The Fumblerooski Podcast - Time Will Tell -Ep 36 the Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: August 11, 2021

Football is officially back! We discuss the various storylines and narratives going into the preseason and also give our takes on the Hall Of Fame Enshrinement.

Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm your host, Adam Wright, along with co-host Justin Tucker. Now, preseason is finally here. We just had the Hall of Fame game kicking off preseason that just started up. So football's finally back. Justin, we have the we had the Hall of Fame enshrinement that just happened the other day. So we're going to split this episode into two halves, sort of. We're going to have the first half of this episode, we're going to talk about a little bit about the Hall of Fame enshrinement, the first couple parts of it. We'll share our thoughts and then Justin, you can give some additional thoughts as well. And then after that, we have some preseason thoughts. Going preseason we just we just had our first game but there's all there's still no shortage of questions question marks going into preseason

and going into the regular season as well and there's a certain player who previously a couple of who we mentioned a couple episodes ago he decided to um they him and his team, they worked things out. He previously requested a trade. Xavier and Howard, they worked things out. And we'll go over that in just – later on this episode. However, we're going to start off with a Hall of Fame enshrinement, and that would be with Peyton Manning. So Tom Brady came to the Hall of Fame enshrinement to see Peyton Manning.

And Peyton Manning, during his speech, he took a friendly shot at Brady during his speech. He says, by the time Brady is inducted in 2035, he'll only have enough time to make an Instagram post about it. Taking a shot at how he always, he's, he's a, has a big social media presence and that he, that he's just never going to retire and he'll only be inducted in like 25 years from now. But just this back and forth kind of has me thinking a little bit, and it raises the question. Looking back at his – at both of their careers back when they were both playing in the league, do you think there will ever be a rivalry quite like Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady? That's a good question. Probably never, but there will always be comparisons between quarterbacks.

I'm not sure if it'll have the same flair like a Brady and a Manning, but in the modern day, in the game of football, there will always be comparisons between players. Montana, you have Marino. You had Peyton. Patrick Mah Montana, you have Marino. You had Peyton. Patrick Mahomes, you have everybody else. Like this is just another thing. And so sooner or later, I believe there will be another person to challenge Patrick Mahomes for that spot. But until then, that remains to be seen. I don't think there will be another one yet until the

quarterbacks that are in the league prove themselves a little bit more. Patrick Mahomes already has a Super Bowl ring, and we already know his talent. So it's like Patrick Mahomes is tier one, everybody else is tier 1A and below. So it's just a matter of time before we get that other quarterback to compare him to. So here you have two of who are widely considered some of the couple of the greatest quarterbacks to ever live in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. A lot of people have those those guys one and two in their personal rankings and they played in the same era. Now, if it weren't for Tom Brady playing as long as he has been, then they'd be basically – their playing careers basically started in – well, Tom Brady, if he were a normal person, would have ended around the same time.

Now, I don't think we understand how lucky we were to get a rivalry like this for two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to play and play so often against each other all right they played against each other about what was it 17 times yeah and they were a lot of them were a lot of them were playoff games about five of them were playoff games and a lot of and now the regular season was very one-sided but during the postseason um tom brady is two and three against against Peyton Manning, Peyton Manning 3-2. And it was basically whoever was at home would win. That was the split, and they were some of the best postseason games you would ever see. see so the fact that we got um what we have is i mean we're not going to realize how lucky we had

it with these two until they're both until they're both gone now tom brady's still in the league and for the rivalries i mean name a rivalry right now that's that's anywhere close to it that's going on right now steelers and ravens no like between quarterbacks oh I can't really oh that's no I don't really think there's like one that compares to that I mean what what could we think of I mean the the issue with the issue with Mahomes and Rodgers is that they never played each against each other nope and if they have I don't believe and if they is that they never played against each other. Nope. And if they have, I don't believe. And if they have, they haven't played enough against each other.

To call it a quarterback rivalry. Maybe Mahomes-Jackson, but that's not, that's kind of one side. It's a little bit one side. So it's, I mean, well, in the regular season, it was pretty one-sided as it was with Brady Manning. But, I mean, time will tell. There's a lot of good young quarterbacks in this league. Maybe some of them rise up and they face each other. Maybe Deshaun Watson gets traded to the Denver Broncos, and next thing you know, you have Mahomes-Watson every single year,

twice a year. Now that's a quarterback rivalry. That'd be an interesting one. But my problem with that, they were up 24-0 against them in the divisional round two years ago, and they still found a way to lose. That's my issue with Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. They were up 24-0, lost 51-31. I can't explain how that happened. I can't either. Do you think that has to do with coaching roster around them? Let's not kid ourselves. Mahomes has a better roster around him than Deshaun Watson is.

Not to say that Deshaun Watson is better. I'm not trying to say Deshaun Watson is better than Patrick Mahomes has a better roster around him than Deshaun Watson is. Not to say that Deshaun Watson is – I'm not trying to say Deshaun Watson is better than Patrick Mahomes. But – The roster was superior in a way. But again, he still had – 24-0. 24-0. You gain a lead like that and you somehow blow it away in that amount of time. It's not as bad as the 28-3 lead, but oh my.

I mean, it's pretty close because it was almost effortless by the Chiefs. It didn't happen in a championship game. That's the only reason I'm not as pissed off about it. For the Patriots, it took every inch of effort. It took every bit of effort that year. For the Chiefs, the lead was almost gone by halftime. It was just that bad. Like, wow.

I remember sitting there in a Buffalo Wild Wings watching with some of my buddies, and we were just watching, and I was just thinking about how, holy crap, this Chiefs team is about to get eliminated. They're up 24-0. And the game just started. They could, the lead could get bigger. And next thing you know, we're driving home from the Wild Wings, watching, listening to it on the radio. And we're just hearing the Chiefs score drive after drive after drive.

Next thing you know, it's almost halftime and they're barely up. It was incredible. I believe they won that game by double digits yeah but anyways that i that is i think that could be the closest thing that could end up being the closest thing two very two very young quarterbacks if they wind up in the same division they wind up facing each other a lot they face each other a lot in the playoffs that's a quarterback rivalry that could come close. Like it depends on what team Deshaun Watson goes to. Cause if he stays in Houston,

they're not going to be competitive enough for it to be a rivalry. And if he goes to another team, well, they have enough pieces around him after the trade. Well, there'll be competitive with my home. So it's like, I want as much as I want to say Lamar, I kind of do want to say Deshaun as well, So it's like, as much as I want to say Lamar,

I kind of do want to say Deshaun as well. But it's like, I don't think he'll have the pieces. Yeah, we'll have to see what happens. I mean, if he gets traded to Deshaun, if he gets traded to the Denver Broncos, that's a team with a lot of talent around them. That's a team where I think they could easily contend and rival the Kansas City Chiefs. Division rivals, a quarterback rivalry, that's football right there. That's a game where I would circle on the counter and say, that's a game I want to see. That's a game I want to see. But anyways, time will tell.

Kind of like how time won't tell with this other wide receiver who ended his career early. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. The third youngest, one of the youngest players ever to be inducted in the hall of fame we'll talk about him a little bit in depth next you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast welcome back you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast we are talking about the hall of fame enshrinement that happened a couple of days ago. And we talked about Peyton Manning, one legend, and we're going to go over to one guy who happens to be the third youngest player to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame, former Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson,

third youngest ever to be inducted. He retired at the age of 30. So this raises the question, and this has been a question that's been asked a lot, but I'm going to revisit it. Should Calvin Johnson have played longer? That's a tough question. At the end of the day, that's only a question Calvin can answer. I would want to see him play longer, but if he decided my body is at a point where it's been beaten into what like i can't keep going through this then yeah i think it's time to retire now granted if he was willing to go through it if he had a chance to win a super bowl then i'm like yeah i think he'll be like all right i feel like

we can win a super bowl but the fact that it's Detroit, they're not going anywhere. It's like, I already have the numbers necessary to be in the Hall of Fame. And I think it was just a matter of how he was feeling. And he just had enough at the time and just wanted to move on. He couldn't leave the team. So he's just like, since they won't let me go, no matter what, I might as well just retire. So the thing with Calvin Johnson is the year he retired in 2015, he had 1,200 yards. And the year before that, in just 13 games, he still had over 1,000 yards. And the year before that, in just 14 games he had nearly 1500 yards like it was

it was incredible from even when he misses time this guy this guy just racks up statistics it's just such a he deserved he deserves every bit of this hall of fame induction man he look just look at his statistics that's a you talk about a guy who i would have loved to be a new england patriot he's at the top of the list and i remember when he was going to be a free agent that's um that off season in 2015 there were a lot of patriots fans out there saying well let's sign calvin johnson he's late in his career he's been playing for the lowly detroit lions for all his career he might want to go ring chasing. He goes and retires.

I was like, God damn it. Not this time, Patriots. Could he have played longer? Yes. If the question is could he have played longer, absolutely. And he could have played at a high level for years. He probably could have played until today and still could have put up numbers. So the biggest question is, should he have? So, I mean, you can never tell what kind of injury he could have gone through if he continued to play or if it would have had any long-term effects.

He clearly didn't want to. He was talking in his Hall of Fame speech. He said as much as he enjoyed it while he was there, he endured a lot of pain off the field from playing so long, from all the fatigue. And, you know, I mean, I'm pretty – I understand both sides of this um I feel like he could I'm gonna say it's a very tough question to ask but yeah he should have played longer he was only 30 only 30 you can't tell a man that feels like he needs to retire to like, you know what?

You know? It's his personal choice, but I think he should have played longer. I mean, that's my personal opinion. But his personal choice was that I choose health and I've already put up the numbers. But he still would have been playing in Detroit because he's still under contract to Detroit. Detroit wouldn't move on from him even if they wanted, even if he wanted to. I think that was the thing. That was one of the things that was holding him back from going to like Green Bay.

If Green Bay offered, and if New England and Green Bay offered him, he would have went to Green Bay first. He says on like the Pat McAfee show, Green Bay was one of the few people that like tried to get him. Aaron Rodgers was always trying to get him to Green Bay, which is why I never understood why Packers organization never trusted Aaron Rodgers with this. But that's besides the point. And if he found a way to get to Green Bay, he would have added to his legendary resume. That team would have won more Super Bowls. They would have won a Super Bowl.

A Super Bowl? They would have won a couple. I guarantee one. Two. You guarantee two? Three. Four. Five. Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five.

Not six. Six. It would have been electric. Even as a Patriots fan, even as a diehard Tom Brady fan, that would have been fun to have been electric even as a Patriots fan even as a diehard Tom Brady fan that would have been fun to watch Jordy Nelson and Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson and Devante Adams later on that would have been incredible but also hard to hard to stop it would have been like a passing of the torch. It would have been from one number one receiver to another. Calvin Johnson would have finished with even more insane numbers, a ring, and inducted into the Hall of Fame a little later on in his life. And he wouldn't complain about the pain, and he'd say it was worth it, if only.

But he wouldn't get traded to the North. That's just not going to happen. All right. Well, we can fantasize reminisce all we want we could do this all day but we're gonna have to move on to some pre-season coverage um do you have any you have any other thoughts on on the hall of fame before we move on uh pain gave a good speech i loved a little dig at tom Brady. I no longer hate Chuck Palamalu, and I respect his whole career. Now that he's retired and into the Hall of Fame, much deserved, by the way.

I'm happy for him and glad he's finally in there. I mean, he's a great player. I hate Derek Jeter as a Red Sox fan. I don't like him. He was a Steelers phenomenal player.x fan. I don't like him. He was a Steelers phenomenal player. That's why I don't like him. But I always had respect for him. Yeah, of course.

I mean, as long as they were nice guys. I mean, Antonio Brown is great, but I don't respect him. He's a clown. And same with Ben Roethlisberger. He loves kids a little too much. Anyways, we're going to go on to some preseason coverage. First, we're going to touch on a certain Bears quarterback, a rookie taken very high. And we're going to look at some expectations that we have for him going into the 2021 season into his rookie year

that'll be up next you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast all right this is the fumble ruski podcast i am adam right i'm here with Justin Tucker. We've been talking some football today on this fine evening. And we're talking a little bit of preseason football. And we're going to talk about Justin Fields, who has been impressing so far in training camp. And we're going into preseason. And we still don't know whether or not he'll be a week one starter. I had that in – there was that Instagram video that I posted on our Instagram page where he's on the run. He makes a sidearm throw going with no weight on his – putting no weight into it and nearly effortlessly completes the pass. Now, the question is, do you think so, Justin, do you think that just the other Justin,

Justin Fields should be the starter in week one? First thing first. I mean, look at the name. You already knew he was going to be phenomenal with just the first name, Justin. That screams phenomenal right there. But as far as should he start, I don't think he should start immediately with one. I think it all depends on what you see in preseason and what you like about it. If you think he plays good enough during preseason where you're like, I see it already.

Yeah, you should throw him out there to see what he's got. If you don't like what you see and he's making erratic throws every now and then and he's not moving the ball the way you like, then yeah, I believe you have to sit him. It's just a matter of what you like to see in preseason. And he has three games to figure it out. So Justin Fields, yeah, he's still, he he's looked good so far in preseason and sorry, training camp. We've seen some nice clips of him making these crazy throws and making all of these plays. And he has the roster around him to succeed this year. The big question with him is, yeah, we need to see him during preseason. And even after that, I still would not be opposed to the idea of him sitting out the first few weeks just to learn the offense and sort of continue to be groomed under this professional staff until he's ready.

This is the franchise guy we're talking about. I've been talking all offseason before this draft how the Bears are a quarterback away from being in contention, and now they have him. And they've all while managing to retain Allen Robinson for a year. So this is the year where you need to, where you figure things out, you figure out where you are with this quarterback. This is a big deal for them. So they need to treat it that way. And if he's not ready, then I'm, or if he is ready and they just want to take a precaution, I am not opposed to that.

I think if they want to start Dalton a few weeks, I feel like Andy Dalton has a similar play style, maybe not quite as mobile, but he can fit that offense fairly similar to Justin Fields. And he could learn under a veteran like him and i think that would be very beneficial to him i think i'm not opposed to it if he's ready then and they want to do it let's see what he's got but just be careful not to ruin this guy because he is your franchise guy yeah of course and if annie don't can't do the trick there's always a big something nick over there to do the trick.

So you have two backup quarterbacks that you can see. Run the offense instead of Justin Fields until you feel like, all right, I believe he has this offense down pat. I believe he can get it to my number one through four receivers just fine. I believe he can orchestrate the offense and do it at a high level. And, yeah, you don't want to ruin him. So I don't think they'll throw him out week one. But I think over the season they'll look at him and be like, yeah, I think it's time that we started him. Let's see what he's got.

Yeah, we'll see what he's got. Again, time will tell with this quarterback. He's a good young player. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He's a good young player. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He's looked good in camp. We'll see what happens. Time will tell, and we'll see what we can expect from this kid. Speaking of expectations, we have a certain star player

coming off an injury for the giants a certain running back who has made a big step towards his comeback from his acl tear um we'll get we'll go get more into that next you're listening to the fumble ruski podcast welcome back we are here talking some football. I'm here with Justin Tucker. We're going into Saquon Barkley, who tore his ACL back in the beginning of the 2020 season, and he's been recovering for it since. And there's been a lot of, there's been a lot of noise from the giant, from Saquon's camp saying that,

and trainers saying that there's a possibility that he could miss some time during the regular season as well. So he took a big step this a couple of days ago where he was activated off the physically unable to perform list, in other words, the PUP list or PUP list, whichever you want to put it. So there is still the possibility that he could miss time whether or not that's preseason or the regular season as well. But, Justin, when he comes back, what do you think we should expect from this guy coming off an ACL tear?

I think they'll use him with precaution when he first comes back. Hopefully. Hopefully they use him with precaution because he's just coming off an ACL tear. So maybe the Giants will do it by committee more so than relying on Saquon Barkley a lot. But I think as they realize that, hopefully, knock on wood, he's fine and they can rely on him more in the run game and in the passing game. So I think it's just a steady process of he's coming off an injury. We don't want to run him into the ground again. Let's just see what he's got.

And then we can go from there. Hopefully Daniel Jones has progressed to the point where they don't have to fill the box with eight people, but I don't know. I don't know where Daniel Jones is at this current moment in time. I believe he has the weapons to succeed, but until we see him during preseason and week one, I just don't know. Yeah, we'll have – so the thing with Saquon Barkley that I have with him is that even before his ACL tear, he still was not performing really and it was ever since daniel jones took over

as the starting quarterback saquon barkley hasn't put up the numbers what and what he's put up these you're asking a lot from saquon i don't think people realize what you're asking of him from saquon well i just want him to be able to be the star running back that he is, being the number four overall pick from the 2016 draft. He still ran for over 1,000 yards. It was the 2017 draft, but yeah. 18. He was with Lamar in the rest.

Oh, it was 18. Right, right, right, right. 18. Number four overall pick. His first year. He was the number two overall. Number two? I thought it was number four overall pick. His first year. He was the number two overall. Number two? I thought it was number four.

Sorry. Number two overall pick. You have – that's even – that further supports my argument. You should expect more than what you've gotten from him from the past couple of years. His first year, he absolutely met expectations. The second year, for most of the year, he was good. And then Eli Manning was replaced by Daniel Jones, and his play fell off. Gee, I wonder why.

Gee, I wonder why. Do you think Daniel Jones is not as good as Eli Manning? I don't think he's helped. I don't think he's helped Saquon as much as you want him to. I believe when he first took over, I believe he still had – and Saquon still had more room to operate because at least Daniel was throwing touchdown passes. I can't remember.

I think it was against the Bucs. I think he threw like four or five touchdown passes in that game. And I think they won. And that's how he got the name Danny Dimes. And ever since then, he hasn't met up to expectations. And since then, they've, I think, opposing defenses have said, we're not allowing Saquon to get off. So you're just going to have to rely on Daniel on Daniel Jones and I don't think he can deliver so it's either Saquon or

Buster right now until Danny Daniel Jones delivers see I mean that regardless there's still there's still that the fact that he's underperformed a little bit this past the past couple of years and there's the fact that the fact that he's underperformed a little bit the past couple of years, and there's the fact that he's coming back from an ACL tear. So it's not just that. So it's not just the ACL tear alone. He still has to prove that he can still do it, and with an injury on top of that. And so we'll have to see what happens. I hope that Saquon Barkley hasn't been wasted for his best years

and that his best years are behind him. It feels like his, I mean, since he was drafted, it feels like his career is almost over before it starts. And, I mean, ACL tears are hard to come back from as a running back you know dalvin cook tore his acl and he wasn't the same until like two years later he tore it in 20 he tore it what was it in 2018 2017 he tore it in 2017 and he wasn't the same guy until 20 he and he wasn't the same guy until 2019. And even then he was still having injury issues. It was basically up until 2020 where he was able to play to his full potential. So if it takes that long for Saquon Barkley, especially this late in his career as a running back,

his best years – he's a running back. His best years could very well be behind him. It's not like he's 28, 29. He's still young even by running back standards. He still has a few more years left in him where you can say, okay, he can still perform. It's not like he's 28, 29 and then the ACL happened and it went out. No, he's still perform. It's not like he's 28, 29, and then the ACL happened and it went out. No, he's still young.

I believe he can still recover. I think it's just a matter of that Giants O-line and Daniel Jones. If he can get a line behind him, watch out. That's about it. I sure hope so. He's a nice player. He has a great head on his so. He's a nice player. He has a great head on his shoulders.

He has a great work ethic. He's squeaky clean off the field. I mean, this is a type of player who you want to be the face of the NFL when it comes to running backs. And I really hope that his best years aren't behind him. I hope you're right. I hope I'm wrong. But it's so hard for running backs to sustain success over a long period of time. And he's already been in the league for a few years. So I hope his best years aren't behind him.

Anyways, we talked about one running back, one veteran running back, and we're going to get into a rookie running back who stuck out a little bit in the Hall of Fame game for the Steelers with some expectations. We'll talk about him next on the Fumble Rooski podcast. Stay tuned. Welcome back. You're listening to the Fumble Ruski podcast. We've been talking some preseason and we have this one running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers who was just drafted in the first round. His name is Najee Harris. He had the second most carries in the hall of fame game he averaged

3.1 yards per carry um and he had a target in the passing game so he had his fair share of of usage now he is there's a lot of there's a lot of rumors circulating around actually there's a lot of expectations from a lot of from staff that he will handle a workhorse job and a workhorse role. Now, what do you think we can expect, Justin, from Najee Harris in his rookie season playing in a large role coming right out of college? Who cares? If you're going to force me to talk about Nigel Harris, I think he's going to have an okay season. I'm not going to expect him to have a great season,

mainly because I don't think the Pittsburgh Steelers line is as great as it once was because David Cretton Castro is not there. Villanueva is not there. As a matter of fact, he's in Baltimore. Marquise Pouncey is retired, so I believe their line isn't as good as it used to be. Big Ben is not as good as he used to be. And so I think he probably won't rush for 1,000 yards, but I think he'll have 1,000 yards all purpose

because he'll be in the passing game. And since they see him as a three-down bag, meaning he can run, catch, and block, I think he'll get a lot of reps despite the fact that he's a rookie. So overall, I think he'll have an okay season, but I'm not sure he'll break 1,000 yards based upon that Steelers O-line. So you don't think he'll come in and immediately just light it up? Not in the North.

Not in the North, no. Okay. Light it up somewhere else. I mean, there's plenty of scenes where he can light it up against, but not against us. He has to face, like, the Ravens, the Browns four times, and then there's Cincinnati, who they apparently struggled with last year. So, yeah.

So, yeah, you raise a good point with the fact that his offensive line is gone from last year. They've lost three of their five starters from last season and i mean they they replace they replace them with some pieces but they're all either first year guys or they're being moved in they're play players who are moving in from to a different position so the the offensive line is a big question whether their past their past protection is going to be a huge question mark. Their run protection could still be intact.

The only issue is he's a rookie. so they're going to end up having to they're going to end up having to um uh play a very balanced attack to sort of compensate for the fact that their offensive line is uh their offensive line is a little bit in shambles it's a big question mark if they can keep them guessing then Naj Najee Harris could have some production. He's a very talented back. He could be used in the passing game and the rushing game. And he can, as long as the offensive line isn't too much of an issue, and he gets the workload that we think he's going to get,

then I think he'll have a productive season. I think he will have over 1,000 yards. I do. Rushing? Rushing yards, yeah. I think he'll get that. I don't think so. I don't think the passing game will be as good as you think it is, because you even

saw Chase Claypool went down in the preseason game, so we don't know the extent of his injury right now. We hope it's nothing too long-term, but at the same time, it's still an injury. Even then, I'm not certain of him being a number one. I know Juju's not a number one. James Washington wants to leave, and then there's Deontay Johnson, who occasionally drops the ball more times than I can count. He drops more balls than puberty, but that's besides the point.

Deontay Johnson? Yeah. I don's besides the point. Deontay Johnson? Yeah. I don't know about that. Deontay Johnson was one of their more reliable receivers last year. That's not saying much. That's really not saying much. Chase Claypool had himself a good year. There was Juju Smith-Schuster who had a solid year for them.

And they still have Eric Ebron as a tight end, they'll have a decent passing game. The big issue with the Steelers' offense was not in the passing game. It was in the rushing game. They didn't have much of a rushing attack. And now there also is the issue that Ben Roethlisberger can't push it down the field like he used to anymore however um if we're talking about naji harris producing they may not need that they may just need short passes and to rush to rush the ball every now and then and short passes does mean more action for the running back, who's going to be Najee Harris. So do I think he's going to have a great year?

Absolutely not. But can he eclipse 1,000? He can get there. I just don't see it because, again, I've seen the Steelers. They did not scare me once last year. The only reason we lost the second game is because our whole team was ravaged by COVID. If we weren't in that game, if our team was healthy, we would have won that game. Deontay Johnson couldn't catch. Chase Claypool couldn't get open. Juju Schuster, I don't even

know about him. Eric Ebron couldn't even catch. And down the stretch, you saw all these problems just elevate and elevate, except against the Colts. Every other game they lost. The Washington football team, who they should have beat, they lost. Cleveland Browns, twice, back-to-back, should have won both of those games and lost horrendously the second time. I don't want to hear it about them. I just don't. And the running game was horrendous last year. I don't think it'll get better this year because of the losses on the O-line, which you're going to have to rely on more on big ben passing wise and i don't feel safe relying on big ben passing wise i'm not i just don't see it see it's just gonna have to be a balanced attack it's just going to they're we're going it's going

to be a it's going to be it's not like like the it's not like the Kansas City Chiefs where we're just going to rely on Patrick Mahomes to run the show. It's going to have to be a team effort where the receivers are playing a role, the tight ends are playing a role, the offensive line has to step up a little bit, I'll admit, and Najee Harris is going to have to put his big boy pants on early on. But I think he can do it. I think he can. And if he doesn't get 1,000, he can get 900, 850.

I think he can do it. Then he won't eclipse over 1,000. If you want to tell me he'll get 1,000 all purpose, I'm like, all right, I can see that. But no, I just don't see him getting it rushing because he has to face arguably two top five defenses four times. I just... And if I

look at their schedule, it's not looking too good either. So for right now, I just don't see it. Well, this will be, I guess, another time. We're going to have to name this episode Time time will tell. You think so? Yeah, because it's preseason.

And we don't know what all these people are until the regular season when they actually have real competition to go up against. All right. Now we're going to move on again, and next we'll discuss a certain Deshaun Watson, some more drama going on with him, as has been going on all offseason with this guy, who's been good for us because he's given us more to talk about. There's more news on him. We'll discuss it next on the Fumble Rooski podcast. All right, here we go.

We're going to discuss some Deshaun watson drama a little bit of gossip going on back around here he's been involved in literally everything um when it comes to the nfl when it in regard regarding trade rumors um team drama all that stuff. There was a lot of assault cases, quite a few to say the least, that have gone his way. So Deshaun Watson has finally reported to training camp. However, he also, according to reports, he's not going to travel with the team to Green Bay, meaning he won't be playing in their first preseason game. And so this has been a big question all offseason long, but we'll ask it now that the season's almost started. Is there any chance Deshaun Watson plays football this season? There's a chance. It doesn't seem likely. I want him to play, but the question is, where will he go

is the main thing. Hopefully, a team will trade for him, or he'll just suck it up and just do another season with Houston, but I just don't know at this point in time. It's a tough situation, especially with DeSantis and with all the things going on surrounding him, but I have heard that theagles want to trade for him so it's just a matter of will they trade for him will they not or i don't know what they'll do i'm not even sure that deshaun watson can even play right now so it's only time will tell even if he did want to play it will be up to the league i mean yeah it would take it would take all of the legal stuff that has gone on around around his um around the assault cases to clear up i'm not saying not saying whether or not

any of that transpired or not but he would have to be it would take it would take either that it would take that that it would take that and he would have to be a little more competent with the team he'd have to be a little more he'd have to be he'd have to be more

more he'd have to work with them and be able to in order to be able to play regardless of whether he gets traded or not like you said there's the eagles that could trade for him who aren't completely who don't seem to be completely sold on jalen hurts yet there's also the denver broncos who i mentioned earlier on but either way he has both sides needs to work need to work this out regardless if he's going

to play this year because if they's going to play this year. Because if they just continue to stand here with a stalemate, he may not play this season and we may not see him again at 2022 at the earliest. And I want to see this guy on the field, assuming that all the legal stuff is cleared. Yeah, assuming all the legal stuff is cleared. Yeah, assuming all the legal stuff is cleared. I do want to see him on the field. It's just a matter of if he can get through those obstacles or allegations in the way.

But I just don't know what team he'll play for, and I'm not sure if he'll go to a better or worse team. That's the issue. That's Doug. That's the issue. It's Doug. It's my dog, Golden Retriever. Golden Retriever, yellow lab mix. Anytime anybody comes

by, he just starts Justin knows very well doesn't don't you Justin I'm well aware Doug likes me yeah for those of you could hear that that was my dog Doug um he's upstairs I'm recording this in the basement anyways um we're gonna I want to see this guy play and it's gonna take a lot of it's gonna take a lot of um it's gonna take a lot of um it's going to take a lot of competence from both sides for both sides to just listen and to work things out in order for him to play but i mean if he plays one of these preseason games i think we could be a little more reassured that he'll play if he doesn't then he's i don't think there's a good chance he won't play this season. What do you think? The thing about preseason is some quarterbacks won't even play preseason.

So it's just I'm not even sure if that's a good indicator. So I hate to say it because we've said it too many damn times this episode already. Time will tell. Only time will tell. Just like all these situations during preseason. Hopefully he does get traded. He doesn't seem happy in Houston, but we'll wait and see.

Absolutely. We're going to wait and see because you know why, Justin? You know why? Why? Because time will finish it. Time will tell. There you go. Time will tell.

Anyways, time did tell with Xavier Howard. And so we've had a lot of different trade requests going on, if you really think about it, this offseason. And we've had J've had jj watt request a trade he got traded we've had matthew stafford request a trade he got traded we've had we had julio jones request a trade he got traded carson wentz got traded i think the only one who hasn't and it's only mainly because of the sexual assault allegations, it's Sean Watson. However, there's one player who has broken that trend and that's

Xavier Howard. We'll talk about that next on the Fumble Rooski podcast. Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast. I'm Adam Wright with Justin Tucker. We're talking about Xavier Howard, who previously requested a trade. But both sides, the Dolphins and Xavier Howard's camp, they have worked it out, and his contract was restructured. Now, this is the most money added to any player's contract with four years remaining left on the deal. And the question that I have is,

do you think he deserves so much money to be added to his contract? I believe for what he's worth and what he's going to do, I believe he is worth it. He was a defensive player of the year candidate last year with 10 interceptions that that means not only is he locking down the best receiver he's giving your offense more chances to score points which is a good thing for your rookie quarterback at the time so i think he's valuable for both sides of the ball if you see it from that perspective i believe he was worth more money going into this going into the season and he believed so too which is why he wanted the trade because the dolphins weren't every like going along with it until they just finally caved in like all right we'll pay you so it's good all around i'm happy for him glad he's getting paid i know sean's happy he's getting paid now he doesn't have to deal with

that and now we can just focus on if Tua's going to be the guy. And now that's the only question remaining. They have the defense intact. They just need to know where the offense is right now. Now, see, I've been saying this. So you and I, we both had Xavier Howard on our player rankings for our cornerbacks. We had him, and I believe we both had him in our top five. So Xavier Howard, he is the top player in a position that is, in my opinion, probably the most important position on the defense.

What? I just forget. You said he was the top one he's one of one of the top players for his one of the top players for his position and one of the most important positions on the defensive side of the ball i thought you said he was the top one no i have i have jirex alexander there okay just checking just yeah i'm not gonna i'm not gonna contradict myself I thought you said he was the top one. No, I have Jair Alexander there. Okay. Just checking. Just checking. Yeah, I'm not going to contradict myself.

That wouldn't be good. Anyways. Anyways, we have – so this guy – and when you look at this Dolphins team, they have talent everywhere now. And if their top corner decides to leave, then that becomes an issue where this team just finally got into sort of the realm of contention where we can look at that team and say, if everything falls right, if Tua Tagovailoa is as good as we think he's going to be, and if this team pans out, they could be up there in the mix.

If Xavier Howard leaves, then that secondary isn't quite as good anymore. I mean, Byron Jones is all right. He's not the player he used to be in Dallas when he was in Dallas. 5 years, $82 million. That guy. I mean, if he pans out, then that would be great.

But anyways, we're talking about the other corner. Xavier Howard, he's such a big part of that defense, and he's the heart and soul of that defense. They needed him. So absolutely, he deserves the money. Like I said, he's one of the most important positions on the defense. They needed him. So absolutely, he deserves the money. And like I said, he's one of the most important positions on the defense. In fact, probably the most, in my opinion, the most important position on the defense. So it is great that they were able to get this guy back. They

needed him. I agree. Their defense certainly wouldn't have been as good, and it might have fell apart in some places without him and what he brings to the table. So yeah, I think it was necessary to pay him the amount of money he was asking for and making sure he's on that team for years to come. My only issue is this should have been resolved sooner rather than later with his original contract. Exactly. They should have worked on this much earlier, but at the same time, Xavian, buddy, if you had an issue with the contract that you just signed, why didn't you just bring this up earlier on, like two minutes ago? Not in the middle of an offseason two years then

i don't know um anyways do you have any other thoughts for this episode in regards to football before we wrap things up uh i think we need to pay close attention to michael thomas down with the saints they're not looking happy with each other right now I mean he's gonna miss he's gonna miss some time again and yeah it's it's upsetting he's one of the better better wide receivers yeah there is and I know I didn't have him on my rankings because of the injury and obviously that aged very well right that's not sarcasm by the way i was right i said that injury might be a problem going into the 2021 season he he was actually did he make my top i believe he did yeah he made mine i know that's for sure

and uh it's i don't know i think if he was he was in the bottom half. It was a while ago, and I didn't really write it down. But I have him in that general vicinity. Anyways. But yeah, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check us out on Spotify and Google Play. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram at FumbleRuski underscore podcast

to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we will see you next week. Over and out.