The Ringer NFL Show - The Main Characters of the 2021 Season, Part 2

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

We continue our discussion of the main characters of the 2021 fantasy football season—this time explained by quotes from the movie ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ QB Aaron Rodgers, Packers (1:52) WR Davante Adams, Packers (14:19) RB Saquon Barkley, Giants (16:49) RB Derrick Henry, Titans (20:40) RB Najee Harris, Steelers (25:49) The Old QBs (34:16) Kyler Murray, Cardinals (39:36) Our Favorite Quotes (48:37) Check out The Ringer's 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Guide here Email us at [e-mail]. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gene and Roger is the story of the two most powerful, influential movie critics of their time, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. You can find Gene and Roger on the Big Picture Feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's a quick trailer. It seemed like a crazy idea for a TV show. Take two rivals and let them duke it out about movies. But Gene Sisko and Roger Ebert quickly became the most popular film critics in the country. Millions of viewers tuned in to see whether they vote thumbs up or thumbs down.

This is the story of two unlikely superstars. stars who changed the way we argue. From Spotify and the Ringer podcast network, I'm Brian Raftery, and this is Gene and Roger. Listen on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. To the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Hyfitz. I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig

Krollbeck, and this podcast was built by hot, nasty, badass. I'm all hopped up on Mount Lou. Chip. Chip. Chip. This is our 100th episode, and we are going to do the main fantasy characters, part two.

As told by Talladega Nights, the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which is, for my money, one of the best movies that's ever been made of all time. The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The Ballad. Yeah, see, I never felt weird. I don't think, people call Talladega or Ricky Bobby. I don't know if anyone calls it The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. They could have totally gotten away of just calling it Talladega Nights.

They should have just called it Taladega Nights. I feel like they were between Ricky Bobby and then Talladega Nights, and they just got both in. All right, we're all hopped up like Spock. our monkeys, Craig. Would you please lead us in grace? So we're recording on Tuesday and it's a Wednesday, likely if you're listening now. But Aaron Rogers showed up to training camp on Tuesday and we can't help but make him now a prominent character of the 2021 season. And so there's honestly like 30 different quotes that you could attribute to the Packers in many different ways with the front

office and Aaron and Jordan Love. My first one is I was thinking about what would have happened the Packers did not kind of negotiate a deal with Rogers to come back, and they were going to go with Jordan Love. And I couldn't help but think about when Ricky Bobby's dad is dumping water on him, and he goes, get up. And he's like, what? And he's like, do you want to drive or do you want to go to prison? He's like, what are you talking about? He's like, real simple, son, cops are coming, got a kilo of Colombian Bam Bam under the car. Time to be a man. You got hair in your peaches or what? They would have just thrown Jordan Love into the fire without Aaron Rogers. Sink or swim.

What the hell are you talking about? Real simple, son. Cops are coming. There's a kilo, a Colombian bam-bam under the car. Time to be a man. You got hair on your peaches or what? Fear or prison, Jordan, love. Don't snort these lucky charms.

Anyway, honestly, do you think Jordan loves a little relieved? It's a good question. I feel like, no, he's probably like a little deflimate. right? Like he probably would have loved to just take over this team. But he's going to next year. Yeah, but I don't know if relieved. Maybe he is relieved. I don't know. Maybe he didn't want to be the substitute teacher.

I'm guessing he's a competitive guy who wants to play and wants to start. If you get to this level, most of these players, I think, are going to have that mentality. If he's glad that he's not playing this year, like that's a massively terrible sign. So I'm going to just go ahead and say that he's probably a little bit bummed secretly

that it's not his team. When I was watching Ricky Bobby, the Packers thing I was thinking of was when they're in the bar, they're playing pool, and then Sasha Baron Cohen comes in, and then he throws Ricky Bobby down with the arm. And it's like, I was like, like, he's the Packers

and Ricky Bobby's Aaron Rogers. And they're like, they got all the leverage and they're like, just say, I love creps. So what if you just said, I love a really thin pancakes? That is a fair compliment. No? That is a fair compromise. It's very fair.

No. Because then everyone won't know I really meant crapes. That's actually a pretty good compromise right there. Break it, Pepeleapot! As you wish. All you have to do, just say, I love crabs, I'll let you go. It's like, break it, Pepelepeot!

And I'm like, Roger's just not going to come. And then what do they reach their compromise, which is, I like fluffy, I like fluffy, thin, fluffy pancakes. I like really thin, really thin pancakes. And then Devanti Adams is, and like, don't say it, Ricky, these callers don't run. My God.

And he's like, hey, to be fair, I had a whole mess of crapes this morning. I'm just going to put that out there. All right, so. Wait, can I add one more? Yeah, yeah. Get it out of your system. Last week, the Packers calling Rogers. I'm just going to play the scene right now.

Hello. Hey, man. You up? No. Wake up. I need to talk to you. I think your house is haunted. Hey, come on.

It's 2.30 in the morning. I can't sleep in here. man. I'm scared. Look, there's nothing to be scared of. It's a new house. There's a lot of creaks and moans and groans in it. I miss you, bro. Hey, I don't know why I'm talking to you. Do you remember that I hate you?

Hey, one more thing? Yeah. When you have the stereo on at the same time as the TV, how do you control the volume on the TV? Why do you want to listen to the TV with the stereo on? Because I like to party. You know what, man? Why am I still talking to you?

Come on. good there, man. Taking care of your house, good. I keep snapping back into it. It's like a trick you're pulling on me. I'll talk to you tomorrow. All right, man. Talk to you tomorrow.

I just love that. So, I don't know. How do you feel about this? Does it change your opinion, basically, first of all, on Aaron Rogers this year? Were we, I think all of us were more or less assuming that he is going to come back, just a question of how soon? I didn't really end up moving Rogers at all in my rankings. I kind of just was like, I think he's good where he is based on where we have him ranked,

which is the QB8 right now after all this. So you guys are all updated, right? Yep. I personally have him as the QB8, and I think I'm between the two of you, right? Hyphitz, where do you have them? Man, I'm thinking, so I'm thinking about moving him a lot higher, like top five QB, because the thing I keep thinking about is like, I don't know how I'm taking Justin Herbert over Rogers. At the end of the day,

he's, like, Rogers, he probably won't be quite as good as last season. But I'm saying myself, am I really going to take Justin Herbert over Rogers, like one good season from a rookie

who now has a different coaching staff? Even if in theory they should be better, I just, I don't know. Like, I kind of feel dumb if Rogers is way better than Herbert. Like, I kind of can't pull trigger on that.

And I can't pull trigger on Russell Wilson over Rogers either, really. You can't pull a trigger on Wilson either, huh? So for me, the Herbert thing, I think, what gives him a slight,

bump is that he's going to be running, I think, a little bit more. He's a little more athletic at this point in his career. That's a big deal. I just keep coming back to the idea that Rogers played so incredibly out of his mind efficient last year that he's just going to have some regression, particularly in the touchdown rate. He had 48 touchdowns and five picks. Like, that's a career high 48 touchdowns. I'm guessing, like, it would probably be pretty reasonable to expect and project that he'll have fewer than 40 this year. Wouldn't you say, like, are you expecting him to just, oh, I guess actually there's 17 games this year.

So whatever. In 16 games, you know, I don't know. It just doesn't seem likely that he's going to repeat that incredible, incredible efficiency that he had last year. It's just he's much more likely to regress back towards what he was in 2019, 2018, which 25 touchdowns and 26 touchdowns. So they scored a touchdown in 80% of the Red Zone trips, which I believe was literally probably the best.

figure ever because I think there's only 20 years of data but regardless 80% probably the best ever probably unsustainable but put the regression aside for a second like it is real at some point that he's on the Michael Jordan last dance warpath fight season two baby and like we literally how much did we joke last year didn't we not have the same conversation last year about rogers like like probably not going to be that good but we were like oh but you're in love and then what happens like at some point when you're talking about all time great players regression is a different kind of conversation. Are they going to score an 80% of the Red Zone drives again? Probably not. But is Aaron Rogers capable of putting up an extremely petty campaign once again? Yeah, I think

that's 100% accurate. Like, I think that Aaron Rogers is probably more motivated this year than last year, especially because he wants to prove that he's really good so he can choose whatever team he wants to go to in 2022. Do you think he needs to prove that this year? That he's good? In his own mind. Like, this is, I do not think it's, it is an oversimplification to say that literally the last Stan's doc coming out accelerated everything with the Packers. Like, I think Rogers, like, put all of that in his veins and all of that petty Michael Jordan energy about Michael Jordan Jerry Krasse is flowing through him. And I know that's kind of a weird thing to talk about, but like, I don't know.

It's, I can't put Rogers outside my top eight, like, after he just won MVP. Even if he's a little worse this year, I just, I can't take him outside the top five. And, like, Dak is, Dak is also a good one. I don't think Dak's going to run as much post this horrible leg injury he had. Like, I don't think he's a big runner. Why are we necessarily saying Rogers is going to be worse than Dak? Because Dak scores red zone touchdowns. In the past.

But I think that he will change his style of play. I mean, I think Kellan Moore already came out and basically said that he's not going to change his style of play. He's full go in practice already. I don't think we need to discount what Dak's going to do because of the injury that much. I personally, that's how I believe. I can understand. I really actually can't understand why you'd put him above Justin Herbert and why why you might have him above Russell Wilson.

I would say Jalen Hurts, just the floor he brings as a rusher is going to make him more valuable in fantasy. And then I don't know, like, when you're choosing between him and Brady, Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, like, why do you think you'd have him higher than Brady? Like, Brady's weapons are better. He's doing the same sort of deal. You know what I mean? Like, he's got the same motivations, like prove people wrong.

He's going for that next ring. Like, this is the best, most balanced offense. they got a really good offensive line, all that stuff. Why would you have him over Brady versus, you know, I guess having them in the same tier? I mean, that's a fair question. I think that the short answer is, I think, to be clear, I think the bucks are going to be really good. I think that Super Bowl teams who jelled toward the end of the season often carry that into the next year. I think that generally speaking, it's dangerous to assume that a team that was good in December was good the next year.

I think with Super Bowl teams there is a swagger and I think that the Buccaneers, entering next year will look a lot more like the second half of last season than the first half and they're just going to be really good. Having said that, again, I'm not against Tom Brady. I just think that Aaron Rogers is bankably going to be unbelievable.

And I don't know, part of me just feels weird. It's like, I feel weird that I have to defend Aaron Rogers as a top seven player. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I think it's strange that, again, the Jalen hurts Justin Herbert thing is very similar to me. with Aaron Rogers, I'm getting 11 years of certainty that he is one of the best quarterbacks

they've ever seen play football. And he just last year proved he's at the top of his talents. Now, is he going to throw 48 touchdowns to six picks again? Maybe it won't be quite that good. But he's clearly as good as he has, or at least maybe he's not quite as good as like 2011. But he's clearly unbelievable. It's Jalen Hertz could still suck. Like, I love Jalen Hertz this year.

Yeah. I absolutely love him as a quarterback. But I still can't take. And even me as the ultimate Jalen Hertz guy, or not ultimate, but like, I still would take Rogers ahead of Jalen Hertz just because there's a decade of track record and he was way better. Jalen Hertz could get benched. I mean, yeah, it's all, that's all possible. The certainty.

I think the hard part, just to wrap this up real quick, is the hard part about putting Rogers in the top five. And this maybe is just like an indication of where the NFL is with quarterbacks. We're in a good spot with quarterbacks. There's just so many guys that could outscore him. I could easily see him getting outscore by like Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Tyler Murray, Josh Allen, Dasper Scott, Dak Prescott, those guys all feel like locks me.

Russell Wilson, if he looks closer to he did in the first half of the year, than the second half of the year, which I believe he will. Justin Herbert, who had an all-time great rookie season. And we're not even talking about, like, Trey Lance and Justin Fields, these dual-threat quarterbacks that could start early in the season and end up just being runaway successes and smash hits and like the breakout guys of this year. Jalen Hertz could be the sort of under-over-end,

rated Josh Allen type guy who makes a huge jump. I don't know. It's just there's so many guys. And I'm even talking about Matthew Stafford, Ryan Tannahill, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence. There's so many quarterbacks in the fantasy world, in the fantasy world particularly. I'm still a late round quarterback guy. Like, I'm still probably not drafting Aaron Rogers just because I'm still fine to take

those guys outside the top 100. But if all those guys and Aaron Rogers were on the board at 100 first pick, I'm still going to take Aaron Rogers. Yeah, but Hyphen, you're talking about like how it's hard for you to imagine Rogers not being a top half quarterback like in fantasy. I think you're just kind of conflating it with real life football and it's hard to separate. The simple fact of it is, like, the six guys ahead of him are the five guys ahead of him run and he doesn't. He's the best quarterback on the board who doesn't really run.

And I think that's why he's where he is. Yeah, no, that's entirely fair. I'm just saying that I think that there's a certain point right around the, I just think that there's some assumptions baked in. One of which is, I know that Kellyn Moore's saying that DAC won't, they won't, that DAC might run the same amount. I kind of need to see it. What's he going to say? Dak's going to play differently. That'd be kind of weird.

Jerry Jones has insinuated, but Jerry Jones will say whatever is on his mind. I don't want to just take Jerry's word as law. But I kind of, I think that the idea that DAC will just be running the same amount, I'm a little dubious of it. So I think that right around DAC is kind of where I get, I don't know. Yeah, I think that's right. Six, seven range. So, all right, so sticking with the Packers, though, Roger's being back, what about receiver? Does this change? I move Devante to my number one receiver. What about you guys? I had him at two, and I just the certainty of Rogers being back, I put him over Tyree Kill for number one. Yeah, it's pretty uninteresting. I mean, yeah. I did too. Yeah. More interesting than that,

then now that Rogers is back and we don't have to worry about that. How many top flight running backs and or Travis Kelsey have to be off the board till you draft Devante in the first round? What is the break point? I think like so honestly

the question, which is an interesting one, is do you take Aaron Jones or Devante Adams? So my, the way I would rank it is I'm taking McCaffrey Cook, Henry, Camara, Elliott, and Barclay as my top. six.

Sorry, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin, Derek Henry, Alvin Camara, Ezekiel Elliott, Sequin Barkley, those are my top six. And I don't really see any reason to put, you know, Adams above that, unless Barclay, as we go through the next few weeks, is clearly not going to play early in the year, which it's maybe trending in that direction, but until then, we just don't know. And that, to me, that now the question becomes, do you take, at number seven, who do you take Aaron Jones? Do you take Travis Kelsey? I have Don to Adam. my number one receiver. So he would be probably the guy

I would take in that position. And I would be comfortable taking him that high because I think he's just going to have again the overwhelming vast majority of the targets in that offense. He's going to be the go-to guy, especially in the red zone.

They got that mind-milled connection, him and Rogers. And like you guys are saying earlier, the last dance vibe that's going to happen because now Devante Adams is, you know, I think he got back on board with having a long-term extension

with the team after Rogers came back. This is what happened. like yesterday, today, and so maybe things are going to be okay. But like, there is still potentially this last dance style vibe here where I think these two guys are going to lean on each other really, really hard. So, I don't know, I think that seventh spot is really just kind of the intriguing spot in Dress right now. I think you could argue it's higher. I personally think that there's a top four at running back, McCaffrey, Cook, Zeke, and Derek Henry. And at five, I think you could make the argument

that you could take Devante Adams because I think Sequin and Camara are a tier below those guys and Devante Adams is as sure as they come and honestly I think you could make the argument that Devante, Tyree Kill, and Stefan Diggs could all go in the dead middle of the first round then Sequan, Camara, Chubb,

and the rest of the guys. So I agree, but at this point we're just talking about Seekwon and when we're watching Ricky Bobby, the thing I thought of is like, Dad, you want to go fast again? And it's like, the whole thing is like, I want to go fast?

And I'm like, what does Seekwan go to go fast again? I feel like there's like a philosophical difference that we have. I've been down on Sequin from the jump. DK, you have him, what do you have, five or six? I've got him six, yeah. I have him like late second round. Right. I think I have him 18 or 19.

Like, but again, we're working with the same information, but I think that where we're coming at it from is, tell me if I'm wrong, I think you're looking at it as I'm going to treat him like he's healthy and then if we learn he won't be ready for week one, I'm going to move him down. I'm treating it as when we learn that he's going to play in week one,

I'll move him up. Yeah, it's semantics. It's just you guys are, one of you's glass half empty, the other's glass half full. Yeah, maybe I'm a Giants fan, just guarding my heart.

Maybe that's really what's going on here. But I don't know, I'm not optimistic about this situation, and I just kind of continue to think, like, if you take away the fact that he's Sequan and he's really cool, what is the argument for Seekwan in fantasy football? It's volume and its explosiveness.

he's a crazy good athlete, and they're going to give him like a million touches because he's the offense. Both those things are totally up in the air. We don't know his recovery from this. We don't know what his current level of explosiveness is, and we don't know what the volume they're going to give him.

And there's, now again, maybe the Giants have big plans for him and they're being guarded because Joe Judge comes from this Patriots, Belichick version of PR. It's possible. But I just don't see any evidence that he has the same explosiveness from last year

or he's going to get the volume. And so I don't necessarily know if there's a huge difference between him and the guy's ahead of him. Like, I mean, Jonathan Taylor, maybe that's so extreme, but like the Austin Eklers, Nick Chubb, Joe Mixin, Aaron Jones. Like, I feel like to move Seekwan, like to be, he's way closer to that group than the Dalvin Cook, Derek Henry, Zeeks for me.

I'm curious what you think, D.K. It's tough because I think I can empathize with where you're coming from and understand why you're being cautious. But I think maybe it's just the fact that he is such an elite athlete, such a great athlete and such a dynamic player that I'm just assuming that it's all like a smoke screen until he actually gets out there or doesn't get out there.

I'm just kind of assuming he's going to be back and they're going to ride him. Also, the other thing that I just think I come back to again and again is you know, these coaches can say everything that they want to say, but like when they're trying to go win games, do you think he's going to put in like Devante Booker

and just like hope that's good enough? You know what I mean? Like, they're going to ride their best players. and Barclay is like no doubt one of their best players, one of best skill players. So I don't know. That's just where I am. But if we get in it like two weeks from now and it's very clear that he's not going to be ready to start the season, then yeah, I'm going to bump him down. It's kind of like what we did with Michael Thomas.

But we didn't have that report until we had it. And so, you know what I mean? It's just like I don't want to just guess that he's going to be whatever it is, 30% or whatever, 40% usage early in the season. I'm just kind of assuming he's not going to be. I think he's going to be, like, they're going to bring him in and he's going to play a lot. Yeah, it's kind of like what Hyfitz always says, where he's like, are you going to be more upset if you don't take this person and they're great more than if you took them and they suck? And Seekwon's right in that kind of category.

And I probably would side with Hyphitz here where, man, if you spent this fifth pick on Sequin and he's just, once again, kind of being Seekwon, he's nicked up. They don't play him as much. I think I'd feel like more of an idiot, you know, letting Ezekiel Elliott go by. just racking up 25 touches a game to start the year, you know. No risket, no biscuit. But it's the same biscuit. You get the biscuit with

Sikh Elliot. It's the same biscuit. Is it though great? There's other biscuits. Well, no, that's... All right, wait. So the other quote, maybe my favorite quote

in the entire movie is when Ricky Bobby's like, I did what you told me, Dad, I was if you're first, you're last. And then he's like, oh, hell, Ricky. I was how I said that.

Oh, hell, Ricky. I was high when I said that. that. I mean, that doesn't make any sense at all. You first, your last. You can be second. You can be third, fourth. Hell, you can be fifth. What are you talking about? I live my whole life based on that. I was thinking about that with Derek Henry, just because, like, where are you going to take him? You could take him second. You could take him third. You could take him, you could take him fifth.

And I'm just like, I, it's strange because, again, we're all, working with the same information and it's like it's kind of revealing what you think. There's one school thought of, you know, maybe don't overthink it. This guy has led the NFL at Russia yards for two years in a row. He just has like 33 touchdowns in two years. He is generally speaking, I don't know, an undestructible force of nature that somehow gets faster the further into a run he gets, better the further into his season he gets. He's a Terminator. On the other hand, it's like, well, he doesn't catch passes. Yeah. Yeah, he's Marshaun Lynch 2.0. Every season, we doubt him. Every single

season. And then he keeps doing it. It doesn't matter. He just keeps getting better each season, but it doesn't matter. Even this year, I'm like, well, the passing upside is not quite there. Arthur Smith's gone. My first round of rankings, I had him two, and then I moved, like, just starting from scratch.

And then I moved him down to five, because I'm like, there's so many reasons he's going to regress, right? I was thinking about it. I'm like, I feel like I'm not learning from history. Or maybe, like, and that's really, I guess my question, is putting Derek Henry, is drafting him outside the top four or five, is that actually just, you know what? Sometimes you hit with the right amount of blackjack and you bust, but like, you have to

keep doing the right amount and that eventually Derek Kennedy probably won't be able to do this. Or are we just not learning that he's like a special player and exceedingly fun to have in fantasy? Well, who doesn't have him in the top five? I don't think anyone's writing him outside the top five. Okay, fair. Well, I, yeah, I think it's just that inherent. I mean, what's the argument here, I hear, switch it around. Derek Henry, let's, I have him ranked fourth behind Z.

Cook and McCaffrey. What's the argument for him to outscore Christian McCaffrey or Delvin Cook this year? Injuries. I think that injuries. Yeah. Okay, so there's not one. No, I think McAfree's number one. I think Cook is two. I think there's, I think there's now a question of like, is it Camara, Derek Henry, or Zique at that three spot? Yeah. I'm starting to lean. I think it's Zeke Henry Camara for me. I go Zeke Henry and then Camara way later. Camerra is now the ghost of the Michael Thomas injury. But I am.

concerned for all the, like, for the Saints as just as an idea. I'd rather have guys like Aaron Jones, Sequin, Chub, Jonathan Taylor over Camara. I think Camara is an early second rounder. Hot. That's hot take. I think, so first of all, with Henry, going back to Henry real quick, he had 378 rush attempts last year. That's 66, sorry, yeah, 66 more than the next guy.

66 more than the second place guy. Like, we always talk about chasing volume, chase volume, chase volume, chase volume. chase volume. And Henry has it in like spades. And he's damn efficient. He's like absurdly efficient in terms of like yards over expectation, all that stuff. He's always so good. He's just this runaway freight train.

And yeah, like every year we're always like, oh, well, this is the year that he regresses or whatever. This is the year where all those previous carries catch up to him or whatever. It's like, why would we believe that? Why do we believe that? I don't know. I think he's locked in, locked solid. he's not having to battle it out

with a guy like Kremont. That's the difference between him and Nick Chub who has a similar type profile in terms of not going to catch a lot of passes. But this guy gets so many carries, it's ridiculous. Yeah, but when you look at the touch leader

in the last like five years, they're all guys who catch passes besides Derek Henry. 2020, it was Derek Henry. But 2019, it was McCaffrey, then it was Zeke, then it was Levy on Bell, then it was David Johnson.

It's really rare that somebody like a Derek Henry who only runs the ball, leads the league and touches. So you have to wonder, like, what are the odds this is going to happen again? Do you feel confident he'll get 400 carries? I think part of the problem is that the history of running back suggests that Derek Henry will eventually just fall off a cliff. And it's not fun to predict that.

Like, it brings no one joy to an August saying. I think Derek Henry just his career falls off a cliff this year. But like, you don't want him on your team when that happens. And I do think that's part of the problem. Like, I don't know if there's someone that's necessarily more fun. I think Derek Henry the last two years has been more fun than even Todd Gurley. I mean, maybe the numbers weren't quite the same. But, like, as a peak running back, he's probably the most fun guy in fantasy to have since

Adrian Peterson was having like the 2,000 yard season. The other thing is, he gets better as the year goes on. Yeah, that is cool. He gets better as the year goes on. It's like a leap down a stretch every year, I feel like. Okay, so I'm down on Seguan. Craig's down on Camara. We've all just been to the knee of Derek Henry.

Craig, another quote. Yeah, so another main character. this season. I got to go with rookie running back, Najee Harris, and the Steelers who, you know, the rookies, men, are the babies of fantasy football. I couldn't help, but we love them. We love rookie running backs. I couldn't help but think of the

dinner scene with Ricky Bobby praying to deer eight pounds, six ounce, newborn baby Jesus. Dear, eight pound, six ounce, newborn infant Jesus. Don't even know a word yet. We just thank you for all the races I've won

and a... Golden fleas diapers. That's how I have new dodgy this year. Sky's the limit, man. He's my Jesus Christ for the Steelers' offense, hopefully, for people drafting him. You know, I'm hoping he brings in a new way of success for the Steelers' offense and somehow makes their offensive line good. Oh, my God.

That scene, Ricky Bobby, just dominating that grace. Just making that grace's bitch. Dude, Grandpa Chip, when he's like, he was a man, he had a beard. He's like, I'll make the money. I decide which Jesus. Baby Jesus is my favorite. It's true though. Like the rookie running backs are always the favorite.

It's just like, oh, it's just like sweet. Eight pounds, six ounce. And your golden fleece diapers with your tiny little fat, bald up fists. Just infant baby Jesus. Also, I have to say, the outtakes from that grace scene are maybe my, one of the funniest things on YouTube is just Cal not just go, just John C. Riley just riffing on all the versions of Jesus. Like, because the one that's in the movie.

and there's like a few different versions of the movie actually because they film so many freaking scenes of them improvving and it's like the one of the movies like I'm just front row and Jesus is singing Leonard Skinner with an angel band I'm in the front row hammered drunk but like the outtakes are just like you know

I picture my Jesus like you know you ever seen the show Manimal I love that and I'm just hammered drunk Hammer drunk Oh my God I actually think I learned the word hammered drunk like I learned that hammered meant drunk from that movie. I don't think I'd actually heard that before. Wow.

That movie was 06? Yeah, you were probably, yeah. 06. Preteen? I don't think I'd heard it before then. That literally taught me hammered drunk. That made me feel old. You had been hammered drunk by then. I had graduated high school, or sorry, I'd graduated college by then. So, no, no biggie. Were you drinking those same drinks that Ricky Bobby's dad was drinking the whole movie in college? Yeah, like the, I can't remember off the top of my head. This is something we noticed when we noticed when we were, we did. We didn't We were watching it the other day is Ricky Bobby's dad, Reese, Reese Bobby was drinking the same, like, tall boy alcohol, the entire movie.

It was like laughing clown malt liquor, whatever it is that is like the sponsor of Ricky Bobby's car at the beginning of the movie. Oh my God. Just malt liquor. Love it. Classy. At the end, when he has no sponsors, there's the cougar, and he's like, what's M.E? That's you, Ricky. All right.

So, yeah, how we feel about Naji? I love I love I think Najee Harris I think will be top five in touches this season yeah I think

that's the baseline and I think at the very worst he's a guy on a really inefficient offense who gets a lot of carries

and like puts up kind of like low end running back one high end running back two type numbers you know a startable guy

with a solid floor he's getting 80 yards a game on the ground and 30 in the air receiving no matter how ugly it is however

I mean listen Pittsburgh needs to overhaul everything this year. And that's what Matt Canada needs to do. They have a new offensive line coach. Like they need to run play action. They need to have more motion. They need to pass to the running backs.

And Najee can do that. But the Steelers, other than last year, have a really strong history with number one backs. I mean, obviously Levy on Bell, but guys like DeAngelo Williams were like extremely productive when they were starting. And I think...

Your guy, Mike Tomlin, from Flying Coach. Yeah. We just... I mean, I think that Nage Harris is going to be one of this dying breed of like a true three down back and not a three down back necessarily in the McCaffrey mold

of like he's this, the whole offense runs through him. They actually will keep him on the field for three downs. He will do everything, anywhere. And it's going to be like drafting like a Stephen Jackson

from like 12 years ago. Like he just will get all, he will get all the snaps. And at the end of the day, I feel like the Steelers will be a bad offense. I think that Ben will be like the captain of his sinking ship.

But if Najee Harris is top five and touches, going to want them on your fantasy team and both those things are true. And so my skepticism of the Steelers as a team, I don't want that to confuse that I'm extremely in the Najee Harris this year because there's just this dying belief in that we want the same guy in the field at all times. So I want to just throw these numbers out here. And again, this is assuming this is based on a 16 game season.

So just remember that. But over Levon Bell's first five seasons in the NFL, he averaged 308 touch. per season. And really, if you're talking about per 16 games, there's almost 400, but he played, you know, 13, 16, 6, 12, 15. So per 16 games, he averaged 398 touches a year. That's 25 touches a game? Yeah. I believe that's 25 touches a game.

Because that's one of the reasons Leveon sat out, actually, is that he was averaging 25 touches a game. And he was like, why am I going to play for them on a franchise tag when they're just going to use me up and then I'm going to go play for it and I'll be useless like I'm saving those touches for someone else so I I show him at leviom bell's about side about the whole thing but that like it's crazy like if nash airs even gets 25 touches a game like he might be like a top two pick next year yeah so what I was going to get to here so you know whatever say he averaged around 350 touches per season or whatever at leviant bell Derek henry is the only player no sorry two players

dalvin cook and derrick henry exceeded 350 touches last year Josh jacobos was third with 370 six. And it probably would have been McCaffrey if he was healthy. Correct. So there's probably like three or four guys. So you guys saying he's going to have top five amount of touches. I don't even think that's like a wild like guess. I think it's like you can almost lock it in as if he's, if he's healthy. Zeke might get up there. You know what I mean. So there's a few guys that could be in that range. But like how often do you see rookies come in and just like hit 350 touches? Like this could really happen with Najee. So I'm almost like looking at my rankings now and I'm like man, I got him too low.

I almost think I should move up. What's the highest, D.K., what's the highest someone could take Naja Harris in a draft? And you'd be like, oh, man, that might have been a really good pick. Are we all gun-shy from Clive Edwards-Hilar last year when everybody started creeping up? Yeah, top five. Like, should Nage-Hairs be like a fringe first rounder instead of like a mid-first, late-first?

I kind of feel like he should be, honestly. Like, what is the argument for him not, like, other than injury, everyone seems to agree he's going to be a three-down back. Unless Mike Tomlin treats Najee Harris unlike every other running back they've had, which seems wild because they took him in the first round. If you take him in the first round, he's not going to get a reduced role.

Well, and like, who are they going to replace him with? It's not like Benny Snell is going to take third down snaps from him. I think he's locked in. I think Najaris is fantastic. Let me ask, wait, one question about Najee. Why is he below Joe Mixon? So, Mixon's another guy who's had tons and tons of volume when he's gotten the opportunity.

He's like, in terms of opportunity to score fantasy points, Mixon's been like up there per game over the last few years. It's just the problem is he's been injured a lot. So I think, you know, I don't know why people necessarily will have like have more faith that he's going to, you know, not get hurt again. But he's another guy just like Najee Harris, who is locked in going to be a really high volume touch guy, which I think, you know, based on how he's been used in the last few seasons, when he's out there on the field, it makes sense. he's talented. I think generally speaking are bullish on the Bengals' offense in general.

They're going to score points. They're going to run a lot of plays. They run at a high pace, all that stuff. I think all that goes into mixing being so high on a lot of lists. And we got him right here. Like in our rankings, it's 1112 mixed in Najee Harris.

And I think that's probably right. I guess once you get to Mixin versus Najee Harris, you might, you know, if you think they're going to get similar touches, I guess you go with the offense that you think's going to be better. That's going to score more points. Yeah. Yeah, and personal preference, too.

That's the time breaker. D.K. Yeah. What's your next quote. All right. So as I was watching the movie, it dawned on me. So especially one point in the movie where Ricky Bobby wins a race and his crew chief, Lucius, gets pissed off at him because he's taking so many risks and just driving like an asshole.

And basically he's like, you're not going to live forever. And Ricky Bobby's like, oh, I'm not stupid Lucius. No one lives forever. No one. I'm not stupid Lucius. No one. No one. But with advances in modern.

science. My high level income. I mean, it's not crazy to think I can't live to be 245, maybe 300. Ricky. And I was just thinking, it just reminded me so much of Tom Brady, who, like, out of anyone in the NFL might live to like 245, 300. You just never know. Just blind, kind of arrogant confidence. It's like, but anyways, it's not just Brady, but what that got me thinking about is

it's Brady. So Matt Ryan, Big Ben, Aaron Rogers, Ryan Fitzpatrick. There's a lot of older quarterbacks who, you know, Matt Ryan's 36, Big Ben, 38, Rogers 37, Ryan Fitzpatrick 37. They're all helming offenses that we, I think, generally speaking, are high on, at least their skill positions. You know, with Brady, he's got Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Grunk, you know, Four Nett and Rojo, obviously you don't have them super high.

And then with Matt Ryan, Calvin Ridley and Pitts, two very high. highly ranked players at their positions. Big Ben, Deonte, Claypool, Juju, Rogers with Devante, and Tanya, depending on how high you got him. And then Ryan Fitzpatrick with Glorin, Gibson, Logan Thomas. So there's a lot of, like, high-end, exciting fantasy players attached to these old quarterbacks.

And I'm not saying that all these guys are going to fall off a cliff, but, like, historically speaking, all these guys are at the age where you could see them take a huge nose dive off the age curve. in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, explosiveness with their arm and all that stuff. So it just kind of dawned on me that we're walking a little bit of a tightrope with some of these guys.

Can I ask you like a, like this sounds like a stupid question, but I'm serious. Are these guys old though? Well. Like at what point do we have to just look around at every, and I mean every single sport and just admit that the age curve has changed and we are not,

like it just for like the last, like the earlier this. century, it was like 20 years, not 100. Like earlier, like 20 years ago, you know, you get to 30 and it's a real problem. And then Federer and Dowell extend tennis. And then Brady and Breez extend football. And then it's happened.

LeBron's extending basketball. I mean, even Simone Biles. I know she just pulled out, but like it wasn't a physical problem. She's old for Olympia. Like, every sport, the age curve has changed. Serious question. Like, do we think like Matt Ryan of 36? Is he still old? So let me answer that.

I'm going to kind of change the subject a little bit is I don't necessarily even know if it's age curve so much as the ability to recover from injuries that is worrisome. So like, for instance, I agree with you. Like, the age curve has changed for quarterbacks, especially and a lot of players in pro sports because of sports science, the ability, the medical advances for getting people healed up and lasting longer and just the, the, you know, methods for keeping guys going longer are all like really, really good. like I think the NFL is just built better for quarterbacks to go along because now, you know, the big hits are such legislated out of the game that you're just more often going to survive like a full season. However, like just like the Peyton Manning thing stands out to me, like he suffered an injury that he couldn't come back from. And, you know, I just worry a little bit that, you know, despite the trajectory for a lot of these guys, it feels like they're just going to keep playing forever. but, you know, it's just harder to come back from injuries when you're old.

I understand that profoundly. Like, I hurt my knee the other day, and it's just like, I can't do anything because, like, I'm old. I'm old and my goddamn ligaments are old. And, you know what I mean? And so, you know, on the other hand, these guys do have all these, like, crazy, you know, like hyperbaric chambers and, like, platelet therapy and all that stuff. Who knows?

Well, that's what you were doing to rehab your knee, right? Yeah. You just hopped in your hyperbaric chamber? I totally doing all that stuff. platelets? I'm about to go to Europe and get some platelet-rich injections in my kneecap. I mean, I just read in the newspaper that they put a pig heart in some guy from Russia. You know what that means?

Oh, he didn't live. He didn't live. It's just exciting. We're trying things like that. But yeah, I could not help but think about Tom Brady during that quote, which is funny because this was from 2006. So he was like, it's a visionary quote by Ricky Bobby. 40 is certainly the new 30 in football. Yeah.

Do you, wait, serious question though. I'm serious. Do you think Tom Brady outlives all of us? Well, yeah. Probably, yeah. Like, we'll all die before Tom Brady, right? The way I drink on the weekends? Absolutely.

I'm drinking those tall boy Reese Bobby Maltz every Saturday night. Laughing clown. Yeah, I assume half the reason Tom Brady got so drunk at that flow parade was because that was the first time he drank and like, I don't know, the last time, since the last thing. His tolerance must be just on the floor. There must be nothing there. Nothing. All right. Well, want to go to younger quarterbacks?

Yeah, so I feel like we should talk about the Cliff, Kingsbury, Kyler-Murray experiment. And it's potentially the final year for Cliff if things don't work out. And it kind of made me think of the scene between Will Ferrell and Amy Adams when they're sitting there at the bar and Will Ferrell's talking about how you've got to win. And I'll play the clip right now. You've got to listen to me here, okay? You've got a win to get love. Everyone knows that.

I mean, that's just life. Look at Don Shula Legendary coach Look at that Asian guy Who holds a world record for eating all those hot dogs in a row Look at Rue McClanahan From the Golden Girls All three people

All great champions, all loved Do you want to know why I think that you should? I just loved that, you know Don Shula The Asian guy from the hot dogs And Rue McClanahan Adding Cliff Kingsbury What is Rue McCorme?

I just love that so much. Golden Girls. Is he talking about Kobayashi, right? Yeah. Legendary Kobayashi. Kobeashi didn't do so well after you were defeated. I do want to know what they were thinking when Rue McClain. Like, is it just because she's banging all these guys and just.

I don't actually know who Rue McClain is. I got to be honest. From Golden Girls. I don't actually know who that is. It's got to be a Will Ferrell. Just sounds like a funny. Improvisation. Like he just threw that out there.

From the golden girl. Sure. Three people, all great champions, all loved. You can tell he's like his brain was turning. He's like, Don Shula. And he's like, hmm, he couldn't think of Kopeyashi's name. And then he said, Roo McClanahan. But we got to toss in Cliff Kingsborough.

You know, he's got to win, Cliff. Yeah. You know, things aren't really going too great. They're in a really hard division, so it sucks. And Kyler has progressed. Like, they've gotten better, right, in each of their last two years. But they took a huge step back. The floor was low.

Yes, it was very low. they started the year they went five and ten was Cliff's first year they were better that year there was some hope they went eight and eight last year but they started the season decently strong and then they collapsed and it it did coordinate with Kyler's shoulder injury but there was a lot that didn't look great in terms of Cliff's play calling I mean one the team was super indisciplined they led the league in penalties there were terrible fourth down management there's clock management problems he was risky at all the wrong times and not risky at all the wrong times he was really simplified the offensive routes.

DeAndre Hopkins basically ran like three routes the entire year. They got figured out by defenses. The Patriots in week 11 kind of figured them out. And then after that, they really slid. They didn't make the playoffs. And like I said, they got the Rams, Seahawks, and Niners in their division. I would say Cliff has as good a chance as anybody to be the first coach fire this year. If they started the year one in four, one and five. And Kyler, you got to wonder, is he just a flash in a pan kind of a, you know, good stats, bad team guy, as our boss would put it. Or is he going to make that leap?

You know, he's a decent deep ball throw where he can run and stuff and hit these little passes. But like, can he actually, like, be a lead of team down seven in the fourth quarter type of quarterback? I think you made a really good point about the routes and, like, them being figured out post-patriots because that is what happened last year. Shout out to the football outsiders.

They wrote an alman act that's so good before every season. The Cardinals chapter is fascinating because they discuss how Cliff, the quote unquote air raid, Cliff Kingsbury's run game, he's as creative as any team, and the passing game is like the least creative in the entire NFL. Like,

like it's almost like he doesn't use an NFL level route tree. Cliff Kingsbury is still running plays based on like a college route tree, which obviously NFL receivers can run more routes than college once again. And there's just not a lot of imagination in what they're doing. And that once NFL defense is kind of figured out

and took away what they're doing, it's just very boring. It's very vanilla. And it's like the air raid's a lot more like a light breeze. Yeah, I mean, also like this just goes against what we all thought.

Like didn't Cliff seem like the Tony Stark of the NFL when he came in and he was going to kind of be this like super high octane guy and the offenses have been pretty middling every single year. Yeah. I think there's even like this impression

or I guess just feeling among fans. I think that he's holding Murray back as a passer. And I think, you know, that's a big deal because, they were supposed to be like the next big quarterback coach pairing, you know, that would just take offense to brand new heights.

Even before he hurt his shoulder or whatever, Kyler's passing stats were just kind of fine. Like, they weren't that great. So, like, obviously over the whole season, his passing stats were disappointing. But even when, like, in theory he was healthy and all that, like they were just fine. Like in middle of the pack, I'd say, you know, 7.6 yards per,

attempt sub 100 pass rating. Pass rating is not everything, but it's like a good sort of general gauge, I think, on like what you're doing. Yeah. You know, it's just like, I don't know. It's disappointing that he's not, that he hasn't done better so far, I think, for a lot of people, especially, you know, especially considering, you know, what he did at Oklahoma and all this stuff.

He's one of those guys who fantasy clouds the way we think about him as a real player, probably more than any other quarterback in the league. I think that people assume he's a lot better because he was so good last year. but if you actually watch him, I mean, him just dropping back on like a third and 14, I don't feel super good about him. I don't think he's even in the top half

of the guys in the league. You feel good about anyone on third and 14? Yeah, some of them. Mahomes. I will say this, my favorite play in football is third and 20 for the Chiefs because it happens a lot

that they get like a holding on second and 20 and it's incomplete. Watching Mahomes on third and 20 is like the best play in football. But Kyler, I agree. Like, he had, what, 10 rushing touchdowns, the first 10 games, it really skews things. And so, you know, it's, you know,

if he wants to be like the Golden Girls. Let me ask you guys this. Out of the top four quarterbacks that is kind of the consensus top four, Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson, if one of them had to finish outside the top 10, not for injury reasons,

by the end of the season, who are you picking? Ooh, that's a good question. You know, it's probably Kyler, or Josh Allen. It's Kyler or Josh Allen to me. Because Lamar's got the rushing floor. Mahomes is the second coming of Christ and then Kyler and baby infant Jesus. Yeah.

Man, it might be Murray. But like to this point and to this overall like discussion, it's because of Cliff, right? It's because I don't trust Cliff very much. Yeah, and Kyle or even this offseason has been a little vocal about it. He kind of has expressed discontent with like the team last. year.

But you picked a good one for like winner, like people love winners for Kyler. It's important. I believe Kyler went freaking 40 and O in high school. Like, Kyler Murray is in the small shorthand of people who can be considered the best people, the best player in the history of Texas state, Texas high school football. Like he won like three championships, 40. He was playing for like 18,000 people when he was like a sophomore in high school, went to college, played two sports, what, what, 12 and one at Oklahoma, made the college football

playoff. And since then, is under 500, they keep coming and last in the division. Like, it is a reality check for this dude. He's never, he literally said the other day, he's never not made the playoffs since he was like a child until, like, he got to the NFL. And it eats at him, man. It's an interesting, like,

it's an interesting story. Yeah, like, I guess I would say that the Cardinals look like a team where it could potentially be a tire fire come like week six. Yeah. I agree. From what I have read and what I've kind of like looked into.

There's a real chance this year that we finally kind of see the real offense he wanted to bring to the NFL when he came up, you know, from the college ranks. And namely a bunch of four and five wide stuff, like true air raid. Because basically the first few games in, you know, his tenure in Arizona, they tried doing that, it felt like. They ran like a whole bunch of four wide stuff and just really wasn't working. And part of that is like you got a rookie quarterback. Like he's trying to figure things out.

Like there's so many. variables to it. But halfway through the year, they basically were like, okay, we're just going to run a more traditional NFL offense, you know, and I wouldn't, and I just, I guess I would say that Cliff's offense doesn't have like a real strong identity. You know what I mean? Like, and so this year where they've got, you know, they got AJ Green to come in. You know, they dropped at Rondow. Rondale Moore. Yeah, it's total stud. You know, maybe we'll see Christian Kirk break out finally. I just think they have the horses to do it a little bit more than they have in the past and big third year for Kyle Marie.

Maybe we'll see it this year. All right. A few other quotes here that we have to get to. Yeah. So the scene where Ricky Bobby is trying to get his mojo back, he went back and lives with his mom. He's making up with his dad. And his dad has this brilliant idea for him to conquer his fear. and I'm just going to let Craig play the clip because it's a long one.

Listen to me. If you're calm, that wondrous big cat will be calm too. But if you're scared, that beautiful death machine will do what God made it to do, namely, eat you with a smile on its face. God, you just follow me wherever I go. Well, he's just looking at you. So you're saying if I just calm down, a cougar will be okay? You got it.

Oh, damn it. Okay. Go on, son. You can do it. Come on. Oh, come on. That's it. And no sudden moves. Like is this too fast?

Yeah, that's a little quick. You see what he did? Yeah, you gotta be a little more deliberate in your move. I'm just gonna get in there. I'm just gonna grab the hand on, I'm just gonna get in there and drive that car. But I'm gonna do it calm.

Calm, piece of cake. I was just trying to say, calm. Oh, oh, man. Sometime today, son. Okay, here we go. I'm getting in. The whole time I'm watching that, I'm just thinking about Sam Darry. By the way, I love the part where he's like, it's the view from inside the car.

And Will Ferrell's just like going back and forth. He's like, oh, God, it's following me. It's following me. And his dad's like, you've got to be a little more deliberate in your movement. No sudden movements. It's just so classic. The logic here is unassailable. If you can get into a car with a cougar, then you can master your fear.

You can conquer your fear. I think that Sam Darnold needs to conquer his fear. It also fits because he's going to a new team called the Panthers. I know somewhat similar to Cougars, you know, in the same phylum. I don't know, the different, like, nature things. I don't know. But yeah, similar species. Is that what it is?

Regardless. King Philip, what's the kingdom? We're just going to plow right through that. We're just going to plow right through that. You don't think that's good content? I need to conquer my fear on just making shit up. Yeah, so how we feel about Sam Darnold? Are we hopeful?

I believe in him in real life to sustain DJ Moore and Robbie Anderson, but I don't think you should draft San General as a fantasy quarterback unless it's like a two-quarterback league. But I think the Panthers will be much better. He's going to get in the car and the Cougars is just going to attack him. Yeah, Sir Per. Sir Per is just going to absolutely. Well, Panthers are Cougars. Actually, the whole thing.

So Florida Panthers, like the Jaguars should be the Panthers. and then the panthers are only in Florida but they're extinct and then Jaguars are actually coogers it's like a whole thing

I'm Googling Panther versus Cougar right now a bunch of fucking dorks we are and what do you like to find just like a fight between them or just the differences just what if they're the same thing

so Cougars Cougar is a distinctive species that's all we need to say about it yeah okay okay other one Justin Herbert I could not help

but think of Justin Herbert when they're like, oh my God. You put that knife in your leg. Like the Tyra, how he got the job with Tyra Taylor getting stabbed. It was like, Don't get the knife out with the other knife. Yeah, Tyrod's,

fry it out. Tyrod's got a needle in his prided out. Sternum. And they're like, get another one in there. And they're wedging it in. Cut around the meat. We'll use this knife to pry it out.

We'll pull it out. Now we got two. No, no, no, no. Just let's think about it. Cut around the meat. Just stretch it out. Just stretch it out. Got a plug in the meat.

Got a plug in the meat. Another stupid one is, so the Saints are now the Superdome is the Caesar's Superdome, and they became the first team to be sponsored by a casino partner, which, you know, a little bit of a risk, you know, gambling, new era, and I couldn't help but think of when Ricky Bobby's driving with the massive Figg Newton sticker crosses windshield, and he goes, this sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fing Newton's. Dude, the other one, I was thinking of Carson,

when they're watching Ricky Bobby play basketball in the wheelchair and they're like, oh, there's nothing wrong with him. It's just psychosomatic. And they're like, so when you say psychosomatic, you mean he can start a fire with his thoughts? And the doctor's like, no, not at all. I got to say, the wheelchair scene might be the funniest scene in the movie secretly for me when it cuts to him and he's just kicking out of it. It's so good.

Dude, then they ripped that off at Anchorman 2 or whatever. They just stole the whole thing. He was like, but it's blindness. Yeah, he's like, he's resigned himself to the fact he's going to be in a wheelchair. He's like, yeah, I got this van. It's like fully loaded. He's like, and you paid for that? He's like, oh, yeah, that's paid in full.

Like, God damn it. Dude, the other thing I was thinking of, Devante Adams, I was like, when Ricky and Cal are like at the bar and he's like, you know, Ricky, I was going to be really awesome if, you know, one time you could slingshot me in for the win. Like, Ricky, he, like, thinks about it. And Ricky was like, well, hmm, okay, but if, but if you win, how am I, how am I going to win?

He's like, right, right. Like, Devont- Adams was, like, 18 touchdowns for the Packers. Like, none of the other receivers have, like, five. Marquez Valdez-Candling's, like, what, like, what if I got a couple touchdowns? And he's like, hey, man, there's, like, there's nothing wrong with silver, right? Silver's just as good. One time, it'll be really awesome if, like, you guys. could slingshot me in for a win.

Yeah, but, okay, but if you won, how am I going to win? Yeah. Think about it. No, I was thinking about it. I mean, it's not like you're finishing 18th. Nothing wrong with silver? Nothing wrong with silver at all. I'm just kidding you, man.

I don't want to win. And then, wait, one last one. I have, like, the second scene or whatever, when he's like, hey, so how long has it been? Three, four months? He's like, ten years. is like, 10 years, I got to lay off the pay. I was like, that's just John Gruden showing up to the NFL

10 years after he retired. Like, being like, oh yeah, this will be easy. And just trade a while my good players and bring in other ones. He's like, which team's Rich Gannon on? They're like, oh, he's not in the league anymore, John. The guy who plays Ricky Bobby's dad is the best, by the way. Gary Cole. Yeah, he's an amazing actor.

So much energy. He was Lumberg in office space. He's in V. That's where he's from. I was going to say his The best scene in this whole movie which we are not going to get to Because I don't know how he could use it But is when you know he finally shows up to Ricky's race

And goes to Will Call And gets the tickets that Ricky is left for him Every single race is a saddest story And he turns around and immediately Fucking scalps him Two tickets here He goes back to drinking his laughing clown malt liquor Love that character

Listen Yeah I know people don't It's a problem with the Academy Awards that we don't award comedies. We don't award actors and comedies. It's extremely rare that they even get a nomination.

Gary Cole deserved best supporting actor. I'm telling you for playing Reese Bobby. Like, he was incredible. Yeah, getting a little itchy. Why don't they have an Academy Award for Best Scene? I should. It's called the rewatchables. We got to get Fantasy on that.

You got to get fantasy on changing the Academy Awards? Yeah. All right. He has been time now. Just uses influence, yes. final scene, and then we can close it out. And this doesn't have anything to do with fantasy football necessarily. However, when Mr. Dennett, like the younger Mr. Dennett who's taken over and who hates

Ricky Bobby, he's like, they're asking who is after he won the first race. He's like, who is this guy? He's like the crew chief or something. And he's like, his name's Ricky Bobby. And Mr. Denet goes, Ricky Bobby, he's got two first names, which I was just cackling about, you know, because I have two first names. Right. and it's like something that's funny to me.

And so I made a list of all the best two first-name players in the NFL. Craig said I can't read the entire list. It's too long. It's like 40 players. Well, here's why. It's with all due respect. And I'm saying, with all due respect, I don't give a velvet painting of a whale and a porpoise getting it on for this list of two-name people.

I love when he tells Mr. Dennett that he's sorry that he had to get his balls surgically removed and his drunk wife Molly Shannon is just cracking up at her husband just getting... She's like, this is my life. This is my life. He's like, you can't just say anything after you say with all due respect, it's not what that means.

She's like, sure as heck does. That's exactly what it means. That's exactly what it means. Okay, so instead of reading the entire list of two first name players, you guys just have to give me your favorite ones. The most boring guy with

two first names is Matt Ryan. That's the most like two first name guy. It's just, wow. Matt Ryan. Who is the best name if you flip it? Imagine if it was Ryan Matt. Oh. That would not work.

Wow, if you flick it, if you flip it, oh my God. That's it. Gordon Melvin? I like Gabriel Davis if he went by Gabe. Or if he went by Gabe and Dave, Gabe Dave. Gabe Dave. Tom Brady, I mean, I know it's kind of a ubiquitous name now in our consciousness, but that name's pretty basic.

Yeah. Josh Allen? Sure. But I think it was Alan Josh. That wouldn't really work. Quietly, I think the answer. Wow, this is hard. If you flip...

Honestly, no, it's Jackson Lamar. What are we talking about here? Jackson Lamar would still work great. Fun fact, I went to college of the kid named Jackson Lamar. Did you really? I did, yeah. Here we go.

Totally a bit of your voice. Wow. On that note, I'm just going to give my favorite one. It's James Connor. Yeah, that's a good one. There you go. Okay. I think that's all we got for Taledega.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, this podcast is the best ever was. We'll just remember that this podcast pisses excellence and that this podcast was built on hot, nasty, badass beat. We should have started this episode by screaming. We should have all had Mountain Dews, damn, to start the episode. I'm all hooked up. I mean, we still can.

Chip, I'm all hooked up on Mountain Dew. We go back, wait, listen, listen, listen. We go back and post. We put it at the front. and then when people who actually listen to the end realized that we didn't actually start it that way and now they can learn it's like wow they edited it after because it was really funny

and they went wow Craig Craig's a great editor yeah there you go and now you just finding that out so there you go thank you everyone who listened to the end if you don't love this podcast then fuck you yeah thank you Craig thank you ticket thank you

Lord thank you White Snake oh yeah from the movie him and Amy Adams making out Susan I've never It's just like the music video with the hair. Yeah, I like that. She was fantastic.