The Fumblerooski Podcast - Win Now or Later? -Ep 127

Episode Date: October 21, 2022

Did the 49ers make the wrong call trading for McCaffery? How should Belichick handle the Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe QB controversy? Is Russell Wilson falling off as a competent QB? Adam Wright and CJ Medeiros host special guest Nick Noormand discuss these topics as well as give Fantasy start em sit ems and trade deadline rumors!

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? Diggs! Sideline! Touchiggs! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! The Carolina Panthers have shaken up the football world, trading Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers, giving us plenty to talk about. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. As I said, plenty to talk about. We're going to lead off with the Christian McCaffrey trade. We're going to talk about the Mac Jones versus Bailey Zappi debate as CJ and I, big

Patriots fans, so we'll have fun with that one. Russell Wilson and his continued struggles, fantasy football, stardom, sit-ums, all that stuff, and joining us to hit on all of these topics. He's been on the show before, big fan of the show, Nick Normand, the Pittsburgh, sorry, Pirates, the Steelers fan. Welcome back to the show. We have some new listeners though. Why don't you introduce yourself? Thank you so much. I am Nick. I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and a newly converted NBA fan as well, so picking up with the NBA season as well, but happy to be here, guys, and just looking forward to breaking down some NFL news. Absolutely, man. It's great to have you back. You mentioned the NBA. It is a good time for cj and i to be celtics fans coming off a

championship and a pretty solid opening day nice opening night for what's that i said you mean championship appearance yeah championship appearance is that what that's what i said right no you said championship i meant that's what i mean. Dude, I wish. I wish. I wish. I thought we had it, but this is an NFL podcast, so we'll start off with our lead-off topic, which is the breaking news. Christian McCaffrey, who has been traded to the 49ers. So we'll just give our initial takes on this as this really just happened, but Nick, we'll start with you. What are your thoughts? So clearly, clearly from the last week or so since Matt Rule's been fired out of Carolina,

Matt Rule being fired, Robbie Anderson being traded, CMC was just the next domino to fall in this case. CMC definitely is still a talented player, as he's shown recording over 100 yards from scrimmage each of the last couple of weeks. He definitely still has gas left in the tank, but definitely not in the plan for the Carolina Panthers. Carolina Panthers right now seem to be rebuilding and really looking forward to the future, trying to acquire some draft capital. And really a running back who's a stud, who you're paying over $10 million each and every year for the next three years, that's just not part of a rebuilding plan. And so getting some good draft compensation for draft picks from the 49ers,

definitely I would say would be a good play for them. All right, CJ. Something about the Niners and injury-prone running backs. I personally don't understand it, but hey, San Fran, whatever floats your boat. Plain and simple, I do believe Carolina lost this trade. Christian McCaffrey is a top three running back in the NFL, and some would argue he's the best, especially this season. And yet, despite that, you could not get a first rounder for him. And Adam and I were talking about this earlier. Even if it's just

like a straight up McCaffrey for a first, I would do that rather than a second and a third. And Lord knows what other refuse they found in the garbage. It's just, Panthers, do better. You should have gotten a first for McCaffrey. I'm disappointed. But if you're the Niners, you just traded for Christian McCaffrey and you still have your first. Hey, you can't complain. And honestly, that Niners offense is looking scary. Maybe another elite weapon will help Jimmy G not suck. I don't know. But I mean, but look at their offense other than Jimmy G. You know, you got CMC now in the backfield along with Jeff Wilson.

And you have some good pass catching targets such as Debo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Ayuk. Niners, you got no, especially with the struggles of the Rams and the Cardinals and the Seahawks just being the Seahawks, you have no reason not to win this division now. And if you don't, we're going to have to start talking, but that's a problem for another day. All right. So touching on whether or not they should have gotten a first round pick out of it. Here's what I'll say about it. And I guess maybe I have something against running backs,

unless it's fantasy football. But listen, he's a running back. He may be one of the best in the league when he's healthy. Key word, one healthy. Or key, two words. But, like, number one, he has a big injury problem the past couple of years. And number two, he's a running back. So I kind of understand getting, getting just a second and a third and a fourth round pick for him. That's, that's a solid package. Good enough. I would say.

And like, also like they were looking for it, but just no one wanted to give that up because everyone, everyone has known that McCaffrey has had injury issues. My main takeaway from this trade is I'm kind of scratching my head at what the 49ers are looking for in this season when they trade for Christian McCaffrey, because their supposed franchise quarterback just went down. So it kind of turns this year into, you know, they, they bring in Jimmy Garoppolo and he's kind of the bridge guy. I know he brought him to an, an NFC championship game, but I'm just, it seems like there, there is, there is a cap on what you're going to get with Jimmy Garoppolo. It, you, you kind of need the big supporting cast.

You need the defense. You need all of the offensive weapons to even get in contention. And once you're in contention, there's no guarantees that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to take you to the promised land, which is a Super Bowl victory, not just a Super Bowl appearance. So, yeah, you want to make your team better, but it's a running back that they're adding,

meaning it's a short-term add, especially when it's Christian McCaffrey who's been in the league since 2017. So it's like this guy, I just feel like this guy, Christian McCaffrey, is going to be out of the league in two years. And this is a good young team that's looking to contend in a couple of years. So this guy may not even be around for that to happen. And you won't have your second, third, or fourth round picks. Second this year and then third and fourth, I believe, next season.

I'll have to look at the specifics of which years each pick was, but I don't know. Like, if you're building your team around running backs, you're not going to get the best success. So I don't love this deal for the 49ers. It'll help them in the short term, but I have my doubts on whether or not Christian McCaffrey can stay healthy, even this season, where he's been solid but still has had issues already.

So that's, that's kind of my take. I will say as far as hopping back to the pick package that they got back, the 49ers actually don't have their first round pick due to the Trey Lance trade when they traded three spot. So they're lacking their one, their two, their three,

and therefore they do have two compensatory picks in the third round coming back in, though, due to the Robert Sala and the Mike McDaniels hirings due to minority coach hirings, but definitely lacking in that first, second, and their original third is going to be interesting to see what they do, given they're not going to pick in the top 100. Definitely, it seems like a win-now move, though. Christian McCaffrey, I would say, of prime years, at best, of high-level football, might have the rest of this year, next year, and maybe the year after if you're lucky. So that's about a two-and-a-half-year window. Does that window line up with what the 49ers want to do? It's really hard to tell because it seems like they wanted to move away from Jimmy Garoppolo.

So that's not really like if you want to move away from Jimmy G, then is the window down the road? But if you don't really trust Trey Lance, which they didn't really seem to trust Trey Lance or like him that much, at least this season when he was playing before he hurt his ankle. So it's like, OK, you're making a win now move because you believe in Jimmy Garoppolo or do not. It's just kind of weird on the 49ers part. Right. Like looking at it, it's kind of like it's a win now move because you're trading for a running back in the prime of his career,

potentially the final years where he's going to be still productive, and you gave up significant draft capital for it, and the quarterback you traded up for, Trey Lance, isn't going to be available until at least next season. So, like, what are we doing here? Like, are we going all in on this year when you have Jimmy Garoppolo as your quarterback? I know it worked out okay for you last year, Like, are we going all in on this year when you have Jimmy Garoppolo as your quarterback?

I know it worked out okay for you last year, but, like, did we see them beating the Bengals if they got there? Did we see them? I don't – just that offense was too explosive. So, like, it seems like they just want to get back to the spot where they were before and stay relevant. When you should be building to build around Trey Lance. If you still had Trey Lance, this would be a great deal. That's what I'm saying.

This would be a very good deal because you're building around that guy, that guy right there, Trey Lance. But then you traded for McCaffrey after he went down and now Jimmy Garoppolo's in at quarterback. And we know that doesn't work when the 49ers are at their best. So that's the issue I have here. Yeah, I mean, Adam, I guess I hear you. I do, but like how old is Christian McCaffrey?

Do we know? 26. I think he But how old is Christian McCaffrey? Do we know? 26. I think he's going to turn 27 this year. I'll have to look that up. So I would say he's got at least three more years in the tank. And I don't see why San Fran couldn't get their window up and running by then. But on the pick thing, they could have given up. The Panthers could have gotten

niners like next year's first or something my point is i'm not a fan of the package carolina got and adam if what you're saying is correct how it's like a win now move and they're probably not going to win now then this trade literally hurt both teams and either way it's honestly for both sides it's a head-scratcher. I mean, well, not really so much for the Panthers, just the return is kind of a head-scratcher, but if you're the Niners, I mean, you got Christian McCaffrey, but why? See, I think where you and I disagree is whether or not

this was the right return for the Panthers, because I honestly think because of how McCaffrey has been with his injury history, it's just not fooling teams that he's playing at a high level this year. And he's still banged up. Hasn't he missed a game already? I believe he's already missed a game. So he's not really fooling anyone with his production.

Everyone knows that he can play well when healthy. But there's going to come a point, especially with running backs, when those injuries start to take a toll and you're not going to be playing at as high a level as you could, even when you are, like, we'll say healthy, for an older running back who's starting to reach the years where you're not able to perform like you could. Older, 26.

Age 26 for a wide receiver is a great year. But age 26 for a running back, those guys last like four seasons. It's not great. It's not every day where you get um an adrian peterson or frank gore who can go forever you know like it's just very it's very rare i will say though as far as what the 49ers seem to be doing if it is a win now move that i think the three of us can agree it seems like it's a win-now move. Yeah. Where do you guys have the 49ers ranked in the NFC? Because to me, at the very least,

they're a top three team in the NFC, to me, it seems like. Because the only team I can say definitely seems to be better than them right now would be the Eagles, who seem to clearly be the best NFC team. But who's threatening them? The Packers, Tampa Bay, the Cowboys. I just don't know that there's a second-best team in the NFC to the Eagles, definitely. And could the 49ers be that? Being the second-best team in the NFC could put you squarely in another NFC championship, and then you just got to win one game and get to the Super Bowl. It seems like it could be the over-the-top move that the 49ers are looking for.

I mean, it could be. Sorry, Adam. I don't want to jump in on you there, but I do want to say. Yeah, you go first. I don't know if being second best in the NFC really has the luster of years past because, plain and simple, the NFC is not as good as it was. Heck, it's not as good as it was last year.

They lost all those players over the offseason. Yeah, we're facing literally the beta versions of Tampa Bay and Green Bay. Philly's good, and I'm not going to take that away from them. Only undefeated team left. I have a lot of respect for them. But the Niners with Jimmy G as a quarterback, if that's the second- best team in the NFC, I think that says more about the NFC than it does about you.

Yeah, but that is a good point you bring up. And now that you bring that up, it's just that they're not beating the Eagles. So that's the problem there they might they might get another nfc championship appearance but the problem is like we know what they're we know what their ceiling is with jimmy garoppolo with the team at its best we've seen them make a super bowl we've seen them just this past season make a make an nfC championship game.

So we know that they'll be in the mix. But my problem is they're going to have a cap on their potential because Jimmy Garoppolo gives them chances to win games. He'll lead them to some victories over the regular season, some postseason victories as well. But when it comes to winning the big game, I just don't think he can i just don't think he can do that and i kind of want to see what trey lance can do at his best he has some great raw talent very good abilities i just want to see him put it

put it together and see how he can do with that but like yeah i mean the path is there to be in the mix. They're 3-3 right now, so they could go on a run. But let's see what happens with this season. I just don't think they have what it takes with Jimmy Garoppolo there, plain and simple. Yeah, honestly, I'm inclined to agree. But the path is there, as you mentioned, Nick.

I definitely agree there that the NFC has not been what it could be. A team that I really thought would be in the mix would be the Buccaneers. I thought they'd be a contender, but their offensive line has completely fallen apart, and Brady's starting to show a little bit of age here. I hate to admit that as a Brady fan and a Patriots fan, but it's not looking good for the Buccaneers. The Rams look like a massive bust, and their offensive line issues are a problem themselves.

They just lost. So they lost the other guy who they had who was 40, and I'm blanking on his name. Wentworth? Yeah. And then the other guy who replaced him, who has been pretty solid, he's been underachieving, but he just tore his Achilles, I believe. So, wow.

That's looking really bad, especially for a Rams team that I believe is under 500 right now. Not good. Or they could be 500 yeah man i think the rims their o-line is in a bad spot i think they have a right tackle who is a middling starter in the nfl the rest of the team though the rest of the o-line is just horrendous it's backups it's practice squad guys i think like their best offensive lineman besides their right tackle is somebody who they just signed off somebody else's practice

squad for center or something like their guard situation, their left tackle situation after the Joe Noteboom injury. Like they're just in a mess right now on the offensive line. And with that, Stafford's throwing a bunch of picks, and with a bad offensive line, he's going to throw even more, and it's just going to be bad, man. Yeah, it's not looking good for the Rams, especially on their offensive line. And also looking at, yeah, so I looked at their standings. They're 3-3, so they could find

themselves themselves back in it. They have the talent too, but it's not looking good on, on that part. Things are looking great for the Eagles so far, but we are getting a little off topic and I do want to move on to our next, which is that the Patriots have a bit of, we'll call it a con we'll call it a quarterback controversy for now. But Mac Jones versus Bailey Zappi, we'll touch on that debate coming up next. Don't go anywhere. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. Here's Edelman broken up and the pass is no sign yet.

Edelman comes down with a football and they're saying it's a catch. It's a catch! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown!

This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros and special guest Nick Normand. So, the Patriots have had a little success since Bailey Zappi has stepped in to replace. So, it wasn't mac directly mac jones they went from mac jones who suffered a high ankle spring to uh brian hoyer and brian hoyer didn't last the full game before he got he was out with a concussion and then zappy stepped in in that game they barely they barely lost to green Bay. They, they almost won. So imagine that Bailey Zappy out, almost out dueling Aaron Rogers. And then they went on to win a couple of games in a row. And here we are. Mac Jones is almost fully healthy. They expect him to be ready for this

game against Chicago on Monday night. So the question is now who starts now mac jones or bailey zappy how is bill belichick managing this quarterback situation nick go i will say i haven't watched a lot of patriots football this season but from everything i've heard surrounding the zappy controversy the first thing that my mind would compare it to right now will be the Cowboys situation with Cooper Rush and Dak Prescott. There are definitely people in the Cowboy fan community that'll just say Rush is winning games. You got to ride with the hot hand. But the thing is Rush in his last game against the Eagles had a three interception game and just looked horrible. He looked terrible through a lot of the game.

And the thing is, if we're comparing bad play but winning football for a backup quarterback, that's something where it's like, okay, they're a backup. They're not the reason they're winning. They're playing poorly. But from everything I've heard about the Zappi-Mac Jones kind of controversy is Mac Jones was playing okay. Bailey Zappi came in and was playing okay, but they're winning at a higher clip and he just seems to be playing cleaner, smoother football. And so if you're looking at two quarterbacks, one of them's winning more and not playing poorly, they're not the reason they're losing games. They're the reason they're winning to a degree. I think you can look at that as a pretty solid controversy and giving Bailey Zappi maybe a start or two

looking forward to the end of the season, potentially. All right, CJ? Oh, boy. Now, as a Pats fan, I won't lie, I'm a little torn. I love Mac. I have his jersey. You know, I was rooting for him. But Bailey Zappi's been playing so well.

You know, he knocked off the Lions, who are, like, the best offense, and he crushed, you know, Cleveland. You know, I mean, you know, they have guys like Myles Garrett. Their defense was a little banged up, but still he was able to out-duel them. I mean, they have guys like Amari Cooper, and joku and uh uh blanking on his name uh dude don't don't forget the yeah nick kobe brissett yeah yeah i know i know but i mean they still have good i'm just saying they still have good uh you know they got nick chubb too they have good talent they have good talent sure yeah what do you mean sure Are you saying they don't?

They have pieces, but it's a quarterback-driven league. I know, but they're not scrubs is my point. So Bailey Zappi I wouldn't say is beating scrubs. I mean, he's not beating Philly, and he's not beating Buffalo, but he's not beating Carolina either. So that being said, when you factor in everything, I would say start Mac Jones. And now here's why.

He is your first-round pick, and he was like the QB1. He won the job going into the season, and the offense is now starting to gel you know the lines playing as a cohesive unit you know except for when isaiah wins in there the wide receivers are doing a little better ramondre stevenson's coming into his own the defense is putting the clamps on people and excuse me and mac can just slide right in and he can play. It's just the only thing that bothered me was the decision-making. But Bailey Zappi's success can be a double-edged sword, especially since Mac Jones has seen this.

And I would wager it's pretty much lit a fire under his butt. I mean, it has to. And here's the best part. let's just say you put up against chicago he's struggling he's like 10 for 20 105 yards touchdown and a pick you can put in zappy i know it's like oh if you have two quarterbacks you have none i mean you have two capable starters i mean it's not like they're two scrubs and mac i mean if he comes back and continues to well i'm not going to say he didn't really quite suck except for like against the ravens but if he comes back and starts sucking then i would say start bailey zappy but i i would say you just play it safe and start

mac hopefully you know he plays a little better But my point is nothing's definitive. Your options are open. But going into Monday night, you play Mac. All right. So plain and simple, if Mac Jones becomes healthy in the next week or two, so this week or the week after, you start Mac Jones. If Mac Jones takes a few weeks to get healthy. So the original report was that Mac Jones is supposed to miss a lot of time, and there were conflicting reports because Bill Belichick was contradicting that. He was saying, no, we're going to take it week by week and see when he's healthy.

So looking at that, if he misses that stretch of time, and Bailey Zappi still plays very well, let's say until, what week is it? We're on week seven. So we're going to, so let's say he's playing well up until like week, let's say week 12, week 13, 14, around there. At that point, if Patriot's still playing well, Bailey Zappi leading the charge, you got to stick with Zappi at that point, if Patriots still playing well, Bailey Zappi leading the charge,

you got to stick with Zappi at that point. You just have to. Because he's played, if you, so two, three games for Zappi, too small a sample size. But if he's playing this well for a long period of time, then that's no mistake. You have to let him play it out and Mac Jones has to

earn his way back. Not to mention if they were to just hand Mac Jones back the starting job, does that not send the wrong messages to that locker room? That if you're the 15th overall pick, you're just going to be handed the starting job even if even even though your backup was playing was playing better than you were before this before you got hurt and you're just handed the job back like yeah if he only if if he only misses a couple of games in his back then stardom but if he misses a long period of time and bailey zappy is still playing like this and the team is winning you gotta earn it back that's the way I look at it. My opinion is slightly in the minority for amongst Patriots fans, but I don't know. I just think you need

to earn your spot back, especially if this guy is still playing well at week 14, right? Now, I'm not sure what his exact table is going to be because the reports are just inconsistent, but that's my thought. If he comes back week 10, for example, Mac Jones is healthy week 10, and he doesn't get injured the rest of the year. Do you think that Bailey Zappi starts another game this season?

If Mac Jones is healthy week 10. Week 10. See, there's a middle ground that where I would be that then I would be puzzled. And we don't start Mac Jones. Okay. I would say Mac Jones. It has. I think it has to be long term.

Like Mac Jones is out for a while and Bailey Zappi is just playing really well. And I think I'm pretty sure that's the situation that the Patriots were in in 2001 when Mac, when Brady stepped in and he had to step in for a long time. If Brady was only in there for like two, three games, put me back in time in this instance, I would not know that there would be a 20 year dynasty. I would be saying the same thing I am now. Bring back in Drew Bledsoe. Bring him back. Bring him back. He's your first round pick. Number one overall pick, I believe. He's been in the league 10 years. He's taken you to a Super Bowl and a few playoff appearances, and you just gave him this massive contract. So I would have

said the same thing then for what it's worth obviously it's easier for me to sit here after a 20-year dynasty i would have said to say that but i don't know if it's a simple size yeah it's easy to look good sorry i'm sorry it's easy to look good over a small period of time. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I get that. Even over a big period of time, though, Tom Brady started a ton of games that 2001 season.

And Drew Bledsoe started at least a game in the playoffs, if I remember. He started that AFC championship against the Steelers. Well, he didn't start. He was subbed in because Brady got hurt. Oh, okay. Got you. Not a Patriots fan. That's all right.

Yes. I forgive you. Yes. But do you think even if Mac Jones is healthy week 10-ish, if he plays well, plays poorly, plays middling, do you think Bailey Zappi starts another game at all this season? Not even like starts out an extended period of time. Do you think Mac Jones gets benched?

Is that a possibility? Adam, you want me to answer or should you? I think I already answered it pretty thoroughly, so I'd love to get your take on that. Here's the thing. If Mac Jones comes back and plays like garbage, then you go with Zappi because you know Zappy can win. But I do want to end on this.

We're hearing reports that Mac Jones is like at 90% in terms of health. And there's like a very real chance he starts against Chicago. So we might have the answer a bit sooner than we think. Okay. Yeah. And here's a report i just this update just came on uh nine minutes ago from espn as we started the this segment but said jones feels pretty good in quotation marks jones reported progress in his recovery as he prepares for a possible return to action monday versus the bears

it looks like they want him to come back so So I think, I think he will be back. And I feel like we're saying we're all saying as Patriots fans, most of us are saying only when he's fully healthy, that might not even be what the case is. They might just force them back quickly. And Mac Jones, isn't going to fight it because it looks like he wants to do the same thing.

And he may not even be fully healthy. He could be. Yeah. That worries me a little, honestly, but that worries me a little bit and if they rush him back and let's say he struggles after that throws three picks there's another scenario for you he go against chicago which has been very middling at best defense they lost all their best players already over this offseason in the past couple years they used to have a very a great defense going back to the late 2010s and early 2020s.

It's still 2020s, but still. Defense is not the same as it once was. He throws three picks against that. And he was just prior to this injury, he was doing the same thing, turning the ball over. They gave it to Bailey Zappi. Zappi has not, turning the ball over. They gave it to Bailey Zappi. Zappi has not been turning the ball over. There's a scenario.

Does Zappi come back in? Yeah, if Mack sucks, then yeah, I would argue he does. Yeah, and that's going to be tough for Belichick to swallow. The 15th overall pick is benched for – he's benched for Bailey Zappi, the fourth-round pick. Well, I mean, Brady took Bledsoe's spot eventually, so I mean, like, it's happened before. It's happened, but it didn't make Belichick look good as the GM, did it? Eh.

Belichick's about winning. He'll do anything to win, so he was playing best. Well, there you go. All right, well, I do want to move on, as we are moving a little bit behind on time, but I want to talk about Russell Wilson as we talk about quarterbacks who are struggling. Russell Wilson has been kind of the epitome of that.

Struggling with his new team now, and it continues. If it does, do we talk about Russell Wilson possibly falling off here? We'll get on that next. This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast. podcast. He's hitting it to Kidd. It's in. Oh! Diggs! Side-eyed! Touchdown! Unbelievable!

Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! Welcome back to the Fumble ruski podcast adam wright cj madero special guest nick normand with you all right so russell wilson didn't have the best game or hasn't really had a very good game at all so far this year. And it kind of, it kind of worried me a little bit, the way they kind of managed that game on Monday night football against the Chargers. So instead of playing like the game script, you would think you would play with where you're throwing the ball and you're trying to, you're trying to get the ball down the field and you're trying to win. They were running the ball a disturbingly large amount of times, especially when you're starting running back, Javante Williams went down with an ACL tear. They were running the

ball with not like some great running back. They went with Latavius Murray, who's been a journeyman, which makes me wonder, do they, do they just not trust him? So we've been, we talked a little bit a couple of weeks ago about whether or not, maybe it's an attitude thing. Maybe he's, maybe he just doesn't Russell Wilson. He just doesn't have his head screwed on straight. But what if, what if he just doesn't have it anymore? Nick, your thoughts. Russell Wilson is definitely a Hall of Famer. I think that's definitely solidified. And I think definitely after eight Pro Bowls, a decade in the league playing at a really high level, I think his legacy is really solid. But as far as this season, the next season, season after that on the Broncos, I don't see it getting a lot better than it's been. I'm really concerned for Russell Wilson.

I think the only things that they could do to save this are either a radical change in their entire offensive philosophy or just a change at the head coach or offensive coordinator position in total. I think you need to do a huge, massive sweeping change on the offensive side of the ball. Not even personnel-wise, but just scheme. Be able to do something like that. Yeah, I just think Russell Wilson on this Broncos team, the way they're utilizing him and the way that he's trying to kind of fit a square peg in a round hole just isn't working. He has to live in the highlights of Russell Wilson or him scrambling on the move with space. And I definitely think that his height is limiting him where he's

five foot 11 or something like that for a quarterback that's tiny. And I think he's got to live in the bootleg on the move. And the thing is, to be doing bootlegs, to be on the move, you have to be running the ball. And like you were saying, with this offense, with this run game, you really don't want to be running the ball. And so I think this year, offensively, there's nothing they can really do to make a big difference this year. I think at best they might be 9-8. CJ? really do to make a big difference this year. I think at best they might be nine and eight. CJ. Now, Russell Wilson once said,

Broncos country, let's ride. Unfortunately, that ride is like a Model T on a gravel road going off a cliff. So. Jesus. Yeah, I said what I said. And I'm going to be frank. Russell Wilson sucks, especially for what they gave him this offseason.

Now, I would like to read you some stats. Russell Wilson has thrown for 1,442 yards, not bad, and now across six games has five touchdown passes. I don't know if I can forgive that too much, especially since he has two games without any, and he has three picks. For a combined passer rating of 83.4 and a complete percentage of we'll call it 58 does that sound like a quarterback that we are going to give a nice big extension to and let me tell you something if like what adam said if russell wilson has fallen off then denver you're screwed. Because all he's got to do, Adam called him fat and happy, and he's correct.

Well, he's not fat, but you get the term. All he's got to do is just roll up to Mile High Stadium, throw the ball around, and collect his checks. We're seeing a man that doesn't care. And we've said that before. But I'm not going to jump to his defense, but I truly believe a lot of it is Nathaniel Hackett. Nathaniel Hackett is a terrible head coach, and it's becoming increasingly clear that he was just the product of Aaron Rodgers and Devontae Adams. so i would say this offseason and plus you know russell wilson's first year in a new system sometimes quarterbacks struggle you know brady struggled you know his

first few weeks in tampa stafford had his ups and downs his first season in la so i would say just give it time but if they finish around what nick said, like a 9-8, 8-9, especially if you don't go to the playoffs, put Hackett's head on the chopping block. And if you get another coach and Wilson's second year with his friends in Denver there, and if he still doesn't perform up to snuffuff well then yeah that's just i don't know i don't have a solution for that it's just gonna suck for denver all right i wanted to look at this a couple stretches during russell wilson's career and so we look at the early part of the

2010s when russell wil Wilson's career was just starting. And that was the time when they went to a Super Bowl and nearly, excuse me, they won a Super Bowl and nearly won a second right after that. So during that stretch, they won a Super Bowl. And so Russell Wilson didn't throw for more than 26 touchdowns in any of those years. 2012, 26 to 10 touchdown interception ratio. 2013, 26 to 9 touchdown to interception ratio. 2014, 20 to 7. And then now let's fast forward over to 2017 through, let's say, 2020. 34-11 in 2017, 35-7, 31-5 in 2019, 40-13 in 2020. The reason I bring that up is during that stretch,

that stretch in the later half of the 2010s, they built the offense around the passing game and not as much on defense. It was okay, but it wasn't their strength anymore. During the early half of those 2010s, they built the team around defense and running the ball. And they won a super bowl very nearly won a second one and i believe in in the in the following year in 2015 did they win a

playoff game that year no oh yeah yeah oh yeah they did never mind i was thinking the wrong team against the vikings i think yes yeah that was against the vikings because their kicker blair wall shanked it and i don't believe they've won us they've won a playoff game since then i don't believe so no if they do they have like one i think they won one against the josh mccown eagles when wentz got hurt in like 2019 or 20 when you come in for wentz yeah had to come in for Wentz, yeah. Had to come in for Wentz. Are you sure?

Wentz for – because it wasn't McCown. It was Nick Foles who was stepping in. It was 2018, correct? I believe they lost to the Saints, wasn't it? No, no. It was the year after, I thought. Let's see. No, no, no. They had Fals the year after because uh they did billy lost to the saints and foals through like a really horrible pick yeah so like can they even

win can a team even win with with the team being structured around rus Wilson, they've proven that they can win regular season games during the Seahawks days. But also, he is a dual threat quarterback. And those tend to not last quite as long. So what if we're just witnessing sort of maybe the tail end of Russell Wilson's career? And maybe he just won't be the same quarterback again. I don't know. I don't even know how I can mentally entertain that. Plain and simple, Adam, I don't know.

I don't think it is, but imagine if it were. If it is the tail end of his career then the broncos are going to be screwed for many many many years yeah it's it's not looking great um he has like a five-year contract and has like 200 plus million that are going to be going to him it's going to be tough for them yeah yeah broncos country let's ride all right well we do have to move on and we're going to get over to our fumble ruski fantasy fix we're going to give you some stardom sit-ums so don't go anywhere you are listening to 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 a catch! Oh! It's a catch! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelievable! This is the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright here with CJ Medeiros and special guest Nick Normand. We are on to the Fumble Rooski fantasy fix. So start them, sit them.

As always, we start with our running backs. So we're going to start Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Poll tony pollard versus detroit ezekiel elliott may have struggled this year but look at the matchups very tough matchups against running backs and ezekiel elliott he's had put up decent numbers a couple weeks now they're going against detroit so start either him or pollard either will work then we have brian robinson versus green bay Green Bay. He has a very solid matchup coming off of what was a pretty good game for him. So start Brian Robinson. We're going to sit David Montgomery versus New England. They've been tough against running backs and Chicago. They're going to be playing from behind. Game script is going to betray David Montgomery. Put him in your bench.

We're also going to bench Melvin Gordon, who is a shell of himself. And do I even need to mention the matchup here? It is against the Jets. So the Jets have been pretty solid against the run. So probably bench Melvin Gordon. If this were a few years prior, I would start him. But put him on the bench. Going on to wide receivers, we have Deontay Johnson at Miami. And then we have Michael Pittman versus Tennessee.

Then we have for sits, Terry McLaurin versus Green Bay. Christian Kirk versus the Giants. Then quarterbacks. We're going to start to a tongue of Iloa versus Pittsburgh. We're going to start also right. Matt Ryan versus Tennessee. Then we're going to sit Jared Goff at Dallas and Tom Brady at Carolina. And a part of me just died inside putting him on the bench, but it hasn't looked good for the Buccaneers or Tom Brady. As for tight ends, we're going to start Hayden Hurst versus Atlanta. And we're going to start Pat Friermuth at Miami. We're going to sit

Kyle Pitts at Cincinnati. I know he just scored his first touchdown this season and his second in his career. But we're still sitting his ass because he is not having the best year. Also, Tyler Conklin at Denver. In case you guys needed the reminder that Tyler Conklin, he just had a good stretch to start his year. And I'm going to remind you that he went from the number three tight end in fantasy to number 16 in three weeks what does that tell you about that stretch all right going on to defenses we're going to start cowboys versus dallas and buccaneers at carolina we're going to sit 49ers versus Kansas City and Broncos versus the New York Jets.

All right. That was your stardom sit-em for this week. And tune in on our next episode, where we give you our waiver wire picks coming off of week seven. But that is your fantasy, Fumble Rooski fantasy fix. We're going to go on to Nickumble ruski fantasy fix we're going to go on to nick's guest segment where we're going to talk about trade deadline targets don't go anywhere 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 a catch!

It's a catch! Side-line! Touchdown! Unbelievable! Swings it way down the field to Watkins! Sammy Watkins for the touchdown! This is the Fumble Rooski Podcast by Power 88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. Adam Wright here with CJ

Medeiros and special guest Nick Norman, who is going to talk about in our guest segment, some possible trade deadline targets as the deadline is getting close. It is on November 1st. We are about, let's say a week and a half away from there. But it's never too early to start touching on that. Maybe a little bit early, but it's not early now. So we're going to touch on that. So, Nick, what do you got? Definitely I'll give you guys three players who I definitely think have fits in the league right now because there are a lot of talented players on teams that maybe

are wrapping up for the season given that there are some teams like Carolina that are just done with and clearly thinking. First player that I will give you guys is DJ Moore. I think that DJ Moore definitely, even though Carolina has stated that they don't want to trade him, that there are definitely places like Kansas City that could make a big splash play with a big down-the-field receiver. Another fit that I think could obviously work would be the Packers, given their lacking in wide receiver. I definitely say a better fit for a player will be Brandon Cooks for the Packers, though, with a little bit more speed, down-the-field hands kind of player. My next pick for somebody would be Robert Quinn. Robert Quinn I definitely think fits in what the Chiefs are looking for.

Robert Quinn I know has a big price tag, but as far as pass rush, the Chiefs are really, really lacking in the pass rush department. Even after drafting George Karloftis and having frank clark along with their big defensive tackle i chris jones i just believe they need that other pass rusher to be able to put them over the top for those late game josh allen running around you need to get pressure on him kind of situations lastly i'll go with cam acres who i think the rams clearly want to get rid of and with cmc

off the market i would definitely say that with what the broncos are doing right now they could definitely take a flyer on cam acres for potentially a fourth or fifth round pick all right some solid picks c, do you have any others? Yeah, I do want to say one thing. I don't think that DJ Moore is going to be traded because the Panthers outright said, no, we're not trading him. However, of the Panthers, I do see Brian Burns potentially getting traded because I know some teams have been inquiring about him. And I have seen Chase Claypool link to green Bay quite a bit. I don't know how his Tik TOK usage is going to,

you know, make, you know, how Roger's going to feel about that. But you know, as they say, no one knows that's the fun Adam. Yeah.

And look, if Pittsburgh can get a good haul for chase Claypool, I would say pull the trigger. What would can get a good haul for chase claypool i would say pull the trigger what would you consider a good haul for him because you're not getting a first maybe a second if he if he they're gonna they're gonna want him to play well in the next couple of games for him to be even even traded during this trade deadline but even down the road if you can get good value out of chase claypool who's a very talented wide receiver just doesn't have the best head on his shoulders like we're talking about a player who decided to celebrate on a first down instead of handing the ball back to the ref and hurrying back to the line of scrimmage.

And then during a press conference, when he was asked about it, decided to blame it on his center, saying that he knocked the ball out of his hands and he had everything under control when you didn't because you let the clock run about 10 seconds. So if you're Pittsburgh, I would get the best value you possibly can out of him that's kind of my take he had a big game this last week he had a seven catch like 97 yard game this week and so i definitely think if they wanted to trade him they'd be trying to make him look really good these next couple of games i definitely don't think they'd trade him for less than a third i think that would be the floor they'd be on.

Maybe like a third and a fifth would be the lowest. But I definitely think they got a shot to get like a second, maybe get a first and trade like a third kind of thing. But definitely I think they could get a nice pick for Chase Claypool. Yeah, it's Claypool. Yeah. Yeah, it's a possibility. Perhaps. Another player I look at, DJ Moore.

I'm not sure if he's going to get traded because it looks like, based on reports, the Panthers like him, and they want to use him as a foundational piece to build their team up. And, yeah, he was drafted in 2018. So it's been a few years since he's joined the league. But Christian McCaffrey was drafted in 2017, and he just went for a massive – he just got traded for a massive haul. And he's a running back.

So I would say if you're the panthers i would hold on to him because i'm i think i really do think dj's more's best play is ahead of him and he's been kind of fallen victim to poor quarterback play but also they could probably do you think they can get a first for him i think a second if mccaffrey went for a second then more is certainly not going for a first i disagree i think for like the chiefs like a late first somewhere like 30 31 32 where the chiefs would be picking i think they definitely trade like this off season i think it's on the table maybe not during the season this year but like next year they have the 31st overall pick in the draft like i'd trade that for dj more definitely

if i was the chiefs i think yeah listen so so here's the difference between him and christian mccaffrey dj more has been healthy pretty much his entire career. And also positional value, wide receiver over the running back. Christian McCaffrey may be the best in the game at his position, but he's still a running back. This isn't fantasy football at this point. With a wide receiver, DJ Moore, who could be better if he had better quarterback. We've seen what he can do when the quarterback

play is good and he looks like one of the best in the game so i would say if he if if any team with a late first and is looking to like a kansas city as you mentioned is looking to um and they're look they're looking to contend and they need a wide receiver i give that first round pick yesterday to be honest that's a that's a that's a slam dunk so i think first round pick would be perfect for dj more i mean maybe it's just dj more simply like honestly doesn't have a nose for the end zone though i mean he's a good yardage guy he's has like 3,000-yard seasons under his belt. But his career high in touchdowns is four. Right, which we could also possibly trace back to poor quarterback. Who's his best quarterback?

Who's the best quarterback he played with? 2018 Cam Newton before TJ Watt destroyed his shoulder. Is that it? Yes. what destroyed his shoulder is that it yes but with cam newton as his quarterback that year he was actually not as good as when it was who was the other guy kyle allen yeah when kyle allen became quarterback that year that was actually when dj moore exploded so it must have been just a really good stretch by kyle allen because cam Cam Newton really wasn't producing that well, was he? I suppose, but I'm just saying.

Definitely, I think it would be like an Andre Johnson kind of situation where Andre Johnson on the Texans in the 2000s, Matt Schaub, I think, was the best quarterback he had, and he's a bona fide Hall of Fame talent. DJ Moore right now, if he put up another five, six, seven, eight years like his first couple, I think he'd be on a similar trajectory. I don't think he is Andre Johnson. It's a possibility, yeah.

But it's the same mold of big, strong, fast receiver on a team that just did nothing with quarterbacks that just did nothing. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, probably maybe. Yeah. So if you're DJ more,

you might want to be knocking at the door sooner rather than later. Unlike, unlike Andre Johnson. But we do want to end at probably about now because we're up to almost an hour, but do you guys have any, if any other quick thoughts before we end the show here tonight?

No, I don't. Looking forward to next week, another week of football or inching towards that halfway point of the season. And maybe we'll find out soonish who the playoff teams are. Man, I'm just glad football's here and we can talk some football every week. All right. Well, thanks for joining us, Nick. It's always a pleasure to have you.

This is like the third time we've had you on the show, isn't it? I think so. So we just can't get enough of your analysis, man. And thanks for joining us. But that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7 30 PM. Eastern time.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts, I heart radio, Google podcasts, and so much more. Also be sure to follow our Instagram at fumble ruski underscore podcast to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise we'll see you next week over now.