The Fumblerooski Podcast - Honor System -Ep 286 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

FULL PRESEASON HONORS AWARD PREDICTIONS! A Bears player winning Offensive Rookie of the Year? Aaron Rodgers making his comeback player case? MVP a toss-up between which two quarterbacks? TJ Watt is DPOY runner-up to who? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros give their predictions and more!

NFL Honors Preseason Predictions for the 2024 NFL Season. I'm Adam Wright, you're listening to the FumbleRooski 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 fun laruski podcast by power 88 and secret weapon consulting i'm adam right

with cj medeiros guys we are this close to the season starting on september 4. So as we are sitting here, we are less than a month away. It is currently August 6th. And even, even with the regular season being a month away, we still have preseason that's already started with the hall of fame game just this past week. And in two days, we have the Patriots, Panthers, Panthers, Patriots, Patriots will be hosting Lions, Giants, Texans, Steelers. An entire weekend of preseason football, and it takes us all the way into the regular season. Guys, we made it through the summer we made it through the off season here we are we did it yeah it was a long summer um it's a

good i will say the summer is the probably the best time to not have football because the weather's nice you can go out you can have a nice time you can to the beach. There's no school for all you high schoolers and college kids and middle schoolers who may listen to the show as well. It's still a good time to not have football, but still we need our football. predictions of the NFL honors. So this is an episode where we predict before the season starts before even preseason starts, we'll barely starts all of our predictions for who will win each award. Um, so what we do is offensive rookie of the year, defensive rookie of the year, offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, comeback player of the year, coach of the year, and the coveted league MVP. Um, and usually what we, so what we have done every year is we always revisit these predictions right after the award ceremony and see how right or how wrong we were. There was one year where I got both rookie of the year predictions right. So that was something I was able to hang my hat on.

This year I got those predictions. It couldn't have been more wrong. I got Bijan Robinson for offensive rookie of the year. Turns out CJ Stroud had a historic rookie year, and the Texans stole both awards with Will Anderson Jr. taking it. So it just shows how crazy these predictions can get because literally anything could happen. And as for rookies of the year, there could be some middle of the round, late round guy who ends up being unbelievable and comes out of nowhere,

something who nobody could have predicted. So this is a really fun episode to do. We have enjoyed doing these for the past few years, and I'm excited to get started on this. So we're going to start off with the rookie of the years, which we will go with offense. CJ, give me your offensive rookie of the year prediction. So I wrestled with this one. I really did because, let's face it, the Offensive Rookie of the Year award is horrifically quarterback biased. It's like the smaller version of the MVP but for rookies. And I'm sorry.

If we're going on base of the year, I think they're going to have I'm leaning towards Marvin Harrison Jr., and I'll tell you why. Because, and for everyone at home who wants to put their fist through their screen, let me just say that I am aware of the weird quarterback fetish that the award choosers have. Like, I get that. I do. card choosers have like i i get that i do however harrison is the clear wide receiver one on the cardinals and even though he's a rookie there's no one else in that receiver room even with tight ends like trey mcbride that's even in the same stratosphere as he is he's on a whole nother level and you know kyler murray is going to be force feeding him at every option with Murray Beckham, he's going to be able to run wild.

But for me, it's not about what he's going to do. It's about the other quarterbacks, what they aren't going to do. For starters, Caleb Williams. He was my second choice, and I was debating him. And I know he's armed to the teeth, but there is one snag for me. It's a pretty big snag. It's called coaching. I do not trust Matt Eberflus as far as I can throw him. Next, Jaden Daniels. He's another one that I think is sneaky good, but his division is insane. You got Philly and Dallas, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out drake may is a project guy for new england

and i think he's going to sit his rookie year and and all signs are pointing to that it's going to be like uh a jordan love or a patrick mahomes not saying he's going to be either one but i'm saying like where they sit and like groom him pause for for a year uh jj mccarthy maybe i'm not sure and bo nicks really that's just me i just think that i don't know if these quarterbacks are going to come out and be the elite gunslingers that we knew in college is going to be a learning curve but i think harrison carries that success over not especially because kyler murray is a pretty good quarterback in in his own right and he actually has uh someone competent harrison has someone competent throwing to him unlike malik neighbors who has danny derps but adam what about you okay So the reason that I actually have Caleb Williams for the award is for many of the reasons in

a different way that you stated about who won't win the award. I don't think Jaden Daniels is exactly big league ready yet. And I think their coaching staff isn't a terrible, isn't in a terrible position. Dan Quinn has been, had proven to be able to coexist on an offensive staff with an offensive minded quarterback, namely being Matt Ryan above, above most. And on top of that, they also have Cliff Kingsbury, who has also been able to coexist with many quarterbacks who have done well on offense. Kyler Murray.

The reason I have Caleb Williams is because I think it's either going to be Caleb Williams or one of the wide receivers, and you can automatically, if Caleb Williams plays well in any sort of capacity, it would mainly mean that Romo Dunze, even if he has a good year. So let's say Romo Dunze has a really good year. We already know DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are going to have good years too. So if Roma dunes is good, that means all three of their wide receiver ones,

because let's face it, there's no twos on this team. It's all ones. We'll commit. We know is going to be fine. That means Caleb Williams had a really good year. And between, again, between the quarterback and the wide receiver,

the quarterback wins the number receiver, the quarterback wins. The number one overall pick, who has gotten plenty of media attention already, for better or worse. Marvin Harrison Jr., that's a decent argument. Only problem is, I don't think that he's going to play well enough to outdo the quarterback who I believe will play a little better. On top of that, Malik Neighbors, he's going to be playing for the cellar-dwelling New York Giants. Not going to work out. So the best argument you can put forth is Marvin Harrison Jr. And Marvin Harrison, he's going to have a good year. But again, you put up the quarterback having a good rookie year versus the wide receiver.

The quarterback always wins. Just look at last year. CJ Stroud versus Puka Nakua. Who won? Who won the award? CJ Stroud. Nakua may have had a better statistical year, but you see it more often that wide receivers as rookies have good years.

You see it all the time. Justin Jefferson had a great rookie year, a historic rookie year. Justin Herbert won the award. So what does that tell you about who is going to win this between Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr.? Not doubting that both of them are going to ball out, but I just believe that if Caleb Williams can play in any sort of capacity, if he's even okay, he's winning it. Just because it's a quarterback-driven award. And rightfully so, because rookie quarterbacks

being good is much more rare than vice versa, The wide receiver, you see it more often with receivers. They develop quicker with quarterbacks. It takes a couple of years, so it's rare. So therefore, when you see the CJ Strouds, the Dak Prescott's, the Justin Herbert's of the world's having unbelievable rookie years, they're a slam dunk to win it. So that's why I believe Caleb Williams takes it. All right, moving on. Defensive rookie of the year. Give us your pick. So even though a defensive player didn't go until, I think,

pick like 14, 15, or 16 thereabouts, I do like a lot of rookies in this class but for me i would have to go with the detroit lions terry on arnold and i know edge rusher is the sexiest and they usually all win it but arnold is in a unique situation because the lions for all intents and purposes are on the up and up and there's no denying this and when you look at the fact that detroit's going to get a lot more press they're considered contenders for the super bowl for the first time since well since before i was born and you look at the fact that he's surrounded by actual decent people like Carlton Davis and Emmanuel Mosley and safeties like Brian Branch. So I'm not going to lie to you. He's in just a good situation and the Lions defense has been improving.

And in short, I don't know if they're even going to make him corner one outside of davis so he's going to have a surefire guy opposite him and he's not going to have to come in and take control which will inflate his numbers not to mention detroit getting more media attention will greatly inflate his stock as well and when i look at his competition like some of the edge rushers i just i don't know if they're in a position to make much noise except for maybe jared verse who's you know on the rams who's gonna have to fill in for aaron donald good luck with that i say ayo dallas turner's on the cults they're i mean unless he like comes out and starts breaking records i don't know how much attention

he's gonna get but for these guys it's all about attention and it's all about who you have surrounding you not only does he have attention but he has a good support system around him so that's why i'm locking interior on our own for my defensive rookie of year pick adam yeah that's a good pick and if a corner does win it i think it it'll be Arnold because not only because of the potential that he has on the field, but because of the media attention his team will be getting because the Lions are going to most likely be contenders this year. And it underscores their improvement from the previous season where they brought in Carlton Davis. They bring in Terry and Arnold in a secondary that was one of the worst in football. That secondary was horrible and it was what dragged them down

ultimately in the playoffs. Now they improve there. And if Terry and Arnold is the leader in that secondary and a team that's probably going to be one of the top seeds, if not the top seed in the NFC, then Terry and Arnold might have it. The reason I have Dallas Turner winning the award is because you rarely see defensive backs winning it as it is. And it's been happening more often in recent years, but it doesn't change the fact that just because it's more often, it's all relative. Just because it happens more often than it used to doesn't mean it still happens often. It means that it just happens more. who is now replacing Daniil Hunter in a crucial spot on a Vikings team that needs every ounce of help of defensive of defense. It can get a defense that is getting younger. It's getting better. Andrew Booth is there as well. They are still going to need him. And because of that, I think Dallas Turner becomes the leader of this, of this defense very quickly.

Um, and for that reason, I have Dallas Turner winning this award. And if he's, if he's even just a good player, if he's just, okay, let's say he has eight and a half sacks. I see, I see him taking the award over any corner. So there's my argument for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Again, you can make a strong argument for both. You can also make an argument for Jared Verse as well. I just think the defensive end who's being placed in a role, he's being put in the deep end with his floaties rather without his floaties pretty quickly so because of that if he makes any sort of impact

i think he he's going to win it for the vikings um especially since the defense is going to be needed if if sam darnall is going to be their quarterback, that defense is going to anchor the team. I really do believe that. Even if Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are everything that we believe they can be. Because that's not going to matter if your quarterback sucks. Okay, we're going to move on and we're going to give you the offensive and defensive players of the year. So who is going to be the best players on offense and on defense? This is a fun award to do. Very underrated.

That's next. You're listening to 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 Fumbaruski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting.

Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. So we move on and we have the players of the year on both sides of the ball. So it's almost like MVP, except smaller because it's who, where did you specialize? Where did you, how well did you specialize on this side of the ball? Um, So who was the offensive player of the year for you? A lot of good candidates. What do you think? Offensive player of the year is just such a crap shoe. I mean, injuries notwithstanding, it's like in today's fast-paced,

offensive-driven just game, I guess. In today's fast-driven, offensive-based game, it's just anyone I guess. In today's fast-driven offensive place game, it's just... It's anyone's guess, but... I'm not going to lie. CeeDee Lamb intrigues me for this award, and I'm going with him. Because for one, Justin Jefferson, still great,

will be coming off an injury, which, I don't know. That does kind of concern me a bit but i think that's kind of like the whole issue there not to mention other people like jamar chase he's good but what do they have in common with chase and jefferson they have a hand a handcuff as some call it the the the names of these handcuffs are Jordan Addison and Tee Higgins now I know Tee Higgins probably won't be in a Bengals uniform that much longer just give me a break at least for another year but who does CeeDee Lamb have to play alongside

it's Brandon Cooks the 30 year old Brandon Cooks Not to mention C.D. Lamb is in a contract year, and every catch he makes, he knows that he's working towards getting the bag, be it with Dallas or be it with someone else. And these guys in contract years statistically tend to show up and show out. Not to mention the fact that he's going to have an equally motivated Dak Prescott throwing him the ball. And you have two guys that are locked in for their bag. It's going to be that whole iron sharpening iron thing where both of these guys, they're going to want to help each other. And that's why I got Lamb taking home this award. Once again again this is no disrespect to justin jefferson and this is no disrespect to jamar chase it's just they these teams have more mouths to feed on offense than

dallas and on a quick note about running backs the reason i didn't choose any running backs is just because a running back that can get you like a thousand yards and a handful of touchdowns those are a dime a dozen that That's expected. So these running backs are going to have to break into that echelon of 1,700 yards and like 15 touchdowns in order to even get a glance. But Adam? So if it's going to be a wide receiver, I definitely think CeeDee Lamb is at the top of the list. The league has also shown that there's plenty for everybody to eat and more. So Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase have both had incredible seasons in the past with these kinds of supporting casts around them. So that's not what I'm more worried about.

What I think is that when you're a running back and your new head coach, a rookie head coach, who's your predice, your predice, your predecessor was famously known for not giving B. John Robinson the ball. I'm referring to Raheem Morris. He straight up said that his plan on improving the offense is giving the ball to, bijan robinson more and with that in mind you look at their offensive line which is one of the better ones in football you look at their pass catching core which will keep defenses honest and respecting the pass along with the run you have a quarterback who is their best one that they have had since Matt Ryan, which is important because it keeps, again, keeps defenses honest.

You put all of those factors together and you have Bijan Robinson having an incredible year. And when that running back has that type of year, especially a big name like Raheem, like Bijan Robinson, it usually means that you win rookie of the year. And this, this has been historically a running back driven award. I think those days are going to come again with Bijon Robinson, taking it by storm. I see Bijon Robinson taking offensive player of the year. Um, so looking at defensive player of the year what are your thoughts hmm i just i think it's going to be unless a corner gets like a historic year,

I don't see any defensive back really getting it. This is in the same way that the MVP and offensive player of the year are quarterback-driven awards. Defensive player of the year, I meant offensive player of the year. Defensive player of the year is an edge rusher-driven award. So I am going with edge rushers. Defensive Player of the Year is an edge rusher-driven award, so I am going with edge rushers. And you can talk to me about voter fatigue, and I get that. It's a real thing, but I think it's going to be T.J. Watt.

Man had the most sacks in the league last year and didn't get it, not to mention, for those of us who play Madden, he was snubbed. I mean, he was put below Michael Parsons and Miles Garrett. And yes, I'm fully aware that he doesn't get double-teamed nearly as much and doesn't get nearly as much work as the others, but come on. You know that he hears all this, and you know that he's going to be coming out with his hair on fire. Not to mention the fact that the only reason the Steelers still are above 500, you could argue, is solely because of TJ Watt. And when you combine all these factors, it's just...

And the fact that he wasn't voted in last year, so the voter fatigue might have ebbed a little bit. I certainly think that it's definitely going to be him. yeah i just look at tj watt's double team rate and the fact that he does not get double teamed very much and has a lower win rate than a lot of the other um than a lot of the other uh top defense uh edge rushers in the league there it's clear it's clear to me the fact that that tj watt has not won this award every year in spite of being the lead sack leader every year almost every year rather that tells me that these these nfl experts are not overlooking that um i'm not saying that that that the award is not probably are into its voter fatigue. You know what I mean?

Same thing happens in like every sport, but continue. Sure. But the way I look at it is I think, I think when you look at a player like Nick Bosa, who also has a reputation of being one of the league's best edge rushers in the league, a guy who had a very down year, do you think he's really going to stay that bad?

Especially with the age he is. He's still in his mid-20s. So you look at Nick Bosa, he's not going to stay just getting 11.5 sacks, he's not going to stay through just getting 11 and a half sacks. It's not going to work out that way. Um, so I see, and I also see this defense possibly without on the offense, without Brandon, Iuke, maybe the offense takes a step, a few steps back after, you know, a tough, after a tough season of losing the Super Bowl. I think the defense takes on a slightly larger role in helping bring this team back towards contention. And I think Nick Bosa

is going to be who does that. And I hear a lot of, here's my argument against the whole, well, this edge rusher is more versatile. I care about, listen, call me old fashioned, but I care more about versatility with linebackers or safeties. But when it comes to edge rushers and corners, I can give a rat's ass about, about being versatile. It's a, it's a nice plus to have. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's definitely good.

But when you were, when you were judging how good a edge rusher is, I care about how he is as an edge rusher in the same way at cornerback. How are you at being at making wide receivers disappear? Same way. I look at quarterback. I'm not looking at your rushing ability. You're not a running back. I'm looking at your ability to pass the ball and do it accurately and pick apart defenses which is why when i look at tj watt when i look at miles garrett when i look at nick bosa three of those four are better than are better than you at actually rushing the passer. They're just better. Just because you rack up more sacks, you have a lower win rate

because opposing offenses are not double-teaming you. Yes, you're still one of the best in the league, but when we get up to this upper echelon, when we're comparing you to Miles Garrett, to Nick Bosa, to Micah Parsons, then we're splitting hairs. He's still a great edge rusher, don't get me wrong. And his versatility cannot be ignored. But I still care if other people are better edge rushers than you. I don't care if you drop into coverage better than the others you i don't care if you drop into into coverage

better than better than the others i don't care you're an edge rusher be better at edge rushing well i mean i get that i do and i get that you don't care but when it comes to caring about dropping into coverage isn't there someone you've forgotten to ask what's up and those people are the voters because i get that you don't care. That's all well and good. Frankly, I'm kind of like, eh, myself. But just because you don't look at it doesn't mean that these people do. It doesn't mean that these people don't look at it.

Because let me tell you something. They clearly do. And by the way, it's called Best Defensive Player of the Year Award, not Who Can Rush the Pass or the Most Efficiently Award, which is why I understand that you do. But these people, your feelings on this don't really mean that the voters don't feel that way because they clearly feel a different way because he's already won this award before. And he was even runner up last year. i mean i don't know i'm just saying they they do in fact look at it but that's just me sure they look at it but i i think they look

at it for his ability to rush the passer and i i think yes it's defensive i mean it's literally just versatility like i mean that's all i mean i mean personally some would say that it helps that you know you're not just a one-trick pony but that's my two cents but isn't that kind of what a lot of isn't that kind of what a lot of football is about is how you play your role like you're not if you're not all the edge rushers that that suck at run defense well do you ever do you ever judge a corner on how we can rush the passer because i don't okay no no no you have a point yeah you have a point but like really i mean sometimes edge rushers drop it to coverage i mean they do that however corners aren't, I mean, you're kind of just creating a bit of a straw man, if I do say so myself.

But I'm just saying, like, no one's asking a corner to rush the passer. In fact, edge rushers are often linebackers. Like, for example, TJ Watt, by name is a linebacker and they tend to drop him into coverage more so than the corner is asked to rush the quarterback, except on like specially designed corner blitzes, but you know, we're splitting hairs. So in TJ Watt's rookie year, he, he dropped into coverage 34% of the time. Uh, ever since that time, it's been between 5% and 10% every year since. So his ability to drop into coverage, I'm not saying it's not valuable. It's definitely something that is an added plus. But there's a reason why the position is so highly paid.

He was more impactful as an edge rusher. I'm just saying when you look at his specialty, being an edge rusher, there are other guys who can do that specific part better than you. And I look at what you are best at. So if you're a corner and you are better at covering, then I look at if you're the best at covering and not being a safety, then I care more about that. If you're a safety and you're the best at being a safety,

I care about that and I'm going to compare you to other safeties. Versatility, in football, versatility matters. But I think how much it matters depends on the position. That's all I'll say. Like safeties, linebackers, that versatility matters more amongst those two positions than it does to corners and edge rushers. Because edge rushers, like, if you're trying to tell me

that TJ Watt is the best edge rusher in the game because he's good at playing the cornerback position what the fuck is that like that's not you're not you're no one's added bonus you know i agree that it's an added bonus i'm just saying if you're not as good at your specialty at your position then i don't care what you're doing anywhere else that's all i'm saying i think we're agreeing on a lot more than we think here all right um we got to move on we are going to comeback player of the year and coach of the year um so a lot of dark horse candidates for comeback player of the year and coach of the year um so a lot of dark horse candidates for comeback player of the year these are always interesting awards because you're kind of

looking at who was hurt or who just had a bad year or for some reason just missed out on the year this is always a fun one. And coach of the year. A lot of dark horse candidates. 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 Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. We are on to Comeback Player of the Year, along with Coach of the Year. We're going to start with Comeback. CJ, what say you? See, comeback player of the year is probably the most difficult to predict of all these awards

just because you have so many players be relegated to the role of bench rider. You have so many players get hurt. Literally any one of them could just pop up out of nowhere. And you think it's relegated to big names, but no, no, no, no. I mean, Joe Flacco won last year. Who had that on your bingo card? And if you say you did, you're lying. But that's, we're not going to get into that.

However, for me, it's got to be Joe Burrow, right? I mean, he got hurt. You know, he didn't even play that much. And frankly, we saw what happened last preseason where he got hurt and he was playing week one and from the get-go he did not look the same so i think now that he's fully healthy and fully rested he's going to be back to his old self, which is probably going to be around throwing 4,400 to 4,500 yards and somewhere between 28 to 35 touchdowns, which should easily get him comeback player of the year. That's pretty much it. Yeah, so my pick is actually going to be Aaron Rodgers.

And I think when you look at how, look at these two factors. Number one, torn Achilles. In athletics in general, through all sports, if you tear your Achilles, you're almost never the same. In fact, at the running back position, it's career ending. I'm still yet to see a running back who's torn his Achilles who has actually come back for a legitimate amount of time. Seriously, how often have you seen it? On top of that, he was 39 years old when he tore his Achilles.

Any quarterback has any sort of leg injury at that age, and it's over. And somehow, through reports in camp, he looks like exactly the same Rodgers that we have all grown to know and be okay with. So you look at the team that he has around him. The offensive line, they have beefed up a lot. They brought in,

um, they brought in another wide receiver to pair up with Garrett Wilson. And the defense looks still pretty good. Robert Saul looks fine. I mean, I don't think he's a bad head coach. I think he's fine. He's a good defensive mind and he's shown to be competent with working with Zach Wilson. I think he's done whatever he can. works with Aaron Rodgers. I know he doesn't

work as a head coach. We already know that all of us know that, but as an offensive coordinator, he was not too bad, especially with Aaron Rodgers for three straight years, had a pretty damn good time with Rodgers. Um, so all the, all the stars are aligning for him to to bounce back and have a pretty good year and doing it with a torn kit after coming back from a torn achilles i think that's very important i think that's that's pretty damn good so give me rogers for comeback player of the year yeah i can see it all right coach of the year i think so do you have the same pick as me or not did we're all thinking i do i do this is probably folks at home the one where adam and i agree adam you can take it if you want okay so raheem morris i've already talked to you guys about my offensive player of the year,

and I brought up Raheem Morris. The reason I like Raheem Morris is because he is the predecessor to one of the worst, Arthur Smith. Her successor, but yeah. I said predecessor. I'm looking at his predecessor. Oh, okay. You said he was the okay but whatever i we get it now thank you i'm looking at the predecessor he's he's the successor of ricky of arthur smith who is known for being very bad with his with the weapons that he has as a head coach. He didn't give the ball to B. Paul Robinson in games where he should have. Kyle Pitts has been collecting dust since he was drafted in the first round all the way back in 2021, and now that goes back beyond Arthur Smith, but I still think Raheem Morris looks like he wants to get some of his star pass catchers in the game as well.

Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson. On top of that, you now have Kirk Cousins, who is a competent passer. You combine all of these factors, and I think you have a good year for Atlanta. And Atlanta probably wins this division. It's not a good division. I know the Buccaneers are kind of in there, but if you win 10, 11 games, you're beating the Buccaneers. I don't think it's a high bar to beat Tampa Bay. It's not. No disrespect to Baker Mayfield, Todd Bowles, and that group over there in Tampa. They may still win nine games, but they're going to have to sneak into the playoffs through the wildcard this year

because I don't think they're winning the South. And so all those factors alone, I think Raheem Morris takes this. CJ, do you have anything to add to that? Since it's two. Yeah, I just think so. I want to mention something about coach of the year real quick. Coach of the year isn't really about who's the best coach. If it did, there would only just be a handful of people that would just share the award every few years. But it's mostly about who's the best new coach that's basically what it comes down to if you say otherwise you're probably kidding yourself but what i will tell you is that they

the the falcons there there's nowhere to go up let's be real. We have Arthur Smith, the man who is medically incapable of using anybody with a shred of talent on offense. And literally anyone, borderline anyone, probably would have been a better choice. So just by default, I think the Falcons are going to improve with Raheem Morris, barring some weird, unexpected, like, collapse. So literally, just by having a few more brain cells than Arthur Smith, Raheem Morris can really put himself in a position to succeed. And just due to the nature of the award, where, come on, Andy Reid is never in the conversation. You know, like the top dolls, like the Andy Reids and the Sean McVeighs,

they're usually not among others. Those are the first who came to mind. They're never in the conversation just because it's not the way the award works. God knows why. But knowing how it is, it's got to be Raheem Morris, right? Yeah, I think it's Raheem Morris. I think he plays a big part in this Atlanta turnaround. It doesn't get worse than Arthur Smith.

I mean, that's basically what we're saying in the long answer, right? It doesn't get worse than Arthur Smith. Raheem Morris already stated he wants to get the ball to his star playmakers on offense. They have a decent defense on paper that I think again, in a bad system, just didn't work out. I think they have a good offensive line that helps with getting Bijan Robinson, the ball and getting good yards per carry. I, I think, I think Raheem Morris is going to be a big part of this turnaround here. I think just getting the balls, the getting the ball to your playmakers,

that's going to, that's going to be half the battle, especially for this Atlanta team. Yeah, not much more to it. We're going to move on to our final pick, which is the league MVP. This is one that seems like every year is the obvious pick, which is the league MVP. This is one that seems like every year is the obvious pick,

but it almost always ends up being something different than what you believe it to be, which makes it that much more fun to pick. 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 Fumble Rooski podcast. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros. We've reached our final pick for our preseason NFL honors predictions. Again, revisiting these right after the ceremony in, I believe it's February when it happens. Like late January. It used to be January. Now it's with the the extra game it's

i believe it's it's february it's right but right before the super bowl uh league mvp what say you so my pick for the most valuable quarterback yeah that's right i said it because that's what it is you're never going to see another player win again i mean heck a wide receiver another player that's not a quarterback i mean you're never going to see a wide receiver win it i mean they never have defensive players not anymore maybe running backs but in this day and age absolutely not it is the most valuable quarterback debate a wall so my pick for once again most valuable quarterback and i get why i get why because core has most valuable guy on each

team just shut up for me oh it's got to be joe burrow and i know that was your pick last year adam but you know coming off an injury already him as comeback player of the year. So why not double dip, huh? It's doable because when I look at all the other quarterbacks in the AFC, because I don't know if the NFC has any real threats outside of, I mean, Jared Goff is okay, but I don't see him as a real threat. Maybe guys like Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy, but I don't know. Jalen Hurts, maybe. Jordan Love, maybe. But I think all the top guns are in the AFC. Lamar Jackson, no, he won it last year.

It's very rare to repeat. Patrick Mahomes, if he had a real wide receiver one, I'd say he's more of a threat. I mean, he is Hollywood Brown, but he's okay. Rasheed Rice is okay. Travis Kelsey, his 1,000-yard streak, which is his big claim to fame, just got snapped, and he's obviously starting to taper off a little. Still very good, but still. Josh Allen, just by the bills, got gutted in free agency. Tua literally led the league in passing yards, I think, last year

and didn't even get a nod because come on no one takes him seriously because his weapons are dragging him to any form of relevance which leaves two people i would say cj stroud and joe burrow both are deserving but burrow just has more experience and i would definitely say it's got to be burrow because how is he coming off an injury it's like he knows the clock's ticking you know what i mean that's what it means i mean this might be the last year for cincy fans where you have both chase and higgins am i right yeah and when you add that added urgency burrow is eyeballing the super bowl and i just think the mvp is going to be a nice little icing on the cake i'm not saying the bangles are going to win but burrow knows it's now or never

and with that fire under him especially now that he sees mahomes racking up wins he's he's probably he and maybe strata like the only thing standing in the way of Mahomes. And just because Burrow's been there before, I got to give it to him. I'm going CJ Stroud. And the reason is because, listen, I think Joe Burrow is a very good quarterback. In fact, he's an elite quarterback. He's a quarterback who, if he stays healthy the rest of his career, he will be a Hall of Fame or two. Just like Patrick Mahomes will be. Obviously one's better than the other,

but that's another argument to be had for another day. The reason I have CJ Stroud is because, listen, Stroud has youth. He is young. I get it. But did that stop Patrick Mahomes in his second year in the league being the league MVP?

Did that start stop Lamar Jackson? It did not. So for that reason, I just don't think that that's what holds them back. And you have an offensive line that again is good and young and you have a very good pass catching core headlined by tank dell nico collins and stefan diggs you also have dalton schultz you have a solid running game with joe mixon and you also have the other kid whose name is escaping me um you overall have a very good defense you have good coaching excuse me this is just a very good situation for CJ Stroud in year two. And the reason we have not seen many great rookie seasons follow up with even better sophomore years is because every single one of them have had a worse situation. I mean,

Dak Prescott did not have anything his second year. He lost Ezekiel Elliott to suspension, and Dez Bryant got hurt.. So why should we believe things are going to get worse? It can only get better from here. And with things getting better, this Texans team becomes one of the best teams in the AFC, if not the best. If they're the number one seed, then CJ Stroud, book it as him for being league MVP. So give me Stroud. Give me Stroud for league MVP. I think he's going to take it, and he's going to take it by storm.

I can totally see that too. It's just, you know, these sophomore guys, they tend to taper off, but the Texans actually built around them, so I think that could throw a lot out of the window. Yeah. All right. There's all our predictions. Again, you guys make sure you tune in in a few months in February for the NF, right after the NFL honors ceremony and see how right or wrong we are. Can't wait for these days.

Yeah. It's always fun to revisit these and see how see how wrong we were or how right we were. It's always fun when we get it right too. I think we've all gotten a few picks right. You would think that these picks would be obvious, but once you revisit and look at how bad they were, it just tells you how unpredictable the league is and how so many things change that you thought

would go one way and it goes a completely the complete opposite um so i think so that's all of the scheduled content we have for today um i would usually ask if we have anything else but we do have something else um that i'll just touch on really briefly. A developing story. Framework in place for Brandon Ayuk. Formally requested a trade offer already a couple weeks ago. Framework in place for a trade. Patriots and the Browns. And the Steelers have been...

There's no reports that say there's a deal in place, but it says they're interested. They're not as close as the Patriots or the Browns. It has come down to where Iyuk wants to go now, and we'll see what ends up happening. Something could change, but according to Mike Reese, the Patriots have made an offer and are willing to make him

a top five highest paid wide receiver in the NFL. So take that information how you choose. But this is getting very interesting. The New England Patriots offered a contract. They offered the number 34 overall pick to the 49ers. They were ready to send him there, Brandon Ayuk, until Ayuk said he would not re-sign with them. The Patriots were scared away.

Now suddenly, the Patriots are revisiting it with a trade offer in place what does that tell you about what changed now that they're willing to pay him through the teeth that iuk might be willing to come here if he's overpaid so um you can have whatever opinions you would like on that um but developing, we won't turn it into a segment because it's all, I mean, all of this could be BS. All of this could be bullshit. Could be very different. So just something to look out for.

If something ends up changing, if he goes somewhere else, if he goes to a team that nobody even is thinking of, if he stays with the 49ers and he leaves in free agency, so many different things can happen, but this was an interesting story that's been developing since this morning. Actually, last night, I believe. But, all right, if that's all we have for today, that'll do it for us tonight. for today.

That'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7.30pm Eastern Standard Time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Also, be sure

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