The Ryen Russillo Podcast - 49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy, Annual NFL Top Five at Every Position With Sheil Kapadia, Clemson Embarrassed, Miami's Statement, and More CFB Week 1

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Russillo starts the show with his highs and lows following the first week of college football (0:43). Then, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy joins the show to reveal his mindset heading into the season and share what makes Kyle Shanahan special (19:32). Next, Sheil Kapadia comes on for the annual top five at every position ranking and to discuss his recent trade value article (35:07). Plus, Life Advice with Kyle and Ceruti (73:35)! How do I get my dad to stop buying boats? Check us out on Youtube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Brock Purdy and Sheil Kapadia Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot to get to today on the pod because the schedule is different this week, Tuesday, Friday, then we're back to Monday, Wednesday, Friday throughout, I don't know, the next six months or so. So buckle up and we're ready to do that. We'll have NFL predictions on Friday's pod, but we'll do some NFL today with Brock Purdy, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers on his career and where he's at now also the trade value column and top five at every position with shield Cropati is something we do every single year.

I'm going to recap college football. The highs essentially in some lows from the first week and also in attendance for USC's nice win against LSU. We've got life advice. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. We've got life advice. That's a yes. A nice tan? Sorry, no. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? Nope. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region.

See app for details. So a full weekend of college football, and I'm going to run through the stuff that I thought was the biggest from all of that and made it back from Vegas for USC's impressive win, late win against LSU. So the biggest buildup was probably Notre Dame going to Texas A&M in this one. And if you go over the course of the game, this was an ugly, but also beautiful football game because it was hard. And I remember, I don't think it went even the last season, maybe it was two years ago. I think it was two years ago now beautiful football game because it was hard. And I remember, I don't think it might have been

the last season, maybe it was two years ago. I think it was two years ago now that I think about it, where there was this game where I just was thinking about football and I was thinking about the interactions and the stuff that happens on the sideline, how hard the sport can be, because there's all these moments throughout the course of three and a half hours where you feel like,

is anything going to work out? And you have to stay in the game mentally. That's why coaches drive themselves crazy because it's just like if you could if you could execute the messaging here we would still have a chance to win so if you look at noter name it's six six at the half they've got the ball. They go for it on fourth and one of their own thirty three right they get the first down they go for it on fourth and two with their own forty nine i thought riley lennard got the first down. They go for it on fourth and two with their own 49. I thought Riley Leonard got the first down. There's certainly screen grabs that would tell you that. They reviewed it. Wasn't the case.

It's a turnover on downs. But they're unable to get Texas A&M to essentially do the same thing. So Notre Dame avoids the momentum swing loss of the game in that spot. Notre Dame scores a touchdown, makes it 13-6. They force a punt. Notre Dame punts and then A&M scores to make a 13 a piece. And in the next possession, Notre Dame gets their 11th penalty, where at that point, I think it was a total of 99 yards.

I can double check this to see how many penalties ultimately they had. Yeah. 11 for 99 is what they ended up having in the game. The crowd is going crazy. The broadcast crew is just so great. Herbstringfeller just so great at telling you the story of the game as it develops. And as I'm watching that moment, I'm thinking, is this where the momentum causes Notre Dame to lose this football game?

And it wasn't the case. So if you look at the overall stats from either Riley Leonard or Wigman, you're not going to be blown away by it and stuff. Riley was 18 to 30. Um, he actually ran the ball a bunch of times too. So it was pretty sturdy on the ground and A&M, uh, Wigman's numbers, 12 or 30, the two brutal picks that he had in this, you actually probably felt good about where A&M was.

But I look at this game as just like one of those toughness moments. And it could be the toughest game Notre Dame has all season long. If you look at their remaining opponents, the only team that would be ranked would be number 10 Florida State, but after their second loss to BC this weekend,

after opening with a loss against Georgia Tech, they've dropped out of the rankings altogether. So that as it stands right now is the only team that projects to be ranked other than, excuse me, USC, who they finished at the Coliseum and SC moving up from a preseason number 23 ranking with their big win. So look, was Riley under great? No. I know with Wigman being on the radar of somebody who could potentially be a top draft pick in the recruiting profile, everything that's gone with him. It was a bad game, but I don't look at it

as he was terrible and Leonard was terrible. I just thought this was a tough, tough football game where there was gonna be all of these moments that we saw where nothing looked good. You didn't know who was gonna win. You didn't know if A&M could figure out any way to block enough to get the ball going on the ground.

Notre Dame's corners may have been the story of this game overall, but I think it's two teams. Clearly, Notre Dame feels better because of the win, but I'd be shocked if we look at the rest of A&M's run here. If they're not, they probably are going to get to 4-1. I didn't leave that going. A&M has all of these problems. It's not a talented football team. Remember the recruiting stuff from two years ago where, I don't know, was it like 10 of the top 80 recruits?

There's a couple of headliners that have left, but more of those guys stuck around College Station than I think anybody would realize unless you went back and dug into the whole thing. So if I could say one sentence about Notre Dame's win at A&M, it would be that it was just whoever was going to win that game, I was going to be incredibly impressed with their resiliency, with their toughness and having all of these ups and downs emotionally where you would think a group might completely give up. So credit to Notre Dame in that spot at 13-13. I'm like, this might be it. And it was not the case.

They could have 10 more points to get the win. Miami, how about this stat? So they've had zero quarterback straps in the first three rounds since 1990. QBU not exactly pumping out the quarterbacks. Brad Kaya, I believe is the only Miami Hurricanes quarterback drafted in the last 20 years prior to that. I think he could go all the way back to Ken Dorsey. I don't know who Cam Ward is as far as a pro prospect.

It doesn't matter because it's very clear with him transferring in after starting at a lower level and then last year at Washington state that he provides something that Miami has not had in a really long time and whether it's Rastrepo who just feels like this constant, like whatever you need, he makes the right decision. He runs the perfect route. We could talk about Arroyo and the other guy that's been around for like nine years. There's some dudes that I could just list and say,

okay, this is really impressive. But the most important thing is that it's Cam Ward, who by the way, at times, like I would be watching one game on one TV and then I wouldn't have the audio feed up from Miami, Florida. And I would think the play was blown dead, but it was just the cam ward was just, whatever. He'd be like 10 yards from the sideline and just sauntering out. There were so many times I thought maybe the whistle had been blown and then I'd rewind

the play and be like, that's just how calm he is. Now with the calmness, it almost at times can look a little too calm, right? A little too lackadaisical. The pick where he threw it back against the field is a bad pick, but you can't start nitpicking that stuff, especially when you're Miami and you forever had this run of going, we think we might have the guy, but do we really have the guy? And after just one week, I think it's very clear that Miami has a guy. The rest of their schedule, you want to start playing this game too?

Um, the only team that would be projected to be ranked before the season even started again was Florida state and they dropped out so they don't have the SC thing that I mentioned there with Notre Dame. Miami has a very favorable schedule the rest of the way. Uh, on the other side, the Florida part of this was so bad that it felt like. Florida fans with potentially the toughest single season in college football, depending on some of the projections you would look at, that they were already over this Googling buyout numbers. One of the players tweeted out,

I believe something from a live story that said, F this team. It's kind of crazy too. And those of you that are parents would understand this better than I would. And I don't know if this is happening with you, but I think we see it. And I'm not really even blaming anybody. It's just the evolution of how people want to be heard. But we will now have this generation that feels like anytime they feel something, it doesn't mean every single one of them, but many will feel like, well, if I feel something I need to share that I feel this way and I despise, especially after a

tough game, you decided to make it about you. And then posting something. I hope that thing wasn't real, but it looked like it was, it was fairly real. So who knows, maybe the ladies later we'll find out that it wasn't the case, but it's just really frustrating. It just makes everybody's jobs that much harder, even though you can understand in that moment, massive disappointment. You lost the opening game, maybe to the best team in the ACC, but with the rest

of Florida schedule, the way that lines up, it's probably going to be a lot of tough Saturdays. Penn State was one simple question. Is it going to look like an offense that can actually compete against the top teams? I thought it looked great. I know Aller was only 11 to 17, but he hit on multiple big plays. He ran it 16 times. Pribula, who were the line-up and running back, or excuse me, a quarterback,

the backup number nine. I'm like, are you guys just doing this to look different or is there actually purpose behind it? And I was watching, I kind of got into it. I did a lot of Penn State stuff after the game and was watching some of the people just in their media access talk about like what it meant to them. And Hey, look, we haven't showed you everything and the new offensive coordinator,

which was like the overriding theme of the broadcaster. Again, this game get weird because the weather delay took forever there. I have to imagine Penn State fans are elated just that it looks different. And then on top of everything else, Tez Wallace, a wide receiver, who Bruce Feldman had mentioned five catches, 117.

Maybe the most important thing actually is I'm just kind of like rambling through all my different notes and thoughts on this game is that, okay, one, we have to accept that maybe West Virginia is decent. Okay. Week one, we think they might be decent. The same assumptions I'm making about A&M here. I don't know what's going to happen with Florida because they could still be okay, but just have an awful record.

But West Virginia comes off of what? Nine win season last year. I think eight returning starters on offense, five on defense. So I think the number I had was 13 returning players from a nine and four team. I know they're down to de-tackle one of the linebackers, um, one of the receivers, but I think we have to assume that like West Virginia, even when Penn State be West Virginia last year and I watched that game, I'm like, I love West Virginia looks like they're a decent team. So if we are still right about that,

I think Penn State looking this dominant and looking this different and beyond just all the different looks that Aller looked confident again. Okay. Really confident because I thought that was somebody whose confidence had been shattered at the end of last season. So I felt great, not because of the stats, cause the outer numbers aren't overwhelming. That's not what we'd be banging the drum on here with a headline. I just think that it's supposed to look more like a modern offense where if you don't feel like you have all of the talent at all the pass catching

positions, at least find a way to just get these guys involved, like make their lives a little bit easier, make it easier on your quarterback. And I think that's the case. And I know Tyler Warren's been there forever. Um, it's never had like a huge statistical season, number 44 at tight end, but like he even was out there, you know, doing some stuff. So look, I think everybody should feel good that the first game with Penn State

on offense looked like a team that is going to be tougher to defend. And if an Aller is back to matching the confidence that he had when he probably showed up on campus after, I just thought it got so ugly for him last year. And I was like, I felt bad for the guy. All right, I was in attendance for USC's win against LSU. Look, SC, where do we start with this? Their quarterback Miller Moss is tough.

That kid is tough, he spread the ball all over the field, whether it's Branch, Hudson, some of the other play callers. But if you're looking at it from the LSU standpoint, and you knew that the number one priority would be, is the defense going to be any better? They're looking at it like, well, okay, well, even with Moss and all of these receivers, USC's held the

13 points going into the fourth quarter. So can the LSU defense actually be that bad after ranking what, 109th last season? Um, but I think the problem was, is if you look at it from an LSU side of it, like the corners just couldn't hold up. It was also interesting that Kelly felt like the team once they had scored, started acting like the game was over and that they had won. Um, so I think it's just a great win for SC in this one. LSU has now lost every season opener since the title run in 2019.

So five straight years, they've lost this one. I was there again in person, so I didn't have the same read on it. As far as Vegas itself, getting off the plane, walking around, going to the pregame stuff, it felt like LSU had taken over multiple casinos. And then you got into the stadium and it's a great stadium. It's a really great place to see a football game. I was there for the Pro Bowl, did not stay for the second half, but it was probably 60-40.

Like it felt overwhelming walking around. I'm like, man, this place is going to be all LSU. And in fact, it wasn't. LSU, Nussmeyer is going to be good. Like this is another one of those results where I look at it and go, I think both these teams are going to be pretty good, but a huge win for SC, the SEC non-conference stuff, not great to start the year. Even if the LSU defense is better, it's being better from terrible. I still think those corners had some issues there when they

needed to make plays towards the end. And SC capitalized on everything that LSU couldn't do. When they needed to stop the most, they couldn't do it. They had a couple of late penalties, which were stupid. But yeah, I kind of left there going, maybe it's a coin toss game, but SC won it. We'll see what happens with LSU's defense the rest of the way. But I'm not worried about Nussmeyer, especially Lacey, the number one receiver option. I still think they're going to be fine. All right. The most impressive thing from everything we saw this weekend was Georgia. 34-3 over Clemson.

It was 6-0 at the half. They outscored Clemson 28-3 in the second half. Now, Clemson, unfortunately for you Clemson fans, you fall into this not taking any transfer label because everybody that's going to be on TV or is going to be on a podcast or radio or whatever, they're going to look at Clemson. And because we all have something that we can put a label on, well, Dabba doesn't want transfers. If you're transferring,

there's a reason that you're transferring. Well, they took zero in this year and they had 12L. I went through it and I believe this is right, but I think Clemson's the only school in any of the Power 4 programs that took in zero. And this has been an ongoing thing. And because when you lose the same as everybody else, you just lose when you lose differently, it's even worse.

And in this case, we could point to the not taking in transfers for this declining Clemson product that we've seen the last couple of years. But the bigger issue I think is what's going on with the development or lack of development of the quarterbacks, whether it's Ouyangu Gulei transferring out now at Florida state, which doesn't look like he's necessarily killing it. And then you've got Kate Klubnick, who was one of these top or development or lack of development of the quarterbacks, whether it's Uyengu Gulei transferring out now at Florida state, which doesn't look like he's necessarily killing it. And then you've got Kate Klubnick, who was one of these top recruits and, you

know, the overall stats last year, you could pick the sum of it, but you just expected it to be a little bit better based on his profile. And I remember again, being back to my, one of the most rewarding experiences going to that elite 11 camp and talking to guys about different players., what do you think of this guy, this guy, that guy? There were multiple people who were like, yeah, clubbing is really good, but I don't know. Clemson just feels like it's a little outdated. That might be the bigger story, but it's so much easier for all of us that have this job

to point to this one defining trait that's unlike everybody else's that are not taking transfers in. The reality may be this, is that Georgia is the nastiest team in college football and Clemson will be fine in the ACC, but they got destroyed by a team that has all of these playmakers. Maybe the number one pick at quarterback, the defensive thing seems to have reloaded. They have another kid named Cash Jones on CBS this fall. Justice has a price.

Um, there's just a lot of different guys from Georgia to pick through again, which makes a lot of sense. So Clemson, it feels a little bit like the Florida outcome. It's like, okay, it was bad. And now you're mad about all these things. And it's more than just a one loss piece of math where it's like, what the hell is wrong with our program? Clemson might, the lesson in this could be that Clemson just might not be as good as

Georgia. And there also could be a warning that no one's going to be as good as Georgia. Let's see a month of football before we start doing all that kind of stuff. But it's not the most outrageous observation post week when a college football, they're going to go, maybe Georgia actually is that team again. I mean, if that ends up being the story at the end of the year, I don't think any of us are necessarily going to stay, sit here and be surprised by it. But Clemson in the only one game is being judged against that.

And they have this one defining trait That we can all be super critical of and then say that is the specific reason that they're losing all these football games Which isn't I don't think entirely fair a couple notes Oregon they outscored Idaho 487 versus me outgained them 40 487 points I probably would have led with that 487 to 217 yards I probably would have loved with that. 487 to 217 yards. They held Idaho to two at 12 on third down. Oregon ran like 30 more plays.

I think they ran 87 plays in this game. And the two touchdowns for Idaho were two trick TDs. But this was a game. And if there was one alarming part of this, even though Idaho is pre-season seven in the FCS, I looked at the FCS rankings again, because I was like, they drop teams that make the jump up and play, in my opinion, a title contender in Oregon.

They stayed at seven. They did not drop. Number one and two, I think FCS schools in the rankings also lost, but they don't move them down either. So the Oregon not being able to contain some of the edge pressure from Idaho, probably one of the most damning things that you could see from any of the contenders. And I want to end on Arizona on Saturday night. I was not alone on this in saying that Fafita McMillan is my favorite quarterback receiver

combination in all of college football. Ted Oroah ended up with 10 for 304 and four touchdowns. I think he had 199 at the half, but you have to check out my man, Tyler loop. The senior kicker out of Lucas, Texas, who's now been at Arizona five years. This guy hits absolute bombs. Like you thought something was wrong with the camera angle. Uh, I don't know that you're going to stay a.m. Eastern time to watch an Arizona kicker,

but there's worse ways to spend your Saturday if you have the time. Football is back and there's no better place to get in on the NFL action than FanDuel, America's number one sports book, because right now all customers can bet $5 and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

Then you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of market game. Okay, let's take a look at a couple numbers here, including something from Guest of Lines with Bill and Sal. If man, so many games this week are three point games. So we'll probably do something with our special Chad Millman thing that we're gonna be doing on this Friday, trying to get you ready for this.

Uh, how about futures on NFL MVPs? My home's the favorite right now to plus four 50. But if you work your way down to Purdy, Purdy's like eighth at plus 1600. And if you just go back to last season, like Purdy was, was still a big part of the conversation until Lamar took over. They had that great matchup head to head. Purdy didn't play well, but I'd still like, when I look around it and it's, it's the same number as Lamar for Purdy and knowing how voters work, maybe Jordan Love plus 1400.

Uh, the other one that they have from the little NFL futures fusion plus 2,600 for the Lions to be the one seed in the NFC and the Chiefs to be the one seed in the AFC. And like I said, there's all sorts of alternative stuff that you can dig into, but we'll do more of that on Friday as well. Plus with FanDuel, you don't have to leave the app to access real-time stats and data to help you make even more winning bets.

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Seasonally, cancel any time, no refunds, terms, restrictions and embargoes apply. YouTube TV base plan required to watch YouTube TV. Redemption requires a Google account and current form of payment. Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. He is the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. He's here on behalf of Applebee's, the official grill and bar partner of the NFL. It's Brock Hurte.

Thanks for doing this, man. How are you? Doing great guys. Thanks for having me and excited to be on team Applebee's, man, so let's go. Yeah, we're gonna get to some of the Applebee stuff and the bonus special they have going on. I know you're working with some of the other guys

in the NFL and that, but what's the out season been like for you? Yeah, man, it's been good. Just, you know, last year came off the UCL injury and was all my focus and time and effort was on getting healthy for the season, game one. And so, you know, this year being able to, you know, obviously make it through the season healthy and have an offseason to, you know, work on my body just with my hips and my arm and just mobility in general and becoming

more, you know, just a better athlete, you know, just training in that regard. And then mentally being able to look at stuff on film and be real with myself and take it to the field and actually work on my fundamentals and everything. So it's been a real off season. It's been great. And I feel like I have truly gotten better. What is an off season like now once your life changes?

I don't know what home is like for you, but do you notice it? I mean, you have to notice it. There'd have to be things that are different, but what is different about being Brock Purdy now a couple of years in the league? Man, I think for my wife and I, we got married and then going and training in another state, not really having like a true home base yet for us. So we go to Florida and we train and do everything there for a month or so, and then fly back to California and go after it with OTAs and then our 40 days off comes around in June, July. So then we fly back to Florida and

train and it's just a lot of bouncing back and forth between places and then going and doing marketing and some commercials and stuff to help out, just provide for what we have with our life. That's what's been different than any other offseason that I've had growing up. We're learning and we're trying to enjoy it and take it all in. But it's a grind, man, you know, just in terms of being a NFL quarterback, you always got to find ways to have that chip on your shoulder and get better both mentally and physically. And nothing's ever given to you.

So you have to go earn it every day. And so more than anything, it's a grind. And but you got to love it. You got to cherish every moment of it. So so you start the season and clearly, you're one of the top Super Bowl favorites to get back there. I don't know if I know how to perfectly ask this question,

but you're in camp, you know you're good. You know you're all really good. You're obviously disappointed by the way season ends last year, but what is the attitude like? What is it like for you and the teammates, knowing that we really only have one goal here as you start the season? Yeah, man. Obviously, that's the big goal is to win the Super Bowl and go all the way and finish it. That's every team's goal. But for us, it's trying to be the best version of ourselves every day,

every game, and going out and proving and showing to the world what we're capable of. And we know that we have a good team, a good roster. We've experienced NSC championships, Super Bowls, being in those moments. And for us, it's trying to come in every day and enjoy the process of getting there, not just trying to get there and shortcut it,

but enjoying the grind of it, the meetings, trying to get there and shortcut it, but enjoying the grind of it, the meetings, the having to go lift after practice, and then joking around with guys in the locker room. It's like enjoying all those things and where we're at in our life, and then going out on Sunday and leaving everything that we have out there on the field every week, and then getting healthy and rehabbing and doing it all over again. It's a grind, but man, if we can obviously get to the end and accomplish it and finish it, it's so worth it. How bad did you want to leave Vegas after the Super Bowl last year?

Yeah, pretty quickly. I'm not going to lie. No one wanted to stay around. We lost the game and it's like, dang. For us, we want to get back on the plane and just sort of move on, you know, like we wanted to process it and everything. Yes. But it was hard to because you just put in all this work over the last however many months just to get to get to that moment and then, uh,

sort of be heartbroken about it. So yeah, we all want to get on that flight home and get home. A more positive thing. I was watching your Steve Young interview. You sit down with Steve and I think about like being the Niners quarterback. Right? I mean, this is an incredible tradition. Guys like Montana. What is it like for you to have these legends talk to you in a way that almost

nobody else understands the responsibility of the way they do? It's pretty special, man. I'm not going to lie. You know, you talk to these guys and Steve and they're like, you know, this is how we did it and this is the standard and they can relate to being in these shoes with just the weight of this organization and the history that this organization has and the Super Bowls and all of it. But it's pretty cool talking to Steve because he understands actually being in the pocket,

going through reads, when to run, when not to, processing plays and concepts and coverages. It's pretty cool talking to him, man. The way he breaks it down, you can just see and feel his wisdom. It's like, all right, this guy has definitely been through it, and he can relate to me me and it's pretty cool. But like I said, man, like there's a standard here

at quarterback, I feel like, you know, with John Brody to Joe Montana to Steve Young, Garcia, Alex Smith, like there's guys that have been here, man, that have had real success and for them to come back and be able to talk to me, I'm like, dude, this is crazy. So I try to soak in everything that they say as much as I can, whenever they're around. I worked with Steve at ESPN for a long time. And, you know, we usually have them on a couple of times a season after he got

done talking about quarterbacking. I'd be like, do I not understand anything about this position? I mean, he just, he's, he's obviously very passionate about it, but, you know, he sees things in a way that I would never understand. And actually I think this relates to Shanahan too. Can you explain to us that most of us don't understand, it's always one of my favorite things about football as we spend all this time talking about it.

I'd say, yeah, but we don't know what the read was, we don't know what the protection was, we don't know what the option was, all these different things. How do you explain what it is that Shanahan does that the rest of us can understand it? I think, for the most part, his offense, everything you always hear, it ties together. The run game ties together with our play action pass and setting up plays that go the other way

from what the defense thinks. But you have to be in control of the game for that to happen. Once we get down or anything, then you open it up and you have to throw the ball and spread it out. But more than anything, going into a game, he just ties everything together. And we do a lot of things that look the same, but go the other way, whether it's a run, play action, pass, rollout, you name it. He does things that set things up for games in advance. We go back and do a lot of self-scout and it's like, dude, we've been running this so much, let's go the other way with it or make it look the exact same but do this. He's a wizard when it comes to that kind of stuff, which is pretty cool.

The way that he explains coverages and defenses to us as quarterbacks, he keeps it pretty simple. There's a lot of studying at first and learning his language and how he sees it. But once you understand it, it's like, dude, I wish I would have known this my whole life growing up from high school to college, and learn his way of how he's thinking in certain situations before half, trying to bleed out the clock or be smart and have the ball last. Or in second and long, we're running this route to get, you know, this amount of yards to get third and manageable. Like there's,

there's certain things that he's taught me where I'm like, dude, I wish I would have known this, you know, down the road. But anyways, he's, he's a wizard and I'm excited to keep learning from him. What's easier for you now, a couple years in? I would say, I mean, just the language, like I said, of this offense, you know, it's, I always say it, but it's literally like learning another language and, you know, the more you speak it, the more you're in it and experiencing it, the more, the easier you see it in your mind before you walk up to the line and know what your answer is per coverage, per concept, all those things.

I feel like just getting in and out of the huddle, the operation of playing quarterback has been, I feel a lot more comfortable with it. But I think going into year three, the way Shanahan and I talk to each other and stuff, we're on the same, I feel like the same page, but I'm still learning from him, like I said, but that's what feels different. And that's what feels better going into year three. We, and I mean this like media and fans,

we talk about you a lot because I think we're always like, this is, this is like, he's really this good. And I think we're so visual, you know how it works. If you were six, four, if you were first round pick and you're winning all these games and making it to the Superbowl in your first season as like a full-time starter, then no one would ever like still have that, but I'm, you know what I mean? Like the way you're talked about in the media, it's like, yeah, I know that he's

good, but is he really this good? And if you'd had a different profile, if you looked a different way, I don't know that any of these debates would happen. I can't imagine a bigger waste of time than you or a pro athlete worrying about any of that stuff. But does it bother any, does it bother your brother who plays or your dad who coached you? Does it bother anybody close to you

that it feels like there's still a reluctance to accept how good you've been as a quarterback? Dude, I'm not gonna lie, like our family, like we're faith-based and more than anything, we're just so grateful, you know, like we're a grateful family with just what has happened with getting an opportunity in the NFL and the people that we've been able to meet. And we're just so grateful. So honestly, my family and I, we don't talk about any of that stuff. We know that it's there. Some guys in the locker room will

joke around about it with me or this or that. And it's like, to me, it's funny, but more than anything, what matters is winning ball games. And if you're winning ball games, it doesn't matter. And earning the trust and respect of the guys in this locker room, the people within this organization, that's where my time and energy goes to, not what the world has to say about me. Because there's always going to be something. That's part of this game and that's part of what know what comes with this but yeah man it's for me

I don't look at it like that I'm just so so grateful for the teammates that I have the coaches that I have the organization that I'm playing for and I'm able to enjoy my life when I'm focusing on being grateful rather than trying to prove everybody wrong about everything so I was yeah that's a perfect answer. And it's kind of the answer that I expect from you because, you know, you hope to get to that stage in life where you go, man, thinking about any of this stuff is a massive waste of time, but when you're younger, especially when you're a public

figure to your level too, like sometimes you can't help it, but it's a great answer. I thought it was really funny with Steve Young, where he was asking you about like your dad's role and everything and how he talks to you now that you're in the NFL and that maybe when you were younger, you know, he'd be going, oh, maybe a little bit more of this and a little less of this. And now that you're with Shannon, he just, he's smart enough as a football guy to know to just not even bot, like he's not, he's not bringing up play calling tendencies to you, I imagine, right? No, yeah. It's, uh, he'll, he'll tell me like the basics, like, Hey, on that play,

it was so and so open. I'm like, dad, that's not even part of the read, or whatever. But it's funny because he does leave it alone. He knows that I'm in good hands and that I've grown and I've learned as a quarterback just everything. The reads, going through all of it, handling all this. But he's a great dad just knowing that as a son, I like going home and talking to him about just life and not all the things about the game. But every once

in a while, he will tell me, he's like, hey man, how's your speed? Are you staying in shape? Are you doing this and that throughout the season? And he's still got that dad competitiveness in him. And I'll always be grateful for that. But he's a great dad. He's, he loves on me more than anything. And, and, um, you know, I'm grateful that he's my pops. So do you remember your signing bonus? Oh yeah. Yeah, I do. I think I have the number right.

Do you remember? Well, you said you remember it. Do you want me to share it? You want to share? Uh, I won't share it, but am I, is it 80,000? Am I close? Uh, less, but I'll leave it is it 80,000? Am I close? Less, but I'll leave it at that.

77? Was it 77? I think so. Maybe less, actually, but yeah. I don't bring that up only because I can't wait for what the next one is. Do your teammates, do the skilled guys know that? Like, what do you mean?

Like, just. Well, cause everybody's always in the locker room like talking about their money. Yeah, I mean everything's out there publicly, you know, when it comes to how much you get paid, this and that. So, I mean, guys know, but are we in there talking about how much we get paid or we don't talk about that. We're just more about being humans and brothers and joking around and that stuff. Well, it's not's not going to matter in a very short amount of time. So that would be the only way I would bring it up.

You just, when you're drafted, where you're drafted, and I was looking at the stuff, I went, man, maybe you have to do it during, when you're introduced during training camp, I think they, they always make you guys do that. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, like rookies, you know, before meetings and stuff, you get up and name school signing bonus, like as a joke, and then you got to give a joke. And so, uh, um, everybody knows, you know, going into it, but yeah, we're not

sitting around at lunch or this or that talking about, you know, contracts and stuff, so, yeah. We'll just think the guy that introduced himself out of Iowa state, the last pick we'd be like, that guy's going to lead us to a Superbowl. Um, well, you're not going to have to worry about picking up boneless wings at Applebee's in, in a couple of years when you do the new deal, we'll be like, that guy's gonna lead us to a Super Bowl. Um, well, you're not gonna have to worry about picking up boneless wings at Applebee's in, in a couple of years when you do the new deal. But I know that you're working with, uh, Saquon, Dan Campbell's involved in this stuff again, Applebee's the official art and grill of the NFL.

Um, and they've got a big, big promotion coming up. So why don't you share that with us? Yeah, we got a social, a social campaign coming out, um, you know, with Applebee's. Um, I think next Tuesday is when it's dropping and it's just, Yeah, we got a social campaign coming out, you know, with Applebee's. I think next Tuesday is when it's dropping and it's just, yeah, we're going to show clips of, you know, Saquon and I, Dan Campbell, the neighborhood Applebee's that we shot up in New Jersey. And, yeah, basically just teaming up with Applebee's. They got 50 cent boneless wings coming out in the fall. And, you know, for me me, it's a special connection because growing up, after literally games or youth football games, we're

going to Applebee's with my teammates and families and friends. And when I called and wanted to do a partnership, I was like, man, let's go. I was pumped about it. And obviously they're the official Grille and Bar sponsor for the NFL. So it means a lot. It's legit. And yeah, got social channels. Uh, they're going to be showing everything on Instagram, Twitter, and, and, uh, so that's a Apple Bees and you can go to applebees.com and, and follow up more about any food or special deals that

they got going on as well. So. Have you worked in the food service industry prior to this? I have not. No. So when we were shooting the commercial, they had me throwing, you know, burgers and wings and handing off wings to Saquon, you know, serving people

in the restaurant and it was pretty, pretty neat. Brock, I'm really excited that we get some time with you today and even more excited to see the Niners play this season, man. So good luck. All right. Yes, sir. Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Great time to do this. We did it before the season last year. Shiel Capotti is going to come on. We're going to talk about the top five players at each position, the one that we can rank. I went through last year's rankings, by the way, too. Shiel was better at this than I was. As I looked over these, he was very early on a couple guys

where he was like this, and then that player ended up having a top five year. So we'll do some of that in a second, but she was also part of our ringer.com NFL coverage. You can see his latest trade value column that is up now. It just was updated today. And of course part of all of the NFL podcasts that we do in on the main feed.

So good to see you man, what's up? Yeah, good to be here. What two days away from the opener? I know, I know. I got excited this morning prepping all of it and running through it all. So before we do kind of our top five stuff, I do want to spend some time on the trade value deal here. Pretty self-explanatory, but you know what? Let's not do it for you. You're the guy that wrote it today. So run us through kind of your parameters for how you do this. Yeah. It's Bill Simmons classic idea with the NBA bringing it to the NFL.

And so the idea is rank the 75 players with the highest trade value right now. So if you have two players, you decide, well, which team would trade that player for the other guy, or sometimes I just look at it, Hey, if these two guys were available on the open market, who would bring back more in a trade? So you look at positional value, how good the player is, contract age is a huge thing in the NFL when you just look at some of these guys who are great players. If they hit 30, their trade value is not there. So yeah, always an exercise where I do it and then midway through the season, I'm like,

oh my God, take that off the internet that I completely screwed that up. But it's fun to do before the season. Well, I don't think you'll worry about where you had number one. Mahomes 28 going into the season, his own tier. I don't even know how anyone could have a problem with that. Yeah, that was easy. We gave him his own tier this year. It was just like no one, there's literally no trade package you could put together where they even have a two minute meeting where I was thinking in the history of the NFL or since I've been alive, that's probably not the case for almost,

you know, even when like Brady and Manning, if those guys were available for each other, maybe you have a conversation theoretically, but yeah, Mahomes is in his own tier, no doubt. Okay, so the next group here, how hard was it to figure out a cutoff line after Allen Stroud, Burrow and Lamar? Yeah, it was, uh, it was tough.

It was tough to know how high do I put Stroud after one season? I know you're big on that. And I'm sure we'll get to this in the top five. Say don't crown them after one season. So your voice was kind of in the back of my head there a little bit, but I'm just all in on Stroud, you just think on a rookie contract, if you offer him for some of these other quarterbacks who have been really good, but are getting paid over $50 million per year, I think those teams at least would have a little meeting and say,

should we do this? Is it easier to build our team? And then you mentioned it, that next group of quarterbacks, you know, I have Jordan Love, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, and Jalen Hertz. And these are tough guys to slot because like they don't have the accomplishments as the guys above them yet. I think that most of them are good quarterbacks that a lot of teams in the NFL would love to have

even with the big contracts. Yeah, Hertz is an interesting one because going into last year, like I can, when something really stands out, I'll think of it a year later, and going into last year, and I touched on this with Sandow a little bit when he was doing his quarterback tiers

is that Hertz last season was, okay, he's the best in the NFC, and there really wasn't a lot of pushback. And maybe it felt a little bit early, they're just coming off of the Superbowl though. You knew you loved the offensive line, the weapons and all that kind of stuff. I do think he had two significant injuries just based on the way he was running around there towards the end last season. So I think it's worth at least bringing it up, but it probably feels like

Hertz being challenged as the top NFC guy and being in this next group. Probably makes a little bit more sense than just Hertz is gonna be a top five quarterback for the next decade. Maybe he will be, but it felt like it was more of an agreed upon assumption going into 23 than this year. Yeah, and the hardest thing with the quarterbacks is looking at the supporting cast.

And if you take them out of that environment, if you take Jalen Hertz away from AJ Brown and Devontae Smith and this offensive line, what does it look like? On the other hand, the coaching was terrible last season. So maybe, you know, if he got with one of these great play callers, maybe it looks different. So that was definitely a tough one with him.

Jordan Love, I have sixth on the list where I'm sure people will say, give me a break. He's been good for half a season, but he's another guy. I'm just like, quarterbacks. If I see it, I'm just like, I'm going to go all in. I'll, I'll be wrong a year later, but I believe what I saw from Jordan. Trevor Lawrence is an interesting one. It feels like his stock has never been lower.

Uh, last year was not great, but I, whenever I run myself through an exercise, do you go, okay, what, what do you think is more likely? Like that's just a down year. And he ends up being probably one of these franchise guys, not necessarily in the top five, but flirting with the top 10 most of the next 10 years of his career. Like that still seems far more likely to me than a number where we'll say, wow,

he got paid just like the rest of those guys and he's just not even close, even though last year it was not heading in the right direction. But I still, I guess I defaulting towards optimism with him more and sometimes I wonder why I am, but I am. Yeah, part of it probably has to do with what we all thought of him as a draft prospect, but I'm with you.

Last year is so explainable to me. The guy had four different injuries. He lost more, you know, EPA on drops than any other quarterback in the NFL, which is just one metric we can look at. But basically he was killed by drops last year. They got horrible turnover luck. It's like all this stuff that you say, this usually doesn't translate from one season to the next.

So I've got the Jaguars in the playoffs. If I had to pick like a sleeper MVP, I think he's like plus 3000. I mean, some of the names ahead of him, I couldn't believe it. I kind of think he's gonna have a bounce back here. Even though you're right, I do think we should adjust what we thought of him when he came into the league to what

he is now. We have several years of evidence, but I still think he's going to be really good. Okay. The non-quarterbacks, how many? Yeah, this next group is kind of the non-quarterback studs where you have Miles Garrett, Micah Parsons, Justin Jefferson, and Nick Bosa was my next group. And just edge rushers on the, you know, when they're in their prime and they're available. We saw it with Khalil Mack several years ago. Those

guys tend to bring back a huge haul in a trade. Justin Jefferson, you know, we will probably have a discussion when we get to the wide receivers. Is he in his own tier? I still think future Hall of Famer, 25 years old, can take over a game. I still have him in there and kind of that next year for the non-quarterbacks. Okay. The edge guys, all this makes sense. There's not really any pushback. I think TJ Watt not being in this conversation though, that has to do with the age where,

in this conversation though, that has to do with age where, you know, Garrett's 28, Watts 30, Parsons 25, Jefferson 25, and Bost is still only 26. So it's not the player that has to be an age thing for TJ to not be in this group with the other edge guys, correct? No doubt. Yeah, he's entering his age 30 season, which is not late. I still think he'd get a massive haul if he were available via trade, but just bumped him down a little bit from those guys who are all in there, still in their twenties. Who was the biggest riser from where you did this, what, halfway through the season last year? Yes.

The biggest, I, you know what, I'm looking at it now. I think it's probably Kyle Hamilton. Who I have 18th, uh, on the, actually it was probably Jordan Love, but non-quarterbacks, I think it's Kyle Hamilton, who I think has emerged as one of the best defensive players in football. And he's on a rookie contract. And you can use it. I think the positionless football thing is generally overstated. Most guys can't do that. He's one of the guys who can do that. And he was so disruptive last year that I just thought, man, on that contract, he's one of the most valuable trade assets in the NFL. You have Will Anderson 23rd overall. Is that because of the age and contract?

I mean, it's not like Will Anderson isn't really good, but I guess when I saw that I went, wow, there's only 22 guys. That's a no. Yeah, the rookie contract for him and edge guy who I think, I think his game kind of resembles TJ Watt. Like if the Steelers, if the Texans called up the Steelers and said, Will Anderson for TJ Watt, I think the Steelers are doing that. They're saying we're getting a guy who's seven years younger on a rookie contract versus TJ Watt. So yeah, the rookie contract guys who were rookies last year played really well.

They're always going to be really high on this list, especially if they play a premium position. Who was the biggest drop? Some guys dropped completely out. So I'm trying to think who those guys potentially would be. You know, there might be just guys because of injuries or whatever the case may be. You know, you know who was the I know you didn't ask me this, but I'm doing the you know, the old trick where you answer the question. What do you think Brock Purdy gets so today? If they say, if the 49ers say Brock Purdy is available, there's some, you know, it's not an injury, it's nothing. Do you think teams in the NFL would look at it and say,

we can take him, put him in our ecosystem and he's going to be really good. Or do you think they would say, no way, he's got Shanahan, he's got those weapons, we're not giving up anything for him? Because I kind of had him in the middle of this list. I had no idea what to do with him. You could make the argument, shield, he should be up there with Hertz. Some could make that argument based on the numbers, or you could say, he shouldn't be on this list at all. Like no one, you know, no one's going to believe they can do with Purdy, what Shanahan did with Purdy. So I have him 61 in this same tier with Kyler Murray and Anthony Richardson. Basically quarterbacks.

I have no idea what to do with. Yeah. I liked how you put those three together. It's actually probably my favorite part of the entire piece because my first instinct was, well, how could you have Kyler two spots close to Purdy? I mean, technically you have Purdy at 61 and Murray at 63. So you're saying Purdy's worth more, but I'm like, shouldn't that gap be more considering Murray's contract, considering his injury history?

But it really is this unknown group. I mean, Richardson's unknown because he played four games. So, you know, we'll see. And then you think, okay, well, Purdy's gotten into a Super Bowl. Like how, how could you even compare him on top of the fact that contractually, unless what the Niners could do it a year early if they wanted to. Um, I don't know if they will, uh, but he's under contract for two more years. We know his average annual salary is even seven figures. So I mean, I, I would agree. I would have him higher than the other two and you do,

but because they're all together, my first thought was that doesn't make any sense, but I actually don't really have an answer for you. I mean, I would rather have party than the other two guys as simple as that. Maybe I think there should be a gap in there, but you don't have a gap really. Yeah, no, it's a, he was probably the hardest guy on the entire list. Anthony Richardson, same thing, guys barely played, but where he got drafted, he still has three years left on that rookie contract. I think teams would say, yeah, we'll give up a first

for the possibility of what Anthony Richardson could be. So those guys were tough, and I didn't put any rookies on the list until they play a game. Right, is McDuffie, did you feel like you ended up having him a little low at 69? Maybe. Yeah, yeah. I had him in that tier where guys on their rookie contract. Yeah, I think there's definitely a case for putting him higher given what he's shown so far. Yeah, this exercise, you're the guy that puts together the 100 names or so here and then it's like, hey, you had this guy 72. I really think he should have been

67 you're like, okay cool like So you totally disagree with what I did so what are you actually saying here? Um Trying to think anyone that wasn't on this that you wanted to put down but you just felt like okay just and again You have the no rookie rule which will be updated halfway through the season. Um, so we can't be looking for rookies here. Even if we think that there's a rookie that was taken that we'd liked in the preseason, we just all are going to like Caleb Williams. Like if he's on this and you were trying to trade for him right now,

he might be 10th. Yeah. Yeah. He'll be, he'll, I think be I think, be in the top 20 or whatever midway through the season when I do the update. One guy who I think could make a monster leap, almost, to Kyle Hamilton likely, Derek Stingley on the Texans. I think when he played, he was so good last year.

And I think if he stays healthy, which he has not been able to do so far, so I left him just off, he was probably the hardest omission, but I think if he stays healthy, he's a guy who could go from not being on to all of a sudden rookie contract, one of the best corners in the NFL, shut down cover guy, really high on this list. So yeah, he's a guy that was hard to leave off. Let's run through the top five then. All right. So we did this last year, Sheila and I are top five players in these positions unless it was just the O-line grouping,

which we weren't gonna start sitting there naming guards and tackles, which may seem unfair. And I couldn't tell you that you're wrong about that. But looking through the quarterbacks here, why don't you start first and then I'll just cover up and see if we have any disagreements. Yeah, I've got Mahomes one, Allen two, Burrow three, Lamar four four and I have CJ Stroud five

So just real quick burrow and Lamar if you want to flip-flop on my head, you know That was basically a coin flip for me. And then the fifth spot was tough. I looked at Stroud. I looked at Herbert I looked at Jordan love Ultimately, I was just like who do I think is gonna be the best out of those guys this year? And I ended up going with Stroud. I loved the Stroud conversation that Sandow presented to us when we were doing the QB tiers,

because you, to put them up that high, I feel like, okay, you're breaking the rule of like, let me just see a second year before I have you had everybody else other than the four guys. By the way, we have the exact same four in order. I really don't know going into this year. I don't think anyone is necessary. I think you could just go Mahomes and then Allen and now the conversation starts. I really feel that way. We'll see with Allen if the momentum carries over from last year because the playoff numbers, despite the disappointment,

like my argument with Alan is okay, he's losing to the guy that may end up being the best ever of all time. And he's putting up big numbers in these games for the most part. So you look at his overall playoff resume and what his numbers are, what Lamar Jackson's are like, that's the tiebreaker depending, you know, even if you like Lamar better and you are going to be two MPPs. So Burrow feels like if he's hurt this year, he's not going to be on this list going into it next year, right? And back to the Sandow point on CJ, he brought up a good point that makes it sound like you're maybe arguing against CJ being fifth

or being a tier one quarterback, which he wasn't in his exercise, but maybe they do have better weapons of thought. Maybe D'Amico is that is that good coach? Maybe the play calling all these different things like maybe this is a much better situation for a rookie quarterback than we're ever used to seeing because in the beginning. This team's gonna be in the playoffs like a rookie case and continue to put up these numbers so i don't have any problem with that i guess i still feel like herbert has become the modern day matth Stafford, where I watch a really good quarterback on Sundays. And I think everything else around him has been generally disastrous the last three years. So he now has become the target for people that like to maybe just go, Oh, well, if he's that good, how come all of these different things? I'm like, actually, I do think he's that good.

And a lot of the stuff proves out that he is and the defense of special teams is the thing that's pulling down the team collectively and sometimes that just happens. So I didn't love it. I've CJ'd had two years like this. Maybe CJ's my fifth quarterback, but I guess I'm still holding out at least one more year with Herbert. Yeah, my defense for Stroud, the point you made there is he had the most injured offensive line in the NFL. No team, I think, if you look at some of the advanced stats stuff, like had a more injured offensive line in like the last 20 years. And so to do that with their run game was terrible.

I think they had a bottom five run game in the NFL when you look at efficiency. So I thought in those circumstances to do what he did, I saw it, I'm with you on Herbert. It's just like, to me, it's just kind of like, it's a fatigue having that conversation still. And this year he's got nothing around him. So it's like, we're not gonna reach a resolution.

So I'm like, check back with me after, you know, 2025 and I'll feel good. But I still believe in Herbert, no doubt about it. All right, running back. This is the worst thing I did, I think, in all of these last year. It's I guess I was just going with expecting McCaffrey to be hurt.

So therefore I went Chubb. I mean, it wasn't like egregious because I put McCaffrey second. It feels egregious now. I will not make that same mistake, but you go first. Yeah, I've got McCaffrey one, Brice Hall two, Bijon Robinson three, Saquon four, and Jameer Gibbs five. I just, running back as a young man's game. It's hard for me if you're entering, you know, 29, 30. It's just like those

guys come with so much risk. So yeah, I've got what? Three guys here who are on their rookie deals, and then McCaffrey and Saquon as the veterans who still have some good years left. Okay. Bichon was one of our points of contention last year, because you just had him on before he had ever played. I was like, can you do that? And you did it. There's, you know, do whatever you want. Here, he probably had what we'd consider a disappointing rookie year based on his talent and expectations.

Everybody's blamed the coaches that are not there now. So I have McCaffrey, um, and I have, I have Gibbs second. I like it. I love I have, I have Bijan third. Now I still think Bijan should have gone ahead of, of Gibbs in the draft, regurgitate all my running back draft arguments that we've done for years and years. And yeah, so I went, wait, McCaffrey, Gibbs, Bichon,

then Hall, and you know, I thought about Henry. Yeah. But because I had you, maybe it's my stubbornness of the last year because Chubb only played two games. I think he's good enough that you can't just take him out of the top. Like, fine. You want to take him out of the top five because he's hurt, but like, maybe we

should give him the benefit of the doubts. It'll be a top five running back, back and healthy after missing basically an entire season. How do you feel about that? No, I love Chubb. It's just the, the injury, I don't know, running backs who have an injury that serious where he's not going to be out there to start the season. That makes me a little nervous where I was like, Oh, I don't know if I can have him on

here this year. And then the other guy, you know, Breeze Hall, like I, when I was preparing for this, everything you look at suggests that give this guy some level of competence with the offensive line and the quarterback. And he can be an absolute monster. Like he led every running back in plays of 20 plus yards last year when you look at that receptions and and carries more than Christian McCaffrey where I'm like, that can't be true. But it's true.

He was top five in yards after contact. He was top five if you look at like when they hit 20 miles per hour. So he's just a complete back where I wonder if we're doing this exercise before next season. I wouldn't be surprised if we had him number one. Okay. I know on the fantasy side of things, I mean he's just he's basically number two overall pick here, but that's not exactly what we're doing. All right receivers. Jefferson and then who? Tyreek to CD lamb 3 AJ Brown 4 and Jamar chase 5. This one was hard. You leave off. I'm on

raw Saint Brown. You leave off. I did Devante Adams, Garrett Wilson, who I think is going to have a monster year. You can puka Nakua. I mean what he did as a rookie. So there are a lot of guys you can choose from, but those were my five. Okay. Uh, I'm going to go Jefferson as well. Then Hill, then CD, then chase AJ Brown. Okay. Same five. Devante Adams, not on this group anymore.

Huh? I know it just got, get him a quarter, but that, that really backfires that trade for everyone involved, including us having to watch him with that Raiders team. Maybe he'll get traded before the trade deadline in season to a team with a quarterback and we can put him back on there. He absolutely could be on there. There's no doubt about it. Okay. Tight ends. I still have Travis Kelcey first. I watched what everyone else did with Kelcey and then I was looking at it and I'm like, he was second in receiving yards among tight ends last year. It was first in first downs among tight ends. He's the number one target on his team. If it's a third down in the playoffs

and you know you need a bucket, I'm still going to him. So until he falls off the map, I'm going with Travis Kelsey, number one. George Kittle, number two, Sam Laporta, number three, who he could be one at this time next year, Mark Andrews, four. And then I appeased the hipsters a little bit with five. Let's go with Trey McBride, number five, just in there, Arizona. No one watching last year, unless you're doing fantasy. It was awesome last year. It came down to McBride or Dalton Kincaid for me, and every number I looked at, I'm like, McBride was better than himcaid for me in every number I looked at. I'm like McBride was better than him last year. So I like both those guys, but I threw the Cardinals,

threw McBride a bone there. Okay. So Hockinson at this point off of yours because of the injury? Yeah, maybe I overweight the injuries. But yeah, that was really the only reason why he could be on there if he's healthy. Yeah, it looks like this week it was updated to a week five return. So we have the same top four we even have I didn't

expect that we were both gonna have Andrews Andrews. statistically missing some games is not going to hold up to the previous season. You could say it's actually been like two years since he's had that great statistical season. I go with Andrews just based on watching it and thinking he seems like he's still awesome at tight end and a huge part of what they're doing. Um, and we'll be curious to see what it looks like in the red zone now with Lamar as an option, Henry is an option. Zay Flowers clearly being, you know, I think he might end up being the most

talented receiver, the most productive receiver that Lamar is going to have. And I know the playoff game was incredibly disappointing for a couple different things to say in that game. But we have the same top four. Yeah. And I love that we both have Andrews and I just kept Hawkinson there because he's coming back at some point. I just think he has to be in the top five conversation.

Yeah, no doubt. He's in terms of well-rounded tight ends. He's right there. And then with Andrews, like you mentioned, he has to be the guy, he's had to be the guy for their offense. It's not like they've, you know, Kittle's numbers were better than him last year.

You could make the case for Kittle, no doubt. But how do you differentiate between a guy who's got Debo, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Iyuk on his team, and then Andrews who for many years, he's just, you know, likeaffrey, Brandon Iucca on his team, and then Andrews, who for many years, he's just, like you said, been their number one receiving option. So I gave him a little bump there and thought he still deserved to be in there. O-line.

Getting in there, doing the dirty work. That's right. Clip this for social, right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. This one's a little tougher. And as soon as you announce whatever it is, you can understand the arguments outside of

it. But I looked at some of the grading stuff and I just look around, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend like the way the guards closed off the interior, you're absolutely nuts. So this is a bit of an assumption on my part. So I'll just admit to it here. What did you go with? Because we both had Philly last year as number one. Yeah. Yeah. I'll give Brandon Thorne a shout out. He's like the O-line guru who I don't have an

opinion on the O-line until I read his stuff because he's awesome at it. I've got the Lions number one, the Chiefs number two, the Eagles number three, the Colts four, and the Cowboys five. And I honestly didn't feel that great about any of these. I mean, the Chiefs are starting a rookie left tackle. The Eagles are going to a season without Kelsey, and they've got McKay Bekden starting at right guard. The Colts at this time last year, we thought their offensive line sucked and then they had a great season.

So I'm like, maybe they are good. Then the Cowboys are probably starting two rookies on their offensive line. So this was a high. I flirted with the Jets a little bit. I thought about the Browns, but they've got injuries. So this was a tough one. Yeah. Everybody seems to agree that Detroit is the best. I don't know that I read anything anywhere. And this is the combination of name recognition and looking at grades and seeing the people that you trust that do a better job. Certainly you do a better job than I do and the other people that you're even talking about here, but it felt like Detroit was a consensus number one. I kept Philly there even though Juergens is in its center, he's only played 45 snaps in the position. The Colts probably have the best tackle

pair in the NFL. Cleveland's an interesting one because I think on talent alone, you can make an argument for two. But when you started talking about Houston's offensive line injuries, when you look at just the top end talent that wasn't playing for the Browns and they still found a way to miraculously kind of like, you know, just even be on the radar at the end of the year, I put them down at four. And I like you, I thought about Atlanta with the grades of some of their individual players being terrific. I think Lindstrom had the best run blocking grade of any interior lineman.

Kansas City, I just, I went with M5 even though we all watched the nightmare of Taylor at tackle. Yeah. So maybe the rest of it I think is so good. And there's also an unfair advantage that they're not gonna be as exposed because Mahomes is just gonna figure out how to adjust. It's like the Brady stuff. If there's a certain year where the offensive line

didn't feel like it was as strong in other years, then he would just adapt his game for whatever deficiencies they had. So putting the Chiefs fifth feels like cheating a little bit, but it's less of an assumption than putting the Jets at five. Yeah, the Chiefs' interior is awesome. You mentioned that Jawan Taylor, I think, had 19 penalties last year at right tackle, which is an insane amount, and then a rookie left tackle. So

everything with the Chiefs is so hard other than Mahomes is awesome. It's like you take some of these players and you put them in a different environment with a different quarterback. Well, how good are they actually? But yeah, I think their interiors really good. But for the second straight year, they've got a question about offensive tackle. Okay, Edge guys, this group is I think I hated doing it last year. Whenever I did it, I was like, it's just gonna be wrong. And now I did it again this year and I feel like it's wrong, but it just speaks to it. We're having the exact same conversation 12 months later when it comes to this wrong. And now I did it again this year and I feel like it's wrong, but it just speaks. We're having the exact same conversation 12 months later when it comes to this position.

Yeah, it's stacked. You could have probably 12 guys have a case for being in the top five. I went with Micah Parsons first, Miles Garrett second, Nick Bosa third, TJ Watt fourth, and Max Crosby fifth. And one thing about Crosby and why I've got him in there, he never comes off the field. He played 384 more snaps than any other defensive lineman over the last three seasons. That's the equivalent of six more games. And so like you have Max Crosby, your depth,

you don't have to worry about it as much because he never comes off the field. Other guys come in on third down, they're fresh. He's already out there on first and second down. So I just feel like he deserves to be recognized for that. It's like an old school mentality where he's just like, yeah, I can handle playing 90% of the snaps. I don't need a breather, I'm good.

So he definitely deserves, in my opinion, to be in the top five. Same five, different order, Garrett, Watt, Parsons, Crosby, Bosa. But it almost sounds like you're making an argument for Crosby to be even higher. You know, well, it's funny cause then you look at like the rate stuff and it's like, well, the other guys are getting, you know, hitting the quarterback at a higher rate, so you gotta, you gotta mix the two like, all right, you're getting

more snaps out of him. The other guys are more efficient. Are they more efficient? Cause they're fresher. I still, I still, you're getting more snaps out of him. The other guys are more efficient. Are they more efficient? Cause they're fresher. I still, I still feel good about those, uh, top four. I mean, those are all guys and Crosby can do it too, but man, those guys are all like in the defensive player of the year conversation year after year, after year, they've all been just so productive.

Okay. Um, so same five different order interior defensive lineman, the first time without AD in the middle there, Aaron Donald retiring. I've got Chris Jones, Dexter Lawrence, Quinn and Williams. Then I kind of, then I think I just had a bunch of different names. Like I still like Jeffrey Simmons a lot, but I know that he didn't great out as well,

but I kind of feel like as far as like game wrecking from the inside and his versatility and like what he could do, it's still worth keeping him on this list for Derek Brown was another one. So I'm kind of curious. I don't know that I've even finalized this one because it's just, it's just harder because you're not going to, you can't just go buy stats with these guys. Yeah, we've got the same top three, Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, and Dexter Lawrence. I gave Justin Matabuque from the Ravens some love.

He was just 11 and a half sacks at defensive tackle last year when he was lined up as a defensive tackle. That was the most in the NFL. So I think he was kind of like an under the radar good player. And then he broke out last year for the Ravens and then got a big contract.

And then five, the guy who's gonna line up next to Max Crosby, which is gonna be a lot of fun. And that's Christian Wilkins. Always been good against the run, pass rush, really took a step in the right direction last season and like Crosby never comes off the field. Those two guys, they played 90% of the snaps. Again, very rare for a defensive tackle to be as reliable

and have that kind of conditioning, that kind of stamina. So I gave Christian Wilkins the fifth spot. But yeah, man, that other guys, Simmons Brown, you mentioned it, DeForest Buckner, Kenny Carr, Jonathan Allen, Christian Barmore if he's healthy, Ed Oliver I thought had a really good season. And then the guy who I think at this time next year, I think Jalen Carter is gonna be on this list.

I feel confident about nothing with the Eagles this year about what they're gonna be, except for the fact that Jalen Carter's gonna be an absolute beast. So I think he's a guy to keep an eye on, make this list next season. Yeah, I don't know what it was because if you look at his grades over the first and second half of the season, he was on a tear start and maybe it was just people getting used to him and then him

having to figure it out. But I don't think you're wrong. Like he's already a top 10 guy. Brown is an interesting one because we're looking at somebody who's just probably the best run defender in the game. But Carolina was such a mess. It's probably a lot of people listening, probably not even thinking about him. I think Cam Hayward's still probably in the conversations too despite the fact that he's been around a long time at 35 years old, but he's still really, really good. So I like Matt Abouke. I'm going to probably put him down fifth then after Simmons. All right. Yeah, sounds good. Okay. Corners. Corners.

I feel good. The one two, you could just flip-flop them every year or one of us pick one on the other. The other, I think, Sauce Gardner, I have one and Patrick Surtan too. I think they're both awesome. Either one of them could have the belt for best corner in the NFL. Three is a personal favorite. That's Jalen Johnson from the Bears. I thought he was awesome last year. Man coverage. When he played man coverage

last year, opponents completed three of eight passes for 32 yards on 101 snaps of man coverage for Jalen Johnson last year. And he's awesome in zone too. He's physical, he tackles, he does it all. Four, I have a guy I know you love, Trent McDuffie. We talked about him earlier. I've got him on this list. And five was tough. I'm going to try to call my shot a little bit with this one and go with De'Von Witherspoon and predict that by the end of the year, we're going to be saying he's one of the best corners in the NFL. Now, he'll play, Nickle, he'll be lined up all over the place. But I just think what I saw last year with Mike McDonald, with that Seahawks scheme, I think he's going to have a big year. Okay. We have the same, because I think Surtan is somebody that he graded out so spectacularly two years ago that maybe he's being judged against that.

But then there was some other coverage stuff where he was still off the charts, but maybe the overall metrics weren't as good. I mean, it depends on really what you want to look at here, but watching, you know, just thinking back to the games of like, Hey, that guy is just killing it out there. Sauce is one, Sertan is two for me. I love Jalen Johnson. I think he's like one of the most underrated players in the entire league. Agreed. And I've got McDuffie for, and I gave the fifth spot to Jalen Ramsey.

Okay. Legacy award, lifetime achievement. Do you not like my legacy place? No, no, he's still good. Yeah, he's still good. I'm good with that. You have to knock him off, you know, clearly until he's out of there because he's had such an awesome career. Okay, safeties. Safeties, I've got Kyle Hamilton takes over the number one spot this year for me. Minka Fitzpatrick coming off maybe a little bit of a down year but it's still awesome. I've got him number two. Antoine Winfield Jr. what the Bucks did with him last year maybe the best playmaker in the NFL at safety. He was awesome last year. Jesse Bates has shown he can do it in different schemes. He signs with the Falcons last season as a great year after so many good seasons

with the Bengals. And then five, Jovan Holland of the Miami Dolphins. Those are my five. I'm curious that there's a guy on here that sort of fits the Derwin James. Oh no, I just said, I meant to say fits the jail and Ramsey. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The jail and Ramsey mold. Yeah. Good instincts.

Cause I thought about it. You know, I, I thought about it and I don't know. It feels like you can make an argument to be like, are we judging him against his peak? If the safety class weren't as deep as it were, I'd probably put him fifth. I probably still would. Um, but it is really deep. I mean, you can make an argument for Winfield over Hamilton, but I too, like you love the versatility of Hamilton.

I love those moments where I'm like, I cannot believe this guy can do all of these things at this body type. So maybe I'm falling too much in love with that, but I still have Hamilton one. I put Winfield two, PFF actually ranks Winfield one. Um, Jesse Bates has to be on everybody's top five, a free agent signing that actually worked out. Uh, I have Minka four and then I too, even though Holland was down on snaps last year, uh, I mean, look, would I fight to the death about some of this?

No, not on this one, but I just think Holland's a baller when he's out there. So pretty simple. Baller. Yeah, no doubt. Holland's awesome. McKinney I like, Packer signed him. Marcus Williams of the Ravens is really good. And Derwin James, I do think new scheme, new coaching, he could be a guy we're talking about middle of the season. Wow. He looks way better than he did last season. So yeah, I'm not giving up on him. Okay. Last one, and it's my favorite, former guest here on the show, who did one of the most impressive jobs ever as a guest because of the disconnect with our technology at the time. Fred Warner starts the list and then the list really starts after Fred.

And I don't know who could have anyone other than Fred, number one here. Yeah, I mean, I put Warren just for what you mentioned, battling through that adversity as a podcaster. I mean, we can relate with that, so he's gotta be. Do you wanna tell me, like, he's gonna, when there's chaos around him and it's the fourth quarter and they don't know what's going on,

they can't figure out anything, he's going to stay cool and calm. I thought that before we had him on, now I know it. Yeah. Wi-Fi's down. He just mentally, he's at- He was guessing my questions as the audio and video got cut off and then answering questions that he assumed I was asking. I mean, we don't talk, he's playing like a couple heads, a couple moves ahead of everybody.

No doubt. He's had the rep, so he deserves to be number one. Big gap between him and everyone else as it is every year. I think Roquan Smith is pretty entrenched there as too, for me, where I didn't have to think about anyone else. And then if you are a fan of a team and you think, man, our linebackers stink, you're not alone. I mean, you look, it was hard to get to five. I don't know how you felt about it. I was like, yeah, Warner, Roquan Smith, awesome. Okay. Now where am I going with

this? So I gave to Mario Davis, who despite being 34, 35 years old, still getting it done. It's kind of like you had earlier with Jalen Ray. I'm like, until someone knocks him off and I don't see other great young linebackers, I have him three. CJ Mosley, very strange career, was awesome with the Ravens, signed a big deal with the Jets, sat out the COVID season. He was awesome last year, I thought, CJ Mosley with the Jets. I have him there at four. And then five, it came down to a bunch of guys for me. Let's give the Jets some love. I'm gonna give Quincy Williams the fifth spot here. Just, he wants to punish you when he hits you, which I love. And last year, the question always with him was coverage.

He led all linebackers in PBU's past breakups last season. So a couple other guys you could definitely have in there at four or five, but that Jets linebacker tandem is really, really good. So I gave them both spots. Wow, two Jets on there. I'll admit when I watched them,

when they're rolling defensively with those two guys, I'd say over the last couple of years, they're just, they stand out. They totally stand out. Top three, we have the same. Demario's still on mine. Milano would have been on it if he weren't injured now going into the year. So that's still on mine. Milano would have been on it if he weren't injured now going into the year.

So that's a huge problem. Milano to me is a top five guy, but I can't put him on it now with the injury. So I'll go CJ and then I'll close it out with somebody coming back healthy after playing through injury last year, Nicole, the Chiefs. Yeah, him and Levante David were the two of the other ones where I thought, all right, these

guys have a good case to still be on there for sure. Okay. When's the first pod coming out? Later today. We got a Ringer NFL show we're recording later today. We got the Ringer's Philly special going strong. And you mentioned it. We got the trade value rankings on the ringer.com and then a Tuesday column I'm writing every week this season. So you can check that out starting next week.

Thanks as always, Shil. Talk to you soon. All right. Thanks for having me. You want details? Buy. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

The email address is always lifeadvice.rr at gmail.com. We've got Kyle, we've got Steve, fresh off a holiday weekend. And... we have some news. We have some news for live show in Philly. So Rudy, I know you know the logistics better than I do. So why don't you tell everybody what it is?

Yeah, we have some tickets still left on sale. We're going to Philly at the Fillmore. It's Tuesday, October 1st. Store's open at seven shows at eight and just, you know, it's kind of a reunion of shows of sorts because our guy Chris Long is stopping by. That's right. Did you see his first pitch at St. Louis?

I did. I did. What'd you think? Little high. Yeah. It's better than being low though. Right. I mean, you'd rather like, is it rip it?

And yeah, I don't want to bounce it. I'd much rather throw a way over the catcher's head and bounce it. Yeah. At least you got the juice at that point. You know, what if it's Oh two though, and you're just getting it in the dirt. When I'm going over the top. That was the greenie. The greenie used to always be like, no, you just the worst thing you can do is bounce. It's like, well, dude, you're throwing a pop up from like 10 feet in front of them.

Okay, yeah, don't throw a lot. Don't throw the deepest pitch. But you know, like, at least if you're gonna throw it, throw it high. Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right. Um, he's an athlete though. He's an athlete. It just, he looked great in that uniform too. Was that the STL? That thing looked just dope. St. Louis has the best stuff. They really do. You do love their fitted caps as, as evidenced by several videos where you've been made fun of it. Yeah. No, I'm, I'm willing to offer my up to be made fun of. I just, there's nothing more. Just the, you want to know disappointment?

Be in Europe with a St. Louis hat on and have somebody be like, no way, St. Louis, nope. What? Where are you from? Massachusetts. What? Oh. Yeah. Whatever.

Like the hat. I might, I've been on this terrible run with the hats and I'm just, I might just be over it. I just like the way they fit. They fit better. Yeah. I don't want to, I don't want to be another guy with a Red Sox hat on walking around. You go home to visit and he's throwing your Red Sox hat. I was like, oh, I lost you.

Where are you? Oh, there he is. He's over there. And the Mookie Betts trade. It's been a tough run. Yeah. For baseball and your boy. Just about that. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. So is there anything else that we need? Kyle, you're making it, right? I'm making it. I about that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So is there anything else that we need? Kyle, you're making it, right?

I'm making it. I might be deep at that show. I mean, there might be worlds colliding at that show. I don't think the New York City guys, but we got some Hollywood guys and some Poughkeepsie guys. My sister-in-law lives like 10 minutes from the theater. Yeah, we'll see. My wife's coming with me.

We'll see how that goes. Oh my gosh. Yeah, but I might be deep at this show. I might not even make it now. So do I. He might be busy with that. Yeah. Kyle's gonna show, Kyle has a live show.

No, the fact that Chris is gonna be there makes it like 100 times better. Right, so we're through. And Wargon's gonna be there. Wargon's making the trip down. People are very confused about who Wargon is, what he does, how to spell his name. Put a face in the name, yeah.

Yeah, so if you're just interested in Wargon, he's gonna be around as well. Right, Wargon, were you able to time this out to maybe get a Penn State game in? I don't know how their schedule plays. You guys think I'm laughing. I've talked at Penn State big in the open. Logistically, Wargon, does anything work out

for you to make it back to Happy Valley? No, I haven't been back since I graduated. It's been like a decade, I'd say. Ooh, okay. Didn't go to the old tenure. No, I didn't get to the tenure. Reunion. A big homecoming guy.

Yeah. It is kind of like a pain to get to, but yeah, yeah, it's out there. Not if you love it. Fair. Yeah. Ryan's big.

Ryan didn't go to LSU and he goes there every year. Yeah. Right. I mean, the amount of times I had to tell people would be like, okay, how do what happened again? Somebody in the suite I was in at the LSU Vegas, uh, you know, the LSU USC game was like, wait, you didn't go to LSU? Like, nope.

And by the way, just like the hats, you want to call me a fucking loser? Go ahead. I'm not even sure you're wrong. Wait, can I get some clarity though? I'm not getting defensive. I'm kind of agreeing with you. Those that have been critical. I sound mad, but I agree with you.

Yeah, yeah, right. I'm not mad. I'm not mad. I'm mad at myself. Wait, were these like Americans in Europe that were stopping you or were they Europeans that thought you were from St. Louis? Because that seems intense too.

I don't know. No, no, no. Extremely disappointed people from St. Louis. Okay, all right. Man, I didn't know. I just didn't know there'd be a lot of St. Louis people in, you know, San Sebastian. Well, because we've been through this. The Blue Jays hat I could justify.

The St. Louis one I could justify. And then when I threw the Pittsburgh one in the mix, because I actually already really liked that hat. And I when I threw the Pittsburgh one in the mix, cause I actually already really liked that hat. And I felt like there was way less like Toronto people were really bummed out because they thought it was even cooler. I mean, all we needed to do was think of Adnan like he can't make it through a highlight without mentioning Joey Vados from Canada. Although you know what we can't, we got to take it easy on Adnan.

I think when I said pass on the on the poutine invite, he really didn't like that. Immediate text. Yeah. Yeah. And I was too, the line was there. It had to be done just for content, but it's not a pass to hang out with Adnan. Everybody knows I love the guy. So it wasn't, it wasn't that. It was just, it was all of it. He was, he was on 11 that whole weekend when we saw him, but I'm telling you right now, if like there's ever an international event, like globally, if Adnan Burke is not one of the ambassadors, you know, just get that guy at the chamber of commerce or something out front, just pointing people in the right direction. No one's more passionate about it.

Uh, so when you walk around with a Toronto hat globally, you know, So when you walk around with a Toronto hat globally, you know, Indo China, the Maldives, and somebody, somebody from Toronto sees you in that hat. And then you're like, no, I'm, I live in LA. So like, oh, so I mean, when I was walking around Vancouver and the, in the pirate's hat, somebody was like, Yinser. And luckily I knew what it meant. And I just kind of pointed right back.

I just went, you got it buddy. And kept walking. I did one of the walking point, little six gun, whatever. I kind of have that with Harley Davidson. That's a close, I don't really rep other places, but I do have that with Harley Davidson and I don't really know what to do about it. I definitely, I've never, I never take it as far as been

like, yeah, I got a bike at home because I don't know the numbers and do about it. I definitely, I've never, I never take it as far as been like, yeah, I got a bike at home because I don't know the numbers and the model numbers when they're like, what do you got? But I don't know. I don't like to feel it. People ask you if you ride? Yeah, yeah. I could see you on it.

Yeah, but Harley, yeah. I think I'm gonna go now. Now I'm just gonna go like my wife doesn't, my wife won't let me. I think I might, maybe that'll just be enough. I'm with you in Syria. Is that even a lie? It's not a lie, right? It's maybe by omission, but he's asking me, what do I ride?

I got my wife won't let me anymore. Anymore. The Blue Jays. The Bushman connection on the Blue Jays thing could was just as simple. Like all my buddies, you know, the bullpen coach and I've always liked the hat. Whatever. Then when I was wearing it around the guys from home, they're like, what are you doing?

You get an Orioles hat at home too. Not yet. No, I don't. But that was enough of a connection. And then it just opened up this flood gates. Like the St. Louis one was the only one that I'd had. I bought that one like 10 years ago, just cause I loved it. And I was like, whatever, who cares? And now I'm, yeah, I know I might have to pivot, but whenever I've tried to go something non-branded, I'm like, I don't know, this just doesn't fit as well. I like working out on them because you sweat more and I don't wear the ones that I work out out. So what the fuck am I talking about?

Really quick. We've gone on a tangent. So I obviously I recently moved and Congratulations. I found a bunch of old Rosillo gear. Remember those for Silo like they're like a cobalt blue dad hat. They're like one of my favorite merch things that we ever had found. I have like three of them. I also found that jukebox that that's VP and Rosalind jukebox. That's now in my has moved from attic to attic, but yeah, I know we got, I got some like unused like 2016 Rosalind show hats 17 maybe. But yeah.

Yeah. Cause there was two runs of those. Cause then they did the black neon ones which were aggressive which was loud yeah yeah yeah i have that too they were like trucker hats yeah it was like a snap back oh was it okay i thought it i thought there was maybe some mesh involved those didn't want to break in i can tell you that they didn't and then again again, I don't, I don't know that I don't know that I was going to, uh, wear my own hat around. Yeah. Yeah. Like, Oh, it's really proud of yourself. It's a good hat. Love a good dad hat. Oh, you're showing us the hat now. Yeah. Yeah. You don't look at the screen, dude. Come on. I was trying to find it.

I break this out next pot. I should have worn it today. It's on me. Yeah. Break it out. I'm trying to find the email. Next pot I should have ordered today. It's on me. Yeah. Break it out. I'm wondering what you could get for those. You get 20 bucks. That one's a good hat. It's a good hat. Uh, I don't know.

I think I have one box of like leftover stuff. I have a million of those green neon shirts. Those are, those are in a box somewhere. When I moved, you know, I've moved what? How many times now? Three times in six years. And the last move, you move that often, you start really asking yourself a lot of questions.

Going, what are you gonna do with this on the next move? And what are you gonna do? Because what's that rule if you don't have some, if you have not used something for a year, you do not need it, right? Yeah, I recently went through this because my parents, they retired, they moved out of their house

and my mom's got this giant box full of just like stuff from my childhood. Steve box? Whatever. Yeah, literally it was a Steve box. And she's like, oh, like this is your christening outfit. Like, can you take it with you? I'm like, mom, walk me through the next like 50 years of my life with this.

It's gonna go from your addict to my addict. And then my kids, when I die, are gonna have to figure out what they wanna do with my, and it's likely gonna get thrown out. So why don't we just skip this now and just throw it out now? Because I'm never gonna open it again. She got a little upset about that.

Maybe I was a little insensitive, but I don't need this. You should have just taken it and got rid of it. I mean, you're like, I know, maybe I'm just too honest. Never would have came up again. And you're just like, why don't we chuck this? It's like, oh my God.

They're like T ball trophy. She's like, you don't want to keep this. I'm like, what? No, he ball. Yeah. That's a little bridge too far. T ball. Like whatever the grade that was needed was an A from her for keeping her son stuff like

that. But you're right. Like, I can't wait to share this with my daughter and have her be super not interested after four minutes. That's like, cool. Now it's back in the eye. Yeah, right Nope, it's never gonna see it again. You go to your daughter when she's in high school and be like well then you can have it Later on and and share it with your kids like will I okay? Here we go. Uh, my dad can't stop buying boats Whoa, come on like this guy already podcast for you. Yeah Yeah, wait 51 boats. Whoa. Come on. Like this guy already. This is the podcast for you. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, 51, five, nine, one 55, lean, mean, open water

swimmer. Some measure success. State champs runner up. Early nineties Juco water polo. I love water polo. Wouldn't be good at it. Defensive spark plug off the bench. Jose Alvarado and Speedo. Side note, 96% sure I had a Rassillo in the wild sighting Side note, 96% sure I had a Rassillo in the Wild sighting during a sunny Friday, new era hat, Red Sox, that I did, I was working out, and then he saw me at the ATM. Took everything I had to remain cool, whatever.

I digress, I write to you guys today after many years of diligent listening, because I think you can specifically empathize with my issues, it seems like you've all got at least good, if not great relationships with your own fathers, respectively. Anyone hate their dad? No.

No? Everybody good? Okay. My stepdad are cool too. Yeah. Like dad dude. Wow. You got two dads.

All right. I love my dad. Always have and always will. He's been a better friend than father figure my whole life. He was the best man. And both my weddings has become a legendary grandfather. All that said, if he buys another fucking boat, I'm going to have his lawyer remove my name from his will. Well, why would you do that? You

might just get boats. It sounds awesome. Yeah. Yeah. No cash. Here are your boats. My dad's into boats like the Spanish were into colonies. He's compulsively obsessed with acquiring anything that floats. His current inventory includes one pontoon boat, one canoe, one inflatable kayak, two wooden rowboats, a laser, two Sabbaths, and an Avon. He owned two Sea-Dos for about six weeks this past spring purchased on a whim when my nine-year-old daughter mentioned in passing that jet skis are cool.

It's worth noting. jet skis are cool. It's worth noting my dad is 77 and remarkably good health while he lives near the water. He does not live on the water. And sadly, he's been tied down at the moment helping his dear friend navigate a valiant fight against cancer. So his time to float all these boats is very limited. As they pile up in his garage and mine,

I'm realizing I'm quickly begrudgingly becoming the beneficiary of this awesome regatta. I've come to understand with the help of long conversations with my therapist wife, with my therapist slash wife, okay, got it, that my dad is acquiring these boats in order to remain vital and relevant. For the love of God, how many boats can one man have and how do I help him understand enough is enough? By the way, at the time of this writing, my dad informed me,

he's just got off the phone with a guy in Tennessee about buying his pontoon houseboat that has a very special feature, the Shitter Gerain directly into the sea instead of into a holding tank. Help, sorry for the long email. No, it's fine. I mean, a couple of these boats are really boats, right?

I mean, they're boats, but it's like, hey, he's got a canoe and two kayaks. Like, all right. I mean, that's, it's like, not even mentionable, really. Someone's asking you, like, what's your boating situation like? Okay. Yeah, I mean, look, it's a lot of, we're talking major numbers here. But it's a bit like, so Rudy's memorabilia box, the box of Saruti's box of memories, maybe is what we should call it.

If it's just in a box and kind of out of the way, that's not that big of a deal. So when you add the canoe and the inflatable kayak and the two wooden row boats, I mean, look, this is a lot of boats, right? I mean, you need to just get two C-dos. You know, I think one of the things that always happens in life is, is there's a lot of boats. All right. I mean, you need to just get two C dos. You know, I think one of the things that always happens in life is, is there's a real like purchase. If you're somebody who likes to spend money, there's this purchase adrenaline where you're like, I'm doing it. You know, once you've convinced yourself that this thing you've been thinking about, now you've decided you've justified,

rationalized. Here's why I'm allowed to do this. The default of like, hey, if it makes you happy, it's like, yeah, buying shit makes a lot of people happy, but it's completely temporary. And then you'll end up more often than not going, why did I buy this? And all you have to do is we've already said move a few times, you start really second guessing everything about your purchase history and what you've prioritized. Like, did I fucking need this? Did I need another reel? Did I need backing line? How many backing lines can a guy have for his fly rods? This guy has a few. So, um, you know,

that might be the core of what you would want to get to here is you would go over, look at all the stuff, have it, sounds like it's just kind of all out and about, or it's carry over at your storage place that doesn't charge as much as storage would professionally. And that might be the way to attack it where you go, you have a lot of stuff, dad. Okay. You have a lot of stuff you need to start thinking about this or how can we, maybe you work with him and it's something you kind of get to do with your dad and be

like, maybe it should be a one in one out deal, right from now on, treat this as a place that's at capacity. And if we're doing, if we're doing one in, we're going to be able, maybe it should be a one in one up deal, right? From now on, treat this as a place that's at capacity. And if we're doing, if we're doing one in, you got to do one out. Yeah. Three boat max, you know, make some hard choices. Wait, he said though, he did say that, uh, like there's an issue with storage. Cause otherwise I'd say like, what's the big deal if your dad likes something?

I don't know. Like it's just, if it's, is that an issue? The storage thing is an issue with storage cuz otherwise i'd say like what's the big deal if your dad like something i don't know like it's. It's that issue the storage thing is an issue. I'm not here yet but i feel like when your parents get to a certain age like shit what is he doing now like i mean. My my wife's grandfather's like eighty something and every time we go see him like there's ladders on the roof it's like i know who's on that ladder it's this man like it's not like that not like that. But I wonder if you're just like, all right, he's getting closer to an age where you got to start like worrying about stuff. And maybe it's like, you don't want to get to a point where he's 85 and something happens. And he there's actually like six boats you don't know about, you know, like slip fees and things are getting repossessed. It's like all against the estate. I think if his dad's like getting towards an age where he has to start wondering about it, but I think what Ryan said is good.

Just have that conversation. It's like maybe one in, one out. I'm involved here. Not even like I'm trying to take over what you're allowed to do as my dad. Yeah, I'm just saying as far as I'm concerned in my little slice of heaven here that I live on, I've got two of your votes.

So I think we've gotta have a serious conversation about it, just logistically, not really like, is there something wrong with you? Why do you have so many boats? I do like the idea of like, have you used this in the last year? Two years, three years? Like when's the last time you used both inflatable,

whatever canoes, kayaks, whatever they are. And if the answer is not good, like you started asking him some tough questions and he's like, yeah, you know, you're right. Like I don't, you know, when I'm like, what's the purpose of this thing? You know, the pontoon boat, do you use it? Like, do you like it? You have people on it. Doesn't sound like it. Like is it, is it just sitting there rotten away with like wasting value?

Like have, you know, real numbers conversations, I guess that could could reach out to him because maybe he just doesn't know. He just kind of buys them. He likes it. It's cool. It's around. He thinks, maybe he thinks you think it's cool. Who knows? But if you have that conversation and really sell them on why it's cool, it's around. He thinks, maybe he thinks you think it's cool. Who knows? But if you have that conversation, really sell them on why it's not the right thing to do, financially, I think that's the way to go. Maybe you get a little like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace and going like,

hey, I got a line on a guy who wants to buy a houseboat that shits directly into the ocean. Like crazy that this just came across my path, but you just, now you're the broker. You don't take a fee. Your fee is that there's less boats in your life. You could do that. You always have a problem.

You just set it up. Yeah. Yeah. You're the fixer. You're the fixer. Yeah. And, and now, you know, you could, instead of a, it's a bad thing. We got to talk about it.

It's like, here's a good thing. I found you want to unload this one. I know you got one, you know, you got a line on another one. It's a thought. Yeah. Uh, I think you're right. Like that could be the new you know, you got a line on another one. It's a thought. Yeah. Uh, I think you're right. Like that could be the new hobby is him buying them and then you selling them. And then you get to talk to your dad about it.

It's like your thing that you have. So instead of implying that you're losing money, but it's okay. It's yeah, there's less. You're spending time together in those golden years. You're taking about a $1,000 loss on every boat, but it's okay. Yeah. I would think that might be the motivation behind it. Like, let's start selling a few of these. Let's consolidate the Armada, you know, upgrades.

Yeah. And then potential upgrades, maybe you move in three pieces for two and two for one. And yeah, cause five boats get us something nice here. Yeah. Cause it is in his garage as well. So, so just to double check. Okay. Yeah. Could five boats get us something nice here? Yeah. Cause it is in his garage as well. So just to double check. Okay. Yeah. I missed that. Yeah. I don't think there's gonna be like a pop up situation. All of a sudden you're going to need boats. Like it's going to be a flood and it's going to like,

you just told me to sell these boats. Now I need them all. Right. You see the quiet place, dude. Come on. That would be crazy. Like what's your dad do? Is he a big place, dude? Come on. That would be crazy. Like, what's your dad do? Is he a big militia guy? No, he's a big naval prep guy. He said the flood was coming. I don't know.

Yeah, I don't know what that meant, but. Big on the ice caps, but then he can't explain the temperature drop in the Atlantic this summer. Scientists are befuddled. Kind of just constantly on that geo, trying to figure it out. Okay, something a little different. An adult star works out of my gym.

What's up? Love the pod. Wish the life advice segment was longer. Also shout out to Nephew Kyle and all the Hudson Valley. I'm a Trinity Pauling alum and spent a lot of time in Poughkeepsie. Nice. That's good news.

I love it. It teaches there actually. Wow. Guys are locked into the area. Yeah. I want to reach out and gather your input on a unique situation I find myself. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I quit my job. I am now unemployed, not sure what to do with this newfound freedom on my hands.

I decided that I should better myself and work out more frequently. Let's finally get that six pack. I've been putting my Equinox six packs made in the kitchen brother. Just so you know. I've been putting my Equinox membership to good use, go five days a week. So usually I work around 9.30, 10 a.m. As you might imagine, it's pretty dead, mostly housewives and retirees. However, being where he is located, which is not hard to figure out, I do happen to occasionally see a minor celebrity or two.

They're younger, around my age, late 20s, early 30s. This led me to deduce that the only people I see around my age when I go to the gym are celebrities. It's not too much of a stretch for these people to serve. to, they're younger, around my age, late 20s, early 30s. Lists led me to do so that if the only people I see around my age when I go to the gym or celebrities, it's not too much of a stretch for these people to assume. I am either rich, I'm not, or someone who works in the entertainment industry. One person that I've noticed recently happens to work out in the adult entertainment industry. You can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw a woman in person who happened

to be in my computer mere hours ago. Nice. Hear ya. Before the gym dude. Um, she works out alone and I may or may not have caught her checking me out in the mirror, I choose to believe with that being said, I have a two pronged question to the group one, if the opportunity presents itself, do I say something to set it entertainer?

If so, do I lean into the, yeah, I'm at Equinox on a Tuesday at 10 AM. I'm doing pretty fucking good in life or just go with the, yeah, I'm unemployed. All right. Um, well, you know, you're trying to go somewhere that, uh, it's going to be pretty challenging, man, it's going to be pretty challenging just in general. It's gonna be pretty challenging man. It'll be pretty challenging just in general. So if it makes you feel better to at least just throw it out there that Well, you want to see like if there's any way to build a conversation around this I

You know look I think there's two ways of looking at it one you being the next guy that tells her that you're a fan does not make you special. Okay. Um, but I also think my assumption would be someone from that world is so desensitized to so many things like a normie wouldn't be sensitized to that. She may just really appreciate the feedback and think it's totally normal and like, hey, what a nice thing to hear from somebody today because she's in this world where all those inhibitions and all the holdups that most of us would have day to day society,

it's just a different world, all right? It's a different operating procedure. So maybe, so I would, I would refrain though, from being like overzealous about your fandom overzealous. Like I wouldn't say what you just said in the email. Like, Hey, look at you here. You again, right? And then, you know, kind of like, huh, get it, get it.

Um, so you could, I think I'm on a, like, huh, get it, get it. So you could, I think I'm on a, like, I think you going up to her pretending that you don't know who she is. If you're gonna, because it sounds like you're determined to do this. So what are we to tell you to, you know, know, have less confidence, don't do that. That's not the messaging of this.

If you're gonna say something to be like, hey, just before you might assume that I'm really crushing it and can come to the gym in the messaging of this. If you're gonna say something like, hey, just before you might assume that I'm really crushing it and can come to the gym in the middle of the day, I'm actually unemployed. Brad, nice to meet you. That's a high risk, high reward.

Yeah, what do you think? Option on the Oregon Trail, that's for sure. That's definitely a path. Can we go left? That's definitely a path, yeah. I probably have the least amount of celebrity interactions out of us three, but, uh, in my limited-

That's how, how do you have less than Sirutti lives in Glastonbury? Well, I mean, he was going into ESPN, car washes, I don't know, producing shows. Maybe I think he's just been doing it long. Van Dyke home for Christmas. But I just, whatever, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm second, but I would still, if I had to bet, I'd say Saruti probably had more interactions than me. But what I've learned in my limited interactions is like, just, like don't even bring it up.

Don't bring it up at all, especially if they're not really sure who the fuck you are. Like just be a normal person. I think, feel like celebrities are happier in those things when it's just like, oh, this is a, we're two people in a place and not like a guy who's dying to ask me about that movie from 2008 or whatever.

So I would stick to that. And then when you're talking about, you know, your whole, like you're assuming a lot that we're even getting to like, where she wants to know what you do for work. But I would just say put on the Harley shirt and omit. Wife will let me ride. You know what I mean? Like no one has to know that you don't own a bike. No one does has to know that you are looking for work.

I think you just omit maybe a little vague. So I would just treat it normal and don't jump to your your employment status. Yeah, by like, you know, a little bit of crypto and just say you're into crypto trading. It's not a lie. Have you seen mint coin? Yeah, this is what I do. It sounds free tip. I I would not I would say not say no why would not I wouldn't be like hey what's up me neither or do any I don't think I have

situations but yeah it's you're right I think it sounds like he is I would can you just act like it's a normal gym encounter if like if she gave you a kind of like the eyes and you think there's something kind of there just talk to her like that you doesn't have to be like hey I know, I know you. You're in the adult film industry. Just be like, hey, I'm Rick, what's up? Notice you're really good on the power point. I don't know, whatever. Yeah, I'm trying to stay out of trouble here.

I don't know why you have to bring it up right away that you know who she is from this thing, because I'd imagine that that's probably a turn off for her. She probably gets that all the time. It's probably annoying. And I don't think there's even that many good ways that you can get in with that. Unless like there's something that I'm that you guys think I'm missing, but I don't know how you can be like, Hey, big fan.

Well, then she's like, Oh yeah, cool. Thanks, man. Um, I don't know. She's at the gym. I feel like you kind of have to play it. Like you don't know who she is. And then, you know, eventually you can be like, Oh yeah, of course I know who you were, if you actually get more friendly with her.

Uh, I also think there's a really good chance she will have developed knowing who knows what she does versus just a guy coming up to talk to a cute girl. I don't know though, I don't know. There's this guy who's like he's a hot girl. I'm staring around her all the time. It's different, like, you know,

if people are looking at you or Bill, they're like, I know that guy from sports. but if they're looking at a girl, they could just, well, I don't know, Bill's got those blue eyes and I don't know, you're pretty strong. But I think a lot of times when dudes are looking at you, I feel bad for Bill because when people like they, they're not sure. So they always look angry. So if I'm like walking somewhere with Bill, there's a guy who's like confused staring, but the confused face actually look a little like unhappy. So they look like they're grilling him.

They're like, are you that guy from whatever. But I think for girls, like dudes just ogle girls all the time. So it could all be a wash. How could you tell? Or ogle. Yeah, so I think, I don't know. I know what you're saying, but like to the same degree,

like Bill can see when somebody's looking at him without the person realize that he's looking at him. Okay. He has developed that over the course of his lifetime of like, where the other person thinks they're being covert, but, and it's converts too strong of a word, but like the person making the face doesn't understand this face that they're making someone just fart face where it's like, the hell's going on there? And that's the face of anybody that is in the public eye.

Like you have developed distinguishing the confusion recognition face that the person doesn't even realize that they're making. So unless our email are here is just, you know, creamy peanut butter, you've got to, you've got to figure that he'll probably have a tell. Yeah. He'll probably have a tell. And I would say if you actually just want to introduce her, say hello, see if there's any connection there, I would go out of your way to make sure you don't have that tell.

Yeah. Practice in the mirror, buddy. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Practice in the mirror. Little DeNiro stuff here. Like you know yeah I mean just gonna have to make up things like are you done are you done with that? Yeah I was gonna use it. Oh no problem now I can switch it up. I'm super malleable. Nice to meet you. Okay let us know how that goes. That'll do it. That'll do it for the show today. Thank you to Wargon. Live Pennsylvania Wargon and Kyle and Steve. Check out our

YouTube page. We'll have some new stuff up next week. We'll do the quarterback. NBA guys are going to get the jump on it right out of the gates and then maybe even update it middle of the season. So we'll be doing that just on YouTube. And please subscribe to the podcast. Ryan Roussela, Bringer Spotify. Must be 21 and older, present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC gambling problem, call 1-800-GAM Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York.