The Ringer NFL Show - The All In-dex

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

Danny Heifetz and Steven Ruiz kick off The Ringer's All In Week by discussing the All In-dex, which ranks every team based on how all in they are for this season. They talk about the delusional teams that are too all in and the teams that should be more all in. Hosts: Danny Heifetz and Steven Ruiz Associate Producer: Carlos Chiriboga Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NFL preseason is here, so check out the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Also, if you need fantasy rankings, we've got our rankings and sleepers at fantasyfutball. So come listen to Danny Kelle, Danny Hifetz, and me, Craig Horlebeck on the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. The Ringer NFL show, my name is Danny Hyfitz and I am joined by Stephen Ruiz, and today is the first day of all-in week at the Ringer. We are doing all-in week because the Rams just won the Super Bowl by going all in. But what does that even mean? I don't know. Sometimes we say it all the time,

oh, the Rams won't all in. But like, what does that mean? And honestly, it poses an even larger question of like, what does that mean for the other teams? Because if the Rams are gambling everything, what are the other 31 teams gambling? Because it's not like the other teams in the NFL are not all trying to win the Super Bowl as well.

So coming into the season, I sat down with a couple editors at the ringer Riley McAtee, Megan Schuster, and we wanted to answer this question. So we created something called the All Index. And the All Index is the ringers metric to rank every team in the NFL based on how all in they are for this season. How much money are they spending?

How many draft picks have they traded away? We ranked every team in the NFL from 1 to 32. The Rams are first, obviously, maybe even more obviously. The Texans are last. So any metric of all in where the Rams are first and the Texans are last, we're pretty confident that we got the rankings right. So you can go to the ringer.com. You can see where your team is in the all index.

It's nice because I'm a Giants fan. So even though the Giants are the bottom five, it's nice if your team sucks, kind of gives you hope. She's like, oh, thank God the Giants Arlen are not all in right now because they're terrible. So I'm glad they're building for the future. So you can see the All-Index and all the teams there at the ringer.com. So it'll be right there on the homepage or the episode description for this podcast.

You can check out the All-Index and read along as you listen to this pod or save it for later. For today's episode, I wanted to talk to you, Stephen, about, well, honestly, the delusional teams are the best part of it when you look. And you're like, oh, wow, the Panthers right next to the bills. That's crazy. But first, I kind of wanted to ask you how All-In works because we just say it all the time. I want you to explain this to me like I'm five years old. So basically the Rams trade a bunch of picks away. They trade like seven consecutive first-run picks away.

They spend a bunch of money. They get all these good players. They get Matt Stafford. They get Vaughn Miller. They get Odell Beckham. They get Jalen Ramsey. But like, are we just saying that's the secret to going on in? That's the secret to winning the NFL.

It's like, oh, spend money and get good players. Like, is it that simple? No, I don't think it's that simple. I don't think like you could be a random team. Like, say the Panthers and decide, oh, we're going to go all in. I think you have to have an infrastructure. in place already. And the Rams had that. One, they already had some good players, Aaron Donald being one of them. And they had the coach. They had Sean McVeigh. Like, Sean McVeigh is a coach that if you give him

talent, he's going to get the most out of talent. I don't think there are very many coaches where you could say that. Maybe like a handful, maybe like 10 or 12 where you think like if they get a good roster, they're going to turn it into a playoff team. And there's some other coaches that we'll get to the playoffs, but it's kind of iffy. And there's other coaches that will just waste talent. So I think the Rams had that for him. But I really think their approach was like, oh, we want to play a certain way. Let's go get a guy that allows us to play a certain way. Like, I feel like at the end of Wade Phillips's time as a DC there, it was like, we want to play more man coverage. We want to play more sticky coverage and be able to attach to receivers. So let's go trade for Jalen Ramsey. We know he's good. We know he can play

man coverage. Let's get, let's part with two first round picks. We're not going to be able to find a corner like him anyway, even with as many first round picks as we have. So let's go do that. Now we can play defense a certain way. And then all of a sudden, their defense is good enough to match their offense. And then the same thing with Matthew Stafford. It was like, we want a more robust passing game. How do we have a more robust dropback passing game to be specific? We're not going to be able to do with Jerich off. So let's just trade away a first round pick. Let's eat some dead money. Let's pay whatever we have to pay to get Matthew Stafford in here. Now we can run this offense that we feel like will win us a Super Bowl. And then it worked. So,

I think their approach really isn't, oh, let's collect good players. It's let's collect good players that allow us to play in ways that we know will help us win. And it's kind of like in the NBA, right? You kind of want players who can create their own shot. Like Jared Goff is like running the offense. And then if the play breaks down, there's nothing to do. Matt Stafford's kind of, you know, in the Super Bowl, does the no look pass. It's like, you know, the play didn't work.

So he jacks up a three and it switches anyway. But it's not just getting good players. They're right. Like they had to also kind of win on the margins as well. Yeah. So, like, they haven't had first round picks famously. There's the fuck them picks meme with, with, uh, less need. The GM of the Rams wore a meme of himself on his t-shirt to the Rams Super Bowl parade that said F them picks.

Right. But the thing is, they will, they've hit on a bunch of late round picks. They've hit on a bunch of day two and day three picks. And it's not just like players that were, it's not like, I'm trying to think of an example, like finding D.K. Metcalf on the second day where you find this superstar. It's like finding useful players, like a Darius Williams, soon. was a player that ended up getting picked on in last year's playoffs. But like for the most part, he was a solid number two cornerbacker, number three cornerback, wherever they played him.

And finding guys like Ernest Jones, a linebacker who's not like a household name by any means, but he's a good player. And they keep finding these good players on day two and day three. And without those players, I don't think this all an approach works. I don't think we're having all in week. I don't think the Rams win the Super Bowl. I don't think we're saying, oh, this is a viable team building strategy that that is commendable, but they hit on those guys.

And now they have solid depth around those star players. And it worked because of that. I don't, we've seen a lot of top heavy teams. We've seen a lot of dream teams, so to speak, be put together. And it doesn't work. And it falls apart because it's a Stars and Scrubs approach. But the Rams really found a way to supplement those stars with players that were, they weren't quite stars themselves, but they were above scrub level.

Well, the irony is, like, you know, I also host. the fantasy football show for the ringer, and we always talk about doing stars and scrubs, but the whole point starts and scrubs is you get the scrubs that you hope won't be scrubs. And so when they're getting four, fifth, six round picks, if those guys all actually make it, they just have to start. If a sixth round pick becomes a starter for you, that's like, I mean, sometimes it's bad, but if they're good enough to actually start and be a workable piece, that's an excellent piece. I mean, sometimes you need, not everyone's going to be a six round pick like Richard Sherman

for the Seahawks and be elite, but who is the MVP of that Super Bowl for the Malcolm? You know, that's another late round pick for the Seahawks that's filling in. So I guess is that really basically kind of like the second half of this all in gamblers? Like you can spend all the picks and spend all the money. But unless you're also winning on the margins there, and not to mention you have a cool city like Los Angeles where Adele Beckham is just like, sure, I'll just come play for you right off the bat. So I'm curious if there's a team similar to the Rams that you kind of think could emulate

this or is it kind of just a silly thing to try to do? I think like a team like the 49ers, for instance, could do it because they have the coach. I think they have a smart front office that's good at cooking the books, so to speak. Like they can fit in big contracts. They have like a talent nucleus already in place. So I think they're definitely a team that could like afford to give up three first round picks to go get a quarterback.

That makes sense for them. And they could still be a good team while doing that. I think teams like that. It's got to be teams where you have a great coach already in place that you know is a great coach. It can't be like the Chargers who I think Brandon Staley's going to, going to be a good coach, but the jury still out on him after last year, right? Like, we don't know what he's going to be, but we know Sean McVey and Kyle Shanahan are good coaches.

And then you, I mean, every team has to get lucky with those late round picks. It's not like a thing that only applies to these all-in teams. Like every team throughout history has hit on those late-round picks. The Patriots obviously hit on Tom Brady in the sixth round. Like you said, the Seahawks hit on a bunch of those defensive players weren't first-round picks like Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman. Earl Thomas was, but Cam Chancer wasn't, for instance. So I think it makes sense

Once you already have the nucleus in place To kind of just fill in gaps here and there And then like shell out whatever draft capital you have to Whatever money you have to Like the bills kind of had with Von Miller this last year And Stefan Diggs before him I think that's where you have to do You have to establish yourself as a well-built team

You have to build a foundation first A strong one and then you can do it Like the Panthers for instance No they don't have anything in place That makes you think that they should be all in But they are So that's a crazy thing. What's so funny about doing these rankings is a kind of sense and number to the gut feelings

you already had. The Panthers ranked 11th in the Ald Index, which blew my mind because the Buffalo Bills, who are the Super Bowl favorites, ranked 10th. And the Panthers rank 11th, who are, Vegas has them winning like six games this year. Stephen, you're a Panthers fan. So what was your reaction when you realized that the Panthers are basically side by side with the bills? It made sense.

It, like, confirmed all the priors I've had going back to that first offseason when Matt rule took over and David Tepper was really like coming into his own as an owner and like starting to apply his the philosophy to the organization. It's just a lack of patience. And it goes back to them cutting Cam Newton. You're like, okay, that makes sense. You're cutting Cam Newton. It saves you $18 million. It makes a lot of sense to do that. He's clearly passed this prime. This team needs a rebuild anyway by the it doesn't match with this timeline. And then like a month later and maybe I have the time wrong, but it was right after that they signed Teddy Bridgewater to the money they just saved by

cutting Cam Newton and then you're like okay this team can't like have money in its pocket it's not fine with money in its pocket it has to spend that money if it gets it you should save that 18 million and kind of build the rest of the roster wisely they didn't do that they were like all right we're going to spend this on another quarterback who's already been

developed and we already know what he is and then it just continued just move after move they trade Tray Turner to the charges for Russell Okun, who is a past-espine player, more expensive than Trey Turner was. It made no sense at the time. It was like, are the Panthers trying to go all in with this move? And then it continues again, they trade for Sam Darnold the next offseason. And they trade for Baker-Mayfield this off-season. They also trade up for Matt Corral. Now they're not even really playing him in preseason. It's just a lack of patience. And it's not like they

decided, oh, we're going all in. It's like they were naive and thought, oh, if we get this one move right, we could make the playoffs, which was never really the case. And then on top of that, they got all the moves wrong. Every move they've made has been, has gone bad. And that's how you end up at this spot in the all index when you have a 5.5 win total from Vegas. Well, it's a goal without a plan as a wish. And the Panthers just have been wishing for a quarterback. And Darnel's the perfect example. It's like they trade for Sam Darnold, so they give up a second round pick, which ends up being pretty good pick when you are as bad as they are, but then they bail on Darnold, but they still have to make him their highest paid

player this year. So not only did Darnold cost you his second run pick, but he's also costing you the most money of any player in your team this year to be your backup quarterback. And that's just the kind of stuff that gets people fired. It's insane. I'm curious, the other team that I think is kind of delusional in this is the Saints. The Saints actually rank in the top five of our All-Index. I think there might be fifth or six depending.

I forget where exactly. But that's crazy. I mean, this is a team that Sean Drew Brees retired. Sean Payton, like, air quotes, retired. And so you got a team with James Winston at quarterback. And they're just doing it again. They're just like, oh, nope, we could win. I actually respect it.

I'm curious what you think. No, I kind of respect it too. I respect Mickey Loomis. We did GM rankings on this podcast like a month ago, and I had him. I think I might have had him in the top five, even though he has this reckless style. But I think it's like a gamer approach. Like he's just going to fill in the gaps and try to find a way to make the team better. And he keeps doing that.

And the team like has sustained itself. Even there was those down years when the defense was like so bad that they could only win like seven games while Jubries was thrown for a million yards a season. But beyond that, they've been a playoff contender every year. So it's hard to to take issue with this approach. But I do like the way you put it in the piece where you basically said no one goes to New Orleans to feel good the next day. And that's kind of their thing. I went to New Orleans this, this offseason, like early in the off season.

and I went with a buddy and like one night we drank a little bit and I probably ate some bad food. I woke up the next day and my stomach was just killing me, right? And I was like, all right, I'm not going to drink today. I'm not going to like party or whatever. But I was like, it's the last day I'm in New Orleans. I'm doing it anyway. That's like the Saints. But here's where that was last year for the Saints.

Here's where things really get funny. Then I go home the next day and I forgot that me and my wife were like going to her friend's party. and I go and I'm like, all right, I'll go to the party, even though I still don't feel good. I drank after the day, on the day that I didn't feel good. And guess what? I drank at the party, too. That's this year for the Saints.

They're like, screw it. Let's do it again. That's exactly it. It's like, oh, they were like, all right, you know what? They went out Thursday, Friday night, Saturday night, Saturday night with Drew Breeze. And then now Sean Payton's gone. And they're like, you know what? I'm sorry, actually, no, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at Drew Breeze.

And then Drew Breese is gone. And they're like, James is there last year. And like, you know what? We're going to have a day on Sunday. We're doing it anyway. Sean Payton, James, you're doing it. And then that doesn't work. Now there's no Sean Payton.

There's one, and it's Monday. And they're like, it's Monday at football. I mean, just, and they have another night on Monday. And they just keep going out. And you're like, you can't do this forever. But you know what? Sometimes you have those friends. Like, wow, I don't know how you're a functioning adult.

That's the saints to me. But here's the thing. I actually think it makes sense. I was having this argument with Nora because I know Solac really believes that it's insane for the Saints to be doing this and that they're going to have their comeuppance. I'm kind of like sure, but not this year because the Saints have not lost to the Tom Brady Bucks in the regular season.

They've actually kind of smacked them every time they've played. In the regular season, the Saints actually haven't lost to the Buccaneers since like week one of 2018. So when you're in a division with the Panthers and the Falcons who are disgusting, and you're like, but every time we play the Bucks, we smack the Bucks. Also, the NFC is really weak to begin with. Why wouldn't the Saints just say, screw it? If the Packers got worse this year, the Cowboys got worse this year, the Rams, you know,

they're coming off the Super Bowl championship. But like the Buccaneers, I mean, Brady almost didn't want to go play for the bucks. I kind of actually think it totally makes sense for the Saints to just try it. I mean, why not? And what if you get one of those like just lucky fluke gears out of James? Like you get all good James. They can totally go for it. I feel like James is an underrated quarterback. Like before his injury, he was really locking in with that offense. And by the one thing that gives me pause is Sean Payton is gone. And I think so much of their success with Sean Payton's game planning and finding ways to exploit matchups. And now all of a sudden, he's not there. Now,

could Pete Carmichael be the second coming of Sean Payton? Maybe, but I'm not betting on that. So that's the one reason I'm hesitant to say the Saints are a playoff team. But I understand it. I'm like, yeah, go for it. What else do you have to lose? Do you want to be bad right now? No, no one wants to be bad.

So just go for the playoffs. Well, some of these teams might want to be bad. Maybe the Bears. There's a couple of teams that should be going all in, but aren't going all in as much as maybe they should. I'm curious what you think about the Ravens. So the Ravens rank 27th in the all index, which again, the Rams are first. The Ravens are out here.

I mean, they have a serious chance to win the AFC North to be one of the top states in the NFC. They're granted, they're probably going to move up a little if they do sign Lamar Jackson or contract. We're not counting any money that they might give to Lamar. Having said that, does it strike you as a little odd that the Ravens are currently in the bottom six? It doesn't strike me.

I'm not surprised by it, but I think they need to deviate from their underlying philosophy that kind of drives this approach to roster building where it's like seen as almost like an assembly line where they're just constantly just it never stops moving right like they're shipping out products and they're and they're bringing more in like they're shipping out the defensive ends that get like 10 sacks for them they go sign a 20 million dollar a year contract elsewhere and they bring in a third round pick who they're going to coach up so he can get 10 sacks in the season in like three years and that's how they view building the roster it's just a constant churn. But you have Lamar Jackson. You've had him on this rookie deal. You want to MVP in his

first full year starting. And they never really did the Rams or even the Chiefs thing where they're like, all right, let's go find some superstar receivers to put around him. Let's build just an all-star offense around him. They went the other way. They were like, let's build this scheme where we could just run the ball. We're going to have a bunch of fullbacks and tight ends. We're going to have like one receiver on the field at all times. It's going to be five foot seven Hollywood Brown, which makes no sense. And I think they've really stunned at Lamar's growth as a product of that. And Steve Young was on NFL Live yesterday talking about how the Ravens aren't going to take that next step until they try to build a real NFL passing game.

And it seems like going into 2022, they're not doing that. They're putting that off for another year. And they're bringing back Greg Roman and they're bringing back this run first mentality. And I just don't know how it works. And I don't blame them. Like, I don't blame Greg Roman for taking that approach to the offense. right because he doesn't have the pieces to run a real NFL passing game really so it makes sense so i put that kind of on the front office as much as i put it on greg roman and and his

simplistic passing scheme but yeah like trade a first round pick every now and then go out and sign to odel beckham trade for von miller trade for anybody like dbo samuel try to trade for a j brown i did i really don't get why why this team is so patient so the rave so i Greg Roman's the offensive coordinator for the Ravens, and if there's any criticism of them is that the running game for them is really good, but the passing game stuff isn't, I guess, more 101 and 201 for the NFL than 401 or, like, master's level. I asked him, I actually, we went to Ravens camp, I asked him the other day, describe his offense in one word.

He said medieval. So, I think, honestly, I think that they actually in free agency kind of have a challenge where I don't know if some top receivers do want to go there because that's their offense, and they are a little worried that, like, they might not be able to rack up those numbers there. So they have invested a lot in the offense, though. They have Rashad Bateman still, who was the first-run pick. He's going to be the number one to see for the show. They have Mark Andrews.

But I guess the question I have for the Ravens is it's like, I don't know. I feel like it's contrary to everything the Ravens do. Like if you actually go to Steve Beshott, he's the owner of the Ravens. If you go to his bio on the Ravens website, it basically says his goal is consistency. The goal is to be competitive and make the playoffs every single year. But that's not the kind of team that goes all in. It's like the Ravens, I feel like are pretty stunningly. were kind of ever since they went to Baltimore like 25 years ago at this point they've basically

been good every single year they're kind of like the Steelers always competitive but it's because they're doing stuff like the draft this year where they're going getting Tyler Linderbaum and they're flipping Marquis Brown and like okay cool our receiver needs a new contract we don't want it next year anyway we're going to trade him and this guy will be our center down for the next 10 years but I see what you're saying where okay but are you ever going to be able to get over the hump in this conference where there's so many other good quarterbacks if you're not doing everything to maximize for a given year. And I would also say that they are kind of, I don't know if it's lying to themselves, but I think the reason why they have remained so competitive is because Lamar Jackson

exists. Like, you think Lamar is helping the team more than the team is helping Lamar? Oh, yeah, without a doubt. Like, you look at this roster and it's not very good. Like, the offensive line has kind of fallen off over the last couple years since Lamar's MVP season and they haven't really fixed it. They're trying to address it now. The receiving core has been, I mean, one of the worst in the NFL. He won an MVP with Willie Sneed as his top wide receiver. And then all they've added since then was a washed up. They added a washed up Des Brian, a washed up Sammy Watkins.

And then they drafted Rashad Babin, but it's not like they went out of their way to draft him. He kind of fell to them. So it's not like the roster around him has been good. And even last year, the defensive personnel fell off just because of injuries. They had no secondary. And this team was still in position before Lamar went out with the ankle injury. They were, I think they were the number of, one seat in the AFC.

So I don't even know if this roster building method is actually effective or it's just that they lucked into Lamar and he's kind of risen the whole team with him or the whole offense at least. So I think this team would have been better served just going for it, one of these last two years. Just go trade for one of these star players. And they didn't and now they kind of missed the boat. And I feel like talent wise, they're a tier below all these other AFC teams. Now with Lamar and that coaching staff, I think they can make up for it.

but it's hard to compare their roster to these other AFC teams and feel good. One other AFC team, I'm curious, a very similar criticism is the Bengals. And Solek made a great point the other day, basically, that the Bengals have been basically dealt pocket aces. They have Joe Burrow and a rookie deal. They have Jamar Chase. And like, they fix their offensive line. But in the all index, they rank exactly 16th, which is like they're spending more

than the Bengals usually do. But they're kind of just leaving a lot in the table of like, you know, I'm not saying specifically, but like the fact that the Buffalo bills go and have a Von Miller, but the Bengals don't. Like, the Bengals just could be adding more players. And basically, if the Bengals don't win a Super Bowl, any amount that, I thought was on the money, unless the Bengals literally win a Super Bowl, the fact that if they come up short at any level of the postseason from Super Bowl to missing the playoffs, the fact that

they basically left potential roster spots for star players on the table is going to be devastating. Yeah, I think they're kind of in danger of falling into that trap of trying to replicate what the Patriots did. And it makes sense because you have the young quarterback who's, who's smart and can just run the offense on his own. Now you had you. Which time what the Patriots did because there was like 20 years. The first time. The first era of the Patriots. And like even then you saw the Patriots go away. This is this isn't really working anymore. The teams are getting better around us. Like we need a load up on good offensive players and they go out and they get Randy Moss. I know it wasn't

like a huge investment. And they go out and get Wes Welker and they just turn over the scheme to to fit all these pieces. I do think that Bengals should be more proactive because all of their star players are on rookie deals. Like even Jesse Bates, who was on his rookie deal last year, and then you have, or he might have been a franchise tag. But he didn't get a second contract yet. You have Joe Burr on his rookie contract. You have the receivers on the rookie contract.

C.J. Uzama comes up and you let him go. Like, they could be doing more. They could be leveraging their cap space more and the assets they have to kind of just build a super roster. And I feel like if you really believe in Joe, borough and obviously they do they have no reason not to then trust him like trust him to take a chance on the on the cap and maybe you have to have a down year in two years because of it because it doesn't go right but maybe in one of those next two years you win a super bowl like i think he's good enough to

carry them out of any cap issues they have like drew breeze was with the saints the last team i want to talk about here is the chicago bears because i was the bears are kind of a stunning disaster in slow motion here they're kind of this quiet like small money team in one of america's biggest they're spending, their last, their spending rank is last in the all index. Overall, they're 26, but they're basically the least financially invested team in the NFL right now. And I kind of think of them as throwing the baby out with the bathwater because Justin Fields is playing this season behind maybe probably the worst offensive line in the NFL.

And I would say kind of indisputably has the worst receiving core in the NFL. That's kind of nuts. I don't know how a second year quarterback goes into a season with the worst protection and pass catchers in the entire league. And then it just, it's nuts to me that every other team like the chargers, the dolphins, the Jets, the Jaguards, the Patriots, the Giants, the Giants, the Bengals, I don't know, have given their quarterbacks better protection and better passing? And I guess it's like, is there any world where Justin Fields can succeed in Chicago? Like, what does success even look like for Justin Fields in such a decrepit offense? Like, is there any ways careers even salvaged at this point?

I don't even know. Like, on top of that, the worst offensive line, the worst receiving court, you have a rookie offensive coordinator. Like literally the three things that we like maybe they might have a run game, but that's like the only support he's getting. And I think this just shows that I don't think Ryan Poles believes in Justin Fields. I think this is proof. Like everything he's done this offseason is proof that he doesn't believe that he has his quarterback. Because if he thought that this guy is a star quarterback and this is some guy, this is someone we want to build around, there was no need to take the drastic measures and tearing down the roster that they did.

Yeah. So Ryan Poles is the new GM. he replaced Ryan Pace, who was the guy who, you know, took Chubisky over Batcham Homs, et cetera, et cetera. And then somehow still stuck around long enough to take Justin Fields. He gets fired and now Ryan Poles is running it. But you see, I guess I see what you're saying. It didn't even occur to me that the new GM kind of is like shadow basically wiping the slate.

Because I, again, I think it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but you're kind of saying that's on purpose. Yeah, I don't think Ryan Poles is really fond of the baby to begin with. Like, he sees the baby as like as a part of the bathwater in this. You are not the father. The baby is one of the people making the bathwater so dirty, in his opinion. Well, I assume that's how it works. And I'm going to, like, lower my voice here and kind of, like, talk with some skepticism,

but I don't know if he's wrong to do that because I have not been impressed with what I've seen out of Justin Fields during his rookie year and so far in preseason. Why not? He just never makes the right play, man. like there are plays every now and then where he makes a good throw and it's very impressive and you're like whoa if he could do that every play like he's going to be a start but like 90% of it is just him making the wrong decision and him holding on to the ball too long and being late and not trusting what he's seen I mean it's a chicken or egg situation like the bears might have just ruined him last year but so far in preseason man it's been rough it's been

rough and it's been rough beyond the supporting cast like there are just he's just getting rid of the ball too quickly. And that could be a byproduct for playing behind a bad offensive line. I don't know. I'm not going to break down the psychology of it. But I don't think it's going to work, man.

I'm already like willing to say that. I actually don't think any fan base in the NFL should, it's probably could be quite so upset about the direction of their team as the Bears. The Bears basically have just been wanting and wanting this great quarterback, got just enough hope in Justin Fields. And they're like destroying him in the most granular process. And honestly, it reminds me of the New York.

It's like the Knicks got a great player. And they're like, ah, no. It's, honestly, it's devastating. So, and the fact that, the fact that Justin Fields, like, that I feel this way about Justin Fields is a total indictment of the infrastructure and the support system around him. Because there is no reason why Justin Fields can't be a Jimmy Garoppolo type quarterback. Like, he has enough talent. I've never heard that one before.

No, that's, I'm not comparing them, like, playing styles. I'm just saying, like, if you put him in the right scheme with the right talent around him, he has enough talent himself to, like, get the most out of that. And, like, he has enough talent in him to be a useful quarterback. The fact that they haven't surrounded him with any talent, they put him in a bad scheme, at least they did last year, I'm still waiting for Getsie and to see how his scheme looks. But I think that's an indictment of them because he is a talented player, and he has plenty of talent to make it work.

It's just the worst matchup of skill sets. Okay. Well, Justin Fields being thrown out with the bath water. Maybe it's his fault. I'm glad we're blaming the baby for the bath. Makes the whole sense. Okay, so that's just a small sliver of the all index. Again, you can see the entire all index, and we have content coming all week.

Stephen is a piece on the Rams this week. But you can see our whole write-up from the all-index. Shout out to Riley McAtee for the incredible work on the formula and all the underlying math. But you can see that at the ringer. It's going to be on the homepage. It's in the episode subscription of this episode. Check that out. Check out all the all-in content we have coming.

Thank you to Stephen. Thank you to Carlos from production help. And again, thank you to everyone for listening. This is the Ringer NFL show.