The Fumblerooski Podcast - Fitting The Window -Ep 113 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: September 2, 2022

Can Russell Wilson still play at a high level when his contract ends at age 41? Have the Titans gotten themselves into trouble this offseason? How will the playoff picture shape up this season? Adam Wright and CJ Medieros host special guest Ben Farina to discuss these topics and more!

We are going into our second to last episode before opening day. Second to last episode. That's right. Literally next Thursday is when the big game starts. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. And if you guys are seeing on our YouTube channel and hearing, you know, the lack thereof new features. Yeah, so we used to be affiliated with Fans Only Sports Network.

We have now split, have gone our separate ways um we're going to we're working to get stream yard back because stream yard was provided through fans only sports network so we're going to work to get that back independently but anyways we do have a lot planned for you this episode we're going to talk about russell wilson signing signing his massive extension and the Tennessee Titans with some recent moves. And just over this offseason, essentially having a bit of a rough season and talking about maybe some trouble they'll get into and joining us to help with all of this. Special guest, Ben Farina. Ben, welcome to the show. Why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners? All right. So my name is Ben Farina. Ben, welcome to the show. Why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners?

All right, so my name is Ben Farina. I'm from Detroit, Michigan. My favorite team is the Kansas City Chiefs, not the Detroit Lions. I have a YouTube channel. It's Ben Dover Games. And I just like football. I like I like the name. Yeah, we love getting I mean, we love getting football fans on here. We're glad to see that you're a Chiefs fan and not a Detroit Lions fan. Must be tough for them, especially with the departure of you know matthew stafford and then they go and win a ring but patrick mahomes man patrick mahomes yeah no tyreek hill though that's gonna be tough but you got kelsey yeah that's true and uh what's his name juju smith schuster and uh marquez valdez scantling. So they're going to try to work to kind of recreate

Tyreek Hill. Let's see how that goes, but we're going to get right into it. So Russell Wilson has signed a massive contract extension with the Denver Broncos. So the specifics are, it is a five-year deal worth $245 million total, 165 mil guaranteed. And so he's already going to be under contract for the next two years, meaning he's going to be, he's technically under contract for the Broncos for seven, for seven seasons, meaning he will be the quarterback of the Denver Broncos when he's 41 years old. So guys, I'll start with you, Ben. What do you think of this deal? The length of it, it's not, I don't like quarterbacks when they go past the age of 40 because I think they are not good when they get past the age of 40. But the money, it's suitable for him.

He's been a top quarterback for a long time now, so he's deserving of the money. But the length, I'm just not a fan of. Yeah, we're entering an era where there are, you know, the money's going up there for quarterbacks teams are starting to realize that so i completely understand the money kind of being there in the length is wow especially for a quarter a dual threat quarterback like russell wilson but cj what are your thoughts well i mean it's good for the broncos that they did get their guy under wraps because, you know, there's no point in giving up a haul for him just for him to leave two years later.

But as you mentioned, he's going to be 41 years old, you know, when his contract is up. And I don't know if you remember any of the 40-year-old quarterbacks we've had in recent vintage. Well, let me put it to you straight. Anyone not named Tom Brady has just been a mummified husk out there i mean drew breeze was below average roethlisberger was he 40 was he like or late 30s he couldn't even throw the ball and we all remember peyton manning getting carried by that denver in 2015, where he basically just stood there like a statue in the pocket. So yeah. And I'm usually not a fan of the scrambling quarterback just because they tend to have shorter shelf lives, but this is Russell Wilson. And I've said this many times on the show.

He is what we call a smart scrambler. He's not looking to rip off the 40 yard touchdown run, just a first down either slides or ducks out of bounds that's playing smart football and denver you just traded for your guy you've always said you're one quarterback away you better friggin win a ring you know because if you don't my question will be why yeah the what i'm really so there's a couple things I look at with this. It's, number one, there's really only been two quarterbacks who have played to the age of 41 and still be able to play at a high level. Drew Brees was able to, to an extent.

Tom Brady is still going into age 45. And it's certainly possible for russell wilson to to make it work because he's a smart guy he knows he makes good decisions and he's kind of turned into a pocket passer just if you're gonna see any of these quarterbacks play at a high level to that age is it gonna be russell wilson i mean he's a good quarterback. He's a very good quarterback. I don't, I never really saw him as a great quarterback. Somebody who can, who can last that long. I see him getting into his late thirties, let's say 38, 39, but 41. I don't know about that. And I also look at at the money i'm a little worried about that

and i understand the that the market for quarterbacks is starting to get uh inflated if you will but you can't look it's very hard to build a team around you when you're taking when you're eating up that much cap space i mean look at the look at the chiefs they've they gave they gave patrick mahomes this massive deal and they they were forced to get to get rid of tyreek hill and green bay what's that yeah green green yeah green bay they had to they uh zadaria smith out the door and davante smith gone Devante. Excuse me. Yeah. Why did I say Devante Smith? Jeez,

Jesus. Um, but it's, it's, it's basically that, but I, I kind of understand the length because quarterbacks can go really long, but the money is tough and I'm not sure he's going to last till exactly age 40,

age 41. So the, the window is probably not going to be seven years. It's probably going to be more like three to four years because this is a good young team they have around them, but those contracts will be up and it'll be time to pay those players. The Patrick Sertans of the world, the Jerry Judys of the world, the Courtland Suttons of the world, the Javante Williams of the world. You're going to have to pay those guys guys eventually and are you going to be able to do it with this massive contract of russell wilson i'm not sure about that so that's my those are my main concerns overall you gotta lock up your quarterback so i

like that they did it interesting interesting details though is what i'll say yeah adam uh when like i said when i when i look at that deal it's just the age that's going to be a huge red flag and frankly i wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't even play out that whole contract you know it's probably going to be like one of those cases like uh i don't know like when the old quarterback retires i want to say it happened to like andrew luck you know where they're still on and he wasn't old, like when the old quarterback retires, I want to say it happened to like Andrew Luck, you know, where they're still on. I mean, he wasn't old, but you get the point where he was still under contract by the time they're still going to keep paying him to the future. It's a ball and chain either way. Yeah, it is.

It certainly is. But they have to do what they did, what they need to do to keep their quarterback. And like I said, the real window here, because they need to keep the roster around them, is about three to four years. So they have these two years that Russell Wilson was already under contract, where they should be in, you know, I would say contenders, at least competitive. And then they have one to two more years after that. And then after that, it'll be a slow, slow, uh, it'll, it'll be a slow decline for them. I see because you can't hold on to all that, to all of that, um, all of that talent

and not be able to pay them. But another part of us not having StreamYard is we can't really segment the show. So you guys know that in between segments, just to give you guys a little bit of a breather, we throw in the intro, we'll tease the next segment, we throw in the intro, it's about 30 seconds, and then we're back. But we can't do that now. I can't tease the next segment. I throw in the intro. It's about 30 seconds, and then we're back. But we can't do that now.

I can't tease the next segment. I'm going to give it to you. So moving on, Derek Henry on the Titans has just restructured his deal. He's going to be gaining 14 mil this season, and he's entering to be for he's going to be gaining 14 mil this season and he's entering a contract year meaning he could be out the door after this season on top of that today we found out Harold Landry their star pass rusher had 12 sacks this past season and first pro bowl selection tore his acl on top of that a lot of you guys already know wide receiver aj brown traded to the eagles so with all this in mind

everything that's going on with them are the titans in trouble in the next couple of years? Ben, I'll start with you. So just going off of this year, not like for further on, I already thought they were going to be in trouble once they lost A.J. Brown. And now that they've lost Harold Landry, it's just going to keep going downhill. I personally believe they'll still be, they'll still get like a couple of wins, like six, seven, I think maybe, but, uh, I don't think they're going to make the playoffs this year just by the Harold Landry thing. Yeah. I mean, with six or seven wins, you're not, you're definitely not unless you're, you know, colts suck which i completely i very much doubt that team is really loaded probably the best colts team we've seen in a long time i would say

do you think they're better do you think they look better or worse than the 2018 colts andrew luck's last good year maybe a little bit worse yeah it's it's fairly close i think they're they're rushing game i would say is a little better wouldn't you think yeah actually a lot better like i don't know who i'm blanking on who they had at the time but this year they have i mean jonathan taylor is the slam dunk number one overall pick in fantasy which tells you how good of a running back he is. Because fantasy football owners love their running backs. But CJ, what are your thoughts? Plain and simple, I don't think the Titans are making the playoffs.

Now, we could look at the roster, but let's look at the man under center ryan tannahill all those titan fans like oh he's gonna you know he's gonna be really good he's turning the corner well the lie detector determined that was a lie and they drafted malik willis in the third round so they're already quietly shooing tannahill out the door and let me tell you when his contract's up they're not bringing him back he's not going to take you anywhere. And when you look at the A.J. Brown trade, like, what's going to happen? Who does Tannehill have to throw to? You have the rookie Traylon Burks. You have Robert Woods coming off what I believe is a torn ACL. Yeah. And then some other people. Yeah. OK, thank you. And, you know, there are some other people that they found at the dollar store and, you know, Derek Henry, he too is coming a long season and Harold Landry being done for the

year oh that is just icing on the injury ridden cake at this point because I just look at them I mean you're now with Landry gone you're going to have to double team you know if you're an offense you're going to double team Jeffrey Simmons every play. And who's going to make, who's going to step up? Is it going to be Bud Dupree who they gave an absorbent amount of money to? I don't know. I really don't. It's not looking good for the Titans. And unless the Colts entire team goes on IR, Indy's winning that division. And I don't really think it's going to be close. All right. You guys want me to give you the answer to this? Are they in trouble because of what's happened? They've,

they've been in trouble ever since they committed to Ryan Tannehill over going after Tom Brady and free agency. They, they decided they were going to center their team around a running back, a damn good running back. I'll give you that, but a running back. And listen, here's the problem. Run-first offenses typically don't win Super Bowls.

They don't. They can be competitive. You can see quarterbacks who can run, who can just tear up the league but once the postseason comes around you're going to get a team that can stop the run that can stop that one running back but a team that is more balanced and can throw all over you there's like three or four different targets who you have to contain. With the running game, it's one guy who you have to stop during the play. It's one guy you have to contain. And if you can do both on offense, then that makes you a contender. If you can only

do just running the ball, you're going to be in trouble, man. You are going to be in trouble. So on top of that, Derrick Henry, the guy who has basically made the Titans relevant the past few years, got hurt. And it was kind of overdue because of all the big workload he's had. He had like 300 carries in the last three years. It's like insane. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. So he may not even stay healthy. And yeah, he might leave in free agency, but it's almost, I mean, it's not like they're going to miss anything out of him. And then Harold Landry tore his ACL.

A.J. Brown, the best part of that passing offense is gone. Yeah, they got Traylon Burks, who's basically a clone of A.J. Brown physically, but he's going to need some time to develop. And I'm sorry, but you cannot tell me that Ryan Tannehill is going to do more with less. They were good in spite of him. The surrounding offense made him look better. He benefited from a run-first offense with A.J. Brown and Corey Davis around him. The surrounding offense made him look better. He benefited from a run first offense with AJ Brown and Corey Davis around him. Now they don't have that anymore. So looking at that,

they've been in trouble because they were just married to mediocrity, but now it's really getting bad. So if you're going to rebuild this team please do not build it around ryan tannahill do not build it around that do not build it around a running back no matter how good he is it's not going to do anything but yeah that's that's kind of my basic answer there yeah it's going to be tough i don't they're not making the playoffs this year either. Yeah, Adam, I totally agree with you. And I just I do want to say one thing. It's just it's interesting to me. It really is with the whole, you know, how, you know, Ryan Tannehill is, you know, quickly becoming just like an anchor for the Titans, you know, as someone who's holding them down weighing them down

and remember when the titans upset the patriots in the playoffs and tan is like oh my god tannahill is gonna be really good and then they gave him like this horrible extension and all the titans fans were talking trash about how they uh saved his career well you only hurt yourselves and you better hope malik willis is good yeah and it's not looking good from for uh ryan tannehill either with that because i mean look that was just a bad look on him in general i mean we've already talked touched on this a couple of times but dang you can't even say like yeah i wish kid lock. I'll help him out as much as I can. Just give a basic response to the, to the media. When he was asked about mentoring him, he said, nah, we're, you know, we're competing. We're competing against each other. We're, you know, I'm not going to help him out. Like, dude, you're a veteran like it just that didn't look good but that didn't look good on his part but um i do want to move on to ben's guest segment where he's gonna predict some playoff teams here any surprise playoff teams anything like that ben what do you got uh you broke up there on that

last sentence i didn't hear what you said what uh so uh so we're getting into so we're getting into the guest segment um and i was gonna ask so you you wanted to talk about playoff teams, predict playoff teams. Yeah. So what do you got? All right, so in the NFC, the Norths, I have the Packers edging out the Vikings by a win, maybe two, to win the division. In the NFC East, I'm really high on the Eagles this year, so I think they'll beat the Cowboys out for the East.

The South is the Buccaneers, and the West is the Rams. Over on the AFC side, I have the Ravens in the North, the Bills obviously in the North, the Bills obviously in the East, the Colts in the South, and the Chargers in the West. And then the three wildcards on each side, I have the Bengals, the Chiefs, and the Raiders. And then on the NFC side, I have the Vikings, Cowboys, and cardinals

wow yeah so what definitely you let off so you let off with a bang there because i don't think cj and i believe that the packers are taking that division. So that was, so we, I'd love to. So what's your, so what's your explanation behind it? I'd love to. You just can't count out Aaron Rogers. He does it every year.

Okay. I mean, I understand. I just, and I, I'm not saying the Vikings are going to run away with the division, not by any stretch of the imagination. But I don't know. I mean, with all due respect, I believe what you believe, but in reverse.

You know, like the Vikings win it by like a game or something. It's totally coming down to week 17 or week 18. You know, we're not going to know who wins until like the final whistle blows. Yeah. yeah i mean the problem with the problem is aaron roger like any quarterback is going to struggle if they don't have the weapons around them like any everybody needs some sort of help and so the packers lost davante adams and they lost marquez valdez scantling and who's the other guy he He has a long last name. Equinemius St. Brown?

Yeah, I mean, if we want to throw out that name as well. What I can see with the Packers, to be competitive, is their defense has improved even more, which was already a really good defense, and they're rushing game aj dylan is going to be a very good back to go along with aaron jones to be a one-two punch so i could see them becoming sort of a defense and running the ball type team but that turns aaron rogers into a game manager which has me scratching my head as to why as to how rogers of all people just uh

agreed to do that or it's either or maybe or maybe he didn't and he thought that davante adams was coming back but i don't like that's the only way i see them becoming uh competing with Minnesota. Because I just think Minnesota all around kind of has the better team. And like, yeah, they have the the Packers have the edge in probably the secondary, I would say. Obviously quarterback.

But receiving core? We know where that's going. Running, rushing core, where do we see that? So Dalvin Cook is probably the best back between everybody on those teams. What about, what do you guys think of Alexander Madison, how he stacks up against, let's say Corey Corey uh AJ Dillon uh well Adam I I leave with AJ Dillon a little more because I could see AJ Dillon starting on a lot of teams whereas Corey

I mean as whereas Madison I really don't think I could we keep trying to say Corey Dillon is hilarious because we're Patriots fans. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's in my head. I'd prefer it wouldn't be, but you know, it is what it is at this point. And the way I see it, you know, when I really get down to it is simply that I like the Jones Dillon combo more than I like the Cook and Madison combo. Now, Cook would put it over the top just by himself, but let's face it, the three of us know dude's always hurt. Every year he misses like four to five games. This is just the law, you know, like this is how it has to be. The universe has decidedly made it so. So just for the injury reason alone, i gotta go with jones and dylan yeah and excuse my dog who's barking in the background but yeah like yeah i mean yeah

aaron jones over alexander madison definitely um i don't know but i like dalvin cook more than a than more than I do Aaron Jones, because yeah, you can talk, you can talk about how Dalvin Cook is injury prone. So is Aaron Jones. So like, yeah, there was the ACL tear, but I mean, those happen to a lot of players, but besides that, I mean, Dalvin Cook's been able to play for the majority of all the other seasons he's played. So, I don't know. I think I lean Dalvin Cook

there. And Madison, when he steps in to replace Dalvin Cook in all the games, he's been amazing. And if he's in the right situation better you know when stepping in for jones that's the thing is he though yes i don't i just i just disagree i don't know i know i like i like well how about we give it a draw let's give it a draw in that spot between those two backfields. Because it is very close. We can say that much.

But, yeah, I don't know. I have the Vikings winning that division. But, yeah, the Packers, they'll definitely be competitive. They're good everywhere else around the, around the field, except for their wide receiving core. Um, but another interesting part, I know you, I, I think you, you had in the AFC North, the, uh, the Ravens taking that division over the, the Bengals Browns, they're beating out because of their current situation. Steelers, their quarterback situation needs to improve.

Same with their offensive line. So you like the Ravens over the Bengals? Mm-hmm. Super Bowl hangover. Yeah. You wouldn't think that would be an issue? it is except it is but isn't it weird because yes like there's like this team if you if this wasn't a thing i think most of us would have the bengals being the favorite to

go back but they almost never do after they lose. Yeah. Yeah, Adam, you're right. And we've spoken about this a lot on the show before, and we talk about how we hate it because it's not analytical. It's more superstition, but it happens darn near every year. Like the last team to go back to the Super Bowl after losing, I believe, was New England. Bouncing back after losing to the Eagles to beat the Rams.

And then after that, well, I really don't know. There have been a couple teams to go back to make the Super Bowl. But to go back and win it, it's only happened twice. That's a whole different animal. There were actually maybe three times? No, twice. Perhaps. I maybe three times. No, twice. Perhaps. I don't know.

I could look it up, but I believe I know the Dolphins did it and we know the Patriots did it. Don't we, CJ? And maybe the Cowboys. Did the Cowboys do it? I don't. I'm not sure. Here, keep keep talking. I'll look it up.

So but yeah, yeah, and like I said, you know, it's just you know, we're we're analytics people, you know We like the numbers, you know, we like to make sure everything's sound. I think adam and ben can agree with me But it's just the super bowl hangover is just so Based on superstition and yet it's real and i'm sorry and look i'm an analytical guy and i hate to say it but it is real i mean we've seen i mean look at uh oh look at the panthers when 15 and 1 super bowl 50 lost to denver and they've been a train wreck ever since who could forget the atlanta falcons 28 to 3 they've been mid wing and just out ever since i mean it's a thing people and i wonder what's going to happen to cincy i hope it doesn't happen but let's see if they can break the curse so what i found was it was so the first team to do it was the 71 cowboys

then it was the 72 dolphins so you can guess who the 71 cowboys beat that year um and then it was the 18 patriots so three out of what is it we're going into super bowl 57 out three out of 57 super bowls that has ever happened it's and that that's just mind-boggling and there's like again And again, it's an argument out of emotion. There's nothing analytic about it, but it just happens. And this Bengals team has improved. Their offensive line, like Joe Burrow's going to have time to throw now, which opens up all different types of possibilities for Jamar Chase,

as if he didn't run wild last year, becoming Offensive Rookie of the Year. So, I don't know. Like, I feel weird having the Bengals as a favorite, but I feel weird having them not as the favorite. Does that kind of make sense? Yeah. But the Ravens are definitely an underrated team looking at going into this year, a team that like, yeah, they got rid of Marquise

Brown, but they ever shot Bateman right behind them. And the, the only question I have for them is with their depth, uh, at the wide receiver position. And they improved on the offensive line. Actually, what's going on with Ronnie Stanley? I know I heard something about him. Is he going on IR? I'm not sure. You can keep talking. I'll look it up. But yeah, Ronnie Stanley. Um, I'm not sure.

And looking at, you know, looking at the rest of this, um, yeah, I, I think, uh, I think your other part where you were talking about the Eagles,

uh, being, perhaps, or they'll be competitive. But it's going to be hard to see them beating out the Eagles. At best, this Eagles team is, excuse me, at best, this Cowboys team stays the same. Which wasn't good enough. Yeah. Update on Ronnie Stanley. We don't really, it's up in the air. He's eying to play week one, but he's questionable to say the least.

Okay, but it's close. He could play week one. If not, he's back week two. Something like that, yeah. Okay, so that's not terrible. Yeah, I mean, these are all pretty solid predictions, though. I like it. Good stuff.

Anything more to add? Any hot takes? Anything? though i like it yeah good stuff anything more to add any hot takes anything um the super bowl matchup i think it's going to be the uh the first game of the season bills rams in the super bowl bills rams in the super bowl there's a very real possibility who do you think is going to win the bills. Hmm. Okay. Another, an AFC East team winning the Superbowl.

We're pretty familiar with that. Couple of them. Yeah. Maybe just six, uh, probably won't happen in a while. Again, I think Bill,

I think Bella chick is, uh, I think Bella chick is holding this team hostage, and it's tough because he's having trouble drafting. You don't want to know what I think. We'll be here all night. Yeah, you won't want to let me go in depth either. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us.

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