number one pick team. They had the Panthers pick, and they finished what? I believe it was 7-10? 7-10, yes. Something like that, yeah. Yes, they finished 7-10. So they had talent already.

They reinforced that defense, but there's still a massive question mark. There's questions in coaching, and there's questions always about chemistry, and there's questions at the quarterback position. That big decision that was made. We knew it was coming on whether or not they would stick with Justin Fields or they would move to Caleb Williams. So seeing how that decision pans out and with a character like Caleb Williams, it's, it would be a problem if they didn't pick the bears for this documentary for this season. So I think, I think they made the right choice here. I think the bears for this documentary for this season so i think i think they made the right

choice here i think the bears are an interesting team it's a team that everyone is going to have their eyes on for better or worse and it's going to be an interesting show i think this is going to be a good season for them but cj what do you think yeah chicago bears are probably like the team that was probably on you know nfl network's radar as far as hard knocks goes because there's obviously like the factors like quarterbacks right you know that's like the big factor here you know caleb williams and like you said he he can be a bit of a character so what better way to uh you know look at that than through the lens of hard knocks but there's also another guy you you know, rookie Roma Dunze,

who they took at, I believe, pick nine, who is going to be working with Keenan Allen and DJ Moore. And you could already say that that could very well be a top 10 receiver trio in the National Football League, even though Dunze hasn't even played a snap yet. I mean, you and I both spoke of him highly. And the defense is coming along. even though Dunza hasn't even played a snap yet. I mean, you and I both spoke of him highly. Yeah. And the defense is coming along. You know, you got Montez Sweat.

They re-signed Jalen Johnson. So they have a lot of pieces, don't get me wrong. But one thing that I think that really makes it interesting, right, is the coaching. And last season, you and I said that Matt Eberflus, the Chicago Bears head coach, was on the hot seat. Yep. And I don't want to speak for you,

but I feel that you and I were both a little surprised when Chicago brought him back. Yeah. Yeah, you can speak for me in that light, yes. I was very surprised. Yeah, he was one of the guys that I certainly thought was a goner but yeah no and to be fair chicago did get rid of their offensive coordinator was that i believe it was luke getzey so on the so i guess you could say there's some improvement but as far as hard knocks goes the coaching element is something that i think is

going to add a lot of intrigue because you and i have said we're gonna go right away if caleb can play you know we're gonna see the improvement right out the gate because he's got all these guys surrounding him but if it doesn't pan out you know there's always gonna be some growing pains but if they fall apart like if they're halfway through the season they've only won like two games you'd have to look at firing uh you look at firing iberflues i think and that's like what it's gonna be for me because obviously you know this is like pre-season and i'm talking about uh what's going to happen like halfway through the year but i just think the extra level of intrigue with the with the fact that they have the coach in eberfuss who probably should have been canned this offseason now you're gonna give him uh a new toy to play with with uh caleb williams that's weird because i liken it to

somebody who just crashed the car in justin fields and now he says, hmm, I have totaled this one. Eh, I'm going to go get another one. That's basically what I think. We're definitely going to see a lot into how he works. There could very well be some precursors of if they're setting up Williams for failure, especially with Ibrafluse. Well, that's definitely one way to look at it, and it's more reason as to why they picked the right team

to document for this upcoming season. This is going to be very interesting to see how it works out. Now, I'm not sure who they picked for in-season. Yeah, I don't think they picked that for a bit. Yeah. No, continue. But the Bears are the right choice, I think. I genuinely believe that.

We could see this team being in the race for the division or in contention for the number one overall pick. We could see either one, and i wouldn't be surprised most likely if they're a boss they'll probably be middling they have too much talent to not finish with at least six or seven wins but if they ended up with four wins i also probably wouldn't be surprised that would be such a bears thing for them to do where you have some sky-high expectations and then they're back in the top five overall um and at that point that was by the way not just aberflus but also would mean that they screwed up the quarterback position bad not to say that

justin fields wasn't the guy i i two things can be true at once, right? I still think, regardless of what happens with Caleb Williams, Justin Fields is not the guy. I feel like he could have been if they killed him, but yeah. And those reclamation projects tend to not go over well, maybe once in a blue moon, but I agree that the way it was going, they just didn't set Fields up very well. And could he have been the

guy we will literally never know but that's that's my point i don't think just because just because caleb williams isn't the guy doesn't mean justin fields was i hate the idea that's that's so often people act like two things can't be true at once so justin fields wasn't the guy they moved on from him just be regardless of what caleb williams does fields is not right for this team just because you chose the wrong guy after to to um to be a successor that doesn't necessarily mean they were wrong to move on from the last guy which is it's you hear it all the time, all the, where two things just can't be true at once. When you and I know very well, it was never going to work with fields.

I don't think it will. I don't think it was going to work. He has good athletic ability. He has a good hat on his shoulders. He just can't play the quarterback position. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. So find your next guy. I think it'll be Caleb Williams. I think he'll be a good quarterback. But if he isn't, that doesn't mean we're wrong about Fields. It means we were also wrong about – it means we were right about Fields and wrong about Williams.

It's just two different topics that are unrelated to each other. Yeah, you're right you're right and uh honestly another reason why i think fields was never gonna work is just this argument and you hear it all the time oh but at the end of the year the bears were really heating up but it's like okay at the end of the year when you're already this close to being booted out of the postseason contention what i mean that's what we keep hearing right and this happened for two straight years fields would suck and he would suck mightily and then the final four games he would play borderline lights out although especially last season i would call that into question. Apparently the media says I'm wrong.

And then people would be like, oh, he deserves another chance. Look at what he did at the end of the year. And I'm like, okay. And look at what he did in those 12 other games where he sucked. Recency bias, man. It's recency bias. You know what I also hate? That he holds onto the ball for too long?

That's another one. Well, there's that, but this is about the Bears in general. Oh, yeah. And I don't understand how a fan base could possibly argue for this and think that general managers are taking this into consideration. It's that because they are the Bears, that they have bad quarterback talent, so therefore they should just settle for fields. Yeah, no, that's not what I'm saying. Because they're the Bears, they just can't. They'll never have a good quarterback.

They never will. It'll never happen. It's because they haven't before. It means they can't now. And that's an argument that also irks me because what are the general manners of managers supposed to do? You think they're going to be like, yeah,

we suck. And I suck too. And I'm not, and I'm bad at my job. So now I'm just going to settle and I'm not going to go bad at my job so now i'm just gonna settle and i'm not gonna go in and try to find that next guy what kind of argument is that is that are we really are do you think the bears think that of themselves that they're going to say well because we're the bears we're just going to to fit the we're going to fit the mold of that terrible organization. Yeah,

you're right. There's no statistical anything behind that other than just, Oh yeah. That just, they never have good quarterback. So that means Williams is going to suck. It's like, what the bears history,

you know, with guys like, I don't know, like Cutler and Glennon and Trubisky, that has no bearing on how Caleb Williams is going to turn out. And honestly, you're right. What should they do? Literally, what should they do?

Do you think the Bears should just be like eh there's no use fighting it let's throw fields a hundred million dollar deal and hope this works like i just i don't know like it's like so why try like what yeah what are you supposed to do if you're in the if you are the bears gm is that what you're going is that the standard you were holding yourself to that well we're the bears i'm i'm a genuinely wait i'm genuinely just a waste of space of a person i'm just gonna why exactly and you know their gm ryan poles i believe is his name doesn't think that and you've been doing yeah and you've seen the most that poles has been making right he's doing everything he that is humanly possible to turn this Bears organization around.

And there's actually some people who think that he's a bad GM. Why? Because those people have a good position. Let's be real. He took a shot at Justin Fields. Fields didn't work out. He surrounded him with talent in year three. It didn't work out.

So they gave more talent to the next guy in Caleb Williams. They built up a roster, probably the best roster for a number one overall pick to inherit of all time. So that's very hard to do, to make it so that you have the number one overall pick, and then the next year you very well could be competitive. That's very rare that that happens. When has it happened? I guess it's Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck took the team to the playoffs his first year.

Stroud wasn't the number one overall pick, but he was number two, and he should have been the number one pick. Also, the Texans robbed themselves of the number one overall pick anyways. So either way, it was going to be be stroud but they went to the playoffs or bottom line is if caleb williams is the guy then we're going to know it quick because ryan poles did a great job to build a build an organization build a team around them fields didn't work out so they said okay we'll trade you to the team that you wanted to go to by the way that's a real thing he wanted to he he had better offers from different teams but fields wanted to be a stealer he did right by him either way if we find out

it'll be soon and i think i think he'll be okay like there's no reason to believe he's not going to be um he's not going to be a good quarterback he has the he has the abilities he has a terrible attitude but we've seen quarterbacks with bad attitudes who have made it work whether they win the super bowl or not is one thing but i I mean, Aaron Rodgers won a Super Bowl. He was fine. I mean, we get on Rodgers a lot, but he's one of the all-time great quarterbacks out there. So, like, if you believe he's a bust, then fine. But the idea that because they are the Chicago Bears, that therefore he's going

to be a bust, and that somehow you're trying to twist this into believing that that ryan ryan poles is a bad gm and hasn't done anything to help justin fields and hasn't done anything uh to build up this organization like are you brain dead genuinely like are is there something in the Chicago bears in the water in Chicago that just makes you lose brain cells? Yeah. It's actually maybe the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Like every, every time we cover this bears topic between fields and,

and Williams, we get some sort of brain dead in our comments who is just says the most asinine stuff there was one guy who straight up said why would you get why would you go and go and draft a quarterback who hasn't played a snap in the nfl when you have this guy who has three years of an experience maybe because i was like he sucked that's what i'm saying that's you just answered your own question he's been in the league for three years and you're talking about potential. If you're talking about what a player could potentially be after three years,

then you are actually an idiot. You are an idiot if you talk about potential when he's been there for three years. Yeah. And Adam, you and I have said this before. If you have a quarterback and it's been three years and you still don't know if he's the guy,

then I got some news for you. He's probably not the guy. And Justin Fields was no exception. It's not even a question. Probably not. He's not. Name a quarterback who's ever been successful after three years of getting the chance to prove it? No one has. Probably couldn't tell you. You can't because there hasn't been one. It's always three years. If they haven't proven anything after three years, regardless of the talent around you,

you're not the guy. You're not. Especially when you had DJ Moore and Cole Komet to throw to. In an offensive line that, don't give me the offensive line. The offensive line was fine. When you hold the ball for four seconds or more on every single sack then that's there's the issue all right we're gonna move on jaylen wattle extended three years 84 million we're gonna talk about how that how that changes the quarterback the rather the wide receiver market. A lot of players looking for big deals.

Great and around the Jalen Waddell level of great as well. I wouldn't say great. Very good. We'll say how this affects the wide receiver one market because there's a lot of players who are looking for big deals, and this one might affect that. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet but you can see him making

throws when he needs to make the throws back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns someone's got to get that six or seven spot he's an elite wide receiver as a rookie truly a lose lose scenario for both sides welcome back to the f Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. Jalen Waddle has been handed an extension from the Miami Dolphins, three years, $84 million. What I will point out is that this like like i teased before the segment this affects the market in a way that may not reach justin jefferson or cd lamb

but there is courtland sutton there's brandon iuk there's t higg, all wide receivers who are, who are number ones. They may not be CD lamb or Justin Jefferson or Jamar chase for that matter, but they are around the level of Jalen Waddle, Jalen Waddle, T Higgins, Brandon, Iuke, Cortland Sutton, wide receivers who are around that level where they're, they could be number ones on any team, and they deserve to be paid like it, but they end up being number twos. And they are number ones on any other team that doesn't have a Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase-level wide receiver. So I think this does, and remind me what Calvin Ridley's deal was again,

because that does affect him. It was 90-something million, like 91, 93 million somewhere, like low 90s over four years. So I think this is a step in the right direction for this tier of wide receiver in their market because I think the Calvin Ridley deal is a little ridiculous. Not just because of his age, but also because I just don't think he's legitimately a one. You're going to hear a lot of pushback on that, but I don't think he's a one. I know a lot of people who do think he is, and I understand why. But every time he's had that elite year, it's only because he had an alpha lined up on the other side of the ball,

on the other side of the field. Last year, it was Christian Kirk. Christian Kirk, I didn't think I would say it, but I think he's a better wide receiver than Calvin Ridley. He proved that this past year. At least statistically. Yeah. Well, you can even see it with the eye test.

I think Christian Kirk's the better wide receiver. I never thought I'd say it, but last year I thought proved that. And then a couple of years ago on the Falcons, it was 2020. Calvin Ridley, 1400 yards. That was with Julio Jones on the team. So it's always when he's the number two target, when there's somebody else lined up opposite him, when he's putting up his best numbers. So I didn't think that deal was good, was a good deal for him, but, oh, well, it was great for him, but it was bad for the wide receiver market. So Jalen Waddle, I think is a one, but he got three years, 84 million, which is a step in the right direction.

So expect T Higgins, Brandon Ayuk and Cortland Sutton to get something like this, which I kind of, I'm okay with this kind of deal. I don't think it's like, I don't think it's a crazy, it's not like you're, you're paying a number two. Jalen Waddle is not your typical number two wide receiver. He's a number one on any other team. So I think that they, they paid him. This is decent money for a number one what do you think no no no it is it is and uh real quick according to pro football talk apparently tyreek hill wants uh another deal even though he said he's going to be done by 2030 but whatever or or was it not by 2030 like 20 i know he said he already like has like a date picked out for he's gonna stop playing so despite that he apparently wants another deal and so i don't know how a waddles deal

is going to factor into it i don't think it will but we'll see and adam you and i have spent a lot of time talking about you know the whole jaylen uh what's it called and i mean justin jefferson cd landram r chase and how there's like this big like race to see who gets paid first and while everybody else gets screwed yeah so this is kind of like a step below that where it's like it's like the minor leagues even though they're really good to like the other guys major leagues you know what i mean there's a step below there's levels to it and i feel like waddle well you said it's a step in the right direction i also feel like it sets the floor because i don't see iuk or higgins or even maybe sutton accepting less than like 75 to 80 mil i really don't

sudden's maybe but that's how big maybe it doesn't matter what they're actually worth it matters what their demands are yes and and now that i think about it right i really off camera i had to do some pondering when i saw this and when you consider that jaylen waddle just got paid about 84 million over the span of three years you know these other receiver other receivers saw this right and adam you would say that t higgins because you're a big t higgins guy you should get around the same amount of money is that correct yeah just because this is the recent deal and that's around the level that he's at yeah uh-huh okay okay this deal hurts the bangles and the 49ers significantly because we already we we know at least a t higgins situation iuk might be weird because now devobo Samuel might get traded. I don't know. And then they go draft Ricky Pearsall round one.

So I have no idea what the hell is going on over in San Francisco. We're just going to leave that be for now. But with Higgins, right, it is not just that he wants a new deal and wants to be traded. He is now probably going to take a deal that is worth over $80 million. And if you listen closely with the right set of ears, you can hear the Bengals losing just a little more leverage. So imagine that you're not only going to have to give up assets, I'm hearing like perhaps a second rounder for T. Higgins, right? And not only are you going to have to give up assets, I'm hearing like perhaps a second rounder for T Higgins. Right.

And not only are you going to have to resign him, you're going to have to give him a deal that on the low side is going to be like 75 to 80 mil. Really think about it. Yeah. And if you're the Bengals, if you're the Bengals, you want T Higgins to get that.

You may have to trade them right now. Like, I don't know what you can get out of them i saw this one deal this one proposed deal from bleacher report they just made a mock trade um they proposed another second round pick to go to uh to go to um for him to go to new england and the patriots would include demario Douglas as well absolutely not if I'm the Patriots maybe I'm just thinking about how yes they're trading for him to overpay for him but I love his age I think his age is really what it's not just his skill set the fact that he can be a

number one it's the fact that he's still in his mid twenties. So if you overpay him to go four years, well, yeah, you're overpaying him, but you're getting four years of prime wide receiver production and you have a new toy for Drake may for years to come. I just, I look at that. I am, I am like, what's that second round going to get you? That's what I'm thinking. What is that second round gonna get you that's what i'm thinking what is that second round pick going to get you is that going to get you t higgins i know you don't have your you do not have faith cj in the patriots in the patriots ability to draft wide receivers in the second round at least to develop them yeah or at least like yeah same so t higgins are the patriots developing a t higgins i don't i i have it is very very unlikely if they do it's a t higgins that they

would be getting early in the draft like if the patriots use number three to take you know marvin harrison marvin harrison or if they traded back and somehow got Roma dunes at pick eight or something, right. It would be something like that if they did get another T Higgins. But if you're trading a second round pick for a guy who is a slam dunk, number one, wide receiver, and he's in your mid and he's in your mid twenties, same thing with Brandon IU, Cortland Sutton, Jalen Waddle here. They're all, they all fit that demographic where they're, they're, they're not, I wouldn't say they're cheap, but for the production you're getting, it's pretty good. Do you know how many, like Jalen Waddle, 1300 yards, you're paying $84 million for that with the way that wide

receivers are, that market is going up. If I'm doing that for Tee Higgins, I do that yesterday. Especially if you're getting that kind of production year in, year out. You're finally getting your number one wide receiver. You're getting him at the right time when you're developing Drake May. I think you do that deal yesterday. And if you're looking at the 49ers with Brandon Ayuk, the Broncos with Cortland Sutton, right? Jalen Waddell here. These are all wide receivers who are, who are of that caliber, who are at that age in their mid

twenties. And if you overpaid them, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep because you're getting that production. Is he, and he's young. So yes, he's not just like i think we're i think we need to to change our expectations for wide receivers yes it's always great to get the justin jeffersons and the cd lambs of the world and the jamar chases and the tyreek hills that's always fine and good but don't forget when you have that the tier below when you have these guys you're still going you're not only going to get by but you're going to excel so that's something to consider because i think the wide receiver position is becoming it's it's what's the way to put it um inflated i'll say yeah there it's important but if if you had j jalen waddle instead of tyree kill

as your number one obviously you wouldn't be as good as it he's not as good and free up more money he more than gets the job done and he does it at a cheaper price so that you can address other positions that's why i always say that i think generational wide receivers are more of a luxury you can win a super bowl with them jerry rice won a few but if you had if you had jalen waddle you would still do it and you wouldn't have to pay him as much and you could spend on other positions. Like I said a couple episodes ago, we made the case for Minnesota to trade Justin Jefferson, and people did not push back like we expected.

What does that tell you about the position? It's a need, but do you need that great of a wide receiver no you don't in fact the only times you can name an elite wide receiver winning a super bowl is when you had a generational quarterback throwing to him so there's something to consider that's all the scheduled content we have for tonight but do you you have anything else before we end the show? Honestly, no. Yeah. Nice, easy episode.

Guys, before we end, we are moving back to one episode a week. We do have a busy schedule this summer, but this is going to be a fun summer because we're going back to our player countdowns. So every skill position, starting with safeties, going through the defensive positions and the offensive positions,

we're going to rank our top five going into every, for every position going into every, into the 2024 season. And then we are also, for our other segments, we are doing division previews. We're also doing fantasy football position previews. So we have plenty of content coming up. This is going to be a fun summer.

We're taking a step back with our episode count. However, on Tuesdays, we are still giving you some good quality content. On top of that, we are also bringing our fan box back. We are asking you guys your most underrated position. So let's say safeties. We're going to rank our top five, but for our fan box, we're going to ask you guys who you think are the most underrated safeties in the league. Who's the most underrated wide receivers in the league stuff like that it's going to be a fun

summer but in the meantime that'll do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us we have new episodes out on tuesdays at 7 30 p.m eastern standard time and fridays at five be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel we have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram at FumbleRooski underscore podcast and our TikTok at FumbleRooski pod to keep up with our podcasts and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we'll see you next week. Over and out.