The Fumblerooski Podcast - No Kaep -Ep 85 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: May 26, 2022

Does Colin Kaepernick deserve another shot at the NFL? Which AFC North team is most likely to come out on top? Adam Wright and CJ Medieros also host Max Kates of the Euro Step Hoops Podcast to talk about the NBA Conference Finals!

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 touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network.

I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros. We have a special guest with you today. And it is Max Cates. You guys have had him on. We have had him on a couple weeks ago. And he spoke about the Eastern Conference semif he spoke about um the eastern conference semifinals well all the conference semifinals and uh this week he's going to talk a little bit about the conference finals matchups so uh and i'm sure some some of our viewers uh are unfamiliar with max so max do you want to introduce yourself yeah hey guys Max Cates here. I co-created the podcast,

the Eurostep Hoops podcast. It's strictly basketball, strictly NBA. It's everything that I know about and I'm just happy to be here and talk some hoops. Unfortunately, my football knowledge is absolutely terrible. I know almost nothing about it, but I'm happy to learn about it. Well, there's no worries, man. It's plenty of room to learn about the game. And, I mean, we all started somewhere. You came to the right place, honestly. Yeah, absolutely.

Come to the right place, talk some football, talk some basketball, and you can just do the best that you can for our football content, which we do have a lot for you guys, including we're going to talk about all the new additions and the busy AFC North. So a lot of talk about the AFC West, not enough about the North, which has been busy themselves. Every single team, and we're going to talk about where uh where

all those teams fit in the hierarchy that is the afc north uh and then uh but we're going to start with colin kaepernick who has tried out for the raiders on i believe that was wednesday correct it's not today is it no i thought it was wednesday yeah all It's not today, is it? No, I thought it was Wednesday, yeah. All right. Well, not much to it. Colin Kaepernick has not played in the league since I believe it was 2017. It was 2017? Was that his last year?

I thought it was the year Patriots beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl, so the 2016 season. So he hasn't been in the league since 2016 when he was with the 49ers. He opted out of his deal. But what are your thoughts on Colin Kaepernick trying out to be back on an NFL team? All right, I guess I'll start. Honestly, I'm happy for him. He was out of the game for so long. We all know why he wasn't there. He voided his own deal. He bet on himself. He

wanted a big, big contract. Frankly, at the time, he really wasn't worth it. He wanted a guaranteed starter job, which unless you're like Tom Brady a guaranteed starter job which you know there are no unless you're like tom brady or a huge name like that there are no guaranteed starting jobs in the nfl and you know he and as the years went by he didn't you know he wouldn't stray away from his demands but now now he said he's he doesn't want a fancy giant deal he doesn't want to be a guaranteed starter he just wants to be on a team. And, and, you know, when he said that, you know, here come the Raiders, they're willing to give him a chance to try out. And if he makes it, you know, it's, it's good for him. You know,

I'm glad he's getting a shot, you know, because now that, like I said, now that his demands really aren't ridiculous, because he knows that he's been away from for six years and no one's just going to hand him a starting job. But yeah, you yeah, you know, if he keeps his head down and he works, which, you know, he's worked before. He was a third-round pick, and he was able at one point to work his way up for the starter of the Niners. So if he can keep that same underdog mentality, there's no reason why he shouldn't, you know,

be like maybe a second- or third-string quarterback. And if Derek Carr goes down, God forbid, maybe you get a chance. Just a question, yeah so he has not played since 2016 and given that he must be incredibly rusty given he has not seen any real NFL defense nor let's say realistic NFL scrimmage do you maybe think his window is closing faster because he wants that respectable deal given he knows he can't produce the way he used to before i mean he doesn't really want like a respectable deal anymore doesn't want like this 20 million yeah he just wants to be in the league now which is his his standards have really gotten lower uh but his his uh the see the thing is he was the last time he played in the league everyone talks about how he had a great year he did throw 16 touchdowns of

four to four interceptions however but he didn't win to a one in ten record it was one in ten and then the the time he started before then, before he was, uh, before he was benched by Blaine Gabbert, he was one in four or it wasn't one in six. It was, it was something putrid. So he hasn't been able to win at all really since his first two years in the league. And the same can be said about a lot of quarterbacks out there. You know, they, uh, we look at Matt Castle. He stepped in as a backup to Tom Brady on a loaded offense. And, uh, in 2008 went 11 and five, he made a pro bowl a couple of years later for Kansas city. Uh, and then defenses figured him out and he was just a career backup from then on. And I know there's a lot of controversy off the field with him kneeling for the national anthem and stuff like that.

I'm not against people's right to protest, but there's a lot more to that than meets the eye. Because I think when you become a distraction by going out and wearing socks with pigs and police gear, that's a little bit of a bad look for you. And you're not just going out and trying to protest racism. You're just straight up disrespecting not only your own country, but you're disrespecting our law enforcement. And I get it. There's racist cops out there there's uh

there's police police brutality problem but you need to combat things the right way and be a respectful person about it it doesn't change the fact that there are good cops out there who are actually trying to do their job yeah yeah that's true and i mean and you know the thing is people are talking about oh why don't coaches want that in the locker room because let me tell you something most coaches they don't care about your race they don't care about you know anything like that they don't care about your income like nfl coaches do not care they only care if you can play and if you are a quarterback who went one in ten and you want to deal over 50 million, that's not happening. Like I said,

you know, he's lowered his demands and he got a workout and I can't tell you if he's going to make the team or not, but, you know, I'm just happy for him, you know, that he got, that he got a workout, you know, he was willing to get real with himself and, and, and, you know, we saw what happened. So I recently read up on the, the raiders as quarterback situation so it says here the raiders 2022 free agency recap jonathan hankins and a new quarterback the las vegas raiders announced the signing of hankins and nick mullins and apparently nick mullins will be a backup to derrick carr so where do you think if kaepernick comes in, do you think he can potentially realistically work himself up to be the backup at some point?

Can I take this one? So I think he can work his way up to be a – yeah, he could. I'm not sure about a backup because Nick Mullins is a very, very even keeled quarterback who can step up. And if you need to win a game against a lowly team, if you're a quarterback banged up, then he can do that. What what what Kaepernick can do just by getting onto an NFL roster is he can get himself into all these all these practice practices and into training camp to get in front of real NFL eyes. And he may not start or get anywhere with the Raiders organization, but there could be another team that's desperate for a quarterback. And they say, hmm, this Colin Kaepernick kid might be able to still play. He could really help us know in the panthers of the world and the

let's say let's say uh name the other there's there's not there's not a big quarterback market but the panthers are the only team that comes to mind for me maybe the let me know yeah the football team they still have commanders sorry they still have taylor heineke but that that's it you know that he he's just he's just doing doing He's doing himself a service just by getting onto an NFL roster and getting in front of more NFL scouts because all he's been doing is just doing workouts for the past, what, six years? And it hasn't been helping him out because nobody's going to see you working. You're just going to be posting on social media, which everybody does that. Semi-pro players do that.

College level players do that. Everyone posts their workouts doing all the training, but people want to see results. And they want to see, as Max mentioned, they want to see NFL scrimmages. You want to see how you work with an NFL defense. Even just a high level Alabama level, uh, defense like that in college, like something like that, but just do just working out and staying in shape. That's great and all, but you need to be able to have some NFL level training because that's not because anybody can work out and do and uh do some drills but the real you know the

re what we really want to see is what you can do on an nfl field yeah adam you are 100 correct and um i'm kind of interested you know to see the uh you know the transition from just working out to maybe maybe he cracks like the prep, maybe cracks like the practice squad or something like that. Because I feel if you look at 2016 and you're, you know, we're about to go into the 2022, 2023 NFL season. I feel like the game is a lot better suited to his skill. This is truly the age of the mobile quarterback, which he is.

And I feel like that also kind of gives him a leg up exactly it's i'm i'm rooting i'm pulling for him to do well and get back in the league if he just if he just you know stays out of trouble and if he can if he can play play some sort of productive football, then he could find – I mean, like I said, it won't be on the Raiders because the Raiders do have plans with Derek Carr. Unless something crazy happens like an injury where Colin Kaepernick happened to work up to the backup spot

and Kaepernick has to step in like the Tom Brady drew Bledsoe thing, or we could look to look at more recent, like Dak Prescott to Tony Romo, but highly unlikely. If, if he gets, if he earns another's chance, this is kind of more of a stepping stone the way I see it, you know, like he he's not he he's not looking to and i'm sure he if if he could be a starter on the on the raiders that would be great but he's looking just to get on an nfl roster to get which would get in front of more scouts and they could say oh look this kid can play and we need a quarterback. Why not try him out? Let's see how it works out. And, you know, you go from there, something like that.

Actually, and also we mentioned the Washington football team, excuse me, the commanders. They don't just have Taylor Heineke, and I should not have forgotten this. They also have Carson Wentz. Oh, right. I completely forgot have forgotten this. They also have Carson Wentz. Oh, right. I completely forgot about that guy. Well, that by itself says a lot, no? Yeah, and I feel really bad for Carson Wentz because I think the issue is that the standards around the league

for his play just skyrocketed after that second year when he nearly won league MVP had he not torn his ACL. And ever since, he hasn't been able to play up to that standard. And it was just a great year for him, really. A career year, and it was uncharacteristic, clearly an outlier. And he still played serviceable ball besides that during his career. And a lot of his poor play during a lot of his career had to do with the Eagles just not being able to protect him. And now it's just getting to a point where people are just, like, especially the Colts organization.

Like, some people were saying some stuff about him and saying, well, we needed a change. The, uh, we needed Matt, Matt Ryan, who's there, the Colts replacement as much as they needed him. And like, I mean, we talk about how Colin Kaepernick, some people try to talk about Colin Kaepernick's mistreated Carson Wentz, man. I feel really bad for him. Um, apparently he has been doing an incredible job in practices with um with his new team so hopefully he does well because i'm reading an article and it's the first thing i read he's got a cannon so let's see let's see how it turns out and i'm sure it will

work out i i will i will die on this hill and saying that carson wentz is a very underrated quarterback a quarterback who is called under overrated so much that he becomes underrated and uh i i really am pulling for carson wentz to do to do good but next we are we want to talk about some of the additions that were made in the afFC North this off season, more recently with the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens and how they all stack up against each other in their division. That's coming up next. This 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! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Madero, special guest Max Cates. So the AFC North has been one of those divisions that just hasn't been spoken about enough, mainly because of the AFC West, which is, in case you don't know, Max, the teams that are in the AFC North are the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Cleveland Browns. So it actually, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are a team that is by many projected to be

the last place finishing team, they're projected to be last, which kind of tells you a lot about where this division is trending. And it's not to say that Pittsburgh had lost too much by any means. They picked a quarterback to replace their aging Ben Roethlisberger in the first round. And they made some additions on the defense. I know they got Miles Jack in free agency. And then the Bengals have worked on that offensive line, and they addressed the secondary in the draft. Then you have the Baltimore Ravens who worked on that offensive line.

They lost Marquise Brown, which is going to be a killer for them on the offensive end for a wide receiver. They still have Rashad Bateman, though, but that defense looks incredible for the Ravens. And then the Browns, of course, they got Deshaun Watson, one of the better quarterbacks in the league just a couple years ago before all the stuff happened with him off the field and requesting a trade and just saying, I don't want to play for the Texans anymore.

And it's just, it's just incredible. And, uh, more, most recently what happened was, uh, the, uh, the Browns re-signed their, uh, one of their defensive ends, Jadavion Clowney, who was an incredible counterpart to their star defensive end in Miles Garrett. And then the Ravens, I believe it was just hours later, they signed cornerback Kyle Fuller. So he did have a down year with uh with the with the broncos um and it looked like a little bit of aging but he's at a point where he could still come back and have and reclaim his old form from chicago where he was a pro bowl corner and one of

the better corners in the game i mean i know i had him as one of our one of the better corners in the game. I mean, I know I had him as one of our top corners. But so, CJ, I'll start with you. I'll ask you, which of these teams is most likely to come out on top and win this AFC North division? Honestly, I got to say the Bengals. I really do. Look, I mean, they just went to a Super Bowl. And look, I know Super Bowl hangover is a real thing.

Everyone's hyping up the Ravens because, you know, they're getting healthy. The Browns just got Deshaun Watson. But the Bengals, they literally just went to the Super Bowl. And they addressed their weakness. They beefed up the offensive line. They got guys like Alex Kappa, Ted Karras, and Leo Collins. And they got Cam Taylor-Britt and Daxton Hill in the first two, three rounds of the NFL draft. That's huge.

And they're patching up their defensive backfield. They majorly fixed the O-line. And I'm excited to see what the future holds for them. I really am, and I'm not technically sleeping on the Ravens or the Browns, but I'm seeing all this hype, like, oh, Lamar's coming back healthier. Oh, the Browns got Watson. I'm like, come on. One of these teams just went to a Super Bowl. Come on. We can't just forget about them that easily. Look, I completely agree with you on the Bengals. That looks like the best team, but because you picked the Bengals, I'm going to go in a different route and I'm going to go with the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Browns have a proven quarterback now. Uh, and it's a

big upgrade for them from Baker Mayfield and, uh, that you also added, you also basically upgraded at wide receiver. I know you don't have the depth that you did, but Amari Cooper is better than Odell Beckham Jr. at this point in his career, maybe not earlier, but at this point in his career, Amari Cooper is better and he's better than Jarvis Landry, who I still think they should not have cut. They should have at least tried to restructure the deal so that you wouldn't have this depth issue. But look at that running game for them. You have Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. That's just as good, if not better, a running game

than the Cincinnati Bengals. And to be honest, Joe Mixon, this was his only real elite year. I mean, he's always been a solid running back, but he's never been elite like he was this year. And Nick Chubb has been elite. And Kareem Hunt, before he decided to have some issues with domestic violence off the field, he was an elite running back and he's been very serviceable for them. And let's not forget that defense that is looking amazing now that they got Jadeveon Clowney, and you still have Miles Garrett. I love Denzel Ward.

They have some young pieces in that secondary. Just everywhere you look, that team has talent. And the offensive line, again, is looking like among the best in the league. I just can't, I just think this is a very stable team and I know this team is going to be very successful, uh, barring any, any significant injuries. And of course, if Deshaun Watson misses time, uh, for a suspension, then that's a possibility. But even then, they could still find a way to try to win games and be able to be up there. I think they have a good chance at winning the division.

Like I said, I think the Cincinnati Bengals are a great pick, but I have to go a different direction. I can't just agree with you. That makes sense. Oh, by the way, we were talking about how thin the browns may be at wide receiver i'm realizing their wide receiver room i don't think is uh as bad as we might believe so i pulled up you know like some of their bigger names obviously you have amari's number one but i don't hate the rest of it donovan people's jones you know he's starting to and uh the ever

underrated uh jakeem grant you know scary speedster there and i realized they drafted that a wide receiver from purdue david bell and like the third round i want to say i don't know but yeah i was pretty high on bell coming out of the draft and like honestly i i don't hate their receiver room i mean it's a lot of underrated guys, but I definitely think one of them is going to step up. Because like I said, Grant's got the speed. Peoples Jones is proven,

and Bell could prove to be a dynamic playmaker right out of the gate. Yeah, so those all could be serviceable receivers. My only concern is can one of those step up and be the wide receiver too? Can one of those guys go out there and go for like 700 800 yards and a few touchdowns oh absolutely i imagine that's people's jones honestly you think people's jones can do that absolutely i do he'll get more targets that that much will be that much will be sure because they don't have beckham in uh landry anymore it's going to be outside of amari Cooper. Who else is going

to get the targets? I believe they have, uh, they, now they, they cut, they cut that one. And I'm forgetting, I'm, I'm looking at tight end right now. Oh, it's Austin Hooper. You're thinking of, they got rid of, cause he was on a stupid contract. Yeah. They cut Hooper, and they gave David Njoku. They gave him the franchise tag, which I found to be a little... It was intriguing, to say the least. Yeah, apparently they believe in him, and I'm hearing that they're trying to work on an extension with him. He's a solid... I like him, and I liked him when he first burst onto the scene.

However, I think I liked Austin Hooper a little better. I think I did. Yeah, well, they're both inconsistent, so pick your poison, yeah. But, you know, and he could also be their number two pass catcher target. He could be that guy. So they have a couple pieces who can step up. They could also look to free agency if they want and a kid and i i mentioned this during our last episode on tuesday

will fuller is still out there wide receiver will fuller who had a incredible rapport with deshaun watson back during back uh looking back during their uh their their houston days and if if will fuller were to stay healthy which it's very hard for him to stay healthy and the one time the one time he actually he was he would manage to stay you know not injury prone turns out he was pot for steroids so that might have explained a few things. But, Max, I know you're not the biggest NFL guy, but do you have any thoughts on this division? I do not have a lot of thoughts.

However, I do know Joe Burrow and the Bengals, as you guys said, Super Bowl last year. And if we're looking at this realistically, I don't see why the Bengals shouldn't make the Super Bowl again, if anything, at least the round before. However, I would not count out Lamar Jackson, knowing he is one of the people or one of the quarterbacks that got me a little bit more interested into the NFL. So don't count out Lamar Jackson.

Hot take. Understood. But speaking of Lamar Jackson, this is the AFC North we're talking about after all. He's gone from OTAs, and they're not even close on an extension. And Lamar literally said he doesn't want an extension right now. He just wants to play it by ear, see how the season goes goes and if you're a Ravens fan I would be terrified because after you traded away

Hollywood and if you've seen some of his statements it doesn't I could be completely wrong but it doesn't seem like he wants to be there anymore do you maybe think that something the office knows something that's going on behind closed doors because maybe they're trying to hit the reset button but not make it obvious. I don't know about the reset button, but obviously the front office knows something we don't because they're an NFL front office. They traded with, apparently, a really good player

that should not have left. So that kind of maybe gives you a sign of what's what direction they're going to i mean they've built most of the team around lamar so i i don't really know but i'm just saying if i'm a ravens fan i'm not saying hit the panic button but i'd be concerned what i will say about that uh that ravens team is they are built around the running game a little more i know i know our our pal justin tucker Justin Tucker, who is a diehard Ravens fan, likes to try and say otherwise, but they're a run-first team. And Marquise Brown, as I mentioned during our last episode on Tuesday,

he was a fish out of water there. It just didn't work. He's a deep threat wide receiver where you need to target him in order for him to put up numbers. And he just, it just didn't work. And he, I know he had a decent year, his last season in Baltimore, but I think, I think Marquise Brown's going to flourish in Arizona. And I think the Ravens won't be as bad as we might think without Marquise Brown. They also have Rashad Bateman to work in that receiving core. They have Mark Andrews, and then they're a little thin past that, but they could add some pieces there.

But I think that's a team that can remain competitive as long as Lamar Jackson returns to the team. I hope he comes back. He seems like he wants to – he has enjoyed his time as a Raven. I'll say that much. I don't know if he wants to stay there now, but, you know, I also don't want to. Maybe I just don't want to. Maybe I'm just saying this because I don't want to deal with a cranky Justin Tucker for a few weeks

because he's not going to be happy for a very long time if Lamar Jackson leaves. Well, I mean, I think Joe Flacco is still kicking around. He can probably get that. Go and get him back i mean they just got him in 2018 how do you not get this guy back do you think like there there has to be something else up like do does they do they maybe not think there's a cap on lamar jackson's game i mean you got, you have to commit to your franchise quarterback if he is that. I mean, he was an MVP. But I mean, here's the thing. With these mobile quarterbacks, they tend to get hurt more.

And I can understand maybe the hesitancy to sign him. But at the same time, you've got to sign him. He's your franchise quarterback. Yeah. It's going to be interesting how also I'm just getting a notification from Adam Schefter. This is way off topic, but saying the Falcons have signed former running back, former Titans running back Jeremy McNichols, who actually put up some good statistics. He was pretty solid for the Titans stepping in for Derek Henry. I'm not sure what I off the top of my head. I'm not sure what the Falcons, uh, backfield is, uh, but that's

neither here nor there. I don't want to get off topic, but Lamar Jackson, uh, as much as I really, I get on him being a run first quarterback saying that run first quarterbacks really can't win in this league uh to the extent that the the pocket passers do but like you got it if he's your franchise guy if you believe in him you got to make that guy happy and you have to give him he doesn't even want to be extended it sounds like he at least not now yeah he said not now he just wants to wait till the end of the year and i swear to god if the ravens use the franchise tag and lamar sits out i'm going to roll my eyes so hard they're going to come out of my head

yeah it's and and uh correct me if i'm wrong did they exercise his fifth year option i do not believe so okay so does that mean he, so that means he's, he's hitting the open market. It would look that way. You know what? Hold on. Let me look it up.

All right. While you're looking that up, I do want to, I, I just want to go around the table talking about all of the, all of the. Wait, hold on.

No, apparently they did exercise his fifth year option before wait yeah yeah it says here Ravens exercise Lamar Jackson's contract option yep so they did exercise his fifth year option so he'll be so he'll be on he'll he'll be on the on the team through the 2023 season so he it's not like he's they don't have too much urgency it's getting down to the wire but he's it still has some he still has some uh they still have some time to work things out. Looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers, they signed Miles Jack. They went out and they got Mitch Trubisky at first to replace Ben Roethlisberger,

who is a former first-round pick. He's a serviceable quarterback. He was on the Bills last to back up Josh Allen. Ben Roethlisberger, who is a former first-round pick. He's a serviceable quarterback. He was on the Bills last to back up Josh Allen. Then they went in the first round of the draft, and they got Kenny Pickett, who is, I mean, we don't, CJ, you and I, we do not like this quarterback class. Do you see any, is there any chance that Kenny Pickett works out? I mean, yeah, there's certainly a chance.

I mean, he's got the weapons around him. You know, he's got guys like, what's his name? Deontay Johnson, Chase Claypool. They just got George Pickens in the draft. They have Pat Friermuth, Najee Harris. The line looks a little bit better. But it's all going to be and you know the defense is scary but it's going to be on Pickett that's the thing it's going to all be on Kenny Pickett

and Mike Tomlin's a good coach he's never gone below 500 but at the same time I just don't know maybe it could be like a Tom Brady's second year or first year starting situation where you use Pickett as a game manager and just rely on your defense. But I don't know. He is upside, but just might be a rough learning curve. But I could be wrong. But then again, I don't know. I'm not thrilled for Pittsburgh, but I'm not going to completely discount it.

I mean, it's more likely than not that it's not going to work out. That's my final answer. I won't close the door on anything, but it's not looking very encouraging, to be honest. Pittsburgh was the team that I was looking at to say that they should – that was an underrated team to go in and look at Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers this offseason, or even Deshaun Watson. They should have went out to try and get one of those quarterbacks,

and it appeared that Pittsburgh was just so in love with this quarterback draft that they said, you know what, no, we're just going to go young and try and look to the draft to get our quarterback. I thought that was a mistake because when you're looking at finding your franchise guy, your quarterback for the next few years, you can't just take them from any quarterback draft. You have to find that guy and you need to be, you have to make sure that he is that guy because it's because to, to go out and draft a quarterback is a commitment. You have to make sure you have to go through it. The typically the standard in the league is about three years. Sometimes they don't go the full three years, but it's still a commitment. And I mean, I don't want to waste three years of my

life. Do you? That's like, that that's that's a long time like that's like i i want that time back in my life i want to i want to make sure if we're rebuilding that is product that is a productive time rebuilding and when you get into contention that you are it is a prediction of productive time being in contention and getting some championships and if if this guy isn't the guy if you're just going to go into any quarterback draft and just take them and just, if it works, it works. If it doesn't, oh, well, we'll go to the next draft or we'll try to, we'll go and sign the next Mitch Trubisky. Like, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? Like, what are we doing here if that's going to be the case? That's

just, that doesn't work. Like, you can't just half-ass this thing. This is the quarterback position, the most important position on the field. The guy who runs the show on offense and helps the defense, if your offense is a good offense and keeps your defense off the field, they won't be tired. It all bleeds down to the whole roster, and you're just going to half-ass that position? It just doesn't feel right. Also, side note, am I the only one who just can't unsee the idea

that Kenny Pickett has tiny hands? When I look at Kenny Pickett, when I picture him in his head, I picture this guy holding a ball, and he has these tiny little hands. Big guy, little hands. That's not something I think of. It's not how I open my breakfast. But yeah, I know they're smaller than average. I kind of feel like it's a bit of an overhyped issue.

There are some that are like, well, it's actually a big deal. Well, maybe if your hands are like five inches across. But still, I feel like it's being made a bit of a bigger deal than it actually is probably and joe and joe burrow also made it and put out a tweet i forgot when he put it out he said pray for me nothing wrong with me but i have tiny hands nfl career is gonna suck something like that it was like right before his it was right before the draft and it turns out that that kid could ball and even when the even in his rookie year when the team was kind of lackluster, he was still able to put up some statistics and show flashes,

and it turns out that that was for real because he made a Super Bowl. The only reason I'm a little skeptical about the Bengals, and I don't like getting into lazy analysis, and it really feels like lazy analysis when I talk about a Super Bowl lazy analysis. And it feels like, it really feels like lazy analysis when I talk about a Super Bowl hangover. But it is real. And it always happens. And it's not to say that they can't break that little curse

or that narrative and go back and win a Super Bowl or at least be respectable, but it almost always happens. There's been only a couple of instances where a team has been able to get back and make the Super Bowl, let alone win it. I mean, there's the Patriots, but the Patriots are a buttoned-up organization. They're always in it. They've been there, done that. And I think then there was the Dolphins a few decades ago,

and that was about it. I know the Cowboys have gone back-to-back too. Well, then again, Buffalo won four times in a row. They never won, but they still won four times in a row. Yeah. But on the flip side, look at teams like the Broncos. Their most recent Super Bowl, they've never even went back to the playoffs, the Falcons, the Eagles, you know, stuff like that. Certainly. Yeah. So we'll

find out how, how things go with that, with that division, very tough division that hasn't been talked about enough. I just wanted to talk about it just because there were a lot of, there were a couple of moves that happened and it got me thinking about it, and I'm like, you know, this is a pretty tough division. And the AFC West, which is filled with loaded teams, they get too much credit. And I'm thinking, you know, it's not, well, it's justified, but still. You got to give some love to that other division. But I want to move on to our basketball content with max and he will lead our segment talking about the conference finals matchups in the nba don't go anywhere this is the fumble ruski

podcast here gentlemen broken up in the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. 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! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble ruski podcast this is adam right cj medeiros with you and special guest max kates we have uh so we're on to our guest segment and max kates has a little bit to talk about with the nba conference finals matchup so max what do you got? All right. So, as of today, the day we're recording this, the Celtics are currently up 3-2 against the Miami Heat. And, my God, this game five was very close to becoming a snooze fest for me.

As a Celtics fan watching the first quarter, I have never wanted to turn off a TV as much as I did. Jalen Brown turning it over so many times. As you talked about previously with the small hands, I kind of felt like Jalen Brown had that same thing, dribbling into traffic like it's nothing. But, you know, Jalen Brown always steps it up late in games. We've noticed it in the Milwaukee series,

and we have especially noticed it in this miami series now game six is not today but the day the day after so where do you guys think are the odds of the celtics closing the seven six knowing that this is a team that normally wins games after a loss because they're undefeated coming off a loss so all so i can i can start uh i think i think the celtics have the celtics have been great in games that are must win games and they did they did surprise me by winning last game i thought there was there was a chance they were like they could just turtle and it looked like they were going to do that in the first half.

The second half they picked it up, and they realized, maybe we want to close this out in six. And I think this is going to be another game that they need to win. And it's not to say that I don't think that the Heat can win on the road. They can absolutely, or excuse me, the Celtics can win on the road. They can absolutely, or excuse me, the Celtics can win on the road. They can absolutely do that. They've won two of their three games during this playoff series on the road. And they also won two games in Milwaukee in the last series. So they have proven to be able to win on the road.

But I just think it's a better position for the Celtics if they just win it right here, here and now, not just for this series but for next series because you have two players who have been in and out of the lineups who have been hampered with injuries in Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, and it would be great to give them some rest because you need to be rested up for, and let's face it, you're going to get Golden State if you have them. And I don't want to look too much to the future because this series is far from over.

But I just think it gives the Heat too much. Like to Game 7 in your house, Game 7 is one of those games in any playoff series, in any sport where anything can happen. And the Celtics are top to bottom, better team than the heat. They have a better defense. They have better size. They have a better ability to score, especially with the state of their star power. Jimmy Butler's clearly not right. And Tyler Hero hasn't been able to return to the lineup for a couple of games this is you should have this get this team but if this goes to seven anything can happen uh i'm not gonna lie i would be scared if this got

to seven because the miami heat are one of those teams that the more you grind it out the better you become we saw jimmy butler and the finals in the bubble tired but still dropped 40 but uh less about that but tyler hero in my opinion right now is one of the biggest factors despite not playing for the heat you clearly clearly saw how much the heat missed their six man of the year they they just couldn't buy a bucket. It was crazy to see. Lowry couldn't hit a shot. Strews could barely hit anything. Duncan Robinson finally getting a few minutes, and you see that he knocked down a few shots. But you see also how important this Celtics defense is more than anything. Do you see how williams is when he's guarding

bam out of bio robert williams can cover more ground than an airplane over a runway you know blocking gabe vincent's left corner three-pointer in the first half it's incredible oh yeah i've never seen him be able to block sorry i didn't i've never seen him be able to block shots i've never seen a player be able to block shots like that before, where it's like it's on its way up, and he's just smacking it out of the air. Wow. It's like he has springs under his legs, but I get a little bit nervous for him because when he was a rookie in the league,

he struggled with injuries a lot early in his career. I remember one time during the bubble, he struggled with injuries a lot early in his career. I remember one time during the bubble, he came out of an injury, did a put back dunk and landed on his back. And I'm like, well, that's a Robert Williams play. You know, that's the kind of play that he would do. But fair play to him. He has found an all defensive second team. And it's incredible to see how all the Celtics just mesh well together. And every player, or at least the players who get somewhat minutes, at some point have stepped it up.

Look at Peyton Pritchard during versus Milwaukee. And look at Derek White. Derek White was single-handedly keeping us in the game in the first quarter yesterday. Yeah, absolutely right. I'm sorry. CJ, you give your take. take yeah so i look at the celtics it's just we gotta close it out in six we have to the garden is going to be electric and it's just they don't have tyler hero jimmy butler is clearly hurting this is your chance to strike

you know these teams can put away a you know like championship caliber teams can put away their opponents in big games and that's what we got to do but i mean i kind of want to highlight jimmy butler i think like coming from all like the last three games he shot under 30 from the field for example last night literally went four of 18 yeah, that's just, that's not good, you know, for your, for, you know, the guy who was snubbed from the All-NBA teams. Notice, if you're listening, I just put up air quotes. I mean, Kyle Lowry, like you said, couldn't, you know, couldn't score on anything.

You know, he went like, what was it, 0 of 6 from the field, something like that? And Brown and Tatum combined for 47 points and it's just no matter how the season ends i have to appreciate how far the celtics have come i mean it was all like oh the jays can't coexist you're gonna have to trade one of them not anymore we're showing they can coexist and they can and will drop at least 20 points a night. Both. Both of them.

And there are some people out there who still say, well, we got to get rid of one. No. I'm sorry. We're putting that narrative to bed. It's over. It's gone. If you still believe that, you just don't know basketball. Either that or you need a lobotomy.

But Al Horford, though? Al Horford has just been a monster this series i mean what was it like last night i mean 16.7 rebounds five assists not bad for an old man and you have that enforcer down low robert williams and this is all without the defensive player of the year marcus smart so these celtics they're a scrappy team they will they can go out they could drop points almost at will you know with brown and tatum and you know you got the brain defensive player of the year two big enforcers with williams and horford and they got back to their identity they're a gritty punch you in the mouth defense first kind of team and that's the mentality we have to embody

and like adam i don't want to look too far into the future but if we play golden state the only way we're going to win is that we got to be physical we have to put curry and clay on their butt you know we gotta gotta chip them we gotta like body them we just have to keep playing that physical punch you in the mouth kind of defense which has been their play style really look look i know you don't don't just don't if it ain't broke don't fix it go with what works yeah that's their identity that's what they've settled on and that's what they're gonna that's what they're gonna do for the remainder of these playoffs and whether it works out they're gonna they're gonna live by it and they're gonna die by it but look i understand

i understand being happy with how far they've gone i'm definitely proud of this celtics team however my my expectations for them, they got to, they got to make it to the finals and maybe win it. They it's been way too long of a rebuild. And the, this team is finally starting to click. Everything has gone your way up until this point in the, in the in this playoffs you went into Mill against Milwaukee. It went seven. There was no Chris Middleton. You went into, you went into you, you went into this series against the heat.

There was no Kyle Lowry for a while there. Jimmy Butler's gotten hurt and he's banged up. Tyler heroes been in and out of the lineup. Like this is, this is all just worked all in your favor and Robert Williams. It's a miracle that he's, that he's been playing to any, any sort of extent with the, with the severity of the injury. So just everything's lining up.

Great. The team is mesh is meshing in the way, in a way that it hasn't in the entire time that we've had all these, these star players and you, they, they have, if there's any year they got to do it, it's gotta be now. And there's going to eventually be a point. And I said this the last time we were talking about the Celtics with, uh, with Max on the show, if they don't win it now, there's going to be a chance where the team's going to be lackluster in a couple of maybe next year and the year after that. And then there, then Brown or Tatum is going to say, ah, can I really win here? Can I really, can I, maybe I can just go over to this team. That's

looking to, maybe I'll go to the Mavericks and play with Luca, Luca Donkage. Maybe I'll go to this other team and, and I'll form a super team here. This is like, this is what LeBron James did. He came to the conclusion that Cleveland, you can't win in Cleveland. So he left. Kevin Durant, he came to the conclusion he can't win in OKC. So he left. And this is going to get to a point and player movement is as bad as it's ever been. And that's what's going to happen is one of your star players in Brown or Tatum is going to leave if they come to a conclusion that you can't win in Boston. Okay, that's interesting to say the least. However, if Brown, let's say, realistically, I don't think either player should leave,

but realistically, Jalen Brown would be the one to leave, but he's not. Definitely not. I hope not. We would not get anything near the value of him in return. Let's be realistic here. I agree. Also, what I really commend about the Celtics and what I don't think people talk about is the fact that our core have played together of smart Tatum and Brown. We've played together for quite a few years now. Some of these

teams that have won chips in these past few years only play together one year and won it. Look at the LeBron and AD Lakers in the bubble. First year together, they won. And then the year after that, I believe, yeah, Bucks with Chris Milton Giannis, they played together for eight years. So the Celtics are kind of Chris Milton and Giannis, they played together for eight years. So the Celtics are kind of like a middle ground of we have played together with experience, but we're still young and up and coming. Remember, Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, they're not older than 25. They're 24, 23, respectively.

They're not even close to their prime. So to see that they're like this, we in a league where let's be real here, the talent is getting younger. We're seeing middle schoolers throw windmills like it's nothing. Okay. So the town is getting younger. The game is getting faster. And what do you get? All these many points, all these more opportunities to shine. And that's where you have to, that's where the defense comes in with the celtics they kind of found a way to counter this fast style of play with seven and i'm gonna say seven good one-on-one on ball defenders which is what has been getting us this far we crowd the paint and we are not one of the best teams in guarding the corner threes we saw pj tucker and duncan robinson punish

us last game with this but it's great to see that the celtics are playing so well versus a heat team that in my opinion just aren't that versatile on offense because let's face it they have butler who can score but not hit the three ball as well they They have Robinson, but he can't really score inside. They have PJ Tucker, cannot really score inside. However, we have Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum are two main guys. They can score in a plethora of ways, inside, outside, mid-range, off the dribble. And that's where the Celtics kind of has the edge for me in this series. Yeah. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Yeah, i i have the celtics winning this series but

that's that's what i that's what i'm saying it'd be all the more which makes it all the more disappointing if they lose it and i just i just i expect i going into this going into this postseason and i've i've held this up to now, they need to at the very, very least make the NBA Finals. And I might want them to even win it to validate Boston as a place where you can actually win. And, um, I'm hearing, I'm hearing reports that, uh, there's a possibility that, well, and while I want nothing to do with Kyrie Irving in this, in this town, there's a possibility that Kevin Durant might not be playing for the, for the nets. I'd love for him to be a, I'd love for him to be a Celtic. I don't have any beef with him. I have no beef with Kevin Durant.

I have none. No, I don't have any either, but still, no. He would ruin the chemistry of this team. Why is that? Oh, look, it's just he's – I just – I don't like it. I really don't. We have a good thing going. We don't need another ball-dominant player.

We have the Jays. We need more people that can maybe take threes and space the floor. Durant, I mean, he could be the guy, but that would mean we would have three ball-dominant players, and that is not what we need. He'll have to be an off-ball player. Especially because Durant doesn't try on defense. He'll just have to be an off-ball player. He will not do that.

If he doesn't, then I guess, oh, well. Oh, well. I guess he's not do that he's not if he does if he doesn't then then i guess i guess then don't oh well just don't oh well i guess he's not playing then i guess he's not playing in boston i think yes i think we'll slowly disintegrate because i recently read up that brooklyn they're not going to be offering kairi irving an extension oh they will yeah they yeah i heard that so they might but i know they're not going to offer him the five year max that he wants and honestly why would you he's always hurt and he's extremely unreliable heck for half the season he just disappears there's radio silence no one knows where he is i agree we're getting and we're getting a little off topic here but before we end the show i want to talk a little bit more about uh about bit more about the other conference finals matchup.

I know there's not too much going on with that, but maybe the future of the Mavericks team and this Golden State Warriors team going forward. First, though, Ian Rappaport just tweeted on Colin Kaepernick's workout with the Raiders that we just talked about in the beginning of the show. Sounds like it went well and he impressed. So the door is open. So if he impressed the Raiders, like I said, he could get on that team and he could find a way on another roster where they actually need help at quarterback because, I mean,

the Raiders really, they're kind of set there. That quarterback room's all right. But I wanted to get your thoughts on the other conference finals matchup. The Warriors scare me, plain and simple. As a Celtics fan, they scare me to death. Not solely for the fact for their offense, but the fact that they don't have as much to lose on offense when you think about it.

They can have mech games like four out of tens, five out of tens, but still be close. They can do that. And with the Mavericks, if they do the same thing, they lose by 20 just because the Warriors have that championship DNA. They've had rings. They've been to the finals. Remember, Dr jamon green talked about this saying we've been here before this is what a championship team does and as a celtics fan it scares me because with our group of guys we've never been to the nba finals before so i'm i'm worried as a celtics fan however as an nba fan it's going to be great to watch the Warriors again in the finals. Don't get me wrong. The Warriors have a – I would not be surprised if the Warriors end the series in five or six.

They are just that good. And you can even argue that this team they have now is better than the Kevin Durant team that they had. You can potentially argue that, in my opinion. Yeah. Potentially. Potentially. Just because they have three, four 20-point-per- per game scores they have a lot of versatility on defense and they're even playing young rookies in kaminga and moody who have been doing excellent in the limited minutes they've had i just i so i just

think it's harder to rely on so kevin durant versus j Jordan pool and Andrew Wiggins, they are two, which makes it harder to go to cover all of them. But I find it hard to rely on, on Wiggins and pool when they haven't really been there. And Kevin Durant has, and that's, that's the difference that I hold between those warriors teams before and these Warriors teams now, which is why I rely solely on Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green to win that series against whichever team comes out of the East. I'm not jinxing anything yet. But I want to touch on the Mavericks briefly.

That's a team, I think, that really needs another second scorer. And I thought that was going to be Chris Stapp's poor Zingas. It turns out the injuries have gotten to him too much, and the kid, it just hasn't worked out. But they need another guy behind Luka Goncic. Because it just hasn't – they haven't even been able to stack up even in the slightest against this Golden State Warriors team.

And if you're going to win with Luka Domkic, then you need some more talent to surround him with. Yeah, that's true. I mean, Luka can score. He can do it all. But the Mavs also have to get better defensively. They're not a very good defensive team. And we all know Luka does not have much interest in playing defense.

So not only do you have to get better, not only do you need another score, you have to tighten up your defense. The Mavs, let me tell you something right now. They are one Luka Doncic away from not even being a play-in team. I agree. And, like, you can it's it kind of reminds you of like lebron in his early days on the calves if it's kind of and i want to touch on what adam said if you don't give a guy like luca the support he needs he will leave he'll he will demand a trade

hey all i'm saying is don't disrespect spencer dinwiddie like this he has been a bucket ever since he came in dallas don't get me wrong some inconsistencies here and there but he has overall been better than porzingis has been in washington yeah i mean that's all well and good but like is he really your second score he's a good scorer but overall second option not really no Isn't it that kid Brunzik? Is it Brunzik? Brunson, Brunson, sorry. I'm not too familiar, but he's their second. Isn't he their second leading scorer at 16 points a game around there?

That's fairly accurate, yes. Jalen Brunson, however, is rumored to get a contract elsewhere. He is earning himself a bag right now. And the Knicks are very interested in him. So right now he's just playing himself into a contract. But in my opinion, what the Mavericks really need is a defensive center, a big center. Powell, he's not really getting the job done as well as I would want him to and they also have vinnie smith and kleber they're they're centers they're big they're they're tall sure

but they're not physical they're not really those rebounding paint present centers that you need when donchich gets beat off the dribble or when dinwiddie gets beat off the dribble or when six foot Brunson gets beat off the dribble. And it's true. Yeah, you're right. They have, they have solid role players. What they're missing is the star talent past, uh, past Luka Doncic and you need, you need at least two or three stars, uh, to, to truly be able to contend. I know I'm forgetting his name. The guy from before him, the Dallas Mavericks team, Dirk. Dirk Nowitzki? Dirk Nowitzki.

Oh, yeah, that guy, that guy. One of the lone exceptions to that rule, but I still would rather play into the way most teams do it, which is that you have several stars rather than just working with one or two. But yeah, that's all I'm saying. I think they need more star power besides Luka Doncic. And I think Luka, if you are going to be a star player in this league,

like a legitimate all-star level player in this league, two things I have on him number one you gotta be have better shot selection man you can't just have a poor shooting night and then just then just have all your fans come out and make excuses saying well he just he's only a bad shooter because he has poor shot selection well like what the hell is that like isn't that part is that not part of being a good shooter is deciding when is a good time to shoot and not when you have two defenders in your face uh number two he needs to work on his defense you have to you can't just be a one-way player this is that's like a james harden type

thing and james harden i can't i can't stand the guy i'm sorry he he's he's a great offensive uh offensive player in the regular season but once But when all the chips are pushed towards the middle of the table, he's not the guy. He just isn't. And that's kind of what Luka Doncic looks like right now. I just hate the idea that he laughs after every bucket he makes and he just smiles. It's just like, dude, play some defense and choose when to shoot

like like if you can work on that like you have some raw talent to become one of the best players in the game and it's it just doesn't seem like some sometimes it doesn't seem like the effort and sometimes it just is there and sometimes he just he sometimes he just doesn't make the right decisions, shot selection. I mean, I completely get that, but who else is going to have to do the shot creating for Dallas? Who else can do it at his level? I mean, with those bad shots that he took,

it took him all the way to the Western Conference Finals versus undoubtedly the best team in the western conference remember luca knocked down the number one seed the best team in the entire nba franchise record winning phoenix suns almost fully healthy fully healthy took him all by himself with those bad shots but i get where you're coming from he does take some shots that raises a few eyebrows but who else is gonna do it i mean look look i mean look at guys like you know like really good three-point shooters like dame willard and steph curry they don't just jack up threes or mid-rangers anytime they want the they select if they're in double coverage they're not just gonna just go

oh yeah you know just like all random wuka does and that's an issue yeah I just in like the yeah that he has gotten he does deserve credit for getting this far because that is really tough to do as a young player and being the only you know legitimate star player on your team but I mean that Phoenix Suns team is slightly fraudulent. Slightly. No, no, they're not slightly fraudulent. They are fraudulent. I'm sorry. Devin Booker should not have been first team on the NBA. I guess I was just trying to be nice.

No, no, they're fraudulent. Devin Booker did not deserve first team on the NBA. And Chris Paul will never win a ring because he always chokes. DeAndre, I think it's sad that DeAndre does not want to be in that situation that he is. The fact that he does want a max contract. Apparently Phoenix just haven't given it to him yet, and now the Hawks are in the sweepstakes to get him.

Trade Capella for him. Yeah, if I'm Aiton, I'm getting out. Yeah, the clock is ticking with Chris Paul. That was his last kick of the can. And it's sad that he never won a ring. But Devin Booker just does not look like the star player that people thought he was going to be early on in his career. I know there was that, what, 71-point game that he had against the Celt celtics where he lost wow wow what a game and like he'll he'll be a he'll be a high a high volume scorer but i just i just don't

it left a very poor taste in my mouth seeing that one game uh that one game that one game it was the elimination game against milwaukee in the NBA Finals. He puked all over himself, and I just can't unsee it anymore. He was just not passing the ball and just shooting everything. He was basically like Luka Doncic on an off night. I mean, don't get me wrong. Luka Doncic assists more than Booker, though. I love Luka. Oh, yeah, that's true.

Yeah, Luka's a triple-bubble machine. Not only can Booker not be bothered to play defense, he doesn't assist either. I just remember that one video of Booker complaining about double teams and open runs, and here he's getting double teamed in the playoffs, and he doesn't know what to do. Maybe he shouldn't have said it.

Do you guys have any other thoughts before we end the show here today nope seven forever seven no no seven so you so you don't have them losing the on friday no no no celtics and six versus the heat but celtics and seven in the nba finals the warriors are here to play and i think right realistically, they are the front runners for the championship. But the Celtics are right under them. And I think they are going to put up a fight. Oh, yeah. As they deserve to be.

The Celtics are this Celtics team before we ended up is one of the most inspiring teams I've seen as a Celteltics fan given our start of this season and given how incredible we have been rising throughout the games this year given our no expectations too this team fights and they have heart and i can't wait for games for game six i just hope they actually win it uh all right well actually hang on I wanted to get into one, uh, one last, one last thing. Um, and I forgot to mention it. Uh, we had another fan box response that I wasn't able to get, get to on our Tuesday episode saying the saints talking about the saints, how they are, how they are a team that we, uh, that were real, that are, uh, that has been really not talked about very much.

And I'll get into, I'll pull up the response here. Saints hands down as the most underrated team. That was our fan box question. Most underrated team going into this season. Saints hands down improved on both sides of the ball in areas of need. They have. And nobody talks about how they added tyron matthew and how they added had a replacement for taryn armstead and they still have a great defense

that's a team that it that is very underrated that everybody's overlooking and it looks like everybody just dismissed them as just a team that's just not going to go to the playoffs they have jamis winston as their quarterback they don't have any weapons. Well, now they just added two weapons and they have Michael Thomas coming back and they have, they still have Alvin Kamara. They have a good, they have a good defense. They have a good offensive line. They, and just everywhere. They have a great, they, I think, I think that's a team that can make the playoffs. All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight.

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