WEBVTT - NFL Trends Deep Dive with Next Gen Stats Research Analyst James Reber 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:13.960 Wow, Hey everybody, It's Tuesday, March nineteenth, twenty twenty six. 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.959 Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. We're happy to 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:17.919 help in past protection. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:19.119 It's me and Ran MG. 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.480 Marcus Grant, joined by Michael Florio and Lakwan Jones. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:23.560 Happy start of the tournament. Guys. 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:25.480 I know it's not fantasy football, but have you march 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.000 madness to those who who observe I do not. 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:30.040 I enjoy it. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:32.960 I won't act like I've watched a lot of college 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:36.760 basketball this year. I used to be huge into college basketball, 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.960 but it doesn't matter right, Like I don't need to 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:41.920 know any of the players on the TV for me 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.639 to enjoy today and tomorrow, Like, do not care. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:46.600 It'd be a great time. 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.720 I would say the next two weekends this weekend and 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.919 next weekend are even too, of the greatest weekends in sports, 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.040 just because there's wall to wall basketball on from like 0:00:56.480 --> 0:01:00.120 nine am Pacific time until you know, late in the evening. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.720 And you know, I feel bad for the poor folks 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:03.400 who get. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.840 Their prices right preempted or like you know, I don't 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:07.800 like you know, my grandmother didn't take a care for 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.080 it because her soap operas got pushed because of basketball, 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.360 but for the rest of us, for the rest of us, 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.120 it is a great time, an absolutely great time. 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.720 So we are supposed to watch together this weekend. I 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.080 don't know if you guys are still coming through, but 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:22.920 we're supposed to. 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:24.600 Oh, I'm pulling up. 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.319 I'm pulling on it for sure. Yeah or sure, that'll 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:28.720 be fun. 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.280 That'll be fun. It's gonna be a good time, be 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.320 a good time. So today on the show, gonna have 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.039 a kind of a different time. Should be a good time. Nonetheless, 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.560 we're gonna talk to James Reeber, who does research for 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.000 the Next Gen Stats team here at the NFL, wrote 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.200 a couple of articles that maybe on the surface you 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.960 wouldn't think about as fantasy related articles, but we are 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.480 trying to find a fantasy spin. He talked about the 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.800 increase in chip blocks across NFL offenses, also talked about 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:00.480 the rise of split safety too high coverages across the NFL, 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:02.480 and so we're gonna kind of pick his brand a 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.640 little bit on how those things could help you when 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.600 you are sort of picking between players and putting together 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.400 your fantasy draft lists and what have you. But do 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:12.920 you want to start with a little bit of news, 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.600 and I emphasize a little bit because there's not a 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.400 lot happening in the NFL, but a story that popped 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:25.160 up that Lakwah you texted us about yesterday. Four time 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.520 Pro Bowl wide receiver t Y Hilton has announced his retirement, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.320 though which I'm sure comes as news to a lot 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.720 of people because we haven't seen t Y Hilton in 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:35.720 the NFL in a few years. 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:37.720 The last time he played was back. 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:41.160 In twenty twenty two, when he appeared in three games with. 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.640 The Dallas Cowboys. Wow. 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:49.160 Either way, Eugene Marquis Hilton is officially wrapping it up, 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.280 calling it a career. Yo. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.400 Well, you put my main government out there like that. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.119 I mean, you know, I don't know what his mom 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.160 calls it. If she calls him Eugene or TV she 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:04.079 calls me Eugene, probably when he's in trouble time. 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:07.480 So I will I will ask the question that I 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:09.440 always ask in these situations, Florida. 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:11.400 I will start with you in Lakwana. You can follow. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.080 Is t Y Hilton a fantasy Hall of Famer? 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.760 I'm more so wondering where he got this ty name 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.160 from because the only T in his entire government name 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:26.640 is in Hilton and there's no why, so, like, where 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:31.119 did this come from? I have no idea, I have questions. No, 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.240 he's not a Fantasy Hall of Famer, he's a he's 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.640 a Hall of very good. I would say, like I 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.200 think when we talk about the twenty tens and like 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:43.320 the top wide receivers, he's not gonna be the first 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.280 name or one of the first names that get thrown out, 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.520 but he'll he will get thrown out there right like 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.400 he was really good for a big stretch. And in fact, 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.520 and you outside of his rookie year where he put 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.760 up eight hundred and sixty one yards, every other season 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.200 that he got to play with Andrew Luck, he topped 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:03.960 a thousand yards. Most of them he topped twelve hundred. 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.400 Because there's the one year in twenty seventeen where he 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.760 failed to get a thousand, but Andrew Luck didn't play 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.640 that year. So I think you could point for two 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.080 reasons why he's not a Fantasy Hall of Famer. Want 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:17.479 was it the age cliff because he happened to be 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.520 turning thirty when Andrew Luck just surprised everyone and retired. 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.720 But once Luck retired, it was kind of a rap 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.440 for Hilton and it's not his fault, but like it 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:30.800 was early career Jacoby Brissett and Philip Rivers and Carson 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:32.920 went like right, like the quarterbacks they were throwing out 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:37.360 there were they left a lot to be desired. So yeah, 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:41.360 I think that really does hamper his career numbers a bit. Also, 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.320 he was a player that once that cliff came, it 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.720 came very fast. But there was a six to seven 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.360 year stretch where he was a top two round pick 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.279 in fantasy and was just electric. So haula very good 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:54.080 in my opinion. 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.760 All right, Lakwan, you agree with that. 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.560 I second that the Hall of very Good is filled 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.760 right now with a bunch of players. But like I 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:07.200 feel like if Andrew Luck didn't retire, like he could 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.720 have been in that Hall of Fame fantasy you know room. 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:11.320 But because at the end of the day, those two 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:14.960 seasons he had that were magnificent fourteen hundred yards, I mean, 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.000 he didn't really find the end so much, but the 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.920 ceiling was going to keep rising if Andrew Luck stayed 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.920 in Honestly, the surprise, you know, retirement, I think that's 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.080 what kind of knocked him off his track. To have 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.039 that ceiling to keep you know, rising. So the hall 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.120 of very good is filled right now, and that's not 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.920 a bad thing. But we got some Hall of famers 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.359 in there that I can't honestly see t Y Hillton 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:39.440 sitting next to him, any. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.039 Of those guys really for real, for real? Yeah, no, 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:43.960 I think I think you guys are right, because it is. 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.720 You remember the highs. But and so you go back 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:49.960 and look, you realize that those that peak was a 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.160 really short period of time for him. 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.760 He was a top five Fantasy wide receiver that year. 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.480 He put up fourteen hundred yards and that's with little touchdown, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.400 so all that production was three yards and catches stuff. 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.640 But again, the cliff, it came very fast. It was 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.360 like why he just standing in. 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:08.520 Falls down. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:10.279 By the way. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:15.200 To answer your question, Florio, uh, he says that even 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.359 though his name is Eugene, his my daddy's name is Tyrone. 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.680 So ever since I was little, everyone has just used 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.680 the first two letters of that, and. 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.760 That is how he became t Y Hilton. So there 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:25.960 it is. 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:27.960 So then instead of being tied, he made it t 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.279 why why okay, okay? 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.880 But he does he does have a son. He does 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:38.080 have a son. Named Tai, so you know, I guess it's. 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.359 Coming, that's why. 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:46.880 Yeah, he has two sons, Eugene Hilton Junior and Tie Hilton, 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.279 so he sort of combined all of those things. 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:55.720 Uh so, But again he named him Tai, not like, yes, 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.640 it's a well, I don't know. But one fun fact 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.000 about him, real quick is every year for his first 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:05.000 seven seasons, he had a catch of sixty plus yard 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.560 over sixty yards every year, and to me, that is 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.680 always what I'll remember with t Y Hilton. He was 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.880 one of the very best field stretchers of his era. 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.400 He had deficiencies, like we said the red zone, not 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:17.840 really a high touchdown guy. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.120 But one of the just the very best field stretchers. 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:24.080 Well, that and that he used to absolutely torture the 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:25.160 Houston Texans. 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:26.960 That was just the thing. 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:32.360 He did eleven touchdown catches against the Texans in his career. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.320 He didn't have more than six against any other team. 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.960 So he just absolutely just destroyed the Texans. 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.120 I remember him too throwing seth rollins over to barricade 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:45.760 at a Bears game also, so that was pretty awesome 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:46.559 to see as well. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.240 That's pretty random. That's super random. 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:52.320 Other piece of news Carson Wentz is returning to the 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.920 Minnesota Vikings on a one year deal. So lakwan, does 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.040 that mean that nine has officially been eighty six from 0:07:59.040 --> 0:07:59.960 the Vikings offense? 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:07.600 Stop calling this man nine. Stop there's only one nine. Yes, 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:11.960 it's eighty six. Get he doesn't call himself nine. Matthew 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.360 Stafford doesn't call himself nine. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:15.000 Yes we do. 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:19.280 Mat I can't say what we I can't say here 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.840 what we call him. But the RAMS community have a 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:27.280 name for nine, and it's not JJ McCarthy. And honestly, 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:29.200 it's obviously not nine either. 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:34.240 If you can't say it here, it is, you can't 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:35.440 say it here, it's not nine. 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:41.160 If you pulled football fans who is nine, you're gonna 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.960 get more JJ McCarthy votes than than Matthew Stafford. 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:45.719 You just are like, it's just, it's just what's out 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.000 there in the zeitgeist. 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:48.199 Now, man, just live with it. 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.320 Didn't we have this conversation here that these guys need 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.680 to earn the cool nickname, Like how I stopped calling 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.320 Trevor mit Lawnes. 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.080 Now he is t law. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.800 People don't call JJ McCarthy nine gets cool. They call 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:02.760 him nine to sort of mock him a. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:04.600 Little bit, like it's just like the needle him. 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.640 Because he thinks he's nine. Yeah, don't use it as 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.320 a troll. When I think of nine, it is Matthew Stafford. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.120 Any question done? 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.040 Anyway he is, It is cooked, well done in the 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.480 crock pot. This has been a slow cooking. But he 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.600 is done. Looking at Carson Wentz back in there, backing 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.480 up Kyler Murray. He now falls to QB three. I 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.200 could sense probably a trade is coming, or maybe he 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.760 just sits behind two veteran quarterbacks and learn and absorb 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:32.559 as much as he can. But at the end of 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:34.760 the day, I don't think we see JJ McCarthy hit 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.880 the field unless both of these guys get injured. But again, 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.479 I feel like we need to stop giving cool nicknames 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.640 to guys, even though you're trolling. Stop giving nicknames to 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.679 people who haven't earned these things. Man, Please, we didn't. 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:48.800 Give it to them. He gave it to himself. 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.680 That's why he's getting trolled by like he gave it 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:53.520 to himself and now. 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.080 We're using it and you're going to throwing your back 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.880 at him. Stop you're doing. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:05.960 Pro football is an attack on the rams man or attack. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.120 It's just doing this. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.679 No, if you go to Pro Football Reference, which legitimately 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.080 if someone on the street one time called a person 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.559 a nickname, it appears on their page. U. J. J. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:23.240 McCarthy's nickname is nine. Matthew Stafford does not have a nickname. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.320 Well, does that mean that somebody on the street wants 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:26.880 called Tom Brady the Pharaoh? 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:33.439 Because it's on there, right, like the Prince who was Promised? 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:37.200 Trevor Lawrence who said that, Yeah, I don't know, that's 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:40.560 a that's a certain Fox Sports analyst who actually knows 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:44.880 that nickname. Kyle Brandt said that he's actually the one 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:45.520 who created that. 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.520 Actually, I'm texting her about it. Yeah, the Prince. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.960 I've heard another analyst call him that for a while 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:52.640 now as well. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.720 Sure, who doesn't want in our building? 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:59.160 Well, again, that's the thing that you know, instead of 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:00.760 calling him, Trevor Midle warns, you can call him the 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.240 Prince who was promised if he starts playing back, can. 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:07.120 Just use that. So there it is, all right, a 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:07.679 break come back. 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.840 We're gonna talk with James Reeber of the Next Gen 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.080 Stats Research team, get us thoughts on chip blocks, two 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.480 high safeties, a whole lot more things that you can 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.240 keep in your back pocket when it comes to draft 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:18.319 time in fantasy football. 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:24.920 That's next. You're on the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Back 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:25.720 here on the. 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.839 NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, and very happy to be joined 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.280 by a special guest doing something that you know, we 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:36.160 don't necessarily get too much into, sort of the off 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.320 the beaten path version of the next gen stats, and 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.320 to help us with that, James Reeber a researcher for 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.400 NGS here at the NFL, and wrote an article recently 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.800 about chip blocks. Not that they're a new thing across 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.680 the NFL, but they're starting to be deployed more often 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.840 and in a more strategic way to sort of help offenses 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:56.720 passing games. 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.559 So we're glad to get James in here sort of 0:11:58.600 --> 0:11:59.800 talk about the article he wrote. 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.240 I try to put a fantasy context to it, because 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.440 we're all looking for whatever edge we can find. 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.160 So James, appreciate you taking the time. Man. How you 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:06.800 feeling today? 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.200 I am doing well, man, Thank you so much for 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.560 having me on. Really excited to be here. I'm glad 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.920 that you've all, you know, looked through my work and 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.240 you had, you know, the good sense to figure out 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:20.040 that this. 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.000 Was relevant and we could get something out of it. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.520 I didn't even really expect that tight ends would be 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.040 doing so much extra work off of their blocks. And 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:35.320 that's something that I found just you know, working through 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.360 the research for this and then even working with Krie 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:41.680 the last few weeks, that this is a massive trend, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.480 something that is going under the radar, but can really 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:46.000 help us out. 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:48.920 Yeah, and like you said, we had we didn't have 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:49.400 the good sense. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.000 Kyrie had the good sense to find the article, to 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.200 bring it to our attention and help organize this whole thing. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.199 So we're just the dopes who get to sit on 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.560 cameon on the microphone and talk about it. But just 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:03.720 for the base level, right for the entry level folks. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:08.439 Explain what chip blocks are and how they benefit an offense. 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:09.400 No doubt, let's do it. 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:14.080 So chip blocks are a trend that has come about, 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.719 like you were saying, Marcus, it's something that has been 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.920 going on throughout the entire history of the league, just 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:24.120 happening a lot more recently. Where a skill position player, 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.400 usually a tight end, occasionally a running back or a 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.280 wide receiver will give a little bit of extra blocking 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:35.520 help will engage at pass rusher quickly and then kind 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.600 of roll off that and go out into a route, 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.400 and so it kind of lets the offense have their 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.200 cake and eat it too, where you're getting an extra 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.600 guy in your pass protection. You know a lot of 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.800 teams like spread offenses at this point in time, and 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.319 so if you have a five men protection, you can 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:55.679 turn that into kind of five and a half. And 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:02.200 so that has given quarterback extra time to throw. We've 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:07.199 actually seen that since Next Gen started tracking chiplocks, which 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:12.440 was seven seasons ago, the time to pressure is about 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.679 six tenths of a second longer three point four seconds 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.160 versus two point eight when a chiplock is used. 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.600 And I mean six tenths. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.440 Is not a huge amount of time in the grid 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.960 scheme of things, but for a quarterback it can mean 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.920 absolutely everything. It allows them to go through their progressions, 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.560 get their deep ball off, avoid the sack. So, you know, 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:39.000 the best offensive innovators out there. You know, we talk 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.760 about the Rams and Niners a lot on the show, 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:46.520 and they heavily feature chiplocks in their offense. And it's 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:48.400 kind of picking up league wide as well. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.560 So in the article, you talk about how these quarterbacks, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.240 like you just said, they get extra time. We've seen 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.280 their air yards go up, more opportunity to take the 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.880 deep ball, the deep shot, stuff like that. But what 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.880 surprised me will is the teams that ship at a 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.960 higher rate don't always put up better offensive numbers. In fact, 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.920 in some cases you point out, it's the opposite and 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.840 they struggle. So what did you find when you were 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.640 looking at that? Because that was surprising to me. 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.280 Yeah, So I'm not going to go out and tell 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:22.800 you that, you know, chip blocks are exclusively an advantage creator. 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.720 Sometimes it's more the case that a team is forced 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.240 to do it because their pass protection isn't really holding up. 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.160 The Vikings and Browns were two teams that come to 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:37.040 mind that had a little bit of a weaker offensive 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.400 line this season. They had a lot of you know, 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:44.200 injuries and turnover on their fronts. They also had you know, 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.840 young quarterbacks who weren't quite as good as evading pressure 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:52.040 on their own, and so they had to get extra 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:56.080 guys in the protection just in order to kind of 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:57.120 stay above water. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.440 So you will see that sometimes, and. 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:01.360 I'm not going to tell you, you know, we get 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.280 these offenses that are shipping more, you want to draft 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.760 everyone from those offenses. That's not really the case, but 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.280 we're going to, you know, go into how we can 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.760 make it helpful for fantasy on a case by case basis. 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.400 So you talk about how this has been something that's 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.800 been tracked for several years now, but it seems to 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.800 be trending upward from twenty one percent in twenty twenty 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.480 three to nearly twenty seven percent this past season. I mean, 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.720 what's driving this usage upward? And is there a ceiling 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:29.520 or do you think this keeps climbing. 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:34.600 So there's actually a lot of different contributors to this. 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.880 I do think there is eventually a ceiling, but I 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.480 don't think we're at it or even super close to 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:47.280 it yet. As so, we discussed that the Sean McVay, 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:52.440 Kyle Kyle Shanahan and their proteges, the Kevin O'Connell's, the 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:54.920 Liam Cohens, the Klint Kubiaks. 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.240 These are the guys who are leading this charge. 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.640 And what happens with guys like that is when they 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.360 started doing something, the rest of the league kind of 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.119 takes it over over time. What we saw five or 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.840 ten years ago was everyone started using motion, and you know, 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.600 everyone had always used motion, but started doing it much 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.560 more often, especially starting with that coaching tree, and now 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.600 that's kind of reached an equilibrium. Everyone's doing it all 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.160 over the league, whether you're a part of that tree 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.280 or not, and so as those other coaches pick the 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:33.240 chip block up, it'll keep increasing. And I think, you know, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.359 it's going to be really interesting to monitor where it 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:36.359 goes the next few years. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:38.680 And some of the data showed kind of a split 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.280 amongst tight ends. You kind of talked about it a 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:44.360 little bit, but guys like Trey McBride, Kyle Pitts, they 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.359 sort of thrived when working with chip blocks. Guys like 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.480 Travis Kelcey, George Kittle, Mark Andrews saw their numbers dip. 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:51.760 I mean, the first thing. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.320 That comes to mind is maybe I don't know if 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.879 it's age is the offense. Have you been able to 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.200 pinpoint kind of why that is or is it still 0:17:58.240 --> 0:17:58.760 a mystery? 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:01.399 I think think both of those are contributors. 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.760 Yeah, I think in the case of I mean, there 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:07.760 were three guys I found who were not really like 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.360 thriving on it using it as much of an advantage 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.160 as some of the other tight ends, and those were 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.199 Travis kelce George Kittle, Mark Andrews. In the case of 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.080 those guys, you know, they've been in the league for 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.600 a long time and they probably didn't come up with 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.359 the concept in mind that this was going to be 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.600 part of their repertoire. 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:32.399 So Kittle is a little bit of a special case. 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:35.680 And I think it's just because Kittle loves blocking compared 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.879 to most other pass catching tight ends in the league, 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:39.760 so he's going to set a really good block and 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.720 then not you know, go as smoothly necessarily into the route. 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:50.240 In Kittle's case, he just didn't get quite as many 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.000 targets as the other guys. As what it was Kelsey 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.840 was not running quite as sharp of a route in 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.239 those cases and wasn't catching as many passes is when 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.879 he did get targeted, and then with some of the 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.720 younger guys. So the interesting I want I guess is 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.399 is Hunter Henry. Because Hunter Henry, if you saw in 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.000 that graphic, he actually had one hundred percent catch rate 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:13.879 off of his chips. He caught every single one of 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:15.960 his twenty one targets after a hip block. And he's 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.520 a veteran guy too, So I think that's a schematic thing. 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:24.480 I think he was just given a Blueprint by Josh McDaniels. 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:28.639 You know, new offensive coordinator this past year, and he 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.119 was able to adjust to that really quickly and you know, 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:37.199 improve his performance in those situations. Only a fifty nine 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.040 point one percent catch rate when he's not chipping, one 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.040 hundred when he is. That's something that I think you're 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.400 going to see a lot in their offense next year 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:50.119 with you know, if they're recognizing that his success is 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:51.600 coming from that, which I'm sure they are. 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.600 And to take this and spin it kind of specifically 0:19:56.680 --> 0:20:00.719 into like a specific player for fantasy the aspects on 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.840