The Ringer NFL Show - Power Ranking Players We're NOT Thankful For, the Waddle Model, and Fantasy Court
Episode Date: November 26, 2025The guys are power ranking the players they are NOT thankful for, using our proprietary Waddle Model. Plus, they preview all the Thanksgiving matchups and the Black Friday game between the Bears and E...agles. They then answer a Fantasy Court question and a very urgent email before closing the show.0:00 Welcome to The Ringer Fantasy Football Show!0:23 Power Hour: Players we are NOT thankful for5:41 Brian Thomas Jr. [WR]8:18 The Commanders as a whole11:13 Alvin Kamara [RB]13:55 Saquon Barkley [RB]18:15 J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings22:50 Ladd McConkey [WR]27:03 Kyle Pitts [TE]31:08 Marvin Harrison Jr. [WR]34:45 Jordan Love [QB]43:02 Courtland Sutton [WR]48:28 Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson51:43 Thanksgiving preview: Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) at Detroit Lions (7-4) [-2.5]57:23 Thanksgiving preview: Kansas City Chiefs (6-5) [-3] at Dallas Cowboys (5-5-1)1:07:15 Thanksgiving preview: Cincinnati Bengals (3-8) at Baltimore Ravens (6-5) [-7]1;13:10 Black Friday: Chicago Bears (8-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (8-3) [-7]1:18:33 Fantasy Court is in session1:24:45 Email us! ringerfantasyfootball@gmail.comThe Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available.This episode is sponsored by Chime. Bank Smarter, Progress FartherThis episode is brought to you by American Eagle.Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig HorlbeckProducers: Kai Grady, Carlos Chiriboga, Ronak Nair, and Tucker Tashjian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
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Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show.
My name is Danny Hyphen.
Today I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Rolbeck,
and today it is Power Hour,
where we power rank something every Wednesday.
And this week, we are power ranking the players.
We are not thankful for it.
We're not thankful with these people at all, right, D.K.?
It's the anti-spirit of the season, really,
which is what we're going for.
These are the Stephen Glanbergs of the season derogatory.
Right.
We want them to sit alone eating the pudding.
We haven't been talking enough about how bad and annoying they've been.
this is these are just people that like there's just too much gratitude right now this week you know
there's a lot of being exactly overwhelming everything's going too well in the country global like i'm
just like it's time to be a little negative for yes for once so we wanted to just introduce a little
negativity to your life because i'm sure no one has enough and we for the most part stayed away from
the burn book these aren't except for a couple people these are these are new people that are
bothering us that we have. Yes, we've talked enough about the burn books, the AJ Browns, like we shit on
them all the time. These are the people who deserve more hate. Exactly. So we thought that was a
fitting spirit into Thanksgiving. So just a reminder, well, also just, I'm at home. I'm at home
in my parents' house for Thanksgiving. I'm already here. And so hence my background looks different.
And then a reminder, as we go to the end of the season, we cover the whole year. It's not just
fantasy. So we do the real NFL playoffs. We do the draft. We do free agency. We do everything.
Deakin's a draft expert. So we stick with us. We cover the
playoffs it's really fun we do a good job honestly off season kind of weirder maybe better so stick
with us all year uh but with that said for power hour we're going to take a quick break this episode
is presented by chime bank smarter this season fantasy football is all about strategy well here's a
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percentage yield learn more at chime dot com all right getting into power hour here for those who don't
know this is the way it works de k and crag sent me a bunch of players they hated power ranked them all
and every two minutes you're going to hear this sound man what a song i tell you what i'm thankful for is tom tom
the only people don't disappoint us tom tom however we didn't really power rank these players today instead
we're going to go by the models.
We're going to go by the analysis,
the hardcore statistics, right, Craig?
That's right.
Last year, we came up with our own proprietary model
to determine how frustrating a player has been.
And it was based off, you know,
when you're on your fantasy platform
and you're looking at the projections each week,
that dictates a lot.
I got to say, even myself,
a fantasy expert like myself,
sometimes I will see that Romeo Dubs is projected
more than Keenan Allen.
and even if I like the matchup more from Keenan Allen,
if Romeo Dobs is projected 10 and Keenan Allen is projected 9,
it's hard for your brain to not be anchored to the 10.
And this exercise is about our beloved Jalen Waddle.
This is how we thought of it.
Jalen Waddle last year had one of the most frustrating seasons in fantasy football history
or since at least this show's been around.
And what we notice is that every goddamn week Jalen Waddle was projected 12, 13, 14, 14 points,
and the MF never delivered.
And then we came up with the Waddle model,
which is how often does this player actually reach the projection that is listed on the fantasy platform?
And today we're going to go through the 10, 11 guys that reach that projection the least.
And to be clear here, the waddle model.
The waddle model. I love the waddle model.
You could argue that maybe you want high variance players who are going to, like, when they go below it,
they go a little below, but they go way over.
Having said that is undeniably infuriating when someone is to project.
for 15 points and they get like six.
It actually drives you crazy when it happens over and over.
And you're like, they can't hit that number.
What's happiness, hyphitz?
Expectation.
Minus reality, yeah.
There you go.
It's a real like now the projections are starting to look fucked up
when it's like week 10 and it's another 12er for D.K. Metcalfe.
It's not going to hit it.
Yeah, it just bothers me.
That is what all these stats are now.
It's like over expectation or whatever.
Points over expectation, value of expectation.
And like what we're trying to explain, as D.
happiness is expectation minus reality.
We're like, what is the happiness
under expectation is really kind of what
we're trying to quantify here.
So happiness over, I guess that would be
how. We'll figure out a better name for that.
But with that said, we ranked
these players based on how
we were ranking them by how little
they hit the Waddle model, like how high they are in the Waddle
model, how infrequently they actually
hit the number that they're projected for.
And without further ado,
we're going to power rank players in the Waddle Model who have
pissed us off this year, starting with number one,
really this is how you know you want a good stat to match the eye test
and this guy number one brian thomas junior the receiver from the jaguars two minutes on the
clock here dk brian thomas junior has hit his projected figure 13% of the time this year
he's hit he's hit on the waddle model one out of eight games played this season one time game
this year uh he was by the way the wide receiver eight 15th overall player in fantasy in
average draft position prior to the season.
Right now, he is not that high in the rankings.
He is wide receiver 44 if you're looking at points per game.
8.8 points per game.
That is like below replacement level.
Think of some of the other receivers that can hit 8.8.
Kishon Booty is right behind Brian Thomas in that rank.
Trey Tucker, Romeo Dubs, Alec Pierce, Troy Franklin.
These are guys you're picking up on the waiver wire.
Brian Thomas was a almost first-round pick in fantasy drafts.
After going for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie,
I think expectations were sky high, obviously, for this guy.
And he is flamed out harder, I think, than almost any player in fantasy football this season.
You might be the most disappointing player in fantasy.
I mean, you could keep going outside of this year.
I mean, like, when is the last time there has been a breakout rookie like a Brian Thomas,
who, I mean, I wouldn't say people expected him.
to be awesome coming in as a prospect.
He was a late first round pick, but he exploded.
87 catches almost 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie with Trevor Lawrence.
They get Liam Cohen coming in.
I mean, 1,200 yards in 10 touchdowns, I would have said, everybody would say that was his floor.
We thought it was the next like Justin Jefferson.
You know what I mean?
I mean, there's like just legitimate questions now if he's good at all.
Right.
Yeah, and I think also in addition to obviously just being disappointing in fantasy, he's been really disappointing.
it just doesn't feel like he has it almost feels like he has the yips he has so many drops he has
seven drops in eight games after having six drops all of last season in 17 games um if you remember
i believe he finished fourth in total points among receivers last year um something like that it was
you know he just was absolute rocket ship and everybody was excited about what he was going to do
this year and he's absolutely flamed out um so yeah i don't honestly like i don't i don't know if he's good
I don't know if he'll come back at this point.
He will be one of the most fascinating talking points
next offseason where Brian Thomas goes
and if he is the ultimate by-low, post-type sleeper.
The next tier, number two, players who disappointed us
here on the Waddle model, players were not thankful for.
D.K., you put down just the Washington commanders as a team.
Yeah, this is like real football and fantasy football.
The commanders have absolutely just, you know, cratered
after being one of the most exciting, sexiest teams in the NFL last year.
Jane Daniels came in as a rookie lit it up.
He was posting almost 22 points per game in fantasy.
I think, and I said this in the off season,
I think he might be the hardest player to get in fantasy drafts coming into the season.
And Jane Daniels so far is beating the Waddle model one out of six games.
And obviously, look, I understand that injuries are a huge part of this this year.
But that was always kind of.
Which one? Was it, was it the hamstring pole or was it the knee sprain?
the elbow dislocation.
But I think kind of that is, yeah, baked into the evaluation with Jane Daniels.
That was why we were really nervous about him, kind of coming into the NFL, is like he has a
really slight frame.
Is he going to be able to hold up at the NFL level?
He takes a lot of hits.
I don't think he's taken, like, absurd hits once he's got to the league, but the injury thing
has definitely been a huge factor.
And he does not play well relative to what he is, you know, when he's healthy.
And we're seeing that with, like, Lamar this year, too.
So Jane Daniels, unfortunately, I understand that injuries.
been a big part of this, but he's been one of the most disappointing players in the NFL this year.
I'd say in fantasy.
And he might not come back this year.
He obviously dislocated his elbow.
But yeah, I mean, his rushing has gone down.
His total production has gone down after averaging, like I said, 21 points per game last year.
It's like down to 18 this year.
So yeah, it's super disappointing.
Obviously, he was supposed to be the chosen one.
He was supposed to lead people to championships.
And that's not happening.
I still believe
When Anakin
was said he was the Chesson
He also got his arm cut off
So
Oh God
Whoa
Great call
You were not chalels I want
Maybe he is
Would you say it worked out for Anakin
Or no
For a while
He had a good career
I mean he kind of crushed
For a long time
Didn't work out for the younglings
You know what I mean
We don't really know how old
Darth Vader was when he died
Do we?
Do we have his age?
He looked old
But the other
I mean Shane Bowen
Who the Giants
Just fired as
The Defense of Coordinator
looks like he's 60 and he's like 37.
So I don't know.
Yeah.
So if Jaden turns into Darth, not a bad run, I would say.
He's the commander of the death star.
I mean, that's pretty good.
Just to add to that real quick, McLaurin.
Terry McLaurin also highly disappointed in fantasy.
Obviously, injuries played a huge factor.
But even when he was in, didn't really do a whole lot.
His best game this year, three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Bill Merritt, who's in the burn book.
The whole team has been a disaster.
Brian Robinson was traded and some people maybe drafted it.
and then Brian Robinson was traded.
The whole team has just been horrific.
So that's a good call.
Echler, Tours, Achilles.
Yeah, just absolute disaster.
TK, the next one here, we have top three, baby.
You got all three.
You eyeballed it really well.
You eyeballed it really well.
You eyeballed, yeah, these guys suck ass.
The third one, this one's just sad.
This is an old yellow situation.
Alvin Camara, the running back for the Saints.
Yeah.
This one actually was surprised how poorly he's done this year,
relative to, I think, what I imagined.
He isn't in the Waddle model.
He's two out of 11.
He is hit.
Wow.
He's hit his projections, which haven't even,
his projections haven't even been that high.
And he's only hit it twice this season out of 11 tries.
He's averaging 7.6 points per game, you guys.
I love the Waddle Model.
7.6 points per game.
He's behind Kyle Monongai,
Kamani Vidal, Kenneth Gainwell,
Kareem Hunt.
Again, waiver wire additions.
This guy was RB 15th.
Sorry, RB 15 in ADP coming into the year,
37th overall.
You were spending like a third,
fourth, fifth rounder on him.
And I think, obviously, I think age is catching up with him a little bit.
He's been banged up.
But this offense is atrocious.
They're not passing him the ball.
He has a career low target rate this season, just 10%.
His touches are down.
He's averaging six fewer touches per game this season than he did last year.
He has one game with double digit points in the last five weeks.
And now he's hurt.
So he didn't really help you in fantasy whatsoever.
And he's extremely loyal for reasons that remain unclear.
He doesn't want to leave New Orleans.
This is the worst part.
This motherfucker wants to retire a saint.
He was like, you want to go somewhere for the trade deadline.
You want to go to Kansas City.
You want to go play somewhere cool.
He's like, no, I want to retire here with the Saints, which I get it.
Retiring in New Orleans is probably cool.
And you know what?
Kind of cool that he's actually like a loyal athlete.
We used to say we wanted those.
But you know what?
I actually realized when he said that that I don't want loyal athletes.
My deepest loyalty lies to my fantasy team.
Yeah.
If your team is basically never good, I don't think you need to be loyal.
If your team always has a fighting shot, yeah, you'd be loyal.
But if you guys are winning four games, like four out of five years and every decade,
like, you can go.
Well, the Saints were good.
When they had Sean Payton and Drew Brees and they should have made a Super Bowl,
they were robbed of it.
The problem is that Alvin Kamirut, like, maybe he doesn't know.
The Saints are like just a money laundering operation that happened to be an NFL team.
I mean, when is the last time the Saints had a winning record?
2021
2020 they should have
Beating the bucks
in the playoffs
when Tom Brady
went and won the Super Bowl
the Saints were
like winning that game
2021 they were
9 and 8
23 they were 9 and 8
oh
you know what
by the way
Alvin Camara
one touchdown this year
total
I mean he looks
not good
so that's this is
it's hard
I will say though
surprising person
in this list
but someone we've not
talked enough about
this was a good snipe
Craig you had
among players we are not thankful for.
Sequin Barclay.
This is a good one.
Sequin Barclay on the Waddle model,
three out of 11 games he has reached his projection.
Three out of 11.
I want to just honestly look at some of the raw numbers for a second.
He is the RB 17 in points per game.
He is scoring one more point per game than Brees Hall and D'Andre Swift.
He's averaging 62 yards rushing per game,
which is also 17th.
Last year he averaged 120.
This year 62, last year, 125.
He was averaging a 60-yard touchdown every game last year.
He was averaging literally double last year, which was the second most of the last decade.
He's averaging 3.7 yards per carry, which is 36th in the NFL.
3.6 yards to carry 36 in the NFL.
Last year, it was 5.8, which was second.
And to me, the biggest difference with this is the yards before contact.
Last year he was first, two and a half yards basically before contact.
This year he's 20.
20th, 1.4.
And I really do think that, like, do I think Sequin's worse?
No.
I mean, maybe the mileage is catching up to him a little bit, but I still think Sequins
great.
Yes.
I really do think all that comes out to yards before contact.
We talked about this with Derek Henry when he was entering Baltimore about how he went from
the team with the lowest yards before contact to the teams with the highest yards before
contact.
And what did Derek Henry do?
He ran for 1,900 yards at 30 years old.
It really is quite, I do think it's like you need to find the offensive line in the
scheme and you will find the.
gem. And it's like even with Liam Cohen and the Jags this year, I got it wrong. I thought it was
Bigsby, but the process was correct. And look what Travis E.N. is doing. And what Liam Cohen did with
the Bucks rushing game with Bucky Irving two years ago. Like even what Ben Johnson is doing with
DeAndre Swift, yards before contact is like the clearest sign of which players you should draft
and which ones you shouldn't. And I guess we couldn't predict that was going to happen with the
Eagles and the offensive line issues and the Kevin Petulow of it all. But I do think it all comes down
to that. I mean, I totally agree. I mean, also just Lane Johnson being banged up. And I still
think multiple Eagles line got hurt in week one. And they kind of just on the same play. And then they
kind of kept play it through it. But the Eagles offensive line hasn't been the same. And that's made
the whole offense, the whole offense worse because the offensive line's banged up so Sequin can't
run. And also, it's about the second level, which they talk about all the time. But the idea
that if the line blocks it properly, if Sequin's able to get into the secondary and either
making linebackers or ideally safeties and quarterbacks have to make a tackle, that's when he's
able to make a play. And because Sequin was getting the three yards before contact,
what that really means is it's being blocked as designed and he's making two people miss
because they're in the secondary. So that's how he's breaking off a 60 yard run in the fourth
quarter every other week. That's what's missing. Yeah, because, you know,
any, Kareem Hunt can probably get three yards just as good as Sequin can or close. It's what
happens when you get to that second level that separates the great running backs from the average
ones. And if you're not allowing your running back, it's like Derek Henry. Once Derek Henry gets
like five yards past line of scrimmage, like he's the best running back in the league. But before
that, he's one of the worst. And so you need to get your, I mean, it sounds really obvious, but you've got
to give your best running backs room to run and then they can actually showcase what their skills
are. We've said all the time sick ones like a home run hitter. And I think it's kind of similar
to if you, if there's a, if it's 380 feet to center field or whatever and you hit it 360,
It's pretty close to a home run, but it's a pop out, even if he hit it to the warning track.
And I think that's what a lot of these Sake 1 runs are last year where they were really close to be like it's a very thin margin between having a 60-yard touchdown run sometimes and like a seven-yard run.
And he just hasn't had any of those pop.
So, yes, Sikland.
He also has not had nearly as many goal-to-go rushes.
I was just looking at his goal-to-go rush opportunities this year.
He's at 10.
Last year it was 22.
I mean, he is 19th.
Like, Ashton Genty has just as many goal-to-go rushes on the fucking Raiders as Seekwond does.
So it's just bizarre.
Yeah.
I mean, the line, the Eagles line is, again, this is why originally everyone was saying you don't pay running backs.
It's because when you don't have an A plus offensive line.
It looks like this.
And they're averaging four less points a game this year, the Eagles.
They scored 27 a game last year.
They're putting up 23 a game this year.
Number five of players who are not thankful for.
J.G. McCarthy and all of the Minnesota Vikings, specifically what J.G. McCarthy has done to the Minnesota Vikings.
I have been very hard on McCarthy last few weeks for the mechanical stuff and how, again, among qualifying passing seasons, J.G. McCarthy is like 851 out of 852.
But we haven't talked enough about the effect this has on the other players. Justin Jefferson has surpassed his projected points this season, three out of 11 weeks.
Were those with all with Wentz?
Most of them.
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, almost all of them, actually.
Because JJ McCarthy, again, he had a high ankle sprain in week two.
Actually, yeah, I think they all were with Wentz, except for one last week.
Week one, maybe.
McCarthy had this high ankle sprain.
He missed two months.
He came back.
And the last three weeks with McCarthy, I mean, Jordan Addison the last three weeks has fewer
fantasy points than Terrell Shavers.
Justin Jefferson is like outside the top 40 the last three weeks since McCarthy came back.
I mean, Justin Jefferson's been worse than like Darnell Moody.
T.J. Hawkinson, who was like a top two tight end in fans.
fantasy football in 2020 or 2022.
Hawkinson's like the 24th tight end in fantasy.
He's like unplayable.
He's irrelevant.
Aaron Jones is basically on a points per game basis like Tony Pollard.
Like none of the Vikings are playable.
This team won 14 games last year and was unbelievable.
Has multiple first round picks all over the offense.
And you literally, I, to me, this is fantasy purgatory.
You can't bench justice to Jefferson.
And also now, now, James McCarthy has a concussion that they say was reported on the flight back home.
So now Max Brasmer, who was the quarterback at New Hampshire and the University of Minnesota,
is going to start against the Seattle Seahawks next week.
You can't bench Justin Jefferson, but he's not going to play well.
This is a nightmare, Deacon.
What are we going to do with this?
Or will he play well?
The question is, is Max Brasmer going to pass the Waddle model more than J.J. McCarthy?
Is he the next Josh Dobbs?
I mean, this is crazy.
Also, the concussion thing, look, it's a very thin line when you start getting into whether a team is faking injuries or whatever
to shadow bench a player because they don't want to bench
Jay J. Angie McCarthy. And on one hand,
yeah, it would be good.
J.J. McCarthy got a concussion and he's self-reported symptoms on the plane.
That's good. And players should report concussions.
It is undeniably the most convenient concussion I've ever seen in terms of like,
we literally were like, wow, this guy's unplayable.
They're playing a top three defense next week. And then he has this.
I don't know. I mean, if Max Brasmer comes out and plays well, it's actually
it's almost borderline concerning. But the Vikings to me are a good example.
of like I don't know how you play Jordan Addison who's like a top he's not even a top 60
receiver L Schievers good call there crimeony yeah this is tough I feel like a lot of these guys as
we're talking it's just such a the thing that comes to my mind is man environment is so important
and that's like one of the harder things to predict prior to the season or maybe it's not that
hard and we just kind of ignore a lot of the science Jefferson and them yeah I mean just talking like
you know the the offense environment obviously for the Eagles it's the
the offensive line fell apart and then their offense fell apart.
For the Vikings,
J.J. McCarthy was, I mean, he's exponentially worse than I think anyone expected.
I thought he would be okay.
I thought it would work.
I didn't think it was going to be as good as last year with Sam Darnold,
but I thought it would be okay and it would work.
It has not.
We talked about this entering the season.
It was very similar with the quarterback in Minnesota to the offensive coordinator
in Tampa Bay,
where we were worried about it in 2023 with Darnold.
And then they were so much better than we thought that entering this year,
we're like, well, we basically are trust.
in Kevin O'Connell.
The same went Tampa Bay
when they swapped out
Dave Canales for Liam Cohen
and we were a little worried
about Tampa and then it was totally
fine.
Then Liam Cohen leaves
we're like well this time
it'll be fine in Tampa
we're not and so in minute
you look at Minnesota
we were like well
what are the odds that
Jay J. McGarthy every time he completes a pass
it'll feel like a miracle
and we're like
ah it's fine.
Not to tune my own horn
but I was low on Justin Jefferson
this year I had him like
you were outside of the first round
because I was like
the risk is too high
all the other guys like Cidi Lamb
and Jamar
even though half their, like, Burrow got hurt and whatnot.
But I was like, at least I know their quarterbacks are good.
I don't know that for the Vikings.
The thing we need to come back to next year is I think that sometimes more like, oh, well,
it becomes a statistical thing of like, well, what are the chances that the quarterback's bad?
And we need to remember the emotions of what it's like to watch a really talented,
healthy player not be able to get the football and how what the toll it takes, not about them,
about me.
It's about what it's like for us to watch Justin Jefferson.
Like I die a little inside every time Justin Jefferson's open and he doesn't get the ball.
Probably hard for him too.
And you can see that on his face.
Yeah.
Number six here.
Players are not thankful for Craig, your son, Ladd McConkey, receiver for the charges.
This is difficult for you.
I know.
I think DK disagrees this a little bit.
I think DK is a bigger Ladd defender.
I have Lad in two of my three leagues this year.
So I've kind of felt day to day how frustrating he's been.
Waddle model, four out of 11.
games. He's hit his projection. And so look, he's the wide receiver 27 this year. Last year, he was
the wide receiver 16, but he finished the season really. The last 10 weeks of the season, he was like
a top 10 guy. And the tough part was like all the underlying metrics are great. His yards per route
run, he was like eighth in the NFL in yards per route run last year. Lab McCarthy had 200 yards in
playoffs against the Texans. He was like literally already in rarefied air of like Justin Jefferson and
Jamar Chase and Tyree Kill. Like he was putting up yards per route run stats like them. So kind of
The ceiling was the roof for Ladd-McConkie.
And this year, it's just been incredibly mediocre.
And it's funny, if you look at everything, it's like target rates the same.
Snaps are the same.
The amount of routes he's running are the same.
The biggest difference is like explosive play rate.
And last year, you look at what he did.
Last year, he had a 25% explosive play rate, which is incredibly,
Jackson Smith and Jigba has a 25% explosive play rate this year right now.
And that's what Ladd-McConkie was doing last year.
And this year, it's like down to 15%, which is a normal number.
And I'm wondering
It's like the touchdown rate for quarterbacks
Like if it's like an outlier number
You have to kind of assume it's going to go down
Like I think Lad's good
I think Ladd is probably somewhere
Between last year and this year
And I'm one you know it's hard
It feels like every season we say with the Chargers
Well you have to throw out this year
And we'll pick things back up next year
Because this year's a disaster
Their team is like fine
But like the offensive line
It's just like they're just not doing
What they could be doing
Based on what we saw early on the season
He's not scoring that many touchdowns
So it's just been
it's just been mediocre.
Yeah.
I think the post-mortem thing with Ladd in terms of like,
what are the lessons that we learned here,
you know,
and projecting this second year explosion from Ladd-McConkie
when it just hasn't come is,
I think a couple things happened that stifled this.
In addition to the team is just not as explosive,
you know, all that stuff.
Quentin Johnston was like a massive sensation
for the first, like, month of the season or whatever it was.
They signed Keenan Allen with like two weeks left in the,
in the preseason and he came in and like stole a bunch of targets.
If you drafted Ladd McConkey in the third round, it's such a kick in the nuts for Quentin
Johnson, Oronde Gadsden, and Keenan Allen to be better than him.
No, I mean, look, people in the dynasty streets like to Ronda Gadsden.
He's like a good receiver-esque type tight end.
But no, I don't think anyone expected him to do this early and this like this dramatically.
But again, his target rate is exactly the same this year as it was last year.
It's the fact that every time they threw to him last year was like a.
a 30-yard play, and that's just not happening this year.
Yeah.
Ladd's been infuriating.
I think he's good, though.
He is good.
I think he's going to end up being between last year and this year.
Is he the wide receiver 8?
No.
But is he probably the wide receiver like 15 or 16?
Yes.
He's not the wide receiver 27, which he is this year.
I think if the bills had drafted Ladd-McConkie instead of Keon-Colman,
the bills probably would have made the Super Bowl last year.
and might make another Super Bowl.
And they won't because they took Keon Coleman.
Who's a healthy scratch for them currently?
Dude, Lad on the bills would be a lot of fun.
Imagine if Aladdin Mekonki was the one.
Khalil Shakir was their number two.
Dalton Kincaid was like their third option when he's healthy.
And then they had James Cook instead of Keon Coleman,
who literally is not being dressed for games because he can't play football.
Anyway, other than that, okay.
Dude, all these sliding door moments in the NFL are tough.
All the choices.
What if the fucking chiefs had drafted lad?
The chiefs traded up with the bills.
I'm happy lads on the chargers.
Like, I think it's fun and it's good for Herbert.
I like it.
It just needs to work.
Yeah.
The offensive line needs to block
and not tear all of their ligaments
in their knee every year.
Yeah.
Come on, get on that show all.
That would help.
What are you fucking doing?
Next, we should name this after this guy.
Number seven on the list of players
we are not thankful for.
We should just name the annual
we're not thankful list
after this person.
Kyle Pitts.
At this point, I just feel bad.
I think it's my fault.
It's not his fault anymore.
It's my fault.
It's not Kyle Pitts' fault.
That's actually true.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Shame on me, exactly.
Fool me twice.
Won't be, yeah.
You're not going to be shaming in me.
Not going to be shamed again.
I, sometimes when Kyle Pitts drops a pass,
I just think of that line in eight mile
in the beginning of the rap battle
where he's like,
I'm sick of this motherfucker.
Like I just, I just, I fucking hate him.
What's the Waddle model?
The Waddle model on Kyle Pitts is he has failed to hit it seven out of 11 weeks.
Yeah.
And I don't think that even tells the full story because he's never really gone over it by any meaningful amount.
Kyle Pitts, the last, I mean, I saw, I have him in the Ringer League.
And my team's doing well.
I'm in first place.
And Tide End is this gaping, gaping black hole for me.
Because I think one of you actually cut Kyle, someone cut Kyle Pitts when he went on by in week five.
And I picked him up and I'm like, man.
Man, maybe Kyle Pitts will make meat.
You know, it's never worked out for anyone else, but could work for me.
And since the buy, when I add-
They dilute themselves into believing something that it'll work, but yeah.
Never works for anyone, but it could work for us.
Since the buy, when I added Kyle Pitts, he has three points, nine, ten, five, four, two, and three points.
Kyle Pitts has 11 touchdowns in five seasons.
This guy averages two touchdowns a season.
And mind you, like, Mooney's hurt the whole season.
season. Drake London's been out. Like,
Drake London didn't play last week. Kyle Pitts
had two catches for 25 yards.
And honestly, he did a Cadarious Tony.
He dropped a pass off his chest that was pick sixth.
So he honestly had a super net.
He would have been better. The Falcons would have won by more if he didn't play it down.
I think we can, we can officially say that we are now, it is over.
We're never going to mention Kyle Pitts' name again in fantasy.
Until next August.
No, but this is the thing.
So in real life, in fantasy, I'm like, oh, we'll never take him again.
in this experiment. So we're in year five of Kyle Pitts.
But here's the thing. He's taken fourth overall.
He'd a thousand yards as a rookie.
Heard his MCL. Lost some explosiveness.
But also, he's just a big receiver.
He's not a tight end. He's a below average receiver.
And frankly, he doesn't have the habits of an elite NFL player.
I think that's clear at this point.
They're still talking about him developing offenses.
He's no details. He doesn't know the soft spots and stuff.
Having said that, he's a free agent.
Someone else is going to sign him.
Atlanta's not going to be signed him. He's going to go somewhere.
And guess what?
we're going to talk ourselves into, dude, I mean, Kyle Pitts, I mean, yeah, but he signed with the ramps.
Like, he's going to be in these Sean McVeigh, 12 personnel, two tight-end sets.
He's going to sign somewhere, and we're going to talk ourselves into Kyle Pitts again next year.
And then we'll do it the year after, too, because, like, well, now he's a full off season.
Which, which very famous Hall of Fame tight end is retiring after this season?
Are you think he's going to get the Chiefs?
Fuck, Kyle Pitts and Kansas City.
That's the only way I think we would talk about him.
as if he goes to the fucking chiefs.
Kyle Pitts to Kansas City replaces Kelsey.
I will say that's actually not bad because the chiefs are the kings of like,
we don't care what this first round guy did.
We don't care what crime he committed.
We don't care why he was cut.
The chiefs will give him anyone who was the first round pick,
the chiefs will fly.
Tyree, Cadarys Tony.
Also, don't you think it's an ick that Kyle Pitts has senior next to his name?
It just makes him feel old.
For someone who's done so little, yes, it's weird.
For someone who's 21 years old.
Like he feels, when I watch him, he looks 31 to me.
he does he doesn't look at he the player that looked so athletic in florida and even his rookie year like he doesn't resemble that but he's honestly he's like a bad clear-out receiver
god he's he uh i'm trying to remember was he one of the guys that we that you guys tried to turn the key on and i was just like i can't do yes you refuse yeah
he was going to pay you $40 to put him off you $40 to put him off his cold hard cash he was going undrafted
basically was like he was going 150th i would rather have no one oh my
my team. Speaking of, I'd rather have no one.
Speaking of rather have, all right. Number eight,
Marvin Harrison Jr., Cardinals receiver, players who are not thankful for.
It's brutal.
Who also has hit the Waddle Model four out of 11 weeks. And one of them, three and a half.
He hit it exactly on the dot, which I don't even know what to do with that.
It's really three out of 11 weeks.
That's a push. That's a push. Yeah.
You are, you know, you're a draft expert at the ringer. You're not under fire here.
Literally everyone.
Chart.
It's a shart.
You know what the irony is?
It is a shard for Marvin.
Dorch is better at this point.
Dorch is better.
I trust Dorch more.
How many, you know what the irony is?
Marvin Harrison Jr. is billed to us as this generational player.
And I think both in fantasy football and also in real life.
I think Marvin Harrison's a completely average player.
Maybe the most average receiver in the NFL.
I love that Michael Wilson in the first game that Marvin Harrison Jr. is out.
has 18 targets.
He has 185 yards.
He got 15 balls.
And we were like,
and I was like,
DK, is that going to happen again?
Intrusive thought?
Is he better than Marvin Harrison,
Jr.?
And all of us are like,
no, come on.
There's no way he's going to do that.
Literally the next week,
he has 10 catches for 118 yards.
Literally two games better
than Marvin Harrison,
Jr. has ever had.
And the first two games,
Michael Wilson has played
without Marvin Harrison,
Jr.
Yeah.
It's just not impressive.
It's getting tough to watch.
I'm happy.
Hi, Vince, I feel like you and I were the most staunchly, like, I don't want anything to do with them, and I don't care.
If I miss out, I'll miss out.
There's a lesson.
I actually, probably the badge of honor I wear the most in my fan.
I've never had Marvin Harrison Jr. on any team in any league.
And I have 10 leagues.
And I've never had him on any of my teams.
And I will say, you know what's so funny, the dumbest takes we have end up being the best.
Our joke that if this motherfucker was still Marvin Harrison's son but just named Fred.
And you didn't have to say Marvin Harrison Jr. the whole time, he would have been drafted.
behind the league neighbors.
I think that's true.
If his name was Fred McDougal.
If his name was Fred McDougal, son of Marvin Harrison,
like he wouldn't have been drafted that high.
But here's statistically, he has just 10 fantasy points a game.
I mean, all this, statistically, he's averaged.
Statistically, his yards per rep run the season is 1.63 for Marvin Harrison.
He's tied with Jacoby Myers, just ahead of Matt Collins,
just behind Josh Palmer.
Those are the three most average fucking receivers in the league.
Like, Matt Collins is a blocker.
Like, you know what I mean?
And then, but the other thing that's it,
athletically,
Marvin looks so average,
and it's kind of like Shador Sanders
not doing anything at the combine.
Obviously, different players,
but you look back at Marvin Erson,
not running a 40.
And you're like, oh, maybe it's because he's really slow,
and then you watch him play football,
and he's really slow.
And he doesn't have any NFL traits
that are above average.
I think his separation,
his route running,
like his contested catch,
all these things.
I'm like, oh, yeah,
I guess my favorite catch he had in college
was against fucking Toledo.
We're going to have to do
an investigation series in the offseason
called Danny Kelly Investigates, and we're going to look back on busts and be like,
what, how did we all miss Marvin Harrison Jr.?
We're going to do that because it needs to be talked about.
I agree.
We really should.
Because honestly, his best game of the year was against Seattle.
We had a clutch stuff down the stretch.
They were down 14, but they tied the game and then Seattle won.
Even that was Thursday football, which you kind of want to throw out.
I'm just saying, his other best games this year are like Dallas when Dallas was giving
him 430 yards a game.
Marvin Harrison Jr.'s other best game was against Seattle when they were down 38 to 7.
And then he had those yards.
Look, if you take those things out,
like he's got like eight fantasy points a game.
There's a fourth pick in the draft.
With that, where every receiver behind him was good.
Anyway, anyway, I'm not thankful for him.
Yeah, it's pretty brutal.
Next up here, number nine, players are not thankful.
I was most surprised by this of any player anyone submitted.
Craig, you said Jordan Love for the Packers you're not thankful for.
I know that Waddle Model 5 out of 11 games, which I guess isn't terrible.
But the spike weeks aren't there.
And I think what's tough about Jordan Love is
I do think he's a good quarterback
and I think I've now accepted that he's just better
in real life than he is in fantasy.
And you always got to play,
you're basically throwing darts to hit the pocket passer
that's going to pop in fantasy every year.
This year's hits are Stafford, obviously,
Dak Prescott, if you count Herbert as a pocket pastor,
although he's been rushing a lot.
But, you know, there's like two or three pocket pastors
who hit every year.
Jordan Love, man, is the quarterback 18.
He has two touchdowns in his last four games.
They just don't pass the ball that much.
They just don't.
They have the third lowest pass rate in the NFL,
and their defense is good.
Their defense is top five and points allowed.
And it's like Jordan Love, arm talent-wise,
might be one of the best passages in the league.
And he's just a little bit of a game manager.
And I think he's a really frustrating player to watch at times.
It feels like the easy stuff is hard and the hard stuff is easy.
Yeah.
That's a great way of putting it.
And it's just like, I think of him in a different way.
Now, I think this was the year.
I was like, this is year three.
Last year he had the new.
the injury in Brazil to start the season.
I guess we'll throw out the whole year.
And now it's like this is a team that runs the ball,
that game manages and that wins
low-scoring games, and that's who Jordan Love is.
Well, the game manager's thing is funny because I think
you're right that Matt Lafleur kind of wants a game manager.
Like Stephen Ries has a joke where
Matt LaFleur just wants to run the ball to impress his friends,
which I think is a little true.
But, D.K., I don't know, it's funny because you're right that I think
Jordan Love sometimes gets a pigeonhole to be a game manager.
But Jordan Love also has all the instincts of
complimentary and derogatory of like a Trevor Lawrence
where incredible plays where you're like
I don't know how many people I don't even know if there's five other people
who can make that throw on the planet
and also Jordan Love has a lot of instincts to do dumb shit
yeah
and it's funny because he is how many years into his career now
obviously he sat for like four years
how do you count?
Technically it's like his sixth year
but it's his 30 years a starter yeah
and I'm still not really sure
what to think of him
it's kind of in the same vein as Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence has just started every year's career.
So it's like,
Jordan Love is played better than Trevor.
I'm not saying he's not,
I'm not saying he's as bad.
Like,
I'm pretty much out on Lawrence at this point,
but like I still think it's more like,
I just don't know if he's,
he's the real deal.
You know what I mean?
I think I'm just not quite sold that he is in that elite echelon of quarterback.
Sometimes the way,
he's like a quarterback you can win with,
but not win because.
Sometimes the way I look at a quarterback,
especially in fantasy,
but also in real life is like,
If they're playing a tough defense, do I second guess playing them in fantasy?
Do I think about them as potentially losing the game for the team?
And Jordan Love is a guy where it's like, if they play the Cowboys, absolutely start Jordan Love.
But if they play Denver, I'm like, eh, you know what I mean?
Like, there are guys like that where I'm like, Mahomes said it forget, Josh Allen said it forget, Matt Stafford.
I don't care.
He'll figure it out.
Like, I trust those guys.
Jordan Love is not in that camp to me.
If you had to not taking guy for the rest of their career and not taking someone for next week,
but if you had to win the Super Bowl next season,
and let's just say everyone's healthy.
So everyone's like magically back to 100% health.
I kind of want to just play this game for two seconds
of where you would take your to love.
You'd have win the Super Bowl next year.
Wait, on their current teams or I'm starting a new team?
You're starting a new team.
And you get to this quarterback.
Because I'm trying to not punish Burrow for having an injury.
You know what I mean?
Like fresh team.
But I think obviously Patrick Mahomes, Lamar,
Josh Allen, you would take over him, right?
I think Matt Stafford for Nick.
season you would certainly take DAC
right? That's all unanimous. Those are five guys.
Herbert. Herbert, that's
six. Burrow is seven.
Yeah.
Drake May. That's where you start to talk
about him. Yeah, I would take Drake May
100%. D.K., would you take Drake May over Jordan Love
for just next year?
Yeah, probably. I think that's like right in the
we're in the right area code now.
I don't even blink at that. What about Baker
Mayfield? Fully healthy.
I think I'd take Jordan Love.
the Olive Baker
I would actually I'm pretty confident I would take Jordan Love
I think he's in that he's in that group though
Jordan Love and Baker and it's now this is that now we're in the debate zone
what about Jalen Hertz the reigning quarterback
I would take Jordan Love
the guy who went 17 and 0 at one point
in the 17 games if the team is not built around him
like the Eagles is I would I'm taking Jordan Love
if it's a replacement of the team
This is going to be the best argument ever, forever,
because he's never played on a rock.
Like, every time his team is, he, even going back to college,
he just had a Death Star college team or he didn't play that well, like for his entire life.
I'm taking, I'm taking Jaden Daniels over Jordan Love, too.
I'll take fully healthy Jaden, but I would take Love over Hurts.
So I guess the answer is he's about 12.
CJ Stroud?
Jayden deserves to go quite a bit higher, I think.
No, I can't get there with Stroud.
I would take Jordan Love over Stroud right now.
Me too.
Goff.
What about Jared Goff or Jordan Love?
That's close.
That is close.
Goff is another guy where when it's Death Star,
when it's Sean McVeigh with a Cooper Cup
and Robert Woods in a perfect new avant-garde offense
or Detroit with the best O line and all these weapons and stuff.
But I'm kind of...
I think I would take Jordan Love
because if you swap the teams they're on right now,
if Jared Goff's on the Packers,
it's probably not going well.
And if Jordan Love's on the Lions, they're fine.
I totally agree.
Yeah, I would take Jordan Love.
So I think the answer is he's like 11.
11-12ish, yeah.
Okay.
Brock Purdy?
I'm too tainted by last night.
What the fuck was that?
What about Bo Nix?
Do we mention him?
Stop.
What about?
Jackson Dart?
You mentioned CJ Stroud, correct?
Yeah.
Yeah, we said love over Stroud.
Caleb?
Caleb were taken.
I would take love over Caleb.
Yeah, yeah.
Caleb's got six good weeks here.
Davis Mills.
Daniel Jones?
Sam Darnold?
Joe Flacko.
We're starting to get into the real heavy, like,
Asterisk.
DART's probably had them, so that's 12.
Yeah.
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Okay, next one here.
Craig, you had players you're not thankful for Cortland Sutton and the Broncos.
Five out of 11 Waddle models, he's hit.
And I think the problem with Cortland Sutton is that the Broncos were everyone's pick this year, right?
The Broncos were the team to make the leap.
Everybody was excited about Bo Nix, him having the first time of his career.
He's had the same offensive coordinator and head coach and quarterbacks coach and all this stuff.
And technically, if you look at the record, they're nine and two, and that has happened.
But it's not because of Cortland Sutton.
And it's really, really frustrating.
The back half of the year, he's been unplayable.
He's been the wide receiver 51 for the last five weeks.
And honestly, the biggest difference is what's happening in the red zone and the end zone.
And I don't think anybody on earth could have predicted this.
But Troy Franklin is the option in the red zone and in the end zone, not Cortland Sutton.
And there's a randomly neat stat that I landed, I found last night.
Last year, Cortland Sutton was fourth in the league in red zone targets with 15.
This year, Troy Franklin is fourth in the league in red zone targets with 14.
But like through 11 weeks that last year and this year,
Cortland Sutton was fourth last year in red zone targets after 11 weeks.
In the NFL, this year, Troy Franklin has basically just slotted right in in his place
and is now fourth in the NFL in red zone targets is Troy Franklin.
If you combine red zone and end zone targets through 11 weeks, last year Sutton had 24,
this year Franklin has 24.
Like they're just going, they're just, Franklin is the guy they throw two in the red zone now,
and that's all it is.
That was Craig's really intellectual way of saying that he drafted Coralyn Sutton,
the ringer league, and he's going to miss the playoffs because of Coralyn Sutton.
He's hurting me.
He's hurting me. I have Troy Franklin in other league, so that's nice.
But yeah, he's hurting me.
In the Ringer League, I have Ladd-McConkie.
I have Cortland-Syton.
I have Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy.
It's a mess.
Do you guys remember Randy Quaid in Independence Day?
I've been saying it.
I've been saying it for 10 damn years.
Do not trust Sean fucking Peyton.
Do not shackle yourself to the whims of this egomaniac,
freaking guy that decides to make someone else,
Someone knew the focal point of his offense every fucking week.
Danny Kelly has...
He just wants to piss you off.
He doesn't...
He actually does...
It's not that he doesn't care about your feelings.
He actually wants to hurt your feelings.
He hates you.
He wants you to feel pain.
He likes winning.
Well...
Danny Kelly has a long fuse.
That's fine.
He doesn't like...
He doesn't like when I win, though.
When D.K. is done with someone,
his hit rate is like 96%.
That should just be a rule.
If D.K. is like, nope, not for me.
We just, we're out.
We should move them to 150th on our rankings side unseen.
Be like, don't take these people.
Is there a more random player to just, like,
become a thing than Troy Franklin?
Oh, there's been some random.
Dude, at least Troy Franklin played with Bonix in college,
which is, I mean, there's been some, I mean, honestly,
the number one ever is Travis Foldham,
who was like the number one receiver in football for a month
and then never played in the NFL again.
I mean, I guess, like, Jackson Smith and Jayway being the best receiver in the league,
all of a sudden is definitely a big jump.
But Troy Franklin being very relevant, you know,
not sure anybody had that on their bingo card.
That's good, though.
There's been a lot of relevant.
There's been a lot of randos.
To me, it's like, honestly, it's nothing against Troy Franklin.
Like, he might actually be really good.
His numbers in college were outstanding.
It's just, you can't trust anybody week in and week out with this team.
He's going to, Pat Bryant's going to have a fucking 120 yards in a touchdown in this next game.
Pepperine is more fantasy points than Jordan Addison the last.
You mean the guy Sean Payton compared to Michael Thomas?
The, you know, in the fantasy championship, it's going to be Evan Ingram with three touchdowns.
We're getting out of the Sean, this is going to be a tattoo.
We're getting out of the Sean Payton business next year, probably the Matt LaFleur business too.
Number 11.
10 damn years.
I have such strong feelings about that specific character in that movie, but I'll save him.
Really?
I've never told you this.
That's my all time.
So in the rewatchables,
which you produce here at the ringer,
there is a category called nitpicks.
Sure.
My number one nitpick in any movie ever
is in Independence Day.
What is it?
Because that character,
the guy who's like the pilot
who just was like he's been talking about
getting abducted by aliens
and everything's crazy.
And then my aliens invade the earth
and they destroy everything.
And then there's like a resistance meeting
and they're like,
does anyone have a pilot?
And he stands up and he's like,
I actually got abducted by aliens.
And everyone fucking laughs at him.
Everyone fucking laughs at this fucking guy.
They're at the meeting because the aliens have invaded the earth and burned all of their
homes and it's a fucking rescue shelter.
They're all sleepy on cots because aliens have invaded the earth.
And a hundred people point and laugh at this fucking guy because he says he was abducted by aliens.
It goes to show that people don't ever want to be wrong.
I know.
It's anchoring.
It's anchoring.
Yes.
human beings will do anything
rather than admit that they were wrong about something
this is why we still keep drafting Kyle Pitts
every fucking year
anyway
oh my God
11 here we're just gonna just include it
because we can't do people
we're not thankful for without doing the Jets
Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson which again
this was also something we were so close because we were saying
you probably shouldn't draft the Jets
and we should have just said just don't fucking take
these people ever
I think yeah this one's not
this one's a little hard because we all knew
Justin Fields was risky.
I thought the main risk with him was that he would get hurt, and he did get hurt.
But he also just, he had games where it just felt like impossible how few yards he was
able to create as a quarterback.
He had starts this year with 27 yards on 11 attempts, 45 yards on 17 attempts, 46 yards on 12
attempts, and 54 yards on 11 attempts.
And also the last one you just said, the 54 yards includes a 40-yard screen to Brise Hall.
He had 14 yards in that.
it. I've like you know my favorite expression is sometimes football seems really easy and sometimes
it seems really fucking hard. Like there's every single game that Justin Fields started where he's a
court other than week one weirdly enough was like they can't move the football like they can't
complete a pass. And then obviously you know that hurts the rest of the players on the team.
Briseall's actually been somewhat usable despite all this. But obviously Garrett Wilson,
you know, he scored four out of seven on the Waddle model.
not the worst. Justin Fields hit five out of nine on the Waddle model,
which isn't terrible unless you consider the lows were like single digits.
You know what I mean?
He's like fucking you on those games where he's not,
you know,
he's not giving you like 11 points.
He's giving you like four points.
And that really screws you in that certain week.
So I think even though he had a couple of games with over 20 points,
he is one of the most frustrating players in fantasy this year because then you'd just like
plug him into your lineup the next week and he gives you three or whatever.
Yeah.
He was able to garbage time his way
into like decent fantasy performances
against bad defenses.
Like he had 27 against Miami,
25 against Dallas.
He had 20 against the Bengals.
It's just when he has to actually play a decent defense
and try to be competitive in a game
that he throws for 46 yards.
He had four of his,
four of his games out of nine.
He scored less than seven points.
And in three of those,
he scored less than five.
I like Fields this year for fantasy.
Yeah.
I like Fields this year for Fantasy.
because I felt that he was cheap and the upside was there and the upside was immediately there.
The downside is a passer even though we objected him but being a Navy quarterback.
I don't know if I thought it was possible to start four games and failed at 55 minutes passing four times.
Our expectations were low but holy fuck.
Yes, exactly.
Okay.
Those are the players who are not thankful for.
Although to be honest, Kyle Pitts is easily, I hate him more than everyone else in the list combined,
including Marvin Harrison Jr.
I want to get to the things.
I'm going to get to a kick with hating players these days.
We're going to get to Fantasy Court in a moment.
But first, I want to get these Thanksgiving games because we're doing this coming out on a Wednesday.
The Thanksgiving games, I feel like, are just good now.
I feel like this started a few years ago.
But the Thanksgiving games this year rip.
I mean, it's Packers at Lions.
It's the early game.
The second game is Chiefs at Dallas.
And then the third game is Bengals with Burrow coming back at Baltimore, which is, I don't know.
I feel like these games are awesome.
But I want to start Packers at Lions.
This is literally Jared Gough versus Joy in Love.
But, D.K.
What do you?
To me, this is two mildly disappointing teams, at least from based on expectations.
Because before the year, I'm like, these two are some of the favorites for the Super Bowl.
Now I'm like, they're good, but really flawed.
I don't really know what to make of either of them.
So I think both teams have a chance to kind of grab some momentum, grab some confidence coming out of this game.
In DVOA, the Packers are six.
The Lions are fourth.
So obviously, this is a good matchup.
But also, week one, I mean, the Packers beat the Lions 27 to 13.
but that game was like 27 to 6 or whatever with 10 minutes left.
Yeah.
So, you know, I think the Packers defense has not been as impressive as I thought it was going to be with the addition of Michael Parsons.
So, you know, maybe they have a chance to kind of like pick things up going on.
It's not like they're a bad defense, but I just thought they were going to be like world beaters, especially after watching week one.
And then I think on the lion's side, the, you know, Jemir Gibbs last week was incredible.
But I still, I think the Dan Campbell calling plays experiment is still kind of.
have gone back and forth.
We got to get James and Williams back going.
He had zero points on a game where the lions had like 500 yards or whatever.
There was a thousand yards in that game and Jameson Williams had zero.
So I think, again, you know, not just from a fantasy point of view, but I think James
Williams really changes the lion's offense.
His ability to stretch the field, change the geometry of the how defense will defend them.
You know, he can take a slant and take it 80 yards for a touchdown at any given point.
So they've got to get him more involved.
and then, you know, from the Packers point of view,
it'll be interesting to see if Josh Jacobs comes back.
I thought Emmanuel Wilson looked pretty good last week, honestly.
So maybe they don't rush him back.
But otherwise, you know, good divisional rivalry game here.
I'm excited to watch this one.
I don't want to be the guy who's like,
we're going to learn a lot about these two teams in this game.
But I do feel like I really, the back five,
the back third of the schedule this year in the NFL is so jammed with like division matchups.
there's often like there's handfuls of situations where it's like the Bengals play the Steelers
the Ravens and then the Steelers again there's a lot of like you play the same team twice in three weeks
and so a lot of things will change but I do feel like I do feel like if one of these teams in this game
can be the other team handedly I will think differently about them like if this is just like a
muddy game and one team wins 2120 I'm not sure but if if one of these teams can win by two
scores because I don't feel particularly confident with either of them right now.
So I actually do think I will be curious to see the outcome at this game and that will
affect how I judge them.
If I think either of these teams are actually a playoff threat this year.
Because right now I don't think either are.
Maybe the Lions.
I like the Packers as a team.
If the Packers beat the Lions' ass, I'll be sad.
And if the Lions beat the Packers' ass, I'll be kind of happy.
I don't know why I feel that way.
I can't explain it.
The lines are really likable.
Yeah.
I just, I just, the Packers spanked the lines in week one.
I kind of want to see the line spanked the Packers on this game, to be honest.
I just would like to see that.
Here is who the Packers have beaten this year.
Week one, they beat Detroit.
By a lot.
That game was, that game was not competitive.
Yeah.
That made everyone think like the line.
The only non-competitive game I've ever seen from the Lions in the last four seasons.
Yeah.
Week two, they beat Washington.
Then they tied the Cowboys.
They beat the Bengals without Joe.
Borough. They beat the Cardinals. They beat the Steelers. They beat the Giants without Jackson Dart.
And they beat J.J. McCarthy. They also lost to the Browns and lost to the Panthers as 13-point
favorites. It's one of the more unimpressive schedules you'll find is they basically beat the Lions
Week 1 and that's it. The Packers are, it's weird because I think Matt Lafleur is unambiguously a good
coach. The Packers also, it's hard to draw any conclusion about them other than they just consistently
seem like the hole is less than the sum of the parts.
Like the amount, like the defense is good, but it's considering the amount of first
round picks that have been invested, it's just not great.
The cornerback room is kind of a mess.
The cornerback, the injuries in Green Bay and everything, but just the second, it's just,
it's just very disappointing all around.
Yeah.
What do you guys think is the most Thanksgiving matchup?
Do the bears need to be in it?
Is it Lions Packers?
Is it Bears?
High.
Lions Packers is really high.
I think it needs to be the Lions in there, right?
I mean, it's either the Cowboys or the Lions
because they're the teams who play Thanksgiving every year.
But I think the Lions, I feel like
something about the Lions because they're bad for so long,
it just sticks in your mind more
that the Lion, you just...
I just picture the Lions on Thanksgiving.
Yeah, wait, tell me,
what are the two teams in the game and what stadium?
Who's home?
Well, Detroit.
Detroit Dallas is home.
So I think it's in Detroit.
And honestly, probably Lion's Packer,
Lions Bears last year, that's very Thanksgiving.
I think it's that Vikings or Packers.
I think it might be this.
Packers in Detroit might be the most Thanksgiving match.
It's very Thanksgiving.
The other very Thanksgiving game, honestly,
Washington Dallas, I think is very Thanksgiving.
Washington in Dallas is very Thanksgiving.
I know.
I was going to say Washington, too, is another team.
It's almost like their team colors remind me of like a turkey.
Yes.
Exactly.
Their jerseys look like the food on your plate.
You could almost say it's giving.
It's, it's, it's, it's, it's,
all like browns and reds and yellows.
Autumnal.
Autumnal.
Autumnal.
Yeah, totally.
It's like a fucking cornucopia
puked on their,
on their uniforms.
Yeah.
This is what we got.
Look like a pottery barn
threw up all over you.
Okay, the other game,
this is the second game here is Chiefs are at Cowboys,
which this is a fun game.
I mean,
my homes on Thanksgiving is fun.
People are saying that this,
people are saying,
Bill and Sal are talking about this,
Schefter tweeted about it.
It's like now there's like a ratings record that might be broken.
And people think that this might be the most watched Thursday night football game ever.
Or one of the most watched regular season games ever is.
Yeah, they choose the rating.
The way I have, I don't totally understand it.
But the way the ratings are calculated and everything is juiced in ways because it's undercounted,
but it's also overcounted and everything.
But yeah, they usually, the Cowboys Thanksgiving showcase is usually used to break the record every year.
like the Cowboys they can put in week one this year
and the opening night
like the Cowboys they kind of choose
those big spots to dominate the top of it.
Totally. Also the way the ratings are counted now
they've added in bars and restaurants like three years ago
which they ever used to do
so now all the ratings are way up
and you can sell more ads against that.
Exactly. But it's all.
But yes. People think it
but I understand I mean the Cowboys are
the most popular team in America
and then you have Mahomes, the Chiefs and Kelsey
and I'm sure Taylor Swift will be there in it.
Yeah, this probably will be like
the most watch regular season game ever.
What is the everyday fans reaction to hearing this, the ratings of a game?
I'll tell you.
What's your dad?
Like, if you told your dad what the ratings were, would he give the fuck?
This is what he would do.
Dad, did you hear that the Cowboys Chiefs game was the most watched regular season NFL game ever?
He'd go, really?
Wow.
Anyway, can you help me cut the turkey?
Which is like, you know what?
That's kind of all it needs to be.
breaker at like a fucking
It's something that you can look up
from your phone and say and the
people in your family go oh wow
It's just it's one of those things that people talk about
a lot but I'm like who cares about this?
Like I don't understand like what we're supposed to do with this information
It's like there's more people than ever
Isn't that?
The leader of our country
The president of the United States cares about ratings DK so so do I
I know yeah but I'm just saying like what does that
what does that do for the average person?
If you told your mom she'd be like oh
I'm home my mom wouldn't give a shit
I loved when Trump was in the box, in the booth,
and Debo scored a touchdown.
He's like, there we go, that'll get the ratings up.
Close the game now.
This game also talking about things people don't care about.
The Chiefs are kind of intertwined with Dallas.
Mahomes grew up a Dallas fan.
We're going to fucking hear about that all day.
That Mahomes was a Cowboys fan.
They're going to pull up photos of them.
The Chiefs owners are big Dallas people.
they're like Dallas oil money.
The chiefs were in Dallas before they were in Kansas City.
And then they were.
Is that right?
Yes, they were the Dallas Texans.
And they're like old oil money.
And the son of this oil was Lamar Hunt.
And he basically was like, fuck the NFL.
I'm not going to buy a team.
They want to sell me 20% of some team.
They're like, screw that.
I'm going to start a league.
And he started the AFL with the chiefs,
which the Dallas Texans,
tried a few years,
compete with the Cowboys,
couldn't move to Kansas City.
They're like, we're going to call him the Kansas City Texans.
And his business partner was like,
you're a fucking idiot.
That's stupid.
So they named them the Kansas City Chiefs.
But, and so they started the AFL.
And then that's why the AFC trophy,
which the Chiefs always win,
is called the Lamar Hunt trophies because he started the FC and then merged it.
And then so the,
but also just they own the,
the Chiefs family owns the Dallas MLS team.
Like they own,
they're like Board of Trustees at SMU.
I still kind of wonder if they drafted Rishie Rice because Rishie Rice
went to SMU and the owner of the Chiefs is on the board there.
But it worked out.
I know, it's just a lot of Dallas in this game for the Chiefs.
But I think Rish right,
I think Rishie Rice is going to play.
It's Tuesday.
I'm torn about this because the Dallas offense,
the Dallas defense has looked better,
but it's against the Raiders who suck ass.
And then the Dallas defense looked better
once the Eagles decided to stop throwing,
which I'm like, all right,
now we get to see them versus Mahomes and Rishie Rice and everything.
And the Chiefs just had 33 first downs last week,
which Barnwell pointed out as the most any team,
has that in any game all year.
So I kind of wonder if the Chiefs are going to be able to move
the ball but the flip side is I I mean the Cowboys offensive pickings and Cid he looks fucking
unstoppable right now so it's kind of like Chris Jones will he try game and I think yes
because it's Thanksgiving because the more people are going to be watching this game
that's who cares it's Chris Jones cares Craig well and he gets to he gets to eat the turkey
leg if they win but that turkey everyone says it's disgusting everyone says it's cold it's been
sitting there for like seven hours everyone says it's like someone said that why is it sitting
out for so long why don't they just keep in the oven
They keep it in a fridge.
Why?
Because it was made like eight hours ago.
Why?
Why don't just keep it hot in the oven?
Because they need a shot of it.
Now that you say it, it's weird that they have the shot of it on the sideline and they have the same one.
You'd think they could make two fucking turkeys.
Yeah.
And the answer is because they need footage of it three hours before the game.
But now that I'm thinking about it, just have two turkeys.
Two turkeys.
This is the NFL.
They can't serve you a hot.
They can't serve you warm turkey.
We have two turkeys that are Thanksgiving because we can't agree on how to even cook it.
So we just make two.
I don't know why Fox can't get two turkeys.
You have two different turkeys prepared differently?
We smoke one outside in a Weber kettle
and we cook one inside in the oven.
Who is a fan of which?
My brother smokes the turkey outside
and then my mom cooks a turkey in the oven.
It's like the way my grandma would do it
and the way my grandfather would do it.
It's kind of sick actually.
I kind of like that.
It's sick.
I don't hate that.
Which do you prefer?
The smoked is a higher degree of difficulty
but when done right,
unbelievable.
I don't think I'd ever fuck with frying a turkey
just because,
You know what you have to see
I've seen the videos
I've seen too much
I've seen too much
but the smoke turkey is unbelievable
man
I gotta come to your house for Thanksgiving
if you don't like the turkey
man you get you have to switch up the way you're doing it
I also think I'm not good at many things
but I'm a fucking incredible carving a turkey
I got a totally contribution in the kitchen
What's the secret? Do you have a key?
Actually yes
it's the thing that throws you off is you don't carve it
You tear it.
It's like I use kitchen shears.
I don't use a knife to get the, like I just kind of, if it's cooked right, you can kind
of just tear and snip at the joints and it should just come apart.
But you don't actually want to cut it off.
You want to just fucking pull it off the bone.
So you're not using one of those like mechanical knives?
No, my grandfather had that.
Like a saza.
Those are awesome.
Those are sick.
Those are fucking awesome.
Do you throw the gloves on to tear the turkey?
You're going bare hands?
I just scrub up like I'm the bear and I go bare hands.
Yeah.
It's too hot.
It is fucking hot.
It's like fucking scalding your hands.
It's super painful, yeah.
It hurts.
But it's the love of the game.
Yeah, that's true.
You got to get your whatever, like calluses and whatnot.
We'll do that.
That's maybe why they can't have the players doing the hot turkey.
I want to find it.
I don't know if Richard Sherman.
Someone said they got a turkey leg once and he had a vene.
And he said, I thought he was going to crack a tooth on it.
It was so cold.
So keep an eye out.
Watch the tape when they give up the legs.
Who do you like in this game?
probably Kansas City
I'm going to go with Kansas City
although we have to make a blood packed right now
if the Cowboys win against Mahomes on Thanksgiving
in front of the most watched football game
of all time
we might have to admit that Jerry actually is the one who cooked
100% Jerry's been cooking
we should say a couple fantasy things
Isaiah Bacheco is going to be back in this game
and he's going to play
so I'm assuming
Kareem Hunt will take a step back
it's funny Kareem Hunt
was quietly pretty good and was kind of
like settling in I saw
crazy stat about him.
He has a 55% success rate
on short, down, and distance runs.
He's number one
in third and fourth and one
attempts out of 70, like, running backs.
How many times have you seen the first guy tackle him?
Like, listen to the stat.
His 55% success rate is the highest mark
among all running backs of 70 carries this season.
Kareem Hunt has converted 21 of 25,
carries on third and fourth and one into first downs.
I don't think Cream Hunt loses that workload for that reason because I don't care how
Pacheco plays.
The Chiefs, so Mahomes broke his kneecap doing a quarterback sneak in 2019.
And then Andy Reid basically decided I'm never, literally never going to sneak him ever again.
So the Chiefs are one of the three teams that don't do quarterback sneaks.
Which is like kind of dumb.
It's funny because it's how we would, it's, it's funny to think that like an $11 billion
company runs their team that way.
It's like a little bit of like the food a version where it's like,
I got sick on lasagna when I was sick,
so I just never ate it again.
Yeah, it's like, I don't do, yeah, exactly.
It's like, I don't eat.
I don't eat cinnamon toast crunch anyway.
Yeah, it's like, in a crucial moment,
I wonder if like if it was in the Super Bowl
or the AFC championship or something,
if they would sneak bombs.
I think they'd have to do it.
But it's been six years and he doesn't sneak.
So, I mean,
they've been the three Super Bowl since then.
And so anyway, the Chiefs have not,
the Chiefs have actually been one of the worst short yardage teams
on like third and one, fourth and one,
since they stopped sneaking, like six years of them being terrible.
And then Kareem Hunt this year has actually made them good.
So I don't think he's going to lose that work.
I'd be surprised, watching him just Pacheco off three touchdowns.
But I kind of would be surprised if they just swapped out Kareem Hunt on these on these goal line packages now.
Yeah, Rishi Rice full participant in practice on Tuesday.
So he's probably going to play.
Worthy?
Are we playing worthy against Dallas?
Fuck, no.
Probably not.
I mean, unless you're desperate to me.
Talk about Waddle model.
No, worthy, no, he's done.
Actually, oh my God, wait a minute.
I have his Waddle model up right now.
Is it zero? I bet it's zero. It's one.
Yeah. And what was the one? Did it get like 11 points the one time?
14. 14. Okay, cool. Good for him. Cool. Thanks. Thanks, Xavier.
The last game of Thanksgiving.
Fast guy. Bengals are at the Baltimore Ravens.
Yeah. Joe Burrow back for this game.
Joe Burrow back for this game. It looks like.
That's fun. Jamar Chase back for this game after the one game
suspension for spitting on Jalen Ramsey.
Did you see this awesome apology that was written by some PR people that didn't name Jailen Ramsey?
No.
What I did was wrong, I believe he said.
He said, what I did was wrong.
We should stop pretending that these players wrote this stuff.
But he said, finally, I want to apologize to my fans.
I don't take anyone who wears my jersey for granted.
I do not take my position as a role model lightly.
This is a fascinating game because, so,
Ringer 107 this week, Bill, the all-powerful Bill Simmons,
is allowing us to bet on the Thanksgiving games if we want to use that to include that.
So we're going to do Ringer 107 in the next episode, which is the preview episode,
which will come out on Friday, but we're going to make the picks on Tuesday today.
And so if we want to include one of these Thanksgiving games, we can do that.
We can discuss that right now.
But this game, the Ravens are seven-point favorites in this game.
The Ravens, we went through this a little bit last week, have been terrible since Lamar came back.
from injury despite winning every game since he's come back.
For the first time in his career, Lamarra, zero touchdowns at back-to-back games.
It's the first time he's been held under a 60% completion rate in 200 yards passing in three
straight games.
He's clearly not healthy.
It's bizarre.
In four weeks, he said four different injuries.
He come back from the hamstring.
The next week he has a knee injury in misses practice.
The next week he has an ankle injury in misses practice.
And this week, he had a toe injury in missed practice.
I don't know what the Ravens are doing if they're just coming up with
new ones or if they're like there's like weird shit going on now because of that issue where he
they didn't consider him a full time participant but um i don't know dk as joe burrow famously
gets started slowly right didn't start the season hot at all he's coming back he hasn't played
in 10 weeks and yet the ravens are also have haven't looked worse do you feel like the bengals
getting seven points here is like sneaky great or do you not want to touch joe burrow
And there's no Tehiggins in this game, we should say.
My gut tells me right now, and you guys know what good that is.
I'm kind of the cooler when it comes to these bets.
I would bet on the Ravens here.
I'm worried about the Bengals starting hot.
I think their defense stinks.
The Bengals have also been horrific against tight ends.
And that's kind of what the Ravens do.
So that's kind of where I'm leaning.
It's like, are we going to see a third straight game when Lamar sucks?
I.
What are the odds of that?
that fucking really high because we already saw two in a row so it's the first fucking time in
his career he's had two games in a row without a touchdown and you think he's going to go three
he's hurt i i'm not going to argue that the bengal's defense is good you guys you guys
you guys should probably just go opposite what i think i kind of no i i i you know why it's because
burrow's back i've personally used up my lifetime allotment of dowdy joe burrow i think that
unfortunately you know what i mean yeah you're just i i i kind of spent it all i i i just
every you're every look the ravens the bengles defense is so bad i
think that that's what this line is about with the Ravens being favored by seven.
But overall, every time any conversation about the Ravens for the last literally two months,
I just feel like the conversation, I feel like there's like a game I missed because it's like
the Ravens were one and five.
And like, well, they're still eighth in Super Bowl odds.
And like I just keep waiting for them to play literally one game well from start to finish.
And they have gone further and further from that the further into the season.
They look good at week one.
and then they blew it at the end,
and they look good against the lines for a half,
and then they look terrible.
And they keep getting further.
And you're right, on paper,
we should take the Ravens against the Bengals.
In reality, I'm like, the Jets, Ravens game was three to zero at halftime
against the fucking Jets and Terad Taylor and John Mechie and, like,
these are people that I don't know if they would be in the NFL in other circumstances
or playing on the Jets and that it was three to nothing Jets at halftime.
How much do we need to see?
until we just admit that the Ravens aren't that good.
What was the score at the end of the game?
They said Carl Hamilton could play.
There's no.
Trey Hendrickson's probably not going to play for Cincinnati.
This is a game that Derek Henry should have 200 yards rushing,
and they should dominate this game and win like 28 to 10.
But I have to say my initial instinct when I first saw this line was like,
I think I'm just going to take the Bengals plus seven.
I get it.
I don't want to do that, but I get it.
Yeah, maybe we just stay away.
but that was my initial read.
Did you guys see Joe Burroughs
Instagram announcing that he was coming back?
The LeBron thing.
What did he do?
No.
It's like a shot of him.
It's like him taking a photo
through his like mirror in his bedroom
and it's him standing in a LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers jersey
and it just says he's back.
Burrough is underratedly weird on the internet.
He was fun and Joy of the way.
He went full Joker for Halloween.
He like did the thing with the hair
and he did the video of the,
like the fuck.
He was taking pictures of his crystals.
Like if he wasn't attractive, I wonder how we'd feel about Joe Burrow.
Like he's conrad.
He's so cool and confident and is attractive, and yet he is kind of really nerdy.
Everyone who has seen the Summer Turn Pretty knows that Joe Burrough is just Conrad.
Yeah, I don't know.
In a lot of ways.
You don't get it, but it's, I'm 100% right.
How many people do you think that are listening right now get that?
Probably at least six.
What percentage?
It's a popular show.
It's a very popular show.
I don't know amongst, I don't know the then diagram of Summer I Turn Pretty and NFL fans.
Probably not strong.
That's what I'm saying.
So, okay, so those are the Thanksgiving games.
Do we want to do the Black Friday game now or want to do it on the preview?
We should probably do it now.
All right, so the Black Friday games, bears are at the Eagles.
The Eagles are favorite.
Another good game.
This is a good game.
I mean, last year it was the, or not two years ago was the Jets Dolphins.
That was horrific.
But you know what?
Part of me is like, I kind of wish it was a shitty game because then I could actually spend time with my family.
But fuck that.
No.
Sorry, Mom.
Eagles, Bears at noon.
This game is at 3 o'clock.
At noon.
Just dead middle of the day
You don't go on a walk? We're not.
Well, you know what's so funny?
I wrote a whole article about this for the ringer a few years ago,
but about how this game's on Amazon,
it's Black Friday, and you see it now on Thursday,
football, you can buy stuff directly,
and I think that's one of the reasons of the middle of the day
is Amazon doesn't want you go fucking shopping.
But the spread in this game is seven points.
I think that's funny that the Eagles are favored winning by seven,
because the Eagles have only beaten one team by seven,
more than seven all year, and it was the Giants.
Yeah, and also,
go through every single Bears game.
Every single game there and they win by like two.
And so this game is to me like the most
football cliche of all football cliches of the
turnovers where it's like the Bears defense is the most
turnovers in the NFL and the Eagles offense has the fewest
turnovers in the NFL and the Bears have the most interceptions all year.
The Bears have 16 picks on defense.
And the Eagles have the fewest interceptions all year because
Jaylon Hertz has thrown one interception.
And in that game, the giant, they lost to the Giants.
And this is to me just this is going to be the
classic Eagles turtle.
They're not going to be like, oh, well, we got the bald AJ Brown and took the lead.
They're like, no, they're going to turtle up.
They're going to be like, we lost that game because Sequin fumbled and all this stuff.
And they're going to turtle.
They're going to Python.
The Eagles are going to once again take a 21 point lead, and then, which they've been doing all season.
And then they let the team kind of take it back and then they win at the end.
And that's the Bears, too.
The Bears fall behind.
And then can't win in the first.
Can't win in the second.
Like that, I know Schottenheimer said that, but that's really the Bears.
And then the Bears are going to, like, this is like a classic Eagles are going to.
going to take a lead, but they're going to win because they're not going to turn the ball over.
Which is perfect for Ben Johnson because that's right where he wants him.
He wants to be down 21 to 3 in the third.
That's right where he wants him.
Can you think of a larger offensive coordinator play-calling discrepancy in this game than
Ben Johnson versus Kevin Petula, a more beloved versus more hated play caller in the league right now?
It's pretty good.
No, that's the entire spectrum probably right now.
Also in pre-game speeches, I also wanted to know bears are 8 and 3 and have a negative 3-point differential.
They've been outscored by three points in the season.
They're eight and three.
That's wild.
They've won six of their eight games by five or fewer points.
And I wanted it, this is, as we said, the beginning of the Bears schedule getting real,
where it's like Eagles, Packers, Browns, Packers, Niners, Lions,
and the Lions in Week 18 beat the Bears by five touchdowns earlier this season.
So it's like the Bears are winning the NSC North.
They're three to one to win the division by the end of the year.
The leader of the division's three to one.
And so, I don't know.
I kind of come down.
I just think this is a Seek-Won get-right game.
I know we were talking about Seekwon earlier in the episode,
but the Bears allow five yards per carry
and they're still down their top three linebackers.
And I kind of think the Bears are, to your point,
about yards before contact.
The Bears' defense is second to last in yards before contact.
They allow like three and a half yards before contact.
And the Eagles, even without Lane Johnson,
I actually am a little optimistic that Saquan gets going.
In this game, I also am a little dubious about whether the Bears
who actually, on offense, the Bears ranked first in yards before contact,
and I kind of don't think that's going to happen with the Eagles defensive tackles.
But this is a big game for, like, the Bears' interior offensive line.
we talked so much about.
They got Drew Dominant's center,
and they got Joe Tunis left guard,
and they got Jonah Jackson a right guard.
And they earned their money this week
against the Eagles' defensive tackles.
Seven points is really high,
and it's probably going to make me stay away.
But I do think that this is a classic game,
the Eagles win.
And it's like they're coming off the loss.
People are going to be down on them.
People are up on the Bears
because they win all these close games.
I do lean towards Philly,
but seven points is a lot.
Yeah.
It might be too much.
The way the Eagles play.
The Eagles don't believe in beating teams
by more than seven points, you know?
What are we doing about DeAndre
Swift these days. He's a guy who's like almost made the burn book. He's almost made the Glansberg
derogatory list. Are we playing him anymore? How do you feel about DeAndre Swift? Menonga is like
really starting to take over. I was going to say this. Are there any players other than Caleb,
I guess if you're playing in a, you know, at quarterback, are there any players you actually want to
play in this game? Like Roma Dunez-Ze has been completely unreliable. I think it's been fine. They're
just like they haven't been able to connect. But it's tough because it's the Eagles. But I don't
think a dundsay is from a fantasy point of view are you excited about this i'm not excited to play the
eagles but i'm not worried about a dunez i mean i'm a little worried about a dundsay well i'm worried
because the the eagles and the browns and in the schedule but i don't think he's i don't think
he's playing poorly i think but to craig's point the the running back rotation is all kind of
wonky right now monongai um has kind of passed swift or at least they're like 50-50 and
then they kind of ride the hot hand i just think it's completely all these players
on the bears are completely unreliable in fantasy.
Yeah, it's like a full rotation.
The only guy you're probably, I guess,
starting is Romadunzei that you feel good about.
And even he's un-alatable.
Do we want to bet any of these games in Ringer 107?
Do we like any of these?
Not enough.
Just fundamentally laying points with the Eagles,
laying points with the Chiefs.
Charging.
Just betting on them to win by a field goal or more.
No for right now.
We can decide on the next episode.
We don't have to worry about it right now.
We can decide on the next episode.
Fantasy court.
Let's do it.
Fantasy court's in session, baby.
Definitely don't tell anyone about this thing that you're doing.
I don't really want to be handcuffed.
The definition of an object is a material thing that can be seen and touched.
I love seeing the video of that.
I love the Craig Rolbeck Esquire.
So, fantasy court, this fantasy court case, the plaintiff here is Franco.
Franco.
Frank.
F-bone. James?
Dave?
first name
James Franco has been to other courts I think
Heyo
Franco writes I'm in a work league
and he puts work in quotes
and he says
I put work in quotes because I have not
worked at this company for two years
okay
but I've won the last two seasons
so my co-worker
and former co-workers are keeping me in the league
until I lose
I'm the only person in the league
that does not work at the company
and I can't prove it
but I think the office is colluding
to get me out of the league
who is this guy
who
Franco says last year
while in first place
the team in second place
traded away three players
they got off waivers
for Jamar Chase
Kyron Williams and Jaden Daniels
from the last place team
and it sounds like Franco
basically kind of complained about it
from afar over his personal email
and then in a text until he got it vetoed
And he says this season had happened again.
He's in first place again this year.
And the same guy tried to trade Jawan Jennings to Rashad White from Derek Henry.
This also got vetoed.
But then he says a few days ago, someone who had two kickers decided out of running back.
And instead of dropping one of their two kickers, they dropped Jalen Hertz.
So Franco says, I didn't think this was collusion or malice.
I just like this is clearly a mistake.
Like the guy tried to bench Hertz and fat-thumbed it and dropped it, which happens.
So in the group chat
Franco basically writes
Hey did you mean to cut Jalen Hertz
You have two kickers
Why don't we undo this?
Because apparently this happened in the league earlier this year
Franco writes I was called a liar and a snake
In the group chat
From a few members in the league
Including the aforementioned cheater saying
I'm only complaining about Hertz being dropped
Because I have no free agent auction budget to spend
And I can't bid on Jalen Hertz
Franco's like I have Drake man I don't even need Jalen Hertz
I just assume this was a mistake
the commissioner said he would put Jalen Hertz back where he was on the team
and then the guy who dropped Jailen Hertz
who just had the commissioner agree to give him back to the guy
and the guy who had to Hertz and caught him snaps and says
hey Franco get off of my shit you're in first and don't worry about me
which I also read in Danny McBride's voice
Franco get off my shit
oh 100%
so Franco says I'm getting accused of saying that I want
Jalen Hertz dropped
I want Jalen Hertz undropped
because I want to protect my spot in the league
and I'm afraid I'll lose and be kicked out.
And he's like, I actually think that they're trying
and really poorly colluding so that I lose.
I think it's a hilarious scenario
that he's in a work league at a company
that he's no longer works at
and he can't stop winning and everybody wants him out.
It's a fucking hilarious setup.
It's incredible.
Also, you know how a lot of people are like,
you know, we'll take your result as binding.
I like this one too because he says,
so this league,
they won't listen to your ruling
because they're all business district boomers.
But am I being?
I just like to note that like,
whatever you decide,
they're not going to listen to it.
Is there money in this league?
Is this money league?
I don't know.
So the guy who drops hurts,
did he admit that it was an accident or not?
He said it was at first.
And then he was like,
get off my shit.
Sorry, get off my shit, Franco.
Because he's embarrassed.
He's like, you don't tell me how to run my team, am I right?
This guy fucking kept Kaimi Fairbairant on fucking hip injury instead of Jailet Hurts.
I just think it's so fun.
I actually believe him, though.
I think he's right that they're like, fuck this guy.
Imagine a guy leaving your company in the middle of the football season, and then he's in your league and he wins the league.
You're like, and then everyone wants to kick him out.
You're like, oh, well, he won the league.
And then he wins again.
And that was like, he's got worked there in two years.
And people are like, I totally think that these people were probably like, now fuck this guy.
I think he needs
What are we deciding though?
I think he really wants to know
if he's not crazy or not
if he think that they're cheating.
I think his instincts are correct.
I think there's something as a foot.
It's weird to drop Jalen Hertz
and then the commissioner's like
okay, you can have him back.
That was an accident.
And he's like, get off my shit.
I think this guy needs to try to stay in this league
as long as humanly possible.
That's the new thing.
Should we help him run the team?
I guess he doesn't need to help.
He's won three years in a row.
Yeah, he's doing just fine.
But the co-workers are conspiring, right?
Like, Dika, do you feel that way?
I think so.
I think so, too.
Three waiver ads for Jamar Chase,
Kairn Williams, and Jaden Daniels last year.
Also, these weird trades of the commission.
Also, shouts out this commissioner who feels like he's delivering justice appropriately.
But like all these trades being vetoes that are super lopsided.
Like, what's that about?
What's going?
Yeah, there's a lot going on here.
What was it?
Derek Henry for who?
It was like,
Derek Henry for Rashad White and.
Somebody else who wasn't very good.
Joanne Jennings.
Yeah, like, what are we doing?
This is fishy.
That I wouldn't veto except in the, you know, Chase,
Kyrin and Jaden for three waiver guys is pretty.
Yeah, that's all weird.
There's something going on in this league.
No, never leave.
Never give up, Franco.
Stay in this league as long as you can.
If you need help, Franco, we're going to make sure you would again.
Email us back, Franco.
I just love the idea of being in a league for years because you can't stop winning.
They won't get rid of it.
Also, I love that.
His name's Franco.
I bet you're like, Franco.
Franco.
We got one email here
I have to read this one
This is from Joe
Joey
Jay Bone
Subject line
Hyfitz is my wife's hall pass
Oh sweet Christ
Joe writes
Sorry for the fake subject line
That's a complete lie
Oh brilliant
Just wanted to see if you guys would open this email
Because I still haven't gotten one on the show
Hyvitz printed out the Gmail page.
Forwarded to Jackie,
hoping she would just would not open the email.
So Joe writes,
I'm the guy who gave you
the Cloice Box Box at the Chicago Live Show.
Yeah.
This guy, it's behind Craig.
This guy gave us a box
with just pictures of Cloyce Box on it.
Yeah.
It's a Cloist box.
The Cloyce box.
So Joyce writes,
I only add that again
to get my odds of the show
of getting this red go up.
My breakfast, two poached eggs,
hash browns,
a piece of jalapeno, cheddar,
sourdough bread with black coffee wow
that sounds really good sounds like a really good
breakfast breakfast eggs is
takes a little bit extra work
I respect eggs are good push eggs are good
push eggs is perfect I love push I love a jammy egg
Joe writes I'm emailing in because Craig brought up
Hulk Hogan claiming that Andre the giant weight over 600
pounds yeah look I'm not defending
Hulk Hogan in any way well I kind of was saying I think
Hulk Hogan's lying and I think this listed weight is fake
yeah yeah I agree with that so
Joe writes I'm a huge wrestling fan
and all of us in the wrestling fan community
know that Hulk Hogan is a notorious
and awful liar.
And then he linked to a Reddit thread
of a bunch of things Hulk Hogan has claimed.
And this brought me so much joy
because there are so many crazy things
that Hul Kogan has said
and I distilled them down to just a few.
But I wanted to just go through a few things,
Hulk Hogan.
And I went through and I actually went and found the original
like these are real things.
I've double-checked this.
Starting with
Hulk Hogan claimed that when Metallica
Michael's bassist, Cliff Burton died.
Hulk Hogan was considered as a replacement to be Metallica's basest, but it didn't work out.
Like dad lies.
This is like the 80s version of LeBron now where it's like, oh, I read that book.
Oh, yeah.
No, I'm a huge soccer fan.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
What was your favorite chapter of the book?
I liked all of them.
I liked all of them.
They were all good chapters.
How can you really decide, you know?
Howard Stern asked one of the Metallica guys about this later, and they were like,
who?
Hulk Hogan also said that the director
Darren Aronofsky
offered Hulk Hogan the lead role for the movie
The Wrestler multiple times
and that Hulk Hogan said he turned it down because he didn't deserve it.
And then Daryonovsky's answer was also basically
who?
Not really, he just said he never offered in the part.
Hulke Hogan also said he was offered
that George Foreman grills and missed the call
and the next day they called George Foreman.
I kind of believe that one.
I kind of believe that one too.
but my favorite one of all these
and the reason I wanted
I just thought this was very Craig specific
Craig what's your favorite video ever on the internet
if you could have one internet video
what would you pick?
I don't know if I don't know if I want this one forever
the first one that came to mind is the country boy
I love you I don't know why
I was a billion I thought you were going to say the guy who's like
I got three days in one day you wake up 24 hours
6 a.m. to noon boom
That's day one.
12 to 6, that's day 2.
6 p.m. to midnight, that's day 3.
Over the course of a week, I'm going to kick your butt.
Over the course of a month, you're toast.
Over the course of a year, I'm going to run the world.
So I wanted to read this one to you because I thought of you when I wrote this, Craig.
And I was like, I have to read this other show.
Oh, I love that guy so much.
What's he doing now?
I don't know what that guy is.
He's running the world.
He's like 170 years old.
He's grifting somebody.
So old.
He's dead for decades.
So I thought of you, Craig, because Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that he wrestled
400 days a year.
Okay.
I want to note,
Hulk Hogan did not write
that he wrestles 400 times a year.
Hoke Hogan wrote that he wrestled 400 days a year.
He wrestles eight days a week.
I mean, yeah, look, he lives on an alternate timeline.
Well, he said he did.
Hulk Hogan said because he flew back and forth to Japan so much.
God damn it.
He saved in time.
He would gain 14 hours each time and land yesterday.
So he had way more than 365 days a year.
Kind of genius.
These guys, their schedules were absolutely insane, though.
These guys got like no days off.
If you watch that McMahon talk, they wrestled literally every single day.
Oh my God.
400 days a year is actually a hilarious quote.
It's 400 days a year.
That reminds me, Craig, there was this guy famously.
So I don't remember what airline it was, like Delta or whatever,
that offered like a lifetime first class ticket for,
like whatever if you buy it's like 250k this is like in the 80s
and if you buy it it's like 250k
and then you get unlimited first class tickets for the
for the rest of your life and this guy did it
and like abused it so horribly
it was like he was actually going to like put the company
out of business
he like would fly every day
he would like fly somewhere to go get lunch
he would like bring random people on the plane with them
just to like get them free ticket
he like divorced his wife and abandoned his
children just so he can fly around as much as possible.
He was like when he started running.
Yeah. He was like flying every day.
He's just always flying between L.A. and Tokyo so that he does he just constantly saving time.
He just lives at one time that doesn't move.
After a month, you're toast.
I feel like that's a that's like a subplot of 10.
It is like, well, if you actually fly backwards through the time zones, you can live in between space and time.
I had to explain Tenet to someone the other day
Who had never heard of it
And they were like that sounds dumb
And I was like yeah it was dumb
You know I never saw Tenet
I didn't even
You didn't miss anything
Just talking about
Christopher Nolan film coming out like on streaming
I feel like in the pandemic
I was like it's not gonna hit the same
Okay a bunch of people just got home
And they're all happy and shit like greeting each other
So we should probably get out of here
Thanksgiving
Fuck all this joy
Too much happiness in the world
That's why
Go ruin it for everyone.
It's true.
It's like things we're not thankful for.
Hifitz, go power rank all the people in that room and tell them who you're the least thankful for.
I actually am going to do that right now.
Thank you, D.K.
Thank you, K, thank you, Craig.
Thank you Tucker.
Tuck.
Tuck.
Tuck everlasting.
I don't get that.
Thank you, Carlos.
Thank you, Kai.
Thank you, Ronke Hogan.
Thank you, Austin.
No, Gen X.
Yeah, you got the letters wrong.
Thank you, Lord.
Lord.
Thank you, the naked and the famous.
Don't think I know them.
you would recognize
they have one famous song
that you would recognize for sure
I'm a little worried right now
to Google naked and famous
I'm a little worried
to go to Spotify
naked and famous band
Young was there's
punching in a dream
Is that their big song
Young blood
Young blood's their famous song
Well that's one I know
Lady Gun
Oh no it's just a random website
Never mind
Go to Spotify
Hi Fitz
The naked and the famous
Also known as
Mr.
skin.
Nice.
You want to know what my biggest
nitpick is in movie history is that
in the movie knocked up
Seth Rogan and all of his loser friends
are creating a
website called
I don't even remember what it's called.
It's basically a Mr. Skin.
It might be called naked and famous.
And yet we are supposed to believe
that in this world where all these dudes
do is look up online
photos and watch movies
to find naked women.
that they've never heard of Mr. Skin
because the movie ends with him going,
oh, it turns out Mr. Skin exists.
So like our idea is shit.
They were working on that for years
and they never heard of Mr. Skin?
Yeah, but they're all stoner.
They're all stoner idiots.
Those are the people who subscribe and pay
and watch Mr. Skin.
It's ridiculous.
How would they not know what that is?
No, you're right.
You're right.
Wait, I need to know what the name of their company
is so funny.
Knocked up Mr. Skin company name.
I'm kind of learning what Mr. Skin is right now.
Oh, got it. I figured it out.
You just, you now know what Mr. Skin is?
I, I had never heard of that.
You had never heard of Mr. Skin?
I don't think so.
What?
I mean, I'm now familiar.
Why is it so hard to find this?
I know, what is the name of the Mr. Skin ripoff and knocked up?
Flesh of the stars.
I just, there's no way in hell these guys don't know what Mr. Skin is, but it's all right.
I'm telling you for 10 damn years.
All right.
Goodbye, everyone.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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