Speaker 1: Wow, everybody, It's Thursday, February twenty ninth, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, where we're not
Speaker 1: planning to throw either. It's me and your man, MG
Speaker 1: Marcus Great, joined by Michael F. Floyo and Laqwan Jones.
Speaker 1: Happy leap Day, fellas. Do you guys have any plans
Speaker 1: you get one extra twenty four hour period this year?
Speaker 1: Do you have anything special you plan to do with it? Nope,
Speaker 1: that sounds like a no at all. I forgot it happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I you know, I was just like I I didn't
Speaker 1: even think about it. So I was I was driving
Speaker 1: It's when I went to go drop my kid off
Speaker 1: at school. When I'm driving home and I'm like listening
Speaker 1: to the radio and like they're talking about like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: a lot of people are getting married today, Like the
Speaker 1: county courthouse is going to be fool people getting married
Speaker 1: because it's funny get married. I was like, one, I
Speaker 1: never really thought about that, but also like people actually
Speaker 1: plan something for today, Like I was just like, it's
Speaker 1: just Thursday. In my wow, I was ready to.
Speaker 2: Like pay the bills, you know, first of the month, right,
Speaker 2: we get a day off of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Rinz do, that's pretty much. You know, it's got
Speaker 1: it like I'm gonna do this show and then I
Speaker 1: don't know, maybe maybe work out. Like I have no
Speaker 1: idea what I'm gonna do, No I do anyway, we're
Speaker 1: any talking obviously the Combine is going on now in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you know, I'm sitting here and we were
Speaker 1: talking before the show, and our own Daniel Jeremiah moved
Speaker 1: the sticks on Twitter. Is he's out tweeting measurements. I
Speaker 1: mean it was as I was saying, it's the super
Speaker 1: Bowl for hand size Twitter. Everybody's getting fired up about
Speaker 1: hand measurements and that sort of thing. And we're gonna
Speaker 1: have large men running forty yards in spandex very soon.
Speaker 1: So that's the thing that we'll be paying attention to
Speaker 1: over the weekend. But we will talk about the Combine.
Speaker 1: We'll do some hype trainer, smoke screen, a little bit
Speaker 1: of what we know. It's kind of things we are
Speaker 1: looking for at the Combine. I think once this is
Speaker 1: all done, we can sort of dive into some guys individually.
Speaker 1: We're gonna reach out to our pow Bucky Brooks and
Speaker 1: see if he wants to come on and kind of
Speaker 1: give us a rundown of what he saw, who he likes,
Speaker 1: who he thinks maybe we should avoid a little bit, though.
Speaker 1: We'll try to get him on in the coming weeks
Speaker 1: after that. But let's get start with a little bit
Speaker 1: of news, A couple of headlines of notes since we
Speaker 1: last spoke to you. The Cincinnati Bengals plan to use
Speaker 1: the franchise tag on T. Higgins. I don't know that
Speaker 1: it's a major surprise. I mean, I thought we were
Speaker 1: maybe hoping he would get to test the waters and
Speaker 1: see if he could find a new spot, But it
Speaker 1: appears that his new spot will be his old spot
Speaker 1: back in Cincinnati. I went over to Underdog and looked
Speaker 1: at his ADP. It is currently wide receiver twenty eight.
Speaker 1: He has sandwiched between Cooper Cup and Amari Cooper Florio.
Speaker 1: Are you cool with that right now? I'm cool with
Speaker 1: T Higgins going there. I'm not cool with those other
Speaker 1: names though, like me either.
Speaker 2: What does a Marii Cooper have to do? Man Last year,
Speaker 2: in a season where his starting quarterback played six games
Speaker 2: and then he had three other quarterbacks throwing him the ball,
Speaker 2: he averaged more points per game than like Chris Olave,
Speaker 2: DeVonta Smith, Calvin Ridley, who I'm sure are all going
Speaker 2: ahead of him in these drafts. So as Cooper Cup, like,
Speaker 2: I understand last year was kind of a down year,
Speaker 2: but he could still finish as a top five fantasy
Speaker 2: wide receiver I think. And if you want to say, well,
Speaker 2: he has Phoka Nakua now to deal with, Higgins has
Speaker 2: Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1: To deal with. Who is going to be a target vacuum?
Speaker 2: So I'm okay with I feel like any of these
Speaker 2: three names actually could go a few spots higher and
Speaker 2: I'd have no issue with it at all. But yeah,
Speaker 2: to me, the bigger takeaway was like why, especially Amari
Speaker 2: Cooper man, Like, what does he have to do to
Speaker 2: get some respect?
Speaker 1: I am, yeah, I'm kind of with you, Like disrespect
Speaker 1: it is, and I'm looking so I'm looking at it
Speaker 1: right now. Right So, Mariy Cooper's wide receiver twenty nine.
Speaker 1: Zay Flowers is right behind him at thirty, Jayden Reid's
Speaker 1: at thirty one, Drake London is at twenty six, Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen at twenty five. I mean that's a lot to
Speaker 1: take in right there. What is going on. I'm I
Speaker 1: didn't mean for this to become a wide receiver ADP discussion,
Speaker 1: but now that I'm here, I'm scrolling through some of these.
Speaker 1: I mean, Marvin Harrison Junior is at eleven. Nico Collins
Speaker 1: is wide receiver nine right now, which I tie. I've
Speaker 1: seen a lot of buzz for Nico Collins, a lot
Speaker 1: of people excited about him. You know, our friend and
Speaker 1: wide receiver whisper Matt Harmon is out saying that he
Speaker 1: thinks Nico Collins has wide receiver one potential and maybe
Speaker 1: wide receiver nine feels like a reach for him right
Speaker 1: now because he's great.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people are living off the
Speaker 3: hype of him finally breaking out because I'm one of
Speaker 3: those people. But I'm even saying wide receiver nine is
Speaker 3: tab bit right now. It might get humbled tunes when
Speaker 3: we get closer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I know Tank Dell
Speaker 1: got hurt sort of later in the year, but he
Speaker 1: still exists. Malik Neighbors is wide receiver twenty three. Some
Speaker 1: weak Neighbors right now going five spots ahead oft Te Higgins,
Speaker 1: six spots ahead of Amari Cooper. Wow. I hear silence.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a lot though, Like I feel like, you know,
Speaker 3: oh man, we're getting really excited about these rookies, and
Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, Mike had already on the
Speaker 3: disrespect for Marik Cooper and for Cooper Cup. But T Higgins, Man,
Speaker 3: it looks like it's a spot right now where it
Speaker 3: looks safe because it's still the unknown. So I like
Speaker 3: a lot of the names that we're naming that I
Speaker 3: would take before T Higgins, But it's just like a
Speaker 3: lot still needs to happen.
Speaker 1: Still a little bit early. Yeah, I mean I think
Speaker 1: I'm with you, though, Floria that I think I think
Speaker 1: T Higgins at Wide Receiver twenty eight feels okay. Cooper
Speaker 1: and Cooper and Cup, Cooper Cup, I feel a little bit.
Speaker 1: I feel a little bit. I'd like to tell you
Speaker 1: I was planned, but it wasn't. But those guys feel
Speaker 1: a little bit low where they are right now. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: Drake London at twenty six. You guys know I love
Speaker 1: Drake London, right but you can have a quarterback right now.
Speaker 1: And you know, I saw a lot of buzz about
Speaker 1: maybe Justin Fields is going to get traded to Atlanta,
Speaker 1: but as of this moment, his quarterback is still Desmond Ritter.
Speaker 1: Yeah that right there, So you know, I don't know
Speaker 1: that I take him ahead of cup or Cooper at
Speaker 1: this point. And yeah, I think a lot of it is.
Speaker 2: We're we're so early in the process that people want
Speaker 2: a flag plant and stuff and be like, like I
Speaker 2: could pull up eighty my drafts from February when I
Speaker 2: was all over.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to be first on a guy.
Speaker 2: But like even like DK Metcalf going where he's going, Like,
Speaker 2: no disrespect to him, But in a game less Amari
Speaker 2: Cooper scored more Fantasy points, He's picked up more yards,
Speaker 2: he averaged over a point more per game, so like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a clear one too. Yeah. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: some of it is muscle memory.
Speaker 2: I know that's something you talk a lot about, Marcus,
Speaker 2: like we're just so accustomed to pulling this guy up
Speaker 2: the board.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think the other part.
Speaker 2: Is everyone just kind of wants to be first. That's
Speaker 2: why ADP now is fun. But until after the draft.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of it, especially free agency, a
Speaker 2: lot of it is guessing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we always get there are a couple
Speaker 1: of course correction times. I think for ADP, I think
Speaker 1: after free agency, as you mentioned, is one. After the
Speaker 1: draft is another one. And I think the biggest course
Speaker 1: correction we get is honestly, like, yeah, mid July early August,
Speaker 1: when you get a lot more casual players jumping in
Speaker 1: people who aren't who aren't sickos like us who are
Speaker 1: up to their neck in this all year long, right,
Speaker 1: who look, maybe those maybe some of those folks have
Speaker 1: kind of heard the name Malik Neighbors, maybe they've sort
Speaker 1: of heard the name Rome Odoonz, but they don't know
Speaker 1: them where. It's like, I know Amari Cooper, I've had
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper on my fantasy team before. I'm drafting Amari
Speaker 1: Cooper over this kid from the University of Washington that
Speaker 1: I don't really know anything about. Like, I feel like
Speaker 1: that is the other big course correction where some of
Speaker 1: these names that maybe US nerds are really really high
Speaker 1: on in February sort of get pulled down an ADP
Speaker 1: because a lot more casual people just aren't willing to
Speaker 1: take that shot on them early, Like, could we put
Speaker 1: a Mari Cooper in that tier? Now?
Speaker 3: The Mike Evans and Keen Allen's where their ADP is
Speaker 3: like disrespectfully low, and they show up in the season
Speaker 3: in the top twelve, Top fifteen conversation.
Speaker 1: I am making a note to myself right now as
Speaker 1: we talk about this, to write something about just a
Speaker 1: list of wide receivers that I think we take for granted,
Speaker 1: right And I think Amari Cooper's one. Mike Evans is one.
Speaker 1: Mike Evans is one, Keenan Allen is one. He's a dog.
Speaker 1: You know, for years, I thought Tyler Lockett was one.
Speaker 1: Lockett was last year, but before that, Tyler Lockett, Tyler
Speaker 1: Lockett was on that list of guys. It was just like,
Speaker 1: I'm not drafted Tyler Lockett, and then he gives you, like,
Speaker 1: you know, ninety catches and eleven hundred yards and like
Speaker 1: six or eight touchdowns. Yeah, him and Robert Woods were
Speaker 1: in that pocket. Bobby Trees. Bobby Trees was there for
Speaker 1: a while for sure, for sure. But there are guys
Speaker 1: that are just like I think we take them for granted,
Speaker 1: and I think Amari Cooper is definitely falling into that
Speaker 1: category right now. In that vein.
Speaker 2: I also feel like there's a lot of wide receivers
Speaker 2: that we not us three in particular, but as a
Speaker 2: fantasy community over hype, like because the two like chrysal
Speaker 2: Lave comes to mind, Like we know that he on
Speaker 2: a different team could be amazing, But he's a wide
Speaker 2: receiver too, as long as Derek Cars his quarterback. London
Speaker 2: is another one, and these rookies, everyone wants to be like, well,
Speaker 2: if things break right for this guy, he could be
Speaker 2: a wide receiver one.
Speaker 1: But things are not going to break right for all
Speaker 1: of them, all right, So let's let's let's just play
Speaker 1: hypotheticals here, right, Let's say the Saints to you know what,
Speaker 1: we've seen enough of Derek Carr, let's go with Jamis.
Speaker 1: Let's go where we go? Where are we going to
Speaker 1: Chris o'lave. Then if it's Jamis and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: this is gonna you know, this is not gonna put
Speaker 1: the Saints into the playoffs, Like they're not gonna become
Speaker 1: some kind of contender with Jamis at quarterback. But for
Speaker 1: our own selfish, greedy fantasy purposes, what does this do
Speaker 1: to Chris o'lave for you? Top ten? Top ten Locke?
Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, he's gonna get a chunk of his
Speaker 3: fantasy points on the long ball because we know Whinsington
Speaker 3: still air it out. And after having a conversation with
Speaker 3: him in New Orleans, by the way, I told him
Speaker 3: straight to his face, I was like, one thing I
Speaker 3: do know about you still got that long ball.
Speaker 1: His face lit up.
Speaker 3: He was like, oh, yeah, you know, I still got that.
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, we need you on the field because
Speaker 3: we need Chris olave to have these points and I
Speaker 3: think that's where most of his points will come from.
Speaker 1: I feel like you and Jamis would have been BFFs.
Speaker 1: After that.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I was fanning out, but I had
Speaker 3: to calm down and keep it professional.
Speaker 1: So speaking of what you, we're gonna talk to you
Speaker 1: because you were in New Orleans last week for the
Speaker 1: HBCU Legacy Ball. I want to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: that in just a little bit. But yeah, that Tonty
Speaker 1: man Jamie. The quarterback situation makes all the difference. I
Speaker 1: think for Chris o'lave there in New Orleans, we know
Speaker 1: the talent, it's just is there a guy that can
Speaker 1: get him the ball consistently. Other bit of news, nothing
Speaker 1: has actually happened yet with any of the running backs.
Speaker 1: With Saquon Barkley in particular. But the Giant's sort of
Speaker 1: musing that now that we've got the new salary cap
Speaker 1: numbers and they are higher than I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people anticipated that maybe they could use the franchise
Speaker 1: tag on Saquon a second time. What it sounds like
Speaker 1: this is news to you. Yeah, they might. You know, look,
Speaker 1: they haven't said anything definitively one way or another, but
Speaker 1: you know, the idea came up and they thought, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe this is not a crazy idea. So I think
Speaker 1: for Saquon it sort of stinks, and that this is
Speaker 1: your chance to maybe test the free agent market, see
Speaker 1: what's out there, see what's going to happen. I thought
Speaker 1: about the idea of Saquon to the Chargers, which seemed
Speaker 1: really really interesting potentially, you know, I think somebody else,
Speaker 1: I'll try to another team that somebody brought up that
Speaker 1: I'm blanktags right now, the Texans. That's it. That could
Speaker 1: be really really interesting for Saquon. But uh, I mean, LQ,
Speaker 1: if he gets tagged, is he better off staying with
Speaker 1: the Giants? He's been comfortable there, he's had some decent
Speaker 1: amount of success there. Is he better sticking there than
Speaker 1: trying to learn a new offense in a new city.
Speaker 3: I don't know, man, I feel really weird about this
Speaker 3: situation because if Saquon leaves, then who's left there on
Speaker 3: that Giants offense to get anything going? If you're gonna
Speaker 3: stick with Daniel Jones with this contract, I mean, they
Speaker 3: don't have really big name premiere players like we have
Speaker 3: the Wandel Robinsons and you know the rest of the
Speaker 3: guys that we want to do good. And Darren Waller
Speaker 3: needs to stay healthy. But I think the right decision
Speaker 3: here is to tag him again, as bad as that sounds,
Speaker 3: just to have some building blocks to go into this draft,
Speaker 3: to basically hit this draft and hid in areas that
Speaker 3: you've been lacking for the last couple of years. But
Speaker 3: if they tag him again, it's it's eleven point nine
Speaker 3: million for that tag that that's pretty pricey for a
Speaker 3: guy you're still unsure what about.
Speaker 1: I don't're unsure about Saquon. I think it's just the
Speaker 1: idea of paying running backs at all.
Speaker 3: That they're unsure health. He needs to stay healthy. That's
Speaker 3: also the factor in that as well.
Speaker 1: That's fair, but you also look at this this is
Speaker 1: not a great running back draft class. No, the the
Speaker 1: the guy that is the top running back in this
Speaker 1: class is a guy coming off an a cl tair
Speaker 1: right who may not be ready for the the start
Speaker 1: of the season. And just that, that to me says
Speaker 1: a lot about where we are in terms of this
Speaker 1: running back draft classic. Nobody's really excited about this group
Speaker 1: right now. That's a hard place to be. And I
Speaker 1: think if you are, look, if you're the Giants, if
Speaker 1: you're anybody you know, why would we wait until day late,
Speaker 1: day too early, day three to try and take a
Speaker 1: running back to fill this gap. We could just, you know,
Speaker 1: even even at a slightly elevated price, bring back the
Speaker 1: guy that we know and have had some familiarity with
Speaker 1: and get them ready.
Speaker 2: But my thinking though is like, because I agree, I
Speaker 2: think for fantasy purposes, there's better landing spots than the
Speaker 2: Giants or take one Barkley. But yeah, he's kind of
Speaker 2: like the old school running back in his sense where
Speaker 2: he is the identity of his football team and has
Speaker 2: been since they use the number two draft pick on
Speaker 2: him back in twenty eighteen. I also believe if because
Speaker 2: Sterling Shepherd I believe is retiring, so tak one might
Speaker 2: be the longest tenured New York Giant at this point,
Speaker 2: I think what he means to the fan base and
Speaker 2: stuff matters a lot. And then when you start talking money,
Speaker 2: the fact that it's a bad draft class, paired with
Speaker 2: the fact that the cap jumps like unprecedentedly high and
Speaker 2: it is a loaded free agent class, that we could
Speaker 2: see these free agents.
Speaker 1: Get larger deals.
Speaker 2: Not look, they're not going to break the bank because
Speaker 2: they're still running backs, but they could get more than
Speaker 2: running backs gotten past years, which makes it kind of
Speaker 2: smart to franchise them. And if you're Saquon at this point,
Speaker 2: with the injuries and the wear and tear and stuff,
Speaker 2: it might just be better for you to stay in
Speaker 2: the environment that you know and where you are such
Speaker 2: a big deal because we've seen, like I know, it's
Speaker 2: a little different, but like think about Ezekiel Elliott or
Speaker 2: or Le'Veon Bell or a lot of these running backs,
Speaker 2: when they change the team that they have made their
Speaker 2: legacy with, they're they're not rewarded the same opportunities in
Speaker 2: the new landing spot. So I think this could be
Speaker 2: a good thing for Sequon and the Giants.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think I think in the end
Speaker 1: it probably is the best I would, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I just maybe because I'm so underwhelmed with
Speaker 1: the Giants offense. I just want Sekuan to go somewhere
Speaker 1: where maybe he can, you know, text them or runs.
Speaker 1: Because obviously Damian Pierce last year was not it didn't
Speaker 1: work out the way they wanted it to be. Devin
Speaker 1: Singletary had a decent year, but I don't think. Look,
Speaker 1: I think given the choice, I don't think they want
Speaker 1: him to be their main back. I don't think that's
Speaker 1: what they are looking for. Houston would be interesting. I
Speaker 1: think Saquon with Greg Roman and Justin Herbert and Jim
Speaker 1: Harbaugh in Los Angeles could be interesting. But I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna get in New York with Daniel Jones again.
Speaker 2: Now they need a new quarterback man, Danny dins ain't it.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're gonna do, how they're gonna
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. Maybe this is your chance. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know, man, I think you're gonna do that.
Speaker 1: I think you trade back a couple of spots because
Speaker 1: by the time you get to six, Williams, may And
Speaker 1: and Daniels will all be gone. Six feels too early
Speaker 1: for any of the other guys out there. I'm not
Speaker 1: taking I'm not taking McCarthy, I'm not taking Nicks, I'm
Speaker 1: not taking Pinnix. At six, maybe you trade back a
Speaker 1: couple of spots, you get some assets, and then you
Speaker 1: get the quarterback you want. But at six, I just
Speaker 1: I you know, I think I do that. You can
Speaker 1: take a wide receiver, take a receiver at six.
Speaker 2: I agree, but I think that long the Giants. Look,
Speaker 2: we all said it last year when they signed that deal,
Speaker 2: we were like, what are you doing, Like, that's a
Speaker 2: lot of money we give to Daniel Jones, But now
Speaker 2: he has a neck injury and a torn acl on
Speaker 2: top of it. So what made him so appealing two
Speaker 2: years ago was his rushing. Yeah, that's gone now. I look,
Speaker 2: they said when they signed that contract with Daniel Jones,
Speaker 2: that said it's gonna put them in football purgatory for
Speaker 2: a while, and maybe that's where they are.
Speaker 1: And then they lost forty to in the first game. Ah,
Speaker 1: I forgot about that. That's rough. Obviously the combine going
Speaker 1: on in Indianapolis, but I know there's sort of combine
Speaker 1: of swords happened last week down in Worlans the HBCU
Speaker 1: Legacy Bowl and uh Lakwan and doing doing his actual
Speaker 1: not just goofing around with us here on this show,
Speaker 1: actually a researcher for NFL media. And you got the
Speaker 1: chance to go, I say work. I use that term
Speaker 1: advisedly because you were in New Orleans and you were
Speaker 1: hanging out with Steve Wish and Bucky Brooks and Charles
Speaker 1: Davis and I'm sure eating all sorts of good food
Speaker 1: and you know, oh my god, the food, howling around
Speaker 1: with Jameis Winston and all that sort of stuff. But
Speaker 1: you got to be down there. I got to see
Speaker 1: this thing firsthand. And I know, you know, I know
Speaker 1: that Bucky sort of wrote a recap. I think Charles
Speaker 1: Davis wrote a recap of it. But for you, from
Speaker 1: what you saw, anybody that really stood out to you
Speaker 1: that past week in New Orleans, Like the headlines were
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks, man, I mean, Davis Richards, Jeremy Moosa.
Speaker 3: These guys were like the headlines of the entire week,
Speaker 3: just to see them in the combine, see them practice
Speaker 3: and stuff like that. But there was one guy on
Speaker 3: defense that just kept showing up, I mean, breaking up passes,
Speaker 3: Jabim Morton from Morgan State. Man, Like I got a
Speaker 3: chance to like really rap with him after the third
Speaker 3: day of practice, and I'm like, man, yo, you're explosive.
Speaker 3: Like he's just a simple guy that just knows football.
Speaker 3: And he kind of just like ran the routes for
Speaker 3: a lot of the wide receivers out there when he
Speaker 3: was picking them off and breaking them up. So I
Speaker 3: can really see him Jamie Morton man from Morgan State.
Speaker 3: I can see him end up in the camp somewhere,
Speaker 3: you know, just just absorbing and getting better at his crap.
Speaker 3: But he was one of the defensive backs that just
Speaker 3: kind of popped off for me.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean I saw I know, Davis Richard
Speaker 1: was what was a name that popped out a lot,
Speaker 1: you know, I know he got hurt early in that
Speaker 1: game first quarter man years that it doesn't get isn't
Speaker 1: anything serious. So that's sort of some good news there.
Speaker 1: But these are interesting things because as you mentioned, there
Speaker 1: aren't these aren't a lot of names that we're gonna hear,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the first couple of days of the draft,
Speaker 1: if anything, you hear them maybe day three or a
Speaker 1: lot of them signed as free agents. But you know,
Speaker 1: the HBCUs have a long history of putting really quality
Speaker 1: talent into the league, and there's a better than even
Speaker 1: chance that's some of these names that you saw this weekend. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, a couple of them are going to stick
Speaker 1: and a couple of them are going to become playmakers
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So yeah, very very cool experience though
Speaker 1: for you. Did you enjoy it down there?
Speaker 3: I enjoyed it down there, man. I mean, I gotta say,
Speaker 3: the vibes, the food, the street music, the street art,
Speaker 3: the art out there.
Speaker 1: Is just amazing.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: Like I've seen so many like pieces that I didn't
Speaker 3: even know you can make pieces out of, Like I've
Speaker 3: seen the army out of.
Speaker 1: Jewelry broken in New Orleans.
Speaker 3: Yes, I was really mind blown, Like it was crazy.
Speaker 1: Did you think it was dark? It was dark? I
Speaker 1: say that so in the backstory here, Once upon a
Speaker 1: time this past season, Florio and I and several others
Speaker 1: were in the green room before show and Steve Smith
Speaker 1: ju Steve Smith Senior, Steve Smith Sr. Was in there
Speaker 1: talking to us, and he was talking about how he
Speaker 1: feels about certain cities and the aesthetic of which and
Speaker 1: his his review of New Orleans. Was that it was dark. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not like not dark like you know, emotionally, just like
Speaker 1: physically dark, like there wasn't enough lighting in this snok
Speaker 1: like thee tell him like, I'm gonna walk to his
Speaker 1: Walgreens to go get a charger, and I'm like, i
Speaker 1: am not going tonight actually because I'm not enough light
Speaker 1: down that road to go there. So I'm good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was that. I will always never I think of
Speaker 1: New Orleans now, I think of Steve Smith Senior, uh
Speaker 1: and him telling me that is dark. That's it. Other
Speaker 1: than that, I enjoyed. I love this here, real Nors.
Speaker 1: I love your city. I have no complaints with your city.
Speaker 1: I've been there many times. I have had a good time.
Speaker 1: I love New Orleans. Take it up with Steve Smith Senior.
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying. All Right, we're gona take a
Speaker 1: quick break, come back. We're gonna start talking about the
Speaker 1: combine little high trainer smoke screen based on some coaches
Speaker 1: quotes from the past few days. That's coming up next
Speaker 1: on the NFL Fantasy Football podcast. So yes, everybody talks
Speaker 1: about the combine in terms of it being the you know,
Speaker 1: the pejorative term, the underwear Olympics skies and spandex, running, jumping, lifting,
Speaker 1: all that sort of thing. But the other part of
Speaker 1: the combine, which maybe is even more enlightening, are the interviews,
Speaker 1: the press conferences that the coaches and players have. The
Speaker 1: week started with the coaches of the thirty two teams,
Speaker 1: or at least the ones who were there standing in
Speaker 1: front of microphones, doing some interviews, getting quotes, and so
Speaker 1: I pulled some of these because I mean, look, this
Speaker 1: is prime time for coach speak, right, this is when
Speaker 1: everybody has high hopes. Everybody's excited about the year to come.
Speaker 1: We got big plans for all the things we're gonna
Speaker 1: do on the field. So I decided we should play
Speaker 1: a little hype trainer smoke screen on some of these.
Speaker 1: So I pulled four quotes that I saw come across
Speaker 1: my Twitter feed, and I'll get you guys' thoughts on
Speaker 1: how much you are buying into them. So Floya'll start
Speaker 1: with you on this one. Dan Campbell says Jamison Williams quote,
Speaker 1: gonna push to be a full time starter. I know
Speaker 1: that you are. I won't say you're a Jamison Williams stand,
Speaker 1: but you believe in him and you think there's still
Speaker 1: an opportunity for him to come out and be a playmaker.
Speaker 1: So when you hear that from Dan Amble, hype train
Speaker 1: or smoke screen, hype train all the way. Baby.
Speaker 2: I tweeted this out when I saw Campbell say this, like,
Speaker 2: I will never quit Jamison. As long as Jamison Williams
Speaker 2: has that Jamison Williams speed, it is going to be
Speaker 2: hard for me to quit him, especially like I loved
Speaker 2: him when he was coming out of college through and
Speaker 2: he had a weird draft process because he had the
Speaker 2: twenty ACL and then like, it's been a really weird
Speaker 2: two years for Jamison Williams if you look at it,
Speaker 2: because the first year the ACL injury in college, when
Speaker 2: he comes back in the NFL, they barely let him play.
Speaker 2: At the end of that year, he was just kind
Speaker 2: of running streaks down the field. Then coming into year two,
Speaker 2: we're all excited about him. The gambling suspension and he hurts,
Speaker 2: I believe his hamstring in the preseason, not able to
Speaker 2: practice or rehab with the team. Comes back and he
Speaker 2: was kind of used in a similar way where they
Speaker 2: were just like there was packages for Jamison Williams and
Speaker 2: they were trying to get him the ball either forty
Speaker 2: yards downfield or behind the line. But in the playoffs
Speaker 2: and late in the year, I do believe we started
Speaker 2: to see that change. They had him running like actual routes.
Speaker 2: He was running and comeback routes and stuff like that,
Speaker 2: and he was able. We know he's a weapon with
Speaker 2: the ball in his hands. He's a weapon downfield. So
Speaker 2: the fact that Dan Campbell, who I do believe is
Speaker 2: the most trustworthy coach in the NFL when he speaks,
Speaker 2: I think we could listen to a pretty high degree.
Speaker 1: Paired with the fact that Josh.
Speaker 2: Reynolds is a free agent now and we could see
Speaker 2: Jamison Williams playing more two wide receiver sets. I'm never
Speaker 2: gonna quit him. That being said, it's a very much
Speaker 2: for fantasy. It depends on what the price is like.
Speaker 2: If he's still going as like a fifth sixth round
Speaker 2: pick next year, I'll probably be out, but I don't
Speaker 2: anticipate that. I think we're gonna get a bigger discount
Speaker 2: than we've ever gotten on Jamison Williams and in.
Speaker 1: What could be his first normal NFL offseason and season.
Speaker 1: For the record, he is currently wide receiver forty seven,
Speaker 1: just after Jacoby Myers, just ahead of Josh Downs. Oh,
Speaker 1: all day, all right, yeah, that's free. Well, as I
Speaker 1: am buying that he's going to push to be a
Speaker 1: full time starter, I believe that he's going to try
Speaker 1: really hard to be a full time starter. I do think,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned Josh Reynolds, potentially not being there helps
Speaker 1: things a lot. I just worry are there going to
Speaker 1: be enough targets When you know a'man Ross Saint Brown
Speaker 1: is going to occupy a lot of them. Sam Laporta
Speaker 1: is going to get a lot of them. You still
Speaker 1: have to somehow get the ball to Jamior Gibbs. You know,
Speaker 1: you have to get it to David Montgomery. I just
Speaker 1: wonder will he be anything more than a downfield threat
Speaker 1: or behind the line of scrimmage threat. But I do
Speaker 1: think in terms of like him pushing to be a
Speaker 1: full time starter, absolutely hype train production. Yeah, but at
Speaker 1: you know, but at wide receiver forty seven. I'll take
Speaker 1: the shot. Yeah, take the shot, especially in best ball,
Speaker 1: especially in best ball. Oh absolutely, in best ball twenty percent?
Speaker 1: All right, look on, uh, John Harbaugh says, quote the
Speaker 1: ball is going to get to Rashod Bateman, a lot
Speaker 1: more next year. This sort of dovetails to me in
Speaker 1: terms of the Ravens every single year telling us they
Speaker 1: want to throw the football more. M hmmm, high trader
Speaker 1: smokes Hi, I feel like I know where you're going
Speaker 1: with this high Trader smoke screen. This is a smoke screen.
Speaker 1: A Batman's right in your face.
Speaker 3: Man, There's no way you're gonna full me again, because
Speaker 3: obviously the target shares are already low to begin with. When
Speaker 3: you have Mark Andrews, who have eight flowers I mean Bateman,
Speaker 3: he can be dust on somebody else's bench, not mine.
Speaker 3: I just feel like I'm kind of over the Wow
Speaker 3: or Shot Bateman project.
Speaker 1: But let me look at their wide receivers, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like it's for Shot Bateman. I mean, look O'Dell
Speaker 1: Beckham Junior. Is you're talking about dust? I mean obj
Speaker 1: was was on the side of a milk carton in
Speaker 1: the postseason, Yeah he was. I don't know, I mean,
Speaker 1: who else healthy Mark Andrews, sure is want to get
Speaker 1: the ball? Who else do they throw the football to
Speaker 1: on a consistent basis? You do not say, Papa, I
Speaker 1: don't know, sure Flowers. I mean, but like there's not
Speaker 1: a lot of places to go with the ball right now.
Speaker 3: There's so many question marks on this Ravens offense, Like
Speaker 3: more than that I actually anticipate.
Speaker 1: I mean JK.
Speaker 3: Dobbins and Gus Oder, which are both free agents, and
Speaker 3: Jk's probably.
Speaker 1: Sadly, yeah, sadly, I think it may be into the
Speaker 1: road for JK. Dobbins.
Speaker 3: You have not seen this breakout that we've been waiting for.
Speaker 3: I just can't just hold on anymore. I literally cannot,
Speaker 3: like my stomach cannot take it right now.
Speaker 2: Wow, the thing is like all of this stuff that
Speaker 2: we said we could have said this past, Like their
Speaker 2: number one target was a rookie wide receiver, Mark Andrews
Speaker 2: got hurt and missed a bunch of time. Uh Odell
Speaker 2: kind of was dust for a lot of this year,
Speaker 2: and yet Rashad Bateman still had fewer yards than Nelson
Speaker 2: Aguilar and Isaiah Likely.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, nasty work. Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna let everyone else who's a believer in
Speaker 2: him take him. I have no interest.
Speaker 1: Good riddance, all right, all right, so we want to
Speaker 1: smoke screen. I want to believe I'm I'm I'm I'm
Speaker 1: getting my fox molder on man. I want to believe
Speaker 1: has to be like wide receiver sixty something. He got
Speaker 1: to be in the sixties. Let's see where we can
Speaker 1: find ourselves. Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling scrolls Now I feel like
Speaker 1: I feel like I scrolled. Oh no, there he is.
Speaker 1: Rashad Bateman is wide receiver eighty six. Wow, just after
Speaker 1: just after Jonathan Mingo Anti at that point. If you
Speaker 1: want to believe in him, sure, all right. I mean
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of people getting excited about it.
Speaker 1: I don't know if thatddy. I want to check back
Speaker 1: in like a week or two and see if that
Speaker 1: ADP has come up out of.
Speaker 3: Fuel the machine, just to see the machine explode, because
Speaker 3: that's what's going.
Speaker 1: That's literally what it is. Apparently we are the Rashad
Speaker 1: Bateman hater show of record. That's all I can tell. Uh.
Speaker 1: All right, I set this one up specifically for you.
Speaker 1: Floria Falcons offensive coordinator Zach Robinson said Kyle Pitts will
Speaker 1: be a key part of Atlanta's passing attack. I want
Speaker 1: to throw this sounds because it's like I know that
Speaker 1: you guys both follow the opposite end of the Kyle
Speaker 1: Pitts spectrum here, right, like I know that that Florio
Speaker 1: has great love for him. I know that you know
Speaker 1: that Lakwana rather stick himself in the ear with a
Speaker 1: sharp pencil before drafting Kyle Pitts again, dump this out
Speaker 1: of here first to you, Floria. Uh, Zach Robinson say
Speaker 1: he's gonna be a key part of the passing attack.
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of people saying that he's fully healthy,
Speaker 1: that maybe we didn't know the extent of his knee
Speaker 1: injury from a couple of years ago. Uh is it
Speaker 1: full speed ahead? Are you? And you're gonna get a discount?
Speaker 1: I because people are tired of it. Like, are you
Speaker 1: full speed ahead? Still on Kyle Pitts. Yes, in our
Speaker 1: mock draft, I got him in like the eighth round
Speaker 1: or something. Believe our researcher made fun of you for that.
Speaker 1: I think she mocked you for that. Oh did she?
Speaker 1: I think I think that I think she took a
Speaker 1: shot at you for doing that. Yes, if I recall correctly. Oh, well,
Speaker 1: because Kyle p is gonna be awesome.
Speaker 2: Like like we know Kyle Pitts could play like his
Speaker 2: rookie year. I think proved everything that we wanted to see.
Speaker 2: It's one of the before Sam Laporter. It was the
Speaker 2: best rookie recent rookie tight end season in record UH
Speaker 2: and it was still top five all time in Fantasy
Speaker 2: points scored by a rookie. Then the weirdness happened in
Speaker 2: his sophomore year with Arthur Smith UH and last year
Speaker 2: with John new Smith. But I believe it's a little
Speaker 2: bit of all of it, I think, And look, I
Speaker 2: know this is a second straight offseason. I'm saying it.
Speaker 2: The quarterback play cannot get any worse, right, Like Marcus
Speaker 2: Manrijoda was the worst quarterback this past year. The Falcons
Speaker 2: quarterbacks this two years ago. This past season, they were awful.
Speaker 2: John new Smith is officially gone. We have an offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator that I think we could trust in Zach Robinson,
Speaker 2: because there's a history of success with coordinators who have
Speaker 2: worked under Sean McVay. And then I believe that Kyle
Speaker 2: Pitts was more injured than we were let on to believe.
Speaker 2: I remember back to August in training camp when he
Speaker 2: had a big kneeberry Son and was kind of limping,
Speaker 2: and people reports came out that he might not be.
Speaker 1: Healthy for the first few weeks of the season, and.
Speaker 2: We all kind of were like, no, he's gonna be
Speaker 2: out there, but he'd never and they were using him
Speaker 2: a little bit downfield less. Just to me, it felt
Speaker 2: like the last two years. And I know people are
Speaker 2: probably sick of me saying this, like it worst case
Speaker 2: scenario for Kyle Pitts. So you I need to see
Speaker 2: a quarterback upgrade, and it depends like it's gonna be
Speaker 2: a big difference if justin fields as the quarterback first,
Speaker 2: say like JJ McCarthy or something like that. But I'm
Speaker 2: still a believer in Kyle Pitts. And like you said, Marcus,
Speaker 2: it's going to be the cheapest probably he's ever been
Speaker 2: because even as a rookie people were hyping him up
Speaker 2: as a top five tight end.
Speaker 1: He is tightened ten right now between between David Joku
Speaker 1: and Jake Ferguson.
Speaker 3: All right, so Lakwan counterpoint. Listen, is it too late
Speaker 3: to buy a ticket because I'm hyping. I'm hype training
Speaker 3: this up.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: I am on the Kyle Pitts hype train. Just based
Speaker 3: on some of the points that Florio was hitting on.
Speaker 3: Got Zach Robinson coming from the Rams. I called him
Speaker 3: in Atlanta Rams by the way, because we got all
Speaker 3: the RAMS personnel over there, but Zach Robinson, he wasn't
Speaker 3: calling the plays over there. But it was his job
Speaker 3: to instill the offense and make sure people understood what
Speaker 3: was going on and that it was just going to
Speaker 3: be something you know that Sean McVay just didn't have
Speaker 3: to monitor too much. Like Zach Robinson was the perfect
Speaker 3: guy for this offense last season. Now he's going to
Speaker 3: Atlanta to where he gets to put his little spin
Speaker 3: on the offense. They need to find a quarterback. That's
Speaker 3: my only hesitation. But this morning, this very morning, on
Speaker 3: the underdog Draft, I got Kyle Pitts in the eighth round.
Speaker 3: That is a perfect place to get him right now
Speaker 3: because of people like me last season that was hating
Speaker 3: on him.
Speaker 1: Let's keep the hate going.
Speaker 3: Man, Let's get him in the tenth round, and then
Speaker 3: you just wreak all the benefits because they mean business.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: I believe everything that they're saying, because the first order
Speaker 3: of business was get the distraction out of the building, and.
Speaker 1: That was John new Smith.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: John Smith is a great tight end. He's a good
Speaker 3: tight end. That wasn't the guy to bring in to
Speaker 3: try to compete with or put the fire under Kyle
Speaker 3: Pitts's but because John Smith can actually play, so it
Speaker 3: was just like the indication them getting him out of there.
Speaker 3: The first order of business before they even get a quarterback,
Speaker 3: was they get this guy out of here. We need
Speaker 3: him out of here. We need Kyle Pitts to beat
Speaker 3: a focal point in this offense. I am on the
Speaker 3: hype train officially for Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 1: Wow. Now I'm gonna imagine that Lakwan's gonna spend there.
Speaker 1: He's gonna been the off season just like trashing him,
Speaker 1: just to like bring the adp. You can try to
Speaker 1: catch the timeline here though. Man listen, I'm on it, man,
Speaker 1: I'm all here for it, Man Florid this year tag
Speaker 1: team in it up. Look, I believe right like I
Speaker 1: still believe. I'd never fully believe. I got frustrated. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie to you. I got really frustrated and
Speaker 1: I stopped trying to like hype him midway through the year.
Speaker 1: But I still believe in the talent. I still hopefully,
Speaker 1: I'm believing that the situation is going to be better.
Speaker 1: I will also say that I don't think I'm going
Speaker 1: to have a lot of him, probably because I may
Speaker 1: have drafted a tight end by Ben, I still have
Speaker 1: sort of leaned into the I want to get a
Speaker 1: guy on the earlier side because I just don't want
Speaker 1: that happen. But I'm looking. I'm sitting here looking at
Speaker 1: the tight ends.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Laport is gonna go early. He's number one, Kelsey's at
Speaker 1: two right now, Trey McBride is at three, Andrew's at four.
Speaker 1: So it may be a year that I wait a
Speaker 1: little bit longer. So maybe I'll end up waiting on
Speaker 1: the tight end. Cool. I'm talking. I'm thinking through this
Speaker 1: out loud here, So maybe I'll end up having more
Speaker 1: Kyle Pitts than maybe I anticipated at this point. You
Speaker 1: could do like I did in the mock.
Speaker 2: Compare him with Dalton Kinkaid in the eighth and ninth round,
Speaker 2: and then you get two upside shots.
Speaker 1: Interesting. I like Bessy. That's spicy. I'm always a double
Speaker 1: tap tight end kind of guy. I like that, all right. Last,
Speaker 1: the last one here, this one from Sean Payton. I'll
Speaker 1: send this to Lakwan first. The only thing that slowed
Speaker 1: down Marvin Mims Junior was quote us, which again feels
Speaker 1: like everything that every fantasy analyst said all the year
Speaker 1: last year, like why don't you put this guy on
Speaker 1: the field more? And night Sean McVay or Sean Payton
Speaker 1: basically was like, Hey, maybe we should have put this
Speaker 1: guy on the field more. Are you buying it, high traders,
Speaker 1: smoke screen? Are you buying into this smoke screen? Man?
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, because I just don't see it happening immediately. I
Speaker 3: think we're slowly gradually throughout the year going to see
Speaker 3: Marvin Mins get more developed. But right now there's still
Speaker 3: a question at the quarterback position for him as well.
Speaker 3: So it's like the dude runs a four to three.
Speaker 3: He is a deep thread. We saw him have flashes
Speaker 3: and you could put him on special teams.
Speaker 1: He can make plays there. Whatever. Just get this dude
Speaker 1: on the field because he can make the plays.
Speaker 3: Man, Like, I honestly don't understand what was holding him
Speaker 3: back from just sprinkling him in in a couple of plays,
Speaker 3: like just have him there just to be a decoy
Speaker 3: or something. But it just wasn't happening. So it's a
Speaker 3: smoke screen. I need to see it to believe it.
Speaker 1: I'm buying it. I don't know about you. Florida. I'm
Speaker 1: buying it because I don't know that Courtland Sutton's coming back.
Speaker 1: I think they would like to move on from Jerry Judy.
Speaker 1: I don't know that it's going to be possible, but
Speaker 1: I don't know that they're in love with Jerry Judy.
Speaker 1: Maybe they draft somebody, maybe they try to add somebody
Speaker 1: in free agency. But I think there's gonna be a
Speaker 1: large opening for Marvin Mims to get on the field
Speaker 1: next year and make some plays. I think that's the
Speaker 1: reason I'm buying into it, Mike, not not only because
Speaker 1: I believe Sean Payton. I think he's a master at ubfuscation,
Speaker 1: but I think just I think the roster situation will
Speaker 1: allow itself for Marvin Mims to get on the field
Speaker 1: next year. Yeah, I think so as well.
Speaker 2: And I think back to like Week four, Week five,
Speaker 2: when on Fantasy Live, I was like calling out Sean Payton,
Speaker 2: like you talk about bad coaching jobs, the guy leading
Speaker 2: the league and yards per route, ran can't see the
Speaker 2: field on your team that is searching for wide receiver help.
Speaker 2: But I have questions about Marvin Mims game, like can
Speaker 2: he can he be more than just a downfield threat?
Speaker 2: Can can he run a full route tree stuff like that,
Speaker 2: But I it might not matter, like if he's able
Speaker 2: to see the fields as much as we're anticipating, at
Speaker 2: least me and you Marcus, Like one big play a
Speaker 2: week is all he kind of needs. And the thing
Speaker 2: I'm thinking is, like, even if he can't be that
Speaker 2: that true wide receiver one for you use him how
Speaker 2: the Chiefs use mvs right like like Lukwama is saying,
Speaker 2: as a.
Speaker 1: Decoy, you use the MVS.
Speaker 2: Like he's out there so much just because he opens
Speaker 2: stuff up short term because you have to worry about
Speaker 2: him burning your secondary. So Mims could at least play
Speaker 2: that role. And if you throw a couple of long
Speaker 2: balls again to him, like, I don't see why he
Speaker 2: can't be productive. But I think for him to be
Speaker 2: like a weekly every you start a weekly in fantasy option,
Speaker 2: he probably needs to become a little bit of a
Speaker 2: better route runner.
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. They also have a similar situation
Speaker 1: where they've got to figure out their quarterback scenario too.
Speaker 1: You know, they they obviously don't want Russ, but they
Speaker 1: also can't figure out how to move on from Russ
Speaker 1: just yet. That's a nasty situation. That's going to be
Speaker 1: an ugly, ugly separation. I don't know how that's going
Speaker 1: to go down, but it's it's apparent that the two
Speaker 1: sides are trying to set up a conscious uncoupling but
Speaker 1: don't really know how to do it. So we'll see.
Speaker 1: But I just think that circumstances are going to force
Speaker 1: Marvin Mems to be on the field a lot more
Speaker 1: next year. I hope what he does with that, you know, we.
Speaker 3: Can, we can doesn't pull what he did last year
Speaker 3: and bringing a bunch of Saints players.
Speaker 1: I mean, who knows, I mean something. It was going
Speaker 1: to be a free agent, so you know, you go there,
Speaker 1: you go. You run all those same shenanigans in Denver
Speaker 1: with Taysom Hill.
Speaker 3: Wouldn't be He's gonna go over there be a quarterback
Speaker 3: to wide receiver to tight end the running back.
Speaker 1: You know, first place bugs, bunny, left field bugs, Bunny
Speaker 1: shorts up bucks, Bunny. It's gonna be like that with
Speaker 1: Taysom Hill. Anyway, We'll take one more break come back.
Speaker 1: We're gonna dive into the combine on the field. Some
Speaker 1: of the things that maybe we are looking out for
Speaker 1: and what we expect from this weekend in Indianapolis. That's
Speaker 1: next on the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. So they are
Speaker 1: all hanging out at Lucas Oil Stadium there in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: and there are guys that are lifting weights and they
Speaker 1: are running and jumping and doing all sorts of things.
Speaker 1: And what is basically a job interview for the upcoming
Speaker 1: NFL Draft. So I kind of dive into some of
Speaker 1: the things we're expecting or looking out for coming up
Speaker 1: this weekend. Here are a couple of things that we
Speaker 1: do know early on. Two of the top quarterback prospects,
Speaker 1: and Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels aren't going to throw
Speaker 1: at the combine. That really is surprise. That has kind
Speaker 1: of been the way of things with the high level
Speaker 1: quarterbacks lately. They are waiting for their pro day to
Speaker 1: do some things. For a couple of the top wide
Speaker 1: receiver prospects, Marvin Harrison Junior and Malik Neighbors, they are
Speaker 1: not expected to work out. They are going to be
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis. I believe they're going to go through the
Speaker 1: interview process and all those other things, but not going
Speaker 1: to work out. I mean, I think if you are
Speaker 1: one or both of those guys, you were pretty much
Speaker 1: locked into being a top ten pick. There's probably more
Speaker 1: risk than reward to working out at the combine, so
Speaker 1: those guys are not going to do that. So so
Speaker 1: some have a question. I mean, Floria, what sorts of
Speaker 1: things do you look for from players at the combine?
Speaker 2: I think the combine is and I know people listening
Speaker 2: to this probably like I think it's a little overrated.
Speaker 2: I think it's cool to see them out there and
Speaker 2: running and stuff like that, but at the same point
Speaker 2: in time, like to me, I think so much of
Speaker 2: what makes the combine special is what happens that we
Speaker 2: don't see on TV, like like talking to the teams.
Speaker 1: And the interview process and all of that.
Speaker 2: It kind of is like the Winter the Football's version
Speaker 2: of the Winter Meetings, where like everyone is in one
Speaker 2: place and so a lot happens because you're talking and
Speaker 2: stuff like that. But I mean, I'm not the kind
Speaker 2: of person that's gonna be sitting there like he ran
Speaker 2: a four or five one and out a four four nine.
Speaker 2: I'm not like no, Like to me that I understand
Speaker 2: if you have models and stuff like that, that works
Speaker 2: and the nextion status uses all of it. To make
Speaker 2: like one big grade. I love that tool, so I
Speaker 2: get excited when that happens with the combine. But the
Speaker 2: only thing I think that happens largely is players can
Speaker 2: hurt their.
Speaker 1: Value more than anything.
Speaker 2: Like I think back to Elijah Holyfield all the time
Speaker 2: that he was like a running back that was pretty
Speaker 2: highly viewed and then he ran a four to seven
Speaker 2: and he never sniffed the NFL. But for the most part,
Speaker 2: like I understand why Caleb and Daniels and Marvin Harrison
Speaker 2: aren't working out because what what do these guys.
Speaker 1: Have to gain right now? Like their tape speaks for itself.
Speaker 1: I mean, to that point, Lakwan and Floya touched on
Speaker 1: something that I've been kind of feeling the last couple
Speaker 1: of days. I'm not gonna say that the combine is
Speaker 1: it's not irrelevant, right because there are definitely guys from
Speaker 1: smaller schools that maybe don't get as much of attention,
Speaker 1: or guys that are kind of, you know, fringe draft
Speaker 1: guys who can maybe move up around or two. So
Speaker 1: there's still some value for a lot of players here.
Speaker 1: But in an age now where I mean one, it
Speaker 1: seems like nearly every college football game is on television.
Speaker 1: With social media and all these different platforms, you can
Speaker 1: watch a guy's tape. You can scout pretty much anybody. Look,
Speaker 1: we can see out, I mean, the Threeas can scout
Speaker 1: anybody pretty much from our homes at this point, right right.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that, you know, my tape watching skills
Speaker 1: are on the level of you know, Daniel Jeremiah or
Speaker 1: a high level scout or anybody like that, but we
Speaker 1: can watch all these guys. We got to a point
Speaker 1: where the Combine generally has lost a lot of its luster,
Speaker 1: at least it comes to the on field drills. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I agree.
Speaker 3: I mean I kind of watch it just to see
Speaker 3: the guys that I go into combine like really excited about.
Speaker 3: Just to see where they weigh in, if they gain
Speaker 3: some weight, especially for a running back, or if there's
Speaker 3: a wide receiver that runs like a four to three
Speaker 3: or four to four, whatever the case may be, Like,
Speaker 3: oh this guy's quick. You know some of the like
Speaker 3: lower level guys that aren't getting talked up enough, Like
Speaker 3: I really don't watch the Combine for guys that are
Speaker 3: just already you know, top ten picks or like the
Speaker 3: solid guys it's the guys that you know, fall under
Speaker 3: the radar, Like, for example, Cooper cup I was just
Speaker 3: watching his combine drills, like nobody was really like excited
Speaker 3: about him, and then he's making history, you know, a
Speaker 3: couple of seasons later. Like those are the guys that,
Speaker 3: you know, I really look for the guys that aren't
Speaker 3: really being talked about enough, and you know, they kind
Speaker 3: of show up and show out and then kind of
Speaker 3: rises their fantasy stock and kind of rises their draft
Speaker 3: stock as well.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's for me. The thing at the
Speaker 1: Combine is i'd send to sort of wait till after
Speaker 1: the fact and see the guys who maybe had a
Speaker 1: good workout that may I didn't watch or didn't know
Speaker 1: so much about before. And then it's like, look, I
Speaker 1: watched the Combine the same way I watched the Oscars,
Speaker 1: right like, it tells me what I need to go
Speaker 1: back and watch that maybe I missed earlier right here,
Speaker 1: never heard of it. Yeah, it was like, hey man,
Speaker 1: this movie one a whole lot of Wars. I didn't
Speaker 1: see it. Maybe I'll you know, you know, pay the
Speaker 1: four bucks or whatever to stream it or something like that.
Speaker 1: You know, like that's sort of how I look at
Speaker 1: the combine. It's like the guys who have a big
Speaker 1: weekend that maybe I didn't pay a lot of attention
Speaker 1: to or hadn't really heard much about. Those are the
Speaker 1: guys I go back and watch. But beyond that, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, and we talked about this a lot, Mike,
Speaker 1: that so much has to do with landing spots for
Speaker 1: these guys. That the athleticism. The athleticism is one thing,
Speaker 1: and it's it's great when a dude has a great
Speaker 1: forty time. Look, I remember, I remember when DK Metcalf
Speaker 1: had a bad shuttle run and people were like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, what's this guy gonna do in the NFL,
Speaker 1: Like he needs to go take some yoga classes because
Speaker 1: he's got tight hips or whatever. DK Metcalf has been
Speaker 1: just fine. He's been just fine.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I use it like you do, Marcus. But
Speaker 2: I also think he could be a trap in some
Speaker 2: senses because after Marvin Mims last year ran a four
Speaker 2: to three, he's now on everyone's radar and he's getting
Speaker 2: pulled up the board and that didn't work out at
Speaker 2: all for fantasy purposes. So I'm with like, I think
Speaker 2: I agree with both of you like it. I use it.
Speaker 2: It's a tool to use and to see who stands
Speaker 2: out and more so to be like, oh maybe I
Speaker 2: overlooked this person and like a couple of years ago,
Speaker 2: that's that's how I was. Like, I was pretty high
Speaker 2: on like Khalil Shakir coming out his year or Calvin
Speaker 2: Austin that one didn't work out, but like those are
Speaker 2: players that I was like, Okay, I didn't know these
Speaker 2: guys before the combine.
Speaker 1: Now I'm watching them. I like them.
Speaker 2: But more than that is exactly what you say, like
Speaker 2: landing spot, opportunity, all of that greatly matters way more.
Speaker 1: Two words, Andy Isabella. Yep, Andy Isabella, that's a dig.
Speaker 1: That's it, all right. So I mean, look, all that
Speaker 1: being said, we know that a lot of people still
Speaker 1: get hyped on the combine. A lot of people, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned Florio, have their models. They can plug in
Speaker 1: the numbers and they can sort of make evaluations. And
Speaker 1: there are a lot of us sikos who are doing drafts,
Speaker 1: doing mox, doing real drafts. A lot of the Dynasty
Speaker 1: folks have already tapped I mean they tapped in pretty
Speaker 1: much once the regular season ended. Yeah, I mean Lakwan,
Speaker 1: how much do you expect anybody to move in Dynasty
Speaker 1: ranks post combine? Do you think we're gonna see a
Speaker 1: lot of movement there?
Speaker 3: Probably not see a ton, not a ton of movement
Speaker 3: from guys that you know that we already know about.
Speaker 3: But more or less, it's gonna be what it is.
Speaker 3: Like there might be some movement for some guys in Dynasty,
Speaker 3: like some of the guys that had question marks, but
Speaker 3: more or less, we're gonna get what we got and
Speaker 3: then until Draft Day and April, that's when stuff starts
Speaker 3: really getting crazy moved around.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Probably right last thing as both of you guys
Speaker 1: started with you Florio in particular. Yeah, Like I know
Speaker 1: you're not necessarily super dialed in or plugged in. Is
Speaker 1: there anybody that maybe you just gotta kind of keep
Speaker 1: an eye on see what they do at the at
Speaker 1: the combine? This week?
Speaker 2: For me, it's it's the wide receivers after the big three,
Speaker 2: like we we all know, in whichever order you want
Speaker 2: to put him in, like Harrison Neighbors donsay, seem like
Speaker 2: the locked and loaded top three in this class. But
Speaker 2: I do think there's a lot of talent after so
Speaker 2: like Brian Thomas Junior, Troy Franklin, McConkey. There there's Walker,
Speaker 2: There's Coleman, there's Mitchell. There's a like a few slot
Speaker 2: guys that I've been looking into a bit that I like.
Speaker 2: So to me, I want to see what these secondary
Speaker 2: receivers do, because I do think there's gonna be a
Speaker 2: ton of wide receivers in the first two rounds this year,
Speaker 2: and how those guys could separate themselves and stuff. But
Speaker 2: even more than that, like I look forward to hearing
Speaker 2: what we don't see, Like what like Daniel Jeremiah next
Speaker 2: week is gonna come back and be like, Oh, this
Speaker 2: player really impressed teams and this team and other sources
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. So to me, I think that
Speaker 2: information that comes out of the combine is almost just
Speaker 2: as useful as what these guys are measuring on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anybody you're looking out for LQ.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I was gonna hit on the wide
Speaker 3: receivers too. I mean jayvon Baker from UCF, I mean
Speaker 3: mal Klye Corley. I mean these are guys that I
Speaker 3: hope test well and kind of raises their draft stock
Speaker 3: so they can get in a position because I think
Speaker 3: these guys could be difference makers on day one if
Speaker 3: they get in a team camp then needs a secondary
Speaker 3: wide receiver. And I really feel like there's a ton
Speaker 3: of teams out there that needs a wide receiver too,
Speaker 3: that can just produce. I mean, like Malachi, this guy's
Speaker 3: a yakyard. I mean he's a slot wide receiver, a
Speaker 3: reliable target, and he makes some really difficult catches. What
Speaker 3: team is not going to be looking for a guy
Speaker 3: like that that can produce on day one? And he's
Speaker 3: like lower in the list of all the big you know,
Speaker 3: top ten, top seven, you know wide receiver prospects everyone
Speaker 3: talked about. So the underdogs like Javon Baker or even
Speaker 3: Xavier Worthy, he's up there somewhat in the top ten
Speaker 3: of guys getting talked about. He's a speeds there. So
Speaker 3: there's a ton of ton of guys that are outside
Speaker 3: the big the big names. I mean, running back wise,
Speaker 3: I'm looking at Bucky Irvin. I mean, he's going to
Speaker 3: be like a PPR guy. I just need him to
Speaker 3: put it on a little bit more weight and hopefully
Speaker 3: in the combine he shows up at two hundred two
Speaker 3: of five or whatever. So just he's a guy that
Speaker 3: can really really help out a passing game if they're
Speaker 3: looking for running back that can keep his head on
Speaker 3: the swobwl, getting open space and be explosive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are a couple of names that I have
Speaker 1: in mind. Why is JJ McCarthy just because he's become
Speaker 1: kind of an interesting talking point I think at the
Speaker 1: last week, so he really has been. You know, the
Speaker 1: buzz early on was that NFL teams liked him a
Speaker 1: lot more than you know, fans and scouts seem to.
Speaker 1: So like, this is a chance to go out and
Speaker 1: sort of perform a little bit. Now. Granted, look, I
Speaker 1: think in the end it pays to go back to
Speaker 1: the tape to watch what he did at Michigan, But
Speaker 1: you know that the charge level against him has been
Speaker 1: that he didn't necessarily have to do a ton because
Speaker 1: he had so much talent around him on that Michigan team.
Speaker 1: So this is a chance to kind of show out
Speaker 1: a little bit to see what he can do. I
Speaker 1: think same sort of from Michael Pinnox of a Pinnix
Speaker 1: sort of has the you know, he's got the age
Speaker 1: issue working against him, the fact that he spent so
Speaker 1: many years in college he had a number of injury issues.
Speaker 1: He can't, unfortunately turn back the clock on some of
Speaker 1: those things, but I do want to see him perform.
Speaker 1: I've been part of me being a little bit of
Speaker 1: a homer here. I want to see Marshawn Lloyd, who
Speaker 1: was a guy that I mean, obviously I watched a
Speaker 1: lot of USC football, but he was a guy that
Speaker 1: I loved that I felt like sometimes they went away
Speaker 1: from him when they probably should have given him the
Speaker 1: ball more like it felt there were times that Lincoln
Speaker 1: Riley really was out to try and win Caleb Williams
Speaker 1: another heisman, or sometimes just put too much on Caleb's
Speaker 1: plate when maybe they should have gone with Marshaw Lloyd
Speaker 1: a little bit. I think he's a talented back who
Speaker 1: maybe didn't get as many opportunities as he probably should
Speaker 1: have in the course of that offense. So I just
Speaker 1: want to see what he tests like. I just want
Speaker 1: to see how athletic he is. I've seen him, I
Speaker 1: like him. I just want to see what he does,
Speaker 1: uh sort of on this stage, because again I think
Speaker 1: he's talented, but also fight on because I'm a homer,
Speaker 1: so I think bo Nicks is an interesting one. He's
Speaker 1: another one too. Yeah, he wasn't.
Speaker 2: Asked to do a whole bunch in college, but he
Speaker 2: has the physical tools.
Speaker 1: Which is funny. I sort of heard people talk that
Speaker 1: maybe the Rams go out and draft bow Knicks, but
Speaker 1: I laugh because the Rams already drafted Stetson Bennett, and
Speaker 1: bo Nix is sort of Stetson Bennett two point zero,
Speaker 1: another guy who's like already old and was in college
Speaker 1: for like eleventy years, So why would and like the
Speaker 1: Rams like, is stetson' Bennet ever gonna He's never gonna play?
Speaker 1: Probably not. I mean there's been no update.
Speaker 3: That's the quote from Sean McVay, as like last week,
Speaker 3: there's no update, and then it needs to.
Speaker 1: Be enough ta He's just often the void somewhere right.
Speaker 2: Bo Knicks makes so much sense because I don't know
Speaker 2: if you guys remember last August when Matthew Stafford was like,
Speaker 2: this team is too young. I'm having trouble connecting.
Speaker 1: Man, I'm not of that. But all jokes aside, I
Speaker 1: am curious to see to see bow Nicks perform. He's
Speaker 1: twenty four years old, he just turned He just turned
Speaker 1: twenty four a couple of days ago. So yeah, take
Speaker 1: the contract till he's thirty. The clock is ticking.
Speaker 3: Young man still under his mom's insurance, probably.
Speaker 1: At least for another year. He is another year, so
Speaker 1: he is absolutely So all right, there you go. That's
Speaker 1: a sort of our take on the combine. Next week
Speaker 1: we'll come back and we will sort of try to
Speaker 1: break down what we saw, what we learned, all that
Speaker 1: sort of stuff, and then one of the fun, good
Speaker 1: things we can laugh and poke about next week after
Speaker 1: the combine is over. So that'll do it for this
Speaker 1: edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, The Happy, Safe,
Speaker 1: and Healthy, Do good, and live well. Enjoy your extra day.
Speaker 1: You're in twenty twenty four, everybody, and we will talk
Speaker 1: to you next week.