The Fumblerooski Podcast - Two Hundred More -Ep 200 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Does Joe Burrow have a better 2023 season than Patrick Mahomes? Does Lamar Jackson regain his 2019 MVP form? Are the Seahawks talented enough to oust the 49ers of their division crown? Join Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, and Justin Tucker as they celebrate 200 episodes by ranking their top-5 quarterbacks headed into 2023 as well as preview the unpredictable NFC West!

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 in. What? Jakes! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! And for exactly the 200th time, we welcome you to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. As always, I am Adam Wright along with CJ Medeiros and Justin Tucker. Boys, we have made it the double century mark ad we'll talk we'll tell it we'll call it uh so ad we'll say after after f as as and what does it stand for after it started

everything before everything before that is a mistake everything that happened before that but here on the fumble ruski podcast we make everything better including the nfl off season and uh that would that would also include the summertime where it is absolutely the biggest dead spot in professional football during the year. And we are taking you through it with our finale of our top five player countdowns, as well as division previews with quarterbacks going into the 2023 NFL season, as well as the NFC West, which is about as hectic of a division as it gets in terms of just the complete power shifts that they endure year in, year out, as well as you guys, your picks for the most underrated quarterbacks

going into this season. I was pleasantly surprised with our fan box. I thought we weren't going to get that many responses because there's only 32 starting quarterbacks. Everyone knows who's underrated. So you'll probably get like 20 votes for Kirk Cousins, a bunch for, you know, Gino Smith. And then that'll be that. We actually got a lot of different responses. I don't think anyone got more than I don't think any player got more than three mentions, which is pretty good.

And we got 29 responses. So we have a good episode coming up. So you guys, thank you for tuning in for this long, for 200 episodes, not including specials, of course. Otherwise, we would have been there a couple months ago. But let's get into it. Top five quarterbacks. So, Tuck tuck you weren't

on the last episode but we kind of we kind of changed the way we we um that we structure it each person just goes around and we just give our whole top five and an explanation between behind each player just to just to make the just so that we go it's more time efficient um and people see our whole lists you know as a whole rather than just seeing our number four our number five you know you want to kick us off i gotta kick us off do you want to no i want to see you first i want to have cj all right cj kick us off. All right, then. This list will surely anger nobody. So my number five, I wrestled with this,

but this is based on what we think they're going to do this season, right? Yes. I had to put Lamar Jackson at my number five. And look at that. Tucker's a happy man I don't wait for this season or for last season for this okay if you said it for last season I'd be okay with it this season talk to me so so here's the thing I just think he's in a much better position O-line's healed up he's healed up he got two brand new toys to play with in odell beckham and that one rookie they

drafted zay flowers and you have the second best tight end in the league and mark andrews and on top of that i don't actually see lamar getting hurt this year because he outright vowed to pass the ball more and i will lie he's a pretty good passer i mean everyone likes to make the jokes about a running back myself included but i mean look at that but he manages to keep the turnovers to a minimum in fact there was only one season out of his five years well four starting years where he eclipsed 10 interceptions and now that he's playing with arguably the best receiver core that he's probably ever had. It is by far. Yep. Take it from the Ravens fan himself.

So I'm just saying Lamar just makes it into my top five. My number four. I had to think long and hard about this, but it's Jalen Hurts. See, look, the man is coming off a Super Bowl appearance and I know Super Bowl hangover look at that roster around him a running back room with Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift and his main cast of characters coming back with Devante Smith AJ Brown and Dallas Goddard with in my opinion the best O-line in the NFL. And with a ferocious defense, and with a defense that by and large might have gotten a little better. I know Super Bowl hangover is a thing, but just on paper,

just with the expectations, Hurts literally should be even better than last season. And on top of that, when you factor in his rushing ability he's good for at minimum like 33 34 uh touchdowns like all told i mean last season he had 22 passing touchdowns and i want to say he uh when it came to rushing touchdowns he had 13 so, definitely keep an eye out for him. And my number three is Josh Allen. You know, Josh Allen, booming arm, elite scrambling ability. But the reason I have him at number three is just when you get to the post seat, like the Josh Allen of the regular season and the Josh Allen in the post season are two completely different

players. And on top of that, you've got, I mean, the team around him isn't the best. You spent a first rounder on a tight end for some reason when you already had Dawson Knox. Stefan Diggs, he's good. He's a top 10 receiver, obviously. But you lost Isaiah McKenzie and you have Gabe Davis who underwhelmed a wee bit last season and then of course you know their running back room you have Damian Harris on a one-year deal and James Cook who really had a lackluster rookie season but just in a vacuum Josh Allen I mean come on he's still gonna toss like at least 35 touchdowns my number two is Joe Burrow I knew it I knew it so Joe Burrow he's another one that just needs to cut down on the turnovers a little more but this man deadly accurate with the ball like I said at

least gonna throw for 35 touchdowns probably the best receiver room in the league with Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. A good running back in Joe Mixon and a serviceable tight end in Irv Smith Jr. With a line that continues to get better and a defense that's coming into his own. Burrow is truly just in a very, very good spot. And some people, rightfully so, have the bangles in a really good have the best favorites win the super bowl and my number one you probably saw this coming it's patrick mahomes and i grappled with him over burrow but mahomes won just because he's he's a better scrambler he's he's more i mean he's he's just as accurate and he throws a few less picks and you know he can just easily eclipse 5 000 yards it looks like as long as he is kelsey he's fine

and mahomes reminds me of well not in play style at all or ability but kind of like early Tom Brady, where Brady, you know, won three rings with old man, Troy Brown and Patton and Givens and the Jermaine Wiggins at tight end. But Mahomes is going to have Marquez, Valdes, Scantling, and like God knows who else at wide receiver. I mean, I could name them, but I'm blanking. Oh yeah, Kadarius, Tony, meh. Isaiah Pacheco, i guess at running back you've got travis kelsey who's the best tight end of the league but he's got a good line and if he has time to throw mahomes can make it happen so yeah he's my number one i like that list i i really

do um it's a solid list i think j i i think jalen hurts is a very good quarterback and he's going to be good again it's just i think his play style isn't very sustainable i think he with the amount of with the amount of weapons he has in the passing game he could throw more and if he continues to choose to run it all the time then it's it's not going to end well for him and i think you have to remember he's really only running it more off of the knot and like goal line situations that's still i mean the wear and tear it's he rushes a lot yeah but he's also like a sturdily built quarterback too i mean big black yeah i would say this is like no shade at like lamar at all but i would like to point out that hurts is like a little more uh solid shall we say yeah and he squats like 600

700 pounds that he does for fun it's it's really funny to watch these nfl players squat i mean they they can squat a ton of weight. Yeah, Nick Chubb. Anytime you see Chubb, the bar is bending, and this guy's doing it like it's nothing. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I like that list. Patrick Mahomes, if we're talking about just overall, like overall talent rather than the mix of everything that we do i would definitely have

him number one um and it wouldn't be a conversation like joe like patrick mahomes is head head and shoulders better than joe burrow at least as far as we can tell because burrows burrows career is still fairly young um but there's doing more with less and then there's trying to do something with almost nothing i mean i get he has he has travis kelsey that's one thing but if they double team kelsey then what i mean they have cadarious tony who's okay do they even i didn't even know that they still had marcus valdez scantling yeah i think they do and uh i think that oh and they also technically have sky more the rookie or the now second year guy who could do something yeah there's like a lot of just untapped potential

there but so we'll have to see but if my home but i feel like my homes could bring out the best of them but i would be lying if I said his receiver room wasn't a little concerning. I agree. He was concerning last year. He won the Super Bowl. Now it's even more concerning. All right.

All right. Tuck, do you want to give your top five now? Yeah, I got to give my top five, and I'll be quick about it and make it as reasonable as that can be with a certain someone that's on my list. Shocker. Number five, I got Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the New York Jets. Everybody's saying Aaron Rodgers has fallen off a bit, but not saying anything about the weapons continually given to him by the Green Bay Packers.

I've heard that. When I see the Green Bay Packers and the weapons they give him, they kind of remind me how I look at the distance. I could do more, but I just refuse not to. Anyway, when I see the New York Jets and the offensive pieces that they surround Aaron Rodgers, I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of happy. I'm, which one to call it? Garrett Wilson. He's going to be elite this year because he's going one-on-one with Sauce Gardner and he's looking very good in those one-on-ones. That is someone I'm going to be looking forward to,

and I'm probably going to get him fantasy because I believe that connection right there is going to be solid. They also have Alan Lazard on that team, and I like the tandem that they have at running back with Michael Williams and the guy that's coming off an injury. Michael Carter. And Brees Hall. And who's the other one?

Brees Hall. Brees Hall. I don't believe he'll get the load, which is good, because I don't believe he should after coming off an ACL. So I think them splitting up carries will actually be good for that offense. I think he has a solid O-line. Hopefully, Mekhi Becton can actually resurface to what he was supposed to be before he came out.

But that's a wait-and-see type of thing. And that defense, oh, my. With everything surrounding Aaron Rodgers, I believe he will show you once again why he is that bad man. And once again, vying for that MVP spot. Number four. Oh, this pains me. Oh, this hurts. Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow, without a doubt, is the second best quarterback in the AFC North and top three in the AFC altogether. Well, yeah, top three or four-ish, depending on how you look at it.

I don't have him over Lamar, but that's just my personal gripe. But if you want to say Joe Burrow is far and away better than Lamar, I'm not going to get too butthurt about it concerning his playoff success. What I will say, though, is when I see him in the playoffs, I don't understand why everybody's just so happy with the way Joe Burrow has played concerning the way he played against us in the second half in the AFC wildcard game. When I look at that, I'm like, this is what everybody's

so hyped up about, especially in the way he played against Kansas City in the AFC championship game. It's just nitpicks here and there, but overall, I think he's a phenomenal quarterback. He's able to do certain things that I can be envious of from time to time.

He looks good from the pocket. But the only thing is he does turn the ball over a little too much because I think he looks at Jamar Chase to be able to do everything. And sometimes I can a little bit bite him too much because he'll just stare him down and throw a pick. That's happened more than once. So I don't know i still obviously he's a top five quarterback but i believe that there's certain other quarterbacks that are going to do better this year and i think he'll might take a step back because he's in a quarterback or i'm sorry contract year and that might influence him a little bit number three josh allen josh allen to me can go from one moment looking like he can contend with Patrick Mahomes, and then the next moment, he can look like a scrub with the interceptions he throws

sometimes. It's either one way or the other with him. Some of the passes he makes are impressive as hell, and then some of the interceptions he throws, it feels like I could have thrown them. I remember the one he threw against the New York Jets. Who were you looking at? It was one of the first plays of the game, and I was just so frustrated when looking at him. I'm like, why are you doing that? But overall, when I look at Josh Allen play, he has stuff on the legs. He has a competent running game. I'm not going to say it's the best, but considering what he's working with, I don't hold that against him. And overall, when I see him play, I like the way that he can run the ball and throw the ball from the pocket. So when I look at his game and skillset, oh no, and what he's been able to produce for years on years, yeah, I believe he's a top three quarterback.

Number two is Lamar Jackson. For years, I've been asking the Ravens to give this man competent wide receiver help. For years, I've been asking for it. They finally have been able to give him competent wide receiver help. Odell Beckham, who I believe will be the wide receiver two this year, or three, depending on how you look at Rashad Bateman. I believe Zay Flowers will be our number one because I think he'll just take over and be the best out-and-out Ravens receiver that we have.

And then our running game is just going to be unbelievable. And with the pieces surrounding Lamar Jackson, and I didn't even talk about the best security blanket outside of Travis Kelsey and Mark Andrews at the tight end spot, looking at all the pieces surrounding Lamar Jackson, looking at what we were able to do last year with the injuries that he has, with him and this revamped offense under Todd Munkin, I believe that we will be successful,

and he will have a couple more playoff victories under his belt to make that push as to why I believe he's this high. And I believe the stats will back it up as well, because it's what Adam and, whatchamacallit, CJ said. He doesn't turn the ball over much, so that's a bright spot for him. And I believe he'll run a lot less to show you guys his quarterback capabilities. And I don't have to talk too much about number one, because it's Patrick Mahomes. And sometimes when I look at him, it's not Mahomes and sometimes when I look at him it's not really close the the way he throws the ball and the way he's able to get away with robbery at times like the play could be over dead

to rice and he's able to just flip the ball and score a touchdown is just unfair at times he's able to do more with less and we were able to see it last year when he was able to take that wide receiving court of MVS Skymore and Juju Smith-Schuster to a Super Bowl victory and a Super Bowl MVP in his awakening so all in all when I look at the wide receiver court that he has now as long as he still has Travis Kelsey as CJ pointed out I have no qualms about what they are able to do and with Andy Reid as the head coach, without question, I believe they will still be a threat, and it will be basically and solely because of Patrick Mahomes. That's a very interesting list.

And I think Aaron Rodgers being on there is definitely noteworthy. Just because it feels like people have forgotten that this guy is not too far removed from back-to-back league MVP nominations. And three straight NFC Championship appearances. I mean, this guy can clearly still play, and then he lost a bunch of pieces on his offense going into last year. And it wasn't the same after that. Also, the offensive line kind of fell apart. Now you go into a new team, and I think his career is going to be rejuvenated, and he's going to have a much better year, and he's going to remind people that he is Aaron Rodgers

in a couple of different ways because the postseason is also a thing. But I think that's an interesting one, and the Jets are going to be a really, really interesting case going into this year. You're very high on Lamar Jackson. High enough so that you have him number two going into next year. But that doesn't surprise me at all. Yeah, I'm just numb at this point.

It was definitely pulling teeth for you putting Joe Burrow in your top five. It was. Even though he should not be as low as four but i'll let that slide i'm just happy he had him in the top five like at all i think it's reasonable for him to be top five it just depends on where you look at him your hands are tied at that point you have to put him top ten uh top five at least obviously top five but where you rank them it doesn't matter sure it doesn't matter okay um but yeah i like your list i think i think it's a pretty good list um you guys both have patrick mahomes number one um understandably so this guy has year in and year out been the

best quarterback in all of football. Don't do this. Oh, I know what's coming, and I love this. All right, so without further ado, I'm going to get started. And for my number five, I was very torn. I was torn between Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson. And I was going to pick based on what you guys had for your number fives. And I thought if both of you have Lamar Jackson, I'll go Aaron Rogers. If both of you have Aaron Rogers, I'll

pick Lamar Jackson, but you both picked a different guy. So I'm just going to go Aaron Rogers, my first pick, because I think they're both, they're both worthy of that spot. But Aaron Rodgers has already proven it in the past that he can be very good as a passer. He has a good passing offense around him now. New coach. He's got a new system. He seems rejuvenated. He's buying into this year.

And an Aaron Rodgers who buys in is the best Aaron Rodgers. Because sometimes he just checks out. We know the way he is sometimes it's just he's such a wild card but now I think we can we can bet on him you know having a better year than he has uh this past season he didn't seem like he was too much into it um and we also forget what he was like when he had very good weapons, right? Three years in a row making the NFC Championship game, and this guy was a very, very good quarterback.

He won back-to-back league MVPs. So Aaron Rodgers, now that he has weapons, he has a defense around him, an offensive line that has potential when it stays healthy. We'll see if it can do that. But all the pieces are in place for him. So I have Aaron Rodgers top five. He could even wind up going higher on this list, and people will look back at this summer saying,

Adam, you're crazy. Why did you not have him top three? My number four is Trevor Lawrence. And the reason I have Trevor Lawrence is because this guy, after a disastrous rookie season, winds up turning Christian Kirk from a career number two wide receiver, if that, like a mid to low end wide receiver two. He makes them look like a one and he rejuvenates Evan Engram's career.

And now you get Calvin Ridley in the mix with a still competent offensive line, a defense that's improving. The coaching staff seems like it knows what it's doing. This is a team that's on the up and up. And he already had a very, very good last season. Big jump from year one to year two. What's going to happen in year three? That's usually when these star quarterbacks really break out. That's where Josh Allen really turned into Josh Allen. And I expect Trevor Lawrence to turn into the quarterback Messiah that the Jaguars thought they were drafting a couple of years ago. So I have Trevor Lawrence, number four, followed by at number three, Patrick Mahomes. And the reason I have him, listen,

if we're talking about just simply on talent and what they can do, then it's no question Mahomes is number one. But we're going off of the season that they believe that they are going to have next year. There's being able to do more with less, and then there's being able to do more with almost nothing. You have Travis Kelsey who's going to get double teamed every single game because you don't have much past him.

Are we really banking on Sky Moore, Kadarius Toney, and Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Mr. 50-50 ball himself? Yes. To be able to take this team to the promised land? I don't think so. We did it last year yes you had juju smith souster and micole hardman in the mix no you don't have enough now you're holding this against yo i need that this people can't come soon enough he is top three in my mind still

because he's still a slam dunk to have 25 to 30 touchdown passes even on a down year you guys called me egregious from where i put joe burrow i think i think we're forgetting where this guy was dirt midway through 20 the 2019 season where everybody was hurt and he didn't look like his old his usual self he was hurt he was. But then he came back and he was fine. But the problem was no Tyreek Hill and you didn't have Juju Smith Schuster yet. The rest of your offense, you didn't have much and you still had Travis Kelsey for those games. He didn't look like his old self. Now him not being his old self is still a very good quarterback. In fact, a top three in my mind. He's just not going to be number one.

He doesn't have a number one caliber season this year. And that's not against him. This is all based on factors he cannot control. Okay. Who's the top two then? My number two is josh allen and josh allen nothing really nothing has changed for him from last year to suggest that he can't repeat what he just did the year prior this guy is a slam dunk to have 35 plus touchdown passes and he still has Stefan Diggs. I know you got rid, you got rid of

Isaiah McKenzie, but that just shows me how much faith they have in Gabe Davis as their number two. I get it. He did not play up to snuff CJ, but I still think an 800 plus yard season with over seven touchdowns is a pretty good year for a wide receiver too especially when you have stefan digs to throw to you also you have dawson knox you just drafted dalton kincaid so you have a pretty good tight tight end duo so i think this guy is going to have another fabulous year he's my number two going into next season. My number one is Joe Burrow. How could you not have Joe Burrow as your number one going into next year? All everything is in line for this guy to have a career year and a league MVP type season.

This guy. So let me, let me bring up his playoff stats, because a lot of you have brought that up. So in his seven games that he has played, 5-2 quarterback record, 9-4 touchdown interception ratio, about 1,800 yards, a 93.8 passer rating. Here's the kicker. In seven games, if you are sacked 29 times in seven games, do you expect to have a winning record? Absolutely not. Unless your name's Joe Burrell.

Against playoff teams. That's unbelievable. Now you have the most improved offensive line in all of football going into this year. If you have Lyle Collins as a backup tackle, line in all of football going into this year. If you have Lyle Collins as a backup tackle, then I think you're doing something right. This offensive line is going to give Burrow time to throw and you still have Jamar Chase, T. Higgins.

You got Tyler Boyd over there. You have a new tight end to replace the other guy who you just had, Irv Smith. This is going to be a career year for Joe Burrow. He's my league MVP candidate, and I have him favored to win it, and he's also going to be the number one quarterback next year, and it's not even close. This is the year of joe

burrow coming up adam's got me out here fighting demons oh my god i can't believe this i thought i was egregious for putting him four you put him number one and put my homes three i can't i I think it's a good thing that I have Patrick Mahomes top three, despite not having a real wide receiver two, let alone a one. He doesn't have much by way of weapons. He doesn't. I'm hearing excuses that he'll always overcome because he will of course be the second or number one seed that's just how it works he's always had the ability to do more with less but to do more with what he has now he has even less than what he had

the season prior and was still able to win the Super Bowl last year. And he'll still be able to make the playoffs and be contending this year. At bare minimum. Exactly. Which is why I have him top three. And you just think Joe Burrow is just going to leapfrog him like that. I do think that. Yes. Absolutely.

I 150% think he will. I know he will. I can't wait for the season to get here. I can't wait for it. The seasons that he has had in back-to-back years where he's been top five in time sacked in the past couple of seasons, he was number one the year he went to a Super Bowl. Now he actually has time to throw,

and we just don't think he's going to skyrocket up the rankings? Absolutely not. No, he's not. Skyrocket means he went from trash to all of a sudden, bang, he's top five. No, he was top ten last year. He became top five this year. He's not skyrocketing. He's just moving up the rankings.

It's a tight list. I wouldn't say skyrocket. Yeah, but you had Joe Burrow four. I had him two going into the playoffs. It's a tight list. I wouldn't say Scott Rockett. Yeah, but you had Joe Burrow four. I had him two going in. Out of five. Out of a list of five, I, being a rival, still think he's a top five quarterback. At four?

You have him barely being in there. 32. Yeah, but he's Joe Burrow. So? I could just leave him out the top five altogether together and put herbert in there and be just fine you i actually thought i was being reasonable here you had lamar jackson at number two give me a break because of being reasonable i'm not just saying it because it's him i'm saying look at the offense around him look at what he's done in the past with lesser

talent cj i'm pretty sure you've been this year i I'm sorry. CJ, you've been trying to say something all episode long, but you've been muted. Yeah, I know. I guess because trains and stuff. Yeah, all I was going to say is, yeah, look at the offense around Lamar. That's all well and good. Look at the offense around Joe Burrow. It's better.

Yes. So, I mean, we're going off that argument. I was not talking about Burrow. Let me make that clear. Lamar Jackson's offense is now comparable to Cincinnati's offense. Oh, believe me, you will be forgiven. Lamar Jackson's offense is comparable to Cincinnati's offense, yes. I think Lamar Jackson will have a season like the one where he put up

33 points per game in 2019. I think it's going to be that type of season, except a lot more passing yards. Yeah, he should be a better passer. I mean, he better be. I mean, with the amount that they've invested in it, he better be. You guys are saying it like it's his

fault that he had trash weapons. All right. It is what it is. We'll just never agree on Joe Burrow and Lamar. We'll see when the season comes around and Lamar Jackson's the MVP and Joe Burrow gets bounced in the playoffs. We'll see. I can't wait.

I really can't wait. All right, guys. We do have to move on. There you have it. Our top five quarterbacks going into the 2023 NFL season. I had a fun time doing this list, but I think we're going to have a lot more fun trying to analyze this NFC West, which continuously puzzles us year in, year out. That's next. This is the Fumble Rooski podcast. Welcome

back to the Fumble ruski podcast on our 200th episode i'm adam right cj maderos and justin tucker this is all brought to you by power 88 dean radio and secret weapon consulting we are and Secret Weapon Consulting. We are on to our final week of division previews, which is the NFC West. So that is a division featuring the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks. I just got a notification that the Celtics just signed Jalen Brown to a max contract. We're not going to talk about that, though.

I didn't get that. For you, Marcus Spears just tweeted it. I'm so happy right now. But I just stopped mid-sentence. This is a division featuring the San Francisco 49ers, the Geno Smith-led Seattle Seahawks, you've got the Rams and the Cardinals so I mean right out of the gates with how I am going to kind of preview this division last year I remember vividly last year when we previewed this division we saw any one of those teams making the playoffs except for

the Seahawks now what are we kind of looking at this like? A little bit different. In fact, the opposite. Now we see the Seahawks as one of the leading candidates, and then the Cardinals and Rams you can pretty much bet on to not make it there, even though they do have some talent there. I mean, both teams are kind of just falling apart. They look like dumpster fires. And then there's obviously San Francisco. They have the quarterback situation, but past that, if they had their quarterback nailed down, if they had their guy, let's say Trey Lance pulled through last year. Let's say Brock Purdy never got hurt. We'd be looking at this team as not only the division champions, but possibly the NFC champions as well,

and to represent in the next Super Bowl. So I got to say, I might have Seattle winning this division, now that I think of it. I still got San Francisco winning this division. I'm sorry. I'm going first on this one. I'm sorry about that. CJ's also.

Yeah, I know. I just want to say this entire division, I think, completely hinges on when Brock Purdy's coming back. No, because I don't care what anyone says. Brock Purdy is better than Trey Lance. Trey Lance is done. Brock Purdy won that starting job from him, and we know he's going to come back at some point during the season,

and whenever that is, the earlier the better, because that offense is loaded. But the later he comes back in the year, the more likely Seattle is to, you know, win the division at least. Although if they meet in the playoffs, I expect a similar result. All righty. As far as the division is concerned, I still think it's San Francisco's division to lose despite the quarterback situation that they have. Because I believe just based on the running scheme that they have they can win the division just based

on the running scheme that they have minus the quarterback because I believe they can just find a standing quarterback because I think Sam Darnold is good enough to to not mess it up based upon what they're hearing from the camp that they actually like what they're seeing from Sam Darnold which is surprising considering his last two stunts. But overall, when I look at the San Francisco 49ers, they just need a solid quarterback, which Sam Donald at times can be, to run the offense, don't mess anything up, and let the defense go to work. The run game is phenomenal. Devo Samuels is elite. Brandon Ayuk is an underrated number two in their offense. And their defense has Nick Bosa and Javon Hargraves on one side.

That's a scary tandem when they team up. So I don't know. When I look at the offense and I look at the defense and I look at that secondary behind them as well, and I look at the defense and I look at that secondary behind them as well and I look around all together I think they're one of the most complete football teams in the NFL right now Seattle not gonna lie I've liked some of the pickups that they've had throughout the draft and throughout free agency I still think they'll be a playoff team I think Geno Smith will take another step forward and to prove why he's the comeback player of the year and to show the growth that he's shown. But overall,

I still think it's going to be a mountain to overcome the San Francisco 49ers and the NFC West. Not worried about the Rams, not worried about the Cardinals because in all honesty, the Cardinals are just flat-out rebuilding. It's just it is what it is. And it feels like the Rams are too, considering they just treated Jalen Ramsey away, so I'm not really sure what the deal is with the Rams. So I don't know. As much as I don't want to, like, throw away the Rams because they, like, two seasons ago they just won the Super Bowl,

but last year they were a dumpster fire and they didn't even have a first round pick who they coincidentally gave to detroit but they decided to give to jameer gives let's not even know that the fact of the matter is overall i don't see those two being like key players in that division this year except when it comes to like the end of the season if they have matchups against the other two. But outside of that, I think it's just the two horse race between the 49ers and the Seahawks. I think I'm going to go against both of you guys here and say that I have the Seahawks winning this division. But I think one thing that we can both agree on, that all of us can agree on, is that quarterback is a massive question mark for both teams between Seattle and San Francisco.

I'd say more so for San Fran. The thing is with Seattle is that, how do I put this, that Geno needs to show that he's not a one-year wonder and that he can do it again especially after they just gave him that big contract exactly so it's it's all going to come down to how the quarterback position plays out for these two teams because both of them after the quarterback position have teams where if the quarterback wasn't such a question mark they're contenders in the entire freaking league because they just have that good a roster. And the Seahawks looked imperfect last year, but they had some young talent developing. And now through free agency, they worked on that front

seven and the interior of that, um, of that offensive line. They brought in with their two first round picks. They got a slam dunk. They got a shutdown corner to pair up with Tariq. And they also got another wide receiver who could, if he pans out, be one of the best wide receivers in this whole division. So, so this is,

so this Seahawks team has a lot of potential. They're younger than the 49ers, and they're also just flat out a really, really good team. And it's blatantly obvious that this team is trying to restore their former Legion of Boom when they drafted Devin Witherspoon because I thought they were going somewhere interior defensive line. They didn't do that. But I was pleasantly surprised.

I think Devin Witherspoon is a good pick that they made. Same with Jackson Smith and Jigba, who joins DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. And you also have Noah Fant, Will Disley, and the tight end department. You have a very good defense. I mean, everything. I just think this Seahawks team is younger and they've improved a lot. And I think it's going to be a lot closer between them and San Francisco. In fact, I have them being the division champions. We're also forgetting the running back position where they have kenneth walker who is casually a very good wide uh she's very good running back with an with a pretty bad interior offensive line that's improved this year so he's going to have a better year a passing mention they drafted

zach charbonnet too and he was very good at UCLA. Exactly. The 49ers have Christian McCaffrey. And? I want to say Terrence Mitchell. McCaffrey's younger. You mean Elijah Mitchell. Kenneth Walker. Elijah Mitchell.

That's what I mean. Kenneth Walker's younger. Also, Christian McCaffrey has a track record of being hurt a lot. But if both are healthy, who are you taking? If both are healthy? You're taking Christian McCaffrey. I'm taking Christian McCaffrey, but health matters. We can't just discount health.

Yeah, but we all look at the running back as the same. Like, unfortunately, it doesn't matter, like, health-wise, sooner or later you're going to be run down eventually. And I know Christian McCaffrey's, like, injury. We give him this label of injury-prone, but he was fairly healthy last season and helped him get to the NFC Championship game. It's true.

So, I don't know if he can still keep that up. I don't see any reason why I wouldn't take Christian McCaffrey over. Yeah. Kenneth Walker. I think that's just being fair here. And that's all I got to say. Guys, I got to go. All right.

All right. Thank you for being with us for these 200 episodes. It feels like just yesterday when you and I got together and started this podcast as two co-founders and I'll see you next week. We're not, we're not, we're not, we may be at episode 200,

but we're not finishing up anytime soon. So not just yet. Also, Brian is out. Brian is still out after two years. All right. All right. See you. See you around tuck all right so tuck did

have he had work he we forgive him tuck has work because he actually contributes to society like a loser all right all right so we're just going to move on and get to our fan box where we are going to revisit the quarterback position where we asked you guys who is the most underrated quarterback going into 2023 we got some good answers and you guys won't want to miss it this is the fumble ruski 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 in. What?

It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros.

Tuck just left for work. We are on to the fan box portion of our show where we post a question box on our Instagram every Monday. And you can respond with hot takes, questions, and more. And we will discuss it and give you a shout out on our podcast respond to next week's fan box question to be featured on our show so for the question of the week we had who is the most underrated quarterback going into the 2023 season we start off with culinary goddess or is it cindy maderos i believe it is yes yeah cj knows her uh said mac jones um i don't hate it i don't hate it because he was he was a pro bowl quarterback

like very recently but when you add context to it the jury i'm just saying we all know the pro bowl means nothing but my point is he was runner up an offensive rookie of the year and i don't know how just how much of last season was his fault you know because of a man named matt patricia and you know he's never at a wide receiver one, never at a healthy O-line. He can be something, but it just seems like there's a certain hoodie that has been almost like impeding his growth, but that should change this year. He's entering a big make-or-break season.

Certainly. So this next response is the ying to mac jones's yang it is ian mulhern saying bailey zappy if mac jones can't get it together i'm calling it now zappy is taking over as a pats fan i don't get the zappy hype he's literally there's not one thing he literally does better better than mac Not as fast. Weaker arm. Less accurate. It's like, and everyone's like, oh, but they were winning. It's like, you know, it's weird.

They literally had like two different playbooks, one for Zappy and one for Mac. It was so stupid. And even still, I'm sorry, but all the Zappy fans should have died out after that Chicago game where he completely fell apart. Yeah. I like, I that's where I, that that's where it was kind of a turnoff for me. Cause I was at least for a few games.

I was like, okay, this kid's playing pretty well. Let's see what he can do. Right. He's winning games where Mac Jones wasn't able to earlier on in the year. But then you go into that Chicago game and he threw two picks against a, a bears defense. That really wasn't much to write home about.

That's where I was like, all right. All right. But our next response here, it is. So we are into the Desmond Ritters. Patrick Williver said Desmond Ritter. Jack Briel said Ritter and Howell both have a lot to prove. Brian Mucker said Howell, Desmond Ritter, and Brock Purdy. We'll get to Purdy in a minute.

But Ritter and Howell, it seems like those two are kind of packed into one response. And I can kind of understand why because both haven't don't haven't played under a large sample size both were kind of later picks who are given the opportunity to start and haven't looked bad just it's such a small sample size but i will say this about ritter if it turns out ritter can play we'll know because the falcons actually have a pretty solid team around uh around ritter right now good offensive line good good targets for him to throw to he has a very good running game i mean they had invested in the

number eight overall pick for him for any of an existing thousand yard rusher and tyler algier tyler algier as well cordero patterson is still on the team so if it turns out he can play then we will know if he can't then we'll also know so they're gonna know real soon and i imagine this would be the draft upcoming where if it turns out he can't play then the falcons will finally take a quarterback worth taking yeah we'll see yeah the sucks though for ritter and howell is that they're not really getting much of a chance it's this year and if they suck they're done basically but it then again this past quarterback draft wasn't the best one they were part of i mean they kind of did it to themselves because if they if they played better in college

and they had more hype then maybe they would play maybe they would get more of a chance that's kind of the way it works except for maybe brock purdy because he was like mr relevant sure but he also did well and you know he took the team to an nfc championship game i mean that's got to count for something yeah i guess it does yes um and also like the number two seed so i mean great things going over going on over in san francisco um and we'll get to purdy in a bit but uh next one was stepven parker who said jared goff and also steven parker said desmond ritter to credit for uh desmond uh the desmond ritter pick but jared goff also cola dj said jared goff the goat i think people are forgetting just how good goff is because it

wasn't long ago where this kid was actually pretty hyped up. He was the number one overall pick. Then a couple years into his career on the Rams, he did pretty well. In fact, he kind of took the team to a Super Bowl. I know the team around him was really good, but don't most quarterbacks need some talent around them in order to succeed? It's a team short. So he was a throw-in in the matthew stafford deal and he's he remained patient i could see a lot of different guys in that situation that

golf was in kind of throwing their hands up saying you know what maybe it's time to hang them up but he didn't give up he hasn't quit and all of a sudden this detroit team looks like the real deal and he's gonna be he's he has the keys to the kingdom right now so yeah props to him for having that patience to really stick around and and work through this yeah i i hear you i do he's another one that if the lions underperform and miss the playoffs in a very weak NFC, then I don't know. In a weak NFC North. Yeah, on top of that. Right.

Because the Bears are still a couple years off. They might be competitive, but the Lions should make quick work of them. Also, just a side note, tiny tiny side note we'll move on quick between the lions and the cowboys thanksgiving is going to be pretty fun this year for once yeah yeah it's going to be fun two teams that are actually going to be playoff contenders i kind of hope they i don't i i i'm off the top of my head who is who is what i wait let's let's move on yeah let's just keep going i i love thanksgiving football uh we'll leave it at that um then we move on to the kirk cousins votes aaron uh aaron wise said kirk cousins robert canado said kirk tyson tate said no debate it's kirk still uh eli turner said kirk cousins surprises me sometimes and i mean i guess but a lot of it is

just his abysmal record in prime time and like how he falls apart when the lights are brightest they uh that i definitely think completely undermines like what he can do because he's like he's not bad but it's just whenever you see him in prime time he's just not playing well but statistically he's actually pretty good it's just very predictable on what he does in the in the regular season like he always has very good seasons to the point where he's called an underrated quarterback and he he's he's infesting our fan boxes with responses saying he's kirk's pretty underrated and he is i guess but like he's a good he's a good solid starting quarterback in this league he's in he's a top half starter in this league but But we know what he is at this point.

And I just wish the Vikings could do so much better. Especially with the team that they have. Listen, if you are one of the league leaders in interceptions thrown while having Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen to throw to and you can still dump the ball off to Dalvin Cook, there's something wrong there. Just saying. Um, all right. Our next response is Ben Christopher who said Justin Fields followed by also Luke Hickey, who did also say fields. Um, so the jury is still out on him. So I feel like he's pretty much rated exactly where

he should be. Like people are, I don't think anyone's sleeping on him right now. Everyone is saying, okay, he's in a good situation. Let's see how he does for this upcoming year. And if it, if it turns out he can't play in this environment, then maybe the bears need to look elsewhere for a new quarterback, but they're doing all the right things that they need to do. They have a good offensive line for them, right? They, they brought in a wide receiver one for Mooney, who will be a two. You got chase Claypool. Who's going to be a three. You got Cole commit. Who's a good tight end one one and you have a pretty good running back duo and deontay foreman and khalil herbert so i think they i think they have a good thing going there

and a defense that's still improving too um so yeah we'll see um hang on lost my place lost my place by the way uh jimmy graham has signed a one-year contract with the saints right now and i only mentioned this because i forgot he was even in the league me too it seems like more of a send-off you know uh they might as well just do a one-day contract at that yeah that's what i was like those things even though those things are so fake um yeah nick norman said either janiel daniel jones or gita or gino both are in the top half of the league in starters in my opinion um they this past season they had that um and going into next year i think gino smith is definitely going to be in the top half of the league daniel jones so he gets he gets darren waller added to the mix um and they brought in jalen

hyatt through the nfl draft uh their offensive line still needs a little bit more a little bit more work but overall yeah they are definitely underrated. But Geno Smith needs to prove that it wasn't a one-off. Because other than this past season, people even forgot that they said, oh, wait, Geno's still in the league? And then all of a sudden, then he was known as Russell Wilson's backup for a few years. Then he comes in.

We thought Drew Locke last year was going to be the starter, and then Geno Smith surprised us all. He won the starting job, and then what? He had a good year. So we'll see if he can sustain this. Yeah, same thing with Daniel Jones. It's gino and daniel have a lot to prove gino needs to prove he wasn't a fluke and daniel jones has to live up to that massive contract yeah uh carolina cast sports said bryce young can you even call a rookie underrated it's that's what i'm thinking it's hard to just

call a rookie underrated i guess you could say he's undervalued just because he is short and he's getting a lot of crap for it especially in training camp when you see videos of let's say you see clips of like i think i saw this one clip where the offensive line was standing up and he disappeared behind it oh yeah i saw that one too it was kind of funny but i mean if he a lot of short quarterbacks have been able to play in recent years so we'll see russell wilson yeah yeah so it's happened in the past and baker mayfield to an extent he's had some career success um we'll see if he could continue it if he could get back on the map over in uh in tampa bay but brogdon hill said uh we got a couple lamar jackson votes so brogdon hill had not gotten much attention entering this season

that's what brogdon hill said jad noman said lamar is getting underpaid owen vanslack lamar jackson in caps if he stays healthy oh that is the question of the day isn't it i mean i said that when i like our highlight lamar has just got to stay healthy and i think he should considering he's committing to throwing the ball more but you never know right and when you have a unanimous league mvp in your division and you have another team winning that uh taking it taking the division title i would say that quarterback's pretty underrated especially since joe burrow technically hasn't won a super bowl yet uh he hasn't won a super bowl or a league mvp lamar jackson actually at least has one of the two

um so yeah he's definitely underrated and i think he's going to have a much better year than he has in years past because he's going to be throwing a lot more finally the ravens are coming to their senses and making some changes and having this kid throw some more, but if he can't throw, like if it turns out that once you haven't throw more, that he actually looks pretty bad. That's going to be a conversation to be had, especially since they just paid him a massive contract, especially with Justin Tucker.

Yeah. That's going to be an interesting conversation with our host, Ian. So we're now onto the be an interesting conversation with our host. Ian Mulhern. So we're now on to the Brock Purdy votes. Ian Mulhern said Brock Purdy. Diego Huertas said, has to be Brock Purdy, but all depends on how he recovered. Very true. Owen.

Yep. So there were only two. I thought there were more. Brock Purdy, he's a massive question mark right now. First of all, it's still technically a small sample size, so we don't technically know if this kid can actually play. He was also playing around a very good team. But it will also hinge on whether or not this kid comes back healthy

and when he does because the 49ers are going to need him. We don't even know if trey lance can play anymore we'll see um but jury is still out on brock purdy i think people are still forgetting that like oh if brock purdy's healthy they'll be fine we don't even know if this kid can actually play it's been a small sample size i know he's done he i know all of these performances have been in big moments and he led a team to the nfc championship game which is amazing but it could still be a flash in the pan i'm not saying it is not saying it isn't just pointing out the obvious here yeah um owen vanslack said to a primed for a breakout season if his mind doesn't turn to mush

maybe it's all going to depend on that also we're forgetting the reason why his mind has turned to mush in the past calendar year that offensive line sucks and it still does they they didn't do anything to improve it they get rid of austin jackson the right tackle who did they replace him with isaiah win yeah and and as a pats fan i could say isaiah wins gonna be hurt by like week seven yeah if he's not committing hold after hold yeah and the interior of that offensive line isn't very good either. Yeah, Hunt is underrated, but I don't like their left guard or their center. Yeah. Owen Van Slak also said Baker because he got nothing to lose at this point.

And we had a couple of Baker Mayfield votes. Cola DJ said Baker Mayfield. Jay-Z ate hockey, said Baker Mayfield. So he has a good situation around him. It's, it's solid. I think we're forgetting that the Buccaneers do have some pieces. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin still exist.

Um, and they have Rashad white in the running game. I mean, he's, he showed some promise. He looks like he could be a solid back. They need some more help at the tackle position since they got rid of donovan smith and um i mean it's something you just have to wait and see because he he had a good season

he had a good year a few years ago in 2019 but he hasn't been the same since. Yeah, ever since he played through that awful shoulder injury, he just has – he's never been the same. Yeah. He hasn't been the same. So maybe – I mean, he had some good games for the Rams, so maybe he turned a corner, maybe he didn't. It'll be indicative of. It'll be indicative by just how he does on the buccaneers um and if not if it doesn't work out here then

he's never going to get another opportunity maybe he'll be a backup somewhere uh jz8 hockey said josh rosen and this was obviously satire. Maybe the real nine mistakes made ahead of him were the friends we made along the way. Yeah. Who were those nine mistakes anyways? I know Josh Allen was one of them. Saquon too. Saquon.

I think Quentin Nelson. Quentin Nelson. Nine mistakes, man. Jesus Christ. Denzel Ward. What a moron amen um all right hang on lost my place uh uh elion ga 11 said jacoby brissett um he should be starting i'm a brissett fan personally especially after how he was with cleveland i don't like he's be starting i'm a bursette fan personally especially after how he was with cleveland

i don't like he's a backup i forgive you he's a backup he could win a game or two but if you have him as your starting quarterback you're not doing anything you might make the playoffs if you have a really good team around you but he's not like he's been better than i thought he would be once since he came in the league as a third string third string quarterback but he's not he's been better than I thought he would be once since he came in the league as a third string, a third string quarterback, but he's not, he's not a starting. I just don't think he's a starting level quarterback. I don't,

he might be the best in his quarterback room currently, but does that say much? I don't know. All right. Chase McGinty said, I'm a birds fan, but honestly, Kenny Pickett is is gonna break out

he should but that division is gonna be tough it is and i think he's going to be a good he is gonna be good this year but again this division is gonna be tough cleveland still exists i think we keep forgetting that cleveland actually has a pretty good team oh yeah they do it all depends on watson though it does and the steelers have a pretty good young team and they has a pretty good team. Oh, yeah, they do. It all depends on Watson, though. It does. And the Steelers have a pretty good young team, and they're a very good professional organization that always seems to find ways to get competitive again, no matter how much of a mess things seem to be.

So I have some trust in this organization, and maybe they found in a very bad quarterback draft. It looks like they found that one guy. They picked him out of there. Yep. No, no pun intended with the pick.

They, they, I mean, they plucked him out of there. Like it was, I mean, it was the, the only number one,

the only first round pick. And it looks like they were right to take them there. So we'll see. Grayson Mortimer said he's not underrated but based on last year I expect Ross to bounce back. He is now underrated. He is now underrated because he has been clowned on so much in this past year and a lot of it's self-inflicted but we forget that he was a perennial pro bowl quarterback

and uh seattle and an mvp candidate usually for the first half of the year but whatever exactly but what one thing that i point out also is that part of it is also because his backup in seattle as soon as he left, he put up similar production with Pete Carroll. So then it makes it look like it was all Pete Carroll the whole time and that Russell Wilson, maybe he couldn't play. I'm not saying I agree with it, but that's what it kind of made it look like in the public eye.

Yeah, it didn't look good for Russ when he left, especially like you said with Gina. But I'm still not giving up on Russell Wilson. We can't just throw away half a decade's worth of 30-plus touchdown seasons where he's dragging that Seahawks team to the playoffs in years where they have no business even being there. So I'm still holding out hope. A talented Broncos team, a new coach, an improved offensive line,

I think he's going to be a lot better. Josh Houle said, I think Derek Carr has much better weapons with him now in new orleans uh kinda i mean they're more underrated and the the floor is higher but the ceiling's lower if that makes sense because you had davante adams darren waller and josh jacobs but i mean like you you have a lot of two huh hunter renfro too yeah but i mean i'm just saying i think that the but that but that's pretty much it it was like a very top heavy offense which is why i say the floor for new orleans at least with their skill set is higher but their ceiling is also lower well yeah but olave as a rookie yeah olave is a rookie with a thousand yards i think he's going

to get better than that and now he has better quarterback play yeah plus you have camara you have camara in there for however long he's going to be jamal williams too they also signed i think michael thomas if he can stay healthy that's a big if but you never know. Well, if Thomas can stay healthy, though, you have him and Olave. And Juwan Johnson, who's a very underrated tight end. And now Jimmy Graham, for whatever he can contribute to the team, that'll be a throwback.

If they can turn Jimmy Graham back into what he once was, then all the power to New Orleans for what they have done. But if that does happen again, they should not fall short of the division title if all of this happens. Michael Thomas stays healthy. Jimmy Graham finds his old form. Jimmy Graham finds his old form. Chris Olave makes a jump in his sophomore season.

And you upgrade at quarterback to Derek Carr. I'm just saying, there's a lot of good things going on over there. And yeah, Derek Carr, I think he's underrated. He is. I think we forget about his 2016 MVP caliber year. Before he

got hurt. Before he got hurt, yeah. And if he didn't get hurt maybe he would have won it maybe i don't know it's possible but there were a lot of other candidates over there if it wasn't going to be matt ryan it would have been aaron rogers or tom brady if he wasn't suspended four games it was just a good year for the league yeah it's a good year. Peak year. Yeah. Peak Super Bowl too. Amen. Heard that. All right.

Well, that is the last of our responses and the last of our scheduled content. Do you have anything else to say before we end the show, CJ? No. All right. Well, happy 200, CJ. Thanks for joining the show after, I believe it it's been what like a year and a half or so of being on our show being one of our co-hosts the show i can say has gotten better since you joined i appreciate all the help that you do all of the work that you have done to build it up to where where it has gotten right now i don't know where we would be if we did not have you as a co-host CJ.

I appreciate it. Saying that. And you know something. Oh, sorry. I just want to say one thing, you know, if you know about where I came from before this,

I think I made the right choice. That's all I'm going to say. Sure. Yeah. I mean, this has been a good show. So we're at, we appreciate you guys as an audience for tuning in and for all you p1s out there all of you guys who have listened to most of all of if

not most of our of our shows in the past couple of years thank you for sticking around and tuning into all of our episodes thanks to robert shell Shelley for helping us set up this podcast two years ago. It is, I mean, your help has been incredible with all your experience with the Pesky Pole podcast, but without further ado for the 200th time, that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays at 7 30 PM Eastern standard time. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts, iHeartRadio, Google podcasts, and so much more. Also be sure to follow our Instagram at fumble ruski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcasts and latest

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