The Ringer NFL Show - The Take Purge: The 2021 Season

Episode Date: September 6, 2021

Welcome to the second annual Take Purge. All NFL season and fantasy football–related takes, including things you don’t actually believe, will be legal for 60 continuous minutes. All rational thought, logic, and professional credibility will be suspended.  Check out The Ringer's 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Guide here. Email us the takes you must purge! [e-mail] Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, everybody. This is Warren Sharp NFL analyst over at Sharp Football Analysis. I want to welcome you to the ringer gambling show. Join me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays each week during the NFL season with guests Chris Vernon, Ben Solac, and Joe House to guide you through the NFL betting landscape. We'll be talking spreads, game totals, parlays, player props, futures, and much, much more. Be sure to follow the ringer gambling show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This is not a test. This is your emergency podcast system announcing the commencement of the annual take purge. At the siren, all takes, including things you don't actually believe, will be legal for 60 continuous minutes. No players, coaches, or media members of any kind will be granted immunity.

All rational thought, logic, and professional credibility will be suspended. The Ringer Podcast Network thanks you for your participation. May our take God Chris Sims be with you all. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Hyvitz. I'm joined by two guys ready to purge their sinful takes from their souls. Danny Kelly and Craig, Craig, Craig, are you concerned for your safety? A little bit.

These are really coming from a dark place in my body, so we'll see what you guys think. We are, I believe, less than 90 seconds from the purge beginning, D.K., do you, like, are you just trying to survive out here? Or are you trying to, like, purge? I'm a little bit scared, saying these things out loud. is I feel vulnerable. I feel like I'm going to get attacked for these things. And you know what? I probably deserve to be attacked in some of these cases.

So, yeah, I'm a little nervous about firing off these takes, but this is what the take purge is all about. We have done it once before with the NFL draft. That was our, we dipped our toe in the water. And now, I mean, this is the real deal. This is the regular season, fantasy. I mean, it doesn't get much more real than this. If you're a little confused and or have not seen the purge, it's very simple.

We do a lot of research for the draft. We have a lot of thoughts. Some of these are unwanted thoughts, unwanted ideations. They creep in. They just creep into the back of your mind. You just got to get it out. We just need to purge these thoughts. We don't even know if we believe,

but we just need to get them out into the light of day. But first, we actually do have huge news. A lot of you have said you want to play in a league with us of some kind. Yeah. This is your chance. We are bringing back the bad quarterback league. They used to do it at Grant. It's the bad quarterback league.

We're doing it as daily fantasy on Fandul. So you get points for bad quarterbacking. So you get points for interceptions and fumbles and you lose points for touchdowns and good plays. It's a lot of fun. So Andy Dalton will be more expensive on Fandle than Patrick Holmes. You'll be able to play with us every week. It's going to be a lot of fun. We will have a lot more details for you very soon.

But watch out for that. Whoa. Is that the siren? Is that? Yeah. Here we go. It begins. I'm so scared.

I'm so scared right now. 60 minutes. You can say whatever you want. Hell yes. Hell yes. Okay. Let's start this off. Here's something I believe.

Well, I kind of believe. It's creeping into the back of my mind, just ever so slightly. Damien Harris is the third best running back on his own team. So people are very, very excited about Damien Harris this year. And I actually get why the Patriots are going to be, I think, a run heavy team. they have a very good offensive line. Mack Jones is going to be the starter, so that means, you know, there's going to be more dump-offs. There's going to be, like, far more opportunities at the goal line, things like that.

Like, I think Damien Harris is one of the most sexy sleepers, I think, right now. I'm not even convinced that he's going to be the starter for the whole season. I think that Ramandre Stevenson might just be a better option, might just be a better running back than him. I understand that he's a rookie. I get that. And Bill Belichick, blah, blah, blah. doesn't start rookies. Look who's starting for the Patriots this year, guys.

He released Cam Newton, the Wiley Veteran, and just decided to go with the better player. So... This is classic D.K. This is so classic DK. This is... D.K. is the cold shower. D.K.'s favorite thing to say that the starting running back isn't the best running back on the team. I think... Did you do that with the Steelers?

James Conner is, like, the third best running back from the Steelers. I was trying to remember where I'd said this before. I definitely did say this before. You were like, Anthony McFarland is just straight better than James Connor. And it's like an unprovable statement. Am I wrong? Right.

I can't actually prove to you that Ramadre Stevenson is not better. Look, that one didn't work out. This is why we're using this on the take purge. This isn't necessarily real advice. This is what I would say, keep this in the back of your mind if you're drafting Damien Harris that like halfway through the year, Ramadre Stevenson could be the starter. It's not totally wacky and wild. I actually was reading an article from Dan Graziano.

Is it so saying? It actually is. It's a great. Great line. I was reading an article by ESPN reporter Dan Graziano, by the way, the other day. And he had, so his article was, and I will say this, predicting potential surprises. So it wasn't necessarily like pure reporting, but he said, they like Harris a lot, but not so much in the passing game. Don't be surprised if we're sitting here a year from now and talking about Stevenson, who rushed for 216 yards in the preseason as the leadback in this offense. I don't think he's just making that up.

I think there's something to this potentially. Also, using some actual real numbers here, last year, and I saw this from Matthew Barry in his 100 stats article that he does every year. So over the past five years, the Patriots have had the NFL's second highest red zone rushing rate. So they like to run inside the red zone. New England last year had 32 rushes inside the five-yard line. Cam Newton got 22 of them. The next closest player, Rex Burckhead with four. Third closest was Damien Harris with three.

everyone's so excited about Damian Harris right now and again, I get it, I get it. What if they just split up the goal line carries? What if it's Ramadre Stevenson is the goal line back? But why would that happen? He's a rookie. Belichick always red shirts the rookie running backs. Okay.

This is the logical thing to say. What if you're just flat out fucking wrong on that though, Hyphitz? But Mr. Hyphitz, we are in the middle of a take purge right now. What if it just doesn't happen like you envision? So basically my bottom line point is that Remodre Stevenson, looked actually fucking incredible in the preseason. I get all the fucking caveats about preseason.

D.K. loves the preseason. However, DK likes the preseason better than the rain season. We're all overreacting to Mack Jones looking like the greatest preseason quarterback of all time. And I can't overreact to a running back looking good too. DK wakes up Sunday morning week one and is disappointed. He lets out a sigh of disappointment that preseason. He should have just made that his take purge.

I like the preseason better than the regular season. I like that there's 90 players getting run at a game. I have written an article about how great the preseason is in the past. Probably don't need to look it up or anything like that. But I think honestly, like, I'm not even kidding. The thing, the Damien Harris thing to me is sort of just like, you know how this happens all the time? Like, people get really excited about like a brunch spot that everybody loves.

And it's like the trendy new brunch spot. And every time you go to this brunch spot, there's like a 45 minute. line and you have to fucking wait around. And I hate that shit. I hate it so much. I'm like, I'm not waiting in line for this place. I don't care how good, you know, their eggs Benedict is. I'm not doing it. I refuse to go to this place. I refuse to jump on this train. This is how it is with, I think David Harris, just because he's so, like, trendy right now. Everybody's so excited about it. I'm just like, I can't do it. He's overrated brioche French toast. Is that what you're exactly? I get what D.K.'s say, and I love that analogy. I'll go a step further. It's, it's like the

same way everyone wants you to watch a show and then enough people tell you to do it, but you're late. And I'm like, I'm not doing it. So I'm like, stop fucking telling me to watch Brooklyn 9-9. It's never going to happen. I'm never watching Brooklyn 9-9. Solely because so many of you told me to do it. I will never watch 30 Rock.

Just stop asking me. That was just might as well at Mays on that. I know. That was not a digger. Mays is listening. Like, that was about you. He has actually not tried to get me to watch 30 Rock. I just will say.

I feel the exact same way that Ted Lasso. Listen, I get it. Everybody loves Ted Lassau. I even watch the first season of Ted Lassow, but I hate that everybody likes Ted Lassow so much that I now hate the show. So this is saying it. It's just like, screw it. Actually, it's funny because my thought,

I've been thinking this over the last couple weeks, Craig, the people who complain about Ted Lassow are such fucking curmudgins. Like, just, it's the nicest show in the world. It's all about positivity and getting better, but also, like, I 100% know what you're saying. Like, just like, there's a certain type of show. out there that breeds these like insane fans and I just can't do it. Anyway, that's how I feel about Damien Harris.

I had to get this out on the take purge because I actually do think Damien Harris is like the logical and rational pick here. But I don't know, just in the back of my mind, that nagging thought, Rondre Stevenson. Also, J.J. Taylor, James White. You're not going to draft Stevenson or redraft though. It's going to be like if he gets two goal line touchdowns and we've wanted to pick him up because that's real, but mostly it's out of spite for Damien Harris. My actual fantasy analysis here is I'm worried about

Stevenson and I'm worried about James White and I'm worried about J.J. Taylor and I'm worried about how all three of those players are very good players and it's not going to be the Damian Harris show that everyone thinks it's going to be. It's going to be a committee. That's D.K.'s least favorite show, the Damian Harris show. I have a Damian Harris adjacent take that maybe I should go next. This is kind of like eight takes and one. So I don't, this is like the majority.

of my analogy, but like, I think the running backs going in the sixth and like seventh rounds will just straight up be better than the running backs going in the fourth and fifth rounds. You did this one last year, too. This is like a classic high thing. It's true, though. We started out with a classic G.K. Last year I said half the top 10 tight ends would not finish. And that one ended up bright.

But this one, and I'm not talking about usually talking about value. I'm not talking about like the six and seventh round running backs will provide like a better draft. I'm saying the six and seventh round running backs will actually just outperform the guys in fourth and fifth. So the guys in the six and seven, that's like Damian Harris, Mike Davis, Javante Williams, Rahim Mostert, Gus Edwards, depending how you count, will just be better than the running backs going ahead of them, like by 20 or 30 picks who are like Josh Jacobs, David Montgomery, D'Andra Swift, Miles Sanders. You will look back a year from now.

You'll be like, here were the six guys going, and then here are six guys that were going 20 or 30 spots later, and then those guys were just better. And you look at next year's draft and all those guys are just ranked ahead of them right now. We can go into as many as you want or don't want individually, but I just have strong thoughts on like a lot of these guys, but you just look at like, Giovante,

if you have any questions out of those guys individually, but generally speaking, that doesn't mean like go and draft these guys in the fourth. It's like if you wait till the sixth round, there are good RB2s there that might just straight up outperform

the guys you're taking ahead of them. Yeah, I feel like those guys are just a little bit more unproven and the guys above them are the ones who've had like two shaky seasons shown some flashes and you think, you know, maybe this is the year.

It's like this is the year players. They're literally holding on by a thread hoping it doesn't snap. But then you got guys like Javaday Williams, who just like straight up might have a better season than Miles Sanders. So I do understand what you're saying. Every year we talked about how there's always a tier that you just, there's a tier below another tier that you just like more for some reason. I've got a guy in this area that is part of one of my takes.

Do we want to just skip to it or do you want to wait and go in order? We can go to that guy because I just. Just get my take. Is it Javante? No. Okay. I want to hit up Chavante. Do all your takes.

I hope this isn't another. This is probably another classic D.K. D.K. Take purge or whatever, but. Is it cold water on someone we all like? No. We should do another segment where we guess each other's takes. That would actually be really good. I think you guys probably would get this one.

I'm like trying to think of what this is going to be. Yeah. Give me a guess. Knowing D.K., it's like, Diamy Brown will be the second best receiver on Washington. No, it's going to be about. Rondell Moore, Jill and Waddle. No, it's not rookies. Oh, well, then I have no idea.

Is it going to be that AJ Green is going to be like a top 20 wide receiver? That's a good idea. No, that's not it. I do like that one. I like where your head's at. Okay, here we go. I know that this is like absolutely irrational, but I actually kind of believe it. Ronald Jones, R.B.1.

Oh, I love this shit. We talked about this a couple episodes ago. So, number one, I'm just out on Fournet. Like, I just, I know that we. had a very solid relationship with him last year and loved him and hyped him up, like, playoff Lenny, loved all that stuff. Ronald Jones is just better at this point as a runner. They both kind of are not that helpful as pass catchers. I get that. But here's my thinking. I think, number one, the Buccaneers are going to be very good on offense. I think they're going to

have a lot of leads this year. And I think Ronald Jones is going to be the main guy salting away games, running in the second half, just giving them a chance to, like, you know, get the game over with essentially without like, just get out of there with a win type deal. And I think that the Buccaneers are going to have a lot of early game leads. Last year, part of this is the situation,

which I think he has a good situation. Part of it is I actually think he's a very good player. Last year, and I was actually surprised when I looked this up. He was fifth among all running backs in rushing yards over expectation. This is a next-gen stat behind only Derek Henry, Nick Chubb,

Alvin Cook and J.K. Dobbins. Fifth. He was fourth in rushing yards over expectation per attempt. So it was like total yards and per rush. So like very good in both like macro and micro level. Per PFR, per pro football reference. That's hard to say. Pro football reference. He was first in yards after contact per attempt. He was also 10th last year in rushing yards per game. Eighth in rushing yards per carry. Why do we think he sucks? I like this to me it's. To me, it's. still is like just mystifying. I think it's because he dropped so many passes or something, but he's good. He's a good runner.

So first of all, I agree with everything you just said. I love Ronald Jones. I don't understand the, there's several sites where Furnett's going ahead of him. And I'm like, if you watch the playoffs, injured Ronald Jones was better than healthy Leonard Fournette last year. And Furnett had a big playoffs because Ronald Jones eventually was too hurt to really play significantly, but he was better. I agree with everything we just said.

Having said that, I have been rethinking all of this today because, Gio Bernard has a high ankle sprain. And that is different than an ankle sprain. I sprained my ankle the other day going up a curb, and I misjudged it, and I sprained my ankle. A high ankle sprain is not like that. A high ankle sprain, we talk about Achilles and stuff. Quietly, the high ankle sprain is like the most benign sounding thing

that affects your career. Michael Thomas got one. It's like turf toe. Yeah, Michael Thomas got one. And look at now he's had surgery and they botched that. And now he's going to miss half the season. I mean, Odell's had a high ankle sprain. wasn't the same. Sequin had an ankle sprain. It ruined his whole season a couple years ago.

I mean, Gio Bernard is the pass catching guy. So if he has something that will linger all year, who's the better pass catcher DK.? Is it Ronald Jones or is it Leonard Fournette? It's probably Fournett, and I think that's going to be his role. So again, this is, he's going to be reliant on early downs, touchdowns. I get that. Like, I think there's a world in which his touchdown performance and Yarr's performance pushes him up into like the low end R.B one category and half PPR. He's not going to be a big pass catcher. That's just not going to happen.

Even that would be crazy for Take Purge. But I think that situationally, talent-wise, he's going to have an opportunity to carry the ball a lot. Last year, I saw this per football-football, sorry, Sharp football. Football Sharp! Should we change Warren's website? Let's make our own battle-pin. Should we just take it over?

Football Sharp.com. For Warren Sharpe's website, which has basically every stat you could ever want. But let's see here. One, two, two. There's also a lot of stats. I don't even know if I want. There's so many stats. Only five teams had more rush attempts with an eight-point lead than the Buccaneers last year.

I think they could be first this year, honestly. I agree. In other words, I think the Bucs start like 8-0. The Buccaneers had 134 rushes last year with an eight-point lead. I bet they outpaced that this year. I bet Ronald Jones gets like 150 rushes with them just ahead. You know, and bottom line, you could have like 200 plus. So, I don't know.

I'm just looking at the situation. I still think he's talented. I'm holding on to that fucking love. I don't know why. I mean, I do know why. It's the stats back it up. I just think he looks good as a runner.

But he also, but I think the things that hold him back are like he fumbles and he doesn't catch the ball. So people think he sucks, but he doesn't suck. I agree with this take, though, that Jones has a lot of carries. I mean,

their buy is in week nine for Tampa Bay. I would be pretty surprised if they had more than one loss going into that buy. I think they start at least seven and one. Yeah. They also play fast. They also play fast. I saw this, again, per sharp, they were, hold on, let me pull it up.

Per football, per football, per football. Per sharp, per sharp. The Buccaneers were the fourth fastest offense with an eight-point lead. So neutral, like, neutral situation they play fast, but also when they're leading, they play fast. So there's going to be, it's not like they're just grinding out games slow. They still want to play fast and run a lot of plays. So that's good.

Craig, do you have a take, Perge? Yeah. Unfortunately, this is about the big dog Derek Kennedy's photo. Oh! Oh, I'm already jealous. I'm already so jealous. This is classic craig. I'm so mad I didn't do what you're about to do.

I don't think Derek Henry is a top 10 running back. I'm so mad I didn't do this one. Shit. Why? It's been on my mind. Because listen, it's the Marshawn Lynch theory. I did it every year for Marshaun. I'm trying to be Bill Belichick.

I'm trying to get out a year early. Everyone next year is going to be talking about this one. He's 28. This is his year 27 season. His year's six season. After 300 plus 397 touches last year. Jesus.

Over 400 if you count the playoffs. Listen. Listen. I'm just trying. I'm precipitating this happening. That's all I'm saying. Aaron Schatz actually has an interesting theory called the Curse of 370

that shows the year after running backs have 370 plus touches. And it's a massive drop-off. Not to mention, Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator, is gone. He was the guy who turned Derek Henry into the big dog. He was just a medium dog,

and he turned him into a big dog. He's gone. They brought Julio Jones in. Their OC is now Todd Downing, who the last time he was in O.C., was on the Raiders, and they ran the 30th most times in the league. I understand they have Derek Henry

and things might change. But I think things are going to look a lot different in Tennessee. Their defense is, once again, terrible. They might be losing a lot. When Derek Henry lost games, he ran for 50 yards a game,

and when the Titans won games, he had 106 yards a game. It's a possibility, it's a possibility that he doesn't run for 19 touchdowns this year and it's just like closer to Josh Jacobs than he is last year's day. I think this is dead on

and what I like about it is it's the touches are really concerning but it's not like just being like well he's been doing it a long time so when it's it's like there are like overlapping things of the touches the guy who made him successful just left and as you just said

if the defense is work which again Mike Fribles never really had a good defense to be honest as a coordinator even when he was defensive coordinator like he's never had an impressive defense that they will be losing a lot. All of that adds up to me. Medium dog time.

It's like my friends, shout to Kyle and Molly, they have a New Finland. That's a big dog. His name's Woody. Instagram's Woody Man, if you can go follow it. That's a big dog, but it's more like,

what's a medium dog? Like an Australian Shepherd? Those are trendy right now, right? Those are trendy. Like maybe like, yeah, a small Aussie. Those are pretty small, I would say. Yeah. What's?

Yeah. Yeah. Those are like 50, 60 pounds? What's medium? Australian Shepherd? Medium dog. No, they're like, 30 pounds. Actually, I don't know. Maybe they're

heavier. No, they're bigger than that. It's a medium dog this year. I agree. I think that's Derek Henry. We should delve deep into dog weights. Dog weights. I'm all in on this. I'm not just in. I'm like actually intensely jealous I didn't think of this. Are you down with this? This is a good take. This is a good take for the take

purge. I don't necessarily believe it, but that's part of the take purge. Hop on. Come aboard. All right. So I'm just going to follow up with something on the very same thing. I think this is the year Travis Kelsey drops off too. Oh my God. And there's no actual evidence for this. Like I have no numbers to back it up.

It's the reason is that I'm buying Travis Kelsey this year. He's just too old. Yeah, he's like 33. Look at him. He's old. What are you? His old balls. He's old.

I hope someone knows that's a movie quote. Yeah. Big Daddy. He turns 32 in October. Here's my thing. It's just because I'm getting Travis Kelsey this year. For the last four seasons, it's been very obvious. that Travis Kelsey will be the number one tight end.

And for four seasons in a row, I did not get him. Now, this year, I am like, you know what I want Kelsey this year? I'm the fucking idiot who's buying GameStop at 350 thinking it's going to keep going up. I'm the idiot buying Bitcoin at 65K thinking it'll just keep going up. No, they're selling it to you so that, because it's going to go down, idiot. You're the one left holding the bag. It's like tight end is a pyramid scheme.

And I'm like, I'm so, I'm so. stupid. Is this you, this is you putting, so basically if you draft Travis Kelsey this year, this is you putting like the laser eyes in your, in your Twitter profile when Bitcoin is at 65? Yeah, that's just immediately going to 30 or whatever. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I'm buying it, I'm buying Bitcoin at 65 and I'm like, wow, what a great job, Danny. Great job. You've heard about this for four years. To the moon. You bought it at the all time high, which is Travis Kelsey, the seventh overall pick, or maybe talk yourself into it. It's and now I'm going to buy it

and then the second it drops I'm like oh wow I wonder why that happened Did we just crazy You're like oh I spent the seventh overall pick On a 32 year old tie-in I'm fucking idiot Am I an idiot?

Did we just talk about how we feel good about taking him at like fourth overall On the last podcast Is it take turns? It's just like I just already know it's going to happen in advance And also on that note while we're here

Tj Hawkinson I think also replaces him his number one tight end Wow Because he's in the Darren Wall and vein Of like It's like Darren Waller in a wasteland, right? That's how Darren Waller got to this number two spot ahead of Kittle.

Hawkinson has that. And we are, if D.Ks out here saying, I'm wrong. Out here. Jamal Williams is not going to run more than Swift because Swift's going to catch a ton of passes in Detroit because they're going to throw a lot because it's going to be behind. Guess what? If Detroit's throwing a lot because they're behind, T.J. Hawkinson's catching a shitload of passes.

So I think Hawkinson, maybe not one, maybe two, but like I think Hawkinson's top too. I don't know if this is actually true. But my God, if Kelsey Falls, off the year, I take him in the first round. I don't even know what I'm going to do. Listen, it's the most fantasy football thing you can do to attach that like personal influence of you drafting somebody affecting, you know, how things will play. Travis Kelsey, if you're listening, pay me not to draft you because if I draft you, you will suck. And if I don't draft you,

you will be amazing. So Venmo me not to draft you and you'll have a great season. You don't want the Craig jinx? You don't want the Craig jinx. Oh, by the way, Craig, Craig, I just thought of this random, very, very randomly. One of our emailers sent us an email or maybe it was on Twitter and said that in Britain Craig is pronounced very differently than it is in the United States.

Really? Craig? How does it? Okay, well, I should have looked it up, I guess, because I thought maybe you would know. How do you pronounce Craig in England? Is it Craig? Like, they pronounced like A.Y? Creek. Maybe it's Cree. That sounds a little, Scottish. It sounds a little Scottish. Craig. Yeah, it's probably like Creege. But we have a tremendous amount of listeners from the UK.

and like Ireland There are literally dozens of listeners from Ireland and the UK and everything going on over there. I'm sorry if I don't know all the entire borders of the UK because things have been changing. Wales? Wales? How many countries are in this country?

Speaking of Ted Lasso. Email us at Rearfinacyfutball.g.com if you know how to the British pronounce Craig. Moving on. Dek, do you have another take, purge? I do. Let me pull it up here. Okay.

This one's good. This is a positive one. not trying to tear everybody down in this episode. Juan Johnson of the Saints is going to be the new tight-end one. Not the tight-in one. A tight-in. Top-12 tight-in. Why does High-Fish...

Energy vampires. So I liked Adam Troutman two months ago, and then you immediately with Johnson, you energy vampired my Troutman energy. I had to abandon the hill on Adam Troutman. And now you're actually just taking the Troutman take and turning it for Jawan. High Fids, I hate to say this. I hate to do this to you, but Adam Troutman was the red herring. Apparently he sucks.

Oh, you, you fish puns. That's pretty good. Even in the purge. I saw that tweet you. Oh, and you're just saying a tweet out loud that you had? Look, everybody, not everybody is on Twitter, man. I got to get my, got to get with the jokes out and all the different mediums. All right.

So, John Johnson. So, number one, Adam Troutman, I think, is still going to be asked to block a little bit. He is coming off an injury, but it doesn't sound like it's super serious. I think he's going to be asked to block in this offense a little more than you want. John Johnson, at least based on. on what we've seen in the preseason is running as the, quote, move tight end, the guy that they, you know,

flex out in the formation, he runs in the slot, he runs outside. So he's doing, he is basically taking over this Jared Cook role in this offense. I understand the offense is kind of like going to be way different. But with James under center, I think they could still pass for a good amount of volume, all that stuff.

Jared Cook's role. So last year, Cook got 60 targets, 37 catches, 504 yards, and seven touchdowns. He was a tight end 17. that's like the low end of what I could see Johnson doing this year.

In 2019, going back two years, Cook finished as the tight end seven in this offense. He had 65 targets, 43 catches, 7 under 5 yards, and 9 touchdowns. So they clearly were using this role, which obviously I know it's not one-to-one. They're not the exact same player. But like if this all bears out, Juan Johnson could finish with a good amount of touchdowns because they're clearly using this guy, this role in the red zone.

Going back throughout the years with the Saints, you know, Sean Payton has loved using tight ends in and around the end zone. Obviously, Jimmy Graham was big-time playmaker in the end zone. I'm not saying he's Jimmy Graham clearly. But I think the tight end in this offense, in this, like his role that he's going to play, is going to be big in the red zone. So I'm just kind of excited about, like, Juan Johnson could be sort of like the weird Robert Tonian season we saw last year

where he catches like 40 balls, but like seven or eight of them are touchdowns. Would you draft Juan Johnson in like a 12-team region? draft. Would you draft Juan Johnson or is it like if he's a big week one, you pick him up like immediately and be like this is legit. Yeah, he's a last round flyer. I don't think he's going to be going earlier than that. And I know because I did a 12 team league the other day and he was free like he didn't get drafted. So I would say either drafting with your last pick or look to pick him up in the waivers like first week. Because I do think he's going to be a big part of this offense. And the other thing is like there's just a vacuum of production in this offense. It's Marcus Calloway, I guess is the number. one guy in this offense. Trequine Smith may or may not be a big part of it. Joanne Johnson has looked really solid in the preseason. Nick Underhill, who runs New Orleans.

Dot Football, really, really good beatwriters, said that Calloway and Johnson were two of his biggest training camp stars that he saw. So, I don't know, there's just a lot of buzz around this guy. I'm just kind of interested to see how it works out. I begrudgingly agree. I like the last round flyer thing. I have a friend who every season just like drafts Josh Gordon last, just in case. Yeah, fucking hilarious.

I would say that we have given people so many last-run flyers. I think Juan Johnson qualifies as a waiver flyer, which is like cut your kicker and like add him or something. Or even just like, or I guess we're too close to the season to even be doing that anymore. I guess it's more like if he had like once he pops off, pick him up because it's legit. That's actually what I would fly him as.

But regardless, I agree with you, D.K. Craig, get another take, purge? Yeah. So I think that Chase Claypool is not only going to be the best Steelers receiver this year. I think he's going to be a top 10 receiver in the league. And I think this is when I think Chase Playicle goes from like guy on the rise to like, oh, he's like fucking T.O. Like I think, even though I know they're not like a comp, but I mean like that style of like the way D.K. Metcalf kind of made that giant leave and everyone's like, oh, and now he's just like

truly one of the guys. I think Claypool will just be like, oh yeah, he's he's one of the guys. I still think we kind of refuse to believe that the non first round draft picks are good. Like, we need one extra year to believe that they're good, but all the other guys, we just need one, you know? And Claypool literally is the closest comp to Calvin Johnson we've had since Calvin Johnson from a measurable standpoint and had an amazing rookie season in which he played limited snaps. And we're all still kind of like, yeah, I mean, Deontay ahead of him,

him and Juju, like you never know. I think Ben loves big receivers. I think Claypool's going to have double-digit touchdowns, and like this will be his entrance into the wide receiver elite this year. Love this. I have no arguments against this. I think he's a baller. High fits?

As we speak, I'm trying to compare Calvin Johnson's rookie year and Chase Claypools and they're more similar than I would ever like to admit. I gave you the Calvin Johnson's stat, right? Like the combine numbers, there's like two guys that have done what they've done in the combine. Yeah, it's Calvin and Claypool. Because I yelled at you because you were like, you compared two people in one episode to Calvin Johnson. But it was Kyle Pitts and Claypool. Right.

Those are the only two guys in the last 10 years to have the measurables of anywhere near Calvin Johnson. Yeah, they're like, I think this is a really good one. Plus who have run like sub 4-4. I think you're right, though, but your point about second rounders, like Justin Jefferson gets 1,400 yards and we're like, well, he's in, he's good. But if Claypool, I mean, obviously he didn't do 1,400 yards, but it's just harder for us to be like, this guy is great and will be great. He started six games.

He had 800 yards, nine touchdowns over 100 targets. It's like, and he ran for two more, he had 11 touchdowns last year. He's a kind of guy who it's like, every time they target him, he makes just an unbelievable play, it feels like. Yeah, like, I know the competition thing is, I just think he'll immediately rise, like, to the top and be like, oh, yeah, okay, the Steelers did it again. Yeah. Okay. I have like seven more that I can elaborate on to varying degrees. I might just, I kind of want to throw a couple out.

Well, I'll just throw one out right now. Sure. I just think Josh Allen's going to suck again. Oh, I'm sorry. It was all a mirage. I'm sorry. It's like, this is such a good one.

He has made me look so, everyone looks so dumb, so many times. The only thing left is that once everyone agrees he's good, he goes back to sucking. It's sitting right there in front of our faces. You can't even see it. We're all Charlie Brown.

We're like ready to kick the football. And there you are in your ass again, right where you started. It is like, maybe, maybe. the single biggest increase in completion percentage for any player in NFL history

is not immediately sustainable. Perhaps. I'm not saying Josh Jones bad. I don't want the Buffalo people listening be like, I'm not saying he's going to be bad again. All right. Well, I'm not saying,

what is the actual quote you used? No, listen, you're not allowed to be quoted from the take place. I think that's the rule. That's a rule. I cannot quote you for the quick shake break. I'm not saying he's going to go back to like last in the NFL

of completion percentage, which he was for the, previous two seasons before last year, get last, the completion percentage. But there's going to be a lot more moments this year where you're like, eh, does he just suck? I'm not saying it's going to be, like, it's going to

be a mix. It's going to be a mix of last year with the, wow, he's so good. And a mix of way more moments from like to 2019, Josh Allen. We're like, what the fuck is he doing? Because he just had a lot of those moments and they just didn't, the interceptions that were dropped, uncatchable passes that

were caught. There's just a lot of things that all went right, he's still good, but it's like there's just a lot more that's going to go wrong this year. Here's why this is a great take and why this is harder to believe than any of the other top guys is because nobody wants this to be a thing. Nobody wants him to suck. He is so likable and Buffalo is so likable and the story is so amazing. I think we are all desperately hoping that his year three was legit.

I agree. And that he's actually this guy and that I win the MVP, like, including myself. Like, I desperately want Josh Allen to be like the MVP this year. But I think what Hypeda is saying is what is secretly scaring all of us. Exactly. Like, no one wants Josh Allen to fail. Even the people who didn't believe in him at all, like me, no longer want him to be bad. I just feel this coming.

Like, right when you least expect it, you're going to get socked across the face. Even the analytics. The analytics are like, I guess he's good now. Is there, we need to name this effect. I think that it's an actual thing. It's a phenomenon. It's unexplainable. as soon as everyone on Twitter agrees on something,

it's almost guaranteed to be wrong. Like 100%. I think it happens every single time. So like everyone has finally come around, call this the high fits effect. We've all come around to this idea that Josh Allen is the second coming. He's the most talented,

physically gifted quarterback of all time. And yeah, I guess this is a good take. I don't believe it at all, but it is a good take. It's a great take. What we're talking about things everyone on Twitter agrees with.

I mean, Justin Herbert. Oh. Does anyone not believe Justin Herbert's going to have a second year breakout? No one's really talking about the fact that he just had, like, his coach just changed, like, different coaching staff than last year.

No one, like, mentions that part. Dude, going back to college, he's had like six or seven, I think it's five or six different coordinators in like his college. There's like three or four seasons in the Oregon. He had different coordinators. Now he's got two in the NFL. Man.

Well, that's the thing. No one talks about the downside case for Herbert because he's so, I mean, I don't know if he's like, I mean, he just had this whole story in him that was really good, but I mean his whole point of the story almost was like, you don't really know anything about Justin Herbert, do you? Like, you saw a picture from the bad haircut, but like, no one wants to be down on him, but everyone's like, well, Joe Lombardy, including us, we said this, like, Joe Lombardi was his coordinator now, and he was with the Saints, so this will be a good offense. Guess what? Joe Lombardi's not calling plays for the Saints.

Sean Peyton is. Joe Lombardi was the coordinator for the Lions. Ask a Lions fan how they like the Joe Lombardi era. We had an emailer, right, I've been paying attention ever since that email or wrote to us and like guess what? None of the Lions fans I know

enjoyed the Joe Lombardi offensive coordinator error. Zero of them. So like if Herbert is bad in three weeks, if I'm saying Justin Herbert's a bad player, I'm saying, oh right,

he was really successful. They fired the coaching coordinator and like, now he might not be. This is good. To be honest, one of my takes that I wasn't going to say

but I had it in the reserves was that Justin Herbert wins the MVP and is a top three fans of the quarterback. Yeah. But that's just the, that's what happens on Twitter because you just like, you take the existing dog one,

you're like, how do I push it further? We got swim upstream. I think in a vacuum, you can just be like, he had a great year one. Does that mean he's going to be better year two? No, different coach. But like, everything is better now. Like, the coaches are objectively better

than Anthony Lynn, I would say. The offensive line is objectively better. Like, a year two leap for quarterbacks is like objectively a thing that happens to most stud quarterbacks. like everything suggests he will be good. I get that's why I take Perge. Hard pushback on the coach is objectively better.

First of all, it's an offensive coach that got fired, and it's a defensive coach that got hired, who was literally coaching Division III defensive coordinator four years ago. I'm not saying that he's not qualified. He's a good coach. But I would push back that the staff is just, I don't think there's anything objective about coaching.

It's not automatic. I don't know, but I mean, I would say that if you talk to somebody like Warren Sharp, I think they would say that Anthony Lynn is already a, is already objectively a worse play caller than Joe Lombardi. And that Brandon Staley, you know, turn the Rams into like, I mean, did an incredible job with the Rams last year and couldn't do an incredible job with the Chargers.

I don't know. Maybe it's not objective. What does Sharp Warren think? What is Sharp football? If Sharp football football thinks that, what is football sharp? Yeah. What does football sharp mean? I don't know. I'm very, very in on Herbert. I like it. His hair is back. His hair is back.

Any other take purges? So is his powers. Yeah, I got one. This one's going to dead. devastated all of us. I just got to say it. No one has said it yet. Oh, no. I don't just, what if it just like kind of doesn't happen for Antonio Gibson? Right. I think this is actually pretty logical. This isn't like actually that hot. But I like, let's go with it. It's hot in terms like all of us are so on board. But like, listen, I don't have any metric. I don't have any like,

he won't finish as a top, blah, blah, blah. My take purge is just like, whatever we think's going to happen just won't. Janey McKissick will play on third downs. Antonio Gibson will be fine. and he's not the second coming of Christian McCaffrey. And this has all been for nothing, and you spent way too much in your salary cap draft for him. And it's kind of where we are now. And he's like, you know, he's Miles Sanders. So Rich Rebar, who works at Sharp Football,

not Football Sharp, he actually works at Sharp Football, made the point that, I mean, a lot of people are higher in Tonya Gibson, including us, and Rich Rebar made the point that it reminded him of when Joe Mixon, like a few years ago was like a really popular fantasy pick. and that everyone was talking about his usage in a three-down-back situation and it was largely just wishcasting

and it never happened and it was kind of like and Gio Bernard was there and was the J.D. McKissick. We're here prognosticating about several puzzle pieces that should fit together and not actually looking

of whether they will be assorted that way which I thought was an interesting point about Gibson as he goes from like a guy that, you know, is he top half of the third round, bottom half of the second to now it's like is he top half of the second round? I have been thinking about that a lot

now that I've had friends asking me if they should take him like 11th. Yeah, I mean, I've really talked to myself in him so much. No, I have my draft coming up tomorrow, and he's like, obviously, one of my top targets, and we're in an auction league, and I'm like, like, am I really going to shell out? Like, I get, now I'm hesitant, you know, like, when you actually step up to the plate and you've got to swing, that's when you're nervous. And you're like, yeah, I could say whatever I want on this podcast, but like, now it's like,

no repercussion. Am I going to outbid somebody, like, $52 for Antonio Gibson? Like the same amount as, like, Camara, or like $3 less than Camara or $3 less than, you know, guys like Derek Henry, I don't actually know anymore. I think the hype is unanimous enough that he's just driven up and that's the problem. It's like everyone's so in on him that to point one, people aren't talking about the downside, including us. We haven't probably talked enough about the downsides, but also just it's a guy that was like kind of ranked 23rd-ish that now is just, I'm seeing in drafts going like 12th or 11th. And it's kind of like, well, that's kind of where some juice kind of leaks out, you know what I mean?

Like, we, it's going to be so terrible if week one, he has like 15 carries, two catches, J.D. McKissick has seven catches. And we're just like, oh, wait, well, speaking to week one in J.D. McKissick, I actually have another take. Sequin, even when fully healthy, is just three down J.D. McKissick. What? And what I mean by this is that, Craig, what? This team, I'm not saying Seekwon the player, but if you look at the production, I'm just saying, like, Sequin, the Giants are not going to be good at rushing the ball.

Like, the week one last year, like before Sequin got hurt, Sequin got hurt in week two. Week one, Sequin had like six yards on like 15 carries. Oh my God, I forgot about that. Sequin, no one thinks about this. Like, before he got hurt. This is the week before. 15 carries for six rushing yards. Sequin is Feaster Famine.

I feel like every first half, Seekwon has eight rushes for two yards. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, there are plenty of halves. And like, if you, no, yes, the Steelers were a bad matchup for the Giants and the O-Line was bad. what? The O lines the same and the matchups are still bad. The Giants play the Broncos in week one, Washington and week two. Those are two of the best five D lines

in the entire NFL. I actually don't think Sequin is 100 rushing yards combined in the first two weeks. And so now why is he still going to be really good if he's healthy? It's the past catching. It's because Daniel Jones is going to be freaking out and dumping off a lot. But that's kind of my point. Sequin's just three down J.D. McKissick. Oh, my God.

That's good. Just writing this down is Sequin Barkley is just three down The rushing yards won't be there. It's an insane pass-catching thing that if you're in PPR leagues is even better. But that is kind of what he is. Not like physically, like the player and fantasy world.

Do you feel the same? So are you just talking about week one and two or the whole season? I mean, here's the, so I was looking at this because I was trying to think about the giant schedule and I was like, is there a buy low window for Seque One?

Because obviously I've been down on him because I'm kind of think there's, I think he is going to play in week one, but I still do wonder if he's going to have like a touch count early in the season, because the reality is guys coming off the surgery, he came off of,

there's a long history of hamstring injuries and, you know, quite, like, saw compensatory tissue injuries is the, I guess the technical term. But I think the Giants do keep them on account. So I was looking at their schedule

and being like, is there a by low window if Sequin really isn't good against like Washington and Denver in the first two weeks. And I was like, oh, well, they have the Falcons, the Saints, Cowboys.

Then they play the Rams. That's kind of tough. They have the bucks. And then the fantasy playoffs, it's like the Cowboys. But then there's the Eagles, the Bears. the chargers, the dolphins, like,

these are all, like, there's a lot of complicated defenses. Like, like, for Daniel Jones, like, really complicated defenses. Like, a little concerning. This is good. How is he different than Najee Harris? I think it's just the fact that he's like, the Steelers aren't being like, you know, Najee Harris, is he going to play week one?

We're just taking things day by day. But you're, that's fair. But you weren't talking about injury. This whole pitch was about, like, the offensive line and how he doesn't rush for high totals and how the passing game is how he'll need to get his usage. Isn't that exactly Najee Harris? That's very fair.

I think that, I think Sequin and Najee to me, if fully healthy, actually profile pretty similarly as three down backs. The difference to me is if you're wondering if Najee's going to play the whole season, obviously he could get hurt. The problem is that Seqwan's like already dealing with stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I get all that, yeah. I'm much more confident, Craig, just to answer your question, I'm much more confident in Naji's volume, like the number of carries he's going to get. I'm also just more confident in the Steelers, their play calling, like they're scheming. Well, that's the other, okay, people,

totally. The most infuriating thing when I hear as a Giants fan is the, well, you know, Sequin, you know, Jason Garrett, you know, when he was with the Cowboys, you know, Ezekiel Elliott was great. I got news for you. The Giants don't have the 2016 Cowboys offensive line. I don't want to spoil this for people.

I could have called run plays for the 2016 Cowboys. Like, the idea that, well, Seekone's good at catching pass. Go to the right. Like, McCaffrey's like, like, go to the left. Right.

How about left this time? Right at the middle. Even Kenny Goliday said this week that the Giants' offense will have a rough start to the season because the players have not been practicing together. Things are grim right now with the Giants, I swear to God.

Noah Malala and I were texting about this, like yesterday that people who kind of check in on the Giants don't realize how bad the offenses when Sake one's healthy. That's all I'm saying. Anyway, sorry, I had to get that off my chest. This just reminds me of, when actors are on like a promo tour for their movie and they're already like, well, we had some issues with production. Like, just keep this in mind like, you know, like, there was a flood for a week.

So we had to pause. Trying to prepare fans for how bad it's going to be. It's exactly what it is. I got one left. This one's pretty. I don't know how hot this is because I think it's actually like a kind of a good fantasy strategy. But Ty Johnson right now, the cheapest running back. for the Jets, I think he's going to be the best running back for the Jets this year.

So a lot of the hype has been centered around Zach Wilson, and for good reason, and like rookie Michael Carter, very exciting. I think he's going to be a good player in the NFL. But so far, like, if you looked at how the Jets kind of ran their offense in the preseason, it was, uh, Tevin Coleman was the starter, more or less. And Ty Johnson was like the 1B. And then Michael Carter was the third guy on. on this list. Obviously, I think right now, it's either Kevin Coleman or Michael Carter is getting drafted first.

But if you go back in history, uncertain backfields, a lot of times you're just best off taking the cheapest guy. I think Ty Johnson might actually be the best runner in this offense this year. So, and by the way, this is a Shanahan-esque offense, meaning they're going to be balanced. They're going to want to run the ball. They're going to want to have the ability to build up their play action, so they're going to want to run a lot of outside zone, all that stuff, get the defense flowing one way, go the other way. I don't know. I just think, like, if you watch Ty Johnson the preseason, it looked pretty good. He is the most explosive running back in this offense.

Like, he ran like a 4-4 coming out of college. I don't know. There's just something to it here. I think the obvious answer would be to draft Michael Carter because he's the guy they drafted and he's exciting. But I think Ty Johnson could end up being the best guy in this offense. The best score the most points in this offense. That's like deep cut?

Yeah. Take purge? I don't like it. It's not super hot. I actually think that. even though that's not quite as sexy as like Travis Kelsey will fall out. I actually think that this is one of the more likely ones to happen. Yeah.

I think you're probably right. I put, I erased it, but I'll just put it back. Ty Johnson, RB2. Like, N, RB2. Yeah. I actually think that that's possible. Yeah. The RB2 thing freaks me out a little bit more.

But him being the best Jets running back, I actually think it's super doable. Yeah, Tevin Coleman's going into the season, I think, based on what we've heard as, like, the quote-unquote starter, but, like, I just don't see it with him. I think he's old. old. He's just too old guys. He's too old. Look at him. He's old. He's so old. So old. I don't know, man. I just, yeah, I think they're going to go with the more explosive younger guy. And it's not going to be Michael Carter. I have a few more, only one of which I actually need to talk about. What about you, Chris? Jesus. High have you have so many. I'm just going to, I'm going to rip through two. He needs to get him off his chest. I think I need to get off my chest. Get it out. I think Sony Michelle won't do much in September and the second half of the season will straight up be a top ten running back. Like, remember CJ Anderson? Like, Sony Michelle is just better C.J. Anderson. C.J. Anderson had 300 rushing yards in like two games. That would be awesome.

Yeah. Like the Rams line isn't as good as it was then, but like it's better. And like Sony Michelle as he heats up and knows the playbook, I think is going to be great. Another one I have to get off my chest. I don't believe this, but I keep wondering if Michael Gallup will lead Dallas in receiving yards. That would be a good. Good plot twist. I like this one.

But the one I have to, those ones are like lesser, but one I actually I'm thinking a lot about. and this is like real take purge stuff is I think the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl. God damn it. And like what was the lesson of the last 20 years? Like don't count out Brady or the Patriots. Brady leaves, the Pat's too bad. Brady wins the Super Bowl and we're like,

wow, can't believe we count out Tom Brady. Bill Belichick, in the only clear sign we have that Bill Belichick has emotions and feelings and the capability of feeling like wow, like I'm jealous. Bob Craft, the owner of the Patriots confirms they basically spent all this money and they used to laugh at teams that spent in free agency and now they spent it all. Just, you know, randomly six weeks after Tom Brady wins the Super Bowl.

Bill Belichick is all in. All they have to do is get a wild card. It's all the Patriots have to do. I'm not saying they're like 14 and 2, 14 and 3 now. They just get a wild card. And they're like, okay, yeah, Mac Jones wildcard. And then they beat the Browns by 20 points in the wildcard round. And everyone's like, oh shit.

it's happening. And Belichick just outcoaches their way to an AOC title. And then they're in the Super Bowl. Could be like Steelers 06 vibes, you know? Ben's really young. They have a great defense.

Kind of squeeze their way there. Pat are going to have a way better defense this year. I think people are underrating that. Once the, if the Patriots are roughly what we think they are, Mack Jones is competent, the offense is better. They're not great offense,

but they're running. They have good line, a good defense. And they make the playoffs. Is it insane to think that Belichick can coach their way to like three wins in the playoffs? Well, you're essentially just saying can Belichick do what he already did with Tom Brady?

That's kind of what I'm saying. Time is a flat circle. Has a rookie quarterback ever won a Super Bowl? I don't think so. Ben? Was Ben not a rookie? I don't think so. I think maybe it was the second season.

Ben was year two. Russell Wilson was year two, I think. I don't know if I'm looking at. Tom Brady was in year two when he replaced it. A lot of year two guys Mahomes was in year two as a starter But even that was like year three as a player So I don't

Craig are you Googling it? You want to know a really hot take Coming at you guys I think the Super Bowl is a stupid name Lower in the Take perch Oh my God I think the NBA championship sounds professional I think the Stanley Cup sounds really cool

The World Series Super Bowl sounds stupid and childish That's hilarious Do we have any If we have a couple minutes you're left in the take purge. Do we have any other takes we want to get out? They don't have to be football related. Do you guys have any other takes? You just need to like purge from your system?

Ben was a sophomore. It was the second year. But he is the youngest quarterback to ever win. He was 23. I found an article that says no rookie quarterback has ever even made the Super Bowl. That tracks. So this is a good take purge. Okay. Can I get one more take purge? Yes. The McDonald's fries don't taste the same since they took out the trans fats.

Add back to trans. It was better. Fast food was better with the trans. Did you guys see the FCC or something? I don't even know what it was. Is investigating McDonald's because their McFlurry machines are always broken? Well, I don't, so good. But I don't think they're actually broken, do they?

Isn't it just, that's just like they take it like an hour and a half to clean? The people working there are like, I don't want to fucking do this. Yeah, they're like, I'm not making you one McFlurie so I can spend another 90 minutes cleaning and leave at 1.30 or 2 in the morning instead of midnight. that's that's all it is it's the FTC the federal trade commission's looking into why McFlurry machines are always broken this is neither here nor there completely random but every time I ever hear any beeping noises it automatically takes me back to being in McDonald's like if you guys can just picture being in McDonald's it's always there's always something beeping in the in the background beep like just like the McFlurry machine's done the fryer's done it's constant beeping every time I hear

beeping, I'm like, ooh, I want a fucking Big Mac. You just said beeping, and I was thinking of garbage trucks, and it's not good that I associate the same sound with McDonald's and garbage. I love the idea of some guy working for the FTC, and he's, like, his job, like, he comes home to his wife, and he's like, really diving into this McFlurry thing. I got news to you. Just ask someone who works at McDonald's, and they'll tell you, like, it's never broken. They just want to go home.

Fuck your... Like, this guy's sitting at his desk. He's got, like, a massive binder, and it's all about what's going on from the... Oh my god is that is that the siren? Are we done? Have we emerged? Wow. That's it We survived another year. We will speak about none of that Remember we'll never talk about any of that. Our professional reputations cannot be Part of this take purge like can't I feel 20 pounds lighter we can't they can't be held against us

I feel cleansed. Do you guys want to do an email before we bounce like but now we have professional credibility again sure okay professional credibility restored let's do it feel really good after that purge. Okay. This is from Chris from Canada. I'm in a 12-person PPR redraft league. It's like normal. It's like one quarterback,

but three receivers instead of two starting. It's my third year in the league. I'm a former champ, so thank you for all your advice. I'm drafting sixth overall, and I don't really love the running backs at that spot or the running backs left on the board at 19.

Given the extra receiver slot and it's PPR, is it bad to just hammer receiver in the first three rounds and find value in the dreaded running back dead zone. Is it really, is the dead zone really that bad if my receivers are set? I've been doing mock drafts. I get Devante Adams as my top receiver.

I get either DeAndre Hopkins or Calvin Ridley as my second receiver. I get either Keenan Allen or C.D. Lamb is my third receiver. Wow. And then Miles Sanders is my running back one. Is that so bad, Chris in Canada. What do you think, D.K.? I mean, this is awesome, number one. This is the zero RB strategy, I guess.

Like, you could even wait. You don't even have to go. in the dead zone. You can just grab like Ronald Jones. Rojo, yeah. Also, we get zero RB, love DeShon Sieg who invents a zero RRB, terrible name. It's actually many RBs. It's like you need like seven RBs just late later. Zero RB in the first 60 picks is the name of the strategy.

It should be called shitty RB. Yeah, shitty RB. That is what it is. No, the idea here is anti-fragile because running backs, as we've seen in the preseason JK Dobbins, Cam Acres, like, too frequently it feels like they get hurt and then that can really screw up your entire season. And so doing the zero RB or the late round RB or the shitty RB, whatever you want to call it, is an anti-fragile strategy. I like this a lot. I think it's fun, especially in a three-receiver league.

You can have an advantage with like stud receivers like that. I might even say just like in the middle rounds, like keep hammering receivers, grab a good tight end, grab like Logan Thomas or something and then just go late round RB and see how it goes. But I mean, obviously you can also go in the dead zone if you want. but I don't hate this strategy at all. No, I like it a lot, Chris. Let's do it. I also love that.

I mean, again, it's like you can get Devanta and you can get Kelsey if you want to be like me and buy Bitcoin at 60K or like Waller and Lachkinson one of those guys. Laser eyes. And, but like again, DK hates it. But if you can plug in Damien Harris, it's like, you're RB2,

but you've got all those other guys. That's a good pick there. I'm just, look, to take charges over. I actually totally endorse that. We've had a lot of people asking, like, I just don't like the running backs of the spot. Like, yeah, don't feel. Like, take good players.

That's take players you're excited about. Don't take a player that you're like, I don't want to take this player. Don't take a player because you feel like you should because that's the position you're at. Yeah. Okay, cool. All right.

Thank you, D.K., thank you, Craig. Thank you for emailing us. Thank you to our forefathers who invented the purge. We really... Chris Sims, thank you. One of the best adventures from Lauren of all time. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you, Green Day.

Oh, man. My friend just went to a Green Day concert. Wow, they're still touring. Joe Armstrong, baby. Oh, yeah. they're still kicking. Fun fact. The year after I left the, uh,

the year after I was a freshman in college at San Diego State, his name's Billy Joe Armstrong, right? Yeah. His daughter moved into my dorm room the year after. Oh, wow. That's kind of a trippy. I don't even want to know if I want to follow up on that. Green Day was like my favorite band in fifth grade or something.

Dude, iTunes, my number one, because you could see the most played songs, my number one most played song on iTunes was Holiday, like Green Day. Holiday's a great song. I'm a big dukey guy, like the whole album. Yeah. Good album.

All right. Peace, everyone. We will be back on Wednesday.