The Fumblerooski Podcast - Right on Schedule -Ep 81 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: May 14, 2022

Is the NFL schedule release overhyped? How much does the addition of Jarvis Landry elevate Jameis Winston's level of play? Adam Wright and Justin Hill also host special guest Nick Noormand who talks about which rookies will make an early impact in his guest segment!

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! Diggs! Side-by-side! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Good evening.

You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by fans only sports network and power 88 Dean radio. I am Adam Wright along with Justin Hill. We have a special guest with you tonight and it is Nick Norman. So you might recognize Nick Norman around our social media page. He comments every now and then. He listens into our show. He answers our fan box questions with very detailed and great responses.

He is a diehard Steelers fan and a friend of mine. We were former classmates. I used to go to Gordon College, and Nick actually graduated from there early. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Graduated there, graduated from there last year and have been working back in California since then. So, yeah. Awesome. Nice. You want to do you want to introduce yourself? Sure. So I'm Nick. I am a former classmate of adams as he was saying i am a die-hard steelers fan so if you catch me responding to the fan box or anything like that it's normally a lot of steelers stuff i've been keeping up with the nfl primarily approximately last five six years

so like not necessarily been around football as far as like for the long haul but like now i'm getting in depth with it and super stoked to talk about the draft, super stoked to talk about the schedule release and just really happy to be here, guys. Awesome. It's great to have you, man, especially with somebody with for somebody with the knowledge that you have of the game. I remember the conversations you and I had going in depth back in my Gordon days. And it was it was awesome. And especially being able to like I'm a Patriots fan, you're a Steelers fan, being able to have like a civil conversation about sports. I do value differences in opinions in sports, and I love discussing it. And yeah, so we'll jump right into it. We do have a lot planned for you tonight. A lot of it covering the schedule release that happened last night. But first, I do want to get into Jarvis Landry, this team so with the new new orleans saints they started out the offseason they uh they they didn't have they didn't have emmanuel sanders anymore uh mark

uh michael thomas has been out for a while so the cover has been kind of bare at the in the wide receiver area in that wide receiver room now they then they went in the draft. They, they brought in Chris Olav. They also, Michael Thomas is supposed to come back. And on top of that, we have now Jarvis Landry, all players who are big time yards after catch players. And so what this, what this could mean is, is it possible that they are trying to sort of incorporate those short passes for Jameis Winston to put him in the best possible scenario to succeed as a player who kind of just says, F it, I'm just going to chuck it up there. What do you guys think of this signing? So as far as what I'm thinking with this signing, I'm just thinking that veteran receiver presence

that I spoke with you guys about this during the pre-show a little bit, but as far as like a veteran presence in a receiver room, I think is a really big deal where like Michael Thomas is the veteran in that receiver room, but in all actuality, he's not that old. And also he hasn't really played meaningful games in two years, which is crazy to think about because Michael Thomas, the last time we saw him on the field, he was a dominant force with 1700 yards that season and set the record for the most receptions in a season. So he was insane. But as we know, following the news, following the NFL, like he's had off field issues, he's had personality kind of issues. And so although he's a dominant player when playing,

he hasn't been healthy and he hasn't been necessarily the best role model for a young receiver like a Chris Olave. It is really cool though to see that connection though with Ohio State, with Michael Thomas being a former Ohio State player. And if you guys take a look at the depth chart, there are a ton of Ohio State players on that defense where the Saints love their Ohio State guys. And I think that this Chris Olave was a great pickup for them from Ohio State. And I just think having a veteran presence to really be able to really be a role model for him is a really big deal in Jarvis Landry. All right, Jay Hill.

I like where you're going nick with the jarvis um landry move i was pretty shocked that he went to the saints but it comes to term that yes he went to lsu with a number of plays i think he went to lsu with tyron matthew if i'm not if i'm not mistaken so he did so regarding with that situation i think he'll bring like what you just said nick great veteran leadership towards the club. I think with the players and the Saints this year, knowing that this wide receiver core, they've not all played together. Let's not forget, like, Michael Thomas missed a season. The new guy, I forgot his name, which you just said, he hasn't played, like, yet. But if you look at this situation here, you guys, the Saints, they're making a lot.

They made a lot of great moves this offseason. You've heard a lot regarding what the future is going to hold regarding their quarterback situation. To look at this stuff here, knowing a guy like Jarvis Andrew, what time was one of the best wide receivers in the AFC before he transferred to the Browns and played with old, poor Baker Mayfield. But I think this situation here is going to be a great transition for him and as well as the Orleans Saints.

So looking at this move, I look at what the Saints did with Jameis Winston this past season. And so through seven games, he went 5- two, 14 touchdowns to seven interceptions. His average yards per attempt, it was the lowest since his sophomore season. What does that tell me? That they are trying to do a lot more shorter passes and try to play more conservative football with Jameis Winston because he has the tendency to just throw it up there

and be careless with the football. So this offseason, they brought in, in the first round, they got Chris Olave, who is a big-time yards-after-catch player. And then on top of that, they went out and now they signed Jarvis Landry. And you also still have Michael Thomas on the roster, who relied heavily on slant plays. And you combine all three of these players, you can still throw to Alvin Kamara, and you look at that,

we could possibly be seeing the best season Jameis Winston could get. Now, I hope that the – and I'm forgetting who the new head coach is going to be for the New Orleans Saints to replace Sean Payton. But whoever is in there, they better use him how they used him this past season. Because he was actually playing his best football of his career this past season. And don't even count the 33-30 season. Yes, he threw 33 touchdowns, but 30 interceptions. That's really, really bad.

That's impressively bad. But this could be a great season. And I think, and especially since they address the left tackle position as well with their other first-round pick, this could set up for a really good season for Jameis Winston, and this could be a dark horse team to make the playoffs next year. Yeah, I can definitely get behind that, Adam. My other thing is if we actually look at the Saints roster, last year, if you guys remember, because Michael Thomas went out getting surgery before

the season, can you guys name who their top receiver was from last season? Not necessarily yards, but like who was the number one guy on that depth chart just off the top of your heads? Was it maybe Callaway? I'm pretty sure. Yeah. Marquez Callaway where like he was their number one dog. And if you watched him preseason, like he's a six foot three dude that can fly. So like good receiver for how young he was. I believe it was his second season last year, but he was going from that number one receiver spot to now this year with Olave and Michael Thomas back and now with Jarvis Landry. He's going from a number one dude to a number four

and having him be your four is really nice as far as that receiving room was seen as a real weakness these last couple of years. Even with Michael Thomas, like, he was their only dude even in that year that he was dominant, but going from that kind of receiving room to where now they got some weapons. Now they got some dudes to play with where if Michael Thomas gets injured again, we're not looking at that room. Like, Oh my God, what are they going to do? We're,

we're not seeing it as as much of a weakness, which is a big deal for that team that wants to throw the ball all over the yard too. Yeah, I like that. I like that narrative, especially since looking at Marquez Calloway, and I'm looking at his statistics right now, 698 yards, 46 receptions, pretty solid for our number four receiver on that team potentially. But another thing to look at is he was a, he was sort of a very, he was a very vertical type of player, very deep, you know, a deep ball type player. And it kind of contradicted the way they played in that offense that last season earlier on when they went five and two. Now you look at that, he's kind of more of like if if all three of those players aren't aren't open now you can throw it throw it up to Callaway if Callaway's wide open so it just gives them

that many more options and I'll be on on top of that like I said they still have Alvin Kamara who they can dump it off to or or give give to uh to hand it off to. So I really do. This is an underrated offense for the New Orleans Saints, and they're really going with that sort of offense that's designed around yards after the catch because they were doing that very well last season, playing conservative ball and going with the shorter passes, and they could really succeed if they continue to do that i personally think adam with this saints roster like i said before they made a great transition

regarding their offense and defense i could definitely see this saint team definitely make into the wild card game this year i know i understand you have the buccaneers you have the falcons you have the panthers in their division, but I think this team here has a lot of presence to definitely not go far, but definitely make a great threshold throughout the whole season. Be like a sleeper team because you

have not only Michael Thomas back, you have their great coach who they just hired. I forget his name, Dennis Allen, who, by the way, was coaching during the season when Sean Payton, Dennis Allen, who, by the way, was coaching during the season when Sean Payton, my fault, got COVID. He was able to, with the Saints defense, hold the Buccaneers to zero points in that game. I think you guys remember.

But at the exact same time- I do remember. Yeah. But at the exact same time with this team here, I think with the veteran leadership of Jarvis Landry, it will definitely take a great toll to this roster. I think with this here, like what you said, Adam, the slant routes, what these receivers can do as well, I think this will definitely give a better hold

and breathing for Jameis Winston as we've known him for throwing interceptions like you said before you know it is interesting that you mentioned the mentioned the New Orleans Saints how they how they match up with the Buccaneers and it is weird because the the Saints are to are to the to Florida Tom like they are like new it like the Gi to new england tom like that's they just have their number and i don't even know what it is you can't place your finger on it that that offense just gets just goes stale and it just isn't able to produce enough points but i don't i i think this is and sean payton's gone and drew brees is also gone but I still I think this is I think this is a team that could really I'm not sure if they'll really match up they'll they won't be they'll be

there competitive with Tampa Bay but do you do you actually do you think they could actually beat them out for the division I don't think that's the case, Adam, at least at this point. But I think what this Jarvis Landry signing also signifies is if you're watching the draft and that trade that happened the day before the draft with the Eagles, the Saints clearly are thinking they are better than we, the viewers, are thinking they are. Because I feel like me or you or any other NFL fan, we look at the Saints and we're like, their offensive line has some talent. They got a good running back.

Jameis Winston's all, like, pretty good. Their defense has some good players. Marshawn Lattimore and Marcus May, who they signed, they got good players. And they really said, okay, next year's first-round draft and other draft picks, we're fine giving those away if we get dudes now. They clearly think that they're a good team now and this Jarvis Landry signing just proves that even more where they're trying to put themselves over the top to be a playoff team now and selling off for the future a little bit which I know they

were trying to do that with Drew Brees and pushing cap dollars down the road but the thing is now it's the post Drew Brees era and they're still pushing stuff down the road because they think they got a shot now and I think this just shows even more of that when you mention the post um drew breeze arrow nick it's funny you say that because in in the division in that division when it was tom brady's first year we were saying to ourselves like who's gonna make it out it's gonna be the saints or the buccaneers and when drew breeze left you're saying like i'm saying to myself like okay the buck this is this is tom brady's division like how it was in the AFC East with the Jets, Bills, and get the other team at the moment. But at that time, but now looking at this pickup today, I'm saying, okay, we do have some competition in this division.

Yeah, yeah, it is. I'm not sure i think i it they're definitely putting they they they think they have something in jamis winston you can definitely tell that because they're they they're they're changing the offense to make to bring the best out of him they're surrounding him with pieces that that also bring the best out of him. They're giving him an offensive line. They're definitely trying to see what they have in this kid and see if they could see if they could turn him into the number one overall pick that he, that he was and, and be able to play like it. And there is, and what I saw from the flashes that I saw from him from this past season, I do think that he can, he can do that for like seven games, five and two, 14 to three

touchdown to interception ratio. That's a good sample size. That's not like just two or three games. That's actually a lot. That's like almost half a season. So I think this is, they're, they're looking at what they have. They're trying to go all in with the, with this team. And you know, they're also looking at, looking at their division rivals, the new, the, uh, excuse me, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers accidentally said new England Patriots. Cause you know, it is, uh, almost, almost new England South. But, um, you look at, you look at them and they're like, well, they're almost done. They're there. Uh, Tom Brady is taking it year by year. This is potentially his last season. We're knocking at the door. Let's go all in with this team.

In the next one to two years, we could become world champions, or at least, at the very least, I'll pump the brakes, at the very least, they'll be division champs. I'll put it that way. They'll win the division. I think they got a real good shot with that. As far as the post-Tom Brady era, even for Tampa, if Tom Brady is going to retire after this year,

which I think most people think he is because he's been saying for years and years, 45, 45, 45, that's how old I want to be when I last played, 45 years old. And that's going to be this season where it kind of if you read the tea leaves, it kind of seems like this season is going to be his last season, hence the Fox contract, too. But the thing is, like, if you look at the division, it's not scary. They're talented players. The Falcons, I think, are going to be a mess. I think the Panthers got some talent. But Sam Darnold is their starting quarterback. The Saints have Jameis Winston, who can play ball, as y'all were saying. The other thing is, when they signed Jameis Winston originally, I think two and a half, three years ago now,

this was post-Tampa Bay Jameis Winston. He actually got LASIK back then, and that was a big deal because if you heard the stories coming out of Tampa Bay, he couldn't even read the scoreboard, apparently, half the time where like his vision was that bad apparently where as a quarterback and your ability to see the field and make reads, having good vision is a big deal. And I think seeing in, oh my goodness, Sean Payton's system, just the ability to not turn the ball over as much and make better decisions, I think that's actually a bigger deal with Jameis Winston too. Yeah. And it was interesting. It was funny, all the jokes that were coming out about it because he was coming out off of 30 and 30 touchdown and interception

season. So everybody was saying, Oh, so now he doesn't have that 30, 30 vision anymore. And that'll fix all the problems. It was hilarious when that, all that stuff was coming out. And for real, that kid, he, that kid does have a pretty good deep ball, even when his vision was impaired. So I wonder how he will do. Maybe his deep ball will improve. I think it's just with the way he plays. I think he can play very careless football, and I think he can, you know,

I think playing a more can, you know, he'll, I think the playing a more conservative, you know, shorter passes type of game will certainly figure that will certainly figure out a lot of things. But I do want to move on to the schedule release, which happened last night. We have a couple of segments to cover that. Then we have, then we have Nick's guest segment at the end. We'll get to whether or not we believe how to, how like whether or not the schedule release is kind of overblown.

We'll hit that next. You're listening to the fumble Ruski podcast. Gentlemen, broken up in the past is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football. They're saying it's a catch. It's a catch. Oh, it's a catch. Side-line.

Touchdown. Unbelievable. Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! You are listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast. I'm Adam Wright, Justin Hill, special guest Nick Norman in here with you tonight. And so the NFL schedule release happened last night and the issue with the NFL, and I understand the issue because the, because the NFL has become, you know, a big

thing in the, in America, everybody loves their, their their football but the problem is they try to turn everything that happens into an event and that's kind of the same thing with this schedule release a lot of the events that they do are kind of fun but this schedule release thing they're trying to hype it up but a lot of people are kind of like yeah yeah i mean we're seeing what's happening like we're seeing the the schedules but we're not really, we, the problem is they, they all, we already know what, what their,

what the teams they're facing are months before. So the, so is, is the schedule release kind of overblown? And if it is, what do you guys think they should do to fix it? Oh, you can go first.

I was just thinking, I actually liked the schedule release as far as what they did with it this year guys because like as far as seeing on social media and instagram just like throughout the week they were dropping some really good games that they're going to be having this season with stuff like the thanksgiving week game or thanksgiving day game and some of the primetime games there are some really fun games that they were dropping where old school matchups with good rivalries or new school ones with like recent playoff game matchups there are a couple of them where on holidays or on special events and having cool games like that that you drop throughout the week and i like that we're seeing that on good morning football or on

different platforms too because kind of just spreading the nfl out more and just getting more viewership it's awesome when the nfl is popular and when you've got more people to talk about it with and just like the nfl becoming a bigger and bigger thing i really like that and so i think spreading it out a little more on more platforms is really fun and i think dropping those really special holiday games primetime games is really cool because those games are a lot of good ones. And they're kind of hiding to the side, the Jaguars, Texans, week seven kind of matchups. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that.

But making those big prime time matchups be the really on the schedule, like mark your calendar kind of games. I like that. And I like that they're trying to do that with the schedule. I definitely agree with you, Nick. Before like the schedule came out yesterday when i heard like the buccaneers reversing the cheese i was very excited because i'm saying stuff okay i'm it may be tom braves last year and knowing that the two of them they

last faced in the super bowl and the regular season games from years past but at the same exact time looking at the schedule the schedules here It definitely needs to be a change. I definitely like how the NFL, they can get fans like a little bit like pumped up of what like the big games are going to come up, such as like what I just said before and other games. And like as a giant fan myself, I already know like like like when you're like a fan of your favorite thing, you know who you're going to reverse in your division. You're going to reverse them two times a year. However, I think, like, with the NFL, they need to, like, hype up, like,

like what you said before, Nick, like, holiday games, like the Sunday night football game. Maybe, like, Fox, like, America's Game of the Week. Like, I understand, like, Fox has, like, programmed, like, what they're going to put on that exact day or week. But at the exact time, there definitely needs to be a change. You know, like, with this whole schedule thing, like, I wasn't really pleased of, like, my Giants versus, like, you know,

the Green Bay Packers and the Ravens this year. But at the exact time, it is exciting because you're able to see Lamar and Aaron Rodgers go up against one of your teams. But I think there needs to definitely be a change. But I think the NFL, they just stick to hyping up for maybe the Super Bowl and playoffs and awards like they usually do. All right. I'm going to make it nice and simple for how they make this a lot better is, so the issue is we find out who exactly their opponents are months prior to the actual schedule release.

So what they could do is just, and I'm not sure if this would be possible or how this, how they would do it. I'm not sure if there's anything behind the scenes or a reason why they, they find out so early on, but what if they were to put them all in one? We find out who they're facing, and we find out when they're playing those games

so that all the games are sort of all happening, and it would make for a bigger audience because people would actually – people would be – we already know who they're facing. It's just – and in the schedule release, we're just finding out how it's going to be, like the order of which they're facing those teams, if that makes any sense. But I did – that is a good point. I did, I did like how it was kind of more spread out and they were, they were dropping a few, uh, they were dropping a few, uh, nuggets as the week went on, rather than just kind of dragging it out. And you find out these

lower tier matchups, like the, if the, like, you know, any divisional round. I did like that. The Thanksgiving games, Christmas Eve games. There's a Halloween matchup between the Bengals and the Browns. That's going to be awesome. I like that. It has improved, but it just doesn't excite me that much. I just turn post just doesn't excite me that much. Like I'll just, I'll just tune. I just turned post notifications on, on Twitter and I'll find out that way, how they, how, where all these big

time matchups are going to be playing. And I'll just open it up in the movie theater in a restaurant while I'm doing something else. I'll be like, Oh, cool. Thanksgiving game Patriots playing first game since the butt fumble game. That's awesome ongiving can't wait but like it's just not an event that i like invite my friends over i sit down bring get some doritos just it's not it's nothing like the nfl draft or other event things that they turn into event an event and if they really want to turn this into a big thing then they you need to make it a big thing you need to make like that everything is drops just drops at once but we already find out what the who these teams are playing like months prior and it's like we know who the opponents are we just we're just finding out the order for which they're playing those

teams and it's just not as it's not as exciting if that makes any sense i got you adam i got you adam i definitely agree with you though where like the schedule release is just even though it's close by on the schedule with the nfl draft the nfl draft is just such a huge deal that thing is an event that thing is a monster where like i've heard sportscasters say okay the biggest sports things that happen in the United States it's like NFL MLB and like NBA and then it's like the NFL draft and then hockey like they put the NFL draft above some other major sports in the United States which is no slander on hockey like I do be slandering hockey but like that's okay but the NFL hockey guy either it's such a huge, though, where the NFL draft is all that,

where it's just a fusion of college football and NFL football. And it's just where worlds meet, where we see some young stars, some players like a Trevor Lawrence that we know have been college football studs for years now. And we know they're going up high, and we know there might be trades. We know there are things going on with it. But I don't think the nfl necessarily wants to make the schedule release that even though they could be making money through like the schedule release and doing something like that i just feel like like you were saying adam

they could try and drop it all at once and make it an event but i don't necessarily know if people would tune in for oh we're finding out first it's week one and these are all the week one matchups. Like, I don't know if people would necessarily tune into that because like it is new information, but like, I actually really like what they did this year. And I really stand by it. We're finding out the primetime matchups first and the special ones that are really cool games. Like years ago, a couple of years ago when they they had the Chiefs Rams game, that was supposed to be Mexico city. That was an incredible game. Like that will be one of the games that they would have dropped this last week earlier before the schedule release or like the Patriots Buccaneers game from last year. That was Tom Brady returning to new England. Like

everybody wanted that game and wanted to know where it was on the schedule. And like, they wanted to mark their calendars for that bad boy. thing is though like those are the games that the nfl is trying to make a bigger deal with these drops and i love the way they tried to do it this year making it a special thing spreading it out trying to like show us how special these incredible games that they're doing are and i just got to give a a little round of applause for the NFL for really being great schedule makers, giving us some awesome matchups. Week one, the opening game with Buffalo and the Rams, that's an incredible matchup that the defending Super Bowl champions, like I've heard from other people, they don't think they're favored in that game. They don't think the Rams are

favored against the Bills, which I understand because the Bills and Josh Allen are really good. But to say the defending Super Bowl champs aren't favored in the opener is insane to think about how good that game could be. Certainly. It is, I don't know. Like I said, I did like what they did in this season in particular. It was better. I just, I don't know.

I'm just typically not a big fan of the, of the, the NFL schedule release. Just look, just thinking of ways they could make it interesting. If they really want to turn it into an event, like it, like it's kind of like they're kind of, it seems like they're trying to sort of turn it, turn it out to be, I think they should drop it all at once and try to get something like that. And then maybe like, maybe it could be like short mentions of the, of the matchups that we don't really care about. And then like, like,

you know, take a big thing out of all the special matchups on holidays and, you know, the primetime matchups or the, you know, those, the games of the week by Fox stuff like that. If they want to turn it into something like that,

they that's what they might want to do. But we do talk about a lot of matchups that we like. We're going to get to that next. We're going to talk about our favorite matchups coming up in this season. You're not going to want to miss this. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network. I'm Adam Wright, Justin Hill, with you in hosting special guest, our loyal listener, Nick Normand. So we are covering a little bit on last night's schedule release.

We got a lot of interesting matchups as we talked about but now we want to cover more specifically our favorite ones look at uh games on the schedule where we circle and we say that's one i can't wait to see so guys we'll go around the table and asking this nick i'll start with you what's one matchup that you look at and you say i I can't wait for that. Man. So Adam, I was telling you a little about this pre-show, but man, just being like a loyal Steelers fan, I read Steelers news and like updates with guys we signed and like stories that are coming up with the coming season.

The biggest thing on the Steelers schedule for every Steelers fan from everything I've seen Steelers Raiders, December 24th. Oh my goodness. This game is going to be crazy. It's Christmas Eve. It's Sunday night football Raiders Steelers in Pittsburgh. It's a, it's just going to be the biggest thing because it's 50 years and one day from the, oh my goodness, from the biggest football play of before our lifetimes, but the biggest football play ever with the, oh my my god how am i forgetting the name of the damn play but it's franco harris it's the steelers and raiders it's the immaculate reception oh my goodness but the immaculate reception which like as a steelers fan i wasn't around for it but it's a huge play and it's 50

years and one day since then it's christmas eve it's going to be a huge play and it's 50 years in one day since then. It's Christmas Eve. It's going to be a crazy good matchup. Devontae Adams and Derek Carr come into Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett and our defense in December. That just is a primetime matchup that if I were able to be out there, I would be going to that game. I will buy my tickets now if I could be there, but who knows? It's a good one. It's a good one for fantasy purposes too. I'm going to try and draft Devontae Adams this year, and I'm going to pair him with Derek Carr. That's going to be one that I like.

Maybe not Derek Carr, but I've always been a Devontae Adams guy. I don't know. I always look at fantasy football. But Jay Hill? For me, when we were talking about the schedule releases, I said the Buccaneers and Chiefs, and I'm going to stick to this one. Why? Because, one, Tom Brady, he's one of my favorite quarterbacks right now, and even of all time. He's the greatest quarterback of all time.

I've seen him going up against Patrick Mahomes, who they're calling him the GOAT after when Tom Brady leaves, and the future of the NFL regarding quarterbacks. I can't wait to see this matchup. Why? Because, like, this is, like, a redemption for, like, Patrick Mahomes to, like, try and, like, beat Tom Brady after the Buccaneers, like, crucified him in the Super Bowl at home. Seeing how, like, the two of them have had great battles since 2018. You look at the AFC Championship game where the Patriots went into Arrowhead Stadium and beat them.

You look at the regular season game the Patriots and Chiefs had prior. You look at just great regular season games, including playoff game matches and Super Bowl matchups, regarding not just with Tom Brady and Mahomes, like the Buccaneers and Chiefs in general like the the two battles they have like it's it's just spectacular seeing just seeing this knowing that this might be the last time to see these two great quarterbacks play against one another it's gonna be really great to see yeah I do like that matchup and it's interesting it uh we were talking we were recapping that that matchup, and it's interesting. We were recapping that matchup on our show about a year ago, and we had Robert Shelley on the pod, who you guys might know,

and he described Patrick Mahomes being crucified, as you mentioned. He was talking about how he was running from his life, and he related it to that one scene. I'm not sure if you guys are Pirates of the Caribbean fans, but that one scene where Johnny Depp, where Captain Jack Sparrow was running away from the cannibals and he was screaming, that was Patrick Mahomes running away from the pass rush of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But my – and it is also – and I'll touch on a little bit more on the Bucs Chiefs. It seems like it's becoming a trend for week four matchups and storied matchups for the Buccaneers. Because last year,'ve uh tom brady faced his former team brady versus belichick that turned into a massive event rightfully so you have the one of the greatest coaches of all time going against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time who they who were previously winning super bowlsls together. That was incredible. That's something we'll never experience something like that again. The game was a little underwhelming, but I was expecting a little more scoring.

But my favorite matchup for this upcoming season, I can't wait for the Patriots playing on Thanksgiving finally for the first time since 2010 when the Patriots faced the Jets on that butt fumble game where the Patriots just blew the Jets doors off. And now we get to see it's an actual legitimate matchup. It's the New England Patriots taking on the Minnesota Vikings. That's a team that's looking a lot better, as in the Vikings. The Patriots are going to be competitive. They may not win their division because that division is just getting so tough, with every team, by the way.

But the Vikings are a tough team. They could be winning their division. And I look at that matchup, and we finally get some football. It's a primetime matchup after taking in some turkey legs and some mashed potatoes and stuffing. I get to sit and watch my New England Patriots take on the Vikings. And some of my favorite players outside the Patriots are on that Vikings team. I've always loved Dalvin Cook. I've drafted him in fantasy in almost every year since he's been in the league. There was also Justin Jefferson, who I've been taking a lot. And I guess I'm looking at it through a fantasy football perspective.

But I just like the Vikings. They're a nice team. They have some good players. They have a lot of likable players. And that defense is going to improve. I think that's going to be a great matchup. And it's going to be great for Patriots fans and Vikings fans alike. I just want to point out, by the way, Adam,

before that when you were talking about that Tampa Bay and that New England game from last year, you really were like Tom Brady, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches. You don't got to be humble, Adam. We know they're the greatest quarterback and greatest coach of all time like you don't have to be humble like those are the dudes and like you as a new england fan like you don't have to be humble here adam like they are the greatest of all time like we're not capping here like it is what it is just say it man i'm just trying to be unbiased he's

obvious i obviously believe that each one is is the greatest all time, but at the end of the day, it is opinionated. So I will say, especially as a main host of an NFL-themed podcast, I try to stay as unbiased as possible. We're going to get to Nick's guest segment, and he's going to talk about NFL rookies and how they could possibly make an impact really soon. In fact, namely this season, making an impact for their new teams. We'll get to that next.

This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet. Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch. Oh! Diggs! Side-eyed! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Fans Only Sports Network. Adam Wright, Justin Hill, special guest Nick Normand with you. And we are going to get into our guest segment. And Nick is going to talk about the NFL rookies and the possible impact they could make this season. Nick, what do you got? So, guys, I just wanted to chat about specifically nfl rookie impact that we can see with first

round guys later round guys because say for example last year we had the chiefs who drafted a good number of offensive linemen i think they had three rookies who started on that o-line i know they had creed humphries in the second round and they had trey smith who was a sixth or seventh round guy but those guys immediately made that impact with Creed Humphries being a being a rookie pro bowler and being one of the best centers in the league last year and Trey Smith being a really good guard last year where they were rookies and they may have been later round draft picks not first round guys but they made that immediate impact that Alvin Kamara and marshawn latimore of 2017 where the saints drafted a bunch of good players in that draft but they became a 13 and 3 team one before that they had

had losing seasons the last two years being seven and nine where rookies just making that big impact can turn a team around immediately going seven and nine to 13 and three that rookie impact i think is a huge deal so guys my question for you and just that I'll pose and I'll talk about some of the guys I'm thinking about, but going down that draft order, what rookies do you think are poised to make the biggest impact on their team? So not necessarily the best guy with like number one draft pick Trayvon Walker, who's crazy athletic dude, because he might be sitting behind somebody on the depth chart. We don't know necessarily what the team thinks of the guys. But what do you think, as far as what rookie is going to make that immediate

impact? It may not be a starter day one, but their rookie season is just going to be them compiling a ton of yards, changing an offensive line over from the previous year that was horrible. Some of the quarterbacks maybe that could make big sweeping changes with like Falcons who don't necessarily know Marcus Mariota as a starter. What rookies do you guys think are making that big impact this year? You want me to start, Adam? You can start if you want.

So for years, Nick, I've said to, and I'm a Giants fan saying this, we've had an issue for years with our offensive line, dealing with, like, you know, Eli Manning leaving because of retiring and all this, and Daniel Jones sucking. But I think the biggest change, in my opinion, for, it's just a fact, that's going to definitely be a great change into the o-line this year it's it's gotta be cave on tibiducks i if i said his name miscorrect he's not an offensive lineman that could d lineman i think he's a defensive end but they did take it

they did take an offensive an offensive lineman yeah evan ne Neal from Alabama. That O-lineman for your Giants is going to be a big steal, J-Wolf. Personally, in my opinion, I liked him actually coming out of this draft more than Akeem Aquanu, who went one pick before him. But I think Evan Neal, being the 6'7", 330-pound man that he is, if you watch his tape, I think he was the best blindside on an island kind of pass protector in this draft. We're going one-on-one against somebody. I think he could do the tangle with any defensive end in the league, in the draft. I think he was that good. Even being a Steelers fan with TJ Walt, like trying to get around a six foot seven, 330 pound beast. I think he got a shot

to make that matchup kind of good where I think think Evan Neal for your Giants could be a really good impact player early on. My issue, though, with that is that you guys have Andrew Thomas at your left tackle spot who's been holding it down at least this last year. I know his rookie year, he was a mess. But this last year was a better year for him is what I've heard on all accounts from Giants fans and other fans who have been trying to keep track of him. But so if Andrew Thomas is your left tackle spot, are you moving Evan Neal over to right tackle?

What do you think you're doing with that O-line? I think regarding with that what you're saying, Nick, I think it's not going to be like, you know, competition. You know how like quarterbacks go competition for their position. I think with those two sides, they can work something out with one another. I'm not like a predictor. I'm not there at the camp with what they're doing. But sides, they can work something out with one another. I'm not like a predictor. I'm not there at the camp with what they're doing,

but I think they can work something out with who's going to go on left tackle, who's going to go on right tackle. But with this situation here, I'm really happy with what the Giants management has done regarding with this year's draft. I think they said to themselves this year, look, we need to make a change now

because for years we haven't done nothing regarding this situation. But I think regarding what you're saying to answer your question here, Nick, I think with those two guys, I think one of them needs to come up with a way of who's going to go which side. I got you. I definitely can get behind that, J. Will, because if you have two good tackles, one that's better than none. And two,an neal is a good swing tackle too where he played both right and left tackle at alabama so he can flex to that right side even though you may want him as that blind side protector being as big and strong and

as good of a tackle as he is i'd be okay having him at either tackle if i was a giants fan a giants coach i would feel really good about that and Andrew Thomas, because of his track record and struggling in the past, I might necessarily want to move him over to right tackle, but I do agree with you that that impact of having that good tackle situation could be a big deal for your Giants and Daniel Jones, who has struggled. Indeed, man. Nice. Well, my pick is going to be, and i had a couple that i could have picked but i'm going to go with a mod gardener and if you guys have heard me on this show talking about a mod gardener i love me some a mod gardener and looking at and we went into our mock draft and i explained

this is a slam dunk pink slam duck dunk pick and if they don't take uh if they don't take sauce gardener that's his nickname sauce gardener because he's so good then that would be that that would be a massive failure on their part not taking a mod gardener and it like they this is a team that's very young and they're coming up they they had two other first round draft picks that were just really good they got they got uh uh who who is the who is the uh pass rusher who they got jermaine johnson they got jermaine johnson they got garrett wilson they have zach wilson from draft. They have all of these pieces and will that work out? Who cares? I don't know. They're the jets, but Ahmad Gardner is going to work out.

That guy is a bad ass corner. He is, he's going to, he, that guy, that kid is going to ball. And the fact that it like, I could, I could care less when, when cornerbacks rack up interceptions, look at Trevon Diggs, Trevon Diggs. He may have been the lead, the league leader in interceptions thrown, but he also allowed a million yards because teams were not afraid to throw his way with a mod gardener during his college career. People, teams were afraid to throw his way. If they're not throwing towards you, if nothing ever happens when you are on the field, that's a good thing.

And that is much better than racking up the interceptions. And I think Ahmad Gardner is a slam-dunk pick who's going to work for them and is going to make an impact for years to come. I can definitely get behind that too, Adam. And as far as in the division, I think the matchups could be a big deal with Ahmad Gardner because he is six foot three. He is massive for a corner, but also you don't, you should not underrate his speed because he has legit four, four speed, or he may be tall and lanky, but he is not slow. He has legitimate

four, four speed and can keep up with the best of them, where with Devontae Parker on your New England Patriots, he's going to be a perfect matchup against Devontae Parker. With a Stephon Diggs, who can be a route nightmare for guys in Buffalo, he could be a really good matchup piece against Stephon Diggs. Even with Tyree Kill, who's a smaller, faster guy, having a bigger, longer corner who can press against that fast guy off the line, I think he could be a big player in the division as far as a matchup nightmare at cornerback that the Jets have not had since Darrell Rivas, which is saying something, because Darrell Rivas was insane. And we don't know what Ahmad Gardner is going to be, but as you're saying, Adam, I think he has a ton of promise to really be a stud in this league.

Certainly. Yeah, I want to get yours as well. Yeah, definitely. So for me, as far as on the defensive side of the ball, I know it's an early pick, but I think as far as the culture for the city and what it means, Aiden Hutchinson at number two to the Detroit Lions, I think just for a Detroit Lions team that has been floundering, that has been one of the most depressing teams in the league

for most of our lifetimes, man, to have a Michigan kid, to have the top player in this draft on a lot of people's boards, to have somebody who wants to be a Lion and somebody who's a valuable position, who seems to have that charisma to just have an infectious personality on the team, that's been dead, that's had a coach now for the last year, that's been an interesting coach with a lot of interesting stuff to say, biting those kneecaps like Dan Campbell has been saying. I love his energy.

He's so funny, dude. Just crying even on camera when they lose a game. Just having somebody to be a leader for that team and be a guy who says, I want to be a Detroit Lion and turn around the scene and be as good of a player as he is. Like as far as in the past, you've looked at Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Matt Stafford.

Those are three dudes that have been the only guys on these Lions teams in the last 30-ish years. And finally, having a guy who wants to be a Lion, who isn't necessarily going to say, man, you wasted my career. It's, I want to be here. I want to be in Detroit. I want to be that dude.

I think that's a big deal for the city of Detroit. So I'm really happy for them. I predicted them to get him, and I'm just really stoked for Detroit. On the offensive side of the ball though, like, I don't know if y'all have been talking about this man much, but Christian Watson to the Packers, one, he's six foot four. He can run a legitimate four, three, four, two time. Like he's big, he is fast. He is a kick and punt returner at six foot four, which is just insanity.

But on that Packers team, I'm sure, as you guys know, the Packers depth at wide receiver does not exist. And Aaron Rodgers, I know that he's going to have to trust you to throw you the ball, but being the biggest stud on that team in a receiver room that is Randall Cobb and nobody's, I think Christian Watson could have that big impact because he's the only dude in that room who I think has real talent in his prime right now to really be a big threat that may have trouble transitioning because he's coming from a coming from a division, not D1 kind of school. But I know that he can have a real impact in that room with his talent and with that receiving room that is really lacking in Green Bay.

I really like your Aiden Hutchinson pick. And you did bring up an interesting dynamic that I actually haven't thought of before, is that he did play for Michigan, and now he's going to play for the Detroit Tigers, which are also in Michigan. So a team that he wanted to play for. He's playing for a coach who's passionate, and he has the same – and this guy kind of has the same energy as Campbell as well, doesn't he? He kind of has that, like, I'm going to run through you. Do you remember that one part of his highlight reel

where he's just saying, come on, come on, come on, and then he just plows through the guy? Like, that's the kind of guy who i'm like wow that's awesome he wants to be a detroit lion and i can't name a dude who's wanted to be a detroit lion for years and just having that face of the franchise even if he's not necessarily a 15 sack a year guy immediately in his career i think the social impact that he's going to make for the city of detroit and that leadership, I think is a bigger impact than the stats might even say. And like being a pass rusher, you're going to get those sacks. You're going to get those tackles for loss. And I think

he's got the talent to do that. But I think the impact on that team, as far as leadership and who he is, is going to be a big deal. By the way, with this, yeah, with this segment, I just want to jump a little bit around to a couple other guys with the AJ Brown trade and everything that happened with that to Philadelphia, the dude who's replacing him is Trelon Burks for the Titans. And that receiving room has Robert Woods coming off of an ACL and a couple of other third, fourth guys on the roster where Trelon Burks is going to have an immediate impact as a jet sweep kind of guy, as a gadget kind of guy, but also as a true receiver for a team that

really needs a compliment to Derrick Henry running the ball. So I really think Traylon Burks is another kind of under the radar, but really is necessary for what that team needs at receiver. He could really be a big impact dude. And Kenny Pickett for my Steel receiver. He could really be a big impact, dude. And Kenny Pickett for my Steelers. I could not leave a rookie segment without mentioning my Steelers dude, Kenny Pickett. I may not have predicted Kenny Pickett to the Steelers. I was thinking more of Malik Willis.

I didn't necessarily know which guy I liked more, where both of them had talent. Liberty's Malik Willis had maybe a stronger arm and could move quicker. And he was a little bit more baby Deshaun Watson. But I really like both guys. And I really think as far as the only rookie quarterback who could play this year's significant snaps, I think that's Kenny Pickett.

And I think for a Steelers team that loves him, that he's a Pitt guy, that he just said, I'm moving 12 feet away. I'm in the same stadium. I'm a Pittsburgh guy. I was here for five years, and I get to start my career here. I think Pickett, for what he means for Pittsburgh, and even though he has Mitch Trubisky in front of him right now, who has some real talent and is a real mobile and athletic guy,

I think Pickett has a real deal shot to start this year and to make a good impact where to me, he's got a little bit of that drew breeze release looking a little bit, Justin Herbert ish, even though he doesn't have the arm doesn't move quite as hell quite as well. Isn't necessarily a strong, but he has those tools that young quarterbacks in the league need in this day and age where athleticism throwing off platform,

be able to make those off schedule kind of plays. So I think Kenny Pickett has a real deal shot to make an impact in this league. Yeah, it's possible. I don't, I just not, I'm just not sure about this draft class for quarterbacks. And I just, I look at it, maybe, maybe one of them jumps out. Kenny Pickett, certainly, and whether or not he can play, he is jumping into a pretty good situation. The offensive line is decent. The, the wide receiving core is pretty good. And they, they just, they fortified it a little bit with some of the picks that they got. I just don't know about, and Kenny Pickett too, like, I just don't know about this this uh quarterback draft

class it reminds me a lot of 2013 where a lot of quarterbacks who who went early or who went in the top in the first three rounds uh only went there because of just relative to what the rest of the draft class looked like and and I could be wrong. I could be wrong, but I'm just not going to believe it when I see it. And maybe Kenny Pickett can play. Maybe he can't. I just don't know if I believe in this class yet, at least as far as quarterbacks go. I can get that, Adam, because there are the Christian ponders and Jake lockers of the world that came out of that draft that were way overdrafted but kenny pickett wasn't a top five top 10 pick he was at number 20 and he's coming into a good

situation where if he's not ready the steelers won't have to start him we do have mason rudolph and mitch trubisky who have started games in this league they may not necessarily be pro bowl level guys or necessarily be guys that are going to be hall of famers or going to be your franchise guy, but they're real deal guys that can start for an entire season. And you wouldn't be worried about the house burning down while you're gone kind of thing. Mitch Trubisky could start this entire year. And me as a Steelers fan, that might not necessarily be my preference, but I wouldn't necessarily be like, oh my God, we're going to go six and 11 this year because we have Mitch Trubisky as a starting quarterback. So I wouldn't necessarily be like, oh my God, we're going to go six and 11 this year

because we have Mitch Trubisky as a starting quarterback. So I'm not necessarily worried that we're going to have to jam him in. And I don't think any quarterback coming out of this draft is going to have to be jammed in. But I think that somebody else who we may have to talk about in this discussion is Matt Corral, who's going to be playing for the Panthers. Have you guys heard anything or have any thoughts about having to play behind Sam Darnold, who may not be your guy's cup of tea? But I don't think the Panthers particularly like Sam Darnold, like the coaching situation there, where I think Matt Corral could get some early snaps just because I think one

bad game, Sam Darnold gets yanked early. Yeah, they don't like that guy. And you can tell how pissed off they are that the quarterback that they traded for, who they believed in, would actually make an impact. He starts, what, 4-0, 3-0, 4-0 for that team, and then it was just – he fell off a cliff. He fell off a cliff. And they were so pissed.

They brought in former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. They were doing all sorts of stuff to try and make up for it, but just nothing was working. And, yeah, that is a good place for a rookie quarterback who may not have been highly thought of to go and maybe get a chance. I mean, if you're looking for a chance as a quarterback, go to the Carolina Panthers. That's where you need to go. Do you have any other prospects that jump out to you? One other thing I just want to talk about

with Matt Corral, because they got him in the third round and they got him later in the draft, they got some better players, even though they didn't have as many early round picks. Getting Akema Kwonu at number six to lock down that left tackle spot for potentially a decade, we don't know how good he could be. We don't know what his ceiling is. He has that much talent that he could be a stud left tackle for 15 years. He's got that mobility and strength ability. But because you've got that left tackle spot locked down, you've got that right tackle spot locked down by Taylor Moton. And you have an interior O-line that's not bad. Even with a Sam Darnold or a Matt Corral at quarterback,

you have Christian McCaffrey, who may or may not be healthy this season. We don't know. We never know. We got DJ Moore. We got Terrace Marshall, who was a rookie last year, who could be looking to make a bigger impact. We got some big, fast dudes, some big, strong dudes, some really talented guys in that offense who could be looking to make a bigger impact. We got some big, fast dudes, some big, strong dudes, some really talented guys in that offense who could be around Matt Corral

or could be around Sam Darnold to make that an interesting team. Even though we don't necessarily know because of the quarterback situation, if Matt Corral has to start games, he's got big targets, fast targets to throw down the field to. And so I think he has a real opportunity

that if he gets it he could make some big zach wilson-esque plays yeah certainly we'll see how it ends up how it ends up going but uh yeah we'll we'll see i don't know that that team does have it is a good place for a quarterback if they could play to to uh to really to really do well they now have a they now have a tackle that offensive line is improved they could still use some work on it but they have they have some receivers they have a great defense they just need the quarterback and that'll be the that'll be it looks like that's going to be the last key the last piece to their puzzle uh if we're being honest but um any other thoughts before we

end the show here? Yeah, definitely. So just a couple of last rookies just to throw their names out there if you've heard anything. As we spoke about earlier, Jermaine Johnson, one, I think he was a steal as far as where people thought he was going to go versus where he went. Because if y'all were listening in to a lot of draft conversations, people were like, he's a legitimate top 10 pick. He's a top 10 player in this draft. I didn't necessarily think top 10, but I thought top half of the first round guy. And to get him at 26 when you only had to move up a couple of spots for the Jets, I think that's a really awesome pickup for them. And I think that if you look at that D-line, they have some really good D-tackles with a Quinnen Williams, with a John Franklin Myers. Their defensive tackle situation is really strong and really deep, where if you want to be a dude who the interior D-tackles are just taking up space, taking up dudes, and getting those one-on-ones, I think Jermaine Johnson could get a lot of one-on-ones on the outside his rookie year to be a good edge defender in this league. As far as other guys who I think could make a big impact, I think the two tackles that Seattle drafted, because they had both of their tackles leave in free agency, I think both the

rookie tackles that Seattle brought in could start day one and could make a big impact because I thought they were both highly touted prospects coming out in this year's draft. As far as a Troy Anderson, really under the radar guy in this draft in my opinion, but he's a 6'3 athletic as hell dude coming out of Wyoming in this last year's draft. He was a third rounder, I believe, but 6'3 dude doesn't look that athletic when you just look at him wearing shorts, but he ran a 4 4 40 is big and long think about like a brian erlacher or a um what's the name of the linebacker who's on the cowboys the van van something blatant van der esch that's the guy's name but think about somebody

with that kind of build but runs a 4 440 and getting him in the second or third round, especially for a defense that lost, what's the dang guy's name? But the, oh, it's Oak, okay, something, that went to the Jaguars. There was a linebacker, Foyasadaluokan, that's the dude's name, on the Falcons. He had 192 tackles this last year, which is like third all time in a season. It was a ton of tackles. And you just need that leader of a defense at linebacker position. And I think Troy Anderson could slide in perfectly to be a great linebacker

who's going to rack up a lot of tackles, be athletic, be big and strong on that Falcons defense. Really stoked as far as to be able to talk about this with you guys. And one last dude to talk about, Brees Hall to the Jets to another offensive weapon at running back. And really, I think an awesome compliment in that Shanahan-style zone run scheme that the Jets are going to be running with Robert Sala.

I just think Brees Hall could be an awesome pickup, and I think a lot of people viewed him as the top running back in this draft. And to take him at the top of the second is good value and to really be able to have that stud running back on your team for a just team that has a good o-lineman good wide receiving core now potentially good quarterback and a good running back I think they're a legitimate team that has a fun offense to watch this year so I really think Brees Hall is the last dude that I would really talk about as far as big early impact for a rookie. Yeah, I like Brees Hall. I think they're kind of screwing over Michael Carter though, because I really liked Michael

Carter. I liked how he was playing. And now they're bringing in another kid, and I feel bad for him. I think he was a player who had some promise, and maybe he wasn't going to be a superstar, but he certainly had a chance to be a very good running back in this league. And he could still, but it looks like he's going to be in a he's going to be sharing carries with uh with breece hall now i don't have a problem with that though because as y'all know watching san francisco and watching that shanahan zone run scheme they have a huge running back stable and they draft a ton of running backs because they use a ton of them so they might not necessarily have that dude that's breaking 1,500 yards in a

season, even though they run the ball a lot. They're going to get a lot of dudes in that stable getting a lot of carries. So I wouldn't worry necessarily about Michael Carter as far as like for fantasy purposes, I wouldn't draft him anywhere near the first couple of rounds. And I wouldn't draft Brees Hall either because of that scheme. But I definitely think that having that multiple back kind of being able to switch guys in and out behind a good offensive line, I think you could see a lot of running plays and a lot of production, even necessarily not having a true number one. I think you could see both guys having productive years this season. Certainly. We'll see how it ends up going. We'll see how the impact goes with the,

with all of these rookies, a lot of promising guys coming out of this draft. A lot of the prospects that you mentioned, Nick, thank you so much for joining the show. Let me know if you ever want to come back on and talk some football, talk about your Steelers or anything like that. We're going to have plenty of time to talk about whatever during during this summer because i mean as we know the uh the summer is a bit of a dead spot for the nfl so it'll be great to talk uh but thank you so much for coming on so that will do it for us tonight thank you for listening to us be sure to tune in to us live tuesdays and thursdays at 7 30 on twitter and facebook through fans only sports network 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 FumbleRuski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcasts and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we will see you next week. Over and out.