The Ringer NFL Show - The Players We Are Not Drafting With Bill Simmons

Episode Date: September 1, 2021

We are joined by Bill Simmons to discuss the Patriots releasing Cam Newton and what a Mac Jones–led Patriots offense will look like before running through the 10 players you should be avoiding this season in drafts in a segment called It’s Not You, It’s Me. Later, we answer a few listener emails. Check out The Ringer's 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Guide here. Email us at [e-mail]. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Guest: Bill Simmons Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's good, everybody? I'm John G. Stremski, host to New York, New York with JJ, the first podcast on the Ringer and Spotify dedicated to you, the New York Sports fan. We've got episode three nights a week, plus bonus episodes whenever news breaks. So make sure you follow the show on Spotify. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on the Ringer podcast network. My name is Danny Hyfitz, and I'm joined by Danny Kelly, Craig Holbeck, and Bill Simmons. Hello. What's up, Bill? Thanks for having me. I invited myself. It's good to be here. We're going to go through, I believe it's players we're breaking up with. Yeah, this segment is called, it's not you, it's me. But it is a breakup. It's a dear John letter.

It's 10 players that I'm not going near into fantasy draft, and I'm pretty good with in general. I'm just good. I'm good with the whole thing. I'm good with the experience. And then I'll have two bonus ones for you too. But what do you think of this concept in general of just the, I'm just done.

We've taken this as far as it could go. And good luck with you and other teams. So does this lead us to believe that you have drafted these guys in the past and they've just screwed you every single time? Sometimes. I think that could be the case sometimes. Other times it's just I don't generally like the aroma from some of these players or what they're bringing to the table.

I just, I've been playing fantasy a lot longer than you guys. I think this is my 30th year of fantasy at this point. I was playing fantasies. I told you once upon a time in the days when we hand, hand wrote to scoring and mailed them to each person and things. So I've gone through every incarnation. I was listening to you guys talking about your first bad fantasy experiences, I think last week. And Craig was like in 2006, blah, blah, blah. It was like the Wild Wild West back then.

And it so wasn't fantasy was fully formed by 06. Maybe it's too much the Wild West for you guys. The Wild West was the 90s. I mean, just crazy, crazy shit went down in the 90s. by I would say 0405 range. It was pretty close to where we are now. As soon as the websites could keep track of the scoring, we were pretty good.

I played fantasy baseball for the longest time, and then someone invited me to an NFL league, and I was like, oh, this is way better. And I just never played fantasy baseball after that. It's kind of like cell phones. It's like in the 90s, you literally didn't have any cell phone. In 2006, you had like the LG rumor, but now we have iPhones.

So, you know, it's all relative. This is why all the rules of fantasy need to change, but we don't need to change. but we don't need to get into that right now. But before we get into all the breakups bill, while we have you, Cam Newton cut, fantasy stuff,

how do you feel about fantasy wise about the Patriots, about Mack Jones, Jacoby, Damian Harris, everyone? I think it's really good for every player of the Patriots, so that's a bonus.

I think it's really good for the receivers. We didn't really get to see Mac with the starting receivers in actual preseason games. I think we saw it in the drill stuff and he lit it up. When he was playing, it was usually the backups,

He didn't have a speed guy like Aguilar. I don't think he had a lot of reps with Johnny Smith. But, you know, this is, he's very Brady-esque in a lot of ways. And I think they have this certain offense that they're really used to running. And if you're going to use a basketball analogy, it's he just makes them so much more malleable than Cam did. Cam was like a gimmick, basically, where you have to become this running team that's just play action, play action, play action.

Now with Mac, they could go five receivers if they want. want. They could play hurry up if they want. They could play three tight ends if they want. They have the ability now to use the entire playbook, which I think is a real advantage for them with how good McDaniels is and the infrastructure. I also thought it was interesting. They were one of the only teams that really used the preseason and played guys. You know, like Harbaugh was saying, I think he was kind of bristling that Dobbins shouldn't have been out there and stuff. And he was like, Dobbins only played 23 snaps. You saw other teams like the Pats. So I think we're looking like with the lack of you know, the lack of practice you can actually have now, like as the preseason games are actually

important in them. So I think the Pats are going to be coming out of the gate strong. I like that they got rid of this Miami game early because Miami's been a nemesis over the years. But I think the Mac Jones too a thing will be great. And I honestly think he's a safer bet than somebody like two, uh, somebody like Fields who's in a bad situation in Chicago at least for this first year. I think I'd have to, wouldn't you guys agree out of all the rookie quarterbacks other than Lawrence? He's got to be the safest bed in fantasy, right? What do you think, DK? Well, ceiling-wise, I think that fields and Lance have higher potential just based on the rushing upside and everything like that. But I think in terms of floor, Mac Jones, I think

you kind of know what you're going to get with him. He's going to distribute the football. I love what you were saying about them sort of activating the entire playbook and being able to use that entire offense. Whereas with Cam, it was just somewhat limited. His, like, accuracy downfield had just waned. And also, if you're down 10, the game's over. He's not going to be able to throw you back in the game, you know? Yeah. So I'm excited about, you know, what Matt can do, not only from, like, I think he'll be, like, in two quarterback leagues. He can definitely be your second quarterback, but then also just the way he, I'm more excited about Hunter Henry and Johnny Smith, like what they can do. I'm more excited about Nelson Aguilor, which had all but given

up hope on basically for this season based on like he just hasn't really done anything in training camp there's not much buzz around him now potentially there could be Jacobi Myers is a guy that I've loved we haven't really seen him with Mac and he had a really good chemistry with Cam but I think he's probably their best receiver

right now Bill what would you say like is Jacobi going to lead the team in targets I don't I don't trust the preseason I don't know I think it's going to be one of those where a bunch of guys have 40 to 55 catches but there's no Dominic guy. But you mentioned the key point with Aguilar.

Like, he was just basically running win sprints in these preseason games. It's not like Cam was going to throw him the ball. And the debacks are just playing way back because they know, you know, he's, but now you have a chance to actually see him get open. But they just, they never looked like the Patriots last year. The COVID thing was a disaster. They had a quarterback who got COVID, like at the worst possible point of the season. And the receivers were, I think, the worst receivers in the league last year. They're better now.

I think pretty average, but the running backs are great. And I think the thing is, like, if you're taking Harris and then you're taking Ramandre late as a handcuff, I think you're in good shape with that. And I don't think that's going to be that expensive either. Also on James White, too. Yeah. Pretty underrated, I think, this year. I mean, if he goes back to, like, even 80% of what he was with Brady, he's like a really serviceable fantasy guy on your roster.

He is, but with the James White thing, because obviously I love James White and he helped win us the Super Bowl. but he's also one of those guys like, if he's playing for you in week 15 or week 16, something probably got, something went wrong. He's a good bench guy, though. Yeah, it's like, my week guy.

Great, I get my nine points from James White, but I'm not, you know, something, clearly somebody got hurt if James White is actually in there, but you're right. He can at least eat up some innings and save you from like getting zero points that position. Okay, so Tom Brady dumped you.

Now you can dump a bunch of fantasy players. Yeah, let's go. I'm going to dump a bunch of guys. I'm going to say farewell. This isn't mean-spirited. Had a nice run. Had a nice run with this first guy. Had him for a really good season.

Have a lot of fond memories. I've enjoyed watching him, but T.Y. Hilton. I'm just going to move on. I don't trust you. I don't think you can stay healthy. I think your best years were probably two, three years ago. And he's a fun guy to have on the team. He'll break.

Let's go to Indianapolis. And it's T.Y. Hilton break. in a 60-yarder and it's just doing the TY thing. Yeah, and it's like, oh, I love this guy. It's just fun to having the team. It's like those little fast guys are always great, but I've moved on. I think Pittman's the guy

in that team and I don't think TY can play 11 games. So that's my first guy. What's the injury he has right now? He's actually going to... It's a distant issue in his neck. That's never good, right? Yeah, I'm out on neck. So he's my first guy. 32 with a neck injury, that's tough. Yeah. TY is tough

because I'm a little bit biased here, but I just don't like having really skinny guys on my fantasy team. Every time they catch a ball over the middle, I'm terrified, and they're going to nick an ankle or a hamstring. I just don't like really skinny guys. I think that's why guys like,

DK Metcalf just make you feel so great. He could take a hit over the middle. He's fine if it gets up. That's a good one. Well, that ties into my second guy that I'm saying goodbye to. I never said hello to him. I didn't have them on any teams last year,

but I watched the carnage from him. last year. I watched somebody in my league, my friend Connor, spent $59 on this human being last year. He's somebody who, everyone who came on my podcast, it was a big circle jerk about how great he was going to be. And oh my God and Jesus.

I just wasn't impressed. Clyde Edwards-Hillair, just not impressed. He seemed too small. He seemed like the first guy who hit him. He just went down. Then it was like, oh, he's kind of hurt. It's like, is he hurt? And I just don't see it.

I don't think, I think ultimately he's a third down, pass catching back. I do not think he's a guy that can be like a lead running back and get like 275 carries. So I'm out. Other people can take him. Good luck to you, Clyde. I wish you the best. He's the weirdest guy this year, I think, for us to rank. We've had a really tough time kind of understanding where we should take him because

he has a better situation than he did last year. Levion Bell's gone. He's the guy. They have a great offense. and nothing's really changed, except he just wasn't that good last year. He just seems too small to me. Is that a bad take?

Like, he's not small in like a fun, powerful way. He's just small. That was what I was going to say, Bill. And too, it's like, I think we got really, really excited about the fact that Clyde de Rose Aller was in the Chief's offense. It didn't really matter who he was.

He's in the Chief's offense. I think the difference, and I think some people have pointed this out and are like saying, oh, this is just deja vu. we're going to get way too excited about Najee Harris, blah, blah, it's just Clyde Edwards Lair all over again. Where I would push back on that is number one.

Najee was like literally the number one recruit in the country at one point. He was a five-star guy. He's 230 pounds. He's his production off the charts. He's played multiple seasons. You know, all this stuff. He's a completely different prospect than Clydez. Even Rissillo, who is always going to, you know, be tough to win over,

was texting me before the draft. I think Harris not being in the top 15 is insane. This guy's an absolute beast. So I would say that's the difference. I still think Edwards-Alaire is going to be solid in the NFL. I think we really overreacted to where he landed last year, and that was our mistake. And now he can never live up to that.

I don't think he's a bad player. I think he's a solid player, but he's never probably going to be what we expected him to be last year. Hi, Fitz. I have him as Dionne Lewis 2.0. That's where I landed on Clyde Edwards. a layer. Good luck, though. Please take a eye on your dress. I know you want the

on Lewis in the whole fame. I don't know. Next guy. I bid a dude of this guy a couple years ago. I'd never understand it. I never understand when people rave about him. I think it's ridiculous. I've never seen him play six games in a row. He can win you one week, but then he could disappear for the next three. I don't trust him.

Especially for what his price is. Will Fuller. Good luck in Godspeed. You'll never be on one of my teams. I do not trust you, period. Good luck. Did you see the report when he got suspended that it was like he took like a muscle lubricant because we've been obsessed with that ever since.

Yeah, the bill, the PED scandal didn't win you over that didn't want to make you draft him this year? That's a lot of red flags. I just think the odds of him, A, playing more than 12 games and then B, being available for me in week 15 and week 16, I don't trust it. And then these new teams sign them

and they're always like, Will Fuller, speed, deep threat. It's like the Brandon Cooks thing. Brandon Cooks has had like seven concussions like Brandon Cooks. I want my receivers to stay on the field. You know? It's like, I take D.K. Metcalf. D.K. Metcalf is playing for me for four months.

You guys are making me nervous. You're jinxing D.K. Metcalf right now. Both of you. I didn't mean that. Stop this. Don't tell Mina. My next one, this is just a personal thing. And this is somebody I had on my team who hurt my feelings. So there is a little bit of animosity from personal experience. But Devante Parker just seems so great on paper.

He'll have a catch every once in a while. you're like, here we go. And you think like it's going to be that AJ Brown last five weeks of the season run. We're just like, oh, man, he put it together, his physical gifts. And he's just, how do you cover this guy? I just don't think it's ever happening. I know he had one good season, maybe two years ago. I just don't trust him at this point.

This is like his seventh season. I feel like it would have happened by now. And yet I still feel like he gets taken like a guy who has an actual pedigree. And he just. doesn't. So he's out to. He's been caught in the Adam Gase Webb and then he broke out and had a really good year. And then he was kind of hurt last year. I admittedly think he's good. I don't know if he'll be good with Tua. He was better with Fitzpacchard. This is my thing with Parker. It's a lot of excuses. Craig's a Parker. You got to know him better. No, no, just have dinner with him. He's a great

guy. And it's people trying to win you over on him versus the results. I kind of feel like the dolphins are sort of just passing Parker by. Like they got Waddle. He's like their big get this year. I think he's going to be really good in this offense. There's just tons and tons of hype about Albert Wilson, of all people, coming into camp. I haven't heard anything about Parker. I think it's partly because he hasn't been practicing, which goes back to all the issues that he had

throughout most of his career where he's struggled to stay healthy. So I think it's like Waddle. And Bill, I agree with you generally about Fuller, but I think Fuller's probably going to be playing above this guy. I don't know. It just, I'm not taking Parker anywhere. You know, it's tough when you're in a relationship and everyone around you is kind of lukewarm on it.

and I think Craig will eventually get to the point where he understands what he needs to do with Devon. I still think he passes the eye test. I still think he's good when you watch him. I test. I like it. I like it. But that's why he's overvalued.

I feel like I can't wait until Dave Ghettoman signs up for the Giants next year for $48 million. It's going to be unbelievable. Devante Parker, really good three years ago. My next guy, this is a controversial one. We're going superstar here. Aaron Rogers.

We're done. I'm sure you're going to put up great stats. I don't want your soap opera in my life. I just want a bunch of random fantasy guys who just get stats and numbers and do their thing. And I don't have to worry about, is this guy, might he just sit out week six to prove some statement against some nameless, faceless Packers president or leak out some story or create some soap opera right before the Vikings game on a Monday night? I don't want to deal with your drama, Aaron Rogers. good luck, Godspeed, you can go on the other teams in my league. I'm not having you.

So it's a vibes choice. It just doesn't like the vibes about it. Yeah. Take your soap opera and leave it over here. Speaking superstar quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson, who was unbelievable for me two years ago. Unbelievable. One of my great fantasy experiences I've had, really loved him. Should have won me a title.

The rest of my team choked. I blame all of them, even though I didn't know each other. I think I'm good. I think I had my one great year with Lamar. It was wonderful. We went to Rome. We went to France. He met my parents.

It was a great relationship. It was a great year with Lamar. I'm out. I'm good. Other people can have him now. I also really don't trust the vaccination stuff. It's weird, but I think that has to be part of a fantasy strategy this year. If you're drafting guys, and you just don't know, like, what happens week 15?

trying to win a playoff game and I lose my quarterback because, you know, he, he met some dude at a mall and the dude at COVID and now he's out for five games. So I'm going to let other people take Lamar Jackson this year. We might get back together, but just for now, we're done. We need to make a first team all vaccine fantasy rankings. Yeah, stayaways. Next year's guide will have a vaccination status on the draft guide at the, at the, for, we just have a whole column. It's like the new biweeks. That's how I feel about Kyler, actually, though, Bill, not the vaccine stuff, just like, I'm out. on Kyleor this year because I kind of look at

Kyler as he had 10 touchdowns, first 10 games, and I'm like, well, they want him to rush less and he got hurt and kind of freaked out and peered into his football mortality and they don't want to do that anymore. So I'm like, I'm banking on Cliff Kingsbury to have a good passing offense. I'm not really into that, but I kind of like Lamar this show. This is the first one that I actually still

in on Lamar. Listen, I wish him the best. I might be wrong. I just can tell you how I feel. He's also a little cheaper this year because of last year, you know? He's like no longer the number one guy going off the board. He's like the fourth or fifth. I'm buying the dip.

I think he could be terrible as a passer and still be like a top three quarterback is the thing. I worry about the fact that there is not an above average skill guy in that entire team now. Well, that's the point, though. Like he can run for, he's going to run for like 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. That leads to injury possibilities, though, Danny. And he'll still be a top three quarterback, even if he sucks as a passer. Unless he gets injured. Well, unless he has COVID in week 15 or some sort of COVID scare that all of a sudden he's not playing

for you. You mentioned Kyle Murray. Had him on my team last year. I had him on both teams. Have him in my Keeper League. I could keep him for $23. I think I'm sending him away. I'm pushing the raft. I saw some things with him last year that really made me nervous. He's not a big guy. And when he's running around and scrambling around, he takes hits. It's like watching your own kid. So this isn't even like, this is nothing on his talent. I actually think he's really talented. I just didn't personally like the experience of, oh my God, is Kyler going to get up? I don't want that. I want durable quarterbacks. I want a guy like Mac Jones who's going to have two carries for three yards and he's never going to run the ball ever. And any hit he

takes, he'll be turtling as the hits happening. Kyler's scrambling around and just getting decked by 270-pound guys. I don't need that in my life this year. I wish them the best. Only giant units. That's what you want your team. You just want absolute loads. Yeah, big, healthy, strong guys. Bill, I know you're no longer on the, well, the dating apps. I guess in the 90s. Yeah, they didn't even have them in the 90s. But you can actually set a height preference.

Like, you know, some people that care about being high. And maybe you can do that for your fantasy quarterbacks. You can just like set like must be 6-1, 220. 6-2-4. Like, to me, fields, I just look at fields. I'm like, that guy's a fucking tank. Nobody's taking, he's never getting hurt. So you must be in on Josh Allen this year, that.

Yeah. Josh Allen's number one guy in fantasy. All right. A couple more. I'll rip through these. Michael Thomas. I don't know what's going on with you, but good luck. The surgery in June, three months before the season. He might not be on the Saints by the end of this year.

He also got way too into the last dance and just thinks he's Michael Jordan now. I'm way older than you guys. There is a legacy of these awesome receivers that all of a sudden they're not awesome anymore. And it's like a flip switches and you're like, like, wow, what happened? That guy had 140 catches last year. And now, like, when I was a little kid, you go look it up, John Jefferson on the Chargers, goggles.

Unbelievable. This is like late 70s, early 80s. All of a sudden he was, like, out of the league. And it was like, what happened? The receivers, it's just like, it's kind of like when it flips, it flips. And it usually doesn't come back. Well, so high ankle sprints or like really bad injuries for rec. I mean, Odell, Michael Thomas.

Well, O'Dell is the next guy on my list. It's like turning into the Achilles, yeah. Yeah, I'm out on O'Dell. I just think. he's always going to be overvalued, so he's another guy on my list. There's nothing he did. I think he's a delight to watch. But I just think the price for Odell, whether it's a round-by-round draft for the

booger eaters or an actual auction draft for the real men, the price for O'Dell is always going to be prohibitive compared to what you're actually getting back. And he'll have games where he's like one catch for eight yards. And that's like his entire game. Like a 0.8. Great. So he's out. I'm 100% in on this. Yeah.

O'Dell is the most frustrating superstar in quotes to have on your team busts every other week and he's mad half the time and he might get an argument with the coach or the QB I'm out of him. Baker Mayfield was like

I like the offense more when he's not on the field like I feel less pressure Dave Gellman one credit Dave Gellman gets one kudos for me which was he was correct to trade O'Dell

that was the right smart I have a last human being and then I have an amorphous one last one Kirk Cousins I just feel like when you have Kirk Cousins, I don't even know how to explain this.

He's overqualified to be a backup, but if he's starting for your team's not going to win. And he's like the ultimate fantasy Twitter. His stats are actually pretty good. Like he's the guy that if your QB gets hurt and somehow he's always available on the waiver wire at some point. Somebody always gets fed up with Kirk and he's there, he's sitting there.

And then he'll have like the 380R game with 4 TDs. and you're feeling great. And then I'll have the game with like 120 yards and two picks and you hate yourself. I don't really like that team. I think Cook is the guy and obviously Jefferson.

And it's weird to say, well, the quarterback on that team, but I just, something about it. Do you guys back? I can't imagine winning a fantasy league with Kirk Cousins, I guess is my point. Who's a point guard

who can like run an offense but cannot in any way create their own shot? Ricky Rubia. Ben Simmons. Yeah, Ben Simmons. Yeah, he's like Ben Simmons. That's a good one.

Well, he's, no, Bill Simmons has one elite skill. Have you ever had a conversation with a friend in your life where he's like, I won my fantasy league? Who'd you have? And Kirk Cousins is one of the guys he mentions. No, it's never. Cousins, he's so boring in vanilla. It belies the fact that as a player is incredibly streaky.

You think of him as consistently boring. He's actually really hot and really cold all the time. I feel like he's the guy you take if you're trying not to get last place in your league. Right. If you're seventh place, this is your guy. If you don't want to have like the booby prize last place, you have to get a tattoo of somebody's face. You're not trying to go to the Waffle House. Yeah.

What is your amorphous concept that you're out on? This is it. This is my last one. And then I'm going. Smoke monster? No. I am out on every Green Bay receiver not named Devante Adams. I don't want to play the whack-a-mole of wondering who it's going to be.

And it's like, I have Valdes Scantling or I have Lazard or whoever the fuck's on the team this year and be like, well, if you have the number two guy in the Packers, you could win your league. I'm tired of trying to figure it out. I've been burned on this over and over again. But this was Rogers's problem, too, is he was tired of figuring it out. He's like, get me Jake Cooper back. And then you end up agreeing with Aaron Rogers. Who wants to do that? So the whole thing is like, I'll let other guys in the league figure it out.

I'll let them overreact because the fifth receiver and the Packers had 100 yards in week one. And now he's going for $50 in the fantasy free agent auction. Like, let everyone else deal with like the Packers whack a mole. I don't like it. I've been wrong. every single time. It's like when you're driving on the highway and you're in the left lane

and you're like, oh, that middle lane's moving faster. You go in there and then it stops and then the lane you're just in, keeps going. And you're just kind of going back and forth in these lanes and you're never in the right lane. That's where I am with the other Packers receivers. I'm done.

I'm not doing it. This is how it was last year with Robert Tonian. It's like by the time you buy in that he's actually startable in your fantasy league. He had just... He's already past his... Like, it's gone. Like, you missed your chance.

Like, it's too late. Just stay away. I'm out on all Packers. I don't want any part of that team. Yeah, you don't like Aaron Rogers. You don't like any receiver not named Devontadams, and you don't really like Aaron Jones. So you're just out on the best off-off football. I'm out on all of them. Let somebody else take them. I don't want to deal with their soap opera. But the wide receiver thing drives you because then you feel like you hit. It's like week two. It's like, oh, that guy took in this, you know, with a dollar at the end of my draft.

He just had 130 yards. This is great. I'll start him this week. And then he gets two catches for nine yards. and you're like, oh, I guess not. So that's it. That's my list. It's not you. It's me. Do you have now, so that was, you know, 11 negative guys. Can you give us one guy you're really in on this year?

Other than Damien Harris? Yeah, other than Damien Harris. Other than Ramandre Stevenson also. Who are you going to overpay for in your auction draft? Also, wait, will you have any buccaneers on your team under any circumstances? Oh, yeah. I'm sad, but Tom and I are on good terms. I like T. Higgins a lot.

Yeah, me too. Nice. That's a good one. I like that. I think he's the wide receiver one in Cincinnati. I agree. I really like, mention that on our podcast. I really like Antonio Gibson.

I like Ayuk. I like all the rookie receivers from last year who are now second guys. I think that was such a fucked up season with COVID and no training camp and all that stuff. And that might be a legendary rookie receiver class. So you go through all those dudes, not just Jefferson and people like that, but even like Higgins. I think we might have, that just might have been a gold mine.

I really like Judy. I think I like all the Denver guys because I thought Drew Locke was awful. And I think Bridgewater, at least is a C plus. They just need a C plus. So I like that. And then this has been my guy for a while.

This is like the opposite of the, it's not you, it's me. It's like, no, no, no, let's go. Let's come over. You're sending a 2 AM text. You're double texting this person? Yeah. Mostert.

I just think that guy's excellent. You talk about eye test, Craig. You watch Moster, and it just seems like he should be rushing for 200 yards a game. He just got hurt last year. I think I had him on my team, and I felt like he was headed for like 1,500 yards last year, and he got hurt. The whole team got hurt. If you could guarantee Mostert played 16 games, he'd go like top 20. Yeah, I think there's some value to the Mostert, what's the guy's name, Sermon, the rookie.

Yeah. I think get both those guys and just, I think, one of those guys hits, and then you might have weeks where somebody's hurt, but, uh, they're like discount, Chubb and Hunt, honestly. Yes, I agree. Uh, don't do a round by round draft. It's for booger readers. Uh, I love you guys.

Great podcast. Talk to you soon. Thanks, Bill. Bye. We've got a couple emails here. You can email us at ringer fantasy football at gmail.com. One from Michael. We talked about guillotine leagues last week.

Michael writes, Craig's disdain for guillotine league shocked me. And he's like, that's not the way it is. It's not what we described where it. you lose your out. It's the way Michael's is set up, ours is 17 teams and only the lowest score each week gets booted.

Then all their players become available on the waiver wire and there's weekly bidding so you have a budget to bid on those players. That is much better than what you described earlier. So the first run picks. So if you come in last

and like you have the lowest scoring team, that's pretty incredible. That is cool. I still got it. I mean, I get it from like a cool competitive like alpha league setting, but man, it sucks if you're just out week one.

I think the other thing that he said, Nick said, or no, sorry, Michael said was that this is not your first and only league. Like, this is just like a side league, side bet for fun, try it out type deal. I kind of like the idea of having a real league and then like a crazy league that you just do on the side. It's like you do a memory draft or like every year there's a new gimmick. That's kind of a fun idea. Memory draft is great.

I love that. Instead of having a league, instead of having a league, instead of having a league. like what DK does were 22 leagues and you end up having a portfolio of Justin Jefferson there are stock market leagues where you essentially have an amount you can invest and you have a actual portfolio so you're like I want a little like T. Higgins or whatever

but I don't want, you know what I mean? You can actually spread it out. Who's doing that though? I feel like the only people doing that are like stockbrokers and venture capitalists. Get away from work guys. Take a break. Stop trading. Okay. Another one from Nick.

After the sleeper's 2.0. Nick. After the Sleepers 2.0 pod, I was curious with the league's loser challenge to spending 24 hours in a Denny's and getting four hours deducted for your time eating a grand slam. Denny's never made it to Australia where I'm from. So I wanted to find out what a grand slam was. One, it looks delicious. Two, apparently if a town in America is more than one Denny's, everyone knows which one is the good Denny's and which one is not. Is that thing? I don't know that. It's true. Three, according to the website, the bacon is quote beef bacon at Denny's. He says, I've never heard of that before. Call me old fashioned, but back in my day, bacon was made of bacon. Having said that, if you want to turn this into a fantasy question, who is the beef bacon draft pick this year? So it wasn't what you expected.

But, you know, it probably is just fine. It wasn't what you expected. Wow, beef bacon. Didn't know that about Denny's. Not great. Although I'm glad it's beef bacon, I guess, over something else. Horse bacon. Glad it's beef bacon over horse bacon.

I would say every year it's been Joe Mixon. Probably. You're like, oh, cool, I'm getting Levy on Bell on the Bengals. And you're like, oh, wait. This is really good. This ain't working out. This is a good one. I think that's right on.

You know, you're like, oh, he's like still something. He's like always playing. He's always getting all the touches. But then you look at his stat line, you like, look at your fantasy match. You're like, he got me 11 every week. I guess that's fine, but I drafted him in the first round. Denny's. No one talks about him anymore.

People are just sick of it. It's like every year we're so excited about him becoming the next superstar, you know, Christian McCaffrey light guy and it just never happens for whatever reason. I got an email from you from Alex. I was hoping for some advice. I've landed the sixth pick in my 12 team half point PPR league.

Don't wait. You're not actually booger eaters guys if you do the snake. It's okay. I like snake drafts for the record. I don't. So he's got the sixth pick 12 team league. Based on some of your insights, I'm thinking about going running back, assuming Zique or maybe Derek Henry are still there, and then following it up with maybe Darren Waller in the second

round. And then getting receivers, stockpiling them, and then maybe when Mike Davis is available in the six or seven. So what do you guys, he says, what are thoughts on this? And I'm curious what you guys think about that exact situation. If you have like the sixth pick in drafts this year, when do you basically, when do you start going from like running back,

when you start thinking about Devante Adams or Tyree Killer, Travis Kelsey this year in the middle of the first round? Yeah, I think it's right there. I think that's the exact spot. I think there's six running backs that you for sure want to take that top tier. I would say that you could even go with Eckler or, Nashi Harris or, you know, Sequin, if you're really bullish on him, or even Antonio Gibson reach it a little bit and just go for it. But I would say that sixth, the McCaffrey Cook,

Elliot, Henry, Camara, Jones, tier, to me is like the clear, take a running back with your first pick. But you just threw three guys who are very different. Naja Harris, Saquan, Gibson. Maybe not Saquan, but like, maybe. Like, those three guys might come back to you in the second round. Maybe. So do you just take Kelsey at six? and then know you're going to get Nage or Echler or some good running back in the second? That's what I was just going to say. I almost think if you take...

Like, I have the fifth player in my rankings is Devante Adams. I think after that first big four of running back, you grab an elite, one of those big three wide receivers, and then maybe you start a wide receiver run in your draft, and everyone's like, oh, shit, wide receivers are going, and then you can come back around. If you have the sixth pick, that's what, 18th in a 12 team?

Is that right? 20th? No, it's 18th, I think. And then, yeah, you get Sequin, Jonathan Taylor, Nick Chubb, Austin Echler. I think that's a great strategy. What do you think, Kivitz?

So wherever you end up being comfortable, no longer like feeling good about those running backs. And it's different for everyone. I think for us, it's those guys, right? It's McCaffrey,

Cook, Zeke, Camara, I'm nodded on Sequin, Aaron Jones, and I'm forgetting how, Derek Henry, did I say him? Yeah. Once you start to feel like

you're like, oh man, I guess I got a reach for this guy. You don't want to reach for your sixth pick. To me, there's a, drop off in like the like I like Nage Harris I think I'll have

first round return but I also understand like you ideally want to get that in the second round so once you feel like I don't actually believe in my heart that this guy is going to be like a slam dunk first rounder I think that's where you want the receivers but I'm actually kind of come around

to like I actually would do Kelsey there or Devante but I've thought about it and I'm like on one hand my fear is that we're just the guy's buying kelp we're going to be holding the bag for kelsey after three years in a row of not taking him in the second now we're taking him in the first and then i'm terrified of that and we're like wow what an idiot i am i missed all the good years to buy it now however

whether it's kelsey or wall or up front i really like the idea of getting that but i think that that's the break is that seventh pick and you can get a running back it's just that's where my confidence level drops and that's all at the end of the day is with your first run pick is i want a guy who's going to be fucking elite i need a guy will be top five they don't need to be top one but they need to be top five or Kelsey needs to be top one. I'm buying the Kelsey stuff too because especially with what's happened with the tight-in position of late, you know, you've had Troutman who's not looking like he's going to be the sleeper we thought he was.

Goddard is still having to battle with Zach Hertz and that just seems like a cluster in that in Philly. You know, there's just a lot of guys sort of like we're hoping and putting our, you know, put our hopes and dreams into like if you take him later in the draft. Irv Smith, it might, you know, he might miss a month or two or the whole season. we don't really know. I just think that there's so much uncertainty with later guys. Like, you're just getting a huge advantage on your team.

If you're just, if you can just bank 20 points with Travis Kelsey every week, you know what I mean? The other one I got to throw in there is Noah Fant, who, in theory, should be like this sleeper tight end, but in reality you've got Jerry Judy Sutton there. It's like the fourth guy. Good defense for a Teddy Bridgewater team. You're like, how much is the third option on the Broncos

if they have a potentially great defense? How much is that really worth? And I agree. So here's the thing. There's like our rankings, but I'm a big believer that like at the end of the day, if you think about fantasy football and you have to make a decision

in your first run pick or second, whatever, any decision of consequence is imagine that you completely fucked it up. Like you just got it wrong. And then like, how would you feel? And then imagine if you did the other thing and then how does that make you feel if you got it wrong.

So it's like, if you're like, wow, I get Travis Kelsey and he's awful. You know, that would suck. I'd feel dumb. Probably could live it. But if you take like Gibson, Antonio Gibson's sixth. And then he's not the guy

that we thought he would be. That actually feels a lot worse to me. Hey, you have a worse hangover. It's almost like trying to figure out what you should drink that night. Yeah, it is actually. That's really good. You know, you're like,

should I do Yeager? It's fun. We'll do Yeager bombs. Everyone's into it. And then I feel like I got hit by a bus tomorrow. Or do I stick with Coors Light the entire night's tried and true? Even if I feel like shit tomorrow, I'll know it's not really because I made the wrong choice.

Yeah, and it's like, well, you start drinking long on NSTs. And you're like, yeah, you know what? That was super easy to see in retrospect that you feel terrible to me. Yeah, you're like, that audios motherfucker tasted good. but man, I don't have any brain cells this morning. TK, have you ever had an audios motherfucker? I'm trying to remember what it is. I think I probably have.

What's in it? It's like a Long Island iced tea with blue curacao or whatever that's called? Curacao. Yeah, yeah. I've had one of those, yep. One time in college, we bought, and I'm not going to name the bar they gave us to this because it's extremely illegal. We bought a pitcher of Yegbaum.

What? You like everybody got Yeager. And it was like a pitcher of whatever it was, let's say the Red Bull, yeah. Red Bull. And then we all dropped your shots into the pitcher and then just like drink them out of like pint glasses. I don't think that's legal.

Yeah, so who's the Irish car bomb of fantasy drafts this year? I'm trying to think. That's a good question. It needs to be high up though because there needs to be stakes. Like we can't just cop out and be like this seven round pick. Who's the four loco? Who's the four loco in this? Man, is this a whole episode?

Who tastes fucking. great. And then you're like, I immediately regret this. It's curdling in my stomach. Like week one, you're like, man, this is good. I think I've been afraid of Seekwan. And now I'm wondering if like, oh, no, I see before Loco, and it was really fun and I didn't have any. And now it's

illegal. I can't get it. And so for last month, I would have said Seekwan, but I think I have to change my answer now, just because I've talked about it too much. Who's the absent that literally makes you hallucinate? Chris McCaffrey. You're like, oh my God. There's two guys out there. I see two guys.

Oh, man. I think we just thought of a show. We just thought of a show. Yeah, just guys is liquors. Do we cuddle this or leave it in? No. I don't know if we have a show with that. Maybe we do.

Email us if you want the show. If not, I don't know. We'll just leave this here. I'm really, I want to focus on who's the Irish car bomb who, like, is going to have. Let's put it to the people. Email us, who in the first round is the Irish car bomb? Ringer Fantasy Football at Gmail.com. Also, if you have, like, comps for players and liquors,

like, you know, what kind of night you're going to end up having. Email us or Ringar Fantasy Football. football at gmail.com. But, okay, we have an email from Keith. Hey, guys, as a 49er fan, I don't object to the quarterback platoon, but I do object to the term, quote, quarterback platoon. It should be called a quarterback by quamity with the QUA. You know, this just made me think of Dave Gettleman, who pronounces quarterback, quadaback. He does. The Boston's unbelievable. Quadivacs. I love my quarterback. Not bad, Keith. Good pun. Not bad. Good part. Yeah. That's a win for Keith. I'll give it to him. Plus one.

We have some big news. We have some really big news, guys. If this is about, if we just got an email from Mark while we're recording this about Mariah Carey, I'm going to defeat? No, but it's almost as big. Okay. Ian Rappaport of NFL Network tweets, The Vikings have solved their tight end issue. They're trading for promising Jets to Tideon, Chris Herndon, in exchange for draft

pick compensation, sources say. Calling Chris Herndon a promising tight end is like calling me a prominent musician. sure. I gotta be out, right, guys? I don't know what this is like. You gotta be. I can't let this affect me. Tell me why I should stay out. There's no reason to come back in, right? Because it's been three years, or is it his fourth year? He had a rough training camp, according to the report. This is year four for him. Yeah. He had the opportunity to be the guy for the last three years in New York. Why would going to Minnesota now all of a sudden make him the guy that he would... Well, I mean, look at the Jets last year were a dumb.

I mean, they've been a dumpster for three years, and now he's going to a professional football team with a professional quarterback and good players. And no? I don't know. Okay. So, no, we're not getting involved for him. What about the fact that they traded for him?

Are they getting insurance in case Earf's hurt? Yeah, I think this is absolutely just like, hey, we are our tight end, Earf Smith, he's probably out for at least a couple weeks, maybe longer. They cut Zach Davidson, this guy that drafted in the fifth round. Tyler Conklin is banged up but I think he'll be the guy

right like he's gonna once he's healthy he'll be the guy I'm not buying it I can't do that again can't do that to myself I'll hold off you'll all see though Devante Parker

and Chris Herndon you'll see low key with Devante Parker I just want to point out he's the only player really on the dolphins that caught a pass from two last year so

okay that's actually pretty interesting one more question for you guys we got an email from Adam some league rescue Adam. Please God make sense of this league for me. I haven't played fantasy in years, but I knew something was wrong with the league as soon as I saw the draft set up. First I'll show you the rules and then I'll show you the draft outcome. There's a lot of really screwed up stuff here. But in essence,

it's a point per completion minus a point per incomplete pass. There are three defensive players. They have to have a DB, a linebacker, a defensive line after never having defensive players before and a bunch of other stuff. That is just egregious. But here's the point that's really fun. To give you the context, this is a family league, so we all know each other. The commissioner is my father in law, but he lets his cousins change, set up

the league settings each year, which is how I think we got three defensive players for every roster with just five bench spots. What? It's unbelievable to think about. It's my first year. It's a keeper league. These people have played together for 10 years.

How does Adam go about this? If his commissioner is his father-in-law. just go for it so I got it so one of my buddies texted me about the lawyer league yesterday you remember how we talked about the lawyer league on the last episode

it was like 0.66 points per reception there was like 22 points for a field goal or whatever there's just a bunch of random shit my buddy texted me and he was like I want in I want into this league I just want to let the chaos wash over me

and that's what you got to do you just got to let the chaos wash over you right now and just embrace it you don't even know who you're supposed to root for in this. Like, how do you even, like, how do you become a fan of your own team? You can't tell, like, who's going to score points?

I kind of like that, though. It's kind of fun, you know? You're rooting for incompletions and picks and the field goal misses. It's sacks. Pure chaos. The father-in-law thing is really tough. So father-in-law tells me they're married,

so that's good, right? He's ideally had a lot of time with this man. They have a good relationship. The thing with the commissioner is, like, I think fantasy league should rotate commissioners a lot more often than they do. I feel like people change. If you're in a league for 10 years,

like maybe that guy is not as committed as he was 10 years ago. Like this father-in-law guy maybe thought it was cute to get the family together eight years ago and do a little league. But like maybe he's busy now. Doesn't, you know,

read roto world every day like you do. I think you got to maybe broach the topic that we need to change commissioners, you know? Whoa, whoa. This is dangerous. This is dangerous advice. Wait, you're saying instead of like father-in-law,

like, I want to change some rules. Hey, hey, step aside. Why don't you step down, old man? Yeah. Just directly challenge his place of the hierarchy immediately. Craig, while you're at it, ask you if you can sit at the head of the table. Recall the father-in-law. You actually have to do that first, order of operations.

You have to take his seat at the head of the table and then inform me. You're the one that's cut. You're cutting the turkey on Thanksgiving, buddy. I am the commissioner now. Shake his hand. I'm the captain now. Shake his hand on draft day and go, You're in my world now, Grandpa.

Throw all your war medals off the bridge, Chip. Fucking Craig's advice is dangerous, but I like it. I think you got to bring it up, dude. Listen, you say, hey, Mr. Whatever. Power move. He'll never respect you more. You gave me your daughter.

You gave me your daughter. It's time to give me your fantasy league. Wow. That was the Wrigue fantasy football show. The face that Craig just made following that statement. Thank you, D.K. Thank you, Craig. Thank you, Bill, for coming on.

Thank you. Adam? Yeah, Adam. Adam, who just emailed him about the father-in-law thing. Thank you, Adam. I feel bad. I hope I just didn't ruin Adam's marriage. I hope he doesn't really go for this and then getting like a massive fight. Can you imagine? We already ruined Santa for a child. Can you imagine if we like broke up a family? Trigger warnings. Oh shit.

We announced that Santa does in fact, you know, he doesn't like scary movies and that just a lot of people. Correct. Santa's not a scary. People are upset that Santa doesn't bring them presents, but sometimes in coal, but that's why you've got to be a good child. Every child listening. You have to be good,

or Santa will not bring you presents. Adam, if you get divorced over this, you'd come on the show. We'll have some fantasy lawyers lined up for your divorce. The new fantasy court is really true. We have all those lawyers in that lawyer league. Fantasy divorce court.

I actually love the idea of having somebody who wants to overthrow the commissioner, and there's like a council, And we are the council, and he, like, makes his case, and they're both up, and we get to decide who should be the commissioner. That sounds pretty fun. Craig is just power hungry now. All right. Goodbye, everyone.

Oh, wait, DK. Thank you, Lord. Lord. Thank you, Jane's Addiction. Oh. Did we do that one? I doubt it. You can check the list.

Check the entourage theme song, right? Oh, is it? Is it? Yeah. That was not the one I was thinking of. That song was a pretty weak intro song for Entourage. Not going to lie. That's definitely not the song I was thinking.

I'm not really too formative an age. Got way too much Ari Gold in my formative ears. Yeah, I wanted to be an agent for a while after watching Harry Gold. Oh, boy. My brother just watched too much of it. Just like yelled at people for a little bit.

That was a bad phase. Goodbye, everyone.