Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast struggles to fit in at
Speaker 1: corporate functions. Welcome back to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansus and I
Speaker 1: am joined by Rope. That's some heroes, Mark Cessiler to
Speaker 1: my left, that Greg Rosenthalt and I right, what's up? Boys?
Speaker 1: I think we we struggle to fit in at corporate functions.
Speaker 1: Other times we're simply left off the invite list and
Speaker 1: glaring emission. That's you know, obviously we we track heavily,
Speaker 1: and there is there is also and we should be
Speaker 1: fair to ourselves. There are other times where a little
Speaker 1: later into the corporate function, you know, Daddy's get a
Speaker 1: little loose, we actually become a main central driver of
Speaker 1: the I don't think you guys struggled all well. I
Speaker 1: think on that angle that also, you know, ultimately undo
Speaker 1: undoes us as well. And if West was here right now,
Speaker 1: and uh what things are going great with Wes who
Speaker 1: got out of the hospital and things are looking up,
Speaker 1: so great news with Christopher. If West was here right now,
Speaker 1: he would say, I don't go to no functions where
Speaker 1: they asked me to put on a penguin suit's He
Speaker 1: has never gone to one. So that is correct, and
Speaker 1: it's always been about for whatever reason. Even though West,
Speaker 1: like all of us, loves an open bar. Uh. Free
Speaker 1: food is nice too, but especially an open bar. Don't
Speaker 1: tell him to put on a tie, even though nobody
Speaker 1: has to wear a tie. At some point West said,
Speaker 1: do not ask me to put on a jacket or
Speaker 1: a tie to go to a work function. So he's
Speaker 1: never gone. He went to I think he went to
Speaker 1: one Christmas party early where it was a little dressy
Speaker 1: that he got a little dressed up, and he it
Speaker 1: was It was a bad experience for West. Never been
Speaker 1: since once. Yeah, once it happens. Once he's out. I
Speaker 1: want to thank Mark for playing hurt. Right now, he's
Speaker 1: wearing a really um awkward looking what would you call
Speaker 1: like a brace type thing on your face on my
Speaker 1: left index finger. Well, it's a sling according to that,
Speaker 1: not a sling. Splint splint, splint splank, thank you Erica.
Speaker 1: In fact, the reason he's wearing that splint is directly
Speaker 1: tied to the throne of sleeves and Mark, why did
Speaker 1: you explain how you came to have this grizzly laceration
Speaker 1: of your pointer finger. It is a very deep cut
Speaker 1: on the inside of my index finger. And it came
Speaker 1: yesterday during a ridiculous day off, right in the middle
Speaker 1: of the week and no plans. So I was at
Speaker 1: home trying to make one of these tom Brady meals
Speaker 1: that got shipped to our house tom Brady meal. You
Speaker 1: were just trying to enjoy your off day, and Tommy
Speaker 1: terrific says, hey, take out the sharpest knife in the
Speaker 1: kitchen to cut up these ridiculous vegeams. I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's that was in the instructions, taking out the
Speaker 1: sharpest night I'll take some some, you know, blame myself
Speaker 1: for being a ridiculously bad cook, but it does link
Speaker 1: back to Tom Brady. And do I hear from the
Speaker 1: Patriots or from Tom Brady when this went down? Not
Speaker 1: a word? Did you when you reached out for the
Speaker 1: request for the cookbook two hundred dollars? Did they say, hey,
Speaker 1: we we'll shoot one over your way. No? No, not
Speaker 1: on a pine leffl of cooperation. In fact, that project
Speaker 1: has essentially been deep six. So but just remember Tom
Speaker 1: Brady is telling you to take out a sharp knife.
Speaker 1: He has his people prepare his breakfast. But in lunches
Speaker 1: for the common man. For Mark Sessler, You're you're taking
Speaker 1: your life in your own hands. He doesn't put that
Speaker 1: in the book. I mean again, I I take almost
Speaker 1: entire full blame for this. But you know, you know,
Speaker 1: I like where you're going with it. You don't have
Speaker 1: to say it, let me do it. Okay, today's show.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about today's show. And you know why. You
Speaker 1: know what it is. It's the Fantasy Extravaganza. I already
Speaker 1: see one of the special guests, Matt Franchises back there, Matt.
Speaker 1: We just started the show, and I just, I just
Speaker 1: we should have given you a head a message just now.
Speaker 1: Sorry about that. We got pushed back, Matt behind the
Speaker 1: glass just so you know. But Franchise is gonna be here,
Speaker 1: Marcus Grant uh, two of the stalwarts um in fantasy
Speaker 1: coverage here at NFL Media, gonna join us, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk some overvalued and undervalued players as you you
Speaker 1: should be having your fantasy drafts starting now. Um. By now,
Speaker 1: I mean after the Week three preseason game. We got
Speaker 1: into that a little bit. Um, so hopefully you're waiting
Speaker 1: that long and holding off common sense is what it's
Speaker 1: all about but we'll have you covered this weekend if
Speaker 1: your draft this week and my draft is on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited. Uh. And then we'll do another part
Speaker 1: two and get some other the fantasy guys in here
Speaker 1: next week, probably next Wednesday. So two part show, and
Speaker 1: I know, Mark, you're very excited here. It's an episode
Speaker 1: that couldn't possibly end quickly enough because think about it,
Speaker 1: I mean, whenever we can do a fantasy show, it's
Speaker 1: very exciting because you could get uh, Greg here wrote
Speaker 1: a world brick by brick. We got these fantasy guys
Speaker 1: in house. Uh, we lean on them West unfortunately not
Speaker 1: with us, but also wrote a world a lump. I
Speaker 1: am the host, I keep things moving. And Marks also here,
Speaker 1: I'm yeah with it, you know, and I would say
Speaker 1: that my lack of a role is more glaring than
Speaker 1: ever it's anyway, we're gonna do our Fantasy extravagance Fantasy
Speaker 1: Extravagances Part one, uh, in the second half of the show.
Speaker 1: The first half of the show, we're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: the two preseason games week three earlier, just touch on
Speaker 1: some things, take a couple takeaways from that, uh, and
Speaker 1: also some strange things brewing. Uh with the New York Jets.
Speaker 1: What else is new? But before we do any of that,
Speaker 1: we will say hello formally to Erica behind the glass.
Speaker 1: I call her LC because she's a loose cannon. What's up, Erica?
Speaker 1: Is that like offensive or is it a compliment you have?
Speaker 1: I mean, take it as you will, Take it as
Speaker 1: you will. Okay, Okay, I think it's good. We've never
Speaker 1: really had a loose cannon. But I mean, you just
Speaker 1: called it for the show. You called yourself one of
Speaker 1: the cool kids, So I think loose cannon what you
Speaker 1: would take that positively? Yeah? I think that's a good thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you want to keep people on edge. Erica is wearing
Speaker 1: a white T shirt right now with a pack of
Speaker 1: cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve. Ye one in the
Speaker 1: air too. She's a greaser. Yeah. Let's do some news
Speaker 1: at the end of the day. This is the rib off,
Speaker 1: all right, here we go. Let's start with the preseason
Speaker 1: action from Thursday night, specifically the Panthers and Jaguars game,
Speaker 1: which leading into the game, of course, Uh, there was
Speaker 1: intrigue because the decision was made by Doug Roan to
Speaker 1: move away from Blake Bortles as the starter. UH, you know,
Speaker 1: which is a major, major decision organization wise because of
Speaker 1: how much was invested in Bordles is the third overall
Speaker 1: pick a couple of years ago, guy through uh thirty
Speaker 1: five touchdowns a couple of years ago, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, now Chad Henny of all people, UH is
Speaker 1: going to be the guy starting the third game of
Speaker 1: the preseason. Greg, your thoughts on this game and the
Speaker 1: performances of the two quarterbacks. I think there was nothing
Speaker 1: that could have changed from this game. Henny didn't do much.
Speaker 1: Henny was Chad Henny. You know, they didn't. They only
Speaker 1: scored when they had a short field and got some penalties.
Speaker 1: He did make two nice vertical throws, one of them
Speaker 1: was caught, one of them wasn't, but otherwise he was
Speaker 1: very uninspiring. The protection was very bad, so you couldn't
Speaker 1: really blame him. Totally bad running game. That's it reminded me, Hey,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars offense has more problems than just Blake Bordos.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going wrong, and Blake Bordos comes in
Speaker 1: in the second half. They keep the starting offensive line
Speaker 1: in basically the entire game, and he does lead two
Speaker 1: touchdown drives. But his first drive he had a fluttering
Speaker 1: past that was intercepted. So I don't think you can
Speaker 1: say Bordles, you know, made some sort of push. They
Speaker 1: both were just like so I expect hen he's the
Speaker 1: guy this week on Country Club Quarterback Survivor Blake Chat,
Speaker 1: who's your choice? Everyone wants to be Trevor, but someone's
Speaker 1: got to be the past CBS Thursdays. That's sair came
Speaker 1: out of nowhere was a little surprise for everyone in
Speaker 1: the studio. Um, if if you found that humorous, awesome,
Speaker 1: if you didn't like it, that was originally Colleen's joke
Speaker 1: that these are country club names. I like that, Blake
Speaker 1: and Chad, She's right, okay, go ahead, pretty great. Trevor
Speaker 1: and Paxton really nails it. A lot of whites, alright,
Speaker 1: go ahead. It definitely a lot of whites. Um, I mean,
Speaker 1: I it's funny before the game that NFL media insider
Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport mentioned that Bordles is a candidate potentially to
Speaker 1: not even make this team. And remember a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks back, on one of our potential trade scenarios, we
Speaker 1: had Colin Kaepernick winding up with the Jaguars and Bordles
Speaker 1: ending up somewhere else and after the game shot Khan
Speaker 1: said that he would be absolutely open to the entertaining
Speaker 1: the idea of adding Kaepernick, although the coaches just are
Speaker 1: not interested at this point. Well, I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: what the part of the report was. There's no obvious
Speaker 1: interest from the team from the football side of the team,
Speaker 1: but you could see it happen. Let's do it because
Speaker 1: entering the year like this is depressing. And Mark Brunel,
Speaker 1: who was a Jaguars you know, ex player, was really
Speaker 1: trying to look for something positive ports to say, and
Speaker 1: he you know, he was saying that he was looking
Speaker 1: a little more confident. But this is after an early interception,
Speaker 1: and he basically said after that practice which we talked
Speaker 1: about on this podcast, which he became a national story,
Speaker 1: where Bordles through all those interceptions, Brunel, who is always
Speaker 1: extremely positive about everything, said Bortles was essentially gun shy
Speaker 1: and spooped for the rest of camp, like he was
Speaker 1: afraid to make throws. And you can't. You can't go
Speaker 1: into a season with a guy like that. It's got
Speaker 1: to be head like, who's I don't know where I
Speaker 1: saw another reporter was like some scout was like, it's
Speaker 1: all about the six inches between the ears. Now with
Speaker 1: that guy, it's not about mechanics, you know, physical, it's
Speaker 1: it's mental too. So when you start getting into this realm,
Speaker 1: it's almost like the Rick Ankiel situation in baseball in
Speaker 1: the nineties, Like is it a situation where he needs
Speaker 1: it's beyond just like, oh, we gotta fick his mccax.
Speaker 1: He might be broken as quarterback right now. Also, a
Speaker 1: lot of I mean a lot of people's skulls are
Speaker 1: wider than six inches. I don't I think, especially if
Speaker 1: you're a giant person like Blake Bortles. Is that how
Speaker 1: wide his head is? I mean, Phil Sims had a
Speaker 1: good code. That could be a brain shot. His biggest
Speaker 1: problem is he's afraid because he doesn't know where the
Speaker 1: ball is gonna go when he throws it, which is
Speaker 1: a problematic an There's another significant issue for an NFL.
Speaker 1: By the way, you know, Cam Robinson their top draft
Speaker 1: pick or their second round draft pick, rather uh got
Speaker 1: you know struggle that left tackle Leonard Fournette, their top
Speaker 1: draft pick, hasn't played in two weeks. That's that seems problematic,
Speaker 1: So there there's other things going on to with them.
Speaker 1: Does it feel like and I am not I am
Speaker 1: not gonna make judgment based off three preseason games, but
Speaker 1: does it feel like the Jaguars are hurtling towards disaster
Speaker 1: once again? And I'm talking Jaguars disaster three and thirteen
Speaker 1: type situation. That's Jaguars, that's Jaguars status quo. Um. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of hope two months ago. I know
Speaker 1: there wasn't more than five. They haven't won more than
Speaker 1: five games since, I believe, which is which is insane. No,
Speaker 1: I still have hope for them that maybe the defense
Speaker 1: can carry them and Henny, I guess it would be
Speaker 1: Henny wouldn't be so bad. I'm hopeful that they are
Speaker 1: the team to me that can still make a move,
Speaker 1: whether it's Kaepernick or a trade that we don't see coming.
Speaker 1: What about if four Nett is healthy? You given the
Speaker 1: ball seven and fifty times? Sounds good to me. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but more bad news, guys, because Jonathan Grimes one yard
Speaker 1: touchdown round with five three to play pull Jacksonville within
Speaker 1: a point of the Panthers, but the two point pass
Speaker 1: conversion failed. The result win for the Panthers who moved
Speaker 1: to two and one Jacksonville one and two, and uh,
Speaker 1: Jacksonville winless in their own building. You gotta established on
Speaker 1: field advantage. Although it was good for Moron to go
Speaker 1: for two because it was pouring there for most of
Speaker 1: the night, and that at any fan that was sticking
Speaker 1: around to the end of that. You know, any coach
Speaker 1: that takes a preseason game in overtime needs to be
Speaker 1: relieved of their duties immediately. Anything from the Panther side,
Speaker 1: Cam Newton got some action and uh, Mark, what were
Speaker 1: your thoughts about the way he looked out there for
Speaker 1: one scoring drive? That thought he looked fine. Kelvin Benjamin,
Speaker 1: I think continues to be the story for that team.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's the players and coaches come out saying
Speaker 1: he has been sensational. I'm adding him to our draft
Speaker 1: or fantasy conversation. So sit on that for a second.
Speaker 1: It's a huge it's a huge moment to get Cam
Speaker 1: Newton on the field in a game before the regular season.
Speaker 1: Now you gotta feel that, Okay, he's he's on his
Speaker 1: path now. He only threw two passes, so there was
Speaker 1: a dream. Ron rivera drive eight runs, two passes, and
Speaker 1: you kind of saw what you would want to see
Speaker 1: from the Panthers offense. You know, Jonathan Stewart started and
Speaker 1: looked really good. Look Jonathan Stewart with a little less
Speaker 1: work might be even better. McCaffrey of course, looked great again.
Speaker 1: To me, he's the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Years. So the two of them like, that's the
Speaker 1: offense they want to run, just running all day, uh,
Speaker 1: and real quick. The the Eagle and Dolphins. I guess
Speaker 1: people like the way Jay Cutler looked. He was looking
Speaker 1: like Jay Cutler slinging the ball. Ronald Darby and Philly
Speaker 1: was getting beat up by Jay Cutler. So at the
Speaker 1: very least, I guess my takeaway is people forget because
Speaker 1: so many things happened in between. Jay Cutler is coming
Speaker 1: off shoulder surgery. Uh, and he looks like Jay Cutler
Speaker 1: for better or worse. I think it's he he found
Speaker 1: three or four bombs to h we're big plays, had
Speaker 1: a fumble. I mean, there's gonna be these Jake Cutler
Speaker 1: ish type things that happened. But really, of all the
Speaker 1: landing spots, this is a good one for Jake Culer
Speaker 1: because he's already meshing with DeVante, Parker Well and Stills,
Speaker 1: and they've Jgi looked good. They've got a good their
Speaker 1: running game is balanced, They've got a balance attack. J
Speaker 1: gonna run for fantastic. I'm not Yeah, I'm not waiting
Speaker 1: for the fantasy spectacular to start. I'm gonna go ahead
Speaker 1: and say it. Jgi getting taken out of the first
Speaker 1: round and forget that. To me, the top five or
Speaker 1: six Bick, he's as safe, He's as safer running back
Speaker 1: just about as there is in my mind. I know
Speaker 1: his injury questions with just about anyone but a Ji.
Speaker 1: I would love me some James Well. When you get
Speaker 1: down to picking defenses, I would fantize that's giving me
Speaker 1: the thumbs up. Would that Eagles defense is going to
Speaker 1: create turnovers and sacks and cause massive disruption. Um, all right,
Speaker 1: and moving on to a team that doesn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of fantasy impact. Yes, let's talk about my Jets
Speaker 1: really quickly, and and we're not gonna talk about the Jets.
Speaker 1: We're gonna try not to talk about the Jets a lot,
Speaker 1: or I'll try not to this season, especially as as
Speaker 1: other relevant teams come into play. But we decided we
Speaker 1: should today just because there's something very weird going on
Speaker 1: uh in Jets camp right now. As you know, Josh
Speaker 1: the Town, Christian hack American Price Petty or the poop
Speaker 1: poop Ladder uh in Floren Park and Hackerberg's over thirteen
Speaker 1: on possessions in the preseason. In terms of leading his
Speaker 1: team to points, played very poorly against the Lions last
Speaker 1: week in what was a surprise start audition, So you'd
Speaker 1: think that now you would lead it. Hey, Josh McCown,
Speaker 1: we get it. You're fifty four years old, you're one
Speaker 1: in thirty seven in your last three seasons, but you're
Speaker 1: the best chance, uh for Todd Bowls to save a
Speaker 1: little bit of face to season. You'll be the starter
Speaker 1: this week. Josh McCown is not even practicing. He's getting
Speaker 1: next to no reps all throughout the week leading into
Speaker 1: the customary third game where you get your starter on
Speaker 1: the field for a half and you get things in order,
Speaker 1: and it's Hackenberg and Petty splitting the reps and it's
Speaker 1: created a gregg A situation where uh, And in terms
Speaker 1: of intrigue, I guess it's limited because ultimately this is
Speaker 1: an also round team at the at uh and that's
Speaker 1: been kindly and describing them. But what is going on?
Speaker 1: That's the thought process in the Metal ends. I have
Speaker 1: a theory, but I'd like to hear yours. I've never
Speaker 1: heard of a team not allowing their starting quarterback to
Speaker 1: practice the week leading into the third preseason game or
Speaker 1: play in the second preseason game. So in that of
Speaker 1: believing the Jets are doing something that no other team
Speaker 1: has ever done, I'm starting to believe Josh McCown is
Speaker 1: not going to be their Week one starter. That is
Speaker 1: my own take. I don't get it because the one
Speaker 1: drive you came in Week one, blazing passed down field,
Speaker 1: quick touchdown by the Jets. They looked competent. It was
Speaker 1: an awesome track. It was, I mean, it was a quick,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, no prisoners type march and they
Speaker 1: score and then you don't see him again. It I
Speaker 1: get the Jets fans that want to be patient and
Speaker 1: understand that this could be leading to a getting the
Speaker 1: next version of Peyton Manning or something in the draft.
Speaker 1: But this angers me because you you if you just
Speaker 1: if you don't put account out their Week one it's
Speaker 1: simply saying we we are not on any level trying
Speaker 1: to compete. You wonder if, yeah, the the scamp for
Speaker 1: Sam is is so transparent at this point that the
Speaker 1: Jets can get themselves in trouble potentially. But I think
Speaker 1: with I think what I it sounds like to me,
Speaker 1: And this has been a problem for the Jets for
Speaker 1: you know, multiple years now, especially since uh tana Um
Speaker 1: and Rex were broken up. It doesn't appear that um
Speaker 1: ownership and the coaching staff, for the front office and
Speaker 1: the coaching staff are always on the same page. The
Speaker 1: left hand doesn't know what the right hands doing and
Speaker 1: it leads to decisions that make you wonder what's going
Speaker 1: on in terms of cohesiveness. And to me, I feel
Speaker 1: like I know enough of Todd Bowles who he is
Speaker 1: now that entering his third year with the Jets that
Speaker 1: Todd Bowls probably wants uh the old guy out there.
Speaker 1: He wants my account out there. It's at least a
Speaker 1: steadying presence that gives him a chance to win some
Speaker 1: games and hope his defense and special specifically the defensive
Speaker 1: line makes plays. But ownership or the front office, and
Speaker 1: I don't even know who's running the ship as an
Speaker 1: owner right now, because that guy is about to go
Speaker 1: to England for three uh when his brothers involved now too,
Speaker 1: So maybe they want the kid in no matter what,
Speaker 1: and that will either let's get some return on this
Speaker 1: investment the second round pick and see what we got, uh,
Speaker 1: no matter what the fallout is and the coach is helpless.
Speaker 1: I kind of think that there's something going on behind
Speaker 1: the scene. And and and if you to look back
Speaker 1: and say, wait, why did you we get why you
Speaker 1: let some of these veterans go? But when you purged
Speaker 1: the roster entirely of leadership and other than Matt four
Speaker 1: to don't even know what he's still doing there. When
Speaker 1: you do this, you're telling your team basically, if you
Speaker 1: go with Hackenburg out of the gate, we aren't trying
Speaker 1: to win games this season. And that's a tough thing
Speaker 1: to to tell, to tell your team to have to
Speaker 1: coach has to give to the roster. So you've removed
Speaker 1: all the mouthy players that would have put up a stink.
Speaker 1: You're basically either Eric Decker and David Harris were just
Speaker 1: good loyal soldiers that got sent packing as well. All
Speaker 1: I'd say is, I mean, if you're Josh McCown, you
Speaker 1: were with the four teen Bucks that netted the first
Speaker 1: round from the top overall pick. You played with the
Speaker 1: fifteen and sixteen Browns, another team that got the number
Speaker 1: one overall pick, and you're gonna do it again. How
Speaker 1: many quarterbacks have quarterback in four seasons three number one
Speaker 1: picking teams in the draft? I mean that is, I
Speaker 1: can't think of another? Uh and uh. Finally, so I'm
Speaker 1: really excited about the upcoming Jet season. Um and find
Speaker 1: only Gregor wrote banger. Greg is extremely fond. We all are,
Speaker 1: but Greg is as well. Wade Phillips not only is
Speaker 1: he a defensive mastermind as a schemer, but he's adorable.
Speaker 1: Let's face it, Yes, son a bum. Uh and Greg
Speaker 1: wrote a piece on nfl dot com headline Wade Phillips
Speaker 1: brings quick Fix Wizardry to Los Angeles rams D. Greg
Speaker 1: did you write the headline? First of all, No, I
Speaker 1: think it's a little different when it's shown on the page.
Speaker 1: My guess is, you know they're trying to do things.
Speaker 1: They're trying to get the full names in for there's
Speaker 1: a lot of s c O going on here and
Speaker 1: then wizard in the middle. It's on the site it
Speaker 1: says the defense, the defense Whisper son of Bum's Secret Sauce.
Speaker 1: I like that. I like that because he is he
Speaker 1: is the quick fix, dominant coordinator of the last twenty
Speaker 1: five years. He is the guy. It's the defense. Whisper Colan,
Speaker 1: son of Bums Secret Sauce. What is this about? Tell
Speaker 1: about this column? Like I don't write the headlines. Uh.
Speaker 1: He when he's the he's the fixer. When he comes
Speaker 1: in to a team, he fixes you. And it's insane
Speaker 1: in a in a league where there's so much unpredictability,
Speaker 1: he is a dent predictable. The last nine times he's
Speaker 1: taken over as a coordinator or head coach, he has
Speaker 1: improved their defense, points and yards and it's usually very dramatic.
Speaker 1: The last nine times he's taken over, their team had
Speaker 1: not made the playoffs the previous year, and he brought
Speaker 1: them to the playoffs that year. That is an insane
Speaker 1: track record. And so it's it's a little bit about
Speaker 1: like why why is he so good at doing this?
Speaker 1: And part of it is just I think his teaching methods,
Speaker 1: and that's what I drove to drilled down with him
Speaker 1: into He he tends to keep it very simple. He
Speaker 1: has like his method. He doesn't just say Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna install this one day, installed at the next like,
Speaker 1: he waits till they understand everything. He does it in
Speaker 1: a very straightforward way kind of the way he speaks,
Speaker 1: and it works. I mean, the guy, the guy's the man.
Speaker 1: If there's a coordinator Hall of Fame or you put
Speaker 1: guys in for being a coordinator. To me, he's in it.
Speaker 1: Seventy years old, about to start his fortieth season in
Speaker 1: the NFL's tenth teams, the Ramps, and his ninth team,
Speaker 1: the Broncos. I get the feeling. I just have a
Speaker 1: feeling that they're gonna regret making the decision. I understand
Speaker 1: new coaching came in and and the idea you want
Speaker 1: to uh to defensive coach that took over and all that,
Speaker 1: But letting Wade Phillips go out the door, I don't
Speaker 1: know if that was the wise move, and I think
Speaker 1: they'll live to regret that. Can't find too many father
Speaker 1: son coaching combinations like this family, No like they. I
Speaker 1: started with an image that Connor barrowin the Rams linebacker
Speaker 1: told me how he thought was one of the coolest
Speaker 1: things he's ever seen. That bum Phillips and his wife,
Speaker 1: bum Phillips has since passed away, but the legendary coach
Speaker 1: of of those Oilers teams. They would go and just
Speaker 1: watch Wade Phillips coach practice. They just go sit in
Speaker 1: the stands and they love football and they love their
Speaker 1: sons so much they would just go watch him coach practice.
Speaker 1: There's very little like it. And one of the things
Speaker 1: I like with Wade is he's not looking for players.
Speaker 1: He says he doesn't want players that follows all his
Speaker 1: rules because those players, when it comes down to it,
Speaker 1: you have to make a play sometimes which is against
Speaker 1: the grain. And he looks for guys that kind of
Speaker 1: he like changes his mold. It's not about his mold,
Speaker 1: it's about the players. He doesn't believe. He thinks coaches
Speaker 1: that say, oh, you know, you know, they made a
Speaker 1: lot of mistakes after the game, He's like, that's your fault.
Speaker 1: You should have taught them not to make mistakes. He
Speaker 1: he believes you can be friends with players. Maybe most
Speaker 1: most coaches don't feel that way, but he goes out
Speaker 1: to eat with his ex players all the time they
Speaker 1: are still in the league. I mean, you talked to him.
Speaker 1: He uses the secret sauce. At the lunch you talked
Speaker 1: to him a bunch of mean so he comes across
Speaker 1: in person to you the same way he he always has.
Speaker 1: I mean, just seems like a very likable Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: very sort of straightforward, good quick one liners, like playing
Speaker 1: sort of like he's right direct to the point. We've
Speaker 1: talked about this before, but what are my favorite parts
Speaker 1: and super Bowl coverages? Talking to him right after he
Speaker 1: won the super Bowl and he was just kinda such
Speaker 1: a happy guy. Yeah, he's talked about it. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm happy, like he doesn't believe like he thinks, he
Speaker 1: thinks yelling and like he said, he's never yelled at
Speaker 1: a player. He doesn't really do pregame speeches like that's
Speaker 1: it's just not who he is. And he's he showed
Speaker 1: you could do it a different type of He's the
Speaker 1: anti Greg Williams. Yes exactly. Oh I know how people
Speaker 1: in this room feel about Greg Williams. Do you have
Speaker 1: you do you have a vanity or l for this?
Speaker 1: For that? Well all right, well that's a crime, yes,
Speaker 1: Slash Rosenthal. But you know they're giving vanity or else
Speaker 1: to everything. Why would they could create one in five
Speaker 1: seconds by the way what if if they went dot
Speaker 1: coms Greg dot com dot com dot com you know
Speaker 1: Greg Ward, the new polo earlier this week. One again
Speaker 1: one of those gentle reminders you're not there yet. That
Speaker 1: short still reminds me. It just reminds me of Micro
Speaker 1: know that they didn't give you a vanity or trust me.
Speaker 1: Like when Silver writes something, do you think he's getting
Speaker 1: a vanity? Everyone in that Ali group, original content group
Speaker 1: when when they write their fancy pieces always I think
Speaker 1: part of it we need to start fighting on behalf
Speaker 1: of ourselves to be viewed on that level. And what
Speaker 1: they will love is that they're being called out with
Speaker 1: no ability to respond on a podcast to people in
Speaker 1: like Tanzania and England are listening to. So let's talk
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Speaker 1: head if you want to be one of the New
Speaker 1: era soldiers like us, or don't or don't and then
Speaker 1: reap the consequence. Well, yeah, it's the kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Initially there'll be some thrilled to that going against the grain,
Speaker 1: but then you know, ultimately you're left alone. All right,
Speaker 1: Now it's time to welcome in. Here they come. Let's
Speaker 1: bring him in. Hey, guys, wake ume, Here we go,
Speaker 1: Here we go. There is Matt Franchise, Marcus Grant. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're making their way into the studio. Uh, look at
Speaker 1: that Marcus tall, dark and handsome, beautiful franchise. The hair,
Speaker 1: beautiful beard on franchise legendary. Oh I imagined both these
Speaker 1: guys are really styling with their facial hair. All right,
Speaker 1: let's welcome. Yes, here they are. Now they at their
Speaker 1: headsets on franchise and Marcus, what's up? Boys? Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL Podcast. Always always excited to be here.
Speaker 1: I'm always excited to get the invite here, you know,
Speaker 1: for franchise, this is his this is maiden voyage. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm very excited to be here. It wasn't sure if
Speaker 1: I'd be welcome considering the uh the millennial beard talk
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago slander. Well, hold on, it
Speaker 1: was not. It's not a take on millennials. It feel
Speaker 1: like it was pointed directly at me. Well you know not,
Speaker 1: you know, to give him a little plug here. You know,
Speaker 1: Franchise and in our Matt Harmon host their own podcast
Speaker 1: called The Fantasy Hipsters where they literally promote I think
Speaker 1: beard products correct, So it feels like a direct shot Mark.
Speaker 1: I think that there is tremendous respect between Franchise and I,
Speaker 1: and that's so that supersedes my hot takes on like
Speaker 1: facial hair grooming. But I but when you make a
Speaker 1: critique about society, it's some people that you know are
Speaker 1: going to get snowed under and you have to deal
Speaker 1: with that fair enough. They're gonna be some kill shots
Speaker 1: maybe part of the not personal towards you. They get
Speaker 1: a big statement. Um, all right, So yes, Marcus was on.
Speaker 1: Actually I was doing a little research, as I want
Speaker 1: to do. You were on the Fantasy Extravaganza last years.
Speaker 1: I was, I was, Um, so we're happy that Marcus back. Um,
Speaker 1: So boys, what we're gonna talk about today? Listen, First
Speaker 1: of all, you are you with us on this? Are
Speaker 1: you with us or against us? With the idea of
Speaker 1: if you're having your fantasy draft a four week three
Speaker 1: of the preseason, I fully agree that. You know, I
Speaker 1: know that a lot of people trying to have this
Speaker 1: idea of, well, that's that's what the pros do, trying
Speaker 1: to like you don't have to do that. Why why
Speaker 1: are you increasing the level of difficult? There's an elitist
Speaker 1: angle to it, it really is, and it doesn't need
Speaker 1: to be there. I'm always I'm always surprised by you know,
Speaker 1: some of the people I follow on Twitter and the
Speaker 1: Fantasy give me. They're like finishing my thirtie best Ball
Speaker 1: draft today and it's like July, and I'm thinking, what's
Speaker 1: the point That. I never liked that when I was
Speaker 1: doing fantasy for a living either, because I always thought,
Speaker 1: what's the point of not knowing what the teams are
Speaker 1: going into the season. There's no point to that there.
Speaker 1: It doesn't. I mean, it's analysis that doesn't help anybody
Speaker 1: because it's going to be drastically different. You know, it
Speaker 1: seems like a disadvantage. All right, absolutely, so we're all
Speaker 1: on the same page. It's on board with that Franchise
Speaker 1: of Mark have made peace at some level, although it
Speaker 1: seems to be something hanging in the air there a
Speaker 1: little bit. I'll see if that presents itself any further
Speaker 1: in the episode. But let's now officially start the two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen fantasy Here we go. Wow, I feel like
Speaker 1: I made Medieval Times Part one right. It's overvalued and
Speaker 1: undervalued talents on your fantasy board. Okay, so we're gonna
Speaker 1: start here. We're gonna end the end the show with
Speaker 1: both Marcus and franchise giving their overriding draft day fantasy philosophy,
Speaker 1: which is more a big picture of macro. But let's
Speaker 1: drill down here. Mark Sessler involved in the podcast. Oh
Speaker 1: let me, yeah, let me set this up. I've said
Speaker 1: plenty already on the Yeah. I am joined by an
Speaker 1: incredible group here of fantasy minds. Greg Rosenthal needs no interest.
Speaker 1: Do you have any applause? Greg Rosenthal needs no introduction.
Speaker 1: He built rode a world brick by brick, html physically everything,
Speaker 1: and he's with us today. Greg Rosenthal to my left,
Speaker 1: Thank you, Matt Franchise. Oh my goodness. They some call
Speaker 1: him Francescovic some maybe one. Maybe you're the only ones.
Speaker 1: But Matt Franchise has been working for NFL Fantasy for
Speaker 1: how long? This is my fourth season? Four years? Four
Speaker 1: years building? Uh he's he's hardened enough to be cynical
Speaker 1: about this place. Yes or no? Uh? Yes? Okay, good
Speaker 1: that means you're you're right on track. Uh so four
Speaker 1: years in the game. Also on the Fantasy podcast, also
Speaker 1: the Fantasy Histors podcast, Marcus Grant an NFL media life
Speaker 1: for thirty years from now. He's sitting in that in
Speaker 1: that spot. Yes or no? I am the the tim
Speaker 1: Meadows slash Keenan Thompson of NFL you know what, and
Speaker 1: that that might be that might be seeming like you're you're,
Speaker 1: you know, putting yourself down. But those guys were valuable values.
Speaker 1: They had good careers. You know, people there always say
Speaker 1: that Keenan Thompson is like the glue that holds that
Speaker 1: think the most valuable guy. Because you said that, I'm
Speaker 1: going to now track very closely. Who lasts longer? You
Speaker 1: here or Tom anyway? And Mark's here? All right? Here
Speaker 1: we go overvalued, undervalued, but we will be going to
Speaker 1: the fantasy corner, the Mark Sesler Fantasy corners. I've got
Speaker 1: something for you today. Yeah, okay, so all right, here
Speaker 1: we go overvalued undervalued. I'll start with a superstar just
Speaker 1: for fun, and you guys could throw him out too is.
Speaker 1: But I have a list here. A J. Green, wide receiver,
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. His average draft selection, he's going to the
Speaker 1: round two, pick thirteen, so in most leagues that is,
Speaker 1: you know, in every league, just about early in the
Speaker 1: second round, almost the first rounder. Overvalued undervalue will start
Speaker 1: with you, franchise. I think he's valued perfectly right there.
Speaker 1: I think you can make the argument to take Mike
Speaker 1: Evans ahead of him, maybe at the in the late
Speaker 1: first round. I would take Green ahead of Mike Evans. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's one of the elites. I think Mike Evans has
Speaker 1: some work to do to get there to be considered elite.
Speaker 1: So you have Green kind of behind it would be
Speaker 1: Brown and Julio. Yeah. Green would be my fourth behind
Speaker 1: A B O, B J and Julio. I guessally think
Speaker 1: he's he's undervalued a little bit. I think he used
Speaker 1: my fourth wide receiver, but I think he deserves going
Speaker 1: in the first round. I think after David Johnson, Levy
Speaker 1: on Bell, there's a lot of uncertainty at the running
Speaker 1: back spot. I mean the changes in Buffalo I think
Speaker 1: have affected Lashawn McCoy for me. I know, you know,
Speaker 1: I know Greg loves j J. I I do too,
Speaker 1: But I still think there's a place for a J.
Speaker 1: Green to come off the board sometime in the late
Speaker 1: first round. I agree that would be undervalued. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he's undervalued Green. Beckham, Beckham's got the injury. You Green, Evans,
Speaker 1: Julio Brown. You know you're not missing with those picks.
Speaker 1: Like once you're you're right, once you get past those
Speaker 1: first two running backs, I'd rather have any of those
Speaker 1: receivers really over the next running back. Since you brought
Speaker 1: it up, I just I'll throw them out there. Odell
Speaker 1: Beckham Jr. For people they're drafting. So let's say you
Speaker 1: have the fifth pick or the fourth pick, and you're locked.
Speaker 1: That's a perfect spot potentially for Beckham and you have
Speaker 1: this ankle injury and it's still very hazy what it is.
Speaker 1: There's reports that he can miss a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Is that enough for a real draft mind to say
Speaker 1: I'm staying away from let somebody else take him in
Speaker 1: the first round. Not for me. I think he stays
Speaker 1: right in that same spot. If he misses a game,
Speaker 1: if he misses two gay games, I think I remember
Speaker 1: he missed went a handful of games in his rookie
Speaker 1: year and came on and still was lights out, So
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about him. Yeah, it got off to
Speaker 1: a slow start last year. Two people were kind of
Speaker 1: freaking out by like week four or five, and then
Speaker 1: still finished as the top five wide out in fantasy.
Speaker 1: So let's shoot over the fantasy corner. Mark your thoughts
Speaker 1: on Odell Beckham's ankle injury and how that could affect
Speaker 1: his draft standing. Not only concerned not doing a draft myself,
Speaker 1: so it's not something that's depressing on my real Wow. Okay,
Speaker 1: now moving on and Mark, you let me know when
Speaker 1: we want to throw it over to the corner if
Speaker 1: you have Like it's more it's sort of like a
Speaker 1: halftime show field, Like it's not really relevant from an
Speaker 1: information perspective, So okay, intermission, if you need to leave
Speaker 1: the room, Yeah, people need to pause and go, you know,
Speaker 1: answer the door or something. This one. Um, Okay, next up,
Speaker 1: I'll throw another one out there. How about another wide receiver,
Speaker 1: Doug Baldwin of the Seahawks. I'm we talked about this
Speaker 1: the other day. I am extremely high on the Seahawks offense.
Speaker 1: I in a two quarterback league at which means quarterbacks
Speaker 1: go earlier, and I'm gonna be all over Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: potentially if a nice but if it presents itself, I
Speaker 1: think Doug Baldwin is an unheralded guy. Has given his
Speaker 1: production when his quarterback's healthy, averaging a third round average pick.
Speaker 1: Marcus your thoughts on that, I think that's undervalued as well,
Speaker 1: and I think I think he still sort of has
Speaker 1: that stink on him from a few years ago, when
Speaker 1: you know, everybody, especially publicly, kind of degraded the Seahawks
Speaker 1: wide receivers. They talked bad about Baldwin and Jermaine Curse. Uh.
Speaker 1: Since then, all Duck Baldwin has done, it's just put
Speaker 1: up numbers and it's an offense that has started to
Speaker 1: trend a little bit more toward being I won't say
Speaker 1: pass heavy, but they're certainly throwing it more than they
Speaker 1: did during the Beast mode heydays and Doug Baldwin is
Speaker 1: the undisputed number one target there. So he's a guy
Speaker 1: you know coming off the board. You said in the
Speaker 1: third round, I have no problem reaching around earlier and
Speaker 1: taking him in the second. Yeah, I'm with you. He's undervalued,
Speaker 1: he's around reference. He's going behind t Y, Hilton and
Speaker 1: Brand didn't Cooks. That's insane. Rather have Baldwin than those guys.
Speaker 1: Rather have Baldwin. He's been a top ten fantasy receiver
Speaker 1: the last two seasons. Hilt that. Yeah, Hilton's a little
Speaker 1: insane because Hilton was insanely underrated last year won me
Speaker 1: my league, really and he and if Luck gets back,
Speaker 1: then he's right back to being a top guy. You haven't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that feels like the luck thing that Cooks is crazy.
Speaker 1: There's an overvalue. I'll just throw that out, go ahead.
Speaker 1: Why would why would you be drafting Brandon Cooks like
Speaker 1: he's some sort of that he's going to be their
Speaker 1: number one wide receiver. There's a lot of mouse to
Speaker 1: feed there. He's just one of them. I don't think
Speaker 1: his numbers. I think his numbers go down a decent amount,
Speaker 1: and I think it's because everybody is thirsty for Tom
Speaker 1: Brady to have that. You know that number one locked
Speaker 1: in target wide receiver. I mean that. I don't think
Speaker 1: he is either, but people saw what he did in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. They see his potential, especially as a deep
Speaker 1: threat potentially, and I think we're just all thirsty for that.
Speaker 1: I would rather have taken the six round. I would
Speaker 1: take it. Why is marsha On Lynch above all these guys?
Speaker 1: This whole list is crazy. Well, let's stick with the
Speaker 1: Patriots second here. So like Tom Brady is a great
Speaker 1: guy to have quarterback, we don't have to even get
Speaker 1: into that. Uh. Julian Edelman, I think is the safe guy.
Speaker 1: If you're looking for somebody it's gonna get targets. I
Speaker 1: think he'll always get targets, even if he's not a
Speaker 1: big play guy. Cooks, if you remember even last year,
Speaker 1: he could disappear in the Saints offense from time to
Speaker 1: time when there were a lot of weapons. So for
Speaker 1: anybody that's gonna think, oh now they have a take
Speaker 1: take the top off a defense option, uh, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be Randy Moss all over again. I think you're in
Speaker 1: for a surprise. Well it's not a good one. My
Speaker 1: my fear with Cooks you mentioned how he disappeared, and
Speaker 1: remember last year when he kind of disappeared, he was
Speaker 1: unhappy about him. He let everybody know about that. That's
Speaker 1: not gonna fly into England and if he starts to
Speaker 1: mouth off, then he will be exiled to somewhere else.
Speaker 1: My my one concerned about Julian Edelman is that he's
Speaker 1: been a guy who obviously gets a ton of targets,
Speaker 1: will catch a lot of balls, but from a yardage
Speaker 1: and touchdown standpoint, the numbers aren't necessarily great. And now
Speaker 1: with so many more options there, Now you've got Rex
Speaker 1: Burkhead to get targets, You've got Brandon Cooks there. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know where we are in the
Speaker 1: evolution of Malcolm Mitchell, but I just wonder if the
Speaker 1: same target volume is going to be there for Edelman
Speaker 1: and how much how much that would affect I don't know.
Speaker 1: To me, he's the he's the guy I would trust
Speaker 1: the most. I mean, Gronk, you take obviously, you take
Speaker 1: as early as he's going because Gronk. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: just I can't imagine a season where Julian Edelman gets
Speaker 1: less than eight cat can't you know when you want
Speaker 1: Julian edelone. Right, he's a useful guy to have. You
Speaker 1: shouldn't be the center. But if you're going into Monday
Speaker 1: night and the Patriots are playing, and you're trailing by
Speaker 1: eleven points, do you want Julian Edelman give you? Is nice?
Speaker 1: He might not give you like the explosion, but he's
Speaker 1: always going to give you something fantasy corner. What you
Speaker 1: got well, I would say, if if if Cook's mouths off,
Speaker 1: as you point out, people wind up where those two
Speaker 1: ball boys wound up, which is about fifteen ft below
Speaker 1: the mass turn. That's right. Exile from Patriot page out there.
Speaker 1: Overvalue just mentioned marsh On Lynch because that that is
Speaker 1: one name that stands out. Am I crazy? What is
Speaker 1: he doing there? It is? Uh, it seems crazy that
Speaker 1: to me that Marshawn Lynch would be getting taken in
Speaker 1: the top Yeah. I put him on my list of
Speaker 1: riskiest picks by round. He's going about in the third round. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's crazy. I think people talk up the Raiders offensive
Speaker 1: line being strong and their offense in general is you know,
Speaker 1: kind of high flying. They think he's gonna get all
Speaker 1: the goal line looks which yeah, and so did Latavius
Speaker 1: Murray last year, but he only have like what seven
Speaker 1: hundred rushing yards something like that. I I look at
Speaker 1: the Raiders offense and I feel like it's greater than
Speaker 1: the sum of its parts, you know, like they do
Speaker 1: some good They do a lot of good things offensively
Speaker 1: and individually. I like those players as football players. I
Speaker 1: like Derek Carr. I like a Mari Cooper. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: we all want Marshawn Lynch to come back and be
Speaker 1: a great story. He comes back, it's town business and
Speaker 1: he puts up huge numbers. But I don't think they
Speaker 1: need that from him. They need him to be that
Speaker 1: guy who salted with fourth quarter can you laugh? I mean,
Speaker 1: I just I'm just curious if he's gonna last season now.
Speaker 1: I will say I went into this camp very skeptical,
Speaker 1: and I was kind of looking for those reports that
Speaker 1: maybe he didn't look great, or he's missing practices or whatever,
Speaker 1: and those reports have not been there. He's reportedly looked good.
Speaker 1: He played in the preseason, so he has checked some boxes.
Speaker 1: But those the backups, he has, their talents, well, I
Speaker 1: think that's part of it too. I Mean they know
Speaker 1: that there's a short window where they have Marshawn Lynch,
Speaker 1: and at some point you do have to figure out
Speaker 1: what you have with Jalen Rochard and and DeAndre Washington,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook and then Marshall the other thing with Lynch
Speaker 1: out of agreement, Dalvin Cook over Marshawn Lynch. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: all day. I think we're all on board with back
Speaker 1: twelve anymore. And by the way, for all you people
Speaker 1: that forgot Marshawn Lynch wasn't that good two years ago.
Speaker 1: He's gonna take a year off and ride a scooter
Speaker 1: around Oakland and like town business and come back and
Speaker 1: be amazing. I mean, I calmed down. If you've got
Speaker 1: fantasy points for entertainment value, like Marshawn Lynch is a
Speaker 1: first round pick, if you've got points for awkwardly hitting on,
Speaker 1: he's the first round pick overall. I'm a little concerned
Speaker 1: about his motivation to when he was retired, someone asked him,
Speaker 1: what was the highlight of your career? He said, retiring,
Speaker 1: And then a couple of weeks ago, a reporter asked
Speaker 1: him if he missed football while he was away, and
Speaker 1: he said no, it's a good point. You could see
Speaker 1: him retire in October if it just isn't for him,
Speaker 1: there's a ten percent chance he just retires in the
Speaker 1: middle of the season, which sounds fair like that should
Speaker 1: knock him down around definitely. This whole thing kind of
Speaker 1: seems like just the fun little lark that he's on,
Speaker 1: and maybe it lasts through January or best case scenario February.
Speaker 1: I could last by October thousand, ten Brett Farve, that's
Speaker 1: my projection. My projection for him. That's not a good
Speaker 1: projection at all. I think we're reading the tea leaves here,
Speaker 1: all right. How about j Ji came up earlier um
Speaker 1: as a guy he looked at incredible in his final
Speaker 1: tune up on Thursday night? Is he Greg's like banging
Speaker 1: the table saying he potentially top five guy? Uh, Let's say,
Speaker 1: let's put him there. Let's say first round, mid round,
Speaker 1: first round pick five to seven, over value or undervalue franchise, Uh,
Speaker 1: five to seven. I have him as my running back three,
Speaker 1: so behind Love Bell and David Johnson. That's basically that's
Speaker 1: first round, ahead of Lashawn McCoy, Melvin Gordon, DeVonta Freeman. Look,
Speaker 1: he didn't really like it. I like that he didn't
Speaker 1: really get going last year till Week five when Arian
Speaker 1: Foster went out and he still put up crazy nowt
Speaker 1: left home, he didn't get on an airplane. It starts
Speaker 1: week one. Gets more work in the passing game, gets
Speaker 1: more carries, higher volume. This year, he's gonna explode. Their
Speaker 1: line to me was so bad when you people were like, wow,
Speaker 1: he only had those three big games. Sometimes he had
Speaker 1: some of the greatest sixty five yard rushing years ever.
Speaker 1: And I think over time, like this season, that'll start
Speaker 1: playing out to better game. I was gonna say, playing
Speaker 1: Devil's Lavoca, I was gonna say he had I think
Speaker 1: to yard games last year. If you take out those games,
Speaker 1: he had several middling efforts and was the team I
Speaker 1: really believe. Doesn't hell your fantasy numbers though the team has.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying, over time, if he's that good a
Speaker 1: player and he looks even better, will bear out, the
Speaker 1: numbers will bear out. Also, he has the benefit of
Speaker 1: being a workhorse running back with no one really behind him.
Speaker 1: The challenge for carries and those guys are rare. I
Speaker 1: love mel Gordon and DeVante Freeman, but in fantasy I
Speaker 1: would much rather have a bet. But the buzzy first
Speaker 1: round pick. If if a Gie is the buzzy running
Speaker 1: back first round pick this year, Lamar Miller, who I
Speaker 1: was pounding the table about last year, shows you how
Speaker 1: crazy fantasy nobody's talking about Lamar Miller in two thousand seventeen.
Speaker 1: What's his value in drafts this year? I think right
Speaker 1: now he's what like a third round guy and something
Speaker 1: like that. Um. I feel like last year was the
Speaker 1: great disillusionment of Lamar Miller because a lot of us,
Speaker 1: myself included, kept saying for years like he will be
Speaker 1: so much better if the Dolphins give him all the
Speaker 1: carries we think he deserves. And then last year he
Speaker 1: gets to Houston and he gets all the carries we
Speaker 1: think he deserves, and he faded at the end of
Speaker 1: the year. Then they bring in Dante Foreman, who he
Speaker 1: might start. He's certainly going to be the guy I think. UM,
Speaker 1: not areak one, but I think he could interrupt your
Speaker 1: your Lamar Miller since I just I feel like last year,
Speaker 1: the you know, we had the wool pulled from our
Speaker 1: eyes and we realized that Lamar Miller maybe isn't the
Speaker 1: guy we wanted. Lamar Miller to me has always been
Speaker 1: kind of like a piece of you know, white toast,
Speaker 1: like it's fine and fill you up like, let's not
Speaker 1: You're not You're not clamoring. There's gonna be guys with
Speaker 1: a lot, you know, higher potential, maybe some rye, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe some on it. I mean people sleep on rye
Speaker 1: a little bit out here in California. And I know,
Speaker 1: you know, now Marcus is gonna get upset because he's
Speaker 1: a California. But you guys have never appreciate what a
Speaker 1: good piece of rye bread is nice turkey sandwich good.
Speaker 1: Maybe rye is not high in my power ranking types
Speaker 1: of bread. I'm going rye number one. Sour dough, sour
Speaker 1: dough for sure. I love pamper Nickels a sleeper though,
Speaker 1: oh underrated. Wow this is so this is so hot
Speaker 1: right now, let's take a breather here and so far
Speaker 1: think it's been an incredible fantasy extravaganza and we just
Speaker 1: went up. But now let's formally head over to uh
Speaker 1: the fantasy corner. It's a very bad neighborhood. Mark is
Speaker 1: wearing a kevlar vest and he seems to have a
Speaker 1: finger in a splint. A little worse for the wear
Speaker 1: on the corner and Marco's throw to you. You have
Speaker 1: a statement or some type of message, Well, I have
Speaker 1: a new UH. I came up with my own new
Speaker 1: metrics UH Fantasy metrics scenario lost stop season, Here we go.
Speaker 1: I want to talk with you today about a collection
Speaker 1: of guys who belonged to my max Flex Triggers group.
Speaker 1: What is a max flex trigger? These are low price,
Speaker 1: moderate ceiling players who are primed to come in and
Speaker 1: possibly make a late season contribution. I deduced my max
Speaker 1: flex trigger's list by pouring over two to three hundred
Speaker 1: hours of college film and early pro snaps. It's a
Speaker 1: claim nobody can really disprove it. Mark, I just found
Speaker 1: some safe, covert safety. I found a little an abandoned
Speaker 1: apartment building and away from the noise. Let's continue from here.
Speaker 1: Using a self created and dense scientific method, I then
Speaker 1: chart out each player's SPARK score, academic achievements, community involvement
Speaker 1: in on field handiwork to compile my list of max
Speaker 1: flex triggers. These are players with the mental toughness to
Speaker 1: be comprehensively ignored by the fantasy community and in many cases,
Speaker 1: their own coaches. The players with the potential to see
Speaker 1: late season snaps if literally everything went wrong for their
Speaker 1: teams between now and then. Without further ado my two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen list of max Flex triggers. Number one running
Speaker 1: back Jahad Thomas, number two wide receivers c J board,
Speaker 1: Number three running back Calif Phillips, number four, Russell hands
Speaker 1: bro running back in all formats. Number five running back
Speaker 1: Elijah Penny, number six, wide receiver c J board already
Speaker 1: mentioned him. Got to go after that guy. Number eight,
Speaker 1: height end Vonnie Frills, number nine tight ends Charisse It
Speaker 1: is a Woman. Number nine, Titan Serie Slim Auto B
Speaker 1: number ten, pass catching fullback George Saturn, the third, number eleven,
Speaker 1: chiefs Chief's Office and admin Iris Jenkles, number twelve Hatriots
Speaker 1: A V Room Whiz, Ronnie Slim Wheezy, and finally number
Speaker 1: thirteen free agent ticket sales Rep. Rhonda Fontaine, previously of
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers, Currently unemployed, Miss Fontaine is not
Speaker 1: a mustab pick up today, but grab her the minute
Speaker 1: she finds work. Last we heard, Miss Fontaine had gone
Speaker 1: through an ugly breakup with her on again, off again boyfriend,
Speaker 1: William Frank's. Miss Fontaine, age thirty seven is hoping to
Speaker 1: relocate to the Chicago area, where she can live with
Speaker 1: her sister Patsy Bumbles, and possibly pick up work as
Speaker 1: a ticket sales rep with the Bears. We are monitoring
Speaker 1: Fontaine's linked in account very closely, and we'll update this
Speaker 1: space if Rhonda Fontaine strikes a new job with the league.
Speaker 1: If and when that happens, she moves to the top
Speaker 1: of my max Flex triggers list. I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: my now I realized that my my fault in doing
Speaker 1: my player evaluations is that I didn't do as much
Speaker 1: community involvement. I think it's a big part of it
Speaker 1: creates a well rounded individual, right. I left that out,
Speaker 1: left that the ticket sales people, yeah, you know, or
Speaker 1: the real which really was an oversight on the people
Speaker 1: that existed. That Bodie Thrills really maybe started to cry,
Speaker 1: George Saturn real, George mean, the entire family line is real, Okay.
Speaker 1: In the first rest of Peace, yeah right, in the
Speaker 1: second rest in piece as well, he's got a chip
Speaker 1: on his shoulder, he's got a lot of loneliness and
Speaker 1: like a Batman, Like that's very similar to Batman. All right, Uh, Max, Max,
Speaker 1: what it was it max Flex max Flex tricker Kifen Flex,
Speaker 1: Ellie f elie x trigger is this is this a
Speaker 1: direct challenge to the reception perception. I think the very different,
Speaker 1: the very for scientific process. You're branding this, I'm branding
Speaker 1: it because again, I like when I say that I
Speaker 1: watch all this tape, it cannot be proven that I
Speaker 1: do or I do not. Alright, moving off the fantasy corner,
Speaker 1: Mark Seek Shelter, Uh, you're in deep trouble. All right,
Speaker 1: let's throw out. I'm gonna throw out a tight end.
Speaker 1: I like this one is an interesting one because I
Speaker 1: think it's people get stumble on this guy every time
Speaker 1: because you can never really figure out what he's gonna
Speaker 1: do or if even if he's gonna stay on the field.
Speaker 1: Marty Bennett, Uh went from the pack from the Patriots
Speaker 1: now to the Packers, talk about going from riches to riches.
Speaker 1: He's going round ten average pick ninety four, which tells you,
Speaker 1: I think, let me know if I'm wrong. Guys that
Speaker 1: nobody really knows where to take him. And and that's
Speaker 1: kind of where you nestle on his average pick, where
Speaker 1: he's probably going earlier on some boards and later on others.
Speaker 1: What's Marty? What do you make overvalue, undervalue teh round pick.
Speaker 1: I think he's undervalued. I I may be irrationally excited
Speaker 1: about Marty Bennett just because, first off, how often can
Speaker 1: you leave Tom Brady and not uh, you know, experiencing
Speaker 1: drop off in quarterback? Limy somehow did that. And I
Speaker 1: just like what the potential of having an athletic pass
Speaker 1: catching tight end can mean in that pack of offense.
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw it late in the season with
Speaker 1: Jerry Cook last year. Um, So I like him. I
Speaker 1: I think I think I took him in the eighth
Speaker 1: round in one draft, but I like that. I think
Speaker 1: I maybe maybe higher on him than some other people are.
Speaker 1: I struggle with Jordan Read going five rounds higher in
Speaker 1: the fifth just because you cannot countn't count on him right. Well,
Speaker 1: Marty has his issues too. He seems to miss games
Speaker 1: and be beat up, and certainly was the case last year,
Speaker 1: but he was still productive. There is a scenario where
Speaker 1: Bennett stays on the field and everything lines up and
Speaker 1: he has a gronky type year. I believe he has
Speaker 1: that type of ability, and yeah, the Jared Cook thing,
Speaker 1: I think that's what would suck me into taking a
Speaker 1: chance on him in the seven, eight nine round. Uh,
Speaker 1: the idea that what Cook was able to do with Rogers,
Speaker 1: Bennett is a better player, right, I like waiting at
Speaker 1: tight end and Hunter Henry going in the ninth through
Speaker 1: the ten. That's another guy really like, you don't worry
Speaker 1: about the old man stealing a end zone. Go to Henry.
Speaker 1: Henry I think led the league led tight ends and
Speaker 1: touchdowns last year and Gates was getting plenty then and
Speaker 1: they have to go Gates that record though, right, I
Speaker 1: feel like once they once they get him in the record,
Speaker 1: then they started back off a little bit. I think
Speaker 1: Henry won't really reach his ceiling and fantasy till Gates
Speaker 1: is out of the picture. Yeah, I'd see him getting
Speaker 1: nine hundred thousand yards. I love me some Henry. And
Speaker 1: then Jimmy Graham late fifth three. I think Jimmy Graham
Speaker 1: could have a monster. There's been a good buzz about Jimmy.
Speaker 1: And again, if you are high on the Seahawks offense,
Speaker 1: not only is Russell Wilson have Doug Baldwin, he's got
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham now a full what year and a half
Speaker 1: removed from that surgery? What happens if he's Jimmy Graham.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the two hundred and twenty second pick.
Speaker 1: I've I've scanned for everything where the f is Seth
Speaker 1: DeValve on this list deep there. I think there are
Speaker 1: a lot of deep sleepers that tied end. I think
Speaker 1: Seth the Valve is one. I think Austin Hooper is one.
Speaker 1: Devolve seriously, I think so. I mean they got Derek
Speaker 1: You's a deep sleeper though, because tight end here's the
Speaker 1: tight end is sort of a fantasy waste land in
Speaker 1: the sense that you've got you know, Gronk's gonna be good,
Speaker 1: you know Kelsey is gonna be good, Olsen, Jimmy Grammer fine.
Speaker 1: After that, it really is sort of a crapshoot at
Speaker 1: that position. And and if you're not getting one of
Speaker 1: those top four or five guys, you're probably streaming the position.
Speaker 1: And the valve could have some good weeks in there.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned Hunter Henry leading tight ends and touchdowns.
Speaker 1: He actually tied with Cameron Braid for eight last year.
Speaker 1: Nobody is talking about Cameron Braid. Everything. Everyone thinks O. J.
Speaker 1: Howard is going to be the guy there dead you
Speaker 1: can get Cameron Braid for free in a fantasy draft
Speaker 1: in the last round. I like, it doesn't get cheaper
Speaker 1: than that. I also like Hunter Henry, like Harrison Hansas
Speaker 1: a double H out of respect. Hey, how about let's
Speaker 1: go back to the Packers real quick? A guy I
Speaker 1: can't figure out. I was doing a little research um
Speaker 1: for my draft a couple of days ago, and I
Speaker 1: had time Montgomery on my stay away from list, just
Speaker 1: because I don't have a great feeling about the whole thing.
Speaker 1: Round seven, he's going average picks sixties. Seventh round seems
Speaker 1: like over value to me. Where do you guys come
Speaker 1: down on it? I think seven. I think a little
Speaker 1: earlier in the summer he was he was going in
Speaker 1: the fourth or fifth round. So his ADPs come down
Speaker 1: a little bit because he hasn't been on the field.
Speaker 1: He's dealing with some injuries. They got Jamal Williams back there,
Speaker 1: who's had a decent preseason. Um. I just think the
Speaker 1: concern with Montgomery is a sickle sell thing and volume concerns,
Speaker 1: Like they want him to be the guy, but I
Speaker 1: don't think he had more than ten or twelve carries
Speaker 1: in a game last year. And there's also question marks
Speaker 1: for him in past protection. So at that price that
Speaker 1: sounds pretty good. Seventh round I think is okay, but
Speaker 1: it's still a question mark. They have all these other
Speaker 1: guys back there. I have big weeks, haven't. The other
Speaker 1: guys are just but I'm sort of with Dan, and
Speaker 1: then I just I don't really know. I don't have
Speaker 1: any real good feeling on what they're gonna do with
Speaker 1: him one way or another. I think even at his best,
Speaker 1: he's maybe guy who gets about fifteen or so touches
Speaker 1: per game, which you know he's he's not. He's a
Speaker 1: flex starter at best. I think, for me, what are
Speaker 1: you guys doing not to jump in here? What are
Speaker 1: you guys thinking of doing with Zeke? This draft prices
Speaker 1: is a little too aggressive for Me's going like second,
Speaker 1: second round, right and and everybody says it's it's a yes,
Speaker 1: it is right now. A six game suspension for Zeke
Speaker 1: for your purposes and fantasy, it's a seven week suspension.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have a buy in there, you don't. So
Speaker 1: best case scenario, you don't have Zeke until Week eight,
Speaker 1: which is it's like two thirds of your fantasy regular season.
Speaker 1: You're holding a roster spot and you're hoping you make
Speaker 1: the playoffs to stay relevant when he comes back. For
Speaker 1: some reason, I thought it was four and it's six.
Speaker 1: It's six with a by it's half. A second second
Speaker 1: round pick is just too rich for It's showing some
Speaker 1: confidence though, if you like just believe that you're good
Speaker 1: at drafting and that your teams are always it's like
Speaker 1: you'll be in the mix you draft a little actually,
Speaker 1: like the second is high second, like I would still
Speaker 1: rather have have uh, some of those receivers that are
Speaker 1: probably going in the middle of the second round. That's
Speaker 1: like you get those guys from week one and they're
Speaker 1: maybe almost not got a Zeke anything. I read everyone
Speaker 1: in your fantasy team to agree to not pick him
Speaker 1: because someone's gonna grab him. Somebody's gonna say. I mean,
Speaker 1: here's the thing. I would rather skip Zeke in the second.
Speaker 1: I'd rather skip Zeke in the second dangerous over and
Speaker 1: wait until waits like the fifth round and get a
Speaker 1: guy like Doug Martin who is still gonna miss some time,
Speaker 1: but you'll get him back a lot sooner and potentially
Speaker 1: get you know, a starting running back on your roster.
Speaker 1: It's the classic, like barroom talk cliche or when you're
Speaker 1: just talking to your buddies, like if someone's hurt. In
Speaker 1: this case is suspension is like, hey man, when Zeke
Speaker 1: gets back, it's like a blockbuster trade for your team.
Speaker 1: You didn't give anything up? Yeah, whatever, to find something
Speaker 1: better to talk about in the bar room. Second round
Speaker 1: pick is ridiculous. Hey, let's throw out Andrew Luck. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: you know the situation here. We know the situation, and
Speaker 1: the fact that we don't know the situation he's going
Speaker 1: in the eighth round, which tells you a lot. Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck is a oerational talent at quarterback, so everyone is
Speaker 1: spooked by the shoulder, as they should be. Is that
Speaker 1: proper value for a quarterback of his ilk facing an
Speaker 1: uncertain health situation? I still think it's it's a touch early,
Speaker 1: but it's it's coming down. I mean, if you if
Speaker 1: we had been talking to you a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: I think he was still hanging around like the fifth
Speaker 1: round or something like that. So so this uncertainty has
Speaker 1: has certainly plummeted his value. But we don't know when
Speaker 1: he's going to be back on the field, and you're
Speaker 1: talking about you can wait a round or two later,
Speaker 1: and there's still really quality guys out there, like Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 1: like Marcus Mariota, even Jamis Winston hanging around. I'd rather,
Speaker 1: I'd rather take any of those guys and know that
Speaker 1: they will be there for me in week one. You're
Speaker 1: a fool if you're taking Andrew okay, because you know,
Speaker 1: like Dak Prescott or Stafford or any Ben. Raethlisberger's going
Speaker 1: going way after him, like going at Like why wouldn't
Speaker 1: not just take those guys there? Just quarterback? Don't overthink
Speaker 1: bro when he comes back, it's like a blockbuster. I mean,
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott might be better than it's also not You're
Speaker 1: not necessarily getting Andrew luck from two thousand fourteen. You're
Speaker 1: getting like post surgery and your luck on the post
Speaker 1: post social shoulder surgery on a team that had a
Speaker 1: bad offensive line last year that might be worst this year.
Speaker 1: You draft and your luck there. Stop playing fantasy, alright,
Speaker 1: quick lightning round each of you guys, um give me
Speaker 1: one more overvalue undervalue, and then we've got to move
Speaker 1: on to philosophies and get out of here. I think
Speaker 1: right now overvalued. Remember four, Nette might starting to be
Speaker 1: overvalued simply because as long as the Jaguars struggle to
Speaker 1: figure out their their quarterback situation, that's going to hurt
Speaker 1: Leonard Fournett's potential production. Uh my undervalued guy right now,
Speaker 1: maybe Devonte Parker um with the change at quarterback. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: it caught my attention when Jay Cutler said DeVante Parker
Speaker 1: is a faster all Shan Jeffrey And I don't know
Speaker 1: if the rest of the world has clued in just yet,
Speaker 1: but right now Parkers hanging around th seventh, eighth round.
Speaker 1: Now that's Cutler even knows he's on his team. That's
Speaker 1: I'm I'm intrigued. What about French overvalued? I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: Spencer where he just doesn't do it for me in
Speaker 1: the fifth round? Got Kareem Hunt. I love Kareem Hunt,
Speaker 1: And uh my undervalued is gonna be Kelvin Benjamin because
Speaker 1: you can get him in like the sixth round as
Speaker 1: like your flex wide receiver and he's doing nothing but
Speaker 1: scoring touchdowns in the preseason and everyone still thinks he's
Speaker 1: fat or something. That it seems all right, that's correct.
Speaker 1: Just come that was pretty good, that's correct, that I
Speaker 1: did it very proud. Okay, here we go, Greg, did
Speaker 1: you have anything else? That one more throwing? Real? Garrett
Speaker 1: Blunt is a terrible draft pick. He's going real if
Speaker 1: I don't care that he didn't look in the preseason.
Speaker 1: It seems like he's just gonna be a role player there, Mark,
Speaker 1: I don't like the idea to Marco Murrays the twelfth
Speaker 1: overall pick, to be honest team, that's a little much.
Speaker 1: Um Derrick Henry, the guy's not playing. I just said it.
Speaker 1: I can of that. That's all right. Finally, Okay, who
Speaker 1: wants to go first? Though I don't. I'll do my
Speaker 1: draft philosophy. Here we go. Let me set this up
Speaker 1: so now, because we have fantasy professionals, uh in our
Speaker 1: midst that you are as well, Greg little outside the game. Now,
Speaker 1: I still respect your knowledge for sure, but these guys
Speaker 1: are active, active grades in the industry. And I want you,
Speaker 1: guys to imagine yourselves speaking in front of a class
Speaker 1: of graduates of Fantasy You and you are the keynote speaker.
Speaker 1: What do they call it when you get the stupid
Speaker 1: diploma that you didn't the honorary honorary doctorate, honorary degree. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and you're wearing the stupid outfit and the whole thing,
Speaker 1: and you're you. You want to impart some wisdom of
Speaker 1: fantasy philosophy to all these young kids that are just
Speaker 1: entering the fantasy realm with so much eyes wide open,
Speaker 1: so filled with hope. Franchise speak to him, all right, kids,
Speaker 1: listen up. Don't don't buy into the latest draft trends.
Speaker 1: You know last year was zero wide receiver. If you
Speaker 1: went that route, you probably got burned because you were
Speaker 1: drafting guys like DeAndre Hopkins and Allen Robinson in the
Speaker 1: second round when you could have got to Marco Murray
Speaker 1: and Lashawn McCoy and one year league you got banged.
Speaker 1: Don't let position dictate how you're drafting zig when the
Speaker 1: rest of your league is zagging, and take advantage of
Speaker 1: you know, the trends as the draft is happening. The
Speaker 1: bridge Marcus understand, kids, When you look at a list
Speaker 1: and you see average draft positions, those are people trying
Speaker 1: to make rules for you. You You don't have to follow
Speaker 1: the rules. You can blaze your own path. Think of
Speaker 1: the ADP as a suggestion. You have a guy that
Speaker 1: you like and the rest of the world tells you. You
Speaker 1: You have to wait until the fifth round. Go get
Speaker 1: your guy, get them, go get your guy. Have the
Speaker 1: confidence to believe that you are making the right choice,
Speaker 1: and you will be fantasy manager. So yes, going to
Speaker 1: the real world. The world is your oyster kids firing. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's my that's my dr SEUs. The places you will
Speaker 1: go Marcus was new Rockney. I would run through a
Speaker 1: wall for you, Marcus Wow. And that franchise. Okay, guys,
Speaker 1: thank you very much, So all right, tell us a
Speaker 1: little bit um some plugs before we go. You guys
Speaker 1: are both on Twitter obviously, Handles at Matt franchise at
Speaker 1: Marcus g It's Marcus with an Ah. Make sure you
Speaker 1: get that right. The Fantasy Live podcast twice a week
Speaker 1: Monday Thursday, twice a week. They are part of the
Speaker 1: NFL Media podcast Umbrella and they do great work on that,
Speaker 1: so make sure you check that out and of course
Speaker 1: all their pages at NFL dot com. Uh. The NFL
Speaker 1: Fantasy Live by the way back on NFL Network September four,
Speaker 1: Labor Day, Monday, a three hour Extravaganzas about that extravaganzas
Speaker 1: kind of our sorry can I say spectacular? Literally anything
Speaker 1: else spectacular. Then that's spectacular. Okay, cool, very good. Alright,
Speaker 1: there we go. Thank you very much. Thanks guys. We'll
Speaker 1: be back on Monday. Uh so, thank you everybody for listening.
Speaker 1: It's this Quiet Storm. Dan Handa signing off for the
Speaker 1: Quiet Storm, Marcus Grant, the franchise, The Boss and LC
Speaker 1: behind the Glass still Monday. Wait, no need for here
Speaker 1: we go do it? We should? I not cut that off?
Speaker 1: You want to keep going? No, that's good. That's all
Speaker 1: I have after the show. Please put that in after.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm cool. I'm one of the cool kids, don't you. Guys,
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry. Okay,