The Fumblerooski Podcast - Looking Back -Ep 246 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

What teams overperformed their expectations? What teams fell short of their goals? What teams have a bright future and what teams should expect a decline? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros debate these topics and more!

the super bowl is behind us and with that we are going to recap this full season most surprising teams biggest disappointments futures bright and it gets worse this is the fumble ruski podcast here gentlemen broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch! It's a catch! Sideline!

Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Welcome to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros as always. It's just two of us tonight. But since the Super Bowl is behind us, it's kind of time to move on. However, I don't think we're quite ready to let go of this season yet. So I thought we would dedicate this whole episode to recapping this season, giving our awards to the most surprising teams, biggest disappointments,

the future's bright, and it gets worse. So it gets worse would mean teams where they might have been good this year, they might have been okay, but it's going to go downhill real fast. Futures bright is the teams who were, they were okay, but the future's bright. They're going to get better. Um, biggest disappointments is it's pretty, pretty straightforward. If your team underperformed like big time, like let's say Carolina Panthers style, like was not very good. Or if you're the Jacksonville Jaguars, there's another one. You're probably in for the biggest disappointments. Most surprising teams. It's more in a good way.

Not as in like the new England Patriots were supposed to be better than they were. And they surprised us more in a good way. We're looking at this in a good sense because maybe the season did not end well for you. Maybe you didn't like that the chiefs won the Superbowl, but I think we can all appreciate that. Um, the season happened, uh, like Dr. Sue said, don't cry because it's over smile because it happened also free agency is coming up so the league the league doesn't really have a dead spot until the summertime we're going to have some stuff to cover but we're going to start our off-season coverage on tuesday right now i just want to focus this on this season in general so starting off with most surprising teams, CJ. We talked a little bit about this off screen, but there's a lot of

them that really surpassed expectations. And one that I wanted to bring up out of the gates was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I know they were never going to be a Super Bowl team. I think we all knew that when they went from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield, but they were still a playoff team and they actually won a playoff game. And they pulled an upset against the Philadelphia Eagles. So there's a team that I like right there. What do you think about that one? You know, I do agree with your choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I do.

I do. Baker Mayfield. Talk about a career renaissance. He might get a nice little payday in free agency as well. However, I do think that he actually resigns with Tampa, but that's a question for another day. He cracked 4,000 yards, and he threw for 28 touchdowns, 10 picks, completion percentage of over 64%, and a passer rating of over 94%. Which is statistically just as actually better a season than tom brady in his

last year but we're talking we are talking about 45 but it goes it goes down to what aaron rogers once said down years for me are career years for a lot of other quarterbacks he said most other but i mean some quarterbacks you know that's still not a great year, but it's enough to take the Buccaneers to the playoffs. Another one that we thought, looking through, I think the Green Bay Packers. Yeah. And it all hinged on Jordan Love. What I liked about it, though, they don't have many targets on that team.

And that offensive line was nothing to write home about. And he still elevated the roster and took them to the playoffs. And unlike Aaron Rodgers, did it with less complaining. There's that, too. And one thing for me, as far as all Mr. Jordan love goes was that I will say that green Bay did a good job of developing guys like Christian Watson, Jaden Reed and Romeo dubs,

but you would be foolish to think that there is a true wide receiver one on that team. I mean, sure you have Aaron Jones at running back and the AJ Dillon. I mean, they're a good one to punch but it's the o-line and you're supposed to have a good o-line you know elton jenkins is good i guess yeah zach mom is kind of up and down but you're supposed to have your franchise left tackle and david bakhtiari but stop me if you've heard this one before, kids. He was hurt again.

I mean, waiting for David Bakhtiari to come back from IR is like waiting for dad to come home with the milk and cigarettes. It's just not going to happen. Oh, my God. And the fact that Jordan Love was able to do this with a solid defense that showed growth from guys like Quay Walker and Devontae Wyatt, Jair Alexander returning back to his normal self, and Rashawn Gary wrecking things. The Packers might have found their third straight elite quarterback.

NFC North teams, except for maybe Detroit, you may resume burying your head in the sand. Yeah. Okay. So now let's get off of that one um the houston texans they if you guys would have been yelling at your screens saying guys mention the texans they were an obvious one the reason we didn't mention them right away is because they are obvious but they still deserve mentioning so we're going to do that right now uh the houston texans i did not see i knew they would be better than what people thought. I will go on record as to say that I can give you witnesses to people who I told they would

be better than the Carolina pan. Uh, they would be better than the Carolina Panthers who had the number one overall pick with who drafted Bryce young. I thought they would be better than the Titans who many people thought were going to be in the playoffs. Everyone laughed at me. But this Texans team was, they surpassed my expectations. And you could also, in season, you could go as far as to say they kind of underachieved, slightly underachieved, because they were on a pace to start to win 11 games, 11 or 12 games. And once Tank Dell got hurt, the offense wasn't quite as effective. And then CJ Stroud got hurt,

but still a surprising team nonetheless, because no one even saw them sniffing the playoffs, let alone making it in and winning a playoff game. That's pretty impressive. And that's what I liked about that. The Texans were just a team that a lot of it, I think, is a mentality thing. They believed that they had a quarterback of the future. They believe that they have a future great head coach. And the roster, as far as star power goes, isn't exactly swimming in names. I mean, there's guys like CJ Stroud. He's very good. Will Anderson, Defensive Rookie of the Year

before he was hurt, Tank Dell. But what do all those guys have in common that I just mentioned? They're rookies. And the fact that they were already playing at this level as rookies, it gives me no reason to believe that they'll get worse. If anything, I think they're going to get better.

And as you start engineering yourself as a team to succeed, and as you start racking up more wins, other players, like big name free agents are going to notice this. And once you, you know, procure a little more star power, you're going to be scary. And once C.J. Stroud fully develops, well, he's going to be another contender like right up there with your Burroughs and your Jacksons and your Allens. And your Mahomeses. Although he's probably in another

stratosphere with everyone else uh another one is the the another one is the los angeles rams mainly because they hit on two on two fifth fifth round picks on uh and kyron williams and puka nakua that came out of nowhere um which is huge for them because they haven't had a first-round pick in a very long time. So to be able to hit on those late-round picks is huge. I had another one. The Cleveland Browns are the last one I'll mention before we do have to move on.

Mainly because we all figured they had the talent. The quarterback was a revolving door for them. They started four different quarterbacks and they still won 11 games, which is unbelievable. So those are two right there, but we're going to move on. Biggest disappointments. Who did not play up to expectations? That's next.

This is the Fumble ruski podcast here's edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's a catch. Oh! It's a catch! Sideline!

Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field. The walk-out! Sammy Rock looks for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Powerade and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. We're touching on the biggest disappointing teams of this season. And looking back, there was a lot of teams that underachieved,

but I think right at the top of the list, we have to put the Jacksonville Jaguars. And, you know, there's a lot of reasons you could point out. Trevor Lawrence did undergo a... He did endure a high ankle sp sprain which he had to play through and it his play noticeably got worse from that but there was just something about this offense even when they were playing well they were weren't they what were they eight and three yeah they were achieving that's the issue? Yeah, they were underachieving.

That's the issue, you know. They were still underachieving regardless of their record. It just, you looked at the eye test. They were beating these teams by only one or two scores. They weren't putting up many points. It just feels like a team with Trevor Lawrence, a guy who is supposed to be slinging it all over the field, to Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk, by the way,

and also Zay Jonesones and uh evan engram and i'm sure there's other names that i haven't running the ball with travis etn etn and an offensive line that's actually it was pretty good they have a good offensive line over there what were they able to do they, it felt something felt really off about that team. And it feels, I heard there is a, there is a movement of a fire press Taylor, their offensive coordinator. And I got to say, I have to agree. That's the only possible explanation to how this team was so, so painfully bad this year. I wouldn't say like they weren't bad. They were nine and eight, just like they were last year,

but it was a bad nine and eight last year was a good nine and eight. They started off looking like a lottery team or a team in contention for a top pick. And then they actually turned it on and snuck into the playoffs team that looked like they were on the up and up this team. This looked bad and don't look now, but Calvin Ridley is also a free agent this year. snuck into the playoffs team that looked like they were on the up and up this team this looked bad and don't look now but calvin ridley's also a free agent this year so you're going to lose who was who was your number one wide receiver uh didn't you already lose what did you lose uh

christian kirk to i completely forget wait christian kirk is still there. No, but they lost him to an injury. Oh, okay. I completely forget what it is, what it was, but it was – what was it? I couldn't tell you. But, Adam, respectfully, there's something you're missing. Yes. It's not just that Calvin Ridley's a free agent. Josh Allen on your defense, the best player on your defense is also a free agent. Former first round pick Kalevon Chason is also a free agent.

Starting guard Ezra Cleveland, guess what? Also a free agent. Core muscle injury, by the way. Sorry. Core muscle. All right. Good stuff. Well, I mean, not that you know what I mean.

I'm not saying that that's good. I'm just saying that just thanks for updating. You know what I mean. Yep. And what about Jamal Agnew, one of your top special teamers? Well, also a free agent. So it seems like when you're at this really pivotal juncture, like half your team's a free agent and these aren't, you know, scrubs. The guys I mentioned are pretty good.

Right. If you do manage to resign them all, what money does that leave to actually make improvements? Do you actually let press taylor continue being offensive coordinator i don't know how you do but apparently they will yeah it it really doesn't look good for that team um and a lot of them would resign if trevor if this season was better because the jaguars looked like a team with the brightest future, a team that would be mentioned in the same breath

as the Cincinnati Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Buffalo Bills, and also the Ravens as well. You can't really say that anymore. They've really fallen off in one year. They don't look like an attractive organization to join anymore, which they were about to um all right another team this is an easy one the denver broncos i do even need any reasoning to that their defense was a little it got better as the season went on

and russell wilson looked normal like he looked like his old self yeah i mean he did until they collapsed at the end of the year i really think that that heartbreaker christmas eve lost to new england really screwed him over and let me did broncos fans the only unlimited thing about russell wilson is the amount of money he's taking from your organization yep that's one way to look at it. Another team is the – here's one that record-wise you would not think this, but everyone knows the Philadelphia Eagles had a massive letdown this year. Well, yeah.

I mean, look at where they started. They were 10-1, right? And did they not finish 11-6? Literally going 1-5 in your final six games. That is disgraceful. 10-1 is correct, yes. Huh? 10-1 is correct, yes.

Yeah. Then, like I said, you went 1-5 in your final six games. You got punched in the mouth by, I believe uh sam fran and it was just never the same yeah and i just i don't know what to tell you it's just a complete mental lapse like even like the playbook changed it was that bad i'll give you another one the pittsburgh steelers and i know they fit they snuck in the playoffs at 10 and 7 but there was a lot of hype around kenny pickett preseason and as the season as the as the the offseason dragged on they worked on that offensive line which is what they needed and kenny pickett showed some promise

in a late season playoff push last season and they really they looked lost i know you had matt canada as your offensive coordinator but then they replaced him and they were still bad so it that tells me that it's not just him it's just kenny pickett is a very very middling quarterback um but i think he's still going to be the quarterback this year, so maybe he turns it around. Who knows? But from what we've seen, it doesn't look good. Yeah. Do you have any others? That's really all I have as far as disappointments are.

I guess Seattle. Yeah, but like the Jaguars, they were the same record as they were last year, but it's just a different kind because I believe they were also 9-8. Like you said, just based on the eye test, it was a bad 9-8. They didn't have that spark. They weren't viewed as that scrappy team that could upset you. It was just like, oh, Seattle. They're not great.

They're not terrible. And I guess what really drives this point home is how we expected Geno Smith to take a step forward or at least play as he did last season. He didn't either. Jackson Smith and Jigbo was not that good. And I thought he would be that wide receiver who would elevate this team kind of in the same way that the Cincinnati Bengals were elevated once they got Jamar Chase. Their offensive line was supposed to be better. I guess it was okay. What else? They brought in Charbonnet, who I thought would be better.

It was another Kenneth Walker season, which is fine. Again, notice how the adjectives I'm using, fine, it's okay. They weren't bad. That's not what we expected is what it is. i'm using fine it's okay like they weren't bad but they were they were expected they were better they were better they were okay last year and they looked like a team that was on the up and up they would get better they brought it like both their uh their uh their runner-up for offensive for defensive rookie of the year last year uh completely blanking on his name tarik woolen jesus uh tarik woolen took a couple steps back devin witherspoon evens it out but your

your other first round pick from this year didn't do very well uh yeah in jackson smith and jigba in Jackson Smith and Jigba. So like, what are we doing here? How is this? Just doesn't work. All right. We have to move on. We are going to get to the second, the second half of this show, which is future is bright and it gets worse.

We're going to lead off with the future is bright. Some teams that look like they could be really good. This, this upcoming season or in years coming up. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch.

Oh! Takes! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown!

Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. The future is bright for the Indianapolis Colts. I'm not going to touch on the obvious ones because the Houston Texans also have a pretty bright future, but I feel like we don't give enough credit to the Colts for drafting the right guy. I think, yes, Anthony Richardson still has some things to work on, and I think the Colts still have some things to address with their offensive line. Because you can't get this kid hurt. At the same time, he showed that he was much further in his development than CJ and I thought. Because we thought he was going to be a massive project.

And he still is. But he looked a lot better. He looked a lot better. He looked a lot further along. Much more big league ready than we really thought. Which is huge for the Colts. You find that quarterback. You find a star player at any other position than the quarterback.

It's like, okay, sure. You're making steps in the right direction. But when you find that guy. That quarterback who could be the next elite top 10 level, maybe top five guy, I'm not making any predictions here. I think that's more significant than striking gold at any other position on the field. And the Colts did that. I think they found a good guy. Yeah, I think you're right. And here's the thing.

He was out by like week four or five. But when you consider the fact that they almost made it to the playoffs, they were this close with Gardner Minshew. Now imagine what happens when you put Anthony Richardson in there, someone who's bigger, faster, stronger, and has a better arm. Yeah. The support is there. And there is no reason that richardson shouldn't flourish yeah so the only issue the only roadblock they have is their top wide receiver he's hitting free agency and michael pitman jr the other guy who his name is escaping me right now. He was the rookie. Oh,

oh yeah. Yeah. Continue. I know it's on the tip of my tongue. I think it was the tip of my tongue. You guys in the comments are probably yelling at us, calling us morons, but yes.

Yeah. The UNC guy. I remember him. Yeah. So he looked good. Also, Alex Pierce as well. Yes. He was pretty serviceable, especially at the end of the year.

Yes, so they have some pieces, but they're going to want to continue to build around him as you want to build around any quarterback. I mean, the Bengals are struggling with that right now on their offensive line. They're trying, but there's something off with that team. I don't know how they're struggling so much to protect their quarterback. Yeah.

Another team is the Houston Texans. But how about, let me give it to another team that they got this last year, but the Chicago Bears, if they really are moving on from Justin Fields, and I know a lot of bears fan fans, when I last said this, we're ready to crucify me in the comment section. But I think if, if, since all signs are pointing towards them moving on from Caleb William, from, uh, from Justin Fields going to draft Caleb Williams or Drake may, whoever that's going to be. Probably Caleb.

That is much better. And I get it. You don't, it's very, it's scary committing to a new quarterback. Who's unproven in this league. He hasn't played a snap yet, but I'd rather have that than a quarterback. Who's had three years to prove himself in the league.

He's actually taken a lot of snaps, still hasn't proven it yet. He's shown promise, but if you're not convinced three years in, that's a bit of a red flag, especially since this past year they actually added some pieces for him. He had a real wide receiver one in DJ Moore, and he still couldn't do it. And I know the offensive line wasn't great, but it was better than it has been in years past. He wasn't getting killed, which is still huge. So why was he still not great as a passer? Oh, and Adam. Yeah. Give me, give me, I know exactly what you're going to

say. Give it to me. Oh, I was going to say what you're missing is, and I don't mean as an attack. I just mean that something that I hear Bears fans say is, oh, but at the end of the season, he was heating up. And I'm like, yeah, you said that last season too. But here's the thing. Adam, I think, put this beautifully when he spoke about the old Dolphins coach, Brian Flores. Yeah, you always heat up at the end of the year. Well, I have news for you. I don't care because you are already in a hole in terms of your record. You know what?

You could play like prime Tom Brady and you're still not making it. If you start out like prime Nathan Peterman. I mean, that's really what it is. I'm tired of seeing him flounder around and gasp for air. Then I'm like the final five or six games play like his head screwed on, right? That will not win you games this is what i thought you were going to say and i wanted to point this out during that during that stretch that five game stretch oh yeah i was winning games i know what you're gonna do go for it four touchdowns and three picks he only he only threw for four touchdowns these these are these are his numbers as a passer.

I get he's effective as a rusher. He's already proven that. If your argument is that he has been good as a passer, he threw for just four touchdown passes during that entire five-game stretch. And don't give me this with the passing yards, too. He only eclipsed 250 yards once during that span. And he didn't even come close to, did he even pass for 3,000 yards this year? I do not believe so. No, 2,500, which also not entirely his fault. He missed a bunch of games, but in the times that he was healthy, he wasn't much to write

home about. He had a couple of good games, but everyone is capable of good games. I remember Jared Stidham had a great game for the Raiders against the Patriots. That doesn't make him a great quarterback. Are we going to start giving him franchise quarterback vibes? Yeah, exactly. And who will forget, Mac Jones absolutely diced up that Bill's defense. Remember that halfway through the year? Well, he might, you know, he might be good, but yeah, no. They moved on from Arthur Smith, and they still have a lot of good talent on the offensive side of the ball. Their offensive line has talent.

I know they allowed a lot of sacks to Desmond Ritter, but I think a lot of that is Desmond Ritter being irresponsible with how he holds the ball. Their offense features Kyle Pitts, Drake London, B. John Robinson. That's a pretty good big three. So you find that quarterback. I don't know who he is, but they'll find somebody. They could trade up. They could do a lot of different things.

But they made a change in coaching. I think things are going to get better in Atlanta. Yeah, it should be. Just because once your hindrance named Arthur Smith was thankfully chucked out the window, you're now going to be fine. Because Raheem Morris has a good hat on his shoulders, and here's a novel concept. He'll actually use your good weapons. So I actually think things are going to be looking up in a very weak NFC South.

Absolutely. All right. Onto our last segment, it gets worse. Teams who do not look like they have a good future ahead of them. That's next. This is the Fumble Ruski podcast. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Seeker Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. Teams who look like they don't have the best future. It gets worse. One that I have, I'm going to give you the Minnesota Vikings. All right, let's hear it. And the reason being, first of all, I was never high on Kirk Cousins.

I thought he was a quarterback who could guide you to the playoffs. Maybe he'll get you a playoff victory. But nothing more than that. On top of that, this guy just tore his Achilles, and he's also 35. And he's leaving. He could leave. Well, we'll see. If he leaves, then it looks even worse.

But also, I don't know what's going to happen with Justin Jefferson, but what if he doesn't resign? What if he doesn't want to be there anymore? I know he's said that he wants to be there now, but there we've always, we've seen things go South in contract negotiations. And if they do pay him, you pay him,

you're going to end up paying him a ton of money because he's arguably the best wide receiver in football. And who was throwing on the ball? I guess is the question. Who's throwing on the ball? How are they going to pay everybody else? And on top of that, like even when this team was at its best, yeah, they won 13 games last year, but it was such a paper 13 games. Yeah. I mean, they were called the cardiac Vikings because how many times have I said it's on the show? There's a difference between a win and a convincing win. Most of, not all of them, but most of their wins were like

these down to the wire, like one score, you know, heart stopping victories. And they finished the season with a negative point differential despite having 13 wins. And Adam, you are correct when you say, you know, paper 13 wins. And it was a fluke. And I think this season showed it regardless of injuries. And they're also, Daniil Hunter is about to be a free agent. So their best, another player who's about to hit free agency. running game looks awful now i mean alexander madison has proven that he's not the guy they traded uh well they let delvin cook walk which i mean he was he's towards the end of his career anyways but you didn't replace him so what do we have right now well i'll tell you what have. We have a team that doesn't have a direction.

That's really what it is. You either need to patch up the holes quick and make some splashes with money that I'm not entirely sure you have, or you are staring down the barrel of a complete just rebuild, as in ripping up the floorboards, ripping the place down the foundations, foundations and rebuilding. And the big question through all that is if you do actually go through with that, will Justin Jefferson want to stay through that? Because believe you me, you will have egg on your face if he walks out that door. Let me give you a developing take on this Vikings team. So you have a wide receiver one in Jordan Addison.

And with that lead, with that line, I lead off with, I can, I think you can see the direction that I'm going in. You have TJ Hawkinson who's under contract for a few more years. You have KJ, you have KJ Osborne,

who is a pretty decent wide receiver, probably at three, a high end three low end two at best. Maybe he's also a creationist here, by the way. Is he? Okay. Yes,

I believe so. Just a developing take here. I'm not committed to it, but I'm just thinking about that possibility. Um, you franchise tag, Justin Jefferson. And you use maybe you use him in a in a building block block trade to trade up to get a wide a quarterback who can who might have

a higher ceiling than kirk cousins and obviously would be younger since Cousins is 35, and we don't know how he's going to play off of that Achilles tear. It's just an idea. I'm not saying that I'm committed to it. I'm just thinking about what would happen if they do that, because that could be something where if they do it, yes, you don't have Justin Jefferson anymore, but how many teams with the best wide receiver in the game have actually won the Super Bowl recently?

Couldn't tell you. Well, maybe the Rams with Cup, but if Cup's game was debatable. Rams, yeah, the Rams with Cooper Cup, Tyreek Hill on the Chiefs in 2019. Besides that, in the last decade and a half, how many of them have actually won the Super Bowl? It could be just a coincidence. But Julio Jones didn't do it. The Eagles never had a wide receiver one when they won it.

The 15 Broncos, Emmanuel Sanders isn't the best receiver in the game and neither was Demarius Thomas. I was saying, even when you look at all those Patriots wins, these wide receiver corps were highlighted by Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola,ris hogan malcolm mitchell brandon lafell i mean there's gronk but gronk's a tight end you see what i mean like if you if yes you're obviously losing the a generational wide receiver but who would you rather have the generational wide receiver or the generational quarterback because it's clear

the quarterback is the one more likely to win you the Super Bowl. Yeah. Now, you would probably need to trade an extra first in this trade if you're trading Justin Jefferson because he would be on a one-year deal. So you're trading the player to you just so that the other player, that team could pay him. And you're probably the player to you just so that the other player, that team could pay him. And you're probably trading an extra first. Yeah, it might have to be one of those situations where the team

that they're going to ship Jefferson to, this happens in the NFL all the time, where that player and that team, before the trade is officially done, like agree on an extension. Yeah. So I'm just saying, how often do we see these wide receivers winning the Super Bowl? You can even go way back in the league history. Yeah, Jerry Rice did it, but he had a legendary quarterback

throwing to him, right? And after Tyreek Hill left the chiefs what have they what has he done he's stuffed the stat sheet but uh all i'm gonna say is that's nice he was in contention for offensive player of the year maybe even mvp but mahomes has two more rings than you now heck cadarious tony has more rings than you oh Oh, that's no. Yes. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. Yeah, because he wasn't active, but if he's on the roster,

then he gets a ring. So that bothers me that he won a ring. Marvin Harrison on the Colts, but they also, again, had a legendary quarterback. So the teams that are centered more around the quarterback than the wide receiver, like I'm not saying the best wide receiver in the game doesn't win championships, but you're more likely to do it when you have the quarterback, not when you have the wide receiver. We're seeing that right now with the 49ers. They have everything but the quarterback. I guess Brock Purdy's okay.

They went to a Super Bowl. Jimmy Garoppolo was okay. They went there. Colin Kaepernick in that one year was okay. And the year after, they went to the conference championship. But they're not the cream of the crop. They're not the best in the game. It's just a possibility.

Just a thought there. And we probably lingered on that for way too long. The New England Patriots. That team could get much worse very fast. And I don't like the way this team is going. I don't know. It depends. I feel like this offseason will be a great measuring stick

because obviously I'm not expecting them to go to the playoffs next year. But right now, I just want to say I genuinely think between futures bright and it gets worse, I genuinely think it's a coin flip. Because some of the staff moves they're making have been really good. Some of the guys they've retained has been really good. If it's one offseason that's going to determine it, then that's not a good spot to be in. If you have a long laundry list of things to do and you're like,

we have one offseason to get this done. No, I mean, I'm just saying, like, if they screw it up i mean there's always like next season they're going to be like top five in cap space for like the next two to three seasons but if they now i'm not saying they will i don't think they will if they take what we would even though he's not there anymore you have a classic belichick approach where you know you have a very modest free agency trade back in the draft then you're going to be in the dark ages for like the next decade yeah the tennessee titans they're yeah derrick henry is a derrick henry is going to be a free agent and you're committed to will levis and And even if you retain Derrick Henry, how many years are you really going to get from him?

We've already seen a noticeable decrease in production. You went from 1,500 yards last year to about 1,100 this year. That's not a Derrick Henry-type season. It's a good year, but it's not the type where he's going to carry you to the playoffs like he has in years past. And also, I'm not completely convinced that Will Levis is really the guy. He looks better than I thought he would. Oh, sorry, yeah.

And frankly, Adam, I'm not completely convinced that DeAndre Hopkins is still even a mid-tier wide receiver one. Traylon Burks hasn't really gotten the ball that much, and their tight end of Conquo is good but not great. The offensive line is shoddy, and the defense is just three big names, and Harold Landry, Jeffrey Simmons, and Kevin Baird just dragging along like the other eight. Yeah. All right.

Let's find our last one. I want to name the Chargers because we forgot to mention them in the biggest disappointments, which probably should have been number one in biggest disappointments because they went from having expectations to have this electric offense to winning just five games i know a lot of it had to do with justin herbert being out with a finger injury but still five wins and also that finger injury is not all that finger injury isn't entirely not on the organization because how like you you've invested the amount of assets that you have

on the wide receiver on the uh not just the wide receiver position but also um on the offensive line and you couldn't keep your franchise quarterback from getting hurt it wasn't long ago we were trying to mention this guy in the same breath as the likes of Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, even Patrick Mahomes. And yeah, like given it the eye test, he looks like that. But what have they done with this guy? He's like Dan Marino, except worse in terms of like raw production, a good franchise quarterback who could on a better team win you a Super Bowl. But now, I mean, they look like a cellar dwelling team. I've never seen a team with a quarterback this good play this bad

as a team in general. And even beyond that, Austin Eckler regressed. Keenan Allen is entering the final stage of his career. Mike Williams might actually, you might move on from this offseason. Your O-line is literally just Corey Lindsley and Rashawn Slater, and then three turnstiles. And your defense has all the big names you could want and none of the production to show for it it's just now you you have a new coach in jim harbaugh who is a pretty good coach at the nfl level when he was here last time but he's got his hands full he does all right that's all the scheduled content we have for today. Do you have anything else? Nope.

All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Fridays at 5. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, 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 coverage and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise,

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