The Ringer NFL Show - Bouncebacks and Drop-offs After Week 1

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

We break down the sudden trade rumors surrounding Allen Robinson, Odell Beckham Jr., and Zach Ertz before discussing the biggest bounceback and drop-off candidates by drafting our favorite and least favorite players at each position. We finish the show with some Week 1 bad beats. Trade Rumors (2:53) Bounceback Draft (5:57) Drop-off Draft (30:44) Bad Beats (46:37) Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode is brought to you by Heineken. Heineken original logger is made with pure malt and their famous A-East, which makes Heineken in all season all the time kind of beer. There's nothing like a Heineken. You guys got to throw a frosted mug in the freezer, tot out anyway, and then you pour the Heineken in, you got to do the side pour, 45-degree angle, 47 degrees if you're a pro. Frosted mug, that's life. I'm telling you, I like it through the, I like it in the bottle.

The bottle works, too. Whatever it works, it works because it's Heineken. pick up a pack or have it delivered today and please drink responsibly. This is the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. I'm Danny Heifitz here with Danny Kelly and Craig Horlebeck. It's Wednesdays. We're going to be three times a week now. Mondays are going to be kind of a review of the week.

Fridays are going to be like a preview. And Wednesdays, we're going to have a little more fun. We can do whatever the hell we want. I love this intro. What a lackluster like Hyfitz just goes, it's Wednesday. And Danny goes, hmm. Yeah, well, I briefly forgot what day. We're recording this on Tuesday, and I briefly forgot what day it was and what I was supposed to say.

Yeah, we'll be recording the Wednesday show every Tuesday. It'll come out Wednesday morning, and we have a fun little situation for today's show. Yeah, can you explain it for any of the listeners who might not know and also any of the people on this podcast who might not totally understand what we're doing today? Yeah, so we're separating this out into two essential mini redrafts. And it's going to be, number one, we're going to be picking from players who scored in the single digit. the week before. So in week one, these guys scored

single digits and quarterbacks. It's less than 15. And we're going to be building a four-man team quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end. Who will score?

And the idea is we want to pick the team that will score the most points in week two. We're taking the guys that sucked and we're going to be predicting who's not going to suck. You want to grab the guys who suck and draft the best team

possible for week two. Cool. And then the second segment, which we'll do a little bit later, is going to be... The opposite. It's basically picking teams,

picking a team, four guys each, of players that finished in the top 10 at their respective positions in week one. And we're building a team that we want to score the fewest points in week two. So it's kind of like the bad quarterback league type thing. Yeah. Okay. All right. The basic idea is this is going to talk. We're talking about players that we think are better than what they did last week.

And then guys that maybe we don't really totally believe in based on last week. So that's kind of the idea. Okay. I like this. I don't totally get it, but I love it because the hardest part of week one is... What are you talking about? You don't totally get it. All right, now I totally get it.

It was a... Now I get it. Now I get it. I guess I'm being facetious. Okay. Which is ironic because I barely know what that word means. But before we get into this draft, or drafts plural, just did you guys see Alan Robinson just deleted his social media stuff?

There's kind of chaos going on right now in social media with a few guys. There's some Alan Robinson news, some Odell news, which has aged well from our Monday pod and then some Zachary. And don't forget, Janice deleted all his social media stuff. Is that this week? I don't know. Time is ridiculous. This is such a sign of the times as like we constantly hear about these like social media

things. If there's ever like a rift on this podcast, just know I'm going to unfollow Craig and DK on Twitter. I know. It's ridiculous. So, okay. So the Arob thing. Is this just, he wants a contract extension?

Are you actually worried about him getting traded, DK? It sounds like he asked for a trade. At least this is, you know, this is one of those negotiation tactics that, that, players use against their teams. You know, we saw it in the pre-season. Who did it in the preseason? I can't remember. It was like someone just real recently. Mostard asked for a trade.

Yeah, he did that. And then, oh, I was talking about the Camara news from Camara, yeah. Yeah, the team uses a potential trade as like leverage against him. So I think it's a leverage ploy right now. You know, they're in, they're in the midst of contract negotiations. So we'll see. I would, I mean, you know, not to rile up Bears fans, be awesome to see Alan Robinson

finally get to play with a really good quarterback. That might not happen, but we'll see. And then the other news is O'Dell Beckham, apparently, is on the trade block, at least according to Mike Francesa,

which... Unbelievable. Wait, yeah. I mean, this is... Mike Francesa just said, I heard. He could have just heard it. He could have read a Twitter reply.

He knows people. Mike Francesa is not a report... Mike Francesa is not reporting information here. Mike Francesa is connected. More connected than you. Wait, you think I can't do a Francesa? You can't do New York?

You think I can't do, huh? You don't think I know as much as Mike Fra. I know plenty of people. Just because I'm not like you. I got friends all the time. I still know people in high places, low places. I got everything. Frances doesn't got jack shit on me.

This doesn't surprise me, to be honest. Odell is just the new Randy Moss, where he just like doesn't try on some teams and he'll try when he gets into a good spot. I think that's, no, I think it's unfair. I think Browns, can we see them play a team that isn't the Baltimore Ravens? Yeah, we did all of last year.

Remember 2019? Look, I'm willing to give the Browns two weeks, plural. Thirdly, Zach Ertz. Mike Kay reported that there's potential for Zach Ertz to be a trade candidate for the Eagles. Basically, you know, especially after last week when we saw Dallas Goddard just go off, he looks like the future at the position there. It doesn't seem like they're really excited to give Ertz like a, you know, position high, you know, a position defining contract or whatever, like a kiddle contract or anything like that.

And so this could be kind of the beginning of the end. I don't know what that means like in terms of time frame. It could be next off-season or whatever. But yeah, starting to sound like Ertz is not going to be an eagle for too much longer here. Let's get to the draft and the rules. So one more time. We're going to draft the players who sucked in the hopes of finding people who will be good this week. We're going to compete.

And we're only picking from the pool of players who had single digits, unless they're quarterback, in which case they had less than 15 points. Yep. Or single digits for every position. We're calling this segment the he's back draft. Let me try that again. He's back. I love your enthusiasm.

If I do this, I don't want a half-asset. I want it well-planned. He's back. Why? Because we were trying to think of, we were trying to think of, like, movie quotes that could like somehow encapsulate these things. And I just randomly thought of like the wedding crashers thing where he's like explaining how they're going to get into the cleary wedding. And he's like, I don't know. My feet hurt. My throat is like horse. I don't want to do this.

And then he finally talks him into it. He's like, he's back. Yeah, you know, who cares if these guys scored less than 10 points? They're back. Their feet hurt. Their throat is horse, but they're better. Do not tell me you've never seen wedding crashes. You're going to have to stop. recording and then you're not on a show anymore. Yeah, I've never seen wedding crashes. Oh my God. What the hell? I know, I know, I know, I know.

Are you kidding me? Oh, my God. I just, I don't know how it. I've seen a couple scenes. I've seen the one where Bradley Cooper plays football. And like, um, oh yeah, that one's great. I saw like the montage. I came to say that word, but I, I,

crab cakes had not seen. So, yeah, that's, that's my, I've been dreading telling you this for hours. Yeah. That's a. but we'll let it go. Okay. So you need to watch it by the next Wednesday. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. We'll do like a, like a rigor fantasy football show movie club. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So the he's back draft. How are we doing the draft order here? So I think we should come up with a question each week and something that we all equally

know little about and we just Google it right now and we'll see where we land. All right. Okay. Let's do that. Craig, you think of the question. Where was Nick Foles born? Oh. Okay.

And we'll do it by like, my. distance. So none of us know the answer to this. I'll Google it. I'm going to say, I'll go first say. I'll say Los Angeles. I have no clue. I feel like he's a, I feel like he's a Midwest guy. St. Louis. Dude, I was going to say St. Louis. Oh, my God. I'm going to go with. I mean, if you're going to price it's right, you're going like somewhere on the East Coast. Don't give him strategy while he's picking. What are you doing? Yeah, I'll go with Detroit. Okay. Okay. Nick Foles. Oh, let's go. I got this. Damn it, he was born in Austin, Texas.

Oh, Texas. Okay, that makes sense. Now we quickly have to, like, Google how far away Detroit is from Austin. No, we don't. No, what? I think I got you. What did you pick, D.K.? You picked Los Angeles.

Oh, yeah, that's closer than Detroit is. What? No way. No? Not a chance. Danny's yelling at you like, it's absurd that you would think that. Meanwhile, I agree with Craig. So we have no fucking clue.

Oh, if you look at a map, dude, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, like a perfect equilateral triangle. Are you serious? Wait, isn't Austin super east in Texas? Oh my God. Yeah. All right. No, it's super west. Oh, is it super west? All right. Well, then that's a, then that might. So it's 1380. It's 1380 to Detroit.

Oh, my God. It's 1378 from L.A. to Austin. Oh, my God. Are you serious? It's a two mile difference. Are you fucking kidding? Wild. Holy cow. Are you serious? Like literally where in Austin are we doing this? in one hospital it matters are you kidding me 1380 to Detroit so so I lost like 1378 1378 it was three mile different

no two mile DK wins DK's closer Are you fucking kidding me So at the end of the show We're gonna do bad beats Can it just be this That was amazing Three miles off at Detroit

That's wild Also I'm sorry for when I scoffed at you About the thing it was Yeah you were two miles off by like I can't believe believe that. Okay. So let's talk about football. That's wild. That's absolutely nuts. Okay. So I'm going to pick first. Yeah. Okay. So remember, we're just doing one QB, one running back, one wide receiver, one tight end. So people who were bounce backs. Yeah, less than 10. There's an obvious first pick,

I think. Yeah. Uh, yeah, I want, yeah, I want Mike Evans. Oh, wow. That was not it. You can have them. Yeah. Briefly tell us why. So Evans played through a hamstring injury last week. I'm not concerned about his health. He played basically the whole game. Got blanketed by Marshawn Lattimore, who has blanked him in the past. Marshall and Latimore is just one of the three or four best cornerbacks in football. The Saints wrecked the Bucks. I get they didn't look good. They're playing the Panthers this week. Like at a certain point, all the Brady takes and stuff. Look, the Saints are Super Bowl contender. Now they're playing the Panthers. The Panthers have the youngest defense

in the NFL. Their defense is so bad they used all seven or eight draft picks on defenders. Never happened before in NFL history. Panthers are bad. And I think the Bucks are going to shred them. And I think Mike Evans is huge week, so I'm not worried that he basically did nothing. I think that he's going to do fantastic. I think that's a fine pick, but the obvious one is Seekwon Barkley. Oh, no, I don't think he's going to do well.

Right, Craig? No. Yeah, I agree. I was like wondering if that's what Craig was thinking or not. No. Well, he has his choice of anybody next, so he can tell me if he was lying or not. So anyway, Seekworn Barkley, he had 15 carries for not a lot of yards.

Six yards. That is insane. 15. carries six yards. No, the reason I want with Berkeley, though, is he's still involved in passing game. Nine targets, six catches, 60 yards. I think he's going to have a little bit more room to run against the bears this week.

He's Sequin Barclay. Like, he's going to have more points this next week. So that was my easy first choice. Can we just talk about how Sequin had negative rushing yards at halftime? That was, yeah. Don't you feel like he weirdly has these games a lot? The Steelers front is amazing. Saquan has a lot of, like, 10 carries for eight yards, like halves.

So Sakewon is frustrating because he is the perfect highlight machine. The things that never make the cool Instagram hype montage videos are exactly what you're saying, where some of his worst instincts as a runner are solidified by playing behind a bad line where he gets to dance around and stuff. But he just, especially when they get to focus on him, he just doesn't get north-south all the time. Okay. So I got, I think Evan's going to bounce back. You got Sakewan. Yeah, real risky there with DK.

No, that's the obvious choice. We're trying to build a good team here. Trying to build a good team. Okay. Craig, you're on the clock. I'm only doing this because I think there's a massive tear drop. I'm taking Drew Breeze. Oh, really?

Yeah, playing the Raiders this week, who just got kind of shredded by Teddy Bridgewater. The other quarterbacks are like Derek Carr, I guess, Gough, Drew Locke, Baker Mayfield. I want Breeze. I want a steady QB game. They're playing Monday night against the Raiders, and I think he's going to shred them.

Here's why I didn't have him on the top of my, like, target list, Craig. He had like two passes of more than 10 yards, yes, on Sunday. Like, his arm was concerning to me. Yeah, are you guys, are you worried about this? Do you think that, so there's the benefit of the doubt that a lot of teams didn't do downfield passing stuff, like the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes weren't doing downfield as much. And the Saints always have like a low depth of target. They always do screens and stuff. But are you worried because the Drew Brees thing has usually been an issue that his arm strength diminishes in cold weather at the end of the season? Yeah. Are you worried about his arm strength in like week one?

I'm not officially worried yet, but that stood out to me. And I was just, I think it's something that you have to kind of like keep in mind over the next few weeks. I do, I do think it's a good call in terms of that defense that they're going up against is not going to be good in Las Vegas. But I mean, with Michael Thomas potentially either out or slowed by this ankle injury, I could just see them run the ball a ton. So that's why Breeze worried me. The Thomas thing's concerning. Having a high ankle spring early on the season is like the worst. because it's kind of, I mean, Sequin dealt with this where you have this great player you took in the first round.

And now you're just stuck because if he doesn't, you have to play him. And if he doesn't perform it, you know exactly why. It's awful. How is this? Is this snake? Are we doing snake? Is it Craig's pick again? No, it's my pick again.

No, it's my pick again, right? No, it's snake. It's snake. Well, we never confirmed and it would be better for me if I go first. No, it's definitely snake because that's how all regular drafts work. All right. So, Craig, you're up again. I'm going to go with Joe Mixen.

Yeah. I think that's what I would have done, too. Playing the Browns on Thursday night, the Browns are literal hot garbage, and Joe Mixon had a really rough game, but the more reps we give Burrow, I mean, the last drive of the Bengals game, Burrow looked awesome. And I think that just, I don't know, the more they play together, the better they're going to get. It feels to me like there's a pretty significant tier drop after Mixen 2 at this point. I agree with this choice. I think that's a smart choice.

So that makes me go next, right? Yes, sir. I'm going to go with... I'm going to go with Alan Robinson, who we've just spoken about, assuming he plays this week for the Bears. They're going up against the Giants who...

Danny, tell me about the Giants. They suck. They're so bad. Oh, you want me to tell you about the Giants? They've the worst record in the last three years, and that includes the Browns going 0-N-16. So Alan Robinson, he had five catches 74 yards in week one, nine targets. Still clearly the number one in this offense.

And going up against a very bad Giants team, I think he has a chance to have a strong week this week again. I'm still bullish on him overall for this season. He's going to get a ton of targets regardless. So you're not worried about A. Rob, even though he deleted the Bears social media and seems to not want to be associated with his franchise. No, I'm taking the risk. I don't think he's going to get traded, but, you know, knock on wood. actually I'm kind of rooting for it it would definitely screw up my team but yeah

okay so I'm on the clock here two in a row all right so I'm taking Nick Chubb because Nick Chubb I think it was one of the biggest question marks entering the season was like how much is he going to play and what DK is going interesting it was one of the biggest question marks entering the season and he didn't have a good game

but the Ravens crushed the Browns it was a terrible game like it was a terrible situation for the Browns to be running the ball. And he actually ran more routes than Kareem Hunt. So the idea that Kreme Hunt's just going to get the passing downs or whatever, it's necessarily true. Like, Chubb is also a good receiver. And I think, look, there's a huge difference between playing the Bengals and playing the Ravens. The Bengals were going to get crushed and weren't going to be able to play the way they want to play. The Bengals just, a DJ Reader, the defensive tackles hurt. The Bengals are banged up on

defense. I just think that Nick Chubbs could have a really good game on Thursday. And the and the Browns at their core want to run the ball. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not worried about Nick Chub. How do you feel about the Hunt-Shub split? He's still the primary bowl carrier. And if they actually get to win a game and they actually are able to beat the Bengals and they get a lead on them, yeah, they're going to, instead the Ravens jumping out to like a 14 or 21-point lead, whatever it was. When that doesn't happen, I think that they're going to be able to run. I think that there'll be an effective running team.

I think the Chub will be really good. So I'm not worried about Nick Chubb. I think that if you could trade from or whatever, I would do that if someone's kind of panicking. I'm not worried about the Browns getting crushed by the Ravens. I think everyone's going to get crushed by the Ravens. Okay. But betting on the Brown's offense, bold. Yeah, maybe I'm foolish.

All right, you got one more. No, I get one more, right? Oh, yeah, that's right. Oh, yeah, that's right. Hyphids didn't you, did you go twice in a row yet? No, I picked one. I picked Chubb, and now I'm going to pick Jared Goff. Okay.

Because I think the Rams, they're playing the Eagles this week. I just think the Rams could shred them. The Eagles gave up 27 straight points to Washington, whose offense is not good. Albeit every time the Washington football team got the ball, it was off of a turnover and it was in great territory, but you're right. True, true. It's not like Haskins was carving it up, but...

The Eagles are down three linemen and they have to block Aaron Donald. I'm not thinking it's going to be particularly different this week. This is a good one, I think, because I was hoping that you would not pick him. He was going to be my next pick, so damn it. Yeah, because honestly, like the Rams' offense looked pretty good. I think they moved the ball. you know, he just didn't have, you know, he didn't have the touchdowns to kind of like amplify his score. But I think he was fine in the last game.

And I still am kind of like bullish on this overall offense going forward. DK, my turn, huh? Are you regretting the fact that you now have to take the likes of Drew Locke, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield? This is like, this is like streaming a quarterback. I'm just going to go like pure matchup. I'm not even going to pick a quarterback yet. I'm going to go with my tight end here. and I'm going to go with Darren Waller,

who let's check out how many points he scored. So Waller had 7.5 and half PPR. And I think that's like it throws you off a little bit because it sounds so terrible. But he had eight targets, six catches, 45 yards. He had a 28.6% target share. So that's like really, really strong. That was 11th most in the NFL.

So, yeah, he's going to be fine, I believe. And, you know, going up against a team, like the Saints that have really good. secondary. I could see Derek Carr kind of just like peppering the middle of field on these little short dump-offs to Waller. So at the very least, I think he could get the volume to like, you know, give me a solid floor this week. So I'm going with Waller. Yeah, and also Waller's just all they got. Like the Raiders are leading a rookie receivers more than any other team I can remember out of the gate and they're both hurt. So, okay, so Craig, you're up. You're on the clock, Craig.

Okay. Well, then my first pick is going to be, and I can't believe I'm doing this. And after I just crapped on high fits, but he had 10 targets last week. This might be the squeaky wheel game. I'm going to take Odell Beckham. All right. He's going to be my wire receiver. I have two players in this stupid Browns-Bengals game. But yeah, you know, he saw a big share of the targets. I do believe in like the squeaky wheel ideology and like Baker wanting to not piss off his star wide receiver two weeks in a row? This is a great squeaky wheel narrative. Yeah.

All right. Not everything has to be squeaky wheels. Sometimes you just go from playing the Ravens to play in the Bengals. Well, there you go. That too. Okay, so you're taking O'Dell. So Craig's, Craig's bad week one team

looks pretty amazing. Drew Breeze, Joe Bixen, O'Dell Beckham. And I had last pick in the drafts, you clowns. And I get to go again, right? We're snaking? Yes. I'll take Zackertz. Ooh, was he on there?

Dang. Okay, that's good. I don't know it's going to be squeaky wheel or like put the dog down where they just don't throw it to him anymore. And they're like, we're just going to trade you and give the ball to Dallas Carter. Like, why would you adopt a 10 year old dog when you have a two year old dog? But I'm hoping it goes to the other way. That's a terrible analogy. But yeah.

Oh, my God. That hit hard. Holy shit. This is the old yeller. This is the old yeller narrative here. Which we talk about with Larry Fitzgerald every year. Like, hey, man, maybe it's time, Larry. And he's like, nope.

Did you guys see Larry Fitzgerald running at the end of the first half when he reset the ball? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen like a receiver, like not. Oh, I did. I do remember that. Yeah. There was like 10 seconds left and Kyler threw a little short throw to Hopkins who got tackled. And Larry runs over, grabs the ball and sprints like he's running a 40-yard dash to the center of the field, hands the ball of the ref, gets everyone set. And they spike the ball two seconds left to get a field goal.

And I was like, I've seen players who are not quarterbacks. their team set. I have never, ever seen a player get the referees set. Pretty amazing. Shout out Larry Fitzgerald. Okay. Where were we? Yeah. You just picked Earths. Okay. D.K., you're on the clock, baby. Well, shit. So I guess I have to take a quarterback at this point. I was going, my last two would come down to

either Mayfield or Tyra Taylor. This is tough. I'm going, I'm going to go with Mayfield. And it's, you guys kind of convinced me like, they're not going against the Ravens. I'm playing this like I'm streaming, and they're going against the Bengals, whose defense ostensibly is not very good. You know, they did actually hold the Chargers in check last week a little bit, but I'm just going to assume the Chargers' offense isn't that good. So, yeah, I'm going with Baker Mayfield. You know, he's basically the easiest defense, or at least we think, of the guys you want to stream.

Derek Carr, like I said, going up against New Orleans. Locke is against Pittsburgh, which I think could go badly for him. Darnold is going against San Francisco. That sounds like a terrible matchup for him. So of all the choices I have in terms of like streaming quarterbacks, I'm going with Mayfield. Okay. I'm on the clock here. So I guess this is the last pick.

Yeah. All right. I'll take Hayden Hurst. It's my guy. Yeah. Cowboys who played in the Falcons. What happened last week with Hayden Hurst? I have a theory about that.

So the C. Russell Gage stole his thunder. Yeah. So the Falcons had three guys who had nine, I think it was like nine catches in over 100 yards. That was like the first time that's ever happened in the NFL. Nine or nine. R. Yeah, so this was a weird situation.

The Seahawks were basically protecting the lead lane in the game, and I think that helped the Falcons kind of like push the ball down and feel a lot. A couple other factors that go into this. The Seahawks, obviously, Jamal Adams, very good defender. They have some good linebackers to defend. I think the Falcons were just like, we're not even going to attack these guys. Let's go for our receivers. So my theory is next week they got the Cowboys.

and especially with Vanderech done for the year, like they could maybe attack the middle of field, attack those linebackers, the second level defenders a little bit more. Maybe Hearst will get more involved because, you know, he wasn't as involved as I think a lot of people were hoping five targets, three catches, 38 yards.

A lot of people, to me, I'm right here. Yeah, me too, though. I'm not, but I'm like, the point is I'm not ready to, I'm not ready to write him off quite yet. No, I completely agree. I think that this will be a good game for him, especially, as you said, the Vanderech injury is, that's tough for the Cowboys,

because he replaced Sean Lee, who was like this really talented, great linebacker for the Cowboys, and now Van deresh, seems like it's going to be very similar, unfortunately situation of talented and injury prone. But if he's out, then I think that Hayden Hurst could have a great game.

So, all right, so let's look at these teams here, have just bounced back guys. So I've got Goff, Chub, Evans, and Hayden Hurst. Do you guys have any concerns with my,

is there anyone you look at, whether it's for this week or the season? Because people, if you have these guys, people on your team, you obviously spend a good amount of like draft capital on them. Is anyone here concerned into you,

especially like Chubb or Mike Evans after one week. Yeah, I think on your team, Chub is the most concerning to me. I think I'm still in on the Mike Evans thing. I think it was just a hamstring thing and the fact that he was going up against Lattimore in week one. I think it was just a bad matchup with an injury combined. And he'll still have his spike weeks.

Chub, to me, is just worrisome because if they're having, if they're playing from behind a lot and he's not involved in the passing game whatsoever, it's just he's not going to pay off for his ADP. He ran 16 routes. It's more than Kremont. I guess my question is, are you worried about the Brown's offense? You think the Brown's offense is going to suck?

Do you think the backfield is more of a split or both? Because I think, I'm more worried about Odell than I am about Nick Chubb if I had to pick. Yeah, that's interesting. So yeah, I'm not worried about Chubb. So I got Gough, Chub, Evans, and Hers, D.K. You ended up with Baker, Sequin, Arob, and Darren Waller. Who here are you, like, definitely not worried about, even though they had a shitty week one? I mean, I'm not worried about Barclay.

I think Seyquon Barkley is going to come back strong next week. I think he's so involved in passing him. They're going to give him so much volume. Floor is there. What did you think of that Jason Garrett's offense? It was, I mean, it didn't feel all that different from last year. My impression was, like, Daniel Jones still fumbling a lot, like, still not much awareness in the pocket, you know, still getting hit, like, Barclay is still getting hit in the back

for the whole time. It didn't feel all that different, to be honest, but, like, I was sort of watching it while I was making dinner. So, you know, you tell me you're the Giants fan. When, so the first drive, they actually moved the ball decently well, better than I expected because the Steelers defense is really good. And they punted. And then the Steelers muffed the punt and the Giants are covered at the four-yard line.

Oh, yeah. And when they didn't, I mean, I was on another planet. I was so, I'm trying to have to curse because Emma wants me to not curse, but I was ecstatic. And then they did not score. from the four-yard line. And I remember thinking, I remember regretting all the shit

I gave Cowboys fans for 12 years. I felt like this was a carmic reckoning of I've made so much fun of Jason Garrett. And now on the second possession, they can't get four yards

to score a touchdown. And this is going to be my life indefinitely. It's rooting for this, God, like, it's like a reckoning. I feel like this is like a punishment.

Yeah. So I'm not excited. What's a tough story? All right. So Craig's team is Breeze, mix in Beckham and Ertz. Who do you guys think has the best team?

I mean, me, I pick my team. I mean, sometimes after draft, you're like, man, I hate my team. I feel like Craig's team looks best on paper, but the Breeze one worries me. That's the one that scares you, Breeze? All of these, I mean, all these guys, all these players really have, the reason we're picking on this is there's reasons to be concerned, but, but yeah. Okay, so these are the, the He's Back teams. I'm sorry, I've never seen Wedding Crashers, guys.

I apologize. Unbelievable. I will fix that. By the way, what do we get when we win? What does the winner get for this? Are we doing something? A DVD of wedding crashes. There we go.

That's it. I love that. I don't have a DVD player. Will you buy a virtual? Yeah, we'll send it to you on. I'll then mail you and then you can rent it on Amazon. How's that? Can you give someone?

All right. Yeah, that would be great. Okay. We're going to get to the next draft, which is guys who were really good last week that are going to not be good. But first, today's episode is brought to you by Heineken. Heineken would like to remind you that it is time for seasonal beers

again. That's right. If you thought a cold, crisp summer Heineken was something, just wait until you taste the Heineken fall lineup. Is it a new product? No. Heineken doesn't have to change. It's just the same great tasting lager that's perfect for any season. It's perfect with any movie. You could watch it with, say, Wedding Crashers or whatever you want to do. Did you got, you guys remember when you watched Wedding Crashers and had a cold Heineken? Every time I pop on a movie for the rewatchables, you know, it's sitting next to me, a Heineken. All right, so pick up a pack or get it delivered, whatever your style is, and please drink responsibly.

The Ringer Fantasy Football show is proud to be presented by Fandul Fantasy. Sports are finally back. NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, baseball, golf, cornhole, other things. There are so many sports I literally can't keep track. But the most importantly is that football is back. And fantasy football is back. I went three and O this week, baby. You went three and O?

Is that how many leagues you can do? Yeah, I'm just in three. I think that's even a little bit too many. I like two and then some daily fantasy sprinkled in. Because that's the thing. It's like keeping up with too many teams is stressful. But you know what's not stressful? doing a league on Fandall where you can bring, you can have a new team every week.

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Yeah, these are top 10 players at each position. We have to pick from these guys. Based on guys who are top 10 in scoring last week. Yes, at their positions. And the goal is to pick the guys who are going to score the fewest points in week two. So we're trying to, losing is winning. Yeah, we're going to guess who's going to be the lemons this week. Hey, here's the deal. When life gives you lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail. Yeah, no, you said it totally. I have seen Sarah Marshall for the record.

But aren't lemons people who are bad and these guys were good in week one? Not people typically. They're like cars, but yes. Cars are lemons, but we're predicting who's going to be the lemons. Oh, like they look good and then they're bad. Yeah. Correct. Correct.

Also, the segment is called Fuck the lemons and bail in honor of coup names. All right, that is, you know what, that's a good one. Okay, I get it now. Hyvitz, you're up because you predicted St. Louis. So there's only one pick to make here in my own opinion. Do it. Well, that's not true. There's no one.

This is like one of those, like, if you want someone in your team, you just take them. Because I want to be betting against Sammy Watkins. Yeah. Like, I just, Sammy Watkins is the quintessential lemon. I don't want, I, I, I, Even if he's going to be good the rest of the year, I don't want him. The stress of seeing Sammy Watkins on my bench the rest of the season, could he just be great and be the number two receiver on the best team in football?

Yes, I don't want it. I've been down this road too many times. I really genuinely think that the decoy thing, which is like a trope, it's true. It's like he really is. They use him a week one every year. They put stuff on tape, so you have to deal with it. And then they don't use him again. It's the same reason the Saints were up like three touchdowns on the bucks

and then did a trick, Taseham Hill play that got 40 yards for no reason. Now all those teams that play the Saints have to look at that. Now they have to put time and practice time to preventing the Taysome Hill thing. I think Sammy Watkins is the same concept. It's just here. Now you guys have to guard Sammy Watkins and they don't want to. I don't want Sammy Watkins. I'm going to read off the top 10 real quick.

These are the top 10 receivers that Danny had to choose from. Devante Adams, Calvin Ridley, Adam Thieland, Darius Slaten, Dandreya Hapkins, Jiu-Smithers, Jameson, Jameson, Jameson, Jameson, Jammis and Sammy Wackens. So those are the half-PPR wide receiver, the top 10 wide receivers in half people are in week one. I just want to talk about one thing about your lemon, Sammy Watkins.

Sammy Watkins had 90 targets last year in 14 games, which is about 102 if you played 16. McColl Hardman played 16 games and he had 41 targets. Oh, yeah. The Mikul Hardman hype, I think, is already clear, like,

Demarcos Robinson is a bigger role in that team first of them. Yeah. But the issue is that the concept of the Chief's offense, sometimes we get so stuck in like one, two, three receivers. The Chiefs spread the ball

out. Like, you look at the chiefs, the Cardinals, they throw it to who's open. It's not like, it's not as linear as we like to make it seem like times where it's like, oh, every play, Kelsey, and then they look at Hill, and they look at Watkins. You know what I mean? And I think that there's a certain point where the ball gets spread out so much. Miko Hardman is not having a big enough role in this team to me unless Tyree Kill gets hurt. He's like a running back, handcuff style guy. I can't believe you're picking a chief first to be the worst. That's crazy to me. That is. That is interesting. I am betting against Sammy Watkins. All right, but you guys are up. DK., you're on the clock.

I'm going to go with Mitchell Trubisky. Oh. Because... And they're playing the Giants. It doesn't make any sense. But, like, honestly, the top 10 quarterbacks are difficult to choose the worst one. Here's the top 10 quarterbacks from last week. Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan,

Trubisky, Brady, and Rothesberger. It's hard to choose the worst in there. And Mitchell Trubisky is, like, objectively the worst player. So that's what I'm going with, even though they got an easy match. the matchup, and I did choose Alan Robinson earlier. I'm still sticking with this just because, I don't know,

I don't want to choose any of those other quarterbacks, those other quarterbacks I like. All right, I see your point. Watkins, Mitchell Trubisky, these are good players to bet against. Trubisky is bad as a real-life quarterback, surprisingly decent as a fantasy one. Craig, you're on the clock.

I'm going Robbie Anderson, going up against the box. Damn it. I'm good on that. You know what I mean? That's an easy choice for me, yeah. And then I got a bit of a controversial one here for y'all at quarterback.

I'm going with Cam Newton. No, this was the second guy I was going to choose here. So give me your take on it. This is just, Cam Newton's going up Sunday night against Seattle next week, right? He's got a banged up hammy. If he doesn't run that much and he's forced to throw, who's he throw and do? I think this could be a game where potentially the Seahawks just kill him. And Cam struggles as a passer, can't run.

run that much. And if he doesn't punch in a touchdown, I kind of think he could have a crappy day. Yeah. I think this is a good one. Here's the thing. I think that Patriots are going to have a completely different offense in week two than they did in week one because in week one, how many times it can't run like 14 times? Yeah. 15 times. Running up the, like, like, power. Like the touchdown, one of them was a walk in. The other touchdown he got, or one of the third downs, I can't remember. He like lowered his, he creamed a defender. But here's the thing. The Dolphins defense is terrible. Like they have good cornerbacks, but Dolphins defense is not great at tackling.

They're playing the Seahawks. You have Bobby Wagner, who's one of the hardest sitting linebackers in the middle of the defense. You have Jamal Adams, who is the hardest hitting safety in the NFL, or at least among them. I just don't think,

it makes no sense to me that they're going to treat that defense the same way they treated the Dolphins. I just don't think they're going to do the whole cam running thing more. So I think it makes sense. I can't speak to how well they're going to do with passing because we just don't know

how much of the Patriots offense has been installed, what it looks like, the receivers are so bad. Cam's arm certainly looks good enough that he can throw, but I just don't think they're going to be... It would be wild to me if they have Cam run even double-digit times against all the hard hitters on the Cawks.

Yeah, this is a good pick, and I'm already regretting my Trubisky one, which is wild. Nice. I can hear it in your voice. You're up again, D.K. Oh, I'm up again? All right. Here we go. Let's see here. So I'm going to go with... Running back is really hard. Yeah, this is so tough.

So I'm going with... David Johnson because he's playing the Ravens. No Duke Johnson though. Yeah, that's true. But I'm purely basing this on game script. He's not going to get a lot of carries because I think the Ravens are going to be ahead the whole game. If they use them in the passing game, that's going to hurt me. But, I mean, honestly, again, the top 10 in the running back position is tough to choose from.

We got Jacobs, McCaffrey, Elliot, Malcolm Brown, Nahim Hines, who we all love, Rahim Moster, Chris Carson, Alvin Camara, Cloud Edwards, Salare, and David, John. So you're saying you believe in Malcolm Brown, basically. By not taking him, you're saying you believe, at least for the short term, he really is to start running back for the Rams. Yeah, I do. I do. And they're going up against a less stellar defense, and it's more of a good game script

for them. So maybe I'm overthinking it a little bit, but yeah, that's why I'm going with David Johnson. I mean, I see where you're going with that. It's hard to say, I think David Johnson is going to be worse than Malcolm Brown. But, yeah. From a defensive standpoint, you could see David Johnson having 10 carries for 27 yards. like three catches for 22. And you're like, well, that didn't really work. And Malcolm Brown has two goal-end touchdowns again. All right. Well, so I'm on the clock here. I'm going,

I'll double-dipping. I'll take Malcolm Brown because I still think he's good, but the top 10 running backs this week are all mostly really good. And I just think Malcolm Brown's the most likely to get less carries this year. But I still like him a lot. But as you said, it's hard to pick a bad one there. And then tight end, I'm just, Logan Thomas, who just, you know, caught a touchdown for Washington, but I don't particularly believe that that's a repeatable thing. The top 10 of tight end is just a perfect example. of like how ridiculous tight end is. Haifitz, your bold take about like the top

10 tight ends, half of them won't finish top 10. Listen to the top 10 tight ends this week. Mark Andrews, sure. Dallas Goddert, Noah Fant, T.J. Hawkinson, Travis Kelsey. David and Joku, Logan Thomas, OJ. Howard, Jonu Smith, and Jordan Aikens. Like, are you kidding me? Half that list is, tight end every week.

It's like, there's always six guys who are unowned or unrastered who get 30 yards and a touchdown. And you can pretend that, like, you, that's predictable. It's not. The interesting part to me is that Fant Hockinson, Goddard, these young up-and-coming tight ends that everyone was hyping, all pretty much landed in week one. Now, they all had kind of help with injury stuff. Actually, yeah, all three of them, right? Because Fant, Cortland Sutton was out.

Hawkinson, Kenny Gallaudet was out. I already forgot the third person was to say. Oh, Dallas Goddard, the Eagles are all banged up. So, but yet, it's, they all hit. So I think that's really interesting that you'd even have to wait very long. They're all here, it seems like. So tightness is really deep. It's weird.

Anyway, DK. DK, you're in the clock, baby. Okay, so I'm going, I'm going to go with Jameson Crowder because, number one, they're going up against a really good defense in the 49ers. I think the 49ers still do have a good defense even though they lost week one.

And then, like, Crowder was on pace to have, like, nothing. And then he had a 69-yard, like, broken tackle and that really kind of saved his bacon on the day. So I'm a Crowder guy. I like Crowder. He had 13 targets. he's going to get pepper with targets. But of all the receiver won, like the top 10 receivers from this group,

and you already chose Watkins. To me, you know, you guys already chose actually my first two choices in Robbie Anderson and Samuel Watkins. So he was going to be my third. So, yeah, I'm going with Crowder. You know, again, the top 10, mostly really good receivers that are just probably going to go off. So basically just go on with the least of all evils here. So I need to fill a running back and a tight end.

spot here. For running back, this is going to surprise you guys. I'm taking Josh Jacobs. Yeah. Josh Jacobs is going up a matchup thing then? So you're taking Josh Jacobs in a league where you're trying to have as few points as possible. Correct. Out of the top 10 running backs. Josh Jacobs is going up against the Saints. I think they're going to get killed. I'm not entirely convinced that Josh Jacobs is still the passing down guy they want him to be. This is what I think Josh Jacobs is going to do. Last year, week three, the Raiders played the Vikings, and they lost 34 to 14, and Josh Jacobs had 10 carries for 44 yards and two targets and no catches. I think that's entirely possible on Monday night against the Saints.

And I weirdly like the floor of other guys in this range better, like Naim Hines, Chris Carson, Clyde, which are Hilaire, Malcolm Brown, Issaico Elliott. I think Josh Jacobs has a strong chance to put up like a goose egg seven. I can see that. I think it is fascinating, though, that You chose Jacobs over a guy like Heinz. That tells you how high we are on the Heinz's potential. Well, Heinz touched the ball 15 times and Marlon Mack got hurt. And the guy's going to be potentially like 80% of Austin Eckler this year maybe. Yeah.

I just think it's fascinating, yeah. This week of the Colts will be interesting because they're playing the Vikings. And I think that's an interesting matchup because both those teams think they're Super Bowl contenders. And both are now 0.1. It might be 0.2. And we'll have to have like a franchise recalibration. if they lose, and I think it'll be interesting that the Vikings cornerbacks suck. So I'm curious how much they check down to Heinz

versus go outside for this particular week. But anyway, D.K., you're on the clock. No, I'm up again. I'm up snake. This is my last tight end. I'm going with, uh, I'm going with Jordan Aiken's tight end on the Ravens. I mean, sorry, tight end on the Texans are playing the Ravens this week. He was the 10th best tight end. Yeah, I'm all right. I'm all right. I actually think Aikins could be really good, but not immediately. I freaking, I freaking botched my strategy here. I forgot that you guys already both picked receivers.

So I was going to pick Aiken's. But now I'd let Craig have him. So he had two targets. Yeah. So he kind of lucked out and just got a garbage time touchdown last week. So yeah, I think that's a good pick. Luckily, there's a lot of other crappy tight ends that you can pick. I know, I'll be all right.

But I just wanted to let you know. I botched it. Batched it. You've seen it, so he's signed. Bached it. The toe knife. Bached it. I can't choose in Joku because he went on the IR.

Correct? No, that would be cheating. Okay. So I'm going to pick a player who's not going to fucking play. Get out of here. I'm going to go with Johnny Smith, I guess. Even though I do, I do like him. But I mean, that dude is enormous.

Johnu Smith's arms, him and AJ Brown and Derek Henry are the biggest tight-end wide receiver running back combo in the week. That is absolutely true. I really like Smith and I hate to choose him. But honestly, these other ones are like Kelsey Hawkinson, fan, Godder, Andrews. And then O.J. Howard, who basically comes down to to Johnny Smith and Howard,

and their stat lines are almost identical. Both had four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. OJ. Howard had one fewer target than Johnny Smith. I don't know. What are you going to do? OJ. Howard, second on the bucks in targets. And Cameron Raid only got one. Yeah.

Gronk only got three. So that's my team. I got Smith. Can you imagine if we did a Royal Rumble, the NFL, and you got one wide receiver, one running back one, tight in from each team. They did a Royal Rumble. Titans are like high.

Football or a fight? Like a fight. Like a, like a W.W.E. Rumble. Like, well, if WWE, Gronk would win because he literally has some belt, W.W. I'm talking, like, let's do real.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm talking like a UFC situation. The Titans, the Titans are number one in the NFL getting off the bus. Like, intimidation factor. Absolutely. Mike Vrable said he would chop his dick off for a Super Bowl. So that's the kind of guy you want with him to fight.

He said that? Yeah, last year. Yeah, last year. He said I would chop my dick off to win the Super Bowl. Super Bowl? I don't know if it was verbatim. Was it verbatim? Chop my dick off? I don't know if it was exactly what is it. I think that was verbatim. We can fact check that. Somebody Google this. Yeah. That my friends, be careful what you Google. Really good note, D.K. Oh my God. Okay. Well, anyway. So, all right. So next though, I'm, I'm actually going to take Russell Wilson. And I know that

sounds nuts because he was little the number one quarterback. But again, it's teams game plan for specific teams. The Seahawks just played the Falcons who have an awful quarterback group and no pass rush. He's putting his money where the the Patriots who have one of the best secondaries in the NFL.

Stefan Gilmore's the defensive player of the year. But the Patriots just bled all this talent away at linebacker and defensive line.

Why would the Seahawks not run the ball with Chris Carson a ton this week? I think that the whole Russ Cook thing, which I'm over with. I never want to hear

the phrase let Russ cook ever again. I'm sorry, D.K. But that's going to end this week. They're going to run the ball and I just don't think Russ is going to throw

for very, for very often. It just doesn't make sense to attack the Patriots that way. Okay, D.K., your team here, trying to score the fewest points possible out of players who were crushing it last week.

You have Trubisky, David Johnson, Jameson, Crowder, Johnny Smith. Craig, you have Cam Newton, Josh Jacobs, Robbie Anderson, and Jordan Aikens. I have Russell, Wilson, Malcolm Brown, Seawakins, Logan Thomas. I'm just betting against Sammy Watkins. I feel good about it.

You know what? If Sammy Watkins goes off two weeks in a row, it's like two solar eclipses, lunar eclipses? I don't know. Sammy Watkins is 27 years old. He's a top seven pick, and he had 100 targets on the Chiefs last year.

Maybe he's not the better. You keep mentioning the targets because there's no yardage. I like that you keep mentioning the targets as if you don't know that he had no receiving yards. Well, he had a lot. I mean, I don't know. Mahomes missed a lot of games. So maybe in the three games Mahomes missed, you know, he was getting shit targets thrown out of. Maybe if Mahomes was there, he would have a better year.

I am going to. So again, Watkins had 200 receiving yards in the first game of the season and then had 450 like the rest of the way. So I'm betting against Sammy Watkins. Okay. So those are fuck the lemons in bail? That's what you got to do when life gives you lemons sometimes, man. You just got to say fuck the lemons of bail. Okay, let's get to bad beats.

Thank you to everyone who emailed stuff in. This is just delicious. Some of these are incredibly brutal. I have to be honest, I haven't read this yet, so I'm excited. Go ahead. So this was from Tyler Crow on Twitter, actually. I'm on the good side of this, he says. But that meaningless spot challenge on the Titans' last drive against A.J. Brown

gave his friend a loss by one point. For context, the pass was originally a 16-yard gain. It was overturned on review. It said his knee was down, and it was determined to be an 11-yard gain instead of 16, which is a half-point swing, and he lost by one. So that is absolutely brutal. The other one, which I thought was...

Wait, to half-point swing, and he lost by one? Whatever reason he was ahead when that was 16 yards, and he was behind when it was 11 yards. Oh, my God. So, yeah, brutal, brutal, brutal play. You know what sucks about that is, as soon as AJ Brown made the catch, he probably texted his friend like, fuck you. Like, I beat you?

Yeah, yeah. And then like three minutes later, the rest of verse it, and he's like, oh. God, yeah, that's tough. And then the other one, I think that was good. We got this on email. Thank you for sending it in. Patrick Chase. I lost by 0.16 in my league, thanks to that OPI on Gallup.

So he lost by 0.16 on a 47-yard gain that was, called back by offensive patron interference. All right, that's all we got for today. Thank you, D.K. Thank you, Craig. Thank you to everyone for listening. We will see you guys on Friday.