The Fumblerooski Podcast - Your Fantasy -Ep 287 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Fantasy Season is here! Who are some QB and TE sleepers that will help win you your league this season? What should the Jets do about Haason Reddick? How long will JJ McCarthy be out after his meniscus injury? Adam Wright and Chris Costich debate these topics and more!

In this edition of the Fumble Rooski podcast, we'll go over some fancy sleepers for the tight end position and the quarterback position. Along with that, some breaking news. We'll get to that in a moment. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws.

Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Good evening, and you're listening to the Fulmer Ruski Podcast by Power 88 Team Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. Chris Costas alongside me, Adam Wright. As I'm back, and better than ever, Bear with me, I do have a cold.

As we do have some breaking news right off the jump. J.J. McCarthy tearing his meniscus. This news literally just breaking as we go live about 15 minutes ago. And McCarthy, I mean, he probably would have been the starter. He would have been battling it out with Sam Darnall. It could have been one of those cases where Sam Darnall takes the reins for a little bit, and then they slowly bring McCarthy into the rotation. But now it seems that McCarthy's probably going to be out

for a very lengthy amount of time. For all we know, it could be the rest of the season. So we probably won't see McCarthy until next season in terms of making that starting jump. Yeah, it's looking like one of those things where it was definitely looking like, I mean, a meniscus isn't as bad as a torn ACL, obviously. So there is a chance that he could return, but when he returns the Vikings, will they really be in playoff contention by then? I'm not quite sure about that. They have a good roster around them, but the quarterback runs the show. And if it's Sam Darnold over there, then you're kind of screwing yourself over there. I mean, this was kind of meant to be a bridge year anyways, but what makes it upsetting

is that according to reports, J.J. McCarthy was running ahead of schedule. So maybe he would have taken the reins a lot earlier, maybe three, four weeks into the season. Now they have no choice but to wait at least a few months, and that's if he ends up returning in time before the season ends. And at that point, yeah, sure. Start him a couple games, see how the offensive line is performing. Maybe if they're playing meaningful games, but it's good to get him some reps. But you're looking at this thing, and I mean, it's at least before he was getting practice reps, right?

During practice, in between games, from week to week, now he doesn't really get that much. And there's really not much more to it, right? It's more kind of, you know, you're waiting for him to recover and then you continue his development. So this is a tough blow, but I don't think it's as tough as people think. Yeah, and I mean, the biggest question really is going to be, as you mentioned, when he does come back, if he does come back and 100% latter part of the year,

at that point, you might as well just stick with Darnold or whoever you end up having at quarterback at that point of the season, because even after you get JJ McCarthy gets back to a hundred percent, you also got to make sure he's ready to go to actually, or back to where he was at this point of training camp, you know, and you know,

it's kind of, kind of took everyone by surprise as well with this meniscus tear. Granted, he did miss the last three practices that the Vikings had. So there was a little bit of concern. And then all of a sudden, this just popped up out of nowhere. So obviously a big blow for the Vikings. But we'll see how it ends up shaping out. If anything, like we said, we probably won't see JJ McCarthy until next season,

which won't be the biggest deal in the world in terms of if you're in Minnesota. The other breaking news from yesterday, Hassan Redick requesting a trade from the Jets. We'll touch on this briefly because it's just the whole situation itself is ridiculous. The Jets knowingly making this trade for Hassan Redick from the Philadelphia Eagles. Redick, one of the biggest pieces in their Super Bowl run a couple years ago where they lost to the Chiefs. And, and it's the jets knowingly trading for him when he's in a contract year and then not paying the guy at the same time. It's, you know, you have to pay them.

And now you're just shooting there yourself in the foot. And this is a guy that already wasn't happy with what was going on in Philadelphia. It's a guy that's still not happy. And now he's in a different spot and has barely been around for practice. He's missed 21, 22 straight days of training camp. And it's gone to the point where the jets released a statement from their GM

about how they're not going to trade them. And they're going to keep finding him for every single practice that he's going to miss all in all. It's just a train wreck over there and drama in new york just seems to not leave at this rate especially for the jets never mind the giants it's just all with the jets yeah yeah and the way you look at it see i think cj said this best i'm going to credit our co-host cj who's wasn't able to make it today for this one take and i i just think it's it was an incredible statement about it um for the jets what they did to trade for a player that was that had that was going through contract troubles with his other

team and then refusing to pay him and then being surprised he requests he requests a trade is like buying a rundown car and then freaking out when you realize it's an acting surprise when you realize it's its engine fails right like you saw it coming you knew the issues before you traded the player before you rather you traded for him you refused to solve them and then you're like wait you're you're requesting to leave the team wait why we know damn well why you traded for him and the eagles the eagles a team that was in playoff contention. They've been in Super Bowl contention the past two years, and they couldn't hold on to them. You've been struggling to even make the playoffs,

and you're wondering, with the contract on top of it, why he doesn't want to stay there right now. Yes, you just acquired him, but you didn't solve the issues that the Eagles couldn't solve. So why are you surprised by this? The surprising thing to me is how the Jets are so Super Bowl and bust Super Bowl or bust right now that you would think that, you know, you brought in Aaron Rodgers as a point to make that it's Super Bowl or bust.

You built your team around Aaron Rodgers to make it. You're either going to the Super Bowl or it. You built your team around Aaron Rodgers to make it. You're either going to the Super Bowl or it's a failure. Now you bring in a really highly talented linebacker in Hasan Reddick and you're not willing to pay the guy. You're just...

As an organization, it's just confusing to look at based off of that alone. Yeah. I mean... confusing to look at based off of that alone yeah i mean i mean it's just a touch it's just a bad situation in the you can see the the jets over the last two years you can kind of see where the direction they're going in um they've drafted some good talent, but as far as the pieces that they've been trying to bring in to complete the rebuild, they've made some kind of dicey decisions. First of all, you have Aaron Rodgers, you bring in as great of a quarterback as he is. Top five talent all time, arguably. He had his issues with the Packers, and you guys were willing to bend over backwards to bring him in and ignore all of the red flags.

Now, we'll see if that turns into an issue. The injuries haven't been too much of a problem for him. A torn Achilles sucks, and I hope Aaron Rodgers comes back and he comes back healthy. Still, there's red flags there. Now you bring in Mike Williams. He's had issues with his health. You've brought in that tackle from the Cowboys whose name escapes me.

He's had issues with his health. He hasn't played more than 12 games in the last five years. So you can kind of see with this Hasan Reddick situation, they are getting a little desperate with getting themselves into championship contention. And I think looking at the Broncos as well, who did the same thing a couple of years ago when they acquired Russell Wilson,

you're seeing a lot of teams who are trying to copy that mold that the Buccaneers and the Rams kind of followed, where they kind of threw a team together last second, and then they ended up winning a Super Bowl. In 2020, it was the Buccaneers. 2021, it was the Rams. They were able to do that, and they just threw a bunch of players together. Yes, they had a core of players that worked out,

but Matthew Stafford completed the rebuild. Tom Brady completed the rebuild. And then they brought in some veterans who were attracted to those star quarterbacks. They're hoping to do the same thing here with the Jets. And you can clearly see it's very hit or miss. And our league's history shows that is very, very hit or miss. So it could work out, but nobody remembers Brett Favre's career with the Jets.

But they do remember his career with the Vikings. Yeah. Well, we'll see how the whole Hassan Reddick thing turns out, if the Jets will actually pay him or not, or if he just keeps holding out. And we'll see if we even see Hassan Reddick the entirety of this season. But for now, it remains a mystery until week one. For that, we'll step aside for a quick break.

When we come back, we'll have our fancy sleepers for the tight end and quarterback position. It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. You're listening to the Fumble Whis podcast sponsored by power 88 dean radio and

secret weapon consulting chris costich adam right go into our fancy sleepers first with the tight ends adam i'll let you take the reins on this one what do you got for us all right so for my first one so this guy was a fantasy bust last year who was supposed to be a lot better than he was. He's the tight end for the Tennessee Titans. His name is Chigazim Okonkwo. And he had an okay season, 54 receptions, 528 yards. As far as tight ends go, that is decent. The problem is it's not nearly as good as it was supposed to be. However, he is one of the few returners as far as pass catchers go. DeAndre Hopkins is still there, but how long is he going to produce

how he has throughout his career? On top of that, besides that, there's a lot of question marks. And with all these question marks for their quarterback, Will Levis, who is Levis going to really lean on with all this uncertainty? It's Okonkwo. So that's a player that that with a good offensive line, one of the most improved offensive lines in the league, he'll have time to throw.

But with all of these question marks, he's going to be the guy who you lean on. So I think a tight end like that can be a young quarterback's best friend. So I think Okonkwo is a guy who you want to look at. I was waiting for you to keep going on that. Do you have any other guys? I have a second one. I have a second one, but I was going to wait for you to bring your- No, i was gonna let you go with yours all right i'll get my next one but my next one is actually zach ertz um the issue with zach ertz has been health health has been an issue with him but in the few times that he has been healthy he's been pretty good

and everyone is forgetting about his production with the Cardinals, which was actually pretty decent. He had some good seasons there. Everyone thinks, well, the Eagles is when he really was his true self. That's true. But it doesn't mean he was bad with the Cardinals. And now that the tight end position has fallen apart, Logan Thomas is now gone. You have one tight end, and it's Zach Ertz.

The fact they were able to bring him in, they were willing to cut Logan Thomas, the younger guy, and bring in Zach Ertz tells me they still have faith in that he is a lot more healthy than we all think. And again, you have a young quarterback and a lot of uncertainty. It's uncertainty because the quarterback is new, but he has not worked with Jahan Dotson and Terry McLaurin. So Zach Ertz is that veteran of the group. I think Ertz has an incredible bounce-back season. All right, all right.

I'll give you one right off the bat. I'm going to go with Cade Otten from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, he's kind of a similar situation with Okonkwo, except 48 receptions, 479 yards, four touchdowns. And the thing with Otten, obviously, is the guy that's going to be fighting for targets from guys like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rashad White out of the backfield. But, you know, the thing with me, and this takes me to the wildcard game against the Eagles,

he can be a very reliable target. He will have a drop here and there. But I think with the Buccaneers and how they struggle with the run game, and they're looking to improve on it this year, but with them struggling so much in the run game from especially last year, I think that Kate Otten can be a guy that will be much more reliable or much more looked upon to make big plays down the stretch for this upcoming season. So I'm going to give the nod to Kate Ot eyden for my first one my second one you could call a sleeper you could call it not a sleeper i'm gonna go with dallas goddard and the only reason why i throw dallas goddard i mean look look dallas goddard's another guy that is going

to be fighting for targets this season obviously another guy that's going to be coming off a little bit of an injury as well, but nothing crazy. He was able to come back for the latter part of the season of last year. But Dallas Goddard is probably one of your most reliable tight ends in the NFL. And the problem is that he doesn't see as much action as guys like A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith.

And now you add in Saquon Barkley to the mix. So who knows? Maybe we see a Dallas Goddard 1,000-yard season. Maybe we only see him for 800 yards. But I could see this being a big season for Dallas Goddard, especially if you're going to be focusing so much on these other three guys. Yeah, I think if both of them are covered, that's a guy who Jalen Hurts will go to,

and he's been a reliable target over the years. I just don't know if he's going to be end up being a sleeper you know what i mean because yeah no that's the thing you could tight ends for a few a few years you could that's what i mean is that you could consider him not as a sleeper you could also consider him as one of the top 10 guys but in my opinion this is also this is a guy that's mainly under the radar for the most part he's kind of up there he's kind of up there where you would consider him kind of on the radar but not on the radar he's more of one of those good tight ends that you sometimes forget about because of all these really good other tight ends in the league.

You're like, oh, Dallas Goddard. Look at that. I think it'll work out. I definitely think it'll work out. They have a good pass catching core over there. And I think I've mentioned it before, but this Eagles team as a whole, they kind of have a chip on their shoulder. Everyone is starting to sort of dismiss them, although they low-key did get a little better in some ways.

I think you have better leadership on that defensive front as far as their coaching goes. And you also look at their secondary. It got significantly better in younger. So that's a team that they have Saquon Barkley. Their offensive line got a little, I would say, worse, but still a good offensive line. As far as things to play for, i mean they that team has a chip on their shoulder and i feel like they're going to have a much better season than everybody suggests

um yeah i think i think the eagles are going to be division champions um but you, we'll see. Yeah. Give me. Yeah, I think I think Dallas got early. Pretty good. Yeah, that's long and short of it right there. I think that you'll put up better numbers than what he did last year. He had 59 catches on 592 yards receiving and wasn't that for some reason just wasn't that big of a red zone threat. Only three touchdowns last year. And mind you,

this is also due to him missing some weeks with a broken forearm. But I think that the, I think that Dallas Goddard can be a good red zone threat and we'll have a big improvement on this next season. Do you have a third? I do do not i do not as well honestly that's that's fine with me we'll move on to the fancy sleepers for quarterbacks adam who are your two um so my first one so it's easy to go with the obvious answer in Caleb Williams. But you know what? I'm going to go Spencer Rattler.

I think this was a late round pick. He's going to end up sitting behind Derek Carr. But I honestly liked his play with the Saints. He is a player, let's not forget a couple of years ago in college, he was one of those players who was supposed to be one of the top quarterbacks, if not the top quarterback taken in the NFL draft back in 2020, uh, I believe it was 2022. And he fell off so much that everyone dismissed him. And we're now at a point where, I mean, the quarterback is the biggest piece on the field. But that doesn't mean he's the end-all, be-all.

So when you look at Spencer Rattler, he was on a bad team. And he started doing a little better. So look at his play during preseason. I think this is a guy who could potentially take the reins from Derek Carr and eventually play a lot better. I mean, the bar is set pretty low by Derek Carr. But if you look at all of the targets that they have for the Saints and the abilities, the passing and rushing abilities

that Rattler has to offer, now there's a player who could potentially do some good things. Yeah, Spencer Rattler is a weird one for me. I don't know. It's, I guess, like him, his time over at South Carolina and Oklahoma, it just didn't seem that great to me, in my opinion. You know, him being over on the on the saints like seems like a pretty solid idea in general and maybe there is a time where he ends up beating out derrick carr with a problem

for the quarterback spot but the thing with me is that would spencer rattler do better than derrick carr in that at that point well i mean we'll only find out through preseason stuff that he gets. But. Yeah. Spencer Rattler's always been weird for me. I've never been that fond of him. Maybe it's the attitude. I'm not sure.

But I mean. As you pointed out. He wasn't on a great South Carolina team last year. That. Had a lot of offensive line issues. So, I mean, you got the experience of playing a lot of great SEC defenses that are now in the NFL and dealing with the bad O-line over at SC. So, who knows? Yeah.

What do you got for your second one? Sorry. sorry yeah so my second pick is justin fields now justin fields through a real life perspective um on the field don't get it twisted this kid probably his days in the nfl are probably, at least as a starting quarterback. However, in the short term, looking at his rushing ability and his, I mean, he has a very limited passing ability, but he has some good pieces in that to throw to. This is a guy who could put up some solid fantasy stats. And before last year, playing for a Bears team that had no targets whatsoever, a bad offensive line, just his rushing ability alone gave him some of the best fantasy value we have seen in years from a quarterback of his caliber, of his caliber in the worst way possible. This guy, I don't believe, belongs in a starting role,

and we're going to see that eventually, but not without him putting up some good fantasy football stats. He's going to be that type of quarterback who you fill in. He's going to end up being a quarterback streamer for a few weeks. And he could find his way on a fantasy roster where he'll be starting in and out. He'll be platooning with somebody else. But I think if Justin Fields earns the starting role over Russell Wilson, which I guess from reports in camp, there's a very strong possibility. I think this guy offers some high upside value in the later rounds. In fact, he may, he probably will not end up being drafted. Um, but if you end up without a good starting quarterback after your draft,

this is one of those positions where you can stream week to week. And Justin Fields is going to be one of those guys you could plug in. So be on the lookout for this guy. I like it. I like it. So for my two, could be head scratchers, could be not. I want to go Juno Smith with my first one for my first fantasy sleeper. And look, he's got the targets around him, right? And for stats last year, ended up having 3,624 yards,

20 touchdowns, nine interceptions. He's not one that's going to stuff the stat sheet, but he's good to get you that 15 to 20 points that you'll need. And Geno Smith is probably going to be more of that bench role. And if for some reason your starting quarterback and fancy isn't doing well, let's throw in Gino Smith for just one week or if you need a quick bye week sub,

then that's a good guy to have in my opinion. And on top of that, he's got targets around him too. Still got Tyler Lockett, Jackson Smith, najigma and uh dk metcalf he's got targets around him and he's got a good run game and kenneth walker behind him and zach charbonneau zach charbonneau right yeah so i think that geno smith and seeing how he's played in the last year or two he's done very well for himself so i think this is going to be a year where he continues to improve maybe this is probably gonna be one of those years where it's going to be similar numbers to last year but this could still be a year that hey maybe creeps a little bit

closer to that 4 000 because he did miss two games and if he doesn't miss those two games he's a 4 000 yard passer yeah i like gino smith um gino smith is uh he's he's another guy who could probably be a streamer maybe a little better than that maybe he could be a backup quarterback somewhere but it also depends on how many teams are in the league as well. You know, he's going to probably end up being the starter. It's just everything about the Seahawks. I really like, and I even kind of like Gino Smith as a starting quarterback.

The problem is the only thing that's holding them back from Super Bowl contention is their quarterback's situation. And I know the Seahawks fans are going to hate that because they love Gino Smith. And there's, well, it's not his fault. It's the coaching. It's everything else. Yeah, sure. I mean, they missed the playoff because of coaching, but were they not Super Bowl contention because of coaching? Because I'm pretty sure that's Geno Smith. I mean, the quarterback production was good but not great. You need great production out of your quarterback in order to win yourself a Super Bowl. And if it's not great, then it better be great by the time you get to the postseason, right?

Eli Manning wasn't there, and neither was Joe Flacco, but at least he was able to elevate his play when it mattered most. Gino Smith doesn't do that. He's a good quarterback. He's a solid one. He's a nice bridge quarterback who I would have loved to be in New England this year. But why do you think they brought in Sam Howell? Because it's still an open, it's, it's an open position right now. He may end up being the starter. He's going to probably be favored to be,

but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be bringing in Sam Howell. If they didn't think, if they thought that this kid was anything special because he's not, he's a solid quarterback. I like him. He's not winning you a Superbowl and he's not winning you a fantasy championship either. He won't, but like I said, I've had Geno Smith as a backup quarterback for myself in the last, excuse me, at least last year for one or two leagues.

And point, like I said, the point goes, if your quarterback is out for a week, he's a good quarterback to sub in. And he'll get, like I said, he'll get you that 15 to 20 points that you'll need to make it through that week. And Hey, he, who says he doesn't have a big game. He does have big game stuff to throw out there. But second quarterback that I'll throw out there as a sleeper is Will Levis. Now, for Will Levis, there's a lot of question marks around him and whatnot. One of the biggest ones that we've seen is the difference between how he's going to throw on the outside and the inside, where he's going to actually throw his bullet passes, when he's going to throw

a little bit more touch on it. That's been the biggest one for him. And a lot of people aren't really talking about how Will Levis now has pretty solid, some pretty solid weapons around him. Granted, a bit of an older wide receiver room. You know, he's got Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, Tyler Boyd now. And now you got a, or you still have a Conquo as your tight end. So, and now you add Tony Pollard. So the run game is not going to be as strong with Tony Pollard.

Now that you don't have Derek Henry for this season. So I expect the Titans to go a little bit more pass heavy for this upcoming season, especially with now you got to improve. Now Will Levis is going to improve from last season. Now he's got more targets to rely on for this season. So I expect a much bigger year from Will Levis. Gray did sub in halfway through last season and played half the regular season games, but now that he's going to have a full 17 in front of him, I expect Will Levis to kind of slip under everyone's radar, get himself to that 4K. Maybe 25 tutties, nine interceptions.

That'd be a nice season for him, especially a second-year player who was a second-round pick, and he didn't really – I mean, there's a reason he was projected to go, what, third, fourth overall. Actually, some people let him going second to the Texans. I'm glad the Texans weren't that stupid. Will Levis should not have been in the top five talks, in my opinion. He shouldn't have. No, he shouldn't have. He shouldn't have been in the top five talks to begin with.

It was just one of those really big hyped up draft combines and whatnot. And he did do great over at Kentucky, but he just got too overhyped. But now that that hype's kind of simmering, that's the point. His hype was up here, but now the hype started to simmer down around here. So I think this is the year where he brings that hype back up to here with with a good season yeah it was like all the way up here then it goes way down here and then it goes back up to the level that it should have been at the you know the whole time because he was never looked he was never supposed to be one of the top prospects in the 2023 draft. That just wasn't

supposed to happen. Um, and I think the media kind of hyped them up to be one of those high level prospects and the rest of the league disagreed. Everyone passed on him and the Titans liked them. They just liked him as their day two pick, not day one. They went Peter Skowronski. Um, so I, I do like, I do like, um, Will Levis and I think he has some upside there. I don't know how good he will be, but I think he could at least be a decent starting quarterback in this league. And he'll have some fantasy value if he knows how to use tyler boyd calvin ridley deandre hopkins chigazeme okonkwo um you have tony pollard who you can still throw to by the way the best offensive line the titans have had

in a couple of years so i expect them to go a little more pass heavy and i think they'll be a little if if they end up being able to play at least will levis in any sort of way shape or form i think they'll have a higher ceiling with this with this titans team than the other one did where they were solely centered around the running game not No disrespect to Derrick Henry, but we're just at a point in our league's history where run-first offenses don't win you Super Bowls. If you center your team around the star running back, usually they don't work out and they get hurt.

They'll get you to the playoffs, maybe. But are you winning a Super Bowl with your quarterback being Ryan Tannehill, but they're saying, oh, but Derrick Henry's going to take him there? No. No. It doesn't happen. So if this kid Will Levis can play, it could be one of the better teams um in the afc and that kind of goes back to that kind of goes

back to when we were talking about the afc south it's like obviously you got your top teams in excuse me you got your top teams in the afc south in the texans and the jaguars but the colts and the titans are going to make some good runs at it too. It's the AFC South is going to be a lot closer than it was last year, a lot closer than what most people are going to think. And the Titans are going to be right up there for a potential division title. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, I'm right there with you. I mean, we made a, we created a reel about it a few months ago where we basically, I mean, there's too much on the Titans right now saying that they're going to be bad. But there's not enough on it about the amount that they've done this offseason. The players on both the offensive and defensive sides that they've done this offseason. The players on both the offensive and defensive sides that they've brought in.

I mean, their secondary is loaded right now. And their offensive line is almost completely rebuilt. They have a ton of targets to throw to. Good young quarterback. Good young offensive minded coach brian callahan did some great things over there in cincinnati so i think there's there's a lot of potential there i'm not saying that they're going to be good but i i'm just saying don't rule them out to be a pretty decent team it all depends on how Will Levis can play. And if he can play in any sort of capacity,

then I see them being at least in contention for a playoff spot. If Will Levis is even average, I think they'll be 9-8, 10-7. I like it. Do you have any other quarterbacks you want to throw out there? Because I think the two that you threw out were pretty solid. Will Levis was a good pick. I wasn't even thinking about him, but that just shows how underrated the kid is. I have a couple other names in mind since we're kind of sitting here.

Jaden Daniels, I think, is one. The offensive line is four fifths of it is rebuilt but they're missing the left tackle um and from reports in camp and from seeing him in preseason the kid is way ahead of schedule we already knew he was going to be the closest we have to big league ready among the quarterbacks um he looked he looked very good in that preseason game against the Jets yeah extremely good another one I have is Anthony Richardson I was I was thinking about him as well but I think the way that he played in those first few weeks of the season before getting hurt um I mean at that point you could consider him a sleeper because not many people are thinking about those

first few weeks and the hype around Anthony Richardson kind of died down right after he got hurt the offensive line for the Colts has played out of their minds much better than they were supposed to play you have Alec Pierce who had a very good season despite playing with a backup quarterback most of the season. Granted, it was probably one of the best backups in the league. You still have Michael Pittman, who you managed to bring back on an extension. And on top of that, you just brought in A.D. Mitchell. And then you add on top of that, Anthony Richardson is now playing in his second year with big league coaching.

So I think he'll be further developed than he was at this point last year. And he'll be a little more ready. Also, yes, that rushing ability in fantasy leagues is very, very underrated when it comes to quarterbacks. Obviously, rushing yards count for a lot more than passing yards. So if you rack up those rushing yards, the rushing touchdowns, the passing touchdowns, this kid's going to be pretty good. And you know he's going to play a little less reckless when he's actually running the ball compared to last year as well.

Yeah. Not trying to take those big hits. Yeah. Not trying to take those big hits. Yeah. And I know we're, I'm not sure if you had any other sleepers and I know we're close to the end of the show, but I did want to bring up one developing story. That's been,

that's been cooking. And then it's about our segment. Yeah. That's what we're all thinking about. So Brandon Iyuk, there's been a little, there's been some more rumblings in the past few minutes. So the Steel, according to Ian Rappaport, the Steelers and 49ers have a deal on a potential trade. And Pittsburgh is in a good place on an IUK contract, sources say.

If San Francisco gives the final sign-off, it's done. On top of that, San Francisco has an offer out to IUK for a long-term deal to stay. Obviously, from previous reports, IUK and the 49ers reopened contract negotiations, so that's still on the table for him to return. But the framework and all of the compensation for a deal between the Steelers and 49ers is all agreed upon. If the 49ers sign off, Iyuk is a stealer it also depends on if iuk actually wants to go though because i mean look like browns and the patriots had stuff out there that the 49ers agreed upon and iuk didn't want to go there yeah so like well i don't know where listen this is going to be an unpopular opinion but i think the patriots are a little further along in their rebuild than the Steelers are.

The Steelers have a good roster around them, but their quarterback position is such a cluster that we can't even say that they're further along because you don't have the most important piece. Just drafting a quarterback in the first round does not work. They did that with Pickett. It did not work out. Bringing in a failed first round pick in Justin Fields and an aging quarterback in Russell Wilson, who clearly doesn't look like his old self, that doesn't do it either. So why are we at the point where we believe that the Patriots are, the Patriots are closer.

They have their quarterback. They just need him to develop and give them a couple more pieces. I'm not saying they're close to contention, but they're further along in their rebuild. I think the Steelers are dinking around with things that they just don't need to do. They're playing around with the quarterback position as if it's not a big deal as if it's a positional battle like like a the starting tackle or the starting running back position who's gonna make the roster no this is the biggest part of your team and it doesn't seem like they're taking it seriously enough no yeah the Steelers I mean they'll find a way to get to 500 again somehow some way but that that's the thing that's holding them back and

in making a complete rebuild is that they keep finishing at 500 so they don't end up getting themselves to that top 10 pick and they have they did a pretty poor job of trying to develop Kenny Pickett. But I mean, Kenny Pickett probably shouldn't have been that first round pick that Steelers go after way back when. And you, you hit it pretty much on nail on the head. Justin Fields is a field project.

Russell Wilson's on the back end of his career and in seattle very poorly did not have a good tenure over in denver and you're expecting him to now revive his career in pittsburgh but even the weapons over in Pittsburgh aren't even that great. Like you got, you just lost Deontay Johnson. Who's a diva in his own right. George Pickens, who wants the ball. He's basically another Antonio Brown as well. He's got all the talent in the world.

Just doesn't have the best attitude. Pat Fryer. Muth is a pretty solid tight end, but on that, what else do you have they needed they needed another i mean they needed another wide receiver to pair up with george pickens i like what i've seen from pickens from a talent standpoint attitude speaks for itself but it's it's a different issue but um they needed another wide receiver and i thought they were going to get that in brian thomas but they didn't end up drafting him um so like where it just feels like they're stuck in football purgatory they lost ben

roethlisberger who even when he was there and healthy they they he wasn't anything special i mean he won two championships but that was earlier on in his career and the rest of the team around him was a lot better. They're kind of stuck in bat and they're, they're stuck in football purgatory is where they are. And they, they haven't really taken, there's nothing worse for a team than to just take a quarterback simply because it's a need. Obviously it's the biggest need on the, on the team, but I'd rather go on a different position rather than just take a quarterback who's oh penny kenny pickett's there he's the best quarterback in

this draft the worst quarterback draft in over a decade that's that's that's not the way to go and if they didn't take a quarterback maybe they they could have tanked, and then the next year they would have ended up with C.J. Stroud. You see what I mean? You take a step back before you take two steps forward, and they're kind of stuck in football purgatory. And by trading for Brandon Ayuk, great. But why is Brandon Ayuk trying to make the argument that they're in a better spot than the Patriots are?

Because I just don't think they are. No. I would consider the Pitt, if you're going to say the Steelers are in football purgatory, I would consider them the NFL equivalent to the Chicago Bulls. They're always finishing. The Bulls are always finishing in a play-in spot in the NBA playoffs and always teasing their fans that they're going to make this weird, magical run, but they never have the talent to actually make a run.

And so they lose in the play-in, and then they're stuck with the 15th and the 16th overall pick in the NBA draft. No lottery picks, no nothing. And they get stuck doing the same thing over and over and over again where and it's the same thing with the steelers they all after jordan yeah yep they always well bull i would say bulls in the last five years probably patriots are the bulls after jordan too yeah but at least patriots are the bulls right after jordan um but

it like the steel the mike tomlin steelers are the same exact way from the last few years as well i mean granted like the last like right before or right after like that covid season they had ben rothlisberger that and they like they started and oh, and snuck their way into the playoffs after losing five straight and then lost in the wild card to the Browns. After that, it's been the same thing over and over again, just barely squeaking by into the playoffs or just barely missing the playoffs at 500 and not doing anything with it. Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, that's all I have on that, pretty much. I mean, that's all I have on that. I was, I mean, I've been trying to extend the show to see if that, if this deal would end up getting done, but it, it looks like this is going to be a standoff all day,

but I wouldn't be surprised if Brandon and I, you cause it is a stealer by the end of today. That'd be, that'd really suck. That would really suck. Yeah, and we can't even cover it, not for a whole week. Never mind not covering it. Just as a Pats fan, that would just be so silly for him to go to the Steelers where he could be the number one guy at the Patriots

and get the ball thrown to him from Drake May or Joe Milton, depending on how you listen to over at Boston Sports Talk Radio. But that'll do it for us today. Thank you for joining us as we have new episodes that are going to be out Tuesdays at 7.30. 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.

And we'll go back to the Friday preview episodes once we get to week one. So do the math. Pretty much that first week of September, be on the lookout for our first preview show in terms of the week one matchups. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram fumble Ruski underscore podcast and our Tik TOK fumble Ruski pod to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise Chris Gossage,

Adam, right? We will see you next Tuesday over and out.