The Fumblerooski Podcast - Trouble In The South -Ep 91 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: June 17, 2022

The whole AFC South had an eventful offseason. How will all the teams stack up? Adam Wright and CJ Medieros host special guest Graysen Mortimer who talks about the UEFA Nations league and a US city potentially hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

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 to catch. This is what Jake's sideline touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown!

Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros, and we have a great episode in store for you guys tonight. And with us is a special guest, one of our loyal listeners, Grayson Mortimer. Dude, we've been trying to get you on the show forever. Why don't you introduce yourself to some of our listeners? Yeah, so I'm Grayson Mortimer. I'm a New England-based kid, longtime Patriots fan. Granted, I am second-team Bills, but I can explain that if you guys want.

But New England-based guy. I've known Adam since high school. Did track together. And yeah, I'm happy to be here, guys. Definitely, man. Welcome to the show. It's great having you on. And so we're going to be continuing our Thursday series of sort of previewing every division. Last week, well, kind of this week, it was on Sunday, we did the AFC North, which was a little dicey. It was a long episode, but we had a lot of people on, and it was all AFC North fans. We don't have any AFC South fans, but we have a great football mind here in Grayson. And we're going to talk about the AFC South today. If you could sum them up as people, they would all be like just complete characters. Like everybody in this division, the Colts, the Texans, the Titans, the Jaguars, just all of them. But I wanted to get you guys takes.

What do you guys think about this division and how they're all going to stack up with each other? And we could start with uh well we can start with cj and then and then grayson cj i think he froze cj froze all right do you want to do you want to start grayson i can start then yeah um this is a good division uh it's not the not the nfc so i can can actually say it'll be competitive so I think honestly right now I'm really liking the Colts I think them going out and getting a quarterback instead of Carson Wentz was an amazing decision I think the battle for third will be real as well because I mean Jacksonville I expect them to be pretty good under Doug Peterson. He's a much better coach than obviously what we saw last year. And the Texans are kind of just a wild card.

We honestly have no idea how they're going to be. I think more of the news about the Texans hasn't been what they've done on the field, but I think it's more of it's been what their previous quarterback has done off of it. So, you know, I think it will be a really good competitive division. I think one and two are very clear of three and four, but it's a division where I think anything can happen, and we'll see that this season. All right, CJ?

So my thoughts on the AFC South. I mean, there's really no clear-cut favorite. I mean, the Colts got their newest bridge quarterback in Matt Ryan. Now, don't get me wrong. Matt Ryan's pretty good, but his age is not the long-term answer. You know, you have guys like Michael Pittman and the great Jonathan Taylor, a running back, stout defense. You'll be fine. But then there's the Titans, a team who usually you would think, you know,

would probably be gunning for that one seed, but Ryan Tannehill visibly took a step back last year. Derrick Henry's coming off an injury, but he's still going to be good. And then, yeah, your number one receiver is Robert Woods, who's coming off an injury. You have the rookie, Tray trailing burks because you traded away aj brown because you did not want to pay him and the titans defense kind of taken a step back so i feel like it's really up for grabs but then there's like the jaguars who i mean their draft

was okay but good god their free agency they were literally paying, like grossly overpaying for middling talent. And then there's the Texans with Davis Mills. And I know there are a lot of Davis Mills apologists out there, and to which I say, you're not going to win the division. Stop it. Well, I got nothing against Davis Mills, but this feels kind of like an anyone could win but i i'm kind of leaning toward the colts here usually i say the titans but it feels like they

all even indy in a way took it maybe not indy but it feels like at least three of the teams took a step back all right so all of you both of you guys said, so this is an any, any sort of anybody could take it type of division. And it is more competitive than the NFC East. I'll give you that much. However, I, the way I see it is it's kind of a two horse race here. And with the Colts being the horse that should be favored, the Colts upgraded at quarterback. They upgraded at corner. And they acquired defensive end Yannick Ngokwe. So they improved on an already stacked defensive front. And then you look at the Titans. So they brought in Robert Woods. They were forced to trade away A.J. Brown. And then they drafted Traylon Burks as a replacement who's kind of physically,

physically he's kind of a, he's theoretically an A.J. Brown clone. So whether or not this Titans team will contend will basically fringe upon whether or not Traylon Burks can be AJ Brown and uh so those it's it comes down to those teams for me for the other two the Texans they did a great job trading away Deshaun Watson they got him they got and he could be a ticking time bomb with the way things are going uh in the case he could never play football again, and they got several first-round picks for him. But they're still a young team. They have Brandon Cook, who they nailed down,

and they drafted Derek Stingley Jr., a great-looking corner. They also brought in – it was either a tackle or a guard. It was one of those two, but they, they helped, they, they added something to that offensive line. Davis mills. We'll see if he can play, but the Jaguars, good Lord, that team. So what the Jaguars did was they spent a record $175 million in guaranteed money. And it's not like they spent as in like they spent on star talent. Their top wide receiver right now is Christian Kirk, who I like, but he's not worth the money that he got.

And a lot of people hate that contract. Now, a lot of teams hate that contract because now it's set the market and every, and now why the wide receiver position has blown up financially because, you know, this, this mediocre, I won't,

I won't say mediocre. I'll say fairly, this very solid, not worth it. Wide receiver got this massive deal that he didn't deserve and then all these star wide receivers who actually deserve money like adonte adams said hey i i want that money i will i deserve better than than what he got and eventually he got it but and so what's that tyreek as well yeah tyreek and cooper cop got paid too cooper cop got paid and there's i'm not sure if there was any doubt whether or not cooper cop

would have been paid um because it looked like they were it looked like they were willing to and this rams team is not has not shied away from overpaying their players. What I will say is one of the lone bright spots on this team is that they did upgrade at the offensive line position. They added protection for him, is good for for trevor for trevor lawrence which is good because you you invested a first round pick in him so you need to protect him you need to make sure that he has the best looks possible and he has the best opportunities to succeed and if it turns out that he can't play then he can't play um but you're never going to find out if he's on his ass all the time. Their draft, severely overrated.

And Devin Lloyd, I know you and I, CJ, loved Devin Lloyd coming out of this draft, and he fell. And we found out why he fell. Yeah. It turns out he has a big-time attitude problem, and he didn't want to play in cold weather, and it did not look good. And he was their second first-round pick.

Trayvon Walker could wind up being a very good edge rusher, but the problem is the only reason his draft stock was so high was because of his combine performance. So physically, he's very gifted. We'll say that much. That much we can all agree on. But his statistics in college, he was just, eh. So I might, like, honestly, looking back at this offseason, I might have the Jaguars as the biggest losers.

Like, their free agency, they spent on talent that was they overpaid on everybody they they spent money on and they really didn't need to pay that much money for them and in in the draft it was just like they're they had two first round picks but what why did you use it on those guys for like i just i just don't like this for them and you can see the jaguars just being the jaguars again yeah adam but uh let's uh put some numbers on this shall we christian kirk got a four-year 72 million dollar deal and that doesn't stop because now the only good deal i would say they handed out was to the washington offensive lineman brandon scherf who got a three-year 49 million dollar

deal bit injury prone but well worth the money then foysod olukun from the atlanta falcons got the three-year 45 million dollar deal and And keep in mind, he greatly benefited from playing behind Deion Jones. And it's fully Fatou Kassi from the New York Jets, their backup defensive tackle. Yeah, three years, $30 million. Zay Jones, the fourth string receiver from Vegas, got a three-year $24 million deal. You know, you got to ask why. And keep in mind, I'm not a Jaguars insider, but if I had to guess, it's like they're begging, like, please, please come play for us. We'll give you whatever you want.

It's like a team that's so bad, they have to overpay to get anyone with a shred of talent on their roster and yeah and you know what's weird they gave christian kirk four years 72 million dollar deal right and then you had dj charke who was their best receiver or 84 uh i'm on sport track and it says uh 72 million oh yeah if spot track says that then then spot says that, then that's correct. Yeah. SpotTrack is accurate. And then, of course, I guess I was going to bring up, like I said, Christian Kirk, four years, 72 million.

And they already had a number one receiver in DJ Chark, who personally I like a little bit better than Christian Kirk. he's faster and he's more agile and he's more explosive and they let him walk and dj charke literally signed a one-year 10 million dollar deal at detroit so you're downgrading at receiver one but paying more money only the jaguars and and comparing those two players like it's actually like fairly it's fairly even like those like yeah i mean i'm not gonna say sharks leaps and bounds better but i like him a little bit better than kirk but they're two players with yeah two players with injury issues who put up solid statistics when they're on the field, but not wide receiver one statistics. I thought DJ shark was a,

was potential, was a potential number one guy. If he could stay on the field, but number one, he can't. And number two, even when he has been on the field the past couple of years, he really hasn't been a hundred percent.

He hasn't been close to what he was in his rookie year. Just. He wasn't really, he really hasn't matched up to that. He really didn't do much his rookie year, honestly. Rookie year? I'm sorry. Was that his sophomore season?

Yeah, his sophomore season. So it was his sophomore season that was his – it feels like that was his rookie year. But, I mean, that's when everybody figured out who he was. And it turned out he had a great year, and he's good when he's on the field. Yeah, I agree. But Indy, like I said, they're probably the only team that didn't take a step back. Because Matt Ryan, Yannick Ngakwe, Stephon Gilmore, among others.

But yeah, they're just – I don't know how to put this because despite that I don't love them they're just outside of uh Jonathan Taylor they're just not that explosive I mean I mean I think to be honest I think that the Colts are going to be you know a potential like dark horse in the playoffs this year, because I mean, Pittman very good year last year with Wentz as his quarterback. And the fact that he's got Matt Ryan now, I think Pittman is going to be, you know, pushing arguably top 10 for yards. I would not be surprised if he did because he has, you know, an actual quarterback now. And instead of a guy who throws picks for you

know for birthday presents um and i think that you know with their defense already being quite established and with their o-line you know obviously led by guys like clinton nelson i think that uh i think the colts are going to be like probably 12 and five, 13 and four. And I think they'll, there'll be a team that I think other teams just aren't going to want to play. Because I think last year, if Matt Ryan is your quarterback, instead of Wentz, I think you'll win one or two more games, especially that one at the end of the year against Jacksonville. I don't, I don't see why the Colts aren't, don't win this division.

It obviously injuries are a factor, but overall, I mean, I honestly really liked the Colts this year. Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying, but it's just like, I know, I mean, I know Pittman technically is good numbers, but he's not a highlight reel guy. He's not explosive. He's not, he's not going to put the game on his back and make the game-winning touchdowns just none outside of maybe pitman none of their receivers really scare me i mean you've got an aging ty but i mean aging he's i like ty but he's not what he wasn't look

if it takes the next step, then good for him. But I don't know. I don't know. They're going to win the division. They're my pick to win the division, you know? Yeah, they are my pick to win the division. But Mark, yeah. So how far do you guys – it seems like you guys are on the same page.

How far do each of you see the Colts going in the playoffs? Where do you realistically see them going? Let's say they're sealed. I think they'll get by the first round. Their ceiling is a second round exit. Well, I don't see them exiting in the first. I think they're good enough to beat whoever they face in the first. If the Colts face New England, I don't like our odds.

I wouldn't at all. But if they get someone like the Bills, I mean, of course, I think Buffalo would absolutely shred them but yeah um you know i think it would depend on who they get but i think you know i think they would potentially upset a team like you know i think the raiders are gonna have a great year um or or maybe even someone like the chiefs i i think the colts are that are good enough to potentially contend with those types of teams in the playoffs. So I can see them making a run, you know, at least second round, you know, maybe just after that.

I don't see them making the Super Bowl, but I think they'll make a run. I mean, perhaps. My prediction for them is, I mean, my ceiling for them is a second-round exit. Look, I might have them a little higher than that i'm not saying that they're going to do this but i'm just this is my ceiling perhaps an afc championship they have talent everywhere on the field i could see it yeah but their team is in a i'm sorry and look their offensive line is very. It's been good the past couple of years.

They have a great running game. And it's not only great, it's not just Jonathan Taylor. It's very deep as well. They have pieces everywhere over there. Their defense is really good. And they have a great wide receiver. Well, I wouldn't say great, but very, very, very good wide receiver and Michael Pittman. And they have everything they need to do it. They just need to, you know, do it, stay consistent, stay consistent. And that,

that was their issue last season. They started off one in four, which was probably falling victim to a couple of their players getting hurt early in the season. They came back and actually Carson Wentz was supposed to miss a lot of time and he didn't. And I'll, I give him credit for that because he, that guy's never able to say help. Um, but early on in that season, one and four start, then they figured things out. And for a stretch, they went eight and two and then they couldn't close out the season but without that one and four start they're a playoff team so didn't once injured once didn't once injured both of his ankles in the same game and he still didn't miss any time yeah that's insane i don't i don't know how he did that like ever since that acl tear in philadelphia he just his career hasn't taken off the way they were hoping. Yeah, I mean, look.

Athletes, ACL tears are like a death sentence for some of them. They can be. It all depends on how it heals. Achilles tears, yes, but I don't know about ACL tears. Especially if you're doing a lot of running. The thing is, ACLs and stuff, literally, they can come back, but it all depends on like how it heals. Yeah, definitely.

But I mean, I know this guy never ran to begin with, but like Tom Brady tore his in 2008 and, you know, came back and won three more Super Bowls and is still playing at the age of 44, almost 45. So like, I mean, some guys, I think it all depends on how you, how you rehab it and how you heal and to make sure you don't come back too early or any of that. You know, Brady obviously missed the entire season, but you know, it, it, it can be a death sentence for some players.

Cause yeah, some guys don't recover. Wentz is a great example. But I think for the majority of athletes that rehabbing in the modern era is good enough to, you know for certain guys to get over that that type of hurdle even though it isn't eight usually eight month to a year injury yeah i mean but for a quarterback it should be fine if you're like a db or wide receiver that's gonna that could be you know look at look at odell adjustment but if it happened to someone like lamar jackson i mean that would be, that would. We'd see how that how he, you know, transition from that.

But anyways, back to the AFC South. All right. Well, I believe we've we've just about covered all of it in the league. But do you guys want to hit on anything else in this division before we move on to the next segment? I mean, I guess I can touch a little bit upon the Texans. Yeah, we haven't touched on them at all. I haven't touched on the draft too closely, so I don't know a ton about the draft, but I think the Texans' biggest move this season,

other than Deshaun Watson, because obviously that takes the cake, but they kept Brandon Cooks. That was big. If he left left they would have easily finished last there's no way that they would have gone anywhere this year with Mills at quarterback because Cooks frankly made Mills look good um at times last season um I think if they let him walk I mean they easily fourth place but I think if they let him walk, I mean, they easily fourth place. But I think with Cooks, I think they became a touch more competitive, you know, because obviously there were games last year that he probably single-handedly won for them.

So I think them keeping Brandon Cooks was a huge move. I think it was a two-year deal, if I remember correctly. So I think Houston still gets – I do think Trevor Lawrence is good enough to take a step forward, and the fact that he has an actual coach now. I think Jacksonville will still beat them for third, but I think Cooks will at least make Houston – obviously they'll probably still be a pushover, but I still think they'll, they'll make a couple of games this year.

You know, I think, um, um, that one also has me scratching my head because he's getting, because Brendan cooks is getting to an age where he's getting up there. You know, he's not, he's not going to be playing like this forever. And it's actually amazed me that he's been able to last this long, especially with all the, all the changes and systems and the injuries he's sustained. I thought his career was going to be over with the Rams when he started getting all those concussions,

but this isn't a team that's looking to contend in the next year or so. This is going to be a team that's a couple years off, and I don't think Brandon Cooks is going to be a team that's, you know, they're a couple of years off. And I don't think Brandon cooks is going to help with that. And I just want to, I just want to know the specifics to his contract. Maybe they could build up some, build up some, build up some value for him so that at the trade deadline, if a team's looking for a wide receiver one, they could go out and get them. I'm also,

I also understand that Brandon cooks does like it there and the and houston loves him but i don't know like i understand but there's all this is also a business and you're you are looking to win and do what's in the best interest of your team and regardless of your feelings you know towards each other you it might not be the best idea for them to hold on to Brandon Cooks for so long. Yeah, I just looked up his deal. He's basically on two years, 20 mil. 36 of the 40 is guaranteed. So he's on a pretty hefty deal.

Two years how much? Two years, like 40 mil basically. It's like just under 40 um and 36 of that's guaranteed so they gave him a pretty nice uh thanks christian kirk nice deal on his i like kirk as a deep threat but that's about it yeah he's not he's not a i don't know how how well he'll deal with lawrence but um so cook's not a pretty. Honestly, they may use him as trade bait, especially, maybe not this year, but next year. They definitely have some picks

to build their team. I think them keeping him will make them a touch more competitive in the meantime, but we'll see long-term how that affects them. It'll be something to look at going into uh going into next season that's just the that's the only part about them that has me scratching their head great job with them uh trade being able to trade deshaun watson and max's max's value i wasn't sure if they were actually going to get that much for

him i thought he was borderline untradeable and I did too. Yeah, but the Browns are desperate. Now here we are. The Browns, they might have a bit of a quarterback crisis. Who was their backup last year? It was Keenum, but he's gone now. It was Case Keenum. Yeah, after Watson and Mayfield, I think now they have Jacoby Bursette and Josh Dobbs.

So, yeah, Jacoby Bursette might well be the starter of Cleveland this year. That's going to be – I mean, he's not terrible. He's not bad, but from what it could have been, it's like, oh. He's a backup. I think Baker Mayfield gets more hate than he deserves, frankly. I think last year, if he was fully fit, he would have been much better. The fact that he was dealing with that arm injury and his leg,

there's only so much you can do with that. Yeah. All right. Look, we got to move on. All right. So next, Grayson's going to talk his UEFA Nations League, and he's going to talk about the North American city potentially being the next host of the FIFA World Cup in 2026. So 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 caught! It's a touchdown! Unbelievable! It's caught! Diggs! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Slings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown!

Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski podcast. I'm Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros with special guest Grayson Mortimer. So we have reached our guest segment where Grayson is going to talk about the UEFA Nations League. So what do you got? Yeah, so for those who don't know, the Nations League was basically started in, I want to say 2019, maybe just before that. And it's basically to replace friendlies in soccer, which are basically just games that two international teams play just to kind of get some experience, warm up, maybe play the youngsters. So the UEFA, which is the European governing body of the game, recently put in the Nations League to kind of replace those. And one game that particularly comes to mind in the past week was England against Hungary. Now, for those who don't know, England is one of the largest footballing nations in the world.

I believe in the FIFA World Rankings, they're ranked about fifth right now. And they have a pretty a pretty immensely talented squad. So recently Hungary came to visit them. They're in the same group along with Italy and Germany. And now this game was a little controversial just because England actually wasn't allowed to have any fans for this match due to the fact that they, I believe it was something to do with an illegal chant, but basically they weren't allowed to have any fans except for basically like 10,000 children.

So that was a big starter, but then Hungary came in and absolutely ravaged England for nothing. So this was England's worst home loss since I believe the year was 1928. You know, to put that into perspective, that's 94 years ago. So, it was their basically worst home loss in 94 years for a country that, you know, basically prides itself on being the founder of the game. So, England losing this game was absolutely massive. Hungary used to be a very good footballing nation. They have made a World Cup final in the past, you know, back when arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game was on their team. And for, you know, for mostly NFL viewers, there was a player back in the 50s. His name Ferenc Puskas um and he was uh one of the

main innovators of you know European football and global football that uh made the game the way it is today um and there is actually an award named after him which is the greatest goal of the year award basically um around the world um but to go back to England, you know, pretty embarrassing loss and one that they will not live down for a while. And it's kind of, you know, been a question of should they fire their manager? Should they keep him and keep him for the World Cup in, you know, November? You know, so it's something that will ask a lot of questions about, you know, England as a footballing nation going forward and if their players are talented enough or if the coaching is the big problem. And yeah, and to slide into another big announcement in the footballing world, the US, Canada and Mexico are hosting the 2026 World Cup and the host cities have been announced, one of which is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, which is a huge announcement,

as well as for CJ, Philadelphia is another host city. Hey, dude, I'm not a Philly fan. I'm a Pats fan. I just live near. Well, you live near there. Yeah, so the Patriots Stadium is hosting a few games, as well as Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, among many others, including MetLife and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. But it's a huge announcement because

if I'm here in 2026, I am absolutely going to go to one of those games. I don't care who's playing. I just want to say I've been to a World Cup match. I've been to a lot of other games. I actually just spent four months in Europe. I saw games from the Champions League, Premier League, Premier League's the English League, Bundesliga, which is the German League, Serie A, which is the Italian League. And I did see a game in France as well. So, you know, with all of the games I've been to, I really was very excited by this announcement, the fact that the World Cup is coming to Gillette Stadium

in Foxborough, Mass., in 2026. So it was an absolutely huge announcement, which happened today. And, yeah, that's the footballing world in about four or five minutes. Nice. Look, so I am actually pretty excited of the possibility that the FIFA World Cup could be hosted in a city in the U.S. And what I will say is the U.S America, the U S is very, is very different from the rest of the world, uh, in, in regards to, to soccer, because it's just, it's just not

as popular as it is in the rest of the world. It soccer is regarded as, you know, the most popular sport everywhere except the U.S. Except the U.S. So I think that would be huge for the U.S. to sort of bring that in, get some fans interested. It turns into a big event, and I think that would be great for them. It would get the U.S. to catch up with everyone else with soccer. And yeah, one of the events that did help an American golden generation per se was actually the 1994 World Cup, which was also held in the US. And I think the fact that what makes this

one a little different is that there's actually three host countries. So it works wonders works wonders for the u.s it works wonders for canada which is also entering their golden generation um for those who don't know i am from canada so i do root for them nationally um so i'm like i'm very big on them right now as well and the fact that mexico who has also hosted a world's cup in the past is also involved too um it's it's definitely a great stride for two nations that are, you know, kind of getting a foothold in the game, which are the U.S. and Canada in the game, and a team that, like, the culture is already there, which is Mexico. So I think, you know, the 2026 World Cup is absolutely, to your point, Adam,

going to be a big boost for younger fans and for fans that might not know entirely what's happening to really kind of get a foothold and become a bigger fan of the beautiful game. Yeah, and look, it's not like soccer is like an unknown sport to the U.S. because it is played a lot in high schools and colleges and i mean most people i mean those town where i grew up in um it's it it's everybody most people at one point played soccer at one at one point or another i played soccer until like what second grade and it's it was like it was a weird town where it was like it was you were in the minority if you didn't play soccer at one point in your life and um another

and like you know my my sister my sister's still playing it one of them used to play it so it's it's definitely a bit it's it's something that does have potential and people know what it is. So if, if that were to be introduced, I think that would be huge. For sure. Yeah. I mean, I grew up playing it too. I think we played Sutton a few times. Usually didn't go well for us, but, and our high school teams always played as well. So, you know, it's, it's huge around, around this area in terms of playing. Definitely the viewership is definitely on the rise, but I think there's still a long way to go for sure. Yeah.

I mean, Sutton's tough when it comes to soccer, my hometown. Sutton's very competitive. That's our main sport. Every other sport, we're just okay. Baseball is solid, but... What's that? I was just saying, my hometown, no one here gives a fly and you know what about soccer.

It's just the culture, I guess. My high school has a soccer team, but no one goes to it. Right. That's my point. It's a sport that gets played. It's almost like lacrosse. I don't of, it's almost like lacrosse, you know? I don't know many people that follow professional lacrosse leagues. So there's, Oh yeah. Well, like, yeah.

Lacrosse isn't big and isn't really that big and you know, everywhere else, but like, it's, it's a sport. My point is like, it's a sport that is not very popular and popular in the U S that, that everybody plays, you know, there's a, there's a lacrosse team on like every heist for like every high school. So, yeah, yeah, definitely. No much lacrosse team was always, always really good.

Um, yeah, both men's and women's lacrosse. I went to two high schools. One of them had a lacrosse team. The other didn't, it was my Sutton high school did not have, uh, did not have a lacrosse team the other didn't it was my sutton high school did not have uh did not have a lacrosse team and i don't think they ever will uh they could but you know i also went to a vocational school that was a bigger school so they were able to do all all types of sports uh men's and women's lacrosse team um but yeah so uh jeff medeiros commented what uh that is why it is being hosted here trying to increase viewership and interest absolutely oh yeah i think it will i absolutely think it will um i think that and the nice thing the nice thing about the u.s hosting the world

cup is with canada and mexico is that it's in it's in places that you know have a there is an established foothold here um but it's also a nice change between you know the fact that the last two uh russia in 2018 and then qatar in 2022 they're both nations that i just they don't have a good there's somewhat of a culture there but it's really it just kind of proved that money had all the power really there um the us yeah obviously there's money there too but it it's it's a nice change the fact that it's a nation that um you know we'll get behind it and also you know isn't it isn't a nice like a place where there isn't nearly as much controversy. One of us is at war with Ukraine. That's nice.

Certainly. We do have to wrap things up, but do you have any other thoughts before we end the show tonight? That's really all I got for my segment. I do not know jack about soccer, but it was nice hearing Grayson explain it.

If you ever have any questions, man uh shoot them over my way careful they're very stupid though i literally asked you how it started but you know that was for it's all right it's all right it happens it happens i do have one more question go for it so i asked i asked you off air, but so Jair Alexander. So you responded to our fan box question. Thank you for the response. We loved getting your pick. But Jair Alexander as an underrated corner. Yeah. Would you care to elaborate on that?

Yeah. So obviously when he plays, he is arguably the best corner in the league. He's probably in the last couple of years in conversation with someone like J.C. Jackson or even a couple of years ago with Gilmore. But the thing is, is Jair has missed a lot of time in the past, definitely the last year, past couple of years. So I think that that's kind of taken him out of the conversation, you know, for that number one cornerback in the league. So I think because of those injuries, I think that it's opened up the door for other types of guys like J.C. Jackson to, you know, kind of be in that conversation uh so because of that i think that jair is obviously still elite when he plays but i think he's moved into the underrated category just

because of you know how little he's played and how how much of an impact he still has despite the fact he has taken a few knocks um in in the last couple years so i think that because of that because of the fact he's you know hasn't been able to string together a complete season in a little bit. I think, I think that moves him into underrated in my opinion. and uh that that would really be and uh that was kind of the reason why cj had him uh in our rankings number three i had him number two because i was thinking like and that is underrated for me because last last off season i had him going into the season i had him number one and obviously can't be number one if you are not on the field. Who'd you have at number one? We both had Jalen Ramsey. Yeah, all three of us did.

I can see that, yeah. Who's your number one? Him or JC would be probably. Oh, Adam. Ramsey, I can see Ramsey. Careful, that's Adam's least favorite fighter there. He wakes up and he's like, oh, I don't like JC Jackson. I'd be like, I wonder what that means.

I mean, JC, he hit star numbers last year. He really did. I mean, for me, he's definitely in that conversation. I don't – Yeah. Ryan Gilmore was definitely still better. But I think – I mean, JC last year was pretty good.

Him or Jalen Ramsey for me. Jalen Ramsey, I can see that as well. Look, he had a great year. He had a great year, and I'm going to go on to the – he had a great year. Just you look at his coverage statistics, and that's where I say – I'm not saying he's a he's a bad corner that's i'm not i'm not in it for the jc jackson slander but i do i think he's worth what the chargers paid him

you think he's worth it okay well i even though i disagree i feel that was a little too much maybe a tad overpriced but it it was close to what with with the other guys in that defense i think he'll look like a standout yeah i mean i understand that he's got two elite head rushers in front of him i mean that there's going to be forced decisions jc's going to have a good year he's going to produce i just i just don't think he's worth the money i just he's he deserves being paid just not that much and yeah, yes. That's fair. I've never seen him lock down a star, though. We all know.

He did get burned by Diggs a couple years ago. He's never shut down Stephon Davis. Yeah, but now he's going to have to face Devontae Adams twice a year or maybe Jerry Judy and Cortland Sutton. He doesn't have Tyreek Hill anymore, though, so that's's a benefit to him um yeah we're still patching the home take out tyree throwing davante but yeah um you know yeah digs digs absolutely burned him a couple years ago though that game at gillette where digs had i think three touchdowns there's something yeah um but yeah actually my my final thought will be uh why i'm half bills fan uh since

i said yeah yeah please elaborate on that because uh you know i feel like a lot of new england fans two division rivals i don't know like the patriots but he's bruised for a division my dad grew up a bills fan uh because i'm originally from ontario uh so the bills were actually the closest team to uh where where my dad grew up um and if I still lived there, I probably would have only been a Bills fan. But after my dad watched them lose four Super Bowls in a row in the 90s, a couple against the Cowboys as well, my dad was like, okay, screw this. Then we moved here in 2002, and that's perfect timing for New England, the fact that since then we've won, well, if you count 0-2, six Super Bowls.

So, yeah, I grew up both kind of Patriots. But then in the last couple of years, you know, the fact that my dad's kind of realigned himself with the Bills. I was like, OK, well, you know, who do I who do I kind of pick? So I just kind of go for patriots first bill second granted josh allen is my favorite player in the league that's not bad yeah i mean it's fair like i have one jersey like the patriots will be like your number one but like the the bills are like a team that you that you have respect for you like you know your dad rooted for him growing up. Granted, he probably made him rip his hair out. Oh, yeah, no, he did not like himself after that fourth loss.

He was not happy. Can't say I blame him, really. No, I can't either, honestly. I couldn't imagine going through that. I mean, I guess actually part of me can because I've grown up a New England Revolution fan. I missed a lot of the of their losses but basically the new england revolution is the local soccer team here i do have a my desk is a little messy so i do have a ball these guys have lost five mls cup finals

and haven't won it so it's basically the closest thing to the nfl to the Buffalo or the Minnesota of MLS. They had a great season last year too. They did. That was their year. If they didn't win it last year, I don't... We still have good players, but that was our year. We've lost our starting goalkeeper, starting striker, starting star wing all in the last six months. You know, not from like a Super Bowl standpoint, but in a way that kind of sounds like the Packers, you know.

They're always, at least for the Revolution, you know. Think about Green Bay. Four straight NFC championship appearances go 0-4. They're always so close but so far. Rodgers will notch his MVP, and their defense will be solid. But inevitably, they're going to run into somebody that just beats them. For the NFC Championship, I mean, there's definitely a comparison there, but Green Bay has won the Super Bowl, so that's probably a little different.

But they've never gone again. They've been close. Yeah. They're definitely more like a – I would say more like a Minnesota because they didn't lose all four in a row. Oh, fair enough. Yeah. But they've been spaced out losses where they've made the final, you know,

X number of years and nothing. So that was – yeah, that's – in a way I kind of understand Buffalo's pain for the year. But I think, you know, I hope that if the pats don't do anything this year i do hope the bills win the super bowl you know not only for their fans who deserve it a ton but also just because of how talented that team is i never want to see a bills fan happy no offense because they say oh they're the best fan base and i mean with all due respect they're like oh this is the best fan base in the league.

And I'm like, no, I disagree strongly. Have you ever spoken to one? They're loud, drunken, obnoxious, and rude. No, they're crazy. They're crazy. I will admit that they're crazy. But they've also pulled off some funny stuff as well. Yeah, the table's funny, but yeah.

Like, yeah, I mean, if you've ever – like, I've shown Adam their social media posts before. They've got an absolutely, like, go, I mean, there's, if you've ever, like I've shown Adam their, their social media posts before, they've got an absolutely like goaded social media team. Um, it is pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. They've made some quality content on that. I think my favorite one was, um, never ask a man, his salary, a woman or age, or the bill social media team to sign draft or like basically play certain players. We have no authority to do that um we just

make memes fair enough it's it's great but yeah i mean josh allen is easily top five qb um and i hope i really hope that i think if they beat the chiefs because that's been their problem the last few years i think they'll make this a rule. Perhaps. Perhaps. Plus they just signed Jamison Crowder, so their wide receiver core is even more loaded. All right, look, we could sit here and talk the Bills, Patriots, Revolution all day, but we do have to conclude things. But, Grayson, thank you for joining the show, really.

My pleasure. It was great getting your insight on football and the other football and the one that's played in Europe. So that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. Be sure to tune into us live Tuesdays and Thursdays on Twitter and Facebook through Fans Only Sports Network. Be sure to follow our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts,

Google podcasts, I heart radio, and so much more. Also be sure to follow our Instagram at fumble Ruski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcast in the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise we'll see you next week over now.