The Ringer NFL Show - The Top Players on New Teams

Episode Date: July 5, 2021

In honor of July Fourth, we are going through the players on new teams this offseason and determining whether they are in the best situation of their career. In other words, did they declare their independence?  Matthew Stafford, Rams (2:53) Carson Wentz, Colts (8:54) Sam Darnold, Panthers (12:39) Teddy Bridgewater, Broncos (19:07) Ryan Fitzpatrick and Curtis Samuel, WFT (20:51) Julio Jones, Titans (27:07) Corey Davis, Jets (34:08) Will Fuller, Dolphins (36:14) Nelson Agholor, Patriots (42:30) John Brown, Raiders (44:39) Mike “Funk” Davis, Falcons (45:39) James Conner, Cardinals (49:54) Kenyan Drake, Raiders (47:01) Jamaal Williams, Lions (52:50) Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, Patriots (57:12) Gerald Everett, Seahawks (58:17) Jared Cook, Chargers (59:03) Fun Fact (61:04) Check out our new top-150 half-PPR 2021 fantasy rankings here! Email us: [e-mail]. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, I'm Shay Serrano. And I'm Jinks. We're hosting a new podcast called No Skips. In it, we discuss the most iconic and unskippable albums in hip-hop history. New episodes drop on Thursdays, only on Spotify. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Hyfitz, and I am joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Coralbeck. It is 4th of July weekend.

We are coming to you on July 5th, although we recorded this on Friday, July 2nd, so something crazy happened in the interim. I don't know what to say about it because it didn't happen yet. We are going to go through the players, a new team. this off season and basically, I don't know, how independent or did they declare their independence or something? I don't know, we're doing our best. We're doing our best. We're doing our best. We're doing our best. I don't know everything can't be topical. Prepare for some very some tortured revolutionary war metaphors. We're going to try it. We're going to see how it works regardless. Happy, happy,

happy Independence Day. I kept thinking of the office when he's like, I declare bankruptcy, but like I declare independence. That might be the best joke from the office. I declare bankruptcy. So, all right, my actual favorite joke from the office, which is not ever quoted. It's from the later seasons. I think it's after Michael left. But there's a line where Phyllis is like reading, she's like reading 50 shades of gray in the office and everyone's like really uncomfortable with it.

And someone has to her stop. And she's like, I didn't have an orgasm until I was 42. But when it did, it lasted until I was 44. What? No one remembers that line. I can't even find it on YouTube. Anyway, you have some more gasmic freedom

for the 4th of July this weekend. Okay, we're going to go through the players and new teams and basically be like, do we like these situations or not? Like, are you a better situation, a worse situation,

meh, whatever? Are you still under British rule or are you freed? Is your new country going to last? You're going to be able to figure out ways to govern? Or are the English going to come back in the 18, 12,

and takeover. I don't know anything about the war of 1812. I feel like I never really learned about it. I just know like the White House burned down and then they left.

It was about, wasn't it over maritime law? Wasn't that why they fought? Oh, like the Barbary Pirates? Were they involved? There was some of that. There was a maritime thing. Some Barbary pirates.

Okay. The Washington privateers. Why were the Barbary Pirates not one of the Washington football team names considered? That should have been on the list. I kind of like the privateers. It's kind of fun.

Privateers. I don't really know what that word means. Okay, let's go to football. Matthew Stafford, Rams, traded. Perhaps number one pick of most liberated player in 2021. I would say so. Probably the most liberated player. I mean, he went from Detroit to Los Angeles.

Like, it's pretty solid. Yeah, personal life and career liberation. A lot of luck around here. Hey, let's be careful not to insult Detroit too much here again. I was mostly insulting the Lions. Craig's the West Coast bias. I was mostly saying that like Lions the Rams is pretty solid. But, D.K., for our purposes here, how good, how much better is Matt Stafford than Jared Gough?

Like, can you, can you explain this to us? Seven. He's, he's 12 better. He's a lot better. He's got a better arm. He is better secondary, like, second level when you're scrambling and rolling out to your right. He was doing the sidearm stuff before Mahomes made it cool. He's just a lot better in pretty much every.

way. And in this situation, like, he's leaving a rebuilding team. They're pretty talent bereft at this point. You know, they got rid of all their receivers. He leaves the Lions and he's going to a Sean McVease schemed offense with tons of playmakers, tons of potential. It's going to be one of the best schemed offenses in the NFL. You cannot have said that probably about the Lions this year. And, yeah, so what I keep thinking of, and obviously, Jared Goff kind of fell off a cliff last but Stafford is going to an offense that made Jared Goff a QB 13 or better every season from 2017 to 2019. He was a QB7 in 2018.

It's not hard to forget how good the Rams were in 2018. Do you guys remember that Rams Chiefs game where it looked like, it was like the greatest football game of all time? I'm pretty sure that was the 2018 season, wasn't it? Or the worst defense ever, but yeah. That too. But this is what I'm kind of picturing the Rams looking like with Matt Stafford under center. Like Jordan Rodriguez from The Athletic has said this. Matt Stafford helps activate every available pass catcher or I don't know what exactly the language is,

but it's something McVeigh said where they're able to actually get all their pass catchers involved and open up all the parts of the field, whereas Jared Goff last year especially was just like, he couldn't do, he just lost confidence, he couldn't attack anything deep. So it changes the whole dynamic. I think Stafford, he's a non-running quarterback, so that somewhat caps his ceiling. But I do still think this year, if everything clicks and the offense does what I think it can do, he has that, like, you know, mid-range QB-1 upside with a really solid, solid floor. Like, it almost feels like a no-lose situation picking Stafford unless he gets hurt.

Yeah, I think the only difference in you mentioning like Goff in the kind of 2017-2018, being like a decent QB1. The only difference is there's a couple more rushing QBs that have entered the league now that kind of knocks Stafford down. Kyler, Lamar, Josh Allen have all kind of taken hold and taken those top spots.

So if they weren't here, Stafford would probably be a top five quarterback pick this year. And the other thing I think that you kind of touched on is that I just think Goff couldn't, golf was like a one-reed guy. It was like McVeigh had to scheme the entire offense so Goff could hit the one pass that McVeigh wanted him to hit.

And Stafford can now just like, drop back and make his own decisions. And if somebody's not open, he can turn and hit the next guy. And if that guy's not open, he can turn and hit the third guy. And I think that's where the offense is really going to grow. Yeah, I think the entire offense, you know, rising tide lifts all boats. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

I think golf could sail with the wind, but Stafford can sail against the wind. And that's kind of all the difference in the NFL. He could tack. Is that what that's what that means? I don't know boating terms. Tacking. Yeah. I'm not like a sailor.

Yeah. I mean, I don't, I'm not either. You just became a dad and learned all this. random shit. You have to know sailing terms when you become a dad. My college offered a sailing class. I never took it. My roommate did though. What college did you go to? I went to San Diego State. There was tons of like... Sailing? Yeah. It was like a one unit elective. You could take sailing. You can take. You can take surfing. What did you learn? I didn't take either of those. Oh, you didn't take it? That was a huge mistake. What the

fuck were you thinking? Not taking sailing? You had to get up at like 7 a.m. on Fridays and like go to the ocean. What's the point of San Diego's? Dave, you're not going to go sailing. Drinking and basketball, those are the two things. That reminds me of what's the movie? Oh, and 10 things I hate about you when it's like the high school just has the, no, with 10 things about you, the high school just has the field like on the Pacific Ocean. And I'm like, this is very valuable real estate.

That is in Tacoma. It's, uh... That's in Washington? Yeah, yeah, that high school is in Tacoma. I've been there. Actually, this is embarrassing. But I actually was a walk-on at the PLU football team. And that was, we had a couple of practices at the,

that high school. It's pretty cool. Let's, wow. Okay. I can't believe that's a real place. All right. That's amazing. Also, the movie Bring It On. You guys seen the movie Bring It On? Yeah, of course. That's shot at San Diego State. Fun little fact for you. Did you get to be an extra in that? I was long before my time. Long before his commercial career. Indeed. Yeah, we are going to get, we'll get the nationwide jingle you did at some point on this pod. We'll make you drop it in. A lot of copyright issues. To finish up Stafford, though, we have him as the QB11 currently.

No. Do you guys feel good about that? Yes, actually, I feel great. My thinking on the quarterbacks this year is like you've got the top guys, Mahomes, Alan, Kyler, Dack. I'm kind of fine missing on them if they don't fall. If people are aggressive getting them. Because there's this tier at the end of quarterbacks this year with Ryan Tannhill,

Tom Brady, Jalen Hertz, Matt Stafford, that like really will last until like around 11 or 12. And like, if I get one of those guys, I'm pretty happy late. If Stafford's the last quarterback you can pick up, feel really good about that. This is like mid-round, mid-round QB this year. And maybe Jalen Hertz will be like Lamar Jackson Light this year

and you can just take that. Yeah. So, okay, so another quarterback could change teams this year. Carson Wentz was traded from the Eagles to the Colts. Part of me thinks it's kind of funny because now it's like the Eagle season kind of ended the same as now the Sixers season just did, which is like, wow.

Like, this top pick we made a few years ago is like completely the problem and everyone broke and just had a mental break and needs to leave. Now they're like foisting Carson Wentz onto the Colts,

you know? Yeah. So, D.K., I'm a believer in like, you know what? Like everyone who just had

a terrible 2020, just, you know what? I'm believing in all, you know what, new place, new location, it's fine.

Do you believe in Wentz this year for the Colts? Forget fantasy for a second. Do you believe that Wence can be fixed in Indianapolis with Frank Reich?

Not really. I want to. I want to believe because, it's just better for fantasy if he's good. He can activate some of the guys in that offense. It's just going to be more fun to watch them. I really hope he's good.

I'm not like wishing anything on the Colts necessarily. But if you look at the way that Wentz played last year, it's scary. So I put together some stats. Saw this from PFF. Carson Wentz led the NFL last season in turnover, excuse me, in turnover worthy plays with 24. And he didn't even play after week 14. In 2020, he ranked second worst and,

completion percentage, third worst in yards per attempt. He had the most turnovers and the most sacks. In, okay, in the last three seasons, Carson Wentz is 28th out of 34 quarterbacks in completion percentage over expectation, EPA composite. So that's like an efficiency, like a really specific efficiency metric. Basically, he's been really, really terrible. And it's not just last year. It's over the last three years.

So he's last in everything you want to be first in and first. everything you want to be lasting. Right. So the only caveat I would say, like, if he didn't, if he wasn't going to be playing for Frank Reich this year, there's maybe like two guy, two or three coaches who I would have some faith that Wentz again turned around. Reich is one of them. So I think that is like the big variable here that is, is important. He's, he's got experience with Carson Wentz. Frank Rick obviously, like, you know, lobbied to get the Colts to trade for this guy. He still believes in him. He thinks he can get the most out of him. Frank Reich has a history of getting the most of his

quarterback. So all that stuff is like... And he was the offensive coordinator for the Eagle Super Bowl run and Wentz was at his best. A lot of people give Reich a lot of the credit for what that offense did. Not only with Wentz, when he was like an MVP candidate that year, but when Foles came in and played really well. So like a lot of people

would give Frank Wright credit or at least part of the credit for that. Also, Mike Groh, who's now, I think the receivers coach for Indianapolis, I believe, was also, he potentially was the offensive coordinator for the last good Went's season after Reich the left. So both those guys are now in

Indianapolis, which bodes well for Wens. Yeah. So I mean, I'm not like completely giving up. I'm pessimistic, but I'm open to the idea that like this coaching really does matter and Wens can figure it out. But I would say all evidence points to the opposite.

So people generally have him ranked like in the QB 17-18 range. I think he's one of the most bizarre because you can almost make the argument fuck it, draft him and if he sucks in two weeks just like stream and it's fine or maybe he ends up being like I mean in 2019

he was the QB9 like if that's a possibility getting him at the QB 19 or whatever it might not be the worst pick I mean they have a good old line they have a decent offense like they're a good team around him and now he has his coaches again like can you put lightning back in the bottle I don't know

yeah I don't think I draft when So the next year we were going to talk about as Sam Darnold. I actually feel the same way about Darnold and Wentz for fantasy, which is I don't want either them on my team. I consider picking them up if they, like, really are really good in the first week or two. But I actually just think that they'll be competent enough to make the other players on the roster and the skill positions, like, viable.

I think that Wence will be good enough that Jonathan, like, keep the offense humming enough that Jonathan Taylor could have a really good season and the other receivers on the cults could have better seasons. I feel that way about the Panthers too, but I don't want Carson Wentz on my team. I want him sitting on my bench. Also, clearly bad locker room. If we know one thing,

like, I believe in the fantasy chemistry and locker room. I don't want them on my bench talking to my other players. You guys believe in that? I believe in that. I don't like bad chemistry guys on my bench and fantasy. On your own fantasy team? Yes, I'm like, I believe in locker room culture. Interesting.

So where are you drafted Cole Beasley this year? Karen Beasley. Off the board. Karen Beasley We gotta have people Show it up for games They can't be on the COVID list this year So yeah

Beasley's out There's a certain type of person Who takes Wentz In fantasy drafts like last You know the guy who's like I'm going so in on zero Or no QB or whatever late round QB And they just like

It was like the guy who always used to draft Like Eli and be like fuck it And I was like What are you doing dude Eli's gonna throw for 20 touchdowns And 20 picks But they always do it There's always gonna be a guy

Who takes points and tries to start them No see the True believers I actually feel like the baseline of quarterback this year is so high that like I don't actually really want any of those guys because Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Wentz, Fitzpatrick, Rathesburg. There's just a lot of quarterbacks that are out there that can be fine in a given week that you can pick up and if someone gets hurt, you can put them in your lineup and they might be a top 10 guy.

The quarterbacks I want, the only quarterbacks I really want to bring into my season like on my bench are the guys that can this be like maybe a top three, top four quarterback this season, which to me, really, is Lawrence or Justin Fields and maybe Trey Lance. But like Justin Fields, weirdly to me, I almost have ranked higher than some, like the Derek Carrs and Carson Wences of the world. Not because I'm confident he'll out, he'll outscore them, but because if he does, it could be by a lot. You're ranking his ceiling. You're ranking is ceiling. Not as, not as projected average. Yeah, the baseline for the backup quarterback in fantasy is so high that, like, I actually want the guys of the higher ceilings way higher.

Yeah, I think that's right. So where are we at with Sam Darnold? So Donald, I'll wait and see. I'll gladly be the guy who... He's not going to get drafted, right? Like, he'll just be on the way. No, he's not going to get drafted, but if we're talking about guys who like declare it independence, then he's free from the yoke of Adam Gase.

Seriously. People have had a career year after leaving Adam Gase being freed from at... Ryan Tannahill, Kenyon Drake, Devante Parker, is he on that list? and then Robbie Anderson. So, Donald's free. And I, I, I just have to mention this. Like, while Donald was there with Gase, things that they were like last in in the NFL,

they were last in points, yards, yards per play, first downs, third downs, and third down rate. Like, all the important stuff. But here's the thing. Gase is like the worst coach you could ever put with a quarterback. I don't think I need to elaborate there. But also the amount of talent around Darnel that shuffled, consider this.

This is from Brian Costello at the New York Post. Donald played with 15 wide receivers, nine tight ends, seven running backs, seven left guards, five right guards, five right tackles, four centers,

four left tackles. None of those people made a pro bowl, not one. So like, if you think about the talent around him, now he's in Carolina, with Joe Brady, who was the coordinator

for the LSU team with Joe Burrow, that was the best college offense ever. I feel like Donald will be better. And here's the thing. That doesn't make me want to drink. draft him, it does make me feel way better about Robbie Anderson, who just had a career year in Carolina and DJ Moore, but really Robbie Anderson.

Who do you compare, like, what is Donald's upside and cop him to a quarterback? So, like, his potential upside to me is, like, Baker Mayfield? In the fantasy. So I just don't think he's going to be, I don't think he's going to be fantasy relevant. I really don't. And I guess if you want to say Baker is it, upper bound. Yeah, sure. Derek Carr. But I do think that the Panthers could be,

I do think the Panthers will be good enough, though, that Robbie Anderson could be good. And like, DJ Moore. Yeah. But I don't think he's going to create beyond that. Yeah, absolutely. I'm with you. From the dynasty point of view, I've got Donald on one of my teams, so I'm like really rooting for this to work. But again, like the Wents thing, it's just, I don't have high hopes.

There's so much evidence against what happened, against what he's like already done in his career. He has really not shown anything. But how could, you have to be in a position to succeed though. Like, could you think of a worse position to succeed than being plopped onto a team, getting fired after your rookie year,

and then like Darnold's with Adam Gase. So Gase is the head coach. And then every player around Darnold's changing. The offensive line's changing every week. The receivers are changing every week. And none of the players are good. Like, if he were great, how would we have known by now?

Yeah. Donald's had a lot of weird injuries. Mono, the culture on the Jets was shitty. Like, it kind of was like the perfect storm of everything going terribly. I wanted to ask. Donald was out with the virus before it was cool. Wow. It could be again this year. Who do you guys think

is a better chance to, like, rebound? Even though I guess Donald's never been good, but I'm just going to ask it. Darnold or Wentz, who do you trust more to, like, regress to the mean? Ooh. Donald. Donald. I think I would Darnold, because everything. Whereas Wentz played, I think Wens played a larger role in his struggles.

Yeah. Also, Darnold, I know this gets brought up all the time and it might not matter, but Darnold is so young. He's like been in the league for four years or whatever and he's still like 24 years old. Yeah, he's like 23. And I mean, I understand that, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean anything that he's that he's young, but I think he still has that room to grow. He still has room to develop. And, you know, he's the same age as like Joe Burrow essentially.

So it's just, I don't know. It's crazy. But so that's why I would say I'm still holding out. some hope, I guess, that he turns into a competent quarterback. But yeah. I strongly think it's Donald. All right. Other quarterbacks who change teams, Teddy Bridgewater, speaking of the Panthers, he moved to the Broncos.

Do we think Teddy Bridgewater becomes the quarterback over Drew Locke, D.K.? That's a very good question. I think Drew Locke starts. I think I'd lean Drew Locke still. I know that Briegewater is probably the consensus, but I don't know. It's so tough. They spent the sixth round pick on him. It's not like they have to prove anything.

I think he's safe and they're going to try Drew Locke one more time. And if after four weeks it doesn't work, they're going to move to Teddy Bridgewater, which is probably best for the skill players from a fantasy perspective, unless Drewlock takes off. But can we also mention that Teddy Bridgewater sounds like he was one of the guys who signed a Declaration of Independence? His name, Teddy Bridgewater.

Bridgewater. It would be surprised. Yeah. But yeah, I think, Craig, I think that's right on. I think if Locke plays well enough in the preseason, I think he's going to be a starter. And then if he has like a couple bad games where he's turning the ball over

and really putting them in a bad situation, that's when they go to Bridgewater. Yeah, he's a fail safe. Yeah. Because Bridgewater is like a defensive coach's dream. Like he's not going to turn the ball over. He's going to take care of it. You know, blah, blah, blah.

He's not doing anything exciting. He's not really going to like elevate anybody around him, at least in my opinion. So are you more into like Cortland Sutton and Jerry Judy and the receiving options on this team if Bridgewater's the quarterback or if Locke is the quarterback? Because Locke, I believe, led the league in like uncatchable passes. Right, right.

And Bridgewater, he did support like several high-end receivers last year and Robbie Anderson and DJ Moore. It's Bridgewater. I'd rather have Bridgett for them. I think so. I think it actually matters. Like, I really don't know if I want Quentin Sutton and people if the Trulock is there. I really don't know how I feel about it.

That's fair. Last one here, Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Washington. And also, I mean, Curtis Samuel did too. I kind of want to just throw him in while we're on players. new teams. So here's my thing with Ryan Fitzpatrick. He has this reputation as like a gunslinger. But again, like, I just think a huge part of that. He is an aggressive downfield passer. But part of that is because like he's just always had teams with bad defenses and they're always behind. So like Fitz has played 12 seasons where he's had like seven starts or more. So 12 years.

Of the 12 seasons, he's had more bottom five defenses than above average defenses. Like there's a reason he's always throwing. So I think that on one hand, I don't think we should expect him to be as downfield with the Washington defense that I think could be like top three in the NFL. Having said that, he's still going to be way better than Alex Smith or Dwayne Haskins, who were basically two of the bottom five guys in throwing downfield. Like Alex Smith was last and how far as past has traveled, Dwayne Haskins was like fifth to last. So it's like Fitzpatrick won't be that bad, but he's also not going to be slinging it. He's going to be kind of in the middle of, I think, what we usually expect from him. Yeah, this isn't going to be like the Todd Monk in Tampa Bay offense where there's,

just like going vertical every single snap and Fitts is the QB1 or whatever. Exactly. It's not like that at all. In your mind, what's the stuff like? So I actually think he's the same bucket actually as Darnold and Wens in that I think that he, I don't think he's going to be draftable in fantasy.

I don't think he's going to be anything more than a streamer, but I think he will be better than the quarterbacks they had last year. I think that Darnel will be better than Bridgewater. I actually, I am one of the few people that thinks Wence will be better than Rivers was last year. And I would put Fitz is way better than Alex Smith in them. And all those checkdowns to J.D. McKissick are going to become targets for Curtis Samuel, who's they signed in the all season. And I think Terry McLaurin's the big winner here because that's a guy who's four three speed and really has command of a lot of routes but really wasn't able to be taken advantage of. Now, Fitz is the kind of guy that can really help him out.

And I think that just Washington's offense will be more competent. But it's not going to be some high flying affair. I think McLaurene has a chance to really take a huge jump this year in terms of super stardom, you know? He's kind of flying under the radar a bit. And I think we're not truly understanding how much Ryan Fitzpatrick could benefit what he does this year. Like he could be a guy who's like a top five dude after four weeks in and we're like, oh, this made sense. Nobody jumped on this. What's the tortured metaphor for Ryan Fitzpatrick and Curtis Samuel in Washington? I don't know.

You got something? Is this John Adams? Someone's John Adams, right? I don't know. Let's talk about Curtis Samuel real quick, though, because. On one hand, I definitely understand why people are sort of fading him and not as high on him as I am. But I also don't really understand it because, so just looking at some of his underlying numbers from last year, he finished as a wide receiver 25. So just outside of the wide receiver 2 range.

He ranked 11th in opportunities last year among receivers, according to fantasy points, which is targets plus touches. Targets plus touches. And that's kind of like the, I guess, underrated part of Samuel's game, which I, you know, even I didn't really realize this. But he was second in the NFL among receivers in rushing attempts last year, 41 rushing attempts behind only Cordorale Patterson. He was first among all receivers of Red Zone carries with 12. And the next closest guy was Chase Claypool with four. So he's being used essentially as a running back sometimes in the Red Zone.

Now, the obvious caveat is he was on a different team last year. So we don't know how he's going to be used. But he ranked 21st in catches, 77 catches. he was ninth in fantasy points for snap, so he was pretty efficient. I don't know. It's just one of those things where we don't know how he's going to be used.

We don't know how he's going to be utilized in this offense. He's going to a offensive coordinator that previously was with the Panthers and didn't really use him all that smartly. He basically used him as like a deep-thad decoy type guy and he had all these unrealized air yards. I don't know. I actually might push back on that.

I think Josh Norris at Underdog Fantasy has made a good point that like Samuel was really good when Scott Turner was the offensive coordinator in Carolina in 2019. But like Kyle Allen was the fucking quarterback. Right, right. You got open. And like when you're speaking of like air yards, sometimes you got to put the context that they lack like he was getting open a lot, getting the ball, but no connection. Well, Kyle Allen sucks. So I guess my question.

And like Fitzman is the exact kind of guy who can hit on that. Yeah. So does that make. So with that in mind, with that being said, shouldn't we be higher on Curtis Samuel? Should we be more excited about what he's going to do? I think I've begrudgingly realized I have to like accept that because I, here's why. The first part of what you said were Curtis Samuel might be in the backfield more. I actually hate that for a receiver.

I'm kind of a believer that like if you're asking a wide receiver to be a running back and a slot receiver in an outside, like you're probably not going to be good at any of those things. Your old school. What if it's only in the red zone though? You're getting touchdowns. Well, overall, receivers actually taking handoffs is actually like a, like, I'm actually more valuable than a running back splitting out wide. But I don't know for fantasy if it's like, it's not big enough sample to like matter in the grand scheme.

I'd rather Curtis Samuel would just be a good outside receiver, which I think he will be this year. Everybody's worried about or everybody's hoping that Antonio Gibson will take a lot of J.D. McKissick's touches and targets from last year because J.D. McKissick led all running backs in targets last year, which is crazy. A lot of people are hoping that Antonio Gibson is going to inherit those targets, or at least a lot of them. I'm wondering if Samuel does. It's got the skill set. It's enough to go around that they both can get it. I mean, when you're talking about 115 targets to go around.

That's the biggest worry. I mean, we talked about in the last episode, like either second or the third option on your team, with Logan Thomas in the mix, Terry McLaurin and the two running backs, there's an argument to be made in which Critic Samuel could be the fifth option on the offense. And I think that's what kind of deters you.

Holding down his value. Yeah. I think you're right. Is this going to be kind of offense that can support? multiple, you know, like two receiver ones or a receiver one and a tight-end one. That's why I'm a little bit, I'm a little bit down on Logan Thomas. I think that they're going to use Samuel more and Logan Thomas is going to be phased out

a little bit, but I could be completely wrong on that. It could be opposite. Yeah. Well, on that note, that question of like, can support two receiver ones? The Tennessee Titans, they traded for Julio Jones. This is a team that doesn't have that question because there's basically three people in this offense. There's AJ Brown, there's Julio Jones and Terry.

What do you guys think? Offensive line gurus are just seething right now, hyphen. it's there's three people in this offense. We're talking about fantasy football. What do you want me to shout out, Taylor Luan? My God. Okay, that's fair. So what do you guys think of Julio on this offense?

I think that there is a sneaky chance, and I want to run this by you both, that one of the Titans could look very different. They basically ran 12 personnel, two tight ends, run it up your down your throat, you know? They're like zone run scheme. They had all the offensive linemen to create gaps. That's what I read.

I don't know. But... At least you read it instead of got it on TikTok. Corey Davis last year had five less catches and only 100 less yards than A.J. Brown.

They played the same amount of games. He had five less catches. Okay. In his defense, AJ Brown had a fucking torn or like MCL or knee injury or something. He was supposed to be out

for the season after a week two. Okay, well, whatever. When he was playing in the football game, he had five more catches than Corey Davis. Like, he played. What am I supposed to do? Is there a chance? just a small chance that

Julio Jones is just the best receiver on the team and leads the team in everything. Yeah. It's a good question. D.K., who do you think is better right now, Julio or AJ Brown? Oh, God, that's such a hard question. If you had one game right now. One chance. One opportunity.

Thank you for picking up on that. I'm going with AJ Brown. I mean, I love Julio, but at this point in their careers, AJ Brown. I don't know, man. A.J. Brown has built his entire career of being hyper fucking efficient. He essentially catches like six.

He's like Robert Tonian, but as a receiver and better, obviously. But you know what I mean? Like he's like, he had 12 touchdowns last year and he had like, what, 60 catches, 65, 70 catches. Yeah, but he's Tyree Kill with in a 230-pound body. He's not Tyree Kill. Well, I'm just saying from the efficiency point of view. Like he turns his targets into incredible production. He's so good after the catch, so physical, you know, so big.

I don't know. I guess, so if you remove Arthur Smith and you maybe remove, you remove Johnny Smith as well, both Smiths are gone. And if the Titans' offense looks a little different, they're not so dependent on the run game, they don't have this beautiful play action thing that gets people like A.J. Brown, these open slants that he can take to the house. Like, if they're just going like 11 personnel, three, four wide more, like, is there a chance that Tanyhill just turns to Julio like 20 more times in the season than A.J. Brown? I feel like that's realistic.

I think to answer your question is there is the chance, yes. here's to me i think that in a weird in a weird way a tangent but like a very related part of the question is we've no one has ever really been able to figure out why the fuck julio jones is not really a red zone option like julio jones is kind of like almost universally considered like the got like the prototype receiver from like an athletic build standpoint but also the technical route running that you show high school kids on tape that are like if you want to to become an NFL athlete, like, like, if you want to become an NFL receiver, watch Julio Jones, but also he's 6'5 and runs like the wind. And yet, he's not like a good touchdown guy

in the Reds. No, like every year of his career, he's underperformed in the end zone. And it's just a goddamn mystery. And part of me is wondering, is this like the season, he gets 14 touchdowns? Dude, we've been saying that for eight years. But now that he's not Atlanta. Yeah, it's, it's Atlanta has been a shitty red zone team. It's not just like Julio's dropping balls in the red zone more. Like, it's Atlanta. If the Falcons were a more interesting team, like this would be a bigger deal.

Like if the Falcons were the Cowboys, it would be like a thing, it would be, but Julio's curve four years ago would have been like he can't score in the end zone though. Let me run this by you. If Julio Jones didn't get hurt last year and he played a full season,

and let's say he put up the season he did the year before, which was 99 catches for 1,400 yards. If he had done that last year, and then he gets traded to the Titans, what are we thinking right now? Any differently? I bet. I bet he's a lot higher.

I mean, don't we all have him as a top 15 guy minimum? Like, I feel like it's not like we're saying he sucks. It's just we don't know how the target. You mean top 15 as a receiver. Receiver. Sorry, top 15 receiver.

Yeah, yeah. We have him, you're right. We have him as the wide receiver 15. So I guess, Hyphids, what's the, so what are you arguing here? And A.J. Brown is our wide receiver six. I don't know.

Do you disagree that Julio could actually outproduce A.J. Brown. Is that in the realm of possibility? So I think that what my gut says is that Julio still draws more respect from defensive coordinators. And I wonder if that will shift this year. But I still believe that you really think so that much. When he's healthy, yes. But the problem is when he has like the nagging foot injury and it's a little easier to guard him. But when he's at full health, I do think that. I heard Daniel Jeremiah on the Move the Sticks podcast,

a couple weeks back, and he was talking about, this is pretty interesting. He said he'd heard from a couple people in the league that he knows, and apparently Julio's GPS speed has actually been on the decline last couple years. I don't know if that means anything, but I think it's interesting.

His speed, though, from what... Now, this is tough because they put the chips in the players' pads to track them. That's the same way that NBA, you can tell me, dribbles a player takes. So now they have the NFL, and the public-facing data we have is not really nearly as robust as what the teams have. Josh Hermesmeier at 538 did a piece that Julio's top end speed, which is kind of all we have access to, is perfectly in line with how good he's been when he's fully healthy, but it's certainly dipped a lot when he's hurt. Having said that, that's just measuring the fastest he can run in a game. I don't think that doesn't really measure, measure acceleration, which is like really way more important in the measure.

So I don't know. It's like all those things can be true. having said that for fantasy AJ Brown at 6, Julio at 15, I actually stand by that I don't even know if I'm gonna edit that

with our next rankings. I like that. I think it makes sense. I think it makes sense. Who's the better value? AJ Brown because there's, I was gonna say AJ because Julio

at the end of the day there's so many receivers in that tier and as much as I love Julio, it is really frustrating when he gets that like foot injury in like week six and just like, I guess I'll just deal with this

till Thanksgiving. It's also like, can, I feel like you can take it to the bank that AJ's going to have more touchdowns too. I probably, I think I retract my statement. Yeah. We'll see. Julio Jones set a career high in yards per target last year. Thanks, Craig. Just adding more doubt.

Okay. Other people who left, uh, decidedly less interesting than Julio is that Corey Davis left the Titans. Uh, also, we've talked about receiver upgrades all time, Corey Davis to William Jones, but Corey Davis went to the Jets. I actually like Corey Davis a lot. Did he gain his into? pendants here? Is he liberated or is he not? He gets a lateral move. Yeah, it's like...

If anything. I don't know if this is exciting. But I do think he's good for the Jets. I just think he's a better real-life football player than fantasy. I think it would be really cool if he was really good. I mean, I guess it depends in part what you think about how Zach Wilson's going to do. I think the best argument you could make for Corey Davis, if there's a case, it's that the Jets defense is going to suck.

I know Robert Siles is a defensive coach. I don't care. It won't be good in year one. They have no talent. They have no quarterbacks. They don't have the pass rushers. It's not going to be a good defense. They're going to have to throw a lot.

So whatever you think is Zach Wilson, they're going to have to fucking pass, and that Corey Davis is going to be the number one on this offense. That, to me, is like the path, and that Elijah Moore, and they're not going to be able to focus on him because I do think they have enough auxiliary talent and Elijah Moore and people that Corey Davis won't be just swamped.

So I actually think Corey Davis could have a productive year. But it's like, what is the upside really? Yeah. He'll probably be on the field the most. One weird thing about Corey Davis is I think he's like one of the best blocking receivers in the league. Yeah, he's going to play a ton of snap. He gives a shit.

I think he's in actually a very similar situation to last year. Like he's going to get, I think you're going to get similar to what you got last year with him. And obviously he's not going to be playing next to AJ Brown. So that's slightly different. But I think with, you know, what we've heard about Elijah Moore, I think he's definitely going to be involved. I think, you know, he's tethered to a rookie quarterback,

which Craig, you brought it up a couple times in past episodes. it's just very, very rare for any receiver to have like a wide receiver one season with a rookie quarterback. So you have to like temper your expectations. Is it going to be like a solid, maybe like wide receiver three weekend and week out? I think that's pretty much what I expect from him. But you have to ask yourself like, what's that worth? You know what I mean? He's a solid, he's a solid flex. If he's your third receiver, I'm not happy. If he's your fourth receiver, that's probably fine. That's fine. Yeah. Okay. Next, next guy up, I'm really, curious. Will Fuller

went from the Texans to the dolphins. So Will Fuller, we were all obsessed with Will Fuller last year. He rewarded us with the best season of his career in every meaningful category. And perhaps he rewarded us too much. Except the drug tests, which he also said a career high for positive tests.

And what did he say is it in his Instagram? He was a muscle lubricant. Yeah. Was it? He's lubricating his muscles? I thought that was like a joke for us. I don't think that's what really... No, no, that was like, you got to hydrate your muscles. Anyway, what do you guys make of Will Fuller in Miami

coming off both the best season of his career and also after getting popped for PEDs, which does lead to enhanced testing and so presumably you can't do more of it? You know, I'm going to say that he definitely isn't... He did not gain his independence in Miami. He gained it in Houston when Bill O'Brien traded away DeAndreadier Hopkins.

Bill O'Brien is the George Washington of Will Fuller's career. Just completely... You're actually right. Bill O'Brien, like the reason Will Fuller ended up in Houston is because when Bill O'Brien

was at Penn State he wanted, he tried to recruit the shit at Will Fuller and he ended up in Notre Dame Bill Brown was pissed and that's actually why they went and got him

and that's why Will Fuller got so many fucking targets in Houston is why they took his fifth year option even though he kept getting hurt and they traded away DeAndre Hopkins which really fucking help

Bill O'Brien was obsessed with Will Fuller and I think you're right like can't underrate that and him going to a different team let's factor in we have Tua who's a massive unknown

We have Jalen Waddle, who was like a top 15 pick in the draft, who some people say was the best wide receiver on Bama. We have two offensive play collars at the same time. We don't know what's going on with that. And we toss in Devante Parker and Preston Williams. There's like a lot going on in Miami. It's a good receiving group. And Will Fuller's stats without Deshawn Watson are ridiculously worse

than with Deshawn Watson. And obviously he's playing with Tua, who we don't know. He's being ranked around guys like Curtis Daniel, DeVante Smith, and Brandon Cooks. And I got to say, I think that's correct. And I'm not even sure I would take him over those guys. And it's not like he went there in free agency with some huge deal. And like it's not Kenny Gallagher.

Yeah. Kenny Gallaudy is getting $18 million a year over three. Corey Davis got like $24 million divided by two. So he got 12 million for two years. Julio Jones was traded. Like, Wolf, yeah, Wolf, I got a one year deal for $8 million. He's also suspended for week one. They don't care.

And he's suspended for week one. But if it's October and it's not working, like, they don't care. You know, I'm going to make a terrible Revolutionary War metaphor here. Will Fuller is France coming to the United States aid in the United States as Tua in the revolution. So I don't know if you've done much Revolutionary War history, but the United States would not have won independence if France hadn't helped out. So you're on the Will Fuller train. That's a big vote for Will Fuller. No, I'm saying Will Fuller is going to be helpful for Tua.

I'm not necessarily saying Will Fuller is going to be an elite fantasy. Star. Okay, this is a reach, but I'm picking up where you're putting down. Of course it's a reach. This is all very tortured references. But isn't France the best skill player on Miami? Isn't that what it should be? Whoever's going to be the best guy in Miami? Yes, and I think Will Flores that guy this year. I think that I think that Waddle is going eventually be much better. But he's just, he's a rookie. I don't know if you can necessarily rely on him right away. No one cares about Devante Parker. I think Devonte Parker is fine.

It's true. Devonte Parker is like Corey Davis. Get the fuck out of here. Are you serious? You got take lock, man. Craig fucking loves Devante Parker. You're right, though. Everyone's forgotten about Devante Parker. He's cori. Isn't he the most well-rounded receiver on this team?

Yes. Dude, if Devante Parker was on the Packers, he'd be like a top seven wide receiver. Oh, I actually want to play that out. If Devante Parker were opposite Devante Adams, like last season, what would he, his line have been, DK? 900 yards.

I don't know. I think it's, so much more than that. I think he's closer to like... Dude, I don't know. These are, I did that right off the top of my head. I don't know. These are all unrealistic weird scenarios.

I want to support my argument real quick here before we move on. Devonte Parker is the wider receiver 6 in 2019. Just want to toss that out there. Two years ago, buddy. Well, Brian, that's pretty fucking close. I'm sorry, Dika. Continue and tell us about

Tuatungo Viloa from two years ago. Okay. It feels a little bit like we're getting off track here. What do we even talking about? We're talking about Tula. I'm talking about the dolphins. Talking about Will Fuller helping Tua. Okay, fine. Maybe Devante Parker is going to be

the number one guy. Maybe Devante Parker is France. I don't fucking know. The point is... I don't know who France is. Will Fuller... The title of this episode is Devante Parker is France. No, Will Fuller's France. I'm sticking with it. Because, you know why? So, Deshawn Watson,

this is from PFS Austin Gale. Deshawn Watson's total EPA splits with Will Fuller on and off the field, including postseason from 2017 to 2020. So that's four seasons. On the field, Watson's EPA was 267.2 and it was 12 hundred dropbacks. With Fuller off the field, it dropped down all the way to 78. And it's almost identical amount of dropbacks. So like more than like almost triple. Like he's triply as good.

I think Will Fuller is really good. I think he changes the way teams have to defend the field. But do you think that Tua is a good, they're trying to be more downfield two this year, but do you think Tua can do it? Yes, I do it. Tua was awesome passing deep in college. I think he can do it. So was Burrow, and then Burrow was like the worst deep passer last year.

Yes, because, well, that's part of the reason is because he didn't have a lot of weapons on the outside. I mean, Higgins definitely showed up like midway through the year and started showing out, but I think that there's more to it than that. I think, and I do think Borough is going to be much better downfield next year. We should have a bet. We should have just a straight up, Parker versus Fuller. Who's France? Parker, do it.

What are the stakes? What are the stakes for Parker versus Fuller? Let's do it right now. Loser has to leave and go to France. Or does the winner? I don't know. Loser has to pay for the winner to go to France. All right.

Yeah, we'll workshop this. But something about that. Okay. Rapping of the receivers here, a couple of the receivers who left. Nelson Agalore signed with the Patriots for like, was basically one year and $11 million, I think, or two years of 22. John Brown went to the Raiders for like one year and like a few million, and everyone's like, well, why the fuck didn't the Patriots just signed John Brown?

That was kind of dumb. Do we feel any value in either of these guys? I mean, Aguilar and John Brown feel like two sides of the same coin, to be honest? Yeah, I mean, I think Agalore is a potential flex option if Mac Jones wins the job. I think with Cam Newton in there, you can't rely on him. But Aguilar last year, I just want to throw a few. few stats are you real quick and then we can move on because I don't think he's that important, but like...

Is Agalore going to drop them? What country is Aguilor, D.K.? Hilarious. Agilor... Thank you. He's probably like, you know, the Netherlands or something. I don't know. Okay. I do not know the Netherlands role in the Revolutionary War.

I don't even. Maybe the American education systems failed me. It was non-existent, which is why he's Nelson Aguilor. I have no idea. Canada, maybe? Sure. Sure, that works. Anyways, I want to just point out a few things.

Aguilar was the wide receiver 29. He was a really, really good deep threat last year. That's sort of who he is. That's why I don't think he's going to be very effective. Cam Newton is a quarterback. If Mack Jones is a quarterback, he could stretch the field, make some big plays. Aguilar had five catches of 40 plus yards last year, which was tied for fourth most in the NFL. Same as Diggs, Tyreek, Devante, D.K. MacCaf, AJ Brown.

So he was a legit deep threat. He was second in yards per reception, 18.7, and he scored eight touchdowns quietly, 12 end zone targets, which was 11th in the NFL. So he wasn't like awful. The Patriots gave him a good amount of money. I think he's going to be their number one, de facto number one. However, again, if Cam's a quarterback, you're not going to want any of the receivers in this group, I don't think, because it's just not going to be the volume or the touchdowns.

But if Mack Jonesman's job, then that changes, in my opinion. He becomes like a flex. Bill Simmons started calling Nelson Aguilar and Nelly about 24 hours after the signing, and I've been out on him ever since. TK, do you think he leads the paths and targets? Yeah. It's going to be either Aguilar or Myers, Jacoby Myers. I think John Brown is, I mean, in the same boat.

He's essentially replacing Aguilar in Vegas and could theoretically just do what Aguilor did. John Brown's been pretty productive wherever he's been. He's only started over two-thirds of the games in a season three times in his career. And when he has, two of those times, he's out over 1,000 yards. And the other time he's on the Ravens.

And it's hard to get 1,000 yards on the rations. So, you know, John Bradson is just like a solid productive player. They have Henry Ruggs. They have Waller. They got Hunter Renfer. They have Kenyon Drake's and Josh Jacobs. So there's a lot going on there. I don't have a ton to say about him besides he'll probably have a couple of big weeks.

You know, who knows who's going to be the deep threat decoy if they use rugs again or if it's brown this year. But Brown could be a sneaky Aguilar-type play on the Raiders who might throw a lot. So decent, nothing much there. Certainly didn't gain his independence. No. This show. All right, let's get,

let's get to the running backs here. So number one running back, Independence, baby. Mike Davis, our guy, Funk Davis. Hell yeah. So again, found his funk.

I'm going to beat my drum like I'm a drummer in the Revolutionary War. It is, Funk Davis might be a three down back this season. Maybe, maybe not, but he really might be a three down back

and he's being drafted like 60th overall. Like, it's just, it's just, like he's going around James Robinson territory. Like, This is a guy who was a starting running back for an NFL team.

And if his name was Funk Davis, he'd be going at least 20 spots higher. He's a starting running back on Arthur Smith's team, who, oh, I don't know if you knew him. He turned Derek Henry into the greatest running back of all time. Ipsop facto, he's Derek Henry. Yeah, exactly. Well, Derek Henry only has like 3,500 rushing yards the last two years. So, you know, just, you know, literally could take, you know, a fraction of that would be fine. I would love to do a test on like

random people who have never played fantasy football before and been like, here are the rankings of people and we change his name to Funk Davis and just see where he goes. I bet you he goes way higher. You show his stats but then change his name to Funk. We should actually do that. We should do like an A-B test with like real names versus like

we should just switch Robert Woods name to like Tavon Austin or something, et cetera, et cetera, and just give all the boring guys and just see what happens. Call him Bobby Trees. Speaking which, Kenyon, Drake on the Raiders. I hate the Raiders.

I hate the Raiders. I hate the Raiders for fantasy. Darren Waller and that's it. Yeah. I mean, every single move the Raiders make is kind of wrong. They're like, you know what we're going to do? We're going to get rid of our offensive linemen.

We're going to get another. Going to pay a whole bunch of money to a running back, even though he drafted Josh Jacobs in the first round. Who, Josh Jacobs, if he were on like, if Josh Jacobs were on the Browns, he'd be, I think, right where Nick Chub is. You know what I mean? Like, he's that good.

I really do think he's a really talented. on and runner. I think he's a good pass catcher. And the Raiders just have no history of knowing what the right thing to do is. And here's the thing. Look, Lombardi called this on his podcast, like, when,

like, years ago. Like, Gruden has personnel ADHD. Like, he has bored. Like, he gets frustrated and bored with his players and then kind of blames the players and moves on. So like, Josh Jacobs, as you said, he could draft first round.

In my opinion, the definition of drafting first round running back, at least should be, probably. This guy can play all three downs and probably will. And just a couple years after they do that with Josh Jacobs, they give Kenyon Drake this all season, two-year deal for $11 million, $8.5 million guaranteed. It's hard to explain how unnecessary it was

to give Kenyon Drake guaranteed money into the second year of his deal to be a backup running back for Josh Jacobs, which means two things. either they're very much valuing the backup running back role for Jacobs or they just don't think he can make it through the rigor of his season or just Kenyon Drake's gonna play.

Either way, it is a commentary on their lack of faith in some aspect of Josh Jacobs's game. However, it doesn't mean it's enough of a commentary for me to want Kenyon Drake. It just makes me want to stay away from the Raiders overall of, as you said, everyone but Darren Wall. Can we assume that Kenyon Drake

is the best they're done running back in the league? And that's probably what his role will start as this year? Well, that's Kareem Hunt. Yeah, I don't think he is. Well, I mean, why couldn't he just be another Kareem Hunt this year? Like, is there a chance that he should be getting drafted right around Kareem Hunt? You could argue that to me. Well, they're not going to be as good of a rushing team, are they? That's the thing. Their line is kind of weird, and I don't know if Gruden really wants to run, but you could argue that. I mean, it's kind of interesting. Like, they gave him enough money to think he's going to play. I'd be pretty stunned if he didn't,

like, $5 million to just sit on the bench. I mean, I'd be a little surprised. Josh Jacobs has only been in the fucking league for two years. And in his second year, he had 45 target. It's like he was on the way. He was doing good. I don't know why we needed to shake ever than that. This makes me mad.

I don't, I'm not going to have Drake on any of my teams out of like principle. Spite. It's just like, what's the upside? Yeah, because I'm mad about it. I mean, I guess if Josh Jacobs got hurt, Kenyon Drake would actually be pretty intriguing. Yeah, sure. But, okay.

Another guy in similar, similar-ish situation. Arizona signed James Connor. So they had Chase Edmonds and Kenyon Drake obviously left Arizona to go to the Raiders. And then there was some hope among people like me that Chase Edmonds would get the full down roll.

But that's not really what Chase Edmonds is. He's not a three-down running back. He's just smaller and more of a receiving guy. So James Connor is like that early down bruiser and maybe touchdown vulture and Chase Edmonds is it? Do you guys like either of these running backs? Like is this a better situation?

It's obviously a worse situation for Connor, but like do you want him on your team this year? I couldn't think of a more boring signing. When this happened, I think everybody in the fantasy community was like, yeah. I think he's going to have some flex appeal based on the fact that he could get a lot of the goal line carries. And in this offense, which runs a lot of plays, it runs fast, it's a decently good offense. He could have a lot of opportunities to score touchdown.

So last year, Drake finished second among running backs with 19 goal line carries. He scored 10 of those times. obviously you can't extrapolate that year to year, but that's like he, that was his role. And I think that James Connor is going to get that role this year. So, you know,

you could be, he could be like a touchdown dependent flex option if you're like desperate weekend and week out. I don't think he's going to get like the 239 carries that Kenyon Drake got last year. I mean, it doesn't seem like it. He had a one year, $1.8 million deal,

which doesn't really, you know, it doesn't guarantee him anything. And yeah, so I would say, you know, like I've had said, He's the grinder. He's between the tackles guy and the goal line guy. Connor strikes me as the epitome of the guy

that is the least sexy pick and is pretty boring. But then you're playing against him and he's somehow, like, how the fuck does James Conner 16 points? Yeah, God damn it. Yeah. Kenyon Drake was the RB 15 last year

in points per game. Yeah. I think James Connor actually could have, in a very boring way, deliver some value. Because again, I don't think Chase Edmund's going to play inside the 10-yard line.

Let me ask you this. Would you rather draft Chase Edmonds where he's going which is hold on let me look it up he's the RV 29 right now we got him at RB 29 around 84 and then or would you rather have Connor

who's going much later and is our RB 45 at 126 overall I think I'd rather have I think I'd rather wait and take Connor yeah if it's full PPR well yeah that's different well we have him at 84 and I think that's a lot lower

than where he's going because I think that I'm down And I like Chase Edmonds as a player. I just am dubious of how much he's going to really be rotating in. And I think it's much closer to a split backfield than it is going to be like, kind of just like a situational guy. And so again, in an ambiguous backfield, sometimes you just take the cheapest guy and that usually works, right? Usually.

Yeah. So I think if you can get six rounds later. And at the end of the day, we don't know. And if you can get the guy who's probably getting the goal line work six rounds later, it's probably a better bet, even though I like Chase Edmonds as a player more. Last guy I want to hit on that note is Jamal Williams. for the Lions. This is,

so he signed with Detroit. He was obviously with the Packers for a few years and was behind Aaron Jones. Jamalini's just a fun guy. He, like, loves Frozen and, like, sings the songs.

He's like a really fun guy. If you ever see, like, ever see any interview with him, he's really funny. But he signed with the Lions and it was a brutal way to start. That's like when you're like,

so what's she like? Well, she's really nice. She loves Pixar films. She's like, oh, great. I'm glad you're picking up what I'm putting down. Great. Here's the thing.

this is not really about Jamal Williams. It's really about D'Andre Swift. Because DeAndre Swift is going way too high in my mind is the running back for the Lions. Here's the thing. The front office that is running the Lions did not draft DeAndre Swift. People who drafted DeAndre Swift were fired.

So they have no connection to him. They bring in Jamal Williams. And the coach, Anthony Lynn, who's like the running backs coach, or sorry, the offensive coordinator for the Lions, running backs coach by trade, called DeAndre Swift a, quote, speed space back.

And he called Jamal Williams a quote, classic A-back, which means he's, Jamal Williams is bigger, he can block, he's a three-down guy. I think that, like, Jamal Williams is going to be a little more than a change-of-paced guy. I think this is a lot closer to, like, a time share. I'm not even, I don't even know if that means I want Jamal Williams,

because I don't think this is a good offense. I think it's just another knock against DeAndre Swift for me. I don't like DeAndre Swift this year. That's kind of what it means. I think Diage-Swift's way overdrafted. I'd rather, even Josh Jacobs, I think I'd rather have over DeAndre Swift, Jakey Dobbins, Miles Sanders, any of those guys. my pushback on that is

I agree with you that I think Jamal Williams is going to have a role and he's going to have a pretty significant role but why can't why can't Dandre Swift be like Echler who Anthony Lynn coached last year like speed space back

a guy who catches a lot of passes passes are valuable in fantasy especially have PPR and PBR I still think Dianjay Swift is going to be valuable he's just going to be much more valuable in the passing game than as like an early down you know those less

valuable touches, honestly. And so I'm not like super, super high on Dandre Swift, but I'm also not really low on him either because I think this team has already told us it wants to be you know, like a run heavy team. There's going to be plenty of carries to go around, I think. And I think that Swift is going to be involved

in the passing game because he got Jared Gough who won't push the ball downfield. And honestly, Swift looks really good. He's really passing the eye test. You're right, they didn't draft it. The name bias, it's the name bias. What if he was named? What is his name Mike Davis?

But also, I think Swift is part of that muddy running back category that honestly, I don't really know what to make of because they're all good players kind of in bad situations, right? Miles Sanders, who should be a three-down star, but the Eagles don't play him with three-downs. J.K. Dobbins, who just should be really good, but they rotate them a lot and Lamar Steels carries. D.J.J. Swift, who just, yeah. And like, I think, D.K., you're kind of obsessed with the what if of, like, what if DeAndre Swift catches the game winning touchdown in week one of his rookie year. Dude, think about how different the world was. be crazy. COVID wouldn't have happened. Matt Safford might not be a ram. I mean, Patricia might still be the head coach. The lions might go to the playoffs. We might not have won the Revolutionary War. Seriously, go back that far. Butterfly effect, baby. DeAndre Swift is France.

You might be speaking French in America today. No, not French. I don't know. German. We've lost World War II? Yeah, sure. Why not? This is a man in the high castle? Yeah. DeHenj changes everything. No, but really, like, he drops that pass. I'm just curious, like, how different would his career be if he hadn't dropped that pass? He's probably, he catches this glorious game winning pass. He becomes the guy. The Lions actually have a decent year.

Stafford stays. They re-sign Gala Day. They don't get, the head coaches don't get fired. It's like what I think about Mike Evans. I think if Mike Evans didn't have 1,001 yards that one year, and he had 999, and he didn't have that cool seven-year streak, nobody would think he says. good as he is. Anyway, we got off track. How do you feel about Williams then, Heifitz?

He's fine. He's not as interesting as your what if. Fantasy bench player. Yeah, fantasy bench player. It's not that exciting. I'm just worried about this team. I just don't think you want Detroit Lions, like a ton of them.

Right. Just three. Tident, we just did the Tidens episode this week, but just briefly, people change teams, Hunter, Henry, and John and Smith. I mean, they're both good. They're both going to be. really knowing and they're going to cannibalize each other.

Patriots know who they're going to use each week and this is really tough. I will say, I think one of them is going to be a top 12 tight end at the end of the year. Oh, spicy. Is that spicy? Kind of. They're definitely not going that high. He just said one of them. Everyone can say one of them. Which one? That's what matters.

That's true. A little get away with that. It's not spicy at all. Be spicy if he said neither. That would be spicier. Craig is Switzerland. That's who he is. I can pick one. Pick a side. Who did they sign first? Janu.

And I think Belichick has previously talked about how much you like Jono. Give me Janu. I think they signed Juno. But is Johnu a better blocker? I think he is. No.

Well, I don't know, maybe. So they signed Johnny on March 19th. This is all on base. We don't remember this because we were drunk for the item chef or free agency drinking game. Oh, right. So then four days later, they signed Hunter Henry. Give me Janu.

Okay. So the Gerald, so the other T. Gerald Everett for the Seahawks, we touched on him for like, I mean, look, he left the Rams, went to Seattle. We like Gerald Everett. Yeah. Can I say what I wrote in the dock? Please do.

I said Tyler Higby is the British fucking tyranny as far as Gerald Everett is concerned. And the Seahawks are the American dream. Higby is quartering himself in everyone's homes without paying them anything. No representation, no taxation without representation is my whole thing. Gerald Everett has been liberated. Yeah. By Seahawks or the American Dream, you mean that there's this potential for like, like limitless expansion, but there's this artificial cap on it.

Yes. That could probably change with some regulatory policy updates. The most frustrating team and country in the world. Yes. Okay. And then we last one here, Jared Cook on the charges. Should we care about this more? I don't care.

I probably should. Is Jared Cook like 52 years old? I kind of feel like we're underrating it. Can I give you like a pop quiz? God, he's only 34. So Keenan Allen's number one receiver for the charge. Chargers. Mike Williams is number two. Do you guys know who the number three receiver for the charges is? Josh Palmer? That one guy who is a big time XFL star. Donald Parham.

He's a tight end. Oh, sorry, what was your question? I missed it. Third receiver for the Chargers. Was I right with Josh Palmer? It's like Tyrone Johnson or the rookie. Josh Palmer or Tyron Johnson. Yeah. What's up? My point being, I think Jared Cook on the charges tight end actually has probably more opportunities than we're giving credit to. Stop giving us riddles, Hyphitz. Considering how high we're having Justin Herbert, you know what? Jared Cook

should probably be more than afterthought. Yes, Craig. When you guys think of Jared Cook, what team is he on when you look back on his career? Rams. Unfortunately for him now, I think of the fumble that changed. I mean, Saints.

Jared Cook, talking about sliding doors. Jared Cook fumbling in the Saints' Bucks playoff game really was the difference in the Bucks winning that game. Like, if he doesn't, fumble, the Saints probably win that game. And then Brady loses with the bucks. So Brady isn't like the slammer down goat that he is now where it's like every possible

doubt's been erased. And then Drew Brees and the Saints may be going to win the Super Bowl. So that's actually what I think of what I think of him as a raider when he had that really weird year. And everyone's like, wow, Jared Cook's back. Oh, well, that's when Moes, the video producer, was playing Bill in the finals. And Moes was the youngest person at the entire company. And Bill needed like three and a half points from Jared Cook to win.

And Jared Cook got him like 3.2. Oh, man. I forgot he was on the Raiders. I think that's all we got. Oh, wait. I got a fun fact. Oh, you got a fun fact? Fun fact.

Yeah, guys. July 4th related fun fact. I found out today upon doing some light research that my birthday is the real Independence Day, August 2nd. What do you mean? Oh, yeah? When like the everyone ratified. They ratified the declaration.

or whatever? The final draft of the declaration was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4th, although the date of its signing has long been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed on August 2nd, 1776, a month after, and not July 4th as commonly thought. Wow. Does that mean you're a national treasure? I think I already was. I think everybody already knew that. But now I'm just going to be a real pain in the ass on August 2nd. I'm gonna have an American flag around my back. Just get a giant John Hancock tattooed on your chest. Yeah.

Should that be the next national treasure like Nick Cage tries to change the date of the like Fourth of July? This is like the new Da Vinci Code. It's just him in court. The second of August does not have the same ring to it. No offense to your birthday. Mm-hmm. Do you guys say July 4th, the 4th of July? Fourth of July.

I say both. Mariah Carey, what do you think? Did we be there? How are we doing on the Mariah Carey Project? Not great. Any updates? No? Okay.

Yes. Getting her song on our pod seems to be only a fantasy, unfortunately. Mariah Carey was France all along. All right. Thank you, D.K., thank you, Craig. Thank you to Mariah for eventually listening to us. Thank you to Funk Davis. Just, you know what?

You keep being you. And, of course, most of all. Thank you, Lauren. Lorne. Thank you, Brittany Spears. Wow. Speaking of needs independence. Yeah.

Britney Spears. Jesus. Wow. Sorry. Did it just get dark? No, she certainly does. It is what is. Free Britney.

Actually, though, that's a very serious situation, legitimately. The conservatorship is horrible. It seems like a bunch of bullshit. Yes, it is. And the judge just ruled that she has to stay in it, I believe. It's terrible. Check out, listen to the Ring or Dish episode on Tea Time and with the director of the Free Britney Spears doc

that Juliet spoke with last week. It's very interesting. Anyway, Mariah Carey. Hit us up.