The Ringer NFL Show - 15 Bold Predictions for 2020 + ‘Hard Knocks’ Episode 3

Episode Date: August 31, 2020

15 Bold Predictions for 2020 + ‘Hard Knocks’ Episode 3 We recap Episode 3 of ‘Hard Knocks’ and catch up on the latest news from training camp before offering up each of our five boldest predictions for the 2020 fantasy football season. ‘Hard Knocks’ (3:49) Training Camp Update (8:03) Bold Predictions:  Tom Brady (13:09) Davante Adams (18:25) Mike Evans (20:27) Aaron Jones (23:33) Cam Akers (25:23) Christian McCaffrey (28:30) Austin Ekeler (33:10) DeAndre Hopkins (36:09 Raheem Mostert (39:21) David Johnson (41:39) Top 10 Tight Ends (42:53) Evan Engram (44:48) Joe Burrow (46:53) Damien Harris (51:27) Le’Veon Bell (53:06) It’s draft season, so check out The Ringer’s Fantasy Football Draft Guide and use our Draft Tracker to keep track of your players as you draft. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Call 1-800 gambler. Or in West Virginia, visit www. www. www.1-800 gambler.net. In Indiana, call 1-800-9 with it. Or in Colorado, call 1-800-5-22-4-700. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. I'm Danny Heifitz here with Danny Kelly and Craig Wolbeck. We just want to say at the top of the show

that our thoughts are primarily focused on events happening on our country right now. We support the NBA strike and strikes in the WNBA, MLB, and MLS, which are protesting that police shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin last week. and also protesting racial inequity in this country. In the fantasy football community,

sites like Yahoo and a bunch of other fantasy websites have changed some of the basic fantasy football terms. Words like fantasy owners has been changed to fantasy managers, and the term percent owned has been changed to percent rostered, and auction leagues are being changed to salary cap leagues. We are adopting these changes. We think it makes sense to avoid terms that evokes slavery. So we're going to do that going forward.

All right, so let's get to the episode. Today we're going to run down a little hard knocks. We're going to talk about some news, but then we're going to go through our bold predictions. We each have five bold predictions, and hopefully you guys have backups in case yours are a weenie Hut Jr. We're going to go through some bold predictions for things that we think are, I believe the appropriate term is 100,000 percent going to happen guaranteed or your money back. Do you, okay, let's set the stage here.

Do you believe these are going to happen? Or do you believe, like, these are just as, like, as bold as you'll go, it's in your realm of possibility type of thing? How do we define this? No, it's not really, but that kind of breaks the facade of the exercise. I don't know what I believe. I guess, you know, they're just shots in the dark. I think the appropriate way to describe this is that these are things that characterize how we feel, even if they don't literally become true. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

If they're even remotely close, then we're right. these are like our gut opinions that sway us in the draft. Yeah, these are the swings you're willing to take. Like, swing for the fences on these bold predictions. This is the pro football focus. Like, we're saying this to shock you to change your perspective thing of like, running backs don't matter. And you're like, what?

That's dumb. Well, no, no, no. It's just they're not as important as you thought, but that's not really a grabbing statement. And then at the end of the episode, we are going to have to each pick, we're each going to have to pick a bold prediction of the other two people and basically adopt them. And then at the end of the year, I don't know what we do. But that's what we're going to do. I like it.

Perfect. We're going to endorse. We're going to really fully endorse someone else's bold prediction, I think. Okay. But before we get into that, I have to talk to something very important with you guys, hard knocks this week. The carpets in the Chargers facilities are the ugliest carpets I've ever seen in my life. What the hell is going on?

It was like airport carpet. They are awful. I didn't notice the carpet. I once you see it you can't unsee it you'll shit bricks you weren't looking at the enormous like jumbo tron that full spherical not spherical but like like the circle jumbo tron the freaking watch like from everywhere in the stadium you look to the carpet no I was looking down because our entire society has stopped looking to the skies decay for God we look down at our phones down and I was looking down at our carpets because the charges carpets are like an optical illusion except it's just supposed to make you feel sick I'm so you guys don't have enough. Okay, you really don't have thoughts on this. I think they're the worst carpets of ever. SoFi Stadium, though, to be honest, is awesome looking.

Like, it's going to be really cool. The fact that you can see palm trees like from the field is pretty incredible. Yeah. But here's the thing about SOFi. So before this year, there had never been an NFL stadium that cost $2 billion. And then the Raiders built Allegiant in Vegas. And that's like a little over $2 billion. SoFi's over $5 billion.

Holy crap. It more than doubled the previous. Like Jerry World cost less than $2 billion. and so-fi's more than five. Can't wait for neither of the LA teams to make the playoffs. I'm in on the Rams. I don't know if to make the playoffs, but yeah.

Can you imagine building a $5 billion stadium and then having no fans show up? One thing I wanted to talk about from the episode is the wide receivers coach is the man who's just a hard ass. Do you guys, I always liked those coaches playing high school sports. Were you like the guy who needed compliments

or were you the guy who liked getting pushed and yelled at? You've been working with me for three years. What do you think I am? I love when he said, I've been positive, I've been negative, but I've been a dick, I've been your best friend. I don't know what's to tell you besides your jobs on the line, fuckers. I love how he was like...

Make a block. Make a block. Like, the only thing standing between you and life changing money is like that defensive back right there. Go hit him. I felt it when he was like, none of you idiots have kids. But if this guy right here is trying to like hit your child and this is the worst you'll do is like put a little elbow into him. I love that. That guy's really real.

I really appreciate it. him. I'd love to get him on the pod and just had him judge us. Yeah. Make a fucking block, Craig. Jesus Christ, make a point. You're rambling already. You're segways. I don't know how many more ways I can say this. Stop. We get it. You like David Johnson. Move on. You and Craig is life-changing money. Just get him out of the way. That was good. I like that segment a lot. The other segment that I wanted to bring up was

when Chris Harris and Keenan Allen were going mono-a-mono in the routes. That was pretty fun. Like just from a pure football, like two of the best at their job in the world. And they're just like going like right at it with each other. That was really cool, I thought. Watching Keenan catch passes is just mesmerizing. It's impossible to watch hard knocks and not have higher stock on guys. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. The thing that actually grabbed my attention the most that was that the safety, Juju-Hughes plays football with a toothpick in his mouth. That made me really nervous. That was, I had, I legitimately am shocked that that's allowed. I cannot believe that is actually allowed in the NFL.

It just never occurred to me that you would let NFL, like the fact that anyone at any level of football is allowed to have a toothpick in their mouth while they're playing football. You should not be allowed to have gum, I think. Why don't want a toothpick? Some players play with wedding rings. And that seems like, okay, I get it, but like, wow. A toothpick, like, I, I, my jaw was on the floor, the entire.

segment. And then he's wearing the mask and they're like, are you having toothpick? And I was like, you know it. I don't even like chewing a toothpick. I, there was a moment in my life when I was like in middle school and I was like, you know, you see like somebody cool doing it in a Western and you're like, all right, I'm going to give that a shot. It's not fun. I don't like it. It doesn't accomplish anything for me. It's just kind of annoying. The wood gets soggy. It's a lifestyle. If you're not into it, you're not like you're not a toothpick guy. It's just you're all in or you're all out. It's kind of like keto or keto. I don't know. CrossFit. It's like, it's keto. Keto? Well, clearly I'm not a keto guy.

So I'm not in the lifestyle. All right, let's get to some news. Bears running back. David Montgomery was carted off with a groin injury on Wednesday. I mean, he hobbled off and then was carded. And he looked like he was in pain. Yeah. Did you watch the video? I did not.

Yeah, the video, he essentially is like just taking a hand off. It's against air. It's basically nothing. They're just like cutting. And he like tried to plan his, I believe his left foot. And his left foot slipped out. out on the wet grass or something like that. And he went down and he like couldn't get up for a second. He couldn't walk for a second.

And he was writhing in pain. It looked really bad. Now that's not necessarily an indication that he'll be out longer than it. They said two to four weeks, right? Yeah, NFL Network reported two to four weeks and he might be available for week one. The Bears are playing the Lions. The Bears, the backup situation is interesting. Tari Cohen is the guy who gets the most playing time other than David Montgomery,

but he's really small and it's not a first or second down guy. And then behind David Montgomery are not one, but two undrafted running backs from Oregon State, Ryan Nall and Artavis Pierce, and then there's Cordarell Patterson. D.K., what do you, first of all, if David Montgomery's healthy, then obviously he's the guy.

But if for the time that he's out, who is the beneficiary here? Which of the two Oregon State undrafted dudes or is it a Cordell Patterson or is it a stayaway or is it? Do you guys remember when I brought up the Ryan Nahl Dynasty Hive? Probably like a month ago and you guys were like, that's the thing. I'd lock that out of my memory. Honestly, we might have cut that from the episode.

I just remember like my own eyes glazed over while you were talking about Ryan Nahl. He's like he's done well, I guess, in limited attempts in the preseason and all that. I don't know if he's necessarily going to be the guy to get the most action if Montgomery misses the game. I think it's probably going to be a mix of Patterson, who has taken. you know, reps as a running back, both with the Bears and with the Patriots before. So I think, you know, he's the kind of guy who they could definitely work into their offense. Obviously, Tariq Cohen could take a few carry. He's not going to carry a big load. I don't think there's going to be any one major, like, three-down guy that's going to, like, take over for David Montgomery.

He's going to be a committee. Yeah, and probably not a great one. No offense to Oregon State. One other, just one of the quick one wanted to know is that the Chiefs running back situation, Clyde Edwards-Alair, is clearly the starter. but Dorel Williams is going to be the backup, according to Nate Taylor, the athletic. Just wanted to note that because it's probably the single most or among the most lucrative backup positions in football, especially Clyde's a rookie.

So D'Andre Washington was kind of floated as a sleeper, but Dorel Williams is the guy to have in Kansas City if you have Clyde Edwards-Aler, and they actually play it at LSU together. So just wanted to note that, shall we get into some bold predictions? Let's do it. Who goes first?

Oh, my gosh. I'm nervous about this already. So again, let's just reiterate here. This is the, salty spittoon. Like, haven't you seen SpongeBob? Obviously.

You're not a SpongeBob generation, are you, D.K. I am not a SpongeBob generation at all. I actually, I actually, serious, serious thing. There's like the weird terms

of where does Millenni Land, where does it, I truly believe that there is a generational gap. The clearest generational gap you can draw in our culture right now is people who grew up with SpongeBob and people who did not. It's the easiest thing.

You can, cleanest line. I wholeheartedly agree. SpongeBob is one of the best shows ever made. I think I grew up with it. I've seen a million episodes. Like, do you still watch it? Or is it for kids?

The impact on the culture, though. It's very adult. It's like adult swim? No. They live in bikini bottom, but it's for kids. It's a whole thing. The point is that the impact on the culture is crazy. Bobby Wagner and I really want to pitch.

Ringer podcast producer, not Bobby Wagner. Yes. Seahawks Linebacker. Ringer producer Bobby Wagner and I want to pitch. We want to do binge mode SpongeBob Bob. We want to call it BingeBob Sponge Mode. That's good. But I don't know if they're going to let us, but I'm putting it out there now. We want to do BingeBob Sponge Mode.

We cut the Dantasy Football Podcast at the Ringer Fantasy Football Show for SEO, and you're going to do something called binge Bob Spongmo or whatever. Yeah, we are. Maybe the SpongeBob Square Pants podcast. Anyway. Okay, so you're saying it was the, it's the salty spittoon? Oh, yeah. The Salty Spatoon is this bar, and it's like you have to be really tough to get it. You know what, Craig, can you just play the clip of SpongeBob? It'd be the line to get into the salty spatoon. The roughest, toughest, toughest sailor club ever to be built under the seven seeds.

Only the baddest of the bad can get in. You can't get in unless you're really tough. The muscles are muscles. You have really tough. Like, I ate nails. And they're like, so what? Without any milk? And you're like, oh, shit.

And then Sandy, and maybe the best moment Sandy ever had rips the guy's mom tattoo off and sticks it back on upside down. Apex Mountain for Sandy. That's Apex Mountain for Sandy. That's Apex. Next Mountain indeed. So anyway, all right. If your thing is not bold enough,

you're going to be Weenie Hut Jr. You're going to get ejected from the salty spatoon. Okay. Yeah. So let's just be clear here. D.K., go. Oh, man. I'm going first.

All right. Yeah. How tough are you? Here's my bold prediction number one. Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is going to lead the NFL and touchdown passes. Wow. Okay. Is that bold enough?

Okay. So can I say that Tom Brady is, one of my bold prediction is Tom Brady will be a top two fantasy quarterback this okay so let's just do these together then um because I think on one hand I'm like yes and no about the boldness here because I think it's one hand like James Winston literally did the thing like I guess he's 40 he's 47 years old okay so that's too close to how old he actually is to sound ridiculous yeah that's not a joke that sounds exactly and and he hold on right now his his ADP

the QB 10 on average and CBS is actually pulling him up and this is the consensus rankings on Fantasy Pro CBS is pulling up he's more like the QE12 generally here's why I think this is bold it's not because like so if he's going as the quarterback 10 and we project him to be like the quarterback 2 or something I know that doesn't sound that

crazy but I don't think anyone thinks he's going to be anything other than like solid like like a QB 10 like he will be that I don't think anyone's like oh yeah I mean he has just as good a chance as anybody to be the best quarterback in the league I'm saying he does. Yes. I think that this is,

this is pretty bold. And Brady's just been so good for so long that we kind of forget how insane him playing this old is. Like the list of players who have just straight up thrown a pass in their 40s in the NFL is like 20 people. And half of them are like punters or kickers who did a fake or something. The other is Brett Favre who was also in Hard Knocks this week. Yeah. Oh my God.

We didn't talk about Favre. forgot about that. He came on the screen and was like, Like, I, my, like, I, dude, I lives like this guy looks 70. And then the first thing he said is, I feel like $5 instead of a million. I thought he looked all right. I don't know, man. He looked, he looked older than I was expecting.

I had to Google how old he was. I don't want to like, you know, Danny's already made fun of me for looking Haggard. So I'm not going to like, I'm not going to rip on Brett Fav who is like the greatest Ironman in NFL history. It's also bad zoom lighting. So back to this take, this bold prediction. Bruce Ariens has got a history with having old quarterbacks perform. Carson Palmer had, like, his best season at age 36 or 37 with Bruce Ariens. Why can't he do the same thing with Tom Brady,

with Tom Brady's best offensive weapons he's ever had? Yeah. I think this is a good take. I want to spit out a couple more stats for you. So spit him. Obviously, his arm strength is a concern. But from what we've heard at camp, he's looking really, really, like, his arm is looking just fine. He's, like, throwing it downfield, a lot of zip, all that.

So I'm not too worried about his arm strength. He's doing the keto diet. Yeah, I guess so. He doesn't have a lot of inflammatory foods in his system right now. No tomatoes? Those are inflammatory. Yeah. So anyways, his career touchdown rate is 5.4. He's finished quite a bit higher than that a few times.

In fact, he's finished 6.5, 7.3, 8.7 in 2007 year. And last year, it was 3.9. So it was far, far below his total career. rear average. It was far below his average from 2018, which 5.1, 2017, 5.5. The last time he had that low of a touchdown rate was 2013. He was 4%.

And then the next season, it jumped up almost 2%. 5.7. The difference in touchdowns is pretty stark. Like he had 25 touchdowns, 2013, 33 and 2014. I could easily see him have 34, 35, 36 touchdowns, and lead the NFL in touchdowns this year. I think it's definitely in the range. I'm not going to lie.

a little lost near touchdown percentages there, but I want to reiterate just how freaking insane what you're talking about is in the history of football or professional football, do you know how many starts there are by people 43 or older at quarterback? Seven. Eight.

Damn it. Who? So if Tom Brady, like every, in the history of the NFL, there have only been eight quarterbacks who's like games, not quarterbacks, games, whereas quarterback 43 older started. So if Tom Brady just plays the season, 16 games, that's more than double every other 43-year-old person

ever combined in games. And you're saying not only he's going to play, which is historic, leading the NFL. Yeah, so that's why this is... I just want to remind how crazy. You're like, you're like, D.K.'s hype man right now. You're like, this is why it's bold. Well, at first I was like, well, it's the bucks that almost happened. But no, you're right. That actually would be nuts. All right. So let's... I also think, like, the question is, is he going to throw enough passes? Is it going to be enough volume? I don't know if that necessarily will matter because, I mean, if you look at Lamar Jackson last year, it's just so efficient,

he still led the NFL in touchdowns despite not throwing like a ton of volume. He's going to be efficient, I think. And so he's going to have a lot. I think he's going to throw a lot of touchdowns. They're going to throw less pass attempts because James won't be turning the ball over. Brady will be much more careful. I think it comes down to what they do in the red zone.

And Ronald Jones is a little banged up right now. The running game isn't great. But I think you're right. In the red zone, if there's passing, then you could totally be 20th and past attempts, but first or second touchdowns. Yeah. I like that. Craig, is that also your prediction? That also counts for you?

Yeah, mine was he'll be a top two fantasy quarterback. Okay, so then I'll go with my first bowl prediction. I think Devante Adams breaks Michael Thomas's record for catches this season. Wow. What is the record? 149. Which I always remember because whenever I hear that he had 149, I think about the Wulf of Wall Street trailer. Yep. Or just the movie where he was like, I made $49 million a week when I was 26 and I was pissed because I didn't get to, I was three-shy-five million a week. It was $1 million a week. Oh, yeah.

So he made four, but he said I made a little under. I made 49 million in a year, which is a little bit under a million a week. And so Michael Thomas is also 26. And I always think how pissed he must be, couldn't get the 150. But I actually think Devante does that this year because we, you know, obviously Packers, no receivers. Aaron Rogers only trusts him. Aaron Rogers, I think quietly, even if he's saying all the nice things publicly, there is a war

path. And I do think that they're going to have to pass more this year. He said last season that he would be, that Devonte Adams had a hundred, 169 targets that he wanted to get Devante like 200. That was last year. Nothing about that team has changed. They don't have any better options than they did a year ago. I actually think Devante Adams, it would be funny that after all that stuff,

like Thomas broke a 16-year-old record. I think Thomas, Devante could do it this year. 149 divided by 16 is 9.3. So he needs like 9 or 10 catches a game to hit that. When he came back, he had like 13 targets, 14 targets a game. Yeah. He's almost Michael Thomas's number. numbers when he returned.

If this were, if this were the, the YouTube show Hot Ones, I feel like that take would be like the level six hot wing. Out of how many levels? 10. Am I in the salties platoon or not? Look at us. That's what matters. Look at us. Absolutely. I'm saying he's going to have catch 150 pat. You know what? I think that's pretty hot. I'm in this

platoon. All right. I guess that's hot. It's just like he's going as the number. He's like the consensus one or two wide receiver in the league. That's true. He will catch more passes than anybody has ever caught in any football season ever. It's not good enough for you. Get the hell out of the ball. I'll toss you out of this platoon. Anyway, who else is a bold prediction?

D.K. So mine's very related to my first one, but it's, I think it's also pretty hot. Mike Evans finishes number two in PPR points for game. And we'll just go with Danny. He's going to finish behind Devante Adams. Okay. I have this as Super Weenie Hut Jr. because Mike Evans

was the second receipt. Wasn't he the second receiver when he got hurt in like week 12? I don't remember off the top of my head. He hasn't finished that high since like 2016 though in a full season. I'm a little torn here. 2016, 2017. It's not super hot. He was the wide receiver three through 12 weeks last year, but he was with, I don't know, it's a different team. So you're right, but it's this one's, this one's not blazing hot. I thought you guys are going to give me a little more shit about this because I feel like you guys are a little bit low on Evans. Everyone's low on Evans.

I'm low on Evans because the bucks are probably going to be, they led the league in plays last year, but they were like pretty average in yards and everything per drive. It was the plays and they led the league in plays because James Winston through 30 interceptions and had like another nine fumbles. And if Tom Brady cuts that literally by 20 by 80%, which he probably will, if he goes 10 picks and fumbles three times, they're not going to lead the league in plays and Mike Evans won't lead the league receiving yards. That's why I'm down on it. But I'm also like, well, if he was the third receiver through three months, is it really like, oh, number two, can see it. But let me let me

so I agree with you. That that is the concern I think the volume thing isn't a concern which makes this hot. This is a hot take. Even as you're saying it that you're not the Saltisputin. Let me explain a little bit just like football wise. So number one, Godwin has missed a little bit of time. This is you know as of Friday

he'd missed like three out of the last six practices. Ariens has not told us why. He said that that's for me to know and none of you to find out or something like that in typical Aryan's fashion. Reports at a camp say that Brady and Evans have, quote, forged a strong connection. So that's really good because obviously new quarterback and that's going to be a factor.

Three, they're going to play in 12 percent, which is two tight-end sets, I think a lot. You know, they've got Gronk, they've got O.J. Howard. They got Cameron Brayt. I think that will benefit Evans more than Godwin, who did so much of his damage in the slot last year. Number four, and this is from James Palmer from the NFL network. Cameron Bray had a real solid day to day. Yesterday he talked to us about the difficult spot. They're two tight-end sets.

put a defense in. Noted that if a safety has to help in the middle of the field, Mike Evans is going to beat every CB, every cornerback. I'll read whatever is in front of you guys. Mike Evans is going to beat every cornerback with no help over the top, game over. So yeah, I think, you know what?

I just, I feel like... I think this is acceptable. I feel like Brady's going to really like targeting him in the end zone. I don't know. I'm just into it. I think this is good football analysis that does not really... Well, I'll let you guys decide if this is bold enough.

can I rephrase what you're saying? Mike Evans will be one spot better than he was when he was healthy last year. That's what you're saying. So like I get your football analysis. I just, I reject it. You're not in the Salty Spatoon.

Yeah, but look at where he is in ADP. Yeah, that helps. All right, fine. Suck it. Okay. All right, Craig. Another bold prediction for us. Aaron Jones will score the same amount of points

this year as he did last year. Oh, okay. This is good because I have sort of, Touchdowns are same fantasy points. Fantasy points. I don't care how he gets there, but he will. I love this. I love this.

We're getting nuts with Aaron Jones. I don't know what the hell is going out of Aaron Jones. All right. Explain the niche world of fantasy football for a moment. After Christian McCaffrey last year was Aaron Jones, everybody. It was Christian McCaffrey, then it was Aaron Jones, and half PPR and full PPR. The only rap on this guy was that he was too good. Imagine getting a 4.4 GPA in high school.

You learn the saxophone. You master careless. whisper. You're the captain of the debate club and you learn French. And Harvard hit you up and goes, you were too efficient last year. We're not going to accept it. You're due for regression. You won't do well as a freshman. You can't come to Harvard. Everything looks too good. My dude was he only played one year of football as an actual starter and he was the number two running back in fantasy. So it's like, yeah, we drafted AJ Dillon, a rookie running back. But reports on him. Let me read what people, what beat reporters have said about AJ Dillon. I'd be lying to you if I were able to project a certain type of

usage for him right now. Lack of NFL preseason means that Packers won't know of Dylan can recognize shifting defensive fronts and pass protect adequately. Aaron Jones is going as the running back 12. Overall, the 22nd player in draft. You can get him at the end of the second round.

The Packers added nobody. Aaron Jones catches passes. They added Devin Funches. He opted out of the season. There's no one to throw to. I guess Devonte Adams is going to break the catch record, but Aaron Jones is going to be right behind him. I'm all in. This is perfect setup, Craig, for my Next one.

Danny, are we scared of a bottom five back in the league? No, not that. I'm not saying that. So, Danny,

you can do two in a row because I'm kind of skipping you here. Oh, yeah, we can, well, the show will go on if we go out of order.

I think that we'll manage. So this is my really, this is probably the bowl. This is easily the boldest one I've got. Cam Acres is going to finish in front of Aaron Jones. Wow. So right now. That means,

that means cam acres will be number one overall. Yes, according to, according to this, yeah, So, AKA, I think the other way I could phrase it is that Acres is going to be this year's Aaron Jones. So Acres, the Florida State rookie. Yes, with the Rams.

So right now he is the RB 28, number 67 overall in ADP, and this is PPR. Aaron Jones is RB 14, number 19. So it's a big jump, obviously, to kind of project him over Aaron Jones, who Craig loves. The Rams finished number three in pass attempts last year. I think they're going to be more balanced this season. they're going to try and run the ball. It's in Sean McBay's DNA to run the ball. He loves running the ball. It's the foundation of

his offense. He wants to run the ball and throw off play action. That's what, honestly, and that's what Jared Gough does best. It just makes so much sense for them to try and run the hell out of the ball. You know, if you're Sean McBey, Todd Gurley leaves, vacates 223 carries, and

he still managed 12 touchdowns despite the Rams passing third most times in the NFL last year. Yes, Craig, you have a question? Yes. Does it worry you at all that Cam Acres has not been shown once on Hard Knocks? The only time, no, that's actually not true. He has been shown and he fumble.

The one time he's been on Hard Knocks. This is the, this is like the post type. I will say if the Hard Knocks crew thought that someone was going to emerge, it's like the star running back for the team moving into a $5 billion stadium, they would do that. No, but okay. So with that, like, philosophy, why have they not shown...

Why have they not shown Robert Woods at all? So you're saying you're down on Robert Woods? By that logic, you're eliminating a large piece of the team here. He's also tried and true. They don't need to show him. He's good at a year. Yeah, he's a proven veteran. I mean, you have been accepted into the salty spletoon. I don't believe any of these antiletics

that you guys are spitting out of me. Like hard knocks? Antilytic is, it's common sense. It's not my problem, you don't believe. Bottom line, I'm really just bullish on the Rams. and I think that Acres is going to be the leadback in that offense. Henderson's got a hamstring injury right now that's going to take him into at least week one. We don't know for sure his status for week one.

I think, and I just think Aker's is really good. So all that put together, I think, you know, whether they're doing sort of like the three receivers set where they're doing a lot of wide zone or more of the gap stuff with two tight ends that they're doing late last season,

I think he can do either. I think he's going to be good. Ultimately, I am worried about Aaron. Jones a little bit, Craig, sorry to say. But I just think that regression is going to hit him hard. Yeah, he's too good. I mean, he's too much of a renaissance. This is ridiculous. The biggest problem with him is he was too good. The thing we're making fun of with Aaron Jones is that the book in Aaron Jones this year is he had 19 touchdowns and that basically everyone who's ever scored

19 touchdowns except for like four people have scored like half the following season. On the amount of touches that he had. You know who was too good last year? Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, no one's talking about that. Dude, he gets like 98% of their We have a whole new team. No one's saying any of that's a problem. Aaron Jones is in the exact same situation. This isn't even on my list, but I'm just throwing it in right now

because you just brought it up. Christian McCaffrey will not be a top five running back this year. Oh, that's really good. He won't be top five. And here's why. It's the stat you just freaking mentioned that pisses me off. McCaffrey was, look, I understand how McCaffrey was a historically good player last year.

He had 160 more fantasy points in PPR, then second place. Who was Aaron Jones? The gap between McAfrey and Aaron Jones was I believe basically like the equivalent to like the 28th running back who was like Tariq Cohen. So an entire like Tariq Cohen was between

They were a hundred and twenty three points apart. Whatever it was. There's a massive gap. Here's the thing. There was also a massive gap in playing time. Christian McCaffrey played 98% of Carolina snaps. That's why you've never heard of his backup. You don't even know he is.

His name's Reggie, believe it or not. That's how, you've never heard of him. But that is literally means a statistical outlier when McAfee's not on the field. Second place is like Sequin, Zeke Elliott, they're on the field like 83, 84% of the time. Second point. The people who did that to Christian McCaffrey were fired. They're gone. They don't work there anymore.

And the assumption that Christian McCaffrey, like if Christian McCaffrey loses 15% of his playing time, that's 15% of his, even at the same efficiency. So it's completely erased from all of this that if you bring McCaffrey in line to merely leading the league at 85% snapshot, he isn't necessarily guaranteed to even be a top three, top four guy. And then there's touchdown variance on a shitty offense with a new quarterback and the least experienced coaching staff

in the entire NFL. The idea that new coordinator, new coach, new quarterback, terrible line might not work. Totally possible. Dude, you are so in the salty Splatoon. It's not even crazy. We're giving you shares. You own part of it now. It's like no one wants to talk that the number one overall pick

that is consensus unanimous is on what might be the worst freaking situation in the entire league right now. Oh my God. That's a great one. If that wasn't on your list, that should be firmly on it. All right. It's just boiling in my blood. Who goes now?

Do you guys think it's, by the way, really, really short tangent? Do you think it's weird that hardly anyone cares about McCaffrey's handcuff? Like, I know, that seems to be a lot of thing. That's by point because no one knows anything. He never came off the field. It's bizarre to me that no one tries to get like Mike Davis. And we're not interested either, like at all.

We all talk about Tony Pollard. I don't know. Here's the dirty secret of how fantasy football works. No one's ever seen like running backs play football in Carolina. It's because there's nothing interesting to talk about so no one discusses it because like, yeah, he's really good. And we kind of forget to question the most basic thing of like, should we question that everyone around him who works with him is,

gone. Anyway, sorry. I mean, yeah, those are valid points, Danny. All right. Let's take a quick break to talk about Fandul. The Ringer Fantasy Football Show is brought to you by Fandul. This season, there's a brand new way to play fantasy football on Fandul, introducing best ball contests, the simplest way to play season-long fantasy. In a best ball contest, there's no lineups to set, no waivers to claim, and no trades to make. Just draft 20 players at the start of the season.

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Okay. I think Austin Echler will be a top five running back this season. Hell yeah. So, Austin Echler was the number two running back before Melvin Gordon came back last year. It was McCaffrey, then it was Austin Echler. And then when Melvin Gordon came back, even if you just take the games with Melvin Gordon and Austin Echler, excluding the games of just Austin Echler, he was the RB8 with Melvin Gordon. I get that Phil's gone,

but the Chargers aren't loaded offensively, and even if Tyrod and Herbert don't check down as much to Austin Echler, I still think he's going to be a massive part of the offense. Anthony Lynn, former running back, former running back's coach, loves Austin Echler. He's going to feature him a bunch. Echler was number two last year in points per touch, by the way. And I truly think he's not getting drafted earlier because he's short.

can I just interject again? That's the best, that's the point. You got it at the last second. You lost me when you called Philip Rivers Phil. It's the first time I've ever heard it. I know, I actually was like, who? I was like, who that?

Phil. I'm one of his children, so I talked to him about it. It's one thing of like, oh, Echler's underdrafted because he's short, you're in this pitoon. Yeah. And I actually agree with you. If Austin Eclis with 6.1, he'd be a top 6.1. There is an entire fake belief that Austin Eckler

is not an in-between the tackles runner when basically he was as good, if not better than Melvin Gordon at inside the tackles because Austin Echler is small that he can't do it, which is not true. Craig, you brought up an interesting point, Anthony Lynn being the coach and going to feed him and playing favorites.

The one thing I wanted to bring up from Hard Knocks that I thought was actually really interesting from a fantasy point of view is, did you hear the moment when Anthony Lynn was like, hey man, I was telling so-and-so the OC to feed Keenan Allen because he's blocking. Feed him. Feed him the ball because he blocks.

To me that's like, okay, if these guys are doing the right thing and the coach is literally telling him to give him more targets and give him more looks, I think that's actually really important. So especially in a year with a lot of change, and I think, you know what, we don't really know what's going to happen

with Josh Kelly or with Justin Jackson. If Echler's out there doing what he's supposed to be doing, I could absolutely see them just being like, oh, give the ball to Echler, man. Get these other guys out of here. These other guys are making mistakes. Lynn is going to be like, no, yank. So I think that's actually really interesting.

Fees is the wrong term because it was this episode or the last episode where they're also telling the other running back to lose weight. Right. So maybe they're not going to feed Echler, but they'll give them the ball a lot. I think if you have a salary cap draft and you don't want to spend that much money, if you get Aaron Jones and Austin Echler for a decent price, you say that's so much upside. right there.

Let's someone else spend $80 in McCaffrey. I like Eckler. I like this one. This is a good one. Okay. I can't keep track. Have we all done two of these?

I've done three. High Fitz, you've only done Devante Adams and Christian McCaffrey. So, Hyphids, you go again. DeAndre Hopkins is not going to be a top 15 wide receiver in fantasy. Okay.

This is Evan Silva take. I think Silva has him as the riders year of 15 right now. Oh, really? Oh, wow. Well, shout out Evan Silva because I completely agree. This, look.

He finished us the wide receiver 9. last year for the record. Yeah, but season long because he missed a couple games. He missed one game. He's unanimously ranked top five in fantasy pros. I believe he's being drafted

like eighth overall. Like being drafted in the first round, like ninth or eighth is where he's being drafted. He is, you're right. He is the wide receiver three, eight overall in PPR. Eighth overall in PPR,

an average draft position. I just want to reiterate. that something Craig Point put very eloquently earlier this month, that is that position puts all upside with zero of the downside of switching teams to a completely different system and all the things that could go wrong with the Cardinals. I do not understand how the case that DeAndre Hopkins could surpass being drafted in the first round. But there are so many reasons he could not live up to it. And it starts with just the most basic one that everyone has seven receiver sleepers they like.

We love Thielen and Juju Smith-Schuster and Bobby Trees and Tyler Lockett. Everyone is pointing to the receivers in the second, third, fourth, fifth round is like, these are unbelievable values. You can't all be risers unless other people fall. It's not as fun to pick people who are going to fall, but it's just as important to understand. It's a zero-sum game. So, like, one, that's what goes up must come down. DeAndre Hopkins is on a new team in a new.

new system. And again, his game, he's not the fastest player in the NFL. He's not the sharpest route. The number one skill DeAndre Hopkins has had in the last five years is chemistry and working, putting in time with his quarterbacks, even when they sucked, and especially Deshaun Watson, and they're having amazing catching ability. But it undermines how much practice he put in with Deshawn Watson to get this good. And it undermines how much work he'd put in to think that switching teams, switching coaches, and now with a quarterback where there's been less practice, this time than ever that he can just, oh yeah, he'll just stick to being a top three receiver. It is, it is the, it kind of treats real football like it's like you can just plug in one

outlet and take it out, put in a different outlet. It's like the same thing. That's not how football works. And it is so easy for me to see, yeah, he's just, he's a great player who statistically is not as good as other players this year. Love it. Love it. It's a full off season.

Anyway, I feel like that, but, uh, I mean, I think that's, yeah, I think that's a good on it. The thing is, to us, it doesn't sound as crazy because we've been talking about it for a while, but I think to the general public, that's pretty hot take. I have him ring 28th, so I would not take him eighth. It's going to be very difficult for him to outplay his ADP. You're getting him in drafts basically at his ceiling, I would say. Yes.

And so that's definitely kind of where he's, if you're picking him, like, where his ADP is right now. So, DK, you are up, sir. All right. So I'm not sure how you guys are going to take this one. Rahim Moster finishes as an RB1 Wow Spicy That actually is spicy

That is spicy Oh I thought you guys were going to make fun of me about this I feel like everyone's out on him because The Niners switch up their backfield and Yeah Literally wanted to trade Which I understand But

Buzz from camp is that he looks awesome My buddy Kyle Posey from Niners Nation Did a camp report the other day that said You know Moster was far and away like clearly the best back Like, you know, just I think he perfectly fits that Shanahan scheme, which we've talked about a hundred times. Like Shanahan schemes, man, all throughout NFL history have always produced like these thousand-yard rushers. The big worry, of course, is that he's going to ride like a committee approach or ride the hot hand is what he kind of says he does. But I'm just, I'm betting that most is going to be the hot hand, like from start to finish.

And when he took over as kind of like the quote starter in that offense, he was he was the running back. seven to finish out the season. That was without catching any passes, hardly. Now, he did have touchdowns in every single game, but I'm a kind of big, I'm a big believer in the 49ers offense. There's not a lot of passing options right now in that offense because Devo Samuel has been hurt. Jalen Hurd is out for the season. Even Ayuk now is nursing a hamstring injury. They might get the running backs a little bit more involved in the offense. So yeah, I think there's plenty of reasons to like poo-poo this idea that Moster could be at Arby one, you know, they get McKinnon involved or they get Kevin Coleman involved.

But just going off of what they did late in the season, like most of it looked like their best running back by far. And I think that they'll use him as their best running back. Yeah, this is salty spittoon to me. I like this. So 49ers in 2019, second in rushing attempts, 498, second in rushing yards, 23005, first in rushing touchdowns. They probably aren't going to have as run heavy of a game scripts this year.

probably going to have to like throw it a little bit more. But I don't know, man, Shanahan's still very strong, strong believer in running the ball and all that. And they're built to run the ball. So, you know, even if they don't finish top two in rush attempts, I think they're still going to run the ball a lot. Are correct. Do you have another bold prediction for us? David Johnson will lead all running backs and touchdowns. Wait a second. That's sick. That's sick. That's some salty spoutun if I've ever heard it. Elaborate. on my doc, so I have my five bold predictions. I have notes for every single one except this one.

This is what I think. He's going to get a ton of touches. Bill O'Brien's reputation is dependent on David Johnson's season. That's actually a great point. They lost their best red zone threat. They have Will Fuller and Brandon Cooks, who aren't exactly big red zone threats. They got no one to give the ball do in the red zone except David Johnson,

and he might be a top five back in touches. I think it's possible. The offense is going to be really good. and I'm in. I love this. I love it. Wow, welcome to the spatoon, Craig.

This is fantastic. The idea that Bill O'Brien's job is like centered on David Johnson doing well is actually a huge deal. Yes. I firmly believe that. That's a good point. I like it. Well done. That alone might make me change my mind on David Johnson.

That's so great. That's an antilitic for you. That's an antilitic if there ever was one. All right. This one, I think more than half of the tight ends being drafted in the top 10 at the position will not finish in the top 10 at the position. All right. So let's read them off. We got Travis Kelsey Kittle, Mark Andrews, Zachertz, Darren Waller, Evan Ingram, Hunter Henry, Rob Garnkowski, tight end eight, Tyler Higbee, Jared Cook, Haydenhurst, Austin Hoover. That's the top 12, ADP, and PPR.

Oh, 12 of you want, I was think just top 10 do the same thing. So do you have a specific group? Cooper, no. So I have, basically, I feel specific enough about so many of them that it doesn't even require a leap of faith because I think people like Jared Cook, easy, easy fallout. Hunter Henry's an easy fallout. Austin Hooper, I kind of, I mean, depending on the price, but I also think that that kind of is an easy fallout in Cleveland, even though I could see him.

But the tight end position has a reputation for being thin. And the reality is that there are like eight or nine different breakout candidate tight ends this year that people are hyping. And it's not like kind of fake. It's all the cases, the underlying numbers, all the patterns work for Irv Smith in Minnesota. Hayden Hearst. I mean, I love Hayden Hurst in Atlanta.

Chris Herndon on the Jets. My boy Jack Doyle and the Colts. Noah Fant and the Broncos who went to Iowa's numbers are like George Fent or George Kettle, his rookie year. You got T.J. Hawkinson, Blake, John, Ian Thomas and Carolina. The amount of breakout candidates, number one, combined with like Jared Cook could fall out.

Evan Ingram's injure. very prone. Darren Waller's done it for one year. I think that, I mean, Higby, even though he was great, Gerald Everett's back. We don't know. Yeah. The value you're getting on anyone other than George Kittle and Travis Kelsey, who are fairly sure

things, aside from health, I think it's extraordinary on Titans outside the top 10. And I think that there is a sea change at the position that will happen this season. That's a good one. This ties into my next take. What is it? I think Evan Ingram is a top two titans.

this year. Ooh. Everything good him, tied in on the Giants. Every year the dude is on the field, he hovers around

being the fifth, sixth, seventh, best tight end in points per game. Every single year, I know he's always hurt. And we always talk

about rookie tight ends struggling. My man was the fourth best tight end in the league, his rookie year in points per game. The only problem he just doesn't play

enough games. Yeah. I think this is the year he does it and he's got a good relationship with Daniel Jones, and I think the Giants offense is going to be

the best it's been in a while. You're not worried that there's too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, there? No, I mean, aren't there too many cooks in the kitchen on Kansas City? I don't know. No.

I don't think it's ever problem about that phrase. You guys ever watch Chef's Table? Oh, yeah. It seems like the best kitchens have a lot of cooks. Yeah, it's like I'm never going to get mad at an offense for being too good that I won't pick one of the players. Yeah, it's like the best food definitely comes from a lot of chefs, a lot of cooks. That's fair.

I think just my point was more that are you worried? he'll end up, I don't think this will happen, but this is like, devil's advocate. Are you worried he'll be end up being like the fourth option behind Golden Tate, behind Darius Slayton, behind Sterling Shepard? No, I think he'll be like the number one option. And Sequin. Okay. I think there's a chance he leads the Giants in yards. He's basically a receiver anyway. If you look, again, something to look at for tight end breakouts is, can this player be the number one option on his offense? That was a great question for, and last year, the two ones were Darren Waller and Oakland, led the team in every receiving category.

And Mark Andrews led the Ravens, like every receiving category, except touchdowns, but targets, receiving yards, receptions. That's a question you want to ask about your breakout tight end.

That applies to a few guys this year. Chris Herndon could lead the Jets. That wouldn't be crazy. Hit first I love is not going to lead the Falcons in anything. But no offense, maybe on the Broncos, but that's what I like. And I think that's kind of what you're talking about.

Craig. I think that makes sense. All right. That leaves us with each of you, I believe, have one more. All right. Danny,

do you want me to go? Yeah. Okay. So my final bold prediction is that Joe Burrow is going to finish as a top six, QB. This is good. As a rookie. That's an auto salty spoutoon. And this is actually going against, for the people that listen to the NFL show, the ringer NFL show, I also was a little bit down on Joe Burrow earlier in the off season.

I've kind of changed. I've changed my. Not down. We change fees and you're just like, draft guru. I've completely changed my thoughts on the number one. Okay, it was with Shilkapadia.

We talked about over unders. And I think the question was over under. He's just going on the NFL show and it's like a different personality, undermining everything he says on this podcast. Split personality. He's just two people. I'm hedging.

I'm hedging, man. He's Danny Kelly over there and he's a D.K. He hates Clyde Edwards Lear on the NFL show. He doesn't like the chiefs. I'm telling you, I'm changing my opinion. And this is the antiletics, 100% antiletics, because I changed my opinion purely based on one tweet that I saw.

And it was from Ben Baby from the athletic. Oh, sorry. It was from Ben Baby from ESPN. Joe Burrow, when asked about being surprised, he's not nervous about starting a new job. His reply, you ever heard anything else about me being nervous? Wait, let me, I just want to be clear.

for a second. You're like, one of your primary responsibilities during the NFL season is like scouting players. Yeah, I was obviously kidding. And Joe,

no, I was put, okay. You basically are just saying Joe Burrow is such an alpha. He will be a top six quarterback. Dude, no,

he is just like ice in his veins. I just think he's like, I just think he's cool. There's a lot that goes into it. I was actually 100% kidding. There's a lot that goes into it because there's also the photo of him smoking the cigar after the championship game.

You know who, smoke cigars, Michael Jordan. Just saying. I know. Like Gordon's dips. Michael Jordan smokes cigars. Do with that what you wish. No, I really, really liked him as a prospect.

He was my number two overall prospect behind only Chase Young over at Washington. Just the most absurd college season in NCAA history, literally. And I think he's going into a team where there's actually some pretty good players seal players around him. He's got AJ Green coming back. You know, Tyler Boyd, very steady slot receiver. He can play that Justin Jefferson role that we saw last year. You know, his security blanket over the middle of field. You know, guys like T. Higgins, John Ross could end up being, you know,

serviceable weapons in that offense. Audentate actually got called the MVP of Bengals Camp the other day. I think I saw that. So you're really selling me on Joe Burrow top five. Audentate MVP of Bengals Camp. Man, you're going to piss off. Auden Tate Hive. I'll tell you. Joe Mixon, they're getting Jonah Williams back. That's a formidable hive. Look, there's a reason

this is a hot take. No one's expecting the Bengals to be like instantly good. This is in fact bold. Yeah. So I just think if you look back, honestly, look back at last year. The Arizona Cardinals had the worst offense in the NFL by far in 2018.

Kyler Murray came in as a rookie won the rookie of the year was the QB7. Now, a big part of was he was a runner. You know, obviously, that's the Konami code. It's a little of a cheat code that he was used as a read-option runner. But I think Joe Burrow is quietly, like, really athletic, going to get a lot of yards as a scrambler.

He can move around. They can do some stuff with him as a runner. I don't think he's going to be like a read-option guy necessarily, but he's very athletic. 30-40 yards, or 30 yards rushing a game. I think he's going to have a, he has a strong chance, actually, to, like, set the record for rookie quarterback touchdowns. I think it's 26 or 27. So yeah, I think honestly, there's a lot of legitimate reasons.

I think this isn't actually that out of a take. But since no one's really saying it, I'm going to say it. They're going to be playing from behind a lot. So you're down to, like, pick him really deep in your draft as your only QB. Yeah, I think so. All right. Yeah, no, sold. That's the tune.

Wow. You're like Joe Burr. You didn't hesitate. Have you ever heard anything about him being nervous? Answer the question. No. The only thing I've heard is that he's never nervous. That's what.

Yeah. I actually have two left because I can't count, but I'm going to do him both. Damian Harris is a top 20 running back this year for the Patriots. Ooh. And not top 20 on the Patriots, top 20 in the whole NFL. It's really simple. This guy gets it.

This guy went to Alabama under Nick Sabin. The co-chair of the modern football dynasty that we've got hegemony we live under. Craig's going to bring up Trent Richardson really soon here, by the way, Damie. Well, no, I'm saying he knows how to work. Look, no, in all seriousness, I think that Sony Michelle came back to practice this week. Why didn't even if... Damien Harris play at all last year, then? Because the thing that makes me feel better is Ivan Fierrears,

the Patriots' running backs coach told Mike Reese, who's the most tenured person on the Patriots beat, sometimes that's just what they do. There is a history of Patriots running backs who did didly squat as rookies and then broke out. So Shane Vareen did it. James White did nothing as a row. rookie. Why did they sign Lamar Miller?

Probably because they need a campbite because they might have to put Sony Michelle on physically unable to perform. Like it doesn't necessarily mean Lamar Miller's a starter. It means Lamar Miller might have to be a third string running back. Just because they signed it doesn't mean he's going to play. I would way rather have Damien Harris and Lamar Miller. But I think Sony Michelle, even if he's healthy, might not be as good as Damien Harris. I think he's a top 20 guy. I feel like the hot take. I feel like the bold take here would have been that Sony Michelle finished as a running back. I will know because I like to, That would have been

hot. That would have been hotter. I like to draft players whose feet are healthy when they're running backs. Sony came back to practice on, I believe, Thursday and was getting actually

some pretty good, like, not on the first team reps yet. The other hot, all right, wait, the other bold one I have, and this is important.

I think that Levyon Bell is benched for Frank Gore by Halloween. This is insane. I like this one. Levyon Bell will not be the jet starting running back by Halloween.

The only part of this I think I might regret as I wish I would set it like by the end of September. The Jets, here's, all right. He's just going to get in a fight with Gase. Adam Gase has done the following this offseason. Talked about how he wants to get younger players the ball more

so that Levyon Bell doesn't have to carry the full load. Then the Jets got Frank Gore, who is the oldest player at the position in, not just now, in years. And then last week, Adam Gays said that, Frank Gore, quote, looks the same as he did 12 years ago. I can't explain it.

End quote. And then again, Frank Gore played for Adam Gase in Miami. The thread between all those things, which are all unrelated, is I don't want to give the ball to Levi-on-Bell. That's what I am taking from all of this. He said like two weeks after Mike McTagnan, who was fired, who was the GM who signed Levian-Bell, two weeks later, there was a report that Adam Gage didn't want Levian-Bell at all. And now Levy on Bell was held out of practice.

and the Jets' Twitter Twitter, said it was about his hamstrings, and Levy on Bell says on Twitter, nothing wrong with my hamstrings. Like, it's August, and Leveon Bell is like, they're lying about my health to keep me off the field.

This is going to be an implosion. Yeah. Implosion. He's not going to, like, this is going to be a disaster. So it does feel to me pretty good odds that Bell is going to go public

with some sort of disagreement with Adam Gase, which it just feels likely to happen. Like, they just don't, Gase doesn't seem to want him, as a big part of the offense, you know? So I don't know, it's definitely, I think this is actually kind of a good one.

The theme throughout the Jets season last season was when Adam Gays didn't like players' performances, he just changed their jobs. He just switched everyone around and just, he's going to change up the depth chart when things go wrong. And Levin Bell will be like one of the first people. That's my bold prediction.

So all of you guys check Slack. I just sent everyone's predictions. All, I know Hyphitz had six, so I guess that's fine. So each of us has to pick. In the odds, baby. I'm going to get mine picked. Each of us has to pick one from each of the other people.

No, I think we should have to pick three. And then that way someone's going to win. Oh, I see. So if you are correct? Your life depends on getting as many of these right as possible. Okay. Your life depends on getting three. Well, I don't know, though, because I don't want it to be like,

because then you'll pick the safe ones. I know that's going to be right. By definition, then you're just going to go with the easy ones. Just pick the three ones you like the most. There you go. I think that's better. Who gets first picking a draft? Me? All right.

Sure. I produce this podcast. All right. You just edit it if you don't. My favorite one is Kristen McCaffrey will not be a top five running back. Ooh. Yeah. I love that one.

Good work. Let's go. No one has discussed that for like a single second. And I just, I love it. Yeah, we're not allowed to talk about it, Craig. I'm breaking the Omertha that silences the fantasy community. Okay, so I'll pick mine then. I have to say

I am enamored with Aaron Jones will have the same points as last year the principle behind it now with Craig and I just shoot enamored but like I

that's just great shit I love thank you feel like the kid who gets picked glass this is bullshit you guys don't like my hot takes well you actually

haven't gotten picked yet to be careful but you can pick one that you like my favorite one was David Johnson is gonna lead all running backs

and touchdowns nice it's unassailable to be clear, we can't pick our own here. The logic. Yeah. No, we can't pick our own. It is truly unassailable.

I thought that was good. Also, I've been verbally, very, like, very publicly down on David Johnson, so I think that's a good one to go. I am also picking the David Johnson one. That one's fantastic. And I'm also going to say the Joe Burrow one, because I legitimately can say that's actually something I've never thought about in my life. Yes. Will Joe Burrow be a top six fantasy quarterback, never crossed my?

mind until you said it. Nice. So that's, that's, there it goes. So I'm going Joe Burrow. Um, my second one is Hafeits'

half the titans in the top 10 won't finish in the top 10. I thought that was great and just goes to show how ridiculous drafting a tight end is and how impossible it is and how none of it makes any sense. I can't pick the Brady one because I basically said the same one. Well, you can. We'll just judge you for it. I like the Lavian bell. I know.

Laveon Bell is benched by Halloween. dude, it might be earlier than that. It might be Columbus Day. I'm like, you know what? I should have just said by, before September ends, green days. Yeah, that's what I should have. Gang green style.

Which one? Okay, let's keep this going on. Which one is, do you guys think is the worst? Wait, wait, wait. I got one more to pick. Okay, okay. So I'm going to go with the one that I like don't, I've like never even thought about.

And it's D.K's Rahim-Moster will be an RB1. That's a great one. We'd even consider the Niners running back might just keep the job. Yeah. Because you know why? It's the same. same brand is what you were talking about with Aaron Jones. Yeah.

Where it's like, Rahim Moster was too good at his job. He's like, you know, those 220 yards and four touchdowns. You know, he can't do that again though. It's like the same.

Okay, talk about anchoring, honestly. People, he like bounced around the NFL. He's been on like seven teams and people can't get over the fact that he's been on seven teams. They think he's,

they think he's bad. That's how his own scheme works. Yeah. I'm just, I'm buying that scheme, man. That's, that's going to produce a thousand-yard rusher.

Okay, wait. So are we, are we going to give the ones we don't like here, are that we're going to be nice to be true. I don't know, we could. I'm confused about what choosing these are. What's the point

of this? I like them all. I don't know. I'm proud of us that all of these were bold. Except I'm giving super Weeny Hut Jr. Award to D.K. for Mike Evans will be number two. After the first three months of last year, he was number three at the position. All it does, though, is it's almost

more of a good point than it is a bold point? Because it's like, why is Mike Evans getting drafted so late? Yeah, it's a good point. Damien Harris being a top 20 running back is pretty weenie. Top 20? Come on. I mean, he might start the year's the starter. He's going to be top 20.

Damien Harris might be a low-end RB2. Oh, real bold, Hyphids. You know what? That's fair. Yeah, I go to Weedy Hunt Jr. for that. You're not wrong. Thank you. It's a weak sauce.

Well, then we can cancel it because Hyvitz did six for some reason, so we can get ready. That's why I brought more. I just like, all right. Oh, man. We'll keep track of these and then we'll update it. We should do a mid-year check-in on our bold predictions. How many of the, if we check in on this on Halloween, and again, assuming that, you know, football is being played and, you know, we haven't jumped into the nuclear apocalypse. What, how many of these do you think will even be remotely possible?

Like three. Yeah. Three. Yeah. That's, yeah. Oh, actually, that's a good idea. Let's talk about the ones that are most likely. I actually think Haifitz's half the tight ends one is, is pretty likely.

Well, it's pretty much the most likely ones are the weenie hut ones. Yeah, that's true. No, this don't count, obviously. I think Brady touchdown passes. I actually think Echler being a top five back feels pretty strong. I feel good about that one. Yeah, if I had to put my life onto one of these things and not the weeny hut ones, it would probably be Austin Echler, which actually says a lot about the man, now that I think about it. Not enough love.

He's just short. He's just short. He's just short. He's just short. He's just short. Nah, it's different. I don't know. There's something about it.

He's thicker. Undrafted versus first round. See, here's the thing. Our subconscious biases stack in your mind. It's important to understand. It's true. They layer like an onion. You have to peel back your subconscious biases to see how they layer because it's deeper

than you think, man. All right. Those are our bold predictions. We will see you guys on Wednesday, but we want to say that you can email us at Ringer Fantasy Football at gmail.com. That is Ringer Fantasy Football at gmail.com. You can email us one of two things. if you have questions about your draft,

shoot us an email and we'll try to get back to you. And two, if you have a fun fact, we will read it at the top of the intro or the one that we enjoy the most every week. We'll read that at the top of the intro. We'll give you a shoutout. So please, ring your fantasy football

at gmail.com and fantasy football and or fun facts, please include. Thank you. Thank you, D.K. Thank you, Craig. Levy on Bell. When you get benched, please come on and wrap or do a discrack about Adam Gase on this podcast.

Please, you're glad it at any time. Thank you.