The Fumblerooski Podcast - Off Ball -Ep 194 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

Who are the top-5 Linebackers in the NFL going into 2023? How will the AFC North shape up this upcoming season? Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, and CJ Medeiros discuss these topics and more!

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 pass! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! linebackers and the Ac north heading into 2023 this is the fumble ruski podcast by power 88 and secret weapon consulting adam wright justin tucker cj medeiros with you as always so we are on to week two of our summer episodes which means we are on to the linebacker rankings going into 2023, as well as the AFC North preview in our division previews. So guys, this is going to be a pretty good episode, especially since Tuck here is a Ravens

fan and linebackers is a fun position to rank. I feel like, especially like off, uh, off ball linebackers, just watching them rack up all the tackles. There's a lot of good ones out of good ones out there and a lot of household names and some that aren't really very well known that are low-key one of the better ones in the game. Are you waiting for us to respond? Yeah.

Do we start? All right. Who's starting with the ranking? we want to start let's get going all right tucker all right you're on kick us off with your number five i guess we were saving the best for last but i guess i can go first i can go first all right my top five uh i'm sorry number five i'm going with Devin White. Isn't he in a contract year coming up? Yeah, and he might.

Is he holding out? Because I know there was something about that. He was unhappy and wants to leave Tampa. I don't blame him for doing that. But if he is going to play for Tampa anyway, because I think that's just how it's going to go down anyhow, I think he'll have a monster year. I think he'll flash all pro-caliber talents like he usually does, but I think you'll see more of it this year because he's playing for a contract

and he has more added incentive to get to it. He wants to be one of the highest-paid linebackers in the league, and I believe this year, along with all the work he's done in the past, will prove that he is, without a shadow of a doubt, a top five linebacker in the league this year. It's a fair argument. I mean, he has been one of the better linebackers in the game since he's been in the league, and he's been consistent.

So no complaints there. I think I left him just outside my top five. I was considering it but wound up ultimately deciding against. But, CJ, who'd you pick? You guys are going to hate this, but I have Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton. You don't believe that. You don't believe that.

What? No, no. I didn't realize there'd be this much blowback. I'm sorry. Yeesh. Let's hear the man out let's hear this so i believe for a lot of players your great impact you know it's always felt in the numbers but there's always gonna be something more plain and simple nick bolton is a leader he's out there's calling plays, and he's making plays as well. And keep in mind,

he's only in his second year as an off-ball linebacker. Like I said, second year, racked up 180 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, and six quarterback hits along with two sacks. He's getting there as a blitzer, and he's one of the hardest hitting linebackers in the league. Also had a forced fumble and three pass breakups and a two picks on top of that. And on top of it, and he started all 17 games, wasn't necessarily MLB one, but he got up there as the season went on. And believe me this year, he's officially going to break out. Like I said, he's already a good signal caller, and he's a hard hitter.

And on a defense that's probably going to be on the field a little bit more with how the Kansas City offense has taken a minor step back, I fully believe that he's going to just shine. Yeah, that's actually kind of an underrated pick. I don't really mind that because he like like not only that not only did he rack up 180 tackles 108 of those were solo the vast majority of them he did by himself and a tackles for loss machine and he's only in his second year and already a leader all of those, that's a good pick.

I didn't think about that one. But my number five is Demario Davis. And the reason I, what's that? I thought about him. Can't hate it. The reason I have Demario Davis is not just because he can rack up tackles, not just because he has gotten double-digit tackles for loss in six straight seasons, but also because this guy can also get to the quarterback fairly well.

And he had, so this guy in his last, hang on, in this past season, he had six and a half sacks season for that three, then four, then four, five, five dating all the way back to 2017. And after all of that, he only, he has just one all pro selection under his belt. I mean, this guy has been an anchor for this saints defense for years, and he really hasn't gotten enough recognition for it. So he is five, and one can make an argument this guy could be a lot higher. I was thinking about it. I was thinking about putting him top four, three, four. But five, I think I'm going to have to stick with that spot

because there's a lot of good linebackers on this list. I think that's a solid ranking. I was close. I think team, I think team record and the fact they missed the playoffs just edged him out over Devin white for me. I think that's all it was. I mean, the problem is there's so many good linebackers in this league. It's the same thing with a safety position that we just did. The cornerback is

going to be fun next week but um let's head on to our number fours tuck kick us off now now granted i i could have i could have just blew this whole thing up and chose a rookie because that's how much i believe in them but i didn't do that that's that's for predictions that's for much I believe in him, but I didn't do that. That's, that's for predictions. That's for later down the line. Uh, so I went and chose, and I can't believe I'm actually being positive about Jacksonville of all things. But when I actually look at his stats, I'm like, oh my God, he's actually one of the better linebackers in the league. And I chose Foyette, a little coon, off-ball linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Considering what he has done for the Jacksonville Jaguars and considering how good that defense is and the turnaround they were from last year, I think he is a stalwart of that defense. I think he's going to be there for years to come.

And he's bringing over the production that he did in Atlanta. So I think that's a plus. And he's coming off a playoff caliber season where they beat the Chargers, but then lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs. So I don't know. I think he's good. He's productive. He gets the ball. He finds the ball. He hits the target. He gets them down. And he racks up tackles like crazy. I don't know. I think he's a good linebacker. And I think he'll make the Pro bowl this year in the afc statistically that guy was a monster this year and the fact that people barely know who he is says a lot about the linebacker position and about uh how this guy has kind of been on those backwater small market teams

i mean atlanta is not that well known of a team. And same thing with Jacksonville. They're barely on the map. But as CJ was mentioning off-camera, since Jacksonville is about to get a lot better this year, he's going to be very well-known. So get ready. Remember the name. But CJ, give us your four. My number four is for Buffalo, Matt Milano.

Okay. And here's the thing. I was going back and forth between he and Trey Edmonds, but Edmonds just doesn't have Milano's versatility. I mean, Edmonds is a little faster and he can fly, but Milano, 99 tackles with 72 of them being solo. But here's what gets me me ready are you ready 12 12 tackles for loss seven quarterback hits and uh and on top of that three not one not two but

three interceptions as well as two forced fumbles this guy's a swiss army knife he can blitz the run effectively he's great at tackling for loss he's he's coming he's becoming a ball hawk in his own right and he's a tackle machine and what makes him especially dangerous going into this year he's no longer in the shadow of tremaine edmonds I'd expect his stats to take a jump now that he is the number one linebacker in that Buffalo field. Yeah. I mean, since, since he's going to get a lot more snaps, then it's just base, you know, it's just basic math. You, you, you put, you give him more snaps, then you're going, he's going to get more

opportunities. And on top of that, uh, with whoever else is going to be at the linebacker position he's going to have to pick up the slack and make some uh make up for some uh broken tackles or or missed as well i had him outside my top five just because he's not quite there for me yet um but i was very close to putting him in there very very close in fact i just changed it like just before the episode started um either but my number four is shack leonard now leonard this guy has year in year out been not only a household name but one of the best linebackers in the game and the only reason i don't have him a little bit higher is because he was injured for most of this past season.

So that kind of turns me off a little bit. I'm not saying he's outside the top five. He's mentioned. He has been mentioned. Don't bite my head off, guys. But he's still one of the best in the game, and he should return to full health. He's getting a little bit older, which is why the injury matters a little more to me.

But he is going to continue to produce, and he's going to have to pick up the slack for a defense that is continuously losing pieces. And he is one of the last legitimately elite pieces on that once-great Indianapolis defense. So put me down Shaq Leonard for number four. I agree. As a matter of fact, he was my number three guy. I can't believe you guys actually talked me into bumping him back. This is a great transition.

Keep going. I can't believe you guys actually managed to bump him backwards for me and bump another guy forward. We all know who I bump forward and who I bump backwards, but guys actually managed to bump him backwards for me and bump another guy forward. We all know who I bump forward and who I bump backwards, but we'll get to that. We'll get to that. Although I like Shaq Leonard. I believe if he was healthy this year, I think he'd be the number one guy. But unfortunately, health played a factor and he wasn't healthy for most of the season.

I believe if you get him back to that Colts defense, I think they'll be monsters because they have worlds of talent on it. It's just a matter of getting him back on the field to captain everything and be the leader in the middle. All in all, I trust that I hope, knock on wood, that he can stay healthy and be a part of that defense. I think

he can have another all-pro caliber season. All right. I hear you. I i do now for my number three i put roquan smith from the baltimore ravens oh look at that tucker's a happy man so get you so here's the thing he played on two teams last year you know chicago and baltimore and normally that could throw a guy off but what does he do he sets a career high in uh solo tackles with 103 and combined with 169 and 11 tackles for loss and he tied a excuse me he tied his second best career sack total with four and a half and i just in oh yeah and he started all 17 games you know with both

sides and he had three picks oh and six past breakups as well. All on his way to being a team for AP, first team all pro, and a pro bowler. Need I say more? And a new contract. And a new contract. Nice pay line back in the league. Well earned.

Alright. This guy. My number three. I like roquan smith that's a that's a good pick so just to address that one but my number three is fred warner and the reason i have fred what the reason i have fred warner at number three is because he has been the staple, a model of consistency on the 49ers. And he has consistently been one of the better linebackers in the game. And he's been consistent five straight seasons of over 118 tackles. And he also has two All-Pro selections to his name in fact he was first team all pro this past season and the reason i don't have him higher is because the consistency

is the is the only thing that i really love about him where i like i go this guy is great because it's it's not it's not that he has these seasons where he's racking up solo tackles. His tackles for loss numbers aren't great. The highest he's ever gotten is seven. He's never hit double digits in his career. His quarterback hits is fine. The highest he's ever gotten is seven.

And his sack total isn't there really either. So, I mean, he is a a very very good linebacker i love fred warner i believe i had him in the past couple seasons i've had him in at least my top three and he's going to do it again at three so put me down fred warner number three. Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. I was not prepared for that. I was not prepared for that. Oh, man. Believe me, you will be forgiven. Oh, man.

He's a consistent guy. He's reliable. Yeah. We love a guy who shows up to work and makes an impact. I agree. That's why I'm bewildered that he's only top three. But we'll get to that later. Now that we're down to the final two,

I think it's time for my Ravens bias to come out now. It's about time to take Roquan Smith off the board. Roquan Smith, the best linebacker in the league. If I take my bias out of it, he is one of the best linebackers in the league by far. Overall, what he's done for the Ravens offense and what he's done for Patrick Quinn's development is something not to be underestimated. I believe they are the best linebacker tandem in the league right now, even better than the ones down in Tampa Bay. That's right, I said it. I believe they pair with each other well. They're both fast linebackers off the ball, and they can keep each other clean and get to the running back or the wide receiver or whatever.

All in all, I believe Roquan Smith can help Patrick Queen in his pass coverage development, and I believe Roquan Smith is overall a better player than Patrick Queen, even though I hope Patrick Queen can be a better overall player one day. But enough about that. Roquan Smith, all pro, as my guy CJ just mentioned, all pro and a pro bowler. And everybody thought he would taper off once he got to Baltimore, considering the monster pace he was setting in Chicago. But once he got to Baltimore, he fit in right in like a glove. And my favorite moment of the season was when he picked off, I want to say Mason Rudolph.

No, no, no, Mitchell Trubisky. When he picked up Mitchell Trubisky against Pittsburgh, and I was like, yes, he feels like a Raven. He fits in already. So all in all, based on the season that he's had and the development I believe he'll continue to have, not only for himself but with Patrick Queen, I do think he is a top two linebacker in the game.

All right. I think Roquan Smith at two is a good spot. I like it. It's solid. Now, is it a biased pick? Probably. I'll admit it. But it's a solid pick. we still top five so it's

whatever we're gonna get plenty of bias in the afc north segment next in a couple minutes i can't wait anyway uh so for me i have shackle entered at number two because oh i have sinned apparently in the eyes of our ravens fan and in the eyes of our founder. But either way, he's going to come back and he's going to come back. I think he's going to come back and he's going to come back hard. And, you know, when you look at what he's done in his career, this is really the first season he's really missed a big chunk of games, only starting one, but still racking up 11 tackles and a pick.

And when you look at what he's done in his whole career, when you look at his three first team, all pros is three pro bowl appearances. I mean, you can't not put them in your top five where you put them as debatable, but overall, I don't really see a reason why he's going to come back sluggish and since this is for next season that i don't feel any guilt putting him in the top three i like that pick i like him i think he's uh he's four he was four for me but that's only because of the injuries but for my number two i have foya sade aloakan and the reason i have him at two is because this guy statistically after changing teams was a monster statistically 184 combined tackles 128 of of them were solo. That is insane. On top of that, he was a tackles for loss monster with 12 and also got nine QB hits and QB hits are not a new

thing for him. He got seven last year and nine the year before that. This guy's been awesome. And it's going, I think that's going to continue, especially since this Jaguars defense has been a well-oiled machine in the past season, and it's getting even better. You have Devin Lloyd by his side who is going to get even better. And I think when you have a good defense overall, then it's a trickle-down effect. Everyone gets better. And Foyasade

Aluokun is going to be one of the biggest benefactors from that. He's going to continue to be one of the best players on that Jaguars defense, and he will finally become a household name, because let's face it, not many people know who this guy is. And I have him at number two going into this year because I think he's going to be looked at as such by the end of the 2023 season. Fair. Fair point, fair point. But now that we're here, I think it's about time to talk about

who the number one guy is for each of us. And without question for me, there's only one guy is for each of us and without question for me there's only one guy that fits this bill and it's fred warner and it's not to me this season wasn't particularly close man handled that 49ers defense let them let them the way had 118 plus plus tackles and led them to the nfc championship game now even though they did get pounced by the Eagles, which is unfortunate, he didn't really have an offense. They didn't really have a quarterback. So I can't really put too much blame on him.

But all in all, I think they had a pretty good season for what they started off as. And as the season progressed, they got better, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I didn't expect them to get this far at the start of the season. But thanks to Fred Warner and his leadership on the defensive side of the ball i didn't expect them to get this far at the start of the season but thanks to fred warner and his leadership on the defensive side of the ball and the offense finally picking up the slaps with rock purdy i think oh no i think fred warner was the best linebacker by far jack lennon was injured. Foye O'Connor came out of nowhere in Jacksonville. And as much as I want to put Roquan Smith number one, there was a few moments where I was like,

he's not as good as Fred Warner in pass coverage. So, oh, no, looking at the whole package that is Fred Warner, yeah, he is number one this year. But it won't be for long once Roquan Smith gets used to the Ravens. That's all I know. That's my number one one this year but it won't be for long once rocron smith gets used to the ravens that's all i know that's that's my number one guy this year all right my number one is also fred warner and like i mentioned when i put nick bolton in my top five you see you can mention all these other linebackers but only a few of them are like real leaders he is a real leader i know nick bosa gets all the credit but we look at the engine like the true brain of that defense i would argue it's a warner you know

through his play calling through his ability to dissect coverages his past coverage the fact he can fly around the field i'm not going to belabor the point. Everyone and their mother, I feel like most NFL fans, at least over 60% of them would agree that he is number one. Yeah. Now let's hear it, Adam. Let's hear it.

Well, there is a biased Ravens fan in our midst, but he's not the one who picked Roquan Smith. Number one, Roquan Smith is my number one going into this year. Yes. And so the reason I have that is because this guy was a beast his entire

career in Chicago. And then he changed teams and he didn't miss a beat. And with the Ravens being such a defense oriented team where they pride themselves on good defense, he's only going to get better in that system. So Roquan Smith, he is going to be a statistical monster this upcoming season. He's going to continue to do what he just did this past year, which is racking up over a hundred solo tackles, not just total tackles, solo. He's going to do that again and probably even better. He's a tackle for loss machine. And he also gets to the quarterback, plenty of quarterback hits. I have this guy at number one going into next year. It's just, it's a match made of heaven.

Roquan Smith and the Ravens defense. We saw a glimpse of it this past season. You're going to see it even better in his first full season with the Ravens. Give me Roquan Smith at number one. Adam, you shouldn't have. Would you look at that? It's amazing. Isn't it nice to have a Raven in your top spot?

I mean, y'all should get used to it, but it's nice, isn't it? It's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Don't get too excited. Actually, I was pretty generous in some of my other rankings here too for the other positions so get ready for that all right well there you have it there's our top five linebackers going into the 2023 nfl season so we also asked you guys in our fan box who we

think who we thought were the most underrated linebackers. That'll be in a little bit. But first, we're going to go and talk about the AFC North and preview them. So we talked a little bit about the Ravens and one of their linebackers. Now we're talking about the entire division and how that's going to stack up, which is going to be pretty interesting. So stay tuned for that. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Signed yet. Hamilton comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's caught. Takes.

Side-eyed. Touchdown. Unbelievable. Slings it way down the field. The walk-in. Sammy Watkins for the touchdown. Welcome back to the FumbleRisky podcast by PowerAdiation Secret Weapon Consulting, Adam Wright, Justin Tucker, CJ Medeiros with you as always. So last week for our division previews, we did the AFC East. Now we're moving to the next AFC division, which is the AFC North.

So for this particular segment, unlike our top five, we're not going to go around the table. It's just an open discussion, how we believe this division is going to stack up. So to kick things off, I really do believe this is just like how we talked about the AFC East last week. This is a division where you could realistically see any one of these teams individually making the playoffs. Winning the division, I feel like that's going to be up to either Cincinnati or Baltimore. Or I guess you could make a, you can make an argument for Cleveland,

but the Steelers could easily make the playoffs if they, if they, if everything goes right for them, their quarterback showed some flashes. Uh, they worked on that offensive line, which they really needed to do. They addressed the, they addressed the defense to keep that, keep things going there as well. And they still have pass catchers and one of the better running backs in the league when he actually has room to run. So yeah, but who I really think is going to win this division is Cincinnati. They just have so much momentum going for them. They've made back-to-back AFC championship games.

This squad has already been to a Super Bowl, and the offensive line, which has been their biggest problem in the past couple of years, is probably the best it's been in arguably its entire franchise history. I think it is, yeah. You have a starting level

left tackle in Jonah Williams. You move him over to right tackle and you bring in Orlando Brown. And oh, by the way, you have a backup tackle who may be named Lyle Collins. Ever heard of him? Yeah. You can move him to guard. Tackle is a pretty hard position to play already.

But you already have pieces at the guard position. You have Alex Kappa. You have a center in Ted Karras, who's one of the toughest SOBs to play already, but you already have pieces at the guard position. You have Alex Kappa. You have a center in Ted Karras, who's one of the toughest SOBs to play center in franchise history. I have that team coming out of the division. Doesn't mean I don't give Baltimore a chance. I think that team should make the playoffs and should be a lot more well-rounded than they have been in years past. They still have a good offensive line. Their defense looks as lethal as ever, and they are actually starting to develop a passing game, which is important for them. So give me those two teams, one and two, Cleveland three, and Steelers last, but don't sleep on the Steelers either.

All right, let's just get this out the way. Number one, there's no way in hell Cincinnati's winning this division. Let's just get that out the way. It's not even me being biased. It's me being realistic here. I'm sick and tired of everybody telling me it's Cincinnati's division to lose. No, no. It's our division to lose. In what way?

What do you mean in what way? I believe we're the best team in the NFC North by far. By far? Yes. Our defense is better than Cincinnati's easily. And our offense is – everybody keeps telling me about the receivers in Cincinnati, and that's fine. But outside of that, I don't believe their running game is as good as ours.

I think our running game is better. Well, your running backs can't stay healthy, so it's better by default. Who's better than Joe Mixon? Yeah, you don't have a single person in your running back room who I would say is better than Joe Mixon. Again, we do it by committee. Look at how well that's worked if we just say if we just say if healthy would you rather have that that running back or or my running back or you're choosing mine all day it's no i'm not you're not choosing joe mixon over my guys he is single

handedly better than your whole room yes i am that is a lie that is a lie. That is a lie. He's not better than J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Not. Not. Even if you want to permit – if health wasn't a factor, this wouldn't even be a conversation you would take us without even a second doubt. I would not. I would agree with that. Because the biggest issue with them has been health. Gus Edwards is actually a pretty solid running back.

Just as a backup, though, you can't use him as a workhorse. And J.K. Dobbins went healthy. J.K. Dobbins went healthy is actually pretty good as well. Joe Mixon, I just don't love relying on that one running back. Everyone loves it for fantasy, but they also lost Samadjay Pirine to the Denver Broncos, so let's not forget about that. So they don't have much.

Cincinnati doesn't have much depth at the position, but they do have depth, which is perfectly fine for me. It's not like we got worse at wide receiver. We've actually gotten better. We have Zay Flowers. We have Odell Beckham. If you guys want to say injuries is going to take him out, okay. We still have Zay Flowers.

We still have Rashad Bateman. We still have Devin Dubonnet. we still have pieces to make it work and we have an offensive coordinator that actually knows what he's doing with the passing game i'm finally y'all have no idea how happy i am that greg roman is out of baltimore the oh man i'm happy i feel like i do know how happy you are because new eng got rid of Matt Patricia. Not the same. Oh, yeah, we completely understand. No, Tucker, you don't understand.

Statistically, Patricia's offense was worse. This is like in New England, we got the Ewoks dancing because the Death Star was destroyed. It's the Patriots fans celebrating because Matt Patricia was fired. It's the exact same thing. Respectfully. I would argue that the only coordinator offensively worse than Patricia was probably the Steelers guy,

Canada, who they still kept by the way. And I know Adam said, don't sleep on the Steelers, but as long as Matt Canada is running that offense, they're not going anywhere. They'll make the playoffs just out of pure them being the Steelers and they'll have a 500 record, which is depending on the season will be good enough to make the playoffs.

They never have a losing record. How do we feel about Cleveland though? This is a team with a lot of talent, but hasn't been able to put it together uh quite so much but deshaun watson towards the end of the season started to look a little bit more like himself started to shake that rust off he has amari cooper as his you can't you can't talk about deshaun watson seriously anymore um uh he has amari cooper as his top pass catch catcher who's as good a number uh wide receiver one as there is and he has some pretty good secondary options to throw to as well as well as one of the better offensive lines in in football in cleveland so i think and they also have a pretty good defense too. So I don't know. I want to say that they can win this division,

but they haven't been able to put things together ever in their existence. It feels a little weird, doesn't it? They have the talent, but we're not even mentioning them as serious contenders for this division. Also, I would like to point out Cleveland did swing a trade to get Elijah Moore from the Jets, and they drafted Cedric Tillman, the Tennessee receiver, in the second round.

So they have pieces. Yeah, they have pieces, and you know they have Nick Chubb as their running back. And your tight ends, you've got Njoku, you've got a good line. You've got a defense that has Miles Garrett and Denzel Ward. You have the pieces, but at the end of the day, everything, and I think whether you're a Ravens fan, Patriots fan, or an XFL fan. Scott Zedaria-Smith, too.

Oh, yeah, they do. That's correct. I forgot. No matter what fan you are, I think we can all agree, this hinges solely on Deshaun Watson. I don't care about none of that. Yeah, I bet you don't but whatever it's cleveland let's not even put my bias into it it's not very analytical just saying

it's the same way with the cowboys we always oh christ yeah and i don't like that don't evoke the cowboys jesus no no no we're gonna know every time we expect good things out of cleveland we always say they have this they have that they have offense, they have the pieces on defense, they have everything to make it work. And yet somehow, some way they either miss the playoffs and not even be involved in a tiebreaker or any scenario. It's Cleveland. I hate to say it because it's not very analytical and there's no facts to back it up. But when you look at the town, when you look at the pieces surrounding them, when you look at the entirety of Cleveland as a whole whole what have they done in the past few years that makes you say oh okay they are playoff caliber team outside of they have the

pieces to make it work they won a playoff game not even three years ago they had a different quarterback they had a different team okay but see here's the thing let's just look at names all right by name value alone deshaun w Watson is the best quarterback they've had. And in his last real starting season, he had a completion percentage of 70% through for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 7 picks with a Texans team that was being run by Bill O'Brien. So let's not pretend he's a scrub. And I'm just saying it all hinges on Watson. If Watson has a down year, they're not going to go anywhere but if he's good i would i don't know about the playoffs just because the afc is stacked but they could fight for one you have to look at the talent that was around that

texans team though too like when you're arguing for deshaun watson because that once he when he left deandre things were not who else he didn't have deandre hopkins that's what i'm saying oh yeah i'm arguing for deandre hop uh i'm arguing for deshaun watson you have to look at the talent level they didn't have much when he left also they did have kyle fuller when deandre hopkins was still there so he had when he had talent they were making when he had, they were making the playoffs and winning a couple of playoff games as well. And also, they did go toe-to-toe with the Chiefs

and Patrick Mahomes for that one game, at least in the first half. I'm pretty sure by halftime they were down and they were up 30 they were down like 24 nothing right oh it was 24 okay that's still bad that's four scores that's what i'm saying like that is the that is the potential that deshaun watson has like he can go toe-to-toe with the best quarterback in the league in a playoff game so So I don't, I don't like, I don't hate Deshaun Watson this year. It's just, there's something about the Browns that I just don't trust and they might make the playoffs, but will they be there, be at their full potential? No, at their full potential, they could win this freaking division. But I just know, I just know they won't because the Bengals

and Ravens are the ones who always bring it, not the Browns. And the Steelers just aren't there yet. Steelers need a couple years. The thing is with the Browns, God help me for saying this, but I'm not sold on Stefanski yet. He had that one playoff run, and then he's done nothing since. It's clear he's done nothing since their two AFC Championship appearances. Certainly. All right.

Well, we are going to move on. And as I mentioned and teased prior, after doing our linebacker rankings, we asked you guys how you feel about linebackers going into 2023. Who are the most underrated linebackers going into this upcoming season? That is 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, they're saying it's a catch. It's caught! It's a catch!

Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! This is the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power 88 and Sequel Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker with you as always. We welcome you to the fan box portion of our show where we post a question filter on our Instagram every Monday and you can respond with hot takes, questions, and more. We'll discuss it and give you a shout out on our podcast. Respond to next week's fan box question to be featured on our show.

So the question of the week was who are the most underrated linebackers heading into 2023 this is obviously off ball as we're kind of doing off ball linebackers and then once we do defensive ends in a couple of weeks it'll be more pass rushers because some of the best edge rushers aren't even defensive ends they're linebackers like you know michael micah Parsons is technically a linebacker, but he's also among the league leaders of sacks year in, year out. So our first response was from Tyson Tate, who said breakout season coming for Brian Asamoah.

So CJ, this is a guy with plenty of potential what do you think yes yeah i would say so and uh so for those who don't know last season was asamoah's rookie year where he didn't really get that much playing time as he uh you know i guess it was a rookie and he was buried on the depth chart but as the season progressed he definitely made some noteworthy plays and i personally i'm just he was a guy that I liked and I, you know, I had him in my some of my mock drafts. I wanted him to go to the Patriots in round two or three. That obviously did not happen.

But overall, I can't complain with this pick. He's going to be pretty good, I think, next year. Yeah, I mean, he didn't really play many. He hardly played. So maybe it'll be, I mean mean this defense has lost some pieces so they're going to need him to step up here so that'll be his opportunity so breakout season coming uh ian mulhern said frankie louvu you guys think about one now i i understand nothing and the thing with frankie luvu is that if you're like not a panthers fan you probably don't know who he is because on that panthers d we all know

shack thompson right yeah but luvu you know he gets overshadowed he's been uh he's a tackling machine last season was the first time in his career which was year five now that he eclipsed 100 tackles with 111 and despite being more of an off-ball type of guy he had seven sacks and he also had four pass breakups and a pick so statistically he's actually pretty good but like i said with shaq thompson there are not a lot of people know about lulu he has 19 tackles for loss this past season oh yeah it was just this past season alone and nine hits this guy is actually he had a pretty good year i mean yeah i think underrated is definitely the the adjective to use because you only think of shaq thompson whenever you're talking about that panthers defense and their linebacker core. So maybe there's a breakout year coming for him. I mean, just that Panthers defense is lethal.

And I think as we mentioned last week, Jeremy Chin might be moving into that linebacker core since they already added Vaughn Bell in the safety department. So plenty of mouths to feed, so let's see where it all goes. But all good problems to have for this Panthers defense. So Patrick Williver said Cole Holcomb. It's an interesting one. He could be. He could be. I believe he was just signed by the Steelers,

so Tucker's going to know more about him next season than we will. But Holcomb was a pretty solid fella for the commanders I'd say yeah I thought he was pretty good yeah his breakout his best year was definitely in 2021 not this past year um when he had over 142 tackles just uh he only played half of this past season so we'll see if he can stay healthy but uh what's this guy's name ty it says ty hooks he's a new responder he said matt milano Milano. So I, one of us, I know had Milano in our top five. Yeah. So I just can't, it's hard to have him be underrated. I guess you could say it because he was in the shadow of TJ Edmonds, which is something that does tend to, I mean, when, when you have somebody else, who's the main star in that core,

then yeah, you're going to be an afterthought. I just think he's going to be pretty good this year. He's going to have a much better year, and he's going to be much more well-known. Eli Turner said Devin White, another one who was top five for one of us, but I would say I barely had him out of it but i also i don't it's tough because he's also a guy who's been in the shadow of another guy completely forgetting his name though uh levante david levante david

arguably the franchise's best linebacker ever levante david who's still kicking around and still putting up pretty good but i get it see here's the thing though i know levante david's good but i wouldn't exactly call devin white underrated that's what i'm saying like a lot of these linebackers like they're like you could say they're underrated because there's a better one in that core, like Matt Milano, Devin white, but they're still pretty good and they get plenty of recognition. Just everyone believes the other guy is better than, than him,

which is also understandable to, to point out because you could make a case. They are better. Um, let's see. Let's see. Uh, um let's see let's see uh floodster sports zone said chad muma was was nice with jacksonville last season yeah so uh chad muma was another rookie and he didn't get to start that often

but when he did his impact was fell and he's a beast on special teams. He's going to have a much larger role this season. So I can't say he's wrong. Yeah, I wouldn't say he's wrong. Just will he be better this year? I don't know. I would imagine so. Because you already have Devin Lloyd and Olukun. Olukun.

Olukun. Just call him Foye. Such aquum. Oloquum. Just call him Foye. Such a tough name. Yeah, we have Foye as well. So you already have some guys in front of them. It's going to be really hard to get playing time on this Jaguars defense because it's just continuing to get better better and they're racking up names. I would say their weak point is probably their secondary,

but I don't even know if you could call it weak because it's still pretty good. Just their linebacking core is getting insane. You have Devin Lloyd already, so you have some pieces there um but speaking of the jaguars cola dj said foya sade alukum yes we've been over this and he is 110 percent overrate underrated i know and i mean i had him in my i had a number two. I saw him and I said, Jesus Christ, this guy is good. I'm putting him, I'm putting them way up there. And he, in, in a system that is continuing to get better, I think he is going to get better. And he already is putting up good statistics.

Even if it, he is just, let's say 80%, 90% of what he was last year, not completely, didn't necessarily improve, maybe took a half step back, still have him No. 2 because he was just that good this past season. And he's been this good for most of his career. He's been in Atlanta his whole career. So that is a problem. But those are all our picks. Do we have any other thoughts before we end the show tonight?

No. I'm good. I'm good. All right. Quick shout-out to Stefan Diggs. Who has missed minicamp. who's missed missed mini camp and apparently uh the coach is pretty concerned with how things are going there um also dalvin cook was released i don't think we did a show during that but we did not but he was yeah he was released so we'll see who who picks him up i mean when he when he

gets picked up then we will do an episode for it. But we'll see what happens. See what happens. All right. Well, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts,

iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and so much more. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram at FumbleRooski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcast and latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we'll see you next week. Over and out.