The Ringer NFL Show - The Main Characters of the 2021 Season

Episode Date: July 21, 2021

We address the devastating Cam Akers injury news and how it will affect the Rams offense, and then give our thoughts on new Rams starting RB Darrell Henderson before discussing the main characters of the 2021 fantasy season—as explained by quotes from the movie 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.' RB Cam Akers, Rams (1:25) QB Lamar Jackson, Ravens (12:34) QB Aaron Rodgers, Packers (16:56) WR Michael Thomas, Saints (19:11) RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs (22:00) QB Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (26:10) QB Carson Wentz, Colts (32:09) QB Tom Brady, Bucs (38:04) QB Mac Jones, Patriots (41:28) QB Trey Lance, 49ers (44:00) Check out THE RINGER’S 2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT GUIDE Email us! [e-mail] Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nobody knows what's going on, but we watch the Olympics. We just turn on our TVs and become obsessed with sports we haven't thought about in four years. This is why we made the ringer guide to the summer games. I'm your host, Roger Sherman. Each day during the Tokyo Olympics, I'll tell you about a different sport, athlete, or storyline. We'll be releasing new episodes every day starting July 19th. Follow along on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so you know exactly how to watch the Olympics. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show.

I am your host, Danny Hyfitz, and I am joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Whirlbeck. Again, we just want to sit off the top. Our 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Guide is out, so please check it out at Fantasyf Football.com. We're going to have fun today. We're going to go through the main characters of the 2021 fantasy football season,

and we're going to explain them by quotes from forgetting Sarah Marshall. Because why not? Yeah, because we like quoting that movie. Half our show anyways doing that. We were quite the movie so much on Zorro. like when we were just talking to each other, we were like, we should just do the whole show like this. And that's what we're

going to do. Yeah, main characters, movies, it kind of makes sense. So we're going to get to that. But first, Craig, you proclaimed on the last episode that Cam Acres as your bold prediction would be the number one running back of the 2021 fantasy season. He tore his Achilles like 12 hours later.

So would you like to apologize directly to Cam Acres and what do you have to say for yourself? I'm filled with profound sadness. First of all, first and foremost, I'm, I sincerely apologize to Cam Acres. He's my favorite player coming into the season. Not only because of the family. And his family.

His friends. Sean McVeigh, the Rams. Your brother, Sean McVeigh. I'm honestly, like, this can sound like a bit. I'm genuinely sad. Like, I'm genuinely bummed. I was too. I was too.

Not only for like, oh, I thought he was going to be awesome in fantasy, but like just, I don't know. It seems like his career was about to take off. Everyone says he's a great guy. He was my dude. Prior to me even doing Flying Coach, I was all in on Cam Acres in fantasy this year. So this is just all around a horrible, horrible situation.

Yeah, the toughest thing about this, too, is, you know, with Achilles injuries, there's so much uncertainty about what he'll do going forward. This could potentially be a career, not ending, but certainly altering, you know, type of injury where we just don't have, there's a very small sample of top tier, young, top tier running backs who have had this injury. And, you know, very few guys generally speaking, come back to full strength. So it's just you feel. for the guy you really hope, I mean, I really hope that he comes back and is just as strong

or just as fast as an explosive, but it's going to be a process. And, you know, people who have been injured will understand this, like being injured, injured is a psychological battle. It's tough. It's very, you know, it's just really, really hard. And so our hearts go out to Acres, you know, for that. And obviously, it sucks for fantasy because we were very much looking forward to this breakout season. Very shitty timing, man. We got a lot of tweets of people being like, Jesus Christ, you guys killed Cam Amos. This is all Craig's fault. A lot of people got the notification from Adam Schaefter

as they were listening to the podcast. People were listening to Craig's discussion and they see it on their phone. They're like, wow. We got an email from somebody who was like, hey guys, love the draft guide, super awesome design. What's up with the, there's no Cam Acres ranking? I just listened to the show.

I'm all in on Camer's. You had to break it to him. I literally had to email him. I was like, I'm so sorry. Check Adam Shepter's Twitter. Brutal. Well, I also, we were updating the guy after fantasy football dot the ringer.com, and we were updating it. And Riley McAtee, who is running the whole thing, basically, is like, yeah, I'm going to delete Cam Acres and we'll move Darrell Henderson up.

And I was like, wow, delete Camacres. That's like, it didn't really set in for me to leave. It's so quick and brutal. We just immediately move on, you know? It's like, it's terrible. It's like, you lost a goldfish and you just get a new one. I just was like, no, we can't delete Camakers already. I think about that all the time at Tom Brady when he tore his ACL with the Patriots.

with the Patriots and he gave this great interview to SI and he said the feeling set in for him when he went down like he had to walk down the he like he took a golf card off but they need to like awkwardly walk down these steps to the like the MRI room or whatever and he looks out and he sees Matt Castle just take a snap and hand the ball off and they like have to punt and he looks and he thinks himself holy shit they just keep playing without you yeah and it like never set in for him until that moment. It's pretty. It's so weird how the discussions are immediately like,

you check like Roto World, which I think is now NBC Sports Edge or whatever, but like, it's just immediately like, where is Daryl Henderson in your top 20? And it's like, God, fuck. Like, we're already moving on. Yeah, that's true.

So speaking to which, where is Darrell Henderson? Is he in your top 20? D.K. Where is Henderson now? So I believe we moved him up to, correct me if I'm wrong. We moved him up to running back 21, like just behind.

David Montgomery. I think we're not nearly, clearly not nearly as bullish on Henderson as we were on Acres. I think Henderson is much more of a committee type back. However, he's going to be in a really good offense. He's going to be the lead guy. I think there's no question about that. At least right now

based on how the roster is constructed. And, you know, he's going to get the opportunity to score fantasy points. However, I don't think he's going to have the three-down workload that we were projecting for Cam Acres. It's just, he doesn't seem like that type of guy. He's a little bit smaller. It's one of those things where I think we're bullish on him generally, but he's nowhere near the stratosphere of Acres. So, yeah, so we have him 46th overall right now in half PPR.

So, Craig, you're the, you're the McVe whisperer. Do you think, so, I mean, I think there was a lot of speculation that Acres was going to get more of like the three down workload. Do you think Henderson could get the three down workload or is this like more of the Lance Dunbar is just like lead back thing? I kind of think the latter. I think the reason why they got Cam Acres is because they didn't believe Darrell Henderson could be the three-down guy. So I think Xavier Jones

or Our Man Funk. Or honestly, my guess would be, I know McVeigh said that they're not going to bring in a veteran, at least not right now, but I think like a Duke Johnson type probably makes sense. Although, you know, Darryl Henderson... Our Man Funk is Mike Funk Davis,

but they also actually have a running back on the rims actually named Jake Funk. Correct. So one thing you could say, though, is Henderson is a capable receiver, so maybe you say they bring in somebody like Adrian Peterson like a bruiser between the tackles guy but I don't think Darrell Henderson

was going to be you know like that David Montgomery type of last year where he just was on the field the entire game I don't see that he's also just had a bunch of injuries man like Darrell Henderson's just like he came out of a bunch of games last year he ended on a sprained like a high ankle sprain and then he also had some injury at OTAs that like hobbled him

it wasn't like super disclosed I think it was a hamstring thing yeah yeah we don't know what like the status of that is entering training camp. We'll find out obviously in like a week, but it just, he just has never a guy that's fully right. And that's exactly the kind of guy that isn't just going to randomly get a three-down workload. You mentioned Xavier Jones. So he's an undrafted free agent from last year, but they really liked him. And it's kind of rare, but he just stuck on the 53 man roster as an undrafted dude. I feel like he might even have, I almost would rather have Xavier Jones with like the 130th pick than Darrell Henderson with the 46th pick.

Yeah. And that might be weird to say, but I just feel like Jake Funk is more of, of a rotational guy with special teams, all the other running backs are special teams, that Xavier Jones is the guy who actually could be the, holy crap, why is he a top 15 running back? But I like him as a sleeper, honestly. I don't know if he's a sleeper anymore, but... He, to me, is kind of the most intriguing guy.

You know, obviously, Henderson, there's a strong chance he ends up, you know, leading the backfield and getting the most touches. However, I think it's in the realm of possibility that they just lean on, you know, this Xavier Jones guy. instead as the lead guy and then Henderson kind of plays the role that he played last year where he's a change of pace slasher get involved in the passing game type deal.

I went back and watched some Xavier Jones tape yesterday. Honestly, his tape is pretty impressive. He was a productive guy at SMU. He was undrafted and we don't really know much about him because he didn't test. He didn't get invited at a combine. He didn't have a pro day. And because of the pandemic, he did not play in the preseason. So we don't know anything about this guy other than.

what he did in college. 23 touchdowns at SMU? How do you not get invited to the combine with 23 touchdowns? I don't know. There's always combine snubs. I mean, there's always combine snubs. I don't know exactly why he didn't get invited.

But I think there's just, you know, he clearly was the guy that they liked. He kept him on the roster. Aaron Donald pointed him out last year as a guy who was standing out in the OTAs and training camp or whatever they were doing preseason. So there's that little tidbit. That's kind of interesting.

But for the most part, again, like we don't know anything about him. Jake Funk is a seventh-round guy. He didn't really do a lot in college. He's a very explosive athlete. But, you know, I see the type of guy that they're going to lean on for lead, like lead back duties, highly doubtful. So, yeah, I think right now just sort of like Jones looks to me like the favorite to be sort

of the one B, I guess, with Darrell Henderson or the backup to Darrell Henderson, and he's worth kind of like a flyer. But we really won't know, like we mentioned before until the season. And if they pick up a veteran, they sign, you know, Duke Johnson or. or Adrian Peterson and whoever, they, you know, there's still a lot of information that needs to happen. So on that note about the free agents they might sign. So Duke Johnson's probably the best running back left in the market.

It's kind of ridiculous, though. He's a receiving back less than a running back. They've also got, I mean, they've got the old guys who are all just dusted, like Adrian Peterson and like, you know, Todd Gurley, who is not going back to the rims. I don't think that would be shocking. Sean McCoy.

Like, they're like big names that are all dusted. Todd Gurley's not old. He's 26. All right, sorry, he's not old. He's dusted. Yeah. He's dusted. His knees are old.

is that poor guy. I will say, I think if anything, this news just tells me that the Rams are going to go even more pass heavy. There's going to be the bills. They're just going to run it eight times a name.

I want to just say that they might sign someone, but there's preseason this year. And I, you know, I know we don't give a shit that the preseason was canceled last year. That was like the least,

who cares. It was the easiest thing to give to the 2020 monster. But the coaches love preseason because they want to see who the other teams cut and then they add that guy as to their practice squad or as their 503rd.

guy. And I think that's what the Rams are going to do. I think they're going to wait for cutdowns. And they'll probably sign some running back the last week before the season. And that guy might just strictly play special teams or he could be in the rotation. But I think it might be like straight up a month before they sign someone. But I also think they will. The biggest, yeah. So like at the end of the day, the biggest takeaway I think is this is like a bump for Stafford Cup, Woods and Higbee more than. I mean, obviously like it's a huge boost for Anderson, but I'm not necessarily sure, you know, that they're going to, like, make him the feature, feature back. So, yeah, yeah.

All right, so there we go. RAPKMakers, Craig, it is 100% your fault. And I hope you send them in like a fruit basket or something kind. I don't know. Yeah. I'm not going to talk about any other players anymore. Yeah, just don't. No more players.

That's good idea. Just keep it to yourself from now on. All right. Let's get to sort of forgetting Sarah Marshall. We're just going to explain a bunch of fantasy main characters this season of forgetting Sarah Marshall quotes. We're just going to do it. Yeah, these are the water cooler.

guys of the season, you know? The guys just keep coming up. Leave the conversations when you're talking with your buddies about fantasy this year. And actually, while we're on the Rams, I feel like the Rams just kind of, the entire Rams system is described by forgetting Sarah Marshall, like the whole off season, just kind of works. Yeah, it's really forgetting Sean McVeigh for Jared Gough, right? It's just like, Jared Gough is Jason Siegel, just like, oh my God.

Like, all they need is for them to run into each other at a hotel for that to truly just be the plot of the movie. Where is McVeigh and Stafford Wirt Hotel. It literally is Well, Gough needed to be there. Goff should have been like, right after Gough got traded, he should have been like,

fuck, I'm going to go to Cabo or something. I don't know who the Bill Hader is in this situation. Is it Blake Bordles, some other quarterback? Just go to Hawaii, man. Blake Portles. Oh, my God. It's perfect. I guess Dan Campbell can be like the Milakunis.

I don't know. Okay, so main characters, we're just going to go through quotes and we're just going to describe fantasy players. D.K., you want to go first? All right, so, legitimately one of my favorite quotes from this movie or any movie ever is when Jonah Hill's character goes up to Aldous Snow

who's played by Russell Brand, the rock star guy. And he's like, oh, did you get to listen to my CD? Did you get it? Did you like it? And Aldous Snow is like, oh, no, yeah, I was going to listen to that. But then I just, what about, I just carried on living my life. And it's like just so perfect delivery. It's also like maybe my first.

favorite just line of any movie ever. And to me, that speaks... I just carried on living my life. I just carried on living my life. I have a question for you real quick, Mr. S. I was actually mean to ask you, what did you exactly think of my demo? Did you get it?

Did you get it? Oh, no. I was going to listen to that, but then I just carried on living my life. That one, to me, is Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson is the star, one of the superstars of the NFL season. none of his past catchers are.

Whenever I see his patch catchers on draft cues or whatever, I'm just like, I'm just going to carry on living my life. I'm not taking those players. Well, everyone's like, yeah, the Ravens are going to pass more this year. And it's like, ah. Yeah, I was going to take those guys, but then I just carried on living my life.

I just like, I don't know. It's one of those things where I just still can't get excited about it. I really want that team to be more pass-heavy and be more efficient. and like I want to have faith that Lamar Jackson is going to take a big leap as a passer which I think he will eventually

but also just not doing it. Need to see it first. I don't want to pick at the scab but you were the Marquise Brown guy so you don't even like Marquis Brown I feel like everyone's down on Marquis Brown now. Yeah, I don't know I'm out on Marquise Brown at this point. I've kind of like I feel like I've

given a lot to the Marquise Brown fandom, the Marquise Brown hype train. Are you so you're selling your stock? Completely. Wow. I mean, I think, honestly, at this point in time, like, he's probably priced appropriately,

which we've got him, you know, like 90th overall, wide receiver 41 in half PVR. So he's a doubtful collection. That's appropriate. He's like a wide receiver three, four, and you can feel good about that, but like anything more and it's wishful thinking, maybe. Does this include Mark Andrews at tight end?

It does. It does. It's one of those things where the Mark Andrews range, of tight ends, I'd just rather would take like a receiver or something like that. I'm just like, I don't want to like Mark Andrews not to mention the whole passing thing from Lamar Jackson like Andrews couldn't catch a fucking ball

last year. It's a top combo. It's just like so frustrating. And it's also I think Andrews is going to be one of those guys who scores three touchdowns in one game and then like one target in the next game and it's like you never really know what's going to happen. Tight end position sucks. I'd rather take a chance on

you know a later round guy like a Hunter Henry or Johnny Smith or something like that, then invest like a mid-round pick in Mark Andrews. Has there been a quarterback that you guys can remember that has potentially been the number one, two or three guy taken off the board who doesn't have a receiver that you would take in the top. This is the flip side to the rushing thing

of like, oh, we like Lamar and Kyler for the rushing, and it's like, oh, do you want any one of the Cardinals or then DeAndre Hopkins? And you're like, oh, what? You want a different guy? It's crazy to think about. It's the opposite of the typical thing where you're really excited about receivers.

Like you've got three receivers you love, and then we have the quarterback to that receiver ranked really low. Like it's the Ben Rothesberger corollary or whatever, you know what I mean? Like he's, for whatever reason, we all, like I think we all like Deontay Johnson, Claypool, and Juju,

and yet we like hate Ben Rathesberger this year. We like Deontay Johnson because he is in this horrible PPR society that we've built with the suspicion trophies. But as long as they just keep using Deontz for these two-yard slants, then yeah, he could leave the league and catches.

This is the reality we live in, High Fitz, yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's kind of like everyone gets their Jeff Bezos jokes off and like,

you know what, you still gotta use Amazon. Like, you know what? Like, that's just how it's gonna work. I'm sorry to break it everyone. All right. So, I'm just thinking about Markey's Brown

and like, did you listen to my day? Did you get it? Did you get it? Did you get it? Wait, the other one, quietly,

I think the more I watch this movie, the more Kudu is like the funniest character in the movie to be. with Paul Red. And the thing where they're surfing, and Cooney's like, hey man,

when life hands your lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail. Peter's like, yeah, man, totally. Hey, here's the deal. When life gives you lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail. Yeah, no,

you said it. Totally. I was like, that is Aaron Rogers. That is the whole sitch in a nutshell. Fuck the lemons and bail. And we've talked a lot about Rogers. I don't want to like,

I don't want to go on. I just want to say, like, if Roger shows up next week, I think Devante Adams is my number one receiver. I think Aaron Jones is going to fly up my rankings. And if he doesn't come, it's going to be chaos,

man. Like, this is going to be nuts. Like, at this point, we're a week out. I don't think we have to, like,

prognosticate anymore. It's just something's going to happen, and these guys are going to shoot up or shoot down. And I don't know, but we'll see. This one is like legitimately perfect in my mind. Like, Rogers,

it would not surprise me in three years if Rogers is living the Kunu lifestyle, where he's just like a surf instructor in Hawaii with like his wife. You know, they went to Hawaii, like recently. Yeah, for OTAs with the minicamp. Yeah, with Miles Teller. Chilling out. You said Miles Teller? Yeah, it was Miles Teller.

Hey, let's go surfing. You know, like, I just think he's, he's, and also like when Life Hansy Lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail. Like literally, Adam Schaefter reported yesterday that, or two days ago, that the Packers offered Aaron Rogers the highest contract of any player in the NFL whatever that means. We don't know the guaranteed money. That's not news. I was so mad about

the whole cycle. But also, yeah, like, whatever. He's, it's not about the money to him. When life is offering him lemons, he's saying, fuck the lemons. He's not, he's not a numbers guy. He's just like Kunu, and Peter's like, how old are you? And he's like, I don't know, man. I don't really keep track of that anymore. But I guess if you had to say, I'm

44, fuck. Roger's highest paid play? I'm not a numbers guy, man. I stopped wearing a watch because my phone has a clock on it. Oh, my God. Rogers is Kudu. Saying he's into aliens. That's perfect.

So I think the next major storyline, I couldn't help but create this parallel in my head of, you know, the Saints, right? We obviously have this new quarterback era in New Orleans. And you got a feel for Michael Thomas, right? You know, catching passes from one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. and now has to go to Taysam Hill and James Winston. So one of my favorite parts of forgetting Sir Marshall is the Dracula musical. And the opening line of the musical is Peter singing in his vampire voice going, It's getting kind of hard to believe things are going to get better.

And that's Michael Thomas, man. That poor guy wakes up. When does he do the laugh? I forget. The middle of the song. It's getting kind of hard to believe. Things are going to get better. I've been drowning too long to believe that the tide's going to turn. The ball, you know, James sales went over his head and he goes,

it's getting kind of part. Oh, boy. Well, it's like, like, my box went from, like, James and the 30-30 to Brady, who, like, doesn't turn the ball over. And I think it's quietly we're forgetting that now the saints are going from, like, the other all-time leader in all the categories back to James. it's also rough not just for Michael Thomas but for Alvin Camara who actually might be in a worse position because I think Taysom is not going to check down he's going to run he's going to run he's going to take off yeah or whatever and James Winston is like famously the most aggressive downfield thrower in the NFL just like fuck it triple coverage I'm tossing it in there so maybe he's not going to dump it off quite as much to Alvin Camara and Camara's like I think Camara is getting the worst end of this than Thomas because Tom is Thomas is still going to get his volume,

but Camara might never be involved in the passing game again. You know, the more I have stewed or let Craig's, we're not worried enough about Camara take, marinate, the more it's really bothering me. Yeah. It really is. The idea that, like,

at the end of the day, there's just a name that has always been productive, whose circumstances are not completely different, but feel very different. And we're just like, it'll be fine. He's so good. Fourth, like every other year.

It's hard to give up on him. I'm thinking about it. Like, if I would draft Camara third over Derek Henry, Zique, whatever, and then like three weeks in, the Saints are just terrible. I'll feel so dumb. Like, so stupid. Yeah, and not only that. Like, it's not like you can at least rely on him getting 25 touches a game.

Like, that's not happening. Like, at least Zeeck's going to get 20 carries. Not to mention Tassim Hill's going to be the Red Zone something. It's all really scary. All right, D.K., want to go next? Yeah. So, uh, the next thing. one for me is Clyde Edwards-Alair for the Chiefs. Last year, you know, obviously we were,

we were pretty heavy on touting Edwards-Alear. The history of running backs in the Andy Reed offense is very strong. We thought things were just going to be amazing. Everyone said he was Brian Westbrook, and we forgot that Brian Westbrook did not have a good rookie year. Right. Correct. Correct. So sorry about that, number one. The line, going back, going right back to Kunu on this one. He's like, there's a point where they're surfing. And he's essentially like, if you get bitten by a shark, you're not going to just give up surfing, are you? And Peter's like, uh, yeah, probably. And I'm like, to me, this is the Edwards-Ailera question is if you've gotten bit by that shark, if you gotten bitten by that shark, you're not just going to give up surfing, are you?

You're not going to give up on Clyde Edwards-Layer after one year, are you? D.K., I have another parallel from this movie for Clyde that I thought of when I'm when I'm going to give up. I was watching it. Yeah. Because like you said, all the reasons we liked Clyde last year are still in play this year. Nothing's changed.

Right. And not drafting him, like could be like a huge missed opportunity. So I can't help but think of the line where Jonah Hill gives Russell Brand his demo and goes, you don't want to be that guy sitting there watching BBC and saying,

oh, I saw that guy. He was my way eh. And I totally dismissed him like everyone else does. Now he's a major, major influence on me now. That could be all of us if we let Clyde pass. Because you know what? You don't want to be the guy sitting there

watching BBC and saying, oh, I saw that guy. He was my waiter and I totally dismissed him like everyone else does in his life.

And I totally, she was wrong because he's a major, major, major influence on me now and I feel terrible. No, I agree, though, because it's like,

dude, I was out on Clyde last year before the season just because, I was thinking Damie Williams was going to take a lot of touches. And then Damien Williams opted out and we were like, ah, fuck it, let's just go on it and collide. And then he got the goal line touches,

and then he couldn't convert. And then they just didn't, they just didn't give him the role we thought he was going to get. And now it's like, he's had the whole off season. Like, they did spend a first run picking on him. It's like,

why is everyone out on him? Like, including us, like we're, I mean, we kind of moved him down 15 spots. We've got him in the mid-20s now. We were,

people refused to like deviate from the first and impression. We just can't imagine the idea of him getting better or getting a bigger role. I'm starting to think that Clyde is more of a value. I think that there's a question right now, because at the end of the day, rankings, it's more about the tiers. And we have tiers on the draft guide if you click on the positions. And I think that the tiers, it's like, is Clyde part of the tier of the tier with like Miles Sanders, DeAndre Swift, Josh Jacobs, David Montgomery, J.K. Dobbins, or is he part of the tier with like Joe Mixing, or maybe not mixing, but like Gibson, Nagy Harris, Aaron Jones.

And like, I feel like the more I think about this, it's like he's in that higher tier. He's not with those lower guys to me. The end of the day, he's still one of the, like the chiefs, it's still Kelsey, Tyree Kill and then Clyde in what should, like, will always be the best offense

as long as Mahomes is healthy. Yeah, didn't we make a joke that like Clyde should be his own tier? We did, actually, when we had the meeting, we were like, Cliard's his own tier. Three and a half. I think, yeah, we had an impassioned discussion, argument about where to put him. I ultimately was like very strongly, we need to put him in that Gibson, Harris,

mix in Echler, Jones, Taylor, Chub, tier, especially in half PPR. Imagine him on somebody else's fantasy team three years from now, and you're going, wow, he's a major, major influence on him. Wow, he didn't make an immediate impact as a rookie. Wow. You know, it's Jonah Hill. No wonder Jonah Hill wasn't just going to break out, right? He's this waiter selling weed at this weird beach restaurant.

He needed a year. I can't sell you weed. because I'm at my place of employment, which you know because you called me at it. Jeremy. All right, what's next? The Steelers have to be one of the focal points of this 2021 season. They have so much offensive firepower.

But the man throwing them the football is the one that is probably the most controversial player on that team. And I can't help but think about when Sarah Marshall is talking about why she broke up with Peter. She goes, Peter, I couldn't take care of you anymore. There was a week where you wore the same sweatpants for seven straight days. And it shows Peter and he's like eating cereal out of a frisbee. He's like, you shall not pass.

That's been Ben for the last five years. You didn't want to see the light of day. God, there was one week when you wore sweatpants every day. You shall not. That's Ben's off-season regimen. Ben right now where he's like, Ben right now is like, I'm on this diet. It's like when Peter's like on the phone, she's like, he has this huge bowl of cereal. She's like, what are you eating?

He's like, what am I eating? A salad. Salad. By the way, I think there was a picture circulating of Big Ben today where he's like, coming in. He's like wearing like a pretty tight fitting shirt. Is that like Bill different or something? Yeah, it's a different.

You know, like I don't, I'm not, I never would want to shame a man for trying to get healthy. Never. It's better late than never. Has it been effective? Like Craig, Craig threw out like he lost maybe five pounds. Five pounds on a 280 pound person isn't going to like he's not too 80. Better late than never. What does he wait? Maybe he did it. But here's the thing. I don't want to let the diet thing overshadow easily. I don't want to let this overshadow the real quote of Ben's off season, which is last year, he said my elbow, I feel healthy because he had surgery and like three of the five elbow ligaments. And he's like, I feel healthier than I've ever had in my past, like eight years.

It feels great. I feel like I'm 30 again, basically. And then this year, he was asked, why did you play so bad last year? And he's like, you know, it was probably the elbow surgery, but no excuses. Probably the fact I had my elbow, like, reconstructed. Is it that crazy to believe that perhaps he was lying about his health last year and now he's actually healthy? Perhaps he was.

Well, no. All right. So if I can I, I'll just make the case briefly for. Ben actually telling the truth this time. And they actually is better, is that there's this quarterback trainer named Tom House who works with Brady and Drew Brees and all the good quarterbacks. And he's like a pitcher, and he's a big believer that all motions are basically the same.

Pitching and baseball, throwing in football, golf, it's all fundamental in the same mechanics. And that the same way pitchers have pitch counts, quarterbacks need pitch counts. We never think about this, but they need it. And the same way pitchers shouldn't just be throwing constantly off-season, he has changed how older quarterbacks throw in that Brady breathe. They're not picking up a ton

of footballs in the off season. Ben does this too. But after the elbow surgery, he had to throw a lot to heal like the elbow to get it to know it was right. And so this offseason he didn't throw at all. And there is something to that that last off season

you could, because he was throwing in the offseason, maybe his arm faded down the stretch in a way that he will be have more arm stamina at this off. That is to me the like that. the path. Yeah, it's what they call dead arm,

right, in baseball. You're essentially saying Ben had dead arm. I think it's possible. I mean, I take your silence as like,

that's not convincing to either of you. No, I actually do think, I've been on the train, I think, that he's not going to be nearly as bad as everyone thinks.

Well, you know what's funny? It's like he wasn't bad last year. He got fig, no, he got exposed. Like, let's be real.

What happened was they went 11 and 0. They almost lost to the Ravens on that fucking, sorry to curse, but like the Thursday, the Thanksgiving game, that got postponed to Wednesday,

and the Ravens lost, but they had none of their good players, and all the defensive ends started jumping up and batting the passes down. Washington watched that the next week, and Chase Young all but admitted, once they saw the game plan, which was, you're not going to sack him, so all the pass rush and then jump up, and then that'll disrupt the timing,

and then all the cornerbacks just play tight press. Don't worry about getting beat deep, because he's not going to hold the ball long enough and he doesn't have the arm strength to beat deep. So you jump up to bat the passes, you press at the line of scrimmage, that's why they won like two games the rest of the year. They had no game plan once that was done.

But I mean, you're right. I mean, the end of the year definitely changed and people started to figure him out. But like him in general, like if you just look at the raw statistics, like he was good. He had like 33 touchdowns, 10 picks. He had one of the highest touchdown interception ratios of his career. Like he was a productive quarterback. Like I don't know why. Did he leave the league in pass attempts?

No, I don't think so. they passed a shit time. It wasn't the most of his career as a Steeler. They threw it 675 times in 2018. The only threw it 608 times in 2020. So it wasn't the most of his career. He had 608. Matt Ryan had 6.26.

But he had 608 in 15 games. He wasn't Peytony noodle arm. Yeah, right. That's correct. The whole offense is just, I don't want to do this like every episode at this point, but it's like the whole offense is just built around he can't move. I don't think he can really go into center and drop back anymore

because he doesn't want to do, he doesn't want his back to like to the offense. He wants to play action. He wants to see it. sorry, he doesn't want to play action. He wants to see everything in shotgun, but that just limits the whole offense. I don't know.

Yeah, it's basically, I'm curious how Matt Canada can, like, with this brand new offensive line, there's going to be a lot of growing pains. Maybe they'll be the opposite of last year and we'll start slow and finish strong. I guess it's just the other quarterbacks who are playing in shotgun so much,

or Pistol, or Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray and guys that, like, can just run immediately. Yeah, but it's hot girl summer now for Ben, so maybe he'll be ready. Yeah, we can move on. All right. I'll give you, can I give you guys another, another quote? Yeah, please do.

There's just, there was, I just kept thinking of Carson Wentz, like throughout. Like, I just kept thinking, one, you know, like toward the end when Jason Siegel's like, I've been with her for five years. And then Russell Brand's like, oh, you got four on me, mate. He's like, what? That to me was like, I was thinking about Carson Wentz and Jalen Hertz. they were just like What? Are you kidding me?

And then I also was thinking of like a bad cross sweats When Kudu's trying to teach he's the single to swim And he's on the board he's like, do more No, do less Too much, do less Now you're not doing anything at all I was like that's the Eagles trying to fix

You gotta do more than that's the Eagles Try to fix wets last year And then he just is like, I'm not going to play in week 17 He's like, now you're not doing anything at all Pop up Nope, too slow, do less Pop up Pop up

too you're doing too much do less pop down pop up now stop get down get down there remember don't do anything Carson just just do less that's exactly what the Colts are going to try and do with Wednesdays here is like famously tries to do too much he like tries to throw passes when guys are draped on his back and he's like you know being chased down from behind he tries to like fit these passes into triple coverage and gets picked it's like just do less man just do less you're doing too much but on that note you just mentioned how it's like we like Lamar, sorry, D.K., you were saying how we like Lamar, but we don't really want his receivers.

To me, this is Wentz. It's not like we like Wentz for fantasy, but other than Detroit, who has like Brashad Perriman and Tyrell Williams plus T.J. Hawkinson, is there any team that's getting like less love for their past catching options that the cults? It's like Jonathan Taylor's going really high in drafts. And then it's

like T. Yilton and Michael Pitts are just like afterments. Pitman. Pitman. There you go. That's, see, afterthoughts. As I said. I literally just, we talk about Kyle Pitts so much. I just screwed it up, even though I'm in a league with all kids who went to USC. We're going to murder me for that. But so is T.Y. Hilton, should we be thinking of T.Y. Hilton as like this guy who was kind of toast for the first half of the year and then was decent actually for the end of the year? Or is it Michael Pittman breakout season,

D.K.? Or just ignore both of these guys? So I would say T. Yilton is maybe like a little bit safer as a reliable fantasy like wide receiver 3 slash flex or something like that. I think Pittman has much more upside. That's actually what and that's why we have him ranked quite a bit higher than TY like a full round higher.

And I think it's just like he showed flashes of it last year, especially run after the catch, very athletic. But he's got like the size, he's an alpha profile type receiver where he's like big, strong, physical in the red zone, all that stuff.

Alpha profiles. just a funny term. In theory, it is. In theory, he's the type of receiver I think that Wentz would like where you throw it up to him,

you throw it into tight coverage and go up and get it. Versus, and I remember, so there was some discussion when Wentz was traded for, when the Colts traded for Wentz coming in,

how he just wasn't very good and not really willing to play the short, quick game where you throw in like these slants over the middle of the field. And that's like a big part of, what Paris Campbell was doing last year for the Colts before he got hurt,

where you're trying to get him yards after the catch, you're trying to get him in space. Like, that's just not once his game. Like, he's much more like push the ball to the outside or whatever, push it into coverage. So that's another reason. I think that I'm a little more bullish on Pittman just because he has the size to play outside, the profile to play outside versus, you know, Campbell, who has been injured pretty much his entire career,

and he's been much more of a, he's not a gadget player, but he's much more of like a run after the catch, give him the ball in space and let him let his athleticism take over. He was never much of a deep threat in college. So I think that's the reason. But the big overall arching point is we don't know really what any of these guys are going to do.

And so they're ranked significantly lower probably than they might end up performing, but we just don't know who it's going to be. Yeah, I just can't shake the feeling that like if Michael Pittman comes back and it's just good, you're like, oh yeah, we liked everything about this guy, Carson Wentz had a terrible 2020 for a dumpster fire organization, went back to the coach he had success with. He's not like as good as he was in 2017, but he's better.

And we're like, why are none of these guys going quite as high as we think? It just feels like there's the uncertainty is clouding the upside. Yeah, I would say that the Colts are probably one of the most upside-filled teams this season that no one really cares about. I mean, a lot of these, a lot of these breakout wide receivers come from second year wide receivers. who saw a decent target share in their rookie year. And, like, that's Michael Pittman. And, like, T.Y. was really good down the stretch. Like, both these guys can be really valuable players.

And if Carson wants, he just has to be average. And I think these guys are going to, like, over-deliver. The other one's, like, Paris Campbell. But, like, Paris Campbell's not the same kind of receiver. D.K., you know more about prospects. Like, correct me if I'm wrong. But Paris Campbell is a guy that caught a lot of his passes around the line of scrimmage. He's a guy that you have to design to get the ball in space,

which always sounds great in theory. But in reality, that's, like, more valuable to, an NFL team where like you can have them going it's like not a decoy but it's kind of like a hybrid of like a it's not like someone who's reliable Curtis Samuel ask yeah yeah Curtis Samuel esk where you're like well you'd rather have DJ more over the last few years it's not Curtis Samuel to me it's like Paris Campbell seems like a guy you want because he ran like a really 427 yeah he's like an elite athlete and he's got good size he's like over six foot I think like 200 plus pounds he's a big guy he's like kind of DJ more size but he's but he just seems hurt a lot doesn't

seem to have the same technical skills as Michael Pittman. I just feel like Pittman is the guy kind of won Indy. All right. So next on a list. And this is a really long quote. So I'm just going to let Craig play the clip. But it's about Tom Brady. And

the fact that I'm basically starting to like Tom Brady, which is just my worst nightmare. I hated him for so many reasons for so long. But I'm starting to like him. Here's the clip. I wanted to tell you, I was listening to Sarah's iPod. other day and amidst the interminable dross that's on that thing I found one

track that I quite like so I checked what it was and it was actually one of yours and it kind of reminded me of a dark gothic Neil Diamond that's like exactly what I'm going for right yeah fuck fuck you're cool it's so hard to say because I hate you in so many ways but whatever I can see why Sarah likes you. It's like basically right on. Like now all of a sudden Tom Brady, he's out of the shadow. He's out of the Patriots organization where he has to be

serious all the time. He's actually having fun. I know he doesn't actually run his Twitter account, but his Twitter account is funny as hell. It's like it. That is so important. I know he doesn't run it and yet I like that he let someone else do that. Yeah, he's willing to let someone do that. By the way. Fuck it. Let's be weird. I don't care. This gets underrated.

Him fucking throwing the Lombardi trophy to an Another boat in the Super Bowl parade is an all-time fucking great moment. He was blackout. Did you see him walking? There's no way you remember that when you're walking like that. His whole family's like, don't do it, dad. Like he just shucks.

His young daughter was like, Daddy, no. He threw the Lombardi trophy. It was probably like 100 plus feet of water. Like they would have to get the diving teams out to get that thing back. His White House speech was pretty funny. Yeah. I don't know. I'm starting to.

freaking like Tom Brady. I don't know how it makes me feel. I don't necessarily think it's a good thing. You're cool. It's so hard to say because I like hate you in so many ways. You know, I've already compared this. I've already compared Rogers to Jamie Lannister so I got to chill, but he's having a Jamie Lannisher like, what? I can't believe I kind of like this guy now. Totally. His character, his character arc. Yeah. It's crazy. No, but anyway, regardless, I think Tom Brady honestly is likeable now. And I'm on this team with like Bruce Ariens, who's a fun coach, like, No biscuit, no biscuit. You know, he wears his cangles. He's got exceedingly bright red skin, which I can relate to. Looks like he's the one who went to space and got sunburn. Yeah.

I don't know. This is just a weird character arc thing. But you have to respect it. It's like the same way that you respect Aldous Snow for his sexual prowess. Like there's a point in the movie where Peter's like, man, how do you do that? Multiple girls at the same time. He's like, yeah, it is a gift. I love when Jack McBridehryor is like, no, we don't have sex because of our religion.

He's like, oh, that's great. God should be involved in lovemaking. God should be a part of the sexual experience. If you can involve the anus, this ideal. All this snow. So in the same way, you kind of hate all this snow because he's the villain sort of at the beginning of the movie. At the end, you're like, all this snow's the greatest.

He's like, ah, that's my limo driver. I'm going to have sex with her. He's just out of control. To stick with the Patriots theme with Brady here, I can't help but think with Belichick and Norma Mac Jones. This could apply to either of them. him, but I love when Jason Segal is talking to Milakouns at the start, and he just finds out Sarah Marshall's there, and she's walking up, and he goes, is she coming?

And Milakun is like, yeah, and he's like, fuck, I wish I wasn't wearing this fucking shirt. And I just got to imagine, Belichick or Mac Jones running into Brady or like, when they play, and Mac Jones is like, is he coming? I wish I wasn't wearing this fucking shirt. I wish I wasn't wearing this fucking jersey. I was wearing this Mac Jones. Did she see me?

Uh-huh. Does she come over here? Yep. I wish I wasn't wearing this fucking shirt. Fair enough. Why don't you try to unbuttoning? Oh, God. The Patriots play...

Week four. The Buccaneers. Oh, yeah. Week four. October 3rd. Who is it more awkward for? Mac Jones to have a conversation with Brady or Belichick? Belichick?

A hundred million percent, Bill Belichick. Yeah. Do you think Bill Belichick feels more awkward or Mac Jones, though? You know, it's funny you say that. I actually was watching the Belichick Sabin. HBO doc like the other night and the way

Belichick interacts with the camera crew is like he clearly wants something and he's literally like please like it's supposed to be all access and the first thing that happens is he walks in like give us some privacy

is like yeah I think it'd be better if you left and like you want us to go like we'll leave the mic I think it'd be better if you left and he just he was so awkward that I think he does feel awkward

all the time and just deals with it all he knows is football he's not a big social guy. Even though I've heard he's really... I don't think so, no. But I actually have heard that I've heard he's a great dude to like hang with. Like when he's truly like separating himself from a coach, he's like a fun time to have a beer with.

So I don't know. Maybe even Brady have had some great times. Yeah. Yeah, I still think that that's as awkward as it gets is going to be when human, especially if the box roll the paths. Like that's going to be crazy. I love the idea of Bill Belichick and Mack Jones walking up to Brady. And Belichick's being like, oh,

hi Peter like how are you and then mac Jones is the eldest snow and he's like i lost this shoe it's like this one but it's like his fellow not like an evil twin but like his friend anyone seen that exact opposite and bellichick's like shut up mac Jones you're ruining this a whole year uh wait while we're on the love triangle shit the other one i like the other one i couldn't help but think of I thought of Kyle. I thought of Kyle Shan had in the Niners twice during this. Once when Kudu's teaching him to swim,

he's like, I want you to ignore your instincts. I am your instincts. I'm like, that's how Kyle Shannon coach's quarterbacks. Like, I am your instincts. But the better one was when he's like stabbing the pig.

He's like, I'm sorry. I'm like, I feel like that was him just act Nixon, Jimmy Jay at the draft. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't make me do this.

Stabbing Jimmy. as he drafts Tray Lance. I'm sorry. Are you crying? Who do you guys think if Jimmy G's the quarterback versus Trey Lance is the quarterback? Who's better for the skill players on the Niners? That's a good question actually. I think short term, it's probably like Jimmy probably

got safety at quarterback, right? Yeah. Well, certainly for the receivers I think and then like you have to ask the question. I think there's a chance that Trey Lance helps make this run game really, really elite. Like the same way we've seen Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hertz or whatever, they can change the math for the defense. But he's also going to be stealing goal line carries,

probably, and stealing carries period. And so there's, yeah, there would be an argument that, like, Lance is worse for both the receivers and the running backs in year one. If he's a good elite, like, efficient passer in the future, clearly I think that the ceiling is higher. Because Jimmy G, I think there's a ceiling with Jimmy G. An extension of this is how he's,

feel about the Niners past catchers? Because Brandon Ayuk was pretty fantastic last year, but it was when George Kittle and Debo Samuel were both out hurt. And there's one is, do you think Ayuk is in the mold of the rookie guy who was pretty good that could take a big leap in year two? Do you think he's in the mold of someone who could step back

because he thrived when he was alone? Or is it kind of like overthinking it because it's not like Debo Samuel and George Kittle are guarantees to be on the field anyway. Right. Yeah, that's tough. I mean, you can't predict. You cannot predict.

injuries, but if anything, I would just say, there's a good chance he just takes a leap and becomes this, like the alpha. Like you go back to the alpha thing. Alpha profile? He's got the alpha profile. He's used on downfield routes. He might score 10 touchdowns. Remember he leaped over the Eagles defender last year, which was sneakly one of the most fun plays

of the year? Yeah. So, Iuke, everything about Iuke's rookie season. I saw that, um, Matt Harmon does reception, perception. He, and Iyuk was good against man coverage, which is also, is always, like a good indicator that this guy can get open he can get off the line, all that stuff. Yeah, because that means like

it's literally just you versus a corner and you beat him. Yeah, and I think Ayuk is just straight up good. He had a crazy stretch. He averaged 100 yards a game pretty much five weeks in the middle of the season. Yeah, he was unbelievable. I think there's a solid chance the volume is going to go down, probably.

But what's up? We have Ayukukuk at 56. We have Debo Samuel at 71 and we have George Kiddell at, I lost it, I'm sorry, we have George Kittle at 25. You have to take one of those three players at that number, which would you,

who do you like the most? Good question. George Kill at 25, DBO at 56, or, sorry, you get 56 and DBO at 71. Are you looking at PPR? Yeah, I'm sorry, this is full PPR. Okay, um, man, that's tough. It's Kittle.

Yeah, I probably, I don't know. I probably lean Kittle. Because, like, the positional value that you get being that much better than, like, the next, the fourth guy or whatever. I think he's a tight in three. I think the value jump you get there is significant. Whereas Iuke, he's in that tier with a lot of guys that you could take in that area and feel good about it. How do we feel about Debo? I feel like anytime these guys come off injury riddled seasons, we just never feel good about them.

But the year before, he finished the season, like, so strong. Are you guys in the same? Do you feel the same about Debo as you did beginning last year? or have you, you know, given up on him a little bit? I think that mentally I've given up and I have to check myself, it's coming back to the first impressions thing.

Like, it's hard to shake a first impression and my impression of, like, he won't be there for you. Don't trust him. Abandon him in issues. Like, I think that he's faltered a bit. Extremely talented. And, like, I think that I'm discounting him, but I also, I think that I am ready,

I'm prepared to accept that Debo might just be the number one receiver in this offense. Well, after Kittle, Kittle's the number one receiver. and that Debo might be really good. But I think that I'm really leaning that Ayuk might just be an all-around better player, who is also, even though Debo's a good athlete, Ayuk is like a great athlete. And he also is like maybe technically like a more technical route

or at least getting better at the technical stuff because he used to be a running back, which Kyle Shannon loves. And Debo was too, I believe. But I think Ayuk just has more upside in like every way. Plus he doesn't have the injury concerns. Yeah. It's funny how, you know, we talked about the, the nature versus nurture thing and how

I think one of my favorite convos that we've ever had was about how it actually doesn't matter like who gets drafted when or how high they get drafted. It just matters where they go. Like that's what changes things and that you should think about a player based on where they go not just their like raw skill set. This is a good one to talk about dynasty too for the Niners while we're talking about

Trey Lance. It's the same conversation. It's just like it's funny how the Shanahan system has convinced me so deeply that like anyone who goes there will be good. I mean, you were talking on the NFL show last week. It's about Nick Mullins, right? In his first 16 games, he has the second most passing yards ever. It's like, if Trey Lance went to the Jets, I probably right now, and I think all of us would not have him ranked where we have him right now or would think about him as we do now. But I'm currently in the mindset of like, oh, I think Lance eventually will be a top 10 quarterback in the league. And that's literally only because of

Kyle Shanahan. I didn't watch him fucking play in college. I've seen a couple clips of him, but it's only because of Shanahan. I completely, I mean, put it this way. I told you guys before that if Justin Fields went to San Francisco, I was going to take him in dynasty over Trevor Lawrence, simply because I have such a confidence in him being an elite player if that guy is at that team. And Trey Lance, I don't have that same confidence,

but I, like, if five years from now, Urban Meyer turned out to be a disaster in Jacksonville and he was not right for the NFL and he bails to take like the Notre Dame job. and like Trevor Lawrence is like a good starter but like is not the prince that was promised to us and Trey Lance is just crushing it for the Niners like would that shock you? No but Highface

you saying like oh I would have taken Fields first if he had gone to the Niners because I was so confident in him you're technically saying you value your confidence in a player more than you do Kyle Shanahan's isn't the fact that Kyle Shanahan took Lance Overfields enough for you to put him first No that's a good point and that's ultimately where I come down where I think you're right about that,

where some people were kind of down on the Lance pick. And I'm like, at the end of the day, Kyle Shannon, Kyle Shannon knows what he wants? So, I mean, Dekin, what do you think? You're the guy who scouted all these dudes. Like, if you think Fields is better, that's cool. But if Shanahan thinks Lance is better, does that mean more? Well, Dika has our rookie rankings.

I believe they're coming soon in the draft guide. Like, D.K., where did you rank these quarterbacks in like how, is it crazy if you were to take Trey Lance over a just, Houston Fields, maybe even a Lawrence just because you believe in the nine-year system. No, no, it's not. I think, so I had them in Superflex. I've got, I stuck to my guns, maybe against my better judgment, and I went Lawrence, Fields, Lance. However, I really do think it's, that's just a straight tier.

And whoever you like the most, if you think that Lance is going to be the guy that turns out to be the elite, elite fantasy quarterback, because he's with Shanahan, and because he's elite as a runner, like his running stats in college were really, really strong. They were going to run heavy offense in college, blah, blah, blah. The reason I kept it Lawrence, Lawrence Fields, Lance is because I had Fields ranked quite a bit higher in my draft board. Maybe that's just me sticking to my guns too much. But I also think just as a, from a profile, like as a prospect, Lance has a wider range of

outcomes, aka he has more bust potential because he did not play, he only played one game 2020. He only played at the SCS level and he only had like, we've talked about this in depth, like he only had like 200 pass attempts in college

or something ridiculous. It's like a low number of past attempts. So he just is very very inexperienced. He doesn't have, he doesn't have the reps. He doesn't have the live reps. So I think that gives him a wider range of outcomes. I'm I trust that Shanahan will design a scheme that gives him to find reads and helps him get through those first few years where he's like basically on the job training because he's just has not thrown the football very often. Like Trevor Lawrence has thrown the ball six hundred something times in college and high school.

Whereas with Lance it's like like a third or something or like a quarter of the amount of times like in comparison. It's just thinking about that like how many games have you played in college. there's a reason that historically speaking, teams want quarterbacks who have started multiple seasons in college. You want those reps. You want those live fire reps. You want a bigger sample of him performing at a high level. That's the reason I'm with Lance Lower. I mean, ultimately, still third overall in my dynasty rankings.

I'm still very bullish on him. Well, I might sound crazy for even asking you Trey Lance versus Lawrence. Lawrence. And like, so let me just explain briefly why I was wondering that. I have zero doubt that. is a better prospect than Lance by a trillion. My question is, I started thinking about this a lot this offseason, and we talked about it on the big board where it's like, who are the quarterbacks who succeeded, that you're

like unabashedly, that was a good draft pick at quarterback over the last like eight years? Like, who are the quarterbacks that were no doubt about it? That was a good pick. You look good through the list. Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs made the playoffs like three of the, they won the 12 games before they drafted Patrick Mahomes. They had made the playoffs like three or four years in a row.

Josh Allen. Well, the bills had already got into the playoffs two years earlier. Also, no one thought that was a good pick.

Yeah. No, but I'm saying now, with hindsight, we can say, who are the good picks. Dak Prescott went to maybe the best,

he went great as a rookie, maybe the best roster in the league he walked into. Russell Wilson walked into the best defense in modern NFL history, at least of the last 10 years, maybe the last 30.

So, and then who else is on that, like, every player that you, Lamar walked into a team that already made the playoffs. I mean, we don't have to get a,

Sean Watson and all the stuff that's happened this off season, but he was certainly considered a good pick before that stuff came out. The Texans had won the division three of the previous four years. Like there is not the only guy in the last like 10 years that you're like, that quarterback worked out who did not actually just get drafted. Yeah, Andrew Luck, ironically, he's the only one that the team was fucking bad and then he made them better. Every other quarterback who's been a good pick, the team had built playoff success

before they showed up. And if you're looking at these teams, the judge. Jets, it's a no. The 49ers, it's a resounding yes. The Jaguars, it's, I would argue. Not really. You could go either way. I would say no.

And so that's why I look at the Niners where it's like, based on the history, you got to walk into a supporting cash. You can't do it all alone. The Niners made the Super Bowl last, or two years ago, injuries decimated them. They randomly got high enough to trade up, got this quarterback. If they bounce back and Tray Lance is great, like, I just won't be shocked, man. No, yeah, I'm the same.

I think Lance is going to be good. I think anybody, I was going to be on the train that I think Mac Jones is going to be if he lands in San Francisco because I trust Kyle Shanahan to design a scheme. That's why we saw him basically have all these different backup quarterbacks and still passing for like eight yards per attempt and stuff. Because he has a great scheme, a great passing scheme that gets guys open and gets guys yards after the catch. And I think that that will be the same with Tray Lance.

I think Lance's skill set is just perfectly suited for this. And I would have preferred if he went Justin Fields just because Fields, we've been over it a million times at higher level competition done it for longer, all that stuff. But both of these guys have similar skills since I think Lance can be great. And you know why? It works like that? Because when the quarterback

shows up to Kyle Shannon's offense, he's like, ignore your instincts. I am your instincts when you're out on the ocean. I am your instincts. Poor Jimmy G. Oh, boy. All right. This was the main characters. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, unbelievable. So thank you, Jason Siegel.

There's a good chance we'll be back with a different movie. next week. Who does? With more new characters. Ringer Fantasy Football at Gmail.com, if you like this, or you want to suggest maybe future movies in the past that we can do episodes for. Ringer Fantasy Football at gmail.com. We got to thank a lot of people, but I'm going to start. I'm going to break the rules here. Well, thank you, D.K., thank you, Craig. But we have to give a very special thank you to Lauren because Lauren was nominated to get into the Kennedy. He's being honored by the Kennedy Center. And so just an absolute little golf clap for Lauren. Congratulations, Lauren. We could not do this

without you, you've earned this over a long and long and successful career. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you so much, Lauren. You mean a lot to us. You mean a lot to a lot of people, so we're really proud of you. Also want to say big shout out. Thank you, Infant's sorrow. Aldous Snow, lead man. You should have said, Joe. Inside you. All these ancient skies. Inside you. I just went from six to midnight. Oh, my gosh. And with that, the sun sets at us. Thank you, everyone for listening.