The Ringer NFL Show - Packers Cooked? Hope for Colts? What's up With Mac? Crystal Ball Time! | The Scramble

Episode Date: October 27, 2022

This week, Sheil is joined by Underdog Fantasy’s Josh Norris to gaze into their crystal balls and predict the future for five different teams. They discuss what the future holds for the Patriots QBs (3:00), and wonder what sort of success the Colts will have with Sam Ehlinger as their quarterback (11:00). Then, they choose the most likely ending to the Broncos' (21:00) and Giants' (28:00) seasons, and share their thoughts on whether Aaron Rodgers could be on his way out of Green Bay (38:00). Finally, Sheil and Josh close the show by answering your mailbag questions (49:00). Do you have a question for Sheil? Email [e-mail] for a chance to have your question answered on the show. Host: Sheil Kapadia Guest: Josh Norris Associate Producer: Mike Wargon Additional Production Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, my name is Kevin Clark. I'm the host of a new football podcast called Slow Newsday. I want to tell you about it. On Mondays, Lindsay Jones and I will recap the weekend in football that was, as well as look ahead to what's next. On Wednesday, the normal Slow Newsday, the thing you've been watching for years, current players, current coaches, current analysts talking about the football world. And on Friday, it's a wild card.

Could be some college football. Could be more pro stuff. It's a video podcast so you can watch it on Spotify or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Follow on Spotify. It's Slow Newsday. Welcome to the Scramble. I'm Shield Capadia coming to you on the Ringer NFL feed every Thursday with a guest today. Thrilled to have my friend Josh Norris from Underdog Fantasy joining the show.

Josh, how we doing? Shield, this is history. You and I have known each other for, I think, like a decade. We met each other on the field in Mobile, Alabama, at Lee Pabell Stadium at the Senior Bowl. And I think this is truly the first time we've ever done a show together. any content together, I think maybe. That's wild. I think we also have jumped the ship from just being online pals to like real

life friends once we see each other. It's not often enough, you know? Yeah. It is like this weird football media and probably media a large thing when you like pick and choose who you are actually friends with via Twitter and online. And then when you see them in person, it's also like a real different experience. I'm sure you've talked about this before. But I think you and I could actually hang out.

So that makes us friends. I think that's right. And as longtime listeners of mine will know, you know, Capadias don't really express emotions. Listen, we'll get it. It's a whole other podcast. But I think when I was so happy to see people at the Combine last year after not having seen people for so long, I think I might have come in with a with a two-arm hug for you. I think so I'm warming up.

We're warming up. And I totally agree. Always good to see. I'm excited to talk to you because you can do it all. You can do the film, you can do the analytics, you can do the narratives, the storylines, all those things. So here's what we're doing today. We're looking into our crystal balls, okay? It's week eight.

I thought it was a pretty newsy week coming off of last week and going into this week here. And so I've looked at, you know, maybe four or five situations around the NFL and the way those situations can play out the rest of the way. I'm going to give you like these multiple choices. I don't know if it's a choose. Maybe choose your own adventure makes it more entertaining for the listeners. then a multiple choice test. And you're going to tell me which of the scenarios is most likely. I'm going to tell you which one I think is most likely. And we're just going to talk them out and see what we're right about, what we're wrong about two months from now.

How does that sound? That sounds perfect. I used to love those goosebumps books that were choose your own adventure, flip to page 63, then back to page 24 if you want to go in this or that direction. I passed away at every single one of those books and never got through the end of it. You know, my adventure was silenced too early. So hopefully I come out in a better outcome. in this next 40 minutes. You know, they had baseball ones like that I used to do.

It was like you pull the pitcher out and then turn to, you know, and this is how it works. So yes, that shows you we were afflicted with the sickness very early. All right, let's get started. I'm excited to start with this one because I know you have been, at least from the people I look at, I trust, have a Mack Jones supporter. Oh, no. For a while. So here's the first one.

What's going to happen with the New England Patriots quarterback situation, okay? A, Mac Jones starts this week, plays well, remains the starter, Patriots make the playoffs. B, Mac Jones starts this week, keeps the job, but he's kind of up and down and the Patriots missed the playoffs. Or C, Jones doesn't play well, whether it's this week or future weeks, whatever, Bailey Zappy returns to our lives. We have not seen the end, heard the end of Bailey Zappy. He gets into the mix.

What do you think about the way that situation has played out so far and how it's going to play out the rest of the way. This will not shock you. I'm on the fringes of one and two. If I had to go in this direction, let's say if the Patriots were in the NFC, I can see them making the playoffs, but I think that since the AFC is so much more loaded,

let's go with answer two or answer B, whichever one you outlined it with. I think there's a few ways of having this conversation, okay? One, and let's take it down Narrative Street first. I think it's brutal how Patriots fans reacted to Matt Jones heading into, that primetime game.

It's almost as if, it's almost as if, and look, I'm not a Patriots fan. I can't judge them. I'm not one of them, right? But every other fan base,

all 31 other teams, have gone through some struggle of their starting quarterback, having a down one or two or three weeks, and then either by injury or poor performance, a backup coming in, showing some glimmer of hope. The Patriots fans have not done that for really two decades.

And so it's like they didn't know how to react. in that situation, it was also objectively hilarious that where Mac Jones struggled coming off a high ankle sprain in those first couple series, then Bailey Zappy stepping in and on a rub route having Romandrie Stevenson wide open down the field, then another wide open 30-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Myers. So I think that's the narrative standpoint of that conversation. I'm not saying that Mack Jones is playing as well as he did last year. They're like three or four plays each game where I'm like, come on, man,

you made these plays as a rookie. and now it's just not lining up. But it's odd to the tune that when Mac Jones was playing earlier this season as the full-time starter, you know, Joe Judge, Matt Patricia, we're only calling play action on about 11% of the snaps. And then as soon as Bailey Zappy steps in, it's 30%. Can you outline like why you think this difference is? Because it felt like prior to, you know, that primetime game when it was a very much a different style,

it felt like we were seeing two different offenses from both of these quarterbacks. Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, you looked at it with Zappi. I think that game against the Browns, he was what, seven for eight for 165, I think, on play action. It was like one of the highest play action yardage totals of any quarterback this season. And it looks different with Mack Jones in there. You know, Mac Jones was a top 15 quarterback in the NFL as a rookie. You know, if you look at it statistically, I thought he passed the eye test.

I know you definitely did. I didn't, you know, I didn't think he was Justin Herbert or anything. But I was like, wow, they hit on this pick. He looks like a quality starter. If nothing else, I thought he looked sort of. of, you know, Kurt Cousinsish to me, like a, like a mix between Kirk Cousins. And if you really like it, maybe Phillip Rivers, something in there. I know those are two different quarterbacks, but I thought that was kind of the range we're looking at. And the way it's just been handled has been weird.

And I've seen people say, oh, you know, it's not that complicated. They tried Mac Jones. He was injured and they brought him out. Like, Mac Jones scrambled twice on those drives and looked faster and quicker than I've ever seen him in his entire career. So maybe he was, maybe he was saying something on the sideline and maybe there was something behind the scenes. But I don't think it was that simple. And I did think the crowd reaction was weird. I get it. Everybody loves the backup quarterback, but like, I don't know, Mack Jones was being gassed up quite a bit by I felt like before this season. And last season, you know, I thought Patriots fans probably thought he was kind of the savior. It's wild chill. And this isn't a situation like, you know,

you've been in with Philly where you go from Carson went to Jalen Hertz, right? Where the second backup quarterback has a different type of skill set. and can open things up and can win in a different way offensively. On paper, Bailey Zappy has lesser skills, but the same, you know, talent tree that Mack Jones brings to the table, you know? It's the processor, it's pre and post-snap reads, it's incredible accuracy. Again, I'm not one to say that he was nearly as good in the short span this year as he was last year.

What also stood out to me is that if you look at all of his passing attempts this year, he leads the NFL and percentage of those passing attempts that have traveled 20 plus yards. You know, he's like the most aggressive passer in the league this season. It's so odd from a perspective where he was so embraced not just by the fan base last season, but by his teammates. Like every single interview you saw, it was Matthew Slater, it was Ramandre Stevenson. It was Jacobi Myers said, that's my guy. That's my dog.

Max the man. And then I really truly, this hasn't been reported. But I really truly feel like something has happened, like behind the scenes that he just is not seeing eye to eye with the Patricia Judge dynamic that he saw with Josh McDaniels. And I don't know how long that is going to last throughout the season. And look, if I'm just putting myself at Mac Jones' shoes, how can you get over immediately how that crowd reaction was as soon as chaining for Zappie after the first drive? Are you kidding me? Yeah, I know. Well, it wouldn't listen.

If it's Judge and Patricia, that wouldn't be shocking, right? they've had some issues with player relationships in the past. They were thrust into these roles. I always thought it was a little overstated because I thought, you know, listen, if it goes South, Belichick's just going to take over the offense. So we know Belichick can coach the offense. But I'm with you. Something is weird.

Something's up. We'll see what happens this week against the Jets. So, all right, if you had to pick one. So we both think, I think Matt Jones remains the starter. Yes. The rest of the way. Do you have them making the playoffs or not making the playoffs, water gun to your midsection, as we say here?

I would say no playoffs. I do love the dynamic between Romandre and Damien Harris, big fans of both, and they do slightly different things. Just Remandre Stevenson has a talent too, where he's this 240 pound back, but he's not just or even close to being a bruiser necessarily. He's like a big play threat, both as a receiver and a rusher. And also with them, it's been weird where they open the season as trying to be like an outside zone and hey, we want to run more of these concepts.

And they realize, hey, we turn a corner when we get back to the power bully style of last season, and it's worked, you know? So maybe they can, you know, be a cohesive unit moving forward. I just think there are a bit too many wrinkles and maybe a lack of true superstars for them to make the playoffs in the loaded AFC right now. I think I'm with you. I choose the same one as well. By DVOA, they have the second toughest remaining schedule. I mean, they're three and four, and they still have to play.

play the bills twice, which, you know, maybe they'll pull something out. I don't know. The last two times they played the bills, it didn't go so well. And, you know, I think the bills would, yeah. Isn't it? I think that this will be telling these next two games against the Jets. Like, this is a team that last year that they dominated, that with the Jets, and I'm sure we'll talk about them at some point in the show, having lost so many of their top talents

this year, it's the type of game where Bill Belichick just dominates. And if they don't win both of them. of these, then I think that that's really telling for the rest of their season as well. Yeah, I agree. So we'll see. The AFC playoff picture, man, I was just looking at it before the show. And I'm like, wait, which teams am I going to pick to take the wild cards? We'll continue to talk about that because we have some other AFC teams here.

All right, we agree on that one. All right. Number two, what's going to happen with the Indianapolis Colts? I mean, this is a general one. I don't even have to just specifically say one thing. So, A, Sam Ellinger plays well. saves their season and they make the playoffs. B. Ellinger plays poorly. Maybe they go back to Matt Ryan. Maybe Nick Foles gets a shot at some point. Who knows? It doesn't matter. They have a disappointing

season and Jim Ursay says, you know what? It's been a nice run with Frank Reck and Chris Ballard, but that's it. I'm going to let them go. We're going to move in a new direction. And then C, similar, Ellinger plays poorly. They have a disappointing season. But Erse says, you know what? I like Reichen Ballard. I've been around Rikin Ballard. We're going to run it back. in 2020, but we're going to make some other changes. So those are the three scenarios. By the way, for any of these, if you go, She'll, how could you not have this as a scenario? Throw it out there.

I'm on my team, I'm like a cool teacher. You know, I'm open to, hey, you're thinking outside the box, student, go ahead. And yeah, we can add that as a response. What do you got for the Colts situation? I mean, I almost don't want to hog the microphone to start this one where it's such an interesting dynamic we were at with the Colts just over the last two seasons combined where, you know, they make the move from what Philip Rivers to Carson Wentz, that surely doesn't work out. No shocker, but that's Frank Reich's call.

Then this offseason, you go in almost the opposite direction where it's Matt Ryan, who you didn't expect to be available and was because of the Deshawn Watson fiasco there in Atlanta. But he's the steady hand. And I guess just the evaluation was incorrect with how much of a cliff his game has fallen off of. And maybe at the same point, the offensive line wasn't as dominant in previous years. So his negatives in terms of pocket movement and lack of arm strength and test vertically and outside the numbers just became even more accentuated. And so if you don't have someone that can shine in the areas that he previously can at his age, you go to the younger quarterback that almost has like a Taylor Heineke-esque profile where it's just mobility. it's trying to make plays

and maybe that mobility also accentuates the rushing attack too by just holding defensive attention or the edge man off the opposite end. I have no idea what to expect from Sam Ellinger,

She'll. I wish that we were doing this show a week after because I think while it's his first start and you don't want to make and jump to conclusions considerably, I want a little bit of starting experience under my belt where I declare who Sam Ellinger is as a player. But I think in order for them to make the playoffs,

he has to get the likes of Michael Pittman involved down the field, has to get Alec Pierce involved down the field. And Jonathan Taylor has to get back to the same efficiency that he had at a ridiculous rate last season. And I think having all three of those things from a later round second year quarterback is too much to handle. So I don't expect this team to make the playoffs. I'm with you. I mean, all right, so I have a couple thoughts on this situation.

One is, who's calling the shots in Indy? I mean, if you read the coverage on this, Zach Kiefer from the athletic, Stephen Holder, from ESPN, these guys are locked into that situation. I've been covering their team for a long time, and they didn't really, you know, even have to tiptoe around it, that Jim Mersey, the owner, has been intrigued by Ellinger. We know at the end of last season, Jim Mersey said, Carson Wentz, is it coming back in the building, do what you need to do? He's not my quarterback anymore. So I look at that.

I look at the Wentz situation. I look at the Ellinger situation. I realize the luck thing put them in a tough spot. Guys, it's been three drafts and three full off seasons. Like at some point, and look at it. Look at the situation there and now compared to when Andrew Luck first retired. It's not a better situation now. I mean, you've had three years.

And so that excuse to me doesn't hold any water anymore. And I really wonder about their process with only. ownership there and then a coach and GM in Rike and Ballard who might be feeling some heat. So that's number one. Number two is I feel like Ursay sort of operates like a casual fan watching preseason games. You know, oh, Helinger, wow, he looked good. I mean, you have to look at the history, you know, in the analytics, the base rates, you know, sort of as analytics people would say.

But, I mean, some of the sixth round or seventh round or undrafted guys who have even attempted 100 passes in the last 10 years. Simeon, Gardner Minshew, Jeff Driscoll, Zach Mettenberger, Ryan Linley, Brandon Allen, Jake Luton. I mean, these are the guys who actually got into games. Most of them never even get into a game. So you're really, I know you for a long time for the draft have talked about outliers and athletic testing and stuff.

I remember when I first was becoming familiar with your work. It's the same idea here. Like, you have to look. What's the history of a guy like Sam Ellinger coming in in the middle of a season to not a great situation and just even being competent. I'm talking about average quarterback play, like very difficult to achieve. And I feel like Ursay maybe doesn't see that. So I don't think it's going to end well here for the Colt. I think this offense has a lot of issues. I don't think it's very talented. And I think they have been one of the worst teams in the NFL

so far this year, despite their record. So I was deciding between a couple of these. I went with see, actually, which is that Ursae, you know, Ellinger plays poorly, but he plays, they have a disappointing season. But at the end of the year, Ursay brings it back with Rike and Ballard. And here's my reasoning for that. Let me know what you think. I feel like a lot of owners, what we underrate is that, especially an owner like Erse, he wants a coach in GM or open to his input.

We're not saying, hey, you're the owner. You know, we don't need your football opinions or, you know, maybe doesn't take him seriously. they want a coach in GM who they can go to lunch with, who they can, you know, Reich and Ballard are very cordial people. Like, I'm sure in that building, people are like, yeah, we like working for these two guys. They're cool.

They're nice. They're genuine people. Like, that's what they really have going for them. And so I think, you know, maybe Erseh records a video outside his, what was it, outside his jet at the end of the season. And he's really stern. It's like, this is not going the way we wanted it to go. The Colts are going to get back to winning a Super Bowl.

But Reich and Ballard are the guys. for the job and we're going to go that's how i think it's going to play out all right i just threw a lot at you what do you agree with what do you disagree with no i think one podcast it would be a fun topic to just go throughout the league and say hey do these people have jobs because they're just friendly with the team owners like you can throw the arizona cardinals in there like why should cliff kingsbury and see kine be getting extensions it's because they are yes meant to the bidbills anyways i'm trying to throw this podcast in the bus um i'm with you on where uh the cults are in the realm of the rest of of the league. And despite being 3-3-1, as you said, they have trailed on 95% of their second

half snaps this season. So in that wild. I love that. I love that those, that framing that I feel like has really come out this year. It's really helpful to know which teams are good and which teams are getting lucky. Yeah, that's crazy. And on some level, this might make them entertaining, but it's also been an evolution of this team too. Like, I'm sure you watch that Jacksonville Jaguars game where 95% of Michael Pittman's routes and everyone else's were just over the middle of field, either slant, shallow crosses,

over, so on and so forth. And it's like the Jaguars just either didn't make second half adjustments, had no idea this could be the case, so on and so forth. These types of wins and losses early in the season, I don't think are repeatable,

but now it can be a totally different style. I almost want them to embrace a Daniel Jones, New York Giants, Mike Kafka, Brian Dayball-esque offense with this type of mobility. Because if your quarterback, isn't precise. If the offensive line isn't great,

then you need to have someone who is better at avoiding sacks and then creating big plays out of almost nothing when the defense is great coverage. And maybe they think that St. Mellinger, from a Frank Reich standpoint, can do that. But I think the point that you just said, if Frank Reich isn't the one making this call, how open is he to completely ditching this offense

that they spent all offseason and all training? camp and you know seven weeks of this year tailoring to the strengths of their quarterback and Matt Ryan, which is totally different than what same Ellinger's quote unquote strengths are. That's the thing. It's the timing of it. Yeah, if this were something they decided in August and you get reps at it and practice it, fine. I mean, to do it in the middle of the season here when it's so different from what you've been doing. I know Solak was saying that on the Monday show that he thinks they're going to be better because Ellinger will scramble and they'll have more QB run stuff. I'm like, all right, let's see. You know, for as many, for

as many bad plays as Matt Ryan has had, and there were a lot of them, there are plays in there where he's going to have stuff mentally, where the ball's coming out and he's avoiding a sack. So are the scramble's going to outnumber those plays? I don't know. And I know it's great podcasting that we've agreed on the correct answer for both of these so far. My other point here, this team doesn't have their by week until week 14. Oh, my God. So I don't know, they're going to have to totally adjust on the fly. Totally adjust. And for that type of chaos, it's why we tune into the NFL because it's a very

winnable game they have this weekend against the Washington commander slash football team. Their favorite. And then they're four, three and one. So who knows? We'll see. But that's how I feel about it. All right. Number three, how does this Bronco season play out? I mean, A, they rally from two and five and they make a playoff push. I have not found anybody in the football community willing to say that. Maybe it'll be the first. B, they continue to stink. And Nathaniel Hackett is gone at some point. Maybe it's during the season. Maybe it's right after the season, but the point is he's not the coach in 2023. Or C, they continue to stink, but ownership, George Payton, whoever, say, we're going to run it back with Wilson and hack it in 2020.

What do you got? I was terrified of the Russell Wilson experience heading into the season because I just thought his game would not age. the Let Russ Cook era was so much fun, but that was when we were getting these ludicrous plays outside of structure and these moonshots that I think Russ still has in his bag. But it's easily not working. That is so apparent for everyone to watch.

But it's working to a degree so much lower than just average that it's alarming, you know? The Denver Broncos have scored a touchdown on just 23% of their red zone drives so far this year. Okay? That's 32nd, easily in the league. The next closest team is actually the Seattle Seahawks, which is kind of funny, but they've scored so many touchdowns outside the red zone that that's almost negated.

Then it's the Carolina Panthers at 42%. So the jump from arguably the worst team in the league and the worst offense in the league, from the Carolina Panthers at 30th at 42% down to the Denver Broncos at 23%. madness. And it's not like they haven't invested in this offense even before Russ. It was all these wide receivers, all these running backs, and all these tight ends and all these offensive linemen. It sucks that the defensive investments have paid off.

And that's what's even keeping them to this relevant degree. But I don't know how a coach can come in and fail so miserably in game time decisions, game management decisions that win. and lose ball games, and that shifts to him getting a second season when they finish below 500. So that is my stance here. We have seen one and done coaches throughout the league, Steve Wilkes, you know, as a recent example, if Steve Wilkes got fired after a season, Nathaniel Hackett should get fired after a single season.

I made this one too easy. I'm looking at it. I made this one too easy. Yeah, I think there's a very likely scenario. That's that they continue to stink. And like you said, Nathaniel Hackett is not the coach. So, if that's the easy answer. Pitch me how it turns out to not be that answer.

Okay. I like that. Save this way you're a professional. I like it. You save me. I come up with bad choices. On the route where they become relevant. Like, things do turn in a positive direction.

Okay. Here's the thing. So you mentioned those red zone numbers. I was quoting those after week three or four going, this has to turn because not only is it the worst this year, I think it would be the worst in like the last decade. Like there's pretty much never been a red zone. offense that bad. So let's say they have average red zone efficiency the rest of the season,

just average. So they would still be terrible overall, but they're average to the rest of the way. Well, that's going to make a big difference. That's number one. Two, we have a decade worth of evidence with Russell Wilson that he can quarterback top 10 offenses. Eight out of 10 years in Seattle, including last year, by the way, they had a top 10 offense by DVOA. I know our eyes last year, especially, it was like, wait, this is a top 10 offense. It doesn't always look at it. But the high were very high, beginning of the season, end of the season, and the lows were very low, middle of the season when he was injured. So those are a couple things offensively.

Again, here's the thing. Their offense doesn't need to be great. It's what you mentioned. I'll take the L on Russell Wilson. I thought they were going to be a really good team. I thought they were going to be like 10 and 7 this year, wildcard team, make the playoffs. And if you would have told me after seven weeks, they have the best defense in the NFL, which they do per EPA per drive, the best defense in the NFL, I would have seen.

said, that's a Super Bowl contender right there because the floor is not going to be that low with the talent he has around him on offense. Maybe they'll be the 16th best offense. Maybe he does decline, but that's still a really good team. Instead, they've been one of the worst offenses in the entire NFL. So I think the jump they need to make offensively is not, again, it's not too, hey, top 10 offense, you got to be great. It's like, just keep us in the freaking game, score some touchdowns in the red zone. Our defense is really good. Nathaniel Hackett, don't screw up the game management, which is something, I mean, you know, like, again,

you could hire your neighbor who plays Madden or whatever, who would be making better decisions than Nathaniel Hackett. So it's like there are some fixable things there. And it's also hard to find those three AFC wildcard teams right now. Right. They're behind the eight ball. They're two and five. So they would need to go on a significant run.

But it's not like teams are running away with those wildcard spots. All right. Did I convince you or not? I'm flatched on to that first point that you made that after week three, you reciting this red zone touchdown percentage? Because Sheel, in the last three weeks, it's gotten even worse. In the last three weeks, it's 14.3%. Oh, my gosh.

Here's a pitch to you as well. You mentioned that they have the best defense, if you look at the advanced metrics, right? Ezro Evaro, their defensive coordinators in his first year really calling plays on that side of the ball. He's 41 years old. What if a team comes calling this summer and wants to make him their head coach?

Can you let that guy go? and keep Nathaniel Hackett, or do you ditch hack it, and keep the guy who's actually performing at a high level doing his job, you know? Yeah, that would be. I mean, if inside the building, they're saying, hey, it's not just the defensive performance. This guy's a leader. Look at how he connects with our play. Like, he's got the makeup.

We thought he was a rising star. It's a perfectly reasonable move to make. I mean, we, listen, owners, they look at the lists online, top 10 coaching candidates, and then they start making calls to the different agents they know. this is not a well thought out process. And we've talked about this before that NFL owners have. So I think it's a good point and something that could go in their favor. All right.

After having made that pitch, I'm still with you. I don't think it's going to go well. I mean, Russell Wilson stretching for four hours on the plane into London. It's like these things you could overlook when the guy is bawling out and your team's winning 11 games every year. You can roll your eyes. Players might not be boys with them, but players want to win. I mean, if a guy helps them win, that's all they care about. When you're two and five and you're doing this stuff and you have no self-awareness,

shoot, it can get really ugly, really quickly, and that's where it just feels like it's headed. Can we get the guy Nintendo Switch or something? Like, get him breath of the wild. Let him be immersed in some foreign galaxy that only can be played on video games. Just like, take his mind off it for six hours and relax, relax. I mean, he has kids. I have kids and love my kids, but when you get a flight to yourself, I mean, just like, this is my time, baby.

What am I watching? What am I listening to? What am I reading? Maybe I'll squeeze a nap in there. I'll take a ginger ale over here. Are you eating those, you know, crackers that they handed out? I mean, that should be your time. You should not be, you know, and I'm a proponent of stretching as an old man who's about

to turn 40 in February. I like the hamstrings loose. But come on, Russ, four hours. Unnecessary. All right. Next one here. How far does this Giants run go? I mean, this Giants team is six and one.

Everyone plus 20. differential, five and one in one score games. And you know who keeps getting burned in his picks column by picking against the Giants every week? This guy right here. So I need a little bit of help. A, they shocked the world and beat out the Eagles and Cowboys for first place in the NFC East. You might say Shield. That's crazy. They're six and one. They're one game behind the Eagles right now and they play the Eagles twice the rest of the season. All right. B, they come back down to Earth a little, but they still make the playoffs as a wild card. Or C, they're a. They're They come back down to earth a lot and they miss the playoffs despite a six and one start.

What do you got? B. I believe in this team. And look, there's going to be 43 articles this summer that state that Brian Dayball's record in a one-score game is going to regress. It can't continue. In fact, she will probably write three of those, right? I was going to say, I feel very attacked right now that you're the guest. So I'll just relax.

Sorry. And I would love to get your input on this. I think in a single season, if you want to call it momentum, if you want to call it game-to-game confidence, I think that that is a real legitimate thing. Maybe not tangible, but real legitimate. I mean, every single one of their games, a season has come down to one score.

And just the way that Mike Kafka, Brian Dayball, Wink Barton Dale, put this team in positions to, be well coached in that final or final two series, it is repeatable because it has been repeated so far. Do you agree with that? Yeah, I think your confidence point is a real one, especially with the new coaching staff. I mean, that first month, those first six, seven weeks

where players are going, I don't know about this, you know, it could go either way. They're going to be naturally skeptical. When you start winning games, I think that matters. I also think it matters that they're trying stuff. I mean, this is like, there's going to be so many excuses made. around the league. It usually happens this time of year. You'll hear coaches just sprinkle it in. Well,

you know, we didn't expect to be this banged up on. Look at who they're doing this with. I mean, even let's say that they performed to their actual number. So plus 20 point differential. They're probably operating more like a four and three team. Guess what? Four and three with this group is really freaking good. That's an impressive coaching job. I mean, you look at what they try on offense. Daniel Jones in the run game. You mentioned it before. You look at what they try on defense, just being like, listen, we're just going to throw zero blitzes at Aaron Rogers when he's in the red zone and try to win this game. Teams don't do that. Teams just say, all right, you know, we'll play standard. If you don't have the talent, you need to create variance. You need to create chaos.

And that's really what I've liked from them the most. Do you know who they're, you probably know the answer to this, but do you know who their leading receiver is? Richie James. Do you know how many yards he has? You nailed that, by the way. Good job. I'm going to guess 367. I'm not looking. A hundred and ninety one. Their leading receiver is Richie James with a hundred and ninety one yards and they are currently seventh offensively. Yeah.

EPA per drive right behind the Philadelphia Eagles. So they did that that's not fluky. That's not like one score of games. The offense is very efficient right now with this group, which is wild because I think if you looked at it on a talent, where would you put them? Just talent. Okay. So you could have your pick of any roster, any offensive roster, just offense in the NFL.

Well, they're certainly bottom 10. Oh, yeah. They might be bottom five. Yeah. I would say maybe only above the Chicago Bears and the Christian McCaffrey-less Carolina Panthers. That might be the only to, oh, Houston Texans. I would put them above the Houston Texans as well. Because I think Sequin is making that much of difference.

We'll get back to that conversation here. She'll quick plug, every single week on our YouTube channel on Underdog Fantasy, I do a show Josh McCown called Scheme. And this week, we broke down every single facet of this New York Giants offense. And it's a joy to watch. I think it's thriving because of where, in some ways, and how defenses are playing these passing games and how they've evolved with these two high looks and let's stop these downfield passing attempts, these big plays.

Because it's so well-coached what this team is doing to maximize, like you said, the lack of premier talents. And it's so funny to watch Brian Dayball do this in year one where, like, Matt Rule, rest of soul, said like, hey, let's... Still alive. Takes two to three years to, you know, build up the organization and the type of franchise that we want. And we hear this all the time.

You know, oh, I need two all seasons. How about just Joe Judge? How about just Joe Judge before Brian Dayball? Right. So it's still incredible to me, though, that defense. are not treating Daniel Jones, like he's Jalen Hertz, Lamar Jackson,

Kyler Murray, Josh Allen with his rushing ability. Like, the way that he is able to create chunk gains, I mean, he has 21 design runs so far this season with 120 yards, which included those five runs for 42 yards this past weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But if it was only that read option zone read stuff, then I think that it would be capped. But what is also being lost here is when it is purely passing situations on third and nine, third and 11, second and 14, Dan Jones is threading the needle, you know?

And the biggest part of his game that I think has transcended with this organization is the lack of turnover worthy place. You know, if you go back to his rookie year, he had 19 fumbles and 12 interceptions and 13 games. 2020, 10 fumbles and 10 interceptions in 14 games. last year in just 11 contests, seven fumbles and seven interceptions. This year, through seven games, just two interceptions and two fumbles. I think part of that is because of the two tackles they invested in and almost at a Buffalo Bills-like investment of the interior offensive lineman, too. But he's just gotten better, you know?

He's just gotten better and improved here. So it is maximizing and leaning into the strengths and where each player in offense wins, along with having a dynamic talent like Saquin Berkeley, who can drag you single-handedly out of a hole by looking like the old Saquan and this defense being advantageous in moments where maybe they shouldn't be. I'm not saying they're going to keep this up to the six-in-one pace or whatever,

but I firmly do believe this is a playoff organization because the coaching so far that we've seen. Yeah, the fumbling thing, I mean, it was so interesting. I think he had the most fumbles in the NFL since he entered the league. And at some point, I just go, all right, something like that is not going to be fixable, but it hasn't happened this year. And you're right. Even in previous years, like, I always thought if you take just like his 20 best plays and put them on a clip, you'd be like, this guy could be really good, but I didn't believe in him because I was like,

well, you got to take the negative plays. And there's so many negative plays there. And there's, I'm always a little skeptical of like, hey, the surroundings are the difference, you know, at some point a guy is what he is. But man, the coaching job they've done, the way he's played this year. again, the seventh best offense in the NFL in terms of EPA per drive. And so even if they come back down to Earth, they're minus 270 to make the playoffs right now. So you just build that huge cushion in the NFC. They've got the Texans, the Lions, the commanders twice, and the Colts on their schedule. So let's say they lose every other game and they go three and two in those games.

They're nine and eight. It's like they have quite a margin for error here. And I think it's the decision that Brian Dayball, made to go from being the play caller with Josh Allen to then not being the play caller here and trusting the people he hired, I think it's flown under the radar a little bit. And that's a big boy decision and it's paying off in a big boy way, you know? A couple other notes. They are fourth in the NFL and third down rate over their last three games, converting 51% of them.

And also is how they're utilizing two back sets with, you know, Sequin Barclay and even Matt Brita out there. They're creating eight yards per play when running this pony personnel when it's basically like just them and the Jets being able to utilize two backs when we hear about it all offseason with every other team throughout the league. And

I think they're taking advantage how I open this conversation with short weeks on defense where you can't game plan for all the bootlegs. I dare you to find a team that runs more naked bootlegs than the New York Giants. I dare you to find a team that runs more read options

zone read than the New York Giants. And so these defenses are used to, hey, let's pin our ears back and go get the passer. How can you prepare for this style of how they're running this in three to four days before you play the Giants? And on top of that, like I said, it all wouldn't be working this well if Daniel Jones also was not threading the needle. So all of that in totality is what makes them special, I think, through seven weeks of the season. Yeah, and those things slow, you know, help your offensive line, the boots, the zone read. It slows down in the past rush. And so they deserve credit for that. So I think they'll come back down to earth a little bit, but the cushion they've built on with you, I think they're still a playoff team.

All right, last one, maybe the spiciest one here. Hopefully you stuck with us for this one. Didn't cut out on the pod, didn't pause it to go do something else and stuck with us for this one. How does the Aaron Rogers situation play out in Green Bay? You're shaking your head. A, they get it together. They make the playoffs. And we're all in, you know, in January, you're getting the smart Alex are doing the tweets, oh, remember when people were worried about the, you know, the Packers in late October? So you're getting some of that.

B, the struggles continue. They miss the playoffs. And week 18 is the last time we see Aaron Rogers in a Packers uniform. C, the struggles continue. They miss the playoffs. But you know what? Aaron Rogers is back in 2023. They run it back and give it another shot.

You can think about that. Let me give you one thing here. I know people are probably wondering, well, what do you mean? Aaron Rogers isn't back in a Packers uniform. So that could be one of two scenarios. It could be he retires. It could also be he gets traded. It's very complicated. Jason Fitzgerald of over the cap, who is the authority on such things has a great article up on his site. And I won't bore you with all the details. But can they trade? Is a trade? Basically, it comes down to is a trade possible or not. Yes. A trade is possible. on the team option of $58.3 million that they have. So the scenario where the Green Bay Packers trade Aaron Rogers in the offseason should be something that should at least be considered that it could be on the table. All right. What do you got? I'm hoping for B because we really need something to talk about from February until July. And an Aaron Rogers move would very much help what you and I do during that dead period.

He's good for content, no doubt about it. But the answer is C, for multiple reasons. The first on the field this year, there's bad juju going on right now. And spoke about accountability earlier and just handling yourself and self-awareness. It feels like every single week, especially now that Aaron Rogers has even more media opportunities, the hole's getting a bit deeper. Let's put it that way. And, you know, Nate Tice pointed this out.

This offense this season, Aaron Rogers is throwing 33% of his passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. The last quarterback to do that was Alex Smith in his lone season with the Washington football team. Okay? So are we really getting Alex Smith in 2022 here from Aaron Rogers coming off back-to-back MVP campaigns? And I think we are to a degree that it's so obvious, and this is the most simple point. to make. But when panic hit last year or you had it in a got to have it moment, it's so clear that Devante Adams was that guy to go to. And there is not going to be a night and shining armor going through these doors unless it turns out to be a, what,

24-year-old Christian Watson during his rookie year after you spent a second round pick on him, because he's kind of the one player we haven't really seen what he can evolve into yet. I just don't see how this team changes because at the core of, of it. It feels like Aaron Rogers is battling the play calling. And after seven weeks, and more importantly, two seasons of back-to-back MVP seasons, if that's where

we're at here, it's just not going to get better for the remaining 11 games. Yeah, I watched the film of Fox and Packers last week. So I'm like, I want to have my own takes on what's going on with Brady and what's going on with Rogers. And with Rogers, it was just so, it's what you said.

It's the most obvious thing, but his receivers aren't good enough and he doesn't trust them because they're not good enough. That's at the core of all of the Green Bay Packers issues. And I feel like Packers fans have been, maybe it's because I'm from, you know, what some might describe as an angry sports town at times. But I don't, I feel like Packers fans have not been sufficiently furious about how they handled that situation. I mean, listen, if you want to sell me on Adams, wanted out, he wasn't going to resign. First of all, you had time to sign him to an extension before it got to that point. Second of all, you had the leverage. You had the franchise tag.

every year we hear players say they're not playing on the franchise tag. 99% of the time they say, all right, I'm not giving up that money. I have to do it. I'll be a free agent next year. So don't tell me that they didn't have any other options. Number three, if you're going to trade him, you need a plan to replace him. Look at what the chiefs did. The chiefs didn't just trade Tyree kill and say, okay, we're good.

They went out. They made moves. They gave themselves options. They're the best offense in the NFL in terms of EPA per drive. So you could see this coming. And I got the Russell Wilson thing wrong. I got the Adams thing right in, fading the Packers. right this offseason because I gave them a D.

They should be operating like the Rams right now. You have an old quarterback who's a back-to-back MVP. Go freaking all. And look at the landscape of the NFC. I mean, it's so easy for them to have been a Super Bowl contender this year. Instead, they trade Adams. They have no plan to replace him. They use two first-round picks on defensive players.

One of them, by the way, who cannot even get on the field in Devante Wyatt here. And so I feel like they should be, you know, if I'm a Packers fan, I am just irate at the way this season has been spent and how I'm spending my Sundays right here. So you know what? I actually think it might, it's, I'm going to go with C. Let's disagree on this one.

I don't think he's back. I mean, I think that, I'm sorry, I'm going with B. You went with C. I'm going with B that he plays his last game in a Packers uniform this year. Because, you know, if they did that last year,

didn't have a plan, what's his motivation to come back and run it back? Is there going to be some kind of guarantee that they fix it? I actually think you still get a lot for Aaron Rogers in a trade. Look at what Russell Wilson got last year. And what you mentioned, there's not going to be a lot of competition. I think, you know, high level quarterbacks or potentially high level quarterbacks, maybe there will be this offseason, but there will

still be a team that talks themselves into it. If you're the Packers, you can get multiple first round picks. You can say, you know what, we still have some talented players. We lost our window, our window passed, and we just kind of have to move on here. So that's what I'm going with. He plays somewhere else next year. He doesn't retire. Low key, I'll take this one as an attack because now you're going to make me witness a two-month stretch of David Tepper courting Aaron Rogers to try to come to the Carolina Panthers. One final note, this team, it would maybe feel different for the rest of the season outlook if the defense was actually playing well, but the defense is also shit. You know, they're kind of playing soft. They are not as aggressive as some of the name brand players that they have and how much investment that they're,

they've had on top of that. I think heading into the season, on paper, you could have said, this Packers team could be a top five defense in the league. They're a bottom five defense. And at least when the offense is struggling, they could turn to some aspects that could be succeeding. And it's so weird to see that in week one, the two back, the pony personnel looks of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon was thriving. They haven't evolved it at all since. And it's almost been to the detriment of a team when both are out there. So there's not a glimmer of hope that I can put on anyone. And to some degree, I understand your point that the wide receivers are who they are

and he can't trust them. Like, I think Al-Lazar is still Al-Lazard, you know, and he's decent. But that can't be like your top go-getter when you run this style. They're not problem solvers. Exactly. That's what I feel. Yeah, you're right. That's the easiest way of putting it.

They're professional. They don't, like you mentioned with Adams, high leverage situation, red zone, third and shoot, I don't know if protection's going to hold up. What do I do? Devante Adams solves a lot of those problems. The little microcosm of that is last year's playoff loss when he needed it on that, what, second and long or fourth and long situation. And Devante Adams is double covered.

And he has, it's either MVS or Al-Lazard running free down the field wide open. But he knows in a got to have it situation, I got to have, I got to throw it to Devante Adams and just doesn't have that this season. And obviously that went incomplete as well. It's a great point. That last key play of last year sort of, you're looking at it going, well, he should have done this. But then the carryover to this year and what it means, and now he doesn't even have that option. And it's even worse.

That was a lot of fun. We went through a lot of the big picture teams. We'll take a quick break and we'll come back and finish it off with a mailback question or two. Start the NFL week off right with a no sweat, same game parlay every Thursday from Fandul, America's number one sports book. It doesn't matter if you're new to Fandueler, already have an account. Every Thursday night, you'll get free bets back if your NFL's same game parlay doesn't hit. Same game parlays are the perfect way to combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payday.

Let's see, Thursday night, I like the bucks to cover that one and a half. I like the over on Tom Brady passing yards. I think he's going to be able to hit on some big plays against this Ravens defense. And I kind of like the over in the game. The bucks are a little bang. up in their secondary. I don't know. Those are three that I kind of like. You can choose your own. Build your own or choose from one of the popular SGPs pre-built for you in Fandul's top-rated sportsbook app. However you want to play, you can bet the NFL every Thursday night with a

no-swet same-game parlay. And with Fandul's new live same game parlayes, you can continue building SGPs even after the game has started. Just sign up with promo code Ringer NFL. if you don't already have an account, that's promo code Ringer NFL to get free bets back if your SGP doesn't hit. Make every moment more with Fandul, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. 21 plus in select states, three plus legs, minimum $1 bet required, refund issued as non-wistrawable free bets that expire seven days after receipt, max free bet $5, $5.3.3.3.3.3.3.3. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.Fanduil.com. gambling problem called 1-800 gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia. 1-800 next step or text next step to 533342 in Arizona,

1-88-78-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut, 1-800, 1-8-Gamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877770. Stop in Louisiana, 18778, Hope N.Y or text Hope NY 467369 in New York, 1,800, 522-470470 in Wyoming, or visit www.w.w.1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia. Back with the mailbag, of course, you can email us at the scramble mailbag at gmail.com. If you have a question, you want us to answer on the show, or you can just tweet at me. Listen, I go with the best questions, and so there were two good Jets questions this week. And so at first I go, do I want to do two Jets questions?

And I said, if the Jets fans are going to make up a large percentage of the listeners and a large percentage of the people who email us, then yes, we're going to go with a Jets question. So this from Aiden, he's talking about the James Robinson trade. He thinks it's awesome. But he's curious about like the wide receiver equivalent of this. And so the comparison he made, let's say Drake London had a season ending injury like Reese Hall. And let's pretend the Falcons throw the ball a normal amount.

And the Falcons trade. actually mentions Alan Lazzard. He says, what would basically the wide receiver equivalent for James Robinson, what would that fetch in a trade? You know, Robinson got a sixth that that can turn into a fifth, I believe, right, if he meets certain thresholds there. And what would that mean for wide receiver? I can give you my take first, and then you can say,

because I, like, emailed these to you, like, 10 seconds before the show, so I can at least give you the courtesy of answering it first here. The wide receiver market, to me, is interesting. because of what has happened with the salaries. Like Christian Kirk gets $18 million a year last off season. So when I was making up fake trades on this show last week, I said Chase Claypool could get a second round pick. And that's not because, you know, he's an elite wide receiver.

I still like Chase Claypool a lot. But you have him under $2 million a year for this year and next year. So if you're a team and you're weighing the two decisions and you say, hey, we want a wide receiver for 2023. Well, we can pay someone like Christian Kirk, $18 million a year. or we can give up a second and pay someone like Chase Claypool, $2 million and we'll still have $16 million left over. So I think he's probably right with someone like Lazard.

I threw out Kendrick Bourne last week. Someone like that I think probably gets you a little bit more than a James Robinson, maybe a fifth that turns into a fourth. So I think it's a little bit higher just because of the premium on wide receivers. What do you think? My take, and it might not apply to this. I actually think the NFL has a little bit of a wide receiver three problem. I don't think it's as deep as people think it is.

Like if you just look across the league, there are some teams that are stacked at wide receiver, like the Cincinnati Bengals come to mind. But if you look at who has to step in for an injured player or who's just out there in two or three wide receiver sets across the league, it's not that good, you know? Take the Baltimore Ravens, for example, okay? When Rashad Bateman has been hobbled all season long

or not trusted as a full-time player, they are charting out Demarchus Robinson as they're starting outside wide receiver, you know, opposite of Devin Duvernay, okay? And even a team like the Las Vegas Raiders that are loaded with Devante Adams and Hunter Renfro, your boy, Mac Collins, who's performed very well this year, is their third wide receiver.

And I keep going down and down further and further on this list. But as a whole, I actually think wide receiver is a bit top heavy at this moment. And that's why so many of them are getting paid and then compensated and the trade packages are so massive. I don't know where the line is of everyone else that it drops from like a third round pick or a second round pick like you said down to like a fifth or a sixth. Maybe like Marvin Jones is a name like that, who I think can help in certain ways as a vertical player. But, you know, he just is who he is at this point in his career.

But my only point, again, is just looking around at all the depth charts, while we keep talking about so much young wide receiver talent is invested and injected into the league of every single year. Why receiver threes in each team? Not so good. It's a good point. When I was watching that Packers film, I'm going, there's a lot of Sammy Watkins on this film here. I think one of the, you mentioned Matt Collins.

I've been meaning to say this for weeks. He talks noise, I think, more than any play. Like, it's been one of my most fun things about this season. He's doing the year two small thing to guys. He's yelling, I am him or I am that dude just right into the camera after every catch. And so I've enjoyed the Matt Collins. Collins experience this year. All right, let's get to one more.

Laney says I'm a huge Jets fan. My mailbag question is, how much do the Jets need to achieve this season to be taken seriously? It's true that Zach Wilson has not had tons of peak plays, but he's been an efficient game manager. Now, keep in mind, this was sent, I think, right before last week's game. And Clutch, when we need him, the Jets' fourth quarter offense has been one of the best in the league. So when will the national narrative around the Jets finally change?

What's your take on the Jets and Zach Wilson and where they are? I would love your perspective on this. I think it's very fair to say that the Jets do not trust Zach Wilson in every single, let's say game script, right, in every single section of a game. And that's just how they've called games so far this year. They're telling us who they think he is or what they want to learn about him. their pass rate over expectation is well below average at this point, or it's average. And then when you look at every team that they are equal to or below, it seems that don't

trust their quarterbacks. And everyone and above, it's the guys that you're like, yes, we know that you're our man to carry us moving forward. Now, so far this year, the defense really evolved after week three and the young superstars are thriving. Mike LaFleur and his scheming it up with the rushing game has been beautiful, especially some of those two-back looks that we got with Breeze Hall and Michael Carter. Then the next week, you know, going off of play action with that two-back set and then

hitting Breece Hall along the left sideline. And then even the blocking up front with, hey, we're going to have some linemen pull to the right, some loop back to the left. It's been awesome to watch. And I think, again, that's effective because of how defenses have evolved. to stop, you know, and prevent the big plays down the field. Some of that is going to evaporate. You know, I think the defense will not be as great in terms of creating sacks and

turnovers as the season goes along as it naturally does. And then now offensively, you lose Bruce Hall and you lose Elijah Verde Tucker. So the rest of the season, I think playoffs are still in the picture despite the AFC being loaded. But most importantly, you have to figure out if Zach is the guy. If game manager is good enough for you for the second. an overall pick in the NFL draft. You know?

Is it? Because a lot of Jets fans that I communicate with have a lot of green tinted glasses on. And they're like, why are you getting mad? He just started 17 games, blah, blah, blah. I think objectively, unbiased, you can look at him and say, he has not played to the caliber where you can trust him in every single phase. And the Jets are telling us they can't trust him in every single phase. I'm not saying it can't happen.

It just hasn't happened so far this season. And I think they've had the right approach. Honestly, you watch him. He's 33rd out of 35 starting quarterbacks in EPA per play. If you watch him, if the people who grind the film and no quarterback play, look, I mean, he hasn't improved this year. It's been four games. I'm open to the possibility. We see a different guy in December and we're saying, okay, he's made the leap.

It just flat out hasn't happened yet. And game manager, he's not a game manager type quarterback. You know what I mean? Like he's going to make too many mistakes. He's not going to be that guy who just keeps you. that's not like his style of play. Like he likes to try to create and do those types of things. So I think he's been disappointing.

I've said it for weeks. I think the Jets are one of the most interesting 20, 23 offseason teams. Because I like a lot about this team. I've said, you know, you mentioned Mike LaFleur. I've never met Mike LaFleur. I don't know any, you know, I don't know Mike LaFloor. I think he's done a good job. I watch them every week and I say they're scheming up explosive plays.

And so I think he deserves credit for that. Their defense, I think you're right will probably come back down to Earth. They faced a bunch of backup. quarterbacks, but I still like their talent there. I mean, sauce has been awesome. I like their front. There are things you can build with there. There are pieces around the quarterback with the jets that I really like.

I'm not in on the quarterback right now, and I think that's why maybe they haven't gotten that national respect. I mean, if you look at how they're doing it, their defense is seventh in EPA per drive. Their offense is 26. Like, it's not complicated to fit. And that's with a run game that I think we both sort of like here. By the way, hardest remaining schedule per football outsider's metrics. for the jet. So, you know, it might not go so smoothly. Let's see. I like having them relevant.

I like talking about them, but let's see how the rest of the season goes. And we learn a lot this weekend against the New England Patriots. After that's the Buffalo Bills, then the Patriots again. You know, Bill Belichick defenses have struggled recently against mobile quarterbacks. We just saw that with Justin Fields. We've seen it with Lamar Jackson, obviously last season with Josh Allen. But there's a very different style of a mobile quarterback who can, you know, when your defense is in man coverage and everything is taken up and you avoid the pass rush, you can make them pay on third and long situations like we just saw Justin Fields do than what Zach Wilson does in those environments. I still think this Russian game can succeed. It's just going to be

very different where the same alleys, and I love Michael Carter as a player, I think he's a very underrated between the tackles runner for someone who is pigeonholed as like a pass catching back coming out with Javante Williams at UNC. But what Bruce Hall was, was doing was thriving in these alleys that Mike LaFour was creating. And so those big chunk gains will probably evaporate a little bit. And it's going to be a bit more, hey, nine, 10, 11 play drives rather than the four, five, six play drives, which you go back and listen to Joe Douglas and Robert Sala when they drafted Breeshall.

That's the exact reason they said was we want these shorter drives because it's a grind over and over converting these thund downs. And they're going to have to do that now with the quarterback they haven't trusted so far. Yeah, the Vera Tucker injury kind of went under the radar because of Brise Hall. I mean, that might probably be the more impactful injury. Honestly, the number of positions he had played for them. I feel like we could have done three hours, Josh. This was fantastic.

It flew by. You did a great job. What can you plug? I know you're doing 17 different things. What plugs can you get out here before we sign off? If you've made it this far, the only request I had is to go to. You sound very skeptical if you've made it this far. far. Look, I look at the advanced metrics and the analytics and our own stuff. And as you know,

Sheel, everything just declines every extra minute you go along. Go to YouTube, type in underdog fantasy. It's myself and Hayden Winks. We put out content every single day. Some of it's like 15 minutes, some of it's an hour long. And again, every single proud day, I do a show with Josh McCown. This week, it's on the New York football giants and breaking down their offense. We really appreciate it. And Sheel, this has been lovely. Let's not make the first time. the only time. Let's continue this into the future. How about that? I agree. That was beautifully said. Definitely check that out. They're doing great work. Josh and Hayden. Thanks to Josh for joining me. Thanks to Mike Wargon for producing

additional production supervision by Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgapal. Stay tuned tomorrow for the Ringer NFL preview show on this feed. And I will talk to everyone next week on the scrimple.